Thankful for Mercy

This weekend was my twenty year highschool class reunion. What a wave of emotions and memories!

"Stephen, how are you!" Steve's nickname was "beachball" from fifth grade. He remained overweight and often marginalized throughout school, though less so in highschool. A pretty decent guy, though. "Oh..." he's obviously thinking while he's drinking..."I guess I'm okay. Just okay." He tells me about his life, he drives delivery truck and enjoys the freedom of not being a cubicle. I want to hear more about it, and come to know this person I spent 8 years with and never discovered. But someone else comes by, and Steve's attention turns to them, and I move on.

Brian is talking to Marie. I wonder if Brian is still struggling with drugs and alcohol. He was fairly bright in school and good at drama, but there was some trouble at home and his life got pretty crazy after graduation, I heard. Marie was very bright, but silly and flitty. She is moving on after a recent divorce, trying out a new church when her old friends didn't know how to deal with her divorced state. She asks Brian, "So, what do you do?" He is giving her evasive answers--seems to think his job is too complicated for her to understand. She finally convinces him of her interest and he exclaims, "Why Marie, when did you become so literary!" Marie is annoyed: "I'm not just Moe's little sister! I did learn how to read, you know!" I pass by.

I settled with my plate at a table with Lisa. She's looking very pretty with a hair color I don't remember and a dress that definately isn't 80's. "I don't remember reading your bio on the website, " I begin. She says, "Oh, I didn't want to post my litany of relational failures." She's witty and open about two divorces and being a single mom. I throw out a name of a boy from our french class that we both flirted with and teased. She says, "Oh, I lost my virginity to him! I was 14. That was the beginning of the downhill slide." She seems flippant, yet with pain, and I feel like I've been punched. My daughter is 13.

Kim joins us, and I groan inwardly. Kim is a bankruptcy and divorce lawyer. She is extremely bright--I competed with her constantly in school, and I think I mostly came in second to her first in just about everything. She is energetic to the point of frenetic now, and aware enough of others to ask questions but not to listen to the answers. She is a terrible gossip, and always cutting. She, too is divorced, and is ready to throw wood on the pyre of the ex-husband roast. I get up to find some food. Kim is welcome to win this round--and any other round, I don't want to play that game any more.

Cindy is laughing too loud. She finally got away from the abusive older guy that she dated all through highschool, and married Jon, if you can believe that. She looks beautiful, and is telling the same story of giving birth "naturally!" that she was telling at the 10 year reunion. I avoid her.

Finally, I get a chance to settle down with several classmates who are discussing education. Trixie sat next to me in band. I remember her as down to earth, laid back, with a warm sense of humor. Tonight, she is emphatically recounting the struggles with the school district that she has waged to get her children what they need. She's wearing make-up, which she never used to do, and her hair is no longer soft and free. She is strong and articulate, but she says, "I'm tired."

Time changes us. And we can't go back to the time when we didn't carry so much. And so many of these people have been carrying much too much for far too long.

It isn't all a mosaic of pain, of course--some of my classmates have successful international businesses, happy marriages, or lives of service helping people in meaningful ways. But there are so many that seem to be limping along. And I was like them at 16, I was going down the same road as Lisa or Cindy or any of them. That could have been me with the abusive husband or raising my kids alone or hooking up with guy number 26. But God in his huge mercy decided to reach down and fish me out, even though I misunderstood and didn't "do it right" and still after 22 years I'm trying to grasp his love! I feel like I've had a glimpse of my life then--the twisting pangs to belong, but being awkward in my own skin. And I've had a glimpse of where I was going when God interrupted me, and I'm so thankful. I'm not worthy of what I've received, but I'm so thankful.

Follow the Money

Once upon a time, our currency was backed with gold. You could take a $20 gold piece to the bank and trade it for paper money valued $20, or vice versa. Then in 1933, our president sent out an order that Americans were to turn in all their gold and be paid for it in paper money. An ounce of gold would no longer be $20, but would move with the market. However, other governments could still trade in their dollars for gold, and did. America became very prosperous, and imported many foreign items, and paid for them in dollars. The foreign governments took advantage of the ability to trade these dollars for American gold, until the 1970s when our government began to fear that American gold reserves would be depleted and told them they could not trade dollars for gold. Which was a good thing because America imports much more than they export.

So why did other countries continue to use dollars when the value of them fluctuated against the value of gold? In short, other countries had to have dollars because all oil on the planet is bought and sold in U.S. dollars. Only a fraction of U.S. dollars in print are physically in the U.S. right now. Many billions of dollars are abroad, participating in foreign trade.

But the U.S. financial position is weakening. The oil trade will ultimately move away from using dollars exclusively. And when those dollars come home to roost, guess what that will do to prices in the U.S.? Have you ever seen pictures of post WWI Germany with the people carrying wheelbarrows of cash to go buy bread? Or wallpapering their bathroom with money because it was cheaper than wallpaper?

Inflation

Inflation comes from an excess of money. Imagine an island with five people living on it. They have 100 gold pieces. If one person kills a wild boar, a share of the boar is one gold piece. If someone helps you build your hut, you pay them one gold piece per day. But then, someone discovers gold on the island. Suddenly, there is 1000 gold pieces on the island, not just 100. That same piece of boar's meat is now going to be 1/100 of the new money supply, or 11 gold pieces. Of course, if the weather is terrible, you might be willing to pay a greater portion of available funds for shelter, and if you just filled up on fruit you might be unwilling to pay for meat. But all things being equal, you will pay a certain portion of what you have for your needs, and if the people have more money they will spend more money and prices will go up.

