Blessed are the Meek

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

___________________________________________

The following is taken from a commentary on the Sermon on the Mount called, "Re: Defined," that I started writing following a Bible study I taught in 2005. It's close to being completed but, then again, it's been close for years now...

___________________________________________

Meekness is a trait of spiritual strength and maturity. To be meek means to be in harmony with God, completely obedient, and wise in speech. It is usually good advice to pay close attention to the words of someone meek. One can usually trust them. Meekness flies in the face of pride, and humans have been full of pride since the Garden. We think of the proud and mighty as the great conquerors. Just look at Alexander, the Caesars, Napoleon, Nebuchadnezzar, Hitler, etc. But those people will not inherit the earth. It is the meek ones, the ones who mourn their sin and seek the righteousness of God (see Psalm 37).

This verse is tied in subject matter to the verse above it and the verse below it. In verse 4, those who mourn recognize that they are spiritually broken and empty apart from God. In verse 6, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are seeking to be filled. Meekness comes from mourning. It is very humbling to see one's own brokenness. Meekness is required to seek God's nourishment, for you must recognize that you have a need that you cannot fill. Just like mourning for sin or being poor, humility/meekness is seen as weakness. The meek get run over by the assertive ones. It's happened throughout history. But being constantly aggressive means being in constant danger of failure.

I liken this to a stoplight scene. The car of a meek driver sits next to that of an aggressive driver, who is constantly revving his engine, trying to get the meek driver to drive like him. As the light turns green, the meek driver slowly accelerates through the intersection, looking ahead for any obstacles. The aggressive driver steps on the gas and peels out of the intersection, hitting a car turning right from a side street.

Humble people are weak, though not for the same reasons as the world's reasons. Meek people recognize their weakness and seek the strength that God provides. So, even though they are weak, they are stronger than the proud. Paul praised God for his weakness in 2 Corinthians 13 and so should we.

There is no greater example of being meek and gentle than our Savior's trial and crucifixion. Isaiah 53, as elaborated on by Peter in 1 Peter 2:20-23, says, "But if when you do what is right and suffer [for it] you patiently endure it, this [finds] favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting [Himself] to Him who judges righteously;" Jesus did not ask for money or fame. He used the spotlight to teach, then often retreated to a place of solitude. His birth was not one of royal grandeur but of humble gentility. He was raised in Nazareth, a boondocks town in an oft-insulted region of Israel. Meekness also defined His very incarnation, as Paul laid out in Philippians 2:5-9.

I've known quite a few people who fit the description of a meek person, most of them in churches. I admire them because they have a self-control that I do not have. They bear with my boasts and still speak to me with love. I see a model of Christ in them that I want to emulate. Fretting comes from a lack of trust in God. Meekness is a total trust in God because a meek person has recognized their inability to provide for themselves. Let the proud man worry and the meek have peace. Do not fret because you are being overrun by the wicked and proud ones for you, not they, will prevail.

Blessed are the meek, who cannot be weak
For in their weakness they are strong
God will provide, and though cast aside
Their heart still sings a trusting song

So do not fret, nor harbor regret
When the proud ones pass you by
There is a place, far past time and space
An inheritance bigger than the sky

Be God's!

Just Some Random Toughts on Rest

Scattershooting while wondering if it is better to be a jack of all trades or a master of one.....

"I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest." (King David, in Psalm 55:6)

PHYSICAL REST — The concept of "rest" has risen to the forefront of my life in recent years. What is "rest" and what does it take to truly feel "rested? It seems that everybody has a different way to relax and rest. There doesn't seem to be one perfect way. Some people find their rest through sleep, though I've found that too much sleep can tire me out as much as too little sleep! Others relax on a chair by the pool, lake, ocean, etc. for hours on end. Some people go on short road trips. I know of at least one person who finds rest in being alone and another who cannot rest if they are alone.

How do you rest your weary body and mind? Do you ever feel fully rested? Completely recharged? I must confess that I haven't found a lot of physical rest in past years. I've tried so many things to relax but they fail to completely recharge my batteries. My recent vacation to California was as close to restful as I've come in recent years. I almost stayed!

SPIRITUAL REST — Our Savior said, "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." The Savior's rest is wonderful and reassuring. It eases my weary heart and takes a massive spiritual and emotional burden off my shoulders. But it doesn't make my joints stop hurting nor my head. It doesn't clear up by blurry vision or buy me a few extra days of vacation. It's wonderful for the soul but doesn't make the pain and fatigue go away. After all, the pain of work is part of the curse on mankind after Adam and eve's sinned.

