aviv publishing

What a joy and comfort to be home.  As I sit here in my peaceful study, so early in the morning, the sweetness of familiarity surrounds me.  My coffee mug beside me, my Bible and journal and Daily Light all give me pleasure.  But it is the Word of God alone that heals and satisfies the weary heart of this traveler, this one who felt as a spiritual alien in a foreign land the past seventeen days. Oh, to be home in a country in which there is fellowship to be found on every hand—even in the comfort of Christian music at the touch of a radio button.  In spite of the sinfulness which also exists in abundance in our land, we are blessed here in America..

The Daily Light brought truths to my mind today in regard to the vast distance between worldly thoughts of “spirituality” and the truth of God’s Word.  The deception of new world religion has pervaded Europe and much of the U.S. in such a large degree that it parades itself as The Truth, with no plausible competitors—certainly not Christianity!  Its followers are solidly set in their minds against Christianity and their arguments are “educated” and “intelligence-driven”  There were the evils committed throughout time by the Catholic Church, and the wars generated over and over again by opposing religious zealots.  The old arguments used to be “TV evangelists are robbing innocent viewers for personal gain,” or, “there is too much hypocrisy in the church.”  All these arguments can be backed, it’s true, by facts of history and logical thought which can do immense damage to one’s belief system…IF it is simply the system one puts his faith in. A person can feel very alone, and very stupid, surrounded by the cerebral unbelieving Europeans and Americans of secular persuasion today.  Look not for any fellowship of spirituality there.  It is a void.

That is where I found myself as I returned to my quiet study, my Bible and, yes, my coffee mug today.  “Lord, show me the relevance of Your Word again.  Restore and ground me so that if all the world goes running after other gods (of their own making,) I will cling to You without one doubt.”  Then I picked up the Bible.

“He made known His ways to Moses…”  (Ps. 103:7).  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”  (Prov. 3:5-7)  “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  (Ps. 16:11)  “The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.”  (Prov. 4:18)

None of these verses are an argument against the accusations of unbelievers.  The Church has, indeed, had its corruption and wars have been generated by power-hungry religious groups which did include Christians, and hypocrisy has been and still is found in the church.  But the Words found between the covers of the Holy Bible stand alone;  those words act like an ointments of healing to the wounded and weary soul which no meditation or Yoga can do.  Those words, to the believing soul, are food and water to the hungry heart, rest to the weary, a shelter in the stormy blast, and hope to the disillusioned.  Faith in a religious system will not survive.  Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, supported by His Word and the true fellowship of believers, will.

“with great delight I sat in His shadow.”
Song of Solomon 2:3

The moon has her lover
he pursues her
then retreats
leaving her only
to wax and wane—
the longing in his shadow.

The moon has her lover
the embrace
the absence
caress of light
radiance gone—
the longing in his shadow.

The moon has her lover
though he shines seven times dim
in the light of mine.

In the movie Liar, Liar, the main character lied as a way of life until he was magically required to tell the truth... all the time. His every thought, good or bad, was immediately published by his mouth. This movie is found in the comedy section of Blockbuster, but perhaps it belongs in the horror section.

What if your private thoughts were broadcast for the world to hear? I don’t know about you, but my struggle with sin would be obvious to all within ear shot. Without a doubt relationships would suffer. After all, my mouth wouldn’t always paint an attractive picture of my heart.

People would keep a safer distance, but what about God? Where does He stand with His children when they’re less than pure in heart, when their frailty is front and center? While Satan would teach us that God is in heaven poised to beat us with His heavenly hammer, God reveals otherwise in His word. Psalm 73 shows our Heavenly Father poised to bless us with mercy and grace even in the midst of our frailty.

Psalm 73 is a no-holds-barred testimony of a believer named Asaph, whose heart was less than pure. Asaph publishes his frailty and sin and then features God’s faithfulness and compassion.  God’s response to Asaph’s brokenness has refreshed my hope in the midst of my own struggles.

Asaph begins by acknowledging God’s goodness toward the pure in heart, then reveals his own lack of purity. He was envious of the wicked for a number of reasons.

1    Truly God is good to Israel,
    To such as are pure in heart.
2    But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
    My steps had nearly slipped.
3    For I was envious of the boastful,
    When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4    For there are no pangs in their death,
    But their strength is firm.
5    They are not in trouble as other men,
    Nor are they plagued like other men.
6    Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
    Violence covers them like a garment.
7    Their eyes bulge with abundance;
    They have more than heart could wish.

