A Boomer in the Pew

What are we to think of the LGBT Pride Month reception in the White House?

From the White House Blog:

"The President and First Lady hosted the first-of-its-kind LGBT Pride Month reception at the White House yesterday. On the heels of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the reception brought together LGBT families, volunteers, community leaders, lawmakers and heads of LGBT organizations to celebrate the LGBT community."

I have quite a number of friends, and a large number of clients in Michigan who belong to the LGBT community.  All of them possess a great deal of love from this man's heart.

This is such a polarizing subject in our nation.  It is clear that God's word is in strong opposition to this behavior.  It is also clear that some are predisposed to same-sex attractions.  To make matters worse, it would seem that some would seek to move, what I believe to be a disposition, to a cellular temperament.

To make this issue even more tangled, there are clear stereotypes, and prejudices in the mix.  What a complete and utter mess! 

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 - Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

A great many in the Christian world would read this verse and see only the word homosexual.  But God does not isolate the homosexual any more than he would isolate the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, or swindlers.

We all have sinned, do sin, and do fall short of the glory of God.  My tendency towards the love of money is no different, in God's eyes, then someone's tendency towards homosexuality.  Both are sin.

And certainly, we have seen idolaters of money in the White House a great deal! 

What do you think of this LGBT White House Celebration? 

Here is video from the White House:

Solomon as Kohelet explains the "Unhappy Business of God"

"Biblia Sacra #54 - Vanitas Vanitatum", 1969 Lithograph, by Salvadore Dali.

In this painting we find King Solomon, Kohelet (Sage, Preacher), bedecked in all his finery, pointing his finger to the sky.  This lithograph was created by Salvadore Dali in response to Solomon's proclamation that all is vanity.

ESV Study Bible Devotions

Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 - I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

15 What is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

18 For in much wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Here are a few things that wise Solomon desires that we understand:

• Try as we may, the natural mind will never understand all the things of God.  God's mind is infinite, while our minds are clearly finite.  The difference between the two is incomprehensible.  Therefore, some things of God are simply going to be unknown to us, and must be labled as mystery.  Anything else is simply attempting to catch the wind in your hands.  Absolutely impossible.
• When you do apply all the wisdom you have, you will end at a mighty infinite chasm staring with sorrow, as you realize that the "unhappy business of God" is our eternal separation from God.  We are born fallen, dead, separate from God.  "What is crooked cannot be made straight".

The simple truth of the matter is that without acquiescence to Solomon's findings, we can never fully know God.  As long as we in our foolish pride strive to catch the wind, the end result will be madness, folly, and ultimately eternal separation from God.

For some unknowable reason, God has ordained that we endure hardships in our present fallen state.  Why did God ordain evil, pain, hardship?  We cannot search the depth of the infinite mind of God.  We simply are not completely told.

Thankfully, God has provided a way out of this eternal separation.  Although we endure pain, and suffering, here on earth, this is temporary, a vapor, a puff of smoke, in light of eternity.

From Jesus Christ, in Luke 19:10 - "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Baby Boomers, Recessions, Idolatry, and Shattered Plans

This post is part of a collection of posts, and joined in on-line interaction with scores of others, in the reading of Jeremiah Burroughs' "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment".

Post #3, Chapter #2

I have fallen behind my counterparts this week in posting about this chapter.  The reason is quite simple:  I am greatly struggling with its contents.

I suppose my story isn't any different than many baby boomers around the nation.

We started a business 15 years ago.  We worked our tails off, kept our lifestyle to a certain level, saved money like crazy, were more than generous in our giving, established a wonderful reputation in our town, sold our business, and moved to "retirement" at the age of 50. 

Then...WHAMO...the economy free falls, half of my cash assets are erased from my balance sheet, other crummy things happen, and all of a sudden, this great plan I built is broken.  Please don't feel sorry for me, we are still incredibly blessed.  My problem is not here today, my problem lies waiting for me 10-15 years down the road, unless today's situation changes.

It's not fair God!

It is now clear to me that God doesn't want me placing my joy in this retirement that I dreamed of, and worked so hard to accomplish.  I am passing through this earth, and my joy is to come.  I get that, and I now fully ascribe to it.

I am nearly done with Andrew Murray's "Waiting on God", and have learned a great deal.  Furthermore,  there is a tremendous amount of learning, and life change chronicled in this blog of 18 months.

But now I come to Mr. Jeremiah Burroughs, and I struggle with his second chapter on contentment.  If you remember, when we started this book, I was already raising flags with that word.

