The # 1 Lesson of My First Decade: Jesus Died For Me

            Recently, I began reflecting on my life, decade by decade. Just for fun, I decided to list the # 1 lesson I learned about life in each decade (I am in my sixth now.)

            I had a lot of nominations for my first ten years of life. Like most people, the growth and learning I experienced from my birth to the completion of my tenth year seem exponential. After pondering that decade, I finally concluded the most important lesson was this: Jesus died for me. Here’s why.

            I wish I could tell you I lived a perfect life in my childhood. Unfortunately, that would be a lie—a big one. Here at Shiloh, we invite those interested in becoming a part of our church to join us in a conversation we call Tell Me About Shiloh. It is a conversation about our church, our teachings, and our journey, with the desire being to help a guest decide if he or she would find Shiloh a good fit for his or her spiritual journey.

            In our dialogue, each of us shares our spiritual story. In mine, I often tell how I ran around with boys from my neighborhood older than myself. Whatever sin I could commit at that age, I think I did!

            One Wednesday night when I was ten years old, I was sitting in a congregational devotional. During the singing of a song, I suddenly had the realization come upon me, “I am a sinner!” This recognition convicted me. I felt sorry for what I had done; I wanted to stop. I wanted to leave that life behind. I wanted to start all over.

            Furthermore, I had the gnawing sensation that I was going to hell—and I should. It was what I deserved.

            Finally—and all of this took place in the span of a minute or two—I began to think, “I want to be baptized.”

            I held my thoughts and feelings to myself until I got home. Then I told my parents. They knew baptism was a big step, so my dad began to study with me. To his credit, he did something very significant—he recorded our study on an old reel-to-reel tape recorder. That way, I could go back when I became older and hear what I was thinking and processing at the time. (Later, he transferred the recording to cassette. I still have it to this day, and I have now converted the cassette recording into a digital format. It remains a precious treasure.)

            The next day, I thought about the words of our Bible study and made the decision to be baptized. On a November night in 1970, one week before Thanksgiving, I confessed to family and a few friends and members of our church that Jesus was my Lord and Savior. H. L. Shirey then took me to our old baptistery and immersed me into Christ.

            (My hometown church has since built a new auditorium and baptistery. The old one remains dry and empty as a place of storage. I showed it to my kids a couple of years ago. I think they thought the sins of my baptism broke it.)

            I remember thinking as I prepared to go under the water that my sins were about to be washed away, and when I arose from the baptismal waters, I would be clean again. Indeed, I still vividly recall my emotions as I came up out of that water.

            My baptism culminated the events of my first decade. It channeled my growing awareness from early childhood that Jesus died for me, so I could live for him—forever.

            My first ten years: initial years of innocence followed by a few years in a spiritual wilderness, and finally climaxed by a new birth—quite a decade.

            I owed all that was good to the Man who died and addressed my sins—and my sin problem.

            6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Rom. 5:6-11.) ESV

            

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. Okay, the Mavericks proved me wrong. They won their series in five games. I liked their attitude afterward—no excessive celebration. There is still work to do. I fear picking them to beat Miami; Miami is hot, playing great ball, and has three legitimate, young superstars. However, I have a good feeling about this Mav team. I think they reverse the curse of 2006. I see them winning the championship in six games.

2. Wow! This morning, I heard the news that Jim Tressel resigned. While I did not find this information astounding, I still felt saddened by it. I think Tressel is a good man who, like all of us, has flaws. This one was not corrected early on by a check-and-balance in the Ohio State system. When the flaw was diagnosed, it was too late.

            Tressel’s only chance in the moral community is this: he has got to come completely clean and say, in effect, “Learn from my mistakes.” People will forgive anything except for covering up and other forms of hypocrisy.

3. Rest in peace, Cass Archer. You were a good father to my college roommate and Argentine teammate, Tim Archer. Moreover, I hold in awe anyone who could get a Ph.D. from the University of Texas in mathematics! You were a faithful elder and offered much to the Kingdom during the course of your lifetime. I am sure last week you heard the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

4. It’s Memorial Day. This year, my thoughts go to the privilege I had in 2010, to return to Arlington National Cemetery. While there, I was moved again by the ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I do not take the blessings I enjoy in this country for granted.

