by Randal Matheny

"Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes" (Psalm 119.23, NRSV).

Eastern religions understand meditation as an emptying of one's mind and soul. The goal is nothingness. The mantra, a syllable, word, or phrase repeated in meditation, seeks to disconnect the chanter from the world around and separate him from this reality.

According to the Scriptures, meditation seeks to fill the depth of the human soul with God's word. The goal is Christlikeness, or godli(ke)ness. The concentration in God's statutues takes into account the reality of our experience and serves as delightful counsellor to the righteous (Psalm 199.24).

Here's a short list of what meditation is or seeks to do for the Christian. You can add to it.

• The wait until the mind brings me deeper meanings or extended applications of Scripture for my daily life.

• The expectation of opening new horizons of comprehension and action.

• The confrontation of the Word with the soul, in all its weaknesses, pride, fears, and anxieties (Ps. 119.11, 59).

• The apprenticeship of learning who I am (Jas. 1.22-25).

• The absorption of truth, so as to think, speak, and act automatically or instinctively by its guidance.

• The preliminary to courage and success (Josh. 1.5-9, Ps. 119.23-24, 78, 95).

• The hiding of the word of God in the depths of the heart, in order that, from within, may flow rivers of living water (Ps. 119.112, John 7.38).

• The discovery of the Savior's nearness.

• The effort to give up effort.

• The questioning of how the Word may come to my side, to my aid.

• The search to please the Lord in my integrity (Ps. 19.14).

• The feeding of gladness and pleasure in the goodness of God (Ps. 119.15-16, 18, 47-48).

• The dependence on the Lord's purpose for my life (Ps. 119.27).

• The sunrise of wisdom (Ps. 119.97-100).

Meditation is the lost art of faith, the forgotten article of devotion. Busyness has crowded out contemplation. The life run by a task-oriented agenda has squelched reflection.

And we are the poorer for its lack.

Stop today, turn off the gadgets, lock yourself into the bathroom or bedroom or hide in the woods. Get alone with God, hear the Word speak, and ponder its meaning.

Ponder well. From such deep thoughts flow the springs of life.

by Randal Matheny

Yesterday Brazil won its fifth World Cup championship. Here in Sao Jose dos Campos, the celebrations seemed calmer than in past wins. Maybe the Brazilians are getting used to winning. Old hat. After all, nobody had ever won four championships. Now, with five wins under its belt, Brazil is in a class all by itself.

Perhaps that's what Paul means in Romans 8:37 when he says that Christians are "more than conquerors through him who loved us" (NIV).

What does it mean to be more than a conqueror?

F. F. Bruce says the word means "super-conquerors." Emil Brunner claims this strong and untranslatable expression signifies "excessively victorious." It could mean a supreme victory or a most glorious victory.

Maybe it's "all of the above."

The context of Romans 8:37 is opposition. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Paul asks rhetorically.

With Christ, we have also been given all things. As a result, nobody or nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. Nobody. Nothing.

The Christian family is not a five-time winner. It is an all-time winner. An every-time winner. In a class by itself.

Want to join the team?

by Randal Matheny

I am incomplete without you. That incompleteness has been expressed in many ways. "No man is an island." Luciano De Crescenzo put it this way, "We are each of us angels with only one wing. And we can only fly embracing each other."

Solomon said it more practically.

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Eccl. 4:9-12, NIV

One of the most common feelings in the world must be loneliness. For to be truly human is to share, and share deeply.

But sharing means risk. Risk causes fear. And fear gives greater weight to the dangers than the blessings.

In the body of Christ (an image that makes us feel our incompleteness), Jesus' invitation softens the risk and highlights the blessings.

You can run away from Jesus, and you will be lonely. You may refuse the fellowship, friendship, and cooperation in the kingdom of God available only in the church, and you will remain alone.

In Christ is life. In the Body is the flight of freedom.

I am an angel with one wing. Embrace me.

by Randal Matheny

[Note: The following is a slightly revised post I made to a discussion list. I removed the names and a few references, to protect us all. So the style is very much a chat, but I don't think you lose anything in the flow of it.]

