Urgent vs. Important

Count me among those who start a blog and then get too "busy" untiil several months have gone by. Unfortunately for me, this doesn't just apply to blog writing. It applies to my prayer life. It applies to the attention I give to those I love. I don't want to think about what else it might apply to.


Why must the important tasks give way to the urgent ones? We HAVE to get the church newsletter out by Tuesday so my column must be written by noon Monday; ergo praying about the Sunday events MIGHT get done by 3pm. Gads, how often have I listened to Sister S vent about her family issues yet later find myself drifting while my wife talks about her day. Hauled a load of church garbage to the dump because all our cans were full, trash wouldn't be picked up for 3 days, and I own a pickup; hadn't spoken to my son in 2 weeks. Tasks that I guess need to be done, but tasks that make a difference tend to get pushed aside.

I can't blame this on the devil, it can only be me. I love having a list of tasks that need to get done that day, and checking those tasks off makes me feel like I got something done. In truth, the trash will get hauled one way or another. Sister S can find others to unload with as she's got a pretty good life if she'd take a step back and see. But the guy who calls me "Daddy", though he's closer to 30 than 20, needs to be reminded he has a family who loves him. Wait, that's urgent isn't it? Stop writing and go get that done.

Perhaps the important things need the urgency and the urgent things aren't that important. But they sure are annoying, and it feels good to get them out of the way. But not at the expense of the things that are not in the way.

Why Hell?

         

       Lots of controversy out there regarding Hell, which you can find for yourself. Rob Bell's book "Love Wins" has been the catalyst for much of it. In the book, he raises some pointed questions about this doctrine, and I'd like to address one of them here. 

       Tim Stoner expresses one of the, to me, most pointed questions Bell raises:

       God wants everyone to be saved and God is God, does that not lead to the conclusion that all will be saved? Anything less, Bell argues, means that God fails and human sin prevails. It means that God would have to take the stage with Mick Jagger and “shrug God-sized shoulders and say, ‘You can’t always get what you want’” (LW 103). And that, for a host of reasons, could never be.

     Can we really say that if souls wind up in Hell, God has failed? Has He failed them? It's God's will that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9), yet apparantly many do; sooo...

         

       Let me offer three points about God's character and Hell:

         

          His holiness  compels there to be a separation, a chasm if you will (ala Luke 16:19ff): 

            “For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil cannot lodge with You.”  --Psalm 5:4

      

          His mercy compels Him to warn us: 

            “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! The city who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I      wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, yet you were not

             willing!" --Matthew 23:37

          His love compels Him to give us a choice:

             “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is     athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”  Revelation 22:17

    Would it change your opinion of God to know He has done everything possible to keep you and your beloved ones out of Hell? In fact, He so loved the world...

Homesick For Eden

I am starting to love this guy. Today, he posted this:

We are homesick for Eden.


This week, as we're getting into a series of messages about Heaven, Hell, eternity, et al, this is a passage upon which I have been meditating:

   For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;
  And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,
  Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. 

               How my heart yearns within me!  --Job 19:25-27

Often I've heard that the Old Testament was all about the grave, Sheol, and not much about resurrection. Job clearly here is expressing hope in afterlife, as he will see the LORD after his "skin is destroyed" only then would he behold God. The hope of resurrection then runs cover to cover in the Bible, it was not only a New Testament doctrine.

And to yearn for Eden! As we watch tsunamis, earthquakes, possible nuclear meltdown, revolutions, hurricanes, etc., we can easily get dragged in to despair--but even one who lost as much as Job can find the hope, knowing that our Redeemer lives and that this life is not all there is.

Last year, I read G.K Beale's The Temple and the Church's Mission. Being the nerd I am, I tend to get more out of a book like this than say, something from Max Lucado. One of Beale's premises in the book is that the Bible's big plan included (and he's not the only one that believes this) designing Eden to be His original temple. Man was created in this beautiful place and given the job to tend and keep the garden (Gen 2:15). The Hebrew for "tend" and "keep" carry the idea of "obey" and "serve", and these same words are used in several instances referring to the work of priests in the tabernacle/temple.

Hmmm... were we created for the purpose of serving in the beautiful temple of Eden, the coming New Jerusalem? No wonder we long for Eden; it was meant to be our original home! And a homecoming is planned--cue up the Gaither bunch with "Beulah Land."

Donne For My First Post

In order to test the blogging waters, I hereby stick my toe in the water to check temperature. So as a kind of test post, here is a long-time favorite of mine by John Donne (1573-1631):

Batter my heart, three-personed God, for you
as yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
that I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
your force to break, blow, burn and make me new.

I, like an usurped town, to another due,
labor to admit you, but oh, to no end;
reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
but is captived, and proves weak or untrue.

Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
but am betrothed unto your enemy:
divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
take me to you, imprison me, for I
except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

We don't write worship music like that, do we:? Can we even read this in church? Don't know if this was ever sung, but every time I read this I wonder if the modern church could express its faith like this. Fresh out of seminary, I put this on the back cover of the worship bulletin. When I asked a few what they thought, I was met with silence. So, 20+_ years later I still haven't used it again in any public worship arena. Are you comfortable with Donne's language? Is it appropriate for your church?