Do you remember the most serene place you’ve ever been to? Was it on a warm beach with the sand between your toes? Was it curled up on your couch or favorite reading nook as you were riveted by an exciting new book? Or perhaps you’re a hot chocolate or hot tea kind of person…and you found your peace and quiet in a soothing hot beverage…ah…peace.
Have you found peace today? Perhaps your peace came within a still solitary five minutes within your office or workspace…maybe it came to you just before you had to pull your tired butt out of bed. Where ever or whenever you have found peace cherish it, relish it.
There is peace still to be found here on this earth. Peace comes in many shapes and sizes and in many platforms and environments. Take the time to find peace today. If you are searching for it, my prayer is that you will find it.
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalms 46:1
And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” Colossians 3:15
Today our dog decided to play
“Hurdle the cat”
And so he leapt
Springing high into the air
Soaring high above
In a K9 kind of grace
Four legs splayed outward
Ears flapping with the strong
Winds from the upper atmosphere.
He cleared the cat
By a good two feet
But did you know that
Cats actually hate the game:
“Hurdle the cat”?
It’s true
Because her fur was raised
And not in a flattering way
much to our dog’s dismay
her teeth were bared
And she assumed
The “I’m going to kill you”
Stance.
Needless to say,
Our dog has now retired
From “hurdle the cat”…
At least until tomorrow.
The pastor said God was everywhere
And so I’m looking for him.
They say he’s in the world today
But I’m not seein much of him
In how we treat each other
In how wars are fought
In how innocent blood is spilt
You see I’m looking for God
But I’m having doubt’s he’s here…
I went looking in a church too
To find out where he’d been
Talked to couple of folks there
Full of wind in their sails
But their anchors weren’t pulled
Going round in circles, it seems.
Is God here in this church
With crimson window panes
And creaking pews with people
In them who are equally creaking?
I’m not so sure…
I am looking for God
But the question is has he been looking for me?
Or am I just blind as a bat?
Am I reciting all the wrong jargon?
Am I wearing the wrong clothes…
No, God doesn’t care about that stuff,
Does he care for me?
Look, all I want to be is genuine
All I want to do is help and hope and love
And leap in places that faith will carry me…
I’m looking for God, have you seen him?
What’s he like?
Will you please tell me?
“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” – 1 Peter 3:15-16
I was listening to music on the radio as I was dropping my children off at school this morning. Minding my own business, when God decided to pop in for a visit. Perhaps it had been a while. Perhaps, if this was a time for confessions I might admit to getting caught up in work and other things…perhaps.
Isn’t it funny how God can speak to us in so many different ways? We can go to an art gallery and suddenly a painting of flowers will strike a chord in our hearts and we would know that God had something to do with it. Or perhaps we see God in other people as the driver just ahead of you casually pays for your toll as well…God was there. Or even in the midst of utter despair, pain, hurt, loss, we might read something that gently and quietly reminds us that God is present with us. He is here with you now as you read this…do you believe that? I do. His presence is with us always, even to the ends of the earth, even when all hell breaks loose around us, even when we are blind to His passing…He is there!
…back to the music on the radio…
I was sitting in my van and two songs back to back touch my heart in a way that I couldn’t deny His presence there. The first was a song by Mumford and Sons called “Below my feet”. It wasn’t so much the entire song but the refrain that captured my heart for a moment:
” Keep the earth below my feet
For all my sweat, my blood runs weak
Let me learn from where I have been
Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn
Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn”
As I heard those words I pondered that last sentence; “Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn”…but I said it like a prayer to the Lord. Lord, keep my eyes to serve and my hands to learn…. I didn’t lose control of the vehicle but I could feel His presence there and I may as well have been in church.
“I may as well have been in church!”
The very next song that came on was a song by the David Crowder Band called “You never let go”. Its words go like this:
When clouds veil the sun and disaster comes
Oh my soul, oh my soul
When waters rise and hope takes flight
Oh my soul, oh my soul, oh my soul
Ever faithful, ever true
You, I know, You never let go
You never let go, You never let go
You never let go
You never let go, You never let go
You never let go
When clouds brought rain and disaster came
Oh my soul, oh my soul
When waters rose and hope had flown
Oh my soul, oh my soul, oh my soul
Ever faithful, ever true
You, I know, You never let go
I was in church in my van…God was very present. He reminded me of just how important it is to not only serve Him but to always look for Him in every moment of my day. He’s here right now wanting so desperately to fellowship and commune with you and me. And His promise to us is that He will never let go.
