March 5

 

Acts 28

 

Murderers and Gods

I like a phrase I have been hearing frequently. It goes something like the following. “Life is 10 percent action and 90 percent reaction.” I don’t know who said it and I don’t know if I agree with the percentages but I definitely believe the premise and the comparison. Some of us tend more to act on things and some us tend more to react to things, but we all deal with unexpected actions that prompt sometimes unexpected reactions.  Like the time I was flying with a friend in his Cherokee 6 private airplane. We had taken off from his home airport and were practicing what are called “touch and go’s.” at a less busy one. A touch and go is a maneuver where the pilot simulates a landing but as soon as the plane makes contact with the runway, he applies the throttle again and the plane roars into the air once more. I was in the back seat of the plane. My friend the pilot was in the left or pilot’s seat and another friend was in the co-pilot seat. On the last one of these touch and go maneuvers we added a little unexpected twist to the normal sequence. My friend simulated the touch and then the go and then as we turned to head back to his home airport at about 2,500 feet the engine did what is commonly called a “stall.” I don’t know a lot about flying but this didn’t seem like a good time for the engine to quit running. I promised myself that if we survived this event I would ask if there is a maneuver called the “touch and go and stall.” Obviously, I survived, I did ask and there is not. They are actually very rare; both the “touch and go and stall” and the surviving of one. Three very distinct reactions followed the action of the engine stalling. Fortunately, my friend the pilot was trained well and followed emergency protocol. He started pulling levers and pushing buttons and adjusting flaps etc, etc. My other friend in the co-pilot seat was screaming and flailing and praying. I think he was praying because I heard the words God and Jesus several times. In my case, I simply remember this overwhelming sense of peace and then faith rising up in me as I said something that surprised even me. I said, “In the name of Jesus, fly!” That’s it. I have no idea if it was that statement, or the pilot pushing and pulling and adjusting or the “co-pilot” screaming and flailing or some odd combination of all three, but at that very instant the motor roared back to life, we circled back to the airport and did a simple but very welcomed “touch and slow to a stop” Each of us on that airplane reacted to something different. The pilot reacted to his training; the person in the co-pilot seat to his fear of dying; I, to a sense of God’s presence and a gift of faith. All our reactions revealed something significant about us and taught us something about ourselves we might have otherwise never understood. In Acts 28 during Paul’s journey to Rome, the ship on which he was traveling was wrecked on an island during a violent 2 week storm. All the passengers and crew made it safely to the island. Once on shore everyone gathered wood for a fire so they could dry out and warm themselves. Paul just so happened to pick up a pile of sticks that contained a poisonous snake. When he threw the wood into the fire the snake reacted by attaching it self to Paul’s hand. All the people of the island, who had come to help the soggy sojourners, had a very interesting reaction to this scene. They immediately determined that Paul must be some kind of murderer because even though he had escaped the sea, justice was being served by the snake. They expected him to “swell up and die.” Paul’s reaction to this unexpected turn of events is very important and it would have kingdom impact. He didn’t start screaming and flailing; he didn’t start feeling sorry for himself and wonder why it happened. He didn’t curse the snake or the fire or anything else. He simply reacted to God’s grace in faith and “shook it off and suffered no ill effects.”  Can you imagine what could happen in our life if we adopted this same “shake it off” attitude towards the unexpected and difficult?   After a few minutes the onlookers realized that there was something different about Paul. He didn’t swell up and die. They declared, “He must be a God.” This reaction to Paul’s reaction opened up a completely new set of opportunities to Paul. His reaction to this unexpected and frightening event changed the mind of these people. So much so that the people of the island brought all the sick to Paul and he shared the gospel with them and healed their sick. All of us are visited by the unexpected regularly in delightful and difficult ways. Our reactions in our words and deeds impacts all those who watch our life. Will they see the evidence of the one who Jesus called “a murderer from the beginning.” or will others see the Spirit of God in our reactions? Will others see a murderer or God? Others will react to what they see in our life. Just a thought.

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Feb. 9

I Corinthians 12

Excellence!

