Devotions | The Journey

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Love Them No Matter What

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Dr. Steve Martin

Steve & Shirley

“Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.” – Proverbs 22:1-21

When reading the Bible, genre matters. If you don’t know what biblical prophecy’s about, you might think the book of Revelation is a prediction of future history, and end up writing a fictious and profitable series of books about the end times.

You also might think the book of Proverbs contains God’s thinking, instead of humans’. They say it belongs in the category “Wisdom Literature,” but when I read lines like the one above, I’m fairly certain God shelves it under “Jokes and Humor.” I mean, does anyone really believe that raising children is as simple as “training” them right?

I’m pretty sure God doesn’t. Look at Adam and Eve. No matter what kind of parenting technique you like best, God tried it.

Love and nurture? Check.

Attachment parenting? Dr. Sears would approve.

Corporal punishment? Tried it.

And lots more.

And just look how we turned out. Sure, some of us, the saints and others, wound up golden children…the rest of us, not so much.

God learned the hard way there’s just no telling how the kids will turn out in the end, even when the parents are perfect. I think if God were to rewrite that line, it would say something half as pretentious and twice as difficult. Perhaps it would read: “Love your children hard no matter what, and somehow everybody’ll get there in the end.”

Holy God, you have loved us, and loved us, and loved us no matter how we’ve turned out or turned away, and that has been the saving of the world. Grant that we all might do the same with the children you’ve entrusted to us, in and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Steve

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Crunch That Ice Bad Boy

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Dr. Steve Martin

Steve & Shirley

Monday I had an appointment at the VA Clinic in Winston to follow-up on some lab reports that were showing my kidney functions down and my liver levels high. It was a fasting appointment at 11:30. I got right in to see the nurse and received a flu shot and a T-Dap shot, and saw the doctor right away.

We talked about the change in meds that the VA provides to disabled veterans and what I am taking now from civilian pharmacies. Some of the doses the VA are offering are 1/2 or twice the dose I am presently taking. Needless to say, I wanted to talk to the doc about that before I started taking something I wasn’t sure of. A couple of things I have learned with all these medical problems are (1) know your own body and pay attention to it, and (2) make sure you know what your meds are and what they are for. Don’t take anything without first asking those questions.

He sent me off for some lab work – gotta get stuck!

After coming back from labs my nurse gave me one of these little gadgets where you prick your finger and get a reading of your blood sugar. She demonstrated how to do this (on my finger) and received a reading of 128 (fasting). She said that is high for fasting.

Well, I gather up all my stuff and head home. Take my blood sugar a couple of times this week. Once was after a normal breakfast of Raisin Brand (1/2 cup and 1/2 cup of 2% milk) and a cup of coffee with cream. Guess what? My reading is 206. This morning I took a fasting reading and it was 118. Perhaps I am making some progress. At least my weight is down 10 pounds from last week… right direction.

Today I received a letter from the doc at the VA stating that my iron readings were very low. The chemical is called “Fertritin” and the levels are to be between 25-350. My reading was 5.1. So he has me on an over-the-counter Iron Sulfate 325 MG twice a day for a couple of months to see if it will raise the levels. This is before he checks to see if I am losing blood.

Guess what some of the symptoms of low Iron are? (Peggy is going to love a couple of these) – mental disorders, craving and chewing ice, decrease of acid in the stomach, and taking aspirin. I question the mental stuff… some of you may not. But all the other stuff is me. Four years of aspirin twice a day. Fifteen years of meds to reduce acid in stomach (acid reflux).

I was going somewhere with this devotion when I started… Oh yea… sometimes we need to stop long enough to take a good self-assessment of our actions, behavior, attitudes that show on the outside because they just may be pointing to a deeper problem inside. Perhaps we haven’t seen the problem(s) but maybe others have and we can turn to a trusted friend or pastor for an honest look at ourselves. Is your spiritual levels on the inside low… so low that the Spirit of Jesus is not reaching the outside – to be part of who we are and what we do?

