“How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.” -Ps. 128:1
Here it is, not even two weeks into the new school year, and already I’ve seen tears; and not from young kindergarten students on their first day away from home. These are moms, and probably there are some dads as well stifling the emotion welling up within them. The carefully nursed expectations of the new year are suddenly dashed as students come face to face with the brick walls of reality. School can be tough. Friendships fragile. Shortcomings revealed. And the grass on the other side of some imaginary fence all of a sudden is ablaze with a vibrant green.
For those with struggles straight out of the gate, I am moved with compassion. Hard starts are discouraging. But if the book of true confessions were written, there are plenty of doubts hanging out in everyone’s anxiety closet. Yes, every family in school, every parent, every student, every husband or wife has one. I have one. It is part of our nature to dwell on the dark side at times, and when we do we see nothing but warts and wrinkles, imperfections and weaknesses, mistakes and fears.
Is the future ahead one of promise or peril? Given our propensity for bad news, we generally fear the worst. The daily news seems to just reinforce our preconception of things sliding down a slippery slope into the abyss of no return. Just thinking about where we are headed can conjure up depressing images something akin to John’s Revelations. But how much of that is fed by a media cycle that feeds upon the bizarre and the sensational? And is there any good news?
I was pleasantly surprised to find that there is. A Christian sociologist from the University of Connecticut, Bradley Wright, has come out with a book entitled, “Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites …and Other Lies You’ve Been Told.” He has explored some modern, commonly held conceptions and found them to be more urban legend and myth than truth. Myth#1: Christians have a higher divorce rate than non-Christians. He did the research and found that evangelicals and those who have greater rates of church attendance are not as likely to go through divorce. Myth#2: Young evangelical youth are leaving the faith in droves. He compared youth of today with the youth of their grandparent’s era and found roughly the same trends. The young are always less religious than the old. In fact, church attendance in the 20th century was greater than in the 19th century. Myth #3: Abstinence programs don’t work. Prof. Wright found that there is a significant correlation between church attendance and abstinence among unmarried youth. Myth #4: There is more poverty and hunger today than ever before. Actual case is that hunger has decreased, but our immediate awareness of what does exist is up significantly. Myth #5: Totalitarianism is on the rise. Truth is that democracy has significantly increased over the past 50 years and is still growing. Besides the obvious tabloid journalism, Christians are partly to blame for our tendency to pick up the black flag of world demise and point to end times near at hand.
We have an enemy that loves to do the same within the looped memories of our minds. He loves to replay my failures and projected fears which are many. But Ps. 128 arrested my attention this week with its beautiful promises of blessing for those who fear him. My marriage and family are far from perfect, but I can unquestionably see how these promises have come to fruition in my life. All of a sudden I am looking at good news instead of bad. My wife has been a fruitful vine, my children like olive plants. I have eaten of the fruit of my hands, and I have lived to see my children’s children. The Lord has blessed from Zion in spite of tears, stumblings, mistakes, and numerable shortcomings. Perhaps we fail to see the prosperity of our Jerusalems because we fail to look for it. May we look for the good news and find cause to be grateful.
Mercy and Truth, Mr. Moe
Friday, August 26, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Ghostly Mountains
“As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people….” –Ps. 125:2
Yes, I continue to be amazed at the capability of good people, educated people, even good church people, to self-destruct. All we like sheep have gone astray. It is our nature to wander away from the flock and the good shepherd into places we ought not to go. Heedless of danger, we are drawn this way and that by seemingly small and inconsequential enticements that isolate us from our community and expose us to the merciless elements. In the full light of day the dangers are not apparent, but soon the darkness falls about us as compromise leads to habit and habit to fatal addiction. Then the howl of the night reveals our vulnerability as, alone, we face the predatory beasts who easily have their way with us. And to our naïve surprise we discover we are no match for them. Easy pickings for the prince of darkness. Family ties are no defense. Education of no use. Intelligence checkmated. Experience of years for naught. Sophistication and status irrelevant. We are lambs to the slaughter.
