Of the three high points of leadership which i call the three C’s … conduct, conversation, and character, and our conversation, like our conduct, is a big indicator of our character.

Most of us probably just talk along, and may not give much thought to this, but God considers the words of our mouth to be among the things He considers as, utmost importance. For the cause of the testimony of Christ in us, we need to consider carefully the words we allow past our lips. In Job 8, Bildad accused Job of being a windbag in saying, “How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind?” The Lord warns us to guard our mouth with all diligence in Prov6, lest we are caught, or snared by the words of our mouth. If that happens, go quickly and apologize before your own words dig a pit not so easily escaped.

Conversations encourage exploration of contexts, decisions, and behaviors of relationships. Conversations are not just passing out information, and instructing others, but a two way street of participation. 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”.

i think it should be made clear, the idea of getting “eye level” with God and others is a metaphor as well as a physical action. Good conversation that is “eye level” is personal and relational because God is personal and relational, and nowhere, and i mean nowhere in the Bible, cover to cover, is God impersonal and non-relational. He was personal and relational in the beginning and He is personal and relational all the way to the end. “Eye level” means to be honest, straightforward, and to be on common ground as in direct, personal conversation where there is no third party mediator. By the blood of Jesus, we have direct access to the Father, and have no need of anyone going to God for us, as if the Lord hears one above the other due to title and position. The dialogue we keep with the Lord is highly influential in the conversations we have with other people. Our conversation is the first thing people hear of us. i believe it is the truth, on the average; most people have already struck a general opinion about us within the first 2-3 minutes of opening our mouth.

1 Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.””

According to Websters dictionary, a conversation is an informal exchange of views, observations, opinions, feelings, or ideas, 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. Conversations 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”. A good conversation, not just any but a good conversation is also “emotionally available”. 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 gleaning information from you than actually wanting to be involved with you. A good conversation is a risk because it requires transparency.

Our conversation is reflective of our character, so if someone tells you they’re a believer, go to church, maybe even a deacon or pastor etc, etc, then turn around and tell a foul joke, laughing out loud even if no one else laughs, it’s highly likely they’ll not be taken too seriously, maybe even avoided eventually. A good conversation is more valuable than we imagine. It is us allowing others into our lives and others allowing us into theirs. Do you see it? It’s a two way street!

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.”

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, 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 possess the very life and light of the universe in our hearts.

Our external conversation is born from our internal conversation, and i think we need to ask the Lord to redeem our internal narrative, which is where our conflict resolution begins. 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. The Hebrew 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, like people who are going somewhere together.

In Proverbs 31:3, “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. You want to be in leadership? Consider then, in addition to conduct, your conversation is contagious. How you present the words of your mouth is highly likely to be emulated by those around you. Inviting people into a conversation is 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.

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, it’s as much an art as letting God make us beautiful for the world to behold.

There are three necessities of leadership, i call them the three C’s…conduct, conversation, and character, and this is the second of the three.

What do you think?

Thanks for listening. i’m Social Porter with Living In His Name ministries.

Being a good leader is about having such exemplary conduct, character, and conversation others want to be like you. As a leader, you are the example, and as an example all that you are is contagious, even the hidden stuff can be imparted. It doesn’t require you wear a suit, slick back your hair with religious hair gel, or have church-speak down pat. It doesn’t require you be amazing or relevant. Our conduct demonstrates who we are more than anything, anything, anything else. There are people who call themselves leaders, yet are irresponsible, inconsiderate, foul mouthed, and maybe even down right feckless. That’s not even a good manager. It appears to me that’s just someone who has the look and talk down pat, and knows how to spit out numbers and percentages at meetings, but in truth, no one wants to be like them, not many appreciate their character, and others simply avoid any continuing conversation.

Most places who need managers, need someone to figure out time schedules for employees to work, keep track of stock, handle the money and receipts, and sometimes more than anything else, be the go-to person for resolving conflicts between the people who work there or with customers.

Alan Murray wrote that, “The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader’s eye is on the horizon. The manager imitates; the leader originates. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person. The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing. Did you catch the subtle differences? It’s important we perceive them.

From God’s perspective though, our conduct is one of three primary things which are of utmost concern. Conduct is how we set our feet on territory or an object. In fact, the Hebrew word for “conduct” is a derivative of the word “tread”, as in Deut33:29, “treading upon the high places of the earth.” It’s not IF we place our feet on territory, but HOW we establish our feet there. We can either be a terror and tyrant, or we can live with confidence in Christ, with good boundaries and grace.

From God’s perspective, our Godly conduct requires humility, a stooping down. It’s amazing how far a little humility goes, and nowhere does God mean to be sniveling and spineless, that’s not humility. No sniveling allowed. Humility brings us clear eyes and a clear head for God will always help those who get low. Remember, Prov15 says that humility comes before honor. If we want to be leaders with honor, then humility is the doorway to God’s house. There is actually an element of action in the Lord’s word for conduct. It’s more than just saying good stuff causing people to nod in agreement with us, but is more about putting righteousness into action.

Leaders, real Godly leaders, don’t merely assign people a task, but define for them a purpose. Managers may organize workers to maximize efficiency, but real leadership strengthens Holy Spirit giftings, nurture skills, develops talent, imparting inspiration and passion. Conduct, it’s not IF you stand, but HOW you stand.

i believe we can learn to be a manager, but leadership, real leadership is a gift developed by God. We can read all the 5 easy steps to leadership books we want, but the truth is, if we’re not called to it, we’re simply not called to it. Now, look, if God has not called you to be leadership, don’t let it get you down. Just because we have a different calling, doesn’t mean we have a lesser calling.

The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about conduct. Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.” Righteous leadership tips the house towards the Lord and uprightness, and atrocious leadership tips the house toward atrocity. Proverbs 29:23, “One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.” And here again, the goal of being a leader is not one of putting yourself in a position of being honored, sitting in high places, strutting around in mock authority. That kind of conduct is not conducive to leading anyone except those who live in the same swirling madness. Remember, humility comes before honor, so if your goal is to get to a platform and own that microphone so everyone will listen to you, you’ve gotta get low first. In order to make good wine there must first come the crushing of grapes.

God has called us to actually, actually, truly possess a heart inclined to Godly conduct, not just a heart which puts on airs of good conduct for the hidden agenda of gaining a platform. A man is judged by his works, his achievements, his deeds… his total conduct, all of which is intrinsic to being a leader. Godly conduct is the result of being boiled down through trial, or hewed to a shape, as God has been allowed to form our character, like a potter shapes the clay.

Jesus is our most outstanding example of leadership, of our exemplary conduct, character, and conversation. Study how He conducted Himself and then follow His example. Ephesians 4:20-24, “But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

We have been empowered through the blood of Jesus to continually live in what Paul describes in that scripture as foundational to good conduct. Good conduct is not IF you place your feet on territory, but HOW you place your feet there. 1Tim3:15, “if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”

This is speaking of responsible, Godly leadership, where our conduct in God’s house lays the ground work of truth, and being in leadership demands a special kind of conduct. Did you get that? Our Godly conduct lays the ground work of truth in Christ. God is using you as an example.
John Maxwell says if you think you’re a leader, look behind you and if no one is following you, you’re not a leader, you’re just someone out for a long walk. Not everyone with the title of leader is a leader. Managers are not necessarily leaders. CEO’s are not necessarily leaders. Politicians are not necessarily leaders. Pastors are not necessarily leaders. Some people just wind up with a title because: No one else wanted it. OR No one else was qualified. Leaders don’t have to call themselves leaders in order to be leaders. If we have to tell people we are a leader so they’ll know we’re in leadership, chances are good we’re probably not all we think.

