Action!
one-man armies blazing and kicking across the movie screens. The first two that I remember distinctly were Bronson and Eastwood. Maybe memory has just blurred all the movies together, but I only remember one plot;- Good guy’s family is killed by bad guys,
- Good guy looks sad,
- Good guy single handedly destroys entire crime syndicate.
I think they usually turned in their badge first.
The second wave of cinematic memories came along during my high school and college years … Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Segal, Gibson, Van Damme and Willis. Some were decent actors … and some had muscles. Some learned to act along the way … and then there was Chuck Norris. Thespian or not, they were all tough and they all took on the world … ALONE.
Though the Bible has its Action Hero moments (David vs. Goliath or Samson vs. a thousand) the preponderance of the Bible’s victory stories happen in community. Even where one figure stands out so predominantly, like Moses for instance, if you read carefully you will find a list of men and women that God sent just when their support was needed (Aaron, Miriam, Jethro, Phineas, etc.). Even though God plus one is a mighty army, He did not design us for isolation. Faith is best lived out in community. The Lord Jesus taught us to pray in the plural. The majority of the New Testament is written to the tight-knit organism called ‘The Church’.
And in him you (plural) are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:22
Come in from the cold Rambo … spiritual warfare is not a one-man battle.
Hidden Slavery
Ah, the uncomplicated ease of growing up in a rich and developed nation. My public education left me with the impression that slavery was a thing of the past. It had been abolished … it was illegal to own another person. I was happily ignorant of the fact that while I played in the sun, children (and adults) in other parts of the world were forced to work in mines, dimly lit factories and even in the sex trade. That last one was probably the biggest and latest shock to my naïve sensibilities.
Slavery takes many forms and is known by many euphemisms, but it is still going strong. I just want to unmask one form of slavery that hides in plain view. In case you didn’t know, the sex trafficking of humans is the fastest growing and most lucrative form of slavery today. Maybe we’ve all seen enough TV to realize that most prostitutes don’t choose their profession, but many of us are still happily naïve about the realities of the sex industry.
Pornography in all its forms is slavery. It is gaining wider and wider acceptance in our society. It’s rapidly being mainstreamed and normalized. The proliferation of web-connected devices has made it more readily available and to increasingly younger ages. What many people don’t realize is that pornography is in bed with the slave trade. The biggest lie of pornography is the lie of consent. Is some pornography produced by people who freely consent? Undoubtedly, but you will never know which you are viewing. There are no scrupulous producers of pornography; what they can’t pay someone to do, they will coerce someone to do. And it’s all mixed together on the internet. If you have viewed or payed for pornography, you have touched the sexual slave trade. That’s a jolting statement, but it’s true.
The Strange Things Pastors Do and Why They Do Them:
- On my knees with a razor blade scraping wax and paint off the floor tiles.
- On a ladder fixing damaged ceiling tiles or running sound cables.
- With a hammer drill putting up closet doors.
- Staring blankly at the kitchen … I’m mentally rearranging.
- Straightening, hiding ecclesia-clutter (all the stuff that accumulates at a church).
- Washing windows … washing anything that needs washing.
- Buying carpets at PriceSmart to capture some of the dust that blows under the doors.
Don’t let me fail to mention that Sue is right beside me, doing the same things. I’m so thankful that we’re wired the same way. I’m admitting that part of this is due to our personality bents. But I’m also glad she shares my vision for a clean and inviting worship space. I like to come into that kind of environment and I think others do too. Actually research by the Rainer Foundation bears this out. People form instant opinions about a church if it is cluttered or dilapidated.
Now … do I think a committed Christ-follower will be put off by such things? I hope not. I do want a nice worship space for all of you, but I also want to remove barriers for the seeker and the disenfranchised. I will not dumb down the Gospel to reach out … but I don’t mind cleaning up the church.
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
Colossians 4:5
DISTRACTED!
One issue that I have with his technique is that making exhaustive lists can be … exhaustive! Seeing on paper everything that must be accomplished can be overwhelming. I do much better at identifying a few high priority tasks and then attacking those. The real secret, of course, is to never let your list get too long to begin with. That’s great as long as you are in control of the flow. But sometimes, something huge gets dumped on you … and someone else sets the deadline. That emergency is like having an elephant stuck at the end of your escalator with all other projects piling up behind it. You’ll never win by staying on your list … you’ve got to deal with the elephant before the pileup can ever be sorted out.
After the service today, Sue and I will be leaving to hunt elephant in Kansas. Our goal in being gone is to be able to return … and be ALL here. God has already provided much in the way of the resources for this trip. Would you please pray that we’ll have the needed wisdom as well? In the meantime, we’re going to take one step at a time and trust God. If your facing something huge and looming, make the best plans you can, but don’t forget to …
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Presumed Dead
terner III was pronounced dead four times; twice as a POW in the Pacific Theater during WW 2, once in his early sixties … and once for real. Despite those two initial reports, Sterner survived the war, returned home, married and raised five children. Stresses associated with his war experience took their toll and Joseph separated from his family. Then in 1986, his truck was found abandoned in Pittsburg and he was presumed murdered. After an extensive search and investigation, Sterner was declared legally dead.Ten years later, the 72 year-old Sterner contacted the family lawyer looking for his vital records so that he could get medical benefits from the Veteran’s Administration. It was the same lawyer who had filed the death petition on behalf of his family.