Just from the various posts, one can see the differing views about the gospel of Christ. I am pleased that on such a sensitive subject everyone at this discussion board is irenic and pleasant. That's a spirit we all want to preserve, whatever the topic. Now, I might wish that we could just believe whatever we wanted about Christ and let things go at that. Except that my opinion is not worth a hoot, because, as a limited human being full of error, I just don't know what I need to know.

So I appreciate what several others have said about the importance of studying the Bible. Especially about getting a concordance and doing your own study. In God's eyes, the Beareans were more "noble" than the Thessalonians because they studied the Scriptures for themselves to see if the things being preached (and that by the apostle Paul! -- though they didn't know him from Adam) were actually so (Acts 17:11).

Also, the emphasis on Jesus death, burial and ressurrection is right on. That's the central element of the faith (see, for example, Acts 2:14-47, Romans 1:14-17, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, 15:1-7; 1 Peter 2:21-25, 3:18). Everything tied to it is of highest importance. And two of the commandments tied directly to his death that we need to give close attention to are baptism (Romanos 6:1-14, Mark 16:15-16) and the Lord's Supper (Matthew 26:26-30, Acts 20:7).

Speaking of commandments, I appreciated also the emphasis on receiving the gospel by faith and not trying to earn our salvation by works (see Ephesians 2:1-10). Paul is clear on that in Romans and Galatians. No one is good enough to get God's approval.

At the same time, it's important for us to realize that works of righteousness are very different from obedience to the gospel commands. As one small example, here's Hebreus 5:9: "and, once made perfect, he [Jesus] became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." Jesus, I think most will agree except the univeralists, does not save everybody. He can and desires to save all. But he won't against our will. This verse affirms that, like 1 Timothy 4:10, God "is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe." He can save all. He will save those who believe. The text cited above from Hebrews brings us the truth also that believing implies obedience. Jesus saves those -- and only those -- who obey him. That means I need to know what he did on the cross, what my sins do to me, and what I need to do to receive the gospel.

Now, I've been giving you some passages of the Bible, because everything I do in the gospel has to have a basis in Scripture. We have to let Scripture speak for itself, and not depend on some person's interpretation, as Gail well said. Of course, even the devil quotes Scripture, so somebody reeling off a bunch of passages is no guarantee. We have to check (concordance again) how the Bible uses its own words, the context, who's speaking, all that common sense stuff so often ignored.

So I hope these words will encourage you not to take anybody's word for it, not even mine. This subject of faith is so serious, more so than many would let on. It's not like picking a car to buy, because a Ford or Chevrolet or Honda or whatever will (usually) get us there. But because of the eternal nature of the gospel, let's make sure we've got the real thing (Galatians 1).

This post is lengthy, but I trust it may be helpful to you. Be sure my prayers go up in your behalf.

by Randal Matheny

Knowledge is power. Time is money. Sex is ... well, sex. Like translating matter to energy, man takes the gifts of God and turns them into monsters.

God made everything good. He stopped at intervals during creation and saw that his handiwork was good. When he finished, he stood back and looked and saw that it was very good.

There are those who misuse and abuse God's good gifts. God made everything for the right place and time. Knowledge to appreciate better God's work in the world and to walk with him. Power to earn one's living, care for one's family, and serve one's neighbor. Money for the fair exchange of goods and services. Sex within marriage for intimacy and procreation.

Then there are those who, perceiving the abuse of these good gifts, think forbidding their use will remedy it.

Paul spoke of the hypocrisy of those who "forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth" (1 Tim. 4.2-3, NASB).

The present scandal among Catholic priests seems to present one case of the futility of religious laws against enjoying God's blessings within their proper bounds. But this is just the hem of the garment.

The world howls at the Catholic Church for covering up these horrible crimes, and rightly so. At the same time, those same finger-pointers are up to their elbows in power struggles, money grabbing, fame games, and multiple marriages. And their religions, if they have any, rubber-stamp it all with a veneer of respectability.

Where does that leave you and me? With opposite-end reminders that God's gifts are not to be lavished for one's own appetites, nor nailed shut to keep anybody from spoiling them.

Paul continued his argument above. "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer" (v. 4-5).

The prayer of thanksgiving made in harmony with God's revealed truth knows, by means of God's will, the proper use of the gift, be it food, the marriage bed, money, or power.

So holiness is not aceticism. Neither is true liberty found in libertinism.