A question; what does love look like?

 We use that word so easily. I love, Oreo cookies, ice cream, hollandaise sauce (even on a stick), Snickers Bars, bacon, my job, my wife, my children, my dog, my truck, my parents, my Savior, my God you name it and we love it! One word fits all even though each of the above are very different levels of relationship called love.

What does love look like? Recently a story aired on CBS news about a basketball team and their manager. The manager loves basketball and has special needs. The coach asked the manager to suit up for the last game of the season. He had decided to put the manager in to play regardless of the score and instructed his team to get the manager the ball to attempt a shot. The crowd went wild chanting the manager’s name as he stepped onto the court. Several times he got the ball and attempted a shot missing each time. That was what  the coach had hoped for to get him in the game. He could not have hoped for what came next.

The ball went out of bounds and the other team was to pass it in bounds. The manager was at their end of the court when the player form the other team called out the manager’s name more than once to get his attention and threw the ball to him upon which he shot the ball and made a basket. The place went wild. The story was so good CBS aired it twice with an epilogue attached the second time. The epilogue was the story so moved that president of Texas Tech University that he called and offered a full scholarship to the player who inbounded the ball to the manager. What does love look like?

In the past days much energy has been spent on national ethical/moral debate regarding marriage. In our local news a 2year old was killed by dogs and a 13month old was shot allegedly by two teens. It is hard to think of these events and not be outraged by the acts of others. It is easy to condemn those with differing views or those who commit violent acts. What does love look like? Consider it is Easter and while hanging on the cross Jesus the innocent one said,

 “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.”  Luke 23:34 HCSB

In our current situation maybe the most loving thing to do is pray the same thing.

“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 HCSB

Easter that’s what love looks like!

    
In His Service and Yours

The Rev

Familiarity breeds contempt...

…or so they say . Is an idiom of speech with more than a hint of truth. I want to use contempt not in a completely negative direction but rather meaning “taken for granted” or “treated as normal, usual or common.”

We do that with electricity. When you flip a switch our expectation the light is to come on. Only when it does not does it become an issue for investigation. When it does not we are in complete disbelief. Even when the power has been off for a few minutes or a few hours, as we enter another room we automatically flip the light switch and once again are surprised that the room is still dark. Of course we are again surprised when the power does come back on and the house glows because of the lights we had turned on during the “blackout.” At my house, due to a well, we have no water when the power goes off. You can get real thirsty when the power is off. I know it is in my head but…

Familiarity breeds complacency…with family. It is easier for me to be polite with strangers than it is to be polite with my family. They are family. I shouldn’t have to… Have you said that? Have you heard that? I imagine more than you care on more than one occasion. We should be polite and considerate especially to family. Thank them when they do something for you. Even the simplest task deserves recognition. You would like that so would they. It is so hard with family because we are so familiar and used to them doing it for us. Often we don’t realize how much and how often they cared for us until they cannot due to travel, schedule of death. That is sad. That is complacency brought on by familiarity.

Familiarity breeds “casualty” not as a death but treating the special as common. Husbands we do this when we fail to tell our wives we love them. They like to hear it. It does them good and you too. When Momma’s happy everybody’s happy and when Momma’s not happy…you know. It will do you good. I know the drill. “I show her every day,” you say, well then add some detail. Explain how you love her by what you are doing. Good luck with that.

Familiarity breeds…it happens with sacred things as well. As I prepared a message series on the last five days of Christ I have seen the familiarity. There is much happening to and around Jesus as his life is ending. A great deal of drama for him knowing his outcome, the urgency of completing the disciples instruction in preparation for his leaving them, the confrontations with the religious leaders and Jesus all of which can demand and consume our attention. Maybe like me you have heard these stories all of your life and even before you were born. That means we are VERY familiar with them. There is a real danger of telling the most important story ever told and failing to be changed by it, failing to be moved by it. The failure is due in no small part to our complacency because we “know” them so well, familiarity.  

In a book I am reading, the title of which escapes me, the author reminds pastors and students of the Bible of this very danger. We handle the sacred things so much that they become familiar and dare I say it common. There is that contempt I was speaking of earlier. The story of the passion of the Christ becomes everyday therefore losing its awe. There I said it. Familiarity breeds contempt with contempt meaning the loss of Awe. In matters of faith, the loss of the awe of God in the great plan with infinite details all constructed to redeem all of mankind through Jesus Christ, in matters of family the awe that they love you and will die with you, defend you and care for you YOU! We all too easily can lose our sense of Awe of God.

