In life, bad things happen. They always do. I was reminded of this last weekend in Colorado Springs in a rather interesting way.
Mollie's cousin was getting married and her wedding was outdoor at this cool little park. My job for the wedding was to keep Kate from running down the aisle and yelling during the service. So while everything was happening, Kate and I walked around the small park and looked at things.
At one point Kate started to get antsy and walked towards the aisle. I quickly swept her up and carried her over to a tree near by. I reached up and picked a leaf off the tree and handed it to her. She took it in her hand and turned it over and looked at it. Then she did something I didn't expect. She reached the leaf back up to the limb and tried to reattach it to the tree. As she let the leaf go it floated to the ground and she watched it fall. I quietly whispered in her ear, "no babe, that leaf can't return to the tree" and that's when the truth hit me.
That leaf is as good as dead. Now first and foremost I realize that this is a morbid thought to have in the middle of a wedding. I realize that. But this thought stuck with me. I stepped back and looked at the tree as a while. It was a huge tree. Thousands of leaves. One missing didn't really matter. Then I looked at the leaf on the ground...it was still cut off from the tree. It had no way to receive water and therefore life.
Our lives are a lot like that tree. We have a thousand different parts of our lives and each one can be something that one day will go wrong. It might be something tiny, something insignificant but it goes wrong and we have to deal with it. Say for example you get a parking ticket. Not a big deal, but it happens.
Then there are some things in our lives like a branch. These are things that are bigger than the leaf. A branch holds a lot of leaves. When something like this happens, life is altered. You can't just move on. You have to address it. Life has to stop to deal with the loss of a branch. In life this would be equivalent to making a mistake the had significant consequences. Something that can't be walked away from immediately but that one day can be healed. There are still scars but in the end everything will be better.
Then there is a limb. A limb holds a lot of branches. When a tree loses a limb, it loses a major part of it's body. If you have ever seen a tree that has lost a limb you know what I mean. The tree looks like it's missing something. Like it's life will never be the same. In life, losing a limb would be a major life changing event. This would equate to the death of a love one. When a tree loses a major limb, it's noticeable for the rest of the life of the tree.
The realization that came to me that day is that no matter what bad thing happens in your life, the love of Christ is there for you. His forgiveness is there to cover you. His comfort is there in your darkest hour. His grace is there in your most immediate need. The truth is you might not be able to be made completely new, but God can help you become like new. That's what Jesus' life and death was all about. It was to take the bad things that happen in our lives and help us through them. It was to take our sin upon Himself so that we are pure.
My prayer for you today is that you might know what Jesus did for you. I pray that you will know that bad things happen but that Christ is there to help, even if no one else is. I pray that you will know his grace, peace, and comfort for the rest of your life.
jon
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Psalm 121:1
"I lift my eyes up to the hills. Where does my help come from?"
I'm a sucker for seeing God in nature. I always have been. It's weird. I see a stream and I'm like, "hey God, great job on that stream" Or I see a bird singing and think, "very creative God". Or I see a platypus and think, "really? Were you A.D.D on that one? Or were you just using leftover parts?"
I'm a mountain boy. Every year of my life I've at some point been on top of a mountain. I love mountains. I see God everywhere I look. It's amazing. I thought I had seen everything when it came to mountains. I lived on top of one for 4 years.
Then I came to Colorado Springs. It's nestled at the foot of the rocky mountains. I was interested to see the difference from the Appalachian Mountains and the Rockies. We landed late and so my first glimpse of the Rockies would have to wait until morning. We got up and got breakfast and I walked outside...
Holy Crap.
I thought I had seen mountains but these were HUGE. They were majestic. They jutted out of the ground with unmatched beauty. But most of all they shouted the glory of God. The first thought that came to my mind was Psalm 121:1-2.
"I lift my eyes up to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of the Heavens of the Earth."
The Rocky mountains sing of God's glory just by existing. The Bible says that even the rocks cry out about God. I'm blessed just to see it.
Where do you see God's glory?
I'm a sucker for seeing God in nature. I always have been. It's weird. I see a stream and I'm like, "hey God, great job on that stream" Or I see a bird singing and think, "very creative God". Or I see a platypus and think, "really? Were you A.D.D on that one? Or were you just using leftover parts?"
I'm a mountain boy. Every year of my life I've at some point been on top of a mountain. I love mountains. I see God everywhere I look. It's amazing. I thought I had seen everything when it came to mountains. I lived on top of one for 4 years.
Then I came to Colorado Springs. It's nestled at the foot of the rocky mountains. I was interested to see the difference from the Appalachian Mountains and the Rockies. We landed late and so my first glimpse of the Rockies would have to wait until morning. We got up and got breakfast and I walked outside...
Holy Crap.
I thought I had seen mountains but these were HUGE. They were majestic. They jutted out of the ground with unmatched beauty. But most of all they shouted the glory of God. The first thought that came to my mind was Psalm 121:1-2.
