'Elemental' Gospel: Fire

I am starting a 5-part series on the 'elements,' that is, taking a look at the common elements (earth, fire, air, water) as well as a 5th element I've always believed should be included with those (time). I think these elements were included in the mandate from God to 'subdue the earth' in Genesis. Mankind has in some form or fashion subdued four of these five, but there is a man who has conquered all five. These posts will be longer than my usual posts, but hopefully they will be an easy, thought-provoking read.

Fire

Lightning flashes across the sky as he lumbers through the forest to his dwelling. Just as he enters the shelter of the cave, he throws up his hands and cowers as he is startled by a thunderous BOOM immediately to his left. Turning to see what the cause was, he sees a tree covered in dancing orange light. Fear grabs at him, but curiosity grabs harder, and he makes his way closer. A branch from above falls to his feet, the end of it also covered with this dancing light. He tries to touch the light only to pull back from the heat. Grabbing the other end of the branch, he carries it back to his cave to show the others.....

Many people believe that this is how 'man' discovered fire. But many people also believe that the 'man' in the story is a descendant of some primordial goo. In the Biblical account of man's history, the first mention of fire is the flaming sword wielded by the cherubim to keep man away from the tree of life. Fire is a chemical reaction in which the fuel is transformed into heat, light, and smoke.

In nature, fire can be both incredibly harmful and incredibly beneficial. Consider a forest fire started by a lightning strike. It destroys acres of trees and many animals lose their homes. But it also 'resets' the area and new life quickly springs up. In fact, there are certain pine trees whose cones will only release their seeds in the presence of the intense heat of a fire.

While mankind struggles to contain out-of-control fires, largely we have subdued this element. In fact, it is highly likely you have used fire in some form today! We use it for heat, protection (in the wilderness), cooking, comfort, generating electricity, powering the car you drive, and for a multitude of other things.

BUT fire is still a source of fear for many, and for good reason. Fire is very hot, and it is very easy to get burned. Healing from a bad burn is an incredibly painful process, leaving many scars. So while we may have subdued fire, we certainly have not conquered it.

This is a true story:
There once was a very proud king who had his servants build a gigantic golden statue and proclaimed it god. He had servants play music to call everyone who heard it to bow down and worship the statue. The penalty for not bowing down and worshiping was death....death by fire. They would be thrown into a furnace whose fires were kept alive as a reminder of what waited for them. But there were three men who knew that this statue was not worthy of worship. They knew that it was just a statue, that it was NOT a god, so they did not bow down and worship. Servants of the king reported what those men failed to do, and the king was furious. He called the men to him and ordered them to bow when the music was played. Again, they did not bow, despite having heard the king order that the furnace be heated seven times hotter. They told the king that they only bowed to and worshiped the True God, and that He had the power to save them from the fire. They told him, "Even if he doesn't save us, we still won't bow and worship." The king, in a furious rage, told the soldiers to throw the men into the furnace. The heat was so intense that the soldiers who carried out the orders were killed as they got too close to the flames. The king thought that was the end of it, but something in the fire caught his eye....it was the three men walking around amongst the flames! But as he stared into the furnace, he realized it was FOUR men, and the fourth looked like a son of the gods! He called for the men to come out, and as the three men came out, he was astonished to see that they were completely unharmed, and they didn't even smell like smoke! The king knew then that the God the men worshiped really was the True God, and he recanted his order to worship the statue.


