Monthly Archives: June 2009

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Job 34

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"Just because you refuse to live on God's terms, do you think he should start living on yours?" Job 34:33a (MSG)

My wife and I are on vacation with dear friends. There are two boys under the age of three among us. Needless to say, a week with Nathan and Jarret makes for an interesting getaway. It's been 15 years or so since I've spent an extended period of time with children this age. And, even then, they weren't usually boys.

If I was teaching a class on human spirituality, I believe I would assign my students to spend a week with two boys in their "terrible twos" and then ask them to bring back their observations on fallen human nature. I believe we can learn a lot about our own adult lives by observing the behavior of our children.

Elihu's question in verse 33 is one I could ask either of my little vacation buddies, exchanging the word "God" for "your parent." I have seen so many examples of blatant disobedience followed by selfish demands this week. It's fascinating to watch, and humbling to ponder. Even as adults, we so easily disregard God's boundaries, or his clearly communicated desire for our behavior, and then turn to Him with a list of our own selfish demands.

God, forgive me for acting like a two-year-old.

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Chapter-a-Day Job 33

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God's megaphone. "Or, God might get their attention through pain, by throwing them on a bed of suffering…" Job 33:19 (MSG)

Last year, Wendy and I went to see a play called Shadowlands at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. The play chronicles the unique story of C.S. Lewis' relationship with his wife Joy Davidman Gresham. Joy was an intelligent poet, a communist, and a divorced woman. Lewis' friends found her abrasive, but he struck up an agreeable friendship with her. Lewis eventually agreed to enter into a civil marriage contract with Joy so that she could remain in Britain. It was about that time that she discovered she had bone cancer.

In the midst of Joy's suffering, Lewis' own heart began to break. Through his own intense pain, Lewis discovered how much he genuinely loved Joy, and he asked her to marry him "for real." The two were married (despite the scandal of her being a divorced woman). Surprisingly, (or perhaps not so surprisingly) her cancer went into a brief remission and they enjoyed four years together before her death in 1960.

It was out of the terrible experience of standing by and watching Joy's suffering that Lewis penned:

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

Sometimes, our suffering is God's way of getting our attention.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and Larimdame

Wayfarer's Journal

The Last 4 Days: A Whirlwind Rewind

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Table Rock Lake from our Deck 053109 LR 

It's early and I'm having my quiet time sitting on our deck overlooking Table Rock lake (that's the view, above) in Southern Missouri. It was a whirlwind the past several days. A quick recap:

Taylor and I had a great time in Minneapolis. As I posted earlier, I had a quick trip for a business meeting and Taylor came along. Two of Taylor's YWAM friends live near the cities, so she spent the day with them while I was working. We went to see Caroline…or Change, a musical at the Guthrie Theatre in the evening. We were up early for breakfast at Al's and hit the road for home.

Wendy and I had a lot of work to do before we could take a break for vacation, and the plans and preparations for a week away with two other families only added to the stress.

Wendy on the set of Splatter 052909 LR

On Friday night, Wendy and I drove 90 minutes to Washington, IA where we were extras in the movie Splatter, which is being filmed there. We were in the background of a scene in a restaurant. It was a lot of fun. The cast and crew were wonderful to work with. However, we arrived in Washington at 7:30 p.m. We didn't start filming until close to midnight, and we didn't wrap  the scene until just before 4:00 a.m. So, it was about 5:30 a.m. before Wendy and I got to bed. We still had to pack and get ready to leave for the Ozarks by 1:00 p.m. Yikes!

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By 1:30 we were in the Vande Lune's minivan rollin' down Highway 63, and by 7:00 we were at the Playhouse. We dined at Captain Ron's, where Nathan was quite enamored with all of the pirates and continued to growl like a pirate (e.g. "Arrrrrrrrrrgggh!") all night.  We made an early evening of it. Sunday morning, I took Chad and Nathan for a boat ride while we gave the ladies some time and space to get up and moving. We hit the breakfast buffet at Cap'n Ron's and I caught the end of worship on the beach. By noon, our respite at the Playhouse was over and we were on the road for Table Rock Lake.

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The place the Vande Lune's got for us through their time-share is pretty posh! Wendy and I have a huge room with a deck, a private bath with whirpool tub, and a shower with FIVE shower heads (water is shooting at you from everywhere!). There's also a home theatre room where we watched the Cubs get blitzed by the Dodgers on the big screen in surround sound! (There's nothing like losing in style)

Wendy relaxes 053109 LR 

Nathan as wilson 053109

We ventured out in the evening to let Nathan and Chad have some fun on the water slide while I and the ladies relaxed in the sun. Grilled out in the evening and started watching Casino Royale in the theatre room before we heard Chad snoring behind us. That's when we decided to call it a night.

Wendy as Southern Belle 053109 LR

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Job 32

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Some help is no help at all. He was also angry with the three friends because they had neither come up with an answer nor proved Job wrong. Job 32:3 (MSG)

I have known a few "friends" who, like Job's buddies, are assured they know God's plan for me. On the darkest and most desoloate stretches of life's road are those who appear along the path to point fingers, render judgment, and tout self-righteous directions towards their prescribed route for my salvation. All with the best of intentions, of course.

Yet, love and friendship are not about criticism, judgement, and self-righteous demands. We are called to love and not condemn. We are told to be examples, not judges. Sometimes walking in friendship requires that we take off our "Highway Helper" badge and entrust ourselves and our wayfaring companions to the only One who is both a righteous judge and mighty to save.

I'm wondering if Job wasn't reevaluating his friendships right about chapter 32.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and Gary Bridgman