Dec 26, 2009 | Stories, The Good Word
This might happen to you. Maybe not exactly the way it happened to me. But I want to write you to prepare you. Because there are things you were put on this earth to do. And I think you have an enemy who would like it very much if you didn’t succeed in doing them.
Let me set the stage for you. We’ve sat down at a coffee shop with a friend from ages… and I do mean ages ago. More like an acquaintance who we’ve run into a couple of times in the past few years, and then planned to connect with again. The conversation starts off as normal as any other and then you’re hit with this brick: “Yeah, I don’t really like America. I don’t really like Americans, either.†And you…yeah, you, with the slightly ugh, what? look on your face… you are the American at the table.
You might follow up with, “Have you ever been to America?†That was my next step. And the reply was “No, but I met these three Americans in London and…â€
This Scottish-African-American has options.
It’s a little tough to swallow. I mean…there are times when it’s hard not to take something personally. Like why does anyone ever start a sentence with, “No offense, but…” Does that give you an excuse to say something offensive, just because you started a sentence with “No offense”? Anyway, a few of you might be surprised to know that this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. I’ve actually experienced it a lot. (I still love you, Rob!) Like, I mean I’ve experienced having to leave the room because I am crying because of the comments someone is making, to me, directly, that are hard to “not take personally.”
Now here’s where I really don’t want to lose you. This is the important part. Blinking lights here: Opinions don’t matter. Baseball vs. Cricket, Football vs. Rugby, Beyonce’s sparkling solo career, George W. Bush, your home country, the fact that nobody looks good in paisley… you can talk about these things, and lots of people will have different opinions. They just don’t matter.
I have been drawn in before. Definitely. Drawn into a conversation with a stranger or a friend where we could have had the opportunity to talk about something more important that George W. Bush or American foreign policy, or the British and colonization. I can remember it happening even when I lived in the States and spent a lot of time with international students. I’ve very often missed the opportunity to talk about the needful things…the important things…the eternal things because I took offense and felt the need to defend a presidential slipup or to explain which country actually started the use of concentration camps in war. Don’t get me wrong. I do think some of these conversations have a place and a time. But I don’t want you to get distracted from the really important conversations that you might only have one opportunity to have.
So as I sat across the coffee table and thought about the follow up to that last sentence, I consciously made the decision that we had more important things to talk about. And when the mention of George W. Bush came up, it was as if the enemy was directly poking me with a stick and trying to incite me to react, to speak up…to fight! But, glory be to God, I held my tongue. Fortunately Mark was able to hold his too — he has been a defender of the States since long before we met! As a result of us not getting drawn in, we had a really, really fruitful conversation, and we had the opportunity to talk about things eternal. What the Bible has to say about certain issues. How it is interpreted in different ways. What it means for us to believe it. Why the free will God has given us is so incredibly beautiful. And why we shouldn’t stop looking for the Truth.
As we walked away from that conversation, we reflected on how different it would’ve been if we’d taken the bait and gotten drawn into any of those other conversation options. I’m pretty sure they would’ve turned into arguments and borne bad fruit. Thankfully, after four and half years away from my home country, I’m at a place where you can say what you like about the good ol’ US of A… perhaps even my home state… and most of the time, it’s water off a duck’s back. Now my hometown might be a different story… 😉 But if we spend more time thinking about what’s really important… we might be able to hold our tongue about other things that just don’t matter.
The Sermon in a Nutshell: It’s not important for people to believe the Gospel according to George W. Bush. It is important for us to make the most of every opportunity to share the hope that we have. Don’t be ignorant of the enemy’s devices and get drawn into the wrong fight!
Dec 25, 2009 | Baby Photos, Stories
I hope you are having a wonderfully Merry Christmas! The Bear woke us up at 5:45 this morning and is already down for his first nap! We haven’t gotten everyone together to open prezzies yet, since he got up so early and then went down for a nap before everyone else was up and moving! Here’s a patiently waiting for prezzies face…
I hope that we’ll be making those bacon-covered cherries later this afternoon so that I can snap some shots and fill you in. And I hope to get a couple of pics of the Bear when he finally does get to open a prezzie or two, because I know his Stateside Grandma and Grandpa would love to see them! Hopefully soon!
