Archive for the ‘Faith’ category
July 19, 2016
WORDS FROM W.W. July 18, 2016
A number of years ago Art Linkletter hosted a TV show entitled Kids Say The Darnedest Things. The host would ask an assortment of questions to four or five children sitting on the stage. Their answers were often unexpected and hilarious. That’s what made the daytime show such a hit for a number of years.
This week I’m one of the supervisors at a church camp. In that capacity I have the opportunity to observe what kids are doing and saying. It has been awesome!
Whereas middle and high school campers are concerned about things like fashion, who is in their room or cabin, make-up, hair styles, and not looking stupid…elementary age kids are in a totally different frame of mind.
On the first night the camp director had to make it a point to tell the kids to not lick the camp bell. Evidently a few had already ventured into that taste sensation! It makes you wonder how they ever even thought of doing it? What kind of conversation brought a few boys to the point of seeing what the bell tasted like?
Today there was a debate going on between three campers. My friend Rich told me about it. It went something like this:
“Yes you can drink Cheetos!”
“No, you can’t!”
“Yes, you can!”
“How?”
“You put some Cheetos into a blender, add water, mix it all up, and then drink it!”
Drinking Cheetos…not one of those cocktail party topics that comes up, but with young kids you never know!
And think of it! Was one of them at home one day this summer, both parents away at work, and the child got bored so he decided to mix up some Cheetos with water? What was the seed for such an idea?
I walked around during the elementary “Canteen” time. Canteen takes place at the camp’s snack shack, and is a chance for the campers to buy a can of pop or ice cream or candy. I watched one young girl with a smile as wide as Kansas as she held a can of Pepsi in one hand and an ice cream bar in the other. Sometimes kids get to make decisions at camp that would probably fall outside of the permissible at home.
But tonight these same kids who talk about Avenger super heroes, Kona Ice, and the fast-paced game called Oct-a-ball, were invited to wash one another’s feet, and most of them willingly did it. There was a powerful spiritual lesson in the act…kind of a church camp version of learning by doing…and they grasped the meaning in the doing.
Many of them are missing their moms and dads, but are also experiencing that they can still be safe and okay in a strange new place surrounded by people who will walk alongside them…as they hike to the top of Soldier’s Peak; sit beside them… at a nighttime campfire; and laugh with them…as the next darnedest thing is said!
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Community, Faith, Freedom, Jesus, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: Art Linkletter, camp, candy, Cheetos, children, church camp, funny kids, kids, Kids Say the Darnedest Things, Soldier's Peak, sugared up kids
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July 18, 2016
WORDS FROM W.W. July 18, 2016
My life has been littered with moments of extreme stupidity. Like when I tried to compliment one young lady I was attending college with. Never make comments about a young lady’s figure on the first date…or second date for that matter. I said something that gave her the impression that she was flat-chested and big in the hips. My intent was to tell her that she was slim in the waist-line and nicely-proportioned in the bust-line!
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
It was one of those moments when the incensed look on her face made me go “Uh!” The date ended quickly after that. In case you’re wondering…and are really slow in perceiving things…there was not a second date!
“Uh moments” are those times when we realize how error-prone, insensitive, or clueless we really are.
I’ve had a lot of those “Uh moments” with God. Times when I doubted his majesty, occasions where I’ve missed his hand in the midst of events, trials when I’ve wandered on my own.
I was thinking about that the other day as I was reading some scripture stories. Scripture is populated with “Uh moments.” For example, Moses stood before God with his excuses about not being qualified to go and speak to Pharaoh. Although “Uh…” is not a word that the stammering Moses uses, it can be easily lip-synched into his mental verbiage at the end of the discussion.
Martha had an “Uh moment” with Jesus when she moaned and groaned to Jesus about her brother.
“Master!” she said, “If you had been here my brother wouldn’t have died!”
Knowing Martha’s opinionated personality, I don’t think those words were said to Jesus with a soft understanding voice. Jesus tells her that he is the resurrection and the life, and that the one who believes in him will live even though he dies.” Martha gives kind of a half-hearted “okay…” to him. They proceed to the tomb of her brother and Jesus tells those around it to remove the stone.
