Ragamuffin Gospel

Work Is Love Made Visible

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“Work is love made visible” (Kahlil Gibran).

That one little sentence jumped off the page at me while I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of Radnor Lake State Park.

There’s so much profound depth in those five words that both comfort and convict.

How can my work be love made visible if I come to it with a bitter attitude and an ungrateful heart? How can I be loving in my actions and yet hateful toward others at the same time?

The truth of the matter is that all work can and should be sacred. All work is an act of worship. The question is whether it will be like Abel’s acceptable offering or Cain’s rejected offering.

Work is part of my witness. If I see my vocation as a way to serve others either directly or indirectly, then even the menial parts of my job take on a whole new meaning. There is no wasted effort, nothing meaningless. All of it means something if I do it out of love for God and for others.

The Bible says that whatever you do– whether you’re a lawyer, doctor, plumber, or a janitor– do it all to the glory of God. Do everything as an act of worship to show forth the goodness of God to those you work with and those you work for.

I love what Kahlil Gibran says next:

“And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man’s ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night”

Thanks for 25 Years

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

Thanks, Uncle Mikey, for 25 years.

You’ve been pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church for a quarter of a century. The only things I’ve done consecutively for that long are eating, sleeping, and driving.

25 years ago, I was on the verge of my freshman year at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. Brentwood Baptist Church and Kairos were nowhere on my radar.

25 years ago, I was nowhere near the person I am today. I think a lot of who I am now is due to your influence.

10 years of Kairos (mostly under your teaching) have made a huge difference in my life. I never would have known about the brilliance that is Henri Nouwen had you not recommended him to me a long time ago.

You taught me that what I do isn’t nearly as important as who I am (and Whose I am). My identity isn’t wrapped up in or defined by my job title, my marital status, my income, the car I drive, or my net worth. My identity is define by who Jesus says I am– Beloved. Who I am is a son of God, a child of my Abba, redeemed and cherished.

You always ended Kairos by telling us that if we hadn’t heard it from anybody else, that you and the rest of the Kairos crew loved us and that we mattered. I wonder how many people in the crowd heard those words directed at them for the very first time in their lives.

I probably won’t ever get a chance to say these things to you in person. I’m not nearly as good expressing myself in conversations as I am writing things down. But I do want you to know that I am one of the people whose lives are better for you having said YES to Jesus all those years ago and been faithful to the call which led you to Brentwood Baptist Church 25 years ago.

Thanks, Uncle Mikey. We rise up and call you blessed.

 

God’s Inner Circle

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

Perhaps you’ve been around an inner circle or two. You know what it feels like not to be included, not to have the inside information. No matter how long you’ve been around, you never get invited to said inner circle.

The good news of the gospel is for outsiders like you and me. The hope that Jesus offers is for those who never quite fit in or say the right things.

God has an inner circle and guess what? You’re invited in.

God’s inner circle is big enough for all of us. It’s for all the misfits and losers and has-beens out there.

Jesus said to His followers, “I don’t call you servants any longer; servants don’t know what the master is doing, but I have told you everything the Father has said to Me. I call you friends” (John 15:15).

You get to be a part of what God is doing in the world. You don’t have to know the password or the secret handshake. You don’t have to wear the right clothes or know the right catch-phrases. You don’t need a hipster haircut or facial hair.

All that is required is that you say YES to God in Jesus. All God wants to be able to use you is you.

This is a repeat but worth repeating: God chose you because He wanted you. He didn’t pick you because the people He really wanted were already taken. He saw you and chose you because He wanted (and still wants) you. He made you with a unique combination of talents and passions and a calling that only you can fulfill.

You get to be a part of God’s inner circle, a circle that’s wide enough for everyone who wants in. No one who truly seeks Him in faith ever gets turned away.

 

 

A Little Love Goes a Long Way

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It’s not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love” (Linus Van Pelt, A Charlie Brown Christmas).

I keep thinking about Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. Yes, I realize that it’s August and still unbearably hot outside. Yet, I can’t help thinking about that classic Christmas special that airs every year without fail.

