ISAIAH CHAPTER 2: A BEAUTIFUL FUTURE- A DREARY PRESENT

A BEAUTIFUL FUTURE TO LONG FOR:

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

 It shall come to pass in the latter days

that the mountain of the house of the Lord

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be lifted up above the hills;

and all the nations shall flow to it,

 and many peoples shall come, and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.”

“The pathway to peace and prosperity is not putting your confidence in man but in the rule of God”

For out of Zion shall go the law,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.                             TRUTH

 He shall judge between the nations,

and shall decide disputes for many peoples;                           JUSTICE

and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;                                       PROGRESS

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war anymore.                                      PEACE

O house of Jacob,

come, let us walk

in the light of the Lord.

THE PRESENT CONDITION IS IN DISARRAY- UNDER THE JUDGMENT OF SIN AND REBELLION

For you have rejected your people,

the house of Jacob,

because they are full of things from the east..... WHAT AM I FULL OF?

SUPERSTITIONS AND PAGAN MYSTICISM

and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,

and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.

CONSUMERISM AND MATERIALISM

 Their land is filled with silver and gold,

and there is no end to their treasures;

TRUST IN MILITARY MIGHT

their land is filled with horses,

and there is no end to their chariots.

RAMPANT IDOLATRY

 Their land is filled with idols;

they bow down to the work of their hands,

to what their own fingers have made.

So man is humbled,

and each one is brought low—   

  (EJ Young “When we exalt God, we too are lifted up- when we exalt ourselves we inevitably humiliate ourselves leaving God alone exalted”)

These things are timeless and relevant in every generation. Don't we try to live by luck, live by prosperity, and trust in our military supremacy?

Some of these are neutral but when we propose our ultimate confidence in them we are practicing evil and forsaking God.

do not forgive them!

 Enter into the rock

and hide in the dust

from before the terror of the Lord,

and from the splendor of his majesty.

 The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,

and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,

and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

 For the Lord of hosts has a day

against all that is proud and lofty,

against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;

 against all the cedars of Lebanon,

lofty and lifted up;

and against all the oaks of Bashan;

 against all the lofty mountains,

and against all the uplifted hills;

 against every high tower,

and against every fortified wall;

 against all the ships of Tarshish,

and against all  the beautiful craft.

 And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,

and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,

and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

 And the idols shall utterly pass away.

 And people shall enter the caves of the rocks

and the holes of the ground,

from before the terror of the Lord,

and from the splendor of his majesty,

when he rises to terrify the earth.

 In that day mankind will cast away

their idols of silver and their idols of gold,

which they made for themselves to worship,

to the moles and to the bats,

 to enter the caverns of the rocks

and the clefts of the cliffs,

from before the terror of the Lord,

and from the splendor of his majesty,

when he rises to terrify the earth.

 Stop regarding man

in whose nostrils is breath,

for of what account is he?

Jay Gatsby and George Strait- Is it Insane to Hope?

Sometimes I get 'haunted' by songs or ideas that get churned around on the 'inward eye'. I find these things revisiting my thoughts during quiet times and before I know it, I have spent a half hour or so lost in conversations with myself and confirming my introverted disposition.

Lately, it has been Jay Gatsby and George Strait- confirming the unlikely subjects which capture my attention.

My wife and I finally got to see the latest Gatsby at the dollar movie. And all I could say is 'WOW".

"If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay... You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Ch. 5

You have to understand that I taught the Great Gatsby four times a day in a two week period for almost a decade (roughly 1993-2002). But the last time I read it was over 10 years ago.

Then I see the movie and was blown away- it was the first work of literature I have seen on film that actually captures the literary elements of narrative, characterization, setting, symbols, and theme. BRAVO!

And the image that 'haunted me' again and again was Leonardo DiCaprio reaching out to that tiny green light, barely visible in the mist, representing that burning, but fleeting hope that he and Daisy could actually be together in love, peace, and security.

IS IT FOOLISH TO HOPE?

F. Scott Fitzgerald experienced the disillusionment that human existence often finds itself. He captures the debauchery of Jazz Age hedonism and what brokenness is left in the wake. Excessive and unchained human freedom doesn't make us better. Instead greed and virtueless passion lead to oppression, destruction, and heartless selfishness.

And in this world, the ones foolish enough to hope and trust in the good intentions of humans suffer the greatest hurt. Gatsby was Fitzgerald's symbolic and tragic brokenness.

Nick Carraway: Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning - So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

In light of this- it isn't surprising that Christian faith is sometimes listed in this same vein.

In the sophisticated world of intellectual elitism and social status weighted opinion, Christians are discounted as those who speak silly, antiquated aphorisms based on no more evidence than unicorns or Greek gods.

But I ask a question: Is Christian hope a foolish and fleeting belief on the same level as those who hope the ground will suddenly sprout lolly pops and rain skittles?

