In God's Eyes You Are Indespensible, Never Despicable.

“On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.” 1 Corinthians 12:22-23.

       Reflecting on this passage makes me realize how we need to value ourselves and other members of Christ's body. It is tempting to overlook the vital contribution of a quiet person. Our society teaches that celebrities are the real VIPs. They grab the spotlight and boast to be more important than regular people. This outlook can weaken the body of Christ if we think that pastors, TV evangelists, or popular musicians make the real difference.

        The visible and upfront servants of God do have an important role. Of equal value to the work of God are the quiet majority who make things happen.

       A false humility can rob us from valuing our place of service so much we excuse our part as being worthless. We can reject this worldly way of thinking which goes like this, “I am not talented, beautiful, young enough, educated well enough, and can not talk well enough to serve God. If I do not attend worship, volunteer or give my participation it will not matter. I am not important like others who are so talented. I am sure I will not be missed.” This is a lie. You are an indispensable part of the health and fruitfulness of the church where you worship.

       The funny movie with the theme of being “despicable” can wake us up. We are not worthless and of no account when it comes to eternal work for our Lord. We are never “despicable” even if worldly people treat us as less honorable.

The Lord does not see you as “despicable”, but as “indispensable”.

Do You Know Your Body Is A Temple Of The Holy Spirit?

        1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 makes a profound statement about our physical body, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” To be aware of the body as the dwelling place of the Divine Spirit would help us to counter the influence of the current secular view of our physical existence.

      The ancient Greek and Roman religions taught that religion is only a matter of the spiritual realm. What you did with your body had no bearing on one's relationship with God. The body was looked upon as inferior to the soul and not worthy of consideration. They despised the body as only a temporary prison of the eternal soul. This view is prevalent in the New Age religion of our day. How things never change.

The point is we must serve God through the way we treat our body if we want to please Him. Do you know that your body is a sacred vessel of the Spirit of wisdom? God wants to show forth His goodness, faithfulness, wisdom and righteousness in moral and healthy living.

        The way the Lord made us with intricate design, awesome mental and physical powers shows that He loves us. His commitment to us is not limited by how long we have the breathe of life. He promises to redeem this body to a new level of transformation in the victory of the resurrection of our Lord. 1 Corinthians 6:13-15 says, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body, By his power He raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.”

        The false play boy philosophy is pushed upon us in our media. It is the same old outlook the Gospel came to deliver from. We can only find peace and fulfillment in keeping the holy moral commands of God to use the body to honor Him. Who does your body belong to? Isn't it your own business what I do with it?

         We own our body as a steward handles the property of the master whom he must give an account to. Our ownership here means responsibility and care. It does not mean moral and sexual wildness where we do what we please.

         Do you know that you are a temple of the Eternal, Holy Spirit?

Gatsby Was Fooled, He Never Was Great.

          We just saw the movie, “The Great Gatsby”. As we reflected on this story of dishonest wealth and sexual wildness it struck us how timely it is. The movie is about the 1920s era of insane money of organized crime enriched by prohibition and corruption of public officials. The rich were getting extremely wealthy with an inflated stock market boom. Morals were considered out of date and old fashioned. All that mattered was getting glamorous clothes, cars and houses. Immediate gratification was the rage with no thought of consequences of lying, cheating, and stealing in order to have it all now. The movie shows the fleeting, false, and empty thrills of the Gatsby lifestyle.

         Human nature has not changed. In the time of Jesus earthly ministry the Gatsby crowd pursued fine clothes, big money, wild parties, and splendid mansions. They were called the Herodians because of their allegiance to King Herod. He agreed with the Romans to be their puppet king in exchange for the Gatsby kind of rewards. The Herodians cooperated with Herod in every way to keep the good times rolling in luxury, pomp, pleasure and sexual wildness. Instant gratification was the offer Herod made to his loyal followers.

The message of Jesus and his way of life was in stark contrast to Herod.

       The wisdom of Jesus is to pursue integrity, generosity, moral faithfulness, to do good to other and to practice self-control. Jesus warned about greed and selfish gain where we can lose our eternal soul. Greater than immediate gain Jesus promises a spiritual kind of wealth that will never lose its value.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth or rust consumes and were thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6: 19-21.

        I wonder when Gatsby was about to die if he experienced some “terminal lucidity”? There comes near death a moment of clarity when in a flash we clearly see if we lived for what was lasting or wasted our energies on what is false and rusting away. With the help of the Spirit of Truth may we all be lucid now about what is worth living for.

We Need Not Be Prisoners of our Past

            Recent news stories tell of human bondage. Alex Rodriquez is reported to face a 100 game suspension because of illegal drugs this year. A few years ago he confessed to using steroids over a 2 year period. Ryan Braun , Brewer's star accepted a 65 game suspension for using illegal substances this season. He now admits to being dirty in 2011 when awarded the MVP.

         Humanity is problematic about reverting to past destructive behaviors.

Psychologists witness the best way to predict future behavior is past actions. This common pattern defies all reason. When a person seems to have achieved success he repeats the same foolish actions that damaged his career, health and family.

Recidivism is the main problem keeping prisons overflowing. Why is it so hard for us to learn our lesson? Why is it difficult to practice a new way of life?

        If we ignore the Lord to help us change we are limited to self reliance. 1 Corinthians 5: 17-18 gives hope beyond self, “So if anyone in in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ.”

