Finishing Well

Richard Dawkins: I can't be sure God does not exist

2012-02-24T09:52:00.008-06:00

My friend Brandon shared this video from the Telegraph on Facebook. I don't want to focus on Dawkins specifically, but highlight the real problem we must deal with. Here is the video, and then a few thoughts,

"He is regarded as the most famous atheist in the world but last night Professor Richard Dawkins admitted he could not be sure that God does not exist." -The Telegraph

The article goes on to tell about the content of this discussion at Oxford University. Obviously these men are much more brilliant than I. In fact I've never claimed brilliance in my life and only hope that in some way I put off a faint glow, but I was fascinated by the brief discussion on video because it highlights a much bigger problem- the problem of what we don't know.

Atheism and many atheists claim quite boldly that there is no god. That belief is core to their theology. The truth, which Dawkins acknowledged, is that because of how little we really know it's simply impossible to make such a claim and declare that God does not exist. There are a hundred illustrations for this point and they are completely unnecessary for this discussion, but core to the issue of claiming there is no god is this crucial question- How do you know that? How do you KNOW there is no god? Of all the information knowable in the universe what percentage do you think we have? 1% maybe? 2% if we are bold enough to claim such. So, in the 98% of all that can be known is it possible that God exists? Clearly, boldly, honestly we must say yes.

Rather than declare God's absence because I haven't found him in the 2% of data I know, why not rather continue the discussion as we discover more about the 98% we don't know? Because the issue for many atheists is not information, but a heart unwilling to bow to a god of any kind. The discussion is not about discovery of God, it's about trying not to discover him. This quest to not find God is at the heart of the claim of the atheist as he puts his hands over his eyes and says with great authority, "There is no god, I can't see him anywhere."

I wish....

2012-02-23T09:48:00.004-06:00

This morning, as I awoke in the wee hours, I thought, "I wish....." It was a wish for money to meet some of the needs I had been thinking about as I awoke. Needs we have, needs I see in other lives, needs I see for missionaries, for pastors in other countries, for kingdom stuff....the needs just overwhelmed me in the night and I awoke with this thought, "I wish I had a million dollars..." I'm sure your first thought is why didn't I ask for $100 million, but my brain doesn't work that way. I just wanted to address the needs that were bringing me into the conscious world. I wish.... it's a frequent thought of ours, isn't it? I wish I had, if only....and with those thoughts we envision all we would do if only.....

Then this thought came to me....it was from another place...."you do have that and more, just ask me." And with that thought from the one who owns everything I suddenly realized I already have all I need and much more! It's available for withdrawal with a simple prayer. How do I forget that? How do I get so focused on the things of this world that I lose sight of the fact that my father has all I ever need and more?

Suddenly my thought, "I wish...." changed to "Lord, would you...." and the feeling of hopelessness that comes with a wish evaporated in the presence of a listening, loving father who wants me to trust him and wants to meet my needs.

I wish I would remember that the God who loves me awaits my request for the needs of my life and the lives of those that burden my heart. Who needs three wishes when the God of creation longs to reveal himself through my trust in him?

Trusting God

2012-02-22T07:01:00.000-06:00

I know there are many people who wear a cross around their neck as a symbol of their faith. There are other symbols as well- the fish bumper sticker, T-shirts with a message, tattoos, and many more that people use to demonstrate their faith and remind themselves of their commitment to God.
This picture (which I have used before) is one of those icons to me. It's the rock of Horeb. It's the rock that Moses struck in the wilderness after they left Egypt to provide water for 2,000,000 people for months.
It's important to me as a reminder, because I find myself, like the children of Israel, fretting and complaining about what is going on in my life. I find myself worrying....what will happen to us if....how will we get by.....I'm sure you have struggled with many of the same thoughts. This morning I awaken from a very fretful night of worry. Thinking, praying, fretting, tossing, worrying, praying....I hate to tell you this, but us old pastors struggle with trusting God at times like anyone in our faith communities. It's the worse part of being human for me- knowing God, knowing he has always taken care of you, knowing he has promised to always care for you in the future, and yet finding yourself worrying. I hate that part of my fallen heart....the part that truly doubts God's willingness and ability to care for me. I know I would have been one of the Jews in the wilderness saying, "can God really provide for us here?"
So, I come back to Horeb. I remind myself of what God has done in the past, and I know he will care for me in the future. He never changes, he is always aware of me and my needs. He loves me. So I come back to Horeb...to remember.
Thank you Lord for your wonderful care and awesome love. I'm so sorry I worry. I'm so grieved that I doubt. But I come back and fall at your feet and say, Lord, I'm yours, help me.

Psa 37:3 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Psa 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Psa 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
Psa 37:6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.
Psa 37:7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
Psa 37:8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
Psa 37:9 For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.

"Neck-up" Christianity

2012-02-21T08:58:00.002-06:00

I have a new way to describe many Christians I run into these days. I call them "neck-up" Christians. They have tremendous knowledge. They know doctrine. They know the word. They know "stuff!" And they are of no use to the Christian world or the kingdom of God at all!

Christianity is supposed to be holistic. It's supposed to affect every part of who you are and what you do. It's supposed to change you into the image of Christ.

If your faith does not move from what you know to what you do then you are a "neck-up" Christian. You have heard of the comedy skit "you might be a red-neck if..."? Let me play off of that for a moment with some observations of my own based on this idea....

You might be a "neck-up" Christian if...

...you love bible studies, but don't want to help the poor.

...you will spend hours reading your bible, but don't have time to serve in your church.

...you think discipleship has to do with an open bible and a notebook, and not with painting a widow's home.

...you will go hear the great bible teachers of the day, but don't have time to go listen to the lonely people in nursing homes near you.

...you know the word, but still live in sin.

...you can quote the bible with the best of them, but it doesn't affect your life.

Christianity is supposed to be holistic....it changes all of me or it's not real...it's a "neck-up" religion. Jesus came to confront that kind of religion. In his day they were called Pharisees. He railed against them. He called them white-washed tombs. He called them hypocrites. Today I call them "neck-up" Christians.

To whom do you belong?

2012-02-20T07:00:00.007-06:00

It's a strange question, isn't it? To whom do you belong? In our world, in our culture, it's a question that might raise eyebrows, cause offense and make the listener wonder what you are asking. But it's an important question because it affects everything you do.

In our culture the reply would be, "I belong to no one! I'm my own man, I do as I please. No one is lord over my life." And with the declaration we proudly announce our independence. But is this the proper response for the Christian? Is this the way we should respond to this question? And, what are the implications?

If I'm a free spirit, an independent soul then I can do as I please, make my own choices, deal with the consequences, but if I have connections to someone else, to another authority, it changes my answer and my life. This morning, as I am reading Paul's travelog in the book of Acts I came upon this short passage,

"²³ For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me..."

To whom I belong and whom I serve... Isn't that an interesting phrase? Here's a few of the implications, 1. Who I belong to, who I am accountable to affects what I do. 2. What I do reflects and is a response to who I belong to. If I'm the servant of another it will affect my choices, my identity, my life. If, on the other hand, I believe I report to no one then any choice I make, any decision I come to reflects the fact that life is simply a story told about me...it's all about me!

Paul spoke to a different lifestyle. A lifestyle of one possessed and governed by another, "To whom I belong and whom I serve" makes clear to anyone listening that Paul considered himself a slave to someone else, to God himself, and his life and choices were directed by that identity. So, to whom do you belong? Who do you serve? What determines the choices of your life? How do you decide your course of action? What governs you?

These are important questions for us because we all live out the answer to this question- To whom do you belong?

In another passage Paul described this reality in another way as he wrote,

"Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body."

You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.....so live like it!

To whom do you belong? Who do you serve? These are important questions for a life lived to the glory of God.

A little word and a big God

2012-02-18T03:38:00.008-06:00

One of the most amazing chapters in the bible is Daniel 11. It stands out because of its content. In this chapter of 45 verses you will find one little word repeated more than 116 times! Here's how the chapter is set up-

The angel Gabriel appears to Daniel near the end of the book and near the end of his life. In this encounter, planned by God, Gabriel tells Daniel, "Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future." In the 45 verses to follow Gabriel unfolds the entire end-time history of the world. A history we are living in right now.

What caught my attention as I read was one little word. A word repeated more than 116 times in this one chapter. It's this word- will. This king will do this, that king will arise and do that.... On and on, more than twice a verse, the word will is used by Gabriel to talk about future days. There is a certainty to the word "will". It's not "might" or "maybe", but it's "will". These events told more than 3,000 years ago will happen.

It caught my attention that this little word of just four letters tells me something very important about God- He is in charge of the events of our history. He's unfolding a plan to save men and women and glorify himself. All of history will unfold as he describes it through Gabriel. That does at least two things for me. It gives me peace that God is in control when it feels like everything is out of control. And, it gives me confidence that God has a plan he is moving the events of history towards. We are seeing the unfolding of God's grand plan to save mankind and glorify his name.

All of this could cause me to be a fatalist, but in reality it brings me great peace that as I see what seems to be a world out of control I'm really seeing the unfolding of God's grand plan with everything completely in control...HIS control.

This morning I'm blessed by a little word and a big God.

Saturday's cartoon

2012-02-18T01:39:00.000-06:00

Rest

2012-02-17T08:45:00.012-06:00

Heb 4:¹ God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. ² For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. ³ For only we who believe can enter his rest.

There is a rest for this weary race of man. There is a rest from the unceasing quest for peace, for calm, for a feeling of being good with God. Most religions of the world offer a never ending treadmill of works to attain heaven with no assurance of ever having done enough. These are brutal faiths. Faiths based on our works, our efforts to be good enough, to push all the right buttons, to look just right so our eternity will be a good one. These are religions that offer no rest.

But there is one faith, only one, that offers a place of rest. It's a rest from the works of man to please God. In this faith, and this one alone, there is a place of rest....a rest based on the works of someone else. It comes only to those who put their faith in the works of another, Jesus Christ, to have done all that's asked of God for us to be accepted. It brings those who believe to a place of rest where all self-efforts are done. Finally, for those who trust rest is available. Finally all efforts are finished, there's nothing more for us to do, it's all been done.

Imagine all of mankind standing on one side of the grand canyon with God on the other. Our quest is to reach God and with our best efforts we jump to bridge the chasm. The fate of all who do this in their own strength is inevitable and is found at the bottom of the canyon. But imagine that spanning this grand chasm is a moving bridge. All you have to do is step on it and it will carry you to the other side. Most around you would say it's too easy, you have to do something, you can't please God without doing something! And yet, this bridge is the only way to the other side.

While all around you men and women are trying to jump the chasm and falling to their death you can simply take a step of faith and, like the moving walkways in the airports and malls, you find yourself being moved to the other side...effortlessly! It's a result based on a step of faith and a rest in the God's only provision to bridge the chasm. "It can't be that easy!" some would say. "You're just not trying hard enough." others declare. And they're right. It's a rest, a rest in the work done by another to accomplish something none of us can do on our own.

Why do so many refuse to take the bridge (faith in Jesus Christ) and choose to try to jump the chasm on their own? For some reason many think their salvation depends on their own works, but the chasm is much too wide for us to bridge by our own works, in our own strength. We need help!

As the author of Hebrews writes, "only those who believe can enter his rest." Are you resting in him or trying to work your way to God? Only one will bring you to your desired destination.

Only one choice will give you rest from the quest for God's acceptance.

All others find their end at the bottom of the chasm.

