The View from the West Mesa

If there are things that together compose the sine qua non of the disciple’s life, Scripture is surely one of them. Scripture provides our primary physical revelation of both God and our purpose. It is with Scripture that we can measure our transformed being as we mature. Scripture is the authoritative record of God’s interaction with Man. But Scripture, simply learned, memorized, parsed, and critiqued in an academic sense is powerless and fruitless. Approaching Scripture as an interesting product of Man’s existence is to miss its import. Scripture’s purpose is to lead us back to where we started; back to who God made us to be. Scripture reveals in its opening verses that Man (male and female) was made in the very image of God. Unlike the other animals, there is something different about Man and his being. It is not that we have physical bodies, or legs, or lungs, or blood. That we have a spirit is closer to the mark, but does not quite grasp the image concept. That image of God that w...

As we begin a new year, we are reviewing our belief statement. Here's a draft of mine.... ___________________________ I believe first and foremost that God is, that He created everything that is, and that He sustains the creation by His power. I believe that God loves all people, that He seeks to commune with them, and that the separation of people from Him causes Him sorrow and grief. I believe that God sent Jesus to reveal the character of God, to heal Man, and to make a way for Man to return to his original relationship with God which He did by living a faithful life and dying on the cross in submission to God. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven where He mediates between God and Man. I believe that God remains active in the world through His Spirit who is given to all believers and who transforms Man by working in them and interceding between God and Man. I believe that Scripture is the divine physical record of God’s revelation of Himself and as such...

The Jesus Prayer is a very old prayer used by Christians to keep God in mind and keep themselves aware of His presence. It is very short, having a pretty much fixed content for centuries. The prayer is essentially a prayer for mercy but includes acknowledgement of Jesus's relationship with God and the Christian, and acknowledgement of the Christian's dependence on mercy as a sinner. Worded variously, an Orthodox version reads "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Worded or thought in this form, the prayer is easy to say and can be used to focus us on our mission and place in God's plan. In the middle of chaos or around distractions, this short prayer can serve a useful purpose. During periods of more extended quiet, the prayer can be expanded by reflecting on its words. The following is an example of using the prayer in this manner. "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." "Lord, master, king. I don't k...

Brother Lawrence’s Practicing the Presence of God is an interesting and rewarding read. A collection of letters, observations, and reflections by a Parisian lay brother associated with the Carmelites that lived in the second half of the 1600’s, the book represents a departure from many “standard” works on spirituality and contemplation. In fact, having read many other books, this one seems to be a bit too simple. But therein lies its value. It calls us back to where we are to be headed. You see, its easy, being human, to grasp hold of a new system of spirituality, learn its techniques in and out, and then proceed to structure our lives by it. We tend to major in living that system rather than using the system to get us where we want to be. Brother Lawrence’s advice is simple and straight forward: Decide to love God and live in His presence, and all the rest falls into place. Not that we will have an easy life physically, or that we will always enjoy what we are assigned to do, but det...

She was early forties, the wife of an up-and-coming preacher, mother of three sons, a great disciple, and a wonderful mentor and teacher. Her approach to life and commitment to God had garnered her respect and devotion from many women both younger and older than she, of the congregations she had attended. She had spoken at national conferences and University presidents attended her funeral. So why did she have to die of various abdominal cancers at her age? In six months of being diagnosed? This question has been raised a number of times and my current responsibilities require that I address this question to members of my flock. It isn’t an easy question to answer, and I’m pretty sure that whatever answer I could devise would be sufficient for some and leave others wanting. Nevertheless, I need some sort of response. It might be easier if she had died suddenly in a car accident. But she didn’t and so we’ve had our congregation and more than a few folks around the world praying for her ...

