tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26035483469478788182024-02-19T17:43:19.247-08:00Thoughts on Beauty and DelightA Running Commentary on Life and FaithDave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.comBlogger103125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-76244790193971081522018-09-06T07:42:00.002-07:002018-09-06T07:42:34.689-07:00Fatigue
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tired. This past week I’ve just weezed my way through running every morning.
I’m supposedly in great shape. I was doing speed work 8 days ago--no problem. I
was running 10 miles in heat. No problem. Now getting through 6 miles is tough.
My legs feel weak. And I’m feeling fatigued early in the day. Jan told me, “So
take a nap if you're fatigued,” which I did…at 8:00 am! I’m tired. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve
been studying Psalm 62 which is on rest. At first this little obtuse hymn sung
by Jewish people in their worship service meant very little to me. I only studied
it after a younger staff member suggested we work on it together, and then write
a sermon. It was a training opportunity, so I sort of went along with it all
and was incredibly surprised. In the Psalm, the writer David, is in the middle
of something dreadfully wrong. He’s not come through it, but he’s in the middle
of it. And he begins by saying, “My soul finds rest in God alone…” NIV. Other
translations use the phrase “waits in silence” and there in is the intrigue.
The Hebrew word means “wait” as in rest so it's actually describing a spectrum.
There are times when “rest” means you’ve done everything possible to deal with
an issue so you stop, wait, and do so in silence. And in doing so you leave the
results up to God alone. You’re in a place of rest. At other times, you are
working at a frenetic pace but still doing so from a place of absolute rest.
Again, the results you leave to God alone. But you are working from a place of
rest, and not just resting from your work. The writer of the Psalm actually
moves closer to a place of rest while writing the Psalm. He’s experiencing this
“rest” at a deeper and deeper level while penning those words of hope. “I find
my rest in God alone….” </span></span></div>
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whole idea of rest has come home to roost with me this week. After an intense
weekend at a church in another part of the country, I find myself deeply
fatigued. Is it the heat? Is it the possibility that I’ll be that church’s next
pastor and it's a tough assignment and I’m fearful? Is it just ordinary
emotional fatique from a year of transition (everything is changing: where we
live, Jan’s retiring, our ministry is moving away from the parent organization,
our finances are not the same, etc.)? Is it physical and I need to see a doctor
to counteract some medical issue? Is it chronic fatigue syndrome, which a
friend currently has, and now its my turn to experience that lovely condition?
I don’t know. </span></span></div>
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this I do know…..</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
God who redeems my soul through the work (hard work at that) of Christ on the
cross also invites me to a place of rest. The God who reigns over my life
because he’s the real king, also invites me to a state of repose as I submit to
his will for my life…even if this is the start of the end of my life! That God
says through the writer of Psalm 62, “Find your rest in me alone. I am your
hope and your salvation.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
that, I gain a great deal of strength. Because in spite of the incivility of
our national dialogue, and in spite of the hand wringing over the way our
modern cultures have destroyed planet earth, and despite of the reality that
sin devastates people, and families, and marriages (I just had lunch with a
friend whose marriage is falling apart and he’s contributed and admits it), and
in spite of the difficulty of pastoring churches in transition or crisis, that
God promises a salvation--and a place of rest--that’s real and not humanly
contrived. Down throughout the ages, says philosopher Luc Ferry, salvation has
been the goal of every culture. Something will save us. This is our hope, even
for those who don’t believe in God. Something will save us! But in
Christianity, that savior doesn’t just promise it, he becomes it. He is our
“hope and our salvation.” Jesus is our rest. Christianity isn’t a set of moral
principles to believe, but a person to trust. I’m banking on it. And in that,
I’ll rest. </span></span></div>
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for a nap. </span></span></div>
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</span></style>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-10145638758498609312018-09-06T07:38:00.001-07:002018-09-06T07:47:05.819-07:00Romance<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve
been pondering romance since last Valentines day. This year, Valentines day and
Lent fell on the exact same date. It made me think. What’s godly, sacrificial
romance actually look like?</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Romance
in our culture is tied into the feelings one has, usually at a young age, of
love and attraction towards another person. It’s the feelings that are emphasized.
And with it, those crazy things that occur out of romantic love. People will go
to great lengths to prove their romantic love towards another. It reminds me of
the Disney movies where guy meets girl, rescues girl, and they fall deeply in
love and then the movie ends. What happens after the “romance” wears off is
what concerns me. It’s obvious that the most beautiful and intelligent people
in the world seem to have a hard time making romance work over the long haul. I
read another news article today about a Hollywood celebrity who’d become
violent towards her younger significant other; a person she was supposedly in
love with. So here’s what I’d like to suggest.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Romance
isn’t a feeling. And it’s not simply actions tied to the emotional (and dare I
say sexual) response we have towards another person. Romance, true romance, is
cultivated. It’s pursued not for its sake but for the others sake. Romance is
planned. It’s paying attention to little things over the long haul. Anyone can
open a car door for a beautiful woman. But to do it for that same woman 40-50
years later, that's romance! Romance is conniving in a godly way. It’s musing
on how you can love other other more perfectly. And to be frank, much of the
romance we have<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>today isn’t other
oriented, its “me” oriented. It’s objectifying the other; loving the other
because of how “they make me feel” or “because she’s so pretty.” In that case
what we love isn’t the other, but ourselves and how the other makes us feel. It
feels good to feel good. Romance feels good.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Romance
can be practiced. I read somewhere about a woman who, after being married for a
number of years, got super sick. While she was puking her guts out her husband
held her hair back so that she could vomit unintruded. She said it was one of
the most romantic things she’d ever experienced. So romance isn’t about me, its
about the other. Romance isn’t a feeling, but an act that when occurring often
enough, can create a feeling. Romance is tender not tough. But then again, real
romance, true romance is a marathon not a sprint. Marathons are hard,
especially the last six miles. But the finish line? Romantic!! The aha of the
end. So what to do:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Ponder</b>--What
would it look like if you were to be truly romantic towards your significant
other?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Practice</b>--Don’t
just be romantic towards the other but be gracious to all. Practice opening the
car door for all women, not just the woman you love. Treat people at the check
out counter as human beings created in the image of God.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Persevere</b>--Don’t
quit when the feelings are gone. Real romance when nurtured, can sneak up on
you. Romance isn’t a to-do list. It’s nurtured when we treat the other, over
the long haul, as a special person. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
remember a few years ago, coming back from a game of golf and driving up to my
house. I’ve practiced being romantic for a while. Jan was standing out in the
front dressed in jeans and fall clothes and covering our grand kids with leaves. I
immediately felt a romantic desire for her that I’d not felt in a while. Why?
Romance was bearing fruit. Romance was giving me as a by-product, what our
secular society mistakingly assumes is the real thing, namely that good
feeling. I’ll take the by-product any day!! Ah, amore!</span></span></span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-76420137204773639332018-09-06T07:30:00.000-07:002018-09-06T07:30:02.473-07:00What's Inside Leaks!
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oldest daughter, her husband, and my wife were conversing around the lunch
table on Saturday. My daughter had been invited by the leader of an exercise
class to demonstrate an exercise that she’d excelled in. Then for some reason
my daughter made this comment, “Well, I always knew keeping my weight down was
important.” It came out of no where. It seemed disconnected to the conversation
and it caught me off guard. </span></span></div>
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short and slender. I run marathons. I was in the lighter weight classes on the
wrestling team. I’ve never had a problem with my weight. Our daughters pretty
much fall into the same category. The daughter in question weighs 100
lbs--maybe. Staying slim has never been a problem for her. Even after
pregnancy. It’s just not an issue. But for her to tell me that she knew that
this was important to me, even as a kid, took me back. “When did I ever say
that?” I protested. “Never,” she said. “I just knew it was important to you.” </span></span></div>
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I leaked a value that I never intended to. It’s made me think. Several things
became clear: </span></span></div>
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What’s going on inside me is going to leak out, even if I don’t intend it to.
