Over There

I realize that our study of Bible lands is over, but I came across a series of audio teachings that might help.  They are by Mark Ziese.  Mark was a fellow student when I was back at Ozark Bible College in the Paleolithic Age, and is now a professor at Cincinnati Christian University.  You can listen by clicking the files in the green box in the right margin.  I’ll just include the first one for now (Encountering Bible Lands) and add more later as I listen to them.

On Vacation with God

My intentions have been honorable.  I left Saturday to have 5 whole days of down time.  The perfect time to re-establish time in the Word and prayer, and to review a lot of Scripture texts that I’ve memorized but have left lingering without consistent review.

I also have time to catch up on some important relationships.  I’m staying at my Mom’s and have already had some good quality and quantity time.  My Dad is still enduring physical rehab, and will be for 2 more weeks.  We’ve already had some important time together.  I had supper at my sister’s on Sunday night, which was excellent.  I’ve talked, via the phone, to a high school chum (who was also the best man in my wedding) and will get together with him tonight.  I will have lunch with my cousins and aunt and uncle tomorrow.  And, I got to see my great-aunt who is 92 and sharp as a tack.  She is such a kick.

Plenty of time to do it all, right?

Guess what has gone undone?  This morning I am finally getting some time alone in the Bible.  And the wait is completely my fault.

Why is it that vacation is the one of the most challenging times to slow down and re-engage with practices that are most important?  Connecting with people I haven’t seen for a while is great, but why is God squeezed out?

It is still always in my lap.  I cannot point a finger at this or that demand, as though certain events are thieves that sneak in and steal my time.  I must still make hard choices.  Vacation is no superhighway to spirituality.  It is not a crossing over into the land of Saint David.

What would be great is a vacation which takes one truly away from everything familiar.  Go alone to a place where you know no one and which has little distraction.  Avoid the places tourists go, so that attractions are not. . . well. . . attractive.

I may try one of those ventures someday, but for now, I must be diligent to carve out those holy places within the context of life as it is.

I am almost finished with Bruce Feiler’s Walking the Bible (I recommend it), and he writes quite eloquently about the desert, and how crucial it was/is to the development of God’s people.  It is harsh, unforgiving, fairly desolate, and a great petri dish for the human soul.  It’s formative power in the lives of the patriarchs and those that followed (literally and chronologically) can hardly be overestimated.  People still escape there to explore and discover – themselves, God, life, etc.  It is a place of limited distractions, except the distractions of discomfort and severe simplicity.

I am not compelled to pack up for the desert, at least for any extended time.  I retain too much of my NE Ohio love for cold weather and bearable summers (it has been incredible so far this week, with highs in the upper 70’s, and night temps in the low 50’s).  I am, however, compelled to journey to “barren places” more often during the flow of my Midwestern American life.  That is where I am this morning.

Now I have an appointment with Solomon (Ecclesiastes).  I’ll check in later.

Never Alone

American culture is an oxymoron.  We are the most connected people on the planet – cell phones, e-mail, instant messenger, chat rooms, mp3 players, etc.  And yet most of us barely know our next-door neighbors.  We exercise chosen connectivity.  We float through life in our own bubble and choose who we will get to know and how deeply that acquaintance will become.  And we wonder why loneliness, dysfunction and discord is so rampant.

One of the major purposes of God’s Kingdom is to restore the primacy of relationship.  We become connected to God through Jesus Christ.  And we become connected to one another in the body of Christ.  If this could become an obsession for us, we would be amazed at how sweeping the influence of the Church would be.

Last Sunday night our church hosted a neighborhood BBQ and had a great response.  It was our way to say to the people who live around our building, “Hey, we don’t just occupy this building a couple hours a week.  We are part of your community and you are part of ours.  Let’s spend some time together.  Let’s get to know each other.”

I hope and pray it is a beginning to developing bonds with the people around us.

Within the Church we suffer from the same isolation.  We can gather 200 bodies together on a Sunday morning for singing, observing communion, hearing some teaching/preaching, praying, and eating a donut, but we often leave having neglected each other.  Did we encourage?  Did we challenge?  Did we confess?  Did we “spur one another on toward love and good deeds”?

The Kingdom is about relationship.  A small group affords us the opportunity to focus on relationship.  We can learn the same stuff in mass settings, but we can’t pause for meaningful conversation, heart-felt prayer, needed encouragement and authentic accountability in those settings.  We need to take time to know the limbs of the Body.

As you envision what the Church is doing in the world, keep in mind that we are on a journey of relationship.

• Drawing people into our world, and we entering into theirs.
• Helping them take God’s hand and walk with Him.
• Joining together in a journey of learning together, praying together, sharing and caring in every way.
• Helping those around us travel the path of relationship with us.

Walking with Jesus is a journey of relationship.  It will be time-consuming, gut-wrenching, exasperating, fatiguing, funny, joyful and the greatest thing you’ve ever done.