Paul Turner asks, “So my friends, is your conduct as a leader speaking loud enough? Look behind you…is anyone following? If no one is there, you may not be in leadership like you think. Who are you inspiring and how can you tell?” And i say, Remember, if you want others to be different, you be different. What do you think?

Thanks for listening. i’m Social Porter with Living In His Name ministries.

This week has been like every other week in that there have been extraordinary moments, a very few low moments, but by far and large time has passed in the everyday doings of life, just like everyone else.

On a side note, i find it interesting how many people have something in mind they feel God has called them to do, or what’s more commonly called, “a ministry”, but yet when the money isn’t there to pay them to do what they believe God has appointed them to do, suddenly they question whether God actually appointed them in the first place. i was recently asked, “What is your ministry?” i actually have an answer, and it’s a reply which doesn’t point myself out or elevate my status. Here it is: My ministry is to live a life which is a constant upward pointing to the sovereignty of God as my second nature, and to do what so ever He asks of me to do with all my heart, to be at the ready at all times, to do more than do rules but to yield and let His words persuade my heart. You know, if there really is only one name under Heaven, then i figure i’ve got no business tagging my name on everything so people will know who i am.

i have a truth i picked up from an old minister of the gospel many years ago, he said, “Where God’s appointment is, therein is the provision.” i think maybe our dilemma is our perspective of “Just what exactly constitutes God’s provision?” As an example, we expect money, God gives character and anointing. Would you be willing to trade a little of your character and anointing for an increase in pay? Can we accurately judge if the Lord is in our midst by how many people come to our church?

Think about it – there are more than a few golden calves around with lots of people in attendance. Can we accurately judge if God is with us by how much money people give us? Money follows ministry, ministry doesn’t follow money. There’s more than a few services around which people give lots of money to, and God has long ago left the scene. Don’t get me wrong, money and provision are a minor indicator of God’s calling, but, but absolute far and large, there are more important things than money which indicate God’s calling. Be circumspect, meaning to take all things into account to discern the Lord. Exodus 23:13, “… And in all that I have said to you, be circumspect and make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.”

When our money, or lack thereof, becomes a measure of our worth, anointing and calling, there is a serious conflict within us which needs resolution.

That’s not tonight’s topic, it’s just a side bar which seemed to need some encouragement for us to think carefully about.

This evening, our table topic is compassion, what is it, do we have a heart of compassion, and how do we access the most compassionate heart in the universe? 

Jesus demonstrated compassion, He responded to the compassion of others, He went beyond words, and was THE example of the compassionate heart of the Father.

Jesus not only demonstrated great power; he also demonstrated mercy and compassion as an example to us. Compassion is derived from the word for mercy and in many places the early translators used compassion instead of mercy, although there is a difference. Our politically correct and conveniently polite society avoids the suffering multitudes, they just look like trouble, and the three L’s bother us, the Least, the Left Behind, and the Lost. But Jesus reached out and helped anyone in need.

In light of that, what exactly is compassion? Consider this: the kindness of God threw a drowning man a rope of hope, and compassion encouraged the man to grip that rope to receive God’s extension for rescue. Compassion. We all say we’ve got it, but i wonder if we really understand what God has deposited in us?

i believe compassion involves having a different perspective than empathy when it comes to how we perceive others, often being confused with empathy. Compassion has the added element of having a desire to reduce the suffering of other people, more than empathy, it’s taking action and getting involved. i define empathy as the ability to put myself in the other person’s shoes without joining them in their circumstances. In other words, sympathy says you are sick and i join you in your sickness, empathy says you are sick and i help you get over it without my joining you in your suffering, and apathy doesn’t care if you’re ill or not.

God was compassionate towards us as fallen mankind, but His Son, Jesus, not only empathized with us, but He also SYMPATHIZED with us. He not only understood our dilemma, but He also joined us in overcoming that dilemma without capitulating to participating in the cause of our dilemma, with the cause being iniquity, transgression, and sin.

Hebrews 4:15: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Do you see that phrase “touched with the feeling”? That phrase is from the Greek word, sympatheo (soom-path-eh’-o), or sympathy, meaning Jesus understood our suffering, AND He suffered everything we suffer while He was here as God in the flesh. Wow, what a Savior!!

Compassion is the forerunner of and leads to empathy. The early church fathers considered compassion more virtuous than simple empathy because, as St. Augustine said, “compassion commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another’s suffering.” “Active” being a very important word there, not passive, but “active”. Universally, across the board, in most all religions on the earth, compassion is held as among the greatest of virtues. Now i can’t remember ever, in my life, hearing someone use the word virtue, outside of a biblical context, so i’ve got to wonder, what is virtue? Here’s a very good idea: Virtue is excellent character, kindness, faith, generosity and moral goodness according to God. Take special note of that, it’s according to God.

So, here’s the crossroads … if we’re honest, in addition to understanding why some people suffer the things they suffer, drug addiction, homelessness, hunger, etc. … would you be willing to consider taking action to alleviate their suffering? There’s nothing wrong with giving money, but the Lord calls us to more than just throw money at suffering. Someone must actually have the heart to do the work. Understanding someone’s suffering and actually taking action to alleviate their suffering is two different things. Empathy says we understand the situation, compassion says we go the extra mile and take action. Just because we acknowledge and agree that something is true is not the same as actually doing something about it. Agreement with the truth and commitment to take action based on the truth are different. Sincerity is not the same as following Jesus.

Matthew 5:41”If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” The Lord is leading us to enlarge our compassion for the suffering world around us.

We in church today say we love our neighbor, but if we won’t hardly go the extra mile for ourselves, what makes us think we’ll go the extra-mile for anyone else?

In 2007, a stabbing victim lay dying on the floor of a Kansas City convenience store. Five shoppers who were in the store at the time stepped over the woman, and continued to make their purchases being careful to not step in the blood. The store video showed the woman struggling to her feet three times without anyone stopping to help. All but one person stepped over her, and the one who did stop, stopped to take a picture. The outright lack of compassion for this young woman’s life, or anyone else for that matter, is deeply troubling. What is wrong with our society? Maybe people generally feel that every time they are empathetic, someone tries to take advantage of them, i don’t know. Does the lack of compassion within our society reflect the lack of compassion in the ranks of our leadership? We need God-grown compassion, and it only comes from Him.

i don’t know if the following has ever happened to you, but it certainly happened to me one time. At one point, life was very hard for me. i cried a lot. One day i met up with a friend from work who asked how i was doing. As i began to explain my situation, a couple tears rolled out of my eyes, but when i looked up, my buddy was gone. Vanished. In the following days as i pondered those events, i realized that some people get overwhelmed with the suffering of others and they put physical and emotional distance between us and themselves. It may not have anything to do with the person in crisis, they may have a similar crisis of their own going on and just can’t bear to hear of someone else’s pain. Some may even stay and listen but, simultaneously, emotionally disconnect, when that happens the person in crisis, like i was, experiences something like emotional abandonment and often have no idea why the feel that way. The Lord’s compassion is unwavering though. He always hears us and never abandons us.

