Make Room

Make Room

Recently I just started reading a book written by a friend of mine, Colber Prosper, titled “No Entry”. In the introduction he quotes Mary Oliver who wrote, “Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable”. There are some things that are just easier to believe. Easier because, we can imagine those things as being possible. But what about the things we can’t imagine? Can we “make room” to believe in something we can’t even imagine being possible? This is exactly what we, Christians, are asking people to do when we share our faith and ask others to not only believe in a God they’ve never seen but to believe that the same God who created the universe and spoke stars and planets into existence: knows them, cares about them, and wants a connection with them. Indeed that can be a difficult thing to imagine and make room for, especially when we are filling ourselves and “our hearts” with so much.

Buzzzz, slap, snooze, wake, swipe, like, swipe again, breakfast selfie, like, post, snap, look, fix, swoosh, oh hey what are you doing, post, swipe, school, work, practice, like,  post, hello, did you, are you, will you, home, log in, out, check status, update status, swipe, add, poke, like

Indeed we fill our hearts and lives with so much that is simply just noise. Author and speaker Eric Samuel Timm in his book “Static Jedi” refers to the noise that fills our life as something that is there to distract us from clarity. We must make room and to do so means beginning by cleaning out some of the noise.

Now understand I’m online as much, if not more, that any other average person out there. So I’m not saying “down with social media”. That said, what I am saying is that we must make sure that we are not so engaged with it that we have no room for the beautiful, remarkable and yes the unimaginable.

Beyond clearing out the noise I would also encourage we make room by reconsidering what is possible…what we can imagine. I just wonder what we could make room for this week?

Why Feeling Bad Isn't

I've had several conversations lately with people who wish they felt different. We all have those times when we feel down. I mean no one is happy all the time. But we seem to be surrounded by a whole world of people who want us to "feel better" or "be happy". How many of us have heard the phrase, "You've changed", as if our feeling differently in this moment somehow makes us a different person or changes who we are. Now before I go any further I need to admit being guilty of this myself, but recently I'm beginning to realize a need to approach things differently.

First I want to debunk a myth about feelings. Feelings or emotions are not choices. They are usually a reaction of sorts to our given set of circumstances but they are also a chemical reaction in our body and brain. This means that sometime we may feel a certain way because of something we have experienced and then there may be times that our feelings aren't tied to any outside influence at all. Let's face it, if feelings and emotions were a choice most of us would simply choose to "feel differently". I know I've had more than just a few times when I have felt down or depressed even alone and could give no reason for it. It was just how I was feeling.

Something I am learning is that getting to a place of feeling better isn't always what our goal should be, because we don't have control over that. What we do have control of though, is our actions. Just because we feel angry doesn't mean we have to punch the wall. Just because we feel hurt doesn't mean we must hurt someone else in return. Feeling happy doesn't mean we have to smile and feeling sad doesn't mean we have to shed a tear.

Myth number two. There is only one right way to express emotions. Wrong there are many ways. As many unique ways as there are people.

Myth number three. There is no wrong way to express emotions. I think we can all agree that when expressing those emotions hurts someone else or ourselves that there must be a better way.

And finally something else I am learning may help is understanding the truth of our circumstances. I can feel alone in the middle of a crowd. Understanding that I'm not alone may not change how I feel but it can help me make better choices about my response to that emotion.

Few things in this world are permanent. Understand you may have 100s of feelings today or just 1. If there are real circumstances influencing your emotions remember those circumstances may change and with them how you feel. If you find there are no reasons for the way you feel understand that just because you feel a certain way doesn't mean you are that emotion.

Myth number four. You are somehow different or less/more valued as a person because of how you feel. You are who you are. Valuable because the world will never experience someone just like you in all the eternity that is yet to be lived.

