Work out your salvation.....

Philippians 2:12-13 "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence; continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."

More from Dallas Willard about "Transforming our Social Dimension -

And in order to do our part in the process of spiritual formation of social relations we must deeply identify and understand what is wrong in our relations with others (whether that wrong is coming from us or toward us) and how it can be changed. Thus we have spoken of assault and withdrawal.

The sixth commandment, "Honor your father and mother," deals with a relation so intimate in its nature that the command with reference to it must be positive, for to omit the positive here would amount to an injury to both parties involved. Violation of it disrupts the human soul and make dysfunctional people as nothing else does.

Now we can see immediately that spiritual formation in Christ will mean becoming persons who would not, and therefore do not, assault those to whom they stand in relation, those whom they are with.

But withdrawal within a relationship, like assault, also wounds those involved.

So, far from assault and withdrawal, the social area of our life is meant by God to be a play of constant mutual blessing. Pain and dysfunctionality result from the lack of this. Of course there are degrees of "withness: or involvement that human beings have with one another, these make a difference in the precise character of the "mutual blessing" appropriate in the given case. But every contact with a human being should be one of goodwill and respect, with a readiness to acknowledge, make way for, or assist the other in suitable ways.

Could the epidemic of addictions and dysfunctions from which the masses suffer possibly be related to the fact that we are constantly in the presence of people who are withdrawn from us, who don't want to acknowledge we are there and frankly feel more at ease if we weren't - people who in many cases explicitly reject us and feel it only right to do so?

I do not mean to suggest that anyone can overcome our desperate social situation by an individual act of will. Far from it. Whatever might be done, that isn't it. This is the world we now have. To do anything of substance about it will require a grace and wisdom that is at no individual's disposal, and a long-range plan of personal and social development is required. No doubt God has one in mind.

The first main element in the transformed social dimension is for individuals to come to see themselves as whole, as God himself sees them. It is this vision of oneself from God's point of view that makes it possible to regard oneself as blessed, no matter what has happened. Our life in him is whole and it is blessed, no matter what has or has not been done to us, no matter how shamefully our human circles of sufficiency have been violated.

It is the God-given vision of us as whole in him that draws all the poisons from our relationships to others and enables us to go forward with sincere forgiveness and blessing toward them.

But from within that outlook we can cease from assault and withdrawal and can extend ourselves in blessing to all whose lives we touch.

My son is off to college

I told my oldest son the other day that I had put the movie "Bridge over the River Kwai" on hold at the library. And I told him that Obi Wan Kenobi was in the movie. And in all seriousness, he said, You mean Ewan McGregor?

If you don't get it, Alec Guinness is in the "Bridge" made in 1957, he also played Obi in the first Star Wars that came out when I was in college - Ewan MacGregor played Obi in the second set of Star Wars movies. As my older sister said - "There is no reality, just perception.

This is the same son, Jonathan, who we officially dropped off at Cascade College yesterday, August 19th. My wife has only cried four or five times in one day and is feeling the loss quite keenly.

In the parent orientation meeting at the college, I put it this way for me. When Jonathan was 9 months old, we left him with a babysitter so we could go horseback riding. As we left, I looked through the window screen at Jonathan and said "I don't feel good about this". The baby sitter ripped me up one side and down the other and finished with "He will be fine". I looked at her and said, "It's not him I am worried about."

I feel much the same way now and I know that Jonathan can take care of himself. But it is much more than that. He is meeting new people and new ideas. What will be the outcome of these new relationships?

CS Lewis reminds us "to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. . .
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations-these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit-immortal horrors or everlasting splendors." The Weight of Glory, pg 15.

I met quite a few immortals yesterday, young and old. I pray that my son will meet everlasting splendors and continue to become one himself!

Transformed

Romans 12:2 (NIV) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

I am reading Dallas Willard's book "Renovation of the Heart" and I have found it quite interesting and uplifting. In Chapter 7, he talks about transforming the mind.

This is what he says:

But achieving this new vision of oneself - of who one would be - must not be presumed to be a mere snap of the fingers. It will require genuine openness to radical change in oneself, careful and creative instruction, and abundant supplies of divine grace. For most people all of this only comes to them after they "hit bottom" and discover the total hopelessness of being who they are. Most people cannot envision what they would be without the fears, angers, lusts, power ploys, and woundedness with which they have lived so long. They identify with their habit worn feelings.

When Jesus said to the man by the pool of Bethesda, waiting for the angel to stir the water, "Wilt thou be made whole?" he was not just passing the time of day (John 5:6,KJV). We are not told how old he was, but this man had been in his impotent condition for thirty-eight years! If made whole, he would have to deal with a "career change' of immense proportions. To all his relatives and acquaintances he would no longer be "the one whom we take to the pool every day to wait for the angel." He would now be. . .What? Who? How would he identify himself? How would he now relate to others and they to him? He might even have to get a job. Doing what?

But, really, this man's problem was nothing compared to an individual undergoing the transformation of his feelings (emotions, sensations, desires) from those he learned in the home, school, and playground as he grew up to those that characterize the inner being of Jesus Christ. He is now not to be one who will spend hours fantasizing sensual indulgence or revenge, or who will try to dominate or injure others in attitude, word or deed. He will not repay evil for evil - push for push, blow for blow, taunt for taunt, hatred for hatred, contempt for contempt. He will not be always on the hunt to satisfy his lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16) . No wonder he has no real idea of who he will be: and he must content himself with the mere identity: "apprentice of Jesus." That is the starting point from which his new identity will emerge, and it is in fact powerful enough to bear the load.

Page 120 - Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV) And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV) But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Think about the transformation that is happening in each one of us and rejoice!

I'm back!

I fixed the computer and am now back online at home. Webroot spy sweeper is keeping me clean.

I turn 50 in a year and a half. Of course it bothers me - and I would like to find out why.

On one hand - 50 is just a number - just like the year 2000 and all it's hoopla! But the Jews and Chinese count years differently than us and yes - 2000 is just a number!

There is nothing I can do that will make my life significantly different in a year and half that I am not already thankful for. I truly blessed with great church, a beautiful wife and 4 children.

What I dread is the ridicule. Why would I want to listen to jokes about old age and being over the hill when I have much more to be thankful for than to make fun of.

Let me know what you think. No matter how old I am, I always have something to learn.

God bless you!