I prayed a very dangerous prayer recently. Then I went to the doctor. I really don’t like going to the doctor, for a large number of reasons. First, in order to see the doctor you have to make an appointment. I am never quite sure how the appointment process works, because in 54 years of going to doctors I have never seen the doctor at the appointed time. So when the appointment is scheduled for, let’s say 8:30 in the morning what does that mean, really? If I arrive at 8:30 I know it will be at least 8:45 before I see the doctor. But if wait until 8:45 before I arrive, will all the people scheduled between 8:30 and 8:45 be allowed to see him before I do?  Then it will be 9:00 or maybe even 9:30 before I see him. Unless of course everyone shows up 15 minutes after their appointed time, which means that we all see the doctor in the appointed order but he actually gets to start his day 15 minutes later. Maybe that is what this is all about. So the whole timing thing is a confusing start to my day. I can’t even imagine what it must be like by 4:00 pm. That is why it is always best to schedule appointments in the morning. After I arrive, whenever that might occur in the medical time line continuum, I sign in and am asked to proceed to the waiting room. The waiting room has to be one of the most intimidating places on earth. It is an environment filled with choices, coughing, crying, staring, wondering and of course, waiting. A myriad of choices have to be made in a few destiny determining seconds. Where do I sit? Everyone here is probably sick. I don’t want to sit next to someone with something I don’t want to catch. Who is here for a “check up’ and who is here with a life threatening viral contagion that may wipe out the planet? I have to choose. That is where the staring comes in. Everyone wants to know my reason for being here and where I will sit. And then I have to decide what magazine I will read. I have to read otherwise I begin to stare around the room and wonder about things like, should I say something to the person who is staring at me; did the name the nurse just call belong to someone who signed in after me; when are they going to call my name so I can escape this world of the unknown? And I know that everyone in the room is watching to see which magazine I select in order to determine what kind of person I might be. I normally go for the guy stuff like Sports Illustrated or Popular Mechanics. Occasionally I will opt for the political science stuff like World News Report, but that is tricky because I am not really interested in that kind of reading. I select those magazines in order to appear informed of what is happening in the world such as “What is the Latest World Wide Viral Contagion That May Wipe out the Planet.” This strategy usually backfires however because I normally end up falling asleep after a few minutes of  reading what I think will make me seem to be informed. There really is nothing worse than waking up to the sound of your name being called by a nurse for the fourth time realizing everyone in the room is staring at you as you wipe the drool from your chin. So I pick up the copy of World News Report that has fallen on the floor, place it back on the table and make my way towards freedom. That is when I remember another reason I don’t like going to the doctor. They have these really accurate scales on which the nurse asks me to stand fully clothed including coat, shoes and cell phone. I look at the number on the scale in front of me and I want to scream, “I don’t weigh that much!” I am not sure what medical good this information could provide unless the nurse has some formula for deducting the average weight of clothing, a coat, a pair of shoes and a cell phone. What is really disconcerting though is trying to remember if I was wearing my coat and shoes and cell phone that last time I was weighed. I could easily appear 20 pounds overweight or underweight; both, I think I just read, are symptoms of the latest viral contagion that could wipe out the planet.

Finally, I am shown the way to the exam room, asked to take a seat and wait for the doctor. As the exam room door closes I remember the main reason I don’t like going to the doctor. For the next several minutes I sit and wonder what the doctor will discover. Am I alright; healthy; or am I the carrier of the latest………well, you know? The main reason I don’t like going to the doctor is because I might find out what is wrong with me. I don’t like going to the doctor because I don’t want to know what is wrong with me, especially if I feel like there is nothing wrong with me. That was what was so difficult about discovering I had high blood pressure. I felt okay, but every time I saw a medical practitioner of some kind they would do the routine test and tell me I had high blood pressure. I didn’t want to believe it. I stayed in denial for a couple of years until I began having symptoms.

As the doctor walks in I start going into what is called “doctor’s office or white coat hypertension.” It causes even a healthy person’s blood pressure to rise at the thought that the doctor will discover that there is something wrong with them, which of course is validated by the “high” blood pressure reading which then causes what I call the “doctor’s office high blood pressure reading vicious cycle.” I think there is a placebo that can be prescribed for this condition. The good news regarding this visit is that, “doctor’s office hypertension” aside, the doctor give’s me a clean bill of health and renews my prescription for the placebo. As we exchange pleasantries at the end of my appointment, I turn to leave and I have a sense that I should invite him to attend a worship service at the church where I serve. I think I said something like, “Hey doc, why don’t you visit one of our church services and see where I work sometime?” I will never forget the stunned look on his face and the pause in his answer. He looked at me like I was the carrier of a viral contagion that could wipe out the planet and the hesitation in his answer spoke volumes. I could read between the lines and it suddenly occurred to me that he didn’t like going to church for all the same reasons that I don’t like going to the doctor’s office. All the unknowns. Not knowing how to navigate the unusual environment in the beginning; the strange people who might stare: the inconsistent scales; the waiting and wondering; but most of all the fear of discovering that there might be something wrong with him. I call it “infrequent church attendee hypertension.”  If you want to know how an infrequent church attendee feels when you invite them to church, just think about how it feels when you have to go to the doctor or to some other unfamiliar environment, such as a medical insurance meeting. After I went to the doctor’s office I needed to know how to pay his bill so I went to our company’s medical insurance policy meeting. After an hour of listening to all the people in the room who understand terms like predetermination qualification and supplemental co-insurance deductibles, I felt really confused and stupid. The same thought I had in the doctor’s office occurred to me again but in another way. That is how we must sound when we throw around all of our faith lingo to people who are not necessarily on the same faith journey as we. I have arrived at three conclusions from all these experiences.

1. The medical community, including insurance companies, can make people like me feel afraid and confused and stupid.

2. The church world is sometimes a lot like the medical community.

3. There has to be a better way.

That brings me back to my prayer. I had just finished reading I Corinthians 12 before I went to the doctor. I Corinthians 12 is a chapter that was written to clear up a lot of confusion and stupidity that was occurring in the church world at that time. At the end of the chapter there is a very important one-line phrase. In light of all that I have just written I have made that phrase a daily prayer for my life. It simply says, “And now I will show you the most excellent way!” I invite you to read I Corinthians 13 to discover what he means. And then I invite you to pray that prayer with me every day, “Lord please show me the most excellent way.” And then I invite you to begin showing your family and your friends and those with whom you work and your doctors and insurance people what you learn. Then when you invite them to church they won’t look at you like you are the carrier of some viral contagion that could wipe out the planet.

Just a thought

I would love to hear yours.  

Gotta go cure world hunger.

Blessings

Jan. 29 Acts 1

Kilobytes!

