Instant Mashed Potatoes

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unday afternoons were always a wonderful time at our house.  After church we would rush home, change clothes, and assemble in the kitchen for Sunday dinner.  Since I grew up in the southern part of the United States, dinner was always the twelve o’clock meal while the evening meal was, and still is, referred to as supper.  Some Sundays, instead of going home for dinner, we would go to grandma and grandpa’s and eat with them.  Our whole family would go and I enjoyed the food, the conversation, and the laughter. 

I always loved going to grandma’s house for Sunday dinner.  Usually, she would have steak and gravy, green beans, corn, fresh biscuits, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, and mashed potatoes.  No matter what else she served, there was always a bowl of mashed potatoes on her menu.  My brother loved grandma’s potatoes and would usually eat more than his share.  Every time we would go, he would expect her to have mashed potatoes and he was never disappointed.

Grandma had a secret recipe for her mashed potatoes; they were an instant brand.  Instead of having to wrestle with cooking the potatoes, peeling them, and mashing them, all she had to do was boil water and add the potato flakes.  In a few short moments, we had mashed potatoes and if we ran out, it took only a few moments to replenish the supply.  My brother often referred to her as instant grandma!  He thought it was neat the way she could just whip up potatoes on demand, even if we dropped in unexpectedly.

I have often thought about those potatoes and the wonderful times we had as a family around the dinner table.  Of all the wonderful things to eat, the potatoes stand out in my mind as I write this Tidbit.  They represent the fashion in which most of us live our lives today.  We have grown accustomed to instant gratification in our society.  We want to eat, so, instead of preparing a meal, we order out or get fast food. We get impatient with our computers or with the fax machine if they take more than one minute to download our information and when we ask a question we expect an immediate response.

It should come as no surprise, then, that we live our spiritual lives with the same expectations.  We have a Polaroid mentality when it comes to our Heavenly Father.  We put in a request and, in sixty seconds, we expect to have a fully developed plan of action with nothing negative thrown in.  Our prayer life resembles very closely the process of making instant mashed potatoes.  We pray real hard for a few minutes, bringing the spiritual water to the boiling point, and then we expect God to throw in a pre-measured answer, ready for consumption in five minutes.

However, the Scriptures don’t reveal this to be the normal way that God’s people relate to him.  Yes, God does answer prayer instantaneously, but God is far more interested in relating to us, in talking to us, in communicating with us, than he is with just handing us a quick answer.  The prophet Habakkuk, had learned this lesson.  After praying to God, asking him some very straightforward and difficult questions, Habakkuk waited on God’s answer.  Look at his words as recorded in Habakkuk, 2:1: “I will climb up into my watchtower now and wait to see what the Lord will say to me and how he will answer my complaint.”

After praying to God, Habakkuk didn’t expect overnight delivery of God’s answer to his prayer.  Instead, after praying, after doing all he could do, after making his request known, Habakkuk climbed up into the watchtower to wait for an answer.  It is very interesting that he went to the tower.  The watchtower was the place for standing guard, for being on the lookout for an attack or for a messenger delivering a dispatch.  Habakkuk’s visit to the watchtower was an indication of his faith that God would answer his request.  He went to the tower to watch!

So often, we bring our requests to God and expect Him to open heaven and parachute an answer right to us.  We need to understand that the purpose of prayer is not to constantly bring our wish lists to God and tell him what we want.  Instead, it is the means by which we talk to him and he talks to us.  It is in prayer that we can tell God what’s on our minds and our hearts.  It is in prayer that he can communicate his word to us and teach us the things we need to know in order to deepen our relationship with him.  In the watchtower, there is time to think, to reflect, to read God’s word, to be still and to know that he is God.  So, are you in the watchtower today or are you in the kitchen waiting for the water to boil?

Across The Miles

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hanksgiving 1983 will be indelibly etched in my mind as the only Thanksgiving to date that I was unable to be with my family.  From September, 1983 until June, 1984 I lived in France, studying at a university there with over twenty fellow college mates.  We went to Europe as part of our college's Junior Year Abroad study program which emphasized living in a foreign country to learn the language, its people and its culture.  Spending this Thanksgiving away from family taught me many things I might not otherwise have learned.

In order to celebrate the holiday, our director had taken the liberty of pre-ordering all the ingredients we would need to prepare a Thanksgiving feast.  We decided to invite our host families and professors for a little taste of Americana, à la française!!!  We cooked turkey, made dressing, prepared the vegetables, and we even had a recipe for pumpkin pie.  We had a wonderful time and, I think, our French guests did as well.

Just prior to this holiday, I received several cards and letters from family and friends back in the States.  Each of the cards and letters wished me a Happy Thanksgiving and expressed thoughts and prayers for me while I was absent from my family.  One card in particular stands out in my memory.  This card came from the parents of a very good friend of mine at college.  Across the front of the card appeared the words, Across The Miles at Thanksgiving!  I thought it was the neatest card because it stressed to me that no matter the distance, family and friends were still very much a part of my life and still connected to me.  Earlier that day, my parents and I had Thanksgiving on the phone and, although somewhat awkward, it was a good holiday because for the very first time, I knew what it was to be truly thankful for all I had.

