friendship

More Random Things I’m Thankful For

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I mentioned some of the things I’m thankful for a couple of blogs back and I decided to add these to the list:

1. Getting to sleep in on certain Saturdays. It’s nice to be able to look at 5:30 am on the alarm clock and roll over and go back to sleep.

2. Good stories that make me lose track of time, whether they be in books or movies or TV shows.

3. That who I am is who God tells me I am, not who I or anyone else tells me I am. Not what I’ve done. Not my mistakes or failures or even my good deeds. I am God’s beloved.

4. That this is not one of those essays that has to be 500 words or else I get counted off on my grade.

5. The peace that transcends all understanding and comes when I least expect it and need it most.

6. Grace.

7. That I know so many awesome people who have inspired me and challenged me and loved me and made me want to be more like Jesus.

8. That the best things in life are still free.

9. That when I press “publish” some little men inside my computer box will make this go out over that great and mysterious internet to people I may never meet but who may be inspired to find something of their own to be thankful for and find the God from whom all these blessings flow.

Thoughts on Leadership

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

Before you tune me out, let me explain. I believe that leaders aren’t just pastors of churches or CEOs of companies. Leaders aren’t just those with big fancy titles after their names. A leader by simple definition is someone who leads and inspires others to follow.

You are a leader. Believe it or not, you are. Someone is watching you and what you do and how you live (not in a scary Big Brother kind of way). It may be your children. It may be your brothers or sisters. It may be someone you work with or play with or hang out with occasionally. You may not even know it. But people are watching you and following what they see you do.

In particular, people are watching your actions to see if they match what you profess to believe. People want to see if this Jesus you talk about really means enough to you to affect the way you live or if its just empty words.

While it sounds scary and intimidating, it can also be an exciting challenge. You have an opportunity to influence lives for the better. Someone who would never set foot in a church building or pick up a Bible could see Jesus in you. You may be the only Bible some will ever read, as I have heard it put before.

If people see you really striving to live out what you believe in total and complete surrender to and dependence on Jesus, they will notice. If they see you admit to your mistakes, seek forgiveness for when you mess up, and keep getting up after falling down, they will want to know why you’re different.

The question is not “Are you a leader?” but “What kind of leader are you?” and “Where are you leading to?”

The most important question that I ask you (and me, too) is “When people walk away from spending time with you, do they think how great and impressive you are or do they make much of the Jesus who has done such great things in your life?”

I hope for me its the latter. I hope the same for you.

Random Things I’m Thankful For

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

I am thankful for the following (not in any kind of  sane or logical order):

1. The existence of chocolate (just knowing it’s out there makes my day better)

2. Ditto for caffeine.

3. I’m thankful for the days that I’m just glad to get to 4:30, because they make the good days seem even better.

4. Lost on blu ray (I’m up to season 3, in case you’re wondering).

5. Friends who have stuck with me all this time and still want to be my friends.

6. Ditto for family.

7. Jesus who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

8. Friday. No matter how long or short the week seems, every calandar I’ve ever seen has plenty of Fridays on it, and I’m always glad to see each and every one.

9. All those things I routinely take for granted like good health, access to food and clean water, shelter, etc.

10. That you people are still reading these blogs after 6 months and 520 blogs.

11. That I don’t have to limit these lists to 10. I can go to 11, ’cause I’m a rebel.

12. Ditto for #11.

13. And I’m not superstitious, either.

14. 12-year old mildly psychotic cats named Lucy who climb up in my lap and go to sleep (I can feel my blood pressure getting lower even thinking about it).

15. That tomorrow when I wake up God’s mercies will still be new and His grace will still be amazing and His plan for my life still unfolding and His faithfulness will still be great.

My Borrowed Prayer for You

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 2 Comments

This is not original with me, but it expresses what I want for you better than I could, so I’m stealin’ it.

“May God bless you with a restless discomfort

about easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,

so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger

at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,

so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears

to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish,

so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness

to believe that you really can make a difference in this world,

so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.”

There’s only one thing I can add to that: AMEN.

Who Believes In You?

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Maybe you’ve had the kind of day where all your mistakes pile up and come crashing down on you like an avalanche. Maybe you feel buried underneath all the weight of your mistakes and bad decisions and failures. Maybe you believe in your heart that you’ve screwed up one too many times and exhausted all your grace cards.

Maybe some of the people in your life have quit believing in you or that you will ever amount to anything. Maybe your friends have quit believing in you and moved on. Maybe your family quit believing in you that there is any hope left that you will ever amount to anything. Maybe you quit believing in yourself.

I am here with some very good news.

