Birds of a feather

There was a conspicuous absence of wind, and each breath you exhaled seemed to linger in the atmosphere, encircling you in an attempt to remind you of its presence. Your skin tingled with the bite of a December morning. With the temperature locked into the mid -teens you knew that your time in this environment was limited. Still the puppy played. “Hurry dog or you’re on your own!” was the best statement that I could generate under these conditions. Then we had a bonding moment. We both looked skyward at the same instant. The noise was the first thing we noticed, a rustling noise that would be hard to explain to anyone, loud, but yet interestingly soothing at the same time. Then we saw them. Fifty or so, birds flying at house top level headed somewhere at a crisp pace together, on the same course. They never announced their plan, their motive, or their purpose. I did notice one thing about them. Together they had the capability to hold our attention until they were no longer within sight.

Made me think about what the Bible says about sparrows (don’t know if these were sparrows) and how important things like that are in Gods plan. Made me think that even under these conditions fifty birds all headed in the same direction at the same time making the same noise made me stop and listen. Makes me wonder what if fifty people headed in the same direction at the same time making the same noise……interesting thought.

Good porkchops

Had dinner last night with a friend of mine. Someone that I consider a "good" friend. You know the type. A person that can tell you how bad you are and you thank them for being truthful with you. That's who I had dinner with last night. The event took the best part of four hours and I remember thinking as I drove back across town how fortunate I was to be at this place in my life. Here is someone willing to invest the majority of their evening in something as simple as a friendship. We talked about books we were reading, our wives, our lives, our jobs, and our Lord. We filled in the gaps of our lives since we last talked. We talked of dreams, plans, pains, and gains. I was encouraged.

We could all use some encouragement from time to time in our lives. Make it a point in the days ahead to do that simple thing. Listen to someone and encourage them. Be honest. Be real. Be willing to make the investment into someone else. You'll get more out of it than good pork chops.



Thanks for dinner, my friend, thanks.

Hello

Took the fancy phone back yesterday. Came to the conclusion that I really didn't need to have all that extra stuff it offered. I just need a phone. I need to talk to people, show a few pictures of fish and grand babies, that's about all I need a phone to do. The thing was great, it was just too complicated for me. Kind of made me think about some other things in my life. maybe they're too complicated. Let me see if I can simplify things here just a bit. I'll do my part and you do the rest.

Hello.....

Real Grace

Started reading a book this week and the first chapter deals with the subject of Gods grace. As I continued to read I was struck with the knowledge that I really forget about Gods grace being active in my life. That's hard to admit for a guy in my spot to come to grips with. After all I'm the "preacher".

When was the last time any of us really stopped and looked what God, through His grace, has done in our lives? How important to me is Gods grace? We read in the New Testament that over and over again how important the grace of God is in our lives, how without it we are not much good to anyone. I'm not talking about the "icing" kind of grace...those things that we are trained/conditioned to acknowledge, those thing that make us look like Christians, sound like Christians, act like Christians. Real grace. All grace, as mentioned in 2 Corinthians 9:8.

When a friend of his insulted a drunk in the gutter D.L. Moody is credited with the statement,"But for the grace of God there go I". Real grace.

Open for suggestions

What can I do that could possibly make a difference in the grand scheme of things. If my goal is to leave a spiritual imprint on the world where do I start? What must I do? What must change? Is there a pattern that I could/should follow? The questions seem to be never ending.

I feel like the first person that pulled all the stickers off his Rubik's Cube and replaced them in the proper order. "I have solved the problem !", but nothing has really changed. What must we do to reach those people that do not attend church on a regular basis? I'm open for suggestions.

Please spare me the churchy answers.

The idea of turning into a fossil really has a sobering affect on me. Am I really getting that old? Fossils are the evidence of something's existence, once upon a time. A reminder of what was, evidence of existence. You can already tell where this is going, but it is something we need to talk about.
As a Christ follower (shamelessly stolen terminology) we are required to share our hope with the people around us. We are told to worship our God. We are to be a people of faith. The question becomes, “How am I doing?” Am I leaving anything behind that states “I was here, I made a difference.”
Talk to someone younger and ask why they are not in church and your eyes will be opened quickly. One reason that is sited over and over again is simply that church is not relevant to their life. It’s not God they are mad at, it’s the people that are the disappointment to them. That’s us. Not everything we do is wrong; I just think we should do better. It’s that or an entire generation lives a great part of their life outside the church, and could miss heaven all together.
When they dig up the fossil of my life will they find an impression of me or of my God?