A Historical Bad Rap

            He literally saved millions of people from starvation. He did so twice, leading food relief efforts after World War I and World War II.

            In Finland, his work rescuing people from starvation was so noble, his last name became a verb, meaning “to help.”

            It was because of his heart for humanity, not to mention his amazing administrative ability and his unselfish devotion to serving his fellow man, that he was elected president of the United States in 1928.

            Tragically, just a few months into office, the stock market crashed (the fault of which was not his own) and the Great Depression began.

            He was audacious in attempting to address the needs of people, creating many new programs. Yet, struggling with a recalcitrant Congress, he made little headway in alleviating the Great Depression. For this reason, he was thrown out of office in the election of 1932.

            Sadly, during the Great Depression, his name took on a different connotation here in the United States than it did in Finland. It morphed into a word describing locations where poor people lived. Decades later, a popular musical, “Annie”, would casually ridicule him in their songs.

            When it comes to judging a man, society does not always get it right. Unfortunately, popular culture sometimes brands a person in an unfair way that does not reflect truth when describing a person's overall life.

            This was certainly the case with Herbert Hoover. Herbert Hoover was a compassionate man who served humanity for over 90 years. One event overshadowed him. He became identified with it, and that became his legacy.

            I think that is sad. History seems unconcerned with my sympathy.

            Strangely enough, Scripture sometimes seems unconcerned about the legacy of God’s people, but here is the catch. In the Bible, God is held as the standard. Humans are viewed as flawed beings, especially when compared with God. In the Bible, there is God—then there is everyone else.

            The Bible has no qualms about sharing personal information concerning God's community of faith. Today, were we preachers to relate similar flaws at someone’s funeral, people would gasp and consider it in bad taste.

            God’s word does not share our unease. You can check out the legacies of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Peter to name a few. You have the good, and you have the awfully ugly.

            God's word is not concerned about burnishing the reputation of the people of the Bible; rather, it is more concerned about elevating and glorifying the name of God.

Reflections on Kingdom Work

            In Kingdom work, God is the constant; we are the variable. Read the Bible, and after all is said and done, God is the Hero of the story. We have the opportunity to embrace him and jump on board with his wonderful Kingdom activity.

            I know many of you read out of the version of the Bible called “The Message.” Eugene Peterson translated that. He’s written a lot of good books about God and Scripture. In one of them, CHRIST PLAYS IN 10,000 PLACES, he wrote something that absolutely inspired my imagination.

            In John Mark’s gospel, Peter is the prominent apostle. Peter appears to have the potential to move into place alongside Jesus. Then the wheels come off of Peter’s life. Peter does not become the lead apostle; instead, Mark portrays Peter as the lead sinner.

            Peter stays out of the limelight. That spot is reserved for Jesus alone. In Mark, there is only one hero–and he is Jesus.

            The incredible thing about this is we think we know where John Mark got his material–from Peter, who mentored him. And we think a significant influence on John Mark’s gospel were the sermons he heard Peter preach.

             I am absolutely blown away by that. Peter embraced the fact that Jesus stood alone as the hero, and he had absolutely no problem with us knowing that he was a sinner. Yet, Jesus reached out to Peter; Jesus called him, and Jesus was faithful to him.

            God is such an overwhelming hero in the Bible; he easily overshadows—and overcomes—the weaknesses of the people who follow him. So we do not even have to attempt to be cardboard cutouts of saints. We can simply be ourselves.

            As a matter of fact, the more real we are with God and with each other, the more he can form us into the image of his Son. We don’t have anything to be afraid of, and we have a lot to look forward to. It is exciting to watch God work in our lives.

            As I process what is next for me in my own life, I recognize the fact that some of you changed majors in college. Some of you graduated with a degree in one field, and God steered you to another. Some of you started in one career, and God led you to another. That is the exciting thing about God… he is always working on us and through us, to carry out his story and his purpose.

            Did you know that some of our greatest discoveries and inventions have occurred as a serendipity of the original intent of the discoverer? Alexander Graham Bell invented an instrument to inform people of the arrival of telegrams. He did not realize it would become the telephone.

            An Italian explorer sailed across the Atlantic Ocean hoping to find a new route to India and enrich himself trading for spices. Christopher Columbus, instead, discovered a new world, which literally led to seismic shifts in geography, world power, and, literally, worldview.

