Photo of the Week: May 23, 2018

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Don Merritt

This one is a contribution from our old Pal Bargo. I really curious: What do you see?

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Frugality

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Don Merritt

There’s a word we don’t hear often in the 21st century! We do, however, hear the word “stewardship” occasionally. Isn’t being a good steward about the same thing as being frugal?

That really isn’t as easy as it sounds, since descriptions of frugality tend to be in older styles of writing and language use than those more modern descriptions of stewardship. The result is that frugality seems to just sound cheap, while stewardship seems to be more flexible. For the sake of this discussion, I’m going to say they are the same thing, but I’m going to use the word frugality, since that is the name of the Classical Discipline, and that seems to mesh better with the discipline of Simplicity that we’ll discuss another time.

Frugality means that we don’t waste anything; not money, not food, not material items such as clothing or paper or plastic bags. A frugal person will avoid expensive cuts of meat, extravagant meals or clothes, luxuries, fancy cars and so forth so that they can save as much of their resources as possible.

That’s the part that might just sound cheap, but there’s more…

They do these things so that they will have plenty of resources available for two reasons: First, so that they are never a burden on anyone else, and second, so that they are in a position to give very generously for the needs of others and the building of the Kingdom to the glory of God.

Many would hear this and just think such people are crazy, others might be shamed by it because deep down they know that they haven’t really thought about what they could do for the less fortunate or for the work of God. You see God and serving the needs of others is their priority and keeping up with the Joneses isn’t even on their radar screens anywhere.

Yes, you are right if you are thinking that the Spiritual Practice of Frugality runs counter to modern culture.

In practice, someone who practices Frugality might save the lining bags from cereal boxes to use instead of buying costly plastic bags. They may wear quite a few items of clothing that are homemade. They drive cars that are economical and dependable, they have basic cable or an antenna, rather than premium channels. If they have a cell phone, it’s probably a 10-year- old flip phone, because it still works great. They may make their own soups, stews, stocks and breads so that they use everything and throw nothing away, while saving money at the same time. They vacation by visiting out of town relatives, not at resorts in faraway places. Maybe they hunt or fish to save money. They probably grow their own vegetables and fruit and can or give away any extra.

When they hear someone is in need, they don’t just tell the church, they leave groceries on the person’s doorstep or walk into the electric company and say they are there to pay the bill for such and such an address. They don’t even consider limiting their giving to 10%, and when the church needs to pay off a mortgage or replace the roof, they come up with half or more of the total… quietly.

Some of us might snicker at such people, but in reality, we are shamed by them, for they are answering a call we all have to serve others and glorify God, and they are doing so by denying themselves.

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Boasting in Weakness

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Don Merritt

2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Paul has been accused of all sorts of things in Corinth. I can fairly say, from the text, that there have been people, false “super-apostles”, who have accused Paul of weakness and inadequacy both real and imagined, and for what reason?

To build themselves up so that they become the “great ones” who should be listened to and followed.

Paul is now doing the very same thing; he’s building himself up so that he will be thought of as a “great one” who should be listened to and followed. The only thing is, he is adopting the tactics of his opponents, i.e. of boasting about himself, but is using a heaping helping of irony and sarcasm in the process, for he is boasting about all of the reasons he is not great: His weakness.

He calls this being “a fool” and says he must be out of his mind to do it.

 I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! (11:16-21a)

So then, who is really the fool; is it Paul or his accusers and those who listen to them?

It sure isn’t Paul, he’s taking all of them out to the woodshed.

In the next paragraph Paul mentions the times he has been arrested, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, hungry, thirsty, cold, naked, destitute, and rejected. To be sure, he lays it on pretty thick. Then he begins to come around to his real point:

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands. (11:30-33)

Paul brags about how weak he is, how humiliated he has been, how inadequate; all in complete contrast to his would-be great accusers. Yet unlike his accusers, Paul has been faithful to the gospel, and his accusers have been faithful to themselves.

If you haven’t read this whole passage in a long time, I would encourage you to do so now; it’s really quite something. Yet Paul isn’t finished just yet; I can’t wait for chapter 12!

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Meditation 2

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Don Merritt

Last time we introduced Christian meditation and set forth the ways in which it differs from other types of meditation. We even read the definition of the word to see that it can mean more than one thing and saw several verses from Scripture (there are many more too) in which meditation is specifically mentioned. In this post I’d like to give you an idea of what meditation can look like in Christian practice.

