Are You Thirsty, Deer?

10 Thursday Jun 2010

Posted by Seeking Peace in Uncategorized

As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you. These are words David wrote in what we know as Psalm 42. I’m not scholarly enough to know what the current situation was when David wrote this psalm but it sure seems similar to situations I encounter.

My tears have been my food day and night…
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?
I say to God, my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about oppressed by my enemy?“

It’s obvious David is wrestling with his heart, with his hope for what lies ahead of him. I know that feeling. I understand his question to God, “have you forgotten me?” I get it. I get it but David doesn’t leave it at that. He doesn’t throw up his hands and walk away disgusted with God, does he.

As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you.
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

David seeks God completely. Completely. He knows God hasn’t forgotten him, he knows God hasn’t turned his back. He knows that longing for God with his whole being, that praising God within the storm is the path to take, the path to peace and salvation.

I admit that I struggle with this at times. I feel like God is not listening to me, that he has forgotten me. I get down and begin to wallow in my own messes and my thoughts become focused on me. But not today. Today I will join David in longing for God as the deer pants for water. I will join David in praising God because He is the Almighty, He is Lord, He is I AM. My life is in his hands. He knows the hairs on my head. He knows what He wants for me and what He will provide for me and I will exercise faith that it is sufficient for today.

Grace and peace to you.

Black Screen

08 Tuesday Jun 2010

Posted by Seeking Peace in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

As is my ritual, I woke up and turned on the TV to hear the weather report (hoping the weatherman will tell me it is going to be sunny and 78 today) and all I get is a black screen on the TV. Something is amiss with my DirecTV tuner so I call them. Of course, they don’t open until 8:00 but there is a way to get to a technical service member who turns out to be an automated voice. I figure out how to get the automated attendant to send me to a live person only to get a busy signal. I tried it twice. Two busy signals.

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It seems like life is too often like that. We want to do one thing only to find something that prevents it and when we call for help we get what seems like a busy signal. God, please hear me, please answer me, please help me to overcome this crisis. Busy signal. God, I know you are there, I believe it but I don’t understand why you won’t fix this mess, why you won’t make all my hurts go away, why you won’t give me the answers I want. Busy signal.

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I know deep down God isn’t too busy for me. I know He is doing what He sees fit, what He knows is best even when I can’t see it, but, it comes across like a busy signal at times. It’s frustrating to say the least bordering on maddening at times. Just like with DirecTV, I want to give up at times and walk away from it all.

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AND, I’ll keep calling God back. I’ll keep asking for help, I’ll keep asking for answers and I trust that eventually, at the right time, He will show me what He wants me to see. Even more, I know that eventually He will fix all my problems, make all things perfect and I will not have to worry with the weather or any other problems ever again. I long for that day.

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Grace and peace to you.
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It Ain’t Easy

07 Monday Jun 2010

Posted by Seeking Peace in Blogging, discipline, missions, pain

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Blogging can be a very difficult hobby. I have been working on two posts and I cannot complete either of them because of the difficulty of the subjects I want to tackle. I have much to say but seem to be inept in putting it in a succinct thought process that can be read in day, much less minutes. It makes me want to scream. That said, I’ll just ramble for a moment and hope the words come to me for these other posts. I’m sure I will get some feedback in various forms if and when I can get them up.

We have a group of 35 from our church headed to Ecuador this Friday. I wish I was going but it didn’t work out this year so I will ask you to join me in praying for them and the work they will be doing with a home for orphans. You can learn more about it at hohministries.com.

I have a friend who has a parent dying from cancer. It was heart-wrenching talking to him the other day. My heart is heavy for the ordeal that is before them and I pray that God gives them all peace that goes beyond understanding.

Last week, I heard one of our youth talk to the rest of the group about how fast you can find yourself in trouble. He knows from experience. His talk got me thinking about Hebrews 12 again and how disciple allows us to grow. It’s not what anyone wants but it can be very beneficial. This from Hebrews 12…⁷Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? ⁸If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. ⁹Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! ¹⁰Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Here’s to the hope that our joy in the Lord will be bountiful and our discipline short-lived.

Grace and peace to you.

