Cross-Threaded

About a year ago I wrote a blog entry about the nuts and bolts of life. I was recently reminded again of the importance of all this as I was working with a stubborn bolt on the lawn mower. The concept,at least for me, is worth repeating on a regular basis.

Among the many practical inventions of man is the simple nut and bolt combination with threads that allow the nut to tighten down and hold things together. I remember learning the “nuts and bolts” of these gadgets and in the process I found that if you start the nut on the bolt crooked, it becomes cross-threaded. In that state, it will not get tight and will ruin the threads on the bolt. It then requires what is called a “Tap and Dye” set to remake the threads.

The life lesson in this is that some days, we start crooked and get cross-threaded. We get frustrated and attempt to cinch down anyway and find ourselves unable to be of service. Prayer, if done correctly, is a time of allowing God to tap into our stripped threads and re-establish a solid connection. Many people simple walk around in a cross-threaded state and find a lack of joy and peace. They “settle” for the mediocrity of crooked living and do not get much done. As always, the sooner we allow God to repair the situation, the less damage we cause.

The old advice is to “Get our head screwed on straight”. That will not happen outside of an established relationship with Jesus Christ.

Heaven Invading Earth

I am an avid reader. At least I thought so until I talked with someone this week who is a voracious reader. Someone who is so hungry to devour books that they don’t put it down until every page has been read. This kind of person would rather read than sleep. They would read while others watch TV. As just an avid reader, I still put the book down from time to time to sleep, eat or perhaps even watch TV. I usually am reading at least 2 books to allow me to use one as a thought generator and one as a serious cover to cover experience. Right now, I am reading a book by Bill Johnson entitled, “When Heaven invades Earth”, a practical guide to a life of miracles. I have been listening to his podcasts for awhile and find that he stretches my faith in the area of believing for bigger things from God. Here is a line I read this morning:

“It is abnormal for a Christian not to have an appetite for the impossible. It has been written into our spiritual DNA to hunger for the impossibilities around us to bow at the name of Jesus.”

He says the normal Christian life should view problems as miracle opportunities. I was planning to read this book as a devotional where I read just a few pages a day over a several month period. However, It has become a cover to cover experience and I find that I am unable to put it down after just a page or two. It stirs me to trust God at a higher level.

Another book that has captured me this year is “The externally focused Church” by Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson. I am using this as true devotional material finding gems to ponder and letting them digest before going on to the next. My gem from this morning is on page 174:

“Sometimes in ministry we assume we need to get everything just so before we can start-that people need to get the whole picture and have complete understanding before they can move forward. But the truth is, all they really need is enough understanding to get started. Part of being externally focused is to build the road as we travel it. We don’t need the entire road before we begin the journey, only enough to take the next step.”

One more thought this morning- I spend some time each day reading the Bible. The Word of God is the authority that helps we keep perspective while reading other material. It gives me a benchmark to judge the other stuff by. If time is limited, I need to choose Bible first, then other books.

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” ( Romans 10:17 )

There is no Plan B

My life is blessed with some of the most awesome people in the world. I feel like I live in the Mosaic that has an unlimited possibility of interpretations and colors. I can stand in one corner of my life and see a perspective of the hand of God at work. Then go to a different vantage point and see the other side of the hand of God. The two can at times seem to be totally different but I know by faith that God is not changing His mind from day to day. God has no plan B that he may need to switch to when things go awry. He is that standard and puts each piece of the Mosaic in place with an intended purpose and plan. Some of the pieces are ornamental and some are crucial keystones that hold the project together.

“We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.”
Jimmy Carter


Some have said that music is the Mosaic of the air. All added together life is this wonderful and sometimes tragic picture created by the many stones of relationship along the way.

I am asking God today to help me appreciate the wonderful friends and acquaintances who make up the mosaic of my life. Some of you just make me look good and other of you cause life to make sense and have stability. You are all highly valuable.

I am blessed.

