Time Slippage

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future...
Ok so Steve Miller was right even if it was back in the 1980"s. Time does not stop even though I would love late summer and early fall to last forever.

The days of summer have past and now fall is coming to an end...the trees in upstate New York don't get any better than right now. The forest's greens turning to yellows, shades of brown.  It is a time for thoughts about preparing for the coming snow.

Philippians 2:12-13 (NASB)

12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

It reminds that my days are bounded by grace, hope and a sure knowledge of the future directed by the Master,   Even in the shortening days of fall God is at work. 

God is at work in this heart of mine to will and to work for His good pleasure.  My job is to work out the implications of the salvation that I have chosen to participate in.  There are implications "of working out my salvation" across the arc of my life's trajectory.  The working out of salvation takes a life time of following one step at a time...through all the seasons of life.

Now I have to tell you that fall is my absolute favorite season. I would be happy if all year was fall, but that is not the way that it works.   Seasons come and go and  time continues to slip into the future with depressing regularity.  Fall will lead to in a few weeks to winter's snow, and a different kind of slippage. 

But in the middle of that mix there is one thing that I can be sure of...it is God who is at work in me and all that I need to do is to follow his will and his work...in due course we will get to the good pleasure part again.

Signs

A couple of weeks ago,  there was some small vadalism  at the church to the church sign. Some one had taken the letters and spelled other words with the letters and had used perminent maker on the face of it...let's not mention the poptart that was jammed into it.

The reason I found the vandalism that took place on our sign was because I saw a guy walking across the lawn taking pictures and laughing. One of the guys said as he was laughing ...you might want to change your sign. I almost was ready with a come back line and something stopped me.

Suddenly...the words of Jesus promising the right words when we needed them must have kicked in...because it suddenly came to mind that vulgarities on a church sign are not funny...it was sad. Permanent marker on a church sign is just plain sad...sad for our culture...sad for our community...there is reason to pray here.

That is what I told him...you should be sad and not laughing...and it was as if I had hit them...They weren't seeing the humor any more in a church sign on the corner Washington and Pine.  God tells us that He wants to work within our lives even in those clutch places where it is so easy to slip the gears.  Now really the point is this small thing is a bit laughable...a bit of junior high humor at my expense.  It is interesting that grown men would find that kind of humor funny.  But then maybe I would have seen the iriony if it wasn't my church's sign.

But if the Spirit of God gave me the right words to say to a couple of country boys who were laughing at a church sign, then how much more will He work when the need is greater?  The Spirit works in the middle of hearts and minds in ways that remain mysterious and filled with grace even when we aren't.

Romans 8:26-27

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

A Step or Two Beyond A Lewis Quote

"If I am a field that contains nothing but grass-seed, I cannot produce wheat. Cutting the grass may keep it short: but I shall still produce grass and no wheat. If I want to produce wheat, the change must go deeper than the surface. I must be ploughed up and re-sown."
C. S. Lewis ~ Mere Christianity

This quote got me thinking. Clearly, Lewis has in mind that a Christ follower has something occur that is a fundamental difference in kind from what they were before. The difference between grass and wheat.

Most of the time in the church we look for differences in degree. Better attendance, better giving, more baptisms, professions of faith. The church in Saratoga Sunday attendance is...

Numbers in general are counting out differences in degree. It was 83 yesterday. John Doe hasn't missed a Sunday all year, or has brought 15 of his friends to church...or has read his Bible through every year for the last 15 years. All are good things, but not the best thing.

What Lewis is pointing to clearly is if we are looking for something that numbers can never indicate. He is pointing to a difference in kind. Grass and wheat are both plants but one is ground cover and one is a source of food. One looks nice and one is productive. One according to Jesus is burnt up and the other is gathered into barns for safekeeping.

Here is the thing...I am clear that a fundamental difference occurs at conversion. It is written across the gospels in love and in large print letters. But that change is on going and points toward a harvest that occurs repeatedly. The harvest itself creating the seeds for the next years harvest. So difference in kind leads to ongoing organic growth that is not forced or stilted but instead the natural thing that wheat does. It requires ploughing and sowing and reaping. It is a field,  a life and an organic process that continues to be tended.

