Thanksgiving in the Late 1980s

It was a Wednesday afternoon in November in the late 1980s. My mom had been laboring around the house all day, cooking, cleaning, and preparing. Tomorrow was Thanksgiving and there were several relatives coming to our house to celebrate. 

Everything smelled wonderful; the aroma of pumpkin pie, oyster dressing, and roasted turkey filled the air. Everything looked perfect; not a finger print to be found on a mirror or window, you could see your reflection in the linoleum, and there was not a speck of dust in the air. 

My dad had left three hours before to pick up my Great Aunt, who would be spending the holiday weekend at our home. She was set to arrive at any moment. 

My mom was in the kitchen finishing up the final preparation on the evening meal when I asked for a drink of milk. She answered me, "I'll get you a glass of milk in a minute". But I did not want a drink in a minute, I wanted it right then. So, I walked into the kitchen and headed for the refrigerator. 

As my mom walked past me, she reminded me, "I'll get you a glass of milk in a minute".  Then she headed into the living room. 

I continued toward the refrigerator and opened the door. There it was, a gallon jug of milk, three-quarter full, plenty of milk for a glass. I pulled it off of the top shelf. As the jug came off of the shelf I suddenly became aware of the weight of the milk, particularly the reality that it was heavy - too heavy for me at the moment. 

As the jug of milk fell from my loose grip it was as though everything was moving in slow-motion. The milk fell to the floor with a thud, the cap flew off of the jug and shot across the room, and the milk began to gurgle out. Suddenly everything sped up, now the milk was pouring out at an increased speed.

I watched at the milk flowed freely from the jug, "gulg, gulg, gulg...". With every "gulg" that I heard I could see precious moments my life flashing before my eyes. Soon my mom was going to return to the kitchen and see this spill - the milk was now throughout the kitchen and was flowing like a river behind the refrigerator and into the hallway where it was saturating the carpet. 

"Aunt Alice is here", my mom called out as she turned to come into the kitchen. I'm not sure what happened at the moment. I woke up several months later in the hospital and, to this day, I shiver every time I walk through the dairy section. 

Why did I disobey? Why didn't I simply listen to my mom and wait for her to get me a glass of milk? Was I so thirsty for milk that I couldn't wait another minute? Perhaps. Did I not believe that my mom would get me a glass of milk? Maybe. Or, more likely, I wanted my way and I wanted it now. In short, I was being selfish, thinking of me - my wants and my desires. 

I find this same issue - selfishness - has presented itself in my life time and time again. Even at the age of 35 I find that I want my way and I want it now. 

Selfishness is what drives all wrong - all evil - all sin - in our wold today. And, this has been the issue that mankind has dealt with from the very beginning - in the Garden of Eden.

But the consequences are much worse than a milk-covered floor in need of another mopping . The consequences for our continued selfishness is the consequence pronounced by God in the very beginning, death. 

We must get past our selfish desires - past a our me-mindedness to an eternal Kingdom-mindedness. We must fix our eyes on Jesus - making Him our focus. As Hebrews 12:2 states, Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. 

I think about this "spilled milk" incident and the phrase "don't cry over spilled milk" immediately comes to mind. Perhaps we are not to cry over a glass - or a gallon - spilled milk yet we are to cry - and be broken over our selfishness and our sinful desires. This is what Paul wrote in Romans 7:21-24, I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

Yet, Paul goes on to to give the answer to our brokenness, our selfishness, and our sinful desires, Romans 7:25; Thank God! The answer is Jesus Christ our Lord. 

O Lord, who else or what else can I desire but You

The following is from A Cry for Mercy by Henri J.M. Nouwen. 

O Lord, who else or what else can I desire but you? You are my Lord, Lord of my heart, mind, and soul. You know me through and through. In and through you everything that is finds its origin and goal. You embrace all that exists and care for it with divine love and compassion. Why, then, do I keep expecting happiness and satisfaction outside of you? Why do I keep relating to you as one of my many relationships, instead of my only relationship, in which all other ones are grounded? Why do I keep looking for popularity, respect from others, success, acclaim, and sensual pleasures? Why, Lord, is it so hard for me to make you the only one? Why do I keep hesitating to surrender myself totally to you?

Help me, O Lord, to let my old self die, to let die the thousand big and small ways in which I am still building up my false self and trying to cling to my false desires. Let me be reborn in you and see through you the world in the right way, so that all my actions, words, and thought can become a hymn of praise to you.

I need your loving grace to travel on the hard road that leads to the death of my old self and to a new life in and for you. I know and trust that this is the road to freedom.

Lord, dispel my mistrust and help be become a trusting friend.

God Is In The Room

This picture is the wallpaper on my laptop. An artist, with the assistance of a smoke machines, has found a way to produce clouds indoors and has taken several stunning pictures. And while these pictures are quite remarkable I could not help but think of one thing as I looked at them; "God is in the room". 

SEE, no matter where we are, no matter what we are doing God is in the room with us. God is all-present or omnipresent, meaning that He is in all places at all times - that is one of the characteristics that defines Him as God.

AND, because God is omnipresent, He is here for us when we need Him the most. Likewise, He is there when we would rather Him not be, that is when we are doing things that we know He does not approve of - when we are doing things contrary to His will and His purpose.

