A brief reflection, a broader vision

2010 has been an eventful year; January started a declaration of remission of my leukemia, followed by two months of respiratory infections! So much for better health through remission!

Like all of us I had my share of ups and downs, although it seemed like this year had a few more downs than I would have liked. I face this coming new year with hope and optimism. I often deflect by using humor and use negative circumstances as a prop for laughs, but the reality is, I am an optimist. I believe tomorrow can be better than today, that next year can be better than last year.

I live in a nation with unlimited opportunities, where a person is truly limited only by the ceilings they themselves build in their mind and their life. I am guilty of not counting nor treasuring the many blessings I have been given, so if I were to make a New Year’s resolution, it would be to savor the moments am given, to stop dwelling on what might have been and what will never be.

The apostle Paul wrote: “I have learned the secret of being content in all circumstances”; I knew that truth once, not that long ago and I let it slip away and that is my responsibility, no one else’s. So I have goals for 2011 and beyond and I have a vision for my life, but my resolution is simple, to be at peace with where God has me, to be satisfied in Him and to be content, regardless of my circumstances.

God bless you and may 2011 be your year best ever.

Discovery & Change

I picked up my Bible this morning; yes the leather one, rice paper, gold gilded edges. As much as I love my Kindle, there is nothing quite like the touch and feel of a book in one’s hands. I thought about two things, one is those first books in the people’s hands, how a whole world opened up before them. Second, I thought about the revelation and discovery of God’s Word, His ultimate truth and the liberty we can enjoy resting in Him. Yet there are so many who have rejected this truth out of fear and ignorance; still others because it upsets their precious apple cart and threatens to turn their world upside down.

We dislike many things in our human condition, not the least of which is change.

The song 2112 by the Canadian trio Rush speaks of a great discovery and how that discovery from a past age is rejected.

What can this strange device be?
When I touch it, it gives forth a sound
It's got wires that vibrate and give music
What can this thing be that I found?

See how it sings like a sad heart
And joyously screams out it's pain
Sounds that build high like a mountain
Or notes that fall gently like rain

After being rebuffed by the elders, those "in the know", our hero despairs:

The sleep is still in my eyes
The dream is still in my head
I heave a sigh and sadly smile
And lie a while in bed
I wish that it might come to pass
Not fade like all my dreams

Just think of what my life might be
In a world like I have seen
I don't think I can carry on
Carry on this cold and empty life
Oh...noo!

We too have a great discovery from a past age, yet as current and relevant as ever; God’s Word and His promises to us, His beloved. Let’s not let our fear of change, or the pain of transformation keep us from embracing this greatest of gifts.

How to Thank a Veteran

I saw dozens of posts today thanking veterans and I added a few myself, so I got to thinking what it means to actually thank a vet. Certainly saying thank you is due, as are the complimentary meals offered by some restaurants; but shouldn’t more be done to show our appreciation?

First of all, saying thank you isn’t glorifying war or violence, nor is our appreciation the same as some nationalistic, jingoism; no, showing gratitude to those who sacrifice for the benefit of others is just human decency.

I was thinking about a 10 year old boy I know whose father is serving in Afghanistan right now and I imagined the sacrifice this 10 year old was making, along with his family. What thanks do we owe them?

Remember the movie Saving Private Ryan? Toward the end, Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) whispers to Private Ryan (Matt Damon) and says, “Earn this”. Years later when Ryan is visiting the Normandy beach with his family, looking over the thousands of crosses of those who gave their lives to rescue Europe, he stopped at Captain Ryan’s grave and with tears and a heavy heart he asks his wife if he has been a good man. He knows too well what his life cost, how so many gave up their future that he might live his.

So how do we thank a veteran for our freedom? Live as good citizens, contribute, work hard, be honest, love America by loving your fellow Americans; participate in this experiment in democracy, vote, get involved in your community, be informed, care, or as Captain John Miller said, “Earn this.”

Happy Veterans Day.

