I finished reading a book about the life of Henry Ford this weekend. It was published in 2005.
My memory may be failing me but most of the biographies I have read usually leave the subject in pretty good light. Their accomplishments are highlighted and their foibles are minimized. This biography was a balance and I appreciated learning about Ford's weaknesses and failures as much as his successes.
Ford is probably best known for his contributions to mass production. He envisioned manufacturing a car for the common man by mass producing it on a assembly line where he could pass on the economies of scale. Over the roughly 15 year history of the Model T he produced millions of them, hitting a peak of over 2M one year. He also was able to cut the price on the car and double the wages of his workers. He became known as the $5 a day man. He wanted his workers to be able to afford his automobile as well as other consumer goods. His economies brought the price of the Model T down to under $300.
Part of what drove him was the desire to have his own company and to make all the decisions. He held an iron fist around all the choices that needed to be made including the smallest part on each of his cars. This continued long after he was employing over 10,000 workers. On the positive side it allowed him to control the outcome of his vision and not be deterred by others in his organization who had a different vision. On the negative side he held on too long to his vision without changing with the times.
Long before he stopped production of the Model T and moved to a more advanced Model A the sales of his cars had begun to drop significantly. Other manufacturers had begun to develop lines of cars that were more expensive but also offered more of the features the buying public wanted.
That seems to always be the case. Our greatest gift becomes our greatest failure. We hold on too long to something when we should be moving on with the times. Or as I like to say, moving on with the vibrant, ever in motion Holy Spirit.
What is our Model T in the church today? Hymns? Sunday School? Meeting on Sunday mornings? Wearing suits to church? What is the competition doing that we aren't doing? Are we still expecting the way we did things 150 years ago to suffice for today's seeker? What is today's seeker looking for? What are their needs, fears, desires? They are probably much like ours.
I heard somewhere recently that the Muslims have been working toward world domination for 60 years or more. With the unrest we are seeing in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and other mid east countries we are also seeing that the radical Muslim groups are standing by on the sidelines waiting to "assist" in bringing stability to their countries. What are we doing to bring the Kingdom to bear on these situations and bring freedom to the captives?
That's ultimately what God wants to bring to us all...freedom. He wants us to be able to enjoy his heart, to have intimacy with him and with others, to enjoy the desires of our heart. Is that what we are offering? Is that what you are receiving? He's calling out to us today.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The Sparrow
"His eye is on the sparrow and I know he's watching me."
As I thought about the events of the day this line from a song came to me. And as I lay in bed, not being able to sleep, I figured I would capture my thoughts while they are racing through my head.
Today was not the best of my days...at least it wasn't looking like that until later in the day. I'm struggling with not having a goal to put my work toward. Being unemployed for four months has begun to take it toll on one part of me. On the other hand I have had time to think which usually doesn't happen when I am so busy.
I had trouble getting motivated today. Finally, after lunch, I went to the library to find some books to read. I looked in the biography section. In fact, I looked at every book in the biography section. I ended up with one about Henry Ford published in 2005 and another about Thomas Edison from 1957. Both guys were friends and both of them have inspired me with their accomplishments.
I got lost in the book until sometime around 5 pm when I began to watch the news. Then shortly before 6 a phone call came in. Pat took the call and after a couple of minutes handed the phone to me. It was a friend I hadn't talked to in 30 years.
Shirley called. I met her in 1975 and we sold real estate together for a few years. I never went to church with her. Never saw her much during the 5 or so years I was associated with Dutchland Realty. But she called me tonight. Why? God had put me on her mind recently and she had been praying for me.
Again, we hadn't talked to each other or seen each other for 30 years. She didn't know whether I was in OH, CA or overseas somewhere. She didn't know whether I was still following Christ or not. She had no idea...except this prompting to call me and pray for me before she called.
It took her a little bit to find me. First, she ran into a former neighbor, fellow realtor and member of a church we attended. She got the number of the realty firm's owner's wife in FL from him. Then she called her and got our number in PA. Then she called on the phone. Tonight.
