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The Church responding in crisis

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.)” Acts‬ ‭11:27-28‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Go Agabus! We’ve often talked about a prophetic word being an encouragement or an exhortation, keeping things uplifting or giving poignant reminders. I’ve heard it said that prophecy is more forth-telling than it is foretelling. Yet, Luke’s words attest to the fact that God still speaks to warn believers of what’s ahead. Luke also let’s us know the famine did indeed come while Claudius was in power.

What should believers do when given this kind of warning? This group started raising money to get it to Jerusalem BEFORE the need became a reality. This wasn’t some “whoa is us” kind of warning. This wasn’t a doom and gloom scenario. It was a now-that-we-know, let’s get busy response. This is a picture of how and what the modern Church should look like! A Church, led by the Spirit of God, getting future tips of what will happen and then making plans to meet the crisis head on. In their case, it was sending money.

It could have been a lot of things – sending money is great for buying, and storing ahead of time then distributing supplies afterwards.

However, the Church needs a few things for this kind of scenario to happen today: We’ve got to be people of the Spirit. We’ve got to listen to our gifted men and women whom God will speak to. We’ve got to tear down our denominational divides and be willing to come together for action. And, we’ve got to quit worrying about who gets the credit for best response and see ourselves as ONE! Basically, we must fulfill the prayer Jesus prayed in John 17 – we must be in unity!

Looking back at the Church’s response in a global pandemic, individual churches did some spectacular work and responded by collecting and distributing millions of pounds of food with a government program called farmers to families. The first round of purchases occurred from May 15 through June 30, 2020 and saw more than 35.5 million boxes delivered in the first 45 days. In total, USDA has distributed more than 167 million food boxes in support of American farmers and families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and spent about $5 billion. Churches linked arms with nonprofits and had weekly distributions on their own property. The church I served on staff with, Mesa Church, had a weekly food distribution that went from May through to August in 2020. One nonprofit in Costa Mesa, called Trellis, headed up a massive, multi-nonprofit, multi-week distribution in an Ikea parking lot. It was a perfect picture of unity! We were also able to pray with families as their trunks were being filled with fresh groceries.

Yet, even in the midst of great opportunities to serve, we (the Church) still struggled with being horribly distracted by politics, conspiracy theories, and internal infighting over race, masks, vaccines and meeting indoors. Churches NEVER did shut down, never closed! Yet we squabbled over indoor services, creating unnecessary tension between being a super-spreader event and our “religious” rights to gather in a building.

This was ridiculously embarrassing on the Church! Many rallied behind churches that proudly never stopped meeting inside the building. Others stayed home and participated in church online. Still others just took the church out to meet in parks and parking lots. I thought parking lot church was the most exciting thing I’ve seen happen since the 70’s! Bottom line – we divided when we should of and could of been united! And even worse, we took our griefs and gripes to the public forum of social media and made ourselves look like fools!

As Pastors, we were not prepared to mitigate between two vocal, almost militant groups of Christians. Next time I hope, I pray that we get our love-act together and behave and serve as one.

PRAYER

Dad,
I don’t know what grieves your heart more, our sin or our inability to be united? We have done so much better in the past. We need to be better in the future. I believe the last time we had a global pandemic, the church did a better job both in serving and in coming together in agreement on what we should be doing in crisis. I think that may be some of the reasons folks aren’t returning to gather together. It may take awhile to forgive us for acting so poorly.

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Relationships on the dark planet called earth.

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Then David took an oath before Jonathan and said, “Your father knows perfectly well about our friendship, so he has said to himself, ‘I won’t tell Jonathan—why should I hurt him?’ But I swear to you that I am only a step away from death! I swear it by the Lord and by your own soul!” 1 Samuel‬ ‭20:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This scene that takes place with David and Jonathon takes place with an “in-between” moment, a now but not yet. God has already yanked His Spirit from Saul and put it on David. God has already renounced and even regretted Saul being king and has anointed and appointed David as successor. But God allows Saul to live on and allows this whole drama to play itself out.

One of the big mysteries of God is all about this kind of scenario. Why doesn’t God step in, intervene and just kill Saul himself? I don’t think we’ll ever fully understand until we enter eternity. God takes on the questions and “bad press” but it doesn’t bother Him in the least. God has ways we will not understand.

