trust – Pastor Barry's Blog

It Was One Of Those Mornings…

I sort of meandered to work this morning…

I’m sure you have had those days where you really aren’t in a hurry. You have plenty of time and you just take it slow. You look at things around you. You drive slower. You drive with a little more patience. You really listen to the words on the radio. You kind of become like one of those lazy rivers in no real hurry to get from point A to point B. Well, this morning was one of those mornings.

It started by driving slowly around my neighborhood. Instead of going straight I turned right…and then left…and then left again…and then another right…I think you get the point. I was looking at houses, at colors, at the scenery. All too often we seem to zoom past things and not even notice what is around us. We don’t take it in. Well, it was one of those mornings.

There is this intersection on the way to the church. Just before you enter the freeway. Three lanes merge into two as you enter and two lanes expand to four as you come off. It’s a big intersection and a very busy one, full of people having to get somewhere. Hurrying.

There are even pedestrians. I fear for those pedestrians. It is a wide intersection, a very wide intersection to try and cross. Six lanes to be exact, well eight if you count turn lanes. It seems people barely have enough time, those cars are in too much of a hurry. I myself am usually guilty of this. But today, well, it was one of those mornings.

I actually wish I could have sat at that light this morning. I wanted to watch. I wanted to take in the sites.

You see, there was this Canadian Goose at the edge of the cross walk…slowly…pensively…purposefully starting to put one step in front of the other as he entered traffic. Black, webbed feet were being picked up and laid down. He was slowly, and by slowly, I mean slowly crossing against traffic. I found myself rooting for him, hoping for him, and praying for him.

The rest of the way here I thought about that goose. Did he make it? Did he survive? Did he get where he wanted to go? Probably, but I guess I will never know.

It made me think. How many times have I not arrived someplace because I was too afraid, to afraid to take that first step and then another and then another. The answer? A lot…

In Mark Chapter 10 of the Bible. We are told the story about a rich man who wanted to know how to get to someplace. He wanted Heaven. He wanted eternal life. And so he came to Jesus for the answer. The funny part is, he already knew the answer. I think deep down he knew it before he asked the question. He knew there was something else He should be doing. He knew he needed to take one more step. He knew where he had to go. He was just afraid to do it. He didn’t want to cross that road.

The story is sad. The man turned away from Jesus and we are led to believe he never crossed that road. He was too afraid.

The good news is that he didn’t have to be. Later in that chapter, verse 27 to be specific. Jesus tells us that humanly speaking it is impossible for man to get to Heaven, to inherit eternal life, but not with God. With God, everything is possible! This man just needed to let God help him cross the road. This man just needed to let go and let God.

Did that goose ever cross the road safely? I bet he did. Was he afraid? Absolutely! You could tell by how slowly he was crossing. But he was crossing. He was consistent. He was deliberate. He was purposefully. He knew what he had to do and he was doing it.

It made me want to write, to think, and to ask, you the reader, and myself some questions. What is God asking me to do? What is God asking you to do? What “road” is He asking you to cross? What “road” is He asking me to cross? These roads…they are impossible to cross on our own. We might try but we will surely fail. In fact, I bet more often than not we don’t even try. With God, however, nothing is impossible! Everything is possible! Everything! Period. The end.

It was one of those mornings…

Until next time,

Pastor Barry

I’m Scared…

Ever think about fear? Really think about it? (I’m pretty sure this is not the way to grab your attention and make you want to read today’s blog…but I promise it gets better…but then again claiming something gets better is a relative statement…so it may not get better at all. However, I can now sleep better having supplied this disclaimer!)

The other night my middle daughter was sitting and eating an ice cream cone and said, “Oh great! Tonight I am going to have a nightmare.” She was fearful. And unfortunately, she has come to associate something so wonderful (in this case a butterscotch dipped vanilla ice cream cone from Dairy Queen late in the evening) with something very distressing.”

And sure enough, call it a self-fulfilling prophecy, later that night around 2 in the morning this little person appeared in my bedroom and crawled in bed with her mother and I. She said, “I just had a nightmare.” Really? What can cause a six-year old to have a nightmare? Do they even know what a nightmare is? What in her little world is so scary? Maybe everything?

It’s been a long time since I was that age and I really only remember being afraid three times. All of which actually occurred…

The first was when I thought I would get the wrong answer on the English test. The teacher would show us a picture, say the word, and then we had to tell the vowel – something like recognizing the difference between pen and pin.

