52 weeks, 52 verses. Check out the button.
Week one.
"Dear friends let us love one another because love is from God and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God. The person who does not love does not know God because God is love."
1 John 4:7-8
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Picking Pecans
I have had a quite a list of things to do around the house and yard. I don't try to get it all done. I was alone with my infant son today listening to Sinatra and working on a bathroom project. In the middle of some very important and precise measurement taking he decided that he wanted to be the center of my world...and after only a few minutes hesitation I let him. It has gotten easier and easier over the years to set aside tools, books, computers, etc to just sit with one or more of my children. Who knew it would take so long and be so hard for me to learn to just sit, clear my mind, and absorb whatever beautiful chaos comes forth from my children. Maybe now I can do the same with Jesus.
There are some pecan trees on my neighbor's side of the property line that hang way out over my property and drop their golden produce on my grass. He graciously (probably unknowingly and uncaringly...but I have given him the benefit of the doubt!) has said nothing about it. Normally, we gather a few of the precious nuts but the majority are left for the squirrels. However, every year more and more little pecan trees shoot up from my grass in the spring. I mow them down but they have become a slight nuisance. Every year I consider mounting an expedition to gather the nuts; but I invariably avoid the whole process of getting down on my hands and knees in the wet, mushy grass whilst scrounging for nuts, many of which still bear remnants of their outer husks. Thus, my dilemma.
I almost had a solution this year. I included nut gathering as one of my children's disciplines. But school and inclement weather have conspired against me. The nuts are on the ground now and should be gathered quickly to avoid losing the meat to rot and mold. What to do?!
This is one of those problems that I did not take to The Lord because I know that I don't have a problem that couldn't be solved by a little put-out. But He decided to intervene anyway. I found myself waiting for a delivery this afternoon. The vendor had called and said he was on the way...minutes away. While standing on the front lawn, surrounded by hundreds of pecans, I saw an empty 5 gallon bucket and decided to pick up a few nuts. 2 hours later the delivery arrived...I had 20lbs of nuts and a mostly clear lawn! My fingers are a bit raw right now but not bleeding.
I had a thought while kneeling in the grass today. Why did I struggle for so long against completing such a simple task? Then I considered other simple tasks I often leave undone...many of them spiritual. The damage done to my lawn is an annoyance and fairly minimal, but will require serious and extended work to undo. The damage to my soul and relationship with Jesus is, shall we say, much more vital.
My lawn still performs its ornamental task. It looks fine, especially from a distance. But it fails when it comes to practicality. One cannot run and jump or roll around on this lawn! And while I may look allright to passersby, my fellowship with The Lord suffers from inactivity; and the results are the same: inactivity.
So...my prayer tonight is that I will stop leaving the pecans on the lawn...and stop leaving Jesus alone. I want to spend more thoughts considering Him, more time hearing/reading His Words, and more activities devoted to pursuing His will. Amen.
There are some pecan trees on my neighbor's side of the property line that hang way out over my property and drop their golden produce on my grass. He graciously (probably unknowingly and uncaringly...but I have given him the benefit of the doubt!) has said nothing about it. Normally, we gather a few of the precious nuts but the majority are left for the squirrels. However, every year more and more little pecan trees shoot up from my grass in the spring. I mow them down but they have become a slight nuisance. Every year I consider mounting an expedition to gather the nuts; but I invariably avoid the whole process of getting down on my hands and knees in the wet, mushy grass whilst scrounging for nuts, many of which still bear remnants of their outer husks. Thus, my dilemma.
I almost had a solution this year. I included nut gathering as one of my children's disciplines. But school and inclement weather have conspired against me. The nuts are on the ground now and should be gathered quickly to avoid losing the meat to rot and mold. What to do?!
This is one of those problems that I did not take to The Lord because I know that I don't have a problem that couldn't be solved by a little put-out. But He decided to intervene anyway. I found myself waiting for a delivery this afternoon. The vendor had called and said he was on the way...minutes away. While standing on the front lawn, surrounded by hundreds of pecans, I saw an empty 5 gallon bucket and decided to pick up a few nuts. 2 hours later the delivery arrived...I had 20lbs of nuts and a mostly clear lawn! My fingers are a bit raw right now but not bleeding.
