Fire in the Hole

Pentecost Sunday is fast approaching in conjunction with Memorial Day weekend thus mixing my metaphors seems entirely appropriate. Let’s think together about remembering what God initiated that first Pentecost-Sunday in Acts 2 shouting fire in the hole.

Okay, I realize maybe God didn’t literally shout those particular words early that morning as the disciples “were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1), but perhaps there should have been some kind of warning about what was about to transpire. Of course, Jesus had been pretty emphatic in the Gospel of John trying to let them know he had to go for “Someone” else to come to them:

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

(John 16:7, NRSV)

In other words, Jesus was saying, “Fire in the hole.” You may think you know what this means, but there is more to the saying than meets the eye. The phrase is a warning that an explosive detonation is imminent. Miners use it to warn others that a charge has been set and is about to be detonated. However, the first cannons were discharged by placing a flaming torch to a small hole packed with gunpowder that led to the main powder charge causing it to explode and propel the cannonball. Hence, “fire in the hole” was both a command to the torch man, and a warning to all around.

Jesus gave another hint something dynamic was coming when he said:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

(Acts 1:8, NRSV)

The key word here is “power.” It comes from the Koine Greek word “dunamis” from which we get our English words “dynamo,” “dynamic,” and yes, I’m not making this up, “DYNAMITE!”  Did I just hear someone shout, “Fire in the hole?”

So, I will say it again; Pentecost should have come with a warning label because something BIG was getting ready to happen! I can say that because human language fails Dr. Luke as he attempts to describe the mysterious divine-initiative as God sends the Holy Spirit and says, “Fill ‘er up!”

“And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.”

(Acts 2:2-3, NRSV)

You see, Luke’s description of the appearance of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost has to be described with earthly metaphors because God’s heavenly, glorious presence is now manifest to us! It isn’t wind and fire; it just sounds like wind and looks like fire. “Fire in the hole!”

How “big” is this? Well, some metaphorically call Pentecost the birthday of the church. I will go that one better and suggest if Creation was created by the “Big Bang,” what we have on the Day of Pentecost is both literally and figuratively “fire in the hole” as God’s BIG BANG creates the church of Jesus Christ! I mean, really, this is HUGE! Without Pentecost and the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit I would not be sitting here writing these words for your consideration. There would be no church and nothing much to really talk about.

And while I am talking about “holes” I would be remiss if I did not mention “Holy Spirit holes.” In “Encountering God” Diana Eck describes the dramatic and creative ways Pentecost was celebrated in the Middle Ages. Some churches had “Holy spirit holes” in the ceiling to symbolize their openness to God. On Pentecost, doves were released through the holes and bundles of rose petals were dropped from them onto the people gathered inside. Choirboys moved through the congregation making whooshing sounds and playing drums to remind everyone of the rush of the Spirit.

I like what Kristin Emery Saldine says regarding Pentecost. “Liturgically, the Day of Pentecost completes the cycle that begins with Ash Wednesday and continues through Lent and Holy Week into Eastertide. It is the capstone of a liturgical journey that moves symbolically from ASHES TO FIRE! Pentecost sums up the gospel with simplicity and audacity: Jesus Christ offers salvation to all, and the church exists to proclaim it.”

(“Feasting on the Word,” Year B, Vol. 3, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, Editors, Pastoral Perspective on Acts 2:1-21, Kristin Emery Saldine)

Yes, we have moved from the ashes of Ash Wednesday to Jesus’ promised baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16) at Pentecost. Let’s open up the “Holy Spirit holes” in our lives because there is fire in the hole!

 

Stay tuned,

John

Whining

It was Friday afternoon during the Advent season at another church I served before coming to Lincoln, Nebraska. I was perusing the worship bulletin for the upcoming weekend when I saw it. There announcing the title of a hymn to be sung were the words, “Arise, Whine Out, Your Light Has Come.” The senior pastor and I called the worship assistant who produced the bulletin on the speaker phone and in our best “whiner” voices said, “Patti, there’s a problem with the bulletin,” followed by more pathetic whining. Needless to say, when we read the hymn title to her she was at the church within minutes reproducing a new batch of weekend worship bulletins. Therein is the power of whining.

Of course, I am being somewhat facetious, although that it is a totally true story! Whining is something we all seem to do at one time or another, yet ironically often have a deathly aversion to in others. Why is that? Perhaps because, when you are around a whiner, it seems to suck all the emotional energy out of the room.

