Posts in Category: down to earth believer
“One Story Is Not Enough!”
I am preparing to teach a course on Jesus and the Gospels. One of the key issues with which the course deals is the way in which we approach these four very different portraits of Jesus. Do we try to harmonize these different accounts, or do we understand each of them as unique accounts of this one Man, Jesus? This course encourages us not to try to harmonize the Gospels, but rather, to take each of them seriously on its own terms. I agree with this approach for several reasons.
First, if God inspired all the Gospels, does it really honor any of them to make them one story? Trying to make everything fit with our modern ideas of consistency is a time-consuming and time-wasting practice.
Second, even regular people are worthy of more than one portrayal. If four different people wrote my story or yours, they would not include the same things or tell the story in the same way. One story would not necessarily be more accurate than another. They might all be very accurate but include (or leave out) different things, or they might be emphasizing different things. Jesus is worthy of many ways of telling his story.
Third, different ways of telling the Jesus story appeals to different people. I have a friend who tends to live in the Gospel according to Mark. And why wouldn’t he? Tim is a man of action, and that is the way Jesus is portrayed in Mark.
Sometimes combining things is a helpful approach. I’m glad that Reece’s Cups combines chocolate and peanut butter. But too much combination is not always so delicious. Sometimes, combining things just leads to a mess.
“Everyone Welcome! Well, Maybe”
I was trying to download the Spotify App this morning. I had spent more than a little time typing in my email address and a password. My brain and my fingers are fat and slow when it comes to typing on the teeny, tiny keyboard on my phone. But I wanted Spotify for a couple of podcasts that I enjoy.
However, after spending about ten minutes on my phone, I hit a roadblock. When I typed in my birthdate (including the year I was born), I was greeted with a message that said something to the effect that, because of my age, I did not qualify for this app. It would appear that I am too young for Spotify.
I felt very hurt and frustrated. Being excluded from anything makes me feel rather sad.
However, it is so much more fun to get revenge than it is to be sad, so I said to myself, “Humph! I’ll give Spotify some really bad publicity with the ten people who regularly read my blog posts! That’ll show them!”
In addition to plotting revenge, I also thought about the church. Many churches proclaim that “Everyone is Welcome!’ I have my doubts, though. Many of my twelve-step friends would be open to attending a church, but they are not at all sure they would be welcomed. I hate to say it, but I’m not sure either. A few years ago, in the Atlanta, Georgia area, I encountered a billboard along I-75 that proclaimed, “God loves everybody, even Democrats.” As a Democrat, I was a little uncertain as to whether the purchaser of that billboard message meant what they said.
Jesus invited all kinds of scumbags to follow him. In fact, he said that anyone who was tired could come to him, learn, and find rest.
“Matt. 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matt. 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Matt. 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
And near the very end of the New Testament are the following words:
“Rev. 22:17 ¶ The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”
According to God’s Word, everyone really is welcome.
“Everyone Above Average?”
“Eccl. 4:4 ¶ Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.”
“. . . “where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and all the children are above average” (Garrison Keillor’s tagline for his Lake Wobegone “news” monologs).
My wife and I like to do online trivia quizzes. Well, “like” may be a bit of exaggeration. We like doing the quizzes when they don’t ask questions that are too hard. (Come on now! Who knows or cares who Warren G. Harding’s secretary of defense was?)
And then, there is the matter of the scores we get on these quizzes. We usually get somewhere in the 70% range. If we only get 50%, we are not happy. And if we get below 50%? You don’t want to be around us at those moments!
I was listening to an episode of “Hidden Brain” that deals with the science of humility the other day. The guest on the program was a teacher who frequently asked his students to rate themselves in terms of their humility. Were they humbler than most folks? Almost always, they were more humble than 70% of the general population.
Can anyone say, “blind spot!”?
