Keeping it Simple for Stupid

I was talking with David Ladines, the pastor at Spangle Community Church, about my lack of understanding in all things mechanical.  I explained to him that my problem is not as much about an unwillingness to learn some skills that would benefit the physical state of my house, as it is about the fact that such abilities do not come naturally to me (as they do to some people in a marvelous, and enviable way), and that what I really need is a person with supernatural patience to take me by the hand and walk me ever-so-slowly through the baby steps of home maintenance.

 

Dave understood and talked about how everyone has certain arenas where they have no abilities.  They might want to learn something, maybe even passionately, but don't have a clue as to where they should begin.  Some of us want to play a sport or make a musical instrument produce something besides noise.  Others wish they could cook delicious meals or write a story that fascinates readers.

 

As a pastor, he explained, there is an obvious desire for members of his congregation to show more interest in the Bible.  Of course he wishes they took the time to read it on their own and to grow in their knowledge of God, but he understands that many people are as intimidated by the Bible as I am by a circular saw or a fishing rod.  Most of his church members really want to be more comfortable with their Bible but end up being overwhelmed and frightened.  Because of this, they do what I do when it comes to mechanical and electrical work--they avoid it altogether.

 

Then Dave said something that really made sense to me.  He told me that in times past, everyone brought a Bible to church because "that is what you do."  "But in this day and age," he explained, "that doesn't happen very much.  People who brought their Bibles to church didn't normally open them during church anyway, and now that most churches have them handy in the pews, they still don't get opened or read.  Maybe it is because people will be afraid that they will be embarrassed by the fact that they can't locate The Gospel of John or The Book of Joshua when asked to follow along with the reading."

 

What Dave told me was that now all the verses are put on a white screen with the use of an overhead.  Spangle Community Church is a small congregation and not on par with many of the large churches who have all of the modern technology at their disposal; but Dave tells me that even with a simple projector, he now sees people in the congregation actually reading along with the words on the screen.  Their eyes involve them in the Bible reading now, when before they were simply spectators.

 

What I saw in Dave's words was a door being opened.  Something basic and elementary, something everyone could wrap their minds around, was being given.  It allowed them to enter a room that they could not enter before because the entry now involved a door with a handle that they knew how to operate.

 

Most of us have computers.  Few people understand what makes them work, but some really smart people have made simple doors that all of us can understand.  Those doors are little icons that we can "click" on to enter "rooms".  I don't know what makes the doors (icons) work, but I know that they do.  And over time I have learned that there are incredible things to be discovered in the rooms beyond the doors.  I have also found that endless doors wait beyond that first icon, and once I have gone through the first door, I find that I have gained just a little bit more knowledge and experience to help me understand how to use all those that will follow.

 

It is impossible for me to look at this world and not see that God has made the initial entry into seeing Him remarkably simple and within the common abilities of all people.  There is beauty, there is love, there is infinite "bigness."  When I "click" on those things, I can readily see something about the God who made them. 

 

And then I can see many more doors, behind which are countless and wonderful secrets of God.  And I know that I now have just a little bit more experience to open them.  I will do it one at a time.

 

If I want people to learn what I have to offer, I know that I will have to keep it simple.  I will have to talk to them on their level.  And I will have to give them my knowledge and insight in progressive levels.  Only then will they be able to receive all that I have to offer.

 

God does that.  God makes it simple, and He keeps it coming. 

 

He will show you how to open the doors that stand before you.

 

But you have to turn the knob.  You have to click the icon.  

 

And when you do, you will be amazed at what God has in store for you on the other side. 



Tattle Tales and Cover Ups

I have been a tattletale all of my life.  When I was a child I made my parents aware that my brothers were hitting me and that my sisters were not letting me sit up front in the car when it was "my turn."  Later in life I would point out mistakes that certain individuals made so everyone could get a good laugh.  When I became an adult, I learned to complain to others that "so and so" wasn't doing their job like they were supposed to, and I was having to make up for them.  Of course there have been many other things that I have pointed out to people who "need to know" over the years.  And while most of the tattling varies in the details, one thing has always remained constant--I have let God in on all of the things that everyone else is doing wrong.  Of course, my sole intention is for Him to help them do better next time...not!

