July 31, 2006: Lazy Days of Summer

Ah, the lazy, hazy days of summer.

I love this time of year.

All the hard yard work of spring is done. We're all used to the summer, and we've actually done some of those projects that we had laid out to do. And we've done all the obligatory summer stuff--gone on vacation, gone swimming, enjoyed the outdoors, been to family reunions.

And now it's just time to relax. Even the weather feels lazy...no tornadoes, just hot, humid, still air.

Feel like lounging in a hammock right now?

If our lives have seasons, then each of us has those times in our lives that correspond to the lazy days of summer. Those times where no deadline is imminent, where no sickness is threatening, where no funeral home visits are causing us grief...but, at the same time, there aren't any exciting joys or first time experiences or successful triumphs either. Life is sort of in the happy, peaceful doldrums of normalcy.

But when we are in this place, what should we do...and not do...?

1) Do thank God for the peace. There will be stormy, blustery days when you don't have the peace you do right now. So praise Him for giving you a lazy season.

2) Do not forget to fellowship with Him. We all seem to grow faster when the rain is pouring and the wind is blowing, in those storms of life. But I think we can grow deeper and surer when we grow during the calm times. Use this time to put down roots in God's word--don't forget God just because there's no current crisis.

3) Do bear fruit. It's this time of year that tomatoes, corn, beans, etc. are all ripe for the eating. Something about that hot, humid, cornstaceous air is just perfect for curing that stuff that's so great to eat. There will be times when you are just trying to survive spiritually, but now in this season of peace you can bear fruit that will tastefully point others to Christ and give them the nourishment and the sustenance that they need, so that they can glorify God on your account.

4) Do not wander off. An idle mind is the devil's playground, and sometimes during the peaceful summer seasons of our life we fall into temptations. David was relaxing on his roof one minute, and committing adultery the next. So, guard your heart and stay on the path during the lazy days that make idling off so easy.

5) Do rest. Rest is not a sin. Jesus said to the disciples, "Come apart in a deserted place to rest awhile (Mark 6:31)." Someone once said, "If we don't come apart, we'll come apart!" In our workaday world, we think we always have to be on 100%. Kids schedules are so full of sports, school, and work, that relaxation is an archaic word, and the same is true for their parents. It's as if we fear inactivity, because sometimes in those still times issues about ourselves come to the fore that we can forget when we're busy. But that's not healthy. Take the scenic route. Listen to some classical music (while just lying there doing nothing else). Read a book, watch the birds, let yourself be quiet, still. Even Jesus did so.

6) Do not fall asleep. In the allegorical novel Pilgrim's Progress, Christian is climbing a rough mountain. But there, on the hillside, is an arbor where there is a place to rest, with some refreshments, that are provided by the Lord of the City. Christian enjoys these, but he falls asleep. When he wakes up, he has to complete the climb in the dark, and he also notices too late that his identification roll fell out of his pocket while asleep, so he has to go back down the mountain and fetch it. While we should enjoy the summer seasons of our life, we must also soon get back to work on the Master's business. What is your spiritual gift? Teaching, helps, encouragement, evangelism, charity? You might have taken a much needed breather and rested, but are you in danger of falling asleep and forgetting your purpose? Is it perhaps time to get back in the game? If not, depression and self-doubt and all the things that go hand in hand with sleeping too much and too long will come into play.

If its summer in your life, enjoy it and use it well! Fall is coming.

~Pastor Brian

July 17, 2006: He is Faithful! 

About three weeks ago I promised to tell you all about my life-changing event. Many have already guessed it, or found out from other sources, but Maria and I are going to be having a baby.

Since this is my first child, I have run through a gamut of emotions--from exhilaration, to joy, to peace, to worry, to fear, to abject terror:

The terror comes from the awesome responsibility that raising a child will require.

But the terror is not completely unlike that I have at being a Pastor.

I remembered that when I first became a pastor the sense of responsibility was overwhelming--now, instead of just being responsible for my own soul, I'm responsible for dozens of other people's souls...it really reminded me of the Titanic...you know how, back in that day, instead of saying "We have 3,000 people aboard," they'd say, "We have 3,000 souls aboard." As I assumed the pastorate, for the first time in my life, I felt the worry of knowing that if I wrecked the ship, I wouldn't be the only one in trouble...and souls might actually end up in hell because of my failure.

I've thought this before about parenting, but when one actually becomes a parent, the fear becomes even more real...God has really entrusted this soul to me, not as a pastor who sees them maybe 5 hours a week at the most, but as a dad who will have them under my care 24/7/365/18(or maybe more).

I think a lot of people take their responsibilities as a parent to lightly...like the lady my aunt recently saw at the Grand Canyon who was letting her little child play dangerously close to an unfenced, thousand foot drop. But others of us are stressed out as parents...its so easy to be completely overwhelmed with the responsibility we face!!!

The good news is that God rewards those whom he places in positions of responsibility for not shirking or running from that responsibility, but for faithfully trying to perform it. He promises us that if we seek His strength, and rely on Him, He will give us wisdom, grace, strength...he actually enlarges our abilities. The thing is, we can have peace because God doesn't call us to fail, and He doesn't make perfection the standard for success. A preacher once said, "God uses cracked pots..." and I've found that personally true.

So, all of us parents, leaders, etc., let's have confidence in God, not ourselves, and let's rely on Him to somehow perform the tasks that are impossible for us to do, but that God has called us to do. He is Faithful.

~Pastor Brian

July 3, 2006: Purify Your Hearts!

The white purity of new-fallen snow can blind someone when it reflects the sun.
The clear purity of fresh spring water can refresh and restore health to the body.
The pure frequency of a laser beam can cut though steel.
An ideologically pure movement can forever change the nature of government and politics.

Its strange that we think of purity as meaning something is missing--when in reality, it means it has acquired something--the unique power of purity.

In each of the examples above, introduce impurity-- a little dirt on the snow, or bacteria in the water, or static in the beam, or compromise in the ideology, and you weaken and destroy the power that only purity can give.

Can you imagine the power of a mind, will, personality, and body that is committed wholly and totally to the cause of Jesus Christ?

That's why God commanded us to love Him with all of these: because He knew that such a pure love leads to limitless spiritual power. Perhaps the reason the church of the 21st century is so weak is that we are all so impure.

But the church is made up of people like you and me. Let us each resolve to begin to "cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded," (James 4:8) so that we can know the power of the purity He desires for us. "As Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." (Eph. 5:25-27).

Let us all have a passion for purity--and then watch its mighty power!

"Create in me a clean heart, O god, and renew a steadfast spirit within me; wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." (Psalm 51:10,2,7).

~Pastor Brian

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