As I hung up the phone it occurred to me that, even though my family was thousands of miles away, we were inseparable.  The distance made me no less their son and brother as it made them any less my parents and siblings.  This must have been the sentiment Paul was conveying to the believers in Rome.  The eighth chapter of Romans is a wonderful and powerful chapter.  Today's scripture verses come from there and remind us very plainly how near God is to us.  Paul writes, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."(Romans 8:38-39)

Presently, we are in this world and we may wonder where God is at times?  When difficult circumstances surround us, he is there.  When emotional stress and strain weigh down on us, he is there.  When we are pressed by financial worries, family challenges, the loss of a loved one, or health problems, he is there.  At no time in our walk with him is God ever separated from us.  At no time is he unaware of the circumstances and obstacles we face.  At no time, does anything, and I do mean anything, touch us without his knowledge or approval.  That is how precious we are to him.  That is how much he loves us.

In France that year, I learned the true meaning of Thanksgiving.  Although I longed for home, my circumstances would not permit it.  However, I was able to make contact with my family and express my love for them.  I was also able to share our traditions with new friends and explain to them the true meaning of thanksgiving.  Psalm 100 admonishes to enter into God's gates with thanksgiving.  Although we are not home yet, we can still express thanksgiving to God for all he has done for us.  We can make contact every day with him and we have many opportunities to share his love with those around us. 

So today, as you continue your walk with God remember that no distance too great, no mountain too steep, no challenge too difficult, no request too large, no gulf too wide will ever keep us from our Heavenly Father.  We have his word on it!

Plane And Simple

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ur house on Main Street grew with our family.  When mom and dad purchased the house in the early ‘60’s, it had only two bed rooms, one bath, a kitchen, a den, and a central hallway. Then, as my brother, my sister and I came along, the necessity to enlarge the home was a foregone conclusion.

We lived through and survived three remodels on that house and with each upgrade several lessons in patience were just waiting to be learned.  One of these lessons stands out in my mind and the older I grow the more I realize its truth.

During the second remodel, mom and dad altered our large den into a new bathroom and a hallway with a pantry, two closets, and a laundry area.  As the construction drew to a close it was time to place the doors on the closets.  The carpenters arrived with the doors, measured the openings, measured the doors and then took them outside.

A large table with vice grips had been set up in our backyard and the lesson began.  The carpenter placed the door into the vice grips so that it could not move.  Then he took a plane and began shaving off thin slivers of the door.  With each pass of the plane, more wood fell to the ground.  It wasn’t long before there were wood chips everywhere. It looked as if we were starting our own mulching business.

Every once in a while, the door was released from the clamps and taken inside.  The carpenter set it in the frame, took more measurements, and returned to the back yard to shave off more wood. I wondered if there was going to be anything left of the door.  Finally, after several trips inside to see if the door fit the opening, and after several more passes of the plane, the carpenter set the door.  It was a perfect fit!  All those measurements and all those passes of the plane to remove the unwanted wood were necessary for the door to fit into its opening.

In Romans 8:28-29, Paul writes, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

We don’t have to look very far into this passage to see the “plane” and simple truth of God’s work in our lives.  In the middle of the verse you will find the word, conform.  The word simply means with form.  In other words, when we conform something, we cause it to take the form of something else.  In this instance, God says plainly that His works to conform us to the image of Christ and that means we have to undergo the plane.

Every trial, every temptation, every circumstance in life is really God’s plane shaving off unwanted and unnecessary areas of our lives that prevent us form perfectly fitting into the image of Christ.  God puts us on His table, fastens us where we cannot move, and then shaves us down until we conform to the very image of Christ so that our lives and our attitudes reflect him in every way.

Wherever you are today, know that God loves you. He will not remove anymore from your life than is necessary so that you reflect the very image of His son.  If you are on the table today you are there because God is working on you, perfecting your life, removing blemishes and areas that prevent you from being all He knows you can be.  That is the “plane” and simple truth.  

Residence Visa

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ince the advent of 9/11 and the terrorist attacks on the United States, greater scrutiny has been given to all those traveling both domestically and internationally.  People coming to the United States from abroad find it more challenging to enter the country and the process of acquiring a visa has become more taxing.

I understand a little bit of this process.  In 1983, as I prepared to leave for a year-long sojourn in France, there were several things I had to do.  The most important of these was obtaining a passport and then applying for a student visa.  I obtained the passport from the American government.  However, in order to legally reside in France for a year, I had to apply for a visa from the French embassy in Washington.  Without that visa, I would be unable to stay in Francelegally.

When my passport arrived, I called the French embassy and obtained the necessary forms to apply for a visa. I sent my passport to the French embassy in Washington and in a few short weeks, it was returned with an official seal attached to it.  That seal gave me the legal right to stay in the country for a year.

