Tuesday, November 30, 2010

That Seems Familiar

A friend sent me a collection of quotes from posters, greeting cards, many other sources. You’ve probably heard most of them repeated by a friend, an acquaintance, or a pastor (in a sermon). You might even have seen one on a refrigerator magnet. Though they might be familiar, most of them state a Biblical truth in a simple (and often profound) way. Some of them might even provoke you to delve deeper into God’s Word. It could happen!
 
I hope they inspire and uplift your week.

  • Don’t let your worries get the best of you;
    remember, Moses started out as a basket case.
  • Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited
    until you try to sit in their pews.
  • Many folks want to serve God,
    but only as advisors.
  • It is easier to preach ten sermons
    then it is to live one.
  • When you get to your wit’s end,
    you’ll find God there.
  • Opportunity may knock once,
    but temptation bangs on the door forever.
  • God Himself doesn’t propose to judge a man
    until he is dead.
    So why should you?
  • Peace starts with a smile.
  • Coincidence is when God
    chooses to remain anonymous.
  • Don’t put a question mark
    where God put a period.
  • God doesn’t call the qualified,
    He qualifies the called.
  • God promises a safe landing,
    not a calm passage.
  • The Will of God never takes you to where
    the Grace of God will not protect you.
  • If God is your co-pilot, swap seats!
  • Prayer: Don’t give God instructions,
    just report for duty!
  • Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass,
    it’s about learning to dance in the rain.
  • You can tell how big a person is
    by what it takes to discourage him.
  • The task ahead of us is never as great
    as the power behind us.
Did I include one of your favorites? If you have a favorite and it was not among those I published, post your favorite in a comment. If this brightened your day, pass the link to the blog along to a friend.
 
Your brother in Christ,
 
Dave

 

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Give Me Your Eyes

Have you ever stood in a courtroom and found yourself convicted of a crime? It’s an awful feeling when the judge brings the gavel down *BANG* and declares “GUILTY.” Perhaps the closest you’ve come to being convicted is watching a police or courtroom drama on television. Many civil cases involve contract law… where the convicted party failed to live up to a contractual agreement.

Often we Christians think of sin as something to forgive in others. We get so focused on the sliver in our neighbor’s eye, we see right past the log in our own eye. Sin is, by definition, ‘missing the mark.’ When we miss the mark, and when we recognize (and admit) that we missed the mark, we stand convicted!

I’m surprised how often the poetry, rhythms, and artistry of Christian singers and songwriters I hear on the radio will convict me! I heard Brandon Heath performing ‘Give Me Your Eyes’ which he had written with Jason David Ingram, and did it ever convict me!

Yes, it’s through God’s grace that we are saved, but we know when we fall short. When we recognize it… when we admit it… we feel convicted. If we are walking with Jesus, he picks us up, dusts the sin off of us, and invites us to continue our journey forward... a little wiser, perhaps a little better, and hopefully a lot closer to God.

Here is a powerful video of the song. If you are reading this on your Facebook page, you can’t see the video. Maybe if you complain to Facebook, that will change, but for now, you’ll have to follow the link to see it. Happily, the lyrics CAN be included.



Give Me Your Eyes

by Brandon Heath and Jason David Ingram

Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touched down on the cold black tar
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breathe in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what's underneath
There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work, he's buying time
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

I've been there a million times
A couple of million eyes just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Well, I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way You see the people all alone

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
That I keep missing
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

How are you convicted? What have you never cared about? What can you not see? What do you keep missing? What is just beyond your reach? What would be different if… you could see through the eyes of Jesus?

Convicted, I sing the song as a prayer!

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The Bent Over Woman


As promised, here’s the poem by Pastor Ron Baesler.


THE BENT OVER WOMAN

“Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight.” Luke 13:10

She has been downsized, minimized, trivialized
Once vibrant, vital, she pulsed with quiet energy,
Now weary beyond words, and quiet, so silent;
Her vocal cords like leather shoe laces in unused boots.
She is a bit of feather, caught by a bush in the lee of the house,
No breeze, no move, no lift.

From bedroom to bathroom is a 15 foot marathon.
Slide aching gnarled toes from beneath the sheets,
Swivel gravel grinding hip joints forward and reach
Reach for the rubber handles, rubber grip, don’t slip.
Then edge, slide, and shuffle.

