Surrender
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Wednesday, January 1st, 2025
As I said in yesterday’s post, the chances of anyone reading this today are slim to very slim (maybe none). In that post I commented how I had preached on Feels Like Home during the months of September and October. Earlier in the year I had read several books which gave me an idea to write something. Those books were Feels Like Home by Lee Eclov; Glad You’re Here by Walker Hayes and Craig Cooper; and Just Show Up by Drew Dyck. I was inspired reading those books and got a hair-brained idea to write something. OVCF, the church I pastor, recited it occasionally early in the year, but when I preached in September and October we did it almost weekly. It is part of our DNA. We have not recited it since the last Sunday in October but will start 2025 off by saying it together. I thought I would share it with you today:
WE’RE GLAD YOU ARE HERE!
If you are happy we want to celebrate with you.
If you are tired and need rest;
If you are hurting and need comfort;
If you have failed, feel guilt and shame and wonder if God still loves you;
If you feel you are at the end of your rope and need a lifeline;
If you think you are too great a sinner and feel hopeless;
If you are here but can’t raise your eyes, head, or hands in worship…
That’s okay. We want this to be a place where you find strength to go on. Let us pray for you, stand beside you and even carry you to God’s throne where you can find new hope.
Maybe you need to read or hear this today. You may never be able to attend OVCF or have a personal conversation with me, but I want you to know there is a God who is always available, always accessible, and will NEVER turn you away…no matter your state. May 2025 be the year of an encounter with Jesus for you.
Posted in InTheShadow | 4 Responses »
Tags: Choices, Christian Living, Forgiveness, God, God's Plan, Grace, Hope, Love, Mercy, Opinion, Reflection, Seeking, Story, Surrender
Thursday, December 12th, 2024
“For whom do you live?” is a good question to ask myself and for others to ponder as well.
It is typical, especially in the culture wars of today, to say, “I live for myself.” We can see it in phrases like “My body; my choice.” It is, after all, all about me. And tragically, it is finding more and more footing with Christ-followers than we might think. We seem to be on a road to self-actualization. I will call it rationalization. It is too hard living my/our life for someone else so let’s crawl back into our hole and live for self.
For those outside of Christ, that philosophy can be understood. They don’t have a higher calling. They don’t have the Creator of the universe, the sovereign God who made all, rules all, and controls all as the “check” in their lives. But for we who call ourselves Christ-followers, there comes a point where we must choose. And frankly, that choice is a tough one. It involves making a radical decision to humbly lay aside our wants and desires and lay it all at His feet and say, “Here I am Lord. I lay my desires, my plans, my dreams, my future at your feet and surrender them all to You.”
What it comes down to is the opening question I presented: “For whom do I live?” You see, we were not made to bring glory to ourselves. We were made to bring glory to the Father. In the OT story of the children of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai, Moses was in mountains getting the Law from God. They became impatient and wanted a “god.” So Aaron took the gold they left Egypt with and fashioned a golden calf. When Moses saw it he was enraged. So enraged, he busted the tablets which had just been made. Ironically, one of the first statements on those tablets said, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Moses was livid; God was even more so. They had taken the glory intended for God alone and given it to a mass of formed gold. I’m still trying to figure out Aaron’s thinking when he said, “Don’t get upset my lord (talking to Moses)…When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire and out came this calf!” (Exodus 32:22-24) Aaaah yeah. Simply put: the people of Israel decided that God’s glory was not enough. They wanted a fake.
Am I much different though? How often have I been so stuck on myself that I have laid aside the glory only God should get for that which is given to me? I take credit for something I have no business taking credit for. I must remember that I am only a creature; He is the Creator. He won’t settle for second place. So let me ask again: “For whom do you live?”
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: Choices, Christian Living, God's Plan, Humility, Leadership, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Surrender
Wednesday, November 27th, 2024
This will be my last Learning Journal entry for this week. I’m going to do tomorrow what we all should be doing: laying aside our devices, our social media fetish, and our “all things tech” obsession and spend time with family and friends. I have some more Learning Journal entries written and will just carry them over to next week. Here is Learning Journal entry #3: SLOW AND STEADY.
