Speaking Of Life 2043 | Belly of the Whale
Greg Williams

In 1891, in the black, cold waters off the Falkland Islands, a whaling boat was attacked by a giant sperm whale. One of the sailors went missing. A day later—or a few days depending on who you ask—the whale was captured and its stomach cut open. Here’s a report from one of the sailors on deck: “Out came a boot on a trousered leg and there was James Bartley….” His skin was bleached white and he was nearly blinded by the digestive acids in the whale’s stomach. He went on to live another 18 years and now rests under a tombstone which reads, “James Bartley – a Modern Day Jonah.”

Well, whatever you might think of this fascinating story, it certainly sticks in your mind. There’s been plenty of doubt cast on it, as well as several retellings that don’t quite add up, and yet it’s still an image that stays with us. Almost everyone knows the story of Jonah and the whale—a story that should make us think and rethink about the way we look at God and the way we look at our place in the grand narrative of the world.

Jonah is unique because it is essentially a story of a story. Most prophet books are about the words the prophet brings. This book is about the prophet who brings the words. The wider context is important: Jonah was sent to Nineveh to tell them to repent. Nineveh was a sworn enemy of Israel. Jonah didn’t want to see them repent and be saved from destruction, so he fled to sea. When a violent storm arose, he told the sailors he was to blame and they should cast him overboard.

He was swallowed by a whale and regurgitated on land three days later. He fulfilled the mission he was given and then got angry when the city repented and God forgave them.

He screams out at God at the end of the book:

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
Jonah 4:1-2 (ESV)

Even after Jonah tried to commit suicide, God turns the whole thing on its head to get his merciful will done. The underlying message here is that God will use anything—even a lost whale with indigestion—to bring us, and others through us, to himself. That’s good news!

Have you ever been swallowed up? Spat back on the sand with your skin bleached white and your eyes nearly blinded? God can use every one of our belly-of-the-whale circumstances: addiction, challenging relationships, sickness, to meet us again and again. He can use anything to fulfill the purpose he has in you. So where and how is God meeting you?

I’m Greg Williams. Speaking of life.

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Speaking Of Life 2042 | Ripples in the World
Cara Garrity

Have you ever skipped stones across a body of water? If you do it just right, the stone jumps across the water a few times before it finally sinks. When it does sink, the stone sends ripples through the surface of the water.

I like to think about my words as stones that I’m throwing out into the world. In this day of social media, we can think about our words (or our posts) as stones that we are casting out into our communication world—both in and out of the social media “lake.” It might seem funny to start a lot of ripples with a witty judgmental post or two, especially if you’re feeling bored and out of touch. Or to spread some juicy gossip as some real-life cyber warfare. But the Bible encourages us to consider how offhand comments might be a form of judging others; and can certainly be interpreted as judgmental.

When the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome, they were struggling with judging each other based on what they were willing to eat. Some preferred vegetarianism and others would eat meat. Here’s how the apostle Paul addressed their issue with judging each other:

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
Romans 14:1-4 (NRSV)

Paul makes an important point that the issues we often tend to judge others on are not that important to God, and if they are important, the truth will be revealed to them in God’s time.

What type of ripples are you sending out into the world with your words—either spoken or written? Let’s consider the intent and impact of our words, and may we send out ripples of positive communication full of gentleness and joy, reflecting the great love of Jesus for all human beings everywhere.

I’m Cara Garrity, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking Of Life 2041 | Putting On Christ
Greg Williams

If you spend any time in the letters of Paul, you see a pastor’s heart. Paul spends long periods of time in all the places he went as a missionary—sometimes months, sometimes years—and then he spent more years discipling them through his letters.

His connection to the churches reminds me of the bonds I shared with the congregation I pastored for 15 years. When they were sending me off with an appreciation lunch one of the leaders said, “We are not only losing a pastor but a friend as well.”

Paul became their friend. And sometimes as their friend, Paul was the gentle guide, encouraging almost any amount of progress. Other times he was the football coach telling folks to lead, follow, or get out of the way! He sometimes used stern words to encourage these fledgling churches toward transformation.

In Romans 13, among several other places, he touches on this theme:

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Romans 13:14 (ESV)

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put on the Lord Jesus’ thoughts. Put on his actions; put on his love. This was a constant theme for Paul: you are in Christ, nothing is going to change that, now BE who you already ARE.

It isn’t something you work up on your own power. It is saying yes to the one who first said yes to you. It is returning love to the one who first loved you.

Then Paul, through the presence and power of Jesus in him, coaches, encourages, prods, and pokes them to transform into the image of Christ by imitating Christ as they walk in relationship with him.

It reminds me of the scene in The Shack where Jesus and the main character, Mack, walk on water. At first, Mack is tentative, even holding onto Jesus, and then together they vigorously run across the lake. When they are preparing to return, Mack presses his foot against the water’s surface and Jesus glances over and says this powerful phrase “It always works better when we do it together, don’t you think?”