Perhaps the problem isn’t where we are on the scale of humility or any other scale. Maybe the problem is that we have these scales at all. We all know different things. Some of them are trivial. Some of them are important. Perhaps the world would be a better, saner, more peaceful place if we quit comparing ourselves to one another and started pooling our knowledge, instead of mourning our ignorance. We could be extraordinary together.
“At Least Two Sentences”
A good friend of mine loves to read my posts. Says he is always disappointed when I don’t post. He challenged me to write and post something at least once a month.
I have decided to do something less demanding and more permitting. I am not demanding one post per month. Instead, I am permitting myself to post a minimum of two sentences per day. Since I have already vastly exceeded my two sentences, I can quit now. However, I will go a bit further.
Here is the thing: Consistency is much more important than quantity. Perhaps consistency is even more important than quality. Maybe two sentences are enough.
I read a book titled Tiny Habits . . . by BJ Fogg. In it, Fogg encouraged his readers to do two pushups right after they went to the bathroom. I am not committing to that, but two sentences a day seem doable to me.
My dad worked hard, but sometimes he made projects so big in his mind by thinking about the whole project that he ended up not even starting the project. I vowed I would never be that way. Guess what? I am exactly like that. You had already guessed that hadn’t you?
So, here is my challenge to you, dear reader. What two things will you do today (and every day??)? The possibilities are endless, but here are a few possibilities, just to get your juices flowing:
- Walk at least two blocks.
- Dust at least two pieces of furniture.
- Notice at least two different species of bird.
- Text at least two friends.
- Read at least two chapters of the Bible. (Warning: You might not want to start with Psalm 119!)
- Pray at least two times a day.
- Read at least two paragraphs of a book you’ve never read before.
The list goes on, but I will not. If you get a chance, let me know what you decided and how it is going.
“For Sharon on Our Fifty-First Wedding Anniversary”
“You’re more likely to be diligent about something if you love doing it. The etymology of diligent reflects the fact that affection can lead to energetic effort.” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/diligent-2020-01-28, accessed 08-04-24)
Today, my bride and I celebrate fifty-one years of marriage. I do not love her as much as I did on August 4, 1973. I love her so much more. And as special as our fiftieth anniversary was, the fifty-first is even more so. In fact, every day is a wonderful day to celebrate this wonderful lady of mine.
However, I love words. They are so much easier for me to craft than actually being consistently present, kind and loving toward my sweetheart. So, I’ve decided that I am not going to merely give you some sweet words. I am going to give you some useful actions, actions based on diligence.
I just learned today that there is a likely connection between love and diligence. Apparently, the Latin-based word “diligence” was one of the Latin words that could be used for “loving”. This was a strange thought for me. I had always considered diligence as a synonym for “grinding it out,” for sticking with a difficult or unpleasant task. Diligence as a component of love? Oh my, that changes everything!
So, here is my anniversary present for my beloved Sharon: diligence. I will be diligent in being present for you and with you. I will be diligent in being grateful to and for you. I will be diligent in helping with the laundry and doing the dishes. I will be diligent in pulling weeds out of our garden and flower beds. I will be diligent in taking good care of our little (dog) girl Laylah. I will be diligent in allowing you to finish your sentences. I will be diligent in figuring out what forms of diligence are especially important to you.
This is the year for loving diligence and diligent love.
“Being Forgiven, Feeling Forgiven, and Other Considerations”
I have not always lived my life well. In fact, I have done things that have greatly harmed others and myself. These harms are in the distant past now, but they often feel horribly contemporary to me. No doubt, they also feel horribly contemporary to others as well. My children in particular are deeply hurt by my past behavior, even when it did not directly impact them. They will quite likely never forgive.
Over coffee, I was talking about my doubts about my forgivable-ness to a friend of mine this morning. We love one another enough to speak truth into one another. Of course, truth initially hurts, as all truly good things do. My friend said, “I think your children will never forgive you. That may be part of why you don’t believe that God can forgive you.” I didn’t want to hear that, but I know my friend is right.
