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Musings and Observations by Vernon Caston

Musings and Observations                 by Vernon Caston

Monthly Archives: September 2011

If evil had no consequences

29 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by stertin in Uncategorized

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"amoral carnivorous biped", "inconsequential decisiones", "permitting evil", "unintended consequences", Ichabod

It is one thing to say that God ordains evil’s existence.  It is a very different thing to affirm that evil will not keep God from accomplishing His will for humanity and his creation.

God doesn’t create evil.  He permits evil.  He is not threatened by evil.  He “uses” evil as He accomplishes His ordained good.  God won’t always keep evil from happening.  But, the evil that happens can be manipulated by God to be part of a process that will accomplish what God wants done.  While the evil that happens has its “own” end in mind, God can make that evil fit into His ends.  To say it differently, God can produce what for Satan are “unintended consequences”, consequences that are contrary to what Satan wanted the evil to accomplish.

The fact is that no one successfully orders God to do anything.  No one can force Him to do anything.  No one or nothing, such as evil, can put God in a box.

God can allow evil to produce consequences that match what God wants to happen to the unrepentant sinner, or that match what morality demands.  God can forgive evil, without eliminating the results of evil.

If God prevented evil volition from producing “evil” results, allowing only “good” results to come from evil volition, what would happen?  Morality itself would be destroyed.  Moral decisions that produce no corresponding consequences eliminate the moral character that currently indwells His created universe.

When the moral character is eliminated, we need to invent a new word for what, up to now, we have called “human.”  Maybe something like, “amoral carnivorous biped”, or “walking rock”, or maybe, “Ichabod” (the glory has departed).

0100815

If we knew the future, could we change it?

28 Wednesday Sep 2011

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Tags

"knowing the future", "reasoning correctly"

If we knew the future (not just hoped concerning it nor believed something about it), what would we do?  What could we do?

I heard a fellow once reply that he would bet a million dollars on a particular football game.  He was “absolutely” sure about the outcome of the game.  Also, I have heard it said that you could make a million dollars over night if you knew for sure at what figure the Dow Jones would close tomorrow.  One thing appears sure – humans would either directly or indirectly abuse others if they knew the details of what would happen in the future.

But, is it that simple?  If we were to do anything at all due to our knowing the future, would we not actually be changing the future?  Would that not show that we didn’t know the future after all?   In other words, is it logically impossible to both know the future and do anything about it???!!!

Let me know if something is wrong with this reasoning?

 

 

0100914

 

 

 

Is any solution free?

26 Monday Sep 2011

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conditions, grace, salvation, solutions

Is any solution “free”? is the question I am pondering.

For example, our physician has a solution for the infection, and he prescribes an antibiotic.  Someone pays something for both the physician’s services and the medication.

The counselor offers a solution for a broken relationship, and he proposes particular actions that need to be taken.  Someone pays the counselor for services rendered.  The list of solutions goes on.

So, the question – are the solutions free?  It appears that they aren’t.

On one hand they cost the “solver” (physician, counselor, mechanic, teacher, etc.) time, resources, perseverance and other things as well.

On the other hand, the cost to the one receiving the solution is acquiescence to some degree, at least to the point of being willing to “try” the solution.

Does any of this train of thought transfer to the question of salvation by God?  Is salvation some kind of “solution?  Is it exempt from the comments in the first half of this musing?  I don’t know how it can be exempt.

This thinking does not lead to our “saving” ourselves.  The solution (salvation) certainly has been costly for God.  It appears that to go to the point of affirming that anything we do in relation to our salvation is an affront to God’s grace is not warranted.  If I recall correctly, John the Baptist used the expression “prepare the way” in reference to the public ministry of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Back to the analogies – patients who follow the doctor’s instructions are not healing themselves.  Being healed and being in the condition to receive the healing are two different things, and should not be conflated nor confused.

In like manner, being saved and being in the condition to receive the salvation are not to be confused with each other.

What do you think?

 

 

0100907

A fable and its lesson

23 Friday Sep 2011

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Tags

"ad absurdum argument", "forged license", "knowledge and faith", anonymity

Henry told his family members that he was going away for several days; he needed to just be alone and not even in his house.  It seemed somewhat unusual to them, because it was.  He had never done that before.  But, they said, “Alright.  Keep in touch if you need to.”

“No problem.”

