Psalm 119:96 Official Story

Google knows everything.

A friend was talking about a tree in Africa known as the miracle tree because every part of it, from the bark to the leaves to the seeds, has some sort of practical or medicinal use. While he was describing it to a group of us, I took out my phone and Googled Africa miracle tree. I discovered moringa is the actual name of the tree. I passed around the phone so my friends could see a picture of the tree with its unusual-looking pods.

One of my friends chuckled, saying, "And there's Tim.. always straight to his phone for the answers." He finds it humorous that I, the oldest by far among our group of friends, am always the first to turn to the internet for detailed information.

I find it startling that people would sit and discuss a topic at length, sometimes even debating the details, pooling their combined lack of knowledge, and never think to turn to Google and find the answers.

Google is my default for information and obscure details, especially as my aging brain cells lose contact with my stored memories of much of what I've learned over my 60-plus years. It would be great if technology were advanced enough to just implant Google and all its indexing system directly into my brain.

To all perfection I see a limit;
but your commands are boundless.

Psalm 119:96

For life and godliness, the Word is my default. God knows everything and He's given us His Word as our access point to that knowledge.

The Hebrew term David uses in this verse for the scriptures is mizvah, translated here as commands. It carries the idea of authority, that the one who gave this command has unquestioned authority to make commands, thus lending that personal authority to the command itself.

If God's Word has that kind of authority, why shouldn't it be our default when we want to know how to conduct ourselves on the 1 road of life?

It should be so much our default that we move beyond using the scriptures as though they are God's Google. We're under-valuing the mizvah if we treat it only as a search engine to find the question of the moment or today's problem.

The full value of the Word comes from reading it continually, diving into it, wallowing in it, devouring it. I want to get the Lord's commands into me so deeply that I begin to think like God thinks. Then I'll also act like He acts and talk like He talks.

And then I'll be able to come up with those answers to the problem of the moment without having to search for them. I know God's heart on the topic because His Story is engraved on my heart. My aging brain may not be able to recall the exact scripture reference on a topic, but my heart knows what God has said and what He has done and how He has touched my own heart.

Resolve to dive deeply into the Word in the days and weeks and year ahead.

Psalm 119:95 Our Story

Every story has protagonists and antagonists. Protagonist Sherlock Holmes tries to solve the mystery while antagonist Moriarty tries to stop him. Luke Skywalker tries save the galaxy while Darth Vader tries to conquer it. Poor Bob Cratchit only wants a Merry Christmas for his family, but Ebenezer Scrooge wants to make everyone else as miserable as he is.

In many stories, the protagonist makes an agreement, either formal or informal, with allies who will help defeat the protagonist. Holmes had Doctor Watson. Luke had Leia and Han. Bob Cratchit, unknowingly, had the Christmas ghosts.

When the antagonists in your life threaten to get the better of you, who do you count on to stand by you?

The wicked are waiting to destroy me,
but I will ponder your statutes.

Psalm 119:95

The word David uses in this verse for the scriptures is eduth (used 23 times in Psalm 119). The NIV translates it as statutes, the KJV as testimonies. Either way, it's a legal term for the stipulations on each side regarding the terms of an agreement or covenant.

In the story of God and His people, there are protagonists and antagonists. God vs. Satan. The people of God vs. Satan.

Whatever shape the conflict takes, at whatever time in history, the covenant agreement between God and His people always serves as a reminder that we don't have to wage this war alone. God is on our side.

Psalm 119:94 Details

I'm sure it's just the writer in me, but I'm generally more interested in the trees than forest. Actually, I'm more interested in the leaves and the veins on the leaves. It's the details I care about.

I'm an avid - some would say obsessive - fan of Missouri Tigers Baseball. When I'm at the game I'm watching the batter's stance and the rituals he goes through as he steps up tot he plate. I'm watching the way the fielders shift positions depending on the hitter at the plate and the game situation. When I'm absorbed in the details, all other thoughts disappear.

But if I'm unable to go to the game, I'm barely interested in the final score. The score isn't what it's about for me. It's about the details.

It's the same with reading a book or watching a TV series. Spoilers don't bother me. I've read the entire graphic novel series of The Walking Dead, which is considerably ahead in the timeline compared to the TV show. So I'm seldom surprised at the direction of the plot, unless they intentionally change something.

But that's okay, because I watch the show for the details. I love it for the gradual character development and the individual conversations and scenes that all combine to move the plot forward.

With novels, I'm not interested in reading something just to see what happens, unless it's well written and fascinating in the details.

I don't really understand people who approach such things differently than I do.

Save me, for I am yours; 
I have sought out your precepts.

Psalm 119:94

In the story of life with God, there are also two different ways of living it out.

Some people are content with a generalized faith. They believe in God and in the general, overarching themes of the Bible. But they're not much interested in the details.

David calls those details the precepts. He uses that word 21 times in Psalm 119. He tends to use the various terms for the scriptures somewhat randomly, but each one carries a slightly different connotation. The Hebrew word pikkudim is used to describe the mandates of someone who is in charge, the particular instructions of someone who cares to spell out the details.

Many people are content to cry out, "Save me, for I am yours!"

David cares about the details enough to go beyond crying out for salvation. He wants to go deeper, seeking out the precepts, digging down to the details of the story God wants to write through him.

I want to dig deep too - not to discover the minutiae of theology, but to understand the fullness of God's plan for my life.

Psalm 119:93 Live!

I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have preserved my life.

Psalm 119:93

In the movie Stranger Than Fiction, the plot is driven by Harold Crick's reaction when he discovers that the author who is scripting his life, Karen Eiffel, plans to kill him off.

At the conclusion of the film, she is convinced that instead of killing him off, as she does to the main characters of all her novels, she decides to save his life. The plots twists, changing from the story of his death to the tale of how he lives.

When you were born, God began spinning out the tale of your life. He had great plans for you. He knew you when you were in your mother's womb (Psalm 139:13-16) and began weaving together the person you would become and life you would live.