Sound familiar?  This process of obtaining a visa has wonderful applications to our spiritual lives as well.  All around us we hear people speaking about God and in light of recent world events religion has suddenly become very popular and very “politically correct.”  However, we must have a right understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.  We have to receive him as our savior and no other.  We must carry his seal and seek permanent residence in his kingdom.  That means receiving a residence visa from God giving us the right to live in his kingdom forever.  The seal on that visa is the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  Without that seal, we have no legal right to call ourselves God’s children.

In one of his most revealing statements about God’s kingdom, Jesus addressed this very idea of legal residence.  Matthew 7:21 records a very sobering statement by our Lord and one we need to read and understand. “Not every one who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” 

In other words, Jesus was saying that the mere outward appearance of being a Christian is not enough.  All the good deeds we do, all the church services we attend, all the good intentions we have, all the nice cards and flowers we send, and all the visits we make do not make us followers of Jesus Christ.  We must have his seal of salvation upon our hearts and accept him as Lord of our lives.  This is the only way to become a child of God.

When I was in France, the outside of my passport gave the impression I was there legally.  However, the inside of the passport bore the official document and seal granting me the legal right to remain in the country, to study there, and to live there.  We must ask ourselves what we look like on the inside.  Do we bear seal of Jesus Christ on our hearts?  Do we have the legal right to live in his kingdom for all eternity?  Are we doing the will of God, serving him faithfully from our hearts?  Have we obtained our visas for permanent residence in God’s kingdom?

Never Look Back

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adies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages….” The Ring Mater’s voice boomed from center ring and reverberated from the walls and ceiling of the Charlotte Coliseum where my parents had taken me and my brother to see the circus.  It was everything they said it would be.  There were animals from all over the world—my favorites were the elephants and the lions.  There were clowns, jugglers, fire eaters, magicians, and something I had never seen before nor expected.

High above the circus floor, flying through the air, defying all laws of gravity were acrobats.  I was mesmerized from the moment I saw them.  The Ring Master walked the audience through their entire performance, telling us about the impossible feats they were conducting high above our heads.  I remember shuddering with fear and excitement as these men and women sailed through the air, turning somersaults, hanging upside down from the trapeze, and trusting the other members of their troupe to catch them.  It was an amazing sight and one I never forgot.

The moment of truth, however, came when the Ring Master announced that one of the acrobats would be performing a difficult maneuver high above our heads.  He would swing out on the trapeze several times, do a combination spin/somersault, and land in the outstretched hands of his partner who would deliver him safely to the other side of the arena.  As if this weren’t adequately heart-stopping for the audience, this last feat would be performed without the added safety of a net!

The two acrobats began their performance.  The gentleman who would perform the maneuver began swinging back and forth, faster and faster, and higher and higher.  His partner also began swinging but he was not in sync with his partner.  From the ground, it looked as if the two would never be in rhythm and I became very worried.  How would the one acrobat catch the other?  Would he be in a position to catch him when he released the trapeze?  Would the other acrobat release the trapeze and trust his partner?  What would happen?

Finally, I got the answer to all of these questions.  The two acrobats approached each other.  The one performing the spin/somersault had his back turned to his partner.  He swung out, released the trapeze, performed the trick and landed squarely in the hands of his partner who delivered him safely to the other side.  The audience breathed a collective sigh of relief and applauded thunderously.  What was so amazing to me was not so much that one partner caught the other.  What impressed me as a young child was that the first acrobat, without being able to see his partner, had the guts to let go of the trapeze in the first place.

The Scriptures are filled with examples of men and women who exercised great faith, trusting God to catch them when they stepped out into nothing and had no net catch them.  This is the type of faith God wants us to have. It is the type of faith that only comes from experience, from learning that no matter how high the trapeze, no matter how out of rhythm life seems, and no matter how difficult the maneuver, God will always be there to catch us! 

But there is one proviso in all this, one requirement which we must meet, we must be willing to let go of the trapeze.  We cannot put our hands into the hands of God if our hands are full.  We cannot reach out and take hold of the things God has for us if we continue to hold fast to things in the past or present.  In order to experience God’s wonderful grace, in order to understand what it means for Him to care for us, and in order for us to truly know God in all His fullness, we must let go of the trapeze.  It’s just that simple.

In Luke 9:62, Jesus, himself, gives us this requirement for being servants in God’s kingdom, “Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Look at the first two words of this passage. The words no one are all inclusive, they leave no one out!!  In order to be servants in the Lord’s kingdom, we must let go of all we hold dear, be that a job, a home, a stock portfolio, a friend, or a family.  This does not mean God will take them from us, but we must be willing to release our hold on them so He can give us His best.

Like the acrobat, we must be wiling to let go of the trapeze, knowing there is nothing below us to break our fall.  With our backs turned, without the luxury of sight, without being able to hear, we must let go in faith, knowing God will catch us.  Has your walk with God prepared you for the moment when you must let go?  Are you ready and willing to let go of the trapeze today, to step out into nothing except the hand of God and experience the joy that comes from landing squarely in His arms? When you do, you will find that it truly is the “greatest show on earth” or anywhere else for that matter!