The next day, he left home with the several thousand dollars he had withdrawn from the bank two days ago.  About 300 miles out he found a motel for the night.  It had the amenities he was looking for, and there were eating places nearby that matched his preferences.  To check in, he used cash to pay for two nights, using as identity a forged driver’s license he had obtained a week earlier.  It wasn’t all that difficult.  Up to that point he was still unknown, although the motel folk didn’t realize it.

Why was Henry doing this, maintaining anonymity to such a degree?  What was he planning?

His rationale was that if people, both family and friends, knew that he was as sick as he knew he was, and that he would be dead within a week at the max, they would be shocked, solicitous, and self-giving.  He was correct about that.

That was the point.  Henry said to himself that knowledge, such as that of his impending death, would destroy free will.  Their expressions of concern weren’t really being birthed from within them, but were “forced” out of them due to their recently gotten knowledge of his impending death.  Since that was the case, he didn’t want to receive their expressions of kindness, of grief, etc.  – they weren’t really authentically and freely offered.

But, was Henry correct?  If free will is as he projected it to be, is there such a thing as “free will”?  Does knowledge of some kind curtail free will?  If that were the case, would the only truly free person be the completely ignorant person, the one who knew absolutely nothing?

Such a conclusion is an example of an ad absurdum argument.

The fact that destroys Henry’s argument is that knowledge isn’t the enemy of free will, but one of the requirements for free will.  The greater our knowledge, the greater is the possibility of escaping unforeseen consequences.  And, for a Christian, the greater the knowledge, the greater the possibility for faith.

 

0100830

Are some questions too good to answer??

22 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by stertin in Uncategorized

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Tags

"the pain of loving", "unanswered question", forgiveness

This was the note I received —

In any marriage, can either spouse provide all that the other one needs?   I’m not sure I have an adequate answer, although I admit that my tentative answer is “no.”  But, that answer is laden with landmines. 

For example, if both spouses realize that their needs are greater than the other can exclusively supply, danger lurks at the door.  The danger is that one, or both of the spouses, will interpret the turning of the other to someone else for certain need satisfaction as an act of rejection, an act that says “you are not adequate.”  If the one making that interpretation already suffers from a sense of inadequacy or inferiority, the pain can be very deep.  

But, there is even more.  When the spouses are deeply in love, they both will want to be the perfect person for the one they love entirely.  They will aim with all their strength to be that perfect spouse.  If they fail, and most likely they will, self recrimination will bring on pain, probably extreme pain.  

Along with that pain is the fear that at some point the one that is completely loved by the “failure” will walk.  The lover -“failure” will from that point on live with a complete sense of having been rejected, of being non-acceptable.  

Some people try very hard to please others.  Sometimes they succeed.  Other times they don’t.  The more remembered incidents are those of failing to please the one they love.  With each failure another nail is hammered into the already sensitive spirit. 

Can the memory ever become free from the pain of those nails?  Can the self-protective behavior of maintaining a wall between self and others ever come down?  Can you ever overcome the pain of hurting someone you love?  How well can you live with yourself when the one you failed is both the one you love with all your heart and the one who cannot come to the point of forgiving you?

So, again I ask, are some questions too good to answer?

How would you have responded to the note?

 

 

0100806

 

William Willimon’s “The Culture is Overrated”

20 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by stertin in Uncategorized

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Tags

"learning French", "the gospel as a culture", "what should people expect at church?", "William Willimon", culture, modernity

William H. Willimon – Dean of chapel and professor of Christian ministry at Duke University.

When I recently asked a group of pastors what areas they wanted help with in their preaching, most replied, “To preach sermons that really hit my people where they live.”

At one time I would have agreed this was one of the primary purposes of Christian preaching—to relate the gospel to contemporary culture. Now I believe it is our weakness.

In leaning over to speak to the modern world, I fear we may have fallen in. Most of the preaching in my own denomination struggles to relate the gospel to the modern world. We sought to use our sermons to build a bridge from the old world of the Bible to the modern world; the traffic was always one way, with the modern world rummaging about in Scripture, saying things like, “This relates to me,” or, “I’m sorry, this is really impractical.” It was always the modern world telling the Bible what’s what.

This way of preaching fails to do justice to the rather imperialistic claims of Scripture. The Bible doesn’t want to speak to the modern world; the Bible wants to convert the modern world.

We who may have lived through the most violent century in the history of the world—based on body counts alone—ought not to give too much credence to the modern world. The modern world is not only the realm of the telephone and allegedly “critical thinking” but also the habitat of Auschwitz, two of the bloodiest wars of history, and assorted totalitarian schemes. Why would our preaching want to be comprehensible to that world?