5. Congratulations to my nephew, by marriage, Drew Denman, who graduated last Saturday. Great ceremony, by the way. :)

FLATLINERS: A Good Movie for Christian Reflection

            Every year, I host my senior Bible class from East Texas Christian Academy for supper. For the past three years, we have enjoyed the movie FLATLINERS. The seniors find it suspenseful, even scary; I find it richly filled with teaching on atonement.

            The movie came out in 1990 and featured some of the hottest young actors of the day, including Kiefer Sutherland, William Baldwin, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, and Julia Roberts. They play pre-med students, experimenting by medically putting each other to death—flatlining—for a few minutes, before using medical technology to bring each back to life.

            During the clinical moments of death, each-in his or her own way- experiences events reminiscent of dreams. In time, the students collectively note that each has come into contact with negative events from their past. Specifically, all reconnect with what they believe were past sins they had committed.

            The suspense begins as each character discovers a hole has been opened into the cosmos, and each faces vengeance and retribution from those they had wronged. One had been guilty of secretly taping his sexual encounters with college coeds. Suddenly, women begin seeking to manipulate and use him as he had done to others. Moreover, discarded females begin appearing, questioning why he had hurt them.

            Another character encountered a young girl he had continually made fun of on the playground in elementary school. She began to appear to him, supernaturally endowed with power over him. He was frightened.

            The most interesting character to me is Nelson, played by Kiefer Sutherland. Nelson bullied a boy—Billy—during childhood. After Nelson’s death experience, Billy returns to inflict pain upon him.

            At the climax of the movie, we learn of the guilt Nelson had carried with him since childhood. Billy had climbed a tree to escape his tormentors (which included Nelson)—and had slipped and fallen to his death. The accident caused Nelson to be taken by authorities from his family and placed in a foster home.

            Every year, I find this movie fascinating. In an age when a number of Christian leaders (some prominent) seek to downplay or eliminate any need of Jesus paying a debt for our sins on the cross, FLATLINERS demonstrates the basic human understanding that humans cannot atone for their sins. It is not enough to have God come down to earth to show us how much He loved us by dying for us.

            Deep within our hearts, deep in our subconscious minds, we intuitively sense that an act of God showing his love for us… is not enough for us to cope with this life. As Nelson’s case illustrates, there are some sins we can never atone for. We yearn to know, really know, our sin has been dealt with. The cross alerts us to the fact that God, through Christ, has truly cancelled our sin.

            Another thing I like about this movie is that it reminds us that we all need the cross—even those who are not guilty of committing the “big” sins. Yes, in this movie there were those haunted by their “big” sins. Yet, there were others haunted by “little” sins, such as Kevin Bacon’s character, who had made fun of a child on the playground.

            All of us have emotions and regrets from past sins locked away—unless we have turned them over to Jesus; they will continue to impact us negatively—perhaps even haunt us—unless we lay them down at the foot of the cross.

            I am thankful for a God who showed his love for us by dying such a terrible death; but I am also grateful the Bible consistently points forward to, or (in the New Testament) looks back at, a God who paid a debt He did not owe, because I owed a debt I could not pay. 

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed (I Pet. 2:24.) ESV

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. My daughter, Haleigh, graduated Saturday from high school. I am very proud of her for a number of reasons, one of them is that she was one of three recipients of the Jana Preston Memorial Scholarship--$5000 a semester for 8 semesters… or $40,000 total. This scholarship is good for any college or university.

2. I do not know the name (names?) of the individual (individuals?) who funded this scholarship—unique to East Texas Christian Academy. Still, I am struck by the number of individuals God has blessed financially, who have chosen to fund scholarships to students. Furthermore, I am amazed by how many do this anonymously—and do so to call attention to someone else they wish to honor.

            Jana Preston was a faithful Christian, wife, and mother whose life ended much too quickly—a victim of cancer. Someone (or a few) funded this scholarship in her honor. Beautiful.

            My own life has been irrevocably blessed in this way. Godly, gracious, and generous people supplied resources to pay for 75% of my Master of Divinity expenses, and 100% of my doctoral degree.

            To all of you benefactors of the world—thank you. May God continue to richly bless you; you have proved faithful.