            All of these serve as a nice symbols of the Christian’s walk with God. Whether they are true failures or unplanned directional turns, Scripture teaches us God can work through both. This truth lends an atmosphere of excitement to the Christian journey. As my former colleague, Tim Henderson, put it in one of his blogs, “It is better living to be watching for the unexpected than expecting the living to follow our plan. May you enjoy a life of watching God do more than you can explain or imagine.”

                        

Reflections on Leaving the Pulpit

             I only thought that resigning from my job was important.

            Judy and I picked last Wednesday as the day to tell our four kids I was leaving full time preaching. We were traveling to Cleburne for a speaking engagement, and the entire family was going with me.

            I was almost two thirds of the way through my story—telling about our decision and what it involved—when we passed by my son’s elementary school, Andy Woods.

            With great excitement, Timothy interrupted me (as I was sharing from my heart) with this exclamation, “Guys! Look! Look over there!” (Pointing out the window of our Suburban toward the school.)

            My oldest daughter, Haleigh, tried to shush him, “Be quiet, Timothy, daddy’s trying to talk to us.”

            “I’m sorry,” Timothy shouted, “but look! They’re cutting down a tree! They’re cutting down a tree!”

            I had to admit that his news earned the right for him to gain the floor. There are always going to be life-altering decisions, but it is not everyday you get to see someone cut down a big tree at your school.

            I was grateful for the much needed perspective.

            Speaking of perspective, I have received some good questions since I announced yesterday that I was stepping down from Shiloh’s pulpit. So I thought it would be helpful to add some context and clarification to my thoughts expressed in my letter of resignation, which I posted on my FB page.

            First, there are many variables involved in my decision. On a more personal note, I offered the Lord my retirement from preaching last month while on a mountain in Colorado on Wilderness Expedition.

            Last Spring, as Shiloh was looking at the book of Hebrews, I wrestled with the question of whether or not Jesus was my anchor (Heb. 6.) As I focused on the Christians struggling with attacks on their faith, I could not help but think about how easy I had it Shiloh. Oh, sure, we faced problems, but so do all churches. Had preaching become an idol to me? Was I a "preacher" more than a disciple of Jesus?

            In many ways, I believe the Lord has responded to my offer to “retire” by making it clear to me that he accepts it. I am at peace with this decision.

            Granted, I don’t want to be stubborn or obstinate about preaching. If I am convinced God wants me back in the pulpit, I will answer the call.

            Second, since I announced that in the immediate future I would be doing a lot of writing, I think some people got the idea that I plan on making a career out of it. I would love to have the privilege; however, I fully recognize how unrealistic that is.

            I still have a file containing a book I completed 20 years ago, which no publishing company wanted to publish. (The meanies!)

            I have three books floating around in my head that I’ve wanted to work on for quite a while. I am going to use the time I have available to do so.

            I would love for the Lord to allow one to be published, but if not, I can store the manuscripts. I write for a lot of reasons… one being the sheer enjoyment of it.           

            Third, since our family would like to remain in Tyler and at Shiloh, I am pursuing other career fields, which would keep me here. I’ve got some ideas, and I will investigate them.

            I am excited about the present. I am so thankful that I have elders who love me and are so supportive of me during this time.  No matter what I end up doing, my prayer is that it will be pleasing to the Lord and in fitting with his mission for my life and transformation.

           

           

Spiritual Reflection on THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Spoiler Alert! If you have not seen this movie, do not read this article. I might ruin it for you.

            Imagine a story about someone who left a world of unimaginably great riches to go and dwell with a very fallen people-marred by the effects of sin-in a very fallen world. He fights the greatest evil, and apparantly is overwhelmed by it. He descends into a hellish abyss, and is seemingly dead forever.

            Remarkably, after a period of time, he overcomes the evil of that hellhole and rises again. He overcomes the Evil One and all of the evil minions and rescues a very fallen people from the full effect of all that evil. Indeed, he gives them hope for a new life.

            I am of course talking about Jesus and the Gospel story. Although that description, I guess, captures the essential plot of The Dark Knight Rises as well.

            Over and over in great movies and books, I see artists take biblical stories and rework them in a thinly disguised way. I wonder what would happen if God ever decided to sue for plagiarism.

