Walking The Beat

CRUNCH TIME

I have two huge projects going at the same time. I would appreciate your intercession that I would have the wisdom to discern the right 'flow' in both writing projects; the focus needed to complete them; and the protection of God from that which would detract.

And if I have missed something and the Spirit calls it to your mind, pray that as well. As many others have said, "I need the prayers, you need the practice." (and it is equally true of myself, whether I am receiving or praying).

I may or may not post soon. Right now, it is not priority. Thanks.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Freedom. It is a precious concept woven throughout our nation's history. The freedom to choose, the freedom to be, the freedom to live. It is a concept governed by law that protects our freedom by enforcing responsibility if and when necessary.

One has the right of choice, but the boundary of choice is justice. Moral law assumes a moral law-giver that is beyond government. As I have reflected this morning on the concept of freedom both nationally and biblically, I am reminded that such freedom carries a great responsibility. May God grant wisdom to not only experience the freedom, but to live responsibly.

Happy 4th!!

HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO ASK.....

1. Why there is no record of John the Baptist preaching, teaching, or communicating in the Temple or Synagogue?

2. Why Jesus chose Judas...or you...or me?

3. Why we can recognize un-biblical teaching when spoken in sermon but not in the text of songs sung?

4. Why so many Baptists revere John Calvin and Martin Luther when they likely would have sanctioned our death as heretics had we lived in their time?

5. Why so many religious people are so insecure about their denominational preferences? If you doubt that, challenge them at some point see if the response is anger and dismissal or engagement in dialog.

6. Why the Pope wears red shoes?

7. Why we desire humility in our Presidential candidates? Think about it.

8. Why construction workers start top loaders at 6 a.m. behind my house? (I know the answer to this...but wondering anyway).

9. Why the neighborhood cat thinks any pile of loose dirt is a litter box?

10. Why someone hasn't shot that cat?  :) (just kidding - wouldn't do that)

Just asking...

WRITING AND THEN SOME...

Have you ever read so much you really wanted to just give up reading? I am almost there. I am in the final process of writing my dissertation, and although it seems to be going well and deadlines will be met, there are days when my brain just freezes.

I know...some would say 'so what else is new?'  :)

I am overwhelmed at the vast amount of material in the Scriptures regarding parenting. Word studies and their context are fruitful.

As I write this, my wife is channel surfing. She just passed a "Christian station" (ever wonder how a Christian station or a Christian business gets saved?). There is one church in our area that is on daily. And they do a lot of walking. Some guy sings fourteen hundred verses of praise songs and the congregation just marches around, and around, and around, and around. Interesting. Looks like about a hundred of them.

I can't help but wonder if God often looks at us and sees us just marching around, and around, and around.

Life is good. This post is likely not. Time to put the mind to rest. More later.

PATIO CHURCH FACILITIES DAMAGED

Our "patio church" facilities were destroyed. I mean deeee-molished!!

We live behind a school in Grapevine that is being remodeled. They are replacing the air conditioning system, ducts, etc. and remodeling the inside. Of course the school system doesn't tell the neighborhood what is going on or give us any schedules so we may adjust.

Monday morning I was sitting at my computer and heard a helicopter. Sometimes they do come from the North across Grapevine Lake toward the local hospital, so I paid little attention until the thing hovered very close to our home. I stepped out back to see what I could see, and behold, not too far in the air above and along our back fence row was this huge helicopter slowly coming in. I found out later they were there to lift air conditioning units to the roof of the school.

The rotor wash was stirring up some pretty good dust (I had worked Friday and Saturday to re-do the backyard so there was loose dirt). I closed the back door to avoid the dust in the face. I did so just in time. The rotor wash picked up my patio church furniture and slammed it to the ground, exploding the glass top of the table, bending the table, and breaking the less than week-old umbrella.

Yep, I was pretty hot for a few minutes. But a lady in the helicopter came around to my house, looked at the damage and promised repair. A summary of what she said would be, "We are very sorry. We will replace your patio furniture, clean your yard, and do all we can to make you happy. This is my company and we are people of integrity. Tell me when to be here and we will purchase new patio furniture and clean your yard. I am very sorry. Please accept my apology."

Schools need to be repaired. I am proud to live in a school district that takes pride in its facilities for the children of Grapevine. Inconveniences happen.

Tuesday the lady and one of her employees (I found out she is co-owner of the helicopter company) met me and we selected patio table. They cleaned the yard.

