How can I…?

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Keith

Time to play word association. Tell me what you think of when I say this name-

Gideon.

You probably thing of words that speak to the great strength, faith, and leadership of Gideon. How he led the Israelite people in battle and brought down the walls of Jericho. But take another look at the man you think you know.

Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” Judges 6:11-12

There is more going on here than first meets the eye. Notice where Gideon is threshing wheat. Threshing involves tossing the chaff into the air so the breeze can carry it off leaving the seed to fall back down. It would make much more sense to thresh wheat on a hilltop or at least in an open field but we find Gideon hiding in a winepress. (Understandable when you look at the Midianite oppression in the preceding verses). But look at what the angel calls him,

“O mighty man of valor”

While the angel knew of God’s call on Gideon’s life I can’t help but think these words might have been said with a sly grin. Gideon certainly didn’t appear to be a mighty man. He was a scared farmer in hiding.

The angel proclaims that that Gideon will be employed to save Israel from their oppression. (Judges 6:14) now look at his response.

To paraphrase – Me? I’m the least in my family and we are the weakest clan of my tribe. I’m the lowest of the low. You want me to do what?

In God’s response you can almost hear him whisper… I know but I’m God and I will be with you.

He whispers the same thing to you and I when we begin to protest that we don’t have the strength or skills to be of use. God does not use the able, he uses the willing.

Just look at what he was able to accomplish through a willing man called Gideon.

Let my prayer be to have a willing heart.

The Fabric of our Lives

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Keith

I’ve been asking many of you to pray for my friends Cotton and Donna over the past few days and it occurs to me that quite a few of you don’t have the pleasure to know this family so I wanted to introduce them and tell a bit of their story.

The Current Situation

Donna has been in the midst of the a high risk pregnancy and over the past 3 days things took a turn for the worst. Skyrocketing blood pressure led to a hospital visit and then being rushed to UAMS here in Little Rock. She was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome and the situation went from bad to worse. At this moment Donna is in need of your prayers, tonight is going to be a tough night. I won’t dive into the details further but you can follow @cottonr on Twitter for updates. Pray for Donna and pray for the Doctors.

Clockwise: Cotton & Donna | Cotton completing his 1st @Gowalla trip at the UofA | Messing around in Hotel dining hall | Myself, Christopher Spencer, & Cotton at WordCamp | Cotton holding Claire

A glimpse of greatness

Can I tell you a bit about my friend?

Cotton may be the most authentic, generous, loving, and joyful man I know. There isn’t a person around that knows him that doesn’t have a hilarious story and doesn’t love the guy. If you don’t like Cotton the problem is probably with you.

This is a guy that talked his way through police barriers to take MREs to tornado victims in Vilonia within hours of the destruction. He helped found a non-profit organization called The One that works to support the Van Homeless outreach ministry in Central Arkansas. You should hear him talk about the moving experience of volunteering overnight in a warming shelter that was saving lives in Little Rock last year… and that’s the just the tip of the iceberg.

I met Cotton at a geek conference a couple of years ago and we soon discovered that we were both gregarious guys with quick laughs and a shared love of technology. What neither of us knew is that we’d also discover a common love for Christ and an intense spiritual kinship. He’s family to Sunshine and I. He’s a dear brother in Christ and Uncle Cotton around our house.

My friend Greg shared the story on his blog today that will forever bond Cotton, @jgreghenderson and I. I’ve never written about our experience with that type of loss but, as we discovered through Cotton, many of you have been down that road as well.

Donna is saint (heck she’s Cotton’s wife what more do you want to know? I said He’s awesome – not easy to live with).

Honestly it doesn’t matter who they are right now. They could use your prayers.

But when I read in Proverbs of the blameless man, the kind, the giving, the merciful… I’m reading about my friend Cotton.

You can read his blog at CottonRohrscheib.com and follow him on Twitter at @cottonr.

God Bless you both brother. We are praying.

The Universal Progression of Sin

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Keith

The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. (Genesis 3:6 NLT)

She stopped and gazed upon the forbidden tree. 90% of the battle was lost right here. The moment we detect sin we must avert our eyes so desire can has less ground in which to root.

Then she examines the fruit, which means she walked near to the tree. Instead of moving away she moved toward the fruit and discovered the great truth about sin- It looks delicious! Always.

Finally, Pride kicked in. It says she wanted to have the wisdom. I’ve long said there is no sin but pride. All sin is a manifestation of selfishness. I know better than God & this is what I want-

The we commit sin.

How much more faithful would we be if we interpreted this process early on with a call to an accountability partner, or voicing memorized scripture.

See the steps & stop early.

Plans of the Diligent vs Hasty

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Keith

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Proverbs 21:5

Too often my efforts are of the hasty variety. Look at the contrasting definitions:

diligent: characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort
hasty: fast and typically superficial

What distinguishes superficial from earnest and steady?

I think thoughtfulness and pre-action prayer are major components to a diligent and sustained effort. We will soon find our resources and motivation quickly dissipate if our plans are not of and for the Lord.

