the voyage home

Stressful Trust

2009-09-03T08:59:00.000-07:00

Life brings some interesting and stressful events across our paths. Paul writes: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered…we were under great pressure far beyond our ability to endure…But this happened that we might now rely upon ourselves but on God…”(2 Corinthians 1:8-11)

We face great stress, pressure and anxiety at times. At times we even feel like we are dying inside. Is there any purpose for these hard times? It just might be that God is telling us to stop relying upon ourselves, to stop trusting in our abilities, and to stop seeking our desires.

We must rely upon God “who raises the dead.” Perhaps we are dying inside—not physically but in our dependence upon us. We are realizing these events are beyond our coping skills. God has brought us to this place to kill out our self-reliance. Self-reliance dies a very stubborn death. It goes kicking and screaming. We think, “I’m supposed to be able to handle these events” – The truth is NO I’M NOT! Only God can handle these events and we desperately need him.

We must totally rely upon God to handle life. We must let go of our self reliance and discover the joy, power, peace and strength of God-reliance.

The question is not only can I trust God, but will I?

Life, as it is meant to be

2009-08-06T06:07:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that as Christians we concern ourselves with the exterior expressions of our Christian life more than the interior changes and growth. The exterior is easier to discern. We have become performance oriented rather than heart oriented. But I think the heart is more important. True spiritual development must focus on the inner life. When we get the inner life right the outer life will follow.

Jesus came to change our hearts not just to change our behavior. We think that Jesus came to make us good, but he came to make us alive! We were dead in our trespasses and sins but are made alive in Jesus.

If Jesus is going to make us alive then we must make the journey through our hearts. We struggle in this. If we chose to make this journey with him we discover coldness, lusts, wrong desires, bad attitudes, sorrows and deadness within our hearts. We learn that we have living our lives out of these things rather than out of Jesus.

If we decide to really life the life of Jesus then we place all of our lives before him, walk through these wastelands of the heart and submit to the painful spiritual surgery of their cleansing. Now we really begin to live our lives as Jesus intends. We live out of his heart, walk in his love, display his peace and celebrate the joy of the Lord as it becomes our strength.

Divine Calligraphy

2009-07-06T07:07:00.000-07:00

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Reading this can make us stop and think: trouble results in glory! Our moments involve eternity!

Many walk through a deep valley. It can be dark, trying and empty. In the midst of that valley we stop and wonder what God is doing. Why does He lead us into these hard and trying places?

In the hard times we must open our hearts fully to God. Then he can write on our hearts his Word. Our spirits are the paper, our struggles, joys and actions are the ink, the Holy Spirit is the Author who writes, YET what is written is in letters that belong to another world—Heaven. The Spirit communicates God’s truth to our hearts in these hard times. He writes there things that we struggle to understand, yet, from His perspective, so beautiful and wonderful and full of God. The value of what is written comes as we open our hearts fully to God and allow the Heavenly translator of this Heaven language reveal to us the power of God’s truth.

When we do not understand what is happening. It is a call to stop, turn our hearts toward God and allow the Spirit to reveal the beauty of what is being written in our lives. This is growth and maturity. This is life, real life, abundant life, eternal life—the life of Jesus.

Sacrifically Whining

2009-06-22T06:22:00.000-07:00

Paul writes in Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.” NIV

We do not like the word, “sacrifice.” This has a very deadly, bloody picture attached to it. It is not pretty nor easy. We are set to ask ourselves, “What have I really sacrificed for Jesus?” I could list time, money and life, what I have truly given to Him? Just stopping and thinking about this makes us either uneasy or proud, depending on what we think as we see our sacrifices.

Cyril of Alexander writes: “Never forget that what gives value to a sacrifice is not the renouncement it demands, but the degree of love which inspires the renouncement.” Putting all of this together made me ask myself, “Have I given up to God what I have out of love for him or out of simple obedience?” I realize that if I sacrifice out of love then I would do it willingly without complaining. If I sacrifice out of obedience only, then I might whine, complain and be tempted to give grudgingly.

Jesus demonstrated his deep love for us in his passionately giving of his life on the Cross. Brennan Manning writes: “The root of ‘passion’ is the Latin ‘passere, to ‘suffer.’ The passion of Jesus…is the voluntary laying oneself open to another and allowing oneself to be intimately affected by him, that is to say the suffering of passionate love.” (Abba’s Child; page 165)

The real value of our sacrifice for Jesus comes as we take our eyes off of us. I must stop focusing on my feelings and my desires and my life. I fix my eyes on Jesus.

When I look upon Jesus I see the holes in his hands and side. They remind me of His agony, His suffering and His sacrifice. When I look at Jesus I see the crown of thorns on his head. He was mocked and ridiculed. Why should I fear what others might think or say? When I look at Jesus I look into his eyes – joy and pain – peace and problems – love and judgment – His eyes pierce me to the heart. All is laid bare in His gaze. I can give as he gave, sacrificially because I stand amazed in his presence, focus on his love and live the life that models his.

The Church Lately

2009-06-17T07:59:00.001-07:00

I have been considering the church lately. I wonder why so many people find reasons to avoid it and simply drop out. I know that we struggle with our natures that tend to resist the spiritual side of life. Yet, God continues to pierce my heart telling me that there is more to it than just that.

I am reading a book titled: “Quitting Church.” It seems that there are many millions Americans who are opting out of church yet they chose to continue their own private time with God. They read their Bible, pray, even share their faith. Yet, they have given up on the church. Why?

These people see the lack of God in most churches. So many churches are dysfunctional. People are tired of church fights and church scandals. People are weary of clergy who are too controlling and demanding. It would appear that many churches have made the Bible irrelevant to many believers. There are hurting and struggling individuals who need the care, grace and compassion of God’s people but who end up getting judged, criticized and ignored.

All of this begs the questions: “Is this so? And if it is so, what should concerned followers of Jesus do about it?”

As a pastor I have felt firsthand the jabs of those within the church who demand their own way. I have experienced the heartache of being attacked and criticized for trying to walk the journey God has me on, when others do not understand and feel threatened by it. I wonder where we were lead astray. Why has the will of US overrun the will of God?

Perhaps we have become followers of a Christian culture that has grown within our society more than we have been followers of Jesus. We have so many books, so many different Bibles, so many Christian knick knacks that we have become disoriented to stepping in the footsteps of the One showed us that the way to live was to die.

I know the power of the grace and love of God. I have experienced his presence and his burden for his children. I have seen some of his children serve him so that those who are struggling might see his love in them. For all the misdirected things that are happening in the church there are others who are truly working to make a difference. They are the faithful followers of Jesus.

Church, let us fix our eyes on Jesus and not the Christian culture around us. Let us imitate the life, the heart and spirit of Jesus. Jesus only displayed anger at the religious elite who made converts who became “twice as much the sons of hell as they were.” Jesus displayed compassion, care and kindness to those who needed God the most: the prostitutes, drunks, lepers and outcasts of his world. Should we not do the same? Then those looking at his church will say, “Now that’s the Jesus I could follow!”

Tongue Tied

2009-06-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

In Proverbs 10:19-20 we read “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. NIV

St. Benedict wrote: “…where your tongue goes, the heart follows. If you curse others, your life will be cursed. If you bless others your life will be blessed.”

Do we ever stop to listen, really listen to the words that come out of our mouths? Do we really listen to the manner in which they are spoken? Jesus told us that we can kill with our words. "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Matthew 5:21-22 NIV

How often have we “killed” a heart, a soul, a life because of the words we have said about someone or to someone?

Poem Entitled: "Thou Shall not Kill"
Yesterday I killed my son's joy,
In the victory of his team,
I complained about his dirty clothes
And that ripped seam.
The day before I killed my daughter's prides
In the dress she had made,
I pointed out its faults,
Then added my faint praise.
One day I killed a friendship
And affection turned to hate,
I misunderstood her motive,
Until it was too late.
Today I killed my husband's love,
Not with a mighty blow.
It died bit by bit;
Year by year-so slow.
First I robbed him of his pleasures,
In those simple satisfactions
Oh, he had no self-confidence
And few worthwhile ambitions
I wounded him with cruel jibes,
When others too might hear,
I thought his wince of pain,
Was just unmanly fear.
Tonight I saw the light of love,
Die slowly in his look.
When he reached toward me his hand,
But I picked up my book.
God restore to me this man,
And teach me to love and understand.

Miraculous Moments

2009-05-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

In Number 13 and 14 we read that the people of God came to the very edge of the promise of God. There they stood ready to grasp the blessing He had promised them. Then, they discovered something. Giants stood in their way. They questioned, they shook with fear, and they wept and decided to turn back. Why? They believed that the giants were bigger than God.

What about us? We follow God’s direction. We have walked through some hard times. We know that he has promised us a blessing. THEN – GIANTS!

What will we do? How will we react? Faith is refusing to grumble against God because there are giants in the place he is leading you to. When faced with a problem will we lose faith in God? Or will we see the obstacle as an opportunity?

The miracles of God can take place when we run out of our own abilities. The miracles of God occur in the situations that we cannot handle. The miracles of God take place when we are faced with our own frailties. God often leads us to places where there are giants to show us how awesome and great our God really is.

The miracles happen when we step out of the safety of our boat to walk in the storm with Jesus. They happen when we bring our five loaves and two fish to a multitude. Miracles occur when we can do nothing but cry out, “Lord, Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me!” Miracles occur when the brother has died and Jesus is late arriving. Miracles occur when He has been in the grave three days.

What giants are you facing? What weaknesses are you discovering? What miracle is God waiting to show you in the midst of it all

Deceitful Hearts

2009-05-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

Jeremiah tells us : “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” NIV (Jeremiah 17:9)

How many times do we struggle with our hearts? There are things that clutter them—life’s hurts and pains; people’s opinions of us; and even our own thoughts about ourselves. Our hearts seem to be tossed whichever way the wind is blowing at the time.

God’s heart resides within those who are followers of Jesus. His heart is steady and true. When we attempt to “listen” to his heart we discover that these emotions and habits of our hearts can block out the voice of God’s heart within us. There is so much “”noise” in our hearts. We must learn how to tune it out so that we can tune into God’s heart.

God seeks to teach us all to listen. One day I sat on a hill and God spoke to my heart and said, “Listen.” I heard several different birds, a squirrel running though dry leaves, a cricket, a frog, a jet and some people talking. I had tuned out the “noise” of my heart and tuned into God’s world. God told me that I can do this anytime I decide to. I can also tune into his heart anytime. I can learn to tune out all the clutter of my heart and tune into God’s heart that is in the midst of the clutter.

We need to ask God to forgive us for “tuning” into people, life’s pains and our own concepts of us and forgetting that our hearts are deceitful. We must not take anything or anyone, including our selves, more seriously than Jesus!

I wonder what would happen if we took God seriously, tuned out the noise of our hearts and tuned into His?

Persistent Overcomers

2009-04-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

There is a man from Israel who shared about struggling to settle in that war torn land. He said that he had to replace his windshield seven times in the last three years. He was wounded in his leg by a bullet and hit in the face with a rock. Yet he said, "Everyday for each person killed we bring two new children into the world. For every field burned we plant two more. This is exciting. This is part of the challenge of life."

He is helping to build the nation of Israel. What about us Christians? We are helping to build the Kingdom of our Father. Are we willing to endure the struggle of sharing and living out our faith? 2 Tim 2:3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. NIV

In fact we can do more than just endure, we can really thrive because of our faith and trust in Jesus. Through Him we are overcomers! 1 John 5:4-5 This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. NIV

Our Journey to the Cross

2009-04-06T12:19:00.001-07:00

Those of us who follow the Man from Galilee understand that it is a journey. A journey that begins with Jesus seeking us where we are to following Him down the roads of our lives. Somehow we think that following him should be easy, simple and effortless. But it isn’t. This journey of following Jesus is a day by day, moment by moment and step by step progression of walking with him to and through the cross.

For the Christian life is always a journey toward the Cross. Each step toward the Cross of Jesus is a step away from self-centeredness, a step away from being self-focused to a life of freedom, peace and fruitfulness. Each step becomes a deliberate choice to stop seeking what I want, to stop focusing on my feelings and to center my walk and feelings on the One who hung on the Cross.

We discover in the death and resurrection of Jesus our own dying and rebirth to the life God has called us to. It is the Cross that frees us from the power of the world, the flesh and the devil and raises us to life in the Way and the Truth and Life of Jesus. Life is now a journey of becoming – becoming fully alive to God, life and ourselves. It is the life we were created to enjoy. It is the life that delivers us from evil and takes us into the joy, peace, love and power of the One who gave his life that we might find it.

It is what Easter is all about!

Lost Followers

2009-03-14T07:07:00.000-07:00

Have we as followers of Jesus lost our way? What is the focus of our Christian faith?

We believe that the Christian life is somehow about defending our faith and attacking those who do not believe like we do.

We have become confrontive rather than compassionate. We confront those that think differently than we do. We attack their character and their lives. Jesus calls us to compassion. We are called to care for them. Jesus’ compassion will lead them closer to his Father more than confrontation will.

We want to argue people over to our point of view rather than love them over to God’s point of view. Somehow we think if we just had the right word to show them how wrong they are or to “prove” to them how right we are then we could “convert” them. Yet, we must realize that conversion comes not from the right argument but from the right LOVE – Jesus’ love, dying for them showing them the heart of God.

We have a passionate protest –ant theology rather than a passion from our Savior which fills our hearts and flows out of our lives to those who need him.

Jesus is the Way – to live, to love and to lead people into the heart of his Father who passionately loves them.

It's easy to be hard

2009-02-23T13:08:00.000-08:00

Following God is never easy nor without its temptations to turn away from the straight and narrow path. I was reading about the prophet Balaam. When men came from king Balak asking him to come and curse the Israelites, he went to seek God’s direction. God told him, “No, do not go with them.” So he refused. Balak sent men of great importance to pressure Balaam to come. Knowing what God had said, Balaam still went to ask God about going with them. If you know the rest of the story, Balaam was almost killed by an angel and ended up listening to his donkey in order to get the message from God.

How many times do we stop to consider other things when we know that God has already spoken to us about. We know what we should do or where God wants us to go. Yet, we often seek the easier path. Jesus called it the broad road that leads to destruction. God does not promise easy. He promises to go with us on the road he has chosen for us. Our hearts and spirits know the way we are suppose to go, but our emotions and fleshly logic often call out to us for an easier, more ego driven way.

We are faced with a decision (Most of life is about making godly decisions). Am I really a follower of Jesus or am I follower of the world, the flesh and the devil? When asked that way the answer seems easy. When presented with a harder, God directed path or an easier emotional directed path, the choice gets very sticky.

Do I really believe that with God’s help I can handle whatever he leads me into? Do I really trust in the One who created me, gave me gifts and talents to assist me on this journey? The way is clear when we listen to his heart within us. We know the way. We can be free from the stress of hard choices. God does not always lead us down the easy way, but he ALWAYS leads us down the straight and narrow way that leads to life!

2009-02-16T12:21:00.000-08:00

A little boy is attempting to move a large rock by himself. His dad stands by watching him. As the little boy pulls, pushes and pries the rock refuses to budge. “You are not using all of your strength,” the dad says. So the little boy pulls harder, kicks at the rock, puts his shoulder on it and pushes for all he is worth. Still it doesn’t move. “You still are not using all of your strength,” dad says. The little boy looks up at his dad and back at the rock. “Yes I am, daddy!” he says. “No you aren’t” dad replies, “you have not asked me to help you.”

How often do we attempt to do things by ourselves before we seek God’s assistance? We want to believe ourselves independent and not needing anyone or anything to stand strong. Yet the truth be known we are very dependent on others and on God. Why is admitting this so hard?

Jesus told us, “Seek and you will find. Ask and it shall be given. Knock and the door will be opened.” Theophan the Recluse writes: “Such is the rule for spiritual advancement. Nothing comes without effort. The help of God is always ready and always near, but it is only given to those who seek and work, and only to those seekers who, after putting all their own power to the test, the cry out with all their heart: Lord help us. So long as you hold on to even a little hope of achieving something by your own powers, the Lord does not interfere. It is as though he says: ‘You hope to succeed by yourself—very well, go no trying! But however long you try you will achieve nothing’ May the Lord give you a contrite spirit, a humble heart.” [From the Art of Prayer]

The Lord will lead us to places where we realize that we are totally dependent on him. We see that we will utterly fail without asking, seeking and knocking on the doors of heaven and pleading for our Lord to guide us, grant us his wisdom and release our dependency upon ourselves.

Have you used ALL your strength? Have you called on your Father?

Questions haunt my heart

2009-02-09T12:13:00.001-08:00

We all have questions about life, questions about direction and just plain “why” questions. We may stop and try to reason things out. We may attempt to seek advice. We can even pray about the issues, but still the questions remain. There are many who offer “answers.” They might be quick solutions or good advice. The problem is that they are other people’s answers to our questions.

There is a friend who is dying of cancer – why him? We are searching for direction – why doesn’t God tell us? We have prayed for our family – yet there are still trials. We have tried to follow the advice of others, but it has fallen short. Slowly doubt creeps into our hearts. We begin to question ourselves, our friends and God himself.

The questions force us to search our hearts, consider our beliefs and think through the things we value. If it is the emotions of the moment that lead the way we become mired down in the mud of life. If it is human reason that guides the way we discover so many dead ends that have wasted our time and energy.

So how do I discover the answer to the questions that haunt my heart? We read in the Bible: “I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God.” Psalm 38:15. “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 NIV

The real answers to our questions rest with God. These answers do not come in microwavable formulas. They are rarely the quick fixes we want. They come as we ask, seek and knock on the doors of heaven and WAIT for God to answer. Patiently waiting is difficult. But to wait patiently doesn’t not mean we do nothing. Rather we focus on God himself. We turn our hearts toward the Father who holds every answer within his hand. We draw nearer to him and know that He is working things out behind the scenes in places we cannot see. Isaiah tells us: “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isa 40:30-31 NIV

So we discover that in the midst of all the questions, in the center of every trial there is God. He holds every answer and waits for us to seek him and his heart so that He can strengthen our hearts and teach the most important answer that we need to hear: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Ps 46:10 NIV

Enjoy the Journey

2009-01-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

Life is a journey that takes us many different places. This journey may be to unusual locations. It may also lead us to remarkable individuals. The journey leads through fascinating circumstances. Throughout the journey we are carried on a roller-coaster of emotions.

How often do we think that when we get to a certain location that we have arrived? We forget that our destination is the Kingdom of our Father. We are simply passing through.

God takes us on this journey through these locations to lead us to new friends. He teaches us fresh ways of handling life. We gain fresh perspectives on God and his Truth. Each stop on our journey toward Heaven increases our joy in the adventure that God has us on. We must learn to enjoy to beautiful vistas of each stop.

