Sack Lunches...

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. “Where are you headed” I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. “Petawawa” we'll be there for two weeks for special training and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan.

After flying for about an hour an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time. As I reached for my wallet I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. “No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base.”

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. “Take a lunch to all those soldiers.” She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. “My son was a soldier in Iraq; it's almost like you are doing it for him.”

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, “Which do you like best - beef or chicken?”

“Chicken” I replied wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. “This is your thanks.”

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. “I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.” He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle looking at the aisle numbers as he walked. I hoped he was not looking for me but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, “I want to shake your hand.”

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, “I was a soldier and I was a military pilot.” Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.” I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. “It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.”

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America for an amount of “up to and including my life.”

That is Honor and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.

May God give you the strength and courage to pass this along to everyone on your email buddy list.

I JUST DID


Signed,
Proud to be an American

A Better understanding of His Story through History...

Our History and His Story
Paul M. Bassett

Professor of the History of Christianity, Nazarene Theological Seminary; Kansas City, Missouri USA

Moses instructs Israel: “And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people in Egypt, when he slew the Egyptians, but he spared our houses.’ And [responding] the people bowed their heads and worshiped.”

Isaiah quotes Yahweh’s beckoning: “Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your . . . images. You will scatter them as unclean things; you will say to them, ‘Begone!’”

Our Lord offers himself in bread and wine, saying: “Do this in remembrance of me.” “Remember” saturates Scripture, for Scripture points to our God’s redeeming work at every turn in the time and space we know. But this “remembering” surpasses intellectual or emotional recall. It begins in prevenient grace, the constant call of the Holy Spirit to everyone, everywhere, at all times, to be reconciled to God and to each other.

This remembering directs us to worship—“Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.” This remembering aims to maintain in holiness that which God has sanctified. This remembering directs us to worship—to the appropriation of what God has done for us into “ordinary” life.

Let the life of the Church, then, root in remembering—in proclamation, in nurturing, in sacraments, and in good works. Again, this remembering roots not in us but in the work of the Holy Spirit. Entering the great act of holy remembrance, Eucharist, we confess: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life.” Christian remembering begins in that lordship and in that gift. And that lordship and that gift point on to the Living Word and to the Written Word.

Remembering through hearing the Word and remembering our particular history as a branch of the one Body of Christ entails paradosis, traditio: a handing on to, an infecting with, our own and the next generations as the now long line of generations has infected, infused, affected, and leavened us. We are to hand on not simple recall but grace, not simple remembrance (however reverent) but a call to decision. Insofar as histories of the Church of the Nazarene and Nazarenes bring us to say, “What a great Church!” or “What a great person!” they may have failed. They certainly fail, if they do not bring us to say, “Thank God for this, God’s instrument!” At their best, our histories will first and essentially evoke praise and thanks to God.

Our histories, as histories of a branch of the Body of Christ, should be testimonies, confessions, even where they must report the seamier side of things. Reporting success, they testify that the Spirit has been the Lord and giver of life. Confessing failure, if not sinfulness, they testify to the forgiveness of sin. Always they should testify to the need for God’s grace and the benefits of the Atonement.

Tellers of any part of this story are morally and spiritually obligated to use the story to proclaim the Gospel, within which lies an invitation to confess, to repent and to receive the redeeming grace of Christ. They rehearse the story seeking to infect hearers with that Gospel.

We all know that most tellings of our story have brought us only to say, “What a great church!” or “What a great person!”

We’ve meant well. And pious outbursts do occur here and there in the tellings. But we have too often aimed our tellings at boosting institution(s) and persons, or we have aimed them at getting folks to do something. A fundamental reason we must raise revisionist questions about our written and oral histories is that our real history, His story, did not find its way into our outlines and researches, our pens and our computers.

To put it positively, this very conference is in the great, on-going re-forming spirit of the Church—”always reforming.” Authentic reform reaffirms the central “memory” of the church.