Amazing discovery

2012-02-15T09:47:00.004-06:00

World’s tiniest chameleon is the size of match’s head

Meet Brookesia micra, the newly discovered world's smallest chameleon. This wee creature was discovered on an island off of Northern Madagascar, where a biological expedition found these tiny beasts snoozing in vegetation a mere four inches off the ground.

I am constantly amazed by the new discoveries made each year of animals and vegetation that we never knew existed before. And that's just on our small little planet.

With that as a backdrop I'm humored by the scientists who claim to know with assurance how the universe came into being and declare boldly "there is no God!" How are we so bold to declare knowledge of time, space and creation when we still don't know what's on our own planet?

Personally, I think these new discoveries just make God smile. He has made an amazing world, a wonderful universe and with all that we think we know we are just beginning to discover life here. It makes me very aware of how little science really does know about anything. So, as you listen to Dawkins and Harris speak boldly about what we "know" think of this little chameleon and smile. They don't know as much as they think they know.

I'll rest in Genesis 1 where God simply says, "I'm here and I made it all." I'm good with that.

Reflections

2012-02-15T05:07:00.003-06:00

How do you sum up 38 years?

How do you capture the tears, the laughter, the pain, the joy of life with another person?

I think these questions are the secret treasure of a couple who have lived their lives together through good and bad days. Today is our 38th anniversary. 38 years. I can't be old enough to be married that long, but here we are growing old together, taking care of each other, leaning on one another as we finish this race together.

Reflections of a life with another person always contain good days and bad, but what I realize is the good days seem to make the bad days dim in my memory. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I find my memory of the hard days, the days of tears (and there were many) fade in my memory as I look back and remember a rich life of joy, happiness and living through the difficult days with another person who loves me.

The stories of 38 years together describe in broad brush strokes the great love of God in two lives as they keep their promises and care for one another. It is a little picture of Christ and his church. A bride and groom in love with one another, caring for each other and keeping promises.

This morning, as I reflect on my life with my sweet wife I must tell you I am blessed and grateful. God is so good.

"Top Ten Worst Valentine's Day Gifts"

2012-02-14T05:57:00.002-06:00

#10. An appliance, any appliance

#9. A chain saw

#8. Clothes (Trust me, you will never get the right thing OR the right size.)

#7. Candy

#6. A gift card

#5.

Here's where you get to help me. Let's work on the top 5 together. What are the top 5 worst Valentine's day gifts ever?

Amazed by grace and Joye

2012-02-14T05:43:00.003-06:00

Today is Valentine's day. A great day to celebrate those we love and care for. It's also the day before our anniversary. Yes, we got married the day AFTER Valentine's day. This day is the first day of our celebration of life together.

The bible says that a good wife is a blessing from the Lord. If that's true I must be the most blessed guy on the planet. To be loved by God and a wonderful wife and friend is all one could hope for in a lifetime. So, today, I'm most blessed and thankful for my sweet valentine, Joye.

A pastor's worse nightmare

2012-02-11T18:43:00.006-06:00

About 3:15 this afternoon the phone rang. On the other end of the phone I heard these words, "Where are you???"

It was one of the ladies in our church. I told her I was at home, planning to get ready for a wedding at 6 this evening.

She replied, "The wedding was at 3! So where are you?"

In case you haven't figured it out yet I was supposed to do the wedding.

I have never done this before nor heard of another pastor doing such a thing, being late for a wedding that is. I've heard of brides being late, grooms being late, but never the pastor!

So off I run, unshaven and unprepared to a wedding 30 miles away!

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!

Finally, at 4:15 I arrive to the applause of 200 people. I don't think I've ever been so embarrassed! I'm sure the bride was wondering if her day had been ruined, but fortunately it all worked out and they extended me amazing grace. The wedding went well and the couple is married with a wedding they will never forget!

This is a pastor's worse nightmare and now it's my reality! I'm sure it's all rather funny, but I haven't discovered the funny part yet, I'll think about that later.

Best wishes Bill and Debbie. I hope you have a wonderful life together, in spite of beginning your marriage an hour late!

Saturday's cartoon

2012-02-11T11:14:00.004-06:00

Isn't it great when God works and we can celebrate it together? If you have someone who has encouraged you, helped you, prayed for you, asked how you're doing....take a moment and thank them. It's a small thing to you, but really big to them.

The body of Christ

2012-02-10T18:32:00.003-06:00

This week was a wonderful blessing for me.

This week my wife and I, along with our senior pastor and worship pastor and their wives went on a retreat together.

The retreat was in the hill country of Texas. It was held at a great retreat center called Laity Lodge. I haven't been on a retreat in ages, especially with other staff, and this was with pastors from a host of different denominations and communities.

I'm going to ramble here a bit, but the week was a surprise, refreshing, restful, encouraging and eye opening. I met men and women that challenged me and I want to keep in touch with them in the days ahead. I experienced worship music different than I had ever heard and fell in love with it. I realized how narrow my world and community really is. It really surprised me to be reminded of things I had experienced, communities I had been part of, worlds I had visited but forgot about in the small world I live in now. It was a fresh breath for me. A needed freshness.

My life in ministry has woven through nearly every faith community and over the decades I have enjoyed the faith and walk of many from different fellowships, but I forgot how wonderful it is to be part of the larger body of Christ....to worship differently, to hear the word taught in a new way, to meet great friends I had not known before. It was refreshing, encouraging and a blessing. It was much needed!

Manna-feast destiny

2012-02-10T10:55:00.003-06:00

I'm reading through Exodus right now and as I read about God's provision for the nation of Israel in the desert it strikes me that the daily provision of manna was not simply in one place, at the place it first became available, but it followed them on their 40 year journey. Wherever they went, wherever they camped manna was there the next morning. I'm sure it became expected for them, as it does for us but it struck me that God's provision met them where they were, in their location, in the place where God had brought them manna was provided on a daily basis.

This simple insight made me aware of this same truth for us. As we move through our lives God brings provision to us, along our journey, where we are. When we awake God's provision is there. We take it for granted, but this moving manna-feast for the nation of Israel teaches us a simple truth- God's provision meets our needs where we are, wherever that might be.

The great challenge for us, as it was for Israel, is to not let this miracle of provision become a normal expectation of our days. I pray we are always aware of the miraculous provision of God as we walk through our days.

Thank you for the heartbreak

2012-02-09T07:51:00.002-06:00

A wonderful song of praise for even the difficult days. God is good even in my pain, even in my difficult days. This great song speaks to my heart and the wonderful love of God even when things don't turn out as I would like. Even in the pain God is glorified. I love this song. I hope it speaks to your pain as well in your difficult days.

The wealthy pauper

2012-02-08T08:04:00.005-06:00

It strikes me that a Christian who knows God is the richest of people while in the world's eyes he may be without what the world values. We are the people who have everything, but possess nothing. We walk with a God who owns everything that exists and supplies us with daily needs. The world hordes goods, money, and things in the hope of having "enough" for the days ahead. Proverbs tells us to not set our hearts on riches because they make themselves wings and fly away.

And yet we long for security. We want to know we have enough in the bank to be ready for that rainy day when we will need it. We have the strange idea that we are in this by ourselves. In fact, for the man in the world I understand this need for security, but for the Christian who lives and moves in and with God it's an idol to hold onto and seek after wealth as a security. God meets daily needs so that our trust and focus will be on him and not on our own ability to meet our needs.

There are difficult days. There are times when the economies of the world struggle. In those times those around us fear, panic and struggle....how will we survive? What will happen with our retirement? How will we have enough? We have this sense that all of this is up to us to hold onto, to provide, to save. If that is true we should be afraid! No one can be secure in the evil days. If we don't trust in God for our daily needs, our daily provision, we will be fearful, worried and will struggle with the world around us.

But, imagine a man or woman who lives in the reality of a sovereign God who has promised to meet our needs and is fully able to do so. Imagine having nothing, but possessing everything. Imagine trusting God as your provision rather than your own ability. Imagine a rest, a trust in one who will provide no matter what the world around us is doing. Paul described it this way, "My God will provide all your needs according to his riches in glory." What are his riches in glory? He owns everything, he possess all. If he lacks anything then he can't be God, but he is! He has everything we need, everything. As you put your rest and trust in him you lack NOTHING.

In that trust we find ourselves to be wealthy paupers, possessing nothing, but having everything. We might walk about with empty pockets, but living as children of the Father who possesses the cattle on a thousand hills. He owns everything and promises to provide for us as we trust him. This is a whole different kind of life....a life of trust, of peace, of freedom from the news, the world's fears, the crisis of the moment. It's a life lived in dependence on a Father who has promised to provide all we need each day, our daily manna, the bread for the moment. We find we are the richest of men while in the moment we possess nothing at all.

The man or woman who trusts God finds they are the ultimate paradox- a wealthy pauper.

Philippians 4:19 "And my God will supply all your needs according to HIS riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

True security is not in the possession of things, but in the possession of someone...the great God, the wonderful Father, the source of all we need for the moment even as we walk about with empty pockets, a company of wealthy paupers.

Retreat

2012-02-07T07:52:00.002-06:00

My sweet wife and I are at a retreat this week with other pastors and wives from our church. The retreat center is in the hill country of Texas by a beautiful river. There is no phone service here and limited internet, so we have very little communication with the outside world. It is wonderful! So, as you might expect, I won't be able to post much this week. I will do some writing and share my thoughts with you when I get back to the crazy world we live in, but for a few days we are in retreat......

Know that I am God...

2012-02-05T07:45:00.008-06:00

I woke in the night last night with this verse my first thought, "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10.

It's a much quoted verse, but I think we miss so much that it's trying to say. May I rewrite it in Mike's paraphrase?

"Hush, be quiet, stop, rest, don't move....just pause for a moment and know that I am God.

That I am God over your joys and over your sorrows.

That I am God when you are at peace and when you are afraid.

That I am God when your health is good and even when it isn't.

That I am God when you have food and when you are hungry.

That I am God when there is abundance and when there is nothing.

That I am God when you have a job and when you don't.

That I am God when you have hope and even when you are in despair.

That I am God over everything."

The one theme I see throughout the bible is this very important truth- The Lord is God, He is Lord of everything, both good and bad, both smiles and tears.

He's Lord and you can trust him, he's got it all under control. So, be still, rest, relax, let down your frown, exhale, stop worrying, stop trying, stop everything and rest in the Lord who simply wants you to know that HE is LORD.

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 29:10. In this short verse is a very important truth. Here it is, "The Lord sat as king at the flood, the Lord sits as king forever." At the worse time in human history God was seated on the throne fully in charge. At the worse time in your life God is seated on his throne fully in charge of your life. Relax, he's got it. Stop, cease, be still. The God of the universe loves you and is Lord of your everythings. Trust him. "Be still and know that HE is God."

On being a light

2012-02-04T07:29:00.005-06:00

Matthew 5:¹⁴ “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

You are the light of the world. Yes, YOU. It's part of your job description as a Christian....to be light in dark places. How's that working for you? How are you doing with the light you have? Honestly, I don't like the questions this generates at all! If people are looking to me for a little light to find their way I wonder if I'm any help to them at all.

Most of us want illumination for ourselves, for our own lives, but we are described by Jesus as illumination for those around us, light for others. Being the light of the world is a big task. It's the task of helping those in the dark find their way, helping them find the right path and discover the light that illuminates us. Being the light of the world is a heavy burden and for the most part we do not wear it well. Frankly, at least for me, I think I'm a master at hiding my little light under a basket. I'm not good at helping others see the way with kindness and grace. I wish I was better at this thing called being the light of the world, but I'm still working on it.

