Pull the Emergency Brake!

Driving home from vacation this past weekend gave me quite a bit of "windshield time," as a friend once identified it.  This time simply involved staring into the vast sky and admiring its beauty, while at the same time, continually pumping the brakes because of the tumultuous holiday traffic overwhelming the interstate.  I found my mind consumed with the reality of heading back into "reality."  The full calendar of events December brings.  The battle against materialism that ensues.  The constant reminder to "Keep Christ in Christmas."

And that is where I camped out in the perplexing array of my thoughts - what does it even mean to "Keep Christ in Christmas?"  Don't use an X and write out Christ in Christmas?  Make sure to have a nativity set on display during the season?  Say "Merry Christmas" instead of the more general appeal of "Happy Holidays?"

I tend to believe that at least preachers mean it to remind us that it would be easy to lose our focus on the One for Whom the celebration of the season revolves.  The One Who left the glory of Heaven to become a helpless babe, born in the most humble of circumstances to one day grow and die the most humble of deaths as the Shepherd laying His life down for His sheep.  How does He remain a focus for us?  

Some attempt to tell us that we need to "slow down."  I admire the sentiment and understand the suggestion.  However, if you are like me, my calendar doesn't get extra days added to slow down the pace at which I run in the holidays.  There is always another event that one feels obligated to attend.  Another run to the grocery.  Another family gathering.  Another gift to buy.  Another text to make.  Another call to take.  The same amount of hours in a day to accomplish more in this time of year than potentially any other.  And it's supposed to be "jolly?!"  So, how?  How do we slow down?

I think the suggestion should shift from "slowing down" to simply making an attempt to STOP at times.  Diligently scheduling blocks of time where we can protect a time to keep Christ as focus.  To engage with the Prince of Peace and Lord of Lords in fellowship with His Word and Spirit.  To plead with Him to aid us in focusing less on ourselves and more on Him and others.  To insist that continued devotion expressed to Him actually brings JOY in the midst of the season.  To enjoy Him.  

Wow.  

What a concept.  To ENJOY our Maker.  To bask in His character. To relish in HIs Truth.  To rest in His sovereign grace and purposes.

So, STOP instead of slow down.  Intentional times of pause.  I think about how often we use our brakes to slow us down while driving forward through the terrain of life.  Yet, how often do we use our emergency brake?  Whenever we need to park and protect our vehicles from back-sliding.  Perhaps this is the word picture we need to help us this time of year.  That we schedule a break, pull over in the hustle of life, and utilize the emergency brake to help us ensure a COMPLETE stop - instead of sliding back into the attitude we despise, rest to obtain an attitude we desire.  Perhaps then we can honor the words spoken by the Psalmist in Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Friend, I feel the need to declare that I LOVE this time of year.  I LOVE honoring the birth of my Savior.  I LOVE the Christmas cheer of carols and colors.  I LOVE the enjoying of family and the giving of gifts.  But to survive it in a way that truly honors God, I believe its not just about slowing down, it is about taking time to completely BE STILL and KNOW He is God.

May you be able to "deck the halls with boughs of holly" as your heart stays steadfastly focused on the Giver of Life, God Almighty, Lover of your soul.

Merry Christmas.  Truly.  Merry.  CHRISTmas.

4Hisfame.

Kingdom Moments

(Adapted from an email I shared with the faculty and administration of the school of which I am employed...)

Question: How many things can you remember from yesterday?  Think about it.  How many details?  Restart your day in your mind.  Try to walk through as many conversations, distractions, meetings, tasks, to-do list items checked off, etc.  Try to make it all the way to bed time last night.

How much do you remember?  I bet you remember some of the highs of your day...like the taste of your home-cooked lasagna or maybe the breeze blowing while you took a walk around the block.  I bet even more you remember some of your difficulties of the day.  Maybe your plans didn't go through as you expected.  Maybe you received a hard phone call or email.  Perhaps you ended the day on a sad note, only to wake today revisiting the stinging emotions.