The damage was to a patio table, an umbrella, and an umbrella stand. Glass was in about an 8x12 portion of the yard.

They purchased a new patio table, umbrella, and chairs - in other words, the whole set. I said, "But you didn't damage the chairs. She said, "But they won't match this table. We want you and your wife happy." They brought a shop vac and actually vacuumed the glass from the yard.

As they were finishing, I said to her, "You have blessed me far beyond what you were bound to do. You did not have to do more than replace what was damaged." I was also thinking that she could have easily sent someone to do it. But she didn't. She reiterated that their word was their bond and that in 30 years of business this had not happened. They wanted it to be right.

I asked her, "Tell me how I can be a blessing to you." She paused, then looked at me and said, "Pray for me and pray for my grand daughter (age 10)." The child has had numerous surgeries that have left her hearing impaired. Lots of issues here - education, etc. She said the child said to her recently, "I will do whatever God wants me to do if only I don't have to have any more surgeries."

Well, these folks' names are in my prayer journal and I shall pray for her. I ask you to pray for her. God knows her name.

I am in somewhat of a dilemma here. I would like to give you names, but I didn't ask about that. I'll tell you what. If you are looking for a helicopter company to lift some stuff or to fight fires, etc., I know where there is a good one. Email me and I will give you the name. These are people of integrity and good will. And I will be writing a positive letter to them and to the Better Business Bureau.

So tonight, the "re-modeled" patio church is back in business! And from that location, I shall often pray for my new friend and her grand daughter.

THE MAIN THING...IS IT?

Are we really that interested in missions and/or evangelism? I frequently hear pastors, denominational leaders, and other religious leaders talk of "making the main thing the main thing." They, and sometimes we me speak of "getting back" as if we were once there. Were we really 'there'?

Are things as bad as some say? It depends upon how you score the game. Someone once said "figures don't lie, but liars figure." I'm not sure that applies to every situation. You go figure.

But nevertheless we are left with rhetoric and challenge by those who would propose to lead us. The BGCT has a thing going called Texas Hope 2010. And at the recent SBC meeting, a new evangelism initiative was launched.

The Texas theme is wrapped around "Pray, Care, and Share". Old, but nothing wrong with that. Sometimes it is advantageous to use a theme somewhat familiar.

The SBC initiative "called “God's Plan for Sharing” (GPS), consists of four areas of focus -- praying, engaging, sowing and harvesting." It seems to have a window through 2020. Those of us in Texas are fairly certain that the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention will adopt the national SBC plan and support it with gusto, er, enthusiasm.  :)

Now just from outside looking at the articles and early "talk", it seems that both are "the main thing" and I just have to ask, why can't these folk come together in one collaborative effort? Is there a Fundamentalist heaven? Is there a Moderate heaven?

That is really a simple "ask", isn't it? But then, maybe not. Do you really believe people without Jesus are really, in the words of Jesus, "lost"? Do you really believe that Jesus is the exclusive way of salvation and inclusive of all who will repent and believe the gospel? Do you really believe God's Kingdom trumps your kingdom?

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute in Stanford, Calif. He writes political and economic columns for Townhall.com. In a recent article in which the context was political commentary about Barack Obama,  Sowell said these words: "One of the painful aspects of studying great catastrophes of the past is discovering how many times people were preoccupied with trivialities when they were teetering on the edge of doom."

Could those words be descriptive of Baptists? Are we teetering on the edge of doom? We certainly seem to often be preoccupied with the trivial.

We are correctly hearing from leaders that Baptist denominational life is in trouble. So let's trot out a plan to "make the main thing the main thing." Good. Let's do it. But let's carry it a step further. Put your money and efforts where your P.R. is.

At the recent SBC meeting, the vocational evangelists created a "Hall of Faith" and inducted a bunch of folk. I saw the list and all are worthy of honor and respect. But did you know that in this Bible-believing denomination in which the Evangelist is listed in Ephesians 4:11 as a gift of the risen Lord to His church, the evangelist lives by the "love offering"? That is a free-will offering usually taken during an evangelistic meeting an evangelist leads inside a church, tent, or stadium.

The North American Mission Board receives significant funding through the Annie Armstrong Easter offering - another "free will" offering taken around Easter (Resurrection Sunday) and designated for missions.

The International Mission Board at one time received almost 50% of their annual income through the Lottie Moon Christmas offering - another "free will" offering taken during the Christmas season and designated for missions.