What we have gleaned from each stop on our journey we carry with us as we travel on. Our hearts grow richer. Our spirits flourish. Our souls are strengthened through the many blessings and trials God escorts us through.

Our lives are different, better because of our journey. We laugh. We cry. We love and we die. Yet, people of faith cling to the Lord of all and discover the heart of God in it all.

We are faced with a choice in our journey. We can curse the journey and waste the blessings we gain. Or we can enjoy the journey and really learn about ourselves, our God and be richer for it.

The Journey to Change

2009-01-05T13:35:00.001-08:00

“Though the fig tree does not blossom and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no fruit, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habakkuk 3:17-18

This passage makes me stop and ask: “Will I trust God no matter what happens or doesn’t happen in my life?” In the journey of our lives, everything we deal with, every problem we encounter, every place we journey to, every person we meet may bring us to the place where we must decide to trust God again or not.

Why is it that we believe that if God is directing our steps on our journey, it will always be smooth sailing? When we are sailing the boat of our lives, we are forced to leave the safety of the harbor. One man wrote: “A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are made for.” Life is risky. Yet, we cannot enjoy the adventure that God has us on if we always refuse to take a step of faith, to leave the safety of our harbor.

The adventure of following God will take us to unexpected places, challenge our faith and force us to face our frailties. In this adventure of life we may be faced with letting go of our ideas. God wants to enlarge our lives so that our hearts may be filled with more of him. Part of our journey with God is learning to die now so that we might really live, then by living well we can die well.
Do I really seek the God who will change me? Do I seek him with all my heart, my soul, my mind and my strength? What could God do with me if I answer “yes” to all of these questions? What if he decides to let everything around me crumble? What if He leads me to the desert and I feel dry and barren? What if my version of success eludes me? Will I joyfully serve the God who is changing me, and shaping me into the person he created me to be?

Dying Well

2008-12-19T07:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I visited a friend of mine who is dying. I did not know 12 years ago when we first met the direction the journey my life would take. We grew close though hard times. I worked to encourage him as we struggled though a building project at our church. He stood by me when things grew difficult in my life and I needed a friend.

He is now a pastor in his own church, yet still calls me his pastor. When he left to follow his call five years ago only God knew the path his life would take. Unless God intervenes, he has only a few weeks left. He has asked me to do his funeral. Life takes some amazing twists.

Was his life “successful?” The world would look at it and shake its head “No.” He left a good paying job, the town he grew up in, chasing some call half way over the country only to return somewhat broken.

I would ask another question. “Was his life fruitful?” I would shout out a loud “YES!” Over the course of his life hearts were touched, people were drawn to Jesus, and friendships were made. It seems to me that some of his most fruitful work is being done now. In the midst of his pain and dying he communicates a deep love for God. He has a joyous grasp of God’s grace. He told me that he is living his “bucket list.”

The fruit of his life germinates in the lives of those around him. Especially in the lives of those who are walking with him in the valley of the shadow of death. The fruit of God’s love takes root and grows in those who have been touched by him and his faith.

Through him I have learned more of what it means to take up our cross. When we take up our cross and die on it, our lives bear the greatest fruit. It is in our greatest weakness that God’s strength is perfected.

He has given me the gift of his faith and an understanding of what it means to die well.

What you see is what you get

2008-12-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

In Psalm 16:8 we read: “I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” NIV I wonder how it would affect us if we really kept the Lord always before our eyes? What if I saw Jesus there in every situation, in every problem, and in each person?

I think we would lose our self-dependency. We would stop trusting in ourselves for we would realize that we do not see life like Jesus sees it. We would realize our total need to lean on Jesus in the midst of everyday life.

We would grow in our awareness of God’s presence. We would begin to see him everywhere. How many times did I think that God could not possibly be in that problem only to discover later he was working out his plan? We would see God working in each person’s life. We could sense his presence in our hearts as we travel our journey in life.

We would “see” God more clearly than the world around us. He would become very real to us. We would know that God is here with us. We can smell him in the scent of a flower. We hear him in the song of the birds. We see him in the crimson sunset. He is alive within our lives.

Worry and anxiety would flee away. We need no longer become concerned by the fears of life. Why? We have set the Lord always before our eyes. His perfect love casts out all fear.

We begin to see others as God sees them. We begin to understand the hurt, the rejection and the pain that has driven that jerk at work to act like he does. We grasp the heart of God for people. We grow in his grace toward people. We express his love to the unlovable. We know that whatever we have done unto the least of these we have done unto God.

Finally we grow in purity and holiness. Keeping God always before our eyes keeps us faithful to honor him with our lives. We know he sees all and hears all. Our respect for him and our love for him lift us above the draw of the flesh. Our actions, thoughts and attitudes of our hearts display the character of God at all times.

Do I keep the Lord always before my eyes?

United in WEAKNESS

2008-11-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

Power divides – weakness unites – Those who seek to be in control, to have the power to have it their way divide. They divide people into factions. They divide hearts. They divide the mind, will and spirit.

This division comes because I must have it my way. I need to be in control. I want the power to force my will onto you. This investment of strength to make others conform divides homes, families, churches and nations.

Weakness unites – When I can admit that I do not have all answers, I draw others together. We come to work together to find the answers. If I reveal that I need support, I draw others together to help me stand. Why does weakness unite? We all recognize our own frailties in the weaknesses of others. Each one realizes that he or she does not stand alone for there is another who is as weak as I.

We discover in the midst of our weaknesses, God. Once we acknowledge our frailties and admit weakness then God’s power can be made perfect within us. We discover in humble weakness divine strength.

Brennan Manning writes: “In conversation, the poor man always leaves the other person with the feeling, ‘My life has been enriched by talking with you.’ And it has…. He doesn’t overwhelm him with his wealth of insights; … He listens well because he realizes that he is poor and has so much to learn from others.” (Reflections of Ragamuffins, page 306)

This attitude unites us together. We develop a bond of love for our brothers and sisters. We are poor and weak together. We stand united in the common bond of God’s strength. Jesus told the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” NIV

Power divides – weakness unites – what do you think?

American Idols

2008-11-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

We read in Exodus: "You shall have no other gods before me. ...You shall not make for yourself an idol…” (Ex 20:3-4) NIV. Idols! False gods! In this modern day and age!? We often make gods of the things or people of this world. If someone or something has control over our lives, our emotions or our money, is it not a god?

We cling to the things of our world and for all purposes tend to make a god of them. We cannot live without them. We must have that person's approval. We need more, more, more -- more money,nicer toys, better sex, more success and acceptance. Are these really gods?

We will not see them as they are until we let go of them, take a step back and gaze at the true God Himself. Once we truly see God for who he really is and realize the joy and strength that comes from a deeper walk with him, we understand that all these other things have given us more grief and headaches than anything else. We must let go of the “former” gods. Then we can begin to live the life God created us to live. Loving God first and living life from the real God’s perspective allows us to enjoy the “stuff” of his creation without being controlled by it.

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) NIV

Pleased to Please

2008-10-27T11:40:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wondered what makes us pleasing to God? Some might say, “Praying more,” or “giving more,” perhaps “reading the Bible more.” The key word in all of these thoughts is “more.” We seem to think that God is demanding more, more, more from us.

I do not believe that God is like some demanding dictator shouting out orders for us to do, be, give and sacrifice more. What makes us pleasing to God are not my prayers, nor my spiritual insights, nor my knowledge of Scripture or theology. Perhaps, if I am a tremendous success in the eyes of the world or my peers God will be pleased with that. Not even measuring our success by the world’s ideals makes us pleasing to God. If these things are true, why do we fill our hearts, thoughts and lives with the fear that we are not doing enough for God? I think it is because we do not really know God and what he seeks in the lives of those who follow him.

What does God ask of those who follow him? He wants us to be obedient to his word. He asks us to open the depths of our hearts to him so that we might really be filled with his heart. As we begin to live this way we love as he loves, give as he gives, sacrifice as he sacrifices and die as he died.

People who live this way make a Kingdom difference in the world they live in. The lives of others are changed because they begin to experience the heart of God through the actions, words, attitudes and habits of his children.

Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. NIV

Plain Prophet Parables

2008-09-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

I have been reading through the Old Testament prophets. There were moments in their lives where God called upon them to be examples of His truth. There are many places He asks them to be a living parable. They are told to do things that seem difficult and at times outlandish. They are to live out a truth so others may see and understand God better.

God walks us through the hard places in our lives. We all have journeyed through hurts, pains, losses, questions, personal attacks and sorrows. Often we may ask God why this is happening. Yet, we never come to a full understanding of what we are going through. What if in the midst of each one God is calling us to be a parable or model of the character of Jesus? Deep within all of God’s people lays the heart of Jesus. Difficult times should drive us deeper into his heart and give us more of his character to live out of.

We come to realize afresh and anew that we have His power and strength to forgive those who have hurt us. We can give grace to those who attack us. We can display unselfish love to the one who has crucified us. We can embrace the one who has rejected us. “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart.” Matthew 12:35 NIV

We are given the privilege of representing Jesus in each of these situations. We stand in his place, displaying his character so others may catch a glimpse of who Jesus really is. Scripture challenges us to do this. We may complain that this is unfair. If we do this we simply reveal that our hearts are focused on us and we have not denied ourselves, taken up our cross and followed Him. We display the fact that we are not yet disciples of the One who lived solely for His father and died for others.

Promises Realized

2008-08-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

Do we realize all the promises that our Lord has given us? There are promises from his word and promises from his heart. Do I doubt them? Does doubt come simply because He doesn’t do things my way, in my time?

How much of doubt is centered on us, on what we want? After all the Lord has done for us, after all the ways we have seen Him work, why do we still struggle with doubt?

He has answered our prayers. He has encouraged us. He has stretched our money. He has spoken to us. He has blessed our lives.

We must ask Him to forgive us for ever doubting. We must submit our fears and feelings to Him once again. He is faithful. We must decide to trust Him. Trust in Him, denies self. Trust allows Him to work things out His way in His time. Trust is patient.

Will we trust the Lord with all of our hearts, all of our souls and all of our lives? Will we refuse to lean on our own understanding?

In the Scripture we read that he daily bears our burdens (Psalm 68:19). Do we really believe that? If we do then we do not need to daily bear our burdens.

Each of us must come to the Lord and pray: “I do trust you. I trust you to carry the weights that life places on me. Thank you for taking these burdens. I rejoice in you. I cast every care upon you. I lay every encumbrance upon you. I set aside every stumbling block that tries to trip me up. My life is yours.”

The Consequences of Truth

2008-07-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

Isaac Wiegand is the DS of the Liberian churches. I met him at our General Conference this year. He really blessed my life.

He tells about the civil war in Liberia. The war lasted from 1996 until 2003. He was a college student during some of that time. He said that the college was often without electric power. They had little or no food or water. There were times when he and a friend named James Smith would go out into the jungle to search for food so they could live.

When going to search for food they had to go through rebel checkpoints. They would be questioned and their ID's examined. They had gone out into the jungle one day and were returning through the checkpoint that they had gone through earlier, when one of the rebels saw James ID and asked, "Smith, are you related to general Smith?" General Smith was the leader of the group the rebels were fighting.

"No," James replied. "I don't know him and never met him. We are not related."

"The rebel leader said, "I don't believe you. You are related to him. I'm going to kill you."

Isaac said that whenever a rebel soldier told you that he was going to kill you there was nothing you could do to stop him. So right there in front of him he saw them put six bullets into his friend's head. He said that if he reacted in any way at all, they would shoot him. So he had to act like it didn't matter.

In the midst of all their hard times our brothers and sisters in Liberia learned some truths about their walk with God. Isaac said they learned in all their struggles that God is really alive.

Isaac said, "When you are surrounded by rebels you have no guarantee for tomorrow.” He told me that they really learned what it meant to live day-by-day being totally dependent on God. He said they also came to realize that we are nothing by ourselves. “We are very poor. Daily we see the senselessness of trying to be dependent on yourself. We have nowhere else to look except to God."

Complaint Department

2008-07-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

When we went to Russia in 1994 we road the trolleys. We quickly learned that if it was full and a woman got on the trolley the man sitting closest to her would get up and give her his seat. It was the Russian custom.

Some years later I went into Chicago. I road the South Shore railroad. The car that we were riding in was full. There was a couple standing in the middle of the car holding on to a pole. At the next stop some matronly ladies got on the car. Being trained in Russia as to how to handle this situation, I crawled out from my window seat and asked one of them if she would like to have my seat. She quickly said, “Yes.” The man I was sitting next to, looked up from his newspaper at me, then at the woman and then back at me. He stood up and asked the other woman if she wanted his seat. She took it.

We walked down to the middle of the car and grabbed onto one of the poles that was there. I casually said to the couple standing there, “I guess they should have added another car to the train today.”

This couple immediately spoke in a very angry voice about how inconsiderate the train company was and how they should have gotten their act together. It was obvious that this couple was very upset about having to stand in the middle of the car.

The conductor came into the car just then and told us all, “There are plenty of seats two cars up if you want to walk there.” So I proceeded to turn and walk up the train to that car. The man who I had been sitting with followed me. Yet the complaining couple just stood there, angry. I guess they just wanting to have something to complain about rather then finding a solution to their problem.

When the man and I got to the car with the seats in it, I sat on one side and him on the other. I said, “Well that was easy enough.” He just nodded and smiled.

Am I a whiner or am I one who goes with the flow and lives out of the attitude of the Jesus I claim to believe in?

2008-07-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

We are called to “fight the good fight of faith.” When we decide to take a stand and “fight” for our faith we discover that God is there providing us with the strength and grace to do it. Fighting is not being argumentive or demanding our way. Fighting the good fight has to do with our own desire and passion for God.

Too often we want to just get by on as little as possible. We will only pray “just enough” or fast as little as necessary. All the time God wants us to give ourselves completely to the battle. God may lead us into places where we need to pray longer than we think is necessary. There may be a conviction that we must fast and spend time alone with our Lord. We are fighting the fight of faith because we are battling our own self focus.

The battle becomes harder because Satan will do all he can to weaken us and reduce our spiritual strength. He creates interruptions, false needs and endless distractions to try and defeat us in battle.

In this battle we allow so many things to work on our hearts—people, events, needs, desires, etc. We do not realize that most of these things can cause us to be alienated from our hearts and therefore from God who reigns in our hearts.

We must deal with the things that hide our hearts from God. We must be actively working on them. We decide to no longer conceal to ourselves or try to hide from God what is in our hearts. We will stop all self-justification. There will be no more self-pity. Confession, repentance and openness will allow cleansing in the depths of our hearts. This is the fight, this is the battle.

We discover that Our Father honors his children when they resist Satan’s attacks and willingly sacrifice time, energy, effort, and themselves to fight the good fight of faith.

Let me close with this prayer:

Lord, you have given me so many promises: Promises from your word and promises from your heart. Why do I doubt them? Does doubt come simply because you don’t do things my way, in my time? How much of doubt is centered on me, on my self?

You have answered my prayers. You have encouraged me. You have stretched my money. You have spoken through me. You have blessed my life.

Forgive me for ever doubting. I must submit my fears and feelings to you once again. You are faithful. I will trust you. Trust allows you to work things out your way in your time. Trust is patient. Lord, I do trust you with all of my heart, all my soul and all of my life. I refuse to lean on my own understanding. You are my sovereign King.

2008-06-23T12:48:00.001-07:00

The story is told of a pious Jewish couple. They had married with great love, and the love never died. Their greatest hope was to have a child so their love could walk the earth with joy

Yet there were difficulties. And since they were very pious they prayed and prayed and prayed. Along with considerable other efforts, lo and behold, the wife conceived. When she conceived, she laughed louder than Sarah laughed when she conceived Isaac. And the child leapt in her womb more joyously than John leapt in the womb of Elizabeth when Mary visited her. And nine months later a delightful little boy came rumbling into the world.

They named him Mordecai. He was rambunctious, zestful gulping down the days and dreaming through the nights. The sun and the moon were his toys. He grew in age and wisdom and grace, until it was time to go to the synagogue and learn the Word of God.

The night before his studies were to begin, his parents sat Mordecai down and told him how important the Word of God was. They stressed that without the Word of God Mordecai would be an autumn leaf in the winter's wind. He listened wide-eyed.

Yet the next day he never arrived at the synagogue. Instead he found himself in the woods, swimming in the lake 'and climbing the trees.

When he came home that night, the news had spread throughout the small village. Everyone knew of his shame. His parents were beside themselves. They did not know what to do.

So they called in the behavior modificationists to modify Mordecai's behavior, until there was no behavior of Mordecai that was not modified. Nevertheless, the next day he found himself in the woods, swimming in the lake and climbing the trees.

His parents grieved for their beloved son. There seemed to be no hope.

At this same time the Great Rabbi visited the village. And the parents said, "Ah! Perhaps the Rabbi." So they took Mordecai to the Rabbi and told him their tale of woe. The Rabbi bellowed, "Leave the boy with me, and I will have a talking with him."

It was bad enough that Mordecai would not go to the synagogue. But to leave their beloved son alone with this lion of a man was terrifying. However, they had come this far, and so they left him.

Now Mordecai stood in the hallway, and the Great Rabbi stood in his parlor. He beckoned, "Boy, come here." Trembling, Mordecai came forward.

And then the Great Rabbi picked him up and held him silently against his heart.

His parents came to get Mordecai, and they took him home. The next day he went to the synagogue to learn the Word of God. And when he was done, he went to the woods. And the Word of God became one with the words of the woods, which became one with the words of Mordecai. And he swam in the lake. And the Word of God became one with the words of the lake, which became one with the words of Mordecai. And he climbed the trees. And the Word of God became one with the words of the trees, which became one with the words of Mordecai.

And Mordecai himself grew up to become a great man. People who were seized with panic came to him and found peace and comfort. People without anyone came and found a friend. People with no exits came and found a way out. When they came to him, he told them, "I first learned the Word of God when the Great Rabbi held me silently against his heart."

Isa 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Lay your head on the heart of the Great Rabbi, Jesus. What do you hear?

Sandwiches and Chicago

2008-06-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

I had set apart a week to just get away and seek God’s heart. One of the days I had set apart I decided to take the train into Chicago and just wander downtown and pray and observe to see what God might say. Before I left I felt compelled by God to make a few sandwiches to take and give away to some homeless people. So I packed a bag with 4 sandwiches and 4 bottles of water.

I decided to get off the train one stop earlier than I usually do. When I got off I began to walk. I traveled five blocks looking for homeless people. There was not one to be found. I walked over one block and began to return back. Still no homeless people. The bag was beginning to get heavy.

I was wondering about how one approaches a homeless person—what do you say? “Hi, I’m Mike, what’s your name?”

I was praying about this when there he was. He was standing on the street trying to sell a magazine called Streetwise. I walked up to him and asked, “Have you eaten today?”