But amidst what you recall...let me ask another question.  How many kingdom moments do you remember?  How many times do you remember focusing your attention upon the Lord?  Whether while driving or walking from class to class?  How about the times you helped someone yesterday see Jesus in a new way or a real way amidst their circumstances?  When did you acknowledge His glory in creation as you saw the beautiful sunset or the smiles in the precious children we have the privilege to teach?  The reason I want you to remember those moments...is because those moments could potentially matter for eternity.  Far beyond the memory of yesterday...Christ's impact through you could have eternal ramifications for someone else around you.  

As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16).

I pray that if yesterday was not showered with those kind of Kingdom moments...then may TODAY be different.  May today be a day filled with moments that matter for eternity.  That when this day is done, we will look back and remember God's handiwork amidst the craziness of our day.

May today matter for tomorrow.  For eternity.

4Hisfame.

An Overwhelming Presence

There I was, settled in a creaky bunk bed in a state park campground dormitory.  We were on an overnight retreat with some high schoolers from school. But it's not the nighttime wildlife that I consider...not the sound of crickets chirping, or raccoons scrambling through trash cans, or even the rowdiness of guys playing a late night card game. My thoughts turn to the afternoon arboretum hike undertaken earlier that day. 

And while on that hike, amidst the array of plantlife - of fallen trees and hollowed stumps, I recognized a repeated "threat" that continuously consumed my focus.

The overwhelming presence of spiders. I mean, everywhere. Webs stretched across paths with small captured prey caught in the grasp of the arachnid traps.  Ducking, eyes squinting searching for possible silky threads hanging in my path. I continued along the uneven terrain wondering where the next mini-beast would appear.  And not just me...but many others noticed the uncanny amount of eight-legged creatures.  Which carried late into the evening, when prior to an outrageous game of capture the flag...I enjoyed the benefit of watching a black widow spider play capture-the-moth.  The spider won.

And so, there I was again in the coldness of the dormitory.  Laying in the bunk pondering how much my thoughts had been focused on those tiny, yet dark, creatures that had been allowed by God to "overtake" the wooded area.

And it hit me.  This is just what I do on a daily basis.  Not look for spiders, but focus on the "dark" things of life.  Looking for the next spiritual attack.  Focusing intently on the sin so obvious in myself or the lives of others.  Staring unswervingly at the difficulties or hardships along the path of the day.  Recognizing the overwhelming presence of the fallen world around me.

But what do I miss while doing so?  The Maker of all things beautiful.  Focusing intently on the victory of the cross and the power of the Resurrection which overcame the sting and power of sin and death.  Staring unswervingly at the majesty of my Lord who is sovereign over and working intimately in each and every difficulty or hardship.  Recognizing the overwhelming presence of the glory of God in the midst of a fallen world.

How sad...that I spent all that time looking for the tiniest of creatures at the cost of missing the splendor of the environment around me.  And too often, I spend time looking to the past, or the present shame-ridden steps, instead of gazing upon the One worthy of my attention, worthy of the love of my mind, worthy of the worship of my heart.

As the Psalmist declared, so too should we - "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).  What a beautiful Truth of which to walk in constant consideration.

So with utter fatigue knocking at the door of my mind, I rolled over in the creaky bunk and praised God for changing my attention from the things of the earth to the Glory of heaven.  And that was how my day ended.  Aware of the overwhelming presence of the glory of God.  May that be how I rest today.  Aware of Him.

#4hisfame.

John 6 - Part 1...The Crowd

A few weeks ago, I had a particularly amazing time with my Savior.  Even though I sat in the midst of a crazy lobby, dinging elevators, blaring televisions, multiple cell-phone conversations happening all around me - the cacophony of my setting did not eliminate my ability to sit still in the presence of the King.  With my heart attuned to His voice and the harmony of His Spirit's illumination of the Scriptures, He led me to examine a passage from John 6.  May the Lord use this text and the next several blogs for His fame. 

The Gospel writer records:

1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said toPhilip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.  (John 6:1-15, ESV)

I am sure that this is an all-too familiar passage.  Probably one of the first stories you learned of was when Jesus "fed the five thousand."  Well, my encounter with this text was unlike any other I had previously experienced, again in that words that I seemingly read over before leaped off the page and straight to my heart.  Verse 2 indicates that there was a large crowd following Jesus because they saw the signs he had done.

I pondered this for a great while essentially asking myself,

"Why do I follow Jesus?"