| Does It Seem Like the World Is Having Too Much Fun.. | December 22, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| You Have An Appointment With God... | December 15, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Our Dog Rings Our Doorbell | December 8, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| I Didn't Know I Had Anything In Common With Bob Dylan.. | December 1, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| One of the First Lessons We Teach Small Children... | November 23, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| It's About Time for My Yearly Ebenezer Scrooge... | November 17, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Sadness. Heartbreak. Disappointment. Hopelessness. | November 10, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Life is Full of Surprises! | October 27, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| I Wish You Were Either Hot or Cold! | October 20, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| I've Just Had An Unpleasant Experience. | October 13, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Are You Comfortable With Mystery? | October 6, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| I Haven't Lost My Mind... | September 25, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| It's Missions Conference Time Again! | September 22, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| So Was Hurricane Katrina a Judgment Sent..... | September 8, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| A New Word Has Entered Our Common Parlance | September 1, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| I'm Relaxed, Mesmerized by the Night Sky... | August 25, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| I'm in That Post-Vacation Crush Time! | August 18, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Have You Heard From God Today? | July 21, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Isn't It Amazing What We Can Sleep Through? | July 14, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| I Suppose It's An American Version... | July 7, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| There Is None So Blind As He Who Will Not See! | June 30, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| ...Just As In Christ God Forgave You. | June 23, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Jesus Told Us To Be Doers of the Word. | June 16, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Are You Sure You're On The Right Road? | June 2, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| The Christian & Missionary Alliance Has a New Brand Logo! | June 9, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| I'm Thinking This Has To Be The Best Time of Year! | May 19, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| I Enjoy Riding My Bicycle When I Have a Day Off. | May 12, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| We Didn't Have Much But We Had The Things That Matter. | May 5, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| I Don't Know When The First Episode of Sesame Street Aired.. | April 28, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Hurt and Sorrow Are In Good Supply.. | April 21, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Do You Know What "Spyware" Is? | April 7, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| How Can You Not Know That You Have a Nail In Your Head? | March 31, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| It's Been a Year and Still the Images Are Fresh In My Mind | March 24, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| I've Heard About a Number of "Close Calls" Lately! | March 17, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| God is In the Business of Redeeming Lives! | March 10, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| My Son Nathan Will Wed His Beloved Tara... | March 3, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Lord, Save Us From Ourselves! | February 24, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| There Have Been 2,973 Acts of Kindness Performed This Week | February 17, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Do You Pray For Silly Things? | February 10, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| "The Shortest Distance Between Two Points is Prayer." | February 3, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| There's A Popular Country Song... | January 27, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| We've Had Our First Taste Of Real Winter Weather... | January 20, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Sometimes It Hurts Too Much To Laugh! | January 13, 2005 | Top of Page | |
| Don't Ask Me To Name My "Favorite" Christmas Gift | January 6, 2005 | Top of Page | |
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DOES IT SEEM LIKE THE WORLD IS HAVING TOO MUCH "FUN" AT
CHRISTMAS? People
are going to parties, wearing Santa hats and items of
clothing that light up and play Christmas music. Decorations
are everywhere. The bright colors and shimmering trees and
merry greetings should buoy the most downcast.
Some of this is all "put on" of course. There are plenty of
people who are truly miserable inside but who play the game at
Christmas just because it's for the sake of others, or because
they don't want to admit their deeper disappointments. Some
are masking the pain of having lost a loved one, or the
knowledge of an impending calamity involving health or finances
or something else. However, even allowing for the fact that all
is not as it seems, the truth is, this is a happy time of year.
What I find curious is that sometimes the unbelieving world
seems to "enjoy" Christmas more than some believers do! Isn't
that remarkable?
Recently, I mentioned to a friend that it might be that some
people choose secular Christmas observances over sacred ones
simply because secular ones are often more fun. I don't mean to
profane the sacred observances by labeling them dull and
boring. There's a place for solemnity, of course. The wonder
of our Savior's birth -- the amazing love of God that was
displayed in the arrival of a little child -- the Good News that
this was done for me (and you!) -- all of this inspires
quiet reverence. I bow, as the shepherds must have, as even
Mary and Joseph did, as the wise men who came later certainly
bowed.
So many Christian people talk about Christmas as if the
presents, and the tree, and the fudge, and the parties, are all
somehow disconnected from the "real" meaning; as if these things
were somehow a distraction from Christmas -- a necessary but
lamentable distraction. How far from true! All these things
are the bursting-forth of our uncontainable joy at the
incarnation! "Heaven and nature sing!" With every decoration,
every baked good, every tradition...we are saying, in effect,
"How many ways can I express the glory of this event?" And the
ways are myriad. They multiply year by year. How wonderful!
Well said! So, celebrate the birth of our Lord! Be sure that's
really what you're celebrating. Don't let the sinful flesh or
the wily enemy seduce you into mere self-indulgence, but let
your praise unto the Lord be extravagant.
OPEN YOUR
HEARTS AND LIFT YOUR VOICES TO THE LORD! HOW GREAT OUR JOY!
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YOU HAVE AN
APPOINTMENT WITH GOD
and it's at noon tomorrow! What if that were
true? I'm not talking about dying and appearing before the
Lord. I just mean, what if you knew that tomorrow at noon the
Lord was going to "show up" for a conversation? "I want to
spend some time with you. Let's do lunch."
What would you expect such an appearance to be? In the Old
Testament, encounters with God were pretty remarkable.
Sometimes a bush burned but was not consumed, sometimes there
was thunder and lightning, sometimes fire fell from heaven.
Would that be the nature of His encounter with you? If so, you
might want to prepare people in your workplace, or other family
members: "God's stopping by tomorrow. It might get
intense."
Or
would there be evidences of His royalty? Would a cadre of royal
trumpeters announce His arrival, and then He Himself would march
in, dressed in exquisite finery bejeweled with all sorts of
precious stones, a spectacular crown on His head and a regnal
scepter in His hand? Would His appearance have all the fanfare
of a parade down High Street?
Our
imagination can go wild with speculation if we contemplate an
appointment with God. However, I doubt that we would expect God
to appear to us as a newborn infant, wrapped in cloths, nestled
in an animal's feeding trough, exposed to the elements and the
filth of a stable.... No, we didn't expect God to look like
that.
In
fact, if we did not know the story of Christmas, and if we did
not have the record of the New Testament, proving (as Peter
preached) that this man was "accredited...by miracles,
wonders and signs" (Acts 2.22), so that His deity is
undeniable, no one would ever believe that God would come in
such a manner. To think of God as weak, vulnerable, subject to
physical limitations and discomforts is not only unfathomable,
it is very nearly blasphemous.
Except...that's exactly what He did. He made an appointment
("...when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a
woman...." (Galatians 4.4, NIV)) and He came in humility,
not with the trappings of majesty that we might have expected.
The more we contemplate Christmas, the more incredible it
seems.
Why
did He choose such a means of self-manifestation?
Fundamentally, the answer is wrapped up in the truth that
"God is love" (I John 4.8, 16, NIV). He loved us so much
that He came in a manner that was non-threatening, that revealed
His participation with us in our human experience, that
dissolved away all the possible barriers, that invited us into
personal friendship with Him.
It's true that I am God's creature; I must do the bidding of the
Creator. It's true that I am His subject; He rules over me with
all the authority of a potentate. But it's also true that I am
His child and His friend, and that is possible only because of
Jesus -- only because God "became flesh and and made His
dwelling among us" (John 1.14, NIV). Because of the
incarnation, I know that the Creator cares about His creature,
that He rules over me with a benevolent concern for my welfare.
If
God had not humbled Himself in His incarnation, we would never
have comprehended the extent of His love, nor would we have been
able to personalize it to our own circumstances. "This is
love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His
Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (I John 4.10, NIV).
What a wonderful, marvelous, incomparable, exalted Savior is
Jesus our Lord! Merry Christmas!
THOUGHT YOU KNEW GOD?
THINK AGAIN ABOUT THE INCARNATION! FOOLED YOU, DIDN'T HE?
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OUR DOG RINGS OUR
DOORBELL! Her
name is KoKo, by the way. She's a chocolate lab,
cocoa-colored of course, with a distinctive spelling of the name
just for the fun of it. Actually, her full name is KoKo PuF.
And
I'm not lying! She just turned one year old, so she's barely
out of the puppy stage, but she recently learned how to ring the
doorbell. She jumps up on the back door to look in the window,
so I'm sure the first time was an accident. However, she has
figured out that we come in response to the ring.
One
day recently the doorbell rang four times in the span of maybe
two minutes. When I went to the back porch, there she sat,
looking up at the door waiting for me to appear. Her look said,
May I please come in? Or maybe it was, Will you
come out and play? I can't always interpret her
correctly. She's smarter than I am.
It
would appear that we are better trained than she. When she
rings, we run. Think of it as a canine Pavlovian revenge. I
don't slobber, but I jump.
She
also opens the front door if it isn't locked. No kidding! The
door has a latch-type handle, and if she pushes down on it with
her paw it will open right up. She's done that twice, the first
time right after I had mopped the kitchen, living room and
dining room, each of which has laminate flooring. Her muddy paw
prints were everywhere. Mossie laughed. I mopped. Again.
Not
long after that, I was sitting at the kitchen table one evening,
reading something and enjoying a hot cup of tea. Suddenly, I
realized that KoKo was standing beside me. Sure enough, the
door was wide open. This time, at least, her feet were
relatively clean.
All
she wants is companionship, and when she rings the bell or walks
in the door we can't help but think it's "cute" and endearing.
We pet her and give her a treat and make her feel loved.
I
wonder how the Lord feels when He tries, over and over, to "get
in the door" and we refuse to respond? Look at me. I stand
at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door,
I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you
(Revelation 3.20, The Message).
Once upon a time, God "broke the door down." It's called
Christmas. He came, just as He had promised, and made His
dwelling among men. He came as an infant, born in the humblest
of settings, exposed to all the dangers and hurts that are
common to the human experience. He became like us, so that that
we might become like Him.
He
won't break the door down again. Now He knocks, and waits for
our response. He does not force His friendship upon us. You
and I decide whether we want anything to do with Him. He
respects our decision. If we refuse to open the door, He does
not overrule us. He will not compel us to have fellowship with
Him.
But
He is still knocking. He who is the Bread of Life -- the Way
and the Truth -- desires to sit and eat with us. This
Christmas, don't miss your opportunity to entertain your
Redeemer and Friend!
THIS
SUNDAY the To Be Like Jesus series
continues with a further look at the discipline of sacrifice.
In the Evening Praise Service
we will enjoy a wonderful Christmas musical. Come, Let Us
Adore Him...and be sure to bring your friends and family.
Refreshments will follow. Go to
www.cmachurch.net for
more about our fellowship.
LORD, YOU'RE KNOCKING ON
THE DOOR OF MY HEART. I'M COMING! I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!
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I
DIDN'T KNOW I HAD ANYTHING IN COMMON WITH BOB DYLAN
until I listened to Paul Harvey
one evening as I drove home from the office. He was telling the
story of a time when young Bob Dylan was influenced in a
positive way by "Gorgeous George."
You might not know who Gorgeous George was. Not Curious George! Not George of the Jungle! Certainly not George "Dubya." Gorgeous George hailed from the Pittsburgh area and he was a very big name at one time in the world of professional wrestling. Since that "sport" is as much about entertainment as it is about athleticism, every contestant has to have a "shtick," something that sells his personality. Gorgeous George marketed his good looks -- his "pretty boy" features and long flowing golden locks. He dressed in outlandish robes and always entered the arean with a great deal of fanfare. He was "Fabio" before there was a Fabio.
One
Sunday, right after the service ended, I was approached by the
pulpit committee with the request that I come back again on an
upcoming Sunday. We began to discuss dates and when they
suggested one that was open for me I indicated that yes, I would
be glad to come back on that date. Then a member of the
committee said, "Oh, wait. We can't do it on that date. That's
the Sunday that Gorgeous George is coming."
I
knew who Gorgeous George was. (Imagine how strange it would
have been to hear this if I had NOT known who he was!) What I
didn't know, but learned in the next minutes, was that he had
recently made a profession of faith and was now a very hot item
on the speaking circuit.
We
discussed some other dates and agreed on a time for me to come
back, but I have always been amused when I think of the time
that I was "bumped" by Gorgeous George. It's been a healthy
reminder never to become impressed with myself. There is always
someone out there who is better-looking, more appealing, a
bigger "catch" than I will ever be.
"GG"
spoke in a lot of churches during that era, and I pray that
many responded to his testimony and turned to the Lord. His
ministry wasn't mine, however. No one will ever come to see me,
so I need to be sure I present Christ, as clearly and
convincingly as I can, so that others will come to Him. And
unless you're Gorgeous George material, I encourage you to do
the same!
FLAMBOYANT OR NOT, LEARN
TO BE THE PERSON GOD MADE YOU TO BE -- TO HIS GREAT GLORY!
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ONE OF
THE FIRST LESSONS WE TEACH SMALL CHILDREN
is the simple civility of
saying thanks. It's right to acknowledge a kindness, to voice a
blessing upon those who have blessed us with some favor. How
much more should we speak our gratitude to the Giver of life!
On this Thanksgiving Day, let us magnify Jesus, our Lord and
Savior.
Very often, I find that the "ancients" -- those who have
preceded me in this walk of faith -- have much to say on issues
like these. Recently, I found myself reading this paean of
praise found in The Book of Common Prayer published by
the Church of England.
In
another version of this prayer there is opportunity for others
to voice their praise. At the end of the first sentence, the
leader would add, "particularly to those who desire now to offer
up their praises and thanksgivings for thy late mercies
vouchsafed unto them." At that point, others in the group would
speak out their gratitude unto the Lord. After a season of
these expressions, the leader would continue with the remainder
of the prayer.
Feel free to use this model around your table this
Thanksgiving. The food will stay warm...or you can pop your
plate in the microwave. After all, the whole point of the day
is to "give thanks." We shouldn't rush to the meal (or the
football game!) without taking time to tell the Lord that we
love Him, and that we know we owe everything to His goodness.
If you have children or grandchildren with you, this is one of
the best "teaching moments" of the year. So, offer more than a
perfunctory prayer over the meal. Take a little extra time to
reflect on the wonder of God's grace, and to say, Thank you
SO much!
Of course, you can
update the language of your prayer just a bit. After all, not
everyone will understand words like inestimable and
unfeignedly, even if they can pronounce them! Feel
free to put the prayer into your own words.
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!
NAME THEM ONE BY ONE! IT WILL SURPRISE YOU WHAT GOD HAS DONE!
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IT'S
TIME FOR MY YEARLY "EBENEZER SCROOGE" SPEECH!
In fact, I'm a little early.
About this time every year, usually right after Thanksgiving, I
write some words of caution to help liberate all of us from the
notion that we must spend a fortune on gifts in order to have a
"good" and Merry Christmas.
I'm
early because Christmas decorations are going up earlier and
earlier. Soon, I'll be writing this before Halloween, then
maybe around Labor Day! Merchants know this is their busiest
and most profitable time of the year. Quite naturally, they
milk it for all it's worth. In every conceivable way, our
pockets are picked, and the end result is that we have no money
left by the time the "big day" rolls around...plus, we know
there are some hefty bills awaiting us in the New Year.
It
just doesn't have to be that way. Christmas is about the birth
of our Savior, after all. This extravagance that has enveloped
the holiday is simply not essential to its celebration. And if
we're going to give gifts, we really need to be sure the Lord is
at the top of our list. The Wise Men brought gifts to Him, not
to each other!
You
can rejoice in the blessing of family, of good health, of
adequate provision, etc., without spending yourself into
oblivion. Giving is wonderful, but less expensive gifts that
are thoughtful and given in love are just as meaningful as the
too expensive presents that you really can't afford.
Many are concerned that the folks who suffered through Hurricane
Katrina "won't have Christmas" this year. What does that mean?
