“Futurtude”

     “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.  I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. ” John 17:20-22 NLT

        The little girl stood in the middle of the grocery aisle, arms on hips, staring up at her mother with a frown big enough to encompass a rainbow. “I want it, Mommy! I want it now!”

      When Mommy said “no dear it’s not on our list.”  the child went into histrionics right there in the grocery store. The mother looked at me apologetically as she took the child by the hand and led her from the store still screaming the blues. I went on shopping, barely phased by the incident, after all it happens all the time and not just with children. Adults who ought to know better get derailed and pouty in life all the time because things don’t go their way. I do it for Heaven’s sake!

      BUT WHY?  That is the $25,000.00 question  today.

     A part of the answer lies in our cultural proclivity to look only at the moment when we should be looking to the future…our future…and the future of the ones who come behind us. Too often we are willing to trade a solid future for the “quick-fix” alternative, because the solid future is approached by a harder road.

     Jesus looked not just at himself or even at his twelve disciples when He prayed in John 17.  He looked to all the generations ahead who would believe the message his disciples would preach. It was this attitude of futurtude that gave him the fortitude to endure the solitude of the cross.

      The writer to the Hebrews encourages us to this same  “futurtude” when he says“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb. 12:2 NIV

      We have choices in life. We can be like Veruca, the character in Willy Wonka.  saying “I want an OomaLoompa Daddy! And I want it now!”

OR

    We can be like Jesus thinking not of ourselves or what our current circumstances will do for us. We can choose to ask God how where we are right now will bless others.

Jesus prayed that what He was about to walk through would bless people on the Earth yet unborn. It did!

 Why not follow suit?Ask yourself how what you face right now might be used by God to bless others and pray that into being!

Creative Creations

How’s this for a quote?

” The creator who created us, created creations that live to create!” Pastor Ray, Celebration Life Family Church

When I visited Cliff and Andrea’s church in Maine this is the word their Pastor preached over me!

Many years ago God gave me a life mission. It was to “create a culture of worship”. My life is about inspiring others to turn to God and to lay their gifts and talents down before Him in worship.

It’s not about singing songs people! It’s about surrendering all we are to the One who made us in the first place.

So many things get in the way of that, though….Am I right?

This world makes it so easy to put God on the back burner…so easy to take our talents and use them for anything other than the Creator who created us.

In one of our conversations a few months ago God told me His artisans were having trouble finding time to give their gifts to Him amidst the hubbub of life. Time…busyness…distraction: These are all things I struggle with on a constant basis. If I allow it, they keep me from spending myself on the Savior.

I am convinced that there are artists of all different persuasions out there who just need an opportunity to come away from the world for a time to practice their artistry. Intentionality is hard; Sometimes we need God to come along and to help us set aside our lives for His purposes.

     Tomorrow our church is opening up its doors to provide artists with time and a space to work in their mediums. We are calling it Cornerstone’s Artist Community Day Apart.

Painters, sketch artists, actors, vocalists, instrumentalists, writers, and wood carvers have all set the day aside to create for Jesus!

I’ll let you know how it goes!

What is the biggest hindrance to your creativity?

Fits and Starts

     Life is sort of like learning to drive a standard. If you can get  the transmission from neutral into first gear, momentum will make the next shifts easier.

     I remember my first week driving a stick. Tina and I were on our way to the grocery store. We made it just fine from home to City Hall Avenue. As we slid up to the bump between City Hall Ave and Pleasant Street (you couldn’t really call it a hill), I shifted into neutral and came to the stop. Then with a line of traffic behind me, I proceeded to stall out for the next five minutes.

     A knock on my window brought me out of my frantic litany: “Brake…clutch…key…shift…tac…release brake…stall…AUGHHH!!!”

     “Problem buddy?” the guy at my window said none too pleasantly.

     “Just learning to drive a standard.” I replied sheepishly.

    He rolled his eyes,” Why don’t you get out and let me help you?”

     I moved to the back. He slid into the driver’s seat and moved us around the corner.

     “Think you’ve got it from here, or should I drive you home?” He jabbed. 

     “Thanks! I think I’ve got it from here.”  Honestly, though, I wasn’t too sure about that.

     I had just been defeated by a three-inch square hunk of plastic and metal. It was just a stupid little pedal, but until I mastered it I realized, I wasn’t going anywhere. Until I figured it out my entire driving experience was going to be nothing more than fits and starts.

     I remember the day I finally felt the clutch. I can’t tell you exactly what made it click. It just did, and I started driving.

      Maybe you’ve got a “little pedal” hanging you up today. It’s probably causing you some big stress. It probably seems like a really big deal. But it’s really only a small thing to our God.

