Whose Way Will It Be?

Jan 26

Posted by matrill in Christian living, humility, pride | No Comments

A recent survey of British funeral directors revealed a significant change in the choices families made when arranging memorial services for their loved ones. Last year, 70% of funerals had replaced traditional hymns with pop music. The list of the most used tunes ranged from old standards to hits from recent years (including a dash of Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, and Adele). That’s not the most concerning aspect of this survey.

frank-sinatraThe most popular track at funerals (played at 15% of them) was My Way by Frank Sinatra. The song was originally written in French and reworked into English by Paul Anka. Even now, the tune is probably echoing in your mind. (I apologize if it stays there too long and annoys you later.) While that’s not my favorite tune by “Ol’ Blue Eyes”, it is a very well known song that speaks of triumph over adversity. There’s certainly nothing wrong with living a full life with few regrets.

What is troubling is the underlying theme of the song – especially when chosen for a memorial service. Think of it…having the final statement of your entire life summarized by an unyielding reliance upon self. Far too many act as if we answer only to ourselves. In fact, we invite trouble into our lives when we do things “our way.” The Bible describes in detail the failure of doing what is right in one’s own eyes…of failing to submit to an Almighty God.

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
and did it my way! 

I’m all for strong character and firm convictions, but God’s Word reveals that the wisest move we ever make is to bow to the One who has created us. In contrast to Sinatra’s bold declaration, the psalmist asks a related question:

Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him!
or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!
Psalm 144:3

May we each learn to yield our will to God’s. Only when we act in humble obedience will we experience His greatest blessings on our lives.

A Legacy

Jan 10

Posted by matrill in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

I admired and appreciated him more than I expressed.  Unfortunately, that is often the case with relationships in this life.  And now Clair Smith has gone on to his long home and the reward of his Savior’s presence.

Today, I contemplated his life and legacy.  For full disclosure, I must state that I am not a Smith by blood.  However, he became Papaw to me when I married my wife.  My memories include golf during one of his stays in Clearwater…Thanksgiving dinner and some of the most competitive croquet I have ever played…driving with him to Morgantown to watch the Backyard Brawl at Mountaineer Field.

As a veteran of World War II, he served valiantly as a ball turret gunner on a B-17.  He crafted images with his words, writing poems of nature and history rich with emotion and experience.  The brush was also his tool, whether portrait or church baptistery scene.  When he casually broke into song, it was often a whimsical declaration of his love for a family member – perhaps an infant in his arms or Myrtle, his beloved wife of more than six decades.

He was a patriarch in every sense of the word.

And in that role he gave me his greatest gift.  It began with his genuine faith in Christ.  It continued as he lived out that faith before his family.  It bore fruit as they came to love the Lord and trust the Savior.

And 26 years ago, I met a godly, loving young woman who is a result of his legacy.

Even now I can hear my own children’s voices singing of the love of God and am reminded of those who have walked in faith so many years ago.

I have been blessed because of his life

and am grateful.

 

 

Where Rock Stars Go to Die

Sep 7

Posted by matrill in Christian living, church, music, teens | No Comments

I don’t repost or link very often.  However, I found Ted Kruck’s article thought-provoking and believe others would appreciate it also.  Check it out here.

I am convinced that too many believers are confused about the nature of worship and many churches, musicians, and ministries are simply blurring the line even more.

 

It’s an Awfully Loud World

Sep 2

Posted by matrill in Bible, Christian living, entertainment | 1 Comment

Sitting silently in the public library recently, I continued to hear the same voice loudly interrupt my study.  She seemed to talk to anyone who would listen.  “How’s your wife?  How’s your day?  What’s new?”

Doesn’t that lady know this is a library?  Where people like me can sit quietly and read!

She continued just as loud and more frequently:  “What are you looking for?  Can I help you find something?  Stop running in the library!”

Wait…what?  It was a librarian who was using her “outside voice.”

It was a reminder that we live in an increasingly noisy world.  As I write this in my favorite Panera, Vivaldi is playing on the intercom.  A group of retirees at the table next to me are not afraid to let everyone know their views as they solve the world’s problems.  A woman across the room is speaking on her cell phone to her friend (who has apparently experienced a significant degree of hearing loss).

