"I Love a Tender Day"

Today, I am having a tender day. Do you know what I mean by that? A tender day for me is when I feel somewhat weepy inside -- tears seem right on the edge of my eyes. Often a tender day happens as I think of loved ones who are distant from me, combined with a awareness of the brokenness of this temporary world I live in.

Also, on a tender day, I seem to be leaning in very desperately for a deeper sense of Divine companionship and a desire for a keener focus from Heaven's perspective. A tender day finds me usually feeling overwhelmed by what's expected of me as a pastor, a husband, a daddy, a friend, and member of society, but finally surrendering all of those unrealistic expectations to the wonderful reality of knowing The Holy Presence of Jesus is mine and is so much more essential than my human performance.

All-in-all, you have probably gathered by now that I love a tender day. A tender day is proof that I am not numb, yes, a tender day is undeniable evidence that my soul is fully alive. And especially on tender days, I know that Jesus is wanting to reveal His mercy and grace and love and peace to me and within me in brand new ways.

Eddie Rabbit wrote an old country song in the 1970s titled, "I Love a Rainy Night." Well, maybe I should write a new Christian song and title it, "I Love a Tender Day." (Because I do.)

Grateful

Thrilled to Be ALIVE on a Monday!

This morning I received such an encouraging e-mail from one of my Pastor's Prayer Patrol brothers. It particuarly lifted my spirit, because it was sent on a Monday morning.

Here's a portion of the Good News, Brother Scott sent me:

I am so excited, thrilled actually, in the simplicity of just being ALIVE -- Truly alive, among the truly living, alive in Christ Jesus. ALIVE, I am Free to truly LOVE.

ALIVE in Christ as Christ LIVES is us, should surely thrill us!
Grateful

Now Come Back To Life...

"This son of mine was dead, but has now come back to life. He was lost and has now been found." And they began to celebrate.
-- Luke 15:24 (CEV)

Count it all Joy. (James 1:2-4)
Grateful

Vision from Brother Job (of all People)

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) says : Where there is no vision, the people perish.

I've been reading lately from the Old Testament Book of Job and my heart is encouraged by what he could see with the eyes of his soul especially in the midst of his personal suffering that was too awful for words.

Yes, Job said this in Job 19, verses 25 and 27:

But as for me, I know my Redeemer lives and He will stand upon the earth at last... I will see Him for myself. Yes, I will see Him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought.

Let's lift up our heads, my brother and sisters. Our Redeemer is Alive and Well! Yes, His Help is on the way. Our Deliverer is Coming! Are we overwhelmed at the thought?
Grateful

Take Time to Remember & To Be Revived

I have learned one thing for sure in my forty-nine years: Unless we take to time to remember where we came from, we won't know where we're going, and we won't know who we are when we get there.

As I remember these words today, I am in a season of soul-sabbatical. Being the son of an Atlantic Coast fisherman, I have purposely planned seasons within my sabbatical season to return to and from my sandy-and-salty roots. Yes, indeed. If you were to take a look at my sabbatical calendar you would notice immediately that the skeleton of my schedule is actually held together by numerous back-and-forth journeys to and from the Atlantic Ocean. I just returned from a three-day season there. The first three days of my sabbatical were spent alongside the East Coast seashore. During this time, I wrote words akin to these in my daily journaling:

I never feel more alive than when I am standing alongside The Graveyard of the Atlantic. It is here that I remember where I came from and seemingly the location from which my Lord has so often sent me back to my present calling having been revived for the future.

I covet your prayers as I have been given this sacred season by my Faithful God and His generous local church -- a time-out-time-frame to be remembering and to be revived. Please pray for me along these three lines:

(1) That I will wholly recover from the past.
(2) That I will wholeheartedly celebrate in the present.
(3) That I will holy envision for the future.

And all In the Name of Jesus, of course.

This passage from Lamentations 3:17-26 (NLT) somehow contains the mystery of what I am trying to communicate when I say: Take time to remember and to be revived:

(17) Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is. (18) I cry out, "My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the LORD is lost!" (19) The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. (20) I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. (21) Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: (22) The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By His mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. (23) Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day. (24) I say to myself, "The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!" (25) The LORD is wonderfully good to those who wait for Him and seek him. (26) So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Go to Calvary. Breathe Again.

For as long as I can remember, my Aunt Edith (my Dad’s only sister and only sibling) has been the organist at the church where I was raised – Free Grace Wesleyan Church. She’s not a flashy musician, but she is talented and dependable and her love for the Lord invites breathless souls to breathe again.

Aunt Edith was always content to let the pianist choose the selections for praise and worship. I only remember once when she requested we learn a new hymn. Well, it was written in 1921 by Jennie Hussey, so it wasn’t exactly “new”, but you know what I mean. It was “new” to us. As Aunt Edith passionately shared, it was obvious that this “new” hymn was a personal prayer from her very alive soul.

By the theme of the hymn, it must have been the season leading up to Easter when Aunt Edith brought it to our attention. The title is “Lead Me to Calvary”. To this day, whenever I think on the wonderful words of “Lead Me to Calvary”, it inspires and challenges me to consider each word carefully and prayerfully.