Messy Church

“What do a Buddhist, a biker couple, a gay-rights activist, a transient, a high-tech engineer, a Muslim, a twenty-something single mom, a Jew, a couple living together, and an atheist all have in common? They are all the future church in America” (John Burke, No Perfect People Allowed, p. 15)

All of the people above need Jesus. I know that because we all do, myself included. The traditional church has found itself in a position though of being unable to reach many groups and cultures. This is not the fault of the message, the message is the same today as it has always been. Part of the issue is that churches have developed a “come and see” mentality as opposed to a “go and tell” mind set. “If you build it, they will come” seems to have been the mantra for the past few decades. Whether the “it” was an actual building or a program.

We would still like to see everyone receive the gospel and experience the love of God but we would prefer to share that message from a distance. What we really hope is that some individuals would come to Christ before they come to the church. We would really prefer that by the time they choose to come to our church that they already, look, think, talk, and act like us. This is like doctors and nurses at a hospital expecting that all the people that make appointments are already taking the right medicine and treatments before they walk in the door. The thinking would be something like “If you are really very sick we would prefer that you stay home until you are better. We can have you spreading germs around our hospital”.

What would our churches look like though if all of these individuals just decided to just show up just as they are with one thing in common; they would like to learn more about Jesus. They may not be ready to swallow everything or any of what is said or taught, but something keeps bringing them back. John Burke says that this kind of church would look like a mess but that it would be a beautiful mess. 

The truth is most of these individuals aren’t just going to “show up”. We need to leave behind the “come and see” philosophy. We need to be a “living letter” that others can read and we need to spend time with others in stores, at work, in our own home getting to know them and their story if we ever expect them to listen to the story we have to share.

This can’t happen when we take a “better than you” attitude. Building relationships is key. It’s definitely a long haul approach but worth it. You are also going to still begin to see these individuals coming to your church perhaps long before they are ready to make any kind of change. This may change the look of things. It might look like “a mess” to some, but people coming to hear about, see, experience and eventually receive the love of God looks beautiful. 

Playing Favorites

 

As much as we try not to we all have our favorites. We can't always explain why this person or that seems to stand above the rest or why we fight just that much harder someone when maybe we wouldn't for someone else. What is it about certain people that makes us want to see them succeed? I have had and continue to have the opportunity to work alongside amazing youth. Picking an actual favorite would be impossible, although there are some who are sure they know or others who are convinced they take the top spot.

 

I have had the unique privilege to help people see in themselves the potential to do great things. Not everyone is a straight A student and not all of them are exceptional speakers or presenters. In fact, how they have been gifted and the difference they are able to make is different for each one of them. Often it comes down to putting the right opportunity in front of the right person. Something I'm sure I don't always get right by the way.

 

There have been many people in my life who for whatever reason felt led to open door after door for me growing up and even as an adult. I've often wondered why. What did they see that made them want to step up and give me a chance. The more I work with youth I come to understand that they may not even have known why. They were the kind of people who always looked for ways to put the right person in front of the right opportunity. It is because of people like them that I desire to see each of the youth in my church and LAUNCH (a youth leadership program of Jackson County) get the opportunity to see their potential.

 

So many of you have no idea just how much you inspire those around you. You are the fiercest kind of friend. You are able to look into a situation and say that one thing that takes our mind off our pain for a moment. You are brave and you are beautiful. You use your hurt to help dozens of others experience healing. You made a change. You succeeded. You flopped and got right back up a tried again until you got it right. You learned to accept others who were different. You learned to accept yourself. You refused to be defined by just one thing. It is for one, some, or all of these reasons you touch our hearts and make us want to fight for you.

 

Don't get so caught up in comparing and looking at someone else wondering why you didn't get what they did. If you could just see what I do, you'd realize just how unstoppable you are.

A Chance

*This entry is dedicated to the youth who have stepped beyond the everyday. Those who have created their own events to make change and who have taken on their own cause to stand for. As each of you has found a way to rise about your own hardships I'm amazed that the first thing you choose to do is reach back down to help someone else.

