Dear Readers:
The things Peter warned us about in 1 Peter 4:12 seems to be happening to me and my family. He said, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” Without going into detail I never thought that we would be experiencing the almost surreal things we are right now.
The event in our lives is so unexpected that it makes me question, “Why?” I’m sure that there are some people that might point out our flaws and the flaws of my family and say the following: “See what happens when you’re out of God’s will.” I have questioned this myself so I can’t blame them, although it would be a hurtful thing to say.
Others might say that God is taking us through a time of time of suffering for Christ as Peter indicated in verse 13, “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”
Good things are happening in our family like never before and perhaps our “fiery ordeal” is a way of Satan putting roadblocks in the way to slow us down. My wife just got a publishing contract for three fiction books, and the books will reveal some flaws in the proliferation of romanticizing the Amish culture. The books will point out that many Amish people, although religious, are not taught to become saved and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We also had some minor involvement in a PBS production and a National Geographic production and had film crews in our home twice in the last year. In one production a man that formerly was Amish became born-again.
I cannot control the thinking of other people about our circumstances. All I can do is to have what I might call an “open-door policy” with wisdom. Solomon wrote the following in Proverbs 8:33-35 about waiting daily at the doors of wisdom:
Listen to my instruction and be wise;
do not disregard it.
Blessed are those who listen to me,
watching daily at my doors,
waiting at my doorway.
For those who find me find life
and receive favor from the LORD.
See you next time,
Arlen
Dear Readers,
This summer Lebron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team to sign with the Miami Heat. Cleveland sports fans felt betrayed as he finally gave us the best chance to win a championship...and now he was leaving. He made a Nike commercial mimicking the difficulty he had making “The Decision”. The commercial was called, “What Should I Do?”
I am still upset with Lebron’s decision, and many other Cleveland sports heroes that “take the money and run”. I also never liked the fact that Lebron had tattooed on his back “Chosen 1”. My opinion is that no person except One should ever take on that moniker; I don’t care how good he or she is in a given profession.
I do, however, empathize with Lebron’s stated dilemma of making an important decision, and questioning “What Should I Do? Each of us faces life-altering question marks throughout our lifetime. Choosing a spouse, education direction, job or career changes, and moving to a new home are examples. Even seemingly less important choices such as choosing friends or changing churches can affect us dramatically. More recently my wife and I have been made keenly aware of former Amish young men and women making a critical decision to leave the Amish life and move into the strange new “English” world.
I am so thankful and in awe that we have a caring God and His Holy Spirit to consult about life-changing decisions. The Bible is chock-full of promises about us asking, and Him answering our prayers regarding the decisions we make!
I am also very thankful for the many sports stars that do openly acknowledge God and ask Him for divine guidance. They are the ones I want to come to Cleveland to finally bring us a championship.
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” Ephesians 1:17-19 (NIV)
See you next time,
Arlen
Dear Readers,
When was the last time you watched a movie, newscast, or television show where an evangelical Christian was portrayed as an interesting, fun-loving, learned, open-minded, and caring person? Can you count the times with your fingers on one hand?
My wife pointed this out to me. She said that in both old and new movies Catholicism is given some reverence. There are touching musical scores with nuns in “The Sound of Music”, magical Christmas scenes on “Home Alone” where Kevin finds refuge in a beautiful Catholic cathedral, and confessionals where a main character seeks solace from a priest. And on television, which baby boomers can ever forget the fun antics of The Flying Nun?
Evangelical Christians, on the other hand, are usually reenacted as being mean-spirited, narrow-minded, and intolerant. Robert’s parents-in-law on “Everybody Loves Raymond” are a prime example of that stereotype.
News anchors poke fun at “right wing, racist, nut job” Christians in the Tea Party. Their gun-loving ways are seen as threats to society.
What do you think? Do we have some of the above-listed characteristics? Or are these characteristics grossly exaggerated?
Isaiah 28 debunks the myth that God’s followers are always stuck-in-the-mud, unlearned, uncaring people. He wrote that persons who follow Him are instructed in the “right way” (vs. 26). He then goes on to explain the following: “All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom” (vs. 29).
So if God is wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom, and He instructs us in this counsel and wisdom, that makes us the privy to the most creative, interesting thoughts in the universe. We cannot help but marvel at all He has given us, and especially the wonderful plan He has for us serving His Son Jesus.
See you next time,
Arlen
