One Unholy Bible Study
I meet with a group of guys in their 20s on Tuesday nights at my house. We have a good time of laughing and talking, but we also have a serious time of Bible study in the book of First Timothy. Last Tuesday night, unbeknownst to me, my wife, Judy, was reading to my son in the living room. It was late and she was getting him ready for bed. They were so quiet, we could not hear them. Oh how they could hear us, though.
We took longer than we normally take to begin our study that night. We were joking and cutting up. One of us described some object -- I did not even remember this part of the conversation -- as "stupid." That was the crowning blow for Timothy. He looked up at Judy and said, "I cannot believe they are talking like that. They said a bad word (‘stupid.’) I thought this was a holy Bible study!"
Sorry, son. We will work hard on being more “holier” next week.
Forrest Gump
I saw Forrest Gump for the first time in over a decade this week. I watched it with my wife and two oldest girls. We saw a more sanitized version from network TV that I recorded years ago. Still, the movie offered many examples of the wages of sin and the resulting brokenness.
I had forgotten about the funny moments. I did remember about the historical serendipity's as well as the moments of sadness.
I was struck by the fact that Forrest was truly a man without guile. What a kind soul and what a faithful servant he was. Also, he was one who was not materialistic. He inherited great wealth, which he did not squander on his own consumption but rather used it to bless the lives of others.
Most of all, Forrest truly understood what it was to love someone (Jenny) unconditionally and relentlessly. This relationship brought him little personal happiness, but that was not his driving force. And in the end, in spite of the fact that Jenny brought him few moments of joy, she died leaving Forrest feeling great satisfaction for offering a love well lived.
The Smothers Brothers
I know a number of you who read this blog have no idea who the Smothers Brothers are. They are two brothers who are now in their seventies. Back in the late 1960s, they had a hit TV variety show. It was only for three years, before CBS finally canceled it. The reason CBS canceled it was because of the controversial nature of the show. The Smothers Brothers were constantly challenging the network censors with their political satire and commentary.
Recently, I checked out from the public library the third season of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on DVD. As I began watching the episodes, I asked myself a question. My daddy quit watching Bonanza to start watching this? Why? Bonanza was a wholesome family TV series, and my kids still enjoy it today. Meanwhile, the Smothers Brothers episodes were written by a bunch of young guys like Steve Martin and Rob Reiner-- people whom no one had ever heard of. And the material for that time was very much cutting-edge.
Finally, it dawned on me. The Smothers Brothers could not stand the policies of President Lyndon Johnson. Neither could my dad. I guess this was a clear case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
I have been reading the book Unchristian in preparation for a small, two-part series that I am going to be doing for my church on Sunday nights. We are going to analyze our culture, and the book Unchristian has helped give me some insight into the minds of the Mosaics (born between 1984 and 2002) and the Busters (born between 1965 and 1983.)
It is written for religiously conservative churches, particularly evangelical churches. One of the conclusions that they draw is this: conservative politics, particularly the politics of the Republican Party, are turning off the Mosaics and late Busters. Any churches associated with those politics have a reduced chance of converting these unchurched young people.
I have found their assessment spot-on. I also think that the reverse can be true as well. Any church leaning to the political left has very little chance of converting an unchurched conservative.
The writers of Unchristian are not saying that Christians should not have political views. They are saying that Christians should be very careful about the forum in which those views are communicated. Politics, just like religion, arouses great passion. People can react in ways that one would never imagine. Just like I would never dream that my daddy would drop Bonanza for the Smothers Brothers.
A Moving Funeral
Last week, I attended a very moving funeral service, and one of the most unusual ones. The father of one of our members, whose name is Tony Fears, passed away suddenly. Tony, in a short time, wrote a powerful eulogy that may have been the best I have ever heard. It was profound, eloquent, moving, and deeply spiritual. Tony chose not to read it, but had Mike Warner, my predecessor at Shiloh, read it. I want to share with you a small portion of this eulogy. Listen as Tony describes one of the most dramatic moments a child can experience. In this case, the child was Tony's dad as a young boy:
When dad was about 5 or 6 years old, he was living in a boarding house, near downtown Tyler. He recalled how he loved to sit and dangle his feet off the front porch and watch the trains go by on the tracks, literally, just a few feet away.
One day, he was sitting there waiting for the approaching train to go by and as the train went by, a boxcar passed with a man inside… waving at him. He excitedly waved back. It was not until the boxcar was a little ways past; that he realized the man who had waived at him was his father. Unknown to him at the time, his father was leaving. Leaving for good.