In Texas, the BGCT has the Mary Hill Davis offering for state missions. For the past number of years, the goal is somewhere around 5 million plus. It is designated for missions. It is another "free will" offering. I am sure the SBTC has something similar. After all, we Baptists are great imitators and it's a lot like having a house full of young 'uns. They may all have different personalities, but they all share the same DNA unless Mama's been messin' around.

What is my point? Simply this. In every Baptist church and in every Baptist convention, almost EVERYTHING is paid for by the tithe (10% of your income). We are a denomination that teaches tithing. "Hey you, Christian church member. God wants you to give 10% to Him and it only counts in heaven if you give through the church." "Why?" "So we can advance His Kingdom. So we can give to missions". The conventions (and associations - they have their hand out too) then come to the churches and say "Hey, you Baptist church. Give a percent (preferably 10% to the state convention and 3% to the association) of your undesignated offering to us. We'll do missions with it. We'll send some on to the national Baptist organization. We can do more together."

But think of it again. The evangelist, called and gifted of God to proclaim the gospel and reap a harvest, is paid through the free will offering. It will be said, "now this offering is 'over and above' your tithe". Those two words, 'over and above' are pastor-speak for "don't dare give the tithe to the evangelist". And when the meeting is over, the building will be cleaned by a custodian paid by the tithe.

Ask any convention or church to see their budget. Look at how little in comparison with the whole is designated for evangelism and missions. They could not function without the special offerings. Yet salaries, paper clips, and all things that support the structure or bureaucracy come through the tithe. The selling point of the offerings is that 'every penny goes for missions'. And lately we've had reason to question this in some arenas. But that is not my purpose here.

My purpose is to simply point out what I believe is a huge disconnect in how we process things in the local church and denomination. The salaries need to be paid. Human resources are valuable resources. We need paper clips. But just once I would like to see a "paper clip" offering and the tithe go to missions and evangelism.

Even better is to stop talking about missions and talk missional. Missions is "out there" or "over there"...a spiritual 'somewhere over the rainbow'.

But a missional Christian is a missionary and their mission field begins at their kitchen table and is pervasive through all of their influences. The word "missional" is recent, but the concept is biblical. A sage of another time, Dr. H. Leo Eddleman, has been quoted by many. He is reported to have said, "Where ever you see a pocket of sin, that is a mission field. And the nearest Christian to it is a missionary."

What if you had a church full of missionaries? What if we who see ourselves as missional began giving our tithe to real Kingdom of God issues - those things that Jesus, Paul, Peter, Luke, John, and others talked about?

Efforts to take the Gospel to all of Texas and to all of the United States just might succeed. Equipping in the local church and sending from the local church just may be a reality financed by those who have had an "Aha" moment about their financial stewardship.

Finance everything else through free will offerings. Let the tithe advance the Kingdom of God.

FOR MY BAPTIST FRIENDS

An old mountain preacher I knew in my childhood used the expression, "one eye and half a brain". Of course that is likely politically incorrect today, but we never missed his point. Nor did we know anyone with "one eye and half a brain". His was a metaphor of indicating that even one who had the challenge of having only half sight and half a brain could get certain points.

If I were to transfer that to us today, I would say that any such person who is a Baptist is aware of the controversy that has plagued our people all of my ministry. I have heard older men talk about the days prior to. I do not know those days. I wish I did.

I began my seminary days and continued for many years firmly planted in the conservative resurgence. I do not use the term "takeover". I was there. It was a resurgence, it was conservative, and it was necessary. Has everything been done properly? From what my friends tell me who are on the "inside" of the SBC structure, "no way". Did some things get out of control? Apparently. Are things where they need to be? No. Do leaders recognize that and are they willing to make necessary adjustments? Yes and hopefully. 

In 1992, I was invited to the staff of the Evangelism Division of the BGCT. I can't tell you how that felt. I had no idea nor did I seek the position. But to be in such place was more than I ever thought this E. Tennessee boy would ever see. In my last semester as an intern at FBC Dallas, Dr. C. Wade Freeman, former Evangelism Director of the BGCT became the interns "supervisor".  As a vocational evangelist and later President of that organization in Texas, I became friends with the much loved Evangelism Director Carlos McLeod and was among those asked to read a Scripture passage at his memorial service. One of his daughters hugged me and said some things that are precious to me to this day. And, it was a privilege to serve on the staff of Dr. Bailey Stone.

