January is the month of starting over.
It is the month of New Year's resolutions...promises to start over.
Think about the kinds of resolutions you normally make at the beginning of January each year...here are some of the classics:
-- "I am going to eat better."
-- "I am going to exercise more."
-- "I am going to stop smoking."
-- "I am going to watch TV less."
-- "I am going to save more money."
What do they all have in common? They all require a change in your life...and they all express your desire to start over.
The problem is, most of us eventually fail when it comes to our New Year's resolutions.
Most of the time, those old habits creep back into our lives...sometimes quickly...sometimes bit-by-bit...until we reach the point where, basically, nothing has changed.
Old habits die hard.
Why? Because, if we are honest, we must admit that our hearts are not in it.
Our "heads" tell us that we WANT to change, that we WANT to start over...and we convince ourselves it is true. "THIS time it will be different. THIS time I really mean it."
But, the truth is, it is your "head" talking. Not your heart.
The same thing happens when it comes to your relationship with God.
Something happens in your life and you decide that you need to get closer to Him. Usually, the plan goes something like this...
1. I will pray more.
2. I will read my Bible more.
3. I will go to church more.
4. I will give more money to the church.
5. I will be a better person.
In other words, the plan is to "butter up" the Lord so He will be so impressed with you that He can't help but send showers of blessings your way.
But, in the end, the plan is no more useful than your annual January plan to start over, because these promises to God are no more than New Year's resolutions in disguise.
They are made with your head and not with your heart.
What if Jesus had made resolutions rather than promises? What if He had said in His head something like this: "Yes, I will go to the cross, beaten and bloodied. And, once there, I will let the Roman guards drive spikes into my hands and feet. I will wear a crown of thorns. I will take on all of the sins of all mankind. And, I will suffer and die because that is the only way you can get to heaven."
If this had been only a New Year's resolution, do you think Jesus would have gone through with the plan? Or, would He have changed His mind at some point, like when He was on the Mount of Transfiguration...or as He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday...or in the Upper Room...or even in the Garden of Gesthemene?
He had plenty of opportunities to turn around a go the other way.
What if He had decided to just forget the whole plan and go back to the glories of heaven where He could share eternity in the presence of angels and on streets of gold?
Who could have blamed Him?
The good news is that Jesus did not make His promise with His head, He made it with His heart. In His heart, He said, "I love you so much that nothing will stop me from dying for you. And living for you...so you can eventually live with Me."
If you really want to get closer to God during the new year, then it is not your head that needs to change. It is not your head that needs to start over. It is your heart.
Give God your heart first, and your life will follow.
Then, you will find yourself doing all of those good things for God, not because you want to butter Him up, but because you are so close to Him already that they are simply reflections of your relationship with Him.
Paul said something similar in Romans, as translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message:
"As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right ANYTHING for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is REAL LIFE, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master." (Romans 6:20-23)
This year, resolve to give up the good intentions of your head and instead, give up your heart...to God. That is the only way to start over with Him in a way that will make a difference not just now, but forever.
May you find a new life with the Lord during this new year,
Happy New Year!
Pastor Greg
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Christmas Babies
I was a Christmas Eve baby.
I turn another year older, every year, on December 24.
If I had a dime for every time someone commented about my Christmas Eve birth date while looking at my driver's license, I could go ahead and retire right now.
It is a unique thing. Most people are not born on Christmas Eve. I am part of a small circle of people when it comes to the date of my birth. And, in a way, that is one of the fun things about having a birthday that starts with the numbers 12/24.
On the other hand, after awhile, it isn't so much fun when the day which is supposed to be all about you is, instead, all about something else entirely...every single year.
Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas Eve.
I would love Christmas Eve even if it wasn't my birthday. Christmas Eve should always be a special day. It should always be a meaningful day. Many of my most wonderful childhood memories revolve around Christmas Eve.
I just wish that my own special and meaningful day was a little farther removed from it, that's all. I think, if I had the choice, I would like my birthday to be in June instead.
Why?
Well, let's just say, it is hard to compete.
When I grew up, our Christmas Eve celebration was HUGE. Everyone on my Dad's side of the family gathered at Aunt Margaret's house, and after a delicious dinner, we would start opening presents...and opening presents...and opening presents...one-by-one...everyone taking their own individual turn. By the time it was over, the house looked like it had been hit by a bomb.
Then, everyone (and I mean everyone) would drive over to our house, where we would start all over again...opening more presents.
After that, everyone (yes, everyone) would drive to my grandparent's house, where we would all open still more presents.
Sometime after midnight, Mom, Dad, and my sister and I would wind our way back home, with a trunk full of toys and dreams of what Santa Claus would put under our tree the next morning.
I wish everyone could have the kind of Christmas Eve experiences I had as a child.
There was just one little thing that always sort of nagged at me during all of the eating, and driving, and gift opening, and laughing, and talking, and celebrating...
...in the midst of all of that Christmas Eve frenzy, what happened to my birthday? Basically, it just got lost.
Not that it was forgotten. My family never forgot my birthday. It was more like it just got blown away in the swirl of Christmas, like a new-fallen snowflake that lands for just a moment on your window pane before a blast of winter wind sweeps it away.
My birthday would land for just a moment on Christmas Eve, before getting blasted by the hustle and bustle of Christmas.
As I look around today, I think Jesus knows exactly how I felt back then.
Because His birthday is getting lost in the craziness of Christmas too.
It goes something like this...
...you start shopping early to get the best bargains; get the outdoor lights up before the weather turns bad; buy the cards and the stamps, write the cards and address the envelopes and don't forget to put them in the mail; get the tree, put it up, decorate it and decorate the inside of the house too, wrap the gifts and get them in the mail, go see the Nutcracker or "A Christmas Carol" or at least a Christmas movie and besuretobuythegroceriesandmakethecookiesandbakethe piesandgoseeSantaandhisreindeerandtakeadrivetolookatlightsandcleancleancleanthehousefor
companyandtrytogettochurchandcookamealthatwon'tsoonbeforgottenandopenthepresentsand
thencleanitallupandputitallawayforanotheryear!
That is a lot of competition for Jesus.
The day which is supposed to be all about Him has become, instead, all about something else entirely...every single year.
He even gets lost at the stores right now. Go out and try to find an outdoor Nativity display in a major chain store this year. We have been looking for one and cannot find it at any of the "big" stores.
According to a clerk at K-mart, they just "didn't get any in this year."
Interesting. You can buy plenty of snowmen, and reindeer, and carolers by the dozen. No problem finding trees, or candy canes, or even stars.
But, try to get your hands on a Nativity scene. You know, the one with the baby Jesus who was born on the day after Christmas Eve. You will probably find, as we have, that they just "didn't get any in this year."
Actually, I think we should move Jesus' birthday to sometime in June. Keep Christmas Eve on December 24 and Christmas Day on December 25 with all of the same fantastic frenzy surrounding them.
But, let's commemorate the day when God came to earth as a baby in Bethlehem in June, when He won't get lost and blown away by the arctic blast that has become Christmas.
Maybe then, people will pay more attention to this message that was meant to change the world by changing human hearts...
...I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)
The amazing thing is that the baby of Bethlehem grew up to become the Christ on the cross.
Don't let Him get lost and swept away in your Christmas this year.
May love and joy be yours at Christmas and always,
Pastor Greg
I turn another year older, every year, on December 24.
If I had a dime for every time someone commented about my Christmas Eve birth date while looking at my driver's license, I could go ahead and retire right now.
It is a unique thing. Most people are not born on Christmas Eve. I am part of a small circle of people when it comes to the date of my birth. And, in a way, that is one of the fun things about having a birthday that starts with the numbers 12/24.
On the other hand, after awhile, it isn't so much fun when the day which is supposed to be all about you is, instead, all about something else entirely...every single year.
Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas Eve.
I would love Christmas Eve even if it wasn't my birthday. Christmas Eve should always be a special day. It should always be a meaningful day. Many of my most wonderful childhood memories revolve around Christmas Eve.
I just wish that my own special and meaningful day was a little farther removed from it, that's all. I think, if I had the choice, I would like my birthday to be in June instead.
Why?
Well, let's just say, it is hard to compete.
When I grew up, our Christmas Eve celebration was HUGE. Everyone on my Dad's side of the family gathered at Aunt Margaret's house, and after a delicious dinner, we would start opening presents...and opening presents...and opening presents...one-by-one...everyone taking their own individual turn. By the time it was over, the house looked like it had been hit by a bomb.
Then, everyone (and I mean everyone) would drive over to our house, where we would start all over again...opening more presents.
After that, everyone (yes, everyone) would drive to my grandparent's house, where we would all open still more presents.
Sometime after midnight, Mom, Dad, and my sister and I would wind our way back home, with a trunk full of toys and dreams of what Santa Claus would put under our tree the next morning.
I wish everyone could have the kind of Christmas Eve experiences I had as a child.
There was just one little thing that always sort of nagged at me during all of the eating, and driving, and gift opening, and laughing, and talking, and celebrating...
...in the midst of all of that Christmas Eve frenzy, what happened to my birthday? Basically, it just got lost.
Not that it was forgotten. My family never forgot my birthday. It was more like it just got blown away in the swirl of Christmas, like a new-fallen snowflake that lands for just a moment on your window pane before a blast of winter wind sweeps it away.
