Papa B
How hard could it be????
So my wife and I decided that we wanted to do some remodeling on our house. We had been toying with the idea of putting down some new flooring because after seven years and five kids it was time to do something different than the carpet that came with the house. The young man that I mentor offered to help me put some laminate flooring down in my house. We put down about 625 square feet over two days (non-consecutive) and boy does it look good. We found a great deal on Craigs List where it came out to be just $0.89 a square foot.
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- Pulling off the baseboards
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- Finishing up the living room
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- Measure once cut twice
My wife got hooked up with face book over this weekend and not to be out done, I joined too. After getting over the “What’s the point in this?” part it reminded me of something that I observed a few years back.
During my sophomore year of college my older brother (and roommate) dropped out of school and joined the Navy. In one fell swoop I lost a brother, a roommate, and a friend. Our relationship stalled at that point and our memory of each other was locked in that moment in time. That is to say, I remembered him as guy he was in college with me and as the roommate that I would hang out with. I know that is the same for him.
My brother was stationed on the East Coast where he settled after he finished his time in the Navy. Both he and I had returned to a life of faith (which both of us had turned from in college) but we had done so independent of each other. This became obvious to me years later. On one vist, my brother joined me at a Bible study that I was leading. I realized that the comments he made during the study and afterwards to me were based on the assumption that I was the same person he knew in college. I also realized I was making those same assumptions.
So what does that have to do with Facebook? Well, as I traveled back through time to connect with people in my past I realized that they knew me when I was a different person. Would they make the assumption that I am the same man they used to know? Will they read my blog and be agast at what they find? Or will they realize, as I have, that when you come in contact with God in a meaningful way your life is changed.
Sometimes we are Balaam’s Donkey
If you’re not familiar with the story of Balaam and his donkey I’d encourage you to take a moment to read Numbers 22. Despite popular belief, Numbers is one of the coolest books in the bible. Briefly the story goes like this:
The people of Israel were about to attack the Moabites and the king of Moab wasn’t so keen on that happening because the Israelites seemed to be on a pretty good winning streak. So the king of Moab calls upon Balaam to call down curses on the people of Israel. The problem was that God was on Israel’s side so no amount of fussing, moaning, cursing or otherwise was going to help the Moabites and God told Balaam as much. As the story unfolds we have Balaam heading out on his donkey to meet with the king of Moab.
Num 22:23-27 And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. (24) Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. (25) And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he struck her again. (26) Then the angel of the LORD went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. (27) When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
Next two things that happen make me scratch my head in wonder. The donkey speaks to Balaam and Balaam doesn’t find that weird. Now I don’t want to get too bogged down in the story so I’ll stop there. I do, however, want to make some observations about the donkey.
- The donkey was not the main character in the story
- The donkey was beaten for doing its job
- The donkey was there to save Balaam’s life
This thought came from a conversation I had with a guy last Sunday night. He was telling me how he had fallen on hard times but things were getting better. He had been there before but he guessed he just didn’t learn the first time and that God was teaching him a lesson again. That seems to be our natural reaction when troubles come our way. “There must be something God’s trying to teach me,” but what if we are just Balaam’s donkey? What if we’re not the main character in the story and we’re in that situation to do our jobs and save someone from disaster?
The Fool’s Vexation
Prov 12.:16 The vexation of a fool is known at once,
but the prudent ignores an insult. (ESV)
James 1:19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear,
slow to speak, slow to anger; (20)for the anger of man does not produce the
righteousness of God (ESV)
If I could get these two teaching internalized, I know that my walk with God would be much more enjoyable.
What is church?
Seems a simple enough question but work with me here for a moment. I’ve been struggling lately with the roll of the local congregation in the Body of Christ. What responsibility does the congregation have to its members? What responsibility do the members have to the congregation? What responsibility do both the members and the congregation have to the Body of Christ in their community?
I realized that I had some base assumptions about the rolls of the members and the congregational assembly. I would love some input and insight on this, so ….
What is church?