CRYING

I find tears are so much closer to the surface as I age. 

Is it just me? Or do we all become more sentimental with age? Am I the only one that finds tears welling up and streaming where once I found it easy to quench? 

As a younger man, tears were rare and emotions were easily controlled; but in old age, I find myself welling up so often as I watch humans struggle with life and the difficulties it brings. Seeing someone in tears has always caused compassion within me, but now..... I find my eyes wringing wet when I see almost anyone fighting the battle of life with all that's within them. The underdog battling for rightful ground causes emotions to rise up in me like never before. The heroic worker sacrificing for the good of others brings my heart to near bursting with admiration. 

King David said, "My heart is stirred by a noble theme." It can be the nobility in a child exerting all they have to achieve excellence any any arena of life. There's within me a tenderness for the downcast that was buried in my younger years but now rises up wherever I see the struggle. I choke up at the least display of mercy and unselfish kindness, be it a song, a line in a book, a scene in a movie, or a simple expression on a face....  

Am I just a "sentimental old fool" or is it the hand of God?  

 When to crack the whip and turn the tables.

Now when we have grown in Christ,

and begin to have the mind of Christ,

and truly love others,

and have shown ourselves faithful in serving Christ,

and He has given us a position of leadership,

and we can minister with love, grace and maturity,

then, perhaps, we can gain the trust of those in error

and help them see the tenets of our faith more clearly.

What many young Christians gravitate to first,

is to be a corrector, to point out heresies,

sins, and faults in others.

Of course it is pride driven,

but that is invisible to the young Christian whom may actually believe God has called him to be a helper to the Holy Spirit in pointing out the sins, shortcomings and errors in others.

I've had a few immature Christians tell me they believe they are called to correct,

they believe it's their spiritual gift!

Oh how easy it is to point out the sins of others,

and how exceedingly difficult it is to love.

We love the crack of the whip!

We love to turn over tables and drive out the wicked!

Our testosterone surges and our adrenaline pumps,

but of course, this is not the power of the Holy Spirit,

it is simply self deluded self-righteousness.

 What a fascinating looking young woman!

How God has graced the palate of her face with such distinct stokes of beauty, melting colors and freckles and eyes to amaze anyone, well, it's just like His hand in nature, mixing shades of colors, shadows and textures.

May she always glory in God's handiwork!

 "If the mountain seems too big today 

then climb a hill instead;

If morning brings you sadness 

it's okay to stay in bed.

If the day ahead feels heavy and your plans feel like a curse, There's no shame in rearranging, don't make yourself feel worse.

If a shower stings like needles and a bath feels like you'll drown; 

If you haven't washed your hair for days, 

don't throw away your crown! 

A day is not a lifetime. A rest is not defeat. 

Don't think of it as failure, 

Just a quiet, kind retreat.

It's okay to take a moment From an anxious, fractured mind. 

The world will not stop turning While you get realigned! 

The mountain will still be there When you want to try again 

You can climb it in your own time, Just love yourself till then."

~Laura Ding-Edwards

 

I'm reading Kent's book "The Social Teachings of The Prophets and Jesus," and having been brought up in the Evangelical faith, the label "Social Gospel" has such negative connotations that I became blinded to the vast application of Christ's teachings for the social order and good of mankind.    

A Summary of Jesus' Economic Teachings

"Jesus' economic teachings are highly individualistic; but they rise to a plane where the interests of the individual and of society are absolutely identical. Briefly stated in modern terms, they are:

1. The possession of more things than are necessary for a man tends to destroy his freedom and his social efficiency. 

2. The pursuit of wealth as an end in itself is incompatible with loyalty to a man's highest ideals and interests as well as to those of society. 

3. Each man is under obligation to contribute to the wealth of society in exact proportion to his ability. 

4. No man is entitled to share in the world's wealth who is not willing to work, and service to society constitutes his only valid claim to the possession of property. 

5. Private property is a public trust to be administered for the best interests of society. 

6. Society is under obligation to devise means so that each man who is willing to labor will have not only a living, but also an opportunity to contribute what he is able to the common wealth. 

7. The rights of humanity are paramount to those of capital. 

8. The cure of poverty is the elimination of its ultimate causes, moral and intellectual, as well as economic. 

9. In the Christian social order the dominant principle is not selfish competition, but fraternal co-operation which aims to promote the economic welfare of each individual, of each class, and of society as a whole. 

Competition has a place, even under the Golden Rule, but its motive is social rather than individualistic, its purpose is primarily to promote efficiency rather than merely to increase private wealth, and it's benefits are shared by the entire community as well as by the capitalist and laborer."  Charles Foster Kent, PhD., Litt.D.  

 

 

 I love this photo. 

Every young person needs someone who understands their struggles and can be leaned on for help.

The look on "Grandma" struck me as one who knows life is a difficult affair, but with faith and grit all can be overcome. 

And the young woman, looking into my heart, wonders if I will be for her good or her ill??

 But either way, she has a friend she knows will be there for her.

My son, Pastor Eric, wrote this four years ago.

A Drunk Man in the Street

"A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground." -Mark 9:17-18

I was heading to the Union Gospel Mission last Thursday night, running late and I came upon a sight that seemed to be ripped right out of my sermon passage.
I was heading down a side street, it was still heavy with snow and I saw ahead of me a man pushing a shopping cart and pulling a small dog on a leash.
He was having difficulty navigating the snow and ice ruts.

It was dark and my headlights illuminated him as I was approaching and he was in the middle of the road.
I knew he was not going to be able to move in time, so I decided to turn left and go around the block to give him space.
As I got near, I noticed he appeared to be drunk and was really struggling with the cart, his dog and his inebriation.
As I was starting to turn, he stumbled to his knees, still grasping the cart.
As my lights moved across him, I could notice him leaning over, it looked like he was puking or something and he had pissed his pants.

It seemed as if all time stopped as my lights exposed his humiliating, dire straights.
It was a snapshot of how the enemy of our souls and the depths of our sin lead us to be ‘thrown to the ground”.

I drove past him, which to some might seem cold and calloused, and it may be, but it is not an irregular site in my life and ministry.
It’s part of the hood I pastor in
and I was heading to preach and minister to a room full of men who could stand in for that man. My compassion was there, I saw him.
I marked the moment in my heart and mind, his suffering was not missed by me, I just didn’t stop but I used the sight to fuel the pathos in my work that night to compel men to come to Jesus. That might be a weak response to the situation, but it was all I had for it.

I have living lessons being played out in front of me all the time, some I am up to the task to engage, others are beyond me or my willingness to act but I try not to dismiss them. They are icons of heaven and hell for me and through them, I touch others and am touched by others.

After the evening service and all the preaching, prayer and ministry to men,
I left having seen Jesus do His work in many men’s lives.
The end of the Mark passage came to pass, just as real as the first part I had witnessed on the streets ---

“The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.” -Mark 9:26-27

Praise Jesus! He is still ‘Taking men by the hand and lifting them to their feet’
and empowering them to ‘stand up’. I pray it will be so for that man too.