That may sound like an odd combination, but I assure you they do have at least one thing in common.

I got to thinking about this tonight as I was watching two of our three teams play in the Kingman Church softball league. Yes you read that right, KCC has fielded three teams this year! Not bad for a church running around 285 or so, and even more unusual when you realize these teams have to have a set number of women on them as well.

They play on Tuesday nights, which means I am there flying the flag and cheering them on and just generally chewing the fat with people in the bleachers. It’s fun, and I enjoy spending the time getting to know people better. I found out tonight that since it’s a church league, and we must always be nice!, that you can’t taunt the other team. One guy did and got yelled at by the ump.

There goes my fun! Just kidding (sort of!).

Just about everything that goes on there is a great illustration of the human need for community. Each team is it’s own little community, which in turn is a part of the larger community of the congregation it’s from. Then there is the “fan” community, as we gather together to cheer on our teams! Beyond that the whole church softball league is a team, as are all the real churches in town since we’re part of God’s Kingdom.

Everywhere you look you see community. Not only in human beings, but everywhere else as well. God’s creatures love communities. From wolf packs, to living communities of coral, it’s all around us.

And of course it’s in the Bible as well. God created man to need woman and family, tribe and nation flowed from that. God commands us to be part of His community the church. Much of the New Testament is about how to live in that community and expand that community to reach out to everyone with the Good News of Jesus!

Community, community, community – you just can’t escape it.

Ever wonder why God is so hot on all this community stuff? What is it about Him that drives Him to make us group together and to value the love, support and accountability that comes from authentic Christian community.

The answer is the Holy Trinity.

No, I’m not kidding! It’s there really it is.

Can’t figure it out? Well don’t worry, because this Sunday I’ll explain to you exactly how the Trinity form community in all of our lives.

Till then think about it and see how it applies to your life okay?

I received a phone call and an e-mail today that got me to thinking – always a dangerous thing!

The call was from a friend of mine who has been fighting for the right for years now. There have been a few ups and a lot of downs. During this time my friend has been discouraged, downcast but ultimately determined not to quit. Well today it paid off in a big way. Now after years of struggle much of what my friend has been saying has been vindicated by an unimpeachable authority.

The e-mail was from another friend, who’s engagement has ended after years of trying to make things work out. It was a long engagement, much of it long distance as well. In the last few years they were living in the same location, but just couldn’t work through their differences.

Two friends, two long struggles, and two different outcomes.

These two people don’t know each other, yet they have much in common. The same faith in Jesus, and a long difficult struggle trying to do what is right.

Whether they know it or not, both have experienced what it’s like to have a strategic faith that takes the long view on things. When you look at the heroes of the Bible, most of them either had a strategic faith or developed one before it was all said and done.

Right now I’m preaching on the life of Nehemiah. In the process I’m rediscovering what an incredible leader he was, and what a strategic faith he had! He took months just to prepare to talk to Artaxerxes! When he finally gets to Jerusalem he takes three days off! Then he sneaks out at night to check out the way with his team.

Only after all that does he cast the vision of rebuilding the way to the people!

Clearly Nehemiah wasn’t in a hurry. He had a strategic faith to see that God is building an eternal kingdom! He’s not interested in throwing things together in an hurry just to get something done. He’s crafting a kingdom which will stand forever.

Even more important, he’s forming a people for that Kingdom who will live forever. His goal is nothing less than making us all like Christ – and that’s not something that can be done in a hurry!

So let’s stop all our whining and complaining about our problems, and let’s ask God to give us a more strategic, long view of things. Only then can we even begin to see our lives the way God sees them. Only then will we be able to appreciate the work that God has undertaken in the life of every person who has sincerely named Jesus as their Lord.

Only then can we experience true joy and peace. For it is in the long, strategic view of life that we can relax, commit ourselves, our souls, our families and friends and reputations and everything else into the patient, almighty hands of God!

Oh Lord, give us this day a strategic faith and a longer view of life! Amen.

Okay, so this whole moving thing has taken a bit more time and effort than I had foreseen. Hey, I’m man enough to admit it – I never thought it would throw me off on my ongoing efforts to review each issue of Thor as it comes out. But it did!

