Author Archives: tombeaman

The Right Word

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The reason things seem so divisive these days, and it seems to be so difficult to accomplish common understanding, has to do with words.  if a Democrat talks about “helping the middle class” it usually means something very different from what a Republican means by those same words.  It is very difficult to draw people together from very different ways of seeing the world when the words used are “heard” in such different ways.

That’s what makes the first line of the Gospel of John so masterful.  John wrote:

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1 (NIV84))

John was setting out to tell two very different kinds of people, with distinctly different views of the world, about Jesus.  So he called Him “the Word.”

  • When the Jewish people read that word (the Greek word, logos), they immediately associated it with God.  Jews believed it was sacrilegious to pronounce or write the Name of God.  In those days, sometimes they substituted the word, Logos, or Word.  The first line of their scripture read, “In the beginning, G-d….”   So when they read John’s opening phrase they naturally thought, “God.”
  • The people in the Greek culture who read John’s letter, however, interpreted logos in a very different way.  Following the ideas of some of their famous philosophers, they used logos, or word, to refer to the divine active principle that governed all of reality.  Kind of like how the “operating system” in a computer controls how all the programs work, people in the Greek culture thought of the logos as the overarching “operating system” for the universe.  In short, the mind of God.

So, with one word, logos, John drew those two, very different, groups together in understanding the identity of Jesus.  Next, he used a strong word to say Jesus was “with” God, not just nearby, but in close, intimate association and correspondence with God.  Lest anyone miss the point, John followed up with, “He was God.”  Jesus existed as God “in the beginning,” before time and space were created.

Today, when someone says, “Jesus,” he might be expressing disgust or frustration.  Someone else might be talking about a “good man” or a “prophet.”  But John?  He was talking about a Man he knew as a friend, Who had revealed Himself to be Almighty God.

Don’t Sweat It

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The music business is cutthroat.  When I worked in the concert sound business, I once arranged for someone I knew to get hired into a very sweet deal, an annual contract that paid well.  Once he had the gig, he turned around and arranged for my company to be replaced.  When I confronted him, he said, “Hey, it’s just business!”  Just business…  dirty business.  But he was right: it was the way business in that field is conducted.  It also far too often, is the way life seems to work.  That’s why knuckles get broken.  But there is a better way than fists to respond, discovered and written down over 3000 years ago in Psalm 37.  Here it is, with my paraphrase and comments interspersed:

Fret not yourself because of evildoers;   
be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.   (Psalm 37:1-2)

[Yes, he ripped you off, but don’t sweat it.  You don’t want to take the path he is heading down.  Instead, keep your eye on long term results, not the immediate perks that sometimes come to those who do wrong.]

To which you may be grumbling, “I don’t want to be a sap who is taken advantage of. Why should I always wind up with the fuzzy end of the lollipop?”  The answer is because it works better!   David continues:

Trust in the LORD, and do good; 

[No matter the circumstances, act out your confidence that God has not lied to you.  Even Jesus went peacefully and confidently to the cross, trusting in His Father, Who had said, “vengeance is mine.”  Do the right thing, even when others seem to prosper by trampling morality.]

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.  

[Settle in and appreciate the circumstances into which God has you placed.  Unpack your bags and get comfortable there.  Get to know the character called faithfulness.  Become a good friend and let him rub off on all you do.]

Delight yourself in the LORD, 

[Instead of grudging obedience, find the thrill and joy of following God’s seemingly upside down, counter intuitive ways.]

Here’s the payoff:

and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him, and he will act.  (Psalm 37:3-5)

Simply put, do life God’s way and don’t sweat it.  In the long run, you’ll be very glad.

Turn Back

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When the hotel fire alarm goes off in the middle of the night, it takes you a few moments to realize where you are and what you need to do.  Quickly!  Already the smoke is starting to seep from the elevator shaft.  Sensing heat, you turn away and rush to the nearest fire exit. Flames block your way.  Remembering another exit on the far end of the corridor, you turn around, knowing it is the only way out.

As you run, people emerging from their rooms are surging toward the elevators, unaware they are death traps. It is how they have always exited the hotel. Plus, since everyone is going that way they think it must be safe.  You try your best to turn them around.  Some listen; some don’t.  It is frustrating but you’ve done your best.

That is how Paul felt as he wrote these words:

Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.  (Acts 20:26-27)

He knew how serious the “whole counsel” about Jesus was.  Jesus said it succinctly as He spoke these words to the most religious people of His day:

He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” (John 8:23-24)

Not God

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The guy sitting next to me on the plane tried to tell me about God. I responded, “I could never believe in God unless I could fully understand him.”   His response became a turning point in my spiritual journey. He said, “Buddy, if you completely understand him, he isn’t God, he’s a figment of your imagination.”

Although i didn’t at the time, I had to admit he was right. If there is a God and He is all powerful and all knowing then it is ridiculous for me to insist He fit within the confines of my limited understanding.  If we have the right to insist that he act according to our wishes or sense of morality and always do what we think is right, then he is not God.  It would be foolish to surrender ourselves to that sort of God.  We’d be chasing out tails.

I wonder if that guy reads my blog. If so, I’m grateful to you. You tore down a roadblock on my path to finding the real God.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  (Isaiah 55:8 -9)

Closer than You Think

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Where is God?   Cartoons show Him floating on a cloud, with one hand on the lightning bolt lever.  People reach up or look up in worship or prayer.  Nothing wrong with that – Jesus looked up in prayer – but does God reside “up there?”  Praise songs invite Him to “come.”  We call special church rooms “sanctuaries,” and design some of them as though God lived within them..  But where is He really?  According to the apostle Paul, the question might better be asked, where are we? Check this out:

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, … that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for  “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; …  (Act 17:26 — Act 17:28 excerpts)

As we used to say in the 60’s, “Heavy!”  God made us and designed us so that we would “feel our way toward him” and yet, it is “in Him we live and move and have our being.”  Although it seems to us that He is “up there” or “out there,” in reality, we exist “in Him.”  Makes my head swim, but then so does much of what I hear and read about quantum mechanics.

