The video below is the third in a series of #dearcoronavirus videos created by a network of Seventh-day Adventist communicators in Europe and beyond. The aim is to present hope in the midst of challenge. The videos have been translated and shared in multiple languages and can be found by simply typing #dearcoronavirus into your search engine. It is planned to add a new one each week.
Gotcha Covered
There’s something comforting about clouds overhead: a sense of protection, closeness, beauty you can smell, taste and feel. It makes you wanna magically jump up there and play until you fall asleep, bubble-wrapped in bliss. That’s been the SLO cloud scene lately.
I recall life insurance (death assurance) brokers trying to sell me whole life or term policies, in my younger years, with promises of these same good feelings. You’re buying protection, term policies, or protection plus investment, whole life policies. I’ve bought both over time, but now go bare knowing a new beginning is in sight.
Things on this earth are pretty and temporary. The landscape in SLO is rapidly changing as it my profile and skinscape. But, there is a better insurance/assurance. I don’t have to tell you what it is. You know it. I don’t have to sell it to you. It free. You just have to pick it up. Testimonials are dime a dozen, but I will tell you I’ve found this one affordable, worry-free with no expiration date. The terms are simple and clear with no fine lines at the bottom. It’s not like my previous death insurance policies, but is actually a real, genuine, full-on deal . . . I think; no, no, I know. At least that’s what Jesus promised in the flesh. Job also looked for it. I’ll go with them.
“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” Jonn 11:25-26
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. Job 19:25
—Larry Smith
New Start
Life is a series of never ending, and always changing seasons. It cannot be captured in stills . . . or videos, but is lived in real time. Solomon concludes there is a time for everything. The bleak, damp bed in a greenhouse is ground for new starts. The dark, gnarled trunk of a grapevine is the root of vigorous runners that produce juicy, eye-appealing grapes.
Jesus had some things to say, and illustrations, about viticulture. This picture of the current grape scene from Edna Valley is apropos. The husbandman has pruned the dead branches, and the good ones, so that more fruit can be produced. Spring has come and new sprouts are emerging.
Now is the time to grow a new crop. Hang in there. Embrace the sunshine. Lift your eyes to the sky. Reach out to those around you. Spend time on your knees. Grow
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” John 15:4.
—Larry Smith
Glorious Resurrection Day!
Son-Rise
I’ve never found, “The early bird gets the worm”, a visually attractive phrase, but I praise and crave a beautiful sunrise. I don’t find people getting out of bed before dawn . . . unless there’s a strong motivator. We do it to catch a flight, feed a crying infant, finalize Christmas gifts for the kids under the tree, or catch the full unfolding of a sunrise.
We can hardly sleep if we’re expecting a loved one to return, and we’re up at the crack of dawn . . . at the latest. I love the story of Mary Magdalene’s encounter at the tomb as written by apostle John; my favorite epistle. Jesus was Mary’s Lord. He had defended her behavior from her accusers and read her heart. He saved her life. She had given him her attention, and shared her soul in treasured conversations. Savior had real meaning to her.
I see Mary at the foot of the cross, unashamedly grasping what she could, becoming stained by the blood of Jesus. As he was dying on the cross she was dying inside.
This Mary, and others, restrained from the tomb on Sabbath, rushed there before dawn on Sunday, prepared to preserve what she could. With mixed emotions she finds an open and empty tomb. Her conversation with the two angels must have been unusually shocking, but she was so intent on finding Jesus that that it didn’t matter. She just wanted him.
With shock and a teary vision she heard someone else asking what she wanted. A brief exchange with this stranger, and then he calls her name. Mary. Never mind the dawning of the day, the dawn within her heart and soul exploded. It’s him! He’s here and alive! She falls, grasping his feet in worship. I picture Jesus reaching down, lifting her up with an embrace. This is heaven for her . . . forever.
But, Jesus tells her that he cannot stay, he must go to his Father and hers, his God and hers. He identifies so completely with her . . . the God-man. He wants to get the family back together again. He gives her a mission to go tell the good news to the others while he goes. But he promised to come back.
What a beautiful story of love . . . life and death. Today we rightfully celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the lover of us all. How will we now live? Do you feel the explosion of faith, hope and love in your soul? How can you keep it in? You can’t. It will ooze from every pore. Easter eggs, bonnets, bunnies and parades seem so trite.
But who are we to judge? We are to react to Jesus’s plea, and deliberately act. His mission is now our commission. Peter once denied Jesus three times in one sitting. Peter later confirmed to Jesus that he loved him, three times in one setting, and Jesus replied by asking Peter to “Feed my lambs” three times. How many times do we need to be asked? The important thing is that we eventually do it. Use Easter eggs and bunnies if you’re inclined, but always serve them with love. It’s a wonderful main dish and dressing. Let us rise with the Son. We must be going.
—Larry Smith
Asleep on Sabbath
The cross was down as the sun came up on that Sabbath. I’m guessing many has a sleepless night after the crucifixion and probably fell asleep from exhaustion. A well needed rest for the restless.
