What? That's In Me? NO!

My, my, where does the time go? I can't believe it's been almost a month since I wrote a post on this blog. I have been busy. Who isn't? And I have had lots of thoughts and ideas of things to write about, but just haven't.

Today in My Utmost for His Highest the reading is something that especially spoke to me because it speaks to a basic struggle of mine. I'm a perfectionist by nature and that is good for my job as an editor. That particular character quality however plays havoc with personal relationships. It's as natural to me to size up a situation or person and to make a snap judgment, which way too often leads to judgment and criticism. An editor is supposed to do that. A relational person cannot do that.

Thus, the reading for today speaks to me. Here it is:

"Judge not, that ye be not judged." Matthew 7:1

Jesus says regarding judging - Don't. The average Christian is the most penetratingly critical individual. Criticism is a part of the ordinary faculty of man; but in the spiritual domain nothing is accomplished by criticism. The effect of criticism is a dividing up of the powers of the one criticized; the Holy Ghost is the only One in the true position to criticize, He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into communion with God when you are in a critical temper; it makes you hard and vindictive and cruel, and leaves you with the flattering unction that you are a superior person. Jesus says, as a disciple cultivate the uncritical temper. It is not done once and for all. Beware of anything that puts you in the superior person's place.

There is no getting away from the penetration of Jesus. If I see the mote in your eye, it means I have a beam in my own. Every wrong thing that I see in you, God locates in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-20). Stop having a measuring rod for other people. There is always one fact more in every man's case about which we know nothing. The first thing God does is to give us a spiritual spring-cleaning; there is no possibility of pride left in a man after that. I have never met the man I could despair of after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.

Is this not a great writing?

I have already discovered an interesting thing in others, which is probably as evident in me to others as theirs is to me. That "thing" is when I hear someone complain loudly or long about something or criticize another, I usually see that characteristic strongly in the one talking. Paul and I have had a good time discussing that fact.

Personal lesson in that for me is when I find myself criticizing or angry at another over a certain thing, I have learned to look at why that is so disturbing. Way too often I find that I have that very same thing within and to a larger degree, but unrecognized. It's been an interesting journey down this road. My unrecognized characteristics that I'm blind to are touched and make me angry and upset with someone else who shows those characteristics. Methinks this wouldn't happen if I didn't already have something similar in me to touch. Interesting, interesting.

Don't you think that's amazing? As I am open to letting myself think this through, I am learning a lot about myself. That's what most of Oswald Chamber's writings do for me. He puts into words what I'm already learning intuitively, so that when I read it, I say YES! That is so true!

Did you notice I used present tense in the previous paragraph? I wrote, "He puts" as if he's still alive. I think relational truth remains active and present no matter when it's written. With that, I close. MB

Tough Times

The present economic crisis has hit home!


This last week I had to lay off three of the fifteen people under my supervision. Another was released but renewed for a short time to help us get through the summer.

This is one of the hardest parts of being a manager. I don't do this easily. And one of the ones I had to lay off was my own sister. Ouch! I know this is all just business, but for me it's hard to make these decisions and then let the people know that they no longer have a job. One of the team members I had to let go immediately made plans to sell her car and cancel their cable subscription. I have to distance just a bit and not feel so responsible. But, it's hard.

As I've said before, I read Oswald Chambers almost every morning, at least most mornings. This morning the subject was the verse about "seek ye first..." I've always read that verse like don't even think about the physical things of life, just be concerned about the spiritual and all will be taken care of.

Well, I've lived long enough to know I'm not reading that right. I've seen too many people abuse the interpretation of that scripture and literally become "spiritual" beggars. I watch that and think that something is wrong here. So I've hit the middle of the road on this one. My philosophy is to be very responsible and take care of yourself so you can be free to help others. BUT you must be personally responsible!! We're not to worry about our physical needs, but we are to be responsible.

Imagine my surprise when I reread this devotional. That's exactly how Oswald Chambers seems to be interpreting this verse. I think the point of my post this morning is to show how much our personal filter interprets for us what we're reading and hearing. I would have sworn that OC was saying don't even think about your personal needs, just let God take care of them. Put your mind on the things of God and don't even think about physical things. But that was how I was reading what he was saying through my own personal filter.

Today I read it quite differently. I read it the very same way I've grown to interpret that verse. Imagine that! OC didn't change; he's been dead a long time. So what changed? My whole way of thinking and living, and now I read what is really being said. May I remember this lesson for a very long time: I'm not to be anxious or to worry over the physical things, I'm to be very responsible about them as I put the things of God as a top priority.

Here's OC's devotional for today:

DIVINE REASONINGS OF FAITH
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

Immediately we look at these words of Jesus, we find them the most revolutionary statement human ears ever listened to. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." We argue in exactly the opposite way, even the most spiritually-minded of us - "But I must live; I must make so much money; I must be clothed; I must be fed." The great concern of our lives is not the kingdom of God, but how we are to fit ourselves to live. Jesus reverses the order: Get rightly related to God first, maintain that as the great care of your life, and never put the concern of your care on the other things.