Her church was in need of a pastor and my name came to her mind. She realized that she could just forget she heard that and not call. But she persisted, found me and called. She didn't know if I was pastoring, retired or tending bar. But she called to see if she was following the signals right.
To me that says, straight from my heavenly Father, that he knows where I am and he hasn't forgotten me in the loneliness I have felt the last several months. He knows my gifts and abilities and he knows exactly where he wants me to be. He just wanted to remind me that I wasn't forgotten...by using an obedient servant of his from 30 years ago to find me and call.
That's pretty cool. That's the loving heart that I follow. That's the Father I love.
Two things to think about. Who has God been prompting you to call or get in touch with or what has he been prompting you to do that you've put off? It's those little nudgings that he uses to get us involved in his ministry to others. And secondly, how has God been showing you that you are not forgotten? Celebrate it right now!
"His eye is on the sparrow and I know he's watching [you].
As I thought about the events of the day this line from a song came to me. And as I lay in bed, not being able to sleep, I figured I would capture my thoughts while they are racing through my head.
Today was not the best of my days...at least it wasn't looking like that until later in the day. I'm struggling with not having a goal to put my work toward. Being unemployed for four months has begun to take it toll on one part of me. On the other hand I have had time to think which usually doesn't happen when I am so busy.
I had trouble getting motivated today. Finally, after lunch, I went to the library to find some books to read. I looked in the biography section. In fact, I looked at every book in the biography section. I ended up with one about Henry Ford published in 2005 and another about Thomas Edison from 1957. Both guys were friends and both of them have inspired me with their accomplishments.
I got lost in the book until sometime around 5 pm when I began to watch the news. Then shortly before 6 a phone call came in. Pat took the call and after a couple of minutes handed the phone to me. It was a friend I hadn't talked to in 30 years.
Shirley called. I met her in 1975 and we sold real estate together for a few years. I never went to church with her. Never saw her much during the 5 or so years I was associated with Dutchland Realty. But she called me tonight. Why? God had put me on her mind recently and she had been praying for me.
Again, we hadn't talked to each other or seen each other for 30 years. She didn't know whether I was in OH, CA or overseas somewhere. She didn't know whether I was still following Christ or not. She had no idea...except this prompting to call me and pray for me before she called.
It took her a little bit to find me. First, she ran into a former neighbor, fellow realtor and member of a church we attended. She got the number of the realty firm's owner's wife in FL from him. Then she called her and got our number in PA. Then she called on the phone. Tonight.
Her church was in need of a pastor and my name came to her mind. She realized that she could just forget she heard that and not call. But she persisted, found me and called. She didn't know if I was pastoring, retired or tending bar. But she called to see if she was following the signals right.
To me that says, straight from my heavenly Father, that he knows where I am and he hasn't forgotten me in the loneliness I have felt the last several months. He knows my gifts and abilities and he knows exactly where he wants me to be. He just wanted to remind me that I wasn't forgotten...by using an obedient servant of his from 30 years ago to find me and call.
That's pretty cool. That's the loving heart that I follow. That's the Father I love.
Two things to think about. Who has God been prompting you to call or get in touch with or what has he been prompting you to do that you've put off? It's those little nudgings that he uses to get us involved in his ministry to others. And secondly, how has God been showing you that you are not forgotten? Celebrate it right now!
"His eye is on the sparrow and I know he's watching [you].
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
PTSD
I finally finished reading the 37 book series on WWII by Time/Life Books. There are so many things I can write about but a prayer request by a friend sparked this one.
Our work with emotionally broken people exposed us to so much. I'm sure we heard of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) along the way. I know I worked with a woman once who had been shot in the head by her mate in an effort to kill her. He then committed suicide right before her eyes. We wept with her as she told her tragic story. I can't imagine the images that she deals with as she remembers that experience.
A friend asked us to pray for her son-in-law recently as he was off to Afghanistan. She also included her daughter and grandchildren because of the impact on them. I can relate to that.
