I discovered (thanks to http://www.churchmedia.net ) a great video about how we can always turn back to Jesus. http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ee73e63418003b47d7d5 It's five and a half minutes long and well worth the time. It reminds me of how we can start out so close to Jesus and then get distracted...but He is always there to intervene when we call out to Him.
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It's the beginning of a new school year. My wife, Diane, who is the head cook at a middle school, and our youngest daughter, Emily, who is a high school sophomore this year, headed off to school this morning...bright and early. Ah, new beginnings...a fresh start...a brand new day! Who knows what will lie ahead for them this year...or for me for that matter. But summer is coming to an end and it is time for a new season of life. This weekend our oldest daughter, Rosie, will head for college for her second year. Meanwhile it is time for studies, work, dramas, and more. For getting up early again, which allows for the possibility for an occasional nap. So venture on all of you students, parents, and school staffers out there...it's time for a new year of friendship, study, and school lunches. (And did I mention the chance for a nap after getting everyone off to school?)
Yesterday my backup computer broke...went down...bit the bullet...bought the farm...anyway, it froze up and stopped working. My backup computer mind you, the one I use when the other one isn't working. Yep it is sure good to have backup..."send in backup"...but even backup can disappoint. The good news? Gary fixed my main computer this week so late afternoon he hooked up my main computer and took home the backup computer to fix. The moral of this story? Computers aren't our real backup, people are our backup. Computers are nice to have. But a good friend, a co-worker in serving others, gives true meaning to the phrase, "I need backup." I sure do.
I'm back to work after visiting with family over the weekend. We drove to where my Dad and step-mother live and my brother and his family drove there also. I also saw a nephew, his wife, and another nephew's wife, and a lot of my three nephew's children. It takes a lot of energy to get together with family these days. But it's worth it. The connections last a lifetime...and beyond. Getting together with family reminds me how fortunate I am to have people who want to get together. I am a lucky man. I am not alone.
It's easy to forget, or at least not pay attention to, how much God has given us. Check out this video called "God Pie." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upmyrinWq64 We try our best to pay our bills so we can have "things" and a place to live and a car to drive...even some extras that we just "have to" have. But where does it all come from?
Not long ago I got to sit down with different people and just video them sharing miracles that had happened in their lives or the life of someone close to them. It is amazing to hear about God touching someone's life. One of the stories was by a Mom who had a child who died. It's worth watching. Check it out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq3ZMN1sRSg In some very special ways, God lets us know that we are loved and that everything is going to be OK. That doesn't mean that life isn't hard, just that we will get through as we keep trusting God. And if you like to see and hear stories, search for "richnjesus" at www.YouTube.com
Today I tried to hook up the backup computer at Friendship Community Church to use in worship this weekend. I thought I could do it, but I couldn't. Oh I switched around some connections but that didn't get the job done. Finally, I just admitted to myself that if it was up to me and my computer skills, there wouldn't be a computer in use for worship this weekend. Admitting it led me to calling the person I knew who could fix things. I did. He did. And now the tech guy will have a computer to use this weekend to put up lyrics, sermon notes, announcements, and videos. I was reminded once again how much we all need others, I know I sure do.
Back to work today after a week off. It was nice to be on vacation with my family but I also enjoyed going back to work today. I like my job and the people I work with. However...today I wasn't loving my computer. It went out again (I had trouble just a month ago) and I spent too much time trying to get it to work, unsuccessfully. I am glad for a backup computer. Never had to use it yet to run lyrics and sermons for weekend worship but this may be the time it gets used. And I had actually backed up what I needed (after last month's problems) from the "broken" computer to the backup one. Good timing. When our days don't go as planned and things fall apart, it's good to have a backup.
Just got back Saturday morning, about 2 a.m., from our family vacation in New York City. It was great to spend time with my wife and our two daughters in the big city. We saw Times Square, took in a musical--"Grease"--, rode the subway, looked around some stores including Tiffany's, FAO Schwartz (toys), Toys-'R-Us, Macy's, and more...saw the sites from the observation deck on the Empire State building, rode the Staten Island Ferry and saw the Statue of Liberty...and then saw Ground Zero, the World Trade Center site. All in all we laughed, were amazed, moved, and really enjoyed seeing New York City. No great insights here...just was incredible how good it was to spend time with family in a place that we all enjoyed together. But then, that's always worthwhile to remember.
