A Boomer in the Pew

God's Creation Creates

Carefree, Arizona - my wife and I just strolled through the Carefree Fine Art & Wine Festival just down the street from our home.

As I was strolling through I realized that once again I was witnessing man's admiration of creation.   The streets of this quaint town were filled with people admiring the creative talents of the hundreds of artists in the show.

When God made us in His image, he also deposited a small taste of His ability to create in each one of us.  When we create it is very satisfying to us.  It is an expression of who we are without speaking. 

I believe that our ability to create is a reflection of the Holy One and that is why man is naturally drawn to it.   Once again, man's natural tendency is to worship the Creator and be like "daddy".

Book of Esther - A Well Laid Plan (part 1)

The Triumph of Mordecai, study for a tapestry cartoon, 1736–39
Jean François de Troy (French, 1679–1752)

Esther 5:1 - 6:14

In this installment of the book of Esther we see Esther moving forward with the decision to approach the king (her husband) and plea for the safety of the Hebrew nation in spite of the real possibility that this could be her own undoing.

She makes the decision and says, "If I perish, I perish".

Her biggest fear was approaching the king.  If you approached the king's inner chamber, without an expressed invitation from the king then you were killed.  If the king was in a good mood and he decided to extend his golden scepter towards you then you lived. 

Esther puts on her royal robes and stands in front of the royal hall where the king can see her.  As we mentioned before, he was enthralled with her beauty and thankfully extends the golden scepter to Esther sparing her life.

The king inquires of her visit and he states that she can have what ever she likes (even up to half the kingdom!).  She tells the king that she would like the king and Haman to join her in a banquet that she has prepared.

The king summons Haman and they immediately attend Esther's banquet.  After a nice meal and some wine the king again asks about Esther's request again reminding her that she can have up to half of the kingdom.  Esther's response is that the king and Haman join her at another banquet the next day.

In the meantime, after the dinner, Haman is headed home and runs into Mordecai again.  Once again Mordecai refuses to bow down to him.  Haman is enraged and his family and friends recommend that he build a 75 foot high gallows and seek to have Haman hung right away.

That night the king can't sleep and decided to have the "book of chronicles" read to him (this is the book of his official edicts and actions).  He finds that Mordecai has not been rewarded for saving the king's life.  As he learned of this he further learns that Haman is in the outer court and summons him into his court.

He asked Haman, "what should I do for a man that I delight in?"  Haman thinking that the king is thinking of him, suggests that "this man" be dressed in royal robes upon the king's horse and paraded through the town proclaiming him to be a delight to the king.  To Haman's horror, the king orders Haman to do this deed for Mordecai and that Haman should personally parade Mordecai around the town.

Haman is grief stricken and humiliated from this task and runs home afterwards with his head hung.  His family tells him that he had better be careful regarding this man Haman to which the king's  eunuchs rush him off to the next banquet.

This is the end of our story for this episode.  Now...how to apply this to our lives today!

Creation Speaks

Cave Creek, Arizona - a few days ago I wrote a post about God revealing himself through creation.

I was out in God's creation again today.  The sky was incredibly blue, the high Sonoran desert was ablaze in golden poppies.  The landscape is lush and green.  Not a common thing for Arizona.  We have received a lot of rain this winter.

The quail were bustling about no doubt contemplating the perfect spot to build their nests for the coming birth of their young.

Normally this 6 mile trail is a place of solitude but today, we must have crossed paths with no less than 30 people!

Mankind is drawn to the creation because it speaks to them.  It isn't an audible voice.  But a voice nonetheless. 

As I took a few moments to breathe in the air, to feel the cool breeze across my face, to witness the incredible color and majesty of this mountain scene and touch the delicate poppies with my fingers, inevitably I find a tear working its way down my face.

Thank you Father for this most special and private communion with you today.  I heard you!  You are beautiful and Your creation speaks to my soul.  I am refreshed!  I feel as though I touched Your hand today.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."  Romans 1:20

Father, I see and I understand from Your creation.

Christian Carnival #213

The 213th installment of the Christian Carnival is up over at Jevlir Caravansary.   The Christian Carnival is a collection of Christian blogger's best posts of the week.

I have my first contribution on finding God's will.

Go check it out.

 

Knowing God's Will

Class 100 at Scottsdale Bible Church - the painting to the left is, "The Annunciation" by Leonardo da Vinci painted somewhere around 1475.

The painting depicts the scene in Luke 1:26-38  where the angel Gabriel tells Mary of God's will for her life:

"In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the
angel left her."

Understanding God's will can present a challenge for us in the 21st century.  It is extremely unlikely that we will have Gabriel come down from heaven and declare God's will for our lives as He did for Mary.

So what are we to do?

Faith in America

Scottsdale, Arizona - I do a lot of reading each day about various subjects that are of interest to me.  Today I happened across a report just released called, "U.S. Religious Landscape Study for 2008", by The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

I spent the first 16 years of my life in a town called Middleville, Michigan which was about 20 miles south of Grand Rapids, Michigan.  The rest of my extended family lived essentially in the Grand Rapids area.

Grand Rapids has a large Dutch population and their conservative protestant faith still permeates the area today.  For example, many retail establishments are closed on Sundays to make room for their employees to attend church and spend time with their families.

As I was growing up, my grandmother, the spiritual patriarch of the family,  insisted that on Sundays we unplug from the busy doings of the rest of the week and preserve the Sabbath for God.   As a child this meant that we couldn't even go fishing on Sunday!  I never really got that one.

In the school system, when I was growing up, it seemed that everyone was essentially from a protestant, catholic or no church background.