I was the child of a man who experienced WWII...a member of a whole generation of fathers who experienced things in the war that no human should have to face. That's why many of them never talked about their experiences with anyone but their fellow GI's. The things they saw and endured were not for dinner table discussions. They also shut down emotionally. It was the only way they could cope with what they had experienced.
When Saving Private Ryan hit the movie theaters a few years ago many WWII vets went to see the movie. The first five minutes or so of the film depict the horrors many troops experienced when they landed on Normandy on DDay. I remember reading accounts of men who finally wept when they saw that depiction. It was the first time they had faced something that triggered the deeply held emotional pain. Some of them talked for the first time since they returned from the war about what they had experienced.
"War is hell" as someone has said. And we have men in my generation who have experienced the horrors of Vietnam, living on the streets, trying to have a life with families while carrying the devastation of that war around in their hearts.
Now we have a whole other generation who are returning home from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan with the emotional baggage of what they experienced knowing their life was on the line every moment they walked around. Not sure if they could trust a local or even a child not to be carrying a weapon to kill them.
I have also read that we are saving more soldiers from their battlefield wounds because of improved medical treatment on the battlefield. Some of those saved are facing a lifetime of coping with the debilitating injuries that they were saved from dying of. Emotional scars for sure. Head injuries. Loss of mobility. Loss of multiple limbs.
Something needs to be done to avoid having another generation of children raised with detached mothers and fathers (yes, some women have suffered battlefield wounds as well). What can we do? How do we need to pray? How can we support those who have returned from those experiences and give them the opportunity to receive the healing touch from a loving heavenly Father?
I may soon have the opportunity to be in Washington DC. One of the thoughts I have had is to spend some time at Walter Reed Hospital where many of those veterans are being treated. Do you know anyone in your circle of friends or acquaintances who may be suffering from PTSD? Can you give them the opportunity to have you listen to the pain of their hearts? How would the Father have you pray for them as you relate to them? I hope to soon find out.
Our work with emotionally broken people exposed us to so much. I'm sure we heard of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome) along the way. I know I worked with a woman once who had been shot in the head by her mate in an effort to kill her. He then committed suicide right before her eyes. We wept with her as she told her tragic story. I can't imagine the images that she deals with as she remembers that experience.
A friend asked us to pray for her son-in-law recently as he was off to Afghanistan. She also included her daughter and grandchildren because of the impact on them. I can relate to that.
I was the child of a man who experienced WWII...a member of a whole generation of fathers who experienced things in the war that no human should have to face. That's why many of them never talked about their experiences with anyone but their fellow GI's. The things they saw and endured were not for dinner table discussions. They also shut down emotionally. It was the only way they could cope with what they had experienced.
When Saving Private Ryan hit the movie theaters a few years ago many WWII vets went to see the movie. The first five minutes or so of the film depict the horrors many troops experienced when they landed on Normandy on DDay. I remember reading accounts of men who finally wept when they saw that depiction. It was the first time they had faced something that triggered the deeply held emotional pain. Some of them talked for the first time since they returned from the war about what they had experienced.
"War is hell" as someone has said. And we have men in my generation who have experienced the horrors of Vietnam, living on the streets, trying to have a life with families while carrying the devastation of that war around in their hearts.
Now we have a whole other generation who are returning home from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan with the emotional baggage of what they experienced knowing their life was on the line every moment they walked around. Not sure if they could trust a local or even a child not to be carrying a weapon to kill them.
I have also read that we are saving more soldiers from their battlefield wounds because of improved medical treatment on the battlefield. Some of those saved are facing a lifetime of coping with the debilitating injuries that they were saved from dying of. Emotional scars for sure. Head injuries. Loss of mobility. Loss of multiple limbs.
Something needs to be done to avoid having another generation of children raised with detached mothers and fathers (yes, some women have suffered battlefield wounds as well). What can we do? How do we need to pray? How can we support those who have returned from those experiences and give them the opportunity to receive the healing touch from a loving heavenly Father?
