Lessons from Solomon: Happiness, Peace, and an Army with Banners

Do you ever wonder why you love? Do you ever wonder about the where's, the how's, and the deeper things of love and necessity? Have you stopped lately to ask the soul searching "why" questions in the arena of love and romance?

This past week, I had the great privilege of expositing the sixth chapter in the saga of the Song of Solomon. One of the magnificent and alluring aspects of this great play is the extolling of love and passion between Solomon and his Shulamite bride as Solomon recounts their life of engagement and marriage in his most excellent of songs.

Have you thought about how prolifically present mutual discovery and delight must have been within this marriage in order to produce this human reflection of divine passion and romance?

Consider that for a moment. Solomon and his Shulamite bride must have joined in such deep and abiding connection and communication at so many levels that it would consume the life of the ordinary reader. What we read is certainly the tip of the iceberg, the icing on the cake, if you would. It is the poetic reflection of life lived poetically.

In verse four of chapter six we find Solomon retelling a moment of intimate communication with his bride. Solomon describes in her what every man is wanting to see in the eyes of the woman he loves... happiness, peace, and the security of armies at peace!

"Que paso???" you might say. "Where do you see that, preacher?" Well the key lies within the meanings of the names of the cities Solomon sees when he looks at his bride. When he declares her beauty as Tirzah, he is declaring that happiness surrounds him as a the great city whose name means delight. When he ascribes to her the aspect of Jerusalem, he is proclaiming that through her, peace surrounds him as does the peace of the loveliest of cities; and when he compares her greatness to that of an army marching in full martial array, he is declaring that within her love is the security that kings find within great and confident armies in peacetime.

How long has it been since you looked into the eyes of love and found the happiness, peace, and security you desire?

If you try, you'll quickly learn that they aren't won without great sacrifice, and often great pain. They are not cheap, but require the heart, the mind, the soul, and the strength of man.

What would you give for love?

Do you know that God loves you?

Are you willing to walk the path of God, indeed of love, and allow His path to both depose from you every worthless thing and give to you the happiness, peace, and security He has planned for you?

May the Lord of love and life grant you these three in the eyes of your husband or your wife today!

This is my prayer for you.

In the peace of Christ,

Pastor John

TRANSFORMATION

This week, our church has begun the transformation process of Vacation Bible School! The theme for the year is "Saddle Ridge Ranch," and the church building is now sporting hay bales, a chuck-wagon wall, a camp-grounds, and a "worship barn"... all in all, it's pretty entertaining to see!

The funny thing about transformation is that it's a messy process.

Today, the chuck-wagon backdrop is hung, but there is paint on the floor (our resident expert says it will come up with a good buffing)... progress is sometimes messy. The hay bale worship set is in place, but a few sprigs of hay dot the carpet, which is designed for easy cleaning and localized replacement, but can still draw the jaundiced eye... progress is messy. Today I saw the new "rocks" for the watering hole in the camp-ground... paper bags filled and painted like rocks... you guessed it, painting rocks is messy.

Yesterday, my assistant went through the building straightening up in the aftermath of transformation. It wasn't as lengthy of a job as it looked like, but it was big enough, and the results were amazing! Today before the ladies Bible Study, and my Wednesday morning counseling session, I became the backdrop hanging tech, got messy, sweaty, and in the end, transformation is taking shape... inconvenient, messy, and beautiful.

The same is often true in life, isn't it.

For all our efforts, God works His beautiful transformation art upon us in His own way, His own timing, and His own system of organization/mess ratio.

Isn't it interesting that the first step toward salvation is to admit the deity of Jesus... thus submitting to the fact that He is God and we are not. That one admission can tear us apart, can't it. All the constructs of modern humanism hang upon the joint intersection of personal pride and independent deity... and even in light of modern "enlightenment" God simply continues to invite us to join in His singular way, knowing that His path is the only one that will lead us to life.

The tide of God is relentless and unbreakable. Though I could MAYBE swim up a river, I simply invite myself to drowned if I swim against His tide.

Today, I look for His transformation. Instead of running from it, I want to run to it.

For me, it makes all the difference in the world!

In the peace of Christ,

Pastor John

Biscuits and Bacon

This morning, I got the rare opportunity for a real morning off. This is a rare treat, and by the time I got up, Penny had already fed the kiddos, so I relaxed with a cup of java, and eventually started to cook a couple of biscuits and a few slices of bacon. And that's when the climate changed...

Isn't it amazing how the sound of the oven opening can bring the cattle runnin'?! It reminds me of walking out to feed cattle when I was a little boy with my grandfather in East Texas. I would always be amazed that all we had to do was quietly slide the metal slide to unlock the gate, and cattle from the far reaches of the ranch would perk up, look our way, and begin the long walk to the feed lot.

