Goose-bumps

I love music.

 

There, that could easily end this blog post. But, it’s a statement of fact. I love music.

 

The Artist

When I was in grade school and college, I really enjoyed Art. I liked to draw, I liked Art history and all sorts of Art related activities. I recall an important incident that happened once when I was taking a college Art class. The instructor was talking about how he loved Art and that Art was his passion. He said that when he sees a great work of Art he gets goose-bumps. He actually has a physical reaction to Art. Thinking that I too was passionate about Art, I immediately wondered why I never got goose-bumps when I saw a great work of Art. This kind of bothered me. Maybe I just liked Art. Maybe it wasn't my passion. I then started thinking to myself, “if it’s not Art, then what is it that actuallydoes give me goose-bumps?”

 

Best of the 1980s

Almost immediately, music popped into my head as the answer. Music. Back then and up to today, when I hear really powerful song lyrics, or unique vocals or someone expressing their heart and passion using whatever instrument they are playing, I get goose-bumps. I’ve gone through many musical phases in my life. Back in the 1980’s it was classic rock and heavy metal. I think the first record album (yes, vinyl) I bought was Queen, The Game. Admit it, you owned it too. Also in my vinyl collection you could find, Van Halen, Quiet Riot, The Doors and multiple K-Tel compilation albums such as Metal Hits of the 80’s and Greatest Guitar Rock. Admit it, you owned these too.

 

Skate or die

In my later teens, I followed the skate-punk music scene specifically straight-edge hardcore. If you don’t know what straight-edge hardcore is, it’s very loud, fast punk music with a no drugs, no drinking, no sex message. Against the teenage-grain so to speak. I’ve been into jazz, hip-hop, rock, grunge, alternative, blues, reggae, SKA, classic country, folk, pop and R&B. I still enjoy listening to most of this music even today. If you check my iPod, you’ll see I’m telling the truth! There is very little in the world of music I don’t enjoy to some extent.

 

Jesus rock?

Christian music however….I could do without that. Bunch of Jesus freaks singing about Jesus. Freaks. I paid zero attention to it. It was irrelevant in my life. I guess that was kind of my view on Jesus in general back then. Paid no attention to Him, He was irrelevant in my life. But that was ok. That was before I knew who He was, before I knew what He could do in my life. Now I know who He is, and what He’s doing in my life. If you told me even 4 years ago that I’d be not only listening to Christian music, but I’d also be playing it and getting those goose-bumps from it, I would have thought you were nuts. But there is just something extremely powerful about it. It’s in the lyrics, the worship of God. It’s in the crescendo of certain songs, the build-up to celebration! It’s in the way some of those songs cause you to pray in the middle, cause your spirit to be at peace, cause you to connect with God right then and there. Its’ the goose-bumps

 

 

Class, meet Mr. Youtube your Music Instructor

These songs boast about God, praise God and thanks God. The musicians who sing them have amazing vocals that add so much emotion to the words they are singing. As a novice guitar player, I really like that fact that these songs are simple in structure, and in general easy to learn to play. I’m amazed that so many of these “famous” Christian artists have posted how-to play videos on Youtube so that church worship leaders can learn the songs and play them on a Sunday morning. I’ve taken lessons from Paul Baloche, Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman all without leaving my computer. They know these are not their songs, they are all of our songs we can use to sing to God. I think that most are so easy to play so that we can all play them and sing them out and expose others to Jesus through song. One way Missionaries reach people in foreign countries where the encounter a language barrier is through music. It’s worship of God, through music. So powerful. Goose-bumps.

 

 

Studio 412

Most nights I will spend some amount of time in my attic (studio) practicing worship and praise songs on my guitar. I have a small space set up with guitars, stands, computer, microphone, drums and various other miscellaneous instruments. This is my time to connect, to worship and praise through music. Some of my most intense, spirit-filled conversation about God, Jesus and life have occurred in that attic studio with my transplanted friend from Oregon after a session of guitar playing and worship. My 9 year old son is learning to play the stand-up bass. We practice daily and he really enjoys it. Often times both of my boys will be in the attic studio where we mess around with harmonicas and drums and guitars. I might even get them to sing into the microphone we have, just like a “professional” musician does.

