Contemplations…

Have you ever walked out from a dark room or building into the bright sunny outdoors? There is an adjustment that your eyes have to make to see clearly. I am not really good with biology or physiology, so, I am not the one to explain the process. But, I think just about everyone knows what I am talking about.

I was just having a conversation with a dear friend about seeing life with new eyes. It seems like when God opens your eyes to see things in a new light, there is an adjustment period. You have to get used to the light and seeing with these new eyes.

Over the last few months I have started to see life with new eyes, and I am excited to tell you that I am finally seeing things with my new eyes. I am starting to adjust fully to understanding the things that God had opened my eyes to a few months ago.

I would encourage you to pray for God to open your eyes to life in a new and real way. I would also encourage you to push through the adjustment period. Be patient and allow yourself the time to fully adjust with your new eyes.

Tags: God, Eyes, New, Faith, Perserverance, Adjust, Life

I had written before about the opportunity that I have had to help one of my friends out by transcribing focus groups for the mayor’s commission on ending homelessness in Nashville.

Today, I was at one of these meetings. This particular focus group was with formerly homeless. We met with five incredible people who have overcome homelessness among many other life obstacles.

In answering one of the questions, a lady referred to her “lifebag.” It hit me as one of the most powerful word images I had heard/seen. She was referring to when you are homeless and you are carrying all of your belongings around in a bag over your shoulder. This imagery made the issue of homelessness very real to me.

Go ahead and put all of your worldly belongings and fit them in to a bag. For all of the wonderful blessings and the excess in life that I have, I am rarely reminded of the extent to which I have been blessed. It was a humbling reminder of the many many blessings I have… and even more importantly from whom they come…

What a mighty God we serve!!!!

Tags: God, Blessings, Homelessness, Homeless, Life, Bag, Life Bag, Overcome

Psalm 91 (MSG)

1-13 You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,
Say this: “God, you’re my refuge.
I trust in you and I’m safe!”
That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
shields you from deadly hazards.
His huge outstretched arms protect you—
under them you’re perfectly safe;
his arms fend off all harm.
Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,
not flying arrows in the day,
Not disease that prowls through the darkness,
not disaster that erupts at high noon.
Even though others succumb all around,
drop like flies right and left,
no harm will even graze you.
You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,
watch the wicked turn into corpses.
Yes, because God’s your refuge,
the High God your very own home,
Evil can’t get close to you,
harm can’t get through the door.
He ordered his angels
to guard you wherever you go.
If you stumble, they’ll catch you;
their job is to keep you from falling.
You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,
and kick young lions and serpents from the path. (italics added)

I was talking to a close friend the other day. He is really busy in his career as am I. We are constantly being funny with each other and were trying to encourage each other. He asked how I was doing. I responded with… “I am in the deep end of the pool with no floaties on.” We both got a pretty good chuckle out of that. Until we both realized that it was pretty accurate to describe how we were feeling.

I remember a service that I was in where they had asked us to try to remember a moment when we felt safe. For some that might require a good bit of thought and for others you might know exactly where that place is. After some thought, I remembered sitting on my Pop Pop’s lap as a child. I would climb up and sit on his lap as he would watch tv, and I remember the feeling of being safe, and realizing that I never wanted to leave. My Pop Pop passed while I was still young and it devastated me. I now use this memory to take me, if not just mentally, to a place of refuge.

My church service yesterday was about refuge. It was describing what refuge was and where we get the concept. It confirmed to me over and over that I am going to the right church and that our new Pastor is the right man for the job, and is speaking in to my life.

I realize that all of the stressors of my life are really just issues that are in the “now.” I know that God has solutions to all of my problems. I know that God is going to teach me through this time. I know that God loves me and wants only good for me. God is my protector. God is my refuge. I have nothing to fear.

For me, getting under God’s outstretched arms is like climbing on Pop Pop’s lap. With where I am in my life, a little lap-sitting is what I need.

Find your refuge in HIM.

Tags: God, Refuge, Pop Pop, Lap, Arms, Safe

I do most of my great thinking in the shower in the morning. I think mainly because it is one of the only quiet times I have throughout my day. I require background noise to function. The TV is on, or my Itunes is quietly shuffling through my random library of music.