By the time Asaph begins verse 12, his heart has reached its boiling point. His frustration spills over the edges of his heart in verse 13 and 14.

12    Behold, these are the ungodly,
    Who are always at ease;
    They increase in riches.
13    Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,
    And washed my hands in innocence.
14    For all day long I have been plagued,
    And chastened every morning.

Have you been here? I’ve had times where it felt like my choices to follow God in this life have given no return on my effort. I look across the fence of life at the neighbor who openly practices sin and often I see greener grass. Asaph looked across the fence and his heart cried out, “Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain!”

As Asaph vented his frustration, he also admitted his thoughts were amiss. If he had spoken his thoughts out loud, he muses, his words would have been revealed as untrue.

15    If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
    Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16    When I thought how to understand this,
    It was too painful for me—

This was the darkest hour of Asaph’s struggle.  He couldn’t escape his heart’s predicament. The struggle between his limited perspective and the truth left him in anguish. But there on the bumpy road of life, the light came on for Asaph. He found relief from his dilemma by drawing near to God.

17    Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
    Then I understood their end.
18    Surely You set them in slippery places;
    You cast them down to destruction.
19    Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
    They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20    As a dream when one awakes,
    So, Lord, when You awake,
    You shall despise their image.

In verses 21-24, Asaph summarizes the ups and downs of his roller coaster story.  He tells us in powerful terms how he lost his way. He was grieved, vexed, foolish and ignorant.  He paints a graphic picture of his heart. He was like a beast before God. And there in the midst of his summary, he features God’s response to his frailty and sin.

21    Thus my heart was grieved,
    And I was vexed in my mind.
22    I was so foolish and ignorant;
    I was like a beast before You.
23    Nevertheless I am continually with You;
    You hold me by my right hand.
24    You will guide me with Your counsel,
    And afterward receive me to glory.

“Nevertheless...” God is big enough to handle our struggles. Even in our ignorance, we’re secure because our Shepherd holds our hand.

The truth of God’s faithfulness and compassion isn’t unique to Psalm 73.  Remember how John the Baptist had a crisis of faith, and Jesus responded with encouragement.  (Lk 7:18-23)  Thomas doubted and the Lord moved toward him and said, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side.  Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” (Jn 20:27)  Where the world would scorn us, Jesus brings healing. Finally, consider the letter to the Hebrews, a group of believers who are struggling with their faith in Christ. In their crisis, the writer invites them to draw near to God. (Heb 4:16)

16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Where is God when our private thoughts are less than pure?  He is holding our hand, not a heavenly hammer, inviting us to boldly draw near in the midst of our struggle.  Now is not the time to hide our weakness, seeking to solve problems in isolation.

Now is the time to draw near, for there is hope for our brokenness.

All scripture mentioned is from the NKJV.

"He has made everything appropriate in its time.  He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.  I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor-it is the gift of God."  Ecclesiastes 3:11-13

About a year ago,during a difficult time, I set out to memorize Ecclesiastes 3. I needed to see the contrasts of time, and Ecclesiastes 3 reminded me that there would be both a time for things I wanted to wish away, and a time for circumstances that would end too soon. I needed the hope then, as apathetic as I felt, that maybe soon there would be something else to feel.

See, in my humble opinion, apathy is the worst feeling in the world. I think it is worse even than sorrow. In sorrow, hearts rage and wilt as they are ripped wide open.They find extraordinary ways to stumble through another day. They ache with wandering and uncertainty. Somehow sorrow forces disguises to fall for seconds or moments at a time, and allows the pleasure of God's presence to seep into the broken places, even if it is a presence we despise for all the pain. In those precious moments, healing begins when least expected.

In contrast to our sorrow, in our best moments, the good is almost as good as it could possibly get. There is of course, always a little more room for improvement but minds wonder at the glory of the goodness there is to enjoy. No room is left for doubting in the goodness of God when He providesan experience of beauty. How could we ask for more, apart from His tangible eternal presence? But there is the reassurance that, sooner rather than later, He will come and make joy complete. 

God seems to be hardest to find in apathy, when we are closed to the deepest parts of ourselves. When we deny the depths of our identity and emotions, whether in sorrow or joy, we also deny God access into those parts of ourselves. We are faced with the choice to take in the joy or pain and let God meet us with His glory and comfort, or we can roll over quietly and put our feelings away. We allow ourselves the wicked luxury of not feeling anything at all. And it is in these places we most easily forget God.

