Is the Bible real?

I know it is real in the sense that it’s a book that I can hold. Is it real in the sense that this is God’s word to us? People who study this use terms like internal evidence (words within the Bible that point to this being God’s words to us.) and external evidence (changed lives, historical evidence, etc). Is the Bible more real than other holy books? For years those have been fighting words. I am not trying to provoke a fight. But, it is true that there is a lot riding on the question of the Bible’s validity over another holy books claims. Each holy book teaches how to be right with God. Each holy book teaches how to live as the people of God. Each holy book teaches something about what comes next. Some people take a pluralist approach and decide they will sort, sift and take the best from each one. In so doing they rob each of its essence. Like trying to take the cherries out of a cherry pie and call what’s left a cherry pie. It doesn’t work. Here is where faith comes in. We are faced with making a choice and then devoting ourselves to the choice we have made. No one can tell you with absolute certainty that their choice is the right one. I don’t care how adamant they communicate the “rightness” of their choice. I won’t throw stones at other people’s choices, but I will argue passionately for choosing the Bible.

The Bible

“How do I read the Bible?” is a question I get often. The statement that follows is, “It seems so confusing.” or “I’m not much of  reader”. My hope in the next few posts is to offer some suggestions on reading the Bible. My heart is that you would know God better. He has chosen to communicate to us in a variety of ways, one of which is the Bible. The Bible wasn’t man’s invention. If God chose to communicate to us through the written word and I care, then I ought to learn how to receive his message the best I can. This will require some work. It would be pursued best in community with others. Will reap huge rewards if pursued consistently. This week let me explain OUA.

OUA is a short acronym that I use for a three step process for reading when I want more than a casual knowledge of the story.

“O” stands for observe. Observe what you are reading. I know it sounds obvious, but most people read for different reasons and never get around to actually seeing what they are reading. Who are the people I am reading about in this chunk? Where are they, if it tells me. What is the conversation about, if there is a conversation? What is being asked or stated? Were the main characters moving or fixed in one location? Did any “major” things occur? Any “minor” things? Please do not skip ahead to step two or three too quickly. When we skip ahead we stop seeing or observing. Kind of like figuring out hat you are going to say in a conversation before the other person gets done talking…you miss what they are really saying.

“U” stands for understand. Seek to understand what you have just observed. For this start asking why questions. The basic idea is to make sense of what you have observed after you have observed it. For instance when Jesus fed the 5000. It says the 5000 were men and that the wives and children were not counted. So the total amount of people was probably 15,000 or 20,000 people. Making a guess, who were the people that made up this crowd, or any crowd for that matter? Businessmen, businesswomen, students, graduates, dropouts, people who gossiped, people who lied, people who were loners, people who partied, people with long hair, people who were honestly seeking God’s way, people who were along for the ride,…all kinds of people. And who did Jesus feed? All of them. Why? Because he loved people. Because there was a real need. Because he wanted to teach his disciples a lesson. Did I say because he loved people? He didn’t just feed the pretty people. He didn’t just feed the people who agreed with him. And when he fed them they had all they wanted to eat. He fed them enough so they could be filled up. Not just a morsel or two per person. He was generous in feeding them. Which leads us to the last letter of the acronym.

“A” stands for apply. Take what you have understood and apply it to your knowledge of Jesus to how you live your life. Using the story of the 5000. I can expect Jesus to be generous with me. I can expect that Jesus is no respecter of persons. He still loves everyone. When I come to him I should expect the same treatment as everyone else. When reading other passages if I observe and understand that the portion I read urges Christ followers to be generous, then I look at how I am being generous or how I can become generous. If the passage teaches to trust Jesus with my tomorrows then I will move toward trusting and not worrying.

If this was about reading and understanding for reading and understanding’s sake then I would say, Go to the beach or for a bike ride or whatever you do for fun. But this is about communicating with God. You will pick up a rhythm amazingly quick when you start applying these three steps. Consider who you can read with, the word of God was intended to be read in community for maximum benefit. It will not take long before you experience more wisdom and comfortability when discussions of the Bible come up.

