Reflections for Advent

At the congregation where my family and I worship, we have a regular booklet to guide our devotional thoughts during the week.  It's a great resource to have, especially as it keeps our thoughts in view of the message we hear at the assembly of the saints on Sunday.  We are encouraged daily with a Scripture reading, as well as guiding thought for the day.  And as is appropriate for Advent, quite often these reflections are on some promise that God makes to us.

Taking time to reflect on God's Word is not easy for us in the Western world.  We have been raised and taught that we are to be busy, active, and focused on all sorts of things.  When at work, we are taught to focus on our work.  We rarely take time to slow down, to stop, to think things through.  I remember hearing from a number of pastors over the years that many in the congregations they served would view their personal study time as something to be questioned.  Why?  Because the pastor wasn't "doing something".  His personal time of devotion and growing was seen as a waste because there was no activity to it.

It's difficult for us to slow down, to think, to reflect.  In fact, I would dare say that we are bad at it, and don't want to develop that discipline within ourselves.  Just imagine if you were sitting on your couch, or in your chair at work, quietly quoting a Psalm to yourself, letting the Spirit guide your thoughts, for about 4-5 minutes.  How focused on the Psalm would you be?  I would imagine that you would have all kinds of thoughts intrude and distract you from it.  On top of that, what if someone saw you doing this.  Would they think you were taking a nap?  Bored?  Needing more to do?

Quiet reflection time is precious.  If you ever get a chance to read all the way through Psalm 119 (all 176 verses), one theme you will see is that of reflecting and meditating on God's Word and Law. How do we do that, though?  What is gained by doing so?  Well, we do it by taking a verse or two, reading them (sometimes even multiple times), and then considering the areas of our lives where these speak. We let the Spirit guide us to see where we may be doing this, or to correct us when we aren't doing it well.  We may uncover sin issues that need to be confessed and dealt with.  And as a side benefit, we also start to develop discipline in our thinking, which benefits us outside of our reflection times.

For this Advent season, I simply want to encourage you to consider taking 2-5 minutes daily for a reflection on a Scripture reading of some sort.  Make it short, so you can remember it (or maybe even memorize it). Then let that Word work on you, your heart, your soul. If you find that you are not focused, take a deep breath and start again.  Don't be frustrated with yourself over your lack of ability, especially if you haven't developed this discipline before.  Start small, and work your way up.  Maybe start with two minutes, with the goal of four or five by the end of the season.  And let God's promise fill you as you reflect and develop this discipline.

Information Reflection

For a moment, think about the last thing you looked up on the internet.  What resources did you use to look up whatever it was?  How did you go about choosing the websites to look at that you did?  What were your criteria for determining if you thought the website was helpful or not? Did you just go with the first thing you saw and, if so, why did you take that approach?

I realize that taking the time to do these things I just wrote perhaps seems like a waste of time.  You just do it.  You "just know" if you can trust what you see or not.  You "just know" how to interpret what you see and how to understand it.  It's kind of like watching the news.  You "just know" that the reporters are just reporting the news.  You "just know" that they are presenting it objectively, without any attempt to steer your way of thinking.  Or, is that really the case?

Up front, I want to say this.  Reflection is difficult.  It is difficult to slow yourself down, ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing, to ask what you are trying to accomplish.  It's difficult to ask yourself why you trust this information instead of that information.  Shoot, most of the time we haven't taken the time to reflect on why we even are looking for what it is that we are looking for. We haven't taken the time to reflect on our motivations and instead are just doing it.

The day and age we live in is full of information.  It's also full of knowledge.  The amount of information we have access to is exponentially more than what previous generations had access to.  It would therefore stand to reason that we should be all the more reflective of the information we are looking at.  We should look at it critically (and for those who may not get this word "critically", by it I mean that you ask yourself why it is deemed trustworthy, not that you are being negative toward it).  Since there is so much out there, we need to work toward wisdom to understand what we are looking at, why we are looking at it, and what we hope to accomplish by looking at it.

Reflection isn't just something that I am encouraging you to do from time to time.  It is actually a lifestyle.  It guides you to know yourself better, your strength areas, your weak areas.  It gives you a clearer picture of who you are, and of why you do the things you do.  Most of us assume we know these things, but I would dare say that taking some time to reflect might actually open our eyes a bit, and not always in painless ways.

