Fireworks and Fiery Words!*

 As a young man, I may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to fireworks. I loved lighting the tiny little fuse and waiting for the big BOOM! Something about the smell of the gunpowder that excited me as a young boy and the thought of blowing up small things. Even when I didn’t have fireworks, I had learned that if you put “strike anywhere” match heads in the nut between two bolts and drop it on its end, it would explode with a loud noise and shoot the bolts into the air… (unless you twist the bolts too tightly and it blows up before you drop it… you wanna know how I know that?) Now the warning on the side of the Roman Candles says “do not hold in your hand, light and get away,” obviously did not apply to me, especially when my college friends and I would shoot them at each other. Any time we passed a firework stand we bought a few to make the evenings interesting. You would think that having a firecracker blow up in my fingers as a 10 year old would have cured my recklessness with the small incendiary devices, however, that was not the case. There were many fireworks launched by me and others that I wish I could have brought back, but that is impossible once the fuse is lit.  My friends almost burned down my bestman’s neighborhood at my bachelor party while shooting Roman candles at each other without considering that a dead and dried up 20 foot evergreen tree was in the blast area.  The resulting conflagration could be seen throughout his fancy neighborhood and the heat was so intense that we couldn’t approach it. Fortunately, by the time someone got the presence of mind to grab a garden hose, the fire had lessened considerably. I was just glad it wasn’t close to the house and that the grass was green and well watered. I did finally get some sense and better judgment when my own kids were young, but the firework danger was just as present.  At one family gathering some nephews decided to shoot some bottle rockets into my dad’s field that had been cut, but not yet baled. The hay ignited immediately. If not for the quick thinking of my niece, who grabbed a water hose and dowsed the flames, the whole field, and neighboring fields, houses, and barns could have been destroyed as the wind was whipping that night. 

In the early church, apparently there were some people who were “shooting off at the mouth” saying harmful and hurtful things to other people and not considering the consequences of their verbal recklessness. Their words, once spoken, like a lit Roman Candle, could not be retracted. So, James the half brother of Jesus, gave this reminder to God’s people: “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:5–6) Sometimes we all need to be reminded to be careful about our words. Our words, carelessly launched into the lives of those around us can be so destructive, some to be remembered for a lifetime, even in spite of our attempts to take them back later. Our words can also be like gasoline or water on a fire of gossip.  So let’s be careful out there, with our fireworks and our words. 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

Wasp Stings and Other Things!*

Credit: Britannica

 

When I was in Middle School, my father bought a mini-farm. It was a plot of about 7 acres on the Little River just outside of Knoxville. It had a little farmhouse, a garage that also pretended to be a small barn, a smokehouse and a boat dock. It was a place where boys could grow up, get some bumps and bruises from hard work, learn about planting and harvesting a garden, about the circle of life, and about God’s blessings. Where a kid could eat a cherry right from the tree, catch a catfish, pick a salad of bibb lettuce, green onions and a tomato.  I started growing some calluses (in the form of blisters) from using a shovel. My dad gave me a task with our new land. The smokehouse had to come down, it was falling apart and was an eyesore. So, I was given a crowbar. I started pulling boards off the little dilapidated shack that no longer smoked meat. This promised to be a fun exercise for a kid who loved to build with blocks then knock them down. As I was pulling down a board, I hit a wasp nest. They came flying out… mad as hornets. As I ran away one landed on my arm. I was paralyzed in anticipation of the pain that was coming. It felt like I was in slow motion. I couldn’t even swipe it off my arm. I watched as that wasp sat down on my arm, stinger first. My eyes welled up with tears and blurred out what happened next as that little devil stung the fool out of me.  My mother saw what happened and came to check on me. She brought a wet cloth and consoled me. This was the first of bites, stings, and bruises that I would experience on this new-to-us mini-farm. That would do it for the demo until Dad could dispatch the angry wasps and help me complete the task. I went to sit on the dock and watch the slow roll of the lazy river, the occasional fish jump, feel the embrace of the large trees and rolling green hills around me, and feel the cool breeze as my arm throbbed. After several minutes, I was throwing rocks into the water and looking for a worm to fish with. I’m thankful for parents who let me try things, and get bee stings, but also that they were there offering compassion and help when challenges beyond my capacity came. 

