Today on Little McCall road at the double curves between Courthouse and 119 there is a pond. My wife Barbara had told me there was a family of Canadian Geese, two adults and a good group of chicks. She had seen them in the water. Today they were not in the water but feeding in the grass next to the pond. Two adults and I don’t know how many little ones in the grass wet from the dew of the morning with the fog hanging lazily in the air above and around all of creation next to a glass like pond reflecting the newness of the day.
Spring, it brings new life and renewed life to the land and the people of the land. Children get excited by the warm afternoons, gardeners have a renewed urgency to turn some dirt and plant some crops whether it be flowers or food. A renewed emphasis on getting the yard green and growing sparks increased sales at the local home improvement stores. Spring fever we call it. However, there is another side.
With new life comes death. A seed must die to become a living plant. Changing shape and texture as life grows from it. It would be hard to be a seed. With spring comes the change in the weather and this past weekend 46 people died as a result of the change in seasons from winter to spring as severe storms and tornados in the Midwest and southeast brought chaos and fear not to mention the destruction of homes, businesses and property to communities. It’s spring. Just today (Tuesday) we learned of a young life cut short Monday night in a car accident and a local Pastor’s death from an accident. There is irony in Spring.
Spring is the rebirth of life from death, the death of winter. I saw this in the geese this morning young life fresh and new in the dew of a spring morning but also the sadness for at least 48 families in grief from the loss of loved ones. It’s Easter for heaven’s sake!
It is Easter for earth’s sake. The Lamb of God at Passover, the celebration of the Jews remembering the death angel’s passing over their home before the exodus whom the angel of death will NOT Passover, the innocent one who became sin for my guilt, the Savior of the world whom God would NOT save, it’s Easter for my sake. From one man’s death comes all of humanities life, from sadness and pain to joy and healing, it’s Easter. How the hearts of just those families are hurting today from the sadness of their loss. How God’s heart must have hurt to not rescue his own innocent son from my sin. It’s not fair but it’s Easter. In that irony there is grace.
“The beauty of grace is that it makes life (and death) not fair,” from Reliant K’s lyrics. Spring is like that. It is the evidence of hope from despair and life from death. Easter is spring.
I will not get over that.
I have seen that for myself.
Let’s celebrate life this Easter in a way and with a gusto that we have never lived before.
The King is Risen!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Persistence does pay off...
it really does. Ask any child who got their way by continuing to ask Mom and Dad. Who gave in simply to get the child off their back! Persistence pays off. But it is tiring.
This week Crossroads Church entered into an agreement with the Savannah Baptist Assembly to lease land on Honey Ridge Road in order to place a building thereby having a permanent, exclusive site for worship and ministry activities from which to flow into our community. That is very exciting and a very long time coming.
The process began almost a year ago in conversations with the assembly committee about the possibilities. It proceeded to an association vote in October and a church vote in November. The snag came in getting a formal document. The information did not get to the lawyer until late December and a first draft was sent in late January the revision was not received until late March. Honestly, I have no idea why it took that long except no one was calling asking where the document was and what was taking so long at least regularly. It seems that was the problem no one was following up. No one was persistent.
Recently our family was due a sizable refund for services not rendered in the care of my aunt who died in January. I thought by mid February we would receive a statement and refund. No, it did not come so I called. I called two weeks later as we still have received nothing and then began to call once a week just to get a progress update. The refund arrived April 2 just a few days short of 3 months. If we had failed to pay the bill I don’t think it would have been three months until a solution arrived. It took persistence on my part. I sure got tired of calling and getting the same answer and no action, almost tired enough to just give up. Have you felt that way? What about persistence when asking God? Is persistence pestering? I sure don’t want to tick Him off!
Jesus was asked by his disciples to teach them how to pray (Luke 11). It was common for communities of faith to have a signature prayer that set them apart. Some faith communities today have a creed or faith statement. Baptists do not but ours might be the Doxology. After giving them this prayer we call the Lord’s Prayer, (it is really the disciples prayer) Jesus then teaches us how we should ask our Father in heaven. He teaches with persistence, in your face. He teaches that as children we have the right, responsibility and expectation to speak to God and have God hear our prayers. Ask, seek, and knock and God will respond to your request. Now God is God and will only respond in a way that brings Him glory and us good. So, the answer may be no, wait (the ugliest four letter word in our language) or yes but there will be an answer just be persistent. That is where we get hung up.
We quit just before the breakthrough. We quit just before the go ahead arrives. We quit just before the hard part ends. I almost did with this agreement. I had just about decided it would never happen and had become frustrated that nothing was happening and then came the e-mail late one Thursday afternoon. The final revision had arrived and it was good. Jesus was on this road to Jerusalem and he let no one hinder him. On the way to the cross he continued to get up long after I would have quit. He persisted to the cross to permanently pardon me. As a follower of Jesus I must persist even when I am ready to quit.
God did not.
I will not!
Newsong has a song phrase from a few years ago, “People get ready there’s a train a coming,” That train is Easter is coming.
This week Crossroads Church entered into an agreement with the Savannah Baptist Assembly to lease land on Honey Ridge Road in order to place a building thereby having a permanent, exclusive site for worship and ministry activities from which to flow into our community. That is very exciting and a very long time coming.
The process began almost a year ago in conversations with the assembly committee about the possibilities. It proceeded to an association vote in October and a church vote in November. The snag came in getting a formal document. The information did not get to the lawyer until late December and a first draft was sent in late January the revision was not received until late March. Honestly, I have no idea why it took that long except no one was calling asking where the document was and what was taking so long at least regularly. It seems that was the problem no one was following up. No one was persistent.
