About 16 months ago I wrote about the “rapid unplanned disassembly” of the Starship spacecraft by Space-X. What you and I would call an explosion, Space-X calls a “rapid unplanned disassembly” which they use to gather data to move their program along. Space-X has a culture of “embracing fiery mishaps.” It works for them.

This past Sunday, October 13, Space-X not only successfully launched Starship, it caught the 200-foot-tall booster so it can be reused! Here’s the opening of a Wall Street Journal report:

SpaceX caught a towering booster rocket back at its launchpad in south Texas, an engineering milestone for the Starship vehicle at the center of Elon Musk’s plans for deep-space exploration. 

The Super Heavy booster, the first stage of Starship, lifted off from south Texas on Sunday morning and propelled the Starship craft into space. Shortly after the launch, SpaceX made the call to return the booster back to the pad from which it had launched.

A livestream from SpaceX showed the device zipping back toward the facility, and, as it approached a tower, its engines slowed the enormous device down, allowing for the catch around 8:30 a.m. ET. The vehicle latched down on mechanical arms sticking out of the tower. – Micah Maidenberg, WSJ, October 13, 2024 (The article may contain a video of the launch and recovery. If not, click here.)

A skyscraper went into space, returned to earth, and parallel parked. – Sylvia Smith, shared by Mark Ewell

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. (Luke 18.1, ESV)

We looked at King Asa’s good start a couple of days ago. Today, we look at his not-so-good finish.

2 Chronicles 15 contains more good news, opening with a word of encouragement from Azariah, son of Oded:

Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you…take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. (2 Chronicles 15.2, 7, ESV)

Asa responded with even more reforms:

As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the LORD…Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. (2 Chronicles 15.8, 16, 17, ESV)

Then, inexplicably…

In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the LORD and the king’s house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, “There is a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” (2 Chronicles 16.1 – 3, ESV)

Not a good move, and a man of God so states:

At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand. [See 2 Chronicles 14 and the October 14 blog.] For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.” (2 Chronicles 16.7 – 9, ESV)

A well-known encouragement, which many of us have memorized:

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. (2 Chronicles 16.9, NKJV)

And Asa has a “shoot the messenger” response:

Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time. (2 Chronicles 16.10, ESV)

As I say, not a good finish. A warning for us all. As my friend, former Air Force Football Coach Fisher DeBerry used to say:

You’re only as good as your last play.

The Apostle Paul understood this:

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. (Philippians 3.13 – 16, ESV)

Less is more refers to this blog’s title, its length, and its message.

When we talk about the spiritual disciplines, many folks wonder, “How can I fit them in? I’ll have to work harder and faster on the ‘important’ stuff so I can carve out the time.”

NO

See Sahil Bloom’s blog The Case for Slowing Down which contains this gem as its closing sentence:

Your entire life will change the moment you realize that the growth you asked for is on the other side of the stillness you’ve been avoiding.

Be still, and know that I am God… (Psalm 46.10, ESV)

We have a short sequence of successes in 2 Chronicles 13 and 14. Yesterday, it was Abijah over Jeroboam: the southern kingdom, Judah, over the northern kingdom, Israel. Judah had the temple and true worship, Israel had the golden calves. “Follow God, pray, fight.”

Today it’s Asa over the Ethiopians. Asa had a good start. First, get rid of bad stuff:

Asa was a good king. He did things right in GOD’s eyes. He cleaned house: got rid of the pagan altars and shrines, smashed the sacred stone pillars, and chopped down the sex-and-religion groves (Asherim). He told Judah to center their lives in GOD, the God of their fathers, to do what the law said, and to follow the commandments. (2 Chronicles 14.2 – 4, MSG)

Next, prepare.

Asa said to his people, “While we have the chance and the land is quiet, let’s build a solid defense system, fortifying our cities with walls, towers, gates, and bars. We have this peaceful land because we sought GOD; he has given us rest from all troubles.” (2 Chronicles 14.7, MSG)

This preparation fits our recent theme of the disciplines:

• Building Below the Waterline
• Growing Strong
• Multi-tasking the disciplines!