When I remember Ecclesiastes 3, I am struck in the long list of contrasts we experience in this short life: 

birth/death, planting/uprooting, killing/healing, tearing down/building up, weeping/laughing, mourning/dancing, throwing/gathering stones, embracing/shunning, searching/losing, keeping/throwing away, tearing apart/sewing back together, silence/speaking, love/hate, war/peace.
 

In the list, there is no time for apathy. Each of these takes work, and apathy is the lazy way out. It denies the depth of experiences by residing easily on the surface, out of harm’s way. This pierces my heart, because I just began the journey out of apathy. It is so dreadfully hard because I've allowed myself to be lazy. So any work at all causes me to exercise muscles of the heart and mind that I have let atrophy. I have allowed myself so many external comforts that I no longer reach for the depths of what makes me who I am. For a time I have not seen life as a gift. I have seen it as something to endure. And instead of putting in the time it takes to fight past not caring, I have remained the same.

I have a sneaking suspicion that I may not be alone in my choices. I am sure that there are others too, when faced with the opportunity to battle for something better, who have also chosen to turn from the battlegrounds into something we viewed to be easier, but has left us stuck deep in the muck of monotony.  Summer is here, and what better time is there than now to make it a  new season for our souls as well? I am ready to reach past the heat and humidity of Georgia summer and start fighting the battles of what it means to move and dig deeply in the way of learning to love God and His people well, and learning to be loved by God and His people too. This laborious work will result in a deeper understanding of this gift of life we have and it's eternal treasures. I have a feeling it is going to be worth it!

One of the truths about God that echoes through the scriptures is that He is the God who creates.  In the beginning He spoke, and creation leapt into being.  We can look at the wonder of the stars, the majesty of the mountains, the beauty of the small alpine forget-me-not, and know the beauty of His creation. 

When the Lord is answering Job in chapter 38, he says to Job, “Were you there when I laid the earth’s foundation?”  and then the Lord says that the angels shouted for joy at His work of creation.  He is the God who creates – He is a creative God. 

This creation is the work of the supreme artist.  It reflects the beauty of the creator.  So beautiful that some make the mistake, as Paul writes in Romans 1:25, of worshiping the creation instead of the creator.  In fact this is what some of the Psalms that rejoice in creation are dealing with.  Psalm 33:6-7, “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.  He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.”  The stars were worshiped in the ancient pagan world. The stars you worship?  God spoke them into being.  The seas, the deep, were a place of fear - storms and fierce beasts, like the leviathan, were there.  The deep that you fear?  God corks that up in a bottle, like it is child’s play.  I love what is said in Psalm 104:26, another Psalm praising creation, “There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.”   The leviathan was a greatly feared beast.  God formed it to frolic in the ocean – it’s His rubber ducky!

The Lord’s creativity reveals that He is not a merely pragmatic God who created a world which was strictly utilitarian and functional.  He is the source of all creativity and all that is beautiful.  We, created in His image, are people who create.  Think of the works of art which captivate us, enthrall us, bring us joy, connect us with heights of beauty and depths of emotion, open our eyes to see the beauty or suffering of the world.  Our creativity is a reflection of the image of God in which we are created.  Our works don’t need to be specifically “Christian” to reflect the beauty and creativity of our God.  Look at the Taj Mahal!  It echoes this image in which we are created, whether it is specifically Christian or not.  This creative ability is not something to fear, which is a road the Church has walked at times.  The creative ability is something to celebrate, to sanctify, to be a part of our worship – reflecting who we are as those created in the image of God.  For too long, there has been a separation between the arts and the church, as if they are in opposition, instead of seeing the arts as a reflection of the God who creates.

There is tremendous power in creativity, which is probably why it is feared at times.  It can move us, it can bring experiences of transcendence, and it can express when words fail.  We know not all creativity is good.  Because the image of God has been distorted by sin, we have an incredible capacity for twisting creativity and beauty into something meant to debase, harm, and lure people into rebellion and hatred. But the biblical reaction is not fear, but wisdom.  Our creativity can be an expression beauty, of the image of God in us.  Or it can be twisted to usurp the Lord, to deny Him, to rebel against Him, to debase and corrupt His creation, and lure people away from grace.  But just as dangerous is the reaction against that, which squashes almost all imagination and creativity.  Then we are trying to squash the image of God in us, which gives us not only the ability to create beauty, but also to delight in beauty.  If we lose the ability to delight in beauty, then we lose the ability to worship.  Worship is about delighting in the Lord and His beauty, His wonder, and His grace.  When creativity is squashed or restricted, worship is reduced to something we do out of duty, and it is absent of joy and transformation.  Believers should know more about beauty and delighting in beauty than anybody else!