But this is a most dreary and morose theme. I dwell on it occasionally as a check to my pride. I am never so smart or wise that moral disaster cannot overtake me. When I think I stand I need to take heed lest I fall. Yet there is another side to this coin. It is one I need to keep before me as well, and it is nothing but good news. We have a shepherd who neither sleeps nor slumbers and knows each of his flock by name. Indeed, we have a keeper who joys over us with singing (Zeph. 3:17). And that keeper is none other than the Lord God who made heaven and earth. No Hollywood super hero or beneficent, powerful transformer can compare to this eternal force in the heavens who counts us as his own.
Besides my fixation with our own inherent human weakness this summer, I have also been pre-occupied with mountains as well. Being face to face with these giants of the earth inspires a sense of reverence and wonder. So when I read of God surrounding his people as the mountains surrounding Jerusalem, I have some very awesome pictures in my mind stemming from my experiences standing amidst the western range of the great Rocky Mountains. One has to pick one’s approach to these mountains carefully as they are formidable barriers to the traveler. We followed trails discovered years ago; trails that would grant access to the carefully secluded lakes and valleys that thrill the visitor with grand views and inviting landscapes. It is there, in these secluded valleys that campgrounds, inns, and even grand hotels love to make their home. These are dead end roads that proudly declare, “End of the line. No other way in or out.” There is something sweetly comforting about being nestled in one of those sheltered coves. Not even great storms have easy access to these havens ringed about with walls of stone thousands of feet above.
So, too, Scripture declares a haven to the soul. Those who trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abide forever. And as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people. I take great comfort in this as I walk a very narrow path. Yes, I see others falling by the wayside succumbing to a thousand follies. Yet, if I trust and abide in the Lord, I will not fear even if a thousand shall fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand. It shall not come near me (Ps. 91:7). My eternal soul is secure and safe. The souls of my children can be secure and safe. So long as I continue to trust in the Lord and dwell under the shadow of His wings, I will not be moved.
This world is hazardous beyond our imaginations or the scope of any government to fix. Yet through a life of faith, we can live surrounded by the most majestic of peaks of God’s care and provision. Oh, that we could catch a glimpse of them now and again.
Mercy and Truth, Mr. Moe
Yes, I continue to be amazed at the capability of good people, educated people, even good church people, to self-destruct. All we like sheep have gone astray. It is our nature to wander away from the flock and the good shepherd into places we ought not to go. Heedless of danger, we are drawn this way and that by seemingly small and inconsequential enticements that isolate us from our community and expose us to the merciless elements. In the full light of day the dangers are not apparent, but soon the darkness falls about us as compromise leads to habit and habit to fatal addiction. Then the howl of the night reveals our vulnerability as, alone, we face the predatory beasts who easily have their way with us. And to our naïve surprise we discover we are no match for them. Easy pickings for the prince of darkness. Family ties are no defense. Education of no use. Intelligence checkmated. Experience of years for naught. Sophistication and status irrelevant. We are lambs to the slaughter.
But this is a most dreary and morose theme. I dwell on it occasionally as a check to my pride. I am never so smart or wise that moral disaster cannot overtake me. When I think I stand I need to take heed lest I fall. Yet there is another side to this coin. It is one I need to keep before me as well, and it is nothing but good news. We have a shepherd who neither sleeps nor slumbers and knows each of his flock by name. Indeed, we have a keeper who joys over us with singing (Zeph. 3:17). And that keeper is none other than the Lord God who made heaven and earth. No Hollywood super hero or beneficent, powerful transformer can compare to this eternal force in the heavens who counts us as his own.
Besides my fixation with our own inherent human weakness this summer, I have also been pre-occupied with mountains as well. Being face to face with these giants of the earth inspires a sense of reverence and wonder. So when I read of God surrounding his people as the mountains surrounding Jerusalem, I have some very awesome pictures in my mind stemming from my experiences standing amidst the western range of the great Rocky Mountains. One has to pick one’s approach to these mountains carefully as they are formidable barriers to the traveler. We followed trails discovered years ago; trails that would grant access to the carefully secluded lakes and valleys that thrill the visitor with grand views and inviting landscapes. It is there, in these secluded valleys that campgrounds, inns, and even grand hotels love to make their home. These are dead end roads that proudly declare, “End of the line. No other way in or out.” There is something sweetly comforting about being nestled in one of those sheltered coves. Not even great storms have easy access to these havens ringed about with walls of stone thousands of feet above.
