Can You Be a Tender-Hearted Snail?

How soft is your heart? There are those who find it easy to be touched by the discomfort or joy of others. Their emotions are moved by the slightest tug on their hearts. They tear up during scenes portrayed by Hollywood to depict the sorrows and joys of life. Even commercials can break the barrier of the tear ducts and have them reach for a tissue. Others tend to be far more guarded and a bit stoic. Some of this is due to culture and our upbringing. However, God has instructed us to be "tender hearted" followers of Christ. Are those easily moved just more "Tender hearted" than those who feel deeply but reserve their tears? Just what does it mean to be tender hearted and how do we get there? It seems important to know, seeing as the Lord expects us to live that way.

To be honest, there are times when the personal nature of God's Word can be hard to grasp or accept. Vulnerability is not high on our "to do" list. We like to keep ourselves protected. To guard our hearts so we do not get wounded or abused. Every hurt or betrayal, no matter how trivial, puts a brick in our emotional wall. We may buy the lie that isolation from potential pain will keep us warm not knowing it leads to the disease called isolation that leaves us chilled to the core. I fear petrified hearts run rampant among the children of God. Yet, the Apostle Paul tells us to be gracious and tender-hearted toward one another. How do we integrate this truth into our lives in a world where self preservation and self protection are a priority in life? In addition, we have this growing movement that tells us almost any act of compassion or concern could be interpreted as sexual harassment. If you notice a person whose body language proclaims they are emotionally hurting do you dare ask if they need someone to talk to? Do you dare offer comfort or your time just to listen? What does Paul mean when he encourages us to have a tender heart toward one another as brothers and sisters in Christ? God knows there are times when we need more than just a verse, we need some flesh and blood warmth that tells us someone understands or at least cares enough to ask.

In Paul's letter to the believers in Ephesus he instructs them to, " Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32. Simple kindness is to be one of the marks of the believing community. However, to be tender-hearted is more. The Greek word is a compound word εὔσπλαγχνος or eusplagknos the εὔ means well or good the second part σπλαγχνος literally refers to your intestines. Thus the King James often translates the word as "bowels". It is a deep seated emotion that touches the core of our physical being. Even in American English we say something is "gut wrenching" or that we have a "gut" feeling about something. Tender-hearted people are moved deeply concerning other people, their needs and their emotional state. The NIV translates the word as compassionate. However, that really does not capture the intensity of how Paul is challenging us to relate to one another. The truth is we cannot respond to one another in a tender-hearted way and keep our distance. This sort of community takes vulnerability and time. Two commodities we often are not willing to part with. The tender-hearted expend themselves and open their lives to the possibility of being wounded. Sometimes deeply.

In my college days we had a large African-American guy in our dorm who was blind. He was a bit older than most of us and was lovingly known as Papa Bear. Some of us held the distinction of being his cubs. For a blind man he saw extremely well. He saw past the facade that most of us wear. He knew when you were discouraged and hurting. He would find his way to your room and ask how you were doing. Then sit on you, sometimes literally, until you told him of what you were in the midst of. He would never betray a confidence. He would grieve with you. He was tender-hearted. He once told me that the way God builds a tender heart was by repeatedly allowing it to be broken until our comfort was fully in Him so we could bear the pain of others. God uses broken people to heal the wounded. This is not the experience most of us invite into our lives. Caring for others is costly for they may not care in return. They may even turn back against you or leave you alone with barely a word. The depth of your sorrow may be splagknos, gut wrenching personal discomfort.

As followers of Christ we are to feel deeply about things, especially about people. This does not mean we are glum and pitiful, for joy can be felt deeply as well. It does mean that we must be vulnerable enough to care and allow ourselves to take the risk to enter into the life of someone else. And to let them enter into ours. Anything less misses the point of being tender-hearted. It also robs us of being able to truly forgive, as Christ has forgiven us. Until we experience some of the pain He did in being vulnerable for us we cannot see the depth of the forgiveness He so freely granted us.

