HER UTMOST--FOR HIGH PURPOSES

Two “seasoned” devotionals have been my go-to's for decades. One is Streams in the Desert (c.1925, 1953, 1965), a compilation of spiritual encouragement and instruction from the files of a missionary to China. The other is My Utmost for His Highest (c. 1935), a collection of missionary-teacher Oswald Chamber's messages, mostly to students and later World War I soldiers serving in Egypt. In those days before modern recording devices, Chambers' messages were diligently “saved” in shorthand by his wife, Biddy (nickname for her real name “Gertrude”). Yes, shorthand. There were no electronic and computer aids in the early 1900s, when he ministered in England, Scotland and Egypt.

Oswald had known Gertrude Hobbs casually through mutual friends. Afflicted early in life with bronchitis, Gertrude had worked diligently to perfect her short-hand skills, achieving a remarkable speed of 250 words a minute. Her goal was to someday work in the secretarial offices of Britain's monarchy. But before that came an ocean voyage to America, where she intended to pursue a job opportunity. Also on the ship that crossing: Oswald Chambers, brother of her family's pastor.

Oswald was a bachelor and Holiness-movement Bible teacher in London before his life direction turned to evangelistic work among Australian and New Zealand troops in Egypt during World War I. Earlier, during his ministries in England and the United States, he became better acquainted with Gertrude, whom he'd nicknamed “Biddy” (for “beloved disciple”). In marrying Chambers, instead of using her shorthand in service of the British king, Biddy used them for their Heavenly King. When Chambers spoke, she would be in the audience taking down his words in shorthand to later transcribe.

His ministry would take them in 1915 to Egypt, where he preached to soldiers under the auspices of the YMCA. Sometimes hundreds of soldiers would pack his wooden-framed hut to hear his messages. While there, in 1917 he died of appendicitis, having resisted medical care for his health emergency, saying the wounded soldiers needed medical care more. His death left Biddy (and their young daughter) living under what one biographer called “very straitened circumstances” (meaning financially difficult).

Returning to England with their daughter, Biddy devoted the rest of her life to transcribing 29 years of shorthand-saved sermons and lessons into messages for publication. Most successful of his forty-plus books would be a daily devotional titled My Utmost For His Highest, prepared while she also ran a boarding house in Oxford. England. Since its publication early a century ago (first self-published in 1924, then commercially in 1927, then in the US 1935), it has never been out of print, and has sold more than 13 million copies and been translated into 39 languages.

One takeaway from her story: you never know what God can do with a skill entrusted to you. Because of Biddy's diligence in using shorthand—because she gave her utmost for God's highest--more than a hundred years later, Oswald Chambers still speaks.

'STREAMING'--MISSION STYLE

The story behind a classic devotional.
They were kids raised in a tiny Midwest country town (Thayer, Iowa, current population 48), who met, fell in love and got married, with missionary service on their hearts. (That calling was a big change from his job as a telegraph operator!) After Bible school, they headed for Japan in 1901 as independent missionaries. Through their bold “Every Creature Crusade” (1912-1918) they hoped to reach every home in Japan with the Gospel via evangelistic rallies and a daytime Bible training school, co-founding the Oriental Missionary Society (now known as OMS International). But his declining health cut short their work. She'd later write a now well-known devotional book, Streams in the Desert. Their names: Charles and Lettie Cowman.

With Charles' health problems ending their missionary work in Japan, they returned to the United States in 1918. During his final, six-year-long illness, Lettie wrote a daily devotional out of her life's lessons of fellowship with God amidst hardship.

After Charles' death in 1924, Lettie found a note he'd written and put in her Bible: “Go on with my unfinished work.” And she did—though not quite what she and Charles had envisioned it when they first went to Japan. As young missionaries they hoped to evangelize Japan through literature distribution in five years, then do the same in Korea and China. Instead, she would write Charles' biography and pour herself into the OMS ministry, watching it expand throughout the world. Her husband had been the mission's first president, another man its second, and when that man died four years after Charles, Lettie became the mission's third president. Besides leading the mission, she spoke widely overseas, including Wales, Ethiopia, Finland, and Colombia.

