Raging update...

It has been many months since my last post. I'm sorry to have stayed away for so long. This is cathartic, this is healing, this is cleansing - and I have missed it.

I read the first part of 1Peter (most of the first chapter) this evening, and it was good. I began to formulate ideas in the old manner again. God is good, and His words are life.

Three weeks ago I had chest pain. After four hours I took myself to ER. The doctor said it didn't look like a heart attack, but at 'my age' they had to do all the tests. So I was admitted, and put through a bunch of test. Turned out to be nothing, other than the REAL heart attack I had when I got the bill.

Then I dropped a spa on my hand. My left hand. This is important, because I was ALMOST over the pain in my right hand from a jammed hand I received helping a friend move. But nothing was broken this time, and the pain is slowly subsiding. I had full range of motion within two days, so again, I'm sure nothing was broken. After the ER visit I am not going in for any exams until the bank account fills back up a bit. Oh, the picture? Not mine. And it's just a raspberry a guy smashed in his hand. He said it was tasty.

Short and sweet - not too neat. But I skipped the gravy and went right for the meat.

Here, let me stab you in the heart with a smile

I had a three-hour meeting this past Sunday evening. A three hour meeting is no new thing for me, I am groggy from a meeting last night which ran very close to five hours, longer if you count the prep I put into it in the afternoon. Monday night I had a two hour meeting, Wednesday night was a great prayer meeting... etc. All good.

But Sunday. Wow - the plan was to go around the room and encourage one another. You know, say only 'good' stuff about a person or couple as we advanced around the circle one by one, or couple by couple. But when they got to us, pretty much every person said the same thing, "we have always seen the humor, of course, but there was a time when you were actually serious and wow! It was really great!"

"There is more depth in you than we EVER thought even REMOTELY possible..."

OK - that wasn't exactly how it went, but with my wife as my witness, I promise you it was pretty close. They just don't know how much I have battled with this over the years. I cannot seem to stop the little voice in my head which can come up with a funny line or retort to just about any situation. It has stood me well over my life, there are times when a laugh can ease a tense situation. But with a quick wit, I have found, comes great responsibility. I say about 10% of the things which pop into my head nowadays, and it's exactly for the reason I am writing about today: if people find out you are funny, they then have a very tough time taking you serious.

A friend of mine said I should work on my facial expression - have a funny look and a serious look so completely different that people will not have to guess. I think that is brilliant - but I want to take it a step further. I am shopping on line for a tazer, or low-cost cattle prod. Failing in that, I may settle for just a needle or sharp stick. What I'll do is this - if I am about to say something funny, I'll just go ahead. But if I want to try to be life-change serious, I'll poke you first. The pain will help you focus, and my words will carry far more weight.

I may also have to deal with this 'issue' less because I have a strong feeling that it will thin the heard of my friends a bit.

Wealth

I removed an old spa and began the installation of a new one today. In fact, I also relocated another spa by taking it out of one backyard and delivering it to another back yard.

But one of the yards was a mansion in Camarillo, and the other was a very humble rental house in Silverstrand (a part of Oxnard, CA).

And the amazing part is - one was a toy, and one was a part of therapy for a man who suffers a great deal of pain and needs the hot water to keep going.

I was very happy to be part of both customer's lives, and I hope that there will be a chance to share Christ with each of them. I started the process today by establishing some relationship, and mentioning Jesus and God's faithfulness several times. Planting little seeds.

Father God - honor my attempt to be faithful to your word - bring the harvest. Touch Serge, Jenn and Chris. Amen.

Be bold, He is.

Have you spoken to somebody about Christ today? I have been focusing on this in my life for the past couple of months, and it's amazing how many times you can work "Jesus," or "I will pray for you," or "God knows" into a conversation. If you are looking the person in the eyes, and if you know the person in any way at all, you might also be surprised how many times that will open a door to further discussion about a relationship with Jesus.

Try it!

Luke 12:8-9 (New International Version, ©2011)

8 “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. 9 But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.

Luke 12:8-9 (The Message)

8-9"Stand up for me among the people you meet and the Son of Man will stand up for you before all God's angels. But if you pretend you don't know me, do you think I'll defend you before God's angels?

Busy busy boy

I just had a whirlwind weekend. I had a busy week first, then I had a lot of work on Saturday. Sunday I traveled with our Pastoral Search Committee to a church about an hour away. A 'debriefing' followed at a local restaurant, then the drive home, an afternoon with some friends over while trying to nap, digest and spend time with my daughter - who we later drove to LAX to jet back to school in Florida.

So much for my day of rest.

But - it was all heartwarming and good. First, the pastor we went to hear did a fine job. He's not as flashy as some we have heard, but his manner was perfect in another way: it allows the Spirit to 'sneak' the message into your heart. He fully allows the Holy Spirit to do the heavy lifting, and I am very happy to announce that all of the people who went with us reported that the message hit home. That's a step in the right direction. Anointed preaching is powerful even if it isn't loud.

And the afternoon was not a disaster: I did get a short nap, and Hope, Kristen, Noni and Barbie had a 'girls night out' before we loaded up and drove KJ to LAX. And a late flight on a Sunday night is apparently 'the bomb' as far as we can tell. No crowds, no lines for security or check-in, and the TSA agents were actually in good moods. Too bad we didn't find that out sooner: Kristen graduates in eight weeks.

Are you following all of this?

The Greatest Commandment

Mark 12
The Greatest Commandment

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”

32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

So - then I guess the next logical question is, "who is my neighbor?"

Do I love the lost as much as Jesus? Am I even trying to come close to that level of care for people I don't even know, people who may very well be trying to make trouble in my life? People who rail against the things I hold dear?

Jesus gave us marching orders in several passages of the Bible. This is only one of them, but He Himself declares it as the most important - that seems to me to be pretty clear. I need to love those around me as I love God: with all I have.