So next time you are looking for something on this world wide web, think about why you are looking at it.  Think about what it is telling you, and why you are processing it the way you are.  Start reflecting on it, even if only for a moment.  Perhaps that moment of reflection will lead to you learning something about yourself, which is far more valuable than whatever you may have been looking up. 

Thinking about God's Will, Law, and Design for Life

"You shall not lie with  a male as with a woman; it is an abomination."  Leviticus 18:22

"You shall not round ff the hair of your temples or mar the edges of your beard.  You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves; I am the LORD."  Leviticus 19:27-28

"When a stranger sojourns with you in your land,you shall do him no wrong."  Leviticus 19:33

Okay, what do these various Bible readings have in common?  Well, they all come from the book of Leviticus, which outlined much of the will and commands of God pertaining to His people and how they should live with one another.  They outline God's will and design for life in this world, which speaks to how He created us and what He look for from His creation.

Yet, one of our human tendencies is to look at certain parts of God's law and to see some of what He says as "more serious" than other matters.  In the context of our life in the United States, the first prohibition has received a lot of attention in recent weeks, with the state defining marriage as it will be recognized in the nation.  Rightly, Christians are worried about how far-reaching the state will seek to go in pushing that upon us.

Yet, I often find it interesting that we "play up" some specific commands while downplaying others.  Think about the one above concerning the stranger in the land.  You shall do him no wrong.  Yet, I hardly see the fervor on the part of those who stress the vital importance of the command against homosexuality when it comes to seeing that immigrants among us are treated as fairly as the native of the land. 

Could it be that we pick and choose particular sins to be outraged against, while we turn a blind eye to others?  Could it be that we don't really want to look to our own sin in our own hearts, but rather find it more comforting to point out the obvious sins of others?  Of course we do this.  It's in our sinful nature to do so.

I do believe that we should all struggle greatly with the variety of commands that our God gives.  Every single one of us fails to follow through on any number of these each and every day.  And that, I believe, is really what Jesus points out for us in the Sermon on the Mount when He talks about trying to get the speck out of the other's eye, while ignoring the log in our own. 

Tomorrow, I plan to post about how we can approach the whole command of God with humility, recognizing that we are called to correct one another when we stray from God's law, but always with the recognition that we ourselves are, as St. Paul wrote, the chief of sinners.

Discovering Joy!!!

One of the benefits of having a two year old daughter is how you often get to see the world through her eyes.  I love when we are playing outside, and she sees the neighbor's cat, and gets all excited to see the "kitty".  Or when she grabs my finger and has me follow her through her little trail in the bushes to "go in, daddy" with her.  Or when she hears the airplane flying overhead and looks up to see it, or the bird flying through the air, or the ant on the ground.  Well, you get the picture.

I have realized for several years that the occupation I serve in is one where you sometimes see the worst of people.  God tells us that we are sinful, and there are times where I am left to deal with the sinfulness of God's people.  While there is joy to be found even in those dealings, the prevailing thought and emotion that often comes through such situations tends more toward sadness.  It becomes easy to get frustrated with sinful human beings, or upset when they don't respond as you hoped, or even hard on yourself when you realize your own inadequacy for the situation.

Several times recently, though, it has been that joy of seeing life through the eyes of a two year old that has often opened my eyes to discovering joy.  I need to see the world through her eyes, because there is so much that God has made that is good, and praiseworthy, and worthy of celebration and devotion.  That's a reminder that I often need, and so often, God gives me that reminder in that little girl, even when it's something as simple as a little walk to the stop sign and back.

Where does God open your eyes to discovering joy?  I really do think that, if we start looking for it, we'll start to see that He is presenting more joy to us than we would ever expect to find out there.

Living in a #Hashtag World

Okay, full confession here.  I have a twitter account.  I'm also highly considering a Pinterest and an Instagram account.  I realize that some of you who read this blog may be wondering what those are, and perhaps in the future I'll explain or link to them.  But I have a twitter account.  I aim to put a thought or two out there each day on it, as well as a link to my (daily) blog entries. 

