Please forgive the delay between posts! I've been quite busy over the Thanksgiving holiday, including traveling to New Mexico for a family vacation, and to officiate my brother-in-law's wedding, an incredible honor! It was a wonderful time for us, as we don't get nearly enough time with that part of the family. (It did seem a little odd, however, to have everyone watching the Vanderbilt/Tennessee game, and not be the only Vandy fan in the house! Great game - GO 'DORES!!) Which brings me to my musings today.
Weddings have been around almost as long as humans have inhabited the planet.
Boy meets Girl,
Boy hits Girl over the head with club.
Boy drags Girl into cave by hair.
And they lived happily, ever after.
The End.
Except it isn't the end. After all this time, people still get married every day. Why would such an antiquated system still be used in today's modern world?
It comes down to the meaning of TRUE love. Not just a love of attraction, although attraction is not a bad thing in itself. (If attraction is based solely on beauty, however, it's lust, not attraction. Good rule of thumb from Billy Graham - If you look once, it's admiration, If you Keep On looking...) True love changes your focus, changes your priorities, changes you. This is how Paul describes it in 1st Corinthians 13: 4-8
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
When two people feel that way for each other, nothing short of marriage will honor their commitment to each other, It is when two people both can say "I want to give you my heart, soul, hopes and dreams" and both can say "I want to take your heart, soul, hopes and dreams, and cherish them as my own" that marriage is justified. It is just such love that represents how much Jesus loves us. He gives himself totally, freely. He asks that we give Him our heart, soul, hopes and dreams, not to become empty slaves, but so that He can protect and nourish us, so that our heart, soul, hopes and dreams can be fulfilled. This is why true love needs marriage in today's world. This is why we, in this world, need Christ's true love.
Faith, Hope, and Love abide; these three, but the greatest of these is Love.
and...
GO 'DORES! (also Go UNM Lobos, but that's another story!)
Showing posts with label God's Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's Love. Show all posts
Friday, December 2, 2016
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Prodigal Son - Reduex
Once upon a time, because all good tales begin that way, there lived a Texas cattle rancher who was well off. By that, I mean filthy rich; J.R. Ewing, Dallas style rich. And this rancher had two sons; one good, one...not so much. Both sons had been raised on the ranch, had worked the ranch since they were young. For the older, good son, this was fine. He wanted nothing more than to see the ranch succeed, and take it over after his father died. It was his secret dream.
But the younger son's dream was not for the ranch. He hated it there, and let his father know every chance he got. This son had goals and dreams beyond those fences. His passion consumed him daily. He wanted to be the first male gold medalist in ...ribbon dancing! The graceful wrist movement, the perfect spiral achieved, this was his heart and soul. But ribbons, and costumes, and all the rest he needed cost money, money he didn't have. So he went to his father.
"Daaaaaaad" he whined, "you KNOW I don't want to be here! You KNOW I want to be a ribbon dancer! You've GOT to give me the money to pursue my dream! It's all I Waaaaant!"
"Son, I don't know if..."
"Daaaaaaad! You NEVER let me do what I want! You don't LOVE me! Just buy my portion of the ranch, and you'll NEVER see me AGAIN!"
"OK, son, if that's what you want."
So the son collected his things, and left for the Las Vegas Olympic Facility for Ribbon Dancing (LVOF-RD). Weeks went by and costs mounted up. Before long, he was borrowing money from the other dancers to cover his costs. The expenses, the gambling, the extravagance, the wild parties, and the dancing. Oh, the dancing! He would twirl and twirl and twirl till he fell down, which he did...a lot. Finally, the coach came to him.
"Kid, you're not working out here. I'm cutting you from the team. Get out by tomorrow."
"But, Coach, I got nowhere to go; no money to get there!"
"Alright, I need someone to dry clean the costumes. You can stay in the basement, and eat whatever is left from the other dancer's lunches."
If you've never seen a ribbon dancer eat, don't worry. No one else has either. The tiny, wilted shreds of lettuce were not enough for even the rats in the basement, and the dry cleaning chemicals had burned his hands and eyes. He had enough. He would go back home. At least there he could work as a hired hand. At least there he would have meat again! With just the clothes on his back, he hitchhiked back to the ranch.
