day 3 - settling in

It's inevitable. Tiny snippets of routine are creeping quietly back into the day. Putting the coffeepot back in its spot by the sink. Picking up clothes thrown over the backs of chairs. Sweeping by the back door.

Sunday comes again in a few hours which means Full Court Press in a parson's house.

But the "something" is still in the atmosphere. The awareness of the fact The Season is here. It's routine, but not. It's familiar, but not. It's normal, but not.

The fire is just a little cozier on this rainy Saturday. Enough slowness remains for deeper reflection and communion in the early morning God-talk. Intentional naming of Blessing #3 of the Year makes the me-focus just a little bit blurrier than normal. Family cords feel tighter, friendships feel stronger, and "it's gonna be alright after all" is persistently creeping in through the cracks.

Personal epiphany: this is His party--His festival--and He is happier than any of us that it is happening! He says, "Rest. Think. Dream. Thank. Eat. Laugh. Enjoy. And let Me take part with you..."

I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and has pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.

~ 1 Chronicles 29:17

day 2 - airports, football, and dirty dishes

Well, of COURSE I'm an LSU fan! I'm a TIGER! What in the world did you expect???

And I KNOW this is about 40 days of celebration of the Christmas season.  

Do you think I'm really thinking it's about FOOTBALL?  

The Arkansas Razorback Shocks and the LSU Tiger Shocks (and all others!) face off -- one in their red, the other in their purple and gold. Talking smack, one-upping, superiority dripping. Laughter, fun, friendship. Condolences to the Hog fans after a DEMORALIZING loss (41-17!) Oh well, there's always next year.

Chips and dip, lasagna, and Coke. Trying to cut the richness of yesterday's taste with new seasonings. Smiling, chuckling, laughing uproariously. A little bit in awe of the beauty of the time together. Singing, painfully off-key, at the top of the lungs. For an hour. With music and without. Joyful noise. The puzzle this year is a hard one and Norman Rockwell just can't seem to emerge from the top of the coffee table. The men are proving their masculinity as they kneel over the table...frustrated that they can't conquer all in 30 minutes.

Airports are sad on this 2nd day of the Celebration. The visit so anticipated is over. Can we pretend it's Tuesday and we still have 3 days? But the quiet gift of early morning time by the fire as He joined the conversation about life and goals and Logos will also board the plane and linger...

The goodbyes are bittersweet with no date set for the next time. College beckons, jobs await, adventure is calling--unknown futures with concern for choices yet to be made, decisions yet to be reached. We part, but not with despair. He is why we celebrate together, He goes with each one as they go. He is in the future and He will bring us back again. 

Peace follows us to bed as we realize that because of Christmas, we are not alone.

"...Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." 

~Matthew 28:20

day 1 - opening day of the Christmas season!

Opening Day of the Christmas Season (otherwise known as Thanksgiving)!

We aren't skipping over Thanksgiving.  Oh no, au contraire!

We are beginning the entire Season with it.

The countdown has been on for about 3 weeks.  Trees are up and twinkling with lights. The one in the front window has all the ornaments collected from Christmases past and foreign lands. The big Nativity is on the piano. The puzzle is on the coffee table. (A few pieces are being chewed by Roxy, but it's mostly intact and everybody is cool with chewed-up pieces). Chicken and cornbread dressing is melding the flavors in MaMaw Smith's dressing pan, the sweet tea is piling up in the carafe, and Kim's pumpkin pie is due through the door any second.

A deep Southern Thanksgiving meal is close to the finish line and even hearts walking through present sorrow can't help but smile with anticipation.

Cars are pulling up and parking in the grass and foil-covered dishes are walking up the driveway. Get out of the ham, stop sneaking pieces of the turkey, we'll be ready in just a minute, stay out of that bowl, get out of here, I can't get a thing done with you under my feet, get in here right now, everybody gather in the den...I'm thankful for...what I'm most thankful for...this year, I want to thank God for...even though...I'm--I'll be able to say it in a second--I--I just am so thankful...He's been so good to me...I wouldn't want to be anywhere else...I don't deserve...I wouldn't trade it for anything...

...and so, dear Lord, we come before you now to give you thanks for this year.  Thank you for the beauty and the pain, the joy and the sorrow, the bounty and the want.  We have had our share of gray, but you have even been in the gray. Bless this house and these people and all who have gathered here with us this day...bless this food and the hands that prepared it...go with us now as we celebrate your coming to us...we give you thanks...

"Enter into His gates [His season, His birthday celebration, the time of joyful feasting] with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name."  

