The Flawed thinking of a "Retired" Pastor

Taste

It's early Sunday morning.  I've been asked to share a brief communion meditation in worship at our church today.  I've been reflecting on Psalm 34:8 - "O taste and see that the LORD is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!"  Love it!!  On each occasion when we observe the Lord's Table, we need to give thanks that our Savior gave thanks for us (that's the heart an soul of Eucharist).  And we need to give praise to Him that He was compelled by love to take up that cross.  As we hold that cup close to our lips, in remembrance, may we taste and see that the Lord is good.  Think of the significance of that.  We are not simply to feel or to read or to hear or to see, but to take into our very bodies the taste of our Savior's sacrifice!!  Have a great Lord's Day.

Time

Ernest Hemingway said, "Time is the least thing we have of."  And he was right.  There is so much more we want to see, to celebrate, to do.  So many places to go, so much to enjoy, to feel, to read, to talk about, to participate in, to encounter.  Our frustration is only compounded by the numerous unimportant, dumb things that steal our minutes and siphon off the signficance of our hours.  We have this wonderful gift of 16-18 waking hours every day.  Since "time if the least thing we have of" and since there is no way we're going to escape all the stupid time-traps that are a part of our earthly existence package (like 6 months of your life sitting at stop lights or 18 months trying to find our keys), it would seem to me we have 2 choices.  We can fuss and whine about our individual "time problems" and lack of it, or we can take the time that we have and spend it wisely.  I mean REALLY WISELY, with our priorities in the right order.  If many of us continue the pattern that has comprised most of our adult years we can find ourselves mumbling to ourselves in the twilight years wondering how we could have stayed so busy yet accomplished so little.  I cannot help but smile these days when I hear, "I just don't have the time to do that" or "where did that week go?"  Maybe Hemingway wasn't right after all.  You and I have more time than we realize...once we get our priority ducks in a row!!

Memories

Call me sentimental, but I've been feeling a little nostalgic lately.  There have been a number of things that have pushed my nostalga button the last few weeks.  At those times I get real quiet.  Sometimes, a little misty.  I think of the lovely teen-aged girl I met in 1963 and ended up marrying in 1966.  I've been thinking of the paths we've walked together, the smiles and laughter we've shared, the pain we've endured, the decision we've made, the places we've lived, the beautiful girls we've raised.  Memories.  Birthday parties, picnics, vacation trips, school projects, graduation excitement quiet talks, weddings.  Births of grandchildren.  Sometimes it seems like things were much simpler then.  Probably wasn't; but it seems so.  Memories.  There are times that my bride and I glance back over our shoulders and ask each other those gutsy questions, like "If we had the chance to do it all again, would we?"  You bet.  "Could we?"  No doubt.  Fact is, we still do.  We're still building memories.  Today we find ourselves investing ourselves in the lives of a few who love the same things...who realize that if you don't take the time, you won't have the stuff which makes life bearable.  People who continue to make memories aren't just sentimental...they're smart.  After all, tomorrow's memories come from today's decisions!!

For Dads

I came across an interesting list this week in one of my journals.  It was from Tom Eisenman and his book, Temptations Men Face.  I'm not a great "list man", but this one really got me thinking.  Here are the top temptations fathers face.

1. The temptation to give things instead of giving ourselves--our presence or our personal involvement.

2. The temptation to save our best for the workplace.

3. The temptation to deliver lectures rather than earning respect by listening and learning.

4. The temptation to demand perfection from those under our roof.

5. The temptation to find intimate fulfillment outside the bonds of monogamy.

6. The temptation to underestimate the importance of our cultivating our family's spiritual appetite.

Good list, huh?  Our wives and kids LONG for us to be their spiritual pacesetter.  Children love knowing that their dad loves God, walks with God, and talks about God.  Never underestimate your role as the spiritual head of your home.  We need to continue to cultivate our spiritual disciplines and time alone with God.  It's one of the greatest gifts we can give to our families.  Another writer has said, "It's time to face the music and change the tune!"  Say a firm "NO" to any of these subtle, sneaky, slippery temptations that have slipped into your life.

Life is Short...Really?

