Problems are for Solving

Note: This is a post I wrote on a previous blog a few years ago that I’m bringing out of mothballs, slightly edited.

I have been reading quite a bit lately about the topic of abusive authorities. I’ve read cautions about blindly following (a wise caution), about the harm that authorities can cause when they abuse their power, and many other aspects of the damage that unwise or unrighteous rulers bring in their wake.

One thing that I have found continually missing, though, is how those who are ruled should respond to those who rule in these situations. What little is said about how to respond to the abuse of authority seems too often to be making excuses why the abused underling (no matter the authority) doesn’t need to do anything about the problem, but can get off free in the matter.

As I’ve looked at the relevant passages, I am convinced that the abuse of authority (the Bible calls it lording over people with regard to Church leaders) is truly a horrible thing. And the poor or evil leadership a ruler brings, whether in church, state or family will curse the entire group. There’s no two ways about it.

But having sinful rulers is inevitable. God will allow evil men to rise to power at times (past President Clinton is a great example)—and there is no arguing against that. Even men who are not evil will sin grievously against those under their charge. David, who was a king after God’s own heart, sent his friend Uriah to his death on the front lines so that he could steal his wife.

So what does a man do when placed under authorities who sin? All of us are under authority, or we should be, in at least three areas: the family (father), the church (elders) and the state (the magistrate). In this day and age most of you will also have rulers at work (bosses). The Bible uses the slave/master relationship to describe this. Biblically speaking, I will try to treat this as a subset of the family, even though our workplaces are not organized that way anymore.

I don’t want my posts on this topic to be long, and so I’m going to post shorter posts as I am able. You are going to have sinful rulers, likely in more than one of the spheres of authority, and there are practical steps to overcoming the sin of those who rule over you and God has not only not been silent on the topic, but He has left us with quite a few principles on the matter. I’m not going to deal with the principles in any particular order, but as I do I’ll organize them into a logical outline that you’ll be able to find under this category, or an index I’ll create later.

I’m not the handiest guy around. Ok, it’s much worse than that. I’m not very handy at all. My dad can fix almost anything, but at the age where he was working on projects around the house and I should have been helping in such a way as to 1) encourage him 2) actually be of some help and 3) learn some of what he knows I was a) swimming b) watching way too much TV and c) just not really wanting to spend time with my dad.

Now I regret that time, but I can’t go back and fix it. My dad and I have a great relationship now, but it took years of growth in my life for me to finally treat him with respect and such. Now we genuinely enjoy being around each other–but he’s in Arizona. Not too much help on the daily household projects.

Thankfully, my wife is patient. She’s willing to wait without nagging at all for most of the things that need to be done around here until I can find someone who knows how to do it to come help.

Occasionally a job comes up that I can do myself. Saturday, I picked up a new cordless phone. The last one broke a couple of weeks ago and it means that Theresa can’t talk on the phone without being tied to the kitchen wall. I asked her–would you like the cordless phone mounted in the kitchen and the corded phone someplace else? She said yes, and I put two screws in the wall (yes, it took three tries to get them spaced properly and in a spot where the phone didn’t jiggle) and now the phone is mounted:

My wife will enjoy having the answering machine a bit closer to life and the charger accessible more easily from where she spends her time.

Oh–and I fixed the picture thing so it’s not so big. On this and the dishwasher post. My wife helped me. She knows HTML.

Last week on a plane from Chicago to San Francisco I sat next to a very friendly man. Friendly and talkative. As we engaged in conversation he mentioned children. I asked how many children he had, and he replied, eight. Said he’d like to have more.
I almost asked where he went to church (very few non-Christians have that many children) when he asked if I was married. I said that I’d been married for twelve years.

Him? He’d not yet found the right woman.

Eight children with multiple partners. The man acted like he wanted to be a good father. He “texts” his older daughters every Saturday. He sends uplifting, encouraging messages. He doesn’t want them to grow up dependent upon a man.

I found that ironic. A father who has many children and yet to actually make a marriage work Continue Reading »

Remember when I used to post on my blog?