I am always amazed at the amount of information that is available at the click of the GO button on the internet. Maybe you use the enter key. Either way, as soon as you go to the desired topic hundreds of thousands; even millions of entries, bits of info, words are made available. That is amazing to me. Personally I have never ventured past entry number 867 so I don’t know what the last entry would consist of and hope I never have the kind of time on my hands that would allow me to find out, but it is there. However, what is really more amazing to me than the amount of information that is accessible at a keystroke is the speed at which that information can be sorted, presented and accessed. Have you ever taken time to notice the little number listed after the really big number which lets you know how much info is available. If not then please do so as soon as you can or at least during your next session on the internet. After the computer tells you how many entries are listed it almost boastfully announces that it only took 2.349 seconds to find it sort it and present it on your screen. It’s almost like the computers have this on going competition deep in the Ethernet world and they are competing to see which one can present the most info in the least amount of time. Why else would we need to know that it only took 2.349 seconds to access 1,493,066 entries for the word “Know?” Is someone keeping track of this statistic? Or is it just that we want to know and we want to know now what we want to know and we want to know how fast we know. I don’t know. And is it a coincidence that that when you add the letter “k” to the word “now” it forms the word “know” and that bits of information are measured in kilobytes which is abbreviated with a “K” It could be an information conspiracy. Then there is the microwave. Have you ever found yourself talking to the microwave about how long it seems to taking to heat up that croissant in the morning? “Can somebody please engineer a microwave that will heat a croissant in 10 seconds instead of the 15 seconds it presently takes?” Do you remember the first time you used or saw a microwave in use? I do. It was back before popcorn already came in the little microwavable bags. A high school girl friend of mine from an upper class family had one in her home. At the time a microwave was considered a luxury. One day when I was spending time with her I watched with amazement and amusement as she put popcorn kernels in a paper bag, placed the bag in this very odd looking metallic container, turned it on and in minutes we were sharing popcorn at her kitchen table. I remember thinking that our relationship had taken on new meaning. She liked fast. And I liked popcorn. What was then a novelty has now become a necessity; an expectation of ultimate priority. We not only expect fast, we want immediate. Like the computers keeping track of bits of information processed at the speed of light in an Ethernet competition we are subconsciously plagued by a competitive notion that if we don’t get what we want ASAP then we are loosing out somehow.

Don’t feel badly. Human nature has not changed that much down through the centuries. Even though the early followers of Jesus didn’t have to deal with kilobytes and microwaves they were still interested in immediacy to some degree. In today’s reading in Acts 1 they used the “n” word. After Jesus had been raised from the dead and during the 40 days he spent with them convincing them of his resurrected reality they had one thing on their minds. Look at what they asked him after all the dialogue.
“So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time (NOW) going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
They wanted to know and they wanted to know now. Before we talk about the answer Jesus gave them to the question, I want to ask this question. What would you have asked Jesus during those 40 days of dialogue? If you could have asked him anything, what would it have been? The question recorded here by Luke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit reveals the underlying problem with human nature from the beginning. Ambition. That is why out of all the possible dialogue that took place this one interchange is recorded. It is critical to our relationship with Jesus. Without a lot of explanation here I want you to recall what got us into this mess. Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan with this same issue in the beginning. Satan turned their attention from the tree of Life (obedience) to the tree of Knowledge (ambition). He said to them, “You can know and you can know now what God is trying to hide from you. You can be like God himself; all knowing.”

Jesus’ answer recorded here is short but foundational to the rest of New Testament and Christian history. He said in essence, “You don’t need to know what God has set under his own authority; you need to wait for the Holy Spirit to come and teach you how to live in obedience to Him.” He said when the Holy Spirit would come He would teach them how to do something that is counter intuitive to human nature. He would teach them how to lose; to let go of their need to know; to obey from the heart the will of God; to live for a different kingdom or cause than the Kingdom of Now. He said when the Holy Spirit comes they would; not only do something different, but become something different; something new. They would become witnesses. Because the disciples heard and understood what Jesus was saying they waited for the Holy Spirit and did become the world changing group of people God envisioned. But they heard Jesus in the original language which made it possible for them to understand the implication of the word “witnesses”. In the original language the word witness is Martyr. This word really slowed them down. None of them were in a hurry to loose their life, but they were willing.

I love a quote from the book, Don’t Waste Your Life, by John Piper. “The world is not impressed when Christians become rich and give God thanks. The people of this world are impressed when God is so satisfying that we give away our riches for Christ’s sake and count it gain.”

Just a thought.

What do you think?

Gotta go. My popcorn is done.