Besides her mission leadership, her preparation of devotional materials put her name in the history of Christian publishing. Best known are her compilations, Streams in the Desert (copyright 1925) and a follow-up, Springs in the Valley (1939). “Compiled” is the key word, as both books are “cut-and-paste” devotions of her own spiritual reflections incorporating quotations from authors and ministers of the early evangelical movement--like Charles Spurgeon, F.B. Meyer, George Mueller, Christina Rossetti and Samuel Rutherford (Scottish Presbyterian, 1600s). While writing these devotionals, she continued to lead the mission and traveled widely, and eventually stepping away as its president in 1949, the year she turned 79. She would live another decade-plus, dying on Easter Sunday in 1960.

Streams in the Desert has never been out of print since its first publication in 1925, with an estimated six million copies in multiple languages sold. It's also available online--a publishing venue completely unknown when it was written!

WORLD-WIDE WARNING!

This old plastic beach ball has been knocking around my grand-kids' toy stash for years. When they were really wee ones, their grandpa and grandma (me) would help them toss the ball back and forth—one of us on the couch, the other six or so feet away, holding them, in the recliner. Oh, the giggles of little ones. As the years (and grand-kids) increased, the ball also increased in holes that we patched with white duct tape.

Such simple, innocent fun—or so I thought until I paid attention to one-sixth of the ball's surface, filled with a “consumer warning” in twenty-two languages. In English it said, simply, “Use only under competent supervision.” Then came the linguistic world of warning words. All for a plastic ball!

I thought, what if our Bibles carried a consumer warning? To be honest, the Bible is full of warnings. Obviously, the book of Proverbs jumps back and forth between “do this” and “don't do this.” But the histories, teachings and correspondence of the entire Bible weren't just limited to their time and place of composition. God's warnings and instructions to early civilizations still speak to the good and fallen behavior of men and women today. So do God's purposes, as expressed in the life and teachings of His Son Jesus (the Gospels) and Jesus' “messengers” (the writers of what we call “the epistles”).

Decades ago, for two years, I served as “support staff “ for a world-wide mission organization devoted to translating at least the New Testament into never-before-written-down languages. I didn't have to put up a grass hut in a desolate place to carry on this exacting discipline of linguistics. My role (as a newspaper-trained writer) was to report to donors how things were coming along in this widespread translation ministry. During my time on staff, its primary monthly communication newsletter was appropriately named “In Other Words.”

In our times, self-help books and speakers abound. Many claim to have the secret to a full and fulfilling life (and also a full wallet!). But I keep going back to what an ancient prophet wrote about the true source of meaning in life: As the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that its yields seed for the sower and bread for the water, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11 NIV)

In other words (oops—the name of the publication I helped edit!), what has been compiled into what we call “The Holy Bible” is more than read-ready words. It imparts the wisdom and commands of the One who created us to live in harmony and for Him. No matter your language (take your pick from the beach ball), the core message for humanity is this: Love God, love others, keep God's commandments.

That's not something to bat around (like a beach ball) but to take to heart—deeply take to heart.

P.S. What's your guess of how many languages are spoken in the world? Here's one estimate:

number of languages in the world - Search

THE COOKIE JAR FAN CLUB

 As the stereotyped Good Grandma, I have a cookie jar, poorly disguised as a basket of apples. It's the “first stop” when my three grandsons (9, 11, 13) come in the front door after school, dump their stuff (coats, school bags, empty lunch boxes) on the couch, then head for the Treat Corner. There they pause, silly grins on their faces that beg, “Please, please”--and hear my answer, “Just one.” Right away, three granola bars exit the jar and the boys are waiting at the table for their glasses of milk for snack time.

They're not shy about treats in Grandma's Kitchen. The oldest (entering his teen growth chapter) often also ends up in front of the kitchen sink, above which I store the package of ice cream cones. The kid who used to have to get a grandma “boost” up, now just reaches up and grabs the box, then goes to the freezer to pull out the carton of ice cream. He carefully inspects how tightly I mash in the ice cream, wanting the cone as full and tall as possible.

I'm glad they get excited about treats when they visit. Sometimes I tease them, “Who wants liver and onions?” Oh, Grandma, ugh, no! Oh, the stories I could tell them about my being forced to eat (gag) liver and onions. I was a wimpy child, the offspring of Depression-era folks who didn't have the Golden Arches for fast food. Instead, they butchered and ate as much of the cow or chicken as possible. That included iron-rich beef liver. Oh, it tasted awful. (I still have that prejudice!) But because I was a sickly child, my mom would do anything to build up my health. Her upbringing meant she believed strongly in the healthy benefits of (gag) liver. The only way I could choke it down was having each piece (about half an inch square) topped with a chocolate chip and washed down with copious amounts of milk.

