What Heat?

 

(AP Photo/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research)

Today is sunny, seventy degrees – and gentle breezes. October’s last days in Dallas are worth remarking upon – and remembering. The roses have returned for a colorful farewell appearance; the late summer additions are, however, tired. The bachelor buttons are bending because of the cooler, damper days. And the sun goes down now by eight PM.  It’s not exactly bundling up weather, but it is cooler – and so pleasant. What a difference 20 degrees can make!

 Remembering that heat in all this sunshine, shows how quickly I can forget. As I look over what I have written about weather the past four years, I see several times the weather was more than aggravating – it was scary.  

We are coming up on the anniversary of a storm of literally biblical proportions – Sandy.   By Monday night, October 29, 2012 she came ashore – above Maryland and slamming into New Jersey – Wow . . . Hurricane Sandy has been so off my radar screen! When the news stops covering the troubles, I forget as quickly as I forget the heat when the weather cools.

Do you remember fearing for what she might do? (From Boring to Superstorm)

 I do – I was preparing a lecture on Revelation 7.  And what did the very first verse in Revelation 7 say?

 

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

Knowing our children were in the path of the biggest storm to hit the East Coast in almost two hundred years. I wondered – worried: What if one of those beings drops the corner? After all, in Revelation 6:8 they were given power to destroy one fourth of the earth.  Sandy’s swath was huge and brutal, from New York to the Great Lakes; a newscaster said it would affect one in four Americans, one quarter, of the US population.  

In the Dallas Morning News, today, a story from the AP confirms the scars from Sandy are still deep – thousands of Americans are still trying to fixed their wreck homes, and billions of federal aid hasn’t reached those it was authorized, months ago, to fix.

      Here are ways we can remember and still help, including through the subsequent disasters that have happened in the past year:  Pray & give.

·      Helping People Help People

·      Samaritan’s Purse    

Earlier Blog: Hoping for the Best

Remembering Our Roots – Faith and Fear

Here and now is a great time to remind ourselves why the fourth Thursday in November is a good celebration to enjoy, especially since few of us have exhausted ourselves bringing in a harvest of our crops in the past few weeks. (Wiki facts on T-day) And less than half of us credit what we enjoy to God.  

Thanksgiving has deep religious roots and was a day the pilgrims and other adventuresome souls set aside to bless God and enjoy their harvest of all their labors, and the help of their neighbors. The habit endured. Our first President, George Washington proclaimed the first nation-wide thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789, "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God."

By 1863, though, Abraham Lincoln saw an added relevance of this event, and proclaimed a celebration to restore a sense of unity of Americans, though torn asunder by a grave civil war. And in 1941, when we were in another fight for our national life, President Roosevelt (FDR), hoping for continued economic recovery, proclaimed the celebration to be always on the fourth Thursday of November. 

This year, Americans will be mixing what has been a celebration of our unique history, God’s providence and our own productivity with our drive to get good stuff at cheap prices. Black Friday is the manifestation of fear that we may never be able to acquire our hearts’ desires at a better price – as well as faith on the part of merchants that they can finish their year in the black.   Now the genius of American commercial ingenuity is urging us to get out right after a T-day feast, and buy, buy, buy.

This is no segway into a rant, gentle readers. No – look for any snarky comments about how anyone chooses to enjoy Thanksgiving. That is the blessing of being an American!  

(But, before some of us nod off, party on or head out, remember to thank the cook(s); also, let’s remember dishes don’t get done by themselves!)  

Whatever we do today, my humble hope is that you and I remember how good we have it, and how too many Americans are hurting. Mr. Obama said today:

"As Americans, we are a bold, generous, big-hearted people," the president continued. "When our brothers and sisters are in need, we roll up our sleeves and get to work - not for the recognition or the reward, but because it's the right thing to do. Because there but for the grace of God go I. And because here in America, we rise or fall together, as one nation and one people." (Source) (Emphasis added)

I hope we will remember and thank the God who is; that we will reflect upon our heritage – the good and the bad, our history and government – its positives and negatives -- and the armed forces who give us the right to choose how we spend this day.  

Today is a good time to be thankful that we have opportunities to add good things to the lives of others!

God, please expand our vision to see You, as the Enabler of our prosperity and generosity – and the Sustainer in times of trial and troubles.  May we be wary lest we fall into the trap of pleasing ourselves first.

