Tag: love

Too Good To Be True…

Don’t we all long for the assurance that something we believe in is true?   Don’t we wish we could look at something, read something, or hear something and believe it?  Why are we such skeptics?  Why do we question?

For instance, if we see a picture and it is too hard to believe, what do we say about it?  We say it has been photo shopped. If we see a video and it is too hard to believe, what do we say about it?  We say it has been digitally altered and edited.

We truly are at a point that we can’t believe our eyes. We are conditioned to believe something isn’t 100 percent real.  It looks real.  It feels real.  It may even smell real.  But we know it isn’t real.  We are conditioned to doubt.  We are conditioned to question.

Look at magic shows.  We know someone really doesn’t saw a person in half.  We know a magician doesn’t really make a tiger disappear.  We know there is a trick; we know there is a gimmick.  We just are seeing the whole picture.  So we question, we wonder, we doubt.

Look at movies.  We go to them to be entertained.  To be drawn into a world that isn’t real.  Take for instance the movie inception.  That itself is a movie based on a premise that we don’t know the difference between what is real and what is just a dream being played out totally in our minds.  The hero can tell….he just has to spin a top and if it falls….its real.

How about the movie Soul Surfer?  The real Bethany Hamilton lost her arm in a shark attack.  The actress in that movie (AnnaSophia Robb) had hers digitally removed in postproduction.  Sure looks like she lost it.  Sure looks like it has been removed.  Even Lt. Dan lost both of his legs in Forest Gump but the last time I say a picture of Gary Sinise he had both of his.

Do you see what I am getting at?  We are being conditioned to doubt, to question, to know that something isn’t real.  We are training ourselves to know that there is some sort of gimmick.  Don’t get me wrong…. it is good to question…. it is good to learn…. but it is sad when we doubt everything.  It is sad when we truly believe in nothing.  It is sad when we have no assurance.

So this brings me right back to my question. Don’t you really wish and long for something that seems to good to be true to actually be true?

The cross of Jesus Christ represents just that.  It represents something that seems too good to be true, but isn’t!  It represents grace – that free gift of something we don’t deserve.  Grace that was given out of love, pure unconditional no strings attached love.  Does that sound too good to be true?  It isn’t because the cross is about love and we can believe it.  It says, “Greater Love hath no man than the one who would lay is life down for another,” John 15:13.

Jesus says in John 8:30-32, “Then many who heard him say these things believed in him, ‘you are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teaching.  And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.’“

If you believe the truth you will have two things….you will be free and you will be my disciples.  To be free is to be released, liberated, or delivered from something.  To be a disciple is to embrace and assist in spreading the teachings of another.

As we look at what the cross of Jesus Christ know that we can have assurance.  We can have 100% trust that what we are hearing and reading from the Bible is NOT too good to be true.

The Cross says “Believe in ME!”

Until next time….

Pastor Barry

Childlike Faith…

I absolutely love being a dad!  The feeling that I get when I walk in the door to my home and my kids come running is indescribable.  I love the hugs and the kisses and the sheer joy I see on their faces!  Call me a “glass is half-empty kind of guy” but I’m pretty sure this won’t always be the case.  I can already see the difference in which my 21-month old daughter and my nine-year old daughter greet me.

But for now it makes me smile.  In fact, as I sit here, I can almost hear each of their voices, and feel each of their arms grabbing around my neck.  They love their dad.  I know it.  I can feel it.  And I love it…  But When will this enthusiasm stop?  Does it have to stop?

I have to ask myself – when was the last time I went running when my dad entered a room?  When was the last time I hugged my dad?  What changes?  Do we become too mature?  Too good? Too cool? I suppose it happens in all of our relationships.  We become too comfortable and take them for granted…  We begin to unconciously think, “This person is always here for me, it’s who they are, they have to be.”  Our childlike love and excitement goes away.  We grow up.  We know more.  We become complacent.

Recently, I was reading in Matthew 18 about children.  The disciples had asked Jesus about who was the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven and He used a child to answer their question.  He brought a little girl (it doesn’t really say girl – but I have girls – so I see this child as a little girl) and I imagine He picked her up and sat her on His lap.

She probably came to Jesus willingly…freely…arms open wide.  Perhaps she even gave Him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  If it was my youngest she would have grabbed His face, looked Him square in the eyes, and then dove in with lips puckered for the the sweetest – slobbery kiss a person could hope for.

That image embodies Jesus’ point to the disciples.  This is an image of unconditional love, joy, and enthusiasm for a “dad” who loves us and loves that we love Him in return.  Jesus uses this image and teaches about a child like faith that is necessary to be great in the Kingdom of Heaven – and necessary to even enter Heaven in the first place.

We have to let go and return to those days of when we ran into the arms of our parents when they entered the room.  Those days long before we were embarrassed because we were too old.  Long before we were too cool to be seen hugging our dad.  Long before we began to take our relationships for granted.

I don’t know…maybe you are reading this today and you have never experienced any of this.  Never a parent, never had a good relationship with your parents, or never ran to Jesus with child like faith…but you can.  You can absolutely run to Jesus!

I need a hug!  I think I’m going to go find my daughters and my wife.  Let me encourage you to go and hug someone also.  Embrace it, hold it, and use it to remember that our Heavenly Father wants you to run to Him and hug Him too!

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

In the Presence…

Let me tell you about Kara…

My middle child, as opposed to her sisters, who can go and play by themselves for hours, wants to be with people.  It doesn’t matter what you are doing, where you are sitting, or even what time it is – Kara wants to be with you.

Recently we had one of those mornings.  One where, she got up early, and crawled in bed and snuggled up close. (And then kicked and pushed and squirmed….as she tried to get close.)  As I struggled for “space” I couldn’t help but think of how wonderful it was.

I also thought about her feelings, about how secure she must have felt nestled there.  At that moment there was no other place she wanted to be…it was there she felt loved…it was there she felt safe…it was there she felt at home…

I suppose this is what we all long for – a place where we can feel safe, a place where we can feel secure.

So this all got me thinking… In whose presence is it that I long to be?  But I also thought of the reverse of this question…Who is it that longs to be with me?

I long for the hugs of my daughter and her small hand grasping mine.  Yesterday she had her cast removed and replaced on her arm.  There she sat all brave holding onto my hand for security.  Knowing that even though she was scared I was with her….and I loved it!

If I long for this and love being wanted so much…how much more does our Heavenly Father long for our presence, our love, and our lives?

After all, it’s Him who can provide all the love we could want and all the hope we could ever need.

This is not an easy world to live in…that goes without saying.  So you may be reading this and finding yourself in a bad place, in a bad time, and in a bad way…

If that is true for you, then I want you to know that there is a place you can go.  There is a place you can find rest.  There is a place you can find security.  And most importantly there is a place you can find hope!

So take a moment and crawl up into Jesus’ lap…crawl within His arms…and just let Him hold you.  It is a wonderful place to be.  In fact, there is no better place to be…

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

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

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