I may soon have the opportunity to be in Washington DC. One of the thoughts I have had is to spend some time at Walter Reed Hospital where many of those veterans are being treated. Do you know anyone in your circle of friends or acquaintances who may be suffering from PTSD? Can you give them the opportunity to have you listen to the pain of their hearts? How would the Father have you pray for them as you relate to them? I hope to soon find out.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Oprah
I'm always looking for ways that the Father is demonstrating his love for us through out the world. I didn't used to do that until I heard John Eldredge speak about how when the church isn't speaking out, God will use any vessel to declare his glory and tell his story. The story is God's and he gets to tell it however he wants to.
I know Oprah is a controversial character. There are plenty of things she says on her show that go beyond Orthodoxy. Of course, if you evaluated everything I say or have said you might consider me unorthodox as well. I think that is a plus. When we assume that we have found the complete truth about something and there is no need to evaluate it we are in danger of missing the movement of the Holy Spirit. He is dynamic, meaning that he doesn't stay still. I'm expecting him to move TODAY and not just bring me stories of how he moved in the past.
Anyway, back to Oprah. I enjoy getting to watch her especially since I am home in the afternoons when she is on. The thing I appreciate most about her is her realness. She came from a very poor background in MS. She didn't have much when she began but she hasn't let her wealth go to her head. She reminds me of a little kid who doesn't care what anyone thinks of her. She has a twinkle in her eye that shows that she is enjoying life. Of course, I guess I could enjoy life too if I had her wealth and had the opportunity to give it away.
I'm sure her critics are right when they say that she is probably giving away some of her wealth to save taxes. I guess I do the same when I tithe. I get the tax benefit of giving to a charitable organization. But she seems to go beyond what just she can do. She uses her influence to solicit donations from corporations and individuals to needy situations.
This week I watched her series on the trip to Australia. To start with she took 302 people out of one of her audiences with her on the trip. And I didn't notice anything that wasn't done excellently, in fact, over the top. Not withholding anything. So in the final gathering she had arranged for several people to get a diamond necklace. Didn't stop there! Everyone in the audience of 6,000 got one too. Incredible.
The most touching things to me are how she arranged to get Jay Z, the rapper, to visit a school for disadvantaged kids. They had admired his music and I'm sure also noticed his business acumen. Their teacher wrote a letter to Oprah to talk about her class's admiration of Jay Z...so Oprah got him to visit the school. Plus she got Microsoft to donate a laptop to every kid in the school, as well as the teachers.
I cry when I see that kind of giving. It is a demonstration to me of how my heavenly Father wants to give to me and everyone else. Have I gotten a big gift like Oprah gives out? Not yet. But it is comforting and brings hope to me to know that that is how my Father feels toward me. He has given me life and will give me his best gifts.
On second thought I had a Father gift a few years ago. When we visited Zimbabwe I had the opportunity to sail on the largest man-made lake in the world, Kariba, between Zim and Botswana. I didn't have to buy a ticket. I was one of 9 who got the opportunity to enjoy being served for 4 days. We fished, saw incredible wild life, ate like kings and queens and saw Africa up close and personal on a 73' boat. As I recall that wasn't in the package I bought from the travel agent!
Thank you, Father, for speaking to me and all of us of your great love for us through things we can see and identify with. Can you remember a time when the Father has shown you his unfathomable love? Rejoice in it and tell someone about it today.
I know Oprah is a controversial character. There are plenty of things she says on her show that go beyond Orthodoxy. Of course, if you evaluated everything I say or have said you might consider me unorthodox as well. I think that is a plus. When we assume that we have found the complete truth about something and there is no need to evaluate it we are in danger of missing the movement of the Holy Spirit. He is dynamic, meaning that he doesn't stay still. I'm expecting him to move TODAY and not just bring me stories of how he moved in the past.