Sabbaths were made for man . . . and a special one for the Son of Man. How to you make time? My wife occasionally asks if I’ve made time for her. I get it. Put aside every distraction and focus on her . . . the love of my life. We don’t have to DO anything. We just have to BE as one.
Those that have a neat lists of do’s and don’t can be critical of wasting time sleeping on Sabbath but, it’s a day of rest. Rest from labors, rest from doing ordinary things so we can remember special things: free to think and heal, free to worship, free to love and, yes, free to cuddle and sleep in the assurance of victory as Jesus did on this special day.
After healing the crippled at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus was condemned for doing it on the Sabbath. He replied that he and his Father were still working. The keeper of Israel never sleeps or slumbers. I propose that this Sabbath in the grave was the one time Jesus completely rested, from his work as a human and from bearing the weight of our disobedience. God was in charge that day.
We use human words and illustrations to try and understand God and spirituality. They are woefully inadequate, but we must try. We must look with searching eyes. We see through an obscure glass, but when he returns we will see more clearly and hear those things which which we are not ready for now.
It is now clear that Jesus was born as the God-man, lived as we live and died at Golgotha as we must die on earth, so we can live as he lives . . . forever. We are blessed with interludes of restful sleep and the assurance of being resurrected. Let’s put all of our weight on the grounding Jesus, and be at peace. We will rise again . . . as he did! Oh Happy Sabbath!
—Larry Smith
Tried and True Easter Brunch Recipes
Easy Brunch French Toast
1 loaf of French bread--cut into bite-size pieces
½ cup of margarine
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups of milk (almond milk will work)
6 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
About 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon
Melt margarine and brown sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat. Pour
evenly into a 9 X 12 casserole dish and put bread pieces on over butter and brown
sugar mixture. Beat milk, eggs, and vanilla together and pour over the bread
pieces. Sprinkle the cinnamon on top.
Preheat oven at 450 degrees, put French toast in the oven and bake for 30
minutes. Should be brown and bubbly.
Submitted by Yolanda Blake
Orange Glazed Blueberry Scones
2 c. flour, plus more for rolling berries
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c unsalted butter, chilled and cut in chunks
3/4 c. buttermilk or cream
1 egg
1 pint fresh blueberries (frozen works too)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar; mix thoroughly. Cut in butter using 2 forks or a pastry blender. The butter pieces should be coated with flour and resemble crumbs.
In another bowl, mix buttermilk and egg together, and then add to the flour mixture. Mix just to incorporate, do not overwork the dough.
Roll blueberries in flour to coat, this will help prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the scone when baked. Fold the blueberries into batter, being careful not to bruise. Drop large tablespoons of batter on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until brown. Cool before applying orange glaze.
ORANGE GLAZE: (I think this is best when made at least one day ahead.)
1 T. unsalted butter
1 c. powdered sugar, sifted
1 orange, juiced and zested
Combine butter, sugar, orange zest, and juice in heavy pan over medium heat. Cook until butter and sugar are melted and mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and beat until smooth and slightly cool. Drizzle or brush on top of scones and let glaze get hazy and hardened.
Yield: 6-12 scones
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Submitted by Aileen Wells
7 Last Words of Christ
FIRST WORD
“Father forgive them; for they know not what they do,” These words are from St. Luke 23:34. They are the first of the so-called “Last Words of Christ.” In the days ahead we shall, in brief form, look at each one of the seven statements, plus one more that will take us to consider Resurrection.
What a difference this world would be if nations and people accepted and followed Jesus’ example of forgiveness. To forgive implies cessation of retaliation and harm. The struggles and violence that surrounds us would be no more. Rather than armaments and fighting for turf, we could direct our energies toward more productive and helpful endeavors. Unfortunately, what daily takes place in the world and in our section of Los Angeles reminds us that forgiveness is not most people’s first response when they believe someone has harmed them.
We can find contemporary examples of those who chose the better course. On October 2, 2006, Charles Roberts walked into the West Nickel Mines Amish School near Lancaster, Pennsylvania and shot ten young girls, five of whom died. He then committed suicide. Charlie told the girls he was angry with God over the death of his young daughter nine years earlier.
In response to this violent act, the Amish community cast no blame. What they did was to reach out with grace and compassion toward the killer’s family. The afternoon of the shooting, a grandfather of one of the girls who was killed, expressed forgiveness toward Charles Roberts. That same day, Amish neighbors visited the Roberts family to offer comfort. The Roberts family later was invited to the funeral of one of the Amish children. This is how forgiveness is made real! As we reflect on Christ’s response to those who brought Him harm we can find comfort, hope, and assurance that Jesus’ statement of forgiveness reaches out to each of us today. I invite you to pray with me.
Almighty God, we come to You today to express our appreciation for the assurance that our sin is forgiven. It matters not who we are or what we have done,Your mercy and grace is ours. Help us to grasp and cherish this promise that we claim in Jesus’ name, Amen.
