Word of the Year

Word of the Year

The moment has finally come. The judges’ decision is in.

The envelope please.

Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year for 2012 is …

OMNISHAMBLES!

I realize this is really a British thing, but the template sure does overlay the US scene very nicely.

Omnishambles is defined as “a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations.” In short, it’s a first-class mess!

Each year the Oxford University Press tracks how the English language is changing and chooses a word that reflects the personality of the year. The word was coined by writers of the dark political comedy “The Thick of It,” which takes place in the halls of British government.

To be fair, omnishambles wouldn’t merely overlay the American landscape, but would describe many, many places around our world.

Things are clearly a mess—near and far. Consider…

▪ Legislative gridlock. Most think this is an example of omnishambles. I don’t. I’m just including it for the fun of it. Were it not for our occasional legislative gridlock, I assure you, our omnishambles would be far greater than it is. It’s when they agree that I really worry.

▪ Fiscal Cliff. This one is an omnishambles. However, bear in mind that whether we get a Grand Bargain that is exactly what the Democrats want or exactly what the Republicans want it will barely make a dent in a deficit created by a government that is addicted to selling (and a people who are addicted to buying) $10 worth of services for $6. You don’t make up for that in volume.

▪ Civil War in Syria

▪ A nuclear-armed Iran.

▪ World-wide terrorism threats.

▪ And how else to explain the fact that Honey Boo Boo is a star?

You got it—Omnishambles!

But the truth is, the world has always been an omnishambles.

Start in the garden and wend your way through the Scriptures all the way to the end. In the midst of the mess men and women have made of things, you’ll see the thread of God’s redemptive activity.

Paul said it like this, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rm5:8). Even while, and even though, we’d made an omnishambles of everything, Christ willingly paid our sin debt to a holy God.

The conclusion of it all is this. God will bring order to our fallen world—eventually. But he can bring order to your fallen world—today.

Found Faithful

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday. I sure did. Both of the kids/ spouses spent Wednesday evening with us. We had a great time together. Dale fixed a traditional Thanksgiving meal with a big, fat turkey, dressing and the whole nine yards! Each of us shared special words of gratitude, I read Scripture, and we prayed together. And then we ate! It was a real feast.



STAND BACK!



It’s always been my job to carve the turkey. In the photograph you’ll see that I’m about to get to work. Which brings me to “the knife.” We have this electric knife we got as a wedding gift—35 years ago. I know, I know. I look much too young to have been married 35 years! Even when new, this knife was an ordinary appliance—nothing high tech or high end.

But… it got the job done. And still does.

My electric knife doesn’t get many “Wows!” But it sure can make the turkey look good.

And as I cleaned it up to put it away, I thought, “I want to be like that knife.” Not the latest and greatest—and the packaging is starting to look a little rough. But I want to continue to be faithful, useful in serving the Lord. I realize I’m not describing established fact; I’m describing my aspirations. My problem is that my ego wants to get in the way.

But I certainly aspire to be useful. The resurrected Christ said to the church in Smyrna, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). That’s how long my knife is going to be faithful. That’s how long I want to be faithful.

Zombie Bees



Real-Life Zombie Bee



Here’s an effective (though somewhat creepy) way to illustrate the need for spiritual discipline and the need to renew your mind. In 2008, scientists spotted what they called “zombie bees.” These bees showed strange behaviors, like flying at night (almost unheard of in healthy bees), moving erratically and then dying.

Investigators found that the bees were victims of a parasitic fly that invaded the bees’ minds and induced their hosts to make a “flight of the living dead.” The article notes other examples of parasites that not only feed on its host, but also alter the host’s behavior in a way that benefits the parasite. The technical phrase is “host manipulation.”

Is this just a creepy extension of our fascination with zombies? The article seems to suggest that humans might be the victims of host manipulation as well, giving rise to the question, “Who’s in charge inside your head?” Of course the jury may still be out on how “host manipulation” works on a physical level, but it’s sure a powerful reality in the spiritual realm.

So, who’s in charge inside your head? Well, as fallen people, we are highly susceptible to the leadership of the Evil one. After all, it’s only natural. But we don’t want to be bound by natural limitations. We want more. That’s why God offers new life through our faith in Christ.

Paul challenges us, “Whatever we do, it is because Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live” (2C5:14, NLT). What’s the explanation for all of your erratic, self-destructive behavior? You may be under the control of the wrong host!

How do you limit the influence of our fallen world and leverage the influence of the risen Christ? Exercise spiritual discipline. Engage in personal prayer; join in Bible study with other believers; gather for worship each week; give yourself in service to others.