We need to do what Michael Jackson voiced in music… look at the Man in the Mirror. Do you see Jesus in you?

Dear Lord, it is amazing that something as small as crunching ice, when coupled with other evidence, points to a problem that runs throughout my system. Thank you for allowing me to be reminded enough that I stopped to take a look at what was going on and sought deeper evidence and talked with the physician. You are the Great Physician. We place ourselves in your care. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Steve

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Cutting Corners

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Dr. Steve Martin

Steve & Shirley

“These are the things that cannot be measured…the study of the Torah, the giving of the first fruits of the field to the poor…” – Mishnah 1 (from the first section of the Talmud)

Measurement is very important. Consider dosage. Get the dose wrong and the medicine turns into poison. Substitute two cups of salt for two cups of sugar and people who usually regard you warmly will say really mean things at your meal’s finale.

Price is also a big word. We love to show off our bargains. Ladies, someone says a kind word about your dress, and you may respond, self-diminuating, “I got it on sale.” Or we find a good restaurant, where the food is superb, the service even better, the ambiance sparkling, and when we tell other people about it, we rarely brag about how much we paid for it. We often say that we “got a deal.”

The Mishnah goes on to say that the people should give a Sabbath corner of their life to learning Torah and at least a 1/60th or the field’s first fruits or a corner to the poor. God gave the whole field to all and understood its gift as immeasurable. We measure because we are far afield. While measurement is important, it is often abused.

We could instead think outside the deal, beyond the bargain, beyond paying off the poor with a corner. Did God really want the poor to be paid off with a corner? No, the whole immeasurable field was created to belong to everyone. That great meal that we got for a bargain at $30.00 had a true value to our spirits three times that. Over-tipping comes to mind as a great response to immeasurability. You do get what you pay for – and if you pay in the coin of immeasurable gratitude you have already moved into heaven.

Dear Lord, when it is time for us to study Torah and to work our fields, may we do so as though they had no measure, no ending, no way to be divided or subtracted, only multiplied in worth. Let us refuse to cut corners, in and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Steve

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Standing on The Corner

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Dr. Steve Martin

Steve & Shirley

(God said) “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Isaiah 1:18b

Oklahoma City’s eight-year-old Malachi Peterson is in trouble for many different reasons.

*He is in trouble with his school principal because he picked a fight at school.

*He is in trouble with the girls because the fight he picked was about who got to get the girl.

*He is in trouble with his mother because she thinks he is becoming a bully.

That’s an awful lot of trouble for a young man. Thankfully, Peterson is not the subject of this devotion. No, Peterson is off the hook. Instead, we are talking about Peterson’s mom. Wishing to nip her son’s bullying in the bud, Janie Peterson made her son stand out on a street corner holding a sign which said, “I PICKED A FIGHT BECAUSE I’M A BULLY.”

I couldn’t help but start hearing that old tune in my head, the words of which go like this: “Standing on the corner watching all the girls go by….” That isn’t particularly sinful, even though I guess it could come mighty close. But imagine standing there with that bill board listing all your sins. I would want to hide my face and not let anyone know that I was the one who committed these sins against God and other people. Would it work for you? You can make your own assessment.

According to Janie Peterson, public reaction to the punishment she gave her boy has been very positive.

At any rate, the story of Malachi Peterson got me to thinking. I’m pretty sure none of us would like that street corner. No, we wouldn’t like it a bit. I know nobody would like it because all of us go to great lengths to hide our sins. Robbers wear masks, thieves work under cover of darkness, and white collar criminals hide their misdeeds in a set of doctored books. Most of us just do our best to keep those sins locked away where nobody else can see them.

Like Adam and Eve, we do our best to hide our transgressions from everybody. Of course, we can’t hide those wrongdoings from the Lord. His all-knowingness sees our sin and His justice condemns that sin. Even if we manage to hide our sins from everybody else in the universe, God knows our long list of transgressions.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that, along with seeing and hating our transgression, God continues to love us. So that we helpless souls might be forgiven, redeemed and restored. Jesus’s love erased our cards and made them clean.

