You Call Me Friend
 
John 15:15-16 NIV

15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
 
The Power of Connection
 
By the way, if you were raised by idiots, or a village of morons, had childhood difficulties, wound up an addict or had a good mom and dad, great grandparents with a good start, money or no money, it doesn’t really matter.
 
Because connection is causative for human flourishing. Spiritually healthy/emotionally healthy folks have great connections to other spiritually/emotionally healthy people.
 
So powerful, so simple, so divine. Whoever you are this one component (connection) can’t be left out if life is to be meaningful!

That you bear much fruit. Fruitful - flourishing lives. Do not run this through the grid of ministry!!! This is about family, relationships, joy, goodness, happiness, sustained faithfulness, enduring love.  

The only real cure for humans is connection!
 
I don’t think we have a clue what Jesus just did in this verse for His disciples? Probably not! But He just solved for them a problem that all humans pretty much have. The need for connection. Jesus is saying, Hey guys you’re not my errand boys, I am not going to use you to accomplish my goals, not going to be your boss. You are no longer slaves or servants but friends …
 
As friends you are going to know what I know and share in the business of my kingdom as friends. This is huge …
 
Jesus solved for the disciples the great battle of the soul, connection. To know that one belongs … To know one is chosen. Just think about the relational sustainability of a friend verses servant relationship. That is exactly what He told them in this passage; you did not choose me I chose you.
 
Friends have an inside track:
 
And Jesus said, “everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15b NIV
 
WOW!
 
As a way of illustration I often tell my friends that I was born of two Fathers neither my own. Don and Wilbur came into my life while working for a subsidiary of a large US corporation.
 
One believed you catch more flies with honey. The other? Well, kill them by whatever means necessary. I worked for Don and then eventually Wilbur who was the CEO of the company. The two helped form a sense of personal identity (who I am) and a view of the world I lived(how I relate to the external).

It was through their eyes that I begin to really see myself. Both eventually wound up as friends. People I spent time with outside of work. Heck, they knew my girls and wife well. Wilbur was an avid hunter and loved to fish and Don sports. As do I and as did we!
 
We enjoyed our time spent outside the business world. Lot of common ground. Because I was both employee and friend I knew a lot about the inner workings of the company. Truth be known, I knew a lot more than others.
 
Today? I am not so interested in podcasts, books, sermon messages, or powerful Christian people. Although I do listen and read. I tend to look for different sources and not so mainstream. Not real interested in what ‘church on the corner’ has to say. But
I am although very interested in the few who call me friend and what they have to say. Because my friends have a view of me that no one else has, they know me for who I really am.
 
Heard it said, ‘you can pick your nose but you can’t pick your family. But you can pick your friends, that is as long as they will have you. And friends have a different perspective than anyone else in your life. Because they know you and you know them. One of the great joys of my life today is that I am known. Just a few, a tight circle of trusted friends who fuel and sustain spiritual health and vitality. I pay attention to and cultivate these relationships.
 
In friendship there is no pressure to perform. I have grown to a place that I can just ‘be’ with my friends. And oh, how I have learned that to be with God is so much more GRAND than to do for God.
 
Listen up because this is a big deal. Twice Jesus said, I don’t know you! And we should pay attention to why he said this because what he was saying was, you will not be entering my kingdom.
 
To the crazy charismatics He said many of you will say to me in that day Lord - Lord did not we prophesy, cast out devils and do many miracles in your name? And he said? Depart from me you workers of iniquity I never knew you.
 
The ten virgins; 5 prepared 5 not. When the 5 not prepared who ran out of oil for their lamps finally made It back from buying oil. They knocked at the door of the wedding and they were refused entrance as the Bridegroom said, ‘I don’t know you’.
 
I have lived in a world of the many who know a lot about God but few that are actually known by God …
 
I have lived in the world of the unprepared, not humble, egotists of modern religion who seem to have a great need to be heard. Not sure they have a clue. Choose to not live in that world today!
 
My concern for them is that instead of friend they may hear ‘depart from me I never knew you’.
 
Friends have a reason to carry on …
 
For the disciples? Well, you could best describe their world as hostile. They not only were catching it from the conquerors who occupied their nation, Rome, who ruled them with an iron fist but also from the governing religious hierarchical community in Jerusalem, their own kin.
 
As Jesus begin to let His disciples know that His time here on earth was winding down he began to prepare them. He gave them a way to look at the world and a world without Him physically present.
 
One of the ways was to let them know who they had become to Him. He wanted them to see their world from a very unique and powerful position. And that position was? They belonged, they were chosen, they were His friends.
 
In a world that rewards for simply showing up the truth is God’s eternal kingdom doesn’t work that way at all. It doesn’t reward church attendance, church affiliation, church participation. It rewards those who seek, find great faith, love more deeply, fight off the wolves, resist the devil, run away from temptation, suffer, give up reputation, don’t care what others think, die to themselves and their carnality, give away possessions, live wholehearted lives.

In scripture, both Jesus and the theologian Paul were very clear about how our temporary sacrifices, struggles, faithfulness in adversity and suffering for just cause in this life store up eternal treasure/rewards. They are the currency of the eternal.
 
Servants or slaves don’t persevere. They get out when the getting is good. I’ve been through a few things in my life. Interestingly when the dust settled who remained were genuine friends.
 
So, in a world that was never meant to be, so fallen. That sends such a difficult message to filter faith through; so broken, so conflicted, so full of hate, so divided, so degrading, so victimizing, so violent, so childish, so inept, so naive. Our faith can be seriously challenged and understandably so. Just look around you and just listen to the constant barrage of chaos from divisive media outlets. Although, I advise not to.
 
We should remember the words of Jesus, “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” Matthew 24:13 NASB
 
I really like what Bill Ackman who is Pershing Square, a huge hedge fund speaking to the Iran war wrote, “One of the most one-sided wars in history that will end well for the U.S. and the world. And we have the potential for a large peace dividend.”  And isn’t this a very different take than all the other voices out there in media land left or right?

So, stay the course America.
 
I think we should be the contrarians. Those who have found good reason to carry on, to persevere because we don’t see ourselves through the chaos and hostility of the world around us. What we see and say is, I am a friend of God. I have an inside track to what is going on. This will end well for me.
 
Because He calls me friend I think I understand that down the road I’m going, He and I have always been,
Interestingly that’s all I need to know to carry on.
 
Hope you hear it in the wind, in a dream, through a message, or in your emotional being, in your spirit, through the scriptures. Hope you hear, I call you friend. And it becomes the inner conviction of your heart.

And that you dare whisper, I am a friend of God, He calls me friend!
 
Let Nothing Disturb You,
Paul

A mid-summer moment …

And so the story begins;

 It was mid-summer this year and I awoke peaceful, enjoying the early morning in the small garden at the back of the house. It’s a man’s garden full of pepper plants, tomatoes, blackberry bushes. Tart and spicy.

Tending the garden that morning, there it was, a faint almost whispy, dreamlike memory that quietly floated through the thoughts of my mind. It was like an elusive dream of the night. Hard to hold. It created curiosity and an inventory of the past. And as the memory became stronger I held it best I could because it awakened the distant far away ‘Tom Sawyer’ days of my childhood. Did this happen? It seemed real. But was it real? So, I was like; Jesus, where did this come from and where is this headed???  

Just so happened that I had the opportunity to discuss the memory with a friend in the next few days. As the English say, ‘In a calm sea every man is a pilot’! Sometimes it helps to have an expert helmsman to navigate through the doubts, the uncertainty.

You can tuck parts of your life far away from sight and memory because they have such strong emotions attached to them. Emotions that are powerful, intimidating and can be painful. They are easily stored out of sight and mind. Obviously, I had carefully hidden and avoided (the memory) deep inside in my soul. But there it was, the whisper memory gained momentum and the surreal became real. From the depths it surfaced in my world of today. Difficult but there. This wasn’t about being locked in the basement and fed with a slingshot and a bottled water thrown at you. But it was real and something I habitually endured in those formative years. Folks dealt with problems differently then than now. Someone said, the past is like a different world where people did things differently. But although, inflicted trauma and shame have the same effect now as then. That doesn’t change. As I talked to my friend, acknowledge the memory. Visited its intensity. I thought, all’s good, right?

Well, it was until it wasn’t…  I awakened the next morning. Interestingly, with some very intense anger. Anger has good moments and those not so good. Anger can be long-suffered. For instance, I was in the shopping mall when they still existed before Covid. A young woman with three mini-her’s in tow and obviously on a shopping mission in the shopping mall. Moving rapidly towards me, she was wearing a T-shirt that read “you’re bugging me”! Ohhhhh! I thought because I knew what she really meant, I’m angry. I’m angry at you and you and you and you. Because she was angry, period. That anger probably from somewhere in her past had traveled through the seasons of her life was now on the outside. The anger was being displayed externally and it was an effective form of communication. Sure stopped me from saying, good morning how are you today? So, I held it, the anger and like a gentle breeze on a Texas plain can become a full out hard blow, the anger intensified. I know why I was angry but also knew it was mine and not for the world around me. I had no intentions of letting it, the anger, get outside of me. So, no T-shirt.

Like the strong winds of my beloved High Plains come they also subside and then they are gone. And I love those moments. Like those winds the anger subsided and then it was gone. Didn’t know it was coming and don’t know where it’s gone. I heard it, felt it. Then gone! And it has stayed gone. Jesus is like, I was in the tempest but I got your six. And, unlike what Kansas sang, I’m not dust in the wind … It didn’t blow me away it rooted me deeper in faith. And I paused and thought —how often I’m amazed by the Holy Spirit’s activity in my life.