But God has a co-author in the story of your life. An essential part of the plot-line of your life, and of every other person into whom God has breathed life, is free will.

You have the option, at every plot point, to choose your path. Make your choice according to the guidance of God's precepts. Or choose to live according to some other set of principles. It's your choice.

David learned the hard way that when he remembered to follow God's precepts, his life was not only preserved but energized. As I've noted before, eleven times in Psalm 119 David uses the phrase preserve my life. It always carries the concept of quickening life, as the KJV translates it.

God's precepts renewed and empowered David's reason for living - as often as he remembered them.

Store God's precepts in your mind and in your heart. Recite them, re-read them, share them with others, so that you will never forget them.

And live!

Psalm 119:92 Continuity

From The Hunger Games Goofs on imdb.com:

During the Reaping, when Katniss yells, "I VOLUNTEER!" her hair is messed up and ruffled, however, when she states "I volunteer as tribute," her hair is combed again.

Despite the best efforts of the Continuity Editors, nearly every movie or TV show has small goofs, or continuity errors. Such things happen because film directors usually don't film the scenes in chronological order, and often do numerous takes of the same scene. After several takes, a makeup artist will step in an make sure the actors are still looking good, but the don't always make sure the are still looking exactly the same.

There's a famous flub that took place during the filming of Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, where a young boy among the extras is seen putting his fingers in his ears right before a gunshot. Apparently he had sat there through several takes of the scene and was tired of the loud noise, and the editors either didn't catch the goof or they didn't think anyone would notice. They did.

Such continuity errors don't really have an impact on whether people enjoy a movie, because most viewers aren't paying that much attention. But I've seen some movies where the errors made the movie hard for me to enjoy.

Some of the highest grossing films of the past few years have been the Star Wars sequels. Several fans noticed details that caused those movies to just not hold together. They found the story unbelievable because of the errors.

Others scoff at the notion that a Star Wars movie is in some way rendered "unbelievable", since the movie is based on unbelievable concepts like the Force, sentient droids, and a death star. But if the presentation of the death star, for example, doesn't mesh with basic scientific facts, it renders the internal believability of the entire construct to fall apart.

Film editors call this verisimilitude: "the quality of fictional representation that allows reader or viewers to accept a constructed world." (The Film Experience: An Introduction)

If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.

Psalm 119:92

In God's story, the story of the Word and the world, He has set up certain rules by which things work to maintain continuity. These  include rules about gravity, climate, and biology.

He's also set up rules for behavior, psychology, and community., along with rules for righteousness, justice, and holiness. These rules are called the Law, which we read about in the scriptures.

Sometimes life gets messed up, usually because people aren't following the script. We tend to be too lackadaisical about making sure there's a continuity between our lives and God's construct of how the world is supposed to operate. A large percentage of suffering and affliction is due to a breakdown of the continuity of our part in God's story.

The only sure way to get yourself back in synch with God's script is to stop treating the details of His Law like they're no big deal. When people cut corners on the Law, it's not a goof or a flub. It's a continuity error that has the potential to unravel your entire connection to God's plan.

As  David says, the best way to fit yourself back into synch is to delight in the Law. eagerly play the role God has assigned you.

Hit your marks, know your lines, and shine before the watching world.

Psalm 119:91 Never-Ending Story

Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.

Psalm 119:91

When "Adam made love to his wife Eve," says Genesis 4:1, "she became pregnant." That natural, loving act produced a biological result, because that was God's design for procreation.

When men and women today join together in that same emotional and physical act, children are the result, because God's design hasn't changed.

The first children, Cain and Abel, were farmers. Cain planted seeds in the ground, which germinated and produced food-bearing plants, because God had set up the rules for how plants would grow. Abel tended flocks, which procreated according to the same basic biological imperatives that had produced Cain and Abel.

Families on farms just a few miles from me are still engaged in the yearly cycles of planting and harvesting, raising and butchering, knowing that the same basic rules of farming will still hold true.

When Cain's offering failed to bring the same positive response from God, "his face was downcast." God set him straight about the way he had designed human psychology:

If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. (Genesis 4:7)

The principle is clear: Right actions produce right feelings. Wrong actions produce wrong feelings. It doesn't work the other way around. Peter repeats that principle in I Peter 3:10-12. "Whoever would love life and see good days must..."; and then he lists some of the things a person must do if they're going to love life and see good days. It doesn't work to wait until you feel good before doing good, because God designed human psychology to work the other way around. And it still works that way today.

When Cain failed to control his own psychological and emotional reactions according to God's design, he attacked and killed his brother. God punished him for this act, establishing a law against murder, based on God's righteous character. This prohibition was repeated throughout biblical history and still stands today, because God is still the God who is over everything.

Biology still serves the God who invented biology. Agriculture has always functioned in service to the God who created and sustains all of nature.

Our mental, emotional, and spiritual psychology were designed to serve God, because he created us in His image.

And the laws of right and wrong and justice and mercy are the same today as they have always been because the only laws that stand the test of time are the ones that serve God and his rightousness rather than serving the whims of man.

Psalm 119:89-90 Long Story

 

Your word, LORD, is eternal;
it stands firm in the heavens.
Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.

Psalm 119:89-90

The Word of God is eternal because God is eternal. But the earthly lifespan of God's people is not.

Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”

Genesis 6:3

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.

Psalm 90:10

Generation after generation has encountered God's Word. It has remained steadfast throughout those generations, because God remains faithful.

But the way God's Word comes alive through His people changes as the generations change.

In modern times, the culture changes quickly. With each new generation comes a new way of thinking about and living in the new realities of life on earth.

In 1992, Neil Howe and William Strauss published Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584-2069. In it they described a cyclical series of four generations (approximately 17-20 years) that have repeated throughout American history. Their work popularized the terms Generation X and the Millennial Generation.

Not everyone agrees with everything about their description of the generations, but it's undeniably true that current American culture changes rapidly from one generation to the next.

