What do all the following words have in common? Crossroad, intersection, cloverleaf, crosswalk, crossway, exchange, grade crossing, gridiron, interchange, junction, traversal, underpass.  They are all places where paths or roads meet and a decision must be made. True, we can sit at that intersection and watch the train go by, seemingly till the cows come home, but rest assured, one way or another, at some point, we must choose.  Maybe some of us had something in mind before we got to the crossroads, a plan of action before we got there. Even at that, most of the time there’s at least a couple ways to get to most places, and so there’s still a decision to be made.

i’ve asked this before, what or who is at the foundation of your decision-making machine? What or who governs how you come to the conclusions in life, like when at an intersection in your heart? Many of us say Jesus is the deciding factor, but if we inspected our lives closely, is that the truth, how can you tell, and are you brave enough to call a spade a spade and do something about it?

We live in a world of crossroads and intersections, places where decisions must be made and life can change at the turn of our foot. Whether to have coffee or tea, to wear the blue or the green, to get up now or later, to speak to this person and not that one, those are all typical intersections, the crossroads of decision everyone, everyday must make. It may seem subtle, it all may be taken for granted, but the Lord designed the life we lead to be a constant decision-making process.

Jeremiah 6:16 “This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”

When you stand at the intersection of the road near where you live, what do you see? Just watch and observe. Some people have a pattern they follow everyday and hardly notice the intersection, yet other people consistently find intersections difficult because a decisive decision may not come so easy to them.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts. At the crossroads of life, often there’s just so much traffic, we can’t seem to get across. A sense of urgency begins to rise up in us; horns blare, the air grows with tension, we feel as if we’ve got to do something … just do something. Sometimes even if it’s not the direction we wanted to go, we took action … it may not be the right direction, but still…we’re not sitting at the intersection where we appeared to be paralyzed with indecision. Sometimes i think my mouth is a bottle neck, just too much traffic in my head, all headed to my mouth, all that thinking seems to hit all at once and i end up saying nothing out of sheer overload. Yea man, too much traffic in my head sometimes. You ever have that happen? Indecision at the crossroads can be a paralyzing event. Bide your time, relax and breathe, i’ll be right back.

In Genesis 13:9-11, Abram is having a conversation with Lot. Evidently there had risen a contention between Abram and Lot and the story continues along about how Abram was working to make peace, so, he offers to Lot an option. i believe Abrahm had thought about, and had consulted with the Lord concerning what he would say and do at the crossroad between he and Lot which they were fast approaching.

Abram was asking Lot to decide which way he wanted to go, and he even gave Lot the option to choose first. Abram says, “If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”  Then it says, “The two men parted company.”

In our American, English speaking culture we think of a crossroads where two roads cross paths, the physical roads are primary and what to do there is secondary. With the Hebrew words used to describe a crossroads, the decision that must be made is primary, and the physical intersection itself is secondary. That says to me that how we come to our conclusions, how we decide our everyday actions is more primary to God than what we actually do.

Of course what we do is important to the Lord, but i believe He’s more interested in our decision making machine and what fuels it.

A young man asked me why was i being so scrutinizing of letters and words? Well… many years ago, the idea to understand the Bible in greater depth entered my mind, and as a result, i bought my first English-Greek Bible. i was astounded to learn many of our English words were truly insufficient translations many times for what God had in mind.

My goal was to know what Jesus said more than what men say. At that, i want to encourage everyone listening to never ever take someone else’s word for what the Bible says or what God means … you look it up, you find out for yourself, it is your responsibility to know for yourself. Look beyond the pastor, look beyond the pulpit in your church, and look far and above to hear the Lord above all. No man ever set you free. No man ever healed you. No man understands you like Jesus. He has the words of life, He is the origin and source of all you need, not some person who has set themselves up or has allowed themselves to be set up as a standard. And if that preacher is worth his or her salt, they will tell you the same thing.

In English we use the single word “love” for a multitude of things, but the Lord speaks of several different types of love – geographical love, friend love, intimate love, self-sacrificial love, etc, etc. Another good example is in English, we use the word “see”, that’s “s” “e” “e” for everything under the sun, like do you see, as in understand, do you see – as in a casual observance, do you see – as in a purposeful looking at, or do you see – as in looking at something amazing with eyes wide open. There are different words in Hebrew and Greek for all those variations, but in English we just say “do you see”.

