SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY

Month: December 2015

  • Fear in the New Year

    Fear…it is one of those interesting emotions.  Fear can be good.  It can keep us from danger.  It can also be debilitating.  Fear can stop us from doing anything and keep us trapped.  All too often, our fears simply keep us frozen…unable to move forward into the future.

    Tomorrow is New Year’s Day.  That is a day known for new and fresh starts.  It is a day known for resolutions, and getting started with a “clean slate” and on the “right foot.”  Often, the start is great.  We might actually begin doing something that we have wanted to do for a long time.  Or, we may find that we stop doing something that is causing us harm.  Somehow in all of that, fear creeps in.  Actually, fear was always there, but we find ourselves ‘brave’ for a moment and start heading in the right direction.  That direction, though, is not our norm.  It is not what we are use to…not what we have grown accustomed.  So, eventually, we find ourselves back into the old habits and routines – where it is comfortable…even if it is bad.  Fear wins again.

    This doesn’t just happen in our exercise, dieting, or healthy new starts.  It doesn’t just happen with our jobs or our relationships with others.  This happens even in our relationship with God.  We have this desire to follow.  We really want to do what we are called to do.  With all our heart, we want to be more like Christ.  And…then…it happens.  We start following and the path is unknown…unfamiliar…untraveled.  We are scared.  We begin letting our fears take over.  My fears begin something like this…”What if this happens…what if that doesn’t work…what if God hasn’t really called you…what if you heard it all wrong…what if you make a big mess of things…what if…what if…what”  And, I back down.  I want out.  I begin thinking that there has to be a better way…something else I could do for God…something that is…well…more comfortable.

    Then, I read the Bible, and the calling of the disciples.  Jesus says things like take up your cross, leave everything behind, sell all you have, forsake all others…come follow me.  Jesus didn’t say that following would be easy or comfortable.  He actually said the opposite.  BUT WHAT ABOUT MY FEARS?  What do I do about the fears that keep me up at night, that cause me to feel sick to my stomach, that cause me to be irritable and snappy, that cause me to…quit?  Jesus has something to say about that too…I am the way, the truth and the life…I leave you peace that goes beyond your understanding…Fear not, I have overcome the world…and most importantly, I LOVE YOU.  It quickly brings to mind what has become my slogan for life…”God’s Got This”

    If I am serving Christ, he will take care of me.  He will show me the way.  He will be my light.  He will guide my feet.  He will provide for my needs.  He will never leave me.

    That doesn’t mean I won’t fear.  It doesn’t mean all of that anxiety goes away.  It does mean, though, that as I walk with him, I learn to trust him.  As I learn to trust him, I learn that he really does have this taken care of.  As I learn that he has it taken care of, I learn that I have nothing to fear.  I can have peace…even when things are very scary.

    As I walk into this New Year, I pray that fear does not debilitate us…it does not stop us…it does not overtake us.  I pray that God shows us what it means to walk…one step at a time…with him.  I pray that God begins to show us that when we walk with him, those fears…subside.  I pray that as 2016 comes, God’s children will begin to follow like never before…into the unknown.  And, I pray that it begins with me.

  • Merry Christmas!

    Christmas is almost here!  It is rainy and stormy and predicted to be over 70 degrees for Christmas.  I can’t complain about the temp…that’s just right for me.  So many have said that it just doesn’t “feel” like Christmas.  I wonder what Christmas really does feel like.  I am not thinking that the manger had snow.  I am not thinking that Mary and Joseph went out and built a snowman while baby Jesus slept in the hay.  I know that because it is in December, we are expecting colder weather.  I guess what I am trying to get at is if we are looking for things to be a certain way for it to feel like Christmas, we might miss something important.  We might miss Christmas.

    As I was preparing for our Christmas Eve Service, I read the song “Little Town of Bethlehem.”  It was an ordinary time for Bethlehem.  They were participating in the census…things were going along as they normally would during this time.  I am guessing that things were fairly “predictable.”  Mary and Joseph have come for the census and they didn’t have a place to stay.  Based on their social status, I am thinking they were probably not surprised by that.  I am guessing they weren’t really expecting any place to stay.  It wasn’t like they could call ahead for reservations and even if they could, they couldn’t afford the increased rates during a “peak season.”  It was all so ordinary…and yet extraordinary at the same time.  Mary, a pregnant woman, had a baby.  That happens every day.  I’m thinking there were other babies born during this trip in Bethlehem.  Mary, though, wasn’t just having ANY baby…she was having THE baby.  It was an ordinary night, an ordinary birth, an ordinary situation…but something extraordinary was happening.  Jesus was born into the world.  What about the others who were around?  What about the people that actually got rooms where they were staying in the stable?  What about those who passed by and saw that this couple had a new baby?  Was he just a cute addition?  Did they even notice?  Was it so hectic that they just kept moving along?  Was he crying so much that they found him an annoyance?  Did all of those around MISS IT?  Did they miss the birth of a Savior?

    Too many times, I find that I am in the room next door.  I am close to Christ…but I find myself so busy that I haven’t even noticed.  Christmas is almost here…will I stop and look around long enough to notice that Christ has come…that he is at work…that he is among us?  May I not be annoyed by the baby crying…by the noises at the stable…or too busy to stop and gaze…  May I stop, kneel and worship… Christ has come.  Merry Christmas!