I've been thinking today about the importance of giving someone a real chance to succeed. Not just offering opportunities to "do something", but creating real opportunities and then providing the support and guidance to accomplish something. When you give people the chance to succeed and support them you will see confidence grow and often you will find that they want to do more. I've seen many people who didn't feel like they had much of a chance to make a difference, change how they see themselves. Once they saw that they did have to potential to do something positive. There is a big difference between saying "Here you go" and going an extra step to help make sure the outcome is a postivie one. We are going to influence and impact those around us. Often we complain that no one else is doing anything. What I have found though is that I don't let others help. I get so caught up in doing I forget that equipping is part of the job. In the short run is usually easier to just do. Equipping others to help in whatever work you are doing can be difficult but when you do take the time to equip others you not only save energy and time in the long run and get more accomplished you have done something amazing in the life of another individual. You have helped them see their own value in a new way. Its amazing how once we see that we can succeed how much our desrie to do more is increased. And for many all that's needed to spark that fire is "A Chance".

You Don't Know Me

I don't know you. I don't know what you've been through or how much it hurt. I don't know all the people who have come in and walked out of your life. I don't know what you've held onto or let go. I think it's so obvious that in any friendship or relationship no matter how well or how much we think we know about someone, regardless of how long we've known them, there will always be volumes that we don't know. Have you ever tried to help someone, give them advice about a situation, or talk to them about a difficult situation. There are some times when the best thing to do is just listen. No advice, no direction, no problem solving just listen and let the person know you heard them. I know you want to help. I know because I've been in that place where you just want to say the right thing. The words ring hollow, why, because "You don't know me". We don't realize that what might be easy for us is infinitely harder for them. The situation might be similar but how we experienced it, how it felt when we went through it, how deep the hurt went for us could be very different. The next time someone doesn't seem to think your advice is such a good idea remember, you may not know as much as you think you know. Whether they take the advice or not isn't the important thing. The important thing is for them to know they can count on you to listen

Held Accountable

 

Probably one of the most common conversations I have is with people who are struggling with how their past is effecting their present. Some of the things we've done, been through or had happen to us can reach far into the future and stay with us long after they happen.

"Don't let your past effect your effect your present."

"You don't have to let where you've been determine where you go from here."

"Who you were doesn't have to tell the story of who you are or who you'll be."

These are the kinds of things we hope to hear and they're true. We all have the opportunity to make new choices, different choices than we made in our past, different than even yesterday. Why is it though that when we are talking to that person who is hoping they can change we are so quick to remind them of this but when we are talking about someone who had made some bad choices we have that mindset that they may never change?

If I was talking to someone who said that they were tired of being judged by their past I would encourage them to just keep making better decisions and not to let what happened or who they were before limit where they hope to go or who they hope to be. However when talking to someone who is involved with a person with a "history" of sorts, we automatically carry that person past right into the present.

  or                    

 

I know I'm guilty of this.

So where or how do you draw the line between wanting to protect people from someone with a past and not holding someone else accountable in the present for what they did in the past.

I really do believe that we all have the potential to be better today than we were yesterday. I guess that's just harder to see in some than others.

I am nothing

I think we've all gotten to this place at one point or another. It is what happens when we stare down the spiral staircase of comparison. Why do we take those things about ourselves that we are most insecure about and focus on them? Why do we begin looking to all those people who excel where we fall short and compare ourselves with them? We take a magnifying glass or even a microscope and look at how we measure us. But no matter who you are...no one looks good that close.

I was talking this week with a young person who shared their experience as a child when their parents told them to "Just do your best and we'll be proud". They continued to share that mostly they got A's and B's in school. Logic told them, "This is my best". However when they got to a class where they were getting C's, logic told them, "Your best is an A or a B. You must not be doing your best. They aren't proud anymore". Even when others (their parents) took the burden off, they loaded back on themselves.

So how do we get to this place where we feel like we're nothing? Granted some of us don't spend as much time in this mindset as others but I've seen it more and more.

