Lost Crusader #151 Speaking Faith

 “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you…”

Jesus Christ

Now, what I have to say on this subject does not contradict or set at naught the scriptural admonitions to provide things honest in the sight of all men or not to let your good be evil spoken of. On the contrary, if you do those things, it is a given that people will speak ill of you.

In this world, to speak at all with authority or with a passionately held opinion is an open invitation to criticism. This has always been true. The solution for Christians is to speak anyway. Indeed, to provoke an irrational response from those outside the faith is a blessing.

Confrontation with public opinion, especially the opinion held by those entrenched in power, was at the very heart of Jesus’ teaching. Those most sure of their correctness protested the loudest. That’s human nature at work. People today would do well to admit to themselves that human nature has not changed since the Creation.

The scriptures say that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The same may be said of human design, which was after all, modeled on Him. When Jesus spoke with the authority and spirit of the scriptures, it troubled those whose practice sought to circumvent the law and thereby establish for themselves renown as authorities on faith and practice.

When Jesus told them that a personal faith in God and a personal experience with God superseded God’s covenant with Abraham, they called him the Devil. That faith and relationship with God was the practice of Abraham was readily ignored. They turned a deaf ear when Jesus pointed out that Abraham’s children were those who did the works of Abraham.

It is fashionable today for those with no claim of discipleship with Jesus to lecture those trying to be disciples on the ins and outs of a relationship with Him. It’s easier to be silent in the face of cultural opposition. That is the path most taken.

By way of reminder, Jesus said that strait is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and few find it. Broad is the way chosen by the many. That path leads away from life and into destruction.

All you need to dare speak up for Christ is the skin of a rhinoceros, the daring of a wolverine, the persistence of a wolf, and the heart of a lion. It’s time for all the Doolittles to speak.

Maranatha

Know Jack #363 Timely Good Ideas?

 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”

Ecclesiastes 3

 

I am not big on scripture memorization. However, I once had my youngest daughter memorize the above line from Ecclesiastes which I consider one of the greatest bits of wisdom ever. She had this rather annoying habit of butting into adult conversations. I wanted her to know her thoughts were valuable, but that there was an appropriate time and place for them

What an ancient idea, right? However, having been frequently guilty of the same crime against my elders, I had learned the hard way there’s a time to speak and a time to be silent. As you can tell that particular bit of knowledge fled from me as I got older, leading to my oft-repeated lament, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

My timing has not always been the best. I gave up a military career to go into the ministry. It was a good idea, but the time and place were all wrong. Disaster ensued. I couldn’t have timed my exit from active ministry to nursing at a more opportune time. I had a very wonderful time as a nurse—maybe too good. It took a nonfunctional left leg and subsequent back surgery to persuade me to move on to writing full-time. Writing is a true godsend.

Launching into publishing seemed like a good idea at the time. I suppose time will tell how good that idea turns out to be. The truth is we seldom know in the moment what the end will be. We have only faith in our values and our prayers to go on.

Winston Churchill, who shouldered the entire blame for Gallipoli was cast into political outer darkness for his idea. Nevertheless, his time came again. Standing almost alone in his own cabinet, he refused to negotiate a peace offered by Hitler after the fall of France. He left to us this bit of wisdom.

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Keep on keeping on.

Maranatha

Lost Crusader #150 Hypothesis Verified

 “Now when John had heard in the prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?”

Matthew 11

Since men named John and women named Mary are numerous in the gospels, I’ll take a moment to clarify the text above. John in this case is John the Baptist. He is the very same John who, when Jesus appeared, shouted “Behold the Lamb of God!” He is the same John who later testified that the One who sent him to baptize (God) told him that upon whomsoever he saw the Spirit like a dove descend and abide on was the Messiah.

Now, John’s been thrown into prison and sends messengers to ask Jesus if he’s the One. Given his history, why would he do that?

Some will tell you he was having doubts. Others might say that his faith had failed, or he was feeling sorry for himself. If you’ve read a few of these blogs, you know I’m going to tell you that I don’t believe any of those answers. You also know that I’m about to tell you what I do believe. (Which you can take or leave as you see fit.)

I don’t know if John knew he was about to die. He was a prophet, so it’s not a farfetched notion. He is in Herod’s prison and his prospect of release probably doesn’t look good. John has staked his reputation as a prophet and a man of God on his identifying Jesus as the Messiah. He is not likely to get to test his hypothesis or method again.

However, a final confirmation of the facts and validation of his witness would make prison more bearable. Peter later would say that if you suffer for your mistakes, and take it, you’ve done well. Suffering for being right and taking it, glorifies God and contributes to making your calling and election sure.

