Tangled Up in the Roots.

Life is all about perspective.  I wish I could remember that.  To you and me on the ground, a redwood tree is a massive roadblock to get around. To a soaring eagle it's a fine place for a rest stop.  I get so caught up in my little problems sometimes that I forget what they really are.  They are opportunities to focus on God.  All I see, as I belly ache and moan, is this "gigantic" issue in my life.  After I'm over it, I realize that it was a chance to grow and make me stronger.  I usually get caught up trying to get myself out of some sticky situation, always forgetting that I can't push over a redwood.  What I should be recognizing is that maybe it's a time to take a rest and watch what God will do. So instead of whining and crying, getting the vapors, and losing sleep, I will try to step back, rest and see what God can do. Stop kicking the roots and look at the sky.

Alzheimers

I don't think anything makes me sadder than when someone forgets who they are.  Alzheimer patients often forget who they are and who their family is and it's heartbreaking.  But at least that is beyond their control.  Sometimes we forget who we are on purpose.  And that is utterly tragic.  With every Christian, there is an intense battle between who we used to be and who we really are.  We look in the mirror and see who we used to be, we look at our friends and all they see is who we used to be. Sometimes we look inside our minds and it screams, "you are who you used to be!"  But do not misunderstand, you are different!  I am different!  If you have been washed in baptism by the blood of the Lamb, you are a new person.  One of Satan's greatest weapons is to make you forget faith and focus on the physical.  He wants you to ignore God and think, "there's no way I'm forgiven."  I've seen it in my life and in the lives of others.  It usually starts with the influence of others.  You spend time around old friends or new friends that don't understand God's will and they challenge you on your faith.  Or even still, you think they will challenge you on your faith.  That is usually the case.  Most people are looking for a genuine Christian.  But you anticipate them rejecting you, so you try not to act too "churchy", and you put on your old mask.  Then, over time, you forget which is the mask and which is really you.  When you finally realize your dilemma, you think it's too late; that you're too far gone, there's no way you can be forgiven.

But I'm here to tell you that you are wrong!  How do I know?  Because I've been there.  I've been in the place of self-imposed spiritual Alzheimer's and then I saw him, Jesus, still standing there, in the same place he always has been.  He never leaves, he never changes, the only thing he forgets is your sin!  All you have to do is fix your eyes back on Jesus.  He will help you remember, He will bring you back to reality.  You can look in the mirror again and know who your are!

So Close, Yet so Far.

  Imagine there's a contest.  The contest is to find the wonderful village of Chocowinity.  You've never been there before (not many have)and you are clueless as to how to pinpoint its location.  You're dropped off in the Congo with a Swiss Army knife, some gum and a pack of Swiss Cake rolls (mmmmmm, Swiss cake rolls...oh sorry).  After days of stowing away on banana boats and hopping trains you end up in California and finally in Cherokee, North Carolina. You find yourself deliriously debating a cigar store indian, because you were so excited to have Swiss Cake rolls that you ate them all the first day and only had gum for the rest of your journey. Anyway, compared to the Congo and Cali, Cherokee, NC is pretty darn close to Chocowinity, NC.  But the contest is to make it to Choco.  You're talking 8 hours in a car averaging 65 miles an hour.  Do you win?  No, close (compared to the Congo), but yet so far.  You explain that they are both Native American names and in NC; but it doesn't matter. 

     Our lives are alot like that.  Honestly alot of us spend a lot of time going to church and sometimes talking about God and praying when things are going poorly, but how many of us really make it to Chocowinity?  For the person who has realized that God is really the only way to go, our "Chocowinity" is total surrender.  I'm not saying that if we're not perfect we are a million miles away from God, but, how often do we even try to put God first and give him everything?  If you're like me, there are plenty of things that come before your relationship with your Creator and Savior.  I hear people all the time that claim to follow Christ but He and His Church are second choice to any number of activities. Work, school, and definitely sports.  But even good stuff like those things and even something as precious as family sometimes gets in front of God and that is wrong!  It has been said that "Jesus is either Lord of all or He's Lord of nothing." 