The modern world must be made to understand that it is nothing more than that—just a world. By that I mean the modern world is an ideological construct, an intellectual fabrication, a way of construing reality that has lasted for about two hundred years, mainly in Northern Europe and in some of its colonies. It is now losing its grip.

Modernity has arrogance built into itself. Beginning as a search for certain and irrefutable knowledge, a quest for the “facts,” it likes to think of itself not as a point of view but simply as the facts. Therefore, all other ways of construing the world must converse with modernity on modernity’s terms—or be labeled “primitive,” “narrow,” or “tribal.” While humanity has received many gifts from modern, scientific, technological ways of thinking, we are now realizing that modernity was not without its losses.

Unfortunately, too often Christians have treated the modern world as if it were a fact, a reality to which we were obligated to adjust, rather than a point of view with which we might argue.

When we speak of reaching out to our culture through the gospel, we must be reminded that the gospel is also a culture. In the attempt to “translate” the gospel into the language of the culture, something is lost. We are learning that you have not said “salvation” when you say “self-esteem.” “The American Way” is not equivalent to “the kingdom of God.”

You cannot learn to speak French by reading a French novel in an English translation—you must sit for the grammar, the syntax, and the vocabulary and learn it. So you cannot know Christianity by having it translated into some other medium like Marxism, feminism, or the language of self-esteem. Christianity is a distinct culture with its own vocabulary, grammar, and practices. Too often, when we try to speak to our culture, we merely adopt the culture of the moment rather than present the gospel to the culture.

Our time as preachers is better spent acculturating modern, late-twentieth-century Americans into that culture called church. When I walk into a class on introductory physics, I expect not to understand immediately most of the vocabulary, terminology, and concepts. Why should it be any different for modern Americans walking into a church?

This is why the concept of “user-friendly churches” often leads to churches getting used. There is no way I can crank the gospel down to the level where any American can walk in off the street and know what it is all about within 15 minutes. One can’t do that even with baseball!

The other day, someone emerged from Duke Chapel after my sermon and said, “I have never heard anything like that before. Where on earth did you get that?”

I replied, “Where on earth would you have heard this before? After all, this is a pagan, uninformed university environment. Where would you hear this? In the philosophy department?  Watching Mr. Rogers’s Neighborhood?  No, to hear this, you’ve got to get dressed and come down here on a Sunday morning.”

It is a strange assumption for Americans to feel they already have the equipment necessary to comprehend the gospel without any modification of lifestyle, without any struggle—in short, without being born again.

The point is not to speak to the culture. The point is to change it. God’s appointed means of producing change is called “church”; and God’s typical way of producing church is called “preaching.”

Clearing up some confusion

18 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by stertin in Uncategorized

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"contextualized law", "purpose versus result", apodictic, casuistic, grace, Law

His reply was, “Yes!  This is the explanation I have been longing for!  Thank you!” Perhaps others also have been looking for it.    So, here goes —–

His original question was “I have thought that Jesus preached both law and grace.  But, am I mistaken?”  The following was my “answer / explanation.”

Since your question has various embodied topics and nuances,  I’ll limit my comments, hoping they will help. First, you are correct; Jesus affirms the legitimacy of both grace and law in the Kingdom of God, with the caveat that we properly understand of the purpose of law.  

The Law verbalizes, or concretizes, Kingdom of God behaviors, values, and commitments.  It establishes standards; it portrays Kingdom normalcy.  But, the Law is also multilayered, with some laws arising from underlying laws.  “Love your neighbor” is an underlying law, with many specific laws arising from it.  Picture the layering of laws as an upside down pyramid, with love at the base.  Then specific commands build up from that base in layers.  For example, there was a very specific law in the Old Testament requiring the Jewish folk to put a protective edging around the roof of their house to keep people from falling off.  The ultimate basis of this specific law ( located at the top level of the inverted pyramid) is the underlying (base) command to love. 

The specific laws are binding on God’s children as long as the context pertains.  Said differently, specific laws contextualize deeper laws to the living human conditions at particular times and places.  This same situation is the case in both the New and Old Testaments, no matter who the author or the speaker is (Jesus, Paul, James, John, etc), because it is simply the nature of Law.  Parts of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount command basic law, and other parts of said Sermon command specific applications of the basic laws.  There are terms for this situation.  Basic laws are “apodictic” laws.  Specific laws, which are the basic laws applied to specific situations, are referred to as “casuistic” laws (case laws). 

