Thankful for FREE COFFEE!

“The coffee is on us this morning!”  Those were pleasant words to start the day. I was still half asleep and stepping into an early morning bible study with a group of good friends when the man behind the counter gave me that blessing. Free coffee is always good but to a man that loves, I mean loves, good strong hot coffee on a cold morning, those words were music! And I was thankful. Now the coffee isn’t something I need (sometimes J ) but it is something I really like. I was so thankful not just for the coffee but that this man behind the counter thought enough of me to give it to me freeee!

Another friend recently gave Sandy and me a delicious meal at a great Mexican restaurant. Just gave it to us. Free. I am thankful for the meal but very thankful for their friendship. Another friend recently gave me a copy of the new Gospel Transformation Bible. I had wanted one but it was out of reach for us at that time. And this friend just gave it me. Free. I am thankful for the new Bible but very thankful for the friend that thought enough to just give it to me.  What a huge blessing friends are! And what a huge blessing it is when such kindness abounds!

This week enters us into thanksgiving here in the United States. It’s a time set side to remember and cherish those blessings and friends. The greatest by far is the blessing given by Jesus Christ. He came that I might have life and have it the fullest (JN 10:10).  He came that I might be reconciled to God the Father (2 CO 5:18-19). He came to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, restore sight to the blind and set at liberty those who are oppressed (Luke 4:16-21). Jesus came to show his love and kindness to those he called his own.

And it’s all free. At least free to me. I couldn’t have bought what Jesus has given freely. But like the coffee and meal and bible, someone paid for what they gave freely to me. In this case, all the blessings I have from Jesus were bought by him, paid for with his life, that I would have life… freely. I am so thankful for those immeasurable blessings from Jesus but far more thankful for Jesus himself. Amen.

Anchored in Jesus,
Harrison

Fixed on Jesus

He almost got caught!  The 10-year old boy was playing flag football for a local recreation league. He had the ball with nothing but the end zone in front of him! The problem was that he wasn’t looking at the end zone! This young man had his eyes fixed, I mean really fixed, on the one single opponent still in pursuit. There was nothing but fear in the player’s eyes as he stared over his right shoulder for forty yards. He ran like that all the way down the field. Although he scored, it was much closer than it should have been. The young player almost got caught by the very thing he feared and he came just inches from running out of bounds. Because his eyes were fixed on his fear instead of the prize, he almost lost it all.

What a picture of the way we often run the race of Christianity. There are so many things people fear. We fear sin, failure, death and being alone. We fear conflict, pain, poverty, success, speaking in front of crowds and little bugs. It’s very easy for us to fix our eyes on those fears.

When we fix our eyes on our fears, we are taking our eyes off of Jesus. That’s when we get caught. We get caught by our own fears, sometimes even paralyzed by the “what if’s” of the fear. And sometimes, just like that young football player, those fears run us out right of bounds. We think we are running a race with Jesus but since our attention is held captive by our fear, we aren’t running in the way or even in the direction Jesus has called us to run.

My friend, take your eyes off of your fears and fix them on Jesus Christ!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrew 12:1-3, NIV)

Anchored in grace,

Harrison

Little things still leave a shadow

Little things still leave a shadow. 

As I was sitting in the sun recently, the smallest of Ladybugs circled around and landed on my knee. Now I really like ladybugs. Their design is beautiful and persistent. They have unique way of getting inside the house even when it is locked up, closed up, tight! But what I loved about this particular ladybug is that, as small as it was, it still threw a shadow.  It wasn’t a humongous shadow by the standards of an elephant or a giraffe but in the world of Ladybugs, this shadow was awesome! And what made it so awesome wasn’t that it was large or long but that this shadow was HER shadow. It was the one God had designed for this particular Ladybug.

I wonder if Ladybugs ever get “shadow envy”. I know people do. We become envious over the shadow or impact of others, frustrated and discouraged that our shadow and impact isn’t as grand or large as someone else’s. But here’s the thing – when you are walking with God, your shadow and impact is just as big as He has designed it. Hebrews 12 encourages you to run the race God has marked out for YOU. God has designed each person differently, each life differently and each race differently. Every shadow is different, unique, impressive... even a shadow the size of a Ladybug. Run your race. Throw your shadow. Enjoy the day!

Anchored in grace,
Harrison  

The Precipice of Cheap Law

What could a man say that would bring some to repentance and others to desire his death? John the Baptist did just that in Luke 3. There, John brings the law back from the precipice of a cheap substitute. Reminding Jews and Romans alike of the holiness of God and his law, he left them all in an unfamiliar place. The truth was so evident that they had to respond to a God they didn’t really know. Some saw their guilt and responded with teachable hearts – “what do we do next?” But some, like Herod, wanted him arrested. When we come face to face with God’s holiness, at least as much of that holiness as we can bear to see, we either fall in worship or we fight in vain or we flee, hoping that we can outrun justice.