“No,” he replied.

I handed him the whole bag and said, “This is for you.” He looked in the bag then back at me and quietly said, “God bless you.”

I put my arm around him and said, “I just want you to know that Jesus loves you.”

I turned and crossed the street into Millennium Park and I began to cry. Why? It was the understanding that I had helped someone eat one more day and wondered why I had not done it before. It was the thought of a man who felt stuck on the streets with little hope. And it was grasping the knowledge that the one I gave the water and sandwiches to was Jesus—“What you have done unto the least of these…”

Unto the Least

2008-05-19T11:40:00.001-07:00

Matt 25:40 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

A man tells the following story: “I was walking around in a Target store, when I saw a Cashier hand this little boy some money back. The boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old. The Cashier said, "I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll."

Then the little boy turned to the old woman next to him: ''Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?'' The old lady replied: ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy this doll, my dear.'' Then she asked him to stay there for just 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly.

The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand.

Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give this doll to. "It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for Christmas. She was sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her."

I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus would bring it to her after all, and not to worry.

But he replied to me sadly. "No, Santa Claus can't bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there." His eyes were so sad while saying this. "My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister.''

My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said: "I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall." Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me "I want mommy to take my picture with her so she won't forget me. I love my mommy and I wish she doesn't have to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister."

Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly. I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. "Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll?''

"OK" he said, "I hope I do have enough." I added some of my money to his

with out him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money. The little boy said: "Thank you God for giving me enough money!" Then he looked at me and added, "I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that mommy could give it to my sister. He heard me!''

"I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn't dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. My mommy loves white roses."

A few minutes later , the old lady returned and I left with my basket. I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local news paper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine, because the young woman would not be able to recover from the coma. Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that the young woman had passed away. I couldn't stop myself as I bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wishes before her burial. She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest. I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed for ever. The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.

Take the FORK!?

2008-05-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

Life is full of choices. Why do we make the choices that we do? What is the driving force that leads us in a certain direction? Do we go by feelings, or by our desires, or by comfort, or by what “everyone else is doing” or by what we sense God wants us to do?

Yogi Berra said: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” I guess he thinks it doesn’t matter which choice you make. Yet every choice has its pluses and minuses.

Joshua said: "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, …But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." NIV (Joshua 24:14-15)

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both.
And be one traveler, long I stood,
And looked down one as far as I could.

"Then took the other, just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear.
Though as for that the passing there,
Had worn them really about the same.

"And both that morning in equally lay,
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how the way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

"I shall be telling this with a sigh,
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost: The Road not Taken

The Heart of Chicago

2008-04-28T11:51:00.001-07:00

I sat on a park bench in downtown Chicago and looked around – So many people – so many colors – so many nationalities – so many needs – so many without Jesus. I saw the dogs being walked, umbrellas opened protecting their owners from the sun, newspapers opened gleaning the past’s events, cell phones and baby carriages.

The noise was extreme: jack hammers; lawn mowers; back-up warnings; trucks roaring; tires squealing; the squeak of brakes and the rumble of jets. How can they hear God in the midst of this chaos? How can I touch the lives of these alienated children of God?

I walk down the street and pass a homeless man in the doorway of a building. I take fifty steps and pass the influential and wealthy eating outside of a posh restaurant. And I wonder: …”God, this is such a dichotomy” – rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief – all needing Jesus.

I walk further; I pass another homeless man sitting at the edge of busy Michigan Avenue (The Magnificent Mile). People are stepping over him and around him – a nobody – except…My Jesus gave his life for him, so he is very much a somebody.

In the midst of all of this I stand again face to face with my own heart and with God’s heart. Where is my heart, really? What is shaping my heart? Does it look like my Jesus’ heart? Does it bear the imprint of His fingers?

“Wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be also”

The Confusing Curve

2008-04-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

What do you do when God throws you a curve that you cannot even come close to hitting?

There is this windex commercial where the sliding glass door is so clean that the man of the house thinks it is open and walk right into is. Have you ever felt that way? You have prayed, fasted and sought God’s direction, took a few steps where you think you are to go and WHAM! – you run into the glass door.

You heart, mind, emotions and spirit are confused and your soul is bruised. It seems that God has caused it all. The questions abound: “What is going on?” or “Why is that happening?” You discover that there are no answers and silence seems to greet your prayers.

We must realize that this is where faith and trust in God must enter into the picture. Will you continue to believe? Will you still trust in God? Do you believe that God has your best interests at heart? Doubt has a part in building a great faith. Only a bruised and broken faith can be rebuilt into a deeper, richer and stronger faith.

God is being seen in a new and different way. A new view of God’s greatness and love can only be shaped when the old view gets broken and the pieces rearranged.

It is so easy to get all wrapped up in oneself and one’s needs. We must get all wrapped up in Jesus. God is working to shape a truer image of Himself and a truer image of us in our hearts and spirits.

We learn that the curve was not supposed to be hit. It is to be admired and enjoyed.

IMAGES and REFLECTIONS

2008-04-07T11:12:00.001-07:00

Some ladies in a women’s Bible study were wondering about the process of refining silver. One of the ladies decided to visit a silversmith. She went to watch him work.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it"

When people look into our lives do they see the image of Jesus in us? If not, perhaps God may place us in the fire to refine us until the image of Jesus shines out from our life.

When God refines us he puts all of our lives over his all consuming fire to bring out of us the clutter that has infiltrated us. In love he looks down into our hearts and spirits and seeks to see the reflection of His Son there.

We must stop and ask ourselves if we are living lives that please God and allows others to see Jesus in us. When we go to bed at night we need to pray and ask God: “Did I live today in the way that pleases you?” Living life this way affects the lives of others who live, work and play around us.

Pastor Scott Camp was working on an assignment for a doctoral thesis. As a college student he spent a year with a group of Navajo Indians on a reservation in the Southwest. As he did his research he lived with one family, sleeping in their hut, eating their food, working with them and generally living the life of a 20th Century Indian.

The old grandmother of the family spoke no English at all, yet a very close friendship formed between the two. They spent a great deal of time sharing a friendship that was meaningful to each, yet unexplainable to someone else. In spite of the language difference they shared the common language of love and understood each other. Over the months he learned a few phrases of Navajo and she picked up a little of the English language.

When it was time for him to return to the campus and write his thesis, the tribe held a going-away celebration. It was marked by sadness since the young man had become close to the whole village and all would miss him. As he prepared to get up into the pickup truck and leave, the old grandmother came to tell him good-bye. With tears streaming from her eyes, she placed her hands on either side of his face, looked directly into his eyes and said, "I like me best when I'm with you."

Perhaps that is a great expression of the image of Jesus. Other people learn to like themselves when they are around us.

Life in the S-L-O-W lane

2008-03-31T11:05:00.000-07:00

There is a movie entitled Nell. I have not seen it but it I understand that it is about a young lady who grows up alone in the forest. She knows nothing of electricity or plumbing or any other modern convenience. One day the world beyond the forest discovers her.

She is taken out of the forest by well-meaning people who think she should catch up with the rest of the world so she can lead a fuller life. Her fate is in the hands of 12 jurors. After the lawyers speak, Nell gets up to speak for herself.

“You have big things.”

“You know big things.”

“But you don’t look into each others eyes.”

“You are hungry for quietness.”

“I have lived a small life.”

“And I know small things.”

Nell looks into the eyes of the judge and those of the courtroom. She wants to help them understand.

“The quiet of the forest is full of angels—“

“In the daytime there comes beauty.”

“In the nighttime, there comes happiness.”

“Don’t be afraid for Nell”

“Don’t weep for Nell.”

“I have no greater sorrows than yours.”

In the backwoods with her bare feet and broken speech, Nell lived a small life, knowing only small things. She knew nothing of stock prices or cellular phones, nothing of the state of the union of the scandals of its leaders, nothing of the mysteries of the universe or the miracles of modern science. Yet, her nights were filled with happiness, her days with beauty, and she sensed something of the divine in the world around her. (From the book Seeing What is Sacred, pages 1-3).

This noisy, busy and fast paced culture keeps us speeding by the moments when we might hear and see God. There is always one more thing to accomplish. If we don’t do it we feel like we have failed. We want our children to be involved in every sport and every club so that they might have a well balanced life. We drag ourselves from one task, one moment of time to another but we end the day tired, weary and exhausted. Life goes by, children grow up, we age and the world changes but deep down inside we know that we have missed something very important.

Life is not about participating in every opportunity that comes our way. It is not about experiencing the thrill of each event. Life is about relationships. Life is truly lived when we block out time to sit and listen to each other AND to God. Life is lived from the inside out – from the heart and spirit. We must learn, before it is too late, to enter into the world of our children, our friends, our co-workers and even God Himself. Once there we will discover the beauty of the world, the beauty of its Creator and the joy of relationships that are worth more than any amount of gold.

Will you live life in the slow lane and listen to God’s world around you?

Splinters and Glass Doors

2008-03-17T13:14:00.000-07:00

It is interesting how God uses things in our lives to speak to us about our relationship with Him.

Have you ever had those moments when you wondered what God was up to? You had prayed, sought his guidance, read the Word and understood what he was asking of you. You took off only to run your nose into the glass door like the man in the Windex commercial. You recollect yourself, consider another direction and WHAM! Another glass door.

This has happened to me. Recently I received bumps on my head from running into those glass doors. Questions begin to pile up. “What did I miss?” “What is God asking me to do?” “Where is God taking me?” “God, please speak clearer.” And off I go – WHAM!

This last Saturday I was working pulling some dead plants out of our garden. Running my hand down into the dirt I stuck it on a thorn of some kind. A piece got caught in my thumb. The rest of the day I could feel the small bump there from the splinter. That night I took a needle and tried to remove it. It was buried deep and if felt like it was rubbing up against a nerve. I could not remove it. The next morning the thumb was somewhat swollen. I lanced it again and the splinter came out!

That morning we had a prayer service at our church. I again was seeking God and questioning Him. He spoke to me about my splinter. He has been digging around in my heart and spirit working at removing the “splinters” that were stuck there by life. There were splinters of guilt, anger, betrayal and other emotions that were wedged in my life. He was working to remove them, because these were leading me to run into the glass doors and not see the right way to go. There is some residual pain that remains from their removal but that will completely be gone soon. And so it is with our lives. God will work to remove the splinters in our souls so that we are not injured by them any more. It may hurt for a time, but the real healing will follow. We will not be bothered by them again.

What “splinters” is God working at removing from your life? Where are you running into your glass doors and feeling a little confused? God is there in the middle of it all.

Prayer Blessings

2008-03-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, desert like island. The two survivors, not knowing what else to do, agree that they had no other recourse but to pray to God.

However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.

The first thing the first man prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land, and he was able to eat its fruit. The other man's parcel of land remained barren.

After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the island, there was nothing.

Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes, more food. The next day, like magic, all of these were given to him. However, the second man still had nothing.

Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that his wife and he could leave the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked at his side of the island. The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island. He considered the other man unworthy to receive God's blessings, since none of his prayers had been answered.

As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from Heaven booming, "Why are you leaving your companion on the island?"

"My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them," the first man answered. "His prayers were all unanswered, and so he does not deserve anything."

"You are mistaken!" the voice rebuked him. "He had only one prayer, which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my blessings."

"Tell me," the first man asked the voice, "what did he pray for that I should owe him anything?"

"He prayed that all your prayers be answered."

For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but those of another praying for us.

Beneath the Cross of Jesus

2008-02-28T08:13:00.000-08:00

We are coming into the time of year where we consider again the death and resurrection of Jesus. One day I sat and focused on the cross we have in the middle of our church. I pondered what the cross really means to me as a follower of the One who died on it?

It means that I center my life on Jesus and the lifestyle of the cross.

I pictured myself standing beneath his Cross with the crowd of people who were there. I see the blood dripping from his wrists, his brow and his feet. Because I have drawn near the Cross this blood falls upon me. It washed over my head and body. It penetrates deep into me and flows over my mind, my heart and my spirit.

His blood cleanses me from all sin. My mind is cleansed. My heart is cleansed. My spirit is cleansed. This cleansing reveals the deep desires of my self that are still crammed into my life. The desires of the flesh infect me and call out to me. The power of his blood can cleanse me of my self and sever its power over me.

Then I reflected on the fact that I am called to take up my Cross. The Cross has a way of putting his life into my perspective. What does it mean to me to live the cross lifestyle of Jesus?

The Cross means that I submit to God and not me (Jesus prayed: “Let this cup pass from me, but not my will but Yours be done.”).

The Cross means that I trust totally IN God – not in me.

The Cross means that the past, present and future are placed within God’s hands.

The Cross means humiliation – Jesus was stripped naked.

The Cross means that I give up all I have – they took away Jesus’ clothes.

The Cross means my wrists and feet are pinned to the Cross by nails – I am going nowhere.

The Cross means I bleed for others – I give my life to God for Him to use to grow His Kingdom.

The Cross means that I forgive.

The Cross means everything of my life is placed in God’s hands

The Cross brings death and the Cross brings life – There is a resurrection!

The power for victory in our lives lies not in us, it lies in Jesus. We must be willing and place ourselves under the power of his blood as it flows from his Cross. When this happens, the power of the world, the flesh and the devil is broken. We begin to walk in the freedom and the victory that Jesus gives.

God is good!

2008-02-15T09:06:00.000-08:00

What do you really believe about God? We can quote the many Scriptures describing God. We can reflect back what our theology teaches us about God. But the question remains to be answered, “What do I really believe about God?” What we believe about God is seen in how we live our lives more than in just what we say.

Do I believe that God is really good? Perhaps we need to consider what we think is “good.” Who defines what is good? How do I determine what is good? Is something good because it brings me health or wealth? Is something good when I laugh and feel good about myself? Are things good because they happen just like I want them to? Are not these all very subjective definitions of good? So if I believe that God is good does that mean that I believe it because he does things MY way?

Have you ever had something good happen then later on discover it was really bad? Or vice versa, something came across bad but it turned out great? Does this mean that my definition of good and bad have changed?

I realize that this comes across as a very philosophical discussion. However, it does affect our understanding of God. If I believe that God is good then the definition of goodness cannot be what I define as good. The Scripture repeatedly tells us that God is good, so all that God does and allows must be good. Joseph was sold into slavery, lied about by his employer’s wife, sent to prison for 10 to 12 years. Yet he told his brothers: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Gen 50:19-20 NIV It appeared to be evil for many years, but it was for the good. The good of the entire known world of his day.

I believe in the real goodness of God, as God defines it. The journey of my life will take me though mountains and valleys. Now I know that wherever God leads me it is good! What people intend for evil, God intends for good. What the devil tries to work against me, God can work for good.

God may mysteriously lead us into his purposes at times, through darkness and obscurity. Knowing he is good means we can trust in his goodness and love regardless of what we face. Living out the goodness of our God means we walk this journey of life in safety even if it takes us into the shadows. We rest in the peace of God, rejecting anxiety because God is really good.

What if...

2008-02-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

Let’s play, “What if…”

What if there came a knock at your door one day and you opened it and found Jesus standing there? Would you invite him in? Would you wonder what magazine was lying on the table or what TV show was playing?

What if you invited Jesus into your home? He entered in and sat on your couch. As his eyes drifted over the interior, what would you be thinking? He is noticing how dirty my walls are. He is looking at those dust bunnies in the corner. I know I am not a very good house keeper. Would you begin to feel like a failure? Would you consider that you are not good enough to have Jesus in your house?

What if Jesus looked deeply into your eyes? You sense his piercing gaze travel straight to your heart. He knows your every thought, every desire, every failing, every act and every word. Would you cringe and try to hide your remorse?

Yet, what if Jesus said, “Yes, my child, I know what TV show was playing. I know your struggles with your thought life. I understand your anger at being rejected. I recognize that you want to be more handsome, more athletic and wealthier. I came to tell you that I love you. You are very special to me.”

What if Jesus walked across the room to where you sat, placed his hands on your head and hugged you to himself? In the depths of your heart, all the pain, the loss, the emptiness and struggle suddenly broke free. The tears flowed down your cheeks. You discover the freeing nearness of the gracious Lover of us all. You might just realize that he was not criticizing you. He just wanted to be near you and care for you.

What if you decided that Jesus really does love you like this, that he longs to be close to you and walk with you through the mountains and valleys of life? You would then change the channel on the TV. You could live out the truth that sets you free. You would be gracious to those who have injured you. You begin to enjoy the gift of each day. You celebrate the life that you are blessed with. You enjoy the journey Jesus has you on. Life becomes a wonderful adventure.

And what if ….Wait a minute….Is that a knock I hear at your door?

Lost and Found

2008-01-25T08:45:00.000-08:00

One day, before Christmas, I went shopping at a local Target store. I parked my vehicle and wandered into the store. After making my purchase, I exited the building and returned to where I had parked looking for my van. When I arrived at the spot, behold, it was gone! I stood looking around. Our van is not that hard to find. As I was scanning the parking lot, I noticed a gentleman sitting in a car watching me. I did not want him to think that I could not find my van, so I began to wander across the Target parking lot looking for it.

After walking completely from one side of the lot to the other and back again, I could not find my van. I was sure that someone had stolen it. Just as I was about to start the journey again I remembered … I drove our car. Glancing around, sure enough there it was right where I started looking in the beginning.

Have you ever lost something only to discover it “right in front of your nose?” Or have you ever just known that your appraisal of a certain situation was true only to discover much later it wasn’t?

One of the ways the brain works for handling problems is to create mental models. We all have a mental map of how we think or perceive things to be. It is the way we learn to make it through our world. However our mental maps can be flawed. What happens is we tend to see what we expect to see. You tend to see what makes sense to you at that moment. Yet that doesn’t make it true. Every mental map comes with its own underlying assumptions based on our experiences, memories, and emotions – all of this influences what we expect to see and what we plan to do about it. (Adapted from the book, Deep Survival)

In reality our mental maps can be surprisingly strong and the abilities of working memory surprisingly fragile. We all say that the mind plays tricks on us, but few really believe it. What we tend to do is to take all information and fit it to our own mental models. We shape the things we see, hear and feel to fit our mental maps of life. So we are in a sense trying to shape our environment to fit our view of realty. In the end we end up losing ourselves in an unreal world that we have shaped to fit our view life.

It is great to know that God comes to seek that which is lost. God works in our lives to lead us out of our unreal world into the true world he created. We must learn to see life with His eyes, hear with His ears and understand with His heart. As we do this, life takes on new meaning. The truth sets us free, that which was lost is found and we enter into the adventure of life as God created it to be lived.

Is God working to change your mental map?

Booming Beans

2008-01-19T08:18:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been humbled?

