Monthly Archives: November 2005

Privileged

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Last night I went to 249 (our student ministry building) to pick up Andrew after a Junior High event. Andrew is a sophomore and is in the 249 North band; they played some songs tonight during the assembly time.

When I showed up all the leaders and student-leaders were circled up, reflecting on the night. I thought they were praying so I stopped at the doorway and quietly went back outside. But Quaid saw me (they hadn’t started praying yet) and called me back in. I got to join the circle and pray with these amazing people.

It sounds like a small thing, but this was such a privilege. These leaders are some of the finest people I’ve ever met. And the students among them simply blow me away with their service and faithfulness. I miss these times, and I miss these people. I still haven’t quite gotten over the low-level grief I feel for having left the student ministry, although I know that it’s what God wanted me to do. I still pathetically read their Live Journals daily (see the LJ/Myspace Friends in the Bloogroll for a sample) just to keep up with what’s going on in their young lives. Pretty sad, eh? 🙂

Man, God is good!

Hope and refuge

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I’ve been thinking about hope recently – a lot. I’ve posted on this in this space before: everybody hurts, including Christians. Sometimes I wonder if those of us in Christ are susceptible to longings and hurts unknown to the world. We are strangers and aliens here and we have glimpsed the promise: our final healing and glorification, and our face to face reunion with the One who died for us! Our present world fades in comparison – as Caedmon’s Call sings, this is “not the land that was promised us”. And although we’re partakers of joys and adventures unknown to those outside of Christ, we still feel the burden of our homesickness. The Bible exhorts us to keep our hopes up, and keep them focused on the promises of God.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

– Hebrews 6:13-20 (ESV)

Abraham was also called by God out of the place that once felt like home, and he was given promises that he sometimes thought were impossible. But by faith he knew, because he knew the one who made the promise. God, who cannot lie, made the promise and then swore by himself.

There is absolutely nothing greater that he could have sworn by! God meant what he said to Abraham. And he brought it to pass. The writer of Hebrews makes the connection here between God’s promise to Abraham and his promise to us.

Hope can be hard to maintain in the midst of trouble. But if you’ve fled to Jesus for refuge you are a citizen of a city with strong, strong fortifications. Be encouraged! There is hope set before us. Hold fast!

The writer of this difficult chapter in Hebrews understood that hope, and, as the writer dwells on that hope, the language in this passage begins to soar. Yes, the promise given to us and the hope that inspires are sure and steadfast. And strong – solid like an anchor to keep us from being blown off course into despair. The winds will blow! But we are anchored with strong chains to a solid rock.

And hope is not content to just stay with us and comfort us. It pushes forward, entering even into the once-forbidden inner place, the Holy of Holies, behind the veil. That’s the place where God is.

And we can go there; we have access and can enter boldly, because Jesus has blazed the trail.

Enter in. And don’t lose hope!

New SnapOn: Reading List

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Ok, I created another extension SnapOn tonight – it’s called “ReadingList”. It’s a list of what I’m reading, and it can be seen in the left navbar if you’re using the Bloos Riff theme, or the right navbar for Blue or Bloo Classic, right below the Bloogroll.

Of course, reading lists such as this can be seen on about a shmillion other blogs out there. I’m nothing if not unoriginal.

I read a lot, but I don’t read a lot of books. Does that make any sense? I’m also a big “pick up whatever P.J. O’Rourke or C.S. Lewis book is near at hand that I’ve already read and start reading from some random page” guy. In other words, I’m apologizing in advance for the way this reading list probably won’t change much.

This was a really easy SnapOn to create. I’m doing the Dilbert Engineer’s Victory Dance right now (and, trust me, it’s not a pretty sight).

Oh, I also adjusted the Bloos Riff theme because I was starting to really dislike how it looked. Again . . .

Watch me for the changes . . .

Table for two

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Danny and I spent another late night over pancakes

We talked about soccer and how every man’s just the same . . .

– Caedmon’s Call, Table for Two

Andrew and I had a great talk last night over a meal at Chili’s.

Threaded inside a larger discussion of music, the worship band Andrew plays in, school, books, and other things was a discussion about perseverance. We talked about being dry, watching friends fall away, and endurance. We talked about how everybody hurts.

This talk struck a chord with me. I think I’ve been praying harder these last few months than I ever have before, that those I love will endure. And not just endure, but thrive, standing firm in joy.

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

– Philippians 4:1 (ESV)

”Stand firm thus in the Lord”, Paul writes. The passion with which he shares that sentiment is palpable. He is writing to people whom he loves and longs for; his joy and crown.

