It is no secret that my life has become so busy that my online presence has dwindled into a poorly kept blog. As such, much of my readership has moved on and I don’t blame them. However, I am still out there and you can keep up:
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I want to share with you 2 true stories about doctors and God’s providence. The first one I heard from John Piper. Although I don’t recall the name of the gentleman in the story, I do remember his story as it has left an impression on my part.
The story starts off at his daughter’s wedding. During the ceremony, he reaches up and touches two beautiful scars on his daughter’s neck. They are the scars from a tragic car accident that endangered his daughter’s life. A flash back takes to the scene of the accident, where in a doctor happened to be traveling down that road. As the doctor came upon the young girl, he decided that she needed a tracheotomy in order to breathe. It just so happened that he was carrying the necessary tools in his pocket that day in order to give her a tracheotomy. Looking back 3 years to this incident, the gentleman sees God’s providence in giving the doctor the courage to perform the medical services on the side of the road, risking his license. God also knew that the accident would happen and had the necessary tools in the doctor’s pocket.
Another story I would like to share happened close to home. A doctor was in his car with his children driving into town. His wife was in the car behind them carrying the extra items. One of the children needed to use the bathroom, so the doctor crossed the lane and pulled over to let his son go on the side of the road. A semi happened to be coming down the road and swirved to miss ongoing traffic. The mom saw the semi heading straight for her husband and son, so she honked. The doctor heard the honking and picked his son up just in time to throw him out of the way before the semi took the doctor’s life.
It is during the second story we tend to think that God’s grace wasn’t present. For some reason, we assume that because we love God or because God loves us, it means that we are free from all the harshness and bad things that might happen. But in reality, God only promises that He will be there to walk us through these trials.
There is something that I dreamed about every since I was a little boy….to be a handy man. Laugh if you must, but it is the truth. I would sit for hours and watch “This Old Home”, Bob Villa, and many shows like that on PBS. I was fascinated with the math and logic involved in crafting everything from bookshelves to planters to my all-time-favorite clubhouses.
When we moved into the mountain house, I “inherited” a wood shop. It was grandpa’s wood shop from when he owned a construction company. It is filled to the brim with scraps of wood, frames that would someday become masterpieces, old doors that would make really awesome coffee tables, and window frames that will be incorporated in craft project some day. Not to mention the tools sprawled about every where. And the sad thing about it is, I don’t have a clue how to use any of it (except the hammer and nails; even that’s debatable).
You know, the same is true about our gifts from God. We go on watching the gifts and talents of other people, wishing that God would give us the same. Some, in desperation, pray night and day for this gift or that one. More often than not, God never yields to our lofty demands and there is a profound wisdom in that. God knows what we are equipped to handle and if He gave us the gifts we so earnestly seek, they would end up like that wood shed full of tools. I am not questioning whether or not we should pray for things we do not have, for James reminds us that if we lack wisdom, ask and it will be given to us. I am questioning our motives behind the things we don’t truly need.
Boasting is the response of pride to success. Self-pity is the response of pride to failure. – John Piper
Let’s pretend for a moment that the readership of the following scripture is not a Christian. They know nothing of God or His desires. They are not predisposed to Church doctrine or religious jargon. What would they understand from this scripture:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
One would assume without any previous knowledge that God desires to communicate. Upon further investigation, you would discover that God does so through the greatest intervention in the history of humanity. God became human through Christ in order to redeem us.
While this is common knowledge within the Christian circles, this is an incredible counter-cultural act on our God’s part among other religions. Among other beleif systems, humanity is constantly trying to communicate with deities in hopes of one day acheiving the status of godlike, nirvana, etc. Some gods/goddesses are aloof and difficult to communicate with, wherein only the elect, more devote members hear them.
As I think about God’s eagerness to communicate with me, I can not help but wonder what I have missed each day because of the distractions of life.
Yes. We have made it to the mountains and have survived the last two weeks. There are many posts just waiting to be written about the abundant, yet challenging life here in the Sacramento mountains of New Mexico, but none are more pressing than our search for authentic fellowship. One serious fall back to the mountains is that of leaving all our deep friendships in Plainview. As most of you know, we were very close to our Death Team (our Bible Study group) and developed friendships that were deep, loving, intimate, and rare. We didn’t expect to find the same out here, but we were hopeful.
Our first attempt failed … partially. We attended a Baptist Church about 30 minutes away from the house. Sunday School was alright. Amanda stayed in the nursery with Presley, while Caedmon went on to his class. Surprisingly, there were a handful of kids that morning. Most, however, were only visiting grand-parents for the summer. They will be gone come this fall. I went to Sunday School on my own and fell in love with the people instantly. The class had about 10 people in and surprisingly most of them came prepared. They had taken their workbooks home, underlined phrases, made notes in the margins, and when they spoke you could tell these people really loved Christ. They were passionate about discovering His mysteries and applying them to every day life. I instantly felt welcomed and was encouraged by the authenticity of their relationships with Christ. In some ways, I felt ashamed that I hadn’t poured as much in my relationship as they had.
But then there’s the “worship service.” I expected the hymns to come. Although the drum set on the stage surprised me. It was just for looks. They didn’t use it. I didn’t care. Worship for the most part is what we put into it. And hey, if these people love hymns, then I am going to love hymns right along with them. Same God. Same Father. Same relationships. However, my joy ended when the preacher stepped up to podium.