And then Jesus goes even further and says this, "let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." Part of the illuminating work of the believer is how we live our lives, our good deed. Let your good deeds shine out for all to see....why? So people will praise God. Our lives are meant to direct the world in praise to God for what they see because of us. How often does that happen? I think we have missed something in this job description of being lights in the world. Something has gone horribly wrong in the church! Instead of being lights to illuminate the way we have become spotlights in the eyes to blind the lost as they seek to find their way.

I think the thing we have lost is the very grace we received when we came to Christ. As I read Matthew and see Jesus interact with the world in darkness he doesn't turn up the wattage to blind them, he gives them just enough light to make them want more. I still have much to learn about being a light in a dark world. I sure don't know how to do this well, but if I am a light for those around me how is that supposed to work? How should I live so that, like the proverbial moth, those around me are drawn to the light that shines from me? I'm still working on this.....

Saturday's cartoon

2012-02-04T07:19:00.002-06:00

Finding God's will

2012-02-02T10:52:00.007-06:00

This morning I am visiting with a missionary in Uganda. He said, "Things are really difficult here. I wonder if I'm in God's will....." His connection of difficult circumstances with God's will got me thinking. I wonder how many feel the same way? How many think that trials, problems, and struggles mean I'm going the wrong way? How many think that God's will for them will be easy? How many quit when things get tough and feel they have missed God's will for their lives?

The truth is that God's will for our lives will often be littered with struggles and problems. It doesn't mean you're going the wrong way, it just means you have an enemy that doesn't want you to reach the summit and is doing all he can to get you to give up, get discouraged, and quit.

Don't give up, don't quit, keep climbing! One of the best ways to know you're in God's will is the reality that things get tough. The climb to the top will be difficult, get used to it. Most Christians don't know that being out of God's will is actually much easier than walking with God. When things get tough don't think you missed God, you're probably closer to God's plans for you than you realize. Just keep climbing!

Quote of the day

2012-02-01T22:43:00.001-06:00

Time

2012-01-31T08:46:00.002-06:00

Early this morning I met with one of our guys. We were talking about priorities, what's important, how to use our days. It was a great visit, but what was clear was his frustration with simply not having enough time for all the things we discussed. He didn't say so, but I could tell I was frustrating him and he was kind enough to smile and nod as I spoke of using our time well for the important things.

What I know, having been in the business world myself, is the reality that we simply don't have enough time! Life is simply insane! We acknowledge the need to read God's word, to pray, to spend time with family, but how do we fit it all in? We can't, and sadly we don't.

After my friend left the man at the next table turned to me and asked, "You're a pastor, aren't you? I was listening to your visit and......."

He then proceeded to talked about how busy his life is, how hard it is to do the things I was talking about. I didn't realize I was speaking to two men, but I was. I told him I understood, having been in his world for many years. He admitted that it's hard to fit it all in and I know that is a reality.

I think the best victory of our enemy is to keep us so busy that we have no time for the truly important things.

Paul wrote these words, that fit best in the world we live in today, "make the most of your time, because the days are evil" Ephesians 5:16

The days dictate a different approach to time, a different way of dealing with a clock spinning so fast that we feel out of control. How do we slow this thing down? How do we recapture our lives, our time? We all have to work, but in those moments that are ours how do we live, how do we use the seconds that we claim as our own and use them well?

It demands clarity about what is most important to us. What do we want to invest our lives in? In twenty years will you be glad to say, "I am so glad I spent those hours watching The Bachelor." It demands we decide what's important to us and act like it!

I'm a chronic couch potato. When I get home from the day all I want is my chair, some ice tea and some time to do nothing, but is that how I want to be remembered? I think my grand kids will remember me best in my recliner. Without thinking I've used my moments and communicated what's important to me. In the warp speed days we live in, at least for me, I think I need to be more intentional about how I use my moments. Might I invite you to join me in this different look at our use of time in these last days?

Fasting

2012-01-30T18:18:00.004-06:00

This afternoon I was online with a pastor friend in Uganda. He's preparing for a 40 day fast and time of prayer for their ministry there.

I am humbled by his commitment to this kind of prayer and pursuit of God. I have never done such a thing and am more than a little impressed by my friend's upcoming fast. Oh, and did I tell you he does it every year?

Waiting....

2012-01-30T08:20:00.003-06:00

Waiting. It's one of the hardest things we do. Waiting for answers, waiting for the phone to ring, waiting for someone to arrive. Waiting is loaded with expectations and anticipations. We are waiting for something, someone and things will change when the waiting is over.

Waiting is a pause in our lives, as if the picture is frozen on the screen and we wait for someone to once more push the play button. Waiting is hard.

Waiting involves the passing of time as we anticipate the thing, the one we wait for. Anticipation. Expectation. Frustration at times are all part of this thing called waiting. As I read Psalm 37 this morning, one of my favorite Psalms, it's clear that God invites us to wait....to wait for Him. Several times in this chapter the invitation is given to wait for the Lord. There are good reasons for this. We conclude God is late, has gotten busy somewhere else, has forgotten us, but the truth is that we have simply missed God's ways and timing and so we find we wait for the one who is never late.

"Wait for the Lord and keep his way" David writes. In this short phrase are the instructions for those of us waiting, while you wait walk with God until he arrives. The truth is he is always with us, never leaves us, but waiting involves a patience with God's timing, God's plans, God's ways. It involves my choices to walk well while I wait.

"But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land." There is a reward for waiting. The reward is God's business, but the waiting is ours.

There is a reason for the waiting. We may not always know what that is, but wait we must and trust God to work while we wait.

There is a rest in waiting. It means I have someone I'm trusting for what's ahead and I dare not proceed until he arrives. It's an awareness that I must not walk alone the road ahead, but wait for God to walk with me, to lead me and guide me.

There is a peace in waiting. It's the realization that I wait for one who will accomplish all I wait for. The God who made heaven and earth asks me to wait for him. Why wouldn't I? How would I dare proceed without him? Waiting for God is the most logical decision of all!

What are you waiting for? Direction? Answers to prayer? A job? Healing? Peace? God's response to your waiting? "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret...." In other words, don't worry. God's coming. He will sort it all out for you. Rest in him, relax, don't worry, he's coming....he's never late.

Wait for the Lord.

Part of the plan

2012-01-29T07:51:00.003-06:00

I just read Exodus 3, the call of Moses to free Israel from Egypt, and it is fascinating to see how God orchestrates the events of our lives to accomplish his work. Moses had no plans to ever see Egypt or his people again, but a burning bush, the voice of God and a plan he knew nothing about changed everything. I still have a lot of questions as I read this passage, a lot of thoughts about this partnership with the God of the universe, but all through the bible I see it...God working in and through men to accomplish his plan. For those in the middle of the process they can only see what is happening right now, but as it unfolds there are a series of "Ah-ha moments" as we see God work. I think I'm seeing a few of those things now. It's very exciting to be part of the plan of God on planet earth.

Saturday's cartoon

2012-01-28T11:53:00.004-06:00

Quote of the day

2012-01-27T13:56:00.003-06:00

I just this morning reread The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis. I've read it several times and continue to work through his thoughts. As I read his words I realize, if I'd ever had a chance to visit with him, I would have sat speechless as I listened to this amazing thinker. I'm grateful for men like Lewis, but also quite humbled by his brilliance. So, today, from C.S. Lewis comes the quote of the day,

"Man's final conquest has proved to be the abolition of Man."

Wandering

2012-01-26T08:57:00.010-06:00

I'm half way through the biography of Brennan Manning. It's a delightful and sad work all at the same time. He is honest to the point of pain as he describes his life.

As I read his story I began to think about my story, my life. I will probably never write a biography, it would be far too boring, but I began to think about my walk with God, my own odyssey, and wondering about a word, a thought to describe it.

Like everyone I know it has been an odyssey with unknown destinations.

I never dreamed I would....

I didn't plan to.....

Life is a series of surprises we never planned for. Places we never dreamed we would be, jobs we never wanted to do, lives we never expected. As we look back on our lives, as I reflect on mine, I see a wandering odyssey mostly taken without a plan, purpose or destination. Planning for this, but doing that. Hoping to be here, but ending up there. Wanting to marry one, but falling in love with another. How can we know the course of our lives, how can we plan our lives when we have no idea what will unfold tomorrow or even this afternoon?

Life isn't lived with destinations in mind. It's lived with moments to experience. Right now I can choose this, do that, go here and from that moment other moments happen. Where will we end up? How will it all unfold? Honestly, only God knows. Will I be famous, successful, happy, fulfilled, rewarded, content? Add in a hundred other things we search for and the answer to each is simply this, "I don't know." All of that sounds rather depressing, doesn't it?

As I read Brennan's biography I see a series of decisions that, for him, end in a series of regrets. And yet, in the regrets of our choices we see the amazing grace of God working on our behalf. There are choices to make, that's clear, but the results of those choices are not always clear to us in the moment. All we can see right now is the moment. For me this all comes down to a simple idea that I think describes my own odyssey- wandering.

For that reason I'm so glad for this simply little verse in Proverbs. Without these thoughts to set it up you might read over it, but knowing this truth makes my wanderings bearable.

Proverbs 20:24

A person’s steps are directed by the LORD.

How then can anyone understand their own way?

So, as I wander, as we each wander through the twists and turns of life and choices, know that God is directing our destinations. You won't figure it all out, simply trust him to get you where he wants you to be. That's a great comfort to those of us who sometimes feel like we are just out wandering around.....

Rejoice in the Lord always....

2012-01-25T09:21:00.002-06:00

Heavy rains today in Texas. We woke up to a garage full of water! I hate when it floods.....so the sump pump is working, check. Mike is all wet, check. Rejoicing anyway, check. God is good even when things don't work out, check.

Evidence for God- the beauty of creation

2012-01-24T16:02:00.000-06:00

Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite on Vimeo.

Knowing God

2012-01-23T07:32:00.007-06:00

Knowing God. Where do I start? Honestly I feel inadequate to even talk about this topic, but it's the focus of my attention right now, so I will do my best to dig up a bit of the riches of this idea of knowing the creator and God of the universe.

When I see the world around me it's clear that knowing God is not the quest of most of the human race. Yes, we want to be saved, go to heaven, be forgiven, but to know God is not on our list, not on our bucket list. Most Christians can tell you about God, but it's not from firsthand experience, it comes from a Sunday School class, a sermon or time with other Christians in bible study. To personally know God is the highest goal of the Christian faith and yet it's rarely the focus of most Christians I know.

The reason I'm thinking about this is because I am working my way through Ezekiel. Ezekiel is a prophet in captivity in Babylon. As he writes and speaks the words of God one theme repeats itself over and over again....it's this- "Then they will know that I am the Lord." More than 63 times in the pages of his book God's goal is that his people would know him. It's the goal of God from Eden on....that his man would be in intimate relationship with him. God wants us to know him. That's the number one thing, it's God's #1 goal for us- to know Him.

John writes these words from Jesus as he teaches his disciples for the last time, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, ad Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Did you see that? What is eternal life? Knowing God! That's God's goal. Is it mine? I want to want to, but I don't even know how, where to start, how to know this awesome God who made me. Since it's God's #1 desire for me it must be mine as well. To know God....where do I start? How do I begin?

Over the years I've found that my walk with God, my knowing of him comes from hanging out with Jesus in the gospels. Each day, as I spend time in His word, I read something from the gospels. It's there I most clearly discover what God is like, how he thinks, and so I hang out with Jesus. I walk with him, watch him, listen to him and in that fellowship with him and the disciples I get to know the God who wants me to know him. In Jesus I see the face of God. In being with him I experience the very heart of God...because Jesus IS GOD!

And so, I pray, as Paul prayed in Ephesians 3, "When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."

