Interesting flights. Both international flights, Dallas to London and London to Copenhagen took off late. After waiting 7 hours to get a flight out of DFW, we waited on the tarmac another hour more with problems to a seat, the movie system, and some unknown things “not to worry about” as we were about to take off over the Ocean. About an hour into the flight, about the time dinner was to be served, we received the ill fated, “If you are a doctor or a certified emergency medical technician, please punch your call button.” Thankfully, the guy who had the broken seat and was moved to a seat without the movie only took two Ambien and was in a sleep induced zombie state and not worse off, but it sure spiced up supper.

When we arrived in Copenhagen, having a real heat wave, our luggage arrived … but my bag was the very last one off the plane. Whew! Then we had a bit of hike from the central rail station to the hotel — Donna my describe the “hike” in more dramatic terms, but since we do not have internet access except in the hotel office, that will have to wait.

Headed to the water tomorrow. Can’t wait and maybe I am not supposed to have internet for awhile!

Grace ya!ll

Phil

Our View from the Gate - Lovely

Well, here we sit all tired and restless,
hoped for London, still in Texas.

Yep folks, we are off for a bit of respite in the cooler regions north of Europe. But having left the house at 9:15 this morning, we are still sitting at the DFW airport at 5:40 p.m. Saving $300 per ticket seemed like a smart move about 5 hours ago. Oh how the thinking changes over time.

We have heard from Zach and Mandy and they are on their way from Newark to Copenhagen. We will join them there some time tomorrow … Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.

We are still in a pretty good frame of mind for the view, the wait, and with the help of some baby back ribs and 43 trips to the bathroom. Of course, knowing that there will be no internet for the next 12 days is both terrifying and exhilirating … I will take the latter.

Grace to you all!

Such a lovely couple, especially with all that waiting!

Evil does exist. For awhile, modern culture wanted to deny that there was evil or an evil one. But since we’ve learned more about the persecuted church and the high number of martyrs for Jesus in the last few decades and the brutality of genocide and ethnic cleansing, more and folks talk about evil in the world. For followers of Jesus, there has never been any doubt. On the same day, I was pointed to two different online resources that speak to the problem of evil. One deals with the conspiracy to kill Christians in Turkey: Martyrs Killed by Conspiracy. The other is a powerful video resource called Deon, that focuses upon a police officer in the skid row area of Los Angeles, California, who cares for the people he serves regardless of how they feel about him. One deals with the source of evil and it’s impact on the lives of believers: the other is about a believer who overcomes evil with good.

Let’s pray the Lord’s prayer and let’s follow Deion’s example: let’s overcome evil with good!

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come, your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

What makes this prayer so applicable today is the commentary Jesus adds to it.

For if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:14-15)

Couple this addendum with Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:23-24 and Matthew 18:21-35 and you understand very clearly that forgiveness is a crucial part of Kingdom character. In my Heartlight.org article today, we look at Jesus forgiving His disciples who had abandoned, forsaken, betrayed, and denied Him in His hours of greatest need. This prayer and the article really challenge me in my life and force me to ask some questions of myself and of us, Jesus’ people.

Why is forgiveness hard for you?

How is forgiveness liberating to the person forgiven?

How is forgiveness liberating to the person who does the forgiving?

Why do you believe Jesus is so adamant that His followers be a forgiving people? (Read the Lord’s Prayer, along with Jesus’ editorial comment in Matthew 6:9-15 and also Jesus’ parable about the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35 before answering this question!)

The apostle Paul called us to forgive like we have been forgiven(Ephesians 4:32-5:1). How are we like God when we forgive?

How can we help each other become more forgiving?

Why are confrontation of sin and confession of sin so important to creating an environment of forgiveness? (Matthew 5:23-24; Matthew 18:15-20; James 5:16)

I’d love to hear any insights or responses you have!

So if God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — are involved in our lives, and if the Lord speaks to us, then how does He do it and how can we can be sure it is really God and not some selfish desire or some worldly wisdom or some evil spirit trying to deceive us?

