For God so Loved the World

For God so Loved  the World...(John 3:16a)

The Christmas rush is over and we step into the 12 days of Christmas leading to Epiphany and the celebration of who Jesus really is.  The Wise Men saw the star.  The shepherds heard the angels sing. Mary and Joseph held Him and knew that God is love.   And we see, and hear, and know, and hold God's love in different ways during the different seasons of our lives.

God's love is sacrificial and we know it because of how a mother hen puts herself in harms way for her babies.

God's love is blind - not based on what we do or how we look, but who we are - and I know it through the words of my wife. Her love is proof perfect that Love is, indeed, blind...

4/30/03

My Love,

Wouldn't you know that I prefer the unpaved, un-marked  paths? I prefer them because treasures are found among their borders. Wild flowers without scientific names grow freely along their ditches, animals cross them without fear, and an occasional footprint can be found belonging to another lover of un-marked paths. This is where I found you, my restless wanderer - always looking for adventure, for a quiet place to release your Spirit. How blessed I am to have found your gentle footprint - How joyful is this live with love.

Soon, there will be three of us. Soon there will be Saturday morning cartoons and monsters in the closet. soon there will be a tiny set of footprints on the un-marked path we journey. May the seasons be the only thing that change it so that it may forever be enjoyed by the wandering lovers of this world. I would go anywhere with you. For where you are beautiful things appear, where you walk, wild flowers grow, and where you laugh all is made well.

I pray you will always be free to wonder my restless Cowboy. It's on of the million things I love about you - 

No matter who we are or what we have done, God loves us like this.  It is unconditional and it is forever.  There are twelve days of Christmas because one day would not be enough to take it all in.  So let us leave the tree up if we can and don't put the Nativity set away, not yet.  Let us see, hear, hold, read and know that God is love!

Church stopping. Less doing. More being.

Contentment

In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)

I would have thought it would be easier to stop by now...stop running, stop racing, stop trying so hard to keep up with my list.

This little pansy in our front flower bed gives me hope, though.  It has been snowed upon and frozen, whipped by rain and wind and it has never been anywhere else in all of it's life...except a brief stint in the nursery.  Yet, there seems to be joy in this hardy little splash of color, "fullness of joy."

Joy is harder for me.  I have a list.  It is quite embarrassing, really. The bathroom that is still not done after four years...my miniature wood pile...trips to see my family that haven't happened in several years.  These are things on my list that I must do, and want to do, but never seem to have the time. I try, but they are elusive, like a mirage I can't quite catch.

In addition, there are the things that I really don't want to do but wonder if I should.  These are things that are on someone else's list and things that I don't dream of  doing; things like climbing Everest or a Colorado sixteener; things like Class IV rapids and running a marathon or sky diving.  These things haunt me like shoes that don't quite fit.

"Am I doing something wrong?" I asked my wife. (She has heard this before!)  "Am I doing enough?"

"What more do you need?"  She asks.  "Will you ever be content?"

"I know," I said, "You and the kids are so awesome. I love you and I will do anything for you.  But that's not what I mean.  There is no fire in my belly.  I thought I wanted to be a pastor, a writer, a farmer, and a helicopter pilot.  Now, I just want to sit in front of the fire and take a nap."

"What if you decided to make your life, your ordinary, humdrum life...special? What if you made this life fun and loved those who long to be with you more deeply than you ever have?  What if you were content to live this life you live, rooted and beautiful, and be filled with all the joy and pleasures God has promised?"

"You are right," I said.  "You are saying I should live like a pansy?"

She smiled, and it was as if God smiled through her, "In My presence there is fullness and joy, in My right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.  

Sabbath Together

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)

One of my favorite times is morning coffee with my wife, Jennifer.  We almost have it down to a science.