David had this ability to read people and situations incredibly well. It’s one of his gifts as a leader. He starts as a shepherd, living in opens fields caring for the sheep and ends up in the palace in preparation to serve as Israel’s second king. He’s found a true friend in Jonathan. Remember, Jonathan is much older than David, likely by at least 20 years! So if David is in his twenties, Jonathan is in his forties at this point. David knows Saul wants him dead but also doesn’t want to begin the inevitable “run for his life” outlaw lifestyle.

Jonathan just can’t believe his own father has the capacity to kill someone like David, an innocent, gifted young man that has only done good for the king and country. Jonathan’s own codependency just thinks, “Dad has some anger issues,” and seriously underestimates the real danger within his own family. Jonathan had been covering for his own Dad for several years and did not understand the shift that took place when the Spirit of God left his Dad! How is that possible? How can a son or a wife or daughter or even a father miss the cues of behavioral change in the family? Because we want to believe in the best in our loved ones and often can minimize the red flags because it means that some serious work needs to happen before a family member truly goes off the rails – hurting themselves or others. There were signs and warnings all along but they were ignored!

Jonathan tells David, “You’re not going to die. He always tells me everything he’s going to do, even the little things. I know my father wouldn’t hide something like this from me. It just isn’t so!” Did you see that? I KNOW MY FATHER. Jonathan may have KNOWN his father, but didn’t recognize or chose to minimize when his behavior radically changed.

Until Saul turned on his own son and made it clear, “Saul boiled with rage at Jonathan. “You stupid son of a whore!” he swore at him. “Do you think I don’t know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother?” Jonathan tried to reason with his dad and actually defended his friend David. That did not go well! “Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him. So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David.” Saul, the king, the spear hurler and father explodes with uncontrollable anger. Who in their right mind let this guy have access to weapons when he has lost his sanity? Saul didn’t have the courage to spear-hurl Goliath, but he now he’s throwing a man-tantrum at his own son!

God lets humanity’s choices play out and rarely overrides free will, even to the point of allowing crazy leaders to make horrible decisions. I am glad this story and others are left IN the Bible and IN God’s grand story from creation, to redemption, to the final end when true justice and grace will make all things right again. Personally, I get a little sick of living on the dark planet. It is filled with beauty. And there is good amidst evil. I’m just weary of our own arrogance of denial.

PRAYER:

Dad,
I agree with the cry “come quickly Lord Jesus,” but not to get out of this existence or have a callous heart towards humankind. I ache for the end. For godly justice to be served instead of these weak imitations and excuses for justice that is just a smokescreen for more selfish, self-serving ideologies pretending to help or advance our culture, our world. Let your light shine bright through my life and the lives of true followers of Jesus.

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Hello, my name is Glenn and I’m a blabaholic.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.” Proverbs‬ ‭10:19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This is one of those Proverbs that keep coming back to smack me in the face. Have you ever posted or put up sticky notes or cards with sayings and Bible verses you’d like to memorize and live by? This is one I should make into a T-Shirt.

I talk too much. I overshare, tell too-long stories and have determined it’s way too much like gossip. I shouldn’t even be writing this because it’s probably the last time you’ll tell me anything! I do have some safety features built into my blabbering ways. Sometimes I remember to ask friends, “is this confidential or is it something I am free to share?” Honestly, if it’s confidential I don’t share it with anyone, not even my wife. That word, confidential, seems to be the key to keeping my mouth shut! And those confidential things shared with me go into the VAULT.

I find it interesting, no HAUNTING, that the wisdom writers associate “too much” talking with sin. It’s like I hear people talk about drinking alcohol. A little, they say, is like “social” drinking. Like Paul telling Timothy to take “a little” wine for his stomach. But TOO MUCH and boom, you’re drunk. I don’t drink, but too often I blab. I’d love to say “oh, I’m just a social blabber,” or, “a little blab for levity.” Truth is I’m kind of a blabaholic.

There, confession is good for the soul or confess to one another so I can be healed. I see the remedy right there in the saying – just keep my mouth SHUT. I’d get that tattooed, but I hate needles. Plus, I’d have to explain it to anyone who asks, then I’d be shunned for sure!

Anyways, Proverbs is right and I need this constant reminder. If we talk please us the phrase, “this is confidential,” that should keep us both safe. Thank you for reading.

PRAYER:

Dad,
Wow. Many times I look into your Word, the Bible and it is experienced much like looking into a mirror. Except, I don’t like the reflection I see looking back at me! Forgive me of my sin. Help me in my sin. Help me change and grow to not increase in foolishness, but instead in wisdom. Thank you for your grace and power to overcome my big mouth.