My birthday would land for just a moment on Christmas Eve, before getting blasted by the hustle and bustle of Christmas.
As I look around today, I think Jesus knows exactly how I felt back then.
Because His birthday is getting lost in the craziness of Christmas too.
It goes something like this...
...you start shopping early to get the best bargains; get the outdoor lights up before the weather turns bad; buy the cards and the stamps, write the cards and address the envelopes and don't forget to put them in the mail; get the tree, put it up, decorate it and decorate the inside of the house too, wrap the gifts and get them in the mail, go see the Nutcracker or "A Christmas Carol" or at least a Christmas movie and besuretobuythegroceriesandmakethecookiesandbakethe piesandgoseeSantaandhisreindeerandtakeadrivetolookatlightsandcleancleancleanthehousefor
companyandtrytogettochurchandcookamealthatwon'tsoonbeforgottenandopenthepresentsand
thencleanitallupandputitallawayforanotheryear!
That is a lot of competition for Jesus.
The day which is supposed to be all about Him has become, instead, all about something else entirely...every single year.
He even gets lost at the stores right now. Go out and try to find an outdoor Nativity display in a major chain store this year. We have been looking for one and cannot find it at any of the "big" stores.
According to a clerk at K-mart, they just "didn't get any in this year."
Interesting. You can buy plenty of snowmen, and reindeer, and carolers by the dozen. No problem finding trees, or candy canes, or even stars.
But, try to get your hands on a Nativity scene. You know, the one with the baby Jesus who was born on the day after Christmas Eve. You will probably find, as we have, that they just "didn't get any in this year."
Actually, I think we should move Jesus' birthday to sometime in June. Keep Christmas Eve on December 24 and Christmas Day on December 25 with all of the same fantastic frenzy surrounding them.
But, let's commemorate the day when God came to earth as a baby in Bethlehem in June, when He won't get lost and blown away by the arctic blast that has become Christmas.
Maybe then, people will pay more attention to this message that was meant to change the world by changing human hearts...
...I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)
The amazing thing is that the baby of Bethlehem grew up to become the Christ on the cross.
Don't let Him get lost and swept away in your Christmas this year.
May love and joy be yours at Christmas and always,
Pastor Greg
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Do You Know Where YOUR Brake Pedal Is?
On my 16th birthday, my grandfather gave me his car.
It was a 1968 Renault (we pronounced it "Ren-ault" in West Virginia...with a hard "t" sound at the end...unlike the rest of the world which said it with a silent "t"... "Ren-oh").
When I first learned to drive that car, I remember how important it was to use BOTH of those little pedals on the floor. There was the "gas" pedal, which made the car go faster.
And there was the "brake" pedal, which made the car go slower.
To pass my driver's exam, I had to show my ride-along state trooper that I knew how, and when, to use them both.
It was an important lesson.
That is how I learned to drive...and today, even after all of these years, I still use both pedals!
But I don't think that is how people are learning to drive today.
It seems that today's drivers are learning how to use only ONE of those pedals on the floor...the GAS pedal!
No one knows how to use the brake anymore. Does anyone even know where it is?
Hardly a day goes by when I don't shake my head in disbelief because EVERYONE around me is driving SO FAST! They love to getthisclosetomybackbumperandpushmetogofasterandfaster andfastereventhoughIamalreadygoingfiveortenmilesperhouroverthespeedlimit!
They go way too fast and get way too close...and there is no margin for error on anyone's part.
This seems to be especially true of Metro bus drivers, little women in big SUV's, and big men in big pickups.
A case in point -- a driver actually passed me the other day on Clough Pike by using the center turn lane (at about 6:00 pm, in the middle of rush hour)! I mean, how much faster could she go once she got in front of me on such a busy road at that time of day?
It is unsafe and unwise. To operate a vehicle safely, you must use BOTH the gas pedal and the brake pedal! Someone needs to start teaching this lesson again to our 16-year-old would-be drivers out there before it is too late (if it is not too late already)!
They need to learn that it is not about how fast you can go. It is not about how fast you can get to your final destination.
It IS about getting there safely and in one piece
In a lot of ways, the way people drive today is like the way they live their lives.
Go...go...go...go!
"I'm going to get there as fast as I can." "I'm going to see how fast I can go."
"Everyone needs to clear out of my way because here I come and my life is more important than yours!"
They know where the gas pedal is and they keep it pressed all the way to the floor all the time.
The problem is, they don't know where the BREAK pedal is...or how to use it. They don't know how to slowwwwww dowwwwwwwn.
They certainly don't know how to stop.
As a result, they never "find the time" to slow down and read the Bible. They don't slow down enough to have a serious and thoughtful prayer life. They don't slow down enough to get really involved in church.
They don't slow down enough to get the know the God who made them...who loves them...and who died for them.
They don't slow down enough to hear Him speak to them.
This is nothing new, of course. Jesus encountered the same "go...go..go...go" mindset back in His day. Remember the story of Mary and Martha?
"As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village. A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home. She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said.
But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. "Master, don't you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand."
The Master said, "Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it – it's the main course, and won't be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42, The Message)
It is unsafe and unwise to live life with the gas pedal to the floor all of the time. To live life safely, you must know how to use BOTH the gas pedal and the BREAK pedal.
Give yourself a BREAK today. Slow down. And listen for the voice of Jesus.
Pastor Greg
It was a 1968 Renault (we pronounced it "Ren-ault" in West Virginia...with a hard "t" sound at the end...unlike the rest of the world which said it with a silent "t"... "Ren-oh").
When I first learned to drive that car, I remember how important it was to use BOTH of those little pedals on the floor. There was the "gas" pedal, which made the car go faster.
And there was the "brake" pedal, which made the car go slower.
To pass my driver's exam, I had to show my ride-along state trooper that I knew how, and when, to use them both.
It was an important lesson.
That is how I learned to drive...and today, even after all of these years, I still use both pedals!
But I don't think that is how people are learning to drive today.
It seems that today's drivers are learning how to use only ONE of those pedals on the floor...the GAS pedal!
No one knows how to use the brake anymore. Does anyone even know where it is?
Hardly a day goes by when I don't shake my head in disbelief because EVERYONE around me is driving SO FAST! They love to getthisclosetomybackbumperandpushmetogofasterandfaster andfastereventhoughIamalreadygoingfiveortenmilesperhouroverthespeedlimit!
They go way too fast and get way too close...and there is no margin for error on anyone's part.
This seems to be especially true of Metro bus drivers, little women in big SUV's, and big men in big pickups.
A case in point -- a driver actually passed me the other day on Clough Pike by using the center turn lane (at about 6:00 pm, in the middle of rush hour)! I mean, how much faster could she go once she got in front of me on such a busy road at that time of day?
It is unsafe and unwise. To operate a vehicle safely, you must use BOTH the gas pedal and the brake pedal! Someone needs to start teaching this lesson again to our 16-year-old would-be drivers out there before it is too late (if it is not too late already)!
They need to learn that it is not about how fast you can go. It is not about how fast you can get to your final destination.
It IS about getting there safely and in one piece
In a lot of ways, the way people drive today is like the way they live their lives.
Go...go...go...go!
"I'm going to get there as fast as I can." "I'm going to see how fast I can go."
"Everyone needs to clear out of my way because here I come and my life is more important than yours!"
They know where the gas pedal is and they keep it pressed all the way to the floor all the time.
The problem is, they don't know where the BREAK pedal is...or how to use it. They don't know how to slowwwwww dowwwwwwwn.
They certainly don't know how to stop.
As a result, they never "find the time" to slow down and read the Bible. They don't slow down enough to have a serious and thoughtful prayer life. They don't slow down enough to get really involved in church.
They don't slow down enough to get the know the God who made them...who loves them...and who died for them.
They don't slow down enough to hear Him speak to them.
This is nothing new, of course. Jesus encountered the same "go...go..go...go" mindset back in His day. Remember the story of Mary and Martha?
"As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village. A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home. She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said.
But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. "Master, don't you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand."
The Master said, "Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it – it's the main course, and won't be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42, The Message)
It is unsafe and unwise to live life with the gas pedal to the floor all of the time. To live life safely, you must know how to use BOTH the gas pedal and the BREAK pedal.
Give yourself a BREAK today. Slow down. And listen for the voice of Jesus.
Pastor Greg
Sunday, November 1, 2009
After The Cross
We call it the "Emmaus Road."
Back then, it probably did not have an "official" name at all. It was just the road that ran from Jerusalem to the town of Emmaus. It was seven miles of nothing special.
That is, until two of Jesus' followers walked along that road together on the first Easter Sunday. Thanks to them, and to the gospel of Luke, the Emmaus Road has become a parable of encouragement today.
"Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing Him." (Luke 24: 13-16)
What was "everything that had happened?"
Jesus had been crucified.
He was dead.
And buried.
There were lots of witnesses.
Now, some of His disciples were making wild claims, saying that Jesus had come back to life, that He had been resurrected.
The tomb was empty, they said.
He was gone!
When the first reports of His resurrection had come from a handful of women who had gone to the tomb early that morning, everyone dismissed it. After all, it was nothing more than the testimony of women who were obviously overcome with grief!
