In the morning Cheryl and I head to India. It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that I was there. And now, here I go back again. This time the mission is to speak to a group of workers from a organization on whose board I sit. They have asked me to be the keynote speaker for a meeting of their workers who will be coming from various places around the world.

I am not sure whether or not I will have internet capacity where we will be. If so, I’ll check in from time to time over the next ten days or so. If not, don’t worry. I’ll be back soon. Just wanted to give you a heads up in case you miss me.

Ever had one of those moments when it seems that you are being guided step-by-step and you just HAVE to continue on? Let me explain.

Yesterday I went to get my hair cut. Yes, it happens. I usually go on my day off, but schedules clashed and I had a rare late morning appointment. With my fresh-cut hair I was getting hungry and decided to check out the options nearby on my Android. I am indeed a modern man.

Seeing a little deli I like I decide to go for a quick sandwich before heading back to the office. I didn’t know that the deli had a location relatively close to where I happen to be, but that’s what Google maps says, and you know it is impossible for Google to lie. Since I’m not familiar with the address I punch it into my GPS and off I go. The little lady who lives inside my phone begins to give me her step-by-step instructions.

Merging onto  the freeway,  know that I’ll be getting off in just an exit or two at the most. Would it be the next exit? She doesn’t say. I am flying past the exit when suddenly she tells me to take the exit. Too late! Don’t you hate it when that happens? I can’t really blame her for this one, though, because they have just changed the exit and it comes much earlier now. Actually, they have been working on this exit since the days of Lewis and Clark and they’re still not done. I’ll cut her some slack. Not even Google can update the entire world-wide road system overnight.

Wait! Oh no!! Traffic ahead is at a stand still. Now what? There is sure going to be no easy turn around. I’ll just bail and look for an alternative route. I am sure glad the little lady is there to guide me. I’m not familiar with the back streets in this part of the city, but she soon has me back on the deli trial. Yahoo!

Just when I think I might be getting close, she tells me to go in a direction I didn’t anticipate. Soon, I am winding around a purely residential jungle of duplexes and she announces, “Your destination is on the right.” No! No, it’s NOT. That’s a duplex, lady, and no one is home! Dang!

I start backing out of my gps since it isn’t doing any good. I come to a screen that really says this – “We seem to have lost track of where you are. You might want to go to your homepage and reset your position.” NO KIDDING!

A lot of good that did me. In addition, I now have a new problem. I need to go to the bathroom more than I need something to eat. By now I have been driving around a bit. So, I remember having seen a QuickTrip back down the road and I head that way.

All along the journey the traffic has been horrific. Despite my technology and my best intentions, I might as well be in the middle of nowhere. Even trying to get into the QT is an experience. Cars are roaming the lot trying to snag a place at a gas pump, while others are trying to find a place in the lot to park.

As I got out of my car I am immediately smacked in the face by the powerful aroma of … fresh … hot … MASA. Oh my! Anyone who has lived between the equator and the Rio Grande knows what is going on inside me. Trapped inside this Scottish/Dutch body is a little Latino who is screaming his brains out. “¡¡Sí, sí, sí, papito!! ¡Huele a masa fresca y caliente!” 

Well, I still had to pee. But when I came out, the cloud of masa still swirled in the winds blowing off the prairie. I looked up a level from the QT lot and there was a building with the unmistakable form of a Taco Bell. But, this ain’t no Taco Bell smell that’s tempting me! This is an old Taco Bell someone has converted into a hand-rolled Mexico joint. Now, 98 of 100 times I am sorely disappointed looking for Mexican food only to find some horrible concoction that Mexicans make to sell to gringos who think that’s what Mexican food is supposed to taste like.

Forgetting that my Android has just led me astray badly more than once, I quickly do a search on Urban Spoon, or Yelp or something like that and discover that this little hole-in-the-wall has garnered a 95% positive rating from over 40 reviewers. Really? Really!!!

Then, I consider all I have just been through looking for a simple deli sandwich. Perhaps the Spirit of the living God has been guiding me all along. The ways of the Lord are mysterious indeed. How could I NOT try this place!!! Eating lunch at this particular place at this particular moment in time and space is without doubt God’s sovereign will for my life.

Traffic is still sealing up the QT entrance, so I slip out the back, sneak through a back street to come back around to the born again Taco Bell. Could this be a truly decent place?

