Only One? Really?

For many years I have tried to be open minded to how one comes to God. You know many ways, one Lord but I don't want to wishy washy any longer. There is one way to the Father, one way to eternal life- there is one God and one great blood sacrifice. You cannot deny the need of the payment for our debt. Have you ever been the victim of a crime, either small or large it doesn't matter, your very soul longs for restitution. You want someone to restore life to how it was before. If we, being merely human, long for a sacrifice to atone wrongs committed against us- how much more will the divine maker desire restoration? God desires it so desperately that He pays the debt for us. He paid what was stolen from Him already in order to restore what was rightfully His in the first place. Now that is what I call a gift. But gifts aren't gifts until they are claimed. How sad it must make the Creator when He sees us open email scams promising free gifts we need simply to claim. Millions have lost money and identity claiming false gifts that offered nothing while an eternal gift sits unclaimed in front of them. How sad that in our arrogance we fail to see that we are only here because of His desire to commune with us. We are not even grains of sand in the universe and yet He pursues us. Have you ever stopped to think about what would happen if you took the gift at face value? What if you claimed it as yours, believing all that went with it? What if like a child you put "dibs" on what God was giving you and cherished it like a prize? Blind trust that God is who He says He is, that He has done what the Word says He has done, that He is going to do what He promised He would. What would happen if you chose to believe - He would prove Himself. He would show you that your faith is not misguided. He would reveal Himself to you. You would be so overwhelmed by who He is, what He has done for you, and what He wants from you that you would become active for Him. You would be on mission to tell the world about Him, to reveal Him to anyone willing to listen and respond. There are some who on occassion read my ramblings who are shutting down now(or gearing up a whole come back comment that shows me all the errors in my thinking). To each of you, I ask this one question...what if you knew that at the end of reading this blog you would be faced with your moment of death. What would that change for you? Would you risk what comes next on the possibility that I am wrong or would you heed the ache in your heart that you have never been able to fill. That still small voice that is calling you in this moment whispering that what I am saying is true. I hope that not one of you have to face that moment of clarity when you can't go back and all of eternity stretches in front of you before you make a choice. I want more than anything for each of you to come to a realization that God is and was and will always be. But sadly, I know that life is short and our hours are numbered. We spend them filled with things that lack eternity. We pursue things that mean everything in the moment and nothing when we are gone. He is standing ready to give you the gift if you want to claim it. It is the one way to rest in His arms like a babe at her mother's breast. Don't spend another hour on the temporal when the eternal is yours for the claiming.

Standing at the Ready

As I entered the chapel I couldn't help but notice him in his dress greens, with his definite military posture and haircut, what almost escaped my eye was the shred of a tissue in his hand. As a matter of fact I would have missed it, if he hadn't lifted it to dab at his moist eyes keeping the tears at bay. He was watching the toddler running from pew to pew, out into the vestibule and then back down the center aisle. As I slipped forward to pay my respects and pass along my sympathies to the family of the fallen solider, I tried to find ways to practically support those who were grieving. After all, I had not known this man in life but I did love his family dearly. As I sat with his cousin, more military men entered the room. They had the pomp and circumstance of the honor guard and it was time for them to rotate a new solider into position to stand guard over the casket. What an incredibly emotional moment. A fallen solider so cared for by his fellow soldiers that they protect his final resting place as a treasure of national consequence. Throughout the day I continue to see these little nuances of the men in uniform - small things that they would do or say, the people they would follow and protect. Those not in the honor guard were here from Michael's unit and were each assigned someone in the family to protect or watch over. Santiago, the first one I mentioned, was assigned guard for the son of a hero. Others watch the boy's mother and grandparents. The honor guard guarantees his status as one of the elite in our world who deserves all the celebration he is now receiving. Given just a few moments of quiet, I took the liberty of thanking Santiago for the sacrifice he makes to protect our country. He, like so many other soldiers I have met, shrugs off the gratitude and said it is nothing.
But it is something. Something so powerful that I have felt compelled to write about it since that moment. He stands at the ready. In a moment's notice, he like so many others is prepared to give his life to save mine. To guarantee my freedom, his family is willing to let him die. And now as he places his friend and fellow solider into the eternal, he stood at the ready to defend Michael's body from whatever enemy might seek to interfere. Given the season, it seems only fair to draw the parallel between these men and one who came years ago in a stable. The Christ child came to die. His sole purpose was to stand at the ready as a sacrifice for you and me. One of my favorite songs from this season asks the question "Mary did you know?" Clearly the answer is she didn't. The Jews believed their Messiah was coming to rule and reign as a King. She thought she had been chosen to bear the one who would rule the Jews  - not die for their sins. She didn't know her sacrifice, and His, would free generations to come. She didn't know. But she wouldn't have done it any other way. "Be it unto me according to your word Lord." that is what she wanted - to be the vessel that brought the world its greatest hero. Jesus says to us in Luke 12:48b "...to whom much is given, much is required." He gave us salvation...what shouldn't we give in return? This land gave Micheal freedom in return he stood ready to defend up to the moment of his death. Christ gave me eternity in return I stand at the ready!

