I had lunch with a friend...

 Actually two different friends on two different days and a breakfast with a different set of friends. Never mind, I was telling of a moment I had while out with the dog (Ann) early one morning in the dark. My friend said you need to write a book titled The Dog and Me or is it I (never mind). I have thought about a book titled Things I Learned While Driving the School Bus maybe even Wisdom Heard on the Bus. It is funny how themes erupt as my other friend has said repeatedly we should write a book together. No title for that one but possibly What I Wish Someone had Told me Sooner. All of these ideas are just random thoughts to expose the ahha moments of life.

An ahha is a realization for the first time or for the umpteenth time of a truth. The ahha is the moment of illumination; the light bulb goes on, the second of clarity of a concept or idea in a word understanding at least for that moment. That is ah ahha. It might be a brand new connection of truths from other areas or a reconnection from the past. In my Life Group I asked, “What was the last ahha you experienced?” The sound of silence was deafening. It took some time for us to get our minds around this idea of an ahha.

For me recently two thoughts have captured my attention. The first is unique to a leader in a church;

Worship is not to make me feel better but for me to feel better about Jesus.

My role as the Lead Pastor/Teacher is to communicate Jesus in such a way as to transcend the feelings of self about self in those who hear me so that self feelings become secondary to the Savior. To point people beyond themselves and their situation to the source of hope, help and healing, in such a way that they leave with hope regardless of themselves. In reality without Jesus all are hopeless. More on this will be coming I am sure.

The second thought was a connection of ideas in a way new to me. Jesus taught the unforgivable sin is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Recently I have come to understand that as attributing to another what God has done. To deny the Holy Spirit and his work is unforgivable because frankly you fail to recognize you need forgiveness. In a conversation on another subject we spoke of Jesus words

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23 NIV 1984  

It would appear that they were right with God by their accomplishments.  My ahha was connecting their claim of a right relationship with Jesus based on what they did. They claimed the glory that was rightfully God’s. They claimed righteousness apart from a relationship with Jesus the only way. I have some more understanding.

The silence of my Life Group was an indicator that maybe we don’t look for or consider the possibility of ahha’s on a daily basis. It was not long after that one spoke of their ahha and then we all were amazed as two deer walked by and stopped to drink from the pond while a few feet away a fox sat under a cedar tree where the rabbit had just hopped by. All the while the sun was setting with the golden yellows and oranges of a spring evening filling the sky. An unexpected Ahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa at just the right moment could only be God planned and executed!   

What will be your next ahha? God has one planned!

In HIS Service and Yours,

The Rev

Drinking out of puddles...

...To this day when I see a puddle I want to stomp in it. As a boy I took every advantage to stomp in a puddle or at least edge my foot to it so Mom would not see. The only thing that stops me from stomping in the water today is the cleanup. Water on your shoe, pants, both legs, friends face etc. it just makes such a mess but oh is it so much fun!

I am not the only one with a puddle fascination. The beagle Ann who lives at our house has not met a puddle she can resist. She may walk by it one time but not twice. No, the second time she will stop for a drink. It must be heaven sent to drink from a puddle in the driveway while on a walk. Never mind that she has a bowl of fresh-out-of-the-faucet-water in the house, the puddle must be better. In our yard, there is always a second option the pond. The only thing that stops her there is if the water level is down she will not lean over far enough to drink or the worse thing is bubbles.

The other day the circulating pump was on and as the water fell into the pond it made some good sized bubbles. They would float to the far side close to where she was standing and pop. Every time one popped she jumped. Finally she could not take it anymore and left. Did I say she is a beagle? They are known for their wimpy disposition.

This morning as we were outside in the dark listening to the water fall from the trees, I thought about the puddles I drink from at times. The puddles of doubt and unbelief, the puddle of anger, discouragement, gluttony, overindulgence, envy, selfishness, self-doubt the list goes on and on. I don’t drink from them all at once but all too often. It is sad because just like the dog I have a source of clean, clear, satisfying, safe drinking water but I chose to drink from the puddles of….they taste better at the time but never satisfy.