Just briefly let me touch on the other aspect of being tender-hearted. This one is less intrusive and far easier to accomplish. Time. Time spent with others. Time spent listening. time used to let others know we care and are thinking and concerned for them. Let me suggest a profound yet simple way to achieve this. Send someone a "Snail-Mail" letter of encouragement. A typed or hand written tangible physical piece of paper that expresses your prayer and concern. Be honest if you do not know what to write. Just write, "I was thinking of you and praying for you. I honestly do not know how to put my thoughts into words for I cannot fully understand what you are going through ... " See how easy that was? We live in an impersonal world guarded by technology so we can avoid being vulnerable or the need to expend time. We can text, post on Facebook, express all we need to in the limited characters of a tweet. 

We can hide behind our smart phones and never feel the pain of a real relationship. Or we can sit down and write, and rewrite, and maybe rewrite again, as we try to find the words that express our concern or joy for a brother or sister in grief or celebration. It may just be a few words on a card. I have noticed that the New Testament is mostly letters that people took time to write. We have Luke, who writes two massive letters to his friend, "I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus" (Luke 1:3). Then there is John who sends a postcard to Gaius called Third John. We have some pretty diverse examples to follow when we add personal letters to Timothy, Titus and an appeal to Philemon. There is something different about that paper letter. It took time to write, fold, put in an envelope, address, add a stamp and drop it in the mail. It took time to care, to be a little tender-hearted and then trust the "snail-mail" folks to get it there. Something to arrive that was not an ad or a bill, just a note from a friend who cared. It just might lift someones day. It might be placed in a box to be read and reread when life seems more than they can bear. A simple reminder that they are not alone. For they have a tender-hearted friend.

"There in the Shadows, Tom's Friendship Remains"

I am just a little haunted by the shadows of November. For those in America, we just celebrated Thanksgiving. Some time ago our government set aside the fourth Thursday in November as a day of national thanksgiving. At least that seems to have been the original intent. Now it is more about overeating, football and early "Black Friday" sales. For me it is mixed time of remembrance. I am incredibly thankful for the privilege of living in the USA. Here we have bounty unlike any nation and freedoms that are hard to be compared to. We live with little fear of terrorist attack, though that is changing a bit, still we have far fewer threats than much of the planet. I have a loving and wonderful family, a devoted and supportive wife and many friends. Materially I am better off than most people in the world and enjoy pretty good health. In addition to this I hold a strong spiritual confidence in the God who loves me and gave His Son so that I might have life eternal. So, yes, I have much to be thankful for.

However, November holds some darker memories, as well. My mom went to be with the Lord just days before Thanksgiving over 34 years ago but I still remember trying to get from Kansas to Pennsylvania on one of the busiest air traffic days of the year. I remember a dear friend who passed a couple of years ago just weeks before the holiday. I still think of him and his beloved wife each time I pass by their road on the way to our Thursday Morning Bible Study. Another close friend had the home going of her mom just days after thanksgiving morning. The pain of that event still lingers and I understand a bit of that pain. The deepest cloud that overshadows my November remembrances is the departure of my friend Tom. He was taken into the presence of his Lord just a year ago today. The images of that day are burned into the grey folds of my mind in ways that keep the moments past all too present. Saying goodbye. Being, pretty much assaulted by an over-zealous hospital staff. Spending time with the family and seeing a hole form in my soul that will take more than time to heal. November reminds me that, like David, my life walks through the valley of the shadow of death. Shadows cannot hurt you; however, they are unsettling and can leave your soul with a measure of uncertainty. It can leave you with a feeling of quiet anguish even when you know that death's sting has been quenched and that it holds no victory. Still the loss remains.

I am aware that Tom dwells where there is no more pain or sorrow or tears or brokenness. But I do not dwell there. Life goes on and the days turn into weeks and months and a year has passed. I drive by his house three times a week on my way to the gym and pray for his cherished wife who will wake up alone again that morning. I pray for his son and daughter-in-law who live just downstairs and two beautiful grandsons. I understand that it will be hard for them to remember their loving grandfather and as a "Papa" myself, it grieves my heart. I think of his daughter just a few miles down the road and how amazing God's grace has been in all of their lives.Tom would be proud of how they have lived and loved and survived the days and nights that have passed without him present. How his son Jon stepped up to be more than a big brother at the celebration of  his daughter Melody's wedding. My eyes still get a bit misty when I reflect upon the "Brother/Sister" dance as Jon tenderly held Melody in his dad's absence at the reception. Amazing grace, amazing love.

