Getting Ready for Rough

It’s time for some New Year’s Resolutions. But first a contemplation of the Lilliputians. Remember how small they were? Remember how Gulliver really didn’t have to worry about them, so he lay down for a nap, and when he awoke he was tied down by hundreds of small threads that would have been inconsequential one by one. However, with thousands of threads holding down every part of his body the restraining force was more than he could resist.

Often our resolutions fail, not for lack of desire on our part, but for the unexpected resistance from so many angles! Jesus said that before we decide to follow Him, we should count the cost. Maybe that is still true after we have been following Him for many years. Maybe we have to count the cost every time His Spirit prompts us to change a behavior.

Are we ready for the friends who will sigh and ask us to change back? Or for those who will angrily demand that we change back? Or for our own feelings of withdrawal? Or for the hollowness we feel after we have said goodbye to whatever attachment had become so dear to us?

Every new behavior requires some time to establish. The same is true of uprooting a behavior. In fact, uprooting may be harder than planting. Here’s just one “for instance”: There are foods I am dismissing from my diet, but Lilliputian resistance fights against it: social settings where those foods are present, my own appetite, old habits, restaurant menus, how I like to fill small chunks of time, how I like to fill small corners of my belly, my old negative images of “vegans”, and much more.

Can I foresee all the pressure I may receive—pressure to change back? Probably not. But the more I identify, the better prepared I will be to say, “Ah! Another Lilliputian, I see. I was expecting this one.” Then I can break that one little thread before I get held down by the overwhelming many.

How many Lilliputian threads can you identify that are currently holding you to the habit you are trying to change? Can you get ready for the rough times of snapping each thread? It does get easier as you go.

Merry Christmas (War Is Over)

As an adolescent one of my favorite songs was John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” I liked the tune, but even more I loved the idea of no more war. We were still at war in Vietnam and on our college campuses. I knew that in a few years I would be drafted to fight in a war that seemed senseless. Lennon’s children sang “War is over. If you want it, war is over now.” A sweet sentiment. Of course, many people wanted it, but the war dragged on. So much for sentiment.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could end any war that we decided to quit fighting? The good news is that because of Christmas we hold the power to do just that. Here’s the rationale: It takes two “yeses” to make a marriage, but only one “no” to cause divorce. Similarly, it takes only one “no” to create war. Peace comes by “yesses” from both sides. In war there is usually a hostile invasion and a resistance, but not always. My father-in-law aided the Dutch resistance during World War II by forging documents. In Amsterdam there is a Museum keeping alive the memory of the resistance. Holland was small and weak. Resistance was wiser than an open fight. But resistance can go too far as we will see in a bit.

As a child I read the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Genesis 9:13 says, “I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” I grew up thinking that “bow” was a pretty, poetic term for “rainbow”; somewhat like tying up a bow on a package. Lois Tverberg disagrees. She says the Hebrew word, keshet, which many today translate as “rainbow” really means “bow” in the military sense. Everywhere else in the Bible it is used that way.

So, God, after trying to solve the sin problem by declaring war on human life, decided to quit fighting. He set down His bow in the clouds “even though every inclination of [man’s] heart is [still] evil from childhood” (Gen 8:21, NIV). He knew the war was not over, but He quit fighting. The flood proves that we live only because of the self-restraint of God. If He were still at war with us, no power on earth could resist Him. We cannot resist His aggression, but we can resist His coaching.

At Christmas Immanuel ushered in the age of being coached. He taught, then He sent us the Counselor. We are so petty that we interpret the invitation to change as an act of war. And that is why the war continues today. God is done fighting, but we are not. Our little fists are clenched. Our little feet stomp the dust. When will we wear ourselves out and simply lay down our bows? When will we accept His coaching and allow our lives to be turned around? When will we will the war to cease? Maybe at Christmas? “If you want it, war is over now.”

Lost in Translation

I finished an excellent book today: Listening to the Language of the Bible: Hearing It Through Jesus’ Ears. Authors Lois Tverberg and Bruce Okkema explain idioms and assumptions that were current in Jesus’ time in order for us to catch the richness of Jesus’ expressions. The book ends by looking at a phrase that has always mystified me. In fact the widely differing translations of this statement of Jesus show that the translators were struggling to capture the most likely meaning of a rich phrase. Hebrew has a relatively small vocabulary, so many words do double and triple duty.

Jesus is telling people what is happening due to John the Baptist’s preaching. He says, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force” (Matthew 11:12, RSV). I wondered how heaven could suffer, and why violent men could take it. But the NIV reads, “…the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” This makes the kingdom sound more secure, but it is still at the mercy of forceful men. I knew I was missing something.