One week before my surgery, one of the teenage girls in the church family had hip surgery. Some of it was from birth (her hip socket was not round and each time she ran or rotated that hip friction and erosion happened), and some of it was from a TKD opponent in class who did what he was not supposed to do-grab a kick and twist her. Anyway, she has hip surgery and one week later mine followed.
She has a blog she writes on Substack (carefully monitored by her parents…yay for them!) and in one of her posts she talked about slow and steady. I commented that slow and steady is most definitely the road back to health. I know for myself I have experienced some frustration after exercising religiously and therapy that it is not progressing as quickly as I would like.
Slow and steady. These exercises hurt. Slow and steady. I don’t want to use the walker. Slow and steady. Get me that cane! Slow and steady. I’d sure like to go to the office. Slow and steady. I want to drive. Slow and steady. I want to go to the Y. Slow and steady.
Sort of reminds me of the Christian walk. When a person come to Christ, no one should expect a spiritual giant in a week. Least of all, that person himself/herself. And yet, we sometimes get frustrated because we aren’t moving as fast we we want or think we should. Slow and steady are the words to keep in mind. Plus…give yourself some grace!! 🙂
Another factor to keep in mind is we will not always be on an upward trajectory. Ups and downs. Plateaus. Spurts and stops are all a part of the growth process. I’m reminded of the words of Colossians 2:6-7: “And now, just as you accepted Christ as Lord…Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” (NLT) These verses are a reminder that life in Christ is a slow growth process. Roots don’t grow deep overnight.
Sort of like slow and steady.
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: Growth, Lifestyle, Opinion, Perseverance, Reflection, Scripture look, Slow and Steady, Story, Suffering, Surrender, Trials
Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024
Of all the questions people ask, one of the most frequent is “Where is God when it hurts?” That is put in different way, like “Why do Christ-followers suffer?? or “Why does God feel so far away when I’m going through a tough time?” I’m sure you could add your own variation to that. This morning as I was reading Psalm 13, I flashed back to the first time I ever looked at this psalm in depth. I was in a period of deep questioning-not when it came to where was God- but in my own life’s purpose. It was, and has been, one of the most eye-opening experiences I ever had. I’d like to share that with you today. I’d like to suggest a Bible and a highlighter (different colors) as you study.
The chapter is written by King David. {Following Scripture is from the NLT}
If God truly forgot David as he says in verse 1a: “O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?”
Why does he say at the same time that God truly loves him unceasingly in verse 5a: “But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me”?
David also says in verse 1 that God hid his face from him: “How long will you look the other way?”
But in verse 6b he says God was good to him: “Because he is good to me.”
In verse 2 David said he struggled (wrestled) with many thoughts and had sorrow in his heart every day: “How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart everyday?”
Yet in verse 6 he sang with joy: “I will sing to the Lord.”
Finally, in verse 2b David said his enemy had the upper hand: “How long will my enemy have the upper hand?”
Yet in verse 5b he says, “I will rejoice because have rescued me.”
How can that be? Is there a discrepancy between the verses? No, actually there isn’t. The difference is between David’s feelings and David’s beliefs. David felt God had hidden His face from him, but he believed God’s love for Him was unceasing. David felt God had hidden His face from him, but he believed God was somehow good to him.
The same is often true for us. There is a disconnect between our feelings and our faith. And there you have just one more reason why we should not trust our feelings over our faith. And it is also one more reason why we should not get trapped into thinking “just follow your heart.” Feelings are deceptive.
Follow your faith, not your feelings. Anchor yourself in God’s Word; don’t rely on your feelings.
{Note: my unfailing thanks to Randall Arthur and his book Wisdom Hunter for the insight into this passage. It forever changed my life}
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: Belief, Choices, Christian Living, Faith/Feelings, God's Word, Opinion, Perseverance, Reflection, Scripture look, Story, Surrender, Trials
Thursday, October 3rd, 2024
“I’m nobody.” “I’m inadequate.” “I have no status.” “I have no talents or skills.” “I have nothing to bring to the table.” And the penultimate: “I can’t.”