Safely Lifting Your Load

Most of today's blog is a rerun of an idea I blogged about a year ago. The concept is so important that it needs to be said at least once every year. I thought of this as we were shoveling snow (AGAIN!) yesterday. It was a wet spring like snow that needed the shovel rather than the snow blower. Through the years, I have learned (the hard way) to lift the load correctly. I now can usually man the snow shovel without destroying my back muscles. It’s not the load you carry that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.

It seems I am around more and more people who are lugging tremendous loads through life. Much of the counseling I do as pastor is to help people both see just how much baggage they carry and pray for them that they will have new perspective on how to manage it. What we usually find is that much of what we think we are to carry is not ours to carry anyway. Pride has stepped in and given us the assignment so that others will look at us and be amazed at the load we lug. As always, today is a great day to set pride aside and move in freedom “setting aside the weight and the sin that so easily besets us.” (Hebrews 12) Making that change is not easy. One publication put it this way: “ Nothing is as hard to do gracefully as getting down from your high horse.” Remember today that God has chosen you
( The Greek word means elected you ) to receive blessings. Our part is to thank Him and praise Him, seeking to live fully for Him all our days. It is Tuesday morning. Tuesdays are a great day to decide to be free from baggage. God’s miracle will be yours today if you ask and listen.

One of my favorite chorus’ at church:

Lord Most High

From the ends of the earth
From the depths of the sea
From the heights of the heaven
Your name be praised
From the hearts of the weak
From the shouts of the strong
From the lips of all people
This song we raise, Lord

Through-out the endless ages
You will be crowned with praises
Lord, Most High
Exalted in every nation
Sovereign of all creation,
Lord, Most High, be magnified

Connect the dots

The Bible says we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Among the amazing parts of our design is the “Reticular Activating System”, that part of the brainstem that plays a central role in bodily and behavioral alertness. It’s the part of you that decides what you are going to be aware of. It’s the part of you that notices all the red Ford Explorers on the road after you buy one. Or the part of you that senses the presence of God everywhere you turn once you decide to be serious about your spirituality. It connects the dots around you. I think that needs to be a regular prayer request for me: that God will help me to connect the dots today. The activity that I am involved in this morning will affect my response to the activity I am involved in this afternoon or tonight.
It seems to me that God has given us this system for a good reason. Many of the connections we need to make can only happen when we have come through other connection points. In college there were pre-requisite classes before you could sign up for the advanced class. I think my connection point of this blog each morning is fascinating because of the global nature of the connection. You might be reading this from anywhere on earth through the internet. May God bless you as you “Connect the Dots”.

Pro-Active Balance

The art of being pro-active as opposed to being re-active is a learned art. One of the thought provokers that I read is Bobb Biehl. He recently wrote about the seriousness of life imbalance. This simple paragraph is good advice.

“Life imbalance is typically the result of the lack of balanced scheduling. You can control your scheduling. Therefore, you create balance in your life by what you allow to be scheduled. …We can’t always control our schedules in some seasons of life. You will be out of balance occasionally. But keep pro-actively scheduling balance/breaks back into your life. You will be pro-active, not reactive.”

Sometimes our schedule just happens because interruptions get thrown in. I have learned that interruptions are a fact of life and if I plan time for them, I can do a better job of staying on schedule. The trick is getting the interruptions to happen when they are scheduled. It would be great if the interruptions would call ahead and let us know perhaps a day in advance. But, life does not happen that way so we need to have something built in to the schedule to allow us to deal with them. They do not need to keep us off balance the whole day.
I have a friend with inner ear problems. The hardest part of that is the lack of balance. I take balance for granted. Just being able to get up from a chair and easily stand or walk is really a miracle of how we were created by God. Sometimes we do fine in the physical realm of balance but find our schedules are toppling over on us. I like the idea of “Balance Breaks”. I’m not sure what they look like yet but I am going to schedule some.
I guess no one else is going to schedule them for me.

“For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.”

Philippians 4:13