I had a thought while kneeling in the grass today. Why did I struggle for so long against completing such a simple task? Then I considered other simple tasks I often leave undone...many of them spiritual. The damage done to my lawn is an annoyance and fairly minimal, but will require serious and extended work to undo. The damage to my soul and relationship with Jesus is, shall we say, much more vital.
My lawn still performs its ornamental task. It looks fine, especially from a distance. But it fails when it comes to practicality. One cannot run and jump or roll around on this lawn! And while I may look allright to passersby, my fellowship with The Lord suffers from inactivity; and the results are the same: inactivity.
So...my prayer tonight is that I will stop leaving the pecans on the lawn...and stop leaving Jesus alone. I want to spend more thoughts considering Him, more time hearing/reading His Words, and more activities devoted to pursuing His will. Amen.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Shoeboxes and Shipwrecks
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. It was also recently (2009) named the most violent city outside a war zone and the murder capital of the world. Federal police and military arrived in the town by the thousands over the last few years and have improved things a little. But there is still a lot of violence, sadness, poverty, and need. A Marine buddy of mine calls it "a shoot your way in, stab your way out" kind of city...second only to Damascus!
My church started going down there in the midst of the chaos in 2009 to a church called Amigo Fiel to hand out Christmas Shoeboxes. I was immediately intrigued and wanted to go help. But I did not make the time or save the money to do so. I silently prayed each year that time and money would become available...and this year they did! Thank you Lord!
So, in a bit I head off to Juarez for a few days of making kids smile. Churches call it a "short-term mission trip". I am a little embarrassed and uncomfortable calling it a "mission trip" at all...playing with kids and handing out toys hardly compares to years of shipwrecks, beatings, snake-bites, starvation, exposure, and isolation that real missionaries face. But, like long-term missionaries, I am handing this time over to God and the coordinators He has entrusted with this endeavor. I have made myself available to serve His good purposes...whatever they may be.
Please pray for me and the team I will be serving with. Make mention of our families who remain behind to keep the home fires burning. And may God's will be done in our lives. Amen.
My church started going down there in the midst of the chaos in 2009 to a church called Amigo Fiel to hand out Christmas Shoeboxes. I was immediately intrigued and wanted to go help. But I did not make the time or save the money to do so. I silently prayed each year that time and money would become available...and this year they did! Thank you Lord!
So, in a bit I head off to Juarez for a few days of making kids smile. Churches call it a "short-term mission trip". I am a little embarrassed and uncomfortable calling it a "mission trip" at all...playing with kids and handing out toys hardly compares to years of shipwrecks, beatings, snake-bites, starvation, exposure, and isolation that real missionaries face. But, like long-term missionaries, I am handing this time over to God and the coordinators He has entrusted with this endeavor. I have made myself available to serve His good purposes...whatever they may be.
Please pray for me and the team I will be serving with. Make mention of our families who remain behind to keep the home fires burning. And may God's will be done in our lives. Amen.
She did it again!!
My wife has, once again, found a show on TV, watched it for a few years, and then (despite my sustained efforts) hooked and reeled me in. I instinctively set up barriers to any shows she watches and tries to get me to watch with her. Years of watching her be entertained by reality (FAKE) shows, melodramatics Lifetime movies, Hallmark yawners, etc have left me scarred. But every once in a while her persistence pays off. After many years she got me watching ER.(post-Clooney), sucked me into Lost midway through the first season, pulled me towards Grey's Anatomy after about season 4, twisted the knife with Friday Night Lights the year it ended, pummeled me with CSI about season 3, and really blindsided me with NCIS (which I fought hard because the lead character was a Marine and TV always messes that up and she had been wildly unsuccessful with JAG!).
Well, she has struck again!! For two years she has watched Downton Abbey. Tonight I was ambushed and watched my willpower melt away. Blimey, I'm knackered! Ta-ta mates.
Well, she has struck again!! For two years she has watched Downton Abbey. Tonight I was ambushed and watched my willpower melt away. Blimey, I'm knackered! Ta-ta mates.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Fantastical Faith
The event that followed Jesus' sermon on the mount (the Beatitudes) was divinely appointed to, I believe, provide the people with an example of how to carry out some of Jesus' radical commands given during that message. This event was the healing of the centurion's servant (Mark 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10) Here are some things I have observed. If I have misinterpreted (or just plain missed) anything concerning this event, please let me know.