But later, Peter had also gone to the tomb and found it empty. Left behind were the linen strips that had been so carefully applied to Jesus' forehead, covering the wounds of the awful crown of thorns. But His body, put in that same spot by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, was nowhere to be found.
So, as they walked along it that afternoon, a better name for the road might have been "Confusion Road." Or "Pain Avenue." Or "Loss Lane." Or "Anxiety Alley."
Jesus had died? They had expected Him to be the Jewish Messiah who would deliver them from the rule of Rome and establish a new kingdom right then and there that would never end.
But He died instead.
Jesus had risen? They knew the Old Testament stories of people who had gone to heaven without dying first. Enoch was "taken away" by God, and Elijah rode to heaven on a chariot of fire. There was even the testimony of the young boy who was brought back to life through the prayers of Elijah.
But rising from the dead without at least the prayer of a prophet? It had never been done before.
What were they to think? What were they to do? How could it end like this? Or, had it ended at all?
Step by step they walked, the seven miles between Jerusalem and Emmaus seeming like seventy because of their heavy hearts. Suddenly, someone they did not recognize joined them. As He came alongside, He turned and asked, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?"
Astonished to hear that He was unaware of all that had happened, they poured out their story through broken hearts, wounded spirits and confused minds.
Jesus listened quietly. Then, He gave them a Bible lesson.
By the time they reached Emmaus, Jesus had revealed the Old Testament prophecies which explained everything.
How they loved His teaching! They invited Him to dinner, still not knowing who He really was. As the three of them sat down together, Jesus took a loaf of bread, gave thanks, and broke it and gave it to them. Instantly, they saw Him for who He was! Then, miraculously, He disappeared from their presence.
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. (Luke 24:33-35)
The confusion was gone. The pain was past. The anxiety was history.
Instead, all they felt was pure joy. The joy of an empty grave. The joy of resurrection. The joy of truth.
And something else, I think...the joy of knowing that, as they looked back on it, even as they walked along that Emmaus road in their darkest moments, Jesus was walking with them, even though they did not know it.
After all, Easter isn't Easter without Jesus!
What is the name of the road are you walking down today?
Is it your own Emmaus Road of doubt and despair?
Does it seem like you have been walking down that road forever?
Be patient. Keep going.
Jesus will get you off the Emmaus Road when He is finished teaching you the lesson He wants you to learn. Until then, remember He is there, walking with you every step of the way, even when you don't know it.
The joy of resurrection and new life is coming your way! I promise.
Pastor Greg
Back then, it probably did not have an "official" name at all. It was just the road that ran from Jerusalem to the town of Emmaus. It was seven miles of nothing special.
That is, until two of Jesus' followers walked along that road together on the first Easter Sunday. Thanks to them, and to the gospel of Luke, the Emmaus Road has become a parable of encouragement today.
"Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing Him." (Luke 24: 13-16)
What was "everything that had happened?"
Jesus had been crucified.
He was dead.
And buried.
There were lots of witnesses.
Now, some of His disciples were making wild claims, saying that Jesus had come back to life, that He had been resurrected.
The tomb was empty, they said.
He was gone!
When the first reports of His resurrection had come from a handful of women who had gone to the tomb early that morning, everyone dismissed it. After all, it was nothing more than the testimony of women who were obviously overcome with grief!
But later, Peter had also gone to the tomb and found it empty. Left behind were the linen strips that had been so carefully applied to Jesus' forehead, covering the wounds of the awful crown of thorns. But His body, put in that same spot by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, was nowhere to be found.
So, as they walked along it that afternoon, a better name for the road might have been "Confusion Road." Or "Pain Avenue." Or "Loss Lane." Or "Anxiety Alley."
Jesus had died? They had expected Him to be the Jewish Messiah who would deliver them from the rule of Rome and establish a new kingdom right then and there that would never end.
But He died instead.
Jesus had risen? They knew the Old Testament stories of people who had gone to heaven without dying first. Enoch was "taken away" by God, and Elijah rode to heaven on a chariot of fire. There was even the testimony of the young boy who was brought back to life through the prayers of Elijah.
But rising from the dead without at least the prayer of a prophet? It had never been done before.
What were they to think? What were they to do? How could it end like this? Or, had it ended at all?
Step by step they walked, the seven miles between Jerusalem and Emmaus seeming like seventy because of their heavy hearts. Suddenly, someone they did not recognize joined them. As He came alongside, He turned and asked, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?"
Astonished to hear that He was unaware of all that had happened, they poured out their story through broken hearts, wounded spirits and confused minds.
Jesus listened quietly. Then, He gave them a Bible lesson.
By the time they reached Emmaus, Jesus had revealed the Old Testament prophecies which explained everything.
How they loved His teaching! They invited Him to dinner, still not knowing who He really was. As the three of them sat down together, Jesus took a loaf of bread, gave thanks, and broke it and gave it to them. Instantly, they saw Him for who He was! Then, miraculously, He disappeared from their presence.
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. (Luke 24:33-35)
The confusion was gone. The pain was past. The anxiety was history.
Instead, all they felt was pure joy. The joy of an empty grave. The joy of resurrection. The joy of truth.
And something else, I think...the joy of knowing that, as they looked back on it, even as they walked along that Emmaus road in their darkest moments, Jesus was walking with them, even though they did not know it.
After all, Easter isn't Easter without Jesus!
What is the name of the road are you walking down today?
Is it your own Emmaus Road of doubt and despair?
Does it seem like you have been walking down that road forever?
Be patient. Keep going.
Jesus will get you off the Emmaus Road when He is finished teaching you the lesson He wants you to learn. Until then, remember He is there, walking with you every step of the way, even when you don't know it.
The joy of resurrection and new life is coming your way! I promise.
Pastor Greg
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Don't Be Fooled
Take it from me, driving through Chicago can be dangerous to your health.
I am not talking about the road construction that will never end, or even the plague of a traffic jam that ALWAYS clogs up the Dan Ryan Expressway (I believe if the Egyptians had driven cars instead of chariots, then one of God's plagues during the time of Moses would have been a traffic jam of Chicago proportion!).
Actually, when I saw someone in a car ahead of me stick a gun out of his rolled-down window, aimed at the car beside him in the next lane, I would gladly have faced road construction or a traffic jam instead (or even a plague!).
This is a true story.
It happened during a recent trip to Chicago. At first, I did not want to believe what I thought I saw. A gun. Held by a hand that was sticking out of one car window and pointed at another car window. And it was all happening only a very short distance ahead of me.
What was happening? Was it road rage? Gang violence? Would I be an eyewitness to a murder? Would I testify in court? And how safe was I, after all?
These and a hundred other thoughts all raced through my mind in a matter of seconds.
Before I could arrive at any answers, the car being threatened suddenly pulled over to the shoulder and stopped. Immediately, the guy with the gun stopped his car in the middle of the interstate, not bothering with the shoulder...and everyone behind him stopped too, including me.
At that point, I could hear a siren, but I could not tell where it was coming from. Someone must have called 911. I looked in my rearview mirror. No sign of a police car. No flashing lights anywhere.
As I glanced back at the scene in front of me, a man was getting out of the car in the center lane and was running towards the other car on the shoulder, gun in hand. At this, the car on the shoulder took off, 60-miles an hour, backwards.
The man with the gun ran to his car and hopped in. He made a u-turn in the middle of the three-lane freeway and started driving the wrong way, and headed straight towards me.
The thought crossed my mind then that maybe I would get shot. Or, maybe my rental car would get rammed by either the "good guy" who was driving way too fast to be going backwards...or by the "bad guy" with the gun chasing him.
But as the "bad guy" got closer, I saw something that made me feel much better.
His car was not a normal "bad guy" car. I could see flashing red and blue lights tucked away behind the grill on the front of his car and, as he passed me, I heard the sound of the siren pass too.
It was an unmarked police car. The guy with the gun was not a "bad guy" after all. He was an undercover policeman. He was really a "good guy."
The problem was that I could not tell the "good guy" from the "bad guy" by looking at them. What I saw with my own two eyes deceived me.
As I thought about it later, I was reminded of Samuel in the Old Testament. He had the same problem. His eyes had deceived him when he judged by outer appearances only.
God had called Samuel to anoint the next king of Israel from among the sons of Jesse. As soon as Samuel laid eyes on Eliab, he was sure that this was God's man. There must have been something very royal about Eliab's physical appearance.
God, however, had other ideas. Here is the passage from 1 Samuel 16...
"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"
Have you ever made that same mistake yourself?
It is easy to do. It is sort of hard-wired into our human nature.
Sometimes, I wonder if some people see Walnut Hills Baptist Church like that.
They look at our outward appearance and they are not impressed. Ours is an old building. We have no parking lot to call our own. No air conditioning. We have a small congregation. We are classified as an "urban" church rather than as a "suburban" church.
But I would like to think that God would say to them, "Do not look at the outward appearance, but look at their heart."
Because, at heart, we are a wonderful fellowship of believers. We love the Lord and we love each other. We treat each other as brothers and sisters regardless of race or age. When we come to church on Sunday, we hear a remarkable choir, lots of prayer, and a "Word from God's Word."
Some might call it "old-fashioned." Some might call it "traditional." I call it "beautiful."
I also call it ministry.