 

Let's face it, whenever I tattle (you can call it gossip, sell out, or throw under the bus, now that you are grown up) I usually just want to make someone else look bad so that I can look better.  Okay, yes, sometimes saying something involving a wrong that is being committed is necessary; but if you are doing it just to beat someone down so that you can be "exalted," you probably don't need to say anything at all.  I bet your mother told you that when you were little.

 

When Jesus was hanging on a cross, he said a really strange thing: he said, "Father, forgive them.  They don't know what they are doing." 

 

Now here is the thing.  They were hanging him on a cross, and ridiculing him while he died.

 

I don't think that most of the wrongs committed against us, wrongs that we insist get punished, actually go to that extreme. 

 

But Jesus, dying on a cross, knowing that his Father in Heaven sees the wickedness taking place, says something that I might paraphrase this way: "Okay, yes Father, I know this looks bad--but they really don't have a clue here.  They just don't understand what they are involved in.  So, maybe you could forgive them.  And maybe later on, they might understand and change.  That would be a good thing."

 

So, it is a very loose paraphrase, but the idea is that Jesus was trying to make the perpetrators of really bad things look better, and he did it by saying "They don't know what they are doing."  When people do things to me, I like to say (or at least think), "Get them God, they know exactly what they are up to."

 

It is my selfishness that causes me to want to expose others failures, and to see them punished for those failures.

 

And it is the unselfish nature of Jesus that causes Him to want to forgive others failures and see them lifted out of those failures.

 

Jesus is simply God in pictures.

Cats Are Not God, But Sometimes They Look Like It

My daughter, Amanda, has a cat named Margo.  She came into our home as a kitten and has only been here for around eight months; but it doesn't matter to her--as far as Margo is concerned, she is the god of her world.

 

When Margo arrived, she was cute beyond belief.  She was cuddled and petted and pampered and praised by everyone who saw her.  And now that she has grown, she is beautiful and graceful and confident.  She demands attention at every moment, whether it is through the presentation of her beauty, the acrobatic moves she performs while playing, or certain acts of mischief which she is fully aware she ought not to do.

 

We have given Margo many things.  We have bought her balls with bells and feathers on the end of a string that we swing around with a stick.  We have purchased her a four-foot carpeted pedestal with three scratching posts, a round cylinder halfway up which she can sit inside and peek out of, and a podium at the top where she can stand and survey all of her territories--whether they be in the living room that she rules, or on the other side of the window which faces her throne.  We have also given her access to the things that we consider ours--specifically furniture--which she enjoys sharpening her claws on and then running away with glee once we have responded to her actions with shouts and a squirt bottle of water. 

Margo, like most cats, think she is god.  She takes great joy in all of her godly activity.

There is one thing, however, that receives the joy, gratitude, and approval of the mighty Margo in a way that nothing else does.  That thing is an act where she is removed from the presence of the family surroundings (including our two pesky dogs) and taken alone to some place quiet.  In that place she is petted, rubbed, and scratched behind her ears and under her chin in a way that makes her purr with delight.  She simply can not get enough of the one-on-one interaction with one of her "beings."  While Margo is happy with all of the frivolity of her life, it seems that it is the personal communication (and petting) that makes her existence heavenly.

It is hard not to see God when I think of her activity.  She has a sense of humor and a playful attitude.  She has energy.  She is sometimes hard to hold, and when she puts her paws on something it can hurt.  She has a perch that ought to be her throne, but she can't always be seen there.  It is in her power to be everywhere one moment, and in the next she totally hidden.  Those are attributes that might be ascribed to God.