So I have to ask, “What’s going on inside me? What am I communicating about
myself and others acceptability, based on my own thoughtless comments?” I
sometimes make fun of myself in front of others due to my small stature and
slender frame. It really doesn’t bother me. I’m not embarrassed by it. It’s
fun, and frankly, sometimes funny. But I now wonder if I’ve made heavier people
uncomfortable by speaking in such a flippant fashion about a problem many of
them have; namely keeping their weight under control. </span></span></div>
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This value, or reality, effected my daughter. It shaped her life. Without even
meaning to, I somehow contributed to the insane body image issue of our western
culture; namely that if you’re not thin and beautiful, you’re not that
significant. And if you are, well then you’ve got significant currency in this
culture. She’s thin and she’s beautiful. She’s got currency. But that’s not the
point! What if she wasn’t? </span></span></div>
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of this has grabbed my attention while reading Matthew 23 and Jeremiah 9 in the
bible. In Matthew 23 the religious leaders had all sorts of inner spiritual
issues. They looked great on the outside, but on the inside their lives were on
a tragic trajectory; one that came to fruition in the crucifixion of their
Messiah. In Jeremiah 9, the nation of Israel had made all kinds of gods out of
all kinds of things. Perhaps I’ve made a god out of being physically fit, being
in shape, or being slender in a world that values thinness and beauty. </span></span></div>
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all of this, I’ve learned that the values of our hearts leak out in ways we are
unaware of. And our families, for better or worse, have formed and shaped those
values in us. If you are from a family or have a family of your own there will
be a legacy! What do our comments, our actions, our thoughts and motives say
about what we value? What will they leave as a legacy? If we are unaware of our
own family of origin issues, it only means we’re doomed to repeat the same
mistakes. Being spiritually healthy means we allow God to make us aware of, and
then actually deal with, our family of origins. </span></span></div>
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think for me, this is instructive in that I want to be less critical of others
imperfections and differences of opinion and more aware of my own. The harsh and
often shrill tone of our current political, and cultural, dialogue suggests
very few of our countries leaders actually have this kind of self-awareness. We
leak. We all leak something! What is it you leak? What does it mean? And when you
discover it, will you take the time to ask the hard question, “Why am I
thinking, feeling, or acting that way?” Stop. Slow down. Look for the leaks.
And when you find them, begin the long process of repair that comes by
anchoring those life changes in the sacrificial life, death and resurrection of
Jesus. It’s worth it. </span></span></div>
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</span></style>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-21311958101289593122017-12-13T05:51:00.000-08:002017-12-13T05:51:23.716-08:00“What’s that mean?” or The Gift of Self-Awareness
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span>The
prophet Isaiah notes Israel’s penchant to assume that they have their lives
under control. In Isaiah 9:13 we read, “The people did not turn to him who
struck them, nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.” That means that there were
signs, hints that something was awry. Something was amiss. They weren’t firing
on all cylinders spiritually, morally, relationally, and all they did in
response was plan to do more of the same (cf. v. 10). “We’ll just try harder,”
they thought. But that wasn’t the point! The point is that they were so
unaware, so unmindful, so oblivious to things that they missed the signs that
something was wrong. And as a result, they experienced the destructive consequences
of their lack of understanding. They were profoundly unaware. So are we!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span>The
gift of self-awareness is granted when we take the time and energy to ask, “Why
did I do that? Why did I say that? Why do I act the way I act, think the way I
think, feel the way I feel?” Then sit there in that. Listen. Be still. Be
silent. Wait. Most people crowd out the time it takes to do the hard inner work
that leads to self-awareness. We fill the silent spaces in our lives with
noise—TV, cell phones, internet, activity, exercise, relationships, busyness, etc.
We can’t hear through all the noise. So we aren’t self-aware. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span>God
wants to cut through the static and get our attention. For the nation of
Israel, it was a no brainer. They were in covenant relationship with him and
he’d told them exactly what would happen if they broke the covenant so it
should have been no surprise. Read Deuteronomy 28-29 for a list of “This is
what’s going to happen if you do this or don’t do that.” It surprised them
anyway! That’s how unaware they were. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span>So
what are some signs that self-awareness is an issue for us? Here are a couple
thoughts: constant stress that seems to never end, depression, the inability to
get along, a calloused heart to obvious sin, an unwillingness to reconcile with
others, the inability to feel, dirty fighting (threats, yelling, giving others
the silent treatment, etc.), and things like that. Self-awareness is
terrifying. Because once you are aware of something, you are forced to deal
with it. In my case, I discovered to my embarrassment, that anxiety had been a
controlling issue in my life for years. I was totally unaware of it. It
alienated people, particularly my kids. It produced an unhealthy reactivity in
my work. And it was exhausting. After years of living with it, I finally faced
the fact that I was an anxious person. Knowing that hasn’t solved it. But being
aware of it has given me recourse when it rears its ugly head. Awareness is
half the battle. In fact, self-awareness is one of the keys to spiritual and emotional
health. Sixteenth century reformer John Calvin once wrote, “You’ll never know
God unless you know yourself.” That’s on the firsts few pages of his Institutes
on the Christian religion, one of the most famous books in Church history. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span>My
hope is that we’ll all take advantage of the gift of self-awareness. And
because of the gospel we can do so with joy. There is nothing God doesn’t know
about you! Because of Christ work on the cross, if you’ve turned from sin and
put your faith in him, there is nothing you can do to make him love you any more,
and nothing you’ve done will cause him to love you any less. You can become
self-aware, then deal with you stuff, in total confidence that it won’t do
anything but make your relationship with him, yourself, and others better. So
with that in mind, take the self-awareness challenge. </span></span></span></div>
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</span></span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-53125802104873591942017-12-13T05:34:00.001-08:002017-12-13T05:37:08.802-08:00What Makes You Tremble? An Election Day Thought<style><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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</style><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">People
are afraid these days. The politics of fear seem to be running our country. This
political season has seen candidates openly criticize each other because he or
she will take us some place horrible. People tremble. Years ago I sat in the
living room with a family on an election night much like the one we’ll
experience tonight. The preferred candidate of one person in the room was going
to lose. They were distraught. They went into their bedroom and closed the
door. They were overcome by fear. They trembled.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a
follower of Jesus, we need not be overcome by fear of anything! Really!!
Nothing!! At the cross sin was defeated, and in the resurrection the death that
goes with it. So while there are many things that should disturb us; politics
and politicians, war, racism, poverty, injustice, the dismantling of marriage, and
unrighteousness at every level, there is only one thing should make us tremble.
What is that, you may ask?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">God.
Tremble at God. Tremble at the awful beauty and holiness and power and majesty
and magnificence of God. He should make us tremble. Our knees ought to knock,
and our bodies should writhe--the meaning of the Hebrew word for tremble--when
we ponder the awful beauty and holiness of almighty God. Jesus said, “</span>But I will show you whom you should <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">fear</span>:
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Fear him</span> who, after the killing
of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">fear him</span>” (Luke 12:4-5). <span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Psalmist puts it this
way, “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord…” (Ps 114:7). “Tremble
before him, all the earth” (Ps 96:9) says the Psalmist again [same Hebrew
word]. Ironically, where there is godly trembling, there is deep love, deep
joy, deep hope, and deep worship (Deut 6:2; Ps 96:9; Ps 147:10-11). God is not
trivial. Before Him, we tremble! And in our trembling, we take comfort.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What
makes your heart quake? The mismanagement of the government? The presence of
unrighteousness? The reality of injustice? The wrong candidate getting into
office? “Do not fret because of evil men…” (Ps 37:1-4) says the Psalmist. Instead,
trust in the Lord. The government and our country is in his hands (cf Isa
45:1-7). We need not fear evil, evil people, evil policies, or evil actions. While
standing for righteousness, we need only fear God. And in that trembling we’ll
find real hope, real joy, real peace, and real meaning in life. On this
election day, what makes you tremble?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Note: First posted at Moses Lake Alliance Church, November 7, 2016. I decided to post it here on my blog in light of the election in Alabama, December 2017. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-82097876633795834152017-11-15T11:10:00.000-08:002017-11-15T11:13:41.344-08:00It's Not Funny<style><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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</style><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Louis CK comedian extraordinaire recently admitted to
behaving inappropriately towards women for years. His confession, which can be
read in its entirety on the following web site (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/arts/television/louis-ck-statement.html?action=click&contentCollection=Arts&module=RelatedCoverage&region=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/arts/television/louis-ck-statement.html?action=click&contentCollection=Arts&module=RelatedCoverage&region=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article</a>)
admits that the accusations are all true. Honestly, reading what he did is
disgusting and disturbing. I wouldn’t want elementary age kids reading this
stuff!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, people who have been associated with him have
reacted in the politically correct way: contra Hollywood’s usual way of dealing
with things like this. While Harvey Weinstein went about his sexual harassment for years,
without so much as a peep from Hollywood, everyone is jumping on the “that's disgusting
and unacceptable” bandwagon when it comes to Louis C.K. And for the record, this
is all happening while Hollywood continues to create movies that actually
promote, and mimic, the very thing being disdained and condemned in Louis C.K.
and Weinstein.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Louis C.K’s confession rings true, though certainly one
suspects he’s doing the politically correct thing. His last sentence is the one
that grabbed my attention: “I have spent my long and lucky career talking and
saying anything I want. I will now step back and take a long time to listen.
