5 Minutes

Earlier today, as a response to a reading I came across, I determined that I was going to set aside 5 minutes where I would do absolutely nothing.  I would close my office door and sit here for 5 minutes doing nothing, relaxing, and simply recognizing the presence of God.  I determined to be here right NOW in the presence of God, myself, and some furniture and do nothing.  I would sit with God for 5 minutes and do nothing else. 5 minutes! It wasn't long before my inner-critic, my inner-ass, my inner-Pharisee, my inner-good Christian spoke up.  It said (or more questioned), "5 minutes!?!? Thats all the time you are going to set aside for your God? Do you know some people pray for hours upon hours in a day? All you have to offer is 5 lousy minutes?"

I stepped past all of the inward barrage, and I did as I had determined to do.  For 5 minutes I did nothing.  For 5 refreshing minutes I sat with the heart of God's presence, and though it was "only" 5 minutes, it was still more intentional time in God's presence than I've had in hours of study.

There was a heart-level connection that allowed God to speak into my life at that moment, and I realized at least I gave 5 minutes.  When was the last time I even gave that much focused attention to the presence of God?  My inner-Pharisee is frustrated it wasn't more, but my inner-child has been reminded, "At least you have 5 minutes."

Once I allowed myself even 5 minutes to do nothing but relax in the presence of God, all of the other things that are so 'important' or 'urgent' have taken their proper placement in my life...

...even if for just 5 minutes.

You're Welcome: Young Me, Now Me

I'm gonna start a reoccurring post idea here called: "You're Welcome".

Every once in a while you come across a website that just steals your attention right from under you. You may not even know why, but you find yourself just mindlessly clicking through because you just have to see one...more...post.

These will be things I find to share with you; things before you thank me for showing, I'll just say, "You're welcome!"

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Several months ago, I came across Young Me, Now Me by a guy named Ze Frank.

The idea is that people contribute pictures of them when they were much younger along with a picture of them today re-enacting that same picture to the strongest detail they can.

Take a break from thinking for a second and go enjoy.

*I also heard that Young Me, Now Me was recently highlighted on Modern Family. Its Tivo'd. Don't ruin it for me.

#yourewelcome

Sandy Brackets

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts upon them they will be compared to a wise man who builds his [marriage, recovery]upon the rock.  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and the [trials of life] burst against the [marriage, recovery]and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who build his [marriage, recovery] upon the sand.  And the rain descended, and [trials of life] blew, and burst against the[marriage, recovery] and it fell, and great was its fall." - Matthew 7:24-27 When I read this, I realize a couple things.  I can put just about anything into those brackets.  What am I trying to build in my life? A marriage? A recovery process? A family? A ministry? A portfolio? A career? A relationship or friendship? The list could go on and on, but the reality is the same; build it on the rock, on Jesus, and it will withstand the storms and trials of life that pound against it, but build it on the sand and it will inevitably fail.

So the question is what qualifies as 'sand'? If I am to avoid building anything upon it to save from all of it washing out beneath me then it is important to determine what things would be classified as "sandy" foundations out of this metaphor.

The answer is easier to see and harder to live out than it would seem.  By implication of Jesus being THE rock upon which to build, it is to the exclusion of everything else.  That means that anything but Jesus is sand.

"But what about [insert any actual 'good' thing]?"

No matter how good it may be, only Jesus is the rock; "all other ground is sinking sand."

'All other ground is sinking sand.'

What am I building my marriage on? My ministry? My friendships? If its not on Jesus, its sinking sand and it will not withstand the blows of life.

The storms WILL come, and life WILL happen.  Will everything I have build be washed out from under me?

Forever a favorite

This poem by Anis Mojgani may be one of my, if not THE, favorite poem. I believe I have posted this before, but I do like the video this person has made out of it. If you never have heard this before, shake the dust. If you HAVE heard it before, shake the dust, again. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuydRgVxWg4&w=560&h=349]

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I need stuff to store my stuff

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Stuff on stuff! We have spare rooms, closets, and garages full of things we will never use.  If that isn't enough, some of us have storage units separate from our house that we pay for full of more stuff we never use. Why?