 

 

Studio 4wd

Often times when we are driving in the car somewhere as a family, we’ll have a praise and worship CD playing. There’s lots of attempted singing from me and my wife and the boys too. But they really like to listen to the lyrics with great interest. We’ll often use this time to expand on what the lyrics are saying and answering their questions. It’s a great time for us all to grow and bond spiritually. Try it sometime.

 

Worship band

Recently, I was driving with my boys and had a praise and worship CD played…I was doing my best to sing.

The cd had ended and there was a pause…

it was in that pause moment that my oldest broke the quiet and said, “Dad..”

 

(I could tell he had been sitting there thinking about something for a while.)

 

He said, “Dad, one day I want to play bass in a worship band with you.” I looked at him in the rear-view mirror and could tell he was completely serious. I smiled back at him and said, “I’d really like that too.” 

 

My heart was filled with joy and I got goose-bumps.

 

Today I am thankful that God has given us music as a way to praise and worship Him.

Give Ephesians 5:20

November is a great month because there is always a real sense of thankfulness inspired by the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.  Today I am thankful for John 3:16 (NIV), “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

 

My first memory of this scripture is seeing people holding up John 3:16 signs at sporting events. I must admit there was a time in my life where I had no idea that it was even a bible verse. In time, I figured out that it was scripture and even I recall looking it up in the Bible. At that time to me, the Bible was just a dusty-old-outdated-lengthy-book about God that was a boring read written in some archaic language that only King James could understand. Having no idea where John 3:16 even was, I began to fumble through the pages, and then decided to look back at the table of contents. Eventually, I found it…and read it… and closed the book. I had kind of a “hmmm, well, whatever” reaction to it. I think I was expecting some kind of miraculous message to overwhelm me when I finally read this mysterious, well-advertised verse.

Seriously, why would someone go through the trouble of holding up a John 3:16 poster at a game if the words weren’t something amazing? My problem was that I was reading this scripture (and others) as though the Bible was written as a novel or a textbook. If you read scripture with this kind of mindset (absent of spiritual guidance), you just won’t get it. And I didn’t get it. Why was John 3:16 important enough for someone to take the time to write it on a poster board, buy tickets to a game and hold it up for fans at the game and on TV to read it? 
 

Having made an incredible spiritual journey since dusting off a Bible years ago in order to read John 3:16 for the first time, I now know exactly why those people take the time to write it out on a poster board, buy tickets to a game and hold it up for all to see. This verse is a key message of salvation. I get that now and it’s extremely powerful…just like I get that old-outdated-lengthy boring Bible now, and it’s extremely powerful. John 3:16 contains so much in that one verse. God gives us a free gift that can’t be earned, it only needs to be accepted and you live for eternity with God. He loves His creation so much, He wants to be with us forever!

Simple, yet so complex.

The simplicity is in its concept, “here’s a gift, take it.”

The complexity is in the acceptance, “this gift is free, you did not earn it, enjoy it...it will change everything about you forever.”
 

It’s amazing and difficult.

It’s beautiful and challenging.

It’s wonderful and a struggle.

It's peaceful, it's restful...
 

I am thankful for this gift from my God.

Ephesians 5:20 "always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"

 

 

 

His Prayers

When I was a kid, Easter to me meant family trips to Florida, beaches, chocolate bunnies, Easter baskets and egg hunts.  When I finished college and got a job, Easter to me meant a ham dinner on a Sunday and back to work on Monday.  Since becoming saved, Easter means so much more!  It's not about bunnies and candy anymore than Christmas is about presents and decorations, it's about Jesus.  I know it's said all the time but I've learned what it means.  God loves the people He created so much that He gave us His one and only Son (Christmas) and whoever believes in Jesus and what he did for us on the cross where he took all past, present and future sins of man upon himself and defeated death so that we could live in eternity with him and the Father (Easter). 

Seeing as Resurrection Day is just around the corner, I've been spending a lot of time this week reading scriptures around the events just before Christ's crucifixion and his resurrection.  I particularly like reading verses covering His time before being arrested and I'd like to share how some of those verses are speaking to me.

