shall have open spaces

This is an interesting post for many different reasons. Not only is it a discussion of the relation between science and faith; not only is it an honest perspective on reconciling science and faith; not only is its ultimate point true -- that His sovereign hand in Creation need not fear man-made science; but it is also a powerful phrase to imagine in other aspects of your life.

God is in the gap.

He is in the gap between your abilities, sustaining you when you cannot sustain yourself. He is in the gap between your steps of faith, supporting you even when you waver. He is in the gap between your lives, that here on earth and thence to Him eternal. He is in the gap between your moments of peace, stengthening you during the fight.

Powerful reminder, that there is no space in your life unaccounted for, or which He does not fill.

one of these little ones who believe

Google "Living Last Supper" yourself and you'll see the 565 references that pop up. Here are some of the examples I found. Apparently quite popular. First version of this play occurred in 1954. I'm sure over the 5 decades since then, more modern versions appear. Understandable. But I hope they don't change or modernize the first soliloquy from the original, which explains a scene in John 1 I'd always wondered about -- Nathaniel and the fig tree incident.

The version of the play I have says:

"In my country, when working mothers go into the fields, they place their little babies under the shade of the nearest fig tree. The large leaves shelter the babies from the hot rays of the sun. So the Master was actually telling me that He had known me since the day I was born."

The sweetness of that recollection resonates. He has chosen you since the very beginning. Anecdote from my own life: mother seeking to claim my little ones, asking for them while they were still womb-resting. Always turned her away with a polite, "No, this one's mine." And the Lord was like that for all believers. Seeing you in the belly, finding you lovely. Claiming you from the liar. From the very beginning. Knowing you since the day you were born. "No, this one's mine."

Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt

Not going to spoil it all early. Random samples for coming Sunday eve:

it is not an ordinary table we come to this evening . . . Because if you were to look at just the individual pieces of the Lord’s table, you might not think much of it . . . The idea of “price,” the value we place on something, is important to think about when at the Lord’s Table. The concepts of price and value mean something in Communion . . . [this] question must have crossed God’s mind at the beginning of eternity . . . All of us by virtue of our sin must pay something for breaking God’s Law of Righteousness. And the price we must pay? . . . He looked at the hopelessness of our futures, He looked at the eternal separation from Him that was our destiny, God looked at us . . . Because there was a very clear price to be paid for our sins, there was a debt that needed to be paid . . . That’s why the Lord’s table is no ordinary table; that’s why the Lord’s table is precious . . . in the silence of your hearts think of this idea of price and value.

and he began to be in need

Reviewing John4:46-54 and my eye caught on a minor: royal official. Good model of faith. Can imagine him as me.

I imagine him as a man used to controlling others, a royal official full of power and authority. He tells people what to do all the time. That's, in fact, what he does for a living. And things happen under his watch. He commands a problem fixed and it is fixed. He wants something done and it is done. But this one problem isn't fixing. This one thing isn't getting done. This son of his is sick, still sick, and no amount of power and authority is changing that fact. And after a week or two, and after throwing his weight around and arranging the best medical care possible, still nothing, still this high fever and ague.

And then he hears about Him.

And desperate dad that he is, royal official yes, but still a dad, and he rather than arrange messengers to beseech Him, he knows that wouldn't work somehow, he heads there himself. This time, he is the one doing the something rather than others doing that something. And he arrives before Him, and beseeches Him, this time not throwing power and authority at all to get something done, but pleading for something to get done.

And then he hears Him.

Healed by a word? Dare he believe it? But He is everything he imagined He would be and more and just in His presence he knows that He has true power and authority and royalty and he knows he is nothing before Him and so he goes. Does he look back every now and then? Does he wonder whether or not he should go back just to check? Does he get outraged that He didn't want to personally come? No, his desperation brings him to his realization of need which is the start of all faith and so he goes.

And then he hears them.

Healed. Fever? Healed. Ague? Healed. All? Healed. And he himself believed. And his whole household. And that living that was promised? Not just the son, but all. And the royal official, desperate dad no longer but grateful son himself believed. And his whole household. These minors, good lessons of faith.

its protection is taken from you

nice one liar sneaking one liar forget sometimes the whole door pouncing waiting pouncing while looking and lifting the others forgetting sometimes and then the pouncing but didn't knock me from the closeness liar nor stopping the lifting or the others only good reminder that that door needs to be shut

shall be one flock and

Brief message sans outline or notes. Based on John 21 and breakfast with Him. Key theme: your background doesn't matter. Your skills don't matter. Your experience doesn't matter. What matters is always the obedience to the call. Reminder of one of my favorite anecdotes, true or otherwise:

John Wesley: If only God would give me wings, I'd fly for Him!
Charles Wesley: Brother, if He bids me fly, I'll trust Him for the wings.

Better than the mesage was the gathering after, and for once, not a forced reunion, but rather a collective and communal testimony to God, of His singular ability to unite the ununitable and make them one family. Still getting used to the family, but like them, like them very much. And in Him, love them, love them very much.

from you but only raw

I noted a while back a quote that should define the heart of not just an elder, but also any brethren, and any friend. Mutual heartbreaking should move you before the throne faster than you can respond with an ouch. And when the response is automatic, then you know you're getting somewhere.

But there's also something deeper, a twinge of where you want to be. It's not just the em- and sym- pathy twins that move you, but the incomprehensible hurt as if you were the victim, that for a moment catches your breath. And in that moment, you can feel for them as He feels for them -- a realness unmatched. Go there. That's where you and your quote want to be.

to them apart from the crowd

Don't know how I feel about this.

Position 1: Isn't this what you red-staters want? Isn't this what society has been pushing for? The complete isolation of religion away from surrounding culture? Don't other groups (ethnic groups, sports fans, hobbyists, etc) do this in various ways, move to communities where their beliefs are not mocked but shared? Aren't we supposed to separate ourselves from the world?

Position 2: Christ doesn't call for us to isolate. In fact, just the opposite. That's what the whole Great Commission is all about: go out to those that don't know and love God and get them to know and love God. God doesn't call for you to shield yourself from unbelievers; where will your witnessing opportunities be if all around you are your brethren?

Position 2 is probably the correct one to take, but on days where the devil's winning, Position 1 looks awfully tempting.

all things into His hands

Acts16:6-7 raises some questions. v6 says that P&B were "forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia." v7 says that "the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them" to go into Bithynia. Questions?

* Are we speaking physical preventative measures? Did they lose their ability to speak in Asia? Was there way continually blocked by boulders and such as they tried to trek to Bithynia? Is it against our knowledge of God to think that He isn't physically involved in this world? Doesn't He remove job offers when He doesn't want you to move? Prevent the sale of your house? Let you get sick the night before your plane takes off? Do we believe He can't/won't work this directly in our lives?

* Are we speaking more spiritual conflicts? P&B up all night fretting and anxious, knowing they shouldn't be in Asia and Bithynia? P&B preaching to blank stares with no success? A weighty conscious, an ever-present nag, a knowledge that your actions aren't working? We know He works this way, removing the peace that signals a faithful walk.

Pondering.

in this way in former times

You can find its defenders or its detractors. I don't care which side you're on. You pick and choose your faith just as I do mine, I'm sure. What was nice about observing today is the comfort familiarity brings. One hopes that one goes through more than just motions, that the individual parts be something more than a warm blanket. There is danger in the familiarity and warmth becoming the whole. But sometimes there's nothing wrong with that comfort. It fits and makes you remember the feeling of the initial fitting, the day when you realized that all of it, everything made such clear sense.