The Bachelor Pad, Part II

Again, Jake, Joe, and I are on our own.  Have been for nearly 3 weeks.  Jessica spent 8 days in Palm Springs working on a home our friends bought and intend to turn into a rental.  The day after she returned home, we received the news that her grandmother Alice had passed away.  So Jessica got on a plane that morning and has been in Weaverville, CA (with Kerri) helping her mom get grandmother's house in order, and prepare for the memorial service next month. 

I'm such a whiner when it comes to being without my bride.  "It is not good for man to be alone!" :)  But we're surviving, and I'm very much looking forward her coming home Friday.  Kerri will stay in Weaverville until July 25, the day we remember "Great Grandma Gummy Bear."

We appreciate all of your prayers for our family.  G-ma Alice was 98 and knew the Lord, so in truth, this is a joyous occasion! 

God Does Weird Stuff

Proverbs 3:5 says "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding."

A question: Why is it that one of the most famous and beloved passages in all of scripture is rarely followed?

You may think that to be an inflamatory question, but I ask it with the most sincere intrigue. What I intend is for each of us to consider that "our own understanding" is usually the measuring stick for before, during and after any crisis or difficult situation we face. If the solution or outcome "makes sense" to our finite minds, we often say, "That must be from God."

But consider Joshua's encounter with God himself in Joshua 5 and 6. Here the Lord tells him to march around Jericho for 7 days, and on the final day, to have the people shout as loud as they can, and Jericho's walls would come tumbling down. However, the Bible leaves out the fact that this wall is 33 feet thick! Can you imagine being among God's people? When Joshua told you what the Lord said, would you not wonder aloud about his sanity?

Those of you who know the story know that God's people did exactly as God required, and the walls fell flat! But personally, I often wonder what God's people might do if a similar directive were given to his people today. Oh, how many ques-tions we would have for Joshua and the Lord.

Church, it's easy to make the statement, "God DID weird stuff." But is it still true that God DOES weird stuff?

Perhaps you don't have a story that compares with the walls of Jericho crashing down, but I imagine you have a story or two about a time when God's answers to your problems didn't make sense. Sometimes you followed Him, other times not. Let me encourage you once again: "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean NOT on your own understanding."

See you Sunday!

Are You "Ready" to Die?

This week, we open up the beautiful book of Daniel, chapter three. Here we find Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced with a life-or-death scenario, one in which they give no indication they needed "more time" to think about their fateful answer. Putting yourself in their shoes, might you answer the same, or differently?

The account of these three men, King Nebuchadnezzar, and the fiery furnace is one of my favorites in all the Old Testament. It - like every good story - has a great setting, a great conflict, and a great resolution. It has the powerful bad guy, a kingdom of misled loyal servants, a conspiracy plot, upstanding main characters, the threat of brutality, escape from certain death, and much more.

But unlike many other great stories, the moral of this one isn't the "uplifting, feel-good" type you might expect. Many great stories end with the good guys running countless times from the bad guys, and finally besting them at the end. Not so with Shad, Meesh, and Abed. Rather, these men of integrity don't run. And they don't fight. And they don't claim any victory. Instead, they leave their fate in the hands of the one true God. From every angle upon which to view this account, the moral of the story is this: Are you ready to die?

I've heard many times people say, "I can't wait for Jesus to come back!" But every time I hear it, I wonder if they mean it. Wouldn't we want to set our house in order first? Make sure those behind us are cared for long after we're gone? Indeed, these are noble, responsible concerns that should be taken care of. But they don't truly answer the spiritual (and more significant) part of the question.

I hope to see you Sunday, where we wrestle with the text, and focus on individually answering this great question!