Author Archives: David Porter

About David Porter

When he was in college, David Porter wanted to be a journalist. Today he is a preacher. In Coffee Stains, the preacher and journalist meet to bless everyone who likes a funny East Texas story with a spiritual kicker at the end!

Buy Her Back!

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Go bring her back.”

“What!” Hosea couldn’t be sure he’d heard God right. Didn’t he know what that woman had put him through?

He had known about her past when he married her but he forgave it and looked forward to a happy life. Slowly, though, he began to suspect that she was unfaithful to him. His last two children’s name reflect that fear. The last one’s name meant simply, “Not mine.” Kind of a strong hint as to his feelings, huh?

Finally his wife Gomer (nice name) got tired of the pretense. Kids, fussy husband, God…that kind of life was too slow for her. She took off. Good-looking men, plenty of money, and a life of ease without crying babies and nasty diapers was her thing. She went back to prostitution. “Sorry about that Hosea; take good care of the kids.”

She left the preacher with three children, two probably not even his, and a broken heart. He lived like this for quite a while. Working, taking care of little ones, praying, hurting–life wasn’t so happy any more but he made do.

He heard news of Gomer from time to time and each time the report was worse. You can’t live that fast for very long and the years started to eat away at the beauty of his attractive wife. Finally one day he heard news that shocked him. She was going to be sold into slavery. As much as he hated what she had done to him, he couldn’t rejoice. Amazingly, he still loved her.

Then God said, “Buy her back.” What?

She probably thought he was enjoying his revenge when he bought her for that paltry sum. But then he surprised her with his love. “You’re for me and no one else now and I’m yours and no one else’s now,” he said tenderly. “What does he see in me?” she must have asked herself. She wasn’t “hot” anymore; she had treated him worse than dirt–and he still loved her?

Hosea’s explanation was simply, “That’s the way God loves his unfaithful people.” If they would let Him, He would buy them back from their sin, even if there’s not a lot left to be desired.

Marriage is a funny thing. We often think we marry one person and we find they’re not like the illusion we had. What do you do? Quit and start over? Hosea had Biblical and ethical grounds for divorce. But his love kept reaching out to his wife. Like God’s love, his wasn’t egotistical.

—————

Many people have found themselves married to someone whose personality has been warped by a difficult childhood or difficult circumstances in life. And, let’s face it, some people are just plain ornery–no excuses.

The result can be a spouse who doesn’t communicate, or who is dominant, or depressive, or verbally abusive, or…, or…,etc.

What do we do in a case like that? “Go get her back!” Not so easy? It wasn’t easy for Hosea either. I imagine that even after Gomer came home it took a while to establish a relationship.

Communication is one of the keys. Screaming or preaching to the difficult partner doesn’t work long. That’s not communication, that’s attacking. You just make them love you less.

Try to create situtations where you can talk.

When my daugter Christi was young if I took her to the restaurant and fed her fried chicken she’d tell me anything I wanted to know. Like a good preacher’s daughter she loved our fowl friends.

Communication is hard work. We need to see what kind of situations encourage our spouse to talk and work to have more and more of them. “Go get her back.” One day Hosea was dreaming out loud, “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.” (Hos. 2:14). Maybe the desert nights had been special to Hosea and Gomer when they were young and in love. He wanted to create a situation where communication could happen.

Obviously it’s not easy, but if difficult people are ever going to be reached it will be by the firm, loving, patient, reaching out of someone who loves him. Living with a selfish, difficult person isn’t easy but God calls us to prayerfully reach past the barriers and bring his love into our partner’s life.

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“The weakness of our hunger for God is not because He is unsavory, but because we keep ourselves stuffed with “other things.” Perhaps, then, the denial of our stomach’s appetite for food might express, or even increase our soul’s appetite for God.” John Piper in A Hunger for God

How to tell an idiot.

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It’s getting harder and harder to identify idiots in the world. They act too much like normal people, or more precisely, too many normal people act strange.