Anyone can have Christmas; anyone can rejoice in the birth of
our Lord Jesus and in a personal saving relationship with Him.
Gifts are not required when you are celebrating the single
greatest Gift of the ages! Why do we think "it's just not
Christmas" if the room isn't piled high with presents?
Moreover, a Christmas without gifts might be the best ever for
those who are rightly thankful just to be alive and to have the
love of family and friends. Where is it written that
deprivation is a bad thing? Doing without can be a great way to
develop character and to stir motivation. Mounds of material
possessions might only produce wholly self-absorbed people.
But
please don't imagine that I am a mean-spirited old codger who is
opposed to fun and whose heart is the size of a hickory nut. I
love Christmas; I love gift-giving; I love seeing the joy of a
child when opening a special treasure. But I'm opposed to
turning Christmas into a wanton exercise in acquisition and
excess.
In
fact, if you are concerned about Katrina victims, here's a great
idea: Why not do something that is really in the spirit of
Christmas? Why not forego your own giving and receiving this
year and see if your family members will agree to donate what
you would have spent on Christmas to help a family in real
need? I know of a family that is actually doing this. Some
version of it might work for you.
There are people in the Gulf Coast region who lost everything.
There are people in Pakistan still dying in the aftermath of the
recent earthquake. You might even know of someone in your
neighborhood who lost their job and can't pay their mortgage.
There is need all around us. The best Gift the world ever
received was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger,
a Gift that met the deepest longings and most timeless needs of
humanity.
IF CHRISTMAS IS ABOUT
GIVING, MORE THAN ABOUT GETTING, THEN SHOULDN'T I GIVE AWAY?
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SADNESS. HEARTBREAK. DISAPPOINTMENT. HOPELESSNESS.
I see so much of this in my line of
work. Especially in the context of counseling. By the time
folks find the courage to talk to someone, the problems are
usually beyond the crisis stage.
And
yet...the potential for joy and victory is profound.
Sometimes I'm grasping for straws when I begin a counseling
relationship, anything that will open the door just a crack to
allow the light of divine possibility to shine in. Usually, I
dare not ask, Do you still love your partner? Rather,
it's something along the lines of, Do you think it might be
possible to despise your spouse a little less than you do right
now? If I get a positive response, then I can say,
See? There's some hope after all!
OK,
maybe I've overstated things a little, but not by much. So many
times I have started a series of marriage counseling sessions
wondering to myself whether there really was any hope of saving
this relationship.
Here's what I have discovered: First, when two people come with
an earnest intent to hear and obey what God is telling them to
do, the prospects of restoring the marriage are excellent.
Second, once a person gets on the continuum of obedience,
obligation inevitably leads to joy. Let me explain what I mean
by each of these observations.
In
the first place, I have learned that those couples who are
looking for a quick fix, cheap advice, worldly wisdom,
non-confrontational affirmation -- whatever -- almost never
manage to renew the relationship around. Those persons are
inclined to be selfish and self-centered and really don't want
biblical counsel. Moreover, when one person is ready to do what
is necessary to redeem the marriage but the other is not, the
chances of saving the union are about as poor as when neither
one is really committed. It takes two to tango...and two to
turn a marriage around.
As
to my second point, I have learned that a genuine commitment to
obedience always leads to reward. On a number of occasions I
have counseled people who honestly admitted that they no longer
loved their partners and really had no desire to save the
marriage BUT...in their heart of hearts they knew God was
commanding them to stay in those relationships and work them
out. They obeyed out of obligation. They obeyed because they
wanted to honor the Lord more than they wanted out of the
marriage. And wonder of wonders, the Lord honored them.
I
have even told such persons, God can restore your love. He
can awaken in you a love for your partner that is greater even
than the love you had at the first. When I say that, they
don't believe me. Some have told me later that they thought I
was crazy, but with tears they have confirmed that God did
exactly that. Amazing grace!
Just recently a person told me the only reason they decided to
try to save the marriage was because a still small voice was
saying that if they gave up they would miss out on God's best.
This person said, I don't want to miss God's best, for me or
for my children Yes! I predict victory in that
relationship, because I sense this commitment is genuine. Plus,
the spouse shares a similar dedication to saving the marriage.
And
the wonderful thing they have yet to discover, but surely will,
is that the obedience that begins in obligation leads ultimately
to joy. They are going to fall in love all over again. They
are going to discover a love that eclipses any they have known
so far. It's God's promise, not mine...but I have the privilege
of declaring it.
WHEN YOU'RE READY TO
GIVE OUT AND GIVE UP...WHY NOT GIVE IN TO GOD? HE REALLY CARES!
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LIFE IS FULL OF SURPRISES!
On Tuesday morning we awoke to
a true "winter wonderland." Trees were snow covered with
branches bending to the ground under the excessive weight. In
fact, since there are still so many leaves on the trees, the
weight was too much in many instances. Large limbs broke and
some trees were felled.
During the night, I kept hearing sounds and thought that our dog
must be getting into something in the back room. Several times
I checked on her, but she just looked at me with her big, brown,
innocent eyes and it was obvious she was behaving herself. With
daylight, I realized that I had been hearing branches snapping
and falling. A large limb from one of my neighbor's trees had
broken and was blocking my upper drive. On the lower side of
the house, limbs were so weighted down that they blocked the
drive on that side as well.
After a bit of work, I got my van out to the road, which was
great because I love driving in conditions like these. Oh, and
I had to get to the office. I was scheduled to travel to
Colorado Springs Tuesday evening and needed to finish a good bit
of work before leaving town. So, even though the officials
urged folks to stay off the roads, I found it imperative to get
out. And besides, in case I didn't mention it, I love driving
in these conditions.
At
the top of our road, I discovered that a lot of limbs were
down. In fact, I would have assumed that the road was
impassable except that someone had been through before me and I
could see that the tracks in the snow appeared to go around some
of the debris. No way was I going to miss the fun of this!
So,
I followed the tracks and found myself reprising one of those
Jeep commercials, where you go over and around things that are
impeding your travel. The van is all-wheel drive, which was a
good thing because I had to go off the road and in and out of
the ditch and back on the road again. A little beyond this
area, I drove over some downed power lines.
The
news said this is the first time on record that we have had our
first significant snow before we had our first frost. It was a
rare opportunity for camera buffs, since you seldom get so much
of the fall colors mingled with the brilliance of the white
snow. At the office, I could hear sirens all day long.
Obviously, there were accidents, and dozens of closed roads that
had to be opened.
If
you ever wondered why God ordained that the leaves should fall,
leaving the trees so bare in the winter, now you have part of
the answer: The only way the trees can bear the weight of the
snow is if their branches are devoid of leaves. God has a
purpose in everything! Shouldn't surprise us, really. After
all, His ways really are much higher than ours...past
understanding, in fact.
What a beginning to winter! And it's not even winter
officially. I wonder what else is in store?
This
storm caught everyone off guard. No one thought
temperatures would drop as low as they did, so the half-inch or
so of rain that was predicted ended up being about eight inches
of dense snow. And yet, so much of life takes us by surprise.
On Monday I visited a person who has a medical problem that has
"come out of the blue." Now that person is in a hospital bed,
undergoing all sorts of tests, wondering where this thing is
leading.
The
one assurance we have, in the midst of so many unplanned events,
is that God is in control, is all-wise, has eternal purposes
even in the smallest events, and will still be on His throne
when everything in our experience is thrown into upheaval. How
thankful I am that He holds me in HIS hand!
LORD, PREPARE ME FOR
WHAT YOU PLAN TO DO...AND WHICH I NEVER EXPECTED AT ALL!
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I
WISH YOU WERE EITHER HOT OR COLD!
Your lukewarmness sickens me!
That's the message the Lord sent to the church of Laodicea
(Revelation 3.15-16). I sure don't want to turn my Lord's
stomach.
We
have an adorable chocolate Labrador, not yet a year old. Well,
she's adorable except for chewing up nearly everything she can
get her teeth into. The other day she chewed to pieces the
electric cord on our outside George Foreman grill and I was
ready to..... No, I can't even say that. This puppy is
Mossie's pride and joy and if I'm ever found guilty of doing
harm to her I'm afraid my life is over. But I digress.
What I was about to say was, I am truly astounded by this dog's
passion to please. She'll sit by the sliding glass
door at the kitchen and watch us, begging with her eyes for
someone to come out and play. She could spend hours lying at
our feet, content just to be in our presence.
When I walk out the door, she anticipates my every move. If I
move one direction she assumes I'm headed around the house, and
so she runs that way. The slightest movement in the other
direction and she guesses that I'm headed to the shed in the
back, so she runs that way. If my body language suggests that
I'm going to the van, she gets really excited because she hopes
I'm going to take her down to the lake for a walk or to swim.
The dog is uncanny. She tries to read my mind, and pretty much
does. And her entire objective is simple: She wants to be with
me, wherever I'm going, whatever I'm doing. She has no interest
in choosing the agenda. She really doesn't care what will be
demanded of her. She just wants to be with me.
Martha had her own agenda, and it was a commendable one (Luke
10.38-42). The Lord didn't chastise her. However, He gently
directed her to consider her sister, Mary, who simply sat at His
feet and drank in all the wisdom He had to share. Jesus said
that Mary had chosen what is better while Martha found
herself worried and upset because she was
distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.
In
Christian circles we used to make a big distinction between
"being" and "doing." We don't talk about this very much
anymore, but the point is still valid. It is of first
importance to establish who we are in Christ before
determining what we do in His name. Mary was concerned
about finding her "being" in Christ Jesus; Martha was consumed
with "doing" the right (and necessary) things.
As
we progress through the current sermon series on spiritual
disciplines, I am reflecting on this more and more. A large
part of the disciplined life is the matter of learning how to
stop myself, silence myself, and soak myself in the presence of
my Savior. Staying busy, even when it is in the name of Jesus,
doesn't move me closer to Him or take me deeper into fellowship
with Him. In fact, busyness can drive me away from him.
On
the other hand, I don't want to become one of those who is "so
heavenly minded he's no earthly good." My times of meditation
should result in disciplined activity that fulfills the
Great Commission of the Lord Jesus. Ontology always leads to
praxis. Who I am in Jesus will compel me to take the Gospel to
the very ends of the earth...not forgetting, while I'm on my
way, to proclaim the Good News to my Jerusalem, Judea and
Samaria.
But
where is that passion to please? During this series of
messages, my prayer, for myself and for you, is that I will
cultivate an unquestioning allegiance to the Lord Jesus, a
desire to be with Him, an earnest effort to anticipate His every
move and to go where He is going, a readiness to do whatever He
commands. Surely, that's the fruit the Lord desires from my
spiritual discipline!
AS THE DEER (OR
CHOCOLATE LAB) PANTS FOR WATER, SO MY SOUL LONGS FOR YOU, O
LORD!
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I'VE JUST HAD AN
UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE.
In fact, that's partly the reason
these Thursday Thoughts are arriving late...but still on
Thursday!
We
live in the country and have our own septic system. A few days
ago, a line became blocked and today I was able to have a fellow
come and address the problem. I think it's resolved now. I
sure hope so, because I really don't want to get into digging up
lines, etc.
Especially not those lines. We seldom give much thought to our
sewage system, but when something malfunctions you sure gain a
new appreciation for the importance of a means for eliminating
the waste and refuse of life...and an appreciation for those who
service such systems. If you have never had to open up a septic
tank, well, let's just say I don't recommend it.
As
this gentleman worked on my system, opening up lines and running
his snake and cleaning my pipes (that's what he promised me he
was doing), I thought how much I would not want to be doing that
job day after day. He wore rubber gloves and all, but it seemed
like a pathetic barrier considering the work in which he was
engaged.
However, he was a cheerful fellow and I enjoyed our conversation
and his spirit of helpfulness. I'm sure his good cheer was
owing in part to the size of the check he knew I was going to
write, although I didn't mind paying, considering the
alternative. So, we enjoyed a cordial and mutually satisfying
business transaction...but we didn't shake hands when we parted.
An
important part of the regular maintenance of my spiritual life
is to make sure the "sewage line" of confession remains open.
When I go to prayer, I dare not be like that Pharisee who thrust
out his chest and huffed his superiority over the sinning
publican nearby. Rather, I must be ever vigilant to pour out to
the Lord my transgressions, to acknowledge before Him my pride
and self-righteousness, and to "flush" all that stuff away so
that my life will be clean and right in the sight of God.
I
don't know where all that stuff goes; I have no idea what God
does with it. I do know that he has said he casts my sins into
the deepest part of the ocean, that He removes them as far as
the east is from the west, that He remembers them no more. How
thankful I am for that good news! I sure don't want the pipe of
confession to become clogged. I would rather not ever have to
open that tank and be reminded of all the wickedness and filth
and putrefaction that the Lord has taken away.
Because I have a septic system, my household waste never leaves
my backyard. Ugh! Not a happy thought. It's hidden, below the
ground, but it's there. Praise the Lord that He has taken away
my sin so completely that I never need to think about it and
never have to revisit it.
How
about you? Anything to confess today?
THE LOAD
OF SIN WAS MORE THAN I COULD BEAR -- HE TOOK MY SINS AWAY!
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ARE YOU COMFORTABLE
WITH MYSTERY? Some
people have a quest to know everything, to figure it all
out, to plumb the depths of every enigma and shine a bright
light into every dark corner of perplexity. Others don't seem
to mind "living in the dark." Sometimes our ambivalence is
selective: We are willing to be ignorant about certain subjects,
but we insist on knowing everything about others.
I'm
thinking about this because of a religious program that I caught
a portion of a few evenings ago. The pastor/teacher was
addressing the question of where events like Katrina and Rita
fit into God's larger scheme, and he was drawing a comparison
between the dates of our typical hurricane season and certain
feasts of Israel as found in the Old Testament. It was his
conviction that because hurricanes assault us during the same
time frame that Israel celebrated feasts that called them to
repentance and reminded them of atonement, we can therefore draw
the conclusion that a category 5 typhoon is indeed God's
"wake-up" call to America: Repent, before a worse judgment
comes upon you!
It's an interesting proposition, but perhaps just a bit too
"neat." One obvious problem is his assumption that the feasts
of Israel, which were observed by a people who lived in the
Middle East, of course -- where hurricanes never occur -- have a
direct relationship to a people living in North America several
millennia later who happen to be in a hurricane-prone part of
the world. Over the years, all too often there have been
religious leaders who wrongly placed the United States in the
center of the Bible's prophetic utterances, as though we North
Americans are now God's "chosen people." This is just bad
exegesis of scripture.
At
the same time, I don't believe for a minute that the so-called
"random" acts of nature are, in fact, outside of God's control
or divorced from His will. And there is no disputing the
evidence in scripture that God uses natural calamities and many
other common experiences of daily living to impress on us
valuable life lessons and to reveal to us His eternal truth.
As
I have written before, my son Marcus is in Gulfport, stationed
there as a Navy Seabee, and has been involved in the cleanup
work. I think he had a more accurate view of the circumstances
when he commented to me that as you look at the devastation,
with entire communities simply wiped off the face of the earth,
"You cannot help but think of the awesome hand of God." It just
looks like someone -- Someone -- who has infinite and
indescribable power, took his hand and swept it across the
beaches and inland areas and removed everything that was there.
The force was indiscriminate. Don't forget that. Believers and
unbelievers alike lost everything they had.
Should such displays of divine power get our attention?
Absolutely. Spiritually sensible people had better start
calling upon the Lord. Those who have ignored Him better sit up
and pay attention. He's not a God to be trifled with, or
neglected. But be careful about assigning spefic
interpretations of judgment upon this or that.
Bottom line: God is a God of mystery. The Holy Trinity, the
deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, the indwelling of His Spirit
in the heart of one who believes...even the wonder that I can be
saved when I receive by faith the work that Jesus did at
Calvary...these are all mysteries too great to be fathomed. I
will never fully understand.
