Jeff Noble's Blog, page 14
March 7, 2021
The $2 trillion COVID Relief Package
March 5, 2021
Ordinary Celebrity: Jeremy Woodall
March 4, 2021
Nuff Said: Bad Lip Readings
February 28, 2021
It’s time to dance again
February 27, 2021
No social media withdrawals
February 12, 2021
A thirsty soul
“As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.” (Psalm 42:1)
Have you ever been thirsty? Like truly, tongue-dried, parched-throat, exhausted and needing a drink? After a day of mowing the lawn (or these days of shoveling the driveway from snow), I get that way. When a glass of water wets your palette, it’s better than a full wallet. But the condition before satisfaction is thirst.
I’m a runner. It’s weird to confess that. I only started running a few years ago to get ready for a trip to Montenegro. I just never stopped. Well, actually I do. I’m a stopper. I stop to catch my breath every 3/4 of a mile or so. It’s because I pant. I know some of you professional runners will inform me of why I do this – my pace is too fast / I don’t breathe properly / or my lungs, like the Grinch’s heart, are two sizes too small. I don’t know why, but I stop because I pant. Hard.
I can relate easily with these two responses – thirsting and panting. The Psalm describes a deer panting for flowing streams of water. The writer compares the deer’s longing for refreshment to his soul’s desire for God.
Your soul’s desire for GodThink about that. Your soul desires God. He made you. He loves you. It’s natural (or supernatural) that you long for that which you were created – intimacy with God. Living life in love with God (and being confident of His love for you) is how you were made to live and function.
Your soul desires God.
Is this a time in your life that you deeply long for something and you just can’t put your finger on it? In this pandemic-crazed world, don’t be so quick to ascribe your inner unsettledness to the lack of normalcy around you. It may be that the lack of normalcy around you has awakened you to a deeper thirst. In a non-pandemic/divided world, the distractions and routines of a normal, busy life may have masked your soul’s deeper thirst.
It’s normal thirst for God is not being weakly quenched by other things, and now it’s desperately parched.
Jesus quenchesIt’s no accident that Jesus would offer a woman “living water.” The account takes places in John 4. Initially, she thinks He’s referring to well water (since they’re beside a well), but Jesus distinguishes between water that will quench temporarily and water that will totally and ultimately satisfy the thirst of the soul.
He speaks about Himself. He is the living water.
Are you thirsty?Later in the Psalm, the writer speaks to his own soul. He senses inner unsettledness and turmoil. Sometimes we need to do this – to speak to our soul in honesty:
“Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?”
It’s an honest, piercing question. But even greater is when the writer preaches to his own soul:
“Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.” (Psalm 42:5, 11)
A downcast soul lectured to.
An assurance of future praise.
These are the real, nitty gritty moments of faith. In mid-despondency, there is the recognition of lack and inner need, and then there’s the command to see that God is at work, that His love is active even when not perceived and to shift into praise.
Are you worn out? Struggling? Despondent? You may simply be thirsty. For God. The real you, your soul, was created to have its needs met – its thirsts quenched – by God.
It’s wonderful to read Psalm 42 and then to turn to the more well-known Psalm 23 and re-discover the promises there from the Good Shepherd. This time it’s sheep, not deer in the imagery, but its familiar words remind us that our good, loving God will lead us beside still waters to quench our thirst and give us rest in Him.
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:1-3)
How thirsty is your soul?
No visits yetFebruary 5, 2021
Top Posts of 2020
Does anyone really want to think about 2020 at this point? Now that 2021 is vying for infamy, perhaps it’s helpful to remember the “good old days” of last year. Even though it’s February, I didn’t want to neglect the traditional look back at the posts that I wrote last year. Here are the 10 most trafficked, with #10 being the most-read of 2020.
