One Moment In Time

These past couple weeks I have been scanning  photo albums and reflecting on memories from a long time ago. For most of us we have forgotten more than we ever use, and sometimes it only takes a little nudge to bring up the past. Hopefully, most of it is good.

My parents are celebrating their 50th Anniversary in July and I have been participating in the planning and getting ready for the events to take place and I have been scanning all these old photos. I have been wanting to do it for a long time now, and this is an opportunity to remember friends and family and things that happened that brought us to this moment.

Life is like that. For most of us, we tend to measure life in how many years its been, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, if you really take a few moments and think about it, life is not about years but about small moments in time that dramatically changed the path we were on. History is full of those moments where mankind was headed one direction and some small event, changed everything forever.

It’s Just One Moment In Time

Many times we do not take time to think about the moments in our life. We breeze past so many of them every single day without a thought. Perhaps it is what we might have for lunch, that item we bought at the store, or perhaps that one thing we meant to do but forgot. Oh well, we will do it tomorrow. If it was that important, we would have remembered right? 

It seems inconsequential, and so we don’t give it another thought and before long we have completely forgotten about it.  It usually takes something quite dramatic during our day for us to remember some things but if we do not do it right then, its just another lost moment we will catch up with later. It is just that one moment in time.

It we are honest, we all think that way. I was supposed to pick up that prescription, but I will get it tomorrow. I need to get new tags for the car, but I was running behind today and just didn’t have time. I really needed to get this paper done but… and before long.. just a lot of lost moments.

Most of  the things we forget are really not vitally important and time just passes by. Good things, bad things, life moments soon forgotten. If it was something we were supposed to pick up at the grocery store and we forgot, even when we had a list, we usually remember about the moment we walk through the door of our home. Usually we can get by without it. Other times we forget about these moments until something jogs our memories.

Memories

Looking at all the photographs, more than two hundred actually, a lot of good memories came cascading back to the surface. Friends, family, loved ones and those little moments of playing games, or what we were doing at that moment seems very close at hand, even when it was years ago. But did you ever stop to think about how those little moments at the time, are having a direct impact on what we are doing right now?

Those friendships you made with the family that lived across the alley from you, or perhaps that one guy who used to protect you from bullies. At the time you were hanging out and then years later you reconnect and all these moments come flooding back, the good and the bad.

Our destiny hinged on what we did in those moments. Oh at the time it didn’t seem so important maybe, but that one moment in time, where you took a left turn instead of a right, or perhaps you walked across the street and shoveled the old lady’s driveway, or maybe even that moment when you got mad and walked away from one of your best friends never to speak to them again. Memories, both good and bad  have a way of creeping back into our dreams and thoughts, sometimes when we least expect them, but they all bring us to this very moment.

We Aren’t Alone

I am certain that King David looked back on moments in his life. Maybe it was the time he slew the bear, or even Goliath. Or perhaps the loss of his child when he recalled how he had sent one of his men to his death because he had crossed into arrogance and stole his wife.

Yes, when we ask forgiveness God forgives but we all know there are moments when we do remember and look back and wonder. You know the ‘what if’s' of life. We all have them. If I could borrow a time machine for a little while, I would love to go back to a few moments in my own life and do it a bit different.  Some things in life we want to forget but the memory of man is much more intricate and can hold a lot more than a few terabytes that our current computers can handle, and we process it faster, and certain scents, images, or thoughts can take us deep into the files and we begin to analyze and ponder what might have been.

I have friends I have not seen in years, and every once in a while they are brought to mind and I wonder what they are up to. It may seem like nothing now, but they were an integral part of who I was at the time, and helped set me on the path I am today, and I wonder what became of them.

Moments Can Be Joyful

That moment you asked your wife to marry you; the birth of a child; the moment you raised your hands toward heaven and began to speak in other tongues. All joyful events with a purpose in our destiny. Over two hundred years ago some men sat in a room and signed a document making a group of tiny colonies into a country. Those few men changed the course of history for us all.

Had they not made the decision they did at the time, we would have remained a part of the British Empire, and the very fabric of our lives we consider normal would be much different. Our country that we are celebrating this July 4th, has been entered into events with purpose that has changed the course of the entire world.

Whether it was sending help to refugees in Africa, or funds and weapons, to the rebels in Libya, or even the wars we have fought in with rational or irrational reasons, we have help format what the rest of the world is today. Good or bad, whether you agree with our political leaders or not it affects us all. Yet, each thing we do begins with one moment, one thought, one action. It has made us who we are today.