Used to be, if a weird person wanted to be noticed all he had to do was go around talking to himself. “Ah, Uncle Joe. You know I wouldn’t do something like that,” they would say to the air around them.

Mothers’ would hold their round-eyed tot’s hand tightly and admonish, “You see little Jimmy. That’s what happens to you later in life if you don’t eat your carrots when you’re a kid.”

But now you see people who do that all the time. When you walk by someone who’s waving his arms and talking animatedly with invisible people, you just shrug and think, “He’s talking on his cell phone.”

That’s not all. Just a few short years ago, anyone who affirmed that two people of the same gender could marry was considered a bit touched. Now we just call him a member of the editorial board of the New York Times.

What can you do anymore to be considered an idiot?

Strange Books
Let me see … Some one noted that last year was a good year for atheist books. The God Delusion is a book that was nominated for Best Book of the year at the British Book Awards, where its author, Richard Dawkins, won the Author of the Year award. The English version of the work has sold over 1.5 million copies and been translated to 31 languages. In it, Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that belief in a god qualifies as a delusion. (Source: Wikipedia)

I’m sure that God was really shaken by Dawkins’ diatribe. “Lord, You’re probably really worried, huh?” Let see what He says about it, “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” (Ps. 14:1, NIV).

The Lord’s probably staying up late at night fretting because foolish people don’t believe in Him, don’t you think?

“Why the big noise, nations? Why the mean plots, peoples?
Earth-leaders push for position,
Demagogues and delegates meet for summit talks,
The God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers:
“Let’s get free of God!
Cast loose from Messiah!”
Heaven-throned God breaks out laughing.
At first he’s amused at their presumption;
Then he gets good and angry.
Furiously, he shuts them up:
“Don’t you know there’s a King in Zion? A coronation banquet
Is spread for him on the holy summit.”
Ps. 2:1-6 (The Message)

Yup, it’s getting harder to spot the wacko’s among us. But the fellow who says that there is no God? Ha! The Lord Himself calls them “fools.” Those you can spot a mile off.

———————–
Hmmm…

Sometimes the lessons we learn from life are deeper than words can communicate. We ask, “why Lord?” and don’t alway hear a response in our mind. But there is a response. Way down deep where human words can’t communicate, things are heard and learned at the foundation of who we are.

Talking Heads

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You can say a lot with your face, even if your mouth remains (momentarily) shut.

Mama had a look that she shot at me when I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to. It was guaranteed to curdle milk at ten paces; absolutely no words were needed. The message was, “Quit that or you’re dead meat!” At least that was how I interpreted it.

Not all looks are scary. Once when I was leaving class in college, a beautiful freshman girl that I didn’t know, flashed me a friendly smile. She was running for cheerleader, I think, and unfortunately the message was simply, “Vote for me!”

When my son Steve was about seven months old, we were in the grocery store with my wife and mother-in-law. Phyllis was buying and her mom and I pushed the buggy with little Steve in it.

As I “goo-gooed” and “gaa-gaaded”, playing with him, suddenly his face changed and he looked at me in a way that said unmistakably, “I love you!” I had never seen a baby do that and would have thought that I imagined it if my mother-in-law hadn’t said, “Did you see that? It looked like he said that you were the grandest guy in the world.”

All that helps me to understand Bible verses like these:

“Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. Selah. My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior.” (Ps. 24: 6-9) NIV)

What’s all this about seeking God’s face?

When you’re close enough to see God’s face he can communicate with you. You may get a message to someone by yelling at her from 75 yards away but you’ll never see what her face is communicating in return. You’ve got to move in close to catch the nuances that speak from her visage.

God communicates best to those who are close to Him and for that kind of communication we must battle through all the distractions, busyness, unbelief and dead emotions that conspire to keep us far from His presence.

Often the beginning of our prayer time seems like what a jungle explorer must feel as he hacks through thick underbrush and vines, seeking a way through the tropical forest.

Ah, but when we get close ...

… We see such a look of love for us, that we hadn’t really discerned when we spoke with Him from a long way off. That was worth the trek!

