Love Poll

When I viewed the site it seemed to be out of balance, so I thought I would add a poll asking about the things we love.  Rob Bell has a great Nooma video called “002 flame” that explores the three Hebrew words for love used in the Song of Songs.  We throw the word love around very casually in our culture. For example (from Rob Bell) we say, “I love tacos.” And then, we turn around and say, “I love my wife.” Hmmm, something to think about.  Watch the video at www.nooma.com   It is only about 11 minutes long.

Hate: Proverbs Project Continues

When is hate a good thing?  My quick response, and probably yours as well, is “never!”  Of course it’s OK to hate spiders (unless your name is Charlotte), rats, and other things that annoy us.  Don’t you just hate getting a sunburn on the first day of your vacation in Hawaii?  I personally hate grilled onions on my hamburgers.  What do you hate?  That’s the problem we run into with hate.  Things that annoy us long enough we begin to have a hate relationship with, especially when a person gets thrown into the mix once in a while.  Then there is the issue of evil and sin.  Do we hate these things?  Proverbs 8:13 says, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”  Is it possible that when we see these things reflected in our own lives we have become comfortable with them?  May we look into our lives and when evil behavior, pride, arrogance, and perverse speech are revealed, let us hate them enough to end our relationship with them altogether.

Learning From Clouds

Moving Clouds

 

When was the last time you sat down and watched the clouds go by?  When I was a kid I would kick back in the grass and watch the clouds form various shapes hoping to see something come to life.  As a kid it was easy to imagine lions, monsters, the hand of God, two lovers kissing, or all kinds of shapes dancing across the sky.  The fluffier the clouds and the faster the wind the more real those shapes would become.  Oh those were the days. 

Today I found myself in the grass watching the clouds go by for a few minutes.  I tried to remember the last time I had done that, and can only remember doing it as a kid.  As I looked across the valley I was able to see where the sunlight and the shadows met on the hillside.  Beyond that the clouds were thick and you could tell it was raining with little hope of seeing the sun there.  Where I was sitting the sun was bright and the view was beautiful.  All of a sudden I realized that over across the valley in the midst of the dark clouds there was someone looking out their window at the rain and seeing only grey.  If only they could have the perspective that I had.  If only they could see the beauty, the majesty, and that beyond the clouds there is a sun shining brightly.  Perspective.  May I see what God sees, even when it is raining in my world.

The path I am called to walk

Do you ever wake up in the morning and wish you could just stay in bed?  Since I am a morning person, there are very few mornings like that for me.  However, there are times at the end of the day I look back and wonder if it was worth getting out of bed.  It is not that the tasks were overly difficult, or I failed miserably, or I felt rejected by everyone, but rather it is the question: does what I did that day count for anything that really matters?  I know what you are thinking, “He should read The Purpose Driven Life.”  And you are right, at the end of the day it is about my purpose in life.  Does what I do count, does it matter?  I believe it does!  Not because I always feel like it, but because I have chosen to live doing the work I believe God has called me to.  Jesus said, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.”  There is one word that jumps out at me and screams, “Get Up!”  It is the word “we.”  Jesus included me in the call to do God’s work.  And he calls you.  May you and I get up every morning knowing we are working with Jesus.

Cardboard Testimony

Let me just say that after seeing this I had to post it.  Leave a comment.  What would your cardboard testimony be?

Apple Eye: Back to Proverbs Project

The apple of my eye.

Proverbs 7:2 says, “Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.”  Today’s meaning of the phrase “apple of your eye” is precious or favorite.  In the original language it literally means “deepest blackness” and refers to the pupil of your eye.  The center of the eye, the pupil, was considered to be the most important part of the eye, and the center of eyesight.  The eyelid will close quickly, by reflex, in order to protect your eyes.  Have you ever noticed how painful and irritating even a single speck of dust can be if gets into your eye?  It causes us to tear up, rub our eyes, blink constantly, stop what we are doing until it is removed.  How important it is that we guard the teachings and wisdom that God has given to us in his Word.  It is a great thing to think of God’s teachings as a favorite thing to us.  But like a toy at Christmas the importance will fade over time.  May we consider his teachings as central to everything we see and gaurd it like we do our eyes.

