Mind Meld of A Different Kind

2009-05-18T10:42:00.003-04:00

Proverbs 30.7-9

O God, I beg two favors from you;

let me have them before I die.

First, help me never to tell a lie.

Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!

Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.

For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”

And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

Just right

Having the right amount of something is critical. Too much salt in a recipe will ruin it, but not enough and the taste is bland. Too much rain causes floods and destruction, not enough produces drought and famine. We constantly live within a critical window of “just right”. From minute details to the distance the earth is from the sun, having it “just right” is essential to our survival.

Living in the “just right” is not only important in the areas of life outside of our control, it is imperative for our choices and attitudes. The writer of Proverbs foresaw the danger of too much wealth and pleasure in life; it took him away from God. He also saw the danger in not having enough; it caused him to steal. Having just the right amount kept life in balance.

Paul urges us to go even further than the writer of Proverbs. In Philippians 4:12 he notes he has learned to be content in every situation whether he had much or little. Paul had shifted paradigms. Instead of life defining Paul’s attitude, Paul defined life through his faith in God. Little or much, God was going to be enough. The niceties of life, or lack of them, lost their power over Paul because he found meaning through something greater. In these days of economic turmoil it is a great comfort to know that our situation, station, or circumstances do not need to define us, we can define them through Christ.

Thank you Jesus for freeing me from the grip of circumstances. I confess my immediate reaction is often more a reaction to my situation than your faithfulness, but in your grace, you show me how to move past that initial feeling into a right perspective on life. I pray that you would help me to react according to your faithfulness primarily instead of secondarily. - Dan Jones

2009-05-04T11:54:00.002-04:00

Proverbs 29:19

Words alone will not discipline a servant;

the words may be understood,

but they are not heeded.

Action required

The old adage “Do what I say not what I do” falls short in its expectations of instilling good principles in others. People tend to watch us much closer than they listen to us. This has only increased in this age of everything visual. Communication has become increasingly visual from TV to YouTube, to personal videos and pictures transmitted by cell phones. People are reading less (just ask the newspaper publishers) and watching more.

Our cultural reality presents a challenge to the transmission of godly morals and principles. It is so much easier to try and tell our children how they should live than to constantly model this behavior ourselves. Speaking only goes so far. Modeling godliness and holiness for others is the most effective method of teaching. We cannot rely on our words, sermons, classes or newsletters to convince people God loves them, has a plan for their lives and can empower them to live godly lives. We must show others through our own lives this is possible.

Of course we fail to model godliness all the time, but in our failures we are afforded the opportunity to model humility, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation.

Jesus, I want to thank you for not only telling me about your love, but modeling love for me through the incarnation, cross and resurrection. Help me to authentically teach others by modeling what I preach, teach and share with others. - Dan Jones

2009-04-29T10:41:00.003-04:00

Proverbs 28.9
God detests the prayersof a person who ignores the law.

Ignoring the Rules

Children do not seem to understand the implications of disobedience. There have been several times when one of my grandkids was disobedient and they still kept asking for treats or special privileges. It goes without saying, I think, when you are in timeout or realizing a particular restriction you are not going to be given some other special treat. Asking for candy when you are disobedient is not acceptable. When the child obeys the rules then their pleas for a treat are much more palatable.

The principle seems so simple when I am the adult in charge of the children. Follow the rules and I will listen to your requests: ignore the rules and I will most likely ignore your request.

As I think about the simplicity of this concept I marvel at my own ineptness at following the same principle with God. Follow God’s rules and my prayers are heard. Certainly, this is not to say that unanswered prayers are always a result of sin in my life. However, my first response to unanswered prayer should not be to accuse God of not caring, but to search my own life for any disobedience. Thankfully, these searches are accomplished quickly through the voice of the Holy Spirit who is eager to point out any areas where I have ignored God’s law. Confession and repentance restores a healthy relationship.

Holy God of grace and mercy, I confess that I tend to ignore certain parts of your law more than others. I ask for your mercy and grace where I have fallen and strength to avoid falling again. Help me to walk wholly with you today. – Dan Jones

2009-04-22T11:50:00.001-04:00

Proverbs 27:3
A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,

but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.

Buckets of Rocks

We purchased a new home recently with a cistern in the basement. The wall of the cistern was approximately 12 inches thick and 48 inches tall. Behind the wall was 6 feet of good storage that was inaccessible except by a stepladder. One of the first projects I started was the demolition of the cistern wall. Breaking apart the concrete with a sledgehammer was tough work. Carrying the rocks and debris out of the basement in 5 gallon pails was heavy.

It took two days of exhaustive work to complete the demolition. I was tired both days. Weariness from hard work feels good; weariness from carrying emotional debris feels terrible. Emotional pain caused by resentment is just as heavy as the rocks in the cistern wall, but at the end of the day, you have accomplished nothing positive.

If I asked someone to hold a pail of rocks for a day, they would laugh at the ridiculous notion. If I ask someone to set down the rocks of the resentment they are holding, I get the same response. We seem to think holding onto resentment will make us feel better in the future. Some day we will have the chance to get even, so we hold onto our grudges and resentment until that day comes. In the meantime we ruin many a good day, only to realize when we do have the chance to get even; we do not feel any better inside. The pain is still there.

Proverbs points out the absurdity of holding rocks all day, be they literal or emotional. Setting our rocks down brings release and freedom from a heavy burden. What are you holding today? What am I holding?

God who liberated those in oppression and bondage, I pray you would help me to set down the emotional rocks I am carrying and experience the freedom that comes in Jesus Christ. – Dan Jones

2009-04-13T12:27:00.004-04:00

Proverbs 26:18-19
Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon

is someone who lies to a friend

and then says, “I was only joking.”

Talking too fast

Justifying our bad attitudes and actions with “jokes” is more harmful than we realize. “I was only joking,” implies the other person should just “get over it” or not have been offended in the first place. Trying to excuse sassiness, lies, and deceitfulness with jokes is not only poor taste, it is wrong. In doing so, we illustrate a lack of respect for others and a refusal to be accountable for our own words.

We live in such a frantic and hurried society words fly off our lips with little to no filtering. Technology has only increased the ease with which we can communicate to others. You can instantly text, talk, and even send video messages to thousands of people “in the moment.” This last week we learned NBA players are increasingly updating their profiles electronically during games.

With immediate communication, we are less likely to think things through or consider the implications of our words before spewing them into the world. To cover up our blunders we increasingly refer to our words as “jokes”.

There is no quick remedy, except being willing to stop and think before speaking. In the same way, I am forced to think about how I respond to God. How do I talk to Him? Do I think about my prayers or just spew out my frustrations without taking time to think about His promises. Certainly God invites us to pray at all times and in a myriad of ways, yet how often do I try to cover up disrespect and ungratefulness with “jokes” and rationalizations about “stuffy prayer language” and formalities. Perhaps even in prayer a little more thought would produce a better conversation with God.

Father of grace and compassion, I am sorry for not taking time to think as I pray. I confess too many times I simply demand what I want instead of seeking out your thoughts on the situation. Help me to pray your will not mine, with sincerity, reverence and respect for who you are. Make my prayer times refreshing both emotionally and intellectually as you teach me your ways. – Dan Jones

2009-04-09T10:06:00.005-04:00

Proverbs 25: 17

“Don’t visit your neighbors too often,

or you will wear out your welcome.”

Wasted Welcome

Social etiquette is more than behaving properly; it is the pathway to healthy relationships. Proverbs 25 is filled with advice about how to interact with others in a way that enhances relationship. Nagging wives, lawsuit happy neighbors, and those constantly underfoot soon wear out their welcome.

When we wear out our welcome, we lose the possibility of sharing God’s love with a person. Failing to develop good relationships with others is more than a personal decision; it is a spiritual decision as well. Christians are primarily ambassadors for Christ. Our first and foremost task is to represent Jesus to the world around us. If we alienate those around us with our bad behavior we are doing Christ a disservice.

Good neighborly practices are to be extended even to those who are not nice to us. In this same chapter, we read that being kind to “big meanies” brings conviction. Christians should be the best neighbors around, kind, considerate and not overbearing. By being a good neighbor we will have opportunity to share God’s love with our neighbors. Jesus said loving God and loving our neighbor sum up the law.

Jesus, I want to thank you for moving into our neighborhood and becoming our friend. You treated us lovingly and with grace even when we were rude to you. Help me to model your love and grace with my neighbors today. - Dan Jones

2009-04-07T10:00:00.002-04:00

Proverbs 24:10

“If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.”

It does not take much common sense to recognize the validity of this verse of Scripture. Failure under pressure demonstrates a lack of strength. Even though this is so obvious, I continue to struggle with how I respond to my failures.

I treat failure with a renewed sense to try harder next time. I fall into the trap of thinking if I only work longer, try harder, and do more I will be successful next time. There is some wisdom in this approach, especially if my failing is due to a lack of preparation, but often trying harder just results in deeper depression when failure hits again.

I was reading in Romans last week. Paul states in 9:16 “So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.” (NLT) The NIV phrases it, “It does not therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” Obviously in the context of Romans 9 this is referring to salvation, but I think most of Christian life can be summed up in this philosophy.

Working longer, trying harder, and putting forth more effort will only take me so far. The real victory is totally dependent on God’s mercy. If I want to walk and not faint, run and not grow weary, and soar on the wings of eagles I will need to experience God’s mercy in continuous waves.

When I fail, it was spiritual strength that was too small. My own strength, even if super-human, is not enough. I need the strength of God to withstand temptation, overcome sin, and stand firm under pressure. My commitment should not be to try harder, but to pray for more of God’s mercy and strength.

Father of mercy and strength, I am slowly learning how dependent I really am on your strength. I desire to go further than my strength will take me and to stand up under pressure that would crush my own strength. I ask for your mercy to flood over me today and your strength to help me stand victoriously over every temptation and pressure I encounter. Thank you for your mercy which is new every morning. - Dan Jones

2009-04-06T10:10:00.003-04:00

Proverbs 23:23 Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.

Hold

It is interesting to read the stock recommendations in the paper about different companies. As stocks tumbled consulting firms encouraged stockholders to sell and avoid increased losses on risky companies. Even though the value of the stock was less than what most people bought at, it was better to sell and get something than to hold and get nothing.

Investing in the stock market is a gamble. When the market is favorable, holding and buying are great. But a bear market leads to a big sell off as people pull their money from the market.

Many people treat religion the same way as they do stocks, buy when it increases my portfolio and sell when it becomes inconvenient. Scripture instructs us differently. Hold onto the truth, never sell it. Even when it appears that truth is going down, in the end it will always prove a worthy investment. The New Testament refers to Jesus as the Truth. Holding onto Jesus and never abandoning our relationship with Him is always good investing advice. Jesus is the one place we can invest and have a guaranteed return.

Jesus, I thank you for keeping every promise you every made to me. You are the author of truth and are Truth yourself. Help me never to doubt you are with me and have the best in store for me even when life makes you hard to see. -Dan Jones

2009-04-01T12:21:00.002-04:00

Proverbs 22:3

A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

Ready or Not here I come

Playing Hide and Seek as a kid was always a fun time, especially when it was beginning to get dark and it turned into Hide and Scare. The seeker was required to utter those infamous words, “Ready or not, here I come!” before they could launch out in pursuit of those hiding. Most of the time, the issue was not so much the preparation of the one hiding, it was the one seeking who might not be prepared. Certainly there were times where a hider’s indecisiveness about where to hide caused them to be caught in the open when the seeker was through counting, but not too often.

Life is much like a game of Hide and Seek. Most people go through life seeking an elusive purpose. The prudent or wise person is prepared. The writer of Proverbs reminds us that those who are wise are the ones who fear God and obey His commandments. The simpleton or fool is the person who disregards God’s law and denies His existence.

Even those who are wise are surprised at times, however. We can take every possible precaution and still “get scared”. The biggest difference, I have noticed, between the wise and simple, is that when the wise encounter something scary they do not run, they stand in the power of God and keep going forward. The simple run away.

Father of strength and courage, I ask you to help me stand strong in the face of fear and the unknown. Enable me to see your path through any difficulties and dangers of life. Prepare me for what is coming in my future that I may stand with the wise and bring you glory. - Dan Jones

Sacrifice

2009-03-30T10:40:00.003-04:00

Proverbs 21:3

The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices.

Most people prefer to live by the motto: “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” It is this type of behavior that keeps flower shops in business. I know I have stopped to buy a bundle of flowers as a “peace offering” to my wife. Acting first and then determining the consequences is easier but more destructive.

Since the death of Jesus, our concept of a sacrifice has changed. We think of sacrificing our money or time for God, but not in the manner the OT people thought of sacrifice. In the OT you offered a sacrifice to obtain something, mainly forgiveness from God. What we think of as “sacrifice” today would better be termed “an offering” since we know that forgiveness has already been fully paid for in the sacrifice of Christ.

Doing what is right and just in the first place is more pleasing to God than sacrifice, because doing what is right and just is God’s will for our lives. Sacrifice came into play only after sin entered the world. Righteousness and justice were present in the Garden but not sacrifice. Would we be more correct if our language in the church changed from talking about “our sacrifices” to talking about doing what is right and just? Certainly we should continue to talk about Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, but in light of what Christ has done, can anything we do rightly be called a sacrifice?

God who gave it all for me, help me to live out what is right and just today in my life. Transform my thinking to understand all my acts of service and giving as an offering to you instead of a sacrifice even when it cost me. - Dan Jones

2009-03-03T10:42:00.004-05:00

PROVERBS 20:24

The LORD directs our steps,
so why try to understand everything along the way?

Free to enjoy the journey
Driving someplace for the first time requires directions and a map. Along the way, I always try to remember some recognizable landmarks so I can return without having to use a map. Perhaps it is a gas station at the turn, or a cemetery along a deserted stretch of highway that remind me I am going in the right direction. This technique is especially useful in the country where road signs are not always present at intersections.

A second habit of mine before traveling is to take some time to study the route I will be taking on a map. This helps me to get a general sense of the direction I am traveling and alternate roads that go in the same general direction should I get lost. Studying the map and scoping out the landscape help me arrive safely.

All of the above is unnecessary if I am traveling with someone who is familiar with the area. When I was in Guatemala on a mission trip, I did not pay much attention to the roads at all, since I would always be in the company of our driver and guide. I was free to enjoy the journey, instead of worrying how to get back to the airport.

Life with God should be more like Guatemala traveling. Resting in God frees me to enjoy life. I do not need to understand everything along the way because I know God is leading me where I need to go. He will ensure I get to my destination at the proper time.

God who leads me every step of life, I give you thanks for allowing me to enjoy the beauty of life without having to worry about getting back home safely. Your constant protection and provision give me assurance and comfort even during times of danger. – Dan Jones

PROVERBS 20:6

Many will say they are loyal friends,
but who can find one who is truly reliable?

Deep friendships
I’m not a very good friend. For as long as I can remember I’ve tended to be a something of a loner. I’m social. I get along with many kinds of people and friendly to everyone. Since High Schools I’ve held leadership positions. Strangely, interacting with people feeds my spirit rather than drains it. I need people. (So Barbara Streisand would call me “lucky”) But I’m not a very good friend.

Psychologists Gary Smalley and John Trent call me an Otter personality. I could use this as an excuse, but it’s more of a description than a reason. My kind of people are broadly friendly but struggle to form deep friendships; to let others pass the fence to my interior life where a loner lives.

Now, pat me on the back, I have allowed one person beyond the fence to the point where I have become a loyal friend who is truly reliable. Of course that person is my wife. Parents and siblings are inside the fence too, but not nearly as far beyond it. And I have several who I’d consider neighbors. We occasionally talk over the fence, even sharing a cup of coffee and a relationship that would pass for friendship. But I’m not so sure I would classify myself as a “truly reliable” friend, a “good friend” perhaps, but not one of those friends who invests significant time and energy in the relationship or who walks through hell and high water together.