Here are the loving lyrics now. Let’s remember that before we can breathe again on Easter Resurrection Sunday, first the Lord must “Lead Us to Calvary!”

(1) King of my life, I crown Thee now,
Thine shall the glory be;
Lest I forget Thy thorn crowned brow,
Lead me to Calvary.

(Chorus)
Lest I forget Gethsemane, Lest I forget Thine agony;
Lest I forget Thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary.

(2) Show me the tomb where Thou wast laid,
Tenderly mourned and wept;
Angels in robes of light arrayed
Guarded Thee whilst Thou slept.

(3) Let me like Mary, through the gloom,
Come with a gift to Thee;
Show to me now the empty tomb,
Lead me to Calvary.

(4) May I be willing, Lord, to bear
Daily my cross for Thee;
Even Thy cup of grief to share,
Thou hast borne all for me.

Lord, I do not ever want to forget Your love for me. I want to go to Gethsemane and to Calvary, yes through Your agony, so my eternal soul can in gratitude breathe again – inhaling and exhaling for forever Your Resurrection Life. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Just Breathe

For me, the most wonderful 24 hours of each year's calendar happens between midnight Christmas Eve, December 24, and midnight Christmas Day, December 25. It's true. For as long as I can remember, the most holy, predictable moments in my life have miraculously transpired like clockwork each and every year on that one Divine Day of the year that we officially celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus. It's a holy high-water mark on planet earth for my eternal soul.

And that's why I was still awake in our living room at 1:30 a.m. on December 26, not wanting Christmas Day 2009 to slip away (even though in reality it already had). Sitting in the glow of our Christmas tree with Christmas music still playing softly in the atmosphere, I finally decided to just breathe this prayer: Lord, please keep Christmas alive in me for these next 364 days.. and beyond.

ALL... JOY TO YOUR WORLD!
Grateful

The First & The Last Gift of Christmas

A few weeks ago, I handed a man at a gas pump one of my yearly photo calendars and said, "Here! Please receive the first gift of Christmas." Somewhat surprised, but obviously moved, the stranger smiled and said, "Thank you!"

As I have thought about that statement, "Here! Please receive the first gift of Christmas," it surely would have been more accurate for me to have said "Here! Please receive 'my' first gift of Christmas." Because, after all, Jesus was "the" First and and always will be "the" Last Gift of Christmas.

Yes, long before the first of our gifts were wrapped and long after the last of our gifts have been unwrapped, John 3:16-17, will still be proof that the First and Last Gift of Gifts at Christmastime and all-the-time was and will always be the Gift of God's Own Son.

Maybe that's part of what Jesus was trying to communicate to us when He referred to Himself in Revelation 2:8 as "the One Who is the First and the Last, Who died and is alive!"

ALL... JOY TO YOUR WORLD!
Grateful

The Worst of Times = The Best of Times?

My pastor friend Ron, has been battling cancer for nearly six years now. This week his e-letter contained these amazing words:

Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support for me and my family. I am deeply grateful to be alive and blessed in so many ways. This coming February, will mark six years in this battle with cancer. It’s been an amazing journey. My doctors and friends in the medical profession say, “Ron, you should have been dead years ago!” It’s true. My early prognoses were bleak to say the least. In spite of the early, hopeless assessments that I received from some, I’m still alive and kickin’! God has seen fit to preserve my life and I am thankful. I am thankful, not just because it’s Thanksgiving and I love turkey and pumpkin pie and that I’m still alive, but I’m actually thankful for the cancer. I am thankful because through this long and difficult journey God has changed me. I know Him better and love Him more. He is SO Good and Faithful!

Pastor Ron closed his e-letter with these words and a passage from the Word of God:

Well dear ones, I’m thankful! Thankful for the Lord’s faithfulness, for my amazing family, friends and church, and I’m thankful for how He’s worked in me through this journey. Like Marvin Sapp sings, (in his song, "Never Could Have Made It") “I’m stronger and I’m wiser.” I can say it’s true! Wisdom is different than knowledge. Knowledge knows stuff, facts and figures - like the people on the Jeopardy game show. It has its place. When you need CPR, you’re glad someone has the knowledge to save your life! Knowledge is important. But wisdom knows God and His ways. It’s knowing ourselves in the light of knowing Him. And, it’s understanding life in the light of knowing Him. So dear friends, don’t resist or resent the tough times. Through them, you can begin to see everything else in the light of knowing Him. And, THAT is wisdom! Let me leave you with a passage I read this morning from The Message:

James 3:17-18 (MSG) (17) Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. (18) You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

May you be wise without being a “wise guy!” May your wisdom be humble and rooted in your personal life in a knowledge of Christ. And, may your wisdom be marked by a holy life and robust community!

Amazingly Graced,
Pastor Ron

Thanks Pastor Ron for testifying to us that The Worst of Times Can Indeed Equal the Best of Times, and we continue to plead the cleansing blood of our Jesus over your precious life, wise friend.

ALL JOY!
Grateful