My family and I had gone camping. I enjoyed “roughing” it. The smell of the campfire, the fresh air and family time was relaxing. I was thrilling my boys about my tales of being a Boy Scout when we began to cook our afternoon meal. I told them how we used to cook our meals as scouts. That day we were fixing baked beans for lunch. I regaled with how we used to just place the can of beans in the fire and let them pressure cook. I was not a baked beans fan, but I really enjoyed those that we ate with the Boy Scouts.

As we prepared our meal, I decided I would cook our beans just like we used to in the scouts. We rolled the can into our roaring fire. I excitedly told my boys how great these beans were going to be. They would be steam and pressure-cooked. In my excitement, I forgot one little detail about cooking baked beans over the fire. We always poked a little hole in the top of the baked beans can before we rolled it into the fire.

KABOOM! Beans flew everywhere. The can was blown 15 feet into the air. The fire was blown completely out. And my son and I were covered with freshly steam cooked baked beans.

There was a couple strolling by our campsite just as the beans exploded. I certainly did not want them to think I had done anything foolish. Yet, do you know how difficult it is to look nonchalant with baked beans dripping out of your hair?

Why did this happen to me? I was proud of the fact that I had been a Boy Scout and knew some things about how to cook out in the open. I just knew that I could remember all that we had done to cook beans over an open fire. I wanted to impress my family with these facts. Pride, self sufficiency, the desire to succeed, and ignoring the truth has a way of making beans blow up in our faces.

God has ways of humbling us. He shows us that being self-sufficient and ignoring what he tells us will make the beans blow up in our faces.

Peter tells us: “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:5-7 NIV

How many lessons will it take before I, we all, learn to walk humbly before our God?

A Grace Disguised

2008-01-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

I am reading a book entitled: A Grace Disguised. It is written by a man who talks about his journey though terrible loss. He, his wife, their four children and his mother had taken a day trip to a Native American reservation in Idaho to attend a powwow. They experienced the beauty and the trials of the American Indian. At the end of the day, they piled back into their van to head home. Ten minutes into their return this father noticed an oncoming car driving extremely fast. At a curve, that car jumped its lane and collided head-on with that minivan. He lost his mother, his wife and his four year old daughter.

This book tells the story of his grief and the way he dealt with it, and discovering the power of God’s grace in it all. In one chapter he talks about feeling like his life was sailing into the sea of nothingness. He did not want to forget the memories of his past, but was grieved whenever he remembered. He writes: “These memories (of his wife, daughter and mother) were, and are, beautiful to me. I cling to them as a man clings to a plank of wood while lost in the middle of the sea. But they are also troubling because they are only that –memories. They are vestiges of a past I will never again possess. They involve people I will never see again. I cannot live with the memories, and I cannot live without the.” (Page 70)

He shares how sorrow never really leaves the heart of those who go through severe loss. “But this depth of sorrow is the sign of a healthy soul, not a sick soul. It does not have to be morbid and fatalistic. It is not something to escape but something to embrace. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’” (Pg 73)

He learns that sorrow can actually enlarge our souls where we can feel mourning and rejoicing at the same time. We can feel pain and discover healing. Sorrow forces us to face life and ask life questions. Though he was overcome with grief, he discover how focused he could become. Things that had previously meant so much to him, he discovers are not really that important. He learns again the joy of fatherhood, spending time with his children, enjoying God’s creation, and discovering peace in the midst of life.

The grief brought focus and clarity into his life like never before. He learned to enjoy the present moment. Enjoying the present moment “makes us aware of the wonder of life itself, gives us a keen awareness of the world around us and deepens our appreciation for each moment as it comes to us. Even in loss and grief we can embrace the miracle of each moment and receive the gifts of grace that come to us all the time.” (Page 77)

We all suffer loss and grief. We often question God, others and life itself. We will never fully understand the paths that we walk down. Yet, there is a purpose in our journey. There is a grace from God for each moment. Our calling is to listen for His voice, place our hand in His and trust in the power of the One we are walking with. God helps us to enjoy each moment!

A New Year's Influence

2007-12-31T12:01:00.000-08:00

Over the years of our lives there are many people who influence us. These are individuals who have crossed our paths and shown us the great gifts of God’s love, grace, peace and patience. There are many people I would thank for their loving influence on my life. If I was to make one resolution it would be that God would change my heart, fill it with Himself so that He will shine out of my life. Then those around me would not see Mike, but Jesus and be drawn to Him.

Brennan Manning tells of one such individual in his life.

“Dominique Voillaume has influenced my life as few people ever have. One New Year's morning in Saint-Remy, France, seven of us in the community of the Little Brothers of Jesus were seated at a table in an old stone house. We were living an uncloistered, contemplative life among the poor, with the days devoted to manual labor and the nights wrapped in silence and prayer.

The breakfast table talk grew animated when our discussion turned to our daily employment. A German brother remarked that our wages were substandard (sixty cents per hour). I commented that our employers never were seen in the parish church on Sunday morning. A French brother suggested that this showed hypocrisy A Spanish brother said they were rude and greedy The tone grew more caustic and the salvos got heavier. We concluded that our avaricious bosses were nasty self-centered cretins who slept all day Sunday and never once lifted their minds and hearts in thanksgiving to God.

Dominique sat at the end of the table. Throughout our harangue he never opened his mouth. I glanced down the table and saw tears rolling down his cheeks. "What's the matter, Dominique?" I asked. His voice was barely audible.

All he said was, "Its ne comprennent pas." They don't understand! How many times since that New Year's morning has that single sentence of his turned resentment of mine into compassion? How often have I reread the passion story of Jesus in the Gospels through the eyes of Dominique Voillaume, seen Jesus in the throes of his death agony beaten and bullied, scourged and spat upon, saying, "Father, forgive them, its ne comprennent pas."

The following year, Dominique, a lean, muscular six feet, two inches, always wearing a navy blue beret, learned at age fifty-four that he was dying of inoperable cancer. With the community's permission he moved to a poor neighborhood in Paris and took a job as night watchman at a factory. Returning home every morning at 8:oo A.M. he would go directly to a little park across the street from where he lived and sit down on a wooden bench. Hanging around the park were marginal people-drifters, winos, "has-beens," dirty old men who ogled the girls passing by.

Dominique never criticized, scolded, or reprimanded them. He laughed, told stories, shared his candy and accepted them just as they were. From living so long out of the inner sanctuary he gave off a peace, a serene sense of self-possession and a hospitality of heart that caused cynical young men and defeated old men to gravitate toward him like bacon toward eggs. His simple witness lay in accepting others as they were without questions and allowing them to make themselves at home in his heart.

Dominique was the most nonjudgmental person I have ever known. He loved with the heart of Jesus Christ. One day when the ragtag group of rejects asked him to talk about himself, Dominique gave them a thumbnail description of his life. Then he told them with quiet conviction that God loved them tenderly and stubbornly that Jesus had come for rejects and outcasts just like themselves.

His witness was credible because the Word was enfleshed on his bones. Later one old-timer said, "The dirty jokes, vulgar language, and leering at girls just stopped."

One morning Dominique failed to appear on his park bench. The men grew concerned. A few hours later, he was found dead on the floor of his cold-water flat. He died in the obscurity of a Parisian slum.

Dominique Voillaume never tried to impress anybody, never wondered if his life was useful or his witness meaningful. He never felt he had to do something great for God. He did keep a journal. It was found shortly after his death in the drawer of the nightstand by his bed. His last entry is one of the most astonishing things I have ever read: ‘All that is not the love of God has no meaning for me. I can truthfully say that I have no interest in anything but the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. If God wants it to, my life will be useful through my word and witness. If he wants it to, my life will bear fruit through my prayers and sacrifices. But the usefulness of my life is his concern, not mine. It would be indecent of me to worry about that.’

In Dominique Voillaume I saw the reality of a life lived entirely for God and for others. After an all-night prayer vigil by his friends, he was buried in an unadorned pine box in the backyard of the Little Brothers' house in Saint-Remy. A simple wooden cross over his grave with the inscription: ‘Dominique Voillaume, a witness to Jesus Christ" said it all. More than seven thousand people gathered from all over Europe to attend his funeral.’"

Brennan Manning in the Signature of Jesus, pages97-99

UnChristian

2007-12-17T11:19:00.000-08:00

I am currently reading a book entitled, UnChristian. It is a book put out by the Barna Institute about why a vast majority of those between the ages of 18 and 35 see Christianity in such a negative light and how can we as Christians connect with them.

It would appear from this research that Christians have become known for what they oppose rather than what they stand for. We are seen as being anti-homosexual, judgmental and hypocritical. Christians are seen as being arrogant and filled with self-importance. Christians are seen as really being uncaring about the individual. At the best they feel like they are only seen as a possible convert. The majority of this generation see Christianity as being old fashioned, too involved in politics, out of touch with reality, insensitive toward others, boring and confusing. (From the book UnChristian) These feelings toward Christians come from what this age group has encountered in their contacts with Christians.

How do we engage this culture? We must learn to see everyone as an individual with individual needs, struggles and desires. We need to learn to listen. We listen to their story without being quick with answers or judgmental. We must learn to dialogue with them and respect their opinions and feelings. We need to become involved in their lives. We GO into the world and not just SIT in our pews. We live out the grace that our Lord has given us. We do not water down nor candy coat the truths of Jesus, yet we discern how, when and where the Spirit wants us to share those truths.

I think this is an important area that we need to consider. There are 24 million individuals between the ages of 18 and 35. These are people who Jesus loves and cares about. Yet, only about 1 million of them are involved in a personal walk with Jesus. What is He calling us to do and be?

Where's Jesus?

2007-12-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

I remember reading about a nursing student who was taking her final exam for becoming a nurse. One of the questions on her final exam was, “What is the name of the woman who cleans the floors in this building where you have taken your classes?” The lady was upset by the question. It seemed to have nothing to do with her chosen profession. She went up to her professor and asked, “Is this a real question?”

“Oh yes,” He replied. “You will meet many people in your profession. People with real needs and who serve selflessly. You need to learn to call them by name, for they are important too.”

Jesus said this in Mathew 25:40, “What you have done unto the least of these you have done unto me.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes: “With that we are faced with the shocking reality: Jesus stand at the door and knocks, in complete reality. He asks you for help in the form of a beggar, in the form of a ruined human in torn clothing. He confronts you in every person that you meet. Christ walks on the earth as your neighbor as long as there are people…Christ stand at the door. He lives in the form of the person in our midst. Will you keep the door locked or open it?” (From: A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer; page 382)

Christmas is a time when we are confronted with the reality of Jesus being here in our midst. That is what Immanuel means: “God with us.” Those who look for Jesus want to see him in the miraculous and the supernatural. Too often they miss him in the plain and ordinary. For that is where he appears the most. In Hebrews 13:2 we are told: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” NIV

Jesus is there in that harried and worried single mother who cuts you off on her way home to see her children after a hard day at work. Jesus is there in that co-worker who has an attitude that grates on your nerves. Jesus is there in that man who stands on the corner with the sign that reads: “Will work for food.” Jesus is there in that traffic snarl that will make you and hour and a half late for work.

A pastor writes: “On an icy winter night two weeks before Christmas, I was at O’Hare Airport. All flights had been canceled due to fog and freezing rain. The airport terminal was in bedlam. Thousands of people were clustered at ticket counters demanding a projected departure time, others were wrapped in stoic silence. Children were crying, the public address system was blaring and the defeated were bellying up to the bar. I was tense and apprehensive. I had to get to Texas to start a retreat the next day. How can the Gospel be preached in Dallas if the weather won’t shape up in Chicago?

Across from the plastic chair I had slumped in was a middle-aged black woman with a child cradled in her arms. She was laughing. The world was collapsing, thousands were stranded, O’Hare was a shrieking snake pit and she was laughing! Irritated but intrigued, I started watching her. She was rubbing her fingers across the child’s lips, and he was blowing mightily: ‘Brhh, Brhh, Brhh.”

She looked up and saw me staring. ‘Ma’am,’ I said, ‘every other person here tonight is rattled and miserable. Would you mind telling me why you’re so happy?’

‘Sho’,’ she said, ‘Christmas is coming and dat baby Jesus—he make me laugh.’” (Brannan Manning, Lion and Lamb, pages 156-157)

I'm Thankful for

2007-11-12T11:54:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is just a week away. As I consider all the things I should be thankful for, I am often drawn to some thoughts that were written by a lady who considered her life and all the things she was grateful for. I read it almost every Thanksgiving. It reminds me of the all my blessings that come disguised as “bumps in the road” of life. Here it is:

I'm thankful for all of the things we are all thankful for -family and home and job and country and its freedoms, food and clothing and material blessings, salvation and the church and the fellowship of believers.

But the things I'm especially thankful for are the lessons I've learned from life.

I'm thankful I was born and reared in poverty, for I learned to live simply and to appreciate what I have.

I'm thankful for my infirmities, because they taught me to better enjoy my health.

I'm thankful for fire and flood, because in losing my possessions I learned to "lay up treasures in heaven" and to share what I have as others have shared with me.

I'm thankful for my goings astray, for they taught me to trade my self-righteousness for understanding and compassion.

I'm thankful for my miscarriages, for they taught me how special my children are.

I'm thankful for a failed marriage, because I learned to fully appreciate a strong and loving and caring marriage.

I'm thankful for my losses, because they taught me which gains are really important.

I'm thankful for my failures that taught me humility and my successes that gave me the will to try again.

I'm thankful for criticisms and reprimands and the truth spoken in love, for these have keep me on the straight path.

I'm thankful for hate and indifference, for I've learned to love and accept love.

I'm thankful for friends who never gave up on me, for they are more precious than gold and taught me about real friendship.

I'm thankful for the roads I've traveled, however muddy and potholed, for they have led me to the foot of the Cross. Through the lessons I've learned and by the grace of God they shall lead me day by day closer to the One who loves and forgives and draws all men unto himself.

Spiritual control

2007-11-05T12:45:00.000-08:00

“We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God…” (1 Corinthians 2:12) The question is not, “Do you have the Spirit?” But, “Does the Spirit have you?” It is a question of control. What does it mean if the Holy Spirit is in control?

It means that you are growing spiritually and are not stagnant. Stagnant water stinks and brings death to those who drink it. Growth brings life and health to you and those around you.
If God’s Spirit is in control you are beyond the world’s opinions. It no longer matters what people think of you, it only matters what God thinks of you. You have a spiritual backbone. You are bold, courageous and will share your faith with anyone.

When the Spirit is in control you realize that when you are weak you are strong. You must draw not from your own power, wisdom and strength. You must draw from God’s. His power, wisdom and strength is much greater than yours and so you are much better off.

When the Spirit is in control and life brings storms into your life you are peaceful and calm. Why is this so? When the wind blows across the ocean, it creates huge waves. They wash away the sand and sculpt the beach. Yet, just a few feet below the surface, all is calm. The storm is the wind of The Holy Spirit blowing across our lives. If we are only one inch deep, our entire live is in turmoil. Yet, if we are extremely deep, then most of our life is calm.

The waves created by God wash the sand and dirt out of our lives. The wind driven waves display God’s power and make it difficult to walk against God.

When the Spirit is in control we are not anxious about this. We are refreshed by the cleansing of the Spirit driven waves that wash away the stains of life. If we should turn against the tide of God’s Spirit we immediately notice the change in pressure against us and quickly turn back in God’s direction. Just some thoughts about the Spirit controlled life.

CLAWS

2007-10-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

There was a pastor who had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc. The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and drove away so that the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten. He did all this, checking his progress in the car frequently, then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten.

But as he moved a little further forward....the rope broke. The tree went "boing!" and the kitten instantly sailed through the air-out of sight. The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a little kitten. No. Nobody had seen a stray kitten. So he prayed, "Lord, I just commit this kitten to Your keeping," and went on about his business.

A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. Now this woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, “Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?"

She replied, “You won't believe this," and told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the mom finally told her little girl, "Well, if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it." She told the pastor, "I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws spread out, and landed right in front of her."

The Journey of WOW

2007-10-22T11:27:00.001-07:00

I remember reading about many of the saints of old and seeing the depths of their walk with God. I wondered what it would take to develop that kind of walk with God today. The only thing I knew to do was to pray about it. So I added to my daily prayers, “Lord, I want to know you in a deeper and richer way.”

I wondered what would happen. I just knew that after I had prayed that prayer for a while, the miracle would happen and God would supernaturally pour out his Spirit upon me and I would be WOWED! I knew that there would be a new fire in my heart and a greater power in my life.

Day passed into day. Week passed into week. Before I realized it, a year had gone by and nothing had happened. Perhaps I was not praying the prayer right. Maybe there was something more I needed to do. Fasting! Yes, that was what I needed to add to this prayer. I began to fast weekly, asking God for a deeper and richer walk with him.

Time passed and still no miracle, no great moment of lightning and godly power. What was it going to take? I was sincere. I was committed. Was there something more that I needed to do?

It so happened that I was playing for our church basketball team. One game as I was watching from the sidelines the referee made a wrong call against our team. That’s all right, the referee is only human. He will make mistakes. Then he made another wrong call against us. No problem. I was then sent into the game. A few moments later, he made a bad call against me. Was that my temperature going up? Then it happened again. I could feel my temper rising. I knew that I needed to be removed from the game before I said something… well…ungodly.

The next day as I entered my prayer time, I thought back to the game. I was sure that I had matured in my walk with the Lord where a bad call in a game that was played for fun would not affect me. What was going on?

“Lord,” I prayed, “I don’t understand. I was certain that this would not happen to me. What is going on?”

Then he spoke in that still, small voice, “You want to know me in a deeper and richer way. This is the way that will happen.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“Mike, there is so much of you in you that there is not much more room for me. There are things you need to see about yourself. There is so much of that self you must die to, let go of.”

It occurred to me that I wanted to know God in a deeper and richer way for selfish reasons. I was so focused on me and what I wanted that I was missing what God was trying to say and do. This time of prayer and fasting was about ME not about God. With this awakening, God could begin to work in my heart and spirit to bring about the changes that would mature me, mold me into the image of the One I claimed to be following—Jesus.

Our journey in this life is about God working in our lives removing the deep seated self focus that is there. It is very difficult to see God when we only look at ourselves. How often are we wondering what God is doing, or where is God at? Is it because we are so wrapped up in us that we miss him? Then when God does answer our prayer, it is not what we expected, not what we wanted. If we are not careful anger, frustration and bitterness can arise in us rather than thankfulness and wonder for the Creator of all.

This revelation about me opened new horizons in my relationship with God. I began to see God in a deeper and richer way. The more I saw of God the less I understood him. The more I glimpsed of his character and love, the less I could grasp him. God is higher and greater than anyone can ever understand. We are not called to understand him. We are called to believe in him, trust him, let him change us and follow where he leads. Faith is not about understanding. Faith is about putting our hands into God’s and letting him walk us through the journey of our lives, knowing that whatever mountain we climb or valley we walk, he is there with us providing just what we need right when we need it.