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The whore and the holy

Reading Time: 5 minutes

​Oh boy! I just love these real life examples of Jesus’ interactions with both the highest and lowest people on the social ladder at that time. I have so many questions as I read this story.

“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.” Luke‬ ‭7:36-38‬ ‭NLT‬‬

At first, there are no names mentioned, “one” of the Pharisees and a “certain” immoral woman from the city. Where exactly do Pharisee’s live? Since they are relatively separatists, my guess is that they lived uptown somewhere, away from the chaos of the town. And, I imagine that this Pharisee was surrounded by fellow religious leaders that made up his neighborhood. A place where privilege provided privacy. Where it was safe, egos were fed and status was earned by seemingly clean, holy living. There were no sinners there, only saints.

Where did the city-girl live? With her kind, her people. She lived and worked where the greatest concentration of traffic and opportunity would be. Where she could eek out a living, be herself, not be judged and have a certain kind of freedom of invisibility. Her neighborhood may have carried a label like Red-district, Bourbon Street or Crack Alley. Her neighborhood was where people go to purposely get lost, or lose themselves in addictions and pleasures. A place where people were quite comfortable making transactions for a moment of position, pleasure, or pain – searching, aching for peace and anything to escape their mundane lives. I doubt neither the religious leader nor the immoral woman spent much time in each other’s neighborhood.

Ah, but Jesus felt at home in both neighborhoods. He probably hated the stench of one and grieved the sight of the other, but his love compelled him to look beyond the facades of stereotypes and labels to find his mark, his mission – the human heart.

The city-girl, out of some bold desperation could not wait for Jesus to come back through her part of town, that day she decided to make her move towards life itself. She must have heard, she must have seen the kinds of things this rabbi had done. She must have felt that she could risk everything to not just get out of the hood, but out of a lifestyle that was killing her – eating away and stealing every small morsel of moral fiber she had left. This desire drove her to go uptown, to walk the cold quiet streets of glaring eyes and the invisible cloud of judgment and shame to get to the rabbi-Jesus. And with her she clutched her most prized and protected possession. She brought with her escape plan, her nest egg, her only lifeline to a possible retirement from the hell-hole from which she was either born into or chose to make a living. Bringing her alabaster jar appears to be her statement saying, “I’m never going back.” Maybe she didn’t know what she would do with her expensive retirement plan when she, if she, actually met Jesus. Maybe she was planning to pay her way into his group. Maybe she was going to give it to Jesus thus paying for her sin and hopefully the transaction would free her from a life of pain or guilt. But when she arrived at Simon’s complex and saw Jesus reclining, relaxed, possibly smiling, literally being the LIFE of the party, something overwhelmed her.

She looked at Jesus dirty feet and knew what she had to do. She decided she would go all in and use her life savings to clean the master’s feet. She didn’t care who saw her. She didn’t care what anyone in the room thought. She served the rabbi with the only things she owned, her tears, her hair as a towel and her ointment as a way to seal and heal Jesus, now clean but rough feet. And Jesus let her do it! We forget, there was so much tension in that room. It must have vacated the air, time must have slowed to a crawl and everyone one else’s brain went into shock. I’m am positive that eyes were wide, dialated and mouths were gaping open. No one could move. No words could come out of their mouths because their vocal cords were also frozen.

But Simon’s and the others thoughts were written all over their faces. It was the only thought their tiny, tightly-wound, religious minds could think – IF JESUS KNEW… Bah ha ha. If Jesus knew? Are you kidding me. IF Jesus knew? EVERYONE knew who this woman was. Her clothing, her mannerisms, her gender – oh my goodness. If Jesus knew! That is hilarious. Then Jesus speaks. What is he going to say? Jesus had 100% attention in the room. EVERYONE was absolutely captivated by this dramatic, cliff-hanging curiosity of what would happen next. It wasn’t WWJD, what would Jesus do it was WWJS, what would Jesus say?

Jesus tells Simon he has something to say. Remember Luke tells us that Jesus answered Simon’s thoughts, but Simon did not know he’d been read like a cartoon strip! I always wondered, was this Jesus’ human, gifted ability to read the room or was this a supernatural move of the Holy Spirit giving Jesus the unspoken thoughts of humans? I like to think maybe it was both! Either way, it’s important to remember Jesus did not do anything that he didn’t fully expect his followers to do as well. We can’t keep using the, “yeah, but he’s God” excuse to dodge both the gift and the responsibility of all those who believe and follow Jesus.