There is something in just delighting in beauty, for the sake of beauty, that is an act of hope and faith in a world that can be full of ugliness and hurt.  Creating and delighting in beauty also enables us to dream the dreams of God – His ways are not our ways.  He is creative in how He moves in this world.  Creating beauty and delighting in beauty enables us to know His extravagant grace.

Creation is not utilitarian.  It is extravagant.  He is extravagant. Think of all the colors and shapes and tastes in creation!  There is an extravagance to His creation – and what we see is creation that has lost its original luster and is tainted by the fall in Genesis 3.  This is why Paul writes in Romans 8:19-22 that creation is waiting for the Sons of God to be revealed so that the bondage of decay can be broken.  God’s work of creation is so extravagant, that even though it has been frustrated and held in bondage, it still reveals His beauty and glory.

This extravagance in creation reveals His extravagant grace.  This is why scriptures tie in creation with redemption (2 Corinthians 4:6, 5:17).  We who rebelled, rejected His beauty, rejected His grace in creation, and rejected Him, are made new creations. This is extravagant grace.  This is the God who creates.

Before I launch into this topic,  I’d like to give you a little background context to my unusual metaphor. 

A movie was released quite a few years ago called, “Joe Dirt”.  It’s a movie I don’t necessarily recommend if you want to keep your brain cells intact, however there are some laughable scenarios as Joe Dirt struggles through life in a very unconventional sense.  Joe is an average, if not socially below average, guy who does his best to do good by those around him.  At one point in the movie, when Joe is trying to give his image a little boost, he claims his last name is pronounced “Dirte” (with an accent), and a couple of unimpressed, unsympathetic bullies are unwilling to let him get away with the semantics.  They bluntly tell him, “Don’t church-it-up Dirt!”

I find myself repeating this phrase whenever I run across someone or something that attempts to superficially enhance who or what it truly is by putting a pretty mask, cover, pronunciation, or façade on itself.  You see, in the movie, Joe tried to fancy up his name in order to somehow create confidence.  However Joe’s name was Dirt—plain and simple—and Joe had to learn that his confidence must come from something deeper and much more important.  It needed to come from who he was as a man.   It brings to mind the resounding proverb that “It’s the man who makes the name, not the name that makes the man.”

Sadly, these words ring in my mind far too often and increasingly as I attend certain Christian functions or browse through various Christian merchandise.   I proceed carefully and with grace as many of these things are not necessarily wrong by themselves, and I know beyond a doubt that most of what I speak of has been implemented with the best of intentions by genuinely godly men and women.  However I wish to discuss the dangerous implications that we as today’s Church may be unwittingly communicating to the upcoming generation and to the world around us.  With courage, I pray you take these words as food for thought, as I too am processing these realities.   

A few friends recently shared a story with me about a surprise they had while shopping for a Bible.  Karen was looking for a regular leather Bible—nothing fancy—just a plain, classic book that said Holy Bible on the cover.  You know, you’ve seen them a million times.  Or, should I say, used to see them.  Karen’s husband searched impossibly until he found one plain Bible among the masses. 

At your local bookstore there is every kind of Bible you can possibly imagine!  I have seen everything from Men’s Bibles, Women’s Bibles, Teen Bibles, Children’s Bibles, to Archeological and Historical Bibles, One-Year Bibles, and Bibles for your particular bent or profession.  My head really starts spinning when I get to the Remix Bibles, the Water-Bottle-Bibles, and the Duct Tape Bibles.  I’m not saying there’s something wrong with these Bibles—after all, they too are the Word of God.  God’s Word is God’s Word no matter what the cover and no matter what the margins discuss... Isn’t it?

Still, this is where I start to feel that little nagging, uncomfortable conviction.  Do we really believe the Word of God is the Word of God?  Do we really believe that it is transcendent and, dare-I-say, “relevant” to all peoples at all times?  Do we truly buy in to the reality that it is in fact the all-encompassing Truth that penetrates our hearts and lives with unmatchable precision and authority?

