White Space

One of my favorite books is a short one, written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the wife of the famous American aviator Charles Lindbergh.  It is called 'Gift From the Sea', and was written in 1955 during an island sabbatical.  I think it is as relevant today as it was 50+ years ago.  In it she argues that things are special when they are surrounded by space. That space allows each thing to stand out and be noticed and admired. 

This is the phenomenon referred to in advertising as white space.  Nike was one of the earliest companies to take major advantage of this concept, when they shocked the advertising world by purchasing full page ads, and sticking only a simple swoosh on the page, or combining the swoosh with the words 'Just do it'.  This seemed like a waste, to purchase all that  space and not fill it.

But it has been argued that it is the spaces between notes that make symphonies great.  In much the same way, when we went to the Monastery at Snowmass, I was touched by white space.  Snowmass is a Trappist Monastery, which means they take vows of silence.  Only at one meal, and at the times of prayer are they permitted to use words.  This manifests itself when they do gather, as each aspect of the service has a ponderous space between them.  For those of us who are immersed in a world of noise, the silence can be oppressive.  But it makes the words they do speak stand out against the backdrop of silence.

I heard these words from the Book of Mark very clearly at the service we attended...

'But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.'  (Mark 7:26)

Randy Harris has said that the only Bible Study Question that matters is, 'how MUST my life be different because I believe God's word to be true?'.  In other words, how can I hear God's words and put them into practice?

Maybe it is the white space that allows us to concentrate on the words of life.  Can you give yourself enough space to really HEAR from God?  Or is your life so busy and so full that you there are no margins in your life?

Bible Trivia

The Achiever

I am not a man of battle,

Nor a lord of sheep or cattle, 1

But I’m wealthy, 2 and I’m righteous, 3

Though I have been known to battle. 4

Boastfulness gave way to patience

Through long years of tribulations, 5

And the providence of God used me

To bless both men and nations. 6

With aristocratic wife, 7

And with wealth and honors rife, 8

You’d not suspect the many wrongs

I’ve suffered in my life. 9

OK, so here is how this deal works...each time you see a number, that is a clue to the identity of the character.  The words between each number constitute an individual clue about the Biblical character in question, and I will go ahead and tell you this character is from the Old Testament.  Have fun!

LEADING

This is actually from DeeDee.  It is an excerpt from one of Bill Keller's live devotionals...

One of the men I admire the most in God's Word and try to follow is Paul. Paul was a leader in every sense of the word. A leader is a person with vision, the guts to stand up and declare that vision, the ability to inspire others to follow, the fortitude to persevere despite whatever opposition there may be, and the patience to see that vision become a reality. I want to use Paul's life to challenge you in your personal walk to make the most of each day God gives you.

EVERY PERSON has the ability to make a difference in this world no matter what you have been called to do. I don't care if you are 15 or 115, rich or poor, male or female, what color your skin is, YOU can make an impact on this
world with your life and be a leader.

God gives each of us passions, things that we develop a love for throughout our life. God gives each of us gifts, special abilities that come naturally
to us. Throughout our life God opens and closes doors. It is through these passions we have, through the gifts we have received and developed, and through the opportunities that life presents us, that each person can make
an impact on this world during the course of their life.

Throughout the course of a person's life, God may call someone to do many different things. The point is, whatever career or profession you
are in, you can make a difference. The key is to do your very best each day and realize that your life matters.

A sense of gratitude

I was sitting in the backseat of the van tonight, when I found myself immersed in love and grace.  It was a really long drive from Colorado Springs to Ardmore, and you would have thought the last thing on my mind was thankfulness, but you would have been wrong.

After arguing about the air temperature in the van :-), I ‘compromised’ and dug out a sleeping bag for Kara, who complained that she was freezing!  As she fell asleep, I thought back to the time when I came to Park Row.  JD was starting his senior year, and Kara was only 9, so I guess Kate was 10 or maybe 11 at the time.  As the lights of the city flashed intermittently across her face, I still saw that same little girl but realized profoundly that now she is almost grown.

Earlier in the evening Kara told me her mom was her best friend, and I told her how much DeeDee had meant to me, and how much she had done for our family.  I realized how thankful I am for so many who have shared their life and family with me.

As Kara drifted off into sleep I reflected on what has been a most wonderful week spent in the mountains of Colorado with JP, my long time friend and new business partner.  I thought of Taylor’s constant laughter at my jokes(so good for my ego!) and infectious, joyous spirit.  How many times have we cracked each other up this week?  I gave thanks for having seen Keith regain himself through the cleansing of friendship, love and acceptance.  Of fond memories of Cheri, and her tolerance for all of my shenanigans these last 8 years together!  She alone has had to endure me each step of the way -- as youth minister and pulpit minister!

