Confrontation

Written by cycleguy on May 17th, 2012

 

HONEST CONFESSION TIME: I hate confrontation.

I fit right in with George McFly who tells Marty, “I know.  I know what you are thinking son, and you’re right!  But Biff just happens to  be my boss and I guess I’m not very good at confrontation (as he flexes his hand).”  And unless I miss my guess there aren’t a whole of people who really like to do it.   There will be the occasional brave person who relishes confronting others, but for the most part we don’t like to do it…unless it is the last resort (and even then we procrastinate).

I read a funny illustration in preparation for this week’s message.  Sven and Hulda, a Scandinavian couple, were Christians.  They  sang in the choir, they were at Sunday School every Sunday, they had prayer at every meal, they went to all the church functions.  But they could not get along.  At home, it was terrible: bickering, complaining, fussing.  After both of them had devotions one morning, separately, of course, Hulda said to Sven, “You know, Sven, I been tinking.  I got de answer to dis hopeless problem we’re livin wit. I tink ve should pray for de Lord to take vun of us home to be with Him. And then Sven, I could go live wit my sister.”   Yeah, I laughed hard.  Doesn’t take much you know?  :P

Sure is a strange way of confronting a problem don’t you think?   Even when confrontation needs to take place there is a right way and a wrong way, a right time and wrong time to do so.  Love finds no joy in sin.  Love doesn’t pander in wrong things.  But there are some interesting thoughts I will be covering this week:

LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS

LOVE BELIEVES ALL THINGS

LOVE HOPES ALL THINGS

LOVE ENDURES ALL THINGS

Oh yeah…one more…

LOVE NEVER ENDS.

When we love someone, we take the entire package.  No picking and choosing. No large helping of what we like and skimping or passing over that which we don’t.   Knowing what to allow and when to confront is the tricky part in all of this.

What are your thoughts on this?  Are you a confronter?  Do you wait until the last possible moment to do so?  How do you take confrontation when it is directed toward you?

Thanks to Dan for the banner.  Thanks to you for your prayers.   We continue meeting at the SDA church while the renovation continues.  Monday the contractor begins.  YEAH!!!!

 

Posted in Christian living, Church, Family, Preaching, Scripture look, Sermon Series/Topic | 12 Responses »

Grass

Written by cycleguy on May 17th, 2012

NO…NOT THAT KIND!

Throughout my life, I have been taught and have also taught that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.   We look and envy others. Financially.  Marriage.  Property.  Image. (fill in the blank).

I have been working on a sermon series I will be preaching this summer on the life of David.  One of the striking things about David is the choice for him to become king.  That came as a result of the disobedience of Saul, which came as a result of the disobedience of the people of Israel.  God had been using Judges to rule His people, but during the time of Samuel they began to clamor for a king.  First, they weren’t thrilled with Samuel’s choice of predecessors- his sons.  I tend to think they weren’t too thrilled with it either.  Second, they wanted a king like all the other people/nations have.  In essence, they looked at the grass on the other side of the fence and liked what they saw.  It was the solution to their whole problem, or so they thought.  What they didn’t realize was that God was thoroughly displeased.   In fact, I Samuel 8:7 says, “The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.’ “ 

They were saying that God was not enough for them!!

What they did find out was that the grass was not greener on the other side.  Saul was a miserable and lousy king.   But they got what they asked for.  Psalm 106:15 says, “He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.”  (NKJV).   Getting what we want is not always the best.  We need to keep in mind that God wants our best.  He really does, and when something we have asked for doesn’t come our way, He has a reason for it.   Accepting it though is tough.  We still think we know best.   Using the above Scripture from Psalm 106 I think it is good to ask a question:  will getting what I ask for bring leanness or health to my soul?  Instead of pushing the envelope, maybe we need to pause and give it a rest.  I think this blog tackles that idea rather well.

What do you think?  Have you tried to force an issue with God and afterwards found out it was not the best idea?  What did you learn? Was the ever a time that you stopped pushing and paused, only to find it was the best thing you did?  

 

Posted in Christian living, Just Wondering, Leadership | 24 Responses »

YourStory

Written by cycleguy on May 15th, 2012

WE.  ALL.  HAVE.  A.  STORY. 

