An Ordinary (But Deeply Powerful) Sunday Family Lunch

We did something ordinary today.  We ate our Sunday lunch together, the three generations of us here.  It's ordinary because we do this almost every Sunday.  We started this pleasant habit about four years ago -- now around 200 times.

But ordinary does not even begin to describe the deep human value of this simple activity. Sharing food is deeply woven into humanity. There is a bonding that happens each time we sit at table together. It feels like silken threads added layer upon layer binding us together.

Not only are we sharing food, we are sharing ideas, hopes, and dreams. While sometimes we have important subjects to discuss as a family, mostly it's just happy talk, the casual conversation of people who know each other well. Plans are hatched for other activities we do together. Sometimes we ask for help with a project or a need. We often talk about the church meeting we were part of earlier in the morning. And we're Americans, so we talk about politics. :) We often find that two or three hours slip away before it is time to go our separate ways.

I believe what is happening at a superconscious level is even more profound. In these regular gatherings, we are each teaching each other who we are as a people in a family, how we respond to life, and how we communicate and connect emotionally with each other. Family history is shared in little pieces, and the younger learn from the older who they are and where they come from.

And there is a simple profundity at the spiritual level as well. We begin our meals together with a simple grace. It's a habit, but habits are powerful, and this one reminds us each week that we live our lives with attitudes of gratitude and a recognition of Jesus, who is at the center of all. This is what we have sung together for many years:

Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus

For this food, for this food

And our many blessings, and our many blessings

Amen amen amen

So......today, I'm deeply grateful for this ordinary thing we do, and the extra-ordinary family of which I am a part. 

 

 

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Syrian Refugees: Yes

America should take in Syrian refugees. The ancestors of every single person in this country came from somewhere else. Every wave of newcomers has contained risky people....that joined some risky people already here. 

Some of my ancestors were refugees from economic hardship or religious persecution in Northern Europe. Not all of us have refugees in our family tree....but my guess is that most of us do. 

Arguably, we should admit these desperate people in part because OUR decisions contributed to their misery. OUR decision to withdraw from Iraq before Iraqis were ready opened the door to ISIS. OUR decision to back the opposition in Syria has deepened the misery in that country. 

I do think that refugee resettlement must be done in consultation with the states. Setting aside constitutional questions of questionable federal authority, it is just bad government for the Obama administration to push refugees onto the states with what appears to be minimal or non-existent consultation. 

And I also think we should take a higher road than simply accepting U.N. certified refugees as we are now apparently doing. Middle Eastern Christians and other refugees of minority religious and ethnic groups are under represented in U.N. rolls because many won't register for fear of persecution by Muslims. The higher road would be to seek out and open our arms to these who are most in danger. 

Yes. There are risks. Among these broken people are almost certainly at least a few ISIS jihadis. But we decided to live with that risk decades ago as we allowed Muslims from many lands to come into our county. Jihad is an article of faith for Muslims (although most Muslims would never take part in violent jihad). But what the majority believes is irrelevant....because all it takes is a few Muslims who believe in violent jihad to cause new grief among us. 

Finally, and most importantly, we should take them in because this is who we are: a nation that is made of many nations. Our national motto, e pluribus unum, is on our coins.  It means "out of many, one." We should take them in because once we quit obsessing over the horrific scenes in Paris, I believe we will realize our hearts are telling us that this is the right thing to do. Our love and compassion will finally compel us.

Train Up a Child in the Way She Should Go.....

Solomon was trained from childhood to choose wisdom above everything else. Is it possible that he was the only one God gave this choice of a lifetime to because he was the only one we know of who was trained to make the right decision? I think it is highly possible. If that is true, then what are the parallels for us as we teach the next generation? What are we drawing into the lives of our young people through our faith-filled training? In what manner are we raising the generation to come? Our prophetic decrees over them might actually attract opportunities from God. God is the ultimate steward, opening doors where they will be walked through the most.

When my children were growing up, I put them to bed by repeating these two charges night after night: `Remember, you are part of a team that is here to change the world,' and, `When you go to sleep tonight, ask God if there is anything that is impossible that He wants you to do.' It was my effort to raise children who know no limits.

This excerpt is from The Power that Changes the World: Creating Eternal Impact in the Here & Now a recent book by Bill Johnson.

Normally I quickly fall asleep. But, after reading those words last night, sleep came slowly. My heart was on fire with the implications of those words.

What if we trained our children from their earliest days that they are beloved sons and daughters of the King of Glory.....and that the King is in a good mood?

What if we trained them to believe they can have the righteous power of princesses and princes in the Kingdom of God?

What if we trained them to turn their ears to wisdom and apply their hearts to understanding as for hidden silver?

What if we trained them that it can be on Earth as it is in Heaven more than we have ever seen in the history of the Church?

And what if we trained them to believe they can be so very important in making that happen?

My heart is pumping hard with hope and expectation.

What Did Paul Mean When He Wrote "The Head of a Wife is Her Husband"?

We all use metaphors to abbreviate communication, or to make it more interesting or meaningful.  For example, if my friend asks me if I am going to the meeting this afternoon, and I respond, "no, I'm going to save my bullets for the game tonight", he'll know right away that I'm going to miss the afternoon meeting so I can save my energy for more exertion later.  My answer has nothing to do with storing up ammunition for the game.  That's a metaphor: we say or write something, but use it to refer to something else.

Metaphors are common in languages other than our own, and they have a long history around the world.  Biblical writing is sometimes metaphoric.  How Biblical metaphors are interpreted makes a LOT of difference in the meaning of the passage.

Here, for example, is 1 Corinthians 11:3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.  How are we to interpret the word "head" in this passage?