Loaves and Fishes

04 Friday Jun 2010

Posted by Seeking Peace in Feeding, Hungry, Pefect Game

≈ 1 Comment

Wow. I don’t know what else to say after reading about Mobile Loaves and Fishes in a recent Texas Monthly magazine. Wow. If you can catch the brief article in the April 2010 Texas Monthly issue, you need to check it out. If not, you can go to this link and figure out what they are doing. IMPRESSIVE.

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Changing gears, did you hear about the kid pitching for the Detroit Tigers that had a perfect game going through 8 2/3 innings only to have a blown call by the 1st base umpire prevent the 3rd perfect game this year? Poor kid. I heard in the interview, when asked about the umpire, the pitcher said “the only person who feels worse about the call than me is the umpire.” To the umpire’s credit, he watched the replay after the game, went to the Tigers locker room and apologized for blowing it. The next night, the umpire that blew the call was behind home plate and the pitcher brought the lineup card out before the game to him. I believe the pitcher’s name is Andres Gallaraga and the umpire’s name is Mike Joyce. While I hate Gallaraga misses out on a perfect game, I hope the world will see the sportsmanship these two men have exhibited over the past couple of days. Their actions say it all.

Borrowing Again

03 Thursday Jun 2010

Posted by Seeking Peace in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

From John Eldredge…

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As Good as It Gets?

If for all practical purposes we believe that this life is our best shot at happiness, if this is as good as it gets, we will live as desperate, demanding, and eventually despairing men and women. We will place on this world a burden it was never intended to bear. We will try to find a way to sneak back into the Garden and when that fails, as it always does, our heart fails as well. If truth be told, most of us live as though this life is our only hope.

In his wonderful book The Eclipse of Heaven, A. J. Conyers put it quite simply: “We live in a world no longer under heaven.” All the crises of the human soul flow from there. All our addictions and depressions, the rage that simmers just beneath the surface of our Christian facade, and the deadness that characterizes so much of our lives has a common root: We think this is as good as it gets. Take away the hope of arrival and our journey becomes the Battan death march. The best human life is unspeakably sad. Even if we manage to escape some of the bigger tragedies (and few of us do), life rarely matches our expectations. When we do get a taste of what we really long for, it never lasts. Every vacation eventually comes to an end. Friends move away. Our careers don’t quite pan out. Sadly, we feel guilty about our disappointment, as though we ought to be more grateful.

Of course we’re disappointed-we’re made for so much more. “He has also set eternity in the hearts” (Eccl. 3:11). Our longing for heaven whispers to us in our disappointments and screams through our agony. “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy,” C. S. Lewis wrote, “the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

(The Sacred Romance , 179-80)

Grace and peace to you.

Faith

02 Wednesday Jun 2010

Posted by Seeking Peace in David, Faith, Patience

≈ 1 Comment

My son recently presented a lesson on David and his faith. It really got me thinking about my faith and how shaky it is at times. There are circumstances in my life that are less than optimal and I wonder where God is in them and begin relying on myself to have the answers. While these times can be painful, I am not hiding for my life in a cave. I am not being sent into battle with a giant who could crush me in one hand. I am not fending off wild animals. No, I’m just going about my life, showing up at work, going to baseball games, catching a movie now and then while my faith seems to drift in and out.

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I’ve pointed out time and time again how our Bible heroes suffered but the beauty that shows through in their suffering is their incredible faith, their unfailing knowledge that God is with them, that He will protect them and provide for them. The kicker is…He will do that for me if I exercise faith and maybe a bit of patience too. I want to be a man of faith. I want to trust that God will give me what I need and overcome my enemies. I want to live in the knowledge that the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

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Grace and peace to you.
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Poor In Spirit…And Ice Cream

01 Tuesday Jun 2010

Posted by Seeking Peace in Bell, Poor in Spirit, Poverty, Storment

≈ 1 Comment

In November 2009 I posted a blog about some statistics I learned from Rob Bell about poverty around the world, statistics that were very eye-opening to me. (The post can be found here: http://wayoutwise.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-rich-are-you.html). Recently, another blog I read by Jonathon Storment, the associate minister at Richland Hills Church of Christ, reminded me of that post and told the story about Christopher and Mission Ice Cream. I hope you enjoy the post found here: http://stormented.com/2010/05/poor-in-spirit/#more-1155.