It wasn't long before the question came, "Daddy, can I have a biscuit?" Now this from a little boy who had already devoured a full breakfast. And not long after, his sister focused in on the bacon. At this point I had a choice to make, my bacon and my biscuits, or the fellowship of my children who want to be with me and enjoy what I enjoy. Do you ever wish you didn't have to make those choices?!

Can we not have the biscuits, the bacon, and the love?! The answer is, quite honestly, "no."

The biscuits came out (yes, they were the last two), and I split one between the kids, buttering each half and adding jelly instead of the beautiful dab of honey I had been tasting in my mind. Then I took some of the last few pieces of bacon and distributed them to the not-hungry troops who wanted to eat what I was about to eat. Somewhere in there, the memories of eating Daddy's favorite breakfast food on a rare morning off became more entertaining than the solace filled sensation of fresh biscuits and bacon.

Right now, they're literally climbing over me as I type here on the couch, JeeP directs who gets to wear my hat, and Jordan directs whose turn it is with the flash light. It's better than the quiet, even though I still have fond memories of quiet moments. I know there will come a day when there is too much quiet, and something tells me to soak this up. In a minute, the kids will ask me to read aloud to them what I've written, and our morning o' fun will continue.

I've traded a biscuit and some bacon to become a jungle-gym memory maker... it's a good trade.

Well, it's time to read.

Lesson for the day: trade the bacon, the opportunity is only for a moment!

Wishing you the joy of inconvenient play,

John

Lessons from Solomon: Myrrh, Frankincense, and All the World has to Offer

This week, as we landed in the wonderment of Song of Songs 3:6-ff, I found myself wide-eyed in the theological treasure trove of verse six as the Great King Solomon makes his entrance for the wedding celebration.

As he does, the most interesting things are pointed out by the Shulamite... his perfumes! To sum it up, there are three basic aromas which the Shulamite bride smelled on the person of Solomon as he entered for the wedding celebration: she smelled myrrh, frankincense, and complimentary perfuming powders.

"So what's up with that?!" you might ask. It seems meaningless enough, doesn't it? So he put on cologne for his wedding... so what?!

It seems meaningless until we begin to remember something about Jesus being given myrrh and frankincense, and then we stop to think, "Hey, didn't they say something about that stuff in those painfully long Exodus passages that we thought were meaningless to read?!" And the answer, of course, is found somewhere within the realization that what God has delivered to us, no-matter how tedious or laborious it might seem, is never to be assumed "meaningless." It might do us well to consider that if God finds it important enough to include, then perhaps it's a bit arrogant to skip it, thus declaring it unimportant.

There are, in fact, some amazing lessons to be found in the three perfumes of Solomon.

First, the bride of Solomon smells myrrh. Myrrh is actually commanded as a key ingredient to holy anointing oil in Exodus 30:23-24. Along with Cassia, it is one of the two primary scents. This is the anointing oil set aside for things and people made holy to God... i.e. the Tent of Meeting and its appointments, the Priests, etc. When God anoints someone or something, this is the stuff. One suddenly recalls Samuel anointing David, while still a young shepherd boy, to be King over Israel, and so many other examples. And on the day of entrance to his wedding celebration, the first scent that is noticed upon the Great King Solomon, son of David, ruler of the Golden Age of Israel, is a key reminder of the scent of consecration to God.

Second, the Shulamite bride smells frankincense. Frankincense was the main ingredient in the incense of Temple Worship of God (see Exodus 30:34). This ingredient would smell as a reminder, once again, of the centrality of focus upon service to God.

Finally, the third smell noticed on the person of Solomon, was the smell of the world. Specifically, "...all scented powders of the merchant". Simply put, Solomon availed himself of the scented body powders available to him from merchants who visited from around the world. Remember here, that Israel was poised at the apex of a piece of geography which saw merchants collide from the East, as well as from around the Great Sea. Coupled with the massive fame of Solomon's kingdom, and you find the best the world has to offer right at Solomon's footstool.

So what do we learn from the smells of the perfumes of Solomon at his wedding to the Shulamite?

First, it is the anointing of God, the call to be set apart to His purposes, which is the most important scent of all when it comes to life, and relationships, and passion and romance. Solomon did not select the scent of the Shulamite's choosing, but the scent of his calling to inspire and "woo" his bride.

Second, the scent of service to God, frankincense which reminds us of the common essence of temple incense, is to be central to our lives of relationship, passion and romance. It defines our path; both where we are going and where we have been.

