Tag: knowledge

Real life or fairy tales….

My daughter and I (or is it my daughter and me….I never can get this right so forgive me if it’s wrong….) were having a conversation the other day about the end of the world.  Now, this isn’t all that strange except that my daughter is 9 and has some really deep thoughts on the subject.  Myself, on the other hand, gets up in the morning – checks for the sun – and then thanks God for another day.  It might be a kind of an osterich type response to not worry about the end of the world, but it’s pretty easy to just make sure I am living the way I am supposed to be living.

So at the end of the conversation, Kamille says something like this.  “Dad, the Bible tells us that we don’t know when the world will end.”

Me – “Correct.”

Kam – “So let’s say it’s going to end in 5 seconds.  I don’t know it will end in 5 seconds, but let’s just say it will.  Ok – I mean five more seconds, because I am pretty sure 5 seconds just passed and we are still here.  I mean, things aren’t all black and we aren’t in nothingness or anything.”

Me – “Pretty sure you just wasted 10 more seconds….”

Kam – “Alright – 5, 4, 3, 2, Dad I love you, the end…..  So dad, now that the world has ended am I in Heaven?”

Me – “If you loved Jesus with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.”

Kam – “But what if I didn’t?  Would it be like all red or black or something.  You know because God is light and everything would be like all lit up or something.”

Me – “We don’t know what it will be like – but I do know that you don’t want to take that chance of not loving Jesus with everything you are.”

Kam – “That would be bad…”

Me – “And thanks for thinking of your love for me in that last second of the world!”

Kam – “Your welcome.. It’s what daughters do.”

I walked away from that conversation really excited, because my daughter really understands what living for Jesus is about and because she was thinking of me in the last second of the world.  It’s the small things that really make a dad proud!

But soon after I returned to my office, I read an article about Stephen Hawking which made me really sad.  If you don’t know who Stephen Hawking is let me tell you.  He is a renowned physicist and researcher at Cambridge University, who was diagnosed with the degenerative Lou Gehrig’s disease at the age of 21.

In this article he was quoted as saying, “I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”

Mr. Hawking if you are reading this…I am sad for you.  Because there really is an afterlife, there really is a Heaven, there really is a Jesus who wants to be a part of your life.  Can I prove it with the science that you so desperately cling to?  No.  Can you prove that there isn’t with that same science? No.  Why?  Because it’s real and it’s not a fairy tale.

How do I know? Two reasons – the Bible tells me and I haven’t been afraid of the dark since I was 9…

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

Treasure Hunter…

Goonies is one of my all time favorite movies, after all what kid can’t identify with at least one of the characters.  For those of you unfamiliar with the movie – Mikey, Brandon, Chunk, Mouth, Andy, Stef, and Data are a ragamuffin group who call themselves the “Goonies.”  In short they find a pirate’s treasure map and ultimately…. (well I can’t really tell you because that would ruin the movie.)

This got me thinking.  Who wouldn’t want to find a treasure map?  Who hasn’t dreamed of stumbling upon untold riches?  It’s the stuff stories and legends are made from.  It’s contagious and infectious…just look around your city.  How many times have you seen someone with a metal detector walking in a park or on a beach or in a vacant lot?  Those people are looking for treasure!

I can’t tell you how many forts and secret hideouts I built as a kid.  Each one was built around the premise of finding secret treasure.  Occasionally I would find something – usually an old tool or a piece of wire or even a rock that looked like an arrowhead.  Nothing ever very valuable – but it was the adventure that made it exciting.

The other day my wife and I were talking and she recommended that I read Proverbs 2.  (On a side note – I have the best wife in the world!)  So I started reading….

1 My child,listen to what I say,
and treasure my commands.
2 Tune your ears to wisdom,
and concentrate on understanding.
3 Cry out for insight,
and ask for understanding.
4 Search for them as you would for silver;
seek them like hidden treasures.
5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord,
and you will gain knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord grants wisdom!
From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Did you catch that?  Read it again….

God calls us to be treasure hunters! He tells us to search for wisdom, insight, and understanding like you would hidden treasure!  And the best part is that we will find what we are looking for!

It’s about passion.  Treasure hunters hunt with passion.  They go after something full force and totally sold out.  I can’t think of a better way to follow God than as a TREASURE HUNTER!

