JoeTucker’s Weblog

Recall that as I write this post I have just concluded a week spent with 53 jr. highers, so their mannerisms behavior, and complexities are still fresh in my mind. Also remember that I am slowly journeying through the book of Numbers. So combine the two and this is what you get:

Remember in jr. high, the battles with your parents over seemingly small things. These battles transcended the actual point of contention and inevitably turned into a battle of ideas and methodologies. I can recall the battle over rated R movies (a pirate’s favorite rating, Arrr… (I’m sorry I can’t help myself)).

I would ask my parents if I could go see a movie with my friends that was rated R, my mom/dad would check the movie on-line and reply, “no.” this would generally lead to one of three options: blatant disobedience on my part (where I would go see the movie anyways), direct obedience (where I would begrudgingly tell my friends I couldn’t go), or a battle of the minds. It is the last option that is our point of interest today.

I would tell my parents that it wasn’t fair; that all my friends were allowed to go. They [my parents] would tell me something to the effect of not wanting me to pollute my mind with garbage. I thought it was in my best interest to go. They thought it was in my best interest to stay.

And thus are argument transcended itself. It was no longer about going to the movies, it was about freedom, responsibility, maturity, values, obedience, trust, etc. Adolescent Joe no longer cared about the movie, he cared about something grander. But my decade-younger-parents still cared about the movie and the bigger picture as well.

So is it with the Israelites in the book of Numbers. Time and time again we see the people of God, choose their ways over God’s ways, and it would be easy for us [the readers] to think that God is being trite, unfair, or over-scrupulous about His Law. We could consider the example of Aaron’s son who die because they made an offering to the Lord with improper tools. We could consider Korah’s rebellion and his claim that since all Israelites are holy, all should be allowed to make sacrifices within the temple, not just Aaron’s descendants.

And coming from an adolescent perspective, these arguments would hold, but when we consider God’s character, the arguments loose their momentum. God’s plans for Israel is His best for Israel. (just like a parent wants what is best for their child, but more so, because God’s love is purer and His plan is greater). 

Yet time and time again we see Israel choose what they think is best over God’s best for them. And God often responds in a seemingly “wrathful” way: plague, the ground swallowing people, venomous snakes. Yet for all the wrathful responses we see in the book of Numbers we must remember some important things:

+God responds to His people. Which implies God is active and involved with His people. Which implies God cares for His people.

+We have a group of people who have been privy to God’s miracles who still choose their way over His. (It would be like saying, “No thanks God, I’m gonna swim the Red Sea rather than walk it. Thanks, but no.” The Israelites have a deeper level of accountability to trust God’s ways for them.

+God, even in his wrath, is again and again graceful towards the Israelites.

So, final thoughts (this post has taken 3 different time slots, so it might be a little disjointed…) maturity of faith (i.e. moving your faith past adolescence) means that you must trust God’s ways over your own. 

Grace and Peace

Ahh back in Akron. Civilization (more or less). In the last two weeks I have spent maybe one night on a mattress. Two weeks ago I was in Boston and slept on the floor. This past week I was backpacking in Shining Mountain Wilderness and Pisgah National forest (in North Carolina) and consequentially sleeping on the ground in a tent.

It has been sweet. I already blogged up Boston, so let me fill you in on the backpacking adventure:

After a grueling 9 hour drive to North Carolina, the two un-expecting and excited travelers ventured forth to the trail-head for Cold Mountain along the Art Loeb trail in the Shining Rock wilderness.  A brief walk from the trial head, our car (the Tucktruck) still in sight we happened upon another group of travelers refilling their water bottles at a pump, they cautioned us that they trail was dry and to bring more water if possible. We obliged, but soon found there warning null and void.

The scenery was indeed, well.., scenic. Magnificent in a way that pictures can never capture and words can only allude to, but I’ll try nonetheless:

The mountains constantly buzzed. The sound of the drones of bumblebees passing pollen from wildflower to wildflower, along with the what seemed liked millions of  other insects working diligently to keep the range a kaleidoscope of oranges, purples, reds, blues, and of course the all encompassing green. Green that waved up and down for as far as the eye could see, turning darker and darker as the mountains continued. The buzzing was your companion as you walked along the trail, sometimes entrenched in dense rhododendron plant, sometimes open to the majestic and vast mountain range, and if you were lucky the buzzing lead you to the sweet taste of mountain blueberry. Blueberries not a day ripened, within grasp from the trail, some tart, some sweet, all satisfying and delicious. And at times the buzzing would lead you to tumultuous views that captured more of the land than one thought possible. And the constant buzz would tell your ears to remind your nose and lungs to breathe in the pure mountain air and sigh a long breath that refreshed the core of you. The mountains buzzed.

