Some interesting words about Matthew

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Matthew, Christ's Biographer

Dan Graves, MSL

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Little enough is known of any of the apostles. Of Paul, Peter, and John we have the most detail. Regarding those apostles who bring up at the tail of the apostolic lists, we have the least. Matthew is somewhere between.

His name was originally Levi. We know that Matthew and Levi are one and the same person because the gospels of Matthew and Luke record a feast at which Jesus was criticized for association with publicans: Luke attributes this banquet to Levi; The Gospel of Matthew attributes it to Matthew.

In his gospel (if it is his), Matthew tells that Christ approached him as he collected taxes and said, "Follow me." Immediately he arose and followed. Perhaps he had had one too many arguments that day. Perhaps he had been cursed by an irate taxpayer one name too many. Since he worked a booth near Capurnaum, he had, no doubt, heard of Christ. For all we know, Matthew may have been one of the tax collectors converted by John. Although tax collectors were generally hated by the Jews as rapacious instruments of the oppressive Romans, nothing says Matthew was dishonest. Tax collectors came to John the Baptist and asked what they should do. "Collect no more than is owed you," replied John.

At any rate Matthew rose immediately and followed Jesus, leaving his past behind. His humility is everywhere shown by his allusion to himself. "Matthew, the publican," he calls himself, branding himself with the profession the Jews most hated.

His original name, Levi, suggests that he was a man of the priestly tribe. When he wrote his gospel, after years of exposure to the teachings of Christ and days of fierce persecution, he was the only one of the four who directly addressed the Jews. Matthew showed deep interest in the priestly and scribal functions of his class. His gospel more than any other focuses on law and the fulfillment of scriptures and on genealogy and detail which reflects his Jewish background. Christ's fierce denunciations of the Pharisees and his prophecies of the end of the temple are most fully recorded in the writing of this apostle.

Matthew's interest in money finds expression, too. The parable of the talents is found only in his account along with many other beautiful passages of great richness. Herbert Lockyer notes that Matthew uses more words for money than any other gospel writer.

Matthew was well-to-do. As soon as he came to Christ he threw a party and invited others of his unsavory profession. He wanted to share Christ with them. No doubt similar concerns motivated him when he wrote his gospel in an attempt to share Christ with the whole Jewish race. We have nothing but legend about Matthew's death. His feast in the Roman Catholic Church is on this day, September 21.

Bibliography

1. Bell, Mrs. Arthur. Saints in Christian Art. London: George Bell, 1901 - 1904.
2. Butler, Alban. Lives of the Saints. Westminster, Maryland: Christian Classics, 1981, 1956.
3. Jacquier, E. "St. Matthew." Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Appleton, 1914.
4. Lockyer, Herbert. All the Apostles of the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1972.
5. McBirnie, William Steuart. The Search for the Twelve Apostles. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1973.
6. Vigeveno, H. S. Thirteen Men Who Changed the World. Glendale, California: Regal, 1966.

Last updated April, 2007.

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Praying Backwards

Praying Backwards

“The actions of the godly always begin with trust and progress through willful choices toward God’s best for them, not settling for what’s merely good. 

Take a minute to think about the critical moments in your life. Did you respond or react? What were the consequences of your decisions? Did you make a good choice, or did you veer off into darkness? Remember, using prayer triggers and trusting in God always gets you safely home.

Ineffective praying, with its resultant spiritual restlessness, thrives on reactions and bad choices made in the outer ring of circumstances, not in discerning responses that lead you Godward. Staying in the problem means you disregard God’s invitation to draw near toward the vortex of home. 

Every circumstance has associated feelings that try to get you to remain in them, or worse, retreat backward toward the problem for a solution. Had the Prodigal Son chosen to “make the best” of his pigpen, he would have missed the incredible joy awaiting him at home. Leaving that dirty sty didn’t mean he was running away from his problems, but that he was heading home to ultimate solutions. Clearly, he made the best decision.

The old hymn still says it best: “Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear; all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”

Excerpt From: Jack Corbin Getz. “Praying When Prayer Doesn't Work.” iUniverse, 2010-06-30. iBooks.  This material is protected by copyright. 

Facebook friends- "Like" Praying When Prayer Doesn't Work.

Carl Sandberg's great insight about us!

"There is an eagle in me who wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud." Carl Sandberg

Laughing at our friends and allies!

