Faith Venture

We live in times of chaos. A shooting incident happens. Real-time TV and newspaper hypes it. Political/opinion lines are drawn. People feel fear–thanks to the hype. Net result=more sales for firearms manufacturers.

A friend introduced me to John Fischer (Christian song writer/author) whom she says is a friend. He is smart…and wise.

He wrote last Friday:

The greatest weapon of the enemy is fear, and to whatever degree we let fear into our hearts is the degree to which we have lost ground. That’s why people taking to the streets in Paris and San Bernardino is a show of solidarity to say one thing, “We are not afraid.”

We need to take this to heart in our own lives. Fear is a powerful force. It can conquer without firing a shot. It can creep across continents and sail over oceans. It can travel on a sound wave or flash across the globe in a tweet. It can cross barriers and walls and pierce the heart of the most courageous. Fear is a powerful weapon.

But so is love. In fact, love is greater.

I read the end of the story. We win. Love conquers. It doesn’t mean that there won’t be tough times. Read the book of Acts. The church grew despite setbacks and persecution.

Then read the Gospels and the Revelation of John. In the end, we win.

Let’s go forward in the confidence of faith. Grace is stronger than evil. Love conquers all.

The Greeks had a word for when a person began to think too highly of himself–hubris.

Mom had a phrase, “You’re too big for your britches.”  (That would be pants for you younger people.)

The writer of Proverbs talked of wise leaders seeking good counselors. The writer, Solomon, should have taught his son better. The ruler of Israel following him rejected wise counsel, listened to foolish ones, and destroyed the kingdom single-handedly.

It grieves me greatly that so many examples of dysfunctional leadership are found in schools and churches.

The local school board containing a couple of new members asked questions of the superintendent regarding a rather suspicious proposal. The superintendent replied (as quoted in the local newspaper), “I’ve been at this 25 years and know what I’m doing.”

I have a message having “been there and done that and got the T-shirt”, arrogance does not become you.

Some friends are avowedly pagan. Yep, you read it right. You might even need to look up the word. It’s a nature religion.

Why? Pathetic leaders in their churches when they were younger. Sometimes I wonder if church leaders have driven more people out of the church than any other reason. (Maybe a research topic for a prospective DMIN candidate?)

I have witnessed examples of poor execution of servant leadership. That does not deny the importance of pursuing that type of leadership. A humble leader puts others first. He seeks wise counsel. She remembers her priorities. Humbleness works. Arrogance leads to a fall.

One evening during a small group Bible study of Romans, I said that the topic reminded me of quantum physics. Everything is composed of energy and information. Chuck just gave me one of his looks.

Without getting too deep into physics and so risking a few readers–I just came across this quote from Physicsclassroom.com, “The amount of energy carried by a wave is related to the amplitude of the wave. A high energy wave is characterized by a high amplitude; a low energy wave is characterized by a low amplitude.”

I like thinking about many things as requiring energy. We describe certain people as “high-energy.” When I contemplate about Paul’s life, I think energy.

Let’s think about this a little. Energy is related to amplitude.

To make the most of your Bible study or other studies, you need to increase energy. In so doing, you will increase the amplitude of your effort.

Adding energy to worship–well, do I need to say more?

Even contemplation requires energy lest you just drift off to sleep.

As for service, well, think about people who serve by just “going through the motions.” They are listless, unenthusiastic, pretty much worthless on a project. But add energy to the situation and you increase the effort into a high-energy wave with greater amplitude.

Next, we could discuss biology at its most fundamental level which concerns networking and connectedness. But, again, we’ve probably enough science for the morning.

Oh, and don’t get your energy from a can! Look toward letting God fill you with the spirit.

The panel of technology managers discussed what the Internet of Everything would bring us by 2025. The Internet of Everything is the Cisco marketing speak for something you may have heard of–The Internet of Things.

Your smart phone (you have one, right?) has more sensors and computing power than most automated assembly machines of the 1980s. All those sensors can send you information such as your location, how many steps you’ve taken, and more if you let it. The data is sent to storage places in the Internet where marketers can read it (only in aggregate so they say) so that they can only send you relevant ads while you waste time on Facebook.

Technologists are optimistic people. These predicted that in 10 years all data will be accessible over the Internet. 

Maybe. But the significant statement one of them made was that what all this technology can’t do is provide wisdom. The quality of the questions you ask becomes important.

I thought about Bible studies with groups. Some people are new to reading the Bible. They are constantly amazed at what they read. And their questions reflect a search for basic information. Who was that guy? Where is that town located? When did all these events happen?

As we grow in knowledge of what the words say, we begin to ask what they mean. How do these apply to the life I’m living right now. Pretty soon we begin looking into ourselves and ask about our thoughts and feelings. And about our relationship with God. We go beyond belief–saying God exists. We start to experience God.

We also begin to study more things to answer more questions. Perhaps first histories of the ancient world. Then perhaps the lives of the early followers–how did they live, what did they do, what did they teach.

Each set of questions takes us deeper into understanding.

It is the quality of the questions we ask that brings us wisdom.