I simply do not understand it.  We never have enough, sure; we all hear that message all the time.  But I just do not understand why we keep getting more and more things.  More stuff! We work hard for the money to buy more things we never use.  Further, if we never use this stuff, do we even NEED it at all?

Of course not!

I don't need half the things in my garage.  I have not even used a lot of it in years.  I am a consumer.  I am a wealthy American consumer.  I work hard to get things I not only don't use, but don't even need.

All of it only clogs up the huge house and garage and storage space, and a lot of it will only sit there for years without ever being used.  Yet still, its not enough.  I keep wanting more things.  There is always something on the want list.

Why?

Habakkuk 2 says, "Wealth is treacherous; the arrogant do not endure...like Death they never have enough."

The word 'wealth' in the Hebrew has a connotation of 'wine' to it.  Consumerist wealth is like being a drunk who simply cannot have enough.  Always just one more drink! Its only one more drink until you're faded out of control and begin acting like an idiot; before you become an addict who simply cannot get enough.

How arrogant am I!

Could I live a life of enough? Of need alone?

Could I sell everything I have so that I could only keep the things I use and need?

A Good Little Boy Gets No Gifts

As Christmas approached, I was always asked the same question you were asked. "Have you been a good boy?" (or girl...maybe it wasn't the SAME question). What a question! This would have been the closest I would have known to my own Day of Atonement. What are we talking about here? For an entire year? I mean, we only ask that each Christmas; so we must be talking since last Christmas.  Well no, I don't suppose I have been a good boy...for an entire year. Do you know how hard it is for me to be a good boy for an entire year? Just mark it down as an impossibility.

But I always got Christmas presents anyway; regardless of my flawed year-in-review.

The Jewish people had a certain thought concerning the Messiah's coming; that they would have to collectively honor fully the Sabbath for four straight weeks, but like normal human beings, that could not last a day. They were convinced they would have to earn and deserve the coming of a Messiah to deliver them.  But Jesus doesn't wait until you deserve him, because you will never deserve him.  I will never deserve the freedom and forgiveness that he offers as a gift.

Jesus is not a reward for the righteous or a prize for the pious.  Jesus was and is a gift for the imperfect. He is good news for the failures who try hard by are unable to live out the perfection they wish they could.

I will never be good enough to earn his gift, but thats the good news of this story.  It is a gift for the broken and sinful; not a prize for the perfect.

No More Forgiveness Talk

There is a story of a moment when a man named Rich had been in an argument with a friend that ended in an abrupt bitterness.  The story would have it that Rich, later that evening, would show up at the friends house and begin mowing his lawn.  It was an action of humility and service that would be remembered by that lifelong friend long after Rich had passed away. "LOVE your enemies! DO good to those who hate you. BLESS those who curse you.  PRAY for those who hurt you. LOVE your enemies! DO good to them. LEND to them without expecting." - Luke 6:27-28, 35

Its amazing how many of these are intentional actions Jesus commanded of us regarding our enemies. It doesn't say, "Try to forget everything in your heart." "Try to have pleasant thoughts about them and hope that something happens for the good somewhere down the line." "Try to have a change of heart and leave it at that." "Listen to a good sermon and think, 'Yeah, that would be nice.'" No! These are all very intentional and quite tangible actions we are told to do for our enemies. Can you imagine the love and reconciliation that would happen between our enemies and us if we would stop thinking, planning, having conferences and talks, and started LOVING, DOING, BLESSING, PRAYING, AND LENDING to our enemies?

The world could be a different place.  Our city could be a different place. Our neighborhood could be a different place. Our church could be a different place. Our home could be a different place. Our own heart, and the relationship with the enemy within, could be a different place.