While he was walking that last stretch of Texas road, still about a half mile away, his father saw him from the gates at the head of the driveway, and ran to meet him. The son said "Father, I know I don't have a part in the ranch, but I'd like to come work for you, if I can."
But the father would have none of that! He got his son's old duster and put it on him. He got the family ring and put it on his finger. He said "Boy, you're skinny as a rail! Come here and eat. We'll throw a shindig like this ranch has never seen! My son was dead, and now he's alive, was lost, now he's found!"
And the moral of the story? If you are a prodigal ribbon dancer, you can go home again. You can return to the Father. Are you afraid of his response? Do you expect his full wrath to come down on you? You don't have to worry. The Father is waiting at the gate even now, waiting to run down the road to meet you, kiss you, feed you, clothe you, love you. All you need to do is...come.
But the younger son's dream was not for the ranch. He hated it there, and let his father know every chance he got. This son had goals and dreams beyond those fences. His passion consumed him daily. He wanted to be the first male gold medalist in ...ribbon dancing! The graceful wrist movement, the perfect spiral achieved, this was his heart and soul. But ribbons, and costumes, and all the rest he needed cost money, money he didn't have. So he went to his father.
"Daaaaaaad" he whined, "you KNOW I don't want to be here! You KNOW I want to be a ribbon dancer! You've GOT to give me the money to pursue my dream! It's all I Waaaaant!"
"Son, I don't know if..."
"Daaaaaaad! You NEVER let me do what I want! You don't LOVE me! Just buy my portion of the ranch, and you'll NEVER see me AGAIN!"
"OK, son, if that's what you want."
So the son collected his things, and left for the Las Vegas Olympic Facility for Ribbon Dancing (LVOF-RD). Weeks went by and costs mounted up. Before long, he was borrowing money from the other dancers to cover his costs. The expenses, the gambling, the extravagance, the wild parties, and the dancing. Oh, the dancing! He would twirl and twirl and twirl till he fell down, which he did...a lot. Finally, the coach came to him.
"Kid, you're not working out here. I'm cutting you from the team. Get out by tomorrow."
"But, Coach, I got nowhere to go; no money to get there!"
"Alright, I need someone to dry clean the costumes. You can stay in the basement, and eat whatever is left from the other dancer's lunches."
If you've never seen a ribbon dancer eat, don't worry. No one else has either. The tiny, wilted shreds of lettuce were not enough for even the rats in the basement, and the dry cleaning chemicals had burned his hands and eyes. He had enough. He would go back home. At least there he could work as a hired hand. At least there he would have meat again! With just the clothes on his back, he hitchhiked back to the ranch.
While he was walking that last stretch of Texas road, still about a half mile away, his father saw him from the gates at the head of the driveway, and ran to meet him. The son said "Father, I know I don't have a part in the ranch, but I'd like to come work for you, if I can."
But the father would have none of that! He got his son's old duster and put it on him. He got the family ring and put it on his finger. He said "Boy, you're skinny as a rail! Come here and eat. We'll throw a shindig like this ranch has never seen! My son was dead, and now he's alive, was lost, now he's found!"
And the moral of the story? If you are a prodigal ribbon dancer, you can go home again. You can return to the Father. Are you afraid of his response? Do you expect his full wrath to come down on you? You don't have to worry. The Father is waiting at the gate even now, waiting to run down the road to meet you, kiss you, feed you, clothe you, love you. All you need to do is...come.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Prodigal
"While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." Luke 15:20
(If you've not read through this story in a while, it's in Luke, chapter 15. A Hallmark movie moment if there ever was one.)
A few years back, more than I care to mention, I wrote a song with a friend of mine, Ray Dilworth, called "Prodigal". The chorus went like this:
(If you've not read through this story in a while, it's in Luke, chapter 15. A Hallmark movie moment if there ever was one.)
A few years back, more than I care to mention, I wrote a song with a friend of mine, Ray Dilworth, called "Prodigal". The chorus went like this:
Prodigal - always trying to run away.
Prodigal - got to have things your own way.
Prodigal - got no place to call your own.