Anyway, back to Oprah. I enjoy getting to watch her especially since I am home in the afternoons when she is on. The thing I appreciate most about her is her realness. She came from a very poor background in MS. She didn't have much when she began but she hasn't let her wealth go to her head. She reminds me of a little kid who doesn't care what anyone thinks of her. She has a twinkle in her eye that shows that she is enjoying life. Of course, I guess I could enjoy life too if I had her wealth and had the opportunity to give it away.
I'm sure her critics are right when they say that she is probably giving away some of her wealth to save taxes. I guess I do the same when I tithe. I get the tax benefit of giving to a charitable organization. But she seems to go beyond what just she can do. She uses her influence to solicit donations from corporations and individuals to needy situations.
This week I watched her series on the trip to Australia. To start with she took 302 people out of one of her audiences with her on the trip. And I didn't notice anything that wasn't done excellently, in fact, over the top. Not withholding anything. So in the final gathering she had arranged for several people to get a diamond necklace. Didn't stop there! Everyone in the audience of 6,000 got one too. Incredible.
The most touching things to me are how she arranged to get Jay Z, the rapper, to visit a school for disadvantaged kids. They had admired his music and I'm sure also noticed his business acumen. Their teacher wrote a letter to Oprah to talk about her class's admiration of Jay Z...so Oprah got him to visit the school. Plus she got Microsoft to donate a laptop to every kid in the school, as well as the teachers.
I cry when I see that kind of giving. It is a demonstration to me of how my heavenly Father wants to give to me and everyone else. Have I gotten a big gift like Oprah gives out? Not yet. But it is comforting and brings hope to me to know that that is how my Father feels toward me. He has given me life and will give me his best gifts.
On second thought I had a Father gift a few years ago. When we visited Zimbabwe I had the opportunity to sail on the largest man-made lake in the world, Kariba, between Zim and Botswana. I didn't have to buy a ticket. I was one of 9 who got the opportunity to enjoy being served for 4 days. We fished, saw incredible wild life, ate like kings and queens and saw Africa up close and personal on a 73' boat. As I recall that wasn't in the package I bought from the travel agent!
Thank you, Father, for speaking to me and all of us of your great love for us through things we can see and identify with. Can you remember a time when the Father has shown you his unfathomable love? Rejoice in it and tell someone about it today.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Francis Schaeffer
I've written about Francis Schaeffer in some of my other blogs but I'd like to focus on him today.
If you remember I mentioned that I became aware of Francis Schaeffer when I was in Piraeus, Greece (near Athens). Some young people who were hiking around Europe mentioned him and his work with young intellectuals. They gave me his book The God Who Is There and it opened my eyes to a new way to share the Gospel with those who needed to think about it.
Schaeffer was an evangelical Presbyterian pastor who came to a point in his life in his early 50's that he wasn't sure he was preaching real stuff. He wasn't sure the Bible was worth staking his life on. So he resigned his pastorate and moved to Switzerland. There he spent three years reading his Bible, praying and pacing around a chalet until he felt he had encountered the living God. He came to believe that the Bible was "true truth" as he used to say.
During that time his daughters were in college and they would bring their friends home to discuss life with Francis. They were searching for truth but needed it framed in something other than hell fire and brimstone. They wanted a faith that didn't negate their intellect.
Francis began to study philosophy, art and culture to discover ways that the God who was there was speaking to the intellectuals. His God-given anointing was to be able to understand a philosophy and those who adhered to it, take them to the end of the philosophical thought and show them how it fell short of the Gospel. He didn't do it by beating them over the head with a Bible but he addressed them where they were. They were asking legitimate questions that needed legitimate answers. It reminds me of what Paul did in Athens when he told those seeking truth that he could introduce them to the one who was truth. (Acts 17)
I had the opportunity to travel by train to Switzerland soon after I met those other kids in Piraeus. I spent time with other young people from around the world listening to lectures, having tea with Edith and Francis Schaeffer in their chalet and being stretched intellectually. I have often wondered who has taken up that mantel to the intellectuals. I have had the opportunity when he was living to hear him lecture here in the states. I remember Pat saying that she couldn't even understand some of the questions people were asking Francis let alone the answer. I couldn't either.