I understood how important it was to be able to spend time with my family in Amy’s childhood home, for Nate to go fishing with his grandfather and to hike up to Hanging Lake together as a family!  I reflected on the depth of our devotional times and how deep and rich our relationships have become.  I wondered aloud at the voice of God in His scriptures, as we heard them clearly and profoundly thundering forth from the monks at Snowmass Monastery.  

All of these things made me so VERY thankful.  As I prepare for a short night here in Ardmore, OK (it is already 1:30am) -- I am also looking forward to joining with my friends and the saints at the Pilot Point Church of Christ in a few hours!

I am awash in love and grace!!!!

You might have to be jealous if you're in Texas :-)

So, we stopped all day today and took pics...this one was taken somewhere between Vail and Glenwood Springs!  It's warm, but beautiful.  

Headed to the Hot Springs pool tonight, where the air will be maybe 60 degrees and the pool between 98 and 104 degrees.

Hope everyone is doing well...my father-in-law went home today and thought it was hellishly hot.

Stained Glass

So, it has been a pretty killer day.  About 80 degrees, sitting in Breckenridge, Colorado with some really good friends.  Everyone went into town in order to do some shopping, and have some really good food, and view some art at one of the 20 or so art galleries in this little burg.  We even went to a pottery place tonight and all painted our own pieces before our dinner and devotional.  

The view from anywhere in this town is simply stunning.  Breathtaking.  As you look up, you are immediately greeted by snow capped mountains.

I was so overtaken by the beauty as I walked along main street that I had to stop, take a seat on a bench and draw in my journal.  It was overwhelming.  This afternoon we even went to a decoupage class at our resort.  Awesome!!  Keith, Cheri, Kara, Partay and I whiling away about 90 minutes busily crafting, looking out a window at the mountain vistas.

After we went upstairs to our room, Cheri and I pulled out a book I bought at a little book shop in town, which had the Stained Glass designs of Frank Loyd Wright on something like transparency pages.  So, we colored in these designs, sitting next to the open window, as the deliciously cool breeze and sunshine washed over us.  

It is really easy to see the glory of God in this place.  You don't need a lot of additional evidence about the existence of God - all you need to do is look UP!  But I just wonder how long it takes for you to take all of this for granted?  How long until the images around you do not speak sermons about the power and glory of God?  I don't know...I'm too immersed in His presence right now!  Hope you're having a GREAT week!

Creative Expression

We studied Zechariah's song from Luke 1 today...

So, how about everyone adds their own puzzle piece here, from poetry to song, to whatever, and encourage the body!

Gifts

So, this week was a dichotomy of sorts:

We got the bad news that Amy wasn't going to get 90 days severance, but only 30.  It may have been what was technically in her contract, but certainly hinged on the fact that  she wouldn't have quit if I hadn't been fired.  When you are unemployed, finding out you are getting even less money simply  isn't something you want to hear.

However, in the midst of receiving this bad news I also received many blessings.  

One, JP has become such a good friend, business partner and brother.  He looked at me this week, and basically said, 'Hey, I feel more and more confident about what we are doing from a business stand point.  Every day, every meeting makes me more sure we're doing the right thing.'  That was incredibly validating, and really was valuable, coming from him.

Second, Tammy at the Duncan Holdings Office remembered me.  She called DeeDee about a copier they had which they were getting rid of.  She had thought maybe I might need it in my new business, which we certainly do!!  But it wasn't about the gift of a copier.  It was being remembered.  After pouring my life into some folks at Park Row for several years only to seemingly be forgotten at a moment's notice when I was fired, it was incredibly special to be remembered by Tammy.  Now Tammy isn't someone I am especially close to.  Really, I only know her because of DeeDee, and I only saw her every so often when she came in the Park Row Office and we would joke and laugh together.  But she is a lovely lady and a Christ follower, and she remembered me.  Thanks, Tammy!

Third, when I desperately needed to move this HUGE copier, I called Corey and he dropped what he was doing to come help.  I really hated to do it, because I knew he had some filming going on that day, but I did it any way.  When you KNOW you can call someone in a pinch, it really makes your day that much better!

So, it is a gift sort of week for me, and I decided to share that with you.  So, here is a piece of Bible trivia, and the winner will receive a copy of MY favorite Nooma film, DUST. The first correct answer will win the DVD, but if I get a great response, we might offer a few more gifts, as well, to spread the giving around!

Which authors (Old AND New Testament are Gentiles by birth?) -- oh, and try not to simply google this...let's do a little STUDY, OK?)

Filters

You have here two pics of the same scene on one of the planets in our solar system.  The picture on the top is taken without a filter, and the one on the bottom WITH a filter.  Amazing that they are the same exact scene, huh?

I love the fact that many of my AXIS gang are really deep thinkers.  Corey set my mind to dancing on Sunday night and it hasn't stopped since.

