Welcome to the Deep End! 2 Corinthians 1

May the mumbling commence!

Are you in too deep?  Sometimes, as we serve our Lord in love, we feel like we are buried alive.  If you feel or have ever felt like you were drowning in the deep end of the pool of ministry, take some comfort from the words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian church as recorded in Second Corinthians chapter one:

Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.  If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.  And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia.  We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.  But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.  He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again.  On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.  Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.  (Verses 3-11)

We are buried with Christ – buried in his sufferings.  Together we share those sufferings.  But, just as we share in the sufferings, we also share in the glory of the resurrection.  Take comfort in the power of the resurrection!

Do you and I feel overwhelmed by our ministries in the Lord?  That is a good thing!  Remember that even Paul felt overwhelmed at times – beyond the ability for Paul and his companions to endure.

Paul tells us to rejoice when we feel stretched beyond all our limits for the sake of the gospel of Christ Jesus.  It is when we are overwhelmed that we best learn to rely on God and not ourselves.  O Lord show us the way!

And Paul reminds us about the power of prayer.  We deliver one another from all temptations and strife by our prayers for one another.  Thanks will arise from all corners of the Christian world.  The grace of God will be extended to the world as we get in over our heads, as we rely upon God, and as we pray.

So, let’s dive into the deep end today – and all days henceforth!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Lovely, The Holy Spirit; 1 Corinthians 12-14

May the mumbling commence!

How does the Holy Spirit mark its presence in our lives?  Some people would have us believe that we must speak in tongues to show that we have the Spirit.  While that is one sign, there are many more signs of the Holy Spirit at work within the believer.  He lists some in First Corinthians chapter twelve (verses 28-29).  They are apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, healing, helping, guidance, and speaking different tongues.  This list is incomplete even, as any thorough study of the New Testament would tell us.

Is there a greater gift?  If so, which gift is greater?  Paul speaks to the greatest of the gifts of the Spirit in the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians.  That chapter is often called the love chapter.  Want to guess what the greatest gift of the Spirit is?  Read the first few verses below:

If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.  (Verses 1-3)

Love is the key element that holds all other gifts of the Spirit together.  Without love, we will become conceited.  Without love, the message – the Good News – will be distorted beyond all recognition.  Without love, I speak like the adults in the Peanuts cartoon.  I speak only meaningless syllables.

Without love, I am nothing.  Without love, I gain nothing in all my hardships and services to the Lord.

What is at the heart of the attitude that we do (and not do) all the things that we do?  The answer to that question is just as important (potentially more important) than what we do (and do not do).

May you and I act out of love – love for God and neighbor.  Then our service and suffering for the Lord will be greatly amplified.  God’s love will be evident to all.

May it be so.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

The Eternal Medal; 1 Corinthians 9-11

May the mumbling commence!

We are only about a month away from the Summer Olympics in London.  We will see athletes from around the world competing for their country’s honor.  What we see is only the culmination of a lifetime’s worth of work.  There is so much blood, sweat and tears that we do not see.  It takes enormous self-discipline.  Read from First Corinthians chapter nine:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (Verses 24-27)  

The peak of the Olympics is the gold medal.  Gold is the road pavement of heaven.  Though gold will last a long time, it will not last forever.  But, to receive a gold medal requires much hard work.  These athletes have been in strict training – some of them for their entire lives.  Only a precious few of them get a medal at all (bronze and silver included).

And time and age and injury are not kind.  Olympians compete only for a small fraction of their lifetime.  Any medal that they have won slowly loses its luster, because they can no longer compete at that high level.

It is the same for the professional sports in America.  Athletes train hard to achieve professionalism in their sports.  They often sacrifice their bodies and minds to earn the privilege of being paid to play a game – sometimes millions of dollars.  It is the dream of many athletic youths.  So few people achieve professional status. 

And those people that do pay a high price for the fame and fortune.  It is often hidden from our eyes, but it is there.  We see more and more of it as the truth comes out about the brain and other injuries that former NFL players suffer from.

