Searching

Billy Graham tells the story of one girl who came home from college.  When she got home she told her wealthy father, “Dad, I want something, but I don’t know what it is.”  Isn’t that true of yourself?  There is an aching emptiness inside of you that is something like that feeling when you’re really hungry.  Or you are just plain restless and flit from one high searching for the next.

The Dawn Wall is an excellent documentary on Netflix right now.  It is about Tommy Caldwell and his amazing free climb up El Capitan—as Tommy neared the end of his record breaking climb up the massive 3,000 foot high cliff he mentioned that it was bittersweet.  Here he had finished such an amazing feat and still there was an emptiness inside.

I have friends with so much money that they can literally do anything they want—but after every purchase and every holiday they are online searching for the next purchase on Amazon and the next cruise because all the exotic trips in the world cannot fill the God-shaped hole in the human heart.

In Psalm 23 David wrote, “I have found it!  I am lacking nothing.”  Paul wrote, “I have learned in whatever state I am in to be content.”  What did these people have that satisfied their souls?

It was Jesus.

He is the perpetual novelty.  As you get to know him you will find that He is endless in his soul-satisfying love and power. His Spirit will give you peace and once you know He is enough your soul will be content.  I have to go to Him and the Good News about Him every day.  When I do I find that I am at peace.  When I do not go to the well that never runs dry I too find myself lacking.  He is enough.  The truth about Him in the Bible is life to my soul.  “You can have God’s peace, God’s joy, God’s security and once you’ve made His life your own you can be satisfied” (Billy Graham).

Read these lyrics from a song by Casting Crowns called Come to the Well:

I have what you need
But you keep on searching
I’ve done all the work
But you keep on working
When you’re running on empty
And you can’t find the remedy
Just come to the well
You can spend your whole life
Chasin’ What’s missing
But that empty inside

It just ain’t gonna listen
When nothing can satisfy
And the world leaves you high and dry
Just come to the well

And all who thirst will thirst no more
And all who search will find what their souls long for
The world will try,  but it will never fill
Leave it all behind, and come to the well

So bring me your heart
No matter how broken
Just come as you are
When your last prayer is spoken
Just rest in my arms awhile
You’ll feel the change my child
When you come to the well.

And now that you’re full
Of Love beyond measure
Your joy’s gonna flow
Like a stream in the desert
Soon all the world will see that living weather is found in me
‘Cause you came to the well

And all who thirst will thirst no more
And all who search will find what their souls long for
The world will try,  but it will never fill
Leave it all behind, and come to the well

Leave it all behind, and come to the well

1. 
   

1. 
   

   
   

   Leave it all behind

   
   

   I have what you need
   But you keep on searchin'
   I've done all the work
   But you keep on workin'
   When you're runnin' on empty
   And you can't find the remedy
   Just come to the well

   You can spend your whole life
   Chasin' what's missing
   But that empty inside
   It just ain't gonna listen
   When nothing can satisfy
   And the world leaves you high and dry
   Just come to the well

   
   

1. 
   

   
   

   When nothing can satisfy

   
   

   And the world leaves you high and dry
   Just come to the well

   
   

   And all who thirst will thirst no more
   And all who search will find what their souls long for
   The world will try, but it can never fill
   Leave it all behind, and come to the well

   
   

   So bring me your heart
   No matter how broken
   Just come as you are
   When your last prayer is spoken
   Just rest in my arms a while
   You'll feel the change my child
   When you come to the well

   And all who thirst will thirst no more
   And all who search will find what their souls long for
   The world will try, but it can never fill
   So leave it all behind, and come to the well

   Yeah
   Leave it all behind

   The world will try, but it can never fill, leave it all behind

   And now that you're full
   Of love beyond measure
   Your joy's gonna flow
   Like a stream in the desert
   Soon all the world will see that living water is found in me
   'Cause you came to the well

   And all who thirst will thirst no more
   And all who search will find what their souls long for
   The world will try, but it can never fill
   So leave it all behind, and come to the well

   Leave it all behind, leave it all behind
   Leave it all behind, leave it all behind, and come to the well

Getting Off Track

Paul says that sometimes we can get off track.

"Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God. The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. But some people have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions." Paul from 1 Timothy 1:4-6

There is an academic bent to some folks that is healthy in almost every way except when they approach faith on a merely academic basis. Getting to know God personally is a heart or soul level matter not a dissection of spiritual things in a way that turns the study into merely a cold, mechanical theology. There is a true saying that's good theology leads to good doxology or worship--and good worship is connecting with God and loving Him back for the things that He has done for us. Coming up with a merely academic approach to Him usually ends up in meaningless discussion about some finer points that we actually can't fully know this side of heaven. 

If Paul's instruction to believers was to "help them be filled with love coming from a pure heart and a clear conscience and a genuine faith" then that means we love the people around us the way Jesus did. That is when we really know Him. That is good theology lived out in the real world. 

But some people have missed the whole point and instead try to put God in a box and try to cram other people into their box of their brand of theology and therefore spend their time debating in meaningless discussions that "don't help people live a life of faith in God" but instead turn them off. 

Let's not get stuck in an academic, cold analysis of theology and God. Let's remember that it is about believers in Jesus being filled with His love that comes from a pure heart which comes from faith in our God and Saviour Jesus-- who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and then rose from the grave and ascended to heaven and is coming back again to be our King! The Gospel of His grace is what matters and equally important is the commission He left us in the mean time to tell as many people as we can of His love and salvation. 

'Nuff Said 

Mary Poppins Returns Movie Review

Mary Poppins is my hero.  Emily Blunt should win Best Actress.  This movie should win Best Picture.  This movie should win Best Song for “Where the Lost Things Go”.

Mary Poppins returns illustrates truths that are ancient.  Mary teaches us that things people can grow up without growing old and use their imaginations no matter how old they get.  Mary tells us that the cover is not the book and if things are “getting scary be your own illuminary” and we can light up our dark world with the truth that where we are right now is not the way it is always going to be.  She helps us deal with grief as well reminding us that there is hope beyond the situation.  Rightly used and interpreted this movie could do a lot of people good.

The songs are amazing. Director Rob Marshall knows what he is doing.

I am impressed.

Two Thumbs up for Mary.

AQUAMAN Movie Review

2017’s Wonder Woman seems to have kicked DC in the pants. The studio made Aquaman “Marvelesque“. Having witnessed the last ten years of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) this seems to have been a smart move.

Aquaman was enjoyable.  I do think they crammed too much into it and they could have easily trimmed a half hour off the movie.  It would have been more effective.  There were sections of the movie where I felt the length.  They could have put off the Black Manta storyline until Aquaman 2 and it wouldn’t have changed a thing with Geoff John’s excellent storyline.

The cast is excellent and you can bet your fins that Jason Mamoa is going to be in a lot of action movies.  He plays a hero who is layered with loyalty, humility, arrogance and courage.  Rupert Gregson-Williams, like his brother Harry, is an excellent composer and I enjoyed the musical score.  The CGI effects are terrific—much better than Justice League—and I enjoyed the epic imagination of director James Wan and his conceptual artists who came up with stunning new worlds beneath the waves.  I also enjoyed seeing the DCU begin to develop its own onscreen mythology with all the undersea kingdoms.  

Aquaman was mostly a pleasure to watch and with Wonder Woman and now Aquaman I have a new hope for the DC Cinematic Universe.  We will see who they get for Superman and Batman and how they are going to fix the two foundational characters.  DC really got themselves into a jam.  Shazam is up next.  We will see how he flies.  

Two Thumbs up for the King of Atlantis.

The Storm

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41

The question from Jesus to me today is, “why are you afraid?’’ It is because I am in the middle of some horrific storm? But there is, in the boat with me, Jesus Christ. Emmanuel—God with me in the storm. I shout at Him to rouse Him from his slumber, “Lord, don’t You care that I’m drowning in this?” He speaks, “Silence! Be still!” And then I realize that Jesus isn’t just speaking to the Storm. He’s telling me to be still and know that He is God and I’m not alone in the middle of the situation. The Storm doesn’t bother him.

The Storm comes and goes like it always does. And then he asks me a question. “Why are you afraid? Could it be that you don’t have any faith?” And therein lies the rub. I have been living on how I feel instead of using faith to apprehend the fact that I have never been alone. Jesus is right there. But when my eyes are the Storm I forget that. When Paul said we walk by faith not by sight he was telling us not to put our eyes only on the physical world around us but to choose to have faith.