The good news is that since this is my blog and I can what I darn well please on it, it’s okay that I missed a few! That’s one of the things I had to come to terms with in last year with my blogging. Setting goals is good, granting myself permission to mess that up once in a while is even better!

It makes for a happy blogger!

Okay – on to Thor!

Thor 7-8 are a two parter that really sets the stage for the brave new world that Thor has made for his people. We find out several critical things in these two issues, things that I suspect will change the entire Thor ethos for a long time to come.

Odin is dealt with – and JMS has done a superb job on this tough topic. After reading issue 7 I was afraid we were going to be treated to a psychobabble explanation blaming Odin, making him the bad guy, or else that Thor would be tainted with stabbing his father in the back just like Odin had done to his father.

Happily JMS has avoided both of those cheap, easy outs. Instead we are treated to a redemptive story of father and son, with both Thor and Odin healing their relationship while Odin is set free and forgiven for his past, and becomes a sacrificial hero for all of Asgard by choosing to remain in limbo so that Surtur will remain trapped there with him.

Meanwhile JMS treats us to a new understanding to the “relationship” (if that’s the right word) between Thor and his alter ego Don Blake. Not only do they communicate with each other when he is Don Blake, but Blake actually has his own life while Thor is doing the “Odin Sleep” and taking care of business with his Dad.

JMS delves deep into the early Thor stories, and returns Jane Foster to the book. She’s no longer a nurse, but a doctor herself, and there’s lots of complications here that ought to seed many stories down the road.

Please understand that JMS isn’t writing from a Christian or Biblical perspective. Never-the-less there’s lots of great storytelling here, and some biblical themes you can identify with as a Christian.

If he was writing a novel instead of a comic book, I believe it would be highly praised. I’ve commented on the artwork on this series, and it continues to be good, even with substitute artists for the last several issues. But it’s the writing that makes this series the must read it is.

I love that – because I love good fiction writing, and like C.S. Lewis believe it can be an incredible vehicle for telling truth if it’s done right.

I think a lot of Christian fiction writers could learn a lot from this series. I can’t recommend it enough.

A few days after I learned about Larry Norman going home, I decided to honor him in my own little way, by heading over to his online store, and picking up a couple of CD’s.

Boy was I in for a surprise!

Since I own most of his well known stuff I went to the collector and rare CD page to browse around. I thought about picking up two CD’s. I did, but only one was by Larry Norman!

The Norman CD I bought is called Tourniquet, and was released a few years after Stranded In Bablyon. It has nine cuts on it, which is a little sparse. But given how sick Larry was when he made this, I don’t think you can really complain about that.

It starts off with a eco-ballad, and there’s another social issues song towards the end. Both are vintage Norman, linking current events with his apocalyptic view of history. You can all the way back to the late ’60′s and early ’70′s and listen to him discuss the pending end of the world in nearly every interview he did.

Larry took the second coming seriously, which is not a bad thing! My favorite song on the entire CD is Rock The Flock. It’s has a classic Norman verbal hook, “I’m gonna rock the flock, till kingdom come.” It’s a great song about standing up for Jesus and witnessing to everyone, something else Larry was big on.

I highly recommend this!

As I continue scrolling down the page I hit the big surprise – a CD by Mark Heard! I had no idea Larry Norman had any songs recorded by Mark Heard, much less10 of them! And I’ve never heard any of the before!

Here’s how the CD is described on the store site:

When Mark Heard died of a heart attack at age 41, the world lost a musical visionary and Larry lost one of his closest friends. In his short lifetime, Mark released 16 albums, but recorded many more songs which were never released. Until now. A recent foray into the vaults yielded several artifacts that Mark recorded during his time at Solid Rock, some of them never before heard. We’ve included them on this collection of songs written by a true American poet, ten tracks filled with Mark’s trademark wit and wisdom.