Insignificant.  Bland. Wild. Loose. Christ-follower.  Non-Christ follower.  Exciting. Boring.  Radically changed.  Gradually moved.  All of us.  No exceptions.   And whether we think so or not, that story  has meaning and a point.  But it was never meant to be kept to ourselves.  This is not a legalism thing.  This is not a “I’ve-done-something-you-haven’t” sort of thing.  Here is a quote I would like you to give some thought to:

Let us cleave to Christ more closely, love Him more heartily, live to Him more thoroughly, copy Him more exactly, confess Him more boldly, and follow Him more fully.  J.C Ryles

No joke: that statement blew me away.  If I could summarize the whole life of following Christ in a few short words, that would be them. :)   The reason it hit me is that I am so-o-o-o far away from that it ain’t funny.  Even after following Christ since I was 8 (that makes 51 years); and even after being a pastor for over 36, I find myself hiding in a corner when I read this statement.  I am so convicted by it!  I feel like I am fileted by it.

One of the problems with an internet family is it is easy to be a ghost.  What I mean by that is that it is easy to put on airs.  To pretend to be someone we aren’t.  You know the kind:  “I have it all together.”  “I am holy.”  “I have conquered my demons and they no longer bother me.”  “I no longer sin.”  Ai yai yai!  I once did a post called “WhoRU?”  But that was fun and games.  Time to move the flag.  Here is what I would like to do:

I would like to hear your story.  I think others would as well.  I would like to take Wednesday of every week to include your story.  Who you are.  Your family.  Your job.  Your divorce.  Your history.  Your God-moment.  Even your struggles (if you care to share that).

YOUR STORY!!

There will be NO judgment from me or anyone else.  I will not allow it.  You can tell as much as you want, or as little as you want.  I would particularly like to hear your story with the quote by Ryles as your guide.  I especially want to hear your God-moment, the time God got your attention.  Along the way, we can also pray for each other. What do you say? This is not something I just thought up.  I have been thinking about this for several weeks, but just couldn’t pull the trigger.  If you would like to take part, please email me at pastor@ovcf.org.   I will send you some guidelines.

In the meantime, what was your first thought when you read Ryles’ quote? 

 

Posted in Christian living, Just a Quote, Just Wondering, Miscellaneous | 33 Responses »

Burning

Written by cycleguy on May 15th, 2012

The renovation of our building has picked up again.  We have done the demo part.  We are now in the “building walls” part of our responsibility.  If you are new to this blog, or have not yet taken the time to look, you can go here to see the demo part of our construction. I hope to have some pictures of what we are currently doing on the site soon.  I spent a good part of the day running to Lowe’s (morning) with the young man who has taken charge of building the walls; helping tear out slices of carpet where the walls will go;  buying lunch :) ; moving deck chairs on Titanic (seemingly moving things from one place to another only to have to move them again); to running errands; to standing around chewing the fat (what I do best).  Among other things, that means I am late posting.  I gave some serious thought to not even doing so today, but then I read something during my Bible reading that struck me.

When I went away to Bible college in 1970 (yeah, I know, a looooooooong time ago), I was fairly “worldly.”   Translated that means I listened to “secular” rock music.  But one of the bad things about going away like I did was that it is easy to be influenced by the more radical ideas of a “closed” religious mindset.   It wasn’t too long before I began hearing how evil rock music was.  I chose to ignore it, but by the time I was a sophomore, the pitch has heightened.  My roommate decided to take all his records (Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Chicago, Bloodrock, Zep, and even John Denver) and pitch them into the abyss (down over the hill).  They made great flying saucers.   I also remember news reports of churches having record burnings where the teens would bring their records to the church building and put them into a big pile and burn them.   I refused to burn my records (vinyl) and wish they had not been stolen because I could have made a mint selling them today.   :)    The problem is that on a pretty isolated campus that sort of rhetoric can reach a fever pitch that takes over.   My roommate caved.  Funny part: he later went out and bought about all the ones he threw away.  :)

This morning I read this passage.  Made me think of my college days of record flying.  I don’t think the modern day “book burning” and censorship can be compared to this.  This scene is the result of conversion, and then of those who practiced magic arts making a clean break of their past.   They were making a statement of separation.  Clearly an indication of “getting rid of the old.”   Many people  want to say, “I am a Christ-follower now,” but without the break that is needed.  They want to hold on to vestiges of their past life.  Maybe it is time we burned some “bridges” to our past…and I’m talking about more than books.