SECOND WORD
“Thou shalt be with me in paradise,” Luke 23:43.
How to explain the statement a condemned and dying man directed toward the man next to him who was in the same incomprehensible situation as he. Three convicts. Three condemned under law. Three abandoned souls. Then, of a sudden, on of the hopeless men turned toward the one hanging on the center cross, examined the bruised and broken body, sought to view his face, look into his eyes, and then...and then he spoke, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” How do you explain such an outrageous statement? What kingdom awaited a despised, rejected man whose life was moment by moment ebbing away. Yet here it is: “I want to be in your kingdom, Lord.” “Is there a place for an outcast like I?” “Can your kingdom really be open to one like I?” Jesus responds with a statement that has rung down through the ages; a statement that brings hope to every human heart: “Thou shalt be with me in paradise.” What a promise, a promise that gives us hope. An assurance that lifts us into the very presence of the
Almighty. We shall be with Jesus in Paradise. Think of it! The man on the cross is the Great King. Strip off the trappings of failure. Upon him place the royal robe. Let the crown upon his head descend. The king enthroned, and we, his children, are assured a place. Let us pray.
Jesus, Lord, Savior, we come to you today thankful that we have the opportunity to hold firm firm to the assurance that a great and wondrous kingdom awaits. We honor, we worship the one who once hung lifeless on a cross. The story did not end that day. Wonder of wonders, an unknown man who, like our Lord, was crucified. suddenly, without warning, cried out, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” “Remember me, he said. Like he we say, “Remember us, Lord. Thank you that we have this hope: we can share life with you.” This is God’s good news for every one of us. We have life through faith in our Lord. Amen.
THIRD WORD
“Mother, behold, your son...behold, your mother,” John 19:26, 27.
The third of the “Seven Last Words of Christ” Jesus spoke, not to the group of women, but to his mother and to one of his disciple. The language used is reminiscent of adoption. Tradition tells us the disciple Jesus addressed was John, the Beloved, but, scripture does not identify the disciple. What we are told is that Jesus, in his last moments, reached out to his mother and placed her future and care in the hands of one of His followers. Where were Mary’s other children? Might they not care for their mother? Why not Simon Peter? He had a wife and a house? Why not entrust Aunt Elizebeth, his mother’s sister who was herself near by at the cross, to care for her sister? We have no answer to these questions. What we do know is that round the cross were Jesus’ mother, some other women, and a disciple. The final moments in
Jesus’ life provided opportunity to create a new relationship. The disciple addressed took Mary as his own mother, and she accepted the disciple as a son.
Jesus may have felt the weight of the sins of the world on His shoulders. He also found it essential to assure that a middle-aged widow was provided care. A simple thing? Not at all! Care for those who have need defines mature, responsible behavior. This man who unjustly was hung on a cross, the truly only innocent who ever lived, directed his attention, not to his impossible situation, but to His mother’s need.
We praise Your name, O lord. We give thanks that in Christ we find hope and assurance that we are not alone. You are ever with us. When we walk through the shadows, You are our light. When we fear, You are our help. When we are weak, You are our strength. Be with us now and evermore. Amen.
FOURTH WORD
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34.
Listen again to these words, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? How to imagine such a thing? A father deserting his son, a son who has been forsaken by all who were important to him, a son condemned to death. Why? Was the father ashamed? Disappointed? Had the father disowned him? Common sense, common responsibility rejects such a dishonorable act as to disown ones one flesh and blood in the time of greatest need. There must be more. There has to be more. And there is!
The willingness expressed by Jesus to descend to this earth from the heavenly places is a mystery that confounds the wisest minds and frustrates those who wish to have all knowledge. When we examine Jesus’ life from its beginnings in Bethlehem until the conclusion in Jerusalem we are left with more questions than answers. We are puzzled when we examine Jesus’ teachings and his behavior. Are we really to love our enemies? Is it our duty to reach out to all who have need and relieve their suffering? Why did the religious people of his day reject him? Why did the people cry out for his death and demand he be crucified? This is the one who healed the sick, raised the dead, extended his love to restore the fallen. And the crowd demands he die? And now he, in his great hour of need withers under the threat of his
father’s absence.
Jesus came to earth to restore the human family to where it had been prior to the sin that separated us from our creator. Our parents chose to live apart from the one who gives life. As he hung on the cross that fateful day, Jesus’ experienced the aloneness that countless others felt when apart from their creator. Jesus, that grim day on Golgotha, walked that lonesome valley that when we walk that same road we will not walk alone. Our Lord is with us now and evermore.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, when calamity strikes, when violence erupts about us and unseen forces invade our land and brings mysterious illness upon our nation, we, like others before, cry out, “Our God, why have you deserted us? Where are you in our time of need? We long for you to restore our broken world. Open our eyes, Lord, that we may understand we are not alone. We can trust the one who joined us in our trek. This we know, our Lord was triumphant over death. He was not alone, nor are we. In despair there came forth triumph. We know, for we have read the last chapter. We know how the story ends. Praise God! Amen.
