travel

A Good Reminder to Myself

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I talk to myself sometimes. Out loud. I tend to use a British accent so it’s more fun and less creepy.

Sometimes, I have to remind myself of certain things. Repeatedly.

1) You are not your job (or lack of one). You are not your salary. You are not a title or a profession. You are exactly who God made you to be. And He said you were good.

2) God’s in the past where you messed up and where you got hurt, healing your wounds so they no longer bleed into your present (thanks to Mike Glenn for that one. He’s right there with you in your present. And He’s already in your future, waiting on you with plans that will blow your mind.

3) It’s okay to feel scared and unsure. It’s okay to have doubts because faith by its very nature comes with doubting. If we knew with 100% certainty, we wouldn’t need faith.

4) If you are loved and if you have friends, you are not a failure. If God loves you and calls you friend, then you have already won.

5) Whatever happened today, be it good, bad, or ugly, tomorrow is a new day filled with fresh possibilities and a clean slate. You can start over.

Maybe you’re having a great day and you’re loving life and everything is going your way. That’s wonderful. Maybe not. But everybody will at times go through storms. Everyone will go through deserts where your faith seems dead. Everyone will go through dark nights where God seems impossible to find.

No matter what your feelings or senses tell you, no matter what your circumstances tell you, God is there. He has not left you. He has not forgotten you. And He never will.

By the way, this blog is best read with a British accent. It sounds so much more sophisticated that way.

Music & Memories

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

“She wears denim wherever she goes
Says she’s gonna get some records by the Status Quo
Oh yeah…Oh yeah…” (Teenage Fanclub)

If you’re as much of a music nerd as I am, maybe you occasionally hear the opening line of a particular song and it transports you to a very specific place and time.

Maybe you go back to being in the car with friends at night on a weekend. You remember where you were, where you were going, the conversation, even the sights and smells.

For me, I hear the song “Silent Lucidity” by Queensryche and I go back to the Subway next to the Kroger’s where I used to work and the girl I used to have a crush on. I can’t remember what we talked about or what sub I ate, but I remember that song.

When I hear some songs, I’m 12 years old again, feeling the same feelings I felt back then. Or maybe I’m back to being 21 with a whole world of possibilities still opened up before me.

That’s why I love music so much. Nothing else has the power to bring back memories so vividly. All it takes is the intro and opening lines to a certain song and you’re back in the moment. It’s as good as a time machine.

Nothing takes me back to junior high better than a Chicago song. Bon Jovi takes me back to high school days. For college, nothing brings back good memories better than a Spin Doctors song.

What songs take you back? It may not be a song that went massive. It may be an obscure song that just happened to hit you at the right moment in such a way that it is ingrained in your memory, tied to a particular place and time.

But if you’re anything like me, you have at least one of those songs stored in the ol’ noggin. So let me know. What are the songs that make up the soundtrack of your life?

More Movie Theology

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“I’d imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn’t be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too. . . .Maybe that’s why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn’t able to do what it was meant to do… Maybe it’s the same with people. If you lose your purpose… it’s like you’re broken ” (from the movie Hugo).

Very few people know what they were born to do. Fewer still are actually living out of that purpose. So many have settled for jobs and routines and hobbies and weekends and wonder why they lead lives of quiet desperation (as Thoreau famously put it).

I think God made each one of us with a purpose. No one is a mistake. No one is an afterthought. You and I are uniquely and expressly designed by our Creator to do what no one else can do.

I am finding out my own purpose. I know part of it involves writing and communicating the truth of knowing who you are in Christ. I know that I want people to know that God doesn’t love them out of an obligation or because He’s God; He loves them because He wants to. He chose you and called you by your own name and set His affections on you. He not only loves you, He likes you.

Not only did God create each of us with a purpose, He made us to help each other find and fulfill our purposes. I truly believe that we can only be our true, God-made selves in the middle of a community of believers who both minister to each other and reach out to a lost and broken world.

May we know what it’s like to see people find their purpose, to see broken people find wholeness, to see lost people found, and to see dead people coming alive again. What could be better?

I Like to Ride my Bicycle, I Like to Ride my Bike

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

 

This is a fairly close approximation to what my bike looks like. My bike is a year or two older than this one, but essentially has the same look and design as the one shown above.

For about 5 years, my bike was in a dormant cocoon-like state in the garage, yearning for the sweet taste of summer breezes blowing through its spokes. It was a sad and lonely bicycle.

Then one day not too long ago, I took out Max (that’s the name I just now have given my bicycle) and took him for a spin. The first time, I about did myself in and had to lie down for a little while afterward. The next time wasn’t nearly so bad.

Today, I went down to a nearby walking/biking trail and did about 5 laps around the trail. I got a bit sore, but I didn’t get overly winded and I felt good at the end.

