…the front end of a 1999 Ford F-150 traveling at approximately 48 mph with the rear end of a DHL delivery van traveling at approximately 0 mph, making a right turn?
Check these pics to see…that’s how my Wednesday’s been so far. How’s yours going?
Month: May 2007 (page 2 of 2)
There’s an old phrase regarding the purpose of preaching…
Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comfortable.
Today’s devotional from A. W. Tozer talks about preaching that makes them sweat! Check this quote…
The last thing I want to do is to give them some kind of religious tranquilizer–and let them go to hell in their relaxation.
The Christian church was designed to make sinners sweat. I have always believed that, and I still believe it. The messages preached in our churches should make backslidden Christians sweat. And if I achieve that objective when I preach, I thank God with all of my heart, no matter what people think of me.
The prayer at the end of today’s installment is…
Lord, help me to preach with boldness–not concerned with “what people think of me.” Amen.
Fired up the computer, and saw this…
Whatever you may think of Jerry Falwell and his theology and his politics, you have to acknowledge his influence.
I’m praying for his family today…
Break out the AARP cards. Answer “yes” when the self-checkout register asks if you qualify for the senior citizen’s discount. Let the state pick up part of the tab. Open up “those” spam emails.
The best big brother I ever had is 50 today!
Go on over and wish him a happy one!
After discovering anew the Matthew 10 passage at the hospital this afternoon, I made it back to my office. I went down into the Prayer Room (Hey folks! Did you know we have a “prayer room?”) and spent some time with God. Here’s what I prayed and journaled…
Today, Lord, I ask You to call out workers into Your harvest. Send me out to work in Your fields.
Don’t let us get so enamored of “missions over there,” that we look right past “missions right here.” There are lost, confused, harassed and hurting people in our neighborhood. Help us tell them in ways they can understand that Your kingdom is here.
Help us bring health to the sick. Help us raise the dead to new life. Help us touch the untouchables and untouched. Help us kick out demons. Help us be generous people, giving what we have been given.
Help us see that we are all the equipment we need. Help us not to wait until we think we have all we need, for if we wait until the conditions are “just right,” we will never get busy about the awesome task at hand.
Give us the essentials – and help us be grateful, generous, and faithful to use these essentials to multiply the harvest.
Lead us to receptive people. Prepare the way and the hearts of people before us.
Show us those who are receptive. Give us wisdom and discernment to know when to persist, when to change, and when to move on!
Help us be wise but harmless.
Help us persevere even when the pressure is on, even when the pressure comes from those we love the most.
Keep us focused on You and Your vision and mission, even when others don’t understand or when they speak evil lies about us, or when they try to smear our reputations.
Help us to be bold and courageous, even in the face of persecution. No matter who the authorities are – civil, government, or even (especially!) religious! Give us courage. Give us the right words to share the Good News of Your kingdom. Speak through us.
Keep us from being intimidated. Help us not to fear the threats of bullies outside or inside powers-that-be. Help us to fear no one but You! Not men, not their opinions, not their threats, not their blind confusion, not their failure to see what You’re doing now.
Thank You for making us valuable, for loving us more than anything else.
Help us confess You before the world, so we can know the glory of You standing up for us in the presence of the Father.
Help us to be worthy of You and Your call.
Help us forget our own preferences, our own comfort, our own agendas, and focus with all we are and all we have on You and Your call.
Help us give away all that we now are, so we can become all that You truly mean for us to be.
Thank You for trusting us as Your partners in this awesome and daunting task! Help us not to be overwhelmed by its enormity and scope. But help us see the small things, the starting place – the first thirsty person who needs a drink of water. And help us give that cold cup of water unselfishly, as an offering of obedience to You.
One of my favorite scripture challenges has always been Matthew 9:35-38, and the follow-up in Matthew 10. Today, I spent a little time with one of our couples in the waiting room at the hospital. I’m reading Thom Rainer’s Eating the Elephant (the original edition, not the revised edition with Chuck Lawless) and he just mentioned in passing the vision of Jesus in Matthew 10:7. I had my little pocketknife edition of The Message with me, so I turned over to Matthew 10 to check Rainer’s reference.