"I lift my eyes up to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of the Heavens of the Earth."
The Rocky mountains sing of God's glory just by existing. The Bible says that even the rocks cry out about God. I'm blessed just to see it.
Where do you see God's glory?
Thursday, May 27, 2010
I Need Help (and so do you)
Have you ever noticed that we tend to resist help until we hit a wall. I experienced this a couple of weeks ago. Long story short, Mollie and I had our second child in a year on April 27th. We knew it was going to be hard but we welcomed the challenge. We could handle two kids on our own. We knew we could handle it.
And then a few things happened. Mollie had some complications that left her confined to the recliner ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT. That left me doing everything. 3 days and 3 hours of sleep later I hit a wall. In our living room Mollie cried and I sat with my head in my hands. We needed help.
We called some of our friends and being the awesome people that they are they came and helped out with EVERYTHING. Cooking, Taking care of our kids, Changing dirty diapers, Cleaning our toilets, Washing our clothes. EVERYTHING.
Sometimes it's really hard to accept help from other people. I think we look at the things that happen in our lives and we say, "You know, I can handle that." But the truth is, we can't. We can't even come close. We try to take the challenge head on but at some point we hit that wall and crumple to the floor. How much pain could we save ourselves if we just admit that something is too big for us?
I had a tough day that Tuesday. Somewhere around lunch time I realized that this is how I treat God. I find that often, I don't look for God's help until I hit the wall. It was the most liberating moments of my life. All of a sudden I realized that I didn't have to wait until things became unbearable to look for God's help. God is here and wants us to come to Him at all times. All we have to drop our pride and turn to Him.
I need Help. And so do You.
Where in your life do you need help from God? From Friends?
And then a few things happened. Mollie had some complications that left her confined to the recliner ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT. That left me doing everything. 3 days and 3 hours of sleep later I hit a wall. In our living room Mollie cried and I sat with my head in my hands. We needed help.
We called some of our friends and being the awesome people that they are they came and helped out with EVERYTHING. Cooking, Taking care of our kids, Changing dirty diapers, Cleaning our toilets, Washing our clothes. EVERYTHING.
Sometimes it's really hard to accept help from other people. I think we look at the things that happen in our lives and we say, "You know, I can handle that." But the truth is, we can't. We can't even come close. We try to take the challenge head on but at some point we hit that wall and crumple to the floor. How much pain could we save ourselves if we just admit that something is too big for us?
I had a tough day that Tuesday. Somewhere around lunch time I realized that this is how I treat God. I find that often, I don't look for God's help until I hit the wall. It was the most liberating moments of my life. All of a sudden I realized that I didn't have to wait until things became unbearable to look for God's help. God is here and wants us to come to Him at all times. All we have to drop our pride and turn to Him.
I need Help. And so do You.
Where in your life do you need help from God? From Friends?
Friday, April 16, 2010
The Theology of Haircuts.
What is it about haircuts? There is something about going in and getting your hair cut off that is refreshing. I got my hair cut on Wednesday and I walked out feeling like a new person. My hair going into the appointment was a mess. It stuck out everywhere and just got in the way and it was hot on those 90 degree days.. That's when I went in and got it cut. Having all of my hair gone felt much better.
I wasn't always this way. I used to hate getting my hair cut. I think it had to do with the fact that I went to a barber shop to a guy named Walter who would talk loudly and wave his hands around while trying to cut my hair. There is something that isn't reassuring about a guy who waves a pair of scissors at your head while you are strapped to a chair. I don't know, maybe I'm the only one who feels that way.
I think there was something else. I hated change when I was young. No, really, I HATED CHANGE. Seriously, I cried on New Year's Eve 1989 because I was sad that the 80's were gone. ( I can't believe that I just admitted that). But I did. I hated change. I didn't think there was anything wrong with my hair. Here's how bad it was. When I was 9, I had a rat tail. (wow, another admission that I could have done with out.) I had one of several forms of "The Mullet". I had a mullet and I didn't want to get it cut. I cried when I went to Walter's Barber Shop. I climbed into the chair and he took his scissors and cut it off. He then held it up and made a war cry that someone would cry after scalping someone. The guy was terrifying. I cried all afternoon. I didn't see anything wrong with my hair.
So what happened? Somewhere along the way I realized that change didn't have to be a bad thing. In fact, change could free me from things that were keeping me down. I began to embrace change. Sometimes it was still painful. Sometimes I had to let go of things that I had held on to for years. But I started to see change as a good thing. Haircuts soon became a chance for a new beginning. It was a chance to take away the mess that my hair had become and start again from scratch.