Lost Moments

It was just a moment. I felt that tug on my heart to go pray with someone, but I had a headache, or perhaps I was just tired and in a hurry, so I went home instead of going to the altar with them. I haven’t seen them in church in a very long time and I have heard things, and I guess it must be true after all they don’t go here anymore.

Random thoughts can plague us, but they are soon forgotten as just another moment in time. We don’t pick up the phone to give them a call, we don’t take time to send them a letter, or even when they say hi at Wal-Mart, they are quickly forgotten again. And then we get a phone call from someone, and we find out they were in a car wreck, or perhaps they were sick, and we had planned to go visit them, but our wife needed us to run an errand as well, and while we meant to…. now it is too late. They are gone, and we will never get that moment back.

Sometimes Moments Cost

Did you ever stop to think about that? What if David had not picked up the five stones and took Goliath out? Would he have become king? Would he have been in the lineage of Jesus? It was just one moment in time where he made a decision.

And what if Jesus had said no? It was just one moment. He could have said no, I am God, I don’t want to go through this for these who curse me, deny me, and are so full of venom toward each other. I am glad He made the decision He did, but it was just one moment that took us to where we are now.

Can you remember a time when you wish you had chosen another path in life or in ministry? How about when we look back into our life, when we decided to walk away from the ministry. Are we satisfied with where our life ended up? How about the lives of our children? Are they happy? Are they living right? But it was just one moment in time, it shouldn’t matter so much. Tomorrow is another day.

A Few Defining Moments

There are entirely too many to list, but a few that will immediately stand out are listed below:

• Eve gives Adam a bite of fruit.
• Noah builds an ark.
• Moses leads his people into a wilderness
• David slays a giant
• Jonah is swallowed by a big fish
• Jesus is born, lives, and dies for our sins.
• Peter preaches on the Day of Pentecost
• We accept Him into our lives

What Are You Doing Next?

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The Real Winner

Today I watched football, and I wanted Denver to win. They have been ‘my team’ long before the phenomenon of Tim Tebow.

I’ll admit that over the past few weeks I have become impressed with this guy.  It almost seems like someone wrote a script on how we would like to see our sports heroes behave.

I do not know him in person, and granted most of what I find out is either online or on some other form of media, but to some degree this guy almost seems too good to be true; almost as if he is just playing a part in some grand theater performance. He seems genuine though.

Who Is Tim Tebow?

If you haven't heard, he is the quarterback for the Denver Broncos. I wrote about him a little, a few weeks back on my other blog.  He has proven leadership abilities both on an off the field.

This past week, and even a little before that, people have been emulating the way he prays, commenting on his life, making jokes, and some like myself have been a bit impressed.

I became more impressed today.

I Was Sick…

It is part of a scripture from Matthew 25. I was sick and ye visited me, hungry and you fed me, and so on and so forth.Today I found out that Tim brings at least one disabled, terminal, or otherwise impaired teen or child with him to each game. Not the same person, but different ones. And not just in home games but even the away games.

Tim spends time with them before the game, takes photos, gives them football gear, even takes interviews with them beside him.  The joy was shown today in the eyes of one young girl.

I am not sure what her condition was called, but you could tell she was very happy, and he spent a great deal of time with her before the game. He mentioned to a commentator that instead of going to the locker room and psyching himself up, he spends time with one of these individuals before the game, and uses that to get himself fired up. He affects change in peoples lives while doing his job.

No Better Than…

He also mentioned that his parents taught him that he is no better than anyone else as a young child. He said even though he is looked upon as something wonderful by so many people, he is only doing his job, and he is no more special than then mail man, fireman, or grocery store clerk.

He honestly seems a bit uncomfortable in interviews because he doesn’t get why they think he is that great. Oh, and did I mention he prays and is a true Christian?

No, don’t run away, this posting is not about Tim Tebow. Well, it is, but hang on.. I am getting there.

Uncomfortable Grace

Today on his Facebook page, Tim posted Romans 8:37-39. In all things we are ‘more than conquerors… nothing shall separate us from the love of God.’

This was several hours before the playoff game to determine if the Broncos would win another level on the way to the Super Bowl game.  I even saw a poll where 41% of people were thinking that God wanted Denver Broncos to win with Tebow. Odds were that they would go all the way, and some had even bet money on it.

But when it comes to talking about himself, Tim always seems to turn the conversation to someone else. The team, the disabled person he brought to the game, even God. God always comes up in any conversation with him.