---------------------
1. No one cares.
2. I'm not important.
3. I don't matter.
4. I just don't understand why anyone would love me anyway.
5. I'm broken - failed - used - imperfect - different - not normal
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1. Let me just say if we spend anytime together - I care
2 and 3. Even the smallest drop of water raises the ocean a little - You ARE important and you do matter.
4. You don't need to understand why just know...you are loved.
5. We are all broken in some way, have failed at something, felt used. No one is perfect. We are all different which is what makes meeting new people such an adventure. I have yet to meet a normal person.





Strong Rationalism - An Unreasonable Approach to Reasonable Belief?

I posted earlier this week the importance faith plays in religious belief. That post and the one I am writing today stem from my reading for my Philosophy of Religion class that I am currently finishing.

Strong Rationalism states that "in order for a religious belief-system to be properly and rationally accepted, it must be possible to prove that the belief-system is true"
(Peterson, Hasker, Reichenbach, and Basinger, Reason & Religious Belief, 3rd edition)

Prove - To define prove here we are looking to say that the arguments that support the belief system should be convincing to any reasonable person. This is not 100% undeniable evidence but a reasonable argument that comes to a reasonable conclusion, which the conclusion would be accepted by any reasonable person.

On the surface this doesn't seem to hard to accomplish. We are, after all, each one of us reasonable people right? But even the most widely accepted arguments face considerable opposition from a good number of "reasonable" people.

Strong Rationalism appears to be asking that even if we disagree with the conclusion of the argument, we as reasonable individuals would accept the argument and its conclusion as a possibility. The rub lies here. How might someone who fundamentally disagrees with the conclusion accept it as a possibility?

If it is a reasonable argument with a reasonable conclusion and yet I still disagree, wouldn't the conclusion be that either I am being unreasonable in my unbelief or that the argument and/or its conclusion are flawed at some point?

My question here for this post is whether or not you agree with the above statement or do you see a third answer? Is Strong Rationalism being unreasonable to ask for such a consensus that all reasonable people would have to accept the argument and its conclusion?

All In - Why Belief in God Requires a Leap of Faith

"All In - Why Belief in God Requires a 'Jump' start' or a 'leap of faith'"

Most people would say, in speaking of religious experiences, that when it comes down to proving the existence of God you either approach the answer by faith or through reason. This is a bit ironic though when you stop and think about it. To approach by faith one is essentially making a jump to belief. I say a jump because faith alone will not get you to a proof of truth. There may be experiences that will lead you in one direction, either closer to or further away from belief in God, but even religious experiences fall short of getting you all the way to proof. So at some point one must either refuse to go any further, turn away from the pursuit, or make a leap of faith and jump to a conclusion. Reason falls short as well. Reason falls short because it merely tells us whether or not a belief in God is "reasonable" to hold. Again reason will lead you in a direction, depending on the argument or train of thought you might be considering, but it fails to prove a conclusion beyond what one might reasonably believe; again it "proves" nothing.

So when you hear a Christian say that they know God or they know God exists the question the rest of the unbelieving world has is, "How do you know". Is it more proper for them to say that they "know" God exists or that they are absolutely convinced that He does? For those standing on the outside looking in the answer would most likely be the latter. For them, while the argument might be convincing and the experience compelling, they realize that not every witness in the trial has been called and not all the evidence has been fully scrutinized. For them there still exists the possibility that some new piece of information could leave the whole house of cards lying scattered on the table. This new piece of information could be anything from a new science that explains or allows us to interpret differently events that previously only had explanation by way of the supernatural to a better more convincing argument against the existence of God.

Each side may make the claim that they "know" something but the reality is that their conclusions are an extrapolation. While they may indeed come to the right conclusion they do not know it in the way that philosophers of religion define knowing. They perceive the truth and reality of their experiences and they have reasonable arguments that gird up and support their conclusions but, we, won't know the answer unless we meet God face to face, which is the hope that Christians hold on to.

