There is no hope for a heart that will not open to God. There is no reprieve, no forgiveness, no future, no present, no love. There is no grace for a heart that will not grasp the grace offered. There is no hope for for a heart beaten down by life and its circumstances without looking for the one who conquered all circumstances. There is no good, no fun, no experience, no feeling that can overcome the depths of despair that breathing produces or breathing receives without clutching the Savior's outstretched hand.
Jesus is real. Jesus sustains. Jesus abides. Jesus knows. Jesus cares. Jesus loves, saves, guards, keeps, provides, intercedes, endures, supports, listens, and befriends.
He is hope personified, now and forever.
But without opening to him, there is no hope for that heart.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Joy Ride
Swept away with a current of childhood joy, I returned to my city of birth. The sea that at times gently strokes her shores and at other times buffets her sands, beckoned to me with memories of youth. I immersed by body into the ocean's constantly moving water. I dipped my hands into her undulating sides, as I pulled myself through her crashing waves. Propelled by more than her surf, I remembered days gone by playing in the white fringe of her blue-green skirts.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Art of Loneliness
We were not created to be alone. That is not to say that being alone at times is not refreshing. Sometimes to have the noise of our lives turned down or off is a real energy saving measure with consequences of retuning our hearing (making us at times able, again, to apprehend the subtle sounds in our lives). But we are not created to be alone.
This last week, I was confronted by this truth everywhere I turned. My beautiful wife was visiting her mother. This was a trip that I hoped would invigorate her and give her a break from the day to day life that, in its routine, loses it perceived worth from sheer monotony. She sounded refreshed on the phone when I talked with her.
My fellows in ministry also took leave of my presence and found themselves either enjoying family or enjoying a distinctive ministry setting. I was glad for them, but I remained, as the scripture states, like "a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places. I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop."
I have come to the determination that doing "lonely" is no fun. We were created for relationship, both near and far, and relationship must take place or we "deconstruct." We may not even like each other, but we need each other. We may not even get along well, but in getting along at all we are healthier. It is in the power of rubbing shoulders and sharing life that we overcome, on this earthly plane, the conclusion of our limited eyesight that we are all alone.
May God help us to practice this art.
This last week, I was confronted by this truth everywhere I turned. My beautiful wife was visiting her mother. This was a trip that I hoped would invigorate her and give her a break from the day to day life that, in its routine, loses it perceived worth from sheer monotony. She sounded refreshed on the phone when I talked with her.
My fellows in ministry also took leave of my presence and found themselves either enjoying family or enjoying a distinctive ministry setting. I was glad for them, but I remained, as the scripture states, like "a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places. I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop."
I have come to the determination that doing "lonely" is no fun. We were created for relationship, both near and far, and relationship must take place or we "deconstruct." We may not even like each other, but we need each other. We may not even get along well, but in getting along at all we are healthier. It is in the power of rubbing shoulders and sharing life that we overcome, on this earthly plane, the conclusion of our limited eyesight that we are all alone.
May God help us to practice this art.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Valentine's Day
Cyber Cafe Beau
She's in love
With her "CCB"
Rip-stop pants
"Save the Wildlife" tee
Sipping his latte
He connects to the net
Surfing in c-space
Got his "apple" all set
She's enamored, beleaguered
With her beau on his way
To nowhere, not leaving
He's stationed all day
Just sitting and drinking
On the road to his high
Elite talking erudite
Connoisseur of the chai
She gazes with longing
To catch just one glance
From her dreamer who's dreaming
Of his cyber romance
She's in love
With her "CCB"
Rip-stop pants
"Save the Wildlife" tee
Sipping his latte
He connects to the net
Surfing in c-space
Got his "apple" all set
She's enamored, beleaguered
With her beau on his way
To nowhere, not leaving
He's stationed all day
Just sitting and drinking
On the road to his high
Elite talking erudite
Connoisseur of the chai
She gazes with longing
To catch just one glance
From her dreamer who's dreaming
Of his cyber romance
Monday, February 11, 2008
Missing Church
Saturday afternoon, post-movie daze and I get sick! The flu, or goo, or who knows what assualts me with a temperature, chills and headache. I thought, "Wow, I can't be getting sick, can I?" And sure enough, I fall into the pit of fuzzy headed, throbbing headed, plugged sinused, back aching personhood. It was like the perfect storm. There was no getting around this bugger.
I dutifully call the boss, call my compatriot in music, and collapse in my bed. I am assisted by my most beautiful wife who piles on the blankets after having given me the heating pad at max heat. I don't feel any warmth. Three sets of clothes on and crushed beneath the load of all these heating elements and I continue to feel nothing. She says, "Jump in the shower under the hot water and that will heat you up." So, as a man who mostly listens to his wife, I strip, jump in the hot shower only to feel nothing warm. I could have scalded myself with the water and I wouldn't have noticed. All I got was wet.