Lots of people, though, frequent twitter a lot more than I do.  Just in the last 3 minutes, I've had over 20 new twitter statements come through on my "feed".  I follow quite a few different people or interests on there.  Some are sports, some are running, some are food, and some are church, ministry, or theology related.  Regardless, I get a new alert every time a few more pop up.  (Just got 5 more while I typed that sentence.)

One of the remarkable things on twitter is that you can add a hashtag (#) in front of something, and it will sometimes get picked up by others.  You do that for a one word summary of something that expresses your thoughts at the moment.  It could be a person of interest, an item of interest, or something along those lines.  When enough people add it to their feed, twitter updates you to let you know what people are hashtagging, so you know what is trending out there in the world.

We live in a hashtag world, regardless of your awareness of how twitter uses them or not.  Every time you see a banner on TV that says "Breaking News", you have a form of the hashtag.  Every time something like that crosses your internet provider, you have a form of the hashtag.  It's a reminder of what's happening now, of what's popular now, of what people are looking into now.

We live in a hashtag world because we want things right now.  And in some respects, that also speaks to our Christian lives.  We want to know God is with us right now.  We want to know that God forgives us, not at some point in the future, but right now.  We want to know that God has an interest in our lives right now.  And the amazing thing is, God actually is and does all those things, and right now!

You have forgiveness right now, because of what Jesus has done for you.  You have forgiveness right now when you have the washing waters of baptism as part of your history.  You have the gift of a relationship with God right now, through that baptism, and through your ongoing faith in what God has done for you in Jesus.  You have the gift of eternal life right now, by virtue of your connection to God in Christ Jesus, who lives an eternal life that will never die.

The great thing is, we don't need hashtags to make those things our reality.  They are our reality because of what God has done for us, and because those gifts have been given to us.  And yet, we need that hashtag frequency of reminder because not a day goes by that we need to be reminded of it.  We need that reminder because every day, other hashtags attempt to distract us from God's gifts in Christ Jesus.

Maybe you didn't know it, but you live in a hashtag world, in that you live in a world of right now.  God works right now for you, and won't stop.  Even if you don't know what a hashtag is, you have the assurance of God's gifts in your life right now!  Thanks be to God for that in Jesus!

When it's manly to cry

It's the kind of news that no one ever wants to hear, but over the past 12 months, give or take a few, I've heard it now four times.  12 years ago, I graduated from Concordia Seminary with a class of about 75 men, who headed out to become pastors all over the country and world.  As with quite a few classes, there were a good number of young guys, as well as some who were heeding God's call as they began their second "career" as pastors.

With the communication of this world being what it is, you can learn about things pretty quickly.  As I entered my office and checked into the online world, I had an email from a classmate.  Yet another one of my classmates from the class of 2001 had gone forth to receive his eternal inheritance.  I had been keeping up with this friend on Facebook, and had known that he was having some heart issues.  Needless to say, I didn't expect to check my email early this afternoon and hear such news.

During the time of classroom work and learning, you truly do forge a bond with those who are your classmates.  You learn together, argue together, struggle with the classwork together, and have a beer or two together.  You get to know their families, and in the day and age we now live in, you can even keep up with their lives, to some small degree.  You stand with them, and you know of some of the common struggles that they face, as they face all of us.  And so, when one of your brothers falls along the way, it hits hard.

Even as I type these words, I cannot keep the tears from welling up in my eyes and rolling down my cheeks.  But you know what?  I would dare say, in cases such as this, it truly is manly to cry.  In fact, I would even go so far as to suggest that it's practically inhuman NOT to cry.  And yes, over the years, I have truly become unashamed of those times when I am moved to tears.  If Jesus, the most manly of men ever to walk this earth, saw fit to shed tears when a dear friend had left this life, then there is no way that I will ever be ashamed to let my tears fall in similar circumstances.

Even as those tears fall, however, they are merely tears that miss the camaraderie that I enjoyed with my friend.  That's because I know that it's only a temporary situation.  Jesus has promised that He will re-appear, calling everyone from their graves, and bringing all who trust in Him to eternal life that never ends.  In that kingdom, death will never enter in, and no separation will ever come between God and His people.  That's why I have full and complete assurance that I will see these friends again, standing with them in a place where joy will be all in all, and where nothing will ever separate us again.  Praise be to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.  AMEN!