If one were to scrutinize this text, the choice of translation would make a huge difference to his or her conclusion and application. Tverberg suggests a much better way to read it. She explains that “poretz” means “to break forth” and Jesus seems to be alluding to Micah 2:12-13 which says that “One who opens the way (haporetz) will go up before them; they will break through (poretz) the gate and go out. The king will pass before them, the Lord at their head.” The people knew that the “one who breaks open the way” was the messenger who would cause people to repent and be ready. Then the sheep would explode out to follow the Shepherd King; a messianic allusion.

This made sense to the people who knew how shepherds would gather their sheep into a cave and build a small stone wall to keep them in. In the morning when the sheep were hungry, a man would roll away some of the stones (forcefully break the wall) and the sheep would stampede out (forcefully exit) to start grazing. What a joyous picture of the breaking forth of the gospel and of the people’s eager pursuit of it!

If this much can be lost in translating from Hebrew to English, how much more might be lost in translating God’s sentiments into an earthly language. The prophets received impressions and convictions and had to stuff them down into our language whose vocabulary must appear infinitesimal compared to the language of heaven. How much gets lost even in that first translation.

I say all this to make a case for letting some troubling passages stand. In time we may find better ways to understand them. How many times do we run down dark paths by over-analyzing a partially-understood expression? 

Waiting for Willing

“Hallelujah! … Hallelujah! …” My soul filled and my heart thrilled to the strains of “The Messiah” as I stood in the Loma Linda University Church. Only one week ago we were watching the breaking news of the Sandy Hook massacre, and yesterday some were thinking of winter solstice, the end of the Mayan calendar, and the much-joked-about end of the world. At this moment I marveled at the glory of the good God we worship with the best of our art and at least a piece of our heart.

“Oh, Lord! Can’t you just end this degenerate world and gather us unto Yourself?!” I silently cried.

In my mind’s eye I could see us all caught up together with Him, and in a flash I got an answer as to why that doesn’t happen. The filth, darkness, and pain are infused in us. We would take them with us. God can’t scoop up a handful of humanity without having it drip with the sting and the ache that we long to escape. We don’t need to escape the planet; we need to escape us.

When I lived on an island off the Olympic Peninsula, a visiting preacher said, “This is so beautiful; just remove the sin and it would be paradise.” Since then I have lived in many places of which the same statement could be made. But in every place I’ve lived, and as the headlines will confirm, we have our own way of adding injury, insult, and injustice.

Could God be waiting for a people who have attained the perfection needed for entry into the New Earth? I doubt we understand the fullness of “perfection” as it is known to God. And I doubt we have either the strength or the situation to attain it. But I do believe we have to be willing to let Him mess around in our lives. It has to happen sometime. If we can go from pond slime to sublime without any effort on our part—if it all depends on God—then He has “some ‘splainin’ to do” for the 2,000-year delay.

But as I listened to the rapturous music and thought of my kids, my friends, my enemies, and my own sorry carcass, I was grateful that God is today accepting all who say “Take me, break me, remake me.” If He threw us right now into eternity, it would be like “throwing us under the bus.” We are not ready for a perfect world.

Isaiah said that our salvation lies in our ability to repent and rest (30:15). We regret how we are, and we rest in His work to change us. We don’t rest from obedience or cooperation, we rest from our resistance to His meddling. We become willing, and He begins to remake our appetites, our attitudes, and our attachments… just as far as we allow Him to go.

Today we (and those we worry about) still have the opportunity to let Him work heaven into our lives. “Hallelujah!” 

Appetite: This is WAR!

A strange thrill welled up in me as Ginger shared facts she’d read in The China Study. She wanted to make dietary changes. I had an involuntary response of excitement even though I knew her intentions would spell doom for some of my favorite foods. Still, like light spilling through a cracked doorway, her resolve planted hope in my heart for increased and improved years together.

In the following days a darker thrill tickled my brain. I now had a mandate to consume all the junk food in the house “just to tidy things up a bit.” I, of course, started with the chocolates.

Things were going along swimmingly until my sleepless night (not yet ended) brought me back to my senses. Whether my aching head, nauseous stomach, and chilled, tingly hands were a migraine, a bug picked up from a niece, or direct divine retribution for my dietary sins, I care not a whit! The great gift given me by all the pain was a reborn resolve to return to the first thrill: maximizing my health as a loving response to the One who gave me this physical machine I have so often abused.

I lay awake with head throbbing, repeating memory verses… not as penance, but as claims upon the grace of a God Whom I desire more than life. They seemed to shine in the inky air around me revealing Him as the Coach He has always wanted to be. Here are three of them.

“Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He instructs sinners in His ways. He guides the humble in what is right … Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. … The LORD confides in those who fear Him…” (Psalm 25:8-14). God is good and therefore always eager to be my Teacher. All I have to do is be willing to learn and then practice. He will even confide in me. What a thrilling thought!

