A Prayer for Newtown

Just like a lot of people I have been trying to come to grips with the tragedy in Connecticut. I have 2 daughters and a granddaughter. I have 14 neices and nephews and 16 great neices and nephews. I really don't know how I would react if any of them, especially my children or grandchild, were in that school and lost their life. I know it is normal to feel anger, guilt and so on. But what is normal? You hear the phrase, "the new normal" thrown around all of the time and I get it, but for these people having a new normal that is minus a precious life, and worse yet they were taken so violently, words can not explain what they must be going through. One of the toughest books in the bible to process sometimes is Job. Job was a man of God that was allowed to walk through losing everything in his life so God would be glorified and the Devil would be put in his place. Job lost his family, and his livelyhood. All through the book of Job there were so called friends of his trying to disuade him into beleiving God was evil, that he should not accept what happened and be bitter, but Job stood his ground. Now he was irritated and had moments thoughts that seem trite towards God, but he continued to walk the path set before him. After the trial, God blessed him 10 fold for his faithfullness. I am not saying that everyone involved will be like Job, but I am saying that God can walk beside them and us in this situation. He equips us to be able to see the other side of an issue. He walks along side us and carries us when needed. He is always faithful. This week we studied the story of Jonah in small group and Jonah, when asked to go back to the hostile land, he ran. Until God brought a huge storm while he was in a boat. The storm was so bad they were on the verge of sinking, but God said if Jonah were to be cast into the sea, it would become calm, they were reluctant, until it was obvious there was no other way, so Jonah insisted they comply. You know the rest, he was swallowed by a huge fish, where he was able to come to grips with what God wanted of him and he was spit out of the fishes mouth. These 2 examples show one man who through tragedy fought the good fight and another, just the mere thought of it ran away. But both were eventually used by God for good and his glory.

   My prayer for the folks directly affected by this tragedy is that they seek God and his plan in this and use it to help with healing, and try to discern how he wants to use this in their lives. I also pray that for those running from the prosepct of a Godly intervention, that they too sense his calling and hear the knock upon their heart, and invite him to do a miracle even in this situation. When we are in the midst of a horrible situation, it is hard to see any light in the darkness. This is an extremely dark time for these people, and I pray that somehow the light will begin to shine through and they can feel the warmth again. I pray God's blessings on all of the people of Newtown and all of the extended families affected. Amen

Church Speak

I noticed lately that I have a hard time hearing what churchie folks are saying. I am not saying I don't understand, but their church speak gets in the way of the message. It is almost like we Christians have a special code we use when we talk. I saw a video recently that made fun of that and it really brought it home. Too many times we seem to sit above it all and speak like a Lord of the realm to his servants. We say things that frankly some people would need to look up to know what we mean and they are not going to do that. When the King James version of the bible was comissioned, it was the relevant up to date translated for the "now" word of God. Is it irrelevant today? Not neccessarily, but do we need to use the old kings english to understand the word of God, no we do not. As a matter of fact, I submit we are doing others a disservice if we are trying to witness and reading from a centuries old translation that is no more accurate or God breathed than any other. Meet the people where they live. Show them God, show them his love in their present situation, and don't drag them into a confusing diatribe of church speak that will most likely alienate the unchurched among us. When talking to a friend we are relaxed, we say what we mean and don't try to put icing on the top of anything, but when speaking about God sometimes it seems we are almost trying to convince others of his unreachable majesty rather than his loving arms. We have entire religions/denominations that are more dedicated to their liturgical course than their spiritual path. All Chritians need to open our eyes, look around, see what is going on, and find a way to walk into this mess of a world and share the good news that God will meet them where they are and take them on a journey from there.

How do YOU answer God?

