Bradford Hawes Park
On Saturday May 8th we will be working with the town of weymouth to clean up Bradford Hawes Park.
The city of Weymouth will be cleaning up all their parks and what better way to show that Christians are more than just a building in their town than by getting out there and getting active in our surrounding towns.
Everyone is welcome, young and old, even if you want to just pass out some water!
When: Saturday, May 8, 2010
Time: 9am-12pm
Where: Bradford Hawes Park
Lakehurst Ave.
Weymouth, MA
When Care Turns to Crutch
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber… ~Romans 13:11
It’s possible that every generation sees what I see. That the cycle continues on and I am just maturing enough to recognize it from my adolecense. To see it through my eyes in the lives of those younger than me(and some older) becomes a sharp pain in the heart. And yet, I am only human, and I wonder how God feels about it? I’m talking about relying on grace as our “out”.
I readily admit that I am a victim as well. On more than one occassion I have thought about my actions beforehand(understand this means the Spirit prompting me)and thought well, the Lord forgives. There is an air of arrogance to our actions. To feel as though we have time as young people to fool around and do what we want. To “be a kid” and grow up later. I’m sad when I think about the years I’ve wasted on meaningless activities. Wasted opportunities haunt me.
The below lyrics really typify the way I’ve felt a lot:
This Beautiful Republic – A Point Between Extremes
I’ve been thinking about
The paths that my life
Has gone down
I’ve pushed a crown
Of thorns in my brow
To show my salvation
Worked out
With all the knowledge
I had learned
Anchored to righteousness
I’d earned
Now I’ve gone the other way
Depended too heavily on grace
I need a reprieve
A point between extremes
I’ve come to a breaking point. To the realization that I need a reprieve. I need repentance for the grace I take for granted. Peter in his first letter says: “As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.(1 Peter 4: 2-3) I’ve wasted to much time using grace as a crutch.
If my heart hurts for these people what in the world is God doing right now? Is it that unrealistic to think that He cries all day? Is He dropping signs down in front of you like falling boulders every day but you shrug them off because you are so far from him you don’t remember what He sounds like or what His signs are anymore? Gideon asked for a sign and when he got it he said “wait, one more and I’ll know it’s you”.(Judges 6: 36-40)
I can see God annoyed at the implications here. Gideon has requested 3 signs. I think at this point perhaps Gideon has to much confidence. Maybe arrogance is creeping in and God says you know what, you have to many men. 32,000 men widdled to 300…now I can use you.
I think that’s what I’m going through, and what each of us deals with at some point in our own way. We say give me a sign you want me to live different, wait one more, maybe just one more…Maybe when I’m out of school, maybe when I get married, maybe…Arrogance slowly oozes over us like oily sludge and the Lord begins cleaning us up and breaking us down. We get to such a low and He says, NOW, now I can use you.
But the human side of me is still disappointed that it takes all that work to get me to that point. The Lord is like the father of the prodigal son(Luke 15), so excited that I’m back, but I’m so disappointed it’s taken all this to get me here. We depend to heavily on grace being there when we’re ready. Truth is, your time may run out before your ready and then what do you make of the life you wasted away?
The start of the song above goes like this:
My heart is tired
Of feeling suffering
My mind keeps wondering
Who I should be
If all of the above goes in one ear and out the other, let this one question stick in your mind for some time and really ask yourself: “Who should I be?”
What drives you?
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” ~Matthew 19:21
I had to take a bit of a break this past week or so after dislocated and breaking my finger in 3 places in a football game. As I got up after the play I lined up for the next play feeling a little pain in my hand. It was cold and rainy and a brisk breeze was blowing across the field. My initial thought was that my hand was just numb from the cold and wet along with hitting the hard dirt ground.
Upon looking down at my hand my ring finger from the top knuckle to the tip was bent up. It looked real bad. Not enjoying the look of my finger I pushed it down and in, relocating it. I began bending it to make sure I had function. I leveled my hand to my eye line and checked it again, it was still twisted up.
I called in another player and ran off to the sideline. This is the part where you say, phew he’s going to get help. Nope, I was going to find tape… A friend buddy-taped two fingers together and I was anticipating going back in.