Any thoughts?  What do you think of book burnings?  Did you ever experience a time when you burned/threw away things?

 

Posted in Christian living, Just Wondering, Miscellaneous, Uncategorized | 26 Responses »

NoDifferent

Written by cycleguy on May 13th, 2012

I thought I would post similar to what others are posting right now…something on mothers.  I won’t be writing about my mother though.  She went home to be with Jesus in March of 2004 and I wrote about her on the anniversary of her home-going here.  The only other mother I have a personal knowledge of is the mother of my two daughters.   Jo was and is a good mom to them.  She has shown them a quiet submission to the One she committed her life to; a steadfast love to the man she committed her life to; a “second mile” kind of love to the two girls she committed her life to; and a yearning kind of love for the little man she has committed her life to and who is now in about every waking thought. A sure cause for divorce would be for me to move and take a church further away from him.  :)   (Not that I am planning on doing that any time soon).    That would really put her steadfast love to the test!   I am honored to be her husband and to be the father of the children God blessed us with.

One of the most meaningful posts I read this weekend was this one.  I saw this clip at several places this past weekend.  The most recent was here.    I hope you will take a look at it.  It is pretty funny.

BUT THIS IS THE ONE I PLAYED THIS SUNDAY PRECEDING MY SERMON.  IT PACKS A POWERFUL MESSAGE

http://youtu.be/sgG7YlY-IF0

Hope you enjoy both video clips.  I also hope you took the time to do let your mom/wife/grandmother/whomever how much you love and appreciate them.   Did you?  How did you spend your Mother’s Day?

 

Posted in Family, Little Bit of Fun, Sunday Meanderings | 19 Responses »

Remembered

Written by cycleguy on May 10th, 2012

I attended the calling hours for a mother/grandmother of some folks in the church I pastor.  As I get older, funerals seem to move closer and closer, and make me think a little more about how I want to be remembered.   There are two stories I want to mention in this post.  You may have heard them before.

One of Abraham Lincoln’s earliest political enemies  was Edwin M. Stanton.  He called Lincoln a “low cunning clown” and “the original gorilla.”  “It was ridiculous for people to go to Africa to see a gorilla,” he would say, “when they could find one easily in Springfield, IL.”  Lincoln never responded to the slander, but when, as president, he needed a secretary of war, he chose Stanton.  When his incredulous friends asked why, Lincoln replied, “Because he is the best man.”  Years later, as the slain president’s body lay in state, Stanton looked into the coffin and said through his tears, “There lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen.”  His animosity was finally broken by Lincoln’s long-suffering, nonretaliatory spirit.  Patient love won out.

An inscription on a tombstone in a small English village:

Here lies a miser who lived for himself,

and cared for nothing but gathering wealth.

Now where he is or how he fares,

nobody knows and nobody cares.

Two different views on being remembered.  There is no doubt which one I would like to be said of me.  This Sunday is Mother’s Day, but I am going to take a different tact.  Rather than focus on mothers and tell them how they “ought to be” (like using Proverbs 31 or “Mothers ought to be like Mary, or Martha, or Esther, etc”), I thought I would talk about Love’s Profile.  “Love is Patient.  Love is Kind.  Love is not Jealous.  Love is not boastful. Love is not arrogant.  Love is not rude.  Love is not selfish. Love is not irritable. Love is not resentful.”  Every mother wants to be loved.  What better way to show it than practicing the love mentioned in I Corinthians 13?

How would you like to be remembered?  If your mother is still living, what would you like her to remember about you?  My own late mother embodied many of these qualities of love.  I say “many” because there were times she was irritable toward my brothers. :P   Make sure you take the time to let your mom know how much you love her. 

 

Posted in Church, Preaching, Scripture look, Sermon Series/Topic | 12 Responses »

Birds

Written by cycleguy on May 9th, 2012

I will state it right up front: I am not a bird-lover.  A bird-watcher.  A bird-feeder. A bird-preserver. Or anything else you may want to add.  My favorite bird is a chicken- fried, baked, broasted, shredded, grilled- you get the idea.  :)   What I just wrote is not meant to offend anyone who loves birds, but I just wanted to get that out.  Aaaahh now I feel better.

