Like a great photographer framing his shot,
God is interested in the smallest of details.
Moment after moment of time may pass,
To us they fly over in stealth unnoticed.
Moments like letters in the hand of God.
Letters forming Words,
Words forming Sentences,
Sentences framing a beautiful story!
Small pieces seemingly random,
when combined a puzzle quite intricate.
Have you ever stepped back and seen the hand of God?
Working.
Shaping.
Creating.
All around you?
Have you ever been caught in the glorious moment?
No longer lost in the mystery of the pieces
or the letters and what comes next,
But stepping back and seeing the bigger picture.....
No longer me and I and this and that and I need or I want or I wish this or that and what if and why that or oh me and oh my.....But oh, You.
You.
Why didn't I see it? The Hand of God.
Showing posts with label Purpose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Purpose. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Don't Be a Pharisee!
What did Jesus have against the religious leaders of his day? Why did He always say, don't be like the hypocrites?
First of all, a hypocrite says one thing, but does another.
The Pharisees/Jewish religious leaders were claiming spiritual life, but they did not have it.
Jesus turned it all inside out. The Pharisees were posing for men, having long prayers for their own image and self-righteousness, they fasted and wanted everyone to know how super-spiritual they were, but Jesus, Jesus said they were missing it. They did not have what they acted as if they did. They missed it.
For Jesus, the Gospel, the Word of God, is not a thing just to be memorized. It is not just head knowledge and a bunch of rules. That is death. That leads to being a hypocrite. It leads to hypocrisy because the Word of God comes in a active relationship with God. It is possible to know all about God and God's Son, but do nothing with Him. That is being a Pharisee.
We are called to deep, intimate relationship with Creator of all that is. Who loved us so much He sent his Son to embrace the heights of agony under the full wrath of God. God's Son took it all. He came in love.
It is possible to "know" so much, but the Gospel, The Word of God is meant to be "experienced." If you never experience the Word of God, never obey it, never step out in faith to follow something that doesn't make sense to you, THEN you will never experience God! Christianity is an experiential faith not just intellectual.
Don't be a Pharisee.......
First of all, a hypocrite says one thing, but does another.
The Pharisees/Jewish religious leaders were claiming spiritual life, but they did not have it.
Jesus turned it all inside out. The Pharisees were posing for men, having long prayers for their own image and self-righteousness, they fasted and wanted everyone to know how super-spiritual they were, but Jesus, Jesus said they were missing it. They did not have what they acted as if they did. They missed it.
For Jesus, the Gospel, the Word of God, is not a thing just to be memorized. It is not just head knowledge and a bunch of rules. That is death. That leads to being a hypocrite. It leads to hypocrisy because the Word of God comes in a active relationship with God. It is possible to know all about God and God's Son, but do nothing with Him. That is being a Pharisee.
We are called to deep, intimate relationship with Creator of all that is. Who loved us so much He sent his Son to embrace the heights of agony under the full wrath of God. God's Son took it all. He came in love.
It is possible to "know" so much, but the Gospel, The Word of God is meant to be "experienced." If you never experience the Word of God, never obey it, never step out in faith to follow something that doesn't make sense to you, THEN you will never experience God! Christianity is an experiential faith not just intellectual.
Don't be a Pharisee.......
Saturday, February 28, 2009
For the Skeptic: A Narrative
There were these people who thought that everything that was, could be seen.
One saw all these green pieces of paper that seemed to provide the means to obtain luxurious things. These things look as if they meant something. Somehow the people there with all the stuff seemed to be happy.
One looked around and noticed a fierce competition. Everyone seemed to be jockeying for position and trying to "out do" everyone else, especially when it came to the opposite sex. So, this person naturally realized from witnessing this that what they needed was to plug into this mess and compete for love.
One only looked only at himself. He decided the only answer was to fulfill his every desire.
The last one of these guys the others all thought was crazy. He kept telling them about things unseen, telling them about things that existed that the eye nor the mind could fully grasp. He had this notion that there was something deeper. He could not help but gaze in awe at the order of everything. Everything seemed to be in some kind of harmony that he himself found lacking inside his soul. All of the created order around him seemed to buzz, blossom, cycle through patterns and seasons. He saw the colors and the artistry about everything. He watched in wonder at the death in Winter and resurrection of Spring. He learned of a code named DNA embedded in the minute levels of human composition that contained some blueprint the men had told him, some plan or code. Obviously, there was some order and intelligence at work in his very being.
Meanwhile, his friends only saw a flower. They saw only shiny rocks in the sky. Only random probability that the code in DNA formed itself together and made a human, only accidental. But the last one person we are talking about, he saw something different. He saw wonders and beauty. He saw meaning and purpose. He felt intertwined in the plan and not really random or accidental at all. There was always something just beyond his ability to put into words, something on the tip of his tongue, something faint and rather fuzzy, that he just couldn't seem to explain to his friends.
Then everything went far deeper for him.