            Maybe God feels complimented because people keep using his material.

            For whatever it is worth, I really liked the movie.

Out of Poverty

            God has always been about helping the poor. This has been at the heart of God’s message from the Old Testament all the way to Jesus. Others in the New Testament have emphasized this message from the apostle Paul to Jesus’ brother, James. Have you ever wondered why that is?

            Clearly, there are many reasons, perhaps led by one articulated in the book of James—people have basic survival needs, and poverty is an ever-present threat.

            I want to take a moment though to explore another.* We have poverty because of sin. Not necessarily the sin of one who lives in poverty, but poverty is the result of the consequences of this fallen world. Sin set into motion a lot of bad things, including poverty.

            Here is an obvious example; a child who is poor is not poor because of his own sin. But sin has created a world that is broken. That child receives the brunt of the fall of humanity.

            Can you think of an image more startling than one of a child in poverty? Instinctively, a voice within screams out, “This is wrong!”

            Viewing a child who is hungry and ill-clothed makes you hurt inside. You know it should not be this way.

            These images remind us that the world is broken. There are external symptoms that something is wrong in the world on an internal level… a spiritual level.

            Biblical writers took note of this. To describe the sinful condition of his people, Isaiah said, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Is. 64:6.)

            On the other hand, new clothes—emblematic of good health and one’s needs being met—are often used as symbols by biblical writers for a spiritually healthy state with God:

Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Romans 13:14.)

For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53.)

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12.)

Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5.)


[All citations NIV 1984, Italics mine.]

            When we seek to minister to the poor in the name of Jesus, we are addressing, on a physical level, a symbol that reminds us there is spiritual brokenness in the world. When, through our ministry, we are blessed to help restore someone to the state that God intended, we exemplify in a physical way how things should be spiritually: God should rule a person’s life and in doing so, remove the presence of sin, while re-clothing that individual in the clothes of Jesus.  

            Addressing poverty is addressing relationships—people’s relationships with God… and with each other. That is one of many reasons ministering to the poor has always been near to the heart of God.

*If I do not explain myself well, or if you disagree, please let me know either in the “Comments” section or by private message. I assure you, I am thinking out loud here; maybe I should say, “I am growing ‘out loud’ here!

Imagine

            Edwin Friedman was a family therapist and Jewish rabbi, who passionately argued that people too often allow themselves to become trapped by the negative emotional climate of those around them.

            To stretch the minds of his readers, Friedman challenged them to:

Imagine being a Jew and standing in line to a crematorium at Auschwitz. Completely knowledgeable of the evil perpetrated by Germany, a person beside you says, “You may not believe this, but before this decade is over, there is going to be a nation called Israel.”

            Unthinkable! Yet it was to be.

            I would add to Friedman’s thought, imagine in early 1945, if someone had said to an American fighting in the brutal Pacific battles, “You’re not going to believe this, but within the next ten years, Japan is going to become one of our closest allies.”

            Incredible! Yet it was to be.

            Think into the future. What can you imagine? Can you imagine God doing great things for His Kingdom? Or, do temporary obstacles, failures, and defeats bind you?

Source–A FAILURE OF NERVE by Edwin Friedman

Climb Every Mountain: My Week On Wilderness Expedition

            Last week, I had the privilege of traveling on a Wilderness Expedition with members of our high school youth group. Our goal was to climb Mount Silverheels near Denver, Colorado.

            Colorado has been dry this summer, and many know that there have been a number of fires that have taken place throughout the state. Although we saw the smog from the smoke, we were blessed and did not personally encounter any fires on our expedition.

            Three guides led us, two young men and one young woman. The first two days, I was convinced that they considered their mission to kill us. We arrived on Saturday, were issued our gear, packed our backpacks, and practiced setting up our tents, which we slept in on Saturday night.

            On Sunday, the guides trained us to get ready for climbing the mountain. First, they took us rappelling, an exercise in which you, by faith, throw yourself over the side of a mountain and hope that the cables, which the guides had attached to you, keep you from falling over 100 feet to your death.

            After that, we loaded up our backpacks and marched up another mountain to establish what they called “low camp.” I found myself sweating profusely. Part of the reason was that I was carrying a fully loaded backpack that felt like it weighed 300 pounds. Another reason was that I was wearing a long sleeved Under Armor shirt, which I thought had been designed to help you feel cool in the summer. 