For me there have been days when I missed the brother who always had my back. I miss the Pizza Hut buffet and times at Dunkin Donuts. I miss ice cream at Friendly's with our wives and long talks in the parking lot after Elders and Council meetings. I miss the flipping of his high beams as I turned onto Greycourt Road just to say good night and know even then he was thinking of me. The Lord has brought some pretty amazing healing in the past year, but, I still miss my friend. There are still times when I want to reach for the phone to see if we could just have a little time to talk. Thinking back it seems that those times were pretty scattered and not as often as we would have liked. However, the reality is that if we needed to talk we would always find the time. For a Pastor to find a friend, a brother, who simply accepts you for the flawed person your are is rare. To have someone who holds no special expectations of your calling and allows you to be real is a treasure that cannot be replaced. That friendship hole continues and I have no real expectation for it to go away. It will just be a part of life to know that something is gone that used to make my life a little more complete.

I have no magic verses or visions from God to end this post with some remarkable spiritual revelation. No special passage that makes this any easier. No resolution for the loss. No expectation that I will forget. Instead I have two phrases from songs that rattle around in my head when I find myself in moments of this kind of reflection. One comes from Joni Mitchell's song "Parking Lot": "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got til its gone." The other comes from Jim Croce, another musician and guitarist taken before I was ready to let go. Back in college days, when I could play a guitar, I played lots of his songs. The diversity that gave us "Leroy Brown","Roller Derby Queen", and "Rapid Roy" on one end and "Photographs and Memories, "Operator", and the one drifting through my mind even now "Time in a Bottle". Jim was right, "There never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do, once you find them."

I am left with the reality of an absence that continues to cast a shadow over my soul from time to time. I am left to treasure the moments I still have with the ones I love and the people I care for. It has been said that life is not lost in weeks or days but moment by moment. My mission now is to build memories and take time to enjoy what time I have. The truth is I still find my days too full and the moments passing so very quickly. For all of us who loved Tom Earl, whose lives were touched and made a bit better in his presence we share a common blessing of a friendship that is irreplaceable. But, I don't think I would want it any other way. Friendships like these are to be treasured, never replaced. The memories revisited to warm our souls one more time.  

The Christmas Question, Is it Biblical?

It is that time of year of colored lights, brightly wrapped packages, cookies and carols. It is also that time of year when social media and my email account is invaded by the Christmas question. I have had believers come to me and ask if it is okay to celebrate Christmas. They have friends, fellow believers, who see Christmas as somewhat appalling. Their friends explain that the roots of Christmas stem from paganism and its symbols are elements of pagan worship. They are concerned with Christmas trees, Christmas wreaths, Christmas lights, mistletoe, and those stockings hung by the chimney with care. These folks grew up with the celebration but their well meaning Christian friends present a good case to abandon, if not actively oppose, this "pagan based" festival. They do enjoy the holiday and focus on Christ but they want to be true to God's Word, thus the Christmas question.

The anti-Christmas scholars usually have three arguments to enlighten those who are trapped in this unbiblical tradition. First, unlike celebrations like Passover, there is no clear call by God in the Bible to set aside a day of celebration for Messiah's birth. Second, the festival was originally the celebration of the winter equinox, tied to the worship of Roman and Greek goddesses. And third, December 25 could not possibly be Christ's birthday. The arguments have a grain of truth, but is there more here than we might see at first glance?

I should make it clear that I have no objection to those who have an objection to the Christmas celebration. They are free to hold their opinion and to be obedient to their conscience and convictions. I do get concerned when they somehow feel that they have a better standing with God or that those who disagree are somehow immersed in some unbiblical celebration. That by celebrating the arrival of God's Son, Messiah, in December is an affront to God, if not an out and out sin. Let's take a look at each of these objections.

