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.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
PJ: Serve
What an interesting word. If you are in a restaurant the word serve or service means how well the staff takes care of you. Are they prompt, courteous, attentive? Often a restaurant will succeed or fail as much upon the service they provide as the food they “serve.” Mediocre food that is served well can be very satisfying while a great meal can be ruined by bad service.
Take the word serve into tennis or volleyball and you have a whole new meaning. When one tennis player rears back and hits the ball as hard as they can at the other player, it’s called serving. However they do so with every intention of causing the opponent to either miss the ball completely or otherwise fail to return the ball properly. In this instance the word serve really means self-serving. I doubt very seriously that Venus Williams’ opponent was all that pleased to be served a tennis ball at 127 mph, a new record at Wimbledon for a woman. I don’t even want to think about how silly I would look trying to return a serve like that.
But what does the word serve look like in ministry. Is it the effort and intention to provide something for someone else? For many it is truly about putting others above and better than themselves. That is what Jesus did and that is what He calls us to. But sometimes like out of date milk, service can go bad. Really bad!
In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul had to call a few folks out because as they served the Lord’s Supper it became all about their appetites and their indulgences and bore no resemblance to actually serving others…which is the clearest reminder in the experience…Jesus sacrificed everything to serve his body and blood to us!
Serving can become a guise for control and selfishness. Someone can say they want to serve in a certain area or position but the service has nothing to do with what they provide to others, but rather it is all about what they gain, feel, or can influence.
However, make no mistake. It is just about impossible to serve and not get something out of it. Every time you try to lift someone else up or seek to be a blessing to another you will get blessed. Short of experiencing extreme physical pain or personal loss, it is often difficult to not be more blessed by your own act of service than the one you were intending to bless. Which brings us to the crucial word in all of our acts of service, our intentions. It is the heart.
If a person has the heart of a true servant then their service will be selfless and deeply satisfying. If they are seeking to serve their own agenda and aggression, then it will be quite likely that they will end up serving in a way that is not really meant for the good of the recipient. And don't think about asking them to not serve or to serve in a new area.
Just for the record, whenever anger is your first response, you can bet there is no servant's heart.
Isn’t it odd that in tennis a powerful serve results in love for the opponent? And only in tennis does the word serve not mean servant hood and love really means zero. Now that is some serious porky-jesus. How’s your serve?
Take the word serve into tennis or volleyball and you have a whole new meaning. When one tennis player rears back and hits the ball as hard as they can at the other player, it’s called serving. However they do so with every intention of causing the opponent to either miss the ball completely or otherwise fail to return the ball properly. In this instance the word serve really means self-serving. I doubt very seriously that Venus Williams’ opponent was all that pleased to be served a tennis ball at 127 mph, a new record at Wimbledon for a woman. I don’t even want to think about how silly I would look trying to return a serve like that.
But what does the word serve look like in ministry. Is it the effort and intention to provide something for someone else? For many it is truly about putting others above and better than themselves. That is what Jesus did and that is what He calls us to. But sometimes like out of date milk, service can go bad. Really bad!
In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul had to call a few folks out because as they served the Lord’s Supper it became all about their appetites and their indulgences and bore no resemblance to actually serving others…which is the clearest reminder in the experience…Jesus sacrificed everything to serve his body and blood to us!
Serving can become a guise for control and selfishness. Someone can say they want to serve in a certain area or position but the service has nothing to do with what they provide to others, but rather it is all about what they gain, feel, or can influence.
However, make no mistake. It is just about impossible to serve and not get something out of it. Every time you try to lift someone else up or seek to be a blessing to another you will get blessed. Short of experiencing extreme physical pain or personal loss, it is often difficult to not be more blessed by your own act of service than the one you were intending to bless. Which brings us to the crucial word in all of our acts of service, our intentions. It is the heart.
If a person has the heart of a true servant then their service will be selfless and deeply satisfying. If they are seeking to serve their own agenda and aggression, then it will be quite likely that they will end up serving in a way that is not really meant for the good of the recipient. And don't think about asking them to not serve or to serve in a new area.
Just for the record, whenever anger is your first response, you can bet there is no servant's heart.
Isn’t it odd that in tennis a powerful serve results in love for the opponent? And only in tennis does the word serve not mean servant hood and love really means zero. Now that is some serious porky-jesus. How’s your serve?
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Porky Jesus: Comforter
“Let’s get comfortable.” Isn’t that great thing? Oversized Tee shirt, loose shorts, perfect temperature, favorite show, and something to eat! That is comfortable. Being with people you know in a familiar place, no pressure, that’s comfortable.