3. I finished this week an old book written in 1973 called The Wizard of Westwood: Coach John Wooden and His UCLA Bruins. Written by two contemporary Los Angeles sportswriters, Dwight Chapin and Jeff Prugh, I found this book to be the most objective account I have read of John Wooden’s life.

            Obviously, it was written before Wooden retired, yet, for that reason, I find it fascinating. Wooden was well on his way to becoming a legend, but he had not yet achieved sainthood status. Furthermore, the sportswriters were much more willing to contribute the warts of Wooden’s story.

            For example: the basketball players on one of John Wooden’s early high school basketball teams felt compelled to join their opponents in stopping a fist-fight. The fight was between John Wooden and the opposing coach. Now that’s something about Wooden you don’t read every day!

            Wooden himself readily admits in his autobiography that his temper as a young player and coach, at times, got the best of him. Still, this is the first time of have read this account in detail.

            Make no mistake about it; the authors include plenty of good things about their subject. It’s just that they draw a balanced picture.

            Keep in mind; they were simply writing about a great basketball coach at UCLA. They were not writing about the man we know today as… John Wooden.

4. I still believe the Mavericks will win their series in six games. I thought they would lose game one and win game two. The Thunder are tough. It would not shock me to see them take it to seven.

5. Welcome back Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz.

Sleepwalking Through Life

           Several years ago, my wife and I began to serve as foster parents for CPS. During that time, in the early hours of a Wednesday morning, probably around 1:00 or 2:00 AM, I jumped out of bed.

            I realized I had overslept. I had been given the care of ten infants. They were from Abilene. They had all had extremely runny noses and were fretful, but they had finally managed to fall asleep. Exhausted, I had fallen asleep also.

            Unfortunately, I had been terribly irresponsible; I realized I had not set an alarm!

            Those babies were supposed to be back in Abilene by 10:00 PM—and I still had them! The mothers of those infants were going to be frantic!

            After awaking, I made my way through the living room, but the babies were not there! I then hurried to the den. The babies were not there, either!

            It was at this point that something like a fog started lifting from my brain. Gradually, I realized that I had been dreaming and sleepwalking.  Yet, in that state between a deep sleep and complete alertness, a haze shrouded my mind.

            I was active. My body was moving. But there was a disconnect between my mind, my body, and my soul. In reality, my gut (my emotional being) was directing my body more than my mind or my will were.

            I think my state that night illustrates how many people live their lives. They live in a moral and spiritual fog.

            Their minds and wills are disconnected from their bodies. However, their gut feelings are very much connected to their bodies. If they feel like doing something, they do it. Sadly, too often, they sleepwalk through life--and experience the consequences.

            Jesus desires something different for us—bodies inhabited by the Holy Spirit with redeemed minds, working in harmony with God, and ultimately leading toward transformation. God yearns for us to have fully integrated minds, bodies, and spirits. One of my favorite passages goes like this:

           

 1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (Rom. 12:1-2.)

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. I think that May is the busiest month of the year. With students working on final projects and preparing for Finals, the end of the school year parties, assemblies, banquets, and graduation--it is a crazy month. December is a close second.

2. I think the Mavericks will defeat Oklahoma City in six games, but I predict they will lose the first one. The layoff was beneficial for Dallas-essential, really considering their age-but it will take Dallas a game to get back in sync.

3. I saw a preview of COWBOYS & ALIENS during the Super Bowl. It looked to me like one of the silliest movies ever; I have no desire to see it. This probably signifies I will like it immensely and see it several times.

4. For anyone wanting to read more about our U. S. Presidents, who doesn’t have much time, I recommend THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS SERIES, edited by the late Arthur M. Schlesinger. Each president is portrayed in a single volume, between 150 and 250 pages. I recently enjoyed listening to the audio version of the biography on Rutherford B. Hayes, written by Hans Trefousse.

5. Congratulations to my oldest child, Haleigh. This Saturday, she graduates from high school. Thanks for the memories. We’re proud of you!

Ministering to the Poor and Homeless: Another Visual Teaching From God

            Last week, Matt Winn, a member of my sermon advisory group, had a fun idea to illustrate the meaning of repentance. God shows his love for us in calling us to repent. He beckons us to leave behind our old thoughts, behaviors, and practices, and allow Christ to reshape us as we turn 180° toward him.

