The chips are down, enemies are pressing in, things are looking bad, and yet David is hopeful. How? Or why? The answer to both questions may be the same. And I believe that the more I can understand the answer, the better I'll respond to tough circumstances in my own life.
After listing all the many ways that he's in serious trouble, I'm struck with how confident David's concluding thoughts are: "I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!" (Psalm 27:13). Then he extends an invitation: "Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27:14). Usually that word "wait" in Hebrew is a mixture of the idea of waiting and hoping as if to mean "wait in hope." David's encouragement then? Hope, strength and courage. All in the midst of a whole lot of bad news.
So now I'm back to my questions of how and why. I want to know how or why I can wait in hope, with strength and courage, all in the midst of bad news. It's because this same psalm is about intimacy with God. In the midst of all David's problems, God says, "Seek my face!" And David's answer is, "Your face, Lord, do I seek" (27:8). And in the midst of so much danger, David says that the one thing he seeks is to dwell in God's house and to gaze on God' beauty (27:4). Time with God is precisely how and why David can so confidently say, "I believe!" David doesn't require new circumstances in order to hope -- he simply needs to see God amidst it all. In other words, the reason he can hope is a Who, not a what. I know that Who to be Jesus. Time spent with such a wonderful Lord and Saviour will always generate hope, strength and courage, even when we're surrounded by trouble.
That means we shouldn't just passively wait for hope, strength or courage to drop out of the sky. The God we wait for is the God we must also both seek and see as the beautiful God who inspires us to hopeful strength and courage -- whatever the circumstances! And I'm certain that the more clearly I see the God I seek, the more hope, strength and courage will grow in my heart.
© 2009 by Ken Peters
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Inherent Hope
Christmas is over and 2009 is drawing to a close. And as the milestone of another New Year's Eve approaches, even though I'm mindful of many things in my life that I can be grateful for, I'm conscious of a quiet disappointment that's lurking in the shadows of my heart. It's the disappointment of unanswered prayer regarding Fiona's health. Nagging thoughts in that area have sometimes left me pursuing the call of God on my life in feet-dragging, head-drooping, soul-draining ways.
That's why I'm going to end 2009 with a couple posts intended to encourage myself in the Lord. It won't be difficult to do, because as I've already said, I have a lot to be thankful for and simply need to remind myself of that. These posts will be drawn from a journal I've kept in 2009 as I've read through the Bible.
Earlier in December, I was reading Ephesians. And as I read of being blessed "with every spiritual blessing" (1:3), of experiencing "the riches of his [God's] grace" (1:8; 2:7), of "the great love with which he [God] loved us" (2:4) and of being "seated with him [Christ] in the heavenly places" (2:6), I was struck with how easily I've let circumstances and disappointments rob me of the joyful hope that all those truths are intended to provide. Imagine that! I've been wonderfully welcomed by an extravagantly loving God, and I'm capable of approaching him warily as though he disapproved of me. That's no way for someone who's been so lovingly adopted as a son (1:4-5) to live, and I don't want to enter 2010 living that way!
That's why Ephesians 4:4 strikes me as such a vital verse in my life. In the ESV, it ends with the phrase, "just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call". When I think of the salvation-call on my life in that way, it gets my attention. It reminds me of the absolute non-negotiability of hope for those who believe in the risen Christ. Hope actually "belongs" to my call as a Christian. Hope and God's choosing of me go together -- they're inseparable. That means that the call of God on my life comes with a full tank of hope that can never run out as I choose to walk in that calling.
Do I ever need to speak to my soul everyday to remind myself of that -- that being chosen and adopted by God ought to thrill me in ways that no disappointments can smother. And I need to keep my hope-tank full by regularly filling my mind with the encouraging Truth of God's Word. And because hope belongs to my call, I can confidently enter 2010 full of hope for a new year!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
That's why I'm going to end 2009 with a couple posts intended to encourage myself in the Lord. It won't be difficult to do, because as I've already said, I have a lot to be thankful for and simply need to remind myself of that. These posts will be drawn from a journal I've kept in 2009 as I've read through the Bible.
Earlier in December, I was reading Ephesians. And as I read of being blessed "with every spiritual blessing" (1:3), of experiencing "the riches of his [God's] grace" (1:8; 2:7), of "the great love with which he [God] loved us" (2:4) and of being "seated with him [Christ] in the heavenly places" (2:6), I was struck with how easily I've let circumstances and disappointments rob me of the joyful hope that all those truths are intended to provide. Imagine that! I've been wonderfully welcomed by an extravagantly loving God, and I'm capable of approaching him warily as though he disapproved of me. That's no way for someone who's been so lovingly adopted as a son (1:4-5) to live, and I don't want to enter 2010 living that way!
That's why Ephesians 4:4 strikes me as such a vital verse in my life. In the ESV, it ends with the phrase, "just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call". When I think of the salvation-call on my life in that way, it gets my attention. It reminds me of the absolute non-negotiability of hope for those who believe in the risen Christ. Hope actually "belongs" to my call as a Christian. Hope and God's choosing of me go together -- they're inseparable. That means that the call of God on my life comes with a full tank of hope that can never run out as I choose to walk in that calling.