What do you choose? Herod chose to fight and John was killed. John was killed because he worshiped Jesus. But before John was arrested, he saw Jesus coming his way. My friend, Jesus comes your way, not to cheapen law, but as the only one able to fulfill it and take your justice. Don’t run and don’t fight. Give in, believe, repent and worship. It probably won’t cost you your life but if it does, the price will be worth it all.

Anchored in Grace,

Harrison

Painful and Beautiful

Jeremiah 18:1-4, “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” ³ So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴ And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.”

I watched a potter working with her clay recently. She had a lump of wet clay on a spinning wheel, her hands lightly surrounding the clay. As the wheel spun, her hands shaped the lump into a pot. It looked good to me but suddenly the potter smashed her creation. She did it all again, and again flattened the pot. This time she just flattened the top portion. As the wheel turned she continued to shape the clay into her idea of what it was supposed to be. She shaped it very well with just the right amount pressure exerted by her hands… the hands of a master potter.

It seemed painful and beautiful all at once. The potter knew better than the pot what she had designed it to be and was willing to inflict pressure to make it so. No doubt the pressure is painful but the result is beautiful, bringing glory to the potter rather than the pot. I think that most of us, given the opportunity would jump off of the potter’s wheel. The pain and process can be scary but here’s the good news. In the bible God is called faithful and true and love. We can be certain that the pressure the master puts on us lumps of clay will be from his heart of faithful love.

I don’t know what the week holds for you but I pray God will give you the faith and courage to stay on the wheel.

Grace for the journey,

Harrison

Face to Face

^{Luke 2:41} Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. ⁴³ And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, ⁴⁴ but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, ⁴⁵ and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
If I sat with Jesus for three days would my life be any different? If I got to talk with him, ask him questions, hear his questions, would I be amazed? When Jesus sat with these above, he was 12 and had not begun to minister publically. Yet all who heard him were amazed.

I hope that my idea of what’s important in life would be transformed. But would it? I hope that my soul would be captured ever more by Jesus. Would I begin to love what and who he loves? Yearn for what he yearns for… would I seek the lost and broken and outcast… would I really take care of the orphans and widows and downtrodden? Would I let go of my self-righteousness and comfort of soul and instead love freely?

Oh, Jesus, we do not get to sit face to face yet – but that day will come when this life is done. Until then, we do still get to walk together, talk together, and you teach me, show me, how to love like you. I am so thankful that my time with you is not limited to three days! Amazing. Amen

Faith is simpler that it seems

Faith is simpler that it seems. Yet faith in anyone outside of our selves is so difficult so as to be laughable. The tendency of man is to look within and drum up courage and rightness, striving all the while to turn our ideals into fruit. Such fruit is just rotten.

AW Tozer wrote, “The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One.  While he looks at Christ the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do.

Faith is not in itself a meritorious act; the merit is in the One toward Whom it is directed. Faith is a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of the focus of our own vision and getting God into focus. Sin has twisted our vision inward and made it self-regarding. Unbelief has put self where God should be, and is perilously close to the sin of Lucifer who said, "I will set my throne above the throne of God." Faith looks out instead of in and the whole life falls into line.

All this may seem too simple. But we have no apology to make. To those who would seek to climb into heaven after help or descend into hell God says, "The word is nigh thee, even the word of faith." The word induces us to lift up our eyes unto the Lord and the blessed work of faith begins.”

 

A man can no more purify himself than an apple tree can purify rotten fruit.  Our faith must be in Jesus. our eyes must look to him. The abundant life we seek is found in him.  Our rest is all in him. It's Christ Jesus! And when rest is found in him, we rest complete.

Love Bears Burdens

Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

How does Paul pack so much into one sentence? How do you carry each other’s burdens? The law of Christ Paul is writing about is from Matthew 22, ³⁵ And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”  In short, love God and love others with a love that can only come from a soul transformed by God.

It’s early in the morning but God has had me awake for a few hours now. It has been a time of prayer that could be described at times as wrestling and at other times as praise. But it’s all been good. I’ve gotten to pray for families in transition. Transition is never easy – selling homes, leaving friends behind and finding new friends and churches. Relationships that are deep are painful to uproot. I love these families and ache for them in this process. My Lord, show me how we can come alongside them and carry their burdens.

Father, strengthen Christians in Kenya, Pakistan and Egypt. They are under great attack. Have mercy on them Lord and protect them. I pray for my friend with dengue fever in Papua. I love this brother and am so encouraged by the way he selflessly loves so many. Yet my heart is grieved for him in his pain. Lord give him relief and heal him.

And there are so many pastors in this local area that are loving their congregations as well as the people of the community. I pray, Father, that you will strengthen them and that they will not grow weary in well doing. Oh my Lord, as we pray for and minister to our neighbors show us how we can love them well and carry their burdens.

These still watches of the night have me praying for my children and the children of my friends and neighbors – that they will have a passionate pursuit of Jesus Christ… just as he has and will continue to passionately pursue them. Father let them be satisfied with nothing less than knowing you well and walking close.