The Positive Side of Affliction

I am always intrigued and amazed at how differently people respond to adversity and life’s challenges. One of my observations is the degree of the hardship has little to do with how a person responds to adversity. Rather, it is one’s worldview, their perspective of life. Two people can experience nearly identical circumstances and have vastly different views of the event and make dramatically different choices.

My worldview is based upon God’s Word; in Scripture I discovered God’s character, His passion for His children and I discovered myself. For in the pages of this text are people just like me and just like you. People who at various times were heroic and cowardly; brave and fearful; filled with great faith, and overwhelmed with doubts, in other words, just like us.

The Bible also provides specific instructions on how we are to thrive and live purposeful lives in spite of and at times, even because of the adversity we face.

“I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12) That should be our encouragement, that which enables us to go on in the face of insurmountable odds. Paul used that truth during his ministry.

Consider his letters to the church in Corinth, “I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.” (2 Co 7:4) In verse 5 he shares: “For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn – conflicts on the outside, fears within.”

Earlier he confesses “But we have this treasure in jars of clay (our earthly bodies) to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body.” 2 Co 4:7-11

I find the following verses so amazing:

For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, - 2 Corinthians 1:8-10

Burdened excessively, beyond our strength, despaired even of life, sentence of death! Wow, I am really stoked now, ready to hit the ground running Paul, thanks!

Here is where it turns; “we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us”. OK, we “discover” this truth that we are not really in control after all; therefore we can hand over our lives to One who not only loves us, but more importantly, One who has power over life and death! Surely if He has defeated death, removed the sting of every person’s ultimate enemy, He can bring forth victory from our financial crises, our marital woes, our health concerns, even our political and social ills.

My friends, it is often through affliction and suffering that the glory of God is revealed in our lives; the world needs to see how to endure with hope and joy, in the midst of so much pain and suffering. No one needs to be told to cheer up when they win the lottery, they’re happy. Rather, when the doctor says it’s cancer, when the boss says you’re out of work, or the judge says prison; that is when the world needs to see in our lives, the peace that surpasses all understanding.

When we walk in the light, we need not fear, for we know, and we learn through these afflictions in deeper ways, that He can be counted on, I mean in the deepest part of your spirit you can trust Him. This often comes after the sorrow and pain becomes so fierce, that you cry out in anguish, my God, why have You forsaken me? Our Lord Jesus did it; He also anguished the night He was betrayed, for He knew the hardship was coming. (John 18:4)

Many know this prayer “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from me; nevertheless not my will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) Just like Jesus, we don’t want to go through with it, we don’t want the pain, we avoid it, the cessation of pain is one of the great motivators in the human condition, we will do just about anything to make pain stop.

As believers however, when we embrace the fact that this world is not our permanent home, we can better endure the afflictions we face. Paul writes in Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.” In his 2^nd letter to the church in Corinth, Paul continues this thought and tells us “For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” (2 Co 4:17)

Now I know what you’re saying, momentary, light? Wait a minute here Paul, maybe the other guys stuff was momentary or light, but these are my problems here, and my stuff is heavy and it seems like it’s been going on forever! In verse 18 he helps us gain some perspective on this, “for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

OK, so the financial problems, illness, incarceration, divorce, even death itself, these are temporary in light of our forever home with Jesus! That makes it a little easier to take, but I’m still hurting today Lord, the pain feels overwhelming, suffocating, and it feels like it’s only getting worse, what now? Well, the truth is, it may get worse for a season, or longer, but let’s look back at our Master and see what He did then, and what He’s doing even today.

Saints, let us “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) For the joy set before Him, the joy of reconciling His children back to Himself, we were His joy!

So after He takes care of the big task of redeeming mankind to Himself, and preparing our home for us, He goes back to work helping us to make it through life’s battles.

Let’s look at Hebrews 3:15-16, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”

So we have the assurance that “this too shall pass”, that He also battled through life’s agony, and He offers us the grace to endure. When the apostle Paul asked Him three times to remove the thorn in his flesh, he was told by the Living God: “My Grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Co 12:9)

We see that the Father met the Sons needs in the garden that dark night, for Luke tells us: “Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:43-44)

So Father will meet our needs, right where we are, and carry us through to victory, if we only rest in Him, and stop struggling. When it looks darkest, when it appears that defeat is certain, and all is lost, we need to remember how it looked that day over 2,000 years ago, when the Messiah was hung from a tree and the “movement” was defeated. If we look only with human eyes, yes it was a defeat wasn’t it, He was killed, the followers scattered, and the battle was lost. But too often we look at Friday my friends, and Friday was ugly, it had to be though, because cleaning up the sin of the world was no simple task!