Experts refer to whining as chronic complaining, a pattern of negative communication. I think of it as verbal finger nail scratching on a chalk board! Whiners sometimes seem stuck in their problems unable to identify solutions. Of course, sometimes they’re not even looking for solutions because their complaining feels so good.

Want to frustrate a whiner? Just don’t listen to them. I will confess this isn’t original with me. I read it in an article about whining, in of all places, The Wall Street Journal. Elizabeth Bernstein writes about the tough love approach by therapists to break the cycle of whining in clients. Comments like, “Talking endlessly about your problems isn’t going to help,” and having whiners ask about themselves, “Would I hang out with this person?” may get a little too close to the bunny hole for some of us. Why? Because according to Bernstein, “We are a nation of whiners.” (“For A Nation of Whiners, Therapists Try Tough Love,” Elizabeth Bernstein, The Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2012)

You see, many whiners don’t even realize they whine. “I do not!” Television encourages us to whine, while technology teaches us to desire instant gratification; then we are frustrated when patience is called for. We may have gotten our way by wearing our parents down as children, so perhaps whining (you may prefer to call it “venting”) may work for us in adulthood.

Whining rarely makes us feel better because it “Is just a powerless complaint” (ibid). Dr. Phil is known for asking, “How’s that working for you?” when people whine on his show because whining can be an indirect way of saying, “You fix it.” Not accepting the whine puts the responsibility back where it belongs; with the whiner! Instead, one might ask, “So, what do you plan to do about it?”

The Bible has an anti-whining formula I would like to share with you:

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NRSV)

Imagine that; whining IS NOT part of the “will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you/me/us.” Okay, I realize I’ve quit preaching and gone to meddling here, but if I’m pointing out something in your life I am no hypocrite. I am perfectly cognizant that there are four-fingers pointing straight back at me, so it truly is “Physician (okay Pastor), heal thyself.”

Maybe what we need is financial motivation to quit whining like the folks I read about recently who said they would lose weight if only the government would pay them. “How’s that working for you?” Ha ha!

Well, it may be tongue in cheek, but here’s my suggestion:

“We’ve got a five dollar fine for whining

We’ll tell you before you come in

If it ain’t on your mind to have a good time

Ya’ll come back and see us again”

(“Five Dollar Fine,” artist Chris Le Doux, music and lyrics by Alex Harvey)

Since we are a nation of whiners this approach could very well be the answer to our national debt and Social Security short fall crisis. Bring your billfold and let’s get busy because maybe, after all, there is power in whining.

Stay tuned,

John

 

 

 

Why?

It happens to everyone because as I like to say, “All God’s children ‘got’ problems.” That terrible tragedy, illness, or calamity befalls you or someone you know or love and the question wells up with inside you, “Why?”

Let me go on record as saying that you are not the only one who wrestles with this question. Pastors do too! Personally, I am wrestling with several “whys” as I write these words. To say the least, it is bothersome!

The classic refrain is, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” This infers the unspoken question, “Why don’t they happen to bad people?” This can cause some of us to wonder, “So, if bad things happen to bad people then am I bad,” which implies God may be judging us like some kind of indiscriminate cosmic kill-joy for our attitudes, actions, or behavior. “Honk-thank you for playing!” I do not believe in that kind of God. If you do, then you probably won’t want to read the rest of this blog because I am going to attempt to make sense of the question, “Why?”

In my thirty-five years as a pastor I have bumped up against this question too many times for comfort. I did not want to write this blog today but I have three different incidents going on in my personal neck-of-the-woods that are causing me to wrestle with “why” like Jacob wrestled with God in the Book of Genesis. He came out of it with a sore hip; I hope I fare a little better.

I am traveling to another city today to be with family while a loved one has lung-cancer surgery. This morning I have two dear friends at M. D. Anderson hospital in Houston, Texas where the brother is donating stem cells for his sister to receive because she has terminal cancer. The cherry on the sundae came on an innocent bike ride last evening when my wife shared with me that one of her pregnant co-workers at school experienced the birth of her dead-baby due to complications with the umbilical cord. Did I mention that pastors wrestle with the question, “Why?”

“Why, why, why,” I want to shout at God! What is up with all this suffering and grief in the lives of people I know and love? I imagine some of you might be ready to join me on the chorus of this litany of lamentations.