All of this blood, sweat and tears for a prize that does not last.  In fact, the prize is but a flash in the pan in the context of eternity.  There is a much higher goal to attain that requires just as much self-discipline.

May you and I bend our bodies, minds, souls and spirits to the will of God.  May you and I walk the walk that we know the Spirit of God is calling us to walk.  May we walk the walk so that we can preach the gospel to others without disqualification.

May we run in a way that we try to get first place.  May we run competing and knowing that we are in more of a relay race.  May we realize that the godly contest in one more of cooperation than competition.  May we stop and help others who are struggling.  Together we can run the race better.

The prize is eternal life with our Lord Jesus Christ.  That prize will last.  Let us make the steps together and arrive with company!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out 

Handle Knowledge With Care; 1 Corinthians 6-8

May the mumbling commence!

Knowledge is power.  Handle with care. To handle knowledge with care is the definition of wisdom.  And wisdom comes only from the Lord.  Read First Corinthians chapter eight:

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.  The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.  But the man who loves God is known by God. 

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one.  For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 

But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.  But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. 

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.  For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols?  So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.  When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.  Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

While our knowledge may give us freedom, our freedom can become a stumbling block to one who does not have the knowledge we have.  We may know something is harmless in moderation – like alcohol. 

But remember: We bare the name of Christ as Christians.  If we drink alcohol among Christians who have the propensity for alcoholism, we may lead them to stumble.  Our knowledge will have destroyed them.

Knowledge is power.  Handle with care.

You and I have our weaknesses.  We would not like them tested – let alone tempted.  So we must look carefully at our neighbors to understand their weaknesses so that we might help them in their growing walk with Jesus.  That is building one another up.  That is love.

Let us join Paul in vowing to do nothing that would cause another person to stumble.  This attitude helps to deflate the potentially pompous nature of knowledge.  To deflate an overactive ego turns knowledge into wisdom.  And wisdom will bloom into godly uses of power.

Knowledge is power.  Seek the wisdom of Christ Jesus.  And handle with care.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Flat Bread Christians; First Corinthians 3-5

May the mumbling commence!

What gets a rise out of you?  You know, something that gets at the very core of your being.  That is where the strongest emotions known to humanity are buried.  We know when they are struck because we feel it.  The very hair of our bodies stands on end.

What gets a rise out of you is not always good.  More often than not it is unhealthy.  It is leaven that needs to fall by the wayside.  Read a few verse from First Corinthians chapter five:

Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?  Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. (Verses 6-8)

Indeed, the things that get a rise out of us are often something we boast about.  These are the things of my story.  I think immediately for my love of story – in its many forms.  There is the grand narrative of the Bible.  There are the novels that I love to read – fantasy, horror, science fiction, biblical fiction…  There are the stories acted out upon the silver screen and the stage. 

Story gets a rise out of me.  They help to define who I am.  There is a thrill of being involved in a story – whether I am a reader, a member of an audience, an actor, or a writer.  These things get a rise out of me.  They are the yeast of my life.

In and of themselves, they are not bad things.  But they can lead me down the path of narcissism and self-loathing.  They do not keep me connected to the true meaning of my life – unless they are connected to Christ in some way.

If Christ our Lord gets the rise – the glory, then we are transformed.  We are no longer leavened bread.  We become flat bread – ready to be taught by the Spirit of Christ, ready for service at a moment’s notice, ready to accept the Bread of sincerity and truth.  We become flat bread and acknowledge that the ground at the foot of the cross is level…

Because story is essential to my life, I must connect each of the stories that I am involved in – especially those that affect me most deeply.  If there is a disconnect with the Spirit of Christ, then the stories must be jettisoned.  The stories need to join amicably with the Greatest Story Ever Told – the story contained within the covers of the collection of books that I have read the most – the Bible.

May you and I seek to be flat bread Christians – teachable for the Spirit, accepting of sincerity and truth of Christ, and ready for service.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

The Worst of Both Worlds; First Corinthians 1

May the mumbling commence!