I think I can understand where Paul is coming from here. I’ve felt a great urgency in this area lately, both for people in my family and those without. The life of a Christian is the best life, and after being allowed to bumble along my own course in this faith-run for the past two decades I simply can’t imagine being without the Lord. The burden of Christ is, indeed, easy and light compared to the crushing weight of sin and the chains of legalism, but you can’t read very far in Scripture without coming to an exhortation for endurance. God knows that the life we’re called to is not “natural”. When a person is in Christ they are no longer at home in this world.

And we long for home so badly! It’s easy to want to take the short-cut: this world calls to us. It offers a pleasant place for us to set up residence. It seeks to topple our faith through argument, to inflame our flesh through temptation, to make us bitter and cynical on the one hand and obliviously complacent on the other. It seeks to fill our time with every bauble and trinket money (or credit) can buy and every distraction that its five-hundred digital channels can offer.

God says “stand firm”. Struggles are going to come. In fact, struggles and suffering are good. They teach us endurance. It is through suffering that we learn perseverance, and gain character, which in turn produces precious, golden hope.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

– Romans 5:1-5 (ESV)

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings . . .”

Wow. May I learn this. And may I stand firm.

And, Lord, may those I love and long for, my joy and crown, do the same. Lord, teach us to endure.

New SnapOn: Most Popular Posts

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Actually, using the term “Most Popular Posts” is a bit presumptuous for my humble little corner of the blogosphere with its three readers. But what the hay – it’s a nice way to highlight posts from the past that garnered some commentage.

I wrote a new snapon yesterday on the bus: it’s called MostCommentedPosts and you can see it in action in the left navbar (if you’re using theme Bloos_Riff) or in the right navbar (if using Bloo_Classic or Blue). It’s a concept I came up with many moons ago on Thinklings mainly to keep the Gatorade Post alive somehow (Bird was in a near panic that his magnum opus was about to drift off the front page ;-). Of course, I wasn’t the first one with this idea and you see similar lists all over the blogosphere.

Watch me for the changes . . .

Update: – Well, really, a clarification. I’m sure you are all wondering why this wasn’t part of a new release? Actually, I’m quite sure none of you care :-), but for completeness let me ‘splain. The releases are for the base Bloo product. This is an extension SnapOn (kind of like a WordPress plugin, except it’s a SnapOn, not a Plugin, darnit!). Extension SnapOns and Themes are not part of the base product and will be rolled out separately.

“Before God had ever said ‘let there be light'”

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

– Ephesians 1:3-10 (ESV)

Bob over at Gratitude and Hoopla blogs on this passage. I can’t at the moment think of anything to add to what he’s saying:

Think of this a moment. God’s plan for creation included a knowledge that rebellion and sin would enter in, provoking a necessary separation (a “great divorce”) between God and man, who had been intended as the very pinnacle of the plan. But before He ever set the plan in motion, before the construction project of creation had even begun, one member of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, volunteered himself to be the vehicle for the restoration of all this fallen creation to its intended perfection.

And here’s the thing: that plan included you, if you have believed on Jesus. Think of it. From the beginning God took account of the rebellion, made a way of salvation nevertheless possible through Jesus Christ, and out of many generations chose those individuals whom he would include in this great plan of restoration. So, to put it another way, in the perfection of the Godhead, before ever the created universe was set in motion, the plan was hatched to save many. And Jesus said, “I will go on their behalf. I will do what is necessary. I will take on mortality, I will bear the violent malice of evil men, I will face down the devil and take the wrath for sin, I will even endure separation from the Father, for the sake of [insert name here].” And all this, I emphasize, before God had ever said, “Let there be light.”

I stand in awe.

Go read his whole post. Heck, go read his whole blog!

The Lover of the unloved

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The Lord your God is in your midst,

a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,

so that you will no longer suffer reproach.

Behold, at that time I will deal

with all your oppressors.

And I will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change their shame into praise

and renown in all the earth.

– Zephaniah 3:17-19 (ESV)

At the end of a book of judgement and hair-raising descriptions of the Day of the Lord is this tender, triumphant passage addressed to Israel.

Away with our images of a passive God, a Lord too distant to save, a King too austere to show tenderness! The Lord God loves the outcast. He loves the unloved; their coming victory, the turning upside-down of the world’s value-system, is described on page after page of Scripture.

Our God is the one who rejoices with gladness over the outcast, who quiets them by his love, who exults! He is the one who sings over those who have never known what it’s like to be the object of someone’s love-song.

He invites to the festival those who have never received an invitation to anything.

He deals with the oppressor, with the unfortunate, doomed but fully deserving one who has dared shame and harm his beloved. And woe unto them . . .

And he saves and gathers to himself the outcasts of this world. Their shame is covered in the praise and renown that he willingly showers on them.

The Lord God loves the outcast! He is the mighty one who will save, the rescuing Lover of the unloved, our amazing God.