Because, after all, He is God. If I could discern every
mystery, I would be His equal in some measure, and He would
cease to be God. I'm OK with not fully understanding God.
There is security in knowing that my God is so immense, so grand
and so great, that He cannot be put into any "box" of my
making. He is high and holy and lifted up, far above all human
comprehension and knowledge. Praise His awesome Name!
LORD,
YOUR THOUGHTS ARE FAR ABOVE MINE! I CAN'T COMPREHEND; HELP ME
APPREHEND!
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I HAVEN'T LOST MY
MIND...
I Know It's Not
Thursday!
Well, some might argue that I have lost my mind, but
they'll have to find other evidence, at least. I do realize
that I'm sending this "e-pistle" much earlier than usual.
I'm
taking several days of vacation this week and will be out of
town on Thursday, so I decided to send this message early.
Plus, I want to give you a few extra days to consider the
content of this email before worship on Sunday...and perhaps
incite you to invite someone to come to church with you this
coming weekend.
I'm
starting a new series of messages on the 2nd of October. For
some time I have been impressed by what seems to be a growing
longing among some, certainly not all, for a deeper, fresher,
more vitalized, truly authentic, life-altering relationship with
the Lord. I'm going to preach a series of messages on what are
sometimes called the spiritual disciplines.
The
approach will be a little off the beaten path. When you think
of "spiritual disciplines" you might have in mind prayer,
reading the Bible, attending church, and so on. We'll touch on
all those kinds of things, and I believe there will be practical
suggestions that will improve your daily habit in such matters.
However, I want to get behind the practices themselves to
discuss the heart changes that must happen in order to be
successful in your walk with the Lord. Here's the series title,
along with a syllabus for the lessons we'll present:
We'll take our time. Some messages might be completed in one
worship service, but others will be extended over two or more
weeks. We might continue this study through most of the winter,
because the goal will be to improve our relationship with the
Lord, gaining a renewed sense of His presence and power in our
lives and His equipping of us for His service. We won't hurry
it, but I believe you will profit from the exercise.
Pray with me that the Holy Spirit will use this sermon series to
revive His people. And see if you can think of someone else who
is hungering for more of God. Invite them to join you for this
series.
IS YOUR
HEART CRYING OUT FOR MORE OF GOD? KNOW THIS...HE REALLY WANTS
MORE OF YOU!
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IT'S
MISSIONS CONFERENCE TIME AGAIN!
Each year we host a week of
Missions-focused activities, with guests who serve in a variety
of fascinating ministries in far-off places. I never cease to
be enthralled by the stories they tell, and humbled as I hear
how God is working in other places.
But
why do they do it? Why leave the undeniable comforts of living
in North America, of all that is familiar including the
companionship of family and friends, to live in a place where
they don't know anyone and must learn a different language
and new customs? In some instances, missionaries contend with
rather harsh privations. Often, their efforts are frustrated by
bureaucracies that seemed designed to hinder rather than help
the process. Sometimes there is very real danger. Always there
is the knowledge that loved ones are a long way off.
So
why do they do it? The only reasonable answer is that they are
"called" of God to such a vocation. But that begs the question,
why does God call anyone to such a responsibility? What is the
driving necessity? Aren't all religions basically the same?
Doesn't everyone go to "heaven" someday, whatever that means?
If
we accept the Bible as God's Word, there simply is no escaping
the conclusion that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation.
Missionaries are on the field, at the frontlines of Gospel
proclamation, because they understand the declaration of
Scripture that all mankind is "lost" and that only in Jesus can
we be "found" or "saved." Missionaries have experienced a
radical transformation of thought:
Missionaries are thus "people of the Book" -- they receive the
Bible as the Word of the Lord and they act accordingly. Pretty
novel thought, isn't it? Especially in this day, when most
people follow an entirely alien creed:
Such arguments truncate and eviscerate the Gospel. Who needs
"salvation" if we all go to heaven anyway? In fact, if there is
no hell, there's no good reason to believe in heaven either.
Missionaries are driven by a different set of values: Men are
lost. Judgment is certain. Hell is real. Jesus saves. These
are stark, unyielding assertions that happen to be lifted right
from the pages of Scripture. And missionaries are people who
believe these things are true and have decided they must do
something about it.
Think about it..... If you saw a house on fire and a child
standing in the window, wouldn't you do anything -- everything
-- to save her? Even at the risk of your own life? Or, if you
didn't -- if you looked away, or turned your back -- would you
ever be able to live with yourself?
Missionaries see a lost world with the eyes of Jesus
Christ...and they refuse to look away.
LIFE HERE
IS PREPARATION FOR LIFE ETERNAL! LORD, HELP ME
PRAY...SEND...GIVE...AND GO!
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SO WAS
HURRICANE KATRINA A JUDGMENT SENT FROM THE LORD?
I have an answer to that
question, but first I must ask you to promise to read to the end
of this page. Promise? You aren't allowed to read the next
paragraph unless you promise to read the paragraphs that follow!
The
easy answer is the obvious one: YOU BET IT IS! Wait!
You already promised. You have to keep reading.
If
there is anything called sin...if there is any city deserving of
judgment...surely this must be called God's dispensation of
wrath on the immorality championed by New Orleans. Tourists go
to New Orleans to escape the noxious "bondage" of the social and
religious mores that constrain them. Mardi Gras is the
very definition of moral license. Excess and dissipation are
celebrated on the streets of this city. BUT....
The
same is true in any of the major cities of our nation. It's
true even in the out-of-the-way towns and villages that dot our
land. Maybe there was more of it in New Orleans, or
maybe there was a greater concentration of it there,
but dare we say that New Orleans was more deserving of God's
punishment than, say, Los Angeles, or New York, or even Key
West, a small but morally squalid community?
One
day Jesus was asked about some Galileans who suffered a horrible
fate: Pilate butchered them and mixed their blood with their own
sacrifices. The question seems to have been posed, were those
Galileans deserving of such a "judgment?" Listen to what Jesus
said:
Notice that Jesus does not say that such calamity is not a
judgment. Rather, he says, you shouldn't be concerning yourself
about whether another man's misfortune is his judgment. You
should make sure that you have repented of your own sin. You
are as deserving of judgment as the one you condemn!
The
truth is, this world is a fallen world, a world that dishonors
its Creator, a world that rejects the Son of God who died for
our sin, a world that revels in its corruption, a world that
shakes its fist at God. This world is deserving of God's
wrath. And when calamitous judgment falls upon any part of this
world, we should all be sobered. We should all fall to our
knees and cry out to God for mercy, for forgiveness, for pardon
and restoration.
We
do know that God sends judgment upon cities. Consider Sodom and
Gomorrah. But we also know that in a fallen world, evil
occurrences befall even the most faithful and righteous. New
Orleans was home to a lot of iniquity. It was also home to many
people of faith, many who were living their testimony before
others, many who did not participate in the wickedness that was
a trade in tourism. The righteous who were in New Orleans have
lost everything, just as did the unrighteous.
Let's be careful about "casting the first stone." Rather, may
we stand in awe of the Sovereign God who commands winds and
waves, the God who is capable of wielding a power that we cannot
fathom, and let's get on our knees...as individuals, as a
Church, as a nation. But unless you repent, you too will
all perish.
IT'S NOT
MY BROTHER OR MY SISTER BUT IT'S ME, O LORD, STANDIN' IN THE
NEED OF PRAYER!
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A NEW WORD HAS ENTERED OUR
COMMON PARLANCE.
"Katrina" fills our minds with numbing
images of floodwaters and destruction. Like "911," the very
mention evokes powerful feelings and thoughts. This time, the
number of lives lost is not as great but the economic impact is
vastly greater, will affect many more people, and will endure
for years into the future. Just take a look at the skyrocketing
gasoline prices.
Our
son Marcus is smack in the middle of it. He's a Navy Seabee
stationed in Gulfport. He evacuated to his buddy's apartment
just seven miles inland. The sea surge in Gulfport was as high
as 33 feet, and it came six miles inland. You've seen the
pictures of mounds of vehicles, washed into heaps by the wind
and water. We think Marcus' Jeep is in one of those heaps...but
who cares as long as he is safe.
Multi-story buildings are reduced to rubble. Marcus has been
able to call twice. In the second call he said, "Dad, you can't
believe what we're seeing. There is no town here anymore.
There's nothing for people to come back to, and even if they did
they wouldn't have jobs because the places where they worked are
gone."
Imagine it. In a matter of hours, everything you worked for,
all that you had accumulated, the priceless pictures and
heirlooms and mementos that cannot be replaced...gone. The
things of this world do not endure.
There are lessons in such experiences...hard, painful, grievous
lessons. There are also opportunities. Hundreds of thousands
need assistance and prayers. How gratifying to see the
responses from all around the country. The government will give
assistance, of course, and every taxpayer contributes to that
aid, but it's even more touching to see how emergency personnel,
the military, church groups, etc., are linking arms to go, even
at great personal sacrifice.
It
was an agonizing wait on Monday, wondering where Marcus was, if
he was OK. What a relief and joy to hear his voice in that
first call! In such instances, you can't help but fear the
worst until you receive confirmation that everyone is safe. Of
course, many others were not safe at all. Many have died, and
the count continues to rise.
As
anxious as we were for Marcus, I'm glad he is there. No matter
how many times it is read in God's Word or preached from a
pulpit, it's hard to really latch on to the truth that we are on
this planet not to be served but to serve. We are so wrapped up
in ourselves. One exposure to the suffering of others, one
significant opportunity to "step up and make a difference," can
change our priorities in an instant.
Serving "gets in your blood." When it's done in the name of
Jesus, there is an eternal reward even in giving a cup of cold
water to someone who is thirsty. Every young person needs to
have his or her eyes opened, sooner or later, to the desperate
need of those who suffer, and then to discover the absolute
thrill of serving. Nothing satisfies like the discovery that by
your assistance or gift or prayer or encouragement you have made
a life-changing contribution to someone in need.
This is one of the reasons why short-term missions projects
change lives. You just aren't the same after such an
eye-opening experience. As you pray for the victims of Katrina,
pray also that Marcus and countless others will becoming
addicted to a lifetime of service, and that it will be in the
name of the Lord and to the glory of the Lord. May each of us
forsake the wood, hay and stubble of pointless living and begin
to devote all of ourselves and of our resources to those
endeavors that advance the cause of Christ in His world.
LORD,
GRANT THAT I WILL BE YOUR SERVANT TODAY TO A WORLD THAT
IS HELPLESS AND NEEDY!
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I'M
RELAXED, MESMERIZED BY THE NIGHT SKY....
The August moon is full of itself,
proudly beaming a light that is not its own, but even the
reflected glory of the sun is a brilliant witness in the eastern
sky. To the west the sky is somewhat darker, and I study the
stars that sparkle in the blue/black expanse that canopies the
seemingly limitless space above me.
The
familiar night sounds, tongues an entomologist might interpret,
are soothing to me and my soul finds rest in this nocturnal
respite. The noisome press of the daylight hours seems far away
right now. Bless God for the rising of the sun. Bless Him
for its going down again. The end of the day cannot come
too soon for those who weary of their toil. But what is
that? There, just above the treetop to my west? Oh, it's
just a wisp of cloud -- that's all -- brightened because the
moon is still low in the sky and now the cloud is reflecting the
light the moon has already reflected -- a glory twice removed,
yet still more than sufficient to seize my attention.
But wait. It's not a wisp of cloud at all. It's the
leading edge of a much larger mass that is moving slowly,
purposefully toward the east. A cloud the size of a man's hand,
soon joined by a host of others.
Now
there is an impressive squadron of clouds obscuring my view of
the stars. In silent, steady march, perfectly disciplined and
resolute, undeterred, these shining bodies form a canopy below
to cancel my view of the canopy above. Soon there are no
stars. There are only clouds. Clouds that portend something.
Do they have a message for me? Will they unleash a deluge to
disquiet my reverie and send me rushing inside for shelter?
Still they march eastward, committed to some destiny beyond my
comprehension. As it happens, they have nothing to say to me.
I am of no concern to them. There is no drop of rain on my
face. There isn't even the coquettish buss of a soft summer
breeze to accompany their passing. The currents are too high
above me, too distant for me to share in them -- but the
currents are as real as the clouds they carry.
There is a stirring of lament within me. I have lost my vision
of those constellations that are a daily constant in my changing
world. Now my sight is transfixed by the clouds, not by the
stars. There seems to be an endless flow of them. Perhaps I
will even forget the stars, what they looked like, how they
stirred wonder and gratitude in me. Now, it is the clouds that
vie for my attention. They, too, are "wonderful" in their own
way. I marvel at them
But where are the stars? Will I see them no more?
I
am ready to go in, but then I realize that the sky is clearing.
Clouds never last; had I forgotten that so soon? The clouds are
not the permanent state. No, it is the vast heaven above the
clouds that speaks of permanency, and just because I cannot see
the stars does not mean they are not there...or that I will not
see them again. The clouds are ephemeral, transient, mere
vapors. But when I look into the cloudless sky I almost seem to
behold the changeless face of the eternal God.
There, the last one is gone. The clouds have passed. Here is
the expanse I remember. The stars are still in their places.
They have gone nowhere. But there...to the west again
-- another bank of clouds makes its advance.
I
go to bed, secure in the knowledge that God does not change. He
will be there when I wake up, whether the day is sunny or
overcast. My heart overflows with praise.
I KNOW
THE ONE WHO MADE THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH -- WHY THEN SHOULD I
BE AFRAID?
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I'M IN THAT
POST-VACATION CRUSH TIME!
You know what I mean. You
go away for a bit of rest and relaxation, but you dread coming
back to the mound of work that awaits you. Sometimes we even
say, "It's hardly worth taking a vacation, because you have to
work so hard to catch up when you get back."
There's truth to that, but I'm still convinced that there is
great value in getting away. I can't find any clear biblical
evidence that Jesus ever took a two-week vacation per se,
but He did advise His disciples that it is necessary to "come
apart" from time to time, that is, to withdraw from the press of
responsibilities and the demands that others place on us and to
find rest and refreshing. As someone has observed, if we don't
"come apart" (for renewal and invigoration) we'll just COME
APART (fall to pieces)!
Let's not forget, however, that our Lord had a specific
objective in mind: He intended our "come apart" time to provide
opportunity for communion with our Father in heaven, for
reflection on our Father's greater purposes for our living, and
for a rededication of ourselves to our Father's will. Simple
relaxation is part of that, but there should be an intentional
element in our vacationing as well.
I
realize someone might object. That defeats the whole
purpose of a vacation! You're imposing the old Puritan work
ethic on a time that ought to be unbounded and free! I
won't disagree, and I want to be careful that I don't seem to
turn a time of lightness and refreshing into another oppressive
obligation. But when I speak of communing with the Lord, I'm
surely not suggesting a burdensome task. Rather, I'm
highlighting the truth that in the press of everyday concerns we
tend to spend too little time with the Master, and when we spend
too little time with Him our vision becomes myopic. We see only
what is right in front of us and miss the bigger, and far
grander, vista of God's designs for our living.
How
refreshing to think that during a vacation there is opportunity,
in a more relaxed manner and at a slower pace, to rest myself in
the Lord. Since I don't have to arise and rush off to a day's
responsibilities, I can "muse and schmooze" with my God for a
while, deepening my fellowship with Him, heightening my
appreciation for His love and wisdom and mighty power.
For
me, part of that "time with God" element during this vacation
was reading a wonderful little book recently recommended to me,
Written in Stone; The Ten Commandments and Today's Moral
Crisis by Philip Graham Ryken. Now, you might think,
That doesn't sound like light vacation reading! You're
right, it wasn't exactly light, but I found it restorative. I
was reminded...once again...that even in the Old Testament,
where the Law seems to prevail over Grace, the fact is
our God has revealed over and over His marvelous mercy toward
those He created. The Law IS a manifestation of His Grace, and
the more thoroughly we understand that, the more we appreciate
how much God loves and cares for us.
