Stop And Look Around, Someone's In Need

I don't know about you but my life is speeding by at warp speed. I have what seems to be million things on my to do list and only 24 hours in each day to get them done. Somehow, I think if I had 72 hours in my day I would somehow manage to need a few hours more. Lets face it, most of us live very busy lives. We've got work to do, a mortgage to pay, housework to do, yard work to do, children to take care of, shopping to get done, baseball or ballet practice to get our kids to, phone calls to make, people to text, emails to send, and on and on the list goes. And just when we think we've got a handle on it all, little Johnny decides he wants to play football this year, or little Jennie wants to join the swim team.

Life at warp speed! That's what it often feels like. And, sitting down and taking a breath only happens when we manage to put it on the calendar. I'm not sure if its good or bad, but its definitely become the way so many of us do life. Last week, I had a lot going on. My schedule was crazy and I was busy trying to get everything done that I needed to get done. Somewhere in the middle of all that was going on, my wife asks me if I had seen what had happened in Alabama and some other states in the south. I told her that all I knew was that some tornadoes had hit the area. Several times that week she mentioned to me that she wanted us to do something to help. "Maybe we can load up our car full of supplies and drive there," she said. "If all we do is load up our car with bottled water, that's the least we can do."

As I listened to her, I thought to myself there's a lot on my plate right now and I can't just stop and take a trip to Alabama. Of course, I still had no idea as to the severity of the destruction having not watched the news coverage. Then, finally on Saturday I sat down for a few minutes and began watching some news coverage of areas hit by the tornadoes. I remember being brought to tears as I watched one story after another. As I sat there, I couldn't help but think how unimportant my to-do list was compared to the devastation that had hammered that region of our country. I couldn't help but think how sad it was that I had been so caught up in my world that I hadn't even given these people a thought.

How many times do we do that? We have this mind set that tornadoes hit places all the time. And if its not tornadoes then its hurricanes or floods or earthquakes. We hear all the disasters that hit around the world and I think we often get to a place where we are just thankful its not us. Of course, we feel sorry for those having to deal with it, but how often are we moved to action? Perhaps we say a little prayer and talk about it with our friends and family but how often are we so moved by the hurt and hopelessness of others that we jump up to the plate to do something?

Certainly there is something each one of us can do. Several years ago there was a house near us that was being built. The foundation was poured and the frame was up. Apparently there was an issue with the foundation and the framing had to be taken down. The lumber sat there for months. My then 4 year old son who had on his own sent money to help to a ministry to build water wells and homes in third world countries had a great idea. "Dad, why don't we give that wood to the mailman to take to Mr. James on TV. That way he can build more homes for those kids who don't have a home."

Ok, so maybe we can't give lumber to the mailman, but certainly there is something that each of us can do. Maybe all we can do is spare $10. That'll buy a couple cases of water. Maybe all we can do is go through our closet and fill up a box or two of clothes to give to those whose closets were blown into the next county. Maybe all we can do is fill up a couple of ziploc bags with toothpaste, tooth brushes, soap, etc. Perhaps, you can afford to buy some towels or bedding and send to those who need them. Maybe you can give a weeks vacation to go and spend time there helping that community clean up the wreckage and rebuild.

My 8-year-old and 5 year-old went through their closet a couple of days ago and picked out clothes and toys that they want to give to children who have lost everything. Needless to say, we are way passed loading up our car as we now have moved to filling up a trailer. I'm just thinking each one of us, regardless of where we find ourselves in life can do something.

Saturday as I sat there watching that news coverage, I repented of being so self-consumed as to not hear the cries of those in need. I grabbed my computer and determined to connect with a local church there who is already engaged in ministering to that community. Through my communication with them I've discovered a snapshot of the need there. That snapshot alone is overwhelming. Both individually and as a church we have determined to do whatever we can to bring help and hope to people who desperately need it.