     Yep! Life is a lot like learning to drive a standard… lots of fits and starts. Hey! turn your little pedals over to Jesus and just keep practicing at them. They will click! Soon enough you will be driving off down the road smooth as sailing! 😉

 

Accepted Not Accomplished

    I am convinced that certain pass times were invented by God for the sole purpose of helping to inspire men to speak truthfully to one another about life’s deeper matters. Fishing, for instance, is a good way to get me to talk about more than the weather.

     Not that I fish mind you. I tend to be a little dangerous with a rod and reel. But I like to watch; So when my brother-in-law and I walked up to the little pond behind the farm in Maine I knew we were in for a good conversation.

     As he fished we talked about a lot of things: dogs, kids, fish, jobs, family, all the stuff you have to get out of the way so that you can actually talk about what’s on the inside. Then we went deeper.

     When the bugs overwhelmed us we returned home and continued our conversation over a game of chess.  I knew I was going to lose as soon as I sacrificed my king’s right to castle.

      As more of my men tumbled into the dungeons of Cliff’s queen our conversation turned to things spiritual.

      Have you ever been in a conversation with a friend only to have the Holy Spirit hi-jack the thread in order to reveal His truth to everyone in the room? That’s what happened to Cliff and me. There we were between the death of pawns and rooks, discussing our personal walks with God, when suddenly Holy Spirit began to teach us both about how sanctification works.

     We were talking about things we were going through and how hard we were both trying in different areas of our Christianity when suddenly this word just  tumbled out between us.

 “Christianity is meant to be accepted not accomplished.”

     We both stopped, realizing that the words weren’t ours. I went for my notepad while we both kind of reeled in the shock of how God had just butted in with this thought.

    It’s true though isn’t it? We started our Christian lives simply by accepting Jesus’ atoning death. We have to finish it up the same way. We can no more sanctify ourselves than we could redeem ourselves. Sure we need to be obedient to what the Spirit tells us, but in the end it’s all His work…all His power that makes us perfect.

“After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? “Gal. 3:3

Retirement…Vacation…Sabbath!

     Yesterday I wrote, “celebration is a necessity not an option.”  That may not seem like much of a lesson to you. But I grew up in a family where the protestant work ethic was king and most celebration was considered frivolous. I highly doubt we would have attended “moxie day”.

     If the truth is told, we probably would have worked “moxie day”. Dad would have cooked for the crowds; Mom would have driven the moxiemobile; My sister and I would have been dressed up in costumes throwing cans of moxie at the cheering crowds.

     I guess there is nothing wrong with that. I love to work and to serve. In fact, growing up as I did I learned that it is truly more blessed to give than to receive.  The satisfaction from a job well done has proven to be one of life’s greatest joys. But admittedly it has made me a little unbalanced when it comes to life and work.

    So last weekend I learned that celebration is not an option for me it is a necessity. But I learned something beyond that. I was reminded that not only is celebration necessary, so is rest. 

     Here in the nation of 24/7 we generally make light of rest. We say things like: “No rest for the weary!”; “I’ll rest when I’m dead!”; or one of my personal favorites “Time to coffee up and get back to it!”

     Yet for a culture that really doesn’t value rest we certainly have a lot terms for it: chilling out, kicking back, retirement, vacation, holiday, respite, nap-snacking, long-weekending, beaching it, hittin’ the hay, taking a break, taking a breather, pacing ourselves,mental health day, sick day… sabbath…. Oh wait! that’s right we don’t actually use the word sabbath in our country anymore do we? Do you find it odd that the biblical word for rest is the only word we don’t use for taking a break?

      Now don’t get me wrong, I like the concept of retirement…and I really like the concept of vacation. Should the church suddenly decide to take away my 28 days I would be really….really….REALLY sad. 😥 Still I have to admit, I really don’t see “vacation” in the Bible. I like it. I just don’t see it.

       I do see sabbath as a concept everywhere in the Bible. I don’t see it in our culture. I like vacation. I like retirement. But they cannot replace sabbath.

I was reminded of this truth as I rested along the rocky coastline of Maine last weekend. God showed me I was there to rest, not to do, to listen not to speak.

     My brother-in-law spoke to his pastor about me before I went. Cliff told him who I was but also told him I was there to rest not to minister. I really appreciated that.

     We were built to work…just not all the time. Our lives require rhythm. We were meant to live according to a theme:  work… then rest…work…then rest. Six…then one…six… then one.

     I’m not religious about sabbath but I am beginning to realize that the pattern cannot be done away with without consequences. The sabbath routine might stand up to some stretching, but only so far before our lives begin to short-circuit. We cannot go 351 days of work then 14 days off and hope to remain healthy.

