Morning Has Broken. . .

Every morning we all get up, get ready and get out the door.  Some go early before the sun comes up and some just a little later. Every day seems the same. Wake up, get up, and go. Don’t get me wrong, routine makes some days more bearable than others. It’s the routine that sometimes keeps us going because we don’t have to think as we wake up, get up and go.

This reminds me of a time when I hated the wake up, get up and go because I didn’t like where I was going. Some of you know what I mean. It’s a struggle. Okay, more than a struggle. During this time of my life I talked to someone who was much wiser than myself. Marvin said, “Keep at it because the mindless job gives you 8 hours to think about what will happen when you get home”. He was right.

Things are different now. I pray it’s the same for you. Now, I don’t just wake up, get up, and go. I wake up ready to meet the day and experience all I can that God sets in front of me. There is small stuff and large stuff.  I look for new things, different things and believe it or not, I find new things each and every day now. This morning is no exception. Yes, I woke up with renewed expectation, and asked God, what will you put in my life today?

Here is what God put in front of me today. There was the glimmer of morning light in the sky as I got in the car. That’s new. I had not seen that in a while. It was followed by an uneventful drive. When I arrived here at the church I was met for the first time this spring by our neighbourhood rabbit sitting munching on the grass near the door. Have not seen her since late fall.  After she hooped away I routinely unlocked the door and went in. Took my normal routine walk about the church to check and make sure all was well. Then I realized, I hadn’t needed to turn on any lights for, again, the first time this spring.

That is where God spoke loud and clear. Oh how I pray that would be the experience for everyone who comes into church. I want everyone to bask in the Light of God, in Christ because that is what church should be. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world”.

Something to think about.

Rob

Tell Me Now!

What are they thinking? That is exactly what I think every time I drive to work. Or drive more than twenty minutes. Like most of us, we have the radio on and in most cases it’s the morning commute. Scattered amongst their chatter we hear something like this: “Stay tuned for more information on . . .” Or another good one that bothers me; “We will tell you all about such and such in a few more minutes”, or even: “Stay with us, after the next set of twenty five commercials we will tell you the long range forecast". Really? And just when I'm pulling up and parking the car. Do these radio stations think we live in our cars? It's my guess most people listening to the radio do so in their cars.
This is what I think. If they just tell us they would save a lot of time. Don’t tell me you’re going to tell me something in 15 minutes. Don’t they realize that no one is going to sit in their car, once they get to where they are going, and wait to hear about such and such which really isn’t that important anyway? I don’t care what celebrity was pulled over for DUI. Don’t send me emails. I know it’s a gimmick to try and keep people listening. Do you know what I do like? “Breaking News Just In.” and then they tell you. Awesome.
I’m a straight up person and if you want to tell us something, go ahead and tell us. Don’t keep us waiting for something that isn’t that important to wait for in the first place. This sort of thing happens in all kinds of areas of our lives. I even get emails with special offers for ministry products that they tell you all about and “you need it so bad so order now” - WITHOUT telling you the price until you get to the last electronic page...
When I first went into preaching class the professor said, “Just tell them.” At that time a sermon had three parts. Here is what we were taught; “Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them and then tell them what you told them”. Pretty simple I thought. Then I discovered something I really like in the Gospel of John. He just told them and before you finished three chapters you knew the truth that set you free. “For God so loved you . . .”
Something to think about.
Rob 

First Flower On A First Day

Did you enjoy last Sunday? Wasn’t it wonderful? And it was Palm Sunday to boot.  The temperature went up, the sun came out and you & I had the wonderful ‘to-do’ list in hand screaming for attention. So, what did you do? How many things were crossed off the list before you decided to take a break, sit outside in that long lost patio chair and just chill. Yes, chill on a warm day. Awesome.
If your day moved along like mine, I would hazard a guess to say, not much was accomplished. You may have accomplished a couple of things and, well, decided it was time to just sit and enjoy our first God given, amazing day. For me it all came to a crashing halt when I sat and untangled one of our many wind chimes. Just sitting in the chair and working at the sixteen strings for the eight tubes and that was me done. By this time I was enjoying the sitting a little too much.
It was then that everything changed and the comfortable chair, warm sunshine and the chatter of the birds brought a stop work order. It came from somewhere in my contented mind. I justified it by rationalizing the wind came up pretty strong. Blew things around, slammed newly seasonally opened door closed and even blew the plastic screen out of the door, inward I might add. Did I mind? Not at all.
This gave me time to take notice of the bulbs finally poking themselves up through the unfrozen ground. Nice. Even enjoyed two individual crocuses standing tall and adding wonderful colour to a rather brown leafed un-raked flower bed.  That would be number seventeen on that list now stuffed deeply in my left back pocket.
Then I added something else to my excuse for sitting, I remembered it’s going to be cold on Tuesday. Maybe I might just need to wait a few more days before getting back to the list. And that is okay.  While I’m waiting these next few days, I will keep preparing myself for Easter. Lent is not over. We are still on our forty day journey to get so close to God we can hear His voice whispering through the trees.
Something to think about from my lawn chair.
Rob

Just Joining The Dots

Do you remember this proverb? “The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.” Of course you do. Even though it may be true, a straight line is almost impossible to achieve. Except with kids. There is always something getting in the way, the road is never straight or life never runs smooth. It can be true in some ways, but the likelihood, not so much. All we need to think about is trying to travel from one place another; we can never travel as the crow flies.

When I was a child we lived in a brand new survey. Behind our house at that time was the outhouse, one empty muddy field, and beyond that, the school we all attended. The best way to school for a five year old was a straight line. We went out the door, past the outhouse, (stopping there occasionally), over the empty lot, cross the street and into school. Mud and all. My brother and I had it timed. We knew the bell rang at 9am and we left the house at 8:57am. Made it in time - every time.  Our sisters on the other hand, took another route to school. They went out the door, down the driveway, and around the block on the nicely poured concrete sidewalks. Now, which one would you take?

Remember doing dot to dot and revealing what the picture was? All of us knew where we were going by following the numbers. We joined the dots. We did the same with our journey to school; one went one way and my brother and I made a straight line; it’s just so much easier to go in a straight line. The outcome was the same.

The same is true for our spiritual journey. All of us want to get to God. For some, it’s a long journey. We sometimes take what we think as the best road. At other times we get off track and go around in circles, take detours and even get lost in the maze of life. No GPS for this journey. Matthew 7:13 tells us, “For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it”.  I want you to know the good news, there is a straight line to God and His love. My bible reads in John 14:6; Jesus said . . . , “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father, but by me”.

Which way are you going?

Something to think about

Rob