Let me be careful not to rush ahead of God, but slow down and seek Him initially and continually so that he’ll provide the means for His servant to be diligent and therefore abundant.

Abundant in Spirit, Abundant in Fruit, Abundant in Joy

What plans do I need to give back to God?

Rediscovering the Sabbath

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Keith

I’ve discovered that I often think I understand an instruction in the Bible simply due to familiarity but when I actually search God’s Word for an accurate answer I discover I held an incorrect or too narrow of view. Notably the former method of understanding is much less demanding. Such is the case of Isaiah 56.

The first 8 verses of Isaiah 56 issues a divine directive to “Keep the Sabbath” and specifically twice in vs 2 and 6 elaborates by saying,

“Keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it” Isa 56:2

This begs the question – does this apply to me today? If so, what does it mean?

Does this apply to us?

Well it’s the 4th Commandment (Ex 2o:8) and we find Holy Day observances continuing through the New Testament so there is no cause to conclude this prescription has expired. So…

What does it mean?

Let me pause for a moment and say that this isn’t about how you observe the Sabbath. This is not meant as condemnation of judgment on anyone but a challenge to examine scripture and ourselves to rise up to this commandment. I simply offer that Christians are not called to the bare minimum but always called to more… the process of becoming more like Christ, sanctification, should be a continual expanding of our understanding and challenge to our ways.

Let’s look to God’s Word to begin an understanding of “Keeping the Sabbath”

Sabbath Instituted

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. Gen 2:1-3

Don’t let our familiarity with this passage gloss over its significance. Does God need rest? I’ve often heard the refrain “Even God took a day to relax”. Yes there is an example for physical restoration set but the idea that God set aside the Sabbath for our needs is ludicrous. Shall we reduce this understanding to a divine power nap? No.

So why did God rest? It was time to be mindful and observant.

It’s the first hint of a common theme in that bears out instructions for us to be still and be mindful and I might dare suggest this is the heart of many of the following passage concerning work and food preparation. When I’m overly concerned with this temporal life or physical things then I’m not concentrating on God. Hence God made the Sabbath Holy to draw us to Himself.

Working on the Sabbath

"’Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Deut 5:12-15

A very serious instruction that we will see applied strictly. Let it be said that we are under Grace and in my humble opinion the point of this is to draw me spiritually and that takes time, study, reflection, meditation, and worship all of which are battling for time during our working days. But let us return to the hypothesis that we are called to more. Shouldn’t my life reflect these instructions?

Sacred Assembly

“‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the LORD Lev 23:3

There isn’t much gray area here. God’s Holy day should find me with God’s people in corporate prayer, study and worship. A sacred convocation.

Ways and Words

Fair warning this is getting ready to get uncomfortable

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD,” Isa 58:13

Not going your own way… that squarely defeats any flimsy excuse I might offer. Say what you like but we like to find exceptions for deer stands, golf, and NFL football. Those seem petty and childish in the light of a great God.

Idle words… perhaps I should hush, listen, meditate, study. Be still

Commerce Condemns Us

“Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day… “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day” Nehemiah 13:15-18

Nehemiah looks at the people and their buying and selling of food and rebukes them harshly. I taught this morning with a gas station coffee cup in my hand and we go out to eat 75% of the time for Sunday lunch. I must admit this caused me to stop in my tracks and examine how I “keep the Sabbath”. When I combine this teaching with Deut 5 which involves requiring others to work on my behalf I find myself at a new crossroads.

Now I do not dare suggest that eating out or buying coffee is evil, sinful, or detracts from the Sabbath. However, I am saying that in my own life making a concentrated effort not to purchase anything, including food, would make me more mindful of the day. I think that would be a good thing and may be getting back to the heart of the Sabbath.

If I choose to make Sunday as distinct as possible from the other 6 wouldn’t that cause me to be mindful of my practices and motivations? I think maybe so.

How serious did God take the Sabbath?

“On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, “This is what the LORD commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’” So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.” Exodus 16:22-26

The miracle of the manna in the wilderness, and yet God expected His day to be so “set aside” that He didn’t even want them to gather bread on the ground that day. The Israelites were expected to gather extra on the 6th day and do all the cooking and just eat the left overs on the Sabbath.

…but wait

If I can’t eat out and can’t cook on Sunday I might starve so let’s interject a very important point.

Don’t get legalistic about the Sabbath. (hint: See Matthew 12:1-13)

This isn’t a set of check boxes and regulations to be followed but a day that God asked us to set aside, to focus on Him, to worship Him and to think on Him.

How serious do I take the Sabbath?

I’m not sure what my Sunday’s will look like moving forward but its high time I put as much emphasis on God’s desire for Sunday as I do on my Sunday afternoon nap. I’m still praying as to how I’ll observe the Lord’s Day but I can assure you I take it much more seriously than I did just a week ago.

KeithCrawford.me

the journey

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