So there’s my mountain expression, not quite a thousand words, but hopefully you got your picture’s worth. Now as to what happened:

Within our first mile and a half of hiking, the sky darkened quickly (as mountain ranges are prone to doing). the storm was heard, then seen, the ferociously felt as thick droplets of rain began to fall. We hid under some dense foliage (how often do you get to use the word foliage??!!) and were bewildered and befuddled when the rain thickened all the more to pebble-sized hail. Our foliage fortification quickly failing, we decided to brave the storm and make a run for our base camp, we ran along the trail, which now resembled more of a stream than a trail, our boots fully saturated, our packs bouncing on our packs, our rain gear proving (or disproving) its worth.  We arrived at the site and the storm settled down. Hanging our packs and gear to dry, we set up the tent and called it a night still reeling in shock from the fact that we had endured a hailstorm in July!!

The next day brought many good tidings: miraculously dry clothes, a more or less dry trail to follow, and a warm sun to travel with us. We continued to Shiny Mountain, a mountain of quartz rock that literally glistened when in the sun. After a fair amount of bouldering, taking in the view (see above), and reading we continued along the poorly marked trails. After trekking, enduring another storm, back-trekking, and cursing the lack of blazes and trial markers that Shining Rock wilderness employs we decided to set up base camp near shining Mountain and change our plans. Alas we never did make it to Cold Mountain, but we did eat a fair amount of mountain blueberries.

We left the park the next day and traveled to Pisgah National forest, where we stayed near a stream, and leisurely enjoyed the evening. Taking a day hike around the mountain range base we played in waterfalls, hiked the many trails, and returned to one of the more enjoyable sites I have ever witnessed:

Butterflies. In all truthfulness I imagine there were 40 to 50 of them standing (or whatever it is butterflies do when they are not moving) in an ashen pit that had once been a fire ring. We moved closer, took some pictures, and proceeded to test our luck and touch the butterflies. At our reach, roughly half of the butterflies launched and danced around us, skittering back to the ash then launching up again; the others ignored our innocent prods and continued doing whatever it is butterflies do when sitting in ash. In a completely heterosexual way, it was pretty cool.

This post is getting long. Wrapping up, while camping:

+I finished Numbers, will post on it soon.

+I also read for Men Only, will not post on this anytime soon.

+Slid down a waterfall into a pool.

+Bought a wicked sweet water purifier!!

Grace and peace

So I am presently finishing up a week spent in Boston with 53 (yeah that’s right 53) junior highers. It was good, but I am tired. I’m presently way to scatterbrained to have any semblance of theme or main idea so I will simply post some thoughts I had:

+One: I apologize to my Mom and Dad for the 3 years I spent as a jr. higher. I genuinely do love the kids I have been working with this last week, but my goodness can jr. highers ever drive one crazy. My favorite example: the student who forgot to read the packing list, brought no work pants, no swim trunks, no towel, but did successfully bring a practice drum pad and sticks to wail away upon! Honestly….

+Two: However I did garner much useful observance from the  kids I was chaperoning.  One predominant observation was innocence.  Jr. High is still that time when one doesn’t necessarily understand every vulgarity or they may have never even heard it before. For example, I lead a VBS this week that had some rough city kid attenders. The kids ended up getting rowdy whenever we left (I speculated on this and think this behavior is derived from abandonment issues)  and one day they said some profane and sexually base things to some of the girls in our group. When I returned to our house I talked to the students and found one of them crying for she had never heard terms like that before. And her innocence struck me. She had never heard words used like that before. I knew those words well and although they aren’t my words of choice (actually I despise their usage most of the time) I am accustomed to hearing them.

And in a way I am finding hard to describe their innocence was refreshing. Here were a group of kids who were unpolluted to some degree from the many shady things of our culture. I can’t yet sum how it struck me, but it did.

