Dream BIG!

Do you have any crazy dreams about what life could be? Are you willing to let yourself think about change? Some of our dreams are naïve, some nothing more than fantasy. A few are downright wrong and deserve no more thought. There are nightmares- dreams that terrify. Then, there are those dreams that turn into vision which, when matched with action and resources, create a new reality! Most of us cannot imagine a world without a smartphone in our pocket, but a little more than a decade ago, they were just an idea.

In his most famous speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of a dream about something far more important than a tech device. He ‘saw’ a new kind of world. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. … I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”  His dream, though partially fulfilled, is still yet to be fully realized in our nation.

On this final day of 2019, let me ask you again – Do you allow yourself to dream? I say that we must dream or die.

Consider this word of God, spoken by Jeremiah to the Jews at one of the lowest points in their history. He was inspired to remind them that God calls us to hope. They are words for us! “This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’" (Jeremiah 33:2-3, NIV) The Message says it like this: "Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own."

Are you dreams God-sized? Are they God-honoring?
Are they worthy of prayer and investment of your precious time?

Too often our dreams are exclusively about a life of greater comfort, more money, or increased influence. We turn our dreams turn into schemes about how we can use God’s power to further our agenda.

“God give me the money I think I need for that new project.”

“God, make my spouse love me in a way that makes me a happier person.”

“Lord, make sure my job remains secure this year.”

“Heal me… comfort me… give me more…” are common lines in our prayers.

It is not wrong to ask God for our needs, to share our heart’s desire with Him. He invites us to do that with confidence. James teaches us to  “Tell God what you need.”   We balance that with the fact that He is a Good Father, and He knows our need better than we do.  By faith, we surrender to His will trusting that what He allows us to experience are ‘good and perfect’ gifts that shape us for His glory, which is our ultimate purpose for existence.

From personal experience I will tell you that your dreams and God’s plans do not always follow the same path. The decade that is closing today has brought me grief I could not have imagined as it began. My father, my mother, my wife, my brother, many friends – have died in this time. Ah, yes, death is a part of the life-cycle and I recognize that reality. Then, too, in my pastoral work, I have experienced some wonderful moments with the people in my care, and I have known the worst disappointments of my entire ministry. Through it all, God has taught me to love Him and others more humbly and hopefully, with deeper faith.

The path I walked has been so far outside of my plans, I can say without exaggeration that it is beyond my wildest imagination. Most of us read that passage I quoted and we naturally think of “wondrous things” as fun, happy, and comfortable development. Disciple, God does have a plan for you and me! Our greatest joy is found in letting Him set the pace. He is a good God; not tame, not predictable, not bound to our limited perspective; but amazingly wonderful. So, "since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25, NIV) When we invite the Spirit to take the reins, we begin to see the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy – “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” (2:28)

May our most compelling dreams be about knowing Him, loving Him, and making a difference for His kingdom as long we enjoy life on this earth.

Here’s a New Year’s blessing. Receive it as you pray for the faith to let God be God!

"I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen." (Ephesians 3:17-21, NLT)

“Joy unspeakable!

Faith unsinkable!

Love unstoppable!

Anything is possible, we were made to thrive!”

_____________

Thrive

(Casting Crowns reminds us that
God has good things prepared for us!)

Here in this worn and weary land

Where many a dream has died

Like a tree planted by the water

We will never run dry

So living water flowing through

God we thirst for more of You

Fill our hearts and flood our souls

With one desire

Just to know You and to make You known

We lift Your name on high

Shine like the sun make darkness run and hide

We know we were made for so much more

Than ordinary lives

It's time for us to more than just survive

We were made to thrive

Into Your Word we're digging deep

To know our Father's heart

Into the world we're reaching out

To show them who You are

Joy unspeakable

Faith unsinkable

Love unstoppable

Anything is possible

We were made to thrive

Mark Hall | Matthew West

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May I come in?

 In this age of smartphones, all of us have experienced attempting a conversation with someone who is absorbed by whatever is on the little glowing screen. I would have to plead guilty to that charge, at least occasionally, as well. It’s a not so subtle way of saying, “Whatever I am doing on this device is more important to me than you are.”  Not good, right?  

 Then, there are those interactions that happen when we receive clear signals that the other person does not have the slightest interest in helping us, even when they are paid to do so. A few days ago I was in a busy supermarket. The lines were long and the check-out person was uninterested in even basic service. My greeting went unacknowledged. An inquiry was met with a blank stare. I attempted a final ‘thank you’ and he turned, without a word, to start checking out the next customer. I felt sad as I walked away, not for me, but for that person who seemed so miserable. I wondered if he was that apathetic about the rest of his life.

How does the Lord find you when He shows up, by the Spirit?

Does He find a person taken up with the present?