Let me know how it goes.

summer

Summer is an amazing time. An amazing time to break the rhythm of the rest of the year. In the plant world it is a time to grow fruit for the harvest season. For the animal world it is a time to raise young. For the fish world it is a time to bite the hook that I dangle in front of them. I watch the flowers bloom and enjoy the beauty. I take a swim and appreciate the warm water. I sit around a campfire and enjoy friends. I walk around the fair and enjoy bumping into friends I have missed. God created this world so that we could enjoy Him and the beauty of his world. As you are driving around today or sitting on the beach or looking out the window or reading a book or catching your breath after a long hard day of work, look at all of the life around you. Know that You are loved.

talking or having something to say

I was reminded the other day that it had been awhile since I had posted anything new to this blog. And I laughed. And admitted it was true. Sometimes I get to the place where I need to stop talking for awhile. Sometimes there is the pressure to talk when I should be listening. Since the last blog I have been listening. And I have been reminded that this journey with Christ is a simple journey. Really, I am the one who complicates it. If I just listen and act on the promptings God puts on my heart life is pretty peaceful and I find my ability to contribute beauty and enjoy life goes way up. For instance. I was prompted to stop and visit an old college friend. As I was driving to his home I had a little problem finding it, and this idea hit me that maybe I ought to put it off for another day. I pushed through and was glad I did. He needed a listening ear and I left knowing I had done my part. Nothing big. But it was big. It don’t always hear correctly. Like the other day I sensed a prompting to visit another friend. I drove passed the road and then turned and went back. He wasn’t home. But I was willing and I can work on the listening part. All that to say let’s talk when we have something to say and when it’s time to listen let’s enjoy listening.

Resourcing

As long as I can remember individuals have resourced me in my discovery of truth. By that i mean they have shared personal stories, articles, books, opinions, friendships with others they respect, etc. 

I have come to realize that one of the greatest gifts I can give to others is a resource to help them along in their journey of discovering truth. I have also discovered that no one discovers truth on their own, we need others.

I don’t always know how best to resource others as if I have secrets no one else has. I look at what I have and give to those who express a desire to receive.

How do you resource others?

What resources have you received that you are grateful for?

The landowner

Jesus tells a story about the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 20. In this parable Jesus uses a landowner, a foreman and several workers to teach us about his kingdom. I love the story because it teaches so much about the landowner. Things like he is the one who is in control. He is the one who takes steps to invite others to join him in his labors. He searches out others to join him. He even invites others to join him with only a few hours to go in the work day. He agrees to compensate those who join him with fairness. He speaks truth to those who join him, even when his workers drift into selfishness and untruth. He is generous.

The workers don’t “deserve” to work for the landowner. The workers had a streak of selfishness. The workers chose not to celebrate when others were blessed even though they were being treated with fairness.

And yet the landowner extended and they received grace and their lives were changed that day, if only for that day.

May I learn to celebrate when others are being blessed. May I learn to practice gratitude rather than grumbling.

Finances – credit cards

I can remember how proud I was when Candace and I received our first credit card. We had grown up. We had reached adulthood. We were in for a ride we hadn’t planned on. We agreed that we would pay it off every month. We agreed that we wouldn’t use it as a crutch. We agreed we would use it for emergencies. We had good intentions. And then it happened. I mean everyone was doing it. We didn’t pay it off one month. And then another month. It was weird looking back and trying to figure out where we had gone wrong. And how we had bought into the idea that “we needed a credit card.” We didn’t. And when we experienced enough pain or frustration at trying to become somebody we weren’t, we cut our credit cards. It was weird like I was quitting a drug or alcohol habit. All sorts of mental tricks played on our minds. But a calming voice kept speaking, “You were saved to be free.” And the truth is we weren’t free. We were slaves as long as we kept buying into the lifestyle we had allowed ourselves to get accustomed to. Now it has been years since we have had a credit card and the freedom is beautiful. It is kind of like trying to describe a sunset to someone on the phone…it’s hard to do. 

So how are credit cards working for you?

Are there some untruths that you are using to justify your credit card usage?

