I Smell Roast Duck

First Sunday of Advent

The first Sunday of Advent begins tomorrow.  I found the following words encouraging in regard to preparing and celebrating this advent season 2009.

Advent…… helps us to understand the fullness of the value and meaning and mystery of  Christmas.  It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea.  Instead, we must understand that our whole life should be an “advent.” in vigilant expectation of Christ’s final coming. To prepare our hearts to welcome the Lord, who, as we say in, the Creed, will come one day to judge the living, and the dead, we must learn to recognize his presence in the events of daily life.  Advent is then, a period of intense training that directs us decisively to the One who has already come, who will come and who continuously comes.  — Pope John Paul II (POLAND/1920-2005)

Prayer for Watchfulness

Keep us, O Lord,

while we tarry on this earth,

in serious seeking after you,

and in an affectionate walking with you,

every day of our lives;

that when you come,

we may be found not hiding our talent,

nor serving the flesh,

nor yet asleep with our lamp unfurnished,

but waiting and longing for our Lord,

our glorious God for ever.

Amen.

– RICHARD BAXTER (ENGLAND/1615-1691)

God is great! Life is good! I am blessed!

I seem to be keeping fairly busy lately.  Not blogging as much as normal, although normal is not all that much.  Nevertheless, the last few days I’ve spent a good deal of time getting acquainted with my newest grandchild Isla Mae since her arrival Saturday October 24th. Isn’t she beautiful!  I have ten other grandchildren just as wonderful. Once again I am reminded that: God is great! Life is good! I am blessed!!  Life just doesn’t get any better this side of eternity.

Chuck Swindoll’s 10 Lifetime Leadership Lessons

During the recent Catalyst Conference in Atlanta Chuck Swindoll shared “10 Things I Have Learned During 50 Years in Leadership. These can be found at Out of Ur Newsletter.  Because I’ve followed Swindoll’s ministry for years and have deep respect for him, here they are:

1. It’s lonely to lead.  Leadership involves tough decisions. The tougher the decision, the lonelier it is.
2. It’s dangerous to succeed.  I’m most concerned for those who aren’t even 30 and are very gifted and successful. Sometimes God uses someone right out of youth, but usually he uses leaders who have been crushed.
3. It’s hardest at home.  No one ever told me this in Seminary.
4. It’s essential to be real.  If there’s one realm where phoniness is common, it’s among leaders.  Stay real.
5. It’s painful to obey.  The Lord will direct you to do some things that won’t be your choice.  Invariably you will give up what you want to do for the cross.
6. Brokenness and failure are necessary.
7. Attitude is more important than actions.  Your family may not have told you: some of you are hard to be around.  A bad attitude overshadows good actions.
8. Integrity eclipse image. Today we highlight image. But it’s what you’re doing behind the scenes.
9. God’s way is better than my way.
10. Christlikeness begins and ends with humility.

Salvation for Me and Me Alone

Soong-Chan Rah writes:

The expression of excessive individualism in local church life is rooted in the excessive individualism of Western evangelical theology. Evangelicalism’s idolatry of  the individual has crippled the church’s ability to view sin and salvation outside of the narrow parameters of a personal faith. Evangelical theology becomes exclusively an individual-driven theology instead of a community-driven theology. In an individual driven theology, individual sin takes center stage.

Wonderful Quote & Prayer

Reading Pete Greig’s book, God on Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer I came across the following in reference to Romans 8:38:

Not angels and not demons. Not cancer wards and not concentration camps. Not loneliness and not fear.  Not bankruptcy, not bereavement, not barrenness. Nothing we endure has the innate power to tear us away from the ultimate reality of the fact that we are loved eternally by Abba, Father.

Prayer

Abba, Father, I know all this stuff about Your love in my head, but my heart gets hard to it and I’m tired.  Please do whatever You’ve got to do (and I mean whatever) to unclinch my fists.  Pry open my eyes so that I can see Your tears and soften my heart so that it moves me deeply.  I don’t understand why You don’t just answer my prayers, but I do choose to trust that You have heard me, that You actually do care and that You’re somewhere out there on my case.  Abba, Father, thank You for all the ways You have blessed me.  I honestly don’t know what I’d do, where I’d be or even who I’d have become without You.  Abba, Father, I am going to try to trust You today.  Amen [page 56].

Money and God

Tell me what you think about money, and I can tell you what you think about God, for these two are closely related.  Men and women’s hearts are closer to their wallets than almost anything else.  The hardest thing for you to give up is your money.  It represents your time, your energy, your talents, your total personality converted into currency.  But the Scripture teaches that we are only stewards for a little while of all we earn.

– Billy Graham

God is good! All the Time!

I’ve been basking in the words “Cancer Free” voiced by my oncologist August 24th following seven months enduring chemotherapy and all the stuff that goes with it. Needless to say these are the words Linda and I desperately wanted to hear; more than words themselves can describe.

Thoughtfully musing, and pondering this whole experience has reminded me once again of the wonderful goodness of God; maybe in a deeper, more real way then in previous times.  God is good all the time even in the not-so-good times.

What if  we had not heard the words “cancer free,” but something else which honestly I was half expecting.  After all, my cancer was at stage three, plus it was an aggressive form.  Is God’s goodness only real when good things happen and not the bad such as sickness, disease, trials, tribulations and what some would describe as godawful?

The Happy Dance Psalm

Tuesday morning a day after hearing the good news “Cancer Free,”  I spent some time reading in Psalms.  I came across the following Psalm and found it to be somewhat biographical this last eight months.  I share it here because it blessed me and refer to it now as the “Happy Dance” Psalm.

1  I will exalt you, LORD, for you rescued me.

You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.

2  O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,

and you restored my health.

3  You brought me up from the grave, O LORD.

You kept me from falling into the pit of death.

4  Sing to the LORD, all you godly ones!

Praise his holy name.

5  For his anger lasts only a moment,

but his favor lasts a lifetime!

Weeping may last through the night,

but joy comes with the morning.

6  When I was prosperous, I said,

“Nothing can stop me now!”

7   Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain.

Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.

8   I cried out to you, O LORD.

I begged  the LORD for mercy, saying,

9   “What will you gain if I die, if I sink into the grave?

Can my dust praise you? Can it tell of your faithfulness?

10  Hear me, LORD, and have mercy on me.

Help me, O LORD.”

11  You have turned my mourning into

into joyful (happy) dancing.

You have taken away my clothes of

mourning and clothed me with joy,

12  that I might sing praises to you and not

be silent.

O LORD my God, I will give you thanks

forever [Psalms 30, NLT]