What??? Change my mind???

"When was the last time you ever had your mind changed by what you read in the Bible?"  That was a question that the main presenter made at my annual pastor's conference earlier this week.  For those who don't know what these things are, every year, the various districts of my church body hold conferences for pastors and church workers to go and be challenged and encouraged in their ministry and their ministerial formation.  So for the past few days, that's where I have been, having my mind and thinking sharpened while being challenged to continue to grow.

That's a great question.  When did you have your mind changed by something you read in the Bible?  I have to confess, there are times when I start to read a part of the Bible, and since it is so familiar, I already "know" what it's going to say.  I already have in mind the "applications" for those teachings.  Sadly, when I do that, there are times when I miss something simply because I'm so familiar with the section.  Maybe it's a nuance that I haven't picked up before.  Or maybe I simply haven't realized how it says something that applies to what I have been thinking all along, but is even greater or more in depth than I had thought before.

I do have to say, though, that over the past several years, there have been frequent times where I would read, and suddenly the Spirit would open something new up in my mind.  It hasn't often shown that I was thinking wrongly before (though that has happened once or twice), but rather, it has shown me a richness and deepness that I had not previously thought or seen.  Or, in a few occasions, it has shown me that there is much more going on than what I had previously thought.  At those times, it's been humbling to realize that something so familiar can contain so much more than what I can ever fully comprehend.

There are some things that I know the Scriptures reveal that will likely not change.  However, I also realize that God's Spirit, working through those words, will constantly be working to change me.  I'll never know fully while I live in this world and have all my human limitations and nature.  So I constantly look forward to the next time God reveals more going on than what I had previously thought or suspected, which leads to even more joy in the next time I engage God's Word.

History's Influence

Okay, it's time to face a fact that we don't often want to admit, but the sentiment tends to be there nevertheless.  There are parts of the Bible that are more fun to read than others.  I've talked to several people who decided to start reading the Bible from front cover to the end.  They usually get through Genesis and the early parts of Exodus before getting bogged down.  And by the time they hit Leviticus, well, let's just say that they start looking forward to stories rather than lists of "do's" and "don't's".

I can also remember a brief skit I did a number of years ago.  It was poking a little fun at how we maintain our interest in our times of worship.  One of the characters in the skit was a lady who had a tendency to fall asleep.  The evidence?  She was discovered with her Bible open to the book of 1 Chronicles!  Yes, that really exciting book about the lists of kings.  Who wouldn't want to read that with a great deal of fascination, right?

Yes, there are some aspects of history that are less, shall we say, enjoyable than others.  And yes, that seems to go for the Bible as well.  It also goes for our own personal and corporate lives of faith.  There are parts of our faith lives that we'd rather ignore or forget about.  And then, there are those times that really stand out to us.  We live to retell them.  We love to share those stories.

Knowing our history can indeed be a powerful thing.  One of the things that God told His people after He had freed them from Egypt was to teach the story of the history of the exodus to each generation.  They were take the dedicated time each year and retell the story.  Their history defined much about who they were as God's people.  They were not to forget what God had done for them through their ancestors.

Now, I could easily cause us to feel guilty about the lack of our knowledge of the history of our faith, and that's not what I'm driving at.  Instead, I'd rather point out that there is a great benefit to making an intentional effort to know our history.  It tells us about what God has done for us.  It helps us see how God has chosen to work in the past, and may give us some guidance into where He continues to lead us.  And it can help us understand some of the relationships that exist between us and others of God's people, and how they came to be what they are.

History influences us, often in ways we don't fully know or understand.  That's part of the reason why I think it's important for us to know about our history.  When we see where we have been, it can give us reassurance in our faith.  It can give us clues as to where God's Spirit is guiding us.  And it can remind us of God's faithfulness to us at all times.  All great things, if you ask me.

