do this in remembrance…

I was spending some time reading through Deuteronomy and came across this next passage, and the idea is repeated again later on in the book. It is something that spoke to me and something that I think is as important to us today as it was when written.

¹⁸ “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ²¹ so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.

“So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine….. God is calling us to complete devotion and obedience with these words. Wholeheartedly, with our whole hearts, not just a part of it but with all of it. And when you think about what the heart represents, it represents life to us. Without the heart which pumps blood throughout our body we would all be dead. The heart is central to our existence and it is a good place to start, the very central part of your being, the thing without which life would not exist, commit that to the words of the Lord. The center of your existence needs to be centered on the words of God.

Tie them to your hands…  think of the times through the day that you use your hands. You touch, you feel,  you scratch, you pick up, your hands are pretty much central to all you do through out the day. They represent your interface with the world and God is telling us to tie his words to our hands so that everything we do we have a visual and constant reminder of his words and every part of our day is effected by this.

Wear them on your forehead as reminders…. represents our thought life. Wrap your thoughts around the words of Christ.

Teach them to your children…. It is important to pass them on to the younger generation

Talk about them at home…. talk about them, make God’s words the topic of conversation at your home

Talk about them on the road….  talk about them at work, at play, at the store, share God’s words with all the people you come in contact outside the wall of your home.

When you are going to bed…. Let your thoughts be on God’s words as you go to sleep.

When you are getting up…. Let your thoughts be on God’s words as you start you day

Doorposts of your house…. Put them on your door frame so that as you are going out or coming in you are reminded of them.

The idea is do whatever it takes to remember the words of God because our very existence depends on it. Jesus tells us in Matthew;

Matthew 4:4

⁴Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’^[a]“

Our “life” depends on having God’s words in it. It is as important as the food we eat. The thing to do then is be in His word, read it, study it, share it, live it, and remember it……..

walls, hobbits, such and so forth….

I have a friend who is a hobbit and he is always talking to me about my walls, the one’s that I have built around me to keep people out or at a distance. I know they are there, have always known it and to be honest have most of the time embraced them. I have crafted them well and each provides a different thing for me. Some offer protection, some offer peace of mind, some keep people out and some keep people in, and some if not all are barriers to things in life that maybe I should be experiencing.

I wrote these lyrics probably two years ago about these very things:

Walls

Walls painted red
Walls painted black
Walls there in front of me
Walls at my back

Every where I turn
These old walls are just screaming at me(surround me)
Everywhere I turn I start screaming right back
I want to be free
Free
free

Walls around my heart
Walls built up in my mind
Walls so high
Walls I can’t possibly climb

Every where I turn
These old walls are just screaming at me(surround me)
Everywhere I turn I start screaming right back
I want to be free
Free
Yeah free

These walls are killin me
I’ve built them brick by brick
I needed shelter
And these walls haven’t done the trick
Now I’m stuck on the inside
A place I once thought was safe
I need to get outside
i need to escape

i want to be free

I am trying to live outside the walls now, trying to get past the past, the past that started the wall building enterprise in the first place. Stepping outside these walls comes with a price and it is scary territory to be in. It’s always easy to turn back to the protection they offer and maybe even build new ones but freedom I think is worth the risk and cost.I know that I have been talking about me but I realize that we all have walls and I also know that there are many of you who are actually as good at building walls as I am. I am not alone here. We all get hurt along the way and being hurt is never fun, and the natural reaction to that is to do something that keeps that hurt from happening again. Remember the old joke, the guy goes to the Dr. and says every time I move my arm like this hurts. The Dr. looks at him and says, don’t move your arm like that. Ha ha ha ha!

Well the deal is we are all going to experience hurts but we can’t let those hurts keep us from experiencing life, keep us from experiencing relationships, keep us from experiencing love. We need to learn from the experience but not let the experience keep us from experiencing.

Romans 5 ³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

There have been walls between us and God, sin is one of those walls.

