It occurred to me the other day that another one of the Porky-Jesus ideas that we have is the purpose of our quiet time.
Have you ever gotten up late or so tired that you decided that you were going to have to forgo your quiet-time? You heart was not set on evil; it was just set on sleepy. You had not decided to make a pact with the devil or align yourself with the “powers of darkness.” You just did not have a quiet time, this time. And off you go into the day.
And as the day unfolds or unravels as the case maybe, you decide after a flat-tire or a traffic jam, or a cup holder full of coffee that what has gone wrong with your day was the absence of a quiet time. You conclude that if you had taken time for a quiet time you would not have lost that document, or picked your hose, or whatever it was that prompted the contrition.
But as I got to thinking about that approach and thinking about passages like the spiritual armor passage in Ephesians…I was reminded that we do not have quiet times to prevent difficulties and challenges in our day. We have a quiet time to prepare us to respond and be like Jesus no matter what trick, trap or mishap we or the devil might spring in our life.
The quiet time is not to make my life easier, it is to make it easier for people to see Jesus instead of my flesh! Our quiet time is where we pick up our cross, or renew our crucifixion so that it is Jesus living in us that encounters the dung of life!
So, in the morning...when you have your quiet time…ask God for combat boots not silk slippers. Ask Him for a sword, not a butter knife. Ask Him for a fire proof shield not a parasol. Ask Him to help you smell like the Rose of Sharon, no matter how deep the manure gets!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Seven years ago today…9/11
Its hard to imagine that seven years ago today at just about this exact moment (as I write) our world was changing. It would never be the same, for any of us.
For the thousands who lost their loved ones it will never be the same. The love, the loss, the pain, the fear, the anguish, the loneliness, the struggle, it all leaves a person changed.
After a couple of anxious phone calls that morning it became clear that what was happening was bigger than any of us knew. From our office we all drove around the block to my house so we could watch the live coverage. I will never forget seeing the tower begin its collapse behind Peter Jennings. He was focused on the camera and the report he was giving and for a couple of seconds we were seeing something that he wasn’t. It was one of the most horrible sights I have ever seen. Everyone in the room was devastated. The whole nation was thrust into mourning for months.
For a few weeks we all took things a little differently. Like Alan Jackson’s song says we hugged more and loved more and prayed more and appreciated more.
The tragedy is that here we are seven years later and for most of us it is completely forgotten. If you rarely or never fly then you don’t realize the extra security measures that are taken. For the vast majority of us it is business and politics as usual.
September Eleventh is a date and a number and synonym for tragedy. But what we have forgotten is that what made that day what it was, was people. It was people who flew the planes. It was people that died in the towers and in the Pentagon and in the field in Pennsylvania. We were shocked and horrified and tormented because of the loss of people.
However, the second tragedy of 9/11 is echoed every time we forget that the only thing in this world that really matters is people. We forget that the only thing that matters is people when we terrorize other people by driving recklessly and with rage. When we blow our horns and scream profanities at people who we perceive as being in our way!
We terrorize our families when we are unkind and ungrateful. When we criticize and accuse and mistreat them as if they were our debtors. We are nothing less than terrorists when our attitudes are self-serving and hateful and calloused.
Jesus taught us that if anger and hatred are in our hearts…it is as if our hands were already bloody!
Remember 9/11. Mourn the dead, remember the suffering, have a moment of silence. Then decide that you will make sure there is one less terrorist in the world. One less person driven by anger and animosity and rage. One less person who sees every other person as something in their way of self-importance. Let’s make sure that there is one less person in this world who is jealous and ungrateful and resentful. One less person like the hijackers and one more person who is more like Jesus!
May God bless the people in our country and our world.
For the thousands who lost their loved ones it will never be the same. The love, the loss, the pain, the fear, the anguish, the loneliness, the struggle, it all leaves a person changed.
After a couple of anxious phone calls that morning it became clear that what was happening was bigger than any of us knew. From our office we all drove around the block to my house so we could watch the live coverage. I will never forget seeing the tower begin its collapse behind Peter Jennings. He was focused on the camera and the report he was giving and for a couple of seconds we were seeing something that he wasn’t. It was one of the most horrible sights I have ever seen. Everyone in the room was devastated. The whole nation was thrust into mourning for months.
For a few weeks we all took things a little differently. Like Alan Jackson’s song says we hugged more and loved more and prayed more and appreciated more.
The tragedy is that here we are seven years later and for most of us it is completely forgotten. If you rarely or never fly then you don’t realize the extra security measures that are taken. For the vast majority of us it is business and politics as usual.
September Eleventh is a date and a number and synonym for tragedy. But what we have forgotten is that what made that day what it was, was people. It was people who flew the planes. It was people that died in the towers and in the Pentagon and in the field in Pennsylvania. We were shocked and horrified and tormented because of the loss of people.
However, the second tragedy of 9/11 is echoed every time we forget that the only thing in this world that really matters is people. We forget that the only thing that matters is people when we terrorize other people by driving recklessly and with rage. When we blow our horns and scream profanities at people who we perceive as being in our way!
We terrorize our families when we are unkind and ungrateful. When we criticize and accuse and mistreat them as if they were our debtors. We are nothing less than terrorists when our attitudes are self-serving and hateful and calloused.
Jesus taught us that if anger and hatred are in our hearts…it is as if our hands were already bloody!
Remember 9/11. Mourn the dead, remember the suffering, have a moment of silence. Then decide that you will make sure there is one less terrorist in the world. One less person driven by anger and animosity and rage. One less person who sees every other person as something in their way of self-importance. Let’s make sure that there is one less person in this world who is jealous and ungrateful and resentful. One less person like the hijackers and one more person who is more like Jesus!
May God bless the people in our country and our world.
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