Articles, Daily Meditations

Bears Mauling Boys

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From there he [Elisha] went up to Bethel. As he was going up along the road, some young boys came out of the city. They mocked him saying to him, “Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!” So he turned around and looked at them and cursed them in the name of ADONAI. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the boys. ~2 Kings 2:23-24 [Tree of Life version]

Alrighty then.

This has got to be one of the most obscure stories, if not the most bizarre account, in all of the Bible.

What in the world is going on here? Well, first of all, we need to approach the Bible on its own terms, as biblical scholar Michael Heiser used to say. And we do that by adhering to the context, language, and worldview of the inspired biblical writers.

The first thing which the original language helps us to clear up is the age of these mocking boys. Most people who read this tend to picture little 5 or 6 year old children having some innocent fun, thanks to some not-so-great early English translations. But the Hebrew words used here indicate that these young guys were somewhere between the ages of 12 and 30. Most scholars believe they were teenagers. I’m so glad I was never that disrespectful in my teens… By the way, Elisha was about 25 years old at this time, not a grumpy old man as many seem to think.

Next, we see Elisha is going to Bethel. There is a LOT going on there. Bethel means “House of God” and it was there that Abraham built an altar, and Jacob had his dream. But by this time Bethel had become a center of idol worship. One of Jeroboam’s golden calves was there. So this had now become a place hostile to Yahweh and the prophets.

Why were these dudes saying, “Go on up, baldy!“? Here’s where context and language help us immensely yet again. Just a little before this incident, Elijah–Elisha’s mentor–had been whisked away to heaven (without having to die for it) in a whirlwind with fiery chariots. This was quite the buzz around town. People were talking. In the Hebrew the exact same verb for Elijah’s “going up” is used by these mocking boys indicating the author’s intended connection. Therefore, these Bethel inhabitants, who despised Yahweh and the prophets, were telling Elisha to get on outta here and disappear just like Elijah because we don’t want any of you people in our town, ever. To call someone a baldhead back then was a tremendous insult, a term of scorn and contempt; it was often related to having a skin disease. These guys were cruelly insulting Elisha, and spitefully blaspheming Yahweh.

Elisha looks over at them and curses them in the name of God. He may very well have had Yahweh’s words from Leviticus 26:21-22 in mind: “if you keep walking contrary to Me and will not listen to Me, then I will multiply the plagues on you seven times like your sins. I will send the wild animals among you, which will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you so few in number that your roads will become deserted.” Then the two she-bears come out and tear 42 young men to pieces. Notice that Elisha did not specifically call the bears, he just cursed these guys for dishonoring God. Apparently Yahweh sent the bears..? One final context to look at is that it was common in the Old Testament for there to be some display of power at the beginning of a prophet’s ministry. This was quite the memorable display!

So….what’s our practical application?

Uhhhhhh….

Don’t mock God or God’s true spokespeople?

I did like what the old Interpreter’s Bible commentary said, bringing an aspect of this odd story up to our times: “Lawless youth may not be torn asunder by bears, but they are rent by passions, devoured by appetite, until their characters and careers and all their hopes for happy, useful living are destroyed.”

What do you think?

Articles, Daily Meditations

Haggai

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Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD. You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little, and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses. ~Haggai 1:7-9

There seems to be a plethora of small obscure prophetic books near the end of the Old Testament. Lately I’ve been thinking about them, wondering if I know off the top of my head what any of them are about.

I don’t.

For some reason, Haggai rose to the top of my pool of curiosity, so I dove into it. I like it.

First, a couple of quick fun facts: Haggai is the second shortest book of the OT; only Obadiah is shorter. Also, as you can see from the photo, we can accurately date the events of this book to September 1, October 21, and December 24 of 520 B.C., which is kinda cool.

Here’s the gist of this small book so you can be prepared for your next church trivia nite: In 538 B.C. Cyrus of Persia issued a decree allowing the Jews who were in Babylonian captivity to return to their land and rebuild their temple. They got started in 536 B.C., but after a couple years, they lost interest and abandoned the project. Fourteen years later comes Haggai with a message from the Lord that they are to get back to the work Yahweh gave them to do and finish the temple. In one of the few examples we have in the Bible of quick and tangible results, the people got to work just 23 days after Haggai cracked the prophetic whip, and the temple was completed in 516 B.C.

