Mancation

I spent Thursday evening through Sunday morning in Sunriver with over 20 guys from church. We hung out, talked, played games, ate a lot, and skied our legs off at Bachelor. Craig Eaton has named this annual event "Mancation" - he is the positive force that makes it happen.

There were guys from their early teens to those in their 60's. All men of faith - all on their own journey with God. I have friends from the entire spectrum of beliefs, and I value all of them. But there are times when I want to be with those who know Him, this being one of them. I draw strength from our shared belief and destiny.

My youngest son Nathan was there, which was the best part of all. It was great to see him interact with the others, coming into his own as a young man. At 14 he's a respectable poker player...

I spent some time skiing alone on the second day. I felt sorry for myself and wished Caleb was there - and I also felt happy for myself, that I had the chances I did to be with him. He and I both love the mountains and the snow. In eternity, we can make up for a few missed years with millions more.

I'm lucky and honored to have the friends I do. I hope to be as good to them as they are to me. They are a gift from God.

Jesus said: But about the resurrection of the dead - have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.

We will live as friends forever. I have no doubt of this.

As I'm writing this song came on Pandora - I think it's fitting:

Even though I'm posting this on a Tuesday - these thoughts were in my head on Sunday. It was good to be with these guys - spending time making peace and happiness.

Blessed is Craig Eaton, peacemaker, he is a child of God.

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Sundays | Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

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A few pictures of Caleb and others from good years past on Mancation...

Laughter

As I was working from home this morning, I heard my wife Becky and our friend April talking and laughing. What a nice sound - it was very comforting.

I was thinking about why it makes me feel good to hear them laugh. I decided it's their presence. Having them near and being happy, makes me happy.

I heard a good sermon this weekend on presence. The theme was from something Jesus said:

Then the King (Jesus) will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

I have memorized this whole passage - but I still need to be reminded of what it means. I took away this idea: Be like God - step into people's darkness and help them gain some peace. Bring them some comfort.

My messy scrawling...

God, I need to go be with people in tough circumstances - in their darkness - and make them feel good. I need to laugh with them.

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Tuesdays | Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

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One Thousand Sermons

Why is pain such an effective teacher?

Why does it take tragedy and loss to get me to really grow and change?

Why can't I easily learn those critical lessons in my life without misery?

In the terms Jesus used: Why does a seed (me) have to fall to the ground and die to gain fruitfulness?

Lately I have asked a few people if they were better because of past tragedy in their lives - they all said yes. There are others that I have not needed to ask, it was obvious. I have to admit, I think it stinks.

I wish I could learn the big lessons from praying, reading the word, listening to teaching, discussing things with friends. Unfortunately, loosing one of my sons has taught me what a thousand sermons, lessons and discussions could not. At this point, I would much rather be ignorant and have him here - but there is no going backward.

I don't have any robust answers as to why there is so much pain, poverty and suffering in the world. I only know that for good or bad, pain is an effective teacher in my life. I also know I will do my best to avoid further pain - I don't like it.

It's a difficult but consistent message...

In Hebrews: No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Moses wrote: Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

David wrote: Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord, the one you teach from your law.

Jeremiah wrote: Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure— not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing.

In Revelation, Jesus said: Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

God, I wish I could learn all I needed to without pain. Unfortunately, I can't.

Help me to learn it all and waste nothing.

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Mondays | Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.

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Noah - Peacemaker

After a break, I'm back to writing my journal - and I want to finish up the seven days of thinking about Noah.

As in many of the stories in the bible, the final concept is peacemaking. So it goes with the story of Noah:

Noah also said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”

After the flood Noah lived 350 years. Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.

There are the statements that Canaan will be a slave to his brothers (see my last post), but there are also blessings towards Shem and Japheth.

- Praise to the Lord, the God of Shem (the older son)
- May God extend Japheth's territory (the middle son)
- May Japheth live in the tents of Shem

In essence, Noah is asking God to bless both his two older sons, and that they would be friends and live in peace together.

Up to now, this is something I have never done: Blessed my children together, out load, asking for there to be peace and friendship among them. I've often told them they should be friends, and I have prayed for that - but never blessed them in this way. I wonder what they and I have been missing out on...

God, remind me to bless my family. Remind me to do it out loud. Remind me to be a peacemaker.

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Sundays | Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

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Noah - Pure Heart

 More interesting - but difficult to understand - things in the story of Noah:

Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”

So there is one son, Ham, that really did something wrong. It was so bad that Noah cursed Ham's son, Canaan, and all his descendants for all time. I did a bit of research on it, and almost all of the options for interpretation are fairly disgusting. This link goes to a short summary, if you're inclined.

I'm interested in what the other two brothers did. I think they could have gone straight in with their eyes closed, but instead they walked in backwards. I think they did this to show without a doubt that they respected their father. It wasn't only about what they needed to do, it was also about how they looked.

It's very easy to be self-righteous and say to myself, "I don't really care how things look, I'm doing what God wants." To really be pure in heart, I have to consider how I might be perceived.

Paul wrote about this regarding food: All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

God, help me to see as others see. Help me to have motives that are truly pure.

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Saturdays | Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

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Noah - Mercy

After the flood, God makes a promise to Noah and all his descendants (including us)...

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

He said he is never going to kill off all of mankind again by flood, and he put the rainbow in the sky as a symbol of his commitment.

Even after letting this story sit for a week, its still hard to take in. God's method for creating the human race we see today is pretty wild. I'm not questioning the validity of it, I'm questioning my ability to understand God's way of doing things.

I do know God could have wiped us all out, but he didn't. He had mercy on us - and he wants us to remember it when we see a rainbow.

God, help me to understand you.

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Fridays | Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

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Noah - Hunger for Righteousness

Before the flood, God told Noah that he was the only righteous man on earth.

The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation

I have been trying to think of the mixed feelings he probably had as he built the ark, watched everything get washed away, and came back out on to solid ground. I going to assume that through all of this, he wanted to see good.

I think all along he was hungry for God and a better world - and as the beatitude goes, he was filled.

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

So before the flood, people only ate plants. After, God allowed people to eat animals as well - as he said, he gave them everything. They were full.

As I said in the last post, this whole story is hard for me to understand clearly. I already have a list of over a dozen "whys?" from this. A few are:

Why did God make people, just to kill off most of them in the flood?

Why did he kill the animals too?

Why did he have the whole ark and flood thing - why not just a simple plague?

Why where people vegetarians before, but could eat meat after?

I don't have good answers for any of these. But my faith doesn't hinge on having all the answers. It hinges on what God has shown me through his word and in my life. With lots of unanswered questions, I am still full.

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Thursdays | Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

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