As the old year ends and a new one begins I am reading: The Acts of the Apostles, The Martyr's Mirror, The Chronicle of the Hutterian Brethren, A History of Christianity, and a rather scattered collection of works on the church. Do you know what I have discovered, not only in my reading, but more particularly in my own life? "NO one has yet fully attained to the high calling of God in Christ. We, as individuals and a churches, are by no means identical with Augustine's City of God. There is yet much of the earthly city within our very beings. Yet, in us, and in our churches, there is a power at work, which in the midst of what at times appears to be chaotic frustration, apparently hopelessly marred and twisted, which is achieving the impossible, the re-creation of men and women until we have displayed something of the quality of life which we have found in Jesus Christ. "God's message continues, in the face of opposition, both from within and without, to spread, and those who are chosen to have life forever, believe the message" (Acts 12:24; 13:48-49). "We have this treasure from God, but we are like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that the power is from God, not from us. We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We do not know what to do, but we do not give up the hope of living. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed. We carry the death of Jesus in our own bodies so that the life of Jesus can also be seen in our bodies. We are alive..." (11 Cor. 4:7-11a).
Monday, December 31, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
The Times They Are A'Changing
In 1964 Bob Dylan sang the tune.
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
will later be last
for the times they are a'changing.
And, its now 43 years later. The words take on new meaning for me. The times they are a'changing.
Today is the winter solstice. It is the darkest night of the year. I will rise this morning before the sun and when I return home it will have completed its journey through the sky. It is the turning point. The tides are changing, the water is warming, the winds are once again fair. The dark night of the soul has past. The fog is lifting. Life is good.
A new year is about to begin.
"I was on the island of Patmos, because I had preached the word of God, and the message about Jesus. On the Lord's day, I was dreaming the dream of the Lord. I heard a loud voice behind me and I woke up" (Rev. 1:10).
WAKE UP! The voice like a trumpet sounds, and I think of the words written by a friend of mine so many years ago, "And his name is Jesus, and his train fill the temple, with his eyes flames of fire and his hair white as snow. And. the angels are singing, there is life everlasting. To the one who believes, there is life ever more" (Gorden Reynaud). WAKE UP!
Now, I am waking out of my slumber. It is the day of new beginnings. The sun begins its journey closer to the earth. All is well. All is well. Thanks for walking this journey with me.
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
will later be last
for the times they are a'changing.
And, its now 43 years later. The words take on new meaning for me. The times they are a'changing.
Today is the winter solstice. It is the darkest night of the year. I will rise this morning before the sun and when I return home it will have completed its journey through the sky. It is the turning point. The tides are changing, the water is warming, the winds are once again fair. The dark night of the soul has past. The fog is lifting. Life is good.
A new year is about to begin.
"I was on the island of Patmos, because I had preached the word of God, and the message about Jesus. On the Lord's day, I was dreaming the dream of the Lord. I heard a loud voice behind me and I woke up" (Rev. 1:10).
WAKE UP! The voice like a trumpet sounds, and I think of the words written by a friend of mine so many years ago, "And his name is Jesus, and his train fill the temple, with his eyes flames of fire and his hair white as snow. And. the angels are singing, there is life everlasting. To the one who believes, there is life ever more" (Gorden Reynaud). WAKE UP!
Now, I am waking out of my slumber. It is the day of new beginnings. The sun begins its journey closer to the earth. All is well. All is well. Thanks for walking this journey with me.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Beginnings
You know what's wonderful about your story, my story, and God's story? It is always just beginning. That's the first word in the Torah, reh-shoh-nee, Beginning. In the beginning, God. In the beginning, you and I. God is not about the past, he is not so much about the future. He is about the eternal now. It doesn't matter where your journey has lead, because it's always just beginning.
Do you remember that old saying, Today is the first day of the rest of your life." It is not about where you have been, and it is not so much about where you are going. It is about starting. Read the book of Genesis from this perspective: God is always just beginning. So it is with you and I. The journey is always new, always fresh, always just beginning. doesn't that give you hope. It certainly does for me. I have indeed rounded the horn, and that is not the end of the story. Who knows where it will lead me. The important thing is that today is the day of new beginnings.
Do you remember that old saying, Today is the first day of the rest of your life." It is not about where you have been, and it is not so much about where you are going. It is about starting. Read the book of Genesis from this perspective: God is always just beginning. So it is with you and I. The journey is always new, always fresh, always just beginning. doesn't that give you hope. It certainly does for me. I have indeed rounded the horn, and that is not the end of the story. Who knows where it will lead me. The important thing is that today is the day of new beginnings.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Advent
"This is the beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God," (Mark 1:1).
"Comfort, comfort my people. Speak kindly to the people of Jerusalem and tell them that their time of service is finished, that they have paid for their sins, that the Lord has punished Jerusalem twice for every sin they did. This is the voice of one who calls out. Prepare in the desert the way for the Lord. Make a straight road in the dry lands for our God. Every valley should be raised up, and every mountain and hill should be made flat. The rough ground should be made level, and the rugged ground should be made smooth" (Isaiah 40:1-4).
"I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way for me. Suddenly the Lord you are looking for will come to his temple; the messenger of the agreement, whom you want will come" (Mal. 3:1).
He has come and He is coming again. This is the beginning of the good news. Repent, change your minds and hearts, and be baptized.
"Comfort, comfort my people. Speak kindly to the people of Jerusalem and tell them that their time of service is finished, that they have paid for their sins, that the Lord has punished Jerusalem twice for every sin they did. This is the voice of one who calls out. Prepare in the desert the way for the Lord. Make a straight road in the dry lands for our God. Every valley should be raised up, and every mountain and hill should be made flat. The rough ground should be made level, and the rugged ground should be made smooth" (Isaiah 40:1-4).