The compassion God grows in our heart makes us capable of reducing suffering and fulfilling our God ordained purpose of transforming the world into something which reflects the Kingdom of Heaven. It may be only the environment in your space, and could include an entire business.

Again, it needs to be said, from before the foundations of the universe was laid, the character of the cross was worked in the heart of the Father, and out of love and compassion, from before the beginning, God laid a plan of salvation for the object of His affection. It was Love and compassion for the condemned gripped-by-sin-universe which compelled Jesus to relate to us and also to die for the sins of the world.

Compassion and Love were the motivation of Christ for healing! It’s never for the thrill of sensationalism, nor for the prospering of our selves.

The rivers of God’s compassion and mercy run full throttle, constantly, and never run dry; they are new every morning. Lamentations 3:22-23, ^“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness oh Lord.”

Every morning without fail, to be seen by those who have eyes to see, we have fresh instances of God’s compassion towards us and just because we don’t see doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Every morning He brings his judgment to light, Zephaniah 3:5, “Morning by morning He dispenses His justice, and every new day he does not fail…”

When our personal comforts fail, God’s compassions do not. He renews our strength with compassion, Psalm 86:15-16, “But you, O Lord, are  compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant.”

Identifying with another person is an essential process for human beings. When people feel no one can identify with their problems they lean toward feeling abandoned, rejected, isolated, and alone. As our world collapses in upon itself, life seems to be taking a nose dive and nothing is working out, or when the end of this world is finally in sight, let us take refuge in Isaiah 54:10 “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.”

           What should we do with someone who really has no empathy or compassion for those who are suffering and burdened with grief? What do you do when someone says something that is ignorant and/or hurtful? We could just let our woundedness drive us backwards adding the hurtful situation to our list of victim credentials, or we can let the Lord change our hearts and turn our hurts into compassion for others. One man said, “When someone throws dirt on you, learn to grow flowers.” One thing which has really helped me to maintain my footing around people who seem uncompassionate, right off, is to stop caring so much about what other people think and start caring about what God thinks. Let the Lord teach you how to be comfortable in your own skin. Another thing to do is to know that your life is a meaningful and worthy existence, just as God made you, and it’s ok to look and sound like yourself. It’s good to know you are a sinner saved by grace, it’s important to know you are dead to sin and God no longer calls you sinner but saint. If you only stop there though, never taking in the full counsel of the Lord, you’ll always be stuck in all your unworthiness like something trapped in the washing-machine beater, just pounding back and forth. Let gratitude for even the small things seep into your heart, like laughing children, the light of the moon, good food, shelter … those are things we take for granted so often it seems.

Lastly, be in the moment, be present and in the room. You may think those are small things, but they really do make a difference.

Oh, this next part is so good. Matthew Henry speaks of God’s compassion in his “Commentary of the Whole Bible” saying, “For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.”

Matthew Henry continues, “Mountains have sometimes been shaken by earthquakes, and removed; but the promises of God were never broken by the shock of any event. “When our friends fail us our God does not, and neither does his compassion and kindness depart. Do the kings of the earth, and the rulers, set themselves against the Lord? They shall depart and be removed. Great mountains which stand in the way of the salvation of the church, they shall be made low (Zachariah  4:7), but God’s compassion and kindness shall never depart from his people, for whom he loves he loves to the end; nor shall the covenant of his peace ever be removed, for he is the Lord that has mercy on his people. Therefore the covenant is immovable, because it is not built on our merit, which is an uncertain thing, but on God’s mercy, which is from everlasting to everlasting.”

An open hand is indicative of generosity, and a closed fist is about judgment and the restriction of any generosity. We, who are believers, ought to pursue the Lord that we would be people similar to Him in more than just being prosperous with good words, yet operating so much of our lives with a closed fist. We need God’s compassion to become our compassion. Jesus was compassionate to the masses before we were, and because He was that way, it is made possible that we can be that way. Because Jesus loved, we can love. Because Jesus had compassion and empathy, we can be that way too. Not just “act” like that, but “be” like that. The entire Hebrew language, which the O.T. is written in, is highly action oriented.

God has a never ending compassionate heart towards us, and when we make a mistake, He’s not a cruel task master standing over us with a whip held high above His head, ready to strike. That is the doctrine of men, and not the heart of the Father. So many of us are so, so afraid of making a mistake and getting something wrong. A well-known evangelist said, concerning mistakes, “…what matters to God is our heart, not our performance. He knows we aren’t perfect and He’s totally OK with it. The devil loves to remind us of our mistakes, but just because we make a mistake doesn’t mean we ARE a mistake. The biggest mistake we can make is to be afraid of making one. Stop being held hostage by the fear of making mistakes, because you will, we all will, and there’s a difference between unintentional mistakes, and purposeful sin. God is not calling you to NOT make mistakes, He’s calling you to be bold and fearless and to break out in faith, trusting Him to lead you.”

Wow! i’ve read and heard many things, but that…. that just rocks my world! Our God, the Lord has compassion on us, and to say, “Mountains have sometimes been shaken by earthquakes, and removed; but the promises of God are never broken by the shock of any event.”, oh what a mighty God we serve!

The Lord delights to show us mercy. Out of His great love and compassion He delights to forgive us. He has compassion to save us. Do we delight to have mercy on others who we consider offensive, or do we secretly hold them in contempt, almost feeding off of the snurling lip of our attitude? It is the compassion of God to forgive and acquit us of our wrongness of character, and it seems to me we need to begin our walk down the road less traveled to discover the compassion of God in our hearts towards a dying world.

So, what did God impart of Himself when He created compassion? Compassion is a heart and head concept in that it is an attitude of heart and an action in our head…and by action i mean we get involved and do something about those of more unfortunate circumstances. With the Lord compassion is a continual spring of water, a flowing stream making Him a pillar of support from beginning to end. The call of God bids us to be as He is. In compassion is impartable hidden goodness, but it’s the kind of goodness that is concealed and also revealed. A little of God’s goodness in us goes a long way, or it could be said, it is the “little which holds much”. The last two Hebrew letters of the word for compassion is spelled yod, hey, which is God’s shortened name, Yah! His very name is right in the middle of righteous compassion, making us walking miracles through whom He gives support to the fallen and broken ones who put their trust in Him. Think about that one, catch the passion of God’s heart.

These are all qualities of the Lord which He is developing in us that we would be like Jesus. (2 Corinthians 3:18) Since Jesus tore the veil in the temple, the veil of separation, He is no longer hidden from us … we can now look Him, eye to eye. As a result, we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. This comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

If there was ever an example of compassion it is the heart of God Himself. The Lord Jesus, The Name was moved by the lostness of the people around Him, as seen in Matthew 9:36 where it says, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

In Luke 15, As Jesus tells the story of the lost son returning home, the father sees his son while he is still far away, suggesting the father’s longing for his son’s return. When he sees him, the father feels deep love and compassion for his son. According to Jesus, this illustrates the way God sees mankind in their condition of least, lost, and left behind, the three L’s. The compassion of God does not deny his just anger over sin. Yet the God who judges our sin is the same God whose heart is moved by our sinful, lost condition.

Here is some things to ponder: Do you ever think of God as having feelings for you? If not, well … why not? If you do, which feelings do you tend to attribute to God?

