SOUNDING SMART

I don’t have a lot of pet peeves. At least I don’t think I do. But please humor me by letting me vent about one of them.

It’s what people do to make others think that they are smart. In doing this, they either fall for the old “form over substance” error (or hope that others will). Or they apparently think that regardless of the merits of what they say, these tactics make up for any lack of truth or reliability.

Here are a few of them:

Being passionate – the emotion or “hot air” takes attention from the actual content that is being communicated. It says, “I’m smart – see how emotional I can get about this?”

Seeming cool & professorial (whatever that is) gives the impression of studied, dispassionate impartiality.  

Pushing the limits on polite speech (aka cussing, etc.) in order to sound sophisticated, clever, or cutting edge.

Using all kinds of supposedly authoritative information. Mounds of words & paragraphs prove nothing, especially if it’s too much for anyone who actually has a life has time to sift thru.

I’ve done my share of academic research & writing. Enough to know that a few letters behind someone’s name isn’t a guarantee that they are a reliable source of information.

Real experience in the real world, speaking with clarity & conciseness – that’s where smart comes from & where it is expressed.

The job of a teacher (in broad terms, a teacher is anyone who wants to communicate & bring information to others) is not to cloud things or complicate the subject. It is to “make the complicated simple.”

MOTIVATION

Our New Mexico legislature is apparently looking again at the legalization of recreational pot. I can’t speak as an expert on medicinal pot, but I will speak on what some legislators & special interest groups want to do in de-criminalizing & legalizing recreational.

What I say is based on 3 things: 1) the historical prohibition of producing, selling, possessing, & using pot after it became an issue in America; 2) common sense about it that is based on its effect on people (there is plenty of research out there if you care to google it); & 3) the negative effect pot has had on my & following generations.

Motivation is a huge part of why people do things.

Legislators & the special interest groups who advocate for legalization of recreational pot don’t do that in a vacuum. They also don’t do it from altruistic motivations. 

One of the primary arguments they use is that it will increase tax revenues coming into the state treasury. (Ironically, they claim that they will use part of those revenues to fund better mental health care.) They have a vested economic interest in the legalization & taxation of recreational pot. 

THIS CANCELS OUT ANY CONCERN THEY MIGHT HAVE FOR ITS NEGATIVE RESULTS.

On the other hand, people who oppose legalizing recreational pot have no economic interest in the results of the legislation. If it passes, we are not affected negatively or positively. (At least initially; public safety & other issues will ultimately raise vehicle insurance rates, etc. But that is another issue for another time.)

What I am saying is that those who oppose pot legalization are motivated for reasons that that are actually altruistic. We have nothing to gain or lose economically. But we do have specific concerns & reasons why we believe it should continue to be against the law.

Remember this when you start seeing propaganda intended to push this down our throats.

MY FRIEND DOC RYAN

I lost a special friend a few weeks ago. The sad thing was that I didn’t realize he was gone until today. A January 1 Facebook message from another friend in the Philippines somehow got overlooked.

Many people knew my friend simply as “Doc Ryan.”

We met him in October 2008 in Mindoro. He was an instructor for a mini-medical course Deborah was taking. He was a Filipino who had studied medicine in the US & could have, if he wished, stayed here & done very well for himself.

Instead he chose to return to the Philippines & dedicate himself to serving God by using his training & skills there.

I know Doc Ryan knew & loved the Lord. He could be very straightforward in dealing with people, but that characteristic was just an overflow of his passion to give his best to them for God’s glory.

Doc Ryan was with us for nearly all the medical outreaches we hosted. He understood the sacrifices that medical professionals make in giving their time (usually almost 2 weeks including travel time to & from the Philippines), energy, & finances. 

He also had a gift for stepping into situations that others couldn’t handle. (You would have to participate in a medical mission to understand this.)

I’m not sure how old Doc Ryan was when cancer took him. Maybe early 50s. Honestly, as a doctor he made a much better care giver than patient. He probably erred on the side of working too hard & not taking good enough care of himself.

But a couple things are sure.

He loved the Lord & demonstrated that love thru his love for people.

He is now in the presence of the Lord he loved.

We’ll miss you, Doc. 

But we’ll see you in the morning.

UN-IDEAL MINISTRY

Ministry is messy. It's messy because we're making disciples of people whose lives are a mess. They may have done things that were foolish, & even sinful. People may have done terrible things done to them. So the process of making disciples, which is what God has called us to do, is by default a messy business.

No big surprise. Jesus set the pace. He served, trained, & ultimately gave His life for people whose lives were a mess.

A part of our ministry here in New Mexico is serving people who need help with English. Not surprisingly, some of those people may be here illegally. God gives us wisdom & resources so that we can help them while maintaining integrity with the law. 

