A redemption story continued...

A few weeks ago I went to the hospital to see the mother of a friend of my son. If you read an earlier post you saw the beginning of this story. The story is great because I got to share the good news with Robin. She prayed, and trusted Christ as her savior. It's been a hard few weeks for her. Regrets, fears of the future, still in hospital. Life doesn't get any easier because you become a Christian, but the future sure looks much better!

Today I went to see her and check on her. We had a good visit, talked about her move to an extended care facility, and then she said, "I wish I could be baptized. I've never been baptized." I asked, "Would you like to be baptized?" She responded with an excited affirmation. I got a Styrofoam cup filled with water and a towel, and we baptized Robin in her hospital bed. It was great! She was soaked, smiling and happy. Her son was thrilled. It was the first time I had used a cup of water to baptize someone, but I'm sure God was smiling too.

Then she said, "I wish I could go to church. I've never gotten to do that…..”

It will be interesting to see how this story will work out, but so far it’s a “God thing” all the way! Thanks, Lord.

a "finishing well" apology

Readers,

I'm sorry I have been so sporadic, and light in thoughts recently. I have just been far too busy. Unfortunately this blog has suffered. Please be patient with me, and I will get back to sharing in more depth as soon as possible. Until then I will try to post short, pithy comments...with pictures of course!

Thanks for your patience.

Mike

Faces

I love people. I must admit they are my hobby! I really like to spend time with people who have faces that have lived! Not the "pretty people", mind you, but the people who have really lived, and it shows! They are stories to be read, lives to be shared, they are the people who are fun to sit with for hours and talk to.

Our culture is programmed for youth and beauty, but the faces that captivate me are the faces that have really lived! The faces that have felt tears. The faces that smile even when they aren't really smiling at all. The faces that show a life lived. The faces with wrinkles. Give me a face with character anytime, I know with that face are stories to be told.

Let me encourage you to seek out those kind of faces....faces that have lived, and get to know them. It will amaze you what they have to offer.

Here are some other faces for your edification-

Psa 139:13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb.
Psa 139:14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
Psa 139:15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Psa 139:16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.
Psa 139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.

Did you "feel" it?

Today Called the Most Depressing Day of the Year (NPR News)

January 22, 2007 · January 22 is the most depressing day of the year, according to Wales-based psychologist Cliff Arnall. Arnall talks with Luke Burbank about why the day is so depressing, how to get through it and when to mark the happiest day of the year on your calendar...

I couldn't find the rest of the story on the NPR site, but I'm thrilled that I made it through the most depressing day of the year and I barely even noticed! I guess we need to mark it on the calendar next year so we can "celebrate" it. It's a shame to miss such an important day in the year and not even feel it, not even be depressed...I feel like I got cheated...it really wasn't that bad for me at all!

Now I have to find out which day is the happiest and get ready for it. With the way my days go I will probably not enjoy it at all.

Hahaha

There's nothing better than a baby laughing....enjoy.

A Grandpa's first date

Well, tonight I ventured out on my first "date" with one of my granddaughters. It was her idea (I should have thought of it first) but she has been asking for an outing for over a month, so off we go to the mall.

Candy, ice cream, fairy wings, a crown, time spent in toy stores and a lot of talk...it was great!

She will have a sugar buzz for hours, but we both had a great time. It's been years since I spent some one on one time with a small child, in fact the last time I really got to do this was with my own daughter, so it was a special treat to spend time with one of her daughters.

I think it's an event I will need to repeat with the other girls in the near future....in fact, when they saw the "haul" this first one made I KNOW I am destined for more of these wonderful outings.

I look forward to each one. (And, no, it wasn't necessary to use duct tape.)

The prayers of the saints

Prayer. What a topic. We are invited to pray to God and ask for his help. Yet we understand so little about how all of this "prayer stuff" works. The bible paints a very clear picture that we are to be God dependent, and that's best demonstrated when we pray.

But I must tell you that, after over 40 years of faith, I still have problems with the issue of prayer.....I don't have all the answers. When discussing this topic I find that I come to the response, "I don't know" far more than I would like. I pray for people all the time, and don't always get my prayers answered. The truth is that I don't know what God is really up to in the life of that person. The answer to my prayer might be "yes", "no" or "in a little while we will do that". I feel like a blind man at times as I try to pray "in God's will". And, like the cartoon, I hear myself too often whining.

