#193 Personal Records

When I was a sophomore in high school, my pastor and his wife gave us high schoolers notebooks to use as prayer journals. They encouraged us to take a few minutes each day and jot some things down in the books. They gave a few suggestions about things we could include but left room for us to do things in a way that fit our unique personalities. So I tried prayer journaling and found that I liked it. After about six months I moved to a new notebook and started writing a short paragraph prayer each day.

Thirteen years later I still write my journal almost every night. I've filled quite a few college ruled notebooks over the years. Every once in a while I'll flip back through an old book or two. Sometimes I'm able to use the journals to figure out on which day a certain event happened or determine what we did for some holiday last year. But the journals are less a record of daily events and more a record of my own thoughts and feelings, my dreams and questions and struggles and joys since I was about 16 years old.

It can be interesting to have a window into my own psyche years ago. Sometimes I can see growth in myself, noticing things that I stressed about in the past that no longer seem like such a big deal. And sometimes the prayer journal serves as a sobering reminder of areas where I still need growth, where I still make the same mistakes or wrestle with the same worries. There are places where I laugh at my younger self, and there are places that make me wish I still was as excited or passionate about some issue as I seemed to be then.

But as much as these prayer journals are my personal records, I find that I'm not the one I learn the most about as I read them. Again and again I get the feeling that God is really the main character in this long-running narrative. God is the one I address each day, normally as "Heavenly Father" but sometimes with a variety of other names and titles. Looking back I see how God answered these prayers, how God blessed me with these memories, gave me these successes, and helped me through these struggles. God provides hope; God forms character; God overcomes worry; God inspires praise. In all sorts of situations, with feelings of gratitude, guilt, fear, satisfaction, sorrow, joy, and more, I feel myself being drawn by God over and over. And like the psalm-writers of long ago, I learn that God is loving and faithful, compassionate and gracious, just and true. God shows that He is good.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#192 Caped Wonder Stuns City

After three years there's a new Superbabes in town! I am pleased to present some exciting pictures from our weekend adventures. You may find your experience more enjoyable if you view these photos while listening to the theme from Superman: The Animated Series (top) or the 1940s Max Fleischer Superman theatrical shorts (bottom).

Now on to the adventures! After noticing danger with her incredible super-vision, Superbabes quickly transformed out of her secret identity:

She flew to the rescue:

Using her remarkable strength, Superbabes quickly subdued a giant dog that was rampaging through town:

She broke some chains:

She paused for a moment, cape fluttering in the wind, before she overheard more trouble with her amazing super-hearing and flew off to save the day:

She used her fantastic x-ray vision to save a trapped puppy:

Her extraordinary feats completed, Superbabes continued to build trust with the public by answering a few questions from WGBS news:

Finally, she returned home, where she utilized her sensational heat vision to cook her dinner:

Stay tuned for further adventures of Superbabes, champion of the oppressed, who fights a neverending battle for truth and justice!

Grace and peace,

BMH

#191 Redemption

When I was a student at Trinity Christian College (Go Trolls!), we met for chapel twice a week in the Grand Lobby of our chapel building. This space had huge windows looking out towards the library, and hanging in front of these windows was a six-piece stained-glass mural called "Creation Redeemed." Here's a couple pictures:

(This is backwards, but it gives you a better look at the details.)

A red band weaves across the panels with a quote from Colossians 1:17: "He is before all things and in Christ all things hold together." I must have spent hours looking at that stained glass during my years at Trinity. I think that this artwork has had a profound impact on my theology. Reformed Christians (like me) believe that Jesus' work of redemption centers on saving His people from sin and death through His death and resurrection. But we believe that's not all. Jesus' redeeming work touches every area of life and every corner of creation as He claims all things under His authority. Or, to quote Ephesians 1:7-10: "In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ."

As Christians we don't have some sort of spiritual life that's distinct from the rest of our lives. God cares about every part of our lives because the whole world belongs to God. God's people live for Him and do His work in every human field. God's work is cosmic in the sense that it encompasses everything. But God's work is also very down-to-earth because He calls us to point to Him and represent Him in our work, our families and relationships, our politics, our finances, our community involvement, our growth and learning, our hobbies. We can see signs of God's work and be His instruments as He carries out His purposes in business and broadcasting, in medicine and mechanics, in technology and trades, in engineering and ecology, in psychology and social work, in athletics and agriculture, in literature and law. Our God is great and grand. He is working to drive sin and evil out of every part of our lives and our world. God's love and power cover all things, giving us purpose and hope. God triumphs. God saves. God reigns.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#190 Putting Power to Use

A few weeks ago Tess and I listened to the podcast Nice White Parents. In this podcast, Chana Joffe-Walt tells the story of a school district—and particularly one middle school in that district—in New York City. Over the years, there's a lot of talk about integration and working for equality, but often very little actual progress gets made. Things really happen when the people who have power—in this case, the "nice white parents"—want them to happen. By the end of the series, Joffe-Walt says she thinks that bringing equality in general seems to require those who have power to work for a system that no longer gives them advantages.

As I thought about this idea, my mind quickly went to Philippians 2. Here's verses 3-8: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!"

What Jesus has done is very much what Joffe-Walt suggests. Jesus is God the Son. He has all power and authority. He deserves all glory and honor. We are weak humans, who again and again do wrong, sinning against Jesus. Jesus owes us nothing. But He humbles Himself. He empties Himself. He comes down from His heavenly throne and lives as a weak and limited human. He puts God's power to work to deliver people who were demon-possessed and heal people who were sick and restore people who were outcasts. Finally He humiliates Himsefl by dying on a cross. But through His death and resurrection, Jesus saves and forgives His sinful people. Jesus suffers so we who belong to Him may receive God's benefits. Jesus uses His power for us.

And Jesus calls His people, those of us who believe in Him, to imitate Him. If we have power (and sometimes we have more than we realize), we shouldn't cling to it for our own advantage. We should put our power to use for other's benefit. We should consider others' needs alongside and even before our own. That's not easy for me. I'm pretty sure that's not easy for any of us. It goes against human nature. But praise God, it fits exactly with God's nature. With God's Spirit's help, let's strive to be more like Jesus.

Grace and peace,

BMH