The people with Gideon are camped out near the army of Midian at some point after the famous fleece story in which Gideon receives multiple signs from God insisting that Gideon will help save Israel. God comes to Gideon and tells him that there are too many people in his army right now for God to be able to give the Midians into his hand. Now I have never been in an army or a war but I have played a lot of Risk and I know that the more armies I have in Brazil, the less likely my brother will attack me from North Africa. But God is doing something in Gideon and in the people of Israel. He tells Gideon to get rid of some of the people by telling them to go home if they are afraid. Two-thirds of the people leave and so now out of 32,000 people, 10,000 remain. “This is not good but it’s not the worst thing”, was what Gideon was probably thinking. God goes ahead and makes it “the worst thing” and tells Gideon that there is still too many people for God to be able to do something. As much as we can’t understand it or hate to admit it, God is all about God when it comes to his glory. He will not share his glory with another and he certainly won’t allow our human truimphs to outdo what he does every day for all time. The creator of world seems to be doing some really detailed incisions on Gideon’s heart to take away pride and fear and prove once again that everything that Gideon has and has done is because of God, so he tells Gideon to have the men go and take a drink of water by this stream or lake. He tells Gideon to look at how they are drinking, and to put aside the people who are kneeling and the people who are lapping like a dog. God instructs Gideon to send the kneelers home and the lappers are going to be used by God to defeat the Midians.

Two things from this passage have jumped out at me. One is the question of why did God choose the lappers instead of the kneelers? It could have been because they were the minority and he was looking for the minority. I wonder if it had to do with the posture of the person doing the drinking. I am not sure what the reason was for why God chose the lappers but it did get me to thinking about it. Someone who is lapping up water from beside a stream or lake is going to be face down and will probably have to take off some swords or bows in order to get down that low. The act of lapping like a dog would put their face parallel to the ground and their hands probably out to the sides of their bodies with their weapons on the ground and their face in the water. They would be very vulnerable to people around them and wouldn’t be able to watch much of what was going on around them. Someone who is kneeling next to the water and scooping it up to their face would still be a little alert and would probably have their sword still fastened to their side and maybe a shield or other weapon in the free hand. They would be able to get their feet much quicker and present a fight if they needed to. I wonder if God chose the lappers because like so many other times in life, he is choosing the things that are vulnerable, weak, and not glamorous to accomplish what he wants. The second thing that I was thinking about from this passage was how often in my life I am a kneeler. Showing the vestements of religion and living a “christian” life but really I am guarding something. Not wanting someone to see the ugliness in my heart and always wanting to be on my guard in case someone actually notices that maybe Micah is not really the person that he tries to portray. God chose the lappers for a reason and I am not sure what it was, but what I do know is that God is in the business of laying waste to our self-righteousness and pride and making all things work together for our good and his glory. The end of the story is that Gideon and his 300 men routed the Midians by blowing trumpets, smashing jars, and yelling, “For the Lord and for Gideon!”. The Midians started to kill one another in the confusion and took off running only to be hunted down by everyone in Israel. God used 300 men against an army to show that He is in control of the destinies of men and to prove his power and wisdom.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523581,00.html

First off, I think anytime someone or something dies, someone else suffers and therefore we should mourn with those who mourn. Whether the person is a ruthless dictator or an elderly woman who works with tribes in Africa, when they die someone cries and hurts.

Second, I think that some people’s lives are lived in such a way that when they die, it is hard to feel sorry for them. People who live their lives under the addiction of drugs and alcohol ruining and wasting their lives and the lives of their loved ones are hard to feel sorry for when they eventually die because of their addictions.

Thirdly, life is not simple and straightforward. There are layers to every persons lives and choices that cannot possibly be understood by an outside observer. God only knows the heart and it is impossible to fully know another persons heart no matter how close we are to them.

The easiest answer to this question is to think that this doctor was judged by God and therefore was murdered by someone else. My opposition to abortion and 4 children would fortify this position in my heart and it would be easy to stop there. Doesn’t the Bible say, that murderers will not inherit the kingdom of God?(Gal 5:21) God’s justice in the Old Testament and the New Testament seem to be against all unrightousness and while his justice is patient, it seems to come in one way or another. We know that regardless of our upbringing, choices, and beliefs, that we will have to answer for the things that we have done either in this life or when Jesus returns. There will be a final peace and justice in the end in which all things will be made new and this sinful world and bodies will be restored. Here’s my problem with this thinking: we don’t know the mind of God nor are we perfect in our own earthly judgements so why would we think that God killed this man because of what he did?

