Monthly Archives: October 2010

Shabbat Shalom!

Posted on by greg@seek1st

I had an amazing day in Jerusalem. My day started at Gethsemane, the garden where Jesus went to pray just before he was arrested, and less than 24 hours before he was crucified. I sat with my daughter and prayed and meditated on the Son of God suffering so that I could know Him and live in His blessing.

2 hours later I was caught up in a sea of people, headed to their prayers. Fathers holding the hands of their beautiful young daughters as they walked along, headed to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, on the Temple Mount, to participate in Friday afternoon prayers, the most significant worship time of the week for the Muslim world.

4 hours after that, I sat with a friend and his family, including his two beautiful daughters, and celebrated Kiddush and Shabbat dinner, beginning this Jewish worship day.

Three fathers of daughters, three worship experiences. Why must there be so much hate for others in these three cultures?

I do not purport to believe that all of us serve the same God, or all of our religions will achieve the same result. But my God says that I am to love all of these men, and their daughters, and to show them the love of Christ. After that, it’s up to them how they respond, but I’m to love them anyway. I will continue to do so, with the help of God who dwells within me, even if they don’t love me back.

Have a blessed Sabbath, wherever you are.

Boker Tov!

Posted on by greg@seek1st

Wow–10 days since I posted. Lame excuses include spending essentially 2 days in travel mode from Alaska to Chicago to Istanbul to Tel Aviv to Tiberias. Then, 2 more days traveling around the Galilee area, pretty much on the go from 5 am to about 9 pm, when I pass out. But, we’re having an awesome time.

Among other sites visited today, we spent some time at Ein Herod, otherwise known as “Gideon’s Spring”. Here, God whittled down Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 300, prior to leading them to attack the Midianites, whose camels outnumbered the sands of the seashore. The full story’s in Judges 7. It’s a pretty cool story with tons of application for all of us. Here’s a few nuances that really struck me today:

1) “Worry is meditating on the lies Satan is telling you.” Wish I could claim that one as my own, but my friend who shared it today got it from someone else. But there’s a lot of truth there.

2) God prepares each of us for a purpose, and even when the circumstances we face seem pre-disposed to cause us to fail, if we seek him and his purpose, we will prevail, as long as we’re obedient.

3) Even when we’re doing what God calls us to do, we can screw things up. God guarantees Gideon victory, and shows him a sign to confirm it. Then, Gideon tries to claim some of the glory by telling his men to shout “For the Lord and for Gideon” as they attack the Midianite camp. My first reaction is “REALLY??? God’s giving you a victory over a vastly superior force, with 300 of your own troops carrying trumpets and lamps, and YOU WANT CREDIT???” Then I look at my own life, and realize how much glory I’ve claimed, without even mentioning God.

Today, and with his help to tame my pride, EVERY day from here out, HE gets all the glory!

A post about nothing…

Posted on by greg@seek1st

OK, it worked for Seinfeld for how many years? Can’t I get away with one?

Life’s been so busy this past week, that I can’t fit it all in. Had a great class Friday night and Saturday (Biblical Interpretation), but I’m behind on my homework.

Work is work: too busy, too much to do, not enough time to do it all, let alone do it well.

The building project I’m working on in my spare time is coming along, although on a schedule that only God knows, and He doesn’t show any signs of consulting with any of the rest of us for our plans…Should start pouring a foundation Monday. That’s great news, until you consider that the best time to pour a foundation in Alaska is, like, JUNE.

Leaving for vacation Thursday morning! Two weeks in Israel! No job distractions, just time to explore, learn, have fun, hang out with family and friends. Only stressful thing about it is I haven’t even begun to prepare!

I say all this not to snivel. OK, not just to snivel. I’m learning something in it all.

I’m learning about studying God’s Word, and mining truth out of a passage in the same way that some of the best teachers I’ve been privileged to learn from use. You know, those ones that open up the Scriptures, and show you a new depth or nuance to a passage you’ve read many times before. I’m not there yet, but I’m learning.

I’m learning that the work gets done. And the work that doesn’t get done, probably wasn’t that big of a deal.

Most importantly, I’m learning that taking time to do the important things in life pays off. And the important things are almost never about a job, a bank account, a project, or getting ahead.

Instead, it’s things like taking the time to talk to a man who I didn’t have time for, but in doing so, discovered that he’s learning to walk a new walk, late in his life, kinda like I’m doing in mine. Hopefully I was an encouragement to him–he was to me.

It’s taking the time to hang out with my son, who I don’t get to spend much time with anymore. Yeah, there’s a lot of joking around that looks a little harsh, but I also get to tell him how proud I am of him, and how he’s doing one heck of a job becoming a productive member of society.

It’s getting ready to spend two weeks with my daughter, showing her some amazing stuff, and anticipating her enthusiasm, and her infectious laugh when we get to walk down Ben Yehuda Street (she loves funny-sounding words, and you gotta admit, that one sounds funny!).

It’s pulling a late night study session with the love of my life, as we both scramble to get all our homework done, balance all the challenges of life, encourage each other, pray together, and prop each other up, when we’re too tired to go any farther.

Finally, it’s about knowing that in all things, God has a plan, and this season I’m in is part of that plan. It’s easy for me to think about it as “preparing for something”, but I can’t lose sight of the fact that it’s just as much about the journey, and how I walk it, as the next destination. Maybe more important.

Stay tuned!!! I plan to be posting from Israel in a few days…

A Tea Party I Could Get Excited About

Posted on by greg@seek1st

Kinda busy this week, getting ready for class this weekend, and all the homework that precedes class, but felt like if I’m really going to do this blog thing, I needed to get something new up, before the few followers I have drift away…

Not sure about the rest of the nation, but politics is certainly dominating the Alaska news scene. It certainly is confusing. The Republican nominee for Senate is blasting the Republican party for deficit spending; the Democratic nominee is buying Incredible Hulk ties (a la Ted Stevens), and our independent candidate is from a stalwart Republican family. Seems everybody except the incumbent is trying to make themselves over to be more conservative.

I’ve got more than a few acquaintances who are supportive of the Tea Party movement, and I understand their frustrations with the way things are. But I’m not certain that the Tea Party movement is the solution, mainly because I’ve yet to see the Tea Party offer any solutions!

Before you bombard me with responses (ok, 3 followers can’t really generate a carpet-bombing, but I can at least pretend), let me acknowledge that they are offering broad statements, but not detailed solutions. I’m sorry, but railing about cutting spending and cutting taxes, without citing which cuts, and how you’ll mitigate the impacts, isn’t offering solutions. In my humble opinion, it’s just pandering to the anger of the masses.

All this to say that I’m digging a recent op-ed piece by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times. Mr. Friedman likens the current “Tea Party” to a “tea kettle”, stating that all it’s really doing is letting off steam. Mr. Friedman states that the real Tea Party movement is yet to come:

Any Tea Party that says the simple answer is just shrinking government and slashing taxes might be able to tip the midterm elections in its direction. But it can’t tip America in the right direction. There is a Tea Party for that, but it’s still waiting for a leader.

I hope he’s right.