Love

Sunrise

Despite the apparent rudeness of its interruption of our slumber…
Despite our appeals to caffeine or “just five more minutes…”
Beyond the duty of deadlines or starting times…
You and I were created to embrace the celebration of the Glory of the Morning.

“Glory” refers to something made beautiful by another,
Despite its clumsy raw form or ugly beginnings.
And in that context, perhaps nothing starts out clumsier or uglier
Than the forced march of time into a new day.

But the beauty of your dawn is that it’s not up to you to make it beautiful.
The same God who said, “To everything there is a season, [click to continue…]

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Forgiveness 3

For all the ones who wouldn’t give up on me
When I would have given up on myself…
For the ones who modeled patience
As they gave and gave me the gift of waiting…
Thank you for showing the sweetest of love.

For everyone who saw what I saw before I saw it –
The many changes I need to make in me…
For everyone who showed me grace
When they found me stuck in my own stubbornness…
Thank you for showing the sweetest of love. [click to continue…]

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Dock Empty ChairWhen you’re seven kinds of busy and 21 kinds of tired…

When you’re pulled in so many different directions you need a compass to find the bathroom…

When it’s bedtime and you just remembered that you forgot suppertime…

It’s time for a different tune.  It’s time for His song of peace.

 

When you speak all day with the language of engagement…

When you find yourself panting even while you’re sitting still…

When you’re feeling guilty because you’re not checking something off that stupid list…

It’s time for a different tune. It’s time for His song of peace. [click to continue…]

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Teenager depressedI’d rather write about just about anything than this.  But Jesus said a few things about little ones and offenses and millstones, and I believe Him.

So can we talk about the secrets we keep?  And the ones we shouldn’t?

Last week a group of Evangelical leaders joined together to release a statement in conjunction with the American Association of Christian Counselors and an organization called GRACE, which stands for “Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment.”

Boz Tchividjian, the executive director of GRACE, said of the statement, “To my knowledge, this is the first major public statement by the evangelical world regarding the horrors of sexual abuse within the church and the dire need to begin addressing this in a manner that loves and serves those who have been so hurt. This is a historic moment in the life of the Church.”

My God, what took us so long? And I do mean “us.” [click to continue…]

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American 1Of all the nations who have drawn some borders and set up shop, perhaps none has a shorter and more mixed (some would say mixed up) pedigree than the United States.  If the planet was populated by nothing but dogs, we’d be the mixed breeds – the hardy, loveable mutts who may not be able to point to a long pedigree, but will probably live the longest, love the hardest, and fight the fiercest of anybody in the pound.

To be an American is to be a delightful, maddening mix of contributions and contradictions, possibilities and problems.  We’re a living demonstration of what can happen when you let “the help” run the kingdom.

To be an American is to believe in the power of the people.  Your people, that is.  It is to believe that authority resides in the will of the majority, even though at any given time the Commander-in-Chief was elected by less than 21% of the population. Or if that doesn’t work, maybe power can reside in the rulings of some Federal judge who can see things your way until the majority gets with the program. [click to continue…]

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LeapingSitting on the back porch this morning, watching Thomas G. Glavine. Not the famous pitcher for the Braves and some other nameless team, but the yellow-striped cat named in his honor.  The G. doesn’t really stand for anything – that’s just something we tossed in there for good measure.

Glavine is a world-class mouser and extraordinary bird hunter.  He’s almost 11 years old and may have lost a step or two, but don’t tell the birds that.  A dove was sitting on top of the 10-foot fence this morning, and Glavine went to work.  His tail started swirling back and forth.  He waited and watched for the perfect moment.  Then he made an epic, heroic leap off the patio table and landed eye-to-eye with the bird, tail still swirling.

Well, the dove flew off and lived to see another day, and the cat went on the prowl for other prospects.  And the Lord and I had a little talk about what I had just witnessed.

See, before his feet made the leap to the top of the fence, his heart was leaping at the sight of the bird.  [click to continue…]

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Sleepy 2Psssssst.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Helloooooo.

