Living the Song

In the month of July I have vacationed with the family, biked several hundred miles with Tom Randall to raise money for orphans, led a marriage retreat for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and taken a long weekend with my wife and a couple of dear friends. It has been a great month but it has kept me away from the church for nearly the whole time. Today I went back to work. I was reminded of how much I love it. Walking back into the office and seeing staff members is like seeing old friends. I love the problems,the challenges, the stories of changing lives. I love working with people who are passionate about what they do. I love sitting with my Bible open and trying to figure out how to say what I feel like God is saying. I like getting hit with e-mails to pray for people and other e-mails reminding me that people are praying for me. I was reminded today that there is nothing in all the world quite like the church of Jesus Christ. It is not a place of perfect people, by a long shot. But it is a place that vibrates with grace and I love that. It is a place where the veil that separates our world from heaven is the thinnest. It is a place people come to and expect to hear the truth even if it is truth they would rather not hear right then. It is a place of unexpected acts of love that are so selfless that it takes my breath away. It can be a place of magnificent generosity. More than anything it is a place where people have found the truth that whatever mess they have made with their lives there is a God who loves them so that He has moved heaven and earth to get them back. It is a place of redemption and life. Out of all the things people get to do for a living I have to believe that the thing God has given me is the best and today I was reminded again how thankful I am to do what I get to do. I remember hearing a song that said "Love the things you do and do the things you love." I am living the song.

A Prayer God Answers Every Time

Yesterday I had a meeting with Paul Sartarelli. He is one of the co-pastors of The Chapel downtown. Whenever we have a meeting he has his assistant e-mail me to remind me of the meeting. Now, I have never missed an appointment with Paul so I assume it is just the way he does things. I have to admit that whenever I get a reminder like that I want to mumble like a little kid "Yeah, I know Mom. You don't have to remind me." During my time with God the last couple of mornings I have been impressed to ask God to help me not to avoid humiliation. I really hate humiliation and try as often as I can to stay in my areas of competence so I don't have to feel it...at all. Any way, for whatever reason I have been asking God to help me not run from humiliation because I think in the midst of humiliation is where I can meet our Lord. So, here is where it gets interesting. I had an appointment this morning. It was with someone I have known for a long time but we never had breakfast together. We made the appointment long distance when I was traveling in Minnesota. I put it in my Blackberry but didn't realize that I entered it when I was in the Central Time Zone. Long story short, I arrived at breakfast precisely one hour late. I hate that! I apologized and thought of how confident I had been just the day before when I received the reminder from Paul's assistant. I also remembered my prayer about humiliation and ended up thanking God for answering so quickly. Pride even in the smallest areas is amazingly fragile. Today I am not nearly as confident. I am thankful for reminders and I am a little closer to the One who was humiliated for me that I might be set free.

Stubborn Bushes and a Pang of Jealousy

Today is my day off. My wife asked me to help her around the yard. She wanted to transplant two bushes we had planted last year. I thought I could make quick work of it. I started to dig and 90 minutes later I was dragging the second bush to the new location. It was exhausting. I found it amazing how deep the roots had grown in a year. Roots are of course the key to how hard the plants were to dig up. This past year those plants have gone through some serous weather. They went through the bone chilling winter, a rain soaked Spring, and some serious summer storms. But throughout the year my two bushes have gotten what they really needed to grow. They received plenty of water and the nutrients in the soil were evidently exactly what the doctor ordered. Whatever was going on outside these bushes were all about sinking their roots as deep as they could. As sweat literally streamed off my body I was thinking about my own growth this past year. So many times I get side-tracked by what is going on all around me. I quit thinking about my roots. Like my bushes I think I have gone through some serious weather. Some of you have too no doubt. But I have also had everything I need to sink my roots deeper into God. As we close out summer I want to concentrate on growth. I want us all to ask God to help our roots to grow in such a way that a year from now we will be what Paul the Apostle called "steadfast and immovable." Because in all honesty, after only a year my bushes were very nearly steadfast and immovable. They made me jealous.