Paul’s language was, put off the old self, put on the new self and [Steve’s language] fly right!

For Christ,

SLK

Remembering 9-11



"Blessed is the nation..."



In our Men’s Prayer Group this morning we sang, America the Beautiful. The less familiar third verse says, “O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life!” I thought, in general, of the 3000 people who were murdered eleven years ago. But I thought, in particular, of the many first responders—all those people who voluntarily placed themselves in harm’s way.

For all of us who were adults on this day eleven years ago, we will never forget their valor.

It’s remarkable to think back to how the country responded. We were united and we were humbled. There was wide-spread acknowledgment that—we need God. And people turned to God in prayer. Even our politicians. Even in Washington!

Eleven years later, in the midst of relative prosperity and safety, the old self-sufficiency has crept back in. There is not nearly as keen a national sense that we need God. And we are solidly in the grip of disunity.

Hmm? I wonder if there’s a pattern here? Humility and a wide-spread open recognition of our need for God produces—unity. Self-reliance, self-sufficiency and even eschewing God diminishes our national sense that we need God, and results in—disunity.

But I will always struggle to understand.

As the Islamist leaders openly acknowledge, “You love life; we love death.” Meanwhile, people continue to flock to this land of freedom and life. People continue to flee (or strive to) the oppressive, death loving regimes of the world.

In humility, and with a profound sense of reliance on God, the Psalmist said, “God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1).

Come Home

This post is from the current edition of The Message.

Have you ever noticed that when you are separated from your normal routine you miss some people or things more than others? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. Absence will cause you to miss some things intensely, such as your husband or wife, your kids, high calorie/ high fat desserts. Absence will cause you to miss other things less and less. You didn’t miss not going to the dentist, did you? We say, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

  But does it?

  It all depends on your personal passion.

  The observation is true, “Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, just as the wind blows out a candle and fans a fire.” Some who once had a passion for the Lord and His church are absent from both. Whether the wind of absence extinguishes your fire or fans it depends on your passion for God. If your passion for God, His people, and His activity is a little passion, you may already be growing comfortable in your absence. You may already be comfortable in filling the Lord’s day with the newspaper, reruns, and ball games.

  But if your passion for God, His people, and His activity is a great passion, you may already be growing increasingly uncomfortable in your absence. You may be continuously pressed with the nagging conclusion that you’re missing out on something meaningful, missing out on experiences and relationships that are irreplaceable. If you are, it is because you still have a great passion for God.

  So come back home. It’s never too late. It says in the Bible, “‘Return to me and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Mal.3:7). So come back home. You’ll find friends here. And you’ll find people who share your passion for God.

The Unsatisfying Answer

Once again Americans’ collective grief is palpable. James Holmes, 24, opened fire in an Aurora, Colorado movie theatre. When the shooting finally ended, 12 people were dead and 58 were wounded.

Why? Well, worst of all, there appears to be no motive whatsoever. Simply a random act of violence. This makes it so different from other tragedies. Other tragedies are the result of pure accidents, physical failure of some sort, or even carelessness.

But the senselessness of this shooting only compounds the tragedy.

So—what is going on here?

            Depends on who you ask.

A biologist might tell you, “This is an evolutionary one-off. A critically flawed piece of the collective gene pool has been eliminated. James Holmes never had and never will have children.”

A sociologist might tell you, “The isolation and constant exposure to violent images and messages leads to aberrant behavior.”

A political scientist might tell you, “Extremism in political discourse and the ready availability of weapons makes something like this inevitable.”

But as a person of faith, I would suggest to you that there is something terribly broken on planet earth. We live in a fallen world. The fallenness of our world is a huge truth that we typically experience in small, annoying ways which are relatively easy to ignore. But every once in a while, something so grotesque, something so incomprehensible occurs, that we just can’t look away.

So there it is. The unsatisfying short answer. We live in a fallen world.

The Bible tells us that just before the flood, God reached this reluctant conclusion: “God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night” (Gen. 6:5, Msg). And I know what you’re thinking, but things were no better after the flood either (see Gen. 8:21).

So, is this what we’ve come to?

            God have mercy on us.

                        But wait—on second thought—that’s exactly what God did!

You see, God is not surprised by our human horrors. Brokenhearted—yes. But surprised—no. This only serves to make God’s grace all the more shocking. With eyes wide open, God is the one who says to you and me, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rm. 5:8, NIV).

Mercy Abounds

 

Many of you by now have heard the amazing story of our own Mari-Lynn Quisenberry. Last Saturday morning (April 28) she was out jogging with her running group. During her run she collapsed and went into full cardiac arrest. Mari-Lynn is only 41 years old. I hope that we will soon get to hear her story directly from her and her husband Bart. But for now, let me give you the highlights.

