Have you had THE Cough?

                It began last week on Thursday with a peak on Monday and now tapering off in frequency. A nasty, congested, cough-up-a-lung cough coming in spells so strong as I saw stars and would often be dizzy while trying to get my breath. THAT one is what I’m talking about. Until Monday I woke each day with a sore chest and tough throat. Sunday was the worst as I had to sing and preach (as usual) but do so while trying not to cough. Several times while singing my voice stopped. It just stopped. There was nothing to do but restart and see how it would go.

                I made it through although Barbara (my wife) said later that she was not sure on several occasions if I would make it. I had my doubts as well. For the rest of the day I was quiet. Hard to believe I know but true. I was done. Yet I had not had it as hard as Jeremiah. I am in the middle of Jeremiah at chapter 22 now. I can’t read it fast enough because it is hard to read. His task is to tell the nation of Israel of the pending doom due to their adultery. It’s the same message time and time and time again and by the 18^th chapter the people have begun to search for ways to get rid of Jeremiah. He takes it to God often and is often rebuked by the Lord for one thing or another. I struggle reading it because it is so dark and sad. The people were just so head-strong and hard-hearted even as God told them of the doom coming. At the end of chapter 19 Jeremiah at the Lord’s instruction preaches

Then Jeremiah left Topheth, where God had sent him to preach the sermon, and took his stand in the court of God’s Temple and said to the people, “This is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies to you: ‘Warning! Danger! I’m bringing down on this city and all the surrounding towns the doom that I have pronounced. They’re set in their ways and won’t budge. They refuse to do a thing I say.’” Jeremiah 19:14-15 The Message.

Jeremiah was faithful to do as God told him yet look what happens to him.

The priest Pashur son of Immer was the senior priest in God’s Temple. He heard Jeremiah preach this sermon. He whipped Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks at the Upper Benjamin Gate of God’s Temple. The next day Pashur came and let him go. Jeremiah 20:1-2 The Message

                A cough is aggravating, it consumes your body (while coughing try to do anything else). Yet, it also can consume your mind trying to find methods and medicines to stop it or at least slow it down. It just becomes so tiring. However, it is just one of those things. At times serving God is a struggle, tiring, frustrating, misunderstood, without understanding. It’s just hard ask Jeremiah, Paul, Jesus? So it is with us. In Jeremiah’s case it seems so pointless because God’s people would not listen or change their ways. In fact they thought they were good with God and sought ways to get rid of Jeremiah. Sound familiar in 2016? Paul has some words for us following Jesus in tough times. 

So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Galatian 6:9 HCSB

In HIS service and Yours,                                                           

BroG

What is the ugliest four-letter word?

When audio was stored on discs made of vinyl and limited to 45 minutes, George Carlin released a comedy album (from the vinyl discs) of the “Seven Words you can Never say on Television.” But he left off the ugliest four letter word…WAIT. Regarding those other words: No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29 HCSB Enough said about that. Why is WAIT so ugly, because we have to manifest patience?

You have heard it said before and I have said it too. “Never pray for patience.” The reason being you have to wait. That is how you learn patience waiting. In our world wait is a Four-letter-word. There are at least two reasons patience is so rare today. The Rev. Brian Bill writes, From the moment we’re born we want things taken care of right away. When a baby wakes up in the middle of the night and is hungry, it doesn’t lie there and think, “I know Mom and Dad are tired so I’ll just wait until breakfast time.” No, the baby cries impatiently until it receives the attention it demands. Many of us haven’t changed much from those days. It’s in our nature.

Secondly, patience is not a part of our culture. My Uncle Billy tells a story of a man whose car stalled at a light in heavy traffic. He tried and tried and tried to get his car started but it would not. The driver behind began to honk his horn when he recognized he was not moving. Having had enough the man got out of his car and walked back to the front of the honking car and said loudly, “your horn works fine try the lights.”

Let’s define the opposite of patience, impatience. Impatience is the ugliness of unbelief ~ Brian Bill. Impatience is unbelief. When we cannot wait, “impatience” we believe God will: not make it at all, be on time, or come with the right stuff. That is the opposite of faith, unbelief. The truth is God does what he promises. God is always “on time.” It just may not be our timetable. He ALWAYS brings the “right stuff” to any problem. After all, He is I AM that I AM. Our/my impatience indicates at that moment I don’t believe any of that or at least enough. The Good thing is we always have a choice. The choice to believe God.

Patience defined: “Patience is a calm endurance based on the certainty that God is in control.”

We can choose to WAIT on God. There is that word again. God knows waiting is hard. He is at work in us producing the fruit of patience so that we can wait for HIS time and place for everything. But waiting is not without something to do. We wait on God with the expectation that God will and has invited us into His plan. We are his children, those who have trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord. We are already a part. Waiting on God is to also go at His pace. None of this running ahead and “doing for God.” No, we do as we’re told. Jesus calls us to follow. He alone is a great leader and great leaders give great direction to followers. Even when their followers don’t understand. Yes, WAIT is the ugliest four letter word in our language but waiting on God is not ugly it is a blessing.

In HIS service and Yours,                                                           

BroG

How hard is it to follow directions?

