Well this Sunday is Father's Day. I've really struggled with writing a Father's Day sermon since I'm still dealing with the loss of my own Dad in December. I even contemplated getting someone else to fill in for me so I wouldn't have to deal with it, but I came to the conclusion that I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago and I shouldn't take off again this soon. Besides how can I preach on healing and the power of God or even the joy of the Lord in a follower's life if I act as if He's not strong in me when I am most weak? God never once said we wouldn't have grief, sorrow or pain in our lives but rather as any great Dad He warns or prepares us for persecution and loss in this life. Yet He also comforts us by painting a great picture of the life to come with Him forever, where I know my Mom and Dad already are.
So this week I will silently dedicate this message to my Dad and try to be a blessing by honoring and lifting up our Dads. I've been reflecting back on my life and I believe that this may be true for most. I noticed that when we are little our Dads are "bigger than life to us", then in our teens they "know absolutely nothing about life to us", but when we are older they become "indispensable to life to us".
I really miss him.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Cloud Shadows
We were headed somewhere the other day, where doesn’t really matter, but as we were in transit my attention was focused on these huge shadows moving across the farm fields. Immediately I knew these apparitions were cloud shadows. Now in my younger years I would watch them, quite often in amazement and wonder at how these cloud shadows would sail across the land covering everything in their path and then revealing light once again after their departure.
But this time as I was taken aback by their course and conformity to the landscape they blanketed, I recognized the fact that they left absolutely no trace whatsoever of their path, their form or their existence for that matter.
And that’s when I wondered to myself and now to you, if it were possible that sometimes we too are just like cloud shadows. Do we sometimes at points on our paths in life leave absolutely no trace that we were here or there? No trace of our forms, purpose or existence for that matter? How sad it would be if we ended up living out our entire lives as cloud shadows silently skimming across time, space and matter all the while only conforming to the shapes of those around us, never changing or making a lasting difference in this world. Some I suppose are happy and content with being merely cloud shadows leaving only momentary times of darkness to all around or beneath them. I on the other hand would rather be remembered for more than just fleeting moments of some thing or someone else’s shadow.
Our purpose should not be to conform but to transform everything around us in a positive sense and leave this life better than the way we found it, never the same. So as we move over the terrain called life that’s been set before us let us do our best to make a difference for the better and not become mere cloud shadows.
But this time as I was taken aback by their course and conformity to the landscape they blanketed, I recognized the fact that they left absolutely no trace whatsoever of their path, their form or their existence for that matter.
And that’s when I wondered to myself and now to you, if it were possible that sometimes we too are just like cloud shadows. Do we sometimes at points on our paths in life leave absolutely no trace that we were here or there? No trace of our forms, purpose or existence for that matter? How sad it would be if we ended up living out our entire lives as cloud shadows silently skimming across time, space and matter all the while only conforming to the shapes of those around us, never changing or making a lasting difference in this world. Some I suppose are happy and content with being merely cloud shadows leaving only momentary times of darkness to all around or beneath them. I on the other hand would rather be remembered for more than just fleeting moments of some thing or someone else’s shadow.
Our purpose should not be to conform but to transform everything around us in a positive sense and leave this life better than the way we found it, never the same. So as we move over the terrain called life that’s been set before us let us do our best to make a difference for the better and not become mere cloud shadows.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
No Excuse
I have to say that spending time with friends and family is always great, but time spent with God is priceless. Gaining a greater insight into His being and presence that’s constantly all around us is undeniably unforgettable. The time spent with family this last weekend at the theme park, at meals, and at the shopping centers was awesome but they cannot compare to the twenty minutes of time spent basking in the glory of God’s presence found in His creation.
I mean, you can see when looking at the sky, the earth, the trees, grass, the birds and the animals that they are of no happenstance, fluke, or accident and they’re all composed of a greater design and if there is a greater design then there must be a Great Designer. Paul writes about this very thing in Romans 1.20 [NLT] he writes, For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
I’m with Paul on this, the earth, all that’s in it, on it and above it declares God’s presence, power, plan, purpose and provision…NO EXCUSE!