Towards the end of the book of John, Jesus had finished the Last Supper with His Disciples.  He then told them about what was going to happen with them when He is gone and how the world will treat them because of their belief that He was the Son of God.  He reassures them that the Holy Spirit will be with them and guide them as He had done on Earth.  Knowing that He was soon to be arrested and crucified, He then spends time praying (chapter 17).  He first prays for God to, "...¹glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you."  Then He prays for protection of the Disciples, "...¹¹Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one."  Finally, Jesus prays for all Believers in chapter 17, verses 20-26.

Inclusion 
²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message," - He is speaking about the Disciples since the prayer preceding this one is for them.  He is not limiting his prayer to the 11 who had followed Him, but extending His prayers to all people who listen to and receive God's word through His teachings of the Disciples (scripture).  Interesting thought is that He's not just praying for Believers, but also for those yet to believe when He says, "...those who will believe in me"

Unity 
^21 "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." - This is an invitation..an invitation to be with Jesus and with God, that we are all one simply by believing the Jesus was sent by God!  He prayed earlier on for the Disciples to also be one with Him and with God.  Jesus spent time praying for the unity of people though the belief that God sent His Son to bring people to eternal salvation.

Salvation
²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." - Another invitation, this time for salvation.  He wants those who have had some exposure to Jesus "...those you have given me" to be with Him where He is (heaven for eternity).  The reason for His desire to have people see the glory of God is because God loved Jesus even before the creation of the world.  Previous verses connects Believers with Jesus and Jesus with God and God with Believers.  This illustrates God's love for us as He loves Jesus before creation.

Forgiveness
²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” - To me is a great verse about the continuation of expanding God's kingdom through Christ.  "...and I will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."  Jesus knew He was going to be killed and yet says He is going to continue to make known God's love so that all people can be with them.  That's talking about us, here and now.  It reassures that His church continues even today and since Jesus says "I will" means to me that He lives on for eternity and with the invitations to us, we only need to accept God as Lord of our lives through His Son Christ Jesus.  

Praise God!

John 17:20-26

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Prays for All Believers

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Are you sure?

My wife and I are blessed to be able to facilitate one of the small groups at our church on the topic of Heaven from a DVD series by Randy Alcorn.  I thought I would blog about Heaven and some of what I’ve learned each week.  My hope is that you might be intrigued enough to learn more about Heaven too.  I mean, we should probably know a little something about the place where we want to spend an eternity.

Paradise!

There are as many views and opinions of what heaven looks like as there are people on the planet!  The Bible teaches that it is a place free from sin, free from pain, free from misery, free from all the things that are wrong with the world.  It’s a place so magnificently beautiful that we are unable to comprehend its glory.  Simply put, it’s Paradise.  What a great place to spend eternity!  I think if you ask most people you know where are going to go after they die they’ll reply, “Heaven.”  And I bet that if you then ask them why they think they are going to Heaven, they’ll reply something to the effect of them being a good person or that they believe in God.

“By default”

In the DVD, Randy Alcorn teaches that people have the default belief that they are going to Heaven.  People believe they are born with a Heavenly destiny and as long as they don’t murder people or commit crimes, then they are headed to Heaven after they die.  But consider that the Bible teaches us that man is born with a sin-nature.  People are born into sin.  Sin is what separates people from God.  Heaven, is God’s dwelling place and devoid of sin.  It cannot exist there.  Therefore the sinful man’s default destiny is actually hell (separated from God) and not Heaven.  Kind of depressing, huh?  So, how does one get into Heaven?

Perhaps I can live a life free of sin…

Q.  How about if you just lead a good clean life?  A life without sin?  Sort of a 10 Commandment kind of thing.  That will surely earn you a spot in Heaven, right?

A.  Well, that’s a nice thought, but impossible to accomplish.  For this to be a path to salvation, then sin would need to be ranked.  Sins would have to be listed as worse or better than another.  Then at what level of sin could you still commit and make it into Heaven?  What about compounding sin, would that stack up?  Would 5 semi-bad sins equal one really bad one?  How much sin is too much sin?  The Bible teaches that all sin is sin.  It is equal.  It serves one and only one purpose, to separate God’s people from God Himself.  Have you ever had a lustful thought?  Ever said anything bad about another person?  Ever lied?  Ever cursed God?  Ever rebelled against your parents?  Ever ignored someone in need that you had the ability to help? Ever gossip? Ever wished harm on someone else?  Ever taken revenge on someone?  According to Jesus, these are all sins!   The 6th Commandment says, “Thou shalt not kill”, Jesus says that when you speak bad about someone, you are in effect murdering them with words.  The 7th Commandment says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery”.  Jesus says that even thinking lustful thoughts about another person is adultery.  Get the picture?