Then Jesus tells a story that lowers Simon’s pride and elevates God’s grace. Who has greater love? The one with the greater debt! Powerful. Especially because Simon and all the other religious leaders in the room had a wrong perspective in their heads. They believed they had zero debt to God, they were perfect because they kept most of the law. I’m fact, they believed that God owed them! What about the woman? I love the fact that Jesus never winked at, minimized or excused the woman’s own sin. That would have been dishonest and insulting to her.

Jesus said, her sins “and they are many…” have been forgiven. Done. Complete. In the past. Why? Because she cried? Because she served? Because she spent her future to care for Jesus calloused feet? No, because in her act of service she gave Jesus everything! Her repentance was in her tears, her love was in her hair, now becoming a dirty towel, and her salve/lotion gift of generosity was proof of her changed heart. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

If anyone wants to see how God looks at our human sin coming to him in brokenness, this is the picture. If anyone wants to see what makes God sick to his stomach just look at the human pride assuming that God won’t come near to those who are broken. The paradox of Simon’s sin to look down on another compared to this woman’s salvation to look up to God in repentance is stunningly clear!

PRAYER:

Dad,

Oh let me never ever forget from where I have come and from who I have come from. Help me to never look down with judgment and arrogance on a life that is not only different than mine, but much more complicated than mine. Help me to be an broker of hope, generous in grace and approachable because of your joy and peace.

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God does a woodcraft object lesson with Ezekiel

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Again a message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, take a piece of wood and carve on it these words: ‘This represents Judah and its allied tribes.’ Then take another piece and carve these words on it: ‘This represents Ephraim and the northern tribes of Israel.’ Now hold them together in your hand as if they were one piece of wood. When your people ask you what your actions mean, say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take Ephraim and the northern tribes and join them to Judah. I will make them one piece of wood in my hand.’” Ezekiel‬ ‭37:15-19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​I just love the physicality and practicality of God. In having a chat with one of His spokespersons, God tells him, “pick up a couple of sticks and write on them.” There is something wonderfully simple with connecting our God given senses to learn or teach a lesson. The more senses involved the better.

Ezekiel LOOKS for a couple of pieces of wood, he sees the perfect set, he puts thought into the type, length, maybe even circumference. Then Ezekiel picks up the wood, he FEELS the weight and roughness of what was once part of a tree. Maybe he HEARS the sounds as he cuts and carves into preparing the wood and as he does so takes in the aroma as pieces fall to the ground. Wood has its own unique SMELL, individual to the tree that it came from. I love the smell of fresh cut or carved wood!

God had Ezekiel participate not only in a wonderful object lesson by working with these two pieces of wood, but it is also a beautiful picture of craft time with God himself. I wonder if Ezekiel choose two different pieces of wood, different tree stock to represent the two very different tribes of Israel. Maybe one of them was dark and hard, dense and difficult to carve. Maybe the other was lighter, softer, easy to carve but also easy to make mistakes.

When I read these messages, these prophetic words, which by the way IS the point of the writing, I am delighted by the lesson, the idea and delivery behind them as well. God tells him to hold the two sticks together as if they were ONE piece of wood. Ezekiel, after selecting and preparing the woodcraft, would then practice the lesson so that he could easily share it with the people, “Then hold out the pieces of wood you have inscribed, so the people can see them.” God has Ezekiel walk around showing them this strange lesson, and it will make them curiously ask, “why are you showing us this?” Isn’t that the best teaching method ever? When the passive watcher wants to know more? Then Ezekiel told them that God himself will personally hold the two pieces of wood (representing the divided nation), just like they see before them. He tells them about God’s promise, “And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers, and I will put my Temple among them forever.” Just so you know, God is speaking of Jesus as the peace covenant and we, being filled with the Holy Spirit, become the temple. God still speaks today and still gives us amazing object lessons to help us understand, even using our own senses to make the point sticky!

PRAYER:

Dad,
You’re greatness, your holiness and majesty of all might, authority and dominion does not mean you are not creatively and intimately involved with us even in the smallest details of a lesson or learning. Thank you for truly being with us, as a father and now also as a friend. Thankful for being mindful of both our weakness and our expansive wonder and curiosity.