In Jesus' day, He called the religious leaders of that time names, confronted them, told 3rd person stories in which they recognized themselves as the object of His scorn and rebuke. It angered them, He angered them. He also clearly said you don’t understand God nor the Kingdom of God. Because you people don’t have a clue!!! I am here to explain it to you. By the way you really should as the spiritual leaders of a nation ordained to be a blessing to the nations. You have failed miserably.
These were Jesus’ words, I am going to take this Kingdom from you and give it to others so this Kingdom will be a blessing to the nations. (paraphrased)
Here’s a big-time conversation with a big time spiritual leader of that day:

John 3:1-10 NIV
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.
2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?
Teacher, I know you’re [from] God because of what you do for people but help me understand what this Kingdom is and how you live and move in it. (Paraphrased) Jesus said, you must be both born of water and born of the Spirit. So, Nicodemus you must be born again … and I get what church world has turned that into … a walk to the front, a confession and a prayer, all is well. But let’s say it this way, a new origin requires a new birth. Therefore, Nicodemus, you must be born again - again! This time from above because you can’t enter the Kingdom of God unless you are born again. As one enters the Kingdom of God their nature begins to transform. Jesus said, the wind comes for those awakened through new birth as the activity of the Kingdom of God in you. It is so for everyone born of the Spirit.  

As Dallas Willard says in, ‘The Scandal of the Kingdom’.
“Like the wind, the Spirit comes and moves in the lives of individuals so that they become of or from the Kingdom of God. People see the results, but they can’t see what causes the results. This is abundant life in its fullest sense — life lived from hidden sources that come into the soul from God and His Kingdom. Such life is possible no matter where you are or what you happen to be doing. So, Jesus explains the Kingdom and how it sometimes works in the life of a follower transforming them into being more [of] the Kingdom of God.”

Listen up, this makes life in the Kingdom of God powerfully individual which can frighten folks. Because … it might get personal! Can you go through the list? Woman at the well, Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene, and on.

Therefore, when it comes to the nuances of my soul, and sometimes very ruptured soul I generally don’t have a clue. But I trust God knows best when the Spirit Wind should blow. Where and how it should blow in my life. But I can’t make that happen. And a huge point here; I also can’t control it, predict it, can’t get in a bottle, can’t package it and sell it at the front or back of the church. It has its own origin, the will of the Father. It is like the wind. It blows where it wants.

Nicodemus, I am like the wind and so it is with all that are born of the Spirit. It fills the life of the believer with soothing breeze and sometimes tempest storm. And Jesus said that’s how the Kingdom sometimes works. I am not suggesting that you do these, but for me, when the wind is more intense and you might get blown away, I follow some Find The Good Way Practices’: stay present, stay attached, stay quiet, stay open, stay humble, be grateful because I don’t and can’t predict the redemptive way the Kingdom acts in behalf of a child of God. But I do know that God knows and wants what’s best for each of us.

Most mornings there is a sense of the gentle joyful winds of connection, it is as it should be with Jesus and me. But if the wind blows hard, I try to stay present by embracing the above practices. It limits the debris field! Family, friends and associates don’t get blown away.

The essence of the Kingdom of God in you is by nature; a well-attended relationship that gives off an alluring fragrance of being chosen. Of being loved and loving the one who chose you.

In the Song of Solomon, which by the way I don’t think for one minute is a book about your sex life, is the story of being chosen. “I am my beloved’s and He is mine”. The writer of the song invites the wind:  “Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden [my life], that its fragrance may spread everywhere.”  (Brackets mine) So, the writer doesn’t hesitate to ask for both; the hard North winds that bring the cold of winter and death - the South winds that bring the warmth of spring and new life. Because there is no new life without death. And isn’t that the story of redemption?

Here’s what I so admire concerning Jesus; He is and always will be un-boxed and un-tethered when it comes to His Joy, that would be us. I love His daring actions that redeem me from my fallenness and then, restore my soul to the goodness inside His world.

Lyrics from the old hymn, This is my Father’s World by Maltbie D. Babcock.

This is my Father's world!
He shines in all that's fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass—
He speaks to me ev’ry where,
And so it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

Let Nothing Disturb You,
Paul Cypert

It was early year 2025, the deer have shed their horns and spring has begun to gradually wrestle away the cold grip of winter. Life will soon spring forth from the ground, the does and their suckling fawns soon walk the prairie trails, the sound of the chicks of many different birds with their high-pitched calls for food in the woodlots will be heard. And little furry babies of many sorts will nestle warm in their dens.

It is the early - early days of the transition from old man winter to new man spring. It is unique but consistent, it is change but predictable. In the High Plains of Texas where I live it happens every year. Our seasons are discernible for the most part and the season is changing.

Granted, a native of the Plains I have accepted the fact that our weather has extremes and not everyone will appreciate that fact. Our springs? Windy with dirt storms of biblical proportions. The spring thunder storms with their massive lightning displays, large hail and tornado activity. It can snow in April or be in the 90’s. The summers here are hot and drought, a part of the rhythm of the Plains. And Fall can be upon us in a single day as a cold blue northerner arrives and you go from short sleeves to a heavy jacket. Winters are harsh with temperatures that swing wildly from warm days to days in the teens.

When we get snow, not always but most times it comes as a blizzard. For the most part although the seasons do come and go with some predictability. On the flip side what I love about the Plains is their unpredictability, they are still wild … and untamed.
Walking the ranch that day looking for shed antlers, I reflect on how much comes with the changing seasons and the joyousness of their arrival but also their departure.

Many have used the seasons to describe our lives, life as season; spring, summer, fall and then winter.

And so my life has tracked and changed as the seasons have come and gone. I have begun to experience the winter season of life. Where the years that remain are less than the years I have lived.

And though I resist the change and attempt to slow it by many means that will not prevent its inevitability. Told some folks the other day; I exercise, eat well, get plenty of sleep but I don’t do this for the sake of longevity only that my body would be user friendly. Longevity is not my call, it’s the Lord’s. A user-friendly body is something I can work at and to a degree, control.

What is rare is to find those who have greeted the seasons of life with the ‘certainty of faith’.

Being a self-proclaimed Christian hedonist (Definition: hedonist: a person who believes that the pursuit of pleasure is the most important thing in life; a pleasure-seeker. Therefore, I strongly adhere to this passage, a Miktam as written by David. The meaning of a Miktam?: possibly good enough to be written or stamped on gold. You know, put it on the refrigerator.

To me? Psalm 16:11 is golden...

Psalm 16:11 ESV
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

I wonder if the short version of the West Minster Catechism question and answer concerning the chief end of man isn’t clarity for us?

Catechism:
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

And so, He has made known to me the path of life and as traveler through the seasons of life, to have found joy and pleasure in God. Golden!

And I think, oh to glorify Jesus, finding joy and pleasure in the seasons of life.

Seasons can be transitional, as I have matured the target moved … What was being aimed for … From the full-blown business of evangelical/charismatic ministry and motivations of saving the world.

The daisy picker religion of He loves - He loves me not based on a relationship that is measured by my fickleness and sinfulness rather than Jesus faithfulness and full comprehensive work in the atonement (salvation) of men and women. To know and understand that when Jesus said, “It is Finished” that it was really finished. That sin has no hold and death no sting. I can’t mess it up! So, if you are a Baptist you are not off the hook with your once saved always saved routine that often winds you up walking the sawdust trail back to the altar to rededicate your life. That obviously has been effective in a small number of folks like one of my best friends who years ago worked hard to find peace with God but did not. Eventually he did have one of those moments at a Promise Keepers event years ago. It forever changed him. He often describes the experience as I was born again - again! The struggle became not about what he did or didn’t do. The struggle came in the form of learning to accept! That based upon no merit this side of heaven He was now a friend of God. Forgiven, loved, accepted, adopted, and perhaps most importantly invited’.

And for you smugly secure charismatics who think your well-being is based upon who you have identified with be that a person or movement, and all the spiritual gifting that come with this group. How faulty! You may be like the group that Jesus spoke so plainly about, “depart from me you workers of lawlessness because I don’t know you”. And as we look over that sector of church world about the only thing that can be said is, ‘Oh how the mighty have fallen’.

How about some of this, the simplicity of love, just happy to be counted as one of his and in His presence, joyous to find Him in the normal-ness of life. To enjoy and find his pleasure in the everyday.

Everyone needs something that is their own. We need that, this is mine and mine alone. What I mean by this is mine is that it’s not for sale.

So, I asked this question of a bunch of my friends, ‘What is it that you have that you know for sure that is yours and uniquely your own?’ It’s not for sale? Got answers like these, my relationship with my wife, my family, for some their calling, God called me. One guy said his sobriety. Which I thought was astute. It was fully his and it was not for sale. Would that we all had a side of us that was uncompromising and  a sign out front, ‘Not for Sale!’

Religion binds us up in what we do or don’t do rather than who we are. For me I am sure beyond doubt that what I have that is my own is I am loved, I am forgiven, I am accepted, I am adopted, and I was invited. Like the story of the parable of folks who want the best seat in the house and took it but they got moved to the back of the building there are some of us that were sitting in the back but were invited to as guests of honor have a best seat in the front.

We are invited. I didn’t do any of this, earned none of it, there is no merit that adds, none at all. I simply accepted the invitation to be with Him. For sure above a shadow or a shimmer this is mine. And like the Kingdom that it came from, it is now unshakeable, immovable, immutable. It cannot be changed by any actions, sins or epic fails. It is mine. It is immutable, which means it is unable to be changed.  

A target rich environment...
Learned a long time ago as a hunter and in particularly as a bow hunter ‘ye old shooting wisdom’, “aim small miss small” religion has you doing everything but Jesus only a few important things. Like love yourself so you can love your neighbor.

Here’s a great target, I find Him in the Beauty, Goodness and the Joy of the world around me. Love this verse of the old hymn, ‘this is my father’s world’. Look for Him there, in His world …

This is my Father’s world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas–
His hand the wonders wrought.

And for instance, those moments in the community of believers, as they worship, as God’s presence fills the house it becomes easy to see the Beauty, Goodness and Joy on the faces of people as the infinite touches the finite. In His presence the hardened seem less hard, and the broken less shattered, and the fearful more faith-filled. For in many ways we have the hard hearts of unbelief that come from living in an unenlightened and un-sober world. Religion, as known in the 21st century and church have done little to enliven and awaken His light filled world to us.

I love solitude. In particular, the moments of solitude found tucked away in a corner of nature. A spring pasture, a mountain vista, a sunset, a lake, the ocean, where creation is so large that it shouts and testifies to us about the creator. A place where we become little bitty and God becomes large.

It’s okay to be little bitty! Point of fact I enjoy the hiddenness found in the Christ. Where like his cousin John, who said, you (Jesus) must increase and I (John) must decrease.

