Blogging The Friendship Factor. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Art of Self-disclosure

Or, in which, the good doctor discovers the fall of mankind and its effect on human nature.

Rule number two of deepening friendships is: Cultivate transparency. (Page 27)

Opening stories about the transparency of Betty Ford and Pope John XXIII and how loved they were.

“[Psychologist Sidney Jourard’s] major finding is that the human personality has a natural, built-in inclination to reveal itself. “

[snip]

‘[He] stumbled onto this concept when he puzzled over the frequency with which patients said to him: ‘you are the first person I have ever been completely honest with.” ‘

[snip]

“His conclusion was that habitual dissembling [lying] and withdrawal leads to disintegration of the personality, and that, on the other hand, honesty literally can be a health insurance policy, preventing both mental illness and certain kinds of physical sickness. “ (pages 28-9)

James 5:16. "Confess your sins one to another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed." (Dr. McGinnis then quotes this on page 35.) Sin makes us sick. Confession, both to God and to brothers and sisters (as appropriate) brings healing.

It is interesting that Dr. Jourard finds that humans are hard-wired for confession of sin. Though if he is a typical, secular psychologist, he does not believe in sin.

Masks.

“Why, then, do we so often hide behind masks?” (Page 29)

1) Our culture admires cool heroes and rugged individualists. James Bond given as an example. (Page 29)

2) Fear of rejection. (Page 29)

Rejection can take many forms: outright rejection, gossip (about things shared), indifference. What do we do with the fear of these things? What do we do when they happen?

“If we build more windows and fewer walls we have more friends.” (Page 30)

No comment necessary.

“James Joyce recognized that sometimes in the tiny moments of life light suddenly is shed on our whole existence. He would have called this man’s experience an epiphany.” (Page 33)

From the poemhunter.com, About James Joyce:

“By an epiphany he meant a sudden spiritual manifestation, whether in the vulgarity of speech or of gesture or in a memorable phase of the mind itself. He believed that it was for the man of letters to record these epiphanies with extreme care, seeing that they themselves are the most delicate and evanescent of moments.”

(James Joyce (1882-1941), Irish author. Stephen Hero, episode 25, New Directions (1944). The passage refers to Stephen Daedalus of Joyce's unfinished manuscript, Stephen Hero. Less than half the manuscript exists, and it was published only after Joyce's death.)

The context of the quote from the "Friendship Factor" was a conversation that a man had with his mother that opened up his eyes about her relationship with his father.

Learning something intimate about others can lead to illumination about ourselves. Dr. McGinnis then goes on to note, elsewhere in the chapter, that sharing something intimate about ourselves with others can be illuminating to us, as well.

“The brilliant Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung advised his patients to become acquainted with what he call the "shadow side" of themselves, or the "inferior part of the personality." Indeed, there is a hidden portion of our minds that is comprised of memories from past which terrify us and of which we are ashamed, plus the mean, selfish, and base nature which erupts occasionally and which we try to excuse and explain away in a thousand different ways.”

“We will be very reluctant to reveal this side of ourselves to another so long as it scares us. The natural assumption is that if we let others see this dark side, they too will hate us. But generally, they are able to be more lenient with us than we are with ourselves. And a curious kind of chemistry begins to work. Because we have told another our deepest secrets, we begin to understand ourselves better.” (page 34)

Uh, isn’t this just an accurate description of what the fall of mankind did to us? We fell, we rejected God as God, we are then filled with fears. And all of us have the same fears about ourselves. These things keep us sealed away from one another.

“Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words but to pour them all out, just as it is, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keeping what is worth keeping, and then, with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.” George Eliot. (Page 36)

Why can’t we, as Christians... Especially, we, as Christians...

“[Dr. Paul Tournier] attended a small meeting in a home where people were simply being themselves, sharing deeply of hurts, joys, sins, excesses. Although he had been a religious man before, Tournier says that in this climate he was spiritually transformed.” (Page 37)

This is interesting. He described an ideal house church.

Jesus and His “remarkable transparency.” John 15:15.

