The impact of our choices

We are part of a drama that will play out into eternity. Some think my actions, my choices have no consequence to anyone but me, but that is simply not true. There are no solitary souls only living for themselves. We all live now and out into eternity. We each make choices that affect us and those around us for thousands of years. These are not small choices we are making, they aren't irrelevant decisions, their weight is more than you can ever imagine. Each decision is a statement about you, about God and about those around you. Each choice has impact in lives and in eternity. We think our choices small, our impact minor. If we only knew....if we only understood that the choices you make today will echo into eternity.

Quote of the day

"If you're not enough before the gold medal, you won't be enough with it." -Anne Lamott

A prayer need

I got an e-mail from a pastor friend in Kenya. Kenya is in the midst of a horrible drought and from what I can see on the news thousands will die before it's over. Here's his note,

I pray that you are all doing well.

I'm doing well with my family and the church family only that most families have no food and are going without for a day or two before getting another meal. However, no one have died of hunger in the community.

Please pray for me for sometimes I feel like running out of this community.

Winston Katana Mweri

Pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in parts of the world where even a nourishing meal is a blessing. We worry about such little things when you contrast it with what others must deal with. Pray for those in Kenya and pray for us that we would live thankful lives. Being blessed sometimes needs a reality check to see how blessed we really are.

Problems

Observation- problems are more normal and more frequent than blessings.

I see a world in chaos, crisis, confusion and now, this week drought in Africa. Problems are everywhere, in every life, in every day.

It seems to me that problems around us are increasing both in number and frequency. It's as if there are more things to worry about, more things to make us fearful. At every turn there are new challenges to deal with. As I read the news the warnings are more intense....our economy is crumbling, there is a new bacteria that is drug resistant, murder is on the rise, job losses are going up, prices are going up, temperatures are going up....the list continues.

But, as much as I write about that, behind it all is a pattern that I see as I watch God working in the bible. Here's the pattern repeated over and over in the bible- God creates a problem in a life that cannot be fixed or solved by the person themselves, the problem gets worse, they go to God to find help, God helps them and they discover the God of the bible to be real, true, alive and caring. It's a story repeated over and over through the pages of scripture.

Problems, big problems, bring us to our knees and humble us with our inability to solve them. Problems bring us to God. Problems make us face a simple reality- we need God! Many of us think we can do it all on our own, but then a problem beyond our resolution comes and we are helpless....we need someone bigger than we are to help us. We need God.

The bible writes about this often, both in story and in instruction. God is working, but what is he really working on? Is he trying to make the world a better place to live? no. Is he trying to bring peace on earth? no. Is he trying to solve all our problems? no. Here's what he's doing- he's drawing men and women to him that we might know him, find life in him and grow in relationship with him. It's all about knowing God! (see John 17:3) That's what God is doing.

We think life is all about here and now, my comfort, my happiness. It's not! It's all about knowing God. That's why problems are such a blessing. They take our eyes off of our ability to take care of ourselves and force us to look to God, trust him, talk to him and depend on him. So, as James writes below, celebrate your problems, they have a purpose and when you are done you will know God more intimately than you could have imagined.

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Saturday's cartoon

Are you a trader?

Picture of the day

Amazing creation

Ocean Sky from Alex Cherney on Vimeo.

Quote of the day

"Life's not always fair and that's not always a bad thing."

First church of Starbucks

As I sit in Starbucks this morning reading a new book, "The tangible kingdom", I am challenged by the reality of a culture changing before our eyes. Community, "church", and fellowship have moved from the church buildings to the corner Starbucks, the local bar, and the neighborhood fitness center. For most in the church this is not news. The question for us is this- what do do about this changing culture, the exodus from church community and fellowship? How do we "do church" in a changing world? Those questions are just a few this book asks. I am challenged by the culture around me. I'm excited about what's ahead, but I am also aware that we must change or simply become a non-issue to the very culture we are trying to reach. At the moment I have a lot of questions. I'm not sure I will get them all answered, but I'm excited about the adventure ahead.

Today's advice

My friend, Jay, sent me an e-mail with some advice and counsel. I had called him to discuss an issue and his reply today was very encouraging and helpful.....especially his advice that follows,

"My philosophy: When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

Thanks, Jay!

Waiting for the Lord

Psalm 130:⁵ I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,

and in his word I put my hope.

⁶ I wait for the Lord

more than watchmen wait for the morning,

more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Waiting....