The second was Valentine’s day and I was afraid I wouldn’t get any valentines. Or worse yet – I would get the dreaded this is meant for a girl valentine, but I don’t have enough meant for a boy valentines and I have to give one to everyone so you get this one valentine.

And thirdly, (is thirdly even a word) I was afraid of missing the bus (which I did), not because I didn’t know where to go – I knew I could walk there – but because I would miss playtime (and did) with my friends. I wasn’t afraid of the fact that I would have to walk a couple of miles by myself, along a busy road, and totally unaware of how vulnerable I was to….well….everything. I also remember my mom’s fear…by the time she found me she was really worked up.

But back to the other night, there was Kara – having to snuggle up in the safety and security of her parent’s bed. Here it was safe and here it was peaceful…

Writing this has made me think about fear’s definition and struggling to know – for sure – if I can define it properly. Sure I know what it is, I know it when I have it, and I know how it makes me feel, but can I accurately define it for someone else? Since I’m not sure I will go look it up…

Fear can be both a verb and a noun. As a verb it is defined as, “Being afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful or threatening.” As a noun it is defined as, “An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.”

Basically…fear is distressing…

But honestly as Christ followers, we don’t have to fear. We really don’t! In 2 Timothy 1:7 we read, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” Yay, God! If God is for us then who can be against us? And what do we have to be afraid of?

Nothing, zero, zilch…

So the next time you are afraid of something, remember in whose hand you rest. In Him you can find peace and safety.

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

My Way…

I have a confession to make. I like to count and find the patterns in things. Don’t ask me why – because I don’t know. It’s wierd really – I naturally see the relationship of things to each other…I see their number and I see patterns. And when I see wholeness or completeness I just feel a lot better. I suppose it is a little “Monkish” of me – or in reality it’s a lot “Monkish.” (And if you don’t know, by “Monkish” I am referring to the television program – Monk.)

My wife still teases me about my oldest daughter’s Fisher Price Farm. You know the kind with the round little people with big cheeks and infectious smiles. The toy that curiously comes with animals that are out of proportion to each other…really they are…those bunnies are half as big as the horses…that’s a monster bunny.

Anyhow, I love that thing. In fact, I think it was secretly developed to provide hours of enjoyment not only to preschoolers, but also to their parents. (After all they should be interacting with their children but that’s a different post.)

Here’s the thing about that toy – after my daughter would get through playing with it – I would HAVE to arrange each of the pieces, make sure they were all there, and put them back in their place. If there was one missing then the world had to stop until I found where it was. Sort of like the parables of the Lost Things in the Gospel. No…just like those parables, because when I found a missing piece there was definite rejoicing!

The good news is I have graduated from the Fisher Price Farm. I now resist the urge to check and see if all the pieces are there – call it having a third child! That toy has run its course and has been replaced by the infamous Mr. Potato Head. Make that two Mr. Potato Heads.

The other night my 19 month old got them out and began to play with them. As I watched her, I could hear my name being called out incessantly. Barry….Barry…. So I joined the party. We were having fun until, silly me, I directed my daughter to put the ear where the ear should go. This did not go over well. You see, she had a plan and a design in mind and it did not match mine. After a long discussion that looked more like a game of keep away I let her put the ear where she wanted to put the ear. What I discovered is that she had a definite plan – and it wasn’t at all like mine.

At that moment God chose to remind me that, when left to my own will, this is my natural tendency for how I want to live my life. I want to do the things I want to do, when I want to do them, and how I want to do them. But, it’s not my life anymore. Sometime ago, I made the decision to not live for myself or for my way or for my desires. Sure, they are still there – they don’t magically go away – but I chose to yield them to God’s plan, His timing, and His way.

So that night, as I sat and looked at a Mr. Potato Head with two sets of eyes, a mouth under one ear, and a nose under the other, I was reminded that I have to yield my desires. We all have to yield our desires. Often, because what we desire, or what we are planning, do not match up with what someone else is planning. It happened that night….and if we are honest with ourselves it happens more often than we would care to think about. It truly is like the Bible tells us – there should be less of us and more of Him.

Father God, would you grant me the wisdom to know your plans for me, the courage to follow them, and the patience to wait on you… Lord – it’s not my way but your way! Thank you and amen.

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

200 Percent…

I wish I had a dollar for everytime I heard someone say, “I’m giving it 110 percent!” Really? What I remember from math class is 100 percent is 100 percent and you can’t have more than 100 percent of something. 100 percent is perfect. It is everything. It is complete.

At the expense of really not wanting to throw you a Jesus Juke – Let me tell you that I have discovered the one and only thing that can actually be (and is) 200 percent – Jesus.