Thank you for reading.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Will
he? Who knows! But we know that this posture of listening openly, and with
honest personal reflection, is truly the right place to start. Psalm 81:8-13 notes
that if we’ll but listen to God, and let Him direct us to the revelation of
himself in the person and work of Christ, He’ll satisfy us with the finest of
wheat, honey from the rock (v. 16). Maybe Louis C.K., who is anything but a
Christian, is beginning the long slow journey of having the empty place in his
soul occupied by Someone who can actually fill it. As philosophers have puts it
for millennia, “If there is a God who created us, then the deepest chambers of our
soul simply cannot be filled up by anything less. That’s how great God is!”
Only He can satisfy the thirsty soul. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-75296288185416966122016-11-17T06:12:00.000-08:002016-11-17T06:12:10.091-08:00Living As a Christian in an Anxious Age
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With
the presidential election results squarely in our review mirror, I’m amazed at
people’s reaction. I know Christians who are deeply disturbed by a Trump
presidency and others who are gleeful that at last, our left leaning country
may stand a chance at tipping more upright. Some people in New York, Christians
and otherwise, are afraid to admit they’d voted Trump for fear of recrimination,
while others are planning on monitoring his every move. As one of my left
leaning friends put it, “We’ll watch him and hang it on his neck when he messes
up.” Others are protesting outright and taking to the streets. And then there
are the protests of the protests. “What are we protesting?” I heard one person
say. “Our democratic process?” One man named Dionne Alexander, a vet,
excoriated those who are protesting in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV8HTmUhu48">Facebook post</a> gone viral saying,
“You’re causing all this destruction because your candidate lost! See that’s
the problem with this country. You can’t always get your way…Quit being
crybabies.” Whoa! We are one divided country right now. So what can we do to
live in an anxious age?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m reading a good book right
now by John Inazu called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Confident
Pluralism</i>. It’s political science book and one that offers a way through
the maze. I’d recommend it for those who are trying to figure out how we can
live a pluralistic culture. The same author co-wrote an article with Tim Keller
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christianity Today</i>, September 16,
2016 entitled, “How Christians Can Bear Gospel Witness in an Anxious Age.”
Listen to Inazu and Keller: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our engagement in… an anxious age
is made possible by our confidence in the gospel in a pluralistic society where
people have profoundly different beliefs. We won’t always be able to persuade
those around us that our beliefs are right and theirs are wrong.… But
recognizing the existence of these disagreements should not prevent us from
holding to what is ultimately true. Our beliefs can be true, and we can hold
these warranted beliefs confidently even though others reject them. …. [a]
confidence in the gospel can encourage us to work to strengthen the social
fabric for the good of others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This kind of posture is what one of
us [Inazu] has called “<a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/april-web-only/pluralism-doesnt-mean-relativism.html"><span style="color: blue;">confident pluralism</span></a>.” As Christians, we can
engage with the pluralism around us because our confidence lies elsewhere. We
can acknowledge genuine differences in society without suppressing or minimizing
our firmly held convictions. We can seek common ground even with those who may
not share our view of the common good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So here’s a thought. Regardless of where you/we stand on the
election results, if you are a Christian, lets choose to put our confidence in Christ and what God has
done through his work to bring real lasting change to each of our lives, and in
our culture. And while we’re at it, lets take the time to listen to those who
have a different opinion with respect, grace, and genuine interest. It will go
along way to lowering social anxiety, contributing to the common good, and we
may even learn something.</span></div>
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</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-67184369936888439472016-10-27T07:36:00.001-07:002016-10-27T07:36:08.581-07:00I'm Entitled
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saw it on the fourth of July, on a beach on the North Shore of Boston a few
years ago. The crowd was poised for the fire works show. There were thousands
of people milling around the beach with their blankets and beach chairs waiting
for the inevitable. The place was packed. You couldn’t be alone if you wanted
to. And its in that environment where I/we experienced, once again, the mindset
of entitlement. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
show started and everyone took a seat on a blanket or a chair; well almost
everyone. There was a small group of people, maybe ten yards from us, who
remained standing. “Down in front,” people called. That did little to make them
move. They huddled together a little more closely out of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">consideration</i> but the message was clear, “We’re not sitting down.
If we block your view, so what?!” And so the show went on and on and on and
they remained standing—to the end. I guess I didn’t like that they blocked my
view of the lower fireworks. It was pretty obvious that they were locals, based
on how they were talking and acting. They probably had yearly beach passes.
Maybe they lived in the community. I don’t know. But clearly, they felt
entitled to stand while everyone else sat. They were at least middle class,
white, and arrogant. They were entitled. And who they inconvenienced was
irrelevant to them. It was truly amazing to watch. Irritating but amazing. They
were entitled. And they let everyone know it!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It
made me think about how much people feel entitled to. In America we feel
entitled to compensation if we can’t work and a nice living if we can, freedom
of speech and religion, health benefits, dignity, respect (even if you act
disrespectfully), material goods, personal satisfaction and meaning, the right
to say what you think or feel even if it hurts someone, happiness, and a lot
more. We feel entitled. I’m not so sure that’s always good. I think in a
democracy, there are benefits and those benefits, more than entitlements, seem
to me to be more like privileges. I recently finished a book by a guy named
Jamie Smith. The book is called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How (Not)
to be Secular</i>. Smith’s book is a summary of a book by philosopher, Charles Taylor,
who is so complex to read very few can understand him. So you read Smith to
understand Taylor. At any rate, Charles Taylor (via Jamie Smith) notes that
there is an individualism that haunts our modern way of life in the west. My take on it is that it
erodes our ability to care for others the way we should. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">St.
Paul told the Corinthian church that he was entitled; entitled to compensation,
entitled to respect, entitled to bring a believing wife along on his ministry
if he so chose. But he didn’t. He chose, for others sake, to give up the things
he was entitled to and live instead with a servant heart. Are we doing that? Am
I doing that? Its easy to feel entitled. Its hard to want to serve. Jesus
Christ, as the eternal Son of God, is entitled to respect, reverence, honor,
and glory. On the cross He gave it all up for us. I think that means we can and
should do the same for others. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-55607434801998490282016-09-28T08:38:00.002-07:002016-09-28T08:38:18.773-07:00I Just Bought My First Pair of Skinny Jeans
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
just bought my first pair of skinny jeans. It’s true. I’m sort of, well—there
is no easy way to say this—kind of skinny. I’m well muscled, as my aunt
described me way back (I hang on to that statement hoping its actually true),
but well muscled in a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">skinny</i> sort of
way. So the jeans fit and look good. I plan to wear them preaching some time. I
share this bit of family reality for one simple reason. Christianity Today
recently published a study done by Fuller Theological Seminary. The article was
entitled “Put Away the Skinny Jeans.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But
I just bought mine!!!” I protested. Let me unpack this more. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
article debunks what many in the Christian community have assumed for
years—that youth are reached by a relevant service, modern music, hipster
dress, a cool place to worship, youthful staff, and coffee. The key issue in
reaching youth isn’t any of those things. The article lists several areas that
are necessary: (1) They want to be the best possible neighbors within their
cities. The churches that were “growing young” were showed high involvement and
creativity in their commitment to be good neighbors (2) The goal is the gospel.
Other things are good, like racial reconciliation, or social justice. But the
ultimate goal is the gospel and engaging people as an expression of the gospel.