The power of the deeper richer walk comes as we express our trust in God through the journey of life.

For the love Jesus?

2007-10-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

We are richly blessed living in this country. We have many freedoms that we take for granted. Come with me a half a world away to a country in Asia. Listen to the story of a sister who is in bondage simply because of her faith in Jesus.

Azra Bibi, 20, was born in the Malik Saleem brick kiln. Her family, the only Christians in this Muslim community, spent each day doing back-breaking labor making hundreds of bricks.

"I am not educated. I liked to watch the other children going to school. I wanted to be a teacher of the Word of God, but my mother only earned $l.I4 per day. My father died and we lived hand to mouth. One day I decided to help my mother. I asked her, 'Mom, can you teach me how to make a brick?' I was seven years old when I made my first brick. Between the two of us, we made 1,000 bricks a day. On Fridays my mother and I used to go to the market to buy our daily household items. I always liked to shop. Sometimes I could buy clips for my hair.

"The kiln owner wouldn't allow us to go to church so my mother always told the owner, ‘We are going to see our relatives,' or 'We are going to the market.' I liked to see the church programs on Christmas day, especially the Christmas songs and plays. I also liked to hear about the miracles of Jesus Christ. Although we would not sneak to church every Sunday, every morning and in the evening my mother and I would pray. We sang worship songs from cassettes. One song went like this, 'I am weak in my heart; Jesus, encourage me and strengthen me.’

"The neighbors never liked it when we played the worship songs and many times tried to stop us. They tried to offer us many things, trying to convert us to Islam. Mother strongly refused all their offers, telling them, 'I have Jesus in my heart. There is no need for any thing else.' My mother had only one friend, Kershed Bibi, who was a Muslim. She had a gentle spirit and she always encouraged us.

"One day my mother asked me, 'Azra, please get some flour and let's go make some chapatti [bread].' We went outside to the community oven and met Mai Jana, an old Muslim lady who worked at this oven. When she saw us, she became very aggressive and said, 'You Christian dogs, rake your flour and get away from here. Your prophet was a Jewish dog.' My mother became very angry and replied, 'You can call me a Christian dog but never ever call our prophet these kinds of words.'

"Mai Jana stood up and started beating my mother. Other ladies joined in. They beat my mother very badly until she started bleeding. They also beat me. We both were wearing a small cross which the Muslim ladies snatched from our necks. Some Muslim men showed up and took us to the office of Malik Saleem Khokhar, the brick kiln owner. He was furious. He verbally abused us and locked us in a room.

"My mother and I were alone in that room, hugging each other and crying out, 'Oh God, why has this happened?' My mother cried, 'Oh God, Jesus is your Son. I love Him.' I prayed, 'Oh Jesus, I couldn't stand hearing what that lady was saying against You. Please help us and protect us.'

"It was about 10 p.m. when the brick kiln owner called for my mother. His assistant, Muhammad Akram, took her away. I was alone in the room, praying to the Lord, 'You are my everything. I don't have a father, brother or sister. Please protect us.'

"Mother never came back. I cried and prayed the whole night. For 10 days I was locked in that room. My mother's friend, Kershed Bibi, was allowed to give me food. Then she told me horrible news. She said, 'You are like my daughter. I don't know how to tell you this. Your mother is not in this
world now Azra don't cry, but pray to your God.'

"I was shocked and started crying as she told me what happened. 'The night Muhammad Akram took your mother to the kiln owner, they violated her and then chopped her body to pieces. They burned her body in the kiln.' I wept and I prayed. I was alone in this world."
\
"Two days later, Muhammad Akram, one of the men who tortured and killed my mother, took me to another place. He locked me in a room of a big home. There was an armed security guard present.

"Muhammad Akram is a 7O-year-old man. He came into my room and made advances towards me. I cried. I joined my hands in prayer in front of him and begged him to stop, but he violated me. After he left I prayed, 'Oh Lord, it is good if You call me home; at least I will see You. I will stay with You and rest in peace. Jesus, I want to come to You. Please call me home.' I wanted to die.

"Muhammad Akram often came into my room. He kept trying to convert me to Islam. I told him, 'My God is an alive God. How can I leave the alive God and accept your faith?' He decided to force me to marry him. He and the kiln owner planned my wedding day for Friday, May' 26, 2006."

"I prayed day and night asking my Jesus, 'Please send me an angel. Who can release me from this bondage?' After seven months, God answered my prayers. I heard someone had come and was asking for me. Muhammad Akram was afraid to lose me as his wife. He said, 'Tell the people you are Muslim now and you don't want to go with them.' The kiln owner called me into his office. He had some people with him, including the pastor. They seemed like very powerful people. After a big conversation, the owner agreed to release me if they paid my debt amount, which was $1,100 (U.S.).

"The next day, May 26, the day my marriage was supposed to take place, the pastor came with the money. They paid the money to the kiln owner, but Muhammad Akram was very angry. He beat and injured the pastor, but
I was still set free.

"Wow, what a moment! I cried before my Lord, 'I am released! I am free! I can go where I want to go. Oh Jesus, I thank You. Oh my beautiful Lord, You heard my prayers. I also wept at that time, because I missed my mother.

"One of the Christian brothers brought me to his home. His wife was very happy to see me. She is just like a mother. God provided me with a father, mother, brothers and sisters. This brother told me about the people who paid
my debt. I was anxious to see them.

"The next day I met some of those who helped me, a man and two young girls. I hugged them and cried. They cried with me. The next morning I went to their house. Everybody warmly welcomed me. They put me in a room
I where I slept. There was no fear, no worries. I was free.

"After lunch the man took me to the market. The girls helped me pick out clothes, shoes, a hag, towel, soap, toothpaste and many things which I needed. Although I have no brother or sisters, God has provided me with a great family. I am praying in my heart for all these people who helped me, saved me and protected me. May God bless them and encourage them to do more and more for His Kingdom."

Distant Disciples

2007-10-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

We read in Luke 22:54”…Peter followed at a distance.” The pressure had been put on Peter. Jesus was arrested and taken to the Supreme Court of the land. I’m sure he wondered if he would be next. It was at that point he began to “follow at a distance.” His plans were failing. He had already sacrificed much to follow this man for Galilee. Perhaps he had decided he would not sacrifice more. So he “followed from a distance.”

What causes us to follow Jesus from a distance? Why are we so quick to let Jesus go on ahead and we will wait with all the others here? I cannot find victory over life when I follow at a distance.

How often have we wanted to live successfully rather than victoriously? We want others to think of us as being successful. We believe if we are a success then others will like us and we are now somebody. When we live this way we follow Jesus at a distance.

God calls us to be victorious rather than successful. We will face many opportunities to follow Jesus from a distance. We will struggle with people, events and ourselves. Victorious people seek God in the midst of all of life. Their heartaches, pains and problems become places to draw nearer to God and discover His strength, grace and love. Victorious people do not seek deliverance from their problems as much as they seek discovery. They want to discover more of God. Then they discover the power of his presence. They discover that God was hiding in the midst of the situation. So they discover grace of his presence.

Distance or discovery, which will it be? When have I felt distance between God and myself? What was the reason for it? If there is distance between God and myself, guess who moved?

A Theist Loving

2007-09-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

Last week a friend of mine came into my office and gave me a copy of a newspaper touting the growth of atheism in our country and world. 20 millions Americans describe themselves as atheist or agnostic. This represents about 7.5% of our population.

Reading the articles (there were two) I realize that many of these people are just reacting to negative encounters with those who believe. Many in Europe are reacting to the Muslims who are destroying life in the name of their faith. Others are disturbed over the violence done by Christians to other Christians.

It is easy for those of us who believe to just get angry with them and tell them to “take a long hike up a short pier.” Why should we consider the 7.5% who do not believe? For those of us who are followers of Jesus the answer is simply, “Because Jesus died for them also.”

I wonder how these unbelievers would react to meeting a genuine Christian who lives out the character of Jesus. He is loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, gentle, and self-controlled (Galatians 5:22) This Christian listens with an open heart to the words, pain and questions of the unbeliever. He responds to our atheist friend not with platitudes and empty clichés but with a compassionate heart.

Befriending our atheist acquaintances and showing them the love, grace and joy of our Lord may just be what some of them are watching for. Human nature being what it is will deny or ignore that which has hurt or attacked it.

Love them, pray for them and watch for opportunities to display the character of the One we are following in front of them, we might just discover a new friend in the midst of his unbelief. The greatest thing our Lord has given us to help our wounded world is His love. Many can fight against our words. Many will respond to our anger with anger. But few are they who know how to handle the gracious love of our Savior!

What did I say I meant?

2007-09-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

What does it mean to communicate? Have you ever noticed that there are times that two people are on different wavelengths? We are saying words but the meaning is nowhere to be found.

Roger asked a woman named Elaine out to a movie. She accepted and they had a pretty good time. They continue to see each other regularly. One evening while they are driving home, a thought occurs to Elaine. Elaine says to Roger, "Do you realize we've been seeing each other for exactly six months?"

Silence fills the car and to Elaine it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself, "Gee, I wonder if that bothers him that I said that? Maybe he feels confined by' our relationship. Maybe he thinks I'm trying to push him into some type of obligation." Roger is thinking, "Wow! Six months!"
Elaine continues thinking to herself, "Well, I'm not sure I want this kind of relationship either! Are we heading toward marriage.., toward children.., toward a lifetime together'? Am I ready for that kind of commitment? Do I even know this person'?

And Roger is thinking, "So that means February... that's when we started going out. That's right after I had the car at the dealers, which means.., let me check the odometer... whoa! I'm way overdue for an oil change!"
Elaine is thinking, "He's upset. I can see it in his face. Maybe I'm reading this completely wrong. Maybe he wants more from our relationship: more intimacy, more commitment. Maybe he senses my reservations... Yes, that's it; he's afraid of being rejected."

Roger is thinking, ''I'm going to have them look at the transmission again. I don't care what those morons say, it's still not shifting right.., and they better not try to tell me it's just the cold weather this time! It's 87 degrees outside and this thing is shifting like a garbage truck and I paid those incompetent thieves $600.!"

Elaine is thinking, "He's angry and I don't blame him. I'd be angry too. I feel so guilty putting him through this, but I can't help it. I just can't help the way I feel. I'm just not sure. Roger is thinking, "They'll probably say it's only a 90-day warranty... that's what they'll say!" Elaine is thinking, "Maybe I'm too idealistic, waiting on a knight to come riding on his white horse. I'm sitting next to a perfectly good person, who is in pain because of my self-centered, school-girl fantasy." Roger is thinking, "Warranty... I'll give them a warranty!"

"Roger", Elaine says aloud. "What?"', asks Roger. "I'm such a fool!" Elaine says, sobbing. "I know there is no knight and no horse!" "No horse?" Roger says. "You think I'm a fool, don't you?" Elaine asks. "Oh, no." Roger says.
"Oh, it's just that I need some time, Roger" Elaine cries.

There is then about a 15 second pause, while Roger tries to come up with a safe response. "Yes" he finally says. Elaine, deeply moved, touches Roger's hand. "Oh, Roger, do you really' feel that way?" "What way?" asks Roger. "That way... about time" is Elaine's reply. "Oh," says Roger, "yes... yes."

Elaine gazes deeply into Roger's eyes, causing him to be very nervous about what she may say next... especially if' it's about a horse! At last Elaine says, "Thank you, Roger." "Oh, thank you!" Roger responds.

Roger then takes Elaine home and she lies on her bed, a conflicted soul, weeping until dawn. Whereas Roger gets back to his place, opens a bag of chips, turns on the TV and immediately gets involved in a rerun of F-Troop. A tiny voice tells him, in his mind, something really major was going on back in the car, but he feels it's best not to really think about it.

The next day, Elaine calls her closest friend and they talk for six straight hours, going into complete detail about her conversation with Roger, analyzing everything she said and everything he said. They continue to discuss the subject for weeks, never reaching any definite conclusions, but never really getting bored either.

Just for Today

2007-08-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Perhaps a better question is, “When haven’t you felt overwhelmed?” Life can seem like a hurricane that comes crashing into our lives with a force that threatens to destroy us. We are besieged with demands on our time, the stress of our job, the needs of our family, and the desire to succeed. We come to the end of a week and we realize that we have not really had time to celebrate each day that the Lord gave us.

Jesus tells us: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34 NIV)

We must learn to celebrate TODAY!

Just for today:
I will lift my eyes toward Him and seek to tell Him of my love for Him.

Just for today:
I will lay my questions down at His feet and leave them there.

Just for today:
I will express my praise for Him. I will rejoice in who He is!

Just for today:
I will listen for His still small voice. His Spirit will speak: “This is the way, walk in it.”

Just for today:
I will place tomorrow in His hands and refuse to worry. Then when tomorrow comes, behold, it is another TODAY!

The Right Now Journey

2007-08-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Life is a journey. We travel down the road that God sets before us. As we follow the path we face daily choices. Many are mundane. The most important choice we make is our decision to rejoice in Jesus in every moment. “One of those days” I penned the following:

Right now is the moment to enjoy life and enjoy God. This minute I can celebrate the wonder of the God who knows me, loves me and accepts me.

The right now is filled with His presence. This very minute overflows with His blessing. In faith I can reach up to Him with both hands and grasp hands-full of His life.

All along God seeks to pour His joyous life into mine. Yet, He can’t fill a life that is full of other stuff. God in His love has worked emptying my life, my hands of all I was hanging onto. Gently, caringly, and compassionately He has slowly pried my fingers loose. I have felt the pain of the loss as my stuff fell into God’s hands.

Now, in this minute, God speaks, “My child, lift your hands, lift your heart and lift your life up to me and I will fill them.” I can discover the freedom of an empty heart that is filling up with His blessings.

I experience the peace of His presence, the joy of Jesus, the hope of Heaven, the grace of God, the wealth of my weaknesses, the strength of my Savior, the blessings of belief and the love of His life in me—

Right now, in this very moment.

For the Love of a Woman

2007-08-08T12:45:00.000-07:00

In 1904 a railroad camp of civil engineers was set up near Knoxville, Tennessee. The L & N campsite had tents for the men, a warm camp-fire, a good cook and the most modern surveying equipment available. In fact, working as a young civil engineer for the railroad at the turn of the century presented only one real drawback: a severe shortage of eligible young women.

Benjamin Murrell was one such engineer. A tall, reticent man with a quiet sense of humor and a great sensitivity for people, Ben enjoyed the nomadic railroad life. His mother had died when he was only thirteen, and this early loss caused him to become a loner.

Like all the other men, Ben sometimes longed for the companionship of a young woman, but he kept his thoughts between himself and God. On one particularly memorable spring day, a marvelous piece of information was passed around the camp: The boss's sister-in-law was coming to visit! The men knew only three things about her: She was nineteen years old, she was single and she was pretty By mid-afternoon the men could talk of little else. Her parents were sending her to escape the yellow fever that was invading the Deep South and she'd be there in only three days.

Someone found a tintype of her, and the photograph was passed around with great seriousness and grunts of approval. Ben watched the preoccupation of his friends with a smirk. He teased them for their silliness over a girl they'd never even met. "Just look at her, Ben. Take one look and then tell us you're not interested," one of the men retorted. But Ben only shook his head and walked away chuckling.

The next two days found it difficult for the men of the L & N engineering camp to concentrate. The train would be there early Saturday morning and they discussed their plan in great detail. Freshly bathed, twenty heads of hair carefully greased and slicked back, they would all be there to meet that train and give the young woman a railroad welcome she wouldn't soon forget. She'd scan the crowd, choose the most handsome of the lot and have an instant beau. Let the best man win, they decided. And each was determined to be that man.

The men were too preoccupied to see Ben's face as he beheld the picture of Virginia Grace for the first time. They didn't notice the way he cradled the photograph in his big hands like a lost treasure, or that he gazed at it for a long, long time. They missed the expression on his face as he looked first at the features of the delicate beauty, then at the camp full of men he suddenly perceived to be his rivals. And they didn't see Ben go into his tent, pick up a backpack and leave camp as the sun glowed red and sank beyond a distant mountain.

Early the next morning, the men of the L & N railroad camp gathered at the train station. Virginia's family, who had come to pick her up, rolled their eyes and tried unsuccessfully not to laugh. Faces were raw from unaccustomed shaves, and the combination of men's cheap colognes was almost obnoxious. Several of the men had even stopped to pick bouquets of wildflowers along the way.

At long last the whistle was heard and the eagerly awaited train pulled into the station. When the petite, vivacious little darling of the k & N camp stepped onto the platform, a collective sigh escaped her would-be suitors. She was even prettier than the tintype depicted. Then every man's heart sank in collective despair. For there, holding her arm in a proprietary manner and grinning from ear to ear, was Benjamin Murrell. And from the way she tilted her little head to smile up into his face, they knew their efforts were in vain.
"How," his friends demanded of Ben later, "did you do that?"

"Well," he said, "I knew I didn't have a chance with all you scoundrels around. I'd have to get to her first if I wanted her attention, so I walked down to the previous station and met the train. I introduced myself as a member of the welcoming committee from her new home."

"But the nearest station is seventeen miles away!" someone blurted incredulously "You walked seventeen miles to meet her train? That would take all night?"

"That it did," he affirmed.

Benjamin Murrell courted Virginia Grace, and in due time they were married. They raised five children and buried one, a twelve-year-old son. They worked together on their relationship by being faithful to one another, treating each other with consideration and respect, having a sense of humor, bringing up their children in the knowledge of love of the Lord, and loving one another through some very difficult circumstances.

I am one of Benjamin and Virginia's great-grandchildren. He died when I was a baby, unfortunately, so I have no memory of him. NaNa (Virginia) died when I was twelve and she was eighty-five. When I knew her she was a shriveled old woman who needed assistance to get around with a walker and whose back was hunched over from osteoporosis. Her aching joints were swollen with arthritis and her eyesight was hindered by the onset of glaucoma. At times, though, those clouded eyes would sparkle and dance with the vivaciousness of the girl my great-grandfather knew. They danced especially when she told her favorite story It was the story of how she was so pretty that once, on the basis of a tintype, an entire camp turned out to meet the train and vie for her attention. It was the story of how one man, who had a vision of her, walked seventeen miles, all night long, for a chance to meet the woman of his dreams and claim her for his wife.
From Stories for a Man’s Heart; page 53 ff

It's Revealing!

2007-07-19T16:55:00.000-07:00

We struggle with so many things in this life, but the one thing we struggle the most with is US. Many of the problems of life would be easier if WE did not focus so much on what WE want, need and desire.

There are many things that our Lord uses to help us keep ourselves under His control. He will use people that we might have a personality conflict with to reveal the depths of SELF that are still in us. We keep butting heads with them or pray that God will straighten them out when all the time He wants to straighten US out.