Knowing God. It's God's desire for us. Is it #1 on your list?

Lord, I want to know you. I know you want me to know you. Show me how to know you, to really know you. Give me a hunger, a passion to know you. Reveal yourself to me, help me to know your heart, your thoughts about me and transform me because of those encounters with you. Make me like you because of my time with you. Let others see you in my life and desire to know the one I know because they see you in me. Lord, I want to know you.

Eyes on eternity

2012-01-21T10:08:00.002-06:00

Frankly, we all need glasses. Most of the people I know are badly near-sighted. Our vision is only able to focus on "here" and "now". Our decisions and desires are all based on this life....taking care of retirement, saving for "the future" and making decisions to "make me happy." Our vision is on an amazingly small part of eternity we call "my life." Everything we do, every decision we make and even how we spend our time is based on our near-sighted focus on "my life" and "now."

...

In the grand scheme of things, to be honest, "your life" is not even an event on the timeline of eternity. But, because our vision is so limited, we only see "now" and fail to focus on some amazing things that are important to our lives. Here's a short list of the important things that are blurry to our vision as a near-sighted race:

...

1. God. Our vision of him is blurry because we rarely squint our eyes to try to focus on him. It's hard for us to get this most amazing God in focus and so for most of us our vision is quite blurry about who he is, what he's like, what he thinks about me. Not having God clearly in focus will make it hard for me to focus on everything else beyond my near-sighted world. It will make it hard for me to see my life and my situations clearly as well because if I can't get God in focus then I won't be able to see clearly what he's doing in my life.

...

2. Eternity. One of the things we have trouble with is eternity. It's just so....eternal! Forever and ever and, well, you know where I'm going with that. Imagine we roll out a piece of paper that would go from coast to coast, 3,000 miles long in all, and we use this chart to try to get a glimpse of eternity. Let's begin in California to mark our chart in 1 inch increments. Here's our legend- 1 inch=1,000 years. Basically each inch will break down to 10 lifetimes. Your whole lifespan would be one of the 1/16 inch marks on the chart. Each mile would basically cover a million years. Here's how amazing this is....if we start at the water's edge in California and walk 30 feet we have covered the entire 6,000 years of recorded history that we see in the bible. 30 feet, did you get that? Now, as we move across the country, a million years per mile, we cover a period of 3,000,000,000 in our imagined timeline. Only 30 feet of it was man's recorded history, and only 1/16th of an inch was your life. Here is the amazing thing- That whole timeline we drew as we crossed the country is only a small dot on the timeline of eternity. It's amazing how big this is. I think that's why it's so blurry to our vision. We simply can't imagine it.

...

3. Here's the part of this that must come into focus for us- what we do with Christ in this life will determine our eternal destiny. We have this "1/16th of an inch" of life to make decisions about him and those decisions will determine our eternity ahead. The very reason Jesus became a man was to provide a solution for our eternal problem. He said, "God loves you so much that he sent me to die for your sins. If you will believe in me I will give you eternal life." The implication is clear- if you don't beleive in him (trust him for salvation) then you have what every man has apart from faith in Christ- eternal death. It is the most important thing we could possibly do with our lives, the most important decision we will ever make and yet our focus is on "now" and "happiness" and "my needs." Sadly, the enemy of our souls has done an amazing work to keep our vision on the NOW to the eternal loss of many.

...

I know, in my own life, I live most of my days with the distant horizon out of focus, but I'm praying for a vision for eternity, eyes that look into the days ahead and make decisions today because they will affect me for billions of years to come. I so wish we had our eyes clearly focused on eternity. I'm praying for eyes to see, so that I can make decisions for eternity and not just for today. I'm praying the same thing for you as you read my thoughts. Eternity awaits, your decisions today are important.....

Thoughts on the day

2012-01-21T06:54:00.003-06:00

I'm up early this morning, much to do today....a bible study to attend, a memorial service to do, a book to read, and I have to help Joye with Christmas clean-up. Yes, the tree is still up. I told her to just leave it up, Christmas is only a few months away, but that didn't work, so that's on the list too. But really, it's just a normal Saturday, like so many, and like everyone else I fill it up with things to do. Early this morning I read through a few blogs and checked Facebook just to see what's going on. Checking on new babies arriving, problems people are having, friends who have died. It never stops, does it? Life is busy! I read a post this morning from a friend who has a chance to step away from the craziness of the days to look at what he wants to do next. I pray he will find God's best for his next years and walk with God. He's an amazing guy and I can't wait to see what God does with him. I'm also thinking about a class I have to teach in a few weeks. I'm going to do an apologetics class and am really looking forward to it, but there's a lot of prep to do. And just ahead is a trip to Kenya. 50 pastors to teach and a team to prepare. I think I thrive on "crazy" and look for it if I don't have it. Maybe it's the sense of feeling worth in activity, not sure about that, but it feels good to be overwhelmed. Don't tell anyone I said that....ok? All right, on to the next thing. I don't even have time to put this in paragraphs, just wanted to get it all on "paper." Have a great Saturday.

Saturday's cartoon

2012-01-21T06:51:00.003-06:00

Some days it takes more than one cup to get the engine going. This is one of those days!

Fame

2012-01-19T12:53:00.011-06:00

Media has made these strange days indeed!

Now, more than ever, world-wide fame is possible for a select few in our cultures. For the most part 6 billion of us will live our lives out of the public eye, but a few are known well by everyone. See if you know these faces and then let's talk...

Did you recognize them? Pretty easy, wasn't it? Here's the interesting thing about fame- it's fleeting, it doesn't last, in just moments we are forgotten and the mass of humanity continues on down the timeline of history. Soon the famous are only remembered in history books or are simply forgotten completely. Fame doesn't last.

And yet, in spite of that reality here on planet earth there will be a day when those around us unknown to a watching world will be celebrated for their lives and their walk with God. Fame is uncertain, but God doesn't forget. God rewards, he celebrates the unknown ones and crowns them with glory.

You may not be famous to the world, but God knows who you are. Fame here is short-lived, but being known by the God of creation is eternally rewarding. As I write this I think of Jeremiah's words to Baruch, his scribe, as he said to him, "Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them." The truly famous people around you may be completely unknown to the media of this world, but their fame will be known to all one day. Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don't bother, let God sort it all out. He will promote you, he will make you truly famous in a way that will last beyond the next 15 minutes.

Thought for the day.....

2012-01-19T09:27:00.001-06:00

Living in a foreign land

2012-01-18T06:41:00.005-06:00

This morning, as I drove to the coffee shop, I heard one of my favorite bible teachers say,

"Christianity is now and always has been countercultural."

Somehow we think that we can reconcile our faith with our culture, but it was never meant to be so. It can't be done. These are two different worlds, two different systems, two different kingdoms with different rules and rulers.

The kingdom of God is a kingdom of life and the rule of a good God in and through his people.

Then, all around us, is the kingdom of this world, a kingdom of death and the rule of horrible cruel king, Satan.

Two entirely different systems, two different kingdoms with entirely different goals.

We live in the kingdom ruled by a cruel king, even as we serve and are subject to a different king, a different ruler.

How can we think we can reconcile these two kingdoms and make them compatible?

How could these two systems ever reconcile? They can't!

One, a kingdom of life and the rule of a good king.

The other a kingdom of death and a tyrant as ruler.

How did we ever think that we could make these two worlds co-exist? They won't!

Many still try to create and impose on the culture this idea of a Christian nation. There is no such thing! This quest for a Christian nation has focused our attention on the wrong things. We can never achieve it because we aren't supposed to! We are called to share the good news of Jesus Christ with people, one by one, and as they trust Christ you find a community of people ruled by a different king, part of a different kingdom, but we will never take over the kingdom of this world, not now, not as we envision. It's not our job!

The king who will take over one day will come and rule in his time, but it will not be by our efforts or by our best attempts to take this world system by force. It simply won't happen, it isn't what we were called to do!

So here we are, citizens of a different kingdom trying to live in a foreign land. How do we do it? How do we live with this reality that we, as Christians, are countercultural and always will be?

None of us like not fitting in, but if you are a Christian you simply don't fit in with this world system and aren't supposed to. Being a citizen of a different king makes us foreigners in our country of birth, but it's a reality we must be aware of. If you are a Christ follower you will never fit into the culture around you....unless you abandon the very king you have claimed and surrender to the one who rules here.

It's quite challenging living in a foreign land, isn't it?

Lessons remembered

2012-01-16T07:22:00.002-06:00

More than 40 years ago I had an encounter with one of my professors in university that has impacted me more than anything he said in the classroom. It's funny, but I spent hundreds of hours in his classes, loved him as a teacher and believer, but remember only one thing he ever said. Here it is,

"Every morning when I dress I struggle with Jesus' words, "if you have two coats and see someone in need...." I have two coats and am still not sure what to do about it." -Andrew C. Bowling

There it is. A heartfelt struggle with the basics of the Christian faith. He had a PHD and was teaching bible at a Christian school, but still struggled with the nuances of the faith in an honest and real way. I never forgot those words, they have been part of my thinking, a worm weaving through my brain for decades.

Last night I remembered his words when I got a call from a man in our church who asked, "Could I borrow $20.00. I need some food....." And I thought (thanks Dr. Bowling) "I have $20.00 extra." So I went to meet him and gave him $40.00. I'm not saying that to brag, I'm saying that because it's important. If we never wrestle with the real issues of the faith how will anyone ever know we are living out what we believe?

Do you struggle with the words of Jesus? Are you trying to figure out how to live them out? I hope so. I hope, like my old prof, Dr. Bowling, you are looking for ways to live out the faith you claim. People will never forget what you say and what you do as you imitate Christ in the real world.

It's this simple

2012-01-15T18:40:00.001-06:00

Alone

2012-01-15T08:18:00.004-06:00

There is a strange thing that happens to all of us. It's something we were never meant to feel, an emotion, a feeling that we were never meant to know and yet we all have felt it. We have all had an overwhelming feeling of being alone.

Alone. It's a terrible feeling, a sense of abandonment, rejection, isolation. Alone is a place we all dread and avoid with noise, busy lives and activity, but alone is there. It's the great fear of every man, every woman, the fear that we will be alone.

It was never meant to be this way. God didn't design us to be alone. It was never an experience of Adam until sin came and then a sense of "alone" came. It's part of sin. We were designed to forever be in fellowship with God. We were designed to constantly sense and be in community with him, but when sin came along with it came "alone."

Jesus came to take care of our sin problem, but he came to do so much more. He came to resolve my aloneness, my isolation, my emptiness. He came to provide a way for us to once more be in constant fellowship with the one who made us. Jesus said, as he anticipated his disciples abandonment, "Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me."

And now that is our solution as well. Now we, the very ones who dreaded being left alone, can have that ever present Father with us, in us, abiding, living with us every moment. Now, in Christ, one of my fearsome problems, the problem of "alone", is solved by the ever present Lord of heaven living in me, with me, and I will never be alone again.

Thank you, Lord.

Saturday's cartoon

2012-01-14T08:01:00.004-06:00

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil. 3:4

Training is the most difficult of disciplines. It's often done when no one sees what you are doing. There is pain, struggle, discouragement and the constant thoughts of giving up. It's hard, but the reason we do it is because the prize, the race is worth it. You can't run the race if you're not ready and that's what training is all about. Daily disciplines that no one will see are part of what it takes to run the race that everyone will see. "I press on..." Paul understood the struggle, the temptation to give up, but he set a goal and gave all he had to the race.

Questions for the day: Do you have a mark, a goal in your sites that you are reaching towards? Do you know it will sometimes be hard? Are you committed to doing what no one sees so you will be rewarded when everyone does? How's your training going?