Are you free in your finances?

finances – lesson learned

Ok, so I have made some pretty foolish decisions regarding money. At the time of crisis the problems we (my wife and I) were facing definitely seemed larger than they actually were. In spite of the challenges, there is something beautiful that happens when financial struggles come: purification. 

I needed purifying. God says we cannot serve both God and money. It is true. My things had hold of me rather than the other way around. I found it way too easy to say, “yes” to more credit.

When I wrote it down our budget on paper we could afford “it”. When life actually happened I had not figured in enough of a safety net. Who knew things would break down? 

Shortly after we were first married we made the decision to purchase a brand new car. A car with zero miles on it. A car with shiny paint and no rust. A car with tires that actually had tread on them. The car we had worked but my pride told me we needed a nice car. Apparently nice cars have payments attached to them. Apparently there is some master plan in the universe that I would be violating if I didn’t purchase a brand new car since we  were newly married. I mean every other successful married couple did it. So, we drive to the Ford dealer and signed our freedom away and we were handed the keys to a brand new car. There was apparently something wrong with the car because it did not scratch the itch of my pride as well as I had hoped. We struggled along and when we got tired of struggling we sold the car and with it regained an element of freedom we had lost. Stinking pride.

I grew closer to God through the pain we experienced with our loss of freedom (payments came every month, regardless of how I felt). I also gained more appreciation for the teachings of God’s word. Who knew the borrower is the slave of the lender still applied.

Many purifications have happened down through the years. Now I ask a different set of questions when my pride kicks in telling me I need the new shiny thing. Questions like: How is this going to help me serve God’s kingdom? Is this a wise choice at this time? I even ask friends for their opinion if it a large purchase under consideration.  Will I really enjoy this or is it just an accumulation that will sit in storage after the first few months? You get the idea.

finances – top ten mistakes

When it comes to finances it seems I didn’t realize that I could have learned from other people’s mistakes. I felt compelled to make my own. And now that I have made them I somehow feel compelled to share them with the hopes that maybe you can do what I didn’t.

TOP TEN MISTAKES

10. Not living with a plan

9. Believing that ten percent was the goal

8. Believing faulty math…it works on paper

7. Believing the ads that I was missing out

6. Not being disciplined

5. Not trusting I would become a slave to my lender

4. Believing I could not live without debt

3. Not modeling for our children

2. Letting this be an issue that separated my wife and I rather than joining us

1. Not putting God first

Sunday Service

Sunday as part of our gathering we shared some of the ways we redirected our energies this Christmas season. The challenge was to take the resources for one gift we would normally give and redirect it to someone outside our normal circle of influence. 

I was blown away. The number of people at the service was down dramatically due to the blizzard raging outside. The stories started and they continued. 

Our family is going to do some micro-financing on Christmas day through Kiva.org

A couple that was part of our community called me to tell me they put an ad on craigslist in the free section asking if there was anyone who wanted to share a Christmas meal with them. They received 2000 replies, mostly from encouragers. They settled on 2 single women. A chef volunteered his services, someone else volunteered to provide stockings, someone else volunteered to provide gifts if children were involved. They plan on doing it again at Easter.

Another couple got their house church to adopt three families as part of Love inc’s deal. With their two children they gave each child a budget to spend on World Vision’s catalog of options.

Another couple donated some supplies to a local mission and directed some money to a local agency that helps with home heating needs.

Some dropped off a basket to a local school for some families who have been receiving bag dinners.

Another house church sent some boxes of supplies down to New Orleans to a lady they met while on the mission trip.

Another family shared how they gave some money through World Vision to buy some animals for a group of people in Africa. They did “projects” through the year and raised more than $800 to give away. 

Another couple heard what we were doing on Kiva.org and gave us some money to add to what we were doing because they don’t have internet access.

Another person gathered some money to help with house payment challenges and then set a goal for 2009.

A few people shared how they have received help this season and how grateful they were.

There were more stories. It was amazing to hear how many people give. How many give selflessly.

When is the church at its best? When it sees people in need and does something to meet that need.

Amen.