Whew!!

What an adventure!!

God is an awesome God, and there is no doubt about that.  When His people fail, that is not His problem, it is ours.  When we fail, it is our choice, and not the fault or pressure of any circumstance that underlies our failure.  God promises to weigh each temptation to fail, and to only allow those which I might succeed at resisting.  He doesn't EVER allow temptations larger than my abilty to resist. 

Thats a blessing, to be sure, but it's also a crushing blow.  On whom or what can I blame my failure?  No one or nothing.  That's it.  I'm to blame when my attitude sucks.  I'm to blame when my anger flares into sin.  I'm to blame when fear paralyzes me.  I'm to blame when worry keeps me awake at night, when I'm anxious for what may come tomorrow.

To put it another way:  The fact that I'm a victim of sin (we all are) has no direct bearing on the fact that I am also a perpetrator of sin.  I can blame no one or nothing for my choice to live lower than God's standard in word, deed, attitude, thought.

What a God who would forgive the horrifying pile of sin this blatently reveals in my life.  He demonstrates His love in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, the godly for the ungodly.

Whew!!!

OK, here's an eye-opener for anyone willing to try it:

Take a page of notebook paper, and draw a line down the center, dividing it into two columns.

Next, begin to list every crummy circumstance in your life (people, place, thing, lack, obstacle, etc.) down the first column.  Don't like a class, teacher, or sibling?  Write each instance of dissatisfaction on a line.

Next, read the list you've written, and make sure that you're not misplacing the dissatisfaction ("I hate my job" vs. "I hate two of the supervisors and 3 of the employees, or "I hate my sibling" vs. I hate when my sibling ________s around me).

Finally, in the other column, try to write a "solution" to each dissatisfaction.  By solution, I mean for you to write a "suggestion" for God, for the other person, or for some sort of change, that would satisfy you.

When finished, post here how many items (not the items, just the number of them) you found in your dissatisfied list.  I'm hoping we can be honest and not feign satisfaction when we're not.

I'll suggest more to do with that list in a couple days. 

Imagine a parent, pastor, boss, or other overseeing person, who never corrected those under him, but was always positive and praiseful, encouraging and uplifting.  Wouldn't it be great to work for (or be child to) such a person?

But what if you found out that this person didn't really believe all that he said to you?  In fact, you found, this person actually encouraged others to correct you in his place, by telling them the faults that he never told you.

What would you call such a parent or leader? 

Hmmm.  So there's a "form" of complaining that's right.  That is, when I am in the state of discontent, and I recognize that I'm not where I should be, and I recognize that it is not my circumstances that are at fault for my discontent, so I ask someone for help in moving me back to contentment, and for help in responding properly (Christly) to the discontenting circumstances.  That's it.

I've noticed much lately about "prayer requests" from many folks.  The requests are about changing circumstances:  heal my dad, fix my boss, give me better grades, etc.  They seldom include any request to grow the requester, or to help the requester deal in a godly manner.  Is that because we're unaware that God allows us to have crappy days in order to grow us?

From my comment to a comment, here are some self-serving motives I came up with for complaining.  Can you add any?

- I can excuse my crummy attitude about someone/something by complaining about a flaw or fault in him/it; 

- I can build myself up at someone else's expense; 

- I can actually manipulate others to act on my behalf (so I don't have to); 

- I can collect pity, support, allies for my cause, etc. 

- I can undermine anothers work, popularity, even career success.

Can any of you add to this list?

So, complaining is forbidden to christians "in all things" or "in everything."  A quick survey of the Bible shows God dealing severely with grumblers and complainers in Israel, but often accepting/desiring complaints that are directed toward Him.  So right now we have to clarify what complaining is:  Complaining is venting our discontent with people or circumstances.  If the audience of our complaint is God, then we might be ok.  If the audience of our complaint is people, then we're out of line.  But I think there's another point of clarification that must be made:  How do I share my discontent with folks so that they can help me move to contentment?  Is that complaining?  What do you think, Xanga?

Hey Xanga,

So from Job, while we see that Satan can be responsible for trials or mishaps, we also see that God is not being "snuck around" but that He is right in on the trial, and is watching Satan to make sure that the trial is "within bounds."  Within bounds probably is best defined by looking at 1 Cor. 10:13, where Paul writes that all temptations are (a) common to man, (b) no larger than we can bear, and (c) compleate with an escape route, path, or means.

So, with all this in mind, it seems that all my circumstances are brought to me by God as opportunity for me (a) to trust God, and His management of the universe, (b) Discover my weaknesses and faults that tend to be brought out when life turns hard, (c) Teach me compassion for others who suffer similarly, and (d) Practice contentment with God, and His care for me.