Do I ever need to speak to my soul everyday to remind myself of that -- that being chosen and adopted by God ought to thrill me in ways that no disappointments can smother. And I need to keep my hope-tank full by regularly filling my mind with the encouraging Truth of God's Word. And because hope belongs to my call, I can confidently enter 2010 full of hope for a new year!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
I am such a fool sometimes...
I don't know what it is about Christmas that makes me this way. Maybe it's the pressure and momentum of all that needs doing leading up to it. Or maybe it's my irritation with the commercialistic frenzy that surrounds it. Or maybe it stems from a strange insecurity that's uncomfortable with the special gestures of love that are extended my way at Christmastime. If so, there's pride in that, and it's something to repent of. It's probably a mixture of all those things that make me feel irritable and even downright angry as Christmas approaches.
And so often that anger is toward the ones I love the most -- my family -- my children and Fiona. Which brings me to what I saw in Proverbs 29:11. "A fool always loses his temper, but a wise man holds it back."
Ah yes, some people may want to console me by saying I can't be so bad as that. They'd say that I'm not the person that proverb was written for -- I don't "always" lose my temper. No, but lately I don't think it'd be an exaggeration to say that I often lose my temper -- especially with my kids. And from where I sit, often looks a great deal like always. And when I do lose my temper, it causes the very thing that Proverbs 29:22 says it will cause: "strife." As I snap at the kids, they tend to snap back, and strife is instantly created.
Another verse that's quite well known is Proverbs 15:1. It says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" -- which in turn stirs up strife. And it's only a fool who would consciously choose to answer people in a way that only served to create a clash.
But I'm so glad that the Bible understands that we're human. Proverbs 29:11 says that "A fool always loses his temper, but a wise man holds it back." It doesn't say that the wise man never has to deal with anger in his heart. It simply says that "a wise man holds it back." Old fashioned self-control.
There's one other proverb that puts it a little differently: "He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick tempered exalts folly" (Proverbs 14:29). In this Christmas season and throughout 2010, I want to be a man of "great understanding" who understands that a gentle answer will minimize strife and that I can bring out the best in others by how I respond to them. I want to grow wiser as I check my anger before I express it, choosing instead to show love in a gentle answer to those I love most. May you have a peaceful, strifeless Christmas!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
And so often that anger is toward the ones I love the most -- my family -- my children and Fiona. Which brings me to what I saw in Proverbs 29:11. "A fool always loses his temper, but a wise man holds it back."
Ah yes, some people may want to console me by saying I can't be so bad as that. They'd say that I'm not the person that proverb was written for -- I don't "always" lose my temper. No, but lately I don't think it'd be an exaggeration to say that I often lose my temper -- especially with my kids. And from where I sit, often looks a great deal like always. And when I do lose my temper, it causes the very thing that Proverbs 29:22 says it will cause: "strife." As I snap at the kids, they tend to snap back, and strife is instantly created.
Another verse that's quite well known is Proverbs 15:1. It says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" -- which in turn stirs up strife. And it's only a fool who would consciously choose to answer people in a way that only served to create a clash.
But I'm so glad that the Bible understands that we're human. Proverbs 29:11 says that "A fool always loses his temper, but a wise man holds it back." It doesn't say that the wise man never has to deal with anger in his heart. It simply says that "a wise man holds it back." Old fashioned self-control.
There's one other proverb that puts it a little differently: "He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick tempered exalts folly" (Proverbs 14:29). In this Christmas season and throughout 2010, I want to be a man of "great understanding" who understands that a gentle answer will minimize strife and that I can bring out the best in others by how I respond to them. I want to grow wiser as I check my anger before I express it, choosing instead to show love in a gentle answer to those I love most. May you have a peaceful, strifeless Christmas!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
Sunday, December 20, 2009
The Futility of Regret
I love reading books by A.W. Tozer. As a writer, he wasted no time in getting right to the heart of a matter. The man was a prophet who fearlessly declared Truth to a 20th century Church in need of hearing it. And his deep love for God, God's Word and the Church are obvious throughout his writings.
One of the most helpful chapters I ever read from one of Tozer's books was called The Futility of Regret from the book, That Incredible Christian. Until a few days ago, I hadn't read that chapter since high school, but I've always been able to recall the essence of it over all these years. Below is a sampling from the beginning of the chapter...
The human heart is heretical by nature. Popular religious beliefs should be checked carefully against the Word of God, for they are almost certain to be wrong.
Legalism, for instance is natural to the human heart. Grace in its true New Testament meaning is foreign to human reason, not because it is contrary to reason but because it lies beyond it. The doctrine of grace had to be revealed; it could not have been discovered.
The essence of legalism is self-atonement. The seeker tries to make himself acceptable to God by some act of restitution, or by self-punishment or the feeling of regret. The desire to be pleasing to God is commendable certainly, but the effort to please God by self-effort is not, for it assumes that sin once done may be undone, an assumption wholly false.
