Hiding in Plain Sight

Hiding in plain sight is an art of camouflage and avoiding attention. You have to be aware of your surroundings and make conscious decisions in your appearance and actions in order to blend in and effectively hide. Over time though this can become second nature. If you focus on blending in you can become virtually invisible. There are times this is very important. It is very important for a mouse to blend into its surroundings unless it wants to be an owl's meal. It is also important for a soldier to blend into his surroundings as he moves so he can hide from the enemy. Sometimes we as followers of Jesus Christ hide in plain sight, and it's not always a good thing.

Fighting Traditions

Traditions are amazing things. They bring comfort when times are tumultuous. They bring people together when nothing else will. We find joy in them with some ceremonies and rituals. We even find identity with some. I like traditions. I think of all the places in my life where I have been surrounded by traditions; growing up in New England, scouting, volunteer fire department, the Navy. I think the place that is steeped in the most tradition though is the church.

God's Will For Your Life

Vocational ministers or professional clergy get to hear questions from people that are not normally asked in casual conversation. The questions change a little bit depending on the role; pastor, chaplain, evangelist, or missionary. The questions, however, are consistent in large part. One of the common questions is "What is God's will for my life?" I heard it often as a youth pastor and I thought it would diminish as I transitioned to ministering to adults predominantly. It hasn't. People's thoughts of their lives and God's plan and purpose for them seem to transcend generations. The part that is interesting to me and my subject today is not specifically God's will for your life, or you knowing that will, but your motivation in wanting to know it.

Seasons and Change

We are three quarters of the way through September and that means a number of things. County fairs and harvest festivals are taking place all over the country. The kids are settling back into school. The weather is starting to cool down. Being a New Englander by birth I think there is something inherent in Autumn that causes you to be a bit nostalgic. Autumn arriving also shows us the wonderful plan God put into motion during creation. It is part of the circle of seasons that is so representative of life. If you are like me, Disney's The Circle of Life from The Lion King is now playing in your head. Your welcome. At this seasonal change I return to my favorite Old Testament book, Ecclesiastes.

Love, Gongs and Knowledge

I love weddings. I find every aspect of a wedding fun, and at times entertaining. I enjoy the premarital counseling and planning. It's fun to watch the busyness of the bride's mom and friends as they fret over every minute detail. I find it funny that no one wants anything less than perfection from the flowers to the sound to the music, but they never notice the inevitable slip up or mistake. Then there are the games that the groomsmen play. The things they do that make the bride absolutely nervous. It's all so very enjoyable for me. There is an element to just about every christian wedding, and many secular weddings here in America, that is almost never left out. In a christian wedding it's read or quoted as scripture, and in a secular wedding it's read as a poem. You know the passage. It starts, "Love is patient, love is kind..." and is found in 1 Corinthians 13. Today I'm asking, "Is this passage only meant for weddings? What about the surrounding scripture?"

I Am Compelled

Summer is over and my children are uttering the all too familiar "I'm bored" less now that there is home work and school night bed times. When they do utter that amazing phrase I have to smile and ask, "Would you like me to find you something to do?" They almost never take me up on it. When they do they begrudgingly do what I've asked them only halfheartedly. It's obvious they don't want to. The same holds true for us followers  of Jesus Christ. We get so caught up in the emotion or experiencing of life that when the "good feeling" isn't there, we get bored. We get caught up in routine. It's as if we are saying to God, "I'm bored." There is a scriptural answer to this phenomenon.

Spreading the Word

One of the things Jesus instructed us to do was to go into all the world and spread the gospel. We are to be witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the world. God placed on my heart the desire to share bits of wisdom He has given me with others. Sometimes that is from a pulpit, sometimes one on one, and sometimes it is via the written word. We all should be sharing what God does in and through us with others so that the gospel is not only preached but witnessed. I encourage you to share this blog with anyone who might find something useful or encouraging. I use this blog as one of the methods to encourage people and be a witness for what the Lord has done in my life. In an effort to bring this blog to more people, I am starting to list it in blog directories and search services. One of them, Technorati, requires a code be posted so they can verify ownership of the blog. 75SGN5R8EBZ4

I encourage you to link to this blog, post links to articles on popular social networking sites, and forward the e-mails to friends who might profit from the material God has given me to share. many blessings!

Be Who God Made You To Be

A friend recommended a book by Max Lucado recently. It's titled The Cure For The Common Life. The friend who recommended it said it sounded a lot like what I share with people when they are struggling with who they are in God. It's a great book so far, and I have no doubt it will be fantastic all the way through. Then on one of my weekly trips across the state I was listening to a podcast from Brian Houston of Hillsong Church. His podcast was reiterating the same thoughts from a different point of view and using different scriptures to make the point. I've taught and counseled this often and I believe the Lord wants me to share it with you.