Clearly, Paul (author of this letter to the Corinthian church) is not talking about a literal head with hair, a mouth, ears, eyes, nose and teeth.  That makes no sense.  Therefore, he must be using the word head as a metaphor.  So, what is the metaphoric meaning of "head" in this case?

Meanings of words and metaphors change over time. Before we assume that today's use of "head" as a metaphor is correct, we need to understand what Paul meant with his metaphor, and what his original audience would have understood him to be communicating to them. More on this in a minute.

In 21st century English usage, the obvious interpretation of Paul's metaphor is "leader."  We use it all the time.  For example, if I write,  "Sue is the head of the purchasing department" it is clear to us that Sue is the leader of that department.

That is our understanding today, and it is easy to project our understanding of that metaphor onto Paul's words.  I know I have.  It is easy to assume that he meant something like this: ".....the leader of every man is Christ, the leader of a wife is her husband, and the leader of Christ is God."  And from that interpretation of "head" as "leader," we might chart our interpretation in a hierarchy something like this:

God is leader over

|

Christ, who is leader over

|

Man, who is leader over

|

Wife

But there is an interesting problem with at least the first half of this interpretation:  it is heresy!

Arius, an Egyptian Christian leader and theologian of the 4th century, had been teaching that Christ was subservient to God; a teaching that the Council of Nicea deemed heretical in AD 325.  Since then, the Church has taught that the three persons of the Trinity are co-equal, and that any other teaching is dangerously wrong.

If the hierarchical interpretation of "the leader of Christ is God" is probably not what Paul intended, then what about the rest of the passage?  Note that the same Greek word, "kephale", is used throughout this verse.

Here's where understanding what the metaphor meant to Paul and the original readers in the church at Corinth will help.  We can't ask them, so anything we come up with will be informed speculation at best.  Nevertheless, there are clues.

Some commentators (examples appended below) write that a common understanding of the metaphoric usage of the word "head" to 1st century Greeks was "source".  Actually, we still use that meaning today; for example, the headwaters of the Sacramento River are the source of that river.


Perhaps what Paul was telling the Corinthians -- and us today -- is this: ....the source of every man is Christ, and the source of woman is man, and the source of Christ is the Godhead.  (Suggested by Phillip B Payne, Man and Woman, One in Christ).  That perspective might make our chart look like this now:

The Godhead is the source of 

|

Christ, who is the source of

|

Man, who is the source of 
(God took Eve from Adam's side)

|

Woman

If that is a more accurate interpretation of Paul's metaphor, it opens the door to a different view of the order of men and women in the Kingdom than perhaps most of us have understood.  

Maybe Paul wasn't commenting at all on who should lead in a marriage.


Thanks to Rich Schmidt for showing us this for the first time.

See, for examples:

• The Human Body Metaphors, p3
• What About the Meaning of the word Kephale ("head") in the New Testament?

Living an Un-Offended Life

Today is my 23,000th day.  My 63rd birthday appears on the calendar later this month, but recently  I have begun to think more of the importance of days.

Our lives are a gift of God.  They are mostly measured in years, but really we live out that gift day-by-day.  I think the day marker is most important, because to some extent, a night's sleep veils the previous day.  In a significant way, each day is new.

I have learned the power of speaking into the new day.  I have learned the importance of affirming in every day Thanksgiving, living an Un-offended life, Love, Identity, and Purpose.

A few days ago, I was offended at my wife.  That offense diminished the flow of love between us.  In reality, the offense was a false construct in my own mind....she did NOTHING wrong.  But because I have not yet fully put offense under my feet, damage was done to our relationship.

Because each morning I affirm my commitment to living an un-offended life.....because I refresh that commitment each day.....I knew fairly quickly that I was wrong....and that I had allowed what I had committed NOT to allow.

As discouraging as it was to damage the relationship I have with the one I love the most, I felt a breath of encouragement.  I realized that the daily affirmation I make to live an un-offended life is what allowed me to quickly see where I had gone off the rails.....and because I am a son of God, I asked for forgiveness and restored the relationship.

Each day, I use TULIP as a memory aid to start the day right.  I write in my journal words of Thanksgiving. I affirm my commitment to live an Un-offended life and a life of Love.  I write of my Identity as a prince in the Kingdom of God, and I write of my Purpose in Him.

If you want to write or speak into your own day, you may want to make a different list of attitudes and affirmations.  However you do it, you can renew your mind in this way each day.  You can use the creative power given by God to shape yourself for the coming day.....and the years that make up your lifetime.  

That's what I'm doing, as best I can.  

How about you.....what do you do to make the most of each day?

ND Repeals Anti Cohabitation Statute: Progress?

North Dakota's legislature recently repealed a statute on the books since statehood that made it a crime for a man and woman to live together without marriage, Time Magazine reported recently.

At first glance, one is tempted to think that progress has been made. How could it be in 21st century America some state or locality could be so benighted as to have such an antique law still on the books.

But social science is demonstrating that our forefathers knew what they were doing in firmly placing such arrangements outside the fences of legitimate society.

Cohabitation hurts people. As I wrote earlier "counter intuitive as it might seem, social science has demonstrated that couples living together before marriage suffer a 50 -100% higher divorce rate when they do marry. And it’s not just higher divorce rates that hurt: as a group those who live together are statistically less equalitarian, more violent, less successful in remarriage after divorce, more depressed, and less caring of children than their married peers, to name a few.

The reality is that while living together may be popular, it most often diminishes rather than enhances quality of life. For the sake of future happiness for millions, this misbegotten approach to relationship belongs in the dustbin of history along with other failed social experiments."

It is in the interests of our civilization to legislate morality. We hear it all the time that "you can't legislate morality," but even the most casual inspections of our national and state laws show that we do it constantly. In this case, North Dakota is taking a step further into moral darkness that will damage its citizens, not free them.