I believe the fourth man in the fire was Jesus Christ. He is the God whom those three men worshiped, and he not only rescued them from the flames, he was with them the whole time. Jesus is the only man who not only subdued fire, but who has truly has conquered fire.

~~~~

(if you'd like to read the rest of the story, it can be found in chapter 3 of the book of Daniel)

Breathing

Yesterday I went on a strenuous hike, and in anticipation of it, I took a couple of puffs on my inhaler. You see, I have asthma. It's really not a bad case, and most of the time it's not even on my radar. I only remember it when I do something extreme...like go for an intense hike, or play sports, etc. But every time I inhale that medication, I am amazed at how easy it is to breathe!

I think that I generally operate at around 90% of my breathing capacity, and while that's plenty for my everyday life, that extra 10% I get from the medication is astounding. I feel like I could inhale forever. At the point where I usually switch from inhaling to exhaling, I feel like I just started inhaling. When I 'take a puff' I often have to take a few moments and adjust to the new freedom I'm experiencing.

Anyway, yesterday as I was reveling in the new levels of oxygenation I was reaching, I was reminded about how I have been given the Breathe of Life, and how easy it is to become comfortable Breathing less than 100%. As a human, I need oxygen to live, and as a Christian, I need Jesus to Live. But just like living with asthma, it's very easy to Live on less than 100%. The more I 'Breathe' Jesus, the more capacity I have for Breathing. I know the analogy isn't perfect, but it makes a lot of sense to me. :-)

Take time to listen to this song and ponder what it means.....

St. Patrick's Day 5K

Last weekend I organized a 5K for where I work. I'm trying to do this once a quarter, and the St. Patrick's Day 5K was my second attempt. We had a great turnout, and everyone commented positively on it (except for Jon - the fastest guy, who complained that it was uphill the whole way out. We're talking about 150ft elevation gain in 1.5 miles, and it made it downhill the whole way back!)

Needless to say, it was a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to the next one. Here are some pictures of everyone who participated. Enjoy!

Fatherhood

Last night Rachel and I went to a Childbirth Preparation class at the hospital we'll be using. We went on a tour of the birthing center so we'd be somewhat familiar with the layout when we're there in a few weeks. Part of the tour was visiting the nursery where we were able to look inside and see a couple of babies. One of the babies had been born within the last hour and the father was there with a nurse giving his new son his first bath.

We were there for about ten to fifteen minutes, and I was captivated by the father and son. I felt like I had a glimpse into the future, because soon, I would be that man giving my son his first bath. As the minutes wore on, I noticed a change take place in the man. I cannot quite put my finger on it, but there was a noticeable change that took place as I watched. I don't know what all was going on in his mind, but it seemed like he went from being amazed at the new life before him to realizing that this was his son, that he was a father. He may not have even been aware of the change taking place, but the man we walked away from was a different person from the man who was there when we arrived.

I know a lot of things are going to be changing over the next several months, and I have given a lot of thought to the different areas, but I don't think I have given much thought to how I will be changed. I knew our family dynamics will be different, our lifestyles will be different, our choices will be different, but I didn't grasp that somehow I will be different.

It really makes me stop and wonder in what ways that change is going to be apparent.

Wake up call

This morning I really blew it....

It started out like every other morning, woke up, showered, got dressed, and otherwise got ready for the day. Rachel was stirring and we talked a bit about what I should take for lunch, and everything was peachy. I headed into the kitchen to make my sandwich, and Rachel hollers out from the bedroom, "There it is!"

"There what is?" I reply as I open the bag of homemade bread to put some meat and cheese on it. I realized that I was running a bit behind and really needed to get moving since I had a phone call to Spain scheduled.

"Do you hear it?" She calls back just as I realize that the homemade bread wasn't going to work. It was too fluffy and was almost falling apart in my hands.

"Hear WHAT?" I yell in my frustration over my failed sandwich attempt. I reached for the store-bought bread instead and started yanking out slices of bread.

"It's the woodpecker."

"Rachel, I'm trying to make my lunch!" I angrily yell back at her. (To be fair, I wasn't mad or frustrated at her. I was angry at the bread, which seems really silly now.)

I was answered by dead silence. My heart dropped and I knew I had messed up. I took a deep breath, calmed myself, finished my sandwich, and told myself that it would be better to get to work late and resolve this than it would be to get to work on time. I walked down the hallway and into the bedroom to see tears running down my wife's face. I sat on the bed and said those two little words, "I'm sorry." There was no excuse for my behavior, no rational explanation for my outburst, just "I'm sorry."

Thankfully I have an awesome wife who understands how messed up I am. She forgave me, and I asked her if she'd like to go look at the woodpecker. We walked out into our backyard and saw the little critter. It was banging away on one of the metal vents on our roof. I swear, that's the craziest woodpecker I have ever seen. I have watched it do the same thing on all the neighboring houses, and I can't figure out why it chooses to bang its beak on all those metal surfaces. We laughed at its antics and commented, "at least it's not tearing up the wood."

I made it to work on time for my phone call, and everything went smoothly. Interestingly enough, during the conversation, my coworker in Spain gave me some advice about living with a newborn. He said that there will likely come a point where Rachel and I will both be so tired we'll start snapping at each other over the silliest of things. It may be two weeks, it may be two months, but I need to watch out for when that time comes and be extra careful in my words and actions.

That is so true! This morning's mess up was a wake up call to what's coming. Not only in my interaction with my wife, but also in regards to my interaction to my kids.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29)