Ecstatic to be out of captivity, the Israelites returned to their native soil to unfortunately find that it was in rough shape as far as farming potential goes. In addition, there were enemies all around them there. So it did not take very long for them to lose heart and slip into pessimism after their initial excitement. This led to a spiritual lethargy making conditions quite conducive to becoming preoccupied with their own building projects and forsake what the Lord gave them to do.

This did not go well.

The more the people devoted themselves to their own self-serving projects, the more nature worked against them in this situation. And by “nature” we mean Yahweh.

This short book is about priority. It is not about God needing a temple for Himself. Rather, the LORD’s house was to be at the center of this community in order for them to thrive. No other center will do. No other priority will yield Life. Their lives were designed to be centered on Yahweh and not themselves.

What God gives us to do is always best for us to do. How easy it is though to get distracted by shiny things, our own untamed desires, or like these Israelites, by unfavorable circumstances.

One of the most self-harmful moves we can make is to focus even more on ourself when we face some sort of challenge in life. Part of the deal of this life is suffering. It’s definitely going to happen. It could come in the form of a physical ailment or limitation, the loss of someone, oppression by cruel people… There will always be the temptation during these times to abandon what God has given us to do and retreat into “Me-Land”, but God always gives us what we need to do to live fully.

Is there anything you’ve abandoned which you need to pick back up and continue?

What is God asking you to do that you’ve not done because you’re too preoccupied with your own projects?

What spiritual exercise do you need to return to?

What self-serving activity has taken the place of serving others?

Who have you stopped praying for?

Articles

UNDO

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From my Journal to Jesus January 3, 2025 A.D.

[BANANAS=The BAre NAked Nothingness of Abandonment and Surrender]

You gave me a word today while lying in the BANANAS, and I am so grateful for it. The word You gave me was “UNDO”, and You also gave me an accompanying visual with it: I have become overweight to the point that, not only do my clothes no longer fit, but I cannot even peel them off due to the taughtness. So I must first fast, purge, diet in order to get to the point in which I can even take off these clothes which so tightly cling to me. Once I do that, I simply need to be naked for a while-however long until You show me what clothes to put on. That was the vision, and the meaning was given clearly and simultaneously. I have been over-ingesting on that which is shallow, more shallow than what my spiritual diet requires. Therefore, I’ve allowed too much to cling to me (science says fat around the brain clouds our thinking?). It is time to go on a mind diet so that the extra weight can be shed in order to remove ways of thought that now cling too tightly to be quickly and easily removed. This will come through BANANAS with You over time. As I “undo” and unlearn I will get back to a good naked point of no-mind. Here I must stay until You give me directive (and until I can sense it!) to don the clothing which You choose for me. This is the consequence of spiritual laziness, inattentiveness, eating the bread of this world for too long a period. The “new” clothing, the new wineskin, will be fresh yet familiar; that steady diet of Your Word-a fresh Word from You every morning? Manna. This realignment could take the entire year, possibly three months, maybe just a week; I must be patient, consistent, waiting on You.

This seems to be my word of the year, from You. May I re-establish, and never again stray from the most vital practice of waiting listening to You. As I’ve read, and now experienced, the road back is one of significant effort. And yet, there You are, open-armed as You always are, ready to receive me, to help me get there. There’s just a way things work, I know. Thank You for always dragging me back to Yourself, and always with that comforting, joyful smile of Yours. It’s too much! Where else shall I go??

Articles

The Unforgivable Sin..?

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“I’m telling you the truth: people will be forgiven all sins, and all blasphemies of whatever sort. But people who blaspheme the Holy Spirit will never find forgiveness. They will be guilty of an eternal sin.” This was his response to their claim that he had an unclean spirit. ~Mark 3:28-30

Alrighty then, let’s tackle the unpardonable sin, shall we?!

This is that subject which I’m pretty sure we’ve all heard of, at one point fearfully wondered if we committed, and now don’t ever really think about. It is interesting (and significant?) that it is mentioned in all three synoptic Gospels. It’s not a one-and-done mention in the back of the book of Haggai or something. So perhaps it is worth taking a deeper look into.

What the heck is this “Unpardonable Sin”? Is there really an act we can commit which God will never grant us forgiveness for?