Breakfast becomes a nuisance,
And the Tribune? No news is good news.
Besides, it is 15 feet from the front door to the chair
Where she waits for the day to pass.

The horizon kept inching closer.
The world kept getting smaller,
One day, she drifted out of milky sleep and realized
The world outside was tinier than the world inside.
She was not surprised.


I love Ron’s imagery in his poem! Some days I feel like I’m already there. Hahaha! Old age is something that most of us rarely think of, except as it effects our grandparents… or maybe our parents. Old age, if you live long enough, WILL find you. I doubt any of us is properly prepared.

The oldest people I know who are still active and alert have several things in common. They all have a great positive attitude. They all know God, and have a spirit of thankfulness. They are all active in their community… whether it’s a senior community, an assisted living community, or their church community… they stay active and involved. And, last but not least, they all seem to have servant hearts; they reach out to others… even if they can’t reach very far.

My prayer is that God will grant me the humbleness to accept each diminished capacity as I age, and that he grants me the strength to continue in His witness and His service until the day He calls me home.

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Monday, November 15, 2010

Galilean Nights

On Sunday, after one of the Services, Pastor Ron let me read a poem he had just recently written. I loved it, and badgered him to send it to me so I could post it on the blog. I was surprised when he sent me two attachments. Since I had already read his poem, I was immediately intrigued by the second attachment. Now, Pastor Ron is a very good writer, but I was blown away by what I read in that second attachment. Consider the implications of what you read in Pastor Ron Baesler’s…


GALILEAN NIGHTS

Hey, Judas, pass me that wineskin, will ya.

Here, catch!

Whoa… man, it’s almost empty.

You’re surprised. Didn’t you see the Zebedee boys when we were eating bread a couple of hours ago?

Yeah, now that you mention it, those sons of thunder were really roarin’! Where are they by the way?

Those two… can’t you hear ‘em? They’re conked out over by those bushes.

Wine’ll do that to you! How about the rest of the guys?

While you were up the hill praying, Peter convinced everybody to go into the town. Claimed he had a cousin who might be up for company.

Yeah, that’s Peter’s gift isn’t it? Knows somebody in every town; he’s just a party waiting to happen. Ah… to be young again!

What do you mean, “young again”? You’re not old.

Big difference between 25 and 30, you know. After 30, I became an official responsible adult. But hey, Judas, why didn’t you go with the gang?

Well, Jesus, I… well… you know… I thought somebody should stay and ah, well… protect you.

Hah, hah. I’ve got the sons of thunder right there in the bushes. Their snoring alone would send a whole legion stampeding in terror!

Ha, you’re right there. …But seriously, Jesus soldiers aren’t the problem. Its hoodlums; out here, people are barely feeding their children, the Romans crush them with taxes, so they’ve got nothing... and nothing to lose. Desperate robbers and thieves….that’s what these damn Romans have turned us into.

Sure, Judas, I suppose you’re right. Guess I should say thank you. But you know I didn’t invite you along to be my body guard.

I… OK… well, you know, Jesus, I’m not sure why you did invite me. I mean, I’m glad you did, sure, but I guess, well… I was hoping I could be more useful.

Useful… hmm… Interesting choice of words, Judas. Useful in what way?

I don’t know… I thought by now we’d have some plan, some strategy that we’d be moving forward on.

How do you know we’re not?

We’re not what?

How do you know we’re not moving forward on some plan?

How could we be? We haven’t set any timetables; we haven’t had any strategy meetings…unless I wasn’t invi--… I mean… OK, so maybe I wasn’t invited… Sorry if I…

Judas, hey… brother… Calm down. You should know by now I’m not a secret meeting kind a guy. With me, ‘What you see is what you get.’

Oh, Jesus, that’s a good one! What I see is a good Jew who dresses poor shabby chic like the rest of us, I see a guy who laughs with the little ones and cries with the lost ones. All of that see, all of that I get. But when you start talkin’ with that up country twang I swear even the birds stop to listen, then, when you start tellin’ your stories-- the Lord of heaven be my witness, power dances and crackles in the air. And don’t even get me started about yesterday and those loaves and fishes… ‘What you see is what you get?’ Yeah right, brother Jesus!

OK, OK, you made your point. But Judas, what if it’s all in the seeing.

Whaddya mean?

Remember yesterday afternoon when we were walking north out of Capernaum and we saw that fox?

