Say What?!

All throughout our married life, we've been plagued by clutter. Nothing big, at least nothing big the way I see it. But enough that it frustrates the heck out of my wife- a half-finished book tossed on a table, a kayak magazine (or two... or three) placed on the dining room table, a notebook computer on the kitchen table. You get the idea. It seems like we're always working on the clutter, but it seems to multiply on its own. It's been all we can do just to keep relatively even with it.

So I've been working out of town for a while recently. Got back this week. When I came in the house, something seemed different, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. The next morning I sensed the difference once again. I paused and studied everything around me. The clutter. It was gone! Wow- everything looked great. Some stuff had been thrown away; some had been neatly put away where it belonged. But the clutter was gone. And everything looked really nice.

Then I woke up this morning, and headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Halfway there it dawned on me. The house was clean... clutter was gone... because I had been away. My presence was tied to the clutter. Everything else was the same; my absence had been the only change. Bummer! What a stinkin' bite! (I shared my insight with my wife immediately, and paused to apologize and promise to try harder.) I still couldn't believe it. ME? ClutterMan?

A lot of times we start griping about the bad run of luck we've had in life. The deck seems stacked against us. Everybody's out to get us. If only...

But the fact is, we're often the greatest cause of what goes wrong in life. The Bible calls it "sin". Wherever we are, "sin" is too. And it clutters our life with ugliness. Somewhat like my wife while I was gone, when God is able to guide life on His intended course, things go well. But as soon as we get back in the picture, sin's clutter returns. We're the cause. Talk about a bummer...!

Thank goodness God offers a new start and a do-over to all those who turn to Him for help. The help He offers is called forgiveness, and the power He gives to follow His direction is the Holy Spirit who promises to take up residence in our hearts and guide us in the "way everlasting". Ready to get your life uncluttered?

"Warning! Warning, Will Robinson!"

Did you ever watch the series (or the reruns) "Lost in Space?" Pretty cheesy (can you believe that network, looking for a Sci-fi series, picked "Lost in Space" over "Star Trek"? What were they thinking?!). But the way Dr. Smith always got the family into trouble just as the episode wound to a close always left you with that cliffhanger feeling that brought you back again the next week to see how it worked out. My favorite character was the robot. I loved how his disjointed arms would wave wildly, the antenna on his head would spin crazily, and his multi-colored lights would flash alarmingly while his mechanical voice cried, "Warning! Warning, Will Robinson!" That little guy Will was lucky. He had someone to alert him to every impending disaster.

Wish I'd have had that the other day...

I had just been thinking, "It's probably about time to back up the "My Documents" folder again." I try and remember to do that every couple of weeks. But a phone call here, a drop-in there, and the day was over and I never gotten around to making that backup yesterday. I turned off my perfectly functional computer last night, turned off the office light and headed home.

This morning I came in, turned on the computer, went downstairs to get a cup of coffee, and came back up to the office to read my email while I drank my coffee. I clicked on the desktop icon and glanced over some notes on my desk. When I looked back the screen had frozen, and the mouse had locked up. Control-Alt-Delete did nothing, so I hit the reset button. I waited through the boot-up process again (I get so impatient at times!), only to have the same thing happen. Reset button! It locked again! Reset! Lock! Reset! Lock! AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!

I put in my Norton SystemWorks CD and rebooted, hoping to be able to boot directly into Disk Doctor. No joy. Now I remember... it boots only into Norton Antivirus. Sweat was beginning to bead on my forehead and I could feel my face starting to get flushed. I had just spent four days building a new web site for our church. Although I'd successfully uploaded it to our host, all my files were on my computer. WHY HADN'T I DONE THAT BACKUP WHEN I THOUGHT ABOUT IT?!

I found a couple of diagnostic applications that could run from the command prompt, but they all said that my hard drive was in proper working order. Must be a corrupted file, or a conflict with a driver. Man, was I starting to feel sick...

Then I remembered about "Safe Mode". So I booted up- ONE... MORE... TIME, hit F8, selected "Safe Mode", and almost jumped up and shouted for joy when I saw my desktop, even in it's deformed state with all those over sized, pixelated icons in that antiquated 640x480 display mode. Okay, I was "in". Now what? I knew the answer was right in front of me, but so help me, I couldn't remember it. With uncharacteristic patience I scrolled through every program and utility under "All Programs" until... THERE IT WAS! "System restore"! I selected a system restore point from earlier this week, clicked on "Next", and waited anxiously. IT WORKED! I was saved. I'd been given a "re-do". As soon as the boot-up sequence completed, I pulled out my trusty external USB hard drive and made that backup. I'm not nearly as stupid as I may look.

Sometimes... no!- "often" in life we know what we should do, but fail to do it. As a result, all seems lost. We wish so desperately for another chance. A fresh start. A new beginning. You know, don't you, that's exactly what the Bible promises? "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASU) Don't ever be tempted to throw away life- no matter how bad the disaster. God's ready to give you a fresh start if you just turn to Him (don't believe me? listen to my "Words of Hope: But God"). Whatever you do, DON'T GIVE UP! Drop me an email and let me know if I can help you with that process.

Patiently endure it...

So I'm talking to someone this week, and he says to me, "Being a pastor has been the source of some of my greatest joys in life. It's also been the source of some of my greatest heartaches. But the thing is, I don't do it because it makes me happy any more than I'd stop doing it because it makes me sad. I do it because that's what I believe God has called me to do; the results to me personally become irrelevant. Don't get me wrong- I definitely like the joys better than the heartaches. Even for a pastor, that's a no-brainer. But this week has been an especially tough one. A roller coaster ride of ups and downs. As I try and step into the shoes of the folks I deal with, sometimes I just can't connect with where they are. There seems to be such a disconnect between what they say, who they claim to be, and what they do. The inconsistency drives me batty."

