You're not thinking that are you?

Here is a post from one of my yesteryears...

There it was, it call was clear and loud.
 

I passed it by and thought well of myself, only to find my mind running back to its location.

 

What's a man to do, after all I'm only human.

 

I can stand up to this, truly, I can! No Bill, don't, Bill, stop, BILL!!!

 

I lost, there in my hand was the Payday bar. Not just any Payday bar but the AVALANCHE Chocolate Payday bar. How was I to resist, it's aroma was leaking through the outer wrapper and well, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, so I bought it.

All the way to the register my taste buds were crying out DON'T WAIT, but the penalty would be more than the sugar rush and possible weight addition, if I opened it and consumed, I may get to visit those nice young men in their wonderful uniforms.

 

As the sign in one of the stores said... Those who shoplift get a free taxi ride downtown in a police car. Well I've been to Chicago and survived that cab ride, I didn't want to take my chances on the one that stopped at the Three hots And A Cot Hotel. I did my time in jail.... As a chaplain, stop worrying.

 

Well enough running off at the stupid words side of life, have you found yourself in a situation where it was more than a Payday bar?

What's the one thing satan can use to get you off track?

 

What little whisper or colorful image does he employ to get your mind off the straight and narrow and begin to drown you in a sea of regret?

 

Well my friend, no matter what it is, your not alone. All of us have something that if others knew about it, we'd be horrified for life.

 

Let's talk about you how to begin to face this monster of Temptation...

 

First, admit it, I mean it. This is not some coy use of words. Find someone you can really trust and TELL THEM. The enemy's number one tool to keep you shame filled and defeated is worry about the judgmental attitude he tells you others will have. The power of a dirty secret is that it's a secret. I have found that I have 1 or 2 people in my life that I can come clean with (great phrase if you truly want to clean up your act). This is not a guarantee that you won't face it again, but when you do, you have somewhere to run and tell. A friend of mine has a great phrase he shares regularly, A burden shared is a burden cut in half.

 

Second, quit the blame game. I don't know your story and I am not trying to minimize your pain, but it's your turn now. You can make a choice, it's the way God made us, it's called free will. You see, once you know it's wrong and you know to blame it on whoever victimized you, you are now aware of both sides of the issue. Now it's your turn. Make the choice, do the thing you wanted the person who hurt you to do. Stop the cycle, quit the blame game.

 

Third, remember you've got an ally. Jesus was tempted like we were (Hebrews 4:15-16) but won the victory over the satan's attacks. One of my favorite verses to recall when I get my wits about me in a tempting situation ( I wish my wits would show up more often, don't you? I mean your wits no mine!) is I Corinthians 10:13. Listen to it's words and let them sink in...

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

I Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

Broken down it looks like this...

...Sex, Drugs, Bad Music (Country can be as bad as Rock), Greed, Power Hunger, Rage, jealousy, Violence, Stealing, Adultery, Booze, Etc, I could go on and on. ALL BEEN TRIED BEFORE AND WITH THE SAME RESULTS!!! The person either gave in or not. But you're not the first to struggle with what you have going on in your melon.

...Since Jesus understands this, he is willing to help you get the victory over it.

...When you get the upper hand with His help, you're actually picking up strength for the next time the chump comes calling.

Can't find anyone to talk to? Tell Me! I've heard a lot of things, yours can't be too far from the one I heard during my time in jail. Or if you think that's bad, I ran youth camps for 5 years, now that trumps the jail. At least in jail I had bars between me and the most violent ones!

Hey, I'm serious, don't let satan dim your light, Tell someone (become accountable), Quit pointing fingers (there's more pointing back at you when you do), and Put your hand in the hand of the man Who stilled the water, Put your hand in the hand of the man Who calmed the sea, Take a look at yourself And you can look at others differently, Put your hand in the hand of the man From Galilee (yes it's an old song, but the words fit).

 

You're Not Alone, take a look at the picture again, see whose in the ray of SONshine...

Easy? I should say not...

I sit here staring at a keyboard and realize that you may or may not have read the previous three posts on this topic….

First was, “I Love Complicated”, what a crazy thing to say about wanting to know how to find God…

Next, I wanted you to see that inside of you is a compass that points to things we all, in spite of our background,  says that we know what is right, even if it is skewed…. A Good Hard Kick In The Shin...