This evening though, the important word of this conversation is the word, “crossroad”, or the phrase, “where two ways meet”. God is interested in which way you go, of course, but He’s more interested in how you came to that conclusion, and why you thought it was a good idea. It also may be possible it is very true that most of us don’t ever think about how we arrived at our present position until a-f-t-e-r the poo hits the fan, and it’s even more of a remote possibility that most of us rarely, if ever, consider why we thought the path we’re on was a good idea to begin with.

i find any place in the Bible where there are crossroads mentioned, they were places of the miraculous. Mark 11:4 “And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside in a place where two ways met; and they loosed him.” Jesus told them where to go and what to do, and exactly as the Lord had said, miraculously, it all happened as Jesus had said.

In our lives, at every crossroad, at every intersection where we must choose either the Lord or the world, the potential for divine intervention is astounding. As an example, in the Hebrew word for “purity” the letters themselves carry the idea of choosing, meaning purity is more about how you came to your decision to not wound your conscience, rather than just doing the right thing. Purity isn’t gained by doing the rules, as the Pharisee’s thought. They felt that if they, in all condescension, could prevent people who were impure or generally unclean from touching them, then they themselves would remain pure. i find it amazing they first considered themselves pure in order to strive to remain pure. But then, along came Jesus who told them, “You bunch of hopeless frauds you scribes and Pharisees, scoundrels and hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.” Purity comes from within and is never gained by excluding everyone you consider to be beneath your dignity.

Every time our lives intersect the lives of others, providing we’re interested in intersecting the world around us, there is the opportunity, at that crossroad, for the life of Christ in us to touch others.

The intersection of the Lord with ourselves is a powerful place of destiny and decision. Going with God is more important than getting what we want … it maybe, and likely is a path less traveled than others.

           There are many, many stories and characters in the Bible at crossroads, places of decision. Joel 3:14 speaks of the sea of mankind who are in a difficult place, desperately in need of a decision, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.” When God came to speak with Adam in Genesis3:9 calling out, “Adam where are you?”, it wasn’t a request for his geographical location, it was a request for Adam to consider whose side he was on, the side of God or the side of the devil. We don’t have to be alone in coming to resolve over any issue. The Lord assures us that if we will prefer Him, if we will let Jesus teach us how to live, honesty and truth will be our preference. The Lord wants us to grow up and make godly decisions based on our living relationship with Christ, not “Jesus at a distance”, but “Jesus up close and personal”. We don’t have to be alone at the crossroads.

In Acts 16, Paul and his team were troubled by a slave girl who was possessed. Acts 16:17-18 reads, “This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.”

There, in verse 18, do you see it? The crossroads. It says, “She kept this up for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed (or “so troubled”), turned and said…” That word “annoyed” or “troubled” in the Greek literally means “to toil through”, implying irritation in addition to enduring while concluding a conflict. Paul was finally at a place where he had to make a decision as to whether to address the situation or do something else, he was at a crossroads as to what to do. After many days, he made a decision, and when the time came he took action.  Scripture is silent about this point, but i’m also quite certain Paul conferred with the Lord about the course of action, Jesus was part of Paul’s process.

Don’t you know Jesus is also Lord of the crossroads too? He sits patiently at all your crossroads, waiting for you. Yes, that’s right, He’s already at your future place where two roads meet, poised to assist you in wise counsel.

Without the Lord sitting in the command position in the decision-making machine within us, we are subject to every whim and wind of this chaotic world, easily swept to sea on a rip tide of chance. Friends, i have ridden that rip tide of chance more often than i care to admit, but i’ve learned this, it rarely, rarely turns out as well as we hoped, and God’s counsel is always, always superior to the game of chance every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

           In 2Chron18 and 19 there is a story of when Hezekiah was king of Judah, and “san-khay-reeb’” King of Assyria came and laid siege to the cities. The Israelites were boxed in, obviously, it was a very bad time. Hezekiah had to come to a decision, he was at a terrible crossroads and desperately needed to know what the Lord had to say. At one point in 2Chron19, Hezekiah spreads the threatening letter from the king of Assyria out on the floor before the Lord, and to paraphrase, he says, “Can you see this? Please answer me. What are we going to do? This is terrible!” The right move would have gained Israel the favor of God leaving Israel intact, the wrong move would have cost them everything. i’d wager it was a very stressful time. Indeed, the Lord did answer, and in 2 Kings 19:35, it says, “That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning–there were all the dead bodies!”

When the king of Judah was at the crossroads, he consulted the Lord and the Lord delivered them.