But the bottom line is this - ministry and making disciples brings us into situations that are far from ideal. Situations of injustice, situations for which there doesn't seem to be any simple resolution. 

Through Bible times people like Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon,& the apostles under an oppressive Roman regime faced and dealt with this reality. 

All through church history & even now God's people have faced  evil, lawlessness, & injustice. But they have continued to advance the Kingdom of God and fulfill the Great Commission.

We're not revolutionaries in the sense of overthrowing an evil regime and replacing it with God's righteous millennial reign. 

But we are revolutionaries who proclaim forgiveness & cleansing from sin in Christ, deliverance from demonic domination, & spiritual transformation to individuals, families, & communities.

Ministry doesn't take place in the bubble of ideal situations. But it is what the Lord has given to every disciple to fulfill in the power of the Spirit. 

SELLING THE NEW BIRTH SHORT

As Christians we use a lot of terms from Scripture that are important & that describe God does in us when we come to Christ. We call it being born again, born from above, born of the Spirit, regenerated, receiving eternal life. We use a lot of terms like that to describe the desired result from what that we do to help people to to receive Christ.

Some of the things we might do are share with them the 4 Spiritual Laws, The ABCs of Salvation, or The Roman Road. We encourage them to put their faith in Christ, to repent of their sins to turn to the Lord, to trust in God's promises, or to respond to an invitation to say the Sinner's Prayer.

But, after we've done all of those things there is the one thing that only the Holy Spirit can do. 

We can have somebody pray the sinner's prayer, but if they didn't actually receive Christ, they just said words. Somebody can be sorry for the wrongs that they have done or say that they trust in Christ, but their life is not inwardly changed or regenerated. They haven't truly received eternal life.

This reality of Christian experience is scary and intimidating, because we can DO a lot of things but we can't make a person a new creation in Christ. Our hands are tied; we don't have the means to do that.

But this reality is also comforting & encouraging. No matter how many of those other things we've done or how well we've done them, they have no power of their own. In the end, only the Spirit of God can do the work that brings a person to Christ. 

And that's exciting, because once that happens their life is changed. They do become a new creation in Christ, & and nothing that we can do or that the devil can do can take that away or can change that moment in time. If you have experienced this, you know it to be true.

So let's do what we can do, but let's also be glad that it is the undomesticated Spirit of God who executes God's work in this world. 

Ultimately, He is the only one who can do the work in the lives of the people that we seek to lead to Christ.

THE BOTTOM LINE

We Americans tend to be pragmatic & conscientious about making sure that we get the most return on whatever resources we have personally invested in something. We ask, “What’s the bottom line?” Or we want to make sure we “get the most bang for our buck.”

There is a part of this that is very biblical. We are called to be good stewards & to get the most from our investment of time, energy, finances, etc.

But sometimes over-emphasizing what we think is the bottom line can blind us to a lesson that Jesus taught His disciples in Mark 14:3-9:

While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

They learned something unforgettable thru what appeared to be an irresponsible act – anointing Jesus with perfume worth a small fortune. This reflected 2 “bottom line” things in the Kingdom of God.

One is Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Like the woman’s offering of something very valuable seemed a foolish, pointless waste of resources, Jesus’ death of the cross first appeared to be a colossal waste of a life God had blessed.

Another is same the reckless abandon that motivated her to sacrifice her treasure. We can, & must, surrender our whole being to God – past, present, & future; abilities, resources, & dreams.

You see, these things are the real bottom line.

CHRISTMAS IN THE DARK

It's Christmas Eve today. Where we live it's usually sunny & bright, but the last few days it's been dark & overcast. Today we got up & felt kinda draggy, & it just didn't seem like Christmas Eve.

That got me thinking about all when Jesus came. There was nothing observable in the world that indicated that anything positive was going to happen. The world was a dark place spiritually, with oppression & racism. 

Demonic beliefs & practices were on the rampage. Women, children, & the disabled weren't valued. There was nothing to indicate that there was any change coming.

Today, it's just the same. There's a lot of hatred & racism being expressed. Those in government who are supposed to serve us seem to be serving themselves. 

In many ways the church really struggles. Nothing seems to be happening spiritually that's uplifting, liberating, transformative, & empowering to people.

So, nothing appears to have really changed, at least outwardly. Much appears to be like it was when Jesus came.

One thing I've learned is that God doesn't usually work in blatant in-your-face ways. He usually works behind the scenes in ways that we can't see with our eyes. But the transformation IS coming and we WILL see it with our eyes.

Jesus transformed this world thru His first coming 2000 years ago that we can't even imagine from our perspective today.

He is coming again, but He has more changes in mind to do in you & thru you before He returns.

Be encouraged & look for His coming. But keep your eyes open for the things that he's doing today.