Just One of Those Days

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ames 1:2-4 reads, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  This definitely was not the verse of scripture I wanted to be reminded of one particular Monday.  I was having one of those days where nothing, and I mean nothing, went according to plan.  Oh, I had a plan, but it was absolutely worthless.  Please allow me to recap the day for you.  It’s good therapy!

The whole ball of wax actually started the evening before when I decided to download a quick and easy little program for my computer.  The download went well.  I encountered no glitches, bumps, or electronic hiccups.  The installation process was also smooth and in just a few minutes the program was living happily on my hard drive, ready to obey my every command. 

I restarted the computer, selected the newly installed program, and asked it to perform a quick scan of my computer to see if everything was all right.  That’s when it all started.  The little program located some files that to its mind posed a threat to my system. It asked if I wanted to repair or delete the programs.  I first elected to repair the files but when that wasn’t possible, I deleted them.  That was my mistake!  I deleted several files from my operating system and the computer wouldn’t work.

I tried at least three attempts to coax the computer back to life but it just wouldn’t budge. Instead, it just sat there with a beautiful sunset on the screen, refusing to go any further.  All my programs were there; I just couldn’t get to them.  Several calls to a good friend in Pennsylvania, confirmed what I already knew.  The computer was busted and would have to be rebuilt; not exactly what I wanted to hear.

During the day, my situation got better (that’s a little joke, not too funny).  On my way to the airport, everybody in the free world decided to drive below the speed limit and box me into one lane of traffic.  I couldn’t get around the car ahead of me and the cars to my right and to my left wouldn’t budge.  I thought it was some kind of conspiracy with the whole world, including the animals, decidedly against me. I wondered if Noah ever had a day like this.

A good friend called to see how I was doing.  What a loaded question that was!  I told him I didn’t feel very Christian and proceeded to share my terrible day. I called my mom and she got the full onslaught as well.  I was miserable and I determined that everyone I knew would just be miserable as well.  Ever been there?  None of this solved my computer problem, but grinding that axe seemed to make me feel better; I mean I actually enjoyed it. If what James said in the opening verse above applied to me, I had to be the happiest man alive!

It was only after I had spent the day frustrated, angry, confused, bitter, hostile, and just a little cranky, that I realized what a wasted this day had been. Replaying my thoughts and conversations from the day indicated every sentence or thought began with the word “I” or had the word “me” in it at least three or four times.  I looked at myself as the victim.  Nothing went my way, everything was against me, I didn’t understand why I was going through this, you get the picture don’t you?

James certainly hit me right between the eyes when I calmed down and remembered this little admonition.  James says that we will face trials of many kinds.  He never says they are fun but he does say they have their purpose and that purpose is the perfecting of our faith the increasing of our patience.

I wasn’t very faithful or patient on that particular Monday; I was anything but.  And that is why I missed the blessing of verse 4, “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  Because of my attitude, I was lacking in several areas, not the least of which was my relationship with God.  But God’s design is to grow me to maturity so I want lack anything.  That Monday reminded me just how much growing up I still have left to do.

The next time you have one of those days, and it may be today, be thankful for it.  I know this is not something you want to hear, especially if today’s your day, but God is with us in the small trials as well as in the big ones and I think that when we have just one of those days He is reminding us of just how difficult it is to live the Christian life without Him!

A "Grater" Experience

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ll of us have pictures from our childhood that shape the way we view the world around us.   The kids we used to play with, the streets we used to walk, the games we used to play, and the secrets we used to share are indelibly etched in our memories. All of us, from time to time, venture back into the past to relive those wonderful experiences and to return to a time when life was much simpler and carefree.

Like all of you, I too have fond memories of my childhood.  Each time I pass the house where I grew up, memory after memory floods my mind and I am transported back to the days when nothing really mattered except being home for supper.  I remember long summer days when my friends and I played until late in the evening, milking every ray of sunlight from the sky until darkness fell.  I also remember the bitter cold of winter, shuffling through heavy snows, dragging my sled, on the way to join my friends who were already having loads of fun on one of the hills in a nearby neighborhood.

But one of my fondest memories does not involve sun, snow, sleds, or friends.  It has nothing to do with a particular game, a conversation, or a prank played on someone in the neighborhood.  There is one particular item that always takes me back to our home on Main Street, to the kitchen where I watched my mom cook so many meals, bake so many cakes, and turn common items into wonderful dishes as if by magic.

Our kitchen was a wonderful place and it was the exact center of our home.  I can still see my mother standing at the counter making one of a number of her specialties.  She made Cole slaw, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato pudding, and wonderful pies that sometimes called for the zest of lemons, oranges, or limes. 