The prophet Isaiah tells God’s people that they will have hardships, but that God will comfort them and see them through. He tells them: “For this is what the LORD says:  “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees.As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes.”(Isaiah 66:12–14) The Bible doesn’t say God won’t give us more than we can handle, but that He will be with us through those challenges.  If we never face a difficulty that is bigger than us, what need would we have for God? God does let us endure hardships to grow us in maturity and enrich our relationship with Him. He sees us, He hears us, He is glad to be with us, He loves us, and He wants to do good things for us. (Jim Wilder) We can trust His love for us even through wasp stings and other things. 

Hang in there people! God is Glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

A Counting or Accounting?*

 

As a seminary student, I volunteered and interned in the student ministry at a local church. One mission trip took about 100 students and adult leaders to the mountains of Colorado. We helped some churches there while learning and growing together in Christ. We generally did our mission/ministry work in the mornings and had a few hours in the afternoon of free time to hike and explore the mountains around our camp and lodge, then we had a worship and reflection time in the evenings. One particular day there were 25 of us hiking around the top of this mountain. It was beautiful, but we could see a rain storm quickly approaching. We began sprinting down the trail toward the camp, but this storm caught us on the side of the mountain. It was raining buckets of water, the wind was blowing hard enough to make the rain sting, and there may have even been some small hailstones. Some of us found a small ledge to crawl under until the worst had passed. Students and adults talked excitedly about the storm and what we had seen and experienced as the rain turned to a sprinkle and was gone as quickly as it came. We headed, cold and soaking wet, toward camp. As the leaders began to take a mental roll call of the students who came with us, we knew we had them all.  One young lady, however, noticed her friend was struggling to keep up and seemed a little confused, so she let an adult know. The nurse who had hiked with us, instantly recognized that the girl was on the verge of a diabetic coma. The girl had brought a rescue candy bar in case her blood sugar got too low, but in the excitement of the storm, she forgot to eat it and had gotten to the point where she could not even chew it. We had her sit down on a rock as her eyes started to roll back in her head. The quick thinking nurse asked the kids if they had any juice. One kid said, “I do!” The nurse helped the girl get her mouth open and sip the orange juice, all the while, telling her loudly, to “stay with us!,” and “keep drinking!” and “you are going to be okay!” The kids and other adults began to pray. After several scary minutes the girl responded and began to rouse. She was able to get her blood sugar back up and we helped her back down the mountain to the lodge. She was able to enjoy the rest of the week and return home safely. 

 

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that leaders are “those who must give an account” for their flock. When the apostle Peter was talking to the early church leaders, he was reminding them of their role as shepherds who take care of the flock. They are not just sheep counters, they take account of the condition of those in the flock. He says to the leaders, “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve…” (1 Peter 5:2) When I think of a good shepherd, I think of that nurse, who “just happened” to be on that trip as an adult leader, and take that particular hike, and recognized the signs of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and knew what to do, so that the story ended well. God sent her to be the good shepherd representing the Good Shepherd (i.e. Christ) in those moments. There may be friends around us who need someone to notice them struggling physically, emotionally, or spiritually. God may be entrusting us, to help them in some way, not just count them as friends, but give account for their wellbeing.  Be listening for His leading.

 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

No Sleep For Your Eyes!*

 I was reminiscing a few days ago with Chad, a co-laborer in Christ. He had joined my adult leadership team in my first ministry out of seminary. I was the student minister, he was a big hearted skilled craftsman, whose faith had recently been radically revived. The church had an exceptional group of kids and an adult leadership group that was fantastic. On our first mission trip, I took these kids to Cordele, Georgia to help a seminary friend, Ira, who was a church planter. His church start was in the government assisted housing neighborhood he had grown up in. The first night of this mission trip, Ira took us to his old neighborhood in our church van towing a trailer and had us park right in the middle of the community. He asked if he could stand on top of the van and borrow our portable sound system to address the crowd. We said, “sure.” We all prayed and he instructed us that when he finished a short sermon we could go meet the neighbors and invite their kids to our Vacation Bible School. But the moment he climbed on top of the van and people began to come outside their apartments to listen, he said the Lord overwhelmed him and he began to prophesy against some of the people in that community. He called them by name and told them to repent. One man in particular, he called by name and told him if he did not repent the Lord would prevent him from sleeping. Ira said, “no sleep will touch your eyes until you turn to the Lord, and repent from your sins.” That man and some others yelled back at Ira, telling him to shut up and go away.  Once my friend came down from the top of the van we sang a hymn and left quickly. Obviously, after that our VBS plans were changed and we wouldn’t be going back to that community. We completed our week helping my friend clean up his rented building, hosting a very small VBS, and helping him host a revival night at his church. Some people came to Christ that revival night, but I never knew what came of those he had prophesied against, until now, 30 years later.  Chad told me that a couple of years after I had returned to Texas to another ministry position that he, by chance, was at a gas station somewhere in Georgia when a man came up to him saying he needed a little money for an alternator for his car so he could get home. He had most of the money but he needed $20 more. Chad helped the man and as they talked and walked to the auto parts store, Chad discovered that the man was from Cordele, GA. Chad told the man he had been to Cordele on a mission trip. The man stopped him and said, did you have a preacher on top of a van with a trailer behind it? Chad said, “yes!” The man said, “that preacher on top of the van told me I wouldn’t sleep until I repented. It was true, I was a drug dealer and a pimp, I was a bad man.” He said, I couldn’t sleep, no matter what I tried. He said he tried lots of alcohol… no sleep! All kinds of pills… no sleep! He became so miserable he tried overdosing, but still no sleep! He said he finally went to the church and repented from his sins and was saved that day. 