When Paul was at a crossroads in Acts 16:6-10, the Lord gave him wisdom about what to do. Notice how Paul and company tested the waters though, in search of the Holy Spirit’s direction. They were very sensitive to the leading of the Spirit in that they were seriously prevented from speaking the word in Asia, and they didn’t force their way forward. So they continued on to the next town but the Lord did not allow them there either. They didn’t just sit somewhere doing nothing, they were in motion, diligently searching as they went. They were “playing by ear” which is an old saying meaning they listened to the Holy Spirit to hear what God was saying. Do you notice their movements in their searching for the word of the Lord? Finally, God gave them a vision, and BAM! they were off in the direction the Lord gave them.  Verse 10 uses the word “immediately”, more exactly meaning they didn’t stop by the grocery store on the way or swing through and visit friends first. It means they went straight there, they broke camp and as quickly as they could get themselves together, they made a straight line to Macedonia. Notice also that they considered the vision a calling by God. Ah! This was no small event.

Psalm 50:15 says, “… and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” That is a promise.

At the cross, Jesus had a choice, it was the crossroads of all intersections. He was God and also man and He breathed air and lived just like you and me, He had a choice. He didn’t have to be condemned to die, He could have stayed home and capitulated. All He had to do was be a good little doggy, nod and smile doing whatever the religious authorities told Him to do. All He had to do was lie to the Pharisee’s telling them everything they wanted to hear so He wouldn’t have to suffer for the sins of the world. He could have moved away rather than suffer the humiliation of the cross. But God, that’s right … but God, chose to give Himself for us that we would be rescued from the grip of hell, breaking the chains of chaos which bound us in darkness. Isaiah 53:5, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”   Let’s bring it down closer to home … God could easily choose to ignore our prayers, He could easily just go off and do something else more convenient. But instead he chooses to work with us and pursue us. Because of love the Lord rose from the dead that we would have life and have it more abundantly. Righteousness was in the middle of the decision-making process of Jesus. Hope and peace, honesty and kindness are His foundation.

Jesus chose us over the entire universe. For God so loved the world He gave, he chose and “gave” His only Son, that who so ever would believe in Him would be saved. My friend, as God chooses, let us choose.

Who is at the root of your decision-making process? What is important to you, the drugs or your peace with God? When at the crossroads of “making a decision” to go drinking and living a life of violence or to keep your peace with Jesus, which will it be? These are the days that if you will ask God, He will answer. You may have to be patient and wait, but He WILL answer. i can assure you, the Lord stands ready at all our crossroads to help and bring us to where we need to be. An’ that’s a big think about it.

In Matt14 Peter was at a crossroads or a place where two ways met as to whether to try and walk on the water or not. In Acts 19 Paul decided to pay attention to a vision he had, and as a result, while at the crossroads of whether to press on the way they were going or to go the way the Lord had called him, he decided to go with God to Macedonia. In Colossians4 Demas is revealed as having made a decision to go with God, but in 2Tim it is revealed Demas re-decided his decision which and went his way back to the world. i’m going to conclude, Demas spent an inordinate amount of time at the crossroads of decision as to whom he wanted more, Jesus or the world.

Who is at the controls of your decision-making machine? To spend money or not; to be kind or not; to declare the name of Jesus or to be silent? Where are we, as the church, on this issue?

i’m Social Porter and this has been Outposts.

Let Jesus into your decision-making process, He stands ready to assist with the very best counsel when we are at the place where two roads meet, the crossroads, needing to make a decision for life.

Be strong and courageous, be brave and risk with God. It’s the best idea you’ll ever have. Amen.

        What are you doing for no other reason than because you love Jesus? AND, what have you ceased doing for no other reason than His love for you?

Jack Miller asked that question of his congregation when he served as pastor at New Life Presbyterian Church, and of his students when he taught practical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. Jack used to say, “Cheer up; you’re a lot worse off than you think you are, but in Jesus you’re far more loved than you could have ever imagined.”

i liked Jack’s question and then the statement … they inspire good conversation. Understanding grace a little better means understanding God a little better, and i think we all could definitely do with a closer comprehension of what our King is all about. Like i’ve said before, i think most of us have a head full of Bible, but somehow, we’ve missed the heart of the Father.