Yeaaah…

Remember how it blended in with the rocks and grass? Remember how long it took some of us to see it?

I don’t think Matthew ever did see it.

Right… that fox was there for all of us to see. But none of us would have seen it if Nathanael hadn’t spied it. You know why he saw it?

No.

Because he spent years and years taking care of his dad’s sheep on the pastures south of Bethany. Haven’t you noticed? As we walk along he’s always scanning the hills, letting his eyes roam over rocks and poke into shadows. He’s trained himself to see what most of us would miss. Maybe I AM a “what you see is what you get kind of guy.” The problem is people haven’t trained their eyes to see what’s right in front of them.

Never thought of it that way before…. So you’re sayin’ there really is a plan and I just can’t see it?

Aw Judas, you and your plan. Why is that so important to you? Why can’t you just enjoy the journey? Wake up in the morning and see the swallows stitching the sky together, hear the ewes chewing out their lambs for lagging behind the flock, smell the bread a mother is baking for her family off in some village. Some mornings, Judas, I swear, I try to take in all of the bounty and beauty around me and my soul aches from trying to embrace it all. Can’t you just embrace it, just live it?

Oh, I do enjoy the journey…..I mean I’ve never done anything like this before. Every day… wide open, like an empty scroll and we fill it in as we choose. I mean such freedom, scary sometimes…but, Jesus, how can I not think about a plan… you’re the one who keeps saying “the Kingdom of God is coming.” To me that means changes, big changes… and changes don’t just happen, ‘poof’ like some wizard’s tricks. You need a plan. And as I see it, if God’s kingdom is coming then that means the Roman’s kingdom is going and that’s not going to be easy, so---

Judas, whoa, slow down. You are definitely my impatient brother. And you’re right I have been talking about the kingdom and sure that’s gonna mean changes. Will you see them? Will anyone see them? How do we train our eyes? Come here, sit down on this rock. Now look up and tell me what you see.

Dark sky and stars. Should I be seeing something else?

No, no. that’s what I see too. Stars. I wonder, how many of them are there?

Whoa, too many to count. Only God knows.

You think?

What?

You think God knows how many stars are in heaven?

Well, I… sure. God knows everything.

How do you know that?

I must have learned it in the yeshiva. But, hey, what kind of God would our God be if he didn’t know everything?

Ah Judas! Now that’s a sweet question, a juicy, luscious question. We could sink the teeth of our minds into that one and chew all night long. “What kind of God would our God be if he didn’t know everything?” Well, whaddya think? Maybe he’d be a God waiting for us to surprise him, a God waiting for us to make the next move, or a God waiting to see what we’ll do with the world he’s put into our hands. Ah, brother Judas. What a question. You have made my day. Thank you!

I… you’re welcome, I guess. I don’t know, to me it’s scary to think God gives us that much leeway, that much responsibility. I’m not sure I want it.

Yeah, but what if you already have it? What if that is God’s plan? What if you and I are the ones who will have to shape tomorrow… what if…? Ah Judas… tomorrow, tomorrow. I think before tomorrow comes I need to get some sleep.

Yeah it is late. I suppose Peter and the rest will be back before long, too.

Judas, if you wanna do guard duty, OK… you wanna sleep, that’s OK, too. Just remember, Judas, you are free, you have a choice! Goodnight.

Goodnight Jesus. I think I’ll stay up awhile. Maybe I’ll try to count the stars.

Thank you, Pastor Ron, for reminding me that, in Jesus, I have a choice. In Jesus, I am free!

If you want to pass something positive, uplifting, and perhaps a bit challenging along to your friends, send them a link to this blog page with Pastor Ron’s story. If you don’t know how to do that, ask a 14-year old to help you (and perhaps teach you). LOL!

Your brother in Christ,

Dave

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Still Under Attack


Yes, I’m still under the random attacks (link to: Still), and no… I’m not really any better. Since January of 2010, my medical doctor has had so many tests performed on me that I’m beginning to feel like a mad scientist’s experiment gone awry. I’ve had enough blood drawn to satisfy the Twilight denizens, and the only abnormal thing they can point to is that my HDL is really low. So I now dutifully take enormous amounts of Niacin (vitamin B-3) in what seems to be an experimental attempt (“studies have shown promise”) to get my good cholesterol into the normal range. The marvelous side effect of taking Niacin in dosages exceeding 500 mg is something called Flushing; your skin alternately feels burning hot, or crawling with insects. Fun times!

