I am, again, reading the Old Testament book of Job. I have always been troubled by the book. Satan comes before God. God offers Job for consideration. Satan proposes Job is only “blameless and upright” because God has “put a hedge around him”. Innocent Job becomes, as it were, a test case for faithfulness. In some ways, the whole ordeal is like an “Arkansas spitttin’ Contest” and Job is unwittingly involved in a challenge by Satan. It is beyond my ability to comprehend and understand. Yet, reading the book is not just troubling, it is intriguing, challenging, and even encouraging. I will be posting a few, or maybe several, meanderings on the book.

Allow me to reminisce a bit: I was “leading” a group of men in bible study on Sunday mornings, in 2001. We had been working through the book for several weeks. We were very near the end of the book when my son, Evan, was killed. I would be dishonest if I said the “irony” did not impact me to my very core. I took a break after his death, for how long I do not remember, and then returned to finish the book. If my memory serves me correctly, we only had one or two chapters to complete before our study was over. Consider the first of the book and how Job was “set up”.

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, ‘From where have you come?’ Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?’ Then Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.’ And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord” (Job 1: 6-12, ESV).

Ponder that until next time. I will pick up with what happens next in my next posting. Stay tuned.

I am about as smart as the last opinion I just heard or the last thing I read. I am very reluctant to express my opinion for fear of being attack or ridiculed. But, at the risk of being attacked, I am going to throw in my two-cents worth. It is about the right to bare arms. I am not to the extreme to say never bare ones’ arms. But, should there not be safeguards? Not too long ago many people petitioned the city of Springfield for the right to bare breasts. What happens next as we consider the slippery slope? The next thing you know, people will be wanting to go around with their bodies bare. There are potential problems there! Again, use some common sense. Where are you? Who are you with? Is it appropriate? Under the right circumstances it is quite reasonable. The alternative: concealed arms? I do not think that is necessary. Considering the extreme cold temperature today, along with the wind-chill, I think there is some wisdom in covering them. I personally think we should let people know we have them. And, I do not think anyone would be fooled. My guess is that they know you have them so there is no need to conceal them. I even understand there is an eight-hour class to help people know the legalities of baring ones’ arms. Is that not just a bit of overkill. Judge the weather, judge the setting, and make an informed decision. I am covering mine today when I leave the house. It is cold out there. You might find that useful, too.

I wrote the above reaction/opinion a few weeks ago. It is legal to conceal ones’ arms, in Missouri, without a permit. One can attend training and receive a permit to conceal arms. I am not likely going to attend a class to qualify for a permit. I will exercise my bet judgment, just like i have since I was a small boy. Hot: bare arms. Cold: conceal arms. In between? Now that could present a dilemma.

• 

• 

Masks

Oh, to stand upon the stage
With true versatility,
Not to be determined by
The very masks you see.

I hide myself from everyone,
Each and all, including me.
No confidence in self I have
To be the one who I can be.

Consumed with mortal terror,
Loathing self I seek to hide.
As a corpse decaying,
I’ve never lived, but only died.

My masks, there are so many,
Obscuring myself, I seek to hide.
Yet, as I sit, I realize,
I have both revealed the truth and lied.

Oh, to be something that I fear I’m not,
And to believe that I’m alive.
To allow myself to be human,
To embrace myself and thrive.

The masks which I don daily,
They conceal my honest core.
I have cheated self and others,
There surely must be more.

I must be courageous,
Give up that which enshrouds.
To live life as intended.
Despite fear of self and crowds.

I ask myself who I fear the most,
And, it’s quite simply, only me.
So, I’ve only starved and stymied,
Who and what I’ve hoped could be.

Do I dare discard charades,
That have hidden what is real?
To miss the truth, it takes not a thief,
But, it is myself from self I steal.

The time has come to make a change,
For a vastly different kind of doing.
No more hiding, no more stealing,
No more self-condemning booing.

Bottom-line, it’s up to me alone,
To remove the masks and truly be.
Not veil, not mask, no masquerade,
But, the genuine, created me.

Embracing who God crafted;
That which robs, I must let go.
Discovering what is truly real,
So, I can in liberation grow.

