Faucet

I was recently talking with someone who is involved in helping multiple people who are in some rough spots. My friend was weary and carrying a heavy load as he felt the weight of the situations he was dealing with. I, too, recently have felt that way in many of the very hard situations in people's lives we've been a part of recently, and continue to be a part of.

As I was talking to him I was encouraging him with advice I was once given. That advice was to remember that the problems in others' lives are really God's problems and not mine. My friend who I had gone to was an associate pastor at another church and I was working with a couple in a very rough marriage. The advice he gave me was to say, "God, You have a problem in this marriage. What would you like me to do?" That advice really helped set me free to remember that it was really God's problem and He wanted their success even more than I, and my job was to be His ready and surrendered vessel available for Him to use and speak through.

As I shared that with my friend I believe God gave me an image to share with him as well, and I thought it might bless others so I decided to write it out. Basically it was of a faucet. Not that it matters, but it was a shiny, nice silver kitchen faucet. (Maybe this image resonated so well with me because our well pump went out last week and we spent time facing the situation of turning on faucets and having no water, and the uncertainty of how that water would come and how long we and our plants, etc., could go without it.) Anyway I felt led to suggest to my friend that he picture himself as a faucet. A faucet is not the water source, it is simply the means of delivering the water. Picture God as the water source, and the people he was involved with as the cup. The job of the faucet is to deliver the water to the cup. The water flows through the faucet and into the cup, and it is the water that revitalizes and refreshes and sustains life. The faucet simply is there, ready for the water to flow through it.

At any rate, that worked for me, and it worked for my friend, so I thought I'd share it with you. Blessings to you all, thanks for reading a being a part of my life. May God overwhelm you this week with a deep awareness of His love for you, presence with you, and of His star-breathing power and glory!

Dutch Oven Theology . . .

Cornbread cooking in cast iron pot on
a homemade stand with a homemade lid.

Well, as mentioned in my last blog post, Friday night we indeed made our first attempt at Dutch Oven cooking. We talked and read about pioneer cooking, cast iron cookware, the advent of Dutch Ovens (did you know some historians credit Paul Revere with inventing the flange around a Dutch Oven lid to keep the coals on it?), and more. Then, we gave it a try, making cornbread and a berry cobbler, and finishing it off with some true Cowboy Coffee over the remaining coals (water and grounds in the pot—of course without measuring the grounds—bringing it to a boil and then pouring it through a screen into a mug, knowing you'll still have some thick mud at the bottom!) and it was actually an outstanding tasting cup of coffee! So, here are some pictures for you to share in this slice of our family life. Wish you were here!

Spooning the "crust" over the berries.

So, what about the theology part? Lately I have more and more been craving cooking outdoors. It hasn't even been so much the food itself (though it is wonderful!) but rather the idea of setting aside a few hours when all you can do is focus on the preparation and each other. When you commit to a slow cook BBQ over coals or oak, or a Dutch Oven meal, or things along that line, you are saying that you aren't going to squeeze the meal around the "rest" of your life, but you are going to set the "rest" of your life aside for awhile and be still. You can't rush a meal like that unless you simply turn on a gas grill and crank it up. To start the coals or fire, to wait for them to be ready, to soak some red oak and herbs to put over the coals for a great smoke flavor in the meal, and to put the meal up high enough above the fire that it has to take a long time to cook makes some statement in my spirit about the fact that I am slowing down and just enjoying the moment, my family, Creation around me, and God.

Cobbler just before the coal-covered lid goes on!

I find that things get so busy, and it seems like these last months have been filled with so much pain in so many people's lives, that I have been desperate to drink deeply from God's well, and to simply love and appreciate my family and my friends. God says to be still and know that He is God and unless I force myself to do that it isn't my nature. My nature is rush more, do more, and always assume there is tomorrow. Way too many people lately we know have found that there isn't necessarily tomorrow—and I am finding more and more that I can't live tomorrow on yesterday's closeness with God.

Finished cornbread. Cobbler baking
over and under coals.

So, for me, many times recently, I have found myself crying out for an outdoor cooked meal. I think it is my spirit crying out to slow down, drink deeply of God and the ones I love, and be still—cooking outdoor is simply the vehicle that forces that . . . and, of course, it has great side benefits as well! Not to mention that I am in great company and simply imitating One who went before me on that path . . .

John 21:4-13   Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus . . . When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught."  So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." . . . Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. (ESV)

Happy girls! Great cobbler!

Waiting for a "Magic Moment"

Sometimes I find myself waiting for "magic moments." I know what I believe about God, who He is, what He has done in Creation, what He has done for me, His love, His power, His holiness and majesty . . . Then I realize how timid I can be in talking about Him, or how I talk to others about Him like He's not in the room, or how I talk about Him to others so differently than I do about other people or facts I am confident of.

Sometimes I look at my selfish choices, or the times I don't say something about Him out of fear of another's lack of receiving it, or at the lack of priority things eternal have in my life, or at how matter of fact I am about most things and then how vague and "soft" I am about Him and things of Him, etc., and I long for a "magic moment" when who He is, and how vast and incredible and awe-inspiring He is, and the reality of Heaven and Hell, and the awareness of His love for me and my adoption by Him, break out of my head and explode in my heart and bring my life into alignment with what I believe.

And I wait.

And I wait.

And I wait.

"If what I believe in my head just ruled my heart I would live so differently . . ." I say to myself, and to Mary Ann, way too often. And I continue in my path, maybe now and then making a slight course correction, waiting for the "magic moment."

