Where Does the Time Go?

It’s been almost two whole months since I last blogged, so I’m sure you won’t be voting for me as the “best blogger of the year”!  It has been such a busy fall here in Owensboro – we’ve had so many things to demand our attention, and yet as I look back over the calendar, it’s all been part of the everyday life that we enjoy.

We’ve had wedding showers, all-state auditions, fall break, fall festival, Bible studies, Operation Christmas Child, prayer walking, Christmas rehearsals, and so many more things on our schedule.  It’s certainly a blessing to be able to do what we do, but it’s also good to be able to slow down and reflect.

And, maybe someday soon, I’ll be able to do that.  For now, please enjoy this article that I wrote about praying for your church: http://www.mymissionfulfilled.com/article.asp?id=1701.

 

Facing Your Fears While Chasing a Lion

For the past two weeks, our college Bible study group has camped out in the third session of our book, Chase the Lion by Mark Batterson.  The title of the study comes from a story in 2 Samuel 23:20-23:

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was the son of a brave man from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits.  Benaiah killed two sons of Ariel of Moab, and he went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.  He also killed an Egyptian, a huge man.  Even though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went down to him with a club, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and then killed him with his own spear.  These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who had a reputation among the three warriors.  He was the most honored of the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three.  David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

We have been talking about facing our fears, because if we’re not careful, our fears will become huge lions that take over our lives.

I don’t care how battle-tested or battle-scarred you are.  I don’t care how crazy or courageous you are.  You don’t come face-to-face with a 500-pound lion without experiencing sheer terror.  But one thing sets lion-chasers apart – they don’t run away from the things that scare them.  Normal people don’t chase lions, but lion-chasers aren’t normal.

Lion-chasers chase their fears. (p. 45)

Has God put something in your path that you would rather run away from?  You can run away, you can go kicking and screaming (not a pretty sight, no matter what your age), or you can run straight toward the thing that you fear and face it head-on.

What fears are you facing, and how will you respond today?

 

New Article on “First Impressions Count”

I am sorry about the little blogging break I’ve taken recently.  Things here have been quite busy, but until I get my thoughts sorted out, I have an article in the October 2009 issue of Missions Mosaic.  You can find the article about making a good impression while on a missions trip on page five of that issue.

Enjoy!

 

Labor Day

Labor Day weekend … the unofficial end of summer, the beginning of college football in the South, a time to rest from the routines of life.

We didn’t do a lot to celebrate the weekend.  We journeyed to Tennessee on Saturday, followed Vanderbilt football on Twitter that night (go ‘Dores!), went to church on Sunday, and basically did nothing on Monday.

But we rested.  We took a break from the daily routines.  We spend so much of our lives driving, talking on the telephone, sending e-mails, marking things off our to-do lists, that it’s good to take a day to just “be.”  To exist, and nothing more.  Nothing to accomplish other than to enjoy the people around us.  No important conversations, no hidden agendas, nothing to do.

It’s kind of like being a kid again.

So, here’s to the unofficial start of fall – may it be filled with colorful leaves, crisp autumn days, good food, and great friends!

 

How Are You Investing Your Talents?

Then the man who had received one talent also approached and said, “Master, I know you.  You’re a difficult man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground.  Look, you have what is yours.”

But his master replied to him, “You evil, lazy slave!  If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, then you should have deposited my money with the bankers.  And when I returned I would have received my money back with interest.”

“So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough.  But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness.  In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Matthew 25:24-30

In the first chapter of Chase the Lion: Stepping Confidently into the Unknown, Mark Batterson says,

These are some of the harshest words in the Gospels, and they were spoken to someone who broke even.  Evidently, breaking even isn’t good enough.  In the context of this parable, wickedness is equivalent to burying your talent in the ground.  It is the by-product of the fear of loss. (Emphasis mine.)

I don’t know about you, but those are pretty convicting words to me.  What the author is saying is that God considers it a wicked sin for me and you to “play it safe” with what He has given us.  That’s not a particularly welcome topic in lots of church circles.  We don’t want to put pressure on people.  We just hope that folks do well enough just to get by.

It steps on our pride to talk about excellence.  We don’t want to make others uncomfortable because we want them to try a bit harder.

But God demands that we do the best that we can with all that He has given to us.  We are not to waste anything – talents, abilities, spiritual gifts, finances, possessions, family, friends – not anything!

As the author says, “It’s playing to win.”

What has God given you that you need to use more faithfully?

 

Chasing the Lion

We began our fall Wednesday night schedule at YCBC this week … and what a schedule it is!  We begin at 5:00 with supper, and end our worship choir rehearsal at 8:30.  We pack as much as we can into a few hours!

