Light in a Dark World

I was challenged today as I read Ephesians; particularly in regards to living as Children of the Light and spreading the Gospel. I am sure many of you know people who say they are Christians but there is very little evidence in the way they live their life to back up that claim. I know I have had moments that cause people to be suspect. This living as a light is a tall order and one that is very difficult to achieve. I can't say that it is any more difficult now as in any other time in history, but it ain't an easy time right now. The mere mention of Jesus in the public square and we hear terms like "fundamental" or "right wing." The curbside evangelist approach just doesn't seem like a too effective method today in America. So how do we reach out to an unbelieving, hurting world when so many people have such a quick and visceral reaction to Christianity? The easy answer is that we live a life that attracts people; that makes them ask themselves what we have that they don't. I believe this seemingly easy task is monumentally more difficult than it appears. I dare say it may be even more difficult going out to a street corner and proclaiming the Gospel to everyone who passes by. And I don't know too many people whose palms don't start to sweat a little at the thought of straight up, street corner evangelism. Here are some of the things Paul writes to the believers at Ephesus about living as Children of Light:

25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his
neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26"In your anger do not sin": Do
not let the sun go down while you are still angry
29Do not let any
unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building
others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who
listen.
31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander,
along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Let’s juxtapose these teachings onto your everyday life, better yet take these standards to your place of employment. Piece of cake. I never get angry or gossip or speak ill of anyone at work. I am, of course, always compassionate and I am always being helpful and building people up. Wait...ohhhh, now I see why I need grace. Let’s add another layer or two. Let’s say people know that you’re a Christian. Now, on top of trying yourself, to grow as a Christian and be a better example of the Christian life, you have coworkers who are still of the world and cynical and angry and living lives in sharp contrast to a Christ-centered life…and they're watching you. They watch your every move so they can be there when you slip up. Maybe they will take the chance to throw out the ever popular, “hypocrite.” Of course it may not be as dramatic as that, but we are being watched. As we all know, we do not necessarily see the fruit of our labor in Christ right away. We have to cultivate and build and plant seeds. Well this holds true when we aren't following Christ’s example. When you are at work, is there gossip? Have you ever participated? I have. Have you ever joined in a bashing session about inept management or complained about compensation or made fun of a coworker? The effects may not be instant, but over time you will blend in with everyone else. No longer a light for Christ, but just another example of a "christian" with no evidence of Christ. We all make mistakes and that is the beauty of God’s Grace. You don't have to out-rightly protest a gossip session; sometimes walking away is powerful enough. Each time we live out Christ’s example in any of these, or many other, situations we have planted a seed. It may take time to grow, but it will grow. You may not even see the fruit of your labor, but trust that God will care for that seed and grow it even if you aren't there. When we go out in the world each day we don't have to scream the Gospel from the top of our lungs, but the Gospel of Christ should be deafening inside our hearts. It needs to be in order to drown out all the temptations we face in a day. Paul has a great visual of how we are to defend ourselves against these temptations in Ephesians 6:13-17; putting on the Armor of God.

13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes,
you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to
stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with
the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the
readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take
up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of
the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God.

Maybe it's a guy thing, but man I love that image. Every day is a struggle and not every day will be a victory. But if we seek the Lord and seek his strength daily, we can make a difference; we can radically change the world.

Happy Birthday Sis

It my sister's ?? birthday today (not polite to say age you know). She lives up der in Wisconsion ya kno. I'm sure if Wallace and Gromit ever decide to come across the Pond they would love to visit her because of the cheeeese. My sis is a great lady and a super mom. All the best to her on her ?? birthday! Love ya.

Random Musing for the Day

If a peace activist goes to a war zone to protest the violence and gets captured and held as a hostage by the enemy (who incidentally will behead them no matter who they are or what their intentions), should the U.S. military go in and save them? Wouldn't that be like kicking the activist while they are down. After all, we would most likely have to use force to free them. Is that being very sensitive? Discuss.

