The Bible still speaks

Well, in part to prove to my wife that my life consists of more than hunting (even in November!) I wanted to talk about something cool a few of us are doing. Two weeks ago Sandi and I invited 6 students, mostly Middle School age, to our house for some lunch. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about forming a Christian service group (called "Impact Team" that would have 3 goals:

1. To meet needs in our community with the resources that God has given us

2. To encourage one another in our spiritual growth

3. To pray for those we care about to be drawn closer to God

As part of #2 above we (I) decided that we would spend the next month or so reading the book of 1 John (a short letter written by the Apostle John located near the end of the New Testament - an artist's rendering of John is to the right). I asked the students to read the book several times through over the coming weeks and to even go so far as to re-tell the entire first chapter in their own words (this is due back to me by this coming Sunday).

At any rate, I also have been reading 1 John over the past couple of weeks. And while I was reading the other day in chapter 4 something really stood out to me - in fact, I would go so far as to say that God "spoke to me" through the text (how's that for all of you fellow cynics!)

Here is the passage that I am talking about:

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

What do I think God said to me through this passage? Well, I think he asked a question, and the question was, "Tom, what are you afraid of?"

This question caught me off guard. I mean, me man, me kill deer, me fear nothing (blah, blah, blah...). But after my initial denial, I started doing some reflecting on some of my earliest fears as a child. I won't go into all of the details of this, but suffice it to say that this prayerful reflection brought me to a new level of understanding and freedom (I hope) with some of the baggage that I have been carrying around with me for over 30 years - baggage that still affects my life, my marriage, and my work to this day.

I believe that God wanted me to finally speak this fear aloud, to name it, to see it for what it is. And once this fear is out in the open, confessed to those who know me and care about me, it can be "driven away" as the passage says - driven away by God's perfect love.

Yes, I believe that God still speaks today. The real question is, are any of us listening?