Jesus is the “living water” from which if I drink I will never thirst he told the woman by the well. He is our source but that puddle of doubt looks so good and I am so thirsty I think. Or the puddle of pressure and schedule says there is not enough time for a good drink of Jesus. So instead of living water “clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1) I drink from a dirty puddle filled with salt water that while not ending my life today will kill me in the long run. A puddle filled with the doubt of Thomas that wets my mouth but brings me no satisfaction. Drinking out of ponds and puddles is what dogs do. They just do that and seem to enjoy it much at least Ann does. So does my puddle practice make me a dog?

Well, the answer is yes AND no. Yes, I have been a dog relegated to drinking out of the puddles of sin since my birth. That was all I knew and so that is what I did. No, because I am now a child of God because Jesus came and sacrificed himself for me and my sin paying the debt I owed but could never pay. He introduced me to the well of the water of life that is his blood living water that satisfies for a life time. Yet I still drink from the puddles every so often. If I will look up there is Jesus with his hand outstretched holding a cup of water offering to me crystal clear water from the river of life so I will be refreshed and revived once again.

Water is a marvelous metaphor. Seen in Baptism as we are submerged and Jesus surrounds us we are “in Him” and then in the cup at the Lord’s Supper when we take and drink He is “in us.”

No more puddles for me (drinking that is stomping well that is another issue).

 Ann can drink from them. After all she likes it.            

In HIS Service and Yours,

The Rev

It has become my habit on Good Friday...

To fast from sun up to sun down. I do not practice the discipline of fasting with any more regularity than Good Friday. My large belly might say I need to but I don’t. I began this a few years ago to honor the sacrifice Jesus made for me. It seemed fitting that I should give up food that sustains life since Jesus gave up his life to sustain me. So I drink water but eat nothing. Health wise, I can do this so I do. Little did I know what was in store for me on the Good Friday!

I have found it is easier to fast and not think about it by being busy. I had an appointment with my parents that morning that would be most of the morning. All of that went well it is what follows that became difficult. You see my folks wanted to go to a restaurant to eat. I was preparing myself to watch them eat and drink my water and chew the ice. However, I did not prepare for the smell of food being cooked while we waited. It was going to be a long wait, twenty to twenty-five minutes the hostess said. They decided that was too long and we left. Whew that was close. That food smelled good.

 

I had a few errands to run before we went home. I had in my mind the toughest stop would be the Publix store. Going into a grocery store hungry is not a good move anytime but while you are fasting is definitely not smart. However I had to go there to get a specific item.  I made it, in and out without a food fragrance hitting my hungry nostrils. The next stop was going to be easier or so I thought the local Sam’s Club to pick up plates, cups and juice. Not too tough or so I thought. It was sample day. Of all the days to be sample day why Good Friday? It seemed to me that at the end of every isle there was a cooking station with samples.

 

Most of my sample day experiences have not been wonderful. On one such day a pastor (not anyone still living) took me to lunch. Guess where we went? A grocery store on sample day, yep that was lunch to him and that day to me. So my experiences have been less than stellar. Other times the samples were not fit to eat much less buy. I mean really put your best food forward with your sample. On this day could I be so lucky? The answer is NO! This day of all days, the day I choose to not eat there were wonderful samples. I turned one corner and there he was cutting up the chicken core don blue in the largest sample sizes I have ever seen. I love that stuff. I could stand there and eat lunch NO, not on this day get me out of here!

 

My next stop was Wal-Mart. After the beating at Sam’s this was a snap. I did not even have to go through groceries for the item I was looking for only to discover I did not need it as my wife had gotten the item at another place. By now it was 1:30. I was hungry but my errands were over. My experience was not.

