Hope Defined

Christmas is the season of hope. But what is hope?
The biblical definition of hope, as it is used in the New Testaments (elpis in the original Greek), is not wishful thinking or even passionate desire. It's confident expectation. The current sermons by my pastor, Tim Smart, along with recent sermons by Bill Johnson, have encouraged me to further explore and consider this concept of hope during this Christmas season.
Another Greek word I love is rhema. It predominantly means the declared of spoken word, It can also be a command, or a matter of business. Within the context of the Bible it usually means a declared word by the Lord, for the Lord or on behalf of the Lord.
Luke 1:37 says "nothing is impossible with God," but the lastest NIV translation says "No word from God will ever fail." Guess what the that word that is translated either thing (as part of nothing) or word is? You got it, It's rhema!.
The literal word for word translation says "For not will be impossible with God every thing/word." The word for impossible here (adoneteo, like the word for Adonis) also means able or capable.
I can think of two different translations for this, equal in both importance and accuracy. First of all, God makes us capable of doing and being absolutely everything that God says we can do and be. Second, when we declare God't truth out loud, we can do so with the confidence that it WILL absolutely happen. I might even go so far as to say it may have already happened, though the physical manifestation of such may not have caught up with the spiritual reality of the rhema. Most notably, God has already won the war against Satan and evil, but we have not yet fully experienced that final victory in every earthly sense.
Just to be clear, this is not a supernatural vending machine, where we insert a spoken desire and God delivers. The key here it to declare according to God's will and desire. The key here is truth. I do not want to forfeit my own inheritance by chasing after things that I was never meant to have.
And I have to claim my inheritance, to use the key in order to unlock more doors of blessing. A million dollars in my bank account (if only I had that) serves no purpose until I begin withdraw it. It's not that God will not give me anything before I ask. But I do believe believe that God reserves certain blessing and favor for those who ask and declare in faith. That's part of of hope (elpis) and proclamation (rhema) combined.
Luke 1:37 is smack dab in the middle of the Christmas story. It's the angel's response to a most likely afraid and a most definitely confused teenage virgin who just got pregnant.
What from earthly eyes looked like the end of her betrothal, her good name, and possibly any expectation of earthly security or stability was really the source of the greatest hope for all time and people.
So in a sense, I guess I'm seeing this verse as the very definition and source of hope. If God says it, or if we declare God's truth, it's done. We don't even need to plead with God for what we want and need once it has been declared (truthful and biblically, not just what we want). The only things left to do are to give thanks and celebrate in anticipation of what is and what will be.

Halloween Reconsidered

"Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, said: 'I am glad that Christian parents let their children worship the devil at least one night out of the year. Welcome to Halloween.'"

Wow! What an indictment from not a Christian, but a chief atheist. In saying all this, I has a parent have allowed my daughter to participate in the parts of Halloween, though I as a parent have never been comfortable with it's spooky aspects. I don't mind dressing up, make believing or getting candy, or even doing things to startle each other. I love a good thrill. But I do wish that Christian could come up with an alternative holiday.

Most of us know that Jesus was not born on December 25, but early Christians chose to celebrate Christmas on that day, even with some of the same traditions like burning a (yule) log, to offer a Christian alternative that celebrates the things of God to counteract the pagan festivities of that exact day.

The really crazy thing is that almost no Christian in this country celebrates All Saints Day on November 1. The crazier thing is that the idea of Halloween (which literally means "All Saints Day") originally came from early Christian's own fears and superstitions. They felt they needed to dress incognito to hid form the evil spirits on that night. Nowadays most people just see it as good fun, but I assure you that those into witchcraft and Satanism, or those who reside in Lillydale (for my Chautauqua friends) take it very seriously.

Couldn't we as Christian.... shouldn't we as Christians come up with an alternative? Rather than bowing to the "Black Sabbath," celebrating darkness on the two most demonic day of the year (along with "Black Sabbath," or Good Friday to Christians), celebrating darkness on the most demonic day of the year in this culture, why couldn't we choose to find ways to celebrate and remember God on this day? We could still have costumes and candy and fun.

The bargain shopper in me is all for scrapping Halloween (which literally means "All Hallows Eve.") and resurrecting the value of All Saints Day. I say this because on November 1 all of the candy goes on sale. Let's read Hebrews 11, the "Faith Hall of Fame," and eat some chocolate to celebrate the heroes of the faith, those who boldly stood in God's name against the forces of evil, rather than hiding, cowering or running from them.

When we think about it, we would lose nothing positive by renaming and refocusing ourselves on this day. A very large percentage of costumes are superheroes or historical figures, and All Saints Day is all about remembering history and hero's. And the last time I checked, Satan has never created or owned candy, so we can bring that tradition right along with us.