Transparency, but not “total honesty.”(Pages 38-9)

Added thought:

"Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."
C.S. Lewis

Blogging The Friendship Factor. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Why some people never lack friends

Opening discussion about Howard Hughs

It is an old axiom that God gave us things to use and people to enjoy.

People are made in the image of God. They are not things. God cherishes each of His creatures.

Their [people who are deeply loved] companions are very important to them, and no matter how busy their schedule, they have developed a life-style and a way of dispensing their time that allows them to have several profound relationships with people.

So rule number one for deepening your friendships is: Assign top priority to your relationships.

First: Am I assigning top priority to my relationship with God? Then look at the other relationships: spouse, other family, then “mere” friends. Many people have deep friendship relationships with their families: siblings, parents, nieces and nephews, etc. My father’s deepest friendships were with his siblings and their spouses, then my mother’s siblings and families. The early death of his sister’s husband hit him very hard. These are “natural” friendships to form. They are nurtured by years of picnics and holidays, weddings and funerals. They can be a model for friendships outside of the family.

Questions about relationships:
• Do you have at least one person nearby whom you can call on in times of personal distress?
• Do you have several people whom you can visit with little advance warning without apology?
• Do you have several people with whom you can share recreational activities?
• Do you have people who will lend you money if you need it, or those who will care for you in practical ways if the need arises?

I can answer, “yes,” to each of these. But I think more because I go a church where this is normal behavior than because of the deep friendships I have.

The fact of the matter is that one cannot have a profound connection with more than a few people. Time prohibits it. Deep friendship requires cultivation over the years—evenings before the fire, long walks and lots of time for talk.

Watching lots of football games, lifting heavy objects, spitting. (Did I miss anything?) Seriously, you have to be in this for the long haul. With most good relationships you say something like, “We just picked up where we left off.”

Few of the valuable things in life “just happen.”

Blogging The Friendship Factor. Chapter 1

A group of us are doing a book discussion on The Friendship Factor (Alan Loy McGinnis. Augsburg Publishing House. Minneapolis. 1979). I am going to blog about the what I am seeing as I read it. I may also blog about the actual book discussion.

Lord, I give you this book. Bring revelation and conviction. Keep me from the condemnation and self-criticism that usually bothers me when I read self-help books.

[Update: we are only doing the first 6 chapters of the book]

The first friendship that is described is the legendary friendship between George Burns and Jack Benny (page 9). George had only to look at Jack and Jack would dissolve into laughter. Laughter in that kind of friendship is a result of ‘overflow.’ They knew each other so well, that a mere look would pull up years of happy memories, shared jokes, and simply living life with each other. Both were comedians on radio and TV and stage. They could have been rivals, and bitter. They were not, they were friends.

“The basic ingredients for a good marriage, according to sociologist Andrew Greeley, are friendship plus sex.” (Page 9)

OK. This is true, but rather coarsely phrased, Father. Next thought please.

Richard Farson, professor at the Humanistic Psychology Institute in San Francisco, says, "Millions of people in America have never had one minute in their whole lifetime where they could 'let down' and share with another person their deeper feelings."

The first place where we need to do this is with God in prayer. Out of that intimacy, and the security of that intimacy, intimacy with other people can flourish. In reverse, difficulty in being intimate with others may reflect an inability to be intimate with God.

Why are such friendships so rare among men? Conditioning, of course. In our society, except to shake hands, men are not even allowed to touch each other. Dick and Paula McDonald explain the phenomenon:

“Most men have had no practice in the art of intimacy nor role models to point the way. Little girls can walk to school hand in hand, hold each other up skating, hug and cry and say, "You're my best friend. I need you. I love you." Little boys wouldn't dare. The enormous blackening cloud of homosexuality is always present, and the devastating power of the snicker begins in playground days. "Fag" is a word every little boy learns to fear, and it forever after affects his behavior toward other men who might become his friends.” (Page 10-11).

Ouch! Men are still suffering from the wounds of elementary and junior high schools. Twisted by peer pressure to reject intimacy in friendship. Lord, deliver me from fear. [John 14:27. NASB95. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”]

“Since so few males have been allowed the luxury of openness and vulnerability in a relationship, they are not aware of the gaping void in their emotional lives. In short, they don't know what they're missing.” (Page 11)

No comment.