Martha’s housecleaning experience has her then say to Jesus, “By this time there’s a stench! He’s been dead four days!” Like an obnoxious adolescent wanting her parents to get a life, it’s like Martha is saying to Jesus “HHHeellllloooo!” And Jesus looked her in the eye and says, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
And Martha said, “Uhhh…”
Our “Uh moments” come when our doubts are completely doused by a shower of God’s power, like the 450 prophets of Baal being completely embarrassed by the prophet Elijah. Our “Uh moments” also come when we experience a tapestry of God’s artistic touch. This week I’m at a church camp outside of Woodland Park, Colorado. I’m overwhelmed by the view of Pike’s Peak and surrounding forests and peacefulness. I stand on the deck each day and literally say “Uhhh…”
“Uh moments” remind us of our humanity and mortality, and they also nudge us with the assurance of the love of God.
God loves me no matter what, no matter my capacity to doubt him and no matter whether I say the wrong words to the wrong person at the wrong time. He loves me despite myself!
And to that my lower jaw drops open and I resemble Jim Carey in the movie Dumb and Dumber with the one syllable grunt…”Uhhh…”
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Death, Faith, Humor, Jesus, love, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: Belief, Doubt, excuses, I am the Resurrection and the Life, Lazarus, Martha, Moses, Pike's peak, Raising the dead, saying stupid things, Uh!
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July 15, 2016
WORDS FROM W.W. July 15, 2016
I waited for an explanation. Jesus looked at me and then he said, “Everyone is wrong at one time or another. There is a difference between being wrong about a decision, or even an action, and being wrongly evil.”
“Explain a little bit more for me.”
“When you said those words to your wife that were insensitive and hurtful you knew that at the core of your being that you were wrong. If you lied to someone that is a wrong that can be righted through confession and repentance.”
“I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“However-“
“Okay, cross me up with a however!”
“However…there is an evil that needs to be identified for what it is. There is a wrong that needs to be called for what it is…pure evil.”
“Like?”
“Racism is pure evil.”
“So a racist is someone who is pure evil.”
“No…a racist who is COMPLETELY close-minded is pure evil. Someone who is a racist but can be brought to a point where he or she recognizes the wrong of their position is different.”
“And when you encounter that what do you do? Throw some holy water on the person, hold the cross in front of you and say “Be gone, Satan!”?
“You recognize evil for what it is, and the wrongness that it brings to the world. There are some people who have sold out to the Deceiver. I wish there was a nice way to put it, but there isn’t.”
“Here’s a hard question then. If I have a longing to be loved at the core of my being what’s to keep me from yielding to the wrongly evil in order to be loved?”
“Great question! You must remember who the Lover of your soul is. The Deceiver is the lust-er of your soul. Your Father God is the Lover of your soul. Intimacy with the Lover of your soul is the greatest protection against the lust-er of your soul. Distance from the Lover raises your vulnerability to being swayed by the lust-er.”
“That sounds like a delicate balance.”
“It can be if you allow it.”
Our time was ending. The temperature of my second cup of coffee had dropped to lukewarm.
“You need to go, Bill?” Jesus asked.
“Yes, it’s time to get on with the business of the day. There’s that word again…business…busyness.”
“Be safe. Let me know when you want to share a cup of Joe together again. You know I’m always available.”
“Yes, Lord!” I got up from my seat and said to him, “You know I love you, don’t you?”
“Yes! I know…and I will always love you even when…you forget!”
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Faith, Freedom, Jesus, love, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: close-minded, coffee, coffee conversations, coffee with Jesus, Deceiver, deception, intimacy, lover of my soul, lukewarm, lukewarmness, lust, pure evil, racism, Satan, wrong
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July 12, 2016
WORDS FROM W.W. July 12, 2016
(This week “Words from WW” is a continuing coffee conversation between W.W. and Jesus. To read Parts 1 and 2 go to “wordsfromww.com”)
“Pharisees for Jesus…you’re right! It doesn’t flow out of your mouth like Jews for Jesus.” I took a sip of my coffee that had lost its steam.
“Kind of like ‘Criminals for Christ’! The only attention it draws is not positive attention.”
“Bigots for Baptists!”
“Turn or Burn Peace Advocates!”
“Pentecostal Prostitutes! I guess there are a lot of titles for groups that it’s just as well that they don’t exist.”
“Exactly! Let me ask you a personal question.”
I hesitated even as I was saying okay.
“What name or title would people give to describe who you are, or, better yet, to describe what you’re about?”
“Wow! That’s a little deep, isn’t it?”
“You must have some idea.”
“I guess I haven’t really thought about it too much. It’s not one of those things that occupies my mental pondering.”
