Tag Archives: Confusion

Chapter-a-Day

Waypoints of Confusion

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Waypoints of Confusion (CaD Jhn 13) – Wayfarer

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
John 13:7 (NIV)

When I was a young man, I worked for a small non-profit that was just getting started. As a way of helping make the financial leap of hiring me as the first employee, I agreed to raise half of my own salary for the first year. I went to family, friends, and people who were benefitting from the organization and asked for a one-year commitment to support me financially. The organization agreed to work toward making this arrangement a one-year-only commitment.

As the year wore on, I repeatedly asked for an update from the organization’s founder and board. I had told my financial supporters that it would be a one-year commitment, and I felt responsible for updating them. I even said that I might be willing to continue raising part of my salary if a plan could be worked out to slowly taper it off over time. Each month I asked if the Board had discussed a plan. Each month I was told that they didn’t get to it.

I remember being frustrated and confused during this period of time. As my work anniversary neared, it became clear to me that I was not high on the priority list, and that the circumstances I found myself in were symptoms of larger systemic issues. I made the decision that I was going to resign. This was not, however, an easy decision. I was a young husband and father of two babies. I didn’t have another job lined up. It was not a fun moment.

Having made my decision, I began notifying those who had been supporting me financially that year to let them know they could stop cutting monthly checks. One of those supporters asked me why, and I explained the situation.

“What are you going to do?” He asked.

I told him I didn’t know.

He then asked to meet with me that afternoon. He offered me a job. This summer I will celebrate my 30th work anniversary at that job.

Along my life journey, I have found myself at many waypoints of confusion.

“How did I get here?”

“What is happening right now?”

“Where in the world is this leading?”

“I don’t understand!”

I’ve discovered along the way that there are times when it is only in retrospect that I can see how God was at work in me, directing my path and guiding my steps.

Today’s chapter begins John’s recounting of the night of Jesus’ arrest. At their last supper together Jesus tells His disciples “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” This has been a recurring theme. In yesterday’s chapter, John wrote: “At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.”

As fate would have it, I find myself back at one of those confusing waypoints on life’s road at the moment. I don’t understand where things are leading. I don’t have clarity regarding the path forward. But I can look back and see how God has been faithful in all those past waypoints of confusion. I can trust Him with this one, too.

I’m back on Facebook for those who liked to read my chapter-a-day posts there! Facebook refuses to give me access to my old, hacked account, but I have started a new account. Please feel free to search for me on Facebook and friend me. If Facebook won’t let you friend me, please go to my Facebook profile and “Message” me on Facebook Messenger, which should then allow me to friend you. Cheers! -Tom

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Chapter-a-Day

Three Things in Misery

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Three Things in Misery (CaD Mi 7) – Wayfarer

“What misery is mine!”
Micah 7:1a (NIV)

May I be honest with you? The past couple of days have been miserable. Like, they’ve been really miserable. I’ll spare you the details. My point is not about sharing my misery, but about how God met me in today’s chapter.

As I have always said, prophesy is layered with meaning. As I wrote in my post last week, the ancient’s prophetic words can at once be about what was, what is, and what yet will be. The ancient prophet Micah’s words in today’s final chapter are certainly about the spiritual, social, and political issues that were happening back in his day. But on a morning when I am acutely feeling misery in the moment and the first words I read are “What misery is mine!” I know there’s something that God’s Spirit has to say to me, today, in this miserable moment.

The first thing God had for me was an empathetic identification of my present reality.

“Now is the time of your confusion.
Do not trust a neighbor;
Put no confidence in a friend.
Even with the woman who lies in your embrace
Guard the words of your lips.”

I am feeling confused. I am feeling distrustful. I am feeling caution with every word I say. Reading these words was God’s Spirit whispering, “I get it.” I needed that.

The second thing God had for me in today’s chapter was a statement of both faith and hope.

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD.
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.”

As I read these words, it felt like a guttural cry of my soul. They became a defiant stance, amidst my present circumstances, in faith that I can trust God and trust the story He is authoring in and through me.

The third thing God had for me was a promise.

“The day for building your walls will come,
the day for extending your boundaries.”

Sometimes, it’s good to be given a glimpse of what’s ahead. I may find myself in a deep valley on life’s road, but there are good things ahead just over the next hill.