And when the day is done, there is one place that she really wants to be.  It is a place that brings her joy like no other.  It is that place where she gets to be alone with her subjects--interacting and sharing love.

That is Margo.

I think it is also God.

Just because cats aren't god, it doesn't mean that they don't look like Him sometimes.  Is it any wonder that they think so highly of themselves?

God in Pictures.

A Mother's Day Post Written by a Man--Two Days Late...So Right On Time

While the title of this entry might be intended as a joke, that does not make it inaccurate.  In fact, I meant to write it on Mother's Day but "never got around to it."  And if you are a father, husband, or teenage child (who knows that they should be a part of the process of giving a gift), then it is likely that you can relate to the truth. 

 

It is indeed ironic that this idea came to me when I was shopping on Sunday morning (Mother's Day) at a local store; and of course, I was shopping for a last minute gift of flowers.  I was amazed at how great a selection there was for floral products, considering that at the last minute most people should have already taken care of the responsibility to show their appreciation and love.  But they obviously hadn't.  I was not the only man digging through the greenery for the perfect petals and a fabulous fragrance.  There were dozens of us.  Most of them looked like me.  Well, not exactly, but almost all of the buyers that were not fathers, were children that had not remembered the important day until the last minute.

 

It is the same scene I see amidst the perfumes and jewelry on Christmas Eve.

 

I began to think about this fact as I was driving home and realized that I never see mothers rushing frantically through tool aisles or fishing supplies on Father's Day.  I don't see them pulling out their hair and wondering "Will He like this?" on Christmas Eve.  Mother's have paid attention.  They have noticed.  They have acted.  They have loved.  And they have not waited until the last minute.

 

I have seen it written on greeting cards and refrigerator magnets and coffee table displays that "Because God couldn't be everywhere, He created mothers."

 

That is silly and short-sighted.  One of the main reasons God created mothers is so that He could be everywhere in our daily lives.  A mother does not just share her own love--she does something even greater--she shares God's love.

 

It is a mother that sees what we need when we don't even know it.  She has it always at the ready because the ones that she loves will need it.  When I say, "Where is my lunch?" or "I can't find my clean shirt," it is a the heart of a loving mother (like my wife and my mother) that has already understood my needs and can calmly point me to the place where, in her love, she has already anticipated and met my needs.

 

Mother's show God's love.

 

Tell them that.  You can even print out this post and hand it to them to help them better understand how much you love and appreciate them.  And how grateful you are for their love.

 

And if you are a man, you should try to get to that before the end of the week.

What Kind of Car are You?

I grew up with two older brothers who like "muscle" cars.  I never had the desire to own a fast car (never felt the need for speed), but one day I did find myself alone on a highway, behind the wheel of one of their hot rods, a 1968 Dodge Challenger.  There was no one else anywhere in sight, and the road was straight and dry and free of dangerous obstacles...I just had to put the pedal down and see what that beast would do.

As for my vehicles, they were alwayit more practical.  I went for cars that could reach the speed limit and stay there while not killing my limited budget.  I pushed for cheap, but reliable when buying; and when driving, I pushed my autos to a different limit than my brothers...I was going for the best gas mileage I could get.

Now, I am older and drive cars to a different extreme.  It is an extreme that pushes them for every mile they can get.  There are many drivers in my family and new cars are simply not in the budget, so I say a lot of prayers for, and give a great deal of care to, my old cars.  I baby them as much as I can because I want to extract every mile that they have in them.

Here is the thing--cars are not me, but when I am inside of them, driving them, they become an extension of my being.  I figure out what abilities they have and I push those to realize their greatest potential.  I also determine their weaknesses and find ways to work around those, not wanting them to be destroyed by misuse.  Different cars in different seasons of their usefulness will be treated differently, but they will be utilized in ways that maximize their capabilities.