I want to see answers to prayer, we all do. So like so many prayers I have heard I pray "safe prayers" like- "Lord, be with Mary." The truth is that if Mary is a Christ follower he has promised to never leave her, so I can just see the Lord waiting for me to pray, hearing this prayer and finding there is nothing he can do with the prayer....he's already doing it!

My goal in my life is to no longer pray "safe prayers", but to pray at the edge of my comfort zone, to pray big prayers, prayers for healing, miracles, changed lives, you know BIG things. Now I know that when I pray that way I won't always see answers, but I may...and when I do I am challenged to pray even further out in my faith.

For me, I plan to stop whining, to stop praying safe prayers, and to be bold. I have had this goal for a long time, but find that I easily revert to the safety of "Lord, be with George today"...and I miss the chance to see what God, working through my prayers, could do.

I want to close with a passage that has challenged the church for centuries. These are Jesus' words, but they are big. I don't intend to explain them, I just want you to read them:


Joh 14:13 "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14 "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

Hanging on

I'm having one of those weeks.....just barely hanging on. I know it happens to all of us. I just wish the little birdies in my life would leave me alone. I have enough trouble of my own without others helping me fail.....don't you love the cats expression? He's doomed, and there isn't anything he can do but wait for the fall. It feels like that at times. Yesterday was a down day for me. I will hit days when the bottom falls out, when I am down, discouraged, depressed. I don't know why these days happen, but they do. Often, I find that there isn't really a reason for them. The "dark days" could follow a wonderful series of days, and then suddenly here it is...the bottomless pit! I have learned over the years that when I hit one of these days the best thing I can do is be quiet. It's a great time of prayer. It's at those times when I most love the Psalms, David's own journals as he dealt with his dark days. He was melancholy a lot, and had good reason to be, and his journals (Psalms) really are comfort for us who are just barely hanging on. Here's one that really helps me when I'm in the pit:


Psa 40:1 A David psalm. I waited and waited and waited for GOD. At last he looked; finally he listened.
Psa 40:2 He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud. He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn't slip.
Psa 40:3 He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God. More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to GOD.
Psa 40:4 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to GOD, turn your backs on the world's "sure thing," ignore what the world worships;
Psa 40:5 The world's a huge stockpile of GOD-wonders and God-thoughts. Nothing and no one comes close to you! I start talking about you, telling what I know, and quickly run out of words. Neither numbers nor words account for you.
Psa 40:6 Doing something for you, bringing something to you-- that's not what you're after. Being religious, acting pious-- that's not what you're asking for. You've opened my ears so I can listen.
Psa 40:7 So I answered, "I'm coming. I read in your letter what you wrote about me,
Psa 40:8 And I'm coming to the party you're throwing for me." That's when God's Word entered my life, became part of my very being.
Psa 40:9 I've preached you to the whole congregation, I've kept back nothing, GOD--you know that.
Psa 40:10 I didn't keep the news of your ways a secret, didn't keep it to myself. I told it all, how dependable you are, how thorough. I didn't hold back pieces of love and truth For myself alone. I told it all, let the congregation know the whole story.
Psa 40:11 Now GOD, don't hold out on me, don't hold back your passion. Your love and truth are all that keeps me together.
Psa 40:12 When troubles ganged up on me, a mob of sins past counting, I was so swamped by guilt I couldn't see my way clear. More guilt in my heart than hair on my head, so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out.
Psa 40:13 Soften up, GOD, and intervene; hurry and get me some help,
Psa 40:14 So those who are trying to kidnap my soul will be embarrassed and lose face, So anyone who gets a kick out of making me miserable will be heckled and disgraced,
Psa 40:15 So those who pray for my ruin will be booed and jeered without mercy.
Psa 40:16 But all who are hunting for you-- oh, let them sing and be happy. Let those who know what you're all about tell the world you're great and not quitting.
Psa 40:17 And me? I'm a mess. I'm nothing and have nothing: make something of me. You can do it; you've got what it takes-- but God, don't put it off. (The MESSAGE)

New beginnings

I spent some time this afternoon in hospital with a woman dying of cancer. She trusted Christ as her savior yesterday. Today, when I came into her room she had a bible in her lap with other material that I had given her. She said, "I need more time, I'm just getting started! I need time to get to know God, to know about my new faith." It was a very strange picture- a dear new believer in Christ, bald from chemo, nearing the end of this life, but beginning her new life as a Christ follower. It was a wonderful picture. A start and a finish all in one quick glimpse.

I am thrilled to see God work in her life, and I'm hearing that other lives are already being affected by her faith. As I left her yesterday she said, "why did I wait so long to trust Christ?"