Christians and others should not take the conclusion of this essay as a loss though or even as a sign that those who wish to share their experiences or who wish to continue to show that reason provides us with a leg to stand on when we talk about our belief in God. This essay only shows in what I hope is a thoughtful way that scripture is true. We do come to God by faith. Experience and reason may help lead the way but faith is what connects them to our conclusion.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God", Ephesians 2:8

Two illustrations came to mind as I was working through my thoughts on this, a courtroom and a good game of Texas Hold Em'. A jury in a courtroom may be convinced enough to deliver a unanimous verdict and still find themselves to be wrong. This is the danger some fear when deciding whether or not to make the leap. Those who have made the leap however are more like the person who has made it to the last round in a poker tournament and is looking at what he is convinced is the best hand on the table. There are others with good hands and some trying to bluff a bad hand off as a winner but they look at their hand and with conviction have went "all in". They've had similar experiences where a hand like theirs was a sure winner and all the reason tells them that based on what's been played its reasonable to believe they've got a winner, so, they go all in. Yes the river card is yet to hit the table and you really don't know what two cards are laying face down on the other end of the table but by faith and with confidence they put it all in the center of the pot hoping and believing that the risk will be worth it.

A Servant Leader

"Real training for service asks for a hard and often painful process of self-emptying. The main problem of service is to be the way without being 'in the way'. And if there are any tools, techniques and skills to be learned they are primarily to plow the field, to cut the weeds and to clip the branches, that is, to take away the obstacles for real growth and development. Training for service is not a training to become rich but to become voluntarily poor; not to fulfill ourselves but to empty ourselves; not to conquer God but to surrender to his saving power. All this is very hard to accept in our contemporary world, which tells us about the importance of power and influence. But it is important that in this world there remain a few voices crying out that if there is anything to boast of, we should boast of our weakness. Our fulfillment is in offering emptiness, our usefulness in becoming useless, our power in becoming powerless."

From "Reaching Out" by Henri J. M. Nouwen

I haven't posted anything here for a while now but sitting here at the end of our first day at the National Youth Leadership Initiative I found it appropriate to take a step back to consider the type of leadership that God calls us to.

New Series for Sundays - Making a Case for Giving Your Best

Coming to the Jackson First Church of the Nazarene

Making a Case for Giving Your Best - November 27th, December 4th, and December 11th
(Series based on a reading of the "Life a Work" Book Series)

Week 1 - "A Case for Character"
Week 2 - "A Case for Skill"
Week 3 - "A Case for Service"

Looking to this weeks message I've read many quotes on character. One of my favorites was definition of character that says, "Character, like integrity, is who you are when no one is looking."

What is your favorite quote?

Leave it here or at my facebook page.

Perfectly Poisoned

Aside from all the swordplay, my favorite scene in The Princess Bride is the scene where the Man in Black enters into a battle of wits with Vincini. Vincini is the mastermind behind the kidnapping of the princess. He accepts the Man in Black's challenge. The Man in Black hands a small container to his adversary and has him smell it. Vincini says "I smell nothing". "What you do not smell" responds the Man in Black, "is iocanine powder. It is orderless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in water and is among the more deadly poisons known to man".

I'll save you my quoting of the rest of the scene. Suffice to say, iocaine was the perfect poison. You can't smell, see it or taste it but its there. It could be placed in my wine or yours or both as see in the movie. As I have been thinking about the message I plan to preach this Sunday this seemed like a great illustration to lead into it.

We find in Genisis that God has created a garden, a perfect place for His perfect creation. There's just one thing you needed to be careful of, don't eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That fruit is poisioned so to speak. Eve speaking to the serpant about the fruit says that "It is pleasing to the eye" and there seemed to be nothing forboding about the fruit other than God's command not to eat it.