Beyond my loner tendency, part of my problem is geographical distance from those to whom I would offer this kind of friendship. Part of the issue is my career as a pastor where, for the people I shepherd, I am always pastor first and friend second. And certainly, my childhood experiences have contributed to my developing deep and lasting bonds of friendship.

However, as I’ve gained speed in my journey toward old age, I’ve begun to notice some chips in my loner fence. A few more people have slipped, almost surreptitiously across the threshold. While we are limited by geography, I’ve noticed an up tick in interaction (thanks to facebook!), a deeper commitment on my part to travel in order to spend time together, and a growing sense of loyalty. Perhaps there is hope for me yet.

Dearest Heavenly Friend, with your help and the grace of others, I will reach old age with more than casual friendships but having had the privilege of being a deep and reliable friend, one that has stuck closer than a brother to at least a handful of people. – Mike Leamon

2009-02-25T09:03:00.002-05:00

PROVERBS 19:11

Sensible people control their temper;
they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.

Overlooking wrongs is complicated!

A controlled temper doesn’t work unless wrongs are overlooked.

It’s easy to keep a record of wrongs, to let them build up until they create a pile under the living room carpet. Keeping the record stuffed under the carpet may, at first, appear like controlling ones temper. But beware the ticking time bomb.

A lifestyle of overlooking wrongs simplifies life immensely by not allowing tons of garbage to build up in the soul. But arriving at that lifestyle, it seems to me, is a rather complex journey.

People living this lifestyle have dealt with unhealthy and unrealistic expectations of others. They possess a broad and accurate self awareness that has provided a keen understanding of their own nature that falls far short of God’s glory. More, they understand their “hot-buttons” and have resolved the issues that created them.

These people live immersed in the love of their heavenly Father as a daily reality so that their inner security and sense of value cannot be shaken. Grace and mercy define them rather than the sharp edge of fairness or getting justice because they have experienced the death of Christ where God decisively dealt with all wrongs.

Living above wrongs ultimately demands that difficult, and seldom experienced breakthrough to the full realization and experience that life isn’t all about me, my rights, or my happiness. My life is all about God.

God, who dealt justly and mercifully with all wrongs on the cross, help me to break into the light of overlooking wrongs that you once and for all took care of. – Mike Leamon

PROVERBS 19:17

If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—
and he will repay you!

What criteria to use?

Throwing a few dollars into a street musician’s guitar case does not seem like much, but God notices. In Acts 10 Cornelius was visited by an angel who told him God had seen his contributions to the poor. Jesus told the disciples that whatever we do for the least of these we do for Him and that we may even entertain angels in our hospitality to the poor.

Growing up in a family that pushed responsibility gave me the gift of self-discipline in my spending. This built in responsibility meter goes crazy when I hear of people using charitable proceeds foolishly. I even come to the point where I hesitate to give to others out of fear they will not use what I give them responsibly.

To avoid “throwing my money away”, I establish a criteria of acceptability people must meet in order to receive my donation. Being reminded today that giving to the poor is actually giving to God helps to free me from controlling the gift. Unlike God, who offers the greatest gift ever, salvation, freely without precondition, I have tried to control how others use my generosity. When I adopt the biblical paradigm of helping the poor I understand every gift as unto the Lord liberating me from my legalistic criteria.

Generous God, I confess most of my gifts to others have been accompanied by an attitude of control. Help me to give generously both in content and attitude. Thank you for showing me how to give by giving your own Son for my salvation. – Dan Jones

2009-02-12T12:13:00.003-05:00

PROVERBS 18:3
Doing wrong leads to disgrace,
and scandalous behavior brings contempt.

Contemptuous Behavior
The recent display of greed on Wall Street inspires contempt from me for those taking tax money for their own overblown bonuses. So do credit card companies who daily beg ordinary people to charge themselves into extraordinary debt. Church people earn my contempt when their squabbling over peripheral issues drives people away from Christ and his Bride. I could go on.

Pointing the finger at others and venting about their wrongdoing makes me feel just a tad better. I’m getting contempt off my chest and out of my system. Surely that is a healthy thing; except that it also breeds a certain amount of self-righteousness and cockiness – scandalous attitudes to be sure.

Pointing one finger at others leaves the rest aiming at me. Wrongdoing and scandalous behavior lurk around every corner of my faith journey. I am not thinking only of the sex and money scandals the fell big name religious types. I am also thinking of the winked at wrongdoing. Unkind attitudes displayed toward those whose lifestyles disgust me. The way I seek to use power in my church and my country. Grudges I have a hard time letting go of.

Disgracing myself is one thing. Disgracing Christ, whom I claim by using the name Christian, is quite another. While I cannot become morbidly fixated on every wrong action or attitude that comes up short of God’s glory, neither can I merely shrug them off with, “Oh well, he’s still working on me” or a “We’re all sinners” clichés.

Anything that would feed the fires of contempt for Christ must be hated, confessed and repented of. My cross must be taken up daily until scandalous things die.

Holy God, Forgive me when my shortcomings bring disrepute to you. Build in me such a deep desire for you that even a hint of contemptuous behavior or attitude would be immediately crucified. - Mike Leamon

PROVERBS 18:10
The name of the LORD is a strong fortress;
the godly run to him and are safe.

The tower of God
When I visited London via our trip to Zambia we had a couple days to site see. While there we saw the Tower of London where several infamous characters were imprisoned. The Tower of London is what I imagine when I think of a strong fortress. Secured by high, thick walls, water, and well-fortified gates, the Tower is fairly impenetrable.

When I was a young child, I thought of my dad this way. Nobody was stronger than my dad. Nobody could hurt us when dad was around. The presence of dad brought a sense of peace and safety. Now that I am older, I realize the amount of pressure those expectations put on a father.

How comforting to think of God’s presence as a place of safety and security. Realistically, my dad could not protect me from every danger. There were times my dad could not keep me from harm. In the fortress of God I am safe, but even there; I am not guaranteed that nothing bad will happen to me. Job was certainly in the “Tower of God” and look what happened to him. Yet God promised to walk with Job through the ugliness of life and restore his hope and life.

The promise of safety in God is real, yet not absolute. There is eternal security in Christ, and the promise that I will never walk alone, even in the valley of the shadow of death. There is peace and comfort regardless of the trial. To me that will be enough, in the tower of God I find safety in His presence.

God, I know that life will not always go the way I want it to, and yet you have assured me that you will always be with me, no matter what. I am running to you today for safety, for the assurance of your presence in both the good and the ugly of life. - Dan Jones

2009-02-11T13:57:00.005-05:00

PROVERBS 17:9

Love prospers when a fault is forgiven,
but dwelling on it separates close friends.

To pick a scab or not

Chicks dig scars; at least this is what men like to think. Scars demonstrate we are tough enough to survive an attack and muscle through the pain. When a man has a scar it can become a thing of honor. However, this is not the case with all scars.

Some scars you try to hide. If a scar is too hideous or embarrassing or caused by our stupidity or if it is emotional we try to bury it beneath cosmetics and facades. With all the hype surrounding scars it is no wonder we struggle to forgive and move forward. Learning from the things that hurt us is important, but when we continually show off our scars true healing cannot take place.

When we dwell on the pain, the wrong that has been done, or even the act of forgiveness we keep the wound from healing. Forgiveness is just the first step. When God forgives us the blood of Jesus covers our sin so it is no longer visible. In the same way we find healing when we allow God’s grace to work through us to cover over the hurt and pain.

Like a scab covering a wound, if left alone, will help the wound to heal with little visibility. When you pick your scabs, you end up with prominent scars. Forgiveness means we no longer need to remind each other of the pain (pick the scab), the covering of forgiveness is the healing scab reducing the lingering effects of the wound.

Jesus, you reached out to me with forgiveness even before I knew I had hurt you. Help me to forgive others who hurt me enabling us to move forward in your love and grace. - Dan Jones

PROVERBS 17:1

Better a dry crust eaten in peace
than a house filled with feasting—and conflict.

Contributing to the family feast

I cannot imagine living in a home where conflict shows itself in various ways every day. I’ve witnessed spouses stabbing at each other and grown siblings squabbling like 8 years olds. I’ve observed what happens when parents guilt trip their kids, when husbands control their wives, when sick relationships feed of each other. Gimme a shack with just enough room for me and a crust of bread, thank you!

Of course, healthy family life isn’t just about me enjoying the health produced by others. As I watch my parents (by blood and marriage) age I’m confronted with the reality that too often I’ve depended on their contribution to make my family system healthy. As they become wrapped up in health issues I’m realizing more and more that my attitudes and actions contribute significantly not only to the health of my immediate family, but also my extended family. A life-giving household (extended family) is about me contributing to that health.

The prevention and resolution of conflict demands my efforts. I cannot simply sit at the table and enjoy a wonderful family feast where all is well, except that I pay the price to contribute to that wellness. And very often that contribution means overlooking the flaws and failure of family members, bearing with family when life turns ugly for them, going he second mile, and seeking to understand.

I dare not take a crust of bread and head off into my own corner until I’ve done all I can do to contribute to a house filled with feasting without festering.

Heavenly Father, forgive me my selfishness in those times I haven’t evaluated my influence of my family system. Grant me increasing resolve and ability to interact with family in a way the feeds life rather than starves it. - Mike Leamon

2009-02-09T09:19:00.004-05:00

PROVERBS 16:1, 9, 33
We can make our own plans,
but the LORD gives the right answer.
We can make our plans,
but the LORD determines our steps
We may throw the dice,
but the LORD determines how they fall.

String puppets
Three times in chapter 16 the writer of Proverbs acknowledges God’s sovereignty. Human freedom is limited; God is the one who is ultimately in control.

My dad has a silly looking duck string puppet he uses for children’s stories and cheap laughs. In the hands of a skilled puppeteer, the duck actually looks alive. You can make it walk, dance, stretch and move, but it only is as coordinated as the hand on the sticks.

My dad’s puppet has one natural movement, down. Each part of the body is weighted, making the puppet constantly pull against the strings. I wonder if that is how we respond to God in our sinful state. Naturally we only move in a downward direction, further removing ourselves from God. Since we are made in the image of God I think there is a desire to pull ourselves up, but only God can reverse the pull of gravity (sin) in our lives. Only the power of God can liberate us from our downward spiral.

At times it is frustrating to think of my plans as nothing. To think that all my efforts are like dice tumbling on a table. On the other hand, there is great comfort in knowing God is in control of where I land, and the steps I take. Understanding God’s plans are for my good brings assurance. When I am tempted to cut the strings of my life from God’s hand, it is good to remember the only direction that takes me is down. Attached to God, I can keep moving forward and upward.

God, there are times when I do not understand your plans or the steps you take me through, yet I believe you are in control and will bring good into my life through your sovereign plan. I want to surrender my scissors to you today. - Dan Jones

PROVERBS 6:23
From a wise mind comes wise speech;
the words of the wise are persuasive.

Critical Mind
So how does one develop a wise mind? It takes more than stuffing it with knowledge otherwise the really smart people would be the wisest. But they aren’t. Reading lots of books and listening to lots of teachers and preachers may be a good start, but it’s a long way from profound insight, deep understanding, or broad-based assessment.

Life-long learning must combine with accumulating experience to produce wise thinking. The ancient world valued the old – “elders” – as wise ones. So the first churches called their leaders “elders”. And that’s what they tended to be, older people. I think painful experiences, or any event that leads well beyond one’s comfort zone, holds special potential for developing wisdom.

But a lifetime of experience doesn’t guarantee a wise mind.

It seems to me that to learning and experience one must add critical thinking; an inquisitive mind that is driven by the annoying habit of asking uncomfortable questions. It’s easy to settle into pat answers and formulaic living. We buy uncritically into the assumptions of our culture and sub-cultures, with little evaluation we embrace the words of our favorite teachers or authors who affirm our own preconceived notions. We dismiss insight from those outside our own truth circle.

To be sure, critical thinking not informed by education and untempered by experience leads headlong into foolishness and a sad shadow of wisdom – ingredients for the making of a fool. A wise mind, I think, demands all three.

Wise Father, forbid that I ever settle into pat answers or formulaic living. Help me to ask the right questions; risky, unpopular or not. Guide me into healthy critical thinking, especially about my own assumptions and world view. - Mike Leamon

2009-02-05T11:22:00.004-05:00

PROVERBS 15:4

Gentle words are a tree of life;
a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

Self-Deceipt

Some dear sensitive Christians get upset when they lie to cover up a surprise birthday party but live a lie every day unaware of their deceitfulness. Methinks we strain grounds out of our coffee while swallowing the coffee maker whole. I know I have.

To deceive means to turn something upside down; to give an opposite spin on something or someone than what is true. I’m dying inside but work hard to make sure everyone thinks I’m the most alive person in the office. I struggle with sin but am relieved to know that everyone at church views me as Saint Michael. I get out of bed the same way everyone else with one of these luxuries does (feet first!) but feed the persona of being a little better than the average joe.

I’m fascinated that the proverb contrasts a tongue that feeds upside down perceptions with a tongue that offers words that are gentle, literally healing. Could it be that refusing to pretend to be something I’m not is like picking life-giving fruit off the tree and offering to others? Could it be that my risk of honesty and transparency actually feeds life in others while my deception – often self-deception – feeds death?

Word of God, you sought to reveal yourself by entering my world and you call me to live in light rather than shadows. Grant that I would live as transparent as Jesus did and that such honesty would release others to be honest about themselves. And that we both would find healing and health in you. – Mike Leamon

PROVERBS 15:17

“A bowl of vegetables with someone you love
is better than steak with someone you hate.”

Bring on the veggies!

How many times do I pursue wealth at the expense of relationships? Probably more than I would like to admit. I don’t feel like I chase after money, but I do work hard and often spend more time at work than I do with my spouse. Over time my marriage suffers. This happened last fall. I was teaching two courses via a translator and writing all the materials for the class since reading materials were non-existent. During this time our church was in the middle of a capital campaign in addition to the regular fall and winter activities. I was spending so much time at church I began neglecting my wife.

It happens so subtly, we say yes to good things but do not say “no” to anything we were previously doing. One more layer of responsibility is added to our work load creating more distance in our most important relationships. When we accumulate riches in one area of our lives, other areas will suffer. If you value relationships first, your bank account will suffer as you have less time for work. If you value money most, your relationships will suffer as they are put aside for the pursuit of money.

Balance is essential, but an understanding of what is most important in my life is the only way I can achieve a balance. If left to itself, my schedule will slowly fill with activity that precludes time with my wife. So bring on the vegetables for me, and occasionally we will even have steak.

Abba Father, you created me for relationship with you and others. Help me to balance my schedule today so my relationships are enhanced and my work is accomplished. – Dan Jones

2009-02-04T09:12:00.004-05:00

PROVERBS 14:4
Without oxen a stable stays clean,
but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.

Holy Risks
Jesus told a story that illustrates this proverb. There was a ruler who went away and entrusted his money in the care of three men. One man received $5,000, the second $2,000 and the third $1,000. When he returned the first and second men had doubled their money while the third had hid it, and gave back the man exactly what was given to him. The ruler was pleased with the first two servants and rewarded them, but stripped the third of all he had.

It seems unfair; the third man did not lose any money. He just played it safe and took no risk. The parable and proverb point to an unsettling expectation of God for his children. God expects us to take a risk with His resources instead of hoarding them and playing it safe. God expects us to use our gifts, talents, money, and time to increase His holdings in the world.

God expects us to be actively investing in the world around us. True, at times we will “lose” money, but Scripture seems to indicate the results of our investments are not God’s critical concern. God calls us to invest all we have and let Him worry about the results.

Holy investor in the world, your illustrated investment portfolio shows me how you risked it all to rescue me through Jesus. Help me to risk everything you have given me to rescue those around me. – Dan Jones

PROVERBS 14:30
A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body;
jealousy is like cancer in the bones.

Passion battles
The word translated jealousy, in other contexts means sexual passion or ardor for God. Here it means a passion to possess for myself what others have. I know this passion but wish I had never made its acquaintance.

