King David wrote, "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;my soul knows it very well." At first glance one might think, "The adulation of this great king has finally gone to his head. His abilities and attributes have led to conceit." However, this king, most connected with ancient Israel's golden age, was commenting more on God's work than on his own personal qualities. He recognized clearly within himself the fingerprints of God. These fingerprints were obvious and undeniable to David.
Last night I had some uninterrupted time to begin to prepare a Christmas Day sermon. I read and prayed. I researched and looked for creative images that would benefit the hearers in 10 days. I jotted down ideas and thoughts. But after two hours I had multiple directions to go and a jumble of ideas. It was time for a late dinner and some comedy to watch on TV with the family. Interestingly, my mind keeps working on projects even as I enjoy other activities and rest. I see this so often. When I have a project that will need organizing and planning, if I can at least read the goal, my mind will keep churning on it even as I focus on other things.
That's amazing to me. I love computers and the tools they are, but the mind that God has fashioned and formed is amazing. When things go wrong with it, we see how marvelously constructed it is when highly skilled and educated physicians go to great lengths to try to make a positive difference.
So the Christmas Day sermon is not fully written nor finalized, but the direction is narrowed down. I'm excited about that and excited about sharing the transforming power that was brought to the doorstep of humanity so long ago. Excited to unpack the loving truth that came to dwell, not just to say hello. Perhaps you'll hear more on this project, but for now I'm just sharing that God does marvelous work in constructing us. What a designer. Thanking God for his fingerprints in me today. And what an assembly line....I hear that one million babies are born about every four days. I don't know if that's in China alone or worldwide, but WOW! Henry Ford would be amazed.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
When Weak Traits are Not Passed On
Alright, I admit it. I'm a hemophobe, one who is hemophobic. Yup, an abnormal fear of blood. First, I exaggerate a bit. Second, it's really not that abnormal; many folks I know don't like to give blood for their own benefit or the benefit of others. What I'm grateful for is, my son did not pick up this fear from me. He donated a pint of his own blood (I have to put it that way because I'm all for donating someone else's blood.) for the first time yesterday and plans to do so again. The phlebotomist staff drawing the blood said that every pint saves three lives. Being a much better mathematician than I am, he has already calculated how many people he could save if he donates as often as he can for the remainder of his life. That's pretty cool.
There was more than one reason why he chose to donate,but I see a fingerprint of God in that he is most proud of helping someone else. That's God's way. He's also proud that he's not a wimp like his dad who must look away even for a blood test and is always prepared to faint when a needle needs to enter his body.
Thankful to God for my son's giving, and proud of this boy who is a man-size taller than me already.
There was more than one reason why he chose to donate,but I see a fingerprint of God in that he is most proud of helping someone else. That's God's way. He's also proud that he's not a wimp like his dad who must look away even for a blood test and is always prepared to faint when a needle needs to enter his body.
Thankful to God for my son's giving, and proud of this boy who is a man-size taller than me already.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Team Ministry
I'm celebrating team ministry this morning.
In a few hours I will join people from The CREW, young adults from my church committed to Connecting, Reaching, Encouraging & Worshiping. This has been a fantastic group to work with. We have a player/coaches team that serves the many guests that come to church each week. These men and women leaders are usually in a new career having finished recent studies at a university or graduate school. They have a love for Jesus, want to be connected with others who do, and are excited about helping others come to know and experience that same great love.
My role is exciting because I do not dream up and then direct everything. In many ways I hear of this team's passion and I help lower hurdles so that they can get done what God has placed on their hearts. Today we help move a single dad from one apartment to another. This one was my idea, and the group had other service plans in mind for the day. But because we work together, plan together, and are flexible, they graciously are reaching out with me to this family. I am so grateful that this family that has seen such hard times will be surrounded by caring people who just want to do them good today. I am grateful that my team is putting their plans down this time to follow my lead, and I am grateful that often I can follow their lead and put my energy behind what they want to accomplish.
God's people working together. Unity bringing good to others. There's a fingerprint in that; it's a God thing, and I like it!
In a few hours I will join people from The CREW, young adults from my church committed to Connecting, Reaching, Encouraging & Worshiping. This has been a fantastic group to work with. We have a player/coaches team that serves the many guests that come to church each week. These men and women leaders are usually in a new career having finished recent studies at a university or graduate school. They have a love for Jesus, want to be connected with others who do, and are excited about helping others come to know and experience that same great love.
My role is exciting because I do not dream up and then direct everything. In many ways I hear of this team's passion and I help lower hurdles so that they can get done what God has placed on their hearts. Today we help move a single dad from one apartment to another. This one was my idea, and the group had other service plans in mind for the day. But because we work together, plan together, and are flexible, they graciously are reaching out with me to this family. I am so grateful that this family that has seen such hard times will be surrounded by caring people who just want to do them good today. I am grateful that my team is putting their plans down this time to follow my lead, and I am grateful that often I can follow their lead and put my energy behind what they want to accomplish.