He could be telling everyone how wonderful he is, but instead he uses humility and grace to turn the conversation to someone else. And he does the same thing on or off the field.

Ego & Bravado vs Humility & Grace

The other quarterback that played today is a far different story. He seems to thrive more on the publicity, even controversial, and he truly believes he is as good as his handlers say. Oh, and he is married to a supermodel, so perhaps some of his ego is deserved.

Now, I don’t know Tom Brady either, but in every interview I have seen, he thinks he is an important as everyone around him says. He is also pretty good at football, and so I guess somewhat deserved, but on and off the field he shows his ego and bravado.  So, of course the media loves him.

I have even seen some people compare the two quarterbacks to evil versus good.  I don’t think that is entirely true, but there is some truth there.

Tom shows his ego and bravado. Tim shows humility and grace.

The Difference

I said this wasn’t going to be about football, or Tim Tebow and it  isn’t. I want to show the difference, not between the men, but between humility and ego, bravado and grace.

• The Bible says that  we shouldn’t be arrogant or proud. It even says that true love doesn’t puff itself up.
• Humility will always give others first choice, while ego will take first, or get upset and angry. Humility loves.
• Grace will always accept the situation, no matter the outcome, while bravado is all about winning. Grace says I can still do it, and there will be a next time.

Evil Sometimes Wins

Now, I am not saying that all ego is evil, or that being brave is not a good thing. It has its place. However, it almost always has the attitude that it will win or else someone will pay for it.

I don’t think Jesus wants us to just hide in the darkness, but humility and grace always puts others ahead of self. Its not about ‘How I am doing, it is about how are you?’

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to win more. I would love to have my way sometimes, just as much as you do, and sometimes I succeed.

But sometimes we lose, and the worst can happen.

The Purpose of Evil

Again, I am not saying that if my team didn’t win, the other team cheats, or that God should just fix it so I always get my way.

The truth is we need difficulty in our lives.  We need times where we don’t get everything we want. We need those times, even when they are hard, where we ask, “Why did God allow this?’

It is in our struggles, or evils, that we learn how to stand. We gain strength, we learn how to trust God. We go through a testing period, either for ourselves, or for a purpose God has in mind down the road.  If there was no trial, test, problem, evil as it were, we wouldn’t have strength, we wouldn’t set goals, we would just go through life without purpose. We would never grow.

Accepting The Circumstance

• We can call it many things; trial, test, tribulation, situation, circumstance, evil, more terms could follow meaning the same thing

Why would God allow this? Why didn’t he do this for me? We hear those kinds of questions all the time, and even say them ourselves at times.

And don’t get me wrong, there are times that accepting what has happened can be very hard. I realize that. There are times when it takes all we have to keep trusting God, and sadly, there are many who do not make it, but instead fall into things, that in a former life, they would never been caught even close to.

But we can be sure of a couple of things.

• If we fall we can choose to get up.
• Evil only wins for a short time and then it is gone.

Change Happens

Whatever the circumstance that knocks us down is, it can only prevail for a little while. It isn’t permanent.  Bravado and ego is the same way.

It is true that sometimes ego is going to win, but it is not long term, and it has a purpose to make us stronger.

However, humility and grace have a lasting effect. It touches more lives, it changes them, and makes things better. He wasn’t lying when He said His ‘grace is sufficient, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’

Ego touches one person for a short time, humility changes lives, possibly eternally.

No one was ever so humble as Christ himself, yet he took on the shame and reproach of the cross that we might win.

He could have come out and said I am God; zap someone with fire or a lightning bolt; go back up into Heaven; and be happy with us going through the motions. Being robotic, just doing what we are told, getting what we need, not striving to achieve anything else. But no, He is the God of humility.

Romans 8:37-39

So, we didn’t win the game today.  Being more than conquerors doesn’t mean that God will give us the ability to always be right, always win, always get what I want. 

That scripture means that no matter what happens, good or bad, we are still more than conquerors, and nothing can separate us from His Love.

So, Who Wins?

James 4:6 says, ‘But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.’

Grace to the humble and God resists the proud. Who wins?

As I am sure most of our mothers have told us at sometime, ‘It isn’t whether you win or lose, but its how you play the game.’ How profound!

Humility and Grace for the WIN!

#Winning

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More Than...

