so the woman survived her two sons and her husband. Ruth 1:5

When you lose your husband, then your two sons, about all you can do is survive. At least back then, in that time and place.

I remember a story from North Dakota from PBS television. They were interviewing people across the state who were living when the interstate 94 was built across the state. They asked a farmer about his life and any stories he could share. He told them of the old days when it was terrible to lose your wife, many women would not make it past the winter and would have to be buried in the spring after the snows were gone. What a horrible time to have to wait for.

The farmer added that the only thing worse than losing your wife was to lose your horses. The horses formed a team that would plow and plant a crop in the spring. Should you lose the horses, everything would be lost, no food and eventually no family.

Listening to that story, I thought about how bleak life must have been for many in the north. Tough, tough way of life. It seems that no one really thrived by living off the land, they merely survived, and some didn't even do that.

In Naomi's case, she was the only one who survived, without a husband and two sons. She buried them in a foreign land and she turned around with very little hope in her heart and headed back home. What would life be like next week, next month? No family, no land, no food, no money, no friends, no future.

Naomi was something of a prodigal. She determined to return home, she determined to survive. This would take great courage. God would make a way for her.

Have you lost it all, or most of it, just surviving? God can take you from surviving to thriving. He did with Naomi, He can with you too.

I'm intensifying my passion for mission and community as well as activism. I appreciate the guidance that these two have to offer for remembering which one is which.

A Missional Community Is Not A Social Activist Group - Jeff and Caesar from Verge Network on Vimeo.

These are some fascinating and informative cases of the digital lives of young people today from Wired's blog.

Are you publishing something profound when you blog? Are you responsible for what you post? Does anyone really care? Should you be blogging at all in this day and age? Check out John Dyer's post on this kind of thinking at Christianity Today.

Give him a minute to get going, then you'll be saying Honolulu three times too.

Is there a way to live life so that the ups and downs don't seem so bad? Can we smooth life out and prevent the down times and increase the good times? Maybe. The outward circumstances of our lives can be managed, to a point. But the big events of life can not be totally controlled. In the story of Ruth, we find Naomi's two sons at a high point, and ten years later we read of their death.

Ruth 1:3-5 Elimelech died and Naomi was left, she and her two sons. The sons took Moabite wives; the name of the first was Orpah, the second Ruth. They lived there in Moab for the next ten years. But then the two brothers, Mahlon and Kilion, died. Now the woman was left without either her young men or her husband.

Were those ten years good years, bad years, some ups and down? Was the wedding day filled with happiness and from there a straight line down to death? Probably not. There were probably many good days mixed in with the not so good ones.

Life is a series of choices. The next word or sentence I type is a selection of very simple choices, probably based on thoughts in my head and feelings in my heart. You will make a lot of choices today, even if you are laying in bed all day, or running full speed ahead in activities. Those choices will go a long way toward what kind of week and month you will have. They may not make the month turn out perfectly, but they will make a difference.

Living for the end will make the middle better. Planning for finishing the race well will make the whole race better. I call this working backwards. Starting with the end point, what we want to look like and feel like at the finish of the race, how to die well.

When these two young men died, perhaps in their 30's, could they lay their head down for one last time and look into the eyes of their loved ones and say that they had finished well? I wasn't there, but I sure hope so. I hope that they could say, I have made good choices day by day. And when I made the wrong choices, I learned from them and got back on track.

Your life depends on your choices. And other people depend on your choices. These two young men made choices to marry Moabite women, foreigners. Normally this was discouraged, forbidden even. I often wonder if the two men died because of a wrong choice. I will never know for sure, but the more I think about it, the more I think that God took these two marriages and made something great out of it. They might have seemed like poor choices at first, but that didn't stop God from using these two men and their wives to make a great difference in history.

I know one thing from this story, there will be an end. Plan for it. Live not in fear of it but respect it. It will set your life on the path of good choices. One of the wives, Ruth will make a simple choice because of her husbands faith. That choice will change life for billions of people. It might have seemed like a small thing at the time, but it wasn't small as we look back at it.

Next time, we'll look at that choice, standing on the edge of eternity with a decision to make.

Crop Failure doesn't sound too deadly to most of us. For Elimelech, it was the difference between life and death.

