The Last Easter...

I was working on my long range calendar and I just realized I will probably never enjoy another Easter falling on my birthday. For me, its just another one of those mile markers on the highway of life reminding me I am mortal. Actually, it caught me by surprise that it even mattered to me.

I’ve had my birthday fall on Easter 4 times. The first time I was 11. All of the kids at Sunday school thought it was cool. Then when I was 22, 33, and 44… do you notice a pattern here. I assumed it would happen again at 55, but there is a gap in the continuum and it won’t happen again until I am 106. I really wasn’t planning on being here at 106! I would have celebrated big on my 44^th had I realized it might be the last time.

We do many things in life for the last time and most of those times we didn’t know it was the last time. I remember the last time we wrecked one of our cars, the last root canal, and the last pulled muscle. It would be nice if some things never happened again, but what about the last kiss, the last Christmas, the last smile, or the last words we say to someone we love.

The next time I start to say something unkind to someone or pass up an opportunity to let someone know I love them, I hope I remember there’ll likely be no more birthdays on Easter.

(blog post on http://aGoodDeposit.com)

If you look you'll find it

Have you ever “lost” something that really wasn’t lost, but through inattention you just lost track of where it was? Reminds me of my garage, a few years ago I packed everything in containers so I could finish the walls of my garage and I never reorganized. I’ll sometimes look for 30 minutes for something I know I have, I’ve just lost track of where it is.

Sometimes, in all of my activity, I lose my sense of intimacy with the Father. I have seasons when I began to realize my heart has grown lukewarm and other pursuits have diminished my most important pursuits. Right now, my heart is searching for a deep reconnect with the Father.

In the Song of Solomon, the beloved (me) looked for her king/lover (God) but could not find him. The intensity of her love for him compelled her to get up from the comfort and safety of her bed at a most inconvenient hour. She went into the streets and the squares of the city searching for her lover, but could not find him (Song 3:1-2). Finally, the beloved found her lover. She said, “I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go…” (Song 3:4, NIV).

How hard I try (search) is in direct proportion to the intensity of my love or desire. Those who seek will find. God is never lost to me, but sometimes I “misplace” him in the necessary clutter of my life. The measure of my desire for intimacy with the Father will determine to what lengths I am willing to go to obtain that which already belongs to me.

(blog post: http://aGoodDeposit.com)

Two of me

I resign myself to the fact that there are two of me. I've often wished there were two of me so I could get more done, but that isn't what I'm talking about... only one set of hands, one brain, etc. ... but there are two parts of me that are often in conflict.

It is amazing how much of the New Testament is devoted to the struggle between our natural self and our spiritual person, yet we count it as common knowledge and don't spend a lot of time thinking or talking or teaching about it. Our sinful nature cannot be made good, it must be crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6, Galations 2:20, Galations 5:24). Our sinful nature has to be overcome through the power of the Spirit and the grace of God (Romans 8:13).

How can I overcome this part of me that is inclined to selfishness, slander, and evil? Here are three things that, through the grace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit I commit to in order to live an overcoming life:

1) I will deny myself daily (Matthew 16:24, Romans 8:12-13). We sometimes want things we shouldn't have, want to do things we shouldn't do, and not care about things we should care about because we are selfish. I deny selfish desires.

2) I will remove every hinderance (Hebrews 12:1). A lot of thing hold us back from who we want to be... I want those things out of the way.

3) I will resist temptation (Romans 13:14). We cannot stop temptations but we can resist them with the strength of God.

It is through the power of the Holy Spirit working in my spirit that I can overcome. We cannot just allow ourselves to be selfish and live double lives. To experience the overcoming victory God has for us we have to deny self, remove hinderances and sin, and resist temptation.

A Friend of Sinners

It's hard to win with religious people.

Matthew 11:18-19 (NIV), "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."

Jesus was called a friend of sinners more than once. Interesting. I'm discovering that as the years go by I get more and more comfortable with "sinners".

I am thankful that Jesus' priority was to redeem sinful man. I'm thankful for the transformation Jesus brings to our lives: old things are passed away and all things are made new. And, I'm thankful that Jesus came to give us abundant life. I am also very honored and thankful that I am an agent of this transformation.

Jesus doesn't seem very religious to me. Religious people have a way of building walls because of the things that can happen at the extremes of the continuum. Religious people gleefully put up signs on the freeway telling people they are going to hell. Religious people seem to want to remind people that they'd better stop enjoying their lives because Jesus is coming soon. What's that all about? (Yes, I do believe in both hell and the rapture...)

In the second half of my life I hope to spend more time hanging out with sinners than I did in the first half. After all we are the "salt" of the world. Salt brings flavor, but really, in and of itself, what is salt worth if it is too good to be sprinkled in the stew of life?

70s Playlist

Got a new transmitter for my ipod, my old one ended up in my eldest daughter's car and...well, possession, as they say, is 9/10ths of the law.

Now, mind you, most of the time I listen to podcasts. On Sunday mornings on my way to ministry I usually end up listening to Alvin Slaughter sing "Holy Spirit Rain Down" about 15x...or until I feel the Holy Spirit start to "rain down", whichever comes first.

This is a tough admission but I have a playlist that is simply entitled "70s" that I pop in when I'm just feeling in a light, fun mood. This morning I slid my ipod into its cradle, put my shades on, put my SUV in gear and headed to the D.O. and hit my 70s playlist. Its funny but every once in a while I get this feeling that lasts about 1/10th of a second that it is 1977 and I'm in my 'stang. Funny how things remind us of a time long gone. In my case those memories are good... I was a dedicated Christ-follower in those days and usually only heard top 40 music when in my car. The rest of the time I was listening to Love Song, Randy (not Dave) Matthews, Larry Norman, yep some Imperials, etc. (Unfortunately I cleaned those LPs out before the tech to digitally convert :(

This is not a deep post but consider this... this morning might have been the first time in history that an IDAG guy jammed on the way to the D.O. to Joel, Simon, Croce, & a few more that deserve no mention.

My next post will probably be on "guard your heart lest you enter into sin"... until then...