I hate it when my sin is pointed out to me. Whether it's by the Bible, or a sermon, my wife, or prayer, it hurts. It hurts to hear that I had been going against God's will and that I need to change. It is painful to change our lives to reflect God. But it's just like a haircut. Sometimes we let our lives get messy. We let sin into our lives and it just gets in the way and messes everything up. If we let this sin continue we will ultimately be overwhelmed. We might get to the point where we don't see anything wrong with how we are living.
Even though it's tough, we need to confront the sin in our life just like we need to get our hair cut. We need the ability to start fresh. We need a clean slate. We need to cut all of the sin out of our lives so that we can start from scratch. It's beautiful that God can do this for us through Christ Jesus. Our lives can be completely changed if we would accept the notion that we are sinners and that God can help cut the sin from our lives. We can encounter God and feel like a new creation.
That's the theology of a haircut.
I wasn't always this way. I used to hate getting my hair cut. I think it had to do with the fact that I went to a barber shop to a guy named Walter who would talk loudly and wave his hands around while trying to cut my hair. There is something that isn't reassuring about a guy who waves a pair of scissors at your head while you are strapped to a chair. I don't know, maybe I'm the only one who feels that way.
I think there was something else. I hated change when I was young. No, really, I HATED CHANGE. Seriously, I cried on New Year's Eve 1989 because I was sad that the 80's were gone. ( I can't believe that I just admitted that). But I did. I hated change. I didn't think there was anything wrong with my hair. Here's how bad it was. When I was 9, I had a rat tail. (wow, another admission that I could have done with out.) I had one of several forms of "The Mullet". I had a mullet and I didn't want to get it cut. I cried when I went to Walter's Barber Shop. I climbed into the chair and he took his scissors and cut it off. He then held it up and made a war cry that someone would cry after scalping someone. The guy was terrifying. I cried all afternoon. I didn't see anything wrong with my hair.
So what happened? Somewhere along the way I realized that change didn't have to be a bad thing. In fact, change could free me from things that were keeping me down. I began to embrace change. Sometimes it was still painful. Sometimes I had to let go of things that I had held on to for years. But I started to see change as a good thing. Haircuts soon became a chance for a new beginning. It was a chance to take away the mess that my hair had become and start again from scratch.
I hate it when my sin is pointed out to me. Whether it's by the Bible, or a sermon, my wife, or prayer, it hurts. It hurts to hear that I had been going against God's will and that I need to change. It is painful to change our lives to reflect God. But it's just like a haircut. Sometimes we let our lives get messy. We let sin into our lives and it just gets in the way and messes everything up. If we let this sin continue we will ultimately be overwhelmed. We might get to the point where we don't see anything wrong with how we are living.
Even though it's tough, we need to confront the sin in our life just like we need to get our hair cut. We need the ability to start fresh. We need a clean slate. We need to cut all of the sin out of our lives so that we can start from scratch. It's beautiful that God can do this for us through Christ Jesus. Our lives can be completely changed if we would accept the notion that we are sinners and that God can help cut the sin from our lives. We can encounter God and feel like a new creation.
That's the theology of a haircut.
Friday, April 9, 2010
The Christian F-Word
Admit it. You opened this just to see the F-word. I know you did. That's just sad. I mean really! I have been reading the book Stuff Christians Like by Jon Acuff recently. It's a good book. You should check it out. He mentions the Christian F-word towards the end of that book. Acuff didn't create the term but used it in his book. Ok, I know, you wanna know what the F-word is.
The Christian F-word is "Fine". Here's the thing. We ALL use this word. I hear it 100 times on Sunday morning. It goes something like this.
Me - "Hey there Steve, how's it going?"
Steve - "Fine"
Me - "Fine? I heard you dog get hit by a car yesterday while chasing your cat who incidentally choked on your goldfish."
Steve - "Oh yeah, it was a miserable day, but i'm fine."
Ok that's a really bad example but it's been a long day so that's what you get.
For some reason when we show up to church on Sunday morning we feel the need to portray that our lives are perfectly "fine". We desperately want others to see that our lives are "fine" And maybe if we sell it hard enough we'll believe that everything in our lives are "fine".
But let's be honest. Things are not "fine". We are humans and sometimes life is hard. Ok, not even sometimes. Life is often hard. So why do we work so hard to convince the world that we are "fine"? Why do we hide behind the "fine" mask?
Is it because we feel that no one is interested in our problems? I can see that. Have you ever started to go into your issues and you see the person you are talking to start to glaze over. When they asked how you were doing you were supposed to answer fine....that way they get credit for asking and they don't have to stand around and listen to your life story. I see this a lot. Honestly, people just don't care.
Or could it be that we don't want to admit our problems? I mean how cool is it to respond like this: "Well to be honest, my life is about to fall apart. I don't know how I'm going to make it through this" It's painful to admit when we don't have our lives together. It's a blow to our pride for others to know that we just aren't on top of things.
There is a problem with "fine". there is a big problem. When we consistently LIE to others about how we are we do a couple of things.