I look at the human body and see the same thing.  Some of us have talents in music, others in sports.  Some have gifts of teaching or understanding, others of providing compassion and support.  Some are strong physically, others mentally.  Some people live long lives in great health, others live long lives plagued by weakness.  Some don't live very long at all.  No matter what our abilities and talents are, however, we know that we are most fulfilled when we push them to their uttermost limits.

In many ways, God has made us like the drivers of cars.  We are sitting inside of a vehicle that we don't understand.  We don't know what our talents are, nor do we know how far they extend.  What we do know, however, is that we feel wonderful when we are able to test the car/body we are driving.  When we see ourselves becoming stronger, smarter, kinder, more generous, more loving, we sit back and feel good about our vehicle.

God made all of our physical bodies unique.  Some of us are built to go fast, some for practical function, and others for perserverance and dependability.  One of the great beauties of God's creation is seen in our discovery of what the "chasis and engine" of our bodies can do.  God challenges us to put our foot on the pedal and start driving.  It is His desire for us to experience that highway that lies in front of us.  It is, however, scenery that we will not experience until we start driving.

Amazon.com doesn't sell courage--so where do I get it?

Writers Note:  The following is a special guest post as written by David Lewellyn, Student Ministries Pastor at Life Center Foursquare Church in Spokane, Washington.  I am extremely grateful to David for his willingness to participate.  His insights are humorous and thought-provoking as we continue to discover pictures of God in our lives.

 

 

Several years ago, I was invited by Bobby, a mentor and friend, to attend a college basketball game.  At the game, I sat on one end of our group and Bobby sat on the other.  Bobby's young son chose to sit next to me.  Sitting on my other side was someone I did not know.  Someone large and imposing.  Someone loud.  Someone creative.  I went to public school, so I feel like I know my fair share of creative words, but this guy seemed to have a deep well from which to draw in this area.

 

Loudly and aggressively, he hurled insults and expletives at referees, players, coaches, and fans alike.  Unbeknownst to him, he was teaching me new words and creative combinations in which to use them.  He was also teaching Bobby's young son.  I knew I needed to say something, but I was nervous because he was much larger than me and clearly aggravated.

 

After practicing the request in my head, I spoke up.

 

"Excuse me, there are families with kids here.  So would you be willing to use language more in line with a PG rating?"

 

Directing the furrowed brow of his aggravated face (still attached to his excessively large frame) toward me, he snapped back, "Or else what?"

 

It was in that moment, as I attempted to retain the contents of my bladder, that I realized I hadn't thought through it that far. 

 

I was hoping for a response more along the lines of, "I see the error of my ways and will adjust my attitude and actions to greater reflect the person I hope to be.  Also, please tell me how to be a Christian...and do you want an ice cream cone?"

 

Unprepared for his actual response, I was speechless, hoping not to be beat to a pulp in front of my friend's son.  My eyes began searching to see if anyone was seeing my peril.  As I turned my head, I saw Bobby.  Even better, Bobby saw me.

 

There is something you should know about Bobby: he is a very big and athletic guy--much bigger than my new found foe.  He even played professional baseball for awhile.  Knowing that Bobby was now attentive to my situation, I gained a new sense of boldness.

 

"I said, cool it on the swearing!  There are kids who can hear you!" I jabbed back to him with my chest puffed in a show of confidence.

 

At this point the man noticed that he was being noticed (and by someone much larger than himself) and quickly became amiable.  With a silent grumble, he grabbed his coat and left.

 

I spoke to the man twice, once nervously and once with boldness.  What was the difference?  Did I get bigger?  Did he get smaller?  No.  The difference was not in my circumstance, it was in who was with me.  The difference was Bobby.

 

As Christians, we don't need to live in fear.  Not because of who we are, but because of who God is and in the fact that He is always with us.