Arise my soul, arise,
Shake off thy guilty fears;
The bleeding sacrifice
in my behalf appears;
Before the throne my surety stands,
my name is written on his hands.
(Charles Wesley)
I’ve been humming the tune to this hymn, yet the poetic words are running through my brain like a train that won’t stop churning and chugging along…I think I can, I think I can, I think I can… Call it the obsessive mind running in a circular motion very much like a NASCAR track…but yet it’s something more…something deeper, more disturbing.
The words have struck a chord in me. Plucked the wrong string that kind of stings yet affirms to me that there is something more to give. Something more to sacrifice. Something more to surrender and kill that is of the old self still attempting to crawl off of the altar…stubborn as ever! The words are visceral, bone on bone, marrow sucked out and pain depicted in His suffering. Am I willing to allow Him in…like this? Am I really ready to commit to a deeper, more personal relationship that throws open the curtains to my deepest, darkest sins and embarrassments. As the curtains are pulled back and His light burns and shines upon me, revealing how dirty and filthy this place truly is… Yet, If I were to reconsider this deeper calling, I will come to the obvious conclusion that I am already naked before the One who shed His blood for me. That He already sees me for who I am, who I have been, and who I could be. He already perceives and knows my guilt and shame. Perhaps I am like the child who is covering his eyes and saying “you can’t see me”, when all along it has been me that hasn’t seen all along.
“Arise my soul, arise
Shake off thy guilty fears…”
What is it that I am afraid of? That when He finally sees me, the real me, that I he will shake his head a walk away? Or will he laugh? Am I afraid to let go? To lose control? Do I fear for my identity? Why have I waited this long to get to this point when all along He has patiently waited for me? These words aren’t so much about my Salvation as it is about my holiness, or lack there of. Am I afraid to admit that I am a scared little child in the face of His holiness? Perhaps.
I am humming the tune…and letting these words slip in quietly and solemnly. I am pondering His still small voice, and that of His eternal patience with me. Savior, hold my hand and lead me.
The church piano is playing “turn eyes upon Jesus”
when their eyes are on their phones
checking status’ and messages
but the Spirit’s call gets sent right to voicemail.
The complaints of old parishioners
why are there less and less?
Perhaps if smiles instead of frowns
warmth instead of winter cold
were expressed.
The prayers of the selfish, the haves, and greedy
out weigh the care or concern for the needy
wrong motives, hatred and pride
breaking down families all trapped inside…the church.
turn your eyes upon…money?
turn your eyes upon…sunday (even)?
turn your eyes upon…women and men?
No, start again.
Flames of His Spirit descend again!
Consume all our folly and sickness again!
Tear down our selfishness, tear down our pride
A Bride of resplendence, a bride of love
“If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.”
― John Lennon
I was driving down the road when I saw it. It was a purple bill board. It was the color that first caught my eye (someone please pay that advertising genius). As I got closer and adjusted my “old man” eyes I read what the sign said, “Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, we all worship TV.” Perhaps the advertisers were just trying to unify us by saying we all worshiped something together, but it just didn’t sit well with me. I drove past that bill board but in a way I was still staring at it for the next ten miles. Something felt sinking in my heart…was it really true? Do we worship the television?
What is the definition of an “Idol”?
i·dol
ˈīdl/
noun
noun: idol; plural noun: idols
1.
an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.
Here’s another definition – an Idol is whatever you allow to take up and consume all of your time. How much time do we spend in church? Maybe four – seven hours a week (if you don’t work there). How much time do you spend in front of the television or perhaps the tablet device/computer screen? I would venture a guess that for the most part the hours spent here would out number the hours spent at church. But church isn’t the only place to find God is it? I mean we all own bibles don’t we? How many hours a day or even a week do we spend reading its pages?
What is consuming your time? Some might say, “well my family takes up a lot of it“, while others might say, “I work sixty hour weeks” and I certainly don’t want to sound as if I’m condemning any of that. It just hit me driving by that big purple bill board how little time I sometimes actually-physically give to God. Not just at work, but as a devoted lover and follower of God.
“Here God – take my left-overs”
It’s almost as if I’ve been saying to God, “You stay home while I go to work, I’ll be back in like eight hours…see ya!” or “Well God I’ve got more pressing things to do today, I have to catch up on all of my DVR’d shows, we’ll talk some other time”. God doesn’t have an on/off switch. He isn’t some toy you place on a shelf and only take Him down when you feel like it. God desires from us real and genuine fellowship, not our left-overs.