Ah! Two good questions. I’ll give you a response, but leave it to you to do some digging in Scripture to deepen your understanding and to discover God’s truth for yourself. (Try these ideas out and work through the Scripture references!)

How does Jesus speak to us today?

• While we sleep! (The Bible talks about God ministering to us while we sleep. I encourage you to read the article, While We Sleep.)
• During our times with our church family! We forget that church is more than filling pews and following a worship order. Jesus is present (Matthew 18:20) and through the power of the Holy Spirit, our worship becomes more than a sharing of words (1 Corinthians 5:4). Our songs are Spirit-filled messages where we speak to each other (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:17-19). Those who speak are to do so as speaking the very words of God (1 Peter 4:11). So what is preached, what is said to encourage us by friends, the loving confrontations we help each other face in Bible study, and the messages we sing to each other are one way Jesus speaks truth and hope into our hearts!
• During our everyday life experiences. God is at work in us, speaking to us when we read His word, when we hear repeated thoughts from multiple sources, and through the well-timed note, phone call, or card we receive from a friend (Philippians 2:13; Romans 8:28).

What are some other ways you think the Lord may have spoken truth into your life?

But how can we know it is really from the Lord and not from some other source? Aren’t we taught to “test the spirits” to see if what is being said is true? (1 John 4:1-6)

Here are some ways to test to see if what we hear the Lord communicating is really from Him:

Know Jesus. Get into the Jesus story and recognize what has the ring of truth from knowing what the Lord said and how He lived (John 10:1-4; John 10:27; read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in knowing what is truth and knowing Jesus’ will. The Holy Spirit is given to us to help us know the truth from error and to recognize what is from God and from some other source (1 John 2:20-27;  1 John 3:23-24;  1 John 4:1-6; John 14:16-18; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:12-15).

Do what Jesus says to do. Not only is Jesus’ truth self-validating when it is lived by His disciples (John 8:31-32), but Jesus promises to reveal Himself to us and come make His home with each of us (John 14:19-23).

What are other ways that you believe we can discern what is truly from Jesus and what is from some other source?

My daily Bible reading has recently taken me through the book of Isaiah. I haven’t really gotten to the part of Isaiah that is known for it’s great praise of God (Isaiah 40-66). Yet even in the less “God’s grandeur” portion of Isaiah, we meet a God who is global, cosmic, and glorious. After finishing this part of Isaiah, my response is similar to Hanks: “Dear God, who is bigger than all human names used to praise you, I had forgotten how small I am and how expansive and glorious You are!”

As we say the Lord’s prayer today, let’s remember how incredibly awesome God is!

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

Imagine that! A person in the course of 10 seconds broke three traffic laws, cut off two people, and slid into the Center for Conflict Resolution. I’m surprised the last guy he cut off didn’t follow him into the parking lot … or into the Center for Conflict Resolution! Yowsers.

I truly did feel sorry for the guy who had to hit his breaks to keep from getting hit head on by an oncoming pick up. I have no idea what he said or who he felt, but I know it would have been hard for me to control my temper — I was pretty scorched just watching all of this from the red light where the pick up truck should have still been located. Temptation comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. One thing I do know, it often seems so tailor made to my weaknesses and vulnerabilities at the worst possible time. So, I’m saying the Lord’s prayer with a focus on temptation tonight … hope you will join me.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For or yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

Most folks missed the significance. It touched me deeply. You see, eight days earlier, we had done a funeral for his mom who had passed away suddenly in her early fifties. She and her husband were beloved houseparents at a nearby children’s home and part of our church family. I had helped conduct the memorial service — one of the most unique I have ever witnessed. Because John’s mom, Malinda, invested so much time in training young ladies from very difficult backgrounds, she was found of making every event, good or bad, into a “teachable moment.” So as a tribute to her, I used her death to be a “teachable moment” for those of us at her service.

I asked everyone to hold up a hand. Then asked them to touch each finger with me as we assigned a one word name for each finger.

• Pinky – Enemy
• Ring – Tears
• Long – Love
• Pointer – Legacy

I then went back over each finger and share a bit of insight from God’s word.