I say all that because of an incident that happened.  Many of you, if you are regular readers, know the church I pastor has been in the process of renovating space.   Monday morning I went through the gutted area to the kitchen and about got dive-bombed by a bird.  I think he got in from the attic of the other area after the heat duct was removed.  Anyway,  he flew back and forth in  a frenzy.  One time he hit the window so hard it stunned him and he ended up on the floor.  However, it wasn’t a hard enough knock to put him down long enough for me to get him outside.  He recovered enough to begin his mad frenzied flying at the windows.  So I opened a door.  Then I opened several windows.  ALL TO NO AVAIL.  Monday night a father and his two sons came in to remove drywall screws from the ceiling joists and the bird flew around a bit and then burrowed itself into a corner.  Tuesday morning I walked through to the kitchen and there he was again-frantically flying from window to window. So, I did what I had done the day before- opened a window and a door- then I stood and watched him do everything but fly to freedom.   Rafter to rafter.  Rafter to window.  (Beat against the wrong window several times).  Window to rafter.  Repeat.  I finally left while shaking my head.

I stood thinking, “Dumb bird.  I give you a way out and you don’t take it.”

TIME. OUT. 

POINT. HITS. HOME!!

It dawned on me how many times I have done exactly that.  I get trapped into a way of doing something that has me confined, even confused.  God comes along and sees me vainly flying from one “escape hatch to another.”  Effort in futility.  He opens a window for me to find freedom, but I am too busy flying from rafter to closed window, or rafter to rafter to see His way of escape.  What I think is an escape is only a dead end.  He offers me a way out but I choose to fly “by the seat of my pants.” If only I would fly to His open window.

Have you found yourself flying blind at any time?  How about lately?  Have you found yourself set free?  And finally, he found his way out sometime Tuesday afternoon.   So our Building Team meeting was safe from the dive-bomber.  However, we had another visitor-a snake.  Gives new meaning to me working in a zoo.  :P

 

 

Posted in Christian living, Just Wondering, Miscellaneous | 36 Responses »

DeepWater

Written by cycleguy on May 8th, 2012

A QUOTE TO CONSIDER:

God brings men into deep waters not to drown them, but to cleanse them. John H. Aughey

That quote was in the Epilogue of a book I just finished reading-a fiction book.  It is called Hearts That Survive: A Novel of The Titanic.  I bought the book because, as some of you may already know, I like reading and studying about Titanic.   While this novel was not specifically about Titanic (which slightly disappointed me), it became a story of history, of lives changed forever by the disaster.  While it mentions a few historical characters and events, this is a work of fiction.  Good fiction.  Not action-packed, but good story-telling fiction.   Fiction that didn’t preach at the reader,  but fiction that developed several themes over its 400+ pages.  I got over my disappointment quickly and embraced the story of the book. :)

The quote may have been used by the author to close out her novel, but I saw a “gem” there that spoke volumes.  Back story: the book begins on Titanic and follows certain individuals through that disaster and then as their lives develop in the years that follow.  Her use of the quote is clearly in reference to the effect the disaster had on their future.  I saw in the quote spiritual truth.

We will often read of “being broken.”  Speakers or authors will say, “It was only when I was broken that I was able to ‘see’ God’s hand in my life” or something to that effect.  How that brokenness occurs varies. Some face incredible family hardship.  Some face a financial downturn that sweeps their feet out from underneath them. Some face a loss of a job; a divorce; a broken heart; or (fill in the blank).  As we all know, hard times can either make us or break us. Many break and never recover. Others are like diamonds:  refined and polished and shining like the sun.  They weather the storm and find their foundation is built on the Solid Rock, and not shifting sand.  The truth contained in John 14:27 screams “I am true!” at them.

I don’t want to belabor the point.  I think you already get it.  But I do know that I plan to make that quote a “remember me” quote.  More than that, I want to make the Author and Builder of the house on the rock my cleansing fountain.  Have any thoughts you would like to share?  I would like to hear them.  What do you think of the quote? 

 

Posted in Book Review, Christian living, God, Just a Quote, Just Wondering, Scripture look | 29 Responses »

Destruction

Written by cycleguy on May 7th, 2012

NAME THAT REFERENCE TIME:  I give you a portion of a verse and you try to find it.  No Concordance or Topical Bible or Study Bible allowed.  Okay…that makes it too hard.  You can have help looking it up.

“he does not know that it will cost him his life.”

