Seeing Through the Fog

Today I planned to ride my bike to the work. I had left some clothes there yesterday and thought it would be a good way to get some extra miles and save gas. Everyone wins. Actually, by everyone, I mean me times two. Anyway, I got up this morning and there was a pretty thick blanket of fog. I headed out anyway and tried to keep an eye on the traffic hoping they would do the same with me. When I got to the office I had this email waiting for me.

Greetings,

I was starting my drive to the office this morning and I was reminded how God gives us vision through the Fog. I noticed as I was pulling out of the garage, how dense the fog was and how it was difficult to see to far in the distance. It is like those that have not given their lives to the Lord. Their eyes are not focused and are cloudy. As I came to the intersection of Rt. 91 and Terex, I noticed an individual on a bike and I said, “Lord, please be a light for that person so that they will have a great ride and bring them home safely in this fog”. As my arrow turned green for me to continue, I looked at the individual on the bike and it was Joe Coffey. Thanks for keeping us in the clear.
Keep Smiling,
Greg Patton

I remember thinking while I was waiting for the light to change at Terex that people must be thinking how foolish I am to be out in the fog. It never crossed my mind that someone might be praying for me. Greg humbles me because he reminds me of how many opportunities I have to pray for people. I am thankful for friends who can teach me so gently. The next time you see someone doing something that is just plain silly, go ahead and pray for them. You might be praying for someone you really care about or you might by praying start to really care about them. It might have been foggy this morning but as far as I can tell my friend Greg was seeing the world crystal clear.

Truth or Consequences

I heard a great truth some time ago and it has stuck with me. Here is the truth, “If you believe something that is not true, it will warp your life.” I guess it has stuck with me because I see how it works almost every day. It doesn’t have to be a huge untruth to warp life. Don’t get me wrong. A huge untruth will do the trick. If you believe the person who dies with the most toys wins you are in for a long and bumpy life, not to mention the afterlife. But the sinister untruths are the little ones we tell ourselves. I had someone in my office the other day and he said, “I go to work and every day, all I hear are complaints. Every one complains to me all day long.” He was telling me this as an indirect way of rationalizing his own behavior. He was at the end of his rope and he was telling me why. But, what he told me wasn’t the truth. Not everyone complained. There were some people who said simply, “Good morning,” and went about their day. Why then would he say that “everyone complained” and that they did it “all day long.” Because if he said, “Do you know what happens to me some days Pastor Joe? Sometimes some people complain to me” it wouldn’t do the job he needed it to do. He needed the statement to justify his actions. It seems like just a little thing and yet as I listen to people and listen to myself I see a pattern. We exaggerate when we need a little extra rationalization. “You never listen to me.” “I haven’t bought anything special in long time,” “I never do anything right.” We can use it to avoid responsibility, “That is the best I can do,” “I do everything around here,” “the church doesn’t need me to serve anywhere.” Anyway, I think that is enough for you to get the gist. The more I pay attention the more untruths I notice sneaking in. I find the best way for me to establish perspective is to make sure I am believing what is true. Scripture calls it simply walking in the light. I encourage you to be on the lookout for untruths. We all have them. The fewer you have the less warped you will be. That should make everyone around you a little happier and safer.

Reaching to Touch

Michael Jackson has died at the age of 50. That is sad. He was a tremendous entertainer. He had been called an "American Idol" long before the show. It has been interesting for me to watch the response of people to the death of this Idol. I watched as one woman was interviewed and she was sobbing. She said, "This is the worst day of my life". My guess is she never actually met Michael Jackson and yet her grief was palpable. I had the chance to go to see a group called Il Divo the other night. The group consists of four men who sing popular songs in a classical style. They were of different nationalities with different appeal. They sang many of the familiar songs in other languages. They were all four young, handsome and had terrific voices. The arena was packed with people who were mostly over 50 years of age. As the concert came to a close the four of them walked down runways set up to move them into the crowd. People got out of their seats and lined the walkways. They reached out their hands hoping one of the young men would touch them. I watched as one woman reached out her hand desperately wanting to be touched but was missed. She slowly brought her hand back down to her side and watched as the star moved away from her completely unaware of her and her desire to be touched. I found the whole thing fascinating. These were not pre-schoolers reaching out to touch Barney the Dinosaur. These were grown people with children and grand-children reaching out to be touched by men with really nice voices. Weird. I sat there and I was reminded that we as a species are made to worship. We long to adore something greater than ourselves. We have in all of our hearts a deep desire for a Savior. That is at the core of the response to Michael Jackson's death and the response to Il Divo. My guess is all of us have things in our life that compete with the true God. When Moses was up on the mountain with God the people in the valley couldn't wait for him to come down. They needed to worship so they created something and fell on their faces before it. They reached out their hands to be touched. It is our danger too. Today you need to worship. That is a fact. You will reach out your hand to be touched by someone or something. You will adore. The world is full of idols. They surround all of us. Make sure you worship the One who is worthy. There is One who will not die and leave you alone. There is One who will not walk by and leave you standing with your hand in the air untouched. Amazing as it seems you can reach out and touch him today. His name is Jesus.

The Lost Raft

Well, I am back from vacation. My family goes to a place called Sunset Beach. It is the last beach in North Carolina. I think we have gone to the same place 14 out of the last 16 years. It is quiet and quaint and just about perfect. We are not active vacationers. Some people vacation with sneakers, black socks, and cameras around their necks. They run from place to place taking in all the sights and come back with scads of pictures of the places they've been and the things they've seen. We, on the other hand, are sedentary. We rub sunscreen on, set up an umbrella, and watch the ocean until it is time to eat to gain some energy so we can go back out and watch the ocean some more. It is marvelous. We were watching one day and saw a raft floating out to sea. A little girl had fallen off and the unmanned raft was being carried out with the tide. It was really colorful and cute. It was shaped like a flip flop. My son Jeremy is a tri-athlete. I pointed at the raft and said,"Jeremy, fetch!!" Jeremy is a wonderful athlete but a little too responsive to commands like "fetch". He got up, walked out into the water and started to swim for the raft. The wind picked up and the abandoned raft headed out to sea with some purpose. Jeremy continued to swim. Within 20 minutes he was so far out everyone on shore was watching. Once Jeremy starts something he is pretty stubborn. I am pretty sure he gets that from his mom or at least her side. He ended up swimming about a mile and a half straight out into the ocean. He wrapped the raft under his arm and made his way back to shore. The whole ordeal took the better part of an hour. The owner of the raft insisted on giving the raft to Jeremy. He said he deserved to have the raft because of the price he paid in saving it. That got me thinking about Jesus. It was interesting to watch my son risk so much and work so hard to save a raft. God had his son give so much more and go so much farther to save you and me from floating further and further away from him. I am so glad he did.