Darling Amy

Amy Trosen is a dear Christian friend whom whom I love and respect.   Last night Amy... ...well... (I was going to say "subtly" but that really isn't right...)  Let's just say that Amy reminded me that I haven't posted for most of the current year.

So I figured I'd slap up a quick post with links to some of Amy's online material and mention that I've been reading her new book about her father.  (You know - pander!)  So off to Google I go!  I'm looking for the web addresses for each of these things... and then something interesting happened.

I googled (I love how "google" has become an English verb, but that's another story...)

Ok!  What was I saying?

I'm back! 

I googled "Amy Trosen" and the search results page popped up with a listing of Amy's stuff on the internet:

• Amy's Publishing company,
• Amy's blog,
• Amy's postings on other sites,
• A list of phone numbers for "Amy Trosen"s in the United States, etc., etc.

(A veritable cornucopia of all things Amy Trosen.  More wholesome goodness than you could ever want!)

Oh, and there was ALSO:

...a link to Dr. Amy T Rosen, MD's

internal medicine practice

in Teaneck, New Jersey!

To the Google search engine "Amy Trosen" was the same as "Amy T. Rosen."  To Google, apparently, the resemblance is so close that it listed Amy T Rosen as the fourth closest match in a search for Amy Trosen!  And right at that moment I knew how to explain a problem that has been frustrating me all year long:

Amy Rosen is a misdirection!  Amy Rosen is NOT Amy Trosen!   They may look the same to Google, they may look a lot alike when they're listed together, but they are not the same nor will they give the same results!

Likewise, I'm seeing a lot of stuff these days...

...in "gospel" literature...

..."Christian" novels...

...in new, custom "Bibles"...

...in "praise" music...

...in "church" services...

...in the media...

They're all being described as "Christian,"

                                     but they're really nothing to do with Christianity. 

They're about me or you or him or her or them and, occasionally, what Jesus can do for  me or you or him or her or them.  Often, they're simply about selling stuff to Christians!

It ISN'T about Jesus.  It ISN'T about God.  It's about US.

Y'know...  honestly, I'm a big fan of me.  I think I'm fascinating!  You give me a mirror and I'll sit and stare in that thing and examine my navel and just behold the wonder of me.  Many wonder what I see in me, but I love me nonetheless.

But I have never died for anyone's sins. 

I cannot lead other's in the path of righteousness.

Those I love will never be a Bride, spotless and pure and acceptable to The Father because of my love and sacrifice and sinlessness.

Those who follow me will die and be cast into a lake of fire.

Only Jesus will fulfill these needs.

Only Jesus can use something as unclean as me as a signpost showing His Way, His Love, and His Glory.

To Google, to the media, to publishers, to "church" and ""worship" leaders the words "Christian" and "Christ" may be interchangeable.  A Christian is (on a good day, with a tail-wind, with all engines firing, and with God's Grace and Provision at play,) at best Christ seen as through a glass darkly. 

The world today is having trouble seeing Christ for all the "Christian" stuff in the way. 

He must become greater, we must become less! 

Oh, but that we would lift Jesus up

as The Light of the World which He is.

"Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. (This was before John was put in prison.)

An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan--the one you testified about--well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him."

To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.'

The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

He must become greater; I must become less.

"The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.

For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."

- John 3:23-36

So Much Good Stuff...

I am only blameless because my sin has been covered by the Blood of Jesus. Who am I that the Lord God almighty should take notice of me? How can He delight in one like me?

But because of Jesus, He does!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord God Almighty! How can I ever thank you? I cannot thank you enough...

Psalm 18

I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.

The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called to the LORD;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.

The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies,
great bolts of lightning and routed them.
The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD;
I have not done evil by turning from my God.
All his laws are before me;
I have not turned away from his decrees.
I have been blameless before him
and have kept myself from sin.
The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
You save the humble
but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop;
with my God I can scale a wall.

As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.
For who is God besides the LORD?
And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You give me your shield of victory,
and your right hand sustains me;
you stoop down to make me great.
You broaden the path beneath me,
so that my ankles do not turn.

I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
I crushed them so that they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet.

You armed me with strength for battle;
you made my adversaries bow at my feet.
You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
and I destroyed my foes.
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
to the LORD, but he did not answer.
I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind;
I poured them out like mud in the streets.