Do you believe that God is “filled with love and compassion” for you? If you really believed this, how does it impact your relationship with God? How does that belief impact your relationships with others? Think about it!

i’m Social Porter and thank you for joining me here at Outposts for cool jazz and contemplative conversation, it’s a semi-live broadcast from the late night, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant.

This evening’s brilliant topic was brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, the home of brilliant creativity and dynamic forward thinking, the Mebane Freedom League with Allan, Kevin, and Tommy, Clay Hyder of Clay Hyder Trucking, good ol’ Bob at the Ranch Motel, and Trinity Bakers, the sweet spot on main street where there’s always something good in the oven.

i read somewhere that one of the ugliest things ever seen is a human being with no compassion. A basic concept of the Hebrew for compassion is to touch and be touched, it is more involved than simple empathy, compassion commonly inspires an active desire to alleviate another’s suffering, and is connected to justice, and fairness. As a parting thought, i figure one of the greatest cruelties is our casual blindness to the despair of others. If we’re supposed to love others as the Lord first loved us, let us take to ourselves the compassion of God to begin the transformation of the world around us. Let compassion and love for a world of transgressors motivate us, to extend relief to the suffering, joining with the Lord to lead the lost sparks home. Remember, everyone we meet is fighting a battle we know nothing about. Be kind.

Drive carefully this week, extend yourself to someone for good, tell the truth, be honest, and let Jesus shine in all you do. Amen.

Today’s program was written by Jerry Price.

If there’s anything that sets up twisted games, it’s the Overconfident game. i find it interesting that confidence and arrogance often look very similar, except overconfidence is quite glaring and tells another story … now there’s a problem.

There was a young man who had bragged to his companions how he could jump onto a moving train, make the grab and find his footing, just like in the movies. One day his friends bet him he couldn’t do it as he’d told them. As they watched, with all overconfidence and bragging, he jumped on the ladder of the moving train up between two train cars, just as he said he could … but this time, as he swung onto the frame between the two cars, his foot slipped down between the coupling, right, exactly as one car pushed forward, closing the gap. He lost half of his foot that day, all due to his overconfidence and bragging.

As a kid, I remember standing in an open lot and taking a baseball bat to hit stones. I would imagine myself being some well known ball player on the 1960 Detroit Tigers team. In my imagination i was always a home run hitter. Don’t you know, every boy dreams of being a hero on some level. i mean, i don’t think any little boy hits rocks with a bat and imagines himself only hitting pop fly’s to be caught by some agile outfielder, or always striking out. No, i’d bet every little boy always dreams of being that home run hitter.

There’s nothing wrong with imagining who you can be like. All of us operate with images in our minds, they provide powerful energy to accomplish what we want to do or be. The problem comes when we distort who we think we are, using images to reflect something which confidence was never intended to be, and that is – Overconfident.

It’s amazing what a person will do to protect their overconfident images. The overconfident person quits on anything that threatens their mental self-portrait. In truth, the overconfidence hides their fear of failure not because of failure per se, but because the failure exposes them as being no different than anyone else! For others, among many other reasons, the same fear of failure and exposure appears as additional negative confirmation of who they believe they are, or were told they were by someone in their lives. In an effort to offset their negative self-image, they overcorrect, becoming overconfident.

Our faith in the Lord must be strong enough that we can stand alone when we need to, without being hyper-spiritual or overconfident. Don’t get me wrong here, it’s great to have fellow Christians who can pray with you and support you. But there are many times when fellow Christians and maybe even your family will not stand with you. They may distance themselves from you because of your convictions. They may criticize you for being too gung ho about your faith. But, there truly does need to be a necessary balance to be struck between being confident vs being cocky.

Before my father came to know Jesus Christ, his heroes he admired were Baby Face Nelson, Al Capone, and Pretty Boy Floyd – criminals – and look out if anyone challenged him.

Here’s a sticky statement: Overconfidence is the poster child for entitlement issues. All twisted games rest on this cornerstone image of being different and better than anyone else. Now how dangerous and arrogant do you think that is?

A commercial from Canon featuring Andre Agassi used to say Image Is Everything, meaning how you look is more important than anything else. Is it possible to pursue excellence to our last breath and still not live off of some distorted image which really expects more out of others than we’re committed to deliver to ourselves? Yes! Did you get that? … expects more out of others than we’re committed to allow of ourselves.

i was an observer in a conversation between two men where one fellow challenged a long standing believer concerning his behavior, which honestly, had recently been quite on the edge of right and wrong. Upon being challenged the second fellow replied, “Look, i’m saved, i’m baptized, i’m instructed, i’m mature, and i come behind in no gifts. I’ve seen many things in my spiritual life. i am free and i’m fully sure i can go and do all these things you’ve mentioned, and they’re not going to have any effect on me, i’m too far along to get trapped. i’m not concerned.” i was astounded at the overconfidence and was glad i was only an observer. i smiled, and left him where he was. Interestingly, the Lord used his words to confront my own similar attitudes. Let’s be clear, He spoke to me about me, not about him.

Jesus taught us about commonality and living a relational life. He left the glory of heaven and became flesh, just like us. He made himself a servant and didn’t quit on us when things got tough – like at the cross.

Let us take care to not step off into a ditch here, we can pursue excellence, of course, afterall we’re all made of the same stuff. We can ask for help when we need it and stay out of any self-imposed isolation or fantasy world which has no accountability for the images of who we think we are. And like Jesus, we can choose to serve others out of love. i’ve pondered how can anyone live overconfident when we know Jesus? That’s like rubbing shoulders with God and walking away with no wisdom or understanding, i just don’t see how it can be done.

i’m Social Porter for Living In His Name.

Hey. Come stand outside with me for a minute. Imagine yourself standing on the deck of a rural diner, overlooking a river. It’s seriously overcast and evening seems to have come early. Oh…it’s beginning to rain. First a few drops here and there, then more often. Singles then triplets. Can you see it? Can you see the circular patterns of the rain striking the surface of the river? It’s hitting the roof, dripping into the gutters, splashing across the windows, and starting to drip off the hand rail, leaving a subtle jasmine-and-gingerbread sort of fragrance, warm and fresh, giving the land a certain sweetness like no other. If we were sitting inside the car, we could see the drops formed on the windshield. We would watch one drop, starting at the top, and running down, like it’s on an exploratory adventure. It runs down, gives a little, gets a little, disappears for a moment, then reappears, gathering and giving, until it nears the end of its journey where it finally blends into all the rest of the water at the bottom of the glass. i figure we’re like that. We give a little, get a little and run our course until the end when we join the eternity of our Father’s house.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts. It is my pleasure to join you in the vision of rain, the coming of refreshment and revitalization here at the edge of the Ockluhwahhah River. i am honored to stand with you, barefaced, looking up to Heaven waiting for refreshing from the Hand of our God, who will come to us like the rain, watering the earth. In our lives there is the “slip” and “grip” of life. We grip and gather to ourselves light and hope, God’s love and peace…. we also let slip from our grasp the seeds of faith and wisdom, kindness and blessing to be planted in righteousness. It is like the rain on the windshield of your car, we start at the top, run down, get a little, give a little, planting, sharing, receiving, doing our part in weeping joy and singing obedience. i hope you enjoy tonight’s program. Put your ears on, lean back and relax, dream, believe, and imagine.