For the next six weeks, part of that schedule will include Chris teaching a Bible study for our college students.  For this session, he chose a book titled Chase the Lion: Stepping Confidently into the Unknown by Mark Batterson.  We are meeting at 6:30 on Wednesdays, and would love to have anyone in the “college and career” age range join us!

This week, we looked at the introduction to the study:

The world is full of cautious and prudent people who will live fine, long lives.  But chances are if you spend your life in an attempt to eliminate risk, uncertainty, and fear you will miss out on some of the most amazing experiences a person can have with Jesus.

Your greatest regret at the end of your life will be the lions you didn’t chase.  You will look back longingly on the risks not taken, opportunities not seized, and dreams not pursued.  Stop running away from what scares you, and start chasing the God-ordained opportunities that cross your path. (CTL, p. 10)

What lions are in your path today?  Will you join us in chasing the lions?

 

All the Good Things

Last night, Chris and I attended Magnificent Monday at Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, Kentucky.  We had lots of reasons for going – the pastor of BRBC, Hershael York, was one of Chris’ professors and has become a good friend.  The preacher for the evening was Don Whitney, another seminary professor and friend.

And the musical guest for the evening was Andy Gullahorn, a friend of mine from my earliest days of college at Belmont University.

Dr. Whitney is a fantastic preacher.  I always love hearing what the Lord is saying through him, and last night was no exception.  He is really great at taking difficult theological concepts and helping the average person in the pew (like myself) understand what the Word is saying to us.

Last night he preached on Romans 8:31 – What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?

Because of the things that Paul mentions in the verses leading up to this one, we who are in Christ can know that God is for us – that everything He brings into our lives, even the difficult things, are ultimately for our good and for His glory.

We know that the Holy Spirit prays for us when we don’t know what to pray.  We know that God chooses to love us, even though we sin and violate His perfect law.  We know that even in our sin He has made a way for us to have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.

And because of all of these things, we can know that God is for us and not against us.  Isn’t that a wonderful, comforting thought?  Even in the difficult days of life, which will come to everyone, God is still for us.  He is refining us, making us holy and fit vessels for His service.

At the conclusion of the service, Andy sang the title song from his wife’s most recent album – Jill Phillip’s All the Good Things.  The song was a perfect summation of the message.  Go buy the album so you can listen to it for yourself.

Every once in a while the world stops spinning enough
That I can take a step back and get the picture
I see the twists and the turns, I see the patterns they form
I see how perfect they are and I remember

All the good things
All the good things
All the good things you’ve done for me

Though the feeling is real I know it’s fleeting to feel
One day I’ll forget you are here and start to wonder
In that season of doubt, You’ll still be showering me
With blessings I can’t see, that can’t be numbered

All the good things
All the good things
All the good things You’ve done for me

Forgive me for my shortsighted look at this world
Where you keep proving that you know what you’re doing

If I could see like you do with your perspective view
The fires I’m walking through would look much different
I’d see those difficult days for who they made me become
And I would count them among

All the good things

 

Waiting and the Christian Life

I had lunch yesterday with a good friend who was talking about the concept of “waiting.”  All our lives, we find ourselves waiting for something – waiting to finish school, to get married, to have children, to find the perfect job, for the test results, to retire, to die…

Because I was an English major (Once an English major, always an English major.  What was true in Narnia is true for English majors, too!), as I thought that afternoon about the idea of “waiting,” I couldn’t help but think of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.

In Beckett’s play, Estragon and Vladimir are always waiting for the unseen Godot.  The thing is, Godot never comes.  At the end of Act One, a young boy comes to tell the pair that Godot has been held up but will surely come tomorrow.  The same thing happens at the end of Act Two, which ends the play.

As Christians, I think that sometimes we feel like Estragon and Vladimir – caught up in a life of non-sense but constantly waiting for God.  We find ourselves surrounded by foolish people and events, and wonder where the meaning and purpose is in our lives.

Yet, in our waiting, may we be more like King David in Psalm 40:1-3

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.  He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.  He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.

 

The Answer When You Don’t Know What to Say

Sometimes there are just no words to say when we are faced with difficult circumstances.  Mark Hall says it best.  Take about eight minutes to listen.

 

Prince Edward Island and a Little Vacation

Wow – it’s been three weeks since I posted anything here!  Time has really flown this summer.  School starts tomorrow, and I report to AHS tomorrow afternoon to work with the chorus classes again this year.

We took a big vacation this year to celebrate Chris’ graduation with his Ph.D. and went to one of our favorite places – Prince Edward Island.  We went to PEI on our honeymoon and have been several times in the years since.  We first went because of our love of Anne of Green Gables, but we go back for the slower pace of life and the seafood.

A little scenery from PEI

Dalvay-by-the-Sea

Lighthouse on the North Shore