Have you ever been to a sing-along where the words are projected on the screen and there is a bouncing ball that moves from word to word so you can sing along with the music? Maybe you are more modern and you have seen that on a karaoke machine. Many years ago, there was a program on television called Mitch Miller's Sing Along and as the orchestra and singers performed, the words were on the bottom of the screen along with the bouncing ball so you could join in with them in the comfort of your own living room. There were even some records put out with the music and words. I am talking about the vinyl LP records, not CD's, in case you were wondering.
It was always interesting to see how quickly we were trained to follow a ball that bounced from word to word, just leading us from one point or word to the next. The people who programmed that assumed we couldn't figure it out for ourselves which word to sing or say next. I guess if someone didn't know the music or words, had never heard it before, then it would be handy. Still, it was an easy habit to learn and since it brought fun and enjoyment, we all did it.
There are bouncing balls in our everyday lives as well. They lead us in different directions to different things. Sometimes the balls are people we know or meet. Sometimes they are things and sights that attract our attention. That ball has to start someplace and catch us, draw us to whatever is the real attraction. Our eyes and brains are attracted by motion and what moves will turn us to it. So, what was it that first caught your attention and brought you to God? Maybe you have always had him in your life because your parents made him a part of it from the very beginning. On the other hand, if you came to God as an adult, what attracted you? Who or what was it that brought you here? That event, that person, was your bouncing ball. It lead you one step at a time to where you are today. It wasn't luck or random chance; it was God calling you by catching your attention first.
Balls are meant to be thrown or rolled or bounced. Have you ever lead someone to God, to his Son, Jesus Christ? You were their bouncing ball. How have you been doing lately? Do you still bouce or are you just sitting on the ground. Balls are meant to be thrown, so have you told God to throw you back into the game so you can lead someone else to him? He will! So, get out there and start bouncing and see how many more people who can lead to his choir, to sing to his music, to follow the words in his book.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Sunday, June 12, 2016
The Beat Of The Drum
The drum. Certainly one of the most basic of musical instruments. Possibly one of the first ever played by Man. It could have been a hollow log that some man in pre-history hit one day and found it made a unique sound. Perhaps a neighbor came over to find out what it was that he heard and the idea of sound travel was discovered. Was it for entertainment? Probably. Modern day movie makers like to entertain us with the picture of our ancient ancestors moving to the beat around a fire. It may have even happened. At some point, someone decided it was a great way to send a signal to someone else at a distance and signal drumming was born.
Jump forward in time a few millennia and see the evolution of the drum in religion, celebration and warfare. No longer a hollow log, it is now the snare drum of the drummer boy keeping time for the Redcoats marching to Concord or Lexington. It is the kettle drum on a Roman galley beating out time for the rowers. It is the bass drum keeping time for your high school band that entertains you at half time on a Friday night. It is a marvelous musical instrument weaving magic at the command of the legendary Buddy Rich. It is the nearly silent sound of your heart beating in perfect time hidden inside your chest.
We often talk about someone's vocation, avocation, job, hobby or interest in terms of marching to a drum. Someone who steps outside the norm is spoken of as marching to a different drummer, sometimes in derision and sometimes in admiration. All too often, we find ourselves marching in time to a drumbeat that we don't really like but have found ourselves stuck in that rhythm, like a job we no longer enjoy but can't leave for one reason or another. We have all heard the stories of the executive who leaves the corner office behind to take up something totally different and far less financially rewarding, simply because it felt good to do what fed the heart and soul and not necessarily the wallet.
What leads people to suddenly decide to change what they are doing and go off in a different direction? I've known people who have gone from serving themselves to serving others. Why did they change so radically? Who changed the beat of their personal drum to lead them off on a different path? If you talk to them, they will all say something along the lines that they just felt it was time to change. Many can't tell you why. I once knew a combat Marine who became a Catholic priest, a house painter who is a pastor of a successful church, and others who have made a turn and now serve a new need, whether in the ministry or elsewhere. Who could issue such a call except the Master Drummer, our God who calls us to assist him in all of the works he has planned for us. He sets the pace and the beat, the best rhythm for us at different times in our life. Some change their path and follow that new beat and some don't. We know that he calls many and chooses the few to do his work who answer that call. The rewards are special for those who do.
How about you? Which drumbeat are you following? It may be the one God picked out for you many years ago and you are where he wants you to be, doing what he needs you to do. Have you been hearing the faint sound of something else, some strange thrumming that temps you to make a turn, to change something in your life? It may be that he is telling you that it is time to do something he needs you to do and you are now ready to do just that.
Are you listening? And what will you do?
Jump forward in time a few millennia and see the evolution of the drum in religion, celebration and warfare. No longer a hollow log, it is now the snare drum of the drummer boy keeping time for the Redcoats marching to Concord or Lexington. It is the kettle drum on a Roman galley beating out time for the rowers. It is the bass drum keeping time for your high school band that entertains you at half time on a Friday night. It is a marvelous musical instrument weaving magic at the command of the legendary Buddy Rich. It is the nearly silent sound of your heart beating in perfect time hidden inside your chest.
We often talk about someone's vocation, avocation, job, hobby or interest in terms of marching to a drum. Someone who steps outside the norm is spoken of as marching to a different drummer, sometimes in derision and sometimes in admiration. All too often, we find ourselves marching in time to a drumbeat that we don't really like but have found ourselves stuck in that rhythm, like a job we no longer enjoy but can't leave for one reason or another. We have all heard the stories of the executive who leaves the corner office behind to take up something totally different and far less financially rewarding, simply because it felt good to do what fed the heart and soul and not necessarily the wallet.