In Isaiah 55:11, God says, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”   The Word of God is sufficient and powerful beyond our best comprehension.  It is the word of life given to us.  Do we grasp the awesomeness of its presence in our midst?   If we did, would we have to church-it-up?

I know the immediate answer may be, “We’re not ‘churching-it-up’.  We are making it accessible and approachable—or attractive and desirable.”  But in return I must ask the hard question—to myself—to all of us.  Is that really what we believe makes the Bible (or any of our outreaches) desirable?  Is it the cover?  Is it our own added theme?  Is it the lights and smoke? OUCH! 

Maybe that’s what we’ve unknowingly settled to believe.  Maybe we’ve let ourselves forget, and therefore stop exemplifying, that these words alone are the most incredible gift outside of Jesus Himself and His work of Salvation. I am humbled as I listen to stories about our brothers and sisters in China, who spent eight to nine years handwriting the Words of God because there weren’t enough Bibles to go around. Talk about a plain and simple Bible!  I am convicted to the core as I hear how they protected those Words from rain and even falling on the floor because of how they honored and respected that gift as Holy and irreplaceable.  I look at the shelves and shelves of multi-colored and faceted Bibles in front of me and wonder…Maybe—just maybe—we’re “churching-it-up”. 

There’s nothing wrong displaying beauty, creativity, and expression as a response to God’s magnificence—I would be the last person, as an artist, to ever claim that.  However if we start to believe our own decorations are the focal point or the attracting feature rather than a response to the thing itself, then we may be communicating a lack of faith in the glory and life-changing power of Christ and His Living Word by itself.  Are we absentmindedly second-guessing what His Spirit and teachings are capable of without our assistance? We might need to take a leap of faith and believe that we don’t need to church-it-up.  

Our neighbor Chris is soon to be 96.  His wife Mary is in a wheelchair due to a degenerative disease from years ago. They live quiet lives across the street from us.

For the past four or five years, I have been developing a friendship with Chris and Mary, going over with a loaf of banana bread occasionally, or walking down the street with Chris, who uses a walker now.  He is getting weaker each time I see him, and always tells me in his Boston accent how old he is, and how much he just wants to stay around and keep Mary company.

Our walks have become much shorter lately, usually extending only from his front door, across the street to my front door, and then back again.  A few days ago, I called to see if he wanted to walk and he did.  I went across the street and met him at his front door.  He was glad to see me and we proceeded down his driveway and into the street with extreme care, and very slowly.  In the middle of the street, he began to question his ability to get home again.  I said that maybe we should just turn around and head back and he agreed.  As we turned around and took a few steps slowly back toward the other edge of the street, he began to falter and said he didn’t know if he was going to make it.

His shoulders were so very weak, he said, leaning with all his might on his walker.  I looked at how far we still had to go before reaching his front door.  The 30 yards or so  might as well  have been a mile, so vulnerable were we standing in the middle of the street. He was beginning to panic, and I was trying to figure out what we were going to do.  I said that we could sit down on the curb for a moment, but he had not sat on the ground, I’m sure, in twenty years.  There was no way he was going to be able to lower himself down to the curb of the street.  Finally, he called out, “Oh God!  I’m going to fall!”  I got behind him with my arms around his chest, and told him to fall, that I would hold him up and lower him to the ground.  He let go of the walker and with the supernatural strength which only God could provide, I held him and backed down onto the curb, him sitting basically in my lap until I could position both of us comfortably there on the curb.  He was exhausted and terrified, still muttering his words of fear as I held him and told him to lean back against me.  He finally relaxed and leaned back.  At that point, a neighbor walked by with her dog, and asked if we needed help.  .  A few minutes later,  we were back at Chris’s front door.  He was exhausted, but safe.  He was home.

Thinking back on that episode, I have begun to process it for myself.  We all will one day lose our grip on this earthly prop and there will be a moment in time when the earth falls away.  I often wonder about that moment, but I wonder no longer.  I realize now that my vulnerability will be made secure, as secure as a Father’s arms are to a baby, as I fall into Him.  There will be a comfort like no other comfort because I know these arms;  I have spent my whole life becoming familiar with That Voice, and there is no fear in Love.  This is the Love, the Voice, the Arms that have been holding me all my life and will carry me safe to the curb of Heaven and on into its gates.

I will be Home.