FIFTH WORD
“I thirst.” John 19:28.
The simple statement, “I thirst,” provides opportunity for us to reflect on the one we call Master, Savior, God. Yes, all of these are true, but there is one more attribute: human.
There are three essentials if one wishes to sustain life. In order of priority they are air, water, nourishment. Jesus did not say, “I’m hungry.” He did not say,”I need air.” He said, “I thirst.”
This simple statement of a dying man initiated a strange and memorable response from those who stood by to observe the spectacle. People came to witness a triad execution of the condemned. How could one let that pass? Of a sudden was heard a voice above the moans, “I thirst.” The observers found a pole, retrieved a sponge and saw nearby a bowl near filled with vinegar. A dip of the sponge in the bowl to sop up the vinegar, someone grabbed a sprig of hyssop, a quick squeeze of the sponge to soak the hyssop and the thirst could be satisfied.
Hyssop soaked in vinegar. Think back, far back, when once upon a time hyssop was dipped into a bowl, a bowl not filled with vinegar. That bowl held blood and the hyssop splashed the blood on the door post and the angel of death passed by that home, the home protected by the blood of a lamp. Now hyssop is extended to the Lamb of God. This man who thirsted had spoken the words that brought forth the earth. This Emanuel, God with us, now is offered sour vinegar to quench his thirst. Please join me in prayer.
Our heavenly Father, we, too, thirst. There is within us that which cries out, “Give me Lord, what will satisfy my soul.” We thirst for relief from the anxieties that lurk within us. We thirst to escape from the pressures of life We thirst for the assurance that God is with us and will guide us to make the right decisions that lie ahead. In your mercy give us these, we pray O Lord, that our thirst be satisfied. Amen.
SIXTH WORD
“It is finished,” John 19:30. This is the sixth of what are known as the “Seven Last Words of Christ.”
What more is there to say? His work.was done. Several English words are necessary to translate the one Greek word, telos, a word that fundamentally meant “to carry out” the will of somebody, whether oneself or another. When Jesus spoke this word it was to proclaim His death on a cross was a fulfillment of personal obligations and was itself a religious act. He is the Shepherd who lay down His life for His sheep. He is the lamb, slain from the foundations of the world. This last word of Jesus, as recorded only in John’s gospel, invites us to reflect on Jesus’ suffering and death as a son obeying his father.
Think back to another son, who, in obedience, followed his father to an unknown place for an unknown purpose. Abraham had been commanded by God to go to the land of Moriah and on that mountain sacrifice Isaac, his beloved son, as a burnt offering. There is one significant difference between the Abraham/Isaac event and Jesus’ death on a cross. Abraham, at the moment he was to bring down the knife to take his son’s life, was commanded to stop. A ram, caught in a bush, was sacrificed. Isaac was spared. In Jesus’ case, He is the lamb. He was not spared. By his own choice He gave His life that we might have life. For this He had come into the world. That purpose He fulfilled. He “handed over” His spirit. Jesus’ death was a conscious act. Earlier, in John 10:18, Jesus said, “I have authority to lay down my life....” And so He did.
Let us pray.
Blessed and gracious God we, Your daughters and sons, are grateful that You welcome us into Your phenomenal kingdom. Everything possible has been done to assure that no person is excluded. It is Your will that all be saved. Nothing more could have been done to provide for our salvation. At the cross we see God’s final statement. It is finished. His divine purpose is complete. The way is open for us to be with our Lord, made possible by the life, death and resurrection of our Lord the Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.
SEVENTH WORD
“Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Luke 23:46.
The last cry of a dying man speaks for us all. Is this not our desire that as we come to the final point of life that we submit our spirit into the care of the Almighty? In full confidence Jesus, the Word made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us, the Mighty God, he whose Word in the beginning brought forth life, without condition, announced, “Father, I put all that I am, all that I hope into your hands.
When speaking of his Father-God, Jesus stated that no one knows the Son but the Father and no one knows the Father but the Son, Matthew 11:27. The point is, Jesus had a strong and enduring relationship with the One to whom he was willing to entrust his eternal fate. It is one thing for us to trust someone to feed our dog or mow our lawn. It is quite another to turn our eternal destiny over to another. We better have a solid track record of accountability and competency before we make that move. Jesus had this kind of relationship with the One to whom he, with confidence, stated, “Into Your hands I commend my eternal destiny.”
It is our opportunity, through Jesus the Messiah, to develop the same confidence in the Father as did the Son. The Son, whom to know is to know the Father. I invite you to join in this prayer:
Our loving and trustworthy Father, we, your children, seek to know You as we would know our best and most trusted friend. Please be gentle with us as we move through life. We set about to be the kind of person You would have us be and then, our best intentions too often end in failure. When this happens, we are confident that when we ask you to forgive us our request is granted. Jesus forgives us our sin. He never gives up on us. Scripture assures us that if we want to know what You are like and how You feel toward us, we can always look to your Son. You and Your Son are the same. If we want to know what You are like, we can depend on Jesus to give us the answer. If Your Son was confident to give his life into Your care, so can we. Thank you. Amen.