He began to tell us about the “end times” and the last days. It irked me, but I can push past it. However, he then took the parable of the mustard seed and gave it a whole new meaning, complete with ooo’s and ah’s from the congregation. He explained that what Christ was saying is that when a mustard seed bush is full grown, it symbolically becomes the nesting ground for “Satanic birds”. He titled the birds with several -isms and supported his argument with the infallible and inerrant reference to the last verse in Revelations, which states that if anything is added to this gospel, then God will send plagues upon them. My blood was boiling and almost burst when he finally pronounced that a “non-thinking” person would interpret this scripture otherwise.
While I loved the fellowship in Sunday School, I can not subject my family to the misguided teachings of this man. This was very difficult for me. I wanted the fellowship. And I believe that in order for the Church to some day be unified, we have to make compromises. But I draw the line at false teaching or someone’s opinion stated as fact. Especially, when they start insulting others for their interpretations.
We heard about a local home church, and are thinking about giving that shot.
My wife rented “Yes Man” (starring Jim Carrey) the other night. Carrey plays a loan officer named Carl whose wife has left him alone in his dismal, mopey world of avoiding friends and renting movies. It has been 3 years since the divorce when the movie starts. Carl runs into an old friend whose attended an uncanny self-help seminar that encourages participants to say “yes” to every opportunity that comes their way. Accepting the challenge, Carl finds himself with a fresh view on life and new adventures that eventually leads him down the path of finding love.
This post, however, is not about saying “yes” to every opportunity. This is about saying “yes” to my wife and eventually God. I decided that after watching the movie, I would say “yes” to everything my wife asked me to do. Admittedly, I have had to catch and remind myself several times that I made a commitment to agree to do everything she asks.
So, what’s the point?
The point is this is an act of faith that will hopefully bring me closer to God. By agreeing to everything she asks, I am stepping out on a limb and trusting that my wife is asking me to do something because:
- She needs my help
- She has my best interest in mind
- She loves me and thinks I am capable of doing what she asks
- She’s being lazy, but I agreed to serve her regardless
I find this new adventure in servant hood to have an interesting parallel in my relationship with God the Father. The reason we don’t say “yes” to everything He asks us to do is because deep down inside we don’t trust Him. We think to ourselves that God doesn’t really have our best interests in mind. Either that is the case or we are clearly insane. I want to come to that point in my relationship with Him that whenever He asks me to do something, my natural response is to say “Yes” and do it.
I will admit it. I am pervert. From the deepest part of my being all the way to the surface, I reek of a perverted image of God. More often than not, I have selfish motives in what I do. And like most of you, I have a few secret sins of my own. Until recently, I focused on the sin and perversion and wondered how God could see any potential in me.
My view of grace was distorted. Whenever I heard a thunderstorm, I felt the wrath of God pointed at me. Any time something went wrong in life, I felt I deserved it. I was never angry at God when something didn’t go my way. I felt it was an acceptable form of punishment. And this is the wrong view of grace and authority….
You see, when we judge ourselves we sit on another’s throne. We are not worthy to judge because we can not uphold the standard. The only one worthy of sitting on the throne is God and His judgement is vastly different than my own conclusions:
Me: I am a sinner, worthy of death
God: I am the Creator, giver of life
Me: I did this and that, I don’t deserve your blessings
God: I forgave this and that, they are my blessings to give
Me: I have judged and found myself missing the mark
God: I am the judge, and you are far more worthy because I created You
Me: When I look at me, I see all the things I have done wrong
God: When I look at you, I see all the things I did right
And so, I find myself stepping down from the Throne of Grace. I don’t deserve to be there. I don’t have the right to be the judge.
It has been ages since the last FF post. Hey, I am trying. Don’t judge!
Plug & Play
Absolutely ingenious shelving concept. Plug your shelving unit into a wall socket and voila! Unfortunately, it is in French. I am not sure that the standard height for European plugs are the same as American.
Sprig
All organic & green store.
Sharpie Interactive
Sharpie released some very exciting, interactive ads that allow users to doodle as they are waiting for the bus. My only issue is what about profanity or offensive drawings?
Hype Machine
If you are a music lover, then chances are you have already hit this site. For those who want to discover new music, this is an excellent site.
Spam Recycler
What better thing to do with all those spam email than to recycle them?
Calibre
It has been called “iTunes for eBooks” and looks to be a promising, open source alternative for eBook readers.
Quietube
All the video without the distractions.
A Lesson in Hanging Toilet Paper
The great debate has finally been resolved…visually.
Office Pod
For those of us who work from home, you just drool!
Search Cube
Search the internet in 3-d
I don’t know why it has take almost 30 years for me to figure this out. However, I am glad I did. Recently, I started reading the scriptures TO Jesus. I started replacing names and references to Jesus with “you” as I read it out loud to Him. Instead of reading this:
For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son
I read it to Christ like this:
For Father loved us so much that he gave us you
It has had a radical impact on my understanding of the scriptures. Jesus no longer takes a passive role as one of the characters in the story. Rather my understanding of his realness, his immediacy is heightened as we converse over this amazing literature.