I have discovered that the Gospel can reach anyone, at any level of intelligence, in any circumstance. It is as magnificent as the landscape around us and the beauty of all creation. I have never been found wanting for what the Gospel is capable of doing in the lives of those who hear, see and experience it.
My prayer is that your faith is as vibrant today and even more so than when you first believed.
If you remember I mentioned that I became aware of Francis Schaeffer when I was in Piraeus, Greece (near Athens). Some young people who were hiking around Europe mentioned him and his work with young intellectuals. They gave me his book The God Who Is There and it opened my eyes to a new way to share the Gospel with those who needed to think about it.
Schaeffer was an evangelical Presbyterian pastor who came to a point in his life in his early 50's that he wasn't sure he was preaching real stuff. He wasn't sure the Bible was worth staking his life on. So he resigned his pastorate and moved to Switzerland. There he spent three years reading his Bible, praying and pacing around a chalet until he felt he had encountered the living God. He came to believe that the Bible was "true truth" as he used to say.
During that time his daughters were in college and they would bring their friends home to discuss life with Francis. They were searching for truth but needed it framed in something other than hell fire and brimstone. They wanted a faith that didn't negate their intellect.
Francis began to study philosophy, art and culture to discover ways that the God who was there was speaking to the intellectuals. His God-given anointing was to be able to understand a philosophy and those who adhered to it, take them to the end of the philosophical thought and show them how it fell short of the Gospel. He didn't do it by beating them over the head with a Bible but he addressed them where they were. They were asking legitimate questions that needed legitimate answers. It reminds me of what Paul did in Athens when he told those seeking truth that he could introduce them to the one who was truth. (Acts 17)
I had the opportunity to travel by train to Switzerland soon after I met those other kids in Piraeus. I spent time with other young people from around the world listening to lectures, having tea with Edith and Francis Schaeffer in their chalet and being stretched intellectually. I have often wondered who has taken up that mantel to the intellectuals. I have had the opportunity when he was living to hear him lecture here in the states. I remember Pat saying that she couldn't even understand some of the questions people were asking Francis let alone the answer. I couldn't either.
I have discovered that the Gospel can reach anyone, at any level of intelligence, in any circumstance. It is as magnificent as the landscape around us and the beauty of all creation. I have never been found wanting for what the Gospel is capable of doing in the lives of those who hear, see and experience it.
My prayer is that your faith is as vibrant today and even more so than when you first believed.
Neighbors
I've always been blessed by having great neighbors and friends. My Dad has often commented about how I can find such jewels to repair my cars, help me out with projects and loan me anything they have to make my life easier.
I was just telling my neighbor about my OH neighbor, Daryl, who used to come plow my driveway. He had a long gravel driveway that he used to go up and down on, rearranging the gravel, putting it in the middle, dragging it up to the top. He used to tease me about how much I liked to mow and I teased him back about how he wouldn't have anything to do if he didn't rearrange the gravel on his driveway.
I had contracted for someone to plow my driveway but he often came over after clearing his drive of snow. I could hear his John Deere lawn tractor coming and beginning to plow my driveway. Together we would clean out the mail boxes in the area for our other neighbors. He also owned some land behind mine and he would let me play in the woods, cleaning up the fallen trees and brush, burning piles of debris and just having fun being a 50 something year old kid.
Another friend who wasn't even a neighbor would loan me anything he had in the way of equipment from his landscaping business. If I needed it and he had it I could use it. When we moved to OH he loaned me trucks and a trailer to move all my stuff to save me renting from UHaul. I asked him one time about it and he said that everything he had had come from God and he was just taking care of it. He didn't feel like it was his to hold on to. I like that. In fact, I think that's scriptural.