Law’s function is not to spiritually “save”(regenerate) anyone.  Humans are regenerated anywhere and anytime, by God’s grace.  Law tells us the rules of the road.  Grace restores us from the consequences of violating the rules of the road.  This can be fleshed out considerably, but you can handle that :). 

Living in God’s Kingdom requires both law and grace.  On one hand, we need to know the “rules” of the Kingdom.  On the other hand, we need to “brought into” the Kingdom from our status of being out of the Kingdom. 

The Old Testament is full of grace.  Think of David in the Psalms who repeatedly portrays God as the Responder to the sinner (the one who is paying the consequences of not living the rules of the Kingdom). Has anyone ever been saved by works (doing the law-described behavior) before, during, or after the time of Jesus?  No.  It simply is not the function of the Law to save anyone. 

Law has its purpose; Law has its results.  Those are two different things – Purpose and Result.  The Law’s purpose is to guide humanity in a life that conforms to God’s will for humanity.  The Law’s Results include our being guilty of law breaking, which hopefully will drive us to God’s grace.  But, the purpose of the Law is not to make us sinners.  That is a result of the Law.  

Let me conclude by encouraging all Christians to value God’s law for what it truly is and does, but not expect it to do what is not its purpose.  That false expectation leads to frustration and judgementalism.  Law shows us how to live.  Grace saves us from not living according to the law.  Grace and law are not in competition; it is not a case of having one or the other.  

 

20100530

 

Not being pleased with yourself

17 Saturday Sep 2011

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failure, love, nails

In any marriage, can either spouse provide all that the other one needs?   The question gets to some deep issues that can arise over the years of marriage.  Even when both of the spouses realize that their needs are greater than the other can exclusively supply, danger still lurks.

It is the danger that one, or both of the spouses, will interpret the turning of the other to someone else for certain need satisfaction as an act of rejection, an act that says “you are not adequate.”  If the one making that interpretation already suffers from a sense of inadequacy or an inferiority complex, the pain can be very deep.

Let’s add to that the fact that when two people are deeply in love, they both will want to be the perfect spouse for the one they love entirely.  Living with the failure of that dream can be extremely painful.  And, then there is the fear that at some point the one that is completely loved by the “failure” will walk, and the lover-“failure” will from that point on live with a complete sense of having been rejected, of being non-acceptable.

Some people try very hard to please others.  Sometimes they are successful.  Other times they are not.  The more remembered incidents are those of failing to please the other person.  With each failure another nail is hammered into the already sensitive spirit.

Can the memory ever become free from the pain of those nails?  Can the self-protective behavior of maintaining a wall between self and others ever be demolished?  Can you ever overcome the pain of hurting someone you love?  How well can you live with yourself when the one you failed is both the one you love and the one who cannot come to forgiving you?

 

 

0100806

That God hates is good for us!!!!

17 Saturday Sep 2011

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"pro-human values", hate, pride, revenge, rewired

TOM  “John, we had quite an interesting go-around this past Sunday at our discussion group.  You would have gotten into it, I think.”

JOHN  “Oh yeah.  What was on the table?”

T  “That God hates.”

J  “That sounds like it could have gone just about anywhere since it is hardly a stand-alone issue.”

T  “I admit that I got into it because it seems to me that we humans frequently mix other values and behaviors with hatred, but which are not necessarily what God does. “

J  “Flesh that out a little for me.”

T  “Well, for example, God doesn’t express His hatred with revenge, at least the way humans normally define revenge.  God doesn’t express His hatred with gossip, or with murder.  God’s hatred is a pro-human value, since God hates what is destructive to human well-being.”

J  “That may be, but we humans hardly ever, if ever at all, hate without thoughts of revenge somehow getting into the mix.  For example, if someone questions my honesty, or even worse, if someone attacks me publicly by calling me a liar, I take that as offensive.  I am honest and proud of it.  And, if there is no apology extended, my hatred will rise to the top in short order.  I will look for ways of getting even and expressing my revenge.  By the time I sense hatred, there is nothing pro-human about it.  I don’t feel any shame for seeking revenge when I have reached the level of hating someone.”

T  “What you are saying sort of came up, but expressed a little differently.  As we talked about it, one of the guys suggested that pride indicates our commitment to “winning the competition, of beating the other, of putting the other down.”  When we don’t win, when we are beaten, when the other puts us down, we become hateful.”

Pride – a pointer to our successfully having won the competition, of having beaten the other, and deserving the congratulations.  . . . . Hatred – a destructive impulse that can rise in us when we lose the competition and lead us to “even the score, or more.”