What drives you? What motivates you every day? Why do you wake up in the morning?
The question seems simplistic but really think about it for a minute. I have a hard time with it. Why am I getting up and doing the same thing over and over? What’s motivating me to get up, go to work, come home, sleep, repeat
I feel tired and worn out. I feel bored with life and the mundane tasks of daily living. My motivation is in the wrong place. When “life” is your motivation you lose your desire, your hunger, your determination.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”(Matthew 4:19). Jesus gives a decree and follows it with a job. Follow me and take the job of saving souls. The majority of us take to following Jesus and brush off that second piece. We continue with our daily rituals and we get bored. We lose our motivation and fall in to this funk.
For years I shrugged it off as attacks of Satan pushing me down. “I’m going to church, I’m reading, I’m praying”, I thought. I’m certainly not saying some or perhaps all of them weren’t attacks, what I am saying is we’ve become so indoctrinated with how we ought to act and what we should and shouldn’t do from the “church” that we’ve lost the ultimate goal of Christ’s message: follow me and become a fisher. We dare not step outside the box for fear of being to radical.
It’s time to step out of the box. It’s time to give everything for the sake of the Cross.(2 Timothy 2:10) It’s time to start making waves.
I find the story of the rich young man to be a fascinating one(Matthew 19:16-28). This man has everything and yet he’s thirsting for more. When Jesus tells him he needs to give up his possessions he walks away dejected. In a world which feasts on fast paced, I wonder if it’s possible to give up all your possessions. Could I even give up my cell phone, or my computer, or tv?
Desiring to fight on in the face of injury for my own selfish reasons in my football game, over the last few weeks, in reflection, I’ve decided that what motivates me is “things”. Maybe it’s 80% of the time, maybe it’s only 20% of the time, but it’s to much. God has really been pressing it upon me to change my motivation. When your motivation is Christ, your desire and determination return and not only that but they’re steering you in the right direction.
Shattered Dreams
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. ~John 16:13
Today was arguably one of the worst days of my life. I saw a side of humanity I had only experienced second hand. Something I had seen in movies and heard from friends of friends but never one on one. I saw a family shattered today and it broke me.
Last Wednesday my brother was to have back surgery. A major mountain to climb for any person or family, exacerbated by the fact it had been two years in the making(a story for another day). Tuesday of that week came and the call came to unpack his bag. The surgery had been pushed a week to the following Tuesday. Even the best laid plans are but a breath to the Lord. He had bigger plans.
Chris was disappointed but took it all in stride. It would only be 7 days, and what was that, given he had waited over 729 days already?
I sat at work patiently waiting word on the surgery as I glanced at the clock hoping it would read 5pm sooner. Around 2pm I was told it went well and headed over at 5pm to visit for myself. Upon reaching the hospital I was told not only did it go well but it went so well that his hospital stay of 5 days could be as little as just one day! Who says prayer doesn’t work?? In my estimation the Lord had performed a miracle, so why was it the worst day of my life?
The man was older, perhaps early 40’s. Clutching a stand which held his IV bag he rolled in to the room to take the bed next to Chris. Following behind him was his daughter holding two coffees. She appeared about 22 with long curly hair and a pale complexion. They were reserved, quietly talking to each other as they sipped their coffee. Suddenly her hand was on his stomach, then on his leg…clearly not his daughter. Holding hands and then laying in the small medical bed only further confirmed it.
Weirded out by the whole thing I tried to ignore it and focus on a conversation with my brother and mother. Around the corner comes a little boy followed by a young girl and their mother. My initial thought was the ex-wife and kids had come to visit. Nothing really awkward seemed to occur so why would I think anything different, until I noticed the large diamond on the woman’s hand
The girl left the room moments later and the questions began. Valid questions. And in that moment I knew I had to do something. But what? There is no moment of clear conscience in a rapidly developing situation such as this. And as the lies got thicker like wading through a pool of melted marshmallow I felt sick and jittery.
I left the room, I could no longer take the level of arrogance these lies required. I headed down stairs and outside to make a phone call. I tried five different people before finally getting a hold of someone. Explaining my predicament and looking for guidance didn’t seem to clear the fog any better than I had hoped. There was no black and white answer on this, but something needed to be done. I asked for prayer from several people who had finally responded and headed back up stairs.