A NECESSARY HOPE

I have found George Strait's latest hit," Believe" staying with me in a similar way "Troubadour" did.
You can listen to it on the link below:

I Believe: George Strait

“I Believe” was written by George Strait, his son Bubba Strait, and Dean Dillon it’s about the 20 children and six teachers that lost their lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The nights as clear as a big desert sky, 
But it's hard to see stars with these tears in my eyes, 
It's hard enough to cry, when there's 26 reasons why
There's broken hearts that'll never beat the same, 
Shattered lives still reeling from the pain, 
Our plans and dreams now gone, 
Oh how did you move on

But I believe there's someone looking after me
Someone beside me, night and day to light the way
It's hard to d something you can't see
But I believe 
I believe

There's 26 angels looking down from above 
Resting in His mercy, grace, and love
Time may never heal the sadness that we feel

But I believe there's someone looking after me
Someone beside me, night and day to light the way
It's hard to conceive something you can't see
But I believe 
I believe

Rivers flow now that used to be dry
As people all over the world start to cry but I believe

George, who often doesn't write his own songs, displays a normal response when faced with evil or unfathomable suffering- there has to be more.

THE GROUND OF GOSPEL HOPE

Some believe in NO GOD. Their view of the cosmos is as empty and dark as any. Some have a general hope in A GOD, and it is a brighter existence, but more wishful than tangible.

The Bible presents a COMPLETELY different hope and a definition of 'faith' that may surprise us.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
I Thessalonians 4:13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.
I Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Christian hope is NOT wishful thinking. It is a faith that rests in logical evidence. I find it quite reasonable that the universe demands a designer and less likely to be a product of random chance. I see it clearly in spider webs and glowing fish- in the design of the eye and the existence of logic, love, and language. It takes a grander story to produce what we have without a Master Designer.

But more than A GOD- Christian hope is secure in THE GOD of the Bible and in the testimony regarding Jesus of Nazareth. The archeological evidence of places and people of the Bible AND the fact that men gave their very lives testifying to what they had seen is more than plausible to me. The fact that a Cross is everywhere from a little spot in the Middle East 2000 years ago says something- changed lives say something- Mother Theresa giving her life to the orphans in India says something. The reality of human nature and the ability to mull over these things in my soul says something. The fact that I find my wife beautiful and pictures from Hubble breath taking says something.

Christian hope is even deeper than the one George so beautifully cries out for. George is better than Gatsby... but Jesus' resurrection is far better than any.

COUNTER THE ABOVE VERSES WITH THE EMPTY DREAMS OF JAY GATSBY

"And as I sat there, brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out Daisy's light at the end of his dock. He had come such a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close he could hardly fail to grasp it. But what he did not know was that it was already behind him, somewhere in the vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Ch. 9


"He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Ch. 3

"what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Ch. 1

AS I CLOSE, MY PRAYER IS THAT YOU WOULD ASK THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE TO FORGIVE YOU AND THAT YOU WOULD HUMBLY BOW THE THRONE OF YOUR HEART TO HIM. THE DOOR OF MERCY IS OPEN- AND YOUR HOPE IN THE RISEN CHRIST IS SEALED BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT. IT IS NOT YOUR GOODNESS THAT WILL SAVE YOU- IT IS HIS GOODNESS- PROVEN BY HIS SACRIFICE FOR YOU.

WHAT OTHER HOPE DO YOU HAVE?

Good Pressure, Bad Pressure- "Spotlight Anxiety" and Generation-i

This post is a result of many recent conversations where I keep hearing the same thing over and over. This observation has been shared by parents, teachers, administrators, coaches, and those involved in teaching fine arts.

Our young people are under duress unlike anything these mentors have seen before. There is a quiet fear that is robbing middle school and high school students from ever grasping life and squeezing out all the marrow. There is an unhealthy pressure that could likely produce depression and feelings of regret when they look back on their waste of youth. It is a fear that has always existed but is either greater in intensity than when we were teens, or the students themselves are weaker to stand to the pressure, or (likely) a combination of both.

Of course we naturally think of teens and 'peer pressure' and this is a type of peer pressure- but sometimes this term is too generic and mis-understood. We ALL live under peer pressure. Most psychology textbooks will spell out a life truth that human beings begin longing for peer approval OVER parental approval around the age of 14. Being accepted by your peers is more important than any other circle of influence in your life.

I'm still that way in a sense. It is one thing for my wife and children to tell me I am a good football coach- it is even better for my players and parents to believe I am a good coach- but I receive my greatest professional endorsement when my fellow coaches tell me I am a good coach. There have been times when an opposing coach has mentioned how hard it is to get ready to play my teams, or publicly say that I am a skilled coach- and that has always been extremely satisfying.

But this is different in kind or degree to what I am trying to write about.

For the last 10 years I have noticed a trend where there is a growing fear of Jr and Sr High students to stand out from the crowd. They do not want to stand out negatively OR positively. They want to be a part of the masses with very little individual attention in public.

I'm not saying that they mind private conversations that edify or criticize- but single a kid out in front of their peers and the most common response is sheer discomfort and anxiety.

This has always existed. I remember a friend of mine who purposely bombed a test in 4th grade because he was told he was going to be put in 'the nerd class' if he did well (that's what he called it). But my friend never worried about being a stand out in other ways.

What I am trying to describe is a common, systematic, and tangible anxiety where students avoid any position, honor, or activity where they may be singled out by an adult and extolled for virtue or behavior.

I have seen it growing in athletics. When I started coaching QB's 22 years ago- EVERY young athlete wanted to be the QB. When we had camp and kids chose their positions, often the QB line started as the largest and we had to whittle the position down and encourage them to try other positions.

