I am a believer in God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in His son, Jesus Christ. This is the first of a six part series about Why I Believe.
Next (#2 of 6)
Life on this planet is amazing. The earth is well-suited for supporting a planet wide system of ecosystems. The physical properties of the earth provide a stable environment for life to thrive, and the ecosystems help stabilize the physical environment. It is though they were designed for each other. Each ecosystem is an ongoing, complex interaction between living plants, animals, and microbes. Each living entity is birthed, thrives, reproduces, and is eventually recycled. It thrives by extracting readily available resources from its physical and biological environments, and when it is recycled, its components are broken down and made available as resources for other organisms.
Not only is each ecosystem is well suited to its environment, but is also adaptable, adjusting its mix of organisms to adapt to changes in its local environment. Hundreds, or even thousands of species happily coexist in the same area, many in helpful symbiotic relationship with other species. It appears to be a well-designed system.
The ecosystems contain myriads of multicellular organisms—plants, animals, and other creatures. These creatures have amazing diversity and complexity, and are adapted to a wide variety of environments, from the tundra to the tropics and everywhere in between. They can be found at the tops of mountains and at the tops of rain forests, and also at the bottom of ocean trenches around volcanic vents. They range in size from tiny mites who spend their entire lives on someone’s skin, to giant sperm whales that daily travel between the ocean surface to breathe and the bottom of the ocean to eat.
Each multicellular organism is exquisitely designed, but each is composed of basically the same thing—cells. Each cell is a complete organism in its own right—it is birthed (through mitosis), extracts resources from its environment, thrives, reproduces, and is eventually recycled. Each cell knows its function in the body, and assumes the form necessary to perform that function. The form can be a skin cell, a muscle cell, a nerve cell, a root cell, a leaf cell, or one of hundreds of other forms. Each cell, in a healthy body, lives in a harmonious and non-competitive relationship with the other cells in the body, putting the needs of the body above its own needs. Even though an animal’s body may be composed of trillions of individual cells, it behaves as a single individual. That’s utterly amazing.
So, how is it possible that each cell knows what form to take and perform its function in the body, so that the body as a whole can function as a single organism? And at the same time, how is it possible that each body knows how to function successfully within its own unique niche in its ecosystem? It is because each cell in the body (except for red blood cells) contains a digital processing system complete with software to make it all happen. The software and all the data needed for the construction and operation of each cell, as well as the entire body is stored as digital information in the DNA located in the nucleus of each cell. The cell also has a digital processor implemented in biochemistry that can pinpoint, read, and process the data that tells the cell what form it is to take and what function it is supposed to perform for the body. The digital processor is capable of finding the software and data that pertains to its particular purpose even though the digital information is scattered throughout potentially dozens of chromosomes in the nucleus, while at the same time ignoring data that is not currently relevant to the cell.
The DNA contains all different kinds of information including how the cell can manufacture a copy of itself, how the cell can make a baby animal, and how to grow a baby animal into an adult. The DNA contains schedules and parts lists for doing all this. On top of that, the DNA contains instinctive behavior for how the animal can move about and get resources from its environment, establish a home, recognize and interact with other members of its species, reproduce, and perform its role as a part of an ecosystem. Information for all these different levels—cell, body, and ecosystem—is stored in the DNA of each cell.
The simplest form of life is a single cell—complete with software and data stored in DNA and a digital processing system to process it. The simplest form of life is far from simple. I believe God designed and created all this.
On top of all this, there is consciousness. Consciousness is an enigma. We all talk about it, but it something that cannot be measured or even detected by science. I know I am conscious, because I think and am aware of myself. I assume other people are conscious beings like me, and not merely biochemical robots, but I can’t detect their consciousness, and they can’t detect mine. It is true that science can measure brainwaves and blood flow to determine the activity level of a brain, but it can’t detect consciousness itself.
