It\u2019s been quite a week. \u00a0Having driven my oldest to the airport last week for her move to Europe to teach for \u201cawhile\u201d (she\u2019s ambiguous, just like Jesus), I drove my youngest to the airport this week. \u00a0She\u2019s visiting friends in Germany now, and will take a train to Austria on Sunday, where she\u2019ll begin the five week \u201cUpward Bound\u201d program. \u00a0The program is precious to my wife and I because we ran a sister program in the Cascades during our season living up there and loved it. \u00a0Blending teaching in the Christian life with outdoor experiences is a marvelous way of moving truths out of the notebook into the place where it really counts, which is our day to day living. \u00a0Everything becomes a teachable moment, from the sunrise to the stars, from sharing food, to an aching back, from injuries to a dip in a mountain lake \u2013 we begin to learn that every experience is trying to teach us something<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0That my youngest daughter, who grew up urban, is now falling in love with the mountains, warms my heart. \u00a0That her eyes will be opened to the reality that God is trying to talk to us all the time, through every event \u2013 will this is the priceless part.<\/p>\n Jesus was often frustrated by the people who knew their Bibles the best. \u00a0They could quote the text, debate it, let you know the various nuanced interpretations of it and why theirs was always the best and only true interpretation. \u00a0But, as Jesus points out here, it was never about the text. \u00a0It was always about the person to whom the text is supposed to point. \u00a0It was always about Jesus. \u00a0It still is. \u00a0This doesn\u2019t minimize the importance of the Bible. \u00a0Instead it challenges us to make certain that the end result of our studies is that we become more like Jesus<\/strong><\/em> and less like the religious people who killed him. \u00a0To be more like Jesus means we\u2019ll be better at crossing social barriers and loving people who are different than us. \u00a0It means will be quick to look for ways to bless and serve. \u00a0It means we\u2019ll pray and live in a posture of dependency on Christ, just like Christ was dependent on God the Father.<\/p>\n To do this, we need to learn how to hear what God is trying to say to us each and every day<\/strong><\/em>, because He\u2019s talking through Bible studies and sunrises, through oil spills and visits to the doctor, through failure and success, through weariness and refreshment. \u00a0I\u2019ve a feeling that there are profound moments that fall, like raindrops, and yet we fail to capture them. \u00a0Remember what Jesus says so often: \u00a0\u201care you listening, really listening?\u201d<\/p>\n This week, Jesus has been shouting at me: <\/strong><\/p>\n 1. my kids leaving the continent is a reminder that obedience to Christ will scatter us<\/a>\u2026often. \u00a0If our \u201cgiven\u201d is that we\u2019ll live close to our own children, or that we\u2019ll live where there\u2019s sun, or rain, or mountains, or not, that given might well derail something God might want to do through you or me \u2013 somewhere else. \u00a0Am I open or clinging?<\/p>\n 2. a visit with a man from whom I was purchasing a tiny stand of trees (longer story\u2026someday) resulted in a great new friendship. \u00a0His home exuded the aroma of Christ in every way, and I knew, absolutely, that he was a Christ follower before either of us had said a word about Jesus. \u00a0 I was once again reminded that \u201cThe aroma of Christ\u201d<\/a> is our most powerful and most important testimony.<\/p>\n 3. my time in the Bible reminded me of how vital leadership is, of how \u201cas goes the king, so go the people\u201d. \u00a0Am I being the right kind of person, a person fostering intimacy with Jesus and allowing him to shape me.<\/p>\n 4. An interaction with a friend over a doctrinal difference reminds me that I need to keep listening, keep seeking Jesus, keep that kind of Gore-tex faith that is permeable, open to re-ordering, and protective of the faith that was handed down by previous generations.<\/p>\n I could go on and on, but have other obligations. \u00a0I only share these examples because of what Jesus said: When\u00a0Heapproached\u00a0Jerusalem, He\u00a0saw\u00a0the\u00a0city\u00a0and\u00a0<\/a>wept\u00a0over\u00a0it, saying,\u00a0\u201cIf\u00a0you had\u00a0known\u00a0in\u00a0this\u00a0day,even\u00a0you, the things which make for\u00a0peace\u00a0! But\u00a0now\u00a0they have been\u00a0hidden\u00a0from your\u00a0eyes. \u201cFor the\u00a0days\u00a0will\u00a0come\u00a0upon you <\/em><\/a>when\u00a0your\u00a0enemies\u00a0will <\/em><\/a>throw\u00a0up a <\/em><\/a>barricade\u00a0against you, and <\/em><\/a>surround\u00a0you and\u00a0hem\u00a0you in on\u00a0every\u00a0side, and they will\u00a0level\u00a0you to the\u00a0ground\u00a0and your children\u00a0within\u00a0you, and <\/em><\/a>they will not\u00a0leave\u00a0in you one\u00a0stone\u00a0upon\u00a0another,\u00a0because\u00a0you did not recognize <\/em><\/a>the\u00a0time\u00a0of your\u00a0visitation.\u201d<\/em> Luke 19:41-44<\/p>\n He was speaking to a city that majored in Bible study<\/strong>, but failed to recognize the Messiah when he visited. \u00a0That\u2019s scary, especially for a Bible teacher! \u00a0And so I pray that my eyes and heart will be open to all that God is trying to show through in the next 24 hours: editing a manuscript, cooking a meal, driving, catching up on e-mail, and hosting a soccer party \u2014 it\u2019s all sacred, or can be, if we\u2019ll but be open to what God is trying to say, and capture the truths he imparts.<\/p>\n Master, Teacher \u2013<\/p>\n Thank you for your relentless commitment to reveal your life giving, liberating, transforming truth. \u00a0Forgive the countless moments when I\u2019m deaf and blind. \u00a0Grant, this day, eyes to see, and a heart to respond. \u00a0Allow me to capture the truth before it\u2019s snatched away, so that the fruit of hope, justice, mercy, beauty, peace, and generosity, might be seen in my life with greater clarity. <\/em><\/p>\n Amen \u2013 Amen.<\/p>\n Cheers\u2026<\/p>\n What have you learned from God recently, outside of what you\u2019ve learned in Bible study? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s been quite a week. \u00a0Having driven my oldest to the airport last week for her move to Europe to teach for \u201cawhile\u201d (she\u2019s ambiguous, just like Jesus), I drove my youngest to the airport this week. \u00a0She\u2019s visiting friends in Germany now, and will take a train to Austria on Sunday, where she\u2019ll begin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creation","category-inhaling"],"yoast_head":"\n