John wants one last assurance that he was right. Notice that Jesus does not reprimand him. There’s no “Oh, ye of little faith” spoken here. What does Jesus do? He quotes the prophet Isaiah’s description of what the Messiah will do.

He tells the messengers to go and show John the things which they have seen and heard Jesus doing. The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed are those not offended by what he’s doing.

Christian faith, unlike modern government-sponsored science, is meant to be questioned and tested by those who practice it. Asking questions, reaching a reasoned decision on a course of action, and testing the results are all actions of an adult faith.

Paul said, “I know whom I have believed…” There is nothing wrong with accepting the word of a trusted authority, we all do it frequently. Testing the soundness (as we see John doing) of that authority is essential to a grownup faith.

Maranatha

 

Know Jack #362 Sally Forth Once More

 “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent… Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Calvin Coolidge

When I’m playing trivia and the category is Presidents, I feel a lot as Pavlov’s dog must have felt. I find it strange that some of the sagest Presidential words ever spoken were voiced by some of the least known men. “Silent” Calvin Coolidge may be my favorite among the unknown sages. Sorry, Millard Fillmore.

The above quote in particular has lifted me off the floor more times than I care to count. I admit without a single qualm that I’m not hard to knock down. I’ve been laid low by mere words countless times. However, my sincere belief is that I am hard to knock out.

I have this insane drive that no matter how low I sink; it just will not let me stay down. I had the chance to die once and, at the last moment, chose not to. I have yet to come up with what seems to me a valid reason to have lived so I keep getting back up looking for that raison d’etre.

I have changed battlefields, but not the fight. I write now rather than speak but it’s in the same war and against the same foes. I’m not any more talented at either one. I am a hell of a lot better at getting back on my feet while keeping my focus channeled inward. The inclination to destroy everyone and everything that knocked me down is still there. The restraint on myself is stronger, but that’s not my doing. As the scripture says, “not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit… Might and power—I have none. The Spirit of God, I might have a sliver.

My ideal end is to die in a one-sided battle to the death like those at the Alamo, Masada or Thermopylae. What can I say, I’m a romantic, at least in the classical sense of the word. I’m a vagabond dreamer knight tilting at windmills until the end while thinking someone cares. Unlike Don Quixote, I will not repent of my dreams of fighting the good and noble fight.

I’ve been down lately. It’s only an eight count. I’m getting up again to sally forth into the next adventure.

Maranatha

Lost Crusader #149 I’m Satisfied

 “O God, you are my God; early will I seek you: my soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land…”

Psalm 63

The first and great commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. If anyone cannot do this of their own freewill, they may find all else is vanity. The Spirit does not ask a person to love God for naught. Love is not some nebulous titillation of the senses. It is a reciprocal action between two like beings.

God is love and the source of it. The human heart has a natural enmity toward God. Thus it is impossible for us to initiate a loving relationship with the divine. Fortunately, God does not expect us to do so. We are called upon to love God because He first loved us.

This love was manifested in His offering of Himself to abolish the enmity between us and to extend the opportunity to be adopted into the eternal, divine life. The price has been paid for peace with God. Many do not experience it because accepting God’s offer comes with terms and conditions. You can’t just sign in without accepting God’s terms because the terms are what constitutes love for God.

That is, you agree to love God and your neighbor as yourself. Do this and you will find that ever after only these two things truly satisfy your soul. Many an unhappy “Christian” is walking around out there because they never realized what they agreed to nor did they choose to let those things be their guide.

I hope it is clear from this little discussion that a person does not have to accept God’s terms to be loved by God. God still loves everyone, even those who curse and reject Him. Furthermore, it is not God’s will that any should miss out on a loving relationship with Him. The will to avoid a relationship with God originates in the human heart that refuses His love and is satisfied with their world. God (and by extension, the Church) is a handy scapegoat for many looking for a place to lay the blame for their misery.

We are made for more than our current experience in a world bound by physical conditions. We are made to share the life of God in the expanse of all that has been created. That this is not for everyone is obvious. Some are happy with themselves as they are, and so they shall ever be.

If you find the present world does not satisfy the deepest longings of your soul, you are not alone. C.S. Lewis wrote, “If nothing in this world satisfies me, perhaps it is because I was made for another world.”

In the words of the old, now largely discarded, hymn, “I love to tell the story, because I know ‘tis true, it satisfies my longing, as nothing else can do.”

Maranatha

Know Jack #361 I Talk to Myself

 “Oh the tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”

Sir Walter Scott

You might have seen one of those social media posts where you’re asked to tell what you do for a living in an obscure/funny way. I usually answer that I tell lies for a living. Of course, then I have to explain that I’m not a politician, but a fiction writer.