When I look at an object, light reflected from the object enters my two eyes and is detected by the rods and cones in my retinas as individual pixels. Information about these pixels passes along my optic nerves and into my brain where different areas of my brain deduce different features from these pixels—hue, brightness, movement, boundaries, texture, shadows, size, and 3-D effects. The information from these areas is combined with information from other parts of my brain to try to match the current pixel patterns with previously viewed patterns to hypothesize what objects are present. All this is happening in the neurons of my brain, but I do not see pixels, but rather I am conscious of a beautiful vase of flowers, a child playing on the floor, a cascading waterfall, or a smiling face. Somehow, what my brain processes gets transferred to my consciousness. All the biochemical activities can be detected by science, but not my consciousness. That is a gift from God.
Friday, September 20, 2019
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Who is Lord?
Sometimes I read something and it gets me thinking and wondering, and then I do a quick word study in the Bible to check out a question or idea. The two questions that I was thinking about today were, “How did the gospel writers perceive Jesus?” and “How did Jesus perceive himself?” There are many ways to address these questions, but today I decided to do a quick word study of who called whom “Lord” in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This quick study was not intended to fully answers these questions, but a way to get a quick glimpse into one aspect of the subject.
The word lord in English versions of the New Testament is usually the translation of the Greek work kyrios, which typically means “lord”, “master”, or “owner”. It means someone with power and/or authority. Slaves would call their owners “lord”, and subjects would call their king “lord”. People would call their God “lord”.
I wanted to do a quick study, so I searched the gospels in an English version for “Lord,” with a capital “L” and followed by a comma, which would find most situations where a person addressed another as “Lord” to their face. (I could have done a more thorough study with all the verses containing the Greek word kyrie, but I was hoping I could see a pattern with a limited set of verses.) So, I got a list of verses from the gospels, and set out to ask three questions, “Who called Jesus, ‘Lord’?” and “Who did Jesus call ‘Lord’?” and “Who else was called, ‘Lord’?” Here is what I found:
A lot of different people called Jesus, “Lord”. In John 13.13, Jesus reveals His perspective towards those who called Him “Lord”. At the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples, “You call me, ‘Rabbi’ and ‘Lord.’ You say so correctly, for so I am.” He was saying that “Lord” was an appropriate title for him.
a) There were two verses where God addressed as Lord.
To analyze these stories told by Jesus, I have made a simple chart with a row for each story, and in each row you can see the people who called someone “Lord” and the person who was addressed as “Lord.” Take a look at the chart. I am not going to explain my reasoning for my interpretations, because this is a quick study.
In each story the people saying “Lord” can be people in general, but in each case they include people in the audience that Jesus is telling the story to. In each story the person called “Lord” is either a king, the Son of Man, or Jesus. The Son of Man is a title that Jesus uses for Himself. In one story, the king clearly represents Jesus, and in another the king clearly represents God, and in the third he could be either Jesus or God. So, condensing all this, in the stories that Jesus tells, the people in the stories (which include people in His audience) call God and Himself, “Lord”.
In summary, looking at all the verses where someone addresses someone else as “Lord” in the gospels, the addressees are either God or Jesus.
Going back to the two questions that I started with, based on the limited scope of my short study, I would say that the answer is that Jesus perceived Himself as either being God or in the same class as God. Because of the texts they chose to portray Jesus, the gospel writers perceived Jesus in the same way.
Whenever I do a Bible study to find an answer a particular question, God frequently shows me something else apart from what I was looking for. In this study I looked at six stories that Jesus told, that I originally selected because they had one thing in common, they each contained the the word “Lord” followed by a comma. But as I examined the stories, they were all actually similar in other ways. In each story, one or more people have arrived at a turning point in their lives where they are standing before an authority figure, the one they call “Lord”. In each story, the Lord makes--or has already made--a decision about their future. Their future will either be inside with Him, or on the outside apart from Him, based on criteria important to Him.
Whether He is called, “Lord,” doesn’t really matter to Him. What is important is this: Does He know you? Do you spend time with Him? Are you accepting forgiveness and extending forgiveness? Are you helping the helpless? Are you doing what He told you to do? These are the kinds of things that are important to Him.
The word lord in English versions of the New Testament is usually the translation of the Greek work kyrios, which typically means “lord”, “master”, or “owner”. It means someone with power and/or authority. Slaves would call their owners “lord”, and subjects would call their king “lord”. People would call their God “lord”.
