Flash Mob

Do you know what a flash mob is? If not, it is usually a group of singers who start singing in a public place, first one person and then another until the entire group is entertaining everyone who is standing around. Still not sure what I mean? If you to Godvine.com or Godtube.com and search for “flash mob” you will find a variety examples. For instance, one of my favorites takes place on a subway when a guy starts singing, “Amazing Grace”. First it is just him and then gradually the entire choir is singing. At the end of the song, they all just get off at the next stop. Another one happened at Five Points South intersection in Birmingham, AL when a large Gospel choir builds from one man to the full choir singing and dancing to “Every Praise.” Check them out. Flash mobs are used for a variety of reasons, not just gospel music, such as setting the scene for a marriage proposal, or a surprise at a wedding reception, entertaining people at a mall with Christmas music. One unusual one was an opera group singing “Funiculi, Funicula” at a London supermarket. By now you should have some idea what I mean and if you go to either website you can entertain yourself for quite some time just listening to flash mob music.

While they have become popular and surprising for several years now, they are not really new. Jesus used the same method to build His ministry. He started with a small group, just twelve followers picked one at a time. Then that group grew to several dozen, and, at one point we are told the story of a flash mob of 5,000 men, plus women and children, who were being moved to the mystical music of His message. What happened at the end of that service, that sermon? They dispersed and went their own ways. Over time, their numbers grew and formed other flash mobs, other groups who got together just a few at a time until they grew into large numbers of people and the large numbers of groups, a sort of super flash mob.

Jesus himself asked the apostles what they came out to hear. They heard what their souls were starving to hear, the Word of God. After Christ rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven, the Holy Spirit came to all of the apostles and infused them with the knowledge and the desire to go out to tell the world about Jesus. Again, they each formed their own flash mobs. Whether it was in Rome’s catacombs or the Middle East or any of hundreds of places, they planted their churches, nourished them, and helped them to grow.

Today we refer to them as congregations or parishes or just members. They are just groups of people who have gathered together to pray and worship God and live the Christian lifestyle that His Son taught us about.

Perhaps you might be the nucleus of a flash mob. Maybe you are appointed or selected by God to start your own flash mob of people like yourself who want to worship God, giving Him praise and thanksgiving, and thanking Him for sending His only son to set us free from sin so we can spend eternity with Him, Jesus, and the Hold Spirit.

You don’t have to go out and plant a church or get a degree in ministry to do this. Just spend your life in the manner He wants you to spend it and He will surround you with people, with your own flash mob. If you do, you will have His thanks for leading His mob back to Him. It doesn’t have to be a formal group, just one that can see what you have and do that reflects back to Him.

Coming Home

Coming home. Two of the best sounding words you can either say or hear. I have had the opportunity to say those words several times over the years. When I got home, it was a big hug and kiss from my wife and lots of jumping and tail-wagging from the dogs. Coming home is just something that feels good and right, whether I have been gone just a week or so or for several months. The separation may have been easier than in earlier years, with phone calls, emails and video calls, but there is nothing quite like the feeling of finally getting home.

There are other ways of leaving home other than on a plane or in a car. Sometimes it is just a matter of packing the bags and moving out on your own. You may remember that first job or going away to college or following some future spouse. Whichever one it was or whatever took you away, there was also that place you started from, the home base. It may have been weeks or months, or even years, but sooner or later you came back. It was a hearty welcome from the folks, friends you knew, old pets who never forgot you, and other sites and memories. Perhaps you got to introduce new family members, like a spouse and kids. Whatever the circumstances, there was just that special feeling when you walked in the door.

There are other things we sometimes leave behind. Sometimes we take off and leave our core beliefs behind. Maybe when we go off to find ourselves, a popular excuse once upon a time, we leave family and God behind. We seem to think that we have to do it our way and, in a sense of rebellion, we drop our beliefs on the doorstep as we leave. Over the years that follow, we may find other things to believe or nothing at all. When we do return home, we may politely follow the family to church on Sunday morning, but our heart isn’t really in it and the daydreams during the sermon are a handy way to pass the time until the service is over. Then it is off to our own life, your own world so we can pick up life the way you like it.

If we are either lucky or smart, we may find ourselves in a state of discontent one day. It feels the same as missing home, but also just a little different. So, we head back home to recharge the batteries, and find out they are quite fully charged. There is just something that keeps the batteries from being topped off. If it isn’t home, then what is it? We have our spouse and kids, if that has happened to us, and parents and friends, but there is something else missing. That is when it is time to look at what we may have dropped on the doorstep as we left long ago. Perhaps what we are missing is God whispering in our ear that we left Him behind and we need to get back to the roots of our beliefs.