I walk through the door as a guy follows me. He’s Hispanic. OK. That’s promising. I let him step up first while I survey the scene and read the menu on the wall. This is a walk up to counter and order type place. I quickly discover that there is not a single English speaker in the place on either side of the counter. In fact, as I look at the menu, I don’t even think there are any English words in the place.

Waking me out of my trance, the voice of the lady behind the counter assaulted me in a great Latino version of Gates’ BBQ famous “Hi! May I help you?” 

Hola. ¿Qué quiere comer? 

I want to try several things, but I step right up and order a torta al pastor. I am still in a sandwich mood, so that’s a Mexican marinated pork sandwich. She’s asksing me the normal questions about my order such as for here or to go, regular or diet and that type of stuff.

All of this is in Spanish of course. I have on my shades and she can’t see my bright blues eyes – so she doesn’t know I’m a white guy, since I’m kind of a dark white guy with a mustache and black leather jacket who happens to have blue eyes. Not that Mexicans can’t have blue yes, of course, but I am less likely to be discovered with shades on.

Then it happened. The newspaper under my arm fell on to the counter and she looked at it in disbelief. Apparently I’m the first person to bring an English paper into the place. The following dialogue is loosely translated into English.

So, where are you from then? You’re Mexican, right? She’s looking down at the paper and up at me.

No, I’m from here. 

So, how can you be from here and you speak perfect Spanish? What are you? Are you from here, but you are really Mexican? 

No, I’m really from here. I just lived many years in Central America. In El Salvador to be exact. I also lived in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. 

Ah! Central America! You don’t say! So, you’re married to a Mexican and that’s why you speak perfect Spanish. 

No, I’m married to a gringa. I just happen to have been speaking Spanish for longer than I want to remember. 

So you are a Mexican born here who married a gringa.

She has not yet stopped staring at me. She obviously likes being in the know and being in charge, and I am busting her paradigm.

She hands me my drink and points to the straws. I grab a straw and napkin and head to find a seat. The place is fairly full and people are coming and going.

Her voice would serve her well to work at Gates, and by the time I find a place to sit I am getting looks from the primarily male clientele on lunch break who are a bit curious about the guy who looks and talks like them and claims to be a gringo. Maybe some are thinking I am INS, or maybe just mentally disturbed. I mean why would a white guy come to this place? But, then again, maybe I’m not a white guy. They’re not sure. Me neither.

Torta al pastor! as the sound pierces through the TVs on the wall broadcasting Univision.

Thanks very much, I say as I retrieve my plate from the counter. 

So, did you like Ecuador, or wherever it was? 

El Salvador, and yes I liked it very much. 

She’s still looking at me and I can tell she’s still not decided who I am or what I am, and she sure as heck has no idea WHERE I’m from.

I’ve had this discussion many times. I remember once in El Salvador many years ago a man walked by our house one evening and we began to talk. He knew that I was Mexican. Then, he got angry – yes, angry – when I told him I wasn’t.

Oh, the torta was indeed good and authentic. I can’t say it was the best I’ve ever had, but I would stop here again in a heartbeat and try something else.

Sometimes I think it would be a lot easier if someone could just set the little Latino in me free.  I really don’t understand it myself. I usually just say, “No, I’m from here.” If they press me and want to know my ethnic background and I tell them I am half Scottish and half Dutch, they simply freak. Whatever I am and wherever I’m from, they know THAT’S not true.

So, how did this happen to me? Who am I – really?

Yesterday I posted about the importance of keeping to the basics. If you didn’t read it, you might want to start there.

Also, I mentioned a phone call with a friend that stimulated a lively conversation about the similarities between her area of expertise and mine and how we have a great deal in common. If you are a fairly regular reader of this blog, you might have heard me speak of Tina, a high school classmate who went on to a legendary career in law enforcement at both local and national levels.

In Denver, Tina was one of the first female officers, overcoming many obstacles and prejudice in her rise to captain. She brought order and stability to one of the city’s roughest districts, commanded Denver’s police academy and also internal affairs. She was one of the first female graduates of the FBI Academy. And, for eight years she was the Presidential appointed US Marshal for Colorado and personally oversaw the planning and processes of security for the Oklahoma City Bombing trials that were held in Denver.

Her experience in law enforcement, the United States Marshals Service and the US Department of Justice, as well as her captivating and unique speaking style,  have made her one of the most sought-after trainers in law enforcement as well as business and industry.