“At that time I will bring you in,

at the time when I gather you together;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes

before your eyes,” says the Lord.

– Zephaniah 3:20

“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

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Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.

– Matthew 14:22-24 (ESV)

Interesting contrasts here: Jesus is alone on the mountain, praying in solitude and peace. Night is falling, and his followers find themselves out in the middle of the lake, beaten by the waves. The wind is against them. They were experienced fishermen and were no doubt used to situations such as this, but as night fell I would imagine they were feeling some anxiety. I personally would have been terrified. That wind! It had set itself against these men in their little boat, and it was blowing hard.

My guess is that they were wishing Jesus was with them. They had seen him take authority over the wind and the waves before.

But, even as far away as they thought he was, it’s not like this situation was beyond him.

And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

– Matthew 14:25-27 (ESV)

I love the disciples! First wind, then waves, and now . . . A GHOST!!! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!

What would it have been like to spend time with these guys? I can’t imagine! But I digress. The bit that really hits me is this:

“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
Yes.

Don’t be afraid. Jesus is here. Notice that the wind and the waves were still blasting away. Take heart. Jesus is the rock, the cornerstone, the foundation. There is nothing stronger than him, least of all these wet, messy waves and this breeze on steroids.

And, all kidding aside, these men really were scared. They were crying out in fear — have you been in a situation like that before? I’m sure some of you have. Perhaps even now. You and I may not be panicking out loud, but behind our calm demeanors our hearts often cry out in fear. The winds of circumstance, the cursed ground we live on, and our own sin that follows us all have “set themselves against us.” Sometimes I want to run screaming.

And Jesus says “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

Lord, I won’t be afraid, if you provide the courage. I have none on my own.

And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

– Matthew 14:28-33 (ESV)

Yes, he is!

I love Peter. We ridicule him sometimes from our safe perches here in the 21st century, and, I might add, with a relationship with the Lord made “safe” (we think) by the fact that we can’t see him or touch him. But I can’t help but love Peter. I don’t see a record here of any of the other disciples stepping out of the boat. Peter did it. If even for just a few seconds, he committed his all in faith to the Lord. And when he started to sink he didn’t act according to that famous pride we often (wrongly, I think) ascribe to him. He reached out to Jesus and called upon him for salvation, and there you have the only right answer to the central question of life. Peter, you get an “A”. May I be more like you were, on my journey of becoming more like Jesus is. May I feel the electric thrill of faith in action as the soles of my feet touch onto the thrashing waves and my Lord fills all my vision.

Truly he is the Son of God!

Bloo v 0.17 Release Notes

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Bloo version 0.17 is finally released! Well, “released” is a strong term as I still continue to stingily keep this code out of the public domain. I still have those last few bows to tie on the top before I’m ready to open the kimono (plus, I have a wiki to setup).

This one has a lot more internal/behind the scenes improvements than external improvements. Here is the list of what’s been done:

  • Fixed the RSS feed so that it would translate those funky Word characters correctly
  • Developed a Quotes package. This page has the Quote of the Day snapon (QOTD) enabled. There is also a Random Quote snapon I wrote – they both inherit from a common object and just vary the quote selection algorithm. I love quotes!
  • Created an extension architecture. This is for snapon packages considered outside the base product. Right now the Quotes package and the Bible package (which gives you the verse of the day snapon in the navbar) are in the extensions area.



    • Me and my doppelganger De

    feeling the wind in our hair

    (note: not really)

  • Did a lot of enhancing to the “Lists” package. An example of a List is the bloogroll, for instance, or the quotes. The Lists package gives a common set of snapons for maintaining lists. I added a lot of flexibility to the lists, allowing for dynamic overlays and snapons in the maintenance area. I know, that probably makes no sense. You’d have to see it – but let me just say that I’m definitely feeling the wind in my hair now.
  • Multiple bloogroll categories: Now the bloogroll can be grouped into multiple categories. I’ve added an “LJ Friends” category where livejournal bloggers I know now find their home in the Bloogroll. If you ever want to gain some hope for the future, read those!
  • Now all the blog settings are stored in a list, rather than in a configuration file. Again, this is behind the scenes, but it really makes maintenance a lot easier
  • Finally, I rewrote the security module. Originally Bloo implemented a “levels-based” security ala WordPress or B2. But I’m not completely satisfied with that method. I wanted something more flexible, so I’m now using Role based security. Each user of the blog is assigned a role – and roles can contain privileges for other roles, etc. It’s a better security method, imo, and I’m glad I got that in now, rather than later. That’s one reason (excuse) this upgrade took so long

Well, there you have it. Bloo version 0.17 is now live. I look forward to getting started on the next incremental release.

Watch me for the changes . . .