In July Real Simple magazine published these observations about the abundance of noise (and the accompanying lack of silence) in our society:

  • Between 1975 and 2010 the average number of TV sets per household rose by 87% (from 1.57 sets per household to 2.93).
  • Out of approximately 111.8 million households recorded in the 2009 Housing Survey by the US Census Bureau, about 25.4 million (almost 25%) report being bothered by street noise or heavy traffic.
  • In a 2006 Pew Research Center poll, 82% of those who responded said they had encountered annoying cell phone chatter in public.  (Not surprisingly, only 8% felt that their cell phone habits were irritating to others.)

    • The article includes a quote from George Prochnik, who wrote In Search of Silence.  He asserted, “I think we’re seeing noise tied to a host of problems of the age – problems of attention, aggression, insomnia, and general stress.  Noise is now the default position as a society.  But I believe we have to make an effort to build a passionate case for silence.”

    Our world leaves us precious little time or space for contemplation.  Science declares that the human mind requires a suitable environment to consider options and solve problems.  Experience tells us that we need somewhere to unwind from the busyness of life.  However, there is also an obvious spiritual connection.  Do we have time to be still and know God?

    In The Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard writes of the resistance he met when first teaching about the need for solitude and silence.  The critics cried, “Too ascetic!  Overly monastic!”  Even today conservative critics warn that such practices sound too mystical.  However, the psalmist surely appreciated his quiet time with the Lord.

    When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Psalm 63:6

    Now our “night watches” are filled with sit-coms, talk shows, or our favorite playlists streaming through earbuds.  Another example of our problem can be found in the increasing numbers who spend devotional time on a handy electronic device.  Nothing wrong with that, especially if the convenience increases frequency and faithfulness.  However, have you ever been tempted to click over to check for email or status updates in the middle of your study?   Multitasking can provide an efficient work process, but it’s abysmal for spiritual growth.

    Do we believe it requires too much effort to get away from the clamor around us?  Is it simply the nature of a society that revolves around entertainment and consumerism?  Is it a fear of being alone that draws us to noise and crowds?

    Regardless of the cause, the solution is to designate a portion of each day to meditate on the things of God.  Quietly contemplating what we read in Scripture and waiting on God before we move on to the next of today’s demands.

    Remember Jehovah’s instruction to Joshua and its accompanying promise: 

    This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua 1:8

    Way back in 1988 Randy Stonehill sang:

    It’s an awfully loud world in an awfully small room,

    And it gets so much you can’t hear nothing else, and not a soul is immune,

    It’s an awfully loud world screaming louder each day,

    We’re crying, “Cut it out, shut it down, someone make it please go away.”


    The mute button is in our hands.  Perhaps it’s time we use it more frequently.

    What about you?  Do you have a special time or place where you get away and meditate on the things of God that you’d like to share?

     

    Schadenfreude and Spirituality

    Aug 16

    Posted by matrill in Christian living, football, humility, witnessing | 8 Comments

    Gary Shelton, a veteran sports writer, wrote an article in today’s St. Pete Times entitled “Misplaced Distaste.”  In it, he asks why so many people are rooting for Tim Tebow to fail in the NFL.  In fact, why does anyone outside Florida or Colorado even care how the 25th pick of the 2010 draft performs?  Few of the Tebow haters would recognize the name Demaryius Thomas, much less care about his recovery from an Achilles tendon injury.  (The Broncos picked him three places ahead of Tebow in the 2010 draft.)

    I do not write as a Gator fan or assume that Tebow needs my defense.  That’s what an offensive line is for.   However, when so many spew venom and hatred toward a backup quarterback in Denver, I agree that something strange is afoot.  Shelton offers no definitive answer for what motivates the hatred.  I think I can offer a reasonable suggestion.  Two, in fact.

    The first factor is schadenfreude – the concept of pleasure derived from the misfortune of others.  Our society continues to cultivate a hyper-competitive attitude in every aspect of life.  No longer is the other team a rival or opponent.  Now they must be an enemy.  Beyond even that spirit is a growing desire to see the successful fail.  It makes us feel better about our personal inadequacies or failures.  Perhaps it began during grade school recess.  That’s when you first realized that if you couldn’t make yourself look better, you could always make fun of or draw attention to someone else’s weakness to level the playing field.  So every time Tebow throws an interception the armchair quarterbacks of the world scoff, “See, he’s not so good.”

    That same statement points to a second motive for the hatred.  Mention Tim Tebow and hearers think first of his success leading the Gators’ football team. However, inseparably linked to his name are missionary efforts, a firm stand against abortion, Bible verses written on his eyeblack,  and a testimony of salvation through Christ alone.  Tebow is considered a spiritual person; specifically, the born-again Christian type.