    It scares me that so many of us are going through life coasting spiritually.  Jesus gave us His all and if we give him 5% of our life we think we've done something.  I think its time to smash our idols and get our priorities in order. 

Who wants to hear, when you meet Jesus, "You were close, but yet so far."

 

Trains and Dinosaurs. Deep thoughts

As I sit here in front of the computer, I can hear the sound of a little town being destroyed by a dinosaur.  Those kind of things happen when two of a little boy's loves collide.  Trains and Dinosaurs. My son really knows how to find time for it all.  He can weave a classic tale with Spiderman, Lions, Thomas the Train and Sharp tooth, the green dinosaur.  And all is well in his little world.  But in my little world, I can seldom seem to balance all of my favorite things.  If I am being super dad, maybe I am not working hard enough, or I am working long hours, maybe my spiritual life suffers (imagine that in my line of work).  Or yet still,sometimes I forget to show my wife how much she means to me. Why can't I get it all together?  I guess that I forget what my son usually remembers.  When Dad is near by, everything else falls into place.  I don't mean to brag, but I am one of my little boy's favorite people.  Somewhere at the top with Mommy and Spiderman.  We won't discuss order.  And for some reason, when he knows that I am close by, he can just go about his business and not worry at all.  He checks in and ask me to watch him sometimes and at just the right time he tells me he loves me or invites me to play with him.  I wish I could get my act together like my three year old.  I forget to focus on my Father in heaven and stay close by.  So when things get a little busy I lose control from time to time. Every now and again (frequently) I need to stop and tell my Father that I love him and spend a little time with him.  And always, always, stay close by.   

None too familiar.

Familiarity breeds contempt.  If I wanted to make you sick of something, I would talk about it over and over and over and make it a byword.  I would tell you all about the benefits of it but never let you experience them.  I would create a watered-down version of it and push it on you at every turn.  That's a nearly fool-proof plan to breed contempt or better yet, apathy, towards the object of my scorn.  How do I know that it's nigh upon fool-proof?  The plan has already been carried out with painstaking effort.  What was the target?  What fiend perpetrated it?  The answers are: Jesus and the church.

Over many years we have taken Jesus and talked about Him over and over and over; while too often keeping people from truly experiencing the benefits of Him.  We've done this by allowing a watered-down version of Jesus to permeate our lives and the world.  Jesus, to many, has become little more than a logo for a knick-knack, shirt or bumper sticker.  We have not, for the most part, been ill-intentioned.  Most of us have been duped.  Satan in all of his wily ways has bought and sold us not by the devil-worshippers or the atheists, but with plain old, grade-A apathy.  

We have raised at least two (if not vastly more) generations of weak, skin-deep "Christ Followers".  I think that too many "Christ Followers" follow like Peter did on the night of Jesus' arrest, not wanting to be seen with the man.  

We have become overwhelmingly a people ignorant of scripture, unwilling to serve, and blind to the need of evangelism.  We deem it a chore to study the Word of God with Christians, and feel that only the tasks that meet our needs are worthy.  We do not tell the good news of Jesus Christ because it honestly isn't good news for us.  

I propose a radical course of action for myself and all those who may read this (thanks mom!).  Instead of reading the newest religious self-help book, let's read the Bible!  Let's fall in love with the one who made us and redeemed us.  I know I've forgotten how amazing He is.  Let's serve others instead of ourselves.  Let's tell anyone who will listen that Jesus has changed us.  Oh but don't forget to let Him first.  Allow your decisions to catch up with your soul.  If a handful of us actually do what the Lord commands, this world couldn't stand it.  I need your help.  Because as simple as the prescription is, I have forgotten to do it.  

I guarantee that if we get to know the Jesus in the Bible, He won't be contemptible; even if He becomes familiar.