For nine days my two daughters were off to Mexico on a mission trip. They flew to San Diego, California, and then drove 200 miles into Mexico with a group of other students and adults. Each day they met together for worship, spent time sharing hugs and musical dramas, and experienced life in a small town in Mexico and in a migrant camp. Quite an experience for them. My wife and I were really looking forward to their return...and they returned. It was so nice to see them again and have all of us in our family together. It made me think about how God must feel when his family comes home, must be quite a great experience in heaven. God knows what is going to happen and still enjoys the moment when people come home to Him.
I started my book...again. Page one is done. Ever notice how things that you think you really want to do are sometimes the hardest to find time to do? Meanwhile I have developed my web page with a song that I wrote this year, a video I did awhile back, and some pictures. http://www.easysite.com/FriendshipCommunity Check it out. God has each of us doing all kinds of things. The most important is to see the people right around us and love them and serve them.
Tonight I have been up late reading in the Bible in the New Testament book of Romans. In Chapter One "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle" writes in verse 16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." ((NRSV) I am not ashamed of the gospel...the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith... So if we are not to be ashamed of the gospel then we will want to share it. But first I found myself on my knees praying to God, asking for forgiveness, praying that He would be first in my life...not what I think would make me happy but simply wanting God to be first in my life. What does that mean? I don't know exactly ... but I do know that if God is first in my life that I will ask Him to guard my heart. I will seek first His kingdom and His righteousness...and let the rest fall into place in His timing. Also in this first chapter of Roman...
I have always looked for something more in life. I learned about Jesus as a child and gave my life to God after many attempts to do so. In younger years, I thought I was pretty good and thought I would have been even if I didn’t believe in God. Then I strayed from God’s best and realized that God was the only one who would love me no matter what. I would never be good enough on my own. God still reminds me of that when I look for something more. I have discovered that God is more than enough.
It's only a few days until the Five Year anniversary of September 11. What a day that was for the United States. Two planes crashing into the World Trade Center in New York, one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and one into a field in Pennsylvania. That day I dropped off my youngest daughter at her school and then drove to work at Radio Shack to open up and then do my job, be a salesman. But the news came in about the planes hitting the World Trade Center and the day changed. People started coming in to buy TVs for their offices so they could still be at work and yet watch what was going on. I sold a bunch of TVs and antennaes...and felt bad doing it. I felt like we were profiting on the bad news. Then I just remembered that we didn't raise our prices, we just sold what people came in for. Throughout the day people came in from the other stores in the shopping center when they were on break to watch the TV. People in shock, strangers standing around talking to each other,...
In a book that I read earlier this year called "Unforgotten" by Kristen Heitzmann, there are a couple of thought-provoking quotes. "What is shadow but darkness longing for light. What is fear but courage looking for hope." "There is bliss in not knowing what can happen next, not seeing a trial until it's there. Then there is no chance to run."
This coming weekend, June 10/11, the theme for worship at Friendship Community is "It Came From Within: Anger." A video clip in "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" has the Emperor taunting Luke to give in to his anger and turn closer to the dark side, which he does. (The clip starts at 1:44:22 with "Your fleet is lost..." and ends at 1:45:20 with "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!") How many times are we egged on to get angry. That's how we feel anyway. But the truth is that anger comes from within us and we can choose how to deal with it. The best antidote for anger is forgiveness, forgiving others for what they have done to us. That's hard, real hard. Can we do it? It's very difficult to do unless we remember how much God has forgiven us.
I have been looking for video and picture ideas for this weekend's theme of "Why does God allow suffering?". I got out our video of "Love Comes Softly" and found a good clip from it that deals with people having trouble and yet still having faith in God. It is a good series of movies, probably wouldn't have known about it without having daughters who read those kinds of books and then found the movies. I have learned so much from them, they expose me to all kinds of things that I might have missed otherwise. There's a great quote from the "Love Comes Softly" clip I hope to use: "In all the moments of my life, God's been right there beside me. The truth of God's love is not that He allows bad things to happen, it's His promise that He'll be there with us when they do." There's also a neat quote from "Shadowlands," a love story between a man named C. S. Lewis (who wrote, among other books, the Chronicles of...
"...sometimes the greatest act of faith is simply hanging on until it gets better, and God knows what we're enduring and it matters to him." May this encourage you today to hang on. Let a friend know what is happening in your life so they can be there for you and help you hang on. Know that God loves you and will see you through. This is from a book I'm reading called "No Perfect People Allowed: Creating a Come as you are Culture in the Church" by John Burke, page 212. It is an excellent book with lots of great stories about how people's lives change when they are accepted as they are and invited into an atmosphere that invites them to grow at their own pace. Let's do that for others! Feel free to post a comment on this or other posts below. We can have an ongoing dialogue.