Romans 5

¹⁸ Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. ¹⁹ Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

Our sin hurt God but that didn’t keep God from continuing to pursue us and make a plan where we can be restored and I am so thankful for that.

There were walls in the tabernacle and the temple that kept all but the high priest from God, but Jesus came to break those walls down, and once again I am so thankful that.

Matthew 27

⁵⁰ Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. ⁵¹ At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Because of this we have direct access to a God without walls and are able to have a relationship with Him that was not possible before Jesus. Since God is in the business of tearing down walls and I am in my Father’s business I am going to work at tearing down walls in my own life. I will probably start by building a few doors first then move on from there……….

on staying awake…..

There has been an underlying theme in the time I have spent with God lately. It has shown up in the songs that He has given me to write, it has shown up in the scriptures that jump out at me when I am spending time in the word, it is in that still small voice that I hear during times of prayer. The theme is “It’s time”.

“It’s time” to draw nearer to Jesus than you have been in a long time

“It’s time” to take seriously the call that He has on your life

“It’s time” to reach out to others with an intensity like never before

“It’s time” to love others more than you ever have

“It’s time” to expect God to do what He says He will do

“It’s time” to expect God

“It’s time” to worship God through out the week

“It’s time” to come into church worshiping God before the first song starts

“It’s time” to take off the cover and let your light shine

“It’s time” to be that voice in the wilderness

“It’s time” to be used

“It’s time” be wary

“It’s time” to be AWAKE!

You are probably aware that before Jesus was captured and taken to be tried,  He was praying in the garden. He was crying out to His Father and asking if there was any other way let it be, but if not he was willing. He had also asked His disciples to go and pray with him. But each time He walked away the disciples would go to sleep. He would come back and find them asleep and wake them up, stressing the importance of the moment. Still, each time He would walk away they would fall asleep until finally Jesus said the time had come (It’s time) and they captured Jesus.

I found another place in the scriptures where this happened, in Luke 9:

²⁸ About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. ²⁹ And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³⁰ Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. ³¹ They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. ³² Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him.

Still yet another time where Jesus invited them to spend some time with Him and they fell asleep. Luckily they awoke in time to see the main event but who knows what they missed because they were asleep. It is easy to lose focus, to even take Jesus for granted in this world because it is easy to put our needs first and being self centered is part of our natural make up. The disciples even as they walked with Jesus on this earth would lose focus, would let their personal needs get in the way of what Jesus was doing at that time. I am sure if we all could look back on even last week and see what we missed out on because we were asleep would literally break our hearts.

“It’s time” to be AWAKE!  Jesus has invited us all to be with Him, to be a part of what God has going on in this world and we have to be careful not sleep through it. We need to be alert and looking for His voice as we go through this thing called life, as we go through each day, and follow where He leads. We need to not let any opportunity slip past us because we were not aware, alert, awake.

It’s time to go
It’s time to show
It’s time to let the world know
It’s time to praise the lord

“line from new song called “It’s Time”)

You won’t find
My heart hardened
You won’t find
Me asleep
You will find
My passion
You will find me
Letting you lead

(line from new song “Lord Where You Lead”)

It literally only takes about ten minutes of watching one of the news channels to realize this world needs Christ Followers to wake up. So let me encourage you with two of my life verses:

Romans 8:15 (The Message)

^15-17This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!

Live this week adventurously expectant, knowing who God is, not being timid and willing to follow through the hard times  as well as the good times.

Isaiah 6:8 (New Living Translation)

⁸ Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

Be that person who stands up, who realizes all that God has done for you, who is willing to hear and answer God’s call and God’s challenge, who is willing to wake up, and tell God here I am, send me!

the view

There is a place I like to go that overlooks the town of Abingdon Va and it helps me keep perspective about life and other things. At night you would be suprised by the lights. Everywhere you look you see lights, and Abingdon looks like a large city at night. I love the view.

