Psalm 119:144 Righteous Understanding

Your statutes are always righteous;
give me understanding that I may live.

Psalm 119:144

Which statutes do I strip clean of their righteousness?

The statutes of God don't stand on their own, a bare set of words and phrases connected together.

When you dissect and analyze the scriptures, do you dive deep into the definition and historical usage of the words? Diagram the sentences and the relationship between phrases? Great!

But are you ignoring the statutes' roots in the righteous character of God? Are you failing to place the context in the righteous history of God at work in the world? Not great.

When you study the last half of Romans chapter one, do you get lost in the list of sins, building a systematic doctrine of right and wrong? There's certainly a place for understanding what each of those sinful acts means. But if that's all you do, they can become nothing more than bricks in your personal wall of  religious opinions.

Look more closely at those verses in Romans 1. Search for the heart of God in what Paul is saying. See how that list is a reflection of God's righteousness, both his wrath against sin and his compassion and patience toward people.

These verses are not so much about a list of forbidden acts, but instead a description of a God who has revealed himself to us at many times in various ways (Hebrews 1:1), only to be willfully ignored. It's the story of a God who step by step gives people up to go their own way, hoping their deepening mess will jolt them into awakening from their self-imposed ignorance and will turn them back toward him. If they continue to run away from him, he finally lets them go all the way.

When you encounter people who have depraved minds, so depraved they do what ought not to be done, people who have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity, ones who are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice, are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful, people who invent ways of doing evil, who disobey their parents and have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy ... how do you respond?

With judgment only? Or also with compassion and patience? Is your reaction limited to the wrathful side of God's righteousness? Or do you seek out ways to righteously show compassion and build bridges of reconciliation?

Psalm 119:143 Delightful

Trouble and distress have come upon me,
but your commands give me delight.

Psalm 119:143

Which commands do you think aren't all that delightful?

This might seem like a somewhat odd question. Well of course, you say, all his commands are delightful.

Really?

I have to admit I have trouble always delighting in I Peter 2:13-17.

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

There are some government leaders whose behavior tempts me to rant and rail at them. My sarcastic side wants to ridicule them with the same sort of untruths and insults the politicians throw at each other. It would delight my worse self to join in on the ignorant talk of foolish people.

But that's not what God is about and it's not what I really want to be about. So instead I'll delight myself in being unique, approaching my freedom as an opportunity to do do things for the Lord's sake.

God commands his people to love their spouses and their children. We're to love our friends and neighbors and fellow believers. He even says to love our enemies.

Not all of those commands are easy or even comfortable. But if we give ourselves over to obeying for his sake, we will come to delight in his commands.

Psalm 119:142 True

Your righteousness is everlasting
and your law is true. 

Psalm 119:142

Which laws do you think aren't true?

Well, of course I think all God's laws are true! 

But do you really?

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...

Matthew 5:44

Wait, really? Even the spouse who has been so oppressive/unfaithful/obnoxious that I don't think I can live with them any more? Even the politician who stands for everything I abhor and seems bound and determined to take away the rights and freedoms of religious expression?

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Matthew 7:1-2

... except on social media, where no one can hear me dishing about the way that person always wants everyone to thinks they're so perfect on Facebook or this other person obviously has hateful and unholy motives for every opinion they tweet about. Unless in my "righteous indignation" I decide to post something to passive aggressively put them in their place.

Which laws do you think aren't true?

Psalm 119:141 Selective Memory

Though I am lowly and despised,
I do not forget your precepts. 

Psalm 119:141

Which precepts do you forget? Which of God's truths do you so easily ignore?

On one Monday evening on the way to Vandalia, Missouri, for the weekly prison ministry, Roy Weece told me he had accepted a speaking invitation. He had been assigned to speak five times on the theme "That's in the Bible?" The idea was to speak about five things that people tend to ignore or forget that are taught in the Word.

So we brainstormed possible topics.

The first one came quickly, considering our destination that evening. Matthew 25:31-46 lists several groups of needy people and the consequences of ignoring them.

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Matthew 25:41-46

Christians will sometimes say they're aware of scriptures like this one, but they'll add, "That's just not one of my spiritual gifts."

But Jesus doesn't qualify his statements as applying only to those who are gifted or called to help needy people. In truth, he says all who ignore the least of these will go away to eternal punishment.

Probably don't want to forget that precept.

Which precepts of God do you tend to forget or ignore?

Psalm 119:140 Testing

Your promises have been thoroughly tested,
 and your servant loves them.

Psalm 119:140

Which promises have you tested? And loved?

A few of my favorites:

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Isaiah 40:29

He doesn't necessarily always give physical strength to Karen and I when we're weary and weak. But as we've grown older and our physical problems have multiplied, he has multiplied our spiritual strength to continue serving him by his power.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

James 1:5

I've made some really ill-advised choices in my life. Actually, they were stupid choices, and some of them we're still paying for. And yet we continually have asked God to supply us with wisdom, even when we're in the middle of a mess of our own creating. And he has followed through on that promise, without wagging his finger at us and saying, I told you so.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

II Chronicles 7:14

This is the promise I'm testing most right now. I'm trusting that if I encourage and exhort my fellow believers to humble ourselves enough to stop assuming our brand of politics or lifestyle is God-ordained, if we'll turn from our wicked ways of selling our holy integrity for a set of unholy deals with unholy politicians and false preachers, that God will indeed forgive our wayward ways and hear our land.

Psalm 119:139 Zeal

My zeal wears me out,
 for my enemies ignore your words.

Psalm 119:139

"My zeal wears me out" is a mild way to translate that phrase. It more accurately is "my zeal destroys me, exterminates me, ends my life."

I'm not sure David is trying to say this is a good thing. To use such extreme terminology makes me wonder if he's saying he's gone too far, over the deep end, gotten too wrapped up in his emotional reaction to the faithlessness he sees in his enemies.

Zeal is most often used in a positive way in the scriptures, including in the Psalms.

Zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

Psalm 69:0

This Psalm is also quoted in the New Testament, describing Jesus' zeal in cleansing the temple. Many of the biblical instances of zeal refer to the Lord's zeal.

But some of Paul's uses of the word stand as a warning about zeal:

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

Romans 10:1-3

Some people can be zealous about a wrong understanding of the scriptures.

Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you.

Galatians 4:17-18

Paul had good reason to know the danger of misdirected zeal, describing himself...

...as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

Philippians 3:6

Are you zealous for God's Word?

Are you sure it's God's Word your zealous for and not your own self-serving agenda?  It's easy to wrap yourself in a cloak of words from the Word while actually fighting battles of your own making.

As Paul said in Romans 10, make sure it's God's righteousness that's guiding your emotions and actions, not your own sense of rightness.

Psalm 119:138 Trustworthy

The statutes you have laid down are righteous;
 they are fully trustworthy. 

Psalm 119:138

Do you trust them all?

Which ones don't you fully trust?

I know, I know. That sounds like a heretical question.

But there are a number of kinds of Bible verses we tend to try to explain away, ignore, or outright scoff at.

The That's Just an Ideal; God Doesn't Really Expect Us to Do That verses:

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

I Peter 1:15-16

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.