Well, I don’t know a lot, because I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but let me tell you what I think; what I believe. To quote the great American cowboy philosopher, Augustus McCrae, “Life is short; shorter for some than for others.” Do we know why? Nope, and when we act like we do we are playing God. When bad things happen to people and we think we know why, we are being prideful. The Bible makes it perfectly clear that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6, NRSV). You see, it’s okay to say, “I don’t know,” to the “why” question. That’s where God’s grace awaits us, when in humility we say, “It beats me!”

For yours and my “why” questions today let me simply say as humbly as I know how, we don’t know “why” but if we are Christians, we know the WHO that does! If you are not a Christian and reading these words, you probably don’t agree with me and I can accept that. To you I will honestly say, “Good luck,” because that’s about all you have going for you.

However, for those of us who believe God’s Son is the Great Physician, the resurrection and the life, and our Savior and Lord we can have hope and trust that there is an answer to our every “why”! The Book of Proverbs tells us,

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
   in all your ways [acknowledge-KJV] him,
    and he will make your paths straight.”

(Proverbs 3: 5-6, NIV)

When I run smack dab into the middle of “why” I am tempted to “lean on my own understanding,” but I have to trust the WHO that knows “why.” Oh, we want to walk by sight but the apostle Paul exhorts us to, “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7, NIV). Walking by faith, in my opinion, is not walking blindly, but hopefully in the confidence that God loves us, that God keeps his promises, and that God knows “why” when we don’t.

So, here I go. Today isn’t going to be a good day, but it is going to be a God-day because I am going to give my WHO all my whys!

Stay tuned,

John

Little Ants

Perhaps you have been following the developments in the dramatic saga of the blind Chinese dissident, Chen Guangcheng, like I have this week in the media. It is the hot-potato story of a man and his family who escaped nineteent months of house arrest, during which he and his family faced beatings and threats. While he has become a symbol of resistance to China’s shackles on dissent there is a story-within-the story about God’s little ants.

As it turns out, after the dramatic nighttime escape by Guancheng from house arrest in his Chinese village, one of the first people to know about it was actually an American Pastor named Bob Fu in Midland, Texas. In fact, Pastor Fu knew of Chen’s escape three days before the security guards surrounding his house! Fu was the first to receive and post a fifteen-minute video of Chen, made in hiding, calling China’s President Wen Jiabo to bring to justice the local officials who illegally imprisoned Guangcheng and his family for over a year-and-a-half.

How does an American Pastor have these kinds of connections with a Chinese dissident? Well, it turns out, Pastor Bob Fu, knows the security apparatus from personal experience. He made his own escape from China coming to America as a refugee with his wife some sixteen years ago. He has become one of the leading voices on behalf of religious freedom in China.

He has formed a non-profit organization called China Aid that has raised several million dollars to fund legal counsel for “house church Christians.” Fu has lobbied Capitol Hill, provided financial support for families of jailed dissidents and publicity for human rights cases in China, as well as funding the logistics for an underground railroad to smuggle dissidents like Guangcheng to safety.

“In China, worship is allowed only in state-sanctioned churches, mosques, and synagogues. Evangelizing outside those sites and worshipping in independent churches, often called ‘house churches,’ is prohibited.”

(“Who is Fu? Chinese Exile of ‘God’s Double Agent,’” Kari Hill, Msnbc.com, May 1, 2012)

As it turns out, Pastor Bob Fu’s activism dates back to the Tiananmen protests of 1989 when he participated with fellow students in the massive rallies. He was arrested and required to attend special-political study classes. “During this time, Fu said, he read a book given him by American missionaries who were teaching English in China. It was the story of a famous Chinese intellectual who was addicted to opium in the early 1900’s. but was able to shake the drug after he converted to Christianity…Fu said, ‘I came to the realization if you want to change China, the first thing you need to do is change people’s hearts. And if you want to change other people’s hearts, you first have to change yourself.’”

(ibid.)

Fu and his wife, Heidi Cai, began holding underground worship services and Bible studies while he was teaching English at the Communist Party School in Beijing. “I was God’s double-agent,” he said. (ibid.)

After his arrest in 1996 Fu and his wife were able to escape China through help from their “house church brothers and sisters.” (ibid.) They eventually made it to Hong Kong, just three days before the territory was transferred to Chinese sovereignty, and were given refugee status before traveling to the United States.

Once here, Fu enrolled in Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and started China Aid out of his garage. What prompted him to found this organization “Was a 2002 crackdown on a group of Christians in a house church in Hubei province that led to many arrests, among these five people who were sentenced to death.” (ibid.)

