This is as good as it can get as far as a person without Christ, or a society without Christ. This is a quote from someone I spoke with on the phone when they learned of my daughters pending heart surgery. I could sense the sincerity in her voice, she was genuinely concerned and then offered these words, "I think positive thoughts toward you today." What else was she gonna say? What else could she do or offer? She has a clear understanding that she has no power within herself to help the situation. What is she left with if she doesn't believe in a God who made her, me, my daughter? What does she stand on if she has only herself to turn to in times of distress and need?
"The fool says in their heart there is no God." (Ps 14:1) Had I not been so desirous to get off the phone as quickly as possible to get back to "more important" things I might have been a little more bold in engaging this dear lady with the question as to what good she thought her "positive thoughts" might do to help the situation. However, in my usual way I got too caught up in my own little world to see such a divine appoinments. God, I pray you forgive me for my selfishness and empower me to be a better ambassador for you. Amen.
The fool may say in their heart their is no God but the self-absorbed squander opportunites given by God.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Don't Ignore Routine Maintenance
This week I had to spend a little over $1700 on repairs on my truck. I had to put new tires on because the alignment wasn't right and because they weren't rotated regularly. I also had to put new brake rotors all around because the brake pads weren't replaced when they should have been. If it had been properly maintained (I bought it used), the bill to have an alignment and tire rotation along with brake pads probably would have been less than $200.
The late Richard Baxter rights "Take heed to yourselves" in his book to pastors about being certain to care for yourselves in regard to your walk with Christ. His admonition to pastors stands true for everyone: "Take heed to yourselves". His admonition is of paramount importance, see to it that you "maintain" a close, abiding walk of faith and obedience with your Lord Jesus Christ. God commanded Joshua, "Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to obey everything written in it. then you will be prosperous and successful." (1:7) And the writter of Hebrews warns "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away." (2:1)
This blog could easily turn into a sermon, however, for your sake let it remain an encouragment to you to not neglect the feeding of your soul. Take care to be in communion with your Savior, read his word, pray, worship Him daily.
The late Richard Baxter rights "Take heed to yourselves" in his book to pastors about being certain to care for yourselves in regard to your walk with Christ. His admonition to pastors stands true for everyone: "Take heed to yourselves". His admonition is of paramount importance, see to it that you "maintain" a close, abiding walk of faith and obedience with your Lord Jesus Christ. God commanded Joshua, "Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to obey everything written in it. then you will be prosperous and successful." (1:7) And the writter of Hebrews warns "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away." (2:1)
This blog could easily turn into a sermon, however, for your sake let it remain an encouragment to you to not neglect the feeding of your soul. Take care to be in communion with your Savior, read his word, pray, worship Him daily.
Friday, March 11, 2011
The American Idols
Just finished (for the second time in a row) a book titled You Are The Treasure that I Seek (but there's a lot of cool stuff out there, Lord). By Greg Dutcher. I had never heard of the guy before and that was a good thing it kind of clued me in on the probability that he wasn't just writing another book because he was a popular guy and new everyone would buy it if he wrote it, even though it probably wouldn't say anything new, just a rehash of what he said in his last book or what somebody else with a popular name just wrote in their last book and that is the thing to write about right now (wow long sentence). You ever notice that trend in our Christian book world?
Turns out Greg is sort of an ordinary type, he's a Senior Pastor who struggles putting Christ first in his life, boy how many of us deal with this on an ongoing basis. The book he writes is the reality of all the "idols" we have to come to terms with in our hearts. The author writes with a funny, fresh perspective, sort of a "confessing idol holder" type, someone you can easily relate to and share in his struggles.
I recommend this book, strongly, it will be available in our church library soon (as soon as I can pry my fingers off it), if you happen to not go to our church (shame on you) maybe you could find a copy on Amazon or something.
Turns out Greg is sort of an ordinary type, he's a Senior Pastor who struggles putting Christ first in his life, boy how many of us deal with this on an ongoing basis. The book he writes is the reality of all the "idols" we have to come to terms with in our hearts. The author writes with a funny, fresh perspective, sort of a "confessing idol holder" type, someone you can easily relate to and share in his struggles.
I recommend this book, strongly, it will be available in our church library soon (as soon as I can pry my fingers off it), if you happen to not go to our church (shame on you) maybe you could find a copy on Amazon or something.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Balance...equally as tough
I just got back from a 2 week vacation to beautiful SUNNY Orlando, Florida. It was 80-85 the first week and 75-80 the second week. Boy that was "hard" to take (HaHa). We decided not to do any parks of any sort (Disney etc.) but rather just hang out and enjoy our time together.
Throughout the course of a day there are many competing factors that keep us from spending real, quality time with those we love. There are those necessary things such as jobs that keep us apart (even those may take an unhealthy amount of our time and focus) but I thought it would be important to point out those "unnecessary" things we fill our time with that keep us from developing greater relationships with those we say we love the most, our wife and children.