Quote of the day

2012-01-13T11:50:00.001-06:00

"The greatest obstacle to my Christian life and an intimate relationship with God is me."

He came

2012-01-12T08:54:00.003-06:00

Is there a God?

Does he care?

Is he involved in our world?

Does he even know what we are going through?

Does he understand the pain, the hurt, the suffering we live in here?

These questions are really important because we, as residents of this little planet, all wonder if God is there and if he cares. We want there to be a God. We want him to care about us. We want to know he's more than just the God of creation. We want and need a God of our days, a God of our pains. We want a God who shows us he cares about US.

God's response? He came.

You may ask, "He came? What do you mean God came?" The answer is quite surprising. We might think that the sign of God's care for us would be rain, gold, food, lack of pain or a hundred other things, but the ultimate sign of God's care for us was his coming to our little planet as a man, as one of us. God became a man and lived here, lived with us, saw our pain, felt our pain, cried our tears, understood our struggles and then provided the perfect solution for it all.

Is there a God? Does he care? His answer? YES, he came. And in that coming he changed everything forever. How could one man make such a difference? How could one person living for just a few years change the world? He can if he's God and he is.

How do we know God cares? He came.

Tuesday morning at Starbucks

2012-01-10T08:58:00.002-06:00

It's Tuesday. A busy day ahead. I'm sitting at Starbucks for a moment with a cup of coffee and a coffee shop full of people. Some are visiting, others are isolated with headphones and computer telling everyone they are not available. It's a social place. Coffee is the catalyst and a place to sit and visit makes it the local pub of our day. Most of the people here know each other, it's clear they are here often. The baristas are addressing customers by name and everyone is in good spirits. It's a community of moments and soon they will scatter to school, work or back to the house. For a few moments community happens, laughter erupts, the din of voices interacting fills the room. I think it's this sense of community that draws people to this place. A place where anyone can come, get some coffee and be part of something.

As I watch those around me I'm thinking this is exactly what the church is supposed to be. We are called to be a place where anyone can come and be part of the community. Anyone. Somehow we have made it an exclusive club that makes most of the world around us uncomfortable in our churches. Of all places the church should be a place where everyone is welcome, loved and cared for. I wish we could recapture that idea of community rather than what the church at large has become. How do we recapture the love of Christ that reaches out to the hurting, confused and struggling around us and make them feel at home in our church families? How do we become a community that those without a place would be welcome in our midst?

Just a few rambling thoughts at Starbucks on a Tuesday morning.

Encountering God

2012-01-09T10:01:00.006-06:00

There is a very interesting report from the Barna organization that caught my attention this morning. In this report the portion that has me thinking are these words,

Experiencing Transformation

The survey also probed the degree to which people say their lives had been changed by attending church. Overall, one-quarter of Americans (26%) who had been to a church before said that their life had been changed or affected “greatly” by attending church. Another one-fourth (25%) described it as “somewhat” influential. Nearly half said their life had not changed at all as a result of churchgoing (46%).

This portion of the study really captivated me. As I read it I realize that there is so much more to this than the content of the message, the style of the music, or the ability of the speaker. There is the heart of the one in the pew! My mind immediately thought of the story of the sower and the seed as Jesus described this phenomenon over 2,000 years ago,

Mark 4:¹⁴ "The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵ Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸ Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²⁰ Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

It strikes me that what Barna is seeing is what Jesus saw and described. In the midst of a church full of people are the distractions of the world, the bills, worries about life and what the week ahead holds. In the middle of a church where God is speaking, the word is taught and the Spirit is working more than 1/2 of the crowd will be untouched by the word, Spirit and ability of the grandest speaker. It's a reality of the human heart....we are a pretty tough crowd! "How hard it is for anyone to be saved" Jesus told his disciples. They were amazed, but what Jesus knew that they didn't was how much distracts us, how hard it is for God to get our attention, how adverse we are to God's word and it's impact in our lives.

It makes me keenly aware of how much I must trust God to work in my heart and in the hearts and lives of those I teach. This is a work of God and many will completely miss God's presence as he moves among us. This study by Barna brought this to a new clarity for me and moves me to pray more intently for my own heart and the hearts of those I care for.

Saturday's cartoon

2012-01-07T08:57:00.005-06:00

I love this cartoon! It's a brilliant insight into the very heart of choices and results. We live in a world that wants the freedom to do as we wish, but with those choices are always consequences. In the moment it might seem that things are wonderful, but choices always have consequences. Often, as I meet with people in their crisis, I hear these words, "Why did God do this to me?" They are sincere in their question and are clueless to the reality that many times what has happened is the result of their own choices....it's not God, it's them.

Choices and consequences. One you make, the other you don't. You can control your choices, but you can't control your consequences. I wonder, if we knew this as a reality in our lives, if our choices would change.....

Eating the apple

2012-01-05T03:19:00.007-06:00

It often surprises me how companies stay in business. Customer Service is poor, products are mediocre and the staff is rude, but I never expected that from Apple. Yes, I've eaten the Apple and have mostly Apple products for my personal computer needs, but when something went wrong today I suddenly realized how bitter this Apple can taste at times.

Here's what happened-

Last fall I bought an Apple laptop. I love the computer, no problems with it at all, but yesterday the power adapter died. The computer is only months old so I called Apple to see what they could do. I talked to a young man (everyone I talked to at Apple is young) who gave me a case number and told me to go to the Apple store and they would replace my power adapter, so off I go for the trek across Dallas to the closest Apple store. Now the fun begins......

When I got to the store I made my way through the drooling masses to one of the young, tattooed Apple reps and told him my situation, showed him my case number and waited while he checked his iPad for choices.

He asked, "Do you have an appointment?"

I replied, "No, the guy on the phone at Apple gave me a case number and told me I could come over and exchange the defective part."

He replied, "I can't help you if you don't have an appointment."

I stood there for a moment in amazement and then asked, "So how do I get an appointment and when can I get some help with this?"

"My next open appointment isn't until tomorrow afternoon," he replied.

Now I'm just standing there thinking about how comical this all was. I am in the store with a case number their company gave me to fix a problem that would take two minutes and he won't help me. What to do? We make our way back through the drooling masses to a restaurant next door for something to drink and time to figure out what to do.

While drinking some tea and eating some amazing Thai noodles I call Apple back. I explain to another young man my situation. He puts me on hold for about 15 minutes and finally comes back with an appointment at the iPhone desk in an hour. We finish our wonderful and unplanned dinner and make our way back to the Apple store.

One more push through the drooling masses to once more engage the young man who said I would have to come back tomorrow. I approach him and tell him I have an appointment at 5:20. He looks up my name and then gives me a frown, realizing that I had beat his best plans to frustrate me. I think he was surprised and irritated that I had figured out a way around his system. He said, "Well, they have you at the iPhone desk, I don't think they can help you, but stand over there." (As he points to the iPhone desk.)

We obediently work our way through the drooling masses to the iPhone desk and wait. While I wait my sweet wife has time to look at everything in the store. Finally a young man with gauged ear rings, messy hair and tattoos comes over to help us. Within five minutes I have my new power adapter and we victoriously push our way out of the store through the drooling masses. Victory!

Frankly I never imagined this would be such an ordeal, a comedy, a frustration, but still I love my computer and if dealing with a system designed to make it difficult is part of the deal I will figure out how to work through it. On the upside we discovered a new restaurant we absolutely loved and a waitress that was the best we have ever had.....even if I couldn't understand her.

So, in spite of the events of the day I'm enjoying my bite of the Apple. I guess, for me, it was love at first bite.....even if it tastes a little bitter at the moment.

Anticipating sunrise

2012-01-04T09:26:00.008-06:00

(Photo- © Mike Le)

^{Romans 13: 11} And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹²The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.¹⁴ Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

"The night is nearly over; the day is almost here." As the first lights of day begin to overcome the darkness of night we all anticipate sunrise. Gradually, moment by moment, light comes and darkness fades. Little by little we begin to see what darkness has hidden. This is the picture Paul paints of the coming of the Lord....the anticipation of sunrise.

In his book, The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis wrote about this as he describe the scenes in both heaven and hell. In heaven there was the anticipation of a dawning of light and in hell there was the fear that the twilight was the last lights of day and the beginning of night. But what Paul describes for us is the gradual illumination of the world around us and it's clear the sun is coming, morning is about to dawn, the day is near when darkness will be vanquished.

The proper response to the approach of dawn is a lifestyle that will not embarrass you when the light reveals all we have done in the darkness. "Let us behave decently....clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ." Being aware of the times Paul invites, no rather challenges us to live like sons of light. In other passages he describes the "deeds of darkness" but here he speaks of a lifestyle lived in the light, live like sons of light.

All we know is a world cloaked in darkness, all we have experienced is the first lights of day, but day is coming. It will come sooner than we know. Live your life anticipating sunrise....or should I say son rise? Live well, sunrise is near.

One last thought on forgiveness

2012-01-03T13:20:00.005-06:00

On Sunday I spoke about forgiveness. I did my best to deal with a difficult subject with the 30 minutes I had to speak, but there is so much to say....so much more to talk about on this topic. The wounds of our hurts from others run so much deeper than most of us know or realize. The wounds of others scar us, change us, make us deformed in a way....deformed from the way God intended us to be. Many of the wounds are still raw, still sore. The pain lingers and when anyone touches our wounds we scream out in pain. I know that and yet I felt led to talk about forgiveness, but what I knew, and know now even more clearly, is that the pain of unforgiven wounds, wounds that have yet to heal, is much more than anyone can know. They are deep wounds, hurtful wounds, painful and we desperately want the pain to end.

In the last week I've heard a number of other pastors teaching on forgiveness on the radio. I know it's something the Spirit of God is moving us all towards. God wants a church white and spotless, ready for his return, and so we must deal with these wounds, heal these scars, ask forgiveness for what we have done, forgive those who have hurt us. It's time to intentionally pursue healing for all of those who claim the name of Christ. The Bible is clear when it calls us to forgive in the same way we were forgiven. The scars may still be raw, the pain still vivid, the hurts still difficult to live with, but the call of God is for his people to forgive just as we are forgiven by him.

Col. 3:¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

A new year

2012-01-02T08:52:00.005-06:00

A new year.

A fresh start.

Hope for better things.

Desire for change.

It was just another day. It wasn't anything special in the grand scheme of things, but we have made calendars so for us it was the start of something new. Another year, a new beginning, fresh hopes. Maybe this year.....

A new year is a wonderful opportunity to make a new list of priorities for our lives. It's often the case that as a year moves through its seasons we forget what is most important and find ourselves busy with the small urgencies of life. Let me suggest, let me encourage you to make a short list of what is most important to you this year, no more that 5 things, and make those things the filters through which you use your 365 days of the year ahead.

Here are a few suggestions- Pursue a relationship with God, read a book each month about something that will encourage or inspire you, commit to reading the bible each day this year, take time each day to dream, write a journal, write a book, do something fun each week, develop a new hobby or interest, learn something new, intentionally ask one person each week about their life (this could be a daily activity for many of us), and on the list goes. These are not necessarily resolutions, they are simply priorities. And yes, for some of you exercise is on the list isn't it? But whatever you do with this new year do it intentionally. Don't simply let the year fly by and not use every moment well for the glory of God. Have a great year!

End of year thoughts and reflections

2011-12-31T13:22:00.004-06:00

Another year is past. They are moving quickly now. I have officially seen 61 of them and I'm still amazed at the opportunity to walk with God in his creation. Here are a few staccato thoughts on the year that has passed,

- It's been a difficult year for changes in our lives. A lot of losses, not many gains. Some years are like that. We always hope for better days ahead.....eternal optimists, aren't we?