First of all, it is important that we realize that meditation, prayer and study are very closely related as spiritual practices. Prayer overlaps with study when we study His Word whenever we ask our Lord to reveal the Word to us. Study and meditation overlap when we think deeply about a verse or a passage from the Word, and prayer, study and meditation all come together when we pray His Word, as mentioned in “Study 4”.

People who know a lot about meditation usually say that the first step in meditation is to relax and clear away the thoughts and distractions of the day. It is hard to mediate when you’re stressed out about bills and bosses and family issues. Many recommend that we use a mantra to replace those distracting thoughts, which may sound to many to be both foreign and dangerous. Yet all a mantra is, is something we repeat to ourselves to replace those distractions and to help us focus. A mantra doesn’t need to be something weird or “Eastern”, it can be an inspiring verse such as, “I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me.” It can be an idea like, “Jesus is my Lord and Savior”, or “I am saved by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ”, or “Jesus is the Lord of my life”.  This is both simple and safe.

For others, this may not be what helps to relax and clear our minds of distractions, instead it might just start with a simple prayer, and then move on to the Word. For me, it is best to pray, and then to pray the Word. Whatever method you may prefer to begin with, the keys to remember are that we are not inviting strange spirits into our minds, we are opening our hearts and minds to God through the Holy Spirit to guide us, and it doesn’t get any more “Christian” than that. Next, we must remember that the point of the exercise is to focus our full attention on the Living Person of the Word so that He can reveal Himself fully through the Word in us.

I will admit that meditation takes some patience and practice, and because of this, it is probably more useful to mature Christians who are already adept in prayer and study, than it is to young Christians who struggle to focus in prayer and study.

Perhaps you have another idea about what Christian meditation should look like that you’d like to share…

 

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False Apostles

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Don Merritt

2 Corinthians 1-15

When you read these verses, you will see that Paul can be pretty direct in his language, that he doesn’t mind the use of sarcasm, and that he doesn’t always pull his punches.

I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! (11:1)

When we read something like this from Paul, we can be sure that he isn’t going to be telling jokes, no, there’s a gut punch coming. He tells the recipients that he had hoped to present the Corinthian church to Christ as a pure bride, but that they, like Eve, had been deceived by serpents. These serpents, however, are entirely human. They, the “super-apostles” were fakes and frauds who all too easily had led them astray.

I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge?  (11:5-7)

These three verses are nothing less than fascinating, for we can glean some insight into both the accusations levelled at Paul by the super-apostles, and at the manner in which Paul lived while in Corinth. Paul it would seem, was not a great orator, but unlike his foes, he knew what he was talking about. Paul did not act the “right” way, for he lived in humility, rather than for profit; he didn’t charge a fee to share the gospel. Unlike the people the Corinthians were used to, Paul came to them as a servant, rather than as a master.

That is an interesting bit of insight for us to ponder.

I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! (11:8-11)

I would imagine that this bit of text would be rather shaming for the proud Corinthians; The bothers from Macedonia who were in Paul’s party took care of all of the expenses, so Paul could serve the Corinthians by teaching them about Christ. Faced with such a loss of face, what would any proud Roman do? Accuse Paul of stealing from the Macedonians, of course. Paul was having none of that as he once again threw it in the faces.

And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. (11:12-15)

As we see, Paul isn’t going to change the way he is doing things, and he isn’t going to hold back, comparing his opponents with none other than Satan himself. I doubt there is much for me to add about Paul’s self-explanatory remarks in these verses. However, there is something much closer to home that I should mention. You see, what was going on in Corinth with these opponents and critics of Paul’s was a manifestation of spiritual warfare. Paul makes this clear enough as he makes this comparison of their tactics to those of Satan. Let’s think about it…

Who is the Accuser of our brethren?

It is Satan. These people came along and presented a false gospel together with false accusations based entirely upon a deceitful twisting of the facts about Paul for the sole purpose of discrediting both he, and the gospel of Christ that he preached. Why would they bother? They did it to destroy the Body of Christ. Satan tried to directly destroy the Son of God by scheming to have Him nailed to a cross, but God raised Him from the dead in triumph over sin, death and Satan himself: Satan cannot defeat the Lord Jesus Christ, and he cannot defeat the Father in heaven, but he can deceive the followers of Christ, His Body the church; at least he tried to.

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles stood in his way, but Paul was not backing down, instead, in this section, he doubles down and calls out the deceivers, and by the power of Christ, the deceivers will be overthrown. Yet in another amazing shift, Paul will show us that those who would act as the agents of Satan will be overthrown by weakness, not by brute strength, at least, not Paul’s brute strength.