One of her training courses that is causing quite a buzz is called Bold Patrol. Her focus is to equip both new and experienced police officers to see their basic patrol function from a totally new perspective. This is the aspect of her work that provoked our discussion of similarities between teaching the basics of hermeneutics and discipleship with the basics of Bold Patrol.

At the end of our discussion, I asked Tina to put some of her thoughts in writing, and I share them with you here. You may not give a rip about law enforcement and that’s not my point in publishing Tina’s thoughts here. I think you will quickly see the parallels to basics of biblical living, and she makes some pointed comparisons herself. Beyond that, I challenge you to think about how these same truths apply to YOUR profession, vocation, personal life or whatever. (If you DO give a rip about law enforcement or the application of these principles to business and industry, you can find Tina’s website here).

The patrol function in a police department involves handling dispatched calls for service and doing directed or administrative and maintenance tasks. It also includes officer-initiated patrolling activities, in the varying amounts of available time between other tasks.

 Bold Patrol teaches strategies for making that self-initiated time Purposeful, Active, Versatile and Effective. (PAVE) It helps an officer stay energized and increases the quality and quantity of a wide variety of work that helps a community.

 When I teach Bold Patrol I have to immediately overcome resistance to the idea that it needs to be taught. The most common objections I hear are:

 “They went through an academy, so they shouldn’t have to be told.”

“They’ve all been patrolling for several years so they know what they need to know.”

“I don’t want to insult the officers by telling them they could use training.”

“There’s no way to teach patrolling. You either can do it or you can’t.”  

“This makes something easy seem difficult. All you really have to do is drive around and watch for things. Right?  

 But the truth is, almost no officers are taught specific techniques for maximizing the time between calls for service through observation, inspections, enforcement, contacts, crime and problem prevention, investigations and the other things a patrol officer can do. It’s not taught at academies, not emphasized in most field training programs and not taught as part of in-service training. As a result, many officers who do an excellent job of handling a dispatched call will not use time between calls effectively—or they will primarily do only one activity—traffic enforcement, business checks or narcotics arrests.

 I often hear officers describe their last shift to another officer by saying, “There was nothing going on.” “It was dead tonight.” Nothing was happening.” I always say, “If there was nothing going on, why is it the offense reports are rolling in now?” There was never a rape, a robbery, a theft, a burglary a vandalism or a homicide where there weren’t officers on duty. There’s always something going on.

 After a Bold Patrol class officers always report that they have increased their worthwhile activities and their effectiveness double or triple. Some are excited at learning some new ways to consider what they thought of as a routine activity. One thing is for sure—if they don’t, it’s a choice because there is no doubt that they know how. One officer wrote to me and said, “ I’ve driven through the same area at least two thousand times in my career here and in some ways I feel like I’ve never seen it before.” (THAT is the application to hermeneutics.)

 It’s not that the officers weren’t sincere before or even that they didn’t try. But, we always say, some people have five years of experience, some have one year of experience and some have one year of experience five times. Some officers drive through the same area thousands of times, but some people drive through it ten times and arrest a wanted person, correct a parking problem, report a light out, warn a speeding driver, give crime prevention information to a neighborhood group and get out of the car to talk to a homeowner.  (Some people read the Bible every day and find it helpful and useful and that’s good. Some people read it every day and get all the richness there is in it..)

 I have observed that it takes three things for an officer to be willing to gain knowledge and skills in Bold Patrol training:

 1.) They have to want to gain mastery of patrolling, not just do it good enough to get by. The desire to be their best is the number one requirement.

2.) They have to be willing to humble themselves to admit they may not have complete mastery now.  

3.) They have to be willing to take a task apart, look at it in new ways and put it back together again, even when some aspects of it seem obvious.

 If they will do those three things, the reward is that what was formerly routine and often not productive, is now a task filled with energy, enjoyment and a richness that it didn’t have before. They can make a difference in their communities that is noticeable.  

 There’s an old saying about police work: “It’s eight hours of boredom interrupted by five minutes of heart pounding excitement.” I close my class by saying, “Be a Bold Patrol officer and you’ll never be bored again.”

 The application: It seems to me that learning the scripture and looking at each word and phrase from a wide range of Biblically sound perspectives requires the same desire to grow mentally and to achieve mastery. Having faith like a little child doesn’t mean they should be proud to be at a first grade level in their understanding of the Bible, for the rest of their lives.