"I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way for me. Suddenly the Lord you are looking for will come to his temple; the messenger of the agreement, whom you want will come" (Mal. 3:1).
He has come and He is coming again. This is the beginning of the good news. Repent, change your minds and hearts, and be baptized.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Rounding the Horn
As I return to the blog a month after my last entry I wounder at God's timing. My last entry was entitled Gelassenheit, and it was all about yieldedness. Since then I have read and prayed through two very difficult books: "Forgiveness-The legacy of the West Nickle Mines Tragedy" by John Ruth; and "Amish Grace" by Donald Kraybill. They were both about yieldedness, in particular they were both about the murder of five Amish children and the Amish who willed to forgive.
Now, what does this terrible tragedy and its aftermath have to do with me? Nothing really, except the yieldedness; being able to yield all the circumstances of my life to the Father who loves me in the midst of my struggles. Two and a half years ago an incident in Alert Bay, BC resulted in what I now know to be an opportunity to practice yieldedness. The governing body of the church that I was pastoring required some very difficult things of me: public and private apologies to those I had injured, counseling, and to not pastor in their churches for the next two years. The first and the last were comparatively easy. The counseling however was hard. It had to wait until I had rounded the horn.
I am sure that you know the stories of ships rounding the horn. It is a difficult passage in the ocean and many ships and their captains have been lost. However, those that made the journey successfully were able to sail up the Pacific to new lands. Such has been my journey. I am a battered ship, but still able to sail. I have grieved the process these many months, and have suffered the whole gambit of emotions. At first it was simply shock, then unbelief, then anger, then an intense sadness, and finally acceptance. Does it sound to you like the grieving process? It does feel like a death of sorts, the death of a dream, a way of life, a vision, hope. And, the truth of the matter is that it is not yet over. I slip periodically back through the whole process, but the times of pain as shorter, they fall further and further apart, and the intensity lessens with each occurance. It takes less to set me off on the journey, and it is easier to let go each time.
Recently, a missionary from Uganda told a story about "ringing the bell." Sometimes we simply have to let go of the rope. The bell may continue to toll for a time, but when we let go of the rope, the intensity of the ringing slows with each successive ring. Oh, I still have my moments of unbelief. The anger is still real, but it resides with every day. And the sorrow may never be fully eradicated from my life. But, about the time I started the blog, I rounded the horn; battered and wind worn I took a new tack, but the waters now are more gentle.
I have found acceptance in the yieldedness. Yieldedness first to God, then to the governing bodies of the church, that is where the willingness to accept counseling come in. Forgiveness has been offered and accepted; now there is the price for pardon and restoration. It is a lot like the repairing of a damaged ship, in this case a "relation" ship, for that is really what it is, you know, a damaged relationship that needs reparation. It is the restoration that comes with pardon that is both costly and healing. I am now sailing the next length of the journey, and I am still a little frightened. At the same time I am relieved. I think that the work is worth it.
The relationships that were damaged are fragile and will require a lot of care and tenderness. It is all about learning to trust once again. It is all about baby steps, a little at a time; but like the West Nickel Mines tragedy, there is hope. Life will go on, a little bit different than before, but it will go on.
Now, what does this terrible tragedy and its aftermath have to do with me? Nothing really, except the yieldedness; being able to yield all the circumstances of my life to the Father who loves me in the midst of my struggles. Two and a half years ago an incident in Alert Bay, BC resulted in what I now know to be an opportunity to practice yieldedness. The governing body of the church that I was pastoring required some very difficult things of me: public and private apologies to those I had injured, counseling, and to not pastor in their churches for the next two years. The first and the last were comparatively easy. The counseling however was hard. It had to wait until I had rounded the horn.
I am sure that you know the stories of ships rounding the horn. It is a difficult passage in the ocean and many ships and their captains have been lost. However, those that made the journey successfully were able to sail up the Pacific to new lands. Such has been my journey. I am a battered ship, but still able to sail. I have grieved the process these many months, and have suffered the whole gambit of emotions. At first it was simply shock, then unbelief, then anger, then an intense sadness, and finally acceptance. Does it sound to you like the grieving process? It does feel like a death of sorts, the death of a dream, a way of life, a vision, hope. And, the truth of the matter is that it is not yet over. I slip periodically back through the whole process, but the times of pain as shorter, they fall further and further apart, and the intensity lessens with each occurance. It takes less to set me off on the journey, and it is easier to let go each time.
Recently, a missionary from Uganda told a story about "ringing the bell." Sometimes we simply have to let go of the rope. The bell may continue to toll for a time, but when we let go of the rope, the intensity of the ringing slows with each successive ring. Oh, I still have my moments of unbelief. The anger is still real, but it resides with every day. And the sorrow may never be fully eradicated from my life. But, about the time I started the blog, I rounded the horn; battered and wind worn I took a new tack, but the waters now are more gentle.
I have found acceptance in the yieldedness. Yieldedness first to God, then to the governing bodies of the church, that is where the willingness to accept counseling come in. Forgiveness has been offered and accepted; now there is the price for pardon and restoration. It is a lot like the repairing of a damaged ship, in this case a "relation" ship, for that is really what it is, you know, a damaged relationship that needs reparation. It is the restoration that comes with pardon that is both costly and healing. I am now sailing the next length of the journey, and I am still a little frightened. At the same time I am relieved. I think that the work is worth it.
The relationships that were damaged are fragile and will require a lot of care and tenderness. It is all about learning to trust once again. It is all about baby steps, a little at a time; but like the West Nickel Mines tragedy, there is hope. Life will go on, a little bit different than before, but it will go on.
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