Sometimes i feel like this dance we do with God is like a giant waltz, three feet off the ground and it’s a clear, starry sky’d night … stepping and spinning with the Lord, His eyes looking courage into us to follow more closely. Our feet step high over the top of fields of wild flowers, we dance over tree tops, spin under clouds, then dip and gradually drop to the river’s edge. There is a warm rain on our faces, the eyes of my Jesus smiling in the ecstasy of dancing with His most beloved, over the hills and far away.

Our lives in Christ are like a painting being put together by a master painter. Sometimes He paints with two hands, other times He’s got the tiniest brush imaginable, painting with colors we’ve never seen, accenting in sounds and smells we have yet to imagine, far beyond our dreams, far beyond the sun of this world. Many feel dry, parched, and i’d like to give you the vision of rain.    Have you ever smelled rain? It’s like the Father’s cologne. i’m reminded of the wife who gave birth to a very premature child. The doctors all said the child wouldn’t live but the parents refused to give up, and they pounded on Heaven’s doors with weeping and tears for the life of their child. To all of the doctors amazement, the child lived. Years later, the child was sitting in her mother’s lap on the bleachers of a local ballpark where her brother’s baseball team was practicing. As always, the daughter was chattering non-stop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, she asked, “Do you smell that?” Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, her mom replied, “Yes, it smells like rain.” She closed her eyes and again asked, “Do you smell that?” Once again, her mother replied, “Yes, I think we’re about to get wet, it smells like rain.” Still caught in the moment, the little girl shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced with her eyes shut, “No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest.”

Can you smell God’s cologne?

It’s going to rain for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. There will come rain in our lives from Heaven’s open doors to inspire and grow the coming Kingdom of God. It’s going to rain. Psalms 68:8, “…The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;”. The very word for “rain” in Psalms 68:9 is a shower as a mercy, flashing wisdom on our minds. It causes us to pause and ponder the concealed truth of God that He is faithful even when we can’t see, understand, or hear. In prophecy rain is change, even in our mortal hearts, rain is hidden goodness, like a flame is bound to a coal, even though we can’t see the flame, it is there, which is why i say it is God’s faithfulness, even when we can’t see. You know what i mean? Can you see it?

When God shows up there will be refreshing for the parched hearts, restoration for the beaten down, redemption for those too tired to continue in the heat of battle. We will know the value of shading the eyes of warriors who have nearly fainted in the noon day sun, the Lord will send the rain to re-invigorate those who’s invigoration has ebbed away. Did you know in Deuteronomy 11:14 there are three rains, former rain, rain, and latter rain and they, all three are different types of rain. You should check it out to see what God has in mind in His use of three types of rain.

In Leviticus 26:4, the Lord says,  “…then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.” In those days, the character of the righteous shall bloom and bear much fruit, fruit that shall not fade, fruit born of the goodness and good pleasure of God.  What do you think of when you think of rain? Imagine rain, close your eyes and see it. Can you see it yet? Do you think cold, grey, ugly, irritatingly wet? Inconvenient maybe. It might be a good time to remember that behind the clouds and past the rain there is blue sky and sun. When I think of rain, I think of dancing. Yea, odd, huh? Maybe. i think not really.

i can remember as a boy, we went camping in the deep woods at the edge of a lake. As i sat there looking out over the water with the trees as my backdrop, there began something like a whispering in the air. i didn’t really notice at first, but i remember sensing the air cooling off and it even smelled differently. Somewhere in me i knew things were changing. The day had been beautiful and the sky was like a dome of plasma-blue, and all day the clouds had looked like a platform for angels, drifting under the gleaming disc of sun. Somewhere far away, there came a pattering sound on the leaves of the trees and the lake looked like all it’s shimmering was being interrupted by something else. Then i saw it. Rain. While i wasn’t watching, the clouds had covered over the expanse of blue and were now spitting beads of water which sounded like a lover’s whisper in your ears. i could see some geese across the way making happy noises, ducks wiggled and carried on like things couldn’t get any more wonderful. Little birds sat still in the trees all fluffed out. We all moved under the tarp at the folding table, listening to the putting sound as rain struck the canvas … i noticed we all found watching it rain hypnotic. To this day, i’m still hypnotized by rain. Here at the cafe, when it rains, i occasionally find myself hoping the windows will fog and we can write God-thoughts on the glass. John Ruskin wrote that “Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” Some folks argue and mumble to themselves when it rains, but i say … when it begins to rain, probably the best thing to do is let it rain. It’s not like we could complain enough to make the rain do anything other than what God has set it’s course to accomplish.

When God’s presence comes, the rain begins to fall, beginning like a whisper in our ears, getting louder the closer He gets. He has hidden music in the drops upon our hearts, making a sound we’ve never heard before, unless we have ears to hear. In the season of heavy rain, we are not able to stand outside. Friends, come in the house. Who wants to be like the elder son in Luke 15, who, when his younger brother came home and the father threw a party, the elder brother resented the younger brothers favor with the father so much, he refused to join the party. He was “of the family” but was “not in the house” and wouldn’t come in the house either. The Lord wants us to come in and not stand outside. When the Lord sends the rain, it will surprise some, others will be pleased, yet there will also those who don’t see it as God’s blessing, but a mere inconvenience.

i read somewhere that if beauty is God’s signature, then rain is His final flourish. It’s time to come home, it’s going to rain and there will be singing and dancing. Come in the house.

Often in movies, when something terrible is about to happen, or there is some depressing or oppressive situation, it is raining. Just seeing wet streets and rain dripping from roof edges and gutters inspires us to bundle up. Just seeing it gray and drizzling outside motivates us to stay indoors, make soup, and watch old movies. But in God’s economy that picture isn’t so. Of course, there are times when rain and storms are very destructive, but that isn’t what we’re talking about.

i believe there is a seeing which comes with God’s presence, in fact, the very Greek word for “presence” ties to several words used for seeing, the kind of seeing spoken of in a visionary experience. 1 Samuel 12:17 “…and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see …” Does that mean, in the presence of Almighty God, altogether like a symphony, there is thunder, perception, rain, and sight? Something deep, prophetic, and intimate happens in the heart of man when it rains.

God gives birth to our spiritual perception and sight, to those who have Him present in their thought, who set him before their mind’s eye. My soul longs for the soaking through of God’s promise of rain, rain … it is a good companion sometimes.

We, as humans, have a commonality with rain – It is often overcast and shadowy when it comes and we are regularly overcast and shadowy; it disturbs life just a little bit and puts things off centre as we are recurrently a little off centre. i remember hearing a fellow complain because it was going to rain, and i thought to myself how silly his complaint was. Without the clouds of moisture which fall to earth in the form of rain there would be no snow, there would be no drinking water. If the earth’s moisture didn’t make the circle from sky to earth, and then back again to the sky, round and round, if it only went to the sky, we would all be back in the days of Noah, when it didn’t rain for about 300 years. That was a very dry place!