You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;
you have made me the head of nations;
people I did not know are subject to me.
As soon as they hear me, they obey me;
foreigners cringe before me.
They all lose heart;
they come trembling from their strongholds.

The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God my Savior!
He is the God who avenges me,
who subdues nations under me,
who saves me from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
from violent men you rescued me.
Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD;
I will sing praises to your name.
He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.

Open Letter to Connie Bjella

I have reason to believe you will find this...

25 years ago you took me to my first AA meeting. In a few months I will have been sober 25 years. Thank you. You will never know my gratitude.

I hope that you are having the wonderful life you deserve. I have kept the promise I made so many years ago. Good-bye Little One.

What Have Ya Got to Lose?

"Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone."

- Proverbs 25:15

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

- Proverbs 15:1

If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great errors to rest."

- Ecclesiastes 10:4

"A king’s wrath is a messenger of death, but a wise man will appease it."

- Proverbs 16:14

"Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city."

- Proverbs 16:31

On "Pati"

I was driving home for lunch yesterday and quickly realized it was an "early release" day at the school up the street. There were lots of kids walking home on every street, so I slowed down a little more and started watching more carefully.

I looked ahead on my right and could see a lone boy walking into my lane from a side street. He looked sad and had his head down in deep concentration.

I slowed down and eased over to the left side of the street in case he didn't stop and, sure enough, he walked right out into the street as I slowly passed on the opposite side of the street. He never looked up and, frankly, I don't think he ever saw me.

I was a little startled. He'd walked right out into the street without looking! Then I looked back at him through my rearview mirror and I saw what he had in his other hand...

I burst out into roaring laughter!

He was doing the eternal walk of the damned. He had his report card in his hand! "Oh, you poor little rascal", I thought. As a friend of mine says, "There was slow walking and sad singing a'goin' on!"

I went from being a little concerned and kind of annoyed to feeling a world of sympathy. I took that same walk many times when I was in school! My heart went out to that little guy!

Isn't it funny how we feel like we're doing something nice when we feel sympathy for someone? The Bible, however, doesn't call believers to be "sympathetic". We are called to be "compassionate".

Today sympathy is defined as "the fact or power of sharing the feelings of another, esp. in sorrow or trouble; fellow feeling, compassion, or commiseration."*

Likewise, compassion is now defined as "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering."*

Today common usage is turning the word compassion into a synonym for sympathy, and both words describe feelings. This was not always so. The original meaning of compassion is very different.

Compassion is from the Latin root word

compassionem
"to feel [pity] together"

(com = "together")
plus
(pati = "to suffer").

"Com" is a root in the modern words "Community" and "common", (as in "in common".)

"Pati" is the root from which we get the word "passion" which means "suffering", (as in "the Passion of Christ".) It is also the root of the words "pity" and "piety".

"Compassion" means "common suffering." To be compassionate is to experience a problem with someone.

Sympathy is from the Latin root word

sympathia
"community of feeling, sympathy"

(syn = "together")
plus
(pathos = "feeling")

Interestingly, "Pathos" is also derived from "Pati" but only to refer to the feelings of "Pati". Sympathy has always been about feelings.

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

Col 3:12 NIV

A command toward action and how to act.

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."

1 Jn 3:16–20

Having "pity" here means "doing something for them".

Some would have us to sit in front of a mirror and focus on how we feel. Christ calls us to love through action.

Going back to my story, I felt sympathy for that boy with his report card. I am not so foolish as to get between a boy and his mama when grades are at play. I had no compassion. He's just gonna have to learn like the rest of us.

I guess I could have stopped and told him that there is hope, told him that he'll make it through, and that, if he fixes things and gets those grades up, it will be worth it. There is something "compassionate" I could have done.

But the truth is I was too busy laughing as I drove away.



_{* definitions courtesy of Dictionary.com found at http://dictionary.reference.com}

(Aside: It is interesting to note how changes in common usage are morphing the meanings of many Bible commands for action, such as "compassion", "pity", and "piety", into new definitions describing feelings. Time for a good study on the effects of injecting psychology into the Body of Believers, maybe? We'll save that for another day... May God bless you!)