After drying off, I go back to bed and lie there for hours knowing. I know I am not going to church tomorrow. I know, I am not leading the worship tomorrow. I know, I am not helping the Bible study classes tomorrow. I know I am not preaching for the Korean church tomorrow. I know I am going to remain where I am, in bed.
It felt weird to miss church involuntarily. I haven't had that experience very often in my life as a Christian. I guess God knows, but it still felt weird. I hope I am still good with Him, because the option of watching Joel Osteen instead of going to our church didn't appeal to me at all. Church is not church through the airwaves.
I am sorry for missing church.
I dutifully call the boss, call my compatriot in music, and collapse in my bed. I am assisted by my most beautiful wife who piles on the blankets after having given me the heating pad at max heat. I don't feel any warmth. Three sets of clothes on and crushed beneath the load of all these heating elements and I continue to feel nothing. She says, "Jump in the shower under the hot water and that will heat you up." So, as a man who mostly listens to his wife, I strip, jump in the hot shower only to feel nothing warm. I could have scalded myself with the water and I wouldn't have noticed. All I got was wet.
After drying off, I go back to bed and lie there for hours knowing. I know I am not going to church tomorrow. I know, I am not leading the worship tomorrow. I know, I am not helping the Bible study classes tomorrow. I know I am not preaching for the Korean church tomorrow. I know I am going to remain where I am, in bed.
It felt weird to miss church involuntarily. I haven't had that experience very often in my life as a Christian. I guess God knows, but it still felt weird. I hope I am still good with Him, because the option of watching Joel Osteen instead of going to our church didn't appeal to me at all. Church is not church through the airwaves.
I am sorry for missing church.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Work
I had to go back to work this week after being off for a week because of my surgery. I say "had" not because I was forced by a schedule or a boss or any other outside impetus, but by my own workaholic character.
I have discovered that I am a compulsive "jobber." I have just got to job all the time. In fact I get to feeling often that my job isn't quite done or tweeked enough and I fly off to the job site (cyber or otherwise) and get to it. In this regard, I am both faithful and sick.
One of the accoutrements of my job is the cell phone. I can be reached anywhere, any time, anyhow, as long as there is coverage. I have learned to turn it off at times when I am father, husband, son, on vacation, or speaking to others. Some do not understand this. In fact, some think this is downright strange. "Why didn't you answer your phone?" I get this a lot. The implication of this question is that somehow a phone call, cellular or otherwise, preempts all other happenings.
Last Sunday, the preacher was making a point in the service and said, "And God says..." at which point a person's cell phone goes off and the person ANSWERS IT perfectly timed, "Hello?" That's right, "And God says 'Hello?!'" Where is sanctuary (for those who don't know that means holy place), where is solitude and meditation? We can't divest ourselves of our leashes to be attentive to God or even the person in front of us without superceeding it with our texting, phoning or some other digital intrusion.
So here I am, back to my beginning. I am bemoaning the fact that I have not had time to share from my heart, perhaps due to some digital assault, or probably from my own over ownership of my job. Heaven save me from my sin. And heaven save us all from our own.
ET doesn't have to phone home. God is talking and He needs no apparatus but listening ears.
I have discovered that I am a compulsive "jobber." I have just got to job all the time. In fact I get to feeling often that my job isn't quite done or tweeked enough and I fly off to the job site (cyber or otherwise) and get to it. In this regard, I am both faithful and sick.
One of the accoutrements of my job is the cell phone. I can be reached anywhere, any time, anyhow, as long as there is coverage. I have learned to turn it off at times when I am father, husband, son, on vacation, or speaking to others. Some do not understand this. In fact, some think this is downright strange. "Why didn't you answer your phone?" I get this a lot. The implication of this question is that somehow a phone call, cellular or otherwise, preempts all other happenings.
Last Sunday, the preacher was making a point in the service and said, "And God says..." at which point a person's cell phone goes off and the person ANSWERS IT perfectly timed, "Hello?" That's right, "And God says 'Hello?!'" Where is sanctuary (for those who don't know that means holy place), where is solitude and meditation? We can't divest ourselves of our leashes to be attentive to God or even the person in front of us without superceeding it with our texting, phoning or some other digital intrusion.
So here I am, back to my beginning. I am bemoaning the fact that I have not had time to share from my heart, perhaps due to some digital assault, or probably from my own over ownership of my job. Heaven save me from my sin. And heaven save us all from our own.
ET doesn't have to phone home. God is talking and He needs no apparatus but listening ears.
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