Riding the Wave

So there was this other dream I had. Actually, I had this dream some time ago, but it has never left me so I thought I would share it for whatever it is worth.

I was standing at the bottom of my parents' driveway in Massillon, OH. They live at the bottom of a small road that dead-ends into the road on which they live. For the mental picture, if you are standing there, the roads look as if they form an upside down T and you are standing right where they come together.

In my dream, there was a long line of garbage trucks coming from my left and turning to go up the small road in front of me. They just kept coming, one truck after the other. Out of the sides of the trucks, flowed huge amounts of that putrid, sewer-like water that you often see in the back of these trucks.

Along the sides of these trucks were scores of children who had figured out how to surf this swill. They seemed to be having the time of their lives. It was confusing, to say the least.

From my vantage point, I could see the drivers of the trucks. This went on for some time. They just kept driving, perfectly OK with the presence of the children. At one point, one driver glanced over at another one, and nodded his head, as if to say, "now is the time."

All at once, the drivers began to swerve their trucks in an effort to crush the children. Several had been killed before I could figure out what was going on. I panicked and began to scream with everything in me. I yelled and yelled at the drivers and the kids, but, as so often happens in a dream, nothing came out except a raspy whisper.

The kids seemed clueless to what was happening. They were so caught up in the fun they were having, riding the waves, that they didn't seem at all effected by the death they saw it leading to all around them.

I sat straight up in bed, in a cold sweat, and immediately began to pray that God would speak clearly to me. Needless to say, He did. The images were so stark that night. Kids (and adults) all around us are having their fun with the garbage of this world when all the while the enemy is just waiting to make his move. May we not wait for the glance of the driver before we scream out the dangers of the lives they may be living and the lives we may be endorsing in them by our own choices. May we not forfeit our souls, or theirs, for the sake of "entertainment" and "fun."

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."
Proverbs 14:12 (New International Version)

"But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."
Matthew 18:6 (NIV)

New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Holiness vs Grace?

What is love and what does it look like?

I've been wondering lately about the tension that seems to exist between holiness and grace within the church. If we try to live life to a higher standard, we are labeled legalists and declared to be out of touch with Grace and Mercy. And yet if we live life without the higher standard, we are very much missing out on the blessings of a holy life.

These thoughts were born out of this morning's worship service at the USA East School for Officer Training. Brigadier Clifton Sipley spoke on a video about his service as an officer and it struck me that he truly was a holy man; a man whose very life flies in the face of those who would declare that holiness this side of glory is nothing more than the life of someone with good intentions.

There have also been extensive discussions in the forums at CampNeosa.com in relation to the movies we choose to watch and the words we choose to use. Some have suggested that to question movie choices based on conviction is paramount to returning to the days of "Attendance at any and all movies constitutes sin." I don't think I am saying this, but I must admit that I do wrestle with this as what seems a reasonable approach to the entertainment choices of the 21st century.

The SFOT also serves as a convenient case study in human behavior and the judgment that can so easily be declared upon it. That's not meant as a shot at the SFOT, it just recognizes the realities of living in close community.

In the end, it became clear to me that God is not asking us to weigh each of our decisions throughout the course of a day against our WWJD bracelet. He is asking us to allow His Holy Spirit to change our heart.

A holy, changed heart will naturally look for reasons why a person may be acting outside of what may seem righteous before it seeks to condemn that person. A holy, changed heart, wants blessing to come to those around them.

A holy, changed heart wouldn't dream of watching a movie that would cause difficulty for a brother or sister in Christ even if it could defend how it was OK based on "freedom in Christ."

And yet, the temptation will remain for someone to create the exhaustive list of things a holy, changed heart would or would not do, which, if that could somehow promote holiness, would deem the need for holy, changed hearts unnecessary.

If we could only learn what love is.