Our God made a provision for physical rest a long time ago when He gave Israel a Sabbath Day. Its intention was to provide people a day of physical rest every week. The people were not to do any work on that day, a restriction which even included gathering food. The seventh day was a sacred day, a holy day (holiday) from labor. Six days man was to work, just like the Lord in creation, but the seventh was for rest. I wonder, how did the ancient Hebrews rest? What did they do? Were there games or sports? Was there a lot of sleeping in? Did they sit by the pool... err... sand... and soak in some shady sun for a few hours? If so, were they ready to go back to work Sunday morning?

If so, why doesn't that work so well for me? Maybe I need another vacation.....


Be God's.

An Upside Down World

Have you ever had one of those moments when a truth you learned as a kid ... and always kept with you ... suddenly becomes new again? What about a Bible verse you've always known but never fully understood until now?

Over the past year I've been wowed by the makeup of the kingdom of heaven. The first shall be last, the poor shall by rich, the meek shall overcome the proud, turn the other cheek, pick up your cross, etc. Jesus came and turned the known world upside down. He said all the wrong things and, as N.T. Wright famously wrote, He "blessed all the wrong people."

He flipped the world's concept of righteousness and in the process revealed the true way of righteousness. The true way doesn't seem glorious. But the true way is the only way to pure glory.

Blessed are the poor in spirit...
Blessed are those who mourn...
Blessed are the merciful...
Blessed are...

As Christians living in a hostile culture, we often want to play by that culture's rules. We want to fight back when attacked. We want to boast of our accomplishments. We want to have a church building that's way bigger than the other church buildings. We're not looking at the world from an upside down perspective. We want to interact with the world right side up. But in doing so we are becoming like the world and not like our Lord. He stayed upside down and called you and I to do the same.

I know I'm not doing it as well as He'd like. So I keep on trying. How are you doing?

Be God's.

About Performances

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." -- Apostle Paul to the Galatian churches

It never ceases to amaze me how the kingdom of God is completely upside down (or is it right-side up?) compared to the kingdom of this world. After all, blessed are the meek and oppressed. Cursed are the proud and mighty. And then there is this: salvation and good standing before God is not swayed by anything we do. What was that? Performance doesn't matter? What about all those "do's" and "don'ts"? Well, they don't affect how God sees you. He knows that you and I can't cut it as holy people. We do not have that ability inherent within ourselves. There are none righteous, King David crooned a long time ago.

In the kingdom of this world we judge each other based on what we do, not who we are. If a man has great wealth and gives a lot to charity, we consider that man to be blessed. "He must be doing things right!" we think. Never mind the six marriages, the live-in girlfriend, the lives he has trampled on his way to the top. Nope. We don't judge based on his character. We judge based on the external things.

But in the kingdom of heaven, the King calls us to accept one another based on who we are — despite what we do. We will all mess up and fall. It's inevitable. But we are children of the King — adopted sons and daughters of God the Father — who are deeply flawed but dearly loved. And because we are sons and daughters, we should acceot one another, even if we stumble and fall. This is the message of grace. That the unacceptable would be accepted; the dead resurrected; and the unlovable found to be lovely. Permanently.

It's not based on performance. It's all about God's perfect grace. As the Chris Tomlin song, "How Can I Keep From Singing?" states, "I am loved by the King; and it makes my heart want to sing!"

Be God's!

.

Christmas Time is Here... Kinda

Okay, maybe Christmas is nowhere near according to the calendar but it sure is nearby when you enter Garden Ridge store in Lewisville, TX. Garden Ridge has already started transforming about a fifth of its store into a winter wonderland even though the thermometer outside reads 99 and the calendar says it's August 24th. In a surreal moment today, I walked through aisle after aisle of ornaments, Christmas trees, and outdoor lights. There were also nutcracker dolls, angels and other assorted holiday items. In August!

I was excited!

Crazy? Probably. But I love Christmas. I think it's the one time of year I feel really happy and at peace. Maybe it is those lights and ornaments. Or maybe the trees and Christmas tunes that warm heart and hearth alike. Just last week I found myself listening to streaming Christmas music during a hectic week at work. It calmed me down and put my heart someplace else — someplace wonderful.

So maybe Christmas Eve is still four months away (today!) but it was still fun to walk those aisles and enjoy the beauty and majesty of the season.