… Now that we’re “up close and personal He can direct us. “ I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” (Ps. 32:8, KJV). When you’re that close, He can look in the direction He wants you to go and you’ll understand. A look, a nod, a wink, a twinkle in the eye, a low whisper—we miss all these when we remain at a distance.

… Sometimes we’re afraid to get too close because we dread seeing reproach in His face. If you’ve sinned, come anyway. God’s will forgive, cleanse and deliver you in His presence if you really want Him to.

A father told the story of trying to spank his son. When the little one realized that Armageddon had arrived he did a surprising thing. Instead of running away from his dad, he ran to him and latched onto his leg for dear life. The father reported that it was harder to give a good spanking from that angle and he really didn’t have the heart for it anyway.

God’s presence is a healthy, healing place, even if he has to deal with us sternly at times. Come running—right up close!

Young lovers seem to say whole libraries of meaningful things as they look in their sweet thing’s eyes. Wriggle through the crowd into His presence. See His face. Hear Him speak with His eyes.

A lot gets said in a look.

____________________________

Hmmm…
“We’re trained to use our minds to get information and complete assignments; but the God revealed to us in Jesus and our Scriptures is infinitely personal and relational. Unless we take the time to be quiet, in a listening way, in the presence of God, we never get to know him.” Eugene Peterson

Weird World

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My four-year old grandson Micah has his own unique perspective on the world. One day, he, his seven-year old brother Josiah, and his dad (age unrevealed), were in the bathroom brushing their teeth when the little guy decided to give them a lesson in personal hygiene.

“First you brush you teeth,” Micah instructed. “Yes …”
“Then you brush your tongue.” “Uh, huh …”
“Then you pick your nose.” “Ah!”

I’m not sure Micah’s interpretation of the world will make the grade-school health textbooks next year, but it does offer something to think about.

Each one of us has his own “worldview” and it filters our interpretation of everything that happens and determines how we perceive the world around us. The Germans call it, “Weltanschauung.”
A fwisted worldview allows dictators to kill thousands so that they can keep their place, and seemingly suffer no qualms. It’s why Saul could slaughter a family of priests or Herod could massacre all the babies under two years of age around Bethlehem. “What is good for me is good for the country,” they reason, “so even though it’s disagreeable it has to be done.”

A positive worldview caused Lillian Thrasher to give up her own plans a few weeks before marriage and sail for Egypt. There, in a lifetime of adventure and danger, she raised thousands of orphaned Egyptian children and took care of widows. In her worldview, what God wanted was more important than what she wanted.

Can you resume your worldview in one sentence? For most the goal of life is simply to, “Be happy.” Jefferson immortalized “the pursuit of happiness” in the United States constitution, and when pollsters ask, most people claim to be reasonably happy—they just don’t act like it.

Can I suggest another worldview: one that can be summed up in two words? “Please God.”

Not “Pleeease God!”, give me what I want, but continually asking the question, “Does this please You, Lord?” We’re constantly measuring our life against the Bible to see if we’re living as He wishes, constantly trying to listen to His voice in us which directs us.

“Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.
“I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.(Phil. 3:9-11, The Message)

Jesus spoke of those who lost their life and gained it, and others who tried to gain it but lost it. The truth is, serving God and pleasing Him isn’t always the easier road in life. Often you have more difficulty, not less. But it is the rich, fulfilling road in life.
What’s your worldview?
______________________________
Hmmm…
« We are no longer contagious. Spirit-filled believers spend more time chasing “financial breakthroughs” than lost souls. We have rejected sacrifice and compassion and embraced a counterfeit gospel that produces bored, selfish spectators.” J. Lee Grady

Broken Down On the Place de Concord

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There’s a new discussion on marriage on the site. Look to the right and click on “You Talk Back” if you’re interested.

One of the nice things about having visitors here is that it gives me an excuse to show them the city of Paris. Otherwise I have to work.