“Mark Heard was my dear friend. We were always loyal to each other, which is what you need when things start falling down around you. We continued to work together in the studio almost up to the time of his death. He was perhaps the gentlest and kindest of any musician I have ever known. He never said anything negative about anyone, at least not to me”. – Larry Norman

Heard died in 1992, and I can hardly believe it’s been so long! I was doing Christian Radio back then (as a volunteer – no money there honey!) and we did an entire show in tribute to him when he died far too young!

Mark’s lyrics have always been powerful and spoke to me in a way that’s rare. This CD is what I expected it to be, full of early Heard music, very folky sound. The songs are simple, the musicianship is incredible, and the message is very direct and fairly simple as well.

There’s also a sample of Mark Heard humor on Missionary Pie, which is a plea to God not to send him out to the jungles to be cooked in a missionary pie! Very funny stuff, done in a low key style.

If you like Heard’s music – this is a must have! At $16.98 it’s a steal – go get it!!

These two great men of God have gone home to glory, but their music remains to instruct us, comfort us, shake us out of our comfort zones, and stand as a tribute to the incredible music gifts God gave them.
Thanks Lord for their lives and ministries – I can’t wait to hear them in heaven.

I’ve got an action packed edition of Short Rounds for you this week! Something for just about everyone! Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Stupid Idea of the Week!

I know Vets have different feelings about this, but I also know quite a few of the guys who actually fought on Iwo Jima hated this cover, as do I!

Update On More Stupidity From The Dictators of Myanmar

Junta’s Vote Yes Campaign Backfires - I love this because it shows how out of touch the Junta in Myanmar really is. They don’t know just how much their people hate them.

Burma Plans To Rig Constitution Referendum - No surprise there, as this is the only way they have any chance of winning.

Yet Another Know Nothing Attacks Jesus!

Yep, the director of Basic Instinct is about to publish a book claiming Jesus was the offspring of Mary being raped by a Roman soldier. Not much new here folks, for centuries the Jews claimed Jesus was the offspring of Mary and a Roman soldier named Pantera. Check this out from an article on Judaism on about.com.

A story about a man named Yeshu can be found in the Talmud. There is debate whether this Yeshu in the Talmud is the same Jesus who later became a Christian divinity.

According to the Talmud, Yeshu was the son of a Jewish woman named Miriam who was betrothed to a carpenter. “Betrothed” means she was legally married to him, but she was not yet living with him or having sexual relations with him. The story says that Miriam was either raped by or voluntarily slept with Pandeira, a Greek or Roman soldier. Miriam than gave birth to Yeshu, who was considered a “mamzer” (bastard), a product of an adulterous relationship. The Talmud describes Yeshu as a heretic who dabbled in sorcery and lead the people astray. Later, the Sanhedrin (the Jewish “Supreme Court”) ordered Yeshu stoned to death and his dead body was hung from a tree until nightfall after his death, in accordance with the ancient Jewish punishment for heretics.

So, as is almost always the case, these shocking new ideas, are just old ones, stolen without credit and used to get face time on TV and make some money of course.

Remembering Larry Norman

Top 10 Christian Rock Songs - Nice to see that he listed the Norman classic, “Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus” as number one. I guess someday I’ll have to make my own list, as this one has a lot of clunkers on it. But I’m happy to see Larry as number one – where he belongs! (You can click a link and here the song if you’ve never heard it before.)

Politician Who Continually Misquote the Bible Gets Spanked!

Thanks to Dr. Claude Mariottini for pointing out that Nancy Pelosi is guilty of constantly making up a verse in the Old Testament that isn’t there!

Some Great Blog Posts

Timely Words – great thoughts on 2 Timothy 1:7

Two From Clayton King – The Plague, Confusing Career and Calling – very need thoughts on this one, particularly for younger Pastors.

The Plague – Restoring Honor

Bring Your Best Every Time - Stephen Furtick does it again!

When To Challenge The System - excellent thoughts on when to challenge and when not too from Nelson Searcy.

Willow’s Dangerous Confessions - more thoughts on Willow Creeks Reveal study, and an excellent insight to how to move forward and how not too!

Exponential 3: Alan Hirsch – Some notes from the Exponential Conference that was held this week. Looks like I missed a good one!