Tuesday Reflections on 9/11

It all seemed unreal when it happened 11 years ago.  I remember a student stopping by my office to tell me that a plane had crashed into one of the Trade Towers.  I decided to go home and learn a little more, and then watched on TV as that impactful morning unfolded.  Still today, I remember many of the details that kept being shown on the news that day.

It's now been 11 years.  The mastermind behind the attacks is no longer living in this world, though terror still finds itself attempting to influence politics around the world.  And in the aftermath of that momentous day, many Christians still cling to the hope they have through Jesus and the cross, that this life is not the only one that we will live, and in that new life, nothing like that will ever happen.

It still saddens me that we humans tend to resort to extreme measures to get our way.  And no, Christians are not immune to this, either.  Anyone who has withheld offerings or left a church because they didn't agree with the pastor or the direction of the church has basically resorted to extreme measures to display their disagreement.  And sadly, in many churches, there are those who will give in to such measures and allow these Christian "terrorists" to win.

That's the trouble with the fact that every single one of us is conceived and born sinful.  We simply cannot help ourselves.  It comes so naturally, and we don't want to think that we are sinning when we resort to such tactics.  And yet, God's Word is very clear.  Anything that isn't proceeding from faith is sin.  Anything not done out of love for neighbor is sin.

9/11 now gives us a day to remember the tragedy, as well as a chance for us to think that we would never resort to doing such things.  However, it pales in comparison to Good Friday, where Jesus endured the greatest act of terrorism of all time, as the weight of the sin of the entire world was pinned on Him unjustly and cruelly.  And yet, out of that action, came the greatest gift that the world could ever hope for; forgiveness and new life through faith in Jesus.

As I think about 9/11 today, more than anything, I am thankful for one who saves me and so many that I love from a life that will always be defined by terror and sin.  I look forward to the new, eternal, perfect life in which such things will never occur.

Using Big Words

As part of my doctoral studies, I have been required to read a lot of books.  During this time, I have come to notice something that I think is pretty vital about someone who wants to teach others.  Using really big words that are tough to understand really doesn't come across as teaching.  It comes across more as though you are trying to show off your education, or to prove how smart you are.  It's almost as though some authors like to prove to you that they are smarter than you, simply by the way they write.

Don't get me wrong.  There is a time and place for big words.  A lot of occupations and fields of study have specialized vocabulary, and that's completely appropriate.  There are even times when you need to use those big words when you are talking to people who may be unfamiliar with your field.  The key seems to be, don't talk to them as though you are trying to prove how smart you are.  Instead, talk to them with a genuine interest in teaching them why such vocabulary is important, and make sure to take the time to teach them what your big words mean.

When it comes to the Christian faith, we also have a lot of big, specialized words.  Words like justification, sanctification, and so forth are very descriptive of elements of the faith.  And yet, there have been many times when I have cringed when I heard those words being used in a conversation.  It's not because I think the words are wrong, but because they seem to be a way of the Christian sounding intelligent.  But what really seemed to happen is that the person who was listening went away from the conversation as though the Christian was simply trying to prove that he or she was more intelligent than them, and actually ended up leaving a bad taste in the mouth of that person.

Again, big words have their place.  I would argue that their place is NOT to make the Christian seem intelligent, nor are they to be used in a way that boosts up our egos while putting down those who may not know what the words mean. 

This brings to mind something that a very wise man once told me.  He said that he had a teacher who once gave them the assignment to take the various concepts and big words of the the faith, and to come up with 100 other ways of saying the same thing.  That exercise helped him to see that there are many ways to describe our big words without coming across as a know-it-all.  It also helped him to see that many parts of the Christian faith may have technical terminology, but can also be described in fairly simple ways.

So, please, be aware of your vocabulary.  Yes, it's okay to use the big words, but make sure you are using them to explain them to the person you are talking to, and not to boost up your own ego. 

"But I really like what God calls a sin!"

In one of the standard corporate confessions of sin that many Lutherans say, we have the phrase, "I, a poor, miserable sinner..."  Over the years, I've had people make a number of different comments on this.  Some have said that they aren't miserable in their sin at all; in fact, they actually like what they're doing, even if God calls it a sin.  Others have said that it isn't exactly the most welcoming of wordings for those who may be new to the Christian faith.