So today, I’ll just press forward one step at a time.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Two Points from the Prophetic

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Exile Required (CaD Mi 5) – Wayfarer

“But now many nations are gathered against you. They say, “Let her be defiled, let our eyes gloat over Zion!” But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.”
Micah 4:11-12 (NIV)

One of the positive spiritual by-products of this chapter-a-day journey for me is humility. This is especially true when it comes to the words of the ancient prophets which are often layered with meaning.

In today’s chapter, Micah’s words address what was in his day (vss 9-13), but this is also eerily layered in describing what is happening today (vss 11-12, see above), and then he provides a vision of yet what will be (vss. 1-8).

I sat in the quiet this morning and meditated on these 13 verses in relation to all that I’ve studied, listened to, read, and learned with regard to prophecy and eschatology (a.k.a. the study of the “end times”) for over 40 years. Without getting far deeper into the weeds than is my intention with these chapter-a-day posts/podcasts, let me just say that Micah’s message offers some challenging prophetic puzzles in light of the different major schools of thought.

Knowing, however, that I don’t really want to wade into the deep weeds, I was left mulling over another relevant question: What is a modern, everyday person supposed to get out of a passage like this, if all I want to do is find a thought for my day that I can hold onto and that will help me to live today in a way that God desires?

And this brings me back to two simple thoughts.

First, how fascinating that ancient Micah quite aptly describes what happened on October 7.

“But now many nations are gathered against you. They say, “Let her be defiled, let our eyes gloat over Zion!”

I find his next line even more apt in consideration of the sum of Micah’s prophetic puzzles.

“But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan.”

And, this brings me back to humility. I have, on multiple occasions, had the experience of teaching about prophecy and the “end times.” In fact, even in the past few months, I’ve had a chance to wade back in and teach on pieces of it as part of a larger team. When teaching about this genre, I typically encourage people to be wary of those who proudly proclaim they can tell you with certainty and precise detail exactly what will happen in the future based on prophetic writing like Revelation. I am constantly reminded that in Jesus’ day, there were entire schools of scholarly and well-educated thought proudly proclaiming with certainty and precise detail what the Messiah would be and do.

They were all wrong.

I try, therefore, to humbly avoid repeating that error of human hubris.

But while I don’t know with certainty and precise detail there are some big-picture things that, by faith, I do know. In John’s Revelation, Jesus tells him,“I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come.” As I find amidst Micah’s prophetic puzzles an accurate assessment of what was, and what is, and a vision of what is to come, I am led to not worry so much about the “what” and “when” but the “Who.”

And this brings me to my second simple nugget for my day. In our bizarro times of head-scratching and uncertainty, I take spiritual solace in all of the ways that the prophetic has been accurate about things that were and are. It leads me to trust that those things that Great Story says about what will be, are equally true and can be trusted even if I don’t know or understand the precise details about how it will all play out.


If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Back to Babel

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Back to Babel (CaD Gen 11) – Wayfarer

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves…”
The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
Genesis 11:4, 6 (NIV)

Over the past month, Wendy and I have been listening to a podcast called The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. The podcast documents the story of a small group of people in Seattle who started a church, which became a movement, and then it was gone almost overnight. It’s also the story of the pastor, a young man who became one of the most famous and influential individuals in Christian circles. Yesterday, while I spent the day driving on a business trip, I listened to a bonus episode about another young man who also became famous and influential at about the same time, and then deconstructed his faith (something of a fad at the moment, FYI) and eventually announced on social media that he no longer identifies as a Christian.

After I returned home last night, Wendy and I discussed the episode. On one hand, there’s a morality tale in the stories of these individuals about the effects of celebrity, fame, and influence. There’s also a larger societal story about our culture of celebrity itself in which an individual can be a famous celebrity without having any particular talent or having accomplished anything other than to have become a celebrity.

Today’s chapter tells the story of the Tower of Babel and is the final story in Genesis which scholars would classify as primeval. It joins the story of creation, the Garden, Cain and Abel, Noah, and the Great Flood as foundational stories of the Great Story. On the surface, the Tower of Babel is intended to describe how humanity went from one people and then was scattered into different nationalities, cultures, and languages. Under the surface, it’s about humanity’s pride nature, and its ends.