—Larry Downing
Cross & Cornerpost by Larry Smith
This is “Good Friday”, a day to remember the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. It was a bad, sad Friday at the time. His disciples were scattered, confused and at the end of their ropes. Mary, his mother at the foot of the cross was weeping at the death of her promised firstborn. Another Mary and many others were shaken, crushed and dying inside. The earth itself was quaking, the temple veil between the the holy and most holy place was torn from top to bottom . . . a broken, sacred wall to protect and separate the sinner from the savior.
Good Friday? Hardly. Jesus crying out to God, why, why have you forsaken me? No words of, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” Only sounds of the rumbling storm, clashes of lightning and the mixed crying with laughter of the crowd. Good Friday or Good Grief Friday?
We need the rest of the story before we can rest and call it good. Linger with the pain of that Friday so you can fully appreciate the Sabbath rest, and the joy of Resurrection Sunday. To be continued.
"The Swan" performed by Jill
Love is the Bridge
Shared by Jackie Starr
April, A.D. 31
“She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
Jesus and the disciples again stay the night at Bethany, and Jesus spends the day visiting friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Though He has spoken often of the trials before Him, He shares again what lies ahead. His words are dipped in sorrow. Here are friends whose gentle, loyal appreciation buoy His spirit and resolve. He relaxes, spending the day in private prayer and conversation, a respite from the gathering storm before Passover.
In the evening Jesus is the honored guest at the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, whom Jesus had healed. Martha, marvelous hostess, serves the men in one room as Lazarus, the celebrity, reclines at a table with the disciples and other guests. Mary helps a little, but as much as possible she is where she
unswervingly chooses to be, near the Master, soaking up His words. The room resounds with animated talk.
Toward the end of the meal, Mary leaves and retrieves an alabaster jar containing a pint of pure nard, an incredibly expensive perfume. Earlier in the day she had observed Jesus’ sadness. Grateful that He has pardoned her sins and rescued her brother from death, she purchased the perfume at great personal sacrifice.
She moves unnoticed behind Jesus and breaks the jar open. Instantly rich fragrance permeates the room, the talking stops, and all eyes rivet on her. Mary pours the perfume on the head and feet of Jesus. Weeping from embarrassment and love, her tears drop like warm rain on His tanned feet. She hurriedly wipes the tears away with her flowing hair.
The awkward silence deepens. The men are offended. In their culture this represents an unseemly public display of intimacy, and her devotion also puts them to shame. One of the twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot, objects harshly.
“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It’s worth more than a year’s wages!” Judas is treasurer of the disciples, keeper of the money bag used to support widows, orphans, and the poor.
As the indignation level rises, Jesus notes Mary’s distress. She fears that her extravagant giving will also be reprimanded by her efficient sister and, possibly, by the Master Himself. It was an impetuous gift.
She attempts a pitiful escape, but Jesus comes to her defense. Lifting His voice above the muttering, He says, “Leave her alone!” The guests quiet. “Why are you bothering her? She’s done a beautiful thing to me. You’ll always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.”
Mary looks at Him with stunned adoration. He understands.
“I tell you for certain,” He continues, “wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told.”
God prizes courteous gestures of appreciation, particularly when they take place before the funeral.
—From Searching for a God to Love by Chris Blake
The Way by Larry Smith
I like to explore the open road and remote trails looking for scenes to capture in my head and on a camera card to share with others. This capture is of a section of Turri Road, one of my favorite drives.
I was trying to capture the feeling of following a broad way to an unknown future. It’s uncanny how we will often ignore what’s at our fingertips and go for some remote destination; the explorer in us. We were made to be curious and also given the basics here and now.
Paul, in Romans 1:20, expressed his frustration in humankind‘s blindness in seeing God and his power in the obvious reality at hand “Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”
I often take a deep breath in awe at the obvious works of the creator. Share that with me today as you see divinity in the things at hand. See God in his handiwork, and in your brothers and sisters; your family. No excuses . . . just do it. This is The Way.
With Loud Singing
He Will Exult Over You With Loud Singing
by Smuts vanRooyen
During the London Olympics, Bert Le Clos stole the hearts of the staid Brits when his son Chad beat the legendary swimming super star Michael Phelps by five-hundredths of a second and won the gold medal. Overjoyed and emotional Bert began to gesticulate wildly in the spectator stands. Six times he shouted the word “Unbelievable!” then added, “Look at him, he’s beautiful. I love you, I love you!”
When he was interviewed by the BBC’s Clare Balding he exulted, “I have never been so happy in my life. It’s like I’ve died and gone to heaven. Whatever happens in my life from now on is just plain sailing.” Then he promised that there would be a huge party at the Le Clos home in South Africa when they got back.