Let’s first take a look at what it literally is according to Scripture and context. As you can see in our passage above it is to “blaspheme the Holy Spirit”. And what is “blaspheming the Holy Spirit”? According to the context it is to verbalize that God’s Son Jesus operates by the power of the prince of demons*. So, unless you have audibly uttered in front of other people that Jesus’s power comes from a demon, it is a safe bet that you have not committed the unforgivable sin. As every commentary I read on this subject made clear, if you are worried that you have committed the unpardonable sin, then you have not committed the unpardonable sin; for the commentaries also make clear that Jesus is referring to someone with a conscience so seared, that they would not even realize that they are blaspheming the Holy Spirit, nor would they care one iota that they are working to lead people away from Jesus.

This is the condition we find these “experts” to be in who are accusing Jesus of casting out demons by the power of demons. They cannot even tell good from evil anymore. They are so set in their ways and interpretations which they have given such an abundance of energy to, that when they actually encounter God in the flesh doing the most wonderful and powerful of good works, they call it evil power because it does not fit their paradigm which they have devoted themselves to. And therein lies their major problem. They are devoted to a paradigm itself more than the person God Himself. Here we have a disturbing example of people who were so dedicated to a system that they mistook the real thing for an imposter. (By the way, as scary as this passage can be, bear in mind that Jesus mercifully warns these people about, but does not yet accuse them of, the unpardonable sin.)

What I am seeing here that may be of significance to us today is the sin of closing yourself off to the working of God, to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. God is God and can work through any place and any time and any person. When we start falling in love with our systems and interpretations we shut off avenues to Christ’s working. Before we know it we are down to only four possible ways in which we think Pneuma can operate, and if it doesn’t look like those four ways it must be of the devil. Dangerous territory.

Perhaps another way to say “Blaspheming the Holy Spirit” is “Limiting the Holy Spirit”. Perhaps. Again, dangerous ground. We must guard against and catch ourselves when we start thinking or saying that the Spirit does not work through this certain denomination, or this group of people, or in this way or that. The Wind blows where it will and no one can predict where it will come from next [John 3:8]. This does not mean that every single thing is right and ok (i.e. the Roman government of Jesus’s day which God used to bring about His salvation plan was not exactly pure and righteous), just that God can work in mysterious ways which often blow up our self-imposed boxes.

(And for the record we are not saying that if you have ever limited the Holy Spirit in any way then you have committed the unforgivable sin. These are simply points to ponder and hopefully grow from. There is no record in Scripture of anyone asking forgiveness of God and being denied it!)

Frederick Dale Bruner has a wise word of caution in his commentary on this topic. We must definitely keep from using this passage to clobber those with whom we disagree. This might seem obvious, but it is probably good to speak it since it has been used so many times over the years to condemn without really comprehending the weapon which we are wielding. Always keep in mind who the real enemy is.

At the risk of too many words, here is a summarized take away: Be careful of closing yourself off–to the Spirit of course, but be vigilant of the many ways this may play out. Closing off to an ethnic group, an entire religion…Could Spirit be speaking through them and your heart is closed off? Turn this passage inward, not out of fear of going to hell over a mistaken word spoken, but out of reverence to not blaspheming the Holy Spirit with a shut down, hardened heart. There seems to be a point we can reach which proves extremely difficult to return from (impossible on our own?). Stay open to the Voice, for if you ignore it for too long, you may forget what it sounds like.

Am I ignoring Pneuma nudges?

Have I closed myself off to the Spirit of God in some way?

*Frederick Dale Bruner says in his commentary, “In Mark, saying Jesus has an unclean spirit is the sin against the Holy Spirit. In context, in all three Gospels, the sin against the Holy Spirit is not some arbitrary curse of deity or some foolish remark about either God or the Spirit per se; it is trying to ruin Jesus in the eyes of others.”

*James Edwards in his commentary: “The sin against the Holy Spirit is thus not an indefinable offense against God, but a specific misjudgment that Jesus is motivated by evil rather than by good, that he is empowered by the devil rather than by God…This is an ‘eternal sin’ (v.29) since anyone who, willingly or not, cannot distinguish evil from good and good from evil, darkness from light and light from darkness, is beyond the pale of repentance.”