            I was mistaken; it was designed for the cold of winter.

            Seeing as how the temperature was still in the 90s at that low level of elevation, I might as well had been hiking in a wool jacket.

            The next day, Monday, we hiked to “high camp.” If you want to simulate this, find yourself an exercise vest that weighs about 80 pounds and walk up the stairs of a building about the height of the Empire State Building.

            All of this exercise, mind you, was designed to break us down. Boy, did they succeed. Upon arrival at “high camp”, I wanted to kiss the ground like Pope John Paul II used to do. Instead, I luxuriated in the intense pain I felt in my back and shoulders.

            This was definitely a good news/bad news scenario. The good news was that I felt like I was seventeen again; the bad news was that I felt like I was seventeen again… after my first day of two-a-days in August for the start Fall football.

            For years, I have told Timothy and Annie that I would accompany them on one Wilderness Expedition when they were in high school. Last Monday night, I began rehearsing my speech explaining to them why I was too old to ever climb another mountain.

            One thing about all of my muscular exhaustion: it did lend itself to a good night sleep.             Amazingly enough I awoke Tuesday morning feeling physically much better than deserved. All of us were sent out by our guides into the woods of our “high camp” mountain in order to enjoy three hours of solitude with God.

            All we took with us were our Bibles, a pencil, and a Journal. This was the best time of the week for me. Our guides had prepared us well to spend time with God. Indeed, nothing grooms you for meeting with God like having somebody try to kill you.

            Those three hours flew by quickly. By the time our solo time was over, I felt like I had experienced a spiritual “reboot.”

            We spent the rest of the day resting and getting ready for our trip to the summit.

            On Wednesday we left around 5:30 AM local time to begin our trek to the summit of Mount Silverheels. This time, we only carried a daypack instead of a backpack—a tremendous moral victory for me. Consequently, I felt like I’d actually prepared well physically for this endeavor. We reached the summit near noon, after traveling over several smaller peaks. The terrain for the last half mile to a mile consisted only of rocks that were typically around ten inches by five inches and weighed a few pounds. Walking on those rocks was challenging, especially because they afforded many opportunities for twisted ankles. Fortunately, we escaped that trial.

            Standing on the summit of this mountain that was over 13,000 feet tall was truly satisfying. What made it more so was making the trip with my middle daughter, Abby. Abby was in fantastic shape, and was always at the front of the line. I felt proud to hear one of the guides, and one of the other trekkers, say that Abby really encouraged them with her singing and joyful attitude.

            Most of us considered the trip down from the summit to be the more difficult one. With the pressure of gravity, trying to walk carefully and slowly down such a steep incline was difficult; it was as if someone were standing behind us constantly pushing us.

            No story is a good one without adversity. In our case, it was the thunderstorm, which struck shortly after we started down from the summit. Extremely high winds blew rain sideways as we tried to stay dry while walking as quickly as possible… before lightning struck us. All of us had safely arrived to “high camp” by 3 PM. Overall, our hike lasted a little over nine hours albeit time seemed to pass by much more quickly.

            The rest of the week was anti-climactic. On Thursday, we hiked down the mountain from our “high camp” and returned to the base of wilderness expedition in Salida for a well-deserved shower and closing banquet. Friday, we traveled 17 hours by van to return home about midnight Saturday.

            I read where it is estimated that only 1% of the world has ever climbed to the summit of a mountain. I feel a special kinship with the group I accompanied on this experience–particularly with my daughter, Abby.

            There was a moment that was very special to me on Wednesday when we were on the summit of Mount Silverheels. I was talking to some of the other hikers when I looked up and saw Abby off in the distance at the edge of the summit, by herself, looking intently at the vista before her, which stretched for 50 or 60 miles. She seemed especially beautiful in that moment

            When she headed back toward our group, I strode over to meet her. I invited her to go back over with me to the spot where she had stood, and I put my arm around her. I rehearsed with her our journey up until that point. I then prayed with her as we thanked God for the blessings of that expedition.

            Wednesday, I repented of my Monday night thoughts of retiring from trek forever. I think I still have one more trip in me. I’m marking the first week of July 2017, on my calendar. My appointment will be with Timothy and Annie; we are going to climb a mountain.