            To illustrate this in my sermon, Matt’s idea was to dress one of our members in old, shoddy clothes in order to make him look like a homeless person. Makeup was added, and he appeared to be in a bad way.

            As I began my sermon, our “guest” ambled up toward the front. I invited one of our members, who is known for having a heart for the poor, to escort this gentleman discreetly through one of our doors to the baptistery in order to offer some help.

            Of course, this was a setup. Volunteers cleaned the makeup off, and our “homeless man” had a nice clean set of clothes stashed away so that he could change. Near the end of my sermon, I brought him out along with our “volunteer servant.”

            At that point, most of our members recognized what was happening. To finish the illustration, I instructed our “servant” to dispose of the old clothes. At that moment, the “homeless man” tried to grab them. He acted like he wanted to put them back on again. No one in that auditorium would have wanted that for a real homeless man. To nail down the meaning, I asked our “servant” to throw the old clothes away in the dumpster.

            The hope in all this was to illustrate that all Christians are clothed in Christ. (26All of you are God's children because of your faith in Christ Jesus. 27And when you were baptized, it was as though you had put on Christ in the same way you put on new clothes [Gal. 3:26-27.] CEV Emphasis mine.)

            With this being true, why would we want to return to our old clothes? (13 Let us live in a right way, like people who belong to the day. We should not have wild parties or get drunk. There should be no sexual sins of any kind, no fighting or jealousy.14 But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and forget about satisfying your sinful self. [Rom. 13:13-14.] NCV Emphasis mine.)

            (12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience [Col. 3:12.] NIV Emphasis mine.)

            However, as often happens, I learned something else in this sermon, something I had never planned. When God invites his people to participate in ministry to the poor, we are channeling God. When we take homeless people and clean them up, give them nourishment, hope, and a way for the future, we are allowing God to do His work through us.

            We know what it means to take homeless people and to clean them up, give them new clean clothes, and pray that they not return to the old; however, this is also an illustration from God. Our service to the poor is a symbol of what God does for us. He allows us to re-create his spiritual acts with us, and hopefully, each time we do, it is a visible reminder of how God feels about us.

            God wants us to put away our old clothes, be clothed with Christ, and never return to the old clothes. May we remember this every time we minister to the poor.

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. Evidently, one of the hot new bloggers of the young evangelicals is Rachel Held Evans. She has already written one book Evolving in Monkey Town. Now she is at work on a second--The Quest for Biblical Womanhood.

            Here is how she herself describes it: “Think of it as John Piper meets Martha Stewart meets Julie & Julia meets A Year of Living Biblically. Just enough crazy to interest everyone.”

            I read A. J. Jacobs’ book THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY. His goal was to literally live one full year according to biblical teachings—including the Old Testament. The results were sometimes hilarious.

            Now Evans aspires to do the same, except she plans to literally obey commands in scripture given to women. The book sounds promising. I cracked up when I read that she planned on staying in the back yard in a tent during “that time of the month.” (She must comply with the OT law of staying outside the camp.)

            My guess is her book will prove thought provoking and funny.

2. I refuse to get my hopes up—too much—for the Mavs. Nice win finishing off LA yesterday. Yet, I remember the Mavs destroying Miami in Game 2 of the 2006 Finals. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…

3. Last week, we in the Shiloh office said “goodbye” to Sherry Bobbitt. Sherry began working for Shiloh before I arrived, and she was a wonderful help to me as I began to integrate myself into the Shiloh culture. Through the years, she grew to be valuable to my personal ministry. She was my proofreader, my archivist, and much, much more. I wish Sherry the very best in her next endeavor, but we will miss her greatly.

4. I finished watching the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg mini-series, THE PACIFIC, last week. My in-laws loaned it to me. One of the series’ characters, R.V. Burgin, attended church with Judy’s family when she was growing up. It was neat having that personal connection.

            I actually appreciated THE PACIFIC more than I did BAND OF BROTHERS, which I would have thought impossible. It does a magnificent job of revealing the Marines’ inner struggles—struggles understandable when you consider the hellish conditions they faced.

