Coming Alive

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
- Howard Thurman


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While My Kindle Recharges

I've been reading Douglas J.Nelson's "There is More" this past week (Thank you God for my Kindle). Church historian Richard Riss calls it the best biography of William Seymour, the leader of the Azusa Street Mission, that has ever been written. So far I agree.

One thing I am especially thankful for is that Nelson surveyed a multitude of material that has been written about William Seymour and carefully critiques the historical accuracy of each. Some of the errors that he highlights I had learned through my own research (reading the very sources he cites) and then passed along the misinformation. For example, it has been written in dozens of books that Seymour had a glass eye. I have written that on this blog. It seems that he was legally blind in one eye but the severity of his ocular condition grew as the years passed. I was thankful to see that I had noticed some of the same misinformation and contradictions among the sources as Nelson had.

Nelson posits Seymour as one of the most undervalued leaders in church history. He cites a racial and religious bias for that due to Seymour's color and pentecostalism.

According to my device I am 40% of the way through the book. It is duly educational and devotional for me. Something inside me comes alive at the hope of God again manifesting His presence in such a way that people are unified in the midst of it. May it happen here. Soon.


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The Rest of the Story

Make every effort to enter into rest." - Author of Hebrews






Yesterday Kellie, Ashleigh, and John Collins drove from Green Lake, Wisconsin to Chesterton, Indiana. The traffic through Chicago was s l o w.
Beth and Ryan drove from home so that we could meet up on Lake Michigan and watch the sunset and fireworks over the water.

On of the roads leading to the beach was covered with water. It was unsure of the wisdom of driving through it's unknown depths to get to the beach, but I motored through it regardless. It proved to look worse than it actually was.

Once on the beach, the six of us skipped stones on the water, played in the sand, enjoyed the sunset, and eventually watched the fireworks show with the Chicago skyline as a backdrop. It was so restful.

I often find rest and recreation to be elusive. I think of so many things I should be doing and get discouraged at the obstacles that arise against times of rest. I am not too busy to rest. I have to rest to do things well.

Rest is a gift for me. Recreation literally gives me a chance to be re-created and re-freshed. I read a study last week that shows the increased productivity in people who take time to recreate in their busiest times compared to those who put off recreation until the busyness wanes.

The recreation and fellowship last night was more than worth Chicago traffic and a flooded road. Rest is worth working for.



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Suffering & Joy

Greg Boyd's work is the best I have ever read on why evil exists.



Today I talked with my friend Lilly. Lilly has had a very difficult past couple of years. Several family members have passed away after grueling illnesses. She has had several bouts with cancer. Last month on the day of her mother's funeral her husband had a stroke.

Almost every time I talk with Lilly she looks at me and says, "God must have a reason for doing all this." My heart breaks every time she says it. First, because she has suffered so much pain and then because she thinks God is orchestrating it.

I don't believe that God is causing the suffering in her life. Not one bit. But that is to be the subject of a post sometime in the future. Lilly said something else that arrested my attention long after I stopped talking with her. She looked at me with a gleam in her eye and said, "I can't wait until the marriage supper (after Jesus' return). I don't belong in this world. I just want to be with Him."

Here is a woman that has seen so much suffering and believes that God has willfully and purposefully caused all of it, yet her love for God shines through her eyes. While I disagree with her theology regarding God causing sickness, I am deeply moved by her eschatological vision and her love for Jesus.

Theological nuances aside, I could use a good dose of Lilly's passion and vision. Over the past couple of years I have arrogantly thought that I have something to teach her. I have something to learn from her. She loves God in the midst of trial. Her eyes are focused on eternity in this moment. I bet that pleases God.
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Bitterness is Toxic

James Tissot's "Michal despises David" from 1898


Thinking about Michal today. Remember Michal? King Saul's daughter that was in love with David. Saul gave her to David in marriage for 100 Philistine foreskins in an attempt to get David killed. Then Daddy tried to kill David repeatedly. I am sure she had Daddy issues.