Genesis 22

 Gifts

Someone very special to me made something very special for me. They spent a great deal of time custom making for me. Then they gave it to me. I loved it very much. I wore it for a while. Then I gave it away. I have to admit, it probably wasn’t the smartest thing I have ever done. It seemed like the right thing to do at the moment. It reminds me of the time many years ago that I caused some really cool property damage for God. I had just become a Christ follower. I was 19 years old and had been living in the subculture of drugs and alcohol during the late 60’s and early 70’s. I had reached a point of hopelessness in my life and was seriously considering exploring whatever options death could provide. In my young disillusioned opinion, life had run out of options. Then someone very special to me showed me a vision of Jesus I had never seen before by the way she lived. She gave a very special gift that awakened me to a new sense of hope and purpose. My life was miraculously transformed. I didn’t sense or see the need for drugs, alcohol or rebellion in my life anymore. Ever since that day I have been trying to give away that same gift to others. And that is what I was trying to communicate the day I committed the property damage for God. I was so excited about what I was experiencing; about finding the answer to the desperate existence I had been suffering, that I just wanted to say thank you in a way; any way that the world could understand. That is why it happened. Here’s how. I was working a construction job as a carpenter. My supervisor and I were sent out to repair a large overhead door. He needed someone on the outside of the door to help him as he worked on the inside. That is what he said. As I look back I think he may have just wanted me out of the way. While I was busy “helping” him outside I was daydreaming about how good God had been to me and was just being thankful when I began scratching his name into the panels of the door with the claws of my hammer. Not my supervisors name, God’s name. It was perfect. There were 5 panels on the door, the exact number I needed for my graffi…..sculpture. Jesus would be so pleased. Everyone who passed by would see his name and know that……as I stepped back from my masterpiece I had an epiphany. I instantaneously realized I had just indelibly carved His good name into someone else’s property. Jesus may or may not have been pleased but I was pretty sure whoever owned the door and the building that the door was hanging on would be…well that word starts with a p also. I hurried to the inside of the building to see if my supervisor was finished with me on the outside and ready to leave. Sweet relief; he was. I don’t think he ever knew. But I have never forgotten the reason for or the result of that moment. That is why I think of it now in relation to this story. I was flying home from visiting my children in Florida. As is my custom, after I am seated I usually pray and bless the people who have anything to do with the successful flight of the aircraft and then include something like, “Lord Please let me be seated next to whomever you want and let me tune into whatever you want for them or me.” (Sometimes I sit with people who God uses to teach me something. Sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes I sit by myself. I don’t stress it.) This particular flight was full and there was a very interesting lady seated next to me. I noticed that she seemed a little stressed and preoccupied with some very important looking papers. That usually intimidates me. But at some point I initiated a conversation and it wasn’t long before I learned that she was a lawyer involved in the start up of a foundation for the protection and benefit of abused women in Washington D C. I am very interested in causes like that so we continued the conversation. I also learned that she has a daughter that just returned from a stint in Nicaragua. It was definitely a divine appointment. We landed safely, taxied to the gate and prepared to deplane. That is when she saw it. The very special gift that some very special had given me was hanging around my neck and came into view as I rose from my seat. I will never forget her words. She said, “My son would love that necklace.” I can understand why. It is a beautiful necklace. It was made with beads that I had brought back from Africa and had a little surfboard that someone very special had picked out for me and had engraved. This is where it always gets a little confusing to me. You see Jesus never did specifically say, “When someone sitting next to you on an airplane with whom you have just had a very enlightening conversation after you just prayed that God would let you sit next to some one for his purposes notices a very special necklace hanging around you neck made by someone very special just for you, this is what you should do.” I wish he had. All I know is that everything he did say is founded on giving and sacrifice and considering others first. So, as this lady was preparing her things to deplane I unclasped the necklace and gave it to her to give to her son. She was shocked and speechless but very grateful as I insisted that she take it. I just wanted to say thank you to Jesus in a way that others could see. I love Jesus and I loved that necklace. So I gave it away. When I tell this story to others the consensus is that I probably shouldn’t have done what I did. I don’t know. I may have been wrong but maybe that necklace was made for that moment. A few days later I saw the person who had made and given me the necklace. Without thinking I told her what I had done. Can you hear the scraping of the hammer claws on the door panels? I walked away from that brief conversation realizing that I had just created another “masterpiece” with my favorite artistic tool. The straight claw hammer. Ironically I hear those same hammer claws scraping away at the panels of biblical history in one of the most familiar stories in scripture. I was reading it again this week as I was processing these thoughts. God had promised Abraham that He would give Abraham a son to carry on his name and the purposes of God in the earth. Abraham waited many years and God still had not fulfilled the promise. Then when Abraham and his wife were past child bearing years God gave them a son. He was a very special son because it had taken a long time to prepare for them this miracle. And now in their old age they received this gift from God. Then God asks Abraham to do something very strange. He asks Abraham to give this gift away. Literally, to sacrifice it.

Genesis 22:1, 2 says this. “Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am.” He replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, (your very special son) and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

Can you hear the claws of the hammer here scraping away at the foundations of Abraham’s psyche? “God you worked hard on this very special gift and you gave it to me and now you want me to give sacrifice it; to give it away? For what? What are you trying to say? What are you doing?” Those are great questions.

Here’s a good question. What would you do? What did Abraham do? You will have to read the rest of the story to find out and draw your own conclusions, but here is what the hammer scrapings say to me.

God is the giver of every perfect gift. He could give Abraham a thousand sons if he wanted. In fact because Abraham obeyed God and was willing to sacrifice what God had given him his people became more numerous than the sand of seashore and more impossible to count than the stars of the skies. God’s kingdom is built on obedience and sacrifice. Everything God gives us He gives with the idea that we will reinvest. When Jesus was commissioning his disciples for their first mission he said, “Freely you have received, freely give.” Abraham’s story was a preview; a foreshadowing of how God would offer and sacrifice his only son for the sake of the peoples of the world which He dearly loves. Heaven will be populated with people who understand and believe that fact. I believe there will be a little boy there with a very special necklace around his neck. And there will probably be a very special person there chasing me around with a straight claw hammer.

Just a thought

What do you think?