A Candid Conversation with Ed Stetzer - Chris Elrod has done us a great service by posting the video of this interview. Whether or not you are southern Baptist (I’m not) there is much to learn from the fact that they have plateaued and are about to decline if they don’t do something soon!

Free Church Graphic Sites

Do I really have to say more??

I read this news story with absolute disbelief! A Christian running for public office goes to an American Nazi Party gather held to honor the birth of Adolph Hitler, and justifies it as a change to share his faith!

Oh Lord save us from this much idiocy we pray! Here’s some of the detailis:

U.S. Congressional candidate Tony Zirkle is facing criticism from one of his primary opponents, and a host of people on the Internet, for speaking at an event over the weekend that celebrated Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

Zirkle confirmed to The News-Dispatch on Monday he spoke Sunday in Chicago at a meeting of the Nationalist Socialist Workers Party, whose symbol is a swastika.

When asked if he was a Nazi or sympathized with Nazis or white supremacists, Zirkle replied he didn’t know enough about the group to either favor it or oppose it.

“This is just a great opportunity for me to witness,” he said, referring to his message and his Christian belief.

Now I know that there’s an incredible amount of ignorance of history among the American populace, but really! If Mr. Zirkle doesn’t know enough about the American Nazi Party to either favor it or oppose it, that tells us a couple of things about him.

1. He is far too ignorant to be elected to any office in this country including dog catcher!
2. He’s a buffoon who lacks the wisdom to hold any office in any country on any planet in the known or unknown universe!
3. He desperately needs to read a book!

I realize I’m being pretty harsh here. No doubt some of you are thinking, “Wow Louie, how can you be so hard on your brother in Christ?”

Which brings me to the teachings of Jesus. Jesus said some pretty amazing things, and He said them in ways that catch our attention and stick in our memory – well sometimes anyway! Too bad these two statements didn’t stick in Mr. Zirkle’s mind.

“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. Matthew 7:6 (ESV)

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16 (ESV)

I’m all for ministering to everyone, and to sharing the Gospel with everyone too. But for a political candidate to speak before this kind of group, well that’s just completely unacceptable. If brother Zirkle wants to reach them for Christ – and I completely agree that Nazi’s need Jesus just like everyone else! – then let him go to them as an individual Christian and share his faith! Not as a candidate!

The truth is Mr. Zirkle isn’t being wise at all by tossing whatever pearls he may have before these pigs. They are only trying to use him, and clearly have succeeded.

So, am I being too tough on this guy?

No, I’m not.

The sad truth is that just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean you can’t be an idiot.

And from painful personal experience, I ought to know.

[Occasionally even the best blogger runs out of things to say. Since I am far from being anywhere near being the best, I do it quite often. What follows is a tradition I've developed here on the Marshian Chronicles, and presenting you with a devotional I've written and used in my ministry sometime in the past. Anybody out there recognize it?]

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)

God does not comfort us to make us comfortable only, but to make us comforters. - Dr. J. H. Jowett

I’m fairly confident that most believers can point to at least one time when they survived a difficult time because of God’s comfort alone. Personally, I can think of several times like that in my life.

So we need to give thanks to God for His care and comfort! We should be ever thankful to God for all He has done for us.

But sometimes, we are afraid to take our pain and difficulties to God. R.A.Torrey summed up why this happens. “We sometimes fear to bring our troubles to God, because they must seem small to Him who sitteth on the circle of the earth. But if they are large enough to vex and endanger our welfare, they are large enough to touch His heart of love. For love does not measure by a merchant’s scales, not with a surveyor’s chain”. – R. A. Torrey

Giving thanks for comfort is giving thanks to God for His amazing love. God’s love isn’t concerned with the bottom line, He never worries about what He’ll get out of it, and He never grows weary over our failures and foibles.

This fact alone ought to result in a Hallelujah Chorus of praise and worship bursting spontaneously from our souls! Thanksgiving should spring from the heart of the believer who is beginning to grasp just how amazing the God we serve truly is.

We give thanks to Him but not for His comfort alone. As Paul and Dr. Jowett remind us, God has a purpose in everything. And His purpose in comforting us isn’t just to make us feel good. God is always pushing us to move beyond our comfort and to live outside ourselves.

