Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Fragile but Eternal

Sunday we received word that Kimberly's cousin's husband (Michael) died from injuries sustained from a fall from a ladder while at work.  Michael was only 40 years old and leaves behind two elementary age boys.  I just keeping thinking about those two little guys.  How does a Mom tell her boys that Daddy won't be coming home?  How do boys at that age even begin to process what this means for them now and for the rest of their lives? How does the widow have time to grieve when she has two little boys who are grieving?  How does the family celebrate Thanksgiving when the following two days they will face calling hours and a funeral? 

I am sorry to be somewhat of a downer during a season of thanksgiving, but perhaps it is this honest dose of reality that will allow all of us to take the meaning of this season all the more seriously.  You see, when I think of this 40 year old dad's death, I am reminded that life is fragile.  As much as I want to believe that I am invincible and that it is other people who get sick and die, the reality is my life is just as fragile as that of anyone else.  And that means your life is fragile, too.  The Bible says, "It is good for a man to think of his own death."  It is good because until we accept just how fragile life is, can we ever truly appreciate what a gift life is? 

The more I see how fragile life is the more free I am to let go of what does not matter and more fully embrace all the little things that truly do matter.  Like the kiss of my beautiful wife of 11 years.  The giggle of my son as I tickle his belly.  The smile of my baby girl as I tell her she is beautiful.  The phone call from an older sister in Christ who I know has my back.  The email from a friend that speaks truth in a way that makes me want to be more like Christ.  The presence of Christ showing up in that intimate way that no one and nothing can take away.  The more I see how fragile life is, the more I can embrace what makes life worth living.

But I am even more thankful that life is not only fragile, but eternal.  Michael knew Christ and the Bible says in Romans 8 that not even detach can separate him from the love that is in Christ Jesus.  The more I accept that life is eternal, the more I have reason to give thanks.  I am living for more than I can cram into the timeline I have been granted.  Our purpose is bigger than a birth and death date.  Our value, according to God, is infinite.  And when I can take account of my life from an eternal perspective, my life not only takes on more meaning, but it also gives me all the more reason to give thanks in all circumstances. We serve a God who refused to let death have the final say.  He broke out of the grave just to show us that life may be fragile, but it is also eternal!

I know that most people who read these "Random Thoughts" of mine already have a personal relationship with Christ, but today if you are reading this and you are struggling with how fragile life can be and desire to experience eternal life even before you die, I hope you know that I am here and I would be honored to talk and pray with you. 

I pray for all of you a Happy Thanksgiving as you celebrate all of God's gracious gifts in this fragile life and God's forever gift of eternal life!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

God's Will for Your Life

Over the past 14 1/2 years of Pastoral ministry, I have watched countless people struggle over and strain to uncover God's will for their lives.  I am sympathetic because I also used to see God's will as some sort of great mystery that only the super-spiritual types among us could ever truly discern.  Furthermore, I use to see God's will as a tight rope; it was this very narrow line you walked and the slightest deviation would leave you plummeting into the darkness of being "out of the center of his will."  Many people over the years has confirmed that my past view of God's will is a common one, if not the prominent view. 

But then, several years ago, C.S. Lewis, in his small allegory, "The Great Divorce," along with some other wise College and seminary professors began to challenge my perception of God's will.  What if God's will is less like a tight rope and more like wide open spaces?  What if God's will is less a mystery and as simple and plain to see as the nose on your face?  What if the point of God's will is not to bring about great anxiety and discouragement, but to be the place where we tap into the depths of God's power and love?  Suddenly, God's will was not something I dreaded seeking, but something I found myself desperately hungry to explore. 

So, let me ask you a question:  Do you know God's will for your life?  If your answer is anything but certain, I have good news for you. I know the answer to that question.  You no longer need to fret over it because I am going to tell you plainly and clearly, right here and right now, what God's will is for your life.  Are you ready? 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, spells it out this way: "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  What if God's will is less about where you work or where you live or what car you drive or where your kids will go to school and more about how you live where ever you live.  The Bible says it so clearly.  God's will is not a mystery. His will for your life is that you will be joyful always, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances.

Think about how our lives and those we come in contact with would be changed for the better if we grabbed hold of this as God's will for our lives and became absolutely determined to let God makes a person who lived joyfully, prayed continually and gave thanks all the time.  Wow!  Talk about the power to change your home, your work place, your kid's school, your community, our country, the world...!  This is God's will for you!  Don't cheapen his will by turning it into tight rope details!  Rather, let this, his will, spelled out for us in 1 Thess. 5:16-18 expand his purpose for us into the wide open spaces, where no matter how far we run, we can never reach the boundaries of the joy, fellowship and thanksgiving we can experience and lead others to experience in Christ Jesus! 