We are like God in many ways because we were created in His image, but in particular in this way, we are creative by nature and nothing kills the creative and worship filled soul faster than letter of the law to do list of religion.
It is so very far from the beauty, goodness and joy that inspires in us creativity and deepens the pools of desire within us to know Jesus.

Don’t seek religion it doesn’t invoke a lot of creativity … and it may well quench that which you have!

Psalm 96:6-9 KJV
6 Honor and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.
8 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

So, I pause and give thanks for the seasons of memory that span from the beginnings until now, Although winter is upon me, I am not afraid …

Today? Well, looking forward to today! With no angst! Finding the presence of God in the beauty, goodness and joy that’s all around me.  


Let Nothing Disturb You,
Paul Cypert

There are moments of courage from men and women that manifest in every day ways. Not talking about those who go to war, special forces, combat or the bravery of first responders. Although, these acts of men and women are very courageous. No, I’m talking about the courage that it takes to take on yourself. Your tendencies, your patterns, your willfulness, your sin.  I’m writing about courageous souls that take action. You see it and hear it, the strength, the courage. It resonates. It grabs something inside, maybe the will, perhaps our resolve, for sure our faith and it straightens the backbone. That sense of strength and character, how it flows unabated...its right and righteous and it gets in you.

I fish the White River in Arkansas now and then...generally once or twice a year, if I’m lucky. The portion of the White River I fish are the waters released from the dam of Bull Shoals Lake. The deep waters generate electricity for the area and for 20 plus miles the water downstream is cold enough for trout to live year-round. There is a whole world and economy built around this anomaly. Cold water in a warm climate, too warm for a trout stream but it’s there and it attracts folks from all over the world. It is also home to some of the largest brown trout ever hooked, landed and their weights recorded.

Climatically - geographically - it shouldn’t be there, but it is!
 
I asked an expert guide one day if the fishing was better morning or evening. He said neither. The fish bite is triggered as the river rises from the release of water from the dam. Morning or evening, summer, fall, winter or spring and it can be any time of day, or night. When the water flows the fish bite.

Courage, fearlessness, and faith often flows to us through the community we have with others. From the well spring of another. When it does, well...I bite, I pay attention.

During a recent conversation, I had a man say to me and these were not his words but this is what he meant. "I won today!"
 
Loved what he said, ‘Didn’t have to put on humility today, just lived humbly out of my heart.’ ‘Didn’t say a thing to anyone that I had second thoughts, regret or remorse about.’ ‘Didn’t respond with anger towards others.’ ‘Didn’t try to manipulate or get my way.’ ‘Didn’t fall to temptation or tendencies.’  

He quoted James the brother of Jesus as a great help from chapter one, “But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;

If you read on in James you just might get a look into your life. Whether or not, it is a very interesting perspective:

James Wrote:
²² But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude [deceive] themselves.
²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
²⁴ for once he has looked at himself and gone away, ]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

You get up every morning. You look into the mirror and it’s shocking, you do something about it. You get a shower, put some product in your hair, shave that scraggly growth off your face or if a lady, put some paint on the barn, rat that hair and a little flash of gold or silver around your neck and on your wrist. Ready to show up for the day, and this is the key, you do something about what you see.

When someone gets a look at who they really are as a person James says, you can deceive yourself. You can walk away! And not do anything about what you saw or heard. Sadly, often we are just a hearer not a doer of God’s word. And regretfully, when we get a good look it really is easier to walk away …

It takes guts to take on yourself. To live a day outside the shadow lands.

So, when you get a look into the mirror and see a reflection of your soul and it’s shocking … don’t walk away.

I pay attention to courageous people. Finding a community of the fearless, the warriors, is so important.  

Of David, Psalm 18:39
You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me.

Armed with strength from above we can do hard things!
David was the warrior poet who also wrote of the Lord, “you have trained my hands for war and my fingers for battle”.

Often the greatest enemy we will ever face is the duality within, the double minded man. James had a bit to say about that as well. It’s a good read the book of James. Martin Luther the great German Theologian didn’t like the book, he called it an epistle of straw. Said it touted works and not grace. Well, sorry Martin I disagree. Think there’s a lot wood in that book suitable for building life. And there is the strength of grace for those who decide to do something about what they see. A courageous resolve to act and not take a hike.

So, Win The Day. Like my friend.

Let Nothing Disturb You,

Paul

For many of you, much of your Christian background was a thorough indoctrination in offense, for most of us are whether we know it or not, or want to admit it or not, we were steeped in evangelicalism (offense). If you were taught defense it was primarily how to defend your faith. Nothing wrong with that, but developing a personal defense to ward off what the world, the flesh and the devil (calamity, heartbreak, money, loss, temptation, bad marriages, addiction, religion) throws against you probably not. 

Although there are tons of scripture that alert us and describe to us the need to create a good defense most don’t seem to have received the game plan.  For instance; Ephesians 6 orders us to put on the whole armor of God and assume a defensive position and hold your ground!  

David the Shepherd, Warrior, Poet, and King.

It seems to me that from the biblical account, almost from day one, David’s life was designed by God for him to become the Shepherd, Warrior, Poet, King.
He was the herdsman for his father Jesse.

In the Bethlehem area probably close in proximity if not in the En Gedi wilderness where several of the only fresh water springs existed that was given to the tribe of Judah after the promised land was subdued, David ben Jesse tended the sheep of his father. And David’s family were the decedents of Judah. There watching over his father’s sheep David learned everything he needed to eventually become the king of Israel. It was there he learned the skills of a shepherd as he watched over, pastured, watered and protected the sheep folds. He learned in the remote areas to be a warrior, he became an expert marksman with his weapon, a sling shot. He faced and defeated the lion and the bear.

It was there he learned to keep a journal, to write the thoughts, praises and prayers that came to him from the Holy Spirit. And eventually this practice over the years became the book of Psalms. It was there through his disciplines he learned and acquired the skill set needed to be the king of Israel.    

Although David’s life was a lofty calling, his life was eventually public and visible and much of it was recorded in scripture for all to know and see … it was simply a normal progression of David knowing who David was meant to be. 

Clothed in this identity and well before he was crowned king, David was anointed king by Samuel. It wasn’t a prophetic word, it was a matter of this is who you are. Samuel the prophet didn’t come to prophesy he came to act on what he had received. So, Samuel anointed David King and for sure this gave David an image of his future.

Identity and Image are powerful. One is learned and discovered, the other awakens possibility. David’s time tending sheep built into him a strong sense of identity – a Shepherd, Warrior, Poet. 

Samuel’s action awakened his imagination to the possibility of a soon to be king.  David’s identity as a man was formed in the challenges and solitude in the pastures and sheepfolds. His imagination awakened by the action of Samuel, and it was all the plan of God. 

If you don’t know who you are, you won’t defend your future.
 
And defend he did; David’s epic battle against Goliath demonstrates his strong belief of the warrior inside him. If he had faced Goliath in hand-to-hand combat with someone else’s armor [identity] he would have surely been defeated. No, he fought from who he was, a well-trained, tested and seasoned marksman with a well-aimed stone. Israel’s future was at stake. 

A future in which David would have place. He defended that future. As the crowned king, David eventually drove the enemies of Israel from its borders. David brought peace to the region and ensured the pursuit of prosperity and goodness in the pastures, villages and cities of Israel.  

Although, our lot in life may not be as high or public as David’s or the local mega church pastor never the less it is as divinely breathed. Solomon noticed this and wrote about the gift of someone knowing who they were and where they were fitted into life. He called it a good thing.

Here are his words recorded in Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 in the NLT translation: 
18 Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. Emphasis mine.
19 And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. Emphasis mine.
20 God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.

And David wrote about knowing who you are as well and he called it living in your inheritance … My wife’s favorite scripture Psalm 16:5-6 NIV
5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely, I have a delightful inheritance.

Don’t be seduced away from who you are and for sure know thy self and don’t lose you to all the plots of the world, the flesh and satan. 

3 quick ways to defend against get your identity getting stolen:

1. Don’t compare yourself to others. It’s a trap. 
2. Make sure you never get your identity or the sense of who you are from the approval of others. It’s the quickest way I know to lose your God breathed identity to the feckless fickleness of the minds of men. 
3. Find the level you function well at, don’t be seduced into trying to be somebody you're not, be at peace and enjoy the fruit of your work. 

As I survey the world of church today, well, ‘oh how the mighty have fallen’ ...wouldn’t want to be them and but by the grace of God and without a good defensive strategy for our lives any of us could be … seduced beyond who we are, a slave to the approval of others or measuring ourselves against others.

One of my best friends in this life often tells me how God created him to be exactly who he is and to do exactly what he does. Long ago he accepted his lot and his place in life. He’s not mighty or powerful from a worldly vantage point but he has defended his future by fighting off drought, disease in his herds, floods, blizzards, bankers, debt, lean years, difficult family relationships, his past all which would gnaw at a man’s soul, yet he thrives. When he speaks at church in classes and other venues, people listen. He knows who he is and where he belongs. 

It is good to know who you are! It is a gift. And it’s worth fighting for and enjoying.

By Jon Nichols

As a follower of Jesus, I am convinced that having a life of Prayer and a Life soaked in the Word are two of the most important things I can be about.  We live in a world that is inundated with, impressed with, and led by opinion.  And our particular culture may be one of the most culpable.  How easily we give our opinion on every topic under the Sun and how easily we are guided by those opinions.  

When my life is filled with Prayer and the Word, I find that my life in God is paramount to opinion, whether they be mine or yours.  As I peer the landscape of my 62 years, I can think of a million instances when I freely gave my opinion or carelessly bought into the opinion of others, and honestly the level of immaturity displayed is embarrassing to my soul.  

Opinions are not necessarily bad or misguided.  There are some really smart people in this world.  I have found however, that when my life is bathed in the Word and my lips are inclined towards Prayer, my opinions not only get better, they get fewer.  One of the most vivid and life-altering epiphanies I have ever received from the Lord is: I do not need to have an opinion on every subject, nor do I need to share my opinion on every subject.  My desire is freedom from the need to give an opinion but I desire even more, to be free from the need that drives me towards an opinion.  A life that is grounded in prayer and the scriptures addresses my opinions and when my opinions decrease, my awareness of the presence of God increases.
 