I
also return to my work with a renewed sense that I need to
incorporate this particular "vacation value" into my everyday
living. That is, I really can't afford to rush into my day and
fill every waking moment with worldly responsibility. It is
imperative, to my own spiritual and physical and emotional
health, to "come apart" every day for some time of
renewal in the presence of my Lord. Daily prayer and Bible
reading honors the Lord, to be sure, but it also imparts to
me the "essential vitamins and minerals," if you will, that
ensure my well-being.
Don't neglect Jesus! He's waiting to keep His appointment with
you...every day!
IF IT
WEREN'T FOR MY "COME APART" TIME WITH JESUS, I'D FALL APART
EVERY DAY!
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HAVE YOU HEARD FROM GOD
TODAY? Don't tell
me it's too early! As soon as you open your eyes in the
morning, you should open your ears to hear what God is
saying! How else can you know your agenda, or how to do any of
the things you propose to do today? You weren't planning to
attempt them in your own strength and wisdom, were you?
In
a conversation yesterday, I was reminded of how remarkably the
Lord communicates with us. The person with whom I was speaking
was recounting a particular instance of being awakened in the
middle of the night and encountering God in a memorable and
life-transforming fashion. As I listened, I thought of several
other such testimonials that have been shared with me over the
years, and of my own encounters with God, some of which have
been mid-night experiences.
I
hasten to tell you that I do not build my walk with the Lord on
such experiences. That is, I do not base my decisions on
"special" revelation from the Lord, whether in a dream or vision
or a "word of knowledge" that comes to me out of the blue. That
can be very dangerous. Such experiences can be misinterpreted,
or might even be the counterfeit delusions of the enemy.
My
rule is, if it is not confirmed by the Word of the Lord, it
isn't a "trustworthy saying," to use the Apostle Paul's
expression. Every such encounter with God must line up with
what is already revealed in Scripture. After all, God is not
the author of confusion and He never disagrees with Himself.
At
the same time, in the very pages of the Bible we find repeated
instances of God appearing to human beings, or speaking to them
in odd ways...even through the mouth of a donkey on one
occasion. I think we should expect God to pour into our lives a
ceaseless flow of useful information, tips for success if you
will, counsel that helps us avoid trouble and stay on the
straight and narrow. Isn't that the nature of relationship?
Shouldn't that be the result of abiding in Him and Christ
abiding in us?
How
do we maintain that kind of communion? Here are a few
suggestions:
Cultivate
friendship with your God. The better you know
Him, the more likely it is that you will actually hear and
understand what He is saying to you.
Increase
your familiarity with His instruction. Get
engaged in consistent Bible study. That's where you discover
who God is and what He requires of you. Personal Bible study is
great; joining a group study (Sunday School, small group, the
Alliance Bible Study Center) is even better.
Quiet
yourself in His presence. Shut up! Really!
Practice the discipline of silence in His presence, so that you
can actually hear what He is saying. I didn't ask you whether
you had talked to God today. That's important, too,
but have you heard from Him?
Call upon
Him in faith. Hebrews 11.6 tells us that God
rewards those who believe that He exists and who earnestly seek
Him. The rest of the chapter is a long list of those who did.
The Lord is looking for faithful people, those who will cast
themselves upon His mercy and who trust Him to get it done.
Is
that so hard? I don't think so. His Sprit will enable you.
Now...have you heard from God today?
I WONDER
HOW MANY TIMES GOD HAS SHOUTED HIS INSTRUCTION...AND I WASN'T
EVEN LISTENING!
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ISN'T IT
AMAZING WHAT WE CAN SLEEP THROUGH?
A major storm passed right over our
house several nights ago. There were flashes of lightning and
some loud claps of thunder. One "boom" was so loud and so close
that it seemed to shake the house. Mossie slept through the
whole thing.
That's unusual because she doesn't often sleep so soundly, but I
guess she was really tired that night. I have slept through all
sorts of things, even moreso, it seems, as I grow older,
although I'm not sure what that has to do with it. I used to
have trouble sleeping when I would make my periodic trips to the
National Office in Colorado Springs. I suppose the change in
time zones as well as the different environment might have
interrupted my rest, but now it seems to be no problem. I
usually sleep just fine when I'm out there.
I
wonder whether with the passing of time there is an increasing
complacency. Now that I'm "used to" the travel and the time
change and the surroundings, maybe my body just relaxes more
easily. Whatever the reason, I'm thankful for it. When I first
made those trips, I returned home exhausted because I barely
slept at all while I was away.
Our
Lord slept through a major storm. Remember that? In fact, his
disciples interpreted His rest as a sign that he was unconcerned
for their welfare. We're about to perish! Doesn't that
matter to you? Of course, the One who made the seas and
the clouds above isn't inclined to be alarmed when they are "out
of sorts." He simply ordered the wind and waves to calm down,
and they did!
Jonah's story was a little different. He was in "a deep sleep"
when a fierce storm swept over the ship on which he and his
companions were traveling. He was running from God, not resting
in Him, and it could be that the stress that was the result of
his disobedience had thoroughly exhausted him. Anyway, the
others went below to wake him.
The
captain said, Get up, man! Call on your god -- we're about
to go under! Think about that for a moment. Jonah was
running from God. Now he has to call on Him for help.
It's a bit discomforting and more than a little humbling to have
to ask God for His help when you have refused His call. Sooner
or later, we all seem to find ourselves there. Lord, I know
I have no right to speak to you. I know my past actions have
made me deserving of your wrath, not your favor. But Lord, I
have no one else, no other place to turn. If you don't help me,
there is no hope for me.
And
the amazing truth is, our loving God delights in such prayers.
Of course, that's not exactly what Jonah did. Instead, he
simply owned up to his wrong and told the men to throw him
overboard. I'm the cause of this. Toss me into the deep
and the sea will settle down. They did, and it did!
And
still God did not forsake Jonah. He sent a fish to swallow him
up and then deposit him on the shore. Isn't there a spiritual
lesson here? Are you sleeping the sleep of complacency? Have
you conveniently "forgotten" God's call in some dimension of
your living? Are you imagining that you can go the other
direction and He won't notice...or care?
Maybe it's time to wake up and smell the...seaweed? Maybe God
is trying to get your attention.
I WANT TO
REST IN THE LORD, BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE SPIRITUALLY DULL AND
INSENSIBLE!
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I SUPPOSE IT'S
AN AMERICAN VERSION of a "brush
with royalty." Perhaps that's how the early
colonists might have regarded an opportunity to be in the
presence of a sitting President when he comes to visit our small
community.
Through the kindness of friends, Mossie and I had "VIP" tickets
(although I most assuredly am NOT one) when President George W.
Bush visited Morgantown on the morning of the Fourth of July.
As some who were interviewed in the paper observed, even for
those who do not agree with the President's policies, there is a
thrill about welcoming to your town the man who leads the most
powerful nation in the world.
I've had a few other "brushes with royalty." When I was in the
first grade, President Dwight Eisenhower landed on the
playground of my elementary school in Fayetteville, WV. I have
no idea what the occasion was, but I recall that we
were impressed, even as small children, that the President of
the United States would come to see us.
When I was about 12, President Lyndon Johnson made a
"whistle-stop" visit to the Morgantown airport. Townspeople
lined the fence along the runway and the President went down the
fence, reaching over to touch and shake hands. My brother and I
were touched by the same hand that on other occasions hoisted
his beagles by their ears.
Those are moments in a lifetime that are never forgotten, and I
consider it a privilege to have been so near each of these men.
On Monday, as we left Woodburn Circle with the thousands of
others who had come, there were protesters lining the street in
front of Stewart Hall, voicing their opposition to this
administration and to President Bush. As they chanted their
dissent, others who had just listened to the President's speech
began to chant, U--S--A, U--S--A! Then some of the
protesters took up the same chant. Supporters and dissenters
alike were joining their voices in common salute to the nation
we love and appreciate...on the Fourth of July.
That was especially gratifying to me. It was a poignant
reminder that our nation, above all else, is about liberty.
That includes the liberty to have an opinion that differs from
your fellow citizen, and the freedom to voice it. In the end,
the thing that unites all of us in this country is the knowledge
that we are free. Free to express ourselves, free to worship as
we please, free to pursue our dreams, wherever that pursuit
might lead us. How thankful I am for the "unalienable rights"
of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Still, there is much about the "state of the Union" that causes
me sorrow, dismay and alarm for our future. As much as we might
exalt the nation -- and on patriotic holidays we do a lot of
that -- we mush never make the government our God. Many other
nations have crumbled, and so will ours if the Lord tarries His
return. It is inevitable, because we are sinful creatures, and
the disease of selfism is already rampant in our culture.
That's why I went away from the gathering on Monday so very,
VERY thankful that I have had another "brush with royalty" that
is of far greater significance. I have met the One who is the
King of all kings, the Lord over every lord. In fact, my
acquaintance with Him is so much more than a mere "brush." By
His grace, He has chosen to make His dwelling with me. He lives
in my heart and He rules in my life. He's the One I adore.
He's the One I'm living for.
Someday around His throne we will shout, Je--sus Christ,
Je--sus Christ, JE--SUS CHRIST!
MAY WE
NEVER CEASE TO WORSHIP THE ONLY ONE WHO IS WORTHY OF GLORY AND
HONOR!
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THERE IS NONE SO BLIND AS HE WHO WILL NOT SEE!
Have you heard that expression?
Maybe you turn your head when you're watching one of those
medical shows where the doctor is about to slice through skin
with his scalpel. Lots of people are a bit squeamish when it
comes to blood. Prior to surgeries, I've often heard people
say, Just knock me out! I don't want to be awake when they
start operating. I guess the sentiment is, What I
don't know won't hurt me.
After all, ignorance IS bliss, isn't it? Well, not always. If
termites are eating away the foundation of your home, you'd
probably like to know about it sooner rather than later.
A few years
ago, pastor and author Dr. Maurice Irvin wrote an essay titled,
"The Tragedy of Ignoring the Creator." In his musing he
commented on the phenomenon of nature programs on TV where the
commentators manage to extol the dazzling beauty and wonder of
the created realm without ever acknowledging the obvious reality
of intelligent design, and therefore an Intelligent Designer.
They do not hesitate to give credit to "evolution" or to
"nature," but you never hear them say, "God has done this, and
isn't He worthy of all praise and glory!"
Sir
Francis Bacon wrote, "While the mind of man looketh upon second
causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them and go no
further, but, when it beholdeth the chain of them confederate
and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and
Deity." OK, maybe you're asking, What did he say? "Looketh
upon?" "Beholdeth the chain of them?" Let me try to
untangle the words just a bit.
Bacon was telling us that if we only bother to look at isolated
aspects of creation -- a far-away star; a leaf that falls in
autumn; the red bloom of a summer geranium -- we might be so
enamored with what he calls "second causes" that we neglect to
note the One who is the First Cause, the originator of all that
is. However, when we begin to appreciate how all things fit
together -- that the star we see is one of a countless number in
a far-flung galaxy that is too immense to measure; that the leaf
that falls represents a diversity of floral life that is
incredible in beauty and function; that the bloom of the
geranium invites the exquisite hummingbird to find succor --
why, how can we then deny that everything is connected in a
wondrously divine fashion, and how can we not praise Him who
made all that we see?
And
yet, as Irvin observes, "...in our so-called enlightened age
people are so blind to the obvious that they cannot see God in
His creation." How true!
How
it must grieve the heart of God when we fail to observe Him in
His handiwork. How His heart must ache when parents, charged
with the responsibility of bringing their children to a
knowledge of their Maker, instead shield from them the plain
truth about God's sovereignty over all the earth.
Irvin says, "Creation is an enormous mirror that reflects the
wisdom, power and ingenuity of the God who made all things."
Every time you look up at the welcoming expanse of blue sky --
every time you feel the lively dance of raindrops on the back of
your neck as you hurry to the door -- every time a bluejay
squawks an alarm or a robin invites you to "Cheer up!" -- think
about the One who made all that is, and give Him praise.
What a wonderful world! What a wonderful God!
HOW MANY
ARE YOUR WORKS, O LORD! IN WISDOM YOU MADE THEM ALL! (PSALM
104.24)
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...JUST AS IN
CHRIST GOD FORGAVE YOU.
That's the measure Paul cites in
Ephesians 5.32 when he admonishes believers to forgive one
another. The longer I live, the more I am humbled by this
demand. Peter once asked the Lord, How many times shall I
forgive my brother? Seven times? To Peter, that seemed
like a very gracious and longsuffering response. Seven is the
"number of perfection" in scripture. To forgive seven times
would demonstrate just how "perfect" Peter was in his faith; it
would be quite a feather in his cap.
Imagine Peter's surprise when Jesus answered, Not seven
times. Try seventy-seven times. Or, some translations
suggest, seventy times seven. The point is clear:
Peter, forgiveness isn't about you. Your brother who has
offended you is enslaved by his sin, and you have the power to
release him. Forgive as many times as needed.
Recently, I've been dealing with an out-of-state business that
has taken my money but hasn't performed on the contract. I've
gotten nowhere in my telephone conversations. In fact, I have
never encountered people so rude. In one conversation, I asked
the person to whom I was speaking -- I say "person" because I
cannot say "gentleman" -- why we couldn't have a civil
conversation about the matter.
I
was calmly asking questions, trying to clarify our agreement.
He was yelling at me. He said I obviously didn't understand
contracts. I told him that I understood the contract very well
and even mentioned that I was once an attorney so I'm familiar
with the language of contracts. He responded that I wasn't a
very bright attorney and declared that he wasn't going to "do
this dance" with me. Eventually, he slammed the receiver down
and the conversation was over. My wife can verify that I'm a
lousy dancer, and I certainly have no desire to dance with this
man. I never once raised my voice, nor did I say anything
insulting or demeaning, but every time I tried to ask a question
or explain something he cut me off in mid-sentence with berating
and abusive language.
I
suppose I have a "right" to be angry, but really I'm amused.
I'm also frustrated, to be sure, and I'll probably be talking
with the Better Business Bureau at some point, but mostly I'm
just amused by the man's irrationality and his overstated antics
on the telephone. I've pretty much concluded that I'm dealing
with a company that regularly defrauds its customers and so I
suspect this guy is their "bulldog" who is assigned to go on the
attack and to use intimidation and other tactics to silence
anyone who questions or objects to their methods.
But
do I hold a grudge against this fellow? Not at all. There's no
point in it, and besides, every time I am "injured" or
"offended" by someone in this life, my mind goes immediately to
this standard of measure: ...just as in Christ God forgave
you. Wow! God has forgiven me all my transgressions --
all of them! -- including my participation in the sin of
humanity that put the son of God on the cross at Calvary. That
is incredible.
Even as He suffered and died, while He was hanging on that tree,
Jesus prayed to His Father, Forgive them. How could I
hold on to the small offenses, the insignificant indignities,
the petty slights and oversights of others? When someone does
me a great wrong, when the crime is great and irreparable and my
losses are more than I can bear...even then I cannot withhold
forgiveness when I stop to consider how my Lord has forgiven
me.
And
the truly wonderful result is this: When I forgive, then I am
set free! Free from the bitterness, the anxiety, the seething
anger, the roiling emotions. Free to look into the face of my
Savior and say, Thank you, Lord. You have forgiven me so
much, and I am free indeed.
AT THE
CROSS, AS I RECEIVE HIS FORGIVENESS AND GRACE, I FIND GRACE TO
FORGIVE OTHERS!
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JESUS TOLD US TO BE DOERS OF THE WORD.
He is interested in performance,
not just talk. Affable assent doesn't cut it. The Lord has
called us to action.
I
was a bibliophile at an early age. I read story books and
the comic strips and the papers I brought home from Sunday
School. I treasured the yellowed newsprint copy of The
Grinch That Stole Christmas that my mother read to us every
December. And I discovered that mom would put off my
chores when I was reading. I suppose this constituted a reward
for indolence.
