Thursday, 30 June 2011

What's the Rush?

This week I have rediscovered something about my personality that many of you may say a hearty, "Well duh!" to.  I am a 0-60 get there and get there quick personality.  Yeah that is kind of obvious now that I think of it.  This strikes me funny as I grew up on Grand Manan where life runs at a slower pace than in most places.  Perhaps I am rebelling against something here.  Ah well, I will leave that to Dr. Phil to figure out I guess.

Twice today I have been asked if a particular incident that happened in Pennfield where an individual was caught driving 160 km per hour through a construction zone was me.  Though I am sure those individuals asked it jest there is some underlying truth in this that I may or may not like about myself.  Though I would not drive my lil 97 Civic at that speed often times my mind races at that pace and my lifestyle often reflects this mentality. 

I don't think it's a problem to be goal oriented and wanting to get things done, but when that becomes so ingrained in our minds that we allow ourselves to skip natural steps along the way to reach these goals, this is not good.  Is it possible that we miss a lot of the blessings that we could experience along the way if we just skip to the end.  Being a sports nut I think of Lebron James along this train of thinking.  Instead of staying put where he was and allowing his general manager to build winning pieces around him to win an NBA championship he skipped right to joining two other superstars in an attempt to build a super team and win it all.  The only problem is that he ran into a team in the finals that built their team from the ground up that took many years to finally find the right combination of superstars and role players.  The Mavericks did not attempt to find "the quick fix" and it ultimately paid off for them this year as they were crowned the NBA champions. 

Why is it that men and women sometimes find it easier to have extra marital affairs rather than work at the relationship that they are currently in?  Why is the pornography industry as popular as it is now days?  What was once a stray "magazine" that boys would find under Dad's bed is now a billion dollar industry that simply requires 3 or 4 clicks of the mouse to open up a world of "stimulation".  Why do microwaves exist? I know that was quite a transition, but there are so many examples of how we ignore the simple pleasures and skip to the end, the thrill, the high, the buzz or whatever you want to call it. 

What joy could we add to life if we just slowed down, enjoyed the process and allowed God to teach us what we need to learn, how to love our spouse, how to smell the roses and enjoy his creation around us? When a child is born we do not tell it to get a job and find a place to live, yet this is often the pace we live at as adults.  We skip over so much to get to a goal that is often temporary and we are ultimately unfulfilled without the process.  The process helps us to appreciate the end result. 

I will end with this illustration.  While attending college in Sussex I was told of a place called "The Bluff" which apparently had a wonderful view.  The first time I made the journey to go to this place I was somewhat overwhelmed with the hike that it took to get there.  Often times during this walk I was tempted to quit and go back to the car, but I did not.  I worked through this process and to put it lightly the end result was definitely worth it.  The view was outstanding.  At that moment I realized that if I quit I would have missed out on an amazing experience and if I would have been given a ride on a four wheeler or helicopter or some other type of vehicle, it would have cheapened the experience. 

What area's are you rushing through to get to the end?  I know of many in my life where I need to slow down and enjoy the process even though it is a difficult thing for me.  "The reality is this."  If the end result is this important to me, am I willing to wait and let life run it's course for the best possible version of this end result rather than a watered down, broken version of what I would like to see.  A quick fix or temporary high does not have long term sustainability or ultimate satisfaction as a part of its package.

As quoted by the theologian narrating the Heinze Ketchup commercials, "Good things come to those who wait."

Blessings,

Monday, 27 June 2011

Don't Wipe Your Snot on Me!!!

That was my line to my son as I held him after a traumatic event this past weekend on Grand Manan.  Keep in mind that this was my attempt to bring humour into a painful situation and I am not a callous and uncaring father despite how this sounds.  I am sure that many of us (or maybe it is just me) try and use humour all be it sometimes awkward to try and ease ours and others pain, but I digress.

What had happened was that Vaughn, my niece Christen, my brother and myself were on a beach at my home this past weekend on Grand Manan and were collecting firewood to roast marsh mellows before Vaughn and I left the island.  Vaughn and Christen became bored with searching for firewood and moved toward the water to collect some large stones to place around the sticks in a circle so it resembled a fire pit.  While they did this, Geoff and I continued to get wood and as we were doing this we heard one of the most blood curdling screams either of us had ever heard.  I looked toward the water and my son was sobbing and holding his hand in by his mid section.  As the thoughts passed through my head of what he did to himself and how I was going to explain to his mother why we missed the ferry and why he was in the Grand Manan Hospital.  So I David Hasselhoffed down the beach (not actually in slow motion) and swept my son up into my arms and asked him what had happened.  Through his tears and runny nose he then explained to me that as he was lifting a rock for the fire pit another slipped and fell on his hand.  I took his injured hand and his pinky finger was instantly black.  Both my brother and I observed the swelling and his fingers and deemed that they were not broken which was a huge relief for me and probably my son as well.