Humanity is one homogeneous people group, and they conspire to build a tower to the heavens “to make a name for ourselves.” I thought this a bit of synchronicity in the quiet this morning as my heart and mind continue to mull over the stories I heard in the podcast about two young men who “made a name for themselves” only to find their own lives and the worlds of those who followed them crumble. In the case of the intervie w I listened to yesterday, at least one of the two is still reeling, confused, and lost like humanity itself at end of the Babel story.

But there’s another aspect to the Babel story that I recognized thirty years ago. As my life journey and spiritual journey have progressed, the more important I think this lesson is. In the story, God recognizes that humanity’s capabilities coupled with sinful pride will result in “nothing being impossible for them.” It seems that the narrative of the storyline is moving too quickly for God’s design, and the scattering of the peoples and confusing of the languages appears to be God’s way of slowing the pace of the narrative back down.

My earthly journey has been a fascinating time to live. I’ve watched the dawn of the computer age, experienced the beginning of the internet, I watched it grow, and witnessed how technology has effectively united the globe. Think about the coronavirus, which originates in China where scientists and countries from around the world had invested in woring together on biomedical research in a country who is considered less than friendly. I can’t imagine this happening even a generation ago.

Never, since the Tower of Babel, has humanity been more of a global village increasingly uniting under the umbrella of technology and connected to all countries and cultures through social media. Just last week the Wall Street Journal said that Facebook will soon be the sole news source for 80-90 percent of the entire world population.

I’ve also come to recognize that perhaps, for the first time since the Tower of Babel, we’re living in a generation that can say “nothing is impossible for us.” We can genetically design babies. Scientists hope to birth a Wooly Mammoth in the lab within a few years. W illiam Shatner, at 92, will take a commercial ride in space next month. In the last month I’ve read articles about scientists who are focused on making it possible for humans live forever. Mining asteroids, life on Mars, and now Amazon announced a robot for your home that rolls around to assist you and monitor your home for threats. I can have my own personal Wall-E.

The question, of course, is where does it all lead? What fascinates me the most as I contemplate the answer to this question is that, factually, life on Earth has never been better on the whole. There’s less extreme poverty, less sickness, longer lives, better education, higher status for women, more access to information, better access to clean water supplies, and less starvation and malnutrition. This is true. It is a fact. Read Hans Rosling’s book Factfulness.

At the same time, I observe more and more confusion about who we are. Adults are asking children what gender they believe they are, then arranging to physically alter their biology. Scientifically, there are still just two genders, but philosophically we’re how told that there are endless genders to choose from based solely on my choice to identify in the moment. After centuries of progress towards ending slavery, reducing prejudice, and accepting bi-racial and cross-cultural marriages in an increasingly large global village, we’re suddenly regressing back into racial separation and segregation. What was once good is now bad. What was once bad is now good. What was once regressive is now progressive. Children now make life-altering adult decisions. Adults now chase an endless childhood. I am who I identify myself as in the moment, but that might change. What is important is what’s trending in the moment. What’s not important is anything in the past or that which is not trending.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself fascinated by the world in which I live, where increasingly “nothing is impossible.” I find myself mulling over the possibility that we are in process of building a new Tower of Babel with DNA, 5G networks, stem cells, lasers, robotics and fiber optics. I find myself marveling at a culture that appears to me to be increasingly confused despite all of our knowledge and advancement.

I find myself grateful for my simple identity…

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12 (NIV)

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Me and Babel 2.0

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Me and Babel 2.0 (CaD John 17) – Wayfarer

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
John 17:15-16 (NIV)

Earlier this year Wendy and I were on the back patio with friends late into the evening. One of the things we like to do in the dark of night is keep our eyes peeled for meteors, satellites, constellations, plants, and other interesting objects in the night sky. On that night I spotted a satellite, which basically looks like a moving star, trekking slowly from west to east. Then there was another one right behind it. I’d never seen two of them so close and moving in the same trajectory. Then came another, and another, and another, and another.

Pulling up the internet on my phone to find out what we were looking at, we learned that evening about the satellite train. The brainchild of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, it is a long string or “train” of 60 satellites that follow one another in orbit. SpaceX plan to eventually have 12,000 of them in low orbit to provide internet service everywhere from space. Fascinating.

It’s an amazing time to be alive and to make this earthly life journey. In the course of my lifetime, the world has arguably changed more rapidly and drastically than in any other time in human civilization. Advancements in technology and science are beginning to outpace our ability to comprehend the effects of all that it possible.