Here is the text. "But when their crops failed, they moved to the country of Moab. And while they were there, Elimelech died, leaving Naomi with only her two sons." Ruth 1:2, 3

How stark and bleak are those words. Hunger, Famine, Move, Death. These really were life and death issues. I often wonder what people mean when they say they long for the good old days. I think today, most people are just kidding when they act like times were better back then, back when. They just weren't all that great, not all the time at least.

As they were building the interstate through North Dakota, Public Television did a special on people and life across the state to document many of the memories of people, often farmers and ranchers along the highway route. There was one farmer who shared memories of recent life of a farmer on the High Plains. Life was tough for sure. The farmer said that more than a few men lost their wives to the weather and poor health and other poor conditions. The only thing worse in the Good Old days was losing your horses. Really? Well, yea, lose your horses and you lose your crop. Lose your crop and you lose your life. Lose your life and your family is in deep trouble. Sorry ladies, I am not saying that horses are more valuable than women, but in the Good Old Days, maybe so.

Crop failure is just about the worst thing that could happen. With our worldwide trade in agricultre today, the grain and products of one country or region can be supplemented by food from somewhere else. We don't really experience crop failure today in our grocery stores. So we don't quite track with how severe this story is in Ruth. In one sense, it was a world ending event. For Eleimelech and Naomi, their world as they knew it came to an end. The husband dies in this case and there may have been times when Naomi might have wished for the same release from life.

But she persists. She has what we might call the American spirit, long before there was an America filled with spirited pioneers. It is a spirit that is common to humans from all times; the persistent desire to live, the will to overcome. Some survive, some die. A few really learn to live. What makes the difference?

There are some things in this story we recognize right away. There was no long term denial. Famine hit them right away, there was no denying it. It was a crisis, or a call for good judgment and wisdom. They took action, they moved. There were consequences. Some died. They stuck to life, kept going, it was hard. More would die, more would live.

Such is life. It is the ongoing set of challenges and overcomings. That is why the more industrious amonst us try to think about the future. Futurists think about the crops next year and the year beyond. There may not be many who can spend much time thinking about the future; so many are barely able to keep up with this years crops. But somewhere, somebody is thinking ahead. They long to see better crops for years to come. They long to see better life for people for years to come. If you need evidence for this from the Bible, turn back to a story of crop abundance and crop failure and the future of food in the chapters of Israel and Egypt's history described in Genesis 41-47. The primary ingrdients in those chapters are food and famine, and the future of the people of those two nations as they cooperated together to make life better. A fascinating story I believe in the human spirit.

Of course, the mention of God so far in Ruth, is scant. Unless you remember that Elimelech's name means, My God is King. I'm sure as we continue our study in Ruth, we'll see that God is often given a back seat in our lives. That too, seems to be human nature. The idea that our best lives are lived in His presence, no matter what country, region, or time we live in is life itself. Life at it's best!

I like context. It is the stuff around the thing. Whatever the thing is, there is something around it. Context is complicated, it takes more time to explore. It may not be hard to do context, but it does take time.

There is a story in David's life where he is about to go over a cliff. It's found in 1 Samuel 25. Maybe you remember it well, David asks for help from a sheep farmer named Nabal. Nabal disses him and laughs at him, acting like he doesn't know the national hero David. David vows to kill Nabal and his clan. Nabal's wife hears about it and executes a quick plan to head David off at the pass. She succeeds through generosity and diplomacy and a little psychology to get David turned around, literally. Nabal dies in the process, his heart seems to have given out. Abigail, his wise wife or widow at this point marries David.

What's the context of this story? David is learning to be an executive. He's learning Godly wisdom. Look at the chapter before and after where David refuses to kill the reigning king Saul. David appears to act wisely, even when others counsel him to kill the mad king Saul.

David is the apparent center of these chapters. The unseen center is the wisdom of God as it is being poured into David's life. He will soon come out of exile in the wilderness and will take over the CEO position of Israel.

The wisdom of God was rarely sought before David's life. People may have gone to God with their ways and thoughts, but learning the ways of God take on new meaning with David's life and his son Solomon. These two men, kings and leaders both, purposely sought God's wisdom. When they failed to do this, God sent them messengers, Abigail and later Nathan the prophet. Both were wise counselors who spoke truth to power and they strengthened David's wisdom as a result of their courage.

The context of David's rise to power is the growth of God's wisdom in his life. This is what a disciple of Christ seeks for as well. David was being discipled or disciplined by God for the toughest job in the world. What might have been good enough for other executives was not good enough for David. He needed supervision directly from the top, from God.

