Spring is past.
Summer has gone.
And winter is here.
And the song I meant to sing remains unsung.
For I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument.

(Resolved: Waste not.)

Do wrong, get busted.
Do right, get blessed.
True?
Why does my brain more readily buy one over the other?

God is not obligated to do either, but I somehow see him as more willing to bust me. Considered another way, I can hear him getting upset or disciplining me more than I hear his encouragement.

And you know what’s worse: I think my kids expect criticism from me more than praise.

That’s just messed up all the way around.

Finish this simple sentence: The world revolves around ___________.

I heard that.
First instinct on our little Mad Libs adventure was, “me.”
The world revolves around me.

But does it?
Should it?
Even if you wanted it to, would it?

No, no, and no.
So why do we keep trying to make it?

What if we tried something different?

What if, just for the next hour, we “allowed” the world to revolve around the people walking on the carpet in the rest of the house we are living in?

Or our neighbors with whom we share fences?
Or our friends on facebook?
Or the next phone call or text message?

Or, … God?

When we change the focus of the revolution, revolutions happen.

Three people said it today
before I realized
they were people
who shouldn’t have said it.
It wasn’t who they were.
They are fellow believers
but they are not what they said.
The F word.

“Fine.”

“How are you?”
“I’m fine.”

No you aren’t.
Your world is upside down right now.
Your wife just left you.
You’re drinking again.
You haven’t found another job.
None of you are fine.

And neither am I. It took three lying Christians before I realized I was oblivious to obvious pain right in front of me. Blind.

Something must give in this equation.
The math is insane.
It adds up to nothing.
It’s way past time for the New Math.
And it starts now.

I do not ever want to hear the f-word come from your mouth again.
If you say it, I will hurt you… until you own up to your pain.

If I do let you slide an f-bomb past me, you have permission to come hurt me.
I shouldn’t have done that.
You deserve better.

Okay, let’s check this out:

Paul, the dude that penned like 1/3 of the New Testament, right? A spiritual giant, by almost any measure. You’ve heard of him, right?

Well, either way… he was huge.

So anyhow, early on in his spiritual life, he said he was, “the least of the apostles.”
Later, like six years… he self-described himself as, “the least of all the saints.”
Then, a smooth eight years after that, he said he was, “the worst of all sinners.”
So, from a small group, to a larger group, to the basically everyone on the planet group.
And all the while over these many moons, he was presumably growing in his spiritual life. I mean, he was teaching at churches, going on mission trips, mentoring multiple people, writing prolifically, … but yet he describes himself as more and more… less.

Hmmm. There’s a lesson in there somewhere… for those who have been “growing spiritually.”

(
1 Corinthians 15:9, 54A.D., “The least of the apostles…”
Ephesians 3:8, 60A.D., “The least of all of the saints…”
1 Timothy 1:15, 68A.D., “The worst of sinners…”
)

Have you ever noticed when you go to church or spin up a message on your iPod, they are always talking about the same thing? Amidst the sentences of the sermons, one resounding topic keeps recurring. What’s up with that? Well, I think I found the answer in Ezekiel 14:4.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Israel have set up idols in their hearts and fallen into sin, and then they go to a prophet asking for a message. So I, the Lord , will give them the kind of answer their great idolatry deserves.”

Could it be that we have some idol of some sort set up in our lives… and God is speaking to us about that… giving us the answer that our idolatry deserves?

And he keeps speaking about it… from many different angles… through many different “prophets”… for weeks, if necessary… until we make a change.

Could be.

“If you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it” (James 1:23-25, NLT).

WARNING: Real life. May confuse those who are fake or robotic.

So I’m finally home after a good day’s work, right? I’m washing dishes, listening to Francis Chan, … and the phone goes off.

“Wanna play?”

Well, my first thought was, “Hmmm, maybe we can get in a few holes before dark.” But then I saw who the text was from… and realized we didn’t have the same sport in mind.

And that’s when the brain went wild. There was a temptation tornado twisting its way through every neuron in my noggin.

Rather than respond, I added more soap to the dish water and kept scrubbing. I didn’t know you could actually scrub the colored finish off of plates. And those scouring sponges that say they won’t scratch… do.

And the phone went off again…

More soap. Scrub, scrub, scrub.

The weather in my head was still violent, but I could see now. I didn’t know what to say though…

(And this is where the true act of God starts.)

I cleared a path through the bubbles and picked up the phone.

“Why are you so scared?” she asked.

“God,” I replied.

(Long pause, as the message travels from cell tower to her cell to her…).

“Ok,” she replied.

And I finished the dishes.

Lessons I Learned:
Temptation comes when I am weak. Home (alone) after a hard day’s work (tired) and doing the dishes (bored).
Temptation comes when I am going in the other direction (listening to God, through Francis Chan).
Temptation is tempting (by definition).
Temptation is an opportunity to prove out who I am.
Temptation is an opportunity for God to be who he is (1 Corinthians 10:13).
God provides strength to beat temptation.
God uses temptation to make me stronger.
God uses temptation as a witness.
Without God’s help, I would of made a big mess.

Anyone else tempted, or is it just me?

Let’s do a little math here:

What if I made it my goal that tomorrow I would think one more critical thought than I had today? Would it really be that hard to achieve my aspiration? I bet I could easily go to sleep tomorrow night with that fulfilling feeling of knowing I had accomplished my goal for the day. There’s surely something I could complain about.

Or, perhaps I might choose to think one more positive thought than I had today. I can easily reach that goal as well, for there is undoubtedly at least a few things to smile about.

So… which will I choose?
Which approach will actually add value to my life?
Which plan will provide something worthwhile for the people I will cross paths with tomorrow?

Geez, I so don’t know…

What are you doing tomorrow?

People, you have got to give it up to LifeChurch.tv for the first installment in the At The Movies series. Personally, I think it was pretty smart to parallel a movie with biblical truths. Cinematics collide with Scripture (which never returns without effect).

Either way though, check it out here. This series isn’t archived, so you’ll have to catch it during one of the live times. Go to the Church Online for the most options. Then, come back here and post some of your bucket list.

“Lord , remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.
You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
at best, each of us is but a breath” (Psalm 39:4-5. NLT).

The Verse: “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live” (Acts 17:26).

The Thought: Your address is by Divine design. And, the address of your neighbor… is by Divine design. You are each living where you are by God’s design. So why did He put you there?

The Answer: To, “love your neighbor as yourself.”