A force to be reckoned with

If you want to read a book about prayer you need only look as far as any Christian bookstore. And immediately you will be bombarded with hundreds of titles about how to be powerful in your prayer and how to be effective in prayer. There are so many titles and theories because Prayer is effective! It changes things. Don't believe me....James 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much(KJV). Is that a bit too old English for you? How about out of the NIV "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." Or maybe you like the Message "The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with." You cannot deny the power of prayer. James 5 goes on to reference the prophet Elijah who following God's command prayed that there would be no rain for three and a half years and there wasn't. Why did God have Elijah pray this way? Because a generation had forsaken the Lord. We live in such a generation. People don't know the one true and living God. They don't know the power of resurrection and redemption. We live in a time of chaos and destruction. It could lead us to despair. Elijah could have felt the same...all the prophets and believers had been slain. All those following the Lord had been lost. The times were troubled. But instead of despair or fear, Elijah used the force to be reckoned with - Prayer. He prayed that repentance would happen. That when the drought was over the nation of Israel would again believe in her God. Our times are no different than those of Elijah. Our weapon no weaker than his. Pray for the nation to return to her roots, or your son/daughter to return to the teachings of their childhood, or you friend or co-worker who has lost their way. It doesn't matter who you are praying for...just that you are praying. James 5 ends this way. "My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God."(The Message) Don't write anyone off today, instead pursue them. Pray for them. Use the force! Restore peace between them and their God!