I am not judging anyone who has let there kid put on a ghost costume. Full disclosure here: I once dressed up as Beetlejuice (a really disgusting dead guy) for Halloween. I am just think that maybe we as the community of faith can do better than this.

God has not given us a spirit of fear, so why celebrate it! Why focus on the very things that God has given us the power and authority to stand against and defeat? I personally think it would be more of a thrill to dress up and eat candy as a celebration of God's victory.

God's promises can change your reality

At a time in my life when I was at my very lowest, I began voraciously searching the Bible for the promises. Then I wrote them down. Then I read them over and over again. I still speak many of them out on a regular basis. This is not so much a sign of piety as it is of an utter, desperate dependence on God's word to keep me sane. And I literally mean sane. When I felt at the very edge of myself in virtually every way, God's word brought me back.

It takes a stronger, more authentic faith to believe something even when you don't always see or feel it. This is this the kind of faith we all need to move forward towards God's best for our life, the kind of faith rarely develops when life seems easy. After all, it's hard to practice trusting God to meet your needs when you don't feel in need of anything. Who asks for help or relies on others when they feel comfortable and adequate to do things on their own?

It takes a lot practice to develop and use this gift of faith. My new mantra is this "Your rehearsal becomes your reality." Translation: You begin to recognize the things that you read and speak over and over again as realities in your life. Even lies and misunderstandings can become real to us when we rehearse them enough. And yet we can also draw forth very real and tangible blessings just by praising and claiming the promises, those things that God already said that the LORD can and will give when we ask. For these reasons, I have discovered that when it is the very most difficult to speak out God's blessing and promises is precisely when it is the most important.

We still have a lot of of worldly difficulties even years after things began to really break down for our family. But things things have gotten better, and in the process we discovered so much of God's favor and blessing that we would not have known without these trials. The trials have brought intense healing and restoration, deepening our faith in ways that we would have never known had we continued on our intended course.

I have often clung to the words of Habakkuk, who said this in the midst of a very difficult time for all of Judah and Israel:

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior." (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

And here is why he could rejoice in the midst of poverty, pain and trial. When all of the strength this world could offer was stripped from him, he discovered this:

"The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights." -Habakkuk 3:19

God's divine repayment plan

“May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” - Ruth 2:12

This is one of my favorite blessing in Scripture, spoken to a young widow who chose to continue a commitment to a poor older woman, one to whom she had no earthly obligation, over her own sense of earthly security. this is my desire for anyone and everyone who has ever given of themselves to make my life better.

I love this prayer, because over the past few years I have frequently found myself in the position of what I might call "forced receiving," that precarious position wherein I was in great need of help and had nothing other than my gratitude and prayers such as this to offer in return for the generosity and self-sacrifice of others. This state of forced receiving. challenges me greatly; I would much rather always be the one with the time, financial means and sanity to give to others. Forced receiving shatters my illusion of control and starves my addiction upon my own self-righteousness. That sounds wonderful, but in the moment it usual feels pretty horrible. Nobody every really asks or wants to feel broken. But sometimes it takes the breaking of things (divine surgery) to reach the true healing and growth.

Perhaps this is the truest definition of poverty of spirit: when we reach the point wherein we finally realize that our own earthly resources just simply are not enough to meet our needs. Then we reach out to God in desperation, clinging to anything God will give as our very life and breath. Then we can finally realize that God is enough, and everything. The state prepares us to better see God in others, to better receive God from others. Rather than being our last resort, God becomes our only resort. We can learn to receive gifts with gratitude (never entitlement), praying for God to increase the blessings of the giver. People become holy vessels to us, as both extensions and outlets for God's grace. Any situation becomes an instrument of God, because God can use anything.

The person who originally prayed this prayer was Boaz, a man of means who had not received anything from Ruth. In fact, she came as a beggar, gleaning from his fields. Ironically, Boaz became the very blessing to Ruth for which he prayed when he married her.

In some ways I often feel more like the poor beggar gleaning the fields, grasping desperately just to meet my family's most basic needs after multiple losses. Today I speak this prayer as Boaz, from the wealth of love God has placed in my life through others. Not only do I pray for God to repay tenfold anyone who has ever given to me. I desire to be part of that blessing.

Insanity reconsidered

 

"Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  -Albert Einstein

Without taking away from the scientific genius of Mr. Einstein, I think he missed the boat on this particular thought.  Forgive my frankness, but the more I ponder this thought, the more ridiculous it seems as an overall rule for living. 