My investment in my Giant Cypress DX is finally paying off, 6 years later. And in case you didn’t know, my bike is a 2007 model. Apparently, bikes have different models each year like cars do. Shows you how versed I am in bike-lore and all things two-wheeled.

One day, I’d like to trade up to a newer model bike, preferably one with a carbon frame (since they are much lighter than my current aluminum-framed dinosaur). They are so light, I was able to pick one up with one hand. My left hand, in fact.

But until then I’ll be content to be slummin’ it in my 6-year old bicycle. Seriously, I’m very happy with my bike. I may even get it tricked out with a headlight and a place to hold a water bottle (and maybe even one of those obnoxious bicycle bells).

I’ve come a long way from the days when my sister had to bribe me to learn to ride a bike. Back then, I could be had for 2 or 3 G. I. Joe action figures. I wasn’t too savvy when it came to bargaining, apparently.

What’s the point of all this? Just for you to go and pull your bike out of its cocoon. Pull those roller-blades or quads out of the back of the closet. Go down to your nearest walking trail or park and get some fresh air and exercise. Even if you don’t have a bike or roller-blades or old-school skates, you can still jog or walk.

Trust me, it will do you a world of good.

 

Church and State and Everything in Between

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

First of all, I’d like to state for the record that both Sarah Palin and Nancy Pelosi get on my nerves, so I guess that makes me an independent.

Tonight at Kairos, Mike Glenn spoke about politics and the Kingdom of God. Basically, he said we as the Church (in general) gave up faith in the power of the Gospel and traded in the role of prophet for the illusion of political access.

We thought that if we got “our” people into office and got “our” laws passed, things would get better. But you can only pass laws to keep people from hurting their neighbors. You can’t pass laws that make people love those neighbors.

I heard a great analogy tonight. Food doesn’t change the salt, but rather salt changes the food. In the same way, the world shouldn’t change believers, but believers should be the ones changing the world. We are called to be salt, and it only takes a little salt to make a big difference.

Why do we act surprised when lost people act like lost people? Are they the problem with this country? Is it dark because the darkness killed the light?

It’s dark because the light has failed. It’s dark not because believers have been too different from the world around them, but because we haven’t been different enough.

This made me think: some people are so good at blending in with the world that even Jesus won’t be able to recognize them when He comes back.

I’ll say it again that it’s not about taking back a country (that was never really ours to begin with), but advancing a Kingdom. Our hope doesn’t lie in a President, but in a coming King who will set all things right.

Do go and vote. That’s important. But at the same time don’t put your hopes for a better future into the hands of politicians, because that has never ended well.

Long after presidents and countries and politics are no more, Jesus will still reign as King and Lord over all. Long after political parties have bit the dust and governments have fallen, Jesus will still be in charge.

That’s where my hope lies.

Just Relax

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I have yet another confession to make. I over-analyze everything. Well, most things anyway. I can wreck myself thinking too much about conversations I’ve had where I spoke and should have been silent or was silent and should have spoken. I’ve analyzed to death things friends have said that really didn’t mean what I thought they meant.

The word for today for me (and for you if you’re like me) is RELAX. Don’t over-analyze and don’t try so hard to force an outcome in your situation. Instead, enjoy the moment and watch expectantly for God to act.

I don’t mean veg out on the couch and eat bon-bons all day (or oreos, if you feel bon-bons aren’t manly enough). Live your life and have faith, or as Oswald Chambers said, “Trust God and do the next thing.”

God will act when He’s ready. When you’re really and truly ready and not when you think you are ready. In my experience, the longer the wait is, the better the surprise God has for you.

Sometimes, you wait until you think you can’t wait any longer. You hold out until you are absolutely about to run out of patience and strength and willpower. And then you wait some more. You come to the end of yourself and all your schemes and plans and the only prayer you can pray is, “Lord, help.”

The last time I checked, God was still sovereign. God was (and is) still in control. He still knows the number of hairs on your head and the number of tears you cry in the night. He more than anyone knows the secret desires of your heart and He more than anyone knows what will make you come alive and where you were created to be.

So relax. God’s got this. Like the old saying goes: there is a God and you’re not Him. I know for me, that’s a big load off my shoulders.

 

A Bike Ride in Crockett Part (and What Later Came of It)

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“I love God because he listened to me, listened as I begged for mercy. He listened so intently as I laid out my case before him. Death stared me in the face, hell was hard on my heels. Up against it, I didn’t know which way to turn; then I called out to God for help: “Please, God!” I cried out. “Save my life!” God is gracious—it is he who makes things right, our most compassionate God. God takes the side of the helpless; when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me.” (Psalm 116:1-2 MSG)

I pulled my bike out of the dormant cocoon it’s been in for some time and took it down to Crockett Park in Brentwood, TN. Actually, I crammed it in the back of my Jeep and drove it down there (if you want to get all technical about it).

