And they say,
'You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim'
If you listened to any music at all in the '70s you had to hear this song by Jim Croce. Jim must have been one tough character. He was equated with Superman and the Lone Ranger and to mess with them wasn't very smart. Neither was messing with Jim I understand. But what always got me about this chorus was the phrase, "you don't spit into the wind."
Ever tried that? I remember as a kid we'd spit with the wind. It was fun to see just how far it could go. (I know it sounds gross, but I said I was a kid. I rarely do that anymore!) I don't ever remember intentionally spitting into the wind. Maybe accidentally. And I know that it isn't very smart.
It's that tidbit of wisdom in the chorus that echos the very words of Solomon (the Preacher/writer of Ecclesiastes) that life is just spitting into the wind. Not a very encouraging word is it? Neither was Solomon encouraged by what he had seen and experienced in life. He had it all, riches, wisdom, God's favor, women, fame, power, and he called it all smoke, meaningless.
It's hard to imagine just how life might be as Solomon. It's a part of the American Dream in a sense, to have pursued happiness and achieved what most everybody else would say is the absolute highest level. And while all of this brought much pleasure to Solomon's life none of it brought him the most important thing, satisfaction or more correctly, peace. He thought he had everything, but he lacked one thing and it made all the difference.
It's what he was striving after and what we look for. We'll try in countless ways to achieve it, yet continue to find it elusive. That's because peace isn't found in any thing. It is only found in God.
Let me say that it is not wrong to feel like Solomon, it's just sad. Because it doesn't have to be that way. (As you read the rest of the Book of Ecclesiastes you'll discover how his life is resolved.) Life may seem like spitting into the wind (Eccl. 1:17) but it's really a journey on which we find life's meaning. The key to a satisfying life (of peace) is not just journeying toward God, or under the banner of God, but with God. It's a complete change of direction, 180 degrees. And it makes all the difference when you spit.
With God, you get to see just how far it goes instead of having it hit you in the face!
Peace ><>
pc
Friday, November 03, 2006
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Knock, Knock...
Who's there?
Boo.
Boo, who?
Well, you don't have to cry about it!
We just completed another Halloween season. This year, as I understand it, more that $1 Billion was spent on decorations alone in the U.S. and over all over $5B spent for the holiday (candy, costumes, decorations, etc.) At the rate it is growing, Halloween will likely surpass Christmas as the most profitable holiday. Unbelieveable? But it's true.
While I don't buy into (except for the candy, I love the candy!) the hype of halloween, I do think there is at least one thing that we can learn from it. Fear!
While I don't fully comprehend the fun many find in haunted houses and corn mazes, I do know what it is to be scared out of one's wits, to be in circumstances where the dampness in ones' trousers grows with the intensity of the situation. It's called good, healthy fear. And it is needed on our lives.
Oh, I'm not talking about ghoul's jumping out of doorways or spiders dropped from the ceiling, but a true fear of important things like life, death and God. It's not that I think we should be afraid of the future or of God, but a healthy fear that is truly a deep, awe-inspiring respect of the unknown and wholly unknowable. I'm talking about recognizing God's ultimate and universal power over all of Creation and Eternity, that God holds our futures in His hands.
But we'd rather be scared of ghosts and give no thought of God at all.
What happened to approaching God with fear and trembling?
What happened to covering our faces when God was near? or falling to our knees when His name is spoken? Have we become so insolent toward God that respecting his power doesn't mean anything anymore?
That's what happens to Israel time and again in their history. Self-absorbed, self-sufficient, self-indulgent, self, self, self... And what did it get them?
The wrath of God!
What I need is a good, healthy fear of the sovereign God of the Universe. It is God who is in charge of the earth and all that is in it. It is God who stands at the place of judgment before whom all will stand some day. It is the same God who carefully prints names into the book of life and who caused fear in the strongest of men and women throughout the scriptural story.
That's the God who loves me and while I worship Him with loud praises, I approach him on my knees because to fear Him with awesome respect is to love Him as He deserves.
As the now famous song states, "I ain't 'fraid a no ghosts," (Ghostbusters) or anything else in all of Creation...
...But I am of God!
Peace ><>
pc
Boo.
Boo, who?
Well, you don't have to cry about it!
We just completed another Halloween season. This year, as I understand it, more that $1 Billion was spent on decorations alone in the U.S. and over all over $5B spent for the holiday (candy, costumes, decorations, etc.) At the rate it is growing, Halloween will likely surpass Christmas as the most profitable holiday. Unbelieveable? But it's true.
While I don't buy into (except for the candy, I love the candy!) the hype of halloween, I do think there is at least one thing that we can learn from it. Fear!