Do you speak to the man? Do you plead with his humanity, his moral obligation, the father? Out of his mouth spew lies that only complete his fate. Can he be trusted to understand and do the right thing?
Do you talk to the woman? Do you confirm her questions and give her the answers she seeks? Do you break through the glass and potentially separate a family?
Do you say nothing?
There were so many other questions that raced through my head as I sat there, partially fuming, partially praying. I was thrust in to a situation I did not want to be a part of. It was made my business by being done in front of me. I was torn and I honestly can say I have no idea how counselors and pastors do this on a daily basis without crying every night.
After making my decision I knew the right thing had been done. I sent a text to a friend and told them I was about to break down. I had witnessed a family shattered. They called immediately and talked to me for several minutes calming me down but I was still near tears.
My decision and the end of the story are a powerful piece to this puzzle but I leave them off because I want to pose the above questions to you. What would you do? Would you say something at all? What would you say and to who?
To even consider saying something requires your heart to be in the right place. The anger can not overshadow the situation or people involved. You must be composed and sure of your motives. The Lord must speak through you and not you speaking for the Lord.
When my brother woke about 20 minutes later he gathered a few pieces of the story from the buzz that still resonated through the room.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you later” I said softly. “But know one thing; This right here is why your surgery was moved.”
peace at the fcm
Move with a sense of urgency
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first… 2 Thessalonians 2:3
I see two things happening recently that are disturbing and exciting at the same time:
- A lack of enthusiasm and energy from Christians
- In-fighting within Christian circles
I have a couple of friends that lead youth groups or young adult studies at various churches. A once vibrant young adults study of 30-40 has fallen to 1-2 people a week. Another which was 15 or so is now dwindled to those same numbers of just 1 or 2.
From church to church the effort to do for Christ has shifted to “do for me”. Everyone is becoming lazy and apathetic. Kids aren’t excited to go to youth group, they are excited for events. “What can keep me entertained?”
As people leave one church and head to another(for various reasons) they can’t help but lob some grenades back that way and saturate the air with smoke and shrapnel. Why are we so quick to turn around and stick a knife in a brothers back? Aren’t we all Christians after all? One body, one purpose? Yet here we are stabbing ourselves in the foot so we can’t walk, or plucking out an eye so we can’t see.
I’ve been watching Band of Brothers and The Pacific and noticing how demoralizing it is to an army to injure their own. No wonder our moral as a Christian base is so depleted! The destruction from within is slowly destroying the church like termites on a wooden house and our youth are noticing and following right along.
Satan has tried everything over the years to stop the spread of Christianity. Everything from using Herod to kill the Messiah, Saul(Paul) as an overzealous Jew, Hitler to exterminate the entire race; I could go on and on. But my point is, he smartened up and joined the church. His tactics changed but his motivation didn’t.
What do I mean? He began inserting heresy, ever so slightly into the church one small piece at a time. And over time we’ve become okay with certain things and lulled to sleep. And so we bicker back and forth slowly killing ourselves off, distracted by nonsense, while the world slips closer and closer to hell.
You may be asking yourself after all that depressing noise I just spit out why I would be excited. Because we are getting ever so close to a glorious return. Paul always seemed to speak with a sense of urgency. As I read his words I’m always cognizant of the strain in his voice that the time is now.
Maybe you are sleepy, maybe you are one of those kids just following the adults along, maybe you’re lobbing grenades at other Christians. The time is now to get off our lazy butts and start doing something. Less worry about what’s on tv tonight and more urgency for a lost and dying world.
hearing and doing
Mountains to molehills
if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ~1 Corinthians 13:2
A while back God really pressed upon my heart to pray for someone. I was in a broken place, a place where God’s voice and direction could not have been any clearer. And so I prayed. I prayed ferverently, both day and night, when I woke, when I went to bed, any moment I thought about this person, I prayed. Sometimes it was just a quick thought other times it was a long conversation but I have never prayed that hard in my entire life.
For 6 weeks this went on, day after day. And then one day I was given some information that forced me to a decision. You see, Satan whispers in our ears, and sometimes those words come out in our conversations with others. I should have seen this, looking back, but I took it and used to rashly. Simply put, I gave up on this person.