I wanted to do a quick study, so I searched the gospels in an English version for “Lord,” with a capital “L” and followed by a comma, which would find most situations where a person addressed another as “Lord” to their face. (I could have done a more thorough study with all the verses containing the Greek word kyrie, but I was hoping I could see a pattern with a limited set of verses.) So, I got a list of verses from the gospels, and set out to ask three questions, “Who called Jesus, ‘Lord’?” and “Who did Jesus call ‘Lord’?” and “Who else was called, ‘Lord’?” Here is what I found:
1. Who called Jesus, “Lord”?
- The twelve disciples of Jesus
- Other disciples of Jesus
- A leper
- A centurion
- A Canaanite woman
- The father of an epileptic
- Two blind men
- A man healed of blindness
- Disciples of John the Baptist
- Martha
- Zacchaeus
- A random person asking who could be saved
- People who heard Jesus’s sermon about the Bread of Life
A lot of different people called Jesus, “Lord”. In John 13.13, Jesus reveals His perspective towards those who called Him “Lord”. At the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples, “You call me, ‘Rabbi’ and ‘Lord.’ You say so correctly, for so I am.” He was saying that “Lord” was an appropriate title for him.
2. Who did Jesus call “Lord”?
Nobody. Even when He was in the presence of earthly authority figures like Pilate, King Herod, or the high priest, He did not call any of them “Lord”. Nor did He use any other honorific with them. In addressing God, Jesus called Him “Father”.
3. Who else (besides Jesus) was called, “Lord”?
This question was more complicated to answer than the other two, but what I found was fascinating. The those who were called “Lord”, other than Jesus, can be divided into two groups, a) God and b) characters in stories that Jesus tolda) There were two verses where God addressed as Lord.
- Simeon addressed God as “Lord”
- God was addressed as “Lord” in an Old Testament quote
To analyze these stories told by Jesus, I have made a simple chart with a row for each story, and in each row you can see the people who called someone “Lord” and the person who was addressed as “Lord.” Take a look at the chart. I am not going to explain my reasoning for my interpretations, because this is a quick study.
People who call someone “Lord” | Person addressed as “Lord” |
| Matt 7.21, 22 – People claiming to be disciples of Jesus | Jesus |
| Matt 18.26 - Unforgiving servant of a king in a parable (The servant represents people Jesus’s audience.) | His king (The king represents God.) |
| Matt 25.11 – Five foolish maidens waiting for a bridegroom in a parable (Maidens represent unwatchful disciples.) | The bridegroom (The bridegroom most likely represents the Son of Man.) |
| Matt 25.37, 44 - Sheep and goats separated by the Son of Man in a parable (Sheep and goats represent people of the nations.) | The Son of Man |
| Luke 13.25 – People outside a door in a parable (They are people who wanting to be saved.) | Householder (Most likely the house represents the Kingdom of God, and the householder is the King.) |
| Luke 19.16 – Three servants in a parable of a nobleman who had gone to become king (The servants represent disciples of Jesus). | The nobleman who has become king (Most likely the nobleman/king represents Jesus.) |
In each story the people saying “Lord” can be people in general, but in each case they include people in the audience that Jesus is telling the story to. In each story the person called “Lord” is either a king, the Son of Man, or Jesus. The Son of Man is a title that Jesus uses for Himself. In one story, the king clearly represents Jesus, and in another the king clearly represents God, and in the third he could be either Jesus or God. So, condensing all this, in the stories that Jesus tells, the people in the stories (which include people in His audience) call God and Himself, “Lord”.
In summary, looking at all the verses where someone addresses someone else as “Lord” in the gospels, the addressees are either God or Jesus.
Going back to the two questions that I started with, based on the limited scope of my short study, I would say that the answer is that Jesus perceived Himself as either being God or in the same class as God. Because of the texts they chose to portray Jesus, the gospel writers perceived Jesus in the same way.
