Today as I ready for my grandchildren to be here and VBS to begin for a week, I am working on my book. Today I continue to write about people in the Bible and their interruptions.
Right now I am writing about Noah. Imagine being 480 years old and having the Lord show up and say “build me an ark.”
Build me an ark.
Right…what’s an ark?
(Bill Cosby)
Talk about interruptions! That would be an interruption.
I think about how crazy that would be. Forget being that old. I have had to explain some purchases in the past to my wife. Cars, real estate, etc.. But if I built an ark in the driveway and devoted 120 years to it…well…you see the dilemma!
So, in between grandkids and VBS, I will finish off the biblical interruptions.
In the arms of my father(I have the great sweater!)
Over the last few months I have had a number of experiences with my children. (My children are 26 to 32 years of age. Each unique. Each individual. I love each of them.) Marriage, first child, moves. A lot of what we would call the biggies in life. And with each change, I watched the grace of God move in their life. The seed bed of grace they are growing in is growing them up. I have watched as their priorities changed and continue changing. I watch with amazement all they have become. Continue reading When Your Children Grow Up→
Last night my daughter Amy and I went for a motorcycle ride. During that time we discussed marriage, Christianity, children, education and friendships. People are hardwired for friends. Friends can add value or devalue you. In fact the scriptures often talk about friends. Choosing friends? Sometimes keeping the scriptures at hand are important.
While working on my book over the last few months I found this:
1. My sons and daughters, choose your friends wisely in the days of your youth, for they shall determine the way you go. 2. A good friend rejoices with you in the praise of God but a bad friend fills your heart with violent thoughts. 3. A bad friend entices you to do evil but a good friend prevents you from sinning against the Lord. 4. A good friend praises you when you speak words of wisdom but a bad friend laughs when you cuss and blaspheme. 5. Good friends will rejoice with you in the days of joy that lie ahead but all the wicked together will despair in the futility of their lives. 6. The Lord knows all your thoughts, He hears every word that comes out of your mouth, and He observes all your deeds. 7. Seek, then, friends who meditate on God’s word, friends who delight in edification, and friends who are zealous in good works. For you are not unaware of the reward awaiting the righteous and you not ignorant of the punishment prepared for the wicked” (Quotes & Things David Collins-a paraphrase of Proverbs 24)
Yesterday we celebrated my birthday, but really what we celebrated was friends and friendship. People who joined us plugged in, whether to help put food on the table, hang out with someone in need, clean up or just be there. (I think sometimes just being there is a large part of the equation of friendship.)
Over the years I noticed a trend. The trend is the moving away from the value of friendship. Whether it was caused by a faster pace of living, swings in the economy, the internet or the idea of social media I am not sure. What I do realize in the interest of “time management” coupled with the infractions of any one of the afore mentioned causes, we have lost the value of community and face to face living.
In the church I have heard the word destiny used to describe what God can do for “me” and in some associations how destiny can help the body. But if in the process, we lose try to bypass our hardwired sense of community and friendship we lose value.
This morning I think about this single scripture. John 15:5 said this “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” No branch can live without the life of God in him. “Apart from me you can do nothing.” He is truly saying “you need me” but He is also by inference saying this is my “body.” He could have used many a picture, but He chose a vine. Branches connected to Him. Therefore being connected to one another.
I believe we are mounting up for a revival of relationship, rightly discerning the body of Christ, stretching hands out to those about us. How much greater our influence over time than to have the ability to sow in those we come in contact with? If we do not penetrate darkness in our homes and our community by the expression of Christ through our beings, what value is there to exporting it?
I value the friendships I have. They have made me who I am. I am thankful.
I awoke at 4AM. I would like to tell you that it was because I am so excited about today. But, the truth is I had a pretty wild dream, at the same time I could hear Jacob talking in his sleep and Tina was pulling on the covers. So 4AM it is.
I have devoted time to prayer, meditation and coffee! I am focused on the goodness of God in my life. I am encouraged in so many areas of my life. There are a few I would like to see God move in, but knowing I cannot do it, He can and I will let Him, takes the pressure off me.
Today, as I have for many a year, I celebrate my birthday. Friends and family will be here. I realize some may think I do it just to do something different, but that is not true. I struggle with relationships. I want them, but often times who I am and how I function make it hard for me. Too often I have let work, business or ministry supersede real relationship in my life. Being a loner was easy. “Hermits are us!” I need my down time, my quiet time and my no time.
Today is the day of the year where I see lots of family. (This year all my kids will be here. That has not happened for a while.) My family is precious to me. I have been on the other side with no family. (As a friend said in conversation yesterday, “foolish drinking and not working are not ingredients for success.” That was me.)
My children mean the world to me. Their children mean as much. A new addition to the family will join us today. Her name is Hannah Lynn.