Throughout most of the world's history culture changed much more slowly. Rather than radical changes with each generation, they saw such changes take centuries.

Nevertheless, changes in culture have always changed the way people read and apply God's Word.

When the Israelites were a nomadic tribe, God commanded them to worship at the tabernacle. When they settled into the promised land, God had them build a temple, and God commanded his people to worship there. Years later, after God's people had settled into worshiping the temple itself, Jesus taught that "a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." (John 4:23)

Did God's Word change? No. The point had always been to worship the One True God. Today we worship in different places and in vastly different ways than the first century church did. But we're still faithfully worshiping the God who is still faithful to His people.

His Word is the same throughout every era.

The scriptures are the inspired record of how the LOGOS, the WORD, expressed Himself in various times through the millennia and in many places throughout the world.

Our goal should not be to imitate the specific ways the people of God expressed their faithfulness during biblical times. Whether during the times of the tabernacle, the temple, the synagogues, the church in the catacombs, the church of Christendom, the church on countless missionary fields, or the church in your home town, the goal has always been to stay faithful to the Word in a way that draws people to Him.

Psalm 119:89 The Storyteller

Your word, LORD, is eternal;
 it stands firm in the heavens.

Psalm 119:89

"So, what does this scripture mean to you?"

I cringe whenever a bible study leader asks that question. I'm sure they mean well, but it reflects a flawed approach to the Word.

In today's American church there's a pervasive tendency to view the Word as something wholly personal. The point of every study is discover how this particular set of verses applies to your own life.

Some who eschew the introspective approach to the Word take what they think is the opposite approach. For them, every bible study should focus on dissecting the living Word and arranging the various parts together like tinker toys. The goal is to arrange the parts into a carefully arranged construct and call it religion.

This theological approach often carries with a subtle goal of proving that "my version of doctrine is better than yours." Which makes it a more complex version of the "what does this scripture mean to you" approach.

Both methods make a mockery of the Word.

The Word is not yours. It's not mine.

It's the Word of God Himself.

The Word is eternal - it existed long before any verse was ever written down on clay tablets or papyrus or in your Bible app.

The Word's foundation is not built on our hearts, even if it is written on our hearts. Its roots are not in your church or denomination or in your small group or in the emotional center of your heart.

It stands firmly in the heavens, where it came from the mouth of the God Almighty.

It certainly can mean something to you, but only when you let your identity be absorb and transformed by the eternal Word. Allow it to interpret your past and present and future, rather than interpreting the Word through the lens of your own experiences. Allow it to define your identity, rather than defining the scriptures according to what seems to fit with who you believe yourself to be.

It also is definitely the final and authoritative source of sound doctrine, but only as it represents the logos of God (the literal translation of theology: theos-logos) and not your own thoughts and opinions and conclusions. Allow the Word to dissect your heart and soul and mind, rather than using your own faculties to dissect the scriptures.

Psalm 119:89-96 Lamedh

This is a story about a man named Harold Crick and his wristwatch. Harold Crick was a man of infinite numbers, endless calculations, and remarkably few words. And his wristwatch said even less. Every weekday, for twelve years, Harold would brush each of his thirty-two teeth seventy-six times. Thirty-eight times back and forth, thirty-eight times up and down. Every weekday, for twelve years, Harold would tie his tie in a single Windsor knot instead of the double, thereby saving up to forty-three seconds. His wristwatch thought the single Windsor made his neck look fat, but said nothing.

Those are the opening lines from the 2006 film StrangerThan Fiction.

The lines are spoken by Emma Thompson, who is playing an author, Karen Eiffel. She’s writing a novel about a man named Harold Crick, and in the opening scene we see Harold, played by Will Ferrell, brushing his teeth while she narrates the action.

Then we see Harold Crick, pause and begin listening to the narration. He shakes his head, looks behind the bathroom mirror, and is obviously confused. Soon he is talking back to the voice, asking who is talking.

As the plot develops, we realize Harold is a real person, and he is hearing someone narrate his life…as she writes the story. This is merely annoying and disturbing until he’s standing at the bus stop and hears the narrator say “little did he know that events had been set in motion that would lead to his imminent death.”

Harold has to deal with the idea that someone is writing a script, the plot line of his life…and death. Perhaps there’s a bigger meaning to his life than what he once thought, something outside himself.


The Greek philosophers – Socrates, Aristotle, and the like – believed there must be a greater overall meaning and purpose, a driving plot line for life and the universe. They called this ultimate purpose, this ultimate story, the Logos. The Greek logos is usually translated in English as Word. It could also be translated as Story.

When the apostle John wrote the gospel account that bears his name, he took that well known philosophical idea and turned it around. He says the Logos, the Word, is not just some big hypothetical Story.

It is, in fact, a Storyteller.


Repetition is a key element in the Hebrew poetry tradition David uses throughout the Psalms. The 119th Psalm is especially repetitive, due to his single-minded focus on God’s Word.

One way David tries to alleviate the repetition is by using several different Hebrew terms to describe the scriptures. I suppose, like any good writer, he wanted to inject some variety to improve the reading experience.

He makes use of seven different terms for God’s words, and sprinkles them through the verses. The usual English translations for those seven words are law, statutes, precepts, testimony/covenant, commands, law/judgment, and word

Sometimes David will use a precise term to express a specific idea to best make his point. Often, though, it appears he uses the terms randomly.

I think that's because all of them express different aspects of the central concept: The over-arching story and purpose as defined by the divine Storyteller.

I tend to use Word most often in my writing, because the way John develops the Greek version (logos) of the Hebrew davar is so evocative of the bigger picture of God revealing himself to man “in many portions and many ways” (Hebrews 1:1).

In Psalm 119:89-96, David makes use of most of the different terms for God's Word to describe importance of the storyteller and His story in David's life.

