Looking Back Over Our Lives

Today I got a phone call at work from Agnes.  She lives in Oregon and was wanting some help getting her phone problem cleared up so that she could talk to a nephew who is in the Oregon Penitentiary.  (Until there is enough $, I am having to work at a company that supplies phones, etc. to many of the prisons in the US).  Agnes is 94 and has a strong European accent, one that I recognized immediately.  We got to a point where I did not understand a number on her credit card and she said "null".  My hunch was right, Agnes was German.  I asked if she spoke German and she said fluently.  I told her that we had lived in Duesseldorf for the last 4 years and that we had recently returned to the US.  The next thing that happened surprised me - Agnes started weeping.  After about 30 seconds, she was able to control herself and shared briefly her story.  My job is not to be a counselor, but to troubleshoot and help our customers, but God today, had another thing in mind for me.  For several moments she shared how before WWII she was an OBGYN just north of Frankfurt in a small village.  During the war she helped with the Allies by being a doctor and nurse and ended up marrying one of the American Soldiers she helped to get well.  Agnes is 94 and looking back over her life, she told me that her life did not turn out like she had desired.  She says she is a happily naturalized citizen in the USA, but wishes that she had never left her homeland.  Looking back over her life, she feels as if all the years she has lived have been in many ways, "wasted".  We spoke German for a few minutes (yes, I still can!!!) and I really enjoyed that.  I tried to encourage her and that God was for her and to trust in him for comfort.  As we said our goodbye (Aufwiederhören), I began to reflect upon what I had heard and experienced with her. What can we do to make sure we do not get to a place where we have lived 94 years and see it as regret.  This thought staggers me that this can happen.  I am 43 and do not want to look back over the span of my life with regrets.  If I will live in passion today for Christ, I will experience more than I could ever hope for.  I have learned this to be true.

Life is about Christ.  That is all that I can really say.  Some people gain the world and forfeit their soul in the next life as they spend eternity separated from Christ.  Some loses themselves for the name of Christ and find life both here on earth and on the other side.  That is truly the only way to live. 

Invited or Inviting Yourself

There is this great story in Luke 7-36-50 (please read if you get a chance).  A Pharisee named Simon has initiated and invited Jesus into his home and that is about as far as he goes.  In those days, when you invited someone over to your house is was a sign of friendship.  When the guest arrived at your house a couple of things always took place:  1. Greeted with a kiss   2.  Water to wash the feet with a towel.  3.  Perfume/oil was put on the head.  Jesus comes into the home willingly and none of these are done to him.  Jesus makes himself comfortable at the table though, regardless of the welcome he did not get.  There, in a setting of friendship, with an opportunity  to encounter Jesus Christ - Simon keeps his distance.  He has invited Jesus into his home, but not his heart.  

Another person enters the story, and it is a woman who is most likely a prostitute.  She discovers that Jesus is in town and she decides that she will invite herself into the meeting in Simon's house.  The house is full of people with whom she is completely opposite of morally, but she does not care.  Somewhere she has either heard of Jesus or seen him and she knew she had to be near him, to be in his presence.  She comes in, kisses his feet, pours out her tears on his feet, and wipes them dry with her hair.  Get this --- Jesus lets her come near and stay.  A woman whom most of us would never even talk to, buy a meal for and Jesus lets her pour out her heart in the worship of him.  

Do you see this picture?  A God-knower keeps his distance and the neighborhood whore draws near.  I ask us all -- Who understood Jesus more on that day?

The depth and power of God's grace is available to the most godly person and to the most scandalous.  Are we okay with that?  And that is why I think she burst into the room that night --- She knew that she could come and not be rejected.  She saw her need - Simon did not see his and that is the major difference between the two.

The manner in which we respond to Jesus is connected to whether we think we need him or not.

How is it with us today? Do we think we need him?  We are invited to him and it is also okay when we invite ourselves.

Wisdom from the 19th Century

"Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature ... If the next centennial does not find us a great nation...it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces."

           

-James Garfield, 1877. 20th President of the United States

The Change We Need

It has been quite a while since I have had time to write and I don't know if I really do today, but my engine is revving over a cultural issue. All through the Fall we heard from our new President that serious change is needed to right things that have gone wrong in our nation. I agree that things are not right in this nation culturally, with government, etc. That we need change is evident, but what kind do we really need? So, in the last couple of days, we have the first evidences of the coming change:

1. No one can be tortured who is a terrorist combatant against our country because that is cruel and inhumane. (I am not making a statment about Guantanomo here).  Those people are filled with hatred and are bent on killing.  Many of them are just plain evil.

Today's Decision:
2. Our taxpayer funds are going to be released according to Executive Order to go to foreign lands to fund abortions in those countries. This procedure, done against innocent and unborn children, I guess, is HUMANE, and should be done, not stopped.  Those being aborted are innocent and have no say in the matter.

I am not advocating the torture of adults, but think about this for a moment. One of these continues to allow someone to live and the other actually kills life. I am continually amazed at how these two issues are seen by people in this country and around the world.  We have really gotten to this full blown place in our land where people cannot see the total irony of their viewpoint.  

Could some kind of common sense enter the picture? Are we really serious that one of these is okay and the other is not? Those who embrace this ideology are so blind to their very own argument.  Blind guides leading the blind.  Is it any wonder we are where we are?  

Which of the two is the greater injustice? Which is, honestly?

Proverbs 22:8 "Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail."
This is where we are!!!

This is what we need to do:
Proverbs 23:23 - "Buy truth, and do not sell it, buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding."
We would not have the financial, social, and knowing God issues if we bought the truth and sought wisdom with all our hearts.

That is the only way we will be able to navigate the waters of our culture.

I feel better now.