  • Accountability and the Christian Community

    I know in my mind that accountability is important.  I understand that someone following up with you and checking in regularly helps to keep focus.  But an even better accountability is someone who is walking along with you through it.  That takes a time, effort and a similar goal.

    This has become even more evident to me recently.  I am a runner.  I really enjoy going for a morning run and even look forward to it most of the time.  There are times when I don’t really want to get out of a warm bed and put on a bunch of layers of clothes to go running in the freezing cold.   There are times when I am tired and another hour of sleep is more than appealing.  But, I love to run.  Eventually, I will make myself get moving and will be so thankful that I did.  Accountability is good with running because it keeps me consistent.  Would I still run without it?  I would…but probably not with regularity.

    That is NOT the case with strength training.  There is not much I enjoy about strength training.  I would choose most anything over it.  I have avoided it as much as I possibly could.  The problem with that is – strength training makes me a better, more fit runner.  There has to be some irony in that.  Right now, I have a stress fracture and I cannot run.  Could that have been caused by not strength training?  There is a really good possibility that my lack of strength training led to this problem.  Now I can’t run…at least for several more weeks.  You would think that not being able to run would motivate me to get with the training so this doesn’t happen again…but that’s incorrect.  And, I need more than someone calling me and checking with me to make sure I did it…because I have no problem saying “NOPE, sure didn’t.”  I need someone to push me and walk the path with me.  I am thankful John took that on – we may want to all pray for him.

    Why do I mention this?  It reminds me of what we as Christians should be doing for one another.  I don’t mean that we should be exercising together…although that’s never a bad idea.  I do mean that we should be traveling this journey together.  There are going to be parts of this journey I will really enjoy and there will be times when I am really struggling.  If I have a Christian community that walks with me on this journey, we can celebrate together and we can help each other up when times are really tough.  I think that we, as Christians, have lost so much of that.  I think that we come together to worship a couple of times a week…we maybe enjoy a meal together occasionally – but that is where it ends.  We don’t journey together…we more vacation together.  If I understand the idea of Christian community, it is more than simply worship and an occasional meal.  It looks like walking arm in arm together, celebrating together, striving together, doing life together, and working through our differences…together.

    Church, for me, is like running.  I will show up to church because I love it.  I love to worship, praise and be with other Christians.  It helps if I am out and someone checks in on me (if I wasn’t the pastor, it might keep me attending a little more regularly).  But, in order to run well, I need strength training…we need to people to walk with us as we serve Christ, to join in on the efforts of more than Sunday mornings.  What I’m trying to say is…Christian Community is so much more than simply once a week meeting.  Maybe we should journey together rather than just vacation.

  • Without a voice

    I’m not sure I have ever been this long with little to no voice.  Funny how it happened right after I preached a sermon on Sunday, which went fine.  Not having a voice has had an interesting effect on me…

    I’ve had a lot of time to think.  School is complete and I am unable to run.  This time of thinking has been good.  As I was thinking about this really minor problem that will correct itself soon, these two important things came up:

    –Not having a voice has given me the opportunity to listen more.  I try not strain my voice to say anything unless I think it really needs to be said.  It has definitely caused me to stop and think before I speak…not something I do often enough.  When it requires effort to say something, you want to make sure what you say counts.  This has allowed me to be quiet and have the opportunity to simply listen.  It has been an opportunity to not only listen to others, but also to listen to God.  All too often, when I pray, it is me talking and God listening.  This type of prayer isn’t building a relationship, but more unloading my list of things I need help with.  It could be called my “God-do” list rather than the “honey-do” list.  If this is my only prayer, I am missing opportunities to fellowship with God, to worship, and to hear.  Being silent allows me to reflect on what God is doing.  It allows me to worship without asking for anything.  It allows me to focus on the Creator of it all and appreciate what he has made and is doing.  May God continue to work on me with this, even after my voice returns.

    -It brought to mind those in our world who have “no voice.”  There are people all over the world that truly have no voice.  I don’t mean that they cannot speak literally.  I mean that they are ignored, treated poorly, abused, abandoned and/or forgotten.  There are people who have found themselves in situations that they are screaming for help but no one can hear them…or at least no one chooses to hear them.  I thought about the often quoted Matthew 25 and “the least of these.”  Maybe God has given us ears to hear…not the things of this world…but ears to hear those shouting to be heard.  Maybe God is giving us eyes to see…to see those who have been forgotten or abandoned.  Maybe God is giving us hands to reach out…to show others that they are somebody…to bring them to the table and fellowship.  Maybe God is giving us feet to go…to those places where he leads, no matter how scary…so that we can visit those who need HIM.  Maybe, just maybe, taking care of the least of these is not just feeding…but loving, supporting, and giving voice to those who have forgotten they even have one.

    I’m praying that God will allow me to hear…to see…to serve…and to go!

  • Almost ready

    My Divinity School experience has almost come to completion.  I am so very ready to see what God has in store next.  My plan for this blog is to post regularly about my thoughts on life, theology, and living for Christ.  It has been difficult to write while reading and writing so much in Div School.  I look forward to what is ahead.