I Peter 4:1

That's pretty extreme! Do you really trust that you can be holy like God is holy? Or that if you suffer like Christ, your body will be "done with sin"?

I can hear you explaining it away already.


Then there's the Wouldn't it Be Nice If Life Really Worked That Way statutes.

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

Proverbs 22:6

I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.

Matthew 19:8

Surely there are exceptions to those rules! Surely!


And my favorite, the Sure, That's a Good Thought, But I'm Going to Take This Into My Own Hands kind of verses.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Romans 13:1-2

So.. what's your least trusted statute?

Psalm 119:137 Righteousness

The Hebrew word zedek or ṣad·dîq means to be right, upright, just, righteous. A form of the word occurs 15 times in Psalm 119. Five of those instances are in this octet of Tsadhe (119:137-144).

I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. (Psalm 119:7)

Praise and worship is not righteous because it makes me feel worshipful or fits in with my personal musical or liturgical preferences. True praise comes as I learn God's true and righteous laws.

How I long for your precepts! In your righteousness preserve my life. (Psalm 119:40)

God does not bless my life or preserve my life because I do what seems right in my own eyes. The righteous God preserves my life because he is righteous.

At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws. (Psalm 119:62)

True righteousness (and true rightness) isn't mine because of a house-of-card collection of opinions I cherish, but because I've made it a priority to study God's righteous Word and to pray to God about his righteous laws at all hours of the day, 24-7.

I know, Lord, that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. (Psalm 119:75)

Knowing the truth of the righteousness of God's laws comes by faithfully living according to His ways even in the midst of the worst of times. When the world seems to be going mad, I don't resort to my own opinions or react to my own fears or desires. I seek to discover the truth and live the truth in his righteous laws.

I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. (Psalm 119:106)

When I ask believers what their core political principles are, I get back all kinds of answers, almost all having to do with politics and opinions and platforms. Instead, we should be moved in every aspect of life - including politics - by a personal oath, confirmed by a plan of action, to make every decision based on the core principles of God's righteous laws.

I have done what is righteous and just; do not leave me to my oppressors. (Psalm 119:121)

Another thing I hear from many politically-minded Christians is that we have to vote a certain way in order to protect our freedom of religion and thought and practice.  The scriptures seem to teach a different approach.  Do what is righteous (live in a way that reflects the righteousness of God) and trust God to protect or deliver us from oppressors.

My eyes fail, looking for your salvation, looking for your righteous promise. (Psalm 119:123)

Even when it seems like righteousness isn't enough, even when you're tired of waiting for this godless culture to either turn to God or be punished by God, never stop looking to God for the righteous response.

You are righteous, Lord, and your laws are right. (Psalm 119:137)

I've said more than once in this series of blog posts that the best definition of righteousness I've found is the character of God. Righteousness is that which matches up with and flows from the inherently righteous character of the eternal God. Actions are righteous if they mirror the actions of God. Statements are righteous if they mirror the statements of God. Attitudes, emotions, priorities, missions, purposes, principles, and character are righteous in so much as they reflect the character of God.

The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy. (Psalm 119:138)

The Word of God can be fully trusted because God can be fully trusted. They are "true truth" because God is the source of truth. Any "truthiness" comes not from God or his Word but from us, when we rearrange the words and ideas to fit our own agendas.

Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and your law is true. (Psalm 119:142)

Wow! Why would I ever chase after any other definition of truth? All the other truthiness changes with the whims of culture and the daily viral obsessions people grab onto.

Your statutes are always righteous; give me understanding that I may live. (Psalm 119:144)

Always righteous. Not subject to change. All we have to do is look at them from God's perspective, not from our own point of view or the world's fractured opinions. Ask God to help you see the through his eyes. Dare to take a stand for God's righteousness, rather than the principles and politics of the moment.

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. (Psalm 119:160)

We like to pick and choose which words of God we're going to fiercely champion and which ones we're going to quietly ignore. How many times have  you posted a meme on Facebook about the evils of homosexuality? How many memes have you posted about the evils of divorce? Is there a difference because your divorced Christian friends might be offended, but you don't really know any gay or lesbian people?

Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws. (Psalm 119:164)

Again, it's important to make pray and praise a priority in your daily life. Schedule times to study God's Word and pray about what you're reading. While you're wrestling with some of God's less culture-friendly laws, praise God for his unfailing righteousness.

May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous. (Psalm 119:172)

Psalm 119:137-144 Tsadhe

You are righteous, Lord,
 and your laws are right
The statutes you have laid down are righteous;
 they are fully trustworthy.
My zeal wears me out,
 for my enemies ignore your words.
Your promises have been thoroughly tested,
 and your servant loves them.
Though I am lowly and despised
 I do not forget your precepts.
Your righteousness is everlasting
 and your law is true.
Trouble and distress have come upon me,
 but your commands give me delight.
Your statutes are always righteous;
 give me understanding that I may live.

Psalm 119:144

During the final decades of the 1900s and the early years of new millennium, many Christian leaders decried the increasing influence of postmodernism.

Postmodernism is a philosophy that, among other things, claims truth is relative. Your truth may not be my truth. Each of us defines our own truth based on how it fits into our individual set of presuppositions, formed by the mixture of our personal experiences and community influences.

For church leaders whose entire theology and philosophy is based on the idea of an absolute standard of truth, a standard defined by God and his Word, postmodernism is problematic. It's important to take into account the varied points of view and presuppositions among the people we interact with. But we need to guard against forgetting the bedrock truth that there is indeed a bedrock truth.

And yet, here in the second decade of the 21st century, a large percentage of Christians who consider themselves religiously conservative or who fit into the general classification of evangelicals, have, in practice, embraced wholly the truthiness of postmodernism.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the arena of politics. When George Bush and Al Gore were faced with a virtual tie in the 2000 presidential election, I heard many of my fellow Christians passing judgment on which of them should be declared the winner, long before the disputed votes were recounted and anything close to true results were determined. The winner, they said,  should be George Bush, because that's who they had voted for.

Throughout Bush's tenure in office, many Christians gave him the benefit of the doubt whenever his decisions or his statements were questioned. Not because of any careful examination of the truth, but because of the truthiness of their devotion to conservative political ideas.

But when Barack Obama became president, those same Christians were quick to question everything he said or did. Again, it was usually not due to any great study of the facts or the truth of the matter, but a gut-feeling declaration of belief that Obama was not to be trusted, mostly because of his non-conservative politics.

This unfortunate Christian truthiness has reached an historic low during the presidency of Donald Trump. Because he is leading his fellow Republicans to make policy decisions that please politically Christian conservatives, they're willing to ignore and even condone Trump's blatantly irreligious and immoral character.  They also ignore his almost daily disregard for any objective standards of truth. Trump has become the chief standard bearer for postmodern truthiness, bending the truth to meet his personal desires, and loudly working to denigrate the news media who dare to report verified truth rather than flattering his ego.

And yet Christian pastors and counselors, people who are trained and experienced in spotting the clear clues that someone is a habitual liar, seem unable or unwilling to speak the truth about the president's obvious habits of murdering the truth.

I'm sure some who are reading this are mad at me now. They probably think I'm obviously a Democrat, spreading "fake news."