I wrote about this before, Daniel 10:12-13 talks about an Angel sent to Daniel as an answer to his prayers to God and how that Angel was caught up with a demon for 21 days fighting to keep him from coming. If Daniel had just given up praying on day 11 or day 20 would his answer have come?
I believe that part of the reason I gave up was because I gave up on God. Satan knew exactly what words would bring me to despair and drive me away from God. He knew what my prayers were doing, changing lives through the spiritual. And he would stop at nothing to make sure I stopped.
I pushed and pushed and pushed through the weeds that entangled me over the last several months. At times I felt like I was walking in knee deep mud in the pitch black. I couldn’t see Jesus but I knew He was there somewhere ahead so I kept on moving, even if at a snails pace. Something special happened. The closer I got the more the Lord pressed that same person on my heart again. I hadn’t blown it. There was still time. I had forgotten one thing, written here in Amos:
He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth-
the LORD God Almighty is his name. ~Amos 4:13
He formed the mountains and reveals His thoughts to me!! How much easier is my small little bump in the road for Him? My little hill… I had faith that He could change lives through my prayer and yet I gave up after only 6 weeks. In my world I lacked the true love needed for this person and gave up far to easy.
We serve such a BIG God. A God who formed the mountains and treads the high places. A God who told us if we only had faith the size of a mustard seed we could move mountains ourselves. When I was little I imagined this God fuming when I failed. As I’ve grown I’ve recognized His compassion and grace. I see Him now pleading and weeping for me to continue praying.
I’m beginning to understand the love my Savior has for me and the charge He’s placed on me to love others and continue to pray for them. My sins held Him to the cross and He still found it in His heart to love me and He intercedes for me dispite my shortcomings(Romans 8:34).
My point is, recognize how big our God is, how much He loves us and desires good for us, and how really simplistic the tasks He asks us to do are. Prayer can not only change lives, but the world.
alive in this old town
a few weeks ago i was with my brother james in nashville, and we ended up writing a couple of songs. i wrote this one with easter on my mind. the very basic concept is that there is a way that the world functions. that was is violent and self-serving. Jesus gives us a way to be alive in the presence of death.
blood is calling from the ground. Christ came to breath life into that which was dead. those of us who know him are alive in this old town.
here you go:
everyone came out to fight
to save their land and protect their rights
they stole, they killed, they died
they took their brothers lives
but i’m alive in this old town
i’m alive in this old town
some were shown a different way
a way to build and not to break
they know the way of peace
by turning other cheeks
i’m alive in this old town
blood is calling from the ground
“you took my heart and cut me down”
but we got what we deserved
revenge has now been served
i’m alive in this old town
-dave-
This little light of mine
I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ~2 Timothy 1:6
I’m sure most of you have heard the song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine! Hide it under a bush, oh no! I’m gonna let it shine…” and I pose this question: Why do we always make it little?”
We seem to do just enough to be Christian and just enough to conform to the world and not be labeled weirdos. In a world of black and white we live in shades of grey. Perhaps your grey is lighter than mine, but we fail to pick a side. Because of this our flame never gets any bigger. We keep it small, tend to it on Sundays and forget about it for the next 6 days.
Revelation 3:15 says “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!” Christ’s wish for us is to be smoking hot! We each need to pick a side and my prayer and hope is that you chose Christ.
In his book “Not Peace but a Sword” Vance Havner writes:
A band of genuinely converted and Spirit-filled young people, yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and witnessing by life and lip to Him could shake the world, and all the social benefits some are championing so loudly would follow as secondary benefits.
Shake. the. world. How about set it on FIRE! You want real change? It only comes through Christ Jesus.
The Lord has been slowly working on me trying to fan my flame and I constantly shield it from the wind, thinking I’m protecting it from blowing out. In all reality I’ve been snuffing it out from providing any real warmth. I can no longer hold back the will of God, the stone is rolling down hill and there’s no stopping it.
There is a desire in my heart to fan the flame of others. To get people desiring Jesus and moving out into their communities helping others. We need to stop hiding our little flames, start fanning them, and start catching others on fire for Christ. Time is running out.