 

 

 

 Jan. 6 Matt. 5

Fortunate

I saw a great sign recently. It would be a great sign for a church. I am not sure it would fit for every church but I know it would be outside of the church where Jesus attends. I saw it for the first time several months ago as I was jogging to the beach from my daughter’s house in West Palm. I had passed it many times before as I was driving to the beach but for some reason this time I had time to really read it and the time to really think about it. That should help you realize the speed at which I run and what goes on in the mind of a slow runner as he tries to avoid the monotony of running. Just for the record it is exactly 6.2 miles or a 10K from her house to the beach. It takes me about an hour to run the distance. Actually, I am glad I run slow. It gives me time to take in the sights and the signs along the way. Just think about how much we are missing by driving everywhere all the time. Actually, I never even liked to run. I was a sprinter in school and didn’t even like running the warm up distances. I thought long distance runners were from another planet. Sprinting worked for me because the race was over quickly and then I could go back to not running, which was my favorite part of being on the track team. I have never liked running but I always had a dream, a desire if you will, to live near an ocean and to surf. In fact if my high school would have had a surf team I would have tried out. Sounds pretty crazy for an Indiana boy who grew up in the burbs of Indianapolis but it is true. I loved going to Florida for Spring Break and when it came time to pick a University I found the perfect one. You guessed it; right in the middle of Florida.  While I attended college I tried surfing several times but never really got the hang of it. Let’s just say I probably wouldn’t have made the school surf team. After college I moved back to Indiana but I never lost the dream. Actually, while I was in school I met and married a girl from Cocoa Beach, Fl. who just happened to have two brothers still leaving in Cocoa Beach. Yes, I married her because I loved her and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, but it didn’t hurt that she had two brothers still living in Cocoa Beach. On a visit to one of those brothers in Cocoa Beach many years later, I was sitting on the beach watching all these guys in the water living my dream. Suddenly the ember of that dream was fanned into a flame and I went and rented a surf board and for the next several hours proceeded to drown myself in a myriad of styles. Those guys really made surfing look easy. I had the time of my life. What I didn’t have however was much stamina. Surfing is incredibly taxing on the cardio vascular system. Did I mention that those guys make surfing look really easy. And do you remember what I said about not enjoying running or other forms of exercise that would be considered good for the cardio vascular system. I discovered two things that first day of surfing after a long hiatus.

1. I really do love surfing and just being in and around the ocean.

2. I was really out of shape. Really!

So I made a decision. I had to get in shape so that the next time I had a chance to surf it would be; well more like surfing and less like trying not to drown and constantly trying to catch my breath. You get my drift. So, I started running. And now as I look back I feel fortunate that I was out of shape because if I had not been out of shape I would have never started running and if I had never started running I may have always just driven to the beach and never run to the beach. And if I had always driven to the beach I may have never seen that sign. You remember the sign don’t you. I love that sign. It is located in front of a law office and is very simple. Here is what is says

…………… & Co Law Office

• Divorced?
• Injured?
• Arrested?
• Foreclosed on?.

I love that sign for several reasons.

First, to me it is a sign about fortunate people; blessed people; people who are in crisis; people who are broken; people who have lost everything; people who are in despair; people who are hurting.

In other words people who know that they need help; the kind of people who would see the sign and venture into the law office it represents. It sounds strange I know because we normally associate the idea of being “blessed” or “fortunate” with people who have it all together; people who have very few problems; people who have enough money; people whose kids are doing well; people who are healthy;  people who hardly ever need help or assistance. You know…….. the fast runners in our society.  All the people who are on their way somewhere and maybe never even see the sign.

Why do I consider the former group ”blessed” or “fortunate?” Because Jesus considered them such. That is what Jesus called people who met these criteria.

In today’s reading in Matt. 5 the first several verses Jesus laid the foundation for His kingdom and launched His brief but enduring legacy with words similar to what I just used. He said,

“Blessed or fortunate are those who are bankrupt in spirit.”

“Blessed or fortunate are those who are injured and mourning.”

“Blessed or fortunate are those who having been arrested are meek.”

“Blessed or fortunate are those who, having been divorced from God’s purposes, hunger and thirst or something more than what the now have.”

In other words, blessed or fortunate are those who have recognized their need and have seen the sign.

And that leads me to the second reason I love that sign. Although it is not mentioned on the sign it is implied by the sign that anyone who fits the criteria is not only welcome but desired. That is why I think it is the sign Jesus would have in front of His church. Actually, the only thing I don’t like about the sign is that it is in front of a law office instead of a church. It makes me wonder. Would people who fit the criteria come to our church or more importantly to us; to me? If a sign like that were in front of our church would people who it described believe it was for them? Would they venture inside our church thinking they were wanted and that they could find the help they needed? To me there is something wrong with the notion that they would go to a lawyer and not to a church or a believer. And then that begs another question. If there were a sign like that in front of our church would we attend? What would we do if people like that came to our church? What would we do if people thought we were one of those people? Maybe we are. Blessed and fortunate.

Just a thought or…… at least a question.

Gotta run!