You have probably heard the saying, “I have the best of both worlds.”  What if I were to turn that phrase on its head?  “I have the worst of both worlds.”  Sometimes, I think that way when I read this passage from First Corinthians chapter one:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  For it is written:

"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;

the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." 

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. 

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.  It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."  (Verses 18-31)

The cross of Christ is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.  Have you ever wondered where you would fit better in this equation – regardless of where you fall by heredity?  Let’s think about that.

Why was the cross of stumbling block for the Jews?  It was considered by the Jews that being hung on a tree to die was a great curse of God.  So the Jews stumble over the cross because of this curse.  They also wondered why the Messiah would suffer and die such a death.

I could find myself here.  Haven’t you ever wondered about the ability of suffering to save?  If suffering is looked upon as the road to salvation, suffering can be abused in ways not intended by God.  Yeah, I can see how I can stumble upon the suffering of the cross.  I know why with my mind, but I cannot quite get it wrapped around my heart.

What about the other world of thought?  Gentiles thought the cross was foolishness.  Why?  It does not seem wise to offer your life as a sacrifice to establish a new ruling order.  Gentiles only understood force.  It was the only thing that has proven to establish order.  How often have I got caught up in the scientific method?  What can be proved and replicated?  How do the miracles of God respond under the microscope of modern day science?

I could also find myself identifying with this world of thought.  The cross of Christ looks like foolishness – from a human point of view.  But the human point of view is badly distorted.  The human point of view is myopic – near-sighted and self-centered.  God’s wisdom in the cross puts human wisdom on its head.  There is no self-sufficiency.  There is no room for boasting.

So, let’s dust ourselves off from our stumble and embrace the foolishness of God.  There is no greater wisdom in all of Creation!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out  

No Credit in Love; Romans 13-16

May the mumbling commence!

If we allow the Word of Christ to saturate our lives, it would be difficult to miss the essential nature of love.  It would also be difficult – near impossible – to overstate the importance of love.  Love is the positive of way of fulfilling all the commandments of God – which by a majority are negative in manner.  Read a passage from Romans chapter thirteen:

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.  The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Verses 8-10)

With love, there are no credit cards.  Indeed, there is no credit at all.  Love is based on the currency of time and service of care and work.  Love is a debt never fully paid.  We may be able to celebrate the payoff of our educations (Some day, please!) our vehicles, our homes.  But we can never celebrate the payoff of our love to God and to other people.

And love is the currency that fulfills the Law.  Love is obedience to the Lord God.  It is the only way to please our Creator.  And we must choose to love.  Love cannot be forced or bribed.

In this brief passage, we learn about what love is not.  That is one way to learn about something.  Love allows no space for infidelity.  Love is not murderous.  Love does not take without permission.  Love does not look wistfully across the fence at the greener grass on the other side.  Love does no harm to its neighbor.

What else can we say is not included in a godly love?  Read Paul’s last exhortation to the Romans from chapter sixteen:

I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.  For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.  Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. 

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.  (Verses 17-20)

Love is not divisive.  Love does not exist for its own appetite.  Love does not use smooth talk or flattery to get what it wants.  There is no lie, no deception, in love.  Purge these things from your repertoire.

Love is obedience to the God of peace.  Love is serving Christ Jesus.  Love is wisdom about what is good and innocence about what is evil.  Love is faithfulness to God.  Love is comforting in its strength of grace.

Let’s pay our debt of love to God and to all creation this day.  We pay our debt with time and service in faithfulness to our Lord Christ Jesus.  Tomorrow, let’s do it again!  Repeat!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

The Divine Pedicure; Romans 10-12

May the mumbling commence!

It is time for a divine pedicure.  Beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.  And there is no news greater than the gospel of Christ Jesus.  It means salvation. 

Read the heart of Romans chapter ten:

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" 

But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?"  Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. (Verses 9-17)

Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.  If you do these two things, you will be saved.  It is simplicity in itself!