The alarms go off  and we stumble across the hall and get the boys up for school.  As they are getting ready, we head down to the kitchen. Jennifer starts breakfast and I start the coffee.  I know this sounds like a very unfavorable arrangement for her.  However, in my defense, our morning coffee is very labor intensive; it requires not only grinding of the beans and pouring them into the French press, but boiling of the water in the teapot, steeping the freshly ground beans, pouring my wife's creamer into her cup, and cutting the grass-fed butter.  (Yes! Butter is delicious in coffee!)

Usually, the two of us can sit back for a couple of quiet minutes before the boys descend on breakfast.   It is a bit of Sabbath we rejoice in together and a simple reminder that as powerful as Sabbath is when practiced individually, it is even better shared in community.

It has been over five years since I was first exposed to the idea of church-wide Sabbath; the idea that Sabbath is a divine gift not just for individuals, but for communities.  In overly-programmed lives and churches everywhere where there is always more on the list than in the day, Sabbath is a reminder that this is indeed the day that the Lord has made, and we should rejoice and be glad, not stressed and exhausted, in it.

Over the last couple of months, there have been a few individuals who have reached out for more information on the idea.  One individual was challenged by the thought of practicing Sabbath together and was excited to dig deeper into the idea.  I was thrilled to talk to the staff of a church committed to the idea and wrestling with what church-wide Sabbath would look like in their setting.

It was very encouraging for me to talk to these individuals about this idea that captured my heart so many years ago. And it was convicting for me to carve out just a little more time for my morning coffee.

May you always find many blessings in your cup ,

Geoff

Church Stopping. Less doing. More being.

Don't Worry. Be Happy.

In every life we have some trouble

But when you worry you make it double

Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy now. - Bobby McFerrin

It was a command I first heard back in 1988, "Don't worry, be happy."  I didn't think much about it, then. I was in college, and even though I thought I was terribly busy, I didn't have a lot to worry about and I found a lot of time to do a lot of things that made me happy.  

One of the things that makes me happy today is my wood pile. As you can see from the picture above, I have a some work to do before winter!  But the work always makes me happy; finding wood, gathering wood together, cutting wood, and sitting in front of a fire. Wood makes me very, very happy.

As an adult, I have sometimes wondered if Bobby McFerrin's lovely command to simply, "Don't worry, be happy now" is practical.  In fact, sometimes it seems a little quixotic.  After all, I am no longer in college.  There is work to be done. There is a real world with real problems and great suffering.  

But this command to, "be happy now" isn't just another pearl of wisdom from 80's pop music (of which there are many!) it is a command that goes back to at least the Apostle Paul...and it is a command precisely because we live in a world with real work to be done and a world with real problems:

"Finally, beloved ones, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if there is anything excellent or praiseworthy - think about these things and the God of peace will be with you." - Philippians 4:8

Sometimes it seems that these words fly right in the face of every dismal and depressing thought that we dress up in pious notions of responsibility and zeal.  Then we are reminded of the source.  This verse is from the transformed heart of a former Pharisee who was once quite willing to forego all of life's comforts for the rigor of Old Testament law.  These words as we have received them are the witness of one who was previously quite happy being miserable until later when he found a way to be happy under absolutely miserable circumstances.

So, today,  I won't listen to the news.  

I will pray for those that are facing natural and personal disasters with great anticipation and hope and I will look at my little wood pile and dream of cool days and cozy nights.  I will try not to worry by focusing on all that is good in this amazing world - the true and noble, the right and pure, the lovely and admirable, the excellent and praiseworthy. 

These good things in God's world are there, but we have to think about them.  They are near and far and big and small.  But the best thing of all is that we have a God who created us, walked in our shoes, died for us, and will never, ever be without us. So, beloved ones, don't worry, be happy.

Church Stopping. Less doing. More being.

Joy

"But the father said to his servants, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him , and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this son of mine was dead, and had come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' and the began to be merry." Luke 15:22-24

Moses had a difficult time speaking and God made him a leader of a new nation.

Gideon was a coward. God made him a great military hero.

Deborah was a judge and military leader in a patriarchal society.

David killed a giant though he was small and had no armor that would fit.

Saul was a Pharisee. God made him an apostle of Grace.