"Take no thought for your life. . . ." Our Lord points out the utter unreasonableness from His standpoint of being so anxious over the means of living. Jesus is not saying that the man who takes thought for nothing is blessed - that man is a fool. Jesus taught that a disciple has to make his relationship to God the dominating concentration of his life, and to be carefully careless about every thing else in comparison to that. Jesus is saying - "Don't make the ruling factor of your life what you shall eat and what you shall drink, but be concentrated absolutely on God." Some people are careless over what they eat and drink, and they suffer for it; they are careless about what they wear, and they look as they have no business to look; they are careless about their earthly affairs, and God holds them responsible. Jesus is saying that the great care of the life is to put the relationship to God first, and everything else second.

It is one of the severest disciplines of the Christian life to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into harmony with the teaching of Jesus in these verses.

Today's reality check for me is that feeling responsible and being responsible is very much a part of a believer's life. I cannot take that lightly. But foundational is that God is in charge and I can be responsible and let go of the anxiety and worries about myself and others. It helps in these tough times!
MB

Intimacy: Discipline or Enjoyment

I recently heard a sermon on intimacy with Christ, and it was all about the disciplines.

I've ruminated on the theme of that sermon. I remember when I thought the Christian life was all about the disciplines. I tried so hard. I had my checklist. I had my prayer list. I had my 2959 notebook. I did, I did, I did.

Then one day I realized that my Christian life was not about performing and doing. It was about being and enjoying.

As Paul and I were discussing this and expressing what we've come to understand and live, I used the illustration of a piece of chocolate pie. Do I have to discipline myself to enjoy that piece of pie? Do I have to learn about chocolate? Do I have to inspect the recipe? Do I have to question who made it? Do I need to talk about it? OR do I need to eat and enjoy? I love the verse, "O taste and see that the Lord is good."

My handsome feller, not to be outdone by my illustration, suggested that he thought of kissing his wife. That's me. (To be grammatically correct, That's I. Sorry, I do digress.)

His is a much better illustration because "intimacy" sometimes involves kissing the one you love. His questions: Do I time how long our kisses lasts? Do I study the anatomy of a kiss? Do I worry about if I'm doing it right? OR Do I just kiss and enjoy?

Both of us left a long time ago the thought that you meet God at church or you meet God in your closet. You might actually "meet" Him there. But you don't necessarily "enjoy" him there. We have learned that we meet God and enjoy Him every minute of every day in every activity we are involved in. There's no such thing to us as being disciplined to meet God. That's almost a foreign language to us any more. Our struggle is just forgetting to enjoy Him, always and forever.

So, whether Paul's riding his motorcycle or I'm busy at work editing math books, we're fellowshipping with Him and enjoying Him. Or whether we're at church or with our family, whatever we're involved in, He is with us and we are called to enjoy intimacy with Him without interruption. What could be better than that?

As I exit talks, sermons, and teachings on being with Christ our Saviour, I want to do the excitement dance and leap for joy. I don't want to go away shamed, sad, and sure I will never be able to perform or DO what's required. That's the gospel I've embraced and am enjoying living.

Eating chocolate pie, kissing my feller, intimacy with Christ––all enjoyable and exciting experiences in my life. Nothing I dread or have to discipline myself to do.

Give Me Liberty...

For years I have read the daily devotionals of Oswald Chambers in his book My Utmost for His Highest. Now there's a Web site where the daily devotionals can be read online. My personal book is earmarked, dated, has notes in it, and a few pages are even a little tear stained.

I thought today's reading, May 6, is appropriate and timely because of some arguments and discussions making the rounds in some SBC circles. Interestingly Oswald Chambers died in 1917, so his devotionals were written a long time ago, but remain relevant.

LIBERTY ON THE ABYSS OF THE GOSPEL
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." Galatians 5:1

A spiritually minded man will never come to you with the demand - "Believe this and that;" but with the demand that you square your life with the standards of Jesus. We are not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the One Whom the Bible reveals (cf. John 5:39-40). We are called to present liberty of conscience, not liberty of view. If we are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty - the liberty of realizing the dominance of Jesus Christ.

Always keep your life measured by the standards of Jesus. Bow your neck to His yoke alone, and to no other yoke whatever; and be careful to see that you never bind a yoke on others that is not placed by Jesus Christ. It takes God a long time to get us out of the way of thinking that unless everyone sees as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God's view. There is only one liberty, the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to do what is right.

Don't get impatient, remember how God dealt with you - with patience and with gentleness; but never water down the truth of God. Let it have its way and never apologize for it. Jesus said, "Go and make disciples," not "make converts to your opinions."


Here's what the Web site says about the author:
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) was a Scottish minister and teacher whose teachings on the life of faith and abandonment to God have endured to this day.

Biblical Theology OR Relational Love??

A couple of weeks ago Paul and I traveled to Jackson MS to attend a conference. We were drawn to the conference because Malcolm Smith was one of the speakers. We credit Malcolm Smith tapes with starting us on the grace vs performance journey way back in the late seventies and early eighties. We hadn't heard of him for a few years, so we made a spur of the moment decision to go. The conference was entitled "The Shack" and featured William Paul Young, the author of The Shack.

