Have you noticed the newer industry sprouting up across the American landscape? Outlets are appearing in such assorted places as the intersection of two Interstate highways in downtown Philadelphia and in remote fields along country roads. The industry is "personal storage," a service provided to average American people. We Americans buy so much that we haven’t enough room, we so highly value the stuff we have that we cannot part with it and then finally sell it for pennies on the dollar. The storage business is a living metaphor of Jesus’ teaching about deciding between laying up treasures in heaven or accumulating stuff where moths, rust and thieves ruin what man treasures (Matthew 6:19-20).
The proliferation of the new business is now so common that several television shows focus on what people store, abandon and allow to be sold at an auction. The "lockers" are full of an assortment of stuff that would be used some day, but . . . . Another indication of our American commitment to the accumulation of stuff is demonstrated on various "house hunting" television programs. Granite counter tops vie for importance with walk-in closets and storage space. I am simultaneously amused and troubled when a newlywed couple being filmed declares, "We must have a three-car garage and two master suites to complement an ‘open concept’ living area, a home office space, craft room and full basement." I thought Pat and I were very good at gathering stuff, but we are clearly minor leaguers in comparison.
How can this be happening while the percentage of people in America living below the poverty line is mushrooming, the middle class is shrinking, people are losing their jobs and foreclosures are common? Is there no better use for our excess stuff? Is the best use of unused tables, lamps, recliners, sofas, tools and clothes collecting dust in storage lockers? Why are major corporations willing to fund television shows about hoarders? Who watches?
If we are made for better than accumulating stuff, and I really believe we are, then we must do the hard work of learning how to live counter-culturally. An early indicator of God’s attitude of sharing and stopping with enough is found in Leviticus 23:22 (NIV)
"'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.'" Leave some behind! Make some of your bounty available, without cost, to those who are in need. The story of Ruth centers on the largess of a kinsman. Boaz simply was living out God’s command to refuse to consume everything selfishly and to live generously.
Jesus’ parables reinforced the primitive, but effective system of distribution to satisfy needs. The story Jesus told of the man overtaken by thieves strikes at the heart of selfish living (Luke 10). The lesson on unselfish living is reinforced which is tucked into the narrative of feeding the thousands. One boy shared what he had before everyone’s need was met (Luke 9). And, Jesus’ teaching about the judgment clearly reinforces the rightness of sharing, giving, holding stuff loosely (Matthew 25).
Pat and I are trying to help fund 20 elementary school-aged children attend the Christian academy Pat founded in 2001. The children’s parents are among the working poor, underemployed and living below the poverty line. Their dream for their children is as real and noble ours is for our children and grandchildren. On occasion I struggle when approaching someone who is renting a locker their stuff but are unmoved with the nobility of educating children. I wonder if the press would cover my mischief. I am thinking of mowing my lawn neatly, but leaving a one foot wide section of lawn unmowed . . . all summer . . . until people started to ask, "Why don’t you mow all the lawn?" Maybe that would be a good way to start a conversation about the things are really important!
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Squeezing lemons or witnessing miracles?
The story has been around since I was a boy. A circus strongman entered the center ring violently squeezing a lemon and declared, "I’ll give $1000 to the person who can get another drop of juice from this lemon." At each performance in every city people would step forward and do their best to get another drop from the strongman’s lemon. Strong football players, construction workers, and overconfident men who had toned their bodies to perfection strained to gain the promised $1000.
At one evening performance a skinny older man stepped into the ring after all others had failed. The crowd hooted and laughed! How does this scrawny fellow think he can do what others stronger than he has failed to do? But, the older, physically challenged man began to carefully massage the lemon, carefully kneading the fruit apparently squeezed dry by the professional strongman. And, one, two, and then several more drops of juice spilled to the circus floor. The crowd cheered! The strongman was bewildered. The circus operators scurried about to find $1000 for the promised reward.
As the crowd sat in awed silence the strongman asked, "How did you do that? After years of challenging crowds no one has ever done what you have done tonight." The quiet lemon-squeezing gentleman said, "I have practiced for years. I am my church’s treasurer."
The first time I heard the story people laughed nervously. I thought it was funny, then, but not now. It isn’t funny for several reasons. First, the story reinforces a common opinion that church members are loath to support ministries financially. I have found the exact opposite. God’s people are the most generous people in the world. When authentic disciples of Jesus see a need, an opportunity to affect redemption, they run toward it with abandon. In my experience, shortages are experienced when the mission is presented without defining the nobility of the mission, not because of the people’s stinginess.