Also with respect to preparation, our former pastor John Stevens used to say,

The waiting room of the ER is not a good place to work out your theology.

In other words, prepare in advance for hard times. And for Judah, the challenge came in the form of a large Ethiopian army:

Zerah the Ethiopian went to war against Asa with an army of a million plus three hundred chariots and got as far as Mareshah. Asa met him there and prepared to fight from the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah. Then Asa prayed to GOD, “O GOD, you aren’t impressed by numbers or intimidated by a show of force once you decide to help: Help us, O GOD; we have come out to meet this huge army because we trust in you and who you are. Don’t let mere mortals stand against you!” GOD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah; the Ethiopians ran for their lives. (2 Chronicles 14.9 – 12, MSG)

Follow God, PREPARE, pray, fight.

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5.16, NIV)

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26.41, NIV)

Back to 2 Chronicles… The Kingdom of Israel divides under Rehoboam: 10 northern tribes, “Israel,” under Jeroboam, and 2 southern tribes, “Judah” with Benjamin, under Rehoboam. I wrote about this back in June. The 2 Chronicles version begins in chapter 10, and Rehoboam’s disastrous reign goes through chapter 12.

Then we have two good kings, Abijah in chapter 13 and Asa beginning in chapter 14. Let’s take a look.

Abijah finds himself at war with Jeroboam (the text doesn’t say why), and Abijah tries to explain to Jeroboam that they are on the wrong side:

Abijah took a prominent position on Mount Zemaraim in the hill country of Ephraim and gave this speech: “Listen, Jeroboam and all Israel! Don’t you realize that GOD, the one and only God of Israel, established David and his sons as the permanent rulers of Israel,…GOD’s kingdom ruled by GOD’s king? And what happened? Jeroboam, the son of Solomon’s slave Nebat, rebelled against his master…you are asserting yourself against the very rule of GOD that is delegated to David’s descendants—you think you are so big with your huge army backed up by the golden-calf idols that Jeroboam made for you as gods! But just look at what you’ve done—you threw out the priests of GOD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests to suit yourselves, priests just like the pagans have. Anyone who shows up with enough money to pay for it can be a priest! A priest of No-God! “

But for the rest of us in Judah, we’re sticking with GOD. We have not traded him in for the latest model—we’re keeping the tried-and-true priests of Aaron to lead us to GOD and the Levites to lead us in worship by sacrificing Whole-Burnt-Offerings and aromatic incense to GOD at the daily morning and evening prayers, setting out fresh holy bread on a clean table, and lighting the lamps on the golden Lampstand every night. We continue doing what GOD told us to in the way he told us to do it; but you have rid yourselves of him. “Can’t you see the obvious? God is on our side; he’s our leader. And his priests with trumpets are all ready to blow the signal to battle. O Israel—don’t fight against GOD, the God of your ancestors. You will not win this battle.” (2 Chronicles 13.4 – 12, MSG)

I always worry when someone says they’re going to win because “I’m following God, and you’re not!” But in this case, Abijah was right even though while he’s talking Jeroboam sends some of his vast army behind the forces of Judah.

While Abijah was speaking, Jeroboam had sent men around to take them by surprise from the rear: Jeroboam in front of Judah and the ambush behind. When Judah looked back, they saw they were attacked front and back. They prayed desperately to GOD, the priests blew their trumpets, and the soldiers of Judah shouted their battle cry. At the battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. The army of Israel scattered before Judah; God gave them the victory. Abijah and his troops slaughtered them—500,000 of Israel’s best fighters were killed that day. The army of Israel fell flat on its face—a humiliating defeat. The army of Judah won hands down because they trusted GOD, the God of their ancestors. (2 Chronicles 13.13 – 20, MSG)

Trust God, pray, fight…and “God gave them the victory…because they trusted God…” And we’re back to our verse from two days ago:

God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels…In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. (Ephesians 6.10 – 12…18, MSG)

As long as we’re on the subject of spiritual disciplines, this short article by Don Whitney, recently posted by NavPress is worth reposting in its entirety. The thoughts are from Don’s book Simplify Your Spiritual Life: Spiritual Disciplines for the Overwhelmed.

