“It’s going to be fun to watch and see how long the meek can keep the earth once they inherit it” -Kin Hubbard.
“The meek shall inherit the earth – if that’s okay with everybody” (Motto of the Dependent Organization of Really Meek and Timid Souls, or D.O.O.R.M.A.T). -J. Upton Dickson
“He leads the humble in what is right, teaching them his way. The LORD leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all those who keep his covenant and obey his decrees.” -Psalm 25:9-10, NLT
It’s quiet on this Monday morning, except for the sound of a rooster and a fiddle, an infant’s grunts from his swing, and a toddler’s delighted dancing as she watches – again – the Baby Einstein “Life on the Farm” video. Watching the two of them – especially with scenes from an abundant earth passing by – reminds me from the last post how we were wired from creation and birth.
We were created to inherit the earth. It’s in our DNA. But in the wisdom of God, He knew we would need help. His help. Without it, we have the capacity to do – well, what we’ve pretty much done with the planet.
That’s why Jesus – quoting Psalm 37 – said that the delighted happiness that comes from inheriting the earth is reserved for a specific kind of person. Yep – the meek.
So He Reserves It for Sissies?
Not exactly. [click to continue…]
It was a momentous day, and I thought I knew why. Boy, did I have another thing coming.
It happened on an early morning in late August 1976. I was about to enter a new phase in my life called “college.” And today was registration day.
Preparations for this day had begun several years earlier. I was blessed to have one of those life-changer teachers in high school who saw it as her mission, partly, to give us a taste of what university life would be like. And I have to say, thanks to her, to whatever degree I may have dissed schoolwork in high school, I had my game face on now.
This was college. This was serious.
Advisors and friends had also prepared me for what to expect when freshmen show up at registration.
“You want what class? Nice try. That class closed when the sophomores came through here yesterday.”
Nevertheless, I had made out a schedule, and thought it was a good fit for me. I was excited. But I also wanted to be teachable and flexible.
Oh yeah, and godly.
So before I left for the campus, I knelt beside my bed and laid out my pre-designed schedule in front of me. And I began to pray. My prayer went something like this: [click to continue…]
From our Fifth Anniversary Celebration
Walk inside my office and look to the left, just under the big window. There you will find one of my most cherished possessions. It’s an original framed caricature of a lion inside a cardboard box. It was given to me for Christmas 2003 by two dear friends. And it’s the kind of thing that when you see it, you know there’s a story behind it. And if you’re in my office for the first time, as a couple was yesterday, it’s only natural that you would ask about it.
So I thought I’d tell you the story behind it. This is the story of the Lion Dream. [click to continue…]
Okay, first watch the short video, then let’s talk.
This is an adaptation of a story Henri Nouwen used to tell. Voice, illustrations, direction by Allen Weathers…
Before the dawn of time as we know it, God foresaw. [click to continue…]
“Then I told them about the desire God had put into my heart.”
-Nehemiah 2:18
Today it seems little. Important, yes, but H-O scale. But on that day, it was larger than life – even larger than health. And a lesson awaited that was life-changing.
From the time I was 15 years old, I knew that God was leading me to be a pastor. I also knew there would be a pathway to get there, and five years later, I was still on that pathway. I was about the graduate from college. For a year I’d had the privilege of serving at my very first church, full-time in the summer, and on the weekends during school. The people there were gracious and really patient. It had been a wonderful experience. Now, as I was about to graduate from college, both the church and I were preparing to move on.
Because I was a July graduate, and had blown through college in three years, I decided to lay out a year before going to graduate school. When the church caught wind of it, they were delighted to meet with me on a Sunday night and offer me a full-time position. They offered me more than twice what I had ever made in a year (if I told you how much it was, you’d laugh). I said it sounded good; just let me take the week and pray about it, and I’d let them know the next Sunday. I left town that night assuming that the next year of my life was set.
Just one slight problem. [click to continue…]
“Our behavior, attitudes, and initiatives toward others are an act of sowing. The acts of others toward us, at least in a general sense, are an act of reaping. If others are being critical, judgmental, or hostile to us, before we write them off as uncaring jerks, it may be wise to examine what we’ve been sowing in our own attitudes and relationships. If we aren’t seeing generosity being returned, maybe we haven’t been giving.”
-from my journal, January 10, 2001
Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others – ignoring God! – harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8, The Message).
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Sometimes when the Lord wants to tell me something significant, he opens my eyes.
Sometimes he closes them. Literally. And speaks to me through a dream.
A few years ago I was on an airplane, reading about how God reveals himself through dreams, and I decided to see if the Lord had anything to say to me in that manner. That night in the hotel room, I asked him to speak to me through my dreams, and I “instructed” my brain to remember.
Remember I did. Clearly. Vividly. Unforgettably. [click to continue…]
Pastors get lots of interesting questions. You be the pastor for a minute and answer this one I once received:
Does God like to have fun? What does God do for fun?
What would you say? To me, it’s a sad commentary on our Christianity when someone even has to ask the first question. But both questions deserve an answer, or at least a thought. Here, for what it’s worth, is mine. Click on the comments link below and share yours.
Does God like to have fun? You bet he does! Have you ever seen a platypus? Or a puppy? Or a picture of me?
Does God like to have fun? Of course! Why else would he put two sisters in the same family, and give one straight blonde hair and the other one curly dark hair? In fact, why else would He create everybody so differently? [click to continue…]
Tense Truth: I must learn to accept the world and its circumstances as it is, not as I would have it. I must also learn to take courageous action to be an agent of change. The wisdom to know the difference is found in the discipline of hearing God’s voice.
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Contentment and Change decided to play table tennis one day. I was the ball. Can you relate?
Serve: Be grateful for all you have.
Return: Do something to change the world!
Rest in the Lord. Wait quietly for Him.
Press on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ.
Be still.
Get off your butt.
Surrender.
Seize every opportunity.
Be content!
Don’t be complacent!
Don’t be covetous.
Be courageous.
Wow. I’m tired, and I’m not ever keeping score. I’ve never bothered to even count the number of times I’ve zigged (tried to change something) when I should have zagged (been content with the situation). Or vice-versa – when the call was to hit the ground running, I hit the hay. [click to continue…]
Yesterday God played “connect the dots” with me. He used a series of apparently random or loosely-connected ideas to form a whole – a picture of what He’s up to or what He wants to communicate. I’d like to share what I learned in the process. So here are the “dots”:
Be Ready
Tim Challies told an amazing story about a crash landing that took place at the Toronto airport in August 2005 during a horrific storm. The plane overshot the runway and came to a crashing halt.
Some fifteen to twenty seconds had elapsed from the time the aircraft left the runway. Amazingly, the fuselage was largely intact. But as the plane had crossed Convair Drive, fuel had begun to leak and had immediately caught fire. As the plane came to a halt the fire began to spread and to intensify.
Keep in mind that it had been 27 years since a similar incident had happened in Toronto.
For twenty-seven years the firefighters had trained to deal with a situation like this one. An entire generation of firefighters had come and gone without seeing a single incident. They could almost be excused for being under-prepared, slow to respond, slow to act.
They weren’t. By the time the tower controller activated the airport’s crash alarm, 26 seconds after the flight left the runway, the firefighters were already in route. They arrived only 52 seconds after the plain left the runway.
Despite twenty seven years without an incident, those firefighters were ready and they responded well in advance of the parameters dictated by safety regulations. In less than a minute they were on the scene and were assisting the passengers. It took less time for them to get to the crash site than it did for fully half of the passengers to leave it.
Fifty-two seconds! After not having an incident in 27 years. The key was training. They had disciplined, trained, and practiced so much that when the crash occurred, they were ready.
[click to continue…]
How do you learn best? Mark Meadows used to amaze me in third grade. He’d just sit there. Never write. Never raise his hand to answer a question. Just sit and listen. And make “A’s.”
Cameron Walker? Never stopped moving.
Me? I don’t think I ever stopped running my mouth. (Hey! I heard that!)
We all learned. We just did it in different ways.
The same is true of people in the Bible. Guys like Paul could go off into the desert for three years and think about stuff. Analyze things. With the Holy Spirit’s help, rehash everything he’d ever believed (incorrectly) about the Law.
Our buddy Peter was different. From the day He met Peter, Jesus began transforming him from a “man of fish” to a man of God. Like Moses before him, Peter learned with pictures and visual objects. Things like coins and nets and fish and swords. I’d like to show you a few objects Jesus used to teach Peter to hear God’s voice. I think you can learn, too. Even if you learn best by talking or sitting there listening, I’ll bet you can pick up a few important lessons from Peter’s experience.
[click to continue…]
“It’s going to be fun to watch and see how long the meek can keep the earth once they inherit it” -Kin Hubbard.