It is easy to do ministry where ministry is easy.
As a member of this church, you choose to do ministry in a more difficult place...all the while giving and receiving so many blessings in the process.
Just like Jesus did. And Paul. And Peter. And John. And so many others who looked not only at what was on the outside, but at what was on the inside.
Pastor Greg
I am not talking about the road construction that will never end, or even the plague of a traffic jam that ALWAYS clogs up the Dan Ryan Expressway (I believe if the Egyptians had driven cars instead of chariots, then one of God's plagues during the time of Moses would have been a traffic jam of Chicago proportion!).
Actually, when I saw someone in a car ahead of me stick a gun out of his rolled-down window, aimed at the car beside him in the next lane, I would gladly have faced road construction or a traffic jam instead (or even a plague!).
This is a true story.
It happened during a recent trip to Chicago. At first, I did not want to believe what I thought I saw. A gun. Held by a hand that was sticking out of one car window and pointed at another car window. And it was all happening only a very short distance ahead of me.
What was happening? Was it road rage? Gang violence? Would I be an eyewitness to a murder? Would I testify in court? And how safe was I, after all?
These and a hundred other thoughts all raced through my mind in a matter of seconds.
Before I could arrive at any answers, the car being threatened suddenly pulled over to the shoulder and stopped. Immediately, the guy with the gun stopped his car in the middle of the interstate, not bothering with the shoulder...and everyone behind him stopped too, including me.
At that point, I could hear a siren, but I could not tell where it was coming from. Someone must have called 911. I looked in my rearview mirror. No sign of a police car. No flashing lights anywhere.
As I glanced back at the scene in front of me, a man was getting out of the car in the center lane and was running towards the other car on the shoulder, gun in hand. At this, the car on the shoulder took off, 60-miles an hour, backwards.
The man with the gun ran to his car and hopped in. He made a u-turn in the middle of the three-lane freeway and started driving the wrong way, and headed straight towards me.
The thought crossed my mind then that maybe I would get shot. Or, maybe my rental car would get rammed by either the "good guy" who was driving way too fast to be going backwards...or by the "bad guy" with the gun chasing him.
But as the "bad guy" got closer, I saw something that made me feel much better.
His car was not a normal "bad guy" car. I could see flashing red and blue lights tucked away behind the grill on the front of his car and, as he passed me, I heard the sound of the siren pass too.
It was an unmarked police car. The guy with the gun was not a "bad guy" after all. He was an undercover policeman. He was really a "good guy."
The problem was that I could not tell the "good guy" from the "bad guy" by looking at them. What I saw with my own two eyes deceived me.
As I thought about it later, I was reminded of Samuel in the Old Testament. He had the same problem. His eyes had deceived him when he judged by outer appearances only.
God had called Samuel to anoint the next king of Israel from among the sons of Jesse. As soon as Samuel laid eyes on Eliab, he was sure that this was God's man. There must have been something very royal about Eliab's physical appearance.
God, however, had other ideas. Here is the passage from 1 Samuel 16...
"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"
Have you ever made that same mistake yourself?
It is easy to do. It is sort of hard-wired into our human nature.
Sometimes, I wonder if some people see Walnut Hills Baptist Church like that.
They look at our outward appearance and they are not impressed. Ours is an old building. We have no parking lot to call our own. No air conditioning. We have a small congregation. We are classified as an "urban" church rather than as a "suburban" church.
But I would like to think that God would say to them, "Do not look at the outward appearance, but look at their heart."
Because, at heart, we are a wonderful fellowship of believers. We love the Lord and we love each other. We treat each other as brothers and sisters regardless of race or age. When we come to church on Sunday, we hear a remarkable choir, lots of prayer, and a "Word from God's Word."
Some might call it "old-fashioned." Some might call it "traditional." I call it "beautiful."
I also call it ministry.
It is easy to do ministry where ministry is easy.
As a member of this church, you choose to do ministry in a more difficult place...all the while giving and receiving so many blessings in the process.
Just like Jesus did. And Paul. And Peter. And John. And so many others who looked not only at what was on the outside, but at what was on the inside.
Pastor Greg
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Going Home
It was a cold and stormy night.
A Wednesday night, to be exact...the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, in 1980.
It was my first BIG HOLIDAY away from home after graduating from college and I had BIG PLANS. Secret plans.
I would drive all the way to West Virginia from Indianapolis after I finished working at the Indiana Pacers game that night. I had rented a car because I didn't trust my 1976 Vega station wagon to make the trip without breaking down.
I would drive all night, overnight, so I could be home for Thanksgiving.
No one knew I was coming. It would be a surprise for everyone, especially for my Mom.
You see, I had never missed a Thanksgiving with her. Not once. In all of my 22 years, Mom and I had always been together for Thanksgiving.
At first, I had told myself how silly it was to make the trip at all. I was, after all, a grown man. I had a fulltime job. It was just Thanksgiving. What difference would it make if I didn't get home that year? So what if I wouldn't see my Mom, just this once.
There would be other holidays. There would be other Thanksgivings.
It was too far to drive so late at night anyway. I would be too tired. It might even be dangerous...only crazy people, or drunk people (or crazy, drunk people) were out on the roads at that time of night, on the night before Thanksgiving.
I would be fine staying at my apartment, by myself.
But, the more I thought about it, the more homesick I got. Not that my Mom was a great cook, exactly. I mean, she could cook a good meal, don't get me wrong. But, for my Mom, cooking was more of a "hit and miss" proposition.
There were times when the Thanksgiving turkey just melted in your mouth. But there were other times when the bottoms of the rolls were burned, or the mashed potatoes were a little stiff, or the pumpkin pie was still a bit frozen because she hadn't take the box out of the freezer early enough to thaw. You never knew, from one year to the next, which food would hit the table.
Of course, it didn't matter. I wasn't going home for the food. I was going home to be with my family. I was going home to be with my Mom.
So, sometime around midnight on that Wednesday night in 1980, I headed home. It really was a cold and stormy night.
I was fine for an hour or two. But eventually, there was no way I could keep my eyes open. I had to pull over and take a nap.
I slept as well possible while sitting up behind the steering wheel. That is, until the car got too cold. Freezing, I started the car, turned on the heat and let it run until the air warmed up again. Then, I turned off the engine and fell back to sleep.
That pattern repeated itself more than once that night. Drive. Stop. Sleep. Freeze. Run the car. Sleep. Repeat.
Finally, sometime around the middle of the morning on Thanksgiving day, I pulled into the driveway at Mom's house.
She was in the kitchen when I got there.
She saw me drive up. It was then that the most unusual thing happened. Something that I had not expected.
For some reason, she did not seem surprised to see me. She was happy that I made it home, of course, but she did not seem surprised at all.
It was almost as if she had expected me to be there.
As I look back on it now, I think I know why. This was my home. This was my family. This was where I belonged. This was the only place in the whole world where I could find a special kind of love...the love of my Mom. Unconditional love.
The kind of love that says, "I love you just because you are my child."
I think Mom knew that I could not stay away, because that kind of love is too precious to miss.
Someday, there is going to be a great Thanksgiving meal in the presence of Jesus. Actually, in the Bible, it is called a "wedding supper," but it is basically the same thing.
"Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder shouting: 'Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear'...Then the angel said to me, 'Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.'" (Revelation 19:6-9)
Do you want to be invited? You have been already. You were invited the very day that Jesus died on the cross for you.
If you want to be there, you do not have to drive for hours and hours on a cold and stormy night. All you have to do is accept Jesus as your personal Savior.
What waits for you is a wonderful time of precious, unconditional love, because you have "come home" through faith in Jesus Christ. What waits for you is a love from God that says, "I love you just because you are my child."
Where else would you rather be?
Pastor Greg
A Wednesday night, to be exact...the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, in 1980.
It was my first BIG HOLIDAY away from home after graduating from college and I had BIG PLANS. Secret plans.
I would drive all the way to West Virginia from Indianapolis after I finished working at the Indiana Pacers game that night. I had rented a car because I didn't trust my 1976 Vega station wagon to make the trip without breaking down.
I would drive all night, overnight, so I could be home for Thanksgiving.
No one knew I was coming. It would be a surprise for everyone, especially for my Mom.
You see, I had never missed a Thanksgiving with her. Not once. In all of my 22 years, Mom and I had always been together for Thanksgiving.
At first, I had told myself how silly it was to make the trip at all. I was, after all, a grown man. I had a fulltime job. It was just Thanksgiving. What difference would it make if I didn't get home that year? So what if I wouldn't see my Mom, just this once.
There would be other holidays. There would be other Thanksgivings.
It was too far to drive so late at night anyway. I would be too tired. It might even be dangerous...only crazy people, or drunk people (or crazy, drunk people) were out on the roads at that time of night, on the night before Thanksgiving.
I would be fine staying at my apartment, by myself.
But, the more I thought about it, the more homesick I got. Not that my Mom was a great cook, exactly. I mean, she could cook a good meal, don't get me wrong. But, for my Mom, cooking was more of a "hit and miss" proposition.
There were times when the Thanksgiving turkey just melted in your mouth. But there were other times when the bottoms of the rolls were burned, or the mashed potatoes were a little stiff, or the pumpkin pie was still a bit frozen because she hadn't take the box out of the freezer early enough to thaw. You never knew, from one year to the next, which food would hit the table.
