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God in a box

I'm in the middle of several different books right now...one by the atheist-biologist, Richard Dawkins, called "The God delusion", another by Eugene Peterson on pastoral integrity, and one by Lee Strobel dealing with finding the real Jesus. What I find, and have realized over the years, is how much we want to put God in a box....wrap him us so we can "handle him." We all do that....I find myself trying to "package God" so he's easier to manage in my own life, but he simply refuses to fit into my boxes. I guess that's why he's God.

Even authors the likes of Richard Dawkins try to put God in a box so they can easily dispose of him. I am halfway through his book right now, and will give you a report when I'm done. But God will not fit into our boxes....

I have to constantly remember who is the creator and who is the creation. I forget, and find myself trying to get God into my box...trying to get him to do things my way, but he simply refuses....and then I remember, "Oh yeah, HE'S God, I'm not." And I find I have wasted another fine box trying to make God fit MY life, MY wishes, MY wants, MY way.

In my life I have to constantly be reading in the gospels- Matthew, Mark, Luke & John, to keep my vision clear regarding my boxes. Jesus was always frustrating the people of the first century because he refused to fit in their religious boxes, their social boxes, their political boxes...and he does that with us too. He forces us into a relationship, not a religion.

Relationships are never packaged....they are always messy. One day Jesus heals by putting mud on a man's eyes, another time he simply speaks to the man, and yet another time he heals in a completely different way. How can we get the right box when he never gives us the magic formula? He does that in our lives too. For me it's been over 40 years of trying to get just the right box for God to fit in only to see him smile, walk right past my box and deal with ME. I guess I should know better by now, but I think I still do it....I still try to put God in a box, but God just smiles.....

He loves me too much to ever let me put him in a box.

Just grateful

Psalm 113
1 Praise the LORD. Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.
2 Let the name of the LORD be praised, both now and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.
4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high,

I love this Psalm. It's an invitation to praise and worship God. Verse 3 is the one that always catches my attention- "from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised." In other words, praise the Lord all day long. I forget to do that. I get busy. I have "stuff to do" and I forget to simply praise him. I wish it weren't so, but it is for me...I get too busy serving him to do the most important thing in the world- Praise the God who made me! I thought, this morning, I would just take a moment and say, "I praise you, Lord, for you are most wonderful, most awesome. There is no God but you. I praise you for who you are and what you have done. Thank you for you mercy, your grace, your love and care. Thank you for being the Lord who sits on your throne, sovereign over all. I am so grateful to be one of your children."

Although the sun has not risen yet I wanted to start my day the right way. So, let me encourage you to take a moment and meditate on this Psalm....what is your response to it in your life?

10 Things You Never Hear in Church

A fellow pastor, Denis in Ireland, posted this list. I loved it, and asked if I could share it with you. Denis graciously gave me permission, so here is his top 10 list:



10 Things You Never Hear in Church-



1. Hey! It's my turn to sit in the front pew!



2. I was so enthralled, I never noticed your sermon went 25 minutes over time.



3. Personally I find witnessing much more enjoyable than golf.



4. I've decided to give our church the $500 a month I used to send to TV evangelists.



5. I volunteer to be the permanent teacher for the Junior High Sunday School class.



6. Forget the denominational minimum salary. Let's pay our pastor so he can live like we do.



7. I love it when we sing hymns I've never heard before!



8. Since we're all here, let's start the service early.



9. Pastor, we'd like to send you to this Bible seminar in the Bahamas.



10. Nothing inspires me and strengthens my commitment like our annual stewardship campaign!



Great list, isn't it? It would be fun to add to the list. If you were to come up with your own entries for our list what would you add? Have fun....

Good news

For those of you who haven't already heard we made the announcement in the evening service last night that Steve Hixon will be joining our staff as the teaching pastor. We are all excited about this. It's been a great year of trial and growth for our church family, and it's great to have Steve on the team. Be sure to tell everyone you know.

Monday's cartoon

I'm always aware that people are watching me. They watch what I say, what I do, even my moods. All of us look to someone to lead us. People are watching you, too. Live such a good life that they will praise God for you and want to be like you. I have always been amazed at Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 11. He invited the Corinthian church to imitate him, to follow him as he follows Christ. If you have never invited anyone to do this, then I would challenge you to follow Christ in such a way that you would welcome others following you. Here's Paul's words for you to meditate on today-

1Co 11:1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

Amazed

Hubble telescope’s top ten greatest space photographs-

The Sombrero Galaxy - 28 million light years from Earth was voted best picture taken by the Hubble telescope. The dimensions of the galaxy, officially called M104, are as spectacular as its appearance. It has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across.