Every Sunday, we confess our sins and we all respond: “In the name of Jesus, we are forgiven.” Thank God for that!

Dear Lord, thank you for taking that long, long slate of sins I have committed over the years and wiping it clean. I could not do this on my own or under my own power – only by your grace can I find your forgiveness, redemption, and restoration. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Steve

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STOP THE SENSELESS VIOLENCE

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Dr. Steve Martin

Steve & Shirley

“O Lord God to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth! Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render punishment to the proud. Lord, how long will the wicked triumph?” – Psalm 94:1-3 (NKJV)

People of faith are quite varied in our responses as to how the United States should respond to the atrocities of chemical weapons unleashed on the people of Syria, allegedly under the direction of President Bashad al-Assad.

Some feel strongly that the mass murder in Syria warrants some type of military retaliation, on the part of the U.S. and her allies, that would at least weaken the capacity for any future use of chemical weaponry against citizens. Others believe that anything short of a full commitment to a regime change in Syria will not make much of a difference. Still others contend that as horrendous as the tragedy in Syria is, the United States cannot afford to entangle itself in another foreign conflict, given the urgent problems we face at home with our staggering economy, unsustainable energy, educational dysfunctions and health care confrontations.

Whether the issue at hand is atrocity in Syria or genocide in Rwanda or slaughter in the Sudan, there is one moral principle that should guide all of our moral responses. It is the conviction that vengeance does not belong within the purview of human action. Vengeance is a designated function that God reserves exclusively for God’s self.

This certainly does not mean that people of faith are to take no responsibly for the execution of justice in the world. It does mean that whatever actions we take to combat and correct socio-political evil must always be tempered with a profound sense of humility and prayer – recognizing that we too are flawed agents operating in a much broader Providential process to deliver freedom and justice for all.

We must certainly win some victories on the way to God’s ultimate vengeance. But let us not use any moral victory or moral cause as a license to assume ultimate vindication. The vengeance of God is what keeps people of faith engaged but not arrogant – both in America and in Syria and all around the globe.

Dear God, Please help us to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with you, our God, in and through Jesus. Amen.

PS: I have been at the VA most of the day and not sure what is happening at the Washington Navy Yard. However, it looks like several people have been kill and others wounded. May we, of all faiths, come together to pray that we are not going to be part of killing innocent people – no matter where they are from, what they believe, what uniform they wear, or language they speak. Let’s stop the SENSELESS VIOLENCE.

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We Were Methodists

Posted on September 14, 2013 by Dr. Steve Martin

Steve & Shirley

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” – 2 Corinthians 4:7

A seminary friend of mine, serving in another denomination, shares this story with us: This summer we were Methodists. We worshipped at a small Methodist church in the little town near our cabin in northeastern Oregon.

What did we find? Basically, we found the church being church – and it was a blessing to us.

We were warmly welcomed. Mostly. There was Sharon who sat down next to me one Sunday and told me I was in the place where she had sat every Sunday for fifty years, but I was welcome to stay if I moved over.

We prayed together, sang together, heard the story of Jesus, and were drawn into common labors. One of those was working at the “Magic Garden,” where the church grows vegetables for the local elementary school and town food bank.

One Sunday in August there was an emergency plea. A farmer, Gene, had died suddenly, a brain tumor. Gene’s family needed help right now with this year’s crop of beets, carrots and potatoes. Three dozen folks – Methodists, Catholics and maybe a Buddhist or two – showed up to work. It felt sort of like an old-time “barn-raising.”

There were the usual foibles. The announcements went on too long. When the microphone was passed for prayer concerns, some folks took the opportunity the make yet more announcements, after which the rest of us said, “Lord, hear our prayer.” Our real prayer was, “Don’t let that person have the microphone again, please Jesus.”

