Just 22 Days...

That''s all. 22 days. Roll Tide!

I Got You

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. (Ecclesiastes 3:1) 

Gimme lazy days with nothing better to do 
than singin oh black water keep on rolling while I wait for you 
I don't care if it rains, I'll be just fine, 
I'm leaving the ghosts behind until I got you I got you. (I Got You - Train)

Train is one of my favorite bands, and the song I Got You has gotta be close to the top of the list of their best songs - at least to me. There are several reasons I think. The music is great, as always with Train. I think the thing that got my attention the first time I heard it though was the sampling from the Doobie Brothers' Black Water. The song even starts with it. I've always loved that song, so embedding it in new music...well, just awesome.

But the more I listened to it, the more I liked the lyrics too. More on that in a moment. If you've got about 3:48, take a listen:

 

Ok, if you didn't know the song already, you paid attention, right? So here's a song about a couple that is destined to be together. It goes through two verses about how they just missed each other. But the really cool thing is that in between the verses (not just at the end when things get "solved"), the writer expresses confidence that everything was always destined to work out. Using phrases like "lazy days with nothing better to do", "I don't care if it rains", "sit back and enjoy the ride", he expresses an a attitude of confidence in the future. Not stress, worrying, or anxiety. Confidence. He doesn't have her yet, but..does he? "I got you", he says. Way before the end.

And all through it, he uses the Doobies' musical image of the Mississippi River rolling on as a symbol of how he can just let time pass because history...and life...is going to roll on and it's all gonna be ok. Love. It.

Of course, what the song doesn't say is why we can have such confidence in the future. Destiny? Fate? No, I am convinced that it is the hand of a Sovereign God who wants the best for his children. Worry about the future? Nah, because he said, "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7) And, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation...with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6)

Think about it - with thanksgiving. Isn't that so the attitude of the song?

You know, clearly for me this song isn't about finding my soul mate. (At least not yet.) And that's very cool because it makes the meaning so much broader. It means that while we're letting the black water roll, we aren't waiting for our plan - we're waiting for his. I don't know what that plan is, but I know it's exactly what I need. It may take longer than we would like. It may not even be what we had in mind. But it's perfect.

I don't know the future, but I know who holds it.

I can't wait!!

Ummm, oh yeah, I can. That's kinda the point.

Well, this is different

Ok, well I'm used to going to these things. Actuarial conferences - full of other math geeks like myself who analyze risk. In this case, we all work for Farm Bureau insurance companies, so we can exchange ideas, get continuing education credit, and yes...have some fun. (Yes, actuaries can have fun.)

But the thing is that I'm usually a guest at these things. Today, we arrived a day early so that we could unload and set up all the registration bags. Those things are supposed to just, you know, be here when I arrive. Somebody has to this work?

Yes, they do. At every conference I attend. People make reservations, set up dinners, arrange activities and speakers, line up sponsorships, and yes, arrive early to do work. And they spend the whole conference worrying about whether it's meeting up to everyone's expectations.

But I don't usually think about that. Because until it's my turn, I am a victim of the self-centered thinking that is so common in the human race. If it doesn't affect me, I don't think about it.

From now on I'll know. I'll think about all the work that's done so I can have a successful conference and yes, have a good time. And I will be more thankful.

In the meantime, I wouldn't mind some prayers that it goes smoothly. We're just getting started.

Just typical pool conversation

The other day I was at my sister's house, taking a swim in her pool. It was a hot day, the kind of day that pools were invented for. So maybe it's the fact that it was hot. But for whatever reason, the conversation I was having with a friend turned to hell.

Yep - typical lazy summer conversation at the pool.

It really wasn't the heat. I had just finished reading a couple of books on the subject, books that were written in response to Rob Bell's book Love Wins. The books were Francis Chan's Erasing Hell and Mark  Galli's God Wins. Whatever else you think about Bell's book, you have to give it credit for this: it has gotten Christians to talk about a subject that demands discussion but that we like to avoid. Everywhere, followers of Jesus are having conversations about their beliefs on our eternal destinies.

So here is the specific question we were discussing: How can eternal punishment be proportional to sins committed in a finite lifetime? And even more to the point, how does the cross pay the eternal penalty for us, given that it was suffering and death for a finite period of time?

Deep? Sure. So was the pool.

Anyway, the conversation was so interesting, I thought I would share a couple of points from it here.

First and foremost, we cannot possibly understand how such things work. The mind of God is infinite and ours are so limited. For me to try to understand the mind of God would be like my dog trying to understand mine. Except that the gap is so much greater than that.


"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
   neither are your ways my ways,” 
            declares the LORD. 
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, 
   so are my ways higher than your ways 
   and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)


But that didn't keep us from trying. so here's a concept we came up with. It's probably soooooo far short of the truth, but it helped me get my arms around it a little:


God is infinite, and created everything, including time. He is above time and not limited to our timeline. For him, all of history is simultaneous because he cannot be bound by something he created. Based on this, I think it is reasonable to think of the cross this way: Jesus entered history and went to the cross for our sin and because of that moment, his eternal nature was, is, and will be enduring our punishment for all time. Because for him, that moment always exists. In other words, he took our eternal punishment on himself because for him, his substitutionary death exists for all eternity. It is always "now" to him.


There are hints of this concept in the Bible. Any time his eternal nature is mentioned, it's implied. But the biggest hint (as my friend pointed out) is in Revelation 13:8, where it refers to the Lamb "who was slain from the creation of the world".


Hard to understand? Yep. Even if it's on the right track, it's only a shadow of the actual truth. But it helps me get my arms around the fact that the cross is big enough to pay for all the world's sin for all eternity. And it also helps me see that the idea of eternal punishment for people is something that God has taken on himself, and therefore any judgment by us that it's somehow unfair is out of place. If so, God was unfair to himself.


I think it's time to move to the shallow end.