(3) Key chain leadership, meaning senior leadership is avoiding leadership
models that focus on personal charisma and moving towards giving the keys of
power over to the younger generation. (4) Focus on youth has little to do with
hiring a good youth pastor and giving them domain of a part of the property but
is seen in everything from how the budget’s made to programming to planning and
community life. In short, younger people are made a priority. They are needed and
they feel needed! (5) Finally, older folks willingness to be part of the lives
of younger folks including showing up at football games, learning their names,
and supporting their endeavors. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
irony of this has to do with the demographic of Moses Lake Alliance Church
where I now work as a pastor. It’s made up mostly of the kinds of people who
have the biggest impact on the lives of younger people: older people. You read
it right! Older folks like me (gasp—did I actually write that) who are just not
yet retired (or even sixty) can have a meaningful impact on the lives of
younger people by doing several simple things: (1) Caring (2) Releasing
authority and responsibility into the hands of those who are ready to have it. (3)
and focusing on the gospel instead of other superfluous issues. </span></span></div>
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big challenge for any congregation is whether or not they want to do this. What
I’d tell people is, “Don’t wait around for the staff to tell you how. Figure
out a way to care for younger folks in the community and do it.” They’ll start
inviting their friends to church, church activities, groups, and mid-sized
events simply because they are cared for, loved, and respected. </span></span></div>
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</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-83362719555631311152016-09-28T08:29:00.000-07:002016-09-28T11:29:56.933-07:00A Lament for Another American Tragedy<style>@font-face {
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another
black man was shot and killed by the police. This time it was in Charlotte, NC.
The police recovered a handgun at the scene along with an ankle
holster. The man was on medication and may not have responded properly to
police commands. He was right handed but had something in his left hand which
the police claimed was the gun. The investigation is underway. The man’s name is
Keith Lamont Scott. He was not just another black man. He was a person. He was
married. He had kids. And yes, he had a criminal record. I’ll let you read about
the details in the paper.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
issue for me isn’t simply who's right and whose wrong here. That’s not the
issue. The issue is that we have this incredible spate of police shootings of
black men--regardless of who is right or wrong. The NT Times posted an editorial by an African American professor at
Yale who wondered how long he’d live as a black man (can't find the editorial to post here). Just being a black male makes you a
suspect these days. I’ve heard all the reasons why. And I think I can honestly
say that in many cases, law enforcement is correct to shoot, regardless of a persons skin color. But not in every case!! There seems to be way too much of it
these days. Some may say, “Well, if you limit police officers right to use
deadly force, there will be fewer police officers going home for dinner after a
shift.” That may actually be true. And that wouldn’t be right either.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now
some may say I’m moving towards a liberal view of justice. I don’t think so. I want
to move towards God’s view of justice. The political and cultural right and left
don’t dictate my views on things. I'm a Christian first, an American citizen
second.</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Truthfully, I
don’t know what the answer is. But the only thing we can do is what the
scripture calls Lament. The Psalms are full of Lament’s where’s God’s people
cry out to God for his seeming absence. Ruth Haley Barton, a spiritual
formation author, recently noted this on her blog site in response to the some
of the tragedies including the killing of police officers in Dallas during a
peaceful protest. H<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e</span>re is what she said:</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"</span>T</span>he
prayer of lament is that unsettling biblical tradition of prayer that includes
expressions of complaint, anger, grief, despair, and protest to God. Many
of us have never been taught this way of praying and it is often
missing in the worship of many congregations…. The prayer of lament is a
place to begin as we seek to respond to the sin, the brokenness, and the
complexity of our life together as human beings. It is tempting to rush to
problem-solving and fixing when the situation is so dire, but I hope we won’t<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Let
us stop, at least for a moment, and lament together. Let us stand in solidarity
with our black brothers and sisters who continue to experience such tragic
loss; let us mourn with them the loss of another black male and affirm
that black lives matter. Let us grieve for the law enforcement officers who
lost their lives while trying to keep the peace. Let us acknowledge complexity,
that we don’t have answers, and cry out to God together for the peace and
justice that seems to elude us."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Psalm 13 is an
example of a prayer if lament. I’ll include it in this post for your
reflection.<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"</span>How long, O Lord? Will you
forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I
wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will
my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to
my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my
heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good
to me."</span></span></div>
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</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-67725042463029073782016-09-28T08:01:00.000-07:002016-11-17T09:58:38.262-08:00How (Not) to be Secular--A Review<style>@font-face {
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m
not the first person to say this and I’m pretty sure I got this from someone
else. So here goes: the great sin of our age isn’t that God’s dead, but that
God’s trivial. He just doesn’t matter. “There is no God” is more than atheistic
fiat. It’s the de facto way American culture works. We may give attention to him
here and there but frankly, we don’t pay much attention. We give him his due,
sort of, kind of, maybe—not really. It affects everything from what we spend
our money on, to justice issues, to race relationships, to what we think about
in our spare time. He’s just<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not really
considered.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
recently finished a book entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How
(Not) to be Secular—Reading Charles Taylor</i>, by Jamie Smith. Smith is fast
becoming one of my favorite authors. He’s taken Charles Taylor's book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Secular Age</i>, and made it
understandable. Don’t think that reading Smith’s a whole lot easier! He’s got a
glossary in the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>back just to keep the
reader informed. It’s not an easy read. But if you want to understand the
western culture we live in, that’s the book to read. Smith comes from a
distinctly Christian worldview (Smith is a Philosophy Professor at Calvin
College) but the goal is to understand culture more than provide an apologetic
for the Christian faith. Here are a couple of his main points:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
the modern secular world, we doubt transcendence. As a result, doubt and
longing are the cross pressures (how people respond to the lack of
transcendence) of the secular world. <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">P</span>g. 11</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What
makes our modern secular age is the default assumptions about what is actually believable.
Some people call this a plausibility factor. A God whose personally involved in
our world just doesn't seem plausible (e.g. I think Leslie Newbigin came up with
that idea in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Gospel in a Pluralistic
Society</i>). Pg. 19</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There
is no goal beyond human flourishing. Pg. 2<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Civility
becomes the naturalized, secularized sanctification. Pg. 43<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Humanism
isn’t something we fell into but an achievement (Taylor makes this very clear
and Jamie Smith captures it nicely). Pg. 57</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We
are buffered and sealed off from enchantment (the sense of God’s presence in
the world) which also seals us off from meaning and significance. Consequently
we no longer view this world as a “Cosmos” created by God but as a “Universe”
that is cavernous, anonymous space. Pg. 64, 69</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All
of this secularization is rooted in assumptions! There really is no neutrality
only “unthoughts” as he calls them (Taylor—and thus Smith in writing about
Taylor—begins in the later part of the book to show the inconsistencies of
secularism). Pg. 80f</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
real consequence of secularism is that you have no reason for meaning,
morality, or beauty (he calls this agency, ethics, and aesthetics). These
become “cross pressures” on our secular culture which forces us to violate the
logical implications of a secular culture devoid of God. Pg. 102</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
fact, secularism faces the same dilemma Christianity faces: to attain any sort
of moral aspiration requires you repress your ordinary human desires!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pg. 112</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Consequently,
there really are moral codes in a secular culture and they focus on political
correctness. Pg. 128.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s
an incredible book. The last chapter Smith entitles “How (not) to be Secular”
but does little to clearly actually unpack specifics of what that may look
like. The reader has to figure it out on his or her own. But it's a great book,
one that I will turn to regularly as I seek to be a good Christian leader in
today's culture.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-43569422698432160862016-07-24T10:03:00.000-07:002016-07-24T10:03:44.120-07:00It’s (not really) simple! Thoughts on Recent Tragedies
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That
seems to be the new American solution to everything. “It’s simple.” After a
Muslim extremist shot up a gay night club in Orlando, there were essentially
three reasons brought up for the carnage. An editorial in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Week</i> noted the three most common: (1) Our failure to keep
weapons of war out of the hands of terrorists (2) President Obama’s refusal to
take ISIS seriously (3) Hatred and intolerance for the LGBT community. The
reductionistic arguments repeated over and over by commentators, and others
like them, became combatant and a bit odd when CNN’s Anderson Cooper went on
the offensive against Florida’s Attorney General because she didn’t Tweet
enough about Gay Pride.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Then
after the unjustified killing of several black men by the police in
Minneapolis, MN and in Banton Rouge, LA and the killing of five police
officers in Dallas during a peaceful protest, the blame game started. “It’s
simple,” we were told, The problem is the Black Lives Matter movement, Donald
Trump, the Democrats, the Republicans, the Church, and so forth and
so on. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m
thinking these simplistic solutions to complex problems aren’t helpful. And
they are really unhelpful when they take on religious overtones. But I have my
own simple solution. It’s the human heart. Our hearts are hard. All of our
hearts; not just the hearts of people like the guy shooting up the gay bar in
Orlando or the people shooting up the café’s and dance hall in Paris. And not
just the hearts of right wing conservatives who naively seem to think that our
only real problems are economic and big government and we should become
isolationists to protect ourselves, or left wing liberals who can’t seem to
tolerate anyone who disagrees with them and believe the best rules are no rules
except the rules they want.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our
hearts are hard. And people do what they do for reasons we are unaware of. In
fact, based on my experience, people do what they do for reasons they
themselves often don’t fully understand! Why? Because their hearts are hard and
its complex. Who can know the human heart?! It’s not really that simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a
follower of Jesus I’ve been struck by how the early church addressed issues
like this. Christianity was birthed, and thrived, in the midst of a cultural
cauldron that didn’t include CNN, smart phones, multiple political parties, and
democracy. The King or Emporer could have a commoner killed for doing virtually
nothing wrong. Work was hard. Oppression of the lower class was rampant. War
and terrorism were common occurances. Violence was the norm. In Greaco Roman
culture, sexual promiscuity was common which included abortion, adultery and long
term gay relationships. And yet over time, over decades actually, the church
thrived and grew and became powerful in the midst of it all. How? </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here’s
a couple of ways I believe that happened: (1) People in the churches loved each
other. Christians were known for their love. (2) They did the politically
incorrect thing in a gracious compelling way. They served and supported those
society rejected. (3) They policed themselves. That is, not everyone who claimed
to be Christians were allowed to call themselves Christians. This separated the
wheat from the chaff and allowed the true church to emerge. (4) They valued
marriage, family, and sexual purity. It set them apart from the culture as a
whole. (5) They sacrificed themselves on behalf of their neighbors and others.