So, too, Scripture declares a haven to the soul. Those who trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abide forever. And as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people. I take great comfort in this as I walk a very narrow path. Yes, I see others falling by the wayside succumbing to a thousand follies. Yet, if I trust and abide in the Lord, I will not fear even if a thousand shall fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand. It shall not come near me (Ps. 91:7). My eternal soul is secure and safe. The souls of my children can be secure and safe. So long as I continue to trust in the Lord and dwell under the shadow of His wings, I will not be moved.
This world is hazardous beyond our imaginations or the scope of any government to fix. Yet through a life of faith, we can live surrounded by the most majestic of peaks of God’s care and provision. Oh, that we could catch a glimpse of them now and again.
Mercy and Truth, Mr. Moe
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Lifting Eyes Unto the Hills
“He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever.” –Ps. 104:5
I walked among the mountains of the U.S. and Canadian Rockies this summer, and it troubled my mind as much as it soothed my spirit. I stood on varied colored sedimentary rock that once sat under ancient seas. I was told they were millions of years old and were slowly laid down layer upon layer under alternating shallow and deep oceans. I could see where there were cracks in one layer where the silt had dried under a hot sun and split open into a spider web pattern. These were then subsequently filled in with other material leaving a graphic picture of prehistoric dried mud. Then these sea beds were thrust upwards thousands of feet forming the purple mountain majesties we find so captivating. Following that, the glaciers went to work carving out the valleys and lakes. This, of course, took another few million years. And in the process, we were given a dramatic cross cut view of the mountain itself with its undulating layers pushed up at odd angles. Each layer represented another eon of time for natural processes to complete their work.
Or did it? Old earth, new earth? Which is it? Is the earth billions of years old with its story undeniably written and recorded in rock and stone? It will be one of my first questions when arriving in heaven. I really would like to know. Of course, once there, our questions which we hold so dear will probably seem quite trivial. I still can’t help but ponder this question of earth age. It compelled me to try to reconcile this with Scripture.
I went not to Genesis but to the Psalms to read of God’s hand in creation. In the poetic I hoped to find clues to the graphic. Poetry reaches beyond the concrete and portrays reality in a way that plain narrative cannot. There I found that God was “the one who by his strength established the mountains” (Ps. 65:6). I saw a picture of great convulsions in nature in Ps. 77 where the earth trembled and shook as God moved through the sea following a path through the great waters. Ps. 95 talks of the depths of the earth, the heights of the mountains, and all the seas as being in His hands as He formed the dry land. Ps. 97 tells us that the earth trembles before the Lord and that the mountains melt like wax before His presence. But most graphically, Ps. 104 describes the processes of creation where messengers of wind and fire were involved in setting the earth on its foundation so that it should never be moved. Waters covered the earth as a garment and stood above the mountains. At God’s rebuke the waters fled, the mountains rose, and the valleys sank down to the place He appointed for them. It all sounds very cataclysmic over a much shorter period of time.
And why mountains? They are pretty to look at but nothing can grow on them nor can anyone live there. Did God put them there for pure variety’s sake? I was thrilled to learn that they have a very real purpose. As I stood on a glacier of 1,000 feet thick ice beneath my feet, I learned that 75% of the world’s fresh water comes from glacial run off. The mountains serve a life-giving function in capturing and storing up the winter snows, compacting them to ice, and then slowly releasing them to water the earth. Even the atheist is compelled to admit that the earth seems to be ideally suited to sustain human life. Almost by design. Imagine that. And the mountains have their place in this grand scheme.
As to their age, that mystery is still not known. But I do know that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter (Pro. 25:2). And in His wisdom He has decreed that the just shall live by faith during our sojourn on this earth. I reserve the right to hold the processes of "millions of years" with some serious suspicion. God the creator has veiled his presence from us, to keep us walking by faith and not by sight. And in creation, He has covered His own tracks quite well. He might even be just a bit downright "unscrupulous" in leaving a trail of evidence that would disguise his hand in all of this. The secular scientist has no way of admitting to the agency of a God who can touch the mountains and make them smoke. He can only theorize natural causes. He believes only what he can see. We believe so that we can see.