Of course, it didn't matter. I wasn't going home for the food. I was going home to be with my family. I was going home to be with my Mom.
So, sometime around midnight on that Wednesday night in 1980, I headed home. It really was a cold and stormy night.
I was fine for an hour or two. But eventually, there was no way I could keep my eyes open. I had to pull over and take a nap.
I slept as well possible while sitting up behind the steering wheel. That is, until the car got too cold. Freezing, I started the car, turned on the heat and let it run until the air warmed up again. Then, I turned off the engine and fell back to sleep.
That pattern repeated itself more than once that night. Drive. Stop. Sleep. Freeze. Run the car. Sleep. Repeat.
Finally, sometime around the middle of the morning on Thanksgiving day, I pulled into the driveway at Mom's house.
She was in the kitchen when I got there.
She saw me drive up. It was then that the most unusual thing happened. Something that I had not expected.
For some reason, she did not seem surprised to see me. She was happy that I made it home, of course, but she did not seem surprised at all.
It was almost as if she had expected me to be there.
As I look back on it now, I think I know why. This was my home. This was my family. This was where I belonged. This was the only place in the whole world where I could find a special kind of love...the love of my Mom. Unconditional love.
The kind of love that says, "I love you just because you are my child."
I think Mom knew that I could not stay away, because that kind of love is too precious to miss.
Someday, there is going to be a great Thanksgiving meal in the presence of Jesus. Actually, in the Bible, it is called a "wedding supper," but it is basically the same thing.
"Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder shouting: 'Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear'...Then the angel said to me, 'Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.'" (Revelation 19:6-9)
Do you want to be invited? You have been already. You were invited the very day that Jesus died on the cross for you.
If you want to be there, you do not have to drive for hours and hours on a cold and stormy night. All you have to do is accept Jesus as your personal Savior.
What waits for you is a wonderful time of precious, unconditional love, because you have "come home" through faith in Jesus Christ. What waits for you is a love from God that says, "I love you just because you are my child."
Where else would you rather be?
Pastor Greg
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The P's of a 'Postle
Prince Jesus picked a pack of paupers, called 'postles,
To portray His power.
So people perceiving His presence could
Put promises in their pockets, punt problems and pain,
And proclaim positive prayers.
Partly peeking His prodigious purpose and plan,
They paused personal pride with penetrating peace,
Proving partnership with the poor Pilgrim of Palestine
Provides pleasant paths that passeth our comprehension.
The price Jesus paid to put people in Paradise
Prohibits partial participation in His plan.
A "part" of your heart pours loss on the cross.
But give Him a permanent place,
And you plumb the precious bloom of the empty tomb!
Praise Him. Praise, probe and partake of Him. Him, period.
Pastor Greg
To portray His power.
So people perceiving His presence could
Put promises in their pockets, punt problems and pain,
And proclaim positive prayers.
Partly peeking His prodigious purpose and plan,
They paused personal pride with penetrating peace,
Proving partnership with the poor Pilgrim of Palestine
Provides pleasant paths that passeth our comprehension.
The price Jesus paid to put people in Paradise
Prohibits partial participation in His plan.
A "part" of your heart pours loss on the cross.
But give Him a permanent place,
And you plumb the precious bloom of the empty tomb!
Praise Him. Praise, probe and partake of Him. Him, period.
Pastor Greg
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Are You a Pest or a Pet?
Princess the cat lives in our "finished" basement. She likes it there because she feels safely hidden from our four dogs (Lucy, Desi, Stella and Hazel) who roam the upper floors of our house.
She is a beautiful cat and I love her dearly. But Princess is a pest!
Whenever I go downstairs to work on the computer, Princess plops herself down on the keyboard...or stands in front of the monitor...or insists on climbing up on my chest which makes it impossible for me to work at all.
If I try to study for a sermon, Princess insists on laying smack-dab in the middle of my book...or on the paper I am writing on...or she bats my pen off the desk and onto the floor.
I move. She moves. I move her. She moves back.
She rolls over so I can pet her belly...and I lose my train of thought. She takes a flying leap onto the little roll-out shelf that holds my mouse, and the whole thing tumbles to the floor. She attacks the phone cord. She scatters a stack of magazines all over the place.
There is no way to ignore Princess. She makes sure you know she is there.
Smokey, our other cat, lives upstairs in our master bedroom. She likes it there because the bedroom is her own, private sanctuary from the dogs.
Smokey is a cat's cat. She is aloof. She keeps her distance. If she gets within "touching" distance, it is on her own terms.
I can go into the bedroom, spend a lot of time there, and leave, all without a single Smokey-sighting. She finds nooks and crannies in our closet where she can be invisible. It is almost as if she isn't even there.
I wonder if God sees me as a Princess or as a Smokey?
In His eyes, am I the one rolling over for His attention? Or, am I aloof, hardly there?
Am I pestering Him all the time with my prayers? Or, am I hiding in the closet?
Do I scatter His Word all over the place by the way I live my life? Or, do I only want Him to pay attention to me on my own terms?
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus told a parable about a widow who was a lot like Princess...
He said, "There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people. A widow in that city kept after him, 'My rights are being violated. Protect me!' He never gave her the time of day. But after this went on and on he said to himself, 'I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won't quit badgering me, I'd better do something and see that she gets justice – otherwise I'm going to end up beaten black and blue by her pounding.'
Then the Master said, 'Do you hear what the judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won't step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won't He stick up for them? I assure you, He will. He will not drag His feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on earth when he returns?'"
Luke, explained the meaning of the parable as follows: "Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart..."
God wants you to be more like Princess and less like Smokey. When you do, He doesn't see you as a pest who won't leave Him alone. Rather, He sees you as His child who loves His attention.
He likes that. Roll over sometime and see for yourself. I promise He will pet your belly!
Pastor Greg
She is a beautiful cat and I love her dearly. But Princess is a pest!
Whenever I go downstairs to work on the computer, Princess plops herself down on the keyboard...or stands in front of the monitor...or insists on climbing up on my chest which makes it impossible for me to work at all.
If I try to study for a sermon, Princess insists on laying smack-dab in the middle of my book...or on the paper I am writing on...or she bats my pen off the desk and onto the floor.
I move. She moves. I move her. She moves back.
She rolls over so I can pet her belly...and I lose my train of thought. She takes a flying leap onto the little roll-out shelf that holds my mouse, and the whole thing tumbles to the floor. She attacks the phone cord. She scatters a stack of magazines all over the place.
There is no way to ignore Princess. She makes sure you know she is there.
Smokey, our other cat, lives upstairs in our master bedroom. She likes it there because the bedroom is her own, private sanctuary from the dogs.
Smokey is a cat's cat. She is aloof. She keeps her distance. If she gets within "touching" distance, it is on her own terms.
I can go into the bedroom, spend a lot of time there, and leave, all without a single Smokey-sighting. She finds nooks and crannies in our closet where she can be invisible. It is almost as if she isn't even there.
I wonder if God sees me as a Princess or as a Smokey?
In His eyes, am I the one rolling over for His attention? Or, am I aloof, hardly there?
Am I pestering Him all the time with my prayers? Or, am I hiding in the closet?
Do I scatter His Word all over the place by the way I live my life? Or, do I only want Him to pay attention to me on my own terms?
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus told a parable about a widow who was a lot like Princess...
He said, "There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people. A widow in that city kept after him, 'My rights are being violated. Protect me!' He never gave her the time of day. But after this went on and on he said to himself, 'I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won't quit badgering me, I'd better do something and see that she gets justice – otherwise I'm going to end up beaten black and blue by her pounding.'
Then the Master said, 'Do you hear what the judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won't step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won't He stick up for them? I assure you, He will. He will not drag His feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on earth when he returns?'"
Luke, explained the meaning of the parable as follows: "Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart..."
God wants you to be more like Princess and less like Smokey. When you do, He doesn't see you as a pest who won't leave Him alone. Rather, He sees you as His child who loves His attention.
He likes that. Roll over sometime and see for yourself. I promise He will pet your belly!
Pastor Greg
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Road Warrior Observations
It took me 7-1/2 hours to drive from Cincinnati to Memphis.
The next day, I was on the road for another 7-1/2 hours to get to Dallas. A day later,
I drove 4 more hours to Houston, and then, 3-1/2 hours to Austin.
On the way back home, I pulled into Little Rock after a 10 hour drive. And on the final day of my trip, 10 more hours behind the wheel finally brought me back home to Cincinnati.
If you do the math, the total comes to 42-1/2 hours of driving time...in eight days...or an average of just over 5 hours, 15 minutes per day.
I think that qualifies me as an official member of the "road warriors" club. Maybe you are a member too. If not, let me give you some "Road Warrior Observations from the Road."
Here are my Top 10:
1. Try to make it to your destination while it is still daylight. It is much easier to drive during the day...and you can see so much more along the way (which helps you stay awake as well; see "observation no. 3" below).
2. No matter how fast you go, someone else will always want to go faster. To make you aware of this, they will get as close as possible to your back bumper, usually at the exact same time as an 18-wheeler is in the lane next to you, and they will blink their lights in your rearview mirror as if to say, "I own this road, buddy, not you. So GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
3. If you find yourself chewing gum, ice, candy, cookies, or chips to stay awake, it is time to pull off and take a break. The same is true if you are doing any of the following: sticking your hand (or head) out of the window; turning up the volume on the radio to the approximate decimal level of a jet plane at takeoff; or squirting water directly from your water bottle into your eyes (messy, but sometimes effective).