It was a beautiful moment, me riding my bike in postcard-perfect weather through scenic paved trails with overhanging tree branches serving as a kind of natural canopy. It got me thinking.

Too often we as believers try so very hard to be relevant and trendy and cool and successful when all God calls us to be is faithful and obedient. We’re not called to re-imagine or re-invent the Gospel story. Just to tell our story and how we are different people because of what Jesus has done for us.

The Story God wrote doesn’t need any emotional embellishments or dramatic additions. It has stood for 2,000 years through multiple generations and languages and been powerful to save people from all backgrounds and walks of life in every part of the world.

I guess the connection between a bike ride through the park and sharing my faith is this: just as I don’t need to hang streamers or other decorations to improve nature, I shouldn’t have to add to the gospel story to make it more palatable or relevant. The Story is eternally relevant. It never goes out of style or becomes obsolete. We will always need it, need to hear it, need to be reminded of it every day for the rest of our lives.

 

 

 

Another Monday, Come and Gone

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I’m better about my attitude toward Mondays, but I still think Monday is a terrible day to have to start your week off on. Even if you are among the ranks of the unemployed (like me), Mondays still stink.

Monday is the day after the great weekend is ended and life goes back to boring normal. At least for 98% of us.

For me, Monday was a day for taking those thoughts captive. Thoughts like, “Your friends have forgotten about you,” or “Your friends have moved on and left you behind.” I’m usually more susceptible to those kind of thoughts on Mondays for some reason.

But today, I’m calling them for what they are– lies from the father of lies. I know my friends and I know they haven’t forgotten me or left me behind. They’re probably having the typical insane, crazy, 90-mile an hour Monday and just trying not to spin off the proverbial merry-go-round.

I’m choosing to believe the absolute best about them because I’d want them to believe the best about me and give me the benefit of the doubt. I’m choosing to pray God’s best for them the same today as every other day.

So, how was your Monday?

Thankful for You

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I’m thankful that you are you and not me. Don’t get me wrong. I’m thankful for me, too, but I’m glad there is only one of me. I’m not sure the world could handle multiple Gregs running amuck and causing all kinds of chaos.

I’m thankful that you are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God and that you carry His signature on you. You are not a mistake. You are not an afterthought. You are not a copy of anyone or anything else that has ever been or will ever be. You are uniquely you (try saying that five times fast).

Just as unique is God’s plan for you. Don’t get caught up in comparing your life to someone else’s. Maybe you’re not married. Maybe you’re still living at home with the folks long after you thought you would be. Maybe you’re still wondering what you’ll be when you finally grow up.

That doesn’t make you a failure. It means you are not satisfied with the status quo, but you are wanting to find out what you were born to do and what makes you come alive.

Be patient. God’s promises may not happen according to your timetable, but they always happen in His perfect timing. I believe that if you can hold out a little longer, you will be surprised and amazed at what comes next. God is anything but predictable. But I know it’s gonna be great.

Remember that no matter what happens today, no matter what anybody else says to you or about you, no matter how impossible your life seems right now, that I am thankful for you. I’m rooting for you. So is God. And like I’ve said before, what seems impossible to us is not even remotely difficult for God (thanks to Pete Wilson of Cross Point Church for that one).

 

 

Just a Friendly Reminder or Two (or Three)

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I was thinking on the way home from a good night out. It was one of those perfect nights that come in the twilight of summer and a good breeze was blowing. I had 10,000 Maniacs spinning in my CD player. It was a good moment. Based on that, I have some friendly reminders for those out there who may or may not need them.

1) Don’t ever take your family or friends for granted. I can’t emphasize that enough. I heard once that when you take something or someone for granted, what you’re granted gets taken. I am learning to not assume that the people in my life will always be there, but to make the most of the time I am given with each and every person in my life.

2) Don’t assume that others know how you feel about them. Tell them. Tell them every chance you can, even if it seems like overkill. It’s better that you know too much that I care for you than you never know it at all. Who knows? They might need the reminder at the particular moment you say those words.

3) Don’t be afraid to break out of the mold and try new things. Try new foods. Hang out with different people. Break away from the oh-so-popular crowds and spend time with those who are on the outskirts of the crowd or sitting alone. I truly believe that’s where you find Jesus.

4) God never gets tired of your gratitude, so thank Him for every thing. Even if it’s for waking up this morning or for drawing the next breath.    You can never be too grateful or thankful. A thankful spirit opens your eyes to see God in a new and fresh way and enables you to see His blessings where you never saw them before.

That’s all for now. I would be amiss if I didn’t tell you once again that I am supremely grateful for every single person reading this little blog. I’m thankful for my family and for every single friend who has stuck with me all this time. You matter to me and you matter to God.

Thank you.