It is almost the opposite now. Most of the time, there is only 1 QB per grade and some grades you have to ask a kid to try the position. Another coaching friend of mine is a baseball coach and he said he noticed the same thing happening to pitchers.

Our theory is that there is too much of the 'spotlight anxiety' over those positions. When you are on the mound- the game is literally in your hands- and more and more kids do NOT want to be in that predicament.

Where are the kids who want to take the last shot to win the game? They are becoming a rare commodity.

Teachers are telling me the same thing. Students actually fear being singled out for academic achievement among their peers. I had a student tell me that the worst day of the year is Honors Day because she is harassed about winning a class award or receiving commendation for academic achievement.

And that statement is a key piece of evidence about the reason for 'spotlight anxiety'.

My working theory is that our students are finding their peer group as treacherous as any we have seen, partly because sarcasm/taunting is now a form of entertainment and partly because kids are more vulnerable/fragile to it.

This a multi-faceted and difficult issue- but I want to explore many of the variables that come into play within this dynamic environment.

NATURE OF HUMOR

Crude humor and the put-down has ALWAYS existed. But it wasn't the only avenue for entertainment and humor. A lot of the humor I enjoyed as a young person had some healthy dimensions- especially 'witty' word play and the quick comeback.
And OF COURSE- there was always the taboo joke telling about any uncomfortable subject. But there was also interjections of irony and tame chuckles as well.

Saturday Night Live is actually a great study of the subtle change that satire has undergone. There is an obvious DEGREE of difference between Chevy Chase overdoing the stumbling Gerald Ford and Tina Fey's more personal barbs against Sarah Palin.

Our youth culture is saturated with attack humor- it is really the only type of humor they respond to outside the bawdy bedroom or bathroom references. Even the seemingly innocuous Disney Channel sitcoms lead with having a laugh at the expense of someone else.

The average teen in today's culture lives in real fear of becoming the target of such humor.

THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

The fuel regarding the veracity of personal attacks is supercharged by the brashness, pervasiveness, and ease of anonymity in social media.

I have to be honest- though I participate fully in social media- I don't think my adult experience fully apprehends the dominating impact insta-gram, twitter, snap chat, facebook, and vining has on this generation.

Cyber-bullying has been documented to be a major contributing factor in many recent bully-cides.


MIS-PLACED PRIORITIES AND VALIDATION

This is a difficult issue to articulate- but the gradual erosion of a consensus of values and truth has contributed to a mass confusion of what value virtue has, what value life has, and leads to dark/sinister/empty thought processes in the life of many youth.

I have seen this change as a football coach over the last 22 years. Fifteen years ago, most of my players articulated goals around team objectives (winning region/state titles- winning games) but there has been a clear shift in the mind of today's athletes. Their ultimate goal? To sign an athletic scholarship. To showcase my talent.

When ultimate goals have a self focus- young people will give up when they don't see their skill set as being the dominant one. They define success as self adulation and have little to lean on in tough times. I sweated and hurt because I did not want to let my team mate down. There is less motivation to endure when it is up to you to declare worth based of merely utilitarian concepts.

THE POTTED PLANT SYNDROME

Our society has reacted in such drastic measures to any perceived danger, that most of our young people never experience risk or pressure. There was a benefit to jumping off a diving board or climbing a rope to the ceiling.

Instead, we have created the bubble existence. No dirt, no danger, no boo boos- and our young people are more fragile than any I have ever seen.

The affluence and leisure has resulted in soft bones, little muscle, and rare feats of fortitude.

An Oak Tree grows strong in the storms of life- potted plants cannot survive even a day without water.


THE GOOD PRESSURE AND A ROUTE OUT

Fortunately, ALL IS NOT LOST. There are still pockets of promise and places that stand out like an  oasis in the desert.

Though we still feel the impact of general societal ills- the community of traditional gospel directed families, schools, and churches produce leaders and well adjusted young people for the most part.

When the Biblical world-view is taught, modeled, and lovingly defended- it creates a much better pressure, a healthy motivation to persevere and succeed.

I have seen this first hand. I have experienced the joy of seeing students discover the freedom when they reject the emptiness of this world and learn to enjoy life as God directs them. I have had the privilege of experiencing this as a parent, teacher, coach, and administrator.

We have more good examples that we are led to believe- it is just not as interesting as the bad examples.

A LONELY AND DIFFICULT PATH TO FREEDOM

The biggest problem is that so few folks understand that kind of freedom- that it is often misunderstood and ridiculed.

But, we have to be honest. If you have a son or daughter who sells out to living with passion, fight, unselfishness, energy, and vocal leadership- you need to pray hard and coach them hard.. they are likely choosing a very lonely path. It is our mistake, if we do not honestly address these realities.

I had a girl in my office in the last few years who was in tears. She was being harassed for being a good student. This wasn't the jeer of 'teacher's pet' complaints that we recognize- this was a coordinated and continuous complaint that this girl was "such a sell out". She had few friends who ever invited her anywhere and and others who made up lies about things she said.

I worked hard to re-orient her perception to love, forgive, and find girls who had the same heart desires. hough it was not easy, she handled it well and FORTUNATELY there were those like minded people there.