Your word, Lord, is eternal;
 it stands firm in the heavens.
Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
 you established the earth, and it endures.
Your laws endure to this day,
 for all things serve you.
If your law had not been my delight,
 I would have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget your precepts,
 for by them you have preserved my life.
Save me, for I am yours;
 I have sought out your precepts.
The wicked are waiting to destroy me,
 but I will ponder your statutes.
To all perfection I see a limit,
 but your commands are boundless.

Psalm 119:89-96

Missional Politics: Stumbling Block

I'm re-posting updated selections from a previous series on Missional Politics during the current political season.
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My niece was just learning to walk. She would see the face and welcoming arms of someone she loved - her parents, grandma and grandpa, her many aunts and uncles - and she would try her best to stumble toward us.

Of course, we would make sure the path ahead of her was clear of stumbling blocks. Everything was picked up and moved out of her way, both to keep her from stumbling over them or becoming distracted by them.

I was glad to be one of the smiling faces she recognized and stumbled toward.

I also remember the time she was playing with me on the floor and she turned her face away from me for a moment. I chose that moment to remove my glasses to wipe them free of dust.

My niece turned back toward me, took one look at my face and screamed in terror. It took quite some time before she quit crying and even longer before she felt comfortable with me, the uncle whose face had suddenly changed.


The Bible tells us Jesus is both the cornerstone which upholds our faith and the stumbling block over which many people stumble before they ever reach faith.

For in Scripture it says:
     “See, I lay a stone in Zion,
       a chosen and precious cornerstone,
       and the one who trusts in him
       will never be put to shame.”
Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
     “The stone the builders rejected
       has become the cornerstone,”
and,
    “A stone that causes people to stumble
      and a rock that makes them fall.”
              (I Peter 2:6-8)

If my political obsessions lead me to argue to often and too vehemently with non-believers about political issues, I've become a stumbling block. I'm distracting them from the smiling and welcoming face of the Father who loves them. I also risk causing them to stumble when they look at me and, instead of seeing the love of Jesus in my actions and attitudes and words, they see someone scary, someone who only wants to convince them of some political opinion.

Misisonal politics means making every effort to always point seekers to Jesus and to his love, even if you're engaged in a political conversation.

Get out of their way and let them see the love and righteousness of Jesus more than they see you and your opinions.

Get out of their way and let them stumble their way toward Jesus.

Get out of the way and let Jesus be the stumbling block.

Psalm 119:88 Halfway Home

In your unfailing love preserve my life,
that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.

Psalm 119:88

This is another of the 11 times David uses the phrase "preserve my life" in Psalm 119. Literally it's "make me alive".

Each time he uses that phrase, he tells us something about how God and God's Word gives us life. In verse 88, at the halfway point of Psalm 119, he tells us two things about the reason for living.

Unfailing love gives you a reason to live.

A long, long time ago I asked a young lady if she knew the best four words in the English language.

"I love you?" she said, hesitantly. "No, that's three words."

"The four best words," I told her. "I. Love. You. Too."

"I love you" can be unrequited. It can be a blurted out phrase that falls flat. But "I love you too" is only said when there's an actual relationship, whether it's just beginning or decades long.

That sort of relationship can be energizing. When that mutual spark first burst into flame, both parties feel a new joy in living, a wholly different purpose for getting up in the morning and moving through the day.

How much more, then, does the loving relationship between God and a "man after God's own heart" energize and provide a reason for living?

Psalm 119 is David's trip diary, chronicling his journey on the 1 road, and about how he developed and maintained a deep love for the God who loved him.

If you want to be energized for the remainder of your journey on the 1 road, go deep in His Word and learn to align your heart with God's heart.

Obeying the statues of God gives you a reason to live

What's your reason for getting up in the morning? What's your goal for this year, for this life?

Whatever you put at the top of your To Do list, has it ever occurred to you that this should be first?

Obey the statues of God's mouth

Obeying is so passé these days. Most people don't get too excited about obeying anyone or anything. A lot of preachers don't like to talk about obeying, preferring to emphasize our freedom in Christ.

But David writes about obeying God no less than twenty times in Psalm 119.

And Jesus was quite clear about the importance of not ignoring the Law.

Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 5:19

Then Jesus continues, making it clear that it's not as simple as focusing on obeying a bunch of rules.

But For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 5:20

If, like David, you're trying to align your heart with God's heart, then his commands and precepts and laws are windows into His heart. He doesn't make up those rules randomly. Each law is an expression of what God loves and hates, what He prioritizes, and the behaviors He knows are best for you, the one who He loves.

The laws are a description of righteousness, not the other way around. Righteousness is the reason to live. The laws are the signposts along the way.

Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.

Psalm 119:175

Missional Politics: Kobayashi Maru

I'm re-posting updated selections from a previous series on Missional Politics during the current political season.
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The 2016 presidential election presented a classic Kobayashi Maru scenario - a "no win" situation.

For the non Trekkies who are reading this, the Kobayashi Maru, according to the Star Trek wiki, MemoryAlpha:

...was an infamous no-win scenario that was part of the curriculum for command-track cadets at Starfleet Academy in the 23rd century. It was primarily used to assess a cadet's discipline, character and command capabilities when facing an impossible situation, as there is no (legitimate) strategy that will result in a successful outcome.

Many voters saw no legitimate strategy that would result in a successful outcome to this election. Both the Republican and Democratic candidates were repellent in their own ways. We were faced with the choice of voting for the one we were least scared about. The only alternative seemed to be either a vote for a third party candidate or staying home and not voting at all, both of which choices would effectively help one or the other of the "mainstream" candidates to win.

For a Christian, though, there is no such thing as a no-win scenario.

In the fictional world of Star Trek, there was one cadet who found a way to win.

In the 2250s, James T. Kirk became the first (and only known) cadet to ever beat the no-win scenario. After taking the test and failing twice, Kirk took the test a third time after surreptitiously reprogramming the computer to make it possible to win the scenario. Kirk was subsequently awarded a commendation for "original thinking" and later commented, wistfully, that his stunt "had the virtue of never having been tried."