There is a tendency to elevate sins above other sins in our hearts and in the churches as a whole. In my own effort to make myself feel better about myself, I will routinely remember the shortcomings of others and my “good” response to the same situations. Marriage is great for this since you see everything behind the scenes that no one else sees(not that my wife ever makes mistakes). We want justice to happen in the world and when we see a wicked man like this killed, we want to think that justice was served and that he “got what he deserved”. But is this how we should look at this murder?

Jesus is talking to a group of people left over from the thousands who had gathered to hear him and the people brought up some Galileans who had been killed and mixed in with the Jewish sacrifices. Apparently, the people in the crowd, thought that those people were pretty bad because otherwise it wouldn’t have happened to them that way. Jesus’ reply to them is pretty revealing of their hearts and what his mission was. Luke 13:2-3: And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because the suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Jesus then goes on to say the same thing about 18 people who had a tower fall on them. So what is Jesus trying to say in this passage that has bearing on this current situation and many more situations that happen around us everyday?

Jesus knew the hearts of those he spoke with and he knows our hearts. He seems to be pointing our eyes from staring at other people to looking inward at our own hearts. God the father is the judge of the heart and the only one who can know what really is going on. When we presume to know the answer to something like this, even though we might be right, we take away the right of God to judge another and we may bring judgement on ourselves. Jesus is telling the people listening to come to grips with the fact that every person is a sinner who God demands justice for. Jesus was that trophy lamb who justice was poured out on at the cross.

Wickedness took this man’s life. I don’t think as Christians we should ever rejoice in wickedness or the acts associated with wickedness. As difficult as it may seem to forgive this man or have any sort of pity for he and his family, I think that Jesus gave us the example of forgiveness on the cross and that we should try within our own hearts to pray for this man’s family.

My heart really has little pity for this man. I think that some of that is natural to what I said earlier about people living their lives in such a way that it is hard to feel sorry for them when they die or when tragedy hits. I think Jesus would have us pray for his hurting family and repent of our own sinfulness. I think we should also pray that the horror of abortions and specifically full-term abortions would be removed from our world.

The creator of the universe who was the image of the invisible God came to earth as a weak baby. My daughter, Flannery is now 7 weeks old and very fallible and sinful. Very difficult thing to comprehend that the Lord of the universe was like my own daughter at one time and still God. Yet in order to pay the price of sin in the world, to reconcile everything to himself, in order to make peace, He came to die. We all know that we will die one day but few of us think about our lives as having that purpose, yet that was the purpose of that weak baby born in mud and a barn.

He became the Lord of our shame in the greatest mystery ever. When I think about all the wicked things I have done, all the pain that I have caused, all the destructive things I have done, I can’t help but feel shame in the presence of a holy God who demands and deserves nothing but perfection. It is only when I remember the cross, the mercy tree, that I feel a gladness that I think only a Christian who is a huge sinner can feel.

Shame is something that nowadays is reserved for counseling sessions and very little else. We try and not shame anyone lest they feel sequestered from “normal” people. We do wrong and commit all kinds of sin but think little of it until we are confronted with Jesus and the cross, a perfect man and God who deserved nothing but praise and honor bore our sins and shame in a way that we could not do. When the sacrifice on the cross becomes clear, we see that Jesus is Lord of our shame. He bore shame, all that could not be fulfilled through our good deeds, and everything that could condemn us was placed on Him.

The mystery of God’s love and grace is not easy to understand. It is not something that I have completely grasped even after 20 plus years of calling myself a Christian. I hope that I never grasp it completely but I am grateful for those late nights that a song and scripture makes you remember that Jesus is King and that my sins are washed away, and just a small glimmer of light peeks through the darkness of myself and lets me see who I am in Christ and what Christ has accomplished through the shameful cross.

It has been a little over six months since your accident and already, you are healing up very nicely. Your smile is back and the scar is starting to heal on your face. There is no effect from where you severed your ankle tendon and the gash on your belly will be a good story that you can make up when you get older.