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How is your family name and legacy doing?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“The proverbs of Solomon: A wise child brings joy to a father; a foolish child brings grief to a mother.” Proverbs‬ ‭10:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There are a number of these son to parent proverbs. Modern translations substitute “child” for son, but that undermines the purpose of these writings. If Tim Keller is right, and I believe he is, he says that the proverbs were written as curriculum training for young men. This isn’t a put down on young girls or women in general. It was poignantly written to train boys to become great men – nothing wrong with that, right? We do want our boys to become great men, correct?

Think of this curricula idea being drilled into every Hebrew boy – your decisions effect MORE than just yourself. A constant theme of respect and family responsibility towards their own parents. I was given no such training, no such purpose, no such direction. Yet, even with zero input from my own fathers on how to be man, a husband or a father, I personally learned from God, from Proverbs one of the foundational necessities of life – get wisdom!

By the time Robin and I had children I was able to give regular and constant reminders to all three of our children about this proverb right here – “be wise” and it will bring us ALL joy. Be wise and you will have what is necessary to live a good life, influence every single person you meet and leave a legacy for our family. I didn’t quote the verse to them, I lived it with them. I was adopted, so my birth name is Spear, but when my last name changed at four years old, I grew up understanding that my own adopted father had trashed his family name.

When Christ rescued and redeemed my life, I spent time absorbing the wisdom of God through Proverbs, I instinctively knew my responsibility- clean up the family name and pass it on to my children in good standing. I have worked so very hard to rebuild the Garvin name in every way possible. I wanted it to be morally sound, fiscally sound, socially sound and every bit spiritually sound. I wanted my children to be proud of their father’s name and even more proud of the work God had done to restore that name. Garvin would come to mean, faithful, funny, hopeful, caring, responsible and respectful. I told each one of my children to remember they are a Garvin and to be proud of it!

I know of families who bear the grief of a tarnished name, especially when both parents tried to live godly lives, and raised their children the best way they knew how. There is no shame or judgment towards my friends, I have known them our entire adult lives. But I do know the shadow that their own children have cast on their family reputation.

I also know something else. God’s stories are very long and prayer still works. A momma’s prayer, a daddy’s prayer can move mountains and shake the heavens to bring about change in the hearts of our children. So like the prodigal father who waits, everyday looking for his son to come home, so I know that there can be a “come to their senses” and a desire to return home. Angry words towards and bitter images of our prodigals will not bring them home. However, a godly prayer and prophetically seeing a redeemed image of possibility will yield a huge hug and welcome home party someday. How important is it to raise a child in the wisdom of God? The difference between great joy or great grief in all of our futures!

Prayer:

Dad,
My job, our job is not done even though our children are grown. We still influence them and their decisions. They still need us to speak godly wisdom into their lives. Plus, we now get to focus on our grandchildren and not only reinforce what the parents may say, but put our own special touch of grand wisdom and love into their lives as well. Many a child have rejected a parents advice but still hold to the love of their grandparents. Help us continue to give our family your grace and wisdom to leave a godly legacy!

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A Straightforward, earnest and honest question

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” Luke‬ ‭7:18-19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A Straightforward, earnest and honest question, John asks if Jesus is really “the one.”

Remember, Matthew, Mark and John record that John the Baptist himself had baptized Jesus and it was quite the miraculous moment. Interestingly enough, Luke had mentioned Jesus’ baptism but leaves out John’s role and the supernatural occurrence, almost as if it were a footnote. Luke shocks us by being the only one with this gritty question.

Are you bothered by John’s question? Did you sort through the facts that Jesus and John had some mystical, supernatural connections in their blood relationship? Jesus and John’s mothers had shared secrets about the possible true identities of their little boys – one being the forerunner of the messiah, the other the messiah himself. Yet, John still asks the question, albeit through a couple of his own followers. It’s okay to ask questions! It’s good to ask really hard questions.

Jesus answered in his own mystical messiah way. And, if you read the answer, Jesus is straight up asking John right back, “isn’t it obvious?” We understand that neither John, a blood relative of Jesus, or Luke, a follower and author gets around a required personal faith. They both have to come to a “I believe” and “I commit” kind of faith. After John’s guys leave, Jesus goes into this amazingly emotional and honoring tribute to John. On one hand he says John is the most awesome forerunner anyone could ask for, but in the Kingdom of God, almost anyone can be greater than even John. I think we forget the human journey that each and every person written about in the New Testament had their own journey, their own struggle to get to the fact that Jesus is the messiah. And even then, everyone of them could not believe what the messiah’s real job was in the end.

