Moments of Quiet Truth

     Daniel's due date was a week and a half ago and today is the first time I've had the opportunity to sit and process it.       The loss of my son has forced me to face so much of how I was raised to process my emotions. I've also been faced with what God says about those emotions, where He is when I experience them, and whether or not He approves of them.      As a young child, I was taught that emotions like anger and others that were deemed 'unpleasant' had no place in the life of a christian. Because they were not acceptable in the christian society and culture in which I was raised, therefore, God did not approve of them either. He was the reason they were not acceptable because there were so many Scriptures warning against the improper use of them. They were sinful. If a believer struggled being angry at God or was walking through depression or discouragement, then there was either sin or something wrong with that believer that ...

      The title of this post is the title that an essay written by Jeff Foster in his book, "The Joy of True Meditation: words of encouragement for tired minds and wild hearts." A synopsis of the essay/article is that being present (without trying to 'solve the problem,' take away the discomfort, fix the person) is more helpful to those who are hurting than empty words or lectures or '-isms' or cliche's about God's sovereignty are. There is a time and place for truth, but Proverbs, for example, is full of instructions for those wishing to provide comfort to those who are hurting. Not only what you say, but also when and how you say it are huge. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to keep your mouth shut.       Something that is lost, many times, by those who seek to provide comfort is the ability to just BE with the person without feeling the need to 'make it all better.' Those of us who are grieving are in this state of grief much longer than t...

     Loss makes us uncomfortable. It reminds us of struggle, discomfort, a lack of our own control, and of our own mortality.  L oss leaves us feeling exposed. It hits a little too close to home. I reminds us of our limitations, humanity, and the possibility that this pain is something we, ourselves, could experience. We don't enjoy contemplating that - it makes us feel VERY vulnerable and VERY uncomfortable. So, often, we avoid dealing with it by filling the awkward, empty space with words that "sound" Christian but reflect very little of the heart of Christ. Christ is not uncomfortable in the face of pain. He doesn't seek to run away from the hurting, the broken, the diseased - He runs toward them. And when He does, He doesn't preach at them - He touches them and heals them. In the following posts, I want to work through a list of things that loss/grief exposes or lays bare in the hearts of both those who have experienced it and those who haven't. This ...

" I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,  even there  your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.  I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night -  but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. Psalm 139:7-12 "Even when I walk through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.  Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever." Psalm 23:4-6 "He was despised and rejected -- a man of sorrows, acquainted with d...

  "(9) And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, 'This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.' For all the the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. (10) Then he said to them, 'Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.' (11) So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, 'Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.' (12) And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing because they had understood the words that were declared to them." Nehemiah 8:9-12      Many of us are familiar with home decor that uses Scripture verses as a way to encourage the viewer of Biblical truths. How often, though, is the viewer ignorant of the context of ...

    A lot of what I've been pursuing recently has had an apologetic purpose. In my current pursuit, however, I ran across a statement that pulled me up short. The statement was that the purpose of apologetics is to win the man, not the argument .       The reason this pulled me up short is that I love debate and have often seen it as a means of showing up the other party and winning the argument. I love acquiring new information to use in my arguments. I love the thought that my arguments are well-reasoned and I don't feel like I can make them such without a lot of research. (There are some, especially scholars, who will not respect what you have to say unless you can demonstrate to them that you have thought through your argument and have some answers to their questions.). This has driven me to constantly study and research and learn. What seems to happen as a result of this pursuit is that I lose focus on the person and, instead, focus on the facts. Facts...

Psalm 91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say the the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.  He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,  nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,  nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side,  ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes  and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place -- the Most High, who is my refuge -- no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On t...

      I began a journey of discovery a few months ago and it has changed my life. It has changed the way I look at the Bible and my natural curiosity/desire to learn has been heightened exponentially. I want to dig into my Bible in a greater way than I think I every have. Due to this journey of discovery, I've begun to learn how to look at the Bible through the worldview lens of those who wrote it. Things I either glanced over (due to ignorance) or might have briefly puzzled over now fit into a framework that makes sense.        A major aspect of this framework is my need to have categories for the supernatural beings and worldview presented in the Bible. A 're-emergence' of these categories in some Christian circles has led to some very strong opinions, both for and against their accuracy and/or necessity. Some are more willing to accept their presence in Scripture and others are vehemently opposed, often to the point of inconsistent interpretations o...