Through China Aid, Pastor Fu was able to raise the funds to pay fifty-eight lawyers to defend the five and all the deaths sentences were overturned. Fu compares himself and his fellow human rights activists to “little ants…We want to move the pile of dirt with one million ants…We can help the persecuted…” (ibid.)

What makes this contemporary twenty-first century story so amazing and compelling to me is that it sounds so familiar, like the biblical first-century story of the Jerusalem “house church” movement in the Book of Acts. It, too, came under persecution and God’s “little ants” spread out through the known world of the Roman Empire with that same gospel message that those American missionaries shared with Pastor Bob Fu changing his heart. Now God is using this “double-agent” to mobilize his “little ants” to move “the pile of dirt” and change China’s heart one person at a time.

I do not wish persecution on the Western church, nor do I desire to return to the “house church” paradigm. However, I will go on record and note the Jerusalem “house church” movement might easily have remained a sect of Judaism had the winds of persecution not blown through individuals, like Saul of Tarsus, moving God’s “little ants” out into “Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Let’s not wait for persecution to motivate us to move our “pile of dirt” as we rededicate ourselves to be God’s little ants.

Stay tuned,

John

Riding for the Brand

Today’s morning devotional was a reading from John 10: 11-18 where Jesus contrasts “hired hands” with the “good shepherd.” Being a reader of Louis L’Amour westerns this got me thinking about riding for the brand.

If you are not familiar with this expression it is part of the “Code of the West”:

1. Live each day with courage
2. Take pride in your work
3. Always finish what you start
4. Do what has to be done
5. Be tough, but fair
6. When you make a promise, keep it
7. Ride for the brand
8. Talk less and say more
9. Remember that some things aren’t for sale
10. Know where to draw the line

 

(Cowboy Ethics, James P. Owen, Stoecklein Publishing and Photography, 2004)

 

Louis L’Amour described it this way in the introduction to his novel, Riding for the Brand:

“The term ‘riding for the brand’ was an expression of loyalty to a man’s employer or the particular outfit he rode for. It was considered a compliment of the highest order in an almost feudal society…a man was rarely judged by his past, only by his actions…Much was forgiven if a man had courage and integrity and if he did his job!”

(Riding for the Brand, Louis L’Amour, Bantam Books, 1986)

 

Now, contrast this definition with the “hired hand” of John 10.

“The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.”

(John 10:12-13, NRSV)

 

As Leon Morris notes in his commentary on the Gospel of John, “The hired hand runs away not fortuitously, but because he is what he is, hired. His interest is in wages, not sheep. He is not deeply concerned for the sheep. He is not involved in their situation. His passions are not aroused. The interests of the sheep are not a lively concern for him.”

(The Gospel According to John, Leon Morris, William P Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995)

 

The hired hand is in it for the money, for the paycheck, period. Not so, the individual that rides for the brand.

 

Red Steagall has written a poem about the historic Waggoner Ranch and an old-cowpoke named Jake schooling the new hand about the unwritten laws of the range:

“Son, a man’s brand is one special mark,

It says “This is mine. Leave it alone.”

You hire out to a man, you ride for his brand.

And protect it like it was your own.

 

He said, “Mister Waggoner come out here in 1903,

This country was sagebrush, mesquite trees and sand.

He carved this ranch out of blood, sweat and guts,

So be proud that you ride for his brand.”

(Riding for the Brand, Red Steagall, www.cowboypoetry.com)

 

The apostle Paul wrote:

 “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”

(Ephesians 2:10, NRSV)

 

Like the cowboy, whose greatest devotion is to his calling and his way of life, so too, God calls you and I to make God a good hand riding for the brand.

 

Stay tuned,

John

The Measure of a Man

I have been blessed with several strong male role models during my lifetime including my father and both of my grand fathers.  All three taught me many valuable lessons. With that having been said, let me go on record and say that one of God’s biggest blessings came my way when I married my wife and her father entered into my life. My father-in-law has taught me the measure of a man.

Now a lot of guys might not be able to say that about their fathers-in-law but not me. Mine is a prince of a man. We are celebrating his seventy-fifth birthday this week as family and friends come together to honor him. Because he is so humble, at first, he didn’t want a big fuss made over him. However, now as the day draws near there is a sense of excitement and anticipation for the food, fun and fellowship that will ensue.

My father-in-law was born during the Depression in southwest Iowa and raised on the family farm with three brothers and a sister. Times were hard, money was scarce, and shoes would not be purchased until school in the fall. Yet those difficult economic conditions produced a work ethic in this man that serves as an inspiration to his entire family.