If we are to bear one another’s burdens we have to love. And if we love we will have to carry each other’s burdens. Such love demands relationship and therein is the risk isn’t it? For with relationship can come great joy, something we all long to experience but those same relationships can bring great pain… and nobody wants that! The only way to keep from such pain is to avoid relationship altogether. I pray for those experiencing pain and brokenness in relationships – that you, Father, would bring about reconciliation and healing. Soften hard hearts, open blind eyes, give courage to love again and faith for repentance. Father, you have showed what real love looks like. Love looks like Jesus. It looks like the reality that Jesus is living in us and through us.

Jesus, thank you for carrying our burdens.

Anchored in Grace,
Harrison

John the Baptist and Uncle Si

     He might not have been everyone’s cup of sweet tea but John the Baptist would have fit right in with Uncle Si and the gang at Duck Dynasty. I'm guessing there is some relation, maybe. From the moment he was born to a couple that was way past child-bearing years, John was a reminder that God and his grace were a very present and dangerous reality. He should have been named after his father, Zechariah but God said to name him John which means “God given grace”. Grace had no place in their world of tight order and religious law! To a world desperately trying to reach God, this impossible birth of a boy with an impossible name shouts into their world that God is coming down. He is coming to rock their paradigms, destroy bondage, liberate captives and paint their slums with joy.

     With his beard, camel coat and diet of honey and bugs, he would be relegated to the status of outsider – way outside outsider. But he could not be ignored. Neither could his message. God is coming. Jesus is coming. And he is bringing with him a dangerous grace.  I know such dangerous grace is scary. It unsettles our perfectly ordered world. But do we really want a tame God that fits neatly into our world? Really? I remember thinking I wanted Jesus to come take up residence in my world – in my way of life. How egotistical and foolish! What I needed was for Jesus to transform my world. BAM! Transform it Jesus with your presence, love, holiness, mercy and grace.

John the Baptist and his message of coming grace crashes our party the way Uncle Si would crash a gathering of Presbyterian pastors*. But rest assured, neither one would be ignored!

Anchored in that dangerous grace,
Harrison

*full disclosure - I am one of those Presbyterian pastor ;)

That's grace. That's love. That's Jesus.

I was replacing the a/c compressor on my jeep last week. Now I am known to make a mess at things like that and this was no exception. I somehow managed to spill Freon and compressor oil all over my hands. And not just a little bit! I was dripping with it! Desperate, I looked around for a towel or rag or paper towels, anything to wipe it off and there was nothing. The oil dripping off my arms stained my clothes and the floor – really everything around me was impacted by my mess. Standing in my garage, I turned around and spied the kitchen door. I knew that on the other side of that garage door was the answer to my problem – complete with warm water, soap and towels. But I was stuck. Grabbing the kitchen door knob, I tried to turn it – urghhhh - no success. My hands were so grimy and oily that I could not open anything at all. There was no way for me to get clean without some outside help.

Our souls are kind of like that… because of sin, our souls are so grimy and oily that there is no way for us to get clean without Jesus Christ. Romans 5:8, but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God isn’t waiting for us to get clean before we come to him. Just the opposite… Christ comes to us while we are still messed up and, by his death, makes us clean. And all because of his love for you and me! That’s grace. That’s love. That’s Jesus.

The freedom to fail and the opportunity to succeed

I don’t remember the man’s name but I remember what he did. He had a white boat with red seats and he had a boatload of patience. I was an eight year old boy that had never even seen a ski when this man took it upon himself to teach me. First, get the skis on and then hold on the rope. Sounds easy enough, right? Ouch! The boat pulled that handle right out of this skinny boy’s hands! The man circled the boat around and tried again. And again. And again. And again. Maybe ½ day later, perhaps only an hour, I finally got up and fell in love the sport. By the time I left home for Auburn University, I was skiing sunrise to well past sunset – trick skis, slalom, occasionally barefoot. I don’t remember that man’s name but I do remember that on that day he gave me freedom to fail and the opportunity to succeed.

Where can you do the same?

·        In your business
Delegate patiently and with constant encouragement. Give your co-workers the tools they need and the opportunities to use them and watch them grow.

·        In your family
Give your wife, your husband and your children the freedom to try new things. When the kids start walking, did they immediately run? Of course not! The fell, ran into things and looked just plain clumsy at times. Still we cheer them on as if they had won the Olympic marathon.

They need the same thing spiritually, academically and with chores. I spoke with a man recently that wouldn’t let his small child pray with the family until the child learned how to pray “right.” How sad! After 34 years as a Christian, I am certain that my prayers are rarely if ever completely “right” in my motives yet I read in Psalm 116 that God hears my voice and my please for mercy. Give your children freedom to fail there also. God does!

Let them learn some chores. No, they won’t get the dishes perfectly clean the first time and maybe not the tenth but they’ll get it eventually and in the meantime, just wipe the crumbs off with your sleeve. Let them make up those beds, straighten up that room and stuff everything under the bed for good measure. They’ll learn eventually and in the meantime, you get some help around the house – sort of.
 
