February 21th: Exodus 33-34, Psalm 90-91 and 1 Corinthians 3

Yesterday, I was overwhelmed.

I don't think that sentence can actually be true if today, I am in fact no longer overwhelmed. I would not say that I am a master of many things. Fact is, I'm "OK" at a few things. But there is one thing that I am REALLY good at. I freaking rock at wallowing in self pity. I could host a conference on it and be the key-note speaker. I'm the Cobra Commander of whoa-is-me (no idea what that means--but two points for working CC into this post).

I imagine that our boy Moses could have gotten a little overwhelmed with being "the Dude" in Israel. But I'm struck by this poem he wrote that has become known as Psalm 90. There is a line that says, "teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." It's so easy for me to see a day as leading to something else. So many times, I see one day as a corridor to something else instead of the blessing that it is. "It's X number of days till Y." "Just get through today then we'll go _____."

But this day, this process, this foundation for the next is important. It's one of only so few that I'm allotted. How that really helps to eliminate stress... I'm not totally sure. Other than, it's like opening a dozen eggs. There are a bunch of them till... you go to make a your 4th 3 egg omelet. At that point, there doesn't seem to be as many as at first.

But verse 17 of that same poem helps a little. It says: "Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!" Nothing that I do is going to fail or be successful without God somehow being involved. That's kinda cool. A big meeting. I can prepare all I want. I can get stressed. I can get overwhelmed. But I'm only going to be as good or bad as God has prescribed.

I need to pray more.

February 20th: Exodus 31-32, Psalm 89 and 1 Corinthians 1-2

It's interesting how similar people are... whether sitting at the base of Sinai with God hovering over the mountain or in Corinth as members of the church with Christ in their hearts. Or now.

We are so quick to forget about God. We'll seek our own purposes as soon as we can.

I want to think about this more...

February 19th: Exodus 30, Psalm 87-88 and Mark 15-16

I think the shock that Pilate has over the quickness of Jesus' death says a lot. Being a Roman official, he probably knew a thing or two about crucifixion. And yet, Mark 15:44 says that Pilate was so surprised, he didn't take Joseph's word for it. He sends for the guy in charge of the operation, asks him and then finally believes.

The thing I draw from this is that Jesus didn't just die. He gave up his life. It was quicker than could be expected. And Jesus wasn't a wimp. We're talking about a lumberjackish-dude that spent 40 days and nights in the desert around Jericho. That is burly. Then, to die faster than expected that's love.

Can you call Jesus a lumberjackish-dude?

February 18th: Exodus 29, Psalm 85-86 and Mark 14

Mark 14:51-52

"And a young man followed him with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked."

Seriously. It says that. I really don't know what else to say except that they left that part out of the Easter play at church. You gotta let kids know about that kind of stuff. If you teach fourth grade boys, use this story. Seriously. They will laugh. They may even want to read the Bible. Cause there is a some funny stuff in there. Like all of Exodus 29... I couldn't stop giggling.

OK, not really. But it's interesting that God commanded them to offer the liver and the kidneys. Those organs filter toxins out of the blood. Pretty cool that those organs are also used to filter sin out of the camp.

February 17th: Exodus 28, Psalm 83-84 and Mark 13

If you haven't seen it yet, stop reading this blog and go watch Lars and the Real Girl. Seriously. Don't even finish this sentance... go. I don't care if you're at work, go. Stop. No. No. Stop it. Put down the crappy work coffee. Go watch the movie.

OK, now that I actually told people to stop reading...

The acting in the movie is fantastic, the script is brilliant, and the direction is precise. But more importantly, it's a beautiful picture of the acceptance, grace and unconditional love. If you missed it, you probably heard the premise and shrugged it off. I get that. The title character, Lars, orders a sex doll, falls in love with it and starts dating "her." Say what? Yeah, but there is so much more to the movie.

I won't ruin it for you if you haven't seen it. But let me just say that these "small town" people come along side Lars. They love him. They embrace Bianca (the doll) rather than openly rejecting the obvious misconception that Lars has so fully embraced. The entire time, your expecting people to lash out at him. To shame him. To hurt him. But it never happens.