Yes, part of that means interrupting our calendars momentarily. It means giving of ourselves and giving of our stuff. I've just come to the realization that if my calendar and my to-do list is so important as to render me deaf to the cries of those in need, perhaps my calendar needs an overhaul. And if my bank account can't cough up a few bucks to help then my spending habits need an overhaul.

As I'm writing this today, the words to a song I've recently heard keep playing in my head. "Cause I don't want to live like I don't care, I don't want to say another empty prayer. Oh, I refuse, to sit around and wait for someone else to do what God has called me to do myself. Oh, I could choose not to move, but I refuse" The truth is we often see tragedies like this and figure someone else will help, and they do. I'm just not ok with living life like that. Trust me, if all of us engaged in helping somehow and someway, there is plenty of need to go around. If you want to know how you can help, give me shout.

Lessons From A Belly Button

A little over 2 years ago, my wife gave birth to our second child, a bouncing baby boy. On the day we were set to take him home from the hospital, I had taken my then 3 year old son down to the car to get something. On our way across the parking lot he made a statement that worried me at first. "Dad, I don't want to take the new baby home with us!" Assuming that he was just having a bit of a struggle with the idea of sharing his mom and dad with his new brother, I instantly began searching the depths of my intellect for the right words to say to help him overcome this hurdle. Having found nothing profound with which to respond, I responded by saying, "Why?" To which my toddler answered, "Because, his belly button is really gross!"

Naturally, I was relieved that is was only a "belly button" issue and he wasn't feeling threatened by his new baby brother. I was pretty sure that I could help him come to terms with this and everything would be ok. Needless to say, we brought our little one home with us and in just a few days our toddler was elated when the gross belly button fell off. As I sit here thinking about that story, it seems so funny to me that nobody has to teach us to be uncomfortable with others who aren't like us. It comes naturally. I remember growing up as a kid and seeing people without arms or legs and I found myself fighting the urge to stare. Let's face it, my toddler wasn't acting all that different than we adults do at times. His issue was with a different looking belly button, but we struggle with different tones of skin sometime, or different genders, or different political philosophies, or different theological beliefs. Let's face it, sexism, racism, and other forms of prejudice don't get near as much energy from little ones as it does from us adults.

Truth is in this year's presidential election, we all know that there will be some who will not vote for Obama simply because of his skin color, while on the other hand there will be those who vote for him simply because of his skin color. At the same time, there will be those who won't vote for John McCain simply because his running mate is a woman, while there will be those who will vote for him just because he has a woman on the ticket. Let's go even deeper. There will be those who won't vote for McCain because he's too old, while there are those who won't vote for Obama because he's too young. It's crazy isn't it? But, we all know its true.

I've lived in the Bible-Belt my whole life and grew up in a "full-gospel, spirit-filled" denomination. Of course, that denomination was a step above all the rest. At least that's the way we felt. Then I left that denomination and found a non-denominational, charismatic church and realized that I was in error all those years and now had found the type of church that stood above the rest. Yep, we even do it in church don't we. We elevate ourselves and those institutions we are a part of and we look down at those who aren't like us. We often struggle with the fact that people don't share our views, opinions, and beliefs. So much so, we have difficulty connecting and interacting with them.

God's desire is that we walk in unity with one another. Jesus prayed and asked the Father to make us one. He also said that the world would know that we are his disciples by the love we have for one another. For years, I was so little in my thinking as to apply this only to my local congregation and denominational affiliation. I had no concept of the global body of Christ. I struggled with the idea of how I could ever walk in unity with the Methodists, and Baptists, and Catholics, and Pentecostals, and all the other denominations and independents.

I found the key though and here it is. You can not focus on the things that make you different. When we brought our newborn infant home, he was constantly clothed and wrapped up. Because of that our toddler could not see the gross belly button, which made it easy for him to accept his little brother. He held him, he kissed him, and absolutely adored him. It was only those moments during diaper changes or bath times that the thing he struggled with was even visible. As he connected with his little brother the gross belly button became lesser and lesser of an issue. Here's my point, when we choose not to focus on those things that separate us, we are quick to find the things that bring us together.

