Getting Our Attention

            On a recent vacation Joanne and I visited a zoo. There was something about seeing the animals “live” as opposed to watching a television program about them that brought out to me their glory, which is actually God’s glory. The shapes, sizes, colors, skin textures, and unique features were all striking. The variety that exists in the animal kingdom is truly remarkable, and it’s a reflection on their Maker. I was especially taken with the giraffes. There is nothing like a giraffe. You could call them “horse-like”, but that would still miss the mark. And the pattern of their hide (not sure if that’s the right term) is extraordinary. In a way the zoo brings out the kid in you, because you see things you’ve never seen before. And it brings some wonder with it. I think that is one of God’s primary intentions for His creation – to bring wonder to our minds… to make our hearts leap with joy when we behold something glorious. And what makes it glorious? God invests it with a glory. He does it with sunsets, mountaintop vistas, crashing waves, fascinating creatures, and so many other ways in His universe. Wonder will lead us to Him.

            In the busyness of life it is easy to miss what is wonder-full around us. We have to be intentional about it if we truly want to see it. Mainly we have to stop, and explore. When we do, God will always “show up”. His creativity always leaves a witness to Him and so whenever we encounter it we find ourselves in an opportunity for worship. Enjoying the giraffe or the view from the edge of the Grand Canyon or even the intricacies if a single leaf is part of what it means to worship the Lord. Do we delight in what He has made? If we do, then we, ultimately, delight in Him. How much of what we encounter every day could lead us to ask and think about, “What does this show me about God?... Where is God in this?... How does this reflect His glory?”? In Creation God is constantly getting our attention and steadily bringing our thoughts back to Him again and again.

            May God get your attention today, and may you enjoy Him. AMEN!

Job 38:39-41 (NIV) ³⁹  "Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions ⁴⁰  when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? ⁴¹  Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?

Job 39:1-18 (NIV) ¹  "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? ²  Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth? ³  They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended. ⁴  Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return. ⁵  "Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied his ropes? ⁶  I gave him the wasteland as his home, the salt flats as his habitat. ⁷  He laughs at the commotion in the town; he does not hear a driver's shout. ⁸  He ranges the hills for his pasture and searches for any green thing. ⁹  "Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night? ¹⁰  Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he till the valleys behind you? ¹¹  Will you rely on him for his great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to him? ¹²  Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor? ¹³  "The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork. ¹⁴  She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, ¹⁵  unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them. ¹⁶  She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain, ¹⁷  for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense. ¹⁸  Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.

Job 39:26-30 (NIV) ²⁶  "Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings toward the south? ²⁷  Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high? ²⁸  He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is his stronghold. ²⁹  From there he seeks out his food; his eyes detect it from afar. ³⁰  His young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there is he."

Job 40:15-24 (NIV) ¹⁵  "Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. ¹⁶  What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! ¹⁷  His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. ¹⁸  His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron. ¹⁹  He ranks first among the works of God, yet his Maker can approach him with his sword. ²⁰  The hills bring him their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. ²¹  Under the lotus plants he lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. ²²  The lotuses conceal him in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround him. ²³  When the river rages, he is not alarmed; he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth. ²⁴  Can anyone capture him by the eyes, or trap him and pierce his nose?

PRAYER:  Father, thank you for displaying your glory all around me. Give me eyes to see and a heart to enjoy it all, and so enjoy you as well. In Christ’s name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Bloviation and the Fear of God

            A character from an old TV program was famous for always behaving like he knew everything about everything, when the truth was he knew practically nothing about nothing. The character, played by actor John Ratzenberger, was Cliff Clavin, who was one of the regular patrons of a bar in Boston on a show called Cheers. Ratzenberger (his voice, anyway) has appeared in every single feature length animated movie from Pixar. Cliff Clavin is the bar know-it-all, a man who has something to say about any and every possible subject. Full of uninteresting trivia and bizarre stories of plausible half-truths, he is really nothing more than a pompous blowhard.

