A Christian Worldview from Silicon Valley

I’m having one of those rare weekends alone. My daughter is making new friends at a camp for happy teenagers, while my husband and son are scout camping at a black sand beach in Northern California. I enjoy these moments almost too much, burrowing into my home and tuning out the world with loud music and escapist fiction.

Email is one channel that breaks through my isolation. After following the stories on Sarah Palin, John McCain’s VP candidate, I was intrigued by a forwarded email: “25 things you might not know about McCain.” Written by the Associated Press, it was published in multiple news outlets August 28ff, 2008. Most of the insights are silly trivia, but one line grabbed me: “10. He talks to fellow prisoners of war, those with whom he shared a cell in Vietnam, almost daily.”

I like to stay in touch with friends and family, but the number of people I deliberately interact with daily is quite small. What would make a man chat with his cellmates at this frequency, so many years after they were all released? I found some clues in McCain’s 1973 description of the POW years and in this interview of McCain’s cellmate, George “Bud” Day. (more…)

I received an e-mail this afternoon from a group called the 168 Hour Film Project. I’ve written some things about them before, but this was not about them. This was a call for prayers for a fellow who is a friend of 168, whose voice you have all heard, whose face you may have seen, who is the king of the voice-over artists, a man named Don LaFontaine.

Don has a blood clot lodged in his lung, something that happened the day after he had been taken to the hospital for shortness of breath. Apparently he is making some progress, but he is far from out of the woods, according to the note, so use your breath to say a little prayer for Don.

Interestingly, many people have said that Don’s voice is “the voice of God.” Some have even gone so far as to say that God would *like* to have a voice as rich as Don’s, though I’m guessing God doesn’t have to worry about that. But here is a man now who is using whatever voice he has, audible or not, to cry out to God for mercy and healing. And here is a man who is not straining his voice to speak, but is straining his ears to hear the real voice of God.

How will he know when he hears it? Will it be the canyon-like depths of the tone? Will it be the amazing resonance? Will it be the precise expression and inflection? Elijah may have thought so at first, but he taught us that those qualities may not indicate God is speaking. The quality that will be present, however, whether the voice is like thunder or like a soft breeze, is authority.

There is a certainty in God’s voice, a knowing, a truth, a beauty not based on sound, but based on the source. When you hear that voice, you will know it is the voice of God.

May your ears, and heart, be open to it.

I sat in on a conversation between two men a while back .

One fellow was absolutely convinced that he was following God’s will. God had made it clear to him through his own convictions that what he was doing was God’s plan. To top it off, everywhere he turned he saw ‘green lights.’ People agreed with him, ideas fell into place. Yea!

However, on the other side of the table sat another man who had equally strong convictions that what he was doing was also God’s will. He’d prayed hard and long about it and also found reassurance from other Godly men and women.

Problem - the two men did not only not see eye to eye, their paths were divergent and affected one another. If each man were to look objectively at the other man’s proposal both would have to admit to a flashing red light, or at least a yellow caution light.

What’s up with that? Why can’t God make up His mind?

I talked with another man today who was convinced that God wanted him to start a project some two years ago. Today, the project just isn’t flying. He tried to convince me that God might have different plans other than the original ones.

What’s up with that? Why can’t God make up His mind?

I want to know…why can’t God make up His mind? Or is it people that can’t make up theirs?

 1. One of the preachers on your team returns home having been beaten.

2. Someone asks if they can borrow a room in your home to have a Bible study.

3. A village nearby doesn’t have any water and there is a breakout of severe diarrhea among the children.

4. You get word that another village has sold 20 of their children to a couple of men who say they can give the kids a better life.

5. You have a committee meeting to decide on the order of worship.

6. A baby gets dropped off at your doorstep.

7. A small group of ‘rookie’ preachers asks you to help them prepare for an upcoming sermon.

8. You have a lunch appointment to encourage a friend who is having trouble deciding what to do with his business.

9. You hear of a village where the children are going blind for lack of Vitamin A.

10. The church needs new carpet.

Which one will you do first? Why? Seriously…give it a try. I’ll tell you my answer if you tell me yours.