But then, my friend added two more wisdoms.
“It may be that the consequences of your children’s lack of forgiveness and their rejection of you help you to avoid going back to your old behavior.”
The second wisdom that my friend gave me was this: “There is forgiveness and then there is the feeling of being forgiven. You may not feel forgiven until Heaven.”
And here is my takeaway from a profoundly uncomfortable and healing conversation: If my children’s rejection and my feeling of being unforgiven helps me to avoid lapsing back into old patterns, I am well-contented with such rejection and such feelings. The price of integrity is high, but integrity—at any price—is a bargain. Or, better yet, integrity is a great investment.
“Clutter”
Clutter is a huge problem in my life: books and articles that I haven’t read (or have read, but won’t read again), basketball shoes, items in the garage that I have scavenged, but am not using, things of sentimental value that I never look at—the list goes on and on. Why do I hang onto things that just get in the way? Are these things really that important to me?
And then there are the internal things that I hang onto, hopes that have no hope of ever coming to fruition. The hope that I might see my children again is top of mind on this Father’s Day and most other days as well. The regret for how badly I’ve lived my life in the past. Missed opportunities. Resentments toward others.
Clutter has a million different faces, all of them ugly.
But in this moment, I can begin to declutter. In this moment, I can clean my desk. In this moment, I can throw away the cut flowers that I tried to salvage, even though they were over a week old. In this moment, I can celebrate the fact that I have children, even though I will never see their faces again. I can throw regrets into the garbage can where they belong. Today’s joys and pains are enough. So are my tasks for today.
John the Revelator had a vision of Heaven. It is recorded at the end of the Bible in Revelation 21-22. He saw many lovely things there. He didn’t mention seeing clutter.
DTEB, “Of Fools and Plagues: The Danger of a Critical Attitude”
DTEB, “The Danger of a Critical Attitude”
Prov. 10:18 “The one who conceals hatred has lying lips,
and whoever utters slander is a fool.” (English Standard Version, bold font mine for emphasis)
Num. 14:36 “And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land—
Num. 14:37 the men who brought up a bad report of the land—died by plague before the LORD. (English Standard Version, bold font mine for emphasis)
Do you talk badly about people behind their backs? I did not think I had this problem until I went to church this morning. One of the many things I love about my church and my pastor is that I almost always come home both encouraged and encouraged to change.
This morning, my pastor began a series of sermons on the life of Joseph as recorded in Genesis 37-50. To my delight, he started with where we all ought to begin: Joseph had some problems, and he had some lessons to learn. I suspect we all need to read the story of Joseph and our own story that way.
Here is the early part of Joseph’s story:
“Gen. 37:2 These are the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.
Gen. 37:5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
Gen. 37:9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.” (English Standard Version, bold font mine for emphasis)
Pastor Todd pointed out that there were potholes on Joseph’s road to finding and following God’s will for his life. Pastor also pointed out that these potholes were largely of Joseph’s own making.
Often, we tend to read Joseph’s story backwards. We begin (in our minds at least) with the fact that Joseph is an ancient rags-to-riches story. By the end of the story, Joseph seems both successful and like a nice guy, so we tend to read his perceived nice-guy-ness back into the earlier parts of his story.
However—and I am trying to think of a nice way to say this—the truth is that, early in his life, Joseph was a jerk. Sorry to burst your biblical bubble.
Consider, for example, the following comment by the narrator in verse 2: “And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.” It is easy for us to say, “Well, so Joseph brought his father a bad report about his brothers. That’s probably because they were doing something bad!” However, the biblical text itself doesn’t say that Joseph’s brothers were doing anything bad. Of course, we could also say that the biblical text doesn’t say that they were not doing anything bad either.
Here is the thing, though: the Hebrew word translated “report” in verse 2 has negative connotations for the one who is doing the reporting. The Hebrew word (transliterated dibbah) suggests a slanderous or defamatory report. Slander does not suggest that Joseph was bringing a truthful report concerning his brothers. He was a tattletale, and his tales weren’t necessarily factual reporting.