Whenever I do a Bible study to find an answer a particular question, God frequently shows me something else apart from what I was looking for. In this study I looked at six stories that Jesus told, that I originally selected because they had one thing in common, they each contained the the word “Lord” followed by a comma. But as I examined the stories, they were all actually similar in other ways. In each story, one or more people have arrived at a turning point in their lives where they are standing before an authority figure, the one they call “Lord”. In each story, the Lord makes--or has already made--a decision about their future. Their future will either be inside with Him, or on the outside apart from Him, based on criteria important to Him.
Whether He is called, “Lord,” doesn’t really matter to Him. What is important is this: Does He know you? Do you spend time with Him? Are you accepting forgiveness and extending forgiveness? Are you helping the helpless? Are you doing what He told you to do? These are the kinds of things that are important to Him.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Digging Deeper
Just about everybody who is familiar with the Bible knows about the story of Sodom and Gommorah in Genesis 18. I find it to be a very rich story, and every time I read it, I get something new out of it. I just recently read it, I noticed verse 19 for the first time. Verse 19 is part of a three verse passage where God talks about his decision to discuss with Abraham the situation concerning Sodom and Gommorah:
Before we continue, there are a couple of key words in this verse that we need to define—righteousness and justice. Righteousness means basically treating other people right or fairly. Justice means putting things right. When people come to a person in authority—like a king or a judge--with a complaint about someone not treating them right, they want the person in authority to perform justice, or in other words, to put things right, whatever that entails.
So, what is being taught in this story about “doing righteousness and justice”? In this story God, who is the person in authority, reveals that, “the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great.” (vs. 20) In other words, God has heard a ton of complaints about Sodom and Gomorrah not treating people right. So, God decides he needs to get involved. There are two notable things that God does before he makes a judgment. First, he talks over the case with a fair and honest third party—Abraham—to get another perspective, and secondly he goes and visits Sodom.
Abraham is quite familiar with Sodom and Gomorrah, since he lives not too far away and his nephew Lot lives in Sodom. He has heard about how they treat people, but he has also shown compassion towards them. When the kings of the north raided Sodom and carried off all of its people, Abraham went and rescued the captives. (Gen 14:8-24) So Abraham is a good third party not only to discuss the case with, but also someone who can advocate on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Abraham does not dispute the charges against Sodom and Gomorrah, but shows great concern for the good people living among the wicked, and asks God, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” (vs. 23) After asking that question, he and God negotiate and agree that God would not destroy a city even if there were only ten righteous men in it.
After this discussion, two angels representing God enter Sodom to see if there is a basis for the complaints God has heard, and also to identify ten or more righteous men. To find out these things, the angels simply walk into the city, and see how people treat them. In this investigation, God is not looking to see if the people obey His laws, but to see if they live up to their own standards. In this part of the world hospitality is one of the highest values, if not the highest value. It was so in Abraham’s time and continues to be in the rural areas of the Mideast today. A righteous man takes excellent care of visitors, even total strangers. In Gen. 18.1-8, Abraham demonstrated this important custom of hospitality by taking care of that three strangers who arrived. To make it easy for the people of Sodom, the angels were not dressed as tramps or refugees, but dressed well enough that Lot assumed they were VIPs and called them “Lords”.
The angels walk into town, and in a few short hours all the men of Sodom clearly demonstrate their nature. Lot immediately invites these strangers to stay at his house and feeds them. All the other men want to gang rape the strangers. There is only one righteous man, so the angels get ready to execute God’s judgment by destroying the town. But heeding Abraham’s concern about not sweeping away the righteous along with the wicked, the angels first lead Lot and his family out of town to a safe place.
In summary, God invites Abraham to participate with Him in administering justice, so that Abraham can teach his children, grandchildren, and others under his authority about “doing righteousness” (treating people right), and “doing justice” (putting things right). While doing justice, God wants to treat people fairly. He gets input from a third party who both knows the defendants and is ready to be an advocate for them. He also checks out the situation Himself, and does not rely just on the words of those demanding justice. In this case, putting things right involves not only punishing the wicked, but also protecting the innocent.