First, there is no call of God to have this Celebration. True, but does that make it wrong? There are required celebrations in God's Word. The three pilgrim festivals of Passover, The Feast of Tabernacles, and Pentecost. There is also the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kipper, Rosh Hashanah, among others. God also commanded an observation of the New Moon, (which, by the way has parallels among the pagans) and a weekly seventh day Sabbath observance. If these are commanded in Scripture shouldn't we observe these? It seems that, if no Biblical basis can be found for a Christmas  celebration, we should eliminate such a celebration, then shouldn't finding a Biblical command for celebrations obligate us to those Biblical celebrations?

Speaking of celebrations, it seems reasonable to consider a well known Jewish holiday called Hanukkah. This tradition comes from Maccabees, writings that are recognized as valuable but not on the same level as Scripture. Also, the celebration of Purim comes from a decree signed by Queen Esther and Mordecai (See Esther 9). The Lord never commanded either of these celebrations, but God's people, the Jews, follow them faithfully. They are reminders of God's deliverance and His faithfulness. I could point out that Mary, Joseph, the angels, the shepherds and some Gentile Magi celebrated the birth of Messiah. If we choose to do so, it seems we are in good company. Many of those who find aspects of the Christmas traditions unpalatable tend to ignore the commanded celebrations and few would take off every new moon as a day of rest and reflection (Numbers 29). I am told, that the reason that these Biblical and traditional celebrations are not required, is that we are under grace, not the Law, so such legalities do not apply to believers today. So grace applies to celebrations we ignore but not to one, Christmas, we might choose to celebrate. I'm not sure I follow the logic in that argument.

Second, the festival was originally the celebration of the winter equinox tied to the worship of Roman and Greek goddesses. Actually this is not quite true. It is true that there was a long standing celebration in both Greek and Roman mythology of a goddess of fertility or love, or some such variant, who needed to fulfill her obligation to go to the god of the underworld at the time of the winter equinox. Her absence would bring cold and the apparent death of the earth. Come spring she returned and everything came back to life. The winter celebration was a sort of goodbye party filled with drinking and no small amount of debauchery. The Romans en masse enjoyed the celebration. Enter Constantine. Constantine credited his rise to power to an epiphany he experienced before a major battle. Constantine became a believer in God and His Son. He declared his empire to now be the Holy Roman Empire and required all Romans to believe. He was also no political novice. To retain favor he, along with the early church fathers, proclaimed a day of celebration for the birth of Christ to be held at the same time as the equinox celebration. The tradition of this Christmas celebration has been observed for the many centuries that have followed. Is there some element of a connection here? Well, yes and no. It was to appease the masses who wanted the equinox celebration to continue, but the celebration was not to honor the gods or goddesses of Greek or Roman mythology. It was to honor the birth of God's Son.

Third, December 25 could not possibly be Christ's birthday.This one is true and is backed up by scripture. Luke 2:8 informs us that the shepherds were in the fields keeping watch over their sheep. The only time of year this would be true would be the fall, around September, or the spring, around April. It would not have been true in the winter, in December. I lean toward the spring time due to the temple service of Zacharias and the timing of Elizabeth's and Mary's pregnancies. The reality is we do not know the precise date. It is also true that December 25 is not even close. Yet, the day was set up as a celebration of His birth, not necessarily His birthday. However, it is an event worth celebrating. By the way, you may have noticed the pagan goddess celebration pretty well died out. Few still honor her on the winter equinox. However, much of the world celebrates the birth of God's Son. I guess Constantine's idea won.

God's people, the Jews, determined that the events of God's deliverance in the days of Esther were worth remembering. They also decided that God's miraculous burning of the oil in the time of the deliverance in Maccabees was likewise worth celebrating, even if God did not command them. It seems the arrival of The Deliverer would be worthy of celebrating as well.

If you disagree, I am fine with that. I am actually a bit more miffed that we ignore the Jewish calendar for Passover, leading up to the resurrection of our Lord. Many call the day Easter, which is a variation of the name of that pagan goddess returning from the underworld she went to in December. But that is for another day.  For now I wish you all a Merry Christmas, or not, I will leave that up to you.

Is Thanksgiving Enough?