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

The Next Level…

Recently a good friend of mine (pastor Connie Wheeler) tweeted a very reflective thought – “Why would you invite someone to follow Christ if you have no intention of leading them to the next level?….”

A great question!  Why would anyone invite someone to follow Christ if they then aren’t willing to follow through with what that looks like?  What does it mean to share with someone the love of Jesus and then not show them?  What does it mean to say Jesus will change your life and then not help them in their journey?

We have to ask ourselves, “Are we as the body of Christ really doing what Jesus has asked us to do, are we making a difference in someone’s life and in this world we live in? ” What came to mind was the song by Josh Wilson, “I Refuse.”  A song that basically says we are to live out our faith, no matter what we are given, and no matter what our circumstance!

If all of us would do this – THAT would be taking it to the next level!

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

P.S. – Here are the words to that song.

I Refuse

Sometimes I, I just want to close my eyes

And act like everyone’s alright

When I know they’re not

This world needs God, but it’s easier to stand and watch

I could pray a prayer and just move on

Like nothing’s wrong

But I Refuse

I don’t want to live like I don’t care

I don’t want to say another empty prayer

Oh, I refuse to sit around and wait for someone else

To do what God has called me to do myself

I could choose not to move

But I Refuse

I can hear the least of these, crying out so desperately

And I know we are the hands and feet of You, oh God

So if You say move, it’s time for me to follow through

And do what I was made to do

And show them who You are

I don’t want to live like I don’t care

I don’t want to say another empty prayer

Oh, I refuse to sit around and wait for someone else

To do what God has called me to do myself

I could choose not to move

But I refuse

I refuse to stand and watch the weary and lost cry out for help

I refuse to turn my back and try and act like all is well

I refuse to stay unchanged, to wait another day to die to myself

I refuse to make one more excuse

I don’t want to live like I don’t care

I don’t want to say another empty prayer

Oh, I refuse to sit around and wait for someone else

To do what God has called me to do myself

I could choose not to move

But I refuse

Where is your heart centered?

Earlier this week I was reading the story about Jesus healing the ten lepers.  The story where all were healed but only one came back to thank Him AND to worship Him…  We can learn so much from that one leper, not just about being thankful but about where our hearts should be centered.

His heart was centered on Jesus – on who Jesus was – and on what Jesus had done.  The lesson we learn should learn is that when we are focused on what Jesus is doing, we will be absorbed into knowing who He is, and when we are absorbed into knowing who He is – we will become like Him!  It is this complete absorption into “worshipping” Him that leads us into having a heart centered on Him and a heart like His.

But what does having a heart like Jesus’ or a heart centered on Him look like?

In my religious tradition we define this as holiness, sanctification, christian perfection and perfect love.  These are terms that have long caused confusion for clergy AND non-clergy alike, mainly due in large part to the difficulty of defining and applying this concept to everyday life.

But we have to…So let’s try…

In order to have a heart centered on God it follows that one must be set apart for God.  John Wesley understood the Christian to be a holy person set-aside for God as shown in verses such as Exodus 19:10 and 1 Peter 2:9.  To be set apart for God is to be made holy!

But what does “being set apart” look like?  If we know that love is the center of Wesley’s understanding, then this love must be the true test of holiness.  Out of love we are to emulate Christ.  Out of love we are set apart.  Out of love we are holy.

Love is what caused the healed leper that returned to Jesus.  Love is what caused him to see who Jesus was.  Both Jesus’ love for him and the leper’s love for Jesus fueled their actions. Love is what should fuel our actions.

We are told that Jesus’ wept two times in the New Testament – once when his friend Lazarus had died and the other when He was looking over Jerusalem and was broken because the people just didn’t get who He was.  It was His passion, His compassion, His brokenness, His love that caused Jesus to weep at these times.  It showed where Jesus’ heart was – it showed His heart was broken.

So perhaps, we should ask ourselves, “Who do I weep for?”  I bet the healed leper was weeping when He saw what had happened and realized who Jesus was…

So let me end with this thought…

It is only after we are broken and weeping for a deeper knowledge of Christ, for our families, our neighbors, our community, and our churches, that we develop a heart centered on God and therefore become “set apart” for God.

Where is your heart centered today?

Until next time…

Pastor Barry