Religion

Mark 12
The Parable of the Tenants

1 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

6 “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

7 “But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

9 “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’[a]?”

12 Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

Whenever I see a teaching of Christ which is aimed at the religious 'elite' of His day, I take special notice. As a Christian, I want to be 'like Christ,' and I want to have Jesus as the center of my life. To most people, that makes me 'religious,' yet I don't want to appear religious. Because religion is only man attempting to explain God, and it usually takes on the form of tradition, pomp and circumstance, and has no power to heal or to change people in any positive way.

In fact, it is in the name of religion (or religious zeal) that most historical wars, crusades and inquisitions took place, and in the name of religion that recent acts of terror have taken place.

So I would rather be the one who is active in serving God, but not religious.

Like looking at a train wreck...

There is a man who has apparently lost his mind. He also lost his job, his wife left him a while back, and the state just came and took his twin children away from him. He is a known party-hardy boy, and has been observed using cocaine on many occasions. He also drinks to excess constantly, by his own admission.

He has publicly stated that, he's "losing my mind," among other things. And the network first stopped production of a hit show (leading show on TV according to some) due to his out-of-control behavior, and then they fired him due to his out-of-control behavior and his outlandish verbal attacks on the producer, the show, his co-stars, and pretty much everything else in the world.

He makes a lot of money. I have seen anything from a low of 'only' 1.2 million dollars per episode (about one episode per week)up to 2 million dollars per episode. But even if they cancel the show, or replace him with another actor and try to go forward, he will still have income for the rest of his life from the syndication of this one show, let alone other things he has done. Of course, if they DO can the show, all the other actors, writers, technicians, sponsors and crew will just be out of luck, thanks to this one man.

And yet, for some reason, the press just can't seem to get enough of him. They post every little tweet, every word, and he has posted a couple of 'episodes' of an on-line "reality show" - some sort of video blog or some such thing - and it gets headlines. Headlines! Right now - in case you read this far down the road and can't remember - there are serious things going on in our world. Egypt is having a melt-down with people in the street being shot by the government for protesting. Our economy is still wobbling, there are state legislators who have fled from Wisconsin to avoid voting on ending the strangle-hold a union has on taxpayer's money, Quadaffi is running amok, etc. etc. And yet this man gets a headline almost every day!! Can we just give him what he deserves? Which, in my opinion, would be:

Obscurity.

The real power

We are just over a month from Easter. That is the celebration of Jesus rising from the tomb - coming back from death. Overcoming death - defeating it. We tend to forget the real reason we celebrate sometimes - especially those of us who are making plans and attending rehearsals and getting ready for Easter Sunday itself... but it is death being overcome by life which is what we should be looking at.

Death creeps into our lives in many ways, not just disease or physical things. It can come in through relationship problems with loved ones, hopes and dreams which don't come to pass, loved ones who walk away from God and dive into the very things we prayed they would never even look at, let alone touch.

But we can overcome death by appropriating the very same power that brought Jesus back from the dead, that is, the power of Christ Jesus himself. Ask Jesus for that power to be part of your life - I am. In fact for some reason I have been awake most of the night almost begging Him for that power to become real in my life once again.

A weak week

I can't believe a week has flown by since I last blogged. I am speaking at my church this Sunday, so I assure you I HAVE been up early each morning, studying and writing. But most of it will end up in my sermon... wait... only some of it will end up in my sermon, but I still didn't want to post it here for the one or two people who would have to read it, then hear it again on Sunday.

My daughter!! Oh man! I have never wanted to hop on an airplane and go give her a hug so badly as right now. She hurt her foot - and doesn't even know exactly how she did so - and is having a very hard time walking around the campus. The school she attends is not all that huge by University Standards, but it's no tiny little thing either, so I can imagine her limping around and arriving late to classes and all that. None of which is normally acceptable to her. But it gets better -

She chose a difficult topic for a ten-page research paper, and it has been tough going. She has admitted - and this is the first time I think I have ever heard he say this - that it is real tough taking in all this new data and even beginning to put it down in the form of a ten page paper is about to beat her. That's huge, and I have been praying for her. But then a day or two ago she posted on Facebook that somebody stole her laptop computer. She doesn't have a desktop or a backup computer - so she has to *limp* to the Library and do her work on the school's computers. None of this would be fun for anybody, but she truly had her 'life' on that computer, so I can't tell you how much I want to go to her, hug her, make her smile, and then 'solve' all of this.

But, of course, the most important lessons in life are generally learned outside of the classroom, so we are praying, and staying here.

If you see this Kristen - we love you, and we are praying for you. You WILL own this.

With authority

Mark 1:21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

I don't know any other way Jesus could teach really. Do you?

Power

Matthew 28
The Great Commission

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I don't know which part of this I like the best! When Jesus says, "All authority in heaven and on earth," I get pretty excited. I have enough mental images (thanks Hollywood) of Jesus possessing the power of God - ALL the power of God - that it pretty much makes me realize that even though things rise up against me as I go about making disciples, nothing is going to be stronger than the fact that Jesus goes with me.

Don

I have a customer named Don who stopped by the store to pick up a few supplies the other day. Whenever he comes in it's a little like a scene from "Cheers." He has purchased two spas from us over the years, and we had to use a crane to install one of them. Things like that tend to make a customer memorable, but Don and I have struck up a bit of a friendship over the years on top of things. He will usually set his purchases on the counter and then pull up the stool we keep handy (just for this purpose) and we'll have a chat. Lots of laughter, and sometimes deep things get shared too. But the other day was unique. Don seemed to have something to say.