Have you ever thought about how vital thanksgiving is to the Lord God? As believers we may well toss the word around pretty freely. That is not a bad thing. We should be most grateful and thankful to the God of all creation. Everything we have, even the next breath you take, is a gift from Him. He is indeed worthy of our thanks and appreciation. God even included offerings of thanksgiving in Torah (see Leviticus 7:12). David records offering a thank offering in Psalm 116:17, "I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the LORD." Hezekiah does the same in 2Ch 29:31. Thanksgiving and thank offerings were a part of the worship practices for the people of Israel. As those who now know Messiah, we are called to be thankful for ... well ... everything, "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). In writing to the Romans the Apostle Paul gives an indictment against those who reject God. In the midst of the record of man's rejection and ungodliness Paul says, "because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened" (Romans 1:21). Those who refuse to give thanks to God are designated as fools and futile thinkers. Not a group many of us would want to be included in.

Thankfulness is an essential part in our relationship with God, but is it enough? Gratitude and a thankful heart are pleasing to the LORD. However, bringing God a thank offering, or an offering of thanksgiving is not all that is required. Thankfulness also acknowledges who God is. It reflects on what He has done and His very nature. Thus Samuel reminds us, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22). An attitude of thanksgiving without an attitude of submissive obedience falls short of what God deserves. It falls short of what He requires.

Perhaps our culture gets in the way when we consider the things that we learn are required to be pleasing God. We tend to look at the list of what we think God requires and do a little personal evaluation. I am to be thankful, trustworthy, faithful, humble, obedient, generous, and joyful. Just a few of the things we could put on our "pleasing to God" list. There are certainly many more that could come to mind. We should probably tack on the rest of the nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit as they are of the Spirit. Then there are those negative things, like do not covet, do not be angry, do not judge. This could get cumbersome, maybe even intimidating or discouraging. We could opt out with the excuse/reason that we all fall short and apply the Jesus salve. You know, that soothing spiritual ointment that says all my sins are forgiven so the list doesn't really matter anyway. If this is so then we have a lot of irrelevant Scripture and unnecessary stories recorded in the Bible. It appears that all the stuff we could put on the list matters. So how do we prioritize? It seems obedience is better than sacrifice but thankfulness should be pretty high on the list as well.

The issue is not what is on the list or how to prioritize the list. The issue is the list itself. American/Western culture loves lists. We love to compartmentalize everything in life. God reveals Himself through a culture that is integrated. When Jesus said, "If you continually love Me it is imperative that you actively keep My commandments" (John 14:15). He was giving less of a rule and more of a statement. The natural outgrowth of honestly loving Him is obedience. Obedience is not a list of rules, it is the reality of a life that is integrated into the Person of God. All of those "do's" and "don'ts" listed above, and any other things you might add, are not to be a list but the substance of our relationship with God. In being thankful we are also loving and joyful and compassionate. Our gratitude is shown in our forgiving and generosity. Even what we choose not to do, like holding a grudge, gossiping, or coveting, is controlled by the attitude of gratitude that pervades our existence. Bringing a thank offering while being at odds with another reflects the truth that you are not really thankful. One who fully understands why they are thankful to a holy God would desire reconciliation before the offering.

Matthew 5:24 makes this pretty clear, “leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." We are not being told to have a check list before we come to worship but to know that my relationship with my brother is related to, integrated with, my relationship with the Lord.

We might want to take a moment at this Thanksgiving Season and think about how all those things on our "how to be spiritual" list are connected. To consider the truth that the Lord has not called you to a list but invited you into a relationship where everything you do is integrated into Who He is. Go ahead and bask in the wonder that He really does care about every little aspect of your life. That the life He provided is to be lived abundantly, not chained to a list. Now go and have a Happy Thanksgiving.   

The Disaster of Freedom

Wouldn't it nice to be really free? No one telling you what to do or where to go. Being free to express yourself and to follow your dreams unhindered. The opportunity to pursue study and educational prowess without boundaries or restrictions? There was a time when this was true for God's people. After generations of forced labor and captivity in Egypt they have been set free. God has brought them out of the land of bondage and into the land of promise. A land flowing with milk and honey and freedom. The Lord God Almighty has given them victory after victory and they now possess the land promised to their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel's twelve sons have become twelve tribes composing a nation of millions. They are a force to be reckoned with, lead by a God Who is above all gods. What more could you want? What better time could one want to live in?