Here are a few things I am wrestling with:

• How to join these two together: to be sensible of an affliction as much as a man or woman who is not content; I am sensible of it as fully as they, and I seek ways to be delivered from it as well as they, and yet still my heart abides content-this is, I say, a mystery, that is very hard for a carnal heart to understand. But grace teaches such a mixture, teaches us how to make a mixture of sorrow and a mixture of joy together; and that makes contentment, the mingling of joy and sorrow, of gracious joy and gracious sorrow together.
• Here is the mystery of it: though his heart is so enlarged that the enjoyment of all the world and ten thousand worlds cannot satisfy him for his portion; yet he has a heart quieted under God's disposal, if he gives him but bread and water.
• Now I say that a heart that has no grace, and is not instructed in this mystery of contentment, knows of no way to get contentment, but to have his possessions raised up to his desires; but the Christian has another way to contentment, that is, he can bring his desires down to his possessions, and so he attains his contentment.
• The way of contentment is to add another burden, that is, to labor to load and burden your heart with your sin; the heavier the burden of your sin is to your heart, the lighter will the burden of your affliction be to your heart, and so you shall come to be content.
• The way of contentment to a carnal heart is only the removing of the affliction. O that it may be gone! 'No,' says a gracious heart, 'God has taught me a way to be content though the affliction itself still continues.' There is a power of grace to turn this affliction into good; it takes away the sting and poison of it. Take the case of poverty, a man's possessions are lost: Well, is there no way to be contented till your possessions are made up again? Till your poverty is removed? Yes, certainly, Christianity would teach contentment, though poverty continues. It will teach you how to turn your poverty to spiritual riches. You shall be poor still as to your outward possessions, but this shall be altered; whereas before it was a natural evil to you, it comes now to be turned to a spiritual benefit to you. And so you come to be content.

There is more in this chapter that I struggle with.  Certainly, as Burroughs suggests, these statements are insanity to the carnal mind.

I am also presently not suggesting that I can't find my way to understanding.  I can.  The problem is that part of me doesn't want to understand.  A great part of me doesn't want to utter words like I can be satisfied where I am.  My inclination is to rebuild.  I have had to hold myself back, in some ways, as I seek to understand God's heart in these regards.

Therefore, the best I can do right now is to be honest with myself, my family, my friends, and my readers, and proclaim, I am struggling with this.  It is my heart to find God's heart in this, and I am certain that He will make it plain to me.  Above all, I have been pleading for his heart.  Better to be a complete, and total pauper in God's graces, then the wealthiest of men standing against him.

I have no problem saying that.  I just want back what I had.  Thumb sucking?  Whining?  Disobedient?  Disrespectful?  Still an idolater?  Still trusting my money over God?

Perhaps, and completely open to God showing me if there is still a remnant of a stiff neck.

So...that's my story for this chapter.  I'm simply not willing to write merry words as though all is well with me, and this text. 

My intention is to keep reading. 

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God to Moses - "When you die, these people will whore after foreign gods"

The object to the right is an alabaster head found at the Great Eye Temple at Tell Brak.  It is from the third millennium BC, and believed to be one of the earliest pieces of human sculpture ever found.

Although experts are not certain whether this represents a god, goddess, or worshiper, it is clearly an object used in idol worship. (British Museum)

ESV Study Bible Devotional

Deuteronomy 31:16-18 - And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. 17 Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.

We have been standing with Moses at the River Jordan for many days, as Moses has been giving instruction to the Israelites, who are about to cross into the promised land.  God instructs Moses to bring Joshua to the Tent of Meeting where Joshua will be commissioned, as Moses is not to cross the Jordan and will soon die.

God appears before them as a pillar of cloud, tells Moses that he is about to die, but most sadly tells Moses that even though the Israelites are about to receive their inheritance, they will soon whore after foreign gods.

This must have broken the heart of Moses.  It broke mine.  It served to remind me how prone I am to wander to the things of this earth.  Today we whore after money, Internet, pornography, shopping, Hollywood idols, even our families.  There is no end to the things that we put before God.

Surely, that cursed apple from Eden stains us all.  We are all prone to wander, and leave the God we love.  It is in our natures.  We are all completely enslaved to this nature, and need divine help.  Without help, God must, and will turn his face from us, and we too will be devoured. 

We need...a Savior.  Oh how the history of the Old Testament shows us how we need a Savior.  I am only in Deuteronomy and the need is screaming at me.  Thank God for the cross.  Thank God for the sacrifice.  Thank God that he calls me among his elect. 

Friend (may I call you that?), it is impossible to read this holy text, and not have these understandings burned into your soul.  These words are God breathed, direct from the lips of the Holy Spirit.

You want understanding?  You want joy?  You want peace?  Read the Holy Scriptures.

When I started this blog, about 18 months ago, I confessed that I had only moved from mother's milk to oatmeal, in my spiritual diet.  I suspect that I have graduated to oatmeal with a few raisins, and almonds tossed in.

I am yet to fully possess this holy joy, and peace of which the Bible speaks.  I have had a taste here, and there.  But it seems that I have yet a great deal of wrestling to accomplish with my understandings, and worldview.  I continue on.  Care to join me?

Abba, although I wander daily, please chain me close to Thee!

How to find Joy when the world is in chaos around you

Our Senior Pastor, Jamie Rasmussen is locked away in the mountains on his annual study break.  Meanwhile, we have been treated to a few special guests during his absence.

One of those guests is Dr. Darryl Delhousaye, former Senior Pastor, and now Pastor Emeritus at Scottsdale Bible Church, and the current President of Phoenix Seminary.

