Memphis

Turn Around

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

2laneroad

I confess. I am a guy and I have a very bad sense of direction. Or as I like to say, I am directionally-impaired.

I don’t know if every guy is supposed to have a map and a compass in his head, but I most assuredly do not. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve turned the wrong way or just simply gotten lost.

One of the most frustrating things for me is to be going the wrong direction but not be able to find a place to turn around.

I’ve actually gotten mad because there were no places to turn around. In my head, I’m like, “C’mon! Seriously? Not even a driveway?”

I think sometimes people get trapped in relationships or addictions or bad lifestyle choices and can’t find a way to turn around. They want to be going a completely different direction but they feel like they are powerless to do anything but keep going the same direction they’ve been going.

That’s what repentance means. It means a change of mind that leads to a change in your life. It means to stop going one way, do a 180, and go the complete opposite direction. if you get on I-40 West, you’re going to Memphis.

I had a pastor use this illustration (it makes more sense if you know that this pastor is in Nashville): If you get on I-40 West, you’re going to Memphis. Every time. You can say all day long how you want to go to Chattanooga or Knoxville, but if you stay on I-40 West, you’ll end up in Memphis.

I think sometimes you just have to want to change badly enough to make that U-turn. Also, it’s essential to have people in your life who will encourage you and motivate you in your desire for change. Plus, I think without God’s help, no one can truly change. All we do apart from Christ is trade addictions or move from one bad scenario to another.

So what do you want to change in your life? What do you want Jesus to change about you?

Maybe it’s time to turn around.

Things I Love 46: A Terrible Mystery

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

makeadifference

“What a terrible mystery
How I searched for the key
To unlock your guarded heart
And set your love free
What a beautiful dream
I tried more than anything
To unlock your heart
And set your love free
A terrible mystery” (The Choir)

“How do I wake up to joy and grace and beauty and all that is the fullest life when I must stay numb to losses and crushed dreams and all that empties me out?” (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are)

“Joy and pain, they are but two arteries of the one heart that pumps through all those who don’t numb themselves to really living” (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are).

I keep returning to this well of thanksgiving because it is there that I find life. I don’t mean blood pumping through my veins, breathing in and out kind of life. I mean the kind of life that consists of more than just existing, but being fully enveloped in and aware of God in each moment. The life that sees the rainbow through the rain clouds, the sun behind the dark night, and the joy behind the thousand daily heartbreaks and little dream-deaths we face each day. Joy is being truly awake and alive to the good in everything, even the worst of circumstances, knowing that the Father will work out all these things for the best possible good.

1,431) Muggy days that make the coming crisp days of autumn all the more welcome.

1,432) Reepicheep, the bravest of all the talking mice in Narnia.

1,433) Seeing my job as a priestly function of offering my work as a thanksgiving offering to God.

1,434) Having a job to go to, even if it was at 6:30 this morning.

1,435)  That I still love driving my ’95 Jeep Cherokee even after 10 years.

1,436) Taking notes at Kairos tonight on my iPad2.

1,437) Having the best family (which includes blood relatives, and friends both on Facebook and in the real world).

1,438) Adam Wheatley and Courtney Cole leading the amazing worship tonight at Kairos.

1,439) My friend Paige who has faithfully led the greeter team and been one of my most supportive friends when I really needed it.

1,440) Signing up again to volunteer for Belmont move-in day for incoming freshmen.

1,441) Finally converted after much kicking and screaming (mostly in the metaphorical sense) to being an Apple guy. All I need now is a MacBook Pro.

1,442) Seeing one of my Romanian friends at Kairos tonight.

1,443) Resuming my lunch walks (even if this one was interrupted on account of rain).

1,444) Wifi when it is working right.

1,445) The movie Notting Hill, even if it’s a chick-flick. It’s a very well-made, well-written chick-flick.

1,446) Not even being the least bit tempted to break my more than 15-month break from carbonated beverages today.

1,447) My scars.