Then we visited the front page of the newspaper Dating Jesus?...

Now, let’s stagger into another thought along this path of fuzzy ramblings…

Let me say this before I ramble on… I am sorry for the times I’ve personally complicated life for those within as well as those without the faith.  I can only say that I was sincere and believed that I WAS leading others in the right way.  And despite my failings, God has been faithful, I am so thankful and blessed by this fact.

Now, onto deeper waters (well as deep as a short man can go).

What would you say if I told you that if you want to go to heaven you must learn to juggle to go to heaven?  If you can’t learn to juggle or are without the means physically, then you will just have to find some way to enjoy hell.  Did I really say that, enjoy hell?

Let me use these two thoughts as a spring board to begin our quest for deeper water.

First, no one, and I mean no one, will, if they make hell, enjoy themselves.  The other simple thought is that those who talk of such things like having parties in hell, have no concept of what total chaos, pain and confusion are.  Add these and other things I have no idea how to describe and put them in a glass and no one would even take a sip, let alone guzzle it.  One touch of a hot piece of metal against your flesh and you would be crying out to momma.  Hell, even if I am wrong about the fire, is a place described as torment.  I’ve gotten a glimpse of torment as I watched a cancer patients struggle so hard to breath that their facial expression was crushed by their all out effort to gain one more sip of air for their fluid filled collapsing lungs.  The face was gruesome but it does not hold a lamp to the things hinted at in hell by writers much more skilled than I.

You may think me archaic to talk of hell, but despite the fact that I don’t like the topic doesn’t make it any less a reality.  As a matter of fact, I don’t like roller coasters, I have an aversion to them even though my younger days were filled with rides, smiles and screams of joy.  Today I only shutter and nearly fall over dizzy when watching one at an IMAX theatre.  I just don’t want to pass along false information.  To borrow one of my favorite writers’ book titles, “Hell is Real: But I Hate to Admit It.”

Moving on, let’s get back to juggling…

Can you juggle?  Well, imagine as I said earlier, what if God required you to in order to enter heaven and you couldn’t juggle.  No matter how much you tried you didn’t have a chance. What would you say to that requirement?   Then, just for laughs sake there came along a messenger, he/she told you that you could choose any professional juggler to do your juggling for you and you would be admitted into heaven based on that juggler’s ability.  To the first you may say “foul”, but the second you might breathe a sigh of relief.  I was sitting here realizing it has been nearly 20 years since I juggled, I was never great and would not have had a career doing it, but it was amusing to the attendees at the local ball parks where I was an umpire.  It occurred to me when I started typing this juggling illustration I have used many times that if I was to face God, I now would be disqualified because I am “out of practice”.

Hmmmm… that bothers me.  Does that bother you?

Let’s do a little thinking, just for the sake of my comfort if not yours.  I think down deep inside, all of us want to go to a “better place”, we want our loved ones to go to a “better place”, but what does it take to go to a  better place?  In other words, what do you think God requires for you and I to be admitted into heaven?  God says about himself “I am holy” (recorded by Peter, the one called St. Peter, but I am not sure he’s at the gate though).  Peter proceeded this phrase by one of comparison, “be holy…” then “for I am holy.”  Wow, holy.  Websters defines “holy” as “religious and morally good”.

Again, I say…  hmmmm… that bothers me.  I wonder again, does that bother you?

Morally good, that is something that you and I can identify with and most of us have done a good job, we’ve probably kept most of the rules.  But have we kept them all?  Did we always do what mom and dad wanted?  Did we ever stretch the truth (lie) before?  Not a blatant everyone gets hurt lie, but you know, just one to keep things calm in a tense situation.  I could go down the list of possibilities, but it’s futile if you think about it, we know we’re not perfect morally.  Maybe good, really good, but not perfect, you see all of us have an idea of morally good, but compared to God, who is perfect, we fall short of his “holiness”.