Knowing about God and actually knowing Him is the difference between studying the theology of grace and actually sitting down and having a face-to-face, transforming conversation with the Lord, who is the personification of grace … a conversation where you’re not in a hurry, taking the time to make eye contact and letting the conversational interaction weave it’s way into your heart. It’s the difference between understanding concepts and actually being known by a person; it’s the difference between knowing theological vocabulary versus being truly involved with the full-time job of knowing Jesus.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts. Our goal is to encourage us all to see a little more, to think a little deeper, to imagine a bit farther than we did before, all for the purpose of knowing Jesus more personally, to understand His great heart towards us, to experience, beyond the shadow of a doubt, His desire for our well being, our health and healing, every minute, every hour, every day, without fail, till we are standing in His presence forever as it was meant to be from the beginning.

If we’ll lift our head from being occupied with our phones, or maybe take the headphones off and listen to the world around us, it is amazing how much people talk about feelings, and what they felt when so-and-so did or said such-and-such. It seems we spend a lot of time talking to everyone else, BUT God.

Telling people about Jesus is called “witnessing”, but i believe we drop the ball by only telling answers rather than learning the skill of also asking questions and being involved with the lives of others. Encouraging others to learn how to have conversations is as much witnessing as telling people the facts, and there is a difference between “witnessing” and “visiting”. Eugene Peterson said we need to learn the art of small talk, because if we don’t we’ll never see the green shoots of grace growing in people’s back yards.

Conversations encourage exploration of the contexts, decisions, and behaviors of relationships. It is as much an employment of our faith to tell others about Jesus as it is to also be facilitators of conversation, allowing others to see in our lives concerning who God has made us to be … in hopes they will see the green shoots of grace in our own backyards … that’s called getting eye level with the world.

We need to learn to set the emotional parameters for a space that enables this sort of exploration: spaces that are safe, supportive and able to endure the pressure of challenge.

The value of conversation is the topic this evening, so put your feet up, catch your breath, tap your toe and dream a little.

           So, a couple years ago i had the idea to take a conflict resolution course because i felt like the world around me was in such turmoil and i had no concept on how to even think about it much less help resolve anything. i was so terribly surprised by the first chapter’s direction, which was to address the conflict within myself. At first i scoffed, arrogantly, thinking, i don’t have any big issues, but whatever, i’ll go through this part to get to the rest of the course. Yea, uhh huh … well, as it turns out, i DID have a bunch of conflicts within myself that needed a conclusion, and in fact, i realized i can’t help anyone with their conflicts if i didn’t begin to face my own. Luke 6:41, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” You probably knew that verse was coming, but i thought it appropriate.

If we don’t face our own conflicts first it’s back to the idea that we can’t solve problems with the same mindset which created the problems. Only telling people about Jesus and never hanging around to be involved with them helps us to feel successful about ourselves without having to actually reveal anything of ourselves. We get to look pious and glorious while no one sees the dead grass in our own back yard…our self-attained piousness only works as long as we keep everyone at a distance, never letting anyone into our lives. i think maybe many of us love to make disciples but we don’t like raising them.

In light of that, a conversation is an informal exchange of views, observations, opinions, feelings, or ideas according to Webster’s …  and there’s all kinds … quiet conversations, loud ones, personal or private conversations, and others which are the open forum type for anyone who would participate. They typically go in directions which aren’t predictable either, after all if it were scripted it wouldn’t be a conversation, it would be called a play. Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone who doesn’t share anything of themselves? It doesn’t go far without some degree of vulnerability, and without vulnerability it usually feels more like someone is gleaning information from you than actually wanting to be involved with you. A good conversation is a risk because it requires transparency. To conversate we must go with the flow, and truly, there are people who don’t flow easily, so there again, conversation is not easily found with them.

A good conversation is more valuable than we imagine. It is us allowing others into our lives and others allowing us into theirs.

i’m going to say this several times in this program: If we don’t learn the art of conversation and even small talk, we’ll never see the green shoots of grace in people’s backyards. What that means is when we allow ourselves to access and be accessed, we, metaphorically, are allowed to walk around in the places of people’s lives which aren’t seen merely by walking by the front of their house. The front of their house is the presentation face, but their backyard is where they really live … conversation and small talk get them in our backyard and us in theirs. It requires some trust, which means we can’t just use our theological vocabulary, we’ve got to actually BE people of grace and kindness to facilitate a safe place for others. So what is a conversation? From what i can gather, a good conversation contains asking questions, giving information, proposing different perceptions, stating something that is true and reflecting understanding. How about listening and then testing ideas? All that is done gently with kindness of course.

In Luke11:9, when Jesus said ask, seek, knock, do you think that was just Him telling us how to get what we want, or was it more an invitation into a conversation with God?

