It’s A Wonderful Life?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ‭? ‬Shall tribulation,‭ ‬or distress,‭ ‬or persecution,‭ ‬or famine,‭ ‬or nakedness,‭ ‬or danger,‭ ‬or sword‭? ‬As it is written,‭ “‬For your sake we are being killed all the day long‭; ‬we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.‭” ‬Romans‭ ‬8:35-36‭
At our house, it’s not really Christmas until‭ ‬we indulge in that old movie where Jimmy Stewart discovers the value of his ordinary life,‭ ‬and our throats get tight and our eyes water,‭ ‬hoping the same is true of all of us.‭ ‬He doesn’t get to do anything he wanted to do - travel, write, build, experience -‭ ‬but his tragedies and losses turned out for the good for himself and multitudes of others.‭ ‬We feel it so deeply that in our troubles, we turn around and tell each other,‭ “‬God has a plan.‭ ‬This will work out for good.‭” ‬and remind ourselves of Romans‭ ‬8:28.‭
Of course, for many of those going through the deepest tragedies of their lives,‭ their “dark night of the soul" ‬this is cold comfort at best.‭ They don’t want it to “feel good", they want it to be “over and done." And they especially yearn that it never happened at all!
Take Joseph. Betrayed by his brothers, believed to be dead by his father, enslaved, and then betrayed again. Hard luck just seemed to dog his tracks, and the dreams that had brightened his early days must have seemed like a mockery. And yet, in slavery and in jail, like cream, he kept floating to the top.
The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed. Genesis 39:23
He had amazing success in the midst of really bad circumstances, yet he longed to be free. Just like you or I would. The joy of being the apple of the warden’s eye was dramatically dimmed by the whole “unjustly accused in prison” thing.
Most of us facing tough times in our lives would prefer they had never happened, or that they would be over soon (like, yesterday). Even when we live by faith and are trusting that God’s purpose is being worked out, it can be hard to take. Rejoicing in tribulation is a fine thing - in theory. In practice? It’s not for the faint of heart.
And yet, Joseph and Jimmy give us a great reminder that the disappointments and griefs of our lives are not the end of the story. For the Christian, that ending was written in the blood of the Lamb, and no matter what our current circumstances look like there is a great day coming.
No, in all these things we are triumphantly victorious due to the One who loved us. Romans 8:37
Look at it this way: God has a wonderful plan for your ETERNITY. And He has an IMPORTANT plan for your life. Not easy. Important.
Hang in there. Be faithful. There’s more to your story than you know, and there’s a Better Day coming!

Barbarians!

1 Corinthians 14:10-11 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a barbarian to the speaker and the speaker a barbarian to me.
We tend to think of barbarians like they are presented in movies and comics, guys in furry vests with horns on their helmets, primitive and violent, (and speaking English like a Schwarzenegger) but the word itself has a slightly more high class origin.
“Bar-bar-bar”. That’s the source of the term “barbarian”. Greeks thought it funny to mock non-Greeks by saying that that’s what their native tongues sounded like, and to them, anyone who wasn’t Greek was a “bar-bar-bar-barian”, no matter how they dressed. Most of us are familiar with similar thinking today. Not long ago, a news service got into trouble by reporting that the pilot of a crashed Asiana airplane was named “Sum Ting Wong” (bad pidgin for “Some Thing Wrong”), along with crew members “Wi Tu Low” (we too low), and “Bang Din Ow” (you figure it out). They broadcast the report before anyone noticed someone had been pulling their leg. Making bad jokes out of unusual accents and unknown languages has been around for a long time.
Genesis 11:9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
Language is primarily about the exchange of information. Ever since Babel, there have been misunderstandings between people - some catastrophic - because of breakdowns of language. If you are at the beach in Cancun and suddenly people are screaming “tiburon”, if might take you a very important minute to discover you should get out of the water now, since the "Jaws" theme music is about to start playing! (You could make a case that their should be some universal across-every-language words that are the same everywhere, and “shark” is one of them!)
Most of us are actually multi-lingual in some measure. We speak Japanese: “Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki”, Cooking: “2 tsps. salt, 4 lbs. flour, microwave on high”, Religious: “Rapture, Saved, Baptize”, Music: “Rap, Rock, Folk, DJ”, and many others, with varying levels of fluency.
I heard recently that one way to stave off senility was to keep learning, and learning language was touted as one of the better ways to do that. Let me suggest that one of the best languages we can spend our time learning is the language of Heaven.
I’m going to set your mind at ease, I’m not talking about Greek or Hebrew, or any other human tongue. I’m talking about a way of communicating that we can practice on Earth that will be essential in Heaven, as it will be the only one in use: Love. I could (and often do) talk about the various Greek words and what they mean, but the bottom line is that it is THE language that distinguishes God’s people from the World’s people.
John 13:35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Put your energy into learning this, and you’ll be ready for Heaven when you get there!