This poision was perfect. Even with a warning from God it appears that Adam and Eve neither one saw what was coming. This poision was so perfect that it affected them all the way down to their DNA, which has been passed down to each generation right to us today.

We are fallen, broken, shattered in some way. We are a pale reflection of what we were ever intended to be. Sin has so taken us that there is not one area of life that is not affected by it. We are poisioned, perfectly poisioned.

There is an antidote though that can save us from certain death. But society, including some Christians, has tried to treat the symptoms that arise from our being perfectly poisioned instead of showing and helping to administer the antidote.

Whare are some ways you see those around you trying to treat the symptoms instead of offering the complete cure. What happens when we only treat the symptoms of our perfectly poisioned state?

Drawn

Not pulled. Not pushed. Not draged. Drawn. What is it to be like drawn by God? Do we go kicking an screaming? I don't think so. Are we diving head first into something without checking the depth of the water? I don't think that's it either. When I think of what it means to be "Drawn" by God there is a very different imagery in my mind. I imagine someone walking through woods or even in a city and they have that look as though they can hear or see something that they just can't help but want to investigate. But that noise that sound or sight that has caught their attention is too soft and too far away for them to make it out. Its intriguing and fasinating but just too far off to fully appreciate. So that person begins looking for the way to get closer, to get a better view or better understanding of what has caught their attention.

I believe that's what God does for us sometimes. He's speaking in that still small voice or He is showing us something He has for us and we just but we can't make it out just quite right from where we are. We must move closer if we are to hear what He is saying clearly or if we are to see all the details of what has caught our attention. We realize that if we stay just where we are we might miss something. Who knows how long before its just not there anymore. We are drawn closer. Moving cautiously so as not to miss our target destination. No one is forcing us to go but we just can't help ourselves. We have to check it out. We are just drawn to what He is showing knowing that it could be something great and knowing my God it just might be.

In what ways have you felt drawn by God?

Life Happens

Last week was supposed to be the week I got all caught up, with my posts here, with my class, with stuff at the church... Well that didn't exactly happen. It seemed like the harder I tried to push ahead the more life just pushed back. That's not to say that things were hectic or crazy, just crazier than normal. But there was a lot of good stuff happening. Last week was a week to build bridges as well as relationship, to push ahead, and find our balance. I praise God for everything that was accomplished last week. But there is still much work to be done. I'm understanding from a different perspective the scripture, "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.". I am trying to take great care in the foundation that I am putting down knowing that there will be someone who will have to build on it.

Still working on converting sermons to google docs and uploading. Also hoping to start uploading audio at some point. If you have been following the messages in our "Consumed" series we had liberating service touching on the topic of guilt and how to be set free from guilt that doesn't belong to us and from the idea that we are somehow on God's "B-list". Coming up this Sunday we will be dealing with bitterness. As a special treat on Sunday July 17th Jon Hensler will be concluding the series with a message on "Being Consumed by the Holy Spirit". I am looking forward to what God is going to continue to do as life continues to happen.

Don't Look Down - Consumed 2 (Fear)

This Sunday in the morning service we'll be talking about our fears. The Bible has a lot to say about fear. This should connect very well with what we talked about on Father's Day when we looked at what is at the heart of someone who is "Consumed by Work".

(A link to the last Sunday's message will be made available soon if you missed and would like to get caught up.)

As a way of leading into this message "Consumed by Fear" I thought we could have a little fun sharing some of the things we sometimes find ourselves afraid of. And in the spirit of fairness I'll go first...

I am afraid of heights, which is ironic considering that I also enjoy a good roller coaster. Once I am more than a few steps up on a ladder the nerves begin. I'm not exactly sure that its a fear of heights or even a fear of falling, it's more the idea of the sudden stop at the end of the fall. regardless, I am afraid of heights. While I will tolerate the occasional ladder and need to be off the ground but I breath much easier once I'm back on solid ground.

So what's your story???