Today many friends will be there. Some from business, some from years of friendship, some new and a vast majority join us today from our church gathering. I am excited about seeing them.
But I also share a part of my heart with those who cannot be here. My parents went on to be with the Lord many years ago. My birthday memories will always include them. My brother in Maine cannot be here. My sister is out west this summer. Over the years I have had my nieces here.
Many have shared these days with me over time. Some are no longer part of my life. Others have gone home to be with Him. I do not forget them or take lightly the influences they have had in my life and the life of those I influence. I look at pictures and reflect on the good stuff God has done for me. 6 years ago my daughter moved in with us with 3 children. I have seen God do some amazing things. Today is less a celebration about my birthday and more a celebration of “look what the Lord has done!”
Today, as it has in the past will be a day of memory creation. How thankful I am of that.
So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.
Helen Keller
I grew up in a different generation. My kids would tell you. I struggled with the idea that so many cars look alike. I fell in love with cars from day one. The first car I remember my Dad had was a 1955 Dodge 2 tone blue. When my mother got her job teaching they got a 1945 Pontiac so they had two cars. We had moved to Northford by then and there was a garage. My grandfather passed away leaving my parents a 1961 Plymouth Valiant.
My first car was a 1936 Chevrolet Master Deluxe. I bought it when I was 15. I paid $50. My friend said it did not run. My father had it towed with a chain behind his 1970 ford pickup F100. WE had shot the cylinders up with kerosene. As we got the bottom of Village Street and approached Route 17 the car “started” and bumped into the step bumper of my dad’s car pushing him towards the intersection.
Over time I am going to write about some of my fun cars. Love to hear about your!
I find that it is not the law of the Bible that causes me consternation or difficulties. The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.1 Corinthians 15:56 It is the ones I keep in my head!
I am not likely to run out and cheat on my wife or kill someone. But I am likely to remember something I might deem superstitious (black cats, broken mirrors, etc.) or a rule for me. “Step on a crack and you’ll break your mother’s back.” Urban legends, old wives’ tales, myths and legends are often the mixture of partial truth. (Was that not how the serpent deceived Eve? Just enough truth to make it credible?) Or in my case I get caught up in “focus” thought process.I “have” to finish this. I have to do the dishes before I relax. Please understand I am not saying there is not value in delayed gratification or completion of tasks or chores. What I am SAYING is this. Anything that controls, creating anxiety or unrest has become a law in your mind and your thinking. It would biblically be considered a stronghold. How many of us never investigated some of the stories well meaning parents* and teachers may have bestowed upon us?
I do not denounce truisms like “early to bed, early to rise, makes a young man healthy, wealthy and wise.” There is value as long as it does not become compulsive or anxiety ridden. I know people who are compulsive givers. Lovers of life with intent in their hearts. But if it causes you issues in other areas of your life (Like home!) or causes you to look down on one who has not given, what truly is the life value of it? And has the “law” you may have set up created sin in your life?
Sin comes in all forms, shapes and sizes. It goes away when we are at rest and allowing Him (Christ) to change us. It returns when we determine to fix something ourselves or live under the pressure of the “law” in our head.
Compulsivity in any manner works against the idea that He(Jesus) can do it. Try not to think about Polar Bears? Did that work? Not usually, because that which we try to avoid we walk right in to. So we end up thinking about Polar Bears. Try not to be anxious about money and you usually find yourself developing methods and thought process to avoid it.
God wants us to not only be free of the Law, but of the laws in our mind as well. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
What are the rules you have made take precedence in your life? Have they made you feel worse about yourself? Do they supersede the peace of God? If you find yourself compulsive, thought driven or addicted to thought processes, consider turning your eyes to Him, the author and finisher of your faith.
*There’s a story about a guy who called his grandmother the first time he cooked a roast. “I did it just like you used to. First, I first lopped of the ends of the roast, then seasoned it, added onions and carrots, and put it in the oven for two hours. It was perfect.”
“You cut off the ends?” she asked.
“Didn’t you?” he countered.
“Only when the roast was too big to fit the pan,” she said.
Do you ever wonder where you dreams come from or the whys. I do. All the time.
I was out late last night for the fireworks, baseball game. My daughter and grandchildren were going to spend the night. By the time I crawled into bed it was approaching the 1AM side of life. I went to sleep. 5AM hit hard. I wandered out, started the coffee and turned the AC on. I went back to bed and fell asleep.
The first dream-I was somehow working undercover in a community much like where I lived. I recognized the building style and even some of the people. In the dream some well known people were using their influence to control people. Their method was through a medication familiar to many former drug or opiate users. Suboxone® or buprenorphine. The purpose of this medication is to provide enough of an effect so as to avoid withdrawal and yet provide a ceiling of sorts-no super high.