Now, you may already see my line of reasoning and are all set to counter it with “you’re just trying to trick me/us.”  But what if I’m not trying to trick you?  Truly what good would it do me to guilt you or shame you into following something or someone.  You’ve been down that road, maybe it was a preacher or some TV evangelist or maybe your goody-two-shoes neighbor.  It may have been a date, a girlfriend/boyfriend, salesman or multilevel marketing program.  Regardless, if it feels like you’ve been taken down the road it doesn’t feel good.  I’ve been taken, and I don’t like it any more than you.

Do what you wish with what I am about to write, i really care about you and I don’t need any more enemies than I already have.  So don’t take my word for what I am about to share and for certain don’t shoot the messenger.

Holiness = juggling.  Professional juggler = Jesus.  Not being perfect = sin (that is God’s term, not mine).  

And the answer to the dilemma?  Be willing to admit you’re not perfect, Jesus was, his death on the cross was the ultimate payment for your sin and ask him to forgive you and give you heaven in exchange for your limited life here on earth.  One second after you leave here (die) you will be glad you did, even eternally grateful.

Don’t complicate things any more than you have to, it’s relatively simple (or at least I think it is), this way of getting to heaven is the most fair, most complete and the most reliable.  Jesus said it himself, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father (God) except by me”

You see…

Christianity, Jesus is truly the fairest option…

...Everybody is welcome (no matter who you are, what you believed, where you were born or what you’ve done)

...Everybody gets in the same way (there are no “elitists” or “more spiritual” way with secret doors chants or rituals)

...Everybody can meet the requirement (Jesus makes you righteous when you simply ask him to forgive you)

One last thought, this one if from a murderer who met Jesus on a trip, it was his own transformation that he was explaining and inviting others to share, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.   As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”    Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him.  For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

His name was Paul, you may know him by his religious name of St. Paul.  By the way, he hung with that other “saint” guy, Peter, as a matter of fact, they both believed the same thing….

Till next time….

Dating Jesus?

This little visit will be shorter than the others but as much to the issue as any of them…

Have you seen today’s paper?

If you have then you are privy to a clue into the puzzle of a carpenters’ life and his claim of divinity…

 

As I put these words in this post, there is a thud outside my front door, the Sunday paper has arrived.  The date across the top of the paper is August 10, 2014.  Do you know why it is that date?  Not the month, although that may hold clues I am not at this time wondering about.  Not the day of the month, again, it may have significance for a later discussion.  I reference the year.  In days gone by this was said more often, some still use this language.  “In the year of our Lord, two thousand fourteen.”

Yep, that’s the ticket, in the year of our Lord.  This format is referenced in most calendars even if they don’t use the term, in the year of our Lord.  When conducting business, most societies today use this format.  The format has been worked on and adjusted or used in coincidence with this commonly used format.

Some call the dates AD and BC, others use CE and BCE.  Regardless of the format, they refer to an event that happened approximately 2014 years ago.  I say approximately because this event, even among its supporters, has some wondering about days of the week and months of the years, so the debate still lives.  What is interesting is that even it was a year off, the only reason the letters AD, BC, CE or BCE even have any meaning is because of this event.

What is that event?  Jesus.

The calendar you use, the newspaper you read, the TV guide you look to for your favorite show has value because of the life of a carpenter that lived around 2014 years ago. 

You may need exact dates and I can respect that, but I ask you to stop for a moment and ponder this.  We celebrate July 4 each year.  Why?  It is because of a document that was crafted by men who led a young country named the United States.  We know that because of the historical writings of many during that era.   The news was recorded by those who supported the newly formed nation as well as those who opposed.

The same is true of the historical Jesus.  He was written about by those who supported and those who opposed.  You can check it out.

So, I close my short post (written by a short man) with this thought.  If Jesus’ arrival put into place a time measuring system that your company uses for its fiscal policies, governments around the world use for their treaties and documents, newspapers around this globe use for their distribution of news (including TV news) then maybe you should allow yourself to investigate this phenomenon.

Till next time, you have a glorious August 10, 2014…

Me Imprisoned?

Here is an excerpt from one of my favorite books, Traveling Light...


Are you in prison?  You are if you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less.  You are if joy is one delivery away, one transfer away, one award away, or one makeover away.  If your happiness comes from something you deposit, drive, drink or digest, then face it - you are in prison, the prison of want.