God still believes in you. God hasn’t quit believing in you nor will He ever. He believes in what He’s doing in you, in the work He started so very long ago, before you were even born or were even a glimmer in your parent’s eye.

When you’ve given up hoping and believing that you will ever amount to anything, God knows that when He’s done with you, you will look just like Jesus. When you’ve just about thrown in the towel on all your hopes and dreams for a better future, God still has dreams for you that are so much bigger than the wildest, craziest dreams you ever dared to dream for yourself

When you’ve lost all hope, remember that God invented hope. As long as God is alive and on your side, you always have hope. Not a wishful thinking, “I hope my team wins on Sunday” kind of hope, either. This hope is as sure as the promises God made to you, and as certain as the God who made them.

God believes in you. God loves you more than your mind will ever be able to comprehend. No matter what anyone else tells you, no matter what you have told yourself in the darkness of your room when you’re alone, God speaks a better word. His word trumps any other word ever spoken to or about you.

And this is His word to you now: I believe in you and I am very fond of you and when I’m done, you will be everything I meant for you to be. You will be just like Jesus.

Turning 40: A Retrospective Look at My Past

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According to my iffy math skills, I have 49 more days left of my 30’s. Then I turn the dreaded 4-0. But according to Facebook, I have nothing to worry about. I’m supposed to die when I’m rollerblading at 95 and get hit by a car, based on the wisdom of a facebook application I used once. Apparently, my roller blading braking skills will still be non-existent 46 years later.

When I was in my 20’s, I knew a lot more than I do now. At least I thought I did. At that age, it’s very easy to confuse knowledge with wisdom. It’s very easy to have a faith that’s either all head-knowledge or almost solely emotion-based. But I digress. I had very definite ideas about theology and doctrine and dating (even though I didn’t date, which is probably why I was against it).

In my 30’s, I found out I knew less that I thought I did and was certain about even less. My black and white world suddenly had room for some gray areas. I still held to the essential basics of the faith, but I was able to live and let live over disagreements and not feel the need to win every argument or prove my side every time.

Now, I see more than ever my great need for God. I see more than ever what I would be like apart from the grace of God and what I see scares me. I see my need for grace every single day.

I have been learning forgiveness for others, but primarily for myself. I have learned how to fail gracefully and learn from it. I have learned to listen to my family and my friends and my brothers and sisters in the faith. I have learned to look for Jesus in those around me and when I find it, to imitate what I see.

Have I succeeded? By the world’s standards, probably not. But by God’s standards, I think so. I believe more and more every day that if you have survived up to this point and you’re still standing, that’s success. If you fall down more times than me when I tried to roller blade and get back up each time, that’s success.

I don’t know what the 40’s will teach me, but I’m ready for whatever God has for me. It may not be what I expect. In fact,  I can almost guarantee that what God has for me will be nothing like I thought it would be, but way better than I could have hoped for.

And it will be so much more than worth the wait.

A Place Where You Belong

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

Sometimes, you feel like you just don’t belong or fit in. Kinda like when you’re the odd single in a group of couples or when everyone is talking with someone else and you’re stuck talking to the pet hamster, whose communication skills could use a little work.

Many have what is known commonly as “square-peg-itis”, where you feel like a square peg in a round hole most of the time. No matter where you go, you feel as though you’re not wanted or worse, that no one even knows you’re there at all.

That’s what I love about the body of believers known as the Church. That’s a place where you belong. That’s a place you fit, because you were made to fit and play a role that only you can play. God gave you unique combination of talents and gifts and passions that no one else has and that can serve the Kingdom of God.

The body of Christ often gets treated as a business or an organization, but it’s not supposed to be that way. The body of Christ is a family. The kind of family where you’re always welcomed with open arm. The place where you’re no longer a stranger or a visitor, but a fellow pilgrim and a friend and– best of all– family.

This is the place where you can be yourself and take off the mask. This is the place where you can mess up and get a second chance, where you can blow it big time and find grace, where griefs are shared, sorrows are divided, and joys are multiplied.

A place where you find out who you are, your true self, and where you become all that God in Christ made and meant for you to be. Who wouldn’t want to be in a place like that?

Sadly, the Church doesn’t often look like that. But that’s what God calls her to be. And that’s what she is in her finest moments. That’s what will be our most effective witness and powerful way of communicating just how good and great our God is.

God, may we be one just as You are one. May we love each other as You loved us and so love people into Your kingdom. May we be always be a community where our doors are always open and where no one is left out, but everyone is welcome and belongs and fits in.

Amen.

Deep Thoughts

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Sometimes, you get a little philisophical driving home from a movie after midnight. You think deep thoughts, or at least I do.