All throughout the years, Don has been open about the fact that Jesus Christ died to forgive his sins. That's almost exactly how he puts it, and I know it will come up to some extent during our conversation. I always agree, and if we delve into that topic it usually comes couched in a discussion of the different types of churches he grew up in, and how many similarities there are between Lutheran and Episcopalian churches, why Don will gladly refer to them as “pastor, reverend, padre, etc.” but he doesn't like to call the priests 'Father.' And things like that.

This has always been of interest to me, having a Bible College education, and being an observer of various types and denominations of churches. But I never understood what was driving this over and over as the years slipped past. I just assumed it was a point of contact, something we shared in common. That is - until this past visit.

After all the usual pleasantries, and a few smiles and giggles from Don's young daughter (who was only just added to their family as we delivered their second tub years ago and who is just adrable) Don sent her out to the car with their purchases, and then took his seat. To make a long story short, Don mentioned the fact that I had told him, close to ten years ago, that I had been a Pastor but was not any longer.

I have always sought to encourage Don in his faith, and strengthen the bonds of family and even encourage him toward more of a relationship with Jesus and less of a relationship with the church, but apparently I had failed. Because Don, all the time, had a burden for MY relationship with Jesus. When it finally hit me what was behind all of these conversations over all of these years, I had to stop and smile. I looked Don in the eye and told him - “Don, when I told you I had left the ministry, I should have told you that I did not do so because I lost my faith. Quite the opposite – I surrendered my credentials so I could better serve in our local church, which I have done from that day to this.”

The sigh that escaped from him told me all I needed to know. All this time, Don had been trying to tell me about Jesus, and get me back into a relationship with Him. Don was concerned for my eternal soul, and had been trying to help me back to faith! And I was so busy trying to do the same for him, that we had missed like two ships in the night. I was blessed, and smiled for hours about it.

Thanks Don, and thank-you Father God, for people like Don.

Leslie

I was awoken at two am by a car alarm. It seemed to be in my bedroom, but as I came out of sleep and began to focus, it sounded like it was right in front of my house.

I decided to run and look out the window, because our cars get tampered with about every two or three weeks, usually in the small hours of the morning, and I thought perhaps an alarm had caught somebody. Opening the window I saw a light on the wet pavement. Looked light somebody had dropped a flashlight.

I grabbed slippers, glasses, my own flashlight, no jacket, and ran out the front door. As I opened my front door and stepped out I saw my son (who lives very near) was on his front porch. It was the alarm in the car he was borrowing from a friend that had gone off. He had the key fob in his hand and he silenced the alarm. The night grew silent in a second. I heard what sounded like a cell phone with a loud vibrator going off - it was a very still night with just a slight drizzle. Drops were falling from the trees and houses all around. Bzz. Bzz. Bzzz.

I went out towards the street to see if there was anything that could clue us to what had happened, and that's when I saw her.

A small, pale face looked out from under the hood of a sweatshirt. A thin, very white face, not looking at all alive, eyes closed as if in peaceful repose, faced almost to the pavement, and bounced the light of my flashlight back at me like a finely polished statue. I wasn't sure she was even still with us. She was on her side, still astride a shiny blue bicycle. No blood, the bike looked intact. The light was coming from a headlight on the handlebars.

As I turned to Stephen we both said, "There's somebody there!" with that adrenaline-induced urgency that hits so suddenly when something like this sinks in to your brain. Stephen stepped back and asked my daughter in law to make the call, and it was so still I could hear her end of the conversation.

I moved in slowly. Keep in mind that I was still of a mind that we may be looking at somebody who had been trying to break into our cars. Funny how that thought took so long to go away. I heard moaning, and compassion took over in my head. She was coming around. The first understandable word out of her mouth was, "what happened?"

"You took a fall. The pavement is wet and slippery and you fell."
"Am I ok?"
"You bumped your head pretty good, I think," I said, as my flashlight lit up a growing bump on the right side of her forehead. It was growing fast, very fast. She tried to open her eyes and I moved the flashlight away.
"Jesus," she announced in a very shaky, soft voice, and I at once thought that I should have been praying for her instead of looking for clues of a break-in.

I have heard many people use the name of Jesus in ways that don't glorify Him, but she seemed to be sincerely calling out to Him, so I assured here that Jesus would help her, that He may have, in fact, already protected her. I instinctively reached out my hand and held hers. She gripped it tight. I said the name of Jesus a few times as I soothed her, and told her help was on the way.

The bump on her head had a tiny cut on it, not really bleeding, which showed no sign of road rash. Our street has a very long hill to it which tends to get bike riders and skaters up to amazing speeds. If she had come down on the pavement face first at speed, she would have laid open a good bit of skin deeply. Her hood may have protected her, or perhaps she ran into the back of the car, nobody will likely know, as we began to realize: she asked what happened again.

And again.

And again.

No memory of the incident. Her name was Leslie ___________, and she lived 'downtown,' and she wanted to know where her purse was. She began to talk a little more, in a soft voice. She added her other hand to mine, and as I asked her if she knew what had happened, she began to give me facts, as if she was trying to grapple with a foggy situation. She volunteered that she was thirty eight, and she wanted to know (again) what had happened.

Short-term memory loss. It was becoming obvious.

My answers got shorter - finally reduced to, "you fell and bumped your head." That would satisfy for only a moment before she would try to move, I would comfort her and tell her she should lay still, and she would ask again.

The police showed up first. They asked her a question or two, I pointed out the now-huge bump on her head and they seemed to understand in an instant that she was not going to be a good source of information. My son began to talk in detail to one of the officers from the second car which drove up right behind the first, and Leslie asked about her purse, tried to look around, and seemed to relax as I told her help was here.

The paramedics arrived and just a second later the ambulance. I told Leslie I was going to let go now, and she said, "don't leave." I told her I was going to be nearby, but the EMT wanted to look her over. I pointed out her purse to them, and they stepped in and took over. She had memory of some events leading up to her being out on her bicycle at two-am, but no memory of what happened.