            Have you ever been listening to someone blab on about something you know nothing about, yet you still try to contribute to the conversation? Welcome to the age of overconfidence, says David Dunning, a professor at Cornell University. Dunning reflects on overconfidence through our predisposition to be ready to talk knowingly about things that we know nothing about. "There's actual science behind that phenomenon, argues Cornell professor David Dunning. He's recreated similar experiments in the lab, asking subjects about fictitious political figures, for example, or nonexistent cities—and gets much the same results as the late night hosts [Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel] do. Dunning says, "What we find is that people are quite ready to start talking about things they can't possibly know anything about because we made that thing up in our office just the week before." Mark Twain’s well-known proverb is a great reminder: “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”

We have such an urge to impress or to be accepted by someone else that we may speak too freely of “that which we know not”. We do not want to look or feel stupid or ignorant, so we pontificate and end up – if caught – proving we are just that. Truly, our pride leads us to foolish places sometimes. It is sometimes an act of courage, and definitely an act of wisdom to say, “I don’t know” when that is the truth. I know I have had to do that sometimes when answering people’s questions (theological or biblical) in Sunday school classes and Bible studies. Biblical and theological studies are so big (there is so much to know) that – for me, anyway – I cannot master it all. It’s better to go find answers (get help from what others have learned and taught through the history of the Church) than to wax eloquent about that which I am clueless.

This doesn’t mean we can’t know anything about anything. I believe we certainly can, and God’s Word is the sure foundation of our knowledge and wisdom, and the basis of true confidence. Yet care must be given that we are not guided by our pride of knowledge. Instead, our knowledge may inform, and be informed by our humility. That we know anything is surely a result of the grace of God. May He continue to give us grace to know more, and to use what we know wisely and humbly. AMEN.

Psalm 19:7-10 (NIV) ⁷  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. ⁸  The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. ⁹  The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. ¹⁰  They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

John 20:30-31 (NIV) ³⁰  Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

1 John 5:13 (NIV)  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Proverbs 16:18 (NIV)  Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

Romans 11:33-36 (NIV) ³³  Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ³⁴  "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" ³⁵  "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" ³⁶  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

1 Corinthians 13:2 (NIV)  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV)  For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV) ¹⁰  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹  and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Colossians 2:2-3 (NIV) ²  My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

PRAYER:  Father, grant wisdom and grace to me, for I desperately need both. In Christ’s name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Who Are We Here For?

            I have a distinct memory from college days that came to mind recently. Houghton is a Christian liberal arts college and, from time to time, Christian artists were brought in for concerts. The mid-70’s were the “early days” of contemporary Christian music, so it was a pretty big deal. The groups that came then may not be well-known compared to today’s massive Christian music industry performers, but back then we considered them “big”. One night Joanne and I went to a concert by a group called “The Second Chapter of Acts”. Their music was quite popular among young Christians at the time and the college chapel was packed out. It was so crowded that we had to sit near the back of the balcony. Still pretty good seats, though. We were enjoying ourselves when a girl behind us decided that the event was a “sing-along”. She was quite a fan. She knew every one of their songs by heart and was bursting to join in. The problem was… everyone else was there to listen. Her enjoyment was ultimately selfish and led to the diminished enjoyment and frustration of all those around her. What would you have done? Give her a dirty look? Tell her to shut up? Clear your throat in an exaggerated manner?

            Forty years later I live in the age of the selfie. It’s not a bad thing to capture moments with photos, but the narcissistic spirit of the age comes through from time to time when someone thinks they are the star of the show and not someone else that others have paid to see. At the 2013 College World Series two young ladies rushed out on the field to take a selfie, later posting a video of themselves being tackled by security and earning Internet fame in the process. It probably never occurred to the young ladies that all the people who dropped good money to watch skilled athletes compete for a national championship were not actually there to see them. Something significant was taking place on that field, but in their minds the field was their stage and this was their time. Can you imagine the bat boy for the Red Sox thinking on opening day at Fenway, “Look at all these people who came out to see me today!”? Or an uninvited usher jumping on stage to become a player in a Broadway show? Statistics are not kept on bat boys. Playbills do not list the names of ushers. Someone and something else is the object and focus of the crowd’s interest.

            When you and I worship God, I pray that He is the focus of our attention and affection. May He be glorified by those who do not seek to be the center of attraction, but only wish to lift up Christ and make Him to be prominent, and to be known, loved, and adored. May Jesus Christ get the praise and the honor from us. After all, when we gather to worship, that’s what we’re all there for. Right?

Psalm 145:1-7 (NIV) ¹ I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. ²  Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. ³  Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. ⁴  One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. ⁵  They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. ⁶  They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. ⁷  They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

PRAYER:  Father, be glorified by me, in me, and through me, so that Jesus Christ may be seen and loved more. In His name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott