How Many Beats ’till We’re There?

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Apr 302011
 

My heart beats at 68 beats per minute.  That’s on the low end of average for a person who is sitting around doing  nothing.  When I get up and go for a walk, my heart works a little harder, speeding up to 72.  When I wake in the morning, it’s already thumping along at 66 bpm.  Not much change for a heart.

Although it’s drumming a steady beat now, there will come a day when it stops.  The last beat.  It’s been counting down ever since before I was born.  Only God knows exactly how many beats I have.  It’s a bit sad and introspective for me to think about it, but I wonder if God sees it differently.   I wonder if He is watching the count-down. 

Does He consider the day of the last beat, when my heart stops and my eyes open to really see Him for the first time?  Does He eagerly anticipate, like a Father waiting for his children to come home?   Is He marking off the beats on some Heavenly count-down clock?  I can almost imagine Jesus elbowing some big angel and saying, “Just wait ’till Mark gets here.  He’s going to be amazed at the place I’ve prepared for him.  Only 1,751,299,200 beats to go! ”

  “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.   And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
     – John 14:1-3

Meet Me in the Bathroom

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Apr 152011
 

The other day I was in the bathroom when I whispered a prayer.  The thought hit me that it was a strange place to pray.  I know the bible teaches us that God is everywhere and we should pray always, but is it really appropriate to talk to the holy, righteous, almighty God, the creator of the universe, while standing in front of a toilet or taking a shower?

I am always torn between two conflicting emotions when thinking about this.  I do believe there is something lost when we become too “familiar” with God.  We lose sight of his wonder and majesty.  We begin to imagine him as our own personal Santa Clause in the sky, providing the goodies we add to our own little wish list.  This doesn’t seem right for the God who deserves all honor, glory, and worship.  When I see Him as Holy, almighty, all powerful ruler of all, I feel the need to cover up, bow my head, and kneel.  To worship.  If He does not deserve our respect and reverence, who does? 

On the other hand, I believe the primary purpose of our very being is to know Him.  To have intimacy with Him.  To learn to live and rejoice in constant togetherness with Him.  He knows my heart.  He knows my every act and my every thought, wherever I am.  I might as well tell Him anything, anywhere.  He created me.  He understands me.  He sees me in the shower whether I talk to Him there or not.  When I realize that, it makes me want to bow my head and worship my wonderful God even more.   And that’s exactly why I think you can worship in your heart, talk to a holy God, and come clean in the shower, all at the same time.

Deer, Car, Buzzard or Bones?

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Mar 232011
 

Sam and I came across some bones while on our Sunday walk.  A skeleton of sorts.  It was the backbone and rib cage of what I can only guess was a deer.  It was kinda weird to see it laying there by the side of the road so we stood for a while, trying to figure out what it was.  Before concluding that it had been a deer, we speculated on a few other options . . .  an alligator perhaps?  A very large dog?  Maybe a dinosaur whose bones had been washed up by the rain?  OK, maybe not a dinosaur, but it was fun to speculate.

Deer Bones

Where did these bones come from?

I never thought about it much, but whatever it was, it most certainly is not that now.  For it to be a deer, it must be alive.  Otherwise, it is the bones of a deer, or the body of a deer, or the skin of a deer, but not a deer.  Now it’s just the dead bones of a deer and whatever happened, it must have happened pretty quickly.  The last time Sam and I walked the gravel road, the bones were not there.  We considered the possibilities and decided this must be the poor deer’s story:

He was running along in the woods when he decided he was not happy where he was.  He wanted to be someplace else, so he headed out across Buford Highway to get to the woods and the gravel road on the other side.  Along came a car and ruined his plan, blindsiding him.  Mortally injured, he stumbled on across the road and down to the woods and gravel road along the other side.  There, he finally fell in the ditch and died.   The buzzards must have promptly picked away at him, leaving just these bones laying by the dirt road.

The story is familiar.  It happens to people too.  They go the wrong way at the wrong time and get blindsided.  Then along come the “buzzards” to pick at them while they are down, tearing away all that is left of them, leaving nothing but dry bones and no life.  Sometimes I am the deer.  Sometimes I am the car.  Sometimes, I am even the buzzard.  And there are definitely days when I feel like the dry bones.   But God, He is the one that can give life even to dry bones, and thankfully, He does.

“I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.'”
–  Ezekiel 37:14 NASB     Read Ezekiel 37:1-14 for the story of the dry bones come to life

Humbly Submit to Peace

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Mar 172011
 

I hope this post doesn’t sound too “preachy.”  It is something that has been on my heart and although I mentioned it in my post about the Haiti trip, I find myself feeling the need to unload my heart just a little bit more.   So, here it is.  Read or ignore, but at least I have gotten it out.  I’ll be glad to post scripture references if someone wants them… but many you can find just by doing a search for “peace” in your bible.

Lately I have been thinking about peace and it’s relationship to humility.  Lest I disprove my own point, I will say that I could be wrong, but personally, I am convinced that you can not have peace without humility.  I’m not talking about happiness.  In fact, I think if you are determined to find happiness, you are destined to never find peace.  After all, it is the ultimate act of self service to demand your own happiness.  Peace is predicated on humility.  You can never have it while concerned with self; while things are under your control.

Things that drain my peace all begin with “I” or “My.”  My feelings are hurt.  My rights are challenged.  I am afraid things may not turn out the way I want.  I might be embarrassed.  I might lose it all.  Real peace comes when you give up the “I” altogether.  When you are crucified with Christ.  When, as Peter wrote, you “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God . . . casting all your care upon Him.”

If it is your life, then you must fight for it.  If you have given it over to the one who controls the universe, then you can relax.  Jesus himself is our peace.  Through His humble death on the cross the Prince of Peace has reconciled sinful man to a holy God.  This is the Gospel of Peace in a nutshell.  If you are a Christian, then you are not your own.  You were bought with a price.  The same Jesus who humbled himself to a death on a cross is the same Jesus who said “My Peace I give to you.”

All of this is not to say there won’t be trials.  There most certainly will be.  But if you can humble yourself enough to place everything, including yourself and your rights, under “the Mighty Hand of God” then you can accept whatever comes your way as under His sovereign control.  Sure you may have to fight, but not for yourself.  You are already His.  On His cause alone should we focus our efforts, leaving the outcome to Him.  Then as Paul said, we can have contentment in whatever state we find ourselves, realizing that to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

The Kingdom of Peace awaits.  But we must be willing to give up our rights, humble ourselves and cast our cares on Him.  Only then can we truly let Peace rule.

What Does it Cost Me?

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Jan 312011
 

I like free stuff.  Free food; free gifts; free time.  I even like buy-one-get-one-free sales at the grocery store.  I don’t think I am unique in this.  There seems to be something in most all of us that finds it hard to resist something free.

Yesterday, I bought some chicken for lunch.  Since I had to wait 11 minutes for it to cook, they gave me a cup for a free drink.  I didn’t really want a drink, but I took it . . .  because it was free.  I filled the cup half full of lemonade then sipped on it while waiting for the chicken to cook. Continue reading »

Diligently Seeking

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Jan 272011
 

Her surgery went well.  The tumor was benign.  We had prayed for that.   We had hoped for that.  We even dared to expect that.  But we knew it could have been otherwise, so we thank God for an answer to prayer and the result we had been hoping for.  I don’t always get what I want.  I don’t always get what I ask for.  I don’t know why some stories have happy endings and others do not.  I wish I did.  It might save me some worry.  As it is, all I can do is continue to talk with God, letting him know my needs and concerns, believing that no matter what happens He is there, He cares, and He rewards those who diligently seek Him.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
     – Hebrews 11:6  KJV

Insulation Installation

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Jan 242011
 

There is a roll of insulation in my attic.  It’s sitting there, packaged nice and neat, doing almost no good at all.  Still rolled up tight in it’s original wrapper, it provides no insulating value.  And it’s been that way for two years.

When I bought it, I fully intended to take it to the attic, unroll it, and install it where it is needed.  But…  it was comfortable fall weather and not needed yet, so I saved the installation for another day.  That day has never come.  In the summer, it’s too hot to go in the attic.  In the winter, it’s too cold.  And spring and fall don’t even need insulation.  So, it sits unused while my power and gas meters spin.

After about a month and a half of worry, tomorrow morning we go to the hospital praying the surgery goes well. This past Sunday, we finally shared the burden with our class at church. Tonight we have friends and family keeping us company, praying, and holding us up.

I figure these two events have at least one thing in common and that one thing for me is this:  Burdens, like insulation, are not meant to be rolled up tight. It’s better to open up, spread out, and share the warmth.  I suspect it’s a quite effective approach, in any season of life.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
      -Galatians 6:2

Timeline

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Nov 292010
 

Thanksgiving at Mom & Dad’s house always has great food and exciting (usually loud) conversation.  This Thanksgiving we got into an interesting conversation about creation and time.

The earth is millions of years old?
The earth is a few thousand years old?
Genesis is literal?
Genesis is allegorical?
Seven days or seven eons?
How long did it take to carve the Grand Canyon?
Where on the timeline do we find dinosaurs?
Do you see that light from the Andromeda Galaxy 2.5 million light years away?

I don’t know the answers.  But, maybe God is not the “I Was” or the “I Will Be.”  It is possible God is the ever present “I AM” because He is not limited by time.  Perhaps God did not just create the events ON a great timeline.   Maybe, He created the line itself.  Kinda brings new meaning to the phrase “God’s timing” doesn’t it?

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
        -Exodus 3:14

Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
    – John 8:58  NKJV

Olla

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Nov 222010
 

I went to Olla Louisiana last week.  It’s a little place, a very little place, in the middle of the state.  I was there for a business trip, but I took some binoculars with me because I figured I might get to see some stars at night.  After all, Olla is a long way from anywhere.  Bright city lights should not be a problem.

In Atlanta, the bright city lights do overwhelm some of the stars.   Sometimes it’s frustrating.  I tried to see a comet a few weeks ago, but even though it was a clear night, the sky was just too bright.  The comet was nowhere to be seen.  Unable to outshine the lights of the city.

Since it was a very small town in the middle of the countryside, I figured things would be different in Olla . . . and they were.  I saw even fewer stars in Olla than I had seen in Atlanta.  The city lights weren’t the problem; the clouds were.  An overcast sky is pretty deadly to a stargazing party, even in Olla.

When I got back home, I looked up at a clear Atlanta sky.  There were the stars.  Maybe not as many as a clear sky in the country would reveal, but more than enough to reveal the glory of God’s creation. 

Sometimes I do grumble about living in Atlanta.  The crowds and congestion can be frustrating.  However, I do believe it is where God has put me, at least for now.   And, whether stargazing or just living life, I would rather have a clear sky in Atlanta than a cloudy sky in Olla any time.

Now godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
            –  1 Timothy 6:6-8  NKJV

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