Easy Button

Wouldn't it be great if life came with an EASY button. Yes, I sometimes shop at Staples, but that doesn't seem to help when you get to the really sticky situations in life. Unfortunatley, the easy path is usually the one that leads us away from our hopes and dreams. Rather than traveling through uncharted territories, or exploring new opportunities, taking the easy path usually takes down the same course that millions of others have travelled.

Most of us have probably heard the quote, "Pioneers take all the arrows." There certainly is danger in being the first to journey into brave new worlds, but I heard a great spin on that old addage that inspired me.  "Pioneers take all the arrows, but they also have the biggest ranches." I have taken a lot of arrows in my life, but I have also been rewarded with blessings few get to experience.  Watching the sun rise over the Mt. Cook in the Southern Alps, hearing the morning drums, followed by the soft echo of Christian hymns in the jungles of Africa, or building homes for those who lost everything after Hurricanes devastated Honduras. These are riches that far surpass any material gain I have ever enjoyed.

There have been many times in my life when I prayed that God would make my path EASY. Fortunately for me He had other plans. The trials, the tragedies and the heartaches of life have all been training grounds to minister to others. There have been times when I sought riches, wealth, fame and prestige, but God reminded me that life is most rewarding when I serve, when I humble myself, when I fulfill his plan for my life. So go ahead, hit the easy button, but if you do - you are missing out on the blessings that come through struggle and hardship.

The Let Down

Yesterday was a day of clarity, one of those salient moments when God reveals himself in all his glory. The overwhelming sense of security and confidence brings reassurance and hope as we weave through the struggles of life. Like many before me, I run the risk of that emotional and spiritual high being followed by a devastating low.

Elijah had just defeated the prophets of Baal when he fled to the wilderness fearful and depressed. He felt alone in his battle for righteousness and for a time the fatigue and opposition blinded him to what God was doing.

Today I am just dog-tired. I feel as though every last ounce of my energy has been sucked out of me. If I am not careful, I can fall into the same dejected state that Elijah found himself in. At least this morning I have one advantage - AWARENESS.  I know I am tired, I know I have a lot on my plate today, I know that after a spiritual victory that Satan is going to regroup and attack from a flanking position.

I have a brilliant strategy for times like this. Just get through the day without doing anything stupid. I will do all the good things people tell us to do: pray, read my bible, etc., but my primary strategy for today is persevere and be ready to fight another day. Sometimes a boxer takes a round off to regain his strength, Jesus used to retire from the multitudes for prayer and solitude with His Father.

So now its time for a cup of coffee, a moment of prayer, and a detemination to fight through the lethargy of the day after.

Humbled

I bow today in humble submission to the King of kings and Lord of lords. I am reminded of his fatherly presence in my life. Though I have walked in the path of the prodigal, sat in the seat of the scoffer, and revelled at times in my arrogance and disobedience - HE is always there.

Deep within the marrow of my bones I understand the foolish and fickle Israelites. As they stood at the seashore with the armies of Egypt nipping at their heals they felt hopeless and without escape. "Where shall we go, who will deliver us, it would have been better to be slaves in Israel, than to die in the wilderness." Hopelessness, fear and despair were simply the precursors of the majesty and deliverance of God Almighty. When we have no where else to turn, when the best efforts of men and angels cannot deliver us, it is there that my Father stands ready.

• My God delivered Israel and destroyed 185,000 Assyrians!
• He stopped the sun and suspended the course of nature.
• He calmed the seas, delivered Peter from prison, and placed every enemy under his feet.

How small is my mind when I loose hope, lack trust, and lean on my own understanding? He subdued kingdoms, brought down the most powerful nations on earth, made kings of out shepherds, prophets out of farmers, rulers out of convicts and turned a band of common fishermen into voices that changed the world.

Great is our God who brings deliverance from places we do not know. Our God who reveals himself through the majesty of a phone call, or the tender embrace of a friend. He may part the sea to defeat the armies of our enemies, or lead us to a treasure hidden in a field. The only limitations in my deliverance are the smallness of my mind, the weakness of my faith, and the abandonment of my hope.

Great is my God.

Trust Me

TRUST ME! I don't know how many times God has spoken those words to me, but for some reason this weekend they began to resonate. I have really felt the pressure from a lot of different directions lately and I am not always sure how it will all work out. To be perfectly honest, I am not Mr. Sunshine when I start feeling tired, stressed and losing control.

I'm not sure where the sense of peace comes from. There are questions, important questions about life and my future that are unresolved right now - but I hear God calling me to trust Him.

On the way to work I was reminded of so many others who had this challenge put before them. While those exact words may not be present in the text, there are so many examples of God calling the faithful to trust Him. David was being pursued by his enemies, in danger of losing his life, hiding in the camps of Israel's enemies. There was sense in which God was saying, "do you trust me to make you King?"

