Refillable Faith

I love Walt Disney World. There’s just something about it that brings a smile to my face. Whether it’s riding my favorite attraction, watching a show or sitting down for a meal, being there with my family is one life’s great joys.


Last summer I had the pleasure of taking the girls on their first trip to this place that I came to love as a child. We had an incredible time, and seeing the joy in the girls’ eyes was truly, if you’ll pardon the expression, magical. We stayed in the Pop Century resort and the girls were enamored by the themed pools, giant icons, bubble jets, and eye popping colors.

Me? I was enamored by the food court.

This should really come as no surprise to those who know me. If you’ve ever been behind me at a potluck, you know that nothing gets me going like a full spread of chow. The food court at our resort did not disappoint. There were tons of delectable offerings and incredible desserts. Take for example this little diddy, the tie-dyed cheesecake.

Yet of all the food court offerings up for bid, none was quite so great as the refillable mug. This little cup of wonder no only had a handle and spill proof lid, it came with the added bonus of unlimited refills for the duration of our stay. It was like a little red insulated ticket to Joyville.

Every morning, I made the trek down to the food court to start my day with a healthy dose of glorious caffeination. When we would hit the pools, I’d fill up the mugs so we’d be nice and refreshed when we got out of the water. After we got back from a hard day of park touring, a cup of iced tea was just the thing to top off the day.

Our mugs were great. I LOVED having them. However, they did have a limitation. They were only good at our resort and only for the length of our stay. If I tried to refill the mug somewhere else, it wouldn’t work. When I got home, I couldn’t bring it to 7-11 and get a free refill any time I wanted. None of my favorite fast food joints would accept it. Even the food court in the mall can’t give me a free refill in it. The refills only lasted as a long as I remained at the resort.

In John, chapter 15, Jesus shares the following.

1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.


5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. *

Like my mug which cannot gain free refills when it leaves the resort, so too the Christian can not bear fruit outside of the one by whose blood we have been redeemed. Christ makes it clear that our hope lie in remaining a part of Him. To have His spirit flowing through us, filling us, guiding us and bringing growth within us is truly the only way

It’s not always easy. The Word says that the father prunes the branches with fruit so that they will bear even more fruit. Pruning hurts. Sometimes we mistake it and wonder why God is allowing us to go through it. Yet, after the scars are formed and the seasons have changed, we can look back and see the gentle hand of the Master.

In those times when our lives are not what we thought they would be and it seems like our worlds are crumbling in, hold tight to the promise of this passage. If we remain in Christ, he WILL remain in us. He will not remove us, He will not forsake us, He will not abandon us.

Verse 8 tells us that it is God’s glory that we bear fruit. God is faithful and His Word is true. We can take joy in knowing that in Him, we will be limitlessly filled until in the words of David, our cup runneth over. And that is the sweetest joy of all.

Prayer – My prayer this week is that you remain in Christ and the He will bear much fruit in you.

Scripture for this Week – John 15:1-17, John 4:1-26, Psalm 23.

* New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

The Final Bell

Summer has finally arrived! Yeah, yeah I know that “technically” summer doesn’t start for a couple of more weeks, but technically, I don’t care. When school is out, it’s summertime. Set, match, point and done.

Monday, I was participating in the annual ritual of helping Tracy get her classroom put in order during the final teacher work day. Everything had to be off the walls and all of the classroom furniture had to be cleaned, stacked, and labeled with masking tape. The floor had to be swept, the shelves had to be emptied, and all personal items had to be removed.

Having done this dance a few times, we have pretty well gotten it down to a science. We had already spent a couple of Saturdays hauling boxes to storage, and knew going in what was left and what each person’s tasks were going to be. Shortly after lunch, we had checked off every item on the list, gotten everything signed by the various administrators, and turned in the room key. We finished up with plenty of time to spare and then found ourselves sitting and staring at each other. The rule is that no one can leave until the principal dismisses EVERYONE at 3:30. It doesn’t matter if a teacher is finished or not. There is no reward for getting done early.

As we sat wondering what to do, an announcement was made that another teacher needed help. This was her first year, and she had underestimated the work that needed to be done. So Tracy and I joined a dozen other teachers and within a very short time, we were able to help her get everything in order.

In Sunday School last week, our lesson had to do with grace and rewards. As we discussed salvation and God’s unending love, our conversation turned to Matthew Chapter 20.

1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.


3"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' 5So they went.


"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'


7" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.


"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'


8"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'


9"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'


13"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'


16"So the last will be first, and the first will be last." *

Many times as Christians, we tend to look at our lives and try to check off all the things we think we need to do to follow God’s Word. Once it seems all is in order, the temptation is to just sit back and stare at each other while waiting on the last bell. We forget that there are those who are still in need of His grace.