We were covering part of the material we never got to on Sunday morning from the beginning of Luke Chapter 4, the temptation of Christ in the wilderness.  There were several interesting points of discussion, but one of them centered around Satan's use of scripture 'against' Jesus.  Corey commented to the effect that we need to be careful, because even believers can use scripture to harm others. He said we all have a 'filter' we use to look at scripture, which can be very dangerous.

So I am wondering...what filter do you and I possess?  Have you ever been involved in a situation that you felt someone used scripture to harm another?  How can we avoid doing this ourselves?

Never Got There

So, this may surprise you, but I never got to what I really wanted to talk about Sunday. But the study and conversations were so real, so honest, and so touching, that I just followed the wild goose!  Thanks for your wisdom and your brokenness and your honesty.  Some great follow-up comments have been posted and I encourage you to take some time to look through all of them.

In Luke 4 (the text I had asked you to read for Sunday) there is the story where Jesus has a 'prophet coming out party' of sorts.  He is in his hometown of Nazareth, and stands up to speak in the synagogue.  At first everyone seems very pleased with the whole thing.  He stands up in verse 16 and reads from the book of Isaiah, and verse 22 tells us that 'All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came form his lips.  Isn't this Joseph's son, they asked?'  So far, so good.

But then Jesus starts speaking off the cuff and tells them that prophets are not accepted in their hometown, and implies that Jews aren't all they should be, as he pointed out that it was Naaman, the Syrian who was healed of leprosy, and not the Jews.

The crowd's response?  'All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.  They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill, on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.  But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.'

What made these folks so mad?  Why did Jesus choose to make himself known in this way?  Why did the honest truth cause them to want to kill Jesus?

Beginnings

Luke 4 tells us that Jesus is led out into the wilderness by Satan to be tempted.  Novelist Chaim Potok has pointed out that all beginning are hard.  Beginnings are often crucial, too.  Jesus was launching his public ministry.  A mistake would have been disastrous.  At the end of the temptations, having failed this time, 'he left him until an opportune time.'  The temptations weren't over, Satan was just waiting for a 'better day'.

It might be important for each of us to consider where Satan might attack us as we begin this process of healing and discovery.  Examine your own heart and mind.  Where are you harboring enmity or sin?  Let's invite God to convict us and purify us as we begin this part of our journey together!

Field Trips

The last Sunday of the month, the 28th, we will not meet 'as normal'.  Instead for any who would like to go we will be meeting with the Pilot Point Church of Christ.  This little Church is located just northeast of Denton.  It is a lively little congregation of about 40, and I think you will be better for having shared communion with them!  Micah and Amy Lewis will be joining us this day as well!

Go to this url for a map:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=pilot+point+church+of+christ&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&cid=2947919182321374610&li=lmd

Service time is at 10:45am, and we will share a common meal at a great little Mexican Restaurant there in Pilot Point.  I think DeeDee may have room in her mom-mobile if you would like to ride with her. It is about a 50min. drive from Arlington.

Looking ahead, on Sunday July 26th we will be checking out the Firewheel Bible Fellowship in Garland for their 11:00am service.  Ron Hall, one of the authors of the book we just read for book club is speaking that day.  We will probably meet at my house for those who would like to carpool around 10am.

Finally, for those like Jamie who like to plan their calendars far in advance, on Friday, August 21st, we will be visiting the Adat Shalom Messianic Congregation for their shabbat service at 7:30am!  Go ahead and pencil it in on your calendars!  For more info about the congregation, visit http://www.adatshalom-dallas.org/

Brokenness

Terry Baker gave me an article recently and I wanted to share part of it with you.  The writer, Silas Shotwell, describes a trip to Disneyland he took with his then fiancé in the early 1960's...

'It was in Frontierland that Edna Mae and I went to a gift shop that specialized in curios from Mexico. We were both attracted to a brightly painted piggy bank.  It was large, maybe the size of two basketballs.  It was not expensive, but we liked it.  So we bought it and protected it carefully throughout the rest of the trip.  

We married in August and moved to the Hood River Valley in Oregon.  The piggy bank came with us.  By that time, it had a lot of change in it, but it wasn't nearly full.  During the months ahead we put more and more change into it, until we finally couldn't put any more.  It was stuffed.

This particular piggy bank had a slot in the top but no opening in the bottom to take out the coins.   The only way to remove the coins was to spend countless hours shaking the thing upside down, or breaking it!  We opted to break it!  I don't remember how much money was in the pig.  I know we used it to buy some furniture we needed.  I also remember that it was a bit painful to take a hammer and break open Mr. Pig!  We had protected him and transported him for hundreds of miles over several months.  But it had to be done if we wanted the treasure inside.