The book of Ruth is set in the time of the Judges which means that the society was characterized by everybody doing whatever they thought appropriate. There was very little national political or cultic control. We also know that God would let the Israelites have some slack, and then when they got too far out of hand, He would either send a famine or have some other tribe or country attack somewhere, so that the Israelites would appeal to God, elect a judge over them, and return to God. When they had returned, God would set right whatever was lacking in His blessing of them. It is in this atmosphere that we have the story of Ruth and we know that there is a famine in the land so that Naomi's family moves to another land for food. And it is there that Naomi's son finds a Moabitess for a wife. This is interesting since good Israelites weren't supposed to marry outside of Israel, but he does. In this place of shelter, Naomi loses her husband and her two sons, and she decides to...

I am numb. I am in shock. Everything in this place has stopped. There is no movement. No life. There is no color. No black, no white. All gray. Not like Arrangement. Poorer. Much less distinction. Gray. Shades of gray. Around this gray the world spins. Scenes fly by. Memories tease my mind. Much too quickly for me to see. But I do see. From time to time. Some familiar detail. As though those scenes have color. Some face. Some smile. But I cannot quite make it out. I sit here on these ashes. They are all that is left. I get as close to them as I can. She is here. Isn't she? I reach to touch her. And come back with silt. That leaks through my fingers. And blows away. She is not here. It is no use. She has gone. This is all I have left. These ashes. This gray place. My chest aches. My eyes sting. I cannot sit upright. I cannot breathe. God! Come to me! It is cold. Not an outside cold. Arising from within my bones. A cold that cannot be shaken. A chill I cannot escape. My bones are ba...

At the recommendation of an acquaintance I am reading "The Art of Prayer, an Orthodox Anthology," compiled by Igumen Chariton of Valamo . The book is intended as a text on developing a deeper prayer life through recitation of the Jesus Prayer. The Jesus Prayer, for those that aren't familiar with it, goes like this: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me." The book says that some add "...a sinner." The idea is that the repetition of the prayer keeps the name of Jesus at the front of one's life, and accesses the power inherent in the name of Jesus. But this is not the entirety of the book. It also includes reflections and teaching on a developing prayer life that approaches contemplation, or the actual experience of the presence of God. In this aspect the book reads somewhat like Western works, most notably to me, Thomas Merton. Merton has written many books on the topic of contemplation as well as a few others. His most well-known w...

The Amish, those quiet people who dress and live so unconventionally. These people who’s religious beliefs go back to a disagreement over foot washing, who are pretty much a side note in European and American history have come catapulting into our living rooms this past week. Not that they wanted to. Not that being on television of all things is what any of them elected to do that morning. But there they are. Caricatures of a time that most of us have left so many years ago. Curiosities as it were of a time that should be gone forever. But here they are. And what do they have to say to us? Well, what they say amounts to pretty much “Let us grieve our own, in our way. It’s nice that you want to help, but really, we’d rather move through this ordeal together – with our families. If you want to help, OK, but we’re not going to bug you about it.” They prefer apparently to go through this with just as much relative silence as they do the rest of their lives. Quite a difference from the way ...

The Fall Quarter (which lasts as long as we want) class is entitled “What Does God Want From Me?” It is a survey of the Bible, but it’s more than that. Rather than a standard survey that looks at the main stories, we are looking at what Scripture tells us about God, about ourselves, and God’s desire for us. It should be a good study. This past Sunday we surveyed Genesis chapters 1 – 4. One of the things often buried in standard surveys is the decedents of Cain. In particular, Lamech, the last descendent mentioned. Lamech, in the final position, is pictured as the worst son of Cain. He marries two wives and is recorded to have said: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: For I have slain a man for wounding me, And a young man for bruising me: If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. (ASV) Lamech thinks he’s the biggest, baddest dude on the block. “I’ve just killed someone for wounding me. Let me tell you, if you think ...

Ezekiel 2.8f – 3.2 And now, Ezekiel, open your mouth and eat what I am going to give you. Just then, I saw a hand stretched out toward me. And in it was a scroll. The hand opened the scroll, and both sides of it were filled with words of sadness, mourning, and grief. The LORD said, "Ezekiel, son of man, after you eat this scroll, go speak to the people of Israel." He handed me the scroll and said, "Eat this and fill up on it." So I ate the scroll, and it tasted sweet as honey. (ASV) Revelation 10.8-11 Once again the voice from heaven spoke to me. It said, "Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel standing on the sea and the land." When I went over to ask the angel for the little scroll, the angel said, "Take the scroll and eat it! Your stomach will turn sour, but the taste in your mouth will be as sweet as honey." I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. The taste was as sweet as honey, but my stomach turned s...