I was reading the new bottle of shampoo that I purchased. It is supposed to provide me with “full and thick” hair. It says so right on the label. And I am saving time because it is shampoo AND conditioner in the same bottle, saves me upwards of 5 whole minutes a day, and wasted rinse cycle

Under where it tells me that I will get “full and thick” hair it has what I believe is the Spanish translation. It doesn’t do a straight translation. I guess that makes it an interpretation.

It has the words “Fuerte y Abundante”

Fuerte does not mean “full” in a straight translation… it can mean: bouncing, hefty, loud, lusty, strong. It conveys “full” hair. I get that.

Abundante, now this might be a stretch, means… abundant. Which they are relating to “and thick.” I am sure there is some fascinating story behind why that interpretation happens culturally, but I am not aware of that. It is not where it took me either.

I thought, ‘oh, abundante means or conveys thick.’ I started to think of the reference in John 10:10b that says “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (KJV)

To jump all over the globe abusing differences in language, let’s look at the Greek here; perissos the Greek word, according to Strong’s, for “more abundantly.” Some of the definitions that they list are: ” over and above, more than is necessary, superadded, much more than all “

My favorites are superadded and much more than all… Our loving God wants us to have life that is superadded… life that is much more than all… that is fuel injected… that is supercharged… life that is THICK.

I got thinking about my week. It has been a blah week for me. A lot of work that has been more of a mental strain and stressor than normal. I have not had as many meetings to break up the monotony of my days. I would say it was safe to call this week in retrospect: “thin.”

There is something in my mind that clicks and goes “a-ha” when I think of relating abundant and thick. We live in a world where words and what they convey are very very powerful. Ask any advertising executive if the words that are on the outside of any, oh, let’s say… shampoo bottle, were not strategically chosen and placed there. Not to mention they probably have a specialist who interprets the words in to other languages to have the same desired effect.

For me today, in my quiet reflection… My eyes caught the correlation between the english word thick and the spanish correlation of abundante. In my geeky little word-obsessed mind, I was reminded of some powerful scripture.

I want a life that is thick.

And you know what is even better… God wants that for me too!

Tags: God, Christianity, Shampoo, Thick, Abundant, Life, Full, Abundant Life

I hesitate to use the language of hero in our culture. It seems like when we go and lift any man or woman up in this world, they become even more susceptible to falling hard. It is true that the higher the pedestal the harder the fall.

When I was in Bible College, there was a professor who was an amazing scholar and communicator. He was one of my favorites. He was the guy that all of us wanted to grow up to be. He had a true gift at communicating the Bible and making it relevant and intriguing. He was asked to leave the school after some information came to light about an inappropriate relationship. We were devastated. I remember calling my folks and talking to them about it. It was hard to process my feelings. I was disappointed. I was hurt. I was hurt for him and what he was going through. He fell and fell hard. The rumor was that he had to cancel over 500 speaking engagements.

Another great communicator of the Gospel who fell was a more recent situation. He was the founding pastor of the church I currently attend. He is full of life. He is one of the most engaging communicators I have ever seen. (and I have seen a lot in my time) He had a very no-nonsense approach to presenting what I would call REAL Christianity, the one that is about your relationship and what God is doing in your life. He was anti-religion. He was an encourager. But, He was not a great Pastor. His gifts did not make him a good at all it took to be a pastor. He fell. He was asked to leave. It was the right decision, and thank God, my church is better than ever. He is starting another church and I pray that he is structuring it in a way that is healthy for him and those he leads.

All of that to say, these two men have taught me to be leery of who you put on the pedestal. Better yet, it has made me release that we are all human. As much as I struggle with my flesh, so do they. Some may put me on a pedestal, of sorts, and they shouldn’t. But, anyone can really be put there, cause we are doing it.

When one person who deals with the flesh puts another person who deals with the flesh on a pedestal, this formula is always going to be flawed. I am not saying, don’t look up to anyone. I am saying, don’t overlook someone’s flesh. I have people that inspire me. Dare I say it; they are heroes of mine. But, I have learned to guard myself against making them non-human.