OUR ONLY HOPE

If we want to see this so-called generation-i make it- there has to be bold leadership and godly mentoring/discipleship to keep teaching the Judeo-Christian worldview. We have to be honest with the influence of privatization, consumerism, secularism, and hedonism that is increasing in our culture.

We have to combat the constant message from culture with interesting and timely applications of God's truth in Scripture and boldly defend the Christian gospel and Biblical virtues. We must be willing to fight... in love.. and stand firmly on those principles that hold us together.

Do not give into the culture war- keep lifting Christ up and He will draw all men to Himself.

It will not be easy- G.K. Beale said that ''worldliness is what ANY culture does to make sin seem normal and righteousness seem strange."

If our students step out for Christ- it means they are stepping into a harsh spotlight and we have to be ready to support them in the fray.

A 'TAG ON' Jesus Always Falls Off

If I am honest, I will say that I sometimes get tired of the 'challenge' that I feel from Christ. I am one who would rather be soothed and comforted by ear tickling treats of teaching that are so full of grace and mercy that I walk away unscathed in the process.....'whew! I'm okay and you're okay! Praise the Lord!'

Don't push me preacher or teacher. Don't water down my salvation by grace through faith by adding in some sense of duty. Don't weigh me down with checklist Christianity.

Then I run headlong into obstacles. I find the challenge is not coming from teachers of the law. The challenge is coming from Jesus Himself. And I want to run and hide from Him when He does this to me.

GOD AS AN EXPEDIENT

In 2008, I read the story of Ernest Gordon, To End All Wars.  Gordon was a British Army officer captured by the Japanese during World War II and assigned to the building of the Burma-Siam railway. Each day Gordon joined a work detail of prisoners to build a track bed through low-lying swampland. If a prisoner appeared to lag, a Japanese guard would beat him to death or decapitate him. Many more men simply dropped dead from exhaustion, malnutrition, and disease. Ultimately, 80,000 prisoners died.

In the book, he recounted the horrors of prison camp under the Japanese.

“As conditions steadily worsened, as starvation, exhaustion and disease too an ever increasing toll, the atmosphere in which we lived became poisoned by selfishness, hate and fear. We were slipping rapidly down the slope of degradation… The weak were trampled- the sick ignored. When a man lay dying we had no word of comfort for him. When we cried we averted our heads. Men cursed the Japanese, their neighbors, God. Cursing became such an obsession that they constructed whole sentences in which every word was a curse.

We had no church, no chaplain, no services. Many had prayed, but only for themselves. Nothing happened. They had appealed to God as an expedient. But God had apparently refused to be treated as one. We had long since resigned ourselves to be derelicts. We were the forsaken men- forsaken by our friends, our families, by our Government. Now even God seemed to have left us."

There are times I grow discouraged when I look at the shape of our nation and culture. But I never get mad at God because I fear that we have often done the same thing.

I have to confess that Jesus many times is the catch-all tag on I add to my daily life to make sure I have covered all the bases. He is the insurance policy that I am a good man doing good things.

Deep inside though I know.

He comes as King or He doesn't come at all.

And Kings demand what we don't want to do.... bow and fully submit to their wishes.

WHAT I DON'T BELIEVE

Have I not read the Word?

Colossians 1:16 : For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

Every piece of this life is His anyway! It was made BY HIM and it was made FOR HIM.

My body........BY HIM AND FOR HIM.
My wife.........BY HIM AND FOR HIM.
My children...BY HIM AND FOR HIM.
My job...........BY HIM AND FOR HIM.
Football..........BY HIM AND FOR HIM.
Food...............BY HIM AND FOR HIM.

When I submit to the LORDSHIP of Jesus- I am merely acknowledging what is true anyway. My problem is that I often don't believe He is good and trustworthy. And when I doubt His goodness, it is always good evidence that Satan and sin have been present.

THE HARD NO IS A GOOD NO

I recently heard a report where someone mentioned "The Stanford Marshmallow Test".

The Stanford marshmallow experiment^[1] refers to a series of studies on delayed gratification in the late 1960s and early 1970s led by psychologist Walter Mischel then a professor at Stanford University. In these studies, a child was offered a choice between one small reward (sometimes a marshmallow, but often a cookie or a pretzel, etc.) provided immediately or two small rewards if he or she waited until the experimenter returned (after an absence of approximately 15 minutes). In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores,^[2] educational attainment,^[3] body mass index (BMI)^[4] and other life measures.^{[5]   -  SOURCE WIKIPEDIA}

What was so interesting about this study was the report on how the two different choices were predicted by the behavior of the children when the researcher left the room.

The children who ate their marshmallow sat and stared at it eventually giving into the temptation and suffering loss.

The children who 'waited for the reward' often got up and looked away or covered their eyes- finding convenient distractions to dampen the desire for immediate gratification.

This has made me re-think what "Integrity" means. My new definition now goes like this tweet I wrote:

"Integrity" is a willingness to say a 'HARD NO' so that your life and words line up with the truth. You cannot have integrity with YES only.

When Christ challenges me- it is a good challenge- not to harm me, but to remind me that only He can protect and provide. Here is the problem... I don't have that kind of integrity. And that is where my pitiful self ends and God's gospel begins.