When the rain from Heaven is at it’s height, i don’t want to be found sitting under an umbrella of my own making, i want to be thoroughly wet with refreshing from the heart of the Lord, Rain. If ever there was a time people needed refreshing, i believe it is now. It’s going to rain, can you hear it coming? Wow, i can smell it. Can you see it in your mind, those of us who have set Christ as the gate to our vision? i want to be found dancing the wild dance with our wild God, who will sing over us and dance in the rain with the audacity of holiness and redemption. i thought to myself if i could leave you with anything tonight, i would give you the gift of knowing it’s going to rain, and i would encourage you to see … i’m saying, “See” in the Name of Jesus. With the “look ahead sight” God gives us, there comes provision, preparation, and celebration. See. Let the dancing in His presence begin and see into the distance of God’s purposes. See He is the master painter, painting you into His vision that plays in your life. Come dance with me and share in His vision. Write your words, draw your pictures, sing your songs, dance your dances! It’s time! Let it rain, it’s time! Hear the feet of dancing, hear the singing of rejoicing! Listen carefully, it’s there. C’mon, it’s time to set your feet in motion! C’mon! It’s time! Let’s go!

The drips and drops of Heaven’s rain have already begun, can you hear it, can you see it, can you feel it? Are you just in the family, or are you in the house? Come in the house where the Father is throwing a party for His Son….come in dancing and singing, come into the rain of God’s presence…C’mon, there is a party going on at God’s house….forever.

i’m Social Porter and this has been Outposts, a late night broadcast, broadcast semi-live from the deck of a rural cafe, overlooking the broad and beautiful Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant.

This production was brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, the girls at the Jump Off Rock gift shop, Weldon at Millers Laundry, Betty and Elisa at the Opportunity house, and of course, Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven. We also appreciate the support from “Shot And A Wafer Fellowship”, a wonderful group of determined believers.

Put on your dancing shoes, it’s going to rain. Can you smell the

 Saved, but saved from who or what, and if we are saved “from” we must be saved “to”.

After he prayed, the man declared, “I’ve been saved!” Everyone clapped and cheered amid encouragers to the man about his new life in Christ.

Saved from what? Is it more than being delivered from bad guys on earth or from bad guys in hell? Being saved from them is no small thing in itself, but does God mean something larger than that? i think when we say we’re “saved”  we have a partial understanding of that.

The Lord wants us to re-understand His heart, re-imagine Heaven, re-grasp His words, His meanings, and the ramifications of the words we use in our “dialogue about our conversations with God” (theology). We dribble God’s words around like salt on our food, without really understanding what our mouths are saying (or not saying). It is becoming more and more apparent that there is a great divide between what this world thinks and what God preferences and standards are.

i’m very pleased to say, it is more than just being delivered from bad guys on earth or from bad guys in hell. It is more than simply being delivered from really terrible things which hunt us in the dark. It is a literal changing of blood lines. The earth and my biological parents are not my relatives, other than my flesh relates to them, and poorly at that. i changed blood lines and the Son of God is my inheritance and bloodline now. Wrongness of character (iniquity) and sin have caused all things to become in-animated from God, our very source of life, and that includes being alienated from each other too, from birth, and is the root cause behind the decline of the universe. Rocks become pebbles then dirt, water starts as fresh and becomes stagnant, living flesh declines to non-living flesh, etc, etc, everything declines.

i am from earth, i was born here. i have earth eyes, earth ears, earth mouth, earth tastes, earth touch, and earth emotions. i hear in a limited range of audible frequencies, my eyes see a limited number of colors, and the horizon is the limit of my distance vision. My mouth of flesh can only speak sounds which don’t have enough momentum to go very far. Everything about me is earth oriented due to sin. When Adam and Eve pulled the trigger on the cosmic release of sin in the universe, death and dying became a real thing for all of us and everything else. We die, trees die, things rot, there is decay, sound dies out, hope fades, satisfaction fades in and out, there are sounds and colors we do not see and hear anymore, tastes that are no longer in a frequency spectrum we recognize … all from sin, everything about us, as pertaining to flesh, is damped … in the Godless present state of the universe, we are inclined to decline.

Our flesh and this world has a destiny it cannot escape, which is decay and death. But, because of Jesus, our spirits can reap a different harvest through Jesus Christ.

In Heaven there will be no dead trees, no stagnant water, no rotting anything, no fading flowers, no sadness, no hatred, no fading hopes, no terminal illness. In the beginning, before death, there was only life and everything was relational. When sin entered in, death became a real thing and all relationality was divided. In the end when God resolves all things unto Himself, once again death has no place there. If we take death, as a whole, OUT of the picture, what are we left with? At present, death reaches further than just things of earth declining to a state of subatomic dust. Sin and death influence the entire cosmos (cosmos being Greek for “world”). It even influences the attitude of “the world”, which says it is a self-existent entity, it’s own mother & father, it’s own beginning and end, and has no need of anyone else. The limited view is due to sin and death. We assume because we breath we are alive, but that is not true according to God.

We are animated (made alive) by Christ alone, and without Christ we are inanimate, earth beings, made of dirt and the cosmos, with no clue why we need to be different, unless God intervenes, drawing close to us so we can be made animated again. The closer He gets to all things, the more all things become like Him. In Christ alone is wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and anything or anyone who is not connected to Him by the Blood of Christ, is not participant to those things, unless God gives it to them … which is why God gives wisdom liberally to those who ask. From Him are all things and to Him are all things, Romans 11:36. If, in His mercy, He didn’t extend Himself to us, we would be darkness also, void, and without insight or understanding, not able to even think to breath to save our own lives.  But !Now!, we who believe in Christ, are “saved”, and it is MORE than just saved from bad guys.

“Saved” and “Salvation” have been grossly understated, watered down to nearly lose the concept. Like “repent” … it’s been watered down by many to merely mean “change your mind”, which is shallow and thin and misses the heart of God. But in Hebrew “repent” is much larger, more accurately meaning, “Come Home”, which makes more sense considering man left home due to sin, and it has been God’s effort to bring us home, more than merely change our mind. Remember, change without transformation is simply not enough.

Romans 10: 9 “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” What do you think?

i’m Social Porter for Living In His Name.

With And Together….

It’s summer finally, and the days are warm, vivid and green. The vegetable and fruit guy in his make shift hut is going full blast selling fruit, flowers, and berries. Some days it’s just so hot and bright, my aging eyes squint into small slits so much so it almost looks like they’re closed. As the sun wanes …resigned to it’s destination beyond the horizon, the day has cooled and now it’s another beautiful evening.  i know it won’t be long till the air becomes crisp, green leaves turn brown and fall off. But right now, in the evening there is the floral smell of lavender, petunia’s, and grass newly cut. A dog is sporadically barking somewhere in the distance. Ahhh yea … Summer Sunday dreams of long-ago float across my mind. Of days gone past with sweet tea in the evening on the back porch, and pastures so green you can smell the color almost. Fondly, i remember grilling burgers long after the sun went down, walking in high green tree tunnels created by the canopy of big hardwoods, smelling the forest floor yielding it’s earthy fragrance from the heat of the day.