I reminded you in my last installment that I drive a school bus. The key to an easy ride home with no problems is for each student to sit in the seat and ride home. Yes, it is that simple and to make it more so I add, “Anything more and it’s wrong.” It heads off a lot of problems. My students want to make it about what other people are doing but that is an attempt to divert from the fact that they were doing more than sitting in their seat and riding home. I don’t know for sure if kids learn that from adults or adults just carry that from childhood but it is a shared behavior. It’s not good.

Last Sunday I was retelling the words of Paul from Philippians 4 regarding peace (click here to listen). We love to quote this passage in verse 7 when the storm is raging and all seems out of control.

And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7 HCSB)

Truth is, we say those words and believe those words and then wonder where the peace is or why it has passed us by? Why does this not work and bring me peace. It doesn’t work because it is a sound bit. A favorite phrase that we pull out of context and use to fix the situation. When in fact it is the culmination of a process found in the preceding verses. That Paul is a clever one. The process in outline is: Rejoice in the Lord, be gracious and don’t worry. Paul adds regarding worry a way to fight it. We pray, petition for needs and requests and give thanks. With that done (as many think) God responds with verse 7. But you and I both know we want to skip to the end and get our situation fixed without the process, admit it, you do! The other possibility is we get so hung up in doing the process just so in just such a way that we miss the purpose all together. The key to peace is not a process. The key is a person.

WARNING! (This is my rant) I have become agitated by the conservative, religious, right recently with all of the dire warnings and predictions regarding the next president of the United States. You know how they go; “If we don’t elect a …then this country is doomed. We are doomed and God is doomed (the thought suggests).” We have a lot of problems in this country that need solutions. Solutions to health care, immigration, economics, crime, family breakdown, terrorism etc. Big problems, enormous challenges more than any one individual can handle. Yet, we seem to think one individual can fix all that. It is true one individual can and will fix all of that but it is not POTUS (President of the United States). See that’s where we once again are not following the directions.

This scripture, another one of those favorite sound bites, says (as we act upon it) if my people who are called by my name will elect the right man…, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. It seems like we believe that. That is not the process as directed by God.

My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 HCSB).

Did you see that humble, pray, seek God thing? Did you see who would take action as we/believers seek HIM? Did you know peace is a person? He is found through a process of prayer. But prayer is to point us to Jesus not the process of … whatever. We don’t follow directions do we much less go to where we are directed? Let’s work on that. Jesus is a GREAT leader. Let’s follow His directions!

In HIS Service and Yours,

BroG

What's up with distractions?

You know I drive a school bus during the week. It does two things provide extra income and keep me in touch with the real word. The primary task of the bus driver is to????? Say it with me (drive the bus) not crowd control but that can easily become the most pressing event. A Thursday was one such afternoon with two individuals, crowd control. Mom’s think that is the most important thing. Children think that is the most important thing. Until there is an accident and then. Those two got under my skin along with several others. So Friday morning as I was walking with the dog, I was thinking about what to do with those two to change their behavior and the situation. As life goes I was reminded that praying for them would provide the answer for which I was searching. I decided as I turned the corner I would pray for them. Then I came in the house. 


My tea was not ready (I drink hot tea in the mornings). I had to feed the dog, so, after feeding the dog while I waited for the tea to steep I sat down to review e-mail and then “facecrack” (Facebook) and clicked on the debate highlights. Politics are important our nation elects individuals to make decisions on our behalf in our best interest so it is good to be informed but that was not the best thing for me to do. I got up and went and prayed for those two students. THAT was the best. The hardest decisions are between better and best NOT good and bad. The differences between better and best decisions are not as clear. They have much more subtle differences between them and therefore are harder. Either can work but we believe one will be better more in the will of God than another. It is our heart that must be in the will of God and not the decision.


Back to my bus story, I have a common phrase that I tell the children and often times the parent when we wrestle with crowd control. I remind both that what the student needs to do is “sit in the seat and ride home.” That’s it. Nothing more in fact anything more is wrong and nothing less that’s wrong too. It seems so simple “sit and ride home” but it is far from simple if you want to do something else. That “want to” is our distraction. We blame all kinds of things for distraction but the most devastating is our “want to.” Sunday as I was sharing this with my church it dawned on me (really the Holy Spirit revealed this truth) that being in God’s will is just as simple.


Jesus invites us to follow him. Nothing more, nothing less in fact anything more or less is wrong (sin) really. It really is that simple AND that hard. The distraction is my “want to.” The old hymn “wherever HE leads I’ll go,” has been sung hundreds of times if not thousands but I wonder how often that was a lie? It may not have been at that moment but very soon there was an opportunity that required an excuse to explain why we could not go there. Oh yes, it was a good reason except Jesus was asking us to follow and we said, “No Lord” because we did not want to. Distracted by the better yet once again to follow not. Because of free will (a dangerous gift) we have a choice. The choice to follow or not. It’s up to us. Yes, it is that simple.


What have you chosen today, this minute, this second? What distraction do you succumb to? Choose better. Choose the BEST to follow!


In HIS Service and Yours,

BroG