We truly have to get to the point where we no longer care if the church down the street sings out of hymnals or breaks into a 30 minute spontaneous worship tune. We have to come to the place where we no longer care if some raise their hands in worship or have no worship at all. We can no longer allow things like "once saved always saved", "falling from grace", "tongues", eschatology, or style of worship drive a wedge between us. When we choose to connect despite our differences we'll find that in the grand scheme of things our differences don't really amount to much.

I've discovered on my journey that my theology is not what identifies me. Scripture tells us that we are complete in Christ. My identity is found in Him alone. Not in theology, doctrine, church affiliation, or worship style. I know what I believe, I know in whom I believe, and those who hold a different belief or interpretation in no way threaten that. When Christ is at the center then He trumps everything and anything that we don't see eye to eye on. I think that when we understand that, it makes it alot easier to love others the way God intended for us to love them. Let's face it, if we can't love our brothers and sisters in the faith, how are we to love those on the outside? Think about it, if we can't love someone who differs with us on the ministry of the Holy Spirit, how can we ever love those who not only disagree with our theology and worship style but our belief in the God who's the very foundation on which we live?

I'm happy to say that our two boys are connected in a way that only brothers can connect. Sure, the gross belly button is a thing of the past but the two are as different as night and day. From the outside looking in, I can see all the things that make them different, but to them it just doesn't seem to matter. It's as if they can't see them. Or, maybe it's just that they choose not to focus on them.

It Makes Me Appreciate And Value Life

Over the last couple of weeks, as I've watched the news, I've been taken back by what all has happened. Thousands of lives have been lost through tornadoes, cyclones, and earthquakes. Just think about it, people were going about their everyday lives when all of a sudden it was all over. It's pretty sobering to me. It makes me appreciate and value the life that I have. Let's face it, none of us have been promised tomorrow. I'm not trying to spread doom and gloom here, its just reality. Actually, death for a believer is hardly doom and gloom anyway. The point I'm trying to make is that this life we live is so temporal and in the grand scheme of things, even 70, 80, or 100 years is still quite short. Scripture says our life is but a vapor, here one day and gone the next.

Death for us is certain, unless we are of the generation here when Jesus takes us out of here. The truth is death could visit us today, tomorrow, next year, or it could be 10, 20, 50, or 70 years from now. But rest assured, it'll visit us. Ok, I know this is not my usual encouraging, inspiring BLOG, but stay with me.

Life on this earth is precious, but in comparison to eternity it is extremely short. What we do in that short amount of time is extremely important though. When I hear news like I've heard the last couple of weeks, it makes me think about what I'm doing with my life. It's not a condemning thing, just a gut check. It makes me ask the question, "how engaged am I with my family?" It makes me want to spend quality time with those I love most. It makes me want to put the things that need to be on the back burner on the back burner and put the things that need to be in the forefront in the forefront. It makes me want to play air guitar with my kids even when I've got a list a mile long of the things I need to do. It makes me want to spend time with my wife, and cherish each moment we have together. It causes me to evaluate the things I value and why I value them.

Years ago, my grandmother who was well advanced in years knew that death was getting closer with every passing day. She was a feisty lady and was never shy when it came to speaking her mind. Of course, that often led to her not having the greatest relationships with others, including some of her kids. From time to time she would get to thinking that she would hate to die and not have a clear conscience so she would get on the phone and start calling people. She would call one person after another asking them to forgive her if she in anyway had offended them. I just wonder how our lives would be different if we would not wait until we are in our 80s or 90s before we did something like that.

The truth is that a moment wasted can never be recaptured. We need to make it a point to say the things we so often wait too long to say. We need to forgive those who we often wait too long to forgive. We need to spend more time with those most important to us, and we need to love as if there's no tomorrow.

