Who do you trust?

(I often wonder who I trust this much... to just stop)

From The Mountaintop to the Valley

Who do you trust?

As I looked at my icy back stairs this week I thought of a story a kid’s pastor told a group of parents. The pastor was living and working with his family at a camp and ventured outside to the front porch of their cabin one very cold and icy morning.  He hit the first step, slipped and tumbled down a long flight of stairs head over heels.  Hearing the commotion, his pregnant wife rushed out. He yelled “Stop!” and fortunately she did.  Her trust in him saved her from an almost certain fall down the same stairs and the great physical harm that would have followed for herself and their baby.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

Over time we learn to trust people…or not.  By their words and deeds, those around us can rise to the level of trust worthy or prove otherwise.  God, on the other hand, needs no such time.  His word is truth and his love for us is complete.  There is nothing to fear and everything to gain.  Instead our trust and confidence brings us blessings.  

Be blessed!

Brian

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Volume 7, Number 50

Right in front of you

 (pretty much the only Super Bowl I ever missed... saw the very last play though!)

Right in front of you

The Super Bowl draws incredible interest each and every year. Even people who don’t watch or care much for football get caught up in the hoopla and hype of the big game.  Advertisers spend heavily in the hopes of gaining brand recognition during the breaks in the action on the field. The game is special to us also as our oldest daughter was born on Super Bowl Sunday the year the Rams won it all. Kurt Warner was the quarterback of that team and achieved enormous success throwing the ball. His arm was strong and he read defenses well, but his receivers found he also had the unusual ability to put the ball right where they could catch it without breaking stride. The ball invariably arrived at eye level directly on the path they were running.  Everything they needed for success was right there in front of them.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1

Trusting in the reality of the existence of God and the amazing love he has for us is a long road for some. They may look for signs and miracles.  They may seek intellectual knowledge or empirical evidence. They may look for examples in the changed lives of believing friends. All those steps, and many others, are perfectly valid and we shouldn’t begrudge other’s journeys. But too often we miss the truth that what we needed is right there in front of us all along.  The beauty and majesty of creation is all around us, proclaiming the truth of God’s glory.  The enormity of the ocean laid out before us at the beach. The amazing vistas seen from the tops of the mountains.  Even the miracle of a newborn baby on Super Bowl Sunday.   It’s all right there!

Brian

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Volume 7, Number 49

keep your perspective

(Caribou Coffee...I like a shop named after a large, furry mammal)

Keep your perspective

There is a chalkboard on the wall of the coffee shop where I’m sitting while two of my daughters are down the road at church events. This query is posed there: “What gets you through the LONG winter?” Now mind you, the question is being asked in North Carolina, where it was 54 and sunny on January 25^th. Winter feels like a piece of cake to a guy who grew up in Northeast Ohio, where wind chills and lake effect snow are a way of life.  But someone from Florida or Arizona might well feel that this sort of winter will never end. Excitement over the weather seems to be correlated to where you started your journey, to how bad off you were to start. And we are always in danger of becoming complacent…and forgetting how good we have it now.

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.”

1 Timothy 1:15

The Apostle Paul wrote 48% of the books in the New Testament. He was one of the first great missionaries of the Gospel. He had a personal encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus.  If ever anyone had the resume to be complacent in his faith it was Paul.  But to his immense credit Paul never would up in that place. He knew he was once the foremost persecutor of Christians and he never forgot the incalculable grace he had received.

Maybe God’s saving mercy was bestowed on us decades ago…or perhaps it’s a very recent event.  Either way, let’s follow the example of Paul, keep our perspective and remember what we were saved from.

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Volume 7, Number 48

Disagreement not Dishonor

(yes, yes I'm a fan... but really there is a good point here!) 

This past week the Ohio State Buckeyes surprised a great many people by winning the College Football Playoff National Championship.  In the end their power running game and stout defense made all the difference.  Luke Fickell, the coach in charge of that defense, stands as an important lesson to us all. After serving as defensive coordinator for six years under Jim Tressell, Fickell spent a season as the head coach of the Buckeyes. When current coach Urban Meyer was hired, he asked Fickell to serve once again as the defensive coordinator. Meyer expects hard work and loyalty from his assistants, and it would have been easy for Fickell to look for a smaller school where he could have remained the man in charge. To his credit though, he was willing to step back and be subject to the authority of another again.

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.”

Titus 3:1-2

Our nature is to believe that we know best, that we could run the team/company/committee better than anyone else if we just had the opportunity.  We magnify the shortcomings and faults of those around us and discount their strengths.  But clearly this is not what we are called to as followers of Christ.  We can disagree yes, but dishonor never. When we accept a position we also accept the structure that comes with it. And we ought to work hard and be loyal to those are in authority. It’s likely those folks are in place for very good reasons. And perhaps we will find ourselves “champions” as a result.

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Volume 7, Number 47