Surrounded By A Great Cloud of Witnesses

Yesterday I helped Tom Randall finish his historic bicycle ride from the Pacific Ocean to the Mississippi River. We rode the last 50 miles in a Minnesota downpour and dipped our wheels in the mighty Mississippi. We rode to the Champions PGA tour event in Minneapolis. We rode around in a golf cart during the pro-am and saw a bunch of his friends. Tom Kite, Bernhard Langer, Hale Irwin, Don Pooley, Charles Coody, Gil Morgan,Tom Purtzer, Loren Roberts, Andy Bean, Jim Thorpe, and Peter Jacobsen to name a few. All of them great athletes in their own right. All of them amazed at what Tom had been able and willing to do. They laughed and hugged him and last night they threw a magnificent party with a cake in the shape of a bicycle. The last few days were harder for Tom then he expected. Yesterday in the rain we took turns encouraging each other. I told him the story of Nehemiah and how Nehemiah had been tempted to quit building the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah sent word down saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down." I yelled to Tom over the Minnesota wind,"You are like Nehemiah. You are doing a great work and you cannot quit now." When we were within sight of the Mississippi I couldn't hold him back. As he crossed the 2500 mile marker tears streaked his face. What possesses someone to ride 2500 miles, most of them while nursing two cracked ribs? There is something about Tom Randall that glows. Tom feels what we all should feel. He feels the pleasure of God. In the movie Chariots of Fire when Eric Liddle tried to explain to his sister why he loved to run he said,"Jenny, I know God made me for a purpose, to be a missionary in China. But He also made me fast and when I run I feel His pleasure." As Tom dipped his wheel in the mighty Mississippi he felt the pleasure of God. The great thing is I was close enough to feel it too.

A New Friend, An Unlikely Beginning

My long time friend Tom Randall is biking 2500 miles from Astoria, Oregon to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tom has several orphanages in the Philippines. He didn't start this as a fundraiser but if you know anything about Tom you know that remarkable things happen in his life all the time. As of today the total he will raise is $860,000.00. OK, that is flat out amazing. I flew up to South Dakota to ride with him the last 400 miles or so to encourage him. This afternoon after a 100 mile ride we were sitting with one of the other riders on the trip. He seemed pretty surly and called me a Pansie for joining the ride for only four days. I laughed and agreed with him but I can't say it was the best way to start a conversation. At one point Tom got up and I kept talking to Robert. I ended up finding out he was a recent widower. As we talked he opened up and tears rolled down his cheeks. He saw me at dinner later and came up right away just to say hi and see how I was doing after the ride. It just reminded me that everyone has a story and it is so important to take the time to listen. It might be difficult at first but the people in your lives that are the most prickly have the hardest stories to tell and most need to tell them to someone. Jesus was always that person. Jesus listened to my story and earlier today He listened to Robert whether he realized it or not. Tonight I will pray for my new friend and his pain and that some day he will find out it was Jesus who listened to him today and recorded his tears and longs for him to be healed.

Footprints and Jesus

Today was the last day at the beach. It really is a remarkable place. All ages gather around the ageless sea. Little children splash in the shallow waters. Older kids played Bocce or volleyball. Parents sit and watch their children play. Those older still walk hand in hand along the shore. It was only a few years ago they played in the sand themselves. Now they walk and they look around at those who have not yet gotten old. There are few places where the generations gather and mingle the way they do at the beach. Maybe that is why I like it so. Today I sat and looked out at my own children who are now grown up themselves. Rachel and her husband splash and play knowing this time next year they will be anchored on the shore with their new born son. And I will sit with the other grandparents watching time march on. So, like every year as I watch vacation come to a close I resolve to enjoy the relationships that surround me for time is marching on. Here at the beach this is all too evident. There is also a reminder here at the beach that there are some things that seem to never change. The footprints in the sand are wiped away every day and every year. It is the ocean and the sand itself that seems to never change. In the fourteen years we have been coming here as a family the ocean and the beach look the same. And in fact they are virtually unchanged. Of course all of this has me thinking about Jesus. He is the One who does not change. I am growing older by the minute. Before I know it the small footprints I have made while on this earth will be gone and few will know I was ever here. And yet, there is One who does know I am here. There is the One who has walked beside me these quick years and cared about each and every step. One day all around me will change but that One. I will look back on my life and all the footprints I have ever made and they will lead right into the arms of this One who is my Beloved. G.K.Chesterton said one time that it was musings on Christmas Eve that finally led him to Jesus. He was looking at the stockings hung by the chimney and suddenly thought, "If my children have me to thank for putting candy in their stockings, have I no one to thank for putting two feet in mine." Footprints.

