"Biting the Wind" or "God, I Know You are There, Right?"

The other was so beautiful outside that I had to take the top off my Jeep, get my best girl (and my only), and my dog and go for a ride. As we were driving down the road, I happen to glance back and witnessed Ruby with her head stuck half way out the Jeep, trying to bite the wind as we drove. She seemed to have this confused look about the whole scenario. She could feel the wind, hear the wind, and knew it was there, but when it came time to eat the wind she came up empty.
This can be the similar to our experiences with God. As we go through life, we know He is there, we can feel Him and sometimes even think we hear Him, but when we reach out and try to use Him to satisfy our own appetites, He seems decidedly absent. Then we walk away so confused and bewildered.
One of the reasons we become so disappointed with God lies within the deep recesses of our motivations. We have turned God into a cosmic Credit Card, or a year long Santa Claus. We have turned God into a way to satisfy our own pleasures and wishes. But isn't about giving you everything you want, in fact we were created for His pleasure. It is important that what we do in life has the sole motivation behind it of pleasing God. That is not to say we must become a monk and deprive ourselves of good things in life. But some of those things will come when we turn our eyes off ourselves and onto Him.

BTW: I want to apologize to any of you who may have been following behind me that day. We are aware that Ruby has a slight drooling problem!

"My Brackets Busted!" or "God has a plan"

Well, I now have a busted bracket. Kansas losing last night was a big blow to all my predictions for the NCAA Basketball Tournament. I was really surprised because I had planned so meticulously. I did my research, crunched the numbers, and listened to all the experts. However, in spite of all my preparations, I still got so much of it wrong. I was still blindsided by the incredible buzzer beaters and the unbelieveable efforts of the teams who had no chance to win, yet did. I shouldn't be surprised because this happens year after year and I still come back every year and fill out my brackets and watch it go down in flames.
As I take a step back, I realize this is not an unusual occurance especially in every day life. We take great pangs in planning and preparing every aspect of our lives. We plan our futures in regards to getting married, having kids, planning careers, and celebrating traditions. Then out of no where, we get blind sided. A health crisis, a lost job, a death in our family and a host of improbable situations which spring up and turn our world upside down. So how do we deal with this? How do we live in the midst of all this uncertainty and unrest?
The only I have found to live in an uncertain and upsetting world is to live by faith. The Scriptures describes a life of walking by faith and not by sight. We will never have good enough plans, enough financial stability, or even having lengthy family holiday celebrations. We must live a life which the situations and circumstances determine and dictate what we do in our lives. Rather we should realize and understand God has every thing under control. He is never surprised by the things which seem to catch us off guard. He is always aware of what is going on in our lives not just for today but tomorrow as well. So we fix our eyes on Jesus who is our salvation and our sustainer. We can trust that He knows and is already prepared for it. So let us live with the joy of knowing we can trust in Him.
Oh yeah, My brackets may be mostly busted but I am glad I can still say, GO BIG BLUE!!!

"Find It Here" or "Hide and Seek"

This past week Baptist churches all across Kentucky started passing out bags to every home in a campaign called "Find It Here". We have been getting ready for this important ministry as well. In the midst of preparing and praying, I have been thinking about the theme of this event. It immediately brought my mind to a childhood game we used to play called "Hide and Seek". One person would close their eyes and count to predetermined number and the rest would scatter off and find the best place to hide. Then the counter, or the seeker, would begin their search to find the people who were hiding. Once they found one of them, then the game really picked up. The one who found the "hider" would try to tag them before they made it to base. It was so frustrating to work so hard to find someone just to watch them out run you to the base. Then you had to start all over again trying to find someone else until you were able to not only find them but also be able to catch them once you found them.
A lot times I feel like my relationship with God is a lot like Hide and Seek. It feels like He is hiding from me, and when I do finally find Him, I have a hard time trying to catch Him. This can be troubling because we read in His Word, "If you seek after Me, you will find Me." That sounds so simple, right? Then why does it seem so hard?
When I played Hide and Seek, I would find someone, then chase after them. When I chased after them I would inevitably find someone else and leave the one I was chasing to try and catch this new and hopefully slower (easier) hider.
Seeking after God is easy, continually pursuing Him is not so much. There seems to be easier ways to find what we are looking for but in the process we miss out on what we really need. And here's a hint about this chasing God thing. He's running away from you, He leading you to something better. You see, God's favorite game is not "Hide and Seek", it's "Follow the Leader"!