In Genesis 2 & 3 there is the account of what God said, what the serpent said, what Eve said, and what Adam said. Of the eight recorded statements the Lord made, four were questions. Why do you think He asked Adam and Eve questions, but only gave statements to the serpent? i venture this: God wanted a conversation with Adam and Eve, but was not interested in a conversation with serpent. Friends, there is nothing hell has to say which we need to hear, i have no questions for hell, and they have no answers i need to hear. None. Nada. Never. And none.

Learning to ask good questions is as much an art as navigating good dialogue. i think, and this is just what i think, people who only tell answers aren’t too interested in friends, only subordinates. In my opinion women are far more relationship oriented than men so they ask questions. Questions, without being interrogators, are an invitation into a relationship, they are conversation encouragers.

Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”

Luke 13:21, “It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

If the Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven which is hid in the dough and doesn’t stop until the entire lump is leavened, how is that any different than us being more transparent and involved in people’s lives so Jesus is more easily revealed. We’ve got to go there … we can’t keep standing at a distance from a dying world, yelling the gospel across a divide between us and them but never actually being involved with the lost. We should not just be a distant light in the darkness in people’s lives, we should be the soft light of grace up close and personal. And if we’re going to let our lights shine up close and personal like, let us allow the Holy Spirit to resolve our worldly hearts of sourness, bad language which reflects our heart, fault finding, ignorance, and a downcast countenance. If we will let Him, God will fill us with aspects of courtesy, insight, grace, and salt. We are not monotony on two legs you know, we posses the very life and light of the universe in our hearts.

Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Learning to have conversations with people is being involved in their lives…let us look to understand, and rather than working to constantly persuade them, which makes us look like hammers and everyone else is a nail, learn to listen … listen to the quieter ones, it seems they often see things but rarely express themselves. i’ve learned to use the word “and” which opens up further conversation and means “in addition to”. When we use “but” though, it shuts people down and means “with exception”, or maybe “I know something you don’t know”. i’m fairly certain, years ago, i was a chief in the “yea but” tribe … yea but, yea but, yea but … it made conversations difficult to have.

i’ve heard myself witnessing instead of visiting, and out of my own mouth was far more often the word “but” … it is argumentative and is a subtle way of drawing swords with people. i’ve been such a silly man …  rarely, if ever, did anyone ever come to the Lord as the result of a metaphorical sword fight. When i learned to ask questions and allow myself to conversate without the need to win, allowing myself to be involved in the lives of others, i began to see results, bearing of much fruit.

           On redeeming our internal narrative, which is where our conflict resolution begins, actually is a process. Within everyone there is a conversation going on, we may not be aware of it, we may not want to admit it or admit to the contents of that internal narrative, but it is there.

Psalm 37:14, “The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright;”.

Right there, where the translators used the words “way is upright”, a more exact translation would be “whose conversation is upright”, meaning not only outwardly, but their internal narrative is upright. The same Hebrew word, which in this case is our word for conversation, draws a picture of a well worn path, or a path which is worn from constantly being walked on, and when in groups, it draws a picture of marching together … or … a conversation.

Conversations, when in a group setting, are like people marching together, on their way somewhere.

In Prov31:3, “your ways” doesn’t necessarily mean the way you do things, but more speaks of your internal narrative, in other words, don’t give your internal conversation over to those things which destroy … or don’t allow yourself a downward spiraling internal conversation so often you begin to believe your own rhetoric … i must also add, that escaping our own dark thoughts isn’t always easy by any means, so we must get help.  In fact, the very last letter of the Hebrew word for “conversation” has, among other meanings, a meaning of “your”, implying the conversation you have with yourself, your internal narrative. Allowing ourselves honest conversations with the Lord tends to redeem our internal narrative, it brings rectification and clarity…which is why, if we need counseling, it is profitable.

Among the words used for heal and “make whole” in the N.T., is the word “therapeuo”, used 44 times, and it’s where we get our English word for therapy, meaning a system of treatments intended to heal and restore. Within this word not only is there a meaning of being made well, but also the idea of having to wait in the course of conversation, and waiting is a time element … meaning we talk it out … .. of course, there are all sorts of therapies, antibiotic therapy, shock therapy, oxygen therapy, heat therapy, and in our case considering the topic is a good conversation, talk therapy. Without Godly conversations, we are often left only to our internal narrative, and if we have a propensity to negativity, remember, people are going to catch what you’ve really got, not what you think you’ve got. It is a human tendency to gravitate towards what we want to fix and forget to celebrate what we have.

