Wrong!

Ok ... this is so wrong.  I catch a few fish and, earlier this year, a blue heron tried to steal my fish.  Now the reptiles are on board when a giant snapping turtle swims off with a stringer of fish just last week.  Something is wrong with this picture!

It isn't the first time I have felt like I was wronged.  My first boss on my very first job wasn't the most ethical person ever and did some pretty shady things, some of which visited misery on me.  Another boss had ambitions and plans that didn't include my best interest.  Sometimes we feel like the world hates us and is out to get us.  Jesus addresses this problem specifically.

Jesus said the world would hate the things we do that look like Him.  If we love in the way that Jesus did people will call us "do-gooders" and wonder about our hidden agenda.  If we live righteously people think we are trying to be better than them and they are jealous.  If we turn the other cheek we are called pacifists and cowards.  If we pray in private and avoid showy acts of faith we are viewed as "not religious enough."  You see that if we apply the Sermon on the Mount, lots of people will find a reason to criticize.  So, what do we do?  We apply Jesus' plan anyway.

We go to Celebrate Recovery and love people who are hurting, because even if everyone outside that group thinks we are spinning our wheels, we know that God works when we love those who are in distress (the least of these).  We go to Belize, Navajo Nation, Appalachia, and Abbeville and we work on missional projects, giving our energy and self to problems way bigger than us, and we let God multiply our efforts and modify our hearts.  And we come to God's house and worship, faithfully and frequently, not to be holy but to tell God and our fellow worshipers that God is the only reason for any good thing accomplished by our efforts.

John 15 says we will be wronged for looking like Jesus.  But if we do look a little like Jesus, we will be in very good company on this earth and in saintly company in the world to come.  Randy

Plastic

Sometimes I wonder about the solidity of our beliefs and the hold we have on our faith.  I have seen people who will seem solid and passionate about being in church, interacting with God's people and worshiping "in Spirit and truth."  In a few months they will cease being faithful and will be clearly drifting away.  I wonder about the change.  Maybe a sermon didn't strike them the right way.  Maybe someone said something that they took in a negative way.  Maybe they found something better to do with their time.  People often remind me of our cat.  She can seem shy and stand-offish but that dissolves in an instant when someone scratches her behind the ears.  Cats, and people, are fickle.

Paul was talking to Timothy and he observed this trait of people and made a prediction.  He said, "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires (2 Timothy 4:2-4)."  Michael Card writes that we have a tendency to create god in our image ... forgetting that God is God.  To Moses God says,  "I am the God that is real." When we create a God we can fit into our little package, we end up with a plastic god ... an idol that is arguably worse than the idols of the Old Testament.  Because we supplant the real God with "our god" and claim they are the same.  This is taking God's name in vain in the very worst way.

Our world gives us a plastic god and a plastic Jesus.  The real Jesus is assuredly not amused and not altered by our false beliefs.  People want a god that meets their standards.  The real God does not bow to the standards of any man, any denomination and any nation.  Isaiah calls God, "He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, (He) who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in."  I don't know about you, but I need a God who is greater, stronger, higher than even my imagination.  Not a plastic god that I can carry around in my pocket.

Randy

Running

There are two perspectives on running.  In the story of Moses he was running.  Moses was running from lots of things.  He ran from Egypt because he killed an Egyptian guard.  He was a wanted man.  He became comfortable in his flight and even notched out a credible life with a wife (Zipporah) and Jethro, his father-in-law.  Sometimes we stop in the process of running and settle in.

There is another perspective of running.  It is running to something.  Hebrews tells us to run toward the goal.  Paul says to run toward the prize.  Moses hears from God and heads toward Egypt.  He was tentative, reluctant, scared and full of excuses ... but he was headed in the right direction.

I have to reflect on where I fit into this story.  What I want to think is that I am that reluctant, tentative and scared guy who is running toward God's plan and purpose in spite of my doubts.  But I hope I am not the stopped, comfortable Moses, settling down in the wilderness of Midian, keeping myself busy but not busy in service to the Lord. 

I guess what I have to decide is whether I am running to or running from.  For we humans are runners by nature, going one direction or the other.  And even when we think we are stopped, we are either going in God's direction or going in some other direction.  There is no fence-sitting or middle ground.

Twila Paris writes a song about running that has the lyrics, "Runner, though the road is long, feel like giving up, but you're hanging on, runner, when the race is run, may you run into His arms."  That is my prayer for you and me!  Randy

Back Home

I am back home in North Carolina for a few days helping my parents out with some issues.  It has been an interesting trip because my mother is well known for having no verbal filter but being a loving person (those two things often clash).  Mom has spent a lot of her life with her foot in her mouth because of the lack of discretion over what she says.  Talking about people's weight.  Asking if someone is pregnant when they are not.  Knowing just the thing to say that will grate on someone's nerves. I have always wondered why she has lived this long without someone really going off on her.  Then I remembered 1 Corinthians 13.  I thought about this passage about love and I think I have a new take on it.

Mom sometimes has said things that cause us (and other people) to say, "I can't believe she just said that."  In wondering how she has gotten away with this for 86 years I think I have figured it out.  You can say things (lots of things) when they are said in the attitude of love.  I can't think of any malicious thing Mom has said.  She pretty much gives everyone grace ... lots of it.  So when she insults me I just let it roll off my back because I know she loves me and pretty much everyone else.  Without love we are clanging symbols and noise.  Any eloquence and power that supports our speech is lost if we speak without love.  Pretty words are nothing if love doesn't back them up.

I wonder (on this anniversary of freedom here in America) what would happen if we asked "Does he/she really love the people he/she represents?" about our elected leaders?  I wonder ... if the test were love of country, people and our founding documents, how many of our leaders would stand?  "My native country, thee, land of the noble free, thy name I love, I love thy rocks and rills, thy woods and templed hills; my heart with rapture fills, like that above."  Great words from a great song.