"Rites and Rituals" or "Getting God Out of Church"

As we live, breathe, and exist, we seek to touch something or someone beyond ourselves. So in our attempt to reach the unreachable, we have created symbols and ceremonies to remind ourselves we are not alone. We sing our doxologies, chant our ancient prayers, and wear our Sacred garments. While they may their place, there has been unintended consequences to our habitual offerings. One of these consequences is that we have replaced the worship of God with the worship of worship. These things have become so important to us, we find it impossible to connect with God without them or if they are changed.
Another unintended consequence is that these traditions have encouraged the idea that God belongs in the church and everything else is life. These traditions have bound us to worship in a place or at a specific time. However, Scripture is not just about the church, but is mostly about everyday life. How we interact with God and how we interact with each other are themes and instructions of His Word. He created life, so wouldn't it make sense He is a part of all aspects of life.
So instead of spending all our time in the rites and traditions of a place (which aren't found in Scripture) Shouldn't we spend the days, weeks, months, and years celebrating the gift God has given us, the gift of life.

"Winter Blahs" or "Set Me Free"

I know it's been two weeks since my last blog. But I just couldn't muster up the energy to post anything. Winter is really getting the best of me. It always does. I hate winter more than any other time of year. I miss my summer breezes, my Jeep going topless, the sun shining down, getting out and about without it taking an hour to get all the clothes on. Instead, we have to endure the bitter cold, the incapacitating ice, and the constant chill that never seems to go away. Every year around this time, I feel as if I am living in Narnia, where it was always winter but never Christmas.
I have found there are times in this season the weather does impact every part of my life, including my relationship with God. I just want to hibernate all the time and sleep in until Spring gets here. I want everyone to leave me alone and that includes God. But he loves me too much to leave me alone. He loves me too much to let me hibernate and hide from the world. He still has plans and purposes for me and I must fulfil these plans to grow in Him. We wants to break through the snow and ice of my heart and warm me with an everlasting love which will fill my life with joy even in the tough times I endure. I will find my joy in Him.
But just in case, Summer come quick, Please!!!!!

"Waiting For The Storm" or "Greater Anticipation"

I am sitting in my office looking out the window, waiting. The weather said that there was a snow storm coming our way and we could get a lot of snow tonight. and yet here I am at 1:00 in the afternoon waiting for what I know is coming and still hoping it gets here sooner rather than later. I have been imagining all day what tomorrow will bring with the snow on the ground and the fun we are going to have out in once it gets here. I can already taste the hot chocolate and feel the snow. I can already see the snow angels Kianna is going to make and the snowballs Mysha is going to throw at me. It has been a struggle for me to concentrate all day on the work I have to get done here in my office today because of the excitement which is to come.
I wonder why I don't feel the same about Jesus sometimes. I know He has promised great things in His word. He has promised He is going to come back and I know He always keeps His promises.I also know He wants to do great things in me and through me. And yet there are times I doubt. There are times I don't care. There are times I question and yes, there are even times I am so distracted by so many other things, I forget. Yet when He comes He promises to make all things new, not just better, but new. This is an amazing promise He has given us. When I truly sit down and think about what those days must be like I get excited about it. About how lives will be transformed in front of my very own eyes. About how people will find a life fresh and new every morning. About being around a group who are broken and humbled like me, yet feel so alive in the grace which has been given to us.
Yeah, When I think about what He is going to do, I just can't wait for the storm, His storm. So look out the window, Imagine the possibilities, and get ready because He is coming and it's going to be great!

"After Christmas Sales" or "Better or Different"

This week Steph and I came to a decision. We needed a new Christmas Tree. We decided this last year but waited until this week to get one. The turning point came last year when half the lights went out on our old pre-lit tree. At first we decided to just make do and buy new lights ofr the tree and cover up the old lights with the new ones. So we bought 600 lights for this old tree. It was better at first but it soon became disappointing. You could still see some of the broken branches and the lights which did not work anymore. The duct tape which held some of the branches in place was still visible at some points around the tree. The ornaments didn't hide the ugly spots and it just didn't work anymore. We tried with all our might to make it better and it was, but it still wasn't good enough. We knew the only way to get what we truly wanted was to buy a new one. and we did and now we can't wait for Christmas next year so we can put up our new tree with the new ornaments and the new lights!
This got me thinking about church and why we go. So many of us go to become better. We want to be a better parent, a better spouse, a better employee, a better Christian, or a better person. But maybe just maybe that's the wrong reason to go. There are 100 hundred resources out there that can do the same job, and probably do it better. You see the problem with coming to church to get better is that when we leave we still can see the broken branches of our lives. The lights are still out and the scars are still visible. If church is just a place to go and become a better version of yourself, stay home! But the church should offer something you can't find anywhere else. It should offer the chance to become something new, something different, something which is more like Christ! "The Old has passed away, and look the New has come!" We offer Jesus and the opportunity to become more and more like Him everyday. When we become something new and something different then we'll find ourselves anticipating the next time the doors are open, not wondering why I have to go to yet another service.