John Cleese has it about right: 

"The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the last final escalation level.

-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person.

A famous Contrarian still speaks!

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the 

majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

Mark Twain 

Wise words from John Sullivan about recovering in times of loss

John Sullivan
From: Former Salvation Army Officers' Fellowship

This message is about what we do when things do not go well. What we do reveals the kind of person we are. Do we panic? Do we fold up in a state of paralysis? Do we withdraw from the situation in fear or hurt? Do we protest and ask, "Why did this happen?

The first thing to do is to sit down for a half-hour and do nothing. We need to breathe deeply, until one's body quiets down, then we need to say to our inner self these four things:

1.There is nothing that has happened to me that hasn't happened to others.
2. I knew ahead of time that as a human being I ran the risk of something like this.
3. There are people who do their greatest work under these conditions.
4. I don't know how I'm going to handle this, but I know that I can.

Then it is time to pray. Instead of praying for something, pray about it. In one sense we've already been doing it. We have been thinking about our situation in God's presence before we ask for anything. We have been draining off some of the bitterness in our self.

If we can be quiet long enough, we will begin to see the situation in which we find our self not only from our point of view, but we'll see it from another point of view, and it will look different. Then it is time to ask God for what we want. If we want help, ask for it. If we want to win some battle, fought behind the closed doors of our life, ask for a victory. If we want to get out of a difficult situation, ask God to help us get out of it.

And after we ask, then we need to go to work on our self. If we want to be well, we need to work with the forces of nature that will help to make us well. If we want a friend we need to be a friend to someone. If we want to find the meaning of life, we need to begin by making some corner of our life to mean something. We will not get what we want just for the asking. We may get something greater than what we asked for. We may get what we wish all of us could get, and that is a deeper root-age in things.

One of the reasons why we're so likely to snap in heavy storms, the way trees do, is that our roots don't go deep enough. The deeper our root-age is, the greater the lifting power will be; that is the deeper we go into the very nature of existence, the more realistic we are about life and suffering, the greater lifting power we will have when time comes for us to raise some great burden that we would never choose, but which has been laid upon us.

I wonder if this is what Isaiah meant by waiting upon the Lord: "They shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." When things do not go well, we will wait upon the Lord: we will sit down, we will stop fussing, we will let the engine idle, and say the four things to our self, and then pray about it. When we have waited. we are more likely to find that we will not only have the strength to walk, step by step, day by day, and not faint.

Jerrod Cooper stirs my soul every day...that's saying smething.

JERROD  COOPER is a British radio evangelist who is fun to listen to yet he's deep with fresh insights that stir my soul every time I hear him. It's not the sameo sameo repetitive blather we hear so often.

His website doesn't have radio links that I can see. I hear him in the morning at 8 on UCB Gospel radio via internet on Tunein Radio. 

He's worth searching for. He stirs my often-dry-soul with wit, humor and great Biblical insight. I worshipped with him this morning and it felt good. 

Blessings.

www.daysofwonder.org.uk

Matthew Henry was a smart man!

The following is taken from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Bible. This man lived long ago when not everyone had easy access to scripture, and even less of the education required to gain the deepest insights from the written word. I find his insights and imagery into the familiar story of Moses and the burning bush helpful, even refreshing. I hope you find a few minutes to chew on this man's manna for today.

I especially like his vision of the burning bush being a symbol of the ongoing bondage of Israel (he considers Israel the early expression of the church). Ongoing heat without consumption or  resolution. What a tortuous life! Some still live that way today, unaware of the freedom that comes with truth. That's another blog!

I also love his statements about the nature of fire. I write often about the limitless subject of truth and I use fire as the best metaphor to understand it's many expressions and functions :light, heat, destruction, cleansing, healing, protecting and teaching.

My next book struggles to lasso the issues surrounding truth and apply them to our choices of how we can live with integrity, character and honesty. Hopefully coming soon to a bookshelf near you!

Enjoy this today and see what the Spirit shares with you through both Logos and Rhema revelation.

Blessings!