In 1Kings18:27, Elijah was mocking the prophets of Baal when, regardless of all their crying out and self-mutilation, their god (little “g”) didn’t show up … Elijah mockingly said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Could be he is lost in thought, or in the toilet, or maybe he is on a journey, or perhaps he’s asleep and must be awakened.” Where he said, “on a journey”, it’s the same word for “conversation”, so we could read it another way to say, “maybe he is stuck in a conversation someplace or has gone somewhere and can’t be gotten a hold of …” i do believe the false prophets of Baal were probably sufficiently antagonized, driving them into a frenzy.

In all this, let me draw a conclusion that there are many conversations which happen in scripture, from ones which last across several chapters to simple ones like in Luke 6:11 when the people were filled with rage and were having a heated conversation concerning what to do with Jesus. They were conflicted. How does your internal narrative sound? Is it an upward spiral or a downward spiral? So … if it’s a downward spiral more often than not, what are you gonna do about that? Let’s not hide it but resolve it so there is no reason for hiding and secrets any longer.

Having a good conversation, one that is profitable and builds us up though, ahhh … that may not be as easy to come by as we might hope. What a conversation is and how we do it is one thing, but where does our best conversation begin and why?

From the beginning, the Lord has been soliciting conversation with all of mankind. He wants to be involved with us and want us to desire His words and thoughts above all others. As was previously mentioned, in Genesis 2 & 3, of the first eight recorded statements the Lord made, four were questions, which was the Lord’s invitation for us to conversate with Him. i believe God even goes so far sometimes to, sort of, pick a fight with us to get us to be involved with Him. i could be completely incorrect, but in Genesis 32 it sure looks like the Lord didn’t mind grappling with Jacob. If that’s where God needs to go to get our attention, our Father is not above a little wrestling to get us to be involved with Him, why? … because the Lord knows our interaction and conversation with Him is life giving, healing, and makes opportunity for Him to share wisdom and hope with us.

In the Hebrew word for conversation, it breaks down as meaning a door for clarification and an opportunity to venture below the surface of our presentation face, conversation is a call to allow our thinking’s and musings to be elevated above the horizon, in other words to lift them above street level to be discovered and to not allow our thoughts to remain buried like secrets concerning hidden things.

In Luke 20, when the chief priests, scribes, and elders put a question to Jesus, He didn’t shrink back from the rough water ahead. In fact, my paraphrase here, He leaned into them and fired back, “Oh yea, I hear your question, so now i’m gonna ask you a question too!” He was not afraid of the conversation … in fact, He leaned into their space and took them up on their challenge. God is the master of conversation, and was willing to walk with them if they were willing to tread the path with Him.

In Luke 24:13 there is what i call the “Seven Mile Conversation”. Luke 24:13-27 tells the story about two disciples on the way to Emmaus, about a 7-mile walk taking approx. 3.5hrs or a little more. They were walking and talking …  discussing, or reasoning together about the things which had been going on. While on “the way” Jesus joined them in their conversation, but their eyes were restrained and they didn’t know it was Jesus. Jesus asked them a question (which was an invitation to join the conversation) in vs 17 …  He asked, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” or, “What are you guys talking about?” Scripture says, “And they stood still, looking sad.” Cleopas replied, “Man, haven’t you heard of all the things going on? Where have you been?” Then Jesus asked a second question in vs 19, “What things?”, meaning, “Tell me about it.” As they walked on, the two told him all the account of Jesus of Nazareth, and how Jesus did this, and the Pharisee’s did that, and how the Lord had been crucified, they said they were hoping Israel was going to be redeemed, but it just didn’t appear that’s how things turned out … they told Him how this was the third day, and the women couldn’t find the body, then met some angels at the tomb who said Jesus was alive, but in light of all these things, they weren’t quite sure what to think. Then Jesus poured the testimony on them. He laid it out beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

When they reached the village where they were going, the Lord made like He was going to leave their company, but they insisted He stay on with them (inviting Jesus into their inner circle). Finally, when they sat down to eat, Jesus broke bread and their eyes were opened. i bet they were blown away, and even more so when Jesus suddenly disappeared. Oh man, they really had things to talk about now. They were so excited, they got up and walked all the way back to Jerusalem to tell the others … which would have made another 7-mile conversation … It was a very good day, a very good walk, and a very, very good conversation. Think about it.