They’d adopt little girls exposed to the elements after birth by the Romans who
didn’t want baby girls. They stayed in cities during the plagues and cared for
the sick at their own risk, when everyone else fled. (6) They valued
everyone—especially women and children, who had little worth in the minds of
many in that day. (7) They rejected the violent entertainment of the day and
didn’t support it. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
short, they didn’t run away. And best I can tell, they didn’t blame. They
didn’t stop living out their faith every day. They continued to worship. They
fought for the true faith and celebrated everything Christian because Jesus,
the God man, gave everything for them. As Keller puts it somewhere,
Christianity fights the individualistic, autonomous consumerism of modern
culture because Jesus gave himself for his enemies. Shouldn’t we do the same?
The gospel fights the simple reductionistic solutions to difficult problems and
provides us with the tools to live humbly, simply, and generously in cities and
communities that are often troubled. Life is messy. Lets get in the mess and
realize the solutions aren’t simple but they point us to the ultimate
solution—a relationship with Jesus Christ that addresses the hardness of the
human heart by repentance from sin and faith in his work on our behalf. There
is no other world religion like that!</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-66766362661131257872016-06-23T07:33:00.003-07:002016-06-23T07:33:54.657-07:00Better to Post Late than not Post At All
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m
not real consistent in posting things on my blog. I blog, often on my own time,
then post things when I feel like it. Part of the reason is that people have
used those things I’ve posted against me. So I’m careful. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But
I’ve been struck by the things people post on Facebook and on blogs these days.
I appreciate honesty and openness but I’m not so sure being that honest and
open on a public venue is all that helpful. Same thing with Tweeting. Sometimes
its fun to know what people are thinking, or doing, right at a given moment.
But sometimes it crosses a line—a big line. A golf commentator once noted a
Jordon Spieth tweet that was marginally inappropriate and said, “Well, he’ll
learn to not to do that….” </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So below you’ll find a bunch of posts from a while
back. Many of them posted on a church web site where I worked and just didn’t
post them on my personal site. Some of them are dated. But I’d rather post late
than not at all and I’d rather post late than post to regret it. More to come!</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-79541403594743689782016-06-23T07:30:00.002-07:002016-06-23T07:30:53.509-07:00The Great Divorce--A Hellish Drama
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
went to see the CS Lewis play, The Great Divorce, a while back. The play was
off Broadway and in a very small theatre. What a production. It was amazing. If
you’ve never read the book, consider it. It’s the story of a bus ride from hell
to heaven. At the gates of heaven, each of the bus riders are given the
opportunity to get into heaven, but all but one ultimately choose hell. I’ve
read it over and over again. Lewis isn’t making a theological statement in the
book. If you are reading it with that in mind, you are missing the point. But
the characters at heaven’s gates are all very provocative!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
example: One of the characters was a grumbler. The actor walked across the stage
mumbling and grumbling. The words cascaded from her lips like water over a
water falls. Grumble grumble grumble. Over and over. Lewis used the character
to highlight what happens when one becomes the qualities that get us into hell.
He notes in the book, “The whole difficulty of understanding Hell is that the
thing to be understood is so nearly Nothing. ….It begins with a grumbling mood,
and yourself still distinct from it: perhaps criticizing it. And yourself, in a
dark hour, may will that mood, embrace it. Ye can repent and come out of it,
again. But [here Lewis warns us through the character, speaking in the book]
there may come a day when you can do that no longer. Then there will be no <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i> left to criticize the mood, nor even
to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself going on forever like a machine.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do
you see what he’s saying? There may come a time when sin literally consumes us.
It’s become so much apart of us, that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it
is</i> us and when that happens, its hell. Hell is the by-product of what sin
does to us—we become dehumanized and less of what we’ve been created to be to
the point where we eternally disintegrate. Sobering!! The whole idea of hell as
flames of fire is a metaphor for the eternal, non ending, disintegration of a
human soul. Biblically it is searing heat and fire. It is outer darkness and
isolation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We never become what we were
created to become: its utter, complete, and entire hopelessness. Lewis seeks to
communicate that in the book.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After
it was all done, we went out to dinner and discussed which character was most
compelling. It made for good conversation. Read the book. The play was put on
by The Fellowship of the Performing Arts which is a theatrical company
committed to sharing theatre from a Christian worldview. The play, The Great
Divorce, had taken several years to perfect and has gotten some great reviews.
Max McClean, the founder, came out after the performance and took questions.
There were three actors who played sixteen roles!! Honestly, living in NYC has
its benefits when it comes to the arts. It was an amazing experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span>
</div>
Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-55112005519250651542016-06-23T07:26:00.001-07:002016-06-23T07:26:59.386-07:00The Gift of Self Awareness
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our
two oldest daughters paid Jan and I a tremendous compliment the other day. They
said that we’d given them the gift of self-awareness. By that they meant that
we’ve taken the time to do adequate self-reflection and, as a result, to make
personal and marital changes necessary to grow. This has resulted in changes
they have noticed.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
couldn’t help wondering what some of those changes were. I’m almost afraid to
ask. But I know that while we perceive ourselves one way, others perception of
us reflects more reality than we want to admit. Sometimes others perceptions
are certainly wrong. But more often than not, there is some truth in what they
see and say about us. So even if what they see or say is just partially
correct, it’s still partially correct. What’s most uncomfortable in trying to
become self-aware is that others are more than willing to make sure you are
aware of your problems, and very unwilling to become aware of their own. It’s
frustrating. After thirty years of ministry, I’ve got boat loads of stories
about this.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
friend of mine calls this whole awareness thing, “Looking beneath the iceburg.”
He says we have to ask ourselves honestly and frequently, “Why do I think that,
why did I do that, why do I feel that?” Dan Allendar once said feelings are the
window to the soul. They tell us a lot about ourselves. But so do our actions.
Do we take the time to actually consider these things? More often than not, I
don’t think so. It’s terrifying to discover that some of what I don’t like in
others, is actually part of who I am myself. Some of the people who are the
least understanding of others, are the most demanding that others understand
them. They are also, in my experience, the most least aware. Does that make
sense? That’s a lot of “most leasts” and it can be confusing.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here
are three ways to become more self aware: (1) Be willing to risk asking, “Why
do I think, act, and feel the way I do?” Then take the time to ponder it. (2)
Take others negative reactivity and gracious responses to you seriously. Even
if people’s reaction, or kind words, are flawed, they can tell you something.