It's a skill learned with much reluctance. We don't want to wait. We want what we want RIGHT NOW! But to wait, and more specifically, to wait for the Lord is an important disciple for every believer.

It means we have put our case, our request, our problem before God and we wait for his reply. It's as if the letter has been sent, the request made, but it takes a while for the reply to arrive. Every day we go to the mailbox hoping for a response. Every day we wait. "I wait for the Lord." There's a dependence here, a trust, an appeal to someone who can help in our time of need, but we wait.

We wait for his reply. The waiting is just as important as the reply itself. It means I don't try to do it myself. I'm not working to resolve my own situation. I'm waiting.....I'm waiting for God's response. It's a trust that demands patience. How long do I wait? What do I do while I wait? Am I being lazy by not doing something myself? How do I know when I should act and when I should wait?

Waiting is hard. Waiting on the Lord is even harder. It's the silence that makes it so difficult. While I wait, as least in my experience, I rarely hear word about the timing of the response. God doesn't e-mail me to let me know it's on the way. I just have to wait, to trust, to know that God is trustworthy.

Waiting for the Lord demands an upward focus, a trust in the Lord to accomplish what I have asked of him. Soon the answer comes and then what joy, but let me offer this- there is more joy to be realized in the waiting than we ever know. In that waiting our faith grows. We trust someone else to do what we cannot. In that waiting we grow and that's much more important than the answer of the moment.

Blessed

It's the 4th of July. It's a celebration of the beginnings of our country. I am so grateful to be part of this country at this time in history. I know God puts us where and when we are for a purpose and I am blessed to be part of his plan in this plan and in this time.

I pray for those who have so little, who are hungry tonight. I pray for those who have nothing when I have so much. I pray I will use what God has given me to serve him for his glory. I don't want to waste this blessing in this time and not use my all for God. In these moments of comfort for me so many are suffering. I pray I never forget I'm part of God's work in the lives of those around me. I pray I finish well and never forget my awesome blessings.

Beliefs of the Founding Fathers

Beliefs of the Founding Fathers - Quotes from our Founding Fathers on Religion Information gathered by the American Policy Roundtable George Washington Source - Christianity As An Influence On The Founding Fathers by John A. Sterling Belief - Episcopalian "I now make it my earnest prayer the God would have you and the State over which you preside, in His holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the field; and, finally, that he would be most graciously pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind, which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation." June 8, 1783 in a letter to the governors of the states on disbanding the army. Thomas Jefferson Source - America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, ed. William J. Federer, FAME publishing, Inc. 1994 Belief - Episcopalian "God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever." 1781,Query XVIII of his Notes on that State of Virginia. "My views...are the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from the anti-christian system imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of Christianity I am, indeed, opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian in the only sense in which he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines in preference to all others..." April 21, 1803 in a letter to Dr. Benjamin. “The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend to all the happiness of man.” “Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern which have come under my observation, none appears to me so pure as that of Jesus....I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus." James Madison Belief - Episcopalian "Religion is the basis and Foundation of Government." June 20, 1785 "It is not the talking but the walking and working person that is the true Christian." In a manuscript on the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, Madison makes this statement. "We have all been encouraged to feel in the guardianship and guidance of that Almighty Being, whose power regulates the destiny of nations." March 4, 1809 Inaugural Address “We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We’ve staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” [1778 to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia] Benjamin Franklin Belief - Episcopalian "Here is my Creed. I believe in on God, the Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That He ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render to Him is in doing good to His other Children. That the soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another Life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound Religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever Sect I meet with them. As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, is the best the World ever saw, or is likely to see." March 9, 1790 in a letter to Ezra Stiles, President of Yale University "Heavenly Father, May all revere Thee, And become They dutiful children and faithful subjects. May thy Laws be obeyed on earth as perfectly as they are in Heaven. Provide for us this day as Thou hast hitherto daily done. Forgive us our trespasses, and enable us likewise to forgive those that offended us. Keep us out of temptation and deliver us from Evil." Franklin's own version of the Lord's Prayer “God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel” – Constitutional Convention of 1787, original manuscript of this speech John Adams Belief - Unitarian "The Christian religion is above all the Religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of Wisdom, Virtue, Equity, and Humanity. Let the Blackguard Paine say what he will; it is Resignation to God, it is Goodness itself to Man." July 26, 1796, in his diary. "I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world. It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen." December 25, 1813 in a letter to Thomas Jefferson. "The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount contain my religion..." November 4, 1816 in a letter to Thomas Jefferson. "As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation." December 27, 1816 in a letter to Judge F.A. Van der Kemp. The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were. . . . the general principles of Christianity. . . . I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God; and that those principles of liberty are as unalterable as human nature. (taken from a letter to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813) Twenty times in the course of my late reading have I been on the point of breaking out, "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion at all!!!" But in this exclamation I would have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company, I mean hell. Jesus is benevolence personified, an example for all men… The Christian religion, in its primitive purity and simplicity, I have entertained for more than sixty years. It is the religion of reason, equity, and love; it is the religion of the head and the heart For more information on quotes from these founding fathers and many others, please see:America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, ed. William J. Federer, FAME Publishing, Inc. 1994.