Of course, the most important thing is not to fall too much in love with this world here. When all is said and done, the stuff here will be gone and the only thing we take out of here is our relationship with our Creator and our relationship with one another. That's it. Nothing more , nothing less. If we travel through this life trying to capture as much stuff as we possibly can, in the end we will be grossly disappointed. I'm not saying that having stuff is bad, just that if it becomes our main pursuit in life, we will realize in the end how worthless that pursuit truly was.

I am convinced that loving God and loving others is the only pursuits in life that are the only things that are truly rewarding. Perhaps its just me, but I just believe that if I'll focus on that, when death comes knocking, I'll have no regrets and can welcome it with open arms. Of course, I'm talking in about 60 years or so.

Jesus Showed Up This Sunday

Sunday, was a bit different this past week. Sure, we had our usual service with all the normal elements. Welcome, worship, prayer for the sick, announcements, offering, and of course that powerful word of God from that awesome preacher guy (or maybe I should say that powerful word of God despite that preacher guy.) So many times we have our services and we try and gauge whether or not Jesus showed up. In order to do that we use all types of variables to qualify the service as a bona-fide "Jesus showed up" church service. Was there intense worship? Were people's emotions stirred? Was the preacher truly "anointed" today? Were people's lives radically changed? Was the altar full? Did the service last till 2? Well, I don't think any were true of Westlake this week. I just wonder if God uses the same barometer? Somehow, I don't think He does.

Scripture tells us that when there are two or more walking in agreement and gathered together in His name there He is in the midst of them. I think sometimes as believers we are way too focused on the extravagant and elaborate as a place to find God's presence. And in doing so, we often miss Him in the simple and practical. Remember, Elijah didn't find Him in the loud and boisterous wind. He wasn't in the earthquake and He wasn't in the fire. No, God showed up in the plain and simple. No huge fanfare. No earthshaking event. Just a simple, still, small voice. In saying that, I'm not saying God doesn't show up in a grand, loud, emotionally charged environment. Just that he shows up, like His Word says, when two or more are in agreement and gathered in His name.

Using that as the barometer, I can say without a doubt, Jesus was at Westlake on Sunday. Following our normal service, we gathered together for lunch and the fellowship was great. It felt like a family. Kind of the way church should feel. It is awesome to see people connecting with one another and genuinely loving one another. But, our Sunday didn't end there. Following lunch, many of us headed to a widow's house to clean, paint, mow, and do whatever else she needed done around the house. I have served in churches my whole life and I can rarely remember an event or outreach that wasn't accompanied by complaining and bad attitudes. Now, perhaps there were some on Sunday, but I didn't see any. As a matter of fact the only complaints I heard were from those who were so eager to work, having trouble finding something to do once they had completed their tasks.

I saw a leader in the church take time to show two young boys how to paint. I saw single moms who no doubt have plenty going on in their lives, giving up several hours on their day off to help someone else. I saw people from every stage of life, single ladies, single men, married couples, families, children, teens all rolling up their sleeves and just doing whatever needed to be done. It was truly an awesome sight. As I sat back and took it all in, I couldn't help but see the resemblance of Jesus in each and every one.

Yep, Jesus showed up at Westlake Sunday, but it wasn't in all the hoopla. He was in the simple and practical. He was in the conversation I had with the catholic brother at lunch. He was in the young man who has only been to Westlake for three weeks, who helped me set up chairs for lunch. He was in the love one of our leaders showed to an unwed mother who just received a bad report from the doctors concerning her infant. And He was in the act of love we did for our widow.

Truth is, Jesus shows up every time we gather. Whether its Sunday morning, our home groups during the week, or our labors of love. Chances are you'll miss him though if you're only looking for him in the spectacular. The Pharisees missed him because he came in a way they didn't expect him to. Look in the simple and practical. As a matter of fact, look for him in the way you live and relate to others. You may have to make some changes to see him that way, but trust me, it is possible for Jesus to show up this Sunday because you walked into the place.