As I look out at the lights I think of the lives they represent. Each life a conglomeration of ideas, troubles, successes and excesses, dreams and broken dreams, hopes and disillusionment, relationships and lonliness, fears and failures, gains and losses. A common thread that runs through all these lives that is seldom understood or realized, and that is we all share these experiences. No one is immune to any of these things and we are all really in this thing together. We are not alone, even though many times we feel we are.

Romans 8:18-25 (New Living Translation)

The Future Glory

¹⁸ Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. ¹⁹ For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. ²⁰ Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, ²¹ the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. ²² For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children,^[a] including the new bodies he has promised us. ²⁴ We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope^[b] for it. ²⁵ But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

The place I love to go to allows me to see Abingdon in a totally different way, this scripture allows us to look at life from a different perspective as well. We all are waiting eagerly for something, all creation waits for the answer to this thing called life. We were all subjected to God’s curse and are all in the same boat looking to get out of it. We try different things, but the real answer is God. His plan is that we accept His gift, Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he gave for us, and become the children of God. And because we are children of God not only are we new creatures now but we will be given everything new in the future. New bodies, FULL rights as children of God and all those things that make up life as we know it now, ideas, troubles, successes and excesses, dreams and broken dreams, hopes and disillusionment, relationships and lonliness, fears and failures, gains and losses will be different or gone. We will experience the very thing we have desperately been searching for for so long.

This vision is what my sights are set on, looking for that day, this is the view I desperately, along with all of creation, want to see.

Something else to overcome….

You know life can be hard sometimes. It is always a series of ups and downs, hills and valleys, with short moutain top experiences. Valleys are the low spots, the dark times, the places where the sun don’t reach very often and they are the places where we look up to God and cry out for help. The hills are the climb out of the valleys, the way out and the way up but they require effort. Think of the last time you climbed a hill and you were short of breath due to the exertion, it took effort and left you winded but you made it to the top. Not easy by any means to make the climb but worth it because it is the way out of the valley. Then, you have the mountain top, which is a small part of land that is higher than everything around it and you can see for miles. This is the cool place to be and you really want to hang out here and keep this sense of elation, but like I said, it is a small piece of land and you can stay there only for a while. If you were to stay here too long even this wonderful place would lose it’s appeal. Then you have the journey back down, sometimes it is slow and manageable, sometimes it is way too fast and terrifying, sometimes you go all the way back down to the valley and other times you go only a little way then start the climb again. Ultimately in life there is always something else to overcome…………

There is no choice to be made really, it is just a truth. If you are going to live then you have to overcome, no matter what you are facing today if you choose life then you choose to overcome . Here are the lyrics to my favorite song by Steven Curtis Chapman….

Steven Curtis Chapman The Mountain Lyrics

I want to build a house up on this mountain
Way up high where the peaceful waters flow
To quench my thirsty soul
Up on the mountain

CHORUS

My faith is strengthened by all that I see
You make it easy for me to believe up on the mountain
Oh, up on the mountain

I would love to live up on this mountain
And keep the pain of living life so far away
But I know I can’t stay
Up on the mountain

CHORUS

I said I’d go, Lord, wherever You lead
For where You are is where I most want to be
And I can tell we’re headed for the valley
My faith is strengthened by all that I’ve seen
So Lord help me remember what You’ve shown me
Up on the mountain

CHORUS 2
You bring me up here on this mountain
For me to rest and learn and grow
I see the truth up on the mountain And I carry it to the world far below
So as I go down to the valley
Knowing that You will go with me
This is my prayer, Lord
Help me to remember what You’ve shown me
Up on the mountain
Up on the mountain

I cherish these times up on the mountain
But I can leave this place because I know
Someday You’ll take me home to live forever
Up on the mountain

That last verse says it all, “I can leave this place because I know someday you’ll take me home…”

Psalms 62

5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
for my hope is in him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will not be shaken.
7 My victory and honor come from God alone.
He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
8 O my people, trust in him at all times.
Pour out your heart to him,
for God is our refuge.

Something else to overcome is made more manageable and is filled with hope if you recognize your need for God and realize that He is with you all the way, all the time, and has all you need. “o my people, trust in Him at all times”….

