Time...

I recently spent some time back in the town where I grew up for my brother's birthday.  It was a great time to reconnect and hang out together with the boys.  During the visit we visited our grandparents grave site and shared memories of them.  They were so influential in our early shaping and gave us acceptance, confidence and most of all love.  As I was standing there, I couldn't believe how fast the time had passed.  There we were 3 men in our 30's.  Where did the time go?  It made me think of how fast time is passing in my life.  No matter what, everyone has something in common...today.

Every day is an opportunity.  And this day is no exception.  An opportunity to help someone live out what they are called to.  An opportunity to do what I didn't do yesterday and I won't do tomorrow.  An opportunity to give someone a dream.  An opportunity to inspire people towards a life that reflects Jesus.  And finally, an opportunity to do something that no one else is willing to do.  This time and place is where I am, I don't have much time left, but I am willing to make the most of what time I have.  The question:  What is it that you can't afford to put off until tomorrow?

Deep Roots

Psalm 1 is appropriately the 1st Psalm because of what it talks about. It addresses the difference between the righteous and the wicked. As I think back when I first encountered this Psalm, it was in 6th grade. I remember memorizing and memorizing large portions of scripture as an 11 year old because I wanted to be the honor student for my 6th grade class at my church. There was this tremendous and insatiable drive to learn scripture and to plant it in my heart. Psalm 1 was one of these scriptures. I was so tender at the time and just wanted to be like Jesus. This was the time in my life that I remember wrestling with the reality of God. Was he real? Who wrote the scripture? Why did my grandmother die? Was I valuable? Could I be a man? These were all questions I was asking.

I see in the Psalm an image. I am not an artist that draws, but in my mind I have a painted picture scene of a tree and a stream that flows briskly by the giant stable tree. It is getting ready to bear fruit, but it isn’t quite there. It has a potential that is off the charts. It is primed and ready, but the preparation to bear fruit in season is a slow process. It takes a long time to grow a tree.

Application: I have lived with this Psalm on my mind lately, it seems to periodically crop up in places I go, people I listen to. Lately this has been the case. I listened to Donald Miller speak yesterday (Blue Like Jazz author) and he used it to share that the word gives up poetry and pictures that cause us to understand God more. He encouraged us to slow down, to not be in a hurry about our spiritual growth. If spiritual maturity is something we are to move towards, it will be more like a tree growing by a stream and less like a trip or a destination. This is why we are so fascinated with Time lapse video. We want to see progress, “speed up the camera!” This week, go and sit and watch a tree grow. You probably won’t see much. We are trapped in our own culture, wanting things faster and faster, and God patiently forms us over time, tests, moments, that on their own don’t seem to account for much but put them together…

Last week while listening to Wayne Cordeiro he told the story of giant trees in California. These trees were in a national park and they were beginning to fall over and no one knew why. What they found out was the root system that spread out around the tree was beginning to fail. People who walked through the park among the trees were trampling on the roots and kicking up the soil, destroying the roots. When just enough soil was loosened around the foundation of these monsters, a gust of wind would come and the tree would crash to the earth.
The tree’s strength lies in its root system. They now have roped off areas around the trees critical root systems. What about our root system? What is kicking up my soil? Are my roots being trampled on? The conclusion, My roots need to be roped off and protected…Period.

Even before this I was watching planet Earth, “forests”, and was struck by the immense, incredible majesty of the forests in the Northwest where trees grow hundreds of feet in the air and are thousands of years old. What strength. We value this strength so much, we protect it with passion. It is a national park. We protect these places with fervor and identify them with words we idealize and yet struggle with like, ancient, beauty, peace, sacred.

At the deepest place of my soul, this is what I desire…To be at a place where I can understand and mysteriously connect with my God. God started with me and I was a boy, he wants me to be a man. Some days I don’t feel much like a man. My maturity is slow and feels even stagnant at times. But “Planet Earth” got my attention. It spoke to me. It drew me back to him. It pointed me back to Jesus It is like the scripture from my youth was shouting at me, “Blessed is the man…He is like a tree planted by streams of water..” Psalm 1

The Month of Nisan (not the car)

I was re-reading for the millionth tiime the book of Nehemiah this morning and I ran across something right at the beginning I don't think I had realized before. "In the month of Nisan." Remember, Nehemiah was the Hebrew that was taken into captivity, was cupbearer to the king, and had the nerve to ask the king to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. He asked that all the materials, the escort for the 800 mile journey, the letters for safe travel, and the paid vacation away from his job, to be provided by the king with NO conditions. The nerve. He even asked for a fully furnished residence in Jerusalem when he arrived so he could oversee the process. The nerve. All to rebuild the city wall of this distant, broken down city. What an idiot. Who did this Nehemiah think he was? Nehemiah could have been killed on the spot by the king. Nehemiah asked for the moon and he got it. As you get to the 2nd chapter you read these simple, seemingly meaningless words..."In the month of Nisan." So, big deal, right?

The month of Nisan is the month of passover (Exodus 12), the most significant occurence in the Jewish calendar. It was the month of promise, covenant, and deliverance. This truth brings new and fresh insight to the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah had been praying for four months and now during this passover month, he was ready to make his move. It was a holy time, a sacred time, a time from which he no doubt drew great inspiration and strength from. Timing is everything for Nehemiah and it seems that his timing was perfect and was God's timing. This brings out the deeper meaning of this miracle book of the bible that does not contain 1 single supernatural miracle, but I will save that for another post.

God uses significant celebration times to cause us to move boldly in new directions. It wasn't that Nehemiah was outwardly celebrating, but he was no doubt inwardly remembering and drawing strength from the past promises and faithfulness of God.

So when the month of Nisan comes... will I be ready? Will we be prayed up? Will we have the plan scripted and ready?

Floods

This week I was reminded of the power of water. Why? The whole state of New Jersey was pummeled by a storm that dumped up to 9" of rain on the area. Because of the immense rain we received, schools were closed, I couldn't get to work, and people were scrambling to find open roads. Its amazing what some raindrops can do. Water changes the earth, forever. Never again will the landscape be exactly the same. There are few things in the atmosphere as powerful as water. Water changes everything...

This reminded me of my connection with God. Yes the simple act of prayer. What is done behind closed doors, in cars, lunchrooms, offices, bedrooms, kitchens and living room chairs has the power similar to a flood. What would happen if we learned to harness this powerful connection with God? What would happen if you and I stopped trying so hard and let God do more? Prayer changes everything...

Stop doing so much, sit down and pray...

Welcome To The Blogging World

Why blog? Why not? This is our opportunity to connect, you and me. I am amazed at the communication tools available to us to get our messages across to one another. So this is a connection for us. I hope this challenges you, inspires you and gives you an opportunity to rest and look up.

I am on a mission, what about you? Do you have a mission? Is it clear and concise? Are you living out your full potential? Is anyone pushing you toward what God has called you towards? Do you even know what God has called you to? Have you taken time to listen? Does his voice resonate deep within your soul?

These are all questions I know I need answers to. I am looking forward to this journey, as we discover this mission together...