Long after we have learned from the Scriptures that we cannot by fasting, or the wearing of a hair shirt or the making of many prayers, atone for the sins of the soul, we still tend by a kind of pernicious natural heresy to feel that we can please God and purify our souls by the presence of perpetual regret.
This latter is the Protestant's unacknowledged penance. Though he claims to believe in the doctrine of justification by faith he still secretly feels that what he calls "godly sorrow" will make him dear to God. Though he may know better he is caught in the web of a wrong religious feeling and betrayed.
There is indeed a godly sorrow that worketh repentance, and it must be acknowledged that among us Christians this feeling is often not present in sufficient strength to work real repentance; but the persistence of this sorrow till it becomes chronic regret is neither right nor good...
And a page or two later, the following paragraph concludes the chapter wonderfully...
Regret for a sinful past will remain until we truly believe that for us in Christ that sinful past no longer exists. The man in Christ has only Christ's past and that is perfect and acceptable to God. In Christ he died, in Christ he rose, and in Christ he is seated within the circle of God's favored ones. He is no longer angry with himself because he is no longer self-regarding, but Christ-regarding; hence there is no place for regret.
© 2009 by Ken Peters
One of the most helpful chapters I ever read from one of Tozer's books was called The Futility of Regret from the book, That Incredible Christian. Until a few days ago, I hadn't read that chapter since high school, but I've always been able to recall the essence of it over all these years. Below is a sampling from the beginning of the chapter...
The human heart is heretical by nature. Popular religious beliefs should be checked carefully against the Word of God, for they are almost certain to be wrong.
Legalism, for instance is natural to the human heart. Grace in its true New Testament meaning is foreign to human reason, not because it is contrary to reason but because it lies beyond it. The doctrine of grace had to be revealed; it could not have been discovered.
The essence of legalism is self-atonement. The seeker tries to make himself acceptable to God by some act of restitution, or by self-punishment or the feeling of regret. The desire to be pleasing to God is commendable certainly, but the effort to please God by self-effort is not, for it assumes that sin once done may be undone, an assumption wholly false.
Long after we have learned from the Scriptures that we cannot by fasting, or the wearing of a hair shirt or the making of many prayers, atone for the sins of the soul, we still tend by a kind of pernicious natural heresy to feel that we can please God and purify our souls by the presence of perpetual regret.
This latter is the Protestant's unacknowledged penance. Though he claims to believe in the doctrine of justification by faith he still secretly feels that what he calls "godly sorrow" will make him dear to God. Though he may know better he is caught in the web of a wrong religious feeling and betrayed.
There is indeed a godly sorrow that worketh repentance, and it must be acknowledged that among us Christians this feeling is often not present in sufficient strength to work real repentance; but the persistence of this sorrow till it becomes chronic regret is neither right nor good...
And a page or two later, the following paragraph concludes the chapter wonderfully...
Regret for a sinful past will remain until we truly believe that for us in Christ that sinful past no longer exists. The man in Christ has only Christ's past and that is perfect and acceptable to God. In Christ he died, in Christ he rose, and in Christ he is seated within the circle of God's favored ones. He is no longer angry with himself because he is no longer self-regarding, but Christ-regarding; hence there is no place for regret.
© 2009 by Ken Peters
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Pithometer / pith’-ō-mē-tər / (n) : an instrument for assessing pithy remarks. Today’s remark: “Christianity is a relationship, not a religion.”
The evangelical church is fond of bashing "religion." And the myriad of pithy phrases used to do so will typically emphasize a relationship with God at the expense of religious practice. It fits into a nice little alliteration as we pit relationship against religion.
And on the surface of things, that sounds fine. Far too many people perceive religious practice as a legitimate way to reach God even though God makes it clear in the Bible that the only way to reach Him is through simply knowing and following Jesus. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). And the Apostle Paul also went to great lengths in many of his New Testament letters to debunk the idea that following some religious code would get a person closer to God. Paul wrote, "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20).
That being said, I simply do not believe the Bible defines Christianity as an abandonment of religion for the sake of a relationship with God.
By "religion," I mean the outward expression of one's commitment and devotion to God -- such as good works and spiritual practices. And according to the Bible, such religion comes in two forms, one being good and one being bad. (This categorization is based on two of only five passages in the entire Bible that use the words "religion" or "religious," the other three passages using those words in a neutral sense.)
Colossians 2:23 speaks of "self-made religion," and offers strong warnings against those who rely on such a thing to help them to grow mature as a Christian. Notice this is not a warning against "religion," but against "self-made religion." It's a warning against a human-centered approach to God in which we as people think we can define the parameters of our interaction with God. And this is worth speaking against as many people lead others away from God by emphasizing personal spiritual practices and experiences more than God's work of grace on the cross.