Some people reacted to the presidential election by "reprogramming" their minds to conveniently ignore the flaws and flubs of one candidate, while amplifying every slip up and questionable comment by the other. Many of those people are still doing that today. For a Christian, this should never be an option. The Father of Lies is quite pleased when his opponent's followers resort to spinning the truth.

As Christians, our mission is not to buy into the platforms and purposes of the culture, but to "reprogram" our minds. The scriptures don't use the term "reprogram", but they do talk about the  "renewing of the mind" (Romans 12:2), being "made new in the attitude of your minds" (Ephesians 4:23), and "taking every thought captive" (II Corinthians 10:5).

If we reprogram our minds to to see things the way God sees them, we'll understand, first of all, that God is in charge, and that no king, no president, no nation is more powerful or more important than the King of Kings. In the Old Testament, God frequently is described as laughing or scoffing at the pretensions of rulers and principalities. If God thinks so little of them, why do we, as people who put our trust wholly in God, allow ourselves to get caught up in the hysteria surrounding who will be the next president?

Having your mind rooted in the Word of God, rather than in the world's version of the Word,  will change how you respond to the way the culture around us is reacting to the elections. As I've said before,

While people around you are pushing the edge of the envelope in favor of an extreme, whether politically conservative or liberal, the missional believer will continue to stretch him or herself to sacrificially seek and save the lost. 

As we reprogram our hearts to love what God loves and hate what He hates, we'll be driven by His concern to seek and save the lost. We'll be eager to leapfrog past the political wranglings to eagerly be salt and light in the world. As Eugene Peterson's The Message puts it, "bring out the God flavors" and the "God colors" in the world, in effect working to "reprogram" the way people in the world look at the world.

The alternative is to get caught up into the chaos of the no-win scenario, causing more harm than good. As one Star Trek cadet's poor performance in the Kobayashi Maru training exercise was described, "she destroyed the simulator room and you with it."

If my political obsessions lead me to argue too often and too vehemently with non-believers about political issues, I've become a stumbling block. I'm distracting them from the smiling and welcoming face of the Father who loves them. I also risk causing them to stumble when they look at me and, instead of seeing the love of Jesus in my actions and attitudes and words, they see someone scary, someone who only wants to convince them of some political opinion.

Our primary mission as Christians is not to win the battle for or against climate change, gun control, globalism, immigration, refugee settlement, political correctness, gay rights, racial equality, trickle down economics, a living minimum wage, or even abortion.

Our mission is play our part in reprogramming the minds and hearts of the people we encounter to honor god and trust Him as Lord, not to spin our wheels trying to win them to a political point of view.

So, go ahead and make the tough decision during this political season and vote for whichever candidates you can stomach. Or decide to not vote, if that's the only choice you feel you can live with. But don't let that choice push you into a no-win corner.

If you're focused on Jesus' mission, you're always going to  be on the winning side.

Psalm 119:87 1UP

What's a 1UP?  (It's not 1/7th of a 7UP.)

If you're playing a video game, you generally start out with more than one life for your avatar. Three is the usual standard. If your character gets killed during the game, you get start over  again with another life.

Many games also have a feature known as the 1UP. If you achieve a certain goal or touch a certain object, you'll see the characters 1UP appear, and an additional life is added.

You don't get a 1UP so you can sit and just watch the game play itself out.

You don't get a new life so you can go do something else.

It's not so you can just keep your avatar standing still, enjoying the view.

And the 1UP doesn't mean you can start ignoring the rules of the game and make your avatar go fishing instead (unless it's a fishing game).

No, you get that new life  so you can keep moving, heading along the path, on mission.

They almost wiped me from the earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.

Psalm 119:87

This past week, I was given a 1UP.

The heart attack began early Thursday morning. By Friday afternoon I was enduring a heart characterization procedure, made exceptionally long and painful due to the abnormal and backwards layout of my anatomy.

There was more than one point during the procedure that I was convinced I was going to die on that table. And yet here I am today, three days later, at home with my laptop, writing about the experience.

God didn't give me this 1UP just so I could back to living life the same way as before. I'm looking forward to exploring what new adventures God has in store for me.


You don't have to go face to face with death to find yourself in desperate need of a 1UP.

There are plenty of times on the 1 road of life that a 1UP would be nice to have. Actual life is a lot like a video game that way. There's always something trying to knock you down, aiming to distract you, hurt you, discourage you, or put you out of the game.

But God, through Jesus, has offered the best 1UP of all. At the point where you've completely messed up your life and are drowning in your own sin, He offers the opportunity to be immersed in His grace and to be raised up with new life in Christ.

And just like the video game, that new life means you need to continue living by the rules, the precepts.

God didn't give me a new life so I can just show up at church once a week and watch the preacher play out God's mission.

Christ didn't sacrifice His life for you just so you can take your new life and go do something else.

You weren't raised up out of that watery grave of baptism so you can become a spectator in church.

And your new life in Christ doesn't mean you can just ignore the scriptures and head off chasing your own priorities and your own agenda.

God has a mission and whatever role He has planned for you, it's grounded in His Word. You're going to need to pay attention to the precepts in order to be up to the challenge of the adventure ahead.

Ready Player One?

Missional Politics: The Pendulum Swing

I'm re-posting updated selections from a previous series on Missional Politics during the current political season.
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In 2008, when people around me were reacting with shock and fear to the election of Barack Obama, I cautioned them to be patient.

In my experience over half a century of observing politics, the one thing you can always count on is the predictable swing of the political pendulum.

Whenever the electorate swings toward the Democratic Party or the liberal side, the pundits warn of the death of conservatism. And then, after a handful of election cycles, the general public becomes disenchanted with the liberal agenda and swings back toward the conservatives. At which point the pundits predict the death of liberalism. And the pendulum then makes its inevitable swing to the extreme and starts its way back to the other side.

Over and over and over it happens. So, I counseled, just wait. People will tire of the liberal agenda and the pendulum will swing back the other way.