Of Lip Biting and Bazookas

I have an assignment for you (if you choose to accept it, that is!). I want you to read the following verses out loud twice and then read on in this post........ got it? Cool.

"But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion." (1 Timothy 1:5-6)

"Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness." (2 Timothy 2:14-16)

"But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless." (Titus 3:9)

Have you ever wondered why we sometimes fight over unimportant things? Why we like to get our britches in a bundle, our tempers in a tangle, over matters that never threaten our peace and well being? I often wonder why. Because we do it all the time. Goodness knows, I'm guilty. Even those who know better than to squabble -- who are far more mature than I -- tend to guard their soapboxes with bazookas instead of rubber band guns. Even maturing believers can get caught up in worthless arguments and divisive attitudes.

But a godly person....

There should be but one soapbox in the believer's life that warrants a bazooka: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every other soapbox must be guarded with rubber bands, pebbles, or maybe just a few choice glares. I've been working on a few of those glares... But a bazooka? Not worth it.

Many people I know have created the equivalent of "soapbox citadels" that they guard with the biggest guns they can get their hands on. After all, the First Amendment guarantees us the right to buy big guns, right? So why not use them to defend our soapbox citadels? But what troubles me most about the state of the Church in America (not to point at any specific group, mind you!) is that the soapbox we defend the least is the only one we should be concerned about defending -- the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The Gospel -- pure, unfiltered, tested, true, simple -- has been attacked and nibbled away by satan, society, and other forces while we are busy defending our soapbox citadels. In fact, I fear the Gospel soapbox resembles a minimum security prison more than a citadel! In this postmodern age, we have let the Gospel be redefined by our culture to be only a series of good teachings on how to better our lives instead of a radical departure from our lives to follow one man.

Why have we done this to the Gospel? Why have we gotten caught in disputes over politics and theology, personality and polity? Why do we leave churches because the preacher doesn't teach us a Greek word every Sunday? Why do we complain about the sound or song selection every service instead of thinking of the worship of others first?

Come to think of it, why don't we think of others first? Wouldn't Jesus? Shouldn't we?

Bottom line is that there is too much soapbox fighting and not enough lip biting going on in the Church these days. And I think the Church as a whole is suffering. We are willing to take a stand for the unimportant while the most important often gets neglected. We even deny fellowship to those who encroach upon our soapboxes. And we can often be verbally violent towards one another over maters that should be considered trivial, fruitless or divisive.

One major mark of maturity is the ability to control the tongue (see James 3). And those who are truly Growing Young, who are learning to have faith like a child and to walk in the ways of their Father, will learn that there is greater blessing in lip biting than in self expression. This is a lesson that I think I'm finally learning after years of loose tongue disease. Some people demand their right to self expression. I'm desperately trying to use my right to refrain. Most of the time, anyway.

Be God's... and guard the Gospel!

.

Quotable

Just ran across this gem of a quote while searching for something above my desk at work. So I thought I'd share the wit and wisdom of one of the saints of old.

"If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself."

-- Saint Augustine

.

I Lift My Eyes...

I've been doing a lot of reflecting lately about my vacation to California and Oklahoma. This verse came to my mind when I was out there:

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?" (Psalm 121:1)

I miss the mountains. One of the things I noticed when I was in Southern California was the abundance of what I'm calling "horizon candy." Everywhere I turned I found myself looking up. Here in North Texas, up means "tree tops." But in SoCal, it meant mountains. In fact, I missed the mountains so much that when I got back I knew that there were only a few places I wanted to go for the final four days of my vacation and each of my options contained mountains.

There is just something super spiritual about living near hills or mountains. Now, I don't mean to demean the plains or the woodlands, but looking up reminded me of two things: that God reigns from up there and I live down here. It put my life into perspective. Of course it is true that God reigns on both heaven and earth and inhabits all places in between but it is also true that often I lose my perspective and forget to look up to the mountains and call upon the Higher Power for help, comfort, or companionship. Too often I think of myself as ruler of mountain and valley when I actually rule neither. God does. And I live in the valley. But the good news is that God gives me glimpses of the mountains to tell me that all of life is not valley.

One day I'll live up in those mountains. Where God has His throne. Where the temperature is heaven and the trees grow tall and strong.

I miss looking up at the mountains.


.