Getting back to God may seem a bit scary at first. We have a tendency to think that we aren’t going to be welcome after all of this time, or that God is going to be angry with us for staying away for as long as we have. What we don’t remember is that to God there is no time. To Him, all time is NOW. Jesus told the story of the one lamb out of the hundred that was lost and how the shepherd was glad to find it. So it is with God. We are always welcome back, the door is always unlocked. If you still have trouble believing you are welcome, then just look at the arms of Jesus on that cross. They are spread wide, welcoming us with those open arms.

If you have been away from God for a while, whether a long while or a short one, then it is time to come home. The door is unlocked, the candle is in the window, and Jesus is waiting for you with those eternally open arms, just waiting to hug you and tell you, “Welcome Back!” What are you waiting for?

9 - 1 - 1

Whether it is real life or a scene from a TV show or movie, we have all seen and heard the depiction of an emergency communication center, a 9-1-1 center. The phrase, “9-1-1, what is your emergency?”, signals either a pending tense moment in an entertainment production or the beginning of a professional response in real life. These highly trained operators are experts at listening and acting to determine the nature of the emergency and send the correct emergency responders. There have been countless lives saved, injuries treated, crimes stopped or prevented, and little kids rescued from trees.

As Christians, we have our own emergency responder. For us, we don’t pick up a phone to call in a problem; we just open our hearts, minds and voices to call upon God in our time of emergency. We may need help for ourselves for a medical issue, or in financial need, a spiritual dilemma, or some other life happening. We know that God hears every word, every thought. The toughest thing is first to ask for help, and then to receive an answer which is not one of those we thought we wanted. There was a TV series back in the 1950’s called, “Father Knows Best”. We still have that title as the truth of what God does. Too often, we don’t understand or even appreciate the answer He gives us. Sometimes we don’t even want it. Saying that God knows what is best and believing it may be two different things. Our emergency may be real enough, but God answers when He wants to do so and in the manner that is best for us. That may be immediately. It may be months or years coming to pass.

I am not saying to ignore God when there is a problem. Too many people have the attitude they would rather take care of the problems themselves rather than ask God for His help. An attitude of independence is a good thing in our human world, but not when it means ignoring God’s help with your crisis. He wants us to do what we can to take care of our worries and cares, but He is also there to help us when we need it.

Perhaps you are one of those people who believe in God’s goodness, but not in your own. You may think that God is ignoring you or is mad at you for some reason or you are not worthy of His help. Maybe you don’t go to church every Sunday or the words that come out of your mouth are unfit for polite company. Whatever the scenario, you are down on yourself so you figure God is down on you as well and is not willing to take care of your emergency. Nothing is further from the truth. God is there for all of us and His help is ours for the asking. If you do not feel worthy of His help, then you need to have an instant change of mind because that is not how God looks at you. You are, after all, His greatest creation.

What is your emergency? Tell God the problem and stand by for further information. Maybe He will direct you to take some particular action as part of His assistance. He may, on the other hand, just solve the problem that caused the emergency.

It is your emergency. You own it and you can do with it as you wish. You can try to go solo on this trip.  Or, you can spend some time on your knees lifting your spiritual 9-1-1 call up to Him. What are you waiting for? He is ready to roll!

Opposites

Mark 10:8 “the two shall become one flesh”

Back when I was in high school, one of the courses was General Science. Being that the school was in South Texas, the teacher was the football coach. One of the simple experiments Coach Shelby showed us had to do with magnets. He used a couple of bar magnets to show us a simple experiment in magnetism. If you aren’t familiar with a bar magnet, it is a metal bar and it is labeled N, for north, on one end and S, for south, on the other. He put one of the bars on a table and slid the other towards it. When he slid a north end towards a south end, the magnets came together. When he slid a north towards a north or a south towards a south, the bar on the table slid away from the one he was holding. The lesson was that opposites attract and likes repel. All magnets, whether they are bar or horseshoe or button, have a north and a south pole and the reaction is always the same.

What is true in the world of magnetism is also true when it comes to people. How many times have you heard someone say they want to have a spouse who is like them, and then when you see the person they married, they are opposites in their personalities? They may have similarities in what they like in terms of foods or activities or movies, but at the core they are often quite different. The extrovert marries the introvert and they leave all of their friends wondering what one saw in the other because they are so different.