God is always taking unlikely people and doing unlikely things...

Like this lavish party thrown for the father's wayward son.  There is no hint of a rebuke or a consequence.  There is just an order to fire up the barbecue and bring out the fancy clothes and be merry.  I'm a father. Under similar circumstances, it is unlikely that I would treat my own child this way...

The unlikely picture is of an old pair of my shoes.  They were ready for retirement after a couple of decades of faithful service.  However, I took them in to my shoe guy.  He's not fast, but he's good. This is what he did. He did something unexpected.  

I believe that the unexpected is often what we can expect from God.  Moses' leadership, Gideon's courage, Deborah's strength, and Paul's grace all point to a God who has more faith in us then we sometimes do in ourselves.  We never know what God will do next...a new job, a new school, or maybe a new perspective, 

These shoes remind me of a hunch of something unexpected.  I've had it for a while.  

I believe that God is reminding me that I need to find more joy in my life.  After all, I was dead and I have been brought to life!  I was a very happy child.  I lost that somewhere along the way.  However, I know that the story of the Prodigal Son is really about a Father who loves, delights in, and rejoices with his children. I know that our Lord is not a stuffy curmudgeon in heaven waiting to whack our fingertips with a ruler. I know that our Savior is a Holy God who went to the ends of the earth and the depths of Hell to be with us.  I also know that God is serious about sin, but also serious about a party.

It's unexpected, but maybe it is what the world needs, an Apostle of Joy. Maybe it is time to put on my new, old shoes  and "begin to be merry." Who's with me?

Church Stopping. Less Doing. More being.

More

"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish to in order that I may again Christ..." --Philippians 3:8

In my adult life, I have struggled with more. To be precise, my struggle has been with those who have more.  And, to be painfully honest, it is with those who have more material wealth than I do.  I  somehow feel that I haven't quite measured up to my peers who are better off financially than I am.

Part of that inadequacy is dressed up as concern for my family; what if they didn't have worry about my job security? What if my spouse didn't have to worry about a mortgage, or an unreliable car, or whether or not we could afford to go on vacation?  And what if our children didn't have to worry about being relocated while they are still in school?

I know I shouldn't feel inadequate,  but I sometimes do. And it hurts.

I know it seems ridiculous.  My spouse and children don't judge me on my net worth.  I know I shouldn't.  However, I also know that this struggle is hard because it is not a physical one, but a spiritual one.  I know that it is even hard for people who have more.  I know people who don't have to worry about providing for their basic needs for the rest of their lives, live in beautiful homes, visit exciting places, but still feel inadequate sometimes, too.

I even know the antidote for inadequacy based on a worldly value system. Only Jesus satisfies.

And Paul said of worldly gain, "I count it all poop."

That's really what it says.  We clean it up because we find his language so startling.  However, I think Paul really meant to say, "poop." Our value is not based on what we have, but Who we know.

However, even knowing all the right answers, when I see the poop dressed up in something shiny and fast, or in a paid-off mortgage, I find it surprisingly attractive.  So, my prayer this week is to live more fully in Who I know, to be seduced less and less by the treasures of this world, and for those with more to feel a little pinch...

I know. I will also pray for forgiveness.

Chruch Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.

Jealousy

(Photo courtesy of of Free Images, Alex Bobzien)

"A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." Proverbs 14:30

She was beautiful. Low. Rare. German. And she stole a piece of my heart as she left the parking lot where I worked. I had never seen her before.

I was on my way to dinner with my wife and two boys because it was Wednesday night and our favorite restaurant had ten-dollar pizzas.  We were driving our old station wagon which has nearly 300 thousand miles.  I often complain about the taxes and registration and maintenance costs on this old car, and so the distance between me and the German beauty increased as she proceeded down the street.

And I turned green.

At dinner, I confessed. I told my wife about the encounter that I had, and she smiled.  "Look at me.  Look at these boys. Look at this pizza. What else could you possibly want?"

