motorcycle accident

I just learned the husband of one of the people who regularly attends our Sunday school class died in a motorcycle accident a few hours ago.  This in itself is sad, but the fact that this man is a father with young children makes it especially sad.  The family is definitely going to need a lot of prayer and encouragement, so please remember them in your prayers.

I know a lot of good dads who ride motorcycles, and I definitely understand the appeal.  They must be a blast to ride because they look fun.  This isn't a judgment on dads who ride motorcycles.  However, I have personally heard of so many situations where dads have died in a bad motorcycle accident and left behind families who needed them. So, I do question the wisdom of dads with young children doing things like biking.  The dangers seem so senseless.  Based on what I am seeing online, I think my opinion is in the minority.

Again, please remember this family in prayer.  There is no way this is going to be anything but difficult.

ten years

I randomly have a few milestones on Cinco de Mayo.  One is that thirteen years ago I graduated college on that day.  Another is that ten years ago I started working for my current employer.  In modern times that is an eternity.  In contrast, it was twelve years ago Tuesday that I started my job before that.  The difference between ten years and two is pretty significant.

I do not have any real insights on that.  I don't like wandering from job to job or from town to town, and I've been pretty clear about that.  It is amazing in my mind that I could be anywhere that long.  I never lived more than five years in one town as a kid, so being in one area with one employer for double-digits years seems different, even though it has been my life for a while.

However, since I work in the ever-changing Tech Industry who knows what tomorrow holds.

source of the dream

While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."
- Matthew 27:19

Since we just concluded Holy Week and have had focus on the events surrounding the Crucifixion and Resurrection, something new occurred to me.  Why did Pilate's wife have her dream?  I have always assumed that the dream came from God, but of the possible reasons that I can think of for the dream the most likely scenario in my opinion is the one in which it came from Satan.

Possibility #1: God was removing Pilate's excuse for condemning Christ

God knew that what was prophesied would come true, and that Pilate would condemn Christ to crucifixion.  It is conceivable that he was given every opportunity to not condemn Christ, even though he was always destined to make the choice that he made, so that he would have no excuse on the day of judgment.

Possibility #2: God was providing validation for Christ to those who would hear of the dream later

It could be argued that if news of the dream and Pilate's and his wife's conversation got out that it could serve as validation for Christ once news started circulating about the empty tomb.  This could be a counter-point to the assertion that the disciples knocked out trained Roman guards, rolled a boulder from away from the mouth of the tomb, stole Christ's body, and disposed of it without witnesses.

Possibility #3: Satan was using this as a last-ditch effort to stop the proceedings that would end with Christ justifying our sins.

Think about it a moment.  In the spiritual realm who really would want the Crucifixion to be stopped?  God purposefully pushed the plan forward as this was His avenue to offer salvation to an undeserving race.  God was not going to keep the Crucifixion from occurring.

Satan, however, appears in the Gospels to operate under the assumption that he can change God's plan.  He throws temptations at Christ as if that is something he has a chance of being successful at (Matthew 4:1-11).  His demons attempted to out Jesus as the Christ before the appointed time (Luke 4:41).  He is even the direct source of Peter's famous rejection of Christ (Luke 22:31-32).  Why wouldn't Satan use whatever tools were at his disposal, minimal as they may have been, in an attempt to block the events that would cause Christ to pay the price for our sin?

the one who is loved

At any given time I have a few open thoughts and questions about Scripture in my mind, and so when I read Scripture I am more attuned to those thoughts and questions than I might have been prior.  As an example, I have been more attuned as of late to passages that appear to imply that we do or do not have a choice in our justification due to the fact that it is a topic that a friend of mine has pushed to the fore lately.  If I am consistently and objectively reading Scripture and I have kept specific issues at the top of my mind my belief is that those passages that support or do not support that position should jump out at me.  However, It is not my intent to talk about resistible or irresistible grace today, but rather about love.

A few years ago I noticed that all of the passages that I could recall about love in the Bible presented it in terms of sacrifice or humility.  So, for the last few years as I have read I have paid attention to what the Bible says about love, and thus far I have only seen that perspective confirmed.  There are certainly times when sacrifice is not the obvious focus, but it's amazing how often it's an unavoidable theme.  This is true from the love Boaz shows to Ruth (Ruth 4) to the love Hosea shows to Gomer (Hosea 3) to the love I mentioned in my previous post that Christ showed to us (Romans 5).  It is even true in the love that husbands are supposed to show their wives, as Christ's sacrificial love is the example that Paul uses as a template in his instructions to husbands (Ephesians 5).