PRAYER:

Dad,
I don’t have doubts, but I still have a lot of questions. I just want people to feel safe enough, in the church, to ask the hard questions without fear of being labeled a rebel, or someone unsure of their faith. If John the Baptist can actually ask Jesus if he was the ONE, I think it’s safe to say that we should not only entertain questions, but also be willing to admit, some things we just don’t know. We can’t keep removing the mystery of our faith! Please help us be patient and even witty with folks who have deep questions about you.

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Three tools to view God’s promises.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.” Psalms‬ ‭121:1-8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A microscope, binoculars and a telescope. I think of these three tools when I read the wonderfully grand promises of God written in Psalms.

Remember the “wow” factor of looking through these glass visual aids and discovering a world you never knew existed. I read a book, How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World by Stephen Johnson, where the author lists glass as the number one greatest discovery ever! With these three tools we can go from micro to macro views of our world in just a moment. With one we see incredible detail viewing things on a molecular level the eye alone could never see. With the other we see millions of miles beyond our wildest imagination. These tools help me frame God’s promises.

Normally I may read the Psalms with a microscopic view because I am in pain or struggling with difficult circumstances. And, when I use this very narrow purview, I am looking for God to come and help me NOW. But the Psalmist helps me see other perspectives, with a broader scope. He writes about by day and night. Then I switch to an even more robust, macro view and read that God watches over my life! I write this because I must be reminded that God is my rescue at each and every level.

Sometimes, I impatiently get buried in brain-ruts (repetitive neural pathways) and allow myself to feel trapped or squeezed by some random event or some small comment someone made. My mind starts spinning, spiraling down into the cellular level of doubts and fears like out of some creepy sci-fi movie. I instinctively grab the microscope lens of the Psalms to look for comfort amidst the swirling chaos of my own thoughts. Maybe I need to switch my view, my perspective tools and grab some binoculars to see the day, week or month differently. To allow the Spirit of God to bring Shalom, peace, to lower my blood pressure and remember God’s goodness, His trustworthiness.

And maybe, in my own life or the life of others, I need to grab the telescopic view, the really long view of life, even with eternity in mind. I have to laugh at myself to remember, I am not likely going to DIE over some comment or even some failure. And, even if some major event did happen, God let’s me know through His word, He’s still got me in the palm of His hand. God not only controls and shapes the circumstances of my moment or my day, but also my eternity! God keeps watch both now and forever!!

PRAYER:

Dad,
You are a GOOD God, a GOOD father. I give thanks because your love endures forever. You are ever mindful of me. Your grace, mercy are great and you are so long suffering. Thank you for the Psalms, the writings that remind me of your faithfulness to and throughout all generations!

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Finding God’s purpose for your life is not a linear process!

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?” Saul’s preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. After a while some of the Jews plotted together to kill him.” Acts‬ ‭9:21-23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Well, you know what they say, “if you can’t beat ‘em, kill them!”

For awhile back then Saul/Paul found himself despised by all and feared by believers. After, he comes in from his desert experience, Saul immediately starts preaching Jesus is the Son of God.

His life, his radical turnaround forces this question, “Isn’t this the guy that…?” Basically, this happens in all well known previously bad-human conversions even today. One’s transformation story is very powerful when people ask about the former life. Saul got his speaking groove down so well, that the Jewish religious elite just couldn’t refute his proof. So, rather than see truth or change their hearts, something more sinister took over their thinking. “Let’s kill him,” they said. What hubris, egregious hypocrites. They couldn’t deal with truth, so they ramp up a riot. Sounds like our modern political climate right now.

Saul continued to start with civil synagogue discussions in every town he visited. Yet, it just got increasingly violent, until finally he had to give up going to the Jews first. He believed he was called to the Jewish people! A little providence and a whole lot of death threats convinced him that maybe his calling wasn’t to the Jewish people.

This seems to happen when discovering God’s will. You think it should go one way but door after door continues to close until you realize- that’s not what God wants you to do! There’s something else out there. Paul shifted his focus solely on the Gentiles (non Jews) and then took that passion all the way to the Church leaders, convincing them that the gospel was ALSO for the rest of the world. Acts 15 was all about a fulfillment of God’s plan for Israel and his own favored people to be the ones who brought salvation to the whole world and not just to keep it for themselves. Israel always had a tough time with that idea.

