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Hagion - holy & sacred stuff
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Welcome to my randomized study & miscellaneous thoughts about the Awesome God of the universe, who He is and what He wants us to be.
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:: Leonard Sweet :: Relevant Magazine :: Jordan Cooper :: The Ooze :: The Next Wave :: Future Church :: Labyrinth :: DJ Chuang :: Living Room :: tallskinnykiwi :: Postmodern Theology :: Liquid Thinking :: Gink World :: Andy Crouch :: The Journey :: Epic Church :: Solomon's Porch :: Mars Hill :: Mosaic Church :: Doug Pagitt :: North Point Community Church
:: Servant Evangelism :: Purpose Driven :: Rick Warren's blog :: Willow Creek Association :: Evangelism Explosion :: Four Spiritual Laws :: Online Evangelism :: Alpha Course :: GROW Magazine :: Megachurch 2005 Report :: The Church Growth Institute :: Church Marketing Sucks.com
:: Online Bible :: N.E.T. Bible :: Christian Classics Ethereal Library :: Bible Study Tools :: E-Sword Free Bible Study Software :: Audio Bible :: Sermon Cloud :: Theopedia
:: C. H. Spurgeon :: Jonathan Edwards :: Oswald Chambers :: Charles Finney :: Karl Barth :: Real Live Preacher :: David Jeremiah :: Chuck Swindoll :: Michael Youssef :: R. C. Sproul :: Ravi Zacharias :: Jack Hayford :: John Piper :: Alistair Begg :: Answers in Genesis :: The Bible League :: In His Steps :: Key Life :: Iverna Tompkins
:: Leadership Letters :: Pastors.com :: BuildingChurchLeaders.com :: Injoy :: LeadershipJournal.net :: Out of Ur blog :: Smart Leadership :: The Barna Group :: The Church Report :: FutureLead :: DeVos Urban Leadership
:: Pure Heart Christian Fellowship :: Dallas Cowboys :: Texas Longhorns :: Burnt Orange Nation :: U.S. Naval Academy :: Arizona State Sun Devils :: Dad's blog It's Greek To Me:
makrothumia - "Patience, longsuffering, forbearance"
Hebrew Thought:
Bên - "son, offspring, descendant"
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Wednesday, October 25, 2006
What’s In a Name Okay, so as I wrote before, I tend to view myself in terms of what I do or what I’ve done. But in order to be anchored, I need a perspective of myself that is unchanging by my situations, circumstances or actions. A perspective that sees all of me all the time. I need a “God-view” of myself. Which leads to the question, “What does He say about me?” When studying this topic myself, I came across three very interesting passages in the Bible that really spoke to my heart about this issue. Following is a little of what I took away from this. Named By God Imagine being 99 years old with one young son and having God say that you’d be the father of many! At 99 years of age, Abram had another encounter with God. At that time, Abram had moved his household from his homeland of Ur on God’s word. Abram’s name means “exalted father” and was his name even before the birth of Ishmael when Abram was childless. During this encounter, God confirmed His covenant of blessings to Abram. God also renamed him to Abraham, meaning “father of many” or “father of a multitude.” God, who can see the beginning of time and the end knows what is around the corner in our lives. I take away from this that my faith is to be in what God has said about me and my future and not what I can see and perceive. Ephesians 3:14-15 says, “14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.” My Father in heaven knows me and calls me by a name of His choosing. I desire to believe in what He calls me. Genesis 17 Faithful & Blessed By God The book of Daniel starts out with a very interesting account of four young men, kidnapped from Jerusalem and held captive by the king of Babylon which is current day Iraq. Young men of wealthy or noble birth were taken captive and trained to become employees of some sort to serve the king. They were of the children of Judah, the royal tribe, and probably of the house of David, which had grown a numerous family; and God told Hezekiah that of the children that should issue from him some should be taken and made eunuchs, or chamberlains, in the palace of the king of Babylon. The prince of the eunuchs changed the names of Daniel and his fellows, partly to show his authority over them and their subjection to him, and partly in token of their being naturalized and made Chaldeans. Their Hebrew names, which they received at their circumcision, had something of God, or Jah, in them: Daniel—God is my Judge; Hananiah—The grace of the Lord; Mishael—He that is the strong God; Azariah—The Lord is a help. To make them forget the God of their fathers, the guide of their youth, they give them names that savour of the Chaldean idolatry. Belteshazzar signifies the keeper of the hidden treasures of Bel; Shadrach —The inspiration of the sun, which the Chaldeans worshipped; Meshach — Of the goddess Shach, under which name Venus was worshipped; Abed-nego, The servant of the shining fire, which they worshipped also. (from Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary) So, the Babylonians took these men, renamed them after their own gods and then attempted to feed them with items that were against God’s requirements for the Hebrew people. But Daniel 1 says, “8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel,” So Daniel stood firm in his obedience to God, and God caused the official to look upon him with favor. And what was the result of Daniel’s obedience??? Verses 15-17 tell us the answer to that question. “15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. 