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Advent Reflection

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And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Luke 2:1-7

The week leading up to Jesus’s birth was not exactly smooth sailing. His mother Mary and her fiancé Joseph get word that Rome is requiring a census for taxation purposes which, in turn, requires them to travel back to the place of Joseph’s ancestry in order to register–Bethlehem. The trek from their current home in Nazareth all the way to Bethlehem is some 90 miles, and Mary, who is well into her third trimester, gets to do this journey…on a donkey. Pretty much upon their arrival it comes time for Jesus’s arrival. Great timing. Not only that, but there are apparently no guest rooms available anywhere in the vicinity, so she gets to give birth out in the barn area with the animals.

And yet…

Look what came of this not so extravagant event. Look who came from these not very ideal conditions. Only the Person who has changed more lives for the better than all other humans combined.

Isn’t this the way life, and God, work much of the time? Bringing something wonderful out of something so difficult and seemingly pointless? Commentator Luke Timothy Johnson points out that, “Nothing very glorious is suggested by the circumstances of the Messiah’s birth. But that is Luke’s manner, to show how God’s fidelity is worked out in human events when appearances seem to deny his presence or power.“

It was not ideal for Mary and Joseph to travel such a distance for a census required by Rome. It was not ideal to give birth so far from home and family. It was not ideal to lay their baby down in a feeding trough in the barnyard area.

And yet…

Immeasurable good.

It’s almost as if God purposefully chose to bring Jesus into the world under an oppressive occupying government just to show the world that He can bring the greatest gift out of the most horrific human circumstances. Have you ever gone through something terrible only to come out the other side with a new and rewarding friendship?

As the magnet on our refrigerator says, “Life is what happens while you are making other plans.” Much goes the way we would rather it not, but God, who is pure Love, will see to it that your ultimate good will be brought forth from even the worst of experiences as we remain faithful. This does not necessarily mean that God likes every single thing that has happened to you. But He asks for your trust that He will take care of you in the end; that He can and will bring good from ill. I am here reminded of Brennan Manning who always preached that he believed upon meeting God after death He would ask us one question: “Did you believe that I loved you?”

Powerful question indeed.

I have come to experience and know a few foundational truths that I hope you can take away from this reflection. God has loved you for billions of years already–which I find unexplainably comforting. God only wants what is best for you and will bring it about no matter how badly things have gone in the past or how awful circumstances look at present. For God, who knows what is best for you better than you do and who is also perfect love embodied, is ultimately in control. No human has authority over your destiny, in this life or the next.

Always remember that God uses even the twisted decisions and actions of highly imperfect human beings to bring about divine goodness. God can take unfavorable circumstances beyond your control and mill them into glorious blessing.

Daily Meditations

Queen of Sheba

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The queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen.  ~Matthew 12:42 [New Living Translation]

Let’s talk about the Queen of Sheba. My first reaction to this passage was, “So the Queen of Sheba is gonna rise from the dead in the final judgment to pass sentence upon these people Jesus is talking to, along with all their buddies who refused to listen to Him??”

In a nutshell: YES!

Context: Jesus is having a conversation with some Pharisees and Scribes, and in their hostile skepticism they ask for some sort of sign to prove Himself. Now “Jesus was a man with an incisive perception of what was transpiring in the human heart”, as Michael Casey puts it (see John 2:24). He knew that one sign is rarely enough for people; they always want more, bigger, flashier. It’s not like Jesus hadn’t done miraculous wonders right in front of them already! So Jesus is like, “Look, the only sign you’re gonna get is the sign of Jonah.” By this He was referring to His upcoming time in the grave followed by His resurrection, just as Jonah was in the fish for a few days then spit out. He then tells His accusers that the Ninevites of Jonah’s day are going to rise up at the last judgment and condemn this generation since the Ninevites repented at Jonah’s preaching. Not only that, but the Queen of Sheba will also rise up at the last judgment to condemn them because she came from the ends of the earth just to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And now someone waaaay greater than Jonah or Solomon is here, performing amazing, life-changing acts in their midst, and they’re not even close to believing in Him. In fact they’re trying to get rid of Him!

