The Christian Ear is a forum for discussing and listening to the voice of today's church. The Lord spoke to churches,“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Rev 2&3
August 31, 2012
Fruitless
At first blush the remedy Jesus has for an unproductive plant, tree or
disciple can seem pretty harsh. I have a better appreciation for the Lord’s
view point when I look at the huge tomato plant in my mini garden. The plant is
stout, sturdy and healthy and even though it’s loaded with flowers, there is no
fruit on it anywhere. It is merely taking up space, water and sunlight. The
thought of cutting it down and throwing it into the trash is not such a
difficult decision after all.
August 30, 2012
For Us
A fellow believer is
struggling with whether or not she can support Mitt Romney for President
because she feels his religion is a cult. I view Mr. Romney as a person of
faith, although he and I do not share the same faith. I’m reminded of the disciples
wanting to stop a man from driving out demons because he was not “one of us”. Jesus said, “Do not stop him. No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next
moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us
is for us.” There are some areas of doctrine where Mr. Romney is not one of
us, but I have seen nothing indicating that he is against Christ. (Mark 9:38 NIV)
August 29, 2012
Rewards
Because of the need for financial disclosure, Mitt and Ann Romney’s
church tithing record has become public record. To their credit they have a
respectable record of giving, but I can imagine their discomfort at having
their donations put out for public consumption. Jesus said, “But when you give to the needy, do not let
your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your
giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you.” (Matt 6:3-4).
August 28, 2012
Peculiar People
I visited with a woman last Sunday whom I thought was a first time
visitor, but later discovered she had been has been worshipping with us
throughout the summer. I learned that she wintered in Arizona and summered in
Colorado and was hoping to have dual membership so that she could have a home
church in both locations. However, she did preface her membership desires by
saying that she was reserved and not outgoing when it comes to joining activities.
After worship I learned that another couple who has worshiped with us for a
couple of years was pulling their membership because the church was not
charismatic enough. Their leaning was more toward talking in tongues. We
believers are a strange lot. “But ye are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath
called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (1 Peter 2:9 KJV)
August 27, 2012
Planned Parenthood
Some people think
it’s admirable for a man to support a woman’s right to choose, but I have to
wonder if it is a cop out. Instead of letting the woman make the choice, I see
it as burdening the woman to take all the responsibility for the decisions that
are made. Essentially a man can easily shirk all his responsibility on the
abortion issue by simply saying it’s a woman’s right to chose. I see shades of
Adam in the Garden of Eden saying, “The
woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
(Gen 3:12 NIV)
August 24, 2012
Saved
As Jesus hung on the cross bystanders were heard saying, “Let’s see if Elijah comes down to save
him.” (Matt 27:49b NIV) I find it interesting that the more outspoken
believers are about their faith, the more they are scrutinized. Bystanders are
just watching to see if Jesus will come down and save them from every
predicament and struggle they have in life. What they fail to realize is that,
like Jesus, we’ve already been saved.
August 23, 2012
Division
I remember being a new believer who, because I lacked biblical
knowledge, felt ill-equipped to fight a lot of spiritual battles. I hated
having to walk away from spiritual conversation because my footing wasn’t as
good as that of my opponent. We all know the importance of using the Word when
we are in combat with Satan, but we seem to think in terms of winning and
losing. I’m now wondering if some of us are working on the wrong end game. Jesus
said, “Any kingdom divided against itself
will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is
divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand?” (Luke 11:17-18a NIV) Rather
than defeating or defending, the real victory is in dividing.
August 22, 2012
Lesser of Two Evils
The fortune in my fortune cookie read, “If you must choose between the lesser of two evils, pick the one
you’ve never tried before.” At first
blush I laughed at what appeared to be the obvious, but when I applied that
logic to political races, it gave me pause. Political parties are often putting
forth such weak candidates that constituents do in fact make a choice based on what
they perceive to be the lesser of two evils. Somehow I don’t think the Lord is
impressed with our standard of measurement. “Everyone
must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority
except that which God has established.” (Ro 13:1a NIV)
August 21, 2012
Advice Columnist
With the tagline “Let her help”, our local newspaper is launching an
advice column and encouraging readers to submit their questions to the author.