4. The worst places to stop for a bathroom break: rest stops, anywhere you buy gas, anywhere in Arkansas, and any Cracker Barrel restaurant anywhere in the United States.
5. The best place to stop for a bathroom break: any hotel (find the common bathroom near the lobby...believe me, you can't go wrong here).
6. The best fast food to eat while driving: none
7. The worst fast food to eat while driving: any sub sandwich, anything on the Taco Bell menu, anything that requires a dipping sauce.
8. The one thing you can't live without when driving to an unfamiliar location: your GPS navigator
9. The one thing you should leave at home: your travel coffee mug (sure, it's good at first, but eventually, it just gets in the way and ends up rolling around on the floor, and before long, it starts to stink).
10. The one thing that causes even the best drivers in the world to start acting like
16-year-olds with a learner's permit: a call on their cell phone.
As I was thinking about these "Top 10" observations during my recent road trip, I also noticed something else which I found quite interesting -- many, many things are hidden from view when you are driving down the road.
Houses are hidden by trees, for example, or by those man-made sound barriers (which, by the way, are getting quite fancy now. No longer are they just walls thrown up between the interstate and nearby houses. The new ones are embossed with artwork like planes taking off, or a flock of geese landing in a marsh).
Other things are hidden too. Like lakes. Pools are hidden. Cotton fields seem to be hidden, for some reason. Parks are hidden. Churches are hidden. Schools are hidden.
On the other hand, some things are not hidden. Hotels are not hidden. No McDonalds are hidden. Car dealerships are not hidden. Gas stations are not hidden. Bass Pro Shops are not hidden.
It also dawned on me that driving down the road in a car is a lot like driving down the road of life. In life, like on the road, some things are better off hidden. Other things are better off not hidden.
In life, we don't want to hide our accomplishments. We don't want to hide our new cars. We don't want to hide our expensive jewelry. Or our good deeds. And we certainly do not want to hide how much time we spend at church.
On the other hand, there are other things in life that we do want to keep hidden.
Our age. Our weight. Our bank account. The REAL color of our hair. Our driver's license picture. How many credit cards we carry. Our medications. Our Social Security number. Our high school graduation photo.
Actually, we are really quite good at hiding things.
So good, in fact, we sometimes think we can hide things from God.
Of course, there are also many things we don't want to hide from Him. Like our check in the church collection plate. The bag of clothes we dropped off at Goodwill. Our name on the "visitors" list at the local nursing home. The "get well" card addressed to a friend.
Look at THIS, God!
Shine Your Light on THIS, Lord!
But what about the way you look at the pretty girl who lives next door? What about the way you fudged the figures on your income tax return? What about the promise to pray for someone which you never kept? Or the "little white lie" you told on this month's expense report at work?
Or maybe your problems are much more serious. Maybe you struggle with addiction, or abuse, or adultery, or anger...actions that take place in the dark, or behind closed doors, or in other hiding places.
Don't look at "that" Lord.
"That" just needs to be kept in the dark.
Darkness and God do not go together, though.
Look at the life of David in the Old Testament. There were so many things David did right.
He took on Goliath. He defeated the enemies of Israel. He brought the ark back to Jerusalem. He gathered raw materials to use in building the temple. ("Look at me, God!")
But, there were also many other things which David did wrong. He had an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, and then murdered her husband, Uriah, to try to cover it up. ("Don't look now, God!")
Eventually, David came to realize that He could not keep his sins hidden from God. It was futile and foolish to try.
In Psalm 139, David expressed it to God like this...
"If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.'"
Isn't it time for you to stop trying to hide things from God too?
Take EVERYTHING to Him. Confess. Ask Him for forgiveness.
Whatever it is, it will be better in the light of His presence, than in the darkness of your hiding place.
In the light of His presence is forgiveness. And it is there, and only there, that you can find it.
Pastor Greg
The next day, I was on the road for another 7-1/2 hours to get to Dallas. A day later,
I drove 4 more hours to Houston, and then, 3-1/2 hours to Austin.
On the way back home, I pulled into Little Rock after a 10 hour drive. And on the final day of my trip, 10 more hours behind the wheel finally brought me back home to Cincinnati.
If you do the math, the total comes to 42-1/2 hours of driving time...in eight days...or an average of just over 5 hours, 15 minutes per day.
I think that qualifies me as an official member of the "road warriors" club. Maybe you are a member too. If not, let me give you some "Road Warrior Observations from the Road."
Here are my Top 10:
1. Try to make it to your destination while it is still daylight. It is much easier to drive during the day...and you can see so much more along the way (which helps you stay awake as well; see "observation no. 3" below).
2. No matter how fast you go, someone else will always want to go faster. To make you aware of this, they will get as close as possible to your back bumper, usually at the exact same time as an 18-wheeler is in the lane next to you, and they will blink their lights in your rearview mirror as if to say, "I own this road, buddy, not you. So GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
3. If you find yourself chewing gum, ice, candy, cookies, or chips to stay awake, it is time to pull off and take a break. The same is true if you are doing any of the following: sticking your hand (or head) out of the window; turning up the volume on the radio to the approximate decimal level of a jet plane at takeoff; or squirting water directly from your water bottle into your eyes (messy, but sometimes effective).
4. The worst places to stop for a bathroom break: rest stops, anywhere you buy gas, anywhere in Arkansas, and any Cracker Barrel restaurant anywhere in the United States.
5. The best place to stop for a bathroom break: any hotel (find the common bathroom near the lobby...believe me, you can't go wrong here).
6. The best fast food to eat while driving: none
7. The worst fast food to eat while driving: any sub sandwich, anything on the Taco Bell menu, anything that requires a dipping sauce.
8. The one thing you can't live without when driving to an unfamiliar location: your GPS navigator
9. The one thing you should leave at home: your travel coffee mug (sure, it's good at first, but eventually, it just gets in the way and ends up rolling around on the floor, and before long, it starts to stink).
10. The one thing that causes even the best drivers in the world to start acting like
16-year-olds with a learner's permit: a call on their cell phone.
As I was thinking about these "Top 10" observations during my recent road trip, I also noticed something else which I found quite interesting -- many, many things are hidden from view when you are driving down the road.
Houses are hidden by trees, for example, or by those man-made sound barriers (which, by the way, are getting quite fancy now. No longer are they just walls thrown up between the interstate and nearby houses. The new ones are embossed with artwork like planes taking off, or a flock of geese landing in a marsh).
Other things are hidden too. Like lakes. Pools are hidden. Cotton fields seem to be hidden, for some reason. Parks are hidden. Churches are hidden. Schools are hidden.
On the other hand, some things are not hidden. Hotels are not hidden. No McDonalds are hidden. Car dealerships are not hidden. Gas stations are not hidden. Bass Pro Shops are not hidden.
It also dawned on me that driving down the road in a car is a lot like driving down the road of life. In life, like on the road, some things are better off hidden. Other things are better off not hidden.
In life, we don't want to hide our accomplishments. We don't want to hide our new cars. We don't want to hide our expensive jewelry. Or our good deeds. And we certainly do not want to hide how much time we spend at church.
On the other hand, there are other things in life that we do want to keep hidden.
Our age. Our weight. Our bank account. The REAL color of our hair. Our driver's license picture. How many credit cards we carry. Our medications. Our Social Security number. Our high school graduation photo.
Actually, we are really quite good at hiding things.
So good, in fact, we sometimes think we can hide things from God.
Of course, there are also many things we don't want to hide from Him. Like our check in the church collection plate. The bag of clothes we dropped off at Goodwill. Our name on the "visitors" list at the local nursing home. The "get well" card addressed to a friend.
Look at THIS, God!
Shine Your Light on THIS, Lord!
But what about the way you look at the pretty girl who lives next door? What about the way you fudged the figures on your income tax return? What about the promise to pray for someone which you never kept? Or the "little white lie" you told on this month's expense report at work?
Or maybe your problems are much more serious. Maybe you struggle with addiction, or abuse, or adultery, or anger...actions that take place in the dark, or behind closed doors, or in other hiding places.
Don't look at "that" Lord.
"That" just needs to be kept in the dark.
Darkness and God do not go together, though.
Look at the life of David in the Old Testament. There were so many things David did right.
He took on Goliath. He defeated the enemies of Israel. He brought the ark back to Jerusalem. He gathered raw materials to use in building the temple. ("Look at me, God!")
But, there were also many other things which David did wrong. He had an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, and then murdered her husband, Uriah, to try to cover it up. ("Don't look now, God!")
Eventually, David came to realize that He could not keep his sins hidden from God. It was futile and foolish to try.
In Psalm 139, David expressed it to God like this...
"If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.'"
Isn't it time for you to stop trying to hide things from God too?
Take EVERYTHING to Him. Confess. Ask Him for forgiveness.
Whatever it is, it will be better in the light of His presence, than in the darkness of your hiding place.
In the light of His presence is forgiveness. And it is there, and only there, that you can find it.