Perhaps I can do good things to earn my spot…

Q.  Maybe you can’t be as good as Jesus, but how about just being a pretty good person?  Surely God will show favor to good people.  Those that try really hard, are good people, give to charity and say their prayers every day.  God, who is forgiving will let those people in Heaven, right?

A.  Well, that’s a nice thought too, but impossible to accomplish.  If salvation could be earned through good deeds, then how would the magnitude of those deeds be measured?  How good is good enough?  To determine your level of “good”, you’d need to be measured against something. for example, If you want to be the best in a sport, then your performance would need to be compared with the performance of someone considered the best at that sport and anything less is failure.  The team that wins the Super Bowl is the best, all others failed to reach that goal.  The Olympian who wins the gold medal is the best, all others failed to reach that goal.  So in considering how good you are, you must then compare yourself with the person who lived the best, most clean life.  By this logic, you’d need your life to be measured against the life Jesus lead!  In doing so, you’d always fall short and therefore a failure and not going to Heaven.

Ok, so now what?

Q.  Now I’m depressed because it seems like I’m destined for hell, what can I do?!?

A.  Wait!  There is hope for you!  This is where Jesus steps in.  He was the only truly sinless man and He took it upon Himself to become the last sacrifice.  By His dying on the cross, and rising from the dead we no longer need to try to be good enough to earn our place in Heaven.  We only need to accept God’s grace and His free gift of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.  This gift is given freely by God to those who believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and that He is the son of God for which salvation is achieved.  A person needs to accept God’s gift of salvation in their hearts.  And in doing so, a person will change from the inside out.  There will be fruit (meaning good deeds or works) from that person’s acceptance of Jesus as Lord.  You will let God guide your life and your path.  These deeds are done out of the love of Jesus rather than by trying to earn points for salvation.  Once you give your life to Jesus, your focus will change from earthly accomplishments to living to expand God’s Kingdom on Earth so that none will perish and that all will have eternal life with Jesus.  Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the light, no one comes to the father except through me.”  He is the path.

Consider this

I had a chat with my friend a few weeks ago about Salvation and we were discussing the story when Jesus was on the cross with two criminals also being crucified with him from Luke 23: 39-43 “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’  But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’  Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’  Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The second criminal believed in God (Don’t you fear God) and acknowledged who Jesus was and asked forgiveness (remember me when you come into your kingdom).  He admitted he was guilty (we are punished justly).  Jesus knew the criminal’s heart and granted him grace and salvation (Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.)  As you can see, the criminal did not earn his salvation from doing good deeds.  In fact, he had done bad deeds which lead to his death sentence.  It took Jesus Himself to save this criminal.

God is forgiving to all asking for forgiveness and accepts His Son as their Savior and Lord.

....his small heart grew three sizes that day!

I love the line in How the Grinch Stole Christmas that goes "Maybe Christmas", he thought, "doesn't come from a store....Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"  Sometimes I think those people standing in line at 2:00am at WalMart to buy a 40" flat screen should watch the Grinch movie before they decide on such an endeavor!

What's it all about?
There's a good chance if I asked most people what Christmas is really all about, I'm likely to get a response like, "It's Jesus' birthday."  Because even with all the Christmas shopping and running around and buying presents and all the chaos, I think that most people know what it's really all about, Jesus.  And they are correct, it is all about the birth of Jesus.  But, I wonder what kind of responses I would get if I were to pose a follow-up question, "sooo, why is that important?"  I'd be curious to hear some of those answers.  I picture it kind of like a Jay Leno Jay-Walking segment.  But instead of crazy answers that Jay gets during that bit, I bet there would be a lot of silence and ummmm's. 

ummmm...
The question of "why is that important" is interesting to me because it's kind of like asking "why is Jesus important" which then leads into "who is Jesus to you?"  Jesus himself asked that very question of His disciples, his very close, most trusted friends.  In Matthew 16:15 He asks, "Who do you say I am?"  Imagine if Jesus himself went around asking people on the street in Jay Leno fashion, "Who do you say I am?"  I'm sure there would be several ummmm answers.  He'd probably even get the occassional "you're God's son" or "you are the guy who died on the cross." or maybe, "aren't you the one who walked on water?"