In this light, permit me to propose short responses to four of the issues set out by our consultation’s program committee. My responses to the other issues may be extrapolated from the four that follow.

Are we Nazarenes dealing with our true past [“real” vs. “perceived” story]? Response: We have barely touched our “real story,” our “true past.” Why? Because we tend to take for granted the Gospel side of our story, the Godward side of our story. Our more serious attention goes into the institutional side of that story, forgetting that the real meaning of the institutional side is found in our fidelity to the Gospel side, the Godward side.

Contextual location and memory—Does memory change between Guatemala and Chicago and how does that reflect the life of the church? Response: Empirical histories do differ according to temporal and geographical location. So, the shaping memories differ. But let us reject attempts to make the empirical histories the last word, especially last words that divide. Fundamental to the church is its catholicity. The history of the church in both places named is my history too. The history of the Church in every place belongs to us all, for there is but one real story—the Gospel of God’s redeeming love. “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, etc.” We might rephrase the question in word and in deed: Given the differences in memory of life in the church, in all of its variety, how do we express its common remembrance, its common memory, the memory given by the Lord and Giver of the Church’s life?

Does globalization / internationalization require a memory? Do we need memory? Response: God has never worked in the abstract but always in the particulars of history. To understand and love God and neighbor unconditionally, I must know particular histories. I yearn to know these particular histories because God has graciously brought me into his marvelously varied family. Can the Body of Christ even talk globally / internationally without a memory? It is not our business to “form an identity.” The call of God within the great redemptive history, both within Scripture and the continuing life of the Body of Christ (including the Church of the Nazarene), has already given us an identity. Our task, in every age and place, is to express that identity. Our particular identity is defined by our calling to exemplify, teach, and preach a particular facet of that redemptive history—holiness of heart and life. Doing precisely this has already given us a rich history or memory within the wider history of Christ’s Body.

Let’s take up this history, all of it, and give witness to it as a story, a memory, of how God works. Let’s tell the whole story, so that the hearer or reader will praise and glorify God and not simply say, “What a great church!” or “What a great person!”

What is obidience...

Bill Drake led worship for large group gatherings at a university in California. One day, Operation Mobilization leader George Verwer came to campus to speak. Here's Drake's account of what happened:
"I thought I might impress him by playing some of Keith Green's music. As I left the piano, Verwer caught me in front of 3000 people by saying, "Young man, you probably ought not to be singing songs like that unless you're prepared to back it up with your lifestyle."
To say the least, I was embarrassed and humbled. I liked singing about obedience and holiness, but until then it hadn't crossed my mind that there is no true worship without obedience--which for a disciple of Jesus means being involved in His kingdom."

Who do you say that I AM..?