Agonist-An agonist is a chemical that binds to some receptor of a cell and triggers a response by that cell. Agonists often mimic the action of a naturally occurring substance. Whereas an agonist causes an action, an antagonist blocks the action of the agonist and an inverse agonist causes an action opposite to that of the agonist. (Emphasis mine)
In the dream I found myself working to uncover what they were doing. I found that the people were just as addicted to the “replacement” as they were with their first choices of heroin and such. What I also found was that they felt bad, guilty and without value or hope.
At one point I found the table set up before one of the buildings. On the table was a Bible with a cutout carrying these medications. As I thumbed through and found the hidden hollow, the men pulled guns. I took off running as fast as I could. They were older and I was faster but I did not think I could keep it up. I ran up in the woods and they continued to follow. The dream ended there as I thought “climb a tree” or “hide in a cave.”
Dream 2
It happened seemingly on top of the first. In the dream I had been identified as one who advocated “freedom without restraint” and many were opposed. They had control of people’s money, housing, food and even relational choices. I found myself forced “underground” sharing the scriptures of His freedom, His calling, His hope. Many were “brainwashed” as to what scripture said, often taking it out of context and reducing it to rules. As I explained that the scriptures were not a set of rules to govern by, but in fact the representation of a person in Jesus Christ, I was found guilty and chased.
I began to speak loudly against the controls, the laws that held in bondage. Throughout the night and day, I found myself going house to house. Each house once darkened, turned to light in my wake.
I awoke.
It is clear to me that the “law” will not work or set people free. Whether that law is from the Old Testament or a rule made up in the minds of men to have people act proper.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
1Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.
In both cases, men used the law to constrain, to withhold the goodness of God. We are on the cusp of an outpouring of His grace in this country. It is not rules but relationship. It was once said that “rules without relationship breed rebellion.” Much of what we see in this country from our schools to our government and even to much of the church is a system of flaw, empowering sin by the setting of rules with no understanding or grid (Acceptance of Christ is part of that grid.) for change, for it has little value. We have exchanged education for enlightenment. We have traded relationship for rules. Cared more for godly experience than Godly expression. And in many cases wrapped it in scripture to make it “right.”
We are in the midst of a change. Many will be surprised. We are encouraging people to imbibe more of the same. I have said for years we have “inoculated people with just enough Jesus to make them miss the real thing.” Perhaps that is wrong on one level meaning that if they get Jesus, it is His job to overhaul. At the same time has our presentation of Christ and who He is made them have no hope?
Even as I type this I see a groundswell of His goodness. Is it too easy? Yes! Perhaps that alone is what pulls it out of the realm of “us” and puts it into the realm of “Him.” 1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
Do not steal from others what is His to give. Do not offer a Jesus not in keeping with New Testament realities.
I love the 4th of July. My birthday is July 3rd (A day later and my name surely would have been Samuel!) and ever since I can remember I have had just about the most awesome parties in the world. As a child, we spent our summers on lakes in the Adirondacks. And my parents made sure that we got to see the fireworks displays. (There is nothing cooler than being on a boat with fireworks in the air!) And so over the years I have made sure children and grandchildren have had the fireworks experience. But along with all the cool fireworks, food and parades there is a serious side. Continue reading The Fourth Of July – A Little History→
I have spent a lot of my birthday morning working on the chapter dealing with the characters of the Bible who faced interruption.
Adam-got to bed-wake up married.
Eve-think your promise evaporated in the death of your son.
Noah-build an ark…”Right! What’s an ark.”
Finding out you’re a eunuch.
Pregnant by God.
As I mark 58 years today, I think back to a time where I was pretty convinced I would not see another. This year my birthday will be celebrated on the 3rd with friends and family at a baseball game and fireworks. Like most years I catch fireworks. And then this weekend is the big party.
I was born in what was called Grace-New Haven in New Haven Connecticut. My parents lived on Orange Street in New Haven on a 3rd floor apartment. A few years later they moved to Raymond Court. And just a few years later they moved to Old Turnpike Road in Northford Connecticut. My dad was a timekeeper at Sargent’s in New Haven and my mom with her Masters in hand began teaching in Foxon.
Many of my summers were spent on lakes in the Adirondacks. Schroon Lake, Indian Lake, Lake George. One summer I celebrated with friends like Donald Jones, Gary Gilbert and my family by going to Powers Pond(Blueberry Hill) in Wallingford and paddleboating! Other times Frontier Town, Santa’s Land and Ausable Chasm.
So here I am readying to celebrate with friends and family this weekend. My youngest grandchild will join us. I am looking forward to it. As I looked at pictures of previous birthdays and friends, I am so grateful for all of those I have connected with.