I suppose none of us has a choice but to meet up with this cancerous creature. It’s that subtle thing called sin tucked deep into the human soul that makes our meeting anything but chance. And I suspect that this is one of those creatures that lurks around each corner long after followers of Jesus have fully surrendered their hearts to Christ and sought to be purified in love.

A genuine passion for God grants me the strength to resist the temptation to become possessed by a passion for things and experiences I’d enjoy, but am forced to leave to others. If I didn’t tithe, I could… If I had pursued another, better paying career, I could…

I could get all wrapped up in pursuing things and experiences others dangle in front of me, that advertisers tell me I need in order to be fulfilled, and that my country wants me to run out and buy in order to help turn our economy around.

Truth is, I have a settled heart. Nothing will replace my passion for God. But I have to confess that I do not always have a peaceful heart. There are times the disgusting creature of jealousy and envy breaks through my defenses and I have to re-conquer the territory.

God of Peace, I commit myself to fight off this intruder as often as I need to and will celebrate the day when you choose to grant peace to the kingdom of my heart. – Mike Leamon

2009-01-29T10:22:00.002-05:00

PROVERBS 13:23

A poor person’s farm may produce much food,
but injustice sweeps it all away.

Identifying with God’s causes

So the godly do not always prosper. This proverb breathes a word of warning amid all the other proverbs extolling the success of the godly.

It makes sense that godly people tend to prosper more than wicked people in a just environment. Godly people are less likely to throw away their money and lives on gambling, drunken revelry, drug addiction, and so forth. Godly people tend to be honest and hardworking, responsible.

But then there are the godly caught in systems of economic incompetence, political oppression, religious persecution, and cultural prejudice. In fact, God, speaking through several Old Testament prophets seems especially concerned with economic injustice. And Jesus railed against religious people who fixated on religious pet peeves while ignoring justice issues.

Churches in my denomination are receiving an offering in February called “Heart of Ministries”. The money collected will help rescue some of the 27 million slaves in the world today, many of whom live in our “land of the free”. I think causes like this one have a very special place in God’s heart.

Lord God, of all the social issues I could give to or get involved with, allow your passion for justice to beat in my chest more and more. – Mike Leamon

PROVERBS 13:7-8

Some who are poor pretend to be rich;
others who are rich pretend to be poor.

The rich can pay a ransom for their lives,
but the poor won’t even get threatened.

Contentment and integrity

Yesterday’s paper (Rochester D&C) featured an article about shopping trends of rich people during economic downturns. It turns out high end stores have ditched their designer bags with store labels for plain white paper bags and home delivery. People do not want to be seen buying expensive clothes when others are being laid off, so they pretend to be poor.

On the flip side, the catalyst for the economic recession we are now experiencing was poor people taking on loans they were unable to sustain. In an attempt to “have it all” people lived beyond their means pretending to be something they were not.

The Bible gives us a different example. Paul said he had learned the secret of being content with little and with much. (Philippians 4:12) His financial position really did not matter; it was irrelevant to his identity. Paul’s identity was found in Christ and so should ours be. Instead of pretending to be something we are not, live out your true identity in Christ irregardless of your financial status.

Lord of all creation, help me to be content with what you have given me today. Help me to live from my identity in you rather than a social status achieved through wealth, education or position. - Dan Jones

2009-01-28T11:55:00.004-05:00

PROVERBS 12:1

To learn, you must love discipline;
it is stupid to hate correction.

Perfection

I have tendencies towards perfectionism. I expect myself to perform at 100% all the time and will beat myself up when I make a mistake. I have started to become more comfortable with my limitations, but I still demand excellence from myself as I judge excellence. That is the problem with perfectionist like me; we create our own standard of criteria for critiquing ourselves. Should anyone else add to these criteria we will either reject their opinion or compile it to an ever-growing list of impossible self-imposed demands.

Perfectionists can actually have a difficult time learning. They become so obsessed with being right, when they are wrong they fall into depression or denial that inhibits the learning process. We learn the most when we apply correction to our mistakes through understanding.

Too often we think of discipline as just punishment, but biblical discipline is more teaching than reprimand. When God disciplines us He shows us something better. The telos of discipline is right understanding and acquired knowledge.

Giving up the need to be right all the time actually opens the door to more understanding. In surrendering my perfectionism, I add to my knowledge.

Omniscient Father, I admit my propensity to think I must always be right thereby making me believe I am right. Help me to appreciate my mistakes, not as failures, but as opportunities to learn. Help me to avoid demanding more of myself than you do. Teach me your ways that I may learn to walk more faithfully with you. – Dan Jones

PROVERBS 12:5
The plans of the godly are just;
the advice of the wicked is treacherous.

Are they really?
I’m bothered by this proverb, in particular the first half. Are the plans of the godly just? Is this generally true?

The Bible Belt south defended slavery declaring their cause righteous. I read recently, as part of all the presidential inauguration hoopla, that Lyndon Johnson, signing 1960's civil rights legislation, lamented he was handing the south over to the Republican party. And so it has been, even in this election.

Pollsters confirm that the majority of the deeply committed Christians (the godly?) celebrate the Republican dominance in the south and wish it to be national dominance. Does anyone mind that such dominance grew out of profound racial prejudice!

Few subcultures can claim to be more adamantly patriotic than Evangelicals fighting in the trenches of the culture wars to save our beloved country. It’s been my experience that voices critical of American history and practice are slandered as unpatriotic. We cling tenaciously to our myth of a Christian (godly?) Nation.

It is godly to proclaim “justice for all”. And many Christians have fought valiantly for this godly goal. But as many have resisted and defended the way our country treated Indians, refused women the right to vote, trapped the poor in unsafe and pittance-paying jobs while church-going Robber Barrons grew wealthy, and on and on.

Today “godly” people speak about illegal immigrants in simplistic and cold terms as if these people did not bear the image of God. We rant about shipping jobs overseas without thinking about whether or not “and justice for all” includes the whole world. The “godly” people around me who speak openly about jobs never ask if we should consider the economic impact our economic policies have on the rest of the world, the much poorer rest of the world.

The big justice issue for my “godly” peers seems to be abortion. Fine. But for every 10 words I hear about abortion I hear less than 1 about the even greater number of children between birth and 5 who dies every year of preventable causes.

The plans of the godly are just?

God who loves justice, forgive me when my pursuit of godliness ignores your passion for justice. Forbid that I would settle for simplistic answers to complex issues that would, if practiced, in fact increase injustice. Grant that I would hunger and thirst for righteousness/justice for others as much as I do for myself. - Mike Leamon

2009-01-27T11:59:00.003-05:00

PROVERBS 11:2

Pride leads to disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.

Know it all

I know some people who have an answer for everything. They are experts on everything from construction to BBQ to marital counseling and politics. No matter what the topic is they will tell you what should be done without ever asking what the real problem is. Their words bluster forth with arrogance and pride and anyone who does not do it their way is an idiot.

Needless to say, I do not really enjoy hanging out with these people. Instead of showing real concern for the things I may be struggling with, they only demean and demagogue.

On the other hand, I have accountability friends who humbly seek to understand my situations and then ask probing questions forcing me to discover my own flaws in an atmosphere of support and love. I love hanging out with these people. In fact we go on vacations with them and try to visit as often as we can. Every time I get together with people who are humble, I come away wiser.

I know what type of people I like to associate with, the question I have today is who am I? Am I too quick with answers instead of listening? Is my motif humility or pride?

God of grace, I ask that you forgive me when I fail to listen first, instead giving answers before I understand the situation. Help me to adopt a lifestyle of humble wisdom with disregard to who gets the credit. I ask that you would lift me up erasing my desire to lift up myself. – Dan Jones

PROVERBS 11:24-26

Give freely and become more wealthy;
be stingy and lose everything.

The generous will prosper;
those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

People curse those who hoard their grain,
but they bless the one who sells in time of need.

Generosity

I wish proverbs were absolutes rather then generalizations! The good always prosper, live long, inherit the land, and enjoy the “good” life. Similarly, the more you give away the wealthier you become. Other proverbs, not to mention life experience confirm that such statements are neither promises or absolute facts.

For forty nine years I’ve given freely. I have tithed from my childhood paper route to my present pastoral assignment. I’ve helped people in need, given to missions, and opened my home and life to many others in my circle of acquaintances. I’ve never been a miser.

I think, however, if I’d been more stingy with my money and possessions, my bank accounts would be much larger, despite the recent stock market plunge. Strictly speaking, giving freely hasn’t produced increased wealth. But then, my life is only just past half way finished. So who knows about future financial prosperity? Maybe some recipient of my generosity will bequeath me lots of money.

But I don’t have to wait for the future or some inheritance to experience the broad strokes of this truism. It is true, the expenses of two young adult children and a decline in income (small churches pay less than larger ones) paint my financial picture more as a landscape of mountainous, even cliffside adventure rather than a dull glassed bank on some city corner. Still, whether fat and lean, each season of my life has included the generosity of family and friends. I have enjoyed more material blessings than I need and have received refreshment from the lives of others.

Jehovah-jireh, God who Provides, in the lean times, when generosity seems less logical, keep me giving, caring, and providing refreshment to those you send across my path, from children to strangers. Forbid stinginess from ever finding a home in my heart. - Mike Leamon

2009-01-26T15:19:00.003-05:00

PROVERBS 10:19-21
Too much talk leads to sin.
Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.
The words of the godly are like sterling silver;
the heart of a fool is worthless.
The words of the godly encourage many,
but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.

Just shut up!
I need to hear these words routinely reverberate in my head and heart. Probably aught to make them into a screensaver for my computer! I make a living by talking. Talking is my calling, a key element in my personality, the defining feature of my primary spiritual gift, and the primary way I fulfill my life passion. While I like solitude with only the sounds of nature filling my ears with their music, the more I come to understand myself the more I realize I need conversation.

My mouth is the most in-shape part of my body! I exercise it daily by giving advice, proclaiming biblical truth, teaching biblical reality, active listening to parishioners (yes, this means talking with the goal of understanding what I hear), reporting, team leadership, problem solving, and more.

Sometimes I overuse my mouth. I’m too hasty to give advice or speak biblical truth into people’s lives who aren’t ready to receive it and into situations I haven’t yet come to fully understand. I fill awkward silences with words, some of which, when I look back at them, would have better been left unspoken. I’m tempted to speak beyond my knowledge or understanding.

Because I’m paid to speak countless hours every week, when it’s all added together, I find it easy to the abundance of words crowd out time needed to nurture my own godliness. I fear that many times my words have been less than “sterling silver” and more “worthless” because the man who spoke them suffered the accumulated affect of neglecting his own spirit.

So today I recommit myself to “be sensible and keep [my] mouth shut” more often; to listen more to God through reading, listening to the counsel of others, and time alone just thinking and saturating myself with life in Christ.

Lord of my mouth, grant me the supernatural gift of controlling my tongue and shutting my mouth. Increase my ability to observe, ask good questions, meditate on you, and spend time simply being. Your talkative child, – Mike Leamon

PROVERBS 10:16
The earnings of the godly enhance their lives,
but evil people squander their money on sin.

Spending that doesn’t squander
Karen and I just returned from a trip to Jamaica. In Jamaica there are plenty of opportunities to spend money on every indulgence and whim the human body can imagine. While many of these “opportunities” are exciting and fun in the moment, they often end with disappointment and shame upon returning home.

On the flip side, there were some awesome opportunities my dad and I took advantage of while we were in Jamaica that truly enhanced our lives. While there I had the chance to go deep sea fishing and golfing. These two excursions may not seem like life enhancing outings, but to my dad and me, they were experiences of a life-time. We bonded together as father and son, as well as gained an increased awe for God’s creation.

My dad’s hard work enabled us to go on this trip together, something I am very thankful for. His earnings enhanced our life with rest, relaxation, fun and learning. The work of others was squandered on relationship damaging flings and binges. Godliness should show up in our entertainment as well as in our activities at church. Are my earnings enhancing my life or being squandered?

God of work and rest, help me to use money in a way that enhances my life and the lives of others in my work and in my recreation. Keep me from squandering your blessings in sin by removing the desire for sin from my life. - Dan Jones

2009-01-15T15:26:00.003-05:00

PROVERBS 9:7-9

Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return.
Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt.
So don’t bother correcting mockers;
they will only hate you.
But correct the wise,
and they will love you.
Instruct the wise,
and they will be even wiser.
Teach the righteous,
and they will learn even more.

Avoiding unnecessary poverty

Sad, but true. “The rich get richer and the poor, poorer.”

Mockers think they know it all. So they forever mock the choices others make since those choices are obviously stupid. Driven by the need to display their vast knowledge by correcting everyone else, these folk only reveal how lacking they are. They possess an impoverished store of knowledge. They ignore the truism, “It’s better to keep silent and keep people guessing how much you know that to open your mouth and erase all doubt.”

Mockers often allow insecurity or arrogance to lock them in mental poverty. Most people, I think, struggle with one or both of these maladies. Those who overcome them, become teachable and slowly fill their mental coffers with wisdom and learning. Those who do not, remain forever unable to receive rebuke or correction, and forever impoverished.

Correction seldom feels good for me. And rebuke never goes down well. My own struggles with insecurity and arrogance guarantee discomfort. But I am determined to wisely listen to disquieting words. I want to “be even wiser” and to “learn even more”. While I don’t have to possess material wealth, I very much want heart and mind wealth.

I know people who strike back when offered even the gentlest and most tactfully offered correction. God forbid that I ever be that kind of impoverished person.

Father, you correct your children because you love them. I will accept your expressions of love. Use wise authors, mentors, leaders, friends to speak truth into my life. Help me to keep an open ear and a wide open heart. May the wisdom you have allowed me to gather during the first half of my life only multiply in the second! - Mike Leamon

(Dan's on vacation to warm weather and beaches! And he didn't take Mike with him. Now that was truly wisdom. Dan will be back blogging in about a week.)

2009-01-14T08:40:00.003-05:00

PROVERBS 8:9-11
My words are plain to anyone with understanding,
clear to those with knowledge.
Choose my instruction rather than silver,
and knowledge rather than pure gold.
For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies.
Nothing you desire can compare with it.

Common sense isn’t enough
Knowledge doesn’t automatically produce wisdom. Consider how many of us smoke, overeat, don’t get enough sleep, or say things we know we shouldn’t. We aren’t stupid but we are foolish. Still, I cannot ignore knowledge on my way to acquiring wisdom.

Everyday common sense requires at least some level of education both from the school of hard knocks and academia. However, many daily choices require much more than baseline common sense and so require a greater degree of knowledge. It takes more than common sense to enjoy a healthy marriage, experience spiritually productive relationships in God’s family, and interact productively with one’s culture. These require more learning – book learning.

So God gave us the Book. More than that, he gave us men and women with the gift of unique insight and understanding who wrote that knowledge down in an explosion of books through the centuries. He gave us people with the capacity to make discoveries about nature, financial economy, government, and so on, who share their understanding in even more books.

Problem is, even though I love to read, I have to discipline myself to make reading a priority. This blog is one tool to keep me reading God’s Word for my own growing understanding. Too few Christians read, let alone read books that deepen and broaden our understanding.

When it comes to making important decisions wisely, we fall back to what we consider common sense. Without education, however, common sense becomes simply another expression of our prejudices, misperceptions, unexamined assumptions, and ignorance.

Common sense is only a beginning point. Instruction and knowledge are better than silver and gold because they lead to wisdom.

All knowing God, may I never become arrogantly satisfied with the knowledge I currently possess. With your help, I will keep learning and broadening my understanding. I will be teachable. - Mike Leamon

PROVERBS 8:22-31 (abridged)
The LORD formed me from the beginning,
before he created anything else.
I was appointed in ages past,
at the very first, before the earth began.
I was the architect at his side.
I was his constant delight,
rejoicing always in his presence.
And how happy I was with the world he created;
how I rejoiced with the human family!

Only 1 original
I was watching TV when a commercial came on advertising a certain shampoo. This shampoo can eliminate dull hair with dandruff and flakes and replace it with shimmering, moist hair that cascades down over your head. At least that is what the advertisement seemed to be saying. However, the main concern of the advertisement was not what this shampoo can do for my hair; it was that I might be tempted to buy an imitation, knock-off brand instead of the real deal. I was assured; the original product was only available at salons not Wal-Mart.