By
the time I was seven years old I was reading my Bible
faithfully. Of course, mom would never make me do chores
if I was reading my Bible. And we had these contests at church
between Sunday School classes to see which class read the most
Bible chapters each week. I read hundreds of chapters. In my
early teen years I read through the Bible multiple times.
Always the King James Version, of course. Why would anyone read
an "unauthorized" translation of God's Word?!
But
how commendable is it to spend hours upon hours reading
scripture unless you also do what it says? And isn't it obvious
that in order to do, you must sometimes lay the Bible aside and
stop your reading? Think of all the passages that have personal
application and require a faithful response.
The
Bible presumes an obedient response. There's no great advantage
to reading God's Word unless by doing so you hear and answer His
clarion call: Come, follow me. Leave your "nets" --
your occupation and livelihood; whatever interests consume your
energy and time -- and give your devotion to the Lord. The Word
itself is described as "active." It's not inert. It's not a
museum piece to be admired and kept under glass. Rather, it's a
sword to be wielded in conflict. We become engaged with the
Word, and taking it in hand we engage the enemy in an epic
struggle to see Christ exalted over all that is rightfully His.
The
Word became flesh -- that's evidence of divine action! -- and
dwelled among us, teaching and healing and comforting and
rebuking and opening to us the way to God's heaven. Think of
that as you read the scriptures. Don't try to avoid your
"God-chores." Read with a hunger to know God's instructions and
to do His bidding. Each morning, go to God's Word to receive
your "orders" for the day. When you leave those quiet moments
of study and rumination, step into the active world with the
intent of performing what God has been speaking to you from
scripture.
God
has said it. I have read it. Now I'll do it!
GREAT
LITERATURE INSPIRES ME, BUT GOD'S WORD HAS TRANSFORMED ME!
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ARE YOU SURE
YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT ROAD?
It does make all the difference, you
know. That lesson was impressed on me once again this past
weekend, as Mossie and I returned to Morgantown from Cincinnati,
OH. The previous Sunday evening we had driven to Cincinnati for
General Council, the annual gathering of our church
denomination, The Christian and Missionary Alliance. We
followed the Mapquest directions, which took us north on I-79 to
Washington, PA, west on I-70 to Columbus, OH, then southwest on
I-71 to Cincinnati. Easy enough.
However, recently a friend told us that she and her husband
drove to Cincinnati via Route 50: Clarksburg to Parkersburg and
west. She said it was four-lane all the way and very little
traffic. The only problem with the Mapquest directions was the
construction on I-70, and I was guessing that the Memorial Day
weekend traffic on the way home would be heavier. So, the Route
50 option seemed attractive. The deal was sealed when I left
the hotel and very shortly saw the signs for I-71 pointing one
direction and for Route 50 the other. Aha! Why not give
Route 50 a try?
For
at least the next two hours -- probably closer to three -- I was
on two-lane road with frequent towns, stop lights, traffic,
etc. Definitely not what I was expecting. Finally, Route 50
connected with Route 32, which WAS four-lane. We traveled east
on Route 32 to Belpre, OH, just across the river from
Parkersburg, WV, and from there we took Route 50 -- all
four-lane -- to Clarksburg, then north on I-79 to Morgantown.
The
thing that was curious about all this was that when Route 50
connected with Route 32, I turned left to head east toward WV
but I noticed that Route 32 was also going west. And I
noticed that it was four-lane going west. And I knew that
Cincinnati was west. And I guessed that Route 32 was probably
four-lane ALL THE WAY TO CINCINNATI!
I
didn't have a map of any sort in the car. I'm not a modernist.
I follow the sun in the day and the stars at night and since I
don't know my constellations all that well, I try to drive
mostly in the day. I do pay attention to road signs, but I'm of
the opinion that maps take all the fun out of travel. I will
resort to maps, of course, before I will stop and ask for
directions. And I do have a couple of road atlases at home.
They aren't much help, however, since both were purchased before
my oldest child was born. They don't even show Route 32.
When we got home, Marcus was there. He and a Navy buddy drove
all the way from Mississippi for Memorial Day weekend and his
friend had an atlas that was only two years old (gasp!). His
atlas confirmed that Route 32 did indeed go all the way to
Cincinnati, and that every mile of it is four-lane.
Well, you live and learn. Fortunately, I was headed in the
right direction. It just took me longer than necessary to get
to where I wanted to be. There are plenty of people on roads
that lead to nowhere, or which take them in exactly the opposite
direction of where they want to go. There is a way that
seems right to a man, but the end thereof is destruction.
Some people are in the wrong way because they received bad
instruction. Others were given good directions but refused to
listen.
Something else I noticed when I looked at the atlas: If I had
HAD a map with me...if I had not been TOO stubborn to actually
look at it...I would have seen that all along the way there were
connecting roads that would have allowed me to head south from
Route 50 to intersect with Route 32. I didn't have to stay on
the wrong road as long as I did.
I
think this is the kind of story that usually follows the words,
And He told them a parable....
FORGET
THE WINDING SIDE ROADS -- GET ON GOD'S "EXPRESSWAY" TO GLORY!
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THE
CHRISTIAN & MISSIONARY ALLIANCE HAS A NEW BRAND LOGO!
You see it displayed here,
and the National Office has also developed a very concise
expression of our Mission Statement: Ordinary people.
Empowered by an extraordinary God. Multiplying communities of
Christ. Throughout the world.
I
like it! In a very succinct way the message is proclaimed. We
are a community of faith, followers of the Lord Jesus, who by
His enabling Spirit are reaching out to a lost world and leading
them into a faith-relationship with our Savior as well. That's
what New Testament Christians should be about.
The
new brand logo was "rolled out" at General Council in
Cincinnati. Also that week, we were blessed by David Bryant's
ministry as he focused on "The Supremacy of Christ." His new
book, Christ Is All!, extols the worth of our Redeemer
and King and reminds us that Christ is the consummation of all
our hopes and aspirations, the answer to all our anxieties, the
end of all our searching.
In
Psalm 8 David asks, What is man that you are mindful of him?
Most of the time we are so immersed in the urgencies of the day
and the inflated importance of our personal pursuits that we do
not reflect on the relative value or significance of what we are
doing or who we are. The truth is, when I stop to consider the
matchless worth of the One whom theologian Paul Tillich and
others have referred to as "The Ground of Being," I can't help
but be conscious of my own ontological insignificance. Who am
I, that He, the Maker of everything and the Master of the
Universe, should be mindful of me?
In
point of fact, I don't even have to become theologically
reflective to be reminded of my own unimportance in the grander
scheme of things. I called one of my credit card companies the
other day to ask a question. The system was entirely automated,
with no options that would allow me to speak to a living,
breathing person. After about 20 minutes of frustration I
resigned myself to the reality that no one at that company
considers me worth their time of day. I have this image in my
mind of my name flashing on someone's computer screen while the
representative chortles to himself, Who is "David Goodin"
that I should be mindful of him? Hee--hee--hee.
Amazingly, our Sovereign God IS mindful. Overlooking
our inappropriate sense of self-importance, He saves us from
sin, fills us with His Spirit, places us in the believing
company of other disciples, and calls us to win the world for
the glory of His name. Incredible! Ordinary as I am, I have an
extraordinary God. Words can't describe Him. You and I and an
innumerable host of others live His call to be His witnesses, so
that the whole world might know how truly extraordinary He is.
What privilege and joy!
JUST A
SPECK IN GOD'S UNIVERSE, BUT NOT A MEANINGLESS SPECK BECAUSE HE
MADE ME!
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I'M THINKING THIS HAS TO BE THE
BEST TIME OF YEAR!
OK, early fall is nice too, when
the leaves have turned brilliant colors and the air is crisp but
temperatures are still moderate. And there are some lazy summer
days that just seem to invite a certain "benign insouciance"
about the more important issues of life. Vacations are usually
during the summer months. And I'll even admit that there are
winter days that simply enthrall me, especially the beauty of
snow crusted on the overhanging limbs that curtain a quiet
country road.
But
spring! What a wonderful, enlivening season! Except that, for
me, this is the time of year when the annual General Council of
The Christian & Missionary Alliance looms over me,
nearly threatening my extinction, like the blade of a guillotine
ready to fall.
For
those who don't know, our denomination has an annual general
meeting of its membership. That's not bad. In fact, I enjoy so
many features of the week -- seeing the returning missionaries,
hearing reports of God's work around the world, finding my heart
and mind stirred by inspired preaching, exulting in the
corporate praise of God's people.
The
problem is, I have too much responsibility during that otherwise
delightful week. As the Corporate Secretary for our
denomination, I'm responsible for tons of behind the scenes
stuff that makes the week "work" the way it should. In
addition, I'm the moderator for the business sessions, the
parliamentarian, and that's an unpleasant yoke at times.
Imagine trying to keep order for a business meeting that
involves 1500 to 2000 or more delegates.
So,
it just hit me today: This is the last time we will have an
annual General Council. We will be conducting biennial
Councils from now on, so the next one will be in 2007.
Moreover, I will end my term as Corporate Secretary that year,
so I won't have those responsibilities at all in 2009.
Wow! Next year, I will get to enjoy spring without any thought
of preparation for General Council. And starting in 2008
(actually, as soon as Council 2007 closes), I won't be preparing
for any aspect of Council ever again! As my daughter would so
eloquently say, "Wooo-hooo!"
And
the minute this realization began to sink in, I thought of
something even more grand: One day I will be in a place where
all I have to do, for the rest of eternity, is enjoy my
Savior. There will be no more stress, no more deadlines, no
more fear and anxiety worrying about outcomes, no more of all
the things that weigh us down and steal our thrill of serving
Jesus.
I
don't say there will be nothing to do. I don't believe that at
all. I am confident we will be employed in God's praise, a
supernal occupation if you will, forever and ever without end.
We'll be busy! But it will be effortless and unspeakably
enjoyable because it will be the final realization of that easy
yoke that Jesus promised to those who are His.
Can't wait for that! But if you remember, please pray for me
this next week!
LIKE THE
OLD HYMN WRITER DECLARED, I'M GLAD THAT "I'M IN THE GLORY-LAND
WAY!"
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I ENJOY RIDING MY BICYCLE
WHEN I HAVE A DAY OFF. I
ride longer distances, and sometimes I like to do a
"century" ride, a trip of 100 or more miles. A ride of 100
miles on an uncomfortable bicycle seat requires a certain
measure of resolve. You know there's going to be a significant
level of discomfort. At the same time, there is a wonderful
sense of accomplishment at the end. (I almost said "in the end"
but that could be interpreted a different way. Which is also
why I won't say that it's good to have the ride "behind" me.)
Paul said, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the
proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up
(Galatians 6.9, NIV). He uses a farming analogy, but it's a
principle that can be applied to all of life. Don't give up!
Don't quit! Good things come to those who persevere. Eugene
Peterson translates it this way: So let's not allow
ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will
reap a good crop if we don't give up, or quit.
My
interest in riding a bike dates back to early childhood. At
about age six I wanted a bicycle desperately. I didn't know how
to ride one, but I was convinced that was only because I
didn't have one. I just knew if I could acquire a
bicycle I would soon be riding all over the neighborhood. So I
saved my nickels, dimes and quarters. A friend of mine knew
someone whose sister had an old third-hand 20" bike that she
would sell to me for $5. (See how ancient I am? Who buys a
bike for $5 today?) Someone brought it to my house late one
evening and I handed over my $5 in loose change. It was already
dark. I scarcely slept as I planned the next day's adventure.
Early the next morning I was out in our front yard, plotting
disaster. The plan was to push off a small rise and then to
pedal furiously across the yard. I have no idea how many times
I fell off that bike. I didn't have training wheels, so the
only options were to stay up or to tip over. I can tell you
this: I'm glad it was a girl's bike and didn't have that top bar
on the frame. Over and over again I got on that bike and went
down in a heap. I picked myself up and pushed it back to that
little rise, got on it again and tried valiantly to find some
semblance of balance.
After multiple failed attempts, I might have given up and said
that I just wasn't meant to ride a bike. However, it did seem
that I was making it a little farther across the yard.
Progress! So despite the abrasions and bruises, I continued to
try. By mid-morning I was performing some sort of
semi-controlled erratic maneuver that held forth promise, and
then it dawned on me that I also had to figure out how to stop.
That is, how to stop in some manner other than by heaving myself
over the handlebars. At this point, I had perfected THAT way of
stopping.
By
noon I was riding a bicycle...and stopping without wrecking.
Wow! What a sense of accomplishment. Those first few attempts
were discouraging beyond words, but I didn't give up The sense
of satisfaction was immense. I learned something valuable that
day. I learned that I could. I also learned that anything
worth accomplishing is worth paying a price. Reaching our goals
isn't always easy. I learned that no one else could ride a bike
for me; life is all about personal responsibility. I learned
what it feels like to do something you thought you couldn't do.
Those lessons apply in just about every endeavor, including
spiritual growth. Is it easy to walk with God, to say "No" to
ungodliness, to sacrifice personal interests for the sake of the
Kingdom? In fact, sometimes it is very hard. A man I led to
the Lord in my first pastorate told me about a year later that
before he was a Christian he had no problems at all. Now,
he said, it seems like I have nothing but problems!
But he wasn't complaining. His life was carefree when he had no
consciousness of his sin. Having come to Christ, life was more
of a challenge and he had to live to a higher standard but he
had the peace of knowing that his heart was right with the Lord.
Don't quit. Don't give up. Jesus said, He who stands firm
to the end will be saved (Matthew 24.13, NIV).
EVERY
TIME YOU STUMBLE...EVERY TIME YOU FALL...TAKE HIS HAND, GET UP,
AND KEEP GOING!
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WE DIDN'T HAVE MUCH BUT WE HAD THE
THINGS THAT MATTER.
That's how I would summarize my
childhood. My father pastored small churches and usually worked
another job to make ends meet. My mother often worked outside
the home, even more after my brother and I were older. I
suppose we were"poor" but I don't remember ever going hungry, or
not having anything to wear.
We
weren't rich materially, but we were sure rich in
relationships. I grew up in a context of loving acceptance, a
world that was filled with lots of laughter and music and
sumptuous food. I'm thinking especially of my "extended"
family. There were 12 of us on my mother's side, including
aunts and uncles and cousins and one grandparent who survived
into my 20s. That's not very many, especially when you consider
that with 10 brothers and sisters, herself and her parents,
Mossie has 13 in her immediate family!
But
we were close. My earliest memories include the innumerable
Sunday dinners together, with fried chicken, mashed potatoes,
green beans, corn on the cob, tomatoes off the vine and apple or
cherry pie with ice cream on top. You can't get any more
All-American than that! My three cousins were like brothers and
sister to me, and that's no exaggeration. Being the oldest, I
was "big brother" to everyone; in those early years we all lived
in close proximity and they were my playmates.
Even when our families moved apart, we got together for
vacations at Watoga State Park, or at holidays, or for no reason
other than the love we shared. Always, my uncles brought
instruments and made music and we sang and told stories and
laughed...oh, how we laughed...many times over the silliest of
things.
I
know that the person I am today owes much to the love and
affirmation of that close-knit family. How I treasure the
memories...even more, the relationships.
Later today, I will drive to Charleston because one of those
uncles has passed away. I will preside at the funeral service
tomorrow morning. My heart is heavy with grief -- my aunts have
been like mothers to me, and these two uncles have been like
second dads. Now, my father is gone and one uncle remains and
I'm thinking...a lot...about those memories and how great a debt
I owe to those who have loved me. There is no ache like the one
you feel when you lose a loved one.
Yet
through the sorrow shine the rays of an unquenchable joy. The
loss, as enormous as it is, underscores the very sacredness of
life. How thankful I am -- How privileged! -- to have the
family God has given me. How privileged to have these strong,
creative, keen-minded, tender men who invested so much in me.