RESPONDING TO THE CALL- A PRAYER

Lord, please forgive me when I run and hide from You. Thank-you for NEVER stopping in pursuit of my heart. You know I cannot live for You as I need to, so I plead for Your Holy Spirit to so fill me that I respond to all your challenges and requests. Please cast down the darkness that causes me to question Your intent.

You are NOT an expedient. You have NOT abandoned us. You are Lord and we often abandon You.

Every day is a new opportunity to begin again.

THE GOOD ENDING

Look what happened in Ernest Gordon's life!

Gordon could feel himself gradually wasting away from a combination of beriberi, worms, malaria, dysentery, typhoid, and diphtheria. Paralyzed and unable to eat, he asked to be laid in the Death House.

"The floor in the hut was a sea of mud. And there were the smells; the tropical ulcers eating into flesh and bone, overflowing latrines, unwashed men, sick men. Worst of all was the sweet, evil smell of bed-bugs by the million, crawling over us to steal the little fresh air that still clung to our bones. The swarming flies struck me as obscene."

THE BATTLE WITH REASON AND A TURNING POINT

This time death seemed so much more matter-of- fact. I was resisting the idea.
When? For me was NOT NOW.
ERNEST: Doctors are naturally pessimistic. They are wrong. I am not going to die.
REASON: In case you kick the bucket- leave your affairs as tidy as possible- write your parents what to do when you die. There is no escape.
ERNEST: Life has to be cherished. I’m not one to surrender. But what do I do about it.
THE VOICE OF FAITH: You could live. You could be. You could do. There’s a purpose to fulfill. You become more aware of it each day you endure. This is your task and your’s only
ERNEST: GOOD ENOUGH- I’ll get on it.

THE MIRACLE ON THE RIVER KWAI

A Christian named Dusty appears in the Death House- talked, cared, comforted, washed, soothed, salved- “ I’ll clean out the pus”- fed- served- sacrificed- indomitable optimism- gets Ernest to a clean hut

CHRISTIANITY IMPRESSES ERNEST

“On occasions we marched into the countryside on labor details- we saw the difference in Christian natives, we saw the differences between the Christian way and the Oriental one.
Usually we were treated with indifference and contempt. Our plight meant nothing to the yellow –robed Buddhist priests. Why should it? They were on their way to salvation by non-attachment… there was no place for mercy in their philosophy.

But we once came to a village where we received a treatment so different it astonished us. There was mercy in their eyes. We were given cakes, eggs, bananas, medicine, and honey. Later we learned that this village had been converted to Christianity by missionaries. The Japanese found out about their friendly behavior and punished them severely for it.”

CHRISTIANITY IMPRESSES THE CAMP

One event in particular shook the prisoners. A Japanese guard discovered that a shovel was missing. When no one confessed to the theft, he screamed, "All die! All die!" and raised his rifle to fire at the first man in the line. At that instant an enlisted man stepped forward and said, "I did it."

Enraged, the guard lifted his weapon high in the air and brought the rifle butt down on the soldier's skull, killing him. That evening, when tools were inventoried again, the work crew discovered a mistake had been made: No shovel was missing.

One of the prisoners remembered the verse, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Attitudes in the camp began to shift. With no prompting, prisoners began looking out for each other rather than themselves.


ERNEST DEBATES DUSTY
ERNEST: Why doesn’t God do something?
DUSTY: Maybe He does… maybe He does… but we just can’t see it right now. Maybe our vision isn’t so good right now. “for we see as in a glass darkly”. I suppose that eventually we will see and understand.

ERNEST GORDON BEGINS TO HEAR THE BIBLE- Dusty reads the Book of John out loud.

“I lay back on my sleeping platform and let my mind dwell on these words. There was truth in them. Both Dusty and Dinty exemplified it.

For the first time I understood. Each man had a faith that lent a special grace to his personality. It was a power and presence greater than themselves. There was a life infinitely more complex and beautiful that I had ever imagined. True, there was hatred… but there was also love. There was death. But there was also life.
GOD HAD NOT LEFT US. HE WAS THERE WITH US- He was calling us to live the divine life in fellowship. I was beginning to be aware of the miracle that God was working in the Death Camp by the River Kwai.

THE MEN MAKE ERNEST THE ‘CHAPLAIN’-

ERNEST: I can’t possibly do that.
“Our men think you can do it. They know you are a fighting soldier and you’ve been to the university”
ERNEST: What good will it do?
“Perhaps we haven’t understood Christianity right in the past. We need to know if it’s absolute ‘dingo” or not.”

“I had to throw out the doctrinal expression that Christianity was only for nice people who had been brought up in nice homes and gone to nice schools where they had learned to do nice things. Heaven for this group was a kind of perpetual tea-party with thin cucumber sandwiches and smoky-tasting tea served in fine bone-china cups.”

At each successive meeting the numbers grew.

Through our readings in the gospels we gradually came to know Jesus. He was one of us. Like us, He had no place to lay His head, no ffod for His belly, no friends in high places. He too had known bone-weariness from too much toil; the suffering, the rejection, the disappointments that make up the fabric of life.

As we read and talked, he became flesh and blood. He was suspended on the cross and tormented with the hell of pain; but he had not been broken. He remained free and alive, as the Resurrection affirmed.

We experienced His love…passionate, other-centered…in fellowhip of freedom and love we found truth, and with truth a wonderful unity, of harmony and peace.