God is still calling us to go bring His Word to a lost and dying world. Our mission is to invest our time and energy into others so that they might find Him. We do this not so our reward is greater, but so that others can have the same reward we ourselves have found.

Don’t be content to simply sit and wait for eternity. As you think about all that God has done in your life, stop and ask Him how you can bring that same joy and blessing to someone else. It is never too late in the game to lead someone to Christ.

Prayer: My prayer this week is that each of us would be reminded that there is no end to those who need Him, and we are called to go and make disciples.

Scripture: Matthew Chapter 20:1-16 / Matthew 28:18-19

* New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

This is NOT a Drill!

Today was fire drill day at work which is always an intriguing exercise. My office building is extremely large, housing over 1200 employees. In order to ensure everyone is accounted for, we all have designated assembly areas at the back of the rear parking lot.

This would be a perfectly acceptable arrangement were it not for two things. One, my team exits in front of the building, and two, in the center of our rear parking lot is the largest generator I have ever seen. The thing is huge. Massive. One might even say, Herculean. And to power such a monstrous beast, there is an above ground storage tank filled with hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel.

Now let me ask you this question if I could. If you have just run out of a burning building, are you going to walk all the way around said building and head towards a giant vat of diesel, or are you going to get the heck out of dodge and head the other direction? As for me and myself, I chose the latter.

When we reached our assembly area our supervisor said something about us needing to step it up in an actual fire. I then advised him that if said fire ever does occur, he’s going to need to take my attendance by waving at me across the street, cause I ain’t drinking that Koolaid.

He assured me that we would be perfectly safe. After all, this tank was made to be fire resistant, and there were safety valves in place to prevent an explosion. I advised him that this was the same thing BP said about the Deep Water Horizon and look where that got them. He could hardly argue my logic. After all, there are some situations where you throw out ritual and go with common sense.

In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus and his disciples are walking through a field on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry so they picked some grain and ate it while they walked along. The Pharisees were incredulous and demanded that Jesus do something about it. We find his reply beginning in verse three.

3 He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." *

The Pharisees were concerned about ritual. For them, salvation was found in the acts that we perform. In this passage, Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 and reminds them that God is interested in our hearts, not in our rituals. So many times it seems that we get in this mentality that if we do the right things or say the right things or somehow just read enough verses than maybe, just maybe we can impress God enough to gain His favor. Jesus is reminding us here that it isn’t about what you do or how you measure up, it’s about your heart.

When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus answered ‘'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40) *

Amazing isn’t it. You follow these two simple commands and EVERYTHING else will fall into place. Don’t run from a burning building only to seek shelter next to a gas tank. Give God your heart and let Him handle the rest.



Prayer: My prayer for you today is that you will not be so caught up on the ritual of church that your forget the true purpose for worship.

Scripture: Matthew 22:37-40,  Matthew 12:3-8, Hosea 6:6

* New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

The Power Within

This weekend, we celebrated my daughter’s sixth birthday. Highlighting this momentous occasion was the infamous inflatable bouncer. No doubt each of you has seen these contraptions before. Making appearances at car lots, family parties, school fairs, shopping centers and church events, these devices have become the new normal when it comes to childhood play.

As the dad, the task of acquiring, assembling and maintaining this strategic piece of equipment naturally fell to me. Doing what all good dads do when tasked with such a sacred duty, I immediately called for reinforcements. Luckily my dad and his truck were available and we headed out to conquer the shadowy kingdom of the Party Store.

There was much chaos and no small amount of drama when the clerks attempted to do a bait and switch on us.  However, in the end, we prevailed and were soon heading back with a pink and purple castle rolled up snugly in the bed of the truck. We then began the process of getting it unloaded, unrolled and ready to inflate. This was no small task either as the thing weighed a ton and had no real place to grip. Yet we men dug in and persevered until the bitter end.

It was with a sense of accomplishment that I hooked up the hose to the fan, pronounced an invocation and powered it on. Like a majestic giant slowly rising from the deep, our ugly pile of canvas soon unfurled into a grand and glorious bastion of bouncing. Within seconds the delighted squeals of my daughters announced their arrival as they blew past me in streak of pink and yellow, and plunged straight into the heart of the beast. As the guests arrived, it became clear that the castle was a hit.

Things were going great in the beginning. I had anchored the straps and carefully barricaded the sides and back so no one could go around and mess with the cords. We kept an eye on the kids and made sure they were playing safely.  Yep, we had everything under control. Just when I was sure that things were going to turn out perfectly, it happened. An extra springy bounce dislodged the inflation hose from the fan. Immediately the castle began to deflate. Luckily there were only two kids in there at the time, but they sank like rocks. No one got hurt and there were plenty of giggles afterwards, but it illustrated a point. The moment you remove the source of air from the bouncer, the entire thing collapses.

