Friendship in the Body of Christ

My sister sent me a plaque for my birthday one year that said, "God made us sisters; Prozac made us friends." We laugh because we see the truth in this--we can't choose our siblings. C. S. Lewis writes about friendship between believers in a similar way. When you see his point of view, it becomes obvious that in church at least, you don't get to choose your friends. They have been chosen for you by One who put you together for a higher purpose. Here is what Lewis says:

Friendship, like the other natural loves, is unable to save itself. In reality, because it is spiritual, and therefore faces a subtler enemy, it must, even more wholeheartedly than they, invoke the divine protection if it hopes to remain sweet. For consider how narrow its true path is. It must not become what people call a ‘mutual admiration society;’ yet if it is not full of mutual admiration, of Appreciative love, it is not Friendship at all.

For a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret Master of Ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to his disciples, ‘Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you,’ can truly say to every group of Christian friends, ‘You have not chosen one another, but I have chosen you for one another.’ The friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others. They are no greater than the beauties of a thousand other men; by Friendship God opens our eyes to them. They are, like all beauties, derived from Him, and then, in a good Friendship, increased by Him through the Friendship itself, so that it is His instrument for creating as well as for revealing. At this feast it is He who has spread the board and it is He who has chosen the guests. It is He, we may dare hope, who sometimes does, and always should preside. Let us not reckon without our Host. 

Seeing relationships this way changes everything. No longer can we boast about our good taste in friends. No longer can we avoid the ones we would never choose. We share a DNA that transcends all barriers--we are the body of Christ. . In the church, God makes us brothers and sisters and the Holy Spirit uses our relationships to help us conform to the image of Christ. That is the goal.

Is Archaeology the Grammar of Scripture?

I was recently in a class where the instructor said that archaeology is the grammar of Scripture. What he meant was that in order to understand the Scriptures, one needed a solid grounding in archaeology. In other words, we needed to examine the Scriptures in the light of, or under the lens of archaeology. He criticized the Puritans because of their "nascent understanding of covenant theology."  They simply did not have the tools we have today for understanding these things.

While the Puritans did not have access to some of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other artifacts we have today, they did have something that many pastors lack today, and that was a deep reverence for Sola Scriptura.  The only lens that Puritans used for examining the Scriptures was Scripture itself. They understood that the lens is the ultimate authority. If archaeology is the lens, then archaeology becomes the standard by which the truth of Scripture is evaluated. If science is the lens, then science is the standard by which truth is determined. If philosophy is the lens, then Scripture is subject to the whims of philosophers. It is only when Scripture is the lens that we can view Scripture through the eyes of God himself. To the Puritans, the Holy Spirit was the great Illuminator of the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit was sufficient.

Applying a non-biblical grid to Scripture and forcing Scripture to conform to that grid changes the meaning of everything. It should have come as no surprise then, when later in the class, the instructor told us that divorce was not a sin, that God did not hate divorce, that we need not set aside a day of the week for the Lord, and that the Ten Commandments did not apply to believers today. In the back of my mind I heard a familiar whisper: Did God really say...?

Eve heard the same thing in the Garden of Eden. The tree of life contained all the necessary stuff of life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil had all that and more. Satan always tries to lure us by making us think that God is cheating us, that Satan can give us a better deal. He promises something more, but in the end it leads to death. Eve was right when she saw that the tree was good for obtaining wisdom. Everything about that tree looked good and much of it was good. It was the extra stuff that brought us down.

The same temptation is present for us when teachers cleverly attempt to lure us away from Scripture by offering us the Scriptures and more. In this class, the extras came in the form of archaeology, Greek, and philosophy. But rather than pull us deeper into the Scriptures, the extras distracted us from the Scriptures. The extras supposedly held the key that would break the code of Scripture. Yet we spent precious little time reading the Scriptures at all.

Archaeology is not the grammar of Scripture. Logos, the spoken Word, is the grammar of Scripture, and the Scriptures are very simple to understand. They are not written in code and we do not need a key to decode them. Nor do we need a pope or a bishop or a priest or a pastor to tell us what to believe. The Word and the Spirit are sufficient. And the pastor who teaches his congregation to trust in these two things alone is a true shepherd of the sheep. Beware of those who offer you all this and more.