He worked for a commission company selling hogs at the Omaha Stockyards until its closing. He traveled the territory talking with farmers about bringing their pigs to market. His integrity and salesmanship made him a natural for the job. When the Stockyards closed I never heard him utter a single complaint about his circumstances. His character and faith steered him onto new paths.

Before I met my father-in-law his wife, my wife’s mother, passed away from breast cancer. It was a traumatic ordeal for the entire family, but again, he weathered it with grace and courage that I have witnessed in few other people in my thirty-five years as a pastor.

He is the handiest man I’ve ever met. Working with him on projects I never cease to be amazed at his talents and abilities when it comes to his craftsmanship. He makes me a more industrious individual because of his example.

One of the things I most appreciate about my father-in-law is how he never tells his family how to live their lives. He has told me on occasion that he has his opinions but he keeps them to himself! I have learned more about parenting from having been around him the past seventeen years than any book or parenting conference could ever teach.

When my father passed away in 2003 my father-in-law came to the visitation and we spoke together for quite some time. I remember telling him that with my father’s passing his presence in my life was going to take on a heightened importance. No truer words were ever spoken. What I did not foresee was that my father-in-law would also become my friend!

Sadly, sometimes folks don’t take the time to tell others how they feel when they are with us and, then, it’s too late. I will not make that mistake with my father-in-law. His character, his courage, and his love for faith, family and friends will continue to inspire me long after he shuffles off this mortal coil.

This poem is a small token of appreciation and affection for the man I call father-in-law:

The Measure of a Man

by John F. McCullagh

It’s not the number of his days
that makes a man a man.
How quickly do our moments pass
like swiftly running sand.
Such qualities as we possess
to love and to atone
are ultimately more important
than what dates get carved on stone.
To stand steadfast within the storm
To keep a solemn vow.
Men like that are timeless
and live forever in the now.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “But blessed in the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” (Jeremiah 17:7, NIV)

I am blessed and a better man because my father-in-law and friend, Duane Boruff, has taught me the measure of a man.

 Stay tuned, John

Give Unto Caesar

I read an interesting statistic this week about the increase in driving fatalities on Tax Day noting that car crash related deaths increase almost 6% on that day. I guess there is truth in the bromide that the only two things certain in life are death and taxes. Oh, and yes, it’s that time of year again to give unto Caesar.

That phrase comes to us from Mark’s Gospel:

“Then they sent to him some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in what he said. And they came and said to him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?’ But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, ‘Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.’ And they brought one. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ And they were utterly amazed at him.”

(Mark 12: 13-17, NRSV)

These Pharisees and Herodians colluded together in an attempt to either cause Jesus to lose popularity with the crowds if he said to pay taxes to the hated Roman government, or get in political hot-water with the Roman authorities for protesting their taxes. They were convinced they had Jesus over the barrel. Little did they realize, Jesus had them right where he wanted them

Interestingly, when he asked for a coin, they seem to have provided an “illegal” Roman coin immediately. Jesus’ strategy led his questioners to reveal they had a coin with Caesar’s image on it. In doing so they discredited themselves in the eyes of the crowd. Now I say “illegally” because this coin with the image of the Emperor was considered idolatrous in the Temple where this debate takes place. Jesus leaves this point alone to go on and make a much larger point.

When they replied to Jesus’ question that it was Caesar’s image on the coin Jesus set the hook saying, “Then give it back to Caesar!” In reality, this is a non-answer to their question. Jesus could have simply answered it with a “yes” or “no.” However, this is not his point, and it speaks as loudly to our twenty-first century ears as it did to the amazement of his first-century listeners.

What Jesus provocatively said next got to the crux of the matter: “Give to God what belongs to God.” And what does belong to God? Everything. I will say that again, “EVERYTHING!” According to the psalmist the whole earth belongs to God:

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
   the world, and those who live in it.”

(Psalm 24:1, NRSV)

It raises the question, “What belongs to Caesar, and what belongs to God?” As our annual Tax Day looms on the horizon we might reflect not so much on returns, refunds, or taxes due, but consider what we owe God. Jesus said the most important commandment is:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

(Matthew 22:37, NRSV)

In other words, Jesus said for us to love God with all we have; with EVERYTHING. Maybe this will help us keep things in perspective this coming Tax Day loving God with all we’ve got as we give unto Caesar.

Stay tuned,

John