At the end of day, is this not what we search and long for; "well done my beloved son - daughter."
           
May my thoughts be kind and my words few,
Jon Nichols

About the Author; Jon and his wife Kendra live Follett, Texas where he pastors the Global United Methodist Churches of Darrouzett and Follett Texas.

By Paul Cypert 

It was my high school sophomore year and luckily we had a sophomore basketball team of which I was a member and starter. So, as needed by the coaches I bounced back and forth from the JV team to the Sophomore team as needed. I was skinny and undersized but I loved the game. And I had this big dream of starting on varsity for the Bulldogs! Busting through the paper entrance circle onto center court of the Dog House.  

I was a long range bomber, a spot up shooter as they say today and could shoot the ball, accurately. But, it began to dawn on me that if I was going to live the dream, play at the next level, that I needed to add some elements to my game like defense and some crafty passing skills. So, I worked hard at becoming a really good defensive player and skillful assister in the passing game. Big reason for this shift was that there were a lot of good spot up shooters because everyone wanted to score a bucket in the teams. Eventually, I lived the dream, a varsity starter. Landing the starting role wasn’t all that hard because I had become the defensive player on the team, led in takeaways, 2nd in assists, disrupted, adversely affected, harried and hurried players on the other team, plus I scored a lot of points, bonus added.

Playing defense; inside of the scriptures is a call to live life defensively, Like guard your heart with all diligence.

To know and admit that as Jesus says, “offenses will come”, storms will rage (attacks), marriage is lived in close quarters and will test you, there are good relationships and bad ones, and there is temptation. As Jesus said, “in this world you will have trouble” and then said, “but take heart I have overcome the world”.
 
So, having a good defense is essential. Defense is premeditated, it’s intentional, an assumed posture. And as Paul would imperatively command; put on the whole armor of God because there are simply days that at your best you only hold the ground you stand on.

You know what they say, ‘great offenses win games but great defenses win championships’.

MITIGATING MISTAKES:
Definition: Mitigate; alleviate, reduce, diminish, lessen, weaken, lighten, take the edge off, ease, assuage, cushion, damp, deaden, dull, appease, soothe, relieve, help, soften, temper, still, quell, tone down, blunt, dilute, abate, lull, pacify, placate, mollify, excuse, commute.

All people from all walks of life make mistakes and all people sin. They offend, anger, hurt, destroy something valuable, lie to; friends, family and business associates.

None of us will avoid making mistakes. So, when you do, what do you do?

By understanding that most people, including people of faith, to admit a mistake, apologize and make up for it seems very difficult, and that should make every one of us uncomfortable if not astounded if we are authentic followers of Jesus.
Because we are the people of a clear and distinct fellowship of, confessors!

Proverbs 28:13 KJV
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

What is painfully obvious? The truth of scripture just doesn’t correspond with the reality of experience. People rarely own their mistakes. They deflect, defend, disappear, blame shift and often play the victim card.

It is rare for folks to actually take responsibility for their mistakes.
 
A step up would be; own it!

And that starts with understanding owning a mistake is not like eating or sleeping, it’s more something you learn. Meaning it doesn’t come to us naturally. For sure, early on as a younger person it was really difficult and to this day I have to be intentional!
Admitting your mistakes then, is an acquired skill.

Here’s the defensive game, because you need to understand what it does for others (the recipients of our mistakes) and what it does for you. It has the power to make small mistakes go away for good and larger ones much better.

When a mistake is owned, you are defending against the potential of loss; loss of relationships, loss of a job, organizational destruction, loss of business associations and the polarization of family members, and the loss of personal integrity.

I cant pre-determine the outcome of owning it, in fact some folks may want to see you squirm, but being right with Jesus and myself is much more important than how they respond!

My last thought … I don’t like eating crow and for sure it’s an acquired taste... but I will.

Regards,

Paul Cypert 

by Paul Cypert

For many of you, much of your Christian background was a thorough indoctrination in offense, for most of us are wither we know it or not, or want to admit it or not, we were steeped in evangelicalism (offense). If you were taught defense it was primarily how to defend your faith and there is nothing wrong with that, but developing a personal defense to ward off what the world, the flesh and the devil (calamity, heartbreak, money, loss, temptation, bad marriages, addiction) throws against you probably not. 

Although there are tons of scripture that alert us and describe the need to create a good defense, most people don’t seem to have received the game plan.

For instance; Ephesians 6 orders us to put on the whole armor of God and assume a defensive position and hold your ground! The Ephesians 6 defender has only one offensive weapon.

In Proverbs 4:23 the wisdom writer says, Keep thy heart more than anything that is Guarded (Defended); for out of it are the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23 Darby). Jesus said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15 NASB) So many places the scriptures teach us to defend - guard against attack.

Eugene Peterson said “Joy is what God gives, not what we work up. Laughter is the delight that things are working together for good to those who love God, not the giggles that betray the nervousness of a precarious defense system.”

It is so true the bible has much to say about Defense …

Marriage has been and is a big battle ground for folks. A place where people become entrenched in a type of hand to hand combat, literally in some cases. You got to understand marriage is lived out in close and I mean very close quarters…

Having a defensive strategy is oh so important! 

In Genesis 2, we have the first wedding. It’s like much of the Old Testament, pictorial! Big Wedding Album Genesis chapter 2. God as father of the bride walks Eve into Eden and gives her away to Adam.

Let me explain the story, the whole creation story sounds like a big congratulatory moment; God looked at what He made and said this is good and this is good and this is good and this is very good.

Until He looked at Adam and said, “this is not good”. “This guy is not going to do well, alone.” (Genesis 2:18) This should be to us a ‘Glaring Insight’ So, God schemes up a big wedding as the solution for Adam’s not so good situation, He will make him a ‘Suitable Helper’, a like him but opposite of him.

Adam response? verse 23 says, “This Is Now” meaning at Last… Finally

How this played from a readers perspective and in real time for Adam? He visually, joyously, emotionally, rationally, irrationally and every way possible you could think of, jumped up and this is now bone of my bone flesh of my flesh, meaning at Last, Finally something I can hold, touch, relate to.  

Kinda like the old Etta James song, ‘At Last’
At last,
My love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song

Oh yeah yeah, at last
The skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover
The night I looked at you

And I found a dream that I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to press my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known

Oh yeah yeah, and you smile, you smile
Oh, and then the spell was cast
And here we are in Heaven
For you are mine at last

Who is this at last, finally, Suitable Helper of Genesis 2? The Hebrew phrase in scripture calls her an Ezer Knegdow! A 'suitable helper.

The Hebrew word 'knegdow' is most translated as 'suitable,' refers to an exactly corresponding counterpart. Literally, it refers to 'standing opposite to.' Here it seems to imply that both genders are incomplete without the other. Each has qualities and inherent general characteristics the other lacks and depends on the other to contribute.

Helper: Hebrew word Ezer, is regularly used to refer to military reinforcements and in fact God used this term to describe Himself and His relationship to Israel, an Ezer, reinforcements.

In no way does this phrase helper, helpmate, suitable helper, mean servant or subservient - or the supporting role of a male ego. It means a like-opposite of him. Equal power, equal capabilities, equal say, equal reward sharer! A Like but opposite who can bring the reinforcements when needed.

Here’s a big insight, a marriage is two people put into a tight relationship. Right? The two shall become one flesh? Thats just not physically. Thats close proximity. For me, next July, 50 years with a ‘like opposite’ in close quarters, extremely close quarters How close? We sleep in the same bed. After 50 years of conflict, head butting, working it out and her bringing herself as the reinforcements to help me fight the battles of life, battles which I may or may not have asked for, battles both large and small, battles no one but D’Ann and I know or understand. And all the good times, fun, tears, disappointment and hilarity in-between. And it’s been hilarious at times! I no longer just look at life through my extremely masculine lens, I often look at life through what would D’Ann say or do. Sometimes, I even ask myself not what would Jesus do and thats always a good ask, but what would D’Ann do? Because like Adam, I don’t do well alone! I Know that, ‘bad marriages and divorce is a destroyer of people, wealth, emotional well being, a big stressor and will become a defining moment either for the good or bad. Generally speaking, bad. It destroys children and families. It creates and makes folks adversaries. I have watched a lot of people walk away from God because there marriages blew up’.

Charlie Munger, famous investing partner of Warren Buffett said; “a lot of success in life and business comes from knowing what you want to avoid: early death, a bad marriage”.  

It’s a good idea to learn how to defend your marriage from the attack thats coming because it will come. The world, the flesh and the satan will probe this union looking for places of weakness in order to break the union and its unity.  

In this Genesis 2 story there are three insights that imply strongly, what you need if you’re going to be married well. You can click the link below for a full explanation as I with the help of some trusted mentors unpack 3 defense strategies for being married well!

Let Nothing Disturb You,
Paul Cypert

by Paul Cypert

The Prairie scape that I am most familiar is located in the High Plains of Texas. I love the solitude. It stills my soul. And it is in these prairies I have spent much of my time. There is no scrutiny, constant observation, no critique, dissonance. Just the winds, the critters and His presence. It’s as if I belong there. The expanse of sage and grass, the creek bottoms, and wood lots. The surprise of a sage brush buck getting up from his bed tasked now only with flight as he races away through the pasture lands unimpeded except for an occasional 5 wire barbed fence which he clears with a bound never breaking stride.

I enjoy the transitions. Night becomes morning and the day gives way to the night, it is ancient and old, it never strays from its appointed course. Some critters seek rest and safe haven for the night but, another whole group of critters rise to feed and hunt. It is as if the Prairie casts a spell on this transient moment as the day wanes. The yodel of the coyotes, and cautious but noble Whitetails appear suddenly in the dimming light. A great Horned Owl leaves his day rest and takes flight. Then with all the to do of a jumbo jet, a Rio Gobbler not looking like he was built to fly, does! He finds an airstrip of open ground and runs to gain speed, flapping his wings vigorously for a launch, although awkward there is flight. He gains altitude and ascends to a roosting tree, high above the predators.

Then as the sun slips below the horizon silence washes over the prairie and the night moves. The stars appear one or two and then all about they shine. You just don’t know the exact moment but it happened.