Thus the passage in Phillipians 2  http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Phil+2%3A12-16&version=NIV-IBS  actually rests on the above ideas.  Complining, whining, griping, etc. are simply the outer expression of discontent.  If we stop the whining out loud, but don't deal with the discontent inside us, we will simply find another, non-whining way of expressing  our discontent

Nuff for today?

Well, I guess I'd better blog if I've got a blog.

It's been an exciting month!!  I took students to Crescent City for a mission project with Pelican Bay Evangelical Free Church.  The team was outstanding, did a wonderful job with everything.  If Johnny will show me how, I have a hilarious video that Laura, Mindy, and Robin put together for a lesson that I'd love to post here for your pleasure.

Lessee what else is haps?  Oh, yeah, I resigned my position several weeks ago, effective at the end of Sept.  I'm looking into several sorts of options for my next assignment.

God is teaching me along several threads that are all coming together this week.  Passages like "do all things without grumbling and complaining," "whatever is pure, true, right, just, etc.," and the story of Job's movement from someone who responded to awful trial with worship to someone who would sully God's reputation in order to protect his own reputation.  Passages like these are helping me to see the deeper issues of God's glory and my complaining, and how to deal properly with the feelings in me generated by the crap of life.

Sometime, I'll write more down on this.  Thas all for now.

So check out Job:  If you don't know his story, read Job 1-2.  His response to satan's (God's) taking all he had, health, wealth, family was to fall down and worship, to exclaim that he (we) should accept from God both good and bad.  When his wife suggested the alternative (hold it against God and let go of worship), he called her a fool.  And God recognized that in all this Job sinned not.

Now fast forward through his friends' silent compassion (7 days worth) and then their conversation with him, all the way to ch. 32, where a servant named Elihu begins to speak.  For 8 chapters Elihu calls Job and friends to recall the immensity and awesomeness of God.  Then, in ch. 38 God himself addresses Job, spending 2 chapters also calling Job to look and think about creation and infer from it God's awesome prescience over it.  Then look at 40:7-8.  He asks Job a penetrating question:  "Job, would you discredit my justice, and condemn me to justify yourself?"

How often, when God is allowing circumstances in our lives (to grow us, stretch us, train us, purify us, etc.) do we complain, sometimes bitterly that we shouldn't have to deal with this or that hassle?  In so doing, do we fall into the trap Job fell into?  Do we slam God's curriculum of our lives, and say (or imply) that He's screwing up our lives for no reason?  More later.  Job's a bit tough to swallow.

Why, tho' it's the richest, healthiest (physically), most mobile, most connected (electronically), and the most free (to practice its call) of the world's churches, does the american church seem so weak?  She seems easily divided, easily compromised, easily crippled, easily led astray.

I suspect the answer lies in several places, such as:

Her theology

Her character

Her discernment

Her love for God

Her love for neighbor

What do you think?

Whew, it's been awhile.  What a ride the last month has been!!!  I got to spend a few days at the coast (Crescent City, CA) with Anna (my wife of 22 years), and our kids all came out for two of the days.  Then I jumped into a new ministry "experiment" that we tried:  Three different "back yard bible clubs" over 3 weeks at 3 locations.  Each team of teens and college leaders ran their club well, and many unchurched kids were introduced to Christ.  I'm tired now, so that's about all I'm going to write.  Oh, and I started a new job for some "extra income."  I now clean the grease at a new McD's so that the fries aren't any grosser than usual, hehe.  2-3 hrs/day, mon - fri (usually beginning at 4 am.  That, I'm sure contributes to my tiredness.

Here's a "way of saying" how we humans catagorize people:  We allow folks we meet to "ride" (in our minds) in either First Class or in Coach.  Some folks may even have a Baggage Compartment where they mentally "file" certain people.  Our First class folks get good treatment from us, even if they fail us.  Our Coach folks are on a less generous and Jesus-like plan.  We'll treat them well when it's in our best interest.  And when they fail us, we keep track.  The Baggage Compartment is for those folks who we can ignore, or do worse to, even if they're in required proximity (workplace, family, school, church, etc.).

What happens to someone who is really trying to keep everyone in his First Class (as you may have been trying to do), while his "passengers" are not committed to keep him in their First Class (as you may have experienced)?

For me, the motivating factor is this:  Christ has put us permenantly in His First Class, even though in many ways we weren't even worthy of the Baggage compartment.  He has lavished on me love beyond reason.