This spring and Easter season slow down and look for the “AWE.” The smallest purple flowers by themselves are almost invisible yet when grouped in a field makes a purple blanket of semi-transparent color. Look and listen to the laugh of a child and I dare you NOT to smile. Consider the way your wife/husband cares for you without thought or complaint. Read and meditate on the story of Easter found in scripture carefully attending to each detail of action, each word spoken and not spoken. There is AWE to be seen and discovered. The Awe of God who loves us so and knows the plans he has for us even when we don’t know them ourselves.  

It will change your outlook of the season and life!

It’s what’s for living, in AWE of God                 

       

In His Service and Yours
The Rev

Little did I know I would live a similar week!

I am preparing messages organized around… the last 5 days of Jesus life.

They were crazy, full, event filled days. With unexpected opportunities and challenges with each sunrise and sun set.  

It started Monday morning, well let me go back. May 2010 Crossroads Church decided to pursue a modular building as a permanent location of ministry and purchased a 36X66 building. In the fall of the same year we approved an agreement with the Assembly to locate the building on their land. It was not until the spring of 2011 that the agreement was approved by all parties. Plans were laid and submitted in Dec. of the same year and rejected in January, resubmitted and rejected and finally approved February of 2013. Yes, it has been a long time in the making. Monday the phone rang.

The mover wanted to get started moving the building and do it Wednesday (yes, Wednesday two days later). O.K. but we needed dirt for the pad hauled and spread before they could be set up and we needed professional drawings for the remodel permit and had no one to draw those. So here we go making arrangements for the mover.

Tuesday the phone rang and we had dirt and a hauler just needed a price and day. The mover wanted to meet at the site on Tuesday. Following the meeting he would start Wednesday and by Friday have the pieces on site.

Wednesday the phone rang and we had dirt, price and a day Friday for the delivery.  Before sunset Wednesday we had an appointment with and engineer to look at the structure, take pictures in preparation for drawings on Friday afternoon.

Thursday no phone call coming in, but a few going out to make connections for payment and logistics. My Jayhawks won that evening.

Friday, a message and conversation from a new neighbor to the hayfield and waiting for the dirt guy, engineer and a check.

Five days of movement after 2 years and 10 months of seeming non-movement. By the time you read this 50yards of dirt will be piled up and a modular building in three sections will be sitting on our site that had been only five steaks with orange tape flapping in the wind. Crazy I tell you.

Not more crazy than the ways of the Kingdom of God. Life seems to be going nowhere at all for so long all the while God is putting in place all of the pieces like a fine Swiss watch. So that when it is time the watch is wound and it runs flawlessly and effortlessly at least so it appears. It also runs quickly. This has been God project all along. The terms are unusual. The location is unusual. The timing is unusual but that is usual for God’s plans according to his purposes. After all:

⁶ Seek the Lord while He may be found;
call to Him while He is near.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
⁹ “For as heaven is higher than earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:6,8-9 HCSB

  
In His Service and Yours
The Rev

I am preparing messages organized around...

 … the last 5 days of Jesus life.

I found a resource whereby the individual has combined the four Gospels and developed a timeline of the last six days of Jesus life. Honestly I have run into an issue or two as to which day an event should be associated with but that is about it. It has been interesting to me as an outline and context to the events. Sometimes we remove events in Jesus life from their context to examine them but context has as great an effect on understanding as detailed examination.

Luke tells us, “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51 NIV) in fact the Samaritans refused to entertain him because of his destination. Obviously, they had asked and been answered. This is the key that I want to touch on today. Jesus was resolute about his mission. Now his path to Jerusalem was anything but straight. That is the way of the Kingdom of God never straight. However, he was resolved to go to Jerusalem where he knew his destruction (physically) would come.

In my preparation on day 6, Jesus makes a base camp in Bethany entering Jerusalem from there and returning home in the evening. Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived there, his friends and followers. Notice his resolve, on day 5 he enters Jerusalem on a colt with great fanfare and celebration right in the faces of those who would kill him. He then heads to the temple and Mark says looks around then returns home to Bethany.