As time moved on and things began to shift in Texas Baptist life, the controversy escalated and our offices became more and more stressful. I confess that I did not always handle that properly. I have never been the silent type. But where I sensed I needed to repair relationships, I did.

There was a change of Executive Directors. My experience with people inside the BGCT had been positive. Those I knew were Bible-believing, God-fearing people seeking to use their gifts to extend the Kingdom of God.  In those first few years, the new Exec seemed to be a man of commitment to prayer. We worked together on a call to prayer; a time when almost the entire border of Texas was prayer-walked; and when Tom Elliff was President of the SBC and called for a day of prayer at each of the seminaries, our Exec. Dir. called and said, "I want us to participate in this." Texas is not a small state. And the chapel at Southwestern Seminary does not seat as many as could be expected. The Exec had an idea - let us ask every association office in the state to open and let people go to their local association office or drive to Ft. Worth. It was their choice, but we would pray. I was asked to contact Tom Elliff to see if this would be considered "cooperative" and received his full support.

A few years ago the BGCT "restructured"...again. Powers from outside the organization were at work. I won't go there. No need. What is done is done and may God bless those who now serve and lead.

Not only have things changed denominationally, but they have changed in churches. Most of the preaching, including mine, is somewhere close to conversational. Much preaching is informational, 'how to', and a lot of it is a kind of 'feel good' psychology. Now to be certain, sometimes we need to feel good. I have surely heard enough 'feel bad' preaching.

But the point is this. My soul yearns to hear convictional preaching. I mean the kind that convicts ME. I am not looking for an emotional experience. I am wired a bit different than some. I remember when it all connected for me in salvation. Although I had made an earlier "profession of faith", it was years later in a second event when the mind, the emotion, and the will all came together at one point of trusting commitment to the person of Jesus. And my response to preaching is much the same way. If you just speak to my emotions, or my mind, or try to manipulate my will - I have a huge ability to analyze, dismiss, and move on. But if there is a connection with mind, emotion, and will, I am moved.

And I have been moved. I listened to some of the preaching from the SBC annual meeting now taking place (June 10-11). Of all that I heard, Dr. David Dockery nailed it for me. You can go here and click on "live streaming video" and search for various speakers in the archives section.

I don't know what the future holds either personally or denominationally. Right now I am in what I call "denominational purgatory". That is what happens when one's ministry has been in both camps. I think I followed the leadership of the Lord and tried to serve His people by serving Him. But not everyone sees it that way, so it is often as my friend once warned me, "Ted, it's like wearing confederate shirt and union pants. You get shot at from both sides."

But I know this. As best as I know how to hear the voice of the Lord and discern his steps for me, I know the next is to finish this dissertation. I have no idea if it will be good enough to pass. The more I read and the more I write, the more I am confronted with how insignificant I am. But I progress. And if in the good grace of God and my professors, mine will be a contribution to the work.

I have no desire to live a life of animosity. I won't die on every mountain nor arm wrestle you for position. If the Lord doesn't grant it, you can have it.

Moderates are moderates. I don't agree with them on many issues and especially in their seeming fear of anyone who knows anyone in leadership of the SBC. And the same is true with Fundamentalists. Let folk be who they are and love them. Deal with issues and respect the personalities involved. Where there is conflict with Scripture, go with Scripture. But I will not hate. The last time I checked, the Spirit seeks to shape us into the image of Christ, not the image of _____________. And in my anecdotal experience, that is where most Baptists are, including a lot of employees in the BGCT and SBC.

David Dockery is right. Find his message and it will be 15 minutes well spent.

DO WE WORSHIP AN IDOL gOD?

My study of the image of God was not nearly in depth enough. So much, so little time. But I did come away with some nuggets. Genesis 1:27 tells us "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female, he created them" (NIV).

One of my friends who is an Old Testament prof confirmed that any time in the Hebrew language one finds a phrase stated back to back, it is very important. So "image" is an important concept to our identity. And, the Scriptures - the inspired, inerrant, infallible, God-breathed written Word of the Living God - says "male and female". Both created in the image of God. This is not about gender role. Don't go there. It is more about God than humans. We are created in his image!

Male, female - all people - black, white, red, yellow, brown, and all the mixtures of skin pigmentation one's DNA allows - all of us, created in the image of God. The great missionary apostle Paul spoke to an interfaith crowd in a 'free speech' area on Mars Hill in Athens. He said, "God, who made the world and everything in it, ... And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth...therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising" (Excerpts in context from Acts 17:24-29, NKJV).

