Mysteries

Do any of you enjoy a good mystery?
The theaters and bookstores would suggest we do, especially when the end leaves us hanging and we can speculate and discuss, argue even, about “who done it”. It makes us feel like we have a say or some sort of control over history.

Think about the different mysteries in life.
• How can a humming bird fly?
• Why do children from the same family turn out so differently?
• Why do flowers cheer us up when we are sad?
• Why are dandelions considered weeds to be eliminated?
• Why do women need 10 pairs of black shoes (this might be a mystery to men but every woman knows why).
• Why are dogs so loyal and cats so … well you know how cats are? (Maybe I love cats because you have to earn their affection???)
• How can one place feel like home and another not?

And then there are the more difficult mysteries.
• Why do we just know that it’s wrong to kill babies?
• How can God be good and all powerful and yet let evil abound on earth?

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Uncovering Unvoiced Expectations

I would like to suggest something to you, something I believe we do constantly. It is unconscious and unvoiced. It has the ability to put us into a state of euphoria or deep depression depending on the outcome. It is cultural and very human, yet fraught with false expectation and impotent power.

We do this from young on. Its root at the very worst is pride – I’m central, I’m deserving, I’m superior. At the least its root is fear. And we know that neither root is of God. In fact He says:

God opposes the proud but favors the humble. (Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5)
The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? (Psalm 56:11; 118:6)

This thing happens when we ask God for something. We might say, “Lord, please help me find work.” What we really do is tack on the word “NOW” without even realizing it.

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My Story…His Plan

“You must be very careful not to forget the things you have seen God do for you. Keep reminding yourselves, and tell your children and grandchildren as well.”
Deuteronomy 4:9 (Contemporary English Version)

In our recent Missions Weekend, I was struck by one of the lines in the song we sang, which said, “Somehow my story is a part of Your plan”. Hold that thought…

My family and I were recently blessed by being able to take a trip to revisit the place where the kids were born when we lived in the UK. Along the way, we made stops in Amsterdam, Paris, York, London, and our former home, Lincoln.

All are very historic cities, and all have places of ‘monuments to faith’ – cathedrals, etc… all built in a day gone by, when Christian influence was so significant in Europe. But today, they’re only relics and curiosities for most people.

However, one of the great moments was at York Minster. Amongst the throngs of tourists, the voice on the loudspeaker interrupted everyone at 3pm to invite them to honour the place as being a house of prayer, and to silently wait or join in as the person said afternoon prayers – reminding everyone that it is still a place of worship!

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Camels and Needle’s Eyes

I preached this past weekend at the church from James 1:9-11 and during the sermon I made reference to Jesus’ story about the Rich Ruler in Luke 18. If you weren’t there or just fell asleep during that portion of the sermon (who could blame you?!), the story is about a rich guy who comes to Jesus and wants to know how he can obtain eternal life. Jesus gives him some pointers about keeping the Mosaic Law and the rich guy happily responds, “I have done all of that since I was a kid.” Knowing that the guy’s wealth had become his real God, Jesus asked him to sell everything, give the money to the poor, and come follow him. At this, the rich guy was crushed and he went away. Then Luke writes these words…

Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (ESV)

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Are You Multi-Lingual?

I can remember taking French class back in high school and asking the question most students across North America ask, “What good is this going to do for me 10 years from now?“ French, Spanish, Greek class…it doesn’t matter; and in fact if we were honest, most of us really were not all that interested in “broadening” our linguistic horizons.

Nineteen years removed from high school and I’ve re-thought my stance that a working knowledge of a second language could have come in handy!  It amazes me how people can learn to communicate in 2, 3, even 4 different languages…and do so fluently.  It certainly opens up a wide range of possibilities in life. Now if you’re anything like me (and one of me is enough!), you probably have learned a lesson or two in how to communicate in a relationship.  Whether you’re married, single or have children, we’re all ingrained with distinct and natural ways of receiving and initiating communication. 

I’ve come to learn a harsh reality in life that, in most situations, unhappiness in marriages and families often has a simple root cause: we speak different love languages!  We all have the need to love and to be loved, and we all express and communicate that in distinct means.  What if we could learn how to be multi-lingual in our love and expression languages?  Could that possibly make relationships, and life, a little more sensible?

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