It’s the scrawny little sapling that that round-headed kid picked out of a lot full of shiny aluminum trees, just barely a branch with a few twigs on it and even fewer needles. Most people wouldn’t give it a second glance and 9 times out of 10, it ends up in a trash can.

Yet all it needed was a little love to flourish and grow.

That same applies to lots of situations and people. A little love goes a long way with a lot of people and in a lot of places.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Just the act of acknowledging someone’s existence. of being a witness to their life, and simple words of encouragement can be the difference between despair and hope, death and life, damnation and salvation.

Even the smallest gesture has the power to turn around someone’s day (and possibly even someone’s life). You never know. I do know that the smallest act is still better than the grandest intentions never acted upon.

I’m also thinking about the kids at the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home, many of whom are starved for affection and attention. They need to know that they are valued and worth the effort of loving. Many of us are the same way.

There’s a saying from the Jewish Talmud that goes like this: “Whosoever saves a single life, saves an entire universe.”

Saving a life always starts with a simple act of love.

 

 

Refiner’s Fire

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I can think of no better illustration of what it means to be refined under God’s hand until we start to resemble our Maker than the following:

“One day we took the children to see a goldsmith refine gold after the ancient manner of the East. He was sitting beside his little charcoal fire. (‘He shall sit as a refiner’; the gold- or silversmith never leaves his crucible once it is on the fire.)

In the red glow lay a common curved roof tile; another tile covered it like a lid. This was the crucible. In it was the medicine made of salt, tamarind fruit and burnt brick dust, and imbedded in it was the gold.

The medicine does its appointed work on the gold, ‘then the fire eats it,’ and the goldsmith lifts the gold out with a pair of tongs, lets it cool, rubs it between his fingers, and if not satisfied puts it back again in fresh medicine.

This time he blows the fire hotter than it was before, and each time he puts the gold into the crucible, the heat of the fire is increased; ‘it could not bear it so hot at first, but it can bear it now; what would have destroyed it then helps it now.’

‘How do you know when the gold is purified?’ we asked him, and he answered, ‘When I can see my face in it [the liquid gold in the crucible] then it is pure’” (Amy Carmichael, Gold Cord).

When God sees His face in us, then we shall be pure.

“Like a refiner of silver,
    He will purify the descendants of Levi—
Until they are pure, unalloyed gold and silver.
    Then they will draw near to the Eternal One,
Presenting offerings with righteous, clean hands” (Malachi 3:3, The Voice)

 

Going Before

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I drove home with the windows rolled down for the first time in months. The night air on my face felt like a caress. I had Lori McKenna’s Numbered Doors playing. It was a perfect summer moment.

I’ve been thinking about what Audrey Brooks, the speaker and wife of Kairos Pastor Chris Brooks said. The Good Shepherd will never lead us to a place where He has not already gone before and made a way.

The more I as a sheep learn to hear and recognize the voice of my Shepherd, the more I know that His heart for me and His plans toward me are good. The more I know that I can trust Him without reservation, knowing He will not lead me astray. The more I can trust Him with my loved ones.

Being called a sheep isn’t a compliment. The more I learn about sheep, the more I realize that left to themselves, they won’t end up anywhere good. They can be easily led astray by enticing voices. I find that too often I can relate to stupid sheep.

I’m thankful for a patient Shepherd who keeps calling after me, who keeps reminding me of my identity, who persists in guiding me in the right paths that lead to rest and healing.

There’s not a valley so dark that I will go through where He has not already been through and come out on the other side victorious. He can and will lead us safely through.

“Experience has taught me that the Shepherd is far more willing to show His sheep the path than the sheep are to follow. He is endlessly merciful, patient, tender, and loving. If we, His stupid and wayward sheep, really want to be led, we will without fail be led. Of that I am sure” (Elizabeth Elliot).

 

Songs from the Wood: Listening to Nature

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I’m not a proponent of worshipping nature. That’s akin to worshipping the message rather than the Messenger, or the creation rather than the Creator.