What does it mean to be a neighbor? Who is my neighbor, as someone once asked Jesus? My neighbor is anyone who needs help and I have the help to give. I wish I had a snow blower to do my driveway...because then I could take it around the neighborhood and do other drives for those who didn't have one. Frankly, I'm more interested in doing the Gospel and loving my neighbors than hearing a good sermon that doesn't cause me to repent and change some of my behavior. So what if everyone sees me go out to church on Sunday morning but they never see me come help them in a time of need? What speaks louder?
My neighbor in OH didn't often go to church that I was aware of but he loved me and I felt the love of God coming from him. He delighted in helping me and I delighted in knowing him.
What do you think makes more of an impact on your neighbors? Going around the neighborhood giving out tracts or helping them clear their driveway? Or cleaning up something they can't get to? Or doing something for them just because?
Today you have an opportunity to love your neighbors as Christ loves you. I hope you take the opportunity to love.
I was just telling my neighbor about my OH neighbor, Daryl, who used to come plow my driveway. He had a long gravel driveway that he used to go up and down on, rearranging the gravel, putting it in the middle, dragging it up to the top. He used to tease me about how much I liked to mow and I teased him back about how he wouldn't have anything to do if he didn't rearrange the gravel on his driveway.
I had contracted for someone to plow my driveway but he often came over after clearing his drive of snow. I could hear his John Deere lawn tractor coming and beginning to plow my driveway. Together we would clean out the mail boxes in the area for our other neighbors. He also owned some land behind mine and he would let me play in the woods, cleaning up the fallen trees and brush, burning piles of debris and just having fun being a 50 something year old kid.
Another friend who wasn't even a neighbor would loan me anything he had in the way of equipment from his landscaping business. If I needed it and he had it I could use it. When we moved to OH he loaned me trucks and a trailer to move all my stuff to save me renting from UHaul. I asked him one time about it and he said that everything he had had come from God and he was just taking care of it. He didn't feel like it was his to hold on to. I like that. In fact, I think that's scriptural.
What does it mean to be a neighbor? Who is my neighbor, as someone once asked Jesus? My neighbor is anyone who needs help and I have the help to give. I wish I had a snow blower to do my driveway...because then I could take it around the neighborhood and do other drives for those who didn't have one. Frankly, I'm more interested in doing the Gospel and loving my neighbors than hearing a good sermon that doesn't cause me to repent and change some of my behavior. So what if everyone sees me go out to church on Sunday morning but they never see me come help them in a time of need? What speaks louder?
My neighbor in OH didn't often go to church that I was aware of but he loved me and I felt the love of God coming from him. He delighted in helping me and I delighted in knowing him.
What do you think makes more of an impact on your neighbors? Going around the neighborhood giving out tracts or helping them clear their driveway? Or cleaning up something they can't get to? Or doing something for them just because?
Today you have an opportunity to love your neighbors as Christ loves you. I hope you take the opportunity to love.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Scuba Diving
I know my Mom spent a lot of time praying for me. I was willing to take a few too many risks for her comfort. She must have prayed real hard because she scared the risk-taking right out of me for many years but not before I got in a few interesting experiences.
My first two and a half years in college at the University of Kentucky were spent learning bridge and how to live independently without the thumb imprint of my parents on my head. It would have been better had they eased it up a little while I was still home. They could have channeled the energy I had and helped me know how to manage it better. Instead, they turned me loose...all at once.
I pledged a fraternity as a freshman--not the norm for college. Usually, you had to wait until you were at least a sophomore. But again I broke the mold with a couple of other freshmen. My fraternity was loaded with guys who went on to become entrepreneurs so risk-taking was in their blood.
Spring break my sophomore year we decided to go to Ft Lauderdale, FL and do at least one scuba dive. That's not something you want to learn as you go. So, thanks to another fraternity brother who ran a cabana (later called a health club or rec center) we got into the pool evenings after 9 pm and began to learn from others who knew how just what scuba diving was all about.