(3) Run to Jesus work on the cross. Let the cross determine the depth of his
love for you and the resurrection his capability to answer your prayer. You are
loved by the king of the universe! If you have the acolades of the king, why
worry about the critique of the paupers! His dying love can give you the
courage to be more self-aware and make changes as necessary. (4) Be patient
with yourself, it's a life long journey. Enjoy it. Celebrate and acknowledge
both strengths and weaknesses. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-47242998769807467982016-06-23T07:23:00.001-07:002016-06-23T07:23:47.347-07:00Death and a Wager
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jan and I are
on a Hunger Games marathon. I am not much of a movie guy, but the last several
days we’ve been watching the series. It culminates this fall with the final of
four films. I’ve been struck once again by something philosopher Charles Taylor
is reported to have said in his book on secularism. It goes kind of like this,
“This is the first time in human history that God has not been a part of
people’s lives.” Amazing!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">But then back
to the Hunger Games. “I wish we were all dead,” said one character in the
movie. “Really?” I thought to myself. “Dead?! Then what? Eternity!" But if
you die, and go into the ground, like any other animal, and that’s it, as one
friend said to me, sure! Death is a great way out of pain; a great way to flee
from trouble. But what if death is more like a portal than a dead end street?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I think
Pascal’s wager is a decent reason to believe there is more to life than this
life. The wager goes something like this, “If you believe, and God exists, you
gain everything. If you disbelieve, and God exists, you lose everything.” (You
can find his description of the wager in his book Penses) That’s very
simplistic but incredibly compelling since a true believer not only rejects sin
with all its ugly implications, but accepts righteousness with all its
corresponding beauty. In other words, you truly do gain everything if you
follow Christ. Christianity, if not lived out for the glory of God and the good
of others, isn’t Christianity. There should be no such thing as a self
absorbed, selfish Christian.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The wager,
despite some arguments to the contrary, makes sense to me and to many others.
But we in the west don’t think that way. Everything is about today, about our
safety and ease, about money and possessions and the good life. So at the first
sign of trouble, we question God. It makes me wonder. Do I live as if there is
only today? Do I live as if the only real solution to my pain is the silence
and peace of death, and that’s it? Am I selfish and self-absorbed?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It’s
Thanksgiving this week (obviously I wrote this before posting it), but there are millions of Syrian refugees pouring into
Europe who don’t think they have much to be thankful for. Islamic Terrorists
live to hurt, maim, and destroy. They are Nazi’s with turbans! But if we are
followers of Christ, this is not new territory. The first century Romans, if
you got on the wrong side of them, weren’t exactly the most hospitable people
in the world. The early church thrived in spite of it. Perhaps we can do the
same again. But our motivation must be their motivation; Gods beauty, Gods
glory, Gods goodness, and Gods revelation of himself in the person and work of
Christ, and the hope of eternal life. Death is not the end. This must be the
motivation for our philanthropy or witness or even our living out of the
Christian life. If the motivating factor is guilt, like it is for so much of
modern evangelicalism, I think our philanthropy and godliness will fall flat on
its face with the first sign of trouble. As C.S. Lewis said in chapter 10 of
Mere Christianity, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who
did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the
next. …It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world
that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at heaven you will get earth
‘thrown in.’ Aim at earth, you will get neither.” At any rate, the Hunger Games
are making me think. I’ll catch the end of the story this week. Those are my
thoughts for now. </span></span><br />
Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-88839312793973303092016-06-23T07:13:00.005-07:002016-06-23T07:16:46.527-07:00A Syrian Opportunity
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
few months ago I spent a Friday evening with a friend watching the horrific
events of the terrorist attacks unfold in Paris. It wasn’t what we’d planned to
do! And like many, I read the papers and watched television in the days that
followed as people in the west attempted to come to grips with the reality of
what happened.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
immediate response of many governors was to exclude Syrian refugees. “I’m not interested in accepting refugees from
Syria,” Gov. Charlie Baker is quoted as saying. According to the NY Times,
twenty five Republican Governors vowed to block the entry of Syrian refugees
into their states citing the safety of Americans being at stake. I’d like to
suggest another way forward.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">First,
a close family friend who works with refugees informed me that the process of
getting refugees into the US from Syria is long and complex. It can take up to two
years. Its unlikely that the rigor of the process will fail to provide the
needed security from Jihadists.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Second,
according to my friend, the real threat from Syrian refugees, or any refugees
from an Islamic background for that matter, is more likely to come from the xenophobic
reaction of those in the States who are prejudice and fearful. People who have
high hopes of a different life in America may get angry and discouraged and be
more likely to radicalize in reaction to the bigotry they experience. Whether
that’s true or not, I don’t know. But it was an interesting perspective. Here’s
a thought:</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
think this is an opportunity for Christians to be radical themselves, but in a
very different way from the Muslim radicals. Instead of excluding refugees, why
not welcome them into our community? Why not invite them into
our homes and into our lives? Hospitality shown to the stranger and the alien
is certainly one of the things that’s characterized Christians over the
centuries.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Last fall, I spent time with a family that owns a coffee shop in West
Philadelphia. They also board five students from Saudi Arabia. The hospitality,
grace, and love shown to the Muslim men that I met, and in one case ate with,
was extraordinary. While our government must respond wisely to the threat of
terrorism on American soil, I think the Christian community can also respond
with generosity and grace to those refugees who are fleeing the very terrorism
they are suspected of creating. In the early 1980’s the church responded in
fear to the AIDS epidemic and, in many cases, lost the opportunity to minister
to the Gay community. Perhaps we have a new opportunity to bring people to
Christ and serve humankind as we consider the potential influx of Syrian
refugees into the US over the next few years. Just a thought. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-40239149148374599192016-06-23T07:13:00.003-07:002016-06-23T07:13:15.199-07:00We Cannot Have God on Our Terms
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span>Several
years ago I read <i>The Dark Night of the
Soul</i> written by a Catholic monk named John of the Cross. It had a significant
impact on my life as John made it clear that there were times in a Christian’s
spiritual life that could not be understood. Times of pain, confusion, and
sorrow are the anvil on which God teaches us to love Him for himself, not for
the good gifts he gives us. Others like Pascal, Augustine and modern day
protestants like A.W. Tozer say the same thing. Eugene Peterson puts it in
these words in the Forward to the book <i>Mansions
of the Heart</i> by Tom Ashbrook, “We cannot have God on our terms,
domesticated to our requirements, reduced to our ideas of what we think God
should be doing.” A mature Christian will love God for Gods sake, for his
beauty’s sake, for his glory’s sake. We don’t love God because he does what we
want. We love God because he’s God, period! For this reason, a life of
prayer—prayer being giving attention to God in every part of our lives (cf. 1
Thes 5:17)—rooted in our absolute acceptance by God because of Christ’s work on
the cross, is fertile ground for spiritual maturity. We can wrestle, argue, and
dialogue with God about failures, successes, and our future knowing that
whatever happens, as confusing as it may be, doesn’t happen in a outside of
God’s awareness and for God’s glory. It teaches us to love Him for His sake,
and nothing more. </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-13759377111242919792016-06-23T07:09:00.001-07:002016-06-23T07:11:45.113-07:00What's the Deal with God?
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You
do your part, I’ll do mine.” That's the deal we make with God. “I’ll be a good
guy. I’ll come to church. I’ll give money. I’ll serve you but in the end, you
need to come through for me too. And if you don’t?! Well then, the deals off.
I’ll marry someone who’s not a Christian, or sleep around, or cheat, or just
quit coming to church and serving you, and talking about you, and giving, and being
nice, or being cooperative or …..” That’s the deal Christians often make with
God. There is only one problem; God doesn’t make deals like that.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
god who makes deals is not the God who says to us, “Take up your cross and
follow me.” That’s not the God who says, “I will not yield my glory to
another.” Any one can give God glory, and be happy, and follow Christ as a
result of an easy life. A pagan can say, “Wow, I’m happy I’m not sick with
cancer, have a great spouse, make a lot of money, got over that relational
hickup, etc, etc, etc.” It’s quite another thing to keep your relationship with
God intact after you’ve been raped or sexually molested, or after your spouse
has died when your 35 and left you with three kids, or your family rejects you
for your faith, or you lose your job, or you are sued for some accident and it
puts your life on a downward spiral, or you are rejected at school because
you’re a Christian, or your kids go sideways on you even after you’ve done a
decent job raising them, or you were honest and got in trouble while someone
else cheated and got away with it, or whatever. See what I mean? Then the deal
with God becomes another thing altogether. Then it gets really personal.