Scores of moved people immediately responded to this father’s enthusiasm for his son on Twitter. One twitter (or is it tweet?) read, “Bert Le Clos you have just made my night.” Another asked, “Is there an olympic event for proud dads? Give the gold to Bert Le Clos.” And still another, “You are a legend. Your love and pride of your son is heart warming.”
Here is a dad who not only recognizes his son’s accomplishments as significant, but sees him as intrinsically beautiful, and subsequently loves him for both. There is a light in his eyes for his son. What a father! Now what I need to know is whether God would ever respond to me in such an over-the-top fashion. Even a more subdued reaction on his part would be just fine. This need of mine to understand where I sit on God’s continuum of worth is not prompted by idle curiosity, or sheer impertinence, but by my
experience of abuse as a child.
My father drummed a sense of existential uselessness and repulsiveness in to my head by beating me about the face with his hard, flat hand. Consequently, it was natural for me to view myself as devoid of any intrinsic value. After my father sent me packing from home I attended a boarding school. There I met a group of boys who suffered from a touch of Adventist Academy Oppositional Disorder. One of their innovative but insightful pranks was to request that we sing “Alas and Did My Savior Bleed” when favorite hymns were solicited. But they had no intention of singing the whole song. Instead they held back in silence until we reached the line that asked, “Did he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?” This wormy phrase they bellowed out with obvious delight and then fell instantly silent again. The effect was profound and made a deep impression on me. I had many a heated argument with them, not because I was offended by their sacrilege, but because they would not concede that we all are worms. How could they be so blind? But it was a providential beginning of a journey for me.
Prominent Protestants besides Isaac Watts, the author of the fine hymn just referenced have, in my view, failed to see the distinction between being unworthy of grace (which is true) and being worthless persons (which is not true). I am unworthy of my wife’s love but I am not a worthless person. I can never be worthy of the death of Jesus but I hold my head high as his creation. When the Psalmist looks at the heavens and is intimidated by their splendor, he asks the question of God, “What is man that you are mindful of him?” The answer is not what one might expect. It’s not, “An insignificant speck, a mere nothing, a meaningless absurdity.” Instead, David declares that we are fantastic, excellent beings made only a little lower than the angels, and crowned with glory and honor.
John Calvin asserted that God does not love us for who we are but for Christs’ sake alone. God, he said, finds the reason to love us totally within himself and never within us. This thinking undergirds his doctrine of predestination, which has a high view of God but a low view of humanity which is totally depraved. The greater God is the more insignificant humanity becomes. Calvin’s noble intention, with which I agree, is to
protect salvation from the pollution of human effort but he nullifies our humanity in the process.
This, in my view, is an overstatement of righteousness by faith without works. It goes beyond the thrust of the Scriptures. We do in faith choose to accept salvation. God would not save us if we did not want him to. He values and activates our inherent power of choice, he also makes our choices viable by presenting us with an option of salvation which we could not generate ourselves. So we cannot take the credit for choosing to receive what we could not accomplish. Nevertheless deep inside every human is a wonderful capacity to consent to what God has done for us in Christ. We are unworthy but not worthless.
Now I grasp that humans in the presence of God deprecate themselves. C.S. Lewis argued that “The real test of being in the presence of God is that you forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small dirty object.” (Mere Christianity p. 124.) True, but of course the question is whether God concurs with such an estimate of ourselves. Certainly in the story of Job this is not the case. Although Job does declare, “I am unworthy - how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth...” God’s response is to challenge him to be the man that he really is, “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you and you shall answer me.” God wants Job to stand and not to wilt before him. It was Elihu, Job’s misguided friend, who argued that God regarded even the best of humanity including Job as worthless. “Is he not the One who says to kings, ‘You are worthless.’” (Job 34:17) But neither Job nor God would accept that label as true. We must not forget
that the story begins with God asking Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?” This is nothing less than an assertion of pride in Job, God clearly is impressed with the man and wonders whether the Devil has noticed Job’s excellence.
As long as any part of the image of God remains in us we are valuable and loveable. A human is a fallen chandelier shattered in to a thousand inconsistencies on the the marble floor. But when the wind moves the lace curtains late in the day, and the long light of the sun shines on our brokenness, a rainbow radiates from our crystal, we are still incredibly beautiful. Stand in amazement before the mother who carries her
emaciated child a hundred miles to the refugee camp. Gasp at the accomplishment of the young man who frees his arm from the rock by cutting it off at the elbow with his pocket knife. Smile with pleasure at the
child who shares her ice cream with her little sister on a hot summer day. There is just cause to wonder at the magnificence within us.
But back to God and Bert. Would God ever cheer for me with Bert’s unbridled joy? Well not if he’s waiting for me to beat Michael Phelps. I’m part of that group that cannot dog paddle well, that belly-flops off the low dive, that pretends the snaps on soda cans are gold medals. But we’ve heard God jubilating wildly in the grandstands over our modest successes and we love it. The prophet Zephaniah shows God’s ecstatic reaction to us by proclaiming:
The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will be quiet in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing!