We learned to test our gear, take our mask off under water and buddy-breathe in case our tanks malfunctioned while we were down. We practiced taking off our gear and heading up to the surface slow enough not to get the bends.
Spring break duly arrived we packed up a station wagon with our scuba gear and other essentials for a break in FL. One of my buddies also took his '68 GTO convertible along so we could cruise the strip with the best of them. It was dark green with a black top and black interior. It also sported the red line tires that were popular then.
One beautiful morning we headed off the coast of Ft Lauderdale to go diving on a reef at about 75'. That's a little deeper than pool we were practicing in. We went off the side of our boat and began the decent down the anchor rope to the reef. There's not much going on until you get down to the reef.
I had a mask that was about six inches across. I was fascinated for the 30 minutes or so we were down. I had never seen so many bright colors in one place. The fish were incredible swimming all around us. I didn't move much because I was so taken by what I could see out of my little screen.
What made me think of this situation was a devotional by John Eldredge where he talked about the beauty of the creation God made. It is so varied, so breath-taking and so stunning that for me it's impossible to think that it just came out of nothing. God is truly an artist and the world he created for us to live in is beyond the imaginations of us as his creation. We can only create slices with our best efforts to replicate what he has given us.
We have sold God so far short of his incredible creativity and all we have to do is look around us briefly to see what a magnificient God he is. The beauty is overwhelming and he created it for us to enjoy and to learn about his heart toward us as we view it.
I've never been scuba diving since that one experience now some 40 years ago...but I'll never forget what I saw. "...when I in awesome wonder, consider all the world thy hands hath made."
Enjoy it today.
My first two and a half years in college at the University of Kentucky were spent learning bridge and how to live independently without the thumb imprint of my parents on my head. It would have been better had they eased it up a little while I was still home. They could have channeled the energy I had and helped me know how to manage it better. Instead, they turned me loose...all at once.
I pledged a fraternity as a freshman--not the norm for college. Usually, you had to wait until you were at least a sophomore. But again I broke the mold with a couple of other freshmen. My fraternity was loaded with guys who went on to become entrepreneurs so risk-taking was in their blood.
Spring break my sophomore year we decided to go to Ft Lauderdale, FL and do at least one scuba dive. That's not something you want to learn as you go. So, thanks to another fraternity brother who ran a cabana (later called a health club or rec center) we got into the pool evenings after 9 pm and began to learn from others who knew how just what scuba diving was all about.
We learned to test our gear, take our mask off under water and buddy-breathe in case our tanks malfunctioned while we were down. We practiced taking off our gear and heading up to the surface slow enough not to get the bends.
Spring break duly arrived we packed up a station wagon with our scuba gear and other essentials for a break in FL. One of my buddies also took his '68 GTO convertible along so we could cruise the strip with the best of them. It was dark green with a black top and black interior. It also sported the red line tires that were popular then.
One beautiful morning we headed off the coast of Ft Lauderdale to go diving on a reef at about 75'. That's a little deeper than pool we were practicing in. We went off the side of our boat and began the decent down the anchor rope to the reef. There's not much going on until you get down to the reef.
I had a mask that was about six inches across. I was fascinated for the 30 minutes or so we were down. I had never seen so many bright colors in one place. The fish were incredible swimming all around us. I didn't move much because I was so taken by what I could see out of my little screen.
What made me think of this situation was a devotional by John Eldredge where he talked about the beauty of the creation God made. It is so varied, so breath-taking and so stunning that for me it's impossible to think that it just came out of nothing. God is truly an artist and the world he created for us to live in is beyond the imaginations of us as his creation. We can only create slices with our best efforts to replicate what he has given us.
We have sold God so far short of his incredible creativity and all we have to do is look around us briefly to see what a magnificient God he is. The beauty is overwhelming and he created it for us to enjoy and to learn about his heart toward us as we view it.
I've never been scuba diving since that one experience now some 40 years ago...but I'll never forget what I saw. "...when I in awesome wonder, consider all the world thy hands hath made."
Enjoy it today.
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