But so what?  Paul spoke those things to people who superstitiously believed that to find God you needed to build Him a temple and then go there.  Or, make a statue and bring sacrifices to it.  You can read the rest of what he said in Acts 17.  But His point was this:  We don’t have to do anything, build anything, pay anything or go anywhere to find God.  He made us and gave us life.  He is the One Who designed into us the urge to find Him.  It is good to “feel our way toward Him.”  But here is a hint: He is closer than we think.

Good to know, even if we don’t fully understand it.

Who to Vote For

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Don’t pay much attention to what the candidates say they will do.  Most don’t or cannot do most of what they’ve promised.  They have no way to know the circumstances they will really face.  Instead, consider their character.  Leaders tend to lead in the direction of the path they have consistently taken in life.  When you vote for a new President, or any other government position, you vote to have the country resemble the character of that person.  At the time of this writing, our two front runners are known for dishonesty and greed – not character traits most of us hope will shape our nation’s reputation.

Want a list of character traits to avoid and ones to support?  Consider these two lists, taken from the letter to the Galatians in the Bible.  Paul contrasts those motivated by “the flesh”   –  by which he means those who operate by the rules and impulses of the world  –  and those who take their cues from God’s Spirit.

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, …  

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; … (Galatians 5:19–23 – excerpts)

Which set of character traits do you want in those who lead our country?  Which candidates resemble the list you chose?  Vote for them.

Please join me in praying for wisdom to prevail among voters.

Not God’s Security but Yours

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I heard a comedian taking shots at the Ten Commandments recently.  He ridiculed them because the commandments don’t seem to begin with the most important issues.  In his opinion, “Don’t murder people” should have been the first one.  But the first one is “I am your God.”  And the second one is “Don’t go messing around with any other Gods.”   The third one says, “Don’t make up your own Gods and bow down to them (my paraphrase of Deuteronomy 5:6-10).  He said God must be insecure and have identity issues.  The crowd was in stitches and cheered wildly.  Hah, hah!  Look how stupid the Bible is…

But what if those first three commandments really were the most important?  What if it really was critical that we know Who created us and designed the world we live in?  And not go chasing after gods who really are figments of our own limited imaginations?  What if this was true?

“The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply…”.  Psalms 16:4a

When you buy a new computer, you get a little pamphlet with  a list of commandments.  The first one is “Read this first!” The second one is, “Plug your computer in to 120 volt, 60 Hz power.”  And, “Don’t ever plug your computer into a different source of power, or even into an unregulated generator.”  Number 1, make sure you are connected to a source of power.  Number 2?  Don’t use a different source of power because it will damage your computer.   The Ten Commandments start in the same way.  God, the only True God, is our source of life and power.  All others are false and will ultimately ruin us.  Once we have that straight, then we can go on to not murdering.  The chances are pretty good that God knew what He was doing when He handed Moses the Ten Commandments, more so than that stand up comedian…

Hearing is not Believing

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It puzzles me when people play adventure video games by looking up the answers and cheats online, instead of figuring them out.  If someone tells them the answer, they can’t enjoy the experience of discovering it.

Bear that concept in mind and consider this: At His trial, Jesus’ accusers said,

“If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, (Luke 22:67)

When Jesus said “If I tell you you will not believe,” perhaps He was not accusing them but helping them. Coming to faith in Jesus is not simply hearing about Him from someone telling us. Believing is something we do. Believing is more than merely knowing the right answers. It cannot be done to us or for us; it is a personal adjustment. And without that personal change, the life-giving relationship with Jesus is impossible. Perhaps ,Jesus could have told them the answer but did not, in order to give them the opportunity to come to a personal belief in that answer.

He said to Peter, “You are blessed because you didn’t hear this from someone else but received it from the Holy Spirit.” The process of leading people to faith must leave room for them to discover the truth in a personal way and believe without being spoon-fed all the answers.

Hand in Hand

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Have you ever felt resentful or a sense of reluctant obligation when they pass the offering plate?  Yeah, me too.  But that’s because us knuckle-headed humans don’t understand how an offering works.  First read this:

 And He [Jesus] looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.”  (Luke 21:1-4)

How could her meager offering be worth “more?”  Apparently, the value of an offering is not measured in dollars and cents.  Makes sense (no pun intended) when you remember that God doesn’t need money.  Offerings are not about raising money for God.  So what is the reason for an offering?  The widow’s offering was “more” because her trust was greater.  With her copper coins, she was saying, “Father, this is all I have but I love you and trust You to provide.”

Offerings were set up by God as a tangible way to experience a relationship with Him based on thankfulness and trust.  That is why the offerings were to come from the first part of each harvest.  Thankfulness and trust.  See that? 

A friend of mine is an expert builder of houses.  One day, as I was trying, unsuccessfully, to tear out a soffit to remodel my kitchen, he happened to stop by.  He watched in silent amusement as I continued to get my butt kicked.  Then he asked, “Would you give me your hammer and let me work with you?”  I knew he was good and I was ready for help.  I gave him (offered him) the hammer and watched in amazement as, with a few expert strokes, he made real progress.

Offerings are like that.  God holds out His hand, not as a beggar or a bill collector, but with a smile on His face, asking, “Hey, you want to work together with me?  Got a hammer I could use?” 

Offerings are opportunities to strengthen our relationship with our loving Father, the relationship based on thankfulness and trust.  And it is a real thrill to join Him in what He is doing, working hand in hand.