Multi-tasking sounds like something we want to avoid when simplifying our spiritual lives. And while that’s probably true in general, there are exceptions to the rule.

Multi-tasking originated as a technological term to speak of a computer performing more than one function at a time, but it makes me think of plate spinners who performed in variety shows in the days of black-and-white television. A plate spinner would balance a dinner plate on top of a tall, pencil-thin wooden rod, then strike the plate’s edge to make it spin. Then he would quickly start a second one spinning on another rod, then a third, on up to about ten or twelve. By the time he’d started the last one, the first plates would begin to wobble, so he’d run to the beginning of the line and quickly give each a new spin.

Sometimes people think that I’m encouraging them to be spiritual plate spinners. They picture themselves trying to keep an overwhelming number of disciplines balanced, spending more time concerned about the mere maintenance of them than the fruit of them.

Just because we can isolate a discipline (like prayer, Bible intake, worship, or fasting) and examine it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is practiced in isolation from other disciplines. In fact, it’s not unusual to perform five or six disciplines during the same devotional period, most of them simultaneously.

For example, simply by having a “quiet time” you are practicing one form of the discipline of silence and solitude. And during that time you will likely engage in worship, Bible intake, and prayer. That’s three more disciplines. Many will also write their insights from Scripture, their meditations, or other entries into a journal during this time. And if you happen to be fasting, that’s half-a-dozen individual disciplines being performed during the same devotional period. You’re doing more than you realize.

Spiritual multi-tasking is not about spinning many spiritual plates; it’s about many ways of filling your one spiritual plate with delicious, satisfying, divine nourishment for your soul. – Don Whitney, emphases his

Spiritual multi-tasking resulting in nourishment for the soul – a good word.

When your words showed up, I ate them— swallowed them whole. What a feast! What delight I took in being yours, O GOD, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies! (Jeremiah 15.16, MSG)

But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4.4, ESV)

I wrote yesterday about the importance of Building Below the Waterline, doing the hard but invisible work of the spiritual disciplines. Last Sunday at Monument Community Presbyterian Church, I had one minute to encourage folks to participate in The Navigators’ Growing Strong in God’s Family. Making the same point as yesterday’s blog, here’s part of what I said:

Paul introduces the armor of God section in Ephesians 6 with these words:

“God is strong, and he wants you strong…” (Ephesians 6.10, MSG)

If you want to get strong physically, you go to the gym and hire a personal trainer. The trainer gives you exercises to do, which, if you do them, will make you stronger.

If you want to get strong spiritually, you join Bob and June and complete Growing Strong in God’s Family. It’s just 11 weeks. It’s not a Bible study. It’s training, and you’ll leave with skills that will serve you for a lifetime.

I’m pleased that we have one (yes, only one) eager participant. I pray that she will become the “foundation of many generations” (see Isaiah 58.12).

It starts with the disciplines…and with discipline. I was just sharing by phone with someone in another state that life cannot be lived without discipline. Here’s a guy who is well-spoken, smart, but can’t stay off of alcohol. I said, “My friend, to get through life, you sometimes have to do things you don’t want to do…like go to AA and reduce your alcohol consumption to zero.”

In conversation with another friend recently, “You’re in the Word every day, right?” “Well, no.”

God is strong, and he wants you strong… (Ephesians 6.10, MSG)

…train yourself for godliness. (1 Timothy 4.7, ESV)

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12.11, ESV)

I wrote about one of Charleston’s most spectacular bridges a couple of days ago, and, coincidentally, The Navigators just sent me a marvelous call to in-depth discipleship using bridge-building as a metaphor.