We are wired that way, not seeing hatred as even possibly being a pro-human value.  And, then when someone says that God hates because He loves us and thus His hatred is a pro-human value, we scratch our heads in disbelief.

Is there any wonder why we need to be re-wired??

 

 

0100707

 

What monsters?

15 Thursday Sep 2011

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Tags

"needing God", "there was nothing there"

A parent accompanies her child into a dark basement because the child is afraid to go alone because “There are monsters there.” The mother had said, “No, there are no monsters. Everything is fine in the basement.”

But, that is of no avail.  The mother then says, “We will go together, and I will protect you from anything that is there, including a monster.”

The child walks with Mother to the basement without any fear.  The fact is that the fear was unfounded, but the child lost the fear not by being told it was unfounded, but because “Mother will protect me.”

Of course, the mother knew she wouldn’t have to protect the child from anything. But, she also knew that the child’s state of mind needed more than the affirmation that there were no monsters.  The child needed the “presence” of Mommy.

Is there some parallel with what God does for us?  We have fears of the unknown.  We project onto the unknown our version of the child’s monsters.  God knows there is no need for the fear, but He also knows that we need more than words to overcome the fear.  We need Him beside us, with us, etc.

In a sense, it should be enough that He tells us there is nothing there to fear.  But, we aren’t at that point yet, so He accommodates Himself to our reality.  He really didn’t protect us from anything – there was nothing there.  But, in our immaturity, we weren’t ready to not need His “protection”, so He goes with us.

 

 

0100613

She knows too much to argue or to judge

14 Wednesday Sep 2011

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Tags

"bad questions", "Bob Dylan", "Joan Baez", "meaningless noise", arguments, judgments, silence

While doing laps at the track of a nearby recreation area, the IPod was setting the cadence for my stride.  (That is a slight exaggeration, since I have never been good at keeping the music’s beat and my feet anywhere close together – never have learned to dance.  But, at least I can chew gum and walk at the same time.)

Back to the point at hand–

Joan Baez decided to make an appearance on the music list, singing a Bob Dylan piece.  (After listening to Dylan’s rendition on YouTube, I recommend Joan Baez’s version)  The expression that grabbed me was “My love winks, she does not bother.  She knows too much to argue or to judge.”   It comes from the piece “Love minus zero/no limit.”

I don’t know all that Dylan, the author, was thinking nor what was running through Baez’s mind as she interpreted the phrase.  Admittedly, it reminded me of the woman of my life who didn’t think it always necessary to have a response, much less a retort, for all she heard.  Nonetheless, the phrase appears to have a larger application.

Some people know an area (such as the areas of theology, philosophy, chemistry, sociology, history, physics, biology, etc.) so well that when listening to other people arguing about some part of the overarching discipline the knowledgeable one will simply “wink” and not even enter the argument.

The “knowledgeable” one, aware that the argument is based on ignorance, knows that neither party wants to learn, and perhaps that what is at stake among the arguers is their image, their posture.  The argument is not worth entering.  Hopefully, of course, said abstention does not contain arrogance.

What has been said about arguing is also true about judging, said Dylan / Baez.  Prejudging (having a prejudice) short circuits intelligent conversation and action.  Premature verdicts are reached.  The “judges” are not willing to listen to what really is at stake.  Time is “a wasting” and a decision is needed – now.  Unfortunately, when a judgment is demanded before all the relevant information is brought forth, the wise person finds it futile to engage in the discussion.  Silence is better (perhaps “golden”), even when the question is, “what is your decision?”

To sum it up – Not all questions deserve an answer that will satisfy the questioner.  A question mark at the end doesn’t guarantee that the words strung together in front of it have constructed a valid question.

And . . . . Jesus remained silent when dealing with “bad” questioners.  He had no need to argue or pass judgment.  His accusers were already filling the hall with plenty of meaningless noise.

Does truth needs to be stated? Yes.   Further, does truth need to be explained? Yes.  Does truth  need to be “defended” or will time  take care of that chore, eventually?

 

0100526

Tom, theology, and parents – the sequel

12 Monday Sep 2011

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"theological differences", cockroaches, expectations, luggage, O'Hare, satisfaction, Siberia

Read the following after reading the previous post: “Tom, theology and parents – the question”

Thanks, Tom, for your response.  Please accept my apologies for not getting back to you until this evening.  I hope your day has been a blessed one and one of deeply joyful worship.