We walked into the house as the police cars pulled away, one of them with Leslie's blue Schwinn in the trunk, then the big fire truck started up it's diesel engine and rattled away up the street. The ambulance left just a few minutes later, and we stood on the porch looking out at the empty street.

In seconds, something had happened which brought a young women into contact with us. Was she trying to take from us? Nothing pointed to that in any way. More likely, she just got going down our street and the slippery pavement took it's toll. No damage was visible in the beams of our flashlights as we went over the car. What happened?

We may never know.

But the name of Jesus proved it's worth one more time.

Valentines Day

I was reading in Leviticus 16 this morning. It is filled with tons of fine detail about the Day of Atonement. There are amazing preparations before the High Priest is ready to go (fearfully) into the 'Holy of Holies,' or the very presence of God.

I was impacted by the fact that if some little thing was awry, the entire nation might not have their sins atoned. The priest could be pulled out, dead, killed by the amazing presence of God.

And then I realized - we now have the right to come boldly into the presence of God. We have become a nation of priests, and the veil of separation has been torn apart. We can go into the presence of God without the fear of instant death.

It gave me pause. I simply said, "Good morning God - " and I realized that not only CAN we enjoy time in God's presence, He wants to enjoy time with His creation. He loves me and invites me into His presence.

What changed? Everything. Jesus' death provided a perfect, one-time sacrifice, which closed the gap, opened the Holy of Holies, paid the price, etc.

The detail of the High Priest's preparation for entering into the Holy of Holies once each year is nothing in comparison to the detail of the preparations made for Jesus to come as a baby, grow to be a man, and then die on a cross. The lineage of Jesus' family, the faithfulness of his human parents, every single little detail was arranged, and the prophets even laid them out for us centuries before.

God truly does love you - Happy Valentines day!

Pour out our best, for Him

Matthew 26Jesus Anointed at Bethany

6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you,[a] but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

When I found the Lord...

Sorry. Those of you who have a relationship with God in which you call Jesus 'Lord,' be aware. It's not technically correct to say that you found Him.

He found you.

Luke 19:10 (New International Version, ©2010)

10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

Matthew 25
The Parable of the Ten Virgins

1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Jesus loves us. But there are limits -

I know that sounds contradictory, but its not. Not at all. As a parent, I set limits on my kids - because I loved them. I knew better than they about such things that appeared inviting but which would rob them of life. In the same manner that I can be a loving father and expect certain things from my children, our heavenly Father can too. And He loves us like no earthly father ever could, ever will.

So - we love to say, "Jesus loves me," but are we ready when He calls? The church I attend is searching for a new pastor. And I have spoken with a couple of the potential candidates. The conversations end up going the same each time - "We are praying that the Lord would prepare the heart of whoever comes to lead us, as He prepares our hearts to follow. We want to be ready."

I sure hope I'm speaking the truth for all of us, or at least enough of us that we truly are ready when He calls.

The gold standard

You know, those ad placements don't always work in favor of the advertiser: I have listened to the hourly financial report on a Los Angeles radio station for years. Lately, it has been sponsored by some company selling Gold. But for the past several weeks the final part of the report has been something along the lines of, "And Gold is off, to a new low of..." but AS SOON as the reporter ends that sentence, the ad for buying Gold comes on and says, "Gold. It's the only investment which has not dropped in value, even in these tough financial times...."

You never know if that advertiser is listening to the station or not - they may have ads placed on many stations, but they always tell us that Gold is the one investment we will always wish we had when everything else collapses, and they quote predictions of $3000 per ounce. It's still going down.

Matthew 6:20
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Sacrafice

I was reading in Leviticus this morning, and I have to admit that it can be dry reading. The detail which God demanded of the people in things involved in worship was amazing. The buildings and grounds of the tabernacle and temple, the clothes for the priests, the holy festivals and feasts, the diet of the people - all very carefully spelled out in fine detail. Today I read about the Burnt offering, the Grain offering, and the Fellowship offering. And the same thing popped up in all of them: the offering had to be perfect. The grain offering had to be made from "the finest flour," the animals had to be "without defect."

It hit me - as it has before - that the demands didn't quote any specifications for how the person was to be. No demands for special clothing, color, type, nothing. Why? Because the priest was not looking at the Israelite - the Priest was looking at the offering. THAT had to be just right.

God hasn't changed under the new covenant: He still looks at the offering, not the person. And our offering is Christ Jesus - the perfect offering.

John 1:29 (New International Version, ©2010)

John Testifies About Jesus
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

John 1:29 (The Message)

The God-Revealer
29-31The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, "Here he is, God's Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world!

Radical thoughts

God is our source of supply - and if you look up new testament references to "supply," you will get a surprise. God seems to be a communist. What? Now - before you react, I want to define some terms. That is so very important, because so many of us use terms incorrectly when we are naming types of societies. For example, the United States is not a Democracy. We are a Representative Republic. The difference is this: "Democracy" is mob rule. If everyone votes to go rob the nearest bank, so be it. In fact, even if a simple majority votes to go rob the bank... you get the picture. We use the 'Democratic Process,' and we have democratic elections, and we do try to spread "democracy" so it's easy to confuse things.

But in a "Representative Republic," we use the process of democracy, that is, people are elected by open and free elections in which the majority wins, but the people we elect (our representatives) are there to represent us and THEY are supposed to do all the law-making, taxing, and other government functions, in line with the wishes of the people who put them into office. Our nation's founding Fathers assumed that these representatives would use the Bible, God, and the rule of decency as guides in running the nation, but of course,if they did not, we could simply not reelect them next time around. Yeah. How's that working were YOU live?

"Communism" actually only means that people hold things in common. In it's purest form, it is the first century church - Acts 2:44ff says, " 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need."