Writing to the Colossians, the same missionary said of Jesus, "He is the image of the invisible God..." (Col. 1:15, NKJV).

I have been thinking of these things in the past few days and giving more than passing thought to the idea that we in the Western Evangelical church, and in particular in the area in which I live, really worship an idol god.

My denomination's national annual meeting is always preceded by a pastor's conference. Many of the same people speak year after year after year. I heard one message on-line today. The theme of this conference is basically revival. For all of you uninitiated readers, revival is a real thing. It is biblical, it is historical, and it is totally within the realm of a sovereign God. In other words, there ain't no program to get it!

But in preacher talk, it can become the default message when we've really screwed things up. This particular message I heard today was by a well respected sage. No issues there. He deserves every ounce of respect he gets. But I thought it interesting that while he cried out for revival and prayer, he is in a denomination that has phased out the  prayer department at the denomination's only "for profit" agency. No, it wasn't where I was employed. You see, several folk throughout our denomination have done that. Connect the dots.

We worshiped Sunday in a wonderful congregation. The pastor is doing a series and prior to the message there is a short video clip from someone in one of the various generations (Builder, boomer, etc.) that is giving some explanation of their desires. This particular one was from the 18-20 year olds and the person said the wanted feel good music, feel good messages, and messages that applied to their lives and if they didn't get that, they would move on. Now I don't know if this was from a script and their take on post moderns or if the person was actually speaking for them self and their generation. I don't know. So don't criticize her.

Today my daughter sent me a link to a blog she has been reading. This person has experienced severe pain. She and her husband lost a baby and on May 27 her sister-in-law and husband lost their infant to SIDS. Unimaginable pain, honesty, and worship of God in the midst of the questions.

Back to Genesis. Genesis one is followed by Genesis 3. You know the story. Humans sinned. In chapter 4, Cain kills his brother and is banished. He begins to procreate. He produces in his line city builders, tent dwellers, shepherds, musicians, and tool makers. One son was a polygamist.

Lamech was an abuser. He gathered both of his wives together and basically gave a threatening rant letting them know that he had killed one who wounded him and he would do it again. Nice guy.

But Adam and Eve had another son, Seth, who produced a son named Enosh. And Scripture (4:26) says "At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord." Cain had produced generations who were skilled, but were not worshipers.  Seth produced at least one worshiper, Enosh, and prayer was at the forefront. They called on the name of the Lord.

Let's connect all this. On any given Sunday one can scroll through the TV preachers of denomination and non-denomination and it is all about what God will do for you. Yes, we need God. And God really doesn't need us. But it seems we want God to act in such a way as to deliver us from any pain, any loss, any suffering. We worship the God of the American dream.

We want the God who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all to continually spare us! Spare us from financial loss, spare us from suffering, spare us from denominational loss.

One thing I still notice in all the revival preaching - it is said in the "we", but people who have been leaders for 30 years just won't pony up and say "me".

I am convicted I have often created God in my own image. We take the "image " passage to be about us. It isn't. It is a statement about God and we find the fullest image of God we will every know or see in Jesus of Nazareth. And every believer is predestined to be conformed to the image of God's son, not the American dream.

Oh God, convict us deeply that we may be another generation as that of Enosh who began to call on the name of the Lord!

HUMILITY IN STUDY

Blogging is a bit slow these days. I am attempting to complete my dissertation by the end of June. There just comes a point when you realize you will never know everything about a subject. Actually, that came early in the process but what I had read at that time was insufficient to be accepted.
Researching a topic in an academic library is really an awakening of sort. One quickly discovers a world of thought and writing styles. Some write in a way that connects. Others write strictly for the Academy. A dissertation is written for the Academy, but my most admired authors are those who can take immensely complex issues and put them in words and style the common person can grasp. To me, this is the purpose of education.

In my Master of Divinity level work, the profs would tell us the best communicators are not those who can pronounce Greek and Hebrew and parse those verbs for their congregations. The best were those who knew the Greek and Hebrew but had ingested and digested in their study and could exegete and communicate the truth of God's word in style and language the common person could understand.