You have described a family situation having a variety of facets.   Your reference to your mother and father-in-law points to your longing for meaningful theological dialogue with them.  My response is to what I think is happening, but not in terms of their theological position, but in terms of what you are bringing to the table.  I want to begin with something personal for me.

Some years ago, my wife and I went to Siberia as part of a team of educators who had been tasked to instruct Russian public school teachers and administrators concerning the function of Christian ethics in the public schools.  Although our many years living in Argentina led us to making adjustments to differing cultural practices, Siberia was going to be very different from Buenos Aires.

Our trip to Moscow first took us to Chicago’s O’Hare airport.  From there, we would go to London where we would stay overnight, and then to Moscow.  Our luggage was checked all the way through to Moscow.  Our flight to Chicago was delayed for 2-3 hours because they couldn’t get one of the plane’s doors closed and locked.  Once in Chicago, we had to run with our carry-on luggage a very long way through O’Hare Airport to get to the British Airway’s overnight flight to London.  I was in shape, but my wife was not a runner, and so the run just about did her in.  We got to the gate just minutes from their closing the plane’s doors.

When we finally finished our flights, in Moscow, we found out our luggage had not made the transfer in Chicago.  So, we were luggage-less in the city of the Czars.  We were put up in a Moscow hotel room so full of cockroaches that we tried to sleep with the lights on, but the cockroaches were still crawling over us all night.

When we got to the airport the next morning for the flight to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, we found out the luggage still had not caught up to us.  We also had a team meeting, in which the team leaders emphasized this point, “in Russia, check your expectations at the door.”  We got on the Krasnoyarsk flight, hoping our luggage would finally show up, but with promises from other team members that they would share clothes with us for the two weeks we would be in Siberia.  The luggage finally was flown to us several days later, on a charter flight, and that part of the drama was over.

Why tell this story?  Because it simply is true that we are very much creatures with expectations.  Our expectations cover a tremendous range of things, including peoples’ behaviors, what a given academic course will achieve, how our marriages will work out, the health of our children, the welcome we will get from the parishioners of a new church, etc.  Expectations as a source of excitement and happiness can also set us up for failure, frustration, and other things even more personally threatening.

It appears to me, Tom, that you have a mixed set of expectations concerning some of the behavior of your folks.  Some things they have been doing for so long that you expect it.  Some things you wish they would do, but you can’t afford to let yourselves expect them.  You have been labeled falsely.  The situation has gotten to the point where there appears to be virtually no Christian fellowship.

So, I ask, somewhat rhetorically, is it time to check your expectations at the door?  Can you release your expectations to the Lord, allow Him to be the source of your satisfaction even if your parents are not doing anything in that regard.

I am not suggesting that you be either dismissive of your parents or calloused toward them.   My intent is that you arrive at a point where they are not a source of irritation or a source of frustration.  My intent is that you simply don’t expect from them what they can’t deliver.

Think of it as a baseball manager who knows that he doesn’t have a pitcher or the batters who can salvage the game.  The only sensible thing for him is to check his expectations at the dugout door.

When I play tennis with my 9 year old grandchild, I simply don’t expect to play as I can when playing his father.  I leave my expectations in the racket case.  When you go to your parents’ home, decide (you and your wife) before-hand what expectations you are going to leave in the car’s backseat, and then consciously don’t grab them just before closing the car door.

 

0100523

Tom, theology and parents!!! (the question)

11 Sunday Sep 2011

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Tags

"different programs", "family tension", "Jesus and Paul", "tough questions", frustration

Hi Doctor.  It’s Tom on Friday morning.  I want to thank you so very much for making the time in your life to sit down and write back to me about what I said in my previous email.   My own father is a  hardworking farmer in here in our state and could not even begin to ever understand or even really care about helping me find the answers to these questions that are so upsetting to me.   I appreciate your wisdom and your advice here more than you can ever know!  I especially appreciated your last few paragraphs and the advice that your Dad gave to you.

My mother and father-in-law are very, very hard-line in their theology.  They study and study and study constantly the Bible.  They tell me that we should basically concentrate on the things that Paul says from Acts and his letters.  The rest has a different “program” associated with it.  Jesus was preaching the “kingdom program”.  Paul brought a “new” message for us that had been a “mystery” up until then.

This is the other part of why I wrote to you about all of this.  They say that the reason I am so frustrated in putting all of this together is just because we cannot “mix” the two different messages together and get coherence.  (kingdom vs. grace).

They always send me to a particular website.  I have gone to this site and I can not see anything majorly wrong there either. – it’s just yet another system of thinking about theology!!

