What kind of health?

Today is April 22 and on the calendar all around the world, today is "Earth Day". And on this day, the main concern of most people is the "ecological health" of the planet and how we can help in whatever way to "save the planet". Now it's one thing to be concerned with things like pollution, recycling, etc...but what about another type of pollution that seems to be unaddressed today?

The type of "health" that I talk about is spiritual health...are we as concerned about the spiritual health of the planet as we are about the ecological health of the planet.? Will it really matter if the planet is totally "clean", but has people in it who are totally godless? Would we then become like the sepulchre that Jesus talked about in Matthew 23:27...being beautiful but full of dead men's bones?

I know that several times throughout the Word, it tells us what man will be like in the last days and it seems that every time you read the paper, watch the news, etc...that our society is fulfilling what it being said-but do we give up on the world? Actually that should spur us on to continue in even more intensity the work that we do for the Lord, knowing that time is getting short and that we need to save as many as we can! Our job is to be salt and light and one of the tasks of salt was to be a preservative to keep things from rotting..I know the task may be hard at times, but we must continue if we truly say that we love others because Jesus first loved them.

So while everyone else is talking about "saving" the creation that is planet earth, I hope that we can re-dedicate ourselves about saving the creation that is THOSE who reside on the planet earth.

Thoughts about Boston

It is with sadness that I heard about what had happened in Boston...

I don't understand why, but my mind was drawn just now to the words that Jesus spoke in Luke 13:

1There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

 

I know that there will those who will blame others and advocate their favorite cause, but maybe also it is a reminder of the need for people to come to the knowledge of Jesus as Savior. We often think that we have so many years, but in reality we understand that life could end just like that? And afterwards what? 

 

Sometimes the still small voice of God calls people at a time like this. I hope that hearts are opened even at a time like this and while I pray for the families, and weep and sorrow with them, I hope that there,  in some small way, will be a call to come to Jesus and believe in Him and what He did for us on the cross. 

another look at birthday

Today is my birthday and I turn 47...Well actually hold on a minute, let me say it another way...today I turn 42+5!

Well 42+5=47 anyway, so what the difference, you may say. Well 47 would be 47 continuous years...but 42+5 would be a more accurate description of my testimony. You see five years ago, I spent my birthday in a hospital bed at Christus Santa Rosa. At the time I had several JP tubes sticking out of me, I was prohibited from eating and drinking due to the stuff that was going on inside my abdominal area and I had a tube in my throat due to a tracheotomy.

To even be alive on my 42nd birthday was a gift of grace given to me by God. Several weeks earlier my appendix had ruptured and SEVEN doctors had told my parents that I was dying. In fact, my brother who is an OR tech (therefore a very reliable source) told my dad that he probably had to get a suit for my funeral. However God had other plans for me, because not only did I not die (which only a small percentage of people who have appendicitis and peritonitis have happen to them), but I ended up recovering (an obvious fact when you consider that I am doing this blog entry).

So when you consider, where I could have been to have been given these extra years is a gift of God and when God gives you a gift, there should be but one attitude-one of continual thanks! So thank you Lord for this gift and allowing me to celebrate my "42nd +5th" birthday!

Attics and Temples by Rich Mullins

Originally, I had planned to write about my first pastor's widow finding love again (once again, congratulations Karen,  and may your marriage be a happy one!) and how no matter how old we are that we can find the love of God. But then again, God has a way of changing things.

This morning I was at the DGD clinic for my follow-up exam. Now when you're sitting there, you have plenty of time to sit, think and do reading. This morning, I chose to do the latter. I decided to bring with me The world as I remember it-Through the eyes of a ragamuffin, a book based on some of the articles that Rich Mullins wrote for Release magazine. Well there was one that got my attention, entitled  "Attics and Temples". It reminded me that even though in two days I celebrate my 47th birthday, that there is still a lot of work yet to be done....

So here is the article-the part I want us to think about is in bold:

My new apartment is in the attic of Jim and Megan's house. It's a big old one-roomer with a mind of its own - a cacophony of lines that occur at approximately 45 to 90 degree angles, with floors that sort of redefine "level." This attic has it's own idea of what "square" means; its studs have their own interpretation of the classic 24 inch center. Its walls are loosely vertical and the whole thing is about two weeks away from being much more than a lot of potential. Right now it is resistant to change - openly hostile to my ideas of what it ought to be. But slowly, surely, occasionally even patiently I am (with the help of some friends, a hammer, a saw, some nails and a wrecking bar) enlightening it, changing its self-concept, convincing it that it is not merely an ugly, old attic - it is a great space that I would like to inhabit and be on friendly terms with - a space full of promise and beauty and order and life. 

I suspect that is wants to cooperate, but it's hard and I must be patient. Whoever it was that shaped the attic before me did so with some pretty big nails, deep cuts, hard hammers and rough saws. They considered the attic to be wasted space, storage space - a distance between the roof and the ceiling - a buffer zone and not much else. Someone else came along and closed it in for a smoking room; a place for those ignoble activities that would be inappropriate in the "house proper." They slopped the walls with cheap, nasty paneling and put in a bathroom, covered the floors with ugly carpet and stunk it up with a tobacco habit. 

Sometimes in the heat of the toil of my labor I give in to fits of selfish rage - frustration more over my lack of skill than over my apartment's progress. But late at night when I look over the piles of dust and dry wall and knee-deep debris that remain during this reconstructive effort, I am strangely moved by the place and I proclaim the gospel to it softly. I say, "I know how it hurts to be torn up. I am often choked on the litter left by my own remodeling. I know what it's like to settle (by the grave act of a strong will) into the despair of believing that you are wasted space. I have felt the blows of heavy hammers that nailed me to a sense of uselessness. I have been shaped by some pretty careless workers who came to the task of making me and lacked any craftsmanship or artistry. I know the pain of wanting to be changed and yet being distrustful of changes, of wanting to be worked on, but being suspicious of the intentions of the Worker. 

But here is some good news: He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. However messy it may be now, however confusing and scary it appears, however endless the task may seem, we will some day be glorious, beautiful, alive! There is much tearing out to do - a lot to give up. No thin coat of new paint, no shallow, petty piety will do. It's not good enough to cover up imperfection, it must be corrected. Art, beauty, function - these things take time. They may take till the day of Christ Jesus." 

But we are not wasted space, we are temples of a Being greater than ourselves, temples being built to be inhabited and brought to life. Though we may not understand the process, our Rebuilder does. We are His workmanship and the place where He lives. 

Little attic, do not despair! I'm being made by a Master Carpenter. I'm learning a little about building too.