But there's another kind of "religion" spoken of in the Bible, and it's not only spoken of as something positive, but as something essential. James 1:27 says, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by this world." It is because of this verse (and parallel passages like Matthew 25:31-46) that I wince every time I hear some pithy remark about religion being bad. If we want to make such remarks, then let's be mindful of the few verses in the Bible that offer explicit instruction on this topic. If we're going to dis "religion," then let's be clear that we're dissing "self-made religion," because Scripture is pretty clear that "religion" in the correct sense is important to God.
Of course, it is important that the cart not be placed before the horse. Yes, God most certainly expects us to value the religious acts of helping the poor and of practicing moral purity. But God also expects us to trust in Jesus for the resolve needed to practice such religious deeds and for the forgiveness needed from Him when we fail. Or, one could say that a relationship with Jesus is how we're saved from the consequences of sin in our lives, but religious acts are how we're truly meant to express the salvation we've experienced.
So there's no need to bad-mouth the "pure and undefiled" "religion" that God wants a relationship with us to help us to practice!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
And on the surface of things, that sounds fine. Far too many people perceive religious practice as a legitimate way to reach God even though God makes it clear in the Bible that the only way to reach Him is through simply knowing and following Jesus. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). And the Apostle Paul also went to great lengths in many of his New Testament letters to debunk the idea that following some religious code would get a person closer to God. Paul wrote, "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20).
That being said, I simply do not believe the Bible defines Christianity as an abandonment of religion for the sake of a relationship with God.
By "religion," I mean the outward expression of one's commitment and devotion to God -- such as good works and spiritual practices. And according to the Bible, such religion comes in two forms, one being good and one being bad. (This categorization is based on two of only five passages in the entire Bible that use the words "religion" or "religious," the other three passages using those words in a neutral sense.)
Colossians 2:23 speaks of "self-made religion," and offers strong warnings against those who rely on such a thing to help them to grow mature as a Christian. Notice this is not a warning against "religion," but against "self-made religion." It's a warning against a human-centered approach to God in which we as people think we can define the parameters of our interaction with God. And this is worth speaking against as many people lead others away from God by emphasizing personal spiritual practices and experiences more than God's work of grace on the cross.
But there's another kind of "religion" spoken of in the Bible, and it's not only spoken of as something positive, but as something essential. James 1:27 says, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by this world." It is because of this verse (and parallel passages like Matthew 25:31-46) that I wince every time I hear some pithy remark about religion being bad. If we want to make such remarks, then let's be mindful of the few verses in the Bible that offer explicit instruction on this topic. If we're going to dis "religion," then let's be clear that we're dissing "self-made religion," because Scripture is pretty clear that "religion" in the correct sense is important to God.
Of course, it is important that the cart not be placed before the horse. Yes, God most certainly expects us to value the religious acts of helping the poor and of practicing moral purity. But God also expects us to trust in Jesus for the resolve needed to practice such religious deeds and for the forgiveness needed from Him when we fail. Or, one could say that a relationship with Jesus is how we're saved from the consequences of sin in our lives, but religious acts are how we're truly meant to express the salvation we've experienced.
So there's no need to bad-mouth the "pure and undefiled" "religion" that God wants a relationship with us to help us to practice!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Following a Crooked Line
I think I've got a silly notion in my head that if an all-powerful God has a sovereign Plan, then His Plan should be accomplished the way a missile takes a straight and steady path toward its target. I mean, when the great God who created all things sets His will to do something, how can any created being -- human or otherwise -- hinder Him? It'd be like flies trying to push a missile aside.
And this idea in my head tends to leave me resentful of the turmoil in my life that leads to sharp turns and blind corners. I guess I figure that if I'm following God closely enough, I'll be a part of His Plan, and the path of my life will be reasonably straight. But so often, life feels more like a crooked line, as though someone's messing with God's plans for my life.
Then I read about the story of Jesus' birth -- the most important of God's plans -- and I see a very crooked line -- with loads of turmoil!
So why shouldn't I face the same? I suspect that one of the reasons for this is that God doesn't simply want to accomplish plans through me, but He wants to accomplish plans in me as well. Crooked lines work much better at that than straight lines. Crooked lines teach me to listen, to trust, to obey and to persevere. And our sovereign God is still able to accomplish His great Plans through our lives as we follow Him around every corner we face in life!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
And this idea in my head tends to leave me resentful of the turmoil in my life that leads to sharp turns and blind corners. I guess I figure that if I'm following God closely enough, I'll be a part of His Plan, and the path of my life will be reasonably straight. But so often, life feels more like a crooked line, as though someone's messing with God's plans for my life.
Then I read about the story of Jesus' birth -- the most important of God's plans -- and I see a very crooked line -- with loads of turmoil!
- A pregnancy before marriage (Luke 1:31-35).
- A marriage about to be called off (Matthew 1:19).