However, I know how strong my appetites are. I know how many ways I find to justify doing exactly as I want. Once the appetite comes up—whether it is for food or a new surround sound speaker system—I can find ways to justify gratifying it. I have a thousand ways to wander onto a side trail just long enough for my desire to attain an innocent glow. So here’s what the Word says: “…each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:14-15). In the middle of the night with a splitting head, a sloshing stomach, and shaky, clammy hands; it was easy for me to imagine a doctor bending close so his words would penetrate my fog, “I’m sorry. There’s nothing modern medicine can do for your sorry carcass at this point in your deterioration.”

I knew that in the morning this would make an amusing story, but I am aware that that kind of amusement is just one more way I avoid making good on promises, or avoid making promises in the first place. I also knew, even there in the middle of a painful night, that I would survive and that no One was asking me for promises. In the midst of the pain I was actually joyful for the reminder of that earlier thrill—the thrill of better choices and improved futures. In truth a few more chocolates wouldn’t destroy me, but the continued suppression of a more godly will could.

After three hours the symptoms slowly began to abate, and I lay there happily talking with the One who loves me and puts up with so much of my garbage and duplicity. I promised Him (and me!) that in the light of day, when this night seemed light-years away and somewhat laughable I’d laugh if I wanted, but I would also make an immediate start to eliminate the enemy… and not “eliminate” in the digestive way I’d been planning!

Oh that hurt! Even in my bed the unfinished See’s chocolates called to me from the pantry downstairs. Their siren song was sweet and pleading. It begged me to be reasonable, not rash! I mourned for the untasted. I was angry that I’d not wolfed them down prior to this night of conviction. But when I finally realized the horror that my 56-year-wise brain was a slave to the worm of desire, then the whole scene changed.

The chocolaty, nutty morsels in my pantry were only the foot soldiers of the slaver I have sworn to resist. There are a billion more of his pawns out there on shelves in shops all over the U.S. If I give in to these invaders in my own home… no, “finishing them off” as militaristic as it sounded, would only be one more step in “finishing me off.”

I won the battle on my mattress and immediately felt liberated from the food and the sound system. I can be a son of the Most High, not amused with these trivial appetites. Unfortunately, I’ve been a pretty poor soldier. Many of the mental fortresses I have constructed have actually sheltered me from His gentle pleadings. Perhaps He did use the night of pain to weaken my defenses just enough for me to claw my way out into daylight.

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). It’s not about food, it’s about allegiance.

Thoughts on the Sandy Hook Massacre

Ginger and I were visiting her brother in Arroyo Grande last Friday when the horrendous slaying of the innocents occurred in Connecticut. We went to bed early that night and spent two tearful hours watching news reports. It is nearly impossible to imagine the grief that must grip that idyllic town. So many times—and even in my dreams that night—I made comparisons to Rogers Adventist School and the dedicated staff and close-knit families that live there. I couldn’t help but worry for their safety, as well. We spent years on our safety plan, but I doubt any school is prepared to do any more effective job of stopping a shooter than Sandy Hook was. While the loss of life would have been higher without the heroics of the teachers, it was still way too high.

I know many have posted thoughts of sadness or encouragement on Facebook and other media. But I want to record one strong impression this tragedy has left indelibly, I hope, on my mind and heart.

People wiser or closer to God than I will have to answer “Where is God at a time like that?” Sometimes His ways, at least to me, are inscrutable. Perhaps they actually always are. Maybe when we think we have things figured out, it’s just a lucky guess. Or perhaps when it seems like God is in His heaven and all is good in our corner of the earth, we are simply blissfully ignorant of the cries of pain, loneliness, and despair that He hears constantly ascending. I don’t know.

But what stays with me is the thought that maybe today God can only be present on earth through His incarnation in His children… of which I am one. Satan, too, is present in the twisted wrecks he has made of the souls of the ones he has tormented.

The Babe of Bethlehem did not say He would send us a Holy Security Guard, but a Counselor. And maybe as we become therapeutic for those around us, we are incarnating the very Being who longs to calm our beating hearts and to bind our bleeding wounds.

What if the apocalypse is really about a time when the image of God has disappeared from His creation? A time when hope and holiness have been traded for cheap thrills, uncontrolled appetites, and desperate, selfish pursuits? What if God’s Spirit stays in this world only through the responsiveness of each of His attentive children?

If God can glimmer into this life only through the reflection borne on our faces, then I want my life to be fully turned towards Him. I want my face to be unveiled and as clear and bright as possible. “Lord, as evil comes from the hands of tormented humanity, so let holiness and hope find a field command post in my life.”

Going Blind - My Shortest Post

I have noticed that the pictures I post are attracting "image harvesters" from Canada, UK, Russia.. even foreign and exotic places like Alaska! Oh no! I'm hereby getting out of the "image" business. They might say they subscribed for the articles, but I wonder...

I know the loss of images will make this blog text-heavy; blind. But those who want to see, can still see.