All true answers, but all not really the right answers.  When Jesus asked the question "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter was the one who got it right, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Matthew 15:16  Upon hearing this answer, Jesus was excited and blessed Peter.  Jesus is the Messiah, meaning the Savior,  He's the one sent by God to redeem man and save his soul.  Redeem man from what?  Sin.  All man is sinful, and sin separates man from God the Father.  God gave us a gift for Christmas...the gift of grace, forgiveness, salvation and of freedom.  It's the greatest gift ever and we did nothing to earn it because it cannot be earned.  There is no amount of "good deeds" man can do to earn salvation.  It comes simply from accepting God's gift through Christ Jesus.    

The best present ever!
God is the most amazing gift-giver of all!  The very well known scripture John 3:16 illustrates this well, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  God gave His one and only Son to man and all we have to do to receive the gift of eternal life is to believe in Him.   This is not to say people need to just believe that Jesus was the Son of God.  A person can believe that Jesus was the Son of God but still not accept Him as their Savior.  Many people believe Jesus was God's son, but don't have Him in their hearts.  You must believe that Jesus is your Savior, and you must have a personal relationship with Him to really receive God's gift of salvation.  

The BIG question..
So now ask yourself this question, "If God had a big-box retail store, would I line up at 2:00am to receive His free gift?"  During this Christmas season I will be praying for you and others who do not yet have a personal relationship with Christ.  For anyone who knows of who Jesus was, but does not who He is.  I know thousands of other Christ-followers will be praying for you also, for you to accept the true meaning of CHRISTmas.  It's God's desire to have you in His Kingdom.  Remember the second part of John 3:16 "...that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." 
Merry Christmas! 

Separation of church and...

Separation of church and State is an important “hot” topic which I am not going to address right now!  Why?  Because I think that there is an even more critical “separation” that needs to be discussed.  And that is, the separation of Church and Self. 

Today, I had an interesting conversation about Halloween with a co-worker.  She was talking about what kind of candy she should give out at Halloween this year.  After a few minutes of discussion, she eventually proclaimed, “Well, whatever it is at least I won’t be like one of those people who wraps literature around the candy they give out.”  I asked her to explain and she replied, “You know, they wrap religious literature around the candy bars.”  I countered, “Well, Halloween is not a day universally celebrated by Christians, so it makes sense they would try to inform people.”  She then said, “Yeah but…the kids just want candy and this isn’t the right time to be doing that.” An interesting comment she made,”not the right time.”  This implies there is a right and a wrong time to express your faith.  This is what I mean by the “Separation of Church and Self.”  Keeping your church, faith separated from the rest of your life. 

Unfortunately, due to work responsibilities we weren’t able to continue our conversation.  I’m guessing that if we had, she would have expanded that she believes that religious topics should be discussed only in church and perhaps only on a Sunday.  And based on how offended some people respond lately when someone mentions a religious belief during any other time of the week than Sunday morning, I think that she's expressing a fairly popular opinion.  “Keep your religion at church” or perhaps you’ve heard “keep your religion out of government”, or even “keep your religion out of schools.”  I can understand the concern.  I mean, I wouldn’t want our government, one that tends to fail at most things to get their hands around trying to manage a Federal religion!  But does this mean that we can only be faithful during church hours?   

I don't think practicing your religion means practicing it during specific times of the week.  A genuine Christ follower doesn’t have an on/off switch when it comes to living out their faith.  “Oh, it’s Christmas morning, better head to church to get my religious fix to cover me for the next year.”  No, that’s not it at all!  I just can’t picture God being happy to see His people ignoring Him all week long and then heading to church on Sunday “just to put their time in”.  He wants an ongoing relationship with each and every person on Earth through Christ Jesus.  Scripture is clear on this.  He doesn’t want you (or others) to put limits on your relationship with Him.  Scripture is clear on this too!  He wants to part the center of every aspect of your life.