         Our hope is the higher power of Christ to transform our heart and habits to live wisely. Guidance from Christ is available when we humbly ask for His help day by day to do the right thing. We can overcome the prison of our past if we surrender to do His will daily.

       Freedom from past folly is never a possession to boast about. It is a continuing relationship of trust and obedience with the Deliverer of our soul.

The Lord's Miracles and Magic Are Not The Same Thing.

On July 9^th Rev. Ray postulated in the News Leader that we need to view miracles in the Holy Scriptures as mere magical stories. He opines that to believe in the wonders of Jesus is superstitious magic.

       Magic is rejected by the Apostles. They had conflicts with magicians who wanted to purchase the Holy Spirit to make money. A magician sells an illusion that supernatural power can be forced to to get us what we want. Magic requires no submission to the higher will of our Creator. With a magician, you pay and expect the results you demand.

Palm Readers and Tarot Card spiritualists prey upon desperate people who will resort to any means to find relief for problems.

They are not willing to surrender to the higher will of God. Magic is an inventive attempt to secure supernatural power.

       Biblical miracles are not magic. They are a sign of God's caring and delivering power. A divine miracle is an experience of God in our distress. It is beyond our control or explanation. It is a sign of the grace of God and makes us aware we are not in control. We can only ask humbly for the healing power of God. We do not use a ritual or offer money to make this happen. In no way can we tame God's mercy.

       When I was a prison chaplain an inmate at Leavenworth USP was beaten senseless with a medal pipe and left for dead. The medical staff gave no hope for his recovery or to be a functional human being. To the amazement of the medical experts he woke up and fully recovered all cognitive and physical abilities.

      He requested that we talk. He was surprised to be alive. He asked ; “Why did God spare my life? I do not deserve God's help. I was never good or religious. What does God want from me?” He was in awe of his life's meaning. For the first time he acknowledged the reality of a power greater than human violence. In the presence of the divine mystery of recovery he searched for God's purpose. He experienced this miracle as God's wake up call.

      Instead of denying miracles with the arrogance of a closed rationalistic attitude, it is better to pray for the ability to recognize miracles for what they are and to be thankful for divine mercies.

     The Scriptures warn us to avoid magical thinking about our expectations. Galatians 6:7 warns, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.” Some inmates wrongly expected forgiveness to bring a quick cure from painful consequences. Forgiveness removes guilt and shame, but it is not an escape from problems. We ask for the mercy of God's forgiveness knowing it is not a magic wand. The way to success is to practice kindness, self-control, faithful morality, and wisdom. Our hope is not in magic, but in the harvest honest and generous actions bring.

The Blue Berry Patch Morning.

      The Blue Berry Patch near Seymour was a great adventure on 

Saturday, July 6^th. I was blessed to pick berries with 3 grand kids and a dear friend, Steve Page. We wondered how many pounds we could pick among us. We were amazed at check out to find we had 35 pounds of fresh blue goodness. We started picking at 7 AM and finished before 9 AM! When the grand kids started throwing blue berries at each other I knew it was time to stop, that we had done enough. The berries were just ready in clusters to fall into the bucket.

      It is inspiring to ponder that the Blue Berry Patch is a Christian ministry of outreach to 3^rd world people who lack fresh water. All the profits go to the Cross Catholic Outreach with an effective rate of 97% going to projects to benefit the poor. The management of this blue berry farm calls their outreach, “The Blue Water Project”.

Profits of $43,814 from 2008-10 were sent to the Dominican Republic where folks were drinking from contaminated creeks . Profits of $25,874 from 2011-12 were sent to a critical area of Kenya to help provide clean and sustainable water.

         The Patch will pick one more time this Saturday of July 13. They only pick once a week to let the plants fill out well. I plan to be out there at 7 AM. How wonderful to find fresh, wholesome fruit only a 40 minute drive away. How inspiring to also to be a small part of a world wide vision of compassion for the poor who need clean water. I will attempt to put a few pictures of the adventure on my blog main page.

Adventures With A Three Year Old.

         Colossians 1:16-17 says,”For by him all things were created:things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

        This past week we have been blessed with our daughter, son-in-law and 3 year old grandson Joshua to visit us from Kentucky. Spending time with Joshua on daily adventures helped me get in touch with the splendor of the Lord's greatness in His created things. This Scripture teaches that ,”all things were created by him and for him.. and in him all things hold together.”

We picked fresh blueberries. It was a delight to hear him taste the berries and murmur his approval. We caught bright flashing fire flies on a summer night. We filled an old jar full of them and released them the next morning. We caught 3 large, kicking and jumping trout. The rainbow colors of the trout were so brilliant.

     We were chased by a gaggle of geese wanting to get all the bread in our hands. We made it safely to a foot bridge with some of the bread left over for the ducks. It is so interesting that geese will not come up on the bridge but the ducks do. We went swimming and discovered that he can hold to a kick board and make splashes with his extended kicking feet. On a nature walk we saw beautiful blue dragon flies and red winged black birds.

      Our Lord has made us a wonderful world. Like the old hymn says so well, “He shines in all that is fair.” The Lord must have a great taste for variety, fun and awesome tender beauty to make wonders we can not count. We need an inquisitive 3 year old around to help us see and appreciate some of it!

      Yes, I am tired out but thankful for all this past week of adventure. I praise the Lord for health to tag along with an energetic little man. I will try to attach one photo of the wonder.