God

Holy Ground

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holy_ground

 

I watched Scent of a Woman for the first time tonight, and I really liked it. Okay, so I was biased by the film’s autumn setting. Any movie that’s set around the fall season is automatically a winner in my book. Especially if the background is a historic school campus.

There was a shot of the school’s motto in some shots that I noticed. It said,” The place where people meet to seek the highest is holy ground.”

That’s worship. Seeking the highest. What else is there that’s higher than God and what other purpose do we have other than to seek out the God who created and sustains everything that is?

The beauty of it is that God didn’t wait for us to seek Him. He didn’t play celestial hide and seek with us and manufacture a bunch of rules in order for us to get to the place where we could find us. We don’t have to speak any dead languages or perform secret rites or know the right people, because we have a direct line to the throne of God. We don’t have to find a way to get to God because God has already made a way for us to come.

No. God came to us in Jesus. God found us. After all, we were (and still are sometimes) the ones who were lost. We’re the ones running and hiding. Or more accurately, trying to hide like Adam and Eve in the garden with their makeshift fig-leaf outfits and overwhelming fear and shame.

Worship is seeking that which wants to be found and has already found us. Worship isn’t a demand made of us so that we can hope to gain God’s favor but a privilege given to those who already have it. While worship may be all about extolling the greatness of God, it’s also where our greatest good and our greatest joy can be found.

By the way, the movie was really good. Al Pacino deserved his Best Actor Academy Award for sure. And the falling leaves were pretty.

 

 

 

The New Normal

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the new normal.

It’s when something forever alters your landscape and everything else after will be different. You have to adjust to the way things are now.

For me, my new normal started when I lost my job three years ago. It was a totally out of the blue, unexpected event and changed a lot of things for me. I can say for certain that I am not that same person who got downsized from Affinion Benefits Group on May 22, 2012.

For you, it may be a job loss. It could be moving across town or across the state or even halfway across the country. It could be a career change. Or it might be the death of a parent, spouse, or child. Even the loss of a pet can trigger a new normal.

One comfort for me has always been that whatever the new normal looks like, one thing remains from the old normal– God. He’s the same in the new normal as He was in the old and will be in the new new normal.

God loves me just as much in the new normal as He always did. He has the same good plans for me, the same promise that He will work all things together for my good, the same peace that passes all understanding, the same everything.

I admit that change scares me. I like having the routine that I can occasionally break free from when I’m feeling spontaneous. I like having the people in my life, knowing they are around.

I try not to obsess over when and how my normal will likely change in the future. I want to be present to where God has me with who He has in my life while they’re still in my life.

Thank you, God, for my life. Forgive me if I take it or any of Your other gifts for granted. Forgive me if I don’t love it enough or love you enough.

As always, I believe. Lord, help my unbelief.

 

First World Problems

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I had an eventful (for me) evening after work today. I actually didn’t get home until almost 9 pm (me the wild and crazy little rebel). I made one of my periodic pilgrimages to McKay’s Used Books. I had plenty of loot to trade and I managed to score a few good deals. Afterward, I did some fine dining at Taco Bell, a la one steak Doubledilla.

When I got to the counter, the guy in front of me was obviously exasperated at the slow service. He made a comment along the lines of “I guess the drive-thru is the only way to get service around here.” He left in a huff after 5-10 minutes of waiting. If that long.

I’m not here to bash the guy.

What I can say is that I can’t do the same. Ever since a friend of mine started talking about first world problems, my way of looking at life in America has changed. I have a really hard time getting upset over having to wait for fast food when so many people around the globe didn’t have anything at all to eat all day.

What is a first world problem? It’s something that would only be considered a problem if you’re middle-class suburban American used to microwaves, fast food, and other conveniences. It’s for people who probably won’t ever have to worry about where the next meal is coming from or if the water they’re drinking is clean or not.

God is opening my eyes to what people face in third world countries. Some walk for miles each day to bring back water that isn’t safe to drink, but it’s all they have. They can’t go down the street and buy bottled water from the nearest grocery store. Too many people (including children) will get sick and even die from drinking that contaminated water.

Here I am with multiple options of bottled water at my fingertips. How dare I complain? I am way more blessed than I deserve.

Here endeth the lesson. I’m not trying to make you feel bad for having conveniences, but I hope you will realize that in the grand scheme of things most of what bothers us isn’t really all that important and definitely not worth getting upset about. That’s all. Carry on.

 

Holding It All Together

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I had another epiphany of sorts as I was driving home from my life group tonight. It was one of those perfect Spring nights before the sticky humidity descends and decides to stay until October. I had Willie Nelson singing me home and I was meditating on what we had just talked about in our Bible study earlier. Then this thought hit me:

When you’re barely able to hold it together, remember Who is holding you together. Maybe it’s not so much about holding yourself together as it is holding on to God who can hold you together so much better than you ever could.