“CAIN & ABEL”
Do you remember Cain and Abel? (Read Genesis 4 again) Sure we remember that Cain kills his brother, but why? Because he was jealous of how he was blessed by God. But why was he blessed by God? Because Abel honored God with the first fruits and not his left-overs. Cain honored God with the scraps of his left-overs, the less desired cuts from his crops, while he feasted on prime rib of the land. Abel set apart the best of the best for God and then used the rest.
You see there’s an application here. Are you ABEL (pun intended) to give God the best of the best first? For far too long I’ve been giving Him my left-overs. I’ve been giving Him my after thoughts, my junk…my dirty diapers, and I’ve been thinking that’s good enough. WELL IT ISN’T! God didn’t send down some second rate half-wit of an angel to save us did He? No way! He sent us His best. He sent us His Son to save us from sin and death. God doesn’t want our scraps…He wants genuine fellowship with us. He wants us to set apart our hearts first for Him and then for others…then for our self. Be we get that backwards sometimes…a lot of times…most of the time.
Stop giving God your dirty diapers, your rubbish, your “good enoughs”. Only your best will do! Maybe it’s time to turn off the television for while, or put down that novel. Maybe it’s time to let God consume you instead of you consuming stuff and work and play. Are you prepared to give God your best instead of the rest of the left-overs and the dirty diapers?
-Just a thought to consider.
“But I do know we’re deficient in some way. We are too involved in materialistic things, and they don’t satisfy us. The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays With Morrie
In the bliss of winter’s frozen kiss
as Ice is formed, abrasive and painful
an Angel with wings unfurled
left her mark in the mounds of silky snow.
I do not know what transpired there
as some walk by and some don’t care
But I’m almost sure I glimpsed heaven’s door
looking out from my frosted window.
With rooftops coated white and wisps of smoke
dancing or escaping elegantly into the crisp atmosphere
I remain here, tightly bundled, blanketed train behind me
perfectly content to let the days of winter kiss another
but not my cheek, nor these feeble hands
I am a child of summer weighted down by this
absence of her soft warming embrace.
I hope the new year is treating you well and that you know the rich blessings of the resurrected Christ!
I wanted to let you know of something very exciting taking place here on this site in the coming months. I have asked various writers, speakers and thinkers to contribute to this site in what will be called “Perspectives”. This wonderful segment will be posted at the end of each month with a featured writer/pastor. I would like to invite you to join us and offer support as well as be nourished under their very talented words.
My daughter is five years old, and already she is very clever. If you ever cross her, I don’t envy your position because she is the most cunning strategist that I know at the age of five.
It all began with a game. Actually it started when she wanted something that her twin brother had, and she was determined to have it and get it her way. So she played a game with him. It was a kicking game, and she made up the rules right then and there. In a very commanding voice she told her brother, “If I kick you I win, and if you kick me I win and I will win the mask“. -the mask was what she wanted from her brother. She had devised a game with rules in place in which the outcomes would benefit her either way. At no point in this game would her twin brother, who is taller and quicker than she is, have an edge or even a chance to win.
My daughter’s cleverness made me laugh. In part I was proud of her for being quick on her feet, yet surprised at the lengths at which she would go just to obtain what she wanted most. She had devised a strategy in which she could outsmart her brother even though she knew that she was no match for his physicality.
Sometimes life is kind of like that isn’t it? We are greatly outmatched and the thing(s) that we want so badly are just beyond our reach. We want our families to be closer, our health or the health of loved ones/friends to be better, our financial situation more profitable, our jobs more enjoyable, love and respect that goes unfulfilled. Life can sometimes be like that cruel master which dangles a carrot in from of a donkey just to get it to work and be productive. We want so desperately to change the rules, to make a life more to our advantage…to win. But what do we really desire to win? Will we truly be happy? Can we really change the rules in life?
How does faith play into this thing called life? Is faith important? The simple answer is YES, absolutely! Despite how much we might plan for every contingency and strategize for every positive outcome, life doesn’t play according to our rules. Life can sometimes be unpredictable and we can find ourselves grossly out of winning options. But faith isn’t some wild card or last resort. The key is the source behind our faith. If our source is simply our own powers and motivations we will eventually face disappointment and discouragement. But if our source is God, in whom made all things and our faith takes us to the understanding that we are indeed loved and important to the Creator then regardless of what happens to us we can have this immeasurable unending faith.
Faith is a rules changer. Faith can propel us from self-sufficiency to something much more sustainable and everlasting…if we allow it to grow in us. Are you willing to let this kind of everlasting faith take root in you? Give it a try and perhaps you will begin to see life in a whole new perspective.
Pastor's Ponderings 