What leads people to suddenly decide to change what they are doing and go off in a different direction? I've known people who have gone from serving themselves to serving others. Why did they change so radically? Who changed the beat of their personal drum to lead them off on a different path? If you talk to them, they will all say something along the lines that they just felt it was time to change. Many can't tell you why. I once knew a combat Marine who became a Catholic priest, a house painter who is a pastor of a successful church, and others who have made a turn and now serve a new need, whether in the ministry or elsewhere. Who could issue such a call except the Master Drummer, our God who calls us to assist him in all of the works he has planned for us. He sets the pace and the beat, the best rhythm for us at different times in our life. Some change their path and follow that new beat and some don't. We know that he calls many and chooses the few to do his work who answer that call. The rewards are special for those who do.
How about you? Which drumbeat are you following? It may be the one God picked out for you many years ago and you are where he wants you to be, doing what he needs you to do. Have you been hearing the faint sound of something else, some strange thrumming that temps you to make a turn, to change something in your life? It may be that he is telling you that it is time to do something he needs you to do and you are now ready to do just that.
Are you listening? And what will you do?
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Salting The Oats
There is a very old cliché that says you can take a horse to water but you can't make him drink. You can stake that horse next to the water trough, fill it with fresh water, and it won't matter a bit. If that horse doesn't want to drink, it won't. However, several years ago, I heard an ending to that statement that makes sense: "...unless you add salt to the oats." We have all experienced that sensation of eating something salty and then looking for something to drink and quench that thirst. That salt just keeps the taste buds humming and keeps us coming back for more. It is like they say about peanuts, you can't eat just one...the salted ones, anyway. The unsalted ones just don't have that tang, that flavor, that makes us reach for another one, or a handful.
For most of us, we have a flavorful life. We have spouses, children, family, and friends. We have a job or maybe are into the retirement years. There are hobbies and other activities to round out the days and hours. Many of us are content with our life or a portion of it. Whether we like our job or just go to it because it is what we have to do, we still get a measure of satisfaction from it. There may be some salt that gets sprinkled on us that urges us to do new things, whether a different job or a new hobby or a trip to someplace we have never been. The people who migrated from the east to the west in the late 1800's were lead to that move by something that touched their lives. Many others had the urge to drink the waters from strange lakes and rivers, but while they had been lead that way by their curiosity, they lacked that last dash of salt in their lives that drove them to leave everything behind and take that drink.
How many other things have you encountered in your life that causes you to be curious, to wonder about the things you don't understand or know? Maybe you are a Christian, but one who knows not much more than the fact that at some point in your life you were baptized. Perhaps you aren't one and find yourself in the company, social or professional, of those who are Christians. So, what are you going to do next? Maybe the answer to that is "nothing". Those of us who know God and want to have him in our lives in an active way, know also that he may nudge or shove or arrange life so it follows his plans, but he also allows us to have the free will to choose. He can lead us to his living water, but it is up to us to want to drink it. So, he adds the salt to our lives to make us a little thirsty. That salt may be a friend, an event, or even a total stranger who crosses our path in such a way as to make us want to take a sip. You may be the salt for someone else's life, to create that thirst for more knowledge of God, to get to know him or to know him better than they did before.
Do you have a thirst for knowledge, more knowledge of God, of his son, Jesus Christ, of the Holy Spirit? So, God salted your oats. Perhaps there is someone you know or have met who starts asking you questions about God. How do you feel about being the salt God sprinkled on that person's oats? Maybe someone saw you and the way you believe and talk and act, and all of that was the salt on the oats. No matter, the solutions are to quench that thirst. So, go ahead and drink in his knowledge and love.
For most of us, we have a flavorful life. We have spouses, children, family, and friends. We have a job or maybe are into the retirement years. There are hobbies and other activities to round out the days and hours. Many of us are content with our life or a portion of it. Whether we like our job or just go to it because it is what we have to do, we still get a measure of satisfaction from it. There may be some salt that gets sprinkled on us that urges us to do new things, whether a different job or a new hobby or a trip to someplace we have never been. The people who migrated from the east to the west in the late 1800's were lead to that move by something that touched their lives. Many others had the urge to drink the waters from strange lakes and rivers, but while they had been lead that way by their curiosity, they lacked that last dash of salt in their lives that drove them to leave everything behind and take that drink.
How many other things have you encountered in your life that causes you to be curious, to wonder about the things you don't understand or know? Maybe you are a Christian, but one who knows not much more than the fact that at some point in your life you were baptized. Perhaps you aren't one and find yourself in the company, social or professional, of those who are Christians. So, what are you going to do next? Maybe the answer to that is "nothing". Those of us who know God and want to have him in our lives in an active way, know also that he may nudge or shove or arrange life so it follows his plans, but he also allows us to have the free will to choose. He can lead us to his living water, but it is up to us to want to drink it. So, he adds the salt to our lives to make us a little thirsty. That salt may be a friend, an event, or even a total stranger who crosses our path in such a way as to make us want to take a sip. You may be the salt for someone else's life, to create that thirst for more knowledge of God, to get to know him or to know him better than they did before.
Do you have a thirst for knowledge, more knowledge of God, of his son, Jesus Christ, of the Holy Spirit? So, God salted your oats. Perhaps there is someone you know or have met who starts asking you questions about God. How do you feel about being the salt God sprinkled on that person's oats? Maybe someone saw you and the way you believe and talk and act, and all of that was the salt on the oats. No matter, the solutions are to quench that thirst. So, go ahead and drink in his knowledge and love.
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