A week of unexpected!

The unexpected week began last Saturday with a gathering of men from church at a local coffee shop. We do that once a month. I usually prepare a devotion and stimulate discussion before. I see that as what I am supposed to do. In my mind it is for the men that join us to encourage them in their walk following Jesus or learning to follow Jesus. We ate and talked. I was more candid than usual in my words regarding me and events of the days before and unexpectedly those men ministered to me and God blessed me. It was completely unexpected and yet greatly appreciated. That was just the beginning.   
 
Here is southeast Georgia the winter weather has taken and unexpectedly cold and precipitous turn this week with ice and snow a reality in our forecast. It was three years ago one February night when we last had measurable, snow ball throwing, snowman making snow. Before that I cannot remember any measurable snowfall since 1992, when we moved here. Suffice it to say, it has been a long time. The news media began talking of it Friday evening for the following Tuesday. It is a big deal here. For those in climates that have more snow, imagine a late or early snowfall and the reaction of people losing their minds. You can kind of get it. It is an event for us, not expected.

I became concerned when they began to speak of freezing rain and ice. That will mess up a day. There is nothing to do about that except wait until it warms up and hope the power does not go out. One ice storm in Kansas City when I was in elementary school we were without power for three days.  It’s a deal. This week we had ice but not a lot and the power stayed on so we were good. That was unexpected. Oh and no snow at my house that was bummer. It was nice to sleep in a little and just be around the house Wednesday. I built a fire and did some work but mostly enjoyed. That was unexpected.

Last Sunday we saw in Jeremiah 29 that to know God’s plans is to search him out, his purposes, processes and presence.

¹² “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.

^13-14 “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.

“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.

“I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you”—God’s Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it. Jeremiah 29:12-14 The Message

 It is to actively engage God. He promises us he will be found. The Great Commission is to go or as you go share the Gospel. That is where we experience God’s plans in unexpected ways. What seemed a tragedy turns to triumph. What appeared to be “the” purpose turns around to be not the only thing to be accomplished. Those who teach the Word recognize they learn so much more than their students. The teacher is taught more in the preparation than the student during the lesson. On the other hand, the student often becomes the teacher by learning and applying the taught material. It is so common it should be expected but it’s not. It’s always unexpected and delightful.

That’s how God is. About the time we believe we have him “figured out” he does the unexpected. It is so common we should expect it…but we don’t. That is the delight in it a surprise everyday.        

 

In HIS Service and Yours,

BroG

This week I am letting THEM make me crazy or is it crazier?

Donald Miller author of Blue Like Jazz spoke at a conference I attended of a process he and a group of people experienced while learning to reach to people around them. The group was mostly comprised of college students who used public transportation in a Pacific Northwest city. They were familiar with its problems so they began to list those problems on a board headed with TRANSPORTATION, dirty, smelly, hard, unfriendly etc. The leader then erased transportation from the heading and wrote PEOPLE. The same descriptions fit both headings.

People; whine, moan, groan, worry, , hoard, complain, grumble, turn away at need, stick their nose where it does not belong, are inconsiderate, selfish, bitter, back stabbing, argumentative, faithless, guilty, rash, harsh, disagreeable, lazy, promise breakers, heart breakers (don’t mess around with me), thieves, robbers, adulterers, liars, cheats, mean petty humans.  This is just the “good” ones. I have not experienced all of these this week but what I have experienced has gotten the best of me. It has frustrated and angered me in a way I have not been in some time. They have been my focus. Therein lies the problem.

Tuesday morning as I was sitting thinking trying to pray going over THOSE “people” and THEIR actions in my mind God grabbed a hold of my thoughts and said “so they are just like you!” Ugh, He was right. I am just like them in too many ways. The worse yet was he said “you don’t love them.” That is the heart of the matter. They act that way because they are sinners. I act that way because I am a sinner. The greater sin (to me not God sin is sin) is my unwillingness to love them anyway. “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so” and I am a sinner. I follow Jesus…right? Ugh, so my words changed to LORD forgive me a sinner for failing to have compassion for them and actions of love towards them “they don’t know what they are doing.”(Luke 23:34).

Focus is everything. What we look at causes us to respond and react almost instinctively. This week there are ads for the circus coming to Savannah. I was reminded when several years ago I took Geoffrey to the circus. We went early for the pre-show event. Several performers came out and demonstrated up close and personal their skill. That year one act was a balancing act. They balanced spinning plates at the end of wooden poles. To engage us, they distributed peacock feathers and instructed us to balance it in our open hands. People were running into one another and the feathers fell. Then the artist told us the key. The key is to look at the top only and move your hand to keep it in balance. It works every time, try it!