In “Building Below the Waterline,” Howard Baker first lists problems with Christian leaders:

• leaders abusing their power and position 
• leaders lacking integrity in areas of basic moral, ethical, relational, and financial matters 
• leaders collapsing under the weight of the stress and pressures of the work 
• leaders who are no longer actual real-life followers of the person they have chosen to serve—Jesus Christ. 

What’s the problem?

Howard says the problem is in the foundation, and he tells this story taken from Gordon MacDonald’s book Building Below the Waterline:

In his insightful introduction, he quotes from David McCullough’s book, The Great Bridge. McCullough tells the story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge in the latter half of the 1800s. This engineering marvel of its day took 17 years to build. After the first four years of construction, the citizens of Brooklyn complained to the chief engineer, Washington Roebling, asking why they could not see any construction. Where was their bridge? 

Roebling’s answer was epic. During the previous four years, the most important work was being done where no one could see it, below the waterline. Daring construction workers were putting their lives at risk to do the hard work of building the foundation. He said that if this important work was not done with excellence below the waterline, what was built above the waterline would not stand the test of time. Brilliant!

Baker goes on to say:

Regrettably, far too many leaders in ministry, church, mission agency, and the marketplace have spent the majority of their time building above the waterline. They are building wonderful “bridges” of ministry while forgetting the most important and strategic work—constructing the foundation. It is here, below the waterline, where the most daring and courageous work occurs: knowing God and knowing ourselves. 

I would say it’s the same reason athletes spend time in the weight room, and pianists spend hours doing “boring scales” and other exercises. They’re building “below the waterline.” Legendary football coach Bear Bryant used to say:

You can’t live soft all week and play tough on Saturday.

Baker concludes:

So what is building below the waterline? What is the foundation built on the rock? The apostle Paul states it simply,

No one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 3:11).

There is only one genuine and eternal foundation for our lives: being with Jesus to become like Him. That is our one and only job, mission, and calling. All else, every bridge or house, is built on that. How? Dallas Willard states it clearly and simply, “You must arrange your days so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God.” That’s it and that’s all! 

Jesus said it first (also cited by Baker):

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 724 – 27, ESV)

PS One place to start (at the risk of beating the same drum over and over) is our daily time with God.

If you read the Wright Brothers blog, you know that we were in the Southeast when Helene came through. That’s why we went to Kitty Hawk on Thursday, September 26. On Friday we drove to Charleston where we knew the weather would be fine…when we got there.

Fact is, the storm was moving north, and we were driving south. An encounter was inevitable, and we were in it for about 20 minutes just after a lunch stop. Torrential rain reduced visibility to near zero at times, and when everyone’s phones sounded a tornado warning, we pulled over.

The picture on the left doesn’t quite capture the storm’s intensity, but while driving from Charleston to Atlanta, hundreds of downed trees bore witness. It was a strong storm!

Have you seen the “Psalm of the Rainstorm”? Seems appropriate.

1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.
11 May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace! (Psalm 29, ESV)

PS As this blog prepares to go to press it appears that Hurricane Milton is about to burst over Florida. More power. We can predict ’em…we can’t control ’em. I’m praying the folks in Tampa and other places have already found higher ground.

Bridges are marvelous things, and when you’re in a place like Charleston, SC, extraordinarily necessary.

Charleston is where, according to the natives, the Cooper River and the Ashley River come together to make the Atlantic Ocean!

If you have to have a bridge, why not make it a work of art also? We stayed recently in a hotel in Mt Pleasant (visible on the map) very near the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge over the Cooper River. (Photo by June as we drove over the bridge)

(Stock photos)

It’s even more spectacular at night when God adds his artwork! (Photo by Bob from our hotel)

Solomon rebuilt the cities that Hiram had given to him, and settled the people of Israel in them…He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the store cities that he built in Hamath…He also built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars. (2 Chronicles 8.2 – 5, ESV)

The LORD said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. (Exodus 31.1 – 5, ESV)