 There also seems to be a parallel in the idea of not being insulted at the idea that there may be something new to learn. Another similarity is that in my classes I say, at several points, as we talk about varying methods for patrolling, “Try this and see how you can make it work in your city. Let a month or so go by and keep doing it now and then. If it never is worthwhile and you never get results, you can stop. But at least try it with a commitment to seeing it if achieves the mission.”

 However, having said all of that, the truth is that some officers just don’t have the depth of thought to fully appreciate my class and they leave thinking it was good but nothing will ever really change for them. Other officers latch onto it from the first minute of the class and eat it up all day and leave energized, with plans for how to use it.

 I suppose that’s what you deal with as well. You crave learning about things from new perspectives, which is why you and I both do research. Many people are quite content to see no more in a verse than when they learned it at ten years old. They miss out on the riches of learning new depth of meaning, new perspectives and applications as mature adults. 

So, that’s just one parallel of the same basic truths between law enforcement and biblical living. What applications do YOU see?

Last week Cheryl and I headed across the city to Heartland Community Church. The pastor had asked me to do training in basic hermeneutics (biblical interpretation) with some of his teaching leaders. The senior pastor had seen my book Searching for Truth in the office of another pastor who recommended it highly to him. I was pleased but surprised to hear that. I always seem to be amazed that anyone reads any of my books, but it’s fun to write them. (A propósito, ese libro ya existe en español y está disponible en Realityliving.org.)

As an evangelical Presbyterian church, Heartland comes from a rich heritage of Bible study. I knew that some of the people there would have formal theological training and others none at all. I tried to aim in the middle and speak with a passion for Bible study that would encourage all of them to go beyond where they are now. There’s not a lot of “teaching” that can take place in a little more than an hour, but I ended the session by giving each of them a copy of my book. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the crew at Heartland and were very blessed by their sweet and eager spirit.

After my teaching time, each of them shared what they got out of the session. I was encouraged that each had picked up on different aspects of what I said and had something to take home. As I suspected, it was not as much about learning some deep, new truth, but rather being impressed with some different perspective on a basic truth with which they were already somewhat familiar that made the difference.

I’ve always said that most everything that is really important in our faith walk we learn in the first couple of years of being a follower of Jesus. It just takes the rest of our lives to learn to live and apply those truths in a wide range of circumstances – and to remember them! Many people waste their lives by searching for some Bible code, secret truth or hidden meaning no one has ever seen before. There is no secret code, password, handshake or hidden meaning.

Years ago I was in South Africa to teach basic disciple-making to a group of tribal pastors. They had come to Johannesburg from various locations and we met each day at the YMCA downtown. Most of them had little formal education. While there, I was asked to speak in the chapel service of perhaps the most highly regarded seminary in South Africa.

What a contrast! The seminary was in the high European style. Students and faculty wore academic gowns and the pulpit was high enough in the air to give one a nosebleed in the rarefied air between the stained glass windows.  My objective that morning was to communicate this same concept of giving continued and constant attention to the basics of our faith.

I spoke highly of the seminary and how thankful each student should be for the opportunity to receive such a quality education. I really meant it. They were learning Greek, Hebrew, systematic theology, church history and enjoyed the privilege of hearing some of the finest scholars in the world. I did not mean to be the least bit judgmental or critical, but I simply said, “While you can be thankful for such a rich education, keep your perspective by remembering that anything that takes 8 years of graduate studies to understand and is beyond the comprehension of my pastor brothers down at the Y is probably not all that important in the grand scheme of things.”

That statement certainly brought mixed reviews from my academic brethren. Some applauded while others felt that I was belittling the importance of their education. My purpose was not to minimize the value of education (something I greatly value), but to help those of us blessed to have an advanced education to keep the proper outlook and not get too full of ourselves. Those of us with a Ph.D. (that stands for Piled Higher and Deeper) can continue to pile on the knowledge, but if we neglect the foundation – the basics – it will all come tumbling down.

Baseball’s spring training begins this week, and professional ball players will spend a lot of time going back over the fundamentals of the game. There certainly are special techniques and knowledge that professional ball players possess, but the day they forget about the basics that little boys and girls learn in youth leagues across the country, is the day their game begins to fall apart.

Let me encourage you to stop looking for the secret that never existed. Stop wasting your time fantasizing that the newest book or latest web site, seminar, class, or DVD is going to have that one key that puts your life into focus. It won’t. Jesus admonished the Ephesian church to return to their first love. I admonish you to go back to the basics and get them down.