For me, as a Christian, this is a "Wow! God is amazing!" moment. Just part of the wonderful creation he has made has over 800 billion stars in it, and the bible says God has named each one! Just to take a moment and think about the vast creation God has made leaves me amazed at how awesome God is.

I wanted to share this with you to celebrate the God who made everything and praise him for what he has done. Amazing, isn't he?

A "made of clay day"

I'm having a "made of clay day." You know....those days when you realize that on our own we are just clay between coming and going. It's a mix of tired, discouragement, too much to do, too much to think about....a sense of "I really need God today." In a funny way it's a sense of worthlessness....that feeling that you make no difference in the world at all.

Those are hard days, but they are great ones too. It's that sense of melancholy that overwhelms all of us at times. It tells me I need some rest, some prayer, time in the bible, a break from the work load and some "blue sky" time.

I am so glad that God has provided all we need for living these lives. He is my source of life, the one who sustains me.....and so on days like this I'm reminded of several passages that help me make good choices. Here's where I'm focused today-

Mat 11:28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
Mat 11:30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

John 15:4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Early morning

It's early....and I'm awake. I frequently see the clock strike this time while my eyes are open. Over time I have decided to use these early mornings to write, to think, to pray....and so this morning I'm using this time for a short note, and then for some prayer. I'm so grateful that we have a God who never sleeps, and is available to hear me....even at 2:28 in the morning.

Isa 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.

Time flies!

I couldn't believe it!

It completely ruined my day!

Yesterday I went over to a retirement village to visit one of our men who has just moved there. On my way to his room I noticed the cafeteria full of people....lunch time...and looked in to see Jack waiting for lunch, so I went in to visit with him. I pulled up a chair at the table and sat down to visit while they waited for lunch. Soon a sweet little waitress came by the table to take the orders for lunch. She went around the table, asking each one what they wanted, and then she looked at me and asked, "And sir, what would you like for lunch?" I was shocked! I'm not old enough to be here! How could she think I "fit in" at a retirement village??!! I was speechless for a moment, then smiled and said, "nothing for me, thank you."

But it ruined my day!

I'm not that old, am I?

Then I realized....yes, I am almost old enough to be here. It made me quite aware of how short life really is. It seemed like only yesterday when I was in college, newly married, starting ministry, being a dad......and now it's all passed by so quickly. In less than 30 years, if the Lord doesn't return, I'll be gone...how quickly life passes.

I really never expected to get "old"....you know....like other people. We never think it will happen to us, but it does and soon life is over. So, I thought of this verse as I realized how quickly all of this ends....it just seems to go too fast. In fact, I have thought about getting t-shirts made with this verse as the theme. The shirt would have a big "V" on the front, you know- like superman's "S"? And on the pocket it would say, "Vapor-man" with this verse below it. I guess it's time to get the t-shirt, and head back to the retirement village for another reality check.

Jas 4:14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

Our world

I found this picture and thought.....if there was just one picture that could describe our world today this would be it. And so, without further delay...our world in one picture-

Strange signs

A church in a nearby town has used the billboard signs in their area to advertise. They have come up with an interesting campaign. Here's one of the signs-

Monday's cartoon

Yesterday one of our missionaries spoke. He's a great guy, and has been a missionary for over 2 decades. One thing he said caught my ear. He said, "there are over 6 billion people in the world and only 2 billion of them claim to be Christian." He continued, "you don't have to go overseas to be a missionary, all of us are missionaries." So, I thought this would be a great cartoon for Monday.

Let me close with this thought....your mission field may not be in another country....it might just be next door.

Direction

It's not always easy to know how God is leading. When you don't know which way to go it may be as simple as just going the only way that is available right now. God will not let you get lost.

Pro 3:5 Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Pro 3:6 Listen for GOD's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.

A note from a friend

A friend of mine sent this note to me. I really liked the thoughts, and asked if I could share them with you. Cindy said, "Wow, I’d be honored. I’m always encouraged by your musings. Most recently, your blog about weakness wrecked a perfectly good pity party I was having!"

So here's her note-


"Reading the Blog of one of my favorite pastors has caused me to look at signs in a whole new way lately. (I hope she's talking about me! -Mike)

I saw this sign this morning (on my way to Lowe’s to get new faucets that we had already ordered on-line but they didn’t come in) and had to smile. I always start my day with MY agenda in mind, and MY perfect plan for checking everything off the list. After all, that’s how we measure productivity and fruitfulness, right? Pleeease, I’m really not in the mood to stop for anything that gets in the way!

However, after almost 51 years, I think (hope) it is becoming clear that stopping generally affects me in a positive, albeit sometimes frustrating or even painful way. There have been some stops in my life I haven’t figured out yet, but more often than not I’m able to see pretty quickly an agenda that was way better than mine.

Just thought I’d share that with a few of you who are dear to me. "

Cindy