The Desolate Beauty of the Desert

The 4th day of my California trip was very busy, morning to night. I left my sister's apartment in Riverside about 5am to drive an hour east to the Palm Springs valley, then 30 minutes north to Joshua Tree National Park, in hopes of photographing a desert sunrise. Little did I know that the sun rises earlier on the West Coast (like 5:45am) than it does here in North Texas (6:40am). I was caught off guard!

Nevertheless, the desert sunrise was beautiful and the first half of my eastern excursion memorable and exciting. Here's is the video blog from the first half of Day 4. I'm working on the second half right now.



.

Video Blogs are Back!

I've been busy the past few evenings editing my video diaries from my trip to California. I have the first three days ready to go and they are posted below.

Being an artist has its challenges along with its blessings. Being a photo artist meant that my sister had to constantly stop for me to take pictures or shoot video. I felt bad slowing down our various travels the first three days but capturing my vacation and its various elements was really important to me. I am really thankful for Jennifer's understanding, because the pictures turned out nice and the videos have been surprisingly fun.

Days 4-6 were more video-heavy because I was by myself exploring Southern California's high desert and southern coast and only had to worry about slowing down myself!


Here's Day 1-3 for your enjoyment.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

.

A Photographer's Lessons

My last few trips have been very photo-heavy and I have taken a few "lumps" along the way to becoming a better photographer. Mistakes can teach if you let them and I badly want to learn. Here are a few things I have discovered lately about photography.

1. Always save your best pre-planned shots for the 25 minutes surrounding sunrise and the 25 minutes after sunset. The lighting and colors at these times cannot be recreated at noontime. I have found in recent weeks that sunlight gets to be too harsh within 30-45 minutes of sunrise to make for great photography. Sleeping in is good... if you don't plan to take photos!
   
2. If you're going to shoot into the sun, be prepared to receive lens flare as a result. I've used a "lens hood" before, which is a little shell that attaches to the end of the lens, and it usually works. Usually.
   
3. Always study the road map before you head out to take photos at a particular place. I set out this morning to capture the sunrise at a wind farm, just outside the refuge. But the highway i thought went straight north towards the farm instead took a surprise left, away from my photo target. By the time I worked my way back towards the wind turbines it was too late and the sun had risen too high.
4. Pick one good photo target per sunrise or sunset. Time is limited and sky color doesn't usually last very long. Also, the time spent traveling can frustrate the wannabe photographer, leading to missed opportunities.
5. Always keep your eyes open for new ways to shoot familiar settings. I saw five or six lake dams this weekend, each one was unique, but who can handle a bunch of boring dam photos? So I worked on zooming in to sections of the dam, changing the camera angle, over and underexposing, and a few other ideas. While I missed more than I hit, it made photographing dams an artistic challenge for me — and a fun one, at that!

More lessons learned as they come up......


.

Roughing It

I just got home after spending the weekend at one of my favorite places: the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in SW Oklahoma. Located just northwest of Lawton, the WMNWR (err... Refuge) is a marvel to behold — buffalo and longhorn cattle roaming free between 2000-foot rugged mountains. I pitched a tent for the weekend and "roughed it," cameras in hand as always. I took well over 400 photos in the 48 hours I was there. Here are a few. I'll post video and more pictures later.

-- Brother John

A beautiful waterfall was found off the beaten path in Medicine Park, a small town next to the refuge. This photo was taken at about 9pm with an lengthy exposure, creating so-called "silky water."

I love sunsets not only for the color of the sky but also for the shadows and shades the setting sun creates. Who would've thought that 2,000-plus-foot peaks could rise from the plains of Oklahoma?

Late at night on Quanah Parker Lake. Just because the sun sets doesn't mean the time for beautiful photography has to end! I love shooting at night because of the colors and shades.

.

Day 4: Survivorman

A tribute to one of my favorite Discovery Channel shows, Survivorman, and its host Les Stroud. There are just a few differences, however...

(I guess another part of "growing young" is having fun!)

.

Day 4: A Video Blog

.

Well, I'm finally back in North Texas -- just in time to go on another adventure! This afternoon I am headed to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge near Lawton, Oklahoma, for a three-day solo camping trip. Of course, I plan to take along my cameras with me and document the whole thing. It should be fun. I love the history, eccentricities, and geography of the Refuge.

But for today I have posted my first offering of video blogs (not the first one I did, however) from my California trip. Monday morning, August 3rd, I traveled an hour west of Riverside to the Coachella Valley area, where Palm Springs and the San Andreas Fault meet. It's a beautiful, yet very arid place. This blog was about the sunrise. I'll post more blogs when I have time to edit.