A note to churches: insist on sabbatical (July 29)I was blessed to take a sabbatical during June-August, and one of my posts was written to other churches, encouraging them to bless and require their ministry leaders to take an extended season of rest and renewal.Digital downsizing and learning to “watch” again (February 10)
I haven’t worn a watch for a LONG time. I’ve relied on my cell phone. However, this post describes why I bought a watch (and also why it wasn’t an Apple Watch). I actually bought four watches and previewed them all before settling on a winner.
COVID Chronicles: Comfort and hope (August 17)COVID Chronicles was a series of blog entries I began last year. This post about comfort and hope seemed to strike a significant chord.Top Books I Read in 2019 (January 7)
Maybe it was because everyone found themselves need to do more reading in 2020. We have spent so much time behind screens that the feel of book in your hands was soul settling. You can link to my other books-in-a-year posts from this one as well.Decision fatigue (September 19)
This post had some great feedback in the comments. After I returned to the church in the fall, I was able to see how tired I had been prior to my sabbatical. One of the primary reasons was making decisions.
Tribute: Dr. W.O. Vaught (March 1)My pastor when I was a teenager died in 1989. He pastored faithfully at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock for 38 years. His ministry and teaching has radically shaped how I preach today.A viral post: Humor, Jesus and COVID (April 3)
Even though it was super early in the pandemic, and we were just about to try “15 Days to Slow the Spread,” I wanted to share my two-pronged prescription for staying sane: humor and Jesus.Everything could change.. what COVID-19 has done for us (March 19)
Reading this post that was written just four days after my church’s first online service is truly centering. I want my attitude NOW (after a year) to be just as focused as it was THEN, regardless of circumstances.Why I bought and sold an Apple Watch in 24 hours (February 18)
My “digital downsizing” article came in as the ninth-most popular article of the year. My shocking revelation – as an Apple fanboy- that I had snubbed the Apple Watch earned the second highest traffic of the year.
And drumroll… the most visited post of last year was:
How the coronavirus could reshape the university system (March 11)This post about how the university system could/should be transformed speaks more loudly and prophetically today than it did in March before schools began to move to online classes completely.Which post did you enjoy from 2020?
I’d love to hear from you. You can peruse the archives here to identify another post that you enjoyed that isn’t listed above.
Personal LikesWhile the above 10 posts got the most site traffic last year, the following posts were some that I enjoyed writing and would classify as being worth reading/revisiting:
Easter: nothing prepared us for this (April 11)It may have been the first time in world history that so many churches across the globe voluntarily didn’t gather together on Christianity’s signature Sunday celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. I still don’t know how I feel about us not meeting together last year for Easter.Overwhelmed (June 18)
Shortly after I began my sabbatical, I wrote this in self-awareness. I was overwhelmed (in many ways, I still am!).
Dying for the mob (July 14)In a summer of tumult due to rioting in several cities across the nation, I looked back at the riot before the cross and examined similarities.COVID Chronicles: why me (September 11)
This LONG post in the series traced the historical role of pastors and the influence they’ve wielded on culture and politics. The reticence of ministry leaders in speaking boldly, lovingly and truthfully last year about sensitive societal issues was a deep burden to me.COVID Chronicles: Three commitments (December 12)
This post spoke to the absence of civility in our discussions last year. I recommended commitments to: A commitment to one another, A commitment to a reduction of volume, and A commitment to thinking.(Visited 12 times, 1 visits today)
January 31, 2021
Ordinary Celebrity features Point of Grace
With more consecutive #1 hits than the Beatles, contemporary Christian music’s Point of Grace has made history along the way. In this episode of Ordinary Celebrity, Jeff interviews college classmates Denise Jones and Shelley Breen, two of the four founding members of the group. They cover everything from celebrity crushes to being in the music industry as it navigated the digital revolution.
(Visited 5 times, 1 visits today)January 13, 2021
Goodbye OSM
I finally had enough. I was tired of seeing posts flagged by Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for content that disagreed with their digital perspectives. Then after the Capitol Hill Incursion on January 6, 2021, it seemed that Big Tech went into purge overdrive.