Here’s to hoping that we all learn to live below our means and we eradicate poverty around the world in our lifetime. Here’s to hoping that Christians are truly the hands and feet of Jesus, hands that can take a few dollars from our pocket and make meals to feed thousands upon thousands.

Grace and peace to you.

The People You Meet

28 Friday May 2010

Posted by Seeking Peace in Christ-likeness

≈ 3 Comments

I don’t consider myself a “people-person” but I do enjoy meeting people and hearing their story, especially the people who will tell you the real story, not the persona they want to create in public. I am often rewarded to meet some really, really fascinating folks and some people who become inspirations to me. Recently I was thinking about some folks I identify with and some that I don’t.

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I identify more with the mom who fears her past sins will be visited on her kids
than the Christian who tells me God wants me to be healthy, wealthy and wise.

I identify more with the guy who has been through rehab because Satan got the best of him
than the Christian who wonders why some people don’t get themselves to church.

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I identify more with Abraham who made a decision that started a war that rages on today
than the Christian who appears to live an unscathed life.

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I identify more with David who had to hide for his life and who sinned and was punished
than the Christian who has nothing to confess.

I identify more with the person who has admitted their faults and tries to follow God
than the Christian who shows up at church in their “Sunday best” ready to greet, meet and get to lunch.

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I want to identify with the guy who goes out to feed the homeless
than the Christian who thinks giving thanks is the best he has to offer.

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I want to identify with the guy who fights for social justice
more than the guy who wants to lower my taxes.

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I want to draw closer to God, to look more like Jesus. God gave me the example of his son and he has put people in my life today who are examples of what Christ-likeness is. I hope I will be more and more drawn to that role and that one day my reward will be “well done good and faithful servant.”

Grace and peace to you.

Video Preaching

27 Thursday May 2010

Posted by Seeking Peace in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Rob Bell is one of my favorite communicators. Rob is the Pastor for the Mars Hill church in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the guy who does the NOOMA videos as well as many other speaking engagements around the world. He has a gift for putting big, deep thoughts into simple, short messages. I have used some of his videos as a teaching aid and have borrowed some of his sermon thoughts for classes I have taught. Anyway, there are more and more preachers and churches turning to video to assist with sharing ideas, both in sermons and outside the normal meeting times and I often enjoy the provoking thoughts that come from them.

One such video was recently released by Josh Ross. Josh is the preacher at the Sycamore View Church of Christ in Memphis, TN and even though I don’t know him all that well, someone I consider a friend and one of the next great communicators for God. I have learned a lot from Josh over the past few years through his blog and some of his sermons I have been able to hear. His greatest claim to fame is being a son of Rick (another one of my favorite communicator of God’s message) and Beverly Ross (a gifted communicator and wonderful family counselor), dear friends of mine. Josh has some great thoughts in his video about what freedom means for us. Enjoy!

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Grace and peace to you.

So Long Jack Bauer

25 Tuesday May 2010

Posted by Seeking Peace in Uncategorized

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24 broadcast the last episode on Monday night. It’s a show I came to late but got caught up in the rough world of Jack Bauer, a U.S. counter-terrorism operative who found the people who did not want to be found, extracted information from people who did not want to share information and who eliminated people who didn’t want to play nice. In many ways, Bauer epitomized who almost every man wants to be, a warrior who is willing to do whatever necessary to obtain positive results. There are many lessons to be learned from Bauer, some negative and some positive. For instance, Jack could be overbearing with people, whether friend or foe. On the other hand, his willingness to go and fight whatever evil when necessary is exactly what many of us wish we could do. I will miss 24 and Jack Bauer, not the extreme violence that started to permeate this last season, but the hero, the guy who would fight against the bad folks to protect us and keep us safe.

As I say that, I wonder if the appeal isn’t partially because Bauer reminds us of someone we need, someone who will protect us, someone who will sacrifice everything to protect us from the evil that wants to snare us and destroy us.

I don’t have the relationship I want with God…yet. It’s getting better but there are still days I feel like I’m drifting through life trying to deal with my problems and disappointments and forgetting to bring God in, to seek his help, protection and guidance. Today is a better day because that is what I did to start my day and I feel a sense of peace I didn’t have yesterday. Today is a better day because God is involved from the get-go.
Grace and peace to you.