~Psalms 100:4

Don't Stop, Don't Give Up!

Rick Warren's Surprising Advice to Pentecostal Churches

Interesting article.

Thanks to Raymond Woodward for passing along the link.

I have too many comments, so I will just let you read and see what you say...just click on the link below to read the article.

Rick Warren's Surprising Advice to Pentecostal Churches

it all comes down to faith...

All the questions...and confusion...and "well, I think"...and you're taking it too far...and God wants us to be happy...and grace means I don't have to respond in any way at all to God's love except to just say yes...and yada, mumbo-jumbo, blah, blah, blah...

It just all comes down to faith.

Faith that the Word of God is absolute and that Every. Single. Word. was breathed out of the mouth of God. (2 Timothy 3:16 - "All scripture is given by inspiration of God.") Inspiration comes from the Greek word "theopneustos" meaning "to breathe or blow."  It implies sound--words--vocal intonation.

If Every. Single. Word. in the Bible was breathed by the God of the universe, then I don't have much room to quibble, do I?

The final question--the bottom line--comes down to this:  Do you really believe that every single word in the Bible was breathed by God?

is it really progress?

Okay, so I might as well face the music.  I might be getting a little older. That's not an admission, nor is it a concession.  It's just the acknowledgement of a possibility.

I have always loved, welcomed, longed-for, promoted, and embraced change. Change the den around every month just to keep things fresh.  Cook new meals even if you don't like them just so you won't get bored eating the same ole food.  Drive a new route to church.  Change hairstyles.  Re-paint.

I figured as long as I still loved change, I was still young.

So, this recent resistance to a form of progress has me a bit alarmed.  I would love to deny it and pretend I am cool as can be with it, but you would be able to tell it on my face right away.  It's hard for me to get it out, but...well...okay, I'm just going to say it...

I have a problem with one's personal Bible being on an e-reader.

There.

I said it.

Wait!  Don't write me off just yet!  I'm not saying it's a SIN or anything like that...I'm just saying I have a problem with it.

I know that our present book form is not the original form of the Holy Scriptures.  I have studied the evolution of the written word and realize that the New Testament varied greatly from the Old Testament and that the codex form of binding didn't come about until after all the New Testament writings were completed.

I understand that the book form we are familiar with has only been around for about the last 600 years or so.

So, I'm not saying that in order for the Bible to be Holy it must be in the form of a bound book.

But, I AM wondering if the e-reader form of the Scriptures is truly progress?

I'm wrestling with the following elements:

The scrolls were a linear form of reading which made it difficult or perhaps impossible to read two areas of the Word at the same time without a lot of inconvenience in locating the new passage.  In contrast, the codex form allowed a reader to actually be able to see two different passages in two different places relatively easily at one time.  It seems to me that most e-readers are returning to that linear form of reading and making multi-passage reading more difficult.

I firmly believe that one cannot study the Scriptures without writing.  If you read without writing, you are doing nothing more than perusing as you would a newspaper or your favorite novel.  But to "eat" the Scriptures as Jeremiah talked about, you must have a pen in your hand.  In the margins, in the front covers, underlining, highlighting...as He speaks you write it down and when you are done, there is an awesome conversation there that you will forever remember.

How can you do that on an e-reader?  Oh, I know you can highlight and make a note.  And a little number pops up to remind you that you made a note.  But when you are reading that same passage six months later, are you going to click on every number and see your notes?  Probably not.  You are probably going to keep reading and nothing is going to catch your eye that He said to you that time before when you had those sweet moments with Him.

That bothers me a bit.  Okay, well, maybe a lot.

And, another thing.  Codex, like the scrolls, kept the Scriptures isolated and set apart.  That's actually what the word "holy" means, isn't it?  Set apart?  Called out, consecrated, dedicated?  

Am I being unreasonably narrow to say that it bothers me a bit that the Scriptures on an e-reader are all grouped in with everything else in there?  Fiction, magazines, newspapers, damnable doctrines...all of it all together in one spot....oh gee, I really dated myself right there, didn't I.

I have had multiple conversations with men and women alike asking for help in their struggle against pornography.  Without exception, they all access it on their phones and ipads.  So, when all I see at church are people holding their phones in their hands as the Scriptures are being read and the message is going forth, I am bothered by the fact that it feels no different to them than if they are checking the LSU score or watching porn.

Okay.  Shutting up.

But try not to make too much fun of me as I lug my big, black study Bible with me to church and work and everywhere else I go.

I have all the different versions and Bible programs on my computer, my iPhone, and my iPad.



But I'm just not so sure that's really progress...