Some conservative accounts I followed on these platforms just disappeared overnight. Others saw mind-numbing losses of followers as these social media giants arbitrarily limited scope and reach. It was sad and felt like a heavy-handed approach and outright censorship.
When the Parler app was banned and outright prevented from having hosting services, I took a few more days to consider. And here’s what I’ve posted on my Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts:
5 days.
I have been disheartened by the role Big Tech and #OSM (Old Social Media) have played in creating more divisiveness (I didn’t think it was possible) by censoring and silencing voices on their platforms.
Yes, there are the obvious voices being silenced or removed from platforms but other more “ordinary” people like me are experiencing rapid and random losses of followers, decreased reach, and a more negative experience altogether.
As private businesses, OSM companies can make the choice to eliminate voices, but I recognize I also have the ability to choose. I have a choice – and a role too. I will be deactivating my accounts in five days.
This is my principled choice. It will be hard because I enjoy interacting with you here. It’s been fun. I’m looking forward to new digital adventures with new and old friends.
I’d love to stay in touch with you. You can follow me on my blog at journeyguy.com or if you Gab, look me up as @journeyguy.
In five days…
Strangely…As I went to blog over at my normal blog to inform my readers there, my blog was GONE. I saw this message:
Yeah. That’s not fun. It got even stranger when I went to my host – nodestack.net and discovered they were completely offline as well. Their Twitter ID has also been deleted.
I’m pretty bummed about it and am hoping I haven’t lost this past six months of blogging… (ugh). In the meantime, I’ll be posting here and hopefully soon, journeyguy.com will be fixed, and you’ll be able to see past posts as well!
Update 1/15/2021It’s been a long three days. However, I was fortunate to have had a download/backup of my entire site via FTP from back in May. I moved my server to Siteground, and they were able to set me up in a day! So I’ve spent today tracking down posts I’ve made since then. Amazingly, Goodreads not only imports my blog, but also stores it on their servers! The WordPress app on my phone also had downloaded posts since May, so I was doubly covered (and thankful!).
(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)January 9, 2021
The Capitol Incursion and Vengeance
These are sketchy days for our nation. Wednesday, January 6, began as a momentous day as Congress convened to recognize and count the presented electors that would bring the 2020 election to a formal conclusion. There were significant concerns that election fraud had taken place, and Republicans were in the process of their Constitutionally-permitted and privileged objection of some of the states’ slates of electors.
Meanwhile, the President had called for a “March on Washington,” and over 700,000 expectant and hopeful conservatives had obediently and enthusiastically poured into DC. All morning and early afternoon, speeches were made. It was a political pep rally intended apparently to bolster and support the minority of Representatives and Senators in their objections and to demonstrate that the 75 million people who voted for President Trump’s reelection had very real doubts about the election’s integrity.
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What happened next will be studied and questioned for a long time. The Capitol was breached. Hundreds poured into the Capital, and in an insane commentary on the banality of day… began taking selfies in the Rotunda, House and Senate Chambers. Others invaded offices and infamous pictures show unmasked individuals with their feet on Nancy Pelosi’s desk, leaning back in her chair while others portray a Viking pontificating from the President of the Senate’s platform, replete with a horned helmet.
In the chaos, four people died. One was shot to death by a cop through a doorway, and footage of the event isn’t pretty. She was unarmed, and Capitol Hill police were actually in the hallway with her. Another officer died on Thursday from injuries received during the brief occupation.
While the Congress was evacuated and later reconvened that evening to continue the conversation, debate and recognize electors, the country sat in stunned and dismal silence. It was all so ugly.
The President was not the leader we needed him to be, and his call for calm and peace was laced with continued barbs about election fraud. His public condemnation of the Vice President for refusing to do what he wanted him to do was the ultimate cry of a man who lashed out in heated frustration and anger.
A Failure to CommunicateI can grasp all that happened. I understand it even as it sickens me. This is SUCH a broken world.
I do not approve of the president’s rhetoric. Neither do I approve of the media’s and Democrat’s blatant hypocrisy. I am sick of Republicans who do nothing but focus on economic gain without genuinely offering solution-based approaches to healthcare, education, and prison reform.