17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”A part of the reason that God decided to talk to Abraham about what He was thinking and planning concerning Sodom and Gomorrah was so that Abraham could “command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice.” So, I interpret this as God is giving Abraham an experience that he could use to teach his children (and his descendants in general) and his household (those under his authority) about “doing righteousness and justice”. And those of us who claim a share in Abraham’s spiritual heritage can also learn from this experience.
Before we continue, there are a couple of key words in this verse that we need to define—righteousness and justice. Righteousness means basically treating other people right or fairly. Justice means putting things right. When people come to a person in authority—like a king or a judge--with a complaint about someone not treating them right, they want the person in authority to perform justice, or in other words, to put things right, whatever that entails.
So, what is being taught in this story about “doing righteousness and justice”? In this story God, who is the person in authority, reveals that, “the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great.” (vs. 20) In other words, God has heard a ton of complaints about Sodom and Gomorrah not treating people right. So, God decides he needs to get involved. There are two notable things that God does before he makes a judgment. First, he talks over the case with a fair and honest third party—Abraham—to get another perspective, and secondly he goes and visits Sodom.
Abraham is quite familiar with Sodom and Gomorrah, since he lives not too far away and his nephew Lot lives in Sodom. He has heard about how they treat people, but he has also shown compassion towards them. When the kings of the north raided Sodom and carried off all of its people, Abraham went and rescued the captives. (Gen 14:8-24) So Abraham is a good third party not only to discuss the case with, but also someone who can advocate on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Abraham does not dispute the charges against Sodom and Gomorrah, but shows great concern for the good people living among the wicked, and asks God, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” (vs. 23) After asking that question, he and God negotiate and agree that God would not destroy a city even if there were only ten righteous men in it.
After this discussion, two angels representing God enter Sodom to see if there is a basis for the complaints God has heard, and also to identify ten or more righteous men. To find out these things, the angels simply walk into the city, and see how people treat them. In this investigation, God is not looking to see if the people obey His laws, but to see if they live up to their own standards. In this part of the world hospitality is one of the highest values, if not the highest value. It was so in Abraham’s time and continues to be in the rural areas of the Mideast today. A righteous man takes excellent care of visitors, even total strangers. In Gen. 18.1-8, Abraham demonstrated this important custom of hospitality by taking care of that three strangers who arrived. To make it easy for the people of Sodom, the angels were not dressed as tramps or refugees, but dressed well enough that Lot assumed they were VIPs and called them “Lords”.
The angels walk into town, and in a few short hours all the men of Sodom clearly demonstrate their nature. Lot immediately invites these strangers to stay at his house and feeds them. All the other men want to gang rape the strangers. There is only one righteous man, so the angels get ready to execute God’s judgment by destroying the town. But heeding Abraham’s concern about not sweeping away the righteous along with the wicked, the angels first lead Lot and his family out of town to a safe place.
In summary, God invites Abraham to participate with Him in administering justice, so that Abraham can teach his children, grandchildren, and others under his authority about “doing righteousness” (treating people right), and “doing justice” (putting things right). While doing justice, God wants to treat people fairly. He gets input from a third party who both knows the defendants and is ready to be an advocate for them. He also checks out the situation Himself, and does not rely just on the words of those demanding justice. In this case, putting things right involves not only punishing the wicked, but also protecting the innocent.
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Send Us a Man
After the Israelites had finished their forty years of wandering in the desert, Moses said to them,
Fast forward some centuries to the end of the period of the judges, during the time of Samuel the prophet:
Twice God the Israelites spurned God's presence among them and his direct leadership, and twice God agreed to meet their expressed desires for a man instead. The Israelites did not know it, but God had already formulated a secret plan before the beginning of time to meet their expressed desires while meeting his own great desire to live among his people, and lead them directly. So a few hundred years later, God started sharing his secret plan with Isaiah:
Immanuel means "God with us". In that infant son, God would be present among his people. A few chapters later in the book of Isaiah, more information is given about this infant:
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. [Deut. 18.15-18, ESV]Moses was reminding them of the time forty years previously, when they arrived at the base of Mount Horeb/Sinai and God appeared on the top of the mountain as fire, smoke, and lightning, and spoke through thunder, and the Israelites were afraid. [Exod 19.16-20] Essentially what the Israelites were saying was that God was frightening, and would he please send them a man who was not frightening. So, God agreed and promised to send a man, and God would put his words in this prophet's mouth.