Preoccupied with ourselves, we have lost the grace of being thankful. It is sad to live in a world where there is no one to thank because we have ourselves become the cause and source of all good things. —John Hannah ( Self-Centeredness Reminders)

Thank you God for all You have done and are doing for us – by your grace and through your Son Christ the Lord.  Forgive us please our transgressions for His sake.  And give us a healthy fear of and faith in You.  

Photo Source 

Hoping for the Best

Sandy changed the lives of one in four Americans who are living in part of the country that stretches from New York to the Great Lakes. The pictures of the devastation that swept in on the night of October 29, 2012 ago are jaw-droppers.    My brain can’t wrap around the troubles that have flooded into people’s lives.  Over night, thus far, one hundred-ten Americans lost their lives; others lost their possessions; many more have been overrun with fear. 

Before the storm hit, when the warnings from the weather reports were beginning,  I was preparing a talk on Revelation 7 – a welcome interlude between all kinds of troubles John saw when six of the seven seals were undone, and then when the seventh one was broken open.  (Revelation 6 & 8) When I started reading the lesson on Thursday, and the description of the four angels holding back the four winds, Sandy  had just pummeled the Caribbean, and  now threatened the east coast. By Friday morning, I had passed from being mildly concerned about my family’s well being to being more frightened – mindful of severe repercussions that come with a late season hurricane in Maryland.  That day at lunch, a friend and I managed a laugh about what a great illustration a hurricane might be in the discussion of those winds in Revelation 7:1. But, with the unfolding details of the storm, and the seriousness with which the kids were preparing their homes, I wasn’t laughing.  Our son’s comment was, “We are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.”

Sandy’s potential swath was so vast and brutal, from New York to the Great Lakes that a newscaster said it would affect one in four Americans, one quarter, of the US population.

Hmmmm. What did Revelation 6:8 say?   The pale rider was given power to destroy a fourth of the earth  

When we walked into church on Sunday morning, I was freaked.  A storm, the likes of which had not been seen since the 1820’s,  a storm the size of Texas, was bearing down on our kids. There was nowhere to run to – to hide – and I couldn’t shelter them.  But in the midst of worship, God got a grip on my runaway emotions.  Worship does that. So, too, the compassion and prayers of friends help calm me down – even as I remained glued to the coverage of what was happening, trying to put together a talk on what John saw in the throne room. (Praise in the midst of Peril)

Believing the promises of God in the midst of faith-testing trials is a facet of Christianity that is a fiery dart for Christ’s followers, and an enduring objection of those who doubt or reject God.   We all want to know “Why?” when the innocent suffer. I believe God showed John answers in the apocalyptic visions recorded in Revelation.

I hope for the best: I want to be in the throne room – with all the people I know and love; I want to be in that number – when the saints go marching in - I don’t even want my enemies to miss its splendor! (Revelation 4) But preparing for the worst, though, is what I must do now. (John 16:33)

Encouraging words are important; concrete help – a shovel and a trash bag and a hot meal – are more important.   The folks in Staten Island were happier to see the Marines than they were with the politicians!

“It was wonderful to see them,” said Jessie Gonzalez, 34, whose home on nearby Patterson Avenue was flooded after the storm.

“They gave us supplies, water and food. It makes us feel like we’re actually getting help now. At least we feel safer with their presence.” (The Marines Have Landed!)

Please consider how you can help; whatever time, talent or resources God enables you to give – give!  Here’s a starting point or two: 

·      Helping People Help People

·      Samaritan’s Purse    

May God make thee, dear reader, and me as welcome a sight for suffering eyes as those brave and gallant Marines! 

 Photo REUTERS/Keith Bedford

Trucks Fly Today in Dallas

And they flew on the wings of angry tornados’ winds – some which were clocked at 100 mph. (Reports of damage) We anticipated thunderstorms, but because of our morning’s work, we missed the news and were shaken to learn four tornados had been sighted within thirty miles of our home.  By the end of the afternoon, perhaps twelve twisters  touched down!

This is the third or fourth tornado scare in six years– and we were here for “Rita’s” threats to the Gulf coast as well. So, we should be somewhat accustomed to it -- but no.