There are several places in the Bible where the above scripture is written. You can find it in Genesis, Matthew, Ephesians, and the words of Mark above. They all say essentially the same thing, that a man and a woman will become one in marriage and leave their single life behind. God created them as separate, intact people, but different in such a way that their separate natures complement each other and don’t compete. If you had two identical puzzle pieces, you could not put them together regardless of how you twisted and turned them. On the other hand, if they were designed so that one of the notches was a perfect fit for a tab on the other piece, and the pictures on each meshed together, then the puzzle would be complete. When it comes to a life-partner, opposites attract and create a greater whole. There is a statement in Gestalt psychology that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. So it is with a strong, Godly marriage. While each partner may be whole and complete in himself and herself, together they are much greater than the simple combination of the two.

What about friends and relatives, co-workers and acquaintances, who are alike in their personalities? They work, laugh, and play together and seem to get along easily and greatly. That is also part of God’s plan. In a social context, we are very comfortable with people like us. There is even a cliché that refers to people like that as “peas out of the same pod.” When it gets to our life partner, our spouse, the focus changes. God has designed us so that our spouse’s strengths are our weaknesses and our spouse’s weaknesses are our strengths. When we merge them together, we become the strongest whole and, provided we follow God’s plan and guidance, we can be unbeatable and unstoppable.

Stop and think for a minute and make a list of the successful, happy couples you know. They may have the same interests and likes or they may have their own. That isn’t what I am talking about. Think of their personalities. See the extrovert and the introvert, the hard-charger and the laid-back, the “just-the-facts” and the dreamer. See the magic of God’s plan to help people find their match, their opposite.

If we are fortunate enough to find our opposite and follow what God has said we must do, then we can be both the irresistible force that can conquer all and the immovable object that resists all attacks. Did you ever imagine that you could be so powerful? It is all in God’s plan. Will you follow His instruction?

Happiness Is...

Happiness is…whatever it is. There are songs about it, lots of stories, fairy tales and the like. It could be Phil Robertson going around saying, “Happy, happy, happy”. It is a thousand clichés and sayings, plaques hung on walls and bumper stickers and vanity license plates. It is all of these and none. Happiness is something deep inside you that comes bubbling up seemingly out of nowhere and changes the whole of your being in an instant. It is what makes you happy that is important, and whatever that is may not have any effect on someone else, or even just the opposite.

Many people think they have to have something or do something to be happy. They believe they need to be with a particular person or have their care and attention to be happy. When they don’t, they get a case of the glums. Just think how often you have heard someone say, “You make me so happy!” Maybe that person created the situation or environment, but you are the one who reacted in that way, you are the one who is happy.

Happiness is a wonderful gift of life. It can brighten the gloomiest day, or change a negative situation into a positive one. Happiness has its birth deep down inside us, it can overcome the darkest hour or the worst situation. If you are a dog person, like I am, and have had a really bad day, just think of how you react when you walk in the door and that four-legged best friend comes running up to you wagging her whole body. On the other hand, if you are into cats then having your furry friend circle around your legs purring is certain to bring out that joyful feeling. Whatever it is that sparks up your day, from pets to people to hobbies to your job, there is something in your life that lights you up.
What are you going to do today to make yourself happy? It is your choice. If someone else looks at your negative situation and asks you how you can be happy at a time like that, you can befuddle them by simply saying, “Because I choose to be!” The power to be happy, to turn lemons into the proverbial lemonade, is one of God’s nicest gifts. It came wrapped in the package. Just think about the big smiles you have seen on a baby’s face and all doubts of that will vanish. What makes a baby so happy? I don’t know, but maybe he or she is living in the presence of God in its simplest form and what could make us happier than that?

God gave us the happy gift and he expects us to share it. So, take it outside and share it. I will leave it up to you how best to do that, so just do it. Someone may share theirs with you.

IF...THEN

A long time ago, back when microcomputers were the size of a typewriter (if you don’t know what a typewriter is, Google it), I learned a programming language called BASICA. It ran on any computer which wasn’t made by Apple. One of the series of commands was IF…THEN. What that did was look at one set of conditions and if it was true, then the computer did some other action or computation. For example, let’s say you wanted the computer to count all of the numbers in a list that were less than 5. You set up a series of commands that would have the computer scan the entire list, top to bottom, looking for those numbers. The command line that actually tested the number would look something like this:

IF NUMBER<5 THEN COUNT=COUNT+1 (translation: If the number is less than 5, increase the count by one)

When the computer reached the end of the list, it would print out the answer like this:

PRINT COUNT

I had a friend once who said that all of life is an IF…THEN relationship. For instance, IF you went to school and studied, THEN you would pass; IF you had all of the right experience and training, THEN you would get a good job; IF you didn’t perform as expected, THEN you got fired! I am sure you can take it from there and see what my friend meant. Be careful, though, because it can become a game, a very addictive game, and drive you nuts.