The High Prairie Plains of Texas is sparsely populated, unpolluted by artificial light. The night sky showcase stars so bright that it makes them seem almost touchable.

In this immense scape forged by time, the land is almost unbroken, just a few ranch roads, like a sentinel a lone windmill stands, a pump jack, a small set of cattle pens, an irrigation pivot crawls in a slow circle around a thirsty wheat field but they don’t seem out of place, I hardly notice.

The land seems strong and proud, existing and thriving though countless challenges thrown at it through the centuries. Storms, drought, fire and the plows of man yet it remains and flourishes.  

I ponder that ‘all of life is a miracle’ it’s just more obvious in some places.  And my soul like the night move awakens the hunter and I pursue the Ancient of Days.

The desert fathers and mothers of the early 3rd century, ancient followers of Christ, developed and created what they called, ‘A Rule of Life’. A Rule of Life is an intentional, conscious plan to keep God at the center.  

The ancients crafted their own practices in partnership with the Trinity and through the ages the faith community called these spiritual disciplines. Often the same practices were found among the many practicers of the Rule. The Rule of Life is intended to take advantage of your natural rhythms. These practices became sacred moments when the ordinary and the Holy intersected.

Solitude was a common practice. That’s why they moved out to the deserts of Egypt. These practices became ways for the practicer to be diligent about keeping watch over his souls. In the book of Deuteronomy 4:9 it says, “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— ESV Version.

Yes, it is getting away from the hurried interactive lives we live.

Solitude for me isn’t time at a monastery or retreat center. They certainly are for some. It is although the quietness and beauty I find in nature that has that power to quieten the noise. Sometimes that is my front porch or my side yard. For me solitude is a ‘Rule In My Life’ … I set aside the time and find favorite places of solitude and solace. And … What I have found in my solitude and silence is that God still speaks.
 
You will be hearing much more from FTGW in the days and months to come concerning ‘A Rule Of Life’, ancient Good Way Practices of the amazing Christians that lived and flourished in times long gone and as well as contemporary followers of Jesus.

Lives well lived and ‘Days Well Spent’

Here’s my own personal observation of the life and times of contemporary theology.  Over the years there has always been, a steady stream of the latest and greatest new revelation about Jesus and what that means for the church. It always came with fresh hope and belief that now perhaps the people of God would flourish, rise up and establish the Kingdom on earth.
What this appears to be looking back? They were simply fads. Hyped like the WWF and full of gregarious personalities as well! Theological fads soon to pass and fade over time … Leaving people stranded on the island of doubt and at least the loss of hope.
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. But you said, “We will not walk in it.”

No, I don’t think they will walk in it, not exciting enough nor does it meet their personal ambition for power. Now you won’t hear people say that but based on what they follow which is a mixture of OT and NT, contemporary thought, self-help and I need personal empowerment thinking driven by a steady diet of do more-be more church that just simply creates lack. That is Bad Religion!

Having my heart and life pulled so many different directions over the years there was point where more was the enemy! I quit that bad theology and said to myself I serve a God a God that calls his building of a life a solid rock. Thus, the quest, On Christ the solid rock I stand all else is but I am going to change the hymn’s words, is shifting sand! Enough is enough so by listening to Holy Spirit, scripture, trusted mentors and a cry for the ancient path good way insights I arrived at this method to help me stay sound theologically.

It works like this, I overlay the template of the historical Jesus, incarnated into history and through His life and teachings as summed in the Gospels, the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and pentecost and then overlay them on the entire bible, Old Testament and New Testament. Using this template of Jesus work and life to interpret the past (OT) and then the future (NT, epistles) and then the life and theology of the church through the centuries in order to accurately assess if what I am hearing and seeing is truth.

Pretty simple for me, if it doesn’t connect and correlate with the historical actions and teachings of Jesus, I toss it out. So, the finished work of Jesus is the center piece of my theology and belief system. Everything before and everything future is fact checked by this moment in history. Pretty good practice and it saved me some pain through the years. I like it and it works for me.

For instance, when Jesus sat down on that sacred mountain over two millennium ago and taught prayer as hidden, away from others, that it’s in secret. (Matt. 6:5-13) he then teaches a prayer model on how we pray, yep you guessed it, Our Father who art in heaven … The Lord’s prayer is now practiced primarily at church services. And I believe that as a community of believers, in praying the prayer; it’s poignant, powerful and important but what about our secret/sacred moments? How more emphatic and simple could this be, pray in secret and I will reward you, openly!

What are we missing out on when we forget the practices of the secret life of the believers?
 
Well, a lot.

Jesus in fact teaches 3 practices/disciplines (prayer, fasting, alms giving) that are not to be public, but secret. Let me mess with the wording, secrecy is the discipline and prayer, fasting and alms giving are its practices. And what is His promise that comes from the discipline of secrecy? I will reward you openly. That didn’t say publicly it said out in the open where you can see. Why? There is nothing that grows my faith more than the reward of seeing an answer of a prayer that was a matter known only to me and Him.

And why again? That’s how Jesus taught us to pray.

Jesus teaching in Matthew 6 leads to a discipline, secrecy and that is not a new law, but a discipline I practice that prepares me, to act whole heartedly in my love of God and others.

Like this, Colossians 3, I have died and my life is hidden in Jesus and when he appears I will appear with him. (Paraphrased).

-Paul

You can listen to the message series online at www.hopeplainview.com or Hope Community Church Plainview App.

People who are wise in the art of spiritual formation often remind us that, in the end, we would benefit greatly from understanding that we are human beings and not merely humans doing.  By this, I understand them to mean that most people find their worth in what they do, as they imagine others will perceive it, whereas the biblical criteria for worth is found in who we are. 
I have certainly found this to be true for me.  However, it would be misleading to draw too bold a line between “being’ and “doing” because they are inextricably intertwined in the end.

A human being is, at the same time, always a human doing.
 
If a human stops “doing” altogether, he or she soon ceases “being” as it is understood in the biological sense. There are some activities, like breathing or eating or drinking, which I must be “doing” to sustain my “being.”

The important question is this,

“Does my ‘doing’ flow from an authentic sense of ‘being’ or from a carefully crafted image that I am constantly polishing for presentation to the world around me?”
 
This is not an easy question to answer.

Even as I meditate on this subject, for instance, I cannot stop myself from imagining how I might present it to others and what their response might be!  Honestly, I doubt that anyone, if they are honest with themselves, could pull that off.

Integrity (wholeness and lack of duplicity) is directly proportional to the harmony between what I am doing and who I truly am.  When my doing is not in line with my true being, I will suffer anxiety and stress.  To put it another way, if the main motive of my actions is to reinforce my perceived image, my “packaged self,” I am a “double minded” man and prone to instability (James 1:8).
 
While this principle is relatively simple to understand, the remedy for this problem is often difficult to apply.  Most of us have spent a good bit of our time and energy, our life, if you will, “polishing for presentation.” We are constantly asking, “How did that look?” (past)… “How does this look?” (present)… How will this look? (future).” All too often the true self has been cloaked with so many layers of social makeup that it becomes difficult for a person to distinguish between actions that flow from an authentic being and those which arise from a sculpted persona.

In fact, making this distinction with 100% honesty is probably impossible without assistance from Someone whose perspective allows Him to see with objectivity; Someone who is capable of knowing my heart in a way that I cannot.  For me, that Someone is Jesus, the knower of hearts.

Salvation, in its broadest sense, is the ongoing process of renewal unto wholeness that comes from discovering our true being “in Christ.” It is deliverance from the autonomous self that we have crafted for presentation to the world (and, worse yet to ourselves!)  Sanctification is the harmonizing of one’s doing and his or her true being.

This can only happen through unguarded fellowship with the one true Author of Being, the Great “I Am.”

I was always puzzled by Paul’s admonition, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Php 2:12). After all, he is the one who reminds us that “God has not given us a spirit of fear” (2 Tim 1:7). I found it odd that he would, in this one instance, prescribe it.

But when I began to practice unguarded fellowship with the Father through the Son, and He began, quite gently, to reveal aspects of myself that were inauthentic and fashioned by me for presentation to the public, I found it very uncomfortable.

This discomfort of having the fabricated self-challenged brought about considerable fear and trembling.  This fear and trembling is actually an inevitable response when the loving Father begins to answer a child’s sincere question, “Who am I, really, and who am I not?”
If you have never done that, try it and you will see what I mean!  

(If this speaks to you, I highly recommend reading The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery by David G. Benner)

“Hallowed,” like most of the verbs in this prayer, is in the imperative mood, the mood most often associated with commands.

The standard translation of an imperative would make this verse sound as if the speaker is telling God to be holy, which does not make much sense.

In the Greek, however, the imperative can carry the sense of an entreaty; an expression of request.  In English, to convey this sense, we would have to say, “May Your name be considered holy.”

“Holy” (hagiadzo) means to be set apart as sacred; specifically, to have a unique “otherness of character” that distinguishes the object from anything in the world.
Otherness can mean foreign or of a quality with which we as humans are not familiar.  This is how the term is most often used by conservative theologians (Karl Barth) when challenging the Liberal idea that God is nothing more than the best within humanity.

Practically speaking, however, otherness can also refer to God’s name, His essence, as it is compared to unredeemed man’s nature.
Consider the following:

• -  God is generous where man is stingy
• – God is loving where man is selfish.
• – God is honest where man is deceitful.
• – God is attentive where man is self-absorbed.
• – God is forgiving where man is resentful.
• – God is creative where man is destructive.
• – God is merciful whereas man is quick to judge.
• – God is patient where man is quick-tempered.
• – God is at peace where man is anxious.
• – God is a God of hope where unredeemed man is a creature of fear and worry.
• – God is always present in the moment where man is often absent.
• – God is rhythmic where man is spastic.
• – God is consistent where man is flaky.

…the list could go on and on.

The effect is that, from the outset of the “Lord’s Prayer”, the petitioner is invoking God’s presence by confessing that God is intimately involved as The Father yet stands apart in terms of His character.

The latter thought is not meant to imply separation but is the petitioner’s way of declaring that he recognizes that his Father-God is the
One perfect and whole being.