 

God tells Joshua before sending him into battle, "Be strong and courageous.  Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9  ESV)

 

Likewise, in some of Jesus' final words to his disciples before his ascension, he assures them, "...I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20 NIV)

 

Just as Bobby's presence gave me courage, our courage as Christians comes from the presence of God.  No matter the difficulty of our circumstance.  Be encouraged, be courageous, God is with you!  Trust and rely on Him--and watch your language at basketball games or Bobby and I will find you.

Seeing the 3D World Through Magic Eyes

I was recently looking at an old book called "Magic Eye."  I think that was the title anyway, and if I am correct in that statement, I should make it known that that name is copyrighted and trademarked.  And well it should be, because they are wonderful pictures that challenge our vision and imagination while at the same time encouraging our creativity.  I love to stare at those pictures, moving my eyes back and forth, squinting and opening them wide while waiting for something unseen to jump to life.  And if I am persistent in my search, it always happens.

 

It is amazing really, how I can look at a two-dimensional illustration and see only an odd arrangement of colors and shapes; but when I look longer and harder while altering my point-of view, the reference soon begins to change.  What happens next is usually a slow but certain process in which an image begins to appear and then grow.  Once I detect that image, my eyes become more focused on the object, and soon what was unseen begins to make its presence clear.  And once it is clear, it somehow grows and expands.  It comes to life in three-dimensional clarity.  In fact, it stands alone and begins to obscure the randomness of the colors and shape so that randomness no longer seems to exist at all.

 

And when the image takes this form, it becomes the picture that I am looking at; and I wonder why I didn't see it in the first place.

 

"Magic Eye" pictures actually give you instructions on how to find the hidden objects.  And friends that are standing by add their own thoughts on what you can do in order to get "inside" of the picture.  The reality, however, is that the only way you can discover the wonderful reality which is lurking behind the randomness is to take the time to look for it.  And you must look for it with diligence and persistence.  And when you do, that is when you see something that seems like it was not there in the first place.

 

Even more incredible is the fact that once you discover the image, it doesn't go away.  It remains in your sight every time you look at the page, somehow exhibiting and expanding on the life which you at first did not recognize.

 

I have discovered that this is a how God looks in the pictures of our existence. 

 

While I have spent most of the years of my life looking at a world that seems entirely random, with shapes and colors and people and situations just sitting in places where they seem to have no purpose, I have come to realize that when I look harder and longer at all of the randomness of existence, a living picture begins to appear within them that I had not noticed before.  And the longer I look, the greater the clarity of the picture becomes.  Suddenly I see a new dimension that I did not know existed.  And it comes to life, growing in strength while making the randomness dissolve before my very eyes.  Each shape, each color, each situation, each feeling, is brought to life in the picture of God.

 

But if you want to see God in the two-dimensional picture of life, you have to look at the picture longer and harder.  You might have to squint sometimes, and other times you might have to open your eyes wider.  But when you keep looking, anticipating the reality that there is something more to the picture, I am sure that you will find God.

 

And when you finally do see the picture of God in the tapestry of man, I assure you that you will begin to realize that every time you look at the world, you can find God in it.  He will be living, strong, multi-dimensional, and challenging your senses.  When that happens, you will never see another picture of life that does not have God at the center.

 



"PLAY 60" but "Don't Drag That Dirt Onto My Rug!"

In my last post, I said that parents want their children to go outside and play.  The benefits of getting outdoors--exercise, fresh air, and interaction--make it time well spent, even if the child gets a little dirty in the activity.  When they send their little ones out to play, however, there is one thing that they look forward to more than the time away: that is knowing that their children are going to return and come back into the house.

After a session of outside time, however, it is expected that the return into the presence of mom and dad will be preceded by a removal of the dirt which has attached itself to clothes and shoes.  Most of us have heard our mothers say, "Don't drag that mud all over my clean floor."  Though parents want us to go play in great outdoors, they don't want us to bring it into the house.

