Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 I suck at waiting. When I learned to cook it was with the burners on high. FAST, quick. Microwave me, God! Sometimes I have to stop and realize that God's plans, God's timing, God's movements, etc aren't always genie like. Rub the lamp and poof God appears to get it done with me or for me. Sometimes I have to wait for him to do and say things...and that's hard for me. But my mother-in-law has shown me that some of the best food is cooked "low and slow". God knows when the time is right. Such a short verse and such a hard concept for those of us who like to DO things ourselves, fast and work hard. Git er done! I guess it's just waiting for me today, no requests, no excuses, and no microwaves.

Not Enough to Stop Us (Take that Devil)

So, there's these awesome teens in my youth group named Alex and Deanna. They recently accepted a call ministry and, as a pastor, I am naturally drawn to facilitating this sort of thing. Kingswood was the name of the university that both felt drawn to, and interestingly enough this was my college. As we raised support and did some lawn jobs I had to prepare my sweet 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan for the 1280 mile trip into the great Canadian Atlantic region. $225 of repairs later we were ready for the road. Half way through the trip we noticed a hub cap was missing, but that wasn't enough to slow us down. Massachusetts and Maine presented us with a tremendous storm that was apparently the tail end of some hurricane, but that wasn't enough to stop us. My windshield wipers attacked each other in Maine, and when I pulled off the road we bottomed out on something and destroyed the muffler...but that wasn't enough to stop us. Loud muffler, wobbly balding tires, weirdo wipers, missing two hubcaps now, and 6 hours behind schedule due to the storm is just not enough to stop us. Upon arrival at Kingswood University we pretty much went straight to bed since it was after midnight. The next day one of my former professors helped me get the van to a shop who put a used muffler on...for $113...sheesh. Also Deanna opened the van door and ripped the gas cap off the day before which set off a sensor saying "service engine soon" so we actually got that fixed for free which was a nice change. The school was awesome and really inviting. The teens had a great experience. The visit was short lived and we had to begin our return journey, still not well rested. New Brunswick and Maine flew by like a breeze, also a nice change. But Massachusetts was a bugger again. 3am and still rocking at a cruise speed we were making great time, and then the worst happened. The biggest deer I've seen yet in real life. 8 points and a back line that was hard to see over...oh yeah, Alex was driving. 75mph strong we plowed into this bad boy who was tall enough to just fall on us rather than slam into the van. Totaled. There was nothing I could do but laugh, and then tell Alex to hit the brakes since we were still going 45 mph after the collision. The police officer that responded was about 5'6", clean cut and had a startling resemblance to a young Elmer Fud. Jumpy as he was he examined the deer, cursed, and then after a heart felt apology he shot the deer...twelve times! He approached me shortly after the massacre and said, "Dat was a big fwiggen deeah" in the thickest Boston accent anyone could have. We got a tow to the nearest hotel, which happened to be a Holiday Inn, not a bad coincidence. We then rented a sweet 2012 Tahoe, and soon found out that I couldn't total my vehicle until Monday morning...this was Sunday morning, which means I had another night's stay and a wasted day of car rental to pay. The next day we finally made it back to Michigan after some interesting conversation with customs and a couple random carpool layovers. Longest trip ever. Knowing that these two kids have been called by God to serve him with their lives...I'd do it all over again.

Not enough for MTV

So I grew up in a middle class Christian home with parents who actually love Jesus AND love each other. I finished high school on time, was accepted at 5 different colleges and began attending one that wasn't even on that list. I was engaged to be married a week before my 19th birthday, and was married the week before my 20th. I finished college by age 21 and am now in the 5th year of my career of pastoral ministry. I had kids at age 23. I own my home. I own one sweet mini van and one rusty old pickup truck. Last year I was healed of colitis and my wife was healed of unknown bladder pain. My spouse and I both love Jesus very much and we are faithful to each other today after six years of marriage and three kids. We don't smoke, drink, chew tobacco, gamble, use pornography or any illicit substance. We don't use language that would make our home PG-13. We don't abuse each other, ourselves, or any other living creature on this planet. We simply don't live for ourselves. And that's not good enough for MTV.