Congratulations on your baptism! Below are some thoughts about baptism and the Christian life that would be worth your reading and maybe even keeping in your Bible. This letter is a little long, but I just didn’t know how to make it any shorter. Your baptism marks your decision to follow our God, to yield yourself to Him, to let Him make you like Him no matter the cost. It is a milestone along your journey back to God. It is not the culmination or end of that journey, but comes near the beginning of a life-long adventure. The Christian journey is one of transformation, of being completely re-formed. We change from selfishness and fear toward other-centeredness and confident submission. Just as our God loves you, let Him change you into someone who loves others. While that idea seems easy and desirable, in practice it can be hard and frightening as you attempt to make the idea concrete in your every day life. It is eternally imperative that you see your decision to follow God as absolut...

Explanation: At last night’s meeting of the Sacrament Review Committee, I made a comment, well several I suppose, that apparently revealed myself to be a heretic and ignorant. I make that conclusion based on the number of gasps, choking noises, and the number of people leaping away from anticipated lightening bolts. My comment was that God’s story isn’t about God, but creation. This post is intended to illustrate my comments and to place them in perspective. God’s Story In one aspect it is patently obvious that God’s story is about God. After all, who else would God’s story be about? Isn’t that why we would call it God’s story? Well of course. God is the actor, He does great and mighty things, it is He who moves in history to craft and to cause what He wants. Similarly, it is clear that any biography is the story of the person whose name is on the front of the book. It is a story about what they did, a description of their life. But a person’s story, if read only to get the details of ...

Scripture, as we have received it, has a particular nature and particular purposes. It is in fact a tool given to us to eventuate in some anticipated end. Regardless of our positions on textual criticism, on whether the Canon is the canon, the actual authorship of any particular writing, or the historicity of Scripture and its record as such, Scripture demands that it be taken seriously. To that end, I offer the following observations. The nature of Scripture is what makes it much more than just another set of writings. Our belief that at least some aspect of its writing, development, and collation lies in the very person of God, requires that we consider what it says with considerably more weight than the writings of our favorite philosopher or devotional writer. If God has decided to speak to us, we need to listen. However, Scripture also has a purpose. Perhaps the most famous self-explanatory passages is 2 Timothy 3.16. Or again, Paul’s statement that the purpose of various minister...

Just got back from South Carolina....3400 miles round trip in six days - with two dedicated to family stuff and sightseeing. I feel like standing up all day! Got to drive through the Smokey Mountains, along I-40. On the way it stormed up a storm! Couldn't see past the end of the car's hood! Neat man! Neat! The Smokeys are beautiful and the fog just adds to the ambiance. Time with family is of most importance, and we got two days to visit and enjoy each other. Met one son's girlfriend and got to harrass her for a while. She's a sport so she passed. As good as the trip was, there were some issues that developed, and I'd like the states involved to fix these before my next road trip: The interstate system was made to get lots of traffic from point A to point B quickly. The idea of a maximum speed of only 70 is pointless. My cars will easily do more than a hundred, and so let's look at boosting that speed limit some. Is there really any difference between the inters...

Christians, among other things, are told to tell others about our God. Having told them, we are to train them in the way of our God. Individual Christians, through mentoring and friendship, as well as the church through its ministries of grace and teaching, contribute to the maturing and growth of disciples. Paul’s admonition that we should allow God to transform us into His likeness indicates the individual disciple’s part in becoming Christlike. Spiritual formation is an on-going, life-long pursuit and service for ourselves and others. The demand of spiritual formation affect every aspect of our lives – personal, marital, familial, vocational. If the Christian life, if our submission to God, if our transformation, is worth anything, it must include our very being. Spiritual formation then is not something else Christians do. We don’t go to church, engage in ministry, worship God, and then do some spiritual formation work. Rather, like all these others, spiritual formation is what we ...