It was all pretty ordinary – an earthen vessel – and yet somehow the extraordinary power of God really was/ is at work in that church.

As a bit of an outsider I saw more clearly how amazing church is. It may not seem like much, but really it is. I wonder what my friend, Tony, would have experienced in our church? If it is some of the ones I have served, I know he would have found Jesus present in those churches.

Dear Lord, give us eyes to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, to see the beauty and power in the church, in our church, in and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Steve

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Welcome The Stranger

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Dr. Steve Martin

Steve & Shirley

“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” – Matthew 10:40

A colleague tells the story of how years ago, out of great trust or great foolishness, I hopped a plane to Mexico on short notice to meet an author whose writing had affected me profoundly. The foolish part was that I had not made lodging arrangements and my Spanish was wanting. I did have a housing list, and was destined for a convent.

A long bus ride into the countryside later, I arrived not at a convent, but a monastery. Less than welcomed, I was offered a phone, and called each number on my housing list, getting nowhere until finally reaching an English-speaking woman.

Turned out I was far from any lodging, and the last bus to town long departed. “No taxi driver will come for you unaccompanied. The only way you’re going to get to town is for me to take a taxi to come get you,” she said, and directed me onto the road to wait.

Time passed. Darkness fell. Coyotes howled, sending chills as they mocked my foolishness. Finally, a taxi pulled up about 20 feet ahead of me; a young woman burst out, threw her arms around me, kissed me and whispered, “You’re my husband. I’ll explain later.”

In short, the taxista had attempted to take advantage of a woman alone. She was only able to discourage him by saying she was pregnant and needed to get to her husband.

In the end, this woman escorted me, a complete stranger, to a hotel, saw me safely registered and bid me farewell, asking nothing in return. This in spite of understanding the risks to her safety.

I have recently renewed my interest in ancestry.com and my search in discovering where my family is from. I am reminded that my family came to America by way of France, England, Scotland, Ireland. We came to America in the 1770’s. This was not our home, but we were welcomed and became Americans.

In my friend’s story we are reminded that if this lady can do what she did, what can we do to welcome the stranger to our church, our neighborhood, and across any border that might separate us?

Dear Lord, help me welcome the stranger, knowing that when I do, I welcome not only her, but you, in and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Steve

PS: Thanks for the many Happy Birthday wishes.

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I Can Only Imagine

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Dr. Steve Martin

Steve & Shirley

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as [God] knows me and I know[God]. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason [God] loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again . . . .” Many [said] . . . “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” from John 10:11-21

A rabbi told that a town with two Jews would need three synagogues: The one I go to; The one you go to; and one neither one of us would be caught dead in. Christians are much the same. But Jesus’ prophetic words assure us that someday, God’s people will ALL be one – within and across faith groups.

Jesus clearly does not have uniformity or immediacy in mind as he prophetically and with certainty says he WILL gather “other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I MUST bring them also. . . There WILL be one flock, one shepherd.” We don’t know how this will happen any more than we know how cancer, AIDS, or other scientific mysteries will be solved, but like each of these, God will use people like you and me in the process.

People in Jesus’ day were as divided about Jesus’ prophecy as we are today . . . mosques or no mosques; synagogues or no synagogues; churches or no churches; gay marriage or no gay marriage; ways to worship, receive communion, or baptize. And yet, we act as if God, knowledge, or love itself is something we can own, limit, control or divide. But the day will come when our blindness will be healed and all who seek to love God with all their heart, soul and mind and their neighbors as themselves will be one, even in the midst of difference.

Imagine the excitement of those whose eyes Jesus opened who began their day having never seen or expected to see a sunset, the twinkle in a child’s eye, or a shooting star, but went to bed having seen them all. Now imagine embracing Jesus’ promise as we celebrate who we are and what we believe today. Imagine expecting God to open our eyes to see beyond current limits of our languages, metaphors, and borders. Imagine the pure joy of having seen and revealed a new path to peace . . . and then closing our eyes at the last, having seen God’s creation power at work – making all things and people brand new, at any age. Imagine!