Actually, I haven't expressed an opinion about politics at all in this blog post. The truth is, I don't really care who you vote for, or which political party or platform you support.

What's important is this: Christians should stand for truth.

I beg of you to not turn away from examining your own heart on the matter. Does your attitude toward truth have its foundation in the righteousness and rightness of God or are you held captive to the truthiness of your own heart?

One year from this week the next national election takes place. You and I have a whole year, 365 days, to "do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." ( II Timothy 2:15) Instead of arguing over politics, let's spend the coming year learning to cherish the truth.

Psalm 119:136 Both Ways

Streams of tears flow from my eyes,
for your law is not obeyed.

Psalm 119:136

Have you ever read the daily news and wondered where God is in the midst of all the horrible things that go on?

You're not alone.  David wasn't alone either.

Habakkuk is really bent out of shape as he begins the book that bears his name.

How long, Lord, must I call for help,
  but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
  but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice?
  Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
  there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
  and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
  so that justice is perverted.

Habakkuk 1:2-4

The Lord responds with a promise that the sins of the nation will not go unpunished. But then, when God sends a more violent nation to punish God's chosen people, Habakkuk again complains that God seems to not be doing what he should.

Lord, are you not from everlasting?
  My God, my Holy One, you will never die.
You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment;
  you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.
Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
  you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
  Why are you silent while the wicked
    swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

Habakkuk 1:12-13

That's the problem with relying on your feelings as the barometer of whether God is living up to his part of your relationship. It tends to end up in a one-sided, selfish whine session.

God, why don't you pay attention to me?  I need constant reassurance that my needs and desires are the most important thing!

But God, why do you always have to be looking over my shoulder?  Why is it that any time I step out of line and decide to walk on the wild side, you discipline me by letting things go sideways?

Abide in God's Word and abide in him, not in your own self-centered agenda.

Psalm 119:135 Seen

Make your face shine on your servant
and teach me your decrees.

Psalm 119:135

Genesis 16 tells the story of Hagar, the slave/servant who Sarah handed over to Abraham so they could have a child through her. It's not at all surprising to the modern reader that this arrangement did not result in happy faces all around.

It's no surprise that Sarah quickly grew to resent Hagar, treating her badly. Given his history, it's also not at all surprising that Abraham stood by and let Sarah do this. And Hagar, finding herself in a hopeless situation, treated poorly by her mistress and ignored by her master, fled into the wilderness.

Under such extreme oppression, Hagar's emotional state had to have been at rock bottom. She could easily have concluded the God of Abraham and Sarah was obviously on their side and didn't care a bit about her.

But then the angel of the Lord showed up and encouraged her. He spoke directly to her, telling her good news about the child she would have.

All the while she thought God was ignoring her, he was in fact paying close attention.
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Genesis 16:13

When it seems God is ignoring you, turn to the scriptures, where he promises over and over that he does see you.

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

2 Chronicles 16:9

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love

Psalm 33:18

Psalm 119:134 Rescue Me

Redeem me from human oppression,
that I may obey your precepts.

Psalm 119:134

Sometimes when we're feeling distant from God, it's not really about God at all.

The things other people do to us can crush our overall emotional state so severely, we're virtually incapable of separating out the true cause of our deep distress.

When ladies in the prison chapel would express their despair at not "feeling" God's presence, what was often really going on had more to do with their general despair about the condition of their daily life. They were dealing not only with the very real oppression of the restrictive rules of the prison system, but also with the grim reality of interacting with hardened inmates and frequent rejection by family and friends.

In such a crushing situation, emotions can be both enlarged and suppressed. People generally react by cycling through times of extreme emotional release and extreme emotional retreat. Tears, anger, violence, and psychological instability; then withdrawal, avoidance of social interaction, despondency, numbness, and self harm.

You don't have to be in prison or living in a totalitarian regime to have your emotions tossed about oppression. I've gone though similar cycles when stuck working under a manipulative and mean boss. Others experience similar reactions when they've experienced a series of financial or personal setbacks, combined with the insensitive and impersonal reactions of people who ought to be helping but only make things worse.

I've learned that when the world is crushing my spirit, the best response is to resist the extreme emotional reactions. They only lead to hurting myself and others, and often end with me blaming God for the mess I've found myself in and the mess I've made of trying to fix it.

The better response is to go to my knees in prayer. Look to him for rescue from the situation. Focus myself on what God wants me to learn from the situation. What experiences is he giving me now that will enable me to help others later?

The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God’s realm where everything is possible. He specializes in the impossible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is too small for His love.Corrie Ten Boom

Psalm 119:133 Footsteps

Direct my footsteps according to your word;
let no sin rule over me.
Psalm 119:133

A young wife and mother recently announced she was leaving her home and moving in with another man. There, she says, she can live like she wants, enjoy marijuana and "edibles" with him, and finally focus on what makes her happy.

As of this point, she hasn't yet said whether continuing to be a mother to her children is part of what makes her happy.

There are many people like her. For that matter, there are many who call themselves Christians who are like her - they just haven't reached the same point yet in their chasing after personal happiness. They walk a dangerous path, direct heir footsteps in the direction that feels good to them, rather than according to God's word. Continuing down that road is a sure way to letting sin rule over every decision.

 " If you dwell on your own feelings about things rather than dwelling on the faithfulness, the love, and the mercy of God, then you're likely to have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Our feelings are very fleeting and ephemeral, aren't they? We can't depend on them for five minutes at a time. But dwelling on the love, faithfulness, and mercy of God is always safe." ~ Elisabeth Elliot

Psalm 119:132 He Sees Me

Turn to me and have mercy on me,
as you always do to those who love your name.
Psalm 119:132

Over and over in the Psalms, as well as the rest of scriptures, the "name of God" or the "name of Christ", is used to describe much more than just a name.

To the writers of scripture, someone's name represented their reputation and character. To pray in then same of Jesus is to pray in such a way that acknowledges and honors the sort of things Christ values and loves. To take God's name in vain is to claim to be one of his people while living and speaking in a way contrary to God's character.

When David writes of loving God's name, he's talking about people who have a deep felt passion for who God is, for everything he represents. I love God's name because I know He can be counted on to always turn toward me and have mercy

My greatest joy in reading the Word is not when a discover a new idea or prove a theological point. It's when I discover something new about the character of God or Christ.

That moment when I discover something fantastic about how God loves or why Jesus makes a certain choice - it's wonderful. It's as though I'm seeing the Lord's face as clearly as if I were in his presence.

And when that moment happens, I can almost see him turning his face toward me and looks straight at me, a twinkle in his eye. It's as if he's giving me a hug and whispering in my ear, "This is me.  This is the real me. I see you and and I love you."

Psalm 119:131 Thirsty

I open my mouth and pant,
longing for your commands.

Psalm 119:131

There are many different kinds of people at the gym.

Some are totally ripped, their muscles bulging and their shirts straining as they pump iron. Others, like me, have better muscle tone than we would have if we didn't work out, but we'll never have muscles like that.  And then there's the folks who have little discernible muscle tone, who break into a sweat lifting 5-pound weights.