- A marriage plan restored, but amidst the public disapproval of a pregnancy before marriage (Matt. 1:24).
- Then an unwelcome donkey ride in the last days of the pregnancy (Luke 2:1-6).
- Then a dirty stable is all God reserves for the baby's birth (Luke 2:7)
- And though wise men coming from afar speak to King Herod in their search for Jesus, they're then warned to avoid King Herod as they leave due to the danger he poses to Jesus (Matt. 2:12).
- Then Mary, Joseph and Jesus flee for their lives to avoid King Herod's sinister plot (Matt. 2 13).
- King Herod then kills all the male babies of Bethlehem (Matt. 2:16).
- And finally, though all seemed well to return from Egypt, Joseph & Mary are afraid to dwell in Judea, so they must return to Nazareth to live among the people who knew Jesus was conceived before marriage.
So why shouldn't I face the same? I suspect that one of the reasons for this is that God doesn't simply want to accomplish plans through me, but He wants to accomplish plans in me as well. Crooked lines work much better at that than straight lines. Crooked lines teach me to listen, to trust, to obey and to persevere. And our sovereign God is still able to accomplish His great Plans through our lives as we follow Him around every corner we face in life!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
Sunday, November 22, 2009
For the Love of Nations
In 2008, a man named Matt Harding set out to visit 42 countries simply to film himself dancing on the spot, often with the local people, in each country. I don't know why Matt did this, except perhaps for the sheer fun of it. He sure seems to be having fun on the video he created! And because it's so fun to watch, it's been viewed over 25 million times on You Tube.
I'm one of the viewers who only recently discovered this video. And I have to admit, I smiled widely throughout the entire four and a half minutes of it -- and have continued to smile during subsequent viewings. It's such a celebration of life and of the world and of the peoples of the world. I don't even mind admitting that I also got a bit choked up as I viewed it on one occasion. It was when Matt was in one of the African communities with joyful children dancing all around him. I've traveled to a few African countries, and lived in Sudan for a year, and know a little about the challenges and the pain that the people of such impoverished places have been through. And to see the smiles and hear the laughter of those children as they danced with Matt is wonderful!
So I have dubbed this posting "For the Love of Nations" rather than using the title Matt gave to his video. Because that's what this video fills me with -- a love for the many beautiful peoples of this planet. God's heart is full of love for every tribe and people group of the earth, and He wants us to have that same love for the nations. You'll see many of those nations whom God's heart yearns for in the video below (as well as a multitude of people in the second video that follows). Enjoy!
Revelation 7:9 says, "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands." That verse describes the thrilling culmination of God's plans to include people of every culture in His family. God says in Psalm 67:3-4, "Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!" This speaks of a joy that far exceeds what we see in Matt's video.
The truly amazing video that follows offers an exciting sampling of the joyful scenes described in Revelation and Psalms when that heavenly throng of every nation is cheering and praising Jesus in heaven! Take a peek!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
I'm one of the viewers who only recently discovered this video. And I have to admit, I smiled widely throughout the entire four and a half minutes of it -- and have continued to smile during subsequent viewings. It's such a celebration of life and of the world and of the peoples of the world. I don't even mind admitting that I also got a bit choked up as I viewed it on one occasion. It was when Matt was in one of the African communities with joyful children dancing all around him. I've traveled to a few African countries, and lived in Sudan for a year, and know a little about the challenges and the pain that the people of such impoverished places have been through. And to see the smiles and hear the laughter of those children as they danced with Matt is wonderful!
So I have dubbed this posting "For the Love of Nations" rather than using the title Matt gave to his video. Because that's what this video fills me with -- a love for the many beautiful peoples of this planet. God's heart is full of love for every tribe and people group of the earth, and He wants us to have that same love for the nations. You'll see many of those nations whom God's heart yearns for in the video below (as well as a multitude of people in the second video that follows). Enjoy!
Revelation 7:9 says, "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands." That verse describes the thrilling culmination of God's plans to include people of every culture in His family. God says in Psalm 67:3-4, "Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!" This speaks of a joy that far exceeds what we see in Matt's video.
The truly amazing video that follows offers an exciting sampling of the joyful scenes described in Revelation and Psalms when that heavenly throng of every nation is cheering and praising Jesus in heaven! Take a peek!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
Friday, November 20, 2009
Shopping for that special someone
There's only 5 weeks till Christmas and I've yet to spend the consumer average of $831 on Christmas presents! Talk about pressure. And with no snow on the ground, how does anyone expect me to even think of such things? I'm told that traffic at the malls in Winnipeg increases dramatically once it snows, as if all we are is a bunch of Pavlov's dogs that don't have the sense to simply look at a calendar and make plans. Or is it that we simply must have snow for Christmas shopping in the same way we expect there to be unshelled peanuts sold at a wrestling match or something is seriously wrong?
So in an effort to promote some good old fashioned consumerism this Christmas season, I've found ten inspiring ads that may give you some fresh ideas for the loved ones on your list (they can be clicked on to read the small print).