Those are often short little comebacks we use when asked to do something out of our comfort zone, or when challenged by something out of our wheelhouse. We often shrink in fear because we just don’t think “we got it” or to put it another way: we think we don’t have the “it” factor (whatever “it” is).
Step back for a moment and take a breath. Imagine if some of the Bible characters said that and were paralyzed by fear:
- David was the runt of the litter. Not even his dad thought he could be a candidate for the next king.
- Gideon was hiding, crushing grain while in hiding out of fear of the Philistines, when the angel appeared to him and called him a “mighty man of valor.” 🙂
- Deborah became the only female judge because she was willing to trust God (unlike Barak, her counterpart).
- Peter was a blue-collar fisherman trying to keep his head above water (pun intended) making a living.
- Caleb and Joshua stood against the odds (10 other spies) to say, “We can do this. We can take this land.” They spent the next 40 years wandering the wilderness because the other 10 spies were able to convince millions of people to be afraid.
This brings to mind verses in I Corinthians 1. Verses 27-29 say, “Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.” (NLT)
The world see humility and trust in God as silly, as a sign of weakness. Foolish is the word Paul uses. Little do they know God’s presence and power make all the difference in a believer’s life.
So…step out today in faith. Take that step which seems so scary, so unsure. Your nothingness, your inadequacy, becomes much in God’s hands.
Besides…can’t never did anything.
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: Choices, Christian Living, Faith, God's Plan, Inadequacy, Leadership, Lifestyle, Ministry, Opinion, Perseverance, Reflection, Story, Surrender, Trust
Tuesday, August 6th, 2024
Knowing whom to trust is absolutely essential to navigating life.
And, of course, following on the heels of that statement is another one: knowing whom to trust is not always easy. Case in point: shysters who put on a good front of being reputable, but they are found as being liars and deceivers. How many people do we know or read about who lost tons of money, sometimes their life savings, due to someone who pretended they were trustworthy?
In my own profession (pastor), time after time we read stories of deception, immorality, abuse, gossip, theft, etc. all coming from one who deceived, lied and covered up their true intentions. Sadly, someone who was supposed to be trustworthy.
A young boy we have been praying for close to two years has a brain tumor, a gioblastoma. M has lived two years this September since being diagnosed, but the effects of the spreading cancer and steroids has taken its toll. A little over 2 months ago this little 6 year old suffered a stroke, but he refuses to give up. This past Sunday M was baptized by his dad. I baptized the dad and then (with help from his wife) he baptized their son. We baptize by immersion and it was the parent’s request and met with M’s approval. I can be heard on the video (which I did not know was being recorded) telling M to “trust your dad.” Dad held him close to his chest and went under the water with him (as did mom).
“Trust your dad.” M relied on his father’s strength to hold him close both above and below the water. He trusted because he knew his father was trustworthy and was not going to allow anything to happen to him. We too have a Father we can trust. He has been, is now, and always will be completely and wholly trustworthy. That’s because He is a good, good Father. It is absolutely essential we place ourselves into His hands. You see…we don’t need to know everything when we are with someone we trust.
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: Choices, Christian Living, Faith/Trust, God, Opinion, Reflection, Story, Surrender
Tuesday, July 16th, 2024
One last devotion…(I think). 🙂
The past week or so of devotions here at “Shadow” I have been writing and telling you about a book that had a profound impact on me-Out of the Blue by Greg Murtha. (Those dates are July 9, 10, 11, and 15). At the age of 46, Greg, a healthy runner and athlete, go-to leader, husband and father, was stricken with Agressive Stage III Colon Cancer. He endured 95 chemo treatments over 5 years, but on June 22, 2017 he “moved to the front of the line” to use his words. He completed his book on June 15th in room 8637 of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s CCU.
As I finished reading his book for the second time (the first I barely remember), I was overwhelmed with emotion. I shed some tears for a life well-lived, but also because it struck close to home. Not me. I just lost a friend to cancer and another has brain cancer. This book chronicling his thoughts and actions of the last 5 years of his life deeply and profoundly impacted me and caused me to stop and evaluate my own life.