Okay, so those early stories were actually not the two great people for whom this blog is to talk about. If you know me, you know that I am the preface king. Everything I say comes with some kind of preface. Everything I have said to this point has been preface.

The first great person is someone I don’t know. I was sharing with one of my close friends some of my frustrations with my work. I am in a situation that I have stirred the pot and started to get plates spinning, but there is an aspect of what I do that I don’t have control over. If you have been reading for the past few months in my blogs, giving up control has been a central theme in my life.

My friend shared with me about one of her friends that she used to work with who had similar issues. She made her password to enter her computer and to check her email: “grateful”. Isn’t that great? It kept her focused on the attitude that should be at the forefront of our thinking. In my mind this makes her great.

The second person I have come to know more about through one of my favorite guilty pleasures, reality TV. (I know, I know, it just sucks me in.) Their is a show on MTV called “Run’s House” that feature Reverend Run from the great rap group RUN DMC. I was a fan back in the day.

The setting of the show is just what it says it is… it is an insight into Reverend Run’s house; How he interacts with his wife and kids. I know it is TV. Even worse it is “reality TV.” But from what I have seen, I love the Rev Run.

He was on an interview show today, and they were talking about him airing an episode that dealt with his family losing a baby right after birth. This was a riveting episode that found me balling my eyes out on my couch the other night.

He said that he was a minister and needed to show people how to deal with real life. He needed to show them how he was there for his wife and kids to lean on. Then came the question that has made me an uberfan (sp?) … “if you are there for all of them to lean on, who do you lean on?” Unashamedly, unabashadly Rev Run’s answer was… “GOD.” He went on to tell that he starts everyday praying and spending time in God’s word. This makes Rev Run great.

When thinking of looking up to men/women here on earth, I oftentimes think of David. King David did some bad bad things. If they had media back then, like we do now, and they caught wind of the things he did, he would have been lynched.

Then I look at the Psalms. The Psalms have brought so much comfort and strength to so many people. It is about the moments in time where we allow God to work through us.

The first two men I told you about and the latter man and woman I talked about… they are the same. The first two made mistakes. They fell from a pedestal that I put them on. But they didn’t fall out of God’s grace. And the greatness and wisdom that bestowed is not invalidated. I know more about who God is because of the first two men. They fell, but they fell from the pedestal I put them on. I don’t blame them. I don’t hold them responsible.

And don’t misinterpret that I condone what they did, or that I don’t feel like there is a higher calling and responsibility placed on those who take to teaching or the stage. I do. 100%

I do know that if they are human, then they are going to deal with issues of the flesh the same way that I do.

So for today… the “grateful” lady and Rev Run are my two great people.

Tags: Fall, Grace, Heroes, Christianity, God, Rev Run, Bible, King David

Yesterday was Easter. It was awesome. What an exciting time to celebrate the ultimate victory. Jesus is God, and it is evidenced in his ability to overcome Death. We serve a RISEN SAVIOR.

We sang “Christ the Lord has risen today” as a part of the service. I love when we sing old hymns that are so spiritually rich in their lyrical content.

The lyric that jumped out at me was “made like Him, like Him we rise” which finds it foundation in Romans 8:11

“It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!” (MSG)

We celebrate as believers, not only Christ’s triumph over death, but our own triumph. Our triumph afforded by that one single act. POWERFUL.

The one other part of the sermon that really hit me was Jesus’ last words on the cross. From John 19:30 “After Jesus drank the wine, he said, “Everything is done!” He bowed his head and died.” (CEV)

My pastor said, God is not in the rewind business, there are no do-overs. God is in the restoration business. So many of us allow ourselves to be weighed down by our past. I think that some of us need some cross moments in our life. I think we need to embrace and celebrate and say with authority… “everything is done.”

I hope that everyone who reads this had a wonderful holiday. I hope that you are able to use the power that is available to raise the dead to do great in mighty things in your life.

Tags: God, Easter, Christian, Finished, Power, Death, Restoration, Risen