I thought back to what Mike Glenn said about the glory of God. Glory comes from a Hebrew word that carries the idea of gravity or weight. He said that in essence, God is the only One worthy of worship because He is the only One capable of keeping all the bits and pieces of your life from flying apart.

Idolatry is expecting anything or anyone to hold your world in orbit other than God. Sooner or later (hopefully sooner), you will find out the hard way that nothing and no one else can.

Some of you are finding out how true this is right now. It’s one thing to know about something intellectually and quite another to know from having lived through it. As much as I hate to say it, all of us will probably at some point find out in experience how true this is. Thankfully, God’s promises and words to us always hold up even under the most trying of times.

If you’re there, my advice is don’t try to be a Lone Ranger. Let other people in and then when your world gets better, look for people who might need your encouragement and support.

That’s all I have for tonight. As always, I believe. Help my unbelief.

 

 

 

 

It’s That Camel Back Day Again

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Do you miss those Geico commercials about the camel who gets all excited about it being Wednesday? Neither do I.

I’d like to update you on what I’ve been listening to lately. Most of it has been in my car commuting to and from work, but some of it has been on those nights when I’m not as sleepy as I thought I was when my head hit the pillow.

1) Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon: I used to fall asleep to this album every night. It’s good for when you’re up at 1 am in your dark bedroom (if you’re me). It could probably also be used on Halloween to scare the neighbors.

2) The Wailing Jennys- Firecracker: this music takes me to a happy place in my soul. Plus, it fulfills my quota for pitch-perfect three-part harmonies for the week.

3) Willie Nelson- One Hell of a Ride: I used to think I didn’t like country music, but I discovered that it’s the newer stuff that I (mostly) don’t really like. I love the old-school classics.

4) The Bill Evans Trio- Since We Met: It may not be a 5-star classic album, but it sooths the savage beast within. I think both my uncles would be proud that I’ve broadened my musical horizons so much.

5) The Spin Doctors – Pocket Full of Kryptonite

6) April Wine – The Nature of the Beast: I don’t know much about this band, but I like their sound. I do think a new CD with remastered sound would sound a lot better.

7) Joni Mitchell- The Studio Albums 1968-1979: this will very shortly be in my car and keeping me sane on those sllllloooooowwww drives home after work. Especially the song “Both Sides Now.”

That’s not everything, but it’s everything I could think of at the moment. I seem to have gone in a retro direction with my music. I like new music and new artists, but I find myself going back in time (as in before my time) more as I get older. But my tastes still haven’t mellowed all that much.

More to come at a later date.

 

 

 

Something Else from Kairos

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Tonight as usual I took home something to think about from Kairos. In almost nine years of attending and serving, I’ve rarely ever walked away without either the message or the music having affected me in some way.

Tonight I heard this: Jesus calls you by who you will become rather than who you are now.

Look at Peter, formerly known as Simon. Jesus hears his brave declaration of “You are the Christ, Son of the Living God,” and proceeds to declare that he is now Peter, the rock on whom Jesus will build His church.

Peter? Look at the guy. Immediately after making that statement, He tries to rebuke Jesus and His plans of going to Jerusalem to suffer and die. The pastor made the astute assessment that Peter folded like a cheap card table when intensely interrogated by a 13-year old servant girl.

“Weren’t you one of Jesus’ followers?” Not a loaded question. Also not one of Peter’s finest moments. Not even close.

I believe that sanctification is the process by which you and I become what Jesus has already declared us to be.

Let me say that again.

Sanctification is the process by which you and I become what Jesus has already declared us to be.

My favorite of Jesus’ declarations over me is Beloved. I may not live like that now. I may live like someone who’s ashamed of Him and who sometimes does a really good job of being an incognito Christian. But that’s not who I will be. Jesus said so.

That gives me great hope. Jesus never makes a promise or a declaration that isn’t already as good as done. It maybe a future tense promise, but it’s a present tense reality. Jesus is that good.

So maybe you and I need to believe about ourselves what Jesus has declared about us, and not what we see in the mirror every day. Maybe then others will start to see it and believe it about themselves as well.

 

Writing Your Own Story

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“One of the arguments we often use for not writing is this: ‘I have nothing original to say. Whatever I might say, someone else has already said it, and better than I will ever be able to.’ This, however, is not a good argument for not writing. Each human person is unique and original, and nobody has lived what we have lived. Furthermore, what we have lived, we have lived not just for ourselves but for others as well. Writing can be a very creative and invigorating way to make our lives available to ourselves and to others.