Because now, Christ isn’t being followed because he’s making life easy but
simply because he’s Christ, because he’s God, because he’s glorious and
beautiful and lovely.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
you live for Christ without the deal, when you say, “Thy will be done,” not “My
will be done,” then God really gets the glory. When you, as an act of faith,
obey or serve or give, even when its hard and hurts, then whatever happens to
you, as you submit and surrender to him, he gets glory, he gets honor and he
gets praise. He gets to be God and he’s shown for who is really is in the eyes
of those who watch your life. And in the long haul, who knows, life may work
out differently than you ever imagined.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On
the cross Jesus showed us what true submission and surrender is. In the Passion
event, Jesus let God the Father be God the Father. In the garden of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gethsemane Jesus asked the Father to let the
events of the passion pass from him, “Father, let this cup pass from me,” he
requested. But in the end, his deal with the Father was what it had been all
along: “I can only do what I see the Father doing” (John 5:19). In other words,
the Father has the final say. God is not a negotiator. Let’s all consider
saying, “Regardless of what happens, despite it all, thy will be done!” </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-23512852013943629972016-06-23T07:06:00.000-07:002016-06-23T07:08:04.605-07:00Reactivity<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Why’d
I say that?” I thought to myself. I’d been in a conversation with someone, a
friend, and found myself reacting to something they’d said. It happened so fast
it was almost automatic. In other words, the terms they used, their tone of
voice, their body language, facial expressions, and the way it was said was
like the pushing of a button. With that button pushed, there was an automatic
reaction that was, well—automatic. It was almost like it was programmed. My
father in law worked for IBM and was an electronic engineer. “Computers only do
what you tell them to do,” he once told while I was complaining about my
computer not working right. In other words, “It’s not to computers fault for
doing what you told it to do, Dave!” I didn’t want to hear that but it was
true. Within reason, the same is true of our reactivity.</span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reactivity,
and the corresponding fight, flight, or freeze responses often associated with
it, have historical precedent in our lives. In other words, they are virtually
programmed into our psyche through our family of origin, life experiences, or
just plain human frailty. James and John’s response to the Samaritan village
that rejected Jesus is a case of reactivity, “Lord, should we call down fire
from heaven to consume them?!!” they asked. “Good heavens no!!” Was Jesus
response [Miles paraphrase]. “I don’t do things like that, and neither should
you.” Their reactivity to being rejected by Gentiles was tied into their
Jewishness and the cultural climate of the day. The same is true for us.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why
do we react when a parent or a spouse or a friend or an enemy states an obvious
opinion as if it was fact? Why do we react when a coworker blames us for
something we know we didn’t do? Why do we react when our expectations, even
those that are really unrealistic, aren’t met? Why do we react when people
don’t act or think the way we think they should act or think? Why do we react
when others do stuff that is problematic for us when we’ve never told them its
problematic for us?</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In
reality, reactivity tells us something about ourselves. Here’s what I think: reactivity
tells us that something other than God is being used to validate our worth,
significance, prestige or reputation. In short, reactivity flows from idolatry.
And idolatry flows from the sense that something other than God will give me
joy, happiness or life. Merle Jordon in his book, <i>Taking on the Gods</i>, says “Essentially, persons are created in the
image of God and only in being true to that inner self, linked with God, will
emotional and spiritual well-being flow. When a person takes his or her
identity from that which is less that the Ultimate Source of Being, then the
sense of self is distorted. Various <i>defenses</i>
[emphasis mine] and emotional and physical symptoms may appear over time which
are covert modes of communicating that one is out of touch with one’s true self
and with the true God.” (pg. 24)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Truthfully,
we all do this. Some of us are just more overt about it than others. We may
react by quietly stewing for weeks over some perceived slight. Or we may
explode or become caustic or gossip or trash another person behind their back.
All of this tells us more about ourselves than we are often willing to admit. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-7449985491631309362016-06-23T07:03:00.000-07:002016-06-23T07:03:30.294-07:00Hardship
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I recently finished a biography
on Roger Williams entitled, <i>Roger
Williams: Creation of the American Soul</i>. Williams was a Puritan who lived
during the tumultuous times of the early to mid-17<sup>th</sup> century in both
England and the American colonies. I also recently listened to a biographical
sermon, by John Piper, on Paul Bunyan, the author of <i>Pilgrim’s Progress</i>. These two men were contemporaries. Williams
moved to the colonies in America and went on to become the progenitor of the
Separation of Church and State and the author of numerous books. He was thrown
out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony for believing in religious liberty in spite
of the fact that he was a Calvinist like everyone else. Bunyan remained in
England, became a pastor, and went through the roller coaster ride of
Cromwell’s rule and the reintroduction of the monarchy after Charles I was
beheaded. He was imprisoned for twelve years because he refused to give up
preaching Baptist doctrine, during which he wrote his auto biography entitled <i>Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners</i>
and he started writing <i>Pilgrims Progress</i>.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What struck me about these two
men were the incredible hardships they faced to live out their Christian faith.
Bunyan pastored his church from prison for twelve years. Williams lost
everything he had. Religious freedom as we know it, didn’t really exist. You
could lose your head for not showing allegiance to the Book of Common Prayer in
England. You could lose your livelihood, or be murdered, for believing in
religious liberty in early New England.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Both the book and the message
were quite convicting. Today in America, Christianity is practiced with
relative ease. We deal with budgets and buildings, constitutions and
contemporary music, name changes, vision statements, and web sites. These are
all important subjects at our church right now. I’ve spent an enormous amount
of time talking about them in various churches. But the fact that we can even give energy to these
matters is because of the religious freedom we have in this country. It’s not
the same elsewhere. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today, Christians all over the globe are being killed and
persecuted for their belief in Christ. The hardships they experience are
incalculable. We debate the changing of our constitution. They debate angry
mobs intent on killing them. We get wounded over perceived personal slights on
the part of another person. They are physically wounded just for being a
Christian. The following is a true story of how one Christian community in an
unnamed country decided to address the hardship of persecution:</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">“So what
do we do when the police come to take our lives?” asked a young man and his wife
during a meeting in … 2010. An older man answered from his own experience,
“Well, this is what I say when this happens to me. I tell them, ‘You are not
taking my life. I am giving my life for you, and I hope you will come to know
my Lord Jesus Christ so that we can be together in heaven some day.’” The young
men and women in the room nodded their heads in agreement and said, “Okay, that
is what we’ll say."</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What kind of faith creates that
kind of response? What do they believe about God to have the courage to stand
up for truth like that, while at the same time accepting the hardship, and
possible death, that goes with it? The Psalmist gives us the answer: “You are
good and what you do is good. Teach me your decrees” (Ps 119:68). And again,
“Our God is in heaven, he does whatever pleases him” (Ps 115:3). God has a
purpose for you, and for me. That may involve deep pain and suffering or it may
not. But we know that in his absolute sovereignty he is infinitely good, so we
accept what comes our way with all the confusion, mystery, and pain that
accompanies it. Perhaps those I’ve identified in this blog understood one more
thing necessary to deal with hardship! On the cross Jesus was unjustly
condemned to death as part of God the Father’s plan to redeem us to himself. We
deserved the cross. Jesus did not. We deserve hell. Jesus came from heaven to
save us from it. So while we may not understand all the hardship in our lives,
we know that God is not immune to it, having experienced it himself in the
person of Jesus. So we take comfort and continue to live in faith despite the
hardship realizing that God, in his sovereign will, allows it. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-83874818455698412772016-06-22T17:42:00.001-07:002016-06-22T17:42:28.164-07:00Three Kinds of People
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span>One
of the more prolific thinkers of the twentieth century is CS Lewis. I have a
small book of his entitled <i>Present
Concerns</i> which is a collection of essays he’d written over the years for
various publications. One essay in particular caught my attention. It’s called “Three
Kinds of People.” In that essay Lewis unpacks what I think is a critical
distinction today for those from religious and non-religious backgrounds. In
short, it's a critical distinction all of us need to keep in mind, especially
those of us who live and work in a religiously secular (my own odd sounding phrase)
culture like New England. (I can’t say for sure, but it seems to me that even
the non-religious people here seem to have religious roots)</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span>.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span>At
any rate, Lewis says that first, there are those people who live for their own
sake and pleasure. We would call those non-religious people or irreligious
people. Regardless of what you call them, or how you describe them, they are
people who live any way they want. They simply don’t care for God or religion
or spiritual things. In many cases, spiritual things aren’t even on their
radar. There are more of these people around than you might think. Philosopher
Charles Taylor has noted that this is the first time in human history when one
can live one’s entire life without any sense of the transcendent. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span>Then,
according to Lewis, there are those people who live with a sense that there is
a greater claim on their lives—God’s claim. We’ll call these religious people.
