Where are we going?

(it is a wonderful place to live... but really? no job?)

Where are we going?

Since relocating to North Carolina I have met more than a few people who picked up and moved here without a concrete job opportunity to come to.  Some are singles, but a surprising number are actually families.  They tired of the weather or high cost-of-living in other parts of the country so they sold businesses, quit jobs, packed up and moved south, trusting that something would turn up quickly.  I’m pretty certain I could not have done it that way.

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8

The folks I’ve met may have moved “by faith”…faith in the economy, faith in their skills or even faith that God was calling them to something different.  But none of it compares to what Abraham did.  Abraham didn’t have the opportunity to visit his new home on vacation.  He couldn’t compare the cost-of-living, crime statistics or annual weather patterns on the Internet.  Instead, he left his homeland in Ur simply because God told him to.  The Lord’s promise of blessing and provision was enough.

Can we have that much faith around the important issues of life?  Can we hear God speaking to us through scripture and prayer and have that be enough?  Can we truly step into the unknown “by faith” trusting that the Lord will provide and bless our obedience?

I think I could do that…

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Volume 7, Number 13

more than a miracle

(miracles are not really about Olympic hockey games)

More than a miracle

Have you ever seen a miracle?  Not an amazing buzzer-beating shot in a basketball game…but rather the genuine article, a disease gone, an addiction removed immediately and forever, that sort of thing.  I sure hope I do someday, but so far I haven’t with my own eyes.  But I do have family members, friends and others I trust who say they have…and I believe them.  Jesus’ ministry on earth was replete with miraculous signs and wonders, used not merely to prove his power, but always to prove a larger point.  Perhaps none was more startling than the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

“Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”  When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  John 11:41-43

Lazarus was blessed to have more time on Earth… more time with his family…more time to tell those he met about Jesus.  But at some point in the future Lazarus died…again.  The gift of new physical life was finite.  We are right to pray for miraculous intervention in our lives and those we care about.  But even the most mind-blowing event alone cannot give us eternal life.  That gift comes through faith in Jesus alone.  It takes more than a miracle.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” – Hebrews 11:1

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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Volume 7, Number 7

Spider Webs and Mustard Seeds

(why can't it be follow the butterflies?)

The area where we live in Northern Ohio is sometimes called the Fun Coast, the North Coast or even the Roller Coast. I think it should be called the Spider Coast. I have never in my life seen so many spiders, or such large spiders. Their web making is prodigious. I can park my car in the drive after work, and by the time I come out in the morning a huge web will extend from the lamp post to my side mirror. Yuck! I suppose the plentiful water and large population of mayflies, midges and mosquitoes keep the spiders fat and happy.

The other day I was spraying some webs off the house and just couldn’t get this one tiny strand to give way. I shot a solid stream from the hose. I sent a wide spray. I swung the hose from side to side and top to bottom. It was no use. I couldn’t believe how something so small could be so strong. It reminded me of what Jesus taught about the mustard seed, the smallest seed in the garden. He told his disciples in Matthew 17:20 “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there”, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

It’s not how large your faith appears to those around you. It’s not how loud you shout “Amen!”. It’s not about carrying a Bible case everywhere you go. No, the key is how strong your faith is, how tightly wound the strands are, like the spider web. It’s about the power inside, the potential for big things, like the mustard seed.

Be strong. Be powerful. Be faithful.

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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How Good and Pleasant

(think about what unites us... not what divides us)

Today is the last day on the job for my friend Larry. He’s moving on to a job running a YMCA in Florida. I know he will do a fantastic job and we will miss his tireless work and leadership. Larry and I could not be much more different. He’s older. He’s as liberal as I am conservative. He’s as firm in his Jewish faith as I am in my Christianity. He’s a career YMCA professional and I’m a “parachuter”. Differences abound. But we’ve had a great time working together; laughing, strategizing, talking about family, talking Ohio State football and many other things. I think it’s because we chose to embrace our commonalities and laugh about our differences.

Psalm 133, verse 1 says “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.” In the 3rd chapter of James it says “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?”

So my friends, the Lord is pleased when we live at peace with those who are different than we are. I’m not suggesting that we should be doormats for people, or not live with the courage of our convictions. But rather that we should seek the common ground. Look for the good. Look for the pleasant. Look for His image.

Thanks for all you do.

Brian

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