The unbeliever looks and proudly assures himself that this is a self-made universe so he can declare himself the resident in-charge landlord and sole proprietor. At the bottom, this is nothing more than your garden-variety mutiny in the vineyard (Luke 20) dressed up in the white smock of a learned geologist.
Mercy and Truth,
Mr. Moe
I walked among the mountains of the U.S. and Canadian Rockies this summer, and it troubled my mind as much as it soothed my spirit. I stood on varied colored sedimentary rock that once sat under ancient seas. I was told they were millions of years old and were slowly laid down layer upon layer under alternating shallow and deep oceans. I could see where there were cracks in one layer where the silt had dried under a hot sun and split open into a spider web pattern. These were then subsequently filled in with other material leaving a graphic picture of prehistoric dried mud. Then these sea beds were thrust upwards thousands of feet forming the purple mountain majesties we find so captivating. Following that, the glaciers went to work carving out the valleys and lakes. This, of course, took another few million years. And in the process, we were given a dramatic cross cut view of the mountain itself with its undulating layers pushed up at odd angles. Each layer represented another eon of time for natural processes to complete their work.
Or did it? Old earth, new earth? Which is it? Is the earth billions of years old with its story undeniably written and recorded in rock and stone? It will be one of my first questions when arriving in heaven. I really would like to know. Of course, once there, our questions which we hold so dear will probably seem quite trivial. I still can’t help but ponder this question of earth age. It compelled me to try to reconcile this with Scripture.
I went not to Genesis but to the Psalms to read of God’s hand in creation. In the poetic I hoped to find clues to the graphic. Poetry reaches beyond the concrete and portrays reality in a way that plain narrative cannot. There I found that God was “the one who by his strength established the mountains” (Ps. 65:6). I saw a picture of great convulsions in nature in Ps. 77 where the earth trembled and shook as God moved through the sea following a path through the great waters. Ps. 95 talks of the depths of the earth, the heights of the mountains, and all the seas as being in His hands as He formed the dry land. Ps. 97 tells us that the earth trembles before the Lord and that the mountains melt like wax before His presence. But most graphically, Ps. 104 describes the processes of creation where messengers of wind and fire were involved in setting the earth on its foundation so that it should never be moved. Waters covered the earth as a garment and stood above the mountains. At God’s rebuke the waters fled, the mountains rose, and the valleys sank down to the place He appointed for them. It all sounds very cataclysmic over a much shorter period of time.
And why mountains? They are pretty to look at but nothing can grow on them nor can anyone live there. Did God put them there for pure variety’s sake? I was thrilled to learn that they have a very real purpose. As I stood on a glacier of 1,000 feet thick ice beneath my feet, I learned that 75% of the world’s fresh water comes from glacial run off. The mountains serve a life-giving function in capturing and storing up the winter snows, compacting them to ice, and then slowly releasing them to water the earth. Even the atheist is compelled to admit that the earth seems to be ideally suited to sustain human life. Almost by design. Imagine that. And the mountains have their place in this grand scheme.
As to their age, that mystery is still not known. But I do know that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter (Pro. 25:2). And in His wisdom He has decreed that the just shall live by faith during our sojourn on this earth. I reserve the right to hold the processes of "millions of years" with some serious suspicion. God the creator has veiled his presence from us, to keep us walking by faith and not by sight. And in creation, He has covered His own tracks quite well. He might even be just a bit downright "unscrupulous" in leaving a trail of evidence that would disguise his hand in all of this. The secular scientist has no way of admitting to the agency of a God who can touch the mountains and make them smoke. He can only theorize natural causes. He believes only what he can see. We believe so that we can see.
The unbeliever looks and proudly assures himself that this is a self-made universe so he can declare himself the resident in-charge landlord and sole proprietor. At the bottom, this is nothing more than your garden-variety mutiny in the vineyard (Luke 20) dressed up in the white smock of a learned geologist.
Mercy and Truth,
Mr. Moe
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