And third, that we are free to enjoy the scents of the world which fit with the other two.

Have you ever wondered what your house might look like if you emptied it first of anything except that which is holy to God, set aside for the work and purposes of Christ? What if you emptied your house, your life, of all else, and then looked about and only allowed the things that fit with the things of God to come back in?

To be honest, there would be some things that would still fit, wouldn't there? Some pots and pans, your favorite chair perhaps, that old tattered t-shirt that you love to wear on Saturdays... and then there would be some things that simply couldn't come back inside. Such were the fragranced powders worn by Solomon. Only the smells that fit with the smells of God were allowed.

Verse 6... who would've thought! What would happen if we smelled like that?

Live long, ride hard, and smell of anointed service to Christ!

In the Peace of Christ,

Pastor John

Remembering

This morning, the offices closed for Memorial Day, I slept late. I woke to the gleeful sounds of my children playing and the beauty of my bride next to me. I woke and rested and was at peace... and as I did, today I remembered that this peace was born of much war and sacrifice.

It has become axiomatic that a certain level of blood, sweat and tears are required for the job I do as a pastor, and that these are seldom seen. How much more for the blood, sweat and tears of the battlefields around the world whereon our soldiers have fought and died to keep freedom's peace at home. The uniforms we see are pressed and in regulation order. The medals shine with the gleam of parades and concerts, but that is not where freedom is won. It is won in places of pain that men and women try to forget; but far be it from us that we should forget the pain they so willingly took on our behalf.

Today, if you see a soldier, see the mud, the blood, the sweat and the tears behind the peace of the current context of enjoyment. See the pain that purchased freedom and say 'thank you.'

Today, and hopefully all days, let us remember.

In the peace of Christ,

Pastor John

Big Feet, Little Feet... and what we Leave Behind

This morning, I accepted the awesome challenge of hanging out with JeeP while Penny spoke at a conference. We loaded up, took Jordan to school in the Jeep, and then he and I went to City Park. Now I'm one of those weird ducks who loves his job and his calling, so as JeeP often puts up with having to come to the office on my day off, turn about was fair-play this morning.

We ran, we played, and we talked... and along the way, I snapped a few pictures.

One of the last pics happened when he wanted me to stand where he had stood. We stood together, and wanting to capture the moment, I looked down with my camera-phone and snapped the picture.

What I saw in the screen really preached the sermon. Big feet, little feet... and the trail I leave for him to follow.

I tell the congregation often that "we're all just a bunch of screwed up people trying to screw up less"... we're forgiven, redeemed, and doing everything we can to live up to that status! In life, I have found that my imperfections seem to crescendo as I follow Christ the more. Sometimes it's not fun to see, but reality is as it is, and no-one is perfect, especially me. But today, the little feet that live after mine, tell a tale of hope.

Some days, that's enough. There are so many things at which he will be greater than I am... some things at which we'll mirror one another completely... some arenas of life will find us completely different; but in all things, his feet have come from mine. Oh that my feet have led him to Jesus; to the cross which pays the price for our souls and the empty tomb which declares His power. Oh that our feet will follow His path together.

Every night, I tell my children that they will be greater than I am. In so many ways, they already are and just don't know it yet... but I see it. I hope one day they get to know the joy they have brought me today.

May the peace of Christ invade from all angles this day and always!

John

Six Years, a Thousand Hearts, & a Morning

Six years ago today, the daughter who knew my voice from the womb came out into the world and I held her.

I hope that I shall never forget the sequence that followed. As I took her into my arms, and began to move toward Penny's arms with her, I spoke her name, "Jordan Paige," and in the instance of hearing my voice she opened her eyes and connected with mine. Now doctors will say that infants cannot see when they are newborn, but Jordan did. When she heard my voice, it was as if mental recognition instantaneously sparked visual acuity, and we looked into one another's eyes and knew each other as if we had ridden the trails of life together for a while already.

Her beautiful brown eyes have been melting my heart ever since. I rebuild my heart from a melted pile of mush as often as I change shirts, it seems... and I love every moment of it with her.

She is all I could have hoped for in a daughter: loving, loyal, true, and beautiful! She wields my heart as a fine swordsman would wield the blade, and makes my heart burst with joy to be her provider, protector, Daddy, and friend.

I'm not sure what version of my heart I'm on these days. We're way beyond 2.0, or 3.0... somewhere around a thousand hearts melted and rebuilt with joy, and we'd be getting close to the right count, I think.

Happy Birthday, Jordan! Du bist meine wunderschone kleine liebe und ich bin sehr stolz von dir... SEHR STOLZ!!!

ICH LIEBE DICH!

Daddy