It all inspires me to think of the round and round of the days of our lives. i think so many, although they may gather “together” around local campfires and pubs, they still feel isolated somehow and are a bit clueless on how to be anything else. Each in their own skin, knowing only their own ideas … supposing and speculating about everyone else’s ideas.

i remember when i was in the Navy, i stood in the downtown center of Naples Italy, surrounded by people and was still alone. i didn’t have eyes to see anyone “with” me nor was i “with” them. We were gathered in a group together, but not really “together” as God intended. Don’t get me wrong, i was with some other sailors, and we agreed on many things, but there was no real heart connection which caused us to feel united other than being in the military and being generally disgruntled about life. Agreement does not equal connection. i hope you hear that, here it is again, “agreement doesn’t equal connection.”

i know a fellow who lives in a dark prison cell of his own making. God is with him and i believe defends my friend regularly, but as far as my friend is concerned, he is not with the Lord and has no eyes to see or ears to hear. The Lord is willing to share His life and blood with the man, but the fellow isn’t willing to share with God, and most of the time it doesn’t occur to him that he could. That’s a picture of a man who lives on a one-way street, a street made with his own human hands. In fact, the Lord is closer to him than the air in his lungs but he just doesn’t know it. i fear his eyes have begun to get used to the dark, and he’s been there so long he thinks that’s just the way life is.

We say we are “with” friends and we are “together”, but by far and large our idea of being “with” someone is not nearly as large as God intends the words “with” and “together”.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation, broadcast semi-live from the deck of a rural cafe, overlooking the broad and beautiful Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant.

Let’s amble around the word of God like friends taking their time on a woodland path, being present and conscious in the moment to notice the small details. The Lord has imparted of Himself into all He made and this is part of learning to know the lover of our souls.

Genesis 5:22, “Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.” The use of the word “with” in that verse is different from the other uses of “with” in different places. Why did the Lord pointedly make this time to stand out more significantly than others? All i can think is He intends for us to connect the dots (which would be “getting understanding”) concerning degrees of closeness in our relationships.

i knew a guy in high school named Fatty McDermott, his dad had a gas station in town. Of course his name wasn’t really Fatty, and honestly, he wasn’t actually heavy at all. Oh, he was big enough all right but not in the sense of overweight, but his nickname was just something that stuck from his childhood, and we never knew the back story. Now that i think of it, i don’t know that i ever actually knew his real name, even his Mom called him Fatty. He was a pretty good fellow, broad shouldered with meaty hands gained from farm work, sky blue eyes and a super hero square jaw. Anyway, there was something about Fatty that always seemed to make him just a little untouchable, meaning we might be in the same place, except you always felt there was unbridgeable distance in the friendship, like someone with some terrible secret that was just untellable, and maybe he really did have a secret, i don’t know. He had his childhood stories of fishing and hunting, and we all laughed together, cutup and even fought together, but somehow, he was always a little removed. It reminded me of something like if Fatty and i were riding in one of those big long station wagons from the 60’s, i would be driving but he would be in the very backseat, and i mean all the way at the rear window. In the same car, going in the same direction, but there was always an unexplained distance. Fatty tried dating but none of the girls stayed around for more than a few months at best. Later in life i met one of his old girl friends and asked her why she didn’t continue to see him. She said that no matter how she tried, she just couldn’t connect. i told her my “riding in a station wagon” analogy, and she agreed. If she was driving, he was all the way at the back, every conversation was a loud back and forth dialogue with plenty of misinterpretations and poorly understood words, and there was always a feeling of not quite connecting. It was not relational and subtly impersonal no matter how much she tried to connect with him.

i don’t think Fatty McDermott ever married. In light of that, i’ve remembered my young self, and i don’t think i was much different than my friend. i was so bound up in my head and heart, i had so many thoughts in my mind, my mouth was a bottleneck, so i just never talked, and when i did it was just surface stuff, nothing of any magnitude. When anyone hung out with me, it was as if i was all the way back at the rear window of a long station wagon … in the same car, going in the same direction, at the same speed, just not on the same seat close enough to really be involved. It was difficult to have a relationship with Fatty or myself. Like Fatty, i never knew how to position myself so i could be part of anything. In fact, that’s one reason i never made it in the 70’s for UDT-Seals. i didn’t have the heart of a champion, and maybe more importantly, i didn’t know how to be a team player. Other boys seemed to just be natural team players, but i totally didn’t get it. i could be ON the team, but i didn’t know how to be PART of the team.

Sort of like the older brother of Luke 15, i was of the family, but not “in the house”. i don’t like talking about other people, but i’ll tell you what, the older brother of Luke 15, now there’s a guy we really need to talk about.

i think we spend an unaccountable and inordinate amount of time believing we are connected to others, but for some reason the close connections seem to often leave us wanting for something closer yet unattainable in and of ourselves. We relate to others by way of our dis-gruntledness with the government, and complain about work or make snide jokes about life, but is it really, truly personal with a real connection? And that is with God’s idea of connectedness. Yea, we may appear to be laughing, but we’re not really laughing, and we may feel like our group is together but it’s not really together in the sense God intends. The Lord is a person, He is personal, and He always deals with us personally. There is nothing in the Bible, cover to cover which is not relational and personal. If we aren’t connecting with God then exactly who are we connecting with?

Most of the time we use the word, idea, or concept of “togetherness” and the word “with” means we are in a general proximity, pretty much doing a similar thing, maybe even for similar enough reasons. Like, “i was with my mom….”, “My dad and i went together…”, and i’m sure you can imagine endless scenario’s and examples. We use the idea of “getting with” people, or going to a “get together” to say several people are gathering as in a meeting or a social event, or someone is “together”. According to Webster’s “with” and “together are called “function words”, as in someone who is a participant to an action, or “being in agreement”. Friends, agreement is not necessarily being connected, as in wing to wing, oar to oar, and heart to heart.

We all have a very subjective perspective of what it means to be “with” someone. If you ask 10 different people to describe how it looks to be “together”, you’re likely to get 10 answers which are similar to widely varying. Like i said, our view of “with” and “together” is very subjective.

As is my habit of loving to gather data and do interviews, several months ago i started asking people what their idea of being “together” meant, and what they thought was the meaning of being “with” someone. One lady said, “Being together with someone, from my point of view, means that you are with that other person and you don’t hook up or see anyone else.” She didn’t really say what her idea of “with” and “together” was, she only offered one of the attributes. Her first thought was in terms of a lover-type relationship. She paused, furrowed her brow in pensive thought, then added, “Its complicated because there’s so many different views people have on being together, but I’m just not sure of what it can really mean.” Notice she qualified her thoughts by saying, “from my point of view”, meaning to me that she, like myself, knew it was subjective.

Genesis 5:22, “Enoch walked with God…” We go to church together, sit with each other, them in their seat and you in yours. We sing with other people, them in their space singing their song, and you in yours singing the same song, but their song is not your song, and your place is not their place. What God has in mind in Genesis 5:22 is much, much closer than that, and His desire is for Himself and each of us to be closer than merely sitting in the same row of seats, you in yours and Him in His. Closer. So much closer. He means for us to be closer to Him and Him to us than the space between your thumb and first finger if you were to rub them together. Closer than a brother. He means His heart is for us to be closer to Him and Him to us that the air in our lungs. Closer. So much closer.

Normally, with is used to describe a relationship between two things or people. But in Genesis 5:22, the Lord means for us to grasp a concept beyond simply being accompanied, but closer, in the idea that God calls his people to fellowship with himself, more than just being near, but to actually be in unity from beginning to end with God.