If Jesus lives in me, if I am developing His character in me and if I allow Him to mold me then I will be constantly bumping into ME. I get in Jesus’ way when He is growing and stretching me. I discover this when I clash with another person. I discover this when I allow life to direct me. These clashes, bumps and collisions are God’s way of revealing me to me. My reaction to these things reveals the depth of my walk with the Lord.

The weakest moments of my life drive me to God. It is here I discover His strength. It is in the height of the moment I can choose to walk in the depths of His grace. It is in the moments that I feel the most empty that He can fill me the fullest.

Strength in weakness, life in death, joy in struggle – the legacy of allowing God to use our clashes to grow us. It is worth it!

The STRENGTH of pain

2007-07-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

It appears to me that, at times, God walks us through what St. John of the Cross calls The Dark Night of the Soul. This is a time when God seems distant, our prayers empty and our lives barren. We might feel despair, discouraged and depressed.

Henri Nouwen writes: “There is a real pain in your heart, a pain that belongs to you. You know now that you cannot avoid, ignore or repress it. It is this pain that reveals to you how you are called to live. You are living in solidarity with the broken human race. You must distinguish carefully between your pain and the pains that have attached themselves to you…When you feel rejected, when you think of yourself as a failure and a misfit, you must be careful not to let these feelings and thoughts pierce your heart.” (The Inner Voice of Love; page 97)

Yet, struggling with the pain and heartache may be the exact place God wants us to be. Why? During this time when our senses are darkened and our desires thwarted God is preparing supernaturally illumine our spirits. All of our senses might feel empty and void, like there is a thick, dark cloud over them. We feel afflicted and far from God. Yet, the greater the darkness we journey through, the more strength and security we will discover in God.

Perhaps this is the lesson Paul learned as he wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." NIV

When I realized how weak I was, then I was on the road to gaining God’s strength.

Dying to live; Living to die

2007-06-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

What is life really all about? We hear and read that it is about making more money, having more “toys”, being seen as a success in the eyes of your peers, being part of the “in” group, etc. We see many who have “achieved” some of these, yet they are still floundering in life. What if life is really about dying so that you can live and living so you will never die?

It is hard to remember that life is not about success, acceptance or stuff. We need to learn to let go of all the things we think we really need. We often get upset, angry or depressed when God fails to answer our prayers our way and give us what we want.

Over and over God speaks to us telling us that we can let go, release these things that have power over us and truly find life in Him. Death is the release of me so that the life of Jesus is free to run through all my life.

Living in this death means we no longer need to be first, successful, rich or valued. We are living in Jesus. We only need to be gracious, loving, giving, compassionate, caring, joyous and peaceful. Living in this way makes us more alive than ever before. We are alive to the moving of our Lord’s Spirit. We are live to how the Lord might work through us to serve others. We are living above the draw of this world and my flesh.

We are Alive!

The Blood of the Heart

2007-06-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

YLife hands us many wounds, hurts and pains that land in our hearts. Sometimes it seems as if our hearts have been cracked or broken. The pain can get so bad that we literally hurt physically. Have you ever been there?

YWhen life dishes out these events that damage our hearts, these events leave blotches and their imprints on us. Our hearts get cluttered by these things. As time passes, these blotches can increase in number and size. It can get to the point where we can no longer recognize our hearts and what should be in them. If we do not deal with them, our identity gets warped around these pains and heartaches of life. We are no longer able to love as we should, enjoy life as God intended it and love others.

YHow do we resolve these heart issues? We must first begin to tear down the walls that we have built around our hearts to keep us safe from any other hurts. The walls not only keep other hurts out, they also keep us from freeing ourselves from the clutter that is in our heart.

YWe read in the Scripture: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 NIV We know that Jesus’ blood cleanses us from sin and opens the door to heaven. Yet, we still live in our own little hell here made up of the hurts others have caused us. We are faced with a dilemma. We must open our hearts to Jesus and allow his blood to penetrate to the depths of our being and truly cleanse us from ALL sin, even the sins others have done to us.

YOpening our hearts to Jesus is scary. We are exposing our hearts to God and embracing the hurt so that He can heal it. We are admitting that, Yes this happened, but I no longer need to hide behind it. It has shaped my life too long. Now I am opening all of my interior life to Jesus so that He can begin the cleansing process and bring healing to my life. We are accepting the hurts and allowing God to use them to mold us into the person he knows we can be.

YWe are making a choice to give the hurt to God, letting Jesus free us from it, and letting the pain shape us into a godly person. It moves us into a place of grace, forgiveness and mercy. It is allowing the heart of Jesus to live out of my heart now. This is freeing. I am free from the events affects upon my life. The emotions associated with them slowly begin to fade away.

Y When I remember them, I begin to see the good things that God is bringing out of them. We can do what the Apostle Paul did: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Phil 3:13-14 NIV

Y Our hearts and lives are no longer limited in their ability to love, enjoy life, express our faith and grow in our relationships. We are no longer critical, angry, defeated and blaming of others. The blotches on our hearts have been healed in the power of the blood of Jesus.

Consider the END

2007-06-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

“Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” (Psalm 39:4) NIV

How many of us live only for the present, the now? Tomorrow does come. We know that Jesus told us to worry about tomorrow, yet the Scripture does tell us to consider the end.

Why do we frown on considering the end of our lives? Perhaps it is due to the fact that we do not want to face the idea that we are mortal. We become too busy satisfying our senses. We must feel, express, be happy and go for the gusto. Living this way causes us to not have to stop and consider our life’s end.

In the book, Tuesdays with Morrie, we read this discussion between the author and Morrie:

“Weren’t you ever afraid to grow old?”
“Mitch, I embrace aging.”
“Embrace it?”
“It’s very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed twenty-two, you’d always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It’s growth. Its more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s also the positive that you understand you’re going to die, and that you live a better life because of it. …(Those wishing that they were young again reflect) unsatisfied lives. Unfulfilled lives. Lives that haven’t found meaning. Because if you’ve found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more. You can’t wait until you’re sixty-five. … You have to find what is good and true and beautiful in your life as it is now.” Tuesdays with Morrie, pages 118-120

What will really be important when we draw our final breath and our heart ceases to beat? JESUS and our walk with Him! Jesus is what is what makes this life good and true and beautiful. When we consider our life’s end we discover that living in the now for Jesus makes the end a WOW for us.

We focus on the end and live in the today and enjoy each moment of everyday but honoring Jesus. That day when we stand before Him, we will see Him smile down upon us, place his arms around us and welcome us into that eternal day. We will celebrate with Him wonders that our eyes have never seen, joys our emotions have never experienced and things we could never have imagined. Consider that end!

Dying INTO Life

2007-05-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

Henri Nouwen writes: “Maybe the death at the end of your life won’t be so fearful if you can die well now. Yes, real death—the passage from time into eternity, from the transient beauty of the world to the lasting beauty of the next, from darkness into light has to be made now.” (Inner Voice of Love; page 107) Jesus told us that he who loses his life will save it.

How often has God walked us through mountains and valleys in our sojourn here to show us the places in our hearts where we have not died? Fear, worry, anxiety and stress all reveal the life of the flesh and the need to die in Jesus.

It seems to me that the areas where we want to hang onto are the places God puts his hand on and tenderly says, “This must die.”

I discover that I often fight against the love and wisdom of God crying, “No, Lord! Anything but that. I can’t let go of it.” So in that moment, I close my fist tightly over it. Afraid, anxious and nervous—these emotions come because I refuse to die to what God has placed his hand on. These feelings last as long as I hang onto the thing God wants me to let go of.

There comes a time when the longing for freedom from the struggle comes to the breaking point. At that moment God wraps his arms around us and gently beings to pry our fingers off of what we are clinging to. He whispers in our ears, “Trust me. Die to this. Let go. And you will find freedom for your soul.”

Dying is not an emptying. It is filling our hearts, souls, minds and spirits with Jesus. This freedom lasts forever.

Direction Correction

2007-05-08T07:09:00.000-07:00

I recently read a passage of Scripture from Jeremiah 10:23-24 that reads: “I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. Correct me, Lord, but only with Justice—not in anger, let you reduce me to nothing.” NIV

As I considered that passage I thought about how many of us think our lives are our own. I claim many things as mine: my time; my feelings; my home; my family; my car; my money; etc. Yet my life is NOT my own. When I claim these things as my own I am really assuming God’s place.

If I really KNOW that my life is not my own, then I live and act like it is God’s. So if he wants my time to be filled with inconsequential things, it is all right. If he wants me to struggle with health issues, there is a reason—My life is NOT my own!

These verses from Jeremiah also tell us that it is not for us to direct our steps. I considered what often directs my steps—my own feelings, other people or events that occur. Yet, the Lord of all must direct our steps. I can almost hear Jesus say to me: “Mike, do you not know that your life is not yours? It is mine. Remember that I will direct your steps.”

Finally, Jeremiah asks the Lord to correct him. What would it mean in our lives if we really prayed for the Lord to correct us? What would his just correction look like in our lives? Yet, I often need for our Lord to correct my focus, my way, my feelings and my heart.

It seems that when I allow Jesus to have his claim on my life, direct my steps and correct me, then my life takes on a divine direction and has Kingdom meaning. I begin to discover that I truly CAN do all things through Jesus who strengthens me! Amazing how simple it all really is!

Looking, Seeing - BLIND

2007-04-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

Moses realized that no one could look upon God and live – live as he always has. When we see God as He really is, death comes into our lives. Death comes to our desires, our wants, our direction, and even our hearts. If we struggle with these things then we need to realize that we have not looked fully upon God.

What do I see when I look upon God?
I will see the wondrous face of my Friend. This Friend came to me at my greatest hour of need. This Friend reached out to me when I rejected Him the most. My Friend loved me when I was ugly, smelly and rotten in my heart. I see my Friend who is always faithful.

When I look upon my Friend, I also see me. As I gaze into his eyes I see the reflection of His Cross. On it he took all my sin, my failures and my lostness. I see me, as I am and as He knows I can be. I am seeing freedom—freedom from all the power of self and the flesh.

Do we have God blinded hearts? If I have a God blinded heart then I will see nothing of me in my life. Why? Seeing God blinds me to me!

If I have a God blinded heart, I see God at work everywhere and in everything. I see Him in the good and in what I consider “bad.” If God is there in all things then can anything be truly “bad?” If I have a God blinded heart, then the answer is “no.”

If I have a God blinded heart I live a Godward life. My entire life is directed Godward. Godward living moves me away from self-ward living.

A God blinded heart means that the glory of God fills me heart—all of it. God awesome glory blinds me to what I want (selfishness) and reveals to me what He wants.

So when I really look upon God and see my Friend my heart becomes blind to me. The light of my Friend drives the darkness from me and blinds me to all except my loving Friend.

Have I really looked upon God? Am I living the way I always have?

LIFE- for all its worth

2007-04-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

In this week following Easter I am forced to remember that real life is seen in what you are willing to make sacrifices for. One book that I am currently reading (and I am reading about 10 others) is called “Tuesdays with Morrie.” It is about a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press who visits his old professor, named Morrie, who is dying of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Morrie speaks about life. He says: “So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” (Tuesdays with Morrie; page 43)

Living a life that is sacrificial, that gives meaning for those of us who follow Jesus, means that we will live a life of woundedness. We follow the wounded Healer. How much of our lives is lived trying to avoid being wounded? Yet, Jesus knows that what will bring divine meaning into our lives is discovering His life in the midst of our wounds.

The life of Jesus arises within us when the wounding humbles us. For God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. His life grows when we seek His comfort. His life increases as we are empowered in Him through our weaknesses. Our woundedness scours away the rust of a dreary, dull and lackluster spiritual life. We discover that life, real life, true life, God’s life has taken on a rich, full meaning within us.

Are you really living? Are you really dying?

The Pharisee in ME

2007-03-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been the recipient of a judgmental, Pharisee attack? Perhaps a better question is, ‘Have you ever been one who was judgmental and pharisaical?

This incident happened at Loyola University in New Orleans in the summer of 1981 and comes from the book Ragmuffin Gospel, by Brennan Manning:
Dr. Meghan McKenna was lecturing on the New Testament milieu in which Jesus' ministry began. The four Prominent religious groups were the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Essenes. The Pharisees separated themselves from everyone who was not faithful to the law and the traditions, in order to form a closed community. Their name means ‘the separate ones.’… They believed that God loved and rewarded the ones who kept the law and hated and punished those who did not.

The sinners were the social outcasts. Anyone who for any reason deviated from the law and the customs of the middle class was treated as inferior, as low class.
When the lecture ended, Dr. McKenna suggested: ‘Let’s do a little exercise right here in the classroom. Would all those who do not smoke stand up, walk to the left and stand by the wall. And reformed smokers stand in the center of the room. Those who still smoke from a group on the right.

Thirty of the professionals had never smoked, twelve were reformed and three were active smokers. “At that time,’ (a lady named) Roslyn said, ‘I belonged to the latter group on the right.’

‘Let’s discuss two questions,’ Mekenna said. ‘First, how do you feel about the current smoking regulations on campus, in restaurants, airports, the corporate world, and so forth?"

All three groups unanimously agreed that the regulations were good, ecologically important, and sensitive to the health and welfare of others.

'The second question: How do you feel about smokers personally?’
‘They are disgusting and inconsiderate,’ said one nonsmoker.
‘Obviously anyone who smokes has low self-esteem and a lousy self-image,’ voiced another. 'They have no will power.’ ‘Rotten role models for teenagers.’ ‘I have serious questions about the quality of their faith and depth of their personal relationship with Christ.’ ‘Don't they know they are poisoning the atmosphere?’

Roslyn remarked: ‘I cowered against the far wall feeling like the woman caught in adultery. Suddenly the environment was so hostile. For the past four years of graduate school, I had prayed, worshiped, gone on picnics, taken coffee breaks, studied, and conversed with these people. I felt a deep sense bonding because of our shared life and ministry. The reformed smokers were much more understanding because they had been there-the place of addiction. At first, I was angry. When the inner rage finally subsided, I wanted to weep. I have never felt so alone.’

The bell sounded and class ended. We filed out of the room in silence. The next day Dr. McKenna, following her usual procedure, asked her students to share their feelings and reactions to the exercise of the previous day.

‘Yesterday I learned something about myself,’ said the woman who had made the harshest and most judgmental comments during the exercise. ‘I need a lot more compassion for people who are different than myself.’

‘How did you feel yesterday, Roslyn?’ inquired Dr. McKenna.

‘When I was standing against the wall, I actually thought the group #1 people would have thrown stones at us were they available. I realize how difficult it was for me to look at them and say, ‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do.’

Soul Survivor

2007-03-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

Over the last year I read a book titled Deep Survival. It is not a Christian book but I read it during a time in my life when I was struggling to “survive.” The book was about people who survived in the wilderness or survived plane crashes and the lessons that one could learn from them. It dealt with the question, why did this person survive and that one didn’t?

What lessons came out of that study? Here are a few:
· Survivors turn anger and fear into focus – they get their attention on the matter at hand.
· Survivors perceive their situation correctly, make a plan, take correct action and when confronted with a changing environment, readily adapt.
· Survivors learned to use humor and laughter. Laughter stimulates an area of the brain that helps us temper negative emotions. This helps us manage fear.
· The survivor expects the world to keep changing and is asking the question: “What’s up?” Many times the world around us is changing and we are not taking in the new information. A survivor attends to the business of adapting to the changes in the environment and keeps themselves in balance.
· Survivors maintained a positive mental attitude – One survivor said: “Think good thoughts and you’ll be saved.” Many who died had apathy. Apathy led to complete deterioration.
· Helping someone else also enabled survivors to survive. Helping others takes you out of yourself and rise above your fears.
· The survivor made plans by setting small, manageable goals.
· Survival involves being familiar with pain. Another survivor wrote: “You have to practice hurting. There is no question about it … you have to learn a bunch of junk and accept it with a sense of humor.”
· Faith also played an important role in survival. It was discovered that survivors spent their lives building a core of strength that they pulled from in the moment of struggle.

I know that in the course of life we want to do more than just survive. I want to thrive. Yet, there are places where the journey we walk takes us into deep valleys. If we have been building up a core strength in our Lord and growing in Him, we will discover that we can not only survive, but thrive in the midst of the darkness.

Web Site research

2007-03-13T07:36:00.000-07:00

From: the things I researched from other web sites comes this one:

Things to consider . . .
Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack?
If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
When someone asks you, "A penny for your thoughts," and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It's just stale bread to begin with.
When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?
Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites?
Why isn't 11 pronounced onety-one?
If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked and dry cleaners depressed?
Do Roman paramedics refer to IV's as "4's"?
Why is it that if someone tells you that there are 1 billion stars in the universe you will believe them, but if they tell you a wall has wet paint you will have to touch it to be sure?
And finally . . . What's in a name?
That's the question being posed to readers of the trade publication The Bookseller. Those readers are being invited to vote for the annual Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year. Nominees were proposed by publishers, booksellers and librarians.
The nominees are:
~ Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoon Boxes of Daghestan
~ How Green Were the Nazis?
~ D. Di Mascio's Delicious Ice Cream: D. Di Mascio of Coventry -- An Ice Cream Company of Repute, with an Interesting and Varied Fleet of Ice Cream Vans
~ The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification
~ Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Seaweed Symposium
~ Better Never To Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence
Last year's winner was People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It by Gary Leon Hill. The competition has been running since 1978, when the winner was Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice

Failing Forward

2007-03-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

Have there ever been times when you felt like a failure? It seemed that all you did and tried came to naught. Friends misunderstood you. You even began to question yourself. Life gets hard at times. How do you handle this?

Some escape in a sea of action like sports, hunting, work, and other hobbies. Others escape in alcohol, drugs and overeating. The key word is “escape.” We feel the need to “get away” from ourselves. Yet, everywhere we turn, there we are {as some bright child once said!}. You cannot escape you.

How do we deal with the hard stuff of life? Isaiah wrote: "But I said, 'I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand, and my reward is with my God.'" Isaiah 49:4 NIV

Isaiah expresses our feelings. He had worked and nothing was accomplished, nothing got better. He is worn out. His strength is spent. He has discovered how weak he has become. The Lord told Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV

Now notice the other thing Isaiah tells us: Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand, and my reward is with my God. Here is the place where we decide if we really believe this. Do I really know that what is due me is in the Lord’s hand and not in mine? Do I trust Him with the results of my labor and not look at my expectations?

We deal with the hard stuff of life by trusting in Jesus and not in ourselves or others. We do not seek to escape, we seek to learn and understand GOD in the midst of the trial. We may never grasp why we have walked the journey we are on. Letting the results be in God’s hand is freeing. Through this freedom healing will eventually come. “Experientially, the inner healing of the heart is seldom a sudden catharsis or an instant liberation…More often it is a gentle growing oneness with the Crucified who has achieved our peace through His blood on the Cross.” Brennan Manning; in The Rabbi’s Heartbeat; page 54

Mike Yankoski expresses a prayer that helps us walk this path: “Lord, thank you for taking terrible circumstances and turning them into amazing gifts…Move my heart to be truly generous with what you have given me.”