Luke 10:27 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”

Luke 10:27 doesn’t say, Love the Lord your God on Sunday morning and with a portion of your soul and with a little strength and part of your mind.

I’ll admit that there was a time in my life that I didn’t understand why my religious beliefs needed to be part of my life other than the occasional Sunday morning.  I thought you just needed to believe that there is a God and that Jesus was a man who was God’s son and then I was all set on my pathway to heaven.  But there’s a difference between believing that there IS a God and believing IN God.  Check out James 2:19 “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.” 

A person can believe in the existence of God, but it takes a heart full of faith, love, submission and worship to live a life where you believe IN God and His plan of salvation and grace.  Once you get there, that will be the point where you can no longer understand the Separation of Church and Self.  It no longer makes sense.  How can your heart be so filled with love for the Lord, that at any point during your day or night that you can separate this out?  Just turn it off.  It’s not possible.  In fact, if you remove any portion of your love for God love out of your heart, you end up making room for something else.  Likely, it will be something that is the opposite of love, as in hate, fear, desire, and sin.  

Personally, I believe that there is no way you can discuss the Separation of Church and State until you no longer have Separation of Church and Self.   When you are no longer separating yourself from your faith, when you are truly living it 24/7 and when your entire heart belongs to God, to His glory…then everything else will fall in line.  Answers to those “hot topics” become crystal clear.  All you need to do is stop separating God out of your everyday life.  He has the answers.  He doesn’t want to just know you and guide you and have you love Him on Sunday.  He desires that each and every day!

1 John 3:1
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  and that is what we are! 

Roses, stop and smell them

Under pressure!

Priorities, priorities, priorities...are a huge topic of discussion lately. I sometimes hear people older than myself telling me about how when they were my age, things weren't quite as hectic.  I suppose they are right.  Look at how we are constantly trying to fit in as many activities in our already over-scheduled lives: family, work, school, kids, sports, meetings, social gatherings, business trips, etc. Last time I looked there were still only 24 hours in each day and we like to maximize each one of those hours.  I mean seriously, I'm writing this at 11:32pm!  But with all these distractions, just where does God fit?  Does He get shoved onto the back burner in your day-to-day priorities?  If I asked you to write down your life's priority list, what would it look like?

Maybe your priority list looks something like this;            Or perhaps like this one;

Family                                                                                       God

Career                                                                                       Family

Health                                                                                       Career

God                                                                                            Health

Money                                                                                       Money

Recreation                                                                              Education

Education                                                                                Recreation

Politics                                                                                      Politics

Charity                                                                                      Charity

One of my favorite sermons my Pastor preached about was Prioritizing God.  The main point of the sermon was that we shouldn't put God at the top of our priority list.  He should “BE” our list.  Everything on that list needs to be centered around God.  Everything.  The risk of “prioritizing” God (even if you put him at the top of the list) is that if something really important came up, God stands the risk of being bumped down the list.  Perhaps it would be a family illness, a loss of a job or severe financial stress.  We then tend to lose focus on Him, spend our time and energy on the circumstances of the situation and therefore bumping God down our priority list.  But by keeping Him at the center of everything on our list, the order can fluctuate, and He remains our source fo strength and firmly at the center.

                                                                                      family

                                                                    career                   charity

                                                                health          God             politics

                                                                   money                   education

                                                                                 recreation

Priorities = distractions

When a person has too many priorities, each is getting only a fraction of that person's attention.  Again, we still only are given 24 hours in a day.  Each priority acts as a distraction from the other priorities.  These multiple priorities and distractions are causing people to be too overscheduled and busy day and night.  The distractions are the things that take you away from what's really important, your personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Think about it, if you lived on a deserted island with nothing more than a loin-cloth and banana leaves for shoes, you'd get to know God real quick.  With all of our modern distractions having been vanished away, you'd be able to focus completely on Him.