Later, Jesus adds to the conversation, “If you try to live this without me, without the ongoing dialogue of us sharing this journey together it will be like trying to walk on the water by yourself you can’t! And when you try, however well-intentioned, you’re going to sink.”

How can we continue the ongoing dialogue in our friendship with Jesus? How can we imitate him and begin to see transformation in our daily lives? Start by seeing others as God’s beloved and yield to the Spirit’s encouragement to always respond in love. Then watch a change happen in your own life. What habits, addictions, and unkind behavior are being healed as you “put on Christ”?

It is in the daily walk and relationship with Jesus in which we are formed. May you enjoy your walk with Jesus today and every day forward. And don’t try walking on water without him.

I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking of Life 2040 | Stopping the Spin
Heber Ticas

The saying “the truth lies somewhere in the middle” is often used to explain how we each bring our own perspective about reality to any situation. If you have kids, you know this. A fight starts between siblings, and each one says, “He started it” or “She started it.” As a parent you know the truth is somewhere in the middle of those accusations.

Our interpretation of reality is partially defined by our unique life experiences and our temperament, and we find this is also true in how we think about our Christian lives.

We know that being human has its highs and lows. This is the reality of all of humanity and the Bible shares this reality. The Psalms, for example, are filled with hope and joy and encouragement, but they also sometimes have lots of anger and vengefulness. This is part of our human experience. These highs and lows can affect how we see God.

If we look at Psalm 105, we can see the psalmist is giving God glory for wonderful blessings poured out on the nation of Israel, but then the psalmist puts his own spin on Israel’s history:

The Lord made his people very fruitful;
he made them too numerous for their foes,
whose hearts he turned to hate his people,
to conspire against his servants.
Psalm 105:24-25

Notice how the psalmist blames God for the anger of the Israelites’ foes, saying “whose hearts he turned to hate his people.” Does a God of love really want people to hate each other? We can see that in passages like this one, the writer is playing on the human drama of the situation rather than speaking literally about how God behaves.  If we think about this in human terms, we parents can say that we would much prefer our children get along rather than fight.

Noticing our very human tendency to put our own spin on what we experience can help us when we start telling ourselves unhelpful and untrue stories about God. For example, when we’re faced with a job loss or a financial setback, do we think we’re being punished by God? If we face a serious illness, do we assume that we have sinned in some way, and this illness is our payback?

Noticing our tendency to interpret events as if God is against us can help us stop and gain perspective. We can consider what we know about God’s character, which is based on grace, and goodness. We can remember the kindness and love of Jesus in his dealings with people, and how Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9, NIV). We can think about the times that we felt God’s nearness and blessing, recalling those memories in all their detail. Positive actions like these can help us overcome the negative spin we sometimes put on difficult events in our lives.

Being human is hard, and challenges often crop up in our lives. Recognizing our tendency to blame God or others when we’re hurting can help us make different choices. We can “stop the spin” by remembering God’s love and kindness to us in our past.

Let us recognize and rest in the truth about God’s love for us today.

I’m Heber Ticas, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking of Life 2039 | Sing the Story Again
Greg Williams

For a decade of my life, I worked with Youth for Christ, a worldwide youth movement engaging young people around the world with God’s story. In fact, their model for describing evangelism was called “Three Story Evangelism.” Three Story is a relational style of sharing the gospel showing how my story, my friend’s story and God’s story all overlap, and especially so in how the Lord of the universe is pursuing humanity.

The Old Testament writers were well aware of how God’s presence intersected in their collective stories. Notice these words from the prophet Isaiah:

Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the LORD. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many. Isaiah 51:1-2 (NRSV)

Isaiah’s words ring with a common biblical practice: memory. Remember who you are. Remember the quarry you were cut from, the story of Abraham and Sarah, the promise that they would outnumber the stars.

Throughout the Psalms, the poets retell the stories of the patriarchs and heroes to encourage the community. Or they sing through the truths of the faith to bring them back to mind. In many places, the psalmists sing praises for things God has brought them through. In other places, the psalmists encourage the community to hang on through hard times, knowing that God will show his faithfulness again.

When the early church met in homes, they told and re-told the stories of Jesus and read the letters of Paul and the other apostles. In a society in which only part of the people were literate, the stories would be memorized and recited to keep their new identity and new story in front of them.

And so, we meet today. We connect ourselves with the epic of gospel history as we meet to tell ourselves the great story. Then we encourage each other by sharing how God has entered our story in everything from mundane blessings to amazing red sea experiences in our lives. Telling and re-telling the story helps us to keep faith in focus.

How can we tell the story again today? How do we keep these truths in front of our mind’s eye? How can we, like the psalmist, look back to God’s goodness and look forward in trust?