So we broke the pig and the valuable contents were then available to us.  A woman came to Jesus in Bethany. She was a "broken" woman.  But she wanted to serve and honor Jesus.  So she took a container of perfume that was so expensive that it would have taken a year's wages to purchase it. It was in an alabaster jar.  For the fragrance of the ointment to be experienced, the jar had to be broken.  So she broke it, and the wonderful fragrances filled the room as she drizzled the content on Jesus' head.  He blessed her for what she did.  Her loving extravagance out-weighed the tragedy of the brokenness.

You don't really know what's inside a person until they are broken. The way a person appears doesn't mean very much when things are going well.  We can all clean up pretty well.  Everyone experiences brokenness at some point.  Look at the writings of the Apostle Paul, who is often forced to defend himself against harsh criticisms.

When a person is lied about or taken for granted, or blamed for things that aren't their fault, you see what's inside.  I think the Lord used the brokenness of folks like Paul and the woman at Bethany to enhance his ministry.  That could also be said of the leadership of Moses, David, Peter and so many others.  Show me a person who as suffered and I'll show you a person who has more potential to comfort and encourage others.

If...they contain Godly and spiritual treasure.'

Are you being broken for the cause of Christ?  Are you allowing this experience to fill you with a renewed spirit to minister to others, or is brokenness revealing bitterness, blame and self-pity?

How big are the leaves you are leaving behind for others to follow?

Yeah, buts...

Last week I attended the graduation ceremony for the prison group that Miss Betty and Terry Baker work with.  It was a very interesting gathering, to say the least.  At first I felt a little claustrophobic as I surrendered my Texas Driver's License to the guards and then walked through locked gate after locked gate, until we reached the chapel.

Each of the inmates was given the chance to share something, and I wrote down what one of them said.  He told the assembled group that when he began this recovery course, he had a bad case of the 'yeah, buts'.  Someone would say to him, 'you're in jail' and he would say, 'yeah but it wasn't my fault.'  He said that, as a result of the work that had come from this class, he was slowly changing that habit.

Many, many times in recent history I have wanted to say 'yeah, but...'.  Like, 'I heard you got fired', and my immediate reaction is 'yeah, but...'.  I want so badly to defend myself, or make it someone else's fault, someone else's problem.  But now I am trying to lay that down.  

No more 'yeah, but'.  Only, 'yes, and can I tell you what God is doing through that experience?'  

Why John the Baptist?

So, what did you come up with?  Why does Luke choose to begin his narrative with the birth of John the Baptist?

Why do you think Luke thought the backdrop of this story was so important in order to tell the story of Jesus?

Luke is very clear to show the territory that John covered as different from the territory that Jesus covered.  Could it be that Luke wanted to show how different Jesus was from all the 'other prophets'? 

Congratulations to Cyndi Needels, Greg Needels and Anne Stovall for being the first to respond to my monetary challenge...so cash is coming your way!

Hope you will still comment any way!

Money, Money, Money

OK, so to get this ball rolling, I will give $20 to the first person to make a serious post in response to one of my blog postings.  $10 to the second, and $5 to the third.  No, really, I am deadly serious here.  Don't leave cash on the table!!!!!!

A Wild Goose?

'The Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit that has always intrigued me.  They called Him An Geadh-Glas, or the wild goose. I love the imagery and implications.  The name hints at the mysterious nature of the Holy Spirit.  Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed.

I understand that "wild goose chase" typically refers to a purposeless endeavor without a defined destination.  But chasing the wild goose is different.  The promptings of the Holy Spirit can sometimes seem pretty pointless, but rest assured, God is working His plan.  And if you chase the wild goose, He will take you places you could never have imagined going, by paths you never knew existed.' -- Wild Goose Chase, Mark Batterson

We read Sunday from Luke chapter 7, where John the Baptist is facing the end of his days, and wondering if he has been chasing the wild goose, or if he has been on a wild goose chase.  He sends messengers to Jesus, asking Him if he is the one John has been expecting, or if he should be looking for someone else.  Jesus sends word back: 'The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the dead are raised and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.  Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.'  As if Jesus is saying, it's OK, John, I'm the real deal -- see what's happening!  Lives are changed, miracles happen and words of hope are spread.

Andrew Greeley once commented: 'Once you domesticate Jesus, he isn't there any more.  The domestic Jesus may be an interesting fellow, a good friend, a loyal companion, a helpful business associate, a gurantor of the justice of your wars.  But one thing is certainly not: the Jesus of the New Testament.  Once Jesus comforts your agenda, he's not Jesus anymore.'

Annie Dillard wrote something similar: 'One the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea of what sort of power we so blithely invoke?  Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it?  The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning.  It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets.  Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews.'

So, are you chasing the wild goose?  I saw a slogan one time in Spanish that said: otro dia otra ventura. Translation: another day, another adventure.  Do you see your relationship with God as an adventure?  Are you wearing a crash helmet or a straw hat?  Are you content with the status quo of 'going to Church', or are you seeking that wild goose?  Now those are tough questions!