It is not just with shampoo that I settle for less. Unfortunately, I end up with the generic brand of wisdom when I settle for anything less than God’s wisdom. Wisdom was created first by God. True wisdom, comes only from God. True there are many “venues” offering “wisdom” for sale, but if scrutinized carefully, they are all generic forms, imitations of the real deal.

As wisdom was created first, even before the world itself, there is only one dispenser of true wisdom. There is only one place where I can find 100% pure wisdom and knowledge: Jesus Christ. While generic shampoo will not ruin my hair, generic wisdom will take me away from God’s perfect plan for my life. When it comes to life why settle for anything less than the original? After all, the price on the original is better than the generic brands.

Father of wisdom and knowledge, help me to avoid deception when it comes to pursuing wisdom. I want to follow the best plan for my life and today I acknowledge that plan is yours. Teach me your ways; show me your plan for my life today. - Dan Jones

2009-01-13T09:56:00.004-05:00

PROVERBS 7:4-5

Love wisdom like a sister;
make insight a beloved member of your family.
Let them protect you from an affair with an immoral woman,
from listening to the flattery of a promiscuous woman.

(Dan and I have been independently selecting a section of each chapter in Proverbs for reflection. Neither of us knows what the other has selected until after writing our reflection. Today we happened to select the same verses. Here is a great example of how two people can take one set of words and examine it from two very different, yet complementary angles.)

Brothers and sisters

There are few relationships that rival the bond between a brother and sister. While the two of them may fight like cats and dogs, when confronted by an outside challenge they will defend each other to the death. I know it is not like this in every family, but in my family there is a strong bond between brothers and sisters.

My older sister and I are especially close. We can share our struggles and concerns with each other without feeling guilty or judged. We support each other through encouragement and accountability. There is admittedly some friendly rivalry that takes place, but when pressed, we would both stand up for the other to the death.

When my sister speaks, I listen. When she shares a concern I take it to heart. The only trouble is she lives in NC so our conversations are not as frequent as we would like.

My relationship with wisdom is much like my relationship with my sister. I listen, take to heart and respect the opinion of wisdom. Unfortunately, at times our relationship becomes distant. Instead of trying to live independently, the writer of Proverbs calls me today to move wisdom into the spare room. Let wisdom become part of everyday life. Rub shoulders with God multiple times each day.

Holy God, I desire to live in your presence each day rubbing shoulders with holy wisdom and insight. Keep me from selfishness that ignores wisdom’s whisper that I might avoid falling into sin and destruction. - Dan Jones

Good sex advice from a sexist

Okay, enough already! Four out of the last seven chapters have warned against the immoral woman. I get it. And I’m bothered.

I’m bothered because Solomon doesn’t seem to account for the possibility that the immorality lies within his son. Doesn’t it ever occur to him that his son – prince and feared authority figure – just might be the one to pressure innocent women into sex? Probably not.

So I have to practice good principles of biblical interpretation to glean God’s truth for me. First, I have to accept that God only slowly increased revelation about himself and his truth to humanity. Solomon and his “man-after-God’s-heart” father, King David, possessed a harem of wives and mistresses without God’s condemnation. Honoring women with singular loyalty and the reality that sin, including sexual sin, originates in the heart of the individual not the seductiveness of “that” woman would have to wait for Jesus and his radical insights into gender relationships.

So, second, I have to apply Solomon’s proverbs through a New Testament lens. Not only must I refuse to put myself into a situation that opens the door for a woman to tempt me sexually but, more importantly, I must guard my own heart and mind.

It’s this second part that bothers me as much as Solomon’s sexism. Most of us, including myself, need to be hammered about sexual temptation. My culture is saturated with sexual energy in which at least 25% of marriage partners give into adultery, say the polls. Newsweek reported that about 30% of male protestant pastors give in to sexual relationships with women who aren’t their spouses! (see http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/adultery.html)

I dare not fall into an arrogant mentality that concludes I don’t need four out of seven chapters warning me about sexual unfaithfulness! (Still, I’m looking forward to broadening the subject matter as I work my way through Proverbs!).

Lord God, thank you for the partial revelation you gave to Solomon and for guiding the compilers of Proverbs to include so much material warning against sexual sin. As a follower of your fullest revelation, Jesus Christ, I will use these proverbs to increase he guard of my own heart. Grant the needed wisdom that will make the second half of my marriage and career as faithful as the first half. - Mike Leamon

2009-01-12T07:18:00.002-05:00

PROVERBS 6:1-5
My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt
or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—
if you have trapped yourself by your agreement
and are caught by what you said—
follow my advice and save yourself,
for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy.
Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased.
Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.
Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter,
like a bird fleeing from a net.

Wise generosity
Sounds like Solomon wrote from experience! Me too. While this is a proverb and, as such, not a hard and fast rule, it’s true enough times to expect pain if it’s neglected.

Loaning money to friends and family or agreeing to cosign on a loan places me on the path to strained or broken relationships. Sure there may be a happy side trail we two may walk, but beware. Even when loan payments are regularly made, the dynamic of the relationship changes.

When my heart feels the pain of a friend in a financial bind, we are both better off if I just give money rather than loan it. As important, I must consider whether or not a bail out is best for my friend. If financial binds are common and result from repeated poor decisions, my gift may be the last thing my friend needs! There’s something about hitting rock bottom that offers more hope to an unwise person than the perpetual bail out.

This proverb doesn’t discourage me from generosity. It pushes me to make hard choices that will most likely benefit friendships and family harmony in the long run. These words move me beyond feeling bad to acting wisely.

Father, continue to teach me how to be generous with wisdom. - Mike Leamon

PROVERBS 6:16-19
There are six things the LORD hates—
no, seven things he detests:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill the innocent,
a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong,
a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family.

Defiant attitudes
Raising children requires dealing with bad attitudes. Every child is defiant at some point and often it is at the worst possible moment for you, the adult in charge. It is not hard to tell when a child is pushing against the boundaries trying to see exactly where the line is going to be. Their eyes, mouth, posture, and general behavior all cry out, “I can do what I want and you can’t stop me.”

As parents, we are charged with helping our children learn good boundaries and relational skills. We are responsible to address this attitude of defiance, discord, and destruction with firmness and love.

God, our Heavenly Father, does no tolerate bad attitudes any more than a good parent does. He hates arrogance, pride, destructive behavior and deceitfulness. The seven things God hates are the same things every child has to be corrected in. As a child of God, I too must learn to put off these bad attitudes and actions in exchange for the fruit of the Spirit.

It is no wonder we find ourselves in “time out” so much spiritually when we so often sport attitudes and actions that God hates. God does not reward bad behavior any more than good parents reward bad behavior in children. Instead of being mad at God, a good self-examination followed by confession and repentance is in order.

Heavenly Father, forgive me for sporting a bad attitude when things do not go my way. My desire is not to be self-centered but Christ-centered. Help me to let go of every selfish attitude and action and replace it with the fruit of the Spirit. - Dan Jones

2009-01-07T11:56:00.004-05:00

PROVERBS 5:21-23

For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness.

That Elusive Quality

This chapter can be summed up in a single modern proverb. “Think with your head and not your pants!” The sexual drive is all about choosing self-control. But then so is every physical drive that defines living in human skin.

Physical desire for food and water, touch and sex, warmth and air is as elemental and good (see Dan’s reflection below!) as the use of sight and hearing. One cannot be human and avoid the defining influence of such things. Unfortunately, the way I choose to interact with these influences often produces less human wholeness than more.

With a growing (pun intended) number of Americans I eat too much of some things – gimme more carbs! – and drink too much sugar and caffeine. I know this. And I continue. Solomon’s right. As long as I continue down this path I will “die for lack of self-control,” if by death we mean a shorter life span.

Self-control. Thou art an elusive and slippery quality. The moment I think I have you, you slip from my grasp.

Interestingly, the New Testament (Ephesians 5:22f) teaches that self-control is finally possessed as a result of giving up self control (note the lack of a hyphen!) to the Holy Spirit. The more he is in control the more I am able to control my physical drives and use them in ways that truly bring life.

I have been committed to a life of Holy Spirit filling and control. However, I need to invest more of my energy and time to the Holy Spirit’s influence if I am to possess this final and, perhaps, most precious gift.

Spirit of God, lead me to create more and better uninterruptible times each day, week, and month where I focus myself consciously on who you are and what you are all about. – Mike Leamon

PROVERBS 5:18-20

Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you.
Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
She is a loving deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts satisfy you always.
May you always be captivated by her love.
Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman,
or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?

Naked and unashamed

In Genesis we read the story of the Adam’s and Eve’s sins and the resulting shame that came when they realized they were naked. Prior to the apple debacle they were unashamedly comfortable with their nudity, but afterwards there was a conscious effort to shield their bodies from each other and God.

God’s plan for a man and wife is demonstrated in the pre-fall interactions of Adam and Eve. Naked and unashamed they enjoyed looking and touching each other’s bodies. There was enjoyment in the blessing of physical intimacy. God has created both men and women with a desire for the other. Physical beauty is appealing because made us to appreciate the body of the opposite sex.

Desire run wild reaches for satisfaction and pleasure wherever it is available. Controlled desire finds a greater blessing in being captivated by the shared body of one’s spouse. When Adam and Eve sought satisfaction in the fruit of the forbidden tree they experienced pain and shame. Seeking sexual satisfaction in anyone other than my spouse leads to shame and pain in my life.

God who created sex and beauty help me to always find my satisfaction in my wife. Help me to create an open atmosphere of comfort and joy with my wife that enables us to be captivated by the body of the other and find sexual fulfillment in our union together. Thank you for the beauty of my wife. - Dan Jones

2009-01-06T09:30:00.003-05:00

PROVERBS 4:10-13

My child, listen to me and do as I say,
and you will have a long, good life.
I will teach you wisdom’s ways
and lead you in straight paths.
When you walk, you won’t be held back;
when you run, you won’t stumble.
Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go.
Guard them, for they are the key to life.

Shoes

This time of year in New York requires certain shoes for safe maneuvering outside. I have a pair of wingtip dress shoes that are more like bowling shoes than anything else. They look fancy and are fun to wear at times, but when walking down our snow covered driveway, they become hazards to my health.

Picking out the right pair of shoes is a basic requirement for all of us. You don’t wear your work boots while dancing and you don’t wear your dress shoes when shoveling snow. The right footwear enables us to complete our responsibilities with safety and confidence.

Wisdom is like a pair of shoes. We can choose to put on wisdom or not, the choice is ours. However, neglecting wisdom is like putting on the wrong shoes. Your footing will be unstable and you will not be able to run or walk without falling. Isaiah describes the life of those that embrace wisdom in Isaiah 40:31. “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Jesus the path before me is full of different responsibilities and dangers. Help me today to embrace wisdom in all my decisions so that I will always have the right footwear to accomplish every task with humility and success through your power and guidance. - Dan Jones

PROVERBS 4:23

Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.

My Green Zone
Protecting the “Green Zone” in Baghdad has been critical to winning the war and the peace in Iraq. It’s the heart of the country, the one secure place were stable government was able to begin its long road to resurrection. What happens here has determined the direction that country takes.

The innermost part of myself, my deepest desires and loves, my sense of right and wrong, my beliefs and overarching understanding of life – this is my “Green Zone”. Solomon is correct. Everything about my life as I push the 50 year mark is defined by what I have done in this zone.

In the last couple of years a disturbing realization has hit me with force. I have watched and interacted with people closing in quickly on death’s portal. I’ve meet people who model for me how I want to arrive at that point and people who represent just the opposite of my hopes. I no longer have a lifetime ahead of me to make sure I arrive there with my hopes fulfilled. Truth is, I have a good bit less time ahead of me than behind me.

It’s time to evaluate what’s in the “Green Zone”. It’s time to make some changes. And it’s time to strengthen the guard at some checkpoints.

Lord of my life, grant me clarity as I evaluate what lies at the core of my being. Help me to see through your eyes. Help me to know what changes must take place. What battles must be fought. And the wisdom to go about all this in a way the honors you. - Mike Leamon

2009-01-05T09:52:00.007-05:00

Beginning today, we'll select a proverb from one chapter of Proverbs each day for reflection. The selections each of us makes may or may not overlap, but they will be from the same chapter.

PROVERBS 3:17-18

Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Then you will have healing for your body
and strength for your bones.

Genius

From time to time I do something that really works. To me it can even appear brilliant, and in a somewhat self-sarcastic/self-congratulatory way I will pump my arms in the air and shout, “Genius!” Karen is normally present when I do this and quickly pulls the plug on my inflated ego allowing the hot air to escape as she welcomes me back to reality.

I don’t think it is bad to accept appreciation or a pat on the back when we do something well, it is good to be affirmed. Too many people in my tradition of faith are all about demeaning themselves in a way that reeks of arrogant humility and attention grabbing pity. Accepting affirmation without becoming prideful is harder than pretending nothing you do is good. Saying “thank you” and then praising God for working through you is a better response.

It seems to me the writer of Proverbs pushes us to a healthy sense of self-esteem with a better understanding, everything we do right pales in comparison to God’s righteousness. Not being impressed with my own wisdom means not thinking I am the epiphany of wisdom. Instead, I am to recognize even my best falls short of God.

I praise God for granting me wisdom in making decisions. I also recognize the wisdom of God is what creation springs forth out of. The wisdom of God is my inspiration and source of wisdom. Instead of being impressed with the runoff, I will take inspiration from the stream of wisdom itself: Almighty God.

God of wisdom who gives healing and strength to all who tap into your stream of grace, grant that I may always be looking to you for my inspiration. Help me today to maintain a positive self-image in appreciation of your wisdom at work in me.

PROVERBS 3:11-12
My child, don’t reject the LORD’s discipline,
and don’t be upset when he corrects you.
For the LORD corrects those he loves,
just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

Receiving Correction
I’m good at correcting others. After all, I’m a preacher. I teach the Bible and help people sort out truth from error. People come to me for counsel during which I often correct misperceptions and unhealthy relational ideas and practices. I feel pangs of frustration when people are so blind to wise counsel or biblical truth that they reject it.

I wonder if God ever feels frustrated with me? I know Jesus (God!) become frustrated with the dullness of the 12 Disciples. “How long do I have to be with you before you get it!” he barked one day (my paraphrase of Mark 9:19).

Discipline involves shaping a life like a sculptor shapes a piece of wood or rock. Chop, carve, chip, and cut! Ouch. But that’s what God does with me, only with more emotional pain involved. Not only is my life in a shape he doesn’t want, it’s in the wrong shape – a sinful shape. So discipline doesn’t result in change from one legitimate shape to another (as in a rock) but in correcting a bad shape.

So is this guy whom God has called to be an instrument of correction in others’ lives open to correction himself? I hope so. I intend so. I am committed to be so. But when push comes to shove, am I?

It’s all too common for people to become arrested in that know-it-all stage of adolescence. By God’s grace I didn’t. But it’s also easy to get ensnared by the acquisition of knowledge that one only sees the inconsistencies and exceptions in all corrective counsel, and so misses the wisdom in correction. This is my danger.

Father, I want you to shape my life and correct all that is wrong. This is my commitment. So this year grant me the ability to embrace correction, through whatever channel you use, with discernment but not sophistry and with humility but not gullibility. - Mike Leamon

2009-01-02T08:46:00.002-05:00

PROVERBS 2:20-22

Follow the steps of good men instead,
and stay on the paths of the righteous.
For only the godly will live in the land,

and those with integrity will remain in it.
But the wicked will be removed from the land,
and the treacherous will be uprooted.

Beating the Odds

AIDS related deaths in Zambia has produced an epidemic of orphaned children and a plummeting life expectancy. Men who will not keep their pants zipped and a culture of male dominance has removed families from the land and re-rooted parents six feet into the earth in epic proportions. And all this in a nation that has officially proclaimed itself a “Christian” nation.