Recently, however, I am more and more looking at how in the Bible God so often does His work AFTER faith is applied, and not before. He throws out a command or a promise or a "suggestion" and then waits, and after it is received and acted on in faith He then meets it. I am realizing more and more that I must operate from faith, from what I know is true in my head, and then, as I do that more and more, the knowledge will move from my head to my heart. If I wait for the "feeling" to act, or speak, a certain way it may never come, or it may come only for brief moments in worship or something, and I will be basing my life on feelings and not faith.

I started the other day listing multiple reasons I "should" follow God with all of my heart, regardless of how I feel (whether His reality is overwhelming me, or if He feels like a distant theology). I found the list really amazing as it started to develop. I am thinking that in the coming weeks I'll post some of them. Of course, I should live this way, loving and following Him with all of my heart simply because He is God alone and He is worthy, but I did find the list eye opening and I think it might be valuable to some.

And, totally unrelated, tonight we are teaching our girls for homeschool about pioneer cooking and trying out a Dutch Oven for the first time. Maybe I'll post some pictures about it in the next few days since this blog is, after all, not just my "God thoughts" but slices of my life as well . . . and the reality is, He is part of every part of my life, whether I "feel" it or not.

Set Apart—What Are We Making Common?

Profane: 1. to treat (something sacred) with abuse, irreverence, or contempt
Common: 4. characterized by a lack of privilege or special status  
(both from www.merriam-webster.com)

God is holy. In fact, lest we subconsciously think there is an Old Testament God and a New Testament God and that they are different, both the Old and New Testaments give us pictures of the cry, "Holy, holy, holy!" around the throne. It is the attribute of God by which His other attributes are defined. His love, His power, His Name, His justice—they are all holy because He is holy. It has at its core set apart and separated, and we find the concept of it in the Bible in so many places and ways.

Read through the Bible looking for not just the word "holy" but for words and ideas of separate, set apart, consecrated, sanctified, saints, etc., and we find that this concept is woven through, and essential to, the entire Bible. Israel was His set apart nation and people. The ark was in the Holy of Holies, set apart from the people by a veil. The priests and temple artifacts were consecrated and set apart. Jesus is light and in Him is NO darkness—He is completely set apart from darkness. Even the concept of purity, often taught as this series of commands as what not to do or be, takes on a beautiful new freshness when thought of in the terms of holiness—pure, set apart, not mixed.

In contrast to this concept we see the continual theme in the Bible of the people making common or profane God's holy name, and the worship of Him, and that which He calls to be set apart. They Israelites didn't wipe from the land all the remnants of the people and they were tarnished by their influence. The concept of the little leaven corrupting the whole. The worship in high places and not in the way and place God ordained. They did, according to Judges, what was right in their own minds.

Last night at youth group we looked at King David bringing the ark to Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 6 (also 1 Chronicles 13–15). On the surface it all seems good! He wants the ark at the center of his rule and town. He sets out with a mighty honoring group of men. He puts it on a new cart. He worships and celebrates before it. The ox stumble and Uzzah reaches out to steady it. Bam! Uzzah is struck dead by God and the celebration screeches to a halt.

What happened? David had all these good intentions of doing wonderful things for God and God kills one of his people for simply trying to keep the ark from falling! That's harsh . . . if we insist on seeing things through our eyes and viewpoint and framework and not through the eyes and viewpoint and framework and holiness of our Creator.

God is holy. He is set apart, separate. His ways and His words are what matter, not ours. History is riddled with people who have profaned, or made common, God's holiness and tried to do things their own way and assumed God would be OK with that or like it because they are OK with it or like it. Even things done for Him! God had been very specific earlier to Moses about how the ark would be moved and who would be allowed to care for it. David didn't follow it. He got casual with God's holiness. He made profane or common God, assuming God would be OK with what David thought was a good idea (it was for God, after all!).

God was not. God is holy. And to approach God our way and not His, or to try and make God conform to the world or its wisdom instead of conforming everything to Him and His wisdom is to profane or make common His holiness. He is not like us. He is separate. We can't apply us over Him, we must apply Him over us.

David learned his lesson. Sadly, it cost a man his life. After a few months David tries again to bring the ark back. This time he has the priests carrying the ark and performing sacrifices the way God decreed it and the ark comes to Jerusalem and God's presence blesses God's people. How many people out there are (and how many times are we in our own lives?) profaning or making common God's holiness by thinking they can approach God their own way, on their own good works or merit or ideas about Him and who He is? How many are profaning His Holiness by making His Word match "science" and trying to find ways to explain away Genesis or miracles instead of studying science and everything else from His framework and eyes? How many are making common His holiness by making decisions on right and wrong and values and priorities on their own "good" ideas instead of based on His Word?

God is holy. It is His very nature. By His nature He is holy, set apart, separate. He can't be otherwise. But He calls us to be holy. To be set apart. Yes we are set apart by our nature as Christians, His own special people, sealed in His love for eternity, but He also calls us to be holy as well—set apart in our relationships, lifestyles, values, choices, etc. May we not profane His holy name, or His HOLY Spirit, or make common our holy God, by letting the world transform and conform us. May He and His Word be set apart in our hearts as the source of all our wisdom, values, choices, priorities, etc. May the world see us and note we are a people set apart, different, conforming to and being led by something not of this world . . . and may it lead them to see and glorify the One who sets us apart and who we choose to be set apart for.

1 Peter 1:14-16   As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." (ESV)