She was right.  I sometimes see a cool car or a big house or a fancy watch and think, "Man! That must be nice."  Instead of being happy for the blessings I have been given, and there are many...many that maybe the guy driving away in that German beauty would gladly give his incredible car for...but I sometimes miss them in my desire for more stuff.

My family and I had a great dinner. After dinner, we took the boys to a fountain of their youth downtown we used to go to when they were smaller, "The jumping waters" they called it.  They played in the water as my wife and I visited and listened to a street musician playing first the fiddle and then the banjo.  It was a beautiful night and and we walked back to our old car full of ten-dollar pizza and many reminders of God's graciousness.  As we drove home in our station wagon (with brand-new seats and brand-new coil packs, I might add!) I thought some more about that cool car I had seen earlier.

I know.  I am deeply flawed.

I did some research.  The German has two motors...and electric motor powering the front wheels and a gasoline engine powering the back wheels working together in technological synchronicity.  The technology involved moves more than the driver of the car...in some ways, we all benefit.  Human beings can make beautiful things.  

But, sometimes we don't and sometimes it is easy to be jealous. God is still working on me...and I still really like that car, but I don't want, "rotten bones!" I don't want to miss all the blessings that God has poured out on me.

Church Stopping. Less doing. More being.

High Above the Fray

(Picture courtesy of Sam Segar.  www.freeimages.com)

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..." --James 1:17

To be swallowed whole in wonder-thought -

Gazing deep and free.

Ancient light pierces night,

Upon a starry sea.

To tread upon a scented path -

High above the fray.

A rolling sea to infinity,

Sun melting clouds away.

To hear a crystal voice raise clear -

Lifting hearts and souls...

To Love's strong beams and deeper dreams,

Where God's laughter rolls.

To sleep on downy warmth and touch -

Embraced by little hands.

A cherub sweet, a house complete...

A gift greater than our plans.

To sink into cerulean eyes -

Falling higher up and deeper in.

A fearless heart. The wisest part...

Wrapped-up in beautiful skin.

The sun sets true on the African plain -

A deep bass booms into the world.

Front row seats as calling meets,

And God's plan is ever unfurled.

Today, we'll struggle and we'll dance -

And we'll run out of time.

But I won't let go for I know,

These riches are divine.  

Less doing. More being.

True Confessions

(picture courtesy of Chris Collins/www.freeimages.com)

"Be still and know that I am God."  -- Psalm 46:10

I have not been very good lately at keeping the Sabbath.

I have not been very good lately at writing.

This is painful for me to admit because I know the importance of both.  I know that if I don't take time to take a break, I am tired and stressed and no good to anyone for the rest of the week.  If I don't take time to write, my very full life begins to seem very empty.

It hasn't always been this way...

My wife and I used to be very good about Sabbath-keeping. This was before family, at least before the two-footed kind.  Our dogs always insisted we stop.  They were always eager to go to the Mines of Spain Recreational area on the edge of town, take a romp in the woods, and be free. My wife and I had an opportunity to reconnect with one another,  with God, and we were free to dream big dreams.  Because we were in school, there was always writing to be done.

Soon, however, our lives became fuller and fuller, the way that all lives tend to do, like a hard-to-reach mosquito. Now, instead of dogs leading us into the wild, we are being led to baseball games, and band practice, and careers.  Sometimes our family of five feels like stowaways on a ship.  We are excited about the destination, we love the things that we are doing, but sometimes we forget to enjoy the journey. We forget to stop and look out at this vast sea and be reminded of the One who placed us here together.

My hope is that summer will yield a moment or two to breathe deep and be still, maybe even write a little.

And in these mercurial moments of summertime stillness, my deepest dream is to reconnect with God.  Over the years, I have learned all the right answers. I have been blessed with a beautiful family, a healthy marriage, and a second shot at life itself, but in the last two years, I have let the gift of a full life come between me and the author of life. Writing it all down, these true confessions, is (hopefully) the first step towards reconnecting to the One who first loved me.

Now, off to baseball practice...