Pastor Greg
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
A Life of Empty Pockets
Think carefully.
When was the last time you left the house with NOTHING in your pockets?
No wallet. No money. No keys. No license. No cell phone. No checkbook. No pocket knife. No make-up. No comb. No lipstick. No credit cards.
No insurance card. No library card. No Kroger card. No business card. No AAA card. No AARP card. No debit card. No Blockbuster card. No Family Bookstores card. No ATM card. No Social Security card.
No identification of any kind.
When was the last time you left everything behind...not because you forgot it...but simply because you just didn't need it?
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine...imagine yourself walking into the sunshine of a new day with EMPTY POCKETS!
Nothing in them. Nothing. Nada. Zip.
How would you feel?
You NEED all of that stuff, right?
Doors need to be locked...so you NEED a key.
People need hospitals...so you NEED an insurance card.
Need gas? Credit card.
Money? ATM card.
Groceries? Kroger card.
Car problem? AAA card.
Fast food? Money.
Just about everything else? Cell phone.
Why do you need all of that stuff? Because your life is so full of stuff already!
If you have stuff, you need stuff. If you want more stuff, you need stuff to get it. You need stuff to get stuff. You need stuff to keep the stuff you already have!
But, why do you need all of that stuff in the first place?
You need stuff because you believe it provides three very important things...
...the equation looks something like this:
Stuff = Safety
Stuff = Security
Stuff = Satisfaction
Let's be honest for a moment. When was the last time your stuff really made you feel safe? When did it give you a feeling of true security? When did it actually satisfy you deeply?
Probably not in a long time. Maybe never.
Now, try closing your eyes again. This time, imagine leaving all of that stuff behind because you no longer need it.
Do you remember what it was like when you were a child and you went outside to play? You went with empty pockets! You didn't need a wallet. Or keys. Or money. Or credit cards. Or any identification of any kind.
You just went outside and played. What freedom! What an unencumbered life! It was a life of empty pockets!
Do you want to experience life like that again?
A life where every need is taken care of. Every person you meet is a friend. Every day is a day to go outside and play with empty pockets...just as you did as a child.
Is it really possible?
I believe it is.
I believe that someday all Christians will have that kind of life. I believe a day is coming when "safety" will be a non-issue. When "security" is found in a Person, rather than in pockets full of stuff. When "satisfaction" comes from what is on the inside rather than from what is accumulated on the outside.
Here is how the Lord describes that coming day for His people through the prophet Isaiah...
"No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.
Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly." (Isaiah 60:18-22)
What lies ahead for you?
A life of stuff? You can find it anytime, anyplace, in the world today.
Or a life of empty pockets? You can find it in only one place...in only one Person...in Jesus Christ.
As for me, I can't wait for the day when I can empty my pockets...and go out and play...every day...forever!
Pastor Greg
When was the last time you left the house with NOTHING in your pockets?
No wallet. No money. No keys. No license. No cell phone. No checkbook. No pocket knife. No make-up. No comb. No lipstick. No credit cards.
No insurance card. No library card. No Kroger card. No business card. No AAA card. No AARP card. No debit card. No Blockbuster card. No Family Bookstores card. No ATM card. No Social Security card.
No identification of any kind.
When was the last time you left everything behind...not because you forgot it...but simply because you just didn't need it?
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine...imagine yourself walking into the sunshine of a new day with EMPTY POCKETS!
Nothing in them. Nothing. Nada. Zip.
How would you feel?
You NEED all of that stuff, right?
Doors need to be locked...so you NEED a key.
People need hospitals...so you NEED an insurance card.
Need gas? Credit card.
Money? ATM card.
Groceries? Kroger card.
Car problem? AAA card.
Fast food? Money.
Just about everything else? Cell phone.
Why do you need all of that stuff? Because your life is so full of stuff already!
If you have stuff, you need stuff. If you want more stuff, you need stuff to get it. You need stuff to get stuff. You need stuff to keep the stuff you already have!
But, why do you need all of that stuff in the first place?
You need stuff because you believe it provides three very important things...
...the equation looks something like this:
Stuff = Safety
Stuff = Security
Stuff = Satisfaction
Let's be honest for a moment. When was the last time your stuff really made you feel safe? When did it give you a feeling of true security? When did it actually satisfy you deeply?
Probably not in a long time. Maybe never.
Now, try closing your eyes again. This time, imagine leaving all of that stuff behind because you no longer need it.
Do you remember what it was like when you were a child and you went outside to play? You went with empty pockets! You didn't need a wallet. Or keys. Or money. Or credit cards. Or any identification of any kind.
You just went outside and played. What freedom! What an unencumbered life! It was a life of empty pockets!
Do you want to experience life like that again?
A life where every need is taken care of. Every person you meet is a friend. Every day is a day to go outside and play with empty pockets...just as you did as a child.
Is it really possible?
I believe it is.
I believe that someday all Christians will have that kind of life. I believe a day is coming when "safety" will be a non-issue. When "security" is found in a Person, rather than in pockets full of stuff. When "satisfaction" comes from what is on the inside rather than from what is accumulated on the outside.
Here is how the Lord describes that coming day for His people through the prophet Isaiah...
"No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.
Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly." (Isaiah 60:18-22)
What lies ahead for you?
A life of stuff? You can find it anytime, anyplace, in the world today.
Or a life of empty pockets? You can find it in only one place...in only one Person...in Jesus Christ.
As for me, I can't wait for the day when I can empty my pockets...and go out and play...every day...forever!
Pastor Greg
Friday, August 21, 2009
Give Me the Keys!
I have been teaching my teenage son how to drive.
Can you read between the lines? Let me say it again, only this time, more slowly...
I – have – been – teaching – my – teenage – son – how – to – drive.
For me, another crop of gray hair. For him, learning to obey Dad's "First Commandment of Student Driving" –
"Do what I say immediately, without question and without hesitation."
Because he is so anxious to get behind the wheel, and because his mother refuses to step foot in the car if he is driving, my son eagerly agrees to follow Dad's First Commandment.
While we are sitting in the driveway, everything goes well. He has every intention of obeying every word I say. His heart is in the right place.
After we pull into the street, real driving proves to be a bit more complicated and following Dad's First Commandment becomes a bit more challenging.
It is not that he willingly disobeys me when I say, "You need to stay on THIS side of the double-yellow line." Instead, he wants to justify why he is on THAT side. He wants to give me a whole list of good reasons why he ended up on THAT side.
He wants me to understand how he got there and overlook the fact that he is driving on the wrong side of the road. He wants me to say, "I understand. Your reasons for being on THAT side make all the sense in the world. I forgive you."
But I cannot say that.
Because I love him...because I want what is best for him...because I want him to learn the right way...because I want him to be safe...because I want him to live past his 18th birthday...and because, even though he doesn't see it, in the other lane, there is a
loadeddumptruckbelchingsmokegoingtoofastandcomingstraightatus!
I say instead, "Move over NOW!"
In the process, he learns some very important things...
1. I know more than he does when it comes to driving
2. I have very good reasons to tell him what to do.
3. If he ever wants to get to the Promised Land of driving by himself, he needs to see things my way.
And it all starts with following Dad's "First Commandment of Student Driving."
In our Christian lives, it all starts with following the words of Jesus.
In John, chapter 12, Jesus uses strong language to make the same point. He says...
"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life."
When we first become Christians, we are so anxious to get behind the wheel with Jesus that we eagerly agree to "accept His words."
But, as we pull into the road of real life, we find it difficult to do what He says "without question and without hesitation."
Like my son when he drives, we want to give Jesus a whole list of reasons why we ought to be able to go our own way. We want him to understand, to forgive, and to allow us to keep on going down the wrong side of the road.
But He cannot do that.
Because he loves us...because He wants what is best for us...because He wants us to learn "right" from "wrong"...because He wants us to be safe from danger...because He wants us to live with Him forever...and because, even though we do not see it, in the other lane, there is a
loadeddumptruckcalledhellbelchingsmokegoingtoofastandcomingstraightatus!
In the process, He wants to teach us some very important things...
1. He knows more than we do when it comes to living the Christian life
2. He has very good reasons to tell us what to do.
3. If we want to get to heaven, we need to see things Jesus' way.
Once we show Him that He can trust us to follow Him and do what He says, then He will give us the keys...not to the car...but to those pearly gates!
Pastor Greg
Can you read between the lines? Let me say it again, only this time, more slowly...
I – have – been – teaching – my – teenage – son – how – to – drive.
For me, another crop of gray hair. For him, learning to obey Dad's "First Commandment of Student Driving" –
"Do what I say immediately, without question and without hesitation."
Because he is so anxious to get behind the wheel, and because his mother refuses to step foot in the car if he is driving, my son eagerly agrees to follow Dad's First Commandment.
While we are sitting in the driveway, everything goes well. He has every intention of obeying every word I say. His heart is in the right place.
After we pull into the street, real driving proves to be a bit more complicated and following Dad's First Commandment becomes a bit more challenging.
It is not that he willingly disobeys me when I say, "You need to stay on THIS side of the double-yellow line." Instead, he wants to justify why he is on THAT side. He wants to give me a whole list of good reasons why he ended up on THAT side.