They have really beat us over the head so many times with all of it, that my wife has come to the point now where she can hardly stand to even talk about the different ways of looking at all of this.  They have told us many times that because we do not adhere to the way they interpret scripture that we are “not truth seekers.”  This has hurt us so much, because there’s nothing we want more than to be in the truth that God leads us into.  The whole family is born again and following after Christ, but beyond that, – it is getting just about impossible to fellowship with them concerning things of the Lord.

I know that your advice about “living above” the controversies is right.  But  how in the world do we DO it????????????GRRRR!!

I know that answering this letter will involve more of your time, but I surely would appreciate it.  I value your experience and opinion very much.  Tom

 

0100523

Two wolves

10 Saturday Sep 2011

Posted by stertin in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

"good and evil", "Paul and the Cherokee", "the difference it makes", wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a “battle” that goes on inside people.  He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all.

“One is Evil. It is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

“The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”  The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

 

One day an elderly Christian told his friends about a “battle” that people experience.  He said, “My children, the Spirit and your selfish desires oppose each other.

“Selfish desire leads to sexual immorality, moral corruption, doing whatever feels good, idolatry, casting spells, hate, fighting, obsession, losing your temper, conflict, selfishness, group rivalry, jealousy, drunkenness, partying, and other things like that.

“The Spirit’s fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The friends asked the experienced Christian, “What difference does it make?”  The old Christian said, “Being or not in God’s kingdom.”

 

 

0110910

The creased face on Polk Drive

08 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by stertin in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

"a bike", "a daily walk", "his story", "Polk Drive in Sage Creek", "tanned creases"

Peddling easily I rounded the slight left bend in our principal road here in Sage Creek, through which Polk Drive runs about a mile and a half up to the north section of our community.  With some little changes in elevation, it makes for a pleasant workout. Some days I jog the loop.  This particular day I was on my bike.

Then I saw the blue jacket up ahead.  Was it a fellow that was walking?  Yes, it was; that became clearer as my bike took me closer to him.  The cap was black, matching his pants.

As the distance between us shortened, I got ready to wave and say hello, something I try to do with almost everyone I see as I take my bike rides or my jogs. But, it was his face that struck me that early afternoon.  It was heavily creased and tanned like the weather beaten face of a farmer that spends many hours a day in the bright sun.  As I passed him, I did say hello, along with the uplifted right hand of greeting.  His face lightened up with a slight smile.  And, with that, the distance between us quickly widened.

Why has that little incident stuck with me now these many weeks since it happened?  Why that fellow and not any of the others I have greeted the same way?  It was that face.  When only ten feet past him, I began to conjecture what kind of life had brought such tanned creases to his cheeks and forehead.

I wondered what stories of hardships he could tell me, if he were willing to do that.  I wondered if he also lived alone, as I do.  Did he also carry the ache of now having only memories and pictures of the love of his life?  Maybe he had children with whom he hardly ever had contact.  Fortunately, that is not my situation.  Perhaps the day I saw him he was just on another of his daily walks that got him out of the house, onto Polk Drive, hoping to see someone riding by on a bike.

I still see that face, even after these several months.  No, not physically, since I have not seen him again.  I don’t know which of the many streets in our community is his.  It isn’t Polk Drive which is a drive only street.  All 1500 homes in Sage Creek are on the streets that branch off of Polk Drive.  So, unless I see him again on one of his walks, I’ll not have a chance to talk to him, and find out what is behind the tanned creases of that face.

But, I really would like to hear some of his story.  I am sure he has one, or more.  And, maybe, we could compare notes.

 

 

0100428

Distinguishing “partially right” from “being wrong”

06 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by stertin in Uncategorized

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Tags

"being right", "being wrong", "not knowing", "variations of value"

We are all wrong about some things.  That is simply the human situation.  The things about which I am wrong can be very different from the things about which Fulano is wrong.  We are all in error, and in error about different things.

In light of that reality, this question arises —  “Do all errors have the same value or seriousness?”  No.

The fact is that some errors are more or less important than other errors.  Since importance of things varies, our human reality is made up of specifics of relative value.  Not everything is of equal value.

As a consequence of this variation in value, the more valuable a particular thing is, the more important it is to be correct about that thing, and the more critical it is if we are in error about that thing.  Some might say that my comments lead to moral relativism, as it is commonly defined in our culture today.   But, really it is not moral relativism.  It simply is saying that not everything has the same value, and it is a mistake to make decisions as if they did.

