He was serious as . . . as sin.
“Let me tell you something; this is something you need to know,” Ty said. He knows his stuff. He’s been working at my favorite lumberyard for years.
“It’s bad luck to start a job on Friday.” Hmm.
The ten plus inches of fresh snow, which was already delaying delivery of the first truck load of lumber to my job site, made me think.
But bad luck? Should trust in luck determine the direction for a Friday?
The Bible says: “Some trust in their war chariots and others in their horses, but we trust in the power of the LORD our God.” Maybe in carpenter’s language it might mean we trust in our huge four-wheel drive trucks and our competent workers. Plus more; say—luck.
“Ty you need to write this down,” I said. “I don’t believe in luck; I trust in God.” He laughed. I told him to deliver the lumber.
The truck backed into the driveway. Adam, the driver, slowly tilted the bed of the truck forming a ramp to slide the steel-banded load from truck to the snow covered concrete. Suddenly, as the wood started to slide off the truck, the steel bands broke. The bundle exploded, missiling lumber towards the house.
Adam bolted from the truck with an I’m-getting-fired look on his face. It quickly turned to a grin; I started laughing. Heavy timbers rested, actually touching the house, but no damage.
Lumberyard chatter would surely conclude that the dreaded Friday bad luck had capriciously turned good.
Bible truth declares: “I will say of the LORD: He is my refuge, my fortress. In God I will trust . . . blessed is the man who trusts in God.”
Now that’s how I determine the direction for a Friday.
2/25/06
2/18/06
BIG CHANGES
“Graham has had big changes in his life this year,” the letter said.
I enjoy getting these occasional updates from my Aunt Cathy. You know, the brag-on-the-kids-and-grandkids letters. She wrote, “He is no longer an only child and he has started school.” Even at five years old Graham is starting to encounter some challenging changes.
We all know that changes, small to huge, can cause strain. Do you sometimes yearn for a simple unchanging existence? Many people do.
Aunt Cathy’s letter continued about Graham’s changes. “He is full of questions about God and heaven right now. One afternoon Angie (his mom) found him prone on the floor with his face down and arms at his side. When asked what he was doing, he replied: ‘I’m bowing down before God.’ Another time she heard him talking in his room and asked him what he said. ‘Oh, I was just talking to God,’ was his reply.”
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter in.” I believe that; it’s in the Bible. But why is it so hard to, with childlike faith, engage in Godlike ways?
I have no doubt that God smiled when He observed Graham’s behavior. I did when I read the letter.
Graham’s approach to God has reminded me of three things I need to do when big change strikes, actually even small change.
I need to maintain an active curiosity about God and heaven. This is especially true as the swirl of distractions absorb too much of my life. I need to bow down; humble myself before God. God I need to rely on You more. Me less. And I need to talk to God; He has the big-change answers.
Thanks Graham.
I enjoy getting these occasional updates from my Aunt Cathy. You know, the brag-on-the-kids-and-grandkids letters. She wrote, “He is no longer an only child and he has started school.” Even at five years old Graham is starting to encounter some challenging changes.
We all know that changes, small to huge, can cause strain. Do you sometimes yearn for a simple unchanging existence? Many people do.
Aunt Cathy’s letter continued about Graham’s changes. “He is full of questions about God and heaven right now. One afternoon Angie (his mom) found him prone on the floor with his face down and arms at his side. When asked what he was doing, he replied: ‘I’m bowing down before God.’ Another time she heard him talking in his room and asked him what he said. ‘Oh, I was just talking to God,’ was his reply.”
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter in.” I believe that; it’s in the Bible. But why is it so hard to, with childlike faith, engage in Godlike ways?
I have no doubt that God smiled when He observed Graham’s behavior. I did when I read the letter.
Graham’s approach to God has reminded me of three things I need to do when big change strikes, actually even small change.
I need to maintain an active curiosity about God and heaven. This is especially true as the swirl of distractions absorb too much of my life. I need to bow down; humble myself before God. God I need to rely on You more. Me less. And I need to talk to God; He has the big-change answers.
Thanks Graham.
2/14/06
THE END, END
“It’s all going to be over pretty soon,” Mark said.
He sat on his four-wheeler. The house he was building towered above him and the hard frozen lake loomed before him.
Mark is one of the hardest workers I know. Yet he complained about the futility of his labors, “I have lots of jobs. There’s always somebody to pay . . . I’ll never get rich.” Then his conversation slipped to “the end.” The end, end—the return of Jesus. Not a prophet, or a preacher, but a tired carpenter reflecting on a workingman’s hunch.
Is it all going to be over soon? Is he right?