This addresses something seemingly minor issue that bugged me since I was a kid.  John was known for referring to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.  Factual or not, I always thought this sounded prideful and not fitting for Scripture.  Now, when I view this through the perspective of sacrifice I do not see this as a prideful statement, though.

Luke 7:36-47 illuminates this a bit more for me now, though it flips who is showing love.

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

As an aside, when I read this a few months ago in Sunday School I could not get through it without choking down some (many) tears, because this image is so beautiful.  The town prostitute who knows she is scum shows more love to God than a pious religious leader, and the reason is that she knows how wretched she is while he wrongly supposes he has little that needs forgiven.  If there is not a better illustration of who the true Gospel should and does appeal to I have not heard it.

To take this from another perspective that is on my main topic, there is much love where there is much sacrifice and where there is much forgiveness.  Where the woman above passage showed love in response and proportion to Christ's sacrificial love, the love that John received from Christ was great because it was in response to his own sinfulness.  So, saying that Christ loved him much was saying that he had a lot bad in his heart that Christ had to sacrifice to atone in him.  Christ's love is proportional to the natural darkness of our own hearts.  That being the case, I am a man who Christ loves very much as well.  I know how voluminous the darkness in my heart is that needs to be forgiven.

gift selections

I am approaching my ten-year anniversary in my current place of employment.  Where did the time go?  Because of this anniversary I received an email from HR indicating that I can choose an award from a list, which is managed by a vendor, to commemorate the occasion.

Traditionally, companies have given employees watches, and there are some on the list, as well as some jewelry.  Hardly anyone wears watches any more, including me, so I am happy I have a choice of something other than a watch.  I do have some questions about whoever chooses the available options for these prizes, though.  They seem to be targeting a specific type of person.

Apart from jewelry and watches I can choose from golf equipment, a wine cellar, a few electronics options, etc.  My sense is that the items on the list either reflect the tastes of one or two people tasked with selecting items, or that they are meant to be targeted to some upper-middle-class stereotype of a golfer who likes mechanical watches and enjoys the occasional wine.

I am certainly not complaining or attempting to look a gift horse in the mouth.  I'll appreciate the telescope that I selected when I get it.  I especially appreciate what this signifies—that I have had consistent employment for such a long period of time.  I am just intrigued by what the process must have been in selecting items to commemorate that time.

despicable me

A school shooter who killed three people in Ohio has been in the news due to the fact that he wore a shirt with the word "killer" on it, then laughed at, cursed, and flipped off a court room containing the families of his victims.  There are scant few things I can imagine that could be more painful and galling.

However, thinking back to my post on forgiveness from a few years ago, even these actions pale in comparison to how disgusting my sinful nature is to God in His holiness.  When Paul writes about Christ dying for us when we were yet sinners, that is not much unlike if one of the aforementioned family members voluntarily gave up his or her life to save that despicable killer who took his son, or her brother, or his grandson, or her nephew.

In my own humanity, if I were in the families' position I would not be capable of forgiving the man.  It just would not be possible, even though this is what we are instructed to do in Scripture.  I would have to hope that God would grant me the grace to allow me to forgive where I would not be able to under my own power.  That would be my one and only hope.  I pray these families are granted that same grace and peace that I would hope for.  I simply cannot imagine how horrifying being in that situation would be.

bully for you

One opinion that I see every once in a while is that school bullies eventually get their due.  I think the assumption is that they're more likely to end up in prison, or at least have personality issues that keep them from being accepted in the business world.  I don't know if only a few people think this or many do, but it's ridiculous upon reflection.  Sure, some bullies do end up in prison or with issues that keep them from getting good jobs.  Most of the traits that allow people to gain a social upper hand in the school social world certainly don't do the opposite elsewhere, however.  When people complain about office politics, for example, what else are they really complaining about other than that other people are using bully-style tactics.

In my job I interact with a lot of people working for a lot of different companies.  As a result, I see a lot of different styles of management.  Some that show up occasionally are those that integrate elements of bullying.  Honestly, bullying employees to just below the threshold of what HR considers abuse can be an effective short-term motivator.  I cannot be the only person who has observed this.  It seems to be the basis for most executive's actions on Dilbert (but interestingly, not the pointy haired boss). 

What I do not understand is the need to pretend that bullies do not succeed.  Generally speaking, they do quite well.  Being willing to take actions that hurt others for your own gain is very effective in most social structures, and business is no different.  Sure, there are caveats to bullying your coworkers and employees, but there are caveats to behaving altruistically as well.

Certainly, this fact does not make bully tactics acceptable for those under Christ.  My main hope is that we can be honest and acknowledge that bullies do not always get their just deserts in this lifetime.  Some of what kids learn in school is that manipulating the system for your own gain at others' expense often works.