Blessings

Dec. 24 Job 22 

 Anybody ever wonder what Job wanted for Christmas. I do. I wonder; what do you get someone who has had it all and then lost it all? Remember Job. He had everything one could desire, including a tight family, material possessions and the respect of his peers. Then, in one short period of time he lost everything and to make matters worse was plagued by boils over most of his body. What does someone like that want? Picture the poor guy sitting on his ash heap, scraping his sores while having to listen to his friends and family “comfort” with him with words like, “Surely this is all your fault, dude. Why don’t you just curse God and die?” I know that would put me in the Christmas spirit.  That’s right up there with “Grandma got run over by a reindeer.” Poor grandma, what did she ever do? Anyway, I wonder. Would Job want a dust buster to do a little light cleaning around the ash heap; or maybe a taser for his friends? Or maybe some of that new skin cream made with minerals from the Dead Sea. He could put it on his sores. I will post this on Christmas Eve so I guess it is alright if I tell you that I bought some of that stuff last week at the mall. It will be gifts for most of the female members of my family. I do most of my Christmas shopping by accident and this year was no exception. I had been at the mall cleaning up after our annual Free Gift Wrapping event and I had just finished purchasing gift cards for the staff of the urban youth program we support. I was on my way out of the mall when this cute little sales girl stepped out from her kiosk and asked me if she could speak to me for a moment. I didn’t want to be rude and who knows, it could have been a divine appointment. We started talking and before you know it she takes out this four sided super fingernail revitalizer, buffer and polisher and she has just revitalized, buffed and polished two of my fingernails. As you can imagine I was a little embarrassed because I am not the kind of guy who usually polishes his fingernails and now here I am out in public with two freshly polished ones. I am wondering, do I have her polish the other eight or just put my hand in my pocket. “How long does this last?” I asked her. She said it would last at least a week and maybe up to a month. Great!  I was relieved to learn that this product is generally purchased by or for women and that is how the accidental Christmas shopping portion of this story happened. I also learned that I could get the FRBP with cuticle remover and some incredible Dead Sea mineral body wash in a set for a special price. Am I that obvious? Anyway, we kept talking because, of course, fingernail revitalizer, buffer, polishers is not all they sell at this kiosk. She tells me she is from Israel and so I told her that I had been to Israel once and that my best friend used to live in Israel. Strangely, she asked me his name, as if out of all the people in Israel she might know him. So I told her. Jesus. She laughed and forged ahead with her explanation of the Dead Sea mineral miracle salts and cream, but I was beginning to sense this might be a divine appointment.  By the time this appointment was finished not only did I have my Christmas shopping finished, no small miracle itself, but I was able to tell her how Jesus had become my best friend and that he had come to Israel as Immanuel to renew the relationship that had been lost; and that Christmas was about God’s desire to have a relationship with her.

Isn’t that what Job wanted. As he sat on his ash heap scraping his sores, listening to his friends question his integrity, he just wanted to know, “God, where are you? How has our relationship been severed and how can it be restored?” One of Job’s friends had some interesting words that spawned these thoughts about Christmas for me today.

Job 22:21-26 says, “Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the almighty, you will be restored: if you remove wickedness far from your tent and assign your nuggets (of gold) to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines, then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you. Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God.”

Ah, gold! That is what you get someone who has had everything and then lost everything and now is wondering about the purpose of life. Not just any gold though. The lines of this verse tell us that we should not count on or put any hope in the nuggets of this life. Even the gold of Ophir which was the finest gold in the land, the gold everyone wanted, should be thrown into the ravines and considered a worthless distraction; a facade if you will. Even the finest things in this life can’t compare with what God wants for us. That’s why he says that if we can let go of the security and comfort those things provide, then God himself will become our gold; our security; our delight; our joy; our reward; the compensation for our life.Isn’t that what Christmas represents to all of us? Isn’t that what we all truly long for? The gold standard of life is a relationship with the Almighty. The Gold of God’s presence, his nearness is what I perceive people intuitively desire. Whether we have everything or nothing, a relationship with God is what makes life valuable; meaningful. I am praying that my friend at the kiosk discovers this fact. How would you like some gold this Christmas? Better yet, give some gold this year.

Just a thought.Gotta go. Need to polish my nails. They’re starting to fade. Please don’t stare if you see me.  

Nov. 27  Revelation 4

Transitions

Some days I miss my dad. Just last night Sandy, my wife, ask me if I ever wanted to go to my dad’s grave and do what ever people do when they visit the grave of a passed loved one. Sandy is very emotional about things like that and I think she probably had this picture in her mind kind of like at the end of the Forest Gump movie when Forest is standing under the big tree where he had buried Jenny and he was pouring out his heart to her. I am sure it must have been cathartic for Forest but I don’t see the need to go stare at a gravestone to accomplish that same experience.  I have picture of my dad in my office that is for me what the big tree was for Forest Gump. It was taken right after I baptized him in our hot tub. He is sitting on the side of the hot tub and smiling. That says it all for me. He died not long after that picture was taken. I know he is heaven and I will see him again, but I still miss him. One of the things that come to mind when I think about him is how consistent he was. You could set your watch by his routine in the morning. I think he realized the value; the potential of each day and I think he understood the importance of a good start to each day. Anyway, that is what I thought about this morning when I read Revelation 4. I hope you will read it for yourself but I am going to include here the portion that prompted my thoughts.

 

“After this I looked and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.’  At once I was in the Spirit and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.”

 

As soon as I read this portion I immediately thought, “Now that is a good way to start your day.”

Think about it. There before me was a door standing open. Every new day is like an open door isn’t it? I love doors. I am a carpenter by trade and I have been handling and appreciating all kinds of doors for most of my life. When I travel to other countries I am always intrigued by the different types and styles of doors I find. Doors represent transitions to me. You move from one room, one environment, one purpose to another through doors. Each new room, environment has its own purpose, its own set of potential and opportunities; all new. Each day is the same way. We transition in life through each day. Every day we awake is a new door to a whole new set of opportunities and potential. And in God’s house (kingdom) Jesus said, “There are many rooms….If it were not so I would have told you.” Each room, each day transitioned by a door. And I love that the verse in Revelation says “the voice was speaking saying, Come up here and I will show you…..” I believe everyday the Voice of the Lord is crying out like a trumpet to us, “come up and let me show you the potential, the opportunities in this day.” And when we hear that voice we like, John, are immediately transitioned or maybe a better word would be translated  or maybe functioning or how about thinking, yea that works. We are thinking in the Spirit.