But we aren't on an island, and we don't keep discovering more gold. Our money comes from the government controlled banking system. This central banking system loans money to banks at a set interest rate. The banks mark up that interest rate so they can make a profit, and make loans to businesses and individuals who, in turn, buy things with it or invest it. If the central bank lowers interest rates, money seems cheap to borrow and people respond by taking out loans and putting money to work in our economy. However, this increases the amount of money in circulation and drives up prices.

Question: why would our government take actions like, say, sending free money to everyone, when it will drive up prices? Answer: because America is wretchedly in debt. If we took everything everyone on the planet produced for two years, we might be able to just pay off what we owe. Do you think the whole planet would mind donating their productivity? No? Well, then, let's make our money as worthless as possible. Inflation means that we can pay back our debts with dollars that are worth less than the dollars we borrowed.

Let's say I borrow $1000 to buy a cow and that cows cost $1000. Then, let's print more money so that the value of the cow is now $1500 (the value of cows being one billionth of the total money supply). I can now sell that cow and give you back your $1000 and pay you back--with 3% interest--and you still won't have enough to buy a cow any more. Inflating your currency is a way of getting out of returning borrowed value. Stealing, in a word.

What Difference Does it Make?

A friend recently expressed that she felt that studying the nature of the Kingdom of God and researching the apostolic faith was pointless and that it lead to division. After all, we all believe Jesus died for our sins and are trusting him to save us, right?

That is fundamentally true. Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Lutherans, and many stripes of religious people will affirm that Jesus died for their sins. However, I think most within those sects will loudly protest at being lumped together. JW's don't believe Jesus was God! Catholics pray to Mary! Baptists don't embrace speaking in tongues! Pentecostals say tongues are necessary for salvation! So, apparently we do agree that a line of orthodoxy exists beyond just trusting Jesus for salvation. But can we know what is true? Is there any point to reading the Bible to find out what it really teaches when so many have done so and came to wildly different conclusions?

I believe there is. I believe that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and that the coherent message of the Bible is perceivable and effective. Truth will set us free, and is the basis of our love and fellowship and hope. To close our eyes to the unfolding revelation of truth is a terrible waste. We can know what we are hoping for, and we can see it in the Bible and enjoy our heritage. The process of discovery can be a quest we engage in together, if we have the humility to listen to each other and the perseverence to work at discovering what the Word really says, even if it runs counter to our traditions. I am not talking about trying to get every tiny point right, I am talking about understanding the very basic things like who God is, why Jesus came, and what following Christ is all about. If we have a solid biblical core, the little things will tend to fall into place. If our core understanding of God is off, there will likewise be a cascade of error and pain. The Bible may have some little translation errors or pieces that aren't perfect, but the core message is intact and lights up throughout. We can know why Jesus came. We can know the way of righteousness.

PreTrib Rapture

I just finished listening to John MacArthur's latest sermon, describing the dreadful events of the book of Revelation. He holds out the hope that the wrath poured on the earth is for unrepentent sinners and that believers will not suffer it--they will be removed first. And I can't argue that it is biblical to say that "God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, but I wonder how he reconciles the teachings of Christ with a pre-trib rapture. Look at the scripture, for example:

Matt 13:24-30"The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 "The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
28 "'An enemy did this,' he replied.
"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
29 "'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'" (from New International Version)

Are the servants told to pull the wheat out first? No. First weeds get burned, then wheat comes into his barn. If the saints get sucked out of the world before the burning starts, wouldn't he have told them to bring in the wheat and then destroy the weeds?

Three Days in the Grave

Question of the day: what happened to Jesus when he died?

Did he go to hell, as certain creeds affirm based on 1 Peter 3:18-20: 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built." The scriptural evidence for Jesus visiting the place of the damned is very weak and counts on fairly bizarre reading of the passages. The verse in Peter appears to mean that the spirit of Christ bore witness to the disobedient people at the time of Noah.

Did he go to "paradise", as one could conclude from his remark to the theif dying next to him, in Luke 23:43, Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." If he was in heaven (i.e. where God lives), why does he tell Mary in John 20:17 "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father." Perhaps it would be more accurate to render the quote, "I tell you the truth today, you will be with me in paradise," moving the word 'today' from modifying when they would be in paradise to when Jesus was talking.

Did he cease to "be", disappear like a cloud?
Ps 6:55 No one remembers you when he is dead.Who praises you from the grave?
Job 7:8-98 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer; you will look for me, but I will be no more. 9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to the grave does not return.

Ps 104:29-30
9 When you hide your face, they are terrified;
when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.

Can you create something that already exists?

Job 34:14-15
14 If it were his intention and he withdrew his spirit and breath, 15 all mankind would perish together and man would return to the dust.

Mark 15:33-37
33 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" ….37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

Did God withdraw his breath from Jesus so that he returned to the dust? Was the nature of the death of Christ like our death or unlike it?

Restoring the Image

An apple cast
shattered the mirror
We reflect now
Your image in fragments

We fumble with bloody fingers
helpless to restore
And straining to see
Taking the pieces for the whole

Restore your image, Lord
We want to see you clearly
Make us the reflection once again
Make new the looking glass once shattered

Through a glass darkly
We long for the day
When the Perfect One comes
and the imperfect will pass away

You are greater than
our fractured lens can see
You are more magnificent
Than our dim light illumes

Restore your image, Lord
We want to see you clearly
Make us the reflection once again
Make new the looking glass once shattered.