This is what I might call a "sometimes truth."  Few people would argue simple results... Cutting your hair will always make it shorter.  Putting cold chicken properly in a working microwave and turning it on high for two minutes will always make it hotter.  A person who has $100 and spends exactly half of it will always end up with $50 left (I do far too well at proving this concept). 

Sometimes, maybe even often, the wisdom can carry through to some life decisions.  Patterns of negative, unhealthy thoughts and behaviors will never create a positive, healthy lifestyle.   Complete inactivity rarely if ever leads to breakthroughs and better living.  Staying on the same diet that has caused a person to gain 40 pounds over the past year will not lead to weight loss.  And no matter how much one wills it, or sucks in, or prays about it, those smaller jeans from days gone past simply will not fit on the body that is now eight sizes bigger.  In these cases, it takes a change to reach desired results.     

But what about those things in life that do not lead to immediate results?  What about those times when one MUST do things over and over again in order to get to the results?  What about those times when one may never see the desired results in this lifetime?

Is it insanity for a parent to consistently love and seek ways to properly discipline a continually disobedient child?  When does it become less than wise to keep consistently praying a believing, even if the wayward child (or friend, or spouse) seems to be getting worse and worse?  (And I want to clarify here, that I am talking about praying for and loving people, as opposed to continuing in patterns of abuse.)

Is it a form of psychosis to keep trying to work and pay off bills, even though it seems that the harder one tries, the deeper the debt gets?  Does it seem unreasonable to keep paying tithe and trusting God to meet one's needs, even when one seems to always go without?

At what point does it become insanity to do what we know is right- to serve others and live with integrity- even when doing so often results in our own mistreatment?  In these cases, people would definitely like to see certain results in this lifetime, and sometimes they do.  But that's not what they are living for.

In contrasts to Mr. Einstein's thought, the book of Galatians offers this advice:

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." -Galatians 6:9

The apostle Paul puts in another way:

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  -II Corinthians 4:16-18 

Paul's list of "light troubles" include the following: multiple assassination attempts; various creatively severe forms of beatings; being shipwrecked; years of incarceration in a foreign land, without a trial; loss of prestige and money; and quite often betrayal by those whom he has spent time and money helping.  In saying "momentary," he refers to decades of his life.

By Einstein's definition, Paul was crazy.  Maybe he was, but that's the kind of crazy that changes the world.  It's the kind of crazy that trusts God beyond immediate earthly results.  In the words of Paul:

"If we are 'out of our mind,' as some say, it is for God." -II Corinthians 5:13a

Ironically, the word "insanity" is not actually a psychological term at all; it's a legal one.  Defendants plea insanity to explain the momentary lapses of judgement that leads to certain crimes of passion, most notable violent crimes like murder.  Insanity is never about a solid, long term plan; it defines and seeks to excuse a desperate reaction.

Seeking God's will and continually living by the truth of God's word, no matter what the cost or result, is not insanity.  It's faith.  It's not an act of desperation.  It's a lifestyle of hope.  And hope in this sense means living towards a result that we know will happen.

This kind of conviction will lead to amazing, mind blowing results as God's power works through us.  But it often takes the "insanity" of doing the same things over and over again, even when we do not initially see the desired results.

It is such a blessing when we see the working of God, but there are also times when we cannot see the results with our earthly eyes.  In some places of the world people continue to testify to their hope in Christ, though it leads to imprisonment, torture and death.  I look forward to the great celebration in Heaven when we these martyrs receive their eternal rewards that move far beyond anything this life could have offered.

I submit to you a new definition: Insanity is living one's life by anything other than the will and promises of God.  Anything else leads to true desperation, trying in our own power to grasp for what only God can provide.  Lord Jesus, please guide me as I seek to break the insanity of self-reliance and lean ever more on your grace for my life.

The best king was a caveman

A few months ago our pastor shared with our congregation about how God had spoken to him in his frustration.  Having felt the call to ministry well over a decade earlier, he had waited on God's timing and planted our church a little over three years ago.  There was no doubt in his mind (or mine) that this ministry is both ordained and anointed by God.  And yet in terms of growth in the fellowship, the numbers were not coming nearly as quickly as he would like.  More importantly, we seemed to be hitting a lot of road blocks in our forward movement towards fulfilling God's call upon our lives.

When he asked God the reasoning for all of the challenges and relative smallness (compared to what he would like to see), the Lord told him this: "I am sending you into the cave."

I suppose that that at first this answer made about as little sense to him as it did to any of us.  Then he recalled for us the story of King David, the ruler through whom God established the royal line of succession that would lead up to the eternal King Of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ himself.