·        In your church
God has given to each person spiritual gifts, passions and talents. If you keep everything on your shoulders, you are depriving them of the opportunity to minister and live as God has designed them. That’s partly why we periodically give interns the opportunity to preach at Grace Community Church. We know they are not seasoned preachers but how will they learn if we don’t give them opportunity? Besides, if God can use my preaching, he can use anyone’s!

 ·      In the school
Teachers and coaches, give the kid the freedom to fail and the opportunity to succeed. They might need several opportunities but you get to be a part of that! You give them freedom, confidence, patient instruction and watch what happens!

Regarding academics, don’t tell anyone, but I failed Algebra in the 9^th grade. Not my proudest moment. And I couldn’t even tell you where it wrong because I didn’t understand a single one of those x’s or y’s! It was silly stuff and besides, there was a herd of black and white cattle outside the window that were a lot more interesting than Mr. ____. But two years later I was in the National Math Honor Society and had college scholarships because of it. I remember the teacher that had reams of patience and kept teaching until the light went on in the math side of my brain. Thanks Ray Kelly for persistently giving students the freedom to fail and opportunities to succeed.

Because of God’s grace, you have the freedom to try, to fail and to get up and go for it again.

The Stench of a Skunk

We were crossing the desert country of southern Wyoming. We were in the middle of a western camping trip and enjoying the peaceful beauty of the country. Other than some antelope in the distance there was nothing within miles. Well, I should have known better! Suddenly a skunk poked his head from behind a mound of sand and began to amble across the road.  Did you know that a Chevy Suburban can stop on a dime? I didn’t either but we did! The brakes were squealing and the kids were screaming.  Whew! Group exhale! All breathed a sigh of relief that we had escaped the stench of the dreaded black and white monster. Let me tell you, they might look cute on TV or in the zoo but not when they’re standing 10 feet in front of your truck, giving you the look of death. Suddenly, as if to say, GOTCHA, that wicked skunk looks over his right shoulder, bore right into my eyes with his seedy stare, smiled at me… and begins to raise that cute fluffy deadly tail.  You know what happens when a skunk raises its tail? It’s not good! Did you know that a Chevy Suburban (loaded with parents, 4 kids and pulling a pop-up camper) can go 0 to 90 mph in 4.3 seconds? Yeah, I didn’t either. But let me tell you, our silence turned into a loud scream as I stepped on the gas! We barely escaped the stench of the deadly skunk!

 That’s what sin is like.  We mess with it and get a little too close and even think its cute and tantalizing but unlike the skunk, we can’t escape its stench.  Be fairly warned, sin will always leave some mark on your life.  It’s not pretty.  It stinks and the stench impacts everyone in your life… sometimes even into the next generation and beyond.

 
My friend, hit the gas and run from it! If you are in Christ, sin has no power to master you.

Romans 6:14, We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Anchored in Grace,
Harrison

From a Mongrel to a Duchess

 

 

From a Mongrel to a Duchess

It was a cold day, spitting rain and windy. Still I was out in it fishing. With weather like that, there is little surprise that I didn’t catch any fish! But I didn’t come home empty handed… Moving along the shore I heard a noise from an empty boat shed. Curiosity got the better of me and I moved in to check it out. In the back right corner, something cowered. It was winter on the lake and all the summer residents had long since departed. The only live animals anywhere around were sure to be wild. This one could have been a wounded deer or a rabid coyote! I should have been more careful but instead I went on in. I was 13 year old boy so who knows what was I thinking!? The mass turned out to be a very large yet scrawny, shivering, wet, muddy and matted German Shepherd. She had some open sores and something was wrong with one of her legs. And she was so very scared. She was nothing but a mongrel that many would have just put to sleep. I remember thinking that if she lived, this mongrel would need a name… so I called her Duchess.

It took a while but I coaxed her out, fed her from my hand, bathed her and treated her wounds. Many days passed before she learned to trust me. I never did find out where she had come from. She had been lost and was found, wounded and near death but was now healed and healthy. She had been alone and now had a family. Over time Duchess became a strong shepherd. Instead of being afraid at the touch of her master’s hand, she became ridiculously devoted! She had been a filthy mongrel but within a month, I found her sprawled on the sofa! This mongrel loved the life of a Duchess!

My life is so much like that mongrel’s. With a soul that was lost, matted, muddy and afraid, I was far from God. Yet he pursued me. He came into the dark corner and called me out. He bound up my wounds, healed my soul, gave me a new name and a place at his table. And I am ridiculously devoted to Christ Jesus my Lord!

God’s hand might be strange to you but do not fear his touch. He calls you out of the darkness to give you a place at his table. Christ came that you might have life and have it to the fullest.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Jesus in John 10:10

Anchored in Grace,

Harrison

And the object of that love is you!

“Was everyone kind? Nice? Respectful? Because you’re going to be paying for it and we want to make sure you get your money’s worth!”  That’s what the customer serve representative said as I was checking my son out of the hospital.  I understand she was just doing the quality control thing but I think she probably got off script a bit! Should we really expect people to be kind, nice and respectful just because we are paying for it? What happened to being kind and respectful because of love?