In Ephesians Chapter 3, Paul talks about the importance of being filled with the fullness of God.

14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. *

It doesn’t matter how long the journey has been, how many people have helped us along the way or how much effort we feel like we’ve put into it, if we try to live a Christian life under our own power and by our own strength, we will find that it simply collapses in on top of us.  In this passage, Paul reminds us that it is the power of the Spirit within us that brings the fullness of God.

It would be pretty ridiculous for me to have unrolled that bouncer, left it laying flat on the ground, and asked the kids to jump in it without ever plugging in the fan.  How much more rediculous would it be to try to live the Christian life without plugging into His Spirit.
Prayer: My prayer for you today is that you will allow God's spirit to fill you with strengthen you this week.

Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-19

* New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Triumph to Tragedy

Growing up, one of our favorite weekend pastimes was loading up into my parents’ station wagon and driving to do a time share tour. Not that we ever actually owned a time share. Nor did my parents every even seriously consider buying into one. That wasn’t the point. When we arrived on property, we had one goal and one goal only. To attain the door prize. Well, that and to allow my dad the entertainment of proving the salesman’s numbers were, in fact, inacurrate.

Truth. Sometimes it’s inconvenient.

Or so I’ve been told.

Anyway, it was the promise of prizes that made the hunt so enjoyable. You know the ones. The flyer comes in the mail advising you that you are guaranteed one of three prizes and all you have to do is attend a “brief” sales demonstration, sometimes spend the night at a ridiculously reduced rate, and BAM. It’s yours baby!

Over the years we attained some pretty cool prizes. The first two VCR’s my family ever owned came from time share tours. When combined with a gas grill, a nineteen inch color TV, a croquette set, 4 tickets to Medieval Times, and an assortment of coolers & tool kits, you can see that we were well rewarded for our weekend romps. Well, sort of anyway.

Yet of all the prizes that our time share touring brought in, none ever quite compared with the infamous “boat and motor.” I remember well the day the letter arrived. Unlike the traditional “You’ve won one of these three prizes,” spiel, it only listed one prize. In fact it not only listed it, it guaranteed it. Yes sir, right there in black and white it stated for all the world to see that we, the lucky recipients of this sacred envelope had indeed laid claim to the grandest grand prize of all, a brand new “boat and motor.”

Driving down that weekend, my mind raced over the scene that was sure to await us. I envisioned a reserved parking spot with a covered awning. A welcome reception with confetti and fruit trays where we would be awarded our grand prize amidst a cheering press corps who had been called out to document this once in a lifetime occasion. I resolved that I would not gloat over our new found fame and fortune. I would be mindful of those less fortunate time share attendees who had to content themselves with a utensil set or a soft sided cooler. No, we would accept our prize with dignity and humility and save our celebration for our first day out on the lake. When I closed my eyes I could almost hear the waves lapping the bottom of the boat as we skimmed across the water on our way to a new fishing hole. This was going to be AWESOME.

When we arrived, we discovered the time share office was actually a doublewide trailer. I looked about for our prize, but it was no where in sight. No doubt they had it secreted away somewhere and would wheel it out at the end of the tour. We got all checked in and before long, we found ourselves in a golf cart, bouncing down a dirt path to stare at the dirt lots that would eventually house the time share units.

Once this ritual was completed, we were off to the sales office. My excitement was building by the moment. After endless rounds of “looking at the numbers” and realizing that trying to manipulate numbers with a math teacher was an exercise in futility, the sales rep finally left to get our prize. I could hardly contain my excitement. I watched out the window to see them pull our boat around. After only a couple of minutes, the salesman returned and much to my confusion, handed us a small box and a bag.

There must be some mistake. We were guaranteed a “boat” and a “motor” to boot. And that was exactly what we got. An inflatable 2 man “boat” and an electric “motor”. I was beyond disappointed. This was NOT what I had in mind. Laughing it off, my dad said we’d still try it out at the lake. Soon enough, he and I headed out to give the thing a shot.

That’s when things went from bad to worse. After putting together the “motor”, we realized something. It was wonky. Instead of the J shape that one expects in a trolling motor, the propeller attached directly to the end of the shaft. This meant that when you had it pointed down in the water, the propeller pointed straight down instead of to the rear as one would actually expect from a “motor”. The entire thing looked remarkably like an oversized hand blender.

We hooked it up to the battery (which was NOT included I might add) and tried to hold it at an angle that instilled forward motion. The only way to achieve this was to point the goofy thing nearly straight out. This of course left half of the propeller sticking up out the water and resulted in a lovely rain of lake water into the boat. Thirty minutes later, we had gone about 12 feet.

I kid you not.