Loud singing! Quite something, don’t you think?
Time to Grow by Larry Smith
There’s a time to sow, a time to grow and a time to reap. It was a beautiful Sabbath with the weather forecast of a rainy week. So, with a full tank of gas, camera in hand, Linda with her book and Charlie our dog, we took advantage of the opportunity to get out and tour the area.
The pic above is of the south side of LOVR at the junction of Turri Road. Our beautiful rain will certainly turn this field a verdant green in a few days. I will share more pics this week from our drive.
Jesus told us in advance there would troubles so that we would know and have peace. We were also told to look forward to the same joy that was set before him. Now is our time of need. Now is our time to grow. The seeds have been planted and the harvest is to come.
Let’s use this time of physical distancing to get emotionally and spiritually close. We have been blessed to live in the internet age where this is possible. Let’s Zoom. Let’s chat. Let’s let it be known we care and share. Be of good cheer. A time to grow.
Larry Smith
Watercolor by Cristina Sweatt
What Lies Within
Quote shared by Jackie Starr
Remember When? Part 3
Remember When? Part 3
by Larry Downing
SLO Adventist church leaders, through a process I know nothing about, made a decision to purchase a piece of property on Orcutt Road and sell the in-town church. The next major decision came about as a result of the Government decision to decommission Camp Cook, now Vandenberg AFB, and dispose of certain material assets. These assets included buildings that had served as troop barracks. The church purchased one of these buildings with the understanding that church members would take down the building, load the lumber on a truck and transport it to SLO where the building was reconstructed on the Orcutt Road property. The address is now 1130 Orcutt Road where it is the home of the SLO Unity Church.
I do not know the financial arrangements that were involved in purchasing the building. The barracks may have been classified Army Surplus and sold to a charitable organization for $1.00, like was the case when Monterey Bay Academy obtained what was then Camp McQuaid. What lodges firm in my memory bank includes walking through the empty building; the wood floor; the open beams and watching the men pull nails. I still have the two nail-pullers Dad bought and used to good effect to unloosen the nails from the roof beams, flooring, siding and all the other components that went into a long-standing building that housed hundreds of soldiers.
One event stands out. A section of a wall had been loosened from a sidewall. Someone pulled the final nails that held the two sections together and the wall began a perilous journey. Roger Lutz, my Uncle, had been pulling nails from the flooring next to the wall when, without a cry of “Timber” the wall began to collapse on top of him. He looked up, looked doom in the face, gave a leap and sailed through the opening that had once been a window. The floor fell round him. Had he not been near an open space? One squashed uncle. There was talk afterward among the demo crew that they had witnessed a miracle.
I do not know who turned the piles of lumber distributed about the property into a building that housed a church on one end; a school on the other. What I do know is that when I started the fourth grade, we met in a new school located on the East end of a newly constructed building. I think Mrs. Kurtz was the new teacher. (The order of schoolmarms may well be out of whack.)
Mrs. Kurtz, the mother of a boy about my age and a girl a couple years younger, had been round the block a time a two. The shenanigans practiced under the former regime came to an abrupt end. No more taking off from school on bikes, Larry Richards riding his bike with me seated on the handlebars, feet planted firm on the extended wheel bolts. Darell Richards riding his bike. A stop by the SLO County Courthouse to ride the elevator, the only one in town. A quick run by the candy store—LOOK bars were our favorite. No more climbing up on the flat roof of the church, far from Mrs. Smith’s sight.
The general lack of classroom control may have been what caused Mrs. Smith a certain amount of mental upheaval and may have been the catalyst that brought her term to an abrupt, premature end. We students transferred to the Arroyo Grande Adventist School to complete the last two or three weeks of what had been a memorable year.
The Most Mature Thing I’ve Ever Seen
“The one sign of maturity is doing what you have to do when you don’t feel like doing it.”
The Most Mature Thing I’ve Ever Seen
As told to Chris Blake
Every student at Monroe High School knew about it. Nobody did it. Nobody.
Lunchtime at Monroe was consistent. As soon as the bell that ended the last morning class started ringing, the students swarmed toward their lockers. Then those who didn’t eat in the cafeteria headed with their sack lunches toward the quad. The quad was a large, treeless square of concrete in the center of campus. It was the meeting-and-eating place.
Around the quad the various school cliques assembled. The druggies lined up on the south side. The punkers were next to them. On the east side were the brothers. Next to them were the nerds and brains. The jocks stood on the north side next to the surfers. The rednecks were on the west side. The socialites were in the cafeteria. Everybody knew their place.
This arrangement did create some tension. But all the tension generated on the perimeter of the quad at lunchtime was nothing compared with the inside of the quad.
The inside was no-man’s land.