What an infinite variety of people God has made! Each one has
gifts and abilities and experiences and training that make them
unique. Each one comes into this world highly valued by God
Himself -- so much so that He gave His Son to die on the cross
for them -- and that intrinsic value is only enhanced and
increased by the myriad of experiences that comprise this thing
we call relationship.
I
am grieving, yet I rejoice. I smile as my mind dredges up a
raft of recollections, the multitude of ways my uncle made me
laugh and lightened my spirit. And I rejoice at the thought of
a day when there is no more sorrow, no more loss, no more
suffering, no more separation from loved ones, or from the One
who is the Lover of my soul.
OH THE
JOY WHEN AT LAST WE SAY "FAREWELL" TO EVERY FAREWELL!
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I DON'T KNOW WHEN THE FIRST EPISODE
OF SESAME STREET AIRED
but I'm sure I was already an adult.
That will boggle the mind of some who read this. You were
already grown up? Wow! You're ancient.
Anyway.... I don't remember if I started watching Sesame Street
because I had a child or just because I found it intellectually
stimulating, but I was shocked -- shocked, I say -- to learn
that there was another Cookie Monster. I thought that
title was mine.
From my earliest memory, I was a fiend for the delicacy commonly
known as a cookie. I took Oreos apart and licked off the white
creamy filling (then gave the black wafers to my mother--who had
taught me the concept of sharing). I dipped chocolate chip
cookies in cups of milk and developed a talent for knowing when
they were just right, properly saturated to a point just shy of
falling apart. I was a connoisseur of Girl Scout cookies.
After all, as a Cub Scout myself I understood duty to my sister
organization. And who could refuse cookies sold by Brownies?
These were just the packaged treats, of course. Even better
were the hot, moist oatmeal raisin delights my mother made, or
the warm and gooey chocolate chip cookies that grandma baked. I
suppose I grew up thinking all grandmas should smell like
chocolate chips -- the parfum de préférence -- which
was also a rough approximation of what I thought the scent of
heaven should be.
Let it be noted,
however, that I was not the Cookie Gourmand or the Cookie
Aficionado. I was most assuredly the original (Don't argue with
me!) Cookie Monster.
A cookie
monster has an insatiable, ravenous,
voracious, embarrassingly unrestrained appetite for all things
cookified. I didn't just eat a
cookie...or two or three. I was capable of finishing off a
whole package of Nestlé chocolate chip cookies dipped in about
three quarts of whole (who knew skimmed?) milk. Cookies are not
dessert or snacks for a real monster. Cookies are the main
course, a staple in one's diet, an essential food group, a
veritable
raison d’être.
A
cookie monster consumes cookies on the sly, when no one else
(once, mother -- later, wife) is supposed to know. A monster
eats the cookies that were set aside for his children. A
monster crumbles cookies in his ice cream because, otherwise,
it's just ice cream. A monster fantasizes about other realms of
cookiedom still to be discovered: What will the next great
cookie be?
And
I'm not sure why any of this is on my mind, unless it's because
I'm preaching on repentance this Sunday. Perhaps I'm convicted
by a lifetime of cookie excesses and am realizing that it's time
to put away my childhood indulgences. But like so many of our
vices, I really don't want to forsake my cookie fetish!
I
have sworn them off from time to time. Withdrawal is painful,
not a pretty sight -- you really don't want to know. And then I
walk into the house and there's that familiar, sinfully sweet
fragrance that makes me weak in the knees. Kooo-keee!
And there I am again, shamed by my addiction but incapable of
refusing so great a temptation. Who can deliver me? And do I
even want to be?
ALL
KIDDING ASIDE, IF YOU'RE GOING TO REPENT YOU'D
BETTER RENOUNCE! (PROVERBS 28.13)
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Last December, we watched the news in horror as reports about
the tsunami began to roll in. We soon realized that the most
devastated area was the province of Aceh on the Indonesian
island of Sumatra. Aceh is staunchly Muslim, even
militaristically so, and there were those who observed that the
disaster seemed almost to be a judgment on the region for their
harsh treatment of Christians and their rejection of the Gospel.
However, in March a major 8.7 earthquake hit Sumatra, this time
a little further to the south, nearly destroying the town of
Nias. Interestingly, this town is an oasis of Christianity in a
desert of Islam. About 90% of the residents are Christians.
Hundreds of them died. Truly, as the Bible says, It rains
on the just and the unjust alike.
What does this reveal to us? Does it mean that God is
capricious, that He behaves in erratic and irrational ways, that
He has no sense of basic justice or doesn't care any more about
His own children than He does about those who deny Him? None of
that.
What it reveals is that we live in a grievously fallen world.
We must never lose sight of that truth. Our sin and rebellion
have expelled us from the garden of God's grace, and we
experience the consequences of that reality every day, every
moment.
Life isn't all misery and lament, of course. There are so many
ways in which we are reminded that God has better designs for
us. The happy sounds of an infant studying the mobile above her
crib. The absurd exuberance of a puppy chasing its tail. Even
the acerbic humor of a stand-up comedian can make us laugh. And
then there are the seasons of mirth at family gatherings, the
times of telling stories on one another, recalling the silly
things we have done.
How
I thank the Lord for laughter! And yet....
Scratch the surface, dig a little deeper, and you find that
almost everyone has experienced some measure of disappointment,
loss, reversal, pain. In fact, some of those who laugh the
easiest have walked the hardest roads. Perhaps suffering and
loss enhance our capacity to appreciate a little levity. Maybe
we value lightness and laughter even more when we have seen too
much of the dark side of life.
Learn to value laughter. The Bible says, A merry heart is
good medicine (Proverbs 17.22). Of course, we wouldn't
need "medicine" if we weren't "sick," so we are never able to
lose sight of our sin. In fact, in almost every example of
humor we see the shadow of sin that lurks nearby.
Here's an example: Recently, a Turkish burglar broke into a
doctor's office. He took about $220 in cash, but since he had a
headache he also took some pills. The next morning the doctor
found him asleep in the office and called the police. Turns out
the pills were tranquilizers. Now that's funny...and sad.
Theft is an evidence of our sinfulness, but we can't help but
laugh when a burglar tranquilizes himself at the scene of the
crime!
Keep laughing, even through your tears, and keep longing for the
day when there will be nothing but the joy of the Lord to occupy
us for an eternity of praise.
DEEP IN
MY SOUL I KNOW I WAS CREATED TO REJOICE AND ENJOY, NOT TO
GRUMBLE AND GRIEVE!
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DO YOU KNOW WHAT "SPYWARE" IS?
I had heard the term, but
I've just been given a brief "tutorial." In the world of
cyberspace, there are various software applications that allow
others to infiltrate your computer, track your internet use and
discern what your habits and interests are. Then you start
getting spam that is designed to appeal to those interests or
habits.
We
just installed a program to help filter out spyware for our
church office computers. In less than a week this filter has
caught almost 15,000 attempts to get into our system! That is
incredible. Every minute of every day, someone somewhere is
somehow someway trying to get into our computers. And the same
is true for you.
Moreover, once the spyware has infiltrated, your computer begins
sending information to others without your even knowing it. Our
filter identifies and blocks this kind of transmission as well
and has already blocked almost 100 attempts by our computers to
release information that we would not want sent out to unknown
parties.
Talk about insidious. I'm sorry, but it reminds me too much of
the way the devil works. As some preacher observed when I was
young, the devil never walks up to the front door and knocks on
it asking, "May I come in and sit for a spell?" Instead, he
slips around back and looks for a basement window left
unlocked. Once he's inside, he takes up residence in some out
of the way place for a season -- no bother at all! -- and bides
his time until he just becomes an accustomed member of the
family, acceptable to all.
Fortunately, the Lord has provided some "filters" to protect us
against the devil's sly ways. First, it is His Spirit that
fills us. As I maintain true communion with the Lord
through the filling of His Spirit and by the ordinances the Lord
has appointed, I am safeguarded from the enticements of Satan.
I'm
also thankful for God's Word to govern my thoughts and
actions. When I am faithful to what He has declared, I am
protected from the error and rebellion of the enemy. In
addition to the Bible, God calls me to prayer. Conversation
with the Lord (prayer) is a wonderful defense against the
evil one; Jesus even instructed His disciples to pray, "Deliver
us from evil." Many scholars believe the correct translation is
"from the evil one."
Another wonderful filter is God's people. It is wise to
maintain an "accountability relationship" with a trusted fellow
believer, perhaps a spouse or close friend. In that
relationship, we hold each other to the standard of holiness
that is honoring to the Lord. Moreover, just going to church
and renewing fellowship with those who share this journey with
me is refreshing and reviving as I press on in my spiritual
pilgrimage.
How
interesting that these are the very "filters" identified in Acts
when the Church was first established. They devoted
themselves to the apostles' teaching [God's Word] and
to the fellowship [God's people], to the breaking of
bread [communion with the Lord] and to prayer
[conversation with the Lord] (Acts 2.42, NIV).
The
devil is sneaky! We are wise to be vigilant in setting up
"defenses" against his wiles, and to maintain those. Don't
neglect the assembly of believers. Don't neglect God's Word and
consistent prayer. Listen to Christian radio; play Christian
music; read edifying books and magazines. Paul gives a list of
noble and honorable things to think on (Philippians 4.8). In
all these ways you filter out the bad influence of the enemy and
you set up a "firewall" of protection against his efforts to
destroy and devour.
And
remember, even with these filters in place, the devil is going
to keep trying. Just like those people who are developing new
forms to spyware to get inside your computer!
IF I
COULD PUT THE DEVIL IN A BOX...I'D LOCK THAT BOX AND THROW AWAY
THE KEY!
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HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW THAT YOU
HAVE A NAIL IN YOUR HEAD?
Have you seen some of these
news stories? There have been several of them in recent
months. I saw an interview with one fellow who accidentally
shot a nail through the roof of his mouth. He didn't realize
the gun had actually discharged anything other than air. I
think it was at least a couple days before he went to the
doctor. Was there dead air between his ears?
When my dad was young he held his finger over the end of an air
rifle and pulled the trigger just to feel the puff of air.
Several days later, with a painfully swollen finger, he had to
see a doctor to remove the B-B that he didn't know he had
fired. The things we don't know can definitely hurt us. Left
ignored or unattended, a nail in the head will almost certainly
lead to a fatal infection. Clogged arteries are unseen, but
they can stop a heart from beating.
In
some cases, we are brought down by what we know but choose to
ignore. Recently, I read a story about a young man who
accidentally severed his hand at work. They were able to
reattach it, but his doctor told him, "You must never smoke, not
even one cigarette, because smoking will constrict the blood
flow through these essential vessels and you will lose this
hand." The young man was doing well for days, but he missed his
smokes. One day he gave in and had just one cigarette. He lost
the hand.
What is true in the physical realm is true in the spiritual.
The Bible says our sins will find us out. It doesn't say, your
sins will be found out, although that is usually the case as
well. Rather, the Lord is warning us, When you insist on
doing things that I have disallowed, when you must have it your
way instead of yielding to my command, you can rest assured all
your crimes against God will chase you down and you will bear
the weight of the full penalty. Your sins will bring upon
you the full measure of shame, guilt, heartbreak, misery,
regret, injury and suffering that is part and parcel of
disobeying God. This is the inviolable law of an immutable
God.
All
because of sin! Later he says, I confess my iniquity; I am
troubled by my sin. He ends the psalm with a petition:
Come quickly to help me, O Lord, my Savior.
There is no answer for sin except to confess it to the only One
who can forgive, and to cry out to Him for salvation. This is
that godly sorrow that Paul says brings repentance
that leads to salvation and leaves no regret (II
Corinthians 7.10). Oh, what precious freedom! No longer bound
by the cords of shame and guilt and regret; no longer a slave to
sordid memories!
I
hope you don't have a nail in your head! However, when the Holy
Spirit drives a dagger of conviction into your heart, don't
ignore the symptoms. Go to Jesus -- right away! -- and confess
your sins, asking His forgiveness. He will forgive you,
and He will cleanse all your unrighteousness (I John 1.9). It's
His word, and He's good for it!
LORD,
MAKE ME HOLY.... BUT WHEN I'M NOT, LORD, MAKE ME HUMBLE...AND
QUICK TO REPENT.
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IT'S BEEN A YEAR AND STILL THE IMAGES
ARE FRESH IN MY MIND ~
I'm talking about Mel
Gibson's memorable film The Passion of the Christ. If
you saw it, you know what I mean. As the scourging went on and
on and on, I found myself thinking, "Jesus endured about 12
hours of this. What I am watching only represents a portion of
that time, some fraction of His suffering."
Now
it's Holy Week again, and I'm reflecting on the pain, the
sorrow, the death that paid the price for my transgressions.
John Owen, a 17th century Puritan, wrote a classic under the
title, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. How
apt a description. The Bible tells me that death is the price
of sin. Jesus "murdered" death, and He did it by taking that
penalty unto Himself. Death did not swallow Him up; He
swallowed up death. Today, I am free and have hope of eternal
life just because -- and only because -- Jesus died for
me.
Oh,
that the world might know this! Instead, humanity trudges on in
the way that leads to everlasting ruin, spurning the free grace
that makes abundant life immediately accessible to as many as
will call upon the name of the Lord. We choose vain pleasures
of the flesh, incognizant that the very things that delight us
are killing us.
My
father was a diabetic. He "couldn't" eat a host of things...but
did. He "wasn't allowed" donuts and pastries and candies and
chocolate...but he ate them anyway. His doctor said the rule
was very simple: "If it tastes good, you can't have it." That's
an awful rule, and dad broke it thousands of times. Of course,
it caught up with him. Heart disease, vascular failure and
kidney malfunction hastened his demise. In retrospect, we see
how inevitable it was. No one lives forever, of course, but
with some lifestyle changes dad would have lived longer.
We
pay a price when we over-indulge, but the results are even more
deadly -- eternally destructive -- when we speak of sin and
matters of the soul. I have confidence that my father is with
the Lord. I know his faith in Christ Jesus. His body failed
him, but his soul is saved. However, the Bible cautions us,
The soul that sinneth, it [the soul] shall die
(Ezekiel 18.4, 20).
Paul has assured us that the flesh that dies will be raised
immortal and incorruptible (I Corinthians 15), but if the soul
dies in sin, it is condemned to the spiritual death of those who
have forsaken truth and rejected the only One who is life and
can give live. This is an eternal, irreversible death, an
unspeakably horrible everlasting separation from Him who alone
is our Help and Deliverer.
That is more frightful, more unthinkable, than the images of my
Lord's suffering. And our heavenly Father agrees. That is why
He was willing to inflict on His son the punishment that was
mine, so that I would be saved from the awful consequence of my
rebellion. In fact....
IT'S BEEN 2000 YEARS AND I CAN'T GET THE IMAGES OUT OF MY
MIND ~ The abuse heaped upon Him, the wounds that should
have been mine, the stripes that brought healing to me. It's
not a movie. It's the cruel yet treasured reality of a Savior
crushed for my iniquities. For my sins He died. The truth
brings tears to my eyes...and ever-grateful joy to my
heart...and a forever-praise to my lips.
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I'VE HEARD ABOUT
A NUMBER OF "CLOSE CALLS" LATELY!
I'm talking, for example, about
people losing control of their vehicles on ice, nearly hitting
other cars. In another instance, a young person was actually
hit by an automobile and sent flying through the air. She could
have been killed, but the Lord spared her and she is doing fine.
Hearing such accounts has reminded me of the times in my life
when I have narrowly escaped injury or death. I know of some of
those times, but I have often wondered how many other incidents
there have been, times that I don't know anything about because
God was watching over me and I never even became aware of the
danger.
My
first memory of thinking along these lines goes back to a day in
my teens when a couple of my friends and I were about to drive
to summer camp. Right as we were getting in the car to leave, a
bird that was perched on an overhead telephone wire chose that
moment to leave a "deposit" on my friend's shoulder. Mom took
the shirt inside and cleaned it quickly and in a short time we
were on our way.
