Rules & Regs & Doing the Right Thing

In a 2007 edition of the New Oxford Review, Dr. A. Patrick Schneider II, who holds boards in family and geriatric medicine and runs a private practice in Lexington, Kentucky, did a statistical analysis of cohabitation in America, based on the findings of a number of academic resources. Here are five conclusions Schneider draws from his studies:

• Relationships are unstable in cohabitation. One-sixth of cohabiting couples stay together for only three years; one in ten survives five or more years.
• Cohabiting women often end up with the responsibilities of marriage—particularly when it comes to caring for children—without the legal protection. Research has also found that cohabiting women contribute more than 70 percent of the relationship's income.
• Cohabitation brings a greater risk of sexually transmitted diseases, because cohabiting men are four times more likely to be unfaithful than husbands.
• Poverty rates are higher among cohabitors. Those who share a home but never marry have 78 percent less wealth than the continuously married.
• Those who suffer most from cohabitation are the children. The poverty rate among children of cohabiting couples is fivefold greater than the rate among children in married-couple households. Children ages 12–17 with cohabiting parents are six times more likely to exhibit emotional and behavioral problems and 122 percent more likely to be expelled from school.

Living together as husband and wife is marriage. Period. Simple as as that. Men who "trick" women are just as evil when they do it without as license as when they obtain a license from the government. I know the government provides certain guarantees to women when they register their marriage with the state, which is really decent, since they tax you according to the registration, but the fact remains that dishonorable behavior is dishonorable behavior.

Men and women have been entering into partnerships since the garden. There was a snake in the garden then, and there are snakes around still today. Women need to choose carefully a partner who is trustworthy. The success and prosperity of the household, the security of the children, the stability and health of the future rely upon the discernment of the people involved--particularly the women.

But the fact remains, the snake in the equation is the person or persons who selfishly pursue their own interests at the expense of others. Christians have not so learned Christ. When we follow Christ, He leads us to love as He loves--holding the other's interests above our own, seeking the blessing and benefit of others at our own expense, forgoing our own pleasure for the benefit of others. When we give ourselves away, sacrificing self, redeeming and lifting up others, we are most like Christ. In so doing, we put ourselves in the optimum position to bring blessing and prosperity to the entire house. Ultimately, our greatest potential for blessing is never found in what we can take from a given situation. It is found in the hand of a loving God who gives every good and perfect gift, freely, from above.

When we love, bless, and live honorably, faithfully with each other, we are most like Him.

The March to the Sea

I thank God for people like Os Hillman, who write things that might not be popular or appear reasonable to many, simply because they are following their sense of the Spirit's leading. People like this are often criticized for "not being very smart," because many see no sense in going a direction not commonly taken, or that doesn't appear to lead directly to the goal.

In a recent devotional from his book "TGIF (Today God is First), Os talks about the path God chose for Moses and Israel to follow on their departure from Egypt. The route most everyone chose to travel in those days went to the north and east, generally close to the Mediterranean coast, and more directly toward the goal of the Promised Land. Moses followed the course God provided, leading directly to the deep, southern waters of the Red Sea.

So crazy does this seem, that most scholars find the course described in Exodus as "nonsensical" or incomprehensible, and believe it was simply written from some ethereal, spiritual perspective--not real or true. The Israelites thought it crazy at the time, too. Certain that Pharaoh's armies would kill them all, they complained loudly about the stupidity of their leader.

God said "keep moving" even though the Red Sea was in front of them, blocking their path. It just didn't make any sense--at least, not from any human perspective. We know how the story worked into the miracle, with God making the way for deliverance through the waters that ultimately swallowed Pharaoh's army. But the fear, anger and doubts of God's people at that time remind me that the miracles of God don't come because of our faith or anything we do. Miracles happen because God is God.

We're not usually at the place where God is doing God things. Because we think it's not cost effective. Because we don't think it makes sense to go south, when the "straight" route is north. Because we think it's easier to do what we want. Because we don't like to be uncomfortable. Or lonely. Or poor. Or . . . whatever. But when we listen to God, do what He says, go where He leads, and just generally follow His instruction, we increase the probability of being exactly where He is doing the things we call miracles. Right in the middle of the fear and doubt. When you think there's nowhere left to turn. When you're scared out of your wits, ready to just die.