What’s In Your Ark?

Hebrews 9:3-5 After the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we can’t speak now in detail.
A fedora, a leather jacket, a (toy) revolver, and a (Dad-gineered) bull whip, and my son had his favorite Halloween costume of all time. He wore it “trick-or-treating" at least twice and would have worn it more but he out grew it. He still has the hat.
We were all big fans of the first Indiana Jones movie, wore out at least one VHS tape, but it was not a great place to get your Biblical history fix. For the record, there were no laser beams or face-melting angels associated with the Ark in the Bible - or any other piece of literature prior to the movie. That was all Hollywood.
But the Ark was real, and it had a real purpose, one worth knowing about today.
Take the jar of manna. They were to remember for all generations that God had miraculously provided sustenance for them in the harshest of environments - and not just survival food, but delicious and nutritious never seen before or since prosperity food. The honey-and-wafers taste was a hint of the milk-and-honey promise, and God fed over a million of them for 40 years in a desert. Seeing that, we ought to know that our piddling little problems are no match for His incredible power.
Then there was Aaron’s budding rod. When fearful and jealous people grumbled against Moses and Aaron, God demonstrated His calling by making Aaron’s rod - a dry stick that he had most likely been carrying for years - sprout with leaves, flowers, and almonds. Two things about that. One, the God who appoints a leader is able and willing to support that leader, and ‘B’, it’s never a good idea to bad-mouth God’s chosen ones.
And of course, there were the stone Tablets of the Law. Written on them were the Ten Commandments that expressed the heart of God’s covenant - His responsibilities and promises and those of His people. Oh, and He wrote it Himself with His finger, you might say His Signature, that He would do what He said. Now follow that up with the miracles He worked as the Ark went before the people - the River Jordan standing up to let them pass, the walls of Jericho falling down, and you begin to see its power and value, that it represented not only what God could do, but what He had done, and more than that, His active presence working and defending His own.
Don’t you wish you had one of those? Well, you can, and you don’t even need acacia wood to build it. For the believer, we carry the Ark of God in our hearts, as we remember the good things He has done for us, the times He has rescued us, and the times He has forgiven us. Our Ark is the Cross, covered in the precious blood of Christ, marking the once-for-all sacrifice that leads us into the Land of His Promise and Provision. What He has done before, He is still doing. Remember that, and let this new Ark go before you to bless your way!

​Professional?

​​​​I love the LORD ​​​​​​because he heard my plea for mercy, ​​​​​​​and listened to me. ​​​​​​As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help. Psalm 116:1-2
Heard this not long ago: The professional is paid to be good. The amateur is good for nothing.

It was worth a chuckle, but then it started me thinking. Since I receive a salary to serve as pastor, do people consider me to be a "professional Christian"? Honestly, I don't feel very "professional" when it comes to matters of faith. Like you, I find it easier to preach 10 sermons than to live out one! But I'm not like one preacher I heard about. His first sermon at his new church was delivered to great approval from the congregation. The next week, he preached the same message. The third Sunday, same thing. When the peeved members asked him about it, he said, “When you start doing this one, I'll preach you another one.” I'd probably get tired of that long before my listeners, so no risk of that!
Then I asked myself, "What IS the difference between an amateur and a professional, other than cash?" Both have natural talent. Both have skills. Both have admirers. Usually, the professional began as an amateur, then through practice, training, and sweat developed skills that took him or her to the next level, the level where they pay you to do what you love - in the best case scenario, anyway.
So, am I a "professional"? Yes. And no! I receive a salary to enable me the freedom to do what I love in response to God's call, which makes me a professional Pastor. But I'm an Amateur Christian, in the best sense of that word.
Originally, an amateur was "someone who does something out of love". In my piano- and guitar- playing, I'm strictly an
amateur. In singing, maybe I'm "semi-pro", but in matters of faith I'm gloriously, blessedly, amateurishly living for love!