In another self-styled “Christian” nation, west and north, across the Atlantic, men and women unmarried to each other refuse to keep their pants zipped in similar percentages. Because of the accident of several cultural conditions, STD’s rather than AIDS runs amuck. So those who don’t follow Solomon’s sexual counsel in the previous verses remain in the land, only with some unpleasant realities added to their experience.

Does this mean Solomon’s observation in these verses only applies sometimes and in some places? Well, almost. A proverb, by definition, generalizes a basic rule of life. A less proverbial way of expressing the thought of these verses might be, “Taking into account broad human experience, multiple sexual partners increased the

likelihood of dying younger” contra the catchy proverb, “Only the good die young.”

I live in a culture that thinks it can beat the odds if it could just get every sexually active male, from puberty through the Viagra generation, to wear the magic prophylactic with every partner, every time. Good luck. I think Solomon’s counsel stands a better and broader chance of leading to long and satisfying life, “stay on the paths of the righteous.”

Wise God, grant me the discipline to reject ideas that would attempt to rewrite any aspect of your creation or flaunt both the specific and general ways you have designed life to be experienced. With your help, I will follow the steps of good men instead. - Mike Leamon

The path of the Righteous

The writer of Proverbs encourages his son to stay on the path of the righteous instead of following the path of the promiscuous woman, fool, or wicked. The only problem is the path of the righteous is hidden. The way of the wicked is obvious and easy to see, but the path of the godly is invisible. It is only revealed by faith. Paul tells us the righteous will live by faith (Romans 1:17). Hebrews 11 lists numerous people who lived by faith and were considered righteous.

So what are we to do? How do we follow that which can only be seen through eyes of faith? Psalm 119 helps me out. “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105) The righteous live according to the revealed will of God. The Bible seems archaic and superstitious to some, but through the eyes of faith, life and wisdom are easily found in its pages. Instead of disregarding God’s standard for the latest craze, live according to the ancient but reliable and true word of God. Good advice for us today too.

Revealer of the path of life and blessing, I ask that you would open my eyes to see your path for my life. Help me to avoid the pitfalls of deception that lie around me. Make my life an example to others of the way of the righteous. - Dan Jones

2008-12-30T10:07:00.005-05:00

PROVERBS 2:16-19
Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman,
from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.
She has abandoned her husband
and ignores the covenant she made before God.
Entering her house leads to death;
it is the road to the grave.
The man who visits her is doomed.
He will never reach the paths of life.

Seduced
The Bible is full of examples of men who faced sexual temptation. Some were successful in resisting, (Joseph) others were not (Judah). While it is easy to get caught up in the blame game, “she made me do this,” the same technique Adam used in the garden, I have found it is not very helpful. When we fall into sin, including sexual sin, we must acknowledge our sin as our own, not somebody else’s.

The writer of Proverbs places much of the blame on the seductive woman, but places all the responsibility on the young man. In a culture that loves to place blame on everything and everyone but me, we would be wise to shift our focus from who is guilty to who is responsible. I am responsible to stay clear of temptation.

The bad news is that I do not have the strength to stay clear of temptation on my own. I repeatedly face temptations that are enticing except for the power of God at work in my life. God promises that I will never be tempted beyond what I can bear, and that there will always be a way out. I cannot count the number of times where I faced temptation and God has sent another person, a verse of Scripture, a song, or an emergency that shifted my focus from the temptation back to God.

Father of redirection and escape, I thank you for sending escape routes for me to follow when I am tempted. I am so dependent on you, and you never let me down. Forgive me when I refuse your escapes and fall into sin, focus my eyes off from the temptations of life onto the Light of the World. – Dan Jones

Everyday sexual choices
Did King Solomon’s son (think wealthy and powerful prince) have women available for his sexual conquest? Certainly. Were there married women, unhappily “stuck” with a man in arranged marriages who would have longed for a night in the prince’s arms? Sure. Perhaps Tom Cruise or England’s Prince William can identify with this scenario. I can’t.

But I can identify with sexual temptation.

What do I do when a seductive female figure seeks to lure me into her internet home (I’m a heterosexual guy, so like Solomon I have to think in terms of women) or when a little understood but nonetheless powerful attraction whispers “what if” into my mind and appeals to my God-given sexual drive.

The answer is simple and straightforward. “Don’t go visiting” and “Tell yourself the truth”.
Refuse to click on the image that popped up despite the best internet filters. Refuse to interact with the “what if” thought. Put into place road blocks around sexual temptation such as accountability partners including spousal accountability. Even more important, I must fill each day with strong and spiritually healthy practices such as time in the Bible (that’s what I’m doing now), prayer, and service, and spiritual fellowship.

Telling myself the truth is as important as making sure I don’t go visiting. Solomon alludes to truth telling in his final observation, “He will never reach the paths of life”. In a culture that insists that my primary identity is sexual, I must remind myself that sexual identity, orientation, and expression, of any kind, will never lead to life. Orgasm certainly equals enjoyable, but it never equals, nor is required for life lived to the full.

I made these decisions yesterday, and the day before, and…

But those choices are gone. I must make these choices again today. In fact, as long as I live with this mortal and sin-susceptible body, I must make such decisions daily.

God of beauty and purity, by your grace and moment-by-moment strength, I will continue to make the no visiting and truth telling choices. Unlike Solomon, I will remain faithful to the wife of my youth and look to you alone for life. – Mike Leamon

2008-12-29T08:31:00.003-05:00

PROVERBS 2:12-15

Wisdom will save you from evil people,
from those whose words are twisted.
These men turn from the right way
to walk down dark paths.
They take pleasure in doing wrong,
and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
Their actions are crooked, and their ways are wrong.

Straight talk

Some people just say it like it is without taking into consideration how their words will be heard. Proverbs are like this. They state facts without wandering into the details surrounding the facts. I mean, it does not get much plainer when you tell someone, “your actions are crooked and your way is wrong!” There is not much wiggle room in a statement like that.

Proverbs are like signs, short and concise with a direct message. Warning: hot surface: Do not touch. Danger: Stay out! Sharp turn ahead slow down! Certainly every warning sign could be nuanced with exceptions and endless details explaining why, how, and when the warning is most applicable. But warning signs are not worried about the exceptions, they provide a general and direct word of advice. Heed a warning sign and you will be safe. Disregard the warning sign and danger is lurking at your door.

Wisdom is a warning sign. Stay away from those who disregard the way of God. Do not get entangled in relationships that take you into the land of danger. God has given us a built-in warning device in wisdom that alerts us to the dangers we encounter in life. Listening to the words of wisdom can save you a lot of heart-ache and trouble.

Father of wisdom, help me to listen to your warnings and disregard the macho “It won’t hurt me” attitude of pride. Confirm in my life the blessing of listening to your warnings. - Dan Jones

Coffee Filters And Bad Counsel
Our home couldn’t function without coffee filters. Wendy enjoys an occasional chocolate covered coffee bean (double the caffeine that way!) but it’s pretty difficult to drink. One of the highlights of our lives to date was a vacation to Costa Rico where we toured a coffee plantation and processing plant. You’d think we died and went to heaven and returned to earth again with the bags of coffee we brought home. But without the humble paper filter, those beans ground into powder are useless.

I think of wisdom saves me from evil people and their wrong-headed ideas because it acts much like a filter. Despite the practice of some Christians to produce official lists of banned books, and my own religious subculture who often fears letting us hear those whose paths are “twisted ways of evil,” wisdom, I think, doesn’t produce a list of “do not read” or “do not listen to” books or people.

Rather, teaching our biological and spiritual families wisdom, as Solomon seeks to with his son, prepares us to hear from the crowd that despises the truth we live by, ridicules the path we walk, and insists other paths are far more reasonable. Truth is, that crowd has something worthwhile hearing. After all, however twisted, the image of God still resides in everyone.
But how do I determine what I should embrace or reject? Wisdom.

The more I learn the wisdom of God, the better I am able to filter out the garbage, the mumbo jumbo pop wisdom of the age, and the despicable that wraps itself in candy coating. For me, the bottom-line question I hear today is this. Am I pursuing wisdom as if it were more profitable than silver, a better wage than gold, or more precious than rubies (Proverbs 3:14-15)? If I’m not, then my coffee pot fills with disgusting grounds.

Father, as coffee filters must be changed with every new pot of coffee, may I keep the pursuit of your wisdom fresh and new each day. - Mike Leamon

2008-12-18T12:53:00.003-05:00

PROVERBS 2:9-11

Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair,

and you will find the right way to go.
For wisdom will enter your heart,

and knowledge will fill you with joy.
Wise choices will watch over you.
Understanding will keep you safe.

Joy of learning

It is amazing to watch a child learn to read. When they understand the meaning of connected letters in ideas rather than just sounds it is like a light being turned on. My grand-daughter is so excited to show me the pictures that correlate to words as she is beginning to put words to letters.

Learning to read is exhilarating. I can still remember the joy of learning to read words in first grade. I enjoy learning new things to this day. Learning new information is fun and exciting. “Knowledge will fill you with joy.”

I think learning is so fun because intrinsically we are designed to seek after God. As the creator of the world, the designer of motion, space, thought, ideas, science and action, our learning reveals more of God’s creative power. There are some who deny the existence of the creator in learning, but I cannot. I will not deny learning has caused some to leave the simple truths of faith for more “rationalistic” understandings of the cosmos. But these people, I would argue, are merely substituting “chance (or some other force)” for the hand of God.

Learning opens the door to understanding. We should never be afraid of learning more. Neither should we forget who we are ultimately learning about.

Maker of the world, space, and my brain, I thank you for creating in me a desire to know. Thank you for curiosity that pushes me to explore more of the universe. Thank you for being behind every truth I uncover in my searching. I always find you, even when I do not think I am looking for you. You are a great creator. Your knowledge brings me joy. - Dan Jones

Stop seeking God’s will?

Sometimes I think I needlessly wrestle with what direction God wants me to go. My religious subculture is schizophrenic on this matter, as am I.

On the one hand I believe Solomon’s words. The wiser God helps me to become the more I understand what is right, just, and fair in any decision. Use the wisdom I have learned and I “find the right way to go.” Like Dan, I enjoy learning. Books, teachers, parents, mentors, friends, experience, and more have provided a wealth of insight. Aha moments bring me joy. The accumulating impact of learning makes many decisions obvious. No prayer needed. No seeking God’s will. Wisdom has done her job.

But we like God language in my religious sub-culture. “God told me to,” “God led me to,” or “God showed me” impress us more than, “I’ve weighed the options and this is the wise choice”. This is especially true for pastors. When I resign from a church people want to know if that’s what God wanted. When I accept a congregation’s invitation to become their pastor, people ask the question “Is God leading you here?”

If God has helped wisdom to enter my heart then the issue at the heart of every decision time really isn’t finding God’s will, but applying the wisdom he has provided.

Perhaps if I, and those who populate church pews, invested more time learning and gathering knowledge, and less time wondering what God’s will was, God would get less of the blame for just plain dumb decisions! Ironically, less of "God's will" and more of "God provided" wisdom and I think decisions that truly honor God would more dominate my life and our churches.

All-wise God, I will invest more time reading, thinking and reflecting, listening to learned and experienced voices, discovering the truth about myself and my times, and trust you to lead me deeper into wisdom and so lead me in every choice I make. - Mike Leamon

2008-12-16T08:50:00.005-05:00

PROVERBS 2:1-8
My child, listen to what I say,
and treasure my commands.

Tune your ears to wisdom,
and concentrate on understanding.
Cry out for insight,
and ask for understanding.
Search for them as you would for silver;
seek them like hidden treasures.
Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD,
and you will gain knowledge of God.
For the LORD grants wisdom!
From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.
He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
He guards the paths of the just
and protects those who are faithful to him.

The good spiral
There’s a lot of crying out going on in recent verses. Wisdom cries out to me and now Daddy Solomon challenges me to cry out for wisdom. She extends her willing arms in my direction as chapter one ends and, as chapter two opens, I am not to saunter in her direction but to pour as much energy in her embrace as I do in making a living.

Wisdom is a cycle of two actions feeding one each other. In fact there seems to be two cycles happening here. Wisdom seeks me and I seek her, and wisdom teaches me to fear the Lord and the Lord grants me wisdom. Rather than negative cycles where the parties feed unhealthy and destructive spirals, by pursuing wisdom I enter into a spiral of deepening understanding, knowledge, common sense, integrity, and fear of God.

I enjoyed a summer day at a water park in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains some years back. One of my favorite rides was a water spiral. I climbed to the top of a huge funnel into which water gushed and spiraled out a hole at the bottom. I rode that spiral several times!

I wish wisdom were a ride in which my only part is to passively ride. Instead, there have been many times in my pursuit of wisdom and my deep respect for God – a whole-hearted commitment to please him – that understanding has eluded me. Decisions have confronted me that, to this day, I am unsure I handled wisely, though I did my best.

I think there are two responses I need to make to these verses. First, I need to affirm my commitment to the lifelong pursuit of wisdom. Second, I must exercise faith in the midst of difficult choices, especially those where there seem to be only bad and worse options, that the Lord is granting wisdom even when I do not experience an obvious insight.

God of Wisdom, I need more of you, more of your wisdom. I commit the coming year to pursuing the wisdom that pursues me and will trust you to grant it in each choice I make. - Mike Leamon

A shield around me
I imagine Daniel thinking about the proverb “He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,” as he stood before the King about to be thrown into the lion’s den. Where was God’s shield now? I know there are times in my life when I question God’s protection. How quickly my faith turns to fear when I am confronted with the possibility of harm and danger.

There is no guarantee that I will not face danger or be kept from harm because I walk with integrity. Instead, I am given the assurance that God is my shield. God’s presence is there with us protecting us but not always in the way we imagine. God did not protect Daniel from the lion’s den; he protected him in the lion’s den.

I try my best to walk with integrity before God, but I am not always successful. I still struggle with sin and at times fail. I am glad God does not struggle like I do. I am glad God’s shield is not worn down by weariness, or over commitment. I am glad God is my shield and I don’t have to construct my own shield. In trusting God, I find the freedom to keep on going even when the arrows of accusation come flying. If I am right before God, I need not fear the lions.

Thank you God for protecting me with your shield of salvation. I am confident in the future and in my standing before you not because of what I have done, but because of who you are and what you have done. Help me to trust you during the times of attack and fear. - Dan Jones

2008-12-08T08:42:00.003-05:00

PROVERBS 1:20-33
Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square. She calls to the crowds along the main street, to those gathered in front of the city gate: “How long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge? Come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise.

“I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered.

“When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me. For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD. They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them. Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes. For simpletons turn away from me—to death. Fools are destroyed by their own complacency. But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.”

I am a Leamon!

Denying the truth

Every parent has dealt with a child who denies doing something even when it is obvious they have done it. Trying to avoid dealing with reality is not exclusive to toddlers. Adults are just as guilty.

Wisdom personified shouts at us imploring us to open our ears to her knowledge and instruction. She invites us to deal with reality as God sees it instead of our own perceived reality. Too many times we respond to what we perceive as real, because we allow our perceptions to become our reality. When couples struggle to understand each other, it is often because they are two different views on reality. Each is perceiving what is going on through their set of lenses and acting accordingly. Often both miss what is actually real.

Instead of creating our own reality, living in our perceptions of reality, God invites us to adopt His perspective. He gives us wisdom, knowledge, and instruction to see beyond our simplistic and sarcastic worldviews. Wisdom invites us to move outside of our “know-it-all” attitudes to a place of open learning before the author of life.

Open my eyes Lord, I want to see Jesus, open my ears Lord and help me to listen, open my heart Lord and help me to understand your Word. Please share your wisdom with me today. - Dan Jones

…and wisdom for all
Interesting how readily available wisdom makes herself. (Solomon plays on the linguistic feminine of the noun “wisdom” by imagining this quality as a woman. The Greek word for wisdom is “Sophia”.) In fact wisdom is so available that it is as if she pursues everyone. Wisdom isn’t an experience only a few well educated, deeply reflective, or amazing persons can enjoy.