To start with there are the technological gadgets we surround ourselves with. I remember when cell phones first came out and what a big deal it was to speak to someone using a phone that needed to be hard wired into your car and required a separate antenna and only worked sporadically. Not anymore, everyone has one and it seems most can't live without it. Many people, especially those under 30, have the ear piece to never miss a call and their fingers are fast and furious in texting, to the point where there is a whole new language being developed (there was a young teen girl in youth group who told me that she texted about 3,000 texts a month). Then you throw in the people who have Internet access with their phone and you create a whole sub group who can't live without their facebook and twitter feeds constantly at their fingertips.
That's just the cell phone world, when you throw in the ipod, ipad, mp3 world you have another group who have buried themselves in their music walking around with ear buds in place constantly, oblivious to their surroundings. Move up the tech scale and you have wii and kinnect and all those gaming options. Keep going and you have home Internet and cable and the biggest televisions you have ever seen in many houses (wasn't that long ago that the 19" was standard fare).
Move away from the electronic world and their are still many other chosen distractions interfering with our special relationships, home, yard, car, pet, friend, church, volunteerism, and on and on the list goes. You might start to get the idea that relationships that are deep, intimate, intertwined and lasting are a thing of the past, something only a few might even still want. The reality is we display this truth every day, that relationships aren't a big deal. I dare say that if for any tragic reason we should suddenly lose all technological ability and be locked in a room with our wife and children we wouldn't know what to do.
Back to our trip to Florida, 2 weeks with no appointments, no Internet service (for one week) cell phone off and left on the dresser, no where to go and nothing to do but spend time with my wife and daughter...turns out to be the best two weeks of my life so far.
Throughout the course of a day there are many competing factors that keep us from spending real, quality time with those we love. There are those necessary things such as jobs that keep us apart (even those may take an unhealthy amount of our time and focus) but I thought it would be important to point out those "unnecessary" things we fill our time with that keep us from developing greater relationships with those we say we love the most, our wife and children.
To start with there are the technological gadgets we surround ourselves with. I remember when cell phones first came out and what a big deal it was to speak to someone using a phone that needed to be hard wired into your car and required a separate antenna and only worked sporadically. Not anymore, everyone has one and it seems most can't live without it. Many people, especially those under 30, have the ear piece to never miss a call and their fingers are fast and furious in texting, to the point where there is a whole new language being developed (there was a young teen girl in youth group who told me that she texted about 3,000 texts a month). Then you throw in the people who have Internet access with their phone and you create a whole sub group who can't live without their facebook and twitter feeds constantly at their fingertips.
That's just the cell phone world, when you throw in the ipod, ipad, mp3 world you have another group who have buried themselves in their music walking around with ear buds in place constantly, oblivious to their surroundings. Move up the tech scale and you have wii and kinnect and all those gaming options. Keep going and you have home Internet and cable and the biggest televisions you have ever seen in many houses (wasn't that long ago that the 19" was standard fare).
Move away from the electronic world and their are still many other chosen distractions interfering with our special relationships, home, yard, car, pet, friend, church, volunteerism, and on and on the list goes. You might start to get the idea that relationships that are deep, intimate, intertwined and lasting are a thing of the past, something only a few might even still want. The reality is we display this truth every day, that relationships aren't a big deal. I dare say that if for any tragic reason we should suddenly lose all technological ability and be locked in a room with our wife and children we wouldn't know what to do.
Back to our trip to Florida, 2 weeks with no appointments, no Internet service (for one week) cell phone off and left on the dresser, no where to go and nothing to do but spend time with my wife and daughter...turns out to be the best two weeks of my life so far.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Humility...it's tough
WARNING: ALWAYS BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR
I made the mistake of praying about my lack of humility and that God would "take this on as his Extreme Makeover". He is answering, and fast and right to the core of it. Ouch! It hurts to recognize how much I want to defend myself and justify my actions, opinions and shortcomings.
I have spent more time licking my wounds, developing arguments in my head and looking at the faults of others all to make myself feel a smidge better, than I care to admit (though it appears I did just admit it). I am not going to take the typical route of claiming I am amongst good company in my battle or use the "we" language instead of the "I or me" language to try and get myself off the hook. I am as guilty as they come and if this were a court of law I would be found overwhelmingly guilty and locked up for life. My self-preservation and pride go so deep I amaze myself.
I cry out for Your hand of mercy to free me. I am weak, I need Your love to free me. Oh, Lord my Rock come rescue me.
I made the mistake of praying about my lack of humility and that God would "take this on as his Extreme Makeover". He is answering, and fast and right to the core of it. Ouch! It hurts to recognize how much I want to defend myself and justify my actions, opinions and shortcomings.
I have spent more time licking my wounds, developing arguments in my head and looking at the faults of others all to make myself feel a smidge better, than I care to admit (though it appears I did just admit it). I am not going to take the typical route of claiming I am amongst good company in my battle or use the "we" language instead of the "I or me" language to try and get myself off the hook. I am as guilty as they come and if this were a court of law I would be found overwhelmingly guilty and locked up for life. My self-preservation and pride go so deep I amaze myself.
I cry out for Your hand of mercy to free me. I am weak, I need Your love to free me. Oh, Lord my Rock come rescue me.
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