Saul/Paul would go on to bring the message of Jesus to all the major regions of Gentile populations and plant churches (not synagogues) everywhere he went. Paul would come into town, set up his tent making, tent repair shop. Then he would make friends with all the local businesses leaders in the town through shoptalk. He led highly influential men and women to Jesus, then convinced them to use their nicely sized homes to meet in for church on Sundays. Many of those original business owners became church elders and pastors. Paul also ended up writing a large part (almost half) of what we know as the New Testament with thirteen letters, written to correct and encourage these new churches. I would say, all the death threats and riots resulted in explosive growth in the gospel going out to all nations.

Have you started any riots? Received any death threats? Are you struggling with what you think God has called you to do? Maybe there’s something else God has in mind?

PRAYER:

Dad,
Your calling, your purposes are not always the easiest to discover and even more difficult to accept. I have seen a very non-linear path in my own life, right? It’s seems like more of a scribble than a straight line! Yet, you have been faithful and patient. I am thankful for that. For many years, I never thought I would be any kind of first chair leader. There were hopes dashed and failed possibilities. I just settled into the fact that I would be a great second chair for the rest of my life. Then, SURPRISE, through an extraordinary turn of events, I get a callback to serve in my home church as the lead pastor, or Chief Servant Officer as I say. Who would have thought? So now I need your wisdom and favor more than ever before!

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Journal entry from Ezekiel in 593 bc

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“On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. (The Lord gave this message to Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and he felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him.)” Ezekiel‬ ‭1:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​On a nice, warm, summer day back in 593 bc Ezekiel is out by a river in Babylon. He tells us that they had been in captivity or exile for five years at this point. We are reading a journal entry of a man that lived over 2600 years ago! He writes about this extraordinary vision as he looks over the river and up into the sky. And, he knows it’s a message and feels the hand of God on him. Chilling right? Then, for the next several verses, Ezekiel describes what he sees.

I’ve got to tell you, I read this as a new believer and could not make any sense of it AT ALL. And, I remember thinking, “who CAN make sense out of this?” It kind of blew my mind when a special speaker came through our church and asked us, “as an ancient observer, how would you have described something “futuristic,” maybe something that would not exist for thousands of years ahead.” Like a vision from someone who travels through time? Whoa. I would never have imagined something so syfi, so cool.

I mean 593 bc could not have had, would not have had any modern day equipment, especially something that could fly! This was a theory I had never thought about – and I liked it! Is it true? I have no idea. Could Ezekiel have been describing a modern Black Hawk helicopter? The guest speaker seemed to think it could have been. Ezekiel could only use words of things that existed in his time to describe what he saw – most of which are animals with a mixture of human faces or features that only the great beasts of his day had. Rotor blades back then could only be described as wings – like a giant dragonfly!

It turns out the modern helicopter may have been designed by studying the dragonfly (The world’s leading helicopter manufacturer, Sikorsky, finished the design of one of their helicopters by taking the dragonfly as a model, IBM, which assisted Sikorsky in this project, started by putting a model of a dragonfly in a computer (IBM 3081)).

Yeah, Ezekiel could have been seeing a futuristic scene of a war and God was telling him to write it down and even share it with the leaders of Israel. This was not just a fanciful dream and Ezekiel wasn’t trippin on some wild mushrooms. There was a reason for it. Many of Ezekiel’s visions were straight out of scenes from the apocalypse, the end times, the final days of the earth and its struggle against evil.

There have been so many possible interpretations and theories of these stunning visions and when they come true in real life, folks will be able to say, “oh, that’s what Ezekiel saw!” So, if you just recently turned thirty, just know this is the kind visionary of stuff you can look forward to! j/k.

Unless I’m joining God as a warrior in his army, I’m not sure I want to be there when this future scene takes place, especially if it’s some kind of global world war. Either way, I know God has got this, He’s in control.

PRAYER:

Dad,
Wow! These Ezekiel (and others) visions are so amazing. We can only wait and watch as you bring about the finality of your grand story, the epic war and peace, the ultimate love and justice of all things! It’s all there – all written out beforehand for everyone, anyone to read and see for themselves. Either folks have heard or have seen your truth and make a decision. All of us have been given ample time and opportunity to do so. I am so very grateful for your Word and the plans you have for me and the entire world.