My problem, and I think the problem most people face, is my attentiveness to wisdom. Who doesn’t possess the wisdom to practice a balanced diet, eat in moderation, and stay away from foods or drinks that trigger a binge. Who doesn’t know the wisdom of getting enough rest but too much sleep, or the wisdom of saying no to enough good things to keep life in balance and cut down on stress levels.

And wisdom isn’t some repulsive hunchback of Notre Dame. She’s lovely and inviting. Life giving. Rewarding. Still, I too often ignore her. I can be a simpleton is practice, complacent in unwise choices, and then wishing I had more peace – that is deep and whole-life wellbeing.
I imagine myself peering out my window, having chosen unwisely, to see wisdom standing on the sidewalk with a look of “You could have listened to me. I’m sorry you didn’t.” Me too.

God, I know you are Sophia. All-wise. You have chosen to dwell within me, even though I ignore your wisdom too often. Forgive me. Help me not only to pay better attention in the coming year, but to practice your wise words. – Mike Leamon

2008-12-05T08:24:00.002-05:00

PROVERBS 1:8-19

My child, listen when your father corrects you.
Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
What you learn from them will crown you with grace
and be a chain of honor around your neck.

My child, if sinners entice you,
turn your back on them!
They may say, “Come and join us.
Let’s hide and kill someone!
Just for fun, let’s ambush the innocent!
Let’s swallow them alive, like the grave;

My child, don’t go along with them!
Stay far away from their paths.
They rush to commit evil deeds.
They hurry to commit murder.
But these people set an ambush for themselves;
they are trying to get themselves killed.
Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money;
it robs them of life.

Mining my parents veins this Christmas

There is wisdom in years. Knowledge can be gained at any age and, depending on one’s mental capacity, rather quickly. Wisdom, I’m discovering first hand, demands a breadth of experience that accumulates slowly. Only then, sometime reluctantly and always at the point of critical mass, will she begin to reveal her insights.

So parents have the advantage over children; the previous generation over the present. Even as parents age and care-giving roles reverse, there is wisdom tucked away in their lives. Many things mask that wisdom, often tricking we children into overlooking or never looking for it. Dysfunctional relationships, clashing value systems, physical dependence, and a variety of sicknesses like Alzheimer’s all conspire to lock up the wisdom of parents like veins of gold buried deep in rock. But it’s there.

Knocking on the doorway to the 50s decade and with parents pushing and passing 70, I’m rediscovering Solomon’s admonition to listen to parents and mine for gems buried in their lives. Through the years I’ve picked up the obvious nuggets of wisdom. But I think there are veins still untapped that would make my life fuller with there discovery.

Ancient of Days, I know you are full of wisdom, but that’s a subject for another prayer. Today I desire a deeper respect for my aging parents. Grant me the ability to ask the kinds of questions and practice the kind of observation during the coming family Christmas visits that will allow me to return home with new wisdom – wisdom that ultimately comes from and honors you. - Mike Leamon

2008-12-04T08:26:00.005-05:00

PROVERBS 1:1-7
These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel.

Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young.

Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables, the words of the wise and their riddles.

Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Ignorance is bliss
Peter Pan lives in perpetual bliss in Never Land where he never has to grow up. Instead of learning correct English, and how to eat properly and think logically, he is content to stay uninhibited and free of concern in his pre-pubescent imaginary fairy-tale land.

Peter Pan is not alone; there are many people who try to live under the cloak of ignorance in order to avoid dealing with truth and reality. The writer of Proverbs calls such people fools. Only the fool despises wisdom, learning, and discipline. The fool craves unrestricted freedom and careless casualness.

Attaining wisdom requires submission, effort, and listening. There is nothing easy about growing. God does not ask us to check our brains at the door when we come to Him in faith; instead, we are invited to redirect our minds towards God. We are invited to learn, to become wise and attain knowledge. God wants us to reach our full capacity in every aspect of our lives, not just spiritually but mentally too. God invites us to explore the complex truths of this world for in them we discover more about the creator of the world and our reverence for God increases.

Creator of my heart and mind, I desire to grow in knowledge and wisdom as you reveal more of your truth to me through your creation and Word. In my pursuit of wisdom help me to grow more aware of your greatness. - Dan Jones

No shortcut to wisdom
When I think of a wise person I often picture Rodin’s sculpture, “The Thinker”. I picture a person who has thought deeply about life, experienced its breadth, and has come away with insights into successful living. I’m not quite on the same page as Solomon. I’ve missed a key ingredient, discipline. This idea comes up three times in these few introductory verses.

Solomon hopes to teach disciplined thoughts, disciplined living, and the pursuit of discipline. There is no wisdom without discipline!

Living wisely demands the ability to reject ideas and courses of actions that result in foolishness and to practice those that lead to success – the right, just, and fair. Discipline is difficult for me. After all, I’m a baby boomer.

Some of my generation have to fight living by what feels good physically. The body’s appetites rule. Me, on the other hand, I have to fight living by what feels emotionally good. Left to follow my instincts, I tend to choose those courses of action that make me feel secure, comfortable, accepted, approved, and loved. Trouble is, these are not reliable indicators of the right, just and fair.

So I can choose poorly and feel good – even spiritual – about it, at least for a time.

I need a self-disciple, or the fruit of the Spirit called “self control” that takes me beyond emotional feel-goodism. God’s Spirit has developed some of this in me. But coming to a season of reflecting on the Proverbs seems a good time to sharpen and expand this critical capacity.

All-wise God, you have an infinite and perfect capacity to act based on what is right. Grant me increasing skill to act similarly rather than out of my emotional – or physical – needs and wants. – Mike Leamon

2008-12-02T08:36:00.003-05:00

MATTHEW 7:24-29

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.

The disadvantages encountered in listening to Jesus

Listening isn’t as easy as it sounds. And it’s even harder listening to Jesus.

True listening requires full engagement with the person speaking. Just ask Wendy when she has to repeat herself. Even more, true listening involves understanding. I’m pretty good about listening to my wife, but I’m not nearly as good at “getting it”. Especially when it’s an emotionally charged discussion, I have to dialog with her in order to understand. Of course, this is true of any deeper conversation. Getting an idea from one person’s head (‘encoding’ for you communication-niks) and into another person’s head (‘decoding’) demands much time and energy.

I don’t want to invest that much time and energy in most conversations. That’s why most conversations are casual and surface. They’re easier.

But Jesus has some pretty serious things to say to me! And he’s not here for dialog. He’s not physically around so I can include his nonverbal cues (even more important than the words!) in my attempt to understand him. Worse, in a sense, he’s not even doing the talking.

Jesus’ Spirit inspired Matthew to faithfully record his words. But it’s Matthew’s recording! It’s as if Wendy told her best friend to tell me… For weeks now, I’ve been listening to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount through Matthew’s voice.

No wonder I, and probably most Gospel readers, usually only understand the surface of Jesus’ teaching - if that. Truth is, grabbing the surface and assuming I’ve got it probably hides and distorts what he’s really trying to say.

In order to truly “get it” –without Jesus actually sitting with me – requires time and energy studying, listening to insights others have had through the centuries as they’ve listened, investing time among other Christians in shared worship, learning, and living.

Most of all, “getting it” requires developing a daily sensitivity to the Spirit. He’s the one who counsels Christians in matters of Jesus’ teaching. What he hears Jesus say, he makes real to me (that’s pretty neat since the Spirit and Jesus are one!). But if I’m to hear his voice as I study, gather insights from others who have listened, and live in Christian community, I must develop a close heart and mind connection.

Father, forgive me when I rush through life without taking time to open my heart and mind to your Spirit. I have made recent decisions to open new doors of opportunity to spend intentional and focused time in your presence. Grant me the strength and self discipline to follow through. - Mike Leamon

Building codes

If you were building a beach house today, the code enforcement officer would require that you dig down to the rock and not build on the sand. You are not allowed to build a house on sand today. The Government makes sure you have a good foundation or you cannot build.

If you have ever tried building something, the code enforcer means more money. Their intention is good; protect you and your family, but their method of doing so is for you to spend more money on construction that passes inspection.

At times I wish God was more like a code enforcement officer, mandating my actions and making decisions for me, but then I realize God’s plan is much better. The freedom to build where I want and how I want helps me appreciate the better way. Since I am not forced to build a certain way, when I see a life that follows the best plan, I appreciate and give thanks for the revelation of the better way.

Buildings built right last. Lives directed by God’s word survive. I am thankful God has given us the best plan for living, and I am also thankful He does not force us to follow this plan. In this way, the plan, and the follower bring glory to God instead of grumbling and complaining about forced conformity to a non-personal standard.

Jesus, thank you for giving me the freedom to follow your advice or reject it. I acknowledge your words are the best plan for living and I choose today to live in obedience to them. Help me to understand your Word perfectly and to have the strength to follow your plan for living at all times. - Dan Jones

2008-11-28T10:23:00.006-05:00

MATTHEW 7:21-23

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

Solid miss

I was teaching a class to future pastors and had given a final assignment of preaching a sermon on a text from one of four different New Testament books. One student shared the NT text they were using as their Scripture and then proceeded to preach a message based completely out of the book of Genesis. The sermon content itself was good, the delivery was fine, and the message was true, it just did not line up with the text or the assignment. The student gave a good sermon, but received a bad grade because they did not follow the directions and preach from the assigned text.

It seems as if Jesus is telling us to be sure we know what the assignment is before we go off and begin serving. Service that is good, solid and even beneficial to others may not be God’s will for my life. God may call me to something different. Before I can serve I need to know what God’s will is. Skipping this vital step makes me an independent contractor, instead of a servant of Christ.

Lord, show me your will for my life today that I may live in obedience to what you want me to do. I do not want to do anything that is not centered in your will. - Dan Jones

Living toward the high standard

Jesus is serious about me making what he teaches the defining factor in my life; very serious. He’s gracious and patient, kind and open to receive anyone who comes to him. And he’s very clear about his purpose for all this – bringing every person into the experience of the Father’s will.

The location of this warning makes it clear that Jesus intends his teaching, especially in this sermon, to be the expression of God’s laws that we follow. Trouble is, his teaching sets an extremely high standard for obedience. So high, in fact, that I am always falling short of it.

If Jesus were a critical perfectionist I’d be sunk. There is no way I’ll enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The way Jesus handled his slow-to-get-it disciples and those sinners who came to him gives me hope. Still he doesn’t pussyfoot around his demand that following him will radically alter everything about me.

I think understanding the contrast between doing religious things and experiencing a changed life is the key to Jesus’ words. Prophesying, casting out demons, and miracles don’t impress him like they impress us. Measuring my experience of God by religious activity, no matter how good and no matter how many others think me spiritual, will only distract me from Jesus’ true intention for me.

Commitment to things like a pure heart, resolving anger, clean thoughts, forgiveness, loving enemies and the like; this sets me on the path toward the Kingdom of Heaven.

Final Judge, grant me your powerful grace to live fully open to you and what you want to make of me. – Mike Leamon

2008-11-26T09:46:00.004-05:00

MATTHEW 7:15-20

“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

Make me fruity!

Of course Jesus’ words are true. It’s a common sense reminder. But what kinds of actions does he consider good fruit? Since Jesus insists we don’t want to listen to those who do not produce this fruit then we better know what we’re looking for.

Confusion over who we should listen to demonstrates the importance of accurately identifying actions that reflect a “true prophet” – a trustworthy person who builds up rather than destroys. Church leaders have informed me that I was dangerous to their children because I would not preach that drinking a beer was sin. Others have dismissed my spiritual trustworthiness because I view “R” rated movies, read Dan Brown and JK Rowling books, or even not renewed the contract for a church staff member. If these are not actions, or lack of actions, that define good fruit, what are? What should people look for in me or I in them, in order to determine whether or not either of us are dangerous to the other?

The narrow gate verses begin Jesus’ conclusion to his Sermon on the Mount. Using three word pictures, gate, tree, and foundation, Jesus hammers home the point that he and his words are the only truth by which to live. What he taught that day on the Galilean hillside is the good fruit.

The upside down logic of the Beatitudes, the audacious claim that Jesus fulfills the entire Old Testament and then has the right to change things with words like “you’ve heard it said…but I say… ,” loving enemies and growing to perfection in that love – amazing fruit impossible to grow unless Jesus is Lord of my life. Amazing fruit that, should it be growing in any life, renders that person someone worth listening to.

Teacher about good fruit and the Power behind its production, I submit my life to you again today. Make my tree – my life – good. What you teach in this sermon will be the truth that gives shape to my life this Thanksgiving week. May my words and deeds give life rather than take it. - Mike Leamon

2008-11-25T09:41:00.005-05:00

MATTHEW 7:13-14
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

My journey into God’s amazing love
As a boy I bought the implicit teaching of those around me that only people who experienced our brand of Christianity would populate heaven. Jesus words today were one of our proof-texts. Then I began to realize that the gateway to eternal life was narrow because it was one man wide, not one Christian tradition wide. Jesus saw himself as the way, truth, and life through whom everyone must go in order to arrive at the Father’s House (John 14). Anyone who lived “Jesus is Lord”, however imperfectly or in ways disagreeable with my tradition, was a fellow traveler on this narrow road.

Then I began to notice the wide, wide love of Jesus. His words, “If I be lifted up, I will draw everyone to myself” began to sink in. The verse my narrow minded Vacation Bible School leaders led me to memorize, “For God so loved the world” had sown a seed that began to crack the rigid shell of “ours is the only way” thinking.

About the same time I fell in love with the words and rhythm of a hymn that reflected the lavishness of God’s love and his clearly expressed will that “no one should perish but have eternal life”. “Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.”

So if this is the width and breadth of God’s love, and if his will for the salvation of all humanity compels him to offer himself in sacrifice on a cross, how could Jesus teach that few ever make it? Or does he?

I don’t think Jesus meant that only a few will come to the grand party God has planned while countless more writhe in hell. As he begins to wrap up the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus insists that following him and his teaching leads to life. His is the hard way, one that often provokes harassment and persecution because it is so different from the wisdom and ways of the world’s cultures. Few people, including many who sit in church each week, ever pay the price of traveling that difficult road. Most simply don’t get it. This doesn’t mean that they never will.

Like the thief on the cross next to Jesus, dieing breaths often clear the clutter off the broad path to expose the small gate and the narrow path. Even though barely a step or two may be left to walk, in his deep and broad love, Jesus imparts faith and accepts repentance. “Today you will be with me in Paradise!”

Father, I accept your call to difficult discipleship today. I will not travel the broad path through life, leaving moral and spiritual pain and death in my wake. Help me to faithfully call others to this narrow path, and warn them of the dangers of the broad path, but without ever becoming so graceless and miserly that I give up on your love for them. - Mike Leamon

Highway to Hell, or Stairway to Heaven

In 1970 Led Zeppelin released the famous song “Stairway to Heaven”. The song describes the pursuit of eternal security and peace through reason and meditation. Everyone finds their own path towards this nirvana if they try hard enough, with each road melding into one stairway to heaven.

Nine years late, the rock band AC/DC introduced the song Highway to Hell that made it to #17 on the charts and has been classified as one of the 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll. The song describes life in the fast lane with “no more stop signs, or speed limits.” A freeway to the bottom with a destination of “the promised land: Hell.”

Both songs are accurate commentaries on the human struggle to find meaning beyond life. No matter how hard we try, we cannot create eternity. Our attempts produce stairways to nothingness and highways to emptiness. Only through the narrow gate [accepting Jesus as Lord] can we find meaning in and beyond this life. The narrow gate is easy to miss, the road is difficult and few follow its path. The road of self-determination is broad.

Karl Barth, the great neo-orthodox theologian quoted a song when asked what the greatest truth of the Bible he had discovered was. He said, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

Jesus, I thank you for loving me and providing me with the way to heaven. Thank you for reminding me it is not through human intuition or struggle that I can find satisfaction and hope, but in resting in your salvation. - Dan Jones

2008-11-24T08:38:00.002-05:00

MATTHEW 7:12

“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

A hidden truth wrapped in an obvious sentence

Perhaps no other command seems so obvious, so simple and straightforward as this one. This fundamental law of reciprocity finds expression in virtually every religion. One Wikipedia writer reports neuroscience research that suggests this “fair play” rule is hard wired into our brains.