Through a series of miraculous and merciful interventions, God has elected to spare her life. A very small portion of her running route took her near a busy road. This was where she collapsed. An off-duty paramedic happened to be driving by and saw her on the ground. He decided to stop and see if she needed help (boy, did she ever!). Meanwhile, two on-duty paramedics were coming out of the near-by grocery just as the first paramedic got on the scene. Her care was excellent and immediate. It has been a dangerous and dramatic several days. She is recovering wonderfully!

Jumping way ahead in the story: As it turns out, Mari-Lynn has a congenital, and unless discovered and corrected, often-fatal heart defect. It has (mercifully!) been discovered and will be corrected through surgery next week.

All of us who know and love this precious lady are humbly thanking God for heaping mercy upon mercy. We say over and over: God is love. We know this is true because the Bible tells us so. We know this is true because we see it displayed in others’ lives. We know this is true because we experience it in our own lives. And we experience God’s love as MERCY.

The writer in Hebrews tells us: “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

There is no substitute for the mercy of God and there is no substitute for belonging, being connected to the believing community. When the church works, it is a wonderful thing to behold. Channel 5 News did a report on this incident and on the heroic off-duty paramedic who helped save Mari-Lynn’s life. You can view that report here:

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/Off-Duty-EMT-Helps-Save-Runners-Life?CMP=201205_emailshare

Faith in Action--Wow!

I was so proud of our church on Faith in Action Day! We had some 300 people give their Sunday to serve the Lord by serving our community. We, in addition to several hundred other people from Cumberland Community Church and Vinings Methodist, descended on Campbell High like a horde of (friendly) locusts. We painted and cleaned, planted, threw out, and built until our tail feathers were dragging. Though we were pretty worn out, we had a grand worship celebration that night. It was a remarkable day. Here are a few shots of  the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Master Bathroom Project



Ah, no leaks, no flames!



I like to watch home repair shows. I record a few of them. I like the pioneer of the genre, This Old House. And I like Holmes on Homes. Holmes is the name of a builder who goes to homeowners’ homes who have been victimized by incompetent and/or unscrupulous contractors. He uncovers all the blunders and deficiencies and then corrects them. The fact that he is the hero of all of his stories gets a little tedious, but what he does is instructive. My favorite, though, is Ask This Old House. They usually tackle small projects in various aspects of home-ownership. They may cover landscaping, HVAC, electrical, carpentry or plumbing. Fascinating stuff.

I decided to renovate our master bathroom. Dale: (eyebrows arched, arms crossed) Are you sure you can do this? Me: I’ve seen it on TV many times. How hard can it be?

You’ve heard the axiom, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”? I’m here to tell you—it’s true! When it comes to construction I know a little bit about a lot of things. Just enough to get into trouble.

I did the demo and some new framing to fit around the cast iron shower pan. I was ready to solder the new shower valve. I was psyched. I started early on Friday morning. But I couldn’t get my propane torch to stay lit. I took it to the hardware store to see if I could get any help. The helpful guy at the store smiled, took my torch and loosened the tip. “If you don’t keep the tip loose, it won’t get any oxygen. No oxygen, no fire.” Hey, don’t be smug. You didn’t know that either.

So, I’m back home with my torch now and heating up the copper fittings on the shower valve. A propane torch gets very hot. But guess what? Temperatures hot enough to solder copper fittings are also hot enough to burn wood. My bathroom wall kept catching on fire! So I would hold the flame on the fittings with my right hand and beat out the flames on the studs with my gloved left hand. It was very exciting.

Did you know that for $15 you can get what they call a “heat shield”? You drape it behind the copper you’re heating—so you don’t burn down your house. How am I supposed to know that? I’ve never seen that on Ask This Old House.

I’m learning a lot. Don’t call me, though. You don’t have enough insurance for me to work on your house.

I’ve come to this conclusion. You can only learn so much by watching a program. At some point, if you want to become better at it, you have to do it.

That’s true about our faith, too. You can only learn so much from attending classes, services and conferences. At some point, if your faith is going to grow, you have to do. Not sing about it, read about it, or agree with someone else who’s talking about it. You have to DO IT. You have to serve, pray, give, witness—do. Will you stumble along the way? More than likely. Will you grow spiritually in the process? Without a doubt.

The one benediction we all covet for ourselves is the Lord pronouncing over us, not: “Well attended good and faithful servant,” but, “Well done good and faithful servant.”