+Three: I love cities. Subways, corner-stands, shops, cultural diversity, rich history, wicked accents. Cities intrigue me and I am more and more excited for a year spent in Philadelphia!!

+Four: I also love urban ministry. Again, I lead a rough VBS this week and receive multiple compliments that I did well and was quote, “the right man for the job.” And although in retrospect I would have done a lot of things differently, it was still one of those tough things you endure and crazily actually enjoy when it is all said and done. Moreover the group we worked with, the Jubilee House (which is the old house of New Kids on the Block singers Marky MArk and Donny Wahlberg!!! Yeah!) does such an amazing job of running programs throughout the city that uplift the neighborhood and encourage the attenders toward Christ-likeness.

There is no 5, at least not yet. I’m off to go get some food and get ready for my flight back.

Grace and Peace

A roommate of mine practices Messianic Christianity, which is the belief that Christ is the Messiah and the continued practice of Torah living. We have had a great deal of conversations discussing the theology, applications, misgivings, and principles of this walk of faith. And I will post sooner or later my thoughts on the matter, once I can compress and express my thoughts in a way that makes sense (something I cannot presently do).

However, I have taken one major thing from these conversations, a deeper appreciation for the Old Testament. It seems as though there are certain books of the OT, that evangelical Christians enjoy poking fun at due to their length, impending boredom, and trite, legalistic rules. Consider Numbers and Leviticus, I can recall pastors even citing these books as boring. The interesting thing is that these books (accompanied by Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy were the foundational books for the Jewish faith and Jesus’ teachings. So I have been attempting to read these books with a new appreciation for God’s revelation. I have been reading these books (Leviticus and Numbers) under the impression that within the pages there is life and relevance for me today, not solely for the Israelites thousands of years ago. And it has been some interesting reading indeed.

Take Numbers for example. The first two chapters of Numbers deal with taking a census of 11 tribes of Israel and then designating them to locations around the tabernacle. The next two chapters deal with distributing the tribe of Levi around the tabernacle. And I’ve read it before and it was boring then. But I read it again, and there was depth.

Because God’s Law reveals God’s character. God’s ordinances and statutes explain to us the type of deity He is.

Consider our own country’s great Constitution (a fitting example this fourth of July weekend). The Bill of Rights and further Amendments along with the Preamble describe to us that our country values freedom and equality. The fact that in our governing bill ascribe rights to the individual and protect freedom imply that we as Americans value those very traits. So is it with God!

So what does God value in the first four chapters of Numbers?

From my understanding three things (although I am sure there could be a great many more that I am not insightful enough to see or understand): family, church, and order.

You see the first two chapters deal with the various tribes, assigning them to locations and taking a census of the men there. And there are a lot of names, weird, old names that are difficult to pronounce. But they are people. Or rather they were people. They were fathers and brothers and sons. And they mattered. Each and every one of them.  And their families mattered; their wives and daughters.

It as if the first two chapters of Numbers are God’s affirmation of the family unit and the cohesiveness of the family. Why list so many? Why ascribe them certain places and ways of living as a family and clan? Because families are important in God’s kingdom. Important enough to warrant two no-longer-as-boring chapters in numbers.

And all the families circle the Tabernacle. All the families camp around the presence of God. Do I need to express it explicitly? I will because it’s so good: God centers the family units around Himself, around His presence!

And then we have the Levites, the priests of God’s tabernacle. God’s assigns them directly around the tabernacle and assigns them sacrificial duties as well as maintaining the Tabernacle. God puts value in His presence, in Himself. So much so that He assigns an entire tribe to be priests. God puts value in His own Holiness, worship, the way by which we come to Him.

I wrote church earlier as the 2nd thing God values. This term was a bit misleading by modern-day vernacular. I should say that Numbers 3 and 4 imply that God values us coming to His presence and His presence being amongst us. I believe that the manifestation of this today is the Church. Not church as the place we attend Sunday mornings, but Church as in the called-apart Body of Christ, the ekklesia!

And order. God is not haphazard in his positional assignments of the Israelites. There is a distinct order to it. I still have to think this one through, some before writing on it extensively. So until next time,

Grace and peace

I defended my thesis today. It went well. Now the only thing that remains between me and a master’s degree is 3 measly signatures.

IT feels good to be done.

grace and peace