“Its okay to be an introvert.” (page 12)
“Some people suppose that their basic shyness is the problem.” (p 12)

McGinnis makes the point that being a introvert (or extrovert) bears no relationship with whether or not one has many or few friends. A glad-handing extrovert can have many acquaintances, and still have no friends.

“One of the dangers of being a psychologist-reformer is that you may be tempted to try to remake all patients in your own image. But God made each of unique, and there is vast mystery and beauty surround the human soul.” (page 13)

Wonderfully put. It sounds something from CS Lewis.

John 13:34-35. NASB95.
34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 15:12-17. NASB95.
12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
14 “You are My friends if you do what I command you.
15 “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
17 “This I command you, that you love one another.

philos - beloved, dear, friendly - the usual word that is translated “friend” in the New Testament.

McGinnis quotes John 13:34-35. I added John 15:12-17. Our ability to make friends is rooted in something God placed in us at the creation of universe. Friendship is something that pre-existed man and we were made to have friendship with God and with each other. It has, like all else, been damaged and twisted by the fall. And it can, like all else, be redeemed.

Philos, the "brotherly love," actually carries more with it than I had suspected. "Beloved" is term I use for my daughters. It is not a word I would to use for my male friends, at least not many of them. I can only think of two brothers in Lord that I have addressed that way.

Lord, redeem friendship from the damage of the fall. Allow us, as men reading this book and in the church, to approach each other as beloved friends. Thank you.

CS Lewis on Uniqueness

Each of the redeemed shall forever know and praise some one aspect of the divine beauty better than any other creature can. Why else were individuals created but that God, loving all infinitely should love each differently. [The Problem of Pain. Ch 10. From "The Quotable Lewis."]

I am not certain that I would make a doctrine out of this. However, it is an insight that reminds us that God saves us as individuals, that He treasure each one of us, even as He builds us into a body.

Spurgeon on Prayer

In a response to her child's question, ("Why do we pray?") Kim of The Upward Call quotes Charles Spurgeon from Morning by Morning about prayer. [See link below]

The act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness, which is a very salutary lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God gave us favors without constraining us to pray for them, we should never know how poor we are; but a true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalog of necessities, a revelation of hidden poverty. While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human emptiness. The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it adores God, it lays the creature it should be, in the very dust.

Of course, the 4 word answer is, "God told us to." That may sound like a cop-out. However, I think that one can get to a point in his walk with the Lord that "God said it" is enough of a reason.

And the rest is details....

I Corinthians 15;10. NASB95.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; But I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

Head Dump: Prayer (Summary)

I do not know if this complete yet. However, I thought that I would post this as an index of what I have been doing. They are not as nice and neat as the titles of each "dump" make them sound. Alas.

Prayer 12. Waiting on the Lord

Prayer 11. Prophetic Prayer

Prayer 10. Praying Scripture

Prayer 9. Lectio Divina

Prayer 8. Praying in the Spirit

Prayer 7. Intercession

Prayer 6. "Pray Without Ceasing"

Prayer 5. To Whom Do I Pray?

Prayer 4. Prayer and the Rest of Our Walk

Prayer 3. Freedom in Prayer

Prayer 2. Parts of Prayer

Prayer 1. Prayer is Simple

Head Dump: Prayer 12

Waiting on the Lord.

Many years ago, one of the pastors of my church spoke about a spiritual exercise he practiced called waiting on the Lord. I do not know the origin of the practice, whether he had developed it himself or whether it was something he had picked up elsewhere. I think that there are many of these exercises that various parts of the church practice (the world-wide church). They are specific to one or another group. However, because there are divisions in the visible church they are not widely known. I had never heard of lectio divina until recently, for example.

He used several illustrations and pegged the practice to several passages in the Old Testament.

One of the illustrations was out of Psalm 42.

Psalm 42:1,2,11. NASB95
1 As the deer pants (lit., “longs for”) for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?
11 Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in (or “wait for” or “wait on”) God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.