I don't think God intends faith to be just for adrenaline junkies. But I do believe He does what He does in places and times many are unwilling to be. Faithfulness is required throughout the mundane hard march to the place God calls us, even when we don't see the logic and want to complain about the insanity of it all. We don't even have to understand what God intends. We just have to be crazy enough to keep marching to the sea.

Stellar Performance?

Five star hotels are constantly critiqued based on a comprehensive list of things that evaluate how effectively they meet the needs of their guests. The assumption is that the guest paying the bill has choices, and can stay wherever they are most likely to find the level of excellence they choose. While many older hotels don't make the list, for a variety of reasons, some do. The age of facilities is not nearly as big an obstacle as the "good enough" mind-set that balances costs of improvement against the perceived probability of profit. Believe it or not, working toilets and showers in the rooms are the "insurmountable" obstacle to many making the list. Cleanliness and safety are disqualifying factors for others. Obviously, the list is more than restrooms, clean sheets and doors that close and lock, but those, to me, seem pretty basic. They might not get you five stars, but you surely won't get the stars without them!



A couple of Christian businessmen have co-authored a book (Stan Toler & Alan Nelson, "Five Star Church") based on the premise that churches must constantly keep in mind that our number one goal is to serve God and others. Their premise prompts me to think what God might consider 5-star service. We forget too easily that members and attenders are not "the customers" of the 5-star church. We serve the One True God, Who deserves our very best. Every week, we pray, inviting God to come into our midst and receive our worship and praise. He is the one who evaluates our performance as Christians and as a Church.



If we follow the example of His Son, we'll serve our One True "Guest" best by giving ourselves to Him, and others, in sacrificially loving ways. Jesus said that our judgment would be found in the answers to the questions "When did we see you hungry or thirsty...destitute, a stranger in need of clothes or a place to stay...sick...in prison or bondage...?"(Matthew 25). Jesus said when we bless others, meeting their needs, we are doing it to Him. It is our reasonable service, worship. These are the basics toward becoming a 5-star Christian and Church!

I AM He is; You are. Active Faith

Christianity is an activist religion, if I dare use the word religion in association with Christianity.

Christianity is all consuming faith, resultant of the relationship that develops between God and the disciple. The Holy Spirit of God is welcomed into the life of the believer, and the believer is completely transformed by the experience--weak become strong; fear becomes courage; weariness becomes excitement; joy is found in the work the leads to the victory that consumes what once was a spirit of defeat. The poor become filled with the richness of the Kingdom, and the sick find their strength renewed in the healing power of Christ.

Such experiences beg to be shared! How can one experience joy and not show it, share it? How can one receive forgiveness and not be moved to forgive? How can one receive so much and not want to give?

Our experiences in Christ move us to act. Faith is a verb. We doubt that anything can be done to overcome the evil in the world, until we encounter Christ. Filled with the experience, we realize that the power to overcome evil is within us. We can do as Christ has done before--we can give ourselves to the liberating cause, investing ourselves, all we have and all we are, in the cause of defeating the evil, setting the captives free, paying the debts of our brothers, salving the wounds of our sisters, making a new world in the midst of what has for too long been the enemy's domain.

The Spirit that lives within the believer is the Spirit of Christ Himself. He is love, He is grace, He is healing, He is sacrificing, He is power, He is the Son of God. "To all who receive Him, He gave power to become sons of God." He lives within you, and He is all those things. Therefore, you are too.

Believe.

Act.

Proud

I know, it's probably wrong and dangerous to say "I'm proud..." But the truth is, I couldn't be more proud than I am when people take seriously their commitment to the King and His Kingdom, and are willing to take chances, stretch their limits, and try to do things maybe they've never done before--maybe things no one has done before!

Sunday was one of those days! Betty began leading our adult Bible study, Andrea Peck began leading a new adult class for 30-40 year olds, and Rachel Sutherland met with me and Kyle Totive to make plans for a new youth group. (Our youth plan their first mixer to be this Saturday at 7 pm, at the parsonage.) Mike Tunstall and Ruthie Rafus were both primed and ready to serve as deacon of the month. Ruthie won the race to the pulpit, and is serving this month; Mike will serve next month. Both excited and willing to serve!

People willing to serve, willing to lead, willing to work and live a little beyond their comfort level, making sacrifices and doing things that require them to think and pray and maybe even sweat.

People doing things that are important to our King, His Kingdom and the life of the church.

I couldn't be happier, more thankful for my brothers and sisters! Ask me if I'm happy to be part of Calcium Community Church. Aren't you?!?!