17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.” So, I will lean upon God’s knowledge! Psalm 111:10 states, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.” Though the world, fellow employees, family members or friends may say that I am one thing, I choose to listen to God and what He says I am, what I am becoming and eternally what He has already made me to be! I am a saint because He says so, His Son’s blood allowed it to be. If I act or believe any differently, I am contradicting God…and who do you think will win that argument? :-) Daniel 1 Touched By God Oh, how I want to me touched by God. Led by Him, guided by Him, used by Him. That’s probably not a new thought for many of us…throughout man’s history we’ve longed to restore, rebuild and regain the intimate relationship that was originally intended by God. The issue is that we’ve tried to get close to God on our own terms, in our own strength and methods. But He says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12) But another story in the Old Testament shows us that God can reach out and touch us and change us so that we’re never the same again. Found in Genesis, chapter 32, it’s a tale of Jacob. Jacob who connived with his mom to trick his nearly blind father and steal his brother’s inheritance. Jacob, who had to run off so his brother wouldn’t harm him. Jacob, who was tricked by his uncle Laban into first marrying the wrong daughter and then had to work as a herdsman for Laban for 14 years in order to marry the right daughter. Jacob, whose name means “he grasps the heel” (figuratively, he deceives ) was himself deceived and used by Jacob. But in this passage of the Bible, we see Jacob returning home with his entire family and flocks in tow. Before he meets his brother and asks for forgiveness, he spends some alone time with God. We read Genesis 32, verses 22-28: 22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27 The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. 28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, [e] because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." No longer was he “Jacob” the deceiver. Instead, he was now “Israel” or “he struggles with God.” And note how the encounter changed him physically as well. Jacob…errrr… Israel would walk away from this encounter with a physical reminder of God. Couldn’t an angel easily overpower a mere man? Of course he could. So why didn’t the angel do so? Was it to allow Jacob the opportunity to wrestle or flee? Fight or flight? Here was an opportunity to run away again or stand up and be the man that God wanted to use. Does Jacob’s being given a new name have the same meaning to us that Jesus meant in Revelations 3:12 when He instructed John to write, “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name”? I don’t know. I do know that God has said that whoever wants to find Him, will do so. Whomever wants to draw nearer to God will find God drawing nearer to them. He instructs us to ask for wisdom to be given it. We see those with little faith asking Him for more faith and receiving it. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7. It’s not that I (or we) don’t want to be touched by God. Maybe it’s that we’re afraid. Afraid that we aren’t deserving (ummm, we’re not. Only Jesus is). Afraid of what God may ask us to do. Afraid of the unknown. That’s me many times. I just keep trying to trust Him, knowing that He loves me dearly and has the best plan anyone could ever devise for my life. So, I will continue to try to listen to Him, walk closer with Him and demonstrate my love to Him daily. I will, like Jacob, try to grasp ahold of God and never, ever let go! And if He should choose to change my name to “Bubba” or “Ingrid” or even “John Jacob Jingleheimersmidt”, I’ll be blessed and honored – because He knows who I am better than I do. He knows you too. Climb into His loving arms today, curl up with His love letters in the Bible and see what He may say about who you are, you mat be surprised – but I pray not disappointed! Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Distorted Have you ever played one of those puzzle games where the picture starts out distorted or jumbled and as it becomes clearer you try and guess what it’s supposed to be? The fun part of the game is to see who can be the first to guess the picture correctly. These are funny because the guesses can be so wildly wrong! And the picture is, at first, just a blur. Friends shouting out answers or guesses. “What is that? What is it?!!!” Do you ever see yourself this way? Are you ever a jumbled up, distorted picture to the world around you or to yourself? Do you find yourself guessing as to who you are? And then changing your answer minutes, hours or days later when the picture becomes clearer? My mental picture is of the colored sand inside the glass frame that you can purchase at some gift stores or at the mall. Every time you turn it over, it forms a different design. Sometimes it looks like a sunset. Other times it an ocean with waves breaking upon the shoreline. Still other times it resembles the terrain of a distant planet. We let out an audible “ohhh” and “ahhh” at the designs. But we know that they are meaningless. A mere decorative plaything. Our lives are not like that. And if our perception of who we are changes with every twist and turn and tumble that we face in this life, the “ohhh” and “ahhh” may turn out to be an “ouch” or even worse. Do you recall the song, “What I Am” from 1988 sung by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians? A one-hit wonder who’s other major move was marrying Paul Simon. This was a catchy little tune, but the words actually offer a glimpse of someone who doesn’t know What I Am. Read on….