I’ve read that passage hundreds of times I’m sure, but something about it in Eugene Peterson’s great paraphrase really grabbed me today…
Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:
“Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.
9-10“Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.
11“When you enter a town or village, don’t insist on staying in a luxury inn. Get a modest place with some modest people, and be content there until you leave.
12-15“When you knock on a door, be courteous in your greeting. If they welcome you, be gentle in your conversation. If they don’t welcome you, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way. You can be sure that on Judgment Day they’ll be mighty sorry—but it’s no concern of yours now.
16“Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
17-20“Don’t be naive. Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your reputation—just because you believe in me. Don’t be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they’ve done you—and me—a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news! And don’t worry about what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.
21-23“When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.
24-25“A student doesn’t get a better desk than her teacher. A laborer doesn’t make more money than his boss. Be content—pleased, even—when you, my students, my harvest hands, get the same treatment I get. If they call me, the Master, ‘Dungface,’ what can the workers expect?
26-27“Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don’t hesitate to go public now.
28“Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.
Forget About Yourself
29-31“What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.
32-33“Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?
34-37“Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.
38-39“If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.
40-42“We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God’s messenger. Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing.”
***DISCLAIMER: My dad can fix anything. I mean, anything! Cars, lawn mowers, paper machines, you name it. But much to his chagrin, I had a mechanical bypass at birth. (I had a mathematical bypass at birth as well, but that’s another post for another day!)***
OK, with that out of the way, I’ve gotta tell you about my adventure under the hood!
Sunday, on my way home from preaching here, I noticed the little red battery indicator light was lit on my dashboard. I made it home, and as I normally do in situations like that, I simply figured it would eventually take care of itself. (Another “another post for another day,” but I digress!)
Anyway, on the way to the gym yesterday morning, the light was still on. When I got back home, the light was still lit, and the amp meter was quickly going doooowwwwwwn! I went in the house, ate breakfast, and when I came out and tried to start my truck, it sounded like a pathetic machine-gun imitation. “Uh-oh…that’s not good,” I surmised.
I called my dad, and he seemed to think it was a dead battery. I prayed he was right. When the lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie” got home from school, I put the battery in her car and headed to the free battery tester at Wal-Mart (where I had originally purchased the battery almost two years ago! Yes, I had my receipt!)
The battery tester dude was not there, so to speed things along, the woman at the automotive counter went ahead and replaced my battery! For free! (Cool, huh?)
I put the new battery in the truck, and it cranked, but alas, the battery indicator light was still on. “Well, I guess that means it’s the alternator, or something worse,” I surmised again.
Today, I wondered aloud, to no one in particular…
I wonder if I could replace that alternator myself?
So I called my buddy, Mr. Know-It-All, and asked his opinion on whether he thought I, mechanical bypass at birth and all, could even possibly think about tackling an alternator. He said yes, and encouraged me with some very technical sounding stuff! (I was impressed!)
I called my dad, to ask his opinion on whether he thought I, mechanical bypass at birth and all, could even possibly think about tackling an alternator. He was away at a funeral. (I was discouraged!)
I called my father-in-law, to ask his opinion on whether he thought I, mechanical bypass at birth and all, could even possibly think about tackling an alternator. He said he’s at the point now where he won’t even think about tackling an alternator. (I was really discouraged!)
But, I surmised again, “If the part is going to cost me somewhere around $135 (USD), that probably means that having someone else put it in will set me back at least $500!”
So, I got the alternator. I got a loaner tensioner tool. I got a new serpentine belt. I headed for Pit Row…I mean, my driveway!
Long story short…it took me a couple of hours. I don’t think I want to take up mechanic-ing for a living. God didn’t bless me with the spiritual gift of mechanics. But after that couple of hours, with only one “dadgummit!” and a couple of “oh crap!”s, I had replaced my alternator and serpentine belt! And I had saved, I surmised, about $400. And I was really proud! So proud, I called everyone I had called earlier to tell them about my accomplishment!
Later this afternoon, I cranked that bad boy up.
No extra bolts or other parts laying around.
No blood was spilled.
And, dadgummit, no warning light on the dash!
Maybe I should hang out that sign….naaaaaaaaah!