Lord Jesus--So where are the places that ploughing is required? Where are the places where planting is taking place? Where in my life do I sense without any doubt the blessing and fruitful harvest of the Holy Spirits work?  Thank you for the Holy Spirit's ongoing tending in my life.

The Road Runs Through Me

I could have anticipated that the road is more than a metaphor in my life...the journey has in so many ways come to define my life.  Life is traveling around sometimes over the same itinerary again and again. It is a part of the job but beyond that it has become a part of my life.  The car, the open road  with tunes playing in the background and a goal in mind for the day.

The travel is not the point it is a part of the process to resolve the issue, to problem solve and to be able to move on.  So much of life is like that...process that leads to resolution that results in outcomes that require more resolution.  Problem solving that in it's self creates reactions that were not anticipated.  That in turn needs fine tuning that leads to further needed action...points me toward the spiritual.  The reality is: that process continues in my heart not just my head.  There are issues, problems which lead to resolution which leads to the challenge of an new set of changes that are called for.  And the road goes on right straight though my heart.


Lord Jesus--When you called me to follow you, I never realize that it would be a dynamic process over time, space and a life time of change.  Why did I get this picture at the beginning that one decision and the matter was settled? I chose to follow you and that has lead to a million decisions that rested on that first choice. It has been a journey...no more of a adventure. The road to kingdom come runs straight and true even when from my end all I see is asphalt.

The connection between process and product is not always direct.  The connection between journey and destination sometimes is a twisted blindsided highway.  That does not mean that I have somehow gone off track if I end up places that I didn't anticipate.  It just means I have to trust the One who led me and that He will continue to lead.

The road is about process and movement toward an end that is known from the start of the trip.  It is occasioned by all sorts of things...but the end result is that there is the need for relationship building.  One way or another that is always a part of my travels.  That is the direct connection to my Jesus walk daily...

Amos 3:3
Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?

If there is any fundamental lesson that I learned in this walk with Jesus it is that all of life is about relationship building.  This picture of Sweet and myself is one of my favorite.  First, it is at a place that we love to go.  The sand and the sea of the Outer Banks is my favorite.  I am not sure why I like this picutre so much.  I guess it is that we are headed in the same direction and the sun is shining...it is late fall and we remain together.  How much better does it get?

Does the road run through me? Yes, and it is the highway of the King.

Pieces of Peace

A sea gull  on a post in the evening air...the sun resting in the distance.  Why does this just speak peace to me?  I can almost smell the water of the   lake in the air.

For some of you, the ocean will come to mind.  A smell of salt water and the sound of surf will be in your mind.  For me, this will always remind me of Lake Ontario with the sound of gentle waves on rock.  Why does it seem like the sound of the waves is somehow different? Fresh water and salt even sound different.

Peace comes in many ways and times and so often we miss it.  The sun sets and the colors fade and the moment passes without notice.  Peace is something connected with memory and times when that sense of safety was something you could almost taste.

Peace is something that lasts not in  pictures or in  words on a page. It is found in the moments our lives...it is allowed to live in the heart.   The words of Jesus come to mind...

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Peace is a gift given without reference to the circumstances of life.  This promise was given days before the cross.  It was a part of the last teaching that Jesus was to have with his disciples.  His peace is a part of all the pieces of peace that we find shatter and sometime shattered in the space and times of our lives.

Philippians 4:7

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Not only is peace a gift but it is a guard of our hearts and minds.  So today I will follow the pieces of peace that I find scatter along the way.

Write when you get the chance...

I haven't blogged in a while...I am not sure why.  I could come up with excuses and justifications   The reality is I just haven't found any thing that just had to be written in a while.

So what has the Lord been doing with me lately,  you ask?  Hmm...good question.

A few pictures always help.  Right now the road just seems to be stretching out in front of me.  I love the Outer Banks and I think this picture sums up some of what God is doing right now in my heart.  I continue the road trip and the distance continues to call as I put one foot in front of the other.