The first appearance of God to Moses, found him tending sheep. This seems a poor employment for a man of his parts and education, yet he rests satisfied with it; and thus learns meekness and contentment, for which he is more noted in sacred writ, than for all his learning. Satan loves to find us idle; God is pleased when he finds us employed. Being alone, is a good friend to our communion with God. To his great surprise, Moses saw a bush burning without fire to kindle it. The bush burned, and yet did not burn away; an emblem of the church in bondage in Egypt. And it fitly reminds us of the church in every age, under its severest persecutions kept by the presence of God from being destroyed. Fire is an emblem, in Scripture, of the Divine holiness and justice, also of the afflictions and trials with which God proves and purifies his people, and even of that baptism of the Holy Ghost, by which sinful affections are consumed, and the soul changed into the Divine nature and image. Matthew Henry

Blog Perspectives...

Are you tired of all the things about Christianity that only seem to work for super saints or hyper saints? I am too. This blog makes statements and adds outside thoughts in any format because they  make sense to me.

If we could be perfectly honest (we can't) the TRUTH will make enough sense to people who hurt but find little comfort in the cliches usually associated with loss or defeat. Truth also speaks to those who question reality, only to get slapped down by those annoying types who have bags full of easy, scripted  answers, ready, and eager to distribute indiscriminately on anyone unfortunate enough to listen.

We may eventually find the light, our light, but we also understand we may never know the answers or the reasons behind our most challenging issues.  This is anything but a one-size-fits-all blog. It's supposed to make people think HONESTLY about the things that bug and baffle us about the  journey, and also to motivate us to share what's deep down inside, not just join the hoards who spew what they have been told to spew.

Ken Gire says that God is not indiscriminately intimate, and C.S. Lewis says the best things God does for us He does in us. That's what I'm talkin' about!

Join in. Enlighten me.

Blessings of Grace and Peace.

Read this poem if you have kids...:=}

I Learned to Swear by Pam Vap I learned to swear twenty minutes before my first child was born. Since then, it's been a handy habit to have around, and I expect God to turn his head. After all, he owes me one. It's a trick to make babies look so good. The truth is they leak. And of all horrors, they grow. They only speak whine; they cry and complain and wipe snot on their sleeves. They spill dinner. They stir pasta into their milk cups and squish spinach between their teeth. They eat crayons and toothpaste. They call constantly. They call constantly. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mo-om. They inhale money, bang down stairs, and store dirty socks and sandwich crusts like hidden treasures in their closets. They lipstick walls; they swallow marbles. They break things. Yet, God (no doubt in his wisdom) has ordained that these crude creatures should sleep incognito: gentle quiet warm. I am fooled easily. Each night as I tuck covers around them and bend to kiss their sweet, sleepy faces, I don't care that they used all the silverware in the garden. Let's fill the house with angels, I whisper to my husband as I slip between the sheets

Choosing Spiritual Health - by Dr. Colin Harris

Let’s imagine a fictitious scenario in which a person is asked, “Do you want to be healthy, or not?”  Kind of a no-brainer of a question, isn’t it?  But let’s think for a minute about what it involves.

I think most would quickly answer, “Why, healthy, of course!” – and the decision is made; we have made the choice.  But now we come to what this response involves.  First, we have to identify things in our personal behavior pattern that are detrimental to good health.  The range of possibilities is pretty broad – features of our diet that are less than healthy, ingestion of substances that may be harmful, patterns of work and other activities that are out of balance with what the body needs to function at an optimal level, relational dynamics that are toxic and stress producing, emotional stress that “weighs us down” and interferes with the balance of good maintenance. – the list could go on.  Often our choice for health requires adjustments on a number of levels that remove or reduce the ill effects of other choices that respond to  powerful needs and influences.  “Choosing health” is not as easy as it might have seemed.

Then our fictitious “chooser” is faced with another challenge.  Not only do we have to deal with those things that might be detrimental to our health, we find that we have to embrace a rather rigorous pattern of positive disciplines.  We no longer can just eat what tastes good, but we have to learn and embrace a diet of nutritious nourishment that will optimize our physical functioning.  This requires both knowledge and the discipline to follow what we know.

Along with diet, we learn that an appropriate level of physical exercise is necessary to maintain the best functioning of the complex systems that make up our physical being.  Like diet, this is a somewhat personal pattern – not everyone will be an athlete, but everyone will have a level of physical activity that is conducive to good health. 

Beyond that, we find that we have to balance the life patterns of work, rest, and recreation, so that the extremes of workaholism, sloth, and “party-animal-ism” are avoided.

Next, we find that finding and nourishing a community of healthy relationships has an impact on our health.  On the close personal level, and in the larger context of community life, all indications point to the benefits of supportive engagement with others – both giving and receiving -- as a factor in overall health.  The balance of privacy and community will differ for everyone, but finding that balance is an important part of the process of health.

Then we enter the more nebulous realm of other factors that have an impact.  We soon find that things like “meaning” and “purpose” are factors that influence health on a deeper level, and we engage the dimension of life we call “spiritual” or “religious.”  This dimension has many frameworks and expressions, some more traditional than others; but the function of this part of life seems pretty consistent.  It provides a frame of reference for life in its most comprehensive context.  Sometimes it is noted that this dimension is the realm of the ultimate “reason for living.”

It is here that our fictitious scenario connects with the affirmations of the lesson text.  The writer of Colossians is observing that the Christian path is an easy one to choose; but, like the choice of health, it is more complex than it might seem at the beginning.  There are things that must be abandoned and avoided (fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed  - v.5 – anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive language, lying – v.8).  And there are things to be embraced with discipline (compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, love, and harmony – vv. 12-13).

We have noted many times how easy it is to think of our Christian faith as “getting one’s ticket to heaven punched” and being “saved and secure.”  The early Christians struggled with, and provided us help with, the idea that following Christ has more to do with “following” than with “believing” – embracing a life that is focused on “things that are above, not on things that are on earth” v.2.

Let’s think about the “health profile” of our Christian journey – about the things that are detrimental to it, and the things that characterize the discipline (note the two words “discipline” and “disciple”) that is conducive to good “spiritual health.”

A poetic view on living for this day by Mary Oliver

Poem - The Summer Day

I don't know exactly what a prayer is 

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down 

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, 

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day. 

Tell me, what else should I have done? 

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? 

Tell me, what is it you plan to do 

with your one wild and precious life? 

Mary Oliver

Dealing with Loss

A dear friend who experienced a crippling loss of a child asked me if I ever view my loss as a blessing in disguise. My short answer is below. The long answer is what led me to write two books. One listed on this site, the other still in process.

My favorite quote about the potential value of personal loss comes in the form of a quote from Brennan Manning (I paraphrase): "Grace teaches us that the worst thing that ever happens to us is the best thing that ever happened to us".

To me that means it takes time for grace to complete its work in us. Immediate grace gets us through a crisis with relative sanity. Ongoing grace, however, does the hard work of patiently transforming us to accept, even embrace, a new reality that is not preferred at first. Grace leads to an eternal perspective with greater tolerance toward the thing (s) that once killed us with doubt and pain.

C.S. Lewis is the master of the discussion about the stages of loss. He felt his pain intensely, so much that he doubted his faith openly, in writing.  “We were promised sufferings. They were part of the program. We were even told, 'Blessed are they that mourn,' and I accept it. I've got nothing that I hadn't bargained for. Of course it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not imagination.” ― C.S. Lewis,  A Grief Observed.

He goes on to say: “God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn't. In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down.”  

Grace is the ultimate healer. It is not a quick fix, but an ongoing process that alters everything about us before it rests naturally in us. Gentle grace? Sometimes, but not always. It is a function of TRUTH that never rests until we embrace it, finding ourselves whole in a completely new way, His way. Until that happens, however, we think Manning's words are complete nonsense.

JG

Humility

Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. CS Lewis.


“Some suggest humility forces people to ingest nasty things like humble pie or crow. From those images, you might think it’s something to avoid, like castor oil, not embrace. The humility that comes from the Spirit, however, is an assertive response of mature faith from people who hold to the demands of God’s truth and continue to trust in Him, despite circumstances. John Dryden captures the nature of humble faith when he says, “Trust on and think tomorrow will repay.”
Whether we ingest humility like candy or choke it down like crow, we can only enter into an effective prayer life through that act. Upon the completion of the magnificent first Temple in Jerusalem, God came to Solomon in a dream and spoke about the importance of humility. Knowing the Temple’s magnificence could easily create national arrogance, God reinforced the value of humility with this reminder: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). This if/then proposal was His solemn promise, but also a warning: be humble or perish in your pride.”

Excerpt From: Jack Corbin Getz. “Praying When Prayer Doesn't Work.” iUniverse, 2010-06-30. iBooks. See Blog for link to purchase.

This material may be protected by copyright.

Check out this book on the iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/praying-when-prayer-doesnt/id489829837?mt=11: Jack Corbin Getz. “Praying When Prayer Doesn't Work.” iUniverse, 2010-06-30. iBooks.

Faith. Substance or Scam?

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your  ways my  ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts".

As I read the words of Isaiah 55:8-9 this morning,  a snippet of courage welled up in me to share a few lingering contrarian thoughts about the nature of faith. Briefly, I expect no self-respecting Christian to agree, but maybe some simple followers of Christ will.

First look at the orthodox position on faith. The Bible unceasingly stresses that faith is the fuel that makes the motor run. Without it, there is nothing but empty blather about theology, and in extreme cases, cynicism about God Himself.  Faith is said to be the one thing that moves God to forgive us, and it alone generates the power necessary to move God to indwell us with His Spirit.  All the great heroes were faith people and all of their victories are attributed to faith that God would be good to His word.

No faith?  No experience. No experience? No faith?

So far I agree, except those last two clever lines, which I just coined. It's the experience piece that seems to baffle me. I hear people speak about their experience with God all the time, and I see it plastered all over Facebook, as if making public statements about one's faith will influence others to: 1) Convert or  2) Congratulate them on their amazing faith.  It seems that wearing faith badges for everyone to see is a good way to passively "witness",  but if not judiciously done , it's also a subtle way to elicit much needed admiration.

Since my first book, Praying When Prayer Doesn't Work (See link on this blog), I have operated on the premise that much of what we hear others say about Christianity is more about dogma than experience. I have said for years that I seemed to have missed the boat when it comes to receiving all the spiritual kickbacks that others so readily claim they have in abundance. "The Lord said to me" is a classic, as is all that about Jesus being our best friend and constant companion. I grew up wondering why He didn't walk and talk with me and tell me I was His own.  It seemed like people heard voices all the time, that I missed hearing. I know one sane man who said He heard God's audible voice call him to ministry. I have another very sane friend who sees angels and auras around people. I can't doubt them because I am not them, but I can wonder why on the Faith-Experience continuum, I seem to be stuck at one end.  Funny enough, it's the faith end.

Now, I already know most , if not all the easy knee-jerk fundamentalist answers to my statements. They include, "You need to get saved, boy!"; "You need to spend more time seeking God"; "You need a good baptism of the Holly Gost!" (Phonetic writing).

All sound answers I'm sure, but it's odd the time I was the lowest spiritually and weakest carnally, I spent hours daily in prayer and Scripture reading, weeping and seeking something from above.   I was excepting a kick back, but got more silence.

The great ones say silence is not a sign that God is absent. Take Mother Teresa who says she spent six years hearing nothing from God. How about St. John the Divine, Brother Lawrence, Corrie Ten Boom and Jesus, all who witnessed to feeling forsaken at times? I guess C. S. Lewis also fits that category as well. His conversion was a logical choice, not a Damascus Road experience.

In my book I quote Ken Gire,  holding tightly to his words that "God is not indiscriminately intimate". Okay, I can understand that.  It's at least reasonable, and it doesn't  accuse me of spiritual sloth or ignorance because Jesus doesn't blow in my ear every twenty minutes, or "Mysteriously" show up when I  yield to the manipulations of public worship.  It makes sense that God's ways are not my ways, and when He's ready to speak or show me some angels, He will.

Until then? "Faith, boy, you need more faith".

The notion of faith being a scam relates to the underlying assumption of how so many speak of their faith.  Follow this trail of circular logic: The Bible says in order to find God, I must have faith.  How do I get faith? Believe the Bible is true when it speaks about getting faith. How do I know I can believe the Bible? Because it says it's true.

This reminds me of a Far Side cartoon that shows a Viking ship.  On one side there are four muscle bound brutes, on the other, three skinny wimps. While all are rowing hard, one of the brilliant leaders observes: “I’ve got it too Omar...a strange feeling like we’ve just been going in circles”.  

Obviously, faith is not something one can prove with words or equations. Faith is only proved in experience and told through personal witness. The faith of others may inspire us, but only our own faith experience carries the weight of credibility when it comes to what we say to others. That's why I have trouble with the "He walks with me and talks with me" saints. He doesn't do that with me, at least not that I'm aware of.  I think God is mostly silent, not warm and fuzzy. After all, if He lives in my pocket, I have no need for faith. Faith is only necessary when we can not see, not when we a BF's with the Almighty.

Remember, Paul teaches that faith and hope do not abide, only love. Why? What need is there for faith and hope in heaven where we will see completely all that is dark to us now.

The ubiquitous (and glib) promises of prayer coupled with all the amazing nuggets of pedantic or easy wisdom that I see flowing around Facebook from the super saints,  calls me to question my faith. Those people so easily create a dogma that explains God's silence and absence by saying that's the best part of being a believer – nothing happens. You know, that's when faith grows.

Again, why do we need faith? Top believe God is there, even when He doesn't appear to be active today with little hope for anything new tomorrow.

Isn't that circular logic?  Don't most of us believe the foundational tenet of my old teacher's college training that positive behavior needs to be rewarded with positive feedback?  So why doesn't God reward our positive demeanor with more holy vibes from above? Some say He does, every single time they pray, and even when they don't.  But I have both read the Bible and prayed and got the ever-inspiring silence that I'm suppose to regard as God's best reward. That's okay for awhile, but six years, Mother T?

I guess God's ways are not my ways, and His thoughts are much higher than mine. I admit, by Facebook standards,  I have no faith at all.  Maybe we all need to limit our super-saint faith talk to only that which comes from experience, not what we ought to be saying. Keep it real, and the millions who have wandered from the "faith of their fathers" will take notice.  

I may have more to say about this later. What do you say?

A Real Gutsy Saint! (Copied From Christianity Today)

Teresa of Avila, First Woman Doctor

Dan Graves, MSL

Church History Timeline

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Avila sits almost exactly in the heart of Spain. Teresa, who was born in 1515, was molded by the throb of this most fiercely Catholic of European nations. The passion of Spain with its romances, saints, conquistadors, and knights appealed to the headstrong girl. The Moors still held bastions of power. As a child, perhaps only five, she talked her older brother into sneaking out of town with her, determined to enter Moorish territory and become martyrs for Christ. An uncle found them and brought them back. Later she ran away to a nunnery. Reading St. Jerome, she had been swayed to long for a deeper, more austere life. But as she herself admitted, she came to the nunnery less for love of Christ than hope of a quick entrance into heaven.

While still young and new to the nunnery, she became seriously ill. No remedy worked. After several years of worsening health, she fell into a coma and was thought by the sisters to be dead. They would have been buried her had not her father forbidden it, swearing life still remained in her. For four days she was unconscious, waking to severe pain and paralysis. Only after three years of suffering did she regain the full use of her legs.

In the convent she found herself frittering her life in chatter. While teaching others to pray, she found she herself could not commune with the Lord for a long time because she felt herself a hypocrite, living a life displeasing to the Lord. Aware of the frivolity of her course and its baneful effect on her prayer life, she groped closer to Christ. She began to see visions. Some attributed them to demons. Others encouraged her to trust them. During this time she mentored the ecstatic mystic, St. John of the Cross. Together they are the founders of the discalced (shoeless) Carmelites.

Teresa was no idle visionary, however. Practical at heart, she became a leader of reform in the Carmelites and founded many nunneries dedicated to a deeper walk with Christ. No one was to enter these houses except women devoted to spiritual living. Other nunneries were places to deposit women who had no other home. Heavy managerial duties fell on Teresa. It was a struggle to find enough for her nuns to eat; their living conditions were sometimes deplorable. Teresa did her best to overcome these limitations. In addition she wrote religious and meditative books. One, her autobiography, she wrote at her superior's order. Other titles are Way of Perfection andMeditations on the Canticle. She transcended the ideas of love she had imbibed from romances as a child. "...Real love of God does not consist in tear-shedding nor in that sweetness and tenderness for which we usually long...but in serving God in justice, fortitude of the soul and humility."

Her mystical writings won her enduring fame. On this day, July 18, 1970, Pope Paul VI stated that he was going to name Teresa of Avila the first ever woman doctor of the church. He officially did so some months later and she took her place beside such great names as St. Augustine and St. Jerome.

Bibliography:

1. Eerdman's Handbook to the History of Christianity. Editor Tim Dowley. Berkhamsted, Herts, England: Lion Publishing, 1977.
2. Hamilton, Elizabeth. The Life of St. Teresa of Avila. Westminister, Maryland: Christian Classics, 1982.
3. "Religion." World Topics Year Book, 1970.
4. Zimmerman, Benedict. "St. Teresa of Avila." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.