I think, however, that the Golden Rule isn’t so straightforward as a casual reading might suggest. George Bernard Shaw captured this reality in his criticism, "Do not do unto others as you would expect they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same." He’s right, of course. For example, I’d love for you to take me out to a restaurant and a movie of my liking, not yours. And you might torture someone else by taking them to any movie!

I listened to a management lecture once during which the leader insisted he’d one-upped Jesus. His Platinum Rule went something like this. Find out what the other person would like and treat them that way.

Seems to me that this man, and Shaw, and perhaps most of us, haven’t stop to think through the Golden Rule. Taking time to discover who I am, what makes me tick, what makes me feel loved and valued, that is exactly what I most desire from others. Am I mistaken to think that is exactly what everyone would want? Beneath all the specific and surface acts or words is the underlying desire to be treated as a unique and significant person.

Trouble is, I don’t want to take the time and invest the effort to listen to others, to become a student of what makes different people tick, and to offer those deeds and words that resonate with who they are. I’m too busy living my life and dealing with my stresses and issues to have the energy, or honestly, the desire, to invest in others this way. It’s much easier, faster, and less involved, to offer some act that I, myself, would enjoy or find meaning in giving, and consider this Golden Rule fulfilled.

So I need to hear Shaw’s criticism. It reminds me of how fundamentally selfish I am.

Father, as I interact with the people around me each day, help me to develop skills of listening and observation, so that I better give to them those deeds and words that truly nourish their value and personhood. - Mike Leamon

Fools Gold

Living according to the golden rule gets old real fast if that is all we have to motivate us. I have done good to people repeatedly and all I have received in return is an expectation to keep giving. After a while you feel like a cheap dish rag, used and worn out.

It seems like most everybody is in favor of the golden rule. We even see it in public schools. However, trying to live the golden rule for the sake of the golden rule never lasts very long. We need, I need, something deeper.

I think Jesus recognized this as well. The Golden rule is not left hanging in limbo; it is tied directly to the law and the prophets. The Golden rule is the essence of the law and the prophets, but it is not enough on its own. The law and the prophets all pointed in two directions: vertical and horizontal. The Golden rule describes how our horizontal relationships should be characterized, but left unattached to the vertical relationship a horizontal relationship will never be complete.

Jesus is not saying, life is all about doing good to others and that is it. No, Jesus places this rule of thumb in the midst of two vertical relationship guides: gaining our strength and purpose from God (ask, seek, knock) and discovering the pathway of relationship to God (enter through the narrow gate). The Golden rule is fools gold if we think we can live it out on our strength. We cannot do it. But in the power of God we can actually do to others as we would have them do to us, instead of doing to them what we think they deserve.

God of all power and grace, I need your grace and power in my life to enable me to love others as I desire to be loved. Help me not to react defensively, but in forgiveness and love when others take advantage of me or abuse me. Help me understand how you have acted towards me and to pass on your great love. - Dan Jones

2008-11-19T13:04:00.003-05:00

MATTHEW 7:7-11

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Just ask

I do not like to ask for things. Perhaps that is why I struggle with a Christmas list every year. I really do not need anything. Karen and I are frugal with our money and we can buy what we need. The things I would like to have (tools etc.) I am a little particular about. I would rather wait and get a good quality tool than three cheap ones that break after one or two uses. I love to give things to other people, but struggle to ask for things in my own life.

This tendency to live “self-sufficient” meanders into my spiritual life as well. I too often find myself thinking if I would just work a little bit harder or longer I would be able to make things happen in the church. I don’t need to ask, I can do it myself. For this reason, I suffer at times with despair (depression?) when things do not go as well as I want them to. In my weakness, I realize if I had only asked, God would have provided.

Spiritual growth cannot be manufactured. Church growth, program growth, or financial growth can be, but spiritual growth is always a gift from God. It is humbling to ask God, but that is God’s desire for my life. Ask, seek, knock and then experience the open doors of blessing.

God, help me to understand my limitations not as failures, but as a gift that opens the way for you to enter into my life. Change my attitude from self-sufficiency to reliance on you. – Dan Jones

No “Do Not Knock Days”

I’m living in a parsonage right next to the church I pastor for only the second time in my 27 years of pastoring. This means I am re-learning what it means not to have much of a private life and very little personal space, except squirreled away inside and behind curtains. It’s kind of claustrophobic. Like the last church I pastored that plunked me down in the middle of public space, a few people (not many, thank God) have little conception of a pastor’s day off. Just yesterday I thought of reversing this passage and turning it into a day-off sign for my kitchen door.

Knock, and I probably won’t answer. Seek, and you’re trespassing. Ask tomorrow, and I’ll gladly make an appointment.

I am glad God doesn’t need to separate from his creation in order to be whole and healthy like I need to separate from my work, which is people from beginning to end. He’s available night and day without getting grouchy or offering muddled or tired thoughts. He doesn’t reach the end of the rope like I do. So there’s never a sign on his kitchen door begging to be left alone for a personal Sabbath experience.

I think we misunderstand Jesus when we use his words to hint that simple asking isn’t enough. He doesn’t intend to suggest that we need to build intensity in order for him to hear us and respond. He doesn’t mean that we have to keep after him because his busy schedule creates forgetfulness. I think Jesus ask-seek-know trilogy is simply a visual way of saying “I’m always available.” This isn’t a formula for effective prayer – just an invitation to share hearts, hurts, and hopes.

Neither is this an invitation to use God as servant to our wants, plans, and self-defined needs. God gives good gifts, not everything I ask for or when I ask for it. Sometimes, perhaps often, that wouldn’t be good at all. If we understood that God gives us that which is good according to his understanding, then perhaps we would give in less to the demands of needy people around us who expect us to give them what they want if we were truly good. After all, Jesus calls us to give good gifts just like the Father does.

Father, I am so glad you never need time off from me. I do, but you don’t! Help me to trust your goodness when I come asking. Thanks for welcoming me into your heart when I knock and making it easy for me to find you when I seek. - Mike Leamon

2008-11-18T08:19:00.002-05:00

MATTHEW 7:1-6
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

Just call me “Plankeye”
It’s so much easier to pick out and point out other’s faults and sins than to confess my own. And I find it rather easy to confess my own! Thing is, I consider many of the sins in others to be more dangerous to God’s Kingdom cause than my own sin.

Take judgmentalism for example. So many “spiritual folk” hammer people for peripheral “sins” or things that aren’t really sins at all (poor judgment maybe, but not sin) while they themselves display attitudinal sins like Rudolph’s red nose! Jesus hammered these rigid, judgmental kind of people.

Problem with me following Jesus’ example is that I’m not sinless like he was. I tend to hold grudges against people like this. Worse, I don’t have the same mental clarity as Jesus did, so (I hate to admit this!) what I see as dangerous and harmful judgmentalism, may, in fact, be a prophetic call to repentance and holiness.

While Jesus was fully human, I think the spiritual clarity he possessed as a fully divine person enabled him to respond with perfect appropriateness to people rather than out of any unhealthy or unresolved issues from his past. I hope the more I take on Jesus’ character that I too will have increasing clarity. But I strongly suspect that my childhood experience with judgmental Christians colors my response today. Growing up deeply imbedded in the church exposed me to plenty of perfectionism, criticism, and judgmentalism.

So, as much as it pains me, I have to listen to Jesus myself, rather than think of others when I listen to him talk about planks in “you own eye”. He’s talking about me. As debilitating as judgmentalism is, my sin is always the plank, and others sins, even the sin of judgmentalism, is always the speck.

Gracious God, you see me completely and know the ways I bring harm to your creation through my own sinfulness. Grant me the increasing ability to inspire others to leave all kinds of sins behind by leaving behind my own. - Mike Leamon

Logging
Logging is one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet. There are a myriad of potential hazards lurking for the worker who cuts corners or tries to rush. We burned wood to heat our home when I was on the farm which meant we cut a lot of wood.

Grandpa and I were team workers when it came to wood-cutting. He would be in the woods, cutting and trimming the logs and I would drive the tractor, hauling the logs out of the woods to where we could cut them up more easily. One day Grandpa was trimming an ash top and a limb snapped unexpectantly and cut Grandpa’s leg. We had to run Grandpa to the hospital where he received multiple stitches.

Jesus uses an absurd analogy to teach a simple truth. No one has ever had a “log” in their eye, but we have all had a speck of sawdust or dirt in our eyes. Jesus turns the tables on us and tells us we all have logs in our eyes that need to be taken care of.

Taking care of the log in my eye means I need to let the professional logger come and do His work. Logging is never free of pain. There is cutting and skidding and at times collateral damage. Logs often affect other areas of my life that I did not think were involved. Following the removal of my log, I am in a position of humble love and empathy for those with logs and splinters in their eyes.

Master logger, I come to you with a sharp awareness of the logs in my life that need to be removed. Come in with your logging tools and work in my life removing all that stands in the way of your will. Clear out everything that is not of you in my life. - Dan Jones

2008-11-14T08:41:00.003-05:00

MATTHEW 6:25-34
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “

And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Starlings and sparrows

I grew up on the farm and there were always starlings and sparrows flying around. They would nest in the side of the barn, eat the grain out of the grain bin and make a mess of things. So I hunted them. I tried to shoot them out of the trees, snag them in traps or board up their nesting places. Yet these birds kept multiplying and coming back, seemingly unworried about my attempts to get rid of them.

I am not proud of some of the things I did to these creations of God. Today I look back and marvel at how God took care of these creatures despite my direct assault on them. I do not know what takes place in the mind of birds, but I do know they were consistently taken care by God, often through my labors, even though I did not like them.

How ironic, that God calls us to live like the birds. Jesus does not point to the eagle or hawk, he points to the sparrow and starlings; lowly birds. It is even more ironic, that God often provides for us through the very people who would do us harm given the opportunity. But God in his mercy, (and I think humor), provides for us through the least expected ways. Worry? Why bother? Seek first the Kingdom of God and God will supply all your needs. He may even supply them through your enemies.

Lord of all creation, of birds, and flowers, and farmers, I confess I have not always treated your creation with the right attitude or care. Help me to take a lesson from the birds today about trusting in you. Show your power in my life by providing for my needs, and that, even through those who would oppose me. - Dan Jones

Crossing bridges when I get there
Dealing with the issues immediately in front of me gets complicated by the issues I anticipate in the future. What about the long term implications of this decision I’m about to make? And what if the economy turns around, or I lose my job, or my wife gets cancer? What if my children respond badly or everything blows up in my face? The list of “what ifs” can get longer than Santa’s list of naughty children. Then I become paralyzed, stressed, confused, even angry with God.

Anticipating the future is always dicey business – for me, not for my Father.

How should I deal with the issues life on this planet throws my way today? It’s useless to tell me not to worry without offering an alternative. Worry loves to swoop in when my mind isn’t focused on a better alternative!

Jesus offers the positive focus of God’s rule. Rather than asking “what if” seeking the kingdom asks “what’s right”. How would Father deal with this issue? WWJD if he were me facing this need, this choice, this painful issue? Rather than engaging in the fruitless act of figuring out all the “what ifs” Jesus would have me do what is right today and trust the flowing ripples and falling chips to him.

Doing my best to reflect my Father’s will in each decision, of course, depends on how great an emphasis I place I knowing my Father and understanding his heart and mind. My best will be a pitiful effort if I ignore God in life’s routine. On the other hand, if the pursuit of God becomes a core value and passion, I can be confident that my best effort to reflect the Father’s mind and heart will not fail.

A focus on righteousness today frees me to cross future bridges when I get there.

Father, I will live with a greater awareness of you today. I will pursue your heart and mind as they are revealed on the pages of the Bible. I will listen to your Spirit’s whispered convictions and corrections. By your grace, I’ll leave tomorrow’s bridges until tomorrow. - Mike Leamon

2008-11-13T11:47:00.002-05:00

MATTHEW 6:19-24
“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

“Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Working on Self Awareness
The evil eye darts about the land just as it did in Tolkien’s fantasy trilogy “Lord of the Ring”. Only in reality that eye often belongs to me. And I struggle to cut it out.

The struggle really is about finding the line between enjoying God’s good creation – and that of humans who express his image by creating wonderful things out of that creation – and making those good things my treasure. I look at my sports car, the two-seater that I use for all my pastoral work, and I treasure it. I love driving that thing. It’s turned hospital visiting into a delight!

While my bedroom furniture was a wedding gift over 28 years ago, and I haven’t drooled at or even desire to by a brand new set (I’m so spiritual!), I’m not sure I haven’t crossed the treasuring earthly things line anyway. I love that bed! We have one of those pillowy tops over the mattress. My pillow is, well, abundantly pillowy. After a long day, or a short day, I treasure my bed.

I am very happy to have the money to afford several luxuries. Now, Bill Gates wouldn’t consider what I own luxuries, and maybe most of you wouldn’t either, but 90% of the world’s 6 billion people would. More important, I would feel bad if my financial situation demanded that I give up what I have come to treasure.

Does Jesus consider me a servant of money because I own these things, more, because I very much want to own and enjoy them? Has my heart become tethered to earthy and temporary realities, and by implication less tethered to heaven, because I would feel bad if my income forced me to eliminate cable TV, to own only my mini-van with its 178 thousand miles, or to never be able to eat out?

I think not. But I cannot confidently (or glibly?) declare I know not. The line between enjoying the earth that is “the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof” and possessing an eye primarily for the things of earth such that money becomes my master is awfully thin and sometimes nearly invisible.

Lord of my Life, you do not want me to become a paranoid or guilt-ridden Christian always worried if I cross lines. By the same token, I know you want me to be self-aware and alert enough to detect when my tricky heart (Jeremiah 17:9) slips from enjoying the earth and its fullness to so treasuring it that having the money to by more of it is in danger of becoming my master. Help me to be this self-aware. - Mike Leamon

Plato’s cave

The Greek philosopher Plato described life through the allegory of a cave. Picture a group of people sitting in a cave with their backs to the entrance. The sun is shining through the mouth of the cave casting shadows on the back wall of the cave of everything passing by the cave. The people in the cave have been there so long they have accepted the shadows as reality. They no longer realize what they see is not the real thing. They accept the shadows as reality and refuse to believe there could be anything better than what they perceive as reality.

Plato’s point was that all we perceive through our senses about life is really a shadow of the real thing. (The conversation becomes very ethereal and existential quickly.) If we think about life in terms of Plato’s allegory of the cave and Jesus’ word about our perception of light we realize how deceptive human wisdom can be.

Millions of people in this world think they have discovered the real meaning of life in many things other than Jesus. They pursue this “meaning” with all they have and are, thinking they are pursuing the ultimate purpose of life. In the end they are hopelessly lost when they discover what they thought was light was really darkness. Jesus wants us to know He is the light of the world. He is the only one who can give us a right perspective on life that leads to fullness of life, instead of living among the shadows on the cave wall.

Father of light, guide my life with the light of life. Help me to avoid the tempting shadows that are tying to imitate the real light of the world. I desire to walk in the light each day and to no longer live in the cave. - Dan Jones

2008-11-12T07:14:00.004-05:00

MATTHEW 6:16-18

“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Motivation monitor

I wonder how much of what happens in the life of the church is actually done for God and not other people. I will never know, and it really is not my place to investigate this in others, but I do need to examine my own motives. I confess, last Sunday we had a visitor who is someone I look up to. He and his family stopped in unexpectedly and I immediately found myself thinking about the quality of the sermon, the songs we were singing and what this man would think about them. I wanted to impress him.

My next thought was the voice of the Holy Spirit convicting me of pride. I had to bow in prayer, and asked my wife to pray with/for me, in repentance for my selfish attitude and that God would help me not to “see” this man while I was preaching, but that I would preach for God’s glory. God worked in my life in that service and this man disappeared from my thoughts while I was sharing from God’s Word.