There isn't an App for that

So now we've established that priorities will yield distractions which can then weaken our relationships with God.  But what enables these distractions?  The great enabler for managing our busy lives (priorities) these days is our devices and the technology surrounding these devices: Smartphones, iPads, iPods, Playstations, Xbox 360s, wifi, 4G, streaming video, Netflix, Google, Facebook, GPS and apps.  You name it.  So where does God fit into all of this stuff?  Maybe God needs an App.  How can we find Him amidst the chaos of technology and our busy overscheduled lives?  Since everything else in our lives is taking up our attention, we can easily lose focus on God.  There is a good scripture about this very situation. Let me paraphrase, Matthew 14:22-32.  Peter was in a boat with the other disciples when they saw Jesus walking on the water.  Jesus told Peter to come to him.  Peter got out of the boat and started to walk towards Jesus.  But then he saw the wind he became afraid and began to sink.  Jesus then reached out his hand and grabbed Peter.  When Peter looked away from Jesus, he got scared and lost his way. He saw the wind, looked away from Jesus and sank.  Perhaps wind could equal anything that is taking your focus away from Jesus (aka a distraction)

A real turn off

This past summer I went camping, my wife and our two boys (5 & 8).  First time ever, we loaded up our little truck and set out for a tenting adventure.  TV, iThings, phones, computer, internet, cable, housework, laundry, yard work, job stress everything was left at home.  We went mid-week when almost no one else was there.  We set up our tent and our site, and then spent time enjoying the park.  We went hiking, fishing, walking in the creek, finding crayfish, bugs and fossils.  Later we roasted hot dogs over the open campfire.  Of course we had s’mores for dessert.  After telling silly stories around the fire (versus telling scary stories) we all climbed into the tent.  With little light, we improvised our normal bedtime book reading time with telling Bible stories to our boys. Everyone shared their favorite Bible story.  When we were finished, I saw that it was only 9:45pm...which is certainly not my regular bedtime!  Let's just say that it I had a rough time falling asleep!

3:14am is an actual time

I really dislike tent camping.  My theory is that I don't work all year just so that I can spend my vacation sleeping on the dirt.  But, as a parent, you have to make sacrifices sometimes!  I finally fell asleep somewhere around 11:00 - 11:30pm.  At some point in the night/morning a cold, clammy finger tip was poking my forehead..."Daaaad" I heard my oldest whisper to me, "I have to go to the bathroom."  My clock indicated the time was 3:14am.  Yes, a.m.  I fumbled around for the flashlight, then took him for a short walk to the bathroom area.  After he was finished, we headed back towards the tent.  That's when I noticed the night sky.  It was amazing!  It was completely full of stars and a magnificent full moon over head.  The air was warm and humid and the sounds of crickets and cicadas overwhelmed me.  We walked slowly back towards the camp on that stone park road.  I stopped and pointed to the moon and said to him, "look at that moon tonight, it's gorgeous...aren't those stars incredible?!"  My son looked up and said, "Wow!...it's so bright out but it's nighttime!"  We were both enjoying the fact that we could see our shadows on the road from the moon's light.  The fishing pond was like a sheet of glass and the meadow was covered in dew and fog.  We spent the next few minutes in awe of creation.  We were in awe of all of it all.  We stood in awe of God.  We talked about God and how he made all this beauty.  What a humbling experience for the both of us.  All of life's distractions were gone for those few moments.  It was just me and my son in complete amazement of the Father's creation.  It was unforgettable.

Sidebar

Kids get this.  They get God.  Their lives haven't been muddled up with distractions, skepticism, negativity, sarcasm, and doubt.  If you ever get a chance to talk to a child about God, I recommend it.  They have a faith that is so pure that you'll be amazed at it's simplicity and their unfaltering devotion.  Jesus knows this...

“...Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” -  Mark 10:14-16

Pump the brakes!

That camping experience was something I will never forget.  In fact, it's changed the way I look at things too.  I try to make more effort to stop and smell the roses or to stop and see the moon-shadow.  God wants us to worship him day and night.  Don't get me wrong, I like devices and things of the world too.  In fact, I just finished playing my electric guitar and am typing this blog on my laptop while listening to iTunes.  Once I am done, I might even go and watch a show on Netflix through my Xbox.  All I am saying is that maybe we need to pump the brakes, slow down, shut things off and spend time appreciating and acknowledging and giving thanks to God for His creation.

In case you’re wondering where the inspiration for this blog post came from, it came from God’s word…

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.