Dave Scriven's Open Salon Blog

To My Friends at Open Salon

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 11:04:57 -0400

Dear Friends,

I have come to the end of my regular posts on Open Salon. This was a writing experiment corresponding to a two year Bible Reading Plan. I call it PB & J (Prayer, Bible, and Journaling). OS posts are my journal entries (the "J" part of PB & J). I started two years ago with the book of Joshua and finished the project with a final entry in Deuteronomy on March 24th.

Thank you "Maffy" (Mary Ann Farley) for introducing me to Open Salon in early 2009. I love your work.

Besides my family and active real estate practice, I am focusing creative attention toward a ministry with men from my church dealing with destructive addictive patterns. As a recovering addict, I am passionate about serving in this way. We now have about 100 guys in the program we call 423 Men based on Proverbs 4:23.

I continue to cycle (re-write and edit) these PB & J postings on my Blogger site at Word Travler. Please come by for a visit. I'd love to hear from you. See links below.

Thank you, my friends.

Dave Scriven

My Story

423 Men

Word Traveler

2011 Bible Reading Plan

Artist Writer Mary Ann Farley

"I Need a Placebo for My Hypochondria"

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:03:50 -0400

Deuteronomy
32.8-9 NIV

“When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.

For the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.”

When my son was in 2nd grade, he and his classmates had a “thing” for the school nurse. According to his teacher, students exaggerated their ailments so they could make a trip to the nurse’s office. All the children, including my boy, enjoyed a little “nurse-time”. My wife and I were musing about this at the family dinner table. I suggested to my son that he pay another visit to the school nurse. “Tell her your dad said you have been stricken with a serious disease called hypochondria. It can only be cured if she will give you a placebo.” All of us had a good laugh, including my boy, although I was pretty sure he had no idea what “hypochondria” and “placebo” meant.

I have a strong suspicion the school nurse enjoys the kids as much as they do her. Although I have not met her, the woman sounds like a truly loving and caring human being.

We all need a little “nurse-time”. You and I get emotional ‘owies’ and need a spiritual Band-Aid periodically. It’s quite OK to visit Jesus even if your hurt is exaggerated. Here’s a little secret… Jesus enjoys the visit as much as you do.

When the Lord divided up the nations and “set up boundaries for the peoples”, He awarded each tribe of Israel a portion of land as their inheritance. Guess what? God awarded Himself an inheritance also.

“For the Lord’s portion

is his people, Jacob his

allotted inheritance.”

You and I are His “portion”. We are “His allotted inheritance”. Why He wants us, I may never fully understand. But He does! Like the school nurse who secretly enjoys serving the children who clamor for “nurse-time”, our Heavenly Father gets a real kick out of being with the kids who want to be with Him.

It’s comforting to know that Jesus loves spending time with me for any or no reason at all.

___________________

I have been unsuccessful in locating the source of the above painting of Jesus and the children. I discovered it on a variety of sites without credit to the artist.

"Pro-Life versus Pro-Death"

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 11:03:45 -0400

Deuteronomy 30.19 “The Message”

I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live.”

Moses gave the people choices. Every good leader does that. School teachers, politicians, parents, pastors, police, even the Lord Himself. All of them offer choices.

Choices are usually quite simple. In the case of Moses and the people of God, the choices were simply Life or Death.

In the abortion debate there are only two choices really… Life or Death. This is not a debate between Pro-Choice and Pro-Life. To be supportive of a person’s right to choose is not the pertinent issue. Life or Death, not Life or Choice, are the real choices.

Every pregnant woman has a choice to make… give birth or abort. She may choose to abort whether it is legal or not. Legalized abortion simply makes the choice for Death an easier one. It softens the consequences… somewhat. Even if abortion is permissible by law, that does not make it permissible by conscience. The woman and man who make the choice to abort in a country that allows abortion must still face the consequences of conscience.

In the abortion debate, there is a high cost for every choice you make. Choose Life and you will pay the price of relinquishing your child to adoptive parents or raising the child yourself. There is nothing cheap about that choice. Choose Death and you will eventually and deeply ponder your decision to terminate a life. That too is a weighty consequence.

Choose Life “and your children will live.” Choose Death and they won’t. It’s really that simple and, in the long run, a choice for Life may cost you less.-

"Assurance"

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:03:41 -0400

Deuteronomy 28.66 Amplified Bible

“Your life shall hang in doubt before you; day and night you shall be worried, and have no assurance of your life.”

This text describes the man or woman without Christ. Every man must eventually stand before his Maker. On her deathbed, the unrepentant woman will worry about the hereafter. Their lives will someday “hang in doubt” and fear will plague their thoughts. Unbelievers have “no assurance of [eternal] life”.

Assurance of salvation is available to anyone who wants it...

“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the

Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
1st John 5.13 NASU

“But as many as received Him [Jesus Christ], to them He gave the right

to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”
John 1.12 NASU

We may have assurance. We may know we have eternal life. It is apparently as easy as asking. Our home in heaven is secured by the simple act of believing “in the name of the Son of God” and receiving His gracious offer of a personal relationship.

Undoubtedly, many will claim that while they have doubts about Jesus, they do not suffer “day and night” with worry about their future with God. They have no assurance of eternal life and they do not care. The hereafter is of no present concern. Skeptics admit no need of Christianity or any other religious system. Their lives appear full and relatively happy. They presume heaven, if there is such a place, will take care of itself.

But the end of life, as with most other things in life, does not usually go as planned. Ultimately unbelievers “shall be worried”. Their eternal lives will “hang in doubt before” them. Lost souls will “have no assurance of… life.”

I must speak up so one day when they need assurance, they might have it.

__________________

The excellent illustration above is by cartoonist Lynch which I found on a cool, Berlin, Germany based site called "ToonPool... enjoy the world of cartoons" (http://www.toonpool.com).

"Don't Muzzle the Ox"

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 09:03:15 -0400

Deuteronomy 25.4 NASB

“You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.”
The literal meaning and original purpose of this Mosaic law was to allow a certain level of freedom to a working beast. It should not be muzzled when harnessed to a threshing wheel. Further restriction of the animal would be unnecessary and impair its ability to complete the threshing task.

About 1,500 years later senior apostle Paul instructed his young protégé Timothy in leading the church at Ephesus by use of the same text…

“For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle the ox while

it is threshing’ and ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages.’”
1st Timothy 5.17-18 NASU

Paul quoted Deuteronomy 25.4 verbatim. He made an application that helped Timothy financially support his preaching and teaching elders staff. “Muzzle the ox” was understood by the early church as a monetary limitation on those called to the pastoral ministry. Paul said a limitation of this kind should not be imposed.

About 2,000 years later still, I am commanded not to “muzzle the ox”. I don’t own livestock nor do I have direct responsibility for the wages of preachers. May I, then, toss out this verse as inapplicable or irrelevant, filing it away as Bible trivia? Or, does the same God who inspired Moses to write the these words and Paul to apply these words, prompt me to find fresh meaning from the mandate: “Do not muzzle the ox”?

This Scripture serves as a reminder that I will be called upon to interact with working men and women, harnessed to the threshing wheel of his vocational calling. I will be granted a divine opportunity to support or restrict my brother or sister in their work. They could use my support without which I become guilty of “muzzling the ox”.