“Maybe not, but it’s a question that you have based most of your life on.”
“How so? If I don’t think about it how do I base my life on it?” I recognized that I asked the question with a bit of indignation in my tone.
“What I’m saying is that most of what you do and what you say arises out of the unspoken question you hold inside of you. That is, how do I want people to see me? If I want to be seen as a jerk the things I say and do spill out of that. If I want to be seen as a saint I consider my words and actions accordingly.”
“Wait a minute, Jesus! If what you’re saying is true where is there true authenticity? What is my true self if who I am is based on how I want others to see me?”
“In other words, what is at the core of your being?”
“Yes, I guess so.”
“And is your core being described with the same words that people describe you? That’s how you know whether you are living authentically or not.”
“Yes, I think that would be correct.”
“So if you don’t know who you really are it’s impossible to live authentically?”
“Well, impossible is not a word that is usually associated with you, but I’d give a qualified yes to that.” I had a sense of fear about where this conversation was going, about what I might HAVE to discover about myself.”
“So who are you when no one is looking? What do you think, what do you say to yourself, what do you hope for? Here’s another defining question! What is the longing of your soul?
“Good Lord, Jesus! You keep asking me even more questions that are hard to answer.”
“Knowing who you are happens to be a journey powered by reflection.”
“I’m…I’m a person who longs to be loved.”
“Is it hard to say those words?”
“They sound so simple, so uncomplicated, and yet…yes, it’s hard to say them.”
“Would you like to get a refill before we go any further?”
“Absolutely! I need another cup to help me move ahead.”
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Faith, Jesus, love, Pastor, Prayer, Story, Uncategorized
Tags: acceptance, coffee, coffee conversations, hard questions, Jesus conversations, Pharisees, pondering, reflection
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July 11, 2016
WORDS FROM W.W. July 11, 2016
(During this week “Words from WW” will consist of an ongoing conversation. Part 1 of the conversation can be viewed at “WordsfromWW.com”)
“How so?” I asked Jesus with a poorly disguised element of indignation. “How is being cynical a safe place to be?”
“Do you remember the story of Lazarus?”
“Sure! Dead in the grave and then you brought him back to life.”
“His sister Martha was a bit of a cynic. Her belief was based on what she could do. It didn’t matter whether it was housework, cooking dinner, or crying about a dead brother. When she came to me with her tears about the death of Lazarus and then I said that her brother would live again, do you remember what she said in reply.”
“Something about the resurrection at the last days.”
“Yes, she could only see her brother as being dead TODAY! To believe that he could be alive again was not in her thinking. To take my statement and have it apply to some time in the distant future, that was her way of staying at a safe distance.”
I thought for a moment before saying anything. “So Martha was a cynic about faith?”
“Martha was a grieving sister who lived in a world where life did not come out of death. She had been with me when a blind man received his sight, and hungry people received bread, but when death came close to her she became cynical about faith, about trusting. When I came to her brother’s tomb and told the people there to take away the stone that was covering the entrance, her first response was about the odor that would be apparent. And I said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?”
I stared into my coffee for a moment. “A faith cynic…I guess that’s where I live most of the time.”
“As I said, Bill, cynicism is a safe place, for if something miraculous happens…so be it! But if nothing happens then the person can say ‘See! I knew it wasn’t true!’ So what are you willing to risk to be changed? How far are you willing to believe that what is troubling you, and troubling the world, doesn’t have to stay that way?”
“But…” I let the word be exhaled like a puff of smoke, and then left to disappear on its own. We sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments. “It’s kind of like the speck in someone else’s eye that I can see, and not the two-by-four in my own eye. What you’re saying is that I should look at what is going on in my own life before I speak sarcastically about what I see in other people’s lives.”
“It’s a hard thing to do, isn’t it?”
I nodded my head. “It’s easier being a Pharisee.”
“Pharisees had a lot of good points. They had the right idea that went the wrong way.”
“That seems to be the story of a lot of us Christians. We start out with the right idea, but somewhere along the way things get a little wacky.”
“There are a lot of people who believe in me, Bill, but somewhere along the line they became Pharisees also. Pharisees for Jesus…doesn’t quite have the ring to it that Jews for Jesus does!”