And I'm thinking, that guy should be the president of the most powerful nation on earth.

Why does it look like that Santa was found in a back lane somewhere? Well, if I know someone with a scratchy throat, I now know what to get.

That's what I'm hoping for in my stocking. Sammy sure seems like he was hoping for some.

This is for those who can't afford to buy someone a Mac notebook.

Enough with that clean, digital iPod sound in which you can't even hear the scratchy friction of a piece of wire scraping across a sheet of vinyl! What's wrong with kids these days? At prices like that, go retro!

Wow. Like, what are they really trying to encourage here? I may be reading too much into this, but is there a hint of malice in that ad?

Now why does the look in that kid's eyes not go too well with the gun that's in his hands?

That lady does indeed look happy. Way too happy.

Aside from gift #10 below, this is the best gift any man could get his wife. I mean, talk about functionality! It's sure to be needed and she'll be sure to use it! I'm thinking I'm ready to pop over to Walmart any moment now.

And this is an obvious choice for that special someone in your life. The small print says, "This year, there is no gift like Borg's magnificent bath scale... the 'Flight'." Yeah, you can bet I'll be flying. Right out the door if I give this to my wife. Did women in the '50s actually want these kinds of gifts at Christmas? Was it actually okay to give a gift that said, "Hey, maybe you need to shed a few pounds!"?
Well, there you have it. Ten great gift ideas. Happy consuming!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
So in an effort to promote some good old fashioned consumerism this Christmas season, I've found ten inspiring ads that may give you some fresh ideas for the loved ones on your list (they can be clicked on to read the small print).

And I'm thinking, that guy should be the president of the most powerful nation on earth.
Why does it look like that Santa was found in a back lane somewhere? Well, if I know someone with a scratchy throat, I now know what to get.
That's what I'm hoping for in my stocking. Sammy sure seems like he was hoping for some.

This is for those who can't afford to buy someone a Mac notebook.
Enough with that clean, digital iPod sound in which you can't even hear the scratchy friction of a piece of wire scraping across a sheet of vinyl! What's wrong with kids these days? At prices like that, go retro!

Wow. Like, what are they really trying to encourage here? I may be reading too much into this, but is there a hint of malice in that ad?

Now why does the look in that kid's eyes not go too well with the gun that's in his hands?

That lady does indeed look happy. Way too happy.

Aside from gift #10 below, this is the best gift any man could get his wife. I mean, talk about functionality! It's sure to be needed and she'll be sure to use it! I'm thinking I'm ready to pop over to Walmart any moment now.