I think what has happened is that we have gotten way off course on our understanding of what love is all about. There seems to be this idea that we love only if we get some sort of payment in return. It’s an “I’ll love you if you do something for me” kind of world. Even among Christians. But that isn’t love as God has given it us! He doesn’t love us in exchange for something else. He doesn’t give us that “I’m going to love you if you do these 10 things (or 20 or 100).” God loves because it is his nature to love. I JN 4:8 reminds us that “God is love”. It’s who he is. And the object of that love is you.

Today you will have the opportunity to love. It is so easy for us, all of us, to let our selfishness or our desire to be right get in the way of loving people. Don’t let anything stand in the way of that love!

I JN 4:7-9 - ⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (esv)

Destructive Grace

Grace is so very destructive. It’s dangerous. It’s beautiful. It heals and it tears down.

Certainly there have been days, perhaps years, when I didn’t welcome grace. I didn’t want the Holy Spirit to come and tear apart my carefully constructed idols… idols I had put together over the years as substitutes for dependence on God.  Thankfully, God is a jealous God and will not long share space in our soul with our idols. Our idols allow us to con ourselves into self-righteousness because when our idols work for us we imagine, perhaps sub-consciously, that we really don’t need God, that we can be righteous all be our self.

Ambushed by grace, our self-righteousness is slowly but surely assaulted by the Holy Spirit until it crumbles under the weight of God’s love. First we fight it. We don’t want that grace. It tears apart all of our defenses. It destroys all of our god-substitutes.  Then either our heart grows harder or we begin to welcome the destructive power of grace. The Holy Spirit clears out our idols.  And as painful as that may be, it’s the best thing that can happen to us! When that grace fueled, love lavished destruction of our idols happens, then and only then do we begin to experience the unfathomable depths of the joy God has in store for his sons and daughters.

I fought him too long! I might fight him again tomorrow but if I do, I welcome his beautiful destructive grace! Quit fighting the Holy Spirit and his grace! Give in and experience his boundless joy.   

 

Anchored in Grace,
Harrison

A temporary nest - August 2013

The Carolina Wren is a small bird, barely 4 inches from beak to tip of the tail. They are a golden brown with inquisitive eyes. I was reading outside our camper when one of these little beauties landed on the shoulder of my chair. I had been watching the pair of them much of the morning. The industrious Wrens had been flying back and forth building their home. I admired their creativity but they were building this nest in my plastic basket full of beach towels. In and out, they wove their bits of leaf and stick and fur. They had the beginnings of a nice little cup of a nest resting among the towels. But we needed those towels and finally had to take away their home. In reality the nest would have been temporary at best. A plastic basket of towels sitting outside a camper is not a place to lay eggs and raise offspring! So, with a bit of guilt, we removed the towels from the basket, threw them in a chair and put the basket inside the camper. That should be the end of that right?

As I sat back in my camp chair, the wren came and sat behind me on the shoulder of my chair. He had a bit of blue thread in his beak. And he was looking for his home. This wren was 6 inches from my right eye and giving me a look that said, “ok, home wrecker, where is it? Where is my nest?”  Then he moved to the arm of the chair, right by my elbow and continued to look for the home he had built. Hopping from my chair to the table to another camp chair, my friend the Carolina Wren decided to start anew. Soon he was building a second nest – in the folded beach towels I had tossed in a camp chair. Silly bird.

My dear beautiful wren, why do you insist on building a home on things that are temporary? And why do I do the same thing?

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (MT6:19-21, ESV)

Justice and Mercy - March 2012

I recently heard the following story (which might or might not be true!).  A woman who was called to jury duty told the presiding judge that she was not qualified to serve because she did not believe in capital punishment. The judge said, 'You don't understand, madam. This is a civil case involving a man who spent five thousand dollars of his wife's money on gambling and other women.' To which the woman replied eagerly, 'I'll be happy to serve, your honor, and I've changed my mind about capital punishment.' 

 Now surely if the shoe had been on the other foot, the woman would have been crying for mercy rather than justice!  That’s how it goes though isn’t it?  We want justice for our enemies and mercy for ourselves!  Is it possible to have both mercy and justice with the same offense?  Not only is it possible but when God is dealing with his children, we find that mercy and justice are actually inseparable – they always go together.  The rest of that story is coming on Sunday morning at Grace Community Church. 

In the meantime, remember to invest yourselves in the life of someone else – a neighbor, co-worker or client.  As God has loved us, so we get to love one another.

 Gripped by Grace,

 Harrison Spitler, Pastor

Disconnected Phones - May 2011

The phone call wasn’t that important.  I wasn’t talking to someone in a major crisis or leading someone to Christ over the phone or even planning a very important meeting.  The fact is that I was just checking my voicemail!  But it was while I was checking the voicemail that the line went dead…  first there were the warning beeps.  You know the sound…you get a strange beep (sounds more like a boype than a beep) and then another and then they begin to speed up…  beep-----beep----beep--beep-beep-----------------nothing!  Suddenly, my phone was dead!  Dead, dead, dead!  If you tried to call and I didn’t get it, please forgive me but don’t blame it on the phone – blame it on the owner of the phone who forgot to plug it in to charge the battery!