Let’s sing the story of God’s goodness, again and again, until it becomes the theme and music of our entire lives.

I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking of Life 2038 | Double Booked
Michelle Fleming

Have you ever made the same promise to two different people? In our fast-moving world we may easily do this unintentionally. Like promising to meet a friend for dinner only to remember you already told another friend you would help her with a project. Or maybe you promised to take your daughter to a movie the same night you scheduled to watch your son’s baseball game. It’s the classic mistake of double-booking. It may have been a simple mistake, but it introduces a complex problem. You will have to choose who to break your promise to.

Doing this can become tricky. You don’t want to appear to play favorites and you don’t want to create tension between your two friends or in your family. Hopefully they will understand. But there is the risk of hurt feelings, maybe even some jealousy not to mention damaged trust. However, you slice it, double-booking can be divisive in your relationships.

It may be awkward for us to double-book, but it can be very painful to be on the receiving end. Especially if you are the one who must endure the broken promise. Even when you know it was an honest scheduling mistake, it still hurts to know your friend or loved one passed the broken promise to you.

An experience like this may make us wonder if God ever “double-books.” The Bible is full of promises the Father makes to his children. Is it possible he has over promised? Will he need to take back his promise to you in order to keep it with someone else? The answer of course is ABSOLUTELY NOT! The promises of the Triune God of love are aimed to bring peace in all our relationships, not to divide them. Psalm 133 gathers up rich imagery from Israel’s history as a description of God’s promises kept.

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” (Psalm 133:1-3, NIV)

Our Father has no problem keeping his promises, even when he “double-books.” In fact, in Jesus we find that he goes far beyond just “double-booking.” He extends his promise of blessing to everyone in his Son Jesus Christ. You can rest assured that the Father’s promise to you will not be taken back by his promise to another. His glory is for all of our good.

I’m Michelle Fleming, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking of Life 2037 | Rembrandt’s Question
Greg Williams

The Bible shares a few stories of Jesus and water, which may seem even pedestrian to us. Those of us who grew up watching cruise ships and massive cargo ships on the ocean don’t know what it was like to have a storm come up when you are in a vessel smaller than a Volkswagen van!

More than once, we have stories of Jesus calming the storm, such as Matthew 14 in which, returning with Peter from walking on water, the text reads:

And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:22-23 (NRSV)

In the ancient understanding, the sea represented chaos, death, and danger. Only God could control the sea.

When he was 29 years old, Rembrandt painted the famous Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee based on the similar episode in Mark. The original painting is large, four feet across by five feet high, using Rembrandt’s signature mastery of light and dark to make an emotional impact, every face on the boat bears its own expression and tells its own story, from those trying futilely to hold the boat together to those who are resigned to their fate.

Jesus wakes up from sleeping in the back of the boat and has a look of total peace and trust that God is in charge. Close at hand there is another figure, almost out of place and wearing clothes that seem out of the color scheme slightly. He stares straight at the viewer.

A close count will show, as you might guess, 12 disciples and one Lord, making for 13 figures in the painting. Look again and you will see 14. The figure in the foreground, staring compellingly at you as you gaze at the painting is none other than Rembrandt himself.

Scholars speculate Rembrandt may have been doing the lectio divina exercise of seeing himself within the story of Christ. He was so passionately invested in this story that he pictured himself within it. It poses the question:

Where are we on the boat? Where are we on the night that Jesus walked out to the disciples on the water or when a storm came out of nowhere and tossed the boat violently? It’s a question worth asking at any point in our lives, and in any of the stormy seas we may face. Are we turning outward to stare at the sea or turning back to the Lord himself?

The really good news is that no matter how violent the seas, nor how distressed you and I become, the Lord is with us. The calm, sure, saving Jesus is ever-present in this boat we call life. We actively participate by looking to him in calm and stormy seas.

I’m Greg Williams, speaking of life.

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Speaking of Life 2036 | Hand’s On Experience
Heber Ticas

I remember when I taught my daughter how to drive a car. You can imagine how nerve-racking that was. My daughter believed that since she was good at driving go-karts, learning to drive a vehicle would be simple. She even believed that having me teach her wasn’t necessary. Although she picked it up fairly quickly, there was no way she could have learned just with her go-kart experience. She needed to be hands-on with that regular car steering wheel. She needed to feel the road and feel the car hugging the curves.

The best way to learn is often hands-on, right? We learn best when we actively participate in the learning process.

Jesus knew this about his disciples. You may have heard the story about how a great crowd showed up, and Jesus had compassion on them and healed the sick. At dusk, his disciples thought they should send the people away to buy food, but Jesus had other ideas:

That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”

But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”

“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered.