The biblical prophet, Jeremiah, tells us that true prophets of God are known by their prophecies coming true (Jer. 28:9). And when God is speaking to Ezekiel, He tells him: “As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD.’ My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. “When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.” (Ezekiel 33:30–33) Wow, I hope we are never the ones who come just to hear good music or a gifted communicator, but never listen to God’s reminders of how we are to treat Him and other people if we really love them, then end up on the wrong end of God’s prophecy.  God loves us too much to let us stay in sin, so He is gracious to pursue us and give us grace when we repent. 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

Camp Ba-Yo-Ca Grace in Weakness!*

In late elementary school I was on a camping trip with some R.A.’s (Royal Ambassadors, kinda like the Baptist version of boy scouts). We were all excited and going to an overnight camp at Camp Ba-Yo-Ca (a clever 1958 name for Ba-ptist Yo-uth Ca-mp). Interestingly, this sounded to me a little like Kum ba ya, an old Gullah song, made popular at youth camps in the 1950’s and 60’s. The camp was in the East Tennessee mountains and had old fashioned bunk cabins and a lake (which a cousin ended up in somehow in her sleeping bag on a Girls In Action or GA’s trip on another occasion). It also had a fire pit!!! These are boy magnets for poking with a flaming stick, making s’mores, and heating rocks! This all in spite of the adults warning that “If you play in the fire, you will wet the bed!” We arrived late afternoon on Friday so the Dad leaders could get off work to come lead the camp. As the evening progressed with dinner and games and Bible Study, I started feeling pretty lousy. I had an earache, my throat hurt, my head hurt. I was miserable, but I was determined to make it through.  Our new pastor had driven the hour and a half to come lead a Bible Study at the fireside and I knew there would be fun hikes and games the next day. One of the Dads saw me fading fast when I couldn’t even make a s’more. He found a phone in the cafeteria to call my Mom (this was back in the day of only landlines, nearly 4 decades before cell phones). By this time I was chilling with fever spikes, so my friend’s Dad drove me home.  I was so disappointed at first, but relieved to know I could sleep in my own bed, get some TLC from my Mom, and medicine from my Doctor, who also happened to be my Dad, who was on call and not able to go to the camp.  Sometimes, regardless of our determination, we just can’t make it through… we need God’s mercy, grace and provision. If we could do everything by sheer determination of our will, we may think we have no need for God, that we can do it all ourselves. Sometimes God entrusts us with more than we can handle on our own, so we can stay better connected with Him. He is always God-with-us, but we sometimes need to be reminded Who we belong to. 