Second, true Jesus followers are oriented to "other-worldliness." They believe that investments in a redemptive ministry here on earth will bear dividends in heaven. We followers believe Jesus’ simple instructions and act on His truths. I know what moths, rust and thieves do. I have been victimized by them all. But Jesus followers also know that when they give, the gift returns, good measure, pressed down and running over.
Another thing I have discovered is that churches who strain forward, trying, reaching, stretching toward those who need her message most experience God’s provision. Groups that accept the limitations of what it has, in effect practically shut out God. Maintenance mode, or "We-can’t-afford-it-thinking" will grip a group around the neck and close its financial breathing tube. Opportunities come and go because, "We don’t have the money." Consider that when Jesus was confronted with feeding more than 5000 people he didn’t ask His disciples to raise a massive offering. The miracle began with gathering a few fish and loaves of bread. The rest is shouting material!
I speak as one who has led others and one who understands that I teach what I believe and reproduce who I am. In short generous churches are uniformly led by generous pastors and elders. Generosity is contagious. One of my favorite authors, D. Elton Trueblood wrote, "A religion that is not contagious is not genuine."1 Some may be comfortable with squeezing lemons, conserving hard-earned juice and saying "No" to opportunities deemed too risky, too expensive and too outrageous. Others, say, "Hey! If we obey, we’ll get to witness a miracle!"
At one evening performance a skinny older man stepped into the ring after all others had failed. The crowd hooted and laughed! How does this scrawny fellow think he can do what others stronger than he has failed to do? But, the older, physically challenged man began to carefully massage the lemon, carefully kneading the fruit apparently squeezed dry by the professional strongman. And, one, two, and then several more drops of juice spilled to the circus floor. The crowd cheered! The strongman was bewildered. The circus operators scurried about to find $1000 for the promised reward.
As the crowd sat in awed silence the strongman asked, "How did you do that? After years of challenging crowds no one has ever done what you have done tonight." The quiet lemon-squeezing gentleman said, "I have practiced for years. I am my church’s treasurer."
The first time I heard the story people laughed nervously. I thought it was funny, then, but not now. It isn’t funny for several reasons. First, the story reinforces a common opinion that church members are loath to support ministries financially. I have found the exact opposite. God’s people are the most generous people in the world. When authentic disciples of Jesus see a need, an opportunity to affect redemption, they run toward it with abandon. In my experience, shortages are experienced when the mission is presented without defining the nobility of the mission, not because of the people’s stinginess.
Second, true Jesus followers are oriented to "other-worldliness." They believe that investments in a redemptive ministry here on earth will bear dividends in heaven. We followers believe Jesus’ simple instructions and act on His truths. I know what moths, rust and thieves do. I have been victimized by them all. But Jesus followers also know that when they give, the gift returns, good measure, pressed down and running over.
Another thing I have discovered is that churches who strain forward, trying, reaching, stretching toward those who need her message most experience God’s provision. Groups that accept the limitations of what it has, in effect practically shut out God. Maintenance mode, or "We-can’t-afford-it-thinking" will grip a group around the neck and close its financial breathing tube. Opportunities come and go because, "We don’t have the money." Consider that when Jesus was confronted with feeding more than 5000 people he didn’t ask His disciples to raise a massive offering. The miracle began with gathering a few fish and loaves of bread. The rest is shouting material!
I speak as one who has led others and one who understands that I teach what I believe and reproduce who I am. In short generous churches are uniformly led by generous pastors and elders. Generosity is contagious. One of my favorite authors, D. Elton Trueblood wrote, "A religion that is not contagious is not genuine."1 Some may be comfortable with squeezing lemons, conserving hard-earned juice and saying "No" to opportunities deemed too risky, too expensive and too outrageous. Others, say, "Hey! If we obey, we’ll get to witness a miracle!"
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Anchored in Jesus
This week Pat and I were confronted with news that seems to be totally bad . . . the kind of message that has a dark cloud reaching in every direction from horizon to horizon. A former intern called to ask for a letter of recommendation. His career as a missionary has been put on hold. His nation where he and his young family are laying down their lives is so sensitive I have been asked to not mention the name of the nation in print.