Intelligence on parade is similar to my wife's collection of tea pots. They really look good on the shelf. But when the grandkids were toddlers, we were constantly protecting the tea pots and impressing upon them that these were "Grammy's tea pots" and they should not be broken. We would give them sippy cups. Now they know about Grammy's tea pots and they drink from glasses. In a similar way, knowledge is good. But even better is wisdom and being able to take what one has learned and put it in a style and language those who have not had the same training can understand. Notice I did not say "same intelligence".

Humility in study comes from being confronted with the vast amount of literature on a particular subject and the understanding that my contribution will be much like someone spitting in the ocean. It will make a little splatter, but many have gone before and many will come after, and the ocean is vast.

It is the way of God. None of us have it all, do we? It should give us more appreciation for one another.

You see, we are told in Scripture that we are created in the image of God. Now I ask you - is that a statement about humanity, or is that a statement about God? And yes, I am bringing this post to a close to let you think on that. We'll pick it up in a few days. How would you answer the question?

BIRTH OR WIND?

It is virtually impossible to improve upon the metaphors of Scripture. I am often read translations of Scripture given to the dynamic equivalence philosophy of translation (this philosophy is largely 20th century and prefers meaning to meaning rather than word for word) but it is biblical metaphors that bring me back to a more formal, word for word translation. Greater scholars than I debate these issues and one such intelligent discussion is the topic of the blog "Better Bibles".

Isaiah 26 is a prophetic song of deliverance. The latter verses in the chapter contrast the efforts of sinful people with the deliverance of the Lord when he comes in judgment.

I was drawn to a particular verse by reading a post on the above mentioned blog. In my last post I spoke of description vs. definition.

I am coming to believe that there is little if any life in stopping with description. Sound bites promote agendas. I will no longer allow my life to be used for someone else's power agenda that is in fact, life draining.

Isaiah 26:16-17 says "Lord, in trouble they have visited You. They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them. As a woman with child is in pain and cries out in her pangs, when she draws near the time of her delivery, so have we been in Your sight, O Lord" (NKJV).

But the punch is in 26:18 - "We have been with child, we have been in pain; we have, as it were, brought forth wind; we have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth, nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen."

In very crude paraphrase he is saying "we thought we were giving birth but we only farted."

Description vs. Definition. Individuals, family, and organizations are often described with descriptors that affirm the world view of the one doing the describing. That does not birth life. It is still birth. It is only flatulence.

So when a denominational or church power broker describes those whom with whom he or she dislikes and disagrees with a pejorative, they are not creating life. They are having a brain fart. We should dismiss them as lacking in character and Christian grace.

Our culture is filled with structure. Family, government, church, school, etc. - all of these have structure and they are relational. And sometimes decisions are made by an individual that becomes a defining moment for them and descriptive moments for others. One cannot accurately define 'en mass' only by description. That is not life. That is wind.

So the issues are, how do we become life giving? How do we give birth rather than wind. How do we in our lives accomplish deliverance?

Yesterday is not today nor is today tomorrow. God gives us new seasons. Appreciate the past. It can provide building blocks to the future. But it is NOT the future. What will you do to live TODAY? Dr. W. Oscar Thompson warned, "Do not crucify your lives between two thieves, yesterday and tomorrow."

One cannot give life and deliverance apart from THE Life-giver, the Lord Jesus Christ. He "exegeted" (interpreted and explained God to people) the Father (John 1:18). His life was full of grace and truth and grace and truth only comes through Him (John 1:14, 17).

A life defined by grace and truth is one that is life-giving. An institution defined by people whose lives are filled with grace and truth is life-giving. An institution or an organization whose leadership creates unnecessary enemies by using pejorative terms is a culture of wind. This is equally true of an individual who does the same.

Our model, our mentor, and our method is that of Jesus: "And the Word become flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

Our attachment to Jesus is through the umbilical cord of the Holy Spirit and we are clean through the word he has spoken to us (John 14:1-15:8). This is life. All else is wind.

Circumstances of life may have thrown you in a situation you did not nor would not choose. Sometimes the choice(s) of others create for us unique situations. But these only describe. They do not define. True, there are many who do not know how to respond. And others respond from their own spiritual dysfunction, anger, and control issues.

But we can choose to be people who are life giving accomplishing deliverance of life. It may require some difficult adjustments. Repentance, vulnerability, misunderstanding, re-shaping, loss and sometimes gain, hard work, pain, mentoring, counseling - these and other issues may or may not be involved. But our response to stimuli and circumstance is a God-given liberty even when forced upon us. Choose wisely.

I choose Life.