At the same time, “May Your Name be Holy,” is a heartfelt cry for the rest of humanity to see God this way.

What better way could there be to begin a prayer?

by Warren McClenagan

by Paul Cypert
This is David son of Jessie who tends the flocks of his father, he lives in a place of solitude. David spends his day in prayer, worship, and as his spirit is filled with prophetic psalms, he journals, yet keeps a watchful eye for he is the shepherd and protector of his father’s flocks. He’s just a boy but hardened, having killed the lion and the bear that attempt to steal away what is his families.

One day David is sent by his father to bring supplies to his brothers. So, David journeys to the hill country of Israel and finds atop a hill the army of Israel camped, he has brought food to refresh and renew the strength of his brothers who company as soldiers with the army of Israel. Across the valley on another hilltop lay sprawled the vast army of Philistia. Upon his arrival, a six fingered, six toed giant, lumbers down into the valley and David hears the roar of the challenge, send out a man to fight me, a champion, lets end this right now, man to man, let’s see whose God reigns, but no man stepped up only a boy. A boy who instantly discerns the predicament of a fearful cohort of King, commanders and soldiers. From a heart that is filled by God’s faith come the words, “who is this uncircumcised Philistine that would defy the armies of Yahweh… I will go and take his head!

He is rebuked by his brothers then embraced by his king and the planning began, but the armor did not fit, and the sword provided unsure. So, David’s king sends him to confront the champion of Philistia, the giant, Goliath with the tool tied to his belt. A sling shot. As David walked to the valley there, he chose five smooth stones from the creek bed. He would only need one! Armies that had been languishing in temperate hill country climate suddenly arose for today there were two in the valley not one.

And the only sound heard after the complaint of the giant about fighting a boy was a thud that reverberated through the hills ever so muted but distinct as the giant kissed the earth that soaked up his blood. A roar sounded as the army of Israel rushed the opposing hill and now a great clamor was heard as Philistia gripped with fear fled from the onslaught of now fearless warriors of Israel. A victory won and the spoils of war taken, and God as He so often does with the sons and daughters of men, their fortune has been reversed. The fearless now fear and the weak say, “I am strong”.

Rest of the story? A King was born that day in the eyes of Israel but in the eyes of God for He was already a King!

The story of an unlikely King:
Historical scholars of Israel in the time when the Kings ruled along with bible scholars who believe, although not provable, that by implication of certain facts that David the eighth son of Jessie was a bastard and most likely the child of one of Jessie’s servants or a plot schemed up by Jessie’s wife.  

Why did Jessie only invite seven sons to Samuels king anointing-coronation ceremony (1 Samuel 16)? And of the seven none passed the prophets test.  After Samuel asked, ‘have you no more sons?’ Jessie answered well there is David but he’s away tending the flocks and Samuel said, “go get him I’ll wait”.  So, Jessie sent his servants after David to bring him back that day from the sheep pens, a lonely place away and out of sight of family and public to stand before the prophet. And before Samuel a young, vibrant, healthy David stood, and the horn filled with oil and Samuel anointed the head of David.

Perhaps you missed what David said about himself,
Psalm 51 Verse 5; Behold, I was brought forth in guilt, And in sin my mother conceived me.
It won’t be the last time an illegitimate chid sets a throne.

Another train of thought is that the youngest children were given the responsibility of tending the sheep. A responsibility given for the less influential of the family, something the older deemed as not all that important as compared to being part of the Temple scene of the community.  Well it seems that no loving parent would send a boy to defend the families flocks against beasts like lions and bears. But, perhaps a good place to send someone to rid yourself of your guilt. Point of fact David employed this same strategy successfully later in life after his affair with Bathsheba. Sending Uriah, her husband, a trusted mighty warrior of David, to the front lines of the battle. Where the arrows flew more profusely and true.

On the hilltop that day, even David’s oldest brother showed his contempt him for the brash proclamation concerning the Giant’s future. Just as likely as not the David, Son of Jessie may well have been, illegitimate.

But this is the part of the story that is most enlivened with God. It is and most often seen in the stories of His interaction with the sons and daughters of men. It is the reversal of fortune, a stone freed and taken flight by the force of a boys faith, a fearful nation now freed from its pathetic lack of insight into the powerful God, whom they claimed to worship.

So, David becomes the human agent by which God delivers Israel. When God acts and there are no exceptions to the rule, He always acts through the faith of a human being! No Exceptions!

THIS IS THE ONLY STONE YOU NEED!

by Paul Cypert

IN THE WIND…
It was early January,
Last day of whitetail deer season on the High Plains of Texas,
With a good friend, guiding his 16-year-old daughter on her first deer hunt.
The three of us crammed into a two person deer blind, which wasn’t a negative, glad for the warmth of a couple of extra bodies.

 It was about 18 degrees that early morning. I was in a familiar place, a prairie runway of sorts. Deer feeding on the wheat fields through the night hours now headed back to cover. A long stretch of prairie grass lay between the deer and the sage brush hills and locust tree groves that furnished the concealment they sought.

Remarkably, once in cover, they vanish in the prairie scape. A daytime repose where deer like to pass their day chewing the cud, hopefully undetected. They wait patiently for the night to move as the sun goes away, then return to feed.

I had hunted this locality many times over the last 25 years. It’s still wild and that’s what I love about it.

And by far, my most favorite place to be on a cold Texas morning during whitetail season.

In days past, we would tuck in under an old abandoned windmill sitting on the ground shivering from the cold and the anticipation of what we might see.
And just as the sun rises you experience the day’s coldest moment, but I’m getting to dang old for that.

It makes my backside and my bones hurt. This year, I added a deer blind, and there we waited for legal hunting light on cushioned seats.

The morning of the hunt wasn’t any different than most January mornings on the High Plains. The wind calming before the sun dawns. You could vaguely see the dark shadowy images of critters moving to the cover and as night gave way to its master the sun, it chased the shadow world away.

Later that morning, we harvested a mature prairie buck, venison for the table, and soon a visit to the taxidermist in order to preserve the moment and memories made.

So, the story will be told again and again…

Lots of respect for the animal, celebration and love among brothers and sisters and a few pictures.

The ranch owner, a good friend got a phone call, and he made his way down to the kill zone and helped us load Kodi’s trophy.

As I walked away, headed a half mile or so back to my vehicle the wind picked up. It was cold, and it bit against my face. Now the wind getting up and increasing in velocity which is not uncommon for the prairie.

But this was,
A soft voice but not unfamiliar although, sounded in my soul that morning,
‘I’m in the wind today and you’.
And the church bells rang pristine and clear on the plains that Sunday morning but no one else heard, for it was in the wind.
 Jesus talking;
The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
And in the words of an old hymn
This is my Father’s world:
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world:
He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.
Author: Maltbie Babcock, (1901)

 For all its, drama, rhetoric, catastrophes, concerns, epic fails, politics, pandemics, religious posturing and melodrama,
This is still my Father’s world.

Honestly?

In light of knowing Him the above dims and quiet honestly, not all that interesting.
Both small and large faded and as I arrived at my truck,

The wind although cold and strong was filled with praise, and with the true King and I it was as it should be.  

by Paul Cypert
May 9, 2021

Hey, it’s a Sunday morning, and I like it. Can’t wait to see folks.

Paul in the book of Ephesians employs a slogan, ‘Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.’ (Ephesians 4:26 KNT ‘Be angry, but don’t sin’; don’t let the sun go down on you while you’re angry,) and the people of Ephesus would have immediately understood, because it was a well-used saying in their culture.

The first time I heard this was at a marriage retreat. Folks telling people to resolve being upset with their spouse before going to bed. That misunderstanding created some late-night drama for Miss D and I and really all that got accomplished was a loss of sleep and the exacerbation of the issue.

 And the truth is, many have suffered under the words of Christian folks who were well meaning but unlearned. Perhaps, that is why James said, those who teach are held to a greater degree of accountability, than those who don’t.  

What the Ephesians would have understood from their slogan was this; as soon as possible, even before the sun sets, if possible, get rid of your anger. For sure, don’t let anger be something that tarries, lingers or continues in your life and for certain, don’t let it travel from one season of your life to another.

Meaning: what fired you up as child, teenager, young adult, mature adult or an old person, don’t let it continue!

As soon as possible, get rid of it.

We Texans have a slogan, ‘Don’t mess with Texas’. As do other cultures, and we understand because of the culture in which we live. But if you’re not from Texas it may be difficult to understand.

Just for fun here’s a few slogans or cultural parables:
Arabian Slogan; ‘Examine what is said, not who speaks’.
English Slogan; ‘In a calm sea every man is a pilot’.
Danish Slogan; ‘Better a friend’s bite than an enemy’s caress’.
Anger is difficult, because anger creates a debt/debtor relationship. Anger says, you owe me, and the temptation is to stay angry because something or someone was taken from you. Like money, respect, childhood, your virginity, hope, a dream, my happiness, a friend, a spouse, my marriage and that list goes on. And until that is paid and that would solely be based upon your perception of right and wrong, the anger remains.

If anger goes unresolved and is allowed to travel through the seasons of your life, eventually, you lose sight as to why you are angry. Anger becomes part of who you are.

Walking through the mall, back when malls were open, I spotted a t-shirt on a person that said, “You’re bugging me”, and I laughed inside because I knew exactly what they meant. ‘I’m angry’.
And I laughed because I knew it wasn’t the bustling, hurried shoppers that were bugging the person.

The bug (anger) came from someone or something long before putting on that t-shirt.
Sorrow, followed the laughter because for that person, losing the t-shirt was not likely.
When it comes to anger and this may be the big take away, I or they really can’t do anything for you.
Why?
Because it’s not my or their problem.
And the truth is, and I know this is not emotionally gratifying, it’s yours.
Yep, it’s your anger.
Anger says, you owe me. Payback, restitution, an apology, what was lost. And it most cases that will not be possible.

Once again Paul’s advice bypasses contemporary thought, ‘let’s talk about it’, and asks to do something that is counterintuitive. He asks that we get rid of it, all of it!

Like a cancer diagnosis, one would not be as interested in how you got it as how you are getting rid of it. Paul’s advice? Get rid of it, because it’s killing you and your relationships. It destroys the ability to be in unity.