Sorry to interrupt you in the World of Slumbering Hearts, but we should talk.  You’re probably reading this in the middle of the day, but I’m writing it in the middle of the night.

Sometimes I get to thinking when I probably should be sleeping.  It works out OK, I suppose. Sometimes I get to sleeping when I should be thinking.

Anyway…

It seems as though more and more we live in a world of sleeping hearts. Cold. Unresponsive. Lifeless.

Our eyes are open.  Apparently our thumbs still work. We still go through our routines. But we seem oblivious to a quieter, more powerful, more eternal world.

Our generation is by no means the first.  The Apostle John was asked to deliver a wake-up call to some churches in what we call the Book of Revelation. Three, in fact.

One of them, in Ephesus, was deliriously busy doing religious things. Campaigning for spiritual orthodoxy. Working tirelessly for The Cause. God had obviously blessed them with hard workers and boundless energy.

Wake up call: You’ve left your first love.

The second, in Sardis, was living on their reputation. God had obviously blessed them with amazing experiences.

Wake up call: You have a name for being alive, but you’re dead.

The third, in Laodicea, was living in the lap of luxury. They had the best of everything… the latest technology, the coolest gadgets, the nicest stuff. God had obviously blessed them with material prosperity.

Wake up call: Lukewarm Christians nauseate God.

So… how awake is your heart? I know you’re probably really busy. I know you can probably point to past experiences where your heart is alive. I know you can find many blessings in your life for which you are grateful.  But it’s possible to have all that and still have a sleepy, lethargic heart to what God is doing here, now.

Here are some signs of life to look for in hearts that are alive and awake: [click to continue…]

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Nursery

The room was completely remodeled.

New drywall, carpet and wallpaper with clowns and balloons.

New furniture filled the space.

New little outfits filled the drawers.

And diapers!

Oh my, the diapers. [click to continue…]

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Dance in the Rain 2

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name (Hebrews 13:15 NET).

I.
So much you’ve wanted to write or to say,
To sing from the heart
Or create magic with words
And rhythm and feeling…
Art from the heart
To show the supreme worth
Of your Dearest Friend,
Your Immortal Beloved,
Or your Infinite Redeemer.

Yet the words don’t say it all,
Do it all,
Or show it all.
The Dearest, Immortal and Infinite
Are worthy of so much more.
So there you are…
Yearning to capture the perfect refrain
For the One who has taught you to dance in the rain. [click to continue…]

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Nighttime PrayerJordan’s heart is still awake, even though his body surrendered to sleep an hour ago. He’s restless. Anticipating. Watching and listening for that heart connection he once knew. In the psalmist’s language, Jordan is thirsty like a deer panting for streams of water.  He knows what he’s thirsty for, and He knows that God is faithful.  And yet in this dry season, He feels so far away.

Caitlyn waits all the time, but the nighttime seems the rudest. She waits for a change in her mother’s prognosis, even though no change is coming. She waits for that dreaded decline in respiration, though it seems her Mama is too tough and too stubborn to die. The days keep her busy, but the nights at the bedside turn up the volume on Caitlyn’s grieving heart.  She knows that ultimately what she’s waiting for is the Lord.  And He feels so far away.

Brody is exhausted. It’s been the longest night of his professional life, but the rookie firefighter forges ahead through the rubble of what once was a safe place for kids; a cruel tornado had other ideas. Keeping his own two children, ages 4 and 2, close in his heart, Brody alternately prays he will find survivors and rages that a just, loving God lets innocent children die. His faith is as weary as his body and mind. He wants to believe God.  But He feels so far away.

Cindy sorts through photos and memories of what sometimes looks like someone else’s life. She called it her “days of awakening,” and so they were.  Though she had been a believer since she was 11 years old, amazing things began to happen in Cindy’s life when she was a student in college. Unusual, near-instant answers to prayer. Life-changing mission trips where once she even witnessed a miraculous healing. Extraordinary spiritual growth.  Now ten years later, Cindy is hungry to see those days of awakening again. But it’s been a long time, and He feels so far away. [click to continue…]

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