Jesus is a heart doctor not a fashion guru. He wants to hook up the heart monitor to help us check our motives in service. Serving to please the pastor, board, to fill empty spots, or because we always have, is not the right motivation. Service to God must be exactly that: service to God. Our motivational vector must always point towards God. Only then will our service yield eternal rewards.

Holy heart surgeon I continue to need your touch in my life. I confess my tendency to avert my eyes from you to others. Help me to stay focused on you in every area of my life so that you will receive the glory in all I do. Thank you for your grace and strength this past Sunday. You are great! - Dan Jones

Fasting? Pooh!

I hate fasting. I love food too much.

“Too much” are probably the operative words here. In truth, I use food as a stress reliever; bad news not only for my girth but for my relationship with God. I moved from eastern Pennsylvania to western New York this summer. Food smoothed the transition.

Lest God think that food serves only as a source of stress relief, I really do appreciate the marvelous idea he thought up – make humans to need food to survive and add a blessed bonus, taste buds! Put sugar in the earth, and rhubarb and strawberry plants, and whalah(!) strawberry rhubarb pie. What a blessing. Cocoa plants and cows make possible gooey Baby Ruth candy bars surrounded in milk chocolate.

I love nibbling on Nabisco’s Cheese Nips! Thank God for wheat, salt, and cows; and of course trees that turn into boxes to hold these tasty morsels. Speaking if grain, my wife made deliciously moist zucchini bread at summer’s end - from fresh garden zucchini! Sadly, (happily for her) she ate the last piece the other day (L) while I stood by drooling.

I love food so much I, perhaps more than many others, maybe even more than the hypocrites of Jesus’ day, should follow the example of my spiritual forefather, John Wesley. He fasted weekly. Many other spiritual giants did the same thing. Sure, Jesus defended his disciples’ lack of fasting. But I don’t think he’d defend my love affair with food.

There are many good reasons to fast. For me, the top one is probably sorting out who (what) really is the love of my life. Who (what) is my ultimate source of comfort? Do I worship the Creator or his delicious creation? Getting these sorted out not only leads to better spiritual health, but my body just might pat me on the back too.

Father, I confess that my practice of what is right lags behind my knowledge of what’s right. Thank you for your patience and for your convicting word today. Help me move to the point where I eat to live rather than live to eat. If fasting helps keep my relationship with you primary and my relationship with food healthy, I’ll fast. And I won’t mope around in misery when I do it. - Mike Leamon

2008-11-11T11:49:00.005-05:00

MATTHEW 6:14-15
“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Always a failure in need of grace!
Forgiveness defines the heart of Christianity. Only my trust in God’s forgiveness opens the door to my participation in eternal life. Trusting his forgiveness means that I recognize I am not capable of earning the right to be his child. I can never be good enough to deserve him as Father and his home as my destiny. I am his always and only because he graciously forgave and still forgives me.

No matter how much love he pours into me and no matter how much that gracious gift of love transforms me into a whole and holy person, I remain entirely dependent on his daily forgiveness. Here is one of the great ironies of the Christian life. The holier I get the more I realize no one is holy except God. With Isaiah I cry out, “Woe is me!”

So how can I not forgive those who sin against me? Sure, the more God makes me holy – like himself – the more I too will become a master forgiver. But this isn’t the context of Jesus’ words. Instead Jesus insinuates that no matter how far I mature, I am always a failure in need of grace. How can I not forgive those who fail me when I fail God? How can I not be gracious to those who hurt and offend me, when God is gracious when I hurt and offend him?

Any lack of forgiveness in me demonstrates that I am not fully relying on his forgiveness, but on a combination of his grace and my own merits. Somehow I am not as desperate for his forgiveness as you are. So, from my slightly or significantly better position than yours, I won’t forgive you. You are less deserving than I.

I know this feeling. I get very angry and unforgiving of those who I perceive hurt the church and who hurt me as a pastor. Those jerks! Don’t they see what they are doing? They are so judgmental, so rigid and pharisaical, so arrogant, so stupid. By resisting forgiveness, my actions call out, “I’m not as much a jerk as these – my sins aren’t as bad as theirs! But alas, they are. And I am just as desperate for God’s grace as they are. Whether or not they see this reality doesn’t matter. Jesus has spoken and revealed this reality to me. Now I must choose.

Grand Forgiver, truth is, I struggle with the sinful attitude of superiority – that somehow I am less in need of your forgiveness than several others. I am sorry and repent again of this attitude. Grant this sinner the grace to forgive other sinners, even and especially the ones I perceive as possessing a holier than thou attitude; those whose sin is a mirror of my own. – Mike Leamon

Forgiven to forgive

Forgiveness to me is always an act of God. I cannot truly forgive from the heart without holding it over the person I forgave without the work of God. I experience God’s forgiveness and grace and then am asked to pass along that work of grace to others. I become a conduit of God’s forgiveness into the live of others.

In the Catholic tradition you go to the priest for absolution (forgiveness) of sins. The priest acts as a conduit of God’s forgiveness into the confessor’s life. I do not believe you have to go to a priest to receive forgiveness (we have direct access to God through Jesus Christ), but I do think God wants us to be “priests” to others. God asks us to be conduits of forgiveness for other people.

This is such an important aspect of our faith, that to fail to forgive others, (be a conduit of God’s forgiveness and grace) is to stop the flow of God’s forgiveness into your own life. Perhaps our failure to forgive others is a demonstration of pride and self-righteousness. (They owe me, I did not do anything wrong, they need to realize how wrong they are and come repent to me.) Attitudes like this lead us away from repenting our sins to God and receiving his forgiveness.

God of forgiveness and grace I confess I am in need of your forgiveness. Help me to see how much I need you, and in return recognize my need to forgive others as an act of receiving your grace. I want to be an open conduit of grace and forgiveness today. - Dan Jones

2008-11-10T08:56:00.003-05:00

MATTHEW 6:5-13

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.

Cliff Note Prayer

When I was a boy we would stay at Grandma’s house when my mom and dad were out of town. Staying at Grandma’s was not all that exciting because they just lived down the road, so we saw my grandparents all the time. When you stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, you participated in devotions with them. My grandparents faithfully read from the daily bread for years. The devotion would not take all that long, but the prayer following the devotion was another story. If it was Grandpa’s turn to pray we were normally done in less than 15 minutes for the whole devotion. If it was Grandma’s turn to pray, the devotion took 20-30 minutes. Grandma was a long prayer.

There are some people in the church who can really pray. When they pray, it is poetic and beautiful. I wish I could pray this way sometimes. This is how grandma prayed. Her prayer was like a King James Version Psalm 119. Nothing and no one was left out either.

I appreciate my grandmother’s prayers still today. I know she prays for me and the church I pastor every day. I also know God answered grandpa’s prayers as readily as grandma’s prayers. If you have the gift to pray with poetic finesse do so. If you do not have that gift; no problem. God does not need flowery words. The Lord’s Prayer is short and to the point. Like Cliff Notes, it gets the job done with brevity and candor, yet with humility and submission. Pray from the heart, pray with honesty, pray with an open heart to God, and God will bless your prayer. Remember your prayer is directed to God not other people.

Lord Jesus, I pray this morning you will tune my prayers to sing your praise. Teach me to pray again today. - Dan Jones

Healing in its proper context

I like this prayer. It’s short, without any hint of long boisterous sessions that drag on for hours. It’s simple, focusing on a few essentials rather than a laundry list of wants or demands. Then again, it’s rather different from the way I’m used to praying.

I have a tendency to pray mostly for physical healings. In fact, sometimes I get louder and a bit repetitious when praying for a healing, almost as if God were deaf or a little slow. And I’m not the only one. Attending pastor’s prayer and fast retreats is like riding ocean waves of long prayer sessions that flow with loud and intense beseeching and ebb with quiet murmurings, only to swell again with the next need.

I’m taken aback by Jesus’ apparent lack of specific concern for physical wellbeing. He only guides us to pray for one day’s worth of food! And that’s it for physical needs. So much for asking big and believing large! When people want me to pray for them it is almost always about some physical issue. I’m seldom asked to pray for bigger picture issues like God’s rule, forgiveness of sin, or spiritual victories over the Tempter.

Could it be that these bigger picture issues are where most physical needs get addressed indirectly? Part of God’s kingdom rule on earth is a healthy and whole lifestyle – personally and in the culture – that will certainly lead to healthier bodies and adequate food. Forgiveness that opens the door to restoring broken relationships and inward peace plays a huge role in physical wholeness! Victories over temptation free us from destructive addictions and lead to moderation in all things – health.

So maybe Jesus was just as concerned about my physical wellbeing in this model prayer as he was in his own practice of healing people’s broken bodies. It’s just that he’s as concerned about preventing physical breakdown as he is in healing after the breakdown.

All wise God, forgive me for being too narrow in wanting healing without a total life change. Help me to realize that healing is a whole life issue of your rule, forgiveness, and victory over temptations. I’m going to pray more for those things. – Mike Leamon

2008-10-30T12:30:00.003-04:00

MATTHEW 6:1-4

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Why do I do good?

Once again rigid literalism often distorts this teaching into something Jesus never intended. He didn’t forbid or discourage public recognition that affirms and thanks. He wasn’t insisting on super secrecy even from those who receive the good deed. If so, this teaching would negate his earlier words, “Let your good deeds shine out for all too see.”

Jesus addressed the attitude of the good deed doer. I think he was talking about these kinds of attitudes. “They don’t appreciate what I do for them so I’m done.” “I’ve given so much and then they treat me this way!?” “I’ve earned the right to have a say in what goes on around here with all that I’ve given and sacrificed!” “I didn’t get a ‘thank you’ so no more gifts for him.”

Jesus calls me to good deeds for one reason, to honor God. He’s got an uphill battle on his hands to help me reach this calling. We do good for a host of other reasons that distort relationships, devalue others, and ultimate shrivel my soul.

We buy love with our good deeds. We bolster low self esteem. We manipulate and control others. We pursue enough good to offset our bad. These kinds of motivations sabotage every good deeds, turning them into acts that dishonor God and ultimately turn others away from him rather than draw them into praising God (Matthew 5:16).

God calls me to generous charity regardless of the response others give. In my setting this means being a generous pastor, whether or not the people to whom I give my energy, spirit, money, or talents respond with authentic appreciation or any hint of understanding my sacrifice. In fact, it doesn’t matter if others respond negatively and walk away. I give, and give some more, only to honor God.

But alas, my motives for giving get mixed up too. Doing good purely out of honoring God is yet another high calling, yet another opportunity to fall short, and yet another opportunity to experience God’s grace and patient transformation of my deepest self.

Patient God, I commit myself to honor you in all that I do and grow to the point that my only motive is honoring you. I trust you to purify my heart in every way. - Mike Leamon

Talk show charity

This past year Oprah hosted a TV show called the big give. Contestants were given money they then had to give away to people in need. The winner of the show was the person who gave away the most money in a way that kept giving.

Celebrities give away money all the time, but it normally comes with a press conference. Jesus does not seem to condemn this type of giving; instead he presents a better way. Give in such a way God will reward you not others. It appears Jesus is encouraging us to give in a way that points the attention away from us towards God and others.

Could it be that Jesus is talking more about the heart of the giver than the visibility of the gift? Some gifts are impossible to give in secret, but can be given with a heart of humility. The motivation and spiritual orientation behind the gift need to be directed towards God, who then blesses. When we give with the focus on us, our reward is received in the praise of people. God’s blessing always gives longer and better than human blessing.

Giver of the first and best Gift, help me to give in such a way that you are glorified and others are served. Purify my heart that every motive and sacrifice I make in giving would be birthed out of a heart of love for you and your people. - Dan Jones

2008-10-29T10:12:00.003-04:00

MATTHEW 5:43-48

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

My enemies reveal my sin
I really don’t like this one. It pushes my rebellion button so that I flare up and walk away from Jesus the way he rich man did when told to sell everything.

I know Jesus built this entire set of teachings around hyperbolic speech. (He’s making his point by deliberate overstatement.) So I do not think Jesus is against killing some enemies in some wars any more than he is against divorcing an abusive spouse, getting angry at an unfair boss, or preventing an intruder from harming my family. But –

While bin Laden should be brought to justice, I don’t want to love him or treat him kindly. Forget capturing him alive and life imprisonment! Blow his fanatical brains out. Can I get an amen?! But loving enemies of my country isn’t my biggest problem here. I don’t have any power over what the government does to them.

I feel like running away from the personal implications of this teaching. It’s people who were friends, fellow Christians, and partners in ministry but who treated me unfairly – who acted out the role of enemy – these are the ones I want nothing to do with. I don’t want to bother confronting them (they wouldn’t get it anyway) and I don’t want to treat them kindly (they would think everything is hunky-dory). Truth be told, I’d just as soon God not send any sunshine on them.

I know Jesus isn’t teaching that I need to submit myself to ongoing misuse as if I had some sick need for emotional pain. A healthy person doesn’t get cozy with those who place themselves in the role of enemy. Still, even in emotional and often physical distance, Jesus calls me to do and say things that build up my enemy. He calls me to kind acts and words on their behalf. He calls me to pray for their spiritual renewal and blessings.

Father of Love, I confess I am a sinner. I struggle to follow you in this teaching. My words and thoughts about some people are anything but kind. In my own offence I see only the jerky actions rather than your potential in these people. Be gracious to me, even while I am less then gracious to my enemies. Help me to turn away from self and toward you. - Mike Leamon

Fully evolved
If you attend a public school today you will no doubt learn in biology class that we “evolved from primordial slime into human beings over millions of years.” This evolutionary process leaves God completely out of the picture or at best relegates Him to some explosive deistic force. Evolution teaches us we are continually moving towards a more complete and perfect species through natural selection.

Escape with me back to a Biblical viewpoint. The world and all that is contained within it, and outside of it, is created by God. Looking at humanity, I do not see a moralistic progression. I can observe technological improvement and advancements in our capabilities. I do not see us moving towards perfection on our own.

Jesus told his disciples, be perfect like God is perfect. The Greek word Jesus used is (teleios) or “fully developed in a moral sense”. Jesus calls us to become like the creator. To fully express the Imago Dei in our lives. The problem is: this is impossible on our own. We cannot become perfect. All our progression has accomplished is to create more and varied ways of perpetuating the same carnality we have struggled to overthrow since the fall. The reason is that we do not become perfect through evolution, we become perfect through transformation. Jesus’ expectation for us is only possible through the indwelling and work of the Holy Spirit.

Creator and sustainer of all life, I acknowledge my total dependency on you in moving towards perfection. Help me to become more and more like Christ in every area of my life through your transforming power. - Dan Jones

2008-10-27T12:43:00.003-04:00

MATTHEW 5:38-42

“You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.

Extreme love

I am challenged by this passage of scripture when I take it to heart in every area of my life. I have never been sued and no one has taken my coat from me. I have given my coat to people but I initiated the action, not them. I have helped people out, but they were grateful for my help, not demanding it. The examples Jesus uses here are too far removed from our society to make us feel squeamish. The problem is we do not apply the principle to the other parts of our lives.

What if Jesus had said, if your neighbor asks you to watch her kids after school one day you should volunteer to watch them two days. If a guy without a job borrows your car to go grocery shopping one day, let him have your car two days a week while you ride the bus to work. If the lady on welfare asks for gas money, fill her tank. I think these examples would have brought the passage to light for our lives.

Treating hostile soldiers generously and giving my shirt in court are not part of my life. Giving to people who lie about their needs, are complacent about finding work, or need help in ways I don’t enjoy serving, are real aspects of my life. This passage is more about our attitude and willingness to be radically different from the world around us in showing love to others. Turning the other cheek just became a lot more real to me.

Jesus, I confess my attitude stinks at times when I see others taking advantage of me. I get offended that they are enjoying something I should be enjoying. Father, help me to give joyfully with a cheerful attitude even to those who abuse my help. - Dan Jones