David fled town. Saul gave Michal away in marriage to another man. The new husband is CRAZY about Michal. Daddy dies in battle & David officially becomes king.

One of King David's first orders of business was to go get Michal from New Husband and reclaim her as one of his wives. In one of the saddest verses in the bible New Husband follows behind Michal wailing as she is taken off to again be David's wife.

Maybe she was sick of New Husband adoring her so much and she longed to be one of David's wives. The text doesn't tell us how she felt. Sadly, that is probably because no one asked or was concerned.

Later comes Michal's most famous, or rather infamous moment. Once when David returns home successfully he dances before God worshiping wearing very little. Michal is embarrassed by this and calls him undignified. David promises that "Girl, I'll show you undignified!" (may not be an exact quote).
Because Michal criticized something as holy as the worship of someone before God she was struck barren and was unable to have children.

I do not think the following is probably true. I just wonder if it's possible that it could be true. What if Michal was so angry and hurt by being treated like a commodity and having to leave a crying husband that really wanted her that she became spiteful toward David? What if the injustice of going from being a princess to one of the King's many many women that injustice spoiled inside of her and turned to bitterness? I wonder...

Sometimes our response toward being wronged can put us in an even worse place. We are not responsible for the wrong things that happen to us but we are responsible for the way we deal with them. By releasing forgiveness toward those who wrong us we set ourselves free. When someone is unable to forgive another they are victimized doubly. First by the act that occurred, the second by toxicity of undealt with emotions and feelings. The most loving thing a person can do for themselves is to release others of their wrongdoings.



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Too Long to Tweet

I love using Twitter. Twitter for me is a man at a party carrying around an hors d'oeuvre tray. It provides light digestible thoughts without having to stop and take time for a full mental meal. I follow Greg Boyd, Bill Johnson, John Piper, and many others on Twitter. I get to read their condensed ideas without time spent following their train of thought through a book, essay, or even a blog post.

The downside of Twitter is that it provides quotable thoughts without context. It creates an environment where being quotable supersedes being fully thought out on subjects. The context that a tweet (or any quote for that matter) is birthed out of is essential to understanding it's true intended meaning. For example, "God often offends our mind to reveal our heart" is a phrase that I have heard quotes probably hundreds of times. After being repeated so often without context that can lead someone to assume that our thinking is a detriment to a full spiritual life. In a fuller context it can be explained that our response to the supernatural (when God does things outside of what we can understand) could be an indicator of our heart condition. Unfortunately that quote has been used to paint a picture of a false rivalry between head and heart in Christians.

In the pages of the writings of great spiritual thinkers there are many quotable gems to be found. I love reading those gems on Twitter as the authors or their readers post them. However I am sensing a need in myself to go beyond the surface and get a better context from which those gems came. If I am quotable; great. If I am fully thought out; better.


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Jealous? Part Deux

Isn't it interesting that the very thing that Saul feared was actualized through his jealousy of David? Saul feared that David would be honored and revered more than himself by the people. Saul's jealousy pushed people away from him and highlighted the favor on David's life even more.

As I read 1 Samuel it feels like Saul is trapped in a "Marsha! Marsha! Marsha!" season. Everywhere he turns people are loving David. Saul's son Jonathan made an oath to protect David from his dad. His daughter hid David when Dad sent men over to kill him in the night. As Saul grew more hateful the people around him adored David more.

Jealousy leads to irrational thoughts and behaviors. Saul's reason was so clouded that he killed the priest Ahimelek for feeding David on his journey. Saul then had 85 priests slaughtered because they were associated with Ahimelek. Then Saul had the men, women,children, infants, and all livestock of the town of Nob butchered because Ahimelek lived there.

Be vigilant with feelings of jealousy and rivalry toward others. Do not let them grow wild. Unchecked they can turn a king into a madman.



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