Who is this Queen of Sheba Jesus is referring to? Well, her story is found in 1 Kings 10:1-13. Basically, as Jesus said, she heard about the wisdom of Solomon and his Lord from afar, and actually made the very long and no doubt arduous trek from the south to come witness it for herself. She brought Solomon tons of exquisite gifts, he returned the favor, then she went back home. 

Jesus smacks these religious people in the face with the fact that this queen (a Gentile no less) simply heard about Solomon and his God from a distance, and then responsively took physical action, action which could have cost her dearly, for travel was no cakewalk in those days. But these religious people have someone far greater before them, the One who can give them abundant life, yet they miss Him. They miss the opportunity of a lifetime. Of eternity. Therefore, the ones who did seize the opportunity when it was presented to them will be their judges.

I found a comment on this passage by someone named D.A. Hagner that states well the message here: “There is in principle nothing wrong with a desire for a sign from God. The request for a sign only becomes unjustified and intrinsically wrong when one is already surrounded by good and sufficient evidence one chooses not to accept. In that case, unreceptivity and unbelief are the root problem, and it is unlikely that any sign would be sufficient to change such a person’s mind.” 

And then as far as application, my guy William Barclay pointed out that the Pharisees and scribes “were guilty of one fundamental mistake. They desired to see God in the abnormal; they forgot that we are never nearer God, and God never shows himself to us so much and so continually as in the ordinary things of every day.” BOOM. That’s it. I think that is the application point to drive home here. Or at least a significant one.

Consider how Brother Lawrence [1611-1691] was converted by simply observing trees and contemplating the miracle of how they die and come back to life year after year. He was blown away by this when he sat with it for a few minutes, realizing that there is Someone behind it all, Someone beautiful and powerful as all get out.

Do not make the grave mistake of demanding a ridiculous sign of the proof of God to the point of overlooking the miraculous everyday pointers to our benevolent and awesome Creator.

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Carrying Legos

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After the earthquake a fire, but Adonai was not in the fire. After the fire there was a soft whisper of a voice. ~I Kings 19:12 [Tree of Life version]

Let’s say for some interesting reason you needed to transport about 200 Lego pieces to your neighbor across the street. Now trying to carry them all in your arms without dropping one, or twenty, would not only be somewhat stressful, but downright near impossible. But, if you put all the pieces in a box to take over, it would be a thousand times more doable, and much less effort on your part, because you would simply be focused on one task, holding the box, as opposed to desperately trying to keep 200 different items from slipping through your precarious grasp.

This is how it feels when we attempt to juggle too many tasks under the self-imposed pressure of our own efforts. We impossibly try to concentrate on a ridiculous number of responsibilities, all the while worrying that we’re going to drop the ball on one of them because everything in life hangs on our own ability, capacity, and skill set.

But the Kingdom mindset is much different. There is just one effort that matters, and that is following the gentle, affirming voice of the Holy Spirit always guiding us lovingly and clearly-if only we are able to quiet ourselves enough to hear that Divine whisper. This is the “box” for our Legos. We still have tasks given to us, but this is a much more effective way to carry them out.

“Performing for an Audience of One” simplifies efforts and gives a peace which does indeed surpass our mere human comprehension, for all of our scatteredness is brought into a concentrated holy focus on the one Word and approval which matters so much that all other foci are swallowed up in its satisfying goodness.

If you have a lot you’re trying to carry, put it in a box.

Daily Meditations

I love You too

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As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. 1 Timothy 1:3-7 [NIV]

Some people dedicate themselves to “myths and endless genealogies” which promote controversial speculations rather than God’s training. They miss the point of it all which is love coming from genuine faith in God. Instead of this, they have gone down the path of meaningless talk.

In some ways, I think the evil one has a bit of an easier time with this particular temptation today. I’m thinking of scatteredness. Of our thoughts being shot multiple directions to the point of such diffused focus that nothing is clear. This goes hand in hand with the evil one’s popular strategy of layering hardships upon you so as to overwhelm. It’s usually not just one thing.

This has happened to me a little as I’ve been missing that singular focus upon one lesson or verse or truth or word for a whole day, perhaps even an entire week of simply pondering one thought, drilling down, deeper and deeper. Sometimes my hunger for truth is twisted into “overeating” many different foods, failing to actually taste any one of them. This renders us ineffective, keeps us chasing and never doing, never settling in on one good thing done well.