Pinky – Enemy: Paul reminds us that death is still our enemy (1 Corinthians 15:22-26). The enemy uses this power of death to hurt us, wound us, discourage us, but we must know that he will be crushed under Jesus’ feet.

Ring – Tears: The death of someone special hurts us and breaks our hearts. But, Jesus knows and cares about grief. The shortest verse of the Bible say, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Jesus wept knowing that He would raise His friend Lazarus from the dead because He saw how much Lazarus’ death broke his sisters hearts. It is okay for us have tears, even though we know someone we love has gone to be with the Lord. But we don’t grieve as those who have no hope, because we believe Jesus will return and we will experience reunion (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Long – Love: We believe that the love we’ve experienced for this precious person we have lost will live on despite death’s intrusion in our lives. We believe that love is as strong as death (Song of Solomon 8:6). In fact, God loves us so much, that He sent Jesus to earth to die for us and be raised so that love has the final word, not death (John 3:16-17).

Pointer – Legacy: This person has left us a legacy to uphold: a legacy of faith and character and compassion. And as long as we carry forth these values into the future, the influence and legacy of this person we love will on. We must hear the call of God to use the gift of our lives to influence others to know Jesus and share in His life (Matthew 28:18-20).

But what do we do with our thumb? Didn’t God give us five fingers and not four?

Ah, we take these four truths — Enemy, Tears, Love, and Legacy — and reach out our hand to the person next to us and us our thumbs to hold on to each other and to help each other. This must be our five value. we need community. We need each other. We need to hang on to each other.

Today was one of those remarkable Sundays when many families have left for the summer, our university students have mostly gone home, and we sent out a bunch of our high school students on a mission trip. Yet God moved in powerful ways and John’s simple gesture was a reminder of how powerful God’s grace and our faith can be in the middle of deep grief. I was moved beyond words. In fact, I couldn’t must any words for several moments.

And what does this have to do with praying the Lord’s Prayer? Look at those five again in light of the Lord’s Prayer:

• Enemy – “deliver us from evil”
• Tears – “Father” who will wipe away all tears from our eyes
• Love – “us” instead of “me” and “my”: we are a community built on relationships and love
• Legacy – “glory forever!” Think of all of the generations that have said this prayer!
• Community – “our … us” and the reminder we are to hang on to each other

So I invite you to share the prayer today in a fresh way with those around you:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.”

Thanks, John, for reminding me that the enemy doesn’t have the last word!

Blessings to the whole family!

O, and David John, welcome to our world. God’s blessings be with you and your family.

Hear it in context as you pray the prayer:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

Now notice that Jesus adds the exclamation point on this point in the two verses immediately the prayer:

For if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14-15).

I know of no other thing harder than genuine forgiveness. Tossing the offense of others into the “sea of forgetfulness” is something that only the Spirit of God can help us do. In reality, the more we try to forget something, the more we actually remember it. Forgiving and forgetting is something only God can do — that’s why part of our prayer is always “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” But, we can begin the work of forgiveness — we can begin to live in a restored reality that is purer than existed before the offense and trust that over time, God’s Spirit will help dissolve our memory of the offense in the “sea of forgetfulness.”

To do this, however, we must throw ourselves on God’s powerful and deep mercy to heal us. And, since the shards of life can’t always be put back together completely after a deep offense, there will be random reminders of the wounds of the past that require us to forgive again and again for our forgiveness to be fresh and real. Yes, this is hard work, but it is the holy work of Kingdom-living — again, that’s why we pray daily “your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

For me, a simple hymn sung by Jars of Clay says it well and powerfully as a prayer. Be blessed! (Lyrics below.)

All heavy laden acquainted with sorrow
May Christ in our marrow, carry us home
From alabaster come blessings of laughter
A fragrance of passion and joy from the truth

Grant the unbroken tears ever flowing
From hearts of contrition only for You
May sin never hold true that love never broke through
For God’s mercy holds us and we are His own

This road that we travel, may it be the straight and narrow
God give us peace and grace from You, all the day
Shelter with fire, our voices we raise still higher
God give us peace and grace from You, all the day through