Our little home, although old, is well built and able to withstand many of Texas’ weather challenges. So, too, were many of the homes that splintered under the force of wind and flying debris – rubbish that included an eighteen-wheeler. 

Can you imagine how those folks feel who lost all their possessions while hunkered down in a bathtub – hoping to be spared   a violent death, praying to protect the little children huddled beneath them?  

Tonight as I listened to people who had lived through minutes of utter terror recount what they did – find a windowless room, away from outside walls, and cover themselves if possible with a mattress; they followed directions because they believed their lives could depend upon the precautions they took.  Mercifully, it appears many folks were spared death and injury.

Why is it that we can follow directions so well when we are told a tornado is coming, and so rebellious when offered a way of escape for our eternal souls? 

Today’s storms reminded me how all of a sudden life can change . . . God makes His appeal through nature and through Scripture. But too many of us prefer our own way – and we leave the children entrusted to our care wandering loose when the storm warnings are blaring. 

God has given us shelter – another chance. How many times must He make the offer? My favorite choir, the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, asks how many times He must show us His love.  Please click the link and enjoy this song – but don’t wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow you may face something bigger and more unexpected that than a flying 18-wheeler!   

This week Christians will remember the gift God gave so that we might escape the death our sins have earned.  Friday we will count the cost, and Sunday we will celebrate our freedom.  (Isaiah 53)  But don’t wait until Sunday!

A Wordless Evangelist

Spring 2012

I wonder if my neighbors know their tree is an evangelist, albeit one who uses no words.  Their oak tree across the street is again fully garbed in rich light green – I feel proprietary, though, for every day it is in my line of vision when I look up from my desk. In winter, it is black and bare – to all appearances, dead, but it is especially lovely now, in late March, because its verdant leaves portend new beginnings.  In two weeks, it has gone from death to life, and I have seen its testimony that the loss of last year’s foliage isn’t the whole story – but another chapter in a bigger book: a hopeful story to one in the autumn of her life. 

Disability and  – loss – death do not seem as menacing on this spring morning – their imminence recedes, but their reality remains. I check myself: I may be in a wide place for a spell; many, many are not:

·      A daughter mourns the loss of her mom;

·      A mother, the death of her child.

·      A friend endures the unstoppable decline of a merciless disease, and

·      Age finally hobbles a woman whose life has been service.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15 argued that death no longer stings, he and we know that too often our life before death deeply hurts! (Lamentations 3) Suffering abounds, multiplies -- the daily smashing of human life appalls. Where is God?   People, especially children, who suffer – why does the God whose power reaches into the grave not stop suffering, giving everyone a fresh start?

The Bible explains that death and suffering is what we got when the first couple disobeyed God’s warning about their choices. One woman decided the fruit of a beautiful tree looked tasty, and being wise as God sounded like such a good thing. And God’s warning did sound bizarre: that death would be the end of taking even a bite. (Genesis 3:6)  So, we learned God tells the truth -- through Eve and Adam’s disobedience, we lost peace with God, our world and ourselves. (Romans 5:12)

“And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put [it] right again.”

Thus, a child’s nursery rhyme, Humpty-Dumpty , becomes a portrait of the universal brokenness and individual calamity of daily life. As we can’t reconstruct a broken egg, we can’t reverse the damage our parents’ disobedience wrought. 

Yet, Christians believe the King is doing what the men and horses could never do: restoring one broken soul at a time, by grace through faith that Christ paid the price for all the sins of those who come to Him. (Titus 2:11-14) We don’t believe He mends groups, but rescues some from every tribe and nation. And we believe He has the right as our Maker, (Jeremiah 18-19) and that He earned the right as our Redeemer. (Isaiah 53)

For skeptics, the Christian’s view of God’s new and unfailing compassions may not resolve the conundrum of suffering. For example, Chuck Templeton, a fellow-evangelist of Billy Graham in the 1950’s and ‘60’s turned from Christ because he couldn’t reconcile the apparent dichotomy of a loving God and the horror in the lives of too many of His creatures. (Walking Away from Faith: Living with Doubt and Unbelief by Ruth Tucker.)

And even as I say I believe – even as I study the Scriptures that confirm faith-- I falter when I see how pervasive evil – suffering and death is. I want to see God and know Him real, even amidst ruin.