Gabby

This week we buried our sweet little Gabby. When we got home from church on Sunday she was vomiting, but then settled down and seemed OK. Monday she refused to eat anything--even peanut butter. I knew she was dying, but she was in no apparent distress--just wanted to lie on the kitchen floor near me and sleep. I offered her water from time to time which she lapped up, but still no food. I sat on the floor stroking her and telling her she was loved and she was still except for her little tail wagging. By Monday evening, we had to carry her outside to potty because her legs wouldn't hold her up anymore.


I checked on her through the night and every time she saw me coming, her little tail would wag. I just sat and stroked her wishing to God that she could talk to me and tell me what she wanted. In the morning my husband got up and asked her if she wanted to go outside. She popped right up and walked out the door to do her business and we thought perhaps she would rally. She came back into the house, took two steps into the bedroom and collapsed. About a minute later she coughed as her poor little heart gave out.


C.S. Lewis said that if you love anything, even an animal, it will break your heart. He was right. My heart is breaking as I remember her in all her puppy days and her growing years when she brought such joy to our family. She used to let Alice dress her up in princess clothes, and all the grandkids laid on her or got on her back for a ride. She never complained. She was the most obedient dog I have ever had. All she ever wanted to do was please me. She sat by my feet at every meal and patiently waited for my empty plate to lick. We always joked that she sat like a little lady--with her legs crossed.

Gabby will be greatly missed. But we will never forget her. I love you Gabby!

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina , KS - 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph.
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,' 'play,' and 'run'.
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6. What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Almond Tarts

These almond tarts taste just like Dutch Banket, but are half the work! Plus if you decorate with maraschino cherries they are great for Christmas.

Crust:

2 cups flour

2 sticks butter

6 oz. cream cheese

Divide into 48 balls and press into tart pans. I use a little flour on the tart press to keep it from getting too sticky.

Filling:

Mix in food processor:

 2 cups of almond paste

1 cup sugar

1 ½ T. flour

¼ tsp. salt

In separate bowl, beat 3 eggs

Add almond mixture to eggs and blend adding 1 tsp. each of almond extract and vanilla extract.

Put filling into tarts, but don’t overfill. You may have a little left.

Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes or until browned on top.

Glaze or frost when cool. I use the leftover 2 oz. of cream cheese, 2 cups of powdered sugar, a few drops of almond extract, and add milk to get to the right consistency. Top each with half of a maraschino cherry.  

Roller-Skating Graduation

I finally graduated from skating in my kitchen! After a few sorry attempts on my driveway, I decided I was ready to leave home and skate on an empty parking lot by the lake near our house. It proved to be a windy day—whitecaps on the waves of the lake. The wind did not help with balance, but I was determined to do this. After skating once around, I thought I had enough, but then I decided I should skate for at least as long as it took me to don all the gear—elbow, knee and wrist braces and a helmet. So I went another round. And then several more. Here is what I learned today:

1. If you are skating with the wind at your back, all you have to do is stand there. I think it still counts as exercise. Anyway, I counted it.

2. If you hit a pebble, your skate stops immediately, but you do not.

3. Park the car in a place where you can crash into it when you need to stop.

Not bad for the first time out. I managed to skate for about 40 minutes without falling. People have asked me WHY I am doing this. I am doing this because my doctor irritated me. She said that people MY AGE have to do more weight-bearing exercises. Biking, she said, didn’t count. Buying inline skates was my way of being partly compliant and partly rebellious. It is weight-bearing and age-defying. I have to confess though, I have developed a profound respect for those kids who work for Sonic and deliver your food on skates. One pebble on the sidewalk could make your meal food for ants.

Her Mother's Hope/Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers

I read Her Mother’s Hope and Her Daughter’s Dream in two days. Part coming of age, part family saga, and part historical fiction, these two books tell the story of Marta—her early years in Interlochen with her parents, later years in England, then Canada, and finally California. Flawed but lovable characters fill these books as Rivers takes us through four generations of mothers, daughters and granddaughters and the complex special bonds they share. The books are loosely based on Rivers’ own personal history.

There are reasons why Christians love Francine Rivers’ books. She acknowledges the dirt in life without rubbing your face in it. The issues she deals with—rape, pedophilia, suicide—are handled with great delicacy, focusing more on character’s responses than the details of the events. The reader loses nothing by this. In fact, the emotional impact is greater because of it.

I always recommend books that I think will make someone a better person for having read them, and these two books fit the bill. They would make great summer reading, but don’t plan to do any housework for a couple of days…