Guns and Chainsaws

I used to think I was the main decision-maker in our home. I've come to know better. When it comes to buying guns and chainsaws, I make the decisions in our home.
My wife makes all the rest.

As Good As Dead

As a Christian I have certain expectations, all of which hinge upon this truth: God is faithful to His Word. He will do everything He says He will do.
You might call that faith. I trust God to keep His Word.

The problem is I don't know the how or the when of it. Most of us don't lack faith. We lack patience.
God promised Abraham and Sarah a son from whom a nation would grow, and which would eventually be a blessing to "all the families of the earth." Then God proceeded to wait twenty-five years to do what He promised. He could have given them a son within the next nine months. Or within two years. Or five. Or ten. But He didn't. What was He waiting for?

"... therefore, also, there was born of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore." Hebrews 11:12

For Abraham, that was the answer to both the how and the when. God waited until Abraham was "as good as dead" before He fulfilled His promise. I think maybe that might be our answer quite often, too.
God waits in many situations until it's "as good as dead" before He acts. He waits until we can't. He waits until it seems to be too late. He waits until we have no other options; until we have no hope unless He does it.

Driving Under the Influence

If you are one of those who talks on your cell phone while you're driving, oblivious to everyone else on the road and everything going on around you, please don't take this the wrong way, but ...

You're a moron. You're driving me crazy. Please stop it! You're going to hurt someone.

Inadequate

This week, as I wrestle with the Scriptures, and with the direction of the Holy Spirit in preparation for preaching I am struck by my inadequacy to do what He is leading me to do. The message for the inmate population this Thursday evening may be the most important message I've ever carried to the pulpit.

I want to crawl under a rock somewhere and hide. (Most preachers, and maybe a few overworked proctologists, will understand how I feel.)

Truth Is Unpopular

"You don't measure the value of truth by it's popularity."
~ Dr. Randy Smith at Central Church of God 7/6/08

Early in the gospels, and at the start of His ministry Jesus was incredibly popular. Everywhere He went crowds gathered as an air of excitement enveloped the land. But it didn't last.
The more they heard Him speak, and the more He revealed the Kingdom agenda, the less popular He became. The crowds dwindled and some became antagonistic.

Jesus continually sank in the popular opinion polls of His day. That's completely opposite of what we look for, and indeed hope for, today. We want to gain in popularity. Build momentum. That's how we define success. We want more and more people to follow our ministry and message.
But if we follow the example of Jesus, we can't justify that.

Healing Old Wounds

In the midst of a storm the other evening a massive tree in our front yard split. Half the tree came to rest across our front yard. Fortunately, no damage was done. But it's a mess that will take a day or two to clean up. (As a man, I see it as a good excuse to buy myself a new chain saw!)

As I've looked over the tree and the location in it's trunk where the split occurred, I've noticed there was a bad spot with some rot and decay. It was never noticeable before the tree fell. Apparently years ago when the tree was much younger and smaller, it was damaged in this particular spot. A wound occurred.
For years the tree has continued to grow and to appear healthy. Leaves came in the Spring and fell in the Fall. Each year the tree grew substantially providing more and more shade to our yard. But all the while the wound was there.
Now, after so many years of apparent health and vigor, the wound has taken it's toll.

Wounds are like that. They can occur so easily, almost without notice. Hurtful words. A lie. It doesn't take much, does it?
Most often, when a wound occurs, we're quick to try to cover it. We get busy. We try to grow around the wound and thus conceal it. That may work for a while. Like the tree, we might look good on the outside. But just like the tree, the wound is still there. It doesn't just go away. All it takes is a good storm to make the wound obvious once again.

We need to stop trying to cover our wounds. We've got to stop trying to outgrow the hurts we've experienced in life. Wounds need to be dealt with.
And the Scriptures provide the prescription. David was a man who experienced the wounds of betrayal. In Psalm 55 he wrote:
"Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not Yourself from my supplication. Give heed to me and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted, because of the voice of the enemy, because of the pressure of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon me and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
My heart is in anguish within me ..." (v.1-4)

Sound familiar? You don't just pick up and move on from this kind of hurt. Instead, David took his wound to the Lord:
"As for me, I shall call upon God, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray and cry alound, and He will hear my voice. He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me, for they are many who strive with me." (v.16-18)

"Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken." (v.22)

God doesn't want us to hide our wounds. He wants to heal them.

Just Any Toy?

I ran across this story this morning as I caught up on my mail after vacation. Thought it would be appropriate here. Enjoy.

After a long day of work, I was ready for a good meal and a peaceful evening at home with my family.
Then it happened! Wham! Crash! As I opened the door, I saw my five-year-old son stomp and crush my daughter's best doll.
The next few minutes were total bedlam - accusations were hurled and tears flowed . Suddenly I found myself embroiled as a referee in a battle I had not expected. Frantically, I searched my mind for an answer to the dilemma. "I must teach my son a lesson he will never forget," I told myself.
I asked him, "Why did you do that?" He casually gave the typical response, "I don't know."
That answer always infuriated me, as it probably has every parent. In anger, and before I could consider the consequences, I blurted out, Well, daddy is going to have to teach you a lesson you will never forget so you will never destroy someone else's property again. Go get me one of your toys, and I'm going to stomp ...."
I tried to check myself, but it was too late. I had already committed myself.

As he turned to walk to his room, I knew I had made a terrible mistake. Anger had replaced reason. Rampant emotion supplanted rational behavior.
Moments seemed like hours. What would he bring back? That rusty old toy truck? Or maybe his baseball bat that I couldn't break no matter how hard I tried.
Around the corner came my son holding the best and most expensive toy he possessed. The last thing I wanted to do was stomp that miniature morcycle. I didn't want to destroy his favorite toy. My heart melted. "O God," I prayed silently, "what shall I do?"

As my son reached me with the toy, tears were flowing down my cheeks. Then the Lord spoke ever so sweetly to me, "Your son is giving you his best. That's what I did for you and your family on Calvary. I gave My best."
As my wife and I laid the little toy on the floor between us, I reached out to hold my two children in my arms. Then I shared the story again of Jesus giving Himself on the cross, and we wept and prayed that God would use this experience to help us always give our best to the Lord.

My son's simplistic actions had taught us a great lesson. Forgotten were the anger and bitterness of a few moments earlier. Instead, the peace of God's love flowed in as we all committed our best to Him.
Five years later our family still remembers very vividly that beautiful night when a small toy morotcycle brought us all closer to God and to one another.