The Spirit does not confuse or overwhelm. Confusion and being overwhelmed is most likely coming from an evil source, or from our own flesh, or from others like the false teachers mentioned in this passage.

Are you debating? Or doing good?

Are you encouraging others? Or chasing endless, meaningless speculations which go nowhere?

More is not always better.

More is usually not better.

More information.

More tasks.

More choices.

If “variety is the spice of life”, as they say, perhaps we could say that infinite variety is the confusion of life. “Infinite variety” here referring to the ubiquitous information at our fingertips, more than we are designed to ever take in over several lifetimes.

How good and healthy it is to drill down on just one thing. To have some time each day in which God is the only thing on your mind, even if for only five minutes. How restorative! As my friend Miguel says, “Words, words, so many words–only one Word matters.” Ah yes, we have but one crucial task: listen to the Voice, to the Word of God speaking to you and to me.

There is a temptation to be fixed upon external stimuli, neglecting the deeper meaning of experiences, neglecting the ultimate First Cause, neglecting the truth of the universe which is that it was created by Love and is sustained by that Love, and will be brought to completion by Perfect Love.

Another dear brother of mine, Aundre, would consistently ask me, “What’s the Spirit been speaking to you?” What a good reminder to always be listening to the Wind for the Word that matters. And by “Wind” we of course mean Ruach-Pneuma-Spirit-Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ! In case it was unclear.

One of my favorite quotes of all time, and quite befitting of this Ripple, is by Henri Nouwen. It’s just one sentence which I come back to again and again, but here it is within it’s fuller context which is even more meaningful, I believe:

God loved you before you were born, and God will love you after you die. In Scripture God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” This is a very fundamental truth of your identity. This is who you are whether you feel it or not. You belong to God from eternity to eternity. Life is just a little opportunity for you during a few years to say, “I love you too.”

Life is just a little opportunity for you during a few years to say, “I love you too.”

Daily Meditations

The Basis of Life

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I have been reading the latest book by one of my 5 favorite authors of all time, Michael Casey. His new book The Longest Psalm is absolutely fire (like Holy Spirit fire). At 82 years old he is still bringing the thunder, and I am continually inspired and refreshed by his deeper-than-the-Mariana-Trench insights into humanity. The Longest Psalm is, of course, on Psalm 119 which has 176 verses. He offers a meditation on each verse, and so far, they are all gold. I’m on verse 64, in case you were wondering.

There’s a phrase I came across that really struck me and has stayed with me like none other. It is this: “The basis of life is gratitude not accomplishment.”

The simplicity and profundity of this sentence. It goes against much of the world’s ways of thought I suppose. With this pithy thought I have found much freedom. It is a wholly fresh way to engage each day and each experience.

This truth was reinforced a week ago during my time of lectio divina over John 16:31-33 which ends with Jesus saying, “You’ll have trouble in the world. But cheer up! I have defeated the world!” I sat meditating on this for some time, and have often wondered over the years what exactly Jesus meant by this. Then the Michael Casey phrase entered my mind as I was seeking the Lord Spirit’s wisdom, and I realized that this is at least one aspect of the meaning behind Jesus’s defeat of the world.

As He said, we will indeed have troubles in the world; it seems there is just no guarantee against that. But we as believers and partakers of the Divine Life offered by Christ realize that there is a new basis of life which does not follow the stressed out masses of the world. Our motivation and satisfaction come from another place if we have genuinely accepted the truth Jesus brought to us from the Father. As we live in God’s light we live on this basis of gratitude and do not feel we must compete and win and accomplish in order to feel and know that we are someone, that we are valued. We already know that we are of infinite value and are cared for more intensely than we can possibly imagine, and are subsequently free to bask in the smile of our wonderful Creator at the end of the day.

It is this “basking” which is that gratitudinal basis of life that allows us to engage creatively with reality and then, in turn, accomplish exactly what we are meant to do without any unhealthy pressure.

