"Expecting Forgiveness"

I have to share a story with you today about my son. This incident occured this last week, and it reminded me of how we have come to approach God so many times in our lives. It made me laugh, and I hope it makes you laugh too!

Last week, my kids were up here with me at work while I was finishing up a couple of things. A co-worker, and friend, asked if it would be okay for her to give the kids a few keys that she believed didn't go to anything important anymore. Before agreeing, knowing my two kids very well, I sat them both down and we had a talk. I said, "You may have those keys to play with as long as we understand that we don't put those keys in any doors around the office, or any doors around our house." They smiled and quickly agreed (should the smiles have given anything away?). She gave them the keys and we went home.

The next morning my son comes into the room and says, "Hey dad! Guess what? (He's very excited!)" I said, "What?!" He replies, "You know those keys that we got yesterday? Well, two of those keys, fit my door. And dad, one of those keys...it even locks my door (he says as he is shaking his head and smiling with total pride and confidence)." I just stared at him for a moment. Then I calmly asked, "So, are you telling me that you took those keys I specifically asked you not to put in any door in the house, and then you put them into a door in the house?" (My son tells on himself all of the time.) He dropped his shoulders, stuck out his bottom lip, and quietly bowed his head. Then he mumbled, "I'm sorry daddy."

I was trying so hard not to laugh at this point. "Go get me those keys," I told him. "Why? Are you going to take them away?", he asked. "Absolutely," I replied. "I specifically asked you not to put them into any doors and you disobeyed me. So, now those keys are mine." He slowly, and very reluctantly, retreived and passed over the keys. He began to walk away sad and defeated. Then, all of a sudden he turned to me and said, "Dad, could you please come unlock my door?" I lost it! I could not help but laugh. I tried so hard (unsuccessfully) to keep a straight face, but it was too funny.

As I thought about it over the weekend, we are so much like this with our heavenly father. There are so many things in life we know we are not supposed to do, but we do it anyway. I believe Paul says it best in Romans 7:18-20 (NLT):

"No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't. When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. But if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it."

The things we know we should do (being obedient), we don't. The things we know we shouldn't do (being disobedient), we do. And every time we do what we shouldn't, we hear that little voice within us (as if it were God) saying, "So, you did just what I asked you not to do?" And just like my son, we turn to God and ask, "Can you forgive me anyway? Can you come unlock this door that I seemed to be trapped behind? Can you let me into the room filled with your love, grace, and mercy?" My son knew that he had done the wrong thing, but he still expected to be forgiven and set free anyway. How many times do I, do we, approach God with the same kind of attitude? I know I have done the wrong thing, but I expect he will forgive me anyway.

Interestingly enough...he does! We serve an amazing, loving God don't we. By the way, after I stopped laughing, I unlocked the door. God bless you guys and have a great week!

"Driftwood"

I have been reading through Hebrews lately. I have read through it many times before, but it hasn't ever caught my attention the way that it has this time. You understand how that happens, right?! Anyway, I read this passage from chapter 2, and I have been going back to it about every other day; pulled back to it. I keep asking what God is trying to tell me, and today I began to see it a bit differently.

"So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. The message God delivered through angels has always proved true, and the people were punished for every violation of the law and every act of disobedience. What makes us think that we can escape if we are indifferent to this great salvation that was announced by the Lord Jesus himself? It was passed on to us by those who heard him speak, and God verified the message by signs and wonders and various miracles and by giving gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose to do so." (Hebrews 2:1-4 NLT)

So, I have been thinking alot about what it means to drift away from the "truth." Have you ever thrown a piece of wood into a stream of water and watched it "drift" downstream? The current "pushes" the wood in whatever direction, and at whatever speed, it so chooses. Provided it doesn't get caught up in the dead stuff, or rocks (which is a whole other metaphor), it doesn't stop until the water is done pushing it. If we don't hold on to the truth (the gospel: death, burial, and resurrection of Christ), the current of popular culture is going to push us around until it is tired of pushing. Or, we get caught up in the "dead stuff" hanging out in the water. That can't be good either because it isn't moving at all.

This passage tells us that the law, given by God, has held true to its word since it was given. Those who violated it were punished accordingly. It seems as though the writer is telling us that this "great salvation" that we have now is so much greater than the law of the Old Tesatement. So, if people received due punishment for violating that law, how much worse will it be for us that ingore the truth of this great salvation and just drift around in the current of popular culture? The writer says that the apostles were messengers who verified this truth from Christ because they saw it first hand! We are also told that God further verified his truth with signs, wonders, miracles, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever noticed that 99 percent of the time, driftwood is "dead" wood? So this brings me to my real question for this devotional thought today. Are you just dead wood drifting downstream, pushed every which way by the current of popular culture? Or, are you alive and well, determined to swim upstream and fight the current to avoid just being pushed around? As I read this passage, I was forced to ask myself a question. I challenge you to do the same! What "signs" is God using today to verify his message to me?

God bless you all and have a great weekend!!

A GREAT READ!

As you may have learned from my profile, I am a minister. But what does that mean anyway? All of us who have accepted the lordship of Jesus on the throne of our hearts are ministers, right?! I guess, really, all that title means is that I get paid for the work I do in expanding God's kingdom. Which is funny, when you think about it. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am very grateful, proud of the calling, but it is the Lord that is doing all the work anyway. Praise Him that he allows me the opportunity to reap the financial benefits of making such a job my career.

Moving on...I recently read a book, The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church by Reggie McNeal. If you are in ministry, leadership, or you are just a layman interested in chewing on the miserable failings of institutionalized church and its struggle to survive, you should pick up a copy and read. Very challenging! Very pointed! Watch your toes!!!

What I would like to do over the next few days, weeks, maybe months is share thoughts from the book that have struck a chord with me and see what some of you may think. It will be interested to see what others of us have to think about the observations of Mr. McNeal. If you have read the book let me know; I am curious to see who all may have participated in this engaging material.

Let's get started...In the opening chapter, Reggie shares results from several different surveys and studies to show that church attendance, and members claims on their church attendacne, are not all they are cracked up to be. He makes the observation that all is not well with the North American church, in its institutionalized form. He says, "A growing number of people are leaving the institutional church for a new reason. They are not leaving because they have lost their faith. They are leaving the church to preserve their faith. They contend that the church no longer contributes to their spiritual development. In fact, they say, quite the opposite is true." (p.4)

So, here we go! What do you think? Do you agree, disagree, or does his comment just plain irritate you? Why, please explain. I'll wait to hear from some of you, then I will share some of my own thoughts.