As I look back, an overriding thought comes to the fore - LIFE IS SHORT.  I recently read Psalm 90 which is loaded with reminders of the brevity of life -- "life is short" - "like yesterday when it passes by" - "as a watch in the night" - "like grass, it sprouts and withers" - "like a sigh, soon it is gone."  There are many reminders around me and within me that serve as reminders that we aren't getting any younger.  But as I look ahead I see another major message - LIFE IS UNCERTAIN.  A single adjective could precede most every event in our future:  "Unexpected."  Unexpected surgery, transfer, change, accomplishment, loss, benefit, sickness, promotion, demotion, gift, death.  Life is indeed uncertain.  SO...since life is so brief and uncertain...how should we view the present?  3 words adequately and accurately describe the present.  LIFE IS CHALLENGING!!  Because it is short, life is packed with challenging possibilities.  Because it is uncertain, it is filled with challenging adjustments.  I believe that's much of what Jesus meant when He promised us an abundant life.  I think it's the secret of staying young and also the path that leads to optimism and motivation.  One author has written, "With each new dawn, life delivers a package to your front door, rings your doorbell, and runs.  The package may read, 'Watch out' or 'Better worry about this' or 'Danger; be afraid' or 'Impossible; you'll never handle this one.'"  When you hear that ring tomorrow morning, try something new.  Have Jesus answer the door for you.  Life"s most challenging opportunities are often brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems!!

Encouragement

Proverbs 15:23 says, "A man has joy in an apt answer, and how delightful is a timely word."  All of us need encouragement--somebody to believe in us.  To reassure and reinforce us.  To help us pick up the pieces and go on.  To provide us with increased determination in spite of the odds.  When we encourage others we spur them on, we stimulate and affirm them.  It is helpful to remember the distinction between appreciation and affirmation.  We appreciate what a person DOES.  We affirm who a person IS.  Appreciation comes and goes because it's usually related to something someone accomplishes.  Affirmation goes deeper.  It is directed to the person himself or herself.  I don't care how influential or secure or mature a person may appear to be, genuine encouragement never fails to help.  Many of us need massive doses of it.

The Past?

Focus on the past and it won't be long before complaints start oozing from your lips.  You well remember yesterday - the rosy, hazy glow of memory long ago.  Perhaps you remember when things were better or easier or more comfortable than it is today.  And you compare then and now.  I guarantee it...You will end up grumbling.  I do it; and so do you.  But it's so foolish!  We look back nostalgically on what once was and praise the past.  That's dumb!  You may be grumbling right now about your current situation.  Chances are that 5 years from now you'll be looking back at today and saying, "Oh, for the good old days; boy it was great back then, wasn't it?"  STOP!!  We live in the today.  And God continues to show Himself strong TODAY...all along the way.  Thank You , Lord for what I am and where I am TODAY!!

Being a Leader

Whoever else I influence as a leader, whatever else I may do, shaping men is a call to which I must answer--a call that first requires my being shaped myself, as a man.  Those who lead in the church will multiply something!!  What am I multiplying?  I am to be bearer of the promise that His grace shall reproduce "sons" through me.  God is at work, reviving the church and restoring men.  It is to be my priority to lead men to places of humility, responsibility, and servanthood.  Our greatest challenge facing us in the church today is to reassert the Lordship of Jesus Christ in each and every man in the body of Christ!!

Boggled?

A scientist once suggested an analogy.  To grasp the scene, imagine a pefectly smooth glass pavement on which the tiniest speck can be seen.  Then shrink our sun from 865,000 miles in diameter to only 2 feet in diameter...and place the ball on the pavement to represent the sun.  Step off 82 paces (about 2 feet per pace), to represent proportionately the first planet, Mercury, put down a tiny mustard seed.  Take 60 steps more and for Venus put down an ordinary BB.  Mark 78 more steps...put down a green pea representing Earth.  Step off 108 paces from there, and for Mars, put down a pinhead.  Sprinkle around some fine dust for the asteroids, then take 788 steps more and place an orange on the glass for Jupiter.  After 934 more steps, put down a golf ball for Saturn.  Now it really gets involved.  Mark 2086 steps more, and for Uranus...a marble.  Another 2322 steps from there you arrive at Neptune.  Let a cherry represent Neptune.  And we haven't even talked about the dwarf planet of Pluto.  We have a smooth glass surface 5 miles in diameter (excluding Pluto), yet just a tiny fraction of the heavens.  Now guess how far we'd have to go on the same scale before we could put down another 2-foot ball to represent the nearest star?  720 miles.  Miles, not feet!!  And that's just the first star among millions.  And all in perpetual motion, perfectly synchronized.  Phenominal isn't the word for it.  No God?  All by chance?  Are you kidding?  "Since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--has been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."  (Romans 1:20)  As one wise sage said many years ago, "The boggled mind leads to a bended knee!"

Perfect in Him

Living as we do in a product-oriented culture, we like to package our faith, too.  We prefer to sell a slick, shrink-wrapped version of salvation that includes happiness and peace, and happiness here and now, and heaven by and by.  What I'd like to know is who erected such a happily-ever-after standard of perfection in the first place?  God knows very well we aren't able to produce perfection; that's why Jesus, the perfect Son of God, placed us in His family.  That's why He gave us a position of perfect righteousness in Him, reminding us by contrast that our own daily experience will constantly fall short.  "He has now reconciled you...in order to present you before God holy and blameless and beyond reproach." (Colossians 1:22)