The conference was put on by a ministry that has an interesting name, Perichoresis. (I had to look that one up.) Seems the conference wanted to focus on the Trinity, one of the subjects that is causing many problems to theologians who read the book, The Shack.

I downloaded the audio book to my iPhone so we could listen again to The Shack as we made the long road trip to and from Jackson. I got a lot more out of the book listening than I did reading it. We also stopped the recording and had discussions along the way. Great way to get the most out of a book.

Some of my friends and family have been asking when am I going to write about our trip and the conference and about the book. I found this blog written by DeHaan, the organization that puts on Radio Bible Class and publishing Our Daily Bread. These have been staples in my life since I was a child. After reading this blog and the comments,
Mart DeHaan, I decided I could not improve on it. If you're interested, read the blog and the comments. It's a pretty thorough coverage of Mr. DeHaan's view of the book. His excerpts were some of the ones I would have chosen. He does a great job and then the comments have some good arguments. Why repeat something that's already been done so well? I'll just link to it. :-)

My question: The book and the author are about the love relationship of the Trinity with humans. My desire and longing is to encounter someone or a group who has good strong Biblical theology PLUS a good strong relational walk and talk. One could almost begin to believe these are mutually exclusive. I've seen so many who have sound theology but somehow that too often translates into critical, harsh, unloving, and sometimes downright mean ways of relating. Then on the other side of the coin, those who show love and have great relationships seem to be weak in sound Biblical theology, or at least I have some disagreements about some of the ways the Bible is interpreted and then set forth as teachings and theological stances.

All of this prompts me to question: Is there a group or a theological way of thinking that emphasizes both? I'm on a hunt!
MB

A View of The Shack

I was surfing on YouTube and put in The Shack. Up popped many links and things to choose from. I watched a few and they were mostly saying to stay away from it, or as one put it, "Stay Out of The Shack."

I then found this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK8gm0C3MCU&feature=related

It's worth watching. The writer identifies himself or rather his credentials, and he talks about the strengths and weaknesses of the book. I was braced for another video that gave all the scriptures and the reasons one shouldn't read the book and should steer completely clear of it. Pleasant surprise.

I copied the link. Hope it works for you if you're interested.
Mary B.

Lessons from The Shack

I've had an interesting few days.

Last Saturday and Sunday we drove to Enid to hear William Paul Young, author of The Shack, speak. It was an incredible experience. I was so touched and so moved and wanted to write about it, but I had to wait and absorb and think about it. I had to sort of analyze exactly what I had responded to. Was it the message? Was it the speaker? What was it? While I was thinking on this, Wade posted about the conference.

I couldn't wait, so I attempted to write something of what I felt and why.

Then one of the commenters posted a comment about what I had written:

He said: (quoting me) "I experienced love. I was immediately reminded of the verse, 'Did not our hearts burn within us?' I don't experience that very much." (He continued.) Oh, give me a break. The Christian faith may have subjective elements but we do not define what is true or false by some sort of "burning in the bosom" but rather we have an objective faith based on the word of God which the venerable Mr. Young derides as reducing the voice of God to mere words on paper. Besides, couldn't your burning heart have as much to do with that Nuclear sauce you had with your chicken at Zaxby's? You know it could. Don't front like you don't know.

Hmmm...My dear sweet handsome feller took great umbrage at these remarks and immediately wrote a strong response, which he didn't post. His mistake was waiting to tell me what he was going to do when he picked me up for lunch. I said, "No, not on my account, you're not. I don't need protecting, and I can take care of this myself." It took quite a bit of "funning" and strong argument to convince him that it was okay. He finally agreed to let it drop.

I must admit that at first I was a little taken aback that someone would write like that and make fun of something that was so meaningful for me. It's not easy for me to talk about my feelings in a public forum like that, but I thought it worth the risk. And then this comment appeared.

I went back and read what I wrote and actually thought that someone like the commenter could get the impression he did. He doesn't know me, he didn't experience the weekend, and he already has something against the book and the author. Understandable.

I kind of wanted to say "Touché."

The commenter exactly proved my point. Isn't that funny?

Now, I can truly say what happened to me last weekend. I'm not angry at the comments made to me and about me. It's okay. I think I'm experiencing love for others, even those who mistreat me, albeit just with words. I love this guy and honestly wonder what is "his story" that he could comment like that to someone he doesn't even know, and especially in this context.

Lessons learned: It's okay to expose my feelings to others, no matter their response. It's possible to love and not to get angry at someone who ridicules or treats harshly my tender feelings. Perhaps I had a change-point in my life last weekend. I met God and experienced His love in a new and fresh way. That's what happened to me last weekend.

Thanks to the blog commenter for helping me come to understanding. It helped me clarify what happened to me last weekend. And would I have known had this event not happened?

Best lesson learned: don't waste any of life's experiences to share the love I have been given and continually receive. How great is that?
MB