While I don't fully comprehend the fun many find in haunted houses and corn mazes, I do know what it is to be scared out of one's wits, to be in circumstances where the dampness in ones' trousers grows with the intensity of the situation. It's called good, healthy fear. And it is needed on our lives.
Oh, I'm not talking about ghoul's jumping out of doorways or spiders dropped from the ceiling, but a true fear of important things like life, death and God. It's not that I think we should be afraid of the future or of God, but a healthy fear that is truly a deep, awe-inspiring respect of the unknown and wholly unknowable. I'm talking about recognizing God's ultimate and universal power over all of Creation and Eternity, that God holds our futures in His hands.
But we'd rather be scared of ghosts and give no thought of God at all.
What happened to approaching God with fear and trembling?
What happened to covering our faces when God was near? or falling to our knees when His name is spoken? Have we become so insolent toward God that respecting his power doesn't mean anything anymore?
That's what happens to Israel time and again in their history. Self-absorbed, self-sufficient, self-indulgent, self, self, self... And what did it get them?
The wrath of God!
What I need is a good, healthy fear of the sovereign God of the Universe. It is God who is in charge of the earth and all that is in it. It is God who stands at the place of judgment before whom all will stand some day. It is the same God who carefully prints names into the book of life and who caused fear in the strongest of men and women throughout the scriptural story.
That's the God who loves me and while I worship Him with loud praises, I approach him on my knees because to fear Him with awesome respect is to love Him as He deserves.
As the now famous song states, "I ain't 'fraid a no ghosts," (Ghostbusters) or anything else in all of Creation...
...But I am of God!
Peace ><>
pc
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Undeserving Love
Why does God give us any time or effort? Why on earth would God favor us? There's nothing about our life that deserves the love of God, yet God gives it anyway. Do you know why God loves us?
I'm working on remodeling a bathroom at home. It's all taken apart right now, but it is getting finished slowly. And when I'm finished I'll step back with pride and say to myself, looks good! I'll love it. There's a certain amount of pride that comes from creating something (remodeling something). It's what God did at creation. At the end of each day God looked over what He had made and said, "it was good." He liked it, or rather, He loved it, especially after day 6 when it was complete with humans. God said it was "very good." He loved it!
He loved us!
In fact the whole of scripture is that story of God's love toward us. There is really no why answer, God simply loves us. Why do we love? It's rarely because we get something in return, or even that we get good feelings from it. Many times love brings pain and disappointment, yet we still love. God does too!
And God's love is shown by God's favor (or grace) that is given freely to us in forgiveness, in help, in promises, in blessings, in an active relationship, in and through our own hands and deeds. God not only loves us, but loves through us, too!
There is no why. It just simply is...
God loves us and there's nothing we can do about it...
...excepting,
accepting.
Peace ><>
pc
I'm working on remodeling a bathroom at home. It's all taken apart right now, but it is getting finished slowly. And when I'm finished I'll step back with pride and say to myself, looks good! I'll love it. There's a certain amount of pride that comes from creating something (remodeling something). It's what God did at creation. At the end of each day God looked over what He had made and said, "it was good." He liked it, or rather, He loved it, especially after day 6 when it was complete with humans. God said it was "very good." He loved it!
He loved us!
In fact the whole of scripture is that story of God's love toward us. There is really no why answer, God simply loves us. Why do we love? It's rarely because we get something in return, or even that we get good feelings from it. Many times love brings pain and disappointment, yet we still love. God does too!
And God's love is shown by God's favor (or grace) that is given freely to us in forgiveness, in help, in promises, in blessings, in an active relationship, in and through our own hands and deeds. God not only loves us, but loves through us, too!
There is no why. It just simply is...
God loves us and there's nothing we can do about it...
...excepting,
accepting.
Peace ><>
pc
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
People Stories
Sunday morning we shared stories of our own people who when they began using their strengths in service to Christ, they were blessed. God amazingly showers blessings on those who serve. It would be enough to receive God's favor and salvation, but God continues to pour out blessings.
I met John many years ago. He was a hardworking Father and Husband, but not a church goer. I needed a guitarist to substitute in our praise band for a few weeks and found out about John's history of playing. At my request, he came to rehearsal with his old acoustic guitar and began to pick out some of the songs with our regular guitarist. A few weeks into his rehearsing, he mentioned an old electric guitar he had years ago, but it needed work. He kept coming to rehearsal, even after filling in those few weeks, he kept coming. Then one day he brought in a beautiful Fender Stratocaster (for those of you who don't know what that is, it is a really good guitar, used by countless rock stars from the 70's to today. John had had it completely restored and ready to play.