All of a sudden he started believing in some from of moral structure. He began to believe in some unseen system of right and wrong. Something within his own soul seemed to echo this idea in his heart. From where and when did this come? How did it get there? Was it an accident too? Or was it part of the plan, was it part of the story? Not only did he find some strange notion of right and wrong but of virtues. Mysterious qualities about his fellow men that he admired as noble, just, and true. They were in direct opposition to liars, cheaters, murderers, and no good scum buckets. What made a man good and one bad?
His friends told him he was odd. Why should you follow things you cannot see? They told him, "There is no truth, no code, no purpose, no plan, no nothing, you just make it up for yourself man!" His friends said, look at me, I just do want I want, when I want. There is no code. You just live it up man! Look, its just a big party and everybody wants to have a little fun. Look, go buy that house you've been wanting, settle down with that gal you've been chasing, and make a little money, then everything will be just fine, you'll be happy just like us. Just step on up into our program, we'll have you trained and hit the ground running then you'll be just like us, stressed out, overweight, on anti-depressants, and oh yeah not worrying about any stupid things that you can't see, because obviously if all of us can't see it and we don't live by it, then it just can't be.
So, having heard this advice the young man went away disappointed. Their words were empty. There was no life in them. But the unseen kept at him. He just could not leave it alone. Deep in his heart, he knew, he believed there was more. One night he cried out, he was desperate for an answer. He set out looking for answers.
It was not long and his questions started being answered. He met others who had experienced this same understanding that there was more in life than what they had seen and that there was a disharmony within their bodies against the harmony of nature all around. Then, there was one who came and solved the riddle. He explained that they were indeed from another place and that is why they do not belong. He, himself, claimed that he was from this place and had seen it and he told them all about it. He said he had the answers and all those that wished to follow could, but it would require them to leave their old life behind. So, having reasoned that they could not live in a lie any longer and realizing this was their one shot to live the life they had sensed in the deep recesses of their souls was possible, they followed.
What they found was that there was more to life than what they had seen. As they walked together, more and more things made sense. The man that lead them shared more about his homeland. In this place, there were no struggles, no striving, no competition, no misery, no pain, no sickness, no disease, and all the tears were wiped and cared for. In this place, honesty, truth, justice, mercy, and love reign. Love itself is said to dwell in its center as a tree giving off life to all who come near to eat of its fruit. No more disharmony in his soul, and things here answer the fuzzy ideas that just couldn't be expressed in the "seen" world. Here was the answer. They had been made for so much more, that is why they never felt at home. Parts and pieces from this place had been planted within all the travellers from birth, actually, all their friends they left behind had them too, but it seems a rather hard and strange thing to do, that is to believe in something that cannot be seen.
One saw all these green pieces of paper that seemed to provide the means to obtain luxurious things. These things look as if they meant something. Somehow the people there with all the stuff seemed to be happy.
One looked around and noticed a fierce competition. Everyone seemed to be jockeying for position and trying to "out do" everyone else, especially when it came to the opposite sex. So, this person naturally realized from witnessing this that what they needed was to plug into this mess and compete for love.
One only looked only at himself. He decided the only answer was to fulfill his every desire.
The last one of these guys the others all thought was crazy. He kept telling them about things unseen, telling them about things that existed that the eye nor the mind could fully grasp. He had this notion that there was something deeper. He could not help but gaze in awe at the order of everything. Everything seemed to be in some kind of harmony that he himself found lacking inside his soul. All of the created order around him seemed to buzz, blossom, cycle through patterns and seasons. He saw the colors and the artistry about everything. He watched in wonder at the death in Winter and resurrection of Spring. He learned of a code named DNA embedded in the minute levels of human composition that contained some blueprint the men had told him, some plan or code. Obviously, there was some order and intelligence at work in his very being.
Meanwhile, his friends only saw a flower. They saw only shiny rocks in the sky. Only random probability that the code in DNA formed itself together and made a human, only accidental. But the last one person we are talking about, he saw something different. He saw wonders and beauty. He saw meaning and purpose. He felt intertwined in the plan and not really random or accidental at all. There was always something just beyond his ability to put into words, something on the tip of his tongue, something faint and rather fuzzy, that he just couldn't seem to explain to his friends.
Then everything went far deeper for him.
All of a sudden he started believing in some from of moral structure. He began to believe in some unseen system of right and wrong. Something within his own soul seemed to echo this idea in his heart. From where and when did this come? How did it get there? Was it an accident too? Or was it part of the plan, was it part of the story? Not only did he find some strange notion of right and wrong but of virtues. Mysterious qualities about his fellow men that he admired as noble, just, and true. They were in direct opposition to liars, cheaters, murderers, and no good scum buckets. What made a man good and one bad?
His friends told him he was odd. Why should you follow things you cannot see? They told him, "There is no truth, no code, no purpose, no plan, no nothing, you just make it up for yourself man!" His friends said, look at me, I just do want I want, when I want. There is no code. You just live it up man! Look, its just a big party and everybody wants to have a little fun. Look, go buy that house you've been wanting, settle down with that gal you've been chasing, and make a little money, then everything will be just fine, you'll be happy just like us. Just step on up into our program, we'll have you trained and hit the ground running then you'll be just like us, stressed out, overweight, on anti-depressants, and oh yeah not worrying about any stupid things that you can't see, because obviously if all of us can't see it and we don't live by it, then it just can't be.
