The "good old days?"

When I hear Christians bemoan the fact that the world is getting worse all the time, that the world has never been more evil, etc...I'm just really skeptical. Are these really the worst times ever...really?

Perhaps, but when I consider what Deitrich Bonhoeffer had to face and compare it to my life and times, there's no doubt in my mind that I haven't faced anything close to the evil and adversity he faced. In 1939, some friends got him out of Germany and brought him to America. He couldn't stay. He knew both Christians and non-Christians needed him too much in Germany so he went back.

Later, when he was in prison, and the world was literally falling apart around him, he was so calm and commanded so much respect, that even the German guards were willing to smuggle his letters and poems out of the prison. The strength he exuded through and because of the Holy Spirit is the reason people still talk about and draw strength from his example today.

Is the world worse today than it was in 1933 or 1943? Is it worse than when all of the disciples but one were martyred for their faith? I'm not so sure, but I hope if I ever have to face the adversity those believers had to confront that I can respond with half of the calmness and peace in Christ that they displayed.

The Cost of Discipleship

I just picked up The Cost of Discipleship by Deitrich Bonhoeffer again. Michelle and I read this book several years ago. I've talked a little bit about Bonhoeffer before. The guy intrigues and inspires me. In the face of the incredible evil that was Nazi Germany, he never shrank from what he saw as his duty to God. His example shames me when I fail to stand for Christ in front of friends, family, co-workers...whoever.

He was only 39 years old when the Nazis hanged him. One of his friends G.K.A Bell said this about him, "young as he was and humble-minded as he was, he saw truth and spoke it with a complete absence of fear."

I want to speak truth. I want to speak truth to believers and non-believers. I want to speak truth so that my children will have an example to follow. I want to speak truth because that's what Christ demands of me. The grace he has given me isn't cheap.

Change the world?

The second discipline Foster talks about is 'prayer.' He says, " The apostle Paul gladly announces that we are "co-laborers" with God; that is, we are working with God to determine the outcome of events (I Cor. 3:9). It is Stoicism that demands a closed universe not the Bible."

I'm ashamed to admit that I often don't pray like "I'm working with God to determine the outcome of events." Why don't I think that way? I'm certainly not a stoic!

(As an aside, and speaking of the stoics, one of the first sports directors I ever worked for was a good guy, but an interesting duck. He kept a copy of The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius on his desk. He marked that thing up and studied it like it was his Bible. I was intrigued so I got a copy of my own and found it to be interesting and full of many good ideas, but it's not the Bible - far from it. I just hate that I often think in a way that is counter to what the Bible teaches.)

Do you get bothered when people view life, and the way things are, as just the "will of God" or Mother Nature or fate or who knows whatever else? Foster talks about the fact that we serve and assist a God that is constantly changing his mind because of His love for us. (Check out these verses in Exodus and Samuel.)

I've got to admit, it's hard for me to get my brain around the fact that God will literally change the world if I pray righteously and with the heart of Christ. But isn't that what we're supposed to be doing?

Meditation continued...

Hey everybody,

So I'm finally getting back to Richard Foster's book "Celebration of Discipline." Again, the first discipline he delves into is meditation. He stresses the point that Christian meditation is nothing at all like what we think of in terms of what Eastern religions teach. In fact, he says, "the two ideas stand worlds apart. Eastern meditation is an attempt to empty the mind; Christian meditation is an attempt to fill the mind."

He gives example after example of how to actually delve into meditation and what that means as a Christian. In one section where he's talking about how to meditate on scripture, he gives this quote from Deitrich Bonhoeffer, "...just as you do not analyze the words of someone you love, but accept them as they are said to you, accept the Word of Scripture and ponder it in your heart, as Mary did. That is all. That is meditation."

I had never even heard of Bonhoeffer until I read this book a few years ago. If you've never heard of him, his story is amazing... How he fought against the Nazis is one of the most inspiring stories of WWII. But I'm getting off subject. That's another story for another time.

My point is, Bonhoeffer's quote is the root of it. Do I ponder God's word in my heart? Heck, the better question is, do I even read God's word! It drives me nuts when I find excuses for days on end not to spend time to read my Bible and meditate on what God is trying to tell me. The reason it ticks me off is I know how much better I am as a husband, father, son, brother...you name it when I do take the time to do those things.
Ken