Thursday, March 13, 2008

God In Me

Jack Handy writes - “If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”

I was blessed by the love and support of my family and my church staff to be able to invest two days in prayer and study at St. Francis Retreat Center. During my time I had such a renewed sense of how much God loves us. It sounds flat as I write this but spending that time in God's word and having uninterrupted worship and prayer time just kept crushing me with the significance of God's love in my life. I went with a list of questions, I came home with the same set of questions. I came back today from my retreat with a greater thirst for just being with Him. I came home with a renewed desire and urgency to know God better and to have Him fully dwell within me. I guess my questions can wait, they don't seem as urgent as they did a couple of days ago.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Seeking God's Will

In seeking God's will I have asked questions that I would bet are quite popular with anyone who has pursued this goal. "what do you want me to do God?" "Why have you put me in this situation God?" "What in the world are you doing God?"

It's this last question that I believe has brought me the closest to the truth of knowing God's will. I am learning that seeking God's will is not just asking God if we should by this house or that house, or if we should take this job or that job, or if we should marry this person or not, or if I should have raisin bran or corn chex. Seeking God's will is as unimaginable and as simple as seeking God. To know God, to know His ways and His thoughts. God's will is that we would know Him. In knowing Him we can begin to renew our minds and become like Him and discern His ways.

Paul said it pretty well
Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

That is exactly what I am after.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Life Giver

This is a copy of an article written by Ron DeBoer. It is basketball season, and this is a story about basketball with a ESPN video. I have been using this story with our worship team to prepare us for Easter. This story reminds me in a powerful way of what God donated so that we could receive life. Read the story, watch the video and enter Easter knowing that a Father watched His Son die so that all of us could live.

Life, Death, Rebirth
by Ron DeBoer
1/4/2008

If you’re a college basketball fan, you know what I mean when I refer to “March Madness.” It’s that time in the spring when the best NCAA Division One men’s basketball teams begin their journey on the Road to the Final Four in an attempt at roundball supremacy. The journey begins with Selection Sunday, which this year occurs on March 16, when the sixty-four teams are chosen and slated into the tournament brackets. It’s an exciting time for everyone associated with a team that makes the tournament—its fans, cheerleaders, marching band, and even the mascot.

This article isn’t about the upsets of top seeds or the buzzer beater in one of the regional finals. This article isn’t about the madness that will begin in a few short weeks at sites all across the country. This article is about last year’s tournament and, particularly, the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot and the tremendous impact of the young man who wore that suit in saving the lives of over fifty people.



* The spiritual imagery emanating from this video gives me goosebumps. The organ donation administrator: “The gift that Jason gave—there’s no greater gift.” The reporter’s voice-over: “All the survivors struggle with guilt—someone else had to die so they could live.” And of course the testimony of Emmitt Ray, Jason’s father: “I don’t know how anyone could listen to some of the stories and the timing and everything that has occurred, and not think an architect is doing that—you know, it’s like God designed it.” You get the feeling when you read and hear about Jason Ray that if, before his death, he had been able to meet the people he saved afterwards, he might have chosen to die.

As we approach Easter, I often imagine the crucifixion of Jesus as seen by God’s eyes. I imagine the Father watching his Son being humiliated, tortured, and killed. When Jesus rises from the dead, I imagine God’s great satisfaction and pride in his son. His son—dying not for just fifty people, but for all of humankind then and in the future.

We are asked to be Christ-imitators in all we do, giving of ourselves freely and generously. Jason chose to donate his organs. Many of us may never get an opportunity to save others in that way. But we can save people in other ways by giving of our resources, time, and love. Jason donated himself to others when he was alive, too. God used his death to save others, but before that, God was surely using his life to save others as well.

God wants to use your life, too. In 2 Corinthians 9:7-9, Paul tells the people, “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. ‘For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.’ And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, ‘They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.’”

For me, Jason’s story doesn’t end with his life and death. I first received this video from a friend of mine who does not believe in God. My friend is a basketball fanatic who rejected God years ago when his mother was taken at a young age with cancer. Through his story, Jason is donating parts of his spiritual heart and impacting people like my friend whom he never met.

You and I can do the same today.