I suspect that because syndicated advice columnists Dear Abby and Ann Landers
are expensive to contract with, the proposed new column is a cost saving
measure and the publisher is hoping that their readership will embrace an
unknown author. The newspaper has given us the name of the author, but they failed
to offer any credentials, qualifications or background information. I was
reminded of Job’s friend Bildad who also thought himself qualified to give
advice. Sarcastically Job critiqued his friend’s advice, “What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great
insight you have displayed!” (Job 26:3 NIV)
August 20, 2012
Reason to be Offended
There are some people who, when they want to get out of a situation, look
for or even create a reason to be offended. Occasionally their reasoning may
have a ring of legitimacy, but more often than not it is a lame excuse that
others can see through. Recently a church member wanted us to change our
worship schedule to an earlier time slot so that people could then have more
time to get out on the golf course on Sunday. Out of diplomacy the leadership
took a survey, however the consensus of the congregation was to leave the time
alone. The person making the request is now sending out signals that he will
probably stop worshipping with us because, ‘No
one listens to me’. Objectively the Apostle Paul says, “… Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather
think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith
God has given you.” (Ro 12:3b NIV)
August 17, 2012
Supporter
On short notice I
learned of a problematic meeting that was going to take place so I called one
of the committee members to see if I needed to be there to lend my support.
After making a few phone calls and giving it a little thought he felt the meeting
was not in jeopardy of being hijacked, so he really didn’t think I needed to be
in attendance. I was relieved that I didn’t have to rearrange my schedule in
order to attend, but did add that I would hold the meeting up in prayer. He
laughed, “Now that’s who we need to come
to the meeting…we need God in there!”
August 16, 2012
A Time to Speak Up
Recently I was in a public meeting where a man made a racial slur
during his time at the microphone. It was an awkward situation and the
chairman, without making any comment, simply moved on with the meeting. After
the meeting an audience member, who was of that heritage, was visibly upset
because no one spoke up to condemn the comment. My first reaction was to agree
with her that someone, presumably the chairman, should have interjected that
racial slurs are not acceptable, nor would they be tolerated. However after
giving it more thought I concluded that everyone in the room, including the
person offended, could have or should have spoken up. I find it interesting
that even in the church when something comes up that has an element of
controversy, we’re always waiting for the other guy to speak up. “When I called, you answered me; you made me
bold and stouthearted.” (Psalms 138:3 NIV)
August 15, 2012
Qualifications
In 2008 my sister-in-law unabashedly stated that she voted for Obama
because, “I wanted to be able to say that
I voted for the first black American President.” Politically speaking I
guess we’re all entitled to have our own standards. Spiritually speaking, it’s somewhat
of a relief that the Apostle Paul gave us instructions for picking leaders in
the church by narrowing down the eligibility field. “…I am writing you these instructions so that…you will
know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the
church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” (1 Tim
3:14-15 NIV) Seriously, if it were left up to us, can you imagine what type of
individuals we might put in positions of leadership?
August 14, 2012
Password
I have an account that requires I change my password every six months.
Just making the change is frustrating enough, but the IT Department requires
that you be a gymnast and jump through hoops to come up with a password you can
never remember. The minimum requirements are:
·
Is at least eight characters long
·
Includes at least 1 uppercase letter (A-Z)
·
Includes at least 1 lowercase letter (a-z)
·
Includes at least 1 number (0-9)
·
Does not include any portion of your name
·
Is not a previously used password
Thank goodness my five letter salvation Password is simple…Jesus.
Quoting the prophet Joel, Luke writes, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
(Acts 2:21 NIV)
August 13, 2012
Lip Service
When I ask Bill to do something he will often in jest salute me saying,
“Yes Boss, whatever you say boss. Yes ma’am.”
I normally take his joking in stride, however if it is something that I
have repeatedly asked him to do for me, it can get under my skin. The other day
there was one of those occasions so I snapped back, “I’ve heard that before…that’s nothing more than lip service.” The
Spirit wasted no time letting me know that there have been occasions where I
too have offered lip service to the Lord. Jesus chastised the Pharisees and the
teachers of the law concerning their lip service, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far
from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules
taught by men’.” (Matt 15:7-9 NIV)
August 10, 2012
In Flight Training
The automatic pilot in an Alaska Airlines airplane malfunctioned
causing the cabin to lose pressure. In his analysis, one expert said, “When the automatic pilot fails, the pilot
needs to know how to fly the plane.” No argument with me on that one. The
concept did however cause me to think about those who are mature in the faith
and so firmly planted in the Word that, spiritually speaking, we are often
flying on automatic pilot. Personally speaking it’s a real shock when the Lord
switches me to manual to test me and see if I really know how to fly.