Listen to Paul…
Ephesians 4:31-32
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

Listen to Paul…
32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (emphasis mine)

A debt is either paid or forgiven. And Paul’s advice is this, forgive the debt and that means I will need to bypass fairness because what happened wasn’t fair.
I get it. The story you would tell me would be justification of why you are angry. I would most likely agree, that it was unfair, but I can’t do anything about it because it’s not my story or anger.

So, with whom or what am I angry?
What was taken from me?
What’s owed to me?
Then, decide to forgive the debt.

I can assure you the emotional charge of that forgiven debt will resurface. The accusation will come back, ‘they owe me’, and when it does, Solomon the wisest man that ever lived gave us great advice:

Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is a well spring………of life.

I guard my heart by ‘letting go of the emotional charge’.

That’s my choice, I choose the relevance, importance and the power of every event of my life.
Not the emotion.

The goal is to get rid of the ‘Emotional Charge’!

By Dustin Messer
Dustin Messer is a Priest at All Saints Dallas and a Constitutional Fellow at the Center for the Study of Statesmanship at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

“I feel lost.”

Those are the words that greeted me when I picked up the phone. Since separating from his wife a month into the lockdowns, my friend’s days were becoming more and more listless, even as he was becoming more and more lifeless.

His depression and anxiety weren’t helped by the incessant 24-hour news which blared in his living room.

While you may not share the same challenges as my friend, I’m betting you do resonate with his experience.

Haven’t we all felt the ground beneath our feet has shifted over the past few months?
       
Haven’t we all wondered if restoration is possible, or if we’re too lost to be helped?

This feeling of disorientation—personal, cultural—is nothing new for God’s people
.
The Prophet Jeremiah knew this feeling well. He was living in a time of cultural upheaval and societal injustice.

In his lostness, he remembered the last time he felt found.

In his hunger, he remembered the last time he felt full.

The subtext of his conversation with God is this question:  Can I be restored?

If you’re looking for restoration, the 15th chapter of Jeremiah is a helpful passage to consider. In vs. 16, Jeremiah remembers the last time he was found:
“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.”

Being Found

Those first readers of Jeremiah would have immediately known what the phrase, “Your words were found” was referring to.

They were referring to Jeremiah’s dad, Hilkiah.
One day, Hilkiah found something in the Temple that revolutionized Judah:
He found God’s word.

It had been lost, and the people had become like the other nations without it. But once it was found, everything—society, business—and everyone—the rich, the poor—become transformed.

What happened at the micro level to Judah happened at a micro level to Jeremiah personally when he discovered God’s word.

From Genesis 1, we see that this is what God’s word does: it creates and it re-creates.
But it’s really only a half-truth to say that Jeremiah found God’s word.

In the most fundamental way, God’s word found him, as we see in Jer. 1:4:
 “Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Long before he was a prophet, long before he was born, God was searching for him.

Ephesians 1 tells us that that is the case for every believer.
Even before the creation of the world, you were chosen.
God predestined you for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ.

Your spiritual journey isn’t of some passing interest to God.

In his grace, He pursues you.

As the late Catholic priest John Francis O’Connor described it:
“As the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its running, ever drawing nearer in the chase, with unhurrying and steady pace, so does God follow the fleeing soul by His Divine grace. And though away from God it seeks to hide itself, Divine grace follows after, unwearyingly follows ever after, till the soul feels its pressure forcing it to turn to Him alone in that never-ending pursuit.”

Being Filled

Having considered the last time he was found, Jeremiah now looks to the last time in which he was filled.

Again, look at vs. 16 to see what happens after he finds God’s word:
“Your words were found, and I ate them.”
This harkens back to Jeremiah’s first encounter with God’s word.

Jer 1:9, “Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me: Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.”

As a prophet, Jeremiah had a job to do:
speak God’s words.

But Jeremiah says he went further.

He ate those words which were given to him by God.

He wasn’t someone who just talked the talk.

Once the word was in his mouth, he didn’t just spit it out at people—”Do this! Don’t do that!”—he swallowed it. He took it in.

God’s word wasn’t just in Jeremiah’s mouth, it was in his heart.

Hebrews 6 talks of those who have tasted “the heavenly gift” and of “the goodness of the word of God “and of “the powers of the age to come,” but nevertheless fall away.

Maybe you’re someone who has tasted God.

Perhaps you’ve been reading the Bible, going to church, maybe you’ve even had an encounter with the Holy Spirit.

Yet, you haven’t taken any of it in to your deepest being: you’re still tasting.

In the buffet of spiritual advice, maybe Jesus is even your favorite dish—he’s the macaroni and cheese—but you’re saving some room on your plate, just in case there’s someone or something better after the rolls.

Well, “taste everything and eat nothing” is good dieting advice, but it’s terrible spiritual council.  
Jesus knew this, of course.

When Jesus looked at the massive crowds around him, he knew they were tasters, not eaters. they weren’t ready to go all in.

And so, Jesus looks them in the eye and says something that astonishes even his disciples, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”

Restoration

Jeremiah wasn’t like the crowds. He ate of God’s word. And yet, as he recounts this experience, he can feel the spiritual hunger pains.

You see, Jeremiah was in the place my friend was in when he called me.
He was lost, he was empty.

He had made one bad choice after another.

My friend’s first words to me were, “I feel lost,” but the last question he asked me on that call was, “can I be restored?”

Perhaps you’re asking that question. Jeremiah certainly was.

Here’s how God responded to Jeremiah.

Here’s the words I read my friend.

Here’s the words I want you to hear from the voice of God:
“Therefore, thus says the Lord: “If you return, I will restore you.” (Jer 15:19).

If you turn back to God, He is there, waiting to be found.

If you turn back to God, He is there, waiting to give you a fresh filling—of his word, of his Spirit.

Jeremiah was restored.

My friend was restored.

You can be restored.

by Paul Cypert

Although it was November in the Central Plains of Texas, the sun was warm on my face. And as I walked slowly and quietly to the deer blind, I arrived, gear laden, weapon in hand with the rest of me warmed up.

Opening the small ports of the blind, the wind, prevalent to this area, wafted through this small chamber bringing with it the sounds and fragrance of the woods below. I settled in for the afternoon and with the push of an off button the temptation to text and check the weather was removed.

The weather would be exactly what it was going to be, and I was good with that.

The texting could wait.

As the world slowed around me, my thoughts settled on the night before and a meal of venison steak provided by a friend and his son, complete with veggies cooked over an open fire fueled by pecan wood. The venison harvested by my friend; the fire wood cut and split by myself.
All renewable, nothing from the store. There is something profoundly right about provision wrought from one’s own hands.

My mind easily slipped to a time long ago, where, as a young twenty something I sat at the kitchen table of an older gentleman with my Dake Annotated Reference Bible. Mr. Burk took the time to share God’s word and feed my hungry soul. Those evenings around his table, and there were many, sustained and nourished the new life inside me like tide water rising; gratefulness swelled in my emotions.

What an honor!

He’s long gone today, but the memories and the truths live on. Funny how when one slows down, what one’s thoughts rise or fall to!

The sun began to set. No deer that evening, just a young coyote strolled by and a flock of wild Rio Grande turkeys and as the night settled, so did the quietness.

As I reflect on life, it’s clear that most resist quietness and solitude. I think because the soul (thinking, feeling, will, beliefs, experiences, relationships, spirit) often falls to the dissonance of it and in our lives, as well as the world around us. Not to mention our constant need for busyness, entertainment and problem solving, but that need not be so.

Because, that dissonance, conflict, busyness is simply a plea for transcendence to a higher call, the call to its rightful place; That is to the Father and His world.

“A Christian is one who has God as Father,” so said J.I. Packer.

Perhaps C.S. Lewis described best our dilemma, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

One of my go to passages is Psalm 23 and specifically the first 3 verses:
23 The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

So much here, where would you begin? I’ll try a couple of points.

Verse 1: The Lord is my shepherd.

When we think shepherd, we think sheepherders. Not so, the word shepherd is pastor. A pastor leads and watches over the sheep.

I asked Ana my interpreter, years ago as I traveled through Mexico with her and Ernesto, her husband, “Why did they have donkeys or jack___s, your choice, in the fields with the sheep?”
She answered me by saying,  “They are the pastors.”

Well, there you go!

So, here’s a question? Is the Lord your shepherd? Or have you replaced Him with someone or something else?

Jesus talked a lot about shepherds and sheep. He called Himself the good shepherd and said clearly, “My sheep hear my voice and follow me,” not the voice of a stranger.

I like how this resonates in my soul, ‘The Lord is my Pastor.’

Verse 3: He restores my soul.

That’s His work and as we become less distracted, less disturbed, less entertained, less busy, less ambitious, less greedy, less power hungry, our souls become quiet.

We naturally sense the rhythms of His grace, vibrations ebbing and flowing in the interior person. And the rhythms like a dance partner lead us to and into His presence.

Paul’s closing words in a letter to the Philippian church jump starts the restoration process of the soul.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything, worthy of praise, dwell (think) on these things.

Point of fact, Paul, in the very next verse, says to practice this discipline of placing a boundary on the thought life; Thoughts that resonate.

This is not the passive approach that so many take today.

Be advised this takes, as Paul said, practice!

Let Nothing Disturb You,
Paul Cypert

Once a quarter, Paul leads a workshop called a Life Advance. One of the skills taught is Self-Management. All of us have an inner critic. It’s called by many names; the accuser, the saboteur, the negative self. We fall many times into being critical of ourselves – critical of others – critical of the world around us. The inner critic is the narrator of your thoughts who travels along with you throughout your life, lending its interpretation to your experiences. This Saboteur is not the negative thoughts we think; he is the source of those thoughts. This skill helps us bypass, censure, bind this critic/accuser and leads us to abundance and resonance.

by Paul Cypert

Luke, a follower of Jesus and later one who becomes an Apostle and author, records, in his Gospel account of the days in which Jesus was on this Earth as a man, the stories of a prostitute who crashes a dinner party, a prodigal son and the story of a Publican (tax collector).

Luke’s stories unravel for us a perspective of how these three separate individuals somehow understood their condition and responded. All three found a moment of divine clarity, all three responded and found deep meaning springing forth from their action.