We kept with it, hoping we’d be able to “get the hang of it” before finally admitting defeat and hauling our already soaking wet selves to the shore. It was then that my disappointment turned to anger. This was NOT what you were supposed to get when someone offered a “boat and motor”. It didn’t fit the profile. It wasn’t what I expected.

All four Gospels give the account of Jesus’ Triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem. It is what we now celebrate as Palm Sunday. John’s gospel describes it this way:

12The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
"Hosanna! "
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Blessed is the King of Israel!" 14Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
15"Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt."(NIV)

How strange is it that just a few short days later, this exact same crowd would go from praise to anger, and rather than shouting “Hosanna”, they would instead be shouting “Crucify Him, Crucify Him”.

What was it that changed? What could cause such a dramatic shift in the thinking of this crowd?

To understand that, we need to look a bit of history.

Two hundred years before the Triumphal Entry, the city of Jerusalem was living under a military occupation just as it was at the time of Christ. Whereas in Jesus’ day, the nation of Israel was occupied by Rome, two hundred years earlier, it had been occupied by the Greeks. The Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanies believed that Jerusalem needed to be Hellenized, so he erected a statue of Zeus in the Jewish temple. Those who refused to follow the new pagan customs were arrested and executed.

A Jewish priest named Mattathias survived the slaughter of thousands and organized a resistance. Upon his death, the guerilla army was led by Mattahias’ son Judah Maccabeus. Maccabeus routed the Seleucid forces from Jerusalem and re-consecrated the temple. Then something interesting happened. Maccabeus mounted his war horse and rode through the streets of Jerusalem and the people waved palm branches and shouted “Hosanna” which by the way means “save us!”

Now fast forward 200 years. Jesus begins his ride through the streets of Jerusalem, but rather than sitting high on a war horse, he is riding on a young colt. There is no sword at his side, and no army trailing behind. Once again the people line the streets. Once again palm branches are waved. Once again the shouts of Hosanna fill the air.

The people are excited. This is their savior! This is the Messiah! He has come to fix everything that is wrong with their lives. They envisioned him conquering Rome and raising up Israel as the highest nation on earth. They saw a savior who was sent to rule an earthly kingdom. They saw Christ as Maccabeus 2.0.

Yet that was not what Christ was here to do. His kingdom was not an earthly kingdom. His mission was not on an earthly mission. He came with one goal, to die so that you wouldn’t have to.

When the people realized that this Messiah had no intention of defeating Rome, of making them prosperous and wealthy, or of giving them everything they thought they wanted in life, they became angry. This was not the deal they had signed up for. This was not the Messiah they dreamed about. And in their anger, their shouts of praise turned into shouts of hatred, shouts that led our Lord to the cross, shouts that still ring out across history.

Crucify Him.

Prayer: That this Easter season, God would remind us of the true reason Christ came to die.


Scripture: Mark 11:1-11, Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19

1 New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Flat Rate Salvation

The post office is a strange place. Not strange like wearing black socks and sandals, but strange like not knowing which fork to use at a dinner party. This unique entity brings together the unfortunate combination of standing in a slow moving line composed of dozens of strangers, with that of a room décor which, to quote the late Phil Harris, “has all the personality of an old man’s knee.”

Thus constrained to endure this unsettling arrangement, one is forced to participate in the arduous task of keeping occupied while simultaneously avoiding the appearance of staring at anyone. It was while enduring this particular experience just yesterday that I happened to spend several moments gazing at the new priority mail display.

When I was in college I spent a year working in a corporate mailroom and another year working in a pack and ship store. The modus operandi in those days was to schlep the package over the scale, wait for the needle to stop bouncing, then look it up on the chart to see how much the postage would be. The price to send the package was thus directly correlated with the weight of the box. The more items that the shipper would stick inside the box, the higher the cost to mail said box became.

Upon determining the cost to ship the box and affixing the postage, you still weren’t guaranteed success.  When the post office received the box, the very first thing they would do was weigh it again and make sure that your chart matched their chart and the price was truly paid. If not, it got sent back to you with the most dreaded of labels, Insufficient Postage. Somewhere, somehow, somebody came to the brilliant conclusion that all that weighing was becoming a bit cumbersome and decided to simplify the process. Thus the flat rate shipping box was born.

The concept is simple. Get a box, stuff whatever you want to inside it, pay the fee and wave it goodbye. Whether you stick in a single feather or load it with a pile of rocks, it doesn’t matter. The price is the same for both. There is no weighing of the package, no consulting the chart, no verification by the post office to ensure you have met the requirements, and best of all, no chance that it will be returned to you. One fee pays it all.

In the book of John, a man named Nicodemus came to see Jesus late one night. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. His entire belief system was based on making some sort of atonement in exchange for every unclean act. Everything, from touching a dead body, to eating the wrong food, to breaking a commandment had its own remedy that had to be done in accordance with the law in order to receive atonement. This not only had to be handled on a case by case basis, but had to be verified by the priest to ensure nothing was missed.