Most homes have a door in the garage or rear of the house where children come to remove articles of dress that have been covered in mud or snow.  They are required to return home through that entrance.  And moms and dads are more than willing to help the child get clean before they come in.  The clothes will be taken and washed once they have been removed from the child.  They are not going to make the child stay outside until they have cleaned themselves up, rather, they are going to do whatever they can to make sure that the process is completed correctly.  Parents want to be around their kids--they just don't want to hang around with the dirt that has attached themselves to those precious ones.

When I think of God and the joy of being in His presence, I am assured that He also wants us to step out from time-to-time for exercise, exploration, and interaction.  But He always longs for our return.  And when we do so, usually tainted with some impurity, He is going to direct us through the one door where the cleaning takes place.  Jesus says that He is that door.  He removes the dirt, cleans our clothes, and rejoices in the company of His loving family.

God does not expect us to come to Him already clean.  He knows that there are contaminants in the world that will attach themselves to us.  But He does expect that when we come, we will let Him clean us.  God doesn't want us to drag mud all over His carpet.  So, when we come to the door, He cleans us.

And as it turns out, when we let God do the scrubbing, we clean up pretty nicely.

READERS NOTE:  I am excited to announce that in the next few days we will be having a special guest post written by David Lewellyn, a speaking pastor at Life Center Church.  While listening to David preach a few weeks he ago, He related a wonderful picture story that I felt needed to be shared with my readers.  David has agreed to do so.  I think you will be truly blessed by what he shares.  So, be looking for that.  God bless you all!

 

Grass Stains and Muddy Sneakers

"Play 60" is a campaign that the National Football League is promoting to battle childhood obesity by encouraging vigorous, but fun, outdoor activitity.  It is a program that uses the allure of popular athletes as motivation.  The idea is not new, however.  In my youth, children were also encouraged to get outside and play for substantial periods of time.  Only the method of encouragement was different.

 

"Shut the television off right now and go play outside.  It's a beautiful day!"  That was what our encouragement sounded like, though the tone and use of "colorful" words varied from family-to-family.

 

Parents in our day knew that outside activity was good for kids, so they encouraged it.  They know it today as well, but because many moms and dads are working away from the home, they are not always present to encourage the shutting down of computers and televisions in order to experience live-action playing.  Society, as in the NFL and others, also understands the value, however, and have stepped in to use their clout to encourage good, heart-pumping behavior.

 

There are consequences to going outside to play, however.  And while we focus on the positive aspects, there are things that are less-than-appealing.  First, we are going to get dirty.  There is mud to get on our shoes and grass stains waiting to besmirch the knees of our pants.  There are rocks to trip over and friends that are not going to be nice or play fair.  There are bikes to fall off of.  And there are competitive games waiting to embarrass those of us who are less skilled in the "physical arts."  And perhaps worst of all, if we play too hard, we might end up out-of-breath.  The outside world is filled with undesirable things.

 

But parents still insist that their children go there.  They are well aware of all of the things that I have just mentioned, but they know that the positive benefits far outweigh the negatives.  They know that children can't get stained knees until they experience the soft, beauty of grass.  They know that their shoes can't get mud in the tread until they have traveled to mysterious, new places.  They know that their children can't get their feelings hurt by anyone until they have interacted with others.  And perhaps most important of all, they understand that they cannot impact the world until they have made themselves a part of it. 

 

The positive results that come from getting outside cannot be attained without first stepping out.

 

I think that sometimes God might be saying, "Turn off the spiritual television and go outside."  I think He might get tired of us watching and expect us to interact.  Certainly He is aware that when we do, our knees will get stained from falling down.  He also knows that dirt will attach itself to the bottom of our shoes.  He understands that our feelings will get hurt and we will be treated unfairly.  But He also knows that we will get fat and lazy if we don't exercise.  He knows that we will become selfish if we don't interact with others.  And He knows that we won't be able to impact the world if we aren't a part of it.

 

I think He's willing to let us get a little dirty, tired, and mistreated if ultimately we are able to take His love outside, into a world that really needs it.