Fast forward some centuries to the end of the period of the judges, during the time of Samuel the prophet:
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “ ... Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. ... 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” [1 Sam 8.4-5, 20, ESV]
And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. [1 Sam 8.6-7, ESV]Effectively what the elders were saying was that God was too remote, so they wanted a man sent to them, whom they could see and hear. So, Samuel first anointed Saul to be their king, and later he anointed David to be king. During David's reign, God said to David:
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. [2 Sam. 7.12-14]God promised to send a man, who would be his own son to reign forever on David's throne.
Twice God the Israelites spurned God's presence among them and his direct leadership, and twice God agreed to meet their expressed desires for a man instead. The Israelites did not know it, but God had already formulated a secret plan before the beginning of time to meet their expressed desires while meeting his own great desire to live among his people, and lead them directly. So a few hundred years later, God started sharing his secret plan with Isaiah:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. [Isaiah 7.14, ESV]
Immanuel means "God with us". In that infant son, God would be present among his people. A few chapters later in the book of Isaiah, more information is given about this infant:
6 For to us a child is born,The baby boy would be Mighty God himself, and the everlasting king of Israel. So in the fullness of time, the promised man--king and prophet--arrived, robed in swaddling clothes and enthroned in a manger. He arrived with an army of singing angels and was watched over by the shepherds of the Passover lambs.
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. [Isaiah 9.6-7, ESV]
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Jigsaw Puzzle of Life
As we go through life, we all collect bits of information about various things. Some bits come from our own experiences, while others come from stories we have heard or read. These bits of information are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and each of us has the challenge of trying to assemble our own puzzle of life. How we assemble our individual puzzles helps each of us understand where we came from, what our purpose is, what visible and invisible forces affect us, and what our connection is to the people and things and forces around us. Based on our understanding, our world view, we try to live the good life, maximizing our happy experiences and minimizing our unhappy ones. Everybody does this, from penthouse dwellers in New York City to jungle dwellers in Papua New Guinea.
If I go to the store and buy a jigsaw puzzle, there are some things I can be sure about. First of all, the finished puzzle will have a well-defined border and all the pieces in the box will fit inside that border. Secondly, the label on the box will me how many pieces are in the puzzle, whether it be 100, or 250, or 1000. Thirdly, I can be very confident that all the pieces in the box are genuine, quality pieces and all will connect nicely to the other pieces, forming a complete, tidy puzzle. In the store-bought puzzle box, there won't be any pieces that don't belong to the puzzle. The puzzle of life is different. First of all there is no box. The puzzle doesn't appear to have a well-defined border, so I don't know how big or what shape it is supposed to be. I don't know how many pieces it is supposed to have, so I don't know when I will be finished putting it together. Throughout my life, I have accumulated thousands of bits of information, or puzzle pieces, but I don't whether I have enough pieces to complete my puzzle, or whether I have too many. I don't even know if all the pieces I have are of good quality and genuine, or whether some of them are phony, representing false or imprecise information. Some quality pieces that I collected may have gotten faded or deformed by going through the laundry of my brain, and so no longer fit well.
When I assemble a store-bought puzzle, I usually start by sorting the pieces into little piles of pieces that seem to go together. I assemble each pile winding up with a bunch of disconnected "islands" like a house, a mountain, a cloud, a tree, a face, or a fish. After arranging the islands how I think they ought to be arranged, I use the remaining pieces to connect the islands, until there are no more gaps. Likewise with my puzzle of life, I have assembled a hundreds of islands of understanding--American history, how to use a credit card, the Kingdom of God, what food is good for me, God's love for me, astronomy, Sudoku, my wife, and so on. Some islands have been connected to other islands, but some are still not connected to anything. Many of my islands have a lot of holes in them, because I haven't found the pieces that fit into the holes. And I have a lot of loose pieces left over that don't seem to fit anywhere yet. On top of all that, I am not 100% sure that I have correctly assembled the islands that I have.