I mean, you can see when looking at the sky, the earth, the trees, grass, the birds and the animals that they are of no happenstance, fluke, or accident and they’re all composed of a greater design and if there is a greater design then there must be a Great Designer. Paul writes about this very thing in Romans 1.20 [NLT] he writes, For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
I’m with Paul on this, the earth, all that’s in it, on it and above it declares God’s presence, power, plan, purpose and provision…NO EXCUSE!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Admiring God
Early Saturday morning after my devotional, I was sitting on the third story balcony overlooking Table Rock Lake and reading a book when all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I saw something coming at me. As I looked up I noticed it was a crow flying directly at me, so what I did was what I would do as a child sitting on mom and dads porch. I just sat there perfectly still to see how close this bird would get before it noticed I was there. To my surprise and to the crows, it came within five to six feet of me before it realized I was sitting there. But as soon as it noticed me it did a hard one-eighty and headed back in the direction from which it came and in just a matter of a few seconds the crow was more than three hundred yards away and landing in a treetop towering out of a valley pointing in the direction of the lake, and that’s when I had this astounding epiphany.
As I watched the crow fly off it drew my attention away from what I was doing and where I was at. I placed my book on the patio table because I was no longer interested in reading about someone else’s experience with God when I was having my own. At that point I no longer heard the muffled sounds of the other eight people in our condo behind me scurrying to get ready to leave for the theme park. I no longer felt the responsibilities of pastoring, fathering, being a brother or a husband. All I could do was set there admiring God in His awesomeness. The trees, the valley, the lake and the sky, the breeze, the bugs, the animals and even the back of my hand silently screamed of God’s creative glory and everyone inside the condo behind me was missing it. God’s glory had been laid bare before me and I was now witnessing that which had previously been invisible by the business of my own personal life. And like David I was once again reminded of God’s powerful presence in all of creation. David writes in Psalms nineteen, one that the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
It’s as if I had a better understanding of what the six winged seraphim continuously declare about Gods glory in Isaiah six, three where they call to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory." Here I sat having one of the best God moments I’ve had in a long time on a personal basis and I wasn’t in a pew, a pulpit or a manmade place of worship but I was just basking in the sights, the sounds and the presence of the Almighty in the middle of His creation, as one of His creations.
But as life would have it my God moment was interrupted when I could hear the voices behind me inside the condo asking “Where’s Ron? We’re about ready to go.” So I picked up my book from the patio table and was once again transported from God’s glory to what we’ve made of it. But I will never forget and I will always cherish the morning I was invited to admire God in all His glory by a startled crow.
As I watched the crow fly off it drew my attention away from what I was doing and where I was at. I placed my book on the patio table because I was no longer interested in reading about someone else’s experience with God when I was having my own. At that point I no longer heard the muffled sounds of the other eight people in our condo behind me scurrying to get ready to leave for the theme park. I no longer felt the responsibilities of pastoring, fathering, being a brother or a husband. All I could do was set there admiring God in His awesomeness. The trees, the valley, the lake and the sky, the breeze, the bugs, the animals and even the back of my hand silently screamed of God’s creative glory and everyone inside the condo behind me was missing it. God’s glory had been laid bare before me and I was now witnessing that which had previously been invisible by the business of my own personal life. And like David I was once again reminded of God’s powerful presence in all of creation. David writes in Psalms nineteen, one that the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
It’s as if I had a better understanding of what the six winged seraphim continuously declare about Gods glory in Isaiah six, three where they call to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory." Here I sat having one of the best God moments I’ve had in a long time on a personal basis and I wasn’t in a pew, a pulpit or a manmade place of worship but I was just basking in the sights, the sounds and the presence of the Almighty in the middle of His creation, as one of His creations.
But as life would have it my God moment was interrupted when I could hear the voices behind me inside the condo asking “Where’s Ron? We’re about ready to go.” So I picked up my book from the patio table and was once again transported from God’s glory to what we’ve made of it. But I will never forget and I will always cherish the morning I was invited to admire God in all His glory by a startled crow.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Noah and the ark
It's Thursday night and the wife and I are in Branson. We've just arrived back at our motel from a show and supper. We went to watch Noah and the Ark (the musical). Let me tell you something, you haven't seen anything until you've witnessed Noah dance and sing with his wife, sons, their wives and a pair of orangotangs, wahoo! I will not bad-mouth the show but I will say they took an awful lot of artistic liberty while writting this one, and for me it was like being stung by a bee for the first time, something new, different and something I'd rather not experience again. But I will give them credit for one thing, at the very end they made the connection that Jesus Christ is our only Ark of salvation today and then they made an altar call.
I guess what I see in this entire singing and dancing Noah thing is the fact that no matter how off, or how painful some things may be in this life, we should always make time to tell people about Jesus and invite them to meet Him!
I guess what I see in this entire singing and dancing Noah thing is the fact that no matter how off, or how painful some things may be in this life, we should always make time to tell people about Jesus and invite them to meet Him!
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