- I think this year I have begun to mellow a little bit. I seem to be able to slow down my pace of life and relax a little more. It may be age, but I hope it's wisdom.

- This year I have lost several really good friends, they have gone on ahead of me to glory. I miss them. I know that the reality of life is that more and more of those you know will depart before you do. Today I'm thinking about faces I have lost this year that I will greatly miss.

- I am blessed. More than I can even describe in words I am blessed. I don't have a big house or new car or much in the bank, but I feel more blessed than I can describe. Thanks Lord.

- It's the end of the year, time to make resolutions. I only have one- eat right. My goal in the new year is to lose a few pounds and eat better.

- At the end of each year I read the book of Ecclesiastes. Today is the day. It's a great book to read at the end of a year, but you have to read it in one sitting. It makes a big difference in your view of things as the new year arrives.

- Regrets? A lot. My list of "I wish I would have..." is long. Sorry about that.

- Hopes? I hope to walk with God in a way that pleases him. I have no idea where or what that will look like, but I hope and pray I can do that in the new year.

- Plans? Africa in April. I will try to stop in Israel on the way back, still working on that. Never been there, need to try to stop since I will be flying over.

I hope you all have a wonderful 2012. Live well, live for God, enjoy your year.

More on forgiveness

2011-12-30T09:28:00.001-06:00

Forgiveness is giving up the possibility of a better past. --Unknown

People

2011-12-27T08:56:00.007-06:00

Our greatest blessings and annoyances deal with the same thing- people. We all must have others in our lives to thrive and do well. We all desperately need others in our lives for us to be mentally and physically healthy. It's a strange thing, but the very thing that is necessary for us to be healthy can also make us sick.

People around us are the greatest source of pain, hurt and resentment in our lives at one moment while in the next they are our richest blessing, joy and encouragement. Life is a messy thing because of people. But in the same breath let me say that life is a wonderful thing because of people.

Strange, isn't it, but those who bring us our greatest joy can also cause our deepest pain. That's why, when Jesus came with the message of the kingdom, he admonished us to focus on two things- 1. love one another, and 2. forgive one another. The truth is that both of these are vital parts of a healthy life. We must decide to intentionally love and forgive those around us. You will have needy people in your life....love them. You will have mean people in your life....forgive them. Whatever the relationship, whatever the problem there are two admonitions that will solve and salve all of our relationships- love and forgiveness.

I'm thinking about this because I will be teaching on this on Sunday. It's the perfect start for the new year. It's the simple reflection of how Jesus lived out his life as the perfect man. As you watch Jesus encounter people he exercised these two "muscles" more than any other, he loved and forgave. It's the very nature of God as it encounters broken and fallen people.

People are messy. We all have our hurts, wounds, baggage and struggles in tow as we encounter each other. We all have our guards up from previous hurts. We all have our ears tuned to listen for offense. We are messy. The cure for all of the messy people you will encounter is love and forgiveness. I see this lived out best in those who have been wounded the most deeply. Until we have dealt with the wounds and scars inflicted on us by others we won't be able to love and forgive as God desires. It is, without question, a thing we can only do with God's help.

As I write this I'm thinking of someone who has forgiven great wrongs done to her. She was wounded by someone who should have taken care of her, protected her and kept her safe. Her response? She forgave. The greatest benefactor of her forgiveness is her. She is loving and forgiving to everyone because she took her deep wounds to God and forgave. It's made her a loving and forgiving person to everyone who comes with their own wounds. Now others are drawn to her and ask how she did it.

Love and forgiveness. Both are only done as we allow God to work through us. The greatest miracles of your life will come as you love and forgive. The greatest changes in lives around you will come because you love and forgive. These two things are the very heart of God, the very things we love about Jesus, the very things the world most needs, the two things those we encounter most need from us.

Annoying your enemy

2011-12-27T08:55:00.001-06:00

Always forgive your enemies....nothing annoys them so much.

-Oscar Wilde

Forgiveness

2011-12-26T17:48:00.007-06:00

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.

-Louis B. Smedes

For us

2011-12-22T11:04:00.006-06:00

Christmas is God's great gift to us. The very thing we most needed, the best gift ever given, the highest price ever paid, given in a most unexpected way, grand enough for everyone to share, all done with the best planning ever conceived, wrapped with love...just for us.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas thoughts

2011-12-21T10:55:00.006-06:00

This year, to be honest, my hearts not into Christmas. I'm not excited about it. In fact I'm feeling rather a Scrooge about the whole thing. I could easily go into a monologue about consumerism and how crazy it is to spend money for gifts while we lose sight of the real meaning of the season, but that whole discussion has been done to death.

This year I'm simply trying to focus on my walk with God in a busy time when God is so easily forgotten. Honestly I think my relationship with God, whatever that means, has suffered a bit in recent weeks. I could blame a number of things, but at the core of it all is me. I'm the problem. I'm not sure why, but I know it's one of the normal cycles of a walk with God. It's just the wrong time of the year for one of these down times to happen.....

Anyway, with Christmas only a few days away, I survey my living room covered with toys and grandkids playing, having fun, enjoying the day and we have yet to open gifts! They don't need another thing and yet more will come in just a few days. Why do we do this? Will we answer for this crazy excess? I wonder. Yes, Scrooge is at work and I'm him. Sorry, I'm working on it, but for now I am just not into this season of the year.

Christmas is supposed to be a time to remember what God has given. Do we ever do that? Do we realize what he has done? Do we talk about it with our kids? This year we will give our grandkids chickens....chickens that will show up in India for a family in need. I would like to make it even more, maybe goats or cows next year......I would love to make our Christmas about those who have nothing. Now that would be a wonderful Christmas!

As I read the Facebook posts I see wives writing about cooking, decorating, buying gifts, tired, frazzled and worn out. Why are we doing this? Yes, Scrooge is alive and well, but in part I'm tired of this gluttonous consumerism in a country that has too much already. Ok, I'm done. I feel better already. Merry Christmas!

Thought for the day

2011-12-20T11:04:00.003-06:00

Live out the story you want told about you when you're gone.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-19T16:06:00.002-06:00

A friend of mine, as requested by his wife, put up Christmas lights. I love the results! Merry Christmas, Chris. I hope you survive the holidays!

Why Christmas?

2011-12-19T08:09:00.006-06:00

Why Christmas?

Why would God accomplish his redemption plan in this way?

Why come as a baby, as a human and live among us?

Why did God choose this way to redeem mankind?

Luke 3 describes the arrival of Jesus in this way, quoting Isaiah,

“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!

Clear the road for him!

⁵ The valleys will be filled,

and the mountains and hills made level.

The curves will be straightened,

and the rough places made smooth.

⁶ And then all people will see

the salvation sent from God.’”

"The salvation sent from God." What an interesting way of describing this baby. We usually focus on a baby, gifts, wise men, angels and shepherds, but behind it all was a plan devised before creation to save mankind. A plan devised before the problem arose. Even knowing what would happen God created with a plan already in place to fix the problem of sin that would arise. It's more than my little head can absorb. A plan to fix a problem that didn't exist yet? Only God could do such a thing. Christmas is the revelation of God's great redemption plan from eternity past to save mankind.

Isaiah also wrote these words,

⁶ For a child is born to us,

a son is given to us.

The government will rest on his shoulders.

And he will be called:

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷ His government and its peace

will never end.

He will rule with fairness and justice

from the throne of his ancestor David

for all eternity.

The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies

will make this happen!

To us....even as the prophet describes the coming of this baby he's clear to tell us the purpose, the recipients...it's US! All this was done for us. Christmas is about God's great plan from eternity past to provide life to the man he created. I'm so glad that this celebration we call Christmas is all about God's great redemptive plan.

This is the time of year when we see how much God loves us.

Quote of the day

2011-12-19T07:54:00.001-06:00

So long as we imagine

it is we who have to look for God,

we must often lose heart.

But it is the other way about -

He is looking for us.

-Simon Tugwell

Knowing Jesus

2011-12-18T07:25:00.013-06:00

Philippians describes Paul's greatest desire- the desire to know Christ Jesus. In chapter 3 Paul writes about the contrast between knowing Jesus and everything else. In the scales of this contrast "everything else" looks like dung (KJV) in contrast with knowing Jesus. What a contrast that is!

And yet (may I say it as Paul would have?) in our culture today we seem to be in a mad rush to collect all the dung we can! Please forgive me if the language is offensive, but I'm trying to use the imagery that Paul used in Philippians. On the one hand is the quest to know Christ.

In contrast is the quest for the things of the world- cars, houses, money, power, fame, comfort....the stuff Paul describes as dung. With a contrast that dramatic it would seem that we would all be on the quest to know Christ and not the foolish quest to be the best dung collectors.

And yet, it seems we have our values all messed up. I think I see it more clearly where I live than some of you might because we are in a very affluent part of the world. Nice homes, fancy cars, expensive stuff is all around and it is the quest of those I rub shoulders with every day. Imagine if I asked one of them, "So, how is the dung collecting going?" I'm sure I would see a frown, a dirty look and maybe a few words, but when compared to what is truly valuable....knowing Christ....all the stuff we chase seems rather worthless.

Knowing Christ or collecting dung? Let's see....I think Paul makes my choice obvious and yet, like everyone around me as we approach Christmas I find my focus on the stuff...the things. Lord, help me see clearly that the most precious prize is knowing you. Give me such a passion for you that everything else looks to me, as it did for Paul, like smelly worthless trash in contrast.

Knowing Jesus Christ....the ultimate prize, the best gift, the highest quest. Knowing Christ or collecting dung? Knowing Christ will last forever, in contrast all the stuff we chase after will rust, rot or burn up in just a few years. The choice is clear. I pray I never lose sight of the contrast between the two or the passion to know Jesus above all else.

Thoughts on a life

2011-12-16T11:06:00.006-06:00

By Hillel Italie

updated 12/16/2011 7:31:06 AM ET

"Cancer weakened, but did not soften Christopher Hitchens. He did not repent or forgive or ask for pity. As if granted diplomatic immunity, his mind's eye looked plainly upon the attack and counterattack of disease and treatments that robbed him of his hair, his stamina, his speaking voice and eventually his life."

Personally I'm saddened to hear about Christopher's death. He was a brilliant man. One man wrote of him,

"Christopher Hitchens was everything a great essayist should be: infuriating, brilliant, highly provocative and yet intensely serious," said Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. "I worked as an intern for him years ago. My job was to fact-check his articles. Since he had a photographic memory and an encyclopedic mind, it was the easiest job I've ever done."

I'm sure you're thinking, why is a Christian Pastor writing about the death of a passionate atheist? I'm saddened by his death because I cared about him as a human being. I'm writing about him because I feel a real loss at his passing.

I know he swore he would never convert or repent, even as he anticipated his terminal illness, and he didn't. He died holding to his convictions.

I'm saddened by his death because of my personal view of life, death and eternity. There is no joy in the death of someone who did not believe in God, only grief. His death is a loss of a brilliant man who now faces eternity.

My personal view of life, death and eternity makes this a real tragedy to me. I know my atheist friends want no sympathy, but I can't help it. I believe something about eternity that makes this a sad day as I remember a man God made.

Little things

2011-12-15T21:05:00.006-06:00

It doesn't take much to do something significant.

Often it's the little things that mean the most.

This evening Joye and I bought two baby chickens for each of our grandchildren. You might think this is a cute idea, but our grand kids will never see these chicks. We bought them for families in India through Gospel for Asia's ministry.