Falling Leaves

Falling Leaves, silk painting by Vivien Pollack

A few days ago we visited Ike Kinswa State Park.  As We drove into the park the road was covered in fallen leaves of all colors.  Walking around was a treat…we were the only ones there!  Part of what made it such a wonderful experience was our heightened awareness due to the sign we encountered at the path entrance:  “Bear and Cougar have been sighted within Ike Kindswa State Park.  Always be aware of your surroundings while hiking!”  So we walked very aware.  It caused us to pay attention to the sounds, the colors, the beauty.  We heard some geese take off in flight and could hear the beating of their wings and see the motion of their bodies not seen before so close.  It was a treat.

Back to the falling leaves.  I find it interesting that leaves look most colorful as they die.  They are much more appealing and desireable to the eye, falling and dying, creating in their death a calidescope of color people drive across the country to view.  Do you think there might be something to this?  Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24).  Death produces life.  Learning to die to yourself is hard.  It seems like it is a long fall and so we rarely follow through and allow God’s spirit to do the amazing work of transforming us into something new and beautiful.  We don’t allow the death of our self (our pride), so that the life of Christ in us is everything.  May we be counted among the falling leaves.

Light in a Dark World

Today I am working on memorizing Proverbs 6:23, “For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the correction of discipline are the way to life.” 

Recently I have noticed that my eyesight is getting worse.  The words on the page I am reading are becoming more blurry than clear.  My arms are extending further and further from me as I hold whatever it is I am trying to read at a distance to be able to see it well.  What I have learned is that the more light I have the more clear the page.  At first it seems there is plenty of light, but when I add more the words become so much easier to see.  I think life is that way.  It seems we have plenty of light, but the brighter it gets we realize the details we were missing in the dimness.  “Lord, may I see more clearly.  Teach me your ways that I might see the world lighted up!”

Secret Paths

"Secret Path"

The Proverbs Project continues with 5:21, “For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths.”  

There is a myth that storms through our land which has been passed on from generation to generation.  The myth is one that takes on a life of it’s own and is rarely spoken of in case it is exposed as a lie.  We live our lives as though it is absolutely true and rarely give a thought that it might possibly be…just that, a myth.  The myth is that there is a part of our lives, or there are some things that we do, those thoughts and attitudes we indulge in, that are a secret only we know about.  The truth is (and we fight against even mentioning the word truth) that God knows everything about us.  He knows what we do in secret.  He knows those secret thoughts that cause us to shudder if we thought for a moment that someone could hear what we are thinking.  God knows our ways.  This scripture (which I made the mistake of memorizing) makes it clear that God doesn’t just glance at our behavior, but looks at it closely.  Are we comfortable with God examing our ways?  If I think about it very long I become extremely uncomfortable!  To perpetuate the myth we end up creating even more myths:  there is no God, it doesn’t matter what I do, or, as long as no one gets hurt.  These myths keep piling up and God keeps examining.

One more myth related to this is that God examines our ways in order to catch us messing up.  The truth is that he examines our ways so that we would examine them too.  Remember Proverbs 3:6?  “In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”

Guarding My Heart, A Lost Art

Today’s Proverbs Project continues with 4:23, “Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Imagine if you were there as a young child! The King looking into your eyes and leaning in just a little. He’s been sharing his knowledge; his wisdom with you in private. People come from all over the world to hear his words of wisdom. And here he is, King Solomon, giving you a private audience, while others would kill to hear half of what he has already shared with you. You have been amazed at what you have already heard and now he leans in a little, lowers his voice, looks around the empty room as if there is a spy lurking in the shadows, and whispers, “Above all else…” You know that the next words you hear could change your life and so you are ready for the wisdom of the ages. Will it be the key to riches, fame, eternal life? “Above all else…” the pause seems to last an eternity, and then the King continues, “guard your heart.” WHAT? You’re kidding, right? I listened all this time to hear that! Come on. You barely hear the rest, “for it is the wellspring of life.” The King smiles, gets up, and with a slight humble bow points you to the door. You walk out shaking your head in disbelief, grumbling something like, “Wisest man in the world, yeah, right.”

Twenty years later after broken relationships, painful circumstances, chasing the American Dream, and a life of grief, you wish you would have listened.