Sometimes our spiritual lives are like my phone.  We feel like we are losing a connection to God and might even hear or experience warning signs that we are wandering away from God.  In John 15, Jesus encourages us strongly to “abide in Christ.”  Abiding in Christ is kind of like “plugging into” Christ all of the time.  It involves spending some time in the Bible daily, spending time in prayer as a way of life, worshipping with other Christians weekly and submitting our will to the will of God.  

The summer is coming on fast and the distractions will be constant.  Don’t let the distractions pull you away from abiding in Christ.  The distractions come and go but Christ will be with you forever – abide with him now, enjoy him now!

 Abiding with you in the Risen Lamb,

Harrison Spitler, Pastor

Best of Times, Worst of Times - January 2012

Dear Grace Family,

Charles Dickens penned the famous line “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”  As we open up Romans 3:9-31, you will begin by thinking that this is pretty rough stuff.  Indeed Paul does paint an ugly picture in the first few verses.  If you stop reading there, then you will go away with only half of the picture – the half referred to as “the worst of times.”  But read on!  Quickly you come to the other half of the picture known as “the best of times.”  That’s the part where see Christ stepping into our shoes and taking our pain.  Our sin really is woefully ugly – even hideous.  We are all much worse than we might realize.  BUT the good news is that God’s grace is much, much greater than we can ever imagine!  The worst of times is followed and even overridden by the best!

Most of us have grown up through life getting only half of that picture.  We are either too awful for Christ to redeem or perhaps our sin is of no great consequence and so we really don’t need that much of Christ.  We can get by with just a little of God.  The truth, according to God and as recorded by Paul, is that we are beyond help of any kind unless God intervenes with a final sacrifice.  Praise God for the sacrifice of His Son, our brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

On another note:  don’t forget to Invest-n-Invite.  The days leading up to Palm Sunday and Easter  find people exploring spiritual matters.  Take advantage of this to invest your life in theirs by building relationships of open grace and Christ-like love.  That investment is one that pays eternal dividends.  I have been excited to see this happening at Grace Community Church and then to see you Invite new friends to Community Groups, Crazy 8 dinners and Worship.  Lives are being transformed as God works through you!

 I look forward to worshipping our God with you on Sunday.

Yours in the Risen Lamb,

 

Harrison Spitler, Pastor

Foolish Facades - August 2006

Dear Grace Family and Friends,

            Have you ever noticed a movie set?  Or perhaps the set of TV drama?  If you could manage to get behind the scenes you would see that all of the pretty walls and elegant furnishings are just a façade – an expensive façade but still just a façade.  There is no substance!  Knock on the door all you want but no one is home!  Much money is spent building the set to give the audience the impression of reality… a Happy Days reality or a Friends reality or Leave it to Beaver reality or Sex in The City reality.  But it’s all a fake!!!  None of it is real!

One of the saddest realities I see is that you and I often build our lives just like MGM or Disney builds a set.  We determine what people want to see.  We dream it up big!  Then we invest an awful lot of thought, creativity, time, energy and money building up a façade to match.  WHY?  Are we afraid of the repercussions of being real?  Perhaps we are and perhaps we have good reason to know that fear.  The truth is that few people ever know that safe place where they can be who they really are.  They don’t trust the safe God and they don’t know any safe people and have never experienced a safe place. 

In Genesis we see the façade building business beginning.  Eve wants to be like God and Adam is silent on the issue.  God comes looking for them and instead of stepping forward they both duck behind their favorite bush – the “we’re hiding because we sinned and maybe you don’t know it yet-bush.”  Adam and Eve had built the first façade.  The bush represented their denial and hiding and was brought on by their shameful action.  Because of Adam and Eve’s little fruit incident, we don’t live as God intended us to live but rather live “broken”.  Being broken, we attempt to “fix” ourselves and each other by building these ridiculous façades.

Through Jesus Christ, what is broken will be restored.  As people restored by the Grace of God through Jesus Christ, we can live in freedom and joy without having to hide in broken bushes.  We can get away from the business of building façades and get about the business of heavenly joy that is known only as we give into God’s unfathomable grace.  Are you ready to give in?  Are you ready to tear down your façade?     It might be painful for a short while but ultimately the joy of God’s grace will prevail and you will know intimately the sound of his voice as he whispers in your ear, “You are mine and I rejoice over you.”

