Spiritual Mushrooms

Spiritual Mushrooms
John 2:1-11

The other day, our family left the house and headed to the car. My son ran through the front yard and screamed out, “Look, mushrooms!” My bride then quipped, “It’s time for Daddy to mow the lawn.” You see, the mushrooms weren’t just mushrooms, they were a sign that pointed to my need to mow the lawn real soon.

In the book of John, Jesus did things we call miracles, but which were originally called signs. They were things he did that actually pointed to his divinity. He really was God in the flesh and these things helped point minds and hearts toward that acceptance. Those mushrooms the other day made me think of spiritual growth. It may be easy to see mushrooms in the front yard and understand a need to mow, but what about in our life, what are the signs that we need to spiritually grow?

I can share a few signs, but I’d love for you to share others. I think there are times when I feel far from God. If that’s true, it’s only because I’ve moved. It sure isn’t His fault. That’s one sign that I need some spiritual strengthening. There are other sings that show me my spiritual strength may be weakening. When things are always going wrong I may need to work on the spiritual disciplines, but this isn’t a given because things can go wrong for the most spiritual of people. I guess when things are going wrong and I feel helpless, would be a better determining factor. Another sign is if I’m able to reminisce about my personal Bible reading and say, “Those were the good old days.” And if I look at my prayer list and see, “Please God let gas prices stay below $2.00,” that’s another sign. Finally, if it’s been a few years since I’ve seen a Christian in a building most often referred to as “church,” maybe I need to grow spiritually. These signs I’ve mentioned are pretty generic in nature. More authentic signs may be my feeling of being trapped inside some sort of sinful behavior like jealousy, lust, anger, or lack of self-control. Those things really bring home the fact I need to grow spiritually.

What about you? Do you have any spiritual mushrooms?

ABetterStay.com

Christian Graces, Sin, Struggles

Weaknesses

Weaknesses
2 Corinthians 12:7-10

I’ll be talking about a super hero in a moment. But first how about remembering a super villain from Batman, his name, the Riddler. I think he had a big question mark on his outfit. I may be mistaken, but I think that’s correct. In case you’ve wondered about what we are doing and haven’t had a chance to visit our website, please go to http://helpzach.wordpress.com. You can click on our Newsletters section and read our March news for Zach’s House. Now on to the devotional:

Superman was a mighty strong man. He could leap buildings in a single bound. He was powerful enough to stop a train. Superman was faster than a speeding bullet. Even with all that strength, if he came into contact with kryptonite, he became very weak. When he was falling down, barely able to walk, did Superman look strong? No! He was unable to do anything. None of us would say, “Wow! He’s weak and that makes him so strong!”

It’s strange that a worker for God, the apostle Paul, boasted in his weakness, his thorn of the flesh. Paul said he delighted in hardships, insults, persecutions, and difficulties. I doubt Superman said, “I delight in the kryptonite.” I’m a bit different than Paul. I really don’t like insults. I’m pretty wary of persecutions. I hardly ever embrace hardships and I distaste difficulties. What’s wrong with me? I’m surely not like Paul. He knew that God’s power is made perfect through our weaknesses.

If we never had any insults, persecutions, hardships and difficulties thrown our way, God’s power would never be made known in our lives. I understand that God wants to do good for us and how could he do good if there is never bad? Maybe I’m beginning to understand that a bit better. God is good. He wants to show us his love for us. Maybe I should sit back and enjoy his miracles, his love, and the amazing and peculiar ways he wants to help me. It won’t be easy to do, but I should try my best. By the way, did you experience any weaknesses yesterday? I did.

Struggles

The Twilight Zone


The Twilight Zone
John 1:14 >

Imagine a world full of fear because space ships are landing in every country. This actually happened in 1962, at least on television. In case you missed it, the show was called the Twilight Zone. Those landing were called Kanamits. They were all 7 feet tall and looked like the guy called Jaws who was a featured villain in two James Bond films. Okay, it was the guy named Jaws, only years earlier. One thing for certain about this Kanamit, he did not belong. He was too large. He communicated telepathically. He was from outer space. Those were three big strikes against him. Wow! a baseball analogy and baseball season is just beginning. After landing, he went to the United Nations and gave them a book. Code breakers eventually deciphered the title, it was called “To Serve Man.” Wow, these guys were nice after all, the title proved it. These Kanamits began performing random acts of kindness, or so that’s what everyone believed. They helped eradicate famine throughout the world. They also brought world peace and did away with disease. Then they began an exchange program between citizens of earth and citizens of their planet.

The Kanamits did a lot of good but they did not belong among the earthlings at first. They weren’t going to be trusted if they just showed up and hung around or tried to conquer. They did good for us earthlings. That gave the Kanamits an amount of social capital to be spent in any way they wanted. They earned so much trust that earthlings even went to the Kanamit planet when they were offered an interplanetary cultural exchange program. Grasping for a Christian equivalent, I think about those who find no need for Christ and especially for Christians. Each day I search out such people. I don’t wait for them to come to me. My daily journeys take me to places where people may be antagonistic to religion but open to discussions about Jesus. I frequent places like bookstores, a college campus, sports bars, a pizza joint, an apartment complex, coffee shops, or recreation centers. Each day, I leave my planet and go to their planet, the planet of “Christianity is Irrelevant to Me!”

I have witnessed many Christians who are doing good and helping other people. I see that certain people who hate religion warm up to those Christians that do good. I’ve seen people that the good is done to, whether it’s being fed, offering help during terrible financial times, or loving someone through a family struggle, embrace Christ after Christians have helped. Doing good for people sometimes gives even the strangest looking beings an entry way into the lives of others. To those who are not Christians in our post-modern society, a Christian could be just as strange looking as a 7 foot Kanamit from outer space. We too have a book that could be titled, “To Serve Man.” After all, that’s what Jesus said he came to do.  But here’s one last thing about that book from the Kanamits. The lead code breaker, after deciphering the title, had difficulty with the rest of the book; the lettering was different. He gave up and set off on his own cultural interplanetary exchange. He was on the stairway into the space ship when his assistant, who had kept working on the contents of the book, came running. She called out, “Dr. Chambers, the book, the book, ‘To Serve Man,’ it’s … a cookbook.” 

As Christians, we need to go to people. We need to do good. Feeding the homeless may be similar to the Kanamits eradicating famine. Helping to create peace in families may be similar to the Kanamits rendering nuclear weapons meaningless. But unlike the Kanamits, let us not devour the people we reach out to in the name of Christ. In addition to meeting a lot of people who have never had a need for Christianity in their life; I also meet a lot of people who have been part of Christianity and have felt chewed on, gnawed at, or devoured and their bones spit back out. All this, done in the name of Jesus. What do you think? Let me know.

Belonging, Evangelism, Ministry, Servanthood

Lord, Show Me What to Do


Lord, Show Me What to Do
Psalm 143:8

I’ve been allowing God to guide me. He has pointed me in directions I wasn’t even considering. This happens when I cry out to him and ask, “What do you want me to do? Where do you want me to go? I just don’t know what to do.” I’m specifically talking about my personal ministry. I can notice God leading my path. There’s a whole lot more I wish he would do for me, but I can see God working. Just today he brought some people back into my life I thought were gone. They were supposed to sell their business and move back to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I asked them about that today and they’ve decided to stay right here. My wife and I are praying that our relationship strengthens. We have seen it grow and know it will grow further. I think their daughter may attend our church outreach event this weekend. Please keep Hoi and Vivian in your prayers. Please pray that God will open opportunities for us to show them His love.

God's Love, Ministry, Praying to God