Talking to Jesus About the Ocean

The ocean is an amazing place. My family and I are on vacation. We have the great privilege of being at the beach for a week. This morning I was sitting just looking at the ocean. It is magnificent. It is mysterious, wildly beautiful, powerful, and faithful. The waves flow in and out in a rhythm that is as dependable as a clock. There is a chart of the tides on the refrigerator of our rental cottage and every day the ocean moves as the chart predicted. I sat and watched people play all around the ocean today. Some ran up and down, others sat and read, others simply walked close venturing in and out ankle deep. My family loves the waves. We don't just wade in waste deep. We run in past the place where our feet no longer touch to get to the big waves that we can ride. It is a blast. This morning as I was praying I was talking to Jesus about the ocean. I told him how much I liked it and how thankful I was to be here with my family. It occurred to me how much Jesus had made the ocean like Himself. Jesus is full of mystery, beauty, power, and faithful. People love just to be around Him. I want my family to approach Jesus just like we approach the ocean. I want us to run into Him. I don't want to walk near Him or just get ankle deep. I want to run in past where our feet can touch to the big waves. I want us all to experience the depth of the Presence of Jesus. I pray you will run in to Jesus today as well. There is nothing quite like riding a wave and feeling the power all around carrying you. So, paddle on out all you surfers and experience the wonder of Jesus.

Biking, Jesus and a New Friend

I was out riding my bike the other day. I was riding along a bike path during my lunch break. It is not too uncommon for me to see people from the church but I am cruising at around 20mph and I have a helmet and glasses on so while I may recognize them they rarely recognize me. So, I zoom past and just say to myself,"Hey, I know them". There is one place in my ride where I need to slow up to cross a neighborhood entrance. I slowed up and looked for cars and saw a lady from the church. I was riding slowly enough to recognize her and called her by name. She took a second and then recognized me and said,"Hi Joe". She said it in a way that made me come to a complete stop instead of racing on which is my habit especially at lunch. She was riding with another young woman. Sue introduced me to her friend and said,"We were just talking. My new friend here is Muslim but she has been going to church and thinking about Christianity. She just asked me if there was anyone in our church who used to be Muslim she might be able to talk to about becoming a Christian. And right then you rode up". And then she introduced me to her friend and said,"This is our pastor. See, I told you God was working in your life". Her friend laughed and said,"I am not even trying and these things keep happening. All I have done is open my heart up to Jesus". It was a very cool moment. I assured her that I could find someone and rode off smiling and shaking my head at how the God who created the cosmos out of nothing cares so much about 3 people riding bikes on a Wednesday afternoon. I went back to the church and told the story to the staff. Marshall Brandon laughed and told me that a good friend of his who was a former Muslim was coming to visit him Saturday and would be in church Sunday. God made that last move and I am pretty sure I heard Him say,"Check mate".

God, LeBron and the Big Head

There is a commercial where LeBron James has a neighbor who is taunting LeBron on his new riding lawn mower. At the end of the commercial LeBron is standing outside underneath a basketball hoop in his bathrobe with a coffee mug in his hand. The neighbor is dribbling up a storm and still taunting and then finally attempts a shot and LeBron smacks it into the bushes. LeBron does it all with an expression of sheer boredom. I preached this past Sunday. The church has grown to a pretty good size. Every once in a while someone will say,"I want you to know I am praying for you that you won't get a big head. I think pride would be a huge issue so I am praying for your protection". I appreciate that a lot. I was praying the other day and it struck me how outrageous it was to talk to God about my pride. I think it is a little like me playing basketball with LeBron and saying to him,"Hey, listen LeBron. I need you to help me not to get too proud about my game. I mean, take a look at this shot. It is SAAWEEEET". I have an inkling that the whole conversation would just confuse LeBron. He would think to himself,"what in the world about this guys game could he ever feel good about"? Anyway, it made me laugh while I was praying. I am pretty sure I heard God chuckling as well. Being a preacher means I am on the court with God sometimes. Any time He wants He can stand in His bathrobe and knock my shot into kingdom come. It would be a privilege to play basketball with LeBron or golf with Tiger Woods but the last thing it would do is feed into my pride. That is exactly the way I feel about preaching. I would never want to do it without God but having Him around is brutal on the pride thing. The good news is I am not alone. God hangs out where you work as well. So, no matter how well things seem to be going, remember the guy who created the solar system and felt like He was just getting warmed up is watching you, loving you, but could knock your shot into the bleachers anytime you start to feel too big for your britches.