I always love these accounts where, when God shows up, the priests can’t do their thing:

When Solomon finished praying, a bolt of lightning out of heaven struck the Whole-Burnt-Offering and sacrifices and the Glory of GOD filled The Temple. The Glory was so dense that the priests couldn’t get in—GOD so filled The Temple that there was no room for the priests! When all Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the Glory of GOD fill The Temple, they fell on their knees, bowed their heads, and worshiped, thanking GOD… (2 Chronicles 7.1 – 3, MSG)

I’ve written about this before.

But then we have God’s specific response to Solomon’s prayer at the temple dedication:

GOD appeared to Solomon that very night and said, “I accept your prayer; yes, I have chosen this place as a temple for sacrifice, a house of worship. If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I’ll be there ready for you: I’ll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health. From now on I’m alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place. Believe me, I’ve chosen and sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I’ve set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I’ll back your kingly rule over Israel—make it a sure thing on a sure foundation. The same covenant guarantee I gave to David your father I’m giving to you, namely, ‘You can count on always having a descendant on Israel’s throne.’ “(2 Chronicles 7.12 – 18, MSG)

This contains the well-known 2 Chronicles 7.14:

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7.14, ESV)

What to do with it? It’s a beautiful verse, and it’s been set to music. This 4-minute performance by a Christian High School is worth a listen.

But is it a promise? For the United States? Or any country? The US is certainly not “God’s nation” as Israel was. But God’s people are here. And it’s WE who need to humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s presence, and turn from wickedness. If we did, would God restore our land to health? I don’t think it’s a promise, but it might be a principle, along with the next section which contains the curses if we don’t follow God:

But if you or your sons betray me, ignoring my guidance and judgments, taking up with alien gods by serving and worshiping them, then the guarantee is off: I’ll wipe Israel right off the map and repudiate this Temple I’ve just sanctified to honor my Name. And Israel will be nothing but a bad joke among the peoples of the world. And this Temple, splendid as it now is, will become an object of contempt; tourists will shake their heads, saying, ‘What happened here? What’s the story behind these ruins?’ Then they’ll be told, ‘The people who used to live here betrayed their GOD, the very God who rescued their ancestors from Egypt; they took up with alien gods, worshiping and serving them. That’s what’s behind this God-visited devastation.’ (2 Chronicles 7.19 – 22, MSG)

I’ve been to those places. Herod’s summer palace in Caesarea, for example. I remember thinking, looking at ruins of what was once a magnificent compound, “I wonder what that used to be?”

God has proven over and over again that nothing is permanent. Great civilizations perish. Rome? Italy is a place people go to for vacation. Hardly a world leader.

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4.18, 19, ESV)

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1.18 – 23, ESV)

History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world’s first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm.or 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race. – from NASA’s website

I remember the day well. I was in the 6th grade. I remember taking a ball of clay and sticking toothpicks in it – my Sputnik model! Thirteen years later, I was tracking Sputnik’s successors from a radar site in eastern Turkey.

Sputnik (which is just the Russian word for satellite and is pronounced properly with a long “u,” not the way most Americans, including me, pronounce it) didn’t really do anything. It transmitted a radio signal which essentially said, “I’m up here orbiting the earth, and you’re not.” It worked for about three weeks until its batteries died. It decayed into the atmosphere not long after.

But the idea of Sputnik started the space age…and the space race, provoking the Sputnik Crisis, which resulted in a burst of interest in training more scientists and engineers in the US.

Today you hold way more computing power in your hand (we call it a phone for reasons I don’t understand) than we used to put a man on the moon in 1969. The maps on your phone take you anywhere you want to go with GPS, which is a constellation of satellites, dating back to 1973.

We’ve come a long way. The first airplane flew just over 120 years ago; the first satellite, 67 years ago. We put a man on the moon 55 years ago, and now we have space tourism.

Technologically, we’re doing fine. Now if we could just solve our behavior problems!

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6.6, ESV)

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. (Genesis 11.5, 6, ESV)

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1.18 – 23, ESV)

I wrote a bit about retired quarterback Tom Brady a few weeks ago – a “one-mistake” kind of guy. Mess up once, and you’re out. I probably should have mentioned the Apostle Paul’s handling of John Mark at that time. John Mark quit early into the first ministry journey (See Acts 12.25 and 13.13), and that was it for Paul. See this conversation in Acts 15:

And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. (Acts 15.36 – 40, ESV)

“Sharp disagreement” – you can imagine: “I won’t have a quitter on my team!” “But he was young…” So Barnabas the encourager takes Mark with him, and at the end of Paul’s life, Paul is asking to see Mark.

Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. (2 Timothy 4.9 – 11, ESV)

Different kinds of guys: intense, hard-line Paul and Barnabas the Encourager, and God uses them both.

Back to Brady. He was replaced at Tampa Bay by Baker Mayfield who is a bit more laid back. Here’s Baker’s perspective according to an interview he gave last week:

The building was a little bit different with Tom in there. Obviously, playing-wise, Tom is different. He had everybody dialed in, high-strung environment, so I think everybody was pretty stressed out…They wanted me to come in, be myself, bring the joy back to football, for guys who weren’t having as much fun.