For the next 5-10 minutes I did all I was able to do.  I simply held my little man-child and spoke the most comforting words that I could think of to him and my brother rubbed his back and did the same.  As we spoke he continued to cry and tell us how badly it hurt and all I could do was say "I know it hurts babe" and just hold him. 

Isn't that sometimes how it feels with God?  We put ourselves in situations where our fingers get jammed and we cause ourselves pain in life and our Heavenly Father holds us and speaks life into our situation.  We say, "but God it hurts so bad" and He says I know my child and continues to hold us until the pain heals... and it will as we allow Him to do so. 

But to be the striking difference is this.  Although it was in jest, I said to my son, "Don't wipe your snot on my shirt" and our Heavenly Father does not say this because by placing our snot (our sin) on His son Jesus we can be set free from the sin that causes us so much pain in life.  We have been given authority to not put ourselves in situations that cause us such pain.  Sometimes we still do choose sin and sometimes life happens and we experience pain, but I am so grateful to know that Jesus did what He did because He loves us like He does and ultimately we can experience freedom and victory from those things that cause us such pain.  Often times we are left with scars from these painful moment, but let's remember that Scars remind us of a healing process and that our scars do not determine our identity or destiny.  Thank You God!!

Blessings,

Thursday, 23 June 2011

Midnight Madness!!!

So here I am at 1:00 AM listening to the annoying charming of a clock in the livingroom of the home I work in pretty much amped for this shift to be over as I am going home for the 1st time in close to a year today.  After work I will pick up my pride and joy and us two men will travel to the land where the water smells of salt.  For this I am pumped.  To hold my nephew for the first time since he was a half hour old and squishy.... I am pumped.  To see my mother and niece from Maine... I am pumped.  To play something as a part of the worship band and then see my nephew get dedicated.... I am pumped. 

Needless to say I have a lot to be thankful for.  Yet somehow it is so easy to find the negative in life and allow myself to get thrown off with annoyances in life that really aren't that big of a deal.  Scripture says to "do all things without complaining."  Wow! I can honestly say I don't know if I have met anybody who can honestly admit that they follow this all the time.  So what do we do about this?

Something that I read tonight spoke to how we with our talents have the ability to do things and manage our lives, jobs, homes, churches, etc...  "The reality is this".  We do not have the ability to even take our next breath without God's powerful grace in our lives.  We convince ourselves that we can "manage" all these areas, but the truth is we actually can do nothing if God does not allow.  But I ask myself the question, "Do I want to just manage my life, job, home, church, etc" or do I want to revolutionize these aspects with a supernatural strength that I fully do not understand and cannot attribute to me because it is sooooo amazing?  The scary part is that if this is the case I am not in control.  I know for me I feel safer when I am in control, but as demonstrated by my tendancy to complain I am ultimately unsatisfied. 

What if I allowed the Holy Spirit to lead me though I wouldn't fully know what was going to happen?  Could I find a reason to complain? I don't really know the answer here, but I do desire to find this place where I can be without complaint of issues that really don't matter.  When all is said and done and my final breath has been drawn my prayer is that it can be said of me that I was grateful for what I had instead of being dissatisfied with what I did not.  I want it to be said that in my life big things happend and I could not even tell you how it happened outside of it must have been God because it was so much greater than what my abilities could offer. 

Be blessed this weekend my friends and be grateful for the blessings you've been given this day.  I hear there is rain coming this weekend.  It may dampen your clothes, but don't let it dampen your spirits! God has big plans for you!

Blessings

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Forget About God's Will For Your Life.

I have to say right from the beginning that this is direct from another Francis Chan book that I am currently reading so if you read this and think, "Wow, Scottie is soooo smart", unfortunately I cannot take credit. 

I want to start by telling a funny story that comes from a pretty intense God moment.  While travelling with a group of freshmen from the college that I attended I was to preach at a local youth group that we were visiting.  I had a pretty powerful opening illustration that I was prepared to wow them with from the beginning.  Here was my opening line:  "I just want you all to know that I got my mother pregnant before I was born..."   Ummmm???? Clearly that was not what I intended to say and I am still waiting for my cut of the $10,000 from America's Funniest Videos.  So if you are reading this Dave Lunn, hook a brother up.  What I meant to say and eventually got out, although I am not sure anybody heard another word I said after that, was that my mother was pregnant with me before her and my dad were married.  This was a big deal as she was a young lady who was striving to serve God and Satan was bombarding her with guilt and shame from all angles.  Despite this God had her back.  She attended a service at her local church and after the service there was a call.  She stayed glued to her seat.  In time the gentleman who was preaching sat and talked with her and he said to her, "Donna, do not be filled with shame and guilt because inside of you is a beautiful baby boy who is going to preach the word of God and save souls for Christ!"  I am sure there were many days as I was a child where she seriously doubted this word that was spoke over her, but she held on to that for 20+ years and finally told me when I was in my 3rd year of training to be a youth pastor.  So #1, if you doubt that God has a plan for your life based on mistakes you've made do not buy into that lie.  Your wounds, scars, dents, mistakes, SINS do not determine your identity or your destiny.  God has a plan for you.  Look it up.  (Jeremiah 29:11)