In the movie “The Last Samurai”, Katsumoto, who is a samurai Lord, has taken Capt. Nathan Algren captive and hauled him back to their village for the winter. As the movie progresses, i noticed that Algren, at first, only tells answers and Katsumoto keeps asking questions. Katsumoto’s questions were an invitation into a relationship which Algren does not want. At one-point Capt. Algren roars at Katsumoto, “What do you want from me?” At that point Katsumoto, calmly says, “I want a gooood conversation.” As far as Katsumoto was concerned, just because his enemy was in the camp didn’t mean they couldn’t walk the roads of the village and have conversations. A good conversation was as valuable to the samurai Lord as was good food, well honed weapons, and beautifully executed art … a good conversation was highly prized and was probably considered art in itself.

Conversation is how people get to know what we’re about, it’s how people get to look at aspects of us which aren’t so readily seen. In our vulnerability during the back and forth talk of conversation, we get to see the green shoots of grace growing in other people’s back yards, and if we don’t master small talk, we’ll never see those things.

Conversation is where we connect and are connected with, and learning to ask questions is as much an art as letting God make us beautiful for the world to behold. In our conversations with God, He will redeem our internal narrative making it easier for us to march together on a path worn by constant walking. Do you have conversations with God, or do you just hand Him your shopping list? We want Him to be vulnerable with us yet we are scared to pieces to be vulnerable with Him. Jesus is waiting with delightful anticipation for you to come and sit a while with Him, and have good conversation …  eventually one which will never end.

Good conversation is not scripted, although we may have some objectives, still it is not scripted. We must go with the flow and listen … some may feel they are putting themselves at risk because they must be vulnerable and transparent, but we really need to get over the fear of someone seeing us as we are … the Lord has been inviting us into a continuous conversation with Him since the garden as even today it is still God’s standing invitation to conversate with Him … don’t you know, when we get home to Jesus it will be an eternal conversation, a glorious conversation filled with music and companionship with God, and He will be our light and sun for ever.

Drive carefully, pray for your neighbors, take the time to get to know who lives near you, let them know you by letting them into your life and allowing them to see Jesus who lives in you. Be strong and courageous! Amen!

          “Am i ok?” “Will i be alright?” We are often so, so worried about our own welfare. i believe we spend untold hours being concerned if our money will work out, if our health will hold up, if we’ll lose our minds, if the economy will continue to allow us to live such convenient lives, if the car will make it another week, if this, if that, round and round, till you can see the whites of our eyes in the dark.

Our state of well being is constantly attacked by satan and all his buddies, who love to inspire us to run around in terror about what “might” happen. Remember, this is the enemy of our soul, the very ones whose will is fully set against us, thrilling to our demise in anyway it can be devised. Listen to God, not the downward spiral of the world.

Ok, so … what if you die? Well, then i reckon you won’t have to worry about things anymore, trusting God won’t be an issue then, because all things will be said and done. What if you don’t die? That’s an odd one, but i’ve heard it from addicts in jail who have a secret death wish, thinking if they do more dope, maybe they’ll die and won’t have to keep being miserable. i’ve actually heard a frequently incarcerated felon say that. Gosh, what a morbid, ultimate victim thing to think. When i heard that, i thought two things simultaneously. First was a quote from Graham Greene: “We are all of us resigned to death: it’s life we aren’t resigned to.” And the second was how, despairing, this person has bought into the territory of lies without a return ticket, finding themselves, literally, at the freezing-point of knowing absolute failure. All they see is themselves, constantly being an inch from the end, in so much pain, seeing no other way out but to end it can be found. i find it interesting, the person was also a heavy drug users, which i call that level of addiction, “death on the installment plan”, suffering every inch of the way to the end. i take it then, they didn’t actually want to die, which is why they were taking their time getting there, they simply wanted the pain to end.

God says being at the freezing-point of knowing absolute failure isn’t the end. He says there exists, for everyone, the extreme polar opposite…there is life to be had in Christ. Again, let us take to heart that in God’s economy, there is nothing SO dead, He can’t grow life from it.

Everyone must die, one way or another, that’s a given, but God says we don’t also have to die sick and sad. We worry, !worry! over our welfare to the point we make ourselves ill. ?Will i be ok? If we read the myriad of medical advertisements, the implication is if you do what you are told by some medical professional, you’ll be ok, yet, truthfully, it doesn’t always work out like that. i suppose it also depends on our idea of “well-being” too. If your bills were paid, then would you be ok? If you simply weren’t sick, then would you be ok? What will it take to make you “Ok”?

In John 4:42, upon meeting Jesus, the people of Samaria told the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” Where the English word “believe” is, the Greek word translated as “believe” yields a much more comprehensive meaning, in this case meaning, by implication, they entrusted their spiritual well-being to Christ. They were convinced, gave assent to, and relied on God to take care of them. That is God’s idea of what it is to “believe”. Remember, Faith is a noun, and “believe” is the action verb derivative of Faith. Get it? Action.