I can only imagine what our communities would be like if we took that approach. Instead of telling people that they are wrong (that doesn't work in the film by the way), instead of bullying them into our belief system, what if we loved them? What if we sheltered them through the storm that they are traveling through? What if no matter how stupid we felt, no matter how wrong they were, we loved them?

I'm struck over and over again in the Gospels by how Jesus loved the people that had been rejected by the established religion. No matter how wrong the rich young ruler was, Jesus "loved him." He never condones what these "sinners and tax collectors" were doing. But he loved them till they come to an understanding of who he was and what he had to offer. Sure, not everyone. But it was revolutionary. Still seems to be.

I hope I can be like that.

Now what does this have to do with Exodus 28, Psalm 83-84 or Mark 13? Nothing. Sorry about that. If you want a nifty thought though from Exodus 28... imagine Moses sitting on the mountain getting the schematics for the tabernacle and the priests garments (checkered linen, bell pomegranate bell repeat...) . Cause if I got a chance to talk to God for an afternoon that's what I would want to talk about too...

February 25th: Exodus 38, Psalm 100-101 and 1 Corinthians 8-9

Keeping it short. Phone-short. Don't have any idea what that means.

But the fashion forward looking Men's magazine, Details, would probably disuaded Moses against using gold silver and bronze on the temple (that look is just SO very 3070 BC).

Secondly, if you go over to someone's house and they just happen to be eating meat sacrificed at your local neighborhood temple... Go ahead and eat it. Just thought you would like to know. It's cool. Checked with Paul.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

February 16th: Exodus 27, Psalm 81-82 and Mark 12

Even before the law is completely laid out, there have been a lot of animal sacrifices in the first book and a half of the OT.

So many, that I find myself thinking of them as the norm. Easy. I skim over it. "Abraham built an alter and sacrificed a cow... OK. Neat." But Exodus 27 brings the reality to light. There are shovels, rakes, canisters for ash, grates. Sacrifices were processes. This wasn't just "throw a steak on the grill and over cook." This took time. This was a chore. Burn it till it's gone.

Sin can come easy but the payment took time, money (cows ain't cheap) and effort. I wonder how much I take Jesus sacrifice for granted.

February 15th: Exodus 26, Psalm 79-80 and Mark 11

There is a tremendous level of detail and craftsmanship that goes into the tabernacle. Too bad the level of excellence that went into creating it doesn't go into creating Christian "art."

That was harsh. Uncalled for? Maybe. A broad generalization? Yes. But I think that this passage champions excellence when it comes to things that are created FOR God. If you call yourself a Christian artist, your stuff better be good or just yourself an "artist." Drop God out of it. He seems to be concerned with quality.

And on top of that, those of us not skilled in the arts should "give as our hearts are led" to the artists. Exodus 25:2 isn't about tithes. Those are ALWAYS required. This is about a special thing. Art. Something extra. Something for God. Something only a few people are skilled enough to work on. So we need to help them.

And if it's not good... I really think that we should let them know.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

February 14th: Exodus 24-25, Psalm 78, and Mark 10

I used to live in Jackson, Wyoming. If you're unfamiliar with that area, Jackson has arguably the prettiest mountains in the US. I saw "arguably" like Bill Clinton says, "I didn't have sexual relations with that women." We can argue, even use late nineties pop-culture references but in the end, the facts are facts. The Tetons are awesome.

But even with these majestic mountains over my shoulder, a mundane task was still mundane. I lived there long enough to forget their majesty. Some days, I even forgot to look up from my work.

I wonder if that's what happened to the Israelites. I wonder if they lived too long with the miracles, saw too much of the pillar of fire, lived too long in the majesty of God. He become normal...mundane.

Saying, "I hope that never happens to me," seems really shallow here. Somehow even without a pillar of fire, flocks of quail, or a stream from a rock, I need to see God guiding me and yet never get too comfortable or complacent with His presence. That's hard.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]