 

Praying that God will make us a safe people,
Praying that God will make us a safe church,
Praying that you and I will intimately know the reality of God’s Beautiful Grace, 
Praying that you and I will lay down our façades and trust Jesus,

Living in Grace,

Harrison Spitler, Pastor

Grace Anchors - May 2012

Dear Grace Family,

I remember fishing at the old farm pond with my Daddy.  I was about 5 and I followed him in the way he fished or walked or even the way he yawned.  I tried to imitate everything he did.  When we were out in that little boat at the farm that day, I caught one that bent that old cane pole almost to the water.  This fish was so big I knew I wasn’t going to pull it in.  I had to have help!  My daddy came up behind me, wrapped his arms around me from behind and got a grip on the pole!  While I nearly hyperventilated from excitement my daddy and Uncle Dan pulled in the biggest fish to ever come out of that scum covered pond!  It had to be at least a 20 pounder!   Only this fish wasn’t a fish...it was an old Maxwell House coffee can full of concrete with a rope attached to it. The other end of the rope was attached to the boat.  I had caught a big one!  A great big concrete boat anchor!  My dad showed me the boat anchor, wrapped his arms around me and threw it back in the pond.

In Matthew 4, Jesus calls out to Peter, a fisherman, and says, “Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men.”  Later, in John 21, Peter gets his eyes off of following Jesus and becomes more concerned about other lesser things in life.  Jesus’ response is firm.  Basically he tells Peter to quit worrying about those other things, you follow me!  Life is full of exciting distractions that can seem important at the time but are really just concrete boat anchors.  The anchors drag you down and turn an otherwise great day into anxious discouragement.  The anchors can turn a joyful life of “fishing for men” and leave you wondering what happened to your well planned life!  What do you do then?  God gives us at least two answers… first, he reminds us to follow. Just follow…  follow Jesus Christ.  Fix your eyes on Jesus and follow him.  Second, as we will see from Romans 8 on Sunday morning, God has given us the Holy Spirit who remains with us to help us to follow. 

Sometimes what we spend our time on isn’t an exciting big fish at all but just a heavy, worthless anchor.  Follow Christ and he will show you the difference.  Life is so very, very short.  By God’s grace, follow Jesus Christ and love well.

 In the Grip of Grace,

Harrison Spitler, Pastor

Dare to Fail! - August 2013

           Summer is drawing to a close.  Swimming and water skiing will soon give way to football and falling leaves.  As a kid this time of year always brought a flurry of last minute skiing.  We had to get in all we could before the water turned cold and the boat went away for the winter.  Early mornings and late afternoons found us at a nearby slalom course.  The yellow buoys were lined up on both sides and we felt the rush of adrenalin as the boat aimed for the lane that would put the skier on the course.  There was always the dare from your best friend to use a shorter rope and to go through the buoys just a little faster.  No turning back.  The boat lined up, you took a deep breath and with the pleasure of rushing wind and spray in your face, you moved out to the right.  Going around the first buoy was easy but getting across the wake and around the second was tougher.  The falls generally came as I aimed for the 4^th or 5^th.

But the falling never brought anguish or frustration.  Our reaction was laughter and joking and that good feeling that comes when you know you succeeded a little more than last time.  Growth.  Strength.  Good friends and laughter.  The course was risky but it was so very good!

You see, we knew that in skiing, falling wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Only those that fall succeed.  You aim for the buoy.  You are stretched out at the end of the rope, almost parallel to the water, until your elbow skims the surface… and then you fall!  It’s okay because you know you just got a little stronger – a little better – a little closer to the goal.   The point is that only those that fall succeed b/c only those that fall risk leaving the comfort zone of mediocrity to become the strongest skier they can be.  If we fail to risk, we have fallen already and have no opportunity for growth at all.

With Christ, it isn’t falling that ultimately brings us closer but it is being broken.  We can surround ourselves in layers of cultural and legalistic self righteous comfort and never draw close to God…or we can run to him and bow before him!  Running to God can seem risky.  God is big.  God is holy.  But God invites us to run to him and abide there.  He takes us and makes us and breaks us where we need to be broken.  He peels the layers of insulation from our hearts like a farmer peeling the shucks back from an ear of corn.  He sands off the rough spots until he has what he wants.  That sanding and shucking and breaking hurts but the result is that we are closer to the Father.  Like the skier that swallows a gallon of water but knows that he is stronger, so the person who risks everything by drawing near to God is also stronger. 

Do you want to grow stronger in your faith?  Draw near to God.  It’s risky but it’s good.

Drawing near with you,

            Harrison Spitler, Pastor

Elevator Grace - September 2008

           Have you ever noticed the rules of the elevator?  There is the “face the front” rule and the “fold your hands in front” rule but the one that intrigues me the most is the “don’t talk to anyone about anything” rule.   That one is unbreakable!  What is going on there?   Are we afraid of the repercussions?  People were created for community yet we hide from each other!  In elevators, neighborhoods and even in our homes. 

There still remains a longing in our heart to live as we were created.  Starbucks sees it.  Have you ever noticed that Starbucks doesn’t advertise their coffee as much as they sell the “Starbucks Experience”.  Starbucks knows that people are longing for community and their coffee (good as it is) is really just a part of that community building process. 

In Genesis we see that it is not good for man to be alone.  Now surely God is talking primarily about man and his relationship with a woman but the principle is still there!  It is not good for man to be alone and God created people to be with each other.  God sees it.   Even Starbucks sees it.  Why do we keep fighting it?  Why do we fight living in community with each other?  The reason is that we are broken people.  Because of Adam and Eve’s little fruit incident, we don’t live as God intended us to live but rather live “broken”. 