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Community, Death, Faith, Grace, Jesus, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: believing in Jesus, cynical, cynicism, cynics, having faith, John 11, Lazarus, log in my own eye, Martha, pharisaism, Pharisees, Resurrection, unbelief
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July 10, 2016
WORDS FROM W.W. July 10, 2016
We hadn’t connected for a while. I started with the excuses. “I’m sorry, Jesus, that we haven’t gotten together for a while. It’s just been so hectic and busy.” Busyness is always a good “go to” when you haven’t done something or neglected a certain person.
He smiled at me and invited me to sit down in the booth across from him. “How’ve you been?” I asked.
“Oh, you know…the usual…feeding the multitudes, healing the sick, raising the dead…same-o same-o.” We both chuckled a bit. “What’s been taking up so much of your time?”
I stammered through a list of poor excuses for busyness and then I confessed, “I really have no excuses for why I haven’t talked to you for a while. Perhaps what is really going on is that there’s some things in my life, and in the lives of some friends of mine, that are unsettling. A lot of it is my own poor choices, and some of it is…I don’t know…I guess I could call it a kind of cynicism towards life and some people.”
“So you thought if you talked to me you’d have to face up to what’s going on?”
“Pretty much! I’ve very proficient in the gift of avoidance.”
“So tell me why you suggested we get together again?”
“I’m not sure if it was my old Baptist guilt rising up, or realizing that I just needed this…to sit and talk with you. Maybe it’s a combination of a lot of different things…anyway I’m here and I’m glad we can talk over a cup of coffee.”
“I hope you know that I’m always free to chat.”
“I know, I know. I’ve never doubted that, even though lately it seems that I’ve had a tendency to turn away from it.”
“Cynicism tends to make us unsure of just about everything.”
“And I admit I’ve doubted just about anyone and everyone. I’ve doubted the truth of everything…especially, everything they’ve been talking about in church. I’m not sure what to believe anymore.”
“Do you believe in me?”
“You know I do, Jesus.”
“That’s a pretty good start, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but!” I didn’t know what to say after the but. I left it hanging in the air like a bad smell. Jesus looked at me with his penetrating eyes that could see what was in my heart and troubling my mind.
“Excuse me for making an analogy, but you’ve lost sight of the sun because of all the smoke. In other words, you’ve lost sight of me because there is so much of life’s chaos and fallenness that is clouding your vision.”
“Yes! All those things you teach and talk about…love, grace, forgiveness, surrender, faith, being salt and light…we talk about them a lot, a whole lot…but It seems like what I see emerging so often out of my life and the lives of others are things like hate, indifference, bitterness, a lack of forgiveness, trying to be in control, and selfish ambition.”
“You’re right!”
“Jesus, I don’t want to be right! I want to be changed and to see change.”
“And what are you willing to give up for that to happen?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you not see that the out-of-control condition that you’re describing is because there are certain things that you’re allowing to be?”
“I would be lying if I said I can see it, and yet, in my spirit I know the truth of it.”
“Your cynicism is a symptom of the battle that is going on inside you. You want to believe, but believing is risking, and then what if you’re wrong? What if you love unconditionally and then you feel things are as screwed up as they always are? What if loving one another ends up just being a bad joke? What if you surrender and then you discover it’s all just a crock of crap?”
“I hope not!”
“But you see, Bill, your cynicism in many ways is a safe place to be.”
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Jesus, love, Pastor, The Church
Tags: Belief, coffee, coffee with Jesus, conversations, cynicism, cynics, Doubt, Faith, faith conversations, indifference, Jesus, unbelief
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July 9, 2016
WORDS FROM W.W. July 9, 2016
Lessley Ellis is my friend. We have close to nothing in common, which makes our relationship even more special.
Lessley is African-American. He is as black as I am white, a darker shade of his color that contrasts greatly with my blindingly white legs. We are brothers in Christ who see both the beauty and ugliness of the world.
Lessley was born in Detroit, the place often referred to when talking about inner-city poverty and crime. I was born in Winchester, Kentucky, a stone’s throw away from where Adolph Rupp coached the all-white University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball team.
The first time I met Lessley was on a Saturday morning at our church. We had just concluded our Saturday morning men’s bible study group. There had been a major snow storm just a couple of days before and the sidewalks around the building needed to be cleared. Several of us got snow shovels and started making a path. Suddenly a red Honda Civic hatchback pulled into the parking lot. Lessley hopped out of the car, popped the back and got a snowblower out of it. And then he just started to clear the sidewalk! The smile on his face was warm and sincere, and we thanked him for his help. One of us, probably Ben Dickerson, invited him in for a cup of coffee and then invited him to join us the next Saturday for breakfast and our bible study. I didn’t expect to see him again, but he surprised me and came back.