It is entirely possible to build a house on a foundation that seems solid, that will hold in most circumstances, and in fact may hold the house for decades. Likewise, it is possible to build a life on a foundation that has some good properties, but isn’t sufficient for the trials of life. Jesus knew both of those truths, and he combined them in one of the most famous illustrations of all time: building a house on rock, or building a house on sand.

That story is found in both Matthew 7 and Luke 6. The Bible in Basic English translates the Matthew passage this way:

Everyone, then, to whom my words come and who does them, will be like a wise man who made his house on a rock; and the rain came down and there was a rush of waters and the winds were driving against that house, but it was not moved; because it was based on the rock. And everyone to whom my words come and who does them not, will be like a foolish man who made his house on sand; and the rain came down and there was a rush of waters and the winds were driving against that house; and it came down and great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

What does a life built on sand look like? In the world, it looks like relying on natural talent without adding hard work. As a former tennis professional, and even as someone who has a bit of natural talent, I know something about that. Natural talent — some people might call it a gift — is great fun at first. People praise you, you win quickly, and the sky seems to be the limit. But the missing link, the failure to work, keeps many naturals on the ground.

The corollary in Christianity is the one who has been in the church for a long time, for whom Christianity is “natural,” but who fails to work at following the teachings of Christ. As a minister — and a long time Christian myself — I know something about that, too. Jesus can be part of your life, you can be a declared Christian, and you may be able to quote a lot of the Bible. But the missing link is that you don’t consciously work at applying the teachings of Jesus in your daily life, because your “natural” Christianity already makes you better than most, and that is good enough for you.

If that sound like you, here’s the good news: the link doesn’t have to stay missing. Find it and you can be part of a modern day miracle — the miracle of turning sand into rock.

Praying that you do…

There’s a missionary family coming to visit us this week, Wednesday night.

I’ve been thinking about what kind of welcome they will receive.

Last week while at the World Convention in Nashville I picked up a book (I admit, I read, too) , written by an Indian native preacher. One of his thoughts -

The church “…took up an offering and presented me with a check for what seemed like a great amount of money. Then with their usual hospitality, they invited me to eat with the leaders following the meeting. To my horror, the food and ‘fellowship’ frequently cost more than the money they had just given to missions.”

I wonder…what kind of welcome do we have planned for our missionaries this Wednesday evening?

Ron Poncy sent me this. But, since he doesn’t read blogs, he won’t know it appeared here. My recommendation to those who do read this, tell Ron ‘thanks for the laugh’ but don’t tell him why, where or how you know.

He sent me a story of a woman who was saved because she knew Acts 2:38.

——

An elderly woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services, (another good reason to go to church) when she was startled by an intruder.

She caught the man in the act of robbing her of her valuables and yelled:

‘Stop! Acts 2:38!‘,

The burglar was stunned and immediately stopped. The woman then calmly called the police and explained to them what had been going on and what she had done.

As the officer handcuffed the dude to take him in, he asked the knucklehead: ‘Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a Bible verse at to you.’

‘Bible verse?’ replied the burglar. ‘I thought she said she had an ax and two 38s!’

Acts 2:38 saved this woman. It could save you, too.

Here’s another thought-provoking quote from Shane Claiborne’s book “The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical”:

“In my youth-group days, I had seen all too many wild would-be Jesus radicals fall by the wayside because they had never been trusted with the adventure of revolutionary living…. God forgive us for all those we have lost because we made the gospel boring. I am convinced that if we lose kids to the culture of drugs and materialism, of violence and war, it’s because we don’t dare them, not because we don’t entertain them. It’s because we make the gospel too easy, not because we make it too difficult. Kids want to do something heroic with their lives, which is why they play video games and join the army. But what are they to do with a church that teaches them to tiptoe through life so they can arrive safely at death?”

I have to confess that I tend towards tiptoeing rather than living on the edge, but that certainly isn’t the way Jesus lived.

What makes living out the gospel exciting to you?