There are some who climb onto the treadmill and spend over an hour walking, jogging and running.  I consider it a good day when I can last 30 minutes, just walking.

One thing we all have in common, though. When we take breaks, we grab the water bottle or head to the drinking fountain.

Most people who are at all active, whether they do strenuous work or work-outs, discover the importance of hydration. Without it, you won't last long.

The more you work your body, the more you use up the fluids and electrolytes in your system.

What your body needs most is water.  But if you're working exceptionally hard for a very long period of time, sports drinks can be a good idea.  Sports drinks mix water with salt and sugars, which not only speed the body's absorption of fluids but also replenish the electrolytes lost during exercise.

Taking in too much water, though, can result in over-hydration, which can also be bad, because you are, in effect, diluting the amount of salt and other electrolytes in your system.

I've discovered it's best if I drink fluids steadily throughout the day, rather than waiting until I'm actually working hard. Like a camel, I'm able to maintain a steady pace for a longer time.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Psalm 42:1-2

I've discovered that I also need a steady infusion of living water in order to make it through an active life of walking by faith. Waiting to get into the Word only when I'm at church, or only when trials come and I suddenly am in need of spiritual refreshment, just doesn't work well.

Just as there are different types of people at the gym, there are many different kinds of Christians at church. Some are quite strong spiritually, actively doing the work God has set for them to do.  Others are comfortable in their usual seats on Sunday morning and occasionally step out in faith, although they wish they knew how to be a little more steady in their faith and in their fruit-bearing. Still others go through the motions of being "churched" and eventually find it easier to join the "unchurched".

People who practice good habits of regular meditation on the Word find their spiritual hydration level stays steady.  They're not only equipped to deal with any situation they encounter, they are filled with energy and eagerness to see what God has in store for them next.

They also learn the value of supplementing the living water with salt:  being salt.  It's important to get out and interact with people and "be the salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of the world" (Matthew 5:13, The Message) . That experience helps them to understand and process what they read in the scriptures more thoroughly and effectively, because they're actively involved in doing the work for which God is is preparing them, bearing fruit.

Blessed is the one
  who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
  or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
  and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
  which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
  whatever they do prospers.
     Psalm 1:1-3

Drink often and drink deep.

Psalm 119:130 Sunshine

The unfolding of your words gives light; 
it gives understanding to the simple. 

Psalm 119:130

When the weather is good I eat my lunch out on the deck at my office building. After a morning spent in a windowless office, staring at a computer screen, the feel of the sun's rays on my skin is fantastic.

Before I even begin eating my lunch I sit and spread my arms out and soak up the sunshine.

Sometimes I imagine myself as Superman, floating in space, absorbing the energy of the yellow sun.  According to the comic-book legend, his powers come from Earth's yellow sun.

As I absorb the sun's warmth, I picture myself becoming more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings with a single bound.

Yes, I grew up on comic books and still have super hero thoughts flash like a speeding bullet through my mind occasionally.

It's truly wonderful, though, that for something you can't actually grab and hold in your hand, the effect of sunshine can be felt in an instant.

Equally so, the effect of a gloomy and sunless day can have a quick effect on a person's mood. Seasonal disaffective syndrome (SAD) is a medically proven physiological and psychological problem resulting in part from too little sunlight.

Exposure to the sun causes specific reactions in the human body. It encourages the production of beneficial vitamin D.  It also causes increased production and color-changes in melanin, resulting in sunburn or suntan.

Over-exposure to the sun's rays can lead to skin cancer, can accelerate aging and wrinkling of the skin, and can impair the immune system.

I really dislike using sunscreen. Some people like the smell of it, but me?  Not so much.  I know, though, that by using sunscreen the negative effects of sunlight can be prevented or slowed down. It contains chemicals and particles that absorb or scatter ultraviolet light. This allows the body to receive the benefits of sunshine while reducing the risk of harmful over-exposure.

And so I use sunscreen if I'm going to be out in the sun for a long time. Because, unlike Superman, my body isn't suited to handle that much of the direct power of the sun.

He is like the light of morning at sunrise
on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain
that brings grass from the earth.’
  (II Samuel 23:3)

Meditating on the Word is much like soaking up the sun's rays.

Like the sun, the Word gives me power - to overcome sin and live a godly life (Psalm 119:11).

The scriptures light my way and help me find my way through life (Psalm 119:105)

Just as sun-enriched vitamin D gives makes me healthier and strengthens my immune system, meditating on the Bible nurtures both my spiritual and physical health (Proverbs 4:20-22) and protects me from Satan's attacks (I John 2:14)

And, like soaking up the sun, soaking up the Word just plain makes me happy (Psalm 119:16,24, 143).

Reading the Bible also provides a similar protection as sunscreen. Very few people in history have spoken directly to God, and they were not allowed to see His face.

  Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”  

  And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.  But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”  

  Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

(Exodus 33:18-23)

Even after being protected from the full force of God's glory, Moses' face was radiant when he came down from the mountain. (Exodus 34:29-20) I've often wondered if he had a sunburn from the experience.

God hasn't asked us to shield ourselves behind a cleft in a rock. Instead, He has put us at a safe distance by revealing Himself to us second-hand, through the writings of the prophets and apostles.

Have you ever wished God had been more clear in the Bible?  Perhaps He could have given us an indexed encyclopedia instead of a book full of history and poetry.

The next time you wish for a clearer picture of God's heart, be thankful for the sunscreen of the Bible. He's given us more than enough to provide the benefits we need, without over-exposing us.

Meditating on His Word may not give us the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but...

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;

my God turns my darkness into light.

With your help I can advance against a troop;

with my God I can scale a wall.

(Psalm 18:28-29)

Psalm 119:129 Wonderful Obedience

Your statutes are wonderful;
therefore I obey them.

Psalm 119:129

A good definition of the Hebrew word translated here as wonderful (or marvelous in other translations) would be "anything that makes you go WOW!"

The Hebrew term translated as statutes is eduth. It refers most often to the specific Laws of the Covenant, as found in the Ten Commandments, as well as the Code of Law overall.

The scriptures repeatedly remind us the statutes are fantastic.

The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.

Psalm 19:8

In today's culture of tweets and Facebook memes, many Christians seem to get excited about the scriptures in a purely emotion-driven way. The goal seems to be combining "inspirational" verses with uplifting pictures.

Sometimes, there seems to be no connection between the verse and the picture, but that doesn't matter if you go away feeling "inspired".

This particular combination of scripture and picture inspires me more toward an exclamation of "Huh?" than "Wow!"

The thing is, the statutes of the Lord are not wonderful because they make us feel giddy or inspire sublime thoughts. They're wonderful because if we obey them, the resulting actual blessings will be fantastic.

As a friend of mine said recently, "I've tested enough of his promises that I don't doubt his Word."

If you want to experience a visceral rush from the Word of God, put what you read into practice.

Psalm 119:129-136 Pe

During Q&A night in the prison chapel, a frequent question would be about faith and feelings.

"When I first become a Christian, I felt God's presence constantly. I'd wake up knowing He was there with me. I'd feel his love and his presence all through the day and sleep well at night feeling him with me.

"But for the past few weeks, that feeling has gone away. I don't feel his presence or his love like I did before. Has he left me? Have I done something to make him leave me?"