And this is an obvious choice for that special someone in your life. The small print says, "This year, there is no gift like Borg's magnificent bath scale... the 'Flight'." Yeah, you can bet I'll be flying. Right out the door if I give this to my wife. Did women in the '50s actually want these kinds of gifts at Christmas? Was it actually okay to give a gift that said, "Hey, maybe you need to shed a few pounds!"?
Well, there you have it. Ten great gift ideas. Happy consuming!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
Monday, November 16, 2009
Passion to Run
I'm a big NFL fan. I love the passion and excitement of the game. Since I grew up near Detroit, one would think I'd be a Lions fan. But long ago, when I was about 10-12 years old, I chose to be a Vikings fan. Those were the days of a defensive line called the Purple People Eaters and of offensive stars like Fran Tarkenton, Sammy White and Chuck Foreman. The Vikings were exciting to watch, and to this day, I still like to watch them when I can.
In fact, this season feels as exciting to me as those early days when I first discovered the Vikings. Brett Favre is probably the best quarterback the Vikings have had since the days of Fran Tarkenton, and with the Williams-Wall and Jared Allen on defense and stars like Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin and Adrian Peterson lighting up the offense, I'm eager to see if the Vikings can finally win a championship among a league of many other great teams.
But one player in particular has really gotten my attention these last couple years. Adrian Peterson is more than just an amazing running back. As I've seen him play and heard him interviewed, he has struck me as a man who mixes passion and humility remarkably well. And when I read a recent article about him at www.nfl.fanhouse.com, I found myself challenged by what motivated him to work so hard as a record-setting running back. I even wondered how much my own motivation in running the spiritual race set before me should resemble what motivates Adrian Peterson.
Check out this excerpt of the article I read: "...'I'm big in faith,' said Peterson, who grew up in Cedar Branch Baptist Church in Palestine, Texas, and attends Bible study at teammates' homes on Wednesdays and Thursdays. His faith is the strength in his life and the power in his game.
"...Peterson knows that strength and tenderness [are] required.
"'I was 7, but I remember it like yesterday,' Peterson said of the death of his eight-year-old brother, Brian, who was riding his bike when he was killed by a drunk driver. 'There was an incline in front of our apartment where we would ride our bikes up and down. I was playing football with the guys near it when Brian was hit. I ran to him and held his head in my arms. His head was swollen. I spoke to him but he couldn't speak. I ran to get help. There was nothing we could do. My mom cried for a full year, day and night. I would just hold her and tell her everything was going to be all right. Brian was faster than me, a better athlete than me. That motivated me to work hard for him.
"'I run for both of us.'"
When I first read that last line, I paused. "Wow," I thought. This man runs with such passion for someone who meant so much to him. As a man who seems to know Jesus, his experience of seeing a beloved brother die gives Adrian Peterson the motivation to use the gifts God has given him to achieve something on his brother's behalf.
That made me wonder if the death of Someone even more beloved than any brother -- the death of Jesus Christ -- provides me with that same kind of passion and motivation: the passion and motivation to "work hard for him." Jesus died for a wonderful reason -- so that we could be forgiven for our sin and know abundant life with Him for eternity! And then He sent His followers out as workers instructed to tell others about Him.
So when I consider why Jesus died and what that was meant to achieve, does that motivate me to work passionately for Him? It should! Even more so than Adrian Peterson is motivated by his own brother's death (as special as that motivation may be). And I'm so grateful that Jesus not only died, but that God also raised Him from the dead! Because that means that as Someone who is faster and stronger than me, Jesus is with me to help me to work hard for Him and to run fast for Him. He not only inspires me to passionately run the race He sets before me, but He also gives me the strength to run.
And I do believe He also does that for Adrian Peterson! Go Vikings!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
In fact, this season feels as exciting to me as those early days when I first discovered the Vikings. Brett Favre is probably the best quarterback the Vikings have had since the days of Fran Tarkenton, and with the Williams-Wall and Jared Allen on defense and stars like Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin and Adrian Peterson lighting up the offense, I'm eager to see if the Vikings can finally win a championship among a league of many other great teams.
But one player in particular has really gotten my attention these last couple years. Adrian Peterson is more than just an amazing running back. As I've seen him play and heard him interviewed, he has struck me as a man who mixes passion and humility remarkably well. And when I read a recent article about him at www.nfl.fanhouse.com, I found myself challenged by what motivated him to work so hard as a record-setting running back. I even wondered how much my own motivation in running the spiritual race set before me should resemble what motivates Adrian Peterson.
Check out this excerpt of the article I read: "...'I'm big in faith,' said Peterson, who grew up in Cedar Branch Baptist Church in Palestine, Texas, and attends Bible study at teammates' homes on Wednesdays and Thursdays. His faith is the strength in his life and the power in his game.
"...Peterson knows that strength and tenderness [are] required.
"'I was 7, but I remember it like yesterday,' Peterson said of the death of his eight-year-old brother, Brian, who was riding his bike when he was killed by a drunk driver. 'There was an incline in front of our apartment where we would ride our bikes up and down. I was playing football with the guys near it when Brian was hit. I ran to him and held his head in my arms. His head was swollen. I spoke to him but he couldn't speak. I ran to get help. There was nothing we could do. My mom cried for a full year, day and night. I would just hold her and tell her everything was going to be all right. Brian was faster than me, a better athlete than me. That motivated me to work hard for him.
"'I run for both of us.'"
When I first read that last line, I paused. "Wow," I thought. This man runs with such passion for someone who meant so much to him. As a man who seems to know Jesus, his experience of seeing a beloved brother die gives Adrian Peterson the motivation to use the gifts God has given him to achieve something on his brother's behalf.
That made me wonder if the death of Someone even more beloved than any brother -- the death of Jesus Christ -- provides me with that same kind of passion and motivation: the passion and motivation to "work hard for him." Jesus died for a wonderful reason -- so that we could be forgiven for our sin and know abundant life with Him for eternity! And then He sent His followers out as workers instructed to tell others about Him.
So when I consider why Jesus died and what that was meant to achieve, does that motivate me to work passionately for Him? It should! Even more so than Adrian Peterson is motivated by his own brother's death (as special as that motivation may be). And I'm so grateful that Jesus not only died, but that God also raised Him from the dead! Because that means that as Someone who is faster and stronger than me, Jesus is with me to help me to work hard for Him and to run fast for Him. He not only inspires me to passionately run the race He sets before me, but He also gives me the strength to run.
And I do believe He also does that for Adrian Peterson! Go Vikings!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Fond memories of a man I never met, on this Day of Remembrance