I'm not here to debate wording today, but I would like to spend a few moments talking about what we do when God says something is a sin, but we would rather it not be.  Now, from the get-go, I should mention that I happen to believe that the Bible is God's Word to us, and that it says what He means.  So, when it says something is wrong, I understand that to mean that God says it is wrong, and there really isn't any wiggle room around it.  That may not be a popular view nowadays, but I'm comfortable with people saying that I'm a stick in the mud about matters like this.

Here's the thing.  We will find that God has a lot to say about what we do with our lives, and how we go about living them.  And because the Bible says that we start off life as a sinful person (by our nature, not merely by the things we do or fail to do), we all are going to be inclined to things that God says are wrong.  Admittedly, some will seem more minor than others, or some are more noticeable than others, but we all have that inclination to sin because we have sin ingrained as part of our nature.

That's why we can say that we are a poor, miserable sinner.  Just flipping through the pages of the Bible will reveal that we really shouldn't be all that pleasing to God, since we not only do many things that He says not to do, but we take some joy in them.  That shows that we aren't right in God's eyes, and that should cause us a bit of misery.  Anytime we realize that the Big Man who calls the shots shouldn't be happy with us should be an occasion to engage in a little misery.

And that's when we start to realize that our sin truly is something that we should be miserable about.  In this regard, it shouldn't matter if it's a "big" matter or a "small" matter.  Anything out of line with what God says should bring misery to the forefront.  We aren't living like God says, and He's the one who makes the rules and who gets to determine the winners and losers at the end.  That really should introduce at least a little misery into us as we reflect on our lives.

Now, here's the thing.  Yes, God lays down the laws for our lives, and He gets ultimate say.  And yes, we will find that we are sinners.  The thing is, God's desire isn't that He have to stand in condemning judgment of everyone.  That's the whole reason for Jesus, and the cross, and the resurrection.  God killed sin, and even as He brings the gift of forgiveness, He still maintains that He gets to call the shots.  No, you and I will not escape that inherited inclination to sin until God kills our physical bodies and raises them, as Jesus has promised, but we have the hope that God will introduce that new life to us because of what Jesus has done for us.  That truly is a reason that we Christians are not miserable!

Wednesday Ramblings

Hi everyone, and I hope that you are still full of joy at the Easter celebration of a couple of days ago.  I haven't blogged for a couple days, basically just giving myself a bit of a mental break.

In a way, I'm always a little bit glad when the whole Lent/holy week/Easter time is done.  I don't mind the extra worship times, and I really enjoy things like our soup suppers, our annual Passover celebration to see where Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, and our Easter weekend events.  These events and hanging out with God's people really do bring me quite a bit of joy.

The thing that I'm most ready for at the end of this cycle each year is the mental break.  Yes, I still have to prepare to preach this coming Sunday, but instead of having to put together something every 3 days, I have a full week to let it ruminate inside my head and heart.  That's the one thing that the Lent/holy week/Easter cycle does.  It taxes one's creativity.

And yet, even in the midst of that creativity, there is still one thing that shines through.  It's the same story, which still carries the same meaning for us.  Jesus died for our sins, and rose to give us the assurance of His victory.  Now He gives those to us as a gift, as we put our trust in what He has done and accomplished.  While the way that the message gets proclaimed calls for creativity, the message itself remains the same as it has been since that Sunday morning so many years ago.  Jesus is not in the tomb, but is risen, as He said.

I have enjoyed the whole season.  In some ways, I relish the creativity that is demanded, since it demonstrates how we who share the message need to take the time to ensure that this message has impact for all who gather to hear.  While the Holy Spirit can work through even the most monotone of messages, He seems to take great joy in bringing it home and to life when it really impacts us and hits us in our "real" life.

I pray that this age-old message continues to resonate with each of you, and that you heard that message in a way that touched your heart this Easter.

What we take for granted

There are a lot of things that we take for granted in life.  When we go to sleep, we often take it for granted that we will wake up the next morning, and that the sun will come up, and that we'll have water and power and food and other such things.  We take for granted the fact that we have a place where we can go to worship, and that we have the freedom to gather in such places.