In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying warm moments with family and tasty treats, and stopping every so often to thank the Lord that He came to Earth for you and me 2,000 years ago. What a reason to celebrate — God came near, and it’s the most incredible event in human history! Merry Christmas!
Dec 23, 2009 | Baby Photos, The Good Word
You remember the other day when I was talking about how I think sometimes it’s good to point out that something is a big, fat, yucky lie? Well I was mulling over another one I thought I’d share with you. Please let me know what you think.
Someone once told me … like ages and ages ago … that you’ll regret the things you don’t say more than the things you do. Is that just something someone once told me, or is that a common statement? Please tell me if you’ve heard it or not, seriously. I was just thinking about it as I was reading in Proverbs this morning…maybe I made it up. Anyway, Proverbs 17:27 says,
“He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.”
Lately I’ve found myself occasionally having not such a calm spirit. Wanting to do a jump-up-and-down-frustrated-groaning-grumpy-dance when a simple task is getting the better of me or something isn’t as easy as I want it to be. But on the adverse, I’m glad to say I have been doing a better job of keeping my tongue and thinking about the things I want to say. Feel free to send me a virtual pat on the back.
The truth is, I can think of a lot of things I’ve said that I regret saying, but there aren’t as many things that I’ve left unsaid that I wish I had. Maybe that’s just because I talk a lot. It’s an interesting balance I suppose, and you might find yourself in a different position. But perhaps because it’s the holidays, and sometimes your family can bring out the ‘old man’ like nobody else… or because somebody might grab that last thing off the shelf you were hoping for or slip into the parking space you were gunning for… or you find yourself with a string of lights already on the tree and out of order, take a moment to remember that “He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.†Take that extra moment to think about what’s going to come out of your mouth, and how you’re going to react if the mistletoe falls too far from the tree. And seize the opportunity to let love and peace season your words and deeds.
The Sermon in a Nutshell: Relax and enjoy the holidays! If that means holding your tongue here and there, praise the Lord who’s increasing your knowledge and understanding!
Dec 19, 2009 | Baby Photos, South Africa, Stories
If I’m learning anything these days, I’m learning that every moment can be a learning moment if you’re paying attention. If you check out this blog every-so-often, you are probably aware that I am in South Africa. And I’ll be here for a while. And I won’t be heading home for the holidays.
I’ve been honest and said that this wasn’t my first choice among options, since we were here with Mark’s family last Christmas, and this year was (in my mind) supposed to be a North Carolina Christmas. But, as I’ve also mentioned already, it seems clear that we’re actually where we’re supposed to be. And that’s a good thing. And I’m glad to be back in Bloemfontein. The sights and the smells are more and more familiar every time we pull into the drive and the gate closes behind us. It’s becoming a wonderful home away from home.
Just the other day, as I was thinking about being away from home at Christmas, the story of Christmas suddenly clicked in my mind in a whole new way. Sure, I’m 7,000+ miles away from home…but what is the story of Christmas? It is the story of God, leaving all the comforts of His infinitely better and more glorious home in heaven, to submit Himself to the humiliation of becoming human, to live the life He lived and experience the death He died, and then the glorious Resurrection that is a promise of the life we have to come in Him. The Creator stepped down into His own creation, and the story of our amazing rescue began.
Far, far, far away from home, lying in that manger, I wonder if Jesus yet had cognitive abilities — was He aware of where He was or was He like other babies? Like, did He have the mental capacity to realise He was going to have to trust someone else to feed Him when He was hungry, and change Him when he needed changing? Did He lie in the manger and think for a moment, even if a brief one– What the heck did I sign myself up for?
