This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Henry Michalski during the our worship service's teaching slot. I had high expectations of this interview after having talked with Henry at length about his perspective on Israel's current crisis.
In short, we realized that history has had a way of repeating itself. The Jewish people were nearly wiped out at the hand of Haman had it not been for Esther's courageous move to plead for mercy from her husband-king. Hitler would have done the same had it not been for the courage of armed forces around the world to confront his outrageous plans. Today, the president of Iran has gone on record numerous times disclosing his hatred of the Jewish people and his desire to wipe them out. This is happening on our watch.
So, I'm interested in hearing from you on this. How about adding a comment to this blog spot? Just click the link below. It is anonymous. Go for it!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
From Anger To Action
I am sometimes shocked by how quickly other people get really angry by stuff that doesn’t really necessitate such an energy expenditure. I was waiting in a long line at the return desk at Home Depot, when a guy unwittingly cut in line. He didn’t notice that the line made a break at the entrance so entering shoppers could easily get in the store. Rather than apologizing for what we all saw was his innocent mistake, he threw a fit. Like a three-year-old who noticed his toy being played with by another, this fully-grown man proceeded to berate all of us in line for not winding the line outside! And his use of profanity was something to behold. The guy in front of him decided to get offended, and for a moment, I thought the two were going to be getting into a fight. Not only would this have been entertaining – both were too old and too out-of shape for fisticuffs – but I would have moved up in the line!
What a waste of energy for the guy who mistakenly entered the line in the wrong place! What a waste for the guy who bit at the bully’s provocation!
We all have our triggers, don’t we? One of mine is when people cut in the line of rush-hour traffic that has been slowly moving up toward Jameson Canyon off I-80. Mostly it’s just annoying. But a few times, such selfish driving turned into fatal accidents.
Maybe for you it’s people who talk really loud on their mobile phones while shopping. Or parents who bring their infants to a non-kid movie because “they won’t fuss” – but always do. How about people, who, with their windows rolled up, are generously sharing their music selection with everyone else on the road – you can hear them with your music on, with your windows rolled up, a block away (I’m sounding like my grandparents – am I getting old?). Or maybe it’s the know-it-all who never forgets to share his or her opinion. Or the soft-talker. Or the close-talker. Or the bully. Or the wimpy. Or the …
What trips you trigger?
But then there are things that really, really should anger us because they anger even God. Injustice. Extreme poverty. Prejudice. Starvation. Neglect. Death. AIDS. Cancer. Apathy. Hopelessness.
Jesus, on the day when all hope was lost, wept with a deep, angry weeping. Not anger directed at the people, but at the situation. Hope was lost. These people were so overcome by the death of Lazarus (John 11) that they couldn’t see anything else. But God hadn’t left. Life hadn’t left. This angered Jesus – this all-too-often state of our life experience. This stuff gets to the heart of God, and it brings about action.
Jesus, on that hopeless day, restored hope by raising Lazarus from the dead. Many people had their hope renewed – a hope in God that never needs to leave because God is always there.
What things around you – situations bigger than smokers clouding up open-air seating at Starbucks – what things of greater substance anger you? What is it that is so upsetting? What is really happening?
What are you going to do as a Jesus follower, as one filled with the Holy Spirit, to bring something different to a situation that needs God?
May you choose not to get so worked up by stuff that isn’t worth it. May you get even more worked about stuff that would cause a deep anger to well up within Jesus. May you weep out of such upset. And may you act in ways that changes the situation for the better.
What a waste of energy for the guy who mistakenly entered the line in the wrong place! What a waste for the guy who bit at the bully’s provocation!
We all have our triggers, don’t we? One of mine is when people cut in the line of rush-hour traffic that has been slowly moving up toward Jameson Canyon off I-80. Mostly it’s just annoying. But a few times, such selfish driving turned into fatal accidents.
Maybe for you it’s people who talk really loud on their mobile phones while shopping. Or parents who bring their infants to a non-kid movie because “they won’t fuss” – but always do. How about people, who, with their windows rolled up, are generously sharing their music selection with everyone else on the road – you can hear them with your music on, with your windows rolled up, a block away (I’m sounding like my grandparents – am I getting old?). Or maybe it’s the know-it-all who never forgets to share his or her opinion. Or the soft-talker. Or the close-talker. Or the bully. Or the wimpy. Or the …
What trips you trigger?