That’s what God instructs us to keep our focus at the top and everything else will take care of itself. Jesus said, “³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Matthew 6:33 HCSB

I am focused on Jesus once again. It has lightened up my mood. Psalm 73 helped me with that as well.

I told you I was crazy right?

In HIS Service and Yours,

BroG

I Love Rock 'N Roll except...

…except when I feel like I am under the rock or on top of the rock rolling down the hill out of control. This week has been one of those weeks. It started with the end of last week and the weekend of family and a birthday celebration for my mother (she turned 90 Saturday). Good times for sure but nonstop and tiring. In the middle important information documents were lost Saturday, found Sunday morning, lost again by Sunday night and found on the road Monday by a third party and retrieved. Then there was a car breakdown and a water pump replacement so aggravating (in the rain under the car) that it made me want to cuss (Ok. I admit I said a word or two).  Like I said out of control, combined with a full moon and children who have lost their minds, it was a Rock ‘n Roll week.

Nothing bad happened just the potential for “bad” in almost every situation. In the end “today” all is still the same except I am tired. A Rock ‘n Roll week does that to you, it leaves you feeling tired. Not because you did so much but because the weight of the possibility of having to do so much was heavy. That seems to be more of the case each day/week as I get older. The weight of what might possibly happen or what I might have to do is more tiring than the weight of what I actually did. I would hope that to not be true but my hopes are dashed. I am amazed at how some folks make problems out of things and events that have not yet happened and yet that is exactly what I have done this week.

I like rock and roll with the energy and drive. I like roller coasters too. I will wait in line to sit in the front car and then get back in line to sit in the last car. That is fun. So why do I not characterize my rock ‘n roll week as FUN? I guess I was wrestling with problems that weren’t problems yet and as the week draws to a close did not become problems. I forgot to wait for tomorrow and see what must be done. I forgot it’s God’s plan and not my own. Paul says it like this:

I have been crucified with Christ ²⁰ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:19b-20 HCSB

Somehow I lost my mind just like those children and forgot whose I am and who is really in control. It was Rock ’n Roll week an old time Rock ‘n Roll week. Unlike Bob Seger, don’t give me any more old time rock ‘n roll like last week. I still love Rock ‘n Roll and the old stuff is the best in music that is. I need a new Rock “n Roll song to sing to the Lord.    

In HIS Service and Yours,

BroG

The other morning it was 17°, today 54° go figure?

We think some pretty crazy things. The first being, how time goes by so quickly or so slowly. Neither is true in that time goes by at the same rate every day.  Each week has the same number of minutes and hours what determines the “speed” is how we fill those minutes or hours.

Last week my wife and I spent time alone in south Mississippi. We had no schedule or agenda imposed upon us with the exception of a concert at the end of the week. Several times during the week I thought how quickly time was going by and yet awoke several times realizing what day it was and then thought how slowly the week was passing. I am NOT complaining by any means because my next thought would be its only ____ and we’ve still got __ number of days. That was a good thought. Vacation usually passes too quickly because we have filled our time with fun, enjoyable activities or down time.

I have been reading the psalms. Usually I read 5 at a time of course when I get to the 119^th I may just read five pages at a time. I got to Psalm 65 1-2 with these words from The Message.

^1-2 Silence is praise to you, Zion-dwelling God, And also obedience. You hear the prayer in it all.

Too many minutes and hours of our days are spent with sound, the sound of our own voice or the noise of complaints or opinions or complaining. I think we are trying to fill the emptiness of our souls with noise and activity when in reality God is the only fill to the void. He fills us up not in our activity but in the solitude of obedience and stillness. I know how hard it is to be silent. I’m a preacher. I’m supposed to know what to say and have something to say at all times. I learned the hard way to ask God to shut my mouth when there is nothing to say and only to speak when he has spoken.  The best thing to say is nothing in certain situations. Silence speaks volumes and communicates care.

The above passage is good to know when there are no words for the hurt you feel or the helplessness of your situation. The other thing to know is that time passes and so does whatever you are facing. Just like the cold temps of earlier this week, give them time they will change. Do you know why that is? God is always moving. All that he created is moving. Where is it moving you ask? I’m glad you asked. All is moving to the completion of creation when sin is erased and all of the created is restored to perfect and God moves into the neighborhood.

All is changing for His glory and our good, go figure!        

In HIS Service and Yours,

BroG