Got to admit the view doesn't get much better, but the sense of progress at times gets lost a bit.  Anyone else relate? The Lord leads guides and directs but he still calls me to the next step...and the next step...I think you get the picture.

Scripture always helps me.

Isaiah 64:4
Since before time began no one has ever imagined, No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you who works for those who wait for him.

As I wait for him the journey continues.

But then there are times when it feels as if I am a part of an abstract piece of art.  I sort of know what the point is,  but I am not sure exactly what I am looking at.  Then the waiting make perfect sense.


1 Corinthians 13:9-10
We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

Sometimes the picture is just plain incomplete and I am left waiting, walking and doing a bit of writing to have  it all make just a bit of sense. That is where faith and hope have a chance to take root. I have to admit that sometimes the rooting is not comfortable at all.


Then there is the beach that surrounds me at times.  The surf, the wind and the tide are a part of the stuff of my life.  I can either fight it, or I can just experience it as it comes toward me.  I have done both at points in my life.  Right now, I choose to experience life as it comes a day at a time with the One that make it worth the effort.

Romans 8:37-39

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

I don't need to worry about the surf, the wind, or the tide that seems as if it is going to wash me away.  It is really simple: nothing can separate me from the One who holds me in place.  I don't have to be concerned when the wind picks up, nor do I need to struggle against the storm that batters the shore to my right and left.  I am safe, no matter what.  I stay secure within the embrace of Jesus.

Hope that is where this finds you, my friend.

Most Recent Ear Worm- The Wood Song

 The Wood Song

The thin horizon of a plan is almost clear

My friends and I have had a tough time

Bruising our brains hard up against change

All the old dogs and the magician

Now I see we're in the boat in two-by-two's

Only the heart that we have for a tool we could use

And the very close quarters are hard to get used to

Love weighs the hull down with its weight

But the wood is tired, and the wood is old

And we'll make it fine, if the weather holds

But if the weather holds, we'll have missed the point

That's where I need to go

No way construction of this tricky plan

Was built by other than a greater hand

With a love that passes all our understanding

Watching closely over the journey

Yeah, but what it takes to cross the great divide

Seems more that all the courage I can muster up inside

But we got to have some answers when we reach the other side

The prize is always worth the rocky ride

But the wood is tired, and the wood is old

And we'll make it fine, if the weather holds

But if the weather holds, we'll have missed the point

That's where I need to go

Sometimes I ask to sneak a closer look

Skip to the final chapter of the book

And then maybe steer us clear from some of the pain it took

To get us where we are this far, this far

But the question drowns in its futility

Even I have got to laugh at me

No one gets to miss the storm of what will be

Just holding on for the ride

But the wood is tired, and the wood is old

And we'll make it fine, if the weather holds

But if the weather holds, we'll have missed the point

That's where I need to go

Ok, so I like the Indigo Girls.  Hold it against me if you must.   Let's over look that one of the names for pot is indigo.    Let's also over look the differences in life situation and style between their life and mine is stark.
But this song speaks to me.  It speaks of a love that somehow transcends and at the same time participates in time.  Of a hope,  that even in circumstances that are complex and led to questioning our own courage and determination,it lives on and thrives.So over an over again, I have been listening to this song.  I am glad for repeat on the MP3 player that I am using.  
Why the ear bug now?  Why this song?  Do I believe in coincidence  No! Do I think that I can understand why right now...not sure.  Can we ever understand all of what the Spirit of God is speaking into our hearts.  I doubt it.  We are spoken to in more ways that we understand...even with and by ear worms.  So listen at least until repeat stops working...
But what I know for the short term is this song reminds me that even wood that is tired, and old has its uses. That we are driven by the storm that surrounds us into more complexity not less. But that in the middle of all of this confusion there is a greater hand. No matter how stressed it is, remember humor after all it is part of what makes us human.
It really is such a simple song but I still can't get it out of my head.
I know that I am looking for hope, grace and enduring meaning in all of the places that I can find it. Here I find  at least a couple of people who are also on that journey. A tip of the hat to Indigo Girls...