God's people working together. Unity bringing good to others. There's a fingerprint in that; it's a God thing, and I like it!
Friday, November 20, 2009
You Know It when you Receive It
Care.
You know it when you receive it. Some 10 weeks ago my wife was mugged downtown. Her world was shaken significantly, and what could be trusted and enjoyed one day was threatening and anything but reliable the next. There was the police report and the ER visit to deal with a significant concussion and some very bruised ribs. Then the task of getting some "normalcy" back into life began. Well, just eight days later a fellow commuter sandwiched her compact car between the driver's SUV and another SUV. That's a lot of trauma for one person in little over a week, and her GI tract, which doesn't function perfectly when everything is at peace, spiraled out of control. We have not been in a hospital for almost two weeks now, and boy, are we grateful. But there were five hospitalizations, seven ER visits, and one ambulance ride. The fog is finally lifting enough to see more clearly the care that was all around.
Care. You know it when you receive it, and we sure have. There's been card after card arriving expressing concern and willingness to help. There's been more calories given in the form of hot meals than I want to acknowledge, at least on a scale. There's been friends who ventured out to visit at the hospital, friends who picked up the boys and got them where they needed to be and shuttled them home when done. There's been encouraging texts, and emails, and phone messages. There's been employers who have demonstrated true graciousness when we could not be anywhere near the top of our game in the areas we were hired to perform.
Care. You know it when you receive it. You know it, too, when God begins to answer it. You see, countless people held us up in prayer time and time again. Healing was slow in coming from our perspective, but it continues to take place remarkably well. Over and over I thanked people for praying telling them, "We really appreciate that. We value prayer very much." We were so encouraged by each prayer. It's an awesome thing for others to continuously place you in the might hands of God. Family and friends have truly come through surrounding us with relationship and caring for us physically and spiritually. We experienced God's care through the hearts, hands, meals, texts, emails, phone calls, visits, rides, prayers, cards, help with cleaning, counsel in getting the best from medical care provider ....so many ways. Our many friends and family members have shown us God's fingerprints, and those fingerprints are beautiful!
You know it when you receive it. Some 10 weeks ago my wife was mugged downtown. Her world was shaken significantly, and what could be trusted and enjoyed one day was threatening and anything but reliable the next. There was the police report and the ER visit to deal with a significant concussion and some very bruised ribs. Then the task of getting some "normalcy" back into life began. Well, just eight days later a fellow commuter sandwiched her compact car between the driver's SUV and another SUV. That's a lot of trauma for one person in little over a week, and her GI tract, which doesn't function perfectly when everything is at peace, spiraled out of control. We have not been in a hospital for almost two weeks now, and boy, are we grateful. But there were five hospitalizations, seven ER visits, and one ambulance ride. The fog is finally lifting enough to see more clearly the care that was all around.
Care. You know it when you receive it, and we sure have. There's been card after card arriving expressing concern and willingness to help. There's been more calories given in the form of hot meals than I want to acknowledge, at least on a scale. There's been friends who ventured out to visit at the hospital, friends who picked up the boys and got them where they needed to be and shuttled them home when done. There's been encouraging texts, and emails, and phone messages. There's been employers who have demonstrated true graciousness when we could not be anywhere near the top of our game in the areas we were hired to perform.
Care. You know it when you receive it. You know it, too, when God begins to answer it. You see, countless people held us up in prayer time and time again. Healing was slow in coming from our perspective, but it continues to take place remarkably well. Over and over I thanked people for praying telling them, "We really appreciate that. We value prayer very much." We were so encouraged by each prayer. It's an awesome thing for others to continuously place you in the might hands of God. Family and friends have truly come through surrounding us with relationship and caring for us physically and spiritually. We experienced God's care through the hearts, hands, meals, texts, emails, phone calls, visits, rides, prayers, cards, help with cleaning, counsel in getting the best from medical care provider ....so many ways. Our many friends and family members have shown us God's fingerprints, and those fingerprints are beautiful!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Storm Chasers & Books
I got up early today to work on a sermon to be delivered Sunday. I am truly grateful for morning hours when the day is new and my family is resting and quiet. The TV is off, the dog is fed and settled nearby. A morning glow comes through the blinds. I love to read and to search for information. I'm using a reference to Bill Cosby's take on the possible conversation between God and Noah, and I was able to get a written text of his comedy routine and an audio copy from Youtube.com. All this in seconds. The tools available today are amazing.
There's also a new television show that I'm hooked on, Storm Chasers. It's a Discovery Channel series, I believe. It follows meteorologists who often compete in placing themselves in the path of tornados to get live scientific data. There is an obsession within them to be there and to experience the power and awe of nature. They crave to see a fingerprint of the almighty as it is first laid down, a fresh print if you will. These folks have sunk serious money into this pursuit. They have expended great quantities of research, technology, focus, travel, and time. In many cases they are risking not only valuable property but their very lives. Some pursue the information so that others will come to have early warnings of these distructive by-products of storms. It seems there is a mixture of care for others, a hunger for knowledge, and a desire to make a name for oneself. It is facinating to follow.