The society they formed was interdependent. But they were driven by God, motivated by love, so they all worked hard at what they did, and then they gave it away to those who had need. I have to believe that they worked hard and gave willingly to the common good because they understood that they were interdependent and they could look around and see others doing the same.

But - in many modern-day communist countries, there is a problem. Freeloaders. It is inevitable that some will come to the conclusion that they don't need to work hard, for two reasons: 1. whatever they make will be given away to others, and 2. whatever they need will be provided by others. The key to this problem is a basic human characteristic: it is selfishness. If all you care about is what YOU get, communism breaks down fast. There is no motivation to keep working as hard as you can all the time for the common good, especially if you are the only one around you who is working hard.

So a ruler, king, leader, dictator, or oligarchy rises up and begins to control things. They SAY that they are just there to see to it that everyone works hard for the common good, and they claim to only want to see to it that a fair distribution of goods and services keeps everyone working hard and everyone fed. But in History, we see that Communist Countries have all ended up being run by an Oligarchy (one group of people who get rich while the working class gets poor) or by a dictator who comes to power and never leaves, generally bankrupting the country as his greed drives him to take more and more from the country and give less and less.

America - wake up. You have given in to a dictator, and it is wrecking us. In our case, the dictator is greed, or 'self.'

If God was the one who ruled our lives, we would work hard to honor Him. We would give to the poor to honor Him. We would share our much to honor HIM. We would be living in a state of pure communism: we would hold all things in common and none would be lazy NOR would any suffer need. I vote for a "benevolent dictator." One who is above corruption, beyond selfishness, and immune to greed.

But things might have to change. Things we have grown very used to having. For example, we might also not all have private homes. Instead, we might very well have the rooms of our houses filled with people who need a home. We might have to carpool, share the computer, own fewer things of our own. And we might very well hand money back and forth based on need rather than on work performed. Yes, the Bible teaches that a workman is worthy of his hire (pay,) but there are times when outside forces conspire and a hard-working person finds themselves in need.

And if there were competition among the brothers, it might be to see who can help people the most rather than who can collect the most toys our build and posses (privately) the best house. There are people in our country who were very much driven by the desire to employ an entire town which was out of work, and years later we have some huge corporation. This is one of the great strengths of Capitalism: you are motivated to work hard because you get a direct benefit from it. Get a good education, land a good job, and you get to start enjoying good things. But if God is truly our God, then we recognize that all good things come from Him, and as we work hard to gather good things around us, we would also work hard to see to it that our brothers and sisters get to enjoy those good things too, and in a capitalistic society that can and often does lead to a large income. Hospitality, generosity, giving, sharing, graciousness - these are all Godly traits which can and should be exhibited by Christians. Wealthy Christians as well as poor ones.

OK - enough. I know that our country isn't going to go there. Not in a hurry, anyway. I make my living selling luxury items to people with money to burn, and I am not ready to give it up just yet. But in the midst of it all, the church can rise up. Help one another. Be there for each other. And we can begin to learn to live in common - sharing selflessly - with one another.

He knows us better than we think

Matthew 22:15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”

18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away."

So there!

A promise

Romans 8:34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

I don't know if there is much I could add to that! But I will say this: this life may not be able to separate us from the love of Christ, but it CAN make it tough to keep our focus.

Be strong my friends - in Him.

Father God

Romans 8:15 (New International Version, ©2011)

15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[a] And by him we cry, “Abba,[b] Father.”

God as our Father - not everyone has a good picture of a loving daddy, so sometimes it is tough to think of God as our Father.

I had a good relationship with my Father. He's gone now, and I miss him, but I think back on all of the things he tried to do to make my growing up good. Scouts, camping, boating, teacher conferences, working side by side (I learned to do just about all of the construction trades by working on remodeling houses with him) and one very interesting thing - being gentle.

It took a lot to get my dad upset. He had to put up with my mom, who was a difficult person to all people around her. And Dad not only did it pretty well, but he actually Loved her! I can remember the day he was laying in a hospital bed, the doctor had told us that Dad was at the end. I was so very sorry all at once for the things I had never done with him, the things I had never said to him. I tried to sit there and pour it out, but in two words he helped me to understand that it was OK -

"I know." Combined with the loving look in his eyes, it was all I needed to hear.

He knew that I loved him, he knew that I would miss him, and he knew that this was just part of life - a painful part, but part of life nonetheless.

But Dad would not 'let go' until I promised him that I would take care of Mom. She was completely dependent upon Dad, the victim of a stroke and then Senility. As soon as I assured -held his hand and promised - him that Mom would be OK for the rest of her life, he relaxed, and only said two more words until he left us a few days later. Those two words?

"Precious Jesus." He said them over and over, and it dawned on me later that he wasn't calling out to Jesus, he wasn't begging, he wasn't searching - he was seeing. And he was being an example.

Temple of the Most High

Exodus 25:8 “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.

I have been interested in the fine detail that God provided for the construction of the Tabernacle and the Temple. He truly seems to care about precisely what it is that He inhabits.

And, if we ask, He will inhabit us.

Makes you think, doesn't it?

Power

I am surrounded by power. AC power in the walls and appliances of my house, the power of a big V8 engine under the hood of my truck, the power of caffeine to wake me and hopefully keep me awake as I climb behind the wheel for six hours in Southern Cal traffic... with only a couple hours of sleep behind me.

I ran the battery in my iPhone down yesterday. The phone is designed to give plenty of warning, and as it got to 20% power it politely told me. I had the choice to shut the phone off, or 'dismiss' the warning. I pressed 'dismiss.'