Someone once asked legendary Swiss theologian Karl Barth what was the one great truth he learned in his remarkable academic career. His answer was this

 Jesus loves me,

This I know,

For the Bible tells me so.

Karl Barth got it.

Following our time at Heartland, I got a call from a friend that got me thinking even more about the importance of honing the basics. Talking about the experience at Heartland, we got to discussing my career and hers and the many parallels as far as attention to basics go. I was so fascinated by what she was saying, I asked her to put some of her thoughts down on paper. Stay tuned right here and I’ll share them with you.  Meanwhile, what are the basics in YOUR life that need work this coming Spring? It really is all about the basics.

Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) was a Dutch painter and an important part of what was called the De Stijl movement in twentieth century art. As his style developed, he became obsessively focused on bold horizontal and vertical lines, primary colors and lots of white. I’ve given you an example of his work, and you might even remember having seen his influence in painting or design.

Wikipedia offers this Mondrian quote explaining his outlook.

I construct lines and color combinations on a flat surface, in order to express general beauty with the utmost awareness. Nature (or, that which I see) inspires me, puts me, as with any painter, in an emotional state so that an urge comes about to make something, but I want to come as close as possible to the truth and abstract everything from that, until I reach the foundation (still just an external foundation!) of things… I believe it is possible that, through horizontal and vertical lines constructed with awareness, but not with calculation, led by high intuition, and brought to harmony and rhythm, these basic forms of beauty, supplemented if necessary by other direct lines or curves, can become a work of art, as strong as it is true.

To Mondrian, his lines were to be seen as infinite extensions connected to the greater cosmos, and for that reason he would not allow them to be put in frames. He wanted them to be appreciated as integral parts of the room itself and not just something that hung on the wall. So committed was he to the “big picture,” he would sometimes even design special furniture or other objects to be part of his exhibitions. His art influenced design and even architecture.

Christian intellectual and pastor Francis Schaeffer was an astute observer of art and artists during his long ministry to young people in Switzerland. He tells the story of one very important exhibit of Mondrian’s work by giving extreme attention to every detail so that the balance of every detail would be absolutely perfect in homage to the artist’s great eye for design and harmony. Furniture Mondrian had commissioned was also included in the exhibition room.

Finally, just the perfect arrangement was achieved and clearly highlighted the balance and beauty that would be fitting to characterize Mondrian’s work and design. There was only one significant problem. As soon as a person walked into the exhibit, Schaeffer observed that the perfect balance of elements was thrown off by the presence of people. The exhibition was striking indeed, but there was no way to fully appreciate the perfectly balanced design with anyone else in the room. The problem was not with the art, but with the crowds of people flowing in and out of the exhibition room. (I have felt this frustration before, trying to appreciate a great work of art and visually wrestling with the other spectators swirling around the space. I was surely just as frustrating to them!)

That story may sound a bit ludicrous or exaggerated to you, but it came to my mind as I was reading in Exodus the other day. God had given Moses the task of constructing the Tabernacle to divine specifications. Even though God clearly communicated the key elements of the Tabernacle, he also gave freedom to the artists to use the imagination and creativity he had given to them.

The big day eventually came when the work was finished and Gods glory was to inhabit this tent in the presence of his people. Here’s the part that struck me.

Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Exodus 40:34-35

Moses did everything he was supposed to do, but when the job was finished, God’s glory filled the tent and there was no room for Moses or anyone else. Later, of course, Moses would be able to enter in to communication with God in the Tabernacle following ritual purification and consecration.

I think there is an important lesson here. In our natural state we cannot stand in the presence of God’s glory. This is a thread that weaves through the entire Bible.

The message of the Bible is not that of humans trying to come up to God’s level in the hope of one day being accepted into his presence; it is the message of God coming down to our level in the Person of Jesus Christ, God incarnate, to pay the penalty for our sin and rise again from the dead on the third day. Paul said in 2Corinthians 5:21 that he who knew no sin, was made sin for us, in order that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Our God is a greater artist than Mondrian. No room for people in the perfect picture? No problem! Instead of changing the picture or the individual elements, God transforms us. He has personally dealt with our sin in the sacrifice of his own Son to offer us eternal life and righteousness so that we might indeed enter into the presence of his glory. This is good news!