But then there are things that really, really should anger us because they anger even God. Injustice. Extreme poverty. Prejudice. Starvation. Neglect. Death. AIDS. Cancer. Apathy. Hopelessness.
Jesus, on the day when all hope was lost, wept with a deep, angry weeping. Not anger directed at the people, but at the situation. Hope was lost. These people were so overcome by the death of Lazarus (John 11) that they couldn’t see anything else. But God hadn’t left. Life hadn’t left. This angered Jesus – this all-too-often state of our life experience. This stuff gets to the heart of God, and it brings about action.
Jesus, on that hopeless day, restored hope by raising Lazarus from the dead. Many people had their hope renewed – a hope in God that never needs to leave because God is always there.
What things around you – situations bigger than smokers clouding up open-air seating at Starbucks – what things of greater substance anger you? What is it that is so upsetting? What is really happening?
What are you going to do as a Jesus follower, as one filled with the Holy Spirit, to bring something different to a situation that needs God?
May you choose not to get so worked up by stuff that isn’t worth it. May you get even more worked about stuff that would cause a deep anger to well up within Jesus. May you weep out of such upset. And may you act in ways that changes the situation for the better.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
I Once Was Blind, But Now I See
In John 9 we see a story that so powerfully connected with the early church that they made part of it's passage a confession before being baptized: I once was blind, but now I see.
The question I posed for us to think about this week was, how do we know if we are blind?
The blind guy in the story had the "luxury" of being born blind, with lots of people telling him about his lack of sight. As he bumped into things, fell, hurt himself, etc., he would undoubtedly blame it on his blindness. If he ran into somebody, spilling their coffee on their brand new, white linen turban, both would simply blame blindness.
Could it be that when we find ourselves falling into destructive patterns that we may be blind to our decisions and behavior? We even use a phrase, blind repetition, to refer to the unthoughtful repeating of the same behavior again and again. Perhaps, when we see ourselves (re)entering bad patterns, we should stop and realize that blindness may be the problem.
Maybe when people around us are finding themselves with "soiled shirts", it's because of our blindness. Maybe they know we're blind and have accommodated our challenged state of being. but as far as they can tell, we have yet to see that we are blind.
Repeating painful habits. Seeing pain in others very close to us. Maybe these are some signs that we may be struggling to see clearly.
The good news is that Jesus not only still offers healing - forgiveness - but he also is a vision specialist. If we will ask for his counsel and take it, we will discover a whole new world that we have been missing.
May you begin/continue to see your blind spots. May you humbly accept that you are not perfect, not whole, but can be transformed. May you ask the Spirit to place healing salve on your eyes. May you be able to sing, ...was blind but now I see, as a new song day after day after day.
The question I posed for us to think about this week was, how do we know if we are blind?
The blind guy in the story had the "luxury" of being born blind, with lots of people telling him about his lack of sight. As he bumped into things, fell, hurt himself, etc., he would undoubtedly blame it on his blindness. If he ran into somebody, spilling their coffee on their brand new, white linen turban, both would simply blame blindness.
Could it be that when we find ourselves falling into destructive patterns that we may be blind to our decisions and behavior? We even use a phrase, blind repetition, to refer to the unthoughtful repeating of the same behavior again and again. Perhaps, when we see ourselves (re)entering bad patterns, we should stop and realize that blindness may be the problem.
Maybe when people around us are finding themselves with "soiled shirts", it's because of our blindness. Maybe they know we're blind and have accommodated our challenged state of being. but as far as they can tell, we have yet to see that we are blind.
Repeating painful habits. Seeing pain in others very close to us. Maybe these are some signs that we may be struggling to see clearly.
The good news is that Jesus not only still offers healing - forgiveness - but he also is a vision specialist. If we will ask for his counsel and take it, we will discover a whole new world that we have been missing.
May you begin/continue to see your blind spots. May you humbly accept that you are not perfect, not whole, but can be transformed. May you ask the Spirit to place healing salve on your eyes. May you be able to sing, ...was blind but now I see, as a new song day after day after day.
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