1 Samuel 10

Most people know this chapter as the one where Samuel anoints Saul and he becomes king. But there are so many strange elements wrapped up in just this one chapter. Samuel does take a flask of oil and pour it on Saul's head, but he has to reassure Saul and tells hims that he will see signs which will confirm that he will be king. The signs are: "You will meet two men by Rachel's tomb, and they will say the donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you saying, 'What shall I do about my son?'" That's sign number one. Why Rachel's tomb? And who are these two men? I've never heard a preacher address that before.

Then sign number two: "You will come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread which you will accept from their hand." What?! What do these three things symbolize and why do they only give Saul two loaves instead of three? There has to be a message in here somewhere.

Sign number three: "As soon as you come to the city (Gibeath-elohim:the hill of God) you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man." Again, what is the significance of Saul prophesying? God gives him a new heart—is that a heart conversion? I need to get a commentary.

As if this chapter weren't already hard to understand, at the very end of the chapter, when Saul is appointed king, it says, "Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. But some worthless fellows said, 'How can this man save us?' And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace." First, God touched the hearts of the men of valor in the Old Testament. Many people put so much emphasis on the Old Testament being a book of Law, but here it is clear that it's not just law, but people's hearts are involved. Second, Saul was essentially mocked even as a chosen king, but he "held his peace." This seems so similar to the story of Christ at the crucifixion. Both named kings, mocked, and held their peace. Maybe I can't draw an exact connection but that is pretty darn cool.

Look how much is packed into just one chapter in the Old Testament! If so much is packed into a tiny sliver of the Old Testament, how much more is there to glean from the rest of the Old Testament. The pastors and Christians of our era put so much emphasis on the New Testament as the source of all wisdom, but we are missing a vital piece of history and God's pattern of redemption if we do not equally study the Old Testament. The stories in the Old Testament really stuck out to me when I was little, that alone as a remembering factor and the fact that it allows children to see a pattern of redemption and sovereignty is truly amazing.

Priest Lake

Sunset over Priest Lake, ID. Little piece of heaven

Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken

Mmm! This chicken is super tasty and juicy and very simple to make. Would be a delicious summer outdoor meal with corn on the cob, rice, or salad and a glass of wine.

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 clove garlic, minced 1 cup dry bread crumbs 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2.	In a bowl, blend the olive oil and garlic. In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, basil, and pepper. Dip each chicken breast in the oil mixture, then in the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in the prepared baking dish, and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.
3.	Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Faithful Presence

James Hunter wrote the book To Change The World in 2010, in part to give Christians a greater understanding of cultures and how they work, and in part to give an alternative for how Christians interact with culture. Though I have not reached his conclusion on culture and faithful presence, his ideas on these topics already fascinate me. One of his most striking topics is pluralism.
Pluralism is simply the presence of multiple cultures and the people who live in them. Currently in America, pluralism is our culture. The many cultures and different religion mesh into one and Christians are left with a confusion as to how they might address not one, but many cultures.
For Hunter, to be faithful in culture requires an adjustment to context. Christians must serve their purpose in their own generation. (Acts 13:36) They must learn to conduct themselves in the midst of differences.
Again, I have not read far enough to discover Hunter's solution. However, here are some thoughts on faithful presence:

Faithful presence for Hunter involves seeming "nots." Defense against, relevance to, and purity from are all reactions of Christians today, but Hunter presents them as either wrong or not complete views of faithful presence. When one starts listing the qualities of faithful presence there are a stream of impossibilities that follow. For example, be accepting but do not conform to the world, do not withdraw but do not be too hostile. According to the world's standards and issues with discrimination, even a presence can be cast in a bad light.

One thing I did notice with the Boston bombings was that those who helped others were lauded as heroic and essentially the best society has to offer. Ironically, this is the creed Christ has taught Christians to live by, acts of service and sacrifice for those around us, Christians and non-Christians alike. This service are to be done in joy. Psalm 16 addresses this, “You will show me the path of life, In Your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” This Psalm offers not only the idea of joyful presence, but of being in God's joyful presence. The Christian cannot live in a manner that does not admit that we are in God's presence and will be in His presence eternally. Faithful presence is not about our presence, but God's and our faithfulness to Him. This faithfulness to God is faith in him which leads us to change our actions in the world around us. If you knew for sure that you were going to go on vacation in a week, how does that change your attitude? You become happy, open doors for strangers, tip someone for pumping gas, help the neighbor mow the lawn because your being is consumed with the happiness and joy at hand. Your being is wrapped up in that pleasant vacation already and that spills over into everyday life. So it is with those faithfully in the presence of God.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, it is knowing that the work is accomplished. If Christians lived as if this were true, that would be the outworking of faithful presence. Faithful presence is sort of an out of body experience, you are living unto another. You live with answers to people, service, as well as sacrificially understanding what makes up other people and how to relate to them.

In my life, faithful presence would be living as though I do not exist and other people do. It is a selfless living aspect. I would need to focus on joy in every area of my life as well as making time for people instead of making time for myself. I would need to stand by convictions but not attack others with words or actions. I would need to glorify God in everything I think, say, and do.  

Presence is not living in passivity, it is still active and accomplishing the work the Lord has set before us. More thoughts to come.

A Different Reformation

I'm looking for a second reformation. The first reformation of the church 500 years ago was about beliefs. This one is going to be about behavior. The first one was about creeds. This one is going to be about deeds. It is not going to be about what the church believes, but about what the church is doing.

~Rick Warren quoted in To Change the World by Hunter

If Only I Had A Box

“We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” 
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Pain is hard to overcome. That's its problem. Try as one might to love others, sometimes it is a painful love. The greatest commandment in Scripture is to love our neighbors as ourselves. How true that is, and how difficult! Even more so sometimes than loving an enemy. When friends desert you, you're left out, you can't achieve success in any area of life, the last thing you want to think about is loving someone else. Injuries scream self, not selflessness. One can become consumed with asking questions. "What did I do?" "Why is this happening to me?" One can fall into despair, as C.S. Lewis says earlier in his book on pain, "If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair." Instead people do not recognize that something bigger is at work. Like Aslan in Narnia, God is on the move. He's not just on the move is certainly is yelling for attention. And when we can realize this, the problem and the pain suddenly are minimized. 

My dad told me a story tonight which not only cured the pain, but left me with a plethera of morals. It is the story of a town, where all the children played with balls. Everyone was content and happy. Then, one day a girl came out carrying a box. Many children stopped playing and, as children are want to do, went over to examine the box. Soon, many had obtained boxes, balls were a thing of the past. A couple children kept their balls and felt hurt and left out. But, the fad of the boxes were short-lived, and it was on to the next new thing. This story makes reality so much easier to deal with. Things pass away. You do not have to follow every fad or become friends with popular kids, but you do need to maintain joy and contentment and recognize the sovereignty of God. 

I'm an introvert. I keep silent in large groups and I keep especially silent when I am in deep pain. This silence often leads to a spirit of bitterness or anger at what is happening to me and what I believe I deserve to have happen. These thoughts are entirely selfish. I cannot put trust in myself. I am a sinner. The people around me will also let me down. But what comfort there is knowing that there is a God who is sovereign and loves me without changing. No fads, no new friends, or faltering human steps can shake His love. 

Blessed be the name of the Lord!