Ben Dickerson took him under his wing. Lessley could barely read. His education had been limited. He had been judged to be a “special education” case. In his words, “they treated me like I was a dummy!” By the ninth grade he was out of school. Ben Dickerson, a reflection of Jesus, started teaching him how to read. Another man, Roger Mollenkamp, offered him support and advice. When Ben passed away as a result of complications of a heart attack, Lessley grieved deep and long. We leaned on one another during those days, I grieving the loss of my friend as well. Our tears mingled together to form a pool of brotherhood, swimming in the confusion of loss. Grieving together takes people to a new place.
A few years ago a new family showed up in worship one Sunday. They came back the next week and then the next and became part of our congregation. A little later on I found out another piece of the story. The husband was ready to give up on church. They had visited several places and were ready to have their own family worship at home, but they decided to try one more place of worship. They came to a double-door entrance to our building that looks like it might be the front way in and they found the doors locked. The husband was ready to walk away and walk away from the church for good, and then Lessley opened the door and said “Good morning!” He apologized for the doors being locked and invited them in, offered to get them cups of coffee, befriended them, and turned troubled souls into joyful seekers. They came back all because of a smiling greeter who made them feel welcome in the time of their greatest discontent.
He was a “thrower” on the back of a garbage truck for years. That means, he’d empty the cans of people’s trash, hundreds each day! It destroyed his back, and he now receives a limited disability sum each month. His struggle is that he wants to help people, but his disability doesn’t allow him to do some of the work tasks that he always did. Many times the two of us have talked through his depression and discouragement that have pummeled his sense of self-worth.
Lessley has the heart of Jesus. He’d give you the shirt off his back if you asked for it. We had lunch together yesterday, along with our friend, Joe Smith. Towards the end of a week where black men were getting killed by white policemen, and white policemen were killed by a black sniper we talked about our screwed up world, and we talked about the hope we have in Christ.
He asked me what we could do, and we brought it down to where we live, what we say, and how each one of us treats others. The interesting thing that occurred to me was that although we sat there in a Mexican restaurant talking about racial tension we didn’t see any difference between the two of us. We didn’t see each other as being from a different race. To me he is Lessley, my friend, and to him I’m Bill, his friend and former pastor.
The three of us ended our lunch with warm embraces of each other. Perhaps the world is screwed up, but that didn’t mean that our friendships needed to be screwed up as well.
Some of the greatest blessings in life are relationships with people that we least expect to be our friends, salt of the earth folk who we’ve come to know in the most unlikely ways.
It’s funny! I’ve been blessed in so many ways by this almost sixty year old six foot three African-American man, all because of the crossing of our paths on a wintery Saturday morning after a snow storm and a bible study.
Like I said at the beginning, Lessley Ellis is my friend.
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Community, Death, Faith, Freedom, Humor, Jesus, love, Nation, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: black and white, brothers, brothers in Christ, Christian brothers, greeters, greeting, helping each other, hospitality, loving one another, race relations, racial tension
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July 8, 2016
WORDS FROM W.W. July 8, 2016
Today I’m writing my 600th Words from WW blog post. It’s been an adventure! The first post emerged on December 30, 2008. There have been times of writing frenzy, like in June of 2014 when I took on a challenge that wordpress.Com presented of writing a blog post each day for the entire month. Plus, they gave you the subject matter.
I’ve written about death…greatly on my mind when my mom passed away Labor Day weekend of 2013.
I’ve written about grace…and how it so often is lacking, oddly enough, in the church.
I’ve written imagined coffee conversations with Jesus…stressing that things are not always so cut and dried as people think.
I’ve written about personalities…people who have greatly influenced my life in various ways.
I’ve written about how weird people are…or should I say we all are!
I’ve written about stories in Scripture and what they teach me.
I’ve written about the church…my hope for it, and my frustration with it.
I’ve written about life…normal life and life moments that have a sense of sacredness to them, like my daughter’s wedding and car rides with my granddaughter.
I’ve written from a stool at Starbucks, my home study, and a cubicle at the public library. There’s been many occasions where I’ve sat on my Starbuck’s stool, looking out at Pike’s Peak, with no idea what I would write about and then God gives me a thought, an idea, a moment of remembering something from the past…and the words tumble out. With my earbuds in, tuned to the Coldplay station on Spotify, I go at it.
