Jamie Greening's Blog, page 54

FINDING GOD’S WILL–A GUEST POST FROM JOE CHAMBERS

Today we have a special Greenbean treat. My friend, Pastor Joe Chambers--a
climber of mountains, walker of trails, and student of the ancient ways,
shares some suggestions for how we can know and do the will of God. In
addition to being a pastor, Joe writes two blogs, one called Field Notes on
The Jesus Way, the other is titled Above Tree Line. I encourage you to check them
both out.

Guidelines for Finding God’s Will

To walk out of His will is to walk into nowhere. ― C.S. Lewis

Pastor Joe Chambers

I have come to believe that contemporary Christians do not have a good working theology for discerning God’s leading in our lives. I blame our consumer oriented culture that is bent on selling us what we are not aware we even need. And I point my boney finger at the prosperity Gospel on the airwaves and which lines our Christian bookstores. They in essence say that God’s will for you is health, wealth and a career trajectory that always points up and to the right.

When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his execution he pleaded with God to come up with an alternative plan for redeeming and restoring creation. Heaven was silent. Yet he walked in full obedience to God’s will without the companion of joy, peace or happiness. The clouds didn’t part and the angels didn’t begin to sing like a choir at any time when Jesus was in the Garden.

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. Hebrews 5:8

Obedience is hard.

So, what are some good guidelines for hearing from God? These have proven helpful for me.

1. Open Doors

Where do you want to go?

Sometimes a door opens before me; sometimes a door closes in my face, but God often uses these to get my attention to something he is saying as he teases me to follow him into the future.

2. Holy Nudgings

Something deep inside me resonates with the open door. Some itch is aching to be scratched and the opportunity before me looks like a bristle brush. It is deeper than a want. Wants are surface felt-needs. God leads me through the deeper ache of soul-desires. I try to discern the difference.

3. Biblical Precedence

I don’t take one step through an open door or take one swipe at that inner itch if I can’t find something like it that parallels the ancient scriptures. Part of the reason we have the old stories is to give us a reliable roadmap for how God has led his people in the past.

4. Godly Counsel

When I’ve vetted the opportunity, discerned whether the itch is a want or a desire, and been informed by the Word of God then I verbally process my findings with godly people who have my best interest at heart. If they don’t corroborate the narrative I sense God writing in the first three guidelines, I slow down and rethink. I don’t keep looking for someone who eventually agrees with my narrative. Their role is to help me objectify what I am hearing. Spiritual friends always help me hear God’s voice.

I have learned that as I walk moment-by-moment with the rabbi from Galilee while listening to his quiet voice, then seeing where He wants me to go is clearer even if it’s not always easy.

But at least we will be together, and that is somewhere.

SOMEDAY . . .

I spent some time this morning pondering the biblical story of Caleb’s boldness in Joshua 14:6-15.  The essence of the story is that at eighty-five years of age, Caleb was chomping at the bit to claim the land that was promised to him by Moses forty-five years earlier.  He was not afraid of the giants, the Anakim, who occupied that land.  He knew he could take them because the Lord had promised him.

Verse 12 gives us a little of his gumption:

So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities.  It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.

Remember, that is an eighty-five year old man saying that.  Lest you think that is some kind of ‘well everyone was older in the Bible’ stuff, even the Bible makes a big deal here about how old Caleb is.

HOW FREE-RANGE CHILDREN REVEAL FLIP FLOPPING SENSIBILITIES

Parenting is hard enough, now this.

In case you missed it (ICYMI) click here for the link to the story making the news rounds today.  Here is the summary:  The ten year old and six year old children of Alexander and Danielle Meitiv were playing the park, alone, near their Maryland home when agents of Child Protective Services picked them up.  When the kids didn’t come home on time, the parents became worried and searched all evening for their children.  Eventually they found out their children were at CPS, and around 10:30 that evening were allowed to leave with their children, but only after they agreed to sing a “safety-plan” in which the promised to not leave their children unattended at all.

Neglected?

The juicy bit is that this happened back in January too, and it has sparked a big debate about the issue of child safety and unsupervised play.