God’s got our attention and he can show us some things. And what He wants us to see to start every day is a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. How would our days be different if we started with the realization that someone, you know who, is seated on a throne in heaven and ruling our life?

Or is he? It is your choice.

So let’s recap.

Today is an open door; a transition to a new set of opportunities and potential.

There is a voice speaking to me to Come up higher and see some new things.

I can start, think, live in the Spirit today.

There is someone on a throne in heaven who wants to rule my day and my   

attention.

That is a great way to start any day. It is a great way to seize the day. I know my dad would like it.

And one day we will join him in That Day.

Today; each day, is one day closer to That Day! How will you start it?

Just a thought.

Blessings

Nov. 23, Psalm 114.

I know this thought is out of order. I am writing not because I am reading it but because I am living it. It is taken from thoughts I had when I read it earlier this month and now has come to bring some relief in my own life. That is partly why my blog has been quiet. I am a little under inspired.

Blessings

Normally I like things dry. I like my clothes dry. I like my hair dry. Most people probably think I like my skin dry. I like the dry season during the year more than the rainy season. I prefer the dry, arid places on the earth over the wet, humid, marshy places. I visited a rain forest on top of a volcano called Mumbacho in Nicaragua a few years ago. It was a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. It is continuously wet. I don’t think I have ever had a martini, wet or dry so I can’t comment about that. Maybe some of the more sophisticated readers of this blog could comment on the difference between wet and dry Martinis. I do enjoy butter on my toast, however, and nothing is better than sitting on a longboard in the ocean on a sunny day, so I break with the whole dry theme in regards to toast and the beach. I do understand the need for moisture, though. In fact I just received a report from my doctor with the results of my most recent physical. Somehow the report knows and shows that I like dry. In the report my doctor says I need to drink more water. Something to do with my kidneys and how they work which I don’t understand. There are many things, if not almost all things, in this life we can go without for long periods, but water is not one of them. And I am no scientist, as my kidney comment reveals, but I think of all the things we can’t go with out, water is probably the one we need most. For some it is probably a toss up between water and sleep. Maybe we should have a contest. Have you ever noticed, though, how when you are under hydrated you get tired and sleepy? Next time you are getting sleepy in the after noon, skip the martini and have a big glass of water. It will perk you right up. There is something about water that causes our bodies to function as God intended for them to function. We have been created with a built in hydration maintenance seeking system. It is called thirst. When we get dry our very existence is threatened and our survival instincts take over. Everything else, anything else is secondary to the need for water. Our thirst becomes all consuming. One thing I have learned as a leader of cross-cultural teams is not to take clean drinking water for granted. And it is interesting but understandable that usually one of the main questions people ask when inquiring about cross-cultural trips is, “What do we do about water?” Thirst is one of their first concerns.

When it comes to my spiritual life however, I don’t like dry. Dry times in the spirit are hard times. Those are times when I don’t feel connected to God or others; days that I don’t want to see any one or do much of anything. During times like those my doubts rage, I wonder if God knows what he is doing or even cares. I question my past, present and future and wonder about my purpose, my existence. Why does he allow days, weeks, seasons like those in my life. I am confused. They are hard. They make me thirst for meaning, for purpose, for God. That is good.

In Psalm 114, the psalmist is celebrating the Glory God displayed when he led his people out of Egypt. God spoke and incredible things happened. The sea fled (parted). The Jordan River turned back (backed up). Mountains skipped (rejoiced). Yeah, sign me up for all that. But there is a phrase that indicates not everything was easy. In fact, if you remember or reread the story it became quite difficult. God led them to and through some dry places. Think about it. There were probably several million people who were involved in this exodus from Egypt and parade through the (keyword) desert. It was dry. They needed water; lots of it and often. Really they needed assurance that God was leading this thing. Water would do that. God led them to thirst. And he led them in such a way so he could show them that only he could satisfy their thirst. He led them to hard places. Verse 8 says, “(He turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water.” At this dry, hard place God caused water, enough to satiate the thirst of millions, to gush forth out of a rock. He showed that he was there and that he cared.

I am learning that whenever I am in a hard place; a dry place, God is there and I am there to learn that He is what I need. And how I wish I was as sensitive and obedient to my spiritual hydration seeking system as I am to my physical one.

Just a thought.

New Feature: Since this is a blog based on daily readings from a reading guide and since I don’t always post my writings on the days that align with the reading guide I will begin including the date and reference of  the reading on which I am basing my thoughts. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Nov. 13  John 11

 

It’s early. Really early. Not, “I didn’t sleep all night because I am worried,” early. More like, “I can’t believe it but I am glad I am up.” early.” It’s quiet.

I’m listening. Rain falling, running down the gutters. Furnace. Wind. Creaking house. Coffee brewing. Sounds of my favorite part of the day. Some days it is the sounds of birds singing or squirrels running on the roof or dogs barking. So natural; normal. A lot of good things happen early. One of the regrets of my life is that I may have wasted or missed too many “earlys”. You know the routine, stay up late, in my case because I don’t want to miss something at night, then get up late and have to throw yourself into the demands of the day. Mornings like that rob me of one of my most cherished disciplines. Listening. Our lives are full of noise but a lack of listening. Our culture is addicted to noise. Most of it man made and artificial.  We even have a phrase that describes our loathing of silence. We call it “dead air.” Is the air really “dead” or just my ability to hear? I am learning to listen and discovering the sounds of life everywhere. I need to learn to listen because I am a talker by nature. I want to talk. Really, I want to tell more often than talk. Talking implies listening, telling implies talking without listening. One of the great surprises and learnings that has occurred in my life since I made the decision to read God’s word everyday is that I have learned to listen and learned to love to listen. I used to read with the idea of learning something I could tell others. I wasn’t listening I was hunting. I have, to the best of my ability, offered that need to God and now my prayer daily before I read is, “Lord, please speak to my heart and my spirit. Please let me hear what you are saying. Whether I ever speak again is irrelevant. I want to hear your voice, daily.” In fact one of the creedal thoughts of my spiritual life is that it is more important that I hear from God than it is that He hear from me. All of this culminated for me today as I was reading John 11. I am discovering that the book of John has this underlying theme of “listening and hearing”. I won’t give all the details here, but think about that the next time you read in John. Two of the verses that support this thought you will recognize.