The deer’s attention is on the water. “My soul’s” attention is on God.

Another illustration was that of a deer hunter. The hunter is alone in the woods. He is in his blind or his tree stand or leaning up against a tree somewhere in the woods. He is still and he is quiet. He needs to be alert for things that he is not normally alert for. To do so, he must ignore all the noise of his regular thoughts.

Because of the underbrush and because deer do not like to leave the cover of the underbrush, the hunter is attentive to small things. He will not see the whole deer. He will listen for the crack of a twig or the rustle of leaves on the ground. He looks for parts of a deer: the straight line of the back, an eye or an ear where none should be, the flash of white on the tail or the belly. He is looking for things that are not part of the woods, but part of the deer. That may be all that he sees of the deer before he can fire his gun.

He is waiting on the deer.

Imagine a person at an airport. He is are there to pick up an old friend. He has done many things with this person over the years, but has not seen him/her for a long time. What might he be thinking? How might he feel? He watches expectantly for his friend. He looks for a person who carries himself the way he did, is his height or build or hair color. His ears listen for the sound of his voice.

He is waiting on his friend.

Likewise, when I wait for the Lord. I still my soul. [Psalm 46:10a. "Cease striving (or, 'be still') and know that I am God." NASB95.] But this waiting is not passive. I am expectant. In my heart, my eyes rove to and fro. I watch for a glimpse. I listen for the voice of a beloved friend.

I am waiting on the Lord.

Frankly, it is very easy to become distracted while doing this. I will have all sorts of thoughts rise to the surface if I try to clear my mind. Here is what I do about them. I keep a note pad nearby for things I need to remember to do. And I return to waiting. I give the worries to the Lord. And I return to waiting. I confess the sins. And return to waiting.

I also meditate on a single verse. Something small, easily remembered, easily held in the mind. Therefore, my mind is somewhat engaged.

The purpose of waiting, though, is not be still or to meditate on a verse. It is to catch glimpses of the Lord. I do not want, therefore, to get caught up in trying to be still or in thinking about the verse.

The purpose of waiting on the Lord is being with the Lord. Just as the deer’s focus is on the water, and the hunter’s focus is on the deer, and the person in the airport is on finding his friend, so my purpose is find Him.

And in my experience, that rarely happens while waiting. I will catch a glimpse of Him later in the day or in the week: an insight, a word of wisdom or encouragement for another, the realization that He is with me in a more tangible way than normal, a conviction about a course of action. Sometimes it is the sense of being more alive, more attuned to the wonders around me. A glass of water may taste wonderful. A tiny flower catches my attention because of its miniature beauty. And I give glory to God.

Some other verses related to waiting.

Isaiah 40:29-31. NASB95.
29 He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. 30 Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, 31 yet those who wait for (or “on”) the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

Habakkuk 2:1-3. NASB 95.
I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved. Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run. “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.

Romans 8:19. NASB95. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

Looking at the verses, "waiting on the Lord" could just as easily be called "longing for the Lord."

I have placed other verses related to waiting in the comments.

And the rest is details....

Ephesians 2:8,9. NASB
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a results of works, that no one should boast.

Ephesians 2:8,9. Wuest Expanded Translation
For by grace have you been saved in time past completely, through faith, with the result that your salvation persists through present time; and this [salvation] is not from you as a source; of God it is the gift, not from a source of works, in order that on one might boast.

The pithiness of these two verses contains many wonders. The revelation of salvation, the mystery of how our faith interacts with God’s grace, the mercy of an undeserved gift.

The blessing of the gift is that I have been completely saved already. And that salvation persists through time into today, and into the future.

The passage turns upside down all the conventional wisdom of the world: you get that which you earn. It turns upside down the commercials and ads that announce to us all the things that we deserve.

Glory to God that we do not get that which we have earned! That we do not get what we deserve!

CS Lewis on Sanctification

"I cannot, by direct moral effort, give myself new motives. After the first few steps in the Christian life we realise that everything which really needs to be done in our souls can be done only by God." CS Lewis. [See link below.]