"For He wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal." Job 5:18 Meditating on pain in the lives of those I love. God Himself can be the agent afflicting the pain on the life of those I love. He takes responsibility for it and says it comes from Him. How do I respond to this revelation of God? I need to sit with this reality but not stop there. He is also the agent of healing. He also sits with those who are in deep pain. He doesn't rush their healing. He doesn't grow impatient with them as they seek to navigate life during the process of restoration. He puts the broken back together again and He does it in a way the is personally detailed. He binds up wounds to make the wounded look more like Jesus at the end of the process than they were at the beginning. Are we patient with the hurting? Are we compassionate? "Compassion" and "sympathy" both come from words that mean to suffer with. Do we step into the pain of others (even strangers) a...

 I'm reading today in Philippains 4 and the realization struck me that I might have misinterpreted what Paul was driving at in verse 13. The thing that he is able "to do" [English translation of the Greek "to have power to be able to"] is face whatever circumstance God gives Him with contentment. So often, we take this verse out of its context and apply it to whatever we're facing. That is not to say that God does not give us the grace to do what He calls us to do (spoken of in other parts of Scripture), but the immediate context of this verse is trust and contentment. Do I know how to be content and trust God, am I content and do I trust God when: I'm brought low - brought to a place of need and disappointment/failure, I abound - when I'm successful and do things well, when I have everything I need or face the privation of my daily needs? (see Romans 8:35-36) How does one learn this lesson? Does the context give us a clue? I think it does. ...

      A basic question to ask when you come to a particular passage of Scripture, and one that will eliminate much misunderstanding, mishandling, and misapplication of said text, is, "What kind of literature am I reading?" When we have a basic grasp of the type of literature, we can eliminate, to a great degree, confusion concerning the purpose for which the text was written. The Bible is filled with various types or genres of literature and each has a specific purpose and message to communicate. There is historical narrative (think most of the Old Testament). There is prophetic literature (foretelling of future events), wisdom literature (think Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes), and there are personal letters (think of much of Paul and Peter's letters to the churches in the New Testament). Each type of literature serves a specific purpose and should be read with that purpose in mind. We do this in daily life. We, for example, don't read a cookbook looking for the same ...

      Last time, we looked at some questions to ask when we looked at a text, in order to understand the meaning of the text. This time we'll be looking specifically for the "who" and the "what" of each of the members of the Godhead in a passage in order to understand who They are and what They do better.      For this lesson, we're going to go to Ephesians 1. There is SOOOO much in this chapter and most of it (vv. 3-14?) is one long, run-on sentence in Greek. We're going to focus in on the first 14 verses of chapter 1 and see what we can find out about this amazing God!       To set the stage, Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus, around 60-62 AD. You can read of his time there in the book of Acts, chapters 18:18-21 (Paul's second missionary journey) then in chapter 19 (his third missionary journey). The city of Ephesus was filled with idolatry, sexual immorality, and witchcraft. The epistle teaches us how to live out the gospel and...

      In our last lesson, we talked about how to find key ideas by looking at the repeating words in a passage. This allows you to have a decent idea about the main idea of a passage at a glance (providing you mark the repeating words/phrases in the text). In this lesson, we will begin to ask the 5 "w's" and 1 "h" question (who, what, when, where, why, and how) to determine the key information of a text. We'll use the same text we did last time and dive in. Materials you will need: 1. Holy Spirit 2. Prayer 3. A copy of the text 4. A place to make notes      As always begin your time in the Word asking the Spirit for His help. It would also be a good idea to read the text several times before you begin to tackle the questions.  1 Corinthians 12:1-14 (NASB) " 1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. 2  You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. 3  Therefor...

      Now that we have laid the foundation for understanding how to find the meaning of words, let's apply that knowledge so as to learn the meaning of a passage. One thing my father taught me to do is to mark up a text. Some do not wish to mark up their Bibles, so I would suggest printing out a copy of that passage that they can mark up. My dad and I both enjoy using color but pen or pencil work just as well. I would recommend either mechanical pencils, as they have a finer point, or Micron artist pens, as you can get them with very fine points as well. These pens work especially well when you don't have very large margins. The benefit to marking up the text in your copy of the Scriptures is that you have all of your notes right there, at a glance. You won't have to go searching for loose pieces of paper or that particular journal, should you ever want to revisit what you learned at a later point in time. The downside is, depending on how much you mark up the text, the w...