I have some opinions about all of this, but that is not what is on my mind this morning.  What I am thinking about is how the nature of the debate on such issues has changed dramatically during my life time.  Here is what I am talking about:  If we had told this story back in the glorious 70s or 80s, it would have been assumed that it was Republican conservatives forcing values down the throat of culture by making those children go home because children loose on the roads and in the parks was dangerous, they might learn something to liberate their minds or something.  It would have been Democratic liberals who would have triumphed the cause of letting these children play–the kids are alright–they can have their own adventures to self-discovery and knowledge without the constant shadow of mom and dad and the totalitarian state breathing down their neck.

Today that those views have flipped completely.  It is the liberal agenda to let the government control families, education, and distill what is and is not acceptable knowledge, what is proper language, and how a person should think.  To the contrary, it is the conservative agenda to rail against the nanny state, the intrusion of big government, and to espouse the reliability of the family and the primacy of the individual even if there are obvious dangers in such a course of action.

If this news story had happened back in the 70s or 80s, liberals would have been up-in-arms over this kind of governmental abuse, while conservatives would have probably accused the family of being communist or something.

The change in perspective of this is probably a reflection of the change of direction that civil discourse has taken in the United States.  It is no longer about liberal or conservative, but about progressive and (little L) libertarian.  These are the cultural ideals that will shape the future.  Progressives generally believe that government should regulate every aspect of life to make certain that everyone gets the same.  Libertarians generally believe that people should govern themselves with as little intrusion from the government as possible.

Currently, progressives have landed in the Democratic party, while libertarians have settled into the Republican party.  Yet neither one is completely at home in either.  I think the next few years of elections could prove interesting, especially as technology makes libertarians more prevalent and the growth of government colors the imagination of new voters who don’t remember anything other than the officially sanctioned thought police.

image from http://www.wusa9.com

A BOOK REVIEW OF “A FALL OF SPARROWS”

Last night I completed A Fall of Sparrows, the debut novel from Paul J. Bennett and published by Athanatos Publishing Group.    It took me a little over a week to read, but a novel of this length I would normally have finished quicker.  Easter got in the way a bit.  I read the Kindle version, which is available for a steal at $4.99.  I would rate the book at PG-13, because of the war violence.  There is no profanity or explicit sexual content.

Synopsis:  In the middle of the American Civil War, a school teacher turned rugged Confederate soldier named Will Seymour has a worldview shifting experience when he encounters a young runaway slave girl named Evaline.  Will becomes Evaline’s protector, committed to the mission of escorting her safely through hostile Confederate territory to the North, where she can continue on her way to true safety in Canada.  Along the way they counter dangers, many adversaries, and battle constant hunger and lack of supplies.

Who Would Like This Book:  People who love historical fiction, literary fiction, nature writing, Civil War enthusiasts, people interested in race relations, idealists, and people who like journey stories.  If you are a fan of The Outlaw Josey Wales, you’d probably like this book.

What I Really Liked About Sparrows:  There is much to like, but four things stand out.  First, Bennett does a great job with his history.  He completely nails the food shortage and scarcity of the Confederate Army, as well as the overall picture of life in Virginia during the war.  Second, sometimes the prose soared to superb heights as he described the natural surroundings.  To me, it felt at times, a little Thoreauish.  Third, Bennett tells a complete story that holds the readers suspense from the first page to the last.  Many first time novelists lose their way in the midst of their story, losing the juice of the original idea.  Bennett avoid this pitfall by sliding the main characters in and out of new dangers and challenges without changing the nature or essence of the story.  Four, I love the idealized way I can read back into the racial and sexual component of the tale.  Even though it is historical, the relationship aspects of it are shockingly contemporary.

What I Found Difficult in Sparrows:  Not much, but there are a couple of things that I didn’t find so pleasing, but these are mostly personal preference issues.  One, Bennett uses dialect for Evaline’s speech.  I’ve worked with dialect in some of my writings in the past, and know how hard it can be to write, but as a reader, I’ve decided I don’t like it.  It distracts from the story instead of adds to it.  Second, I think Will’s transformation from one worldview to another is rushed.  As a reader, I would have liked to spend more time on that process, and I think it would have taken Will, a life long slaver from Georgia, longer to work through that than the couple of pages afforded it in the text.

What I Found Fascinating:  It is obvious to me that Bennett loves firearms.  Some of the most detailed descriptions in the whole book are about the different rifles, guns, pistols, and such that were in play during the Civil War.  Whereas most writers might simply say that, “He loaded his rifle” Bennett gives us a description of the loading action of the individual rifle, its firing mechanism, how the minie ball fired, the color of the smoke, and who in the army might carry that kind of weapon.

