Store

Our Sunday School lesson today was called "Store." All through the movie it kept showing all the things that can happen at the store to make you angry... the buggy with the bad wheel, the product you want is all gone or you can't find it, kids that don't behave, bags that break, people with too many items in the wrong lane. We've all experienced them. But Rob Bell had some great points to make about the things that make us angry and why they anger us.

The first thing that really struck me was his identification of the root cause of most of our anger. It happens when something blocks our will and we don't get what we want. We want to go 60 and the car in front of us is going 45. We want speedy service at the restaurant, and we have to wait longer than we think we should. I could go on and on. So the root of anger is really selfishness, wanting what we want when we want it.

Rob went on to say that we get angry about these things as if they really matter. Isn't that so true? How many of the things that make us mad are totally meaningless? And how often do we behave badly to someone else about these meaningless things?

Next, Rob went on to say that we get angry about so many things that don't matter, and then we fail to get angry about the things that do matter. This is Jesus' example to us. He got mad about things that were important. He raged at the merchants who defiled the Temple. He challenged the Pharisees and their hypocrisy, especially when it came to His healing on the Sabbath. He was passionately enraged when the poor and the oppressed were dealt with unjustly. These are the things we need to be angry about. And then we need to channel that anger into making a difference in the world.

Finally, Rob challenged us to think of a time when we said, "This (whatever this is for you) is not right. Someone should do something about this." If you feel this way in some area, maybe it is God telling you, "You are the one who should do something about this."

"The Thrill of Victory...The Agony of Defeat"

If you're old enough you, you remember watching the Wild World of Sports on Saturday afternoons.  I am posting the opening of the show on my FB wall.  I got to thinking about this today while I was at the Science Olympiad with my middle school students.

I love competition.  I always have.  I really enjoy exposing my students to academic contests.  And what I love about competition is the drama.  Today was no exception... there was drama.

My boys have worked really hard on building model planes.  They have been working with them all year long.  So today's contest was the culmination of a lot of time and effort.  They were well prepared and I was confident that they would do well in this event.  They had an hour of prep time and practice before the actual event.  We had three planes that were making good flights.  Then it was time for the actual competition.

First, we found out that each team could only fly one plane so that put one plane out.  That was OK.  Next, on its last practice flight one of the planes lost a small piece of wood and when the boys replaced it, it didn't get back on just right.  So, when they flew their official flight, it went no where.  The boys almost cried.

Then it was time for our other plane to fly.  They wound it up and let it go and it took a nose dive.  Now the way it works is that you have 8 minutes to make 2 official flights.  They had to rewind and reset, look it over for any adjustments they needed to make and then fly again.  The boys launched it again and it flew up in the air but it did not fly in a circle.  That meant the plane flew straight into the wall.  But it didn't fall.  It bumped the wall and turned and began to fly in a circle once again.  However, since it was not in center of the gym anymore, every time it completed a circle, it ran into the wall once again.  Every time it headed toward the wall, the crowd held its breath.  And when it banged the wall and continued to fly, the crowd cheered.  It ended up being their best flight ever... one minute, 23 seconds.  So our two teams finished 1st and 3rd in that event.

We conquered today with our sheer numbers.  We had two teams with 13 people on each team.  In some of the events, our two teams were the only two teams.  That made for some great head to head match ups.  In the Ornithology event (all about birds), we had a team of boys and a team of girls.  When they finished the event, the boys came to me and said, "That was so hard.  We didn't know a lot of that stuff.  I don't think we did too good."  The girls were right behind them and came up to me and said, "We loved that!  It was our favorite event we did today!"  So funny to hear such different perspectives.  Just so you'll know... the boys won the Ornithology event.  They said, "We stunk, but the girls stunk more."

We have learned lots of good things in preparation for the Science Olympiad.  And we got to enjoy the drama, both good and bad.  It was a good day.

Names of God

Since I had been posting comments about the Purpose Driven Life, I could not keep up my posting here. But now that book is finished and I will take this up again.

This weekend I attended our ladies' retreat and our lessons were about the names of God in the Old Testament. In my small group I showed pictures of banners that some churches have that depict the names of God. Then after we had studied a name, I asked the ladies to draw an image that reflects that name for them. This lead to some wonderful pictures, and some great stories to share. I will post my own pictures here and explain what they mean to me.

My Adonai - This name for God means "Master." I think of being a slave. I was a slave to sin and God set me free. I love the song that says, "My chains are gone, I've been set free." In the Old Testament the law said that slaves were to be freed every seven years. It further stated that if a slave chose to remain with his master, his ear would be pierced to show his choice to remain with his master. So in my picture, my ear is pierced to show that I will remain with the One who has set me free.Jehovah-Nissi - "God is my banner." A banner was used in battle as a focal point, or as a rallying point to return to. I chose the later. A rallying point that I often return to was the change in my life that took place after Mike Barris came to speak at our church. He was from Australia, and he had a bull whip. It will always be special to me that God sent a man all the way from Australia just to speak to me. My life was never the same after he came.

Jehovah-Shalom - "God is my peace."

I used this illustration with the kids in Kid's Club. I have always been afraid of bees, which makes it ironic that I married a beekeeper. As a result, I have sometimes had to help him with the bees. When I don the bee suit, I can have peace and calm in the midst of the bees. Even though they may still try to sting me, they don't have the affect of making me fearful. This is how I want to think of God as my peace. Even though the troubles come and try to "sting," I can have confidence in my "Jehovah-Shalom."