I Dreamed of Death

I dreamed last night that I was in prison for being a Christian. My latest appearance before the council had only secured my death sentence. I couldn't believe how real this felt and how fearful and courageous I'd felt all at once. The moments were ticking away and the council ordered that I be prepared for execution. None this seemed to bother me, only strengthen my resolve and encourage my excitement of things yet to come. The cell mate I had, a total stranger who shared my sentence, began to dream with me what our immediate future would be like. He described our short pain, our entering into death, and then the light. He described the confusion and the clarity, the surroundings, the sights. And then he described Jesus. I couldn't contain myself when I realized what a wretch I still am. In all my courage, all my defiance of this world and it's evils, and in all my revelry I surmounted to failure. The guard came to the door just then and called for me. Barely able to still my sobs, I stood, begged a prayer of forgiveness and entered the door into darkness. Today I learned my failures are shadowed by His successes. My fear is driven out by His love. My weakness illuminates the perfection of His strength.

Where's my sword?!

"Where's my sword, daddy, where's my swoooord?!" Such a long conversation as we scoured the house one more time for their latest whatever toy that had become a sword. This time it was the handle to a playschool golf club. "Let's look over here", I'm desperately trying not to lose my patience while hunting for this stupid toy one more time. We do this daily, almost routinely. Misplace the weapon of choice and looking under every nook and cranny to find it. As I thought about this process today I was reminded how grateful I am that God's word is the most printed book in the history of mankind, and it's hidden in my heart. I may not always act or think like it, I still have work to do, but the word of God has engaged my life and changed me into a person who never stops changing. Thank you, God, for today's reminder.

The Incorruptible Hero

I just watched the final Harry Potter film this week. I'm not going to lie, it was a really exciting movie. Well written and well cast for sure. There have been positive things have come out of the Harry Potter moral arena, and we would be ridiculous to ignore them.
Harry being the hero already catches audiences attention as to his moral character, the decisions he makes, and the presence of his morality within those decisions. Any contradiction herein bellows cries of hypocrisy and the established hero becomes more ordinary and fallible. This is not to say that in order to be a hero one must first be infallible but rather that the audience already has preconceived notions about what a hero is, his nobility, his daring, his loyalty, his dedication, and his sacrifice all must remain intact for him to truly maintain his status as hero.
Potter does not always make the right decision. He doesn't always say the right thing. This makes a connection with the audience on a more human level, a sympathetic level. This leaves viewers in a cliffhanger mode hoping that their hero will triumph over evil and personal flaws. All to find out that much of the evil living inside himself is a living responsibility of the evil dark lord he is fighting, Voldemort. Again, very exciting and catchy.
Finally in order to rid himself of his evil he must face his fate straight on and accept the consequence of having been raised for this purpose. A purpose that can only be fulfilled upon his death. Harry had to die to himself and to the world of evil in order to survive this ordeal.
It is only at this point where his truly incorruptible character gives him truer life apart from the evil inside of him. His victory also brings him the most powerful weapon in his world, the elder wand. This he proves his character by destroying.
We as Christians can only find the truest of life at the moment of our deaths, both to ourselves and to this world. Once we die to self we can truly, genuinely become the Followers of Jesus that we were made to be. And upon our death bed when this body of sin is finally destroyed we are then perfectly separated from the evil inside us. The evil of this world and the evil within are dealt with by Jesus alone, and can be found through Him alone. No magic, no religion, no opinion, no law, and no weapon can do this for us.
So really, our truest incorruptible hero is Jesus.
"Oh what a miserable man I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Chist out Lord." Romans 7:24-25a.
Sorry Harry, even in death we cannot escape the evil inside us without Jesus.

Slow Down

Lately it seems like there's no time to slow down. No time to sleep. No time to fuel my relationship with God let alone take time for my family. Just...no time. It's funny when I stop and think about the fact that God is outside of time. He isn't bound by the same rules, the same time constraints, or windows of opportunity. I wonder if that's why He always has a plan, and it always works out. Hmm...funny how that kind of works. If you're reading this then it was part of the life God planned for you. Give this a shot: Just stop and give God a minute or two and see what He tells you. You'll be surprised how massive He can impact you in just a short time. Give it up!