Hang in there!

2007-02-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. NIV

We read in this that growth and maturity come through times of trials and testing. How does this maturity happen? A desert father wrote: “Adversities do not make you miserable, but they disclose to you and teach you what you were already.” Guigo I; Meditations.

The times of struggle are times when God just might be revealing to you what is in your heart. We will begin to realize that we are not as strong in faith as we thought we were. God is showing us how much we need to depend upon Him.

In the midst of this time of struggle we begin to see the truth of who we are and what God offers us, yet it is still difficult to completely trust in God. “There is usually a good span of time between our first awakening and complete faith. During such days we pray the same prayer the sick boy’s father prayed: ‘I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief.’ In other words, this prayer means, ‘I am no longer in darkness. My soul has seen Your light. But I am not yet able to believe completely. The light is dim. Lord, help me.’” Francis DeSales; Living in Love.

This is the place where perseverance comes into play. Will I keep going and keep trusting God or will I give up? God takes us like a bow that He stretches, and at a certain point we say, “I can’t stand this anymore.” But God does not heed. He goes on stretching because He is aiming at His mark, not ours – we must hang on until God lets the arrow fly. Then we will discover the target that God has placed in front of us. At this point we begin to discover the power of trusting God and allowing Him to walk us through the struggle.

Let me leave you with a couple of thoughts from the desert fathers who have walked in this path of hardship:

The best source of help is the one that most exercises our faith, puts to shame human wisdom, makes us simple and humble and undeceives us in respect to our own wisdom.” Francis Fenelon; the Best of Fenelon.

“When you suffer in any way, whether through fear, anger, hatred, or any kind of grief, you should only blame yourself for it – your craving, ignorance and laziness…Your injury and grief bear witness to your sin, for by abandoning God you have plainly fallen in love with something that can harm you.” Guigo I; Meditations.

Growing Old

2007-02-19T12:45:00.000-08:00

The professor challenged his students to get to know someone they didn't already know. One of the football players felt a gentle touch on his shoulder and as he turned found a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at him. A smile lit her entire being. She said, "Hello handsome. My name is Rose and I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?"

He laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Sure you can Rose!" and he was given a giant squeeze. He asked with a twinkle in his eye, "Rose, why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?"

Immediately she responded, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of kids, and then retire and travel."

"Seriously, why are you here? What's motivated you to take on this challenge at your age?"

She said, "I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told him. After class they walked to the student union building and shared a vanilla milkshake. They became instant friends. Every day for three months they would leave class together and talk nonstop. He was mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared from her vast experience and practical wisdom.

That year, Rose became a campus icon and made friends easily. She loved the attention the kids blessed her with. Her life was full. At the conclusion of the semester Rose was invited to speak at the football banquet. She taught them an important lesson. One could tell that she was a bit nervous and frustrated and a bit embarrassed. Her jitteriness caused her to drop her note cards on the floor. She looked at her audience and said, "I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know."

As the audience laughed she cleared her throat and began, "We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success in life. You have to laugh and find humor everyday. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.

“We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am 87 years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn 88. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.

“Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."

She concluded her speech by courageously singing, "The Rose." She challenged each of those students to study the lyrics and live them out in their daily lives. At the end of the year Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never to late to be all you can possibly be.

The Fire of God's love

2007-02-12T11:24:00.000-08:00

In Proverbs 17:3 we read: “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.” NIV

The Lord uses fire to test us and reveal what is in our hearts. St. John of the Cross talks about this. I present to you a personal summary of a section of his book.

When fire begins to work on wood, it first must dry it out. Then it blackens the wood, making it dark and unsightly and even small bad. As the fire works it begins to drive away all the flaws. Finally the fire kindles the wood, gives it heat and light and transforms it into itself. The wood has now taken on the properties of the fire.

God’s love is like the fire. His love works in our hearts and on our lives. When we allow his love to work it begins driving out all the unsightliness within our hearts. This makes the situation seem worse that before. Our hearts are beginning to perceive themselves as they really are. God’s love is working through hardship (the crucible and the furnace) to remove the dross that exists within our hearts and lives. We are now seeing the imperfections and darkness that reside within us. Observing them now allows God’s love to begin to burn them all away.

As our hearts and lives are purged and purified, they are becoming more and more enkindled with the love of God. In essence we are taking on more of the character of God’s love. Our hearts and lives are becoming hotter and containing more divine light. (St. John of the Cross; The Dark Night of the Soul; pages 127-131)

The crucible and the furnace are doing their work!

Change the Diaper

2007-02-05T12:41:00.000-08:00

Growth in our Lord can be difficult, for it involves change. For many of us change is difficult. We tend to like things the way they are even if it means struggle.

Mark Twain said: “The only person who likes change is a wet baby”

Some one else said: “If your religion does not change you, then you should change your religion.”
Charles Kettering is quoted as saying: "The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress."

One of the major factors that God uses to bring change is adversity, struggle and pain. How many want to change when things are progressing well and there is prosperity?
God tries in many ways to get us to change and grow and when we don’t, He is forced to use trials to get us to wake up and look up and listen up.

God seeks to get us to yield everything in our lives up to Him and allow Him to take where He knows we need to be. This can be scary! Like Abraham of old, we discover that each next step is given to us only at the present moment. The entire plan of God is not spelled out for us in detail. “The reality of life for Christian men and women requires that they leave what is nailed down, obvious and secure and walk into the desert without rational explanations to justify their decisions or guarantee their future. Why? Solely and simply because God signals His movement and offers his promise.” (Brennan Manning; The Signature of Jesus; page 18)

Are we truly convinced of the reliability of God? Do we really believe He has our best interests at heart? Are we ready to grow and be changed into the image of Jesus?

Why we need God

2007-02-05T12:40:00.000-08:00

An old Indian, after living many years in sin, was led to Christ by a missionary. Friends asked him to explain the change in his life. Reaching down, he picked up a little worm and placed it on a pile of leaves. Then, touching a match to the leaves, he watched them smolder and burst into flames. As the flames worked their way up to the center where the worm lay, the old chief suddenly plunged his hand into the center of the burning pile and snatched out the worm. Holding the worm gently in his hand, he gave this testimony to the grace of God: "Me. . . that worm!"

Let's Make a Deal

2007-01-31T08:53:00.000-08:00

Elmer Kelen turned to leave the studio of a young Hungarian artist, Arpad Sebesy. He was angry and his parting words were, "That's a rotten portrait and I refuse to pay for it."

The artist was crushed. He had wasted weeks on this painting and now the 500 pengos that he was going to lose on the deal flashed through his mind. Bitterly he recalled that the millionaire had only posed three times, so that the painting had to be done virtually from memory. Still, he didn't think it was a bad likeness. Before the millionaire left his studio the artist called out, "One minute. Will you give me a letter saying you refused the portrait because it didn't resemble you?"

Glad to get off the hook so easily, Kelen agreed and wrote the letter. A few months later the Society of Hungarian Artists opened its exhibition at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Budapest. Soon afterwards Kelen's phone began to ring. Within a half an hour he appeared at the gallery and headed for the wing where a Sebesy painting was on display. It was the one he had rejected. He glanced at the title and his face turned purple. Storming into the office of the gallery manager, he demanded that the portrait be removed at once.

The manager explained quietly that all of the paintings were under contract to remain in the gallery the full six weeks of the exhibit. But Kelen raged, "But it will make me the laughing stock of Budapest. It's libelous. I'll sue!"

The manager turned to his desk, drew out the letter Kelen had written at Sebesy's request and said coolly, "Just a moment. Since you yourself admit that the painting does not resemble you, you have no jurisdiction over its fate."

In desperation Kelen offered to buy the painting, only to find the price now ten times that of the original figure. With his reputation at stake, Kelen immediately wrote out a check for 5000 pengos. Not only did the artist sell the rejected portrait to the man who had originally commissioned it, and get far more than the original price, but he achieved his revenge simply by exhibiting it with the title: Portrait of a Thief.

The Hollow Fruit

2007-01-29T12:01:00.000-08:00

The tree looked strong and sturdy. The blossoms that spring were bright, beautiful and smelled wonderful. As the season progressed and the fruit began to grow, things changed. The fruit was small, shriveled and discolored. There were huge blemishes on it and the skin was wrinkled. It seemed that even the worms refused to eat the fruit. Finally the gardener was forced to chop the tree down and use it for firewood. When the tree finally fell, it was discovered that its heart was empty and rotten. Some type of disease had been eating the heart out of the tree. It was the fruit that exposed the hollowness of the tree.

Jesus said: “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” NIV Matthew 7:17-20

What kind of fruit is my heart producing? Is the fruit of my life sweet to all or only to myself. Does the fruit nourish the lives of those who sample it or does it make them sick to their stomach? Our hearts are trees producing fruit. If our fruit is only sweet to ourselves and makes us selfish, harsh, impatient and severe to our neighbors, while we think we are little saints…then we are bearing false, pernicious and rotten fruit. (adapted from Francis DeSales; An Introduction to the Devout Life) If you want to know what a person believes, where their heart is and what they are deep inside, do not listen to what they say, watch what they do. Observing the fruit of their lives reveals the contents of their hearts.

Jesus again reminds us in John 15:1-4 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." NIV

Where do I abide? What am I producing? Where is God pruning me?

“O Lord, help me to remain in You. Let me bear heavenly fruit that nourishes life in your Kingdom!”

Praying Through the Heart

2007-01-22T12:36:00.000-08:00

After the many years of prayer and seeking God, I discovered that there are many things that clutter our hearts. I am beginning to recognize that following Jesus means dealing with this clutter.

Prayer is seeing God in our heart. It is a careful attentiveness to the One who dwells in the center of our being and allowing Him to take total possession of us. We allow God to enter every heartbeat and every breath. God enters our thoughts, emotions, seeing and hearing. (adapted, Henri Nouwen; The Only Necessary Thing)

When we look for God in our hearts we discover the clutter that stands between Him and us. What we realize is that when we are fearful we are looking at the clutter and not at God. We lose touch with Him and lose touch with our hearts. There are fears that lie hidden and waiting in the depths of our hearts: fears of failing and letting God down or letting people down. There are fears of people, fears of the dark and fears of me {that if people knew me, they will not like me}. So we think we need to be outgoing, happy, always up, giving an apt answer and strong. The anxiety from all of this spreads over our lives like Noah’s flood.

When we decide to truly seek God in prayer, He pulls back the coverings of our hearts. We will not believe all that still hides there that is not of Him. The black spots dot the landscape as far as our eyes can see. These are the places, incidents, and emotions that I am afraid to trust God with. They are dark spots within my heart that God cannot fill without my permission.

Prayer is returning to our hearts and allowing God to take control of these fears. In prayer we find that God looks longingly into our eyes and holds out his hand for us to take. Grasping it, we know, means we will journey together through the dark blotches in our hearts. This journey through our hearts will be scary but also healing.

Will you in faith in Him, stretch out your hand, take His and allow this journey to begin? There is God’s divine life on the other side.

LIving out of the Heart of God

2007-01-15T12:23:00.000-08:00

The Scripture says: "He (The Lord) tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isaiah 40:11 NIV

God carriers us close to His heart. Have you ever heard the heartbeat of God? If I listen closely for the heartbeat of God I am seeking to understand Him, His ways and His burdens better so that I might live out of his heart.

God made his pierced heart a home for ever sinner. He longs for reconciliation and forgiveness. He seeks the lost and lonely sheep that have wandered away. His heart laughs with the child in us all. His heart weeps in our suffering. Every beat we hear pounds in rhythm to his longing for each of us to draw nearer and experience his life.

God’s heart is a heart of joy and of justice. His heart aches to hold the prodigal close. He gathers us all close to his heart so its beat might soothe our lives and bring us peace.

Knowing the heart of God allows his love to melt the ice in mine and seek to be reconciled to all. We love the one who has hurt us. We are sacrificial. God’s heart brings death to our lives that we might be raised to His life.

If I understand the heart of God then I understand the wounds of God. The wound of Jesus are becoming mine. I realize that “wounds are necessary. The soul has to be wounded as well as the body…The unwounded life bears no resemblance to Jesus.” (Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child, page 158)

We are called to live our lives out of the heart of God. What wonders could happen in our world when we do so!

Church Interactive

2006-12-14T08:42:00.000-08:00

I wonder how I can write this without sounding “holier than Thou?”

As we mature in our Lord and begin to live a deeper walk we challenge the thinking of the average Christian. How we react to their reactions is a measuring stick of the depths of our walk.

Wading into the depths of God’s love and living it out may bring conflict with the average Christian as their understanding of God is challenged. Yet, it is precisely in their conflict that growth can occur.

As we grow deeper, God’s Spirit works to enrich our view of God. This reveals the errors of our beliefs. These are the beliefs that have been shaped by our needs and struggles rather than a clearer view of God. As we begin to grasp the deeper truths of God we are faced with a choice. Either we can let go of the blurry view of God and live a richer life OR we can hang onto our blurry view and live a poorer life.

Too often our beliefs are what we feel secure in rather than being secure in God. Wading into the deeper water is letting go of what God’s Spirit is telling us to release and living out the better view of God He is trying to get us to see. Those who understand the deeper walk will see just how deep their walk is as they deal with this conflict. Godly insight helps one to realize that this is a personal thing. God is at work. So we must let God work and not react to what our brother or sister says and does. We must come along beside them, lift them up and care for them. The deeper life we claim to grasp demands this. God is forcing us to live out of the depths we claim to believe.

This is one reason God works to make us interact with each other in the church. We all learn from each other and we discover what we really believe in how we work through this interaction.

Concepts of Love

2006-12-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

Today, let me just throw across the page a smattering of thoughts that I have collected about love, particularly God's love and how we should live it out.

The love of God is such that should we see it clearly we would die of that love.

Love and death are mingled at Calvary. We can’t have one without the other. “In love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve.” Thornton Wilder
· The invitation of Jesus is this as we see Him on the Cross: ‘Don’t weep for me, join me. The life I have planned for you is a Christian life, much like the life I led.” Brennan Manning
· “Discipleship means allegiance to the suffering Christ, and it is therefore not at all surprising that Christians are called upon to suffer. God is a God who bears. The Son of God bore our flesh, he bore the cross, he bore our sins…In the same way his followers are called upon to bear, and that is precisely what it means to be a Christian …The yoke and burden of Christ are His cross.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
· The more perfectly and purely I love Jesus, the more I become one with Him in love and share in his sufferings. The intimately I know the man of sorrows, the more I love Him and suffer with His sufferings. Angela of Foligno
· “We relive the passion of Jesus through the life of compassion. On the Cross, the open arms of the Crucified One reached out to feel the pain and suffering of the world.” Brennan Manning

Whenever love is withdrawn, pride is the cause.

“There can be only two basic loves: the love of God unto the forgetfulness of self OR the love of self unto the forgetfulness and denial of God.” Augustine

The nearer we come to the perfect purity of love, the more we turn from thoughts of ourselves in order to fix them totally upon God.

“It I truly have a fervent love of God in me—a love that enlightens my heart with the depths of His love—then when anyone speaks evil of me, I will be patient and gracious unto them.” Angela of Foligno:

“It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.” Mother Teresa

“Once you come to know the love of Jesus Christ, nothing else in the world will seem beautiful or desirable.” Brennan Manning

“We die daily in Jesus Christ or we deny him. This death in us has something to do with love toward Christ and toward people. We die to it when we love Christ and the brethren from the bottom of our hearts, for love is total surrender to what a person loves.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

“It is an indicator of purity of heart when you can look at a sinner and have mercy, notice a weak person and feel compassion.” Pseudo-Marcarius

“Does my heart seek no other joy than Jesus alone? Does my heart feel a burning love that is for Him alone? May my heart be Jesus loving, Jesus thinking and Jesus desiring—breathing in Him daily.” Richard Rolle

“Lord, kindle my heart with the heat of your love, enlighten my inmost being with the Light of your truth, feed me with the honey of your grace—as much as my body and soul can endure.” Richard Rolle

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”’ Antoine DeSaint-Exupery

“The world does not understand vulnerability…Vulnerability is flatly rejected by the world as incompetence and compassionate caring is dismissed as unprofitable. The great deception of public televisions advertising is that being poor, vulnerable and weak is uncool and ineffectual…Social climbing, power plays and winning breed a sprit of competition that bids farewell to compassion. The spirituality of the servant is incomprehensible to the advertising industry.” Brennan Manning – Today competition overrules compassion in American Christianity. We are becoming what we see.

“Keep a clear eye toward life’s end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God’s creature. What you are in His sight is what you are and nothing more. Remember, that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing that you have received—the fading symbols of honor, trappings of power—but only what you have given: a heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.” St. Francis of Assisi

The Church Disillusioned

2006-12-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

Many churches are shattered because of a fanciful idea of what the church should be like. Christians within the church bring with them a definite image of what the Christian community ought to be like. God quickly frustrates all such images. God desires to lead us to a proper understanding of a genuine Christian community. The grace of God will not permit us to live in a dream world. When the church experiences the reality of its disillusionment and sees all of its unpleasant and evil appearances, it will begin to be what it should be in God’s sight. It will begin to grasp the promise that has been given to it.

A Church that cannot bear and cannot survive this disillusionment and clings instead to it idealized image loses the promise of a durable Christian community. Every human idealized image that is brought into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be broken up so that genuine community can survive. Those who love their dream of the Christian community more than the community itself become destroyers of that Christian community. This is true even if their personal intentions may be honest, earnest and sacrificial.

God hates wishful dreaming because it makes the dreamer proud and conceited. Those who dream of this idealized community demand that it be fulfilled by God, by others and by themselves. They enter their community of Christians with their demands, set up their own law and judge one another even God accordingly. They stand adamant, a living reproach to all others in the Christian community, as if their visionary ideal binds the people together. Whatever does not go their way, they call a failure. When their idealized image is shattered, they see the community breaking to pieces. So they first become accusers of other Christians in the community, then accusers of God, and finally accusers of themselves.

God is the one who has laid the foundation of our community. It is God through Jesus who unites us in one body with other Christians. We enter into that life with other Christians, not as those who make demands, but as those who thankfully receive. We thank God for what God has done for us. We thank God for giving us other Christians who live by God’s call, forgiveness and promise. We do not complain about what God does not give us; rather we are thankful for what God does give us daily. We believe that what God has given is enough. We accept the other believers who go on living with us through sin and need under the blessings of God’s grace. Is God’s gift any less great on the most distressing and difficult days within the Christian community?