I also found the brief epilogue fascinating.  I can’t tell if it is Bennett telling us as the reader that this is essentially a true story, or if it is a part of the story itself.

Final Analysis:  I highly recommend A Fall of Sparrows.

OH NETFLIX, WHY DO YOU VEX ME SO?

You know you share a Netflix account with your wife when you get this horrifying email.  Nothing more needs to be said.

INTO THE WOODS–A MOVIE REVIEW (NO SPOILERS)

Our family divided our movie time up yesterday.  The youngest sprout went with some friends to see the newest retelling of Exodus.  She hated it, and I’ve never been more proud.  She pointed out to me, blow by blow, of all the places where the film was absurd and inaccurate.  Bravo little Greenbean, bravo!

At the same time she watched that Mrs. Greenbean and I watched “Into the Woods” with the oldest sprout.

What I Liked

The acting was great.  I was very relieved, however, that Johnny Depp‘s presence on screen was short lived.  Meryl Streep came very close to over-acting, but, she’s Meryl Streep so she can get away with it.  Emily Blunt, James Corden, and Anna Kendrick were all solid and the children, Daniel Huttlestone as Jack and Lilla Crawford as Little Red Ridding Hood were more than up to the challenge.  Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen nearly steal the show with their “Who is in the greatest agony sing-off” at the waterfall.  Captain Kirk (Pine) really hammed it up, which kept it from being ridiculous, like that time James Bond sang in “Mamma Mia!” or when The Gladiator sang in “Les Miserables.”  Remember those?  How can we ever forget.

Thankfully, this isn’t Mamma Mia! or Les Mis.

The humor in the movie was good too, which was a credit to the writing and probably goes back to the Broadway show.  The movie has dark overtones throughout, but the flippant and almost throwaway laugh lines keep it from becoming a complete downer.

Along those lines, the best line in the film goes to Pine.  “I was raised to be charming, not sincere.”  Awesome.

What I Didn’t Like

I DIDN’T KNOW THIS WAS A MUSICAL!  I WAS TRICKED!  Apparently my wife knew.  I complained about this on Facebook and a friend asked me, “What did you expect from Stephen Sondheim?”  My only answer was that I didn’t check the credits that closely.  I had no idea.

I also didn’t like the staging, technical effects, and look of the film.  Seriously, at times it looked like Willow.  The scenes with the giant woman were blurry and obscure and I think the whole thing was filmed on the backlot.  How cheap was the set design?  The Prince’s palace is relegated to the stairs.  The village looks like it was borrowed from the television show “Once Upon A Time.”  Speaking of which . . .

Another thing I didn’t like is that it felt like “Once Upon A Time.”  In case you haven’t seen that show, it is a mash-up of every fairytale character you can think of, all living in one universe.  That’s pretty much what “Into the Woods” is.  I know that “Into the Woods” came first as a book and musical back in the 80s, but it is all beginning to feel a bit recycled.

Guess what?  Guess what?  One of the previews informed me that they are making another . . . wait for it . . .  wait for it . . . Cinderella.  Just what we needed.  The world is being overtaken by superheroes and fairy tales.

What I Really Really Didn’t Like

Not much here–and notice I didn’t say hate, because, even though it was a musical (and for the record, I don’t hate musicals, I just have to be in the right mindset for them, okay) there was nothing I really hated.  But I didn’t like the sexual innuendo found between The Witch and the Baker’s Father or between The Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood.  I understand that it is pitching to adult audiences, but I just didn’t like it.

I also didn’t like the sudden and capricious way in which characters died in the movie.  No spoilers, just that when it comes, it comes with little exposition or explanation, and little emotional reflection by the survivors.

There is one more thing I didn’t like.  I didn’t like the way in which the movie changed about two-thirds through.  I felt like I was a horse being ridden in one direction, watching one kind of movie, and then Ouch! the riders tugged the reigns hard in a different direction and forced me to watch a totally different kind of film.  It really is a movie with a split personality.  It starts one way, and then changes abruptly.  I didn’t like that.