He would no longer see his dad, but for only a few brief times for the rest of his life. His father had left him and his mom. He would now be raised by his mother and his beloved Aunt Mirt. His father had abandoned him and it affected him for the rest of his life. But it affected him in a very interesting way.
Tony’s dad could have been embittered for life by the experience. He could have become extraordinarily angry. He could have become a criminal. I have seen it happen before. Tony's dad chose not to do that. Instead he used his experience and the sensitivity that he gained to minister to young men, especially those who had, for whatever reason, lost their fathers.
What an example of breaking the chain! What an example of taking the bad things from our lives and using them to bless others.
Thank you Tony, and thank you Mr. Fears.
Five things I think I think (a tip of the hat to Peter King for this idea)
1. Charles Smith shared with me a marvelous commercial from Dove that he actually found on Seth Godin’s (I always want to say “Rogin”) blog. It is so powerful that I think I will use it to open my sermon on Mother's Day. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U
2. I saw that Rick Warren was named by Time magazine as the world's most influential pastor. I think he was named so last year as well.
3. It looks like the Dallas Cowboys had an average draft unless: 1) Roy Williams turns out to have a monster year, and 2), the Cowboys draft picks are exceptional special teams players. If special teams are just as important as offense and defense, and these rookies are exceptional in special teams like I have been reading, this draft will be considered an exceptional draft.
4. Am I the only one who can not wait for June to get here? I am ready for summer.
5. For those of you who care, I am down to the last nine videotapes that I own in terms of turning them into DVDs. I have made and catalogued over 700 DVDs containing: family footage over the past 60 years, movies, documentaries, sports, TV episodes, and assorted historical and news specials from the past 50 years. I expect a call any day now from the Smithsonian Institution asking for the rights to the DVDs once I have “kicked the bucket.” This should prove no problem. I am sure Judy would be more than happy to get them off her hands. The nice thing though is that rather than having dozens of videotapes stored under couches, in closets, under beds and in bookcases, I now have the DVDs stored in nine beautiful cases on one bookshelf.
Now, for those of you worried about the vacuum that would likely exist once I complete this endeavor, have no fear. Next up -- I tackle the children’s videotapes containing movies and TV shows that they have recorded through the years.
It’s Friday, But Sunday’s Coming
I was looking with my ETCA students at the story of Jesus and Lazarus out of John chapter eleven this week. I was struck yet again and at what a powerful story this is. Lazarus is struck ill and his sisters, Martha and Mary, send word to Jesus. Yet Jesus tarries and refuses to come to them for two days.
Finally, he arrives but it is too late-- Lazarus is dead. Everyone who knew Lazarus was experiencing tremendous pain. Even Jesus felt it. When the text says that Jesus "wept”, it does not mean he had a couple of tears flowing down his cheeks. Rather, it represented the sob, the animal-like sound rising from the chest of a person experiencing deep grief.
Jesus, however, wanted to go to the tomb. And even though Mary and Martha were concerned about the smell, Jesus ordered the men to open the tomb. Jesus cried out to Lazarus and Lazarus came forth.
A time of great rejoicing! Lazarus became a celebrity. He had been dead, but he had been brought back to life.
(He was not, however, resurrected. Remember, this was the resuscitation of Lazarus, not the resurrection of Lazarus. Lazarus would die again. I became amused imagining Lazarus, a couple of days after being raised from the dead, sitting around a campfire with his friends still celebrating. Then one of his friends remarks, "Hey, Lazarus, do you dread dying again?" For the first time, Lazarus realizes he's going to have to die again. Talk about the ultimate downer!)
For 2000 years, Christians have been encouraged by this story. That encouragement came at the expense of someone else's pain. When he first received word that Lazarus was sick, Jesus already knew that Lazarus would die and would rise again. He also knew that God would be glorified through this. Mary, Martha, Lazarus, the disciples, and all the rest had no idea what was about to take place. All they knew was their pain.
Could it be God is working today in our lives, through our pain, to give Himself glory and to bless others? And, were we to know that, would that be satisfying to us? Have you and I reached that place where we are willing to experience pain in order to allow God to use it for the sake of the kingdom?
In my life I have observed this correlation. The more one views God's participation in daily life, the more peace one experiences in the pain that life inevitably brings. The more bitterness, anger, or disillusionment that one experiences in the pain that life inevitably brings, the less one views God's participation in daily life.
Let me let you in on a secret. I think God is involved in our lives every day. Even if it is simply letting us go, to walk on our own, like little children, with Him standing behind us, arms open to protect us from catastrophe, like a loving parent. Any pain we experience, he feels. Yet He will not allow those feelings to blackmail Him from working out good for the kingdom.
Can we trust Him in that work?
Have a great weekend!
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