Along with the “progress” has come a sharp decline in the number of people who adhere to traditional Christian belief systems or attend institutional Christian churches. One of the things that I read consistently about this trend is the criticism that believers and churches in America haven’t done enough to address social justice issues and the problems of our world.

Today’s chapter is traditionally known in theological circles as “the high priestly prayer.” John records Jesus praying just before He was betrayed by Judas and arrested. In the prayer Jesus acknowledges two important things. First, that His followers are “not of this world.” In my experience, Jesus is acknowledging that those who follow Him have expanded their world-view beyond this earthly life to God’s eternal Kingdom. After acknowledging this, Jesus consciously chooses that His followers not be removed from this world, but protected from the same prince of this world that will see Jesus crucified within twelve hours of this prayer.

To quote Hamlet, “ay, there’s the rub.”

In this world, not of it. How do I, as a follower of Jesus, hold that tension?

That’s what my soul and mind are chewing on in the quiet this morning. And here are a few of my thoughts…

I confess that critics of Christianity are not wrong. Followers of Jesus and the institutional churches of history have not done enough adhere to personally fulfill Jesus’ mission of crossing social boundaries, loving the outcast, and caring for the poor. Mea culpa.

At the same time, history has taught me that revolutions and reformations typically paint complex realities with broad-brush generalizations, and then throw babies out with the bathwater. Despite the moans and wails of how awful of a state the world is in, here are a few undisputable facts:

  • In 1966 (the year I was born), 50% of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty. In 2017, that’s dropped to 9% despite population growth.
  • When my parents were young, average life expectancy was between 30-40 years. In two generations it’s risen to 72, and still climbing.
  • In 1975, 58% of children with cancer survived. By 2010, it was 80%.
  • In 1980, 22% of one-year-olds received at least one vaccination. In 2018 the percentage was 88%.
  • In 1970, 28% of the world’s population was undernourished. In 2015 that number had dropped to 11%.
  • In 1900, roughly 40% of children died before the age of five. By 2016 the percentage was down to 4%.
  • In 1980, 58% of the world’s population had access to a protected water source. By 2015 the number was 88% and climbing.

It’s easy to cast a stone at the institutional church, its members, and cast stones regarding all that it hasn’t done. I also know many believers in my own circles of influence who, led by their faith in Jesus and dedication to His mission, have given their lives to contribute to the numbers I’ve just quoted.

Scott and Marcia have helped mobilize native efforts in Eswatani Africa to care for unwanted babies, lower the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water, and improve agricultural yields to feed the local population.

Tim and an entire host of individuals in our local gathering of Jesus followers have done a similar work in Haiti. Learning from the mistakes of the past, they are helping native Haitians create sustainable and healthy life and community systems.

My college suitemate, Tim, has dedicated most of his career to helping care for impoverished children and single mothers around the globe. He’s now leading a non-profit to address the 12% of the world’s population that still need a protected water source.

I have long believed that with the technological age I may just be witnessing humanity’s next great attempt at building a tower of Babel. Instead of bricks and mortar, we’re using processors, fiber optics, CRISPR, and satellite trains. The goal is the same: nothing is impossible, and we ascend to be our own god. I find it fascinating to observe what I perceive to be “Babel 2.0” is that we largely still speak the same language but our transmission and translation are increasingly confused. What one intends to say, what they say, and what the other hears and interprets to have been said are incongruent. Language is hijacked and redefined in a moment by part of the population. New words are created, defined, and trend within one part of the population while everyone else in the population failed to notice. They are therefore ignorant and confused when they are discussed.

So what does this mean for me today? I don’t run an institution, nor do I want to. I am a follower of Jesus and, as such, I have a world-view that sees beyond this world and incorporates God’s Kingdom into my earthly existence. I seek to accomplish His mission of “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth” and I take that responsibility seriously. This earthly journey is not about biding my time until death and eternity, but rather trying to bring a Kingdom perspective into my every day intentions, choices, work, actions, and relationships.

I am in this world, a world which remains the dominion of the prince of this world, which is why Jesus prayed for my protection on that fateful night. Jesus asks me to affect this world with love, service, and generosity that He exemplified. He told His followers to be “shrewd as a serpent and gentle as a dove.”

And so, I enter another day of the journey with those intentions.