I know what he means. Been there; done that; have the t-shirt (and the scars under it). This Sunday we'll be observing the Lord's Supper at our church. I plan to share a brief message before we approach the Lord's table. It'll be based on 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body."

Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

As I've been reading, studying and praying this week, the truth of that passage hit me hard. The personal agendas we push? The petty grievances we bear? The grudges we hold onto so tenaciously? The ugly things we say in revenge for the sole purpose of hurting others? They're all so wrong. We lost the rights to those actions long ago when we accepted the salvation Jesus purchased for us when He was put to death on that cross. He paid the price for our sins. He purchased our freedom. We no longer belong to ourselves. We are not our own. We now belong to Him. And when we act otherwise it calls into question the reality of that transaction in our life. I guess we all live to varying degrees in a constant struggle. Christ on one side, our self on the other. In the middle is our heart... our soul... our being. Jesus extends His hand for it, for He has purchased it with the shedding of His own blood. Yet we grip tightly and refuse to relinquish it. We want it both ways- we want the life He offers, but we also want to continue to live it our way. The fact it, we must choose. We can't have it both ways.

I told that pastor, "Do what you can to help others see the light. The ultimate choice will be theirs- but so will the responsibility for the outcome of that choice. You do what God leads you to do. It is His right to call the shots. Trust Him to protect and provide. He's faithful to the task."

"Where's that mulch pile?"

One of the neatest things I get to do as a pastor is to give a children's sermon in worship. This past Sunday's theme was "rest" and I asked the kids, "What do you do that tires you out?" They shouted out responses- "HOMEWORK!", "chores", running", "baseball", and such. Then I asked, "How do you recharge? How do you get new energy?" Their answers included things like "sleep", "quiet time", "eating", and the like. Then one precious little girl raised her hand and waited until I called on her. "Yes?", I asked. She went into a long answer- so long, in fact, that I wasn't sure where she was going. I thought perhaps she'd misunderstood the question. Little did I know; she was just laying the foundation. "So...," she said as she concluded, "when I get really tired and need to get refreshed, I go outside and just lay back on my dad's mulch pile, and I feel all better."

Mulch pile! How cool is that?!

In a world where we try to fit 36 hours into each and every 24-hour day, we give evidence that we've forgotten that God commanded us to observe a "sabbath" rest. A time to refrain from work, and to focus on Him, our family, and ourself. I mean, how many of us really take the time to even get to know ourself? This little girl had found the secret of life... and it was the mulch pile.

Next time you start working on the yard, you might consider not spreading out all of that shredded bark. Leave a little over in the corner of the yard, maybe under that big shade tree. And when no one's looking, after that busy day, take a deep breath, let it out slowly, and just lay back and rest. It'll do you good.

"You have learned well, Grasshopper..."

Remember the old "Kung-Fu" series with David Carradine? When he was in the monastery, learning his discipline, his mentor constantly referred to him as "Grasshopper". The mentor modeled and taught, and "Grasshopper" learned. It's a cycle that has been repeated throughout history. At different times in life, and in different settings, we each fill roles both as learners and as mentors.

So have I mentioned how much I enjoy the outdoors? When I was younger I used to run- everywhere, all the time (R-u-n, For-rest! R-u-n!). Then I got into bicycling. Then paddling. I've enjoyed paddling the most, and it's stuck with me the longest. I started off with a canoe (for about ten years), then tried a kayak- and liked it so much that I went home and sold my canoe. I've been kayaking now for about four or five years, and have bought and sold a number of boats (my wife complains that I've "bought" more than I've "sold"!). I love it so much that I can't wait to introduce others to it. In fact, within a couple of weeks of the day our first grandson was born I bought a used child's kayak for him (hey- I got it really cheap at a moving sale!). It's been hanging in the garage waiting for him to get big enough to paddle it on his own.

He turned three several weeks ago... still not quite big enough for his kayak, but plenty big enough to go paddling with his dad and me. So the three of us went paddling. I was in "Mr. Tippy" (yes- there's a reason for the name, but that's another story...), and my son and grandson were paddling together in a sit-on-top.

While my son and I were putting on our PFD's, we sat the grandson in one of the boats still pulled up on shore. When I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, I turned to see him (paddle in hand) going through the motions of a pretty good paddling stroke, singing "Row, Row, Row your Boat." How did he know to do that? (see a short video clip) As we paddled out on the lake, I watched lovingly as Andy spoke to Aaron, telling him what he was doing, why he was doing it, and pointing out sights you could only see from a boat- fish swimming by, baby ducks following their mom through the cattails, a turtle's head popping above the surface to see what was making all that racket. I saw him place the paddle in Aaron's hands and then place his hands over Aaron's, guiding him through the motions of a perfect stroke.

Although in different venues, everyone does the same thing- we teach someone to play tennis, play the piano, cook, sew or sing. We seem so purposeful in making sure that we faithfully pass on whatever we know to another who is willing to learn. And I wondered, "Are we as intentional in passing on our knowledge about God?" I doubt it. Not for the majority. Whether we consider it too personal, or ourselves too un-knowledgeable, we are often silent about what is ultimately most significant.

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am that my grandson is displaying an interest in, and aptitude for, kayaking-because I love kayaking. I plan to do everything I can to continue to foster that interest. But even more, I pledge to do everything that I can to make sure that he grows to know about God, too. Because I love Him infinitely more than kayaking.

"Come, walk with me, Grasshopper. I want to tell you about someone I have come to know and love..."