In this evening encounter, Jesus brings to Nicodemus something radical. Jesus takes this concept of sin and salvation and replaces it with a single payment for sin that wipes out all transgressions in an instantaneous soul changing sweep. In John 3:3, Jesus says "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (NIV)

This caused some confusion with Nicodemus and part of Jesus' answer became one of the best known passages in all of scripture. 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God (NIV)

Often times, we approach God as if we are still under the old system. We somehow allow Satan to convince us that the sin we have committed exceeds the limit of what Christ’s atonement is able to cover. We go through life wondering if we’ve done enough to keep our spiritual atonement from being returned to us. If that describes where you are at, it’s time to take that burden of guilt and shame and lay it at the feet of Christ. Regardless of the what you are carrying to the cross, when you give it over to God, the price is paid, the burden is lifted and salvation comes.

This Easter season, remember the price that Christ paid for you and know that In Him, his final words from the cross still ring true. “It is finished.” The price has been paid, the offer has been extended. All we have to do is accept it.

Prayer: That God will remind you that the price has been alredy paid.

Suggested Scritpure: John 3:16, Romans 5:8

Death by Volkswagen

During my second year of college, I went on a missions trip to Mexico sponsored by my college. I wound up working with the director of the trip and went as the official photographer. Each day I would go out with a different group to document the various projects being completed.

On the last work day, many of the local congregations hosted a dinner for their respective work groups. As it turned out, I wound up attending two of them. Now we had been advised to avoid partaking of the local cuisine unless we were at the hotels. However, it would have been insulting to the hosts to have refused to eat a meal that was a major sacrifice for the them to have provided. Thus, in the spirit of fostering positive international relations, I partook heartily.

All was well for a while. But as we were in the bus heading back, things began to happen. Bad things. Things that make you sweat all over and utter prayers of urgency. By the time we got to the hotel, the situation had become dire. I somehow managed to make it back to my room but I knew this was going to be a long night. The marines may have stormed the halls of Montezuma, but I stormed his bathroom.

It was soon abundantly clear that there was no way that I was going to make it to our evening service and activities. I called the trip director and let him know that if he really needed pictures, somebody was going to have to draw some. After what seemed like hours, I finally made it to bed and managed to fall asleep. I was so out of it, I didn’t even hear my roommate come in. Nor did I hear him get up the next morning.

Our group was split between two hotels. The bus that was to bring us back home was to stop at our hotel at 9:30 and load up my half of the group, then drive to the other hotel and pick up the second half of the group at 10:00. When I heard the door shut as my room mate left, I looked over at the clock. It was 9:34. GREAT JOY IN THE MORNING!

I had not packed anything the night before and sprung up and started throwing things together. By the time I had myself and my bags all situated, and managed to haul it all downstairs, the bus had already left. The other hotel was only 5 blocks away, but when you are still recovering from the ailment I had been dealing with and are also laden with luggage, that seems more like 5 miles.

Luckily there was a bellman there whom I had spoken to a few times during the trip. He realized I had missed the bus and told me “No problem. I get you a cab.” If you’ve ever wondered where old VW Bugs go to die, they get hauled to Monterrey Mexico, painted green, and turned into taxis. There were oodles of them everywhere you went. The bell man gave the driver some instructions in Spanish, threw my bags in and we were off….in the wrong direction.

I had walked between the hotels enough times that week to have our route memorized. I knew right away we were going the wrong way. I did my best to tell the driver “Plaza Hotel, Plaza Hotel.” He just nodded. This called for desperate measures. I pulled upon what little high school Spanish remained within in and said “Necessito Bano! Plaza Hotel.” I then accompanied this with the best “grunting” face I could muster.

It was then that I discovered something. Asking a Mexican cab driver to execute a U-turn is a potentially fatal undertaking. In the US, we’d find an intersection where U-Turns were permissible and wait on a light, or we’d pull into a parking lot and then back out once traffic was clear. Not this fellow. He hit the brakes and spun the wheel in a fashion reminiscent of a Hollywood action flick.

I suddenly found my face pressed flat against the window where I got a front row view of the swerving traffic barreling towards us. That’s when I said “Well that’s it. I’m going to die in a Volkswagen” I imagined the reception at the pearly gates. “You’re here early.” “Mexican Taxi Cab.” “Right...John, we got another one!”

Somehow we managed to survive the initial vector change and within seemingly seconds, we arrived in front of the Plaza. I gave the guy $5 and he seemed happy and since I was happy to be alive, we parted friends. When I finally got my luggage onto the bus, I went inside and found my roommate sitting in the lobby. I asked him “Dude! Why didn’t you wake me up?” He answered “I knew you didn’t fell good.” To which I replied “So you decided to leave me in Mexico?”