1,448) Singing “All that she wants is to go to Kairos” tonight to the tune of the Ace of Base song, “All That She Wants.”

1,449) When I let God be my defender and justifier.

1,450) Random acts of recycling.

1,451) Tagging these blogs creatively so more people can read them.

1,452) Being around something completely annoying and hearing the character Janice from the TV show friends in her nasal Bronx accent saying in my head, “OH MY GOD!”

1,453) Having such entertaining voices in my head.

1,454) Being reminded that surrender to Jesus is the truest freedom I’ve ever known.

1,455) Knowing that God is more faithful and eager to hear my prayers and answer them than I am to pray them most of the time.

1,456) The calming effect of hearing the rainfall outside.

1,457) Thinking of how very far my driving skills have come since my very first time behind the wheel, terrified out of my mind and driving down one of the busiest streets in Memphis.

1,458) Choosing joy over a bitter and complaining spirit.

1,459) My friend Emily, who also serves in Kairos faithfully each week and who has a true Proverbs 31 kind of beauty.

1,460) The thought of going to bed soon after a long day that started at 5:30 this morning.

Random Christmas Memories

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I don’t know what prompted it today, but I spend some time reminiscing about when I visited Santa as a child. For me, that was always my favorite part of the Christmas season.

We went to Goldsmith’s (think of Macy’s and you get the idea). I distinctly remember a spiral entrance ramp to the parking garage, almost like it was yesterday. Maybe because I was so keyed up with excitement that I took in every detail.

We had to go through a tunnel of festive holiday figures, including elves and other merry creatures– okay, so I’m a little fuzzy on the details of this part. I remember it was like stepping into a dream. The good kind of dreams that you always wish you could go back to every time you fall asleep.

And then at the end there was Santa. Okay, not really. Just some guy in a costume affecting a jolly demeanor. But for me it was real enough. Once I got over my terrifying fear of him (and I’m not so sure what frightened me so much about him), I was able to get my Christmas list to the big guy himself. Talk about going straight to the top.

I think that one of the best thing a parent can do is to create these kinds of memories for their children. Children need happy, safe memories to carry with them through the nightmares and dark nights. Memories like this one.

I’ve seen the photos of me sitting in Santa’s lap as a very young tyke, face beet red and screaming my head off. Why anybody thought that would make a great holiday photo, I have no idea. But it still exists in a photobook somewhere in all its kodachrome glory.

Maybe one day I’ll scan it and post it on my facebook page. On second thought. . . . nah.

 

When the Lights Go Out

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 6 Comments

lucynarnia

I was en route from Memphis recently, listening to a book on CD, as all well-seasoned travellers do. It was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, book 5 of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. It was read by Derek Jacobi, by the way, in case you were dying to know.

In the book, the Dawn Treader sails into an island of darkness. It’s a place where fear rules and all nightmares come to life. Lucy is at the top of the ship, watching as the crew tries vainly to escape. In her desperation, she says, “Aslan, if you ever loved us, help us now.” The answer to her prayer is an albatross who, as he flies by her, whispers, “Courage, dear heart,” in Aslan’s voice. He then leads them out into the sunlight.

I bet you’ve been in some dark places in your life. You’ve felt trapped in the valley of the shadow of death, where no light or hope can get through. You’ve been searching for a way out, but all you find is more darkness, more despair, more hopelessness.

You feel your circumstances will never get better. You fear that nothing will ever change. You come to believe that your worst-case scenario is due to come true any day now. Your faith is at a low ebb and your fears are cresting and crashing waves that swamp you.

There’s a voice, if you are still enough to hear it, that whispers the same words what it whispered to Lucy. “Courage, dear heart.” It says, “Hold on. Trust in Me in the darkness even when you can’t find Me there. I am with you, with My everlasting arms underneath you. I will never ever let go.”

Don’t believe that you feel or what you think, but what you know. Believe the same God who has proved Himself over and over and Whose word is true. Know that He is with you and for you in your darkness. Darkness may prevail right now, but joy is coming with the morning.