I just want to share a happy surprise we gave ourselves last week…

The story starts with our record collection we’ve had from the early days of marriage. We used to listen to them, first on a console record player (remember those?) and then a component system. At some point, the turntable quit working, and there we were with records and no way to play them.

Of course, by that time we had CDs, but we kept some of the records, moving them at least three times. I bought equipment to digitize them, but it didn’t work. So there they sat. Most recently, they were living in a cabinet in the garage until I rearranged and had no room for them. I was going to give them away; after all, it had been over 20 years since we’d listened to them.

But as I was sorting them to donate or give to a friend or whatever, I kept finding records I didn’t want to get rid of! At the same time, June was looking at a catalog and found…wait for it…a portable record player! We said, “Why not? Instead of trying to digitize the records, why not just listen to them!”

So the little record player arrived, and we played a few tracks of music that took us back to the early years of our marriage. June said, “I feel like I’ve been to another world!”

Now the records and the little record player fit neatly onto a shelf in the den and occupy the corner of a small table when in use.

Is there a point? I’m not sure except sometimes the simplest solutions are the best, and God graciously gives us unexpected joys! Also, music is powerful. Gary Jansen, writing in Microshifts, says:

When my wife and I are feeling lethargic or down, we’ll hit the road for an hour in a car and just listen to our favorite upbeat music. It’s enough to inspire and press reset on a dull day.

And we forget that the ability to listen to music on any medium has been around only since 1877 when Edison invented the phonograph.

…God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. (1 Timothy 6.17, ESV)

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. (James 1.17, MSG)

Psalm 150:3-6 (ESV)
3  Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
4  Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
5  Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6  Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

June and I have been on the quarterly rotation for “coffee host” at our church which involves preparing snacks and making coffee for the before and after fellowship. In the past, we have always been paired with someone who knew how to make the coffee…until today, and I was in charge of making 5 pots of something I don’t even drink!

I’ve been briefed, and I knew there were written instructions, but I’ve never before today taken the first action. So I got through it, but not without the following errors:

• The pot of hot water and the first pot of coffee were only half pots since I didn’t see the “full/half” buttons until the third pot, and the system was set on “half.” (Yes the coffee was too strong, I’m sure, with the full amount of coffee in half a pot of water, but I rectified my mistake before anyone drank it!)
• The coffee they intended for us to use was in red containers in the cabinet I didn’t look in. I found coffee in the original bags in another cabinet.

As I say, I made the coffee, no one complained, and the last thing I did before leaving the church was brief the person who was going to be making coffee next week! I showed her the instructions, told her where the red containers were, and pointed out the full/half buttons. 

The lesson? We learn only by doing, and it’s OK to let someone do before they are ready. That’s part of the training. At 8:30 a.m., I had little idea what I was doing, and at noon, I was briefing my replacement!

Jesus sent out the 12 long before they were ready (Matthew 10). The woman at the well invited the townspeople to hear Jesus (John 4), and Jesus sent out the formerly demon-possessed guy to tell his story (Mark 5), both with no training. 

I believe in training. Training is a foundational part of our ministry. But let’s not let be too slow turning them loose! If I can make coffee on minimum training, anything is possible.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles…Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. (Acts 8.1…4, ESV, and I bet their training wasn’t finished!)

Ellen Degeneres has a lesson for us. Yes, that Ellen Degeneres, gay, Hollywood liberal (by her own definition). If you haven’t heard, she went to a Dallas Cowboys game back on October 6 at the invitation of the daughter of owner Jerry Jones. She sat in his luxury suite with, among other people, George and Laura Bush. For that, she took criticism from those in her tribe: “How could you sit with a Republican president?” Reminds me of the reaction that Peter got upon returning to Jerusalem after his God-directed visit to the Roman Centurion Cornelius:

So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” (Acts 11.2, 3, ESV)

Her response is worth watching, especially for the bottom line:

When I say, be kind to one another, I don’t mean only the people that think the same way that you do. I mean, be kind to everyone.

I wrote yesterday that we who follow Jesus need to be known by something other than what we’re against. We should be known by our kindness as was the dry cleaner I wrote about last week. We should be characterized by Holy Moments. We should have friends with whom we don’t completely agree. Ellen has given us a good example.