Jehovah-Rapha - "The God Who Heals Us"

I cannot think of this name without thinking of Will. He has had heart problems since he was 12. We will be going to Nashville on March 9-10 to try once again to have a procedure done that will heal his heart. We are praying that He will be "Jehovah-Rapha" for us. Although we know He has the power to heal, we defer to His unending wisdom and say, "Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done."

Yoke

One more new idea that came from Rob Bell this week was about the word "yoke."  A rabbi is a Jewish teacher who has disciples that follow and learn from him.  Now every rabbi looks at the scriptures and interprets them in the way that seems right to him.  He teaches his interpretation to his disciples and this is called his yoke.  

Now understanding this opens my eyes to a couple of other scriptures that use the word "yoke." Jesus says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Mt. 11:28-30.

The rabbis of Jesus day were often reproved by Jesus for their interpretations of the scriptures.  He often said that they made people miserable and burdened them down.  And then Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy.  Now, I think living the way Jesus wants us to live is anything but easy; but compared to what others may burden us with, I know that Jesus' way is easy because it makes leads to peace and rest. 

So I gladly take His yoke upon me and learn of Him.  

More Dust

Another thing Rob Bell talks about in "Dust" is the story of Jesus walking on the water.  In the story Peter gets out of the boat to walk on the water.  Now when we reflect on what we know about what being a disciple means (see previous post) we have new insight into what Peter could have been thinking.  He sees his rabbi  walking on water and he wants to do what his rabbi can do.  So he jumps out of the boat.  Peter walks on the water but then starts to sink.  Jesus saves him and says, "Why did you doubt?"  

Who is Peter doubting?  Rob Bell says maybe he doubts himself.  He doubts that he can be like his rabbi.  We are supposed to believe in God, that's obvious, that's a given.  But thinking about this, that Jesus believes in me, makes me understand some other things Jesus says.  When he says, "You shall say to the mountain, 'Be moved,' and the mountain shall be moved," Jesus is telling us that in the Holy Spirit we DO have the power to do amazing things, miraculous things.  He has provided us with all we need to live this way.  He knows that the Holy Spirit gives us the power to take the gospel to the whole world, just like Jesus commanded. 

 And so how do I live and act in regard to this amazing thought...that Jesus believes in me?   I obey Him when He calls; I love others as He loves; and I pray in the power of His Holy Spirit.   

Dust

We had a full house today in Sunday School.  Some students are in from school because the semester is over.  It is good to have a full class and we had a good lesson today.  It was called Dust and gave so many good insights into the way the 1st century Christians and Jews would have understood some things that were happening.  I will try to share a few of them with you this week.

The first thing we learned was to think about Jesus being a Jewish rabbi and what it took to become a rabbi.  Boys received their education and it consisted of memorizing the first 5 books of the Bible.  They are called the Torah by the Jews and are the most important scriptures because they were written by Moses.  When this was finished, by the time a boy was 9 or 10, the best students were selected to further their education.  This phase required them to memorize all the rest of the Old Testament.  Pretty mind boggling, if you ask me.  Now when the boys were 14 or 15, most boys studied a trade and became an apprentice.  But the best students went to a rabbi and asked to be a disciple.  The rabbi evaluated the student to see if he had what it took to know what he knows, do what he does and BE LIKE HIM.

Now when we see Jesus call his disciples, we have greater insight into what was happening.  When he calls them he is choosing men who are not the brightest students.  They didn't make the cut and get selected to study under another rabbi.  And so this new rabbi shows up and says, "Come, follow me."  He's telling them he thinks they have what it takes to be his disciple.  He has evaluated them and is telling them they can know what he knows, do what he does, and BE LIKE HIM.

No wonder they dropped everything and followed him.  

More later.

I have neglected my blog the last couple of weeks and so, with Alyssa's prodding, here I go again.

Last Sunday we had a lesson called Luggage. It was all about what a burden it is to be seeking revenge against others when we have been wronged. When we fail to forgive and seek vengeance what we are saying to God is that we don't trust Him to do what needs to be done to that person. So we take over God's job, like we can do it better than He can.

As a part of the lesson I spoke a little about the steps we must take to forgive someone as outlined by Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life. However, in the course of talking about this I felt like I was having a hard time saying what I meant. I mean, words were coming out, but I felt a little like the girl in the clip at this youtube address:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww


So with that said, let me summarize here what Rick Warren had to say about the steps we should take when we have been wronged OR when we have wronged someone else.

1. Talk to God before talking to the person.
Tell God about your frustation or how the incident happened. Ventilate vertically.

2. Always take the initiative.
God always expects YOU to make the first move. See Matthew 5:23-24.
"Delay only deepens resentment and makes matters worse....Acting quickly also reduces the spiritual damage to you. The Bible says sin, including unresolved conflict, blocks our fellowship with God and keeps our prayers from being answered, besides making us miserable."

3. Sympathize with their feelings.
"Don't try to talk people out of how they feel at first. Just listen and let them unload emotionally without being defensive."

4. Confess your part of the conflict.
This requires humility in acknowledging that, whether intentional or not, most of the time we have had some part in causing this problem.

5. Attack the problem, not the person.
"Don't use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you." Eph. 4:29

6. Cooperate as much as possible.

7. Emphasize reconciliation, not resolution.
"Reconciliation focuses on the relationship, while resolution focuses on the problem. When we focus on reconciliation, the problem loses significance and often becomes irrelevant."

What good thoughts! And how hard they are to put into practice. Let us all strive to live by these principles.

Romans 12:18 - "Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody."