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July 25, 2005
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I've read lots lately. Much I've read includes Scripture references from
The Message. I've decided I'm not nuts about The Message. I know many
are, but it's not my cup of tea. Not that it's a bad read, I just think
it's a mistake to call it the Bible, because it's not the Bible. It's
a commentary that's set up to look like a Bible. In this regard, it goes
even farther that The Living Bible, which was the object of much scorn
and derision among conservatives in the Seventies. But at least TLB made
an attempt to simply put the Bible into plain contemporary English by
paraphrasing. The Message goes beyond even paraphrasing, into the arena
of opinion, which is why I refuse to call it a Bible. It's a commentary,
an opinion piece based on what the author thinks is the "read-between-the-lines"
of what Holy Scripture really "means." Therefore, it should
be shelved with the rest of the commentaries that have been written across
the centuries and read as such. Opinions will differ as to whether it's
a good commentary or not. July 27, 2005 — I think I'm starting slowly to discover the life of worship in my own life. It's been a slow, excrutiating process, mostly because I spent too many years not particularly worried about what my life looked like. As long as I worked my job and my family was reasonably stable, I didn't care whether God was real in my life or not. Or maybe I sort of cared — at least I cared enough to take time to complain and whine to God regularly about why He wasn't more real to me. But I didn't care enough to fully dedicate my daily existence to seeking His Face. Now I'm closer to that place and God has been present in my life. Part of it is my reading — Laubach, Brother Andrew, Jan Johnson. Part of it has been had been regular meetings with small groups and individuals who are sharing my walk. Part of it has been a greater role in church worship, if not in a position of leadership (maybe particularly not in a position of leadership). And part of it is regular entries into this journal. This space has given me the opportunity to take a closer look at where I've been and where I am right now. Whether or not somebody else ever reads this seems pretty irrelevant right now. The problem now is one of consistency. A day on, a day off, a good week (last week), a bad week (this week). But I have hope that I'm done for good with the "good decade, bad decade" cycle I was in. I'd better be, because I don't have that many decades left. The authors listed above, along with Richard Foster, talk about "dry times," times of rest, times in the desert, times of feeling forsaken. These times are usually talked about in a positive light. This is to assume that one's life-walk is no different than during the good times. But my problem is, I've walked away from God too many times to do whatever I wanted, sometimes for years at a time. So of course His Presence will seem to leave because I don't want Him around and am not looking for Him. I referenced Matt Redman earlier, "It's all about You, all about You, Jesus." Then I said, it's also all about me. If I want to experience His Presence, I have to make the conscious decision to look for Him. Still no rain, but it has cooled off. Maybe it'll rain sometime during the night. O God — Help me worship You all the time. Amen |