Last updated April, 2007.

Larry Moretz Passed Today

This is a very sad day for me. This man was someone who always respected me, even when I was not respectable. He wasn't always easy to work with, but he never failed to give me time and love, especially when I was down, the only top leader to overtly do that. 

He was in my corner, allowed me to write for Priority!, treated me like a brother and never stopped believing in me. I was able to get a "love note" to him through Nancy last week, which made me feel good.

He was creative, a head strong Dutchman (like me), and able to put up a good fight when I didn't like what he did. I fought him for several days about going to Minnesota, but when I got there and saw how amazing it was, I was able to put my head on his shoulder at the Divisional Program Review and playfully say, "Thank you for sending us here!". He smiled, knowing our long battle was over. We spent several days on a mini vacation in northern Minnesota where we went to antique shops, art stores and many restaurants. While there I managed to get a free birthday dessert for myself every night about a week. He just shook his head with disbelief each time, but he laughed as well. 

Had he remained our boss,  our lives would have taken a dramatically different course, but, that's all past. Redemption and restoration mattered to him, for me, and for the world. He loved the song "Rescue The Perishing, care for the dying, snatch them in pity from sin and the grace. Weep o'er the erring one, lift up the fallen, Tell them of Jesus the mighty to save". Then his and my favorite words: "Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, feelings lie buried that grace can restore; touched by a loving hand, wakened by kindness, CORDS THAT WERE BROKEN WILL VIBRATE ONCE MORE". Those words mattered to him.  

If ever people lived out of their  values, as seen in this song, it's Larry Moretz and Nancy. 

Thank you for indulging me for a few minutes. I don't do funerals any more, but this one will have my whole heart.  Love to Nancy and the family.

Larry Moretz will always be revered in this home. 

It hurts today, however. It hurts allot. 

Book Series Review: The Jesus Chronicles - LeHay and Jenkins

Jerry Jenkins and Tim LeHay, the writers of the popular Left Behind Series, produced another series of four books to their stable of Biblical novels. They're called The Jesus Chronicles. They created a short novel for each of the Gospels, depicting possible scenarios that could have led to the writing of each book.

I have completed the series and, as my dad used to counsel me, eat the meat and spit out the bones. Generally speaking the books all presented interesting scenarios that were plausible, if not historical. At times the plots were less than compelling, especially in John's story, but in each case I learned things about the context of the process, which produced the books.

Some things I learned:

While banished on Patmos, John was subjected to extremely hard work in the marble quarries. At his advanced age, his survival was nothing short of miraculous. His survival of the Emperor Domitian's extreme cruelty was balanced by the clemency and enlightened reforms of Nerva allowing John to recover, see his revelation produced and die in bed. He was the only apostle to die a normal death.

Matthew was a tax collector who probably gave up more than anyone to follow Christ. His official capacity allowed him to work a territory at will, as long as he paid Rome their contracted amount. He would have to have been schooled in all matters of commerce, the Hebrew religion, languages, trade, mathematics and cultural diversities to succeed. Following Jesus cost him, but he had to be a great asset to The Lord.

Luke was a physician, schooled for years in medicine with a heart for people - since physicians were not necessarily wealthy.  The most likely scenario  regarding his faith story was the he learns about Jesus from Paul, his friend and spiritual mentor. Since neither Paul nor Luke ever knew the man Jesus, their collaborative efforts were
required to write the Gospel. The writers suggest that Luke spent valuable time with Jesus' mother, Mary, before she died. That would explain detail of the birth narratives found in his record. He was not an apostle, but was an influential voice in the generation following Jesus death. It makes perfect sense that he wrote Acts as Paul's scribe.

Mark was a boy who spent a good deal time with Peter, his big brother and spiritual mentor. To read anything he says comes from his exposure to the apostles and Jesus, not as an apostle, but as one of the many who followed Jesus, almost exclusively in Jerusalem. I suspect he wrote everything for Peter since it took a significant education to write and fishermen probably did not get that kind of education.

These snippets are far from profound, but they help me understand the context of the gospels. Each book contains the actual gospel record in the back of the book. I

My grades:

John C
Luke A
Matthew A
Mark A

The books are elementary in nature, but that may be why they have some good value for seekers of truth to read them. I bought them all on Amazon for very little money.