When asked, Jesus listed many end-time signs in Matthew 24: wars, rumors of wars, people falsely claiming to be the Messiah, increased lawlessness, love growing cold, etc.
Yet Jesus said, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only God.”
Instead of when is the end, shouldn’t we preferably ask: are you ready?
Mark rambled on as the cold wind off the lake chilled me. And my mind went back to a lunchtime conversation we had a few years prior. I asked him, “Where do you think you would end up if you died right now-- heaven or hell?”
With only a slight hesitation he said, “Hell.” He’s realistic enough to admit that he’s headed to the place of “outer darkness . . . weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
As my mind returned to the present, Mark revved the four wheeler a couple more times. “I’m going ice fishing.”
Jesus said, “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man (Jesus) will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.”
Maybe even when you’re ice fishing. So be ready.
He sat on his four-wheeler. The house he was building towered above him and the hard frozen lake loomed before him.
Mark is one of the hardest workers I know. Yet he complained about the futility of his labors, “I have lots of jobs. There’s always somebody to pay . . . I’ll never get rich.” Then his conversation slipped to “the end.” The end, end—the return of Jesus. Not a prophet, or a preacher, but a tired carpenter reflecting on a workingman’s hunch.
Is it all going to be over soon? Is he right?
When asked, Jesus listed many end-time signs in Matthew 24: wars, rumors of wars, people falsely claiming to be the Messiah, increased lawlessness, love growing cold, etc.
Yet Jesus said, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only God.”
Instead of when is the end, shouldn’t we preferably ask: are you ready?
Mark rambled on as the cold wind off the lake chilled me. And my mind went back to a lunchtime conversation we had a few years prior. I asked him, “Where do you think you would end up if you died right now-- heaven or hell?”
With only a slight hesitation he said, “Hell.” He’s realistic enough to admit that he’s headed to the place of “outer darkness . . . weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
As my mind returned to the present, Mark revved the four wheeler a couple more times. “I’m going ice fishing.”
Jesus said, “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man (Jesus) will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.”
Maybe even when you’re ice fishing. So be ready.
2/12/06
2/4/06
YOUR TESTIMONY
“I don’t have a good testimony,” Sato said. We had just met. I asked him to tell me his testimony as a way of getting acquainted.
My short silence and question-marked facial expression caused Sato to ask, “What is a testimony?” I instantly understood. Sato, a new Christian from Japan, wasn’t able to hurdle the language barriers— “Christianese” and English.
In the let’s-share context I was talking about, I meant the story of how he became a Christian. Sato smiled; now he knew what I meant.
God says, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
For over a year Sato had traveled the world seeking God. He traveled to India, spending a month there seeking God. He traveled to the United States and sought God. He repeated this pattern as he traveled the globe. Sato says, “Each time I returned to Japan I felt empty.”
Sato encountered the spectrum of religion during his travels yet he still hadn’t found what he was looking for.
Is it true if we seek for God, the true God, we will find Him? God promises we will.
Confused, disillusioned, tired and still desperately seeking God, he once again returned to Japan. Late one night, Sato was again searching for God--this time on the Internet. He found Heidi Baker preaching a simple message about Jesus Christ, repentance of sin, the good news of forgiveness and eternal life.
Sato had traveled the world looking for God; looking for his personal Messiah. That night the good-news message went from his head to his heart. Sato had found what he was looking for—Jesus.
And your testimony? You don’t have one? It can start today—“When you seek God with all your heart.”
My short silence and question-marked facial expression caused Sato to ask, “What is a testimony?” I instantly understood. Sato, a new Christian from Japan, wasn’t able to hurdle the language barriers— “Christianese” and English.
In the let’s-share context I was talking about, I meant the story of how he became a Christian. Sato smiled; now he knew what I meant.
God says, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
For over a year Sato had traveled the world seeking God. He traveled to India, spending a month there seeking God. He traveled to the United States and sought God. He repeated this pattern as he traveled the globe. Sato says, “Each time I returned to Japan I felt empty.”
Sato encountered the spectrum of religion during his travels yet he still hadn’t found what he was looking for.
Is it true if we seek for God, the true God, we will find Him? God promises we will.
Confused, disillusioned, tired and still desperately seeking God, he once again returned to Japan. Late one night, Sato was again searching for God--this time on the Internet. He found Heidi Baker preaching a simple message about Jesus Christ, repentance of sin, the good news of forgiveness and eternal life.
Sato had traveled the world looking for God; looking for his personal Messiah. That night the good-news message went from his head to his heart. Sato had found what he was looking for—Jesus.
And your testimony? You don’t have one? It can start today—“When you seek God with all your heart.”
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