Can I Get A With-Ness?

In a conversation with my pastor yesterday, we were discussing connections: connections between people, and connections between the church and the community.  To be sure, the reason we work together in this endeavor called 'church' is because our experience of faith in Jesus Christ.  But in our culture, in this time and place, conventional norms discourage someone from being a "witness" for Jesus.  Rather, you must first have "with-ness."

Be with others.  Put your phone down and be there. It may be your spouse.  Your child.  Your colleague, or a friend.  Be there...with them.  Your with-ness is your first and most powerful witness.

Then witness.

Building Bridges

If you are not communicating with someone in your life and you wish you were, be the first one to extend the gesture of communication. 

Frame of Reference

This morning I read that astronomers have been observing a supernova.  It is on the other side of the universe, past some worm holes.  The statistic that boggled my mind is that the supernova occurred nine billion years ago, and the light waves are just now getting here.  Nine billion!?!

Palentologists date the dinosaurs to about 300 million years ago.  The first human civilization, farming, started 150,000 years ago.  Creation, the universe, whatever you want to call it, has been around for a long time before us.

The oldest sections of the Bible reference back to a time about 2500-4000 BC (or BCE).  The historical person Jesus was alive on Earth at this precise moment two thousand years ago.  

And I concern myself with matters pertaining to the last week, month, and year.  And you better believe I am very focused on the next week, month, year of my life.  It is nice to be reminded that God's frame of reference is far more comprehensive than our own.  If your frame of reference needs a shift, what should it shift to?

[ Praise to the Lord ] Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. (Isaiah 1:25)

Intelligent Talk Christian Radio

I just got done doing several days of driving over the holidays.  Whenever I start scrolling through the radio stations, I hover around the FM 88-93 range because that is where the good talk radio is.  I am usually trying to pick up some version of NPR.  If you share this habit then we both know what you often come across is religious radio stations.

There will be a preacher dropping some spiritual wisdom on a congregation and it is being broadcast over the radio waves.  These sermons often sound like they are being beamed directly across time from the 1950's, if not in production value then in theological content. 

On this past trip I heard one of the most memorable ones I have ever heard.  The preacher sounded just like Billy Bob Thornton's character in the movie Sling Blade.  I don't remember any of his theological points, but it sure was surreal hearing him say, in that low tone, "yeah uuuuhh hhhuuummm!" after every few statements.

The beauty of hearing spiritual content in your car is that you can be spiritually fed at a time when you are otherwise monopolized by driving.  Perhaps it is bite-sized chunks while on errands, getting centered on your way to work in the morning, or keeping you awake on a long drive.  I always enjoy a few minutes of religious radio even if I go back to looking for NPR next.

I recently received some promotional materials from a radio station in the Washington DC area FM 105.1.  I checked out their website and there looks like some pretty good materials over there.  I am blessed to not spend a lot of time driving right now, but if you do consider checking out WAVA 105.1, and maybe make it one of your pre-sets.

Child proofing for grown-ups.

While I was picking up baby Shep's room this morning, I thought about how we have progressively child-proofed his room and our house.  Breakables have to be placed higher and higher in order to keep them out of his reach.  No kidding, the moment that child's feet touch the floor he walks directly to the most dangerous or breakable item in the room. 

At what point do we stop child-proofing our lives?  Not only in the sense of protecting babies and children, but ourselves.  I make a number of efforts to place various sins and vices out of my own reach, but far too many are much to easy to entertain.  It would be easy to say that our willpower or our faith should keep us from the things that are harmful.  But a little common sense doesn't hurt either, and that is where the child-proofing for adults comes in. 

What can you do to insulate yourself from temptation and sin right now?  I encourage you to identify and implement those measures.