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Floating Fire Ants

Living Hope Member, Justin Moorman, shared these words with me this week. I thought there were so good and applicable that I asked him for permission to pass them on to you. I pray this speaks to you as it did me.  Thank you, Justin!

"I once did a science lesson with my students about fire ants.  They live in some very dry places.  Whenever there is a downpour in areas like that, it actually causes what is the equivalent of a massive flood for a fire ant, because the ground simply can't absorb the water quick enough.  If a single fire ant is trapped out by itself when this happens, that individual ant will unfortunately drown.  What is unbelievable, though, is what happens to the ants that are a with the colony.  Instead of setting up shop in their hill, digging in and hopping for the best, they come to the surface to face the flood.  But they don't drown.  They lock legs, hold on to each other with their mouths, and refuse to let go.  And, contrary to what seems to make sense, that colony of fire ants floats.  They float right on top of the flood, in the middle of the downpour, and flow wherever the current takes them.  They are in it together.  Once the flood is over, and the waters finally soak into the ground, the fire ants do another cool thing.  They don't start marching back to their old hill.  The let go of each other, and set up shop right where those flood waters carried them.  That place is their new home. 

Dr. Cubie ( A Professor Justin and I both had at Mount Vernon Nazarene University), I believe, once said to me that God's love is bigger and deeper and wider than any ocean we could ever imagine.  That sounds awesome, but what he said next really made me think.  He said, "And, if you've ever heard stories of people stranded in the ocean alone, you know it is a terrifying experience."  You know all too well that you can't be in God's love on your own; it is way too overwhelming.  You can't be in that kind of flood by yourself, because you'd never make it.  It's sad to leave what you've known; what is your home.  And believe me, it's sad for us to have you leave.  But you're not the fire ant that got caught away from the colony, and neither is Living Hope Church.  You have a whole group of ants that are going to keep you afloat, and keep each other afloat, as God's terrifying, awesome love washes over us during this next step.  And, while we won't be physically floating with you up to Canton, we're absolutely all there with you, praying for his waters to guide you and your family."  

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

A Walk to the River

When I was a little boy, my best friend was my Grandpa Clyde.  Sometimes we would walk down to the shores of the Great Miami River, which was less than a 5 minute walk from his home.  Once at the river Grandpa would find an old can that the river had washed ashore, cast it upstream (Don't judge us; this was before we were as environmentally sensitive as we are now :-) and then the two of us would pick up stones and try to hit the can as it floated away.  Grandpa could hit the can three times before I even found a rock and made my throw.  I don't think I ever hit the can.  It always seemed like the river swept it away too quickly for my ability.  But I sure did love casting cans and rocks with my Grandpa.

Can I let you in on something?  God the Father, wants you to love casting things much bigger than cans and rocks.  And he does not want you to cast with him, but to cast ON him.  1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Can't you just see Jesus taking your little hand and walking with you down to the Great Miami of life.  He says, "Go ahead, pick up a can of your best anxiety.  What keeps you up at night?  What breaks your heart?  What makes you want to scream?  What do you have no power to change, but you are desperate to see changed?  What do you worry about?  What scares you?  Yes, that can of anxiety. Pick it up.  OK, now cast it.  With all of your strength, cast it as far as you can."  So, you muster up as much strength as possible and you cast that can into the river of His Spirit.  You pick up some rocks to throw at your can of anxiety, but before long it is gone.  At first it is too far away to hit with a rock and before long it is too far away to even see. 

That is what Jesus invites you to do with all of our cares and anxieties.  Why do we hold onto what he invites us to let go of?  Why do we try to control what we can't?  Why do we dig our heels in when he has made us to run free?  Why do we take on the weight of the world, when he has already died for the world?  Why don't we just pick up the can of anxiety and cast it on him.  If we will do that, then he will carry it away like a can in the Great Miami River.

Doesn't that sound good?  It does to me.  But, then there is a part of me that thinks, but this is my anxiety, why should I bother him with it?  He answers those kind of questions at the end of 1 Peter 5:7, "Because he cares for you."  He wants you to cast your cares on him because he wants you to experience the truth that he carees for you.

OK...ready?  Jesus is here.  He wants to take a walk down to the river with you.  I don't know about you, but I have a can of anxiety I can't wait to cast.