All of these dishes required ingredients that had to be grated.  She would stand in the corner where our cabinets joined and vigorously rub a head of cabbage, a block of cheese, an onion, an orange, or anything else to be shredded against a grater.  She would work and work until enough cheese, or sweet potato had been shredded.  The job of that grater was to turn large portions of the ingredients into smaller, more useable pieces.  I can still hear the sound of cabbage rubbing against that grater as it was shredded into the right consistency for Cole slaw.

Isaiah the prophet wrote of this very process.  He knew that sometimes God has to work with us and place us against His grater in order to render us useful for His purposes.  Sometimes God places us under the heat, baking out all the impurities of life.  At other times, He grinds, cuts, beats, and mixes us until we are ready to be remade into something that will bring glory to our Heavenly Father.

Look at what the Lord has to say in Isaiah 48:10, “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”  At first glance, there is little that is appealing about a furnace or affliction.  Furnaces are hot places where heat is generated by burning and affliction always means difficulty and hardship.  But these are the very means and the very tools God uses to produce in us what we cannot produce in ourselves.  In the furnace, everything that is unnecessary and everything that is impure is burned away.  Only through intense heat can we be purged and prepared for God’s purposes.

Likewise, afflictions and difficulties come because they teach us to rely solely and completely on our God.  When we are faced with trials, when the circumstances of life are overwhelming, when fear, doubt, confusion, and problems crash down upon us, what are we to do?  Where are we to go?  It is at times like this that God wants us to run to Him.  He bids us jump into His arms and cling more tightly to Him.  He is our comfort and shelter in times such as these.  He tests us in the furnace of affliction because He knows what the end result will be.  God is always after the end result, never the present set of circumstances.  If you are in the furnace today, rest assured God is working to change your life into something that is more beautiful than you could ever imagine.

Mom’s grater is now sitting in my cabinet.  I asked if I could have it and she agreed. She has one of those new-fangled ones with a fancy handle and metal tray to hold all the shredded material inside.  It is a nice grater but I prefer the old one, the one she used to use, the one that taught me so many lessons. 

One last thing I should mention about the grating process.  Whatever is being grated is constantly in the hand of the person doing the shredding.  When enough of the ingredient has been shredded, the process will stop but not one second before.  Is God shredding you today?  Are you ready to have a grater experience?  I truly hope so!

Life In The Pits

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 grew up in the heart of NASCAR country.  North Carolina is home to several race tracks and many successful and famous drivers and owners make their homes in the state.  Names like, Petty, Earnhardt, LaBonte, Elliot, Yarborough, and Jarrett were just part of my childhood.  The sport itself never interested me personally and I have never attended an actual event but I have spent several hours on the couch watching a race with my dad or my close friend, David, as these drivers, and many others, drove their vehicles at break-neck speed around a giant oval track.

When I came to seminary in 1997, the Texas Motor Speedway was in the final stages of construction.  The speedway is located just north of Fort Worth and, like most things in Texas, is huge.  I found that racing is just as popular here as it is in North Carolina and the mystique and the aura surrounding those tracks at home migrated west as thousands of fans jockeyed for tickets and seating locations for races at the speedway.  The names I knew in North Carolina also appeared in Texas and the love of the sport is just as fervent.

Most fans will tell you there is nothing quite like attending a race in person.  The television cameras cannot accurately capture the speed of the vehicles nor the sound of the winding motors as the cars whiz by people seated in the grandstands.  But to me the most remarkable activity at a race is not what takes place on the track, it is what occurs in the pits. 

This area, small by comparison with the rest of the track, is the very nerve center and heartbeat of the race.  In the pits, the drivers receive new fuel, new tires, they exchange information, adjustments are made to the cars, and the driver receives some refreshment and a few moments of rest. After this brief stopover, the driver peels out of the area and rejoins the race, setting his eyes on the finish line.

As Christians and children of God, we need to understand the importance of life in the pits.  If anything, the daily grind and challenges of life should remind us that we cannot make this journey on our own.  We are in constant need of fuel, of adjustments, of directions, and rest.  It is impossible for us to drive through life at break-neck speed, tackling all the curves and burning up all the straight-aways without ever visiting the pits to take on fresh supplies.  When we determine to run the race in our own strength and on our own terms, we very often find ourselves broken down, parked along side the road, off the main highway, a good distance from the pits, in need of repairs and a tow.

The prophet Isaiah understood that breaks from life’s rat race are not only something to look forward to, they are an essential part of the race in life.  Long before the invention of the car and way, way before man dreamed up the idea of professional racing, Isaiah gave explicit instructions concerning pit stops.  His wonderful words of wisdom have become one of the most quoted passages of scripture and can be found in Isaiah 40:31, “But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” 

What an accurate description of life in the pits!  Isaiah admonishes his readers to wait on the Lord.  Waiting means that we cease all activity.  Waiting means that we turn off the engine.  Waiting means that we relinquish our grip on the steering wheel and we remove our foot from the accelerator.  Waiting means that we allow the One in the pit to take care of us, to supply us with new fuel, new instructions, new adjustments, and to give us refreshment for our bodies, minds, and souls.  Life in the pits is not lived at break-neck speed; it is lived in perfect stillness, waiting until we get the thumbs up from the Crew Chief that we can continue with our race!