CHRISTIANITY TRANSFORMS THE CAMP

Organized service teams- they start to minister and improve conditions. Assign duties- visit sick- listen- encouraged- diligently did our daily charge-

The cross became central- God was not indifferent to suffering- He suffered so we could serve. No one knew the answer to the mystery- but we saw that much of suffering was caused by man’s inhumanity- selfishness- greed- some suffering was inexplicable- but we knew that God was not indifferent to pain.
We stopped complaining- we were not absent from pain, but faith allowed us to walk through it. Suffering was no longer locked up in our house of self-pity.

Laughter was heard in the camp- Worship services were started- A school was started- language and music was taught. Christmas came to camp.

THE LAST IMPOSSIBLE HURDLE- FORGIVENESS

“IT’S HARD TO BE A DISCIPLE, LORD”

We were beginning to understand that there were no easy ways for God- so there were no easy ways for us.

Carloads of Japanese wounded begin to pour in. "The Japanese did not care a tinker’s damn for their own wounded. These men were in a shocking state. I have never seen men filthier. They were the enemy, more cowed and defeated than we had ever been."

Without a word most of our officers begin to help them.

An Allied officer screamed from another section in the train, “What bloody fools you are! Don’t you realize that those are the enemy?”

“Have you never heard the story of the man going from Jerusalem to Jericho?”

“That’s different- that’s in the Bible- these are swine!”

“We are called to the least of these whether we like it or not.”

"It was time to let Jesus be my Savior and my LORD."

“As I journey with those of the Way I see the victory over the impersonal, destructive and enslaving forces at work in the world has been given to mankind because of what Jesus has done. This is good news! God, in Christ has shared his suffering. He has not shunned the responsibility of freedom. He shares in our saddest and most painful experiences. He comes into our Death House to lead us through it.”

DO I HAVE ANY EXCUSE TO NOT BOW TO THE SUFFERING KING AND GET ON WITH HIS CALL?

IF GOD CAN TRANSFORM A DYING PRISON CAMP, CAN HE NOT ALSO REVIVE A NATION? WHO AM I TO GIVE UP SO EASILY?

Summer Maintenance and Sabbatical

Those who have contacted me- I will be starting new material sometime in August.

If you haven't noticed- I have started re-posting some of my most read or commented material on a wordpress blog- The Best of Jayopsis: http://jayopsis.wordpress.com/

My 20 personnel offense on blogger is going to be taken down and any football stuff will go on Football by Jayopsis: http://jayopsisfootball.wordpress.com/

A lot of change and 're-tooling' is going on in my life right now. I know God is preparing me for a new phase of growth.

This 'in-between' time can be frustrating.... but I just take it day by day.

As far as writing:

My plan is to always post NEW stuff on Jayopsis.com

I will continue to re-package old stuff on the Wordpress- Best of Jayopsis. It has given me a new audience to reach out to.

All football stuff will go on Wordpress.

Eventually, I want to publish an e-book with my football stuff on it.

So--- until August- enjoy some time off!

Don't Shoot Me- I'm Only the Bible Teacher

I can write this post now that I am not a Bible teacher.

I was a classroom teacher for 21 years. Most of that was as a literature teacher in classes like American Literature, English 9, Honors English 10 and I loved exploring the ideas, themes, genres, on a daily basis.

I also had the honor of teaching Bible for 8 years. I taught Bible 9, Apologetics, Biblical Principles, and even wrote the curriculum for a class called "Romans and Revelation".

The fact that I taught two different categories of classes in two different schools and two different cities allows for some perspective on the task of teaching Bible, particularly at a Christian school.

My first experience of this difference was in 1992 when I was asked to fill in the 2nd semester for a teacher who had to leave unexpectedly to care for a family emergency. I had a 2nd period American Lit. class and then went to Bible 3rd period.

I was shocked to see the change in those two classes, even though many of the students were the same.

It did not take long to understand that there was a totally different dynamic at work and that teaching Bible was a front line admission to the front line of spiritual warfare.

Don't get me wrong- any teacher discovers that a captive teenage audience can present conflict. I have had those moments while reading Shakespeare to freshman that I think- "these poor kids are being tortured"- due to the blank stares and full fledged battle to stay awake.

But there was an even harsher, sometimes courser, sense of the conflict when the content was Bible.

A HIGH STAKES ENDEAVOR

When John Witherspoon founded Princeton Seminary, he wrote the vision of what a Christian School is seeking to accomplish:

Our aim in this task is to promote the interests of the Redeemer’s kingdom; and to raise up qualified and caring ministers for every aspect of life. We desire to raise up godly men and women who will be useful in all learned professions. We want to produce ornaments of the State and Church. We want an environment where God’s Holy Spirit produces consecrated Christian students with an integrated and thoroughly Biblical world view. Our faith is the grand concern to us all- whatever our calling or profession.

Anyone who understands the task, also understands the IMPOSSIBILITY of this task without God's Holy Spirit. The emphasis on the 'Redeemer's kingdom' instantly sets this agenda at odds with the kingdom of this world.

NON-OVERLAPPING MAGISTEREA?

Another instant problem in teaching Bible in a school is that it creates a tension based on presuppositions that faith and scientific inquiry are forever separated. We often tend to think of Bible as God's knowledge and all other subjects as Man's knowledge.