 

As I drove home thinking about the day’s events it hit me, I had been faced with the temptation to eat on the day I had chosen to not to eat. It was hard, very hard to stick with my choice. Jesus faced a similar decision on this Good Friday. He could have called angels to fight his battle, he could have come down from the cross but no, he chose to be arrested, tried, convicted and crucified, the just for the unjust. It must have been so hard to endure so much for me. Here I was enduring a little hunger for him. It just does not seem the same. It isn’t!

 

With those thoughts it was easier to be a little hungry on Good Friday this year!                    

In HIS Service and Yours,
The Rev

This would solve so many problems...

In the spirit of full disclosure I must admit that when an estimated lottery jackpot goes over $300million I am tempted to play. Are you? I spent some time Friday (that was the day of the estimated jackpot of $640 Million) as I was waiting for Barbara to have some tests, reading through the Wi-Fi at St. Joe’s Hospital about what to do if you are the winner. The first was tell no one. That is counter intuitive. Jesus healed many people and told them to tell no one. They didn’t do it so how is a lottery winner going to keep their mouth shut? I mean really? The second was go slow, assemble your team of accountants, lawyers and get experts who have handled those amounts of resources before. The same articles were full of ominous facts. The first being 9 or 10 lottery winners go through their money in less than 5 years and you never knew how many “friends” and “relatives” you had with their hands out. That’s not good. So, I was ready.

I had my facts and the thoughts ran wide how I would be ready and how I might use the money etc. You know how crazy thoughts can be. But the day went on with errands and tasks. Those errands continued into the early evening with a run to Guyton for gas (I needed the lottery win to fill my tank) for both the truck and lawn equipment. As I was putting the tank back into the bed of the truck gas spilled from the vent cap on my hands. FYI the hand sanitizer at the pump does not get the gas off. I was left with a sanitized hand that smelled of gasoline. I needed soap and water. I had to go in and wash my hands.

Going in, now that was a problem. They sell those lottery tickets in there and for once I had $10 not earmarked for anything else and if I won I could do so many good things with that money. I had the rationalization thing going in my head. I am free to do all things; this money is blow money anyway. On and on my mind went while walking to the front door. With gasoline smelling one hand and $10 bill in the other hand I went in straight to the bathroom. I got the smell off finally with real soap and water (the BEST sanitizer). I don’t know exactly when in this process, that on the outside looked like nothing at all but on the inside oh my, the Spirit spoke and said to the effect “when has God provided like this before?” My answer, “never.” “Has he provided every time?” My answer, “always.” So I walked back out to the truck with wet (no towels) and clean smelling hands with my $10 bucks. I still have that today. I am glad Easter has followed that.

As much as we tell ourselves “this would solve all of my problems.” Money will never solve problems in fact several of those articles said this would create a whole new set of problems trying to manage the money, keeping what you’ve got. The winners could quit their existing job because managing their money is a full-time job. That is why I am glad Easter is following that experience. Only the perfect sacrifice by the spotless Lamb of God can solve all our problems. Only Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection can fix our nature of sin. This Easter I ask, "What can you do or say in response to Jesus of Easter?"

Our worship band practiced Sunday’s music and the last song had a hiccup between musical sections. We tried several times and could not make it fit rhythm, mood and text. We finally got something to kind of work but not “fit.” As I was driving home I thought about the “problem” and did so by reciting the text (the two sections have different thoughts)

So what can I say And what can I do, But offer this heart O God completely to you.

I thought about this collection of words merely from a mechanical, how-do-I-connect-these-sections-together kind of way until it hit me. That is a question and following a question we need a pause until the answer comes. The answer for all of the problems in your life is Jesus because of Easter. So what can you say and what can you do? Here it is in the next section:

So I’ll stand with arms high and heart abandoned, In awe of the ONE who gave it all. I’ll stand my soul LORD to you surrendered All I am is Yours!                        

He is Risen….He is Risen Indeed!

In HIS Service and Yours,

The Rev

P.S. Rock Chalk Jayhawk Thanks for the amazing season!