Thursday, July 31, 2008

Are You Listening?

Before refrigerators, people used iceboxes to cool and preserve their food.  They depended on a regular delivery of ice from the local ice house to keep their icebox working. Ice houses had thick walls, no windows, and a tightly fitted door. In winter, when streams and lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut, hauled to the ice houses, and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last well into the summer.

Once a man lost a valuable watch while working in a local ice house. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn’t find it. His fellow workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved futile.

A small boy heard about the fruitless search and slipped into the ice house during the workmen’s lunch hour to conduct his own search.  The lad soon emerged with the watch.  Amazed, the men asked him how he found it.

“I closed the door,” the boy replied, “lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking.”

The question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are being still enough to hear Him speak.

Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.  (Proverbs 8:34-35 ESV)

Posted by Jim at 15:52:07 | Permalink | No Comments »

Friday, July 11, 2008

The Bible Translation Battle

From time to time, people ask me advice about which translation of the Bible they should purchase.  Usually they are interested in getting a faithful and readable English translation which will help them as they study the Scriptures.  I delight in those opportunities and after asking them a few questions I can give them several suggestions which will meet their needs.

I have also been approached concerning translations in a combative way.  That is something I do not delight in.  Sometimes people want to argue over which translation is best or they want to criticize a particular translation or they want to tell you why the translation they use is the only one that is acceptable.  When that gets started, I had rather be someplace else!

Yesterday, I read an article by Michael Spencer that speaks with good sense about the “translations battle.”  Click on the link, read it, and let the bickering over which is better be done.  An even better idea is get your Bible (whatever the translation), read it, and be blessed! 

Posted by Jim at 14:02:12 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Thursday, July 10, 2008

I Needed That

I have felt a bit worn and weary lately.  Sometimes the emotional toll of sharing people’s joys and sorrows gets a bit heavy, because sorrow seems so much more prevalent than joy.  I know all the correct theological arguments about how joy is not dependant on our “happenings” but I still fall victim sometimes to the “blues.”  But even when feeling “down in the dumps” I know that God knows just how and when to refresh me.  He is the source of my joy, so naturally I turn to Him.   And even if we don’t turn our eyes to Him, He still has compassion on His children that are staring dumbfounded at the chaos around them.

Last evening God refreshed me in a huge way.  One of the boys in our church came and found me after services.  That isn’t all that unusual for this young man, his brother, and sister, because they usually show me affection and respect.  As a matter of fact, all three of the siblings came by and spoke to me at separate times, but it was the youngest one who came last as a special blessing from God.

Noah came right up at my greeting even though several adults were standing talking with me.  I stopped and asked him about his day and we talked a few short minutes.  Then he said, “We’re (his family) leaving next year.”  My wife and I responded simultaneously, “We know and we don’t want you to go.”

Then Noah said one of the nicest things that has ever been said to me, “I don’t want to go either, because you are the best pastor I’ve ever had.”  This was said with no guile or agenda as he came to hug me.  It melted my heart!

As I thought about his comment later, I knew it was not true.  I am not the best pastor.  I can be difficult and even distant at times.  But because this little boy thought that I was the best, it really made me want to be the best pastor ever. 

So I said, “God, You sent Noah to tell me that and for You, him, and all the other children (and adults) I want to be the best.  When I am tired, give me strength.  When I am distracted, help me focus.  When I am aggravated, help me be calm.  When I don’t care, help me care deeply.  God, help me be the man you want me to be.”

Posted by Jim at 14:06:51 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Hidden Treasure

In 1989, a man bought a four-dollar painting from a flea market because he liked the frame. When he got home, he noticed there was a tear in the back of the painting in the frame. He gently pulled out the piece of paper caught between the picture and the frame only to find a copy of the Declaration of Independence printed July 4, 1776.  The financial analyst who bought the painting had the savvy to take it to researchers and authenticators who determined it was one of the 500 official copies from the first printing of the document rendered on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia.  The man let the rare document be offered for sale by Sotheby’s and it brought him a cool $2.42 million.  Many people undoubtedly passed by this hidden treasure without ever realizing its worth. 

Today many also pass by Jesus without realizing His infinite value.

Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” (1 Peter 2:7 NKJV)

Posted by Jim at 21:23:14 | Permalink | No Comments »

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

The Duty of Nations and Men

Since our nation’s birthday is fast approaching, consider these words from our sixteenth president:

“It is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”  – from a proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln – March 30, 1863
Posted by Jim at 22:52:23 | Permalink | No Comments »