We will give the grand kids a card telling them that one of their gifts was given to a family in need on the other side of the world. It's a small thing, but I hope it teaches them that even small things like this make a difference.

Quote of the day

2011-12-15T10:19:00.000-06:00

What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner. ~Colette

Good people

2011-12-13T08:36:00.004-06:00

I am out for coffee most mornings with different men in our church family. I love the encounters that happen in public eating places. The events of a coffee and the buzz around me is invigorating.

This morning, as I sat at coffee waiting for one of our men I couldn't help overhearing (yes I listened in) a man at the next table say to his breakfast partner, "I'm a good person...."

There was more to his statement, but this one sentence caught my imagination. I'm sure this guy really is a nice person, trying to be good, but I wondered and wished I could ask him, so what does it mean to you to be a good person and why does it matter? What is the purpose of being good? Why did he need to say that to his friend this morning?

I wonder about these things because his statement made me immediately think about a young man who came to Jesus and basically said the same thing, "I'm a good person, what else do I need?" Jesus' response probably stunned him when he replied, "No one is good but God alone." From that came an encounter that left this young man depressed.

Why do we want to be good? What's is our purpose in "being good?" Who are we trying to impress? Are we just trying to be accepted by others or do we think there is some merit in our goodness? I wonder how we measure our goodness. Compared to Hitler we are all pretty good! What or who was my breakfast friend comparing his goodness to? What was his measuring stick? Why does he want to be good?

I wonder about these things because I really have no illusions of being a good person. It's funny that a pastor like me would say such a thing, but it comes from a perspective of really knowing my own heart and knowing my potential for evil. There is nothing I couldn't do under the right circumstances. I have no illusions of goodness as far as I'm concerned. I know my heart and nothing good resides there so I have to find my acceptance somewhere else. I have to find it in someone else. That's the very reason I'm a Christian! Knowing that I'm not good and can't be good I am depending on someone else to be good for me, to accomplish what I can't.

You will never hear me saying, "I'm a good person." I'm not! Only in Jesus Christ do I find a goodness that puts me right with God. On my own I have no inherent goodness to offer to God. I'm so glad Jesus made my acceptance before God possible because in me is no good thing! So, from a brief comment this morning at a table near mine, I'm most grateful for what Jesus has done for me to make me acceptable to God. Praise be to God for his indescribable gift!

Blurred vision

2011-12-12T09:51:00.002-06:00

"We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!"

These words are from Paul's pen in 1 Corinthians 13. He's writing to describe our vision problem. You see we all see poorly when it comes to the things of God and the reality of what is going on around us. We all find ourselves near-sighted. The things of God and the truths about our world are fuzzy at best. With our vision problems we often can only see shadows and shapes.

There is a desire to see clearly, but our vision problems will only be resolved at last when we see the Lord face to face. In the meantime we have to use glasses. We have to have help to see. In our world we all know what glasses look like. They are used to correct our vision problems.

In spiritual things most of us have no idea what "spiritual glasses" look like. The fact is that without them none of us can see clearly. The "spiritual glasses" we need to see well is God's word, the bible. This is the correction for our near-sighted vision. God's word is meant to give us clear vision about the things of life, reality, relationship and the future. Only his word can give us 20/20 vision.

Many continue to deny they need glasses as they look at shapes and shadows describing them in this way, "It looks like...", "It could be...." and with great and grand words and a knowing tone they wax eloquent on things they can only see dimly, things that are at best fuzzy.

What's sad to me is that many Christians believe the near-sighted men of the world rather than wear the glasses of God's word. They trust those can only guess instead of looking clearly through the lens of God's word to see what really is. Jesus once healed a man of blindness who said, "I see men, but they look like trees." Jesus once more touched him until he could see clearly. God wants us to see clearly and that vision correction only comes through his word.

We are all near-sighted. We all live with blurred vision. We all need glasses to see clearly. The only glasses that will ever give us clarity to see the way things really are is God's word. When you can't see clearly go to the bible and you will find you suddenly have 20/20 vision.

Quote of the day

2011-12-12T08:45:00.002-06:00

"If you are looking to your obedience for blessing or approval, then you are still under the law. It is not your faithfulness or obedience that blesses you, it is HIS! Stop trying so hard to obey and be good, receive by faith what Jesus did for you and you will obey better on accident than you ever could on purpose. It is His righteousness that makes you right with God, not yours. He did it all so you wouldn't have to."

-from my friend Amy (quoted from a youth pastor she knows)

Sunrise

2011-12-11T07:50:00.003-06:00

It's Sunday morning. The sun has risen. No one is surprised. Just like every other morning in every generation since creation the sun has risen. We are used to it. It's pretty much expected by us, isn't it? In fact, every morning of my life the sun has risen. I'm used to it, comfortable with it.....frankly I know it will rise.

Why? Because a faithful God is showing us every morning his faithful nature by giving us the light of day. It's a constant reminder that God is the same as he has always been, faithful to care for us, able to do so and loving. So, this morning, as I see the first glimmer of light over the horizon I'm thankful for God's care, his love, his provision and his power to accomplish good things for us. Good morning, Lord. Thanks for the sun today.

Job

2011-12-10T09:49:00.006-06:00

I just started reading the book of Job again. What an amazing book!

There are insights into heaven that I don't understand.

There is dialogue between God and Satan that puzzles me.

There are friends who visit Job and don't understand God and his ways any better than we do.

But the focus of the book is a man and his response to God.

After disaster struck Job and he had lost everything here are his words to his wife,

"Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

I wonder, as I read his words, what he was thinking. Grief was there I'm sure. Confusion about God's ways is there without question. Sadness. Loneliness. Fear. A hundred different emotions and thoughts I can only imagine, but from his mouth comes a trust in God in spite of his lack of information.

Often it's simply knowing that God is good in the midst of confusion about our circumstances. If God loves me. If God is good. If I can trust him then my circumstances do not change my commentary on God.

Even in the midst of not knowing "why" Job knew he could trust God and from his mouth came a trust that didn't need all the answers. Could it be that knowing God is more important than knowing why?

Sharing your faith in a techy world

2011-12-09T10:20:00.000-06:00

God in nature

2011-12-09T09:49:00.002-06:00

Fearful little creatures

2011-12-09T08:52:00.005-06:00

^{Psalm 57:3} When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

⁴ In God, whose word I praise—

in God I trust and am not afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?

"When I am afraid...." These words were written by one of the most fearsome, brave warriors of his day, David. He was a fearless! He was king. He was no coward and yet fear was a problem he had to deal with in his life.....just as we do in ours. We are such fearful little creatures on a tiny planet in a vast Universe. Make some noise and fear rises in our hearts. Tell us there is crisis in the marketplace and panic ensues. Like David we all deal with fear. We all know the world around us is not in our control. We all live with imminent fear in our lives. How do we respond? What do we do when fear rises in our hearts?

"I put my trust in you." The solution to the fears we experience is someone, something big enough to calm them. Someone able to resolve them. David said that his first response to fear was to trust in God. We all run to something when fear rises in our hearts, what is it? Do we run to the bank account? Is our first response a call to a loved one? Is our trust in the government? Our job? Our family? When fear rises we need someone, something able to resolve that fear, calm our anxiety. David trusted in God. Who or what do you trust?

"In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" There is one last thing about dealing with fear that is important- you have to know that the one you trust to resolve it is really able to help. David, after many experiences with fear, had found that God was trustworthy, able to calm his fears, able to solve his problems. He knew his solution for fear was someone....God himself. What can man do to you when the creator of the universe is your helper? What do you have to fear when God is your refuge?

As one of the fearful little creatures on this tiny little planet I'm so glad I have a big God who can calm my anxious heart and deal with my fearful mind.

From our vantage point

2011-12-06T19:35:00.007-06:00

Psalm 48:¹⁴

For this God is our God

for ever and ever;

he will be our guide

even to the end.

I've been reading the news in recent days with revelations of new discoveries of other planets, black holes, and new galaxies. As we look out into space we see a Universe that is constantly amazing us. It's that Universe that should put us in awe of the God who made it. From our little vantage point the Universe is larger, more amazing and dynamic than we ever imagined. From our vantage point we seem to be the only ones looking at God's great work, and yet from our vantage point many declare there is no one who made this amazing Universe with its billions of galaxies. From our vantage point the God who made it all proclaims "I'm here. I've always been here. I'll guide you to the end of time."

Psalm 19: ¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Thirsty

2011-12-04T09:29:00.003-06:00

Psalm 42: ¹ As the deer longs for streams of water,

so I long for you, O God.

² I thirst for God, the living God.

Have you ever been thirsty? I mean really thirsty...your mouth dry, lips parched, your tongue clinging to the roof of your mouth. If you have ever been that thirsty you long for just a sip of water. Thirsty....it's how we describe a need for something that is vital to life. We cannot live without water. If we went without it for even a few days our health would diminish quickly. We must have water to live.

David wrote of another kind of thirst. He wrote in this Psalm of a thirst for God. A craving for that relationship, that presence that could only be equated to a thirsty deer in the wilderness looking for water. We all have this thirst, this need for God, but many try to quench their thirst with other things.

Like water to the body, God is the only thing that will really meet our thirst's need. Around me I watch a world looking for relief from their thirst in other ways, but the only one, the only water for the soul is God himself. Those who look for relief from other sources will never quench their thirst, they simply sate their thirst for a moment with things that don't satisfy.

I feel that thirst in my life. I so want some "face time" with God, I so want to satisfy my thirsty soul with his presence. It's his face I need to seek, it's his presence in my life that will quench my thirsty soul. Like David, I thirst for God. Lord, would you quench my thirsty?

Nothing

2011-12-01T11:12:00.002-06:00

It's one of those very busy weeks in which I'm starting at 5am and going till 9pm. It's been hard this week to find a few moments to sit and just dream, write and think about what God is doing in my life. It happens. So today I have nothing to share but this great photo. I don't even have a caption for it....just thought you would like it. I'll be back as soon as I can wrestle my busy life to the ground!

Thoughts on a day with the disciples

2011-11-28T10:06:00.008-06:00

This last week I have been thinking about the disciples and their time with Jesus. Their heads had to be spinning most of the time as they lived with him. What an experience, one that would be hard to describe or commentary. They spent three years with God in flesh and yet, like me, they didn't get it. Here is a portion of their dialogue in Mark 8,

"...the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, "Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don't you see the point of all this? Don't you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?"

They said, "Twelve."

"And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many bags full of leftovers did you get?"

"Seven."

He said, "Do you still not get it?"

What an interesting question from Jesus, "Do you still not get it?" In other versions the wording is, "are your hearts hardened?" It's clear, from these miracles, they were supposed to understand something but they had completely missed it. They were right there in the middle of miracles and missed the purpose of it all!

A little earlier in Mark, as they struggled with the oars on the lake, Jesus came to them walking on the water and said to them, "Courage! It's me. Don't be afraid." In that brief statement is the thing they were supposed to get. It's right there in the middle of three short statements. Between his admonition to take courage and "don't be afraid" is the "secret" they (and we) are to get. Here it is- "It's me!" In the English we miss it entirely, but in the Greek it's once more a declaration of who he is, the very thing they were to learn from all the miracles.

"It's me." The two Greek words are ἐγώ εἰμι. In English Jesus is saying "I am". It's the same claim he made in John 8:58 and was nearly stoned for. It's the same name God told Moses to use to describe himself in Exodus 3. It's a claim to deity. As he walked on the water to these weary fishermen Jesus encouraged them. Between their lack of courage and their fears he reassured them with this- "I am" is here.