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Reading the NT in 28 Days

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Give reminders of these things, solemnly pledging before God not to engage in verbal battles, which lead to nothing useful, but bring catastrophe to those hearing them. ~II Timothy 2:14

But shun foolish debates and genealogies and strife and battles about Law, for they are unprofitable and vain. ~Titus 3:9

For the month of August I decided it would be a good thing to read through the entire New Testament. I was able to finish it in 28 days which is averaging just over 9 chapters per day. My main purpose with this task was to get a nice bird’s eye view of the New Covenant Canon, and take note of the overarching and repeated themes which I may not notice without a cover to cover timely reading. We tend to drill down on a single chapter or verse or theme, sometimes missing the big picture. It’s great to study a verse or even a word, but we probably do not want to neglect the 30,000 foot view.

[By the way, this is why I didn’t send out anything in August-I was too busy reading the New Testament! Not that anyone was worried about me, I’m just saying…]

So I thought I would be nice to share what stood out to me during this quicker paced reading. Now I realize that I have my own filters, and my antennae are attuned in a certain configuration due to my life’s specific lenses, but I did make a considerable effort to read as open-minded as I could, as if reading it for the first time which is of course impossible, but hey, I tried. To help with this effort, I read the newest translation I own, which is the second edition translation by Eastern Orthodox scholar dude David Bentley Hart. Being new (2023), I’m not terribly familiar with it, so it slowed me down a bit, especially with its “knotty” rougher around the edges style rendering. Mr. Hart attempted to preserve the raw and unpolished style of the original writings.

On to the big standouts:

The first observation I made, which I almost found humorous, was how often in the Gospels Jesus tells someone to tell no one about Himself or what He’s up to. It was way more than I realized! When you read it this quickly, you tend to be like, “OK! We get it.” Or do we..? I’m not sure what to make of this yet, though my friend Miguel made an interesting point that perhaps all these directives are kept in there to teach us something about God’s timing and human timing. Hmmm, I wonder.

Secondly, what leaped off the page, for some reason, was leaving the 99 sheep to go rescue the one. I’m not exactly sure what it was about this that made me take notice other than the fact that it is in the Gospel accounts twice. That second time it came up I was shot through to my innards; I guess it could simply be what the Spirit wanted me to see at this time. I thought of the multi-layered meanings available through this picture of leaving the 99 for the one. What came to memory was the lesson I learned at Outreach, working with homeless high school students, on being careful not to expend all your energy on the “99” who are the loudest yet not ready to move forward, at the neglect of the quieter “one” who craves your assistance and care that will be just the catapult he or she needs to make a life change. There’s also the idea of leaving the 99% way of the world’s thinking and pursuing the 1% Kingdom way of thinking, as Jesus did.

Other repeated and noticeable themes form the Gospels were, not surprisingly, the importance of servanthood, along with its related declaration of what it takes to be great in the Kingdom of God. Spoiler alert: it’s not about being great.

With Paul’s writings I realized anew just how much he was against stringent law-keeping, and all about the person Jesus, and clinging to Him being all that really matters. It’s sort of funny to me how the tradition I grew up in was big on using Paul to write systematic theology books and multitudes of morality rules, not that there’s anything necessarily wrong with that, but the tenor of his letters (more noticeable at this faster paced reading) is obviously about Jesus and His Spirit being the new everything. If you are all about Jesus the Christ, the actual living person who is perfect love, chances are your theology will be just fine, and your morality will be in some sort of check. Don’t get me wrong, Paul had to tell a couple of the early churches to stop whoring around, but hey nobody’s perfect.

Paul was also crystal clear about the message, the Good Tidings, which he and the other apostles proclaim, coming not from human ingenuity or flesh originated eloquence, but rather from God directly. That’s why the words have so much power. You can be as clever as can be with four and five syllable words strung together brilliantly according to human measurements, but unless they are dripping with Spirit, they cannot penetrate into the innermost parts of the human soul, I don’t care how sesquipedalian you are. But Spirit-drenched single syllable words are able to go where others simply cannot reach. Paul admitted to not being the best speaker, but that didn’t really matter due to the supernaturally charged message he was bringing.

Well, speaking of words, I see I’m already nearing 900, so let’s wrap this Ripple up. Last thought I’ll share is that the books which really popped for me on this read-thru were the letters to Timothy and Titus, as well as the two Peter letters and the three from John. I’d love to drill down further on those in the near future. I love how Paul told Timothy and Titus not to get pulled into verbal battles and endless debates which are absolutely pointless-unless you’re looking to do damage and bring catastrophe. Great word for an election year!

I hope this sparks some good thoughts and meditation for you!