Many years ago at Christmas it was a big deal for a child to get an electric train. I got a Lionel. It was a small one but it was my treasure. I loved going to the department store and watching where there was a huge set-up with bridges and tunnels and lots of tracks. I thought about adding tracks little by little to mine. I had a chance to visit two people who had their whole attic converted into a railroad heaven. I loved trains. I loved riding on trains. I still wave at the engineer when…

For This Reason 19

Ephesians introduced the idea of bringing two contrasts together in Christ. This is just a return to keep us in the Word as Paul was inspired to write it and to see the implications that come from it. The following is an overview to keep us focused on what God has accomplished in Jesus.

Before, when we talked about different kinds of bipolarity, we mentioned spiritual and physical distinctives. Now we need to look at the spiritual bipolar dimensions of God’s…

Parental influence is a big deal. It can also be a bipolar nightmare. How you were trained as a child will many times determine what kind of social environment you will choose to overcome your feeling of isolation. Parental attitudes toward children can really affect their unique ways of adapting to their surroundings. If you had an easy going father or a stern father, a manipulative mother or a caring mother, the single parent and the kind of father one country singer describes as “The…

For This Reason 18

It was June 1959. Nine seminary graduates including me are set for ordination. As young seminary graduates you think you finally made it. You get to wear the uniform, get the title and open your professional life. The day of ordination is something special. Seven years and there you are, you and your seminary roommate, full of readiness and excitement, heading into the Cathedral to be ordained with seven others. Quickly you head forward to sit in the front pew to…

One of the truly bipolar realities that test our faith is the uniqueness/conformity issue. It is the heart of the individual/group control problem. Each of us has a uniqueness which we have mentioned frequently before mainly to keep the subject in front of us. It is a uniqueness that separates us from every other person that has ever lived or will ever live. It makes an internal demand on us especially when we are in the midst of others. The pressure then is based on how we act when we know…

When I was in high school I had an interesting experience with my chemistry teacher. He was really a neat guy. He had a way of sensing where students were from a personality perspective. We had what were called Delaney Charts to keep attendance in class. They were little seat numbered cards teachers used to check students in and out and they fit into a little easily handled folder. I decided when it came to memorizing the symbols for the elements I’d copy that format and did. I brought it to…

There’s a woodpecker outside my window pecking away at a tree. I’m assuming he’s feeding on mites or whatever his instinct drive is. But in both the tree and the bird, there is more. We are in a surrounding forest. Impending rain clouds overhead will send nourishment for it all while the larger universe in its infinite minute detail works in concert with its seemingly endless space with planet upon planet and star upon star. There is a harmony that is not only obvious in its physical reality…

For This Reason 13

John 14:6 keeps popping into my head. It was like a fishing float bobbing up and down in my thought at 5am this morning. “I am the way, the truth and the life.” I know that verse. It’s one everyone knows and many have a special fondness for it. It’s one of those ‘me too’ verses that become part of your faith. I rest on it. But because it kept bobbing I thought the individual letters meant something so here’s what I came up with. Jesus is obviously identifying…

One of the many bipolar positions in the church is the evangelical/charismatic divide usually centering on the tongues issue. It’s much more subtle than the conservative/liberal chasm since its clear to most that the conservative is a long term absolutist about Scripture while the liberal is more attuned to letting the contemporary culture guide thought and action. And further the liberal tends to be more institutional relying on political pressure as a way to attain contemporary social…

I’m sure everyone growing up during childhood heard this from their parents about behavior, “Remember who you are and the family you come from.” I don’t know if that counsel was paramount in my mind when I was out with other kids. But it did sink in later especially when I visited the old country, Norway, the land of my forbears. I did come from a respected old country family with strong conservative social values. Ethnic values were not that dissimilar from other groups like Irish, Italian,…

When I was interviewing possible clergy assistants and the subject of pastoring came up, one of them told me a story about a woman in his last congregation. She sat up front almost directly beneath the pulpit. He had been preaching several Sundays and noticed she was visibly annoyed every service. What bothered her was that he had a cup of water that he drank from occasionally during his preaching. One Sunday as he lifted the cup to sip she darted out of the pew and angrily made for the…

John Stott hit upon a real bipolar disorder in denominational life, Scripture and Tradition. When an individual needs help in determining what spirituality is all about a Bible believer will send this person to the Scripture and walk alongside him as both seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance. But a denominational liberal or conservative will resort to the company line to keep this person in line. “Yes, we believe in Scripture but we have the best way to do it.’ In another one you may hear, “In…

Ephesians 3 has really had me doing some looking back and seeing the depth of the ‘Jew/Gentile’ conditioning and how the Lord Jesus made the two one in Himself so that we too could become one in Him. So please indulge my revisiting. I believe it can be beneficial as a kind of spiritual housecleaning in which we all can participate. Ephesians 3, in fact that entire epistle, is like finding yourself walking on a tightrope caught in the middle between two cliffs, structure and freedom, reason…