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TLP Living:5/21/18

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Don Merritt

We all have out problems in life

Greetings from the Heartland

Over my years of writing and teaching and preaching, I have had quite a few people take exception to my usual optimistic approach to the Word. Some have even told me that I can be optimistic because I’ve led a very easy life and never had to deal with the problems that most others deal with. My reaction to those kinds of remarks is always mixed, with equal prats of amazement and amusement…

We all have our share of problems in this life.

The other day, Friday to be exact, I got to deal with one of my little problems, for it was the day of my annual visit to the Ophthalmologist. I so enjoy this visit, in fact I enjoy it so much that it was my first annual visit since 2012.

The only way I manage these visits is to mess with the doctor. The object of the game is to be so flippant that they think I’m not being truthful about my condition… until they dilate my eyes and look inside, whereupon they tend to fall off their stools in horror at the freak show they’re looking at. You see, I have had macular degeneration for 40 years, and nobody has it that long. Yes, dear reader, I am a medical miracle, because I was diagnosed with this condition as a teen, and teens simply do not get macular degeneration. Even 40 years later, I am a bit young to have it…

I guess that makes me special doesn’t it?

That, by the way, is the kind of flippancy I have at the doctor’s office. Yes sir, special indeed!

They want me to read the letters on the chart, and I say “What chart?” Of course, I know there’s always a chart right next to the door in an examination room. They tell me to look at the little light and follow it with my eyes, and I laugh at them. Anything I look at simply isn’t there; what vision I still have is peripheral…

And they know that… but they think I’m not being serious. Maybe they can’t see that if I don’t approach the whole subject with a sense of humor, I can’t bear it. Whenever I walk into a wall, I laugh and laugh, just as I do when I miss the first step on a stairway and bounce all the way down on my rear… it just strikes me as comical, as hilarious. You see, that’s a choice I made long ago: Any time you aren’t sure whether to laugh or cry, laughing is a lot more fun.

The doctor told me that the forms I had filled out upon arrival hadn’t indicated blindness. I told her that I hadn’t noticed a question on the form, but then that’s what happens when you hand a stack of forms to a blind person to fill out…

You see, I’m a returning patient, not a new one, and they already have all of my records, but apparently someone hadn’t noticed. Oops.

My visit was topped off with a very interesting thing. Trying to be helpful, the doctor handed me two pairs of goggles, one yellow, the other orange. They can make it easier for some low vision patients to distinguish objects by increasing contrast of light and dark, so let’s see if they might help. You know hat happened? They turned everything the same color, either yellow or orange, and when that happens I have no peripheral vision at all and loose everything.

I laughed and laughed− they don’t run into many people who’ve had MD for 40 years, for there really aren’t many people around town who are over 110 years of age!

I don’t approach Scripture with a sense of optimism because I’ve never had trials in this life. I approach it with optimism because I believe the promises of God, and so should you. We will all face trials in the here and now, of whatever sort. Yet I’m not too concerned about them, because when compared to what we have in store for us… what’s a little trial, anyway.?

I said ‘no thank you’ to the goggles as I left… what’s for lunch?

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TLP Inspiration: 5/21/18

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Don Merritt

A New Work Week

Walking through the woods one time, I was surprised to come upon this scene.  The woods were dark in the early morning and sun shone through the trees and lit the rock formation brilliantly in relation to the surroundings; an amazing sight.

It looked as though someone had gone to a lot of trouble to set up seating in the middle of the woods, maybe years ago for some purpose… or maybe it was created by the little stream that you can’t see in this picture; that’s probably it…

I know I keep pointing this out, but the wonders of God’s handiwork show up in the strangest places, for all of the Creation cries out for the glory of God!

Yet for most of us, as we beginning a new work week, we won’t have time to wander through the woods or sit quietly and admire the majesty of the mountains or the rolling waves on the beach. Instead, we’ll be in traffic, answering the phones or working on a bog project. At some point, we might well begin to feel a bit overwhelmed by it all, but we need not give in to that.

We can still pause for a moment to thank God for all He has done for us, to reflect on His handiwork, on His awesome grace, on His provision in times of trial. We can do this because even when we are at work or in traffic, He is with us. Yes indeed, He is right by our sides, ready to wrap us in His loving arms when we need it. All we have to do is turn to Him…

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Sunday Sermon Notes: May 20, 2018

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Don Merritt

Title: Generous or Selfish?