Oh, Prodigal, won't you please just come back home.
It's a funny thing, that we will often run from what we love, to achieve what we want. An independent, self-reliant, call your own shots kind of living, because we fear the bonds that love creates will hold us back. Then, when the brass ring we chased after turns green, we think the bonds of love we ran from could never be strong enough to return to. Broken forever, with too much pride or guilt to ever be bonded again.
But that's no how true love works. True love isn't based on "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours". The son in the story no longer felt he was worthy of love, but love isn't based on worth. The father had spent every day at the gate looking for his son, but giving him the choice to run away or run home. When he saw him, still a long way off, did he wait for him at the gate? No, he ran to his son! Did he tell him everything he did wrong, make sure he was good and sorry? No, he gave him a robe, and rings, and sandals, and put on a feast!
Maybe we don't come to God because we fear what He will do. The term "wrath of God" comes to mind. But then we are forgetting "a clean and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise". (Psalm 51:17) Turn to God, and his arms will embrace you in love, not crush you into submission. There is no greater joy in the heart of God, than to see a child come home. And the retuning child is robed in His deep, never-ending love, not lashed with a whip.
Oh, Prodigal, won't you please just come back home?
Friday, August 19, 2016
An Open Letter
Dear God,
Hi it's me. Can I bend your ear for a minute? First, I just want to thank you. You've saved my life so many times. I should have died when my arteries blocked up, but you saw me through. Ten years later, cancer tried to finish the job, but it was no match for you. In every trial, every darkness, your light continued to shine, even if I couldn't see it. Your arms embraced me, even when I couldn't feel them. Your love never failed me, even when I felt no love for myself or anyone else. You are faithful, even when I am faithless. To say you are steadfast seems a very weak way to describe your unchanging love. Yet your love is steadfast, and does not depend on me. While I was still in sin, you loved me. While I was in the womb, you cared for me. From before the world began, you determined to save me; from sin and from myself. I am blessed beyond my worth, because you have deemed me worthy.
So why does my heart still feel despair? Why does darkness still come? Why does my soul cry out "How long, O Lord, how long?" It is not because your love has changed, but my vision has turned. If I choose to look at the darkness, then its darkness I see. If I look to your light, then darkness must flee. Help me to focus on your light and love. Help me feel your warmth, when the coldness of the world encroaches. Help me to shout your name in praise, even when my voice is the only one I hear. And when I finally see your face, I will remember that is was there all along, even when I would not see.
Your child,
Mark
Hi it's me. Can I bend your ear for a minute? First, I just want to thank you. You've saved my life so many times. I should have died when my arteries blocked up, but you saw me through. Ten years later, cancer tried to finish the job, but it was no match for you. In every trial, every darkness, your light continued to shine, even if I couldn't see it. Your arms embraced me, even when I couldn't feel them. Your love never failed me, even when I felt no love for myself or anyone else. You are faithful, even when I am faithless. To say you are steadfast seems a very weak way to describe your unchanging love. Yet your love is steadfast, and does not depend on me. While I was still in sin, you loved me. While I was in the womb, you cared for me. From before the world began, you determined to save me; from sin and from myself. I am blessed beyond my worth, because you have deemed me worthy.
So why does my heart still feel despair? Why does darkness still come? Why does my soul cry out "How long, O Lord, how long?" It is not because your love has changed, but my vision has turned. If I choose to look at the darkness, then its darkness I see. If I look to your light, then darkness must flee. Help me to focus on your light and love. Help me feel your warmth, when the coldness of the world encroaches. Help me to shout your name in praise, even when my voice is the only one I hear. And when I finally see your face, I will remember that is was there all along, even when I would not see.
Your child,
Mark
Friday, July 15, 2016
A Thread of Love
It's been a week of funerals, and I'm pretty worn out myself. My uncle Laney, my mom's older brother, passed away on Sunday, just one month shy of his 96th birthday. (Or as he would have said, 69th birthday.) Then the father of a dear friend passed away mid-week, and I'm glad to say I was able to be there to pay my respects, and help where I could, and just be there when I couldn't do more.