Little did I know the ensuing eight years would bring about a somewhat different twist on the predictable pendulum dynamic. Instead of simply swinging back toward conservatism, the general public has instead swung farther out to the extremes in both directions, driven by the internet's tendency to amplify extreme opinions and splinter traditional alliances.

As a result, we see the electorate splintered, chasing after extreme socialism, extreme conservatism, and - the swing that's generating the most buzz - chasing after the elusive "different", also known as the "against". Many don't really seem to care much what Donald Trump's actual political opinions are, they're just glad to cheer him on in being against politics as usual.

So how can a Christian who wants to exercise discernment keep from being carried along with the latest swings in political thought?

By being missional, not only in your "religion", but in your politics.

While people around you are hopping onto the bandwagon of the blunt outsider, reacting against perceived political correctness, the mission minded believer will continue to counter correctness with righteousness, while also countering bluntness with kindness and love.

You want to be a contrarian, standing against the status quo? Follow the example of Jesus, who refused to take sides with the Pharisees or the Sadducees or the Zealots or the Romans or the masses who hopped on the pendulum, clamoring after his "different" teaching, pushing him to set himself up as a political leader "against" all those other unsatisfactory choices.

When asked by the highest political leader in the land whether he considered himself a king, Jesus set Pilate straight.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37)

While people around you are telling you what they're against politically, the missional believer will distinguish him or herself as different by testifying to the truth of God's righteousness and grace.

You want extreme? Follow the example of Paul, who didn't follow the pendulum swings of his culture but instead lived on the edge, consistently stretching the envelope for the sake of God's mission.

We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.  Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;  in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;  in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;  in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;  through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;  known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;  sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (II Corinthians 6:3-10)

While people around you are pushing the edge of the envelope in favor of an extreme, whether politically conservative or liberal, the missional believer will continue to stretch him or herself to sacrificially seek and save the lost.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (I Corinthians 15:58)

Psalm 119:86 Faithful News

All your commands are trustworthy;help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.

Psalm 119:86

In the original Hebrew language, David puts the word for trustworthy (literally faithful) up next to the word for without cause (literally falsehood). Putting them back to back emphasizes they are direct opposites.

The faithfulness of God's commands stand in direct opposition to the false witness of the persecutors who oppose his commands - and his people. This is a highly important concept in today's culture of "truthiness" and "fake news".

What distinguishes fake news from true news is not whether it lines up with your preconceived notions. It's not about whether it supports your agenda or your politics or even your religious opinions.

It might be better to describe the conflict as faithful news versus unfaithful news.

• Is this information faithful to actual truth, actual facts? 
• Will this information continue to prove faithful to actual truth, or is it too dependent on current culture and popular opinion to reliably stand the test of time?
• Is the person sharing this information basing it on actual knowledge or research? Or is this second or third hand news.
• Does the person sharing this information place a high value on faithfulness to the truth? Or are they more faithful to their agendas, platforms, and prejudices?

It's pretty easy to read that list of questions and begin pointing fingers at those people. You know, those people who you disagree with.

But you'd better take another look at the list and make sure your own faithfulness to the truth isn't compromised.

Rocky Fork Fellowship: Writer's Notebook (part 2)

Rocky Fork Fellowship Groundbreaking Ceremony

Last week I posted portions of an interview with Scott Rice, the current Rocky Fork Fellowship chairman of the elders.

I also spent about an hour talking to Mark Butrum, RFF Senior Minister, and  Chris Collier, Executive Minister. What follows are some of the things we discussed that didn't make it into the article in the October issue of Christian Standard..

The Building Project

Chris: There’s a lot of people working on the building project. Don’t give me all the credit, and I’ll accept all the blame. I hope it relieves Mark to do what we need him to do, what he’s skilled to do.

We’re blessed to have a lot of people in the church who have experience in construction, experience working with the county. Through those people we’ve been tied into others. We’ve been leaning heavily on the professionals we’ve hired for design and engineering. That’s why it’s not fair to say I’m the guy doing it all, I’m just collecting the data, collecting the information.

Mark: Chris did a huge amount of work with cost reductions – right size, right price comparisons. Bringing all that into perspective. One of his talents is being able to pull data together and make it so we could and read it and make decisions together. It’s OK to have all this raw data, but unless you put it in one place and say, this is what it might look like, you can’t really make decisions, you’re just pulling numbers.

Chris: There’s some balance there of faith vs. fact and what you see on paper. We took a faith step in identifying the budget point. We’re still trying to hold to that budget, we’re not done holding to that budget. It takes a lot of moving things around and deciding . There’s so many options. From what kind of paving we’re going to put in the parking lot all the way to what kind of building this is going to be, how big, what the span is, how many fixtures in the bathroom.

Mark: Keeping some of our core values in mind, stewardship is very high . We want to come out with a finished product that is not only reasonable and what we can afford, but also matches the expectations of the future we want to get into as far as future growth.

Chris: Stewardship is more important than professionalism.  All indications are this is not the end of what we do, but we have to start somewhere. We looked at huge scale down to smaller than what we finally rest on, trying to fin a balance. It would be awesome if we outgrew it in 3 to 6 months, but at the same time we want to expect what ‘s going to happen. I hope it’s always about how this is going to help us accomplish our mission.

Mark: We keeping harping on it: this is a tool. We haven’t arrived. We have people ask, when are you going to become a church? They don’t see us as a church yet because we don’t have a building. I’m OK with that, but we need to change our mindset that the church isn’t the building. This is a tool, it doesn’t mean we haven’t arrived yet because we haven’t built it. There’s so much more to do.

Mark: Vision leaks. We've got to talk twice as much about vision and mission to overcome that. So we’ve got to have this balance. When we started this campaign, we knew this was the beginning of something that will probably never end. We’ll probably always be campaigning for something, whether it’s more staff or another building, a second campus, another church, plant. Something, we’re going to be constantly in this cycle of collecting funds, and not just tithing to keep the church going. We’ve got to keep the vision out front more than the other. We struggle with keeping the campaign out there. We struggle with talking about both and getting those two back in synch again.