Still Building

I am still adding and tweaking and refining the site. Check out the new "My Photos" link.
Some are artsy (matter of opinion, I know) and some are just good clean fun. There are a few other links that I have added and hopefully more to come. It has been years since I even looked at
HTML so it is taking me 10 times longer than it should - but I'm getting there.

Disturbed Within

I was reading in Psalms today and came across a passage I must have highlighted a couple of years ago. The passage is in Psalm 43.

Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
Then will I go to the alter of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.
Why are you so downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

If I am not mistaken in my (anything but exhaustive) study of the Psalms, the lament felt by the Psalmist was that of not being able to be at the temple to worship God. He felt that he needed to be at the temple of God in order to be in God's presence. It struck me in a different way, outside of the specific circumstances of the Psalmist. The passage that hit me was v. 5 "Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will praise him yet."
How can I be so easily discouraged with life? I have the eternal promise of heaven; the knowledge that I will see God face to face one day and see how God wove every day of my life together for his purpose. And yet sometimes all it takes to knock me off that heavenly pedestal is some mentally deficient driver who doesn't seem to notice the 700 other cars in the immediate area and decides to perform a death streak across all lanes of traffic for no apparent reason (no signal, of course). It's happened, more than once, and I can tell you living out Christ-like example is not my first inclination at that point. To go just a bit deeper than road rage, I find it is sometimes an easy and comfortable retreat into discouragement. Flipping through Psalms I can tell what kind of season I was going through by what is highlighted. "Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep?", "...do not turn a deaf ear to me...", "How long will you hide your face from me?" I wish I could say that I have since quit marking these passages, but alas I have not yet arrived. Once in a while I devote an entire prayer time to nothing but giving thanks for the blessings I have been given. After those prayer times it is impossible to see how my soul could be downcast. The Lord has given me so much to be thankful for. Nonetheless, there is no question that the trials, pain, despair and hurt that come into my life have a purpose. I have grown tremendously through the difficult times in my life. But perhaps the most powerful result of feeling that despair in my soul is the passion in which I seek the Lord. At no other time in my spiritual walk am I as desperate for the Lord's comfort and grace as when my soul is in despair. I may never fully understand why, in the midst of all of my blessings and the eternal promise I have been given, it is so easy for my soul to become downcast.

The last part of that verse, "Put you hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.", reminds me of a slow clap in some romantic comedy that starts with one person and then spreads to the entire crowd that has gathered or the steadily rising anthem as or hero delivers a speech that would bring the most manliest of men to tears. The Psalmist pulls himself up by the bootstraps and says no matter where I am God or what my circumstance I know you are with me and I will seek you and I will praise you again and my soul will rejoice once more. Amen!

My Backyard

While researching this whole blogging thing, I saw some photos that inspired me today. Photography is a bit of a hobby of mine but I have never had to means to buy the really nice equipment - not that I would know how to use it anyway. The photos weren't of anything spectacular, just everyday people and things. It got me to thinking and so I stepped out into the back "yard" of my townhouse (all 200 some square feet of it) to do a series of photos titled "My Backyard". Here's a few of them:









That's a few in the series. It's not so much that I think they are great as the fact that I seized a moment of inspiration and was able to capture some things that I have never noticed in that backyard before today.

The Inaugural Post

I want to avoid the enormous pressure one may feel when starting a new blog; the pressure to say something profound or present the blog's theme in some grand poetic statement. I have enough pressure in my life already and I don't need to pile on anything else.

So...I'm just going to start.

It snowed and then rained a little yesterday. I work at home and rolled up the roman shade in my office and watched the big flakes come down. There is a peace I find in watching snow fall that I can't really equate to anything else. It's like, with each flake, God is saying, "shh, rest." I get lost in it sometimes and I love it. It inspires me to search out moments of quiet and reflection that normally would get steamrolled by one of a million tasks that need my attention. But yesterday was good; I took that moment...and it was with me the rest of the day.