Met Claudia today. Nice lady. Seems she is a resident at a residential care facility here. She’s been here only a week or two, the result of moving here with her daughters. They had moved here for work and asked if she wanted to move with them. She did. One of Claudia’s daughters had called the church office, wanting someone to visit her mother. I happened to be there harassing our Youth Intern as he worked on the new webpage and our office administrator gave me the message. I’m glad she did. Claudia is a talkative and relatively energetic lady. She’s in a wheel chair because apparently she tends to black out without warning. She sees the wisdom in using the chair, although I get the impression that given the chance, she’d just as soon take a relaxing stroll outside. After assuring Claudia that we’d have folks come and talk, bring her communion, and a congregational bulletin, I asked if she’d like to attend services at the church. She was concerned about not having a dress to wear. You...

On one of the listserves that I read, someone asked "Why Did You Change? Over time or was it sort of an epiphany?" I thought that was a pretty good question and so I responded with the following: In my case, epiphany is closer to the answer. But it didn't happen over night. I used to be a rather callous react-er. No more. By now, you all should know that I read and read about, and reflect on Scripture. That certainly has something to do with the change. There have also been EO classes and acceptance training. In addition, I've seen little kids, to whom I had given chocolate the day before, now dead on the street and sidewalks, having died from mortar or sniper fire. I've had grown women and men ask - plead - for help. I have seen the panic and anxiety in their eyes. And I have not been able to help in the immediate moment. I would not want to be where they were. I have seen men shot by snipers as they walk down their streets. I have learned that my value, your val...

Last week's Pepperdine Lectures trip was another enjoyable and rewarding trip. Classes were great (Cope, Shelley, Anderson, Beam, Walling, et al.), and the key notes were pretty good too. Weather was a bit of a downer the first part of the week - overcast and rather cold for southern California, but the last couple or three days were as expected - sunny and warm with just a slight breeze to cool it down a bit. Ate way too much at our evening group meals. Fresh fish is great, but too much of it will add a few pounds and inches - especially when paired with creamy crab and shrimp sauces. By the end of the week I had reverted to my now regular habit of hitting some morning classes, buying some books, eating lunch on the university plaza, and talking to folks. Hit a couple afternoon classes, but generally the conversation, sun, and flowing Coke and tea were enough to keep me on the plaza until dinner time. Bought just a few books, mostly from some of the speakers - autographed of cours...

January is routinely resolution month with many of us making the same resolutions we made last January and gave up on in February. Let's face it, if we were going to exercise more, do we really need to make that decision in January? And if we do, what does that say about our earnestness in making that decision? What kinds of resolutions have you made in the past? Have they had to do with you - eating better, exercising more, reading better books? Most resolutions I suspect are usually me-centered. After all, there's little to no accountability with those. What's wrong with a banana split for breakfast every now and then anyway? While there's nothing wrong with resolutions that deal more with me, how much better would be resolutions that improve the way we interact with people. Resolutions that have to do with learning to be, and trying to be better parents, better spouses, better Christians seem to be higher resolutions because they are focused on becoming the kinds of ...

Congratulations on achieving a great milestone! This is but one of many to come over the next few decades, leading to the one that will usher you into the presence of our God. It is that milestone on which I urge you to keep your focus. All the others between now and then will simply be steps in that direction which, if you choose wisely, will keep the track of your life directed squarely toward that final marker. God created Man in His image which means that somewhere in all of us – in you – is the image of our God. That image, that imprint, that spiritual DNA if you will, is the real picture of who you are called – who you were made – to be. In reality, it is you. Many people see their life’s journey as an outward trek, one that reveals more of themselves to themselves as they experience more. It is true that we grow as we experience life, but our journey to ourselves is really a round trip journey – we end up where we started and where we are meant to be, discovering in ourselves a ...