Faith is a choice. It is a humbling thing. Because we have to believe in someone we cannot see. We can see the moon and stars suspended in space by his power but we can’t see Him. We have faith that there is such a thing as oxygen and gravity as we see their effects. But when we see the beauty of the world around us it’s like we don’t want to admit He’s real. People say, “if there is a God why is there so much pain?” But could it be that there is another half to that question. “If there is no God, why is there so much good?” Because as Helen Keller, born blind and deaf, said: “Although the world is full of suffering, it's full also of the overcoming of it.” Helen had faith in a God she couldn’t see or hear because she was accessing the latent sense of faith. Perhaps for Helen it was easier for her to exercise faith because she was blind and deaf. I know it isn’t easy. But it isn’t easy to climb a mountain either. It takes effort. I think in the same way it takes effort to exercise faith. Exercising faith is the same as exercising any other muscle.  Use it or lose it.  Strengthen it or it atrophies.  To have faith is to choose to do something we naturally do not want to do. To push ourselves to focus on the invisible. One thing I have found is that people who exercise faith in an invisible Saviour become invincible people. They know that they storm of loss and cancer and pain does not mean that Jesus isn’t with them. In Christ we know that His resurrection power and eternal wisdom can be trusted in the storm and even if the storm tears us apart He will put us back together—because He was torn apart for you and me. Jesus says:

If your eyes are on the storm
Then you’ll wonder if I love you still
But if your eyes are on the cross
Then you’ll know I always have
And I always will*

He is the overcomer—and he can help you and me overcome this storm—whatever it is. I don’t have to be afraid and neither do you. Jesus is the same yesterday and forever.

So when He asks me why I am afraid I will be reminded by the question that I need to choose faith. It is hard—it is humbling to admit I can’t handle it myself—it is a stretch. But we can do it. Jesus is there. When I look at all the good in my life that surrounds the bad stuff, I choose faith. He is the only hope we have. And even the wind and the waves obey Him.






‘Nuff said.






*Mark Hall/Casting Crowns

Empty Nester Dad

When I see the Learner’s License magnet on the back of the car this morning as I was walking down the driveway—I am sad. When I see Max the dog walk into Bethany’s room to jump on her bed—as is his habit after Sandra leaves for work—but then he is stopped in his tracks by the sight of her empty bed and he turns and looks at me with the look of “Umm—where’s Bethany?” I am sad. I am so happy for my youngest daughter to jump into the sky and take off on an adventure in New Brunswick at Bible College. I am proud of her for wanting to leave this town and try new things. But what happens to Sandra and I? We are so used to the bustle of four girls in the home and now we are down to none. What blows my mind is that it all happened so fast. I rejoice in Bethany’s life because she is a miracle baby. She was close to death in the her mother’s womb with heart failure. God chose to save her life and she is a healthy and happy and God and People loving young adult with ambition to help the hurting in this world. I am grateful. I am an emotional guy. Anybody who knows me knows this. So when the waves hit me they are thick and heavy. So this morning as I go back to work after some time off and I kiss Sandra goodbye and we both try and get back to normal I am doing so with a lump in my throat. I am grateful that God, you are there right now with her on the other side of the second largest country in the world, and that You are here with me.

I thank you for a good marriage where we still like and love each other. Keep that strong in us and help us to have fun and use some new free time to make a big difference in people’s lives. Help us to have fun dating and give us discipline to use the time we have left well. Help us to invest! Help me to invest in Sandra’s life in new ways that fill the void in her mothering time. May Your Spirit be the love and joy and contentment and purpose to fill her life. Make her a light for You.

I need Your help to do a job pastoring a town that I have always cared for within the context of my involvement with the schools that my daughters were students at. So in a way, this empty nest, has a big impact on how I do my job. I suppose I am going to have to reinvent myself somewhat. Although there are many kids in this town that I can still be a dad and a grandpa to. This is really the first time in the last seven whirlwind days that I have been able to really sit and journal my feelings—it is very good to do so. To admit that although I am only going to be fifty that I am probably really feeling my age for the first time. If indeed I only get to do my job full time for another fifteen years it is going to go fast. So let me do it with purpose and give me a vision of how to do it.

Thank You for letting us raise those four wonderful girls! You are so good to us, Lord.

AMEN

What Do These Smoky Skies Mean?

