Effects of Weather

It is hard to believe that as we turn the corner on the week and head into Monday, we may see the temperature soar to 50 degrees. This is just a few days after setting record low temperatures, some of them dating back over a hundred years. But that is how it goes at times oscillating back and forth. The weather changes at times, from starting last week with several inches of snow to beautiful clear skies a couple of days later.

Though he doesn’t specifically mention weather, Paul does warn us of shifting back and forth by the waves (Ephesians 4:14). Now waves are not exactly weather, but it is the weather that does cause the waves. The wind blows over the top of the water, friction caused by this action pulls the water along creating waves (sorry to go all meteorological nerd on you there for a second). This warning in Ephesians encourages us to be mature and not be tossed back and forth by every fine sounding argument and cunning scheme of man.

Paul tells us to be aware of the fine-sounding arguments of man that can cause us to be deceived (Colossians 2:4). I will say as man, we can come up with some pretty good arguments when it comes to having things done our way. Or maybe we use someone else’s words to apply to what we want and if we are not careful, we fall into what seems so good.

So how do we know if a new fad or style that comes along is good or just the latest “fine sounding scheme” man has invented? The same way we do when it comes to traditions-- be in God’s word. We have spent the past couple of weeks in this space talking about traditions and we need to; however, we need to make sure that when we go forward it is for the right reasons and more importantly, with the blessing of God. That blessing comes from knowing what His word says, which comes by being in His word continually. Daily? That is great, but at the very least a few times a week read His word.

So I am going to challenge you to be into the Bible as you go forward, and use weather as a reminder. As you notice the changes in weather this month, think about God’s word which does not change-- have you been reading it?

Watching the Weather,

Randy

Matzo or chicklets?

If we are not careful that is what it comes down to. Are there “chicklet” shaped crackers in the tray as it goes by or is there a Matzo cracker and I need to break off a piece? And if it is breaking a piece off, how small of a piece can I break, and if the cracker breaks in half, do I double break it? How big of a piece am I supposed to get? I guess either is okay because they are both baked without any leavening agent. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I am talking about the part of the Lord’s Supper or communion were Jesus broke bread with the apostles to start a practice that has become a tradition today.

What, that’s a tradition? Then we better stop it because tradition is a bad word when it comes to religion. Well, yea it is, but when it comes to Jesus, it was only bad when it got in the way of God’s commands. The practice of taking the bread was to remember what Jesus was about to do for them--or for us, to remember what He did for us. It becomes a tradition when we are adamant about making sure we have it in our service each week, but we forget to focus on the true meaning of it. Sounds a lot like the Pharisees, doesn’t it?

It goes back to a lot of what we do each week--not incorrect, but is it really correct? I know it’s a dicing of words, but if we are not careful, we become just like the Pharisees. They also threw in convenience and what was best for them. Which we do also. Again, not saying we are wrong, but we do need to examine every now and then the why behind what we do. Why do we do things the way we do?

Let’s go back to the chicklets. Jesus broke bread, so if we pick up a chicklet sized piece of dough without any leaven in it, have we really “broke bread”? Well, if the emphasis was on the breaking, then we have failed. I believe that the emphasis was on something more important--His body-- which is not dependent on the dough being broken or being picked up. And though we faithfully have communion weekly, if it is not pleasing to our Heavenly Father or if it is done in an unworthy way or with an unworthy attitude, then yes, it is wrong. Do we grasp the magnitude of what He did for us? Is it more than a chicklet shaped piece of dough?

Sometimes we worry so much about doing right, when God really wants us to focus on being right. He wants us to think, to realize, to grasp what we are doing and why. Do we “sing to one another” during the songs, or just mindlessly have words associated with notes come out of our mouths? The notes we hit, or don’t hit, aren’t as important as the attitude toward others as the words flow from, hopefully, our hearts. So as you sing to one another, don’t be afraid to look at one another. And as the tray comes by with the chicklets made of unleavened dough, take a second and think. Appreciate how much you are loved by your Heavenly Father. How much more than a piece of dough it is that you just picked up. How much more than a tradition.

Grateful for His Love,

Randy

Happy Birthday

We have been visiting Holly’s mom this week. We always try to go see her in January each year, partially because it is warmer in South Texas than Michigan that time of year and it is nice to get a break from winter. We also choose this time of year because her mom’s birthday is in mid-January.

Speaking of birthdays, have you ever wondered where the idea of celebrating birthdays came from? Being the inquisitive, curious person I am, I have. So I used that “how did we get along with out it service” we have called the internet to look it up.

According to what I could find, this celebration started with the Egyptians, though it wasn’t for the common person. It also wasn’t a celebration of the day the Pharaoh was born, but the day they were considered a god. As this pagan celebration shifted to a celebration of the birth of even the most average person, it was rejected by Christians because of its association with the spirit world. Not that the common man became a god, but that evil spirits lurked on days of major events like turning a year older, therefore Christians avoided the concept until the 4th century.

Candles came about as a response to the evil spirits, as a light against the darkness. And that song we sing, “Happy Birthday to You” (which Guinness Book of World Records says is the most recognizable song) isn’t an original song. It is an adaption of a song from 1893 sung to school children called “Good Morning to You”, they just changed some of the words. It is interesting to see how something, like celebrating birthdays, is so accepted and common in our culture; but, was much different in its origins. But isn’t that how things go? We adapt and change to meet the events of the day and hardly recognize the original meaning as time goes on.

I remember shortly after becoming a Christian when I was a graduate student studying atmospheric science, I was reading the Bible and thinking how different the practices that I was reading about were when compared to what we were doing in the present. The church had adapted, had changed to stay in step with the culture we live in. It had adapted to meet the events of the day. As I looked at these changes more, it appeared that some of them had become untouchable, with no reasoning behind it. The change that was originally made to better serve, instruct, or encourage, had somewhere down the line become the way it had to be done. We call this a tradition.

Now tradition has become a negative word, but there is no reason it has to be bad. It is good to examine traditions to understand the why. It’s not a bad thing that we celebrate a person’s birth, but it is also interesting to know why. Over the next couple of weeks in this blog we will look at some of the traditions in the religious world and where they came from to help understand God a little better and know how to explain Him to others!

Celebrating understanding,

Randy