Ezra's Fulcrum

I never had a son. And since it is difficult for a writer to convey, and for a reader to interpret, emotion in the written word, I need to tell you that I say that with no sense of regret or melancholy or sadness whatsoever. Because if I know anything about genetics, any son of mine would grow up, like me, skinny and geeky and beat up a lot for no reason. I wouldn't wish that on any kid, much less my own. So God in His wisdom gave me two daughters, for whom I am eternally grateful, and gave the sons to my brother the jock. And since I am now fifty years old, it is, and hopefully shall remain a moot point. But if I was 20 years younger and having a son, I think I would like to name him Ezra. I know, if he wasn't going to get beat up already, this certainly wouldn't help. And I am pretty sure Marcia would never let it happen. But remember, this is all hypothetical anyway. So why Ezra? Not yet. First a little bit about the second part of what I admit is one of my more obscure titles to date.

OK, closed book test. No Google, no Wikipedia, don't even Ask Jeeves. Think back to third grade, and try to list as many "simple machines" as you can. I'll give you a minute...how many did you come up with? You probably did better than me. I only remembered the pulley and the lever. Wikipedia helped me out with the inclined plane, the wheel & axle, the wedge and the screw.

For the purposes of this post, I hope to refresh our memories about the lever in particular. I don't remember much, but I do remember that the triangle thing in the middle that allows the lever to go up and down and provides its power and usefulness, is called the fulcrum. As I recall, it looks something like this:

So we have Ezra (not necessarily the guy in the overalls) and we have a fulcrum.

Now let's try and put them together.

My Daily Reading Bible recently took me through the book of Ezra, where I came upon the following new life verse (among many) for me:

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
-Ezra 7:10

I love this verse. Ezra set his heart to do three things: to study, to do and to teach. I think the key to this verse is the middle of the three, the fulcrum of this lever if you will, those four little words, "and to do it". I couldn't Google this image, since it exists only in my head, and Google isn't that good yet (but don't think they're not trying), so I have tried to recreate a crude approximation of what I see in my mind's eye, via some good old fashioned HTML:

Study_____________________________Teach Do

What Ezra has set his heart to do is precisely what I desire for myself. To study and to teach the word of God. But without the "Do" fulcrum in the middle, the effort expended on the one end in studying will fail to lift up those on the other end through teaching. To study and not to do is worthless. Scripture is permeated with this truth.

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does."
-James 1:22-25

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."
-Luke 6:46-49

A house without a foundation falls flat. Like a lever without a fulcrum.

Study. Do. Teach.

A Post Worthy of Screwtape

My third post in 10 days. Am I going too fast for you? Are you keeping up? In order to set the table for this post, I will need to drop a few quotes on you from a previous post - Is God Relentless?

• Going way back to my So Many Pedestrians post, I mentioned my Bible reading plan, which consisted of a daily dose of one chapter of Psalms, three OT, one Gospel, one NT, resulting in various repetitions through each section in a year. There was only one problem with this plan. That is, if you miss a day, double it, if you miss two days, triple it, and before I know it, I'm trying to read 20 chapters in a day with the only goal of catching up to my schedule, and not of meditating on God's word. Easy solution. I am no longer obsessed with catching up...

• Also, since I am no longer racing against the calendar (and inevitably losing), I have allowed myself the freedom to cut back to one chapter of OT per day. As a result, now at the pace of only four chapters total per day, it allows me to slow down and think about what I am reading...

• In short, I am less interested in getting through the Bible and more interested in the Bible getting through me.

These are just excerpts. As I go back and read the first four paragraphs of that post, they could just as easily have been one of The Screwtape Letters. (If you are unfamiliar with this wonderful little book, you will need to click on the link and at least read the synopsis before continuing - but I am moving on with the assumption that most are familiar with the premise).

It has been awhile since I read it last, so perhaps this or something similar was actually one of "The Screwtape Letters". If so, my apologies, purely coincidence, no lawsuits please, just call me Clive. But I think it would have gone something like this:

My Dear Wormwood,

I see that your patient has started reading his Bible. This is bad news. When it comes to this, the reading of the Word of the Enemy, you must convince your patient that less is more. That reading too much may actually be harmful. That breadth and depth are mutually exclusive. Put in his head a pithy little catch phrase like, "It is more important that the Bible get through me than that I get through the Bible", all the while hiding from him the obvious truth that the former will never happen without the latter. Lead him to believe that calendars and checklists and daily goals are our idea. Let him justify his newfound philosophy with spiritually sounding phrases like "Freedom in Christ", all the while hiding from him the obvious truth that "If you aim at nothing, you are sure to hit it." Convince him that seven chapters, or about fifteen minutes, a day, is way too much to receive any benefit from the reading. And if seven chapters is too much, then four chapters must be better. And if four chapters are better, then one chapter would be even better. And if one chapter is even better, then one verse would be fantastic. And so on, and so on, until eventually, you will have your patient simply and quite proudly meditating upon the letter 'a'.