I did that because I had a charger in my truck, and so as I prepared to drive from that service call to the next, I plugged my phone in. But for whatever reason, the charger and my phone were not compatible. I think I have used that charger before, but it may have been my older iPhone. I know I have gotten warning signs on whichever iPhone it was, telling me that the charger was not fully compatible. It told me that I may not have full cell coverage, or some limitation of the function of the thing, but I am pretty sure that it at least charged the battery. But yesterday it seemed to have 'had it,' or my new phone is different, so it gave me three pages of warnings including a yellow triangle with the words, "not charging."

Pretty clear, that one.

The power flow was simply not going to happen. I chuckled that as I have now purchased the most advanced phone that Apple Corp. sells, it is so complex that my lowly car charger can no longer simply shove 12 volts DC into the charging port without an argument.

My lovely and gracious wife was out shopping last night, and she purchased a new car charger kit. It says "for iPhone" on it, so I will see in a few minutes if it will work.

God wants to implant power in my life. But I admit, sometimes I am too demanding to receive it. I want it a certain way, at a certain time, with certain connections to other things I want to do, with witnesses, or with recognition, blah blah blah.

And God is up there, with power which is truly Universal, Spiritual and Transformational, but He can't get it into me because I have become too "advanced."

OK.

God - search my heart. Show me if I have become my own phone. But if I have, please don't leave me there. I need the power of the Holy Spirit, so if you show me blockages to the flow, let me have the courage to change. In fact, I know you want me to change, you will help me to change, in fact there really is no other WAY for me to change. So - let the power flow, Lord Jesus.

Would you like some cheese with that Whine?

Matthew 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

I don't know precisely what was going through Peter's mind. None of us do. But I think there are times it is safe to speculate when the Bible isn't clear (certainly not all the time). I think we can guess that in this case Peter was reacting to the thought that Jesus would suffer crucifixion. It's a terrible way to die - purposely a long, painful death in full public view, with the shame of nakedness and a scourging for added effect.

But the idea was not that the death would be awful - though it was - but that there was a price which had to be paid. Not how the execution was to take place, but THAT the life was to be given.

I think if Peter had taken his eyes off of the loving friend who stood before him, and if he had taken his mind off of the terrible death which Jesus said was in store for Him, and tried to get a 'big picture' of the desperate need for the once-for-all sacrifice which needed to be be offered, well Peter might have had a different view of the whole thing.

So - we have the same choice. Try to see our lives as fleeting and our sufferings as temporary, and keep in mind the fact that eternity with God waits beyond - it does tend to reduce the whining a bit.

2 Corinthians 4:17 (New International Version, ©2010)

17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Plagues

I was reading in Exodus about the interactions between Moses and Pharaoh, as Moses comes into his presence repeatedly to ask for the freedom of the Jewish people. I have studied this before, but it has been a long time. I want to develop a more in-depth study on this, but at a quick read-through this morning, I noticed in most cases the plagues fell on parts of Egypt, but not where the Israelite camps were.

But not all.

There were certain of the plagues - most notably the last two: locust and death angel - which touched the entire land. ANYBODY who did not apply the blood of a sacrificial lamb to their doorposts as directed would lose their firstborn child - and animals as well.

We live in a world which is sickened by sin. It's like jumping into the middle of a huge lake - we WILL get wet. So it should come as no surprise when we are affected by the sin around us. Even though Jesus has paid the price for our sins, and even though we have eternity at God's side to look forward to, here, now, we feel the pain of death, loss, uncertainty, and sorrow.

The plagues were carefully orchestrated by God to move Pharaoh to not only let the people go to worship, but to move both Pharaoh AND the people of Egypt to proclaim that God was the one true God, and that their gods, were powerless before Him.

And that, in my opinion, was worth the wait, and worth the pain.

Change happens

My world changed last night. I bet you know that his blog is part of my prayer life. That may sound strange, but I often sit and write huge volumes as 'letters to God,' and then most often I delete all or part of it, often posting something completely different than what I started with as I move into my daily Bible study, other times posting a singe sentence or paragraph from what began as a massive tome. I wrote yesterday about how God is not afraid of change - I actually wrote this:

"We truly serve a God who is not afraid of change. Let's embrace it with Him."

Duh! I should be careful what I ask for - and yet...

Well, it has happened. Relax, nobody died or anything. And no, it's not as if this one change is likely to be the end of changes for awhile. At our church board meeting last night some changes came about, and I have no way to even predict how far-reaching the changes will be. I have been asked to chair the Pastoral Search Committee.

I am proud to serve on the board, humbled to serve on the board, comfortable serving on the board, and challenged by serving on the board. All at the same time, most of the time. I can remember a brother asking me to consider serving on the board well over 15 years ago - he said something like, "it's a meeting a month, not that much of a time demand." I was not taken in: I assumed it would be more than that, and it has proven to be so. I have learned as much from my service in this one small thing as just about any other part of my life - for two reasons:

1.I'm not always the majority opinion, and
2.I need large amounts of prayer, and prayer changes people.

But this will be a new chapter in my life of service at this church. I will be coordinating the search for our new pastor. I am surrounded by good people - really good people - who have worked very long and hard already, and I trust that God will help me bring something to the table.

Change

Change is tough for most of us. I am pretty much normal in this regard - I get comfortable with things as they are and like them to stay that way. You know, predictable. The thing is, I have always had things in my life which by their very nature are unpredictable. Some of those 'things' are people, one other real unpredictable thing is the fact that I own a business, and still another one is God.

God? You may ask, "how can God be unpredictable? I thought He was the very picture of predictability!" You may even get upset. You wanted my blog to be predictable, and here we are.

But even God himself tells us things like this -

Lamentations 3:22 for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

Psalm 98:1 A psalm. Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

Isaiah 43:19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

The "New Covenant" we enjoy, etc.

We truly serve a God who is not afraid of change. Let's embrace it with Him.

Some of us are not producing the crop we think we are.

This really struck me in my reading this morning - Matthew 13
The Parable of the Weeds

24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Kindness - a forgotten art?