In today message, Darryl gave an exposition on Phillippeans 1:1-11, and shares with us how to find joy:  the absence of fear.  I would highly encourage you to spend 40 minutes, and invest in this entertaining, a highly informative glimpse of the Apostle Paul's source of joy.  Click here for the video.

Vanity of Vanities - Why are we here?

"Young Man holding a Skull", c 1626, by Frans Hals.

ESV Study Bible On-line Devotional

Ecclesiastes 1:1-3 - Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
 3 What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?

There exists a style of painting, made popular during the 17th century, called Vanitas.  The Vanitas style explores, in visual statements, the vanity of life. 

Here we see a young boy holding a skull.  We live, we die, and for what, the painting asks.

In Ecclesiastes, the word vanity is actually translated in the Hebrew as vapor.  Our lives are but a vapor.  Think about it, how well do you know your great-great-grandfather?  In three generations, most of us will have disappeared as though we never existed.

So...what is this about? 

Solomon is widely held as the wisest man that ever lived, and the richest man that ever lived.  Tell me, if you could read the life journal of such a man, would you read it? 

Ecclesiastes is just that!  Ecclesiastes is King Solomon's personal journal.  Here King Solomon looks at, and answers the question of all questions:  why are we here!' 

His answer will surprise some.

Butterflies in the Morning with my Steel Cut Oatmeal

This is a photograph that I shot at the Desert Botanical Garden, a few years ago.

This morning was a glorious morning.  When my wife awakened from her sleep, she first went to her devotions, joining me in reading the whole of our Bibles, using the ESV devotion plan.

I then heard her stirring pots in the kitchen, as she decided to prepare some steel cut oatmeal.  I love steel cut oatmeal, especially when it is teaming with fresh blueberries, strawberries, and a sprinkling of sliced almonds.

We then journeyed to our back patio to enjoy the morning sun, the serenity of a quiet Saturday morning, and to our delight, butterflies.

Butterflies are wondrous creatures to me.  First, generally speaking, the possess stunning color.  I have always been a man stammered by vibrant, saturated colors.

Secondly, they are the most graceful of creatures, are they not?  They flit around from flower to flower, drinking nectar, and help to call our attention to the beauty of God's creation around us.

We enjoyed the butterfly's ballet with silence on our lips.  The only sound to accompany their dance was the sound of the dove, quail, and other assorted birds busily moving about their day.

I find myself not only fed, but refreshed, and reminded in the small dance of a butterfly, of my God's wonderful creative talent.  If this is creation cursed, can you image what must await us in heaven? 

Does not America, and all of its inhabitants, stand with Moses at the Jordan?

ESV Study Bible Devotions

"...you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them."  (Deuteronomy 29:17)

What an incredible scene our God reminds us of in Deuteronomy 29.  Here we are, standing on the shores of the Jordan, about to cross into the promised land, and God, through Moses wants us to understand his heart, his intentions, his blessings for obedience, and his curse on those who are insubordinate.

Looking back on the last forty years of this journey are some unfathomable scenes.  Here we are to remember God's plagues toward Pharaoh, the crossing of the Red Sea, the giving of the 10 Commandments, and the law, the building of the Temple, God dwelling among his people, the manna from heaven, the foolishness of the golden calf, the earth swallowing up those who oppose him, many peoples worshiping false gods, peoples with perverse rituals involving killing their own children, and untold sexual perversions.

These people have seen, and witnessed incredible things.  And now, they stand at the shores of God's promised land.  Yet he holds them still for instruction.  He warns them of turning away, while they are living in his, about to come, incredible blessings.

Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, 19 one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ (Deuteronomy 18b-19)

Our nation, and the world for that matter, have perhaps reached the bottom of a most challenging period of financial calamity.  We have traveled through a period of time of great wealth, worshiping modern idols of money, sex, pornography, movie stars, and on, and on.

Are we not standing at our own Jordan?  Is not this country, and every inhabitant of the land called by God to pay attention, and heed his warnings, and look to his blessings?

Look at Deuteronomy 30: 1-10, and let us all purpose to give our whole heart, and our whole soul to God.  Let us turn from our wicked ways, and let's together cross the Jordan, and enter into God's delight:

“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7 And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. 8 And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. 9 The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul."

Oh my soul, love God with all your might!

Proverbs - Surely I am too stupid to be a man

In the proverbs we hear "If you are wise, you will heed my words".  But Proverbs 30 presents us with the complete opposite.  Agur desires that we understand who God is, and who we are in comparison.

To me, it is imperative that we get ourselves to nature to more fully understand.  The Scriptures tell us that God has revealed himself in creation.

I shot this photograph a few years ago, standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon.  When you are in the presence of this place, you are presented with immense awe.  It puts you in the right mind to read something like Proverbs 30:1-4:

The man declares, I am weary, O God;
I am weary, O God, and worn out.
 2 Surely I am too stupid to be a man.
I have not the understanding of a man.
 3 I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.
 4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son's name?
Surely you know!