Wherever you are today in your walk with the Lord, it is my prayer that you will take time to visit the pits.  It is there you will be re-supplied.  It is there you will be renewed.  It is there that you will be refreshed.  Life in the pits is not as fast as life on the track, but without it, the finish line will never be a reality!  Are you experiencing life in the pits today?

Salvageable!

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rowing up in a small town had several advantages.  One of these perks was knowing most of the people by name and where to find help when you needed it.  Although our downtown area was small, you could find most anything you needed.  Mr. Ferguson ran a local hardware store, Mr. Eaker, Mr. Doty, and Mr. Hudson sold men’s clothing, Mrs. Costner ran a dress shop for women, Mr. Mabry ran a home and auto store, Mr. Roy Carpenter and his cousin Troy ran a small grocery store, and there were several other shops, including three barbershops, a café, and a hotel.

In time, some of these businesses closed and others took their place.  New business also opened, offering more variety to the downtown area.  One of these stores was simply known as, “The Salvage.”  This store was opened in the late 1980’s by the local trucking company.  Refused freight made its way back to the salvage to be sold to the general public for reduced prices.

The Salvage opened every Wednesday morning.  As soon as the door opened, people piled in, rummaging through boxes, flipping through containers, and examining all the items on the display floor.  Sometimes there were very good bargains to be had, and at other times there was very little to get excited over, but every time you could find something you could use or just wanted.  Something of very little value to one person was a treasure to another.  This was the allure and the magic of The Salvage.

Would it surprise you to know that the concept of the salvage store is found in the New Testament?  In first letter to the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul, spells out in great detail the activity described above.  It’s almost as if he was peering through the window of “The Salvage”, watching people do their rummaging.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 reads, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”

Have you ever thought about God this way?  Paul’s description of these believers is not flattering.  They were not the most intelligent, not the most influential, and they were not noble.  Yet, God chose them to be his servants.  That is just like God, isn’t it?  What the world calls junk, he calls worthy.  What the world rejects, he openly accepts.  What the world despises, he loves.  And the result is the world’s confusion and God’s glorification.  God just doesn’t do things the way the world thinks he should and I, for one, am so glad.

Yes, God visits salvage shops.  Instead of rejecting mankind because of his sin, God accepted him.  He decided we were salvageable.  So, he blew off the dust, gave us the once over, saw the worth that his son could bring to us, and he salvaged us!  What a wonderful thought and blessing for us today.  We are no longer on the shelf collecting dust; we are now on permanent display in God’s trophy case!  Not bad for a piece of junk, is it?

In and Behind Your Ears

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oap and water are the sworn enemies of all children!  There’s just something about the words “bath time” that strikes fear into the heart of any kid, no matter how big, brave, or dirty he or she may be!

I remember how much I hated taking a bath.  I would always find some excuse to avoid the dreaded march to the bathroom. I argued that I wasn’t that dirty, that I had just had a bath the night before, or that, following up on a conversation I overheard between my parents, our water bill was just too high and that by not taking a bath, I was actually “helping” keep costs down.  I had no idea what that meant but it sure sounded good!

None of these arguments, however, swayed or even phased my mom!  When she said, “bath time,” that is exactly what she meant--no negotiations, no appeals to dad, just the obedient death march to the bathroom.  Once in the tub, I had to make sure all the dirt, grime, and filth was completed washed away.  Just about the time I finished this “burdensome task,” mom would call from the kitchen and remind me to “make sure you wash in and behind your ears!” On more than one occasion she had informed me that we could probably produce a good crop of potatoes from the dirt in my ears!

Washing behind my ears, I could understand, but washing in them was beyond me. Who, besides mom and the doctor, was going to be looking in my ear canal?  Who wanted to?  But, in order to avoid any confrontation, I took the washcloth and dutifully washed both in and behind my ears.  Who would have thought that a little dirt would be such a big deal?  But mom knew that keeping my ears clean, especially the inside, would avoid infections and all kinds of not-so-fun stuff.

The idea of keeping the outside and the inside clean and protected can be found in the story of Noah and his ark!  Don’t believe me?  Then just take a look at this brief, but very important passage found in Genesis 6:14, “So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.”

God’s instructions were clear, Noah was to use cypress wood to build the ark and he was to make sure it was coated, both inside and out, with a substance called pitch. Why would God make this demand of Noah?  Let’s find out!

Pitch was a resin that could be made from any of a number of substances, such as coal tar, plants, etc. It was used as caulk to waterproof sea-going vessels.  Putting pitch, both on the inside and the outside of a ship ensured the vessel would be waterproof and stay afloat.  Noah, had to make sure that pitch covered every joint and seam of the ark, whether they were inside or outside.  The outside pitch prevented water from seeping in and the inside pitch was used to stop any water that might get past the outside resin.  The inside pitch, although unseen from the exterior, guaranteed the security of the ark.