That’s why I am glad my oak tree shows me life can come from death – a tiny acorn perishes – but wow!  For perhaps half a century, the resulting oak has been a faithful witness of unwritten true expressions of order in a world growing more chaotic and cruel.

 Today, my life is beautiful – an Ebenezer to remember when cold winds and dark skies overwhelm the sunshine and color. (For the Beauty of the Earth) Let me make this realization into purposeful prayer for those who are still inundated by winter – let me rejoice and be glad today that God hears and answers prayers. And may I remember this evangelist's bright beauty when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death with my Friend. (John 15:15 )

Irene

An earthquake along the East coast shook millions of American, and now a deadly hurricane is taking aim?  

Wow . . . Now it looks like a storm will hit along the East Coast, the likes of which Marylanders haven’t seen since the 1930’s, when the 1933 storm reconfigured much of the waterfront in Annapolis. My kids and their families are in its cross-hairs; Irene is supposed to arrive on Sunday AM in their vicinity with high winds and rain – not good news to an area inundated with rain for several weeks.  Winds battering trees whose roots are saturated topple more easily – power lines go down. 

I am doing a better job of freaking my head than the last weather reporters did on  the Texas ten o’clock news!

 I remember a few hurricanes  that created havoc in Maryland, especially Hazel, Agnes and David for starters.  In the aftermath of Agnes, Doug and I stood on the balcony of the Kennedy Center and watched the Potomac River roiling past us about a month before we married in 1972. In 1979, David pushed floodwaters so far up the Chesapeake Bay that the result was we lost our 420-foot dock – a costly repair for which we had no insurance.  Other storms like Gloria and Isabel also called – but we mercifully escaped damage.  In 1989, we evacuated our vacation to the Outer Banks a few days early, because of Hugo, and again we did not suffer as many others did.  But in 1992, I read what a friend went through whose Florida home was in Andrew’s path. 

Our family and friends are very much in our thought and prayers – and our fellow Americans – We love you in the Lord and ask His real help for all your needs!   

  
O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea. (USNA CHAPEL)  

Tiny Troubles

Some say our world will end in conflagration – perhaps nuclear. Others predict a watery death as the polar icecaps melt.  Other plausible theories include over-population and starvation.  A poet said the world would not end with a bang, but a whimper. (T.S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men”)  But in the scary warnings of “invisible” enemies threatening our health, how much is made of the visible persecution of Christians in Sudan and the Middle East – today? 

Today, I am not so sure it’s the big stuff that will annihilate us. Stuff we can’t see may be fixing to do us in.  Europe – and maybe the USA – is facing an epidemic of a new strain of e-coli, and bedbugs have resurged, also immune to formerly successful treatments.  And our careless habits, the most prevalent purveyor.  

How would that warning look on billboards across the nation?  “Repent! A microscopic bug is gonna get you!”  Hardly an admonition that would turn any one to seek God. 

Yet, reading today’s headlines I remembered a lesson I prepared years ago for a Bible study on Isaiah. Preparing background for what happened to the Assyrian army encamped outside Jerusalem I cited some info from National Geographic's July '94 issue, which devoted quite a chilling spread to "viruses:"  

  . . . [M]inuscule, mysterious, microscopic genetic menaces that can invade most living things with deadly consequences. AIDS, polio, Lassa fever, influenza and the cold are potential killers of phenomenal ability. Each begins beyond the ability of the human eye to discern, and ends with consequences that are tragic to behold.  

           

Could such a virus have swept through the Assyrian army encamped outside Jerusalem? We are not told HOW, but in Isaiah 37:36, the angel of the Lord moved through the Assyrian army and slew 185,000 soldiers (that is roughly 5 times the population of Annapolis, Maryland). 

           

Herodotus records an Assyrian defeat occasioned by a plague of mice, which consumed the equipment of the army and left them helpless before their enemies. Such rodents are notorious carriers of disease and plague.

We don't know if this is what happened, but savor the humor and irony if the Lord chose to defeat the bellicose, belligerent Assyrians by letting a few mice loose among their soldiers! What a rebuke! They boasted of their "war machine" that overturned the gods of the nations in the Mesopotamia, and God took them with an invisible killer carried by furry critters. Could it be? Angels unleashing mice to conquer those who shake their fists at heaven!  

