An Ecclesiastes Kind of Mood

     Ever get in an Ecclesiastes kind of mood? This is how it begins and ends.
    "Meaningless! Meaningless!...Everything is meaningless!"..."Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: fear God & keeps His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing whether it is good or evil."
     Sometimes we get stuck in the beginning and never get to the end. It can be that way with many passages. You've heard, "read the last chapter, we win!" If we don't complete the thought we end up in a place God never intended. What happens if we stop at Romans 7..."What a wretched man I am!"? We never get to the therefore..."therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
     It seems to be easy for me to have bad days. Hey, bad days are Biblical. But they don't havta end that way. The amazing thing about the Psalms is how David so many times begins with whining and complaining and ends in worship. Just like David, we should end our day, begin it too, in worship to God.
     How great is our God, sing with me how great is our God and all will see, how great, how great is our God.
     God doesn't want me stay stuck. If anyone does, it's...me?

Both/And

     Yesterday was the anniversary of my marriage to Bonnie. 23 years. In worship we have testimony time, several people had shared things God had been doing. I was waiting to share about our anniversary. There was a long pause and before I could say something, Bonnie stood up and shared that she was married to a wonderful husband for the past 23 years. Then I stood up and said, "Hey, I was gonna say that, well not husband but wife." Laughter broke out. I've been thinking about that moment. That was very typical of our relationship. Bonnie is, more times than not, the outspoken one and I am, mostly, more standoffish. 
     So,am I, are we, the same way about our love for our Savior and our Heavenly Father? We will readily tell people, even strangers, that we love a certain sports team or movie or t.v. show or cereal or whatever. But I am not as bold in sharing not only my love for my wife, whom I do love deeply, but also my love for Jesus. People are supposed to just know, right? Unfortunately, I believe we've abused Augustine's quote, "Preach the Gospel, if necessary use words."
     Can people tell we are Christian by the way we live? Hopefully. Are we really any different? We live in a world full of "good", even "great" people; but without a true, life changing relationship with the Father through faith in the Son our "goodness" or "greatness" isn't enough. 
     "For there is no difference between Jew & Gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all & richly blesses all who call on him, for "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have never heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching (telling, my interpretation) to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news."...Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:12-15 &17
     So, I tell Bonnie I love her. I show Bonnie I love her through my actions. Is it either/or or both/and? It has to be both/and. There are times when Bonnie wants to hear, needs to hear, me say that I love her. She needs to hear those 3 words. And there are equally, maybe even more times, that she wants me, needs me, to show her I love her through my actions. 
     We have to do both. We have to tell and show. Not only in our own families do we need to tell and show them that we love them; but also to a lost and dying world who desperately needs to hear and be shown that they are loved by us and by their Heavenly Father, who loved them so much that He arranged a plan specifically for them to have a relationship that is true and living with Him. That relationship isn't only for now but for eternity.

Short and Sweet

God is able! He delivered the 3 Hebrews dudes from the fiery furnish. So I know He is able to deliver me, and there's not even a hint of smoke.

Bow the Knee

I'm introducing the chorus BOW THE KNEE Sunday night. I've used the whole song with the choir at Paris but haven't sung it here. I printed the full lyrics this morning as a reminder of how the song goes.

Bow the Knee

There are moments on our journey following the Lord

Where God illumines ev'ry step we take

There are times when circumstances make perfect sense to us

As we try to understand each move He makes

When the path grows dim and our questions have no answers turn to Him

Bow the knee trust the heart of your Father

When the answer goes beyond what you can see

Bow the knee lift your eyes toward heaven

And believe the One who holds eternity

And when you don't understand the purpose of His plan

In the presence of the King, bow the knee

There are days when clouds surround us and the rain begins to fall

The cold and lonely winds won't cease to blow

And there seems to be no reason for the suffering we feel

We are tempted to believe God does not know

When the storms arise, don't forget we live by faith and not by sight.

Bow the knee trust the heart of your Father

When the answer goes beyond what you can see

Bow the knee lift your eyes toward heaven

And believe the One who holds eternity

And when you don't understand the purpose of His plan

In the presence of the King, bow the knee

In the presence of your King, bow the knee

That is what I have to do but haven't done in awhile. Bowing the knee leads to total submission. Submission to God is black and white. We can't be sorta kinda submitting to God. If we are then we aren't.

I was also reminded today that I am the clay in the Potter's hand. Clay doesn't get to choose...Clay probably shouldn't speak...Only here for You to mold, I'm holding on, because I belong in Potter's hands. (Thanks Jeromy!)

So today, bow the knee.

God Is Good

God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

True. Truer than we know. It is against His nature to be anything other than good. This applies to all of the aspects of God that we can think of.

God is faithful all the time and all the time God is faithful.

God is holy all the time and all the time God is holy.

God is truth all the time and all the time God is truth.

He is totally, completely consistent with Himself. And because of this why would we, do we, trust in anyone else? The One who is love all the time, is love when we need Him. He's love even when we don't.

Everything, everything, EVERYTHING we need is found in God. So, why do we, as the old song says, keep "looking for love in all the wrong places."? We look for it all (love, peace, security, hope, acceptance, etc.) when He offers it freely to all who will receive.

It sounds so simple...God, I believe, help Thou my unbelief.

Day 779

February 21, 2008 was the day our world caved in. The day began as normal as any other day, but it didn't end that way. We woke as a family of 5, but before sunset that number was reduced by 40%...sorta. We are still and will always be a family of 5 but for now only Kayla and Alicia are living perfection. I remember family and friends consoling us with "I can't imagine what you are going through." My response became and continues to be to this statement, "I can't imagine imagining it." There are so many days that it seems like a dream.

For the first few months after everything happened, I could tell you how many weeks had passed since the "accident" (there are no accidents with God). Now the time just sails along. I was thinking about the time span this week as I was preparing to share a little of our story during our revival. This past Thursday would have been 111 weeks since everything happened. That equals 777 days. Pretty cool number Biblically speaking. Which puts us at Day 779 today. Each day God is faithful. He is constant. Do you know how I know? Each day still has 24 hours. Each day the sun still rises. Each day the sun will set. Each day is a blessing, some blessings more noticeable than others, but a blessing nonetheless. Each day His mercies are made new. Each day His grace is poured out without measure. Each day He reminds me that He loved me before there was time and He'll continue to love me even after time ceases to matter. Because of this eternal love, a plan was set into motion that included February 21, 2008 when He knew He would escort His and our beloved daughters into His everlasting presence. I still can't wrap my finite brain around that concept. But just as constant as the sun, so is His love, mercy, grace, protection and HOPE in our lives. Regardless of what may happen today, I have this constant!