When I first got the phone call from your aunt that I needed to come and get you quickly, I had never seen someone run through a glass door so I assumed that you were a little cut up and probably were going to have a headache. Not until I heard the ambulance sirens in the distance as I hung up the phone to drive over to where you were, did I start to think that this was a big deal. Little did I know that this single event would rival your birth in impact to me, your mama, and you.
At first, all I could see was the door you had run through in pieces. Giant shards of glass hung down from the old sliding door you had plowed through and tiny pieces of sharp glass lay on the ground with your blood coating their edges. You were covered up with a towel and were sitting quietly with your aunt holding you in her lap. As she removed the towel showing your cheek laid open, I almost threw up. I hadn’t expected that and upon seeing it, I felt a mixture of terror for you and a sick stomach from the blood. Your shoe was full of blood and I at first thought you had somehow cut your foot off. Thankfully that wasn’t the case.

The man who came to repair the door, told your aunt that he was surprised that you lived through it. He said that usually people get torn to ribbons and cut major arteries as they pass through the door. I am convinced that God knew every piece of glass that would cut you. If he knows the hairs on your blond head, then surely he knows the glass that cut you up.

When I think about how well you have adjusted to your accident both physically and emotionally, I marvel at the way that God has made each of us. In my opinion, you were the least likely person in our family to deal with something like this, but looking back, I don’t think anyone could have handled it quite like you did. Your sense of humor intact, you laughed so funny in the ER that you made everyone in the room laugh with you. The way that you didn’t cry a bit until they put the IV in your arm was truly the toughest thing that I have ever seen to date. The way you hobbled around like Tiny Tim on your walker was really funny after the initial shock of everything. You never really complained about IV’s, crummy hospital food, or the cast on your foot. I don’t think that anyone else could have handled this like you did.

I know that God has a plan for your life. I know that every piece of glass that could have cut you didn’t because God didn’t want it to. I hope that in the future, God’s plan will become more evident to you and us.

I hope that your scar on your face will be a reminder of God’s grace and mercy. When you call upon Jesus later in life, I hope you will remember how much he loves you and cares for you. I am so grateful that God has given you to us and am also thankful for his mercy in your life. I don’t know how long you will live in life. You will outlive me Lord-willing, and will have a family of your own and kids of your own. I hope that God will make you into a righteous man who loves Him and trusts him with all your heart. I hope that God will at a later point, help you to see your scar as a scar of mercy, hope, and grace.

I read this verse when you were born and fell in love with it like your mama and I did you,
“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with Great Joy, to the only God, our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever, Amen.”
Jude 24-25
I love you Jude.
Papa

Obviously, there will be a ton of singing and praising God for all of eternity. In between every tear being wiped away, Satan being forever destroyed, and nations coming to nothing, we see a lot of examples of singing and loud voices being raised in praise(Ch 19).  I have heard some people sing in their earthly bodies and I wonder if when we are all purified completely and made new, will it include some of our off-pitches?

I think that the answer is yes for the following reasons. Firstly, if you have ever sat next to someone who cannot sing, it is hard to imagine having to listen to that for eternity. Certainly grace and mercy come into play here but suffering doesn’t exist in heaven. Secondly, if angels are singing in ch 15 of Revelations, I got to imagine that we will be able to sing as well as they do, and I bet angels sing really well. Lastly, all things will be made new and I think it is in all of our best interests to pray that God redeems some of our voices.

Obviously this post was half in jest, but I really did think about this as I sung next to a sweet lady who is not only closer to heaven in age more than likely, but closer to heaven on earth through her faith and Christ-likeness. I hope I can be as kind and loving as Jean when I get to be her age.

1.Your house was always a lot smaller than you thought. I lived the first ten years of my life in a mobile home and I thought the place was huge at times. When I discovered places like the empty space underneath the little pseudo-stairs leading up to my sisters room, I thought I was in Buckingham Palace!

2. Time moves incredibly slow. Especially when you are waiting for a holiday like Christmas or a birthday. This is really true on the eve of any of those events. I can remember staying up till 12am waiting for Christmas to come and then waking up at 4am just to get a head start.

3. No matter how many bullets you shoot or how many arrows you let fly, there will always be unlimited people and animals to shoot.

4.My parents may have been stressed out, but I either didn’t know or wouldn’t care, because I had bigger problems like trying to figure out how to get my spaceship made of tomato wire baskets and leftover aluminum up into the air and off the ground. Very difficult even if you did have as many tools from the shed as possible and a car battery.