Which he did, every week. He learned that his strength was in his music and as he shared his talent with God and God's people, God would bless him, which he did. And God blessed many people through John's guitar and song leadership.
John's story isn't unique. His strengths are, how God chooses to use him is unique, but how God blesses isn't. It's like I said on Sunday, we are simply instruments in the hands of God. If we allow God to use us, we receive a blessing along with those who are touched by the work God is doing through us.
How awesome it is to be a tool in God's hand.
All we have to do to be used by God is to tell God, "Use me!" and then find a way to plug in to the life of the church. There you will find blessings uncountable!
Peace ><>
pc
Want to share your own story? Simply email me or respond to this post so that others can be blessed and encouraged by God's blessings to you!
I met John many years ago. He was a hardworking Father and Husband, but not a church goer. I needed a guitarist to substitute in our praise band for a few weeks and found out about John's history of playing. At my request, he came to rehearsal with his old acoustic guitar and began to pick out some of the songs with our regular guitarist. A few weeks into his rehearsing, he mentioned an old electric guitar he had years ago, but it needed work. He kept coming to rehearsal, even after filling in those few weeks, he kept coming. Then one day he brought in a beautiful Fender Stratocaster (for those of you who don't know what that is, it is a really good guitar, used by countless rock stars from the 70's to today. John had had it completely restored and ready to play.
Which he did, every week. He learned that his strength was in his music and as he shared his talent with God and God's people, God would bless him, which he did. And God blessed many people through John's guitar and song leadership.
John's story isn't unique. His strengths are, how God chooses to use him is unique, but how God blesses isn't. It's like I said on Sunday, we are simply instruments in the hands of God. If we allow God to use us, we receive a blessing along with those who are touched by the work God is doing through us.
How awesome it is to be a tool in God's hand.
All we have to do to be used by God is to tell God, "Use me!" and then find a way to plug in to the life of the church. There you will find blessings uncountable!
Peace ><>
pc
Want to share your own story? Simply email me or respond to this post so that others can be blessed and encouraged by God's blessings to you!
Monday, October 30, 2006
The Main Thing
I've often heard it said of the church that "the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." Yet why do we so often get it wrong?
Is it because the "main thing" to each of us is different? The answer is "YES!" The problems we have in churches today is that too often we get into a selfish mode, where the most important project or idea or controversy is created by what "I" want. Get two or more of these ideas working in a church and all hell breaks loose, literally! It's an act of idolotry, putting anything ahead of God, and we do this often without even realizing it. Israel (the Northern Kingdom, not the whole country) was guilty of this at every turn. And when Amos the prophet came to speak God's judgment on them, it wasn't pretty...
"I can't stand your religious meetings.
I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That's what I want. That's all I want." Amos 5:21-24, The Message.
We've been talking about the right way to love God, our mission. It's to love by our actions as well as with our heads, hearts and souls. It's about doing right by others, offering grace where it isn't justified; offering a hand to the needy; offering love to the unloved and unlovable; it's sacrificing one's own wants for the benefit of someone else.
Jesus said in his garden prayer, "not my will, but yours be done." In other words, his desire was something other than the cross, but his devotion to God set aside the human, selfish temptation and moved him to service and faithfulness to his Father, God...for the benefit of the whole world!
It's not about the style of worship, the marketing plan, the ministries that draw community, it's about living in God's way, always thinking about those we can influence with God's good news and with God's unconditional love.
That's the main thing!
Peace ><>
pc
Is it because the "main thing" to each of us is different? The answer is "YES!" The problems we have in churches today is that too often we get into a selfish mode, where the most important project or idea or controversy is created by what "I" want. Get two or more of these ideas working in a church and all hell breaks loose, literally! It's an act of idolotry, putting anything ahead of God, and we do this often without even realizing it. Israel (the Northern Kingdom, not the whole country) was guilty of this at every turn. And when Amos the prophet came to speak God's judgment on them, it wasn't pretty...
"I can't stand your religious meetings.
I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That's what I want. That's all I want." Amos 5:21-24, The Message.
We've been talking about the right way to love God, our mission. It's to love by our actions as well as with our heads, hearts and souls. It's about doing right by others, offering grace where it isn't justified; offering a hand to the needy; offering love to the unloved and unlovable; it's sacrificing one's own wants for the benefit of someone else.
Jesus said in his garden prayer, "not my will, but yours be done." In other words, his desire was something other than the cross, but his devotion to God set aside the human, selfish temptation and moved him to service and faithfulness to his Father, God...for the benefit of the whole world!
It's not about the style of worship, the marketing plan, the ministries that draw community, it's about living in God's way, always thinking about those we can influence with God's good news and with God's unconditional love.
That's the main thing!
Peace ><>
pc
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