An invitation

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come into his presence with singing.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he that made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him, bless his name.

For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures for ever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 100

When I think of "heart" ...

In the Scripture lessons read on Tuesday one has stuck with me. It is as follows:

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;

you put an end to those who are false to you.

But for me it is good to be near God;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

to tell of all your works.

Psalm 73:26-28

When I think of "heart" I think of ...

• what is central such as "the heart of the matter";
• love as in "I love you with all my heart";
• hurting such as a 'broken heart';
• rhythm as in the beating of one's heart;
• a constant flow of not only the blood through the heart but of life in our experience;
• a consistent movement from tension to rest; and,
• a promise such as "I cross my heart".

So for me to say, God is the strength of my heart acknowledges that it takes the power of God to be or do or say anything from the heart. Indeed, for me it takes the power of God just for the heart to beat.

Challenge and support

Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today’, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end.
Hebrews 3:11b-14

The place where I see this come to the most in effect is in a covenant group I meet with every Thursday morning at 7:00 AM. We meet at a Shoney's. The day begins with sharing how God has been good to us in the past week, read aloud the coming sermon text, answer aloud questions to its application to our daily life, and make a covenant that we plan to keep by the next week's group meeting. We are those who seek to 'exhort one another every day ... we have become partners of Christ ..."

Such adds a lot to my life in both challenge and support.

Find a place where you, too, may meet with other Christians for both challenge and support in following Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God ...

"Because he (Jesus) himself was tested by what he suffered,

he is able to help those who are being tested"

(Hebrews 2:18).

The writer of Hebrews is once again demonstrating that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is to be the center of the Christian life. What this reminds me of is a church history professor that would always conclude his lectures by drawing a cross at the center of the blackboard saying once again, 'In spite of all of this, Christ is to be our center!'

In Hebrews 2 we see Christ-centeredness in words like these:

• Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard (2:1a, referring to chapter one that speaks of the identity of Jesus);
• the message of the kingdom of God "was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him..." (v. 3);
• we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone (v. 9);
• he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death (v. 14b-15).

What's the point of this? That, somehow or another, the life, death, and resurrection has prepared us for what we are to face each day ... even today.

And even more, that Jesus Christ is our reliable source of help. Turn to him, give him thanks, and walk with confidence.

Thanks be to God.

Good to hear ...

And, ‘In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth,

and the heavens are the work of your hands;

they will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like clothing; like a cloak you will roll them up,

and like clothing they will be changed.

But you are the same, and your years will never end.’

(Hebrews 1:11-12)

Good to hear this morning.

For either those who lost your dad or had an abusive father

My dad died when I was twelve and he had just turned forty-six. So the story begins. At that age I did not yet know how to handle it. I remember that I did not cry. It just felt numb. Dad was a good father who took healthy time with his children. As examples: he took time for conversation; answered questions; gave good advice; helped us understand; listened as we practiced the piano; participated with us in church; and safely taught us how to do different practical things such as cut the grass.

In the last couple of years I have slowly come to realize that I needed to walk through the loss of my father again so I began in being counseled to read a book on the subject. The book I chose was by Beth M. Erickson entitled Longing for Dad: Father Loss and Its Impact. Dr. Erickson writes from her experience for her father died at the age of fifty when she was just nine. She admits that she first responded by "submerging her own needs and feelings" for such was encouraged in her family setting. Next, she tells of how she dealt with her loss in a more healthy way (8f). She uses her experiential pattern to write the rest of her book by noting negative responses to the death or abuse of a father followed by noting a number of different healthy ways of walking through such. She even touches on spiritual issues in the loss of a father. Just as a note, she became a family psychologist and divorce mediator.

This reading and reflection has been of help to me and I confess that I am now aching as if my father's death has just occurred. In one sense, the healing process continues. In another, it has just begun.

Titus 3:4-8a

But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Saviour appeared, 5he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is sure.

Enough said ...