I spent some time today at Radnor Lake State Park with a friend. Even after all this time, it’s like stepping out of the world I know into a strange, slower, more peaceful world where the pace is slower but the beauty is richer.

I do believe that if you listen closely, you can hear nature (or rather God speaking through nature). It might go something like this:

“I have existed long before you and will still remain long after you have gone. In contrast to your hurried and busy lives, my rhythms are slow and easy. My seasons flow into one another at their leisure and the changes are few and small, building over time.

I speak in hushed tones and in quiet ways. Often, you are so accustomed to noise that you miss my words. You are used to constant bombardment and flashy displays and do not see the gentle beauty I offer.

To listen to me, you must learn to quiet your soul and calm your spirit. You must open your clenched fists into a posture of receiving and giving. You must learn to see beauty in the small as well as the great.

I will not compete with your frenetic striving and ceaseless chatter. I will wait until you can learn to be still and know.”

“The celestial realms announce God’s glory;
    the skies testify of His hands’ great work.
Each day pours out more of their sayings;
    each night, more to hear and more to learn.
Inaudible words are their manner of speech,
    and silence, their means to convey.
Yet from here to the ends of the earth, their voices have gone out;
    the whole world can hear what they say” (Psalm 19:1-4, The Voice).

Fall Preview? Almost

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

As I sat on the patio at Athens Family Restaurant, eating my delightful lamb bacon burger, I noticed that for a few brief moments it almost felt like fall. Almost.

It was still too warm to really be fall-ish weather, but when the sun hid behind the clouds and a friendly breeze was blowing, I could almost imagine leaves changing colors and bonfires blazing somewhere in the distance.

As eager as I am to get to Autumn, I am not as eager to throw away the last days of summer. I know that there are no rewind or pause buttons on the remote control of life. Once a part of your life is over, you can never go back.

That’s why I am learning to cherish each and every day. Even the ones in August where the heat and humidity leave me feeling like I stepped into a sauna every time I step outside. I don’t do hot weather as well as I used to, or maybe the humidity is worse than I remember. Either way, I’m not a fan.

Still, I know that I can find the hidden joys even on the hottest days and that giving thanks still unlocks the miracles even in the midst of the humidity. After all, any day that you’re still breathing and full of purpose is a good day, regardless of circumstances or the weather.

So as I type this, I have a snoring geriatric cat on the pillow next to me. It’s just another reminder to take time to enjoy the simple pleasures of this life, the little God-winks of each day.

Thank You, God, for the day and all it holds. Thank You that no matter what comes my way, You are more than sufficient to handle it and no matter how much I hold in my hands at the end of the day, You will always be enough. Amen.

 

Reasons It’s Better to be a Cat

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

My cat Lucy has it made. She may be 16 years old but she doesn’t look like the geriatric feline that she is. Maybe that has something to do with her life of comfort and ease. She’s a prime example of why it’s better to be a cat. Here are a few of the reasons why:

  1. You get to sleep as much as you want and no one thinks the worse of you for it. Lucy probably gets in 23 hours of sleep a day (I may be exaggerating but not by much) and gets told all the time how adorable and cuddly she looks while she’s sleeping.
  2. The fatter you are, the more people like you. Skinny cats don’t get the love nearly as much as the fat . . . I mean fluffy ones do.
  3. You get to set your own schedule. Sleep in? Go for it. Take a nap after you just woke up from another one? Why not. Eat ten meals a day? More power to you.
  4. Your compact size greatly increases the amount of comfy spaces available for you to lounge around in and take naps in. Humans will humor you when you take their favorite spots because you’re so cuddly and cute.
  5. Nobody expects much of you, so anything you do is automatically adorable. The bar is set incredibly low for cats, so there’s not a whole lot of stress when it comes to pleasing your owners. Dogs have to do all sorts of tricks. You just have to occasionally be sweet and adorable.
  6. You never have to worry about what you will wear or if it will go out of style. In fact, you never have to worry about clothes at all. You get to go your whole life without ever having to wear pants. I call that a win.
  7. In case you need more proof, review 1-6 again and remember that in Egypt, cats were revered as gods and worshipped. Need I say more?