Another consequence of what I am affirming is that the most serious error anyone can make is an error about God, since there is nothing more valuable than God.  We will never know all there is to know about God.  But, let’s not be wrong about Him.  Lack of knowledge about God is not the same as being wrong about God.

20100316

Winning – when you have nothing to lose

04 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by stertin in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

"I died before going", "nothing to lose", "praying for others", anxiety

Wringing her hands, she struggled somewhat to describe her anxiety.  The group was small; five others joined her in the circle of chairs.  Several other similar circles were scattered around the large gymnasium, far enough away from each other that voices didn’t reach beyond the ears of  small circle’s members.

“I am not sure what is making me so anxious.  Perhaps, it is not knowing what to do about my parents whose ages are beginning to betray them.  Maybe it is the uncertainty my children are facing as they deal with their jobs and their little ones.  Or, perhaps it is that although I love God, I don’t sense the closeness to Him that I once had and that I want again.  All I know is that I am nervous, anxious, unsure, and full of unanswered questions.  . . . And, I will appreciate your prayer for me.”  While saying all this, her hands were still twisting around each other.

When the prayer circle had concluded its time of prayer, a person she had never met before the meeting introduced himself.  “I hope I will not be taken as intruding,” he said.  “But, I could I to ask you a question related to what you were saying earlier.  Don’t feel as if you need to answer, of course.”

“Well certainly,” she said with genuine courtesy, “what is your question?”

“What are you afraid of losing?” was the fellow’s reply.  “I am asking if for several reasons.  One is because a number of years ago, while with a friend of mine, I expressed some anxiety about where he was living at the time.  I asked him if he was ever afraid of getting killed.  He answered, ‘I died before going there.’  His answer became more than an answer to my question.  It became a trigger for me to ponder what I was afraid of losing.”

The anxious lady looked at the fellow, and slowly responded with, “I have never thought of that question, what am I afraid to lose?  I . . . Perhaps . . . Maybe . . . I am afraid of losing my salvation.  Perhaps my marriage.  I . . . “

The fellow’s comment was to the point.  He said, “When you can identify what you are afraid of losing, you will be a long way into knowing why you are living with anxiety.  When you finally come to not having anything you fear losing, most likely your anxiety will depart.”

 

0110904

Responding to Teresa

02 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by stertin in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

"gloriously unpredictable", "left speechless", "past identity", "revealing reflections", "the Creative God", realism

This post will make better sense if you first read the previous post, “TERESA’S   STORY”

Teresa, thanks for your soul revealing reflections.  You have gone through experiences that, I assume, you wish you would not have had to face.  Yet, you do not appear to be angry.  Clearly God has already done MUCH in your life to keep you from being bitter and resentful.

As you know, your desire and faith to be God’s person, along with the life changing presence of Jesus in you, set the stage for on-going transformation, going even beyond what you have already experienced.  It appears that you so deeply want to be so close to Jesus that all other things have no option but to be secondary to that relationship of love with Him.  I am so grateful to read of your hope in this regard.

You are a realist, Teresa. You know that once something has happened, we can’t re-do it.  BUT, your realism goes further – you also clearly know that the past is not the last chapter in your book.  Rather than being un-done, the past we regret is covered by God’s forgiving us, and our forgiving others.  People who have not lived the “pruned” life as you have may not fathom how much you have been healed already.   You already have a degree of peace that you probably once thought was impossible.

You are living both the pain and joy of what God is willing to do to make us into the image of Christ.  With that image becoming stronger and stronger, you are also living out His virtues.  Some people will understand, some will acknowledge.  Some will be puzzled.

But, there is another group – the angry ones because they had their way to respond to what you once were.  Now, they don’t know what to do with what you are becoming.  In a sense, you are becoming more and more gloriously unpredictable in their eyes.   God loves that.  Others are left speechless because you are no longer contained in the box that had Teresa on the label.  But, you are becoming more and more Jesus’ Teresa, leaving behind Teresa’s Teresa.

You are becoming spiritually free from the chains of a past identity.  Some may want you to return to the Teresa they knew – they were more comfortable with that.  At least they knew how to relate with that Teresa from before.  But, you know that is the last thing they need, and hopefully they will also come to that realization.  If they do come to that realization, you will be there to walk them down the painful path of freedom, telling them that although the path is hard, it is worth every step as they see the Creative God of the universe on a personal level.  You know – you have been there, and your joy now is too good to forfeit at any cost.

 

01003003

 

 

 

 

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