I find it fascinating that all three stories incorporate an antagonist (Simon the Pharisee, the elder brother, another Pharisee) whom by all accounts see themselves in religious right standing with God and the world based on merit and status.

Today, we look at the Publican. A notorious sinner because he begins his conversation with God based upon his status, a sinner.

Let’s get started…

Luke 18:9-14
9 And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.11 The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

It seems to me that all prayer that God justifies by acting on begins with a real assessment. An assessment of where one actually is as a person, like the tax collector whose prayer found God and the Pharisee’s prayer that did not.

The Publican’s (tax-collector) prayer, and I love this, came from whom he really was. Not shrouded or wrapped in saying it right nor based upon shadowy perceptions that God hears based upon merit like I tithe, fast and as the Pharisee says, I’m not like that poor Publican standing over there on the street corner.

Many are the stories of people in the Bible who came to God knowing they were in a compromised condition, and this quality of genuiness in their words to God very well may be an insight into effective prayer.

Obviously, there is powerful connection that occurs between a soul and God our Father when one fairly assesses their own condition. This is seen in the prayer of the man in the New Testament who said to Jesus, ‘Lord, I believe but I need help with my unbelief’ (paraphrased).
So much foolishness today, so little humility. A world of religion filled with presumption and foolishness but very little real faith. The Publican, with many others, musters the courage to be genuine and authentic with God concerning who and where they are in life. I believe that faith was a powerful part of their words because speaking openly, honestly and with vulnerability towards the Trinitarian person of God demands that one believes in that which is good, abundant and rich concerning Him!

The Publican rightly assessed who he was, a sinner, but weren’t we all?

Quickly down the road, feet light as if walking on air, money in his pocket, ready to get some real life behind him, a young man hurried on his way.

He had just asked for and received his inheritance.

Several life times of effort, including some of his own, gave this Hebrew man every right to claim from his father the inheritance owed, for he had reached the age of bestowal.

That was their custom. At thirty years, the boy became a man and earned the right to receive the inheritance that was due him.

And he did so, he rejects the family business. He now walks away with one third of the family wealth.  And he becomes one of the most identified with notorious sinners of the Bible.
He is known to us as the prodigal.

And all of us to one degree or another identify with this young man.

You can find his story in the book of Luke. Luke 15 is the chapter of loss: a lost coin, a lost sheep and a lost son. More later!

What does “prodigal” mean?

The word “prodigal” scarcely used in scripture gives us a real clue into what has actually transpired.

Its basic meaning is “wasteful” and it comes from Latin roots that mean “forth” (pro-) and “to drive” (agere). It indicates the characteristic of a person who drives forth his own agenda.
In our story, the prodigal needs his inheritance to fulfill his will. That’s what the prodigal son does in this story.

In the process of rejecting the family vision and accomplishing his own, in a land far away he squanders hard earned family wealth on, as scripture describes, riotous living. You got it, sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

In the course of time and tremendous loss, he finds himself feeding and living with pigs, by the way an unkosher animal not suitable for Hebrew consumption, whom of all things, are better off than himself, but alas an aha moment occurs in that pig pen! He desires to fill himself with the pods of corn that he is feeding to the pigs.

He comes to his ‘senses’. All alone, resources exhausted, hungry, in a moment of unadulterated clarity he realizes, ‘Even the servants in my father’s house are well fed and taken care of’.
He then declares that, “I will return to my father’s house and beg of him to be one of his servants”.  

Awaiting him though is not more servitude but a robe, a ring, a fatted calf (West Texas Barbeque) and a father that pulled up his robe and ran to him to embrace and return him to a place of honor.

The antagonist, awaiting back home, is an angry elder brother full of contempt of a father’s love for a fool who has depleted the family legacy. Whom believes that his right actions have been ignored and unappreciated.

His disdain leaves him outside the celebration seething over his father’s actions.
His Father reaches out to him with the plea that this son who was lost is now found to which the elder brother responds, ”You never gave to me what you have given to him.” His father’s response; ”You have always been with me, and if you would have asked I would have responded in kind.”

Take away:

• Sadly, it is never mentioned that either son loved their father, obviously both were driven by their own agenda. Perhaps, it is the fate of fathers to have their actions misunderstood.
• The parable tells best the story of the Father’s love, ever watching, continual, steadfast, waiting for us to clearly see our true condition. His gaze is down the road looking intently for those who have come to their senses, and He is ready to seize that moment to demonstrate His love.
• That our Father God sincerely desires restoration of all to a true sense of their dignity and worth. He’s not looking for hired help but sons.
• Need is a great motivator but not a great sustainer, because when the need is met, there is no longer neediness nor urgency. For many, their initial step back to God is often driven by their circumstances, but that must quickly be replaced by thanksgiving and gratefulness.
  
  

The understanding that the gift (the robe, the ring, the fatted calf) a picture of salvation is the powerful conveyor of belief. All must come to believe that they are welcome in their Father’s       house, despite actions Even prodigal sons and daughters. Salvation is not about what we are saved from, but saved to, what has freely been bestowed in that transitional moment, now sons and daughters.

• The father in the story willingly gave the younger son his inheritance fully realizing it would be squandered. This story is affirming the free will of men and women. In the human story, willfulness is an essential component. And God has honored the component of choice, a right bestowed upon men and women.
  
  
• In Adam, we were lost souls in a faraway land having squandered our birthright while in Christ we are found. God has His eye on that which has been lost. Three stories or parables illustrate to us this truth: The lost coin, the lost sheep, and the prodigal son. Find them in Luke chapter 15.
  
  

Prayer: Father, in moments of clarity when I see myself, when my will and Your will are at a crossroad provide sufficient grace, so that I may not walk away but pause and consider where my agenda might wind me up. I pray that I don’t lose my senses.

 Jesus, You said that in Your house are many mansions and that You go and prepare a place for me. How inviting, how welcoming, how Fatherly You are to us. Thank You!  Amen

by Paul Cypert

Luke, a follower of Jesus and later one who becomes an Apostle and author, records, in his Gospel account of the days in which Jesus was on this earth, stories of a prodigal son, the Pharisee named Simon and a prostitute who crashes Simon’s dinner party, and the story of a Publican (tax collector) and an unnamed Pharisee.

I find it fascinating that all three stories incorporate an antagonist whom, by all accounts, sees themselves in religious right standing with God and the world based on merit and status.
Luke’s stories unravel for us a perspective of how three separate individuals somehow saw themselves and their condition and responded.

All three found a moment of divine clarity; all three responded and found deep meaning springing forth from their actions.

 So, this story begins with Jesus being invited to an after hour dinner party hosted by one Simon, a Pharisee.

Pharisees were holy men who kept the law; pursued purity with a passion and wanted nothing more than to live lives that pleased God. They were sincere, albeit sincerely misguided.  And were enemies to those who saw life differently than they.

Simon’s invitation, most likely isn’t driven from a desire to hang out with Jesus but, in some way, to expose or entrap Him. To find something to use against Him.

Remember, these are the guys who eventually put a cross on Jesus’ back. Who then carried the wood that would kill to a hill outside a holy city.

Let’s pick up the dialogue, Luke chapter 7, verse 37:

“And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner”.

She practiced sin. That’s how she made her living. She was a prostitute and well known by Simon and the others at the dinner party; they knew exactly who she was, no need of an introduction.

She crashes the party. Small vials of perfume, necessaries for her trade, hung around her neck.
If you put the gospel accounts together, Jesus’ last message prior to the dinner party was Matthew 11,

“If you are weary and heavy laden, come to Me and I will give you rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Perhaps, but most likely she heard this message.

Tired, wearied, broken, guilt-ridden, living outside of normal life. There she stood, in the house of someone who was directly the opposite of everything she was, a notorious prostitute who was about to demonstrate for all, with pristine clarity, that she was now a believer in the young Messiah.

Ready for some burden free living.

She now acts in a manner that many call salacious, but I call worship.

Weeping, she falls at Jesus feet and her tears of joy became the water necessary to cleanse those feet, she kisses those feet, and not having a towel she let her hair down and dried those beautiful feet, then perfumes those feet.

I’m telling you the tension level in that room was intense.

Simon in his thoughts says,

“if he were a prophet he would know who this woman truly is”.

Jesus knew Simon’s thoughts and tells him a parable.

It’s pretty simple; one guy owes someone a couple of days pay and the other guy a couple of years pay. Both debts are forgiven.

Question? Which guy was most appreciative?

And this a major hedge by Simon,

‘I suppose the one with larger indebtedness’.

Well you supposed right, Simon the Pharisee!

For Jesus says,

“He who is forgiven much loves much”.

If you think Jesus is a mild-mannered, peace-loving, long haired, marginalized Hebrew, well, you’re wrong!

He, who intended to expose, now experiences a reversal of intentions and gets himself exposed!

Let’s read on…

Luke 7:44-47
44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
45 You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.
46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.
47 For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

In that culture, kissing was a big deal, and kissing indicated levels of status and interaction.
-A kiss of greeting on the cheek meant we are equals.
-Your teacher, clergy or rabbi was greeted with a kiss on the hand.
– An honored guest at a dinner party would have been embraced and kissed on both cheeks.
–Only slaves were required to kiss the feet of another human being, their masters.

So, kissing was a big deal for them but not so big with me, especially in a world laden with fear over the Covid-19 virus and a general discomfort with that kind of thing in general. It was also customary to put a little drop of essential oils on the forehead of your guest in order to enhance the dining experience. Food just tastes better when things smell better. Water was provided and sometime servants to wash the feet of guests.

Don’t you love verse 44?

Simon do you see this woman?

Of course, Simon saw her! Everybody there was seeing this woman and majorly uncomfortable about her presence.

And Simon, as your invited guest, everything you should have done as my host she did. Washed my feet, kissed me, anointed me with oil.

The woman’s act by no means was salacious; it was in some ways the right thing to do.
In another way, it was sheer abandonment; she joyously expressed with tears, possessions (perfume), took the posture of a slave (a bond servant) at His feet and worshiped, because she who is forgiven much loveth much.

Well, does it take all that?

Yea for some folks!

Well does it have to be that public?

Yea for some folks!

We pretty much should focus on not being an antagonist, you know, like Simon, a Pharisee.