 

The Apostle Paul was a very determined and driven religious man. He was a scholar,  “a Pharisee descended from Pharisees,”(Acts 23:6)  and a fierce defender of what he thought was right. Today, he would be considered a type A personality.  He had endured many hardships and survived shipwrecks, and beatings. He had first encountered Christ in a very dramatic way and seen amazing things in the heavenly realms. He could have become arrogant because of all he had experienced and accomplished. But God knows our tendencies… to take credit for His work when He entrusts us with exceptional experiences, so, sometimes He also has to entrust us with challenges to keep us in right relationship with Him.  Paul, as he wrestles with his own arrogance, says to those in the early church, “Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:6–10) So, the next time God entrusts us with a great experience and He also entrusts us with a failure, in spite of our fierce determination, we need to remember that in our weakness, Christ’s power rests on us. Christ can be exalted when we are humbled. He assures us “my grace is sufficient for you…” 

 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

Wake Up!*

 

One glorious Summer day at a pool party at a friend’s house. We played all day, in the water, out of the water, inside the house, outside the house. We played sharks and minnows, Marco Polo, mimic my dive, splash contests, underwater distance contests, even some relay races… There weren’t many moments not spent in the pool or on the deck.  My friend, however, also had a mini-bike, Big Wheels, and a roller coaster in his garage. So, every moment was filled with gobs of fun. We of course snacked with Goober PB & J sandwiches. Goober was a Peanut Butter jar with Jelly stripes already in it made by Smuckers. It looked so cool.  They also had Koogle peanut butter, which was made by Kraft with chocolate, cinnamon, banana, and vanilla flavors.  Every kid wanted these, because we had all seen them on the TeeVee on Saturday mornings with our cartoons. It was a whole day of kid indulgence holding nothing back. Eventually though, everyone at the party left. My mother had an extra errand to run, so my friend’s mom said she’d be glad for me to stay a little while. My friend had gone inside and his mother was just sitting on the steps in the pool.  I was on the Big Wheel riding slowly around the pool deck when the next thing I know, the Big Wheel and I are in the water in the deep end. I don’t remember any of it, until I was awakened by the water. The Big Wheel sank to the bottom and my friend’s Mom came to check on me. Apparently the overindulgences of the day had put me in a sugary, dehydrated, exhausted coma. 

When John shared the Revelation of Christ with the Church at Sardis, Jesus gave them a warning. Sardis was a wealthy city, with luxurious living.  Apparently, the church had been lulled into an indulgent stupor and had forgotten how it was like them to act as Jesus followers. They had the appearance of being alive and doing good, but they were not. Jesus reminds them not to be fooled into thinking that they are living right just because they are living well.  He says,  “‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. ‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. ‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. ‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” (Revelation 3:2–5) 

As soon as I hit that water on my Big Wheel ride at my friend’s house, I woke up and jumped right back out. Jesus says, repent, which means do a 180, to turn around! Sometimes abundance makes us forget about those who lack, but even worse our contentment can make us oblivious to our desperate need for God.  If these words are a reminder for us today, God, give us ears to hear the Word of the Lord! 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

Anxious? What's the Answer?*

 In my mid 20’s, I had the privilege to go to South Africa.  One of the highlights of the trip was an overnight stay on a gamefarm on the edge of Kruger Park. We rode on a game viewing truck, think padded bleachers on the back of a Landcruiser truck.  He drove us around and we saw many beautiful and unique creatures.  It was amazing. We had a braai that night, think, barbeque with meat and vegetables on a griddle over coals from an open fire.  It was delicious. I had never seen the Southern Cross so clearly in the night sky; it was awe inspiring (think Crosby, Stills, and Nash, “when you see the Southern Cross for the first time, you understand now why you came this way, the truth you might be runnin’ from is so small, but it's as big as the promise... of the coming day.”).  Our host left late that night to drive home. He told us to walk out to the watering hole to do some game viewing the next day.  He’d pick us up in the afternoon. All I could think of was the intimidating roars of the lion we had heard in Kruger Park a few miles away. It was quite a vulnerable feeling walking out a dirt road armed with nothing but a camera, still groggy from staying up too late the night before. We joked that we didn’t have to outrun a lion, just each other, unless there were two lions! Sticking together, we quickly made our way to find the viewing stand.  We looked intently into the bush, as our host had taught us, to see if we could see any eyes looking back at us: some looking to run from us, some ready to eat us. We saw some amazing wildlife and enjoyed the rugged beauty of the bush, but it was a very humbling experience. 

The Apostle Peter warned God’s people not to be anxious, because God cares for His own. However, anxiety, pride, and lack of connection with God make us vulnerable to a Spiritual Predator out there who is looking to do us harm. Peter tells us to stay humble and alert, remember we belong to God, and we can trust  Him with all those things that make us anxious.  He reminds them, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:5-9)  So, remember Whose family you belong to, stay humble, alert, and sober minded, and give ALL your anxiety to the One who sees us, hears us, is glad to be with us, loves us, and wants to do good things for us! 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!