People have been asking me for this story again. I have combined the two posts so they can be read together.
One Friday morning in 2009, my life was drastically changed. The week before had been filled with Jack-in-the Box moments. These are moments where life jumps out at you and scares you silly. I never did like that toy and can’t even imagine working at a factory that makes them.
Many will read the title of Tim Keller’s book and totally miss the mark on what it is saying. I thought, until recently, that “Prodigal” meant “wayward” or “rebellious.” Instead, it describes someone who lavishly gives or spends what one has in his or her possession.
If I take that definition, I can say that God is lavish in what He spills out on me as in the words of the song, “Broken and Spilled Out.” It says, “…God’s richest treasure, lavished on me….” Since God has the One and Only Son, He sent Him to earth to pay or atone for our Sin. He lavished His Son upon us through mercy and grace…extravagant love can only do such a thing.
Secondly, Keller focuses somewhat upon the elder brother who is part of the parable as well. We usually can find ourselves in the younger son, and fail to see ourselves in the elder son. The younger lived life in open rebellion, while the elder lived life in silent rebellion.
What was the elder son’s rebellion? It was following the letter of the law more than the spirit of the law. He was so confined to rules that he did not allow himself to rejoice or take part in the return of his brother. One preacher in my past said, “How many who come church meet the older brother first and never return?” The older brother does not welcome sinners. The older brother does not rejoice in the lost being found. The elder brother can not “party” for the one who has come home. The elder brother wants the rewards from the Father, but not the life style of the Father.
We have to watch ourselves or one of the two brothers will appear in our lives and we will live in their shoes. The One whose shoes we need to wear are the shoes of the Father. The Father who was prodigal in lavishing the ring, the robe, and the fatted calf upon his returning son.
Subjects such as this and the questioning that can surround such a book like this brings me to another conclusion….it is right, good and wise to question any sermon, blog post, book, Sunday School Literature, song, poem and teacher to make sure they align with the Word of God. We should place opinions beside the Word and make sure that the writer “cuts” it straight, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. We are to test the Spirits and be noble Christians who like those from Berea searched the scriptures to make sure that what Paul was saying was true.
“The people here were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, since they welcomed the message with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:11 HCSB
As we travel in the shadow lands, we must be on guard, question, learn, and apply truth to our hearts. How do we do this?
First, read the Word. Know the Word as much as possible. Memorize it. Study it. Enjoy it.
Secondly, be a part of a group that discusses issues and opinions on scripture. A group is a great way to expose yourself to thoughts and opinions in order to discuss and raise questions. Discernment is often found in such groups like Sunday School, Discipleship Training, and book clubs where mature Christians meet in order to learn.
Thirdly, always be on your guard and know that no human writer will ever be 100% correct all the time. In other words, you CAN even question Billy Graham’s thoughts and opinions. Any preacher or teacher who is worth listening to will welcome questions and will even ask you to search it out in the Word. They will WANT you to scrutinize their teachings.
In a time where any opinion can be found with the touch of a button, we MUST have discernment. Our internet today is much like the open forums where Paul stood and talked with the Greek thinkers of their day and challenged them to see the God he followed.
No matter what we do, we must have the heart of a homing pigeon that returns time and time again to the home of the gospel message. The home of truth centered upon Christ who will deliver it all to the All in All God – a God who recklessly, furiously, and wildly pours out His love upon us.
So, read and chew…swallow if the Spirit of Truth guides, but be ready to spit out any form of doctrine that goes against the Word. Stretch your mind and trust God to help you make godly decisions about what you read and hear. It is the noble thing to do.
These pictures say more than the barks from my snout. 
I snuggle in the car. (Boy #2)
I snuggle in bed. (Boy #1)
I snuggle on the couch. (Boy #2)
I snuggle on the floor. (Boy #1)
LESSON TO HUMANS: Snuggles work best when you share it with someone you love.
To see my blog go to http://lifeonleash.wordpress.com/. Wally’s Bark!
