One more reason to love rednecks.

Smile this Thanks-giving

Q: Why do Pilgrims have trouble keeping their pants up?
A: Because they wear their belts on their hats!

Q: What is the difference between a chicken and a turkey?
A: Chickens celebrate Thanksgiving!!

Q: How many turkeys does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Just one but it takes 5 hours

Q: What do you get when you cross a turkey, the beach, and Broomhilda?
A: A turkey sand-witch

Q: Why do turkeys eat so little?
A: Because they are always stuffed!

Q: What did the turkey do in the Thanksgiving Day Parade?
A: He played his drumsticks!

The Inner Man and Outward life

The connection between the inner man and the outward life is like a railroad track. Once the track is laid the only way off is through changing connections. Asaph wrote a wonderful revelation of this in Psalm 73.

Psa 73:1-3

A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart!
But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

The thought life of the man is reflected in His actions and attitude. When we start to fell that God is not just, when God has let us down, we are only a short distance from acting like God does not matter. How often are we attacked by the enemy of God with the thoughts of our value and God's neglect? How many times a day do we think about our desires and God's lack of fulfilling all those desires?

The answer to this issue is to live in the place where all desires are fulfilled. But to enter that place you must die to yourself. The only way to have life is to loose it. The only way to live is to die. Almost sounds like some kind of eastern religion. It is the gospel of the Kingdom.

I am tired of small men using the false light of this world to cast great shadows. Men and women who live their whole lives to be seen and recognized as "something". Do we not daily encounter people who try to make us think more of them than they are? Do we not face endless manipulation to honor the value individuals who do little more than daily striving to get people to honor and value them?

But a strange thing is, when we live in the place of "ever desired fulfilled in Christ", we freely give them honor and value. We give to them freely what they long for as the love of God flows through us because God uses us to give to them the very thing they long for, yet in vain. This too is a reflection of the transformation that occurs when the inner man is full of delight. The one who dwells in the presence of God has actions that demonstrate peace and security. Life flows from the inside out.

I wish the guy that sets in front of me in church would get Ps. 73 tattooed on his neck. It would be great to read it each week.

A Grand View

I have been privileged to see a great many great sights. I have captured the wonders of mountains high and the vastness of the ocean. I have enjoyed the thrill of conflict and the harmony of silence. My heart has been broken by both the pain and suffering of others and the kindness of life lived well. Yet what I observed last night in the prayer room was very near the top of the list for me.

As those who gathered prepared for ministry to the Lord it was as if I could feel His anticipation. There was a delight emanating from the Spirit of God that caught my attention. I am a person very much addicted to enjoyment and the enjoyment of enjoying God as He loves those who come to minister to Him and for Him is extraordinary. The ordinary love of God is good, very good. The extraordinary love of God captures the wholeness of man, it fills sensual places that you did not know exist. The mind, reason and logic seem to be filled with childlike excitement, wonder and fun on the most enjoyable level. All this while at the same time encountering the fear, wonder and awe that encountering another dimension in God brings.

In addition to encountering God in this way, it seems like a doorway is open to you. Once you find Him, or He finds you, in this way; you can enter into His depths over and over again in many and various ways. It is like finding God only to find that He is always near, ever willing to reveal Himself for who He truly is.

I am thankful that I get to run the race with people like this Friday Night Group. I am full with satisfaction of being part of a part of Him.

The Worst Thing

What is the worst thing that can happen to me? Have you ever thought of that question? I did recently. I was wondering what my life would be like if the very worst happened.

The worst for me would not be dying. If I was dead, then my problems would be over. The problems I call the worst are the ones that effect me living. It is pain, suffering, helplessness, fear and agony. If I was to think in my mind the very worst of times (that is, if I were to practice vain imagination) then I would still have the presence of Jesus. The other night as I lay in pain on the floor of the Boiler Room, I thought that I hurt so bad, yet Jesus is hear with me. God has promised me never to leave me. His presence, in all my painful situations, is light and life in my darkest hours. In fact, the more I am aware of Him the less I am aware of the pain, even when it is growing in strength.

"So What" you may say! "Isn't God only valuable if He can change your situation, to make your life better?" No, God is always able to make life better, yet that is not the only value He has to me. His presence makes life worth living (even in pain) simply because He is near. It may be hard to live, but it is worth living.

So how do we transcend out reality and enter into His reality? How do we walk by the Spirit? How do sit in the prisons of life and sing worship songs without the promise that we will escape? How do we face daily trials and temptations and keep a joy burning in us? The truth is that there are so many ways to accomplish this that I could not list them all. While we may only be able to think of one, that is simply not the reality of the situation. God has thousands of ways to transcend our grind and live in His grace.

Here are a few to try. But let me warn you that it takes skill to accomplish these well and you may need to practice for several years before you are skilled at be hidden in Christ through some of these methods. But what is a few years to friends? Remember you are not seeking to avoid your pain but to encounter and be filled with God.
1. Laughter
2. Random outburst of Joy and Gladness
3. Dancing (without a partner and without an audience)
4. Gazing at the clouds or stars
5. Eating very good ice cream in a very big bowl

If desire a more serious method you can try
1. Reading scripture in the original language
2. Quoting Creeds in Latin
3. Using the Bible Code Book to find good chess moves
4. Or making long lists of how unworthy you are to receive mercy and focusing on all your faults and weakness until you hear the Fathers voice telling you to get beyond your pride and enjoy His grace.