Allow me to explain… Yesterday I was teaching from Hebrews to the Declaration! Youth. After explaining the authorship of that book, which modern scholars agree is not known for sure, and then settling on giving the name of “Phil” to this unknown author, we looked at the first few chapters. 1:1 – 4:13 to be exact.

Here is what we learned… Jesus is the Son, God is the Father, Jesus reflects God in everything, Jesus is far greater than the angels, and the angels are just a little greater than man (who was made in God’s image and is designed to reflect God.) Easy enough right? Wrong!

It was straight forward in 1:4 where we learned that Jesus is far greater than the angels, but in 2:9 we are told Jesus was a little lower than the angels….hmmmm….. Ok, follow me now. Who is greater than the angels? God. Who is lower than the angels? Man. Who are we told by “Phil” is both? Jesus.

Jesus is both God AND man – He is fully both. Therefore, if Jesus is fully both, by definition He is 100 percent God and 100 percent man, thus making Jesus the world’s first and only 200 percent being! Wow!

If God can actually make something that is greater than 100 percent just think of what else He can do. Really, that means He can do ANYTHING! The possibillities are limitless.

Now that’s a God I’m glad I know and trust. Do you? You can.

Until next time…

Pastor Barry

Backpack…

Backpacks are awesome! I just love mine – it holds a ton of stuff and almost anything I feel I might need during a day is in there. My iPod, the charger, headphones, an external hard drive, a scan disk, an adapter, usb drives, pens, pencils, power cords, my macbook, mail from the last 2 weeks, my Bible… I think you get the picture.

In reality I need to clean it out….but what do I remove? I’m sure the minute I take something out is the very moment I am going to need it.

But last week I decided I was going to do just that – clean it out. I emptied EVERY pocket and let me tell you there are a lot of pockets – just ask my wife. Many is the time that I have asked her to grab something for me and told her which pocket it was in. But, trying to figure out which pocket is the back pocket or the pocket inside of the third pocket ends up only being a lesson in futility (which for the record is not her fault.)

So there I sat emptying everything out onto my desk…it was an amazing site. There were piles everywhere! I couldn’t believe how much stuff was in there. Piece by piece I went through everything and you know what happened? Yep – it ALL ended up back in the back pack. I didn’t get rid of anything I simply changed where I kept it.

We all wear backpacks in life. Everyday we collect things and we stuff them inside. Some things we keep on top and easily accessible. Other things we bury deep down and hope to hide. Some things we like and want to share with others. Other things we hope no one ever sees. The only problem is that the more and more things we stuff in our backpack the heavier it gets. And let me tell you it can get very heavy and we don’t even realize it.

So today why don’t you sit back and empty your backpack. Take inventory of what’s in there. Find out what you want to keep, what you need to keep, and what you need to get rid of. Perhaps you have guilt, anger, jealously, fears, failures, shortcomings, or any number of things, you need to get rid of.

Find someone you trust. Find someone you know cares. Find a pastor. But find someone who can help you as you empty your backpack of the stuff you don’t need.

But, let me tell you it starts with Jesus! He is the one who can and wants to help you lighten the load – these other people – they are the ones that can help keep you accountable during the purging!

So until next time…

Pastor Barry

Helpless but not hopeless…

One of the privileges I have as a pastor is being able to teach in small group settings. Yesterday, during one of these groups, we were discussing some of the insights found in the 8th Chapter of Luke. Specifically, we looked at a couple of stories where Jesus healed in response to faith – the woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding and the synagogue leader Jairus whose daughter lay dying.

Two different people. One man. One woman. One rich. One poor. One respected. One shunned. One powerful. One powerless. One approached Jesus from the front. One snuck up from behind. I think you get the picture. So there I am as a reader, imagining Jairus having his people clearing the crowd as he strides up to Jesus, while the woman is dodging and weaving and perhaps even crawling just so she could touch Jesus’ garment….

But, no matter their differences, one thing made them equal…. Their FAITH! Both had an unmistakeable hope that Jesus could help them if they could only get to Him and fall at His feet!

What an amazing posture….falling at the feet of Jesus. Here are two utterly helpless individuals doing absolutely the only thing (albeit best thing) remaining for them to do. Fall at the feet of Jesus. They were helpless but they were definitely not hopeless!

Where are you today? Do you feel helpless? The good news is that no matter who we are, no matter what hand life has dealt us, and no matter what we have done. Jesus is there to give us hope. The only thing we have to do is make our way to Him and fall at His feet…

Until next time…

Pastor Barry