            One of the Marines, Eugene Sledge, stands on the brink of losing his humanity as the Marines invade Okinawa and face an enemy unafraid to use Japanese civilians to conceal weapons for sneak attacks. The scene where he reconnects with his humanity is one of the most powerful I have ever seen in a visual medium.

            This mini-series is not for the faint of heart. It is raw and graphic. Personally, I feel a vehicle such as this demonstrates the value of a society without censorship. It is a public service for citizens to receive just a little taste of how bad war is.

            Well done, HBO.

5. Related to THE PACIFIC, Hans Zimmer's music is haunting and beautiful--the perfect score. Check it out on I-TUNES. 

  

A Little Dab Will Do You

             I received good and interesting feedback on my thoughts on THE LORD’S SUPPER/COMMUNION last week. What I wish to do today is unusual for me; today, I wish to make an argument for the other side.

            It would go like this.

            There is no way we can replicate the Lord’s Supper/Communion experience of the First Century. First, for a substantial number of Christians, that meal was their biggest and best of the week. (This is one of the reasons Paul jumped on the more well-to-do Corinthians—they enjoying a relatively sumptuous meal; meanwhile, the poor had little to eat and left hungry.)

            Meat was not an item Christians could always afford. For Jewish Christians, a carry-over from some of the sacrificial meals under the old law was eating meat during sacred meals. Most of us regularly eat meat, and when was the last time you enjoyed a church’s potluck more than you did food from your favorite restaurant.

            Second, for some early Christians, the only time they would enjoy a full stomach would be after the agape meal (the meal experienced in the context for the Lord’s Supper/Communion.) Were we to eat our fill during the Lord’s Supper/Communion today, we would have to wait until—the next meal… before we would fill our stomachs again. Whether we desire to admit or not, most of us have enough food in our pantries to fill our stomach’s for a week or two.

            Most of us, Christians, in the U.S. are simply affluent. So why make a big deal about eating our fill during the Lord’s Supper/Communion?

            The fact is, we are not where we are going. We have not experienced heaven’s wedding meal with the Lamb. That is to come. Indeed, it says something about our present limitations that we can eat until our bellies are full, and yet we hunger again by the time the next meal rolls around.

            Why not partake of just a taste of heaven—a reign and an experience that is not fully consummated yet?

            Someday, that age will come—but not yet. The wafer of unleavened bread and the thimbleful cup size of grape juice remind us of our present existence.

            LIFE IS BETTER, NOW THAT WE KNOW THE LORD. However, we are not where we desire to be—or where we will be.

            Until then, we will eat portions influenced by a fallen creation to celebrate God’s work in Jesus, and encourage us to wait for what is to come.

            I am not saying this should be our regular practice. I am saying how we think could redeem our current practice.

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. Okay, I have read messages from some of my friends on Facebook—wonderful, spiritual, and godly reactions to Osama Bin Laden’s death. These included marvelous scriptures that really made me think.

            So now, I am going to offer my initial emotional reaction. I am not saying it was right. Indeed, in light of scripture, it probably was wrong. But here it is:

            Last night, my daughter, Haleigh, woke me up from a deep sleep. Excitedly, she said, “Dad, they just killed Osama bin Laden. The president is speaking.”

               This is one of the few times I can remember being awakened from a deep sleep, and feeling upbeat about the experience. Instantly, even as my mind was processing the news, I felt positive emotions.

            Entering our den, where Haleigh had the president's speech live on the computer, I saw and heard him talking to the nation, and to the world. By then, I was fully awake, and I felt deep joy.

            Ten years is a long time. The world is a different place.

            Recently, I began watching Tom Hanks’ mini-series, THE PACIFIC. Some of those soldiers experienced perhaps the closest humans will get to hell on earth. Suicidal enemies attacking them using island civilians as instruments to blow up and destroy American soldiers. I tend to give others the benefit of the doubt when they have to choose between two or more bad choices.

            I am blessed by the world those soldiers helped protect. It is hard for me to divorce myself from this country. I have lived in other countries; there is no place like this one.

            I like feeling safe. I like feeling free.

            I appreciate our policemen. I appreciate our military.

            When others risk much (including the possibility that they might be doing something morally wrong in the pursuit of doing what is right), with the result being I am safer and free, I cannot help but feel gratitude.

2. Someday, someone should write an updated theology of government. When you wake up and find yourself the most powerful government on earth, how do you handle that responsibility?

