August 9, 2010

8-9-10 Monday, 7:22 am Springfield, 77 degrees, clear, humid.

It was great to be back in the teaching/preaching mode yesterday after several weeks of not speaking. In the afternoon I met with a district superintendent and a group of pastors who are the steering committee for a new church start that will involve the development of house churches throughout the Ozarks. We met outside for nearly three hours from 4-7 pm. Even with the temperature in the upper 90s we were comfortable as there was a tent and homemade ice cream for dessert.

Ezra 8:21-9:15
Ezra leads the remnant, with 24 tons of silver, 7,500 pounds of gold, from Babylon to Jerusalem. He says in verse 22 “I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, ‘our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.” I read this as the morning news reports the murder of 10 medical workers in remote NW Afghanistan by the Taliban because they were spreading Christianity. God does not always protect his people from death, as Hebrews 11 clearly states. One of those killed was a friend of Max Marble. He writes

“Dan Terry was a schoolmate and friend of mine and I am so very saddened by this senseless tragedy. Dan Terry, still listed in last year’s Prayer Calendar as a UM Missionary was on a three week trek with a 10-member Christian medical team providing eye care in a remote part of Afghanistan. They were on the last leg of the journey back to Kabul last week by Landrover, and had just stopped for lunch when they were rounded up and shot one by one.”

But for Ezra and these exiles returning with the treasure from the temple, God’s hand of protection is clearly a shield and defense. Upon returning to Jerusalem, they are sorely disappointed to find that among previously returned exiles there was the report that “many of the people of Israel, and even some of the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the other peoples living in the land. They have taken up the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, …” It is so important to follow God’s design at all times and to carefully avoid the temptations all around to live contrary to God’s will.

40 years ago this month I began to run as part of a serious training program. I had enjoyed running all my childhood, with home movies of me circling our house in Texas with boundless energy. In August of 1970, as I was preparing for the 9th grade, Mr. Gerschman, newly selected to be the first soccer coach had advised me to rrrun, rrrrun, rrrun in preparation for trying out for the soccer team. I thus signed up for the newly organized cross country team, and in August was getting up early to go with Bob Johnson and his neighbor, Janet Forsyth’s dad to run laps at the Parkway Central track. These guys, in their 40s could run circles around me, a 14 year old. Little did I know that 40 years later, running would still be part of the discipline of my life. I ran 7 miles on Saturday morning in KC, falling in with a group run sponsored by Runners Edge, a large running club there.

Guide me today Lord as I experience this day of rest, the Sabbath for this pastor. Guide my thoughts, my reading, my decisions, my relationships. I am fully yours.