5.Tornadoes are really scary at any point in your life but they provide a good excuse to stay up late and be outside in the woods in a ditch well past your bedtime. When I was about 8 I think, there was a warning nearby for a tornado and my Mom took us out of our trailer into a ditch nearby. I am not sure if that was the smartest thing but it sure left an impression on me. I was waiting for that tornado to land and pick the trailer up and carry it away.

6. That big kid on the other baseball team really does have a cannon for an arm.  I remember several times through the course of my storied little league career, being scared sh#*-less by Brad Cobb and another kid who I can’t remember, but who died that year in a jeep accident.  These guys could throw a baseball at least 60 mph and for an 11-14 year old, that was fast…especially if it hit you.

7. Underneath every rock is a whole bunch of treasures waiting to be found or at least a whole nest of crazy insects that could mame you. My sister and I believed that there was pirate treasure at the top of our little hill outside Sand Springs, OK. We must have dug about a dozen holes, all about 8 inches deep.

8. Everyone has a neighbor that is especially creepy and or mysterious. Mr Clay lived up the road from us and I think he must have been shell-schocked from Vietnam(literally). He was a nice man but was definitely part of the mysterious contingent around our house.   Also the Jamisons that lived a little further up was part of the creepy neighbors mainly due to their van with the porthole window in the back and the crazy orange painting of something on driver side of the van.

9. Your father never looks so tough as when he has a knife in one hand and a blood earnest look in his eye. When I was younger, I was chased by a wild hog. This single event was probably the crowning achievement of my young childhood since I happened to outrun this ferocious monster while saving my Converse that happened to fall off as I rounded the final turn on the way to my back door. When my dad came home, my memory is of him grabbing his hunting knife with its home-made sheath, and going out into the woods to try and find this bacon-carrier. I believe we made a pen for it as well although I am not sure what the purpose of it would have been. Surely we wouldn’t keep it as a pet and didn’t fattening of an animal take like years?

10. This is the last one and honestly I didn’t save it for last in some kind of artistic flare. I just thought of it, and when I did, I started to tear up a bit because it was such a important moment in my life and one that I am a ashamed to admit, I had forgotten about in the recesses of my brain.

Hell and grace are never so clear and terrifying as when you are sitting on your swingset on a Sunday afternoon after hearing a Baptist sermon from Thom Smith. I can remember the tears streaming down my cheeks into the greyish Oklahoma clay as I contemplated the depths of my sin and the almost certain destruction I would experience if I didn’t come to Jesus. Thankfully, I did see the grace of the cross and also the depths of my sin up to that point.

So those are the memories that only a boy can have. Some of the memories may have become a little cloudy, I’m sure that my parents can confirm some of these memories or give a little bit of a clearer idea of how things might have happened. Of course, those memories would come from an adults perspective which may or may not be the most accurate!

“This is the Jesus that isin the line of David. This is the one that they keep talking about. Didn’t he just heal some lepers a few days ago? Wasn’t there a whore from Jericho who is in his family somewhere? Maybe he will show me mercy like Joshua showed Rahab before this city fell?”

He starts yelling out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The Pharisees and others in front of him start telling him to shut up and keep it down. “I mean come on, this is royalty we are looking at here, show some dignity!”, they are probably saying to him. But he yells out even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” By this time, his face is probably strained and sweaty from the heat and the intense yelling. And then it goes quiet. This blind beggar is probably scared now. What if he offended Jesus? What if the crowd is going to turn on him? Then Jesus speaks and doesn’t just ask nicely but commands for the beggar to be brought to him. “What do you want me to do for you?” the beggar hears in a very soft but questioning tone. “Just give me back my sight, Lord.” A pause, and then with a word, all the years of darkness are lifted in a moment. The light streams in, stinging his eyes like it does when you wake up to a bright light. The beggar beholds the son of David who has come to give sight to the blind, make the lame to walk, and to take away the sins of the world. What more could this beggar do but give glory to God and continue praising him as he walked down the road with Jesus?

I am the beggar in a very real spiritual sense of the word. I cannot do anything to bring more of God’s love to me and I can’t do any good work to bring more forgiveness for my sins. Jesus has brought sight to our dark eyes and all we can do is to cry out to God like the beggar in the dirt and ask for more mercy, more grace, and more Jesus. May God give us the grace to cry out loudly when our heart or mind tells us to hush.