Just before Christmas I took two Brazilian pastors into the center of Paris to look around. One of the men pastors a church in northern France while the other came from Brazil to visit him. The visitor remarked, “When I talked to my wife on the phone, and she heard that I was visiting Paris, she said, ‘Paris is romantic!’”

I took the Toyota that day. I had been hearing a funny sound in the motor and I had thought to myself, “I wonder if that alternator belt is loose—or if the alternator is going out.” But the sound wasn’t too bad and it didn’t seem to be getting worse, and I’d heard it a long time, so I didn’t worry about it. It would probably get better, huh?

That day Paris Christmas decorations were dampened by a cold rain but for those seeing it for the first time it’s still impressive—a cappuccino next to Notre Dame cathedral beats Starbucks any day.

Darkness falls early in December and I wanted to show them the Avenue des Champs-Élysées then go home. We wandered around looking for the right direction (I’m good at wandering). We got snatched into a traffic jam which moved forward with glacier-like quickness.

Romantic Paris

The funny noise in the motor of the car started to get funnier—or scarier according to your perspective. “Hmmm, maybe we better head towards home,” I announced to my friends. Finally as we crawled onto the Place de la Concord, which is situated at the bottom end of the Champs-Elysées the belt for the alternator/power steering/water pump, and various and sundry other important functions, gave way.

“Uh, oh!” I looked frantically around in the slow-moving, honking mass for a parking place. Finally just to my left I saw a bus parking area and pulled into it. I figured a friendly policeman would see me, and when he came to scold me I’d get him to call for a wrecker. Two hours later there was still no policeman. Why aren’t they so invisible when I go 15 kilometers per hour over the speed limit?

We called a brother in the church to come help and waited … and waited, because he was caught in a traffic jam too. Here we were—Place de la Concorde—people come from all over the world to look up the Champs Elysée from this Place at the gaudy Christmas lights, illuminating one of the most famous avenues in the world, and ending in the awe-inspiring Arc de Triomphe.

I wasn’t too inspired. We were a long way from Paraloma, Arkansas (where I grew up). My feet were damp, it was dark and raining, I didn’t know how we were getting the car home, and I was afraid it was going to cost a fortune to tow it. So much impressive beauty and such a lost feeling.

“Paris is really romantic,” I grinned to my Brazilian friend.

Well, to shorten a long story, we made it home. The car windows were all fogged up from the rain so after about two hours we decided to have a prayer meeting on the Place de la Concorde. Those Brazilian guys can really pray. After a short time, our prayer meeting was interrupted by the brother from the church who finally broke through the traffic jam.

And then suddenly a wrecker just showed up out of nowhere. He had been going to get a cup of coffee and saw this forlorn Toyota with its mouth (hood) open, so he stopped to help.

Get It Repaired, Dummy!

At the end, though, I still wasn’t super happy. I had just experienced a lot of adventure and I wondered if the Lord wasn’t trying to teach me something. It seems to me that some comic-strip super hero used to opine at times like this, “There’s a lesson in here somewhere.”

And I tried to see if the Lord was speaking to me in this trying circumstance. I could see the value of prayer from what happened; maybe that was it.

But I woke up in the middle of the night and I understood immediately what the message was: if your car is making a funny noise, get it fixed dummy! Sometimes, if something is wrong, human bodies get better all by themselves, but cars? Never. Cars don’t have white corpuscles or healing capacities. Get it fixed now and it will be cheaper in the long run.

Couldn’t help applying that to my life and to our lives. Is your life making a funny noise somewhere? Is there something wrong that you know you need to repair but you keep putting it off and hoping everything will be all right—your prayer life, your relationship with your wife or husband or kids? Your church attendance? That thing that God told you to do and you’ve been putting it off?

Are there funny noises coming from your work because you’re spending too much time surfing the Internet? Or maybe the Dallas Cowboys are more exciting to you than your wife? Your hearing a grinding noise (that’s your wife gritting her teeth).

“A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.” (Proverbs 29:1, NIV)

The noise isn’t going to get better. Fix it! Now! Otherwise you will find yourself broken down somewhere.