Does He find you unwilling to engage with Him, to listen and learn from Him?

Or do you warmly welcome Him, inviting Him in, setting aside everything to focus intently?

John heard the Lord Jesus addressing a church that had grown apathetic about knowing the Lord. Read the words of Jesus.  “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. 

So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:14-20, NIV)

Allowing ourselves to be so distracted by lesser things that we lose our spiritual passion is the most subtle of sins. It’s an old saying but still so true. We experience the tyranny of the urgent which drives out the truly important. It happens in many ways in our lives beyond the spiritual. Many marriages fail, not because of abuse or infidelity, but because two people get so busy making a living, keeping a home, parenting children that they become strangers, without intimacy. Once beautiful friendships can die not because of some awful offense, but because days turn into months that turn into years without time to renew and best friends turn into strangers.

It is not my intent to add to your guilt or time pressure! In these closing hours of 2019, I want to turn your mind and heart to truth, to encourage you to make the right choices about your priorities. None of us is rich enough in time to do all the things we think we ought to do or even the things we want to do. So, we must decide what comes first and organize our time around those things. In my understanding of the world, Jesus is first … all other things, occupation, home, even family … are lesser.  

Will you make Him a priority in the new year?  That does not mean that you have to join a monastery, throw out your TV, or attempt to spend 2 hours a day in prayer and meditation.  Radical efforts usually fail.  In most situations, change needs to be intentional and incremental. If there is no time for personal prayer, carve 15 minutes into your day, not when you are exhausted or sleepy, but when you are at your best, so you can listen.  If you have not read the Scripture at all, start with a Psalm and a chapter from the Gospel, read aloud, with real mental engagement.  And do these kinds of things faithfully, not for a few days, but one day at a time, day after day.  When you sense the Spirit leading (and you will) respond with a real obedience – forgiving, giving, confessing, serving, loving.  Growth will come.

Here are Jesus’ words. They are full of promise, anticipating that we will open our hearts to Him. “So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." 

__________

Living Hope
(Listen, learn, love)

How great the chasm that lay between us

How high the mountain I could not climb

In desperation I turned to heaven

And spoke Your name into the night

Then through the darkness Your loving-kindness

Tore through the shadows of my soul

The work is finished the end is written

Jesus Christ my living hope

Who could imagine so great a mercy

What heart could fathom such boundless grace

The God of ages stepped down from glory

To wear my sin and bear my shame

The cross has spoken I am forgiven

The King of kings calls me His own

Beautiful Savior I’m Yours forever

Jesus Christ my living hope

Hallelujah praise the One who set me free

Hallelujah death has lost its grip on me

You have broken every chain

There’s salvation in Your name

Jesus Christ my living hope

Then came the morning that sealed the promise

Your buried body began to breathe

Out of the silence the Roaring Lion

Declared the grave has no claim on me

(REPEAT)

Jesus Yours is the victory whoa

Jesus Christ my living hope

Oh God You are my living hope

Brian Johnson | Phil Wickham

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What I have Learned About Grief - A reprise

4 years ago, on 12/29/2015, my wife stepped into eternity. A year after her death, I wrote the following. May the Lord use these thoughts to comfort those who mourn today.

____

“Well Dad, it’s been a year. What would you tell somebody in your place about grief?” Sean asked me over breakfast. A little later, walking on a South Florida beach, I kept thinking about that question. What have I learned about grief in this year-long journey?

Grief a process not just an event. 

Just like physical healing, the healing of our heart takes time. There is no miracle cure, no instant relief.  I found the rituals that surround grief so very valuable.  The day of her burial, in freezing cold on top of that New Jersey mountain, helped me know that she was not coming home. The words about our hope in the One who is the Resurrection and the Life echo in my memory a stark comfort. Seeing that coffin lowered into the earth and the soil pushed over it, made me know the reality of her departure. I cannot pretend she is coming home. The funeral service where songs, tributes, and God’s Word were another step ahead.  Her birthday, trips to see the kids, Easter, my birthday, the first day of school (she taught for many years), Thanksgiving, and Christmas each came with unique reminders; each season presenting new reasons to cry and to thank God for her.

Grief is easier to endure with people- friends and family- than alone.

How people go through this loss without a community is beyond me. Phone calls, emails, Facebook notes, visits with family, invites to dinner, and the ordinary interactions day in and day out with people who cared, who remembered her with me, kept me from sinking into depression. My children listened to me cry on the phone. Friends helped me to see the sunshine, and to know that there is more ahead; different but still full of promise. All of the crises of life are better endured with a circle of friends who love.  Are you loving and being loved? Don’t wait ‘til it is necessary.  Love today!

Grief opens a person to a wide array of temptations that have the potential to destroy life.