As far as kingship was concerned, David was the whole package: a gifted statesmen, an accomplished musician, a successful warrior, a loyal friend, and exceptionally "easy on the eyes," if you know what I mean.  Most importantly, he was described as a man after God's own heart.  Even as God revealed to him that his royal line would be established forever, his response was to bow in humility and praise the Lord.

David was not without his shortcomings and mistakes, for which he paid dearly throughout his lifetime.  Yet in the end he always seemed to come back to his faith in  and reliance upon the Lord.  The combination of his wisdom, gifts and fiercely loyal warrior servants laid the foundation for the greatest period of peace and prosperity in Israel's history.

David was also a caveman.  And by that I mean that for a period of time he literally lived in a cave.  His many early accomplishments had earned him the role of personal musician to King Saul, then commander of Saul's army and eventually the king's son in law.  Some of those same gifts eventually led Saul to see him as a threat and make several attempts on his life.  David could not at the time seek solace from the neighboring kings, whose armies he had defeated.  Instead,:

"David... escaped to the cave of Adullam." (I Samuel 22:1)  

This was not the only cave where David stayed.   With Saul in hot pursuit of him, he could not stay in one place for long. Instead, he moved throughout the wilderness, laying his head wherever he could find rest and cover from Saul and his army.

Even while David wore King Saul's label as "felon at large," people seemed to be drawn to him.  As an outlaw, however, David drew a different kind of a crowd:

"All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him." (I Samuel 22:2)  This number continues to increase throughout David's wilderness escape route.

So basically David went from being the commander of the "winners" (Saul's powerful army) to being the lord of the misfits, the king of the cavemen. It is not so much that these men and their families were unfit citizens or warriors.  Yet they seemed to identify themselves as outcasts, forgotten and tossed aside by society.  They were not unvaluable, but they had been devalued. 

The book of I Chronicles tells several tales of the great heroes and warriors in the time of King David.  These "mighty men," as the Bible calls them, were the people who joined David as outcasts and "misfits" during his time of hiding from Saul in the wilderness.  The most influential people in helping build the great kingdom of Israel were the same one who years before had felt ignored at best, rejected at worst by this very nation that they had helped lead.  And their leader, King David, once again ruled over the very army who had once sought his life. 

In light of this story, I count it an honor to serve as a "cave woman" alongside my pastor and the other beautiful people in my congregation.  One would probably not label us as a group of "society outcasts."  Yet in hearing our stories, I know that most if not all of us know what it is like to feel misunderstood, undervalued, rejected, lost and just plain desperate.  And I believe that God can and will use these very times of desperation as training periods to prepare us for our greatest victories in life.

I saw the three mice. Thank you Jesus!

I am what some people might call a reformed city girl.  More accurately, I am a reforming (almost) country girl.  In saying this I do not mean insult the city or suburban lifestyle.  By "reforming" I mean that I personally am becoming more accustomed to and appreciative of a different, slower paced approach to living.

After spending most of my life residing within metropolitan areas with populations ranging from 100,000 to the millions, a little over two years ago I moved to a small town in southwestern New York State with a population of just under 500 people.  What Panama, NY lacks in people, it seems to make up for in animals... all kinds of animals.  For example my daughter's good friend lives on a property with multiple dogs, cats, chickens, roosters, pigs, sheep and horses, though the young lady assures me that they do not live on a farm.  Never in my life would I have imagined any child of mine asking permission to go to her friends house so that she could help walk the pigs.

Some of these creatures, both domestic and wild, have challenged my ability to adjust to the rural environment.  It used to terrify me  when my  neighbors'  multiple unleashed dogs would run towards me barking forcefully as I went on walks down the road. In the city that's a good reason to detour down another side road (which come in short supply in the country), ready the mace or call animal control.  Most in the time in the country they are just coming out to say hello.  One dog's "hello" bark actually intimidated me so much that I held out my thumb and hitch-hiked for the only time in my life, for about a mile, just to get myself past that animal's property.

Then there is the livestock.  The people who lived two doors up from our first country residence had cows that would frequently escape from the pen.  One even managed to cross the street one day.  As I began my morning walk, I noticed her eyes staring me down, daring me to cross her path.  I did not have the nerve to take the dare.  Instead I quickly walked back to another neighbor's house (the neighbors who did not own the cattle), opened the door without even knocking and said "I'm sorry to bother you, but we have a cow situation."  When they stopped laughing at me, they just shook their head and said "city girl."

