The Gift That Keeps Giving

I am always happily surprised by the quality of life when I purpose to relate to people with the character of Christ. I don't always achieve my goal, but the day to day navigation through the stesses that confront me takes on a balanced, peaceful rhythm. Kindness, patience, mercy, understanding, affection...these all come back to me when sent out where I live, work, and fellowship.

Having focused this week on reflecting to others the love I experience in my relationship with Him, I had one affirming, positive experience after another. Tuesday, one right after the other, people came through the door giving hugs (and I am a hug junkie). Pastors, students, senior adults, little children...I don't remember what the prescribed daily quota is supposed to be, but I know it was exceeded. I got a phone call from one of the Sunday School teachers I serve through my work. He told me "he had missed my warm smile and great hugs; where had I been?" I told him that the last few Sundays had been busy and I had not had the chance to roam and just touch base with people. An hour or so later, he followed it with an email. He wrote "see you with a hug Sunday!"

The same day, I was approached by someone with a prayer request. I had been irritated with him for over a week for an off-hand critical comment he had made in my presence, and had been considering how best to confront him with it, when he shared a problem with me and asked for my prayers. Immediately, all irritation was gone, and I found myself commiserating and offering input and promising prayers.

A little preschooler ran up to me, hugged my legs, and said "you so purty." He now owns me. And a student with whom I've had a "hi, how are you relationship" sat and talked to me about western world lit, and her college plans, and how she feels about high school dances. I have really missed that kind of time since I quit teaching.

The curse of self-centeredness is that self is always voraciously hungry, and never satisfied. The gift of God-centeredness and outward focus is the gift that gives back, over and over again. Taken in its true context, it reminds me of Jesus' words in Luke 4:38, "Give and it will be given to you; a good measure--pressed down, shaken together, and running over--will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."

I wonder what the going price is for dump trucks.

Speaking for God

I recently read a book that is making its way through many circles, including the Church. It was mentioned to me by several friends, some with great enthusiam, a few with uncertainty. So I looked it up on Amazon and read the summary and some reviews by notables like Eugene Peterson, who draws a comparison to John Bunyan. I decided to give it a go.

I found the introduction and "rising action" of the plot to be poorly written and very predictable. It was the writer's revelations of God I was waiting for, so I slogged on through. When I got to the "meat", that's when the reading got harder and slower, until I found I could go no further. At a friend's dining room table, I was urged to "keep reading...the central message is worth digging through all the bad theology to get to." So I tried again.

I read enough, comparing it to all I had read and studied in Scripture, Bible studies and college theology courses, to come up with my own conclusions. I am sure, that for the most part, my opinions really won't influence many others. I've made my own list of objections, because I wanted to examine, point by point, what my issues were, just for me. They are direct and exact...and I won't go into them here.

This post is about what I believe about "speaking for God." Short and simple, the Bible is God, speaking for Himself. I guess that's where I and some others part ways. I also think that if I have to dig through the junk to get to the "good stuff", then it musn't be worth getting to in the first place. You see, if I want to know about who God is and what He does and how He feels about me, I'll go straight to the Source. And if I read a book written by a person that purports to make all of that more clear, accessible, or meaningful to me, then it better be pretty consistent with what God says Himself, or it's not worth my time. Warm fuzzies and a little truth mixed with damning and dangerous lies, it's not even a little palatable for me.

My opinion, in a word...heresy.