    Nobody gives a second thought to an athlete who points heavenward after a touchdown or thanks God in a winning locker room.  After all, it cost him nothing and may mean even less.  The same applies to actors and musicians when they speak with an award trophy in their hands.  Everyone knows it is much more difficult and likely more genuine when one acknowledges God after a loss.  Yet, Tebow seems to be in a different category, where one’s faith matters on and off the field.

    I’ve never met him, so like everyone else, I must rely on what I read and watch in the media.  Shelton, like many sports writers, points out that Tebow is genuinely what society claims to expect from its true heroes; “humble, charitable, hard-working, scandal-free.”  On top of that, he is quick to credit Jesus Christ as the source for whatever may be good and right in his life.  An unbelieving world can’t wait for him to fall.

    The more genuine someone appears, the more others want it exposed as something less.  The more devout the claims, the more intense the scrutiny.  When the hidden sins of a pastor, athlete, or politician who professes salvation are exposed some celebrate.  They sit in the same armchair and pronounce, “See, he’s not so good.  I told you it was all a scam.”  For that moment, their accountability to God feels less imposing.  After all, if a professing Christian is less than genuine, perhaps Christianity itself is.  This should serve as a solemn reminder to every child of God that our testimony matters far more than we realize. Certainly, we live for the Lord, but we do so before others.

    Again, I am no rabid Gator/Bronco fan.  However, I will root for any genuine believer to have an expanded platform from which to share the Gospel, display a consistent testimony, and advance the cause of Christ.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s on the gridiron, in an office, or a classroom full of school desks.

    Consider Yourself Warned

    May 20

    Posted by matrill in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

    By now you have heard that Harold Camping and his followers are declaring that the Day of Judgment will begin this Saturday, May 21, 2011, at precisely 6:00 p.m.  Of course, all of this talk has drawn the attention of the secular media to Camping, the 89 year-old founder of Family Radio Worldwide.  At least until next Monday.  They’ll laugh and mock and then move on to another topic.

    What about those who believe in a literal rapture?  What can we say about such a declaration?

    It is prideful.

    While his proclamation is cloaked in a garment of concern and evangelism, its substance is nothing more than presumption.  The apostle Peter called the Scriptures a “more sure word of prophecy” than our personal experiences.  In that same passage, he warned that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”

    Camping’s declaration smacks of a private interpretation that equates to exclusive knowledge.  He sets himself up as the sole repository of divine knowledge and revelation.  At the very least, he is the only one in Christendom who is smart enough or spiritual enough to have interpreted the Scripture accurately.  In fact, he posits that only those who embrace his teaching are “true believers,” while all others are apostate.  He is so proud as to “guarantee” his prediction on the group’s website.  (I imagine Family Radio’s technical support team will have a busy weekend.)

    It is unbiblical.

    Christ Himself cautioned His disciples not to claim such knowledge of His return.  In fact, He declared that only the Father knows the day and hour of His return (Matthew 24:36).  When He stated “it is not for you to know the times or seasons,” He was not only speaking to the eleven, but to all true disciples who would follow.  I have read Camping’s defense against this statement, and it doesn’t hold up.

    Camping presumes to know the precise date of the Genesis flood, the symbolic meaning of biblical numbers, and the proprietary equation to arrive at his conclusion.  Rather than requiring complex mathematical computations or hidden codes embedded in the Hebrew and Greek alphabets, the Word of God is clear and convicting for all who will rightly handle it.  Christ will surely return, and we will certainly not be able to pinpoint the date ahead of time.

    In fact, his teaching is wrong on a number of doctrinal matters.  Frankly, this prediction of the Day of Judgment may be the least of his troubles.  In multiple sermons and interviews Camping has encouraged individuals to cry out to God before it is too late.  The hope that he offers?  “Maybe, just maybe, God will save you.”  In fact, that is exactly how he encourages people to pray: “Oh Lord, have mercy! Maybe you could still save me.  Keep begging Him.”  That’s a far cry from a prayer of faith and the promise of Romans 10:13.

    It is unoriginal.

    “Been there, done that.”  Only in eternity should we be able to say this regarding the Lord’s return.  However, this is not the first time someone has set a date.  Notably, William Miller proclaimed that Christ would return on March 21, 1844.  In an attempt to reconcile this “Great Disappointment”, many affirmed that the Lord had returned in a spiritual way that one could not see with human eyes.

    As I cleaned off my bookshelves recently, I discovered Edgar Whisenant’s work 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988.  I figured that it was safe to dispose of it by now.  Perhaps I should do the same with Camping’s previous book, 1994? At least he included a question mark the last time.

