On Azimuth

  19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; James 1:19 English Standard Version                As an officer in the Army, I dreaded the periodic “sensing session.” Now, lest any of you write that off as something foisted off on the military by our modern culture, I joined the Army in 1981 and we had sensing sessions back then. In a sensing session, the leadership listens to the led without comment. Often in a military hierarchical organization the leadership grows distant from their subordinates. Sensing Sessions sought to bridge the gap between the command structure and the subordinates. In the Army, one is expected to comply with orders without hesitation or comment. While there are times when one must take the hill despite the cost, leadership fails to listen to their subordinates at their peril. The “sensing session” sought to provide commanders a...

31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:31-32 English Standard Version                Most of us seek the closeness of a monogamous marital relationship. Oh, there are a few of us monastic types, sitting on top of a mountain in prayer and contemplation; but, most of us yearn for the closeness of a good marriage. Apparently, God built this desire into us. In the Ephesians passage, Paul expands on the creation story found in Genesis 2. Paul, who was never married as far as the Biblical record tells us, noted that at its core, marriage is a profound mystery. All couples know this to be true. We’ve all known partners that seemed odd and incongruous, yet they enjoyed a happy fulfilling relationship. For millennia men have wondered what makes wome...

  11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. Ephesians 3:11-12                “We’d like to see our Representative please.” It was the summer of 1974 and we were a group of high school students from Abilene, Texas. We’d stopped for a few days in Washington DC while coming back from a mission trip to New Milford, Connecticut. On a whim, a small group, about six or eight, of us had trooped into the U.S. capitol, looked up our Senator’s office on a placard, and paid him an unscheduled visit. After a few minutes waiting in the outer office, we were shown into the big man’s office where he greeted each of us, chatted for a few minutes about his work in Washington, and summoned a photographer for a group photo. I still have the fading photo somewhere in my stack o’ stuff. At the time we ...

  38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us. Mark 9:38-40 English Standard Version                Currently our culture cherishes being judgmental, which is quite odd considering one of the most quoted scriptures is Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.” We enjoy judging; but, we despise being judged. Much of our political discourse centers around disparaging those we disagree with. Our embrace of judgementalism has carved great chasms in our political landscape which hamstring the government, making progress towards solving problems increasingly difficult. We spend so much time judging others for their supposed political bel...