Israel was free to make their own decisions. No taskmaster looking over their shoulders, no sound of a cracking whip to keep them in line. They now were their own people, their own nation. In addition the Mighty and Benevolent God who delivered them had given them clear instructions and directions as how to best live. Instructions on relationships, worship and how to live together in harmony. A moral standard to give reasonable boundaries in the midst of the freedom they now enjoyed. A moral standard that came from God Himself. With this came an opportunity to choose. No lightning bolts from heaven if you crossed the line into disobedience. The instructions from the Lord God gave measured consequences when that line was crossed. The priests and Levites held the responsibility to teach and instruct God's people so these things would be so. No all powerful king to hamper your freedom or confiscate what you earned and developed. No monarch to compel your sons into service or take your daughters for their harem. You simply had the obligation to come to your brothers defense should an enemy encroach. Life was good. Every man could rest under his fig tree and grapevine. We read of this Israelite utopia in the Book of Judges.

However, if you are familiar with the account found there, it is not a pretty picture. It is a record of the disaster of freedom. For the people of God determined that the instructions and directions from the Lord were too confining and limited their investigation and participation with the people and cultures they were to remove. If they adopted the worship of other gods it would make them culturally relevant and make trade agreements and their pursuit of wealth and acceptance far easier. Marriage unions with the nations would help keep peace and cooperation with their neighbors. God couldn't be that narrow minded and judgemental when compromise was so beneficial and enhanced their quest for freedom and free expression. Life could still be good even if they modified the rules and directions just a little. It was logical and reasonable to give a little for the sake of tolerance and peace.

Standards should be flexible. As society evolved it should be acceptable to let those archaic restrictions be placed in a museum so we know where we came from on our journey to enlightenment. No one could really be expected to walk in obedience to all those rules. Freedom demanded that they be seen as more like guidelines than actual instructions. "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). No one putting restrictions on anyone else. We can all just happily coexist. No absolutes and the freedom to pick and choose what is true and what is not. By the end of the Book of Judges it is no longer safe to sleep in the city square. You needed to be inside a locked door to feel secure and even then danger is just outside. Rape and murder is the new freedom. Justice is not to be found. Violent retaliation almost exterminates an entire tribe. The communities are not safe and people are afraid.

The answer is not a return to the directions and instructions the Lord God gave them. No, the answer is to demand a strong centralized government to rule over all twelve tribes. A government free to take their land, their sons, their daughters, and to impose taxes upon them. A new nation where freedom is now carefully distributed by the government. In time the worship of the very God Who gave them this land and freedom will become dismissed and eventually illegal. Child sacrifice and human trafficking is just a part of the business and accepted norm of culture. Marriage is optional and divorce rampant. It is only a matter of time before the once great and promising nation is overrun by their enemies and freedom is fully lost in the service of a series new tyrants. 

The danger we face in freedom is our failure to learn from those who abused the privilege before us. Freedom with a disregard for the God who actually grants it is a road to destruction. Soon you will find yourself where unborn babies are sacrificed out of convenience. Determining to practice ones faith in accord with the instructions and directions the Lord God gave could be seen as intolerance and your freedoms removed. Your beliefs could become labeled "hate" speech and you will no longer be able to proclaim what you understand to be true. God's standards might be considered abrasive and abusive or too religious so they would no longer be able to be taught in the government controlled school systems and universities. It will be understood that everyone has the freedom to do what is right in their own eyes. Communities could become unsafe and people would live behind locked doors, afraid to walk the streets at night. But not to worry, the government will have armed police to keep the peace. Unless those doing what is right in their own eyes disregard the authority of the officers and pelt them with rocks or simply shoot them. It has happened before.

However, I am sure we, being intelligent students of history, would see the danger of freedom without God as the road to destruction and turn back to him. Understanding that doing what is right in God's eyes actually has far greater freedom that doing what is right in our own. Wouldn't we?

