Thanksgiving I

Iam thankful for so many things. I am thankful for my car so I can hurry from place to place and get more tasks done. Jesus had to walk and go more slowly through life. I am thankful for my corner office so I can get more accomplished without interruption. Jesus worked out in the open and people with problems came to him from everywhere. I am thankful for my four bedroom house in the suburbs so I can have my space. Jesus lived in a house with 12 disciples and Peter's extended family and had to learn life in community. I am thankful for my Ipod so I can fill my time with entertainment. Jesus had to live with more silence and pay attention to the thoughts in his head. I am thankful for all my Bibles at home and the office so I can always find God's Word. Jesus had no copy of the Bible; he had to memorize it and carry it in His heart . It seems that the things I value may actually serve to keep me from being like Jesus. Maybe I will make a new list for Thanksgiving.
DMac

The Limits of Learning

This is the Celsus Library one of the most famous libraries of the ancient world. It was located in the ancient city of Ephesus, one of the most significant cities in all of the Roman Empire. Across the street, however, archaeologists have discovered a large brothel. It seems that having the collected wisdom of the day did not help the Ephesians live lives of real wisdom. Outside the city gates was the city dump. This dump did not house old tires or televisions; rather it was the site for infants to be dropped off to die fom exposure. As many as 500 infants might be left here at one time in this very educated prospreous city. Some, no doubt, born out of unions just across from the library. By the way, church tradition records that early Christians often came to the dump to rescue these babies. They also pooled their funds and bought slaves sold at the same gate to give them their freedom! I wonder if the the difference between the Ephesian pagans and their Christian counterparts may have been due in part to the reading material of the Christians. They were people of the Bible and their study led to actions that valued life and honored God.
DMac

Signs

" Signs, signs, everywhere are signs...." goes the old song. Last night I was watching a game and after a player scored a touchdown he made a sign above his facemask. The referee flagged him for taunting even though, as the announcer pointed out, the ref probably did not know what the sign even meant! I agree with the ref; regardless of what the sign meant it probably served to separate the player from his opponents. Paul faced a church that specialized in separating themselves from others by claiming to follow different "apostles" like Paul, or Peter, or Apollos. Paul chastised the Corinthians and urged them to focus on what binds them together in unity--Jesus himself. I still see signs and bumper stickers 10 days after the Presidential elections. If it were in my power I would throw a flag on these folks and penalize them for harming the unity of our nation. Let us do all in our power to support the unity not only of our nation, but our church as well.
DMac

Refusing Guilt

I love Erma Bombeck's take on guilt; she called it "the gift that keeps on giving". Experts identify two kinds of guilt: healthy (existential ) guilt and unhealthy guilt. Healthy guilt moves us to make positive changes in our behavior. For example I may feel guilty about what my consumption of gas is doing to the planet so I am moved to drive a more fuel efficient car and drive less. Unhealthy guilt is used to manipulate me to do what another person wants whether it would be good for either of us or not. So a person may try to make me feel like a "bad" pastor if I do not visit them or do something they want. One thing I note about Jesus is that he acted out of compassion and not guilt. This allowed him to do what was truly good for people whether or not they thought it was. How frustrating it must have been to people to find a person who they could not manipulate; but how much better did he make their world! A friend of mine talks about how he no longer "receives guilt" from people. They often get angry; but they often get healthier too! Today would be a good day to stop the gift of guilt from giving to us.
DMac

God's 401K

I cringed when I opened my retirement statement last month. Some of my friends even refused to open their statements! I wonder what was God's retirement plan for God's people? I think it is found in the 5th commandment: "honor your father and mother". While many use this to encourage children to obey their parents ( I have done so myself), most scholars see this command indicating that children should care for their parents even when the parents can no longer contribute to the family's economic well-being. The aged should be valued for their life-long efforts and accumulated wisdom. Of course parents should live in a way that honors God and blesses their children. Trying to view this from a biblical perspective, I see three things: 1. Our society should repent of its fixation on youthfulness and move to value the elderly. 2. Parents, like me, need to live in ways that do not take away resources from our children- conserving energy resources and borrowing less would help. 3. We need to recover the biblical sense of community-- the issue is not our well-being individually, but rather the well-beingof all the members of the community. Ultimately there is no good retirement for any until there is retirement for all. That is a tall goal; can we take one step up to that in our lives?

the real speed of Change

The time changed 5 days ago and my body still has not adjusted to the change. Often we hear of the rapid speed of change in our world. In many ways that is true; especially in the area of technology. But real substantive change, deep change takes much longer. I think of the Exodus, for example. It did not take God too long to get the slaves out of slavery in Egypt once the plagues began. However, the Bible indicates that it took 40 years to help the Israelites prepare to live in their new found freedom. That seems about right to me. Old bad habits and character issues take time to change in our lives. My best advice: Be patient with yourself while you are trying to change and be patient with others as well as they are growing to become who God is calling them to be.

Dmac

Bob Wills and Election Day

There is way too much hype over the significance of this election for Christians. As a friend of mine who went to college in the 50's said years ago:"no matter who is in Austin Bob Wills is still the King!" Change the country singer to Elvis or even Kenny Chesney and the point is still the same. Elections may change things--but not that much. We serve a God who can never be voted out of office. Interestingly the Christian movement actually spread best and took over a continent (Asia Minor) while complete pagans were in office and killed any who dared not to worship them!

If the Roman emperors could not adversely affect our ability to live a life of faith and love and bless the world, then a Republican or Democrat in office will not derail us either!

Dmac