            I suspect it is similar to waking up and finding yourself receiving the responsibility of parenthood. You cannot serve without sinning; yet, to walk away from the responsibility is sinning.

3. Way to go Mavs! Way to beat Portland.

4. DeMarco Murray drafted by the Dallas Cowboys? Please! If he cannot stay healthy in college, how in the world will he in the NFL?

5. It was five years ago this week I began my ministry at Shiloh. I am grateful, and there is no other place on earth I would rather be.

            

Communion versus the Lord’s Supper

                If you are not interested in Communion, the Lord's Supper, you are probably not going to be interested in this post.

                Recently, I told my sermon advisory group, I would be preaching a sermon on “Why The Lord's Supper” in a couple of months. I asked if they had any suggestions.

            One said to me, “Would it be possible to offer the people more than one little piece of cracker and one little cup full of grape juice? It always sounded strange to me to hear people talk about a supper, when what we experience is not even a good snack.

                Someone else, one who has been a Christian for a long time, said, “I agree. It just seems like what we do has very little in common with how they partook of the Lord's Supper and experienced communion in the New Testament.”

            I found our dialogue fascinating; it really gave me food for thought. (Wink. Wink.)

                  Since then, I have thought much about that conversation. I agree that what we do finds little connection with the way they did it in the New Testament. There is no implication from Scripture, and no implication from early church history, churches passed around portions of unleavened bread, from which each Christian took a tiny morsel.

               Now, since some churches passed around one cup, I can see each individual’s swallow being smaller, similar to the size of our little communion cups. However, these were experienced in the context of a complete meal. So people, by God's design, left feeling satisfied. (Indeed, one of the reasons there was a problem in I Corinthians 11 was because the more affluent Christians were sinning by not sharing their bountiful blessings of food with the poor Christians. Consequently, the poor left hungry.)

              Where did this disconnect between our experience of communion today and the early church's experiences come from? I suspect Constantine's influence on the church is partially to blame. That's the subject of another post for another day.

              Within my own fellowship, I'm wondering if there is another reason as well. In my fellowship, we practice open communion. That means, anyone who desires to partake of the bread and the cup may do so. We leave it up to each individual's conscience. Each individual is subject to God's judgment (I Corinthians 11:17ff), but each is allowed to make his or her own choice.

              Now, in a conservative and doctrinally careful Fellowship, you've got a problem. How do you share communion with someone who may not be a Christian? Especially, if it is someone you really believe is not a Christian? The solution is simple; you virtually eliminate the communion aspect of the service, and emphasize the Lord's Supper facet.

              In the Lord's Supper, it is every man for himself. You're not showing a desire to fellowship someone, who is outside of Christ. That's his problem. Consequently, your conscience can remain untroubled.

              Unfortunately, in our congregation's case, all too often we do not experience communion; rather, what is happening is 500 people are individually, and simultaneously, taking the Lord's Supper.

              This explains how we can say with a straight face on Sunday nights, “If you were unable to partake of the Lord's Supper this morning, it has been left prepared for you and you may leave the auditorium to partake during the singing of our next song.”

            Voila! A handful of people go to a back room, away from the rest of the Body. Or, everybody in the auditorium sits and watches three people, who are taking the Lord's Supper on a Sunday night.

              Whatever that is, it clearly violates the meaning of the word–communion. Not much is being held in common by the assembly.

              What's the solution? I have some ideas. But I would enjoy first hearing from you. What do you think?

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. When I left for Argentina in 1989, I assumed I would spend the next five years practically isolated from American news and sports. I will never forget our first night in Argentina, in the home of the Reece Mitchell family, in Buenos Aires. I mentioned to one of Reece’s sons, I cannot remember which one, that I expected to be cut off from American culture, as I had been in Papua New Guinea.

            He replied, “Oh, well we get cable here.”

            That was the first I heard of the Argentine cable service. God bless the individual, who brought cable to Argentina.

            Because of the cable service, we received a direct feed of CNN. (Later, we received ESPN as well.)

            After we settled in our house in Cordoba, I subscribed to the local cable service. Now, we had been in Cordoba for a little more than a month, so I already felt a little bit out of the loop. One night, about 10:30 our time, I turned on the TV to CNN.