Wearing the Mark

I don't generally quote The Message, but I have to admit that I love the way it staets the great commission in Matthew 28. "Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."(v19-20). I especially like that it refers to the marking of saints by baptism. I have always believed that one Sunday night in 1977 was especially important in the timeline of my life. It marked me. It marked the day I stood in the baptismal with my earthly father and told the world that I would stand forever with my heavenly Father and that He had stood in the gap for me. Baptism is the setting apart of your life. The blessing of it. The consecration of your life to the work of God. It was the beginning of a journey that has taught me to do all things as unto the Lord and to His glory. My moment is the moment that set in motion the moment I witnessed today. A moment of heart wrenching joy! A moment of great and abiding peace - a moment when my sons set themselves apart for Him. I love that The Message calls those of us who have been baptized marked men and women. I believe it is imperative that we walk as though that mark were as visible as Christ's scars. It should mark us as living in the world but not brought down by it. I skimmed over the title of an article posted by a pastor in Houston the other day. It mentioned that the church would not be successful in this age if we continued to say we love the sinner and hate the sin. I agree and disagree at the same time. Loving someone is the greatest of the commandments according to Jesus in Matt 22:37-39(Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all they heart, and with all they soul and with all they mind. this is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."(King James) So yes we must above all be inclusive in our love. Reaching the world with the Love of Christ is more important than anything. But the greatest example of love was Christ himself. He became sin, suffered rejection and died a sinner's death on the cross but He never said that because of His death there is no more sin, no more judgement, no more right and wrong. He did not give us a blank check that allows for us to worship other gods, steal, kill, destroy, lie or any other of a laundry list of sins. So in fact there is a price to be paid for sinning or continuing in it. The problem we face in the church today is not loving people, or embracing the sinner, or even judging the sin. It is that we have become so much a part of this world that we are not longer visible by our mark. Nobody can tell the difference between us and them. We believe, we baptize and then we don't change. We wallow in the mire of sin saying that if we don't then how will they know the love of the Lord. It is a war our there. We are either dark or light? We are either for Him or against Him. We cannot stand in the midst of the sin and expect to reflect Christ's love to sinners if we are different. In battle, the soldiers are all visible by platoon or regiment based on the markings of their clothes. If you are wounded int the war, you look for the mark of the red cross to find a medic, corpsman or hospital worker. If you are a child who is lost in the streets you search for the police uniform and colored lights of a squad car to find your way home. If you want to find Jesus you should be able to tell His followers by their mark, by the striking difference between them and the world around them. I know that for years my mark was covered. Painted over with the colors of the world but not anymore I want to stand for something. And the something I want to stand for is the same something that brought my boys to the baptismal. That hope. That faith. That childlike trust that He is who He claims to be and that without Him I am nothing. I am standing up and brushing off the dust of this world to show my mark. I want people to know by the words of my mouth and the actions of my hands that I am different, wholly and completely different. Tomorrow morning is the first day of the marked lives of Karl and Paul. This week, Karl is choosing to listen to only Christian music and Paul is looking to tell someone about Jesus. I pray that everyday going forward they will love sinners and saints alike and that everyone will know them by their markings of their hearts.

are you running?

Last year in September I had the wonderful fortune of meeting Meg Brown Stead through HP.  She unfortunately lives across the globe and so I have not seen her since but trust me our friendship is a treasure for me.  Through her I virtually met her dad, John Brown, who is a great prophet and writes amazing little sermons right on facebook.  Today's sermon was too good not to post again!  And so I quote Pastor John Brown -

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up, It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.
Friends, if you are not seeking the Lord, the Devil is seeking you. In the Christian life, it's not enough simply to wake up. We are called to run, to become more like Christ, to press ahead in godliness. Run like you have never run before!! John Brown. GBYAY

So are you running?

Alarm Clocks

I have never been a fan of the alarm clock.  I like to go to sleep whenever and wake up the same way.  Unfortunately for me, I have not inherited millions of dollars and must in fact be at my desk at a fairly consistent time each day.  So enter the alarm clock!  

Anyone who knows me well is aware that I live my life by the calendar and the little beeps my phone makes whenever an appointment is imminent.  Being so fond of this type of structure it is somewhat surprising that I truly find the alarm clock to be mean and vile thing!  Especially at 330 am!  Which is the time that Tom must wake up in order to be awake enough to actually teach his 5 am bootcamp!  330 am is a time of day when only bad things happen!  Shins run into the end of bed and clothes play hide and seek in the dark.  The coffee pot has not yet perked and there is definite frigidness in the air.  The biggest problem with alarm clocks as 330 am is the days when the alarm goes off long enough to produce enough "awakeness" for me to not be able to drift back off into the beautiful world of dreams.  Those are the days that make me curse physical fitness and anyone who would really want to run in the dark.

But for the next eight weeks the alarm is off.  The 5 am bootcamp is being taught by some other fanatic and my husband is sleeping in!  What a concept!  What a wonderful gift to him and to me and to us!  Who knew that a simple 3 hours of extra sleep could produce a man who has so much energy. Who knew that 3 hours of sleep could ease the blast of cold air when one partner slips out to start the day.  Who knew how quiet it is at 330 and 400 and 430 and 500 when no alarms or feet or keys are moving  in the house.  Who knew that killing the alarm clock could produce such a symphony of quiet and peace....maybe I can convince him that 5 am is okay without him forever!  Here's to all the men and women who are suffering through a new instructor so I can have a few weeks of blissfully alarm clock heaven!