Live and Laugh - at the same time.

Here is another line for you. Don’t know where it came from as I spend too much time on the computer reading day in and day out. But I thought this one quite good. So, here it is: “Live the Christian life even when no one is watching.” So I ask you, does He show. HA. You thought I was going to say, does IT show. It’s not about showing how good we are, how perfect we are, heaven knows we’re not. It’s not even about making an impression that sticks out like a sore thumb slammed in a car door. You only do that once. When you get there, you have not arrived but you have reached a point in your journey where you are who you are only because of Him. And He shows. Living the Christian life is all about living a life that has a centrality in Him. And when it is there, it shows in how you live your life. It shows in the way you look at things, the way you handle everything that comes your way. It reminds me of another line that I have here on the computer. If you are visiting a church or looking for a new church to attend, one of the things you need to look for is, “Do you hear laughter while you are there?” I also have thought about that one for a while. Now don’t take this wrong. We don’t laugh at the seriousness of life and getting to the end. We laugh in life to help us get to the end. No one is looking. Does Jesus show through anyway? A few weeks ago I was out with a friend for lunch. It was one of those good time lunches. They always are when we get together. Discussing this . . . talking about that. Wondering about . . . and even finding answers as we laughed a little too loudly at times. We have learned over the time we have spent together, not only to talk a lot but listen just as intently. You could say that we were in the zone. So here we were, lunch gone and the dishes cleared away with only our water glasses and here comes the bill. We take turns and I know it’s his turn next. The waitress came and set the bill down on the table and retreated. This establishment’s policy is to write a card and place it in with the bill. Usually it’s, “Have a nice day,” “Thanks for coming by” or something inane. So I toss the card off to my friend and go about digging down deep into my moth infested wallet. I hear him say as he hands the card back, “you need to read this.” Putting on my glasses we read these words, “He make me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.” Live your Christian life even when no one is watching, because maybe they are and they need to see Him to. Something to think about
Robin

If you didn’t know, let me tell you. Society is changing. Sometimes fast and sometimes very slow. Take for instance, cars. If you have noticed, most cars look similar, run the same, last about the same length of time and have two things in common that have not changed very much since 1955. The first is the front end steering. It’s pretty well the same. Yes it’s better designed and lasts longer but, in general, it’s the same. The second thing that is the same is, it runs on gasoline. A highly explosive liquid that travels around with you running from the 40-liter tank in the rear through tubes that run just below your seat to an engine that detonates it every millisecond. Are you getting worried yet? But it’s very safe. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t do it every day and all day.
The other day I took notice of another slow change in our life. We are a society of pack rats. If you count three people, one of you will be a pack rat. What triggered my mind was the commercial I was watching. You see them, in industrial parks and even on land that nothing else could ever be built on. Yes they are those wonderful places called, storage rentals. Right from the get go, don’t get me wrong, I agree with the concept and the many uses’ people put them to but . . . and that’s a big but, there seems to be something more. I once saw a couple parked out in front of one wide-open door, sitting in two easy chairs, reading old magazines????
So let’s go down memory lane. My brother and I loved to go to our grandparents home on Stinson Crt. here in Hamilton. On occasion we would be allowed the opportunity to go up the stairs from the second floor to the third. There in the hot dark nether world of the attic we had an adventure. It was full of stuff. And I mean full. It must have been the forerunner of these bins on the side of the road. I remember the first thing I found up there was an old blue Crown Royal velvet bag full of grandpas’ marbles. No, he hadn’t lost his marbles, but in time, after he gave them to us, we lost them. It was always an adventure up there.
Next came the basements. My parents didn’t have an attic so they used their basement for the depository of all their cast offs, and wonderful items of the past now replaced by the “New fan dangled stuff. Again we played down there, whet through boxes and discovered many items long lost or forgotten. Then came the rec-room. No attic, no basement, now what? You know where this is going. Storage has migrated to, as your car sits in the drive, the one that runs of gas, and no longer fits, that big box sticking out the front of your house.
So, off we go with our friend’s pick up loaded with stuff to store it in one of these wonderfully prices, first months free storage units. These things are great. I used one once. We were moving from one place to another but not on the same day so we stored everything we owned in a nine by twelve-unit. Talk about simplifying your life! It was great. Then we moved into the house, emptied the unit and began enjoying the simple life . . . And again the cycle began. The attic, basement, garage and now, if we had to we would need ten of those bins to . . . I think you get the picture.
Society has changed and we still gather so many things around us, We fill our lives in an attempt to seek fulfillment and peace. In so doing we have replaced the two most important things in our life, people and God with things that not only don’t matter, but will be either thrown out or sold when we are gone. Our children don’t need our stuff. They need us. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, so He doesn’t need us, He only wants us to get to know Him and He us.
Society can change all it wants, but we all need each other. Society may move forward, but God is the same, yesterday, today and forever. Have you left your stuff and worked on each of these lately?
Something to think about.
Rob