Recently our family was due a sizable refund for services not rendered in the care of my aunt who died in January. I thought by mid February we would receive a statement and refund. No, it did not come so I called. I called two weeks later as we still have received nothing and then began to call once a week just to get a progress update. The refund arrived April 2 just a few days short of 3 months. If we had failed to pay the bill I don’t think it would have been three months until a solution arrived. It took persistence on my part. I sure got tired of calling and getting the same answer and no action, almost tired enough to just give up. Have you felt that way? What about persistence when asking God? Is persistence pestering? I sure don’t want to tick Him off!
Jesus was asked by his disciples to teach them how to pray (Luke 11). It was common for communities of faith to have a signature prayer that set them apart. Some faith communities today have a creed or faith statement. Baptists do not but ours might be the Doxology. After giving them this prayer we call the Lord’s Prayer, (it is really the disciples prayer) Jesus then teaches us how we should ask our Father in heaven. He teaches with persistence, in your face. He teaches that as children we have the right, responsibility and expectation to speak to God and have God hear our prayers. Ask, seek, and knock and God will respond to your request. Now God is God and will only respond in a way that brings Him glory and us good. So, the answer may be no, wait (the ugliest four letter word in our language) or yes but there will be an answer just be persistent. That is where we get hung up.
We quit just before the breakthrough. We quit just before the go ahead arrives. We quit just before the hard part ends. I almost did with this agreement. I had just about decided it would never happen and had become frustrated that nothing was happening and then came the e-mail late one Thursday afternoon. The final revision had arrived and it was good. Jesus was on this road to Jerusalem and he let no one hinder him. On the way to the cross he continued to get up long after I would have quit. He persisted to the cross to permanently pardon me. As a follower of Jesus I must persist even when I am ready to quit.
God did not.
I will not!
Newsong has a song phrase from a few years ago, “People get ready there’s a train a coming,” That train is Easter is coming.
Friday, April 1, 2011
It's about time...
For the rain to stop and the clouds to clear away. Time and the schedule we keep are bizarre companions. Last Sunday Crossroads was to meet in the hayfield out in the open before God and everybody. No tent, no shelter, no nothing also no plan B in case of rain. I awoke Sunday to the sound of thunder and a flash of lightening at 5:30am then pouring rain. Not a good start to a day outside. I thought I would go back to sleep until my alarm went off but no. So, I got up and did what any God fearing man would do and checked the weather radar. It appeared the line of storms was narrow and there was nothing more to the west or southwest. So, we might be alright. Sure enough at 7am the moon was shining bright in the sky. Everything was wet but there was hope. As the morning moved on the sun was bright, hot and the sky was partly cloudy to clear that Sunday morning. At 5:30am I was ready to give up but God had other plans at 11:30 I would be sweating. I needed to hang tight for a while. Now that afternoon is the day it stormed, hailed and poured rain but I was not outside just moving between dry places. It was about time.
Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday were filled with computer problem solving. Strange problems that just took time to eliminate possibilities and create a workable temporary solution until a permanent fix could be put in place. That was not what I had planned to do. Have you been there when what you planned and what needs to be done are on very different time schedules? We all have! For me one of the ever present duties is sermon prep for the following Sunday. Honestly, it is a relentless task master. Like a loaded train moving down a track. So large and heavy that little if anything will stop it and I am stuck at the crossing unable to move. I want each message to be important to me and the listener, relevant to life, Biblical, accurate AND easy on the ears. But, here I am doing something different. It is a task I cannot hand off either. I must do it. I want to do it. But, I need time to do it. Some weeks I need all week to prepare such a message.
Tuesday, God made clear his choice of passages and Thursday I outlined and finalized the message so I could get off the track and meet that train at the station. There was enough time to complete the task. It was time to do it and there was enough time to complete it. Funny, how that works in the Kingdom. Things happen at the right time with enough time in time. So why is it that we worry?
Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time and season for everything. God who lives outside of time and space knows what time it is and where we are in space. Time and schedule are not bizarre companions but variables in the fabric of God’s plan. I worry when I forget that God is on time at the right place all the time. Who am I to say it’s about time for the rain to end and the sun to shine? I am nobody really. I need to rejoice and be glad in the day that the Lord has made.
Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday were filled with computer problem solving. Strange problems that just took time to eliminate possibilities and create a workable temporary solution until a permanent fix could be put in place. That was not what I had planned to do. Have you been there when what you planned and what needs to be done are on very different time schedules? We all have! For me one of the ever present duties is sermon prep for the following Sunday. Honestly, it is a relentless task master. Like a loaded train moving down a track. So large and heavy that little if anything will stop it and I am stuck at the crossing unable to move. I want each message to be important to me and the listener, relevant to life, Biblical, accurate AND easy on the ears. But, here I am doing something different. It is a task I cannot hand off either. I must do it. I want to do it. But, I need time to do it. Some weeks I need all week to prepare such a message.
Tuesday, God made clear his choice of passages and Thursday I outlined and finalized the message so I could get off the track and meet that train at the station. There was enough time to complete the task. It was time to do it and there was enough time to complete it. Funny, how that works in the Kingdom. Things happen at the right time with enough time in time. So why is it that we worry?
“And it came to pass that Mary should be delivered,” “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." Luke 9:51 NIV
Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time and season for everything. God who lives outside of time and space knows what time it is and where we are in space. Time and schedule are not bizarre companions but variables in the fabric of God’s plan. I worry when I forget that God is on time at the right place all the time. Who am I to say it’s about time for the rain to end and the sun to shine? I am nobody really. I need to rejoice and be glad in the day that the Lord has made.
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:33-34 NIV
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