About halfway to our destination, we came upon a horrific
scene. A car had run a stop sign at an intersection and
broadsided another. I believe serveral people died in that
accident. As we sat there waiting, I asked myself, What if
we had left on time? Would we have been the car that was
broadsided?
Theologians speak of God's "prevenient" grace. That is, He
anticipates our needs and prepares the way for us. He goes
before us. He provides for us even before we are aware that we
need provision.
I'm
sure there have been countless such incidents in our lives,
times when the Lord watched over us, saved us from great harm or
loss, and yet we were blithely ignorant of His care. How
wonderful to serve such a God.
The
Bible is filled with stories of the grace of God, wonderful
instances when He worked mightily on behalf of those who
sometimes did not show appreciation to Him for His kindness.
Moreover, we have the annals of Church history and the
testimonies of personal acquaintances who affirm what the Bible
has already declared, that God is love and that He deals
faithfully and gently with His creation. And then there are the
innumerable instances when He cared for us and we didn't even
know it.
However, even more
wonderful is the grace that we do
know. The Lord has not concealed
His love that is manifest in the person of Jesus Christ our
Savior. Jesus died for us, was buried and rose again -- we will
be celebrating these truths again on Easter Sunday -- and we
have the great privilege of identifying ourselves with Jesus and
His sacrifice through faith in His name. This is God's
charis, a Greek word that means "favor" or grace.
Today, I stand in grace because my faith in Christ Jesus binds
me to Him and shapes my life into His likeness. His Spirit
operates within and upon me as God's personal influence, making
me a new creature, a vessel fit for His service and able --
finally -- to experience and rejoice in His goodness.
Because Jesus lives in me, I do not fear the unseen dangers that
threaten my existence every day. I know where I'm going! I
know the One who is my security. How thankful I am for the
grace that saves me and makes me God's own!
HOW
MARVELOUS! HOW WONDERFUL IS MY SAVIOR'S LOVE FOR ME!
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GOD IS IN THE
BUSINESS OF REDEEMING LIVES!
That's a message we proclaim from
the pulpit in Christian churches. It's the personal testimony
we share with others. Maybe some people think it's just what
Christians are supposed to say. But is it really the truth?
It
sure is! I could tell you my story, but today I happen to be
remembering "Karen," a lady I met in my first pastorate some
years ago. Our church mailed a monthly paper to about 3000
homes in the community and the paper included our invitation to
call the church if you had a need or desired prayer or wanted to
talk to someone who cared. One day Karen called. Do you
really mean that? Do you really care?
I
assured her that we very much cared about her and her needs and
a telephone relationship ensued. I spoke with her a number of
times before I ever actually met her. In fact, she wouldn't
divulge her name or where she lived or anything else that might
identify her. But she had a dreadful story to tell.
Karen had been sexually abused by an uncle when she was a
child. At about 12 years of age, her father committed suicide
in the kitchen of their home. She came home from Sunday School
with her grandmother and walked in on a horrific scene. He had
put a shotgun to his head. When I met her she was in her third
marriage. Each of her husbands had been unfaithful to her. She
found her second husband with her own sister when she awakened
in the middle of the night while recovering from a major
surgery.
I
could go on and on. I have encountered some terrible stories of
woe. I don't think any have been worse than Karen's. Moreover,
she was in a church that told her because she had been divorced
she was not permitted to speak in any church service or Bible
study, not even to ask a question or to request prayer. She was
about as beaten up as a person could be.
Eventually, she found the courage to come to church, where
people accepted and loved her in a manner she had never before
experienced. They didn't know her past, of course, but they did
know that she was divorced. She met with no prejudice,
however. Slowly, I could see that she was healing. God began
to speak to her in tender ways in her private times of prayer,
and she had some remarkable divine encounters like those
reported by some of the Church "mystics" of the past.
To
cut to the chase, God healed Karen. She had two daughters. One
day she told me that the devil had controlled her life and her
family history too long and she said, This evil is going to
end with me. He is not going to have my daughters.
Then she decided to be baptized. There was one problem. She
said, Pastor, there is no way I can give a testimony. I
cannot speak in public. I'm terrified even to think about it.
But I knew her story needed to be told! I said, Karen,
you can do it. Write it out and just read every word. You
don't even have to look up. Just forget anyone else is in the
room.
She
didn't think she could do it, but she decided to try. I'll
never forget that service. Karen came with 7 pages of notes!
She began reading and when she got to the bottom of the first
page, she took off her glasses, laid the notes aside and talked
extemporaneously for the next 20 minutes. I thought she would
never finish!
What a redemption. I'm telling you, God is in the business of
saving...transforming...redeeming lives!
THE LORD
WHO SOUGHT THE ONE LOST SHEEP STILL SEARCHES FOR LOST AND
HURTING SOULS!
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MY SON NATHAN WILL WED HIS
BELOVED TARA
on
this upcoming Saturday. How can I think of anything else
just two days out? Besides being the father of the groom, I
will be the minister officiating the ceremony. Folks have been
asking if I have my message prepared. I've been preparing this
message for years. Come to think of it, I've probably been
preaching it to Nathan for years!
A
wedding is a great celebration. With pomp and circumstance,
good food and well-wishes, we share the joy of two people who
have discovered love and fulfillment in each other. We
celebrate as well the union of two families and the prospect of
new additions to continue those family lines. We anticipate the
excitement the couple will experience as they forge ahead into
territory that for them is uncharted. We recall the connubial
bliss we felt when we started that same journey -- have so many
years passed since our own wedding day!?
There are other reasons why I'm thinking of the wedding. As I
said, I'm officiating my son's wedding. My father officiated
when Mossie and I were married. My paternal grandfather
officiated when my parents were married. Three generations! I
doubt that it ever occurred to my grandfather that his son would
one day perform the marriage of his son's son, or that his son's
son would perform the ceremony for his son's son's son!
Plus...the 5th of March just happens to be our
anniversary. Nathan and Tara are getting married on the same
day, 27 years later, that Mossie and I were married! But no,
Mossie and I were not married on my parents' anniversary.
What did my Grandfather think on the day of his son's wedding?
What were dad's thoughts on my wedding day? You know, at the
time I didn't care what dad was thinking! My heart overflowed
with love for the treasure I had found, the gift God had given,
and I can't recite a single word of the instruction I assume my
father shared with us on that occasion. I wish I could hear it
now. I wish I could remember his advice and counsel because, lo
and behold, here I am, about to pass along some such wisdom to
Nathan and Tara.
Then again, they won't hear me either. But there will be
videotape. They might hear me later. On Saturday, though,
their minds will be clouded. It will be an exquisite moment of
exulting in the discovery of affection and devotion, a
"launching" into a life of marital bliss and significant
achievement. Our prayers will go with them. They will have the
considerable advantage of two families who love both of them
dearly....
But, they will be "on their own" in a very real sense. The
success they make of their marriage, and the degree to which
their marriage honors God and advances the Kingdom of the Lord
Jesus Christ, will depend on the depth of their devotion to the
Lord and to each other. Will they sacrifice self-interest and
prefer the good and the advancement of the other? Will they
understand that they are joined by God for the glory of God, and
that there is a divine purpose in their marriage that exceeds
and supercedes the very best they might dream for themselves?
This one thing I want to impress on them: Marriage does not
succeed solely on the basis of a great and passionate love for
each other. The only real assurance of success that I know is
to be grounded first in a relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ and then to comprehend, together, that God intends this
union to bring praise to His name. When we know that marriage
is ultimately about glorifying the One who came up with the idea
originally, joining Adam and Eve as one flesh, then we
understand that the union cannot and must not be dissolved
because each is pledged to the prospect of using marriage as a
platform for doing what the God of heaven and earth has
commissioned a couple to do for Him.
Such a marriage is characterized by faith and purpose, and the
Lord will preserve it.
'TIL
DEATH DO US PART...AND THEN TO BE FOREVER WITH THE LORD!
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LORD, SAVE US FROM OURSELVES!
Even at a very early age, we seem
to have a propensity for getting ourselves into trouble, or into
fixes that are hard to get out of.
Did
you hear about the little boy in Michigan who drove his mother's
car to the video store in the middle of the night? He was four
years old! He couldn't reach the accelerator (thank the Lord!),
but he was able to start the engine and shift it into gear. The
idling engine provided enough power for him to drive the quarter
mile or so to the store. Finding the store closed, he began a
slow trip home.
A
policeman saw the car weaving and with its headlights off, so he
followed it. He couldn't see a driver. He surmised that it was
a car that had been left running at a gasoline pump and had
somehow slipped into gear and wandered off. Then the car turned
into the boy's apartment complex and struck two parked cars
before backing into the policemen's cruiser. Imagine his
surprise when he discovered a little boy at the wheel.
Watch that kid! Not only is he a potential danger to himself
and others, he's rather precocious as well. If ever there was a
fellow that's "going places," this little guy certainly is.
After all, it sure looks like he had a clear purpose in mind. I
wonder what video he was so anxious to rent?
In
my first church, a couple told me how their son, when he was a
toddler, would climb up and over any barrier and just take off
through the neighborhood. There were times when he was found
several streets away from where they lived. They didn't dare
leave him alone for a moment. Eventually, they had to put a
harness on him and tether him to something when they weren't in
the room.
Thinking back, I'm certainly not guiltless in this department.
In first grade, I decided to walk the seven miles or so home
from school...and I made it nearly half way before being
discovered. I ran away from home once, although I decided to
return before my parents actually missed me. I once drove one
of our cars all around town...three friends were with me and it
was several years before I was old enough to drive. Come to
think of it, maybe I'd better stop reminiscing!
Of
course, the little fellow in Michigan wasn't born knowing how to
drive. His mother confessed that she had allowed him to sit on
her lap and steer the car. Obviously, he also observed her
changing gears from forward to reverse and had figured out how
to do that. Our children learn most of their behavior by
watching what mom and dad do (what a frightening reality!), so
be careful that you are setting the right example before your
children (or grandchildren) and "schooling" them in ways that
are safe and Christ-honoring.
Even then, don't be surprised when children make bad choices.
Our hearts are bent in that direction. We are willful,
stubborn, self-absorbed creatures and we will invariably choose
behaviors that are not always best for ourselves or for others.
Often, it's the consequences of our errors that awaken us to the
truth that perhaps there are some things that shouldn't be done
at all. When those bad actions have a moral dimension,
confession and godly sorrow and true repentance are necessary if
we are to find our way "home" again.
By
the way, this story points out another advantage of living in
West Virginia. Here in Morgantown, the likelihood is that
little fellow couldn't have gone more than 50-100 feet before
encountering an incline that would have slowed and stopped an
idling car. Just another hazard those "flatlanders" have to
deal with!
TROUBLE
USUALLY DOESN'T HAVE TO FIND US...MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, WE'RE
LOOKING FOR IT!
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THERE HAVE BEEN 2,973 ACTS OF
KINDNESS PERFORMED THIS WEEK
in Morgantown and the
surrounding community! Well, that's what our
local paper reported this morning. It's National Kindness
Week and we have been challenged to make Morgantown the
kindest community in America, so "Captain Kindness" is out there
observing good deeds and our citizens have been urged to call
and report evidence of kindness. Have you been caught doing
something good?
Almost 3,000 documented good deeds and it's only Thursday! The
truth is, people do nice things for each other all day long,
without any special prompting and without public recognition,
but I like this emphasis on kindness. After all, the Bible
tells us that kindness is included in the list of the fruit of
the Spirit. And Jesus said, They'll know that you are my
disciples by your love for one another (John 13.35).
Plenty of people
claim to be Christian, but I want to see the evidence: love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians
5.23). If Jesus truly dwells in us, this is how He will
manifest Himself. And it will be consistent and enduring...not
just "put on" during a special emphasis for National
Kindness Week.
You
cannot claimed to be "saved" -- redeemed out of sin and
preserved unto glory -- if you persist in being mean-spirited,
selfish, insufferable and insensitive. You just can't!
Sometimes we say, But that's just the way I am. Well,
get over it!
The
old hymn of invitation encourages me to come to Jesus Just
As I Am, but that doesn't mean I should stay that way. In
fact, the Lord promises transformation for those who become
genuine followers of Christ. A total transformation. I become
a new creation in Him (II Corinthians 5.17). That's
pretty dramatic!
And
those who become new creatures in Christ do their good deeds to
the glory of God, not to be seen by men. The Lord even warns us
of improper motives: Be careful not to do your "acts of
righteousness" before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you
will have no reward from your Father in heaven (Matthew
6.1, NIV).
It's a very good thing to celebrate and encourage kindness to
one another. The Lord is pleased! But we must remind ourselves
that kindness is the everyday attitude and activity of those who
are truly in Christ. We bless others because the Lord has
blessed us. We treat others well because the Lord is living in
us and this is how He would treat others.
Non-Christians can be kind, of course. We are created with the
capacity to make such choices, to deny outrselves in order to
aid someone else. But Christians are kind by "instinct" if you
will. It's their (second) nature, in Christ, to be kind because
that's who Jesus is in them, and they know they do good deeds
not for the purpose of impressing others or impressing God or
accumulating "poiints" to show St. Peter when we stand at the
pearly gates some day -- The Bible plainly teaches that our
good deeds can't get us into heaven; it's the death of Jesus and
our faith in Him that grants us access to God's presence.
No,
Christians are kind simply because God is love, and He lives in
those who have accepted His Son and invited His Spirit to live
in them. So get out there and "be yourself" in Jesus! Let's
blow the top off that Kindness Meter by loving others just the
way the Lord taught us, and may God use your Christlikeness to
draw some lost and hurting soul to Himself.
GO AHEAD
-- LOVE THOSE WHO DON'T "DESERVE" IT -- AFTER ALL, GOD DID THAT
FOR YOU!
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DO YOU PRAY FOR SILLY THINGS?
Do you trouble
God about inconsequential matters, issues that have no eternal
significance, concerns that are purely selfish and could be left
unstated? Well, if you don't, you should!
Those who have been in our church a number of years remember
Willabelle Lunsford, our church secretary until she retired at
the age of 78. What a blessing she was. I admired her for her
habit of ceaseless prayer. Even in the small things, she
trusted the Lord, and as a widow who lived alone and depended on
the Lord for her provision, she didn't hesitate to take the
least of her needs to Him.
A
classic example was the day she was leaving the office to go
home and discovered that she had locked her keys in her car.
Everyone else had gone, so what could she do? Well, she prayed:
Lord, it's been a long day and I'm tired and I need to go
home. Please help me get my keys out of that car. About
that time, Howard Campbell, one of our church Elders, pulled
into the lot. When he learned of Willabelle's plight, he said,
My car is a GM model and so is yours. Let's see if my key
will work.
He
put his key in the lot, turned it, and the door opened
immediately. Answered prayer! In the bigger picture, it was a
small need, but at that moment, for Willabelle, it was yet
another evidence of God's ever-watchful care. What's the value
of praying for small things? I can think of several benefits:
Don't misunderstand my point about Willabelle. She certainly
prayed for big things. She was a "prayer warrior" in our
church, faithful in seeking the throne of God on behalf of the
pastors and leadership, for the saving of those who were lost,
for the finances of the church and the expansion of its witness,
for the healing of broken homes, and on and on. Often, I walked
out of my office to see Willabelle with her head on her desk,
quietly presenting a need to the Lord, often a prayer for one of
her grandchildren, whom she loved so much and for whom she
desired that each would come to a vibrant faith in Christ Jesus.
Faithful prayer in the small things deepened Willabelle's
intimate relationship with her Savior. She was confident when
she took major concerns to the Lord, because she was accustomed
to His answers for the little needs that she unfailingly called
to His attention! To be sure, some matters should never be made
a matter of prayer at all. I should not ask God to help me win
the lottery. I shouldn't expect His blessing on my
disobedience. I don't think a big-screen TV would qualify as a
"need," especially if I had children who lacked adequate food
and clothing. Prayer has to make sense, after all!