One of God's fingerprints is seen in how he has wired us with a desire to search out and know.
God has formed us to want, to desire, to seach, to press for understanding. There's an unsettled part of us that seeks out and finds pleasure in exploring. What a delight to see that within myself. What a delight to see the passion with others. We often benefit from the passionate study and research that came out of the passionate pursuit of another in an area that we had little or no interest but which we come to have a great need.
There's also a new television show that I'm hooked on, Storm Chasers. It's a Discovery Channel series, I believe. It follows meteorologists who often compete in placing themselves in the path of tornados to get live scientific data. There is an obsession within them to be there and to experience the power and awe of nature. They crave to see a fingerprint of the almighty as it is first laid down, a fresh print if you will. These folks have sunk serious money into this pursuit. They have expended great quantities of research, technology, focus, travel, and time. In many cases they are risking not only valuable property but their very lives. Some pursue the information so that others will come to have early warnings of these distructive by-products of storms. It seems there is a mixture of care for others, a hunger for knowledge, and a desire to make a name for oneself. It is facinating to follow.
One of God's fingerprints is seen in how he has wired us with a desire to search out and know.
In Proverbs 25, the writer observed,
"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
As the heavens are high and the earth is deep,
so the hearts of kings are unsearchable."
God has formed us to want, to desire, to seach, to press for understanding. There's an unsettled part of us that seeks out and finds pleasure in exploring. What a delight to see that within myself. What a delight to see the passion with others. We often benefit from the passionate study and research that came out of the passionate pursuit of another in an area that we had little or no interest but which we come to have a great need.
I am seeing God's fingerprint within me and his prints in people around me, and it is something to see!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
100,000 Miles
My family gives me a hard time for my car, but the odometer turned over to 100,000 miles yesterday. The old Olds is almost 14, but it's the first time to 100,000 miles. It was enjoyable to have both boys in the car at it turned from 99,999 9/10 to 100,000 0/10. while we headed to their high school. The car was eight years old when we bought two or three days before leaving San Diego for Colorado, but it had just over 14,000 miles. We have never had a car payment. And for going strong for six years, we haven't dumped a lot into it either. The car sure doesn't impress many with it's lines and looks, but it keeps on going. It has its own idiosyncrasies, too, like requiring medium grade fuel from Shell only so that the "Check Engine" light stays out. But the thing runs, and it gets us there. Got thinking about this vehicle today; the boys and I have probably had more breakfast meals in that car than we have had at home together. We had some great laughs, and the boys have listened to some crummy talk radio while I have listened to a whole lot more hip-hop than I would ever care to.
I seriously praise God often that this car starts, goes, and returns. What some would hate to be seen in, I just thank God for. It is transportation that is reliable and affordable. To others it's a candidate for Cash for Clunkers, but to me it's my ride.
I seriously praise God often that this car starts, goes, and returns. What some would hate to be seen in, I just thank God for. It is transportation that is reliable and affordable. To others it's a candidate for Cash for Clunkers, but to me it's my ride.
Friday, November 13, 2009
TWLOHA
Today was To Write Love on Her Arm day. I was drawn to this cause by invitation from a Facebook friend. It seems that over a million people were aware of the event in which people chose today to write the word "Love" on their arm to support "a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide." I hope this event grows along with the support this non-profit receives. I know that as a young man fresh out of high school I dealt with depression for a good five years, and I received excellent care. I am certain it took great patience from family and friends as God walked with me through this difficult time in my life. Since then I have seen how God redeems painful portions of our lives for the good of others. He certainly deepened my faith and increased compassion within me for those who struggle.
On the website for TWLOHA there was a meaningful testimonial of a Christian family that believed in the value of a young gal who saw no value within herself. They committed themselves to bringing love into her life, and her life was turned around. What was headed quickly toward death was renewed by God through the love of others. I saw God's fingerprint in that testimonial and in today's event to build awareness for those who struggle. I thank God that he provides care when people struggle, AND that he uses those who have received to turn around and care for others.
That makes me thankful.
On the website for TWLOHA there was a meaningful testimonial of a Christian family that believed in the value of a young gal who saw no value within herself. They committed themselves to bringing love into her life, and her life was turned around. What was headed quickly toward death was renewed by God through the love of others. I saw God's fingerprint in that testimonial and in today's event to build awareness for those who struggle. I thank God that he provides care when people struggle, AND that he uses those who have received to turn around and care for others.
That makes me thankful.
Praise be to the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of compassion
and the God of all comfort,
who comforts us in all our troubles,
so that we can comfort those in any trouble
with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
For just as the sufferings of Christ
flow over into our lives,
so also through Christ
our comfort overflows.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
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