Our relationship with God is the prime IF…THEN example of how life is supposed to be. It is really quite simple. All we have to do is follow God’s computer program:

IF we follow God’s rules and laws THEN we get to spend eternity with Him in Heaven OR IF we choose to break the rules THEN we have to ask for His forgiveness and He will have already done so OR IF we choose to reject God and His love and mercy THEN we get to spend eternity with Satan.

While I realize this is very simplified and we seem to have a love for complexity and making life harder than it needs to be, God and life are, in fact, quite simple. God loves us and wants us to be with Him forever. He made it a list of simple choices, just 10 altogether. He named them Commandments. Just remember this simple program:

IF you follow His Commandments THEN He will welcome you home when your time has come.  So, load the program into your internal computer and click RUN PROGRAM.

Frog Boiling 101

Once upon a time, I had a teacher who told us how to boil a frog. Not that we would ever want to do such a thing, unless that was about to be supper. He was talking about how to do it to a live frog and not have the frog leaping out of the skillet. Obviously, if you put a frog into a pan of boiling water, that frog is going to leap out when the first webbed toe dips into the hot water. Frog boiling mission: Failed. However, if you put the frog into a pan of cool water and then gradually start to heat it, the frog will just sit there as the water gets hotter and hotter. Frogs are cold-blooded and change their body temperature to match their surroundings. Before the frog knows what is happening…well, you get the picture.

Although we are warm blooded creatures, we are in many ways like that boiled frog, especially when it comes to slipping away from God’s plans for us. Almost no one says he or she is going to become a big sinner today. In fact, they don’t even say or plan to become a little sinner. Something comes along in their life that is just a little off track. Rather than ignore it or avoid it, they take that little side trip. Perhaps they recognize what happened and they go back to where they should have been in the first place. The next time that same opportunity comes along, they veer off track again…and again…and again. Each time is a little easier and the distance off the main track is a little farther. If it goes on long enough, and far enough, they can end up where the fire is under the boiling water forever. And they are the boiled frog. No one plans to go that way, but some people make that choice.

It can work the opposite way just as easily. Maybe you haven’t been leading the life that God wants you to live. You can have a sudden epiphany and make the dramatic turn around all at once. I have known people who have done that. Most of the time, I suspect, it starts with a small step. Maybe they pick up a piece of reading material and the way the author talks about God, about Jesus Christ, sparks the smallest amount of interest. Instead of tossing it in the trashcan, they stick it in their back pocket or purse or they toss it in the car. Sometime later, they pick it up and read it. Perhaps another small step happens when they decide to go to church on a Sunday with a friend or family member, and that morning’s message strikes just a small chord someplace, like a seed being planted. Instead of gradually increasing water temperature, they are treated to the favor of God. He will make sure they receive just the right amount and at the right time. Gradually, inch by inch, they are nudged back to the main track, the one that leads to a life with God. Is it a baptism, an acceptance of Jesus Christ as their savior, or something else? Whatever it is, the result is the same, an eternity in the Divine Presence.

Where are you today? Is the water around you getting a bit warm, and is the bottom of the pan starting to glow just slightly? Or, is the life you have lead getting a bit brighter and more comforting, day by day. Instead of the ever-increasing heat, are you sensing God’s love and accepting it more and more every day. Will you avoid the hot water and opt instead for the warmth of God’s love?

The What If Bus

I saw a movie a while back and one of the characters talked about being on the “What if bus”. He said he had been a rider at different points of his life and all it caused him was doubt in his decisions and appreciation for what he had or had not done. We have all been on that bus from time to time. We look back at things we have done, or should have done, and the things that happened or didn’t happen to us and wonder what our life would be like now if we had taken a different bus stop. Perhaps the bus stop was one that could have changed our life or even ended it.

I have looked back at different times too and counted my good fortune or rued the stop I made. One “what if” happened to me when I was 25 years old. I was a Navy pilot and was flying about a 100 miles west of San Diego, California. You don’t need to grab a map to know there is nothing there but Pacific Ocean. It was January, the water was very cold. The plane I was flying had two engines and suddenly one of them stopped working and it did so in such a way that the plane was not going to stay airborne. This type of plane did not have any ejection seats. My copilot and I did everything we could to stop the descent as we watched the water get closer. We were certain we were going to ditch in the cold ocean, with the nearest rescue helo over an hour away. Suddenly, about 60 feet above the water, the plane stopped descending and started to climb. Eventually, we managed to land at a Navy field on San Clemente Island. Down through the years, I have thought of that flight and wondered “what if…we had ditched? Would we have survived?”