And the thing is, I write and trust that God will take it from there. He’s like the paperboy for my blog. I trust that he hits the driveway to whomever he sends it to, and it doesn’t end up underneath the shrubbery.
A couple of weeks ago someone I least expected told me that she really enjoyed my “Words.” “It is so where I live!” she exclaimed. I greatly appreciated that. I’ve never been one for high academia, as my college grades would attest to! I’m more like “The Hardy Boys”, rather than “The Brothers Karamazov!”
One of my best friends suggested that I try to get money for my blog. He knows someone who does. My mind can’t fathom that. My writing is kind of like my baseball card collection. It keeps getting bigger, but I never sell any. I’m just thrilled that people seem to enjoy reading it. According to WordPress I have 128 followers. I’m not sure what that means, and, quite honestly, I don’t know ninety percent of them. How closely do they follow? Are they more like stalkers who are following me, or readers who are looking for a chuckle in the midst of a ho-hum day?
And so I write as I sip on my Pike Place brew. Perhaps someday I’ll be on The Today Show…not!
What or whom might be the subject for #601?
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Community, Death, Faith, Grace, Grandchildren, Humor, Jesus, love, Parenting, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: Blog posts, blogging, creating, creative writing, followers, life events, living each day, Pike Place, readers, Starbucks, writing
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July 6, 2016
WORDS FROM W.W. July 6, 2016
Dumb and Dumber was a dumb movie, which is what made it hilarious. Sometimes dumb is funny! Sometimes dumb is just plain dumb! One of my favorite baseball players of all time is John Smoltz. “Smoltzy” had a good head on his shoulders. He was well-grounded. But even Smoltz had a dumb moment. It happened one season when he decided to iron his shirt. The problem was that he was wearing the shirt when he tried to iron it. Not a bright moment in his career, but one that people will remind him of for a long, long time.
Speaking of dumb, the news has featured several examples of dumb things people do with fireworks. Dumb works overtime around the Fourth of July. The fifteen year old in Texas who was using two hundred sparklers will have to live with his “What was I thinking!!!” moment for the rest of his life. I saw a guy who decided to light an explosive that was halfway between a firecracker and a stick of dynamite…and put it in his Speedo! What??? Of course, someone was filming it, and I cringed when the little flame flared out of his front side! What was he thinking?
Wisdom and dumbness seem to be in two different camps, but they are camps whose residents have dual citizenship. I was reading about Solomon the other day, you know…the guy known for his wisdom! People would come from far and wide to be amazed by his wisdom and judgments. 1 Kings 3 tells the story of the two women who had infant sons, but one of the mothers rolled on top of her baby and smothered him in the middle of the night. She then took the baby from the other lady and put her deceased son beside her. The two women come before Solomon with their dispute. The mother of the child who was still living claimed that the baby was hers. The other mom said he wasn’t. Solomon decided to take the living child and slice him in half and give half to each mother. The real mother screamed not to do that, to let the other mother have her child. That sign of motherly love made it clear to Solomon who the real mother was. People were taken back by how he could figure out things.
We have a book of proverbs for further proof of his profoundness. He gives advice on parenting, wealth, work ethic, relationships, and old age. Dr. Phil can’t hold a stick compared to the wisdom of Solomon.
But Solomon decided to do a summer home in “Dumb!” For a guy who could solve problems he also created his own chaos, his own disaster! He was obsessed with women. I mean, it’s okay to be attracted to women, but when women were around Solomon he did stupid! Notice I didn’t say that he was stupid. Stupidity is a decision, and he decided to do stupid! God had told him, in essence, “Be smart!” Here’s what 1 Kings 11 says about it:
“God had clearly warned Israel, “You must not marry them; they’ll seduce you into infatuations with their gods.” Solomon fell in love with them (women) anyway, refusing to give them up. He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines—a thousand women in all! And they did seduce him away from God. As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled him with their alien gods and he became unfaithful—he didn’t stay true to his God as his father David had done.”
The wisest guy on the planet and he couldn’t figure out the fact that living with a thousand women was not a good situation. I’m not the sharpest tack in the box, but I think I could have given Solomon some simple wise counsel about that one!