He wants me to understand how he got there and overlook the fact that he is driving on the wrong side of the road. He wants me to say, "I understand. Your reasons for being on THAT side make all the sense in the world. I forgive you."
But I cannot say that.
Because I love him...because I want what is best for him...because I want him to learn the right way...because I want him to be safe...because I want him to live past his 18th birthday...and because, even though he doesn't see it, in the other lane, there is a
loadeddumptruckbelchingsmokegoingtoofastandcomingstraightatus!
I say instead, "Move over NOW!"
In the process, he learns some very important things...
1. I know more than he does when it comes to driving
2. I have very good reasons to tell him what to do.
3. If he ever wants to get to the Promised Land of driving by himself, he needs to see things my way.
And it all starts with following Dad's "First Commandment of Student Driving."
In our Christian lives, it all starts with following the words of Jesus.
In John, chapter 12, Jesus uses strong language to make the same point. He says...
"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life."
When we first become Christians, we are so anxious to get behind the wheel with Jesus that we eagerly agree to "accept His words."
But, as we pull into the road of real life, we find it difficult to do what He says "without question and without hesitation."
Like my son when he drives, we want to give Jesus a whole list of reasons why we ought to be able to go our own way. We want him to understand, to forgive, and to allow us to keep on going down the wrong side of the road.
But He cannot do that.
Because he loves us...because He wants what is best for us...because He wants us to learn "right" from "wrong"...because He wants us to be safe from danger...because He wants us to live with Him forever...and because, even though we do not see it, in the other lane, there is a
loadeddumptruckcalledhellbelchingsmokegoingtoofastandcomingstraightatus!
In the process, He wants to teach us some very important things...
1. He knows more than we do when it comes to living the Christian life
2. He has very good reasons to tell us what to do.
3. If we want to get to heaven, we need to see things Jesus' way.
Once we show Him that He can trust us to follow Him and do what He says, then He will give us the keys...not to the car...but to those pearly gates!
Pastor Greg
Monday, August 17, 2009
Chasing Squirrels and Chasing Jesus
Our dog, Lucy, just loves to chase squirrels.
And she has plenty of opportunity to pursue her passion, thanks to a bird feeder on our deck, a built-in dog door, and a couple of very brave squirrels.
She never gets tired of the chase. She never loses interest, and she never gives up. As soon as she sees a squirrel on the deck, out she goes...a blurry of fur flying through the dog door.
Actually, all you have to do is say the word, "squirrel" around her...you barely get the word out of your mouth...and, "BANG," the dog hits the floor full-speed-ahead...a dog on a mission.
Of course, the squirrel ALWAYS gets away.
Never once, in the hundreds and hundreds of times she has tried, has Lucy ever actually CAUGHT a squirrel.
She runs...she hops...she jumps...she barks...she scrapes her nails on the wood deck...but she never quite manages to complete the task. She never reaches the goal.
But, every time a squirrel pops back up on that deck, Lucy THINKS she can do it. She thinks, "THIS time, it will be different! THIS time I am going to get that squirrel!"
Not.
Not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...
not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not
...not...not!
I almost wonder if Lucy is expecting the squirrel to just reward her for the effort.
I wonder if she is thinking that the squirrel might finally just say, "You know, dog, you have been trying so hard to catch me for such a long time. I admire your persistence and effort. It's amazing. Here, open your mouth, let me jump in. You deserve it!"
It reminds me of people who just keep coming to church over and over and over again, who think that God will be persuaded to reward their effort.
They come to church week after week after week after week...whether they want to or not...and they sit in the same spot in the same pew in the same church. Every Sunday.
Their effort is amazing. They never give up. They never get tired. They keep on coming over a long period of time. What persistence! What effort!
What for?
Do they think that Jesus is going to say to them someday, "You have worked so hard for so long at coming to church every week. It's amazing. Here, I have opened the gates to heaven for you. You deserve it!"
If that is what they think, on that day, I'm afraid they will be sadly disappointed.
Just like that squirrel is never going to reward Lucy's effort by jumping into her mouth...he would not sacrifice himself like that...Jesus is not going to reward anyone with a place in heaven simply because they made an effort to get to church.
He did not sacrifice Himself for that.
He did not sacrifice Himself on the cross of Calvary to get you to come to church!
No. He sacrificed Himself so you would invite Him into your heart.
He doesn't want you to come to church to impress Him. He wants you to come to church because you love Him.
Church is not the door to heaven. Jesus is the only door.
Jesus first. Church second.
Look at it this way...if heaven is a doctor's office, church is the waiting room. If heaven is an airplane, church is the departure gate. If heaven is a late-night television talk show, church is the green room.
If you are in the doctor's waiting room, you are already a patient. If you are at the plane's departure gate, you already have your ticket. If you are in the green room, you are already an invited guest on the show.
You see, you come to church not to get into heaven. Rather, you come to church because you are already "in" heaven.
You are already a patient of the Great Physician. You already have your ticket booked. You are already an invited guest.
Because you already have Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
The great apostle Peter went to church. Paul, the greatest church planter of all time, also went to church. James was a mover and a shaker in the early church in Jerusalem.
But, for all of them, church was a consequence of their encounter with Jesus.
Here is how Paul put it when he wrote to the church in Philippi...
"Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they're interested in is appearances...The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at his ministry, filling the air with Christ's praise as we do it. We couldn't carry this off by our own efforts and we know it – even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials.
...(These) very credentials...I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash – along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ.
...Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant...I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him." Philippians 3:2-8a (from The Message)
Lucy will chase squirrels as long as they keep running away from her.
Isn't it good to know that you don't have to chase Jesus in the same way? He does not run away from you. He turns to you and opens his arms.
Wide.
See you in church on Sunday!
Pastor Gregory
And she has plenty of opportunity to pursue her passion, thanks to a bird feeder on our deck, a built-in dog door, and a couple of very brave squirrels.
She never gets tired of the chase. She never loses interest, and she never gives up. As soon as she sees a squirrel on the deck, out she goes...a blurry of fur flying through the dog door.
Actually, all you have to do is say the word, "squirrel" around her...you barely get the word out of your mouth...and, "BANG," the dog hits the floor full-speed-ahead...a dog on a mission.
Of course, the squirrel ALWAYS gets away.
Never once, in the hundreds and hundreds of times she has tried, has Lucy ever actually CAUGHT a squirrel.
She runs...she hops...she jumps...she barks...she scrapes her nails on the wood deck...but she never quite manages to complete the task. She never reaches the goal.
But, every time a squirrel pops back up on that deck, Lucy THINKS she can do it. She thinks, "THIS time, it will be different! THIS time I am going to get that squirrel!"
Not.
Not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...
not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not...not
...not...not!
I almost wonder if Lucy is expecting the squirrel to just reward her for the effort.
I wonder if she is thinking that the squirrel might finally just say, "You know, dog, you have been trying so hard to catch me for such a long time. I admire your persistence and effort. It's amazing. Here, open your mouth, let me jump in. You deserve it!"
It reminds me of people who just keep coming to church over and over and over again, who think that God will be persuaded to reward their effort.
They come to church week after week after week after week...whether they want to or not...and they sit in the same spot in the same pew in the same church. Every Sunday.
Their effort is amazing. They never give up. They never get tired. They keep on coming over a long period of time. What persistence! What effort!
What for?
Do they think that Jesus is going to say to them someday, "You have worked so hard for so long at coming to church every week. It's amazing. Here, I have opened the gates to heaven for you. You deserve it!"
If that is what they think, on that day, I'm afraid they will be sadly disappointed.
Just like that squirrel is never going to reward Lucy's effort by jumping into her mouth...he would not sacrifice himself like that...Jesus is not going to reward anyone with a place in heaven simply because they made an effort to get to church.
He did not sacrifice Himself for that.
He did not sacrifice Himself on the cross of Calvary to get you to come to church!
No. He sacrificed Himself so you would invite Him into your heart.
He doesn't want you to come to church to impress Him. He wants you to come to church because you love Him.
Church is not the door to heaven. Jesus is the only door.
Jesus first. Church second.
Look at it this way...if heaven is a doctor's office, church is the waiting room. If heaven is an airplane, church is the departure gate. If heaven is a late-night television talk show, church is the green room.
If you are in the doctor's waiting room, you are already a patient. If you are at the plane's departure gate, you already have your ticket. If you are in the green room, you are already an invited guest on the show.
You see, you come to church not to get into heaven. Rather, you come to church because you are already "in" heaven.
You are already a patient of the Great Physician. You already have your ticket booked. You are already an invited guest.
Because you already have Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
The great apostle Peter went to church. Paul, the greatest church planter of all time, also went to church. James was a mover and a shaker in the early church in Jerusalem.
But, for all of them, church was a consequence of their encounter with Jesus.
Here is how Paul put it when he wrote to the church in Philippi...
"Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they're interested in is appearances...The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at his ministry, filling the air with Christ's praise as we do it. We couldn't carry this off by our own efforts and we know it – even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials.
...(These) very credentials...I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash – along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ.
...Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant...I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him." Philippians 3:2-8a (from The Message)
Lucy will chase squirrels as long as they keep running away from her.
Isn't it good to know that you don't have to chase Jesus in the same way? He does not run away from you. He turns to you and opens his arms.
Wide.
See you in church on Sunday!
Pastor Gregory
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