This has also been a week of celebration, leading the opening worship service for Annual Conference of the Southern Methodist Church. Getting together with friends and family, even in sad times, and laughing at ourselves. A sadness in our joy, and a joy in our sadness. And so goes life.
The unifying thread in all this is God. God's presence in those funerals, not to diminish the sorrow, and make it disingenuous, but to allow it, support it, and more so, to share in it. God's presence in worship, as men and women gather for the serious task of determining how the church shall proceed in the coming year, and finding God not a task master, but a shepherd. In His love given to us, and us to Him, and multiplied by sharing with each other.
And so (should) go life. Spend time loving God, and letting Him love you. Spend time loving others, and letting others love you. Me, I'm going to spend time in a nap in the not too distant future. Faith. Hope. Love.
This has also been a week of celebration, leading the opening worship service for Annual Conference of the Southern Methodist Church. Getting together with friends and family, even in sad times, and laughing at ourselves. A sadness in our joy, and a joy in our sadness. And so goes life.
The unifying thread in all this is God. God's presence in those funerals, not to diminish the sorrow, and make it disingenuous, but to allow it, support it, and more so, to share in it. God's presence in worship, as men and women gather for the serious task of determining how the church shall proceed in the coming year, and finding God not a task master, but a shepherd. In His love given to us, and us to Him, and multiplied by sharing with each other.
And so (should) go life. Spend time loving God, and letting Him love you. Spend time loving others, and letting others love you. Me, I'm going to spend time in a nap in the not too distant future. Faith. Hope. Love.
Friday, July 8, 2016
The Problem with Hate
"We have so many battles going on in America today that we should be a people of prayer. Our leaders need prayer. Our schools need prayer. Our youth need our prayers. Our families need our prayers." - Billy Graham (in a Facebook post from Franklin Graham.)
My heart is extremely heavy this morning. I awoke to the news that at the end of what had been a peaceful demonstration, police officers were attacked in a vicious, organized military-like assault, creating a further divide in an already tense society. And it all stems from hate. Whether it is from distrust, fear or ignorance, it is still hate. This hate will not go away. It is a part of this world, and has been since Adam's fall. It was here before us, and will be here after us, unless Jesus returns to save us from ourselves.
There are those today who are blaming the media, saying its constant reporting is only making things worse. There are those on both sides of the gun control issue, each using this a "proof" of their position. There are even those using this as a political Republican/Democrat battle. I'll not go into the relevance of any of these issues, because they do not actually address the problem. The media is not the issue. Gun control is not the issue. Politics is not the issue. HATE is the issue. HATE is the target we should focus on. HATE is what we must fight.
I've long believed that right and just causes, when fueled by hate, are still wrong and unjust. If God is love as 1 John 4 states, then if follows (vs. 19-21) that anything fueled by hate is not of God. The beginning of this chapter states very clearly that the spirits are to be tested, because not everything is of God. Trouble is, there seems to be more rash judgments than testing of spirits going on.
Then how are we to battle the hate that is consuming our world at a more rapid and rabid pace that ever before. 1 John 4 contains a key to this as well.
My heart is extremely heavy this morning. I awoke to the news that at the end of what had been a peaceful demonstration, police officers were attacked in a vicious, organized military-like assault, creating a further divide in an already tense society. And it all stems from hate. Whether it is from distrust, fear or ignorance, it is still hate. This hate will not go away. It is a part of this world, and has been since Adam's fall. It was here before us, and will be here after us, unless Jesus returns to save us from ourselves.
There are those today who are blaming the media, saying its constant reporting is only making things worse. There are those on both sides of the gun control issue, each using this a "proof" of their position. There are even those using this as a political Republican/Democrat battle. I'll not go into the relevance of any of these issues, because they do not actually address the problem. The media is not the issue. Gun control is not the issue. Politics is not the issue. HATE is the issue. HATE is the target we should focus on. HATE is what we must fight.
I've long believed that right and just causes, when fueled by hate, are still wrong and unjust. If God is love as 1 John 4 states, then if follows (vs. 19-21) that anything fueled by hate is not of God. The beginning of this chapter states very clearly that the spirits are to be tested, because not everything is of God. Trouble is, there seems to be more rash judgments than testing of spirits going on.