I once read that Joni, the well-known Christ-follower who has been a quadriplegic for over 50 years, was once asked if she would change anything. She said, “No. I thank God for the accident and my wheelchair.” (edited by me). Several times Greg said virtually the same thing, i.e. he was thankful for the cancer that totally changed his life. It slowed him down. It woke him to the needs of others. It brought him to the point of listening to God. He would go for treatment, into a store, into a room and notice people most would miss-people who needed a hug, or who were hurting, had tears in their eyes, or simply needed a word of encouragement, or a prayer. And he was not ashamed to offer that.
He wrote the following:
“I’m learning that being present in the moment is what is important. Being the church wherever I am-that’s what matters. Listening to the prompting of the Holy Spirit is paramount to living a life of adventure.” (p. 160)
I’ll close by simply saying that I want that. Healthy or not I want to be present in the moment. I want to be the church, a representative of Christ, where I am and to whomever I come across. Will you join me?
Posted in InTheShadow | 4 Responses »
Tags: Choices, Christian Living, Death, God's Plan, Grace, Humility, Kindness, Life, Lifestyle, Love, Mercy, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Story, Suffering, Surrender
Monday, July 15th, 2024
“Every man dies. Not every man lives.” (William Wallace in Braveheart)
I can remember the first time I watched Braveheart. I was working my way through the book Wild at Heart by John Eldredge and I was being challenged to be really alive and how many men miss doing just that. I found myself reminiscing and asking myself if I had ever felt really alive. My answer is private but my reaction to the quote revolutionized how I looked at life from the point on. I have been posting about reading Greg Murtha’s book, Out of the Blue. In chapter 12, titled “My Final Chapter” Greg opened up with this blurb: When I check out of hotel Earth, please don’t say, ‘Greg lost his battle with cancer.’ That will not be the truth. No, when that time comes, when I get to the front of the line, it will be a point in time when I have never been more alive, and it will be an epic win.” (p.183)
39 year-old Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian and opponent of Nazism, had these last words: “This is the end. For me, the beginning of life.” (Murtha-p.188)
“A camp doctor who witnessed Bonhoeffer’s hanging described the scene: ‘Through the half-open door in one room of the huts, I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer, before taking off his prison garb, kneeling on the floor praying fervently to his God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a prayer and then climbed the steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued in a few seconds. In the almost 50 years that I have worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.'” (Murtha-p.188)
What gives Greg and what gives Bonhoeffer the ability to face death as they did? Perhaps you know of some who looked at death the very same way. On the other hand, I suspect we all know people who were fearful of death. In my over 50 years as a pastor I have seen both. And I would much rather see the one who has no fear of death. For the follower of Christ, death is the doorway to life.
When I die, I want the door swung wide open. I’m bringing my bike along (well…not literally). I certainly can’t dance so I hope He will let me ride. 🙂 I don’t want a mournful memorial; I want a celebration. While you are at it, take a moment to listen to this song.
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Tags: Choices, Christian Living, Death, Eternity, God's Plan, Opinion, Perseverance, Reflection, Story, Surrender
Wednesday, July 10th, 2024
I posted yesterday about rereading Greg Murtha’s book, Out of the Blue. You can read that post here. In fact, I would encourage you to read it if you haven’t already done so, or to reread it to give yourself a “refresher course.” 🙂 If you are like me these days, it is way too easy to forget.
Now that you have reread that post, I’d like to continue my thoughts. In his book You Gotta Keep Dancin’, the late Tim Hansel closed with the following quote:
“There is no box made by God nor us but that the sides can be flattened out and the top blown off to make a dance floor on which to celebrate life.” (Kenneth Caraway)
As I have been rereading Greg’s marvelous book, I was reminded of that quote, especially after the closing quote by Hunter S. Thompson. Tim also quotes someone named Sister Corita: “To believe in God is to know that all the rules will be fair-and that there will be many surprises!” If there is one thing (among many) I know about God is that He is unpredictable. Ya just never know what He has on His plate for you. There are some things about God that never change. I stand firmly on the truth of His character and His Word. But I also know God works in ways I don’t expect. I don’t always understand His ways or His purposes, but I trust Him to do what is best. Sometimes I balk at it. Sometimes I mope. Sometimes I cry. Sometimes I scream. Sometimes I rant and rave.