1 John 5:7, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

In Genesis 5:22, “With” is spelled with the first and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, “aleph-tav”. When i say we “aleph-ta­v” someone, it is a simplistic view of “with”. Simplisticall­y, to “aleph-tav” so­meone is to position ourselves to go tog­ether, “with“, in an intimate fashion wh­ich allows confident and free discourse, participation in an adventure of very close partnership, and sha­ring of attributes back and forth. When Moses was speaking “with” the Lord in Exodus 32:9-14, the Lord said, (my pa­raphrase) “Stand back Moses i’m gonna ki­ll’em all!” (and yes, the Eng­lish translation really is poor), according to the Hebrew, the Lord was speaking WITH Mos­es and was more accu­rately saying what He said as a presenta­tion of an idea and was >>>inviting Moses to of­fer a counterpoint argument<<<. It was God “ale­ph-tav’ing” Moses and inviting Moses to “aleph-tav” Him. It was an invitation for Moses to position himself SO SO closel­y, like a branch is intimately integrated in the tree, that He could freely share all he was with God who was willing to similarly and intimately share wi­th Moses. “With” – aleph-tav in the simp­lest form. Sure, i know it isn’t ALWAYS like that in the use of the word “with” maybe, but i’m shoot­ing at the idea that most of us really really, actually actu­ally, do NOT see our­selves as walking wi­th God in the sense the Lord intends us to walk WITH Him. The Lord is willing, but we are so wrapped up in unbelief and self-condemnation we really have a hard time seeing ourselves that closely with God. Another view of “together” is when Jesus said in John 15:4-5, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” See how the vine shares with the branch, and the branch shares with the vine. Do you see the intimate sharing one with another? It’s relational in it’s fullest extent, as God intended by His using the words “with” and “together” with respect to our relationship with Him and the rest of the body of Christ.

You and your spouse go “wi­th” each other. You share all your breathing, all your thinking, all your feeling like our hand shares all it’s benefits with the arm, we “aleph-tav” each oth­er all the time. Do you get it? Matthew 19:6, “So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Walking closely to­gether on the same side of the road, where the “two have become one”, is a type of “with” in the sense the Lord intends.

Exodus 26:17 and in 36:22 it mentions two tenons being “fitted toget­her”, and how the two tenons “fitted together” gave definition and strength to the entire frame. From God’s perspective, what “fits together” is a vision of union, like close friends or a brother/sister unity. Not merely associates, not just partners, but in God’s idea of a friend. It’s a picture of “with“, they are “aleph-tav’d”, part­icipating in very cl­ose communion, acting as one bracing the other.

Judges 19:5-6, “And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” So the two of them sat and ate and drank together.” Notice how this went where it says to “strengthen yourself WITH a mors­el of bread”, then “… the two of them sat and ate and drank together.” The bread became intimately integrated with the one and the one beca­me intimately integr­ated with the bread. Jesus is the bread of life, and taking communion also speaks to us of becoming intimately integrated with the bread, Christ Himself. Then they sat “together”, “with” each other, as a single unit in unity, eating together, and drink­ing together. TOGETH­ER, is a type of “wi­th” where we “aleph-­tav” back and forth. There is unity and intimacy in God’s id­ea of “together”, with the fi­rst two letters painting a picture of a palms up hand reaching through a door of life. It is relational. The first letter is palms up in openness and is an invi­tation for the other to participate, and the second letter is a doorw­ay to life. It is the picture of a hands­hake to “aleph-tav” one another, first and last each other, to beginning and end each other … it’s a two way street of not just an action but INTERAC­TION.

On the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, they we­re walking and talki­ng, talking and disc­ussing. It is a pict­ure of “with” in the the sense of “toget­her“. Then it says “While they were talk­ing and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.” “Together” and “with” in the same sentence. Ahhh! Th­is is significant! The word “with”, even in Greek, implies a joining in unity, an intimate handshak­e, Jesus “aleph-tav’­d” them as they were “aleph-tav’ing” each other, like branch­es from the same tree sharing in all the resources, back and forth. More than harmony which requires two or more, but unity, as one.

i believe we, as people, generally don’t see ourselves and the Lord like that. Somehow we’ve got this divide in our heads that we aren’t worthy of walking that closely with God, or that it’s not possible because we’re just some old sinner, barely saved by Grace. Well, what about the rest of who the Lord says we are? What will we do with that? God’s view of the redeemed is important to deal with and own. Don’t just get your just dues for sin, get your gifts from God for His redemptive work in your heart too. Don’t just break even, actually prosper.

Enoch walked “with God”. “With” meaning on the same road, going in the same direction, on the same side of the road, His face in our face and our face in His face, His voice in our voice, as one in unity. I think a lot of people see themselves with God in the sense of on the same road, going in the same direction, but on opposite sides of the road, and that’s not the heart of the Lord.

How do i walk in the close unity like Enoch, “wit­h” God, “together” with God?? Obviously, i am powerless to do it myself. But the blood of Jesus has bridged the gap! He is the bridge across the finite, us…and infinity, God. He bridged the unbridgeable making it so we could be “with” God in the sense the Lord intended from the beginning. By the blood of Jesus You CAN walk with God, on the same road, going in the same directions, at the same speed, on the same side of the road, together.

And there you have it, that is “with” and “together” in their simplistic forms. The Lord says, “Come up here” in Revelation, like saying position yourself for a better view of God and “think about it”.

In Genesis 7:1, there is a most interesting concept presented by God. Among other things, He says, “I have seen that you”. It doesn’t mean He merely noticed their physical person, like in Genesis 12 where Abram is saying Sarai is so beautiful that “when the Egyptians see you they’ll go wild”. No, Genesis 7:1 means “i see you” in the sense that “i see within you”, “i see into your heart.” From God’s perspective, when He says, “i see you”, “i have seen you” or “i will see you”, He means that He sees and knows your attributes, what makes you tick, even your leanings and intentions and where all those leanings and intentions will carry you depending on every scenario and situation. The Lord wants us to know Him the same way. The closer all things get to the Lord the more all things become like Him, and there again it needs to be pointed out, our greatest strength against darkness and this world is by our coming into the likeness of the Son. God’s heart is that we fully share in Him and He shares in us, like a branch shares in the root of the tree.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is good for all of eternity. Instead of many sacrifices, His is once and for all, is sufficient and there need not be another. Jesus is sufficient and necessary and His heart is for each of us to walk together so closely with God, He can hear us sweat and we can hear His heart without using words, that we would share in all He is, again, like a branch shares with the root of a tree. He is willing, are we?

i’m Social Porter and this has been Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation broadcast semi-live from the deck area overcoming the beautiful Ockluhwahhah River where the trees gently lean over the river’s edge, and every evening is pleasant. This programming is meant to inspire us all to a deeper walk with God, below the surface of our presentation face where we’re always being so safe. Safe in our music, safe in our decisions, safe in our faith, safe in our opinions. It’s time to walk on water and take a chance with God.

Support was by Living In His Name Ministries, my beautiful brother at Area 22 Guitars, Allan, Kevin, and Tommy at the Mebane Freedom League, Tony and Danielle of McDowell Electric, Paul at International Tile, Shepherd Funeral Home serving down home potato salad and fried chicken while you’re waiting for your loved ones to be processed, and Jeff and Karen of Trinity Bakers on main street where there’s always something good in the oven.

The Lord says, “behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every person what is theirs according to what they’ve done.”

He is sufficient and necessary. Always. Drive carefully this week, be a responsible person and think, think before you act or speak. Pray for your neighbors, you truly do make a difference. Until we meet again, amen and amen.