Text: 1 Peter 4:7-14

The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:7-11

In approaching this text, you can go one of two ways. The first and most common way of looking at it is to analyze it line by line and word by word.  The second is to read it in its entirety and ask yourself what Peter is getting at. Both approaches should take us to the same place, but sometimes we become sidetracked in the details and forget why we are looking in the first place. Thus, for this lesson, let’s use the second and less common method.  What’s Peter trying to say here?

I think it is something like this: Set aside selfish things so that you may glorify God.

Let’s go back and check…

He starts by telling us that time is short, so let’s get serious: The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.  Yes, this is an easy one… Then he reminds us to love one another with fervor.  Such love is never selfish, for selfish, ‘what I can get out of it’ love, is never “fervent.” This is even clearer when you read the second part of the sentence, for it points directly to forgiveness. Forgiving those whom we love fervently is a selfless act. Here’s how Peter put it:  Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 

Then he tells us to be hospitable without complaint, and since the Greek word can also be rendered as “generous” it’s clear once again that Peter wants us to be selfless. Here are his words:  Be hospitable to one another without complaint. “Without complaint” seals this one for me, how about you?  He goes on to mention that we have each received a special (spiritual) gift from God, and then tells us to use it for the building up of the Body as good stewards, not for our own advancement.  As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Now it gets really interesting. If we speak, we are to speak as though our words were the Word of God, so I see that they are not just my own words, my own thoughts any more. If we serve, we should serve like we are serving from God’s strength and not our own.  This would seem to imply that we are to serve for God’s purpose, since He supplied our strength: whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; nothing of me here…

Finally, we have arrived at the “why” part, so that God will be glorified: so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Looking back to where we started, I’d say we got it just about right!  Living for Jesus in love is all about God and other people, and not at all about me. Lord, may each of us take this message from your Word to heart!

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TLP Op-Ed: 5/19/18

Posted on May 19, 2018 by Don Merritt

Yanny or Laurel?

I promised myself that this week would be different.

I’ve gone back and looked at these Op-Eds of mine, and it seems that every time I’ve done this I have written about news coverage. Not the news, about the terrible way the news is reported. I didn’t want to do it again this week, and I made a promise to myself: Not this time!

I think I might have made myself a promise that I can’t keep; but I’m still going to try, let’s see how I do…

Have you heard the laurel or yanny thing?

Apparently, it went viral; I heard it played in a news broadcast the other day. On TV I heard “yanny” very clearly. This morning I played it on my computer and I heard “laurel” very clearly.

I suspect they are two different sound clips, but I’m a skeptic by nature…

On a radio news program, one of the hosts played a sound clip in which I heard no word at all, but the co-host heard “rainfall”. They played it again and this time I heard “rainfall” also, very clearly. Then the first guy said that he’d play it again and said “Think about green leaves” I heard “green leaves”.

Then I got it (finally).

We hear what we expect to hear, we see what we expect to see.

How many times have I written on this blog that we find whatever we are looking for in this life? Well, many, many times! This is something taught in Scripture and is why we are told to fix our minds on the things that are from above, and not on the things that are of this world.

With this in mind, did Donald Trump really say that immigrants are “animals”?

Almost every news outlet reported that he did say that, even though he didn’t.

Yanny or Laurel?

The President said that the brutal murderers of MS-13 are “animals”, which is arguably an insult to animals everywhere.

Laurel or yanny?

We find what we are looking for (and listening for).

But news is supposed to be objective and opinions are supposed to be on the Op-Ed page… like mine is.

Yanny or Laurel?

OK… Next week is going to about something other than terrible news coverage; I am now officially looking for a different angle, see you then.

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TLP Inspiration: 5/19/18

Posted on May 19, 2018 by Don Merritt

Forest-River_1280x800-Wallpaper1

Spiritual Thirst

There’s nothing worse than being thirsty, seriously thirsty!

Millions are slowly dying of thirst in our world, but theirs is a different kind of thirst.  Spiritual thirst is pandemic and has been all through the ages.  The symptoms are fairly easy to identify: people grabbing anything and everything in a vain attempt to satisfy the longing, and never succeeding in quenching their need for more.

In many cases they find a substitute that can mask the symptoms for a time, but the crisis always returns…

Jesus Christ offered Mankind living water, a kind of water that could quench a spiritual thirst for all time.  He said that this would be like a spring of water within, welling up into eternal life.

Spiritual thirst can be quenched; all we need to do is take a big long pull from the right cup!

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