Job sufferred financial, familial and personal loss that few of us can imagine. He was frustrated, confused and distraught over the circumstances of life. He cried out the prayer that many of us share when life seems to hard to handle, "Why Me?" God's answer was pointed and direct. "Where were you when I framed the earth, when I shaped the planets, when I created the great expanse of the sea?"  God wanted Job to know that he was in no position to question the wisdom of the Creator and sustainer of all, but Job was also being called to Trust God.

Abraham was called to trust God to fulfill a laundry list of promises; Elijah was challenged to put his trust in the Lord when he fled from Jezebel and Gideon had be believe that God could conquer their enemies with only 300 men.

So now its my turn. Tired, frustrated and stretched to my limits, God whispers softly - do you trust me? Like a small child seeking his Father's approval I respond - "I'm trying Lord, I really am."

Today

It's Sunday, August 22, 2010. What's so special about today? As trite as it may sound, it is the first day of the rest of my life. I wish I could say that I start today without any baggage, history or problems, but 51 years of living makes that impossible. The only way I can repair the challenges of the past and insure a productive and fulfilling future is to change how I live today.

Yes, I have been at this place in my life before - fed up, determined and committed to positive change. How many times have I said, "I am going to eat better, exercise, or work on my personal goals. This time it is going to be different." That is when the voice of doubt and discouragement tries to kick in. What is different this time?  Not a lot really!

Win or lose, victory or defeat, trial or triumph - there have been some very basic character triats that keep me going, keep me believing, keep me moving in the direction of my dreams.

• Optimism. I believe we can change the future. I believe that God has endowed us with power, given us His Spirit, and wants what is best for His children. I can get kicked in the gut today and still believe that tomorrow is going to be a better day.
• Opportunity. Everywhere I look there are opportunities for achievement. You don't agree? What about personal fitness. I can eat better, exercise and take steps to being a healthier me. Are you aware in the midst of this lousy economy people are starting new businesses, beginning new careers and pursuing opportunities they have dreamed about for a lifetime.
• Opposition. We were born into this world with a survival instinct. You have to fight for the things you want. Life isn't delivered to you on a silver platter. I'm sorry but your fortune cookie probably doesn't have today's winning lottery numbers on it. Opposition to our muscles us make us stronger, opposition in life isn't much different. Overcome just one obstacle today and you will be better because of it.

So, thank you father for another day. A day of opportunities!  A day of change! A day of renewal! Forgive me for the failures of yesterday and lead me through the land mines in my tomorrows, but "this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it."

Ministering to the fringes

I still remember my phone ringing at 2:00 am and crawling out of bed to visit a brother who was sitting in a county jail. I sat with a mother who had just learned her son had overdosed for the 3rd time and they didn't know if he would make it through. I have visited prisons, drug treatment programs and churches that minister to the fringes of our society. Life isn't quite as clean and antiseptic in those communities.

This blog is for those of us who "don't get out much." We attend worship in our Easter Sunday dresses, put on our blue blazer and and sing, "more of Him and less of me." I don't mean to criticize the worship of the Lord's church, but I am reminded of a sign I once saw mounted over the exit of a small country church, "Enter to worship, leave to serve."

I get most frustrated with our petty little arguments over how many (and what kind) of songs to sing, whether the service ran too long, while billions are lost in sin, our own brothers and sisters are caught in the mire of complacency and contempt, and all around us the world is hungry, hurting and without God in their lives.

Occassionally, I get rebuked for the "plain-talk" approach I take in my blog. This isn't inspired, it's not even Sunday morning Bible-class (though sometimes I think it should be), its my personal ramblings on life and the world we live in. Get your head out of the ground. Step outside the comfort of your insulated, air-conditioned houses and look around at the world. Marriages are collapsing at alarming rates, children are dying because they don't have clean water to drink, and our own offspring are caught in the morass of a culture that looks more like the hog pen the prodigal son wallowed in than it does anything resembling goodness and godliness.

The problem is simple to identify: I don't want to get my hands dirty. I don't want my phone ringing at 2:00 am when I am trying to sleep. I don't want to forgo dinner and a movie in order to feed hungry children. The problem is simple - I'm SELFISH! 

I can preach and rant and rave about adultery, murder, covetous and a multitude of other sins (e.g. Romans 1), but my sins of omission are just as black and heinous and disgusting before God. Edgar A. Guest was right when he said, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

Blessed be the name of the Lord

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the Lord be blessed."  (Job 1:21).

How many of us come anywhere close to having the spirit and forbearance of Job? We moan and complain if the pizza delivery guy is 5 minutes late. I can't imagine losing my children, my health, and my posessions before I can stop to take a breath. Add to that a nagging wife and some well-intentioned, but misinformed friends and I think any sense of optimism I had would be long gone.