But I am not alone in my struggle. The apostle Peter told about the Old Testament prophets, who "searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing." Even though God gave them some very special pieces to their puzzle of life, he did not give them all the pieces, so they ended their lives with unconnected pieces.
There is a special Greek word mysterion that occurs a few times in the New Testament that is usually translated "mystery." In the ancient Greek world, it was sometimes used in a military sense to describe a general's complex battle plan. The general would share parts of the plan with each of his officers, so each officer would know enough to do his own part, but not enough to understand the whole plan. Each officer would then implement his part in faith, trusting that the general had a winning plan. It was not until the battle was won that the entirety of the secret plan was revealed to all the officers.
Paul uses this term in Ephesians 3:
There is one very key puzzle piece, a part of the mystery of God's will which Paul shares in his letter to the Ephesians which is "to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment–to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." [Eph 1.10, NIV] In my puzzle metaphor, that means that Jesus Christ needs to be in the center of my puzzle, and I need to eventually connect all of my disconnected islands directly to Jesus. If I am committed to this, then my life puzzle will come together a lot easier.
If I go to the store and buy a jigsaw puzzle, there are some things I can be sure about. First of all, the finished puzzle will have a well-defined border and all the pieces in the box will fit inside that border. Secondly, the label on the box will me how many pieces are in the puzzle, whether it be 100, or 250, or 1000. Thirdly, I can be very confident that all the pieces in the box are genuine, quality pieces and all will connect nicely to the other pieces, forming a complete, tidy puzzle. In the store-bought puzzle box, there won't be any pieces that don't belong to the puzzle. The puzzle of life is different. First of all there is no box. The puzzle doesn't appear to have a well-defined border, so I don't know how big or what shape it is supposed to be. I don't know how many pieces it is supposed to have, so I don't know when I will be finished putting it together. Throughout my life, I have accumulated thousands of bits of information, or puzzle pieces, but I don't whether I have enough pieces to complete my puzzle, or whether I have too many. I don't even know if all the pieces I have are of good quality and genuine, or whether some of them are phony, representing false or imprecise information. Some quality pieces that I collected may have gotten faded or deformed by going through the laundry of my brain, and so no longer fit well.
When I assemble a store-bought puzzle, I usually start by sorting the pieces into little piles of pieces that seem to go together. I assemble each pile winding up with a bunch of disconnected "islands" like a house, a mountain, a cloud, a tree, a face, or a fish. After arranging the islands how I think they ought to be arranged, I use the remaining pieces to connect the islands, until there are no more gaps. Likewise with my puzzle of life, I have assembled a hundreds of islands of understanding--American history, how to use a credit card, the Kingdom of God, what food is good for me, God's love for me, astronomy, Sudoku, my wife, and so on. Some islands have been connected to other islands, but some are still not connected to anything. Many of my islands have a lot of holes in them, because I haven't found the pieces that fit into the holes. And I have a lot of loose pieces left over that don't seem to fit anywhere yet. On top of all that, I am not 100% sure that I have correctly assembled the islands that I have.
But I am not alone in my struggle. The apostle Peter told about the Old Testament prophets, who "searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing." Even though God gave them some very special pieces to their puzzle of life, he did not give them all the pieces, so they ended their lives with unconnected pieces.
There is a special Greek word mysterion that occurs a few times in the New Testament that is usually translated "mystery." In the ancient Greek world, it was sometimes used in a military sense to describe a general's complex battle plan. The general would share parts of the plan with each of his officers, so each officer would know enough to do his own part, but not enough to understand the whole plan. Each officer would then implement his part in faith, trusting that the general had a winning plan. It was not until the battle was won that the entirety of the secret plan was revealed to all the officers.
Paul uses this term in Ephesians 3:
the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. [Eph 3.4b-6, NIV]God formed a secret plan at the beginning of time, and has been working on it ever since. In each age, as his plan is implemented, he shares additional pieces of the puzzle with key people, but he has yet to share all the pieces. That won't come until the end. Until then, I have to be content with the fact that I will never have all the puzzle pieces in this lifetime. But the Lord will make sure I have the pieces that I need to implement my part in his plan. So, even though I will never finish, I have the joy and challenge of working with the pieces I have.
