We live in this world, but we don’t act like its people or fight our battles with the weapons of this world. Instead, we use God’s power that can destroy fortresses. We destroy arguments  and every bit of pride that keeps anyone from knowing God. We capture people’s thoughts and make them obey Christ.  (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

Ever wonder how Paul thought he would manage that ‘destroy arguments and every bit of pride that keeps anyone from knowing God’ thing?  What about ‘capturing people’s thought and making them obey Christ’? Have you tried lately? I have–’in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit’ isn’t easy! I’m learning how to be a real disciple one low blow or bruise at a time! A gifted preacher once called them ’sheep bites.’  Yep, His sheep bite all right–and given a good opportunity, turn into piranah! Ready for a swim, anyone?

It’s one of the prices you pay for wanting to be a disciple–being chum. I’m reading Paul’s letters a lot more sympathetically these days. I’m beginning to understand his complaining. But I don’t have a grip on ‘patient’ yet . . .

We have always been patient, though we have had a lot of trouble, suffering, and hard times. We have been beaten, put in jail, and hurt in riots. We have worked hard and have gone without sleep or food.  But we have kept ourselves pure and have been understanding, patient, and kind. The Holy Spirit has been with us, and our love has been real. We have spoken the truth, and God’s power has worked in us. In all our struggles we have said and done only what is right. Whether we were honored or dishonored or praised or cursed, we always told the truth about ourselves. But some people said we did not. We are unknown to others, but well known to you. We seem to be dying, and yet we are still alive. We have been punished, but never killed, and we are always happy, even in times of suffering. Although we are poor, we have made many people rich. And though we own nothing, everything is ours. (2 Corinthians 6:4b-10)

1. Long-Suffering: adj. Patiently enduring wrongs or difficulties. n. Patient endurance.
   
2. Politics: (aka ‘disambiguation’) A process by which groups of people make decisions. Politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic and religious institutions. It consists of “social relations involving authority or power” and refers to the regulation of a political unit, and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.
3. Dissembling: intransitive verb : to put on a false appearance : conceal facts, intentions, or feelings under some pretense.
4. Tact: n. A keen sense of of what to say or do to avoid giving offense; skill in dealing with difficult people or delicate situations.

I’m really struggling this week with intolerance–and my intolerance of the intolerant. It’s really hard to stay hopeful when darkness seems to have captured ‘religious’ people’s hearts and attitudes. I find myself wanting to just go home, lock the door, and avoid them all! The ugliness I’m seeing this week is weighing down my soul. It’s time to crawl up in His faithful heart and rest . . .

“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. …For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.

And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” (Matthew 12:33,34b,35-37)

I’m struggling with a relationship lately. Not that relationships are not a struggle for me anyway. I descend from a long line of  jealous, violent, abusive, and relationship-impaired ancestors. But I’m always shocked when I encounter relationship violence in the Body of Christ. (OK, now I hear you snickering!)

I’m not really happy about this struggle either. I’m homebound until I heal from the knee surgery and get my car back from the collision-repair folks–a friend pulled out of her garage and into my car–$2100 for a new door, paint job, et al. My car was staying at their house for ’safekeeping.’

So here I am, homebound, powerless to fix anything, unable to set up alternative transportation arrangements, and caught in the middle of a firestorm over using exclamation marks in an email requesting my blankets back from a friend who took them to put them into space bags. Which brings me back to my premise–who knew my friend’s daughter would go into ‘offense overdrive,’  and turn a one-sentence request into WW III. Words are messy.

But we all do things just as hurtful and stupid, right? It’s one of the reasons I’ve been a hermit all these years. It’s easier and safer to maintain your own sanity if you stay just out of reach of the violence. I figure I’ve done my time, paid my dues, endured and perpetrated enough violence for one lifetime. God’s called me to a higher place. Yeh, right!

Anyway, so here I am, wanting to get  as far away from the psychoses as I can–but thinking, as a disciple, I should be out there among the wounded, healing, delivering, restoring, reconciling and forgiving.

I can hear your sighs of relief–”yeh, thank God she’s in this mess and I’m not…” Not to worry, He spreads discipleship out like a healing balm–you’re up next!