Overall

My overall grade is C+.  If you really like musicals, then you might rate it higher.  Both Mrs. Greenbean and the oldest sprout loved the music and I perceive an iTunes download of the soundtrack will be coming forthwith.

images from imbd.com and tumblr.com

REVIEWING MY 2014 PREDICTIONS

You can read the original post of my 2014 predictions by clicking here.  Let’s take a look at how I did.

Where I was Really Right!

I predicted the Seattle Seahawks would win the Super Bowl.  I could not have been more right about that, now could I?

I predicted Lady Gaga would disappear, and, indeed, that she has.  Consider this little gem, though, from South by Southwest here in Austin (click here–although, it is not for the weak of stomach).

I predicted that Pope Francis would work to build serious bridges with Protestants.  Yeah, nailed it!  For evidence of my rightness, check out the December cover of Christianity Today.

Congress did, as I predicted, pass a budget.  It is just about all they did this year.

Where I Was Somewhat Right

I predicted that ‘subterranean life’ would be discovered on Mars.  That didn’t happen, but just last week it was announced that they found methane and water.  Then, there is this from earlier this year that I have already blogged about. 

I was sorta right about the Tea Party too.  I predicted it would start a slow decline.  Well, it has.  Sure there are strongholds and they have clout, but the GOP wins in the midterms demonstrates the traditional branch is still in control.

Facebook is still with us, even though I predicted a sharp decline for it.  However, there is little doubt that Facebook has lost the ‘it’ factor.  It is no longer cool with the under 20 crowd.  I think Instagram and Vine have taken over that spot.

Where I Was Completely Wrong

William Snowden did not win the Noble Prize for Peace.  He has, however, passed into culture as something of a hero to many.

Egypt did not revert to a monarchy and Iraq did not detonate a nuclear bomb.  Either one of these things, though, could happen in 2015.  You know its true.

I give myself a C- on my prognostication.  We will see how I do in 2015.

2015 PREDICTIONS

Here it goes, some predictions for the coming year.  Everyone else is doing it, so why doesn’t old Greenbean give it a shot?  Disclaimer:  I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet.  I have no crystal ball.  Clairvoyance is not a gift I possess or desire to possess.  These are only guesses based on my understanding of things.  For comparison, click here to see how I did with my 2014 predictions.

1. There will be major social and political upheaval in China.  The Communist Party may fall.

2. By the end of the year, Elizabeth Warren will displace Hillary Clinton as the frontrunner for the Democratic nominee for President, and will be the eventual nominee.

3. U2 will release an album and not give any of the music away for free.

4. Apple stock will plummet this year as people realize that the most innovative company on the planet is suddenly just another gadget maker.

5. The price of oil will begin to climb in the spring and will again be around $100 a barrel by December. Consequently, gas prices will also rise back to somewhere around $4.00 a gallon.

6. The NFC Championship game will be The Seattle Seahawks versus the Dallas Cowboys.

7. The San Francisco Giants will not win the World Series in 2015, because it is their year off.

8. ISIS will carry out a major 9-11ish style attack in Europe. Probably somewhere along the Mediterranean.  I so hope I’m wrong on this one.

9. Comprehensive immigration reform will finally be passed in the U.S. Congress.

10. The Supreme Court of the United States will hear and decide the status of same-sex marriages, ending the odd state-by-state situation.

11. CNN will, for all intent and purposes, collapse, and Wolf Blitzer will be donated to the Smithsonian.

12.  Russia will invade and annex the whole of Ukraine while the United States and Europe protest, but do nothing.

13.  Sadly, and I so very much hope this doesn’t happen, I predict Miley Cyrus will die of a drug overdose or some other dangerous behavior.  Sad.  Very sad.  She needs help–so many of them do.

I would love to know what you are predicting for 2015–be it good or ill.

crystal ball image from nativemobile.com

CHRISTMAS PRAYER 2014

Heavenly Father, the first thing I’d like to do in my prayer today is to thank you for sending your son, Jesus Christ our Lord, into the world.  He didn’t have to come, but it was a choice he made, in a divine conspiracy with you and the Holy Spirit to rescue us.  It must have been an act of love and passion, because I can’t think of any reason why the creator of all that is, who lives in perfect trinitarian fellowship, would want to live amongst us.  We are so contaminated with hate, jealousy, pride, violence, greed, lust, and intolerance that it is hard for me to think about how jolting it must have been for you.  Yet in love you chose, in Messiah Jesus, to live as one of us, just as we do–coughing, bleeding, with fatigue, soreness, blisters, sweat and snot.  I don’t pretend to understand how you did it, how you were human and still God, how you were the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as three different persons but one God, but I believe, just as those who have come before me, that you indeed did it.  You lived like us, and you died like us.  Mystery is the only way I can describe it, and love is the only explanation I have for it, so I thank you.

