Not by Bread Alone

Yet by bread when bread is needed. 

And not by bread alone, but by drink, and flowers, and pretty things.

Because the Holy Spirit has made our bodies His temple (1 Cor. 6:19), and the Greek word for "temple" in this verse is naos, meaning "highly decorated shrine." 

I, and you, if you are in Christ, have highly decorated shrines inside us, our born-again spirits a permanent home grand enough to be a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit of God.

And until we see the unimaginable beauty of our own permanent home, we celebrate here, in our impermanent flesh, with the beauty of impermanent things. A joyful foretaste of the beauty to come.

Prayer For Those Who Didn't Know

Lord, there was a tragedy somewhere today. More than one, on the face of this earth. 

Maybe it made the news. Even if not, it was big news to those involved. They got up this morning and expected a normal day. Maybe even an exciting one. They had no idea one or more of their closest loved ones had gotten up this morning for the last time. Would not be here tonight to go to bed. Ever again. That today would break life in two: Before, and After. And After is something they can't imagine, or imagine getting through. Or imagine having meaning. 

Lord, send them people who've known the same pain. Who can mourn with them and then comfort them with the comfort they themselves received from You. Send them people who can anticipate their needs without them having to say a word. Send them people who can pick up the practical slack so they need do nothing except freefall into Your arms. Send them peace that passes understanding, which we cannot grasp precisely because it passes understanding. Yet we know it must be real because we know You. 

Send them You.

Lord, there was a salvation somewhere today. More than one--many more than one--on the face of the earth.

This has already made the news; not on TV, but in Heaven, as there's rejoicing in the presence of the angels when even one sinner repents. Lord, it doesn't say angels rejoice, as we often interpret it; it says there's rejoicing in their presence. Father, this means You're the one rejoicing, doesn't it? Most if not all these new creatures got up this morning expecting a normal day. Because I think that's often how true conversions happen: they aren't planned. One is struck, in a moment, by the tragedy and hopelessness of their sin. They had no idea their old self had gotten up this morning for the last time. Would not be here to go to bed tonight. Ever again. That today would break life in two: Before, and After. And After is something they can't imagine, because they don't know what they're in for. Love; cost. Fellowship; persecution. Provision; warfare. Call; change.

Life eternal. Not as opposed to nothingness, but as opposed to hell, because if we aren't in our natural state bound for hell, then Christ died for nothing. Lord, please grant that fewer people would be persuaded to lie to themselves that there is no hell.

Lord, there was a death somewhere today. Many, many deaths on the face of the earth.

This is literal "news"--new existence for these ones, irrevocably new, whether an expected death or not. Some will have had no idea they'd gotten up this morning for the last time. Would not be here tonight to go to bed. Ever again. That today would break life in two: Earthly life, and Eternity. 

Lord, send their people what we've already asked: company, fellowship, comfort, help, peace, You. 

Yet for that one who has passed, there is no prayer. Their eternal destiny is set. For some of them, on a day they thought would be like any other.

Father, You warn that tonight our lives may be required of us. Draw them, I pray, by the hundreds and thousands and ten thousands, to Your Son Jesus, because though time is a dimension we live in now, it is not something we have. For those who don't know--and in some aspects of life, that's all of us--help many, many more of us understand that in the very broadest, most important, and eternal sense, no matter what we don't know, everything will be all right if (and only if) what we do know--is You. 

Wisdom

The Lord by His wisdom has founded the earth. Who are we, that He would allow us, much less exhort us, to seek any measure of this wisdom for ourselves, and then reward us when we gain it? (Inspired by Proverbs 3) 

In Which TUS Returns to College!

 You know, my life is fairly predictable. I like the rhythms of simple days ("make it your ambition to lead a quiet life," 1 Thess. 4:11, is a verse that makes me smile), and I can honestly say that very little has happened in my life so far to throw me for a major loop or send me spiraling in whole new directions. Other than, of course, meeting Jesus at the age of 27. 

Recently, though, I got an entirely unexpected chance to go back to school. 

From time to time, I'd thought about a master's degree, but I never thought it would happen and didn't particularly care. I mean, how would I ever afford it, when would I have the time, what job would it lead to, who'd mind the kids, and what would I even study? Every year my recall of my BS math curriculum faded a little more, and the idea of an MBA to build on my second major (business) left me cold. And speaking of cold, the cold hard fact is that I'm not terribly career oriented and never have been. At least, not in the wear-work-clothes, leave-the-house, make-a-meaningful-salary way. In the write-teach-edit-from-home, sketchy-income way, things worked well enough. 

But this past spring, God spoke. 

Opportunity and finances aligned. There will be no debt accumulation; I wouldn't do this if there were. I won't be obliged to seek employment to earn my investment back (as if I'd get hired at my age); I wouldn't do this if I were. This will be, in the broadest sense, equipping for personal ministry. Put another way, some people travel in their dotage; perhaps TUS goes to school.

I asked the Lord if just kind of wanting a master's degree for the sake of having one was reason enough to pursue it. He said, immediately, "Just entering a master's program at your age will be a conversation starter." And that is already proving true. Over the following couple of months, He opened my mind to understand that the people I'll most often be led to will be the type of people who respect a degree. 

So, tonight is my first class! If all goes as planned, I should graduate in spring 2027 with a BA in biblical studies, and with the MA in spring 2029.

And perhaps the takeaway here is that no matter what decade of life you're in, no matter how steady your life has been, that doesn't mean God won't step in and shake it up with something you never expected, or wake up a thought you'd long since put to bed. As long as we're still here and breathing, He's not done with us yet.