The Hebrew Name of God - El

he word El comes from a root word meaning "might, strength, power" and probably derives from the Ugaritic term for god. In Scripture, the primary meanings of this root are "god" (pagan or false gods), "God" (the true God of Israel), and sometimes "the mighty" (referring to men or angels). When used of the true God of Israel, El is almost always qualified by additional words that further define the meaning that distinguish Him from false gods. These other names or titles for God are sometimes called "construct forms." El and El Constructs For each name in the list below, I provide the following information: The Hebrew text for the name The most common English transliteration (in italics) A definition for the name, references to the Tanakh, and frequency information Additional comments, if applicable. God El. [basic form] The name for God meaning "strength, might, or power." The basic form El appears over 250 times in the Tanakh. Appears primarily in construct relation when describing the God of Israel. Note that the pictogram for the word El appears as a "strong Controller" or Sovereign: The One God El Echad. The One God (Mal. 2:10). Echad means one in Hebrew and hearkens to the Shema. The Faithful God El Hanne'eman. The Faithful God (Deut. 7:9). From aman, to support, nourish. The God of Truth El Emet. The God of Truth (Ps. 31:5). Emet means firmness, faithfulness, reliableness. The Righteous God El Tsaddik. The Righteous God (Isa. 45:21). Tsaddik means just, righteous. The All-Sufficient God El Shaddai. The All Sufficient God. Shad means "breast" in Hebrew (Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25; Exod. 6:3; Num. 24:6; Ruth 1:20; Job (various references); Psa. 22:10; 68:15; 91:1; Ezek. 1:24; 10:5; 23:21 etc.). Occurs 48 times in the Tanakh. In Genesis 17:1, YHVH said to Abram: "I am El Shaddai. Walk before me and be perfect." So why did the LORD choose to reveal Himself using this distinctive Name to Abram? Most English translations render El Shaddai as "God Almighty," probably because the translators of the Septuagint (i.e., the Greek translation of the Old Testament) thought Shaddai came from a root verb (shadad) that means "to overpower" or "to destroy." The Latin Vulgate likewise translated Shaddai as "Omnipotens" (from which we get our English word omnipotent). God is so overpowering that He is considered "Almighty." According to some of the sages, Shaddai is a contraction of the phrase, "I said to the world, dai (enough)" (as in the famous word used in the Passover Haggadah, Dayeinu -- "it would have been sufficient"). God created the world but "stopped" at a certain point. He left creation "unfinished" because He wanted us to complete the job by means of exercising chesed (love) in repair of the world (tikkun olam). Jacob's blessing given in Genesis 49:25, however, indicates that Shaddai might be related to the word for breasts (shadaim), indicating sufficiency and nourishment (i.e., "blessings of the breasts and of the womb" (בִּרְכת שָׁדַיִם וָרָחַם)). In this case, the Name might derive from the contraction of sha ("who") and dai ("enough") to indicate God's complete sufficiency to nurture the fledgling nation into fruitfulness. Indeed, God first uses this Name when He refers to multiplying Abraham's offspring (Gen. 17:2). El Shaddai is used almost exclusively in reference to the three great patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and (according to Exodus 6:2-3) was the primary name by which God was known to the founders of Israel (the Name YHVH given to Moses suggests God's absolute self-sufficiency). The word "Shaddai" (by itself) was used later by the prophets (e.g., Num. 24:4; Isa. 13:6, Ezek. 1:24) as well as in the books of Job, Ruth, and in the Psalms. In modern Judaism, Shaddai is also thought to be an acronym for the phrase Shomer daltot Yisrael - "Guardian of the doors of Israel" - abbreviated as the letter Shin on most mezuzot: The Most High God El Elyon. The Most High God. This title stresses God's strength, sovereignty, and supremacy (Gen. 14:20; Ps. 9:2). Sometimes referred to in Scripture simply as Elyon (e.g., Num. 24:16). The Everlasting God El Olam. God Everlasting; The Everlasting God; (Gen. 21:33, Ps. 90:1-3, 93:2; Isa. 26:4). Olam means world, universe, everlasting time or space. The God who sees me El Roi. God Who Sees me; Hagar's name for God when He saw her affliction (Gen. 16:13). Notice the Chateph Qamets under the Resh. The God of Jeshurun El Yeshurun. The God of Jeshurun Yeshurun means "the righteous (yashar) people": Israel's ideal character and high calling (Deut. 32:15; 33:5,26; Isa. 44:2). The Mighty God El Gibbor. The Mighty God. Picture of God as a Warrior and Champion (Isa. 9:6). Gibbor means strong or mighty The God of knowledge El De'ot. The God of Knowledge (1 Sam. 2:3). God has perfect knowledge of all things, from beginning to end (omniscient). The Great God El Haggadol. The Great God (Deut. 10:17). When used about God, gadol means great, grand, awesome. The God of Glory El Hakkavod. The God of Glory (Ps. 29:3). Kavod means glory, weight, and honor. Note the use of the Maqqef (binder) in this construct name. The Holy God El Hakkadosh. (Sometimes transliterated Hakadosh). The Holy God (Isa. 5:16). Kaddosh means sacred, holy, set apart, utterly unique and one of a kind. The God of the Heavens El Hashamayim. The God of the Heavens (Ps. 136:26). Shamayim refers to the abode of God. The God of my life El Chaiyai. The God of my life (Ps. 42:8). The first person personal pronoun ending is used with the word Chayim. The Gracious God El-Channun. The Gracious God (Jonah 4:2). Chen means grace. The God of Israel El Yisrael. The God of Israel (Ps. 68:36 [H]). Israel comes from the verb sara, contend, and associates El with YHVH (Gen. 32). The God of my strength El Sali. God of my Strength; God my Rock (Ps. 42:9). Sala means cliff or crag in Hebrew, used poetically like Tzur (Rock). The God of Patience and Consolation El Erekh Apayim avi ha-tanchumim The God of all patience and consolation (Romans 15:5). Note that erekh apayim means "patient" and tanchumim is the Hebrew word for consolation (which comes from nichum, Isa 57:18 - nichumin - comforts). The God of Compassion El Rachum. The God of Compassion; Compassionate God (Deut. 4:31). From racham (Qal). Rechem means womb. All Merciful God El malei Rachamim God full of mercy; All merciful God; From racham (Qal). Rechem means womb. The God of my salvation El Yeshuati. The God of my Salvation (Isa. 12:2). From yeshuah, meaning salvation, deliverance, and victory. The God of our salvation El Yeshuatenu. The God of our Salvation (Psalm 68:19). From yeshuah, meaning salvation, deliverance, and victory. The Jealous God El-Kanno. The Jealous God (Exod. 20:5; 34:14; Num. 5:14, 30; Deut. 4:24; 5:9; 6:15; Jos. 24:19; 1 Ki. 19:10, 14; Ezek. 39:25; Joel 2:18; Nah. 1:2; Zech. 1:14; 8:2). Suggests that God watches us lovingly and closely, like a faithful and passionate bridegroom watches over his betrothed. God with us Immanuel. God is with us (Isa. 7:14). Immanu is a preposition with plural ending. The Awesome God El Hannora. The Awesome God (Neh. 9:32). "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isa 7:14 KJV)