It feels like every Christmas I end up asking you for some of the same things.  The locations change, but the requests are the same.  I ask, O Lord, that you help us find some way of bringing peace in the world.  I ask that wars and strivings cease in far away places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and in Central Africa.  I ask that ISIS, al Qaeda, the LRA and other oppressive militaristic groups be defeated.  I ask that violence end, that peace flourish, and hope erupt.

There are many issues here, though, within the borders of the nation I love that are hard to imagine.  Somehow, Almighty God, show us how to achieve a justice and equitable society in which criminals are punished but the innocent are not unjustly beaten or killed.  We have a severe lack of trust that stems from generations of suspicion, fear, racism, crime, and the politics of division.  Please forgive us of our past and help us make a future so that we never have reason to see protests on the streets of America again.

I have a spiritual request too, Lord God.  I fear that ‘church,’ or what passes for church, has lost its way.  At one extreme it can look like a neurotic control freak trying to tell everyone else what to do.  At the other extreme it often looks like a lethargic glutton who will not get off the couch.  Neither one of these is good.  I pray that you bring a new generation of leadership with the boldness to call us out on our sins of selfishness, and then lead us to a better way.  I love the church, but fear we are on a path of self-destruction.  Save us from ourselves.

Things seem to have gotten a little better, Lord, in the last couple of years, but I know that many people are hungry, economically distressed, unemployed, and broke this Christmas season.  Help those who want jobs to find jobs, bring relief to those who have ended up on the wrong end of the economic field, and allow honest businesses to thrive.  I intercede also for those caught on the struggle of a political border between two nations–one wealthy and one not.  I pray for all immigrants, that they would find what they need.  I ask that our politicians gain the courage to formulate policy that makes sense and which is true to our highest ideals.  How ironic, Lord, that immigration is on my mind as we celebrate the birth of Jesus–who lived as an immigrant during his toddler years.  It is kinda sad, Lord.  Help us to do better, I know we can.

For many people Christmas has become all about family, tradition, and nostalgia.  I reject those as spiritually inadequate for the grandness of the miracle of the incarnation, nevertheless I am grateful for my family, our family traditions, and the memories of those who are no longer with us but who rest in eternity.  I ask that this Christmas be one of joy, laughter, and rich spiritual meaning.  In the name of Jesus I ask, submitting to his divine will and certain that whatever good I imagine or ask for is far less than his desire for peace, hope, goodness, and love in this world.  Amen.

WE MADE CHRISTMAS TREES WITH OUR THUMBS!

That is exactly what we did.

Every Tuesday I go to our local elementary school and help first graders with their reading.  It is amazing to me how much progress they have made already.  When I started this year, it was mostly me reading to them.  Now, they read to me and I only have to help them from time to time with the really hard words and those nefarious and questionable diphthongs.  I suspect by May we’ll be reading Dostoevsky and Asimov.

Where is Thumbkin?

Last Tuesday, the last one before Christmas break, we didn’t read, though.  Our teacher, the wonderful and awesome Joni, instead asked me to help make their art project.  I had so much fun.  My job was to help them dip their thumb in the paint, then make the Christmas tree shape on a piece of tile.  We did this with one thumb print on top, then a row of two below, a row of three below that, and then a row of four on the bottom.  Then we finished with a line of brown paint for the trunk.

Christmas trees with our thumbs.  How cool is that.

In the middle of the project we had a fire drill.  Do you know how long it has been since I’ve been in a fire drill?  It was very exciting.  The students and teachers did a great job.  It seemed like every last soul was out of the building in about 30 seconds or less.  They were super efficient.

Once everyone was accounted for, we went back in and finished our trees.

Teacher Joni with the Greenbean

My Tuesday hour at the elementary school is a weekly reminder that I shouldn’t take myself so seriously, that everyone can make a difference, and that the future is in good hands.