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Wayfarer Podcast

Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story (Part 5)

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[WW] Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story (Part 5) – Wayfarer

With this episode, we’re going to continue our journey through the major sections of the Great Story. We pick it up at the end of Moses’ story and overview the continuation of the overall narrative through the “Historical Books” of the Old Testament.

This episode if brought to us by the letter “C”:

  • Conquest
  • Cycle of broken humanity
  • Crying for a king
  • Civil War
    • Chaos of power (in the Northern Kingdom)
    • Continuation of David’s line (in the Southern Kingdom)
  • Conquered
  • Captivity
  • Constructing the past
Wayfarer Podcast

Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story (Part 4)

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With this episode, we’re going to begin wandering through the major sections of the Great Story. Up first is the beginning of the Story in the ancient, mysterious narrative of the first five books known by many names such as “The Books of Moses,” “The Law,” “The Torah,” and “The Pentateuch.” In these ancient texts, we’re going to identify the problem and the prophetic plan through a person who becomes a people.

Wayfarer Podcast Episode 10: A Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story (Part 4)

You can subscribe to the Wayfarer podcast through Apple iTunes and Google Play.

Wayfarer Podcast

Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story (Part 3)

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In this episode, we’re going to talk about some of the “meta-themes” in the Great Story and, since all good stories are a reflection of the Great Story, we’ll look at some examples of the meta-themes we find in our favorite movies and epic stories.

Wayfarer Podcast Episode 10: A Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story (Part 3)

You can subscribe to the Wayfarer podcast through Apple iTunes and Google Play.

Wayfarer Podcast

Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story (Part 2)

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In this episode, we decode some of the basic confusion people have about the Bible and provide suggestions and recommendations for diving into the “shallow end” where you won’t drown in discouragement.

Wayfarer Podcast Episode 10: A Beginner’s Guide to the Great Story (Part 2)

You can subscribe to the Wayfarer podcast through Apple iTunes and Google Play.

Chapter-a-Day

Up For The Fight!

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Like cold water to a weary soul
    is good news from a distant land.
Proverbs 25:25 (NIV)

As I write this I am sweating profusely. With all the crazy of the global Coronavirus initiatives, my local CrossFit box had to close for a couple of weeks as mandated by the State of Iowa. So, my schedule is a bit off from normal and I worked out this morning at home. Now, I can’t get cooled down as I mop my brow with a rag and guzzle cold water.

What an apt metaphor for our current realities. As we struggle to figure out how to keep our daily routines and rhythms amidst working from home, mandatory lock-downs, and social distancing I can feel the corporate sweat we all feel with the unknown. I feel it in conversations with clients. I feel it in text conversations with our children. I feel it myself as I wonder how all of this will play out. The sweat of fear, anxiety, change, and confusion is something we’re all feeling one way or another.

I was reading my favorite Catholic mystic this morning and I loved what he had to say:

We are in the midst of a highly teachable moment. There’s no doubt that this period will be referred to for the rest of our lifetimes. We have a chance to go deep, and to go broad. Globally, we’re in this together. Depth is being forced on us by great suffering, which as I like to say, always leads to great love. 

But for God to reach us, we have to allow suffering to wound us. Now is no time for an academic solidarity with the world. Real solidarity needs to be felt and suffered. That’s the real meaning of the word “suffer” – to allow someone else’s pain to influence us in a real way. We need to move beyond our own personal feelings and take in the whole.

Richard Rohr

The (sweat-marked) t-shirt I’m wearing right now says, “Fight Pessimism” and I consciously chose it after my workout and shower. I have a feeling that we are just at the front-end of the “weary” we will experience in the days, weeks, and months ahead. Nevertheless, in the depth of every dark valley is the opportunity to ascend a new mountain.

The ancient sage Solomon tells me in this morning’s chapter that good news from a distant land is like the cool water I am absolutely loving right now as it refreshes my tired body. In the same way, I have an opportunity right now to be “good news” and refreshment to others in this moment of global insanity. I can offer to help others. I can share words of love, kindness, and encouragement. I can grocery shop for shut-ins. I can share toilet paper with those who can’t find any. I can reach out to old friends through social media to reconnect, share memories, and share a drink over FaceTime. I can get my mind off the sweat of my own fears and turn it into being cool water to another weary soul.

Fight pessimism. I’m up for the fight. You?

Let me know if you need a roll of toilet paper.