The application to the Christian life is clear.  Jesus, in Matthew 23:27 warned the Pharisees of having cleaned behind their ears, so to speak, but having neglected to clean them on the inside, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”

Our Lord knows the hearts of men.  He knows that outward appearances are no indication of the inward condition.  The outside may appear clean but the inside is dirty, dark, and sinful.  Only the saving blood of Christ can pitch and seal the human heart both inside and out.  So, how clean are your spiritual ears today?

Watch Your Speed

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ave you ever noticed how God uses the very ordinary things in life to teach us extraordinary things about himself?  Every once in awhile, he speaks to us through circumstances and experiences that seem to have no religious context whatsoever.  Yet, it is these expressions of God's truth that we remember most and from which we learn the best and most memorable lessons about the God we serve.

Such was the case with me one Sunday morning on my way to church.  I was taking a leisurely drive down one of my favorite roads.  It passed through the countryside, through a few small communities and nice subdivisions before eventually joined the road that led to my church.  There is nothing particularly enticing about driving this road; there are no adventurous curves or little dips that take your stomach when you drive over them.   No, the only thing remotely interesting on this road is the very short notice you receive that the speed limit has changed.  This was my problem!

As I entered the curve, I saw him.  As soon as I realized who he was I shot a quick glance down at my speedometer and sure enough, it indicated I was exceeding the speed limit.  I quickly tapped my brakes but the policeman confirmed what I already knew.  As soon as I passed him, he made a U-turn in the road and followed me.  Knowing I was guilty, I pulled over to the side of the road and removed my license and registration in preparation for showing them to the officer.  When he got to my car, I handed him the papers.  He looked at them and asked me where I was going in such a hurry.  I told him that I was on my way to church, not more than a few miles ahead.  He continued looking at my papers and my car's registration.  He then handed the papers back to me and reminded me to watch my speed.  Then, he let me go.

This is what God's grace is like.  Although I broke the law, the police officer decided not to enforce the penalty I deserved.  This is the definition of grace.  Grace is receiving that which we don't deserve.  On that morning, I didn't deserve to go free, I deserved to receive a ticket and pay a fine.  However, for whatever reason, the policeman did not levy anything to my account.  It had nothing to do with me.  I pay taxes, I keep my bills current, I am not involved in any illegal activity.  Yet, on this one occasion, I broke the law and was guilty. 

If I had possessed no knowledge of the laws governing driving, circumstances would have been different.  But I did know the law and that knowledge is what caused me to hit my brakes when I saw the police car.  This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote, in Romans 3:20b,” for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”  In other words, my understanding of the law made me guilty of speeding because I knew better.  In life, I also know what God's law demands and that knowledge makes me accountable when I break his law.  Yet, God shows me grace by not giving me what I deserve.  As a sinner I deserved death, but God, through his grace, gave me eternal life. 

The officer was well within his rights to give me a ticket that Sunday morning, but his decision not to taught me a far greater lesson than if he had written me one.  God's grace teaches us a wonderful lesson about his love as well.  Instead of giving us what we deserve as sinners, God forgives us, restores us, and pours out his love and blessings on us.  He does this, not because of who we are or because of what we do, but simply because he chooses to. What a wonderful God we serve!  Are you watching your speed today?

All Along The Road

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s I drove the more involved, scenic route back to the Interstate, the evening sun was sinking low in the west.  It splashed everything with a wonderful wave of orange-red light that reflected off the windows of houses I passed.  The metal trailers of passing trucks looked as if they were on fire, giving the impression that the tractor trailers were pulling great plumes of fire behind them instead of metal containers filled with different goods.  As I crested a small hill, I took notice of the many telephone poles lining the highway.  Like everything else in the path of the setting sun, they wore an orange mantle, taking on the reddish color of the great California Redwoods.  But what caught my eye was not the poles themselves; it was the lines that connected them that became the focus of my attention.

All along the road, these sentinels stood guard over the Interstate, faithfully performing their mission.  Between each pole were draped several lines over which literally thousands of messages were passing.  Those wires carried news of marriages, births, engagements, and conversations of reunions between old friends.  All of these were traveling much faster than my car and the poles made sure all the messages were successfully delivered.  What type of messages, I wondered, is my life transmitting?  Is the message of Jesus Christ being faithfully communicated to all those crossing my path on a daily basis?

The Apostle John was very much concerned with the message of Jesus Christ and its successful transmission to everyone he met.  John was known as the “Beloved Disciple” and shared a very close relationship with our Lord.  John also wanted his readers to understand that there was only one message that he and the other followers of Jesus Christ wished to communicate. We find this message recorded in 1 John 1:5, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” 

In this first letter, John goes to great lengths to stress to his readers that he was among those who personally knew Jesus. John heard him, saw him, and touched him.  He saw the feeding of the five thousand, he witnessed the raising of Lazarus from the dead, he was present at the Last Supper, and he witnessed the crucifixion.  John also encountered the resurrected Lord and saw him ascend into heaven. No wonder he wanted his readers to understand that he and the others had received this message first-hand and wanted to pass it on down the line to those who had not seen Jesus in the flesh but who believed in him through faith.

