Category: Very helpful

Compatibility for Dummies

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Believers are to learn the skills of compatibility.  The classic definition is “to be able to exist harmoniously.”  The word is used in a dozen different fields, from agriculture to zoology.  But the particular area we are to look at is the “spiritual.”

The Holy Spirit is the prime teacher.  The same Spirit that holds me is holding you as well.  As a result we connect in a way that is profound.  This is all done supernaturally, and it is one of best arguments for the existence of God I know of.  The world is full of discord.  It is fractious and divided.  But believers can walk in harmony and love.

I was just 17 when I enlisted in the Army.  It truly was a learning experience. One of the basic principles is conforming by adaptation.  We all wore the same clothes.  Wore the same boots.  We ate together, and developed military skills together.  We also marched together in both large and small formations, keeping in step as a group.  We did lots and lots of marching, hours and hours a day.  It had a definite purpose.

Compatibility is learned; but it also is supernaturally given.  A piano player may play Mozart, because the gift lies within.  But that same musician must practice.  You could say what they have is both a talent and a skill.  In the very same way, the agreement I have with you is supernaturally easy—and physically hard.  However it is a skill to be learned.  Once we learn to do this, it will become easier and easier.

The essential foundation for this is the “Word of God.”  We can’t walk with a brother who is clearly at odds with the Bible’s teachings.  But we all know that sin is at epidemic levels, and we are all affected.  I suppose “humility” plays a huge part of staying in step with another saint.  The Lord is so gentle with the strugglers, can’t I do the same?

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”  1 Peter 3:8, ESV

Nevertheless (even with this in mind) we must be committed to the Word—first and foremost.  Everything must proceed from this common point.  Loving someone else will almost always involve servanthood.  Washing someone elses feet will almost always develop compatibility.

In Bible college I had a running feud with a fellow student.  He seemed to me to be incredibly arrogant.  Things came to an ugly head and the animosity was thick.  One day in prayer I heard the Holy Spirit speak.  “Go to your brother and wash his feet.”  I charged into his dorm room and became a servant.  I became connected to him in a profound way.

Being compatible does not mean we all do the same things.  We share the same Spirit but we don’t have the same gifts.  My theory is we are all designed with certain strengths, and proscribed weaknesses.  These make us vulnerable and open to another.  In Nehemiah 4, we read of men who built, and men who guarded.  Both were necessary.

The main issue for us is learning compatibility—and all the skills that enable us to practice unity.  We must understand, we are already connected in an amazing way.  But we must “practice” it.

“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”   Phil. 2:3, ESV

 

Theoretically Hackable

I encountered this particular phrase as I attempted to do a download from a reasonably effective source.  They came out and made this simple statement.  I suppose it was done for legal issues.  It was “theoretically hackable.” (That word, “theoretically” cracks me up!)  But I understand what it means.

And I started to see something.  It was a thing of some sense.  I am most vulnerable to things that are beyond my control.  I’m pretty much accessible to the many different things that could and should take me apart.  I have to tell you, that I regularly buy cheap “netbooks” with this fully in mind.  In a way they are like “Bic lighters,” I use them over and over, for 1 or 2 years, and than I ditch them.  I have gotten more than $400 out of them, and it beats the $800 plus to keep them going as they should.  It’s “Bryan’s Rule of Good Computing #87.”

“Theoretical Hacking.”  There is so much theology that gets rolled up into this phrase.  It has the idea that you can be accessible to anyone that has just a special urge to make things rough on you.  “Theoretically” speaking they can possibly walk right in and wipe you out.   It’s a bit nebulous, I’m sure, but the threat is out there, and it can happen–to the best of us.

“Hacking” is a bad word.  It carries with it a trickery, or a deceitfulness.  It most certainly is a word we avoid, as it carries with it very substantial problems.  And yet, it has a deeply theological concept.  Deception has incredible issues.  To walk out on it is thin ice.  You never, ever realize what the next step will bring us.  It really comes down to a deception.

We struggle with deception.  Kind of a theological deception.  The idea of being taken in, tricked and then destroyed.   We are so trusting.  Few of us carry the 24/7 “on guard mechanism.”  We step out without the slightest sense of betrayal.  We become “lambs” for the slaughter.

Evil is such, that we can never really factor through it completely.  It folds on itself to dimensions we could never fathom.  We can’t really approach it, because it expands things so rapidly.  It is full of deceit.  To encounter it face-to-face is destructive in itself.  We must hope in the presence of God.  He is the only one who can dismantle it.  Our trust (in the face of such evil) is in Him.

Yes, we are “hackable.” We are in a deep place of vulnerability.  But I must tell you, this is not a bad place to be.  In a theological sense we are pretty much accessible.  We have an openess that places us in front of the dark evil.  From here we have nothing to say.  We can do nothing but to believe that we are immune from the darkness.  That someone has stepped in and altered us, in a way that will prohibit us from harassment.

More info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_(computer_security)

The Miracle of Polaroid

I can distinctly remember seeing my first “instant” photo develop.  It was back in the dark ages of 1972.  It was a miracle!  Up to that time, you took pictures, but you had to wait a time for them to be processed.  It was an assumption that after a week you would finally receive those photos, developed and a bit expensive.

As I watched the Polaroid develop before my eyes, something happened to me.  Metaphorically a train was passing by, called technology, and I immediately jumped on board.  My family upbringing was pathetically poor, but that didn’t matter.  I was finally moving in a direction that made sense.  And we all were on a more equal footing.

Those early “instant” photos, starting from a glop of blue-grey would change into a pretty neat image, right before your eyes.  You did nothing, maybe you shook it in order to dry it quicker.  Within minutes something tangible would happen.  You would have a great photo of Uncle Willy.

I don’t want to be melodramatic, but I think we profoundly changed when we finally discovered the Polaroid instant camera.  Polaroid sold millions within months.  They couldn’t keep them in stores–they sold-out!  And yet, in retrospect it was just a baby-step into our technology of today.  Yet, it was the first step, and we would never be the same.

In the presence of the Lord God, we discover many moments like this.  He continually reveals himself in fresh and wondering ways.  He astonishes us with continually fresh and spiritually amazing ways.  As we come to know him, even deeper and more profound.  We stand in the driveway and watch our understanding develop.  It is a process that insists on staggering us.  He is not a novelty gadget, he is everlasting. We choose to wait on Him.

Early CCM- Spotlight on Nancy Honeytree

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Another incredible blast from the past.  “Rattle Me, Shake Me.”  This is one of the best from one of CCMs greatest–Nancy Honeytree.  I think I can date this about 1974.

Of course, I hope that it blesses, and gives you another layer to our simple faith.  Honeytree was a definite force in the 70s, she ministered with a simplicity and wholeness that is a bit of an astringent to a fat and  jaded faith of her day.  I guess “freshness” would be the way I could describe her.  But you’ll quickly pick this up as you listen to her describe herself.  It is almost impossible to not like her music, and her “story.”

Honeytree is a jewel, she communicates musically on a different level.  Her lyrics are simple, but she has a momentum that carries her through walls of pride and conflict.  I hope that she blesses you deeply.

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