No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously. You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best–the sun to warm and the rain to nourish–to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty.

If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you. (Matthew 5:42-48)

This year is turning into one continuous trauma! After some encouragement from my wonderful medical team, especially my orthopedist, I spent this last week in rehab, recovering from a total knee replacement. I have at least one more week to go, and then I’ll go home and come back three times a week for outpatient rehab.

This time I chose a really awesome rehab hospital, HealthSouth–everything ‘Golden Living’ never was–professional, respectful, competent, comprehensive, patient-friendly, challenging–Health South is, in spades! The only ‘negative’ is the mandatory ‘no-salt, no-sugar, no-fat, no-cholesterol, no-taste’ diet–it sucks big time!

All This  ‘down time’ has me slowly reading a great book–Bill Johnson’s Release the Power of Jesus. It’s a really helpful, comprehensive examination of real-life discipleship. Our Sunday evening small group is using it as a study book.

I have two small groups now–a hands-on mission project group, and a regular, Sunday evening fellowship group. Both groups are full of awesome, hands-on disciples, walking out the opportunities the Holy Spirit presents to them. One was founded to bring water to drought-stricken areas of East Africa, and the other one takes on local healing, restoring, and helping projects as they come to our attention.

Both groups take Jesus’ mandates to heal, restore, deliver, and serve seriously-they’re actively walking the talk. I feel safe with them. On the other hand, I’m not walking anywhere right now. So I lay or sit in bed, reading Bill’s book slowly–between physical therapy sessions, Vicadin-induced naps, and bouts with post-op pain and swelling. Pray with me, OK? Every good thing costs . . .l

I need help! That’s right–me–who always prays for everyone else. But today, I’m the one who needs help getting past my own obstinance! I have issues with people attempting to coerce me into doing anything.–serious issues.

I know I’m not the only person who responds negatively to coersion. I believe most of us dislike being manipulated, no matter how ‘righteous’ the motivation. I mean, come on, If God himself trusts us to make our own free choice about our relationship with Him, then everyone else should just let go of their need to manipulate and control. Yeh right . . .

I think the need to manipulate and coerce  comes from a basic infantile urge to control our environment. The more we need to believe we are ‘in charge’ the more we attempt to manipulate and control. We’ve all seen it, right? The adults who aggressively attempt to make every decision for their kids, family, friends, or colleagues? The kids who have to be ‘on top of the heap’ in every game? The directors who spend their interactions attempting to control or eliminate every member of their team who has a different view of the program? Bosses, who micromanage workers’ tasks and performance? This choice-adverse profile is darkness, but it’s everywhere. And it’s more than a little annoying to the rest of us.

There was a research project from the late 1970’s, “Psychological Responses to Loss of Freedom,” that I carried around for years, just for the title! Basically, the research posits that attempts to control or manipulate create a psychological response, reactance, that helps the person being manipulated gain back the freedom to choose.

All this is preamble to what I’m dealing with–my own resistance to being monitored for attendance at church. Now that I’m ambulatory, I want to go to second service. My friends who had been driving me to church are more ‘old-church’ types, and have lots of friends in first service. They wanted to go back to the more traditional-type first service.

So now they’re spending their energies attempting to make sure I’m in church, and I’m spending my energies attempting to hide from them. Get it?

Anyway, I love my friends, but I realized that I needed to ask them to back off. Finally seeing that, and seeing my own ‘reactant’ character has me reflecting seriously on how Jesus did it–how did He motivate folks to see things His way. I am pretty sure I’ve found the key–it’s testimony. More to come…

Labor day weekend has passed, school has started, the soy bean fields are turning yellow, and the corn fields are dry, brown, and in the process of being cut down. Farmers are storing corn in their silos for the winter, and the cows in our fields are lying around, or standing hunched over, their bellies getting heavier by the day. They’re pregnant.

Not all the farms in the area are ready for harvest. Some of them, devastated by August’s tornado-force storms, are struggling to rebuild before the winter sets in.