Usually there would be someone else up front with me to help answer the questions, usually my wife. Sometimes, though, my friend Steve and I tag-teamed the Q&A. If we were there when this question came up, the questioner would get two different answers.

Steve, a worship leader, is very attuned to the importance of an emotional connection with God. He would sympathize with the questioner and offer advice about how to get the feeling back.

And then he'd look at me and say, "And now Tim's going to tell you something completely different." He knew it was actually completely different, but he knew they would think so. We both knew the value of offering more than one perspective on many of their questions.

My answer would begin with, "Faith is not about feelings." And when Steve would look at me like he was about to argue, I'd say, "Faith is not primarily (Steve would frown a little) or only about feelings."

My point, which I'd go on to explain, was that you know God is with you because He says He's with you. If you don't feel His presence, pick up your Bible and read some passages where God promises His presence - mostly in the Psalms. Or read Jesus' Upper Room conversation and prayer in John 13-17. Some believers go through dry seasons that last for years when they don't feel the presence of God.They stay strong and motivated during those times by wallowing in the Word, fervently praying, and actively doing the things you know God wants you to be doing, even in His absence.

Feeling the presence of God is fantastic, but the best spiritual emotions come as a result of practicing the disciplines and doing the work God has called you to do.

In this section of Psalm 119, David expresses the emotional aspects of his faith, grounded in the Word and in obedience.

129 Your statutes are wonderful;
therefore I obey them.
130 The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple.
131 I open my mouth and pant,
longing for your commands.
132 Turn to me and have mercy on me,
as you always do to those who love your name.
133 Direct my footsteps according to your word;
let no sin rule over me.
134 Redeem me from human oppression,
that I may obey your precepts.
135 Make your face shine on your servant
and teach me your decrees.
136 Streams of tears flow from my eyes,
for your law is not obeyed.

Psalm 119:129-136

Psalm 119:127-128 Because

Why do so many deer run in front of cars and cause collisions?

A Google search found several answers for this, all of which are part of the explanation.

The deer's instinct is to focus almost exclusively on whatever it's doing at the present moment. As the deer approaches a road, he or she may be focused on a food source on the other side of the road. Or maybe the focus is on following the other deer in the herd or family grouping. Or, during rut season, the focus is on deer of the opposite gender.

A car coming down the street is no competition for whatever has the deer's attention, until the very last moment.

In that last moment, when the deer's peripheral vision picks up on the approaching vehicle and recognizes a possible threat, the deer's instinct is to leap in a random direction. That randomness serves him well if the attacker is a mountain lion, causing the predator a moment's confusion while the swift deer runs away. It doesn't serve the deer well if the random direction it leaps is into the path of the oncoming vehicle.

If a deer turns to look at the car, the headlights are apt to blind him. The front of the deer's eyes are heavy with photo-receptors and the bright light will temporarily blind the animal. Since the majority of deer-vehicle collisions take place at night, the deer's excellent night vision actually work against it when faced with such a blinding artificial light source.

Someone who sees everything through the lens of evolution would say the deer evolved that way as the best way to survive in a pre-headlights world. It makes more sense to me to appreciate that God designed deer to survive.

In short, deer are prone to collide with cars and trucks because, well, they're deer. They're acting like the Creator designed deer to act.

Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold
and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.

Psalm 119:127-128

Because I'm God's servant, I love his commands and I value righteousness.

I also hate unrighteousness. The more I become the person God intends for me to be, the more I will instinctively avoid the detours on the one road of life. I'll remain focused on the path God lays out before me.

 It's who God designed me to be.

Writer's Notebook: Dave Embree, part 3

This is part three of "extras", the parts of my interview with Dave Embree that didn't make it into the final version as published in the August issue of Christian Standard magazine.

This final post features some random quotes and comments based on Tim's 41 years in the campus ministry.

***************

The need for campus ministers

We currently, among the associated college ministries associated with Christian Churches, have roughly a hundred fifty ministries. If those were evenly dispersed, which they are not, that would be three per state in the U.S. And in the two states with most college students, California and Texas, we have virtually nothing in the way of campus ministry.We have some new plans, I think, going on in those states, but nothing much.

Right now I’m not aware of any Christian Church schools offering a specific program in campus ministry. Even if it’s only one occasionally traveled, there could be a concentration of classes that I would be happy to help set up with anybody, just with existing offerings at a particular school.

Reaching college students today vs. 40 yeas ago

Some things we do really differently, some things we don’t.

 A while back I came across a copy of one of the newsletters we used to photocopy and hand out to students, whereas now we do it digitally. I went through the whole thing – it was from 25 or 30 years ago – a lot of the events we do are very similar.

We do a lot of back to school stuff. Students now are used to professional looking stuff and if it doesn’t look professional they won’t give it the time of day. We put a lot more emphasis on design because students get thousands of messages online every day, and trying to distinguish one message as being relevant to you among all that noise, is really different.So we try to be professional, we try to be present.

Over the years, one of the benefits of being here along time is that we have sort of a favored status. We have the benefit of getting to do some things on campus that other groups don’t. I’m not gloating against them, but we’ve proved ourselves to be good partners with the community.

We want to be present with the students every place where we can. We’ve always wanted that, it’s just harder now because, again, they stay in their rooms.

We try to do electronic marketing, which is difficult. We provide of lots of venues for people to connect with us, via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

But one of the things that’s really changed, we have to put a lot more really personal appeal on things. Broadcasting is almost worthless. Narrow-casting works.

We used to put out clipboards for people sign up for stuff. That hardly happens anymore, even for things like mission trips. We took a group to Kenya last summer. I think every single person who went on that trip went because I asked that person if they would go with us.

In years past we had exciting mission trips where we had people turn in applications and we really went through the applications and some people didn’t get to go. But now that’s not happening, even with Kenya – how exciting is that – people want to be asked, they want know that’s relevant to my life.

When I first started in campus ministry, a guy told me three sure ways to gain attention on campus: sex, alcohol, and food, and since we could pretty well eliminate the first two, we had to focus on the food.

Food isn’t a draw anymore. Universities have recognized that if students were complaining about the food, they needed to make the cafeterias really good. In the dining halls students usually have about 10 different options. Always have burgers, always have pizza. Last time I ate there, I had Moroccan food.

We had a freshman outreach program that was really successful for about 10 years and then it just faded out in a matter of two years. It involved a meal on a Wednesday night, building a freshman community. We talked to them about freshman stuff.  When we investigated why this went from boom to bust, the respond we got was, 'Well we can go there and kind of hang out, but you’re only going to give us one option for food. Sometimes we don’t like that option. Over here at the dining hall we get 10 options. So Thanks, but we’d rather have options.'

Which is also one of the things that has reduced participation in out Spring mission trips. 'If we go with you, you’re driving. You decide when we stop, we don’t. Over the course of the week, if we decide we’d just rather not work today, you’re still going to want us to work. So we’d just rather go home.'

And I talk to good kids in our ministry who didn’t go on our Spring Break trip, kids who love Jesus. I asked them what they did for Spring Break. 'Oh, you know, I went home and just chillaxed for the week.'