[Jesus said, ] “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Matthew 5.43 – 47, ESV)

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (Romans 12.17, 18, ESV)

The kindness of God leads to repentance. (Romans 2.4, ESV)

The fruit of the Spirit is…kindness… (Galatians 5.22)

We’ve been studying Galatians, and a central question is, “What makes us different?” Or, “What should believers be known for?” In the early days of the church, the Jewish believers thought Christians should be known by the Jewish marks of identity: diet, circumcision, etc. In our day, some of us were raised in systems where Christians were known for what they didn’t do.

Once I spoke three times at a church in Estes Park: Thursday night and twice on Sunday. To illustrate the kind of legalism I grew up with, I mentioned one prohibition: regular playing cards were out, Rook cards were OK. After each service, someone came up to me and said, “I’ll bet you were raised in __________ church.” All three named churches were different, and none was the tradition I came from! So there’s a lot of legalism going around, apparently.

The weird thing is that the scriptures are clear in what we should be known for:

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? (Isaiah 58.6, 7, NIV)

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6.8, ESV)

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13.34, 35, ESV)

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (Galatians 5.6, ESV)

Yesterday I shared my difficulty of seeing something fairly apparent in last week’s Wall Street Journal Friday crossword contest. In addition to yesterday’s application of our potential to miss important things that are right in front of us, there’s an implication for teachers.

We have a saying in the Soifer Mathematical Olympiad, which I have written about before.

The solution is easy to see, especially right after you’ve seen it.

But before you see it, it might not be so easy to see! Just like my volcanos yesterday. It’s right there in front of you! Can’t you see it?

The same is true when we’re discipling someone. What’s perfectly obvious to us may not be so obvious to the new disciple. For example, a lot of Navigator materials pose the question: “How many generations of disciples are in 2 Timothy 2.2?”

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (NIV)

I have learned that a lot of people have trouble with that question. And I am learning (I hope!) to be patient with them. (By the way, the answer “they” are looking for is there are four generations of disciples in 2 Timothy 2.2: Paul (“me”) -> Timothy (“you”) -> “reliable people” -> “others.”

Again, the main point today is that what’s obvious to some people is not that obvious to others. A teacher must be patient!

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. (1 Thessalonians 5.14, ESV)

And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth. (2 Timothy 2.24, 25, NKJV)

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth. (Isaiah 42.1 – 4, ESV)

A chilling paragraph in Mark 14:

One of the twelve apostles, Judas Iscariot, went to the leading priests to inform them of his willingness to betray Jesus into their hands. They were delighted to hear this and agreed to pay him for it. So immediately Judas began to look for an opportunity to betray him. (Mark 14:10 – 11, Passion Translation)

People miss stuff! Judas missed it. The leading priests missed it. Jesus, the Messiah, was right in front of them. Judas spent years with him. They missed him.

Here’s a trivial example of not seeing what’s right in front of you, I enjoy trying the weekly crossword contest in the Wall Street Journal. It comes out every Friday (actually, online Thursday afternoon) and consists of a crossword puzzle and a problem, called the “meta” which is answerable from a process one has to discover. The process is different every week. Here’s the puzzle from last Friday. I highlighted the middle answer before the screen capture because I thought it would be the key to the solution. The puzzle’s theme was “Go with the flow,” and we were asked to find “a food.”

As I said, I thought “Under the volcano” was the key. I also thought “lava” would be involved since that’s a “flow” from a volcano. But I couldn’t find the four volcanos that were embedded in the grid right in front of me! See them? Look in the long across answers 17A, 26A, 48A, 56A: viETNAmese, carHOODs, LOAdupon, taKEAstand. I had seen Mt Hood, but not Mt Etna, Mauna Loa, and Mauna Kea. Anyway, if you look right under the volcanos, there’s your food: MOLT ENLA VAC AKE or “molten lava cake.” I should have solved this in 10 minutes or less. It took 3 days! I didn’t see it.

I’ve written about missing things before. But the topic bears repeating. Something I need to see can be right in front of me, but my preconceived notions, my prejudices, or just plain not paying attention all prevent me from seeing. There’s also an implication here for teachers. I’ll write about that tomorrow!

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4.4, NIV)

As he passed by, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. (John 9.1, ESV, emphasis mine)

You may have heard by now that last weekend Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya ran the first sub-2-hour marathon: 1:59:40. It doesn’t count as an official world record because it wasn’t a race, it was more of a demonstration complete with world-class pacers, pace cars, and a cyclist providing him water and nutrition so he didn’t have to slow down for that either. You can read the details here.