Balancing Growth and Mission

Chris:What makes RFF unique is that family welcoming atmosphere. We have to be careful. Some of the churches I’ve attended have fallen into accepting that it can’t be done, or accepting that there’s nothing you can do about it., that if you get to a certain size, you can’t keep doing that. I don’t agree with that, I don’t agree that we always have to say society or culture has changed and people won’t come to church. It’s because nobody asked them or challenged them or got to know them enough to bring them along.

Mark: One of the things we want to do this year is to look at how we reach people. We’re refocusing a lot of energy on that right now. How do we reach people, how do we bring in new people, how to create an environment where people who are coming to RF will bring in their friends and feel comfortable about it, will want to do that. How do we, once they're here, whether it be for a picnic or special event, how do create an on-ramp to RF? It goes down to every one of us. We all have to be mission minded. We have to in a place where we know, I’m accountable for the people I invite.

Mark: Every weekend we get a sheet of people that were here the 2nd or 3rd time, or who was missing. Chris and I and other people in the church take names from that list. We text them, Facebook, call, however we can get hold of them and and say we missed you. We’re not trying to be the attendance police, but we missed you. Is there anything going on, is there a divorce or split or kids are sick. Reach out to people let them know you care. We find that when we make a special effort to do that, there’s an attendance spike the next week. You may make contact with one neighbor and suddenly there’s two families coming, because a neighbor or family member they know, someone who used to come, they’re coming back too. That’s awesome. I’m paraphrasing Andy Stanley, but we want to be the church where unchurched friends invite their unchurched neighbors. We want to be that kind of church where it’s perpetual motion, exponentially.

Mark: When we put a building up out here, we’re going to have people coming out of the woodwork to come visit us. I say visit us. How are going to get them to come back a 2nd, 3rd, 4th time? The infrastructure has to be ready for that. Small groups, things for their kids, all that has to be ready for them.

Missional Politics: That's What He DIDN'T Say

I'm re-posting updated selections from a previous series on Missional Politics during the current political season.
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A few things neither God nor Jesus said:

How, then, can they vote for the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring political campaign points!”

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make partisans of all nations, registering them in the name of the right party and the right platform and the right opinions and teaching them to stick to the party line. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
     Who should I send? Who will go for Us?
Isaiah said:
     Here I am. But I'm too busy arguing with my co-worker about gun control.

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority with whom you agree: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are empowered by their politically zealous followers to punish those who do wrong (according to them) and to commend those who do right (as they see it). For it is God’s will that by speaking the truth bluntly and by sharing hilarious memes you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.

Then He said to His disciples, "The candidates are plentiful, but the campaign workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the election to send out workers into His target audience."

Live such politically active lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of holding to wrong opinions, they may see your right-ness and glorify your grasp of truth on the social media. For it is God’s will that by being right you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for political correctness; live as God’s spin masters.

Psalm 119:85 The Pits

The arrogant dig pits to trap me,
contrary to your law.

Psalm 119:85

How can you keep from stumbling into pits on the 1 road of life?

Keep your eye - and your feet - on the mission by wearing appropriate shoes: gospel shoes (Ephesians 6:15)

Stay on God's path (Psalm 17:5)

Live intentionally, without blame (Proverbs 28:18)

Patiently wait for the arrogant to fall into their own pit (Psalms 7:14-17)

Avoid the pit of politics by patiently waiting for the nations to be proven fallible and temporary (Psalms 9:15-20)

Delight in the Lord and not in the lusts of your heart (Proverbs 23-26-29)

Love God's Law (Psalm 119:165)

When you do fall into a pit, patiently wait for the Lord to lift you out (Psalms 40:1-3)

Rocky Fork Fellowship: Writer's Notebook (Part 1)

In the October issue of Christian Standard is my story, Mission-Driven Success, about how Rocky Fork Fellowship is dealing with the challenges brought on by their rapid growth. It's a follow up to the piece that appeared in Lookout two and a half years ago, Fellowship in a Small Town.

In preparation for the story, I conducted two interviews. The first was with Scott Rice, the chairman of elders. What follows are the parts of our conversation that didn't make it into the limited space of the published article. I think you'l find them informative and challenging.

Next week I'll follow up with the unpublished portions of another interview I did, this time with Mark Butrum and Chris Collier.

But first, Scott Rice:

"Five years ago I was just dreading the day that we were going to have to buy land and then build a building, because neither one of those things seemed affordable or even possible at all.

The school building gave us an incubator to work within that wasn’t very expensive, but it also provided people a safe place to come worship that wasn’t unfamiliar to them. They already kind of knew the school building so they could walk through the door and experience a service with the feeling of a church building. That’s who we were really setting our goal on was to find people who weren’t already attending church somewhere and let them have a comfortable atmosphere to attend. It really did help us that way. Honestly if we could create that same atmosphere in the new building, we’re going to try to do that. It’s going to be a challenge in its own way.

If I was to walk in here and never had been in a church before, what is it that is going to make me feel uncomfortable? A lot of it’s in the song choices or the way we dress or the traditions of standing up and greeting people around you, those kinds of things. We try to look at it from their perspective.

I want to get a cup of coffee. How many times have you been in a church where you couldn’t bring a cup of coffee into the sanctuary? Even the terminology, like sanctuary., things like that. Those are all valid terms, but people who don’t use them regularly just unfamiliar to them. It’s just one more thing that might make them feel uncomfortable. 'Meet me in the sanctuary'? I don’t even know what that is.

Another challenge is to get people behind the idea. It would seem intuitive that people would want us to be in a building, but then again, we’ve been in the school for ten years and they may thing, why don’t we just stay here, this is comfortable.

I have a feeling, the people of Hallsville themselves have kind of scratched their heads at who we are. Our founders, our leaders, weren’t people who grew up in the local community. All of us are from somewhere else. Hallsville, like a lot of small towns, has a tendency to think of itself as a network of people who have been here awhile who have a vested interest in the community. And now we’ve got an outside group that has come in and is seeing great success. There was maybe some questions about who we were and our motives, questions of whether this was even necessary. And may questions of these people are outsiders and they’re succeeding. They’re becoming a force in and of themselves.