Gracious and loving God: Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I want to see You, I want to love You and love all my neighbors as myself. We love You. Help us love You more, in and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Steve

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Empathy With Others

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Dr. Steve Martin

Steve & Shirley

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5:7

As we in humility recognize our “poverty of spirit,” God in His mercy forgives and equips us. Having received mercy, we are expected to show it to others.

The biblical term merciful is related to the word for empathy, which means the ability to get right inside another person’s skin until we see things with his eyes, think things with his mind and feel things with his feelings. This is what Jesus did for us in His incarnation. Thus:

Blessed are those who empathize with others until they are able to see with the eyes of others, think with their thoughts and feel with their feelings.The one who does this will find others do the same for him or her and will know that God did this for them in Christ Jesus.

How do we see our non-Christian friends? Can we see Muslims, for example, as real people groping in the semi-darkness, under the mere glimmer of light that a crescent moon provides, thinking that is all the light there is?

As we see them, mercy would be an appropriate word to describe our feeling and attitude as well as actions toward them. Just as we would go to the aid of a blind man heading in the wrong direction, so mercy should similarly drive us to go after them and show those who are willing to listen, the way to more complete light.

If we are secure in the knowledge that Christ is the Sun of Righteousness, then we do not need to prove anything but patiently and gently show others the way.

A relatively young man decided to work for the Lord in China. His father was not a Christian and very strongly opposed him. The son decided to attend a series of Christian meetings in one of the areas where he was serving. His father opposed so strongly that they quarreled before he left for the meetings. Then the son suddenly died while he was at the meetings.

The Christians there prayed and showed much concern. They knew that the news of the death would be hard for the father, so they asked a doctor to be there just in case the father needed him. When the father arrived and saw the love of the Christians, he gave his life to the Lord.

We need to see others as Jesus sees them and empathize with them as though in their skin.

Dear Lord, help us grow closer to You so that we will act like you, forgiving others and being sympathetic, in and through Jesus. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Steve

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Troubled Spirits

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Dr. Steve Martin

Steve & Shirley

“And those who were afflicted with troubled spirits were healed.” – Luke 9:19

Healing was central to Jesus’ ministry, especially the healing of persons with “troubled” or “unclean” spirits—a First Century description of mental illness or emotional anguish. In fact, such healings outnumber all the physical healings (restoration of sight, curing of the lame, healing the deaf) put together. Two thousand years later, the church still has a central role in offering help and hope for people dealing with mental, emotional or spiritual illnesses.

I state that not only as a pastor, but as one concerned with all our service people coming back from war with PTSD. More people have committed suicide than who have lost their lives in combat. I am happy to say that the VA is more proactive about this than ever before… it has taken them a while… but they are very aware of the problems associated with war and that we bring the war home with us.

Throughout childhood and into adult life, I never heard the words “mental illness” or “suicide” spoken in church. It was only spoken in soft tones as people gather in corners of the room with their hands over their mouths. The silence was deafening. Because the church couldn’t talk about such things, it felt like God couldn’t either.

Yet as this story from Luke affirms, Jesus didn’t turn away from people with “troubled spirits.” Instead he listened to their lives, showed God’s care, and offered hope and healing love. How can the church do the same? Perhaps we can start by breaking the silence. Offer adult forums and youth programs on issues like depression screening or suicide prevention. Lift up in prayer those dealing with mental illness, just as we do those whose illnesses are physical. Advocate for mental health care in our community.

Over and again, the Gospels tell of Jesus’ care for those afflicted in mind or spirit. As his followers, we’re called to do the same. Breaking the silence is a place to begin.

Dear God, give us the courage to care and the voice to speak that will help to break the silence, and through Jesus we all may be made whole. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Steve