God's Perfect Will vs. God's Permissive Will..

"What is the difference between God's sovereign will and God's perfect will?"

Answer: When speaking of God’s will, many people see three different aspects of it being revealed in the Bible. The first aspect of it is known as God’s decretive, sovereign, or hidden will. This is God’s "ultimate" will. This facet of God’s will comes out of the recognition of God’s sovereignty and the other aspects of God’s nature. This expression of God’s will focuses on the fact that God sovereignly ordains everything that comes to pass. In other words, there is nothing that happens that is outside of God’s sovereign will. This aspect of God’s will is seen in verses like Ephesians 1:11; where it tells us that God is the one “who works all things according to the counsel of His will” and Job 42:2, "I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” This view of God’s will is based on the fact that because God is sovereign, His will can never be frustrated. Nothing happens that is beyond His control.

This understanding of His sovereign will does not imply that God causes everything to happen. Rather, it acknowledges that because He is sovereign, He must at least permit or allow whatever happens to happen. This aspect of God’s will acknowledges the fact that even when God passively permits things to happen, He must choose to permit them, because He always has the power and right to intervene. God can always decide to either permit or stop the actions and events of this world. Therefore, as He allows things to happen, He has “willed” them in this sense of the word.

While God’s sovereign will is often hidden from us until after it comes to pass, there is another aspect of His will that is plain to us. That aspect is what is known as His perceptive or revealed will. As the name implies, this facet of God’s will simply acknowledges that God has chosen to reveal some of what His will for us is in the Bible. The perceptive will of God is God’s declared will concerning what we should or should not do. For example, because of the revealed will of God, we can know that it is God’s will that we do not steal, that we love our enemies, that we repent of our sins, and that we be holy as He is holy. This expression of God’s will is revealed both in His Word as well as in our conscience, through which God has written His moral law upon the hearts of all men. The laws of God, whether found in Scripture or in our hearts, are binding upon us. We are accountable when we disobey them.

