True Treasure

On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his famous (or infamous) 95 theses to the door of the church at Wittenburg, Germany. While most of the 95 protested abuses by church leadership and the selling of indulgences, there is one that might be considered the most vital of all. Number 62 of those 95 thesis says simply:

"The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God."

In this Luther could not have been more right.

Thinking About James

Been thinking a lot about James. Not James, my daughter's boyfriend (Sorry, man) - but the Epistle of James in the New Testament. Tonight our home Bible study group begins a new study in the Book of James. We'll walk through it together over the next number of Wednesday evenings - verse by verse.

James was the half-brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55-56). Can you imagine growing up with Jesus as your older brother? No pressure there, right?
But the thing that strikes me about this man named James is the name by which, according to early church tradition, some referred to him: Old Camel Knees. It was said that he spent so much time in prayer that his knees became hard and knobby and calloused, like those of a camel.

Old Camel Knees. Wouldn't it be great to earn such a moniker today? I'm looking forward to our study together.

There Are Thieves In the Prison

For years, we have made greeting cards for all occassions available in the chaplain's office for the inmates. They've been welcome to come and get cards anytime to send out to family and loved ones. We purchase the cards from a ministry in Missouri and keep a card rack filled - much like a Hallmark store. It's a great ministry tool: Many use "getting a card" as an opportunity to speak with me about all kinds of issues in their lives.

But lately we've had a problem. It began as a nuisance, but has become a real sore spot with me. Somebody is coming in and stealing all of the envelopes that go with the cards. So now we have hundreds of cards with no envelopes.
It has become such a problem that I have had to stop making cards available for the inmates. No more birthday cards for children. No more anniversary cards for wives. No more thank you's or thinking of you's.
I hate having to do that. I hope it's only temporary. It really is hurting me more that it hurts them. (Remember when your parents used to say that before they punished you?)

What baffles me about the whole thing is this: Why steal from someone who is willing to give you whatever you want? Is the mindset of prison 'gameplaying' and manipulation so deeply ingrained in some that they just can't recognize when they don't have to do that to get what they need?

Maybe you're thinking I'm being mean. It's only envelopes, right? Just paper. But there's a principle at stake here. These men are here in this place because of this same mindset. And soon (very soon for some) they'll be getting out of this place. I'm hoping maybe this will help someone to see that they don't have to steal - they just have to ask.

And as soon as I can figure out the solution to "the great envelope dilemma" here at Charlotte Correctional Center I'll make the cards available again.

What a Week!

Last week will go down in the annals as one of my best weeks in a long, long time. Maybe you missed me during my prolonged absence form the blog scene? (Okay. Maybe not.)

After graduating a group of dads from our Father Accountability Program at the prison on Monday evening, I took the rest of the week off to tend to pressing matters. Our granddaughter, Olivia, spent most of the week with us as her mom and dad were out of town for a conference. Grandpa and Grandma played, and sang, and read more Little Golden Books last week than we have in years. I enjoyed every minute. I'd forgotten how much fun a little one can be. I watched as she tried new things and investigated everything within her reach and line of sight. I laughed as we made games of everything from meal time to nap time. And sans medication, my blood pressure was lower than it's been in years.

After we took Olivia to her other Grandparents' on Thursday, Sharon and I made for the NC mountains on Friday to see our Emily, view the colorful Fall foliage, take in and Appalachian State football game, and enjoy our time together.

All in all, a great week for me!

The Sad Reality in America and in the Church

"We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings to be fruitful."
~ C.S. Lewis

A Preacher Moment

Every now and again a preacher has one of those moments when something comes out of his mouth that amazes everyone. (A bit presumtuous? Perhaps) Here's what I said from the pulpit recently in one of those "preacher moments" that shocked me when it slipped out:

"There is a difference between trusting God - and trusting in my expectations of God."

Good stuff, huh?