     We also cannot replace rest with celebration. I discovered as I lounged at Cliff and Andrea’s that I needed to recuperate far more than I needed to celebrate. I needed sabbath more than I needed “Moxie Day”.

    I came away from the weekend feeling I was going to change some of my vacationing routines.

    I am going to break my vacation up into sabbaths for rest. I think I am going to take a few days more frequently rather than a lot of days all at once.

Tell me how do you view sabbath?

Moxie Day!

      I have learned that people like to celebrate, you know, take time off from the normal hum of life. Even if we really like our work, there is nothing quite like departing from the day-to-day for a break away.

     The people of “Vacationland”, Maine have come up with another reason to celebrate and relax: “MOXIE DAY!

     Never heard of Moxie? I’m not surprised it’s a New England thing sort of like fat back or fried okra for you southerners or poi for you Pacific oceaneers.

     Moxie is a soda you will only find in New England and it’s one of those things you either love or hate…there is no middle ground. I grew up drinking Moxie so over time I acquired a love for the curiously strong beverage. When asked about the flavor I usually remark “It tastes sort of like sweetened pennies!”

     Anyway the people in Maine have dedicated a whole day to the celebration of moxie. if you google Moxie Day you will find out that they are calling the soda “Maine in a bottle”.

     In Waldosboro they are celebrating by having free give aways off the “moxiemobile” that will travel through town. Lisbon Falls has a whole day of bands and dance troupes planned, finishing up with fireworks! It’s a big deal! I was a week early for the festivities…too bad I love Moxie!

     Last weekend I learned celebration is a necessity not an option. If people can’t find a reason to kick back and enjoy they will make one up!

     What crazy things does your part of the world celebrate?

Mainiac For A Weekend!

  I am always surprised by how God grants me exactly what I need, when I need it. Recently I needed inspiration. Here’s my story:   

  On the 3rd of July I left Massachusetts to go Down East. For those of you not from New England, that means I went to Maine. How that ends up being down and East to anybody other than Canadians I have no idea… but there you have it.

     I began feeling a push in my spirit to visit my northern brothers a few months ago. So when my brother-in-law invited me up, I decided it was time to go. I wasn’t really sure about the why. But I did plenty of praying about it on my journey up, and as usual the Spirit answered full measure, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing!

     My Brother-in-law Cliff and his wife Andrea live on a tree farm in the little town of Waldosboro.

     As you travel north along the coast, the sandy beaches of York and Ogunquit give way to the rocky ocean outcrops Maine is so famous for. Here in the bays of Camden, Waldosboro, and Wiscasset the great ship building industry of Maine was born early in our nation’s history. This is where I travelled too…though when I started I didn’t really know why.

     Holy Spirit began to show me almost as soon as I left that this was going to be a weekend of refreshing for my heart and a time of inspiration for my mind. 

     As I started out, God told me to take my time. Then He proceeded to make sure I would obey His command by sticking me in a traffic jam for three hours! 😎 When my arrival time came and went and I hadn’t even reached the Maine border I called Cliff and told him I would be along as soon as I could leave the NH parking lot.

     Through it all I felt so much peace. I prayed and God was my driving companion. He shared His thoughts and I descended deeper  into His presence even as He and I had a heart to heart that evidently was long overdue.

        I’m so thankful that God always knows what we need and when we need it. As a Maniac for a weekend I learned so much and I have much to share with you all!

     See you tomorrow!

Who Are You Really?

    Who are you really?

     Some of us think we are the product of our upbringing or our education. Some of us think we can be whatever we focus our minds on.  Some of us think we are just the sum of our experiences. Yet others think we can never really know ourselves at all.

     Now, Jeremiah, the prophet, indicated that we were clay in the hands of a Master Potter; So I am not sure that anything in the list above is really true.  Sometimes I think our upbringings, educations, experiences, and even our own desires do more to confuse us about who we are than anything.

     After all if God , the God of the universe, took the time and trouble to forge us then He had a purpose in that forging. If that is so surely He made us complete with all the gifts and talents we would ever need to accomplish that purpose.

     Have you ever heard of a tool craftsman who forged a screw-driver to drive nails? No! that would be ridiculous. If a craftsman needed to create a tool to drive nails he would make a hammer. And that item would continue to be a hammer even if it was told all its life by everyone around, it should be a screw driver. Even if it felt in itself it would like to be a paintbrush, a hammer could never do a good job of coloring a wall. Even if a foolish carpenter tried to use it as a pair of pliers the hammer could only ever be a hammer. You see, it was created for a purpose and could  only ever be successful in that purpose.

     Who are you really?