Enjoy!

-- Brother John

.

Thoughts From the Plane

This is my first Internet access of my trip (outside of a quick Sunday e-mail check) so I have five days' worth of thoughts to share with you. Alas, it is after midnight (Pacific time) and I will only share a few observations I had during my three-hour flight from DFW to Santa Ana airport on Friday morning.

• Clouds are amazing. We rose above the cloud line just west of Fort Worth and, for a while, it appeared the ground was a soft, comfy, cotton-y blanket. You know, the kind you like to jump on after a long, hard day and sink into that blissful place between awake and sleep? Yeah, THAT comfy.
  
• The earth's crust is amazing. I absolutely love to stare out the window on flights and watch the ground go by underneath me. I see rivers snake their way across plains and carve out canyons . I see mountains in the distance slowly get bigger until we are right above them and then they slowly pass away. I saw volcanoes in New Mexico (extinct ones, of course!) and sand dunes in Arizona. I saw the Colorado River give life to arid lands and the San Andreas Fault slice through the California desert. We have a wonderful world of many faces. God made them all and has given them to us. Amazing.
  
• That many parents have lost control of their children from a very early age. I was surrounded on this flight by two mothers and their combined four children. One little girl kicked my seat and played with her tray the whole flight. Her mom kept threatening her with this punishment and that but the little girl wouldn't stop. She eventually got some toy car or something taken away from her for three days. or so the mom promised. Another mom apologized to my row-mate and I after we landed for the behavior of her two kids -- who wouldn't stop fighting the entire flight. What is going wrong with parents these days? None of the kids looked older than seven. Parents apologizing for their kids?
• That time zone changes can really mess up a biological clock.
  
• How marvelous is the ability to fly like a metal bird in the sky. God didn't give us wings, but He DID give us the ability to discover His natural law and see that when air passes over a certain shape, it provides lift. And that rudders not only work on water but on air, too! Amazing.

Be God's!

.

California Dreamin'

.

It's the end of Day 5 of my California vacation and I count myself a blessed man to be in such a beautiful place. I left last Friday morning for Southern California to spend a few days with my sister and her boyfriend in Riverside, and some friends in Palm Springs. During the times I wasn't visiting or being kindly chaperoned around the area, I rented a car and played tourist, driving around Southern Cali and taking pictures -- still and video. So far, with one partial day to go, I have been to the beach, mountains, desert, and wine country (Temecula Valley). Today I visited a Spanish mission along the coast, Mission San Luis Rey, which is the largest of the California missions and certainly among the most beautiful. Yesterday (Monday) I drove a few hundred miles around the high desert north of Palm Springs and mountains south of it. It was amazing.

This trip has been a real Godsend for me for many reasons. Not only is it a chance to get away from the Texas heat and humidity (Palm Springs humidity was 5 percent yesterday!), it is a mental and emotional refresher. I haven't had a mental break, save for Christmas and Thanksgiving, since 2003, when I was a small town newspaper editor and working my way through seminary. The Newton family went to Nova Scotia, Canada, that May. Sadly, THIS newton's vacation ends tomorrow night when my plane touches down at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport. I'm seriously considering taking off by car to go someplace else cool and scenic on Thursday but maybe my senses will take over by then!

Here are just a few of the 948 photos I have taken so far here in California. I also have about an hour and 45 minutes of video footage to edit down.

Be God's and pray for a safe flight!

Brother John

A forest brook I discovered off the side of the road in the San Jacinto Mountains, east of L.A.

The Mission Inn is the top tourist attraction in Riverside, CA, a hotel built in the late 1800s in the Spanish style. It is a beautiful place with photographic potential around every corner.

A "Joshua Tree" may look weird but it is one of very few things that will grow in the high desert. I liken it to a cross between a pine tree, saguarro cactus and yucca plant. It's a real tree, and Joshua Tree National Park is... as you might suspect... full of them.

I have been really impressed by the sunsets here in Southern California. My sister showed me this little park near her apartment where we can look over the San Bernardino valley and see the majesty every evening. The smog from L.A. doesn't hurt the beauty, either!

This is Mission San Luis Rey, the so-called "King of the Missions" in Oceanside, CA. It was my destination on Day 5 of my trip.

Finally......

The Pacific Ocean. Taken at Treasure Island Beach in the city of Laguna Beach on Day 2 of my trip. It was an amazing sight for me. Grapevine Lake is nice and all, but this one's way better. Dude.

.