And he got it. Sometimes he fumbled it, sometimes he turned that wisdom into national triumph. As an executive, he stood head and shoulders above many who came before him and after as well. He was not only a national hero to Israel but among it's greatest leaders.

The context of his story is his willingness to accept his wisdom from God. It may have come from people, women, prophets etc. But it originated with God. when he accepted God as the source of his wisdom, he led with integrity and service. He made the lives of his kingdom better, instead of threatening to kill them and wipe them out.

We can call this Betterment Wisdom. As James 3:17 describes it;

But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere.

There is plenty of wisdom in the world, David learned this. He also learned to distinguish between God's wisdom and other wisdom. In so doing, he gained the heart of an Executive. Truly, a man after God's own heart who Bettered his world.

Bethlehem

Ephratah

Elimelech

Naomi

Mahlon

Chilon

THE MEANING OF THE THESE PERSONAL NAMES

One of the interesting features of this paragraph is the meanings which scholars have found in the personal names.

Elimelech means, `my God is king'; Naomi signifies `pleasant,' `my sweet one,' or `amiable.' Chilion and Mahlon are said to mean `sickness' and `consumption' or `sickly' and `wasting.' Orpah is said to mean `stiff-necked,' and Ruth has been assigned the meaning of `friend,' `refreshment,' `satiation,' or `comfort.'

Regarding the names of the Moabite wives and that of Elimelech's two sons, perhaps the most dependable analysis is that of Joyce G. Baldwin who declares that, "The suggested meanings of Mahlon `weakly' and Chilion `pining' are merely conjectural, and the meanings of Orpah and Ruth are not known." Hubbard agreed that in the case of Orpah, "The meaning remains an unsolved mystery."

So some of these names are not so well understood and some are very interesting to us. Elimelech, My God is King, reveals the promise of Kingship in The head of this household. Either it speaks about Elimelech's faith, or his future, or both.

The fact that he led his family over to Moab for some 10 years allows us to question his faith, or at least examine it. Was it the right choice to leave the Bread Town of Bethlehem? To go to a land of people who did not trust in God? To a place where faith in the true God was not practiced? Where your sons would die?

There are a handful of questions that come up. Some don't have good answers. Or reasonable answers anyhow. One question that might come up is this. What if Elimelech hadn't gone to Moab? Would Ruth have become a God Fearing woman? Would she have been brought into the ancestry of Jesus in some other way? How would Jesus have come to us as a child?

These are questions that we keep spinning for a while, like plates on poles, then someone tries to add another plate to our circus. Here, spin this plate too. We can only keep so many plates spinning at once. Life, like the story of Naomi and Ruth is a story of keeping those plates in the air, not crashing down to the ground. As we will see shortly, the death of Naomi's two sons and her husband were a terrible set of plate crashes. Are they the result of bad decisions on her husbands part or did he make the right decision to leave Bethlehem for Moab.

It all sounds like stuff we wrestle with too. More on that to come.

The area around Bethlehem is an agricultural land.  When you understand this then you are ready to understand some things about the story of Ruth and Naomi. You also need to use your imagination. Canned Corn, no way, fresh fish, nothing doing, processed foods, sold on grocery store shelves, you wish. You've got to go back and live a little while in this place, roll out the barley flour, thresh the wheat stalks on the ground, feel the sun beating on your back, pluck the Olives from their branches. You have to live off the land in such a way that you are not separated from the land, but an extension of it, a true product of the dirt, just like Adam.

We live much more removed from the land today than they did in Ruth's time. This may feel like a superior way of life to us. I'm sure glad for lots of the convenient foods that end up on my table. But it has spoiled us. In fact, the more you enter into their natural world, the more you will understand what it was like for Naomi and her husband to leave Israel and go to a foreign land across the massive Valley to the east in Moab. Take some time to live in that land, virtually through the websites available on line. Here is one.

There is a garden in Israel called Neot Kedumim. It is a favorite place of mine because it is both a place of learning and a place of devotion. I've hiked it's trails, prayed near it's Palms, worshiped by it's ponds. Mostly I felt as if I were taken back in time to older, more rugged times when the wheat was brought to the threshing floor instead of threshed by a roving monster painted Red or Green and labeled McCormick or Deere.