In the church I attend in Alaska one of the duties I have is leading prayer meetings and give direction on what I have learned, or am learning about prayer. Sometimes, I talk about how to pray, but each month I also write a newsletter in which I attempt to give some keys or insight to a greater prayer life. I had planned to do the same this month, but the Lord woke me up in the middle of the night with this message and I would like to share it with you.

We would have to be locked up in some closet not to recognize that this is the holiday season. Our lives are filled with spending time with family and friends, running to the stores, pushing our way thru the crowds, or even getting up entirely too early to attempt to get that one item that Walmart has marked down in a marketing scheme to get us in the door. They may only have one of two of these items that are gone first thing as the crowd pushes their way in, but it gets us in the doors, and then we end up spending more than we can afford on items we won't even remember a week or two after Christmas is over, with the exception of the bills.

It is also the time of year, when regardless of our personal religious beliefs, we can find displays and ornaments, and our thoughts turn to the birth of Christ. I realize we can get easily caught up in all the commercialization, Santa Claus, and all the amazing food items that never seem to be out except at this time of year, but for most of us we also remember the baby in the manger.

When Jesus was born it wasn't in a hospital; he didn't have doctors, and Mary didn't go through prenatal classes. There wasn't a sterile room with rubber gloves and gowns abundant. He didn't even have a midwife to deliver him. The bible doesn't specify who delivered Jesus, but only exclaims that he was born. We know he was born in a borrowed stable. We know that they laid him in a manger which the reality is, was the place the cattle got their food. He didn't have pressed linen sheets, or even a pillow. He will forever be known as the baby in the manger. For some of us, that is all we see him as, just the baby in the manger. Saints been down in awe to this baby; this icon of what is good about all of us before we are corrupted with cares of life, and we esteem him as a miracle and perfect. While we all seem amazed by his birth, some of us stop right there and never see him as anything else, but he is so much more than the baby in the manger.

Scripture and tradition teach us that Joseph was a carpenter, and thus when Jesus came of age it was only common for the sons to learn the trade of their father. Jesus probably spent untold hours sweeping, sanding, putting together wood to make something of use. In those days, carpenters not only helped in construction of housing, but also in the very furniture that would be in that house. Jesus may have had his own work bench where he would carve, saw, and hammer a piece of wood into something of use. Perhaps he made chairs or tables, and many of his day only saw him as the carpenter's son. He was so much more than a carpenter's son though, and history has told us so.

We read that he went about doing good, teaching in the synagogues and on the hillsides. He astounded the teachers and theologians at an early age with his knowledge of laws and scripture. There are many passages that speak of him as a rabbi, or teacher, and he could tell stories with the best taking the examples from life as he would instruct those who listened in steps to lead a productive, successful life. He taught so even the little children could understand how they should go about their day and grow into adulthood with purpose. If he was alive today, I am certain he would be on the best seller list, and people would buy his self help books to go on the shelf with all the other wisdom that ends up there. He was a great teacher, and some would spend hours, go without food even just to hear him teach, but he was so much more than just a teacher.

Some didn't come to hear him teach, but rather to see what he would do. To many he was a magician, a seer, a miracle worker. They came to watch the show, or perhaps even be involved in it. We read with astonishment and maybe even a smile about the time he fed the five thousand, or when he raised Jarius daughter from the dead. See, they knew where to come when they had problems, when they didn't know where else to turn. Even his closest flowerers, his disciples, whom he would teach more in-depth, who should have realized that he was giving them a great gift, saw him many times as just the one who could fix things when they were in trouble. To most, he was just the one who did the miracles, but he was so much more than the miracle worker.

I have had a copy of the passion movie on my desk for more than a year. I have planned to watch it. I have heard many stories about how close the real deal it must have been. The scenes of agony and and powerful testament of what took place has been shown by Hollywood to be more real than ever before. I like anyone else have seen bits and pieces online, but I often wonder why I never seem to have time to watch the movie. It has went with me on several airline flights but remained in my bag, and someday I will watch it, but he is so much more than just the depiction of his struggles with humanity and praying in the garden, tempted and abused by the people of his day.

We can read the passages of scripture ourselves, where he wanted someone to just pray with him for an hour when the religious right of his day conspired with the government to do away with this man that is upsetting their plans. We read about how he was beaten, carried his own cross up a criminal's trail to a hill where they hammered nails into his hands and feet and stuck him in a hole, naked before all humanity, to die for his transgressions of trying to help others. History has cleaned up the story; it was so much more brutal than we can imagine, and they have given us and image of this pretty cross with a man hanging on it dressed in some sort of garment as he died there on Golgotha.