Consumed

Definition: To do away with completely  or to engage fully

What is it that consumes your day, your time or your attention? Is it your work, family, friends, bills? Is it one things that seems to completely do away with your day and you wonder where it all went? Has something so engaged you that its all you think about? A new video game. A new relationship. The latest gossip. Who's getting kicked off this week on whatever show. (Admit it we all watch at least one of those). Perhaps what consumes you or your time isn't nearly as tangible as all that like fear, guilt, anger, worry, or bitterness.

I am easily sucked into the newest video game or phone app. I just have to pass one more level before I stop. I can also find myself consumed with trying to figure out where I'm headed and where I'll be in the coming years. There are many things and thoughts that if I am not careful will quite litterally consume me. It is good to remember sometimes what allowing myself to be consumed might lead to and what in the end "should" (there's that word should again) consume me. Deuteronomy 4:24 reminds us that God is an all consuming fire. If we are to be consumed by anything let it be our relationship with Him.

Is there anything that consumes you???

"Re"vival

Sunday was an eventful day. It's my sincere hope that it was the start of something I hope will change us all. Throughout history God has taken the time to shake His people from apathy and wake them up to the reality that they are not where they should be or doing what they should be doing. Usually this comes through rough waters that cause us all to look to Him as He is now the only source of help. Once awakened and aware of their need for Him and the need to perhaps change how they had been living or acting, God begins to move. As His people get closer and closer to Him they also get closer and closer to what it is He wants for them.

REVIVAL

Sunday morning's message reminded us that we are called to two things: 1. To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength 2. To love our neighbor as our self. We were called to seriously think about our relationship with God and with each other.

Sunday night began our series "Re"vival by looking at the very first part of 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by my name..." Before we can expect God to move we must understand who and whose we are because understanding that shows us a great deal about how we "SHOULD" be living our lives.

If you were to give yourself a new name or a title to go with your name that describes how you are living what would it be and why? Or simply share what name you would like to see applied to you.

Hope to see you next Sunday night at the Jackson First Church of the Nazarene 6:00pm for part 2 in the "Re"vival series "Retreat".

The Bar is Set...And It's REALLY HIGH!

Have you ever been so busy that you started looking for shortcuts? I remember in college when it came time for final exams and final papers some of my friends, (yes and me too), started looking at their grades and where they stood in each class. I had a one friend in particular, you know the one who just has to look at the book to pass the test and not really open it and read it. I always envied him and others who could skim through heavy reading in 30min that took me 2 or 3 hours to understand. This particular friend would look at his grades and decide what would be the fewest amount of questions he would have to answer on the final and still get an A in the class. Of course he would take into consideration the probability of getting each question right and factor in the difficulty of the class...Did I mention he was a math major? For me though it was a no brainer, I had to take and finish the entire exam. My look for shortcuts usually came with the papers. Trying to decide how I can say what needs said in the fewest amount of pages possible. This is mostly because I am afflicted with two very serious flaws when it comes to this. I tend to be very wordy and talk a lot, shocker right? I also procrastinate. Surprisingly some of my best papers ended up being written at 2am the night/morning it was due.

We've all looked for shortcuts in some ways and at some times. Jesus was approached by a teacher of the law who asked Him what the greatest commandment in the law was. He did this to test Him. Jesus' answer is so great. He took the ten commandments and all the extra stuff the Jews had piled on and summed it all up into two statements. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. I'm thinking why couldn't some of the authors of my text books in college have done that? Summed all of what they had to say to just the most important.

Jesus set the bar. He told us what the most important commandment was and what the second was. All we have to do is love God with all we have and love our neighbor as yourself. Simple right? It may sound so but how many things do we spend more time with each week than we do with our relationship with God and how many of us really love others as we love yourself? Whenever we think we have this down pat its time to take a long hard look in the mirror and at what Jesus said about who our neighbor is.

When you think about how you spend your time through the week and think about the people in your life who are hardest to love. What are the things you feel challenged to change?