God has called all of us. Some think he only calls some to the ministry, the others he just lets do "their thing" but that is not the case at all, we are all called for his purposes. And yes I said all...He wants all of us to come to him as Lord and savior, and to put that individual calling into the hearts of all of us to do his work. But have you heard his call? Have you taken the time to get close enough to his mouth to hear his words to you? If so, how do you answer God? One of my favorite bible lessons is that of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22. There are a lot of good lessons in what Abraham did, but one of the most over looked comments is how Abraham answers God's call. God called out to Abraham, he could have said, Who is it? or Just a minute..but now what he said was ...Here I am. He basically told the Lord that whatever was commanded of him he was willing to do. And it was no more evident than when he was asked to sacrifice his son on an altar. The story shows a lot of things from faith, to obedience, to love, and of course sacrifice. But I want to focus on obedience to God. I submit that at the moment that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, it was that moment in Abraham's mind that it was done. He was so in tune with what he knew of God that he set out to carry out the task secure in the knowledge that even though he would sacrifice Isaac, God would still fulfill his promises. Sometimes we look to this story and see Abraham as being a shaky optimist, that all the way along the path, was believing that God would somehow not have him sacrifice Isaac, that somehow Isaac would be spared, because there was no other way God's promises could be fulfilled without him, and at the last minute, provided a replacement or a way out from killing Isaac. Well we do know that God did just that by providing the Ram stuck in the thicket and commanded Abraham to use it instead, however was it Abraham's commitment to the process that God rewarded or was it  his obedience that existed from the instant he was asked, I submit it to be latter. From beginning to the end of this incredible story we see a glimpse of a man called from humble beginnings to a man who knew God's voice, listened to his calling and carried out God's tasks in his heart and feet to God's glory. What a testimony. Abraham had his failings as do we all, but this example shows us how important it is to be close enough to God to hear that still, small voice, and when we hear it to say, Here I am...and to go and do with all of our hearts and mind whatever he asks of us. It will not always be easy, and he does not always provide the ram in the thicket, but as long as we are in tune to him we are on the right path. How do you answer God? Are you close enough to hear the whisper of his voice into your soul?

Our Comfort Zone

All too often we sit back and let comfort rule what we do (I am preaching to the choir on this one). We will take the well beaten path, we would rather not drive during rush hour, take our clothes to the cleaners to avoid ironing....and we sit around our church building complaining and watching the few get the work done and even fewer yet get the blessings. Periodically in any church small group I have attended, the question pops up asking, "Has anything ever happened in your life , that at the time, was completely unexpected or even frightening, but in retrospect you see God's hand in it?" I want to take that one step further, have you EVER asked God for something, something vague or something you never expect to get, but when you do you are shocked at HOW he answered you? Years ago we were asking God to make a change in my work situation. We prayed and even asked others to pray that prayer with us, well God answered, and we had to move to a smaller city where he had no friends and were forced to start over. I can see God's hands all over this in hindsight, but at the time I thought he was punishing us, but he always knows what he is doing. He is forced at times to shake us up, to awaken that old spirit, to give us what need not always what we want. Churches and their people can fall into those traps as well, and sometimes his shaking causes disention from those unwilling to learn from the shakes. He may move certain people out of the way to pave the road for others. I know in my past certain things have been asked of me and my reaction was simply, that I can not do that, but looking back I am glad I did, because God used me and grew me. We sometimes feel so comfortable in our little role that we don't even look for opportunities that are staring us right in the face. The opposite can also be true, we jump into everything trying to please God and forget to include him in those efforts. We try to do it all on our own and soon we burn out and fade away (I know a lame Def Leppard reference). But it's true, we try to "please" God, instead of Worship him. Our actions that are done to his glory should be done in a pleasing way yes, but it should always be done as an act of worship. I had an awesome lunch today that I know was God ordained, I happened to meet up with a dear man from our last church at a place the two of us never eat. We had a wonderful lunch discussing basically what God means to us, what his plan is and can be, it was an awesome time of fellowship. It gave me the peace that some of what we have gone through lately has an eternal purpose, we are doing what God wants us to be about. And I gain a strength of purpose from that. So even though sometimes you feel that you are being drug outside of your comfort zone, or your church is getting too comfortable, ask yourself, Am I worshipping God in this situation? Am I being that man that Paul said he was when he said I don't always do as I should and even the things I do right are not perfect? We are saved by Grace unto good works by Faith. We are NOT saved unto comfort. We are not saved unto peaceful existence. we are saved and are commanded to proclaim his good works. So the next time you start feeling that ahhh feeling, start asking God to reveal himself and ask him what you can do to not be comfortable in a lost world. To drive this point home...I have some dear friends who listened to God's call and sold everything and took their 4 children to the mission Field that god called them to in Africa. I read a posting from there today saying right now they have no electricity or lights, only a few moments of battery power for the computer. There was an 8 foot deadly Black Mamba snake in their yard this morning and the reality of where they are and what they are doing is sinking in. But the reality part is that GOD is still in charge, he is the rock, he loves the indigenous people there and wants them to know him so much that he called others out of their comfortable life to move into a country with horrible snakes and limited amenities. Yet he honors that sacrifice. Every time I read a post from them of the latest, I always read and feel the presence of a holy loving God that even though they made a great sacrifice he loves them and honors and blesses them even in the midst of it all. Are you comfortable? Are you on the proverbial couch of Christianity? If so get up, start asking God to make you restless again, ask for his heart to be yours, comfort to a Christian is the Devil's playground.