I wish I could say that being forced in childhood to eat liver helped me achieve the title of Strongest Child of the Decade. Well, it wasn't true. And one thing I did NOT do when I became a mother was to try to convert my offspring to the nutritional delights of liver. I don't think my grandsons (who since toddler-hood knew that “Golden Arches” meant sack lunches with toys in them) have ever eaten liver. If they have, I'm sure they had the same reaction as their grandma in her childhood. Ugh.

Not so, God's Word. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart; for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16). And to think that this was Jeremiah's declaration long before the scriptures included the stories and teachings about and from Jesus. What Jesus taught was ultimately cause for joy and rejoicing for those called by HIS name: “Christian.”

Yes, my grand-boys crave the “sweets” of this planet (like those granola bars or, even better, those little black round cookies with cream filling). But my prayer as they mature (and learn more about Jesus at Sunday school and from their parents) is that they will crave knowing more and more about Jesus, the One who called Himself the Bread of Life, able to satisfy our deepest spiritual hunger.

SCREEN TEST

I've heard of “screen tests” for aspiring actors or actresses, to judge their dramatic abilities, but never a “screen test” for....a spider. Yet there it was, clutching the narrow wire of my front window screen, unable to squeeze inside. I found a stick to flick it off, and went on with my life.

But maybe there was lesson, here—and not just showing kindness to a tiny member of nature, who was at a dead end if it really wanted inside. Sometimes “we humans” find ourselves clinging to situations or attitudes we have no business being a part of. I'll let you fill in the blanks. Or just suggest the wisdom of the apostle Paul, writing to a church on the northeast coast of today's Greece. In laying out how a Christian should act, he admonished them, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). The little word, “attitude,” takes in a lot of moral and linguistic territory, as used in Paul's letter to the Philippian church. In a section (chapter 2) packed with admonitions, he urged them to share godly encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness, compassion, and like-mindedness. Doing so meant kicking “selfish ambition” and “vain conceit” out the door. Instead, Paul held up Christ as an example of humility, servanthood, and obedience. Yes, “screen tests” for believers.

I would have loved to be a bug in the ceiling of the room where these Philippians worshiped. Scholars believe this particular passage, listing Christian traits, was a hymn the early Christian church sang. Much of it echoes the prophecy in Isaiah 53 of the suffering servant, who would be Jesus Christ. Paul took it a step further, saying the character Jesus showed (a suffering servant, even to death) should be shown in His followers' lives. Yes, a “screen test,” if you will, sifting out sin to better nurture godly attitudes and behavior.

Half a century ago, I had the privilege of interviewing a then-well-known Christian entertainer, Pat Boone, who was a guest musician for our local spring festival promoting the area's fruit growing industries. I mean, this town went all out: teen queens and princesses, big parades with bands, horses, and floats, and a food fair. As an added attraction, it invited a celebrity as an honorary festival guest. This person would make several public appearances, plus ride the parade route in a fancy car, waving and smiling at fans.

That year, I was a fresh-out-of-college newspaper reporter. My editor wanted me to interview this celebrity pop singer also known for his Christian faith. (Okay, the guy known for wearing white buck shoes.)* The local radio station sent out their interviewer, a college intern. Our quickie interview, right before the celebrity's performance at our local football stadium, took place in this elegant location: the junior high girl's locker room in the gym adjacent to the stadium. (Real class!)

I was a bit star-struck and glad the radio intern had a ready question for the celebrity: “What's your favorite Bible verse?”  Without a second thought, the man quoted Philippians 2:12:

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Just that verse was the perfect “screen test” of that celebrity's character. No hesitation. And obviously, a moment of my journalism career that I have never forgotten.

  *Chronically Vintage: The history of white buck shoes

DON'T BE SO PERI-PATHETIC!

My high school English teachers encouraged correct spelling and vocabulary-building. That involved expanding the typical teen lingo from “yo!” and “hey” to multi-syllable words. Well, just kidding on that exaggeration. But if you want to increase your word (or weird?) power, just check out some common prefixes or suffixes. Or get a book like Rodale's Synonym Finder.

I was thinking about that lately in re-encountering the word peripatetic. Its meaning (“to discourse while pacing”) takes you back to Aristotle's era, when the local “great-deep-thinkers” would pace around while they exposited on their latest twist to philosophy. I experienced a few pastors like that, who used the whole platform to preach, gifted either with a huge, booming voice or that great invention of a wireless microphone that kept up with their pacing!