In a weird way Solomon’s dumbness gives me some hope. It is a bit reassuring. My residence is probably more in the subdivision of Dumbness rather than the rural-ness of wisdom. Dumbness is not a gated community. It is accepting of all. There is not a membership fee to get into it. Some people arrive there on a moment’s notice, while others plan for it. I remember my friend Steve Wamberg and I taking a few high school kids from the church we were youth ministers at to a concert one night. Two of the students were the daughters of the senior pastor. After the concert we decided to go out for pizza to a place in our Chicago suburb called Connie’s. We didn’t get the pastor’s daughters home until 1:30 A.M.
Dumb, dumb, dumb!
“Yes, I’d like a medium pizza with cluelessness, denseness, and ignorance on top.”
Each one of us can recall our visits to Dumbness. We’ve all been there. We can just hope that wisdom is where we spend most of our time.
Here’s the thing! Social media trumpets the happenings of Dumb! Wisdom doesn’t film well. Deciding to have a few beers and then leap from a roof on a skateboard films well on iPhones. Think about it! There was a hit TV show for years entitled Jackass. The people on the show made millions off their stupidity! Wisdom does not make good Youtube videos.
Wisdom is proactive. It steers people away from doing dumb. Wisdom is the coach, the one who understands the situation before trouble arrives.
Solomon was wise, but his dumbness affected his family and kingdom for generations to come. How often have I, and I’m sure also you, said “I wish I would have thought about it more before I did it?”
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Community, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Humor, Parenting, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: 1 Kings 3, being stupid, being stupid things, common sense, Dr. Phil, dumb, Dumb and Dumber, dumb things we do, dumbness, firecrackers, fireworks, ignorance, intelligence, Jackass, King Solomon, Proverbs, Solomon, stupidity, the wisdom of Solomon, wisdom, wise decisions
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June 28, 2016
WORDS FROM W.W. June 28, 2016
I have my routines. I take a shower when I get up in the morning…every morning. A shower-less morning throws me for a loop. I function like a zombie in blue jeans. I can hardly even remember to put underwear on. (TMI!)
My life is sectioned into routines. Some of them are good and could even be classified as disciplines. Some are compulsive behaviors that make me think I’m just another Adrian Monk (from the TV series on USA Network Monk). Still other routines are simply things and actions that help me feel comfortable and in control.
In effect, I do a lot of living in sameness. My hamburger has to have tomato and onion on it. I drink a glass of soda whenever I have popcorn. I sleep with my personal blanket…otherwise known as my “blankie.” I sit in the same place whenever I watch television in our family room. I live in sameness. It reduces my stress level.
Sameness is okay…to a point!
A pastor friend of mine made a statement recently in describing a church. He said that the church was committed to living for sameness. I loved that statement because it describes a lot of congregations. On the other end of the spectrum are churches who are committed to constant change. They are hyperactive organizations that jump around like balloons that are released full of air but not tied shut. Both types of churches are committed to living for sameness- one to no change and the other to constant change.
Sameness, in some cases, becomes what we worship. I grew up believing that the Doxology was always sung after the offering was received. It was the cue for the ushers to bring the offering plates back to the front of the sanctuary. When I heard it sung one Sunday in a different point in the worship service I was caught off-guard. Did I sleep through the offering?
In my seminary days I worked for a year in a Presbyterian Church. The senior pastor, Dr. James P. Martin, was a great pastor and mentor. He taught me a multitude of things about ministry. But I had been raised Baptist all my life! I could see things only through a Baptist lens. When I questioned why the Presbyterians didn’t have a Sunday night service…”like we Baptists did!”…he gave me a great response that I’ll always remember. He said, “Well, Bill, what it takes Baptists two worship services to do we can do in one!”
Classic!
It helped me understand that things do not always have to be the same. Change can be a good thing. After all, the Christian faith is about transformation. A person, and a congregation, can’t be transformed and remain the same.
I’m not proficient in being sensitive to the leading of the Spirit. I’ve missed a ton of stop signs and Spirit whispers, but I also sense that if given a choice many congregations would choose to stay rooted to sameness instead of being led by the Spirit. Like my “blankie”, there is comfort and safeness in sameness.
What amazes me about the first church is that although they were rooted in Judaism they were transformed by the Gospel and led by the Spirit. They were changed, but anchored to the Change Agent.
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Community, Faith, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: Baptist, church organizations, comfort, doing what's comfortable, God-leadings, Holy Spirit leadings, led by the Spirit, Presbyterian Church, routines, the early church, the first church, Tradition, Transformation
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Words from WW Blog 