You know, you could have gone down with us to the border and spend time in Mexico. 'Yeah, maybe I’ll do that next time, I don’t know.'

We ask people to pretty much go social media free. They hate it. We’re asking them to leave their 'home town', which is their online community.

We do more pop up events on campus. Last week we did a Make Your Own Slime event on campus. I asked the guys who did it, how do you think it went in terms of real outreach? Most of the people just made their slime and left. We had CCH info taped to every bag, but about three people wanted to talk to us about why we’re doing this and so on. So it was get what I want and get out of here, rather than I want to get to know you guys and what you're about.

Our students are growing smaller and smaller worlds for themselves instead of bigger ones. One of the corollaries of social media is people will say, I’ve got friends all over the world. But because of the metrics of social media, which are primarily binary, over time you expand your connections to more and more people who believe exactly what you do. And so you have more connections but less choice, less options. Those things are very age, socio-economic, to a certain extent, socio-political and ethnically stratified. And so you have 5000 Facebook friends, but the majority of them look like you, watch the same things, listen to Taylor Swift or hate her, just like you, and shop at the same stores.

Preparing students to be leaders in the church

The students who will get engaged in our ministry or any other campus minsitry are going to know way more scripture than you think they might otherwise know.

That’s another big change. Students in the mid 70's to the 80's at lest had a modicum of biblical knowledge. The students now in many cases have had very little exposure to the Bible. In many cases they’ve had more exposure through Veggie Tales than anything else. And whereas I think VeggieTales are marvelously cleaver and hysterical, that’s not a great way to teach the bible.

But students who come out of a campus ministry are going to know more about the bible that you might think. They’re going to know more about serving than you might think , and as a matter of fact they're going to see how integral serving others is to the Gospel. They’re probably going to have a much better view of of their responsibility to the rest of the world, in the United States and beyond. Some of them are going to have really particular leadership skills.

I’m taking roughly ten students through our small group leadership program called Pipeline this semester. I do usually five to ten per semester. Those guys are going to be really valuable to local churches and they’re going to be better trained than you might think.

But we need a whole lot more leaders than we’re producing, and we need a whole lot more leaders from among our churches who can be getting that training through campus minsitry, but who don’t know about campus ministry, so they’re not going to get trained.

One of the best things one of our alums said, was, 'When I came to the university it was to get a degree, so I’d know my way around the classroom and know how to be a teacher. What I didn’t expect was, I figured out my way around the church and I figured out how to serve there. I figured out what it’s about and how effective I can be. This is the most important thing I learned in college.

We want to produce as many people like that as we can.

Years ago IVCF advocated that churches should work towards not just trying to prepare students to survive the university campus, but to prepare them to go there with the goal of making a difference themselves, to see themselves as campus missionaries. And Intervarsity even encouraged churches to have a commissioning service where they would essentially set aside their recently graduated high school seniors who were heading off to college as that church’s missionaries to the campus where they would be studying.

I love that

Staying excited about campus minsitry

Here are some really good characteristics of students these days: they are innovative; they have remarkable (and remarkably useful) tech skills.

When they catch a vision, they are capable of great investment and sacrifice and impact.

They are capable of great compassion, especially when they encounter real pain in real lives.

What does it take to engage them? You've got to start with the "why" regarding anything. If they become convinced of the validity of an idea, or ministry, or spiritual path, they will go all out, and though they tend to have short attention spans, they really do value the sort of longer-term relationships with older believers who can keep them pointed the right direction.

As with all believers since the original disciples, they often figure out the truth through serving others, though they have to learn the difference between serving in love and "mandatory volunteer hours".

I speak often of how all the great awakenings in American history have happened at times when the "nones" were in the ascendency, and I have great hopes that this generation will get really excited about Jesus as have previous generations when other pursuits turned out to have no real glory.

Psalm 119:126 Not My Job

It is time for you to act, Lord;
your law is being broken.

Psalm 119:126

The book of Psalms is a textbook for prayer, in the form of David's trip diary of his conversations with God along the 1 road of life.

Sometimes David sounds like a child who is petulantly remind a parent of what they said they'd do.

You promised! You said you'd do this for me!

Is it OK to scold God?

Well, no. Of course not. He wants me to be open and honest with him. Express my frustrations. But need to always remember who I'm talking to.

The real lesson here is not that David is mouthing off to God. Far from it.

David is actually submitting wholly to God, acknowledging there are some things that are God's responsibility, not David's.

If I see someone breaking a law of God's, how should I react? Should I excoriate them, giving them a tongue lashing that puts them in the place and cuts them down to size? Should I put every other priority to the side and make it my mission to pass laws that criminalize their actions and strip them of freedoms because they've sinned?

If that's how I'm going to respond, I need to make sure I take the same approach to every person who brings a law of God. I should be vilifying every person who sins. I should be taking steps to criminalize lying and laziness and disobedience to parents.

Or not.

Perhaps instead I need to humbly turn as a servant to the God whose righteousness is the very foundation of those laws. I need to turn it over to God as Judge to judge and deal with law-breakers. And if He wants to use me as part of whatever action He chooses to take, He'll let me know.

My job is to be a servant, not to take things into my own hands.

Psalm 119:125 Discernment

I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.Psalm 119:125

Over the decades of my working life, I've helped to train dozens of new employees. They tend to fall into categories.

There are the ones who want to write everything down and need to be told everything multiple times. Even then, they don't seem to ever fully put it all together. Their problem is not that they're stupid. They just haven't ever learned to see how all the little rules and procedures fit together to former a larger overall plan. No matter how much I try to help them see the big picture, their minds refuse to focus on anything more than "what do I do next."

Others are able to see the big picture as well as learn the important details, but their attitude is terrible. Some of them are just too lazy to care to do it the right way. Others are easily distracted by interactions and conversations with other employees. That includes both the ones who are overly gregarious and the others who are obsessively contentious. To me, these are the worst type of new employee.

Another frustrating type of new hire is the person who has a lot of experience in a similar job in another place. This could be and should be a positive. Every supervisor loves getting that person who has been there and done that and catches on quickly. Unless they're the type who has been there and done that and immediately, on day one, is telling everyone - including the boss - how they did it a different, better way back at his previous job.

I'm always glad to hear fresh ideas from knowledgeable employees. But not if they come in a condescending manner, clearly signaling the new guy thinks he should be in charge.

What he really needs is discernment. He needs to be able to not only see the details of the job, but also to see the reality of the situation. He's not in charge. He might be someday, but right now he's been hired to do a specific job, not the one he wants to get next. So he needs to demonstrate his skill at performing the job he has, according to the rules and procedures laid down by his supervisors.

He needs a servant's attitude. The best leaders and managers are the ones who got there by being the best servants, helping everyone be better by the way they do their job.

As servants of God, we need to make sure we're not being a "bad employee."

Are you so focused on the lists of rules that you aren't grasping the overall scope of God's righteousness? If so, practice seeking God's heart, not just his laws.

Are you more focused on the church culture than on serving God? That can lead to being distracted by the social aspects of church life rather than being on mission for God. Or it can lead to becoming too entangled in church politics. If so, practice spending quality and quantity time with God, on your knees and in the Word. Spend as much or more time one on one with Him as you are spending with church activities.