I’ve been reading The Republic by Plato and stumbled upon this conversation between Socrates and Adeimantus that spoke to me about writing.

Socrates: “You are aware, I suppose, that all mythology and poetry is a narration of events, either past, present, or to come?”

“Certainly,” he replied.

Socrates: “And narration may be either simple narration or imitation, or a union of the two?

“You know the first lines of the Iliad…‘And he prayed all the Greeks, but especially the two sons of Atreus, the chiefs of the people…’

“The poet is speaking in his own person; he never leads us to suppose that he is anyone else. But in what follows he takes the person of Chryses, and then does all that he can to make us believe that the speaker is not Homer, but the aged priest himself.”

To tell a tale well, a writer must take on another personality, or in most cases, multiple personalities. It’s much like an actor getting into character---except in my case, it’s a one-man show and I have to change costumes really fast.

Writing dialog is like talking to myself as two different people with different points of view and all the while watching hidden on the sidelines to make sure I keep the conversation moving and make sure none of my personalities spoil the ending.

The difference between telling and showing is to remain invisible, to be the all-powerful wizard hidden behind the curtain pulling the strings. If you see me, if I don’t stay behind the curtain, the show’s over—the deception, and so the story fails.

Make no mistake about it, deception is what fiction writing is about. It’s kind of in the name of the thing. The object is to spin a web so tangled the reader gets lost between realities and just as wrapped up in it as I did while I was writing it.

Once when asked why I wrote three blogs instead of one, I said the answer was simple. Those are the three personalities that can’t keep their mouths shut. It’s okay if people just don’t get why I write or where I go while doing it. They may be just one person. If you find that boring too, you might be a writer.

Maranatha

Lost Crusader #148 Rock Solid

 “When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

Psalm 61

 

Life can be overwhelming at times. Even when all is going according to plan, the wise person understands that they are not really in charge. It is in those moments we are most certain of our ability to stand on our own that we ought to beware of falling flat on our faces.

Confidence and faith are not synonymous though they are often mistaken for one another. Confidence is an inward assurance, which may or may not be born of faith. Faith is an upward reaching action based on the knowledge that there is something higher of which to take hold.

Faith does not grasp at straws or flail blindly for purchase, it reaches for a proven object—one that functions as a shield. I have been told that my faith is a crutch. The words were meant to be a derogatory comment regarding my personal weakness. It failed to wound me because I know a crutch to be an instrument of healing.

I used to work on a ward that dealt almost exclusively in horrific diabetic foot ulcers. Cratered heels, dissolving bones and dead flesh was our stock in trade. To each person afflicted with such wounds, a crutch was given with the instructions to keep their weight off the injured foot by leaning on their crutch.

A soul, wounded as mine was, needed a crutch to lean on. When healing came, I could live without constantly leaning on the crutch—but I didn’t throw it away. I shared it instead. Now, when I am wounded and in need of something to bear me up there are those ready and willing to share their crutch with me.

Pilate asked Jesus what the truth was. The Truth is a person. Life has a way. The Way is also a person. For the overwhelmed soul there is a rock to cling to amid the flood. The Rock is a person—Jesus Christ.

“On Christ the solid Rock, I stand—all other ground is sinking sand.”

Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.

Maranatha

Know Jack #360 Still Dreaming

 “Dreams, so they say, are for fools and they let ‘em slip away…”

Seals and Croft

There are dreams we have when our eyes close in sleep. According to some these dreams are a type of story our mind stages to work out the issues of the day. Others say they can be the messengers of God. Perhaps both are true. God must surely be interested in how we work out the issues of the day and, on occasion, we really need some direct divine guidance.

Then there are the dreams that live in our minds, shifting between levels of consciousness while our eyes are wide open. I have always lived a quixotic kind of life acting on my dreams even if they are not tethered to reason.

Logic, reason, and truth all have their proper roles to play in life, the formation of sound judgment, and wise decision-making. But they are not constants. “To every thing there is a season and a time for every purpose under the heaven.” There is a time to lay all else aside and chase a dream.

I’m a writer now because I didn’t listen to reason. I had ventured down the dream-chasing road once before. I had been badly burned so I really should have listened this time—I didn’t.

Dreams unpursued bear no fruit, they wither and die. Chasing after your dreams will likely leave you battle-scarred. However, there is no more indelible scar a soul can bear than what might have been. The opportunity to dream may come around more than once, and dreams may haunt us but they do not chase us.

It is true that some dreams, whether the waking or the sleeping kind, are nightmares. However, we don’t give up sleeping, and neither should we give up dreaming. The next turn in the road just might be where you catch up to that elusive dream.

Maranatha