            It was 7:30 PM in Atlanta—time for CNN SPORTS TONIGHT. The program’s anthem blared out, and I emotionally tasted a little bit of home.

            Virtually every night thereafter, I watched the news on CNN and SPORTS TONIGHT. Anchors Fred Hickman and Nick Charles grew to be my friends, even though I never met them.

            Nick Charles is dying. He is suffering from bladder cancer and will be taken from us soon. Patrick Leech sent me a link that offers a marvelous testimony to Charles’ faith:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/04/06/nick.charles.facing.death/index.html?iref=obinsite

         I feel sadness because of the connection of my past. Yet, I can say gratefully, that Nick Charles is dying well.

2. I got to experience LEADERSHIP TRAINING FOR CHRIST for the first time on a Sunday morning. I know of no better ministry for equipping young people, children, and adults (!) than LTC. What a blessing it is.

3. The Mavericks blowing a 23-point lead to Portland on Saturday doesn’t scare me. Of course, I may be whistling in the cemetery.

4. My heart goes out to the people, who have lost property, especially homes, to the wild fires. Yet, another reminder of how little humanity really controls.

5. I took my family to the site of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination yesterday afternoon. The Texas School Book Depository has been turned into a museum. We did not go inside, but we walked around the site of the murder. Sad.

            I was impressed by how many people were there—more than I saw at Ford’s Theater last year. I heard the German language spoken; it looked like others from different countries were present as well.

            One strange moment: at the grassy knoll the investigator and author, Robert Groden, was present with his books and DVDs on the Kennedy assassination.

            He believes Kennedy was a victim of a conspiracy. Part of his proof is photos taken from Kennedy’s autopsy. (How he got them, I don’t know.)

            The reason I know he had photos is, Groden had a point man, who held up some of the photos. Fortunately, he told Timothy and Annie to turn around before he did.

            I have to admit; I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, the photos were morbid. (I decided to turn away; I couldn’t escape the sensation I was violating something sacred.) On the other hand, we are a democracy. We must hold the government accountable. Clearly, if someone in the government was conspiring to hide evidence, it would take the people seeing the evidence to move an investigation along. And, if you run for president, there are certain rights to privacy you surrender for the sake of the democracy. 

Eternity Starts Now

            Years ago, our church ministered to a girl, who had a form of palsy. She walked in an uneasy gait—very unsteady. She moved to our town, when she was probably nine or ten.

            Her father was long gone (I think he was in prison.) She lived with her mother. She needed help from her mother to perform the tasks we consider routine—bathe, use the toilet, dress….

            In time, we could not help but notice this girl had terrible body odor. Little by little, the reality of this girl’s life took a tragic turn.

            Her mother had been neglecting her. Sometimes, she would not help her use the toilet. Sometimes, she would leave her in the bathtub. Sometimes, she would not help her bathe.

            The reasons varied. There were times the mother felt overwhelmed. Escape ranged from a TV program to entertaining male friends.

            In time, I, and others, became aware of the situation and called Child Protective Services to intervene.

            I think back often to that young girl’s situation. Had she been in a jail, the authorities would have been arrested for their treatment. In some ways, this girl’s circumstances were like that of an inhumane jail. The girl’s jailor just happened to be her mother.

            I believe in the eternal existence of a realm called hell. I believe that Satan exists and that he has many who join him in bringing as much hell as he can to this earth. The girl I just told you about experienced a little bit of Satan’s hell.

            But to most of us, those experiences I just described were clearly hellish.

            I used to think the world cheapened the word “hell” through over use. Now, I think I have gone to the other extreme. Satan is all about bringing hell to this earth; he wants people to experience as much of it as he can.

            I have thought a lot about what I would do, if I were a soldier of Satan. I really think these guys who are part of the Church of Satan, have it wrong. They are too heavy-handed. I remember hearing about what a missionary said to Satan worshipers, when he had a conversation with them, “Do you guys think you’re the only ones going to hell?

            If I were a worshiper of Satan, I think I would I would attempt to be subtler. You can win more people this way. More importantly, you can win more people in the churches. There they could spread the opposite of salt and light—darkness and “do-do” (see Luke 14:35.)