Book of Esther - Decision Making When It Counts

This painting is "Esther Preparing to Intercede with Assuerus", Rembrandt, c. 1633, Oil on canvas from the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada

This is the fourth installment on the book of Esther taught by Senior Pastor Jamie Rasmussen at Scottsdale Bible Church.

Esther 4: 1-17

In our last episode we saw that Haman had just struck a deal with the king to have all the Jews annihilated.  We pick up the story here with Mordecai, and all the Jews in the land, in bitter wailing and weeping as the edict of their destruction was becoming known around the land.

Esther learns of her uncle's bitter weeping and instructs her handmaidens to learn of the problem.  Mordecai send back a copy of the edict and instructs Esther to go before the king and plead for her people (remember that the king does not know that Esther is a Hebrew).

Esther sends back that she is afraid and would likely be killed if she were to approach the king on the matter (the king had a policy of death if you were seen in his chambers without his expressed invitation, unless he felt merciful and extended his golden scepter).

Mordecai sends back that God will save His people, with or without her help.  If it is to be without her help, it would likely be to her destruction anyway.  He tells her that she likely has been put in this position, by God, to intercede for just this very task.  She then commits to the task and asks that all the Jews fast and pray three days for her safety.

 

The Power of Prayer

This photograph is a meaningful one to me.  As I shared earlier, nature and creation have always held a special place in my heart.  I find peace and a refreshment when I behold things of beauty in nature. 

I shot this photograph one evening while walking around our residential community in Scottsdale, Arizona.  I have always enjoyed sunsets and when I saw this Saguaro praying, in my viewfinder, I knew that I had a photograph that would be special to me for a lifetime. 

Can you see it?  The Saguaro has his head bent forward with his hands in front of him saying his evening prayers.

As you can imagine, I call this, "Saguaro Praying".

Our 4th class, in our Class 100 at Scottsdale Bible Church, was on the power of prayer.  This posting will be my notes and thoughts from that class.

I suppose if you asked most people what prayer was, they would respond that it was man asking God for something.  For some, God can best be described as a cosmic Santa Claus whose sole purpose is to bring you the things that you want and/or need.

I would be disappointed in any relationship that I had where the relationship was merely someone asking me to give them something.  A relationship is getting to know one another and sharing the inner workings of your heart.  Being that we are made in the image of God, I can't imagine that He is any different.  I suspect that He would love to spend some time with us.  I am also quite certain that He would love us to get to know His heart as well.  There is a lot of confusion on this subject and I suppose one way to clear that up is to spend time with God and let Him tell you His side of the story.

I must confess that I have not spent as much time with God as I should and would like.  I too have been guilty at times of making God the great Santa Claus in the sky.  There have been times, in my life, where I haven't talked to him for months on end.  Certainly every time my life wasn't going my way, there I was, on my knees, looking for help. 

I am not proud of this.  I deeply desire to make this right.  Sometimes it seems hard.  Sometimes it seems as though I am the only one talking.  Sometime I wonder if He hears me.  Sometimes my faith is far weaker than I would like to admit.

I hope you understand, if you are reading this journal, that I don't profess to be an expert.  The title of this journal is "A Boomer in the Pew" NOT "A Boomer in the Pulpit". 

I am doing this to deepen my understanding by putting my notes and thoughts in the written word and hopefully leaving a legacy for my family.  It will be interesting to look back at this 10 years from now and see where my life has gone.  My prayer is also that I will have a far deeper understanding of the power of prayer. 

For now however, here are my notes from the class:

Assurance of Salvation

Scottsdale Bible Church - this painting is from the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.  It is titled "The Rebuke of Adam and Eve",  by Domenichino c1626. (click the painting to see a larger image)

I was standing in front of this painting a few weeks ago and I had to chuckle.  If you look closely you can see that God's body language seems to imply that he is disappointed.

Adam's response is, "Hey, it wasn't me.  It was this woman you gave me."  Eve, on the other hand is pointing to the snake as to say, "It wasn't my fault, the snake tricked me".

As one begins to contemplate God and read the Bible, it becomes very clear that man, that day in the garden, chose to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  This act opened the door to sin and thus separation from God.  Then 2,000 years ago , Jesus Christ comes on the scene claiming to be the "Son of God" and offering forgiveness of sins and eternal life (salvation).

Sin, eternal life, the fallen nature of man, free will (choice), heaven, hell, the devil and demons are all difficult topics for 21st century man to wrap their minds around.  I am not here to debate these things.  If you recall, I have already made the decision to believe in God, Jesus Christ and the inerrant Word of God (the Bible). 

The question does arise however, once you have made that decision, as to how we KNOW that we have the assurance of Salvation.  How can I know that I am going to heaven?

Book of Esther - The Price of Righteousness

Scottsdale Bible Church - the painting to the left is Rembrandt's "Haman sets forth to honor Mordecai" from c1665.

This is the third installment of my notes from Jamie Rasmussen's message on the book of Esther.

This particular message covers Esther 2:21 - 3:15.

We pick up the story from last week with Mordecai making his daily trip to the king's gate to check up on Esther to make sure she is alright.

While sitting at the king's gate Mordecai overhears a plot to assassinate the king and he relay's this message to Esther.  Esther informs the king of the plot and the would be assassins are hung. 

Next we find that a man named Haman (he was a Agagite which was a tribe that had for many centuries but at odds/war with the Hebrews) had found favor and friendship with the king and was elevated to a position of high honor.  As such, it was custom to bow down before him (as though he were a god) however Mordecai refused to do so.  Haman becomes infuriated and makes a deal with the king to have every Jewish person in the kingdom killed (estimated to be 1-3 million people).