Yesterday while I was walking and listening to my MP3 player, I heard a song play that I had not heard in awhile. It was an old Southern Gospel song from my childhood titled “God Walks the Dark Hills.” Hearing the tune took me down memory lane. This song was always in my head as a child. I would sing it to the top of my lungs when I was mowing the yard on the riding mower. It disappeared for awhile as I grew up and began to relate with more contemporary tunes by the Maranatha Singers, Sandi Patti, Imperials, and the emerging Michael W. Smith.
While listening to the words of the childhood favorite, I heard phrases such as “dark hills,” “silence,” and “storm tossed life.” When I bellowed these words out as a child I took them literally. ”Silence” simply meant no one was talking. ”Dark hills” were hills darkened from the shadows of evening and the “storm tossed life” occurred whenever wind and rain became violent. I was satisfied and glad and at peace with the fact that God walked in those literal things, but I had no idea how deep the phrases really plunged until life taught me more.
Now these words and phrases hold different meanings. The “silence” can be when we ache for the voice of God to be heard in our mind and heart. The “dark hills” are the shadow lands we walk through daily as we journey in a foreign land, waiting for home. The “storm tossed life”…need I say anything to explain that one? The only thing that has NOT changed since childhood is God’s ability to walk through it all. There was no change in that fact except that it means more, it soars higher, it covers more than I knew as a child.
I am thankful that as a child these phrases were scary in their own way and yet God proved Himself faithful. But…I am very thankful that when these words redefined themselves in adulthood, that God proved Himself faithful still.
“God walks the dark hills
To guide my footsteps
He walks everywhere
By night and by day
He walks in the silence
On down the highway
God walks the dark hills
To show me the way”
By Iris Dement
![100_2891[1]](http://anutsnotes.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/100_28911.jpg)
I was able to spend a very special day with my Dad at the church where I grew up. It was a very special time for our family as they honored him for his service through the years.
Dad is the last surviving member of the building committee that built the church where it stands today. He recalled yesterday that when they met as a committe to discuss the possibility of building, that the church had about $1,500 in the bank and many did not believe they could financially support such an undertaking. After discussing it and looking at the financial situation, they sat in silence, knowing that it seemed to be an impossible task. It was in that silence that one elderly deacon reminded the committee that if God wanted it built, then God would see that it was built. After listening to this deacon, they stepped out in faith and voted to go forward to build the church. This was the building we sat in yesterday, 52 years later.
I was thankful that this story was not lost…that Dad remembered and told it again so that we could see the hand of God from the past and how it still reaches forward in a mighty way. When stories such as this are lost, we lose a part of our spiritual heritage. I say all of this to ask, have you told your children stories from your spiritual past? Do they know about the details of your salvation? Do they know how God helped you walk by faith when the job or money just was not there? I encourage us all to be very open or to leave a journal with those stories attached so that people can see why you live life the way you live it.
The second thing I thought about yesterday was something my sister and I talked about…everything they said about our Dad was also a large part of the Dad we saw at home. He was the same no matter where he went – home, job, or church. Wow. What a test of our lives to ask ourselves if this is the way we are seen by our children. Can they say that the Dad that is seen at church is the same Dad they see at home? What about you as a Mom? Are you the same Mom on Sunday as you are the rest of the week?
Sometimes I wonder if we as Christians are trying to be good instead of trying to be godly. There is a big difference. Many people have good fathers, but some have godly fathers. What is the difference? Godly fathers know that their works and good deeds come from knowing God and following His lead. They give Him the glory through their testimony. They give Him the glory by living His word out in front of all at home, work or church. I thank God for the influence He has had on my dad.
My Dad is not perfect. But he has lived a life of integrity.
I hope, through the grace of God, to do the same.
A decorated, wooden cross stands in my front yard. I’ve had many compliments on its beauty, but sometimes it tilts to one side since we did not do a very good job in digging and filling in the hole around its base. Many mornings I have to straighten it so it will look pretty. Hmmmm – a “pretty” cross?