My fiend did nothing wrong, but a family member has and a missionary is suddenly lifted across the world to help untangle the effects of sin. We have friends who have lost a child because of a drunk driver. Wrong! Many of my readers have ministered to children whose parent died prematurely because of destructive habits or stood by helplessly as we watch self-destructive behaviors.
While leading teams of ministerial interns in the 80's and 90's I discovered that responsible growth invariably followed a pattern, it is "RESPONSIBILITY + ACCOUNTABILITY = MATURITY." Parents begin with simple, attainable tasks like, "It is your job to take out the garbage," and follow up with, "Have you done what I have asked you?" Simple tasks become weightier responsibilities. Eventually a child is prepared to face life as an adult.
All sin, it seems to me, is the avoidance of properly facing personal responsibility. The fool thinks that his own reason is sufficient and lurches head-long into life, ill-prepared for the inevitable black clouds of the unexpected. Isaiah’s counsel is Gibraltar like, mammoth, immoveable, constant and reliable, "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near." (Isaiah 55:6) Yes, the dark clouds come . . . often too frequently. And sometimes the clouds creeping up over the horizon appear in spite of one living a well-disciplined and Godly life. A career is put on hold. Plans are moth balled. Hopes are quietly stowed away awaiting fulfillment.
The best we can do today is to heed Isaiah’s advice and "seek the Lord while He may be found." When the dark and dreaded news arrives we can know the truth of a gospel song penned by Lewes E. Jones.
Upon life’s boundless ocean where mighty billows roll,
I’ve fixed my hope in Jesus, blest anchor of my soul;
When trials fierce assail me as storms are gath’ring o’er,
I rest upon His mercy and trust Him more.
Refrain:
I’ve anchored in Jesus, the storms of life I’ll brave,
I’ve anchored in Jesus, I fear no wind or wave;
I’ve anchored in Jesus, for He hath pow’r to save,
I’ve anchored to the Rock of Ages.
He keeps my soul from evil and gives me blessed peace,
His voice hath stilled the waters and bid their tumult cease;
My Pilot and Deliv’rer, to Him I all confide,
For always when I need Him, He’s at my side.
He is my Friend and Savior, in Him my anchor’s cast,
He drives away my sorrows and shields me from the blast;
By faith I’m looking upward beyond life’s troubled sea,
There I behold a haven prepared for me.
The pianist has finished the prelude, come along and sing!
My fiend did nothing wrong, but a family member has and a missionary is suddenly lifted across the world to help untangle the effects of sin. We have friends who have lost a child because of a drunk driver. Wrong! Many of my readers have ministered to children whose parent died prematurely because of destructive habits or stood by helplessly as we watch self-destructive behaviors.
While leading teams of ministerial interns in the 80's and 90's I discovered that responsible growth invariably followed a pattern, it is "RESPONSIBILITY + ACCOUNTABILITY = MATURITY." Parents begin with simple, attainable tasks like, "It is your job to take out the garbage," and follow up with, "Have you done what I have asked you?" Simple tasks become weightier responsibilities. Eventually a child is prepared to face life as an adult.
All sin, it seems to me, is the avoidance of properly facing personal responsibility. The fool thinks that his own reason is sufficient and lurches head-long into life, ill-prepared for the inevitable black clouds of the unexpected. Isaiah’s counsel is Gibraltar like, mammoth, immoveable, constant and reliable, "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near." (Isaiah 55:6) Yes, the dark clouds come . . . often too frequently. And sometimes the clouds creeping up over the horizon appear in spite of one living a well-disciplined and Godly life. A career is put on hold. Plans are moth balled. Hopes are quietly stowed away awaiting fulfillment.
The best we can do today is to heed Isaiah’s advice and "seek the Lord while He may be found." When the dark and dreaded news arrives we can know the truth of a gospel song penned by Lewes E. Jones.
I’ve fixed my hope in Jesus, blest anchor of my soul;
When trials fierce assail me as storms are gath’ring o’er,
I rest upon His mercy and trust Him more.
Refrain:
I’ve anchored in Jesus, the storms of life I’ll brave,
I’ve anchored in Jesus, I fear no wind or wave;
I’ve anchored in Jesus, for He hath pow’r to save,
I’ve anchored to the Rock of Ages.