It takes a strong reminder from Christian schools to debunk this default thinking. In fact, spiritual growth and mental growth are dependent on each other.

Archibald Alexander wrote about this in 1812:
Religion without learning or learning without religion are equally injurious.

AN ARENA OF CONTROVERSY

The study of religion and eternity can bring about intense debate and rivalry because we have a huge stake in being right on such issues.

J. Gresham Machen elaborated on this in his introduction to "Christianity and Liberalism":

In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight.

And my experience is this:  when we fight, we close our minds and clinch our fists. It is very hard to teach in a room where we are unlikely to challenge our personal presuppositions. A student has little room to argue that he knows more chemistry than his professor- but he sometimes dares to presume he is more spiritually knowledgeable than his elder.

Regardless- for a student to excel in Bible- he must assume a yielded position to the Word and eagerly believe God is going to teach him whether he likes the teacher or the topic. We have a hard time getting mature adults to do this- is it easier to ask a 17 year old to do it?

TEACHING BIBLE IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT IN THE PERSONAL LIFE OF THE TEACHER

One thing I noticed immediately when I switched to teaching Bible was an awareness of spiritual warfare within my own personal life. There seemed to be increased conflict in my marriage and home life. I suffered from the 'whisper campaign' that Satan uses to voice doubt and darkness in the inner being. He tries to make you feel like a hypocrite or a fraud. His daggers of accusation are silent but come with a sting.

My only defense in this time was to make sure I was consistent in my personal prayer and devotional life.

TEACHING BIBLE IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT IN THE PERSONAL LIFE OF THE STUDENT

The gospel is GREAT news, but it also is a personal confrontation. Any serious study of the Scripture will find comfort for the afflicted and affliction for the comforted.

Is there a danger in going to a Bible class? I think there is and it is where I have to learn to be very careful. Long term exposure to the gospel with rejection creates a calloused hardening of the heart. When you feel the tug of the spirit or conviction of sin and still rebel.. you get better at suppressing and grieving the Spirit. An injured conscience heals with a head scar.. and too much scar tissue can be very problematic.

This condition is NEVER outside of God's ability to overcome with a powerful and effectual call- but the circumstances needed to do so are often drastic and the consequences are long term. Jacob walked with a limp the rest of his life.

AN ACADEMIC ONLY STUDY OF THE BIBLE PRESENTS POTENTIAL FOR ERROR

I want to return to J. Gresham Machen and his book, Christianity and Liberalism for a moment to explore a genesis of heresy. Part of the rise of liberalism was the effort of Christian professors to stay relevant in the academy.

When the attacks came from areas like philosophy, historical revisionism, higher criticism, and Darwinism- some took to fighting in the flesh. It started as small steps- yield a little here to remain credible there. But soon there was an outright rejection of God's truth and even the possibility of the miraculous.

In an eerie sense, the rise of 'enlightened thinking' became a passion play straight out of  Romans 1. I can almost see Paul pointing to the liberal professors as he said 'their foolish minds were darkened'. It is not that education became too good for spiritual truth, it was that education declined when it outlawed spiritual truth.

Machen says it much better:

The rejection of Christianity is due to various causes. But a very potent cause is simple ignorance. In countless cases, Christianity is rejected simply because men have not the slightest notion of what Christianity is. An outstanding fact of recent Church history is the appalling growth of ignorance in the Church. Various causes, no doubt, can be assigned for this lamentable development. The development is due partly to the general decline of education--at least so far as literature and history are concerned. The schools of the present day are being ruined by the absurd notion that education should follow the line of least resistance, and that something can be "drawn out" of the mind before anything is put in. They are also being ruined by an exaggerated emphasis on methodology at the expense of content and on what is materially useful at the expense of the high spiritual heritage of mankind. These lamentable tendencies, moreover, are in danger of being made permanent through the sinister extension of state control. But something more than the general decline in education is needed to account for the special growth of ignorance in the Church. The growth of ignorance in the Church is the logical and inevitable result of the false notion that Christianity is a life and not also a doctrine; if Christianity is not a doctrine then of course teaching is not necessary to Christianity. But whatever be the causes for the growth of ignorance in the Church, the evil must be remedied. It must be remedied primarily by the renewal of Christian education in the family, but also by the use of whatever other educational agencies the Church can find. Christian education is the chief business of the hour for every earnest Christian man. 

The Bible teacher must teach diligently, but always understand that he is teaching more than mere fact...

Hear from Dr Alexander again:

The Bible students should be possessed of sincere and ardent piety. They should be students “taught of God”, “conscious of their own insufficiency, but confident of the help of the Almighty. Those that seek to understand the Scriptures therefore ought not to lean on their own understanding, but by continual and earnest prayer should look unto the Father of Lights from Whom proceedeth every good and every perfect gift; who has promised to give wisdom to those who lack it, and ask for it.”

See what an amazing soup of ingredients in brewing in a Bible classroom.

BREAKDOWN OF READING SKILLS

As a lifelong educator and a person totally dependent on the written Word of God as my only rule of faith and practice, it discourages me to see reading skills plummeting in our society. In the end, it may be Satan's best and cruelest attack to remove a love or an ability to read with comprehension. It doesn't matter if we have a sword, if we never use it. Where would I be without a love for reading?