Even in sin and misunderstanding, the one who sins is still a person with whom I stand with under the Word of Jesus. Will not the occasion of another Christian’s sin help me to again give thanks for both of us that we live in the grace of God’s forgiving love? We prevent God from giving the great spiritual gifts prepared for us because we do not give thanks for His daily gifts. If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian community in which we have been placed, even when there are no great experiences, no noticeable riches, but much weakness, difficulty and little faith…then we hinder God from letting our community grow according to the measure and riches that are there for us all in Jesus Christ.
{Adapted from Dietrich Bonhoeffer; Life Together; pages 35-37}

Please e-mail me your thoughts about this blog at pastormac@newlifewc.com

The HEART of Prayer

2006-12-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

Prayer – We think we know what it is. It is asking God for things. We pray to seek God’s guidance. Or we pray requesting God to heal or direct or fix or assist in some way. When we grow in our prayer life we discover that prayer is a two way street. We begin to believe that it involves dialogue and not just our monologue. Yet how does this dialogue work? Does God call us on our cell phone? Do we sit and stare off into space until we “hear” his voice? Perhaps there is some nudging of our desires or wills that comes from God.

For many years I prayed intercessory prayers. I had lists of Scripture promises that I claimed and lists of people and needs that I prayed for. This is prayer. Yet, I have learned that this is just a small piece of the prayer pie. Our prayer relationship with God goes so much deeper than just listing our demands and our needs along with the people whose lives need help.

What we should seek in prayer is that God breathe into our spirits the depths of His heart. We are seeking to know our Father’s heart.

Prayer needs to become an adoring, uncomplicated and enduring attention on God.[1] True prayer should create a longing to love God more. When we pray we are allowing our hearts and spirits to ascend toward God. We are seeking the nearness of his presence.

When we pray we should invite God’s Spirit to fall upon us. We recognize that God is present with us. We focus our hearts and spirits upon the Lord. We want to contemplate who He is and reach out in love to him. True prayer is starting to happen.

Now we can place our hearts, spirits and minds in the brilliance of God’s Light. We are exposing them to the warmth of His heavenly love. This will begin to purity them so we can now pray from His heart rather than from ours.

Prayer involves centering our hearts, spirits and minds on Jesus. We are lifting them up to him with a stirring of our love for Him. We are seeking Him for HIS sake only and not for anything we might receive from Him. Our sole concern is to center everything upon Him. [2] If I am aware of myself when I am praying, my attention is diverted from God. If it is God whom I love and all pleasure disappears from my praying, what difference does it make? God is still God, even in times of dryness. Do I love the comfort of God or the God of comfort?

This deepening love for God will create a deeper walk with God that will provide a deeper intimate union with God that will keep me unmoved and untroubled at all times!

We are seeking to live our lives in such a way that just as we can feel the warmth of the sun on our faces, the people around us will feel the warmth of God radiating out from our lives. Our daily lives are becoming a prayer to the Lord. We are learning to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Our lives are beginning to bear the imprint of our Father upon them.

We are learning the language of God. We are growing in our awareness of the heart of God. God begins to laugh into our souls and sing within our hearts and dance within our spirits. This is what prayer is all about!
[1] Francis DeSales; Living Love; pg 45
[2] The Cloud of Unknowing, pg 40-41

Buy Your Own Present

2006-11-27T07:27:00.000-08:00

A gracious ninety-year-old grandmother was struggling with the hectic pace of Christmas shopping and made a decision. She would no longer send presents. Instead, she would send Christmas cards and include a check with each one so that her friends and family could purchase their own presents.

She carefully prepared each card and wrote in each one, "Buy your own present," and then sent all the cards well before Christmas. Strangely, no one ever made any mention of having received a card. When some of her family visited her during Christmas, she asked them if they received her cards. They were polite but not enthusiastic. They acknowledged that they had received cards but barely even thanked her.

A year later, as she was preparing to send cards again, she made a grievous discovery. Underneath a pile of Christmas papers, she found all the checks. She had never included the checks in the cards. She had written "Buy your own present" inside each card--without a check!"

Digging for BINGO

2006-11-20T13:38:00.000-08:00

In Matthew 13:44 we read: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” NIV

There is this treasure in a field. Who put it there? No one knows. A man learns about the treasure. So he takes off into the field to begin digging for it. He did not discover the treasure in his first hole. He begins digging hole after hole after hole. He is diligently seeking. He is working hard. It was back breaking work to move shovel full after shovel full of dirt. How deep did he dig each hole? One foot deep? Three feet deep? Yet, hole after hole yields nothing. He is sweating and growing tired. He is getting dirty. Can you see his face smeared with dirt?

After hundreds and hundreds of shovels full of dirt, he strikes a box – Thump! In his excitement he shovels faster and deeper, ignoring the pain in his back, and the sweat dripping into his eyes and his exhaustion. He carefully shovels the dirt from around it. Gingerly he raises the box out of the hole, opens it and discovers a wonderful treasure. There is only one problem. The field doesn’t belong to him so the treasure doesn’t belong to him, yet. There is no “finder’s keepers” law.

He goes and looks up the owner. He inquires about the sale of the field. They banter back and forth. Each one is extolling the virtues or vices of the field. When the price is finally arrived at, the man realizes he must sell everything he has in order to purchase the field. In today’s language we would say that he sold his house, his boat, both of his cars, his cottage at the lake, all of his furniture and cashed in his IRA’s. The treasure he discovered was worth the price. This treasure cost him huge volumes of time, energy, pain, and money. He willingly gave up everything that he had in order to acquire that field.

Jesus compares this story to the Kingdom of God. Consider this: God has hidden a treasure for you. It contains the wealth of heaven and the depths of God’s wisdom. Yet, He will not just reach down and hand it to us. We are challenged to “dig” for it. It will cost us time, energy, pain and perhaps money. There is a cost to it. The acquiring of this treasure could very well cost us everything that we hold dear, everything we strive for, and everything of value to us.

Are you willing to dig, not knowing what each hole may yield? Are you willing to struggle and sweat searching for the treasure and see little if no visible results? In our microwave, fast food world we want everything in an instant. Our gratification must come early or we quickly give up and move on to somewhere else. If you are not willing to invest yourself, if you will not grow in the grace of patience and if you refuse to commit to the journey, then you might as well stop right here.

Digging holes is hard, strenuous labor. Moving shovel full after shovel full of dirt and seeing few visible results can get disheartening. Frustration can set in and we might just throw up our hands and cry, “Forget it Lord. It’s not worth it.”

Yet, the hole digger in the parable never quit. Perhaps he discovered that each day he grew less tired. He realized that he could dig more holes before exhaustion set. He muscles were growing stronger. His back was firmer. His stamina was greatly increasing. He was not discovering the treasure but he was developing himself in other areas. And he never questioned the knowledge that the treasure was there in the field. He just kept to the task and one day, BINGO! It was worth it all.

Serving at a Snail's Pace

2006-11-20T12:53:00.000-08:00

St. Teresa of Avila asks the following question: “Why do we serve God at a snail’s pace?”

Why is it that we want to just get by in our relationship with God doing as little as possible? We will only pray “just enough” or fast as little as necessary. We will go to church when we feel like it. We are treating our relationship with God like it is only worth about $2.50 instead of what it is really worth – a trillion, trillion dollars and more.

God wants us to give ourselves wholly to Him. This creates a starved hunger for God and His Kingdom. Jesus told his disciples: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” NIV He had discovered the fulfilling nourishment that comes from passionately following His Father.

Why are we so unwilling to invest ourselves completely to the Kingdom of God? Why do we only seek to do the minimum? Are we spiritually lazy? Are we losing out battle against the world, the flesh and the devil?

Satan will do all that he can to weaken us and reduce our spiritual hunger. He creates interruptions, false needs and endless distractions to try and defeat us.

Our Father honors his children when they resist Satan’s tactics and willingly sacrifice time, energy, effort and themselves to journey the road less traveled. It is on this road we uncover the valuable treasure of a deepening bond with God.

It's Risky Business

2006-11-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

“To live without risk is to risk not living.” Brennan Manning

I have noticed that many Christians begin their life with Jesus excited and anxious to know more. Over time this begins to diminish. The believers enter into a steady flow of life, get involved in a church, read their Bibles and pray some. Yet what begins to happen is that their lives are becoming stagnant. Jesus is a part of their lives. However, there are other concerns of living to that must be taken care of.

Growth in Jesus implies taking a risk. It is moving out of our comfort zones and stagnation into the flowing stream of Living Water. As Jesus stretches us and matures us in faith, we come to realize that following Him is more than the acceptance of a set of theologically correct beliefs. A Christian lives out of the heart of Jesus. This makes life risky.

Am I willing to risk loving the unlovable?
AM I willing to risk forgiving the one who hurt me?
Am I will to risk my reputation by stepping out and being seen witnessing to the outcast, poor and lonely?
Am I willing to risk some money by giving to those who have a deep need?
Am I will to risk the investment of time in a person who is ungrateful?
Am I will to step out in faith and follow in the footsteps of Jesus and take the Truth to the one living in lies?

Living this way makes our trust in Jesus more than just a Sunday morning religious duty. We are driven to spend more than just three minutes a day with God. This moves us into deeper Water and richer faith. The Christian life becomes an adventure with Jesus!

“We’d like to stay close enough to the fire to stay warm, but are reluctant to dive in. We know we will come out burnt, incandescently transformed. Life never will be the same again. Nonetheless, we are dissatisfied with the narrow dimensions of our partial commitment. Deep within there is a longing to throw caution to the wind.” Brennan Manning in the Signature of Jesus, page 186

The Heart of the Matter

2006-11-13T12:46:00.000-08:00

“The Heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9

There are so many times that we struggle with our hearts. I care about this person or that thing. Or I despise that person and want nothing to do with that matter. What causes us to choose one over the other? Whatever is going on within our hearts decides our choices. Our hearts seem tossed about by each breath of wind or every wave that crosses our paths.

If I am a follower of Jesus, He lives within my heart. I must train myself to listen to Jesus’ heart that resides within me. Only His heart is steady and true.

As we learn to listen to his heart we discover that there are emotions and habits of my heart that can block out the voice of Jesus. There is so much “noise” within us. We can get so caught up in the drive to succeed, to provide, feel secure and significant. The should’s, could’s, and ought to’s cry out and drown out the still small voice of the One we claim to be following. We must discover how to tune out the “noise” that clutters our hearts so that we can tune into the Spirit of Jesus.

This summer I went out to Colorado. One day I went up on the side of a mountain seeking an answer to a prayer. As I sat there praying and seeking God, He came to me and said, “Listen!” So I tried to tune out the noise of struggle and confusion and listen.

I heard frogs, the rustle of leaves as a squirrel ran through them, the swish of the wind in the leaves, the snip, snip, snip of grasshopper wings, and the cascade of water down a mountain side. God whispered: “Worship me.”

I was drawn into the music of His creation. I lifted up my heart to him. The clutter of my heart fell away. There in the midst of Him, I discovered the power and the joy of a heart that fully opened to His love. The peace of His Spirit flowed over my heart. I no longer needed the answer to my prayer. My heart was being drawn into the One who died for it.

When we open our hearts to Him and allow Him to fill them, life has a way coming together in a new perspective. We discover that He was there all the time. We realize that we can wait upon Him and discover renewed strength.

Open my heart Lord, I want to “see” You!

R and R

2006-10-30T12:01:00.000-08:00

Life gets so filled with frantic activity. We are driven by the need to help our children become all they can be. We want to feel like we are involved in important things and be successful. The drive for stuff and the need to be doing keep us from our Sabbath. What we often forget is that the Sabbath principle established by God.

Even pastors can get lost in the frenzied actions of ministering in Jesus’ name and forget the command of God to come aside and rest and worship. Once again I am learning the power of the Sabbath – of stopping, resting and focusing on Jesus. The Sabbath can keep us from drifting. It renews our spirits, our hearts, our minds and emotions.

God rested on the seventh day. God commanded the Israelites to stop farming every seventh year and every fiftieth year (The end of seven sevens of years) in order to rest and worship. He commands us to remember the Sabbath day as well.

The Sabbath is really about trusting God. Living the Sabbath may mean realizing that everything is in God’s hands. When I live the Sabbath principle I can let go of everything that clutters my life and relax, renew, refresh and review on the Sabbath.

Daily living soils my heart and drains my spirit. The Sabbath allows me to lay my heart before God to be cleansed. It allows me to open my spirit to be filled once again. It provides a time to appraise where my life has been and where it is heading. The Sabbath helps me express that my faith is in God ALONE.

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. Isaiah 30:15 NIV

Lost in LOVE

2006-10-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

Do I truly understand the love of God, particularly His love for me? Perhaps we can quote John 3:16 and even tell others that God loves them, but do we really grasp the idea that God loves ME? His love has no conditions. I need not become better, prettier or successful. I do not need to give more, serve more or care more to get more of God’s love for me. He will never love me more nor can He love me less than He does right now! This love for me is INFINITE! Catch that—INFINITE. That means without beginning or end.

We tend to be hard on ourselves. We look at our lives and see the failures, mistakes and outright sin that we have committed. We never look into our hearts. Staring down into the center of our being is too scary. We will see the garbage that is there and realize that no one could love and accept us, much less a holy and perfect God. We do not understand the heart of God! We do not comprehend His love!

We are predisposed to define our value based on looks, money, job description, people’s appraisal of us and our own evaluation of our lives. These are all flawed! Grasp this—FLAWED!

Once we begin to clutch to our spirits the depths of the love of God for us, we will begin to walk in the freedom of His love. This is the freedom of acceptance. Freedom to just be who God created us to be. Free from the expectations of others and of ourselves. Free to enjoy life. Thomas Merton tells us that we need to define ourselves as “One loved by Christ.”

This love is experienced in our brokenness. This love grows in our weaknesses. This love blossoms in humility. This love is the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in a field that a man went and sold all that he had to buy that field. Why wouldn’t we all do that? This is the heart of the greatest gift ever given. “For God so loved…

Why can I write about this? God has brought me to a turn in the journey that is my life. For several years I have been learning, studying and experiencing the journey of faith. Now I have turned onto the road of love. Where will it lead? Only He knows.

Cat-tastrophe

2006-10-18T08:04:00.000-07:00

Ever been misunderstood?

A couple was preparing to go out for their anniversary. They were ready to go and had just taken the cat outside the house. As the taxi cab drove up to the front of their house, they opened the front door to leave. The sneaky cat ran back into the house. The husband told his wife to go out to the cab while he retrieved the cat. The wife got into the cab and apologized for her husband. She did not want the cab driver to know that no one was home, so she told him that her husband went back in to say good bye to his elderly mother. When the husband got into the cab, he apologized for the delay and explained, "That stupid old nuisance was hiding under the bed. I had to slap her with a coat hanger a couple of times to get her out from under there!"

The Storm!

2006-10-15T15:50:00.000-07:00

I stood in the midst of a mountain valley watching a gathering storm. As I observed the clouds billowing up God began to speak to me about the storms of our lives.

There are times in our lives when we see the storm brewing on the horizon. We realize that we cannot hold it back. Some of these storms will turn out to be just passing showers. Others will come hard and heavy. Those are the days we will wonder if we are going to make it or not.

How we survive them depends on how we much we have prepared ourselves to handle them. Out in the middle of the storm we will get wet and wind blown. It will be tough to speak and even catch your breath. That is the moment we wonder, “Where is Jesus?” We think he should have protected us from the storm. At least He could have provided shelter. In the midst of praying we hear His voce calling to us from the heart of the storm! “I am here. I am standing with you. Lean on my strength. Trust in me.” He is holding out his hand. Faith grasps it and holds on tightly as the rain pounds down and the hail bounces off of you.

When the storm comes, it blots out the sun, but does that mean the sun is not there? Of course not. So when we are wet, cold, wind blown and beaten up by the storms of life, it does not mean that Jesus is not there. It means he is teaching us about life, about God and about faith. He has a greater purpose than just keeping us dry, safe and warm.

2006-10-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

Again today I am confronted with how much of self is still in my heart. For many years I have been reading about how much of self is dwelling in our lives – in my life. So many times I have felt the love of God speak to me as I wallowed in self-focus, self-desire and just plain selfishness. Over the span of these years God has graciously revealed to me the depths of self that still inhabits my soul. When He does this I feel no condemnation, only a gentle but firm nudging from His Spirit telling me to “let go” so He can fill the places my self once dwelt in.

I have experienced the tender compassion of God seeking to draw me nearer to Him. All that holds Him back is ME!

Why is it so hard to let go of me? I have “seen” God’s love. I have “heard” His voice calling to me. There were wonderful moments when He sang in my spirit and brought joy to my heart. Those were the moments after I was able to “let go” of me. Sadly those moments have been too far and too few between.

If Jesus lives in me, if I am developing His character in me and if I allow Him to mold me, then I will constantly be bumping into me. I get in Jesus way when He is growing and stretching me. I discover this when I clash with another person. I discover this when I allow life to direct me rather than Him. These clashes, bumps and collisions are God’s way of revealing me to me. My reaction to these things reveal the depths of my walk with the Lord.

The weakest moments of my life drive me to God. It is here I discover His strength. It is in the height of the moment I can choose to walk in the depths of His grace. It is in the moments I feel the most empty that He can fill me the fullest.

2006-09-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

Beans on our Faces

I have noticed that in our walk on the earth, God has a way of using the events of life to teach us about our relationship with Him.
My family and I had gone camping. I enjoyed “roughing” it. The smell of the campfire, the fresh air and family time was relaxing. I was thrilling my boys about my tales of being a Boy Scout when we began to cook our afternoon meal. I told them how we used to cook our meals as scouts. That day we were fixing baked beans for lunch. I regaled with how we used to just place the can of beans in the fire and let them pressure cook. I was not a baked beans fan, but I really enjoyed those that we ate with the Boy Scouts.
As we prepared our meal, I decided I would cook our beans just like we used to in the scouts. We rolled the can into our roaring fire. I excitedly told my boys how great these beans were going to be. They would be steam and pressure-cooked. In my excitement, I forgot one little detail about cooking baked beans over the fire. We always poked a little hole in the top of the baked beans can before we rolled it into the fire.
KABOOM! Beans flew everywhere. The can was blown 15 feet into the air. The fire was blown completely out. And my son and I were covered with freshly steam cooked baked beans.
There was a couple strolling by our campsite just as the beans exploded. I certainly did not want them to think I had done anything foolish. Yet, do you know how difficult it is to look nonchalant with baked beans dripping out of your hair?
Why did this happen to me? I was proud of the fact that I had been a Boy Scout and knew some things about how to cook out in the open. I just knew that I could remember all that we had done to cook beans over an open fire. I wanted to impress my family with these facts. Pride, self sufficiency, the desire to succeed, the need to fit in, and ignoring the truth has a way of making beans blow up in your face.