Ooooh - How Scary!

Ok, i have to admit that i'm starting to get somewhat attached to my local Christian radio station. And this morning one of the hosts said something i really needed to hear.

He was talking about how most of us from time to time will feel insecure about one thing or another, and he said that the reason we have these thought is - get this - satan is terrified of us.

Stan knows that if we really do step out in courage and do the things God has called and gifted us to do, he's in trouble. I just really needed to hear that today and i thought maybe someone else did too. Its encouraging to think that, most likely, the problem isn't that i'm unqualified for the things that i'm trying to do, but that i am actually a threat to the enemy's plans!

For a second i thought maybe it was prideful to think this - i've been taught not to take the devil lightly. But it all make sense when you remember that "greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world." So maybe it's not that satan is afraid of me as much as he is afraid of me empowered by God's Spirit. But ultimately that leads me to the same place: emboldened by the thought that i can actually do some damage!

On that thought, i'm getting to work on this week's sermon :)

Healing the Sick is Humanly Possible, Paying for it Takes a Miracle

I'm not certain if other countries have to deal with this or not, but something i'm noticing here in the States is that, for some of us, we have less fear of dying of illness than we do of drowining under medical bills.

Recently, when i hear about someone in the hospital, I almost feel more burdened to pray that their insurance will cover everything than i am to pray that they'll recover. Why? Recovery is almost taken for granted. We have such incredible medical care available that few things are beyond our ability to heal. But our system of paying for it is all out of whack. We have people who are so afraid of the medical bills, that they refuse treatment. In some cases, people will incurr huge costs and still end up dying, leaving their family with the burden. In other cases, a person might recover physically, but lose their home and life savings in the process. Add this to the possibility of having lost his or her job because of inability to work, and you can see how we can be more scared of the bills than of death.

But i feel guilty being more concerned about a person's finances than their health. But in a system like this, maybe its appropriate. I can't imagine hearing a pastor praying for the sick on a Sunday morning, and then having him also pray that God would provide the money for their medical bills, but that day might not be far off.

Lord, if you are willing, you can fix our healthcare crisis.

The Joy of Conviction

Christianese translation: Conviction = when God lets you know you've done or are doing something wrong, whether you hear him through other people, through the Bible, or He just speaks to your heart.

Generally you would think this would be an unpleasant experience. But what I've discovered is that often it can be downright delightful under the right circumstances. Generally, it helps if the person being "convicted" actually wants to live in obedience to God. In that case, conviction is an extremely helpful thing - now we know what we need to do. It's also more enjoyable if the person has been somewhat confused beforehand. Conviction is a clear sign of the way to go. Also, conviction reasurres us that God is still working in our lives. And if we listen, that reassures us that we are still following. Ah - isn't that wonderful!

Basically, the pain of guilt is swallowed up in the joy of clarity and reassurance. Who'd have ever thought getting corrected could be this fun?

Lord, Come Quickly -- For the Sake of the Exegetes!

When I was younger, i had a hard time praying for the Lord's soon return because i thought of it in terms of the final judgement. Why would i want my final exam to come any sooner than it absolutely has to?

Over the years, I've basically reversed my position 100%. Not only have i become more secure in my salvation, but I've also done a lot more work in Bible study. The thing that motivates me now is realizing how complicated Biblical interpretation is now, and the thought that it can only get more complicated in the future.

We are nearly 2000 years removed from the most recent segments of scripture, and probably twice that for the oldest parts. The cultural context of the various books of the Bible is often crucial to understanding what the various writers were trying to say. However, the vast majority of us have no idea what that cultural context was like. Yeah, a lot of us pastors read books and commentaries that attempt to explain it, but ultimately we're just trusting someone else to tell us something that we can't verify for ourselves. There's not a whole lot we can do to be sure that the things these scholars are telling us in their books isn't just bunk.

I'm not saying that we should all throw up our hands in despair and say we can't understand what the Bible says because it's too old. We can still understand the Bible well enough. But it's getting tricky, and the fact that many scholars can't be trusted to let the Bible say what it intends to say doesn't help anything.

So now I'm hoping the Lord doesn't wait to much longer, because I'm not sure how much longer accurate Bible interpretation will be able to survive.

What on earth is a day off!

I hope i'm special. I hope i'm only one of a select few individuals who have this problem. I'd be happy if i was the only one, but that would surprise me.

Taking a day of is a complicated challenge for me. Partly, i don't know what to do with one. Sit around all day doing nothing? Boring! Watch tv? A waste of brain power and I'll probably end up stressed from all the conflicts i've witnessed on the tube. Read books? Too much like what i do the rest of the week, and not really that desirable. At least, not as desirable as work.

The problem is that i actually love work. I love my job. I love getting housework done. I love anything that has a good purpose, which all eventually ends up feeling like work because i feel so strongly that i need to get it done.

If i waste time, i don't feel relaxed, i feel like i've wasted time. If i get things done, i don't feel relaxed, i feel stressed that i didn't get more done. If i sleep, i feel stressed that the whole day is gone. Actually, most things leave me stressed. (yes i know this is a problem)

Part of the problem is that, as a youth pastor, my day off is different than my husbands. If my day off was saturday, this wouldn't be a problem. We'd head out to go hiking or sightseeing or something. Oh, wait. Most fun things require money we'd rather save. Most free things require warm weather that is in precious short supply here in Michigan. And most saturdays he doesn't really have "off" either because he has various things he needs to do that he couldn't do the rest of the week while he was at work.

So i sit here in an empty house and try to figure out what a day off is.