No longer hiding behind masks,
The masks, I too long wore.
I choose to risk and choose to live,
From my God-created core.

No more masquerading,
Because I am less afraid.
God, please direct this fragile child
Who was with fear and wonder made.

Richard L. Brewer

The Sentence

Sentences
Always a beginning
Sometimes an end
I’m in a sentence.
Is there an end?
Yes, ultimately.
No, in the here and now.
This side of eternity
I will never be able
To place the period
At the end of my sentence.
Consider a sentence:
A personal expression
Or, a period of imprisonment.
May my life be an expression-
With many completions
But, no ultimate end,
Until eternity.
Then the ultimate Editor
Will bring my manuscript
To completion.

-Richard L. Brewer

Gossip wounds deeply. It is akin to assassination.
Like a murdering of another. Certainly, anti-loving.
I have done it. I am ashamed.
I have been convicted. I have repented.

I have been gossiped about. Oh, the pain.
On occasion, no big deal. Consider the source.
Other times like a blow to the gut. No wind returns for a very long time.
Gossip containing an element of truth, bad enough.
Gossip that has no substance, cuts even deeper.
Particularly when by those you know and trusted:
Who started, repeated, or believed it.
Worse, yet, to hear, “I am staying out of it”. Then, to learn,
The gossip started months ago. Stayed out of it!? Hardly.
Stirred up conflict. Roiling. Betrayed by one loved.
Kindles flames. Conflagration. Like arson to the soul.
Choice morsels to the gossiper. Poison to the victim.
Harms both: The one betrayed and the betrayer.
Absent of love.

I, too, have been there: The betrayer and the betrayed.
Stop the assaulting. Conviction! Oh, to be like Jesus.
To give a cup of cold water: Is to do unto Jesus.
To gossip: is to do unto Jesus.
Gossip: never benign. Sinful malign.
Richard L. Brewer
02/14/2018

 

Disreputation

Bad repute, low regard, disfavor: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/disreputation?s=t

Synonyms for disrepute: dishonor, shame, blemish, blot, brand, cloud, discredit, disesteem, disfavor, disgrace, ignominy, infamy, notoriety, reproach, scandal, scar, slur, smear, spot, stain, stigma, taint, unpopularity, ill fame, ill favor, ill repute, ingloriousness: http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/disrepute

I often find it hard to accept compliments, awards, recognitions, and other forms of accolade. I am reminded of the book written by Joan Harvey “If I’m So Successful Why Do I Feel Like a Fake: The Impostor Phenomenon”. She described me quite well.

I have known many other such souls. They act shocked when given compliments and told of the positive impressions and impacts they leave in their wakes. I, too, have received a few recognitions. I have been humbled. I have felt they should have gone to someone else. Yet, I am grateful to have been so honored. Still, I do find myself thinking, “I have no significant evidence to support the recognitions.

I have been known for my “reputation” and my “disreputation”. Evidence could readily be obtained to substantiate both. Interesting how one bad decision can sully a good reputation. Rarely has it been only one bad decision on my part.

I have certainly experienced the pain of disreputation. Sometimes it is well deserved by my own foolishness and sinfulness. Yet, other times, I have suffered disreputation because of gossip, innuendo, and assumption. Painful, to say the least. I know I am not alone, because I know others who have been similarly sullied.

In short, I have received recognition as a consequence of noble accomplishments. I have also received “recognition” due to poor decisions and deeds. My greatest pains have come when accused unfairly, even maliciously: in essence, I have not lived up to my disreputation.

We would all like to hear and see the evidence, face our accusers, and meet the people who were supposedly victims or willing participants in our disreputable behavior. It is extremely painful to be accused, convicted, and punished without an opportunity to respond or make a case. Thank God that He is the ultimate Judge.

Scripture is very clear about our goodness. Paul, who wrote Romans 3:10, makes it crystal clear: “As it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one’” and Isaiah 64: 6 states: “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. (In the Hebrew, menstrual cloth is a fair and accurate translation.) We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” (ESV).