Eliminating the Past

Do you ever struggle with past failures? Do you wish you could suck those spoken words back into your mouth? Are there memories that seem to haunt you when you try to move forward? This is probably true for most of us. Paul had a number of past actions he wanted to keep in the past. In his letter to the Philippians he writes, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14). When you look at the context Paul includes a lot of things that have nothing to do with failure. They are things about his ancestry, his family line, a Pharisee, as to pursuing keeping the Law, blameless. They are about his education and accomplishments, the only sin mentioned is his persecution of the Messianic assemblies. Not that Paul's failures did not weigh on his mind from time to time. He does not refer to himself as, "the Chief of sinners", in 1 Timothy 1:15, for no reason at all.

God does not want us to live in the past. Old things are to pass away and all things are become new, (2 Corinthians 5:17). If we live in our accomplishments we can become proud, arrogant, and not strive to move forward in our relationship with Christ. If we live in our short comings then life is constricted by guilt and failure and we feel worthless and unworthy to serve the Lord. Either way we are crippled and ineffective with caring for the responsibilities God places in our hands. So the Apostle Paul says, let it go and keep pressing on toward that upward call in Christ Jesus. Onward and upward with the Lord.

This is all certainly true and should be applied to our lives so we have the opportunity to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. However, I do not think that Paul, or the Lord, is calling us to historic amnesia. God designed everything to flow in a cycle. Days, seasons, planting and harvest, as well as life itself, follows more of a reoccurring cycle than a linear progression of unrelated events. We realize true repentance, the turning away from a sinful behavior, only when a similar opportunity to sin returns and we have victory. History and our past is not to be eliminated but rather, learned from. If Paul's intent was that God wanted us to fully forget the past we would have a very abbreviated Bible. If we removed every failure and every success from the Scriptures we would be left with a rule book with no examples as how to put them into practice. God determined to reveal Himself through relationships with people and peoples relationships with one another. This gives us examples, instruction, and hope knowing God has been using imperfect failures to advance His Kingdom for generations.

Abraham believed God, was willing to offer Isaac, and lied about Sarah being his wife. Issac preferred the son who was not of the promised line while Jacob wrestled with God and prevailed but deceived his father, with the help of his mother. Moses is a friend of God, leads god's people out of bondage, kills the Egyptian, refuses to speak to Pharaoh, and strikes the rock. David defeats Goliath and commit adultery and murder. Solomon asks for wisdom and introduces idolatry to God's people. Peter denies and then becomes a foundation stone for the Messianic community. James mocks Jesus when the Lord has His earthly ministry and then becomes the head of the church in Jerusalem. Not to leave the women out, Rahab was a prostitute who believes God and ends up in the line of Messiah. Ruth a Moabite, a non Jew, who cares for her Jewish mother in law, is David's great grandmother. Mary of Magdala was possessed by demons but came to be the Lord's treasured servant. The entire history of God's people is one of failure and redemption. Virtually every book in the Bible deals with people not getting along. Even tiny books like 2nd and 3rd John deal with relational issues. If we are honest, the record God gives us is not very pretty. However, it is remarkably helpful.

There is a movement within the American culture to remove and eliminate reminders of past failures and the record of men and women who were flawed. We find something distasteful about their character and conclude that who they were and what they accomplished should not be remembered. History of any people is not a record of pure and blameless people. It is a record of flawed men and women who lived and worked to build a nation. Their examples are there to learn from, not to worship or emulate in every aspect. After giving us a historic list of remarkable, yet broken, people from the historic past, the writer of Hebrews begins Chapter 12 with, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." In other words, let us learn from their lives, avoid the sin they fought with, and run with endurance, for the road is long and fret with dangers. They bear witness to the power and grace of a God Who uses broken stones to build His Kingdom.

Our history, likewise, surrounds us with a great cloud of witnesses who built a nation and learned as they went. Not unlike England or France or China, or South Africa. Every nation has its damaged heroes and grievances that should not be repeated or perpetuated. Reliving the past is no way to live going forward. Ignoring the past or burying it along with those who lived it will invite us to perpetuate the same errors and acts of intolerance. If we fail to learn or determine to hide the truth, as ugly as it may be or as uncomfortable as it might make us feel, will simply give us the opportunity to relive it once again until we learn the lessons God has for us.