A God who is able

My thoughts today demand that I quote part of an article written by someone else. The full intent of this article is not where I want to end up, so I will only quote portions of the article that focus on the universe itself. If you wish to read the entire article you can read it here. Here's the article and then a few thoughts,

The Known Universe

"On a clear night, depending on your location and ability to scan freely from horizon to horizon in all directions, the average person is able to view approximately 3,000 stars with the naked eye...

On July 22, 2003, CNN News reported that astronomers announced there are 70 sextillion stars in the visible universe. A sextillion is a 1 followed by 21 zeroes.

That's 70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 known stars in the universe. That's more than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the entire Earth.

This is not the total number of stars in the universe -- it's the number within the range of present day telescopes. The true number could be a zillion times higher. (Did you see that? We can’t see all the stars, there’s more! –Mike)

There are nearly 7 billion people on this planet; that's 10 trillion known stars for every human being on Earth.

For every single person, there are 10,000,000,000,000 known stars in the universe.

Each star could have multiple planets within their system, just as we have multiple planets in our own solar system. Numerous planets have already been discovered in the closer regions of space..."

The amazing thing to me is the vastness of the universe we can see. Even more amazing is that there is more we simply can't see.

Here are God's words about this universe, vast beyond our imaginations. His words about creation fascinate me, here they are,
^{...
Genesis 1:14} And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.¹⁷ God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

One of the problems I see in the lives of Christians is the smallness of their God. They face a problem, a struggle and their faith shakes, they doubt God, they shutter with fear. This can only happen in the life of someone who doesn't know God...doesn't know how big he really is. In the verses that describe creation he says this about the universe that is beyond our imagination, "He also made the stars."

Those five words always (and I mean always) amaze me. When I realize there are more stars than there are grains of sand on the seashore it strikes me that, to be honest, God was just showing off when he made the universe. He wanted every man to be able to look up at the night sky and say, with awe, "the God who made that is beyond anything I can imagine!" If God is able to make more stars than grains of sand and do it for our benefit, AND almost as an afterthought, don't you think he can take care of you?

Here’s how big this really is- recently I was on my way to Kenya and part of the trip took us from Amsterdam to Nairobi. As I look out the airplane window I watched as we left the Mediterranean Ocean and started across North Africa. Within moments we were over desert sands and for more than three hours all you could see was sand! Flying at over 500 mph it took us more than three hours to cross the Sahara desert. There are more stars than all the sand in that desert AND on every beach on every continent. That’s a lot of stars!

Now, let’s apply all of this- There are only a few reasons I struggle in my life and here they are, fear, focus, faith.

I fear when my God is too small, then, 1. My problems grab my focus. When my problems seem to be bigger than God's ability to fix them, 2. fear follows. And, 3. My faith stutters when both fear and focus have me worried about the events and problems of the moment. It’s as if fear and a focus on my problems makes God too small and unable to help me. When these three happen in my life it’s clear that my view of God is too small for my life on planet earth.

If God, as an afterthought and for our benefit, could make the universe....a universe bigger than we can imagine, bigger than we can see....couldn't he take care of me? Couldn’t he take care of you? When fear, loss of focus and a staggering faith is the problem look up....count a few stars and thank God that he made it all to show you he's big enough to take care of you and any problem you face.

Here’s what the writers of scripture say,

^{Psalm 124:8} Our help is in the name of the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth. (Implication? If God can make all of that can’t he take care of you?)

^{Jeremiah 33:3} ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

When your fears overwhelm you look up. Count the stars if you can. God made all of them. He can help you. He’s big enough and he’s able, and did you know he’s willing? Look up….he’s a BIG God!