There have been many other “what if …” situations over the years. Some were personal, some professional, some job decisions, and others changed my life. In 1997, I had a new job and had to go to San Diego for a conference. I was living in South Texas at the time and on a whim decided to call a couple who were casual friends. I don’t know why I did, but it turned out they were no longer married and I asked her out to dinner. That was a life-changing decision because 11 months later my friend became my wife. What if I had not listened to that hunch? Was it indeed a hunch, or was it something else?

We all accept the fact, as Christians, that God is there for us in the good times, the bad times and those in between times. What if God had other plans for me and that is why my plane started flying again when it shouldn’t have. What if I had not followed my whim and not made that call in 1997? How many other times has God whispered in my ear and nudged me to go in a particular direction? I don’t’ know the answer, but I know that some of the things that happened to me benefited me and some did not. What if I had been more aware of some things, some thoughts or temptations? Only God knows how my life might be different today or if I would have a life.

It is easy to buy a ride on the “What If Bus”. We can hop on and off at any stop along the route. The sights and sounds and signs along the way all urge us to get off, to make a decision to stay or hop off. How do you know which is which? Which is the best stop at the time? Perhaps you should consult the bus driver. You know Him well, after all. He is God. He can guide you and suggest the best stops to take and those to skip. You just have to listen since He also the tour guide for this route. He has a tour guidebook for you to consult to help you make the decision. Happily or sadly the decision is yours. If you make the wrong one, He can pick you back up on the next circuit and fix what ever happened at that bad stop.

The What If Bus line has a great destination at the end of the line. All you have to do is listen to your guide’s advice, follow the recommendations of your guidebook, and you will get there.
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What if you don’t, you ask? You don’t want to even know just how bad that destination can be.

How Dare You, God!

Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!”

Many years ago, I had some close friends who seemed to have it all going their way. They had some kids, a couple of good jobs and a strong Christian marriage. One day, the wife was in a horrible traffic accident and had severe, life-threatening injuries. For a couple of weeks, the doctors didn’t know if she was going to survive. Once she started to improve, they told her husband that she would have some permanent disabilities including both mental and physical. The mental and emotional impact on him was tremendous. He kept up a brave front and everyone who saw and heard him listened to him tell of his faith in God and how he knew it was going to be alright.

A couple of years after her accident, her husband and I were talking about that time and the subsequent months and years. He said that while she was in the hospital, he would pace back and forth in their bedroom when the children were not home and yell at God, even cussing at God for the way their life had been changed. He said his anger at God was a mountain in his life and one that he had no interest in climbing. Eventually, he made his peace with God and turned the energy of his anger into helping his wife adapt to the changes in her life.

We normally think of God as the source of all of the good things that happen in our lives and the devil as the source of all of the bad. When the good comes our way, we are usually grateful and sometimes we even remember to thank God for what has come our way. When life takes an ugly turn, we turn our anger and pain into anger at God. We assume that He is punishing us or has just turned His back for the moment and has allowed something negative to attack our lives. It may be something as serious as what happened to my friends or even worse. It may be something that has a long term or short term impact. The one thing that is common is it has a tendency to happen when we don’t expect it and don’t want it. When that happens, our anger can boil to the surface and be directed directly at God. The quote above by David is also repeated in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark when describing the death of Jesus on the cross and their accounts of His last words. It was Jesus’ humanity, not His spiritual nature, that was crying out at that last moment. It was that humanity that was crying out in protest against the indignities that His body had suffered.

It is all too human on our part to get angry at God for the bad things that happen to us. Some people think that God is punishing us in some way for some past sin. Theologians tell us that this isn’t how God operates. Others get angry at God because they believe God should always be our protector and it is His job to make sure nothing bad ever happens. Bad things do happen and most of the time it is just random chance or bad luck. The good thing about it is that God doesn’t hold a grudge. He understands our anger and forgives us for it. Sometimes He uses our anger to direct us to take action that becomes a benefit to others. One example is the Amber Alert System which is activated when a child is missing. It was named after a little girl, Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and murdered in 1996. As a result of the efforts of her parents and others, the Amber Alert System has spread around the world.

Bad things do happen to good people. Not only is that a book title, it is also the truth. It is also inevitable. Bad things are going to happen to you and to me. The important thing to remember when that happens is to remember that God has not forsakened you or abandoned you; He is there for you to call on, to lean on, and to seek His help and comfort. It is up to you to ask. Don’t be surprised, though, if He anticipates your need and gives you the help you need even before you ask for it.