It seems a bit absurd doesn’t it? By leaving me as I was, he had actually made my situation worse. In the 10th Chapter of Luke, Jesus is being tested by an expert in the law who asks Him what must do to inherit eternal life. Let’s look at that passage for a moment.

25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" 28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." 29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" (NIV)

In response to this question, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. No doubt most of you have grown up hearing this story. Often we hear it as a call to love all regardless of race and social status. Surely that is a part of what is being told here. However, it goes deeper than that. The story is about taking action.

The injured man in this story is helpless and broken in every way that one can be. His clothing was gone, his money was gone, he was badly injured, he could no longer get to his destination. The man is the perfect representation of the world we live in. He embodies the brokenness that exists when we are apart from Christ. But he also represents the broken Christian. That person who has been ambushed by the world and it’s allure and has fallen along the road and suddenly found themselves bruised, broken and confused.

To both we are called to help bind wounds and to do all that we can do to ensure that they can pick back up and continue their journey. This passage concludes with the Jesus telling the man to “Go and do likewise”.

Last Sunday, our pastor shared the story of Jepthah, an outcast who was living in exile. In his sermon, he shared the following: “Our Father, in great grace, loved us when we were Jephthah. Looking for sinners, He found us in desperate straits. As one writer says, ‘Lifting us to the level of His much-loved Son, He brought us in, washed our wounds, and changed our direction. All our church-going and hymn-singing and long-praying and committee-sitting and religious-talking will never ease the fact that we were dug from a deep, dark deadly pit. And may we never forget it.’”

This week, take the time to look around you. See those who are hurting and in need and ask God to use you to show them the Love of Christ.

Prayer: That God would cause you to love others as you love yourself.

Suggested Scripture: Luke 10:25-37; Judges 11:1-33

Reynolds Wrap Theology

I love fireworks. I’m not all that into the little ones you shoot off by yourself. I like the BIG ones. If they don’t light up the entire sky in a shower of fire and rattle your chest when they explode, then I say, “Why even bother?” Even more exciting than fireworks alone is fireworks set to music. On my list of things I hope to do before I go to Heaven, is going to Boston on the fourth of July to see “Pops Goes the Fourth” in person.


One thing about these shows that not everyone knows is that they are ridiculously expensive to produce. Some of the shells in a professional show can run over a thousand dollars a piece. When you get shows that include hundreds or even thousands of individual shells, you can see just what a massive investment it can be. With that much money on the line, it is imperative that everything goes smoothly. A few years back, there was a special on TV that showed just how these shows come together.

The larger shows (such as the annual show in Boston) can take several days to setup. As the shells are loaded into the firing tubes and set into place for each show, the shells themselves become susceptible to their one natural enemy: rain. While they are still on the ground, even a small shower can cause major damage. The shells themselves are made out of paper and cardboard. They are plain, and actually kind of ugly looking. If they get too wet, the water will soak into the gunpowder inside and the shell will be ruined.

What is interesting, though, is that a rain shower won’t stop a show. As long as the shells stay dry, they can be fired in the rain without an issue. Once the shell is in flight, the rain doesn’t have a chance to get the powder wet before the shell explodes. This presents a quandary. How do you keep the shells dry, but still give them a clear firing path so they can be launched in the rain? The answer was ridiculously simple. Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil.

Once the shells are loaded into the firing tubes, the technicians place a piece of foil over the opening of each one and secure it with two rubber bands. The foil is strong enough to keep the shells dry, while at the same time, thin enough to allow the shell to escape the tube without slowing it down or altering its trajectory. I found this to be fascinating. Here you had a multi-million dollar show that spent months in the planning, requires dozens of technicians to coordinate, and the whole thing is protected by ten bucks worth of tin foil. How crazy is that?

But you know what would be even crazier? Having the technicians who planned, organized, and setup the display decide that they would just leave the shells in the tubes where they were safe rather than firing them off. How many people would come out to see them? How excited would they be to view millions of dollars worth of fireworks that were just sitting on the ground, hidden from sight?

The past two weeks have been an amazing time in our church. Twice now Christ has intervened and changed Pastor Rick’s message. It has been an incredible and exciting thing to be a part of. As the staff has met together over the past few weeks, we’ve been impressed with the sense that God is calling us to do something big. REALLY BIG.

In the sixth chapter of Judges, Israel found itself in a dark hour. A group known as the Midianites had completely decimated Israel. The scriptures tell us it was so bad that many had abandoned their homes and were living in caves. In the midst of this great uncertainty and tragedy was a man named Gideon. He is introduced to us while he is hiding in a wine press, threshing wheat. In this crude shelter, he seeks safety and protection from his enemy. This unlikely candidate is then called upon to lead the army of Israel to defeat the Midianites.