1. We enable the Church to stop caring- If someone tells me they are fine consistently, I begin to anticipate it and then I begin to not even listen to the answer. I think this happens a lot. I can tell when someone asks but doesn't really care. By always responding, "Fine", we are robbing the church of one of it's principal values. We are robbing the church of the opportunity to care for each other. Thanks to the Christian F-Word we are now so rusty at caring for each other that we don't do it at all.
2. We begin to Lie to God. - I know for a fact that if we LIE to others enough we will start to believe it. If we believe it, we will tell God that it's the truth. Essentially we LIE to God. There's a reason I keep capitalizing LIE. We have to admit that it is LYING. Lying is a sin. When we answer "fine" we are on the path to lying to God.
3. We ruin it for when things are actually Fine- Your main thought while reading this is "what if things really are fine?" It's like the boy who cries wolf. I've heard so many people lie about being fine that I don't believe anyone anymore. I'm sorry if you really are fine. I don't believe you. Here's the deal. There are so many better ways you can describe your life than using "fine" so use them! Don't settle for "fine"
So what should you do with this. I'll tell you. Next time someone asks you how you are doing, answer honestly. If your life sucks at that moment, say, "My life sucks right now, here's why....." If your life is going well, say "Life is pretty good right now, here's why...."
Maybe, just maybe, if we start being honest and stop using the F-word, the church can get better at caring for each other. Remember, our lives are just as messed up as yours. That's why God gave us each other. We can come together, grow closer to Him, and praise Him in the good and bad times.
Think about that as you go out in life. I'll be watching and asking, "How are you doing?"
Here's to something other than, "fine".
Jon
The Christian F-word is "Fine". Here's the thing. We ALL use this word. I hear it 100 times on Sunday morning. It goes something like this.
Me - "Hey there Steve, how's it going?"
Steve - "Fine"
Me - "Fine? I heard you dog get hit by a car yesterday while chasing your cat who incidentally choked on your goldfish."
Steve - "Oh yeah, it was a miserable day, but i'm fine."
Ok that's a really bad example but it's been a long day so that's what you get.
For some reason when we show up to church on Sunday morning we feel the need to portray that our lives are perfectly "fine". We desperately want others to see that our lives are "fine" And maybe if we sell it hard enough we'll believe that everything in our lives are "fine".
But let's be honest. Things are not "fine". We are humans and sometimes life is hard. Ok, not even sometimes. Life is often hard. So why do we work so hard to convince the world that we are "fine"? Why do we hide behind the "fine" mask?
Is it because we feel that no one is interested in our problems? I can see that. Have you ever started to go into your issues and you see the person you are talking to start to glaze over. When they asked how you were doing you were supposed to answer fine....that way they get credit for asking and they don't have to stand around and listen to your life story. I see this a lot. Honestly, people just don't care.
Or could it be that we don't want to admit our problems? I mean how cool is it to respond like this: "Well to be honest, my life is about to fall apart. I don't know how I'm going to make it through this" It's painful to admit when we don't have our lives together. It's a blow to our pride for others to know that we just aren't on top of things.
There is a problem with "fine". there is a big problem. When we consistently LIE to others about how we are we do a couple of things.
1. We enable the Church to stop caring- If someone tells me they are fine consistently, I begin to anticipate it and then I begin to not even listen to the answer. I think this happens a lot. I can tell when someone asks but doesn't really care. By always responding, "Fine", we are robbing the church of one of it's principal values. We are robbing the church of the opportunity to care for each other. Thanks to the Christian F-Word we are now so rusty at caring for each other that we don't do it at all.
2. We begin to Lie to God. - I know for a fact that if we LIE to others enough we will start to believe it. If we believe it, we will tell God that it's the truth. Essentially we LIE to God. There's a reason I keep capitalizing LIE. We have to admit that it is LYING. Lying is a sin. When we answer "fine" we are on the path to lying to God.
3. We ruin it for when things are actually Fine- Your main thought while reading this is "what if things really are fine?" It's like the boy who cries wolf. I've heard so many people lie about being fine that I don't believe anyone anymore. I'm sorry if you really are fine. I don't believe you. Here's the deal. There are so many better ways you can describe your life than using "fine" so use them! Don't settle for "fine"
So what should you do with this. I'll tell you. Next time someone asks you how you are doing, answer honestly. If your life sucks at that moment, say, "My life sucks right now, here's why....." If your life is going well, say "Life is pretty good right now, here's why...."
Maybe, just maybe, if we start being honest and stop using the F-word, the church can get better at caring for each other. Remember, our lives are just as messed up as yours. That's why God gave us each other. We can come together, grow closer to Him, and praise Him in the good and bad times.
Think about that as you go out in life. I'll be watching and asking, "How are you doing?"
Here's to something other than, "fine".
Jon
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)