There is one very key puzzle piece, a part of the mystery of God's will which Paul shares in his letter to the Ephesians which is "to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment–to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." [Eph 1.10, NIV] In my puzzle metaphor, that means that Jesus Christ needs to be in the center of my puzzle, and I need to eventually connect all of my disconnected islands directly to Jesus. If I am committed to this, then my life puzzle will come together a lot easier.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Panting for Living Water
There is a song by Martin J. Nystrom that is special to me because my last name is Herchenroeder. It starts like this:
My mind tends to wander, so this mind picture of the deer frequently blends with a memory of a scene from the story of The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis. In this scene, a girl named Jill Pole is standing near a stream, and she is very thirsty, but there is a lion next to the stream, so she tries to figure out how she can get a drink without risking a close encounter with the lion. [If you are interested, this story of Jill and the stream can be found here.] In my blended picture, the deer is debating whether to go down to the stream risking an encounter with the lion, or to return to the forest. The stream with the living water and the lion are connected, the deer can't drink the living water without trusting and facing the lion, who, by the way, is not tame, but he is very good.
The deer is me. I am spiritually thirsty. I long for intimacy with God, but too often I run from the lion into the dark forest, where there is a false sense of security. However, true security and quenching of my thirst only comes from being close to the Lion. So I sing to him, "You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship thee..."
As the deer panteth for the waterThis song is special because the first three syllables of my last name means "deer in a glade". A glade is a clearing in a forest, so I have this picture in my mind of a deer in a glade or clearing between the forest and a stream of water, and the deer longs for the water--he is thirsty. A glade is not the normal habitat for a deer; it prefers the thickets of the dark forest, where it can easily hide from predators. In my picture the deer is standing in the clearing at the edge of a forest, eyeing the stream and debating whether to risk being vulnerable and go down to the stream to satisfy its thirst, or return to the security of the dark forest.
So my soul longeth after Thee
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship Thee
My mind tends to wander, so this mind picture of the deer frequently blends with a memory of a scene from the story of The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis. In this scene, a girl named Jill Pole is standing near a stream, and she is very thirsty, but there is a lion next to the stream, so she tries to figure out how she can get a drink without risking a close encounter with the lion. [If you are interested, this story of Jill and the stream can be found here.] In my blended picture, the deer is debating whether to go down to the stream risking an encounter with the lion, or to return to the forest. The stream with the living water and the lion are connected, the deer can't drink the living water without trusting and facing the lion, who, by the way, is not tame, but he is very good.
The deer is me. I am spiritually thirsty. I long for intimacy with God, but too often I run from the lion into the dark forest, where there is a false sense of security. However, true security and quenching of my thirst only comes from being close to the Lion. So I sing to him, "You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship thee..."
Friday, September 25, 2015
View from My Ceramic Throne
I am temporarily humbled, but my haughty spirit did not give up. I think, "the laminate is just cheap plastic, and wood finish is fake." As I gaze, I start thinking that this laminate looks awfully familiar, and then I remember, it is very similar to the laminate that my wife and I laid on our dining room floor in our house on Merribrook Trail. We chose it because it was durable, water resistant, easy to clean, easy to install, and quite affordable. And it looked nice too. My attitude was very different when it was my floor material. Humbled again. I now remember the challenges of laying that laminate, and many of the seams did not turn out as well as I would have liked. The honest truth is that I didn't do any better with my dining room floor than those who installed the laminate at my feet. "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged."
I now look away from the seams and turn my attention to the actual wood grain pattern which covers 99.9% of the floor. It looks very realistic, complete with knots and shifting colored contours. Each plank looks like an accurate photograph of a real plank, cut from a real pine tree, growing in a real forest. Dendrologists tell us that the knots and contours in the wood give us a history of the tree. So, here at my feet are faithful representations of complex stories from the past lives of real pine trees. Wow.
Praise God for the complex trees he has created. Thank God for the durable, water resistant, easy to clean, and nice looking floor at my feet, by which I benefit through no effort of my own.
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