But let’s fast-forward a couple of days, to a tomb that should have held this poor preacher from Galilee, and listen to those words that have been resonating hope for 21 centuries:

“Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.”

It only looked lost, it only appears that we have no hope, it only seems like tomorrow will be as painful as today, but Sunday became the victory for believers everywhere! He lives! Let those words roll around on your tongue, He Lives! And if He lives, we can believe all of the promises He gave to us, we have a home with no mortgage payments, no plumbing problems, no taxes, no college tuition to pay, and no more tears, no more pain and no more goodbyes. And He has promised to walk with us and be our God, forever; with an assured future like that, I am confident that I can handle anything that this world throws my way, thank You Jesus, for You did make a way, where there seems to be no way.

Election 2010 - A Biblical Perspective

So today we celebrate one of our nation’s (judging from voter turnout) least favorite pastimes, it is Election Day!

So what does this mean, what do “We the People” expect from our government and what can we learn about government from God’s Word?

If we look at history, we see that during the Great Depression, the federal government, for the first time in our nation’s history, made direct payments to citizens. Granted, this was an unprecedented time in our history, but the law of unintended consequences intervened and we have been suckling at the government’s bosom ever since. We needn’t blame our elected officials, since we, collectively, elect them; and we elect those people who promise us (their constituents) the most results, regardless of the overall cost.

I think of Israel under the rule of the judges and how they clamored for a king:

1 Samuel 8:4-22 (ESV)

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.

Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him.

He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.

He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.

He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.

He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.

He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work.

He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.

And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

We are no different, we ignore history and God’s caution, just as the Israelites did, and we cry out for our national government to meet our most trivial and insignificant needs.

I often offer this revision of Commodore Perry’s famous quote:

“We have met the enemy and it is ourselves.”

Perspectives

In January of this year I heard one of my favorite words, remission! For those dealing with cancer it is a sweet word indeed. While there have been a few hiccups over the last ten months, my overall health is good. Based upon specific cellular structure (deletions, mutations) I still don’t fully comprehend, the prognosis is good that this remission will last for a few years. What happens then? Who knows?

I’ll tell you who knows, God knows. The One who created all life and holds the universe together by His will, He knows. And He knows your future as well. So those concerns you have about your health, your finances, your kids, your marriage, the future of our nation and the world in which we live; all of these concerns are legitimate and held in His strong hands.

Yes, this uninvited guest is still here, still taking up residence in my bone marrow, but not in the marrow of my being. To paraphrase a quote from Montel Williams “I have leukemia, leukemia does not have me.”

Leukemia is certainly a part of my life, but it does not define me; nor do your challenges and obstacles define who you are. They make up a portion of our lives, of our being; but our faith, our response to life’s challenges and victories are a much greater part of our true self.

One positive aspect of this disease is the perspective on life it offers. You see life ends, this year I said goodbye to two of my closest friends, one to cancer and her husband to a broken heart and no will to live. I mourn for Coco, but I confess that I am a little angry at Mark. Angry because he made a choice to quit when quitting wasn’t necessary. Coco fought valiantly and courageously and served as an inspiration to me when I was diagnosed and her death was much too soon. Mark just couldn’t get past his hurt and while his friends tried, we could not encourage him to engage in life.

Both left much too soon and both left a hole in my life that will never be filled; it cannot. We cannot replace those who have touched our lives, nor can we substitute our own impact in this world. Only you can be you, only you can sing the unique and special song you were created to sing. Only you can breathe the life you were designed to breathe.

Make no mistake, life only offers perspectives, it does not magically impart it upon us; we must listen to the voice of eternity and make our choices, for we are the only ones who can.

Peace,

Dan