How about this, a soft bed, a warm comforter, a full attack of the sandman and no schedule, let the sleeping begin. Sign me up! Oh hallelujah that Jesus said He will “give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever!” Wow! God wants us to be warm and cozy and comfortable! He has even dispatched the third person of the Trinity to make us comfortable! As a buddy of mine used to say, “Prob-lee!”
There is as much difference between Comforter and Comfortable as there is between Portuguese and Porky-Jesus! Jesus did not promise the Holy Spirit aka Comforter in the KJV to make us comfortable! He sent the Comforter, parakletos in the Greek language which means called along side; to come to our aid as we struggle and suffer through life. The fact is that if we are not out of our comfort zone and struggling and even suffering for Jesus, we do not need the “Comforter.” If we do not need the Holy Spirit, He will not be evident in our life.
A sail boat does not need the wind to sit moored in the harbor. It needs the wind when its sails are unfurled and its anchor is stowed and the rudder is set upon a course. We do not need the Holy Spirit or the Comforter unless we have willfully placed ourselves amid the fight and the fury of obedience in this sin-bent world.
Its seems that so many in the church believe that God has called and promised us, that if we will follow Jesus, we will be comfortable. Read the promises of many books and sermons and you would think that Jesus is the ramp to easy street. And yet nothing could be farther from the truth. Follow Jesus and you will need a Comforter, you will need someone called alongside to help. Because you will struggle and strain and feel like giving up. You will hurt and feel alone and be unsure. You could find yourself in prison or beaten or dying. You can find yourself abandoned, betrayed, and used.
What about the slap on the other cheek was going to feel better than the first one? What part of that second mile was going to be easier than the first? Just exactly how much fun was it suppose to be to keep loving those who spitefully use you? Jesus never said nor even hinted that the path of obedience was going to be comfortable. He taught us that it was going to be so challenging and so demanding that the only way we would ever make it is if we had someone to come alongside and help us press on.
However, if your Christian experience is quiet and comfortable and as easy as sitting on a padded pew or a personal Sunday School chair…you might want to double check something. If the path you are on is broad and crowded and relatively unchallenged…you might want to take a moment.
But if you feel like a piñata at Albert Pujols’ birthday party…or if following Jesus is making you pray harder and longer than you ever have before. If obedience is giving you a serious need for some comforting…congratulations! You must be following Jesus. After all He promised a Comforter for the conflict…not to make you comfortable.
How about this, a soft bed, a warm comforter, a full attack of the sandman and no schedule, let the sleeping begin. Sign me up! Oh hallelujah that Jesus said He will “give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever!” Wow! God wants us to be warm and cozy and comfortable! He has even dispatched the third person of the Trinity to make us comfortable! As a buddy of mine used to say, “Prob-lee!”
There is as much difference between Comforter and Comfortable as there is between Portuguese and Porky-Jesus! Jesus did not promise the Holy Spirit aka Comforter in the KJV to make us comfortable! He sent the Comforter, parakletos in the Greek language which means called along side; to come to our aid as we struggle and suffer through life. The fact is that if we are not out of our comfort zone and struggling and even suffering for Jesus, we do not need the “Comforter.” If we do not need the Holy Spirit, He will not be evident in our life.
A sail boat does not need the wind to sit moored in the harbor. It needs the wind when its sails are unfurled and its anchor is stowed and the rudder is set upon a course. We do not need the Holy Spirit or the Comforter unless we have willfully placed ourselves amid the fight and the fury of obedience in this sin-bent world.
Its seems that so many in the church believe that God has called and promised us, that if we will follow Jesus, we will be comfortable. Read the promises of many books and sermons and you would think that Jesus is the ramp to easy street. And yet nothing could be farther from the truth. Follow Jesus and you will need a Comforter, you will need someone called alongside to help. Because you will struggle and strain and feel like giving up. You will hurt and feel alone and be unsure. You could find yourself in prison or beaten or dying. You can find yourself abandoned, betrayed, and used.
What about the slap on the other cheek was going to feel better than the first one? What part of that second mile was going to be easier than the first? Just exactly how much fun was it suppose to be to keep loving those who spitefully use you? Jesus never said nor even hinted that the path of obedience was going to be comfortable. He taught us that it was going to be so challenging and so demanding that the only way we would ever make it is if we had someone to come alongside and help us press on.
However, if your Christian experience is quiet and comfortable and as easy as sitting on a padded pew or a personal Sunday School chair…you might want to double check something. If the path you are on is broad and crowded and relatively unchallenged…you might want to take a moment.
But if you feel like a piñata at Albert Pujols’ birthday party…or if following Jesus is making you pray harder and longer than you ever have before. If obedience is giving you a serious need for some comforting…congratulations! You must be following Jesus. After all He promised a Comforter for the conflict…not to make you comfortable.
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