He was my father's father's youngest brother. My father's uncle. My great-uncle. A pastor who had known him before my Uncle Nick went off to war said that Nick Peters had one of the most cheerful spirits he had ever had the privilege of meeting. He said that "he was an inspiration too, for he had inherited an idealism and a mystical quality of mind from his Mennonite ancestors that kept him pressing upward, always searching for the meaning of things, always trying to understand."
Born two months premature in Russia in 1915, great care had to be taken to help him simply survive his first year of life. One of his brothers said that the war years of 1918-1921 made a deep impression upon his young mind and ended up giving him a rather serious view of life from an early age. In 1925, when he was 10 years old, he and his family (including my grandfather) fled Russia, traveling by boxcar and steamship, and moved to Grande Pointe, Manitoba, Canada. Once he had grown up, he traveled to many parts of Canada, working in gold mines in B.C., coal mines in Alberta and selling Electrolux in Sudbury, Ontario.

Eventually he volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force. He trained in Toronto in 1943 and was commissioned as Pilot Officer in May 1944. He

On February 22, 1945, Nicholas wrote what would be his last letter home. The highlighted portion on the left says, "Have been here for about seven months now and expect to be back in four month's time but then you can't always tell."
A few months earlier, just before embarking upon his first flying mission, he had written to his brother Isaac: "There comes a time in the life of every airman who caters to the blue, when he is facing the results of his training. My time has come... I felt someone of the immediate family ought to know. I chose you. If I am reported 'Missing' you will understand that most of the 'missing' turn up again... It amuses me to think back on the way [we once] viewed the world. Many things have passed since then. Much has taken place; more than we, in our present state, could comprehend. We have toiled, struggled, and played, and Life as a whole has been good."
Uncle Nick was a poet, and what he wrote inspired me as a reflective teenager who was searching for meaning myself. I was 15, sitting on our basement floor book in hand on the day that I discovered the poetry of Nicholas Peters. It was also the day I discovered that the man who wrote such wonderful verse had been killed in service to this country long before I'd have had a chance to meet him. The following poem was written by Nicholas Peters on September 22, 1939, just three weeks after the onset of the war in which my Uncle Nick would die.
The Wars we Make
I gaze into the world with sorrowing eyes
And see the wide-abounding fruits of hate.

We fight, we say, for peace, and find
The wars we make
To be a spring of hate and source of future war.
Is there no peace for man?
No hope that this accursed flow
Of blood may cease?
Is this our destiny: to kill and maim
For peace?
Or is the 'peace' we strive to gain
A thin, unholy masquerade
Which, when our pride, our greed, our gain is touched too far,
Is shed, and stands uncovered, what we are?
Show me your light, O God
That I may fight for peace with peace
And not with war;
To prove my love with love,
And hate no more!
© 2009 by Ken Peters
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