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman

What has made me "come alive" is not the preaching event – though I love it - or the fancy wardrobe – yeah, right - or the respectful titles – not hardly! - but the Savior who reached out to me in my ignorance and rebellion, forgave my sin, enlivened my soul with His joy and then called me to join him. No matter how I make my living, I hope to always be an Amateur for Jesus, and I hope you are too!

Better Than Biscuits

Matthew 6:5 “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!
I try to avoid “preaching” through my prayers. There's a real risk I'd be praying to the wrong audience – people. It's like the little boy saying his prayers before bed one night. His mom said, “I can't hear you, son.” He answered, “I wasn't talking to you.” Real praying is talking to God from the heart. It's not usually fancy or pretty. It is often a struggle, desperate, and not worried about public critique, “Lord, if you don't do something, we're sunk!”
I suspect we've all heard someone telling us what he thinks we should do under the pretense of talking to God, usually with good intentions, but it's risky. However, I came across this one that I thought was too good not to share, so here you are:

The new pastor called on one of his older deacons to lead the opening prayer. He stood, bowed, and prayed most uniquely, “Lord, I hate buttermilk, and Lord, I hate lard, and I'm not crazy about plain flour, Lord, but when my wife mixes them together and bakes them just right, I just love hot biscuits!
Lord, help us realize that when life gets hard, when it's sour, or bitter, or tasteless, whenever we don't understand what you're doing, that we need to wait and see what you're making. After you get it all together and put it through the fire, it'll probably be something even better than biscuits. Amen.”

Pretty good sermon material, isn't it? I'm guessing that deacon thought the congregation needed that message, and took the opportunity to share it. After all, our perspective is pretty limited, and we often don't know how any particular event will fit into God's eternal plan. We do know and believe that whatever is happening down here in this life is preparation for what is coming in the Next. We should know that He knows what He's doing, and when He's done, it will be wonderful. It's a good reminder to us to take the long view. Like Peter and the Apostles, “...we have believed (faith-ed) and come to know (are certain)...” that God through Christ Jesus is in control.
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Two requirements for the Called, Love God and Trust God. His “biscuits” will be so good, you don't even have to bring your own gravy! He's got this, so trust that He will work it together for Good!

A Tempest

Psalm 55:8 I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.”
Whenever there is a storm, and especially if we come under a Tornado Watch or Warning, we glue ourselves to the weather reports while we make what preparations we can, and then we wait to see what will happen. Last week, our nerves were tested once again as reports flew about the oncoming storm and we wondered if we would see a repeat of 2011.
For most of us, the answer was “No”, but a few miles away in Pickens County the Bomb dropped. We know what that looks like. Roofs ripped off. Walls collapsed. Mobile homes turned into confetti. Mighty oaks become toothpicks.
Driving through the Sapps community above Aliceville was a rewind of Tuscaloosa, and I wondered how anyone survived this.
Then I saw the Shelter.
The Shelter was a carefully engineered and built concrete and steel structure, rated to hold 96 adults while withstanding winds in excess of 240 mph, and it stood solidly in place while a structure just 50 feet away was reduced to kindling. During the storm, it was packed to the gills, with over 200 people crammed in. That's right, well over 200. I was able to chat with a couple of men who were among the last to enter, and in their words, they “just barely got in.”
Knowing human nature as I do, I suspect there were some inside that wanted to complain about close quarters or someone stepping on their feet, but no one ever said so to me. After seeing what became of their world outside, I doubt any of them had anything bad to say about their experience – except their determination to build a second shelter and make sure that everyone had access. The few who rode out the storm in their homes – surprised by its speed, caught trying to help someone moving too slow, or not believing the warning – dramatically tested their prayer life.
One of the men from the shelter told me that the storm came and went in minutes. There were hours and hours, even days of warning, but the storm itself did not tarry in one place for long. It was over almost before they knew it, leaving rampant destruction in its wake, and many surprised with the joy they felt in surviving even though they had lost almost everything.
They were glad they had heeded the warning and hid themselves from danger. I know about that.
As a child, I heard the warning of impending doom and sought Shelter in Christ. Ever since, my mission in life is to warn others of the Tempest and open to them the Door of Salvation. Don't wait until the Storm is upon you! Come into the Shelter while there's still time! One day very soon, it will be too late!

Matthew 7:26-27 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”