           

Of all the conquests that Sennacherib took pains to detail in his "inscriptions," there is no account of his ever conquering Jerusalem - only that he received King Hezekiah's tribute by messenger in Nineveh.

I don’t know how the world as we know it might end. For too many today it will end violently – painfully – horribly, slaughtered by their fellow men and women who hate them.   May God protect us, not only from the invisible insurgents who take our health, but from the unseen and real enemy of God who means to destroy us. 

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.   But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. . . (1 Peter 5:8-11)

 

  

A Tropical Storm, Hermine

A Tropical Storm, Hermine.


“Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” Oscar Wilde

Hearing the sirens, and then sound blasts from the TV is unnerving; hearing a weatherman plot the course of an unseen tornado, and recognizing the cross streets, because they are within blocks of our house creates a dry mouth, quickly. Faster actually then I could have imagined.

Then while huddled in  a bathroom . . . the only interior space, I remembered:  I have no shoes on, and if the house does collapse, it might be tricky picking my way through the debris. This is not good. Then I imagined what the bathroom would look like if the house in fact collapsed. Being barefoot would not be my biggest problem.  

But, we had our cell phones and computer; so. we could chat about our predicament to other family, across town, huddled in their interior walled closet. What’s more, I remembered to bring in bottled water – no shoes, but I have water. And we can watch  the storm pass by, electronically, as the computer shows colored cells moving away.

The watch is not yet over – but I am hopeful the deluge will not turn back.

Last week, a category 4 hurricane blew itself out over the eastern seaboard – and a tropical storm dumped so much rain in Texas, we had deadly floods, and tornadoes. Two people lost their lives, and others lost their property. And Friday marks the peak of the hurricane season.

Tonight’s conversation may be unimaginative, how-some-ever,  I am much relieved to be having a  tiresome chat about the weather now, considering what I was imagining when the sirens went off, and Doug and I were huddled in the guest bath.

How’s Your Hearing?

What the Haitian people have endured since January 12, 2010 is unimaginable. In the past week, I have heard that women, just like me, one minute were going about their business, the next, suffering atrocious anguish and indignities – losing loved ones or their lives, everything they valued. One woman lost her five children – and her mind. I have heard that more than 200,000 people may have lost their lives and another 1.5 million were made homeless; 3 million people risk infection. And I heard the numbers could change – will change –  this time tomorrow or next week. I have also heard about courage and charity.

How could the poorest of the poor been so afflicted? Or, did they bring this on themselves?

Predictably, some prominent churchmen speculated that the earthquake was God’s judgement on Haiti.  For those tempted to point a finger, remember how many point back! Occultism and pretend churches are just two problems in every nation, in every city and community – and God urges churchmen to listen to what the Spirit says to the churches – while there is time. (Revelation 1-3)

To whom will I listen?

Luke heard the Lord Jesus said:

  "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
"Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?
  "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."  (Luke 13:3-5)

I hear some ask, then, “Does God ‘cause’ disaster?”  He says He does – and how can anything ever happen without His “permission” if He is Lord?  (Jeremiah 32:34)

I have heard and believe  God is deeper and bigger – more than even the word “Holy” conveys. (Psalm 62) His being strikes a form of  terror in me – even as Job said (40:4) and as Isaiah responded. (Isaiah 6)

I hear Isaiah say, God is "Mighty to save." (Isaiah 63:1)

C.H. Spurgeon wrote that:

By the words "to save" we understand the whole of the great work of salvation, from the first holy desire onward to complete sanctification. The words are multum in parro: indeed, here is all mercy in one word.

Christ is not only "mighty to save" those who repent, but He is able to make men repent. He will carry those to heaven who believe; but He is, moreover, mighty to give men new hearts and to work faith in them. He is mighty to make the man who hates holiness love it, and to constrain the despiser of His name to bend the knee before Him . . .  Whether to begin with others, or to carry on the work in you, Jesus is "mighty to save;" the best proof of which lies in the fact that He has saved you. What a thousand mercies that you have not found Him mighty to destroy!

O God! Please be mighty to save – save so many more today – even those trapped in literal and spiritual chaos.

So turn to me and be helped — saved! —  everyone, whoever and wherever you are. I am GOD, the only God there is, the one and only. ( Isaiah 45:22 from THE MESSAGE )