A Guaranteed Investment Strategy

The US and world financial markets are in a crisis not seen since 1929. With our 401K's and other investments losing value by the minute, there would seem to be only a few really safe investments we can make. By investing in these precious commodities, we can be assured of future wealth beyond our imaginations.

What are these rock-solid investment strategies? Your marriage and your children.

Some Things Never Change

At a time when the financial markets of the United States were crumbling, the government was going deeper in debt to try to prop up the economy and fund it's military, and America was at war with the fate of freedom hanging in the balance, here's what the politicians in Washington were saying:

In the US House of Representatives, Democrats railed against the Republican President and his policies. In a series of violent anti-war speeches, they cried out, "Ought this war to continue? No! Not a day, not another hour. The time has come for the soldiers to come home."

Things may have been even worse in the Senate, where the attacks against the President and his administration were vindictive and personal. Democratic Senators in speeches on the floor called the Republican President "an imbecile," and claimed he was "the weakest man ever placed into high office in this country."


While this may sound like Washington in 2008, it's not. This was Washington in 1862. And the Republican President who was the target of such vitriol? It was Abraham Lincoln.

Some things never change.

What Noah's Blog Might Have Looked Like

Day 1
Rain.

Day 2
Rain.

Day 3
Rain.

Day 4
Rain.

Day 5
Rain.

Day 6
So I was loading up the last of the animals last week when I walk past my neighbor Roger, the Molech-worshipper. He looks up and says "Hey, looks like rain."
True story.

Day 7
Now wondering if it was wrong to have borrowed Roger’s hedge clippers.

Day 15
It’s been the same every day for the last two weeks, but then last night, our mama elephant gave birth. I’ll put up some pics soon.

Day 18
Note to self: next time I’m on a long cruise and I want to play badminton and I only have one birdie, play below deck. I’m so stupid.

Day 20
I hesitate to write this down, but here goes. . . .
I was working late last night when I felt something bite the back of my neck. Without thinking, I slapped it. Long story short, the new world might have to do without the zhingi-zhingi fly.

Day 25
New Year’s Day. A few resolutions for this year:
- Lose weight (let’s face it, I’m not 300 years old anymore)
- Work out more
- Read the entire Bible (there’s only four chapters in the whole thing, you think I would have done this one already)
-After we land, once a week: date night with the missus.

Day 27
Not to diss my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, but I’ve been hanging out with animals a lot, too, and I think I would have named some of them differently…

ADAM’S NAME MY VERSION
Rabbit: Hoppity-hoppity
Dog: Rowrf
Bat: EEEEEEEEEE!!!
Duck: Waddle-waddle-flap-flap

Day 31
You guys read this blog. You know I love my wife, right? But I swear, sometimes she just gets on my nerves.
"The roof is leaking, Noah."
"Noah, the sheep are soaking wet because the roof is leaking."
You know what? Sometimes Noah just needs a little Noah Time, okay?

Day 35
Here’s an item from the "you-learn-something-every-day" category: Hippo lovemaking is very, very noisy. Haven’t slept in five days.
P.S. I counted every knot in the cypress wood of the ship: 12,946.

Day 39
Somehow Ham keeps winning at UNO. Does he have a secret stash of Draw 4’s?

Correction: Earlier I wrote that the wood of our ship has 12,946 knots. However, I forgot to include the cover on the top deck. I included that, then recounted the entire thing three more times, just to be sure. We have 14,598 knots.

Day 45
Okay, so when God said he would make it rain forty days and forty nights, I assumed that we would be done after that. Apparently I was wrong.

Day 87
Very, very wrong.

Day 110
The wife says I’m getting paranoid, but I believe the primates are conspiring to mutiny. Can’t talk, more later.

Day 150
We’ve landed on top of some kind of mountain. More later.

Day 190
Sent out a dove, but it came back.

Day 197
This time, the dove came back with an olive branch. Going now to ask the wife if she has any recipes with doves and olives.