One Sunday morning we were unable to get to church in time to fulfill our duty as greeters, due to a "home visit" from some of these same cattle.  Three of them had gotten out of the pen and stood between our house and our car.  One cow stood less then six inches from our front door and just stared into our living room.  Imagine having to text a pastor with this excuse like this: "I'm sorry we cannot make it in time to greet this morning.  We've been cowed in."

The wild animals present a scarier problem.  What few black bears reside in the area tend to avoid humans as much as possible.  The only real dangers would come if the got spooked or cornered or if one meddled with their cubs or food supply.  And coyotes usually only come out at night, almost always where there are no big light or groups of people.  Still, I must confess that after sunset I stayed in the house as mush as possible and cultivated a much more active prayer life during those short trips from the front door to the car or the compost pile.

But the scariest experience I had with country animals came a few weeks ago... in the form of three field mice.  Believe me, I know how crazy that sounds.  But here's the difference.  The other animals lurked around in neighbors yards or local forests.  Those three mice had gotten into my home.

I thought I had heard some feet scurrying around in the ceiling and walls, but after calling my landlord I was content to ignore it.  We hear animals all of the time out here, and I reasoned that it might just be in my head.  More importantly, my truck driving husband is on the road a lot.  So acknowledging the presence of rodents in my home would mean that I alone would have to deal with the issue.

Then my daughter found a dead mouse somewhere near the garbage, on one of my sandals.  I used to laugh at that old illustration of an elephant that showed terror and want into a frenzy over the presence of a mouse.  I will never laugh at that elephant again.  I am that elephant.  I had such a hard time functioning over the thought of that tiny little deceased visitor that my poor thirteen year old daughter Ali actually had to take care of it for me.  When she asked me to check my box of shoes to see if there were any more mice, my initial response was literally "I am never wearing shoes again."  The next night I was briefly tempted to give up food as well when we saw two more field mice running across our kitchen floor.  Never in my life have I felt more like a city girl.

The landlord told me that it is common for a few field mice to get into houses in this area around this time a year.  He also said that all I needed to do to take care of it was set a few traps around the apartment and keep emptying and resetting them until there were no more mice.  After two sleepless nights, we finally went into town to buy the traps.  Ali found some easy, disposable traps that could not accidentally snap on my finger.  These traps were designed to kill the mice without us ever having to see them, and they did their job the very night that we set them.  We haven't seen a mouse in our house since, though we have more traps set just in case. 

As much as it disturbed me, I am so very grateful to God that I saw those mice when I did.  Ali was able to identify and plug a tiny hole in the bathroom through which the mice had probably entered the apartment, and we were able to take care of the problem fairly quickly.  Had we not seen them, the mice may have gotten into the food supply, chewed up wires or gotten up into higher cabinets.  Worse yet, if unchecked they may have reproduced and caused a real problem for us.  Seeing the mice out in the open forced me to confront address the issue before it the mice got out of control and did more damage.

Trials have a way of exposing the "field mice" in our lives, those  little hidden fears, hurts and weaknesses that lurk and move quietly through the walls of our soul.  This can evoke all kinds of feeling that we do not want to have, everything from annoyance to complete brokenness.  But in reality, becoming aware of our weaknesses can be a great blessing, because an awareness of our infirmaries can be the first step to healing.

In a sense too much worldly comfort (or more accurately, complacency) can be one of our greatest enemies, because it can suppress dangerous and destructive thoughts and emotions that we may not otherwise even know existed.  And sometimes we have to see the problem right in front of us in order to address it.
 
King Solomon was wise enough to acknowledge that the people of Israel would make mistakes and do things that would both offend God and harm themselves.  He knew that they would either ignore or be unaware of their sins for awhile, but that it would eventually bring them to a point of suffering that they knew could not solve.  He asked that God would have mercy upon them when in their desperations they finally acknowledged the "mouse in the room."  God's loving response to Solomon's prayer was this:

"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land." (II Chronicles 7:14)

Think about it.  Sicknesses are often healed when people discover a diagnosis, and thus know where to go for healing.  When you know you have a leaking pipe, you can call the plumber to fix it.   How wonderful it is when the mechanic finds the reason for that rattling in your car's engine, so that he or she  knows exactly how to fix it.

Even more so than these, trials can be a blessing when they expose  our sin, our unforgiveness, our confusions, weakness and past hurts.   How else would we know to confess them, own them and bring them to the great physician for healing? 

This will probably not be the last time we receive little unwanted visitors in our country home.  And I am certain that God is far from done working on all of the unhealthy "visitors" of sin an weakness in my heart.  I'll probably scream when I see another mouse some day, and I will not like the feeling of more exposed weakness in my life.  But I am so very grateful that God's grace can move me beyond that "Eeek" moments when sin and trials are first revealed, onto true healing and growth.