Understanding this aspect of God’s will acknowledges that while we have the power and ability to disobey God’s commands, we do not have the right to do so. Therefore, there is no excuse for our sin, and we cannot claim that by choosing to sin we are simply fulfilling God’s sovereign decree or will. Judas was fulfilling God’s sovereign will in betraying Christ, just as the Romans who crucified Him were. That does not justify their sins. They were no less evil or treacherous, and they were held accountable for their rejection of Christ (Acts 4:27-28). Even though in His sovereign will God allows or permits sin to happen, we are still accountable to Him for that sin.

The third aspect of God’s will that we see in the Bible is God’s permissive or perfect will. This facet of God’s will describes God’s attitude and defines what is pleasing to Him. For example, while it is clear that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, it is also clear that He most surely wills or decrees their death. This expression of God’s will is revealed in the many verses of Scripture which indicate what God does and does not take pleasure in. For example, in 1 Timothy 2:4 we see that God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,” and yet we know that God’s sovereign will is that “no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44).

If we are not careful, Christians can easily become preoccupied or even obsessed with finding the “will” of God for our lives. However, if the will we are seeking is His secret, hidden, or decretive will - we are on a foolish quest. God has not chosen to reveal that aspect of His will for us. What we should seek to know is the perceptive or revealed will of God. The true mark of spirituality is when people desire to know and live according to the will of God as revealed in the Scripture, and that can be summarized as “be holy for I am Holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16). Our responsibility is to obey the revealed will of God and not to speculate on what His hidden will for us might be. While we should seek to be “led by the Holy Spirit,” we must never forget that the Holy Spirit is primarily leading us to righteousness and to being conformed into the image of Christ so that our lives will glorify God. God calls us to live our lives by every word that proceeds from His mouth.

Living according to His revealed will should be the chief aim or purpose of our lives. Romans 12:1-2 summarizes this truth as we are called to present our “bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” To know the will of God we should immerse ourselves in the written Word of God, saturating our minds with it, and praying that the Holy Spirit will transform us through the renewing of our minds, so that the result is what is good, acceptable and perfect—the will of God.

I scream..you scream..we all SCREAM for Ice Cream..

Last week, I took my children to a restaurant.

My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace.

As we bowed our heads he said, 'God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food , and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And Liberty and justice for all! Amen!'

Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, 'That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!'

Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me, 'Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?'
As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job, and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table. He winked at my son and said, 'I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer.'

'Really?' my son asked.

'Cross my heart,' the man replied.

Then, in a theatrical whisper, he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), 'Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes.'

Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment, and then did something I will remember the rest of my life.

He picked up his sundae and, without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, 'Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already.'

Trust me...

"How can a mere finite human be sure that infinite wisdom would not tolerate certain short-range evils in order for more long-range goods that we couldn't foresee?"

"Okay, then, imagine a bear in a trap and a hunter who, out of sympathy, wants to liberate him. He tries to win the bear's confidence, but he can't do it, so he has to shoot the bear full of drugs. The bear, however, thinks this is an attack and that the hunter is trying to kill him. He doesn't realize that this is being done out of compassion. Then, in order to get the bear out of the trap, the hunter has to push him further into the trap to release the tension on the spring. If the bear were semiconscious at that point, he would be even more convinced that the hunter was his enemy who was out to cause him suffering and pain. But the bear would be wrong. He reaches this incorrect conclusion because he's not a human being. I believe God does the same to us sometimes, and we can't comprehend why He does it any more than the bear can understand the motivations of the hunter."

"The death of God himself on the cross. At the time, nobody saw how anything good could ever result from this tragedy. And yet God foresaw that the result would be the opening of heaven to human beings. So the worst tragedy in history brought about the most glorious event in history. And if it happened there, if the ultimate evil can result in the ultimate good, it can happen elsewhere, even in our own individual lives. Here, God lifts the curtain and lets us see it. Elsewhere He simply says, 'TRUST ME'."