Then how are we to battle the hate that is consuming our world at a more rapid and rabid pace that ever before. 1 John 4 contains a key to this as well.
"Greater is He in you that he that is in the world" (vs.4)
But we cannot use God as our own personal weapon of destruction, releasing a barrage on our enemies, raining fire from above. So then, what? Verse 7 contains that answer.
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God"
The only way the world will see anything but hate, is to show love, even to those undeserving. (Matthew 5: 43-48) Especially to those undeserving, because they need it most. Jesus cannot operate fully through His church unless His church operates through His love. Without love, all of our "good intentions" and "righteous causes" are no better than a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. (1 Corinthians 13)
So in response to the world today, I suggest first, we pray. Then, we reach out to all who are hurting, whose passion and fear and hate drive them on, and show them something revolutionary...love. God's unfailing love. In the fight against hate, this is the only weapon we truly have. The only weapon we need.
Monday, June 20, 2016
The People We Never Were
"Once again IN MEMORIAM. And In Memoriam for the people we used to be."
- Bette Midler
The quote above was sent out following the recent Orlando, Florida club shootings, accompanied by a picture of a wreath of white lilies. And I sighed a little, wishing for a sometimes remembered time that was not filled with what seems to be daily tragedies, and the horrific treatment of our fellow humans on this earth, God's beloved creations.
But as I longed for those past times, I realized my remembrance may be false. Mankind's ability to group itself into categories has been for thousands of years, and its ability to cast judgment on all other categories but its own for only a few days shorter. Judgment creates self-importance, and self-importance, when confronted, creates hate. And hate has been around since the dawn of time.
The only real difference I see is not the depth of the hatred there (it has always been deep), but the extremely volatile nature it has taken on. More and more, people wear their hate just under the surface of their skin. More and more this thin layer of skin is being exposed, ripped off, with its evil pus spewing out.
We have tried to conquer hate with logic, with civility, with avoidance, even with laws. Nothing has worked. The only way this sickness can be cured, the only way to become the people, and the country we like to remember ourselves to be, is with Love.
And not just any love. Not a love of live and let live, that is avoidance. Not a love that looks down on others, that is judgment. The love that will restore us is God. Only He sees us, not in separate categories, not in cliques, but as His children, His creation. ALL fallen, ALL loved-equally. NONE worthy, but ALL loved - equally.
It is only when we share God's love with each other, that things will change.No walls, just love No judgment (all of us should be judged, because we all fail.), just love. The free, undeserved, unrestricted Love of God, through us. Until then we will never be "the people we used to be." Because we never were. But we can be.
- Bette Midler
The quote above was sent out following the recent Orlando, Florida club shootings, accompanied by a picture of a wreath of white lilies. And I sighed a little, wishing for a sometimes remembered time that was not filled with what seems to be daily tragedies, and the horrific treatment of our fellow humans on this earth, God's beloved creations.
But as I longed for those past times, I realized my remembrance may be false. Mankind's ability to group itself into categories has been for thousands of years, and its ability to cast judgment on all other categories but its own for only a few days shorter. Judgment creates self-importance, and self-importance, when confronted, creates hate. And hate has been around since the dawn of time.
The only real difference I see is not the depth of the hatred there (it has always been deep), but the extremely volatile nature it has taken on. More and more, people wear their hate just under the surface of their skin. More and more this thin layer of skin is being exposed, ripped off, with its evil pus spewing out.
We have tried to conquer hate with logic, with civility, with avoidance, even with laws. Nothing has worked. The only way this sickness can be cured, the only way to become the people, and the country we like to remember ourselves to be, is with Love.
And not just any love. Not a love of live and let live, that is avoidance. Not a love that looks down on others, that is judgment. The love that will restore us is God. Only He sees us, not in separate categories, not in cliques, but as His children, His creation. ALL fallen, ALL loved-equally. NONE worthy, but ALL loved - equally.
It is only when we share God's love with each other, that things will change.No walls, just love No judgment (all of us should be judged, because we all fail.), just love. The free, undeserved, unrestricted Love of God, through us. Until then we will never be "the people we used to be." Because we never were. But we can be.
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