That is why John writes that they received this message from Jesus, himself.  The message is that God is light.  What a wonderful promise and truth this is.  In a world that is dark, cold, and uncertain. In a world where wrong is seemingly rewarded and right is punished, John wants us to understand that the light of truth does burn brightly and that light is found in God.  Our job is to make sure this message is passed all along the road to everyone we meet.  No matter where you are in your walk with God, the message is still the same and everyone needs to hear it.  People need the Lord; won’t you be one of the lines of communication all along the road of life today?

I Will Be With You

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ost people who know me would agree that I am rarely at a loss for words.  In fact, they would tell you that it’s hard to get a word in, especially when I’m on a roll.  I believe that’s why I love teaching language. I get paid to talk and I make sure my employer gets the full benefit of the investment.  However, there are times when words don’t come so easily.  I receive a phone call telling me someone has experienced a death in his/her family, or someone calls because they’ve had a falling out with a friend, or someone wants to talk because they’ve received word that a loved one has an incurable disease.  How do you respond at a time like this?  What words can you say or what can you do to minister to their needs?

I will always remember the summer of 1999. I was working as a chaplain at Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico, located in the southwestern United States.  I was one of two chaplains on call for this particular week.  It was our duty to deliver messages, address conflicts, do interventions, and attend to the needs of both staff and campers when called upon. It was during this week that I had to perform one of the most difficult tasks of my life.

Early on Tuesday morning, my beeper sounded, requesting me to deliver a message to one of the adult advisors who was on the trail.  I took the message, wrote down the necessary information and made arrangements to locate the advisor.  The message I carried was not an easy one to relay.  During the night, the advisor’s mother had passed away and it was up to me to deliver that message.  I had never delivered a death message and I had no idea what to do or say.  In all honesty, I didn’t want to deliver that message and would have loved to pass it on to someone else.  I asked another, more-seasoned chaplain to go with me and he agreed.  On the way he told me he would help me and gave me good advice about how to deliver this news.  As a result of his counsel, the message was delivered and I was able to minister to this person’s needs.

If you’ve ever been in a similar situation where you didn’t have the “right words” to speak, you’ll be glad to know you are not alone.  Some of the greatest men and women of faith have also felt inadequate when called upon to minister to and serve others for God.  One such man was Moses.  God’s request that he return to Egypt and confront Pharaoh left Moses speechless and scrambling for excuses not to obey God’s command.  He was scared and had no idea what to say.  I mean it’s not every day a guy is called upon to walk into the throne room of the most powerful ruler in the world and demand the release of the entire labor force.  You talk about needing the power of persuasion!!!!!  But this is exactly what God required of Moses; and, in a similar way, it is what He requires of us.

Exodus 4:11-12 gives us a wonderful snapshot of Moses at the burning bush, talking with God.  Moses has given almost every excuse in the book and yet God still calls him.  But God does not intend for Moses to go alone.  He never says “Go down, tell Pharaoh to hand over the slaves, and then meet me back here when it’s all over!”  No! Look at what God tells Moses in this conversation. “The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

Like all of us, Moses gives God every reason for not being able to carry out the assigned task.  Moses had difficulty speaking, he had murdered an Egyptian, and he was a fugitive.  Not a very impressive resume, is it?  But none of that was important to God.  He knew all about Moses and called him into service anyway.  We must understand that when God calls us to do something for Him, He always equips us and prepares us for that task.  Look at the last sentence in this passage of scripture. God promises to help Moses and to teach him the words to say.  In other words, the actions Moses would perform and the words he would speak would both come from God.  God never asked Moses to free the people, and He never asked Moses to take on Pharaoh.  Moses was incapable of both these tasks.  But God did ask him to do what he was able to do—proclaim God’s message.

There is a great lesson here for us today as well as great comfort.  God always calls us to things that are bigger than we are.  He always assigns us tasks that are out of our reach, that are too great for us to handle, and that are impossible for us to perform.  Why does it seem that God sets us up for failure?  Moses certainly didn’t feel confident about his ability to carry out his mission.  But God didn’t let Moses fail because Moses had to depend on God.  That is why He gives us such difficult tasks, so we will depend on and cling tightly to Him.  God assigns us the impossible, not to see us fail, but so that we will gain a better and more complete knowledge of who He is and His great love for us.    

Today you may be faced with sharing some difficult news with a friend, a co-worker, or a family member.  You might also be called upon to share Jesus with someone you know or perhaps a complete stranger.  The feelings of inadequacy are normal and so is a little fear.  But God has promised to go with you and to teach you what you are to say.  Go forward in His strength, in His provision, and in His love today.  You will not be disappointed and you will never, ever fail!