Today Samuel turned 10. The double digit birthday has become a rite of passage in the Lansberry household. Samuel received today a Red Rider BB gun and a fairly stocked toolbox–both tools to prepare him for manhood, especially in hopes that he becomes more handy around the house than his dad.

It was a nice day, despite the trip to traffic court (another story, but PG both tickets were dismissed!), and I’m looking forward to leaving tomorrow with my eldest son for his special 10th birthday trip to a place from my past, Silver Dollar City. I’ll try to get some pictures up when I can after the trip.

Margary Rose Lansberry.

My youngest daughter was born at 12:56 AM Monday, weighing in at 9 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches long.

Mama and baby are well and we’re tired. I’ll post more information and pictures as soon as we get some rest.

Praise God for this wonderful blessing!

not here yet.

Today is the due date and there have been some contractions that Theresa calls interesting but she doesn’t think the baby will be here in the next few hours—but possibly today.

I’ll keep you posted. I’ll leave the countdown timer in the sidebar until the baby is born and replace it with a birth announcement both here and there.

Theresa has gone late with all five babies (2-7 days) so Thursday would match her earliest. I’m expecting baby to come soon, though, and likely before the end of the week. But then again, only God knows when that baby will push his head out to meet us.

Stay tuned!

Thank God . . .

… For the Ben-Ezras and Kathey who come to dinner every week and shared a wonderful evening with us, though harried at times.

… For Raquel who cooked a lovely dinner tonight and then was helpful during a minor crisis.

… For my wife who reminded me that I need to trust God even when the boiler plumbing system is leaking into the upstairs bathroom.

… For my dad, who over the phone helped me to come to grips with what I feared was a thousand dollar plumbing issue but ended up being almost nothing. But his helpful advice was everything in the moment of need.

For my parents and sisters who are leaving their jobs and families for a couple of days to come celebrate little engine with us.

Thank you, God. I have been abundantly blessed.

As most of my four readers (Hi, mom!) know, my wife is expecting. Today I was looking at my friend Rachel’s blog (she’s due in four weeks) and she had added a baby countdown timer.

I thought, “wow, it would be nice to have one of those for Little Engine” (that’s what we’re calling him until we know what his name is) and so–look to your right and you’ll see just that. The Sidebar Editor plugin made it really easy to add.

Some people call him Pastor Ben-Ezra, others the HHG (for High Holy Guy) and still others (including me) the wisest man living.

Today I had breakfast with him.

Today was different.

It’s funny, but I don’t think I noticed this before. Today I had breakfast with him as my friend. I think it’s the first time, at least in Peoria, that I’ve had a meal alone with him and it felt like two friends having a meal together.

This is significant not because we are just now becoming friends. We have been friends for some time. But the HHG is also in many ways my spiritual father. He was my first real mentor after coming to Christ and is still the man I look to for spiritual advice when I run up against a problem. Sure I’ve had other mentors and I ask my own father for advice in other areas, but as I’ve grown up in Christ I’ve always looked to Leon for advice on spiritual and church matters—as long as I can remember. Today, though, the conversation felt more like a conversation between equals. Not equals in wisdom—for I may never be as wise as he is now—but equals in office. He is my brother as well as a spiritual father.

The striking thought to me today that was such an encouragement is that someday I will have a similar transition with Samuel, Toby and Peter. One day they will grow to the point where they will still seek my advice, but they will see me as a friend and brother as well as “dad.� They’ll get to the point where they see areas where I can grow and will feel free to talk to me about them and I’ll no longer follow up my rebukes of them with any kind of discipline.

We will be equals.

I have changed their diapers and one day they will be my friends.

Today I glimpsed an ever so small picture of what that will be like as I enjoyed a breakfast with the man who changed my spiritual diapers.

I took great joy in what I saw and will hope to see as my sons become men.

I will enjoy, Lord willing, many more years of friendship with my old mentor and friend.

And many more years beyond that of friendship with my sons when they become men and stand upon my shoulders and become greater men than I am.

May God show them grace to be great sons to me—but more importantly great sons to their Father who is also my Father.