Brady’s perspective?

I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings. So, there was a mindset of a champion that I took to work every day. This wasn’t daycare. If I was going to have fun, I’d go to Disneyland with my kids.

So which appeals to you? I have to admit, Brady’s drive and tough talk resonates with me. One Sunday morning when I was on church staff I was hurrying from one part of campus to another, and I passed someone I knew without speaking. Then I stopped, called him by name and apologized for not greeting him. He said, “That’s OK, Bob. The Apostle Paul was pretty intense, too!” That said, I can’t do intense for nearly as long as I used to…

Dawson Trotman, founder of my organization, The Navigators, was an intense-Apostle Paul kind of guy. The second president was Lorne Sanney, way more relational as was the third president, my friend Jerry White.

Each of us is called to be what God designed us for. I’ve tried to learn from my more relational colleagues, but I’ll never manifest as much kindness and mercy as some of them do. But some of them don’t do well at confronting or challenging when necessary. It takes all of us!

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2.10, NIV)

When James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. (Galatians 2.9, 10, ESV)

But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. (Galatians 2.11, NLT)

On a trip to the Southeast the last two weeks of September, primarily to see friends and relatives, we found ourselves in central North Carolina, preparing to go to Jekyll Island where we had celebrated our first anniversary. However, Hurricane Helene was projected to hit Florida that Thursday night, and Jekyll Island was under a Tropical Storm Warning. It was Wednesday, and I was trying to decide what to do when I checked this site for blog comments, getting this reminder:

Stop gathering more information and start acting on the information you already have.

That’s a word. So I canceled Jekyll Island and decided to go to Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers flew the first airplane. June loves airplanes, we will never be closer to Kitty Hawk than we are right now, and from Kitty Hawk we can end up in Charleston as planned.

The visit to Kitty Hawk was unexpectedly moving. To be where the Wright brothers were, just 121 years ago, and think about their intentional persistence, was inspiring.

The Monument, dedicated in 1928, reads:

In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright conceived by genius achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith.

Actual photograph of the first flight

The official National Park site sums it up:

Wind, sand, and a dream of flight brought Wilbur and Orville Wright to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina where, after four years of scientific experimentation, they achieved the first successful airplane flight on December 17, 1903.

With courage and perseverance, these self-taught engineers relied on teamwork and application of the scientific process. What they achieved changed our world forever.

The stone marker with the bronze plaque reads:

The first successful flight of an airplane was made from this spot by Orville Wright, December 17, 1903, in a machine designed and built by Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright.

The other plaques mark the terminations of the first four flights:

• 1: 12 seconds, 120 feet
• 2: 12 seconds, 175 feet
• 3: 15 seconds, 200 feet
• 4: way in the distance, no close-up: 59 seconds, 852 feet

“Self-taught engineers” reminds me of Acts 4.13

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. (Emphasis mine)

PS Timing is everything. I just found out that barely 48 hours after we were there on September 26, a small plane crashed at the airport that’s part of the Wright Brothers National Memorial. The Park was closed from September 28 – 30. I would have been really bummed if I had driven 6 hours out of my way to Kitty Hawk and not been able to see anything!

I wrote in late August about finding a vacation house in Colorado, owned by Margret and Dieter Sebastian, where we stayed in 1975. If you haven’t read that or have forgotten, please read it now…

Even at the time, I felt like the dog who chases cars: if he catches one, what will he do with it?! “If I find this house, what will I do with it?” Answer:

• Take a picture of it
• Check it off my list of goals
• AND…write a blog about the process – “coincidentally” finding a lady who grew up in that house!

And, I have now found the answer to why God led us to find that house at this time. Look at this blog comment from September 20:

I am Burkhard Schneider from Frankfurt, Germany. I am a nephew and the godchild of Margret and Dieter Sebastian. Since I was too young, I never happened to visit Margret and Dieter at their lost (and now found) house. But that has been a dream of mine for 50 years. And guess what: My wife and I are flying to Denver this Wednesday and we wanted to enjoy fall foliage in Rocky Mountain National Park and perhaps find the house on the way from Denver to Estes Park. This afternoon I was visiting my cousin who had been there in 1976 at age 16. She did not have the address. Back home I went to my cellar tonight and finally dug up an old letter by Margret to my late mother from November 1976 which bore the historic address. The address was not in Allenspark which I recall was always referred to as their residence, but Lyons, CO. However, I could not locate the address in Google Maps. So I googled “Lyons + Margret + Dieter + Sebastian” and that’s how I found your three-week old post which is a very sweet commemoration of Dieter and Margret. A lot of lovely coincidences! Could you possibly pass me the exact coordinates of the house and the phone number or email of Rainia so that I can fulfill my mission? You would be making me so happy!

Thank you and have a great day.

After I responded, he wrote:

Thanks for finding the house and posting your story just in time. I am still shivering about the  path of coincidences. Hadn’t I gone back to my basement Sunday night after visiting my cousin and her mother to finally find a letter from 1976 with the old address… 

Gives me shivers too.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3.5, 6, NKJV)

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it”… (Isaiah 30.21, NKJV)