Jesus said, “A time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.”

“I have other sheep. They too will listen to my voice…”

There are many others. I hope you find them.

Listening and hearing are critical to knowing and living for and following God.

The story of Lazarus illustrates these thoughts well I think. Listen to all the noise in John 11. Martha, Mary, friends, weeping, questioning, doubting, second guessing, grumbling. How distracting. Noise doesn’t always have to be loud just distracting to fulfill its purpose. But in the midst of all the noise Jesus was listening. And he was conversing with His father. See verse 41. And because he was listening he knew what God’s will was in this setting. He was able to speak confidently because he had heard clearly. He spoke out of the flow of his conversation with his father, God. Because he had heard clearly, what he spoke transformed a life and a family and a community. Lazarus heard! A dead man, a family, a community came to life; all because someone listened.

And what he spoke wasn’t wordy or complicated, just powerful and life giving.

I have had this happen in my life on occasion. Most recently it happened early one morning when I was asking God what to do about something that really troubled me. I had just returned from Ghana, West Africa. I was there visiting a pastor friend who also is a doctor and runs a hospital and a school. I was walking through his compound one day and noticed that all of his buildings were either unfinished or in need of repair. What troubled me was that I knew our church was preparing to build new multimillion dollar worship center. I couldn’t reconcile in my spirit how we could do this for ourselves without doing something for our friends in Ghana. So I was up early one morning conversing with God, sharing my discontent about this and asking him what to do. I don’t know what I expected but what I heard was definitely not it. I believe I heard the spirit say to me, “Ask the leadership to give 10% of all the new building funds for missional projects. In the case of Lazarus who had been dead four days, I don’t know what Martha expected Jesus to say but it probably wasn’t, “Remove the stone.” There is usually only one small thing between us and what God wants to do; our obedience to what he speaks. It all starts with listening and that starts early. Then obedience grows as we practice listening and responding.

In my case I felt confident about what I had heard so I spoke and asked the leadership to designate 10% of the new building funds to missional projects. They heard and agreed. I am excited about the life and transformation that will result from this obedience.

The story of Lazarus makes me want to be a better listener. The Father has so much to say.

 

“Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.”

Mother Theresa

 

Just a thought.

Gotta go. I hear the refrigerator running and I have go catch it.

Sorry!

This one should be easy. It is almost the most wonderful time of the year for most or many of us. The start of NCAA Basketball, the NBA season, NCAA Football Bowl season. And Superbowl ???  is only a couple of tantalizing months away.  What do you mean that is not the most wonderful time of the year? What is wonderful about …..Christmas? Opps, there, I said it. Now you know how I really feel. But sometimes I mean it. What is wonderful about endless shopping and worrying if it is the right size and hoping they like it and wondering if it is enough? “Bah” don’t say it. We can really become concerned about things that don’t matter can’t we? And what about the things that do matter. I don’t mean just about Christmas, but everything; eternal things.  What do you lose sleep over? What was it that kept you awake the last time you had a sleepless night? I hope the things that matter to God are the things that are keeping me awake at night. Have you ever invited God to keep you awake with the things that matter to him?  David did. In Psalm 132 David prayed, actually declared, “I will not enter my house; or go to my bed – I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

 I never thought about God being homeless before but that is what David is saying of sorts. In fact, that is what is keeping him awake at night. He wants God to have a place; “a place for the Lord.” He wants God to have his rightful place. He wants God to be welcome in everyplace. I think about China. Every year we send a team there and every year we meet people who are desperate to know the Lord. Our team leader Martin, just returned from one of the most powerful trips we have experienced there. He told the story of how they went to a meeting in a school and he was teaching. At a designated point in the session a number of the students had to be dismissed so they could attend a Chinese law class taught by a member of the Communist Party. A few minutes after the session resumed all the students who had been dismissed came back in and Martin was told that the Party member wanted to talk with him. Through tears this person told Martin how she had been coming to the school for years to teach Chinese law, but this was the first day she had heard the message of Christ. She brought all the students back into the class and told them they needed to hear what was being taught because “it was the truth.” The Lord had his place. David was kept awake by the fact that God did not have a place or a temple in Israel/Zion, but I wonder if we can think bigger than that for a moment. There are places on this planet where God is homeless; where he has no place to make himself known; where he is unknown or at least a stranger. And he longs to make himself known to those who do not know him. What do you think about that? Does that concern you enough to stay awake a few extra minutes tonight and pray for those where there is no place for the Lord. On a personal level maybe we need to begin by asking ourselves, “Where is God’s place in my life?’ Is he an alien, a stranger, a visitor or a resident? The answer to those questions is worth losing a little sleep over.

Just a thought. Game is on.

Blessings

doug