looking forward — top 10 posts of 2011

Don’t Look Back — It’d Be Immature of You

Now, I can’t control what every other blogger in the world is doing (oh, if only I could…).  I can, however, tell you what they’re all up to these days.  And that is: reviewing their top 10 blog posts of 2010.  I’m not going to suggest this is a fruitless endeavor, or that I’m above such.  But it is backward-thinking at best, and resting on one’s laurels at worst.  And here at aliens and strangers, we want to be about the future — not the past. Yep, no laurels for us (literally, there are no laurels on which for us to rest).  After all, Paul did say…

There’s one thing that I do:  I forget what’s in my past and I comtemplate what’s ahead…  Anyone who’s mature should do the same. — Philippians 3:13-15 (taken completely out of context and summarized by me)

And we all want to be mature, right?  So I’m not going to do this “Top 10 Posts of 2010″ thing.  Instead, I’m going to offer you up my top 10 posts of 2011.  Seriously.  [I can't link to them yet, of course, as they've not yet been written.  But still... here they are.]

Top 10 Posts of 2011 — aliens and strangers

1.  auburn wins the national championship

Yep, this one will be posted tomorrow.

2.  10 steps to a successful blog

This will be a satire piece.  I may not know successful blogging — but I do know satire.

3.  i left my wallet in el segundo

Music I remember from my childhood, and how it helped me become the man I am today.

4.  10 things i have to do on furlough

Christie and I will return to the states in August of this year for about three months.  Our (my) goals are to visit family and friends (many have not met Baylor), encourage and be encouraged by our sponsoring churches, participate in a few great opportunities for continuing education, and accomplish these ten things.

5. 10 mistakes i’m afraid we’ll make on furlough

Lots of things can go wrong during a 3-month visit in the U.S.  Ranging from the occasional embarrassing cultural faux pas to legitimate and problematic blunders, this post will be a top 10 list of my biggest fears.

6. a post / series on discipleship which doesn’t yet have a title

This series is currently being written by John King, one of my mentors and shepherds at Stones River Church (our sending congregation).  He is a gifted teacher, and I think of him as my own personal expert on discipleship.  Soon he’ll be yours.

7.  why i am a member of the church of Christ

From a page out of Dr. Leroy Brownlow’s (in)famous book, in this post I’ll explain a bit about the church of Christ, my own religious heritage, what I appreciate most about it, and why I’m a member of this “movement.”

8.  an ode to bacon

This is SO self-explanatory.

9.  silly abbot, pixar’s for kids

I have no idea what this post is going to be about.  I just really liked it as a title.

10. ??????????

This is where I need your help.  Please feel free — encouraged even — to give me ideas for blog posts (you’d like to read) in the comments section below.  I’m happy to accept suggestions for subject matter or even just possible titles of posts.  If you’d like to read more Bible study material or poetry or short stories or top 10 lists — or if you just want me to shut up and leave the whole blog idea alone — let me know.  I’d also be delighted to hear what you think has and hasn’t worked on aliens and strangers.

Which of these posts are you most looking forward to in 2011?  And what’s your idea for post #10?

the past is the past, or is it?

Last week I wrote a modern-day retelling of Luke 3:8-14.  That post, as most of my writings do, came out of my daily Bible study.  And that very same day, I also read the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19.  The two texts do a great job of complementing one another — John preaching repentance and Zacchaeus acting as a living example of it.  Look at these excerpts, the first is Luke 3:8-9, 12-13:

“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

…Tax collectors also came to be baptized.  ”Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

“Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

And now Luke 19:7-10:

All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’ “

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

The crowd likes to find peace in, and determine spiritual standing by, past events:  I was born of Abraham.  I’ve been baptized.  I accepted Christ.  I was a good Jew.  I went to a private Christian university.  My dad’s a preacher.  I grew up in the Church of Christ.

John, however, doesn’t focus on the past.  Instead he looks to see if an individual is showing the fruits of repentance:  Do you make, and keep, more money than you need?  Do you eat your fill while others starve?  Do you give away one warm coat when you have two?  Are you content with what you have?  Do you have greater love for people or for things?

Zacchaeus has a rough past, but he seems to focus on the present:  ”Look, Lord. Here and now I give… to the poor.”

Jesus, too, seems to focus on the present:  ”Today, salvation has come to this house…”

And best of all, Jesus’ view of the present changes the past:  ”…this man, too, is a son of Abraham.”  Zacchaeus is born of Abraham  as an adult.  He’s born of Abraham at that moment in which he has and exhibits true faith.  As are we.

What I’ve learned:

• We can’t judge another by his/her past.
• We can’t rest on our laurels.
• Having been baptized at one time doesn’t necessarily mean anything.
• Going to a particular church doesn’t excuse me from loving my neighbor.
• If you want to know if I’m a Christian, look for fruits and not an ID card.
• Jesus loves the lost, and wants to change their present AND their past.  And he is capable of doing so.

Praise God for saving us from our pasts, for changing those pasts, and for making us new people.  Here’s to hoping we act like it.