While it’s occasionally uncomfortable to be somewhere other than where you’d like to be sometimes, in comparison, I don’t have a holly jolly lot to complain about! How glorious and amazing and challenging it is that the Lord stepped down into this world for you and for me. And He stepped into it for real. Full on. Messy, dirty delivery amongst animals in a stable full on. Travelling preacher without a place to lay His head full on. Healing blind touching lepers people wanting to kill Him full on. To bring us back into right relationship with Him. I’m so thankful that Jesus wasn’t home for Christmas a couple thousand years ago. That’s where the story of us finding our way back home began.
The Sermon in a Nutshell: Whether you’re where you’d like to be this holiday or not, take a moment to be thankful for the God who left it all and surrendered to those humble beginnings in Bethlehem. Remember that in appearance it wasn’t as ‘pretty’ as your church nativity scene might make it out to be. But remember the beauty of this love story — the greatest love story ever told — God came near, and it all started at Christmas.
Dec 18, 2009 | Stories, The Good Word
Does a song ever get in your head that you don’t know the lyrics to? It happens to me all the time. And a lot of times it seems the songs that I don’t know the words to are the songs that are hardest to get out of my head. Can anybody remember a song with some lyric in it that goes, “Cos Breaking Up is Hard to do-ooo…â€? Please help me out. I’d really like to get rid of this skipping record in my head.
As a result of a conversation the other day, or something, I started thinking about that lyric. And I came to the conclusion that, in a way, it’s kind of a big, fat, yucky lie. Sometimes I think it’s a good idea to point out the fact that something is a lie. Sure, ‘breaking up’ is difficult sometimes, but if we’re honest, I think staying together is a lot more difficult.
There’s this brief mention in Philippians 4 of these two women, Euodia and Syntyche. Paul is encouraging them to “be of the same mind in the Lord.†And he continues by urging other people in the church to help them sort their mess out. Apparently they were diligent leaders in the church, setting examples and serving God with passion, but when they had a disagreement, it threatened to tear the congregation apart. Breaking up might be hard, but sticking it out and sorting through your differences is a lot harder.
Why are so many churches splitting these days? Why are so many marriages ending? Why are life-long friendships getting dropped cold? Why are awesome rock bands calling it quits? I think it’s because breaking up is a little easier to do than staying, fighting it out, and working it out. Paul’s solution was pretty simple. He had previously encouraged them to avoid foolish disputes and those things which were unprofitable. He encouraged them to work it out, so that they could be of the same mind, in unity and purpose again. And he asked other people in the church to step up and help them work through their differences. (How beautiful does that sound? For people to step up as blessed peacemakers instead of sassy side-takers!) He went on to speak about rejoicing in the Lord, and went so far as to repeat himself: “I will say it again, Rejoice!â€
What was all that about? I think perhaps if we remember the positives, and all the things we have to rejoice about — our lives, our salvation, the goodness of God that has been displayed in our every waking day, and in our fellowship with one another — we might realise that even though there may be some significant issues to be worked through when we have differences, in the light of the goodness of God, and in light of the forgiveness we’ve received, we have so much cause to be forgiving of others, and to make every effort to work through our differences and find peace again.
As he continues, Paul admonishes the Philippians to trust God with all their concerns, by prayer and supplication, with thankfulness, and to receive God’s peace, which can give our minds and hearts rest, even when we don’t have all the understanding we would like to have. And before he concludes this section, he makes the wonderful encouragement that we focus on the things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely and of good report. Instead of mulling over the things that are bothering us, we should count our blessings. Instead of recalling old situations to try to remember if we should take offense, mull over the goodness that God has displayed toward us. If we meditate on the good, Paul says the God of peace will be with us. In our own hearts, and bringing unity to our congregations. And that sounds like something worth fighting for.
The Sermon in a Nutshell: There’s so much ‘breaking up’ in the world today. When you next find yourself in the midst of disagreement, I hope these thoughts can provide you with the encouragement to stick it out, talk it out, fight it out, and eventually work it out. The path of most resistance is often the one we ought to take.
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