The Blog has Died

Recently I made the decision to un-tether myself from Twitter and Blogs and in large measure, to Facebook.  It has been 7 weeks and I like not being distracted by all the “noise.” 

Sure, I might miss a good leadership nugget or a link to an incredible story or to free streaming of a informative podcast or conference, but I need the silence.  God is leading me to continue in this decision.

I know it has been a long time since I last blogged, and to my 8 readers, it might be a lot longer until I write again, lest I find a specific reason for doing so.

That’s a lot of C%#@

Our cat Bailey is one year short of 20.  She is an old cat.  She lives exclusively in our basement because she is afraid of the dog.  She chose to live in the basement and so we have tried to make it as comfortable as possible for her.  Other than missing a little sunlight, I think she enjoys basement living; it is like an underground penthouse.

Anyway, the other day I did some calculation on how much kitty litter we have purchased over the last, nearly two decades.  In that time we have purchased over TWO TONS of litter.  That my friends is a lot of c%#@.  Can you imagine if we never scooped the box?

Sometimes people live their whole life without “scooping out the box.”  We are poisoned by negative events and painful memories.  Yet Jesus came to redeem every area of our lives.  So let me query,  ”What are you allowing to contaminate your life?”  What is loitering in your soul that needs immediate and permanent eviction?  Go ahead and begin scooping.

It Doesn’t Belong to You Anyway

Yesterday as I drove up to a stop sign, I lowered my window and slipped a middle-aged woman holding a cardboard sign a twenty dollar bill.   She was 1 of 4 cardboard sign holders I saw as I drove my son to soccer practice and my daughter to the church. I had a One and a Five, but decided to give the larger amount.

Like you, I wondered if I should give anything to anyone because who could really tell if they were legit or just panhandling.  All four signs I read yesterday said they were desperate and needed help; adding on the bottom a “God Bless You”, which I don’t know if they meant that for everyone or just those people willing to help them.

But God has blessed us and so every once in a while when I feel anxious about money, I give some money away.  Yes, we tithe to the church and support a few missionaries, but sometimes I get a little worried about how much money I have, so I give some away.  However, I am not really giving it away because it was not mine to begin with.  And I am not really being generous because I keep way more than I give away and how can I give what is not really mine?

In 1 Chronicles 29:14 King David who collected an abundance of money and supplies in order to build the temple writes: But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.

I encourage you to think about David’s words today.  Are you holding on too tightly to what doesn’t really belong to you anyways?

Faith like a Child

Below you will find an excerpt from a blog written by a Father of a young lady (early 20′s) who in the last 2 years has spent more time in the hospital–at times near death–then time outside the hospital.  In fact, in her life she has spent countless days in the hospital. Karis used to attend our church.  I urge you to take a few minutes to read Karis’ perspective on God in the midst of all her difficulties.

I spent the morning today (Sunday) with Karis, in between the various interventions that had to be done.  We had a precious time talking about Ephesians 5.1 ­ “Be imitators of God, as His beloved children.”  Two challenging paradigms!  Having God as our standard, our rule of conduct, the measure of our thoughts.  Oh, Lord!  And to do that as a child who imitates his Daddy.  With that simplicity, joy, abandon, wonder and absolute confidence that his Dad or Mom is the most incredible person who exists.  Karis understands that much better than I do.

As we talked, I asked Karis what three attributes or characteristics of God most warmed her heart.  “First,” she said, “he is trustworthy.  He is the Great Strategist.  He plans and cares about the most diverse details of my life; I wait in suspense to see what each moment of that plan is going to reveal.  He has an abundance of goodness such that it is no problem to him to sacrifice something I consider immensely good and precious, knowing that he has something even better for me.”  For me (David) to hear that after Karis spending 20 days in the ICU and 11 more in the hospital leaves me with tears in my eyes.

Secondly, Karis is really grateful that God is a God of suffering.  He understands and participates in her suffering.

Thirdly, Karis marvels that God esteems her, looks at her as someone who has something to offer, something to do for Him.  Even though that usefulness has to be expressed principally at this time through being in a bed or sitting in a chair in a small room, she is filled with wonder that God sees that as a context in which to use her.  He values her and what she can do for him.  She is amazed at his humility, descending to be by her side, to raise her up, care for her, use her.  Loving.  Caring.  Giving of himself for her.

At that point I (David) understood better what Jesus meant when he said “Unless you become like little children, you won’t be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven.”  May I grow in my ability to be more childlike!

Short

Short is hip.  When ever I drive anywhere I am always thinking about a shortcut.  At Wal-mart I look for the shortest checkout lane.  I microwave popcorn and I eat instant oatmeal to shorten the cooking process.  When I approach a stop light I get in the lane with the shortest line of cars.  Heck, I even learned recently that you can shorten the link to this blog so you can post it to the mandatory shortness of Twitter posts.  Short is everywhere.

We like short.  Short makes us feel like we can accomplish more in less time.  But short can also be deceptive.  Short might take less time but it does not always yield the results we want.

Short workouts don’t build muscle mass (no matter what the infomercials tell us).  Short walks don’t create cardiovascular health.  Short nights of sleep break us down physically and emotionally.  Short amounts of time in the Bible results in plateaued followers of Jesus.  Short amounts of time spent doing anything usually doesn’t result in much satisfaction.  Some things, like relationships, Christ-likeness, excellence in sport, or being a great parent just take time and there are no shortcuts.

Short might be in but it is not always satisfactory.