Happy Easter, my friends.

The value of lost keys

I lost my keys again this morning.

It is a fairly common occurrence, almost daily in fact.  But today it took longer to find them than usual.  I did not use my car yesterday, so that extra day in the house must have given the keys time to get good and lost  (if ever there was a case of walking keys, it would be mine).  Also, my daughter, who seems to have a gift for finding things that I lose, was at a friend's house.

So I was on my own.  Worse yet, I was already behind schedule.  Why is it that when I am in the biggest rush I end up taking four times as long to do the things that need to get done right away?

One might argue that one measly key is worth next to nothing.  With a quick trip to the local hardware store or Walmart I could reproduce almost any key I own in under five minute for less than $2.00.  To be completely honest, I have lost count of the number of keys I possess that seem to have no purpose at all.

Well, this morning that car key was worth much more to me than a cheap, reproducible piece of metal. It meant the difference between my staying home and going out.  It also marked the different between a day of boredom and lethargy and a day of purpose and fun.  As I began to feel frantic after not initially finding my car key, I thought it might even make the difference between peace of mind and insanity.

You see, my husband is out of town with the only other copy we have of that key.  So there was only one key made to accomplish the two specific purposes of unlocking and starting my car.  And without that key to accomplish its very specific purpose, I could not get out to accomplish my goals and purposes for the day.  This morning that piece of tin meant enough to me that I dropped everything else I was doing to search until I found it.

If one key could matter that much to me, then how much more must each and every human being matter to God?

In Luke 15 Jesus shares three stories to illustrate God's immense, self-sacrificing love for each and every one of us.  Like a good shepherd," God would leave the rest of the 100 sheep flock to focus on just one lost sheep who has gone astray.  Like a mistress of the household who has lost a day's wages, God would abandon all else to search for one missing coin, even with nine other coins available. Like a father, God would focus and celebrate over the return of a wayward child, even as the faithful child continues to work in the fields.

These actions may at first seem illogical, or even inconsiderate.  I mean, who would risk losing 99% of the flock, the "good sheep," to go after the one that is known to stray?  Instead of racking one's brain over a missing 10% of wages, why not focus on investing the 90% that is there?  And why step away from the loyal worker to reward the son who has squandered half your wealth and basically told you that you were dead to him?

Thankfully, we serve a God who can be everywhere at once, a God who can go after the lost without ever abandoning the faithful.  But that's not really what these parables are about.  They are all about the lost keys.  (I realize that I just explained a parable with a parable, but please bear with me for a second.)

Like keys, God makes every single person with a specific design and purpose.  Unlike keys, God does not ever make cheap copies.  There never has been, nor will there ever be, a person exactly like me with the specific design and purposes has placed into my life. The same is true for every person reading this, and for every person who will never read this.  It is easy to look at a crowd of people like a bucket of random keys.  But God sees the doors that every key can open.  The fact that no one else will ever fit the exact function that we were created to fill makes us all the more valuable.

It grieves God when we stray from the special gifts and callings for which we were created.  It grieves God when we live in a state of perpetual blindness, confusion, guilt or anger.  This is not because God needs us to get things done.  The creator of the universe can do anything in less than a blink, with or without us.  It's about sharing the joy.

What parent (or grandparent or teach or mentor) doesn't swell with joy and pride when they see a child begin fulfilling their potential and grow in healthy ways? I'm so glad that my heavenly Papa loves me so much, and I pray that each person reading this will become more and more aware of God's special plan and purpose for your life.

Update:  After what seemed to me like an eternity (probably 20 minutes or so), I did eventually find my keys on that very morning.  I discovered that while deciding on what to wear earlier that day I had somehow managed to throw an unwanted article of clothing right on top of them on my dresser.  Did I rejoice when I found them?  Oh yes.  Did I thank the Lord for guiding me to the keys' secret location and saving my day? Absolutely!  Will I ever again lose my keys?  I would be shocked if I didn't.  After all, I am an mess, God's anointed mess.

The people make the party: lesson #4 from a Mexican fiesta

I have thrown exactly one authentic Mexican fiesta in my life.  What an incredible experience! Upon reflection of this party of a lifetime, I realize that the experience left me with several life lessons that I carry with me even to this day, over 20 years later.

Lesson #4- The people make the party

In recent years the word "partying" has receive some bad press.  It often refers to wild, out of control raves, which often include excessive alcohol, various forms of illegal substances and generally dangerous behavior.  In my mind these kinds of unhealthy elements actually detract from the happiness, health and fond memories that a good party would promote.