Nobody at Monroe walked across the middle of the quad. To get from one side to the other, students walked around the quad. Around the people. Around the stares.
Everybody knew it, so nobody did it.
Then one day at the beginning of spring, a new student arrived at Monroe. Her name was Lisa. She was unfamiliar to the area; in fact, she was new to the state.
And although Lisa was pleasant enough, she did not quickly attract friends. She was overweight and shy, and the style of her clothes was not . . . right.
She had enrolled at Monroe that morning. All morning she had struggled to find her classes, sometimes arriving late, which was especially embarrassing. The teachers had generally been tolerant, if not cordial. Some were irritated; their classes were already too large, and now this added paperwork before class.
But she had made it through the morning to the lunch bell. Hearing the bell, she sighed and entered the crush of students in the hall. She weaved her way to her locker and tried her combination three, four, five times before it banged open. Standing in front of her locker, she decided to carry along with her lunch all of her books for her afternoon classes. She thought she could save herself another trip to her locker by eating lunch on the steps in front of her next class.
So Lisa began the longest walk of her life—the walk across campus toward her next class. Through the hall. Down the steps. Across the lawn. Across the sidewalk. Across the quad.
As Lisa walked, she shifted the heavy books, alternately resting the arm that held her light lunch. She had grabbed too many books—the top book kept slipping off, and she was forced to keep her eye on it in a balancing act as she moved past the people, shifting the books from arm to arm, focusing on the balanced book, shuffling forward, oblivious to her surroundings.
All at once she sensed something. The air was eerily quiet. A nameless dread clutched her. She stopped. She lifted her head.
Hundreds of eyes were staring. Cruel, hateful stares. Pitiless stares. Angry stares. Unfeeling, cold stares. They bore into her.
She froze, dazed, pinned down. Her mind screamed, No! This can’t be happening!
What took place next people couldn’t say for sure. Some later said she dropped her book, reached down to pick it up, and lost her balance. Some claimed she tripped. It didn’t matter how it happened.
She slipped to the pavement and laid there, legs splayed, in the center of the quad.
Then the laughter started, like an electric current jolting the perimeter, charged with a nightmarish quality, wrapping itself around and around its victim.
And she lay there.
From every side fingers pointed, and then the taunt began, building in raucous merriment, building in heartless insanity: “You! You! You! YOU!”
And she lay there.
From the edge of the perimeter a figure emerged slowly. He was a tall boy, and he walked rigidly, as though he were measuring each step. He headed straight toward the place where all the fingers pointed. As more and more students noticed someone else in the middle the calls softened, and then they ceased. A hush flickered over the crowd.
The boy walked into the silence. He walked steadily, his eyes fixed on the form lying on the concrete.
By the time he reached the girl, the silence was deafening. The boy simply knelt and picked up the lunch sack and the scattered books, and then he placed his hand under the girl’s arm and looked into her face. And she got up.
The boy steadied her once as they walked across the quad and through the quiet perimeter that parted before them.
The next day at Monroe High School at lunchtime, a curious thing happened. As soon as the bell that ended the last morning class started ringing the students swarmed toward their lockers. Then those who didn’t eat in the cafeteria headed with their sack lunches across the quad.
From all parts of campus, different groups of students walked freely across the quad. No one could really explain why it was okay now. Everybody just knew. And if you ever visit Monroe High School, that’s how it is today.
It happened some time ago. I never even knew his name. But what he did, nobody who was there will ever forget.
Nobody.
Tossed by Larry Smith
We all have our favorite passages of scripture. When I was a teenager, being challenged to memorize a chapter, I chose James 1, which I found particularly suited to my personality. I can’t repeat it completely accurate today, but some verses and the thoughts still echo in my head. It bears reviewing today.
“If you are that kind of person, you can't make up your mind, and you surely can't be trusted. So don't expect the Lord to give you anything at all. My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. You know you learn to endure by having your faith tested. But you must learn to endure everything, so you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything. If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won't correct you for asking. But when you ask for something, you must have faith and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm.”
“Any of God's people who are poor should be glad he thinks so highly of them. But any who are rich should be glad when God makes them humble. Rich people will disappear like wild flowers scorched by the burning heat of the sun. The flowers lose their blossoms, and their beauty is destroyed. This is how the rich will disappear, as they go about their business.”
“God will bless you, if you don't give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life, just as he rewards everyone who loves him. Don't blame God when you are tempted! God cannot be tempted by evil, and he doesn't use evil to tempt others. We are tempted by our own desires that drag us off and trap us. Our desires make us sin, and when sin is finished with us, it leaves us dead. Don't be fooled, my dear friends.”
“Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing. He wanted us to be his own special people, and so he sent the true message to give us new birth. My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or to get angry. If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things God wants done. You must stop doing anything immoral or evil. Instead be humble and accept the message planted in you to save you.”
“Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it. If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget. If you think you are being religious, but can't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is useless. Religion that pleases God the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and widows and not let this world make you evil.”
James 1:2-27 CEV