Asking for the Ancient Paths

"This is what the LORD says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls."

These are words that God spoke to his rebellious people through the mouth of Jeremiah, his prophet. They were words uttered in the twilight just before the looming exile of the people of God into a land not their own. A land full of "gods" that they ran after instead of God Himself, gods who betrayed them, gods who could not answer, gods who were made of wood and stone. Not the God of the Universe. Not the God who created the sea and later parted it on Israel's behalf. Not the God who made a cameo as a pillar of fire.

One of the defining characteristics of the prophets is the pattern of Judgment and Redemption, over and over. The Lord will thunder judgment, he will rightfully admonish his people, confront their wrongdoing but then always offers the soothing rain of redemption. When Israel had adulterated their relationship with God and become overwhelmed with distraction after distraction God beckoned to them.

He said when you are standing on the ash pile that is your life - when your feet are blistered and dirty from your sojourning down the paths of sin and you have arrived at a crossroads - ask for the ancient path. The path of a right relationship with God, the path where you once walked but may have strayed oh so far, the path where others have gone before and now reside in the celestial city with the King.

We are all members of a rebel race on a journey. We have found ourselves on a long, long road full of endless streets branching off and leading out into the darkness, puddled from the poison rain. There is the street of lust, the street of riches, the street of hate, pride, unfaithfulness, complacency, coldheartedness, deception and selfishness and on and on and on they stretch.

But when we come to these crossroads we are to stop
and ask for the ancient path
ask where the good way is

where Jesus is

and walk in it

for only there will we find rest for our souls.

"I want to feel the sunlight on my face
I want to see the dust cloud disappear without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name..." -U2

Heaven

Stereotypical images are funny - especially religious ones.
The classic horned devil in red tights weilding a pitchfork that represents Satan, which undoubtedly pales in comparison to the actual terror of who he is.
The image of God as a giant, beared man in the clouds, once again falling miserably short.
Heaven also has its own stereotypical images which are associated with it. There is the portrayal of it as a shiny, flashy city of gold - looking as if it were built with Mr. T's jewelry that had been melted down.
There is the image of it as the city of clouds where we all have wings, rosy cheeks and wear togas.
Some take the words of Christ ultra-literally and portray us as each owning our own suburban mansion, complete with multi-car garage and a lawn service.
Some religions advocate carnal paradises where along with the mansion one also gets eternal conjugal visits (if such a thing doesn't scream "I am a religion that has been made up" I don't know what does).

I am a Christian who thinks that there is only one Heaven and only one means of getting there - Jesus Christ - but the point is that even for us Heaven is a little unclear. There are passages in Scripture that give some clarity but we don't have a blueprint.

But it will be glorious.

And the older I get (I was going to say mature, but thats up for debate - I'm definitely getting older) and the more of this world I see and touch I am reminded more and more that Heaven will be glorious for many reasons but the one I am so looking forward to is the abolition of sin.

I am worn out by sin.

I'm tired of looking it in the eye every day.
Tired of biting, clawing, scraping my way against it.
Tired of it knocking me down again and again.
Tired of seeing its effects in the lines of my face, in the streets of our city.
Tired of being afraid.
Tired of guilt.
Tired of lust.
Tired of worry.
Tired of funerals.

And I wonder in heaven how much we will recollect of our earthly life, for I think now that the bitterness of the world is what makes the grace of heaven appear oh so sweet.

But whatever it looks like, whatever we do when there, one thing is for sure:

Jesus is there.

And sin is not.

Board Games, You-Hoo and the Bible (wow I'm a Jr. High Youth pastor)

Something ironic happened the other night. As I was playing Scrabble with my family (and dominating - sorry had to throw that in there) there were a couple times where someone's move or a scoring issue or something would come under question and without fail someone would loudly say, "look at the rules!" and grab for the Scrabble box cover which contains the rules printed on the inside. This happened time after time and each time the rules would be consulted, taken as law and then unquestionably adhered to. The inside flap of the Scrabble box cover was final. You did not argue.
And for some reason right there at our dining room table that struck me as so ironic. I will listen to the printed rules of Scrabble which were made by Milton Bradley or something in the 1930's and unflinchingly obey as will millions of others who play the game and yet how many times do we go to the Bible - the holy, inspired, life-changing, living, active, double-edged, divine, God-breathed - Bible and when confronted with the "rules" kinda scratch my head in doubt (is that really whats best for me?) or worse yet - blatantly disobey?
It is such an elementary observation but it struck me as so powerful. We will religiously obey the Scrabble instructions, the Dry Clean Only labels, the Do Not Remove Tag from Mattress labels, the Shake Well Before Serving suggestion and yet it's like pulling teeth for me to live the Word of God.
But all of these things have the same root - they offer the law for ultimately whats best for us even if we don't realize it - the question is do we really believe that?
I wholeheartedly believe that if I shake the bottle of chocolate milk before serving it will taste better and will ultimately be whats best for me.
Do I believe that no eye has seen nor ear has heard what God has prepared for those who love Him and who follow after him and that is why I should obey Him and not run after the fleeting things of the world?
God take my shifting sand faith and solidify it on the Rock who is Jesus Christ.

Pray

The world that we live in is busy. The lives that we all live are chaotic, messy, hectic and complicated beyond the reach of any adjective. To all my friends who read this (all 4 of you) I hope you are doing well. I hope that you have started 2007 off how you had resolved to - if you're like me than you did not. It's amazing how fast days go by before we know it and we are left saying, "Hey! Wait a second, I was just about to..." Thankfully the Lord's mercies are new not every year or every decade but every morning - we need them oh so often.
As you start off this year, please remember Dr. D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Presbyterian in your prayers. While many of us are kicking off what is hopefully another year among many, he may be on one of his last. He suffered a heart attack a little over a week ago and is still hospitalized but is supposedly improving - this is another episode in a slew of health problems he has suffered recently. Whether you know the man or not, whether you agree with him politically or theologically or not really matters very little. Before we think too highly of ourselves and think about how we may be different, let us applaud one of this century's valiant saints. Disagree idealogically or not, there is little doubt that Dr. Kennedy served the Lord with all his might as best as he knew how. Let us pray that God's will be done and that his mercy be evermore shown to Dr. Kennedy and his family in this time of need.

A Disturbing, Violent Trend

This is a link to a recently written article on the latest spree of violence in pro sports, culminating with the death of the Denver Broncos Darrent Williams. Check it out:

A Disturbing, Violent Trend