I have been unfair and I have been treated unfairly. I know I am not alone. Many have been greatly harmed by things spoken that have not been investigated. Consider Proverbs 18:17: “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him” (ESV). Be mindful of how much damage can be done by spreading or sharing information or misinformation. Even if information is true, there is a better way. Consider the following and be convicted and convinced with me. The better way was described by Jesus Himself.

Jesus was talking with His disciples and stated: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matthew 15:15-17, ESV).

Gossip will be the focus of an upcoming blog.

Reputation: commonly held opinion of a person’s character; the estimation in which a person or thing is held, especially by the community or the public generally; favorable repute; good name; a favorable and publicly recognized name or standing for merit, achievement, reliability, etc. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/reputation?s=t

Synonyms for reputation: character, fame, honor, influence, name, notoriety, opinion, position, prestige, prominence, standing, stature, acceptability, account, approval authority, credit, dependability, distinction, eminence, esteem, estimation, favor, mark, privilege, rank, regard, reliability, renown, report, repute, respectability, trustworthiness, weight, éclat. http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/reputation

It has been my privilege to know many people who were, and continue to be, of stellar reputation.  Their influence lingers on. What I have learned has been etched deeply into my heart, and I hope it reflects in my reputation and character. While it is true that one’s reputation can be threatened by a single event, the people I most love, honor, and respect continue to surround me in that great band of witnesses; some on this thin sliver of eternity and others in the great beyond we call Heaven. One such witness is my father. I do not know of any who have not made mistakes, many more than one. Thank God for that, otherwise I would be so undone, so discouraged, so without hope because I know that I have made many mistakes and sinned many times. I have also been recognized for having made differences in peoples’ lives. Pretty humbling. John shares, in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (ESV). His amazing grace!

More is coming: Stay tuned for the next blog on disreputation.

 

 

 

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”, (Hebrews 4:12, ESV).

The Road, Again Traveled

I came to a fork in the road—
I made no decision, for–
I was not impressed.

In fact, I wondered—
If it were to have only three tines—
Would it be called a threek?

There was no spoon in the road.
I looked for it, but—
It was not there. Alas,

The nursery rhyme reminded me—
The dish ran away with the spoon.
Then, I came upon a knife in the road.

I picked it up and discovered—
It was incredibly sharp.

A well-honed knife,
With a two-edged blade.

I discovered, in it, great value.
It was sharper than any two-edged sword.

It was also quicker.
It was more active.

It penetrated even to dividing—
Of soul and spirit,
Of joints and marrow.

It judged my thoughts—
And attitudes of my heart.

Amazing how God’s Word does that.

I am so glad I did not take the fork—
And, I did not find the spoon.
For the knife has made all the difference.

Richard L. Brewer
02/11/2013

 

They

They were ordinary, unschooled fellows.
They possessed no notable merit, except,
They had been fishermen. Yet,
They had been with Jesus.
They accomplished the remarkable.
They dumbfounded their critics.
They spoke with authority.
They became fishers of men, because
They had been with Jesus.
They serve as an encouragement to me.
They were simple men who had been with Jesus.
They can include me, if I have been with Jesus.

Richard L. Brewer
02/06/2013

Ordinary: adjective http://www.dictionary.com/browse/common
1. of no special quality or interest; commonplace; unexceptional:
2. plain or undistinguished:
3. somewhat inferior or below average; mediocre.
4. customary; usual; normal:
5. common, vulgar, or disreputable.

 

 

 

I am not a fan of texting. But, I do engage in some. I have watched people text across a table rather than talk face-to-face. I watched, who I presumed to be a father, text while his daughter tried to engage him in verbal conversation. It was father’s day. My heart ached for her. I hope I never get to the point of disappearing into my “Smarter-than-me-phone” at the expense of real relationships. There is something special about eye-ball to eye-ball communication. A real wink is better than an emoji. The warmth of expression. The depth of emotion. Connection that is more than text, emojis, and tweets.

All Thumbs!

What happened to conversation?
What happened to eye-to-eye contact?
What happened to verbal greetings?
What is it like to see people smile?
What happened to relationships?
Tweeting.
Texting.
Relationally, we are all thumbs!
Say what?
Sad.
Richard L. Brewer
02/06/2013