August 09, 2012
Deep Cleaning
I’m working on having a yard sale in a couple of weeks and when the
task starts looking overwhelming I start procrastinating. I’d really like to have my whole house cleaned
out all at once, but there are times when I just don’t want to go through one
more closet or one more cupboard. Family members are gently and sometimes not
so gently, encouraging me to keep going. At the moment, rather than cleaning
out a whole room, my tendency seems to be to clean a little in this room and
then a little in that room. Consequently no one room is completely finished.
I’m wondering if I do the same thing when I’m trying to get rid of the sinful
clutter in my heart. When I look at the sin I’ve piled up in the corners of my
heart, it too can be so overwhelming that I just want to do a little picking up
here and there and then leave the rest of it for another cleaning day.
August 08, 2012
Banking On It
Our church missions group is suggesting that we participate in
year-round contributions to the local food bank. Each month we will be
encouraged to donate specific items listed on a food-wheel. I have to tell you I’m
somewhat agitated by the list. For August, September and October the items are
laundry soap, hygiene products and paper products (toilet paper, napkins). How
did we go from feeding the hungry to handing out boxes of Kleenex? No doubt
there are good intentions behind the suggested donations, but I now feel there
is a stigma attached to the food bank. I suppose it would be different if we
were taking up donations for a laundry soap bank, a hygiene bank or a paper
products bank.
August 07, 2012
Bad Badminton
It’s reported from
the 2012 Olympics that badminton teams from South Korea, China and Indonesia
have been caught deliberately losing their matches so they can gain a more
favorable quarter final draw. My righteous indignation kicked in until I
recognized that sometime we believers are also guilty of throwing our spiritual
matches. “Do you not know that in a race
all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get
the prize.” (I Cor 9:21 NIV)
August 06, 2012
Hands Off
In a local newspaper there is a weekly Sunday column titled You Said
It…Here’s what’s on your mind. The forum allows people to have their say anonymously
and some of the comments are critical, while others are complementary and
praise worthy. In last week’s column a letter writer said, “Get your government hands off my food stamps.” Seriously? And yet
I can see this jaw dropping comment filtering into the church. We want the
assurance of salvation, but our actions are often saying to God, “Get your hands off my earthly life”.
August 03, 2012
Sampler Platter
Coming back from the fitness center the other morning I passed an SUV
that had the back window rolled down and a dog’s head sticking out. It had
rained the night before and the Golden Retriever, with his nose in the air and
his large dangling tongue flapping in the wind, was getting a taste of the
crisp morning. He was a really happy dog. “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes
refuge in him.” (Psalms 34:8 NIV)
August 02, 2012
Brothers and Sisters in Action
Yesterday I drove 120 miles round trip to have a meal at Chick-fill-A,
and oh my goodness. At 12:30 there were three police cars in turn lanes with
lights flashing and uniformed police officers directing traffic. The line of
customers wove itself around inside the building and then spilled over into the
parking lot where it snaked around the building. The city street at the side of
the restaurant was bumper to bumper cars as it formed a new drive-through lane. Over
a period of four hours I went back to the restaurant three different times
hoping to find a lull, but none was to be seen. Even though I never made it all
the way to the cashier line, I’m convinced that taking my place in the line of
cars trying to get into the restaurant driveway showed my support. There was
one lone protester carrying a homemade sign that read, “Love is love” and standing next to him on the corner was a
white-haired Christian gentleman sharing Jesus’ love.
August 01, 2012
No Betrayal
My niece, who I haven’t seen in over three years, was in town and some
of our family got together for a quick lunch at a local fast food restaurant.
The atmosphere didn’t lend itself to an in depth discussion, but I did learn
that at age 45 she is living with an older man whom she calls her boyfriend. She
is a grandma, compliments of her eldest son, and she allowed her youngest son
to be adopted by her mother. Later that evening I emailed all the cousins to
bring them up to speed on the brief mini-reunion and there was a fleeting moment
the word gossip crossed my mind. I did some soul searching and concluded that
what I passed on was not gossip, because she shared it openly. “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a
trustworthy man keeps a secret.” (Proverbs 11:13 NIV)
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