Blow Out!

Driving on a Blow out!

Yesterday, my son in law was driving to church in my Tahoe, when kerwhang thump,thump thump. Sure enough, a blown tire, on the freeway, next to a cement wall with no shoulder! He didn’t plan it, he wasn’t dressed for it, but it happened anyway. He limped along for a ½ mile until there was a place to pull out of traffic. Today we are tire shopping.

As I waited for the service provider (my jack was too short and my lug wrench didn’t fit—duh!) I thought about our lives. Almost everyone has had a blowout, both on the road and in life. We never plan for it, we hope it doesn’t happen, and most of the time in life our lug wrench doesn’t fit! So, what do we do.

So, here’s a couple of thoughts for when you have a blow out.

· Have a good tow service! In life that means first of all, having your relationship with God in order. I think we all experience temporary atheism at times when we worry that somehow God will not show up in our crisis—but He always does.

· Have someone you can call. The time to tend to our relationships of friendship and mentorship and counsel, we will be frantically searching for someone to fill that void when we are least prepared to do it.

· Don’t keep driving on the blowout. It’s dangerous and it will only cause more damage. We don’t know if the tire could have been saved before driving a ½ mile on the blow out, but if we had gone much farther we would have ruined the rim, the brakes, an axle and ???. I’m always amazed at how people try to brush their “life blowouts” under the rug and act as if nothing has happened.

Tomorrow I’ll talk a little more about this in my blog, Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow—Stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive!

Driving on a blowout!

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Life Planning

If we would only give the same amount of reflection to what we want

out of life that we give to the question of what to do with two weeks’

vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless

procession of our busy days.”

— Dorothy Canfield Fisher

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When the passion is gone

On my way home from church last week, I said to my wife, “For the first time in over 25 years, I don’t have something I’m passionate about! I’m really scared!” For the next 25 minutes on our ride home, my godly wife helped me climb down off the ledge and consider some good things about this “tweener” time. I put these forward as hypotheses not fact. I’m still trying to figure it out.

Yeah though I walk through the valley of “passion” death,

1. I will fear no evil—for Thou art with me. My wife gently reminded me that God is still in control and still loves me and Phil. 1:6 still applies, God is not finished with me yet. Intellectually I know these things, but when I get scared, I sometimes get stupid. Many of us in church planting (and other leadership pursuits) are wired to lead with passion. The question rings, “What if I never regain passion?” For me the answer is, “I will probably regain passion, but even if I don’t, God is still with me.”

2. He makes me lie down in green pastures. My wife, four mentors, my accountability partner and several friends have said, “God is giving you a time of rest.” As church planters and leaders we have given the same advice to many others but it’s hard to take our own medicine. For 28 years I have led at full speed ahead. I have had victories and defeats. I am learning to lie down.

Last Sunday afternoon, I took my two year old grandson for a walk to pick Queen Anne’s lace for his Grandma. Two weeks ago I helped my 13 year old grandson learn to work hard at a physical task. Had I been rushing off to a meeting, I would have missed two delightful moments. My soul is being restored.

3. My cup over flows. In this time of change, I have been bombarded with calls, emails, and other expressions of love. I am reveling in the relationships that have been built over the past 30 years. I am learning to stop and appreciate how many wonderful relationships I have.

4. You guide me in paths of righteousness. Nature abhors a vacuum. I don’t like being passionless. My first response has been to fill my passion vacuum with the first thing that came along rather than wait for God to guide me in the right path. Several opportunites have come my way. My first tendency is to jump, but God is teaching me to wait patiently.

As I stated at the top, I’m still trying to figure it out, but these are the things that are helping me walk through this time.

Divine Encounters

It's been awhile since I have asked God for a divine encounter. Recently my heart has been stirred that I need to ask God for someone with which to share Jesus. I have gotten so "professional" in my Christianity, that I have forgotten its about being in relationship and abiding in the vine and seeking and saving the lost on a personal as well as professional level.

In study this morning for a Bible study I will lead on Sunday, I came across these words from Ray Stedman, "There is an excitement that comes into our lives when we really, genuinely put the affairs of God first, and do not even bother to think about the provision of our own needs. This is why God says, "Now is the accepted time. Today is the day."

I want that to be me today. I want to genuinely put the affairs of God first! So, God, I'm asking for a divine encounter, for eyes and a heart to see it, and for boldness to be available for that encounter.

I'll let you know what happens tomorrow!

How long has it been since you prayed for a divine encounter?

The World is Flat (and other myths)

I just found out today that the 110 year "fact" that the tongue has different areas for tasting sweet, sour, bitter, etc, is a myth.  It was first formulated in 1901 by a scientist who exaggerated his research and it become dogma for 100 years.  However, recent researchers (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/health/11real.html?_r=1) have proven the map is wrong.  The whole tongue tastes everything and there are not just four types of tastes but at least five and probably a sixth.

Everything people tell us is not always based upon fact.  A hundred thousand high school science teachers can be wrong.

The real point of my blog involves where I came across this shocking revelation.  It came in a video called "Read this before our Next meeting".  Many meetings are called for the wrong reasons and only frustrate the participants.  Check out this video  http://michaelhyatt.com/videos/read-this-before-our-next-meeting.  I'm going to read the book.

Finally,  take a candy cane, touch it to the right side of your tongue, then run it all around your tongue.  You won't find any great scientific fact, but it will taste a lot better than an onion.

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