Okay, who am I? Who are you? As I wrote last time, our identities can be solidly grounded or ever changing depending upon what we ground them upon. Where do our foundational beliefs about ourselves come from? Is a professional athlete still the same person when he or she retires from the sport? Is the lotto winner the same after winning the big jackpot? And am I the same person after a day in which I lost my temper and spoke rudely to my co-worker or family? I would tend to view myself based upon my actions from the previous hours or days and would get a distorted view of the picture of who I truly am. But how can I get an undistorted view? Who knows me better than I know myself? In Psalm 139, King David wrote a song of praise to God the Creator of the universe, of life and of David himself. Read through this psalm. Thoughtfully examine what it says about who God is, what He has done, what He knows and where He abounds.
David had surrendered himself to God, God’s plan and God’s view of who David was. It was God who said that David was to be king even while the picture of David showed him to be a lowly shepherd boy. David sang, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!” Wow! How precious are God’s thoughts about me. This God who never changes created me. He knows me in the innermost parts. He knows my thoughts, dreams, desires, weakness and strength. And I respond to Him by doing what? Do I sing to Him as David did acknowledging Him as knowing the true picture of who I am? Do I know who God is so that I can then know who I am? Do I tremble in awe and respect like Isaiah who encountered God and said “1 In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Hovering around him were mighty seraphim, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with the remaining two they flew. 3 In a great chorus they sang, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty! The whole earth is filled with his glory!" 4 The glorious singing shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said, "My destruction is sealed, for I am a sinful man and a member of a sinful race. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD Almighty!" (Isaiah 6:1-5) Remember the lyrics from “Who Are You” by The Who from the last post? I don’t know if they believed in Jesus, but they sure did seem to write about Him when they sang, I know there's a place you walked Where love falls from the trees My heart is like a broken cup I only feel right on my knees Oh God, use me, a mere broken vessel. Shape me as You desire. Teach me Your ways and Your thoughts and let me rest in Your Truth. Allow me to see the true picture of who I am and please gently shape me into who You want me to be. seeking Him, dr. larry Monday, October 02, 2006
Who Are U? I hear this song's lyrics weekly..."Who are you? Who, who? Who, who?" For those familar with the show, it's the theme song played for the original CSI show. For those of us old enough to remember, it is also the cry of a generation as originally offered by The Who. It can be a disconcerting question. It can be a question that has an ever changing answer in this world in which we live. "Who am I"? Sounds like the next book in the Dr. Suess line of children's books. "I am me...who are you?" So who am I? And how do I know it? What grounds my identity - what's the foundation built upon? Is it my past that makes me who I am? My experiences, trials, tribulations? The victories and defeats? I believe partly it is. Is it my heritage? My family, my roots, my lineage? Potentially. What about the influences upon me today? My job, community, friends and family? They all help to shape and mold me as well. Then there's my desires, my emotions, my dreams. They too make up part of who I am as well. But history is only as influential as I allow it to be. My perspective on history can change, I can supress things of the past in order to create a reality that I wished were true. And the job, community, friends, emotions and dreams can all easily come and go, change and re-change. In the early 1990's, I was a young chemist who had recently been promoted to lab manager. James Cagney said it best in the 1949 movie "White Heat", I was "on top of the world, Ma! Top of the world!" Who I was was directly and proportionally related to what I did and how well I did it! I had a neat job, good pay, no real cares in the world! Then I met a beautiful, young lady and fell in love. The next year we married. Who I was changed. And my motivation did as well. You see, shortly after we got married, I lost this "dream" job and was no longer "that person" anymore. I wasn't the young chemist, the lab manager. So who was I? What I did was so important to how I saw myself, that without the position, I didn't know who I was. It took awhile to work out within myself, but God is patient..and God is kind. He desired me to see who He believes that I am. We can chat about that later. Who are you? Your identity is tied to something also. What is? Is it solid or ever changing? Let's chat about that too... The Who wrote about it in their song. It's a cry for something more. Something better . Something different. As they sang, "there's got to be another way." And there is. For those that care, here's the lyrics: Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? I woke up in a Soho doorway A policeman knew my name He said "You can go sleep at home tonight If you can get up and walk away" I staggered back to the underground And the breeze blew back my hair I remember throwin' punches around And preachin' from my chair chorus: Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) 'Cause I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) I took the tube back out of town Back to the Rollin' Pin I felt a little like a dying clown With a streak of Rin Tin Tin I stretched back and I hiccupped And looked back on my busy day Eleven hours in the Tin Pan God, there's got to be another way Who are you? Ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ... Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? (chorus) I know there's a place you walked Where love falls from the trees My heart is like a broken cup I only feel right on my knees I spit out like a sewer hole Yet still recieve your kiss How can I measure up to anyone now After such a love as this? (chorus) love, peace & joy, dr. larry |
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