Or are you the type who thinks you know better than God how things should be done? You've got your own ideas of how God should be going about His business, and you're going to run with your own ideas about spirituality and "cutting edge" Christianity. If so, ask God for discernment, to embrace His righteousness rather than your own self righteousness.

Writer's Notebook: Dave Embree, part 2

This is part two of the rest of my interview with Dave Embree, the parts that didn't make it into the final version that's available in the August 2019 edition of Christian Standard.

TR: How are students different today than they were in 1978?

DE: Students are pretty much different in every way.

Although, just this past week I was talking with a student who I had lunch with, and he was wearing tennis shoes, blue jeans, and a t-shirt, and had kind of a scruffy beard, and I said, You know what? You could have been one of mys students in 1978. You look exactly the same.

When it comes to things like lifestyle and expectations of the university experience, everything is different.

In the 70’s, when we still had the tail end of the baby boomers coming to the college, then we went through Gen-X and the Baby Busters and Millenials and now we’re getting Generation Z. So four different transmutations of youth culture.

Let me give you four changes.

In 1978, up through the mid-80’s, there was real meaning to the term “poor college student.” Students left home expecting to have virtually nothing when they were in college. We had people who were staying someplace for 50 bucks a month, and it might be a basement that occasionally flooded.

One guy I knew lived at the top of a stairway that didn’t lead anyplace except to an attic, and had put sheets of plywood out in the rafters of the house, where he had a mattress on one, a small dresser on another, and I think he had a hot plate on another. And he was proud of the fact that he lived on 50 bucks a month.

In the 80's we started using the term ‘premature affluence’. There was this assumption that when you went off to college, that should not reduce your level of comfort. So residence halls at the university got nicer and they started developing more suite-style housing.

It suddenly became big business in Springfield. They switched away from from converting old houses into rooming houses, now instead building nice apartments. Over the years I could point out to you which apartment buildings were the hot student housing at the time, but each successive set of complexes that was built was more and more luxurious.

These days our ministry houses are a little enclave of 1-story buildings in a sea of four and five story apartment complexes, most of which have been built within the last 10 years, all of which are set up with suite-style living. Students rent a bedroom with private bath, and then they have access to a common space. So it sounds like the old boarding house, but these students spend 600 bucks a month per person, so a 4-person suite is $2400 or more. Some are $750.

How is that possible? It’s student loans! So the student loan burden becomes heavier and heavier.

The two reasons why students who have made commitments to God about missions or other forms of ministry are marrying the wrong persons or student debt.

The second way students have changed is academically.

Students have always grumbled about general education requirements. They’ve always grumbled that college is too hard. These days we even have parents who say college is too hard. You shouldn't fail students. And some of these students are coming from ‘no fail’ high schools, so they come and they’re not academically prepared for college. When they don’t do well, they’re angry at the institution or at the instructors.

I’ve taught at the university part time in the department of religious studies since 1984. In the early days the students might shine about this or that, but these days I’m just as likely to have students come to my office and say, I was a straight A student in high school and I’m getting a D in your class. You tell me what’s wrong. 

Well, let’s look at the grade book. We’ve had 5 pop quizzes, you’ve had zeroes on all five.

Well, you expect us to read. I just don’t read. 

Well, if you want to get an education, you need to read. Also, you didn’t turn in this assignment.

You didn’t tell us it was due.

We read through the syllabus on the first day. I assigned it to you on the first day.

Well you didn’t remind us. 

It’s in the syllabus. Everyday we have a full teaching schedule, why would I take time out to remind you of something you already knew about.

Well that’s unfair. 

Socially speaking, this is where things have dramatically changed. Let me recommend a book. An acquaintance of mine named Tim Elmore, who has a ministry called Growing Leaders, has written a book called Marching off the Map, in which he has really nailed Gen-Z, a lot of what they’re about.

One of the big issues the university faces is getting students to come to class. Studetns like to stay in their rooms. One of the things you’ll hear frequently on campus is, Over the last 2 days I binge watched Game of Thrones or binge watched Breaking Bad for the 3rd time. Maybe they’ll go down to the dining room, or maybe they’ll just call out and have food delivered to the room, once again paid for with college loan money.

There’s a ridiculously high number of students who believe they’ll never have to pay off their student loans, perhaps based on what some presidential candidate said in the last election.

They prefer to have the buffering effect of social media. They prefer to have editing capabilities about themselves before they expose anything. A few years ago I read something that claimed the average student spent an hour a week polishing their Facebook profiles. So I bounced that idea off some of our students and the answer I got was, Oh, no. People spend a lot more time than that.

You’ve probably heard acronyms like FOMO – Fear of Missing Out. Interestingly, that’s more true of missing out online.

I get bad reviews from students because I won’t allow them to text during class. That makes me a bad professor. They’re afraid. What if somebody gets engaged? What if there’s a really good meme that gets around and they don’t know about it until after class?

There’s a corollary, FOLO – Fear Of Living Offline. Researchers use FOMIRL, Fear of Meeting in Real Life. Students have often so carefully constructed online versions of themselves that they believe that would be shattered if some of the people they know online were to meet them in real life.

Many of the "None of the Above" students grew up in a family that was practicing Catholic or Baptist or whatever, but they’re quick to deny labels. There is still significant popularity of the term spiritual but not religious, which in many cases means what I call a Chinese buffet approach to spiritual life. You pick and you choose whatever you want to add together.

Let me share with you my greatest disappointment in the campus ministry. When I began in 1978 we were still sort of the first wave. In 1963 there were exactly three campus ministries associated with the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. When we established in 1977, maybe we were around the 60th. Still a pretty new phenomenon.

I thought, this is one of the best kept secrets. We need to get the word out to the Restoration church in general.

Many of our kids have been to big conferences or church camps where they heard about bible colleges, and praise God for bible colleges, praise God for the training they do. But 85% of our kids don’t go to bible colleges, and those kids are often never told about campus ministries.

We get 5 or 6 thousand freshmen at Missouri State every year, and many of them are from church homes. But in an average year, we probably have fewer than half a dozen students whose parents or youth minister or anybody. come to meet us before they come. That’s my biggest disappointment in campus ministry, the lack of networking with the church.

Psalm 119:124 Loving Master

Deal with your servant according to your love
and teach me your decrees.

Psalm 119:124

It's so easy to read this verse and picture my self sitting in my Father's lap as He lovingly teaches me His decrees.

Experiences tells me otherwise.

Sure, there have been many times I've felt snug and comfortable in my Father's loving arms as I study the Word. But most of my best learning experiences regarding the decrees of God have come the hard way.

For every epiphany experienced while studying, there have been lots of lessons learned by stumbling into them.

As often as I've garnered sudden insight while deep in thought, I've just as frequently gained flashes of wisdom while up to my armpits in trouble.

This is because, as much as I strive to be a disciplined apprentice to the Master, I have a strong tendency toward being a stubborn student who earns my fair share of discipline at the hands of the Master.

There is one important nugget of insight I've earned through both studiousness and stubbornness.