That's the bad news.  The good news is, you have a visitor.  And your visitor has a message that can get you paroled.  Make your way to the receiving room.  Take your seat in the chair, and look across the table at the psalmist David.  He motions for you to lean forward.  "I have a secret to tell you," he whispers, "the secret of satisfaction, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want" (Ps. 23:1 NKJV)


It's as if he is saying "What I have in God is greater than what I don't have in life."


You think you and I cold learn to say the same...


From Traveling Light, Max Lucado

Primed?

It's not a familiar sight these days with all the modern conveniences of life, but it's one that still has meaning to me. I saw it recently and it inspired me to think of a lesson in life that I have been taught and reminded of many times.

Those of you who have a few memories behind you will relive days gone by. Your heart will be warmed and chilled, possibly at the same time. Sitting right there, in plain sight, with it's handle in tact and it's pipe extended as if to search for it's catch.

Get ready for a walk down a path of yesteryear's....

There sat a hand pump for a well....

Those of you who lived when houses did not have water in them and a trip to the well meant a number of things will appreciate the next few paragraphs. For those of you who didn't, this would be a great time to practice the principle of this blog entry.

I remember the well pump outside the back of my grandparents house in southern Kentucky. I remember pumping water for every purpose imaginable, all of which now I can turn on a faucet and accomplish.

But one thing stands out to me about hand well pumps. Stories, not experiences. Stories of how if the pump was not used regularly, even some who had some "time" on them, the seals would get dry and the pump would not work.

So, to get the pump to work, you had to pour water into it. There are stories of those who had come upon a well with a bucket of water hung on it with these instructions...

Pour a little water in the pump and pump the handle. Do this a little at a time until the pump begins to bring up water. NOTE: When you are done, make sure to refill the bucket for the next person who will need this pump.

Now, imagine you're thirsty, and you see the bucket of water there. It contains plenty of water for you to satisfy your parched throat. But, if you do that, you will not have the water needed to pump more. But you'd wouldn't be thirsty, your mouth would not stick together.

You reason within yourself, both arguments seem valid...

"What has anyone done for me lately..."

"Someone pumped this bucket full for you..."

"But I don't have the time to do all that work..."

"Someone else took the time..."

"You don't understand, the last time I tried to help, it just made things worse..."

"But the job got done after you learned about your mistakes..."

"Yea, but..."

"I know but..."

"You don't understand..."

"No, you're the one mistaken..."

This could go on forever, all the while, your thirst is not quenched and your conscience is not calmed.
So what would you do?

Better yet, what have you done.

Paul the Apostle writes... Doing nothing through envy or through pride, but with low thoughts of self let everyone take others to be better than himself; Not looking everyone to his private good, but keeping in mind the things of others. (Philippians 2:3-4 BBE).

You see, you've already made a choice.

Some of you have given in to your desire. And there you sit with your belly full and your bucket empty. Emotionally you can't seem to find rest. Spiritually you can't seem to find peace. Relationally you can't find satisfaction.

Some of you have primed the pump and in so doing, you have found the secret to life. Not every day is totally full emotionally but guess what, you've got a bucket from previous visits to prime with. Not every day is filled with peace, but guess what, you can grab that metal handle and pour a little prayer into the well, and in God's time, just like the pump, you get a cool drink of peace to caress your dry soul. All of your relationships are not perfect, but guess what, humility won out and you have a bucket full of forgiveness you can begin working with so that your heart will be lightened when God brings reconciliation.

You see, self says drink up. Self says don't worry about filling up the bucket. Self says Today is all you have. Self says take the bucket with you just in case you get thirsty later. All the while, you forget that self leads to emptiness.

Humility says, someone else thought of you. Humility says, it's hard work, but it's worth it. Humility says I'll do what I can, although I can't do everything. Humility says, I'm not the center of the universe. And when humility wins out, everyone gets a little water.

Let me finish with just a couple of things, hoping they are helpful.

First, humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.

Second, God loves you, and it's not because you're good. It's because He's good. He wants to rain on your soul with forgiveness and confidence.

You will need both, the first to understand what was done for you, the second to do for others because you've been done for.

I pray that you will find a little cool water along your path today, some will need more than others, but remember, none of us are exempt from filling up the bucket again.

None of us...

We may need help pumping, but we're still not off the hook...

Till Next Time...