Now on to the Franics Chan part.  Based on that story that I just told you I believe that God has some pretty significant plans for my life despite my best attempts to get in His way.  I have even prayed for God to reveal those plans to me and I have been so ready to "charge hell with a squirt gun" and yet in the BIG PICTURE from my perspective I have not had those big moments when I have won the nations to Christ.  I have not had a platform to preach to thousands, lead thousands in worship or do the Perry Noble, Francis Chan, Billy Graham thing.  Hold steady, I am getting to the point...

"The reality is this."  I have often been guilty of asking God to reveal His plans for my life in terms of what I would call BIG ministry opportunities and show me the big picture of what His calling on my life is in vocational ministry and been blind to what it is that He would have me do today.  It is easy for me to say, "God tell me what you want me to do for the rest of my life and I will do it", but it is not as easy to say "show me what You want me to do today" because there is immediate responsibility with that.  This became very evident to me last month as I prayed that prayer and within two minutes was approached by a gentleman looking for change.  Fortunately in that moment I think I answered the call and had a great meal with a wonderful gentleman named Emerson. Yet I wonder how many times have I just walked past what God would have for me today because I am too busy praying for what God wants me to do with the rest of my life?  So it is in this sense that Pastor Chan says, "forget about God's will for your life".  Lord help us to see what opportunities You have for us today!!! 

At the risk of being too transparent I want to end this post with this thought.  Currently I am getting some Godly counselling on a weekly/bi-weekly basis and this is the thought that I have been left with both sessions that I have been a part of and I think it speaks to those of us who often ask the quesion, "God, what is Your will for my life?"

The more time I spend with Him
the better I know Him.
The better I know Him
the more I love Him.
The more I love Him
the more I trust Him.
The more I trust Him
the easier it is to do what He asks me to do...
TODAY!!!

Blessings...

Monday, 20 June 2011

My Title

I have been told a lot lately that I think too much.  This I find funny, but the more I "think" about those comments it's not a "you're really booksmart" think too much.  It is a "your mind races a lot and consumes you" thinks too much.  Sadly, I have to agree with these comments and admit that I am not 100% sure of how to hit the pause button on my brain.  Perhaps putting some thoughts back into a blog and expressing myself in this capacity may work as an outlet thus causing me to stop analyzing things I just plain old need to let go.

Now on to my title.  Another thing that has been happening lately is that God has been using my words to help, challenge, or encourage others lately.  This to me is very humbling because I feel very inadequate to have such a responsibility.  On the other hand I get frustrated with myself and my walk with God and say I don't think I am doing enough for His Kingdom.  Yet when I am used I am hesitant to accept that as I am not sure I am ready for or even want such responsibility.  Ya see my pattern or circle of insanity that I go through here?  And by now you may or may not be saying to me, "What does this have to do with your title?" 

Glad you asked.  Francis Chan is a preacher that I highly respect and during one of His messages I was listening to he was discussing the role or preachers or teachers of God's Word.  The question was, "how can any of us claim to be experts on God?"  Yet this is how we percieve those who teach God's word at church or on TV or the internet or what have you.  He continued to discuss how it seemed riduculous to him that one piece of clay could explain to the other piece of clay about the potter.  This made sense to me.  How can we who are daily flawed and messing up express to others who daily fail and mess up about God and His perfect plan that He has for each of us.  The "reality" is this.  Outside of God's Word and God's teaching to us we cannot.  This again to me is very humbling, but also very encouraging.  In a world that says, "let me get my stuff together, comb my hair and clean up before I come to God" the truth is we are all messed up people in need of God's grace and love.  (Romans 3;23)

So there is why my title is what it is.  I like in Scripture where it speaks of God's body being as "iron sharpening iron" and the accountability in which that speaks to, but to be honest most days I don't feel sharp enough to be considered iron.  The lump of clay seems to fit me just fine and perhaps someday I will move up to the iron stage.  (lol) My purpose for this blog is simply this: I want to (as clay) share with others (also clay) about the Potter as he provides insight to me as well as using this means to be challenged by other lumps of clay who just want to be more like Jesus.