To Hear From God

Why do some people hear from God and others never seem to? I guess I fall in the "hear from " category. Why am I so privileged? I think because I really want to hear from him. He rarely says anything I want to hear but every thing I need to hear. There are times when I put my hands over my ears and go "la la la can't hear you la la la". Unfortunately God speaks to my heart and not through my ears. So I still hear Him.Does Gods really speak that loudly? Yep and I am not special. There is a little book called "Practicing the Presence of God" by Bro Lawrence. After reading that book and The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A kempis is when I really started to experience "hearing from God ".
We create such a chasm between us and God and it's not all caused by our sin. You see, Christ died to remove that chasm and bring us back to closeness the was intended. There was a time when God took walks with men and spoke conversationally to them . We should be able to have that relationship now. God is not waaaaay over there.
If God is Omnipresent, then he's here right now. Why wouldn't he talk to us? Some are saying he doesn't. WRONG! He does but why do we always wait for Him to start the conversation or expect to hear Him when we won't shut up and listen.
I want that everyone would hear from God. Don't make it such an endeavor. Just talk then listen. When you hear that thing that makes you feel naked and vulnerable, that is mostly likely God. HE DOESN'T TALK SPORTS OR GIVE LOTTO NUMBERS, HE SPEAKS ABSOLUTE TRUTH AND IT HURTS MOST OF THE TIME UNTIL YOU COME TO LOVE THE TRUTH SO MUCH THAT IT BECOMES SALVE .
Go Big!

The Platypus Theology: part 1 of many

Most people look at the Platypus and scratch their head. They find them amusing but wonder "what was God thinking ?". I look at the platypus and see multiple theology lessons.
1. God can do anything He wants and He often does.
Some people have called the Platypus "the spare parts creature". That kind of thinking doesn't grasp the fact that God is all powerful. He can't run out of parts. He would just make some more. God made the platypus just as he wanted. No mistakes no spare parts. As a person who grew up with a learning disability the Platypus Theology is very comforting. Growing up I felt different,dumb and as if I was one of Gods mistakes. The Platypus Theology says "God makes no mistakes. The psalmist says "I am fearfully and wonderfully made". If he made no mistakes when He made the platypus than I'm sure he made no mistakes when He made me. Back to the fearfully and wonderfully made thing . I want to give the reader a slightly different way to look that verse. Years ago I set a diamond that was up around the 6 carat range. When I was almost finished I was suddenly overwhelmed by the beauty and value of the stone that my hands began to tremble. Next time you read "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" picture God forming you in his hands and his hands are trembling as you are being made. He trembles because he is taken with love for the beautiful creation wrought by his own hands. I no longer ask why God made the platypus the way he did and I no longer ask God why He made me so flawed . The Platypus and I aren't that different. Although we are of different species, my children didn't hatch from eggs and they swim better than me. Okay we're not anything alike. But you know what I'm getting at. God does as he likes for his own reasons. We can't began to comprehend the mind of God. But know this: God so loved the world (his creatures) that he sent his only begotten son. And it wasn't because He made a mistake. It was because we make mistakes. We see flaws and God sees His beloved creation. The platypus can teach us a great deal. More later.

Go Big - Platypus style (fearfully and wonderfully)

Scrapbooking is crack for soccer moms

Okay , I hunt and fish and in the past I have had a problem with keeping God and family as a priority and giving into my hobbies. So I write this for those of you in the throws of the latest diabolical epidemic to hit our nation. Yes, it's SCRAPBOOKING !The woman in the picture is being crowned Scrapbooker of the year. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE MOMS AMERICA. I blame satellite television. Craft shows in particular. They have pushed this decease on the women of America. At the turn of the last century people formed temperance leagues to combat the evils of alcohol. I propose the same thing to oppose scrapbooking. I no longer think it is healthy even in moderation. I will be sending my wife to rehab and deprogramming. She considers herself merely a casual user of paper cutter and glue sticks but the truth is I see her fight the impulse to scrapbook things like a trip the market or to the dentist. She's hooked. I love her too much to let her go through life with this monkey on her back. Creative Memories is an evil cult. I must go now and remove my tongue from the inside of my cheek.
Go Big and fight the glue stick !

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

The Saturday before last I took my son Luke for a hike in the National forest. It was a little more challenging than I thought it was going to be. But Luke never complained. We had a great time being together.God has blessed me with a wonderful son. You have never seen a little boy more joyous than Luke when he was eating the sausage and eggs I made for him. He ate mine too. Thank you lord for that little boy.

Got communion? NOT

OK, so I am a traditionalist, but I'm not staunchy. Yet this picture gets under my skin. I don't believe in women priests because of scripture and tradition. But this picture speaks to something more problematic. At what point does our need to make things comfortable and appealing drive us toward a profane path? Shouldn't the sacraments be treated as precious and sacred? To attempt to celebrate the Eucharist atop an object of human recreation (surfboard) would never cross my mind and pains me to think about. And it's not because I'm a traditionalist. The symbolism itself is ridiculous. We celebrate the Eucharist to conform our selves to Jesus Christ. But this picture tells a story of trying to mold Jesus Christ to our liking. That's my opinion yours may vary but I hope not. I know that mass has been celebrated on rocks and from the backs of jeeps and Hummers but out of necessity not for the pleasure of it.