I grew up watching 'Roasts' on TV with my family. Dean Martin, and a bunch of stars of his time and place would take turns poking fun at whoever the poor target for the evening was. You can still see some of these on YouTube and other places. But after going back and seeing some of them, I realized that they were like a Sunday School picnic compared to the bawdy, earthy, sexually explicit, foul-language-laced tirades that pass as comedy these days.

I did not watch the Golden Globe awards show last night (even though I now have cable, my relationship with TV continues to be very distant). I did, however, read an article announcing that Ricky Gervais, the host of last night's extravaganza, predicted that he would never be invited back again. He said he was going to pull out all the stops, and rip everyone to pieces and then some.

He seems to have done better than he hoped. I now actually don't want to see clips and videos from the event, because what I have read in the press is amazingly unkind. Not only to Ricky, but to the people he targeted. When people like Sandra Bullock sit stone-faced, not laughing at you as you poke 'fun' at people, you should get a clue.

So what is this doing in my blog today? Simple - we as a nation seem to have headed out into a new war. Society has begun to embrace the most bizarre, the most cruel, the most hateful, and called it fun. I'm concerned about it - and yet the general public seems to be loving it.

I remember a day when we could put on a show, call it a roast, and yet realize that the people involved obviously loved each other. Little nods, winks, waves of the hand and so forth would go back and forth, and "The Line" was not crossed. I remember Don Rickles poking fun at Johnny Carson about the fact that he had been married so many times, and that was flirting with disaster - yet there was enough respect in the way it was done to show that it was harmless teasing and the two men continued to work together and be friends.

Now, there are 'reality' shows in which the conversations have to be heavily censored, as tempers flare. In fact, it must be a major attraction to the viewing public in general because I have begun to hear more and more announcements like this: "Tempers flare and fists fly as the crew of "deadliest logging choppers" run up against the biggest deadline of their history..."

And in the background you see people throwing chairs, jumping off heavy equipment to go punch a co-worker, or you see two people with an inch between them as the entire yelling spree is censored via beeps and they can't even show you their mouths for fear that you will figure out which words are being used.

And this is reflective of our society today? I hope not, but I fear it might be.

Matthew 12:33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Can you hear me now?

I got up very early this morning and found that I had no Internet connection. It was so very early that I couldn't very well go knock on my Son's door and ask him if they could check the modem etc. In fact, Stephen is off in Orlando, FL on a business trip, and I am pretty sure my DIL would not appreciate being woken from sleep before sunup to fix my computer troubles. So - I went back to bed.

I lay there - wide awake since the coffee seemed to be already working full strength - and wondered what it would be like if my prayer life suddenly stopped in the same manner as our Internet did. And I realized that there have been times in my life when it sure seemed that way. But God promises us that he hears and answers prayers, and that the The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16), so I need to keep it up even during times when I feel the connection has been lost.

It's not what gets to you, it's what gets through you

Pervious. No, I did not just mistype "previous." I'm sure you have heard of the word "impervious?" It means -

im·per·vi·ous/imˈpərvēəs/Adjective
1. Not allowing something to pass through; not penetrable.
2. Unable to be affected by: impervious to attempts to make him smile, he continued to be sullen.

Well, "pervious" is basically the opposite. OK - so it's a little-used word, I admit. I only saw it today, on my son's FaceBook posting about a convention he is at. It seems that they are finding ways to make concrete which is 'pervious,' and that simply means 'porous.' The reason they don't use the word 'porous' is because the product has a very controlled amount of porosity, yet retains enough of the strength to still be used in some (not all) of the places you would use regular concrete. You can pave a whole parking lot with it, and rain simply goes right through. That means you don't have to have all that drainage built in, with sloping surfaces, drainage grates, buried pipes, and the new thing - 'swales' which are basically ponds built to hold runoff from a parking lot until the water can settle into the ground or evaporate all by itself.

So what? I just thought of ways that we become porous. We let things in from around us, but if we are wise, we will find ways to let in only certain things, while retaining the strength we need to keep on doing what God has called us to do.

We need 'pervious people,' I guess!

How do I get rid of all my problems? Give them away!

We can make our problems into other people's problems. It's very easy. I have a friend who has said, "hurting people hurt people."

It's true. When we reach a point at which we are so focused on 'me,' we tend to become pretty tough to be around. But, of course, we're so focused on ourselves by that point that we don't even notice.

And our problems, have become their problem.

OR -

We can give our problems away... to the One who can actually handle them better than we can, and Who can even DO something about them.

Yeah - I like that.

What's this "Sweet Sorrow" stuff about?!

A few days ago I noticed that my daughter had posted something on facebook about "only four more days until I go home." I glanced around the place, thinking to myself: "THIS is home! What's she saying here?"

Well, I'm ok. She's ok. She just left an hour ago to head back for her final semester at Southeastern University in Lakeland Florida. For us, that is "away," for her it is "home." But she very much will say that she is "headed home" when she graduates in May. And we will welcome her "home." But let's face it, home IS where the heart is. That's as it should be, and her focus right now is school.

So - we gladly see her off to do what God has called her to do, but we secretly wish for her to come down the hallway in her pajamas around the crack of noon each day, having been up all night the previous day.

And Lord, if I haven't made it clear, I do want you to keep an eye on her. Our son Stephen too, who happens to be going to the very same airport at the very same time on business. Keep 'em safe Lord, and bring 'em back home to us.

Amen.

Slept late ....

I got in late from a meeting last night. The board at our church is doing it's best to keep things going as we are between pastors. One of the things a pastor does, in just about any church, is to work out problems among people. I have often said - The church would be such an amazing place, if it wasn't for all of these stinkin' people!

Well - I wanted to write a short essay about interpersonal relationships, but I had to catch up on the sleep I missed due to the late hour, so it will have to wait.