     The truth is down deep inside of you. Your identity was forged with you in the womb. God knew you and imprinted your identity deep inside you before you were even born. Yet the moment you came into the world everything in the world began trying to steal your identity.

     The power of sin exercised its strength upon you and told you, you were a thief, an alcoholic, or a homosexual. Yet none of those were part of the original design. Sin stole your identity.

      Who are you really?

      Relationships rose up in your life and took the place of God. Suddenly what people thought about you took the place of what God thought about you. An earthly father told his son he was weak and the boy gave up His God identity to prove he was no sissy. An earthly mother told her daughter no one would marry her if she gained too much weight; So the daughter gave up her God identity to prove she was beautiful.

     Who are you really?

      You went to school and learned that you came from a monkey and that life was about what you knew and who you knew. So you turned to amass knowledge and influence only to find out with Solomon that it was all “vanity”.

    Who are you really?

     I have done a lot of thinking about this lately. I feel like I’ve spent half my life trying to figure out who I am, by asking the world around me, only to find out that it never really had the answer to begin with.

     I know the answer is found in God alone. He and I are on a journey inward to find the answer that He spoke into my life long ago. I know that when I put away sin, my fear of what others think about me, and even my varied life experiences, when I gaze into the Word of truth and apply it to my life I shall know more than ever before who I was made to be.

     Who am I really? I am a child of God made to reflect His image. I was made a little lower than the Heavenly beings and I was clothed with glory and honor. I was made to be in fellowship with God and to draw other men into that fellowship by my life. I am who the word of God says I am regardless of what the world, the flesh, and the devil tell me I am.

… And if you will accept it THROUGH CHRIST so are you!

The Garden Lush

     I am a teetotaler. I have never been drunk in my life. Dad did make me go into a bar the week I got engaged because he thought I needed the experience at least once before I tied the knot. I had a Coke. 

     Truthfully, I never saw the point of sitting on a stool pouring my sorrows into a glass. If I were the drinking kind that’s what I’d be doing. I’m just that addictive sort, you know. It’s good I found Jesus before I had the chance to try the other side.

    While I may never feel the need to toss one back, I do have to admit I am a garden lush. That is to say, I may not drink my sorrows away but when I am out of sorts there is nothing like ripping out a few kudzu vines or digging root holes to calm myself down. In fact for those of you who read my last post, I have to say it’s often the first step to getting out of my pajamas.

     Sometimes just the scent of the garden can take away the heebie-jeebies of life. Sitting down and drinking in the fragrance draws me closer to the Creator and the peace He has left with me.

     Then, too, there is the satisfaction of knowing you have coaxed beauty out of  the earth. I think something in man was made for that. When Adam was created his role was to tend the garden and to walk with God in its shade. 

    I do not know if Adam had stressors or not. But I am willing to bet that if he did, he did not turn to the fruit of the vine to send them packing away. I’m quite sure the sound of God’s voice above the sweet rushing waters was enough to calm even his greatest agitation.  Maybe what we need today is not more “watering holes” or pharmacies. Maybe what we need to set us right is more gardens where we can pray!

Where do you take your stress? What do you do to find relief?

Passion: Held Hostage By Pajamas

    “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do.Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. ” John 17: 15-17 NIV

     A sign outside one of our local churches reads “No matter how you feel, GET UP, DRESS UP AND SHOW UP!”

     That is an excellent suggestion for so many, like me, who have come to love their beds more and more as we see the evil days approaching.

     My bed feels safe. I can crawl in under the covers and hide from the world. Just by putting on my pajamas sometimes I feel (if only fleetingly) like I am setting up an impenetrable force field against that enemy I feel crouching everywhere outside my door. My goodness! I want  that force field to stand for good and separate me permanently from the world. Some days I want to go in my front door and never come out again.

     Now some of us need a good nap. Some of us really just need to go home, throw on our jammies and relax a bit. But others face a temptation to never leave the pajama state. Some of us are held hostage by our pajamas or  by the fear that caused us to put on our pajamas in the first place. We have become escapist in our living. Our theme song has become “Let the world go away.”

   The only problem is, Jesus never prayed for us to be released from the world. In fact he said “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.”

     Apparently, God never intended for us to hide away and act like the world didn’t exist. The idea that we are safe in our pajamas is just a child hood fantasy. Staying in bed is no more a cure for depression fear or trouble than eating McDonald’s is a cure for heart disease.

      The cure is in being made holy and coming to know God’s Word experientially. Brother…Sister let me tell you that can’t be done in your pajamas! If the world seems a little scary and you are facing the temptation to become a hostage to your nightwear the only cure is to GET UP! DRESS UP! AND SHOW UP in the power God gave you the day you told Jesus He was Lord. Never fear. Somehow He will keep you safe from the Evil One.