MY BIGGEST MISTAKE AS A BIBLE TEACHER

If I had one thing to do over again, it would be to teach truth with more love and understanding. When you are teaching the Scriptures, you feel this heavy burden to protect it. But I am crazy if I think I can protect it or it needs protecting. The truth has nothing to fear from the truth.

So sometimes in my zeal to defend 'the faith'- (Jude 1:3 I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people.)- I many times was so right I was dead right.

I had a big thick T-bone steak of truth that I slapped my students over the head with too many times.You can kill people with such hard truth.

There were certain individuals where it would have been better to mix the steak with a lotion of love.
If anyone who reads this happens to be one of those former students, where I actually ran you away from the gospel from a cold sternness, please forgive me- I was not dispensing the medicine with a heart full of love.

SOME VICTORIES ALONG THE WAY:

I did some good things as a Bible teacher and I always worked to improve.

Below is an example:

From my journal 2006:

On the last day before Spring Break, my seniors in Biblical Principles class really inspired me. On the rainy and cold day in Nashville, we did something so simple.
I gave them selected verses from the Old Testament, mostly a short passage from each book, a few with more. It ended up being 7 pages of “the best of the Old Testament” and I had them read for 7 minutes with a little music in the background. After some reading, I had them write a short journal response.
I am sitting in a Starbucks at Green Hills and just finished reading the papers. The following are examples of almost every paper:
“ (that passage) is one of my favorites in the Bible. It is a huge comfort for me. In the midst of all this stupid stuff that we get stressed out about during the day, it’s easy to forget that God has provided everything we need…. I am fortunate that I know a Father who is big enough to handle my worries.”
“I really enjoyed reading these verses. I definitely think that it is important to keep the Lords’ word ‘hidden in my heart’….Thank you for these verses, I really needed something like this in my life right now.”
“I can’t honestly remember the last time I read this verse. To me it is cool to think about the awesomeness of God’s glory…. Our worship will one day fill all that is his”
“I love this verse b/c it has stuck with me my whole life.”
“I think about this verse a lot when I think about my future and my husband. I have made a promise and will hold my heart to him”
“This is a humbling verse, Job had everything taken from him. … This reaction is mind blowing to me. We need to learn from Job and to continue thanking and praising God for what we do have, rather than focusing on what we don’t have”
“This passage hit home with me”
“The part that said ______ hit home with me.”
“I liked this verse because it is like Romans 8:28”
“Everything of this earth will disappear: the cars, buildings, shopping stores- everything materialistic will fade…. But it is God’s Word that’s forever true, forever real, and forever living”
“I chose this verse because I remember memorizing it in elementary school.”
“After reading for 7 minutes I chose this verse…. I think this verse is really cool. It’s comforting to know that God is in control.”
“The passage that stuck out the most to me was…. This says that God is faithful and never leaves even in the darkest hour….That is an extraordinary thing when you realize that your path is already known by the One who protects you always”
I could go on and on- there were 54 passages and only Proverbs 3:5,6 and Isaiah 40:8 were chosen by multiple folks.
The Scriptures are true when they say in Hebrews 4:12, “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Thank you to all my seniors, you encouraged me so much today!

Here were some other good things I discovered along the way to try and keep the class energetic and engaged:

Professor Skeptic- I played the role of an antagonistic college professor and engage your class- teach them later how to do it correctly.Stump the Chump- let students write questions on note cards dealing with Bible issuesThe Daily Scene- a role play game where you assign stereotypes and have students engage in coffee table conversations. You can set the scene at lunch, at home, hanging out. Debrief after the talk. What do we learn about people’s perceptions, attitudes, and words?Bible Reading and Response- allow students 10 minutes to read in their Bibles and journal to you what they noticed.Prayer requests and Suggestion card- once a week pass out some 3x5 note cards and have students write prayer requests on one side and suggestions for class on the other side- quick formative assessment.Music Journal- Play 2 or 3 Christian songs and provide lyric sheets- have students pick one of them and write an evaluation of the song and journal what they think.You Tube Evaluation- have students pick a You tube to share with class (content supervision a must) and then present a Biblical application to the content.Change the World/ Share the Good News- Have students create ways to get the gospel out.Chapel Talk- Debrief about a recent chapel.Sermon Notes- Get students to share notes/evaluations about a teaching.Surf the Web- Give students websites of Christian content and have them journal about the experience.Invite Pastors to Your Class- Let them teach a little- share a little- Q&A a little.

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

• WE ALL SHOULD BE BIBLE TEACHERS- AT LEAST IN OUR HOMES

• WE ALL SHOULD PRAY EARNESTLY FOR ANYONE WHO IS TEACHING THE WORD OF GOD- AND THEIR FAMILIES- AND THEIR PRAYER LIFE- AND THEIR PROTECTION!

• EVEN THOUGH IT CAN BE A WAR... IT IS SO WORTH IT! 

Haven't Been Posting- Organizing for Future

Hello friends!

I am so sorry that I haven't been adding new material lately. Please be patient as I have been doing a lot of reading and research for future projects.

I am also cataloguing old material on two Wordpress sites:

The Best of Jayopsis and Football by Jayopsis.

Feel free to contact me anytine: jayopsis@gmail.com