2 Corinthians 3:18. NASB95
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18. Amplified
18 And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18. Wuest
Now, as for us, we all, with uncovered face, reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are having our outward expressions changed into the same image from one degree of glory to another according as this change of expression proceeds from the Lord, the Spirit, this outward expression coming from and being truly representative of our Lord.

Paraphrasing 1 Peter 3:7

Last Sunday, several of us were praying before church. Peggy, an older woman who richly loves the Lord, said that she will be talking on 1 Peter 3:7 at a wedding that she would be attending shortly. She asked us if any of us had any insight into this verse.

I have spent some time on it. I have a load of alternate translations, etc. that I am placing in the comments.

1 Peter 3:7,8. NASB95
7 You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
8 To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;

Paraphrasing 1 Peter 3:7. Husbands, I just got finished telling your wives to be submissive, respectful, gentle, and quiet. In others words, I told them to think about how they should live with you, before a loving God who holds you in high esteem. Now, think about this. She is weaker than you are. Be gentle with her. She breaks easily. And not just physically. She easily wounds emotionally, too. Hold her in high esteem, respect her. She will inherit from God everything that you will. She receives the same grace from God that you do and you will. She will have eternal life just like you do. If you do honor her, then your communion and communication with God will not be hindered, blocked, or delayed. And your prayer will flow easily to Him who hears us all.

Now for the hard part. How does one walk this out? How have I walked this out?

Unpacking: Revelation 5:12

We regularly sing a chorus based on this verse. I decided I wanted to "unpack" the words of the verse. This is not to be mistaken for a word study, but rather it is a look at how some of the words are used elsewhere. The "elsewhere" based on other favorite verses of mine.

Revelation 5:12. NASB 95. Saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”

“Worthy is the Lamb” - the young of sheep or goats, one of Jesus’s titles,

• “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
• “Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.”
• “On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples *said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?”“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread...”
• “And one of the elders *said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.” And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain,”

“To receive” - to take, as in a gift, a free-will offering, to take hold, to claim as one’s own.

“To receive power” - “dunamis” - English derivatives are “dynamic” and “dynamite” and “dynamo. ” Also translated as miracles, might, and strength. An authority term.

• “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
• “But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”
• “But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

“To receive riches” - to flow, abound, wealth. Derived from a word we get Pluto and Plutocrat from.

• “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills.”
• “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ...”
• “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,”

“To receive wisdom” - Wisdom is applied knowledge, Wisdom is knowing what to do with what you know.

• “You shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me.”
• “Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore.”
• “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom...”
• “And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power...”
• “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit...”

“To receive might” - might or strength.

• “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.”
• Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

“To receive honor” - Hebrew: to be heavy, weighty, or burdensome. Greek: (to value, honor); a valuing, a price; also translated as precious.

• ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.”
• “In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets...”
• “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him”
• “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

“To receive glory” - Hebrew abundance, honor, glory

• “The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.”
• “Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!”
• “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle...”
• “It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord...”
• “ Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”
• “And He [Jesus] is the radiance of His [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

“To receive blessing” - Greek - blessed, happy. Also from eulogia; praise, blessing.

• While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
• “In order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
• “If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace.”
• “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

I teach... Part 2

In a previous post (see link below), I commented that the start of school is upon me and might decrease my postings. Well, I did.

Today in church, I suddenly realized that September was over and October has begun. I wanted to run around the room telling people.

September is a hard month for teachers (not to mention parents and homeschoolers, I suppose). There are so many adjustments to make, so many new things, people, situations. Additionally, I find that how I start a new school year often has a huge effect on my walk with the Lord for that year. Habits get cemented into place quickly and are hard to change until next summer's break (there is good news and bad news in that).

Generally, my wife and I joke about it, that the time between Labor Day and October 1 does not have a spare moment and goes by very quickly.

This year, I was concerned about the beginning of school for all the usual reasons and because of the blog. Would I be able to keep it up? The pastors of my church have been encouraging me to make a general announcement about doing writing it, but I have been holding off because of that concern.

Today, the Lord set me free from my worries. That is why I wanted to go running around the church and announcing the end of September.