Do not be deceived.  There are obstacles to overcome.  How will people call on the One they have not believed in?  Better yet – How can they believe in the One they have not heard of?  We need to preach.  We need to leave the comfortable confines of the four walls of the church and preach.  We need to be sent.

Yes, here are the steps to a divine pedicure:

1)    Allow the word of Christ to saturate your life – all that the Name means through Jesus’ life, teachings, death, and resurrection.

2)    Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.  (Yes, to preach, it is essential for you to be saved first.)

3)    Repeat Step One.

4)    Speak the Words of Christ in the congregation.

5)    Repeat Step One.

6)    Accept the call of the Body of Christ (the Church) to be sent to people currently not within the fold of the Great Shepherd (Jesus Christ).

7)    Repeat Step One.

8)    Go to nonbelievers and speak the Word of Christ to them.

9)    Repeat Step One.

10)  Rejoice with those who claim salvation for their own for the first time!  

Embrace these steps, and you will be well on your way to having beautiful feet.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Faith of a Child; Romans 7-9

May the mumbling commence!

George Michael once sang a song called “Faith”.  “You gotta have faith-a-faith-faith-a!  Baby!”  Indeed, faith and love at the purest levels seem to be the territory of children.  Do not forget what Jesus has said, “Unless you come with the faith of the child, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

As George Michael’s song says, “We wait for something more.”  We expect more to be required.  We think of the good works that God created us for – so that we can show love to our Creator and to all creation.  But these good works are built upon the solid foundation of the love and faith of God.  When we display faith and love, we show how we most accurately reflect the image of God.

Faith and love are the only responses truly needed to be saved – faith in love in Christ Jesus.  If we accept anything else, it is a lie.  If we accept anything else, we will stumble and fall.  Or we will be crushed.  Read from Romans chapter nine:

What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.  Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone."  As it is written:

"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble

and a rock that makes them fall,

and the one who trusts in him

will never be put to shame."  (Verses 30-33)

Israel was in hot pursuit of works for salvation through obeying the Law.  Instead, they should have been in hot pursuit of faith and love and peace.  These things would have led them to obedience to the Law – at least in part.  I guess the question is like the chicken and the egg.  Which came first? 

Well, which came first the Law or faith?  Paul makes a concerted effort in Romans to prove beyond a doubt that faith came first.  Without faith, we cannot please God.  And we were made to please God.  That is our highest purpose.  Faith is our only source of salvation.

Then, when we have faith, we act on that faith.  We act on that faith and show obedience to the Lord Jesus.  But our actions do not save us.  Our actions are a response of thanksgiving and praise.  Our works are important in the sense of an appropriate response to God’s mercy and grace.

If we try to twist these two things around – having works bring about our salvation rather than faith – we will stumble and fall.  We will be crushed under the weight of the Law.  We will be denying our need for the sacrifice of Christ’s life.  Outside of Christ, we will be judged by the Law.  We will be found guilty.  And we will perish.

No, Paul tells us.  Put your trust, your faith, in Christ Jesus.  If you put your faith in Christ, you will never be ashamed.

Yes, “We gotta have faith!”

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Allegiance to Obedience; Romans 4-6

May the mumbling commence!

I pledge allegiance to obedience, and my obedience belongs to God.  Seven days ago, it was Flag Day.  Like many other people taught in a public school setting, I started my day with the “Pledge of Allegiance.”

You know, “one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”  Where does liberty and justice for all come from?  Let me tell you it’s not from the constitution or the national government.  Liberty and justice come from God, who all nations are under.  Read about Jesus’ action as Paul writes to the church in Rome in Romans chapter five:

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.  For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Verses 17-19)

And justice for all, indeed!  Justice comes through the work of grace which brings us the gift of righteousness.  This work was accomplished by Jesus alone.  And this work was done through a perfect obedience to the heavenly Father.