We’ve had some people in our community who have had their kids raised up in these schools, so we’re getting involved in the graduations and local sports and those sorts of things. The familiarity of who we are now has begun easing. We’ve also begun having people who are from the established Hallsville community who have been attending and can help deliver that message to their friends and family members, to say “These people are all right, they’ve done a good thing.” We haven’t had any significant pushback.

There’s some resistance that you feel from the community itself, that we don’t need another church. Why would you decide that you should start here. You’re pulling from where we would like to pull from. You-re a competitor in the community, rather than a group with the same goal.

You address that resistance by staying focused with what you’re trying to do. You stay in communication with them, you engage them, you respect them, you honor what they’re trying to do as well. You don’t run them down, and you don’t try to take people from them, you don’t try to pull their members form them. If people come on their own, that’s something we don’t have any control over. You’re focus is on people who aren’t already attending. Beyond that you wish each other well.

You have to try to stay ahead of the curve of growth with staffing and programs and budgets. People were coming and coming but we had to bring on more staff, we had to expand our eldership.

Sometimes we wanted to stay ahead of the curve but couldn't afford it. Sometimes it was happening so fast we couldn’t get it done. There were many times we didn’t have things in place that needed to be in place, like certain parts of the by-laws weren’t done, or policies on how we handle things. Sometimes we were making decisions as things were already happening.

It's important to pay attention to the members that you have while also engaging the new ones that are coming in, and not dropping ball with them leaving out the door behind you without you knowing it. Paying attention to who you have as well as paying attention to who you might be getting.

Growth brings with it a lot of new ideas. Sometimes they’re helpful and sometimes they’re not. Sometimes they’re not mission centered - Rocky Fork’s mission. They’re nice to have, they’re community oriented, but they’re not about making disciples. So sorting through all things is difficult.

Pulling everything through the filter of our mission helps to explain why we might not participate in fund raisers for s sports team or a community banquet or a community event, why we want to dedicate our resources and our time to just that mission.

The mission is to make disciples. We used to say to make disciples by connecting with one another, growing in Christ, plugging them into services, and leading them to bring others to Christ. It’s a constant circle. We’ve shifted our language now to simply Making Disciples, with an emphasis on helping people to make Jesus the most important relationship in their lives. They will do more than just call it their church home, they will be invested in it. That’s how we’re trying to reinvigorate us to refocus.

The challenge of having a large percentage of unchurched people, they don’t understand what the commitment of being a good church member or a good Christian would entail. It’s exciting because you’re seeing the people grow, but it’s challenging because you’re trying to keep them moving in the right direction.

Ultimately it all goes back to God’s working in our lives and in this community. Now that’s hard to say because I’ve seen other people who feel like God is working in their project also, and it just doesn't go as well. So I don’t know how to reconcile all that.

Some of the things we were blessed with, through him was a set of people who were very skilled and organized and motivated and committed. There was a small group of people who were really ready to pick up and to do the hard work to make this happen, for a long term commitment. They were blessed to secure a preacher who came in with skill sets already through his job history, but was new enough in the ministry field that we could afford him. There was a good match up right there.

And then our community was hungry for this kind of church. A church that isn’t wrapped up in the traditions of how it’s been for a hundred years. A church that can deliver the Christian message in a kind and genuine and well done way.

For whatever reason, the people of Hallsville found that to be inviting, and decided to come.

We want to do it in a good way, we don’t want to cut corners. We take this seriously. We do it with an openness and a transparency and the idea that we’re on this same journey with everyone else. The church leaders and the staff are all gong through the same things everybody’s going through. We want to do this altogether."

Missional Politics: Those People Really Need Jesus

I'm re-posting updated selections from a previous series on Missional Politics during the current political season.
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On October 30, 2008,  over 35,000 people lined up to see and hear presidential candidate Barack Obama on the campus of the University of Missouri.

Lines formed early in the day for the nighttime rally, and security crews began ushering people through gates and metal detectors a little after 7 p.m. By the time Obama began speaking the crowd had nearly filled the area, and the security had relaxed. Hundreds of late-comers simply walked onto the quad and found a spot. (Columbia Missourian, 10/31/08)

By the time the gates were opened at 7:00, the waiting line had snaked back and forth through the campus streets and down the sidewalks bordering College Avenue, one of the main city streets.

The Mizzou Christian Campus House sits on College Avenue. Just before 7:00 I was standing on the front lawn with some students who were residents of the CCH houses.

After several minutes of silent watching, I pointed out there was a large captive audience standing in the queue just across the street.

One of the guys with me was part of the CCH worship team. He said, "If we had known, we could have set up and played worship music for them."

"Or," I said, "we could have organized students to take lemonade to the people and used the opportunity to begin discussions with a captive audience about Jesus."

"That would be great," one of the guys responded. "Those people really need it." There was some head nodding in response to that.

"Why do you say that?" I asked. "Why do you assume a crowd of people waiting to see a Democratic candidate is in some way really in need of hearing about Jesus, more than any other crowd?"

They looked at me, a little puzzled.

"If that were a crowd of Republicans," I asked, "would you assume they don't need to hear about Jesus?"

"Well," the young man responded, nervously, "odds are... you know..."

"No, I don't know," I said. "I think it's kind of presumptuous to assume anyone who might support Barack Obama - or is even just curious about Barack Obama - must not be a Christian. I'm certainly curious."

"I also think," I added, "that any such assumption would put us in danger of putting our politics ahead of our mission. If we were to do that, then we would be the ones who really need to learn more about Jesus."

Little did I know those students were simply expressing a sentiment that would become distressingly dominant among many Christians.

Looking back on the experience, I'm led to conclude that we, the church, are the ones who really need need to be taught over and over again about Jesus and the mission He gave us.