Then, He dumped 6 different things into my lap to write on and gave me time to "hare" off after something else. Thank you, Lord.

Schadenfreude

I Corinthians 13:6. "Love... does not rejoice in unrighteousness"

There is a German word, schadenfreude, whose usage in English has become common. I asked one of my pastors, who is fluent in German, what it meant. His response was, "Sin."

The word covers a concept that English does not have a word for. Roughly, it means "the joy one takes in the misfortune of others."

I normally do not comment on the "And the rest is detail..." posts because I like them as unadorned encouragement. However, I could not resist a little word play.

And the rest is details....

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. NASB95.
4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8a Love never fails...

Head Dump: Prayer 11

Prophetic prayer.

While I am praying, some prayer does not seem to flow out of my conscious mind. God calls things to my mind (scripture, songs, pictures, insights, etc.) to be prayed about. I believe that it is the Lord revealing to me things He wants me to pray about, how to pray for a particular situation, etc.

I have had this happen any number of times, often in the context of group prayer.

I think that may be related to what Paul calls, in I Corinthians 12:8, words of knowledge and wisdom. However, I do not think that this a gift limited only to those have "it." But rather can be a normal function of prayer, if one is open to the Lord speaking to (and through) us.

"How hard is it to be saved?"

As noted by the author of the linked article, Dan Edelen, and in the comments to his article, there has been a lot of chatter on the “Godblogosphere” about salvation.

The author of the site posed one question, and then a reformulation of that question: “How hard is it to be saved?” and “Are we adding too many qualifiers to a person's coming to Christ?” The context concerned a movement among various evangelicals, if I am getting this right, to make it a “decision for Christ” less of a “snap” decision. The ultimate goal, again if I am getting this right, is to have fewer people claim to be born again, and more of them actually born again.

I am going to deal with the second one first. The question answers itself. We cannot add a qualifier to salvation. It is not ours to do, not even theoretically. All we can do is to stand back and let the Holy Spirit do His work of bringing conviction and salvation.

I realize that the author was trying a reformulation of the original question to draw out thought. God knows that I have phrased any number of things badly myself. I have seen enough of his gentle pastor’s heart reflected in his writings to know that he was not trying to add to the qualifications for salvation.

On the first one: Given all that I have read in the original post and the comment thread, my guess is that we are not supposed to know.

God could have easily made the answer to the question clear, simple, and straight-forward. He could have inspired the human authors of the New Testament to make a single, often repeated formulation.

He chose not to.

Rather, He gave us a dozen (a score?) of different examples of salvation experiences in Acts and elsewhere. Attempts to make a doctrine of 2 or 3 are contradicted by others.

And I am certain that we are not going to find out why He did it this way until we see Him face to face.

But being an arrogant, fallen human being who likes to think and insists on having an opinion (I am mocking myself), I have two speculations about as to why:

One. On the one hand, the lack of a clear answer keeps those who might become complacent under a “once-saved-always-saved” doctrine from becoming complacent. On the other hand, it gives encouragement to those who are fearful, that they may trust in a loving God who did not save them because they were good, but because they were sinners and needed it. (I fall into the latter category).

Two. “You shall know them by their fruit.” Thorn bushes tend to be interested in pointing fingers, judging others, laying blame, finding heretics, sitting in the seat of Moses and adding to the law, etc. Fruit trees bear fruit: “love, joy, peace, patience, etc.” There is a time to look for fruit of salvation, but that is in the context of the local body of believers. (And may I add “Period“?)

Oh, and don’t we all tend to be thorn bushes? Lord, save me from my “thorn-bush-iness.”

As a related aside, we had a missionary from the Netherlands in church today. She told a story about three young men in the church that she attends there. One of them is a former Muslim. He became a Christian when he "accidently" (his accident, God was deliberate) stayed at a Christian youth hostel (a kind of hotel). While there, the Holy Spirit came upon him, with obvious manifestation. He is still walking with the Lord two years later.

One of the pastors then shared a quick story that he heard from Derek Prince. The story seems to confirm this as a pattern of how God brings salvation to Muslims.