So, how do we use such freedom?  Our freedom must go much deeper than the pursuit of our own happiness – or even the happiness of our loved ones.  Our freedom beckons us to use this extravagant gift of righteousness to totally give our obedience to the Lord.  Read from the end of Romans chapter six:

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!  Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?  But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.  You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 

I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.  When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.  What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Verses 15-23)

Who will your master be?  The Lord Jesus is the best Master out there.  Why choose anyone or anything else?  My ultimate allegiance is to Jesus alone.  And Jesus leads us in obedience to the heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit.  No other master will do.  No other spirit will do.  All other roads lead to death.

May my master be obedience to the living Lord!   I would rather be a pawn of God than be a king for any other master.  I would rather be a slave in the household of God than be the first-born son of corporate royalty.

I pledge my allegiance to obedience to my Lord Jesus Christ and the heavenly Father.  This path of faithful obedience is the only one that will lead to justice for all and to the sweet life eternal.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Deep Change! Romans 1-3

May the mumbling commence!

Change deep for the Lord.  Yes, our living Lord calls us to deep change.  Read a passage from Romans chapter two:

Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.  If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?  The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. 

A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.  No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God. (Verses 25-29)

Following God is much more than jumping through hoops.  We could get caught up in the detail of the individual trees and miss the forest.  We could focus on the Law and miss entirely the principles on which it is built.

As in this example, physical circumcision is the sign of the Law – it is not the Law in and of itself.  Obedience is defined rather in the keeping of the Law’s requirements.  If one circumcised in the flesh does not keep the Law, God sees him as uncircumcised.  If one not circumcised keeps the Law, God will see her as circumcised.

Circumcision was never meant to be a merely outward sign.  The scalpel of the Living God goes much deeper.  Circumcision is of the spirit and the heart.  It is not based on outward appearances or actions.  Christians do because they are.  Being comes first.  And God’s pleasure is the highest goal.

Write Your Law on our hearts and souls, O God.  May the power of Your Holy Spirit indwell us and help us to be.  And, as we are Christians, may we do out of our being to glorify Your holy Name.

There is no greater goal for humankind!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

God, The Greatest Guide; Acts 26-28

May the mumbling commence!

It is far better to trust in God’s direction than to trust in our own ability to read the signs – even when we are an “expert” in the field.  This conflict in trust was evident with Paul and the centurion who was seeing that Paul was safely transported to Rome in Acts chapter twenty-seven.  Read a passage from that chapter below:

Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them, "Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also."  But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.  Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest. 

When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.  Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the "northeaster," swept down from the island.  The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.  As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure.  When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along.  We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.  On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands.  When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. 

After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.  But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.  Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.'  So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.” (Verses 9-25)

When Paul spoke his mind to the centurion and the captain and crew of the ship, Paul was not merely speaking his mind.  As a servant of God, Paul was speaking as God called him to speak.  Paul’s faith and trust was put solely upon the Lord.  Paul warned them not to take to the sea.

But the centurion relied upon the expert – the captain of the ship.  The harbor was not a good one to winter in, so the captain was looking for the right conditions to sail.  When the south wind began to blow, the captain had what he was waiting for.  So they left…

They left only to be blindsided by the northeaster – a wind of hurricane force.  And the boat, its passengers, and its cargo were in great peril.  They used ropes to try and secure the hull of the ship.  Then they threw overboard their cargo.  They were sustaining financial loss in hopes that their lives would be saved.

In a moment of desperation, the crew threw overboard some of their tackle.  They were trying to lighten the boat to keep it from capsizing.  All of the signs that the sailors used to guide the boat by were hidden in the storm.  They were without direction and hope.

Paul provided for them direction once again.  The God, who he served, had warned them.  Now, God would save their lives at the cost of the ship.  Too often we follow our own inclinations.  Too often we find ourselves without direction or hope. Too often it seems that we lose everything. 

Yet God provides for our lives in hopes that we will finally see the greatest way of directing our lives – through love and obedience to the Lord. 

Let us take our courage from the Lord. 

Let us keep faith only in the guidance of the Lord through the Holy Spirit. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out