We have come a long way from the cultural reality of the cross in Jesus’s day. It was a symbol of execution, much like the electric chair in today’s society. Think about wearing a gold electric chair around your neck or decorating it for your front yard! Even though the cross and the electric chair may be a symbol of execution by the courts, they are very different in how the death sentence is carried out. Today, those who are delivered to electrocution are spared from public humiliation and from a slow death. We don’t walk the criminal through the streets of the local town before they sit condemned to die. We don’t take their clothes from them and we don’t deliver just enough electricity to elongate their suffering. And neither do we place them next to a public roadway so that all who pass by can see their death. In all of its own ugliness, the electric chair does not equal the cross in its cruelty.
The tilted cross in my front yard reminded me of something else. Our view of the cross can become tilted. It is easy for us to see its love and forget its wrath. It is easy to see its beauty and forget its shame. It is easy to see its power and forget its cost.
Any balanced view of the cross will see that the blood spilled upon it contained justice and love mingled together. The wrath of God and the love of God was there at the same time.
Through the cross, God proved Himself to be just. If God ignored sin’s punishment, He would be unjust. No one wants a judge who refuses to punish law breakers. When punishment does not come to the guilty then we hear people protesting that justice was not served. If a human judge can not pardon everyone and keep his job, how can we think that God can do the same? He must punish the guilty so that justice can be served. The cross was God quenching His own wrath…justice served…payment made…guilt punished.
If the cross was the wrath of God, how in the world was it also the love of God? In His love, He provided the sacrifice upon which justice would be served. In His love, He provided a perfect, sinless sacrifice that could bear our guilt once and for all. In His love He sent Jesus. No wonder in Revelations 5 we find the worship of the Lamb who appeared “as if it had been slain.” The Lamb who “purchased men for God.” Jesus paid the price by willfully bearing the wrath of God. This is truly love at its highest…the just dying for the unjust.
The Resurrection was God placing His approval on all that was done on the cross. It was Him saying “YES!” to His Son…..
“Yes” – payment accepted. ”Yes” – work completed. ”Yes” – justice served. ”Yes” - My wrath is satisfied. ”Yes” – My love is proved…..now “RISE!!!!!!!!!”
As John Piper put it so well, “The wisdom of God devised a way for the love of God to deliver sinners from the wrath of God while not compromising the righteousness of God.” (Desiring God)
A balanced gift. A beautiful gift. God’s gift.
I am trying to organize my life.
You may have seen my goals from my post titled Random Rumblings. I am glad to say that my rumblings did take root in some form and fashion. Here is how it has gone.
Medicine – I have called in my perscription refill, added Calcium to my diet as the doctor ordered, and have faithfully taken all my meds as needed for the last four days – whooo Hooo! (as my children would say in a text)
Exercise – I went on a walk in the local park, and I worked out at the local YMCA three different days! Tread mill – Eliptical – Weights – Stationary Bike – all tools for developing my 52 year old body.
Eating Correctly – hmmmmm – I chose a grilled chicken sandwhich over a country fried one…great. Then ate less salt on my fries…OK. Drank a whole lot more water…great. Then hit bottom – fell off the band wagon – missed the train somewhere around 8 PM. each night. Three…no maybe four…(or more) …oven-warmed-chocolate chip cookies made their way into my mouth. I did chase it down with a glass of 1 % milk to help the guilt. Ever try water with a warm chocolate chip cookie? I am sure that would be against some law somewhere.
Setting Aside Time – I have actually given much thought as to what to do with my blog, with my speaking ministry, with my biblical teaching. I have lots to learn and am beginning the process of blocking off time for developing the gift that has been given to me. So maybe the next time you read my blog it won’t be random ramblings.
In summary, small steps were taken. In no way have I taken huge leaps into my goals, but I must celebrate the small steps. Going forward one calerie, one vitamin, one drop of sweat at a time is progress. The only difference bewteen my small steps of progress at 52 and my first steps at 8 months is that no one is around to happily clap for my endeavor – no one is taking a picture – no one is videoing the event (Thank goodness for that because the sweet dimples I had at 8 months have moved to other places!!!! )
Let me hear about changes you are trying to make in life. We can encourage each other in the journey by offering a cyber clap and a smiling face for each step of the way toward progress. Then, maybe one day in the distant future, a chocolate chip cookie event can arise from our battles and be eaten without guilt and chased down with Whole Milk.
Until then…..