On day 4 he returns to Jerusalem and the Temple and clears the Temple in this prophetic/messianic action infuriating the rulers of the Temple the very ones who will kill him. No covert activity, no by dark of night secret missions, he was resolved to his mission in front of God and everybody. This resolve is what struck me most in the Passion of the Christ of several years ago. In the scourging scene after have his back ripped to shreds and falling to the ground, he gets back up to the dismay of the roman commander. We see this resolve each time he falls on the way to the cross. Struggling to get back to his feet, hefting the cross to his shoulders and walking again all the while being whipped and verbally abused, he is heading to the place of his execution. That is his resolve, his mission to get to the cross on the hill.

More than one wanted him to go to the cross and die. Satan did as well. It seems macabre that God and satan shared a similar goal the death of Jesus. But they did, both for defeat. God the defeat of sin once and for all and satan the defeat of God and his plan. They were resolved to the same plan as Jesus jJust not the same ends or for the same beneficiaries.

Am I resolved to the same plan as Jesus? Are you? Will I attack in full view of the enemy?  Would I get up again or just lay there? Would I have stayed or fled when Jesus was arrested? Would I have welcomed him into Jerusalem as Messiah or hoping for a new king? Maybe I would have stood along the road enjoying the parade all the while asking “who is this guy but it’s a great parade?” Where would you be? Where is my resolve?

In the weeks before Easter, it is good to take a look at our resolve. How is my devotion to the Savior compared to that of Jesus and his mission? Looks like I need to step it up! What about you?

              

In His Service and Yours

The Rev

In my previous post I shared this story...

 A  Cherokee Legend.

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.

"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Since God has this wicked sense of humor, I must tell you what happened after writing the previous article.

It was Saturday afternoon and the cooking shows were on on GPB so I sat at the table to begin to repair Carolyn's IPOD. She had dropped it some time ago cracking the screen. However, that had not stopped her from using it. I had to pry it out of her hand to fix it.

You can find almost anything on the Internet in how-to videos and that include a screen repair on a IPOD touch. I looked at several of those videos and we ordered the replacement screen. So armed with Barbara's IPAD, tools and time I began the task of opening the IPOD. Now the video had easy tips and tricks included as well as some timely warnings as to what not to do. That's where I went wrong.

The warning located where to pry this metal plate and where not to because of unseen ribbon cables (very thin connections for power and volume in this case). I stayed away from the cable but instead of separating the metal plate from the printed circuit board I separated the ribbon cable from itself. Yep I cut it. My first thought was, "I have ruined it," then “How could I be so stupid? Now I have to buy her another one at $199.” Been there? Well, I must honestly say I stayed there for a while. 

The legend above speaks of the winning wolf being the one we feed, the good one or the bad one. While I was fuming, which one was I feeding? You are right the bad one. I had all kinds of things going through my head especially before I told Carolyn. I sat there and fumed before telling Carolyn what I had done. She was gracious and kind. She is a good daughter.

It happens when we are late for work and there is an accident. We get worked up because our boss will be mad, we might lose our job, we can’t pay the bills or cloth our children and so we will be homeless living on our cars. All of which happened in 30 seconds or less (faster than you can steal a car) and yet we still sit in the same spot on our way to work. . It's just crazy how quickly we go down that path feeding the wolf of self deprecation, anxiety and fear. HE gets fat fast with all of that food. That buffet needed to close.

I went looking on the Internet for the part I had cut. Surely someone else had done that too. I was right. They had. It was the power/volume cable and available for $25. No, I didn't order it. I looked some more and found it available for $1.95 plus $2.95 shipping. So, for $5 bucks and a little more time I can fix it. There is a video for that too. I think I will pay more careful attention this time. I was feeding a different wolf now. Mothers don't let your babies feed the wrong wolf!

When we go down those dark paths feeding the wrong wolf we sin. The sin is the most ancient. I don’t trust God. I am god. NO I’M NOT and neither are you!

Which wolf are you feeding right now?              

In His Service and Yours

The Rev
I imagine God laughing this great big audacious belly laugh at me often. The kind of laugh that brings joy and delight to all who hear it because of the great love and delight contained within its expression. So much so that I laugh too!