But what we have here is a failure to communicate. Each side wants to beat the other into submission.
In the 1967 movie classic Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman stars as a southern man put into a prison camp’s chain gang. He continues to escape, and his fellow prisoners admire him because, “You’re an original, that’s what you are.” In one scene where he’s recaptured, he’s beaten down by the prison boss who then explains the reason for the beating, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”
The narrative of Wednesday turned quickly. Some wondered why the condemnation of the Capitol breach was so uniform when months-long riots and occupations of cities in 2020 were upheld as peaceful protests and needed catalysts for reform. Others wondered about how the Capitol incursion would have been treated if it had been an overt BLM protest.
For me, the most disheartening spectacle was that in a time of high tension, the President could not rise to the occasion and be a statesman. Trump was, well, Trump. He DID appeal for calm, but it was too little, too late. His Thursday address was much more well-spoken and conciliatory. However, after Congress confirmed Joe Biden as the 46th President, he too had an opportunity – as did Democrats to move for healing and peace, to unite. Instead, he competed Senators Hawly and Cruz to Nazis. Democratic leaders began suggesting that all Republicans who had supported the President be rounded up and driven out.
Big Tech joined the feeding frenzy by deleting the President of the United States’ social media accounts. By Friday evening, the digital stratosphere echoed with cries of alarm as people discovered thousands of conservative accounts were being banned and deleted from platforms.
The Orwellian nature of it all was stunning. In the hours and days since, it has felt like the “winners” have beat down anyone suspected of supporting Trump (or even suggesting election fraud) with the same mean-spirited heavy hand of the prison boss, with a sneering, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” This is nothing less than censorship.
Censorship“Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” ? Henry Louis Gates Jr
Russian author and Gulag survivor Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said, “To destroy a people, you must first sever their roots.” He also asked, “Such as it is, the press has become the greatest power within the Western World, more powerful than the legislature, the executive and judiciary. One would like to ask; by whom has it been elected and to whom is it responsible?” (A quick review of some of his more well known quotes are inspiring and sobering.)
Perhaps the most famous and beloved poet of Nicaragua, Pablo Antonio Cuadra, said, “Let us be clear: censorship is cowardice. … It masks corruption. It is a school of torture: it teaches, and accustoms one to the use of force against an idea, to submit thought to an alien “other.” But worst still, censorship destroys criticism, which is the essential ingredient of culture.” (His essay Responsibilities of the Church in Central America from 1986 is a phenomenal read.)
TruthJohn 8:32 is inscribed on the facade of the CIA building in Langley, Virgiina: “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” These words of Jesus mean far more than the investigatory process of deducing truth. Jesus was speaking to His disciples prefaced them with ““If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jesus Himself is the Truth.
As a Christian, I’ll admit there are voices that I prefer to be silent. One day, all wicked rebellion will be silenced. But this is not that day, and the recent Brutal Digital Suppression Campaign by political victors is untenable. Some may celebrate the silencing of voices they deem virulent or vitriolic. But tomorrow it may be your voice.
I appreciate how John Piper asked this in his devotional The Limits of Love:
“How does this affect our love toward incorrigible sinners? Jesus calls us to imitate God’s common grace toward his enemies, not his acts of judgment (Matthew 5:45). ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. If your enemy is hungry feed him.’ We are not to do all that God does. God may be planning vengeance according to his wisdom and justice for the sake of some greater work of love. That is not our business. Ours is to love our enemies.”
I pray for the freedom to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ whenever and wherever. Some of our world Christians do not have that freedom, and the church grows in spite of it. I also want the freedom as a citizen to criticize the President (whomever he/she may be) when I think they are off or wrong about an issue. While we have it here, let us labor lovingly to defend ours and others freedom of expression in all marketplaces and platforms, while being consistent in our opposition to violence and destruction. And let us speak the truth in love, leaving vengeance to God.
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