If you tell me in love, I will listen, even if is painful. And yes, Mom ... those milkshakes are adding a few pounds!

Fishing With the Grandkids

Today I went fishing with the grand kids.  It is always fun being with them and I enjoy watching them grow.  My good friend, John Riley, went with us.  John and I learned a few lessons from God in the process.

The first lesson is that when you fish with grand kids you don't fish much (John fished even less because he paddled).  Hooks and lines get tangled.  You constantly need to watch out for flying hooks.  You bait hooks and sometimes cast for them so they will get to the best fishing spots.  It requires patience and thick skin (especially when the hook imbeds in your finger).

The second lesson is that grand kids are usually less patient with a slow fishing day.  They get distracted quickly.  They watch the fish in the bucket and miss the real fish that bite their hook.  For a driven person like me it could be infuriating ... except they are grand kids, and grand kids get lots of extra grace.

When I got home I thought, maybe this is a little taste of what God puts up with in my life.  God has His hands full just keeping an eye on me.  My lines get tangled and I try to fish in places that are filled with logs and snags, and dangers my father sees but I fail to see.  God gets the barbs of flying hooks when I try to blame him for my mistakes or the bad choices of other people (like Adam and Eves choice to send us all out into a word of infirmity).  I get impatient with God, though I want God to be patient with me.  And God should be frustrated and furious with me for some very good reasons.  I wonder why He isn't,  and then I think ... maybe He gives me grace and patience because of something I haven't thought of ... God thinks of my like I think of my grandchildren.  I am related!  A son ... brother to other sons and daughters like you.  Isaiah (43) said it like this ... “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine."  We are flesh and bone of His son, Jesus.

Thinking of this makes me smile, even in the heat of the day, the uncertainty of the winds and fish that are picky.  Thanks, John, Benjamin, Phoenix and God for the lesson (and the fish)!

On Hold

As I am writing this note I am on hold with Comcast and awaiting a callback from Verizon regarding a change in service for my parents.  It is an infuriating process to deal with these mega-companies that seem to think that our time is an expendable commodity.  In fact, time isn't something that we can get back, so I am multitasking.  I am writing you while I am on hold.

While I am holding with these people who will, most certainly, not be able to help me (I will probably end up talking to supervisors who can actually make a decision, but probably won't) I am trying to make good use of the time God has granted me today.  Sometimes that is all we can do while we are "on hold" in life.

Elijah was in a cave in 1 Kings Chapter 19. He was on hold.  Maybe he was confused.  We do know he was fleeing persecution from Ahab and Jezebel.  We also know he was in a state of believing that he was the sole person defending God's honor in a godless kingdom.  John talked about Elijah on Wednesday night and recalled what God said to Elijah while Elijah was "on hold."  He said, "What are you doing here Elijah?"  It is a good question for Elijah and for us.  What are we doing here?

I can identify with Elijah in this situation.  Life sometimes seems to place us on hold and we pray, wait, hope and seem to be stuck.  Why isn't something happening?  Where is God?  Why do we feel this way?  These are questions common to good people who are processing their understanding of God and our understanding of life's doldrums.  Here is what I will try while I am "on hold."

1) I will keep working.  My football coach told me when I was stuck on a skill level that I wanted to improve, just keep doing the right things and work hard.
2) I will remember what God has done because I know God is faithful and caring.  That same God is still Lord of the universe.
3) I will seek God in His Word.  God's Word always leads, is always living and is always there.
4) I will recall Elijah's story.  God sends a whirlwind, an earthquake and a fire ... God isn't in any of these things.  God is in the whisper He sends to Elijah, calling him out of the cave.  So ... I will listen for the whisper of God.

I am still on hold with Comcast and still have no response from Verizon ... but I know God hears and cares ... that is enough!  Randy 

Not Picture Perfect

On this week when we are thinking about fathers our thoughts can be a sea of emotions.  The position of father has seen (in my opinion) lots of stress in recent years.  Between societal distractions, loss of direction, easy departures (that turn out not to be so easy) and the loss of the Church's voice in the equation I believe being a good father has become more difficult.  Here are two bits of advice I have for many of the fathers I have counseled in past years.

The first bit of advice might seem a little harsh, but stay with me.  Fathers need to grow up.  Rather that stubbornly pursue their family authority, their toys and their recreational desires, maybe fathers should reexamine their priorities.  While I was critical at the time, I remember my father doggedly making sure he provided for us and gave us the basics of life ... he didn't wait for the government or anyone else to do it for him.  He didn't whine about the effects of feminism, the encroachment of the government, the negative effects of media or any other barrier that impeded his ability to do his job ... he just went out and did it.  He wasn't always right, he wasn't always in a perfect mood, and he wasn't always "Father Knows Best."  But he taught me to be persistent and to learn from the mistakes I would inevitably made (and not to blame them on someone else).

That brings me to point two ... I see a growing tendency for society to offer excuses so that we can feel like our mistakes are not really our fault.  Lots of guys I have conversed with have some idea that these excuse have merit and the world owes them something.  Yet when I talk to angry children about their fathers I believe the number one complaint is that dad "makes no mistakes" (at least that he admits).  Dads ... realize that being vulnerable is being honest and real.  Kids don't need dads who are the super heroes they see on TV.  They need dads who teach them to navigate the rocky channels of life, including what to do when (not if) you hit a rock.

I love my dad, and I know he won't be with us for too much longer.  But I am thankful that he taught me the there is a time and purpose for all things under heaven (Eccl. 3) and that our fallibility and brokenness are intertwined with both the humanity and divine spirit we have all been given.  Be real and grow up ... that's my take!  Randy