Sadness as a path to God : Continuing

When we have good feelings be it joy or delight etc., we tend to embrace the feeling. And it makes sense to do so. IT FEELS GOOD. Sadness on the other hand feels like the flu. So we try to ride it out or deny it. Clarification: I am talking about garden variety sadness which is different than organic depression. I believe sadness is often times misdiagnosed as organically caused depression. And this is a problem. I don't believe sadness responds to drug treatment at all. Unfortunately non response to medication causes Doctors to use more medicine in an attempt to get a proper response. This is the wrong way do deal with sadness.

I ended the last entry by saying that sadness was a prison cell with no back wall. I know this is true. If one allows himself to just undergo sadness as it enters ones life and just attempts to ride it out then that person has walked into the prison cell of sadness. What if the person dealt with sadness as they would the feeling of joy ? With joy we we become a participant we live the joy. Yet with sadness because it is undesirable we either flee from it or just endure it.

I'm not one to say "what would Jesus do?" out loud but sometimes it's a good question to ask (just don't wear those irritating bracelets J/K).

How did Jesus deal with sadness or any feeling for that matter. From the gospels we see Jesus absolutely human and prone to all the feelings we have. But how did he deal the sadness? When Jesus was at the tomb of Lazarus the scripture says "Jesus wept". From the gospel we get a picture of Jesus deeply engaged with his sadness. We see the same thing as he prayed in the garden shortly before his crucifixion. So engaged in his feeling that he sweat blood then he would boldly surrendered himself to his accusers to do the will of His father.

So what's in those pictures of Jesus for us ? A model for dealing with sadness. Jesus was never imprisoned by sadness. He ran up to it as we would with the feeling of joy and held on to it and participated in it. He didn't let sadness just happen to him. Jesus could honestly say he was sad because he was BEING sad.
I don't think many of us can honestly say that. We can say honestly that we are joyful or delighted because we really participate in our own joy and delight. Not so with sadness. We so much want it gone we don't deal with at all. We mostly just wait it out until life distracts us in another direction. How odd ! We would never treat joy that way. Why do we treat sadness like that. BECAUSE WE DON'T LIKE DISCOMFORT!

Yet we have the example of our savior who embraced discomfort unto death and he did it for us. The tolerance of discomfort (sadness) is necessary to grow through it.

Going back to prison cell with no back wall illustration. To just let sadness happen to you is to face the bars of the prison cell until life becomes more of a reality the then the cell of sadness. Unfortunately it seems that the more one deals with sadness in a passive manner the more difficult it becomes for the rest of life (reality) distract one from prison cell. In affect the cell becomes reality. Real life can't penetrate it. One is indeed imprisoned by sadness.

But what if one was to tolerate the discomfort of embracing the painful feeling . To cry ,yell and scream or pray. To do so alone would be difficult but we are not alone . We have a loving God who is waiting for us to embrace the discomfort as he did. By doing this we turn ourselves around so as not to face the bars of a cell but to wrestle with sadness in the presence of and with the help of God.
Sadness doesn't need to be the prison we make it . If we participate in it and seek God to help us through it we find freedom not imprisonment. This treatment of sadness can not be done with out God. A therapist will not do. A savior is our only help. Just talking through it does nothing if one isn't willing to participate in the sadness. As Christians we strive only to be like Jesus . So let's be like Jesus and participate in the sadness . After weeping so sadly for Lazarus our Lord then raised him from the dead. Could he have done it if he allowed himself to be imprisoned by his sadness. I know, I know, He is God. But have the power to turn to God with our sadness. A much better alternative than a prison cell.
Go big and PARTICIPATE!

Sadness as a path to God's presence.

There are times when we are surrounded by people yet we feel so terribly alone. Why should we feel alone when people are so close that you can feel their breath on your tears.?Even when they attempt to comfort you feel as though they are talking to you through a plexiglass shield. I believe that sadness is an overlooked prison. Deep sadness is much like being shackled and put in a cell. Unfortunately the prisoner doesn't know they are imprisoned and are just aware of the surface feelings but not aware of their incarceration. I have only had this deep sadness a few times in my life . I first time lasted a few days the next time a week or so third time longer. This is when I formed my incarceration theory . It was as if each time I became deeply sad my sentence was lengthened. But why ? I don't know exactly why but I have some ideas from personal experience. I felt sad for what ever reason , I didn't really want feel sad so I went on with life as usual and just waited out the feeling . It to occurred to me that I didn't treat my sadness as an illness, affliction or an unwanted guest but allowed it to take up residence . That is when I believe that the incarceration took place . I allowed myself to be shackled and tossed in a cell. Each time I would actually become unknowingly more and more complacent and submissive to the will of my sadness. I believe that sadness takes on a life of it's own if it's not used for it best purpose. This is where it gets difficult to describe. Sadness in itself is not evil or even does it have a motive . When treated with complacency is when sadness becomes a prison. Later I'll talk about the position I feel we should take to combat it . Let's talk about the prison itself . Number one , we are normally unaware that we are inside it . When we do realize that we are incarcerated we feel there is no way out . But there is! I have found that the prison is very real but only depending upon the way that I am facing . If I face the bars indeed I'm shackled and imprisoned but if I was to turn around the cell has no back wall and my Lord is waiting for me to turn around.
MORE TOMORROW-
Go Big !