It's Not about Me

For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 2 Corinthians 4:5

Two Days from Here

Yesterday I had an experience that’s rocked my boat.

Carol and I were taking our friends Pastors Luiz Carlos Pinto and Fabio Leonardo Pinto to the airport for their return flight to Brazil. We stopped for a left turn signal at Cedar and Shields.

Coincidently, the center median is the stake out of a homeless American Vet.

I rolled the window down to give the guy a couple of dollars. The homeless man looked at me dressed in a coat and tie and asked, “Are you going to church?”

“No, but I work at a church.”

“Which one?”

“Peoples Church.”

“Hell! Where’s that?” (using his language, not mine)

“Back up the street at Cedar and Herndon.”

“That’s two days from here,” he replied as he took the money. Then before walking away he added. “Thank you sir, have a nice day.”

The light turned green and my mind raced forward. Wow! What a word picture. Here I am working at a church five minutes from a guy who’s two days away. No wonder Jesus said, “Go into all the world.”

It’s less of a journey for me to go and get him, than it is for him to come and get it.

Five minutes from here is two days for him!

Three Questions

Three questions:

1. Do you know how hard it is to embrace your grandchildren (or anyone else for that matter) when your arms are full of groceries?

2. Do you know how hard it is to worship God when your mind is full of other things?

3. Do you know how hard it is to have compassion for the world when your arms are clutching all you own?

Okay, question #4: What would happen if you put down all those things and with open arms embraced the one (The One) in front of you?

Unfullfilled Expectations

Before going to bed last night, I took a look out the front window. Granville Avenue was dark. Completely dark. Six to eight non-working street lights, victims of thieves who stole the prized copper wire. Now the lights stand as daytime symbols of unfulfilled night-time expectations to fill darkness with light.

After a few minutes in bed it hit me: if we're not careful (individually and corporately) thieves could steal our power leaving us as only a symbol of an unfulfilled expectation God has for His Church—to be light in the dark. Prayfully, when people look at the church they will not see us as lights out, an unfulfilled expectation.

God's Blogs

Okay, I just finished Lanny Donoho's book, "God's Blogs." I've had this book since receiving it at Catalyst in October. I started yesterday and finished it today. It's a must read. I'll not give it away but it's very creatively written. Favorite blogs: Money, Time, Preachers, Weddings, Olympics, Tsunamis. Read it all. I've not done it justice to pick these over the others.

Thanks Lanny for an awesome book and making it available, like blogs, for free (at Catalyst).

If All You can See is the Mountain, You're in Trouble

At the "Celebration of Life" Service for Rose MacAlpine, I shared the following account of a flying experiencing while traveling with our Pastor, GL Johnson, some friends and associates:

One of the memories of my time here at PC is a trip with Pastor Johnson, Ed Baloian, and a couple of others on our staff. We were flying in Ed’s plane, returning home via Arizona. In the distance I could see Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the continental US. The more I looked at it through the window of the plane, the more certain I was that we were going to crash into the mountain—it would be the end. Finally, trying to sound brave, but wanting to alert the pilot to the looming mountain, I said something to Ed, who was facing me. Without looking over his shoulder, he stated, “If you can see the horizon beyond the mountain, you’ve nothing to worry about. You’ll fly right over it. You’re in trouble, when all you can see is the mountain.”

Some would see death as a mountain, spelling an end. Rose saw it as a fly over point as she moved into the forever horizon of God’s eternal heaven.

If all you can see is the mountain, you’re in trouble.

Away Isn't Always So Far Away (Part 1)

On a recent stay at a Sheraton Hotel in Los Angeles I read the following on a card placed by the phone:
“Away isn’t
always so
far away.”

The implication: telephones reduce the distance between friends and family. With the advent of cell phones, don’t we know that, “away isn’t always so far away?”

Check out Psalm 63!

Hiding in the desert, away from the threats of Saul, David longed for the close presence of God. In fact, so intense was his desire that his body ached for God. In this context David writes about his relationship with God, “Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:7–8)

Away from home, away from those he knows, away from those with whom he worships, David longs for the presence of God. When he stops to think about his circumstances, he realizes with God, time and geographical distance is not an issue. “Away isn’t always so far away.” He is there even in the night watches (v. 6).

The old saying, “out of sight, out of mind,” is not the way of God toward those who call Him, “Lord.”

He promises he “will never leave us or forsake us!” (Joshua 1:5)

No matter what we feel, or can’t see, He is there! He is always on the line.

With God, “Away isn’t always so far away.”