Shocking? I am only human and I’ll spare you the details but suffice to say when the heart aches, there are a hundred voices that offer soothing. By the grace of God, I’m largely without regrets. I did not realize how badly a soul desires some solace when the pain feels like it will never end! When my heart was ripped open I saw, in new depth, both the beauty of His grace and the depravity of human nature. Momentary pleasures sparkle with allure and it is so easy to fall prey to retail therapy, over-eating, toxic relationships, poor decisions. I am glad for people in my life who were ready to speak the truth to me, to remind me that God was greater than my pain, and to urge me to go steadily forward.  Be patient with those who grieve even as you encourage them to obedience to the Spirit’s leading. Don’t add shame to pain. Offer a hand or a shoulder!

Everybody’s different.
I have read at least a half dozen books written by people about their grief. In each I found echoes of my own thoughts as well as things that were non-existent for me.  One man wrote of feeling the need to completely shut the door on his life with his late wife. He quickly emptied the closets, disposed of her things, sold the home they shared, and moved to a new city.  He said that it was the way he survived his grief. Good for him! But, I still have Bev’s clothes hanging in the closet and I find being in the same house, doing the same work, living with the same people a great comfort.  Remarry? Several wrote of their happiness and I am glad for them.  Perhaps that will happen for me but certainly not at this time. Some said that they chose to stop talking about their dead spouse.  I like to talk about Bev. I visit and care for her gravesite. Some never go back after the burial.  Lesson?  Other than avoiding the sinful and the toxic, we will all make the journey in ways that reflect our personality, training, and experience.

The pathway is not straight!  

Each month’s passing should bring about a measurable kind of healing, a lessening of grief, right?  Not for me.  There are wonderful days, when laughter comes quickly, when my thoughts are clear for the future, when I feel great hope. Then, a day will come when the wound feels as tender as it ever did, when tears turn into sobs.  In my experience, those kinds of days are fewer with time, but they still show up.  Just before Christmas I went to our attic to look for wrapping paper and saw rolls neatly taped and stood in a corner, just like Bev left them. It was a moment of devastation that led to a day of sorrow.

The past will take on a rosy glow and you will be tempted to try to live there.  

With time, Bev has become something of an angel in my memory. I forget the arguments we had and the disappointments that we struggled to overcome. I remember the brightest moments, the sweetest words.  I have to tell myself not to canonize her and to refuse to look back too often. Her life is a closed book, now in God’s hand. Mine goes on and He has, as I reminded by a dear friend, “immeasurably more” (Ephesians 3:20) for me ahead.

Sorrow has deepened my faith and tolerance for Mystery.  

I still have no answer for why God allowed my wife to die. Someone asked me a day or so ago, “Aren’t you angry at God?” Honestly, no.  Puzzled by His ways?  Surely, but angry, no.  He’s God, I am not. I choose to trust Him.  The words of the Scripture fill up my mind, a deep reservoir of hope and assurance. My worship is not as experiential or emotional these days. But I can sing, “praise God from Whom All blessings flow,” with conviction and for that I am grateful.  Don’t wait for the crisis to try to create faith. There was a foundation and the storm shook the house but it stood because it rested on the Rock of my salvation.

Tears are our friends.

Really what I mean is that expressing emotions is critically important. Pretending to be happy while sad twists a person’s soul into crippling condition. Ignoring the reality of loss is a sure way to get sick – in every way. God has found me in my tears, late at night in my bed, when silent tears slide onto my pillow, He whispers peace.  Yes, I have had a few friends walk away, unwilling or unable to cope with my sorrow. And, that’s fine. I bear them no ill will.  My tears have made me a more tender man with a much greater capacity for love and greater patience. So, yes, tears are my friends and they fall from my eyes without any shame.

Do I know it all? Of course not. Will everyone’s pathway through grief look like mine? No. But those are my ‘take aways’ in year one. Sorrow is a common experience among us humans, as much as we try to avoid it. But, we serve a God who is loving and good, the God of all comfort.

As we look into 2017, here is the benediction that blesses me. May it bless you as you receive the Word of God.  

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:16-21, NIV)

 ___________

Good, Good Father

I've heard a thousand stories

Of what they think You’re like

But I've heard the tender whisper

Of love in the dead of night

You tell me that You’re pleased

And that I'm never alone

You're a Good Good Father

It's who You are

It's who You are

It's who You are

And I'm loved by You

It's who I am

It's who I am

It's who I am

I've seen many searching for answers

Far and wide

But I know we're all searching for answers

Only You provide

Because You know just what we need

Before we say a word

You are perfect in all of Your ways

You are perfect in all of Your ways

You are perfect in all of Your ways to us

Love so undeniable I can hardly speak

Peace so unexplainable I can hardly think

As You call me deeper still

As You call me deeper still

As You call me deeper still

Into love love love

Anthony Brown | Pat Barrett

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