Some say that Jesus never claimed to be God, but standing on the sea of Galilee he proclaims it loud and clear, "Take courage, I'm God, don't be afraid." It's the same thing he says to us, the same thing he wants us to know, because he's God we can be courageous and abandon our fears. God is in our midst.

Quotes of the day

2011-11-26T08:14:00.002-06:00

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell. -C.S. Lewis

Saturday's cartoon

2011-11-26T07:07:00.001-06:00

Thankful

2011-11-24T08:07:00.004-06:00

"In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." -1 Thes. 5:18

Today is Thanksgiving day in our country. It started with a group of men and women pausing to thank God for his care and provision. It continues as a tradition that has lost much of its initial purpose.

Today it's a day off, football, turkey, family, pumpkin pie, a nap.....

Today God will find only a brief mention for those who give thanks for the meal, but there is so much more to say. Paul's exhortation to the church speaks volumes for us. All that we have, all that happens, all we experience gives us opportunity to thank the one who gave it from his great kindness. Let me share a portion of my list as I begin this day of thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for God's great goodness to me, for the day, for sight, for health, for family, for a warm home, for salvation...oh how wonderful is that, for purpose, for hope, for love, for food, for clothing, for God's love in my life, for his constant care, for feet that work, for grace to experience, for friends...oh what a blessing they are, for a God who hears when I pray, for my bible...I so love God's word, for my wonderful wife, for children I dearly love, for grandchildren, for glorious parents, for life itself, for this moment to celebrate a good God, for stars that show me how grand God really is, for thousands of other things, moment by moment, I say thank you, God. You are glorious!

Quote of the day

2011-11-23T17:58:00.000-06:00

"Every single person is important." -Joye Messerli

God sees

2011-11-23T07:36:00.003-06:00

Many of us, over the years, have memorized scripture. We memorize it because these are God's words to us. They inspire us, help us, teach us. Paul wrote that all of scripture is inspired and so it's all valuable to teach, to guide, to help us. Here's a verse for you to memorize,

Bunni, Azgad, Bebal, -Nehemiah 10:15

You're smiling, aren't you? You are thinking how can this verse help me? As I read this verse, among a list of other names, it struck me that in a world where we seem to disappear into the crowd of billions God sees us. God sees me. He sees you. He knows my name.

I picked this verse from the many in this passage because here are three men you will never hear about in literature, never know more about than their names and these simple facts- They lived during the difficult days of Nehemiah as they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. They were leaders of the people. And, most important, they signed their names to the list of those who promised to follow and obey God. Now, for more than 3,000 years, their names are read and remembered by millions who have no idea who they were, but God knows.

Paul wrote that all of scripture is profitable, so as I read a verse like this I wonder how this verse helps me, guides me, teaches me. Here's what I get from it....God sees. He notices those who follow him. He sees us. Psalms says God is intimate with the righteous and here, among a list of 44 names, are three who decided to follow and obey God in difficult days. And for their faith we know their names. They promised to follow and obey God. We will know nothing more about them until we see the Lord, but we know this one thing- God sees.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-22T19:04:00.002-06:00

Hard hearts and stiff necks

2011-11-19T05:35:00.002-06:00

There are two things I see in scripture that cause us problems- hard hearts and stiff necks.

Hard hearts describe people who are insensitive to God's voice and untouched by his work in their lives. They simply don't see or sense him, his voice, or his conviction.

Stiff necks describe people who are, even knowing what God wants from them, unwilling to change directions, unwilling to repent. They have set their course and will not "turn their necks," change their minds or direction.

I'm thinking about this because I'm reading a passage, studying a portion of scripture where I see the disciples witnessing some of the most amazing miracles of all history and seems untouched, unaffected by them. They had hardened their hearts. They had become insensitive to God's amazing work in their midst.

I wonder....I wonder how hard my heart is. I wonder what God is doing in my life, around me, speaking to me and I simply don't hear it, sense it, feel his presence. This is a dangerous place to be because we don't realize that a hardness has developed in our lives and our relationship with God. I wonder if my stiff neck, my unwillingness to change my course is made worse by my hard heart?

These are my challenges. These are your challenges. I pray that my heart will be soft to God, sensitive to his touch, responsive to his voice. I pray that I will not be so stubborn that I can't change, can't turn my neck to God's directions in my life. I'm thinking about this because 12 men who lived for three years in the very presence of God on earth struggled with it. I know I do to.

Lord, soften my heart, massage my stiff neck. Help me to respond quickly, to hear well your voice and respond to your leading in my life.

An explanation

2011-11-16T21:25:00.002-06:00

I'm sorry for my absence. It's been quite crazy lately. I have much to talk about, but am trying to work through a number of issues right now. I will be back.....as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience.

Update....

2011-11-14T15:51:00.001-06:00

God is amazing! His creation is beyond beautiful! That is all, enjoy your day in the creation of a wonderful artist and God.

What I'm reading

2011-11-14T11:29:00.003-06:00

I just started a new book by Dave Hunt, "The Cosmos, Creation and Human Destiny." It's proving to not only be challenging, but also fascinating. If you or your children are interested in creation, evolution and how we got here this book will sure make you think. It might even change the way you view everything!

I'm only a few chapters in, but am really enjoying Dave's work. I'll keep you updated.

What's inside?

2011-11-12T09:22:00.003-06:00

Some of the best wisdom comes in fortune cookies. Often the simple observations are the most profound. This is one of them. When you get "squeezed" what comes out? Pressure, stress, problems, and the "squeeze" of life will bring out what's inside.

So, when you get squeezed what comes out? It will tell you a lot about what's inside, what you have been putting into your life. Make sure you put good things in so when the squeeze comes the right things will come out.

Saturday's cartoon

2011-11-12T08:39:00.003-06:00

Christian Cliches

2011-11-11T20:09:00.005-06:00

Like many of you I am constantly hearing Christian cliches that have become common in the Christian world, but are simply not true. Over the next week I'm going to accumulate a list of cliches and talk about them. If you have a favorite or not so favorite cliche would you share it with me and we can discuss it together?

Here's one we will be talking about- "Hate the sin, but love the sinner."

This should be interesting. Thanks!

Veteran's Day

2011-11-11T11:12:00.003-06:00

For all of you who have served in the military, Thank you.

Your sacrifice and service to our country is greatly appreciated by so many.

Thank you.

Quote of the day

2011-11-11T11:08:00.001-06:00

"Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment." -Rita Mae Brown

61 years ago today

2011-11-11T04:53:00.003-06:00

My parents sent this photo to me yesterday. In my failing memory this was the first time I had ever seen this picture. It's a picture of my parents (at the end of the table) hosting Christmas dinner in 1950. It's also my first Christmas dinner. If you can see it (and yes this is an old photo...dates me, doesn't it?) I'm the baby at the end of the table. Many of the people in the photo are gone, but this brief glimpse of life in 1950 is my first holiday.

They sent this photo to me because today is my birthday. I'm 61. It's painful to say that because I can't believe I'm that old! How did this happen so quickly? I can't be THAT old! But here I am. It passes so quickly. We finish with a flurry and admit it was all too short, too quick. I understand James' words as he writes in chapter 5 that we are just a vapor that appears for a moment and then is gone. In a small corner of this planet, for a brief number of years we will each live out our lives. It passes so quickly. I have no idea how many more years I have, but I want to use every moment well, for the Lord, to love people and enjoy life. I want to finish well. So today I'm going to pause, enjoy and reflect on the joys of life, family, friends and ministry.

Really?

2011-11-09T07:46:00.004-06:00

I found the following blog title on another site very interesting,

"Atheists do not need to have all the answers"

It made me smile. My first thought, "Really? You claim to have all the answers." If this is new ground my atheist friend is giving up then maybe he needs to change his affiliation to agnostic. At least, not knowing everything, this would be a more honest description of his beliefs.

The claim of the atheist is this- there is no God. And with that declaration he has claimed absolute knowledge of all space, time, dimensions and history. It's an arrogant place to stand, a foolish one.

David wrote of these men when he said, "The fool has said in his heart there is no God." David considered such an arrogant man a fool which puts such a person far from omniscience. All of creation screams there is an intelligent designer, there is someone who made all this. To deny that is the height of arrogance and foolishness.

I'm glad my atheist friend has given up some territory in his admission he doesn't have all the answers. Maybe one day he will realize that in those answers he doesn't have is the God he doesn't want.

There are no aliens!

2011-11-08T14:43:00.001-06:00

"The White House responded that there was "no evidence that any life exists outside our planet"."

–BBCNEWS.COM

I thought this interesting. With all we can know there is still so little we actually do know. It's humbling to know how little we know. For me this highlights the absurdity of the atheist who declares, "There is no god!" My question- how do you know that since you know so little? It's humbling to know we don't know and must trust one who does. For me it makes God necessary. Without him my universe makes no sense.

Trusting God

2011-11-08T08:10:00.003-06:00

^{Ezra 8:21} Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. ²²For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him.” ²³ So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He listened to our entreaty.

Ezra was an amazing man. He was a priest descended from Aaron and he had a passion for God, his word and sharing it with others. I know I would have liked this guy, but he got himself in a situation where he had to live out what he had told the king. He had to trust God because he had told the king that God would watch over him. Now, facing the trip back to Jerusalem, he is keenly aware of both his statement to the king and the dangers that lay ahead. This trip would travel the major trade routes of the day. Along these routes were pirates and thieves waiting to steal from anyone who didn't have armed forces to protect them. It was a dangerous thing to travel in that day. Everyone knew that. But Ezra had told the king that God would watch over those who seek him so he had a decision- go back on his words about God or trust him.

Ezra decided that what he knew about God was too important to trust man, so they fasted, they prayed and off they went into the lion's den this journey would be. No army to protect them, no swords to defend them, just a faith in God. Because of their faith they arrived safely in Jerusalem with their treasures of gold and silver untouched by thieves.

I wonder what the bandits and thieves saw as this troop of Jewish travelers passed them on the road. Did they see an army? Did God hide them from the view of those waiting to pounce on them? I don't know, but what is known is that Ezra spoke of his trust in God and had to live that trust out in a very dangerous place. I love what Ezra did, he verbalized what he believed and that testimony was his benchmark for how he then had to live out the journey ahead. He was too embarrassed to go to the king and ask for troops to protect them because he said God would protect them.

What do I verbalize about God that then convicts me to live it out? Does my faith in him give words to my beliefs? Do I trust him enough to tell others what I believe and live it out? What a great example of a testimony lived out, to a faith walked through. This simple story challenges me to verbalize what I believe about God. Do I really trust God enough to talk about what I believe and then live it out even when its dangerous? I wonder.

Little things

2011-11-07T06:24:00.003-06:00

This week is my birthday and I'm already getting birthday wishes on Facebook. I am a year away from being able to draw social security! How did this happen, I can't be that old? How does life pass by so quickly and suddenly we are in those last years? It's amazing, from this vantage point, to realize how quickly these few years pass. This morning it strikes me that the secret, at least for me, in living well is in the little things. Some might strive for wealth and fame, but I'm finding that the best parts of life and the grandest successes come in the little things. Let me give you a list and feel free to add your own to this short list of little things that make a difference,

A hot cup of coffee

Watching the sun rise

Quiet time to think

A dog to pet

A God I can talk to

Time to read his word

People to love

Good food

Hope

A laugh

A cup of cold water

Friends

People to pray for

Grandchildren

A good God

Little things, insignificant by themselves, but they are the colors of life, the richness that make the days worth living. Little things we don't think about because they are little, they are moments and pass so quickly. Savor the little things today, say thank you to God for the little things. It might surprise you how many of them fill your days.