Friends from my Faith Community, led by Curt and Vi Nissly, along with volunteers from Bethel Assembly of God Church in Carlisle PA, will gather on September 26th, @ 8am for a clean-up and barn-raising day at the home and farm of a local family whose farm suffered widespread damage from the storm.

According to my disaster-recovery friend Curt, who’s been out there assessing the damage and making a list of what needs to be done, here’s what the crew will do that day

• remove damaged fences and install new fencing
• cut up and remove downed trees and debris
• mow the grass
• move straw and demolish damaged parts of barn
• install an underground powerline to pump house

Curt has also made a list of tools for the men to bring.

• chainsaws
  
• wirecutters
  
• gloves
  
• digging irons
  
• shovels
  
• post hole shovels
  
• lawnmowers
  
• pitchforks

This gathering is all about helping someone in need–someone *else* in need! The men will work until the job is done, and the women will cook, feed, socialize with, and clean up after whoever comes.

No church ‘pre-authorization’ or ‘approval,’ no press, no glory, no glad-handing, no power-brokering—just honest sweat, labor, dirt, clean up, food, and fellowship–a group of real disciples, doing what needs to be done for a neighbor, because Jesus asked them to do it. It will be a blessed time!

If you’re in the neighborhood, come by and lend a hand!

Saturday September 26, 2009

8am until we’re finished!–(Lunch is free!)

WHERE:

TRISH & MIKE’S HOME AND FARM
381 KERRSVILLE ROAD, CARLISLE, PA 17015

I heard a chairman of a religion department announce once, at a foreign policy meeting, that “the only valid relationship is an economic one.” His comment shocked me, coming from a man who had spent his life pursuing the study of God. He never explained it, and I wrote him off as another socialist, from a university given to actively subverting values in the culture.

I’m older now, and a lot wiser. And, in the years since, I’ve seen hundreds of “religious” people put an economic value on their capacity to love. They limit their love to their natural children (vs the adopted ones), family members, spouses, or to ‘worthy’ folks in the same ethnic, racial, economic, social, or age group.

I’ve even seen missionaries who have said to the Lord, “We will spend two years in missions, but then we’re leaving unless we get pregnant.” EXCUSE ME??? How can you give a God who loves you unconditionally an ultimatum? “Do this or I’m outta here!” Our collective arrogance shocks me, even now.

And I’m not pointing fingers or posturing ‘innocence’ either. For years, I said to the Lord, “Yo–You gave me these feelings,  so live with what I do with them.” Or, “I’ll come back to you when I’m too old to feel this way. Right now my hormones are raging.” For years, I justified irritation, rage, sexual promiscuity, etc as just the natural expression of my character, enticed or provoked by life, people, or my own body. That was a really stupid time for me. Learn from my stupidity.

I have to tell you, I never would have been freed of any of those behaviors by myself. I tried. No amount of good will, effort, self-discipline, or avoidance gave me victory. It won’t help you either.

The only thing that has ever freed me is desperate prayer. Yeh, that’s right, prayer. Not mouthing pious platitudes, not mumbling incantations, not even quoting scripture. (Yeh, He said even the devil quotes scripture.) One day, in the throes of yet another temptation to sin, I cried out to Him, “Father, I can’t fight this by myself, please rescue me, and remove this temptation from me!”

That was the beginning of my moments of victory. The temptations have never completely gone away–in some cases they actually did disappear, in others they lessened in intensity. But in every moment of temptation now, I pray, “Father help me overcome this–take it away, distract me, help me find victory,” and He does–every time, with every temptation.

But it takes active cooperation on my end–asking, accepting, then moving on to something more productive. Sin is like any other addiction–but because Jesus has already gained the victory over all its forms, we can experience victory  too–if we rest our frail and flawed characters in His capable hands.

Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.  No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it. So, my very dear friends, when you see people reducing God to something they can use or control, get out of their company as fast as you can (1 Corinthians 10:12-14)

Draw your own conclusions: When we drink the cup of blessing, aren’t we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life, of Christ? And isn’t it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don’t we take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ? Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness—Christ doesn’t become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don’t reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is. That’s basically what happened even in old Israel—those who ate the sacrifices offered on God’s altar entered into God’s action at the altar. (1 Corinthians 10:15-18a)

It must be breeding season. Tonight on my way home, past the local farms and pastures, the bulls were running–well at least riding, or moseying up to introduce themselves.