But more often than not, they surrender to that claim like a man surrenders to
paying taxes. They do it because they have to but then, who wants to pay
taxes?! Consequently their faith is as sterile as tax day. It’s there, but they
hope that having done their due diligence, and paid what they owe to God, there
will be enough of life left over for them to have some fun. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span>And
then finally, according to Lewis, there is a third type of person. This is the
person who doesn’t feel that the will of God limits their will, but it is their
will. Unlike the non-religious and religious persons, they don’t live for
themselves but for God; for Christ. They do what they do for Gods sake, for his
beauty’s sake, for his glory’s sake. For them to live is Christ, says Lewis. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span>This
is a critical distinction for those who are followers of Christ, or for those
who seek to know what it means to be a follower of Christ. Christianity isn’t
about working hard to merit Gods blessing. That’s a tax payer mindset.
Christianity is living a life of faith based on the hard work done for us on
the cross by Christ. We don’t merit God’s grace. We don’t earn God’s grace. We
receive God’s grace. There is no other world religion like this. None, so far
as I can tell!! And when that is your mind set, the resulting joy and delight
that flows from it is palpable. The motivation for obedience and worship is
beauty and delight. It’s the duty of beauty, or the duty of delight, as one
person calls it. So what kind of person are you?</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span></div>
Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-14976725437181820302016-06-22T17:37:00.000-07:002016-06-22T17:39:36.986-07:00What We Need is More Prayer!!! Really???<style>
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</style><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I
got the email just a few days ago. A friend of mine, a missionary, was
challenging his readers to prayer. “There has never been a revival without the
concentrated prayers of God’s people,” he wrote. His impassioned plea for
prayer was convicting--and exhausting. “Oh great,” I thought. “Another thing I
have to do.”</span></span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From
the early church to the Puritan theologian Jonathan Edwards to the more recent ministry
of Concerts of Prayer, there is little doubt that prayer plays a huge role in
the work God does in a church or community. I believe it. I’ve seen it work.
I’ve been part of it. I promote it. When we first moved to NYC in 1985 the
church in the city seemed stagnant and flat. That's not to say there was
nothing happening. It just didn’t seem to be happening to any great degree. In
1987 a prayer movement began amongst pastors and leaders from the various
boroughs. It started in the church where I was a staff pastor. I was there. I
saw it with my own eyes. What has happened to the Church in the city since then
is truly amazing. There have been hundreds of church plants, a good deal of
social justice initiatives, and the city is a nicer place to live for almost
everyone. I’m no church historian, but I really believe prayer was at least
part of the catalyst.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But
here’s the caveat: when prayer is seen as just another thing we do to achieve
church growth, success, or our goals, then we’re missing the boat. Prayer
brings us into presence of God. What we want in prayer is God himself, not just
Gods gifts or Gods blessing. I’m all for prayer and I want us to pray more as a
congregation, but what I want more than prayer is God. I want Cornerstone
church to be a God saturated church where Jesus is exalted every single day of every
single week, and especially on Sundays. When we want Jesus, and God, and God’s
ways, we’ll be driven to pray. “Oh God, be gracious to us, we long for you,”
says Isaiah the prophet (Isa 33:2).</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So its
true that I want <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to be a praying person an<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d my churches</span></span> to be<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>praying churches. But more than that, I
believe that we’ll become a praying church when we become a God saturated
church. The more we love the God who sent his son to die for us, the more we’ll
want him and we’ll join Isaiah’s cry, “…we long for you!” Long for God and the
prayer that connects you to him—and drives revivals and movements of his Spirit—will
become easier, more intense, more frequent, and more focused. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-2117210536166506852016-06-22T06:41:00.000-07:002016-06-22T06:41:20.433-07:00SILENCE
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>“Silence!”
I can’t remember the movie where the character boomed out that famous line
(must have been tough to memorize) but its in my mind. I’m sure its been said
more than once. Silence. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Every
day I try to take five minutes of silence….at least. Some people take way more.
I’m good with five. But that silence allows me to shut out the external noise
that comes from the busyness of life. I’ll literally do that three times a day.
Morning, noon, and night though the noon and night times of stillness are more
stillness than absolute silence. Silence. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>It’s
in that stillness where my “to do” list is clarified and my real priorities
take shape. When I’m silent I’m not trying to think about a “to do” list,
though thoughts creep in. I’m not trying to think about anything. I’m just
trying to be silent. For me, I’ll offer one or two word prayers, “Come Holy
Spirit” or “Come Lord Jesus.” Silence. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>I
need the silence. I value the silence. I get up and run in the morning and
sometimes its just silent. I like it. I enjoy golf because its silent and
peaceful. Surfing is wonderful early in the morning because outside of the
waves crashing, its silent. There’s not horns honking or jets flying overhead.
Silence. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>“Be
still and know that I’m God” says the Psalmist. In a culture where God has
become trivial, where he does not matter, my silence and the two word prayers
that accompany it remind me that he does. There have been times where I’ve
ended sermons in silence. I just ask people to be still then we don’t say
anything for a minute. Silence. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Ever
been so stunned by something you can’t say anything? You are just mute! Silence
forces me to see that Gods like that. Awesome. Powerful. Holy. Just. When he
really speaks, even the most loquacious person alive will be silent. Silence. </span></span></span></div>
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</span></span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2603548346947878818.post-3538757619716104822016-06-22T06:31:00.003-07:002016-06-22T06:34:11.900-07:00What Do You Really Want?<style>
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</style><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Scott
Saul’s little book, <i>Jesus Outside the
Lines</i>, has captured my imagination. Scott Saul is a Presbyterian Pastor in
Nashville. Towards the end of the book Saul describes the inner struggle people
have when it comes to obedience, a struggle that is often rooted in failure to
obtain personal fulfillment and satisfaction. Our western culture tells us that
we deserve to get all that that life can give. We deserve to be happy, fulfilled,
and satisfied. It’s as if life owes us the best it offers. And if what makes us
happy and fulfilled isn’t obtained, or achieved the way we want, then we think
something’s wrong.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This
mindset is tied to the radical individualism of the west. Other cultures don’t
feel same. The will of the group, or family, is more important than the
individual’s wants or needs. But to us in the west, we want it all, and often live
in such a way to get it, even if getting it crosses God’s moral or ethical
lines. So for example, if we don’t have enough money, we’ll cheat to get more.
If we don’t get the love we want, we’ll have an affair. If you read the
tabloids, that seems to be the American way.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of
course life rarely delivers all the goods. Dreams are shattered. Hopes go
unfulfilled. Goals aren’t achieved. We don’t get into the school we want. We
don’t get the job or the type of spouse we hoped for. We don’t have the money
or material possessions or success we desire. Failure to obtain these things
can easily discourage us and make us wonder if God cares. Worse yet, it may
tempt us to obtain those things ways contradictory to what God wants—our
holiness!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What’s
the remedy? Back to Scott Saul’s little book. Towards the end he tells the
story of a Puritan who’d been stripped of everything but a piece of bread and a
glass of water. In 17<sup>th</sup> century England, that kind of punishment was
normal for religious outsiders like the Puritans. The Puritan’s response is
classic, “What? All this and Jesus, too?” Do you see what he was saying?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What
will make us truly happy? It’s not getting what we want. It’s getting what we
were created to have, and what we really need—God himself. “Whom have I in
heaven but you?!! And earth has nothing I desire besides you,” cries the
Psalmist (Ps 73:25). Regardless of life’s circumstances, the long term worst
case scenario for the believer is that we’ll inherit a wealth that will never
spoil, perish or fade. That wealth is Jesus. So regardless of the twists and
turns we experience in life, anchor your happiness and your satisfaction in his
provision for you through his life, death and resurrection on your behalf. Your
happiness, over the long haul, is rooted solely in him. Everything else will
fade away. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span>Dave Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842259653604651400noreply@blogger.com0