When I say "partying," I am talking about a genuine, joyful celebration.  I found that in Mexico it did not take much money or time to bring about these kinds of memorable festivities.  In fact, no amount of time, money, food or decorations could have created the desired effects.

A party is only as good as the people involved.  The joy with which my friends in Mexico helped prepare food, make piñatas, decorate, and prepare entertainment (none of which I could have even begun to do on my own) laid a great foundation for this experience.  Even more important than the physical elements, the lively and genuine interactions between the guests is what best defined our celebration.

Though everything looked, tasted and sounded fantastic, that only enhanced the most important things. It occurred to me that we could have had a great time together even without the all of the visual and culinary "extras."

Getting together to celebrate our life and relationships is not just a good idea.  It's a Scriptural command.  Hebrews 10:24-25 says this:

"Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,  not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another...."

As the original recipients of this command, the Hebrews (or Jews) were no strangers to a party.  The book of Leviticus outlines several major Jewish festivals to celebrate their godly heritage throughout the year, all coming at the instruction and ordination of the LORD.  The festivals varied in length and purpose, but every one of them had two elements in common: they all involved a gathering of people and they all celebrated some aspect of God's love and provision for them.  Several of these festivals lasted days, and even weeks.

So in a sense, God is the original party animal.  Worship in it's best and purest sense is a celebration of who God is and what God does.  While worship can and should sometimes happen privately, there can also be something so exciting and fun about sharing our lives with one another in encouraging and upbeat ways.

It saddens me to know how many people view Sunday services as an unpleasant obligation, a bore and a stress.  To me it's one of the very best times of my week.  It's not just about the music or the sermon (though I love both).  If that was all I needed, I could simply stay home and dial up recorded sermons and worship Youtube.

The party is about the people.  I refer to more that just Sunday morning formalities.  The celebration might include a midweek small group, a visit to a friend, coffee with a friend, an uplifting personal message on Facebook or an encouraging phone call.

I confess that I all too often get caught up in the wrong kind of a party, a pity party over all of the physical things that I do no possess. But God has reminded me of just how richly blessed we are in friends and family who serve as daily reminders of God's love and provision.  Truly, the more often I choose to celebrate God's gifts with loved ones, the more reasons I find to keep the party going.

Choose moments over minutes- lesson #3 from a Mexican fiesta

I have thrown exactly one authentic Mexican fiesta in my life.  What an incredible experience! Upon reflection of this party of a lifetime, I realize that the experience left me with several life lessons that I carry with me even to this day, over 20 years later.

Lesson #3- Choose moments over minutes

When I invited friends to the fiesta, I requested that they be there by a certain specific time. I thought that they understood the importance of promptness, given that this fiesta served as a surprise birthday party.  So one might imagine my dismay when only a small percentage of the confirmed guests had arrived to shout "sorpresa" by the time my friend arrived. However, all of the guests did arrive... eventually.

I also shared my expectation of a specific time when the party would end.  The party eventually began to die down about two and half hours after my initial projection.  Even the young families stayed late, with parents safely placing weary young children aside to sleep as they continued to celebrate.  The guests did not completely trickle out of the scene until after midnight.  I simply could not make them leave.  Actually, I did not want to make them leave.  Once I settled down enough to throw away my schedule, I had great fun just being with such beautiful people as we partook of the music, food and festivities into the later hours of the night.

The guests' timing should not have surprised me.  Over the month I had already spent in Mexico, I could not recall many meetings or other events that began or ended "on time."  This did not seem to bother anyone but me (and perhaps one or two of my ministry team members).  I suppose mine were the only eyes that watched the clock. 

I eventually came to realize that my friends in Mexico valued time at least as much as I did, and possibly more so.  They just measured it differently than I did.  I lived for the minutes, planning for the expected, very controlled "blessings" that could fit into my own preconceived schedule.   They lived for the moments, receiving God's blessings with gratitude as they arrived, and not quick to cut memories short or move on from times of joy and celebration.   

I am certain that when our LORD walked this earth in human form, he valued the moment far more than the minute.

The Bible does not offer any specific teachings that warn against the dangers of becoming too rigid and attached to our strict schedules.  This is partly because they did not yet have the technology to create or adhere to minute by minute planning (think sundials, not electric clocks).  In fact, there is not a single mention of minutes or seconds in the entire Bible.

When times are mentioned, they usually correspond to days, or approximate times of the day, as they relate to correlating tasks or events.  For example, the sabbath was a day of the week for rest, people began festivals on certain days of certain months, and "the 11th hour" referred to the last part of a full day's work.  But it would have been impossible to record or plan even the hours with great precision.