New…..

I always look forward to this time of year as I look forward this time each year. December always proves to be challenging, because on top of the normal hustle and bustle of the season the worship ministry at Highlands shifts into high gear. So by the time the last Christmas musical is done I need medical attention, emotional attention, recreational attention, and relaxation.

But I have for several years used this time between Christmas and New Years day as a time to reflect and look ahead, mostly look ahead. I have the feeling that with the new year everything begins again, you have a do over, you have an excuse to make some changes and try to do things better this time. So I look ahead, think about things that I want to accomplish, things I want to experience, and I make a list. Then, when the clock strikes midnight and I give my wife Renee a kiss, I have some idea about where we are heading in the new year. This helps me…..

This year kind of looks like this: visit the grand canyon, read the bible through at least once maybe more, work on five key relationships, start two new relationships, have a weekly date with my wife, learn how to play the mandolin….. I don’t want to give it all away just give you an idea. I am looking forward 2009, the challenges, the successes, the quiet moments, the exciting times and going to try to get it right.

Romans 8:15 (The Message)

15-17This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!

I hope you all have a great new year!

not easy

Colossians 3

Rules for Holy Living

1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your^[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory…….12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,

set your mnd on things above, not earthly things, WHEN THE EARTHLY THINGS ARE SCREAMING FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

clothe yourselves with compassion, WHEN COMPASSION TAKES TIME AND IS ALMOST ALWAYS AN INTERUPTION OF WHAT YOU HAD PLANNED!

clothe yourself with kindness, WHEN YOUR HURTING AND SOMETIMES ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS LASH OUT!

clothe yourself with humility, WHEN SOMETIMES ALL YOU WANT IS A LITTLE RECOGNITION FOR WHAT YOU HAVE GIVEN GREAT EFFORT TOWARDS!

clothe yourself with gentleness, IN A WORLD WHERE GENTLENESS IS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND CONSIDERED WEAK AND MAKES YOU AN EASY MARK!

clothe yourself with patience, WOW, WHAT A LOST ART IN A SOCIETY THAT DEMANDS INSTANT GRATIFICATION!

bear with each other, OH GIVE ME A BREAK WE BARELY HAVE TIME FOR EACH OTHER!

We have been called to walk a different path than those of the world, above you see how stark the contrast between the two really is. I personally can relate to all the capitilized phrases, these are the things I have to guard against so there is a difference in my walk that is noticed. We have been called to let the PEACE of Christ rule in our hearts, rule in the thing that pumps life to every part of our body, we have been called to let that PEACE rule so that we can be all these things to a world of people who are hurting, angry, beaten down, lost, and searching for a way out.

Is it easy, no not easy, but we have been raised with Christ, we have been given hope, we have been given a future that is secure, we have been given the assurance that whatever we face we face it with someone who is greater than us, we have been given the fullness of God through Christ who lives in us. It is not easy, but it is our calling……

hungry?

I saw an interview with one of my earliest influences and heroes, Johnny Cash. He made a statement in that interview that was as profound as it was obvious, “creative people need to fed”. I can’t add anything to that, enough said.

Everything and All I need!

Still spending time in Daniel, each chapter has been just as much a blessing as the chapter before. But last night God led me to a scripture that I felt was the scripture for today, maybe even for the week. I have thought about this since I read it yesterday, I have thought about it and journeled on it this morning before conference call, and I am still thinking about it now, so I guess I better share it with you now, here goes with my thoughts coming afterward.

Psalm 144

A psalm of David.

1 Praise the Lord, who is my rock.
He trains my hands for war
and gives my fingers skill for battle.
2 He is my loving ally and my fortress,
my tower of safety, my rescuer.
He is my shield, and I take refuge in him.
He makes the nations^[a] submit to me.

