Through His Eyes: January 2007

Reality Check & 24

I got an important call fifteen minutes into my favorite show, 24, last night. The first thing I thought was "who would call during 24?". It was about a person who was hurting, and all of the sudden a TV show was not so important.

I think, at least for guys, 24 and Jack Baur are fun to watch because we can leave the real world for a while and imagine ourselves being the heroes we imagined being when we were kids.

There is a real world and we are a part of it. And our mission here, whether we decide to accept it or not, is to be God's love with skin and care more about others than ourselves. Jesus left Heaven and came here to prepare us for our mission...

I also thank the Lord for VCRs........

Prayer of St. Francis - Spiritual Maturity

A true sign of spiritual maturity is the ability to die to my own wants and care more for the ministry toward others.

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:11-12

This prayer by St. Francis of Assisi is a good prayer to keep in our hearts. It is a prayer to be more Christ-like....

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master,grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Choose Joy

"Two people can be victims of the same accident. For the one, it becomes the source of resentment; for the other, the source of gratitude. The external circumstances are the same, but the choice of response is completely different. Some people become bitter as they grow old. Others grow old joyfully. That does not mean that the life of those who become bitter was harder then the life of those who become joyful. It means that different choices were made, inner choices, choices of the heart."

Here and Now by Henri Nouwen (pg. 32)

O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in you. Psalm 84:12

Moms and Dads Need to Know MYSPACE

I am a pastor and I work with teens and their parents every day. Parents want to know what is going on in their child's life but they are not ever sure what is OK and when they are stepping over the privacy lines.

Just about every teen I know has a myspace account. I have thought about holding a class on Myspace for parents. Now parents, there is a book for parents about MYSpace. I have not read it yet because it does not come out till the middle of February. I have pre-ordered several because I know some parents in our church will want a copy.

Christianity today has an article, "A Mom's Guide to MySpace - What you need to know about this popular website" by Connie Neal

You can pre-order the book at Christianbook.com here....MySpace For Moms And Dads

Parents, know your kids world.

Do I Love God Like I Used To

from Oswald Chambers......

Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Does everything in my life fill His heart with gladness, or do I constantly complain because things don’t seem to be going my way? A person who has forgotten what God treasures will not be filled with joy. It is wonderful to remember that Jesus Christ has needs which we can meet— "Give Me a drink" (John 4:7). How much kindness have I shown Him in the past week? Has my life been a good reflection on His reputation?

God is saying to His people, "You are not in love with Me now, but I remember a time when you were." He says, "I remember . . . the love of your betrothal . . ." (Jeremiah 2:2). Am I as filled to overflowing with love for Jesus Christ as I was in the beginning, when I went out of my way to prove my devotion to Him? Does He ever find me pondering the time when I cared only for Him? Is that where I am now, or have I chosen man’s wisdom over true love for Him? Am I so in love with Him that I take no thought for where He might lead me? Or am I watching to see how much respect I get as I measure how much service I should give Him?

As I recall what God remembers about me, I may also begin to realize that He is not what He used to be to me. When this happens, I should allow the shame and humiliation it creates in my life, because it will bring godly sorrow, and "godly sorrow produces repentance . . ." (2 Corinthians 7:10)