The Gospels does tell of several examples where Jesus would be considered "late to the party" by modern American standards.  He and his disciples arrived so "late" at a wedding in Cana that they had already run out of wine.  Yet it was just in time for his first public miracle of turning the water into wine.  He arrived days "too late" to save his his friend Lazarus from death, and yet he was right on time to raise him from the dead.  Even as a youth he lingered at the Temple in Jerusalem after his parents began their journey back to Nazareth, citing and understanding that it was more important to be about his (heavenly) Father's business.

And still there were more times when he lingered far longer that what I in my own mind might consider fashionable, or even sensible.  He spent days on the mountainside teaching and preaching to a crowd, ultimately feeding their hungering bodies with physical food after filling their spirits with the bread of life.  He "slept in" on the boat, in no hurry to rebuke the wind and waves while his disciples fought for their lives.  And yet he woke up in time to end the storm with only a few words.  He sat on a mountain and prayed for so long that even his three closest friends began to fall asleep.  And their spirits shook to life as they witnessed Christ's transfiguration and revelation as the Son of God.

Can you imagine missing moments like these simply because they do not fit into our schedule, because we had planned something else in that place?  And yet I wonder how many glory moments I have missed, or brushed aside, simply because they did not fit into my preconceived notion of what should be happening right at that time.  

I still value punctuality, probably far too much.  I do not want to let people down by being late, and I desire to be a good steward of the time God has given me.  And yet I still desire the moments, the memories above my daily structure. 

Lord, please open my eyes to those timeless moments of eternity that you offer.  May I value your gifts over my plans, your timing over my schedule, your way over my will.  I want to receive and cherish every "God moment" that you would give me.

No need to fear the knives: lesson #2 from a Mexican fiesta

I have thrown exactly one authentic Mexican fiesta in my life.  What an incredible experience! Upon reflection of this party of a lifetime, I realize that the experience left me with several life lessons that I carry with me even to this day, over 20 years later.

Lesson #2- Don't fear the knives!

As I mentioned in my last blog, the fiesta included some top notch entertainment. A local minister whom I had met had been raised in a children's home where he learned two unique skills: mariachi singing and machete dancing.  He shared both skills as part of that night's celebration.

The singing enthralled me.  The machete knives scared me, though oddly enough they also thrilled me.  The thrill kept me eyes glued to the performance.  The terror kept me from getting too close.  I felt skiddish enough around people who swing sharp objects.  This gentleman was throwing them. 

Seeing the look on my face, he jokingly swung a knife in my direction.  My reactions seemed to serve as reciprocal entertainment for the performer.

Amazingly enough, I did not die that night.  The knives did not even touch me.  Even as my new friend jested with me, he and I both knew that he was in complete control of his machetes the whole time.  In the hands of an untrained performer, the machetes would have been cause for great concern and prompt evacuation. In the hands of this expert, these same instruments became a source of joy and elation, supported by an underlying security in the fact that he knew exactly what he was doing.

If I could trust my life and my safety to a man whom I had just met, than how much more can we trust the God of the universe to manage our problems, our issues, our plans... our everything?

Seriously, we humans deal with some pretty heavy, highly terrifying issues in life.  When we trust anything or anyone but God to handle it, we honestly have very good reason for fear.  I mean, you might as well give me a bunch of heavy knives and stand close while I swing them around. I would probably either kill or seriously mame us both; or I would drop the knives and begin weeping heavily from the stress of it all.  

I am not saying that any time we mistakenly try to do things on our own we will die.  God's grace is greater than our foolishness.  On the contrary, when we lean into God's will, we have absolutely no reason to fear.  God is the ultimate master over all things, in complete control.

Here's an old faithful promise from a well know passage in Psalm 23:

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4, KJV)

A more contemporary version of the Scripture says it this way:


"Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4, NIV 2011)

This is shepherding language.  Though pretty and highly useful, sheep are about as intelligent as a box of nails, and they are completely dependent upon the shepherd to guide them and keep them safe.  Though humans have higher skill and intellect that these animals, we are like a bunch of sheep when dwarfed by the immense struggles we face in life.

Fortunately, we have the greatest shepherd to guide and protect our lives, if we choose to follow.  The challenge for me, and for all of us, is to align our lives under God's care, and to rest in the fact that when through obedient faith we lean into God's grace, we have no reason to fear any of the dangers of life. 

This is a lesson that I am still learning.  It is one that I would like to master.  Who wants to live in fear of what knives might be thrown into our lives?  I want to live my life in thrilled faith, hope and wonder as I experience how God masters all of life's struggle on my behalf.  Whose with me?