But
don't be afraid to pray for "silly" things, things that you
think are so small they shouldn't be mentioned. The Lord wants
us to bring all our requests to Him. He wants us to make our
petitions known and to do so with thanksgiving in our hearts,
the joy that arises out of a relationship with a God who cares
for us, who delights in giving good gifts to His children.
THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!
GOT
TRIALS...TEMPTATIONS...TROUBLES? TAKE THEM TO THE LORD IN
PRAYER!
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"THE SHORTEST
DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO POINTS IS PRAYER."
That's what I wrote in my
journal the evening of 18 May 1987. I had just arrived in St.
Paul, Minnesota, for our C&MA General Council after two days of
driving from Wooster, Ohio. When I called home, the telephone
was answered by a lady in our church. Connie told me that
Mossie was at the hospital...with Nathan...who had fallen while
playing with the neighbor children...breaking his arm. Connie
was watching Jessica and Marcus.
O
what anguish! I wanted to get in the car immediately and drive
two days back to Ohio. It hurt to know that Mossie had to deal
with the situation alone. The delegate who traveled with me
knew how badly I felt, and he prayed...for Nathan, for Mossie,
for me. It helped so much to sense God's presence in the midst
of all this. Later that evening I entered the details in my
journal, and that's when I wrote that "God is reminding me that
the shortest distance between two points is prayer."
Years pass, but nothing has really changed. The night before
last, we heard from our son Marcus, who is stationed at Fort
Leonard Wood, Missouri. It was 11:00 our time when he called
and he had just returned from seeing the doctor.
During an early morning 6-mile training run -- in 20 degree
temperatures -- he had suffered an asthmatic attack. X-rays
showed fluid on both lungs and the doctor says he has "walking
pneumonia." She wanted to confine him to bedrest for at least 5
days but he declined because it would mean getting set back in
his training until the next group arrives and progresses to the
point he is at now. So, he's going to try to "tough it out" so
that he can finish these next few weeks of training.
What can mom and dad do? Well, even if we went to Missouri we
couldn't change the facts. Mom is threatening to email the
Master Chief, just to make sure he's taking care of her boy, but
Marcus says she'd better not do that. She did that once,
thinking she was emailing Marcus directly, and the Master Chief
called him in to say, Goodin, haven't you been calling your
mother!? I can see how it might have been a little
embarrassing. So all we could do was give him advice: drink
lots of fluids, be sure to rest as much as possible, don't do
anything strenuous.
The
truth is, the best recourse we have is prayer. Across the
miles, despite the circumstances, God is able to reach down and
care for our child even though we are not there and could
nothing more if we were. We continue to do what we have always
done; we trust our son to our Savior. We believe God to do what
is best for him. Whether it's a child or a loved one or a close
friend or someone else entirely, prayer is our opportunity to
touch heaven on behalf of the helpless.
When I speak the name of Jesus on behalf of another, I marshal
all the compassionate love of the One who delights in giving
good gifts to His children, who is not willing that even one
should perish, who promises never to leave or forsake us, who
causes all things to work together for good to them who love Him
and are called according to His purpose. What a mighty,
wonderful, awesome, glorious God! Do you know someone who needs
His care today, perhaps this moment? Take time, once again, to
bring that one to the Lord in prayer. I assure you, God hears
and He answers.
LORD,
SOMEONE NEEDS YOU RIGHT NOW -- MAY I BE FAITHFUL TO THAT ONE IN
PRAYER!
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THERE'S A POPULAR COUNTRY SONG
that says, "Too much of a good
thing, is a good thing." It's a song about love between a man
and a woman (of course...it's a country song), and I
agree that you can't overdo genuine affection. However, I know
for a fact that too much of a good thing can leave you with a
sore palate.
Some years ago my parents, grandmother, brother and I took a
vacation to Florida. What a memory -- the sun, the beaches, the
clear sky and fresh air...and the succulent fruit. We enjoyed
oranges and grapefruit and papaya. And then I discovered
kumquats.
It
was love at first bite. We had stopped at a local orchard where
you picked your own fruit right from the trees. Close by was a
tree loaded with what appeared to be tiny oranges. I had never
seen such a fruit before. The proprietor told me they were
kumquats. Somehow the name seemed appropriate. They did look
sort of "kumquat-ish" to me. And the name sounded like fun. It
had a certain flair; citris with panache.
But is there anything left after you peel it? I asked.
It was a really small fruit. Oh, you don't peel it,
the man said. You eat it like this. He pulled one off
the tree, popped it in his mouth and began to chew. He
explained that the mixture of the tart rind with the sweet
center combined for a zesty taste experience that was
indescribable.
It
was also addictive. I picked a bag full and over the next
several hours I just kept popping them in my mouth, one after
another. Only God could come up with an idea like this.
Wonderful! I couldn't stop myself, until....
Oh,
man, was my mouth sore! I guess I megadosed on citric acid. My
mouth was aflame -- the tongue was swollen, my gums hurt, the
roof of my mouth and the insides of my cheeks were raw.
Nasty. Without a doubt, I had way too much of a very good
thing.
Be
careful about excess. Some things can't be overdone. You can't
love too much. You can't outgive God. You can't be too good,
or too honest, or too committed to Christ, or too obedient to
His Word. In such matters as these, go overboard! Knock
yourself out! Don't hold anything back!
But
when it comes to the things of this world -- the stuff that is
subject to rot and rust, to disease and decay -- I find that God
has very deliberately "built in" some lessons about excess. You
can surely have too much "fun," too much money and possessions,
too many hobbies, etc. And you can definitely have too many
kumquats!
No
wonder the scripture teaches us to enjoy "things" in
moderation. A rich chocolate fudge cake piled high with creamy
vanilla ice cream is a wonderful occasional treat. If I ate
such a concoction at every meal, I might as well call ahead and
reserve my bed in the cardiology unit. On the other hand, even
exercise can be overdone. Regular physical exercise is a good
thing, necessary for optimum health, but excessive exercise can
kill you. People die on treadmills every year.
The
secret is knowing when you've had enough of a good thing,
drawing the boundaries appropriately so that you don't pay the
price of excess. And if you must indulge, go wild in the areas
where God says there are no limits. In fact, He even supplies a
list: ...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things
there is no law. (Galatians 5.22-23). No limits here! NOW
you can say, Too much of a good thing, is a good thing!
THINK
ABOUT IT: THOSE WHO OVERDO...WILL SOON BE OVERDONE!
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WE'VE HAD OUR FIRST TASTE OF REAL
WINTER WEATHER
and they say more is on the way. An "Alberta Clipper" --
what an ominous name! -- is bearing down on us from Canada and
this weekend could bring several inches of snow. Everyone
differs in their estimate. I've heard 3 inches, 6 inches, 12
inches and 20 inches! The Lord knows.
Some parts of my body have lost all affection for winter, but on
the whole I still enjoy the cold and snowy part of the year here
in wild and wonderful West Virginia. I'm sure it has to do in
part with the pleasurable childhood memories of building snowmen
and snow forts and having ferocious snowball fights.
The
hillsides in this state present sledding challenges that rival
any amusement park ride for thrills. Three-feet long icicles
hanging from the gutters make great swords if you can find a
stick to knock them down. Before we had ice-skating rinks, we
would use frozen ponds, so a stretch of sub-freezing
temperatures meant it was time to get the skates out again. We
would scurry around the ice a bit, then gather by a bonfire, or
a 55-gallon drum that someone had filled with sticks to create
an outdoor furnace.
It's an interesting time of year, when you stop to think about
it. Trees are bare and many animals are in hibernation. There
is no produce growing, nothing to be harvested. The days are
often dark and bleak. Many people suffer from seasonal
affective disorder (SAD), a melancholy that seems to be
induced by the lack of sunlight and the dreariness of the winter
season. If spring is about life, winter is about death. Rather
depressing, don't you think?
And
yet, we don't lose hope. In fact, some people revel in the cold
weather, the smothering snow, and the challenging driving
conditions. This morning I was told of someone who said they
would love to be in Minnesota right now. That sentiment might
be evidence of borderline insanity, of course, or it could just
be the adventurous spirit of one who knows: Better days are
coming so let's enjoy this taste of winter while we can.
Some years ago our church sponsored the Redd family, refugees
from Liberia. The family arrived in January and it was bitter
cold, something the children had never experienced and couldn't
have imagined. The mother pointed out the bare trees to her
little ones and told them that in a few months the branches
would be covered with green leaves. Little Dickson scoffed:
I know a dead tree when I see one!
The
children were sure all the trees in America were dead. What a
disappointment to come so far and then to find that the land was
barren and without a semblance of verdant beauty. But.... Just
as mother had said, the trees budded, the leaves sprouted, and
soon our hillsides were covered with the lush green colors of
spring and the bright flowers that adorned nearly every lawn.
Imagine the amazement of those African children, who had never
watched such a startling transformation.
I
encourage you to enjoy the moment God has given to you. Maybe
winter isn't your favorite time of year. Maybe it's something
else, not the weather, that has you "down." Don't be
discouraged; don't forsake all hope. "This, too, shall pass."
All things have their season, and all seasons are ordained by
and controlled by the sovereign will of a merciful and almighty
God.
Rest yourself in Him who knows all things and who cares for you
tenderly, intimately, deeply. He is faithful!
LORD, LET
THE USELESS THINGS IN ME DIE AWAY...SO THAT YOUR LIFE MIGHT BE
RENEWED IN ME!
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SOMETIMES IT HURTS TOO
MUCH TO LAUGH!
We prefer the happier
experiences of life that evoke mirth and felicity, but we can't
escape the realities of disease, disappointment and despair,
leading eventually to death. Sometimes the business of living
extinguishes laughter. Do you remember Norman Cousins, editor
of Saturday Review? Maybe you recall his remarkable
recovery from major illness, achieved, he believed, in large
part through the applied practice of good humor. His
experiences actually spawned medical studies on the
positive benefits of laughter as it relates to physical
well-being. He even wrote a best-selling book on the topic.
Here's the essence of the story, lifted out of an article I
discovered: In the 1960s Cousins had an experience that
changed his life and...reinforced some of his deepest
convictions concerning the nature of the human being. Stricken
with a crippling and life-threatening collagen disease, Cousins
followed a regimen of high doses of vitamin C and of "positive
emotions" (including daily doses of belly laughter), all in
consultation and partnership with his sometimes skeptical
physicians. He chronicled his recovery in his book,
Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient: Reflections
on Healing and Regeneration, published in 1979. In the
book...he affirmed that..."The quest for perfectibility is not a
presumption or a blasphemy but the highest manifestation of a
great design."
Who's to argue?! The Bible does assure us that a merry heart is
good medicine. I always feel better after an evening of raucous
humor and robust laughter with all my rowdy friends. But note
this: Without being explicit, Cousins has referred us to
something that the scriptures make plain: Not only is there a
"great design"; there is a Great Designer, the Supreme Ruler of
the Universe who has taken a personal interest in each of us,
and who is not willing that any should perish.
That's a remarkable thought, the more it filters into our poor
brains. In this fallen world, we are perishing moment by
moment. From the day of our birth, we begin to die. For a time
our bodies produce more new cells than the number that decay,
but then we "turn a corner" and it is, quite literally, all
downhill from there. And we know of no way to stop this
process. Folklore tells us of "fountains of youth," plastic
surgeons try to obscure the reality of aging, medical
breakthroughs promise greater longevity...but everyone dies.
However, our Maker "is not willing" that this should happen. He
has a greater plan, and when He disallows a thing, it's
overruled. Our Maker overrules death! Imagine that.
The
Bible is the only book that gives us an answer to death. First,
the Bible explains the cause: We are fallen from grace,
disobedient creatures who have spurned our Maker and who
therefore suffer the consequences of such rebellion. Then the
Bible explains the fix: It turns out God's grace is greater than
all our sin; He supplies reconciliation and peace through the
sacrifice of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and faith in Him
makes us whole. Moreover, to find Jesus is to find the "joy
unspeakable" that is the heart of all good humor. Laughter is
restored! Even in the face of great misery and heartbreaking
loss, we can "rejoice in the Lord." Always!
This is astonishing...refreshing...healing. In the last
analysis, it isn't laughter that heals, not eternally. Rather,
it is the Healer who makes us laugh. Cousins died eventually.
No amount of laughter could put off death forever. But
Lazarus.... I suspect he hasn't stopped chuckling since the day
he stepped out of the tomb. Yes, he also died...again...one
day, but having met the Lord of life in all His healing power,
Lazarus never feared death again, or any of the agencies that
conduct us to our "final" demise, because for those who walk
with the Lord death isn't final at all. We know we're going to
see Him again, when we have graduated into His presence. Ha,
Ha!
THE DEVIL
IS DEFEATED AND THE SAVIOR IS EXALTED -- NOW THAT'S A REASON TO
LAUGH!
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DON'T ASK ME TO NAME MY
"FAVORITE" CHRISTMAS GIFT.
To start with, I never really have
in mind anything I desperately want, so it's not like I have a
"wish list" that must be met. On top of that, I'm not hard to
please. I like all the gifts I receive. I think I just like
the fact that someone cared enough to give.
But.... I must say that one gift I received this year had
special significance for me. A short while back I guess I was
reminiscing one evening -- in the presence of my son and our
soon-to-be daughter-in-law -- about the wonderful frozen custard
that my dad used to buy for me when I was a boy in southern West
Virginia. "I don't know if you can find frozen custard anywhere
these days, " I said.
Well, Nathan and Tara were paying attention. They were in
Beckley for Christmas morning with Tara's family, then drove to
Morgantown to spend Christmas evening with us. When we opened
gifts, they gave me a box which, as it turned out, contained a
soft-side insulated freezer pack, which was filled with ice and
five containers of frozen custard! They brought it from a place
in Beckley that is well-known for this delicacy.
What a great treat! There was an assortment of creamy vanilla,
rich chocolate and zesty strawberry -- all of it just like what
I remembered from my childhood. As Andy Griffith would have
said, "It was goooooood!"
However, it wasn't simply the taste that made it so good.
First, it was good because it brought back so many treasured
memories. The little stand where dad used to stop wasn't far
from the church he pastored. I recall plenty of hot days when
we would speed up the road with the windows rolled down (my dad
seldom drove slowly), stirring up dust as we tore into the
little parking lot. I stood at his side while he ordered the
lip-smacking confection. Mmmmmm! How we would savor the
sweetness of that smooth delight! Sometimes we had to eat fast,
licking the rivulets that melted and ran down the side of the
cone. All too soon, it was gone. As good as it was, you always
wanted more.
On
one of those occasions, dad accidentally shut my hand in the car
door. I was so small and my bones were so pliable that nothing
was broken. I don't remember, but I'm guessing that little
mishap got me an extra dip or a second cone, just to insure no
lingering ill effects or damaged psyche.
The
other reason this gift was so meaningful is that it was so
thoughtful. It had never crossed my mind that Nathan and Tara
would try to find some frozen custard as a Christmas gift. That
they did was just so precious. And those kinds of gifts are
best -- the ones that say, I thought of you. I wanted to do
something special for you.
Perhaps that's why the gift of God's Son is so dear to us. It
is the very best evidence -- the absolutely convincing proof --
that our Father loves us, thought of us, provided for us, even
at the price of His own Son's life. What a gift! The longer I
live, the more I appreciate my Father's love, that He would give
His only Son to die in my place, so that I might have abundant
life. Wow!
Of
course, that knowledge of God's tender love for me is not
relegated to the storehouse of old and treasured memories. It's
an everyday, present reality! As we begin 2005, I know without
a doubt that the Lord loves me. I am confident that He has a
plan to prosper me in this New Year. I am absolutely certain
that He will bless me in untold ways this year, and that when
the year is done I will look back and say, How good it is to
know the Lord and to be His child!
KNOWING
JESUS? THAT SURE LEAVES A GOOD TASTE IN MY
MOUTH!
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