Your affectionate uncle,
Screwtape

So how and when did I come upon this realization that actually setting a goal to read through the Bible in a year and following through with it might even be a good thing? I was simply browsing the Bible section at Northwestern Bookstore, as is my custom, when I came upon the "ESV Daily Reading Bible". Note the subtle difference in title. It is not the "ESV One Year Bible", and as such is not laid out in the standard One Year Bible format, with various passages presented for each day of the year. Rather, it is laid out like any other Bible, and as such can be read and studied and carried to church like any other Bible. The only difference is that there are dates simply printed in the margin, so you know where you are supposed to be reading on any given day, with the other passages for that day printed at the bottom of the page for quick reference. But you rarely need those references, as it also comes with three ribbon markers, to keep your place in the Old Testament, Psalms, and New Testament each day. And if you follow through with the daily readings as presented, it will take you through the Old Testament once, and the Psalms and New Testament twice each year.

So to make a long story not as long, as I stood there holding this Bible in my hand, I became deeply convicted that this is what I needed to do. So I bought it, and have been using it ever since, but still with notebook and pen in hand, the same notebook which will be the source material for many future posts here.

So I am not saying that you must use the "ESV Daily Reading Bible" as I am, (perhaps the ESV itself isn't really your "thing"), but I would encourage you to read whatever Bible you cherish early and often. I once read a church sign, (which usually makes me cringe, but this one happened to be ours), which said, "Parents need to spend quality time with their kids - lots of it." That was referring to the oft-quoted cop out of parents who spend "quality time" with their kids, i.e., not very much. But I think it also applies to what I am saying here. You need to spend quality time in the Word - lots of it.

Footnote: If you enjoyed The Screwtape Letters, I would highly recommend the audiobook version, as read by John Cleese, of Monty Python fame. He is perfect for the task. Also, in my research, I learned that The Screwtape Letters movie is in the works, from the same producers who brought us The Chronicles of Narnia, due out next year. I'm there.

Feels Like "Forty"

Here I am, back again, less than a week later. So those of you who made a bet with your friend or spouse or both that you would not see me again until September, pay up.

I have been attending Bloomington Baptist Church (in Bloomington, MN) for about 42 years, and the highlight of those years took place back in the summer of 2004, when our youth pastor, Cliff Johnson, had this crazy idea to engage our church, that is, our entire congregation, in forty days of 24/7 prayer, built around a theme and logo of the word "Forty". I won't go into detail, but as I have mentioned before, there was at that time a feeling of unity and purpose in our church that I have not felt before or since. Until now...

Sunday, July 29th, we experienced a concert of prayer, as we gathered in groups of 3-6, and prayed through various topics, interspersed with times of worship. A very powerful time, but we were just getting started. Then we had the business meeting for which the prayer meeting was much needed preparation. At said meeting, we voted to call a Senior Pastor, Bob Bakke, and an Associate Pastor, Bryan Moak, after having been without a Senior Pastor for a year and a half, and with no permanent professional staff since the beginning of this year. This had to be the first time that I saw people openly weeping in a church business meeting (at least with tears of joy). It marked the end of a very turbulent past, and the beginning of a very exciting future.

And you can imagine my surprise and delight when my Daily Reading Bible brought me to II Chronicles 29-30 on that date. There I read an account of a people celebrating a new beginning in the temple of the LORD, just as I had experienced hours earlier. My jottings from that day...

"Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly." - II Chronicles 29:36

Like them, we too rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it is unexplainable apart from God. And like them, it was done quickly. I know that a year and a half may not be anyone's idea of "quickly", but the staff as it was voted on in its final configuration went from dream to possibility to reality within a matter of weeks, not months or years.

"The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the kings and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD." - II Chronicles 30:12

Like Judah, we also desire the hand of God to be upon us to give us one heart to do the things - and here is where we move from Old to New Testament church - that Jesus commands us to do by the Word of the LORD. It is not for us to sit back now and watch these two pastors work their magic. As Bob has said on many occasions, we are all in this together (my apologies to anyone who now has "High School Musical" stuck in their head), and we are each called to step up and do our part in what God has in store for us.

This last Sunday, 8/5, was our first official Sunday with Bob as our new Senior Pastor, and the feeling of joy and anticipation was palpable. And imagine my surprise and delight when my Daily Reading Bible led me that day to Ezra 9. My jottings...

"But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery." - Ezra 9:8

This one isn't quite the perfect analogy, but a number of words jumped out at me.

"But now for a brief moment" - this is the part I hope is not part of the analogy, but I am thankful for each moment he gives us going forward in ministry together.

"favor has been shown by the LORD our God" - again, I truly believe this, because what I have just seen happen could not have happened apart from divine intervention.

"a remnant" - remnant may be a little strong, but I feel that those who are still here were meant to see this, and those who left, we need to invite back.

"a secure hold within this holy place" - God once again has given us a secure hold within this holy place, which only a few short months ago was threatening to crumble.