Day 204
Sent the dove out again today to bring back some more olives for dinner, but it didn’t come back. So good news is we may be off the boat and onto dry land soon. Bad news: Mrs. Noah’s Greek Dove Souffle is a no-go.

Day 231
So we’re on land now. Yay! Big thanks to everybody who wrote to check on us. BTW, my new e-mail address is noah@mtararat.com. I’ll still post from time to time, to keep you guys up to date. To answer a question that so many of you have asked, no, I don’t have a MySpace page yet.
Man, I could really use a drink.

Voices

"I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won't follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don't know his voice."
~ John 10:1-5

Shepherding hasn't changed much in 4,000 years. Multiple flocks are still kept in "sheepfolds" at night to protect against predators. A sheepfold is an enclosure made with rocks, or maybe even a cave with only one way in or out. That gate is kept by a porter, or gatekeeper.

Each morning, when it's time to lead the sheep to pasture, the shepherd comes to the gate and calls to his sheep. His sheep know his voice. That is the only voice they will respond to. They will not follow another shepherd. They don't know his voice.

Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd. The meaning is clear. His sheep know His voice. They follow Him.
But what happens when the sheep can't hear the voice of the shepherd? What happens when there are too many other voices calling to the sheep, competing for their attention? Or when all the noise around the sheep drowns out the shepherd's call?

There seem to be so many other voices screaming at us today; so much noise going on all around us that I fear we miss the voice of the Shepherd as He calls us to follow Him. The danger is especially real in a nation where the constant media barrage is unrelenting, and in a season where politicians keep up their incessant chattering day and night.

With all of the noise in our lives today, how long has it been since you heard the Good Shepherd call you by name? How long since you cut through all of the noise, and all of the various voices calling to you?
His desire is to make you "lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside still waters." Isn't that just what we need?

The Foreverness of Vows

Yesterday I had the privilege of performing the wedding ceremony of some very dear friends. I never want any wedding I'm asked to be part of to be "just another ceremony." I want it to be a worship service where Jesus is exalted and glorified. And I always want to be certain everyone understands exactly what is taking place. So I always introduce the vows with these words:

"It is very important that you understand the seriousness of what you are about to do. We live in a day when vows have lost the sacredness and significance that they once had. But I assure you God has not changed. God takes our vows very seriously, and we will be held accountable before Him for the way in which we follow through in honoring them. Your vows will be recorded in heaven forever, never to be erased.Let them be the same in each of your hearts today"

Later at the reception, someone said something to me that got me thinking. He said, "My wife and I have only been married since January. But the things you said reminded me of the vows that we took before God. I needed that reminder. And I think it would do everyone well to attend a wedding every few months to be reminded as well."

While I'm certainly not going to advocate attending too many weddings (It's a guy-thing) I do think we need to be reminded from time to time of the seriousness of our vows. God does hear our words. And the words that we speak, and the vows that we vow are indeed recorded in heaven. What we seem to take so lightly, or sometimes even forget completely, is a big deal to God.

Vows are permanent. They are a sacred promise that God expects us to honor.

"For You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the inheritance of those who fear You name."
~ Psalm 61:5

Almost

Almost. To me, that is the saddest word in the English language. Almost. Not quite. Nearly. Kind of. But not really. Just almost. Getting close, but not quite achieving.

The rich, young ruler who ran to Jesus in Mark 10 lived a life of 'almost.' He wanted to know how to have eternal life. He'd done alright according to the Law. But Jesus said to him, "One thing you lack, ..." Just one thing. "You've 'almost got it, young man. You're 'almost' there. But not quite."

Rather than a life of almost, I want a life of reckless abandon. I want to pursue after the Lord like a deer panting after a water brook. I don't want 'not quite' on my resume. I'm not interested in anything that just gets close. I won't settle for 'almost' in my life.

Crosses to Crowns

"There will be no crown wearers in Heaven who were not first cross bearers on earth."
~ Charles Spurgeon