What's on Top Counts

Most of us have moments of fascination. We see something and take time to check it out. Over all my years I have moments where I turn my focus from what is my life to something new and different. We should never say that it’s the same thing different day. That’s a line for couch potatoes and people who are in a rut. It reminds me of a sign from years gone by on the Alaska highway that read, “Choose your rut carefully. You'll be in it for a long time.”
One of these excursions of the mind came a long time ago and every now and again it resurfaces. I am fascinated with Bonsai. You know, those little trees that the Japanese people are so good at. I guess it’s one of their hobbies that doesn’t take up much space. Space is always at a premium in Japan, so whatever is small, works for them. My daughter told me that on her trip to Japan she found the hotel rooms not much bigger then walk in closets. Now that’s small. Note - be thankful for your space.
Back to the Bonsai. If you know anything about these marvelous plants, they are continually being trimmed. They buy special cutters just for this delicate operation. And to the people engaged in caring for the trees, it is an operation. Some people sit and look at the tree for hours before clipping here or there. Some of these trees have been handed down through the family and each new “caretaker” is careful to take this responsibility very seriously. I have read about trees being 100's of years old and no bigger then 10" tall. Now that’s something. Just recently on one of those mental detours, I read that yews can live four to five thousand years. Now that’s long.
Personally I have never delved into learning how to grow and care for one of one these plants. Yet I will go out of my way to take time to look at them when any opportunity arises. I have even watched a man trim his once. The first time I watched him, I was horrified to see what he did. Over the length of an afternoon, we talked and he trimmed. A snip here, and another one twenty minutes later. When I thought we had talked of everything we could and, I presumed he was finished, he did something so startling, I could say nothing else but, “What are you doing!?” With a smile he said. “I finished the top now I’m doing the roots.” At the time I didn’t know this. To keep it small, you also have to trim the roots. Shaking all the dirt off those tinny roots, he then began to do the “important” trimming. So I sat in silence just watching the master gardener at work.
While doing so, a sermon illustration I once heard came to mind. Time has faded the memory but it went something like this, “The bigger the roots the bigger the tree, the smaller the roots, the smaller the plant. What’s unseen below the ground affects what’s seen above the ground.” We are like that you know. If our faith is not rooted well and only superficial, it shows in our life. If we are well grounded in Christ and reach to the deep things of God, what is visible in our lives will reflect it in how we live and have our being.
So I will let you go now so we can both open God’s word and go deeper.
Something to think about.
Rob

Give Your Head A Shake

Have you ever been in a position, or place where you wanted to shake your own head? We all have been in situations where we see someone or watch someone, or listen to someone and all we can think is, “Give Your Head a Shake.” Well, just maybe some people look at us and think the same thing. Heaven forbid that they would actually say it. We hope that it is not as often as we think it of others. But have you ever thought that while you look at yourself? It happened the time you did something stupid? Sorry. Not supposed to use that word, it’s not politically correct. (Now there is a time I would like to say, "Give your h. . ." You know, the time you did something out of the ordinary? At times I have, yes I’m admitting it, done things I realized after the fact, how should I say this, were out of character for me. I can see everyone reading along and thinking to yourself, “give me an example.” Sorry, there are too many to choose from. If you know me, you don’t really need an example and I can see you sitting there remembering and laughing.
When we become more retrospective, we realize that it has happened more times then enough. Maybe that’s part of the memory we have that we would be willing to forget. So, sit back and think for a moment and ask yourself, “Did I really do that?” or “What was I thinking” or even, “What on earth possessed me to do that?” I like the last one because it talks about possession and that is something a preacher can really get into. We can talk about Satan and Hell and Fire and brimstone and . . . Sorry, I was starting to get carried away.
As we sit reflecting, here are three things we need to think about. First; we all do it and those that think they don’t, Yes You Do! Just don’t tell anyone. The second is; in most cases it will become an anecdotal event in your life. Most times it will not be the experience that changes lifes’ outcome. And it may even be the memory that brings a smile decades later. Like right now. Lastly, I don’t think God ever says, “Give your head a shake.” And He is the one whose opinion we covet. When Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman at the well, He knew all about her life. Not once did he put her down. The people of the town were doing enough of that. Not once did he tell her to smarten up. Her neighbours were definitely saying that. Not once did He call her a sinner. The synagogue attenders were thinking that. What did Jesus say and think? He saw someone in need of love. He lead her into a deeper wonderful relationship with His Father and to recognize Him for who He was. “Jesus declared, I who speak to you am the Messiah.” And so, not to worry. God watches us at times and just smiles. Thank you Jesus, I needed that. Something to think about.
Rob