We are comforted so that we in turn can be comforters. That’s how we can be Salt ‘N Light – God’s comfort continually renews and enables us to share the healing love of Jesus with everyone around us.

Well I am back from Havasu and having my skin cancer cut out.

Before I go any further let me say this – If you are squeamish and/or easily upset, DO NOT click the continue reading link below. That’s where I’ll post the picture of how my mouth looks!

Okay – everything went very well, and quickly. I was first up, so they ushered me in and numbed me up real good! Then Dr. Reaves explained what she was going to do and did it. She cut quite a bit more than last time, as I knew she would. Happily I can report almost no pain was involved except for just one little bit when she was stopping the bleeding by burning it. Having the incision right under the nose made for some powerful bad smell too!

I waited for just over an hour and got the good news – they got it all on the first shot! Whooo Hoooo!

Then Dr. Reaves sat down and went over the three options I had for how to deal with the hole left from the incision. Two were surgical repairs, and the third was doing nothing, let it heal and see how it comes out. I really appreciated how she honestly talked things over with me. She reminded me of my amazing doctor in Parker, Dr. Astran.

I’ve been blessed to have doctors take care of me who take the time to explain things to me so that I can make clear choices. In case you’re wondering, I opted for the third choice, let it heal naturally. She said if I don’t like it she can always do one of the other two. But for now that’s the path I’m on.

Okay – I know some of you are wondering what this looks like so I’m going to show you.

Be warned – it’s a little grody so be prepared!

Seriously – I’m warning you! Don’t click the link unless you really want too!

Read more »

I took the title of this post from a book by Gene Getz, The Measure of a Man has been around a long time now. You might also want to check out this article from Rick Warren on God’s model for manhood.

I was thinking about this today, probably because I just got back from the Men’s Retreat, and due to a hectic day spent chasing about 30 different things, my mind is a mess tonight!

What should a Christian man be? I mean from a Biblical perspective, how do you figure that out? I think a lot of people might think this is an easy question. And I know some other people who would think it’s a silly question.

Personally I think it’s a good one.

After all when you look at the Bible and especially the New Testament, most of the commands found there are directed to both men and women. Sure there are some things aimed at one sex or the other, particularly when it comes to marriage and child rearing. But aside from that, there’s not really much.

You don’t find any of the writers in the New Testament saying something like, “Okay now, listen up people! Men, you have to act like this, think in this way and feel like this. But you women, well you have to think, act and feel differently!”

I suspect that you don’t find those type of discussions in the Bible because they just weren’t necessary, and because God honors the differences between cultures. Unlike Islam, which essentially forces all of it’s converts to become Arabs, Christianity honors the many cultures it encounters and within the confines of Biblical morality and truth, allows and even encourages believers to be part of their culture.

There’s quite a few books out on this topic today. This is mainly because our culture has confused gender roles so much that no one is quite sure what they are supposed to do and be. Heck, we’re not just confusing genders – we’re inventing new one!

No wonder we’re confused!

I think that the easiest way to answer this question is to to a couple of things:

1. Follow your heart and personality. Let’s face it, all men aren’t the same, and neither are all women! Some of us are quiet, some loud, some outgoing, some introverted, etc. You can be a real man and be any of these things. Real men don’t have to be loud, or just like their Pastor or some guy on TV or in the movies either.
2. Let Jesus be your role model and guide. Jesus was the Son of God. He was God in human flesh. But He was also a man! An authentic, human male, with all the hormones, impulses and drives associated with that. As a man, I can look to Jesus first, and other male role models in the Scriptures, and draw strength, encouragement and direction from them. (And yes ladies, you can do the same with the great women heroes in the Bible!)

Past that I leave it to you. What do you think? Try my new comments routine, you all should be able to comment now. Let me know what you think okay?

Hi all.

I know several of you have had trouble getting your comments through, so I’ve changed how I’m doing them now. I’m going to try and use a new feature with WordPress 2.5 to see if it works.

So give commenting a shot and let’s see if you can get in now!

Sorry for the troubles, if this doesn’t work I’ll try something else!