Jesus doesn't seem to have had any major interaction with Gentiles yet. He has just started His ministry in the region of Galilee and was hanging out in what would be His central headquarters, Capernuam. His twelve disciples have been selected and He has already had a few run-ins with the Jewish religious leaders. He has also started healing everything from fevers to leprosy. And He has taught the people with an authority they have never seen before.
A Roman centurion, via the local Jewish elders, sends a request to Jesus that He heal his servant. There are several weird and strange things going on here:
1--the centurion seems to care about his slave...not normal since slaves were commonly considered property not people.
2--the centurion cares for the Jews...the Romans had conquered the Jews...they were not normally friends.
3--the Jews care for the centurion!
4--the centurion had the respect of the Jewish elders...no easy task since the Jews themselves had very little dealings with anyone outside their race. This man was a direct representation of the empire that had conquered them and was holding them in submission.
5--the Jewish elders were helping the centurion...again, the man was a Gentile and as such he was normally to be avoided, despised, and even hated...and he was a military soldier and as such was a dealer of death and torture to all of Rome's enemies. The Jews were enemies of Rome. The Maccabean Revolt and the later destruction of Jerusalem, among other events, testify to this.
6--the elders seem to believe that Jesus could do the deed; otherwise they probably would have talked the centurion into another course of action.
7--the centurion believed that Jesus could heal...how he came to such faith is what I would like to know most!
8-- the centurion humbly respected Jesus, a person whom he had apparently never met...and of whom he had such faith in and such understanding of.
So why all the funny business? Part of the answer, I am sure, is right there in the text. The Jew's devotion to the centurion can start to be easily explained by their avarice. The centurion has faith in Jesus as the great Authority (Creator, Lord, Master) of this world...he behaves like any Jesus-freak!
But the most important observations are of Jesus. I love watching Him in action.
--He readily agrees to help the centurion.
--He acquiesces to the centurion's humble desire to bother Him as little as possible.
--He recognizes the centurion's faith.
And what faith it is. Talk to you soon.
Jesus doesn't seem to have had any major interaction with Gentiles yet. He has just started His ministry in the region of Galilee and was hanging out in what would be His central headquarters, Capernuam. His twelve disciples have been selected and He has already had a few run-ins with the Jewish religious leaders. He has also started healing everything from fevers to leprosy. And He has taught the people with an authority they have never seen before.
A Roman centurion, via the local Jewish elders, sends a request to Jesus that He heal his servant. There are several weird and strange things going on here:
1--the centurion seems to care about his slave...not normal since slaves were commonly considered property not people.
2--the centurion cares for the Jews...the Romans had conquered the Jews...they were not normally friends.
3--the Jews care for the centurion!
4--the centurion had the respect of the Jewish elders...no easy task since the Jews themselves had very little dealings with anyone outside their race. This man was a direct representation of the empire that had conquered them and was holding them in submission.
5--the Jewish elders were helping the centurion...again, the man was a Gentile and as such he was normally to be avoided, despised, and even hated...and he was a military soldier and as such was a dealer of death and torture to all of Rome's enemies. The Jews were enemies of Rome. The Maccabean Revolt and the later destruction of Jerusalem, among other events, testify to this.
6--the elders seem to believe that Jesus could do the deed; otherwise they probably would have talked the centurion into another course of action.
7--the centurion believed that Jesus could heal...how he came to such faith is what I would like to know most!
8-- the centurion humbly respected Jesus, a person whom he had apparently never met...and of whom he had such faith in and such understanding of.
So why all the funny business? Part of the answer, I am sure, is right there in the text. The Jew's devotion to the centurion can start to be easily explained by their avarice. The centurion has faith in Jesus as the great Authority (Creator, Lord, Master) of this world...he behaves like any Jesus-freak!
But the most important observations are of Jesus. I love watching Him in action.
--He readily agrees to help the centurion.
--He acquiesces to the centurion's humble desire to bother Him as little as possible.
--He recognizes the centurion's faith.
And what faith it is. Talk to you soon.
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