In Mark 9:24, when the father of the child cried out, “i believe; help my unbelief!”, he was speaking to Jesus and was confessing openly that, although he gave assent to the Lord and relied on God to take care of them, for his child to be made whole, not just no longer sick, but made whole, was just beyond his capability. i believe the man looked into himself and saw not only trust, but also that he didn’t trust the Lord as much as he thought. He realized his state of cognitive dissonance. The idea his child could be made whole was simply beyond his imagination to grasp. Instead of making a dishonest face, smiling his most pious smile, saying with great benevolence, “Praise God, everything is fine, just fine.”, he told the truth and asked the Lord for help.

Do we only believe God when things are well? Or when things aren’t well with us, do we resign ourselves to suffer and die because somewhere along the line, someone we respected told us the cause of our suffering was because we didn’t have enough faith or there was sin in our lives? That is a performance mentality, and the truth is, God doesn’t work that way. You can’t run fast enough, or be good enough to deserve well being. Sure, if we don’t pray, don’t read the Bible, and don’t actually connect with other believers, the possibilities of our well being are narrowed considerably. But truly, our well being is God’s domain, and to sit around, harboring the secret worry of “Will i be ok?” to the point of validating the saying, “worry yourself sick”, well, it doesn’t have to be that way. Rather than worrying about our well being, it would be more profitable to simply be honest, pursuing the Lord to help our unbelief, regardless of our circumstances. Trust God, regardless of your discomfort and trouble. It CAN be done. Learn to live well where you are until the Lord changes the situation.

Don’t do the “yea, but, yea but” thing. Embrace the Lord’s promise of well being, and let Him do it. i didn’t say now, be slack and do nothing, that is twisting the intent here. Matthew 13:12 says, “For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away”, OR, the more you go right, the more you go right, and the more you go left, the more you go left, OR, cutting to the chase here, the longer you do nothing, the longer you do nothing until nothing is all you do. Take action! Trust Him, tell Him about it, i guarantee He’ll solve the conflicts which prevent you from moving forward. You will indeed be ok.

What do you think?

Shadows

Shadows….soft and rarely detailed and defined. They catch an outline enough to identify a silhouette, but never a lot of detail, at least not like the light. Shadows speak softly, in demure tones, whispering to each other, and to you too if you’ll listen. They try not to, but even the best shadows somewhat envy the light, afterall the light has weight and shadows do not. There is no such thing as “the weight of shadows”, just like there is no such thing as a dark meter, only a light meter, because light has weight and shadow does not.     Shadows are painfully aware they are measured in the sense of an absence of light, which is why they simultaneously love and envy the light. They are defined by the light and they so wish they had their own definition and independence. But, in the long run, they just weren’t made that way when God gave every living creature a faint companion to go with them everywhere. They’re really no trouble, and if anything, they are the constant of companion of everything which stands in the light…they are the most subtle of confirmations we are here and are real. What would you think of something which casts no shadow in day light?

At the fading away of day, they rise up and set up living arrangements, prepare shadow meals, solving shadow problems, discuss shadow news in shades of grey scale, and enjoy singing in shadow voices. it is soft like their edges, always prone to a little down turn in tune and tone, almost like a slight moan and sigh. It is the sound of shadows as they creep down a sleepy street when the sun goes down, peeping at us from behind the trees, cast from children playing in the evening, or from the neighbor’s cat which sits on the step looking bored, waiting for something to happen. Healthy shadows take nurturing and care because some shadows are not healthy in that they are “thin shadows”, and others are more robust being “deep shadows”. Shadows never seem to understand that they are defined by the bright or fading light, it is a wisdom which always seems to escape their shaded mind. They occasionally celebrate themselves because there are creatures which God created who prefer to live in the “company of shadows”, because in His mercy, not even shadows are left friendless and alone.

Some shadows are not kind when people slander one another. As you know the entire idea of slander is to “cast shadows” on others, or, cause them to be seen in a less than kind light, to darken their faces with suspicion, or purposely obstruct clear light in order to cast a shadow on their character, so to speak. Shadows moan at their employment in such a situation, it is a scenario that is the invention of people possessing a twist on the light, and the poor shadow, who wants to live in peace, must comply where ever there are obstacles blocking the light. And everyone knows any time something or someone obsures the path of light, a shadow is required to subtly point out that something is in the way of clarity.