If you want to understand ancient Israel, go to this garden. In fact, if you want to gain a firm understanding of much of the old testament, you must understand the nature of the natural life around the people of that time. You need a place like Neot Kedumim to take you back. Can't hop on the next flight to Israel? That's ok. Try this, and see if there are some less expensive ways of getting there.

Are you chewing on the Wheat seeds yet, shaking the dust off of your sandals, tossing shocks of wheat into the air? Are you able to sense the anxiety of the farmers who wonder about the supply of rain for the coming harvest? Are you thinking like Ruth and Elimelek?

The Story in Ruth chapter 1 is a story of uncertainty. It calls for leadership. Decisions have to be made. Will we stay or will we go? Will the economy get better, or will things get worse? Will there be enough seed to plant in the ground or will we be unable to get new seed? Will there be rain or will it be worse than last growing season? Where will we get food? Will we make it till next year. What will happen to us.

Such dark questions usually come to us in tough times, uncertain times. They are not so common when life is going well. And life very often does go well. Not every day is tough or uncertain. We can manage those days, can't we?

But uncertain times call for more than management, don't they? They call for leadership and decisions. Managers keep ongoing processes on track, keep the engines of industry humming along. Their job descriptions are clear and fairly typical. They are able to just keep doing what they've been doing and the reward is fairly certain.

This is not the case with our story of Ruth and Naomi and the men in and out of their lives. They live in a most uncertain time when darkness is their constant companion. They live in a time of famine, in a place that had a history of bread. Bethlehem means house of bread.

What do you do when you go to the bakery, the only one in town and the sign says, "Closed, due to Wheat and Barley shortage. Reopen, Next year, maybe"?

A famine in a bakery. That is the picture of tough times. Uncertain times. It was a time that called for a decision and a quick one at that. Uncertain times call for leaders who can make decisions. Can you prepare for those times, train yourself as a decisive leader? Yes, you can.

Next post about agriculture and how God used it to teach His people in Israel.

I'm back in my devotional reading of Scripture in the ancient period of the Judges. I've been preaching on the life of David and that starts with Samuel during the time of the judges, before there was a king in Israel. It was a fantastically difficult time to bring the nation together and unite them in God's plan for the nation.

Ruth is a story that plays out in the middle of this time. It also has profound ties to David and eventually Jesus and on to us today. It was a terrible time for the people in Israel and shows what life is like when the economy of a nation is in desperate circumstances. It has so many lessons for us who have been living in tough economic and spiritual diminished times, that I don't know where to begin. Except at the beginning.

So I'll take some verses each week, maybe each day and we'll visit with the people of ancient Israel, Naomi, Elimelech, their sons, their wives, and Boaz, along with a few others.

Here's our first text.

Ruth Is Loyal to Naomi

Before Israel was ruled by kings, Elimelech from the tribe of Ephrath lived in the town of Bethlehem. His wife was named Naomi, and their two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. But when their crops failed, they moved to the country of Moab. And while they were there, Elimelech died, leaving Naomi with only her two sons. 1:1-3

Period of the Judges--Elimelech--Ephrath--Bethlehem--Naomi--Mahlon--Chilion Crops Failed--Moved--Moab--Death--Widow--Two Sons to Raise--Strange Land

There is plenty here to examine. Next post we will look at the times and then the places, then the names.

Better hurry if you want to see what's going on at Youtube.

I like the list that this leader, Margaret Marcuson,  has offered for a healthy church. Right up front though I noticed that she liked a church she attended where the pastor had good sermons that never went over 6 minutes. WHAT? 6 minutes, nah, maybe she meant 16 minutes. Anyhow, 6 minutes. Don't get bogged down in that detail, leave it for me. Take a look at the list and see if you can find some of the list at your church. Anyhow, it's Easter weekend, a great time to be a part of a Healthy church.

Wood and working wood just make me feel better, actually they give me hope. A done project is something to enjoy and appreciate each time you see it or use it. People never seem finished, always in progress. Progress is good, but wood is done and sometimes you just need something to be done and have something to show for it. Try wood, it works for me.

Here's a nice introductory piece from Garden and Gun.

And the website. http://www.landrumtables.com/

You might have to watch this twice to get the point. I did. But the question is basically, who is your worship service for and who are you expecting to see there? You may be designing it for the wrong group, you may not be. Depends.

The Exchange - Guest Tim Keller - Full Episode - Aired March 5, 2013 from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.