I know some of you will cheat (okay take advantage of some reference work not mentioned above), but if you will hang in there with me I will give you the reference at the end.  I really want to focus on this little part of the verse.  Actually, it makes a whole lot more sense if I give you some of the contextual verses: “With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.  All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.” 

Now does it make more sense?  I also have pretty much given away at least the book it is from.  The context is speaking of a young man seduced by a wayward wife (big clue).  Whether he was sure of himself and his ability to withstand the temptation or not, we are not told.  We are simply told that he wanders off the path he should be on.  Like a deer in the headlights, he is snared.

Sadly, there are many of us who think we can handle anything that comes our way.  We even use the word “never,” as in, “I would never do that.”  Aaaaah yeah.  The only words that follow that statement are by onlookers who yell “Timber!  Look out below!” because there will be a crash.   Sin has a track record of self-deception.   “I can handle this on my own.”  “That is not my area of weakness, so I am safe.”  The bravado goes on and on, until WHAM!  The next words out of our mouth become, “How did I get into this predicament?” or something similar.  That little phrase from that passage of Scripture sticks out HUGE in this case.

THERE. IS. ALWAYS. A. CONSEQUENCE. TO. SIN……ALWAYS.

I say that a lot.  Maybe it is because I have such practice.  :)   Or is it :( ?  I have too many instances of the false bravado that led to the wrong preparation for fighting sin and its ugly pull.  THANK GOD FOR HIS GRACE AND FORGIVENESS!!  Otherwise, I would be a permanent casualty.

What do you think?  Have you ever used the “never” word only to have it come back to haunt you?  Did you find the reference?  Look in Proverbs 7:21-23. 

 

Posted in Christian living, Just Wondering, Scripture look, Sin | 26 Responses »

Miracles

Written by cycleguy on May 6th, 2012

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?

I read a rather humorous story the other day from this book.  Okay, I confess, it gave me a belly laugh. (Store edited by me for length)

Seems a lady had visited the Holy Land with a group from her church and after a visit to Cana, liked the wine so well she decided to buy some and smuggle it home.   The bottles were just a souvenir idea, nothing worthy of an all-out investigation of her luggage, but she got more than she bargained for.   Actually, her church was more likely to think Jesus turned the water into grape juice, so she decided to tuck the bottles into her suitcase between dirty laundry and other souvenirs.  She didn’t give it a second thought until airport security saw the bottles by x-ray and decided they could not allow them to go through.

Before her bag made it through security, the officer greeted her and said, “Ma’am, we’ve identified two bottle of liquid in your suitcase. We’re going to need you to open it up and see what they are.”  Gulp.  The whole church would now know.  “Oh! Don’t worry about those. They are just bottles of water.  Bottle of water!”

Her hopeless reasoning was unconvincing.  The officer insisted they needed to look at her suitcase, so she unzipped it.  The office found the bottles, held them up and said, “Ma’am, this isn’t water; it’s wine.”

The lady didn’t miss a beat.  Holding her hands high, she proclaimed, “Praise the Lord!  He did it again!  Water into wine!”

:P :P :P :P

Yeah, I chuckled. Then as I thought about it, and the lady’s quick thinking, I laughed heartily.   This post is not about whether Jesus turned the water into wine or grape juice.  That is a topic for another time (way in the future).  This post is about miracles.  As I see it, I think there are several ways people view miracles.  One says, “Miracles don’t happen.  They ceased.”  Another gives credit for everything happening as a miracle.  “What a miracle!”  One understates it; one overstates it.  There is a third.

I do believe in miracles.  The miracle of birth.  The miracle of healing (not by some shyster though).  I believe that God often uses common everyday events to bring about His purpose.  I also believe that sometimes God uses doctors and their skill to bring about healing.  I have no problem attributing an unexpected (and astounding) cure as a miracle.  I think we are to exhaust all we can in the way of human ability, but ultimately, it comes down to God.  If God so chooses to heal someone who is beyond human ability, call it a miracle.   Just because I cannot understand it, or have difficulty explaining it, does not mean it is unfeasible.  In fact, that may put it in the “Miracle” category more clearly.

What do you think?  Do you still believe in miracles?  How would you define one? 

 

Posted in Christian living, Church, Doctrine, God, Just Wondering, Little Bit of Fun, Sunday Meanderings | 41 Responses »

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