But above it all I know He is in charge and knows what is best. I also know He is trying to mold me into the best version of Him I can become. He wants me to be more like Jesus. Sheldon Vanauken, the author of A Severe Mercy, wrote the following:
The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians-when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths. (Murtha-p.xv-xvi)
I admit to being one of the smug, self-righteous, arrogant, narrow-minded (only if you agree with my camp will you make it to heaven) “Christians.” I have written before about how I rue that day and wish I could back to every church I preached at and every person I ever offended by my attitude and apologize. That is impossible, of course, but it still bugs me nonetheless. I may be 71 but I still want God to do His work in and through me. I’m not ready to hang my hat by the door and leave it there. I don’t know what the future holds…no one does. But as Doc Brown tells Marty and Jennifer at the end of Back to the Future III when talking about the future: “No one’s future has been written yet (I would disagree with that on biblical grounds), but make it a good one, both of you.”
That is indeed my prayer. I hope it will be yours also. Let’s kick out those walls and dance.
Posted in InTheShadow | 6 Responses »
Tags: Choices, Christian Living, God, God's Plan, Lifestyle, Opinion, Perseverance, Reflection, Story, Surrender, Trials
Tuesday, July 9th, 2024
“You have Aggressive Stage III cancer.”
So you are told. It soon develops into Stage IV. No, that is not me. Sorry if you panicked as you read that. Well over 3 years ago-I’m thinking pre-pandemic- I read a book called Out of the Blue by Greg Murtha. Greg was a 46 year old man in the peak of physical condition (so he thought) when after an 11 mile run through Crocket Hills Trail in Middle Tennessee his life changed. Afterward, sweating but pumped he headed for the bathroom at the YMCA. That’s when his life changed. It appeared as if someone had poured a container of bright-rid blood into the toilet. He realized instantly, This is not good. And it wasn’t. The diagnosis was a gut punch to use his words.
I have begun to reread the book. Not because I have cancer (at least not that I’m aware of) but because some people who are close to me do. A friend. Friends of friends. People connected to the church. I needed, no wanted, some perspective. I remembered Greg’s book was uplifting and brought a whole new perspective to the cancer battle so as I was scanning through books for a future sermons series my eyes locked onto his book. After reading the Introduction and first 21 pages I have already been reminded why reading it is a good idea. To quote Greg: “Don’t feel sorry for me. Strange as it sounds, I view cancer as a gift. I thank God for it because it means I’m not the man I used to be. Sure, this interruption to my well-planned life was jarring. And chemo is hell. But I’m thankful for cancer because it has given me the ability to focus on what matters.” (p.7)
That struck me. Being a typical male, I am sort of locked onto that “success syndrome” so many get attached to. It is not as bad as it used to be. At 71, while I want to continue being a part of advancing God’s kingdom, I also know my best days are probably behind me due to stamina and strength. But, to be honest, my heart burns more for Jesus than it did in my younger years. Maybe it is because of my age. I don’t know. But a Bob Goff quote fits here: “God’s more interested in our hearts than our plans.” (p.7-8). My dreams, goals and aspirations have never been realized, at least not to the scale I wanted them to. That is a good thing. But I wouldn’t trade my life for any amount of money or earthly applause. I realize now what is most important. (Took me long enough!) 🙂
I hope I don’t get cancer or any other life-threatening disease. Cancer runs in my family (mother and grandmother died of it. Two brothers have and had it). But if I do, I hope I can run that race with grace. I’ll write more tomorrow but let me leave you with this quote from Greg’s book:
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘WOW!’ (Hunter S. Thompson quoted on page xviii)
‘Nuff said. Oh…As always, I welcome your comments.
Posted in InTheShadow | 5 Responses »
Tags: Cancer, Choices, Christian Living, God's Plan, Grace, Lifestyle, Ministry, Opinion, Perseverance, Reflection, Story, Suffering, Surrender