Sometimes, I look back over what I thought I needed. I look back over what I thought I had to have to make me happy. I see that person I desperately wanted to like me, that would make life complete. I am so thankful that God said no to some of my prayers. I’m thankful He let me experience a little hurt to save me from a greater agony of getting what I thought I wanted only to find out it wasn’t what I needed.

I have come to the place where I can see that person I thought was for me and see them finding happiness with someone else and not only be happy for them, but pray for their success and joy. I can be glad when someone else gets what I wanted, when someone else has handed to them what I worked for.

Because it’s not about me. It’s not about me finding that special someone and starting a life together.

It is about Jesus. It has been, is, and will always be about Him. The verse says that I must decrese so that He may increase. I must get out of the way so that He can get in the way. I must let my dreams go, so that His dreams for me and the world can come true.

If Jesus never did one thing more for me than save me, then I would still not have enough lifetimes to properly thank Him. Not even an eternity of thanksgiving and praise would be enough. If I had used up all my blessings already (as one pastor put it), then I would be good.

So, I come to you Jesus with open hands. I hold all my relationships and possessions not with clenched fists, but with open hands, palms facing up. If you leave them in my care a little longer, You are good. If you take them away, You are still good. If all I get from You is You and the next breath of air, that will be enough.

Jesus, You are enough.

Amen.

Goodwill Finds

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 3 Comments

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I am fast becoming a Goodwill junkie. I love going in those stores, not knowing what I’ll find, and walking away with a few unexpected treasures. Like today, for instance. I went in looking for music and came out with a little stained glass piece that has Romans 8:31 on it. Well, it looks like stained glass to my untrained eye. I went in with visions of finding Amy Winehouse CDs and found something I didn’t expect to find, but ended up being much more meaningful to me than what I was looking for.

I think life is a lot like that.

Sure, you can live your life in safe mode. That’s where you always hang out with the same people and go to the same places. That’s where you love people who are loveable and and invest in the friendships with people who are popular and know the secret handshake and password. Those in the know and on the go, so to speak.

That’s fine, but you never find any unexpected treasures there.

Sometimes, you have to go out of your way to find that treasure hidden in a field that’s worth more than everything you own put together. Sometimes, you have to get out of your safe life to find the most satisfying and rewarding moments.

Maybe the treasure is found in the friends who are on the outside with the in-crowd, but who have deep wells of wisdom when it comes to walking with Jesus. Maybe it’s in serving those who won’t say thank you, or giving to those who will never pay you back.

Maybe it’s in giving that someone a second chance after they screwed up the first and finding that forgiveness is its own reward.

I think God deliberately puts the most precious things and people and places and moments in the most ordinary disguises so that they will mean that much more to us when we find them and see them for their true worth and value. It’s a fearful thing to step out in faith that way, but the risk is always way more than worth it.

I can think of a few friends who have turned out to be golden. My family is the same way. Those memories I cherish most happened when I was expecting something else (or not expecting anyhing at all).

Sometimes, when you go digging through the trash, when you go to the lowliest places, sometimes you will look into the face of the broken and hopeless and outcast and find Jesus there.

To Be Known and To Know

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I had a dream when I was in grade school where I walked into the wrong classroom on my first day of school and everyone stared at me like I had three eyes and antennas growing out of my head. It was not a good dream. I was very glad to wake up from that one.

I also remember in the past longing with everything in me for someone who would really know me and still want to be my friend. I’ve had a lot of surface friendships, but very few with people who really, really knew me.

I think just about everyone deep down wants to be known.

I think everyone wants someone who knows them for who they really are, with flaws and insecurities and fears, and still chooses to stick around.

I believe that everyone wants to be able to be themselves around someone, to be free to say dumb and awkward stuff occasionally and not be ostracized for it.

I feel that all of us want to be able to take the mask off, to not have to always respond to “How are you doing?” with “Oh, I’m fine,” but to really give the honest answer along the lines of, “I’m not doing so well today . . . .”

We long for someone who will see our brokenness and not shun us, who will see our weaknesseses and not treat us like lepers. Someone who will walk alongside us during the hard days and the tough times and will gently guide us back onto the path when we’ve strayed.

Jesus is the friend who sticks closer than a brother. He’s the one who knows our innermost being, including the deepest, darkest secrets we keep and the places we hide that no one else knows about.

I really and truly believe that to be known in that way requires two things. First, that we seek to know others in the same way and second, that we are brave enough to be that open and honest and transparent to let people inside.

My prayer is that you can be truly known for all of who you are and loved, first by knowing the God who made you and knows you better than you know yourself and loves you completely and perfectly, and then by people God will bring into your life who will inspire you and touch you and leave their footprints permanently etched in your heart.