In the meantime, if you have any comments about the joys (or pains) of relating with other people, please post!! I would love to have a comment now and then - ANY comment would be appreciated.

My name

I have a name. It was given to me by my parents. I like my name, though I have plenty of friends who call me by nick-names. They vary, and I can tell how long I have known a person by the nick-name they use to identify me.

But there is one name which only my wife may call me. And I'm not going to print that here - but if you know me at all, you have heard it used. I like the fact that it is a special name, and I like to hear her call me by that special name. It can warm my heart, and bring a smile to my face. I believe that people who will not let you call them by certain names or use their names in certain ways are far more self-centered or perhaps prideful than they realize, so I try not to be that way. You really can call me by just about anything and I will respond without going crazy, but I do like to reserve that one name for my beloved wife. I do it to preserve the name's special nature for a special person.

I have a heavenly Father. He has given me a name as well. I have to work so very much harder to hear this name - it only comes in prayer. And, like my nick-names, it has a certain amount of variety. But the variety here is not due to the fickle nature of the One who calls me - because the Lord is not fickle. The variety is due to the fact that the name by which the Lord calls me is dependent upon what I need to hear.

So - those times I feel my value has slipped to an all-time low, He calls me "Worthy." Because in Him, I have tremendous worth - and at the same time I am encouraged to know that I have worth, I am also humbled to know that any worth I may have is all because of Him.

That is so different than the way the world speaks to us. If the world were to make up a name for us - as they sometimes do - they would base that name upon things such as success, position, what we can do for them, etc. Only people who love me or are otherwise close to me call me by a name which represents relationship.

And being called "Son" by my heavenly father is enough to bring joy to my heart for eternity.

HEY! YOU!

In advertising, there is always a push to try to speak directly to people. If I say, "Hey YOU!" most people will simply ignore me, because there are so many things vying for their attention that way.

Billboards, TV commercials and the like tend to be in that category: they simple announce to the world, "Hey! We have this cool product." But few people see that as important to THEM, unless they happen to already be in the market for that product, or have an interest in that product.

However, if an ad shows a golfer on a golf course, it is going to call out to people who golf, AND people who have golfers in their lives. It is much more personal for them. You and I have seen ads aimed at people like that all the time. Recently I heard a radio ad for people who have been effected by mesothelioma - the disease which results from exposure to asbestos. Now THAT is specific. I have no idea how many people will perk up their ears at that one, but to me they may as well begin speaking another language, because I tune it out right away. They have not called me by name.

But if they say, "Do you have type two diabetes?"
Or if they say, "Are you struggling with weight loss?"

They have me.

So - if there was a way for an ad to say, "Tom Houde!" or "Hope Wolf" right at the top, I guarantee you: it would get our attention. In fact, even if it said the names I just typed, I would focus in on it because I KNOW those people and I would want to see what on earth is going on that their names were popping up before my eyes like that.

So - how does God speak to us? By name. He has his big, grand advertising scemes - "repent for the kingdom of God is at hand."

That really doesn't draw people in.

But when He says, "I love YOU," it gets personal. Individual. And that's how He rolls.

Preaching Prep 101

I am preaching this Sunday at Ventura First Assembly. I have just gotten the confirmation of that fact Sunday, two days ago. I have, once again, a ton of material from which I would like to draw, but, once again, I am praying that God would help me to see the ONE thing He would like the church to hear.

And the bad news for me is: what God wants to say may not be what I want to say. That happens just about every time I speak to our church, and quite often when I speak to other churches or groups.

So what do I do when this happens? Pray. Sometimes I fast. And then I keep making notes all week long - and I never close a door to hearing from God. I have just seen a post on FaceBook and it got me to thinking. I took two words from that post and went to Google, then to MeriamWebster.com and I began to look into the oldest known uses of these words in 'American English.' And finally, once I had a good handle on how these words SHOULD be used in our language, I took a break and reflected on how they ARE used. Big difference. After that, I began to cogitate on how these terms are used in the Bible, keeping in mind that the Bible was not written in English, and that we depend heavily on interpretations of the language by men who are generally connected to the more classical definitions of the words and phrases.

Want to know what the two words are that started all this today?

Come to:

Ventura First Assembly
346 N Kimball Road
Ventura, CA 93004

Sunday - 10 am

See you there.

May I speak with the Owner please?

Matthew 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I serve on the board at our church. Currently, we are between pastors, so the role of leadership has fallen to us. I'm not bragging or anything, in fact, I would say that I am doing about as much the opposite of bragging as I can - I am very concerned that we all keep praying and hearing from God as we go through this time. I think we all know just how seriously God takes spiritual leadership. The Bible has countless stories of men in high positions who blew it. Moral failures, bad choices, catastrophic battles, bad leadership resulting in lost wars, whole nations wiped out, other nations which should have been wiped out but were not, political coups and even the simple collapse of families. All this proves two things - these men were human, and these men became targets once they stepped up.

So - were does that leave me? I am not part of any Pharisaical community, nor am I (currently) a pastor. I do preach at our church about once a month, but I am low on the list of guest speakers so I don't really know how often or when that will take place, nor do I know if it will happen once more, or no more times.

BUT -

I am part of the spiritual leadership of this church which God called us to. And as such, I am painfully aware of the very same two things I mentioned above -

I am human,
I am a target.

LORD! HELP!

My faith is being refined, and I take solace in the fact that as much as I want this church to continue to grow during our transition period (and be ready to explode as the new pastor comes on scene) I do have to remember something that I have told others countless times:

This is God's Church, not ours.

First recorded convert to Christianity, film at 11

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[g] (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus."

I'm so groggy from ringing in the new year earlier this morning that I thought I would simply stick with scripture. Above is pretty much the first recorded person to accept Jesus as Lord, aside from Mary.