"brighten our eyes" - in order that we might look up and look ahead, after so long looking down and looking behind.

"and grant us a little reviving" - here I used the ESV version purposely, because it uses the word "reviving" instead of "relief". I pray for revival within and without our walls, and our giant baby steps (an oxymoron, I know, but I feel them both) of the last few weeks are just the beginning.

"in our slavery" - like I said, not a perfect analogy, but if I had to make it fit, I would say in our slavery to self and to mediocrity of ministry and mission.

So to wrap it up and to bring it full circle, I don't know if anyone else feels this strongly, but when I walk into our church now, for the first time in over three years, I can truly say, "It feels like 'Forty'".

Footnote: Astute readers may be scratching their heads (if I actually had blog readers with multiple heads) over my mention of the "Daily Reading Bible", after I had previously come out so strongly against schedules and deadlines and quotas in my daily Bible reading routine (see "Is God Relentless?"). I will explain this change of heart in my next post. There, a cliffhanger to bring you back!

A New Philosophy

A new philosophy? What? Zen Buddhism? Nothing so drastic or as interesting as all that (though I found "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" to be a good read). No, just a new blogging philosophy. Rather than a once-a-month (or less) 2000-word tome, I am moving to a more quick-hit, 500-850 word thought-for-the-day style of posting. Note that I did not say thought-for-every-day, so if that is what you are looking forward to, then prepare yourself for disappointment. But if you check back every few days, there may be a better than 50/50 chance that the infuriatingly stagnant title at the top of the page will be new and different. How is that for a solid commitment?

I had many candidates for my first thought-for-the-day post, including continuing with the "Watching the Watchdog" theme of my last post, which, truth be told, provides enough blog fodder to post daily until the Lord returns. But I will keep my topics varied, and the first follow-up Watchdog post will come later. It is stinkin' hilarious. So then I was going to report on the goings-on at our church last Sunday. A glorious day, but that also will have to wait.


Because last night at about 6:05pm, the 35W bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed right here in my hometown, and it gave me pause. I feel I would be remiss if I did not at least mention the tragedy that occurred right in my own backyard (metaphorically speaking) just last night.

Many of you may have been touched by this, knowing someone either involved, or nearly involved in the bridge collapse. A son-in-law of a good friend was on the bridge when it collapsed, but he survived. Back problems, and short-term memory problems, but survived and expected to recover. Praise God.

I also know someone who was returning home from Bethel where he works, and passed over that bridge at 6:00pm, about 5 minutes before it collapsed. Think about that for a second. Had he decided to finish up one more thing at work, and set out five minutes later, his life and that of his family could be very different right now.

So what to say about this? The first question on everyone's lips is, "why"? In times of tragedy like this, as was also the case on 9/11, my mind is drawn to the following passage of Scripture:

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
-Luke 13:1-4

As words of comfort go, I don't know that these would be the first words out of my mouth if I am sitting with someone who is dealing with a loss through this tragedy. And if that is you, my heart goes out to you. This little story from Scripture may not answer the question "why" for you, but it should eliminate some wrong answers to that question.

I would ask you to think for a moment about where you were last night at 6:05pm. I had caught a ride early with Betsy, and was sitting outside the back door of church (as I had forgotten my wallet and thus my card key), waiting for someone to show up and let me in for prayer meeting. Where were you? And why were you there, and not crossing the 35W bridge over the Mississipi River at that moment? And out of all the thousands of cars that had passed over that bridge that day, why were those particular people in those particular cars on that particular bridge at that particular time when the bridge support gave way and the bridge fell into the river? I don't know.

But someone asked Jesus an almost identical question, as recorded in Luke 13, in reference to some Galileans who had met an unfortunate end at the hands of Pilate. Jesus addresses the Galilean question, and then adds one of his own. Evidently there were eighteen people in the wrong place at the wrong time when a tower of Siloam collapsed on them, and they died - an event known to his hearers, as he refers to them as "those eighteen who died".

And Jesus anticipates the "why" question regarding both the Galileans and the Eighteen. Were the Galileans worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? Were the eighteen more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem, who did not happen to be standing under that tower when it fell? Jesus' answer is the same in both cases - "I tell you no, but unless you repent, you too will all perish."

So what is he saying here? Doesn't this seem a little insensitive? I think what he is saying is that it just as easily could have been you standing under the tower of Siloam. There is no inherent goodness within you that kept you away from the tower, just as there was no inherent evil which caused the eighteen to be standing under it. So the next time tragedy strikes, there is no inherent reason that it couldn't be your turn. So repent, lest you too perish.

So fast forward 2000 years to the 35-W bridge. The last count I saw listed 4 dead and 20 missing as a result of the collapse. Were they more guilty than all the others living in Minneapolis? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you too will all perish.

Caribou Coffee has a slogan - "Life is short. Stay awake for it". I would amend that slightly - "Life is short. Repent." Probably won't sell much coffee...