Scars and Baggage

When I was 12 years old I enjoyed building models. I remember the tool box I assembled for model building. It had all sorts of paints and brushes, spare parts and left over pieces, and razor knives and files. One warm summer day I was in the backyard building a model rocket when I learned a very valuable lesson. Don't try to catch a round handled razor knife as it rolls off the table. I ended up with a laceration in my thumb that required more than a band-aid to bind it together. The reason I remember this story is the scar on my right thumb. Every time I see the scar I remember that warm summer day in Chesterfield, Connecticut and the lesson I learned.

Experiences Impact Who We Are

I enjoy watching people. I like to observe people in their regular surroundings and try to figure who they are and how they got to be who they are. I really enjoy sitting down over a cup of coffee with someone I've just met and listening to their story. It amazes me how people adapt to different things in their life and those circumstances and adaptations mold who they are today. Being a minister, folks tend to shift to stories of their journey of faith. That's great, but I like to hear the other stuff too. Whether we want to admit it or not, everything we experience in life effects who we are. There is a group that I would have loved to observe and sit down over a cup of coffee and talk to. I would have loved to watch the calling and molding of the apostles.

Making Deals With God

I have a ten year old son. He is just starting to exhibit those tween tendencies. You know the ones: procrastination, the eye rolls, attitude starting to show, incessant deal making. Sometimes I think he forgets we were youth pastors for many years and know many of the tricks. The thing is if we don't address these issues now, they will grow and worsen as he grows and will effect his relationships with other people and with God. Let's look at the one of these that can effect us very deeply and effect our relationship with Jesus.

Looking Back

"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." - Edmund Burke (1729-1797). That's an often misquoted quotation of an eighteenth century British statesman. There are countless examples of it being proven true, of course if you ignore history, you wouldn't know that. There is, however, a big difference between studying the past and learning from our own and other's mistakes and wanting to return or retreat to the past. It is completely human to long for the good ol' days, but there in lies the problem. It is completely human. What's the modern Christian to do?

Moving On Up!

"We're moving on up, to the east side, to a high rise apartment in the skies." That is a lyric that brings back some memories. This last week the world lost Sherman Hemsley. He was most known for his portrayal of George Jefferson on All in the Family followed by the spin off The Jeffersons. I love the opening phrase of that theme song. "We're moving on up!" I often think that as the Lord has moved me and my family into new arenas of life and ministry. Isn't it funny how the Lord uses television pop culture from the 70s to lighten my heart in the face of change, uncertainty, and adversity? If you're familiar with the program you know that George worked his way to respect and prosperity through hard work in the face of adversity and bigotry. The adversity and bigotry didn't stop, but he didn't allow it to stop him either. We can learn from this.

In The Wake of Tragedy

I grew up near the waters of Long Island Sound. My grandparents lived on a canal that lead out into the sound and had a motorboat. I always enjoyed going out in their boat, or going out in the rowboat with my dad. I remember school trips on the Thames River with Project ‘O’ and learning about the ocean and things of the sea. One of the things I always enjoyed about being on the water was watching the wake from the boat. That was one of the things that amazed me when I was stationed on a nuclear submarine. The wake the submarine left was less than that made by my grandparent’s motorboat or the research vessel with Project ‘O’. I learned that the wake a vessel leaves behind has little to do with vessel size, but much to do with the design of the vessel. That is the summation of my knowledge of naval architecture and aqua-dynamic engineering. It is also the beginning of my understanding of how to cope and work through the wake of tragedy in our lives.

Arrows Pointed Out and Arrows Pointed In

There is a popular concept in emerging churches today. It is arrows pointed out. The main premise is to make sure you are focusing on others before you focus on your self. I have many friends who are part of churches that use this to describe the way they achieve the Great Commission. It is a concept I have taught and preached on many times. There is a potential for imbalance though. As with anything, when the heart attitude is wrong, the action has no lasting effect or spiritual advantage.

Cruise Control

Cruise control is a wonderful piece of technology found in most cars these days. I spend a fair amount of time traveling back and forth across our state on I-90 for various reasons and there's nothing like 70 MPH on cruise control. I do have a couple of rules for it's use though. I rarely use it when it is dark and never when the temperature is below 37 degrees. You're now asking yourself, "What has this got to do with Christian living in the context of a modern world?" Read on and see.

To Please God or to Please Man

To please God or to please man? That is the question. It's not exactly Shakespeare, but it is a question we must all answer as we face different decisions and challenges each and every day. It amazes me how many people are more concerned about what other people think of them than what God thinks of them. It also amazes me how often people quote Galatians 1:10 in an effort to justify carnal decisions they have already made.