This same Hebrew word for a slanderous or defamatory report occurs only 9 times in the whole Old Testament. Three of these uses occur in the verses that lead off this post. According to Proverbs 10:18, the person who practices slanderous speech is a fool.
In Numbers 14:36-37, it gets even more serious. When the people of Israel were on their way to the promised land, the spies who brought back a bad report concerning the land to Moses and the people of Israel died of a plague. So, if we don’t want to be a fool or die of a plague, it might be good to not speak badly about people, things, and places.
Of course, we might make some excuse for Joseph. After all, he was only seventeen. He was just a teenager. Okay, some allowances might be made for him.
On the other hand, I am over four times seventeen. As the pastor spoke, I felt the Holy Spirit saying to me, “You struggle with this, you know?”
Ouch! So, today and every day, I need to be more careful about how I speak about others. In this election cycle this might be especially important. But I don’t have to be talking about politics for this to be an issue. I need to avoid this in connection with everyone. After all, I don’t want to be a fool or die in a plague. I would rather you would not experience those things either, dear reader.
“Even a Sliver of Light”
“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:6, English Standard Version)
I missed the total eclipse yesterday. There were a number of good reasons for this, but knowing that there are good reasons for something doesn’t negate the disappointment. Where we live, the sun was probably 98% obscured by the sun, but there was still a lot of light.
However, taking a break from weeding the flower beds, sitting with my sweetheart in our driveway, and basking in the premature early twilight—these were sweet realities. And one more thing: We both were amazed by how much light even a little sliver of the sun could give us.
Perhaps there is a parable in there for all of us. Of late, I’ve been struggling with depression. The passing of time and the passing of blood clots to my lungs and brain and heart can cast a shadow on even a basically happy person like me.
But there is God and there are good and beautiful things in this universe. And perhaps even a little experience of God and God’s goodness is enough to shed all the light I need, even when nearer things obscure most of the light for a little while.
Perhaps even a sliver of light is enough.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- God’s Specific Likes about Us April 25, 2025God pulled off a surprise love attack on me this morning. God lured me into the trap in a quite trivial way. I thought I would start my day, not by grading students’ assignments, but by reading and meditating on some Scripture. By the way, I am not saying that reading Scripture is trivial. The […]
- “Strange and Wonderful Creatures” March 28, 2025I did not sleep enough last night. Five hours of sleep may be enough for some, but not for me. However, when I tried for a while to go back to sleep after waking up at 1:00 a.m., I realized that it was not going to happen. I might as well get up and work […]
- “Even Computers Need a Rest Sometimes!” February 11, 2025Jumpy cursor! I was trying to grade student assignments, and my cursor was jumping around like a Mexican jumping bean. I would start typing something, and then I would be on a different line. Here is the sort of non-sentences I was ending up with: be Please see my respolownse video. Of course, what I […]
- “Lives as Well as Lips” February 5, 2025“Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Who can utter the mighty deeds of the LORD, or declare all his praise? Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!” (Psalm 106:1-3, English Standard Version) […]
- DTEB, “The Wanna-Wanna Method” January 29, 2025“. . . work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, Phil. 2:13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12b-13, English Standard Version) In a text exchange with a friend, he confessed that he really, really wants to make some bad […]
- “Fun, Cat Videos, and Transformation” December 9, 2024“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, English Standard Version) One of my twelve-step sponsors suggested that I need more fun in my life. He knows me well, but on this one, I was determined to prove him wrong. […]
- “The Enemy is Perfectionism” December 6, 2024“The good is the enemy of the best.” (A common saying.) “The best is the enemy of doing anything at all that is good.” (My take on the saying and my reality.) Some of you have been wondering why I haven’t been posting any of my musings in the past way-too-long. I am tempted to […]
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
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