The smoke is so thick this morning that I can’t see the mountain that is only three kilometers from here. It is so thick that my nose feels like it is plugged up and now after weeks of this haze I can feel the constant burning in my throat. We haven’t seen blue sky in quite awhile. What is going on?

Well it's sorta like this. 

I haven’t had a day without a headache in a long time either. My neck is plagued by constant pain stemming from a car accident. My hair in gray and there is a constant haze of tiredness around the frayed edges of my brain. It feels like it has been awhile since I have seen the blue sky of my youth. What is going on?

I am aging. I am only going to be fifty this fall but I tell ya—it came fast.

Meteorologists are saying that we may not see a lot of blue sky over the next few summers. Why? Everything is on fire. Ukraine, Britain, California, Washington state just below us and British Columbia just to name a few. These coupled with the volcanoes that are all freaking out right now have put a lot of gunk into the air.

My daughter and I just finished watching LOST IN SPACE where the Robinson family decided to leave the earth after its skies were clogged by the dust created by the impact of a mighty asteroid on the earth’s surface. In one scene you see the mom and daughter Christmas shopping with filtering masks on so they can breathe easier. Mrs.Robinson says to her kids "we need to go somewhere new so that we can see a blue sky again because we never will see one here again."

What do these smoky skies say to us? What does it all mean? It means that the earth is wearing out. It needs to be fixed. And right now I don’t know any human with a sky-sized vacuum cleaner.

Now throw in the fact that even a manufactured evangelical messiah like Trump isn’t actually making anything better and neither is Trudeau. No one can make the earth any better. The earth’s quality of life is going to get worse and worse. We have wrecked the place. We didn’t take care of it and it is going down like a ship in the middle of a black ocean.

What are we going to do?

Well, the only option I see is to look up past the smoke to the only One who can do anything about it. In Revelation 21 there are words of hope about a renewed earth with no more storms or volcanoes or hurricanes and for humans no more cancer or grieving or shipwrecked relationships. In Revelation 21 Jesus says, “Behold I am making all things new.”

The Bible says that there will be a,“renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne...”. Not only will people who have died be raised from the dead and made new but so will the earth.

Right now we are chasing the wind as we try and get environmentally conscious. We need to do our best to recycle and keep plastic out of the oceans we have already wrecked. But we need to realize that what these messed up skies are saying is, “Come back to God.” We need His help. We are trying to keep straws out of the ocean—and this is right—but we aren’t trying to keep sin out our lives. We humans always treat the symptom without focusing on the true cause of our pain. The problem is that our sin has brought death to us and to the earth. We told God to take a hike and He said, “Okay, thy will be done.” And like a smartphone that has been unplugged—here, at the possible end of day, we are dying. Our planet is dying. We need to go back to God and plug in. We need His help.

We need Jesus to do what he did for people when he was walking the earth. We need Him to say, “Lazarus, come forth” to us and the earth so we can be raised to new life.

Read these words of life from Revelation 21–“I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!”

We need Jesus to resurrect our humanity and our planet. The Bible says that the current systems of government all over the globe will fail until Jesus, the True and Good King rules from His throne in Jerusalem. The Bible tells us that the Earth and the heavens will perish. They will wear out like old clothing. Jesus will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But Jesus is always the same. The storms are coming. The people who build their lives on the Rock will remain. They will see the salvation of Jesus.

Long, long ago the prophet Micah foretold the coming of Christ to the Earth and the renewal of all things that He would bring with Him. Look at these words:

“In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of all— the most important place on earth. It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship. People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.”

He will end all wars: “They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore. Everyone will live in peace and prosperity, enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees, for there will be nothing to fear. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has made this promise! (Micah 4:1-4)

The earth needs to be renewed. There is only one person who can end wars and heal the earth and ultimately heal us and give us our youth and our perfect health back.

His Name is Jesus.

We need to call out to Him while we still can.

We need to remember the words of CS Lewis: “God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realize what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else - something it never entered your head to conceive - comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it.”

Call out to Jesus—choose to be on His side now while you still can. These smoky skies portend the current earth’s demise and the fall of all men who think they are king. Truth is there is only one King—Jesus Christ. He is the hero we need. He is the One who can fix us and fix this earth. And He will. I am so glad that I can rest in His power and His plans. So can you if you choose Him as your King. Moses asked the question a long time ago. “Who is on the Lord’s side?”

Good Question.