The first thing that got my attention was the phrase, He trains my hands for war. That is a bold statement and one that I think every Christian out to stand up and take notice of. David’s God is the same God that we serve today and what He did for David he has the ability to do for us. I am not sure what war David was talking about at that particular time, whether it was a war that he had with flesh and blood or if it was a war against principalities. But I know what war we find ourselves in each day if we are serious about taking ground for the kingdom, the one against our enemy and his principalities. God will train our hands for this war just as He trained David’s hands for the one that he faced.

Then David goes on to make a list of several things that God is or that God provides for his soldiers, here they are:

My loving ally; someone who stands beside me in battle, someone who is there because He cares for me and loves me with a sacrificial love that puts Him in harms way on the battlefield with me. He is someone who I can count on, to be there when the battle runs hot and danger is at hand.

My Fortress; He is the place that I can go to when things get too hard to handle, somewhere I can go to be protected from all the blows, arrows, enemies, somewhere I know that I am protected from the battle. He is my strong defense.

My Tower of Safety; He is looking out for me, looking at what lies ahead, seeing beyond what I can see or what I have the ability to see. He sees the enemy and helps me prepare for what is to come, helps me come up with a game plan and helps me find the way to victory.

My rescuer; If I stumble in the battle, if I find myself down and injured, find myself about to be taken out, He will come to my aid. He will pick me up before it is too late, save me from destruction.

My Shield; He will protect my heart and the soft weak parts of my body from the arrows of the enemy.

My Refuge; He is the place I can go to after the battle to recover, to have time for my wounds to recover, to rest and replenish my strength to be ready for the next battle. He is the place of healing.

My God is Everything and All I need, the last sentence says it all, and He makes the nations submit to me. In other words, He gives me the victory……

TRUTH

Something searched for but is feared when found. Something needed but not always well recieved. Something most people feel the need to keep hidden or not willing to share. Something easy to find but mostly overlooked. Something that is absolute but not recognized by the culture as being so. Something that is hard to write about because of repercussions.

_ _ _ _ _ , you fill in the blank, is something that I have been thinking a lot on lately. As I have been spending time in the word reading the book of Daniel, I have seen how God used and blessed someone who was really willing to stand on his beliefs. Someone who was willing to stand on the _ _ _ _ _ , no matter what the outcome of such a stand presented. Someone who was not afraid to be different and someone who chose  not to become so encumbered by culture as to be made impotent. Someone who had faith that his God was going to take care of him one way or the other and no matter how bad things looked and no matter how much the _ _ _ _ _ was going to cost him he made the choice to stand on it always. Daniel’s stand on the _ _ _ _ _. for the _ _ _ _ _ , and willingness to share the _ _ _ _ _ was always blessed by God.

I personally am encouraged by the life of Daniel. Daniel was able to retain his standards of living for God while still being successful in the culture that he lived in. He did not do it by blending in, by hiding, by going underground, he did it by making a stand, by being different, by remaining faithful to his calling and his God. The first six chapters are examples of his stands and his successes, each success tied to his faithfulness to the _ _ _ _ _ and to God.

I want to be the person who does not have to wear masks so that I can be accepted by my friends, my church, my community. I want to be the person willing to take stands, to take sides, to be different, to be bold in my beliefs and be bold in the _ _ _ _ _ that my God shows me. I want to be the person who is not afraid to go to a brother or a sister going down the wrong path and share the _ _ _ _ _ with them, share the word of God and help them from making terrible mistakes. I want to be like Daniel.

I have a vision of who I want to be, how I want to live in the _ _ _ _ _ but I am not there yet. Go back to the introductory paragraph of this post. The _ _ _ _ _ has it’s risks to overcome, but I am encouraged that the same God that took care of Daniel in all of his stands is the SAME God I serve today. I have to keep that in the forefront of all my thinking and let that be an incentive to start sharing _ _ _ _ _  whenever, wherever, however I can.

Daniel 6:25 Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world:“Peace and prosperity to you! 26 “I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel.

For he is the living God,
and he will endure forever.
His kingdom will never be destroyed,
and his rule will never end.
27 He rescues and saves his people;
he performs miraculous signs and wonders
in the heavens and on earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”

28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.