YET, if we could simply remember that "God is in the room" with every decision that we make, every action that we take, every thought that we think, and every word that we speak, we would do better to obey His will and fulfill His purpose.

AND, although we do not have the benefit of seeing God in the form of a visible cloud in the room with us at every moment of the day, what we do have is His Spirit living in us and working through us. Through God's Spirit we are able to achieve all that God has called us to, all that He has desired for us, and all that He has created us for.

At least your soul is covered

Our son, Zion, just turned three. He is at that independent stage where he doesn't want help and gets upset if we notify him that he has made a mistake.

He is consistent in putting his shoes on the wrong feet and for the most part this does not bother him. Bit, as we just finished our summer vacation to the lake, when he puts his flip flops on the wrong feet, it bothers him very much. Likewise it bothers us. He walks slower, he complains more, and he grows tired quicker. Yet, in his pride and independence, he refuses to change his way.

The other day he put his flip flops on the wrong feet yet again and I wanted very badly to point it out to him. But, knowing what his reaction would be I simply said, "at least your sole is covered".

That 's when it struck me, a lot of us are walking around with our flip flops in the wrong feet. And, knowing that we have our soles (souls) covered we keep going. Yet, we journey through life at a slower pace than God desires for us, we complain more about the things we see and experience, and we grow tired quicker and give up on what God desires for us to achieve. And then, when we realize our error, we refuse to change our ways out of pride and independence.

Let me just say, God wants more. God wants us to change our ways, to switch out shoes, and live life the way He has created us to live, doing what He desires of us.

Do What Jesus Did

Jesus said: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." John 14:12

If you have faith in Jesus Christ you must do what Jesus did.

To do what Jesus did you must know what Jesus did.

If you want to know what Jesus did and do what Jesus did, you are following the path that Jesus led.

If you follow the path that Jesus led, you are following Him to God the Father and meeting Him there.

Jesus said: "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father." John 16:13

That is, He will do whatever you ask in accordance with His will.

But, you must remain in Him and you must follow His will and His way.

Jesus said: "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." John 15:7

Because, God the Father desires to be glorified through His disciples.

Jesus said: "This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15:8

 Do what Jesus s desires and He will do what you desire in Him and through Him!

Having the Victory Over Myself

This morning I read a Tweet that John Piper made in which he wrote "No pastor lives up to what he preaches. If he does, he is preaching too low." I thought about this statement at various times throughout the day, I thought about how I pray prior to preparing and delivering the sermon and I thought about how I examine my life and actions before preparing and delivering the sermon. While I saw the truth in this statement from the very moment that I read it early this morning, I did not fully appreciate it until I did a final review of this Sunday morning's sermon.

Tomorrow (Sunday) morning's sermon topic is "Victory Over Self" based on the Scripture of Galatians 5:16-25. But the truth is this: for those of us who have committed our ways to Jesus Christ, our natural desires have been crucified, nailed to the cross, where it has no power to break loose, but is continually weaker and weaker (adapted from a phrase written by John Wesley).

If I am being totally transparent, which I believe is necessary for a successful pastor, I am desperately in need of recommitting my walk and my ways to Jesus Christ. I am desperately needing to commit to crucifying my sinful nature and natural desires and embrace the free life that Jesus promises and has designed for me once again.

My challenge then is to make this daily commitment, to daily crucify myself, my sinful nature, and my natural desires just as Jesus spoke of in Luke 9:23 or how Paul describes it in Galatians 2. If you are in the same boat as I am, I challenge you to do the same.

Visiting through the funk

This afternoon I had the great duty of visiting with some wonderful people! 

One of the duties of my job is visitation. Visiting with the members and attendees of our church, visiting with various individuals from the community, and visiting with shut-ins and those in the hospital. While this is not the part of the job that I enjoy THE MOST, it is a fairly enjoyable task. Connecting with various individuals, ministering to them and allowing them to minister to me, this is very fulfilling and I count it a true blessing.

Yet, there are times that I find it very difficult to visit with people. Sometimes I find myself in a "funk" and don't feel like going out, carrying on a conversation, or entertaining the interests of others. And, although these moments of "funk" are few and far between, I find that these seem to be the most fulfilling moments of visiting and connecting. When I force myself past that "funk" I soon find the joy and pleasure in visiting with these wonderful people. 
 
This morning I was reading from Psalm 23 and the sixth verse really caught my attention: "Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." 

Just as there are days that I find myself in a "funk", without the desire to visit with others, I sometimes find myself in a "funk", without the desire to visit with God. These are times when I don't want to read Scripture, I don't want to pray, I don't want to do anything. Yet these are the times David is writing about in Psalm 23:6, times when God says; "don't worry about visiting with me, I'm going to visit with you right now. Why? Because you are my child and I love you. Why? Because I am here for you, forever. Why? Because I am God and you need me, even when you don't always know how much you need me.

Just as God walked in the garden when Adam and Eve were hiding in sin and shame, and he called out to them; "Where are you?" How often God pursues us and calls out, "where are you". God is good, always! God is love, always! God is there, always! Perhaps He is calling for you right now.

"Where are you?"