So, having heard this advice the young man went away disappointed. Their words were empty. There was no life in them. But the unseen kept at him. He just could not leave it alone. Deep in his heart, he knew, he believed there was more. One night he cried out, he was desperate for an answer. He set out looking for answers.
It was not long and his questions started being answered. He met others who had experienced this same understanding that there was more in life than what they had seen and that there was a disharmony within their bodies against the harmony of nature all around. Then, there was one who came and solved the riddle. He explained that they were indeed from another place and that is why they do not belong. He, himself, claimed that he was from this place and had seen it and he told them all about it. He said he had the answers and all those that wished to follow could, but it would require them to leave their old life behind. So, having reasoned that they could not live in a lie any longer and realizing this was their one shot to live the life they had sensed in the deep recesses of their souls was possible, they followed.
What they found was that there was more to life than what they had seen. As they walked together, more and more things made sense. The man that lead them shared more about his homeland. In this place, there were no struggles, no striving, no competition, no misery, no pain, no sickness, no disease, and all the tears were wiped and cared for. In this place, honesty, truth, justice, mercy, and love reign. Love itself is said to dwell in its center as a tree giving off life to all who come near to eat of its fruit. No more disharmony in his soul, and things here answer the fuzzy ideas that just couldn't be expressed in the "seen" world. Here was the answer. They had been made for so much more, that is why they never felt at home. Parts and pieces from this place had been planted within all the travellers from birth, actually, all their friends they left behind had them too, but it seems a rather hard and strange thing to do, that is to believe in something that cannot be seen.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Two Ladies
The other day at work I ran into two ladies. I got to asking questions about their personal lives, which I enjoy getting to know people better. The answers to the question I asked perplexed my mind. One of the questions was, what are you passionate about?
Now to help you feel the shock I did you need a little more info. These two ladies are in their 40's. They have lived a good amount of life. No offense if you are 40 or older.
So back to the question. I asked what are you passionate about? With a blank look on their faces they stared back at me. "I don't know." "I don't think I am really passionate about anything." "What am I passionate about?"
Wow.
How can you be middle aged and not have purpose in life, not have passion? Have they ever asked themselves that question before? I don't know.
I love passion. Am I allowed to say that grammatically? I guess the noun form of passion would be the electricity that you feel in your soul about something. Passion. To borrow from Gatorade, "is it in you?"
When you find that electricity deep in your soul, you have to pursue it. You have to stay there. Explore it. Enjoy it. Don't let the worries of the world steal it from you. Be what God made you to be. Fight for it.
Whats your passion?
Now to help you feel the shock I did you need a little more info. These two ladies are in their 40's. They have lived a good amount of life. No offense if you are 40 or older.
So back to the question. I asked what are you passionate about? With a blank look on their faces they stared back at me. "I don't know." "I don't think I am really passionate about anything." "What am I passionate about?"
Wow.
How can you be middle aged and not have purpose in life, not have passion? Have they ever asked themselves that question before? I don't know.
I love passion. Am I allowed to say that grammatically? I guess the noun form of passion would be the electricity that you feel in your soul about something. Passion. To borrow from Gatorade, "is it in you?"
When you find that electricity deep in your soul, you have to pursue it. You have to stay there. Explore it. Enjoy it. Don't let the worries of the world steal it from you. Be what God made you to be. Fight for it.
Whats your passion?
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Destiny Moment
This is where destiny is. This moment in Tennessee with a group of 21 high school students holds so much of what I desire. Oh! that these young students would take a little piece with them from these moments that can encourage them onward with Christ. May it set the truth before them. May their lives benefit by avoiding the traps and false sources of fulfillment the world will offer them. In heaven, in God's presence, I hope I can witness the glory of the outcomes in their lives and their childrens and their childrens.
I hope they anchor on the rock of Christ and build their lives on Him and Him alone. Strong happy marriages, solid environments for children, faithful to their spouse, giving to those in need, caring for everyone......
From this appointed time. I hope there was a difference made for the good guys. May Truth, Justice, Mercy, Compassion, and Love increase in this place. In this fallen world, drowning in selfishness, corruption, and debauchery, may the good sound their trumpet to announce a victory against those that delight in dark deeds.
The week comes to a close. There is a certain peace in me. Whatever was supposed to happen, whatever God wanted....there is a peace, that it was done. It is satisfying. It is good.
I hope they anchor on the rock of Christ and build their lives on Him and Him alone. Strong happy marriages, solid environments for children, faithful to their spouse, giving to those in need, caring for everyone......
From this appointed time. I hope there was a difference made for the good guys. May Truth, Justice, Mercy, Compassion, and Love increase in this place. In this fallen world, drowning in selfishness, corruption, and debauchery, may the good sound their trumpet to announce a victory against those that delight in dark deeds.
The week comes to a close. There is a certain peace in me. Whatever was supposed to happen, whatever God wanted....there is a peace, that it was done. It is satisfying. It is good.
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