God sent His angels to pull Gideon out of his hiding place. God knew that Gideon could never fulfill his calling while hiding in a wine press. It is only when Gideon leaves a place that seems to offer safety and security that God is able to perform a fantastic miracle.

When we surrender fully to the Holy Spirit, His power takes the plain and ordinary gifts that we have to give, and transforms them into something truly extraordinary. He covers us with His protection and grace while we mature and grow, and He protects us from the enemy. Then, once the timing is perfect, He calls us to action, knowing that even if conditions are not ideal, His Spirit shields us from the attacks of the enemy.

What is it that God is calling you to do? And more importantly, are you willing to say, “Yes, Lord. Yes, to Your will and to Your way.”

Prayer: As the leadership team strives to hone the vision we believe God is giving us, be in prayer that we will have clarity of thought and spirit, and that we will have the courage to leave behind the comfortable in order to pursue the divine.

Suggested Scripture: Judges 6 – 7.

Difficult Journeys

I have a confession to make. I’m not a Native Texan. I know, it’s hard for me to believe too. Before moving to San Antonio in December of 1981, we actually lived in Huntsville, Alabama. One of my favorite activities in Huntsville was visiting the NASA training facility.
Among the many attractions they had. there was one in particular that I absolutely loved. It was a giant pendulum type device and on one end it was anchored to a pivot head while on the other, there was a chair to which a gigantic spring had been welded. The device simulated the moon’s gravity and after you got yourself going, you could really get some monster bounces.

I didn’t understand at the time that this contraption had a purpose. For me it was simply a mode of entertainment. It was not until I was older that I realized that this piece of equipment had been designed to prepare astronauts for the unexpected and unsettling environment into which they were about to be thrust. Their success or failure hinged on their ability to perform their assigned tasks once they reached their destination.

I wish sometimes that life were that way. How many times have we gone through a situation where we thought “God, couldn’t You have warned me? Could You not have prepared me better?”

It’s not a new thought process by any means. In Genesis chapter 37, a series of events is put into motion that forever changes the life of a young boy. Joseph, the baby of the family, is known as Daddy’s favorite, the dreamer, the one with the fancy coat.

One day his father sends him to find his brothers, and in their jealousy, they decide the best thing to do is kill him. Yet one brother, Ruben, convinces the others to spare his life. When Joseph arrives in their camp, the brothers put their plan into motion. Verse 23, ” When Joseph reached his brothers, they ripped off the fancy coat he was wearing, grabbed him, and threw him into a cistern.” (MSG)

You have to wonder at that point what Joseph was thinking. I’m sure at first it seemed like a joke. No doubt this was simply some sort of brotherly prank. Joseph probably wasn’t overly worried at first. Then he hears the caravan of Ishmaelite traders passing by. Hushed conversation is taking place above. A strange face pokes itself over the rim of the cistern and glares down at him. Beside it, the faces of his brothers. He looks into their eyes and he knows that this is something far more treacherous.

We can only imagine the horror that Joseph must have felt when he was hauled out of the cistern, bound, and handed over as a slave. How his mind must have raced on the walk from Israel to Egypt. As the days turned into weeks and each step he took brought him further from his home and family, no doubt Joseph’s soul screamed out to God for deliverance. And yet, inexplicably he found himself on the trading block being sold into a life of slavery in a foreign land.

Can you imagine what he must have felt? Hopelessness? Isolation? Despair? Soon Joseph meets his new master and is brought to serve Potiphar. The scriptures tell us that God was with Joseph and that he found favor with Potiphar. In chapter 39, things are going well for Joseph. Until he has an encounter with Potiphar’s wife. We all know the story. She attempted to seduce him, he refused, and in her anger, she accused him of attempting to force himself on her. Joseph is once again bound and now he is dragged off to prison.

Can you imagine what he must have felt this time? Here God has been working in his life, things have improved. Sure not everything as was as perfect as it was before, but still it was better than prison! What was the point of this? If God wanted him to rot in a cell, why not just leave him in the cistern in Israel? At least there Joseph would die in his own land!

Then God did something weird. The gift of dreaming that had caused his brothers’ jealousy in the first place, was used to not only free Joseph from prison, but to elevate him to the second highest office in all of Egypt. God took the situation Joseph was in and used the sin and bad intentions of others to bring about good.

It makes you wonder if perhaps I asked the wrong question before. Maybe it's not "Why didn't God help me prepare for this", it's more, "God SHOW me how you've prepared me to deal with this."