Without the steady application of study, the school of hard knocks can too often teach the wrong lessons. The experiences that come from trials are best understood as they give flesh and life to the things I've learned from study of the Word.

Which makes the reverse equally true. Without the experiences learned by throwing myself out into the world to be tossed about, my book learning remains theoretical and sterile.

The Father loves to teach me to think like He thinks, and He loves to use any method available to make sure my education is well-rounded.

Writer's Notebook: Dave Embree, part 1

Dave Embree (cchonthe.net)

I've known Dave Embree for more decades than either of us wants to admit. I've admired his approach to campus ministry for just as long. That's why I was so pleased when Mike Mack, my editor at Christian Standard magazine, gave me the go ahead to interview Dave for the August 2019 issue.

I met up with Dave at the Missouri Christian Convention in late March and spent an hour talking about campus ministry. My wife had rattled off a list of other people I should keep an eye out for who I could also talk to if I needed to get quotes about Dave. She was concerned I wouldn't get enough from our interview.

"This is Dave Embree," I said. "He loves to talk!"

And he did. The transcribed interview notes came to about 6,500 words. My assignment was to produce an article with 1,200 to 1,500 words.

I encourage you to read the slightly-less-than 1,500 word interview at ChristianStandard.com.

Over the next three weeks I'm going to post some of the parts that didn't make it into the published piece. Starting with Dave's answer to my question about how he got started with the campus ministry in Springfield, MO.

Remember, I warned you. He likes to talk.

**********

In the late 60's, early 70's, Christian churches were planting campus ministries rather rapidly.

Based upon what they had seen take place at Columbia and what had already taken place at Rolla, Christians from churches around Springfield and the Lebanon area started coming together to plan a campus ministry. Woody Wilkinson had actually tried to do some things on campus himself and found out that at that point the university was pretty averse to particular churches doing outreaches on campus. So Woody kind of backed off and threw his support behind people coming together.

So initially people from probably five Christian churches in Springfield and the Southern Heights church in Lebanon came together to form a board of directors and charter in 1977.

At that point they started holding bible studies on campus. They wound up purchasing a house, because their model was Columbia, a couple of guys on the board having been Mizzou alums, and they just knew that’s what you do.

They decided they could at least partially finance the campus ministry by renting to students. So they had purchased a house, and renovated it in order to hold the maximum number of students in not all that really big a house.

In the 1977-1978 school year they had preachers coming in to do Bible studies on Thursday nights and had had maybe five students living in the house.

This was at a time when there was a lot of town/gown conflict and the neighbors didn’t really want students living there. And they technically were out of the proper zoning area, so the city came in and said you can’t have this many unrelated people living here, which made it less financially feasible.

 At the Missouri Christian Convention over Christmas break, I was going to school at Joplin at that point, and had come up to the convention because my parents were there.

I saw this display for the SMSU [Missouri State University was known at the time as Southwest Missouri State University]  Christian Campus Ministry, and a friend of mine from Ozark was actually setting it up. And I said, "Hey, I didn’t know there’s a campus ministry at SMS."

He said, "There isn’t really, we’re just getting it started."

I said, "That’s great, I really support campus ministry, having grown up near Columbia and Roy Weece having already impacted my life." And that’ all I knew about campus ministry."I think that’one of the best things going right now."

He said, "I think you should apply for the job."

I said, "Well thanks, but I’ve never really spent any time on a university campus and I’m going for a 5 year degree here at Ozark and I’ve only completed four years of it, and I just don’t think I’d be any good at that."

He said, "It would really be good for you to go through the process of applying for the job, even if you don’t expect to get it."

And I said, "Yeah you’re right, I ought to do that."

But I didn’t.

I saw the same guy at a youth ministry conference on the OCC campus, and he said, "Hey Dave, I never got anything from you about the job."

I said, "Well, I’m doing youth ministry right now and I'm in school and I'm married and there’s a lot going on and I’m not sure I’ve got time to be applying for a job."

He said, "I've been talking to the board about you and how you do youth ministry, and we think we’re interested in you."

I said, again, "I have no experience in this. I know nothing whatsoever."

He said, "Why don’t you just trust God and submit an application and see what God says about it."

And I said, "That’s a really good idea."

But I didn’t.

And then in February, I see the same guy at the preaching and teaching convention at Ozark, and he said, "Dave, been waiting for your application."

I said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's been winter and I just haven’t gotten it done."

He said, "I’ve been talking to the board and they’d really like to meet you."

I said, "I’d like to talk to these guys and tell them what a great job they’re doing, but I just don’t think I can work it in."

And he said, "Would you think about applying?"

I said, "I’ll think about it and pray about it."

But I didn’t.

And about the first of March I get a phone call, and he said, “Dave, we’ve been pursuing people for the campus ministry, and every door we’ve opened has been slammed shut in our faces, except for you. And you keep kind of nudging it shut, but you haven’t slammed it. Would you come up and talk to us?

And I was really ashamed. I’d said to him three times I would send him something and I never had.

And I said, "Yes, I will come up and talk to you."

So a week later I drove up to Springfield and they were great people, and they had such a great vision and I loved talking to them. And they talked to me and asked my ideas about discipleship and pastoring and all sorts of things and they liked what they heard.

At the conclusion of that meeting I said, I think you guys are on the right track. I think you’re going to have a wonderful ministry here. I'm not the guy for it, but I trust that God will send you the right guy."

They said, "OK, OK. Could you come back next week and bring your wife?"

And I said, "You realize, I'm not the right guy for this job."

And they said, "Well can you come back and bring your wife?"

And I said, "OK."

I brought Joyce up the next week. And they talked to her and she talked to them and they we all talked some more together and at the end of that meeting, I said, " I just praise God for your vision and commitment. I will be praying that God will send you the right person."

They said, "would you pray about you coming?"

I said, "Well sure, but I don’t have any training for this.  I haven’t finished my degree at Ozark. I'm just absolutely not what you're looking for."

They said, "Just pray about it and talk to us again in 2 or 3 weeks."

Couple weeks later I get home from a church board meeting.

Joyce was gone, but there was a note on the table that said, "Had to run to the store. Will be right back. Oh, the board from Springfield called. They asked if you were still interested in the job. I told them Yes. They’re voting on you now. Call them back."

I thought, They’re voting on me? How can they be voting on me? I thought we had another week.

 About that time Joyce comes back and I said, "They’re voting on us?"

She said, "Yeah, I didn’t know if you’d talked to them and maybe told them something."

I said, "No. We've talked about this and prayed about it."

She said, "I don’t know if I can live in the middle of noisy Springfield right by the campus. I'm a small town girl."

I said, "I still don’t know that I know anything that I would need to know to do that."

About then the phone rang and he said, "Dave, we just voted unanimously to hire you. Will you come?"

I said, "Just a second", and I put my hand over the pine, and said, "Joyce, they voted for us, what do we do now? "

And she said, "If this doesn’t look like God railroading us into something, I don’t know what it would be."

And I said, "So you think we ought to go?"

She said, "I don’t think we have a choice."

And I said, "So I guess we’ll go."

So we came.  On July 1st, 1978, we moved to Springfield.

And all I knew was, Roy Weece is a good campus minister and I can try to do some things I know he does, and that’s it.