We have to trust that our stories deserve to be told. We may discover that the better we tell our stories the better we will want to live them” (Henri Nouwen).

One of the reasons I write these blogs is because it’s part of me telling my story. It’s often very therapeutic and healing to get my thoughts out of my head and onto paper (or more accurately, onto computer screen then onto cyberspace via the interwebs).

No one can tell your story better than you. No one has lived your life quite like you have.

It occurred to me earlier as I was watching a Baz Luhrmann movie that the best stories are the ones in which you find your story and I find mine. Those are the stories in which the specifics may be quite different than mine, but the emotions are the same. I find in a good story that I can relate to the characters and the situations in which they find themselves.

Even if you just write what you did that day, it’s something. If you write about your fears and doubts, however odd and neurotic they may seem, someone else out there will inevitably be able to relate. Someone else will be able to say finally, “I’m so very glad I’m not the only one who thinks or feels this way. Maybe there’s hope for me.”

So write your story. My preferred method is blogging, but yours may be writing a novel or short story, taking a photograph, giving your testimony before a church group, or just being intentional about how you live your life.

Three words: tell your story.

 

 

That Mr. Irrelevant Again

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I watched some of the NFL draft today. It’s interesting to see who gets picked where and when and by whom. Plus, you get the joy of seeing the experts’ predictions blown up. You see people who stay up late at night worrying about these kinds of things prognosticating on how these players will either be a great pick or a bust.

As always, the very last pick, around number 256, of the very last round of the draft is called Mr. Irrelevant. Usually, players who don’t get picked up until that point don’t make the final roster of the NFL team that picked them.

I love the fact that no one is Mr. (or Mrs.) Irrelevant to God. God loves each person as if he or she were the only person in the whole world to love. And yet He loves every single person that way. I can’t fathom that, yet I’m nowhere close to being infinite. I can’t even love the very few (in comparison) people in my life with anything close to complete and unconditional love.

At times, other people may make you feel irrelevant. It may or may not be intentional, but the hurt is the same either way. You may feel that what you do and who you are don’t matter to anyone and that maybe the world would be better off without you in it. The feelings may not be true, but that doesn’t stop them from feeling real.

Try this. Read John 3:16. Where it says “the world,” insert your name. For me, it would go something like this, “For God so loved Greg, that He gave His one and only Son, that if Greg believes in Him, He shall not perish.”

Remember that Jesus thought you were to die for. You matter to Him immensely. That’s something to remember on those nights when you feel alone and unwanted.

 

May Day: Five Years Later

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“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you” (Isaiah 43″2a).

It happened five years ago. On that day, it started raining and didn’t let up for two whole days. And I don’t just mean a friendly little sprinkle. I mean a full-on deluge that resulted in some of the worst flooding that Nashville had ever seen.

They called it a 1,000 year flood. Perhaps, 1,000 years from now, people will still be talking about it. All I know is that I was there. I saw images of portable schoolrooms floating down the interstate. I saw pictures of downtown Nashville under water. I read about how the basement of the Ryman got flooded, along with Opryland Hotel, Opry Mills, and several other businesses and homes.

It’s still crazy to think about. So much changed because of those two days. So much was lost in terms of businesses and merchandise. But we survived. We’re still here.

Who knows what the next disaster will look like? Who knows what form it will take? A pastor I greatly admire once said that everybody is either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or going into a storm. Perhaps your next storm won’t be the kind with strong winds and heavy rains. But the same Jesus who bid the waves be still in the midst of the storm can calm your fears in the midst of your metaphorical storms as well.

I do remember how people got together to help those affected by the flooding. I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in some of the clean-up and witness firsthand what flood waters can do. I also witnessed firsthand what God can do through His people when they simply become available for God to use.

 

 

 

One of My First Bibles

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This will be a short post, because it’s late and I’m officially pooped.

I helped out with looking after the kids of women who were taking a class through Christian Women’s Job Corp tonight. Basically, I’m the one who showed up late with lots of pizza. I suddenly became extremely popular when I walked through the door with those eight boxes full of Little Caeser’s pepperoni and cheese pizza.

While I was there, I found an old Bible that reminded me of one I used to have when I was a wee little tyke, except mine had a very handy zipper. I remember that in my very first Bible the pastor wrote, “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.”

I’m pretty sure mine was an old-school KJV. I’m also fairly certain most of the 16th century English went right over my head.

Now they have the Jesus Storybook Bible and yes, I’m a bit jealous. That seems so much more accessible for a kid to understand. Sure, when they get older, you want them to have a full-blown, 66-book Bible, but this seems like a great way to get children into the metanarrative of the Bible story.

By the way, I’ve already decided that I will be reading through the Bible in 2016 in the Holman Christian Standard Bible (the 2004 version, not the most recently updated version).