But she has....and now her eternity is changed because of her faith in Christ as her savior!

I am so blessed to see God's wonderful love poured out into broken lives. Thanks, Lord.

Looking for lost sheep

Luk 15:4 "Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it?
Luk 15:5 When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing,
Luk 15:6 and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, 'Celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!'
Luk 15:7 Count on it--there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.

I have been asked by a friend of my son to come to hospital and talk to his mother. She is in the final stages of cancer and will die soon. She does not know where she will spend eternity. Her son is worried about her, and asked for my help. I am most humbled and challenged by his request. Looking for lost sheep has been one of my passions, and this is truly one of those lost sheep. I'm challenged that I must trust God to speak through me, that he will speak to her, that he touch her heart, that she hears, and that she responds.....this soul is so valuable to God that Christ died for her. I pray that today angels will rejoice over a sinner rescued.

Are there lost sheep around you looking for a shepherd? Pray for an opportunity to tell them about your shepherd.

Life lived well

I spent some time this week holding the hands of a dear saint with hands like these, well worn hands. Hands that had seen many years. Hands that had raised babies, cooked meals, washed clothes, loved her family. Hands that were tired. She used her hands well. She knew the Lord, and was ready to let those well worn hands rest. She was ready to go home, and did pass just a day ago. She has the joy of being with Christ even as I write this. I didn't know her as well as I would have liked, but I knew those hands. I have held many hands like them over the years. I have seen and cared for many dear ones whose hands were used well, who lived well and used their hands to heal and help instead of hurt. One of my great joys and griefs is to help people with their last journey of this life- death.

I have held the hands of many as they left this world for the next, many friends I think of now and still miss dearly. I love those hands! The hands given to the use of God, lives dedicated to serve the kingdom of God. Those hands are dear to God, and their work will be rewarded. Their efforts are not in vain.

There is a reward for what we do here. Often I don't feel that what I do is that important, but God does. He values each life given to him, each hand used for his kingdom, each smile shared for Christ. Death is not the end of our lives, there is a day when we will see the reward for the work our hands have done...those well worn hands used for God.


Heb 6:18 God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. (The Message)


Ecc 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going. (NASB)

Just one more...

Ok, I can't help it...just one more. This is the reason I stopped playing golf!

Ok, it's time for a smile...

I've been far too serious. It's time for something a little lighter. Enjoy.

A personal note

Like so many who blog and share our thoughts I'm human. Yes, I admit it...I'm human. It's a horrible admission, and one that I admit with an awareness of what that means....I'm not perfect. Yes, that's another admission. I'm not perfect. Ok, it's out there...you were thinking it, and I want you to know that I already know it. And while I'm at it let me add another to the list...I struggle with pride and idolatry. Wow, you say, that's big! Yes it is. But may I ease my own tension a little and tell you that you do too!

Our core sin issues as humans are pride and idolatry. It's the desire to put ourselves first, most important, most wise....it's PRIDE. And its twin sister is idolatry. It's my desire to decide what I will worship.

I have a friend, who is a Christian counselor, who says that all sins in the heart and life of the human being come down to these two- pride and idolatry.

We have discussed it for hours, looking at the bible, distilling all we know down to it's core issues, and he's right....it all comes down to pride and idolatry.

And, may I tell you, that after more than 55 years of life I'm really good at both of these! "Hi, my name is Mike. I'm proud and I'm an idol worshiper!" Yup, that's us...the proud, the idol worshippers.

The battle of the human heart is to worship God alone, thus eliminating idolatry. And to bow our knees to his lordship, thus eliminating pride. I'm working on this daily. It's the walk of each one of us...as Paul describes it, "walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the deeds of the flesh."

It's the challenge of our lives to live in light of the God who made us. The God who wants our undivided worship. It's my desire to be one who walks with God. It's my desire to bow my knee to his lordship. It's a moment by moment challenge. It's a walk of faith.

Beware of the book

Beware of the book! It will change your life. There is no other book in the world like the bible. It is God's word for the human race. It's God's truth revealed to us. It's living. It's active. It touches the heart.

Don't read the bible unless you want to please God.

Don't read the bible unless you care about eternity.

Don't read the bible unless you want to become more than you are.

Don't read the bible unless you care about others.

Don't read the bible unless you want to know more than you can see.

Don't read the bible unless you want to know the future.

Don't read the bible unless you want peace.

Be careful....if you read the bible it will change your eternity....it will change YOU!

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Heb 4:13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.