There’s something vital we need to understand about this story. Joseph wound up suffering because of the sin of other people. God did not CAUSE those people to sin. This is a HUGE theological idea you need to grasp. Sin is a CHOICE. It is something we willfully do. When situations occur in which we suffer from the sin of others, it is not God who is to blame. Yet, in those situations, God can take what was meant as evil, acts of hatred directed against us, and turn them around and use them to elevate us in ways we never thought possible.

As it was with Joseph, when we look at our past and examine those experiences which seemed insignificant or inconvenient at the time, we realize that God was working then to prepare us for the trials we would inevitably encounter. The blessing of being a Christian is not that bad things never happen to us. The blessing is that God takes those things which Satan intends to use to destroy us and He uses them to build us up, strengthen us, and bring us through stronger and wholly restored.

Last Sunday, Pastor Rick shared with us the story of the last supper. In it, he reminded us of the words of Christ in John Chapter 14. 1"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3"If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. (NASB)

Regardless of where we are led in life, always remember that NOTHING can alter our final destination.

Prayer: That God would help you see His hand in the rearview mirror of your life, and that He would prepare you now for those things in your future that Satan intends to use for evil.

Suggested Scriptures: John Chapter 14, Genesis Chapter 37, & 39-45.

Dream the Impossible

I always love stories which involve overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. One of my favorites is the story of the Dixie Landings Oaks. When Disney Imagineers were looking to construct a new hotel at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, they wanted to create the look of a sleepy southern town on the Mississippi delta. There was only one problem. The land they were building on was a swamp.

After building a series of canals to drain the area, and clearing out all of the brush and debris, the design team realized that even if they managed to build southern looking buildings, the foliage was a stark reminder that this was still a former swamp.

After searching for a suitable answer to this problem, they discovered two massive oak trees, each over 100 years old. These would make the perfect addition to the resort and help sell the illusion they were trying to create. There was only one small problem. The trees were located 13 miles away and weighed in at a daunting 85 tons each!

Unwilling to let the idea go, the Imagineers began working on a way to transplant the two massive trees. Experts told them they were crazy. There was no way to dig them up in one piece, no way to keep them alive, no way to haul them that far, no way to keep a 6 story tree from falling off a truck. It was impossible. It was time to give up and find another way.

Never a group to back down from a challenge, the Imagineers worked to come up with a plan to safely move the trees and re-plant them in their new home. Finally, in April of 1991, after months of preparation, an army of technicians surround the trees and began working on digging them out.

To protect the roots, they constructed Cyrpess boxes 22 feet square. (That’s as tall as the ceiling of our sanctuary.) They used cranes to lift each tree onto special flatbed trailers. While in transit, the cranes rolled slowly next to the trucks, keeping the trees aloft. Crews went ahead of them and removed 108 light poles and six traffic signals so the trees could pass by.

Finally, after a 3 day journey, the trees reached their new home. One was planted in the center of the resort, around which the resort’s recreation area, Old Man Island, was built. The second was planted at the entrance of the resort so that it was the first thing seen when guests would arrive. They had done it . Though it took a tremendous amount of time, effort, energy, cooperation, and faith, they had done the impossible. Today, the trees are alive and growing and their offspring have been planted throughout the resort.

Last Sunday, our pator shared with us the story of the feeding of the five thousand. What is interesting about this passage is that before Jesus fed the crowds, he first asked his disciples to get the people something to eat. They scoffed at the idea. They said it was impossible. There were certain it could not be done. In fact in Mark 6:37, the disciples respond with "That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?" (NIV)

There are a couple of things going on in this passage. Remember how the disciples had just returned from their preaching journey? Now they were finally back with Jesus, they were tired, and they had needs. After all, they were hungry too. They needed to eat and they deserved a break after all that hard work. Now here is Jesus, asking them to do something that was IMPOSSIBLE financially. To add insult to injury, not only could they not do what Jesus was asking, they couldn’t even feed themselves. They didn’t have enough food for the 12 of them to get a decent meal.

Yet in pointing out their inadequacy to do the task at hand, Christ teaches them something life changing. He takes the little bit they have to give and supernaturally expands it to feed thousands. But as great as the miracle is, it doesn’t end there.

Mark’s account goes on. “42They all ate and were satisfied, 43and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.” (NIV)

So what you now have are the disciples not only finding sustenance for that meal, they discover that there is so much excess food left over that they now each have a basket of provisions to get them through the next several days. I believe one of the points that Jesus was trying to make was that when we allow him to do the impossible, he multiplies not only what we have to offer to others, but he gives back provisioning to us that is even greater than what we had to start.

What impossible thing is God calling you to do? What obstacles are you seeing that make it seem impossible?  How much more glory will God get when He takes what little we have to offer and does something impossible with it?

Prayer - Be in prayer for the church and it’s leadership as we seek out the impossible.

Suggested Scriptures - Mark Chapter 6, Matthew Chapter 15, Judges Chapters 6-7