I stopped on the road at one farm to take pictures, and as soon as the alpha bull noticed me, he wandered over to his choice, and put his head across her back, then lifted his head over her and looked at me, as if to be sure I noticed him!

He was all black but, like the poor man in that movie, The Fly, he had a huge black and white head–and what looked like a very long, chunky white sack on his underside. I snickered as I drove on–’nahhhh, it can’t be…’

I’m learning lots about cycles of farm life now that I live in the country.

The soybean fields are really green and full. One crop in particular is at least 24 inches high! Most are bushy and low to the ground. They all have identifying signs, to tell farmers exactly which strain of seed was planted.

Feed corn is everywhere. I stopped one night to pick an ear, to sample it. But when I got it home, it was brown and hard–my friend Curt said they leave it on the stalk, and let it dry completely. Then they either grind it up for corn meal or grind the entire plant for feed silage. One thing for sure–I won’t be picking another ear to eat!

It’s an awesome drive every day–God’s creation is everywhere, speaking to me of His love, and providence, and talent! Who could make a cow but Him? What man could create the soybean, make it grow and bear fruit? Who make a randy bull with a huge but very cool black and white head!? Our God is an awesome God!!

Yes, we’re created in His image and likeness, but our creativity is only a shadow, an echo of  His magnificence and glory!

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels–everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. (Colossians 1:15-17)

Can you feel it? Summer is winding down. The corn and soybean fields are ripe, and peaches are on their last iteration. The wind direction has changed too. The only signs of summer these days are the yummy foods at local barbecues and country fairs. My personal favorite is funnel cake.

Funnel cakes are a summer staple at Pennsylvania’s Amish and Mennonite fairs. They are made with a pot of hot oil, a huge funnel, batter, and powdered sugar.

Vendors pour the batter out of the funnel bottom, into the vat of hot oil, then, when it has turned brown and crispy, they fish it out, drain it on paper, and shake powdered sugar all over the top. Seriously scrumptious!

There are variations–chocolate chips, chocolate batter, sugar glaze, crumbles, etc.  Any topping you can put on a cake, doughnut, or pie can go on the funnel cake. I don’t care for the variations.

There’s something comforting about munching on a hot, crispy, generously powdered funnel cake in August and September. It’s like spending Labor Day weekend with a summer boyfriend–sweet, melancholy, and satisfying . . .

Have you ever made a mistake, but not recognized that it was a mistake until after you did it? That’s where I am today–in a state of remorse, reflecting on some really stupid things I did this week. Not that “stupid” is a stranger–I come face to face with my own mistakes regularly, mostly after I’ve made them. No matter how old I get, or how much experience I have, what Bill Johnson calls “the spirit of stupid” dogs me.It’s humiliating.

It’s also humbling. There’s nothing like making mistakes to keep my feet firmly planted in reality. Mistakes help me accept the mistakes of other folks, and to be gentler than I’m prone to be with their failings. After I make a mistake of my own, I tend to soften my attitudes toward everyone else. My mistakes produce an attitude adjustment. Have you noticed that too? Maybe our capacity for continual, sometimes monumental mistakes are Gods way of keeping us honest.

We have a limited capacity to forgive each other. It’s easy to get uppedty about other folks. Psychologists call it “projection.” We tend to get irritated by other people’s mistakes because they remind us of our own failures. However, when we make a mistake that is so obvious, we can’t blame it on someone else, that self-awareness teaches us to go easy on everyone else. So, mistakes are a good thing, right?

At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?”  Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

“The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants.
debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn’t pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.
“The poor wretch threw himself at the king’s feet and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back. ‘Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt. “The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, ‘Pay up. Now!’ “The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’  But he wouldn’t do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid.

When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king. “The king summoned the man and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn’t you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?’ The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that’s exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn’t forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy.” (Matthew 18:21-35)