Through Jesus Christ, what is broken will be restored.  As people restored by the Grace of God through Jesus Christ, we can live in freedom and joy without having to hide in broken bushes.  Next time you are in the elevator, exercise your freedom, build a community of grace, say “hello”.     

On second thought, don’t wait for the elevator, quit hiding in your house and build an authentic Christian Community of Grace right where you live.  Enjoy it!  Its how God made you to really live.

 Living in Grace,

 

Harrison Spitler, Pastor

Freedom - September 2008

December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks sat down near the front of a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama.  The law said she had to sit in the back because she was “colored.”  The white man told her to move.  She said, “no.”  She said she wasn’t too tired to move, just “tired of giving in.”  Mrs. Parks knew that Christ had given her freedom and she was tired of man taking it away.  Persecution followed her throughout the city…the cost of her stand for freedom was high and she finally left her home for a friendlier place.  With her family she left Montgomery and moved to Detroit where she died in 2006.  The segregation still goes on.  Why?  Freedom came at a cost. 

            October 31, 1517, Martin Luther was tired.  Luther was tired of the abuses the Roman Church was hurling at the people across Europe.  The people were afraid of an angry God represented by an angry and abusive church.  The church forced people to buy pieces of paper that would guarantee forgiveness of sins.  Such “indulgences” were even available for sins planned but yet to be committed.  On that day, Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the chapel door at Wittenburg and persecution followed him to inquisition where he stood and said, “here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God.”  With that stand freedom became unstoppable.  Yet people still believe they can buy favor with God by being good and doing the right things.  Why?  Why do we do favors for God and then pretend he owes us favors in return.  We all do it.  Lord help us to stand in Christ alone!!!  He has helped us by freeing us from religion and bondage but that freedom came at a cost.

            Sometime in 4 B.C. a baby was born of a virgin.  33 years later he was killed. Galatians 5:1 tells us that “it was for freedom that Christ has already set us free.”  The passage goes on and tells us to not allow ourselves to be bound again by a yoke of slavery.  Live in the freedom Christ has given you!  He has given us the freedom of sons and daughters of the King so quit sitting in the spiritual ‘back of the bus’.  He has given us the freedom to approach the throne of grace with freedom and confidence so quit shirking back from the “throne of GRACE” (Ephesians 1).  He has given us freedom to worship and love and live in joy.  This Sunday we look at John 12:23-26 and find the freedom he has given us.  If Jesus has already died for us, then what death is left for us to die?  If we are to “follow him” then where is freedom?  Hope to see you on Sunday as we look at the “Paradox of Life from Death.”

 

Yours in the Lamb,

Harrison Spitler, Pastor

So Very Rich - September 2007

 Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. ¹⁸ Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. ¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. ²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. ²¹ Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. ²² Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. ²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

The Apostle Paul was a real person living with real people.  Real people just like us. He knew the hardness and shallowness of our hearts. He knew that we would be shallow and hard in our relationships with each other because we are that way with God.  Paul knew the remedy for the disease of our souls.   He tells us to LET the word of Christ dwell in us.  Typically we fight letting God’s word dwell in us.  We often don’t want the word of Christ to dwell in us because we know that if it does our own selfish passions get shoved aside.  When something dwells in a place then other competing things have to leave.  Last week we saw the Apostle John writing that the WORD of God was with God and was God and was Jesus Christ himself.(JN 1:1)  When Christ dwells in us and makes his word come alive in us then the power of a new affection takes hold in our soul and drives out competing affections.  How often have you wished you would somehow be able to love those that seem unlovable?  (BTW, we often are those unlovable people!)  How often have you thought that you just want to love God more?  Then let his word dwell in you!

Not only does God desire that we let his word dwell in us but that we let it dwell in us richly.  With this addition (richly) we find that the word of Christ dwelling in us is not mere academia or memorization but a rich and alive abiding of Jesus Christ and his beautiful words of redemption and forgiveness.  With this richness we experience more than just a religion.  With the word of Christ dwelling richly we experience Jesus Christ himself! 

That experience will sometimes resemble a marriage.  There will be days when it is exciting and you feel as though the sun is shining just for you.  Other days, there will be no fireworks and a faithful, selfless love seems distant.  In all of those days though, Jesus Christ has promised to dwell in you.  He is faithful even when we aren’t.  Jesus knows that we need to let his word dwell in us richly, fully, if we are to walk close to him and experience the joy of being a Christian. 

The rest of the passage is also quoted above.  In it you note that the rich dwelling of the word of Christ results in songs of praise and words of rich beauty in relationship with other Christians.  We live in relationship because that’s where we were designed to live.  For those relationships to also be rich, we must also live with, dwell in, Jesus Christ. 

We are designed to dwell with Christ.  Let his word dwell with you.  Experience Jesus.  

Pursuing Jesus with You!

Harrison Spitler, Pastor