“Will this fix my problem?” I ask.

“Oh, no… but we should fix your HDL,” replies the doctor “and let’s put you on a Pravastatin to make sure we control your bad cholesterol at the same time, because you are just a few points too high.”

Along the way, I’ve seen heart doctors and neurologists. They, in turn, have sent me for x-rays of my neck, echocardiograms of my heart, trans-esophageal echocardiograms for a better view of my heart (hospital procedure… sonar device crammed down your throat; NOT FUN), electrocardiograms of my brain (yes, I DO have one), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of my brain and spine, and a host of other poking and prodding of various other areas of my body.

All of the medical professionals deal with me in a similar concerned and caring manner, but like the neurologist (who is the only one to openly admit it)… they are shooting in the dark at my symptoms… since they have, as yet, to diagnose the problem.

“I’m starting you on 500 mg of Depakote (divalproex sodium) to see if that helps you.”

“Will that fix my problem?”

“It’s an anti-epilepsy drug; very effective.” she said.

“Do I have epilepsy?” I demanded.

“No, but your symptoms might respond to this type of treatment.”

I was trying to find something positive in this situation, so after viewing the MRI of my brain, I asked:

“See any tumors, cancer, or swelling of my brain?”

“Nope, it all looks fine. You have a normal brain.”

“Ha!” I replied, “Now my wife will have to stop calling me ‘Pea Brain’.”

I don’t think doctors appreciate humor much. After that crack, she took a second look at my scans, pronounced that I had a sinus infection that showed up on the MRI, and sent me back to my regular MD. He also looked at the MRI scans, agreed that I have a terrible sinus infection, and began to prescribe an antibiotic that would take care of the infection:

“We’ll need to knock down that infection with a strong antibiotic.”

“Is the sinus infection causing my problems… my attacks?”

“Oh, no,” chuckled the doctor, “but we should fix this before it gets any worse.”

“But my head feels fine. I breathe fine. I don’t even have a sniffle.”

“Some sinus infections are like that,” he said cheerily, “it’s lucky we had the MRI so we could see it. Now let’s see… are you allergic to anything.”

“Yes, I’m allergic to bullets”

“What?!?” he exclaimed, “How can you be allergic to bullets?”

“Every time I’m shot,” I snickered, “I have a really bad reaction!”

Showing not the least bit of appreciation of my humor, and thus validating my premise, he wrote me a prescription for AMOX TR-K CLV 875, and then seemed almost gleeful when he explained that this antibiotic kills all the bacteria in the gut, so I should be sure to take a daily probiotic to keep replacing the little critters. As an aside, he mentioned that I “might” experience some bloating, gas, or severe diarrhea. That turned out to be an understatement!

I could not take the probiotic fast enough. To be honest, it didn’t seem to do anything at all to relieve what was fast becoming a disaster of epic proportions. For days, I seemed to be tied to the toilet seat. If you’ve had a bad case of stomach flu, you have a slight inkling of what I went through. After a while, I just wanted to die!

“Surely, this is how the infirm, the diseased, and the aged might feel.” That was the thought that suddenly shot into my mind as my intestines kept trying to turn themselves inside out. At that same instant, I realized that all my faith had been on medicine, other medicines, and my own strength. I wish I could report that as soon as I turned my heart back toward Jesus that I was instantly made well; I wasn’t. But it was as if I could feel Jesus holding my hand, easing my pain, and reminding me that it would soon pass. Then a miracle occurred: my youngest daughter came by and forced me to take some Imodium tablets. Thirty minutes later, I was greatly relieved (no pun intended).

I was a victim of the cure being worse than the disease! I felt deathly ill for 5 whole days. When you can’t control your bowels, you are angry, irritable, embarrassed, and in pain (for more than one reason). Your only thoughts to God, when you are alone and in pain, are not all that productive… they are probably a lot like mine were. And physical pain is just the tip of the iceberg. The pain of the death of a loved one can be even greater! I bet you know somebody who is in pain right now.

I challenge you to remind them of the Good News of Jesus Christ. I challenge you to sit with them, hold their hand, and pray with them. I challenge you to be an earthly reminder that Jesus wants to walk beside them… to erase their sins, free them from bondage, and to ease their pain.

Your brother in Christ,

Dave