I had one incident during my time in Russia that taught me a bit about this.  While we were on our retreat at Lake Baikal, two mornings we woke up to no power and no water.  Now, normally for me, I get up and take a shower.  It helps get me in the flow of the day.  So on those days when it's not available, I tend to feel a little bit like the day is "off." 

That was a relatively minor thing.  In talking with those who serve as spiritual leaders in congregations, especially in Siberia, I came across another thing that I typically take for granted.  When the communists took over in the early part of last century, they seized many of the church facilities and used them for other functions.  You may recall that part of the communist thinking is that there is no God, so they felt free to either destroy or convert many churches to other uses.

Since the fall of communism, Christianity has once again dug its roots in Russia.  However, many of the buildings that belonged to churches before communism have yet to be restored to the people.  There is a lengthy process when it comes to trying to reclaim those buildings for use.  For many Christian groups, they are having to be creative when it comes to finding places of worship to gather together.

I have found that I often take for granted the building in which we worship.  Yes, it's about 40something years old, and it has its problems.  The roof may be developing a leak, and there is a crack in one wall.  It gets really hot during the summer and really cold during the winter.  But it has stood there for over 40 years, and likely will continue standing there for quite a few more.

That means that the people of this community have a place to gather for worship.  And yet, I often wonder how many take that for granted.  I know of people who vacation all summer, and their expectation very likely is that the building and people will still be there when they decide to come back.  There are those who wake up on a Sunday morning and think that they are tired or have had a long week or weekend, and so they'll just go next Sunday.  They take it for granted that the place and people will still be there.

Now, is it likely that the people and the building will still be there?  It seems so.  And yet, one of the things that I have gathered from reading the Bible is that God really doesn't want us to start taking His gifts to us for granted.  That goes for the day we get to live, the spouse and family we have, our place of worship, the food on our table, the air that we breathe, and so many other things.  It is not as though we are entitled to these.  God makes it clear that everything we have in this life is a gift, and not something to be taken for granted.

I recognize that our human nature is such that we will inevitably take things for granted.  We tend to de-value those things that are always there or that are very common.  And yet, I cannot help but wonder if it wouldn't be good for us to take a few moments every once in a while and just think about the things that we so easily take for granted.  Take a moment to thank God for all of those things in life.  Sure, you may forget to consider it as a gift even a few seconds or minutes later, but I truly do believe that our life is much richer when we consider and give thanks for those things that are so easily taken for granted.

Does God Understand Us?

Have you ever had one of those moments where it just seemed like no one understood what you were going through, or what you were thinking?  It just seemed that they couldn't relate to your experience, and no matter how much you may have tried to explain, they just didn't get it.

I had one of those moments yesterday, only it was me who was failing to understand another person.  The sad thing was, it was my wife I was failing to understand.  She had some thoughts and experiences, and no matter how much she explained them to me, it just didn't seem like they were getting through.  I'm pretty sure she was rather frustrated with that (and me, probably!).

This leads me to today's question.  Does God understand us?  Does He know what it's like to feel sad, and lonely, and misunderstood?  Does He get frustrated, like we do, when no one seems to get what He's saying?  Doesn't He get that sometimes we really need someone to just get who we are, what we are going through, and to be there, supporting us and helping us through that time?

As I have given thought to this question, it has seemed to me that we should almost flip the question around.  Do we understand God?  Do we know what it's like to have an entire creation which He dearly loves turn on Him, become His enemies by nature, and look for other reasons to explain our existence?  Do we know what it's like to create a bunch of people, and then have them do what seems to be right in their eyes rather than live the full life He created them to live?  Do we know what it's like to know what is best for them, but then, watch them pick almost anything but the best time and time again?

When we feel like no one gets us or understands us, I think we start to feel a reflection of how God must look at His entire creation.  What we go through at that time is a dim reflection of what He experiences every moment that this creation is in existence.  And the solution, at least from God's perspective?  Not to blow the whole thing up and start over, but to completely re-create it, and giving them all as many opportunities to be a part of that new creation as possible.

Does God understand us?  More deeply and intimately than we could ever imagine.  Do we understand God?  Only as in looking at a frosted over mirror in a dim room.