“Bring them here,” he said. Matthew 14:15-18 (NLT)

You probably know the rest of the story. After having the crowd sit down, Jesus gave thanks, blessed, and broke the loaves and fish, and the disciples passed the food out to the 5,000 men, plus women, and children. Everyone ate and was full, and the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. They had a hands-on experience where they participated in blessing others, and as a result, they learned a lot about how God’s kingdom works.

Jesus could have just told them what he was going to do. He could have explained with words how his Father was going to take those five loaves and two fish and feed all those people. Instead, he had the disciples do it. They passed out the food to all those people, and they were the ones who picked up all the leftovers.

The disciples got to participate in feeding more than 5,000 people. They saw the faces of the men, women, and children, and they watched them enjoy the food. And as a result of their hands-on experience, the disciples were transformed by being a part of the process. Their own faith was strengthened, and they learned how God’s love looks and feels.

God still works that way with us today. He lets us participate in “hands-on” acts of blessing for others so that we are transformed as part of the process. We learn, like the disciples did, that we are part of God’s kingdom on earth when we engage in hands-on participation wherever we see God at work. When we do it, whatever that hands-on participation looks like, people’s lives are changed, and so are we.

May you know the transforming power of hands-on participation with God today.

I’m Heber Ticas, Speaking of Life.

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Speaking of Life 2035 | Slow-Release Truth
Greg Williams

Tell all the truth but tell it slant.
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind.

This is Emily Dickinson’s poem 1263. She commends us to sometimes speak indirectly, especially when sharing the deeper truths. Rather than always speaking plainly, our minds seem to remember facts better and get more out of them when they are embedded in a story.

Think of this:

• If someone is sacrificially kind, you might call them a “Good ______.” (Samaritan)
• If someone’s child is wayward and rebellious, you might call them a “_____ son.” (Prodigal)
• Bonus challenge: A goal or purchase you gave a lot of time/energy/money to is the “______ of great price.” (Pearl)

Jesus knew our brains work this way. So much so that these mini-stories he shared have gone viral in our language and sometimes we don’t even remember where they came from. He set these stories down like slow-release truth that has been potent and healing through the centuries.

Sometimes realities are so transformative and powerful that they can’t be described directly. Think of the way a scientist looks at the sun or an eclipse, the light is so blinding that it has to be reflected and is only safely seen indirectly.

Think back to some of the most meaningful truths you’ve heard. Were they often lyrics to a song? Lines to a poem? Scenes from a favorite movie?

Like these mini-stories, Jesus told 46 parables in all, covering everything from forgiveness to his identity as the Son of God. Yet his greatest narrative was to enter our story. Instead of scrapping humanity and starting over, he entered our story and redeemed it. We are still learning what that means; I don’t believe we will ever understand the full extent in this life—slow-release truth.

God could have sent another flood, cleared the table of us or made us into choice-less robots. Instead he entered our story, made himself a character in this epic he is writing. You are part of the slow-release truth.

I’m Greg Williams speaking of life.

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Speaking of Life 2034 | When You Least Expect It
Heber Ticas

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Expect it when you least expect it.” People sometimes say this when they’re talking about romance or maybe some sort of financial blessing. It’s like they’re saying that when we stop looking for something or stop trying to control a particular outcome, the situation resolves itself. Maybe you’ve found this to be true in your own experience.

You might find it interesting that the Bible records experiences of people who found this to be true about God. In the Old Testament, we read the story of Jacob and his brother Esau. When Isaac, their father, was old and dying, he wanted to give his special blessing to his firstborn, Esau. But the younger son, Jacob, disguised himself as Esau and tricked their dying father into blessing him instead.

As you might imagine, this created a big conflict between Esau and Jacob. In fact, Esau said he was going to kill Jacob, so their mother Rebekah sent Jacob away to hide out at her brother’s house. On his way there, Jacob stopped for the night. He used a stone for a pillow, and that night, he had an incredible dream where God said he would bless him lavishly. Here’s what Jacob said after the dream:

Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!” The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it.
Genesis 28:16-18 (NLT)

Jacob wasn’t expecting to meet God in a dream, especially when he had lied and tricked his brother out of the traditional firstborn blessing. Yet God showed up when Jacob least expected it. Jacob’s response was fear, OK, he might have been feeling a little guilty about what he did, but he took that stone and created a memorial pillar. He poured oil on it as an offering because he wanted to remember that God showed up when he least expected it, and according to some, when he least deserved it.

If we think about it, we can probably come up with a few times when God showed up for us. It may have been a much-needed or wanted blessing, or it may have been simply a special sense of God’s presence. If we follow Jacob’s example, we can memorialize these times in our minds to help us remember how God showed up when we least expected it. These memories can encourage us and others when we encounter difficulties again.

How has God shown up for you when you least expected it?

May you consider those memories today and share them with friends who could use some encouragement.

I’m Heber Ticas, Speaking of Life.

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