            If I were an advocate of Satan, here's how I would help people, especially Christians, experience a little bit of hell on earth:

            (1) Self-righteousness. Nothing distorts your life more than being self-righteous. It puts things out of whack. It helps you elevate your strengths and ignore your weaknesses. It energizes you to find the weaknesses of other people and focus on them. It is an excellent way to empower yourself on this earth. And, you can push people toward being just a little bit more damned.

            2) Gossip. Another great way of bringing a little bit of hell to this earth. You can distort the truth and make people believe things that can quickly morph into outright lies. Moreover, on a technicality, you can add telling the truth to the gossip column, if you tell it to an inappropriate audience—such as breaking a confidence. A prayer circle asking for prayer requests is a great forum for this. “Pray for Marge, she and her husband are thinking about getting a divorce…”

            Gossip is an excellent way to hurt people, without going to prison for it. Just one more way you can bring a little bit of hell to this earth.

            3) Greed. Greed is a fantastic way to bring a little bit of hell on earth. It can motivate you to pursue money or things at the expense of other people who are hurting. If you are good at deluding yourself, you can even convince yourself that the pursuit of the material is nothing more than God choosing you for incredible blessing. Meanwhile, those without continue live lives of disease, ruin, or even starvation.

            If you are serious about following Jesus, none of that is good, though, is it?

            What Jesus calls us to do over and over again, is to collaborate with him in bringing God's reign here to earth. For the past one hundred years, writers ranging from C. S. Lewis to N. T. Wright, from Philip Yancey to Rob Bell, have been reminding Christians: eternity doesn’t simply start at death. The New Testament affirms over and over again that eternity begins today.

            When Christians walk with Jesus, Christians invited Jesus to reign. When Jesus reigns, he is doing what God does in heaven. Any place on earth, where God is reigning, is a little bit of heaven on earth.

            I believe all I have written is summarized in one tiny verse—John 10:10, “A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I came to give life—life in all its fullness.”NCV

            Eternity, whether it is oriented toward hell or heaven, starts now.

            Those of us in Christ, invite a little bit of heaven here. We allow-we encourage-God's will to be done here, like it is in heaven.

            We bring God’s rescue here on Earth. Christian workers serving children for CPS or serving the elderly in nursing homes can both rescue human beings from hellish situations and transport them to caring, dignified, and nourishing environments.

            God’s people can bring a little of heaven’s beauty here to earth. Every painting offered to the glory of God, every book written to honor God, every house painted to honor God, every tool manufactured to honor God, every act done to serve people, every move made to bring peace, joy, love, gentleness, forgiveness, healing, to a broken world, is bringing a little bit of heaven to earth.             This is the greatest call. It is compassionate service to those, who are hurting; it is food offered to a person who is hungry; it is parental care for orphan; these are some of the things a hellish world needs. When God begins through us, it holds the potential of lasting forever.

            This cause is noble. Why wait to experience heaven after death? Why ask people to delay experiencing heaven until the afterlife? I wonder, who wouldn’t want to join us in offering-and experiencing-a little bit of heaven today?

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. I finished the book, OUTLIERS, by Malcolm Gladwell, last week. It started out well. I was especially fascinated by the references to the 10,000-hour rule—talented people spend a minimum of 10,000 hours perfecting their craft. (For example, the Beatles played for 10,000 hours before they made it big.)  I was, however, disappointed in the conclusion of the book. The details were too mundane for my tastes.

2. If you are a fan of the NFL, you owe a debt to NFL Films. If you are not a fan of the NFL, your life has still been impacted by NFL Films. Steve Sabol, to me, the heart and soul of NFL Films, is battling a brain tumor—recently diagnosed. I pray for Steve Sabol.

3. A factoid that may only matter to me: I always try to have someone read my blogs before I post them. I find this reduces errors. Two weeks ago, I posted a weekly blog that was one of my most read. (It was the one reviewing Rob Bell’s new book—LOVE WINS.) Unfortunately, I discovered last week that somehow, the one I posted was not the edited version. If you noticed—sorry. I’ll edit it and post an updated version.

4. LEADERSHIP TRAINING FOR CHRIST is this weekend. This year will be the first year I’ll be able to stay over on Sunday. I’m looking forward to that.

5. Could it be the Mavericks have a chance this year?