I can relate with most people as to the power of the cross, and many of us have preached about it, and some religious entities have made the cross into an icon that they hang on the wall, wear around their neck, or put in a place of honor in their cathedrals. They look to the image of a man hanging on a cross to find strength in times of trouble, to restore hope, and as a companion, while most of the time, the words of this man sit idly on a shelf somewhere collecting dust. At Christmas, or any time of the year you can find all sorts of icons, images, idols of Jesus on the cross, or the cross itself as a reminder of what he did for us. While it is a powerful image, he isn't that little idol; he isn't on that cross you carry around, and even though he died on a cross and we all know he rose again, he is so much more than the man on the cross.

Most of us make an effort to attend some sort of worship service each week, where we will sing, pray, listen to someone talk about some passage in the bible that is usually meant to be uplifting and a way to feel the humanity of Jesus. We tell the different bible stories of old, how David killed the giant, Jonah and his big fish, Jesus walking on the water. We sing songs praising his name, his blood, the significance of the price he paid as we embrace who he was, and how his life has changed the destiny of most who listen. A lot of us get this idea that if we go to church on Sunday, and listen to the preacher then we become good people, and of course good people go to heaven. There were times when we listened and our hearts were pierced with the suffering of our savior, but these days of more modern influences, it has become more about the social aspects, the gathering together, and perhaps the prayer for our needs. We reflect on Jesus, and we have ministers who can make him come alive with stories, but the truth of the matter is Jesus is more than what we do on Sunday.

I am sure by now, some are a bit rattled in what I am writing, and yes I do believe he is all of these things. I myself have known him as a healer. I depend on him to supply my needs. The scriptures tell us to. We are taught to cast our cares on him; trust in the Lord with all our might; if we have a need to take it to him. Growing up in a preacher's home I saw many miracles over the years. Broken bodies have been healed by the power of his name; families have been put back together; in times of dire financial straits, somehow the money has just been there. Even now I pray for my own healing and restoration of my body, spirit, life, and ministry after some terrible circumstances have changed my life forever. I pray for my family and friends, all the while believing that God is going to give them what they need. God has shown me revival in churches soon to come. He has showed me that certain people I know are going to be healed to such a magnitude that right now they are not able to comprehend it. He has shown me things that are set to transpire in my own life, that even I have a hard time accepting. He is so many things to all of us, and yet he is so much more.

More than...
a baby in a manger
a carpenter's son
a good teacher
a prophet
a miracle worker
the man on the cross
the one who rose again
an image on a cross
strength in need
something to do on Sunday
a song or message
a memory of what he has done
a celebration time
even more than our savior
anything we can imagine

He is still more...

It is easy in our circumstances or trials to forget how powerful Jesus really is. Sometimes we become so complacent with the day to day, that we forget him. Even when we are doing good ourselves helping humanity, leading others to him, we can sometimes forget just who he really is.

I used to sing specials in church and there were times when I would feel God leading me to minister in song to let others know he is there. One of my favorite songs was "More than Enough." My dad would play the piano, and I would sing and I would see tears on even the most wounded spirit as they remembered that he really is enough to take care of their circumstance. Many times if we are not in the midst of the trial, then we tend to overlook the power of his deity, the strength he gives in the midst of the storms and that welcome hug when we have nowhere else to turn to. If we haven't been thru times of crisis, we cannot really appreciate just how "More than.." he really can be.

I used to hear people talk about how Jesus was this or that, and many times to me I didn't fully get it. I knew he could do anything; I knew he healed; I knew he supplied; I knew he saved, but I didn't fully grasp just how 'more than..' he really was until I faced hardships in my own personal life. Faced with situations in which I had no control I agonized over how I was going to make it. It seemed just when one part of life got better another part got worse, and it has been a long battle. There have been days I thought I couldn't get out of bed anymore; days where I questioned God and his methods; situations where I really just felt like giving up. I still face things that I don't have the answers to, I don't know the outcome, and can be very fearful. However, in the midst of all of this, there is a depth in God that I feel that I could not have known had I not been thru that trial.

I know some are going thru devastating illness and burdens that seem to have no end, but I am living proof to say, he is More than Enough.

He's more than enough, more than enough,
He is el shaddi, the God of plenty,
The all sufficient one, God almighty,
He is more than enough.

No matter the trial you are in, no matter the questions you have about God, no matter what others might think about God, He is more than enough for any situation. He is more than just a baby in a manger.

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