Be that as it may, he ran 26 miles at just under 4:35 per mile. When I was at my best, about 40 years ago, I ran a 10K at a 7:00 pace, and I could run a couple 6-minute miles if I worked really hard. Once I was running on our track at an Air Force school that was marked out in tenths of miles. I sprinted all out the last two tenths, doing one in 28 seconds and the last in 24 seconds. If I could have held that 28-second-tenth pace for even one mile, it would have been a 4:40. And he did 26 of them at under 4:35! Unbelievable.

How did he do it? And why does he hold the official marathon record of 2:01:39? In the words of Dallas Willard, “Not by trying but by training.” And that’s exactly what the Apostle encouraged Timothy to do:

Train yourself for godliness. 1 Timothy 4.7

Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For those who find me find life and receive favor from the LORD. (Proverbs 8.34, 35, NIV)

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

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Corinthians 9.24, 25, NIV)

My friend Ray in New Hampshire was with a group of disciple-making leaders when they decided to share with each other their stories of how they came to faith. Upon reflection, Ray shared with them 1 Timothy 1.12 – 14:

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1.13, 14, NIV)

What’s the theme of all of our stories? That “I was once a …” [fill in the blank], but “I was shown mercy…and grace…and love…”

I saw the theme while reading Mark 14.3 and the note in the Passion Translation:

Now Jesus was in Bethany, in the home of Simon, a man Jesus had healed of leprosy. NOTE: We are all cleansed lepers, symbolized by Simon. Christ left the religious structure of the temple and went into the house of a leper. Former “lepers” are now the true temple of God.

I recalled the same theme from the story of the blind man in John 9:

The healed man replied, “I have no idea what kind of man he is. All I know is that I was blind and now I can see for the first time in my life!” (John 9.25, Passion Translation)

What’s your story? Here’s part of mine: Once I was a Christian legalist, known by what I didn’t do, and judging others as good people or bad by our narrow set of standards. But God in his mercy delivered me, helped me understand that Jesus loves me (and others!) and gave me the privilege of practicing and teaching relational disciple-making.

No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we [good, religious people] are saved, just as they [unchurched unbelievers] are.” (Acts 15.11, emphasis and explanation mine)

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6.9 – 11, ESV, emphasis mine)

My friend Mike Oldham told me about a wonderful story that aired on Jane Pauley’s “Sunday Morning” show on October 6, 2019. I watched it on cbs.com. Here’s the story:

Dennis Valstad of Ripon, Wisconsin, a town of fewer than 8,000 people, died recently at age 65. He had no wife or kids and owned one of the town’s dry cleaners. 

Dennis was perceived as a loner of modest means yet 270 people attended his funeral at Immanuel Methodist Church. That’s a lot of people to attend a funeral. Here’s the kicker: his will specified that each person who attended his funeral get an equal share of his $500,000 estate! (It came to just over $1850 per person!)

Of course, no one who attended the funeral knew that in advance. They attended because he “was endlessly kind.” His executor also shared that among his New Year’s resolutions for this year were:

• Live a life pleasing to God
• Find true friends

It sounds like he accomplished his resolutions! And as Matthew Kelly writes in The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity, “There is nothing more attractive than holiness.”

[Jesus said, ] “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5.14 – 16, MSG)

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3.17, ESV)

A friend of mine, I’ll call him John, is trying to make amends with someone who is holding something against him. Making amends is something commanded by Jesus himself:

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5.23, 24, ESV)

The sad thing is that the events that precipitated the offense occurred over four years ago. John didn’t even know the other fellow was offended until a recent chance meeting when the fellow said, “We still have this issue…” And John has no idea exactly what he said or did in the context of their many discussions as members of the same church leadership team (John was the pastor). 

The reason this is sad is that the other fellow could have let this go a long time ago. Instead, he’s been carrying it around. 

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. (Hebrews 12.15, ESV)

I like Larry Christianson’s concept of “unilateral forgiveness,” which he describes in The Renewed Mind. We have the right, yes, the responsibility to forgive someone whether the other person knows they’ve offended us or not. And if we’d rather just hold onto offenses, then we’re not as mature as we think we are.   

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3.12 – 14, ESV)