That weird word (peripatetic) also brought to mind those who meander through life. For whatever reason—physical, emotional, situational—they're pacing around life's stage without going anywhere, or stuck in pathetic habits. That is to say, adjusting the word with an “h”: peri-pathetic. **Disclaimer: I'm NOT pointing any fingers at anyone in particular; we all stand in need of the grace of God!**

This certainly wasn't true of the apostle Paul. Blind-sided (literally) by a life-changing vision from the risen and heaven-returned Jesus, he went out in full-force with a new agenda—to preach the Christ he once rejected. Instead of persecuting Christians, he left all that behind to take on the label “Christian” himself. This was what they call a 180-degree turn, as Paul's “before Christ” life had all the “perks” of Jewish leadership. He was properly circumcised, a card-carrying member of the tribe of Benjamin, thoroughly trained as a Pharisee.

But from the moment Christ took over his life, Paul had a new agenda: I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. (Philippians 4:8). His conversion took away everything valued by the world (status, reputation, ambition) and replaced it with the righteousness and godly passion from God, through faith in Christ (Philippians 3:9).

Which is to say: he went from a “pathetic peripatetic” non-believing Pharisee to someone “perfected in Christ.” He went from choosing violence against Christians to victory in Jesus, able to say: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

What a life-changing truth—for us, too! As a Christ-follower, I don't have to pathetically wander all over life's stage, getting nowhere (being “peri-pathetic”--my invented word), hoping something I did pleases God and includes a “ticket” to Heaven. My ticket's been issued, stamped with a cross-shaped symbol. Trip and entrance, confirmed!

NOT A ROSE GARDEN...

As I write this, some really challenging things are happening among those I care about, keeping me prayer-aware throughout the day. The other day as I prayed, a surprising thought came via recalling a country singer's pop-song, “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.” Released as a “single” in 1970, it soon became a "hit."

This rose, surrounded by "lifted-up" blooms
to come, reminded me of Jesus' prediction of His
 death, being "lifted up" upon a cross.

Though the pop song's title and snatches of its tune came to mind, those were soon replaced my trying to imagine Jesus' last night in the Garden of Gethsemane. It wasn't a lovely rose-garden stroll, but a thorny and anguishing prayer-time with His Father, knowing He would face horrific abuse and death. Hardly an hour before, sharing the memorial supper for the Passover with His disciples, He'd said:

“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.”(John 16:33 NIV)

Yes, I have a rose garden at my home. When I tend it, snipping off dead blooms and watching for aphids, I think of the analogy of “trouble”--although my rose-care analogy doesn't begin to revere the spiritual agony that Gethsemane poured out on Jesus. Sometimes I recall the liturgical church of my childhood, built in the traditional “cross” layout with visual emphasis on the altar and a cross hung above it. The sanctuary cross was artfully built, sanded, painted--not splintered wood and blood-stained, as were those of Jesus' time, used as an execution method. But the ancient, stark symbol of death was there amid the church's flowers, pews, pulpits, and musical instruments.

Decades later, attending a friend's funeral, I entered a huge sanctuary of a church that has another long liturgical history. As I started down the aisle, I paused briefly as I saw a behind-the-altar, life-size sculpture representing Jesus. It wasn't “just Jesus” with His hands outstretched, like I envision Him welcoming the children to Himself. Instead, this image was a mortally wounded man, cross-impaled, head bent down, thorn-crowned, with red paint for blood coming from the wounds in his head, hands, feet, and side. You can be sure I didn't think of the country singer's “rose garden.” Instead, it was Isaac Watts' 1707 hymn, “Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed” https://hymnary.org/media/fetch/137189.

My briefly-blooming roses also remind me of another flower called “Rose-of-Sharon.” Contrary to its name, it's not a traditional rose, but a member of the hibiscus family. One of its features is its ability to produce big, colorful flowers in late summer, when the heat has exhausted most other garden plants. There's a message here, too, I think, out of the apostle Paul's prayer-wrestling with his disability (“thorn in the flesh"), which some scholars surmise might have included poor vision. Whatever it was, it made his strenuous, often dangerous ministry hard. God's answer to Paul was this: “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

I don't know about you...but I needed that message. To stay strong. To keep blooming for HIM, who shed His blood for me.