He keeps my soul from evil and gives me blessed peace,
His voice hath stilled the waters and bid their tumult cease;
My Pilot and Deliv’rer, to Him I all confide,
For always when I need Him, He’s at my side.
He is my Friend and Savior, in Him my anchor’s cast,
He drives away my sorrows and shields me from the blast;
By faith I’m looking upward beyond life’s troubled sea,
There I behold a haven prepared for me.
The pianist has finished the prelude, come along and sing!
God's Unchanging Hand
When you read this post Pat and I will be en route to Orlando, Florida for The Assemblies of God General Council. We have been privileged to attend every biannual meeting since 1969. The delight of each council includes business sessions, usually with lively debate. Sitting with friends, listening to the fine points of doctrine, tedious financial reports, motions to include or excise various practices, etc. Meal events allow us to honor great leaders retiring from office, learning about new opportunities for ministries, listening to great music and eating average food! The incentive to visit the exhibits isn’t as intense as when we were looking for products to help us in ministry. Stationers are down the road from us and they sell the paper, pens, and stamps we need to keep a home office going.
One evening, following a worship service, Pat and I will meet with college alumni in a large convention hotel ballroom. I will shake my head in wonderment, "How did all those people age like that?" "What happened to his hair?" Pat will invariably comment, "Life has a way of evening the playing field. The stunning ‘lookers’ now seem so average!" The hallways will fill with animated conversation. Our granddaughter will compete in the Fine Arts competition, and win! All this makes driving 2000 miles round trip worthwhile.
Sometime, in one of the worship services, at a meal function or conversation I expect to hear the voice of the Spirit. I cannot remember the exact instance from everyone of the 22 previous councils, but I will always remember our former General Superintendent, Thomas F. Zimmerman leading a song I had never previously heard.
Time is filled with swift transition,
Naught of earth unmoved can stand,
Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.
Refrain:
Hold to God’s unchanging hand,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand;
Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.
Trust in Him who will not leave you,
Whatsoever years may bring,
If by earthly friends forsaken
Still more closely to Him cling.
Covet not this world’s vain riches
That so rapidly decay,
Seek to gain the heav’nly treasures,
They will never pass away.
When your journey is completed,
If to God you have been true,
Fair and bright the home in glory
Your enraptured soul will view.
I was a rookie preacher. The ink on my diploma was still damp. My credentials were authentic but untested. I secretly prayed, "I hope we will make it!" The years have slipped by. The diploma has yellowed. The credentials were upgrade to "ordained," way back in 1968. Pat and I are still singing and still holding to God’s unchanging hand!
Ah, General Council," I wouldn’t miss it. Who knows, this may be the last one we will be able to attend. But then, there is always heaven! I really don’t want to miss that!
One evening, following a worship service, Pat and I will meet with college alumni in a large convention hotel ballroom. I will shake my head in wonderment, "How did all those people age like that?" "What happened to his hair?" Pat will invariably comment, "Life has a way of evening the playing field. The stunning ‘lookers’ now seem so average!" The hallways will fill with animated conversation. Our granddaughter will compete in the Fine Arts competition, and win! All this makes driving 2000 miles round trip worthwhile.
Sometime, in one of the worship services, at a meal function or conversation I expect to hear the voice of the Spirit. I cannot remember the exact instance from everyone of the 22 previous councils, but I will always remember our former General Superintendent, Thomas F. Zimmerman leading a song I had never previously heard.
Naught of earth unmoved can stand,
Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.
Refrain:
Hold to God’s unchanging hand,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand;
Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.
Trust in Him who will not leave you,
Whatsoever years may bring,
If by earthly friends forsaken
Still more closely to Him cling.
Covet not this world’s vain riches
That so rapidly decay,
Seek to gain the heav’nly treasures,
They will never pass away.
If to God you have been true,
Fair and bright the home in glory
Your enraptured soul will view.
I was a rookie preacher. The ink on my diploma was still damp. My credentials were authentic but untested. I secretly prayed, "I hope we will make it!" The years have slipped by. The diploma has yellowed. The credentials were upgrade to "ordained," way back in 1968. Pat and I are still singing and still holding to God’s unchanging hand!
Ah, General Council," I wouldn’t miss it. Who knows, this may be the last one we will be able to attend. But then, there is always heaven! I really don’t want to miss that!
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