My monthly Southern Living magazine arrived in the mail today. It’s the November issue and “Thanksgiving Southern Style” is emblazoned on the cover with images of a pumpkin cheesecake, pear dumplings and beautiful seasonal floral arrangements. The table is set with an elegant crystal cake stand and gold-rimmed china and crystal on a classic white tablecloth. Memories from my formative years in the South leapt from the past to the present as I gazed at the magazine cover. In an instant, I was homesick!
Sorting Out Me From Him
After several moments of reflection, I realized I was homesick for what once was and what I thought my life would be. Over the past weeks, I’ve been trying to discern the desires of my heart from the desires the Lord has given me. It’s tough going at times when you’ve carried certain dreams with you so long that you can’t separate your desires from the Lord’s. That’s the lesson the Lord has been teaching me lately, sorting out me from Him. We are separate and yet one. My flesh cohabitating with His Holy Spirit. The Lord has been trying to get me to see His path for me, and it’s not the path my flesh has created. My self-made path was littered with unmet expectations and discontent.
The lump of melancholy in my heart was abruptly dislodged by the comments of a wise older women. She said, “You know you’re serving in the flesh when you’re serving with two companions…stress and anxiety.” Read More »
The personal testimony of Christ-follower and American Airlines pilot Peter Scheibner offers a glimpse into the events of one man’s life on the days of September 10th and 11th 2001.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
Jawzjan Province, Northern Afghanistan 2009
Our nephew is getting married in just a few short days. Final preparations are underway, including making myself presentable for the event. It’s no time for amateurs, I needed a professional! That’s how I found myself at the salon seated in front of “Beautiful Rose.”
I’m always a bit nervous receiving services like this and when I’m nervous, I start chatting. This time the object of my chatter was the salon aesthetician. For privacy’s sake, I’ll call her Rose. Rose was a tall, striking woman with a strong accent. I couldn’t place it at first. Eastern European? Persian? When I asked, Rose told me she was from Afghanistan. I was pleasantly surprised since I’d never met anyone from Afghanistan.
As we chatted, we commented on the magazine headlines and lamented over the things that grieve our hearts. One of those things for Rose was the western mindset of prolonging life. In her native country, when you’re ill, the doctor can help you or he can’t. Treatment is available or it isn’t. If there is no medical care available, you face the inevitable – death. Rose couldn’t imagine why someone would want to prolong their life when the quality of it would be so poor, “…being kept alive with tubes and such.”
The Fear of Death
I asked Rose, “Why do you think people want to prolong their lives?” She paused for a moment and replied, “I don’t know…” Then I asked her, “Do you think it’s because they fear death?” And she said, “Yes. I know I do!” That surprised me. Our idle chatter was taking a serious turn. “Why?” I asked. “Why do you fear death?” Read More »
Much has been written lately about having crazy love for our Savior and living radically for Him. Just check out the best seller lists of Christian books. Christian leaders desperately want the church to live full out for Jesus. They “call it as it is,” recount heart wrenching stories of the faithful and practically leap out of their books in an effort to wake us up. They give us the Word of God in new ways hoping to appeal to our senses (the 5 senses + our common sense). If only they could physically shake us, then perhaps we’d take action. After all, the Gospel must be proclaimed – time is short!
Yes, time is short. On God’s timeline, every prophecy has been fulfilled to make way for the 2nd coming of Christ. We are living on borrowed time, so to speak. Every day, every hour, could be the day or hour of Christ’s return. With this sort of urgency, why aren’t we living full out for Christ? Why aren’t we living radically from the world’s point of view by dying to self instead of living for self?
In March, a group from our church took a trip to the Holy Land. One of the historic sites we visited was the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The church was built in 326 AD by the Roman Emperor Constantine and later rebuilt in 530 AD by Justinian. Religious pilgrims travel from great distances to view the silver star in the underground Grotto, which marks the traditional site of Jesus’ birth.
There was a crowd the day of our visit and we waited patiently for our turn to descend the stairs into the Grotto – a former cave now carefully entombed in stone and concrete. As we stood in line, we were overwhelmed by the religious relics dominating the architecture and history of the site. The Crusader period painted columns and 4th century mosaics were over shadowed by hanging lights, lanterns, candelabras and various ornamentation inside the Nave. The altar at the front of the church was filled with a smoky haze from the many burning candles lit as prayer offerings. Somewhere under all the sensory overload was a church.
Entering the Grotto
So there we stood, observing all the activity around us and all the ornaments hanging from every conceivable nook and cranny. As I gazed down the steps leading into the Grotto, I noticed an electrical wire snaking down the wall to a lone light bulb hanging in the doorway. That’s where I took this picture of our dear friend Michael. He was looking for God.
I didn’t know this at the time. Later that evening, Michael shared his experience with us. You see, Michael was raised in religion and this trip was a gift from his beloved wife. He was excited to see the traditional birthplace of Jesus and maybe, possibly, feel the presence of God in that place. Surely His presence would be palpable in this holy site.
Michael shared with us his steps into the Grotto, looking first at the silver star on his right and then making his way around to the left to observe the traditional site of the manger. All the while, an Orthodox priest sat nearby observing our every move. We were quickly ushered through and up another set of steps leading out into the sister church of St. Catherine.
As Michael recounted his steps, he remarked, “I knelt down, gazed at the star and looked around. Could God be here? Then I walked over to the manger site and looked around. Was God here? As I walked around the small Grotto, I looked for God – but He wasn’t there.” Read More »
My monthly Southern Living magazine arrived in the mail today. It’s the November issue and “Thanksgiving Southern Style” is emblazoned on the cover with images of a pumpkin cheesecake, pear dumplings and beautiful seasonal floral arrangements. The table is set with an elegant crystal cake stand and gold-rimmed china and crystal on a classic white tablecloth. Memories from my formative years in the South leapt from the past to the present as I gazed at the magazine cover. In an instant, I was homesick!