What does it take for us to put life in the proper perspective (God's perspective)? We are more like Job than we stop to think about - at least the pre-trial Job. We are wealthy beyond imagination (yes, most of us are in the top 1% of wage earners in the world). I can't speak for everyone, but I have a great family, good job, wonderful friends and so much to stop and be thankful for. To be perfectly frank - it scares me!

Job was selected by God because he was faithful, "there is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil" (Job 1:8). I, on the other hand, am seriously lacking in many of those areas. I don't think God is going to single me out because of my lily-white character, but he might decide I need a little lesson in humility and self-sacrifice.

My phone has been ringing a lot lately with opportunities to serve really worthy organizations. A humanitarian aid agency drilling water wells in Ethiopia and Sudan, a children's home working with our Native American populations and Christian schools that are training men and women to spread God's word across the continent of Africa. These organizations are struggling while I sit in my recliner with a cold Coke and a bag of chips, frustrated because they aren't showing my favorite movie in high-definition.

Like it or not, Job is right. "Naked we come from out mother's womb, and naked we will return." All the things we accumulate in this life are just things that will return to the dust. Those things that truly endure center around the lives that I touch, and the people that I serve.

Lost in something bigger than me . .

My life has taken me all over the map (personally, spiritually as well as geographically). As I look back at my highs and lows, I find it interesting that the most rewarding times, the times I found the most peace and personal fulfillment where those times I was lost in something bigger than myself.

I remember the joyous faces of small children as we handed out shoes in a small village in Honduras, teenagers who got their first look at how most of the world lives and sleeping through hot African summers without a hint of air conditioning, or even the simplest creature comforts. Those were good times!!!

So if happiness and fulfillment come from something other than flat panel televisions, Iphones, or Lexus convertables why are we all so hell-bent on having more stuff. Once we get them we have to insure them, clean them, service them and and worry about them. Don't scratch the leather interior, don't leave fingerprints on the t.v. screen, and then there are the pesky finance charges.

I always tried to tell my kids, "people are more important than things." Last week I took 15 minutes out of my schedule and went to visit a friend's mother in an assisted living facility. You would have thought I offered my first-born on an altar of fire. Not only did her mom appreciate the visit, but she flooded me with compliments and appreciation.  Can't buy that with a shiney new dollar.

So, I find myself once again at the crossroads of life, hoping this time I am a little wiser. I think God has spent the past five decades preparing me to loose myself in something better.

A Five Second Sermon

I was sitting in worship recently (and actually listening) when it struck me how often we we preach little 5 second sermons without even realizing it. While one of the men was serving upfront, he made a very brief parenthetical comment that revealed to me exactly what he believed on a particular topic. It caused me to pause and consider the siginificance of the little things we say:

1. How often do I miss the important nuances of another's speech because I am not paying attention? Whether it is my spouse, children, or something being taught in worship - am I really zoned in on what others are saying.
2. What am I revealing about myself. All too often my tongue goes unchecked and people get a short little, five-second glimpse of who I really am. In those moments all I can do is hope they aren't paying attention.
3. Listening is becoming a lost art. We are distracted by television and our computer monitors, we are to consumed with what we want to say, or we are simply inconsiderate of others. If you want to be a reallly good friend, or really learn what makes another person tick - shut up and listen.

I think we have all had those moments when we are pulled back to consciousness and ask, "Did I really just hear that?" Imagine what life would be like if we really stopped to listen once in awhile.

Stuff

I am so sick of stuff.  We have so much stuff in our western culture that we rent buildings to put stuff in that won't fit in our houses. There is stuff in the trunk of my car, stuff in the garage, stuff in the crawlspace upstairs. Why are we so consumed with getting more stuff?

• Is it the endless onslaught of public media that makes us think we need every new gadget and widget?
• Is it an effort to keep up with the Jones, or Smiths, or those other neighbors we really don't like very much?
• Is it just covetousness, a longing and desire for having what belongs to someone else.

I think our attitude towards stuff has a lot to do with our values. Do I need stuff to feel important? Am I trying to impress my friends? Everyday I become more convinced that our western values are all messed up. The first time I returned from Africa in 1987, I felt so guilty I wanted to sell all my stuff and help the poor. 23 years later I have more stuff than ever. I have to seriously question how much help I have been to a hungry, poverty-stricken, diseased world, most of whom do not know God.

My pursuit of stuff hasn't made me any happier. It hasn't provided me any more prestige in my community. It certainly hasn't done anything to change the world, feed the hungry, care for the sick, or minister to the Lost. Yea, I am pretty sick of stuff and the way it has twisted my values and warped my perception of how most of the world lives.

Free stuff - ya want any!!!