    According the Old Testament law, it was a treacherous position to claim a divine proclamation and see it fail.  It is likely that the only consequences this time around will be that Harold Camping fades into obscurity and his followers are again disappointed.

    Yet, there are other repercussions.

    It is damaging.

    First, it harms individuals.  His errant predictions do nothing more than fuel the scoffers who continue to taunt, “Where is the promise of his coming?” (2 Peter 3:4).  It misleads earnest seekers and new believers who are more easily swayed by false winds of doctrine (Eph. 4:14).  No doubt, it turns away some who might seriously consider the Gospel of Christ, but were first exposed to Camping’s nonsense.

    Second, it afflicts God’s church.  Those who are earnestly contending for the faith do not need the distraction and disdainful attention that Camping has brought.   The Lord has graciously offered salvation and promised to return for His own – on His own schedule.  That will continue to be our message.

    Finally, it damages God’s name.  From sarcastic late night talk show hosts to serious journalists, the consensus is that Camping is a kook.  Although an accurate assessment, the whole situation damages the name of Christ and those who earnestly seek to follow His Word.

    Our response?

    Believers are instructed throughout the New Testament to mark and avoid those who teach false doctrine and cause divisions within the body of Christ and offenses before the world (Romans 16:17).  With appropriate humility and biblical authority we identify Harold Camping as a false teacher.

    Ultimately, believers still have a job to do.  We are to demonstrate exemplary Christian lives, share the Gospel with all who will listen, and do the work to which we are called.  Look for Christ’s return with a sincere desire to be found faithful in that day.  May we echo in word and action the sentiment of the exiled apostle, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

    Offended yet?

    May 6

    Posted by matrill in Christian living, entertainment, parenting, teens | 4 Comments

    Rest assured that she didn’t intend to offend.

    Lady Gaga has released a statement to ease the concerns of Christians upset at her latest release.  Don’t worry; the music video for Judas was never meant to be “a biblical lesson.”  Even though it features a biker gang who wear the apostles’ names on their leather jackets and a leader with a sparkling crown of thorns.  In fact, she never even viewed the song as a “religious statement.”

    Still, it’s difficult to overlook lyrics that reference Mary’s humble act of washing the feet of Jesus, Peter’s three-fold betrayal, and Judas as “a king with no crown.”

    Now we know that it’s only a “metaphor” and “cultural statement.”  Does anyone else feel better?

    For decades I have heard the cry, “Just change the channel.”  If you were upset by the glorification of sin…watch something else.  If a song’s lyrics offended you…listen to another station.  If you found an image distasteful…simply look away.  Yet a contemporary society that professes to want little to do with Jesus Christ continues to return to Him as a theme for artistic endeavors.  Paintings, books, songs, films…so many avenues to denigrate, ridicule, and profane.

    May I return the same advice to an unbelieving world?  Find another subject.  Don’t believe in a Creator God?  Exclude Him from your book.  Refuse the authenticity of Jesus of Nazareth?  Find another historical figure to deride in your film.  Reject the thought of Christ as the Savior?  Leave Him out of your profane song.

    However, it may come as a surprise that my real conflict is not with Gaga.  Why should we expect anything else?  Since when has the world been reverent toward the sacred?   The genuine fault is with Christians and our responses.

    We chuckle at her dress made out of meat or another outrageous, attention-grabbing stunt.   We get excited when Glee promises to cover Born This Way and adjust our schedule so we don’t miss it.  (Certainly enough fodder there for a separate article).  Teens download the latest offering because everyone else is listening to it.  Never mind the message of the lyrics.  Christian parents offer only a mild frown of disapproval and declare, “It’s not my style of music, but the kids seem to like it.”

    Where is the discernment?  Isn’t there enough in what entertains us to disqualify it by scriptural standards?  Should it take a blatant slap across the face like seeing your thorn-crowned Savior sitting with a  six-pack and a scantily-clad woman draped across Him?

    Yes, there really was One who wore a crown of thorns.  He sacrificially wore that crown as He hung on a cross.  He did that as payment for sin.  He did it for you and me (and Lady Gaga, too).

    In the song she concludes “I’m just a holy fool.”  As long as she (or anyone else) rejects a God who loves her and a Savior who died on her behalf, she’s half right.   For that matter, perhaps the title more accurately describes any Christian who’s content to sing along with the world’s message.

    Philip. 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.