Advent Thoughts...

Ran across this this morning in my quiet time and found it TOO good to not pass on.

Take a look:

"Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope.…

It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope."
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Seek That Which Is Above,1986

Can't think of a better way to begin this new day that God has placed each of us in.

So may you walk through this day, not run through it. And in the process, may you see that the doors we approach are very much open to the hope that God has given to each of us through Jesus Christ, His Son.

Amen!

Knowing vs Knowing

Where to start. There is so much going through my mind but I will start and end with this one thought for today. More to come tomorrow, I am sure.

I spoke to students at Loyola Prep on Wednesday this past week from a story in the gospels that most of us, if honest, have heard a thousand times. It is the parable of the good samaritan (Luke 10:25). We focus a lot on the beauty of helping your neighbor from this text and that is relevant. Deeper than that, Jesus makes the 'hero' of the story an actual Samaritan, a race despised by the jewish community. From this we learn that love goes BEYOND just loving those that look like us. Love goes much further.

But here is the part of the story that really struck me.

Take a look:

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Off the start we learn that the expert in the law was just that: an expert. He knew the law. He knew the commands of God and what was important.

He knew scripture.

The problem he encountered was that he possessed a lot of head knowledge of the word of God; but that was where it stopped. What he was missing was heart knowledge. What he missed was living a life that came from intimately knowing and living out the words of God.

So today, I am living through the knowledge of God's Word, and using my eyes and heart to see how it applies to my life through relationships and loving those I encounter today and the days to come.

Care to join me?

"A Letter to Church Marquee Signs Everywhere..."

On a recent trip with my son to see family in Houston, TX, I hit my brakes a lot. Now, you have to know something about traveling through Texas. There are a LOT of small towns. And in those small towns, there are a LOT of police parked in hidden places who would love nothing more than to share a coke, a smile, and a ticket with you should you forget to slow down (not that I speak from experience of course).

So as I was going through one of those unnamed town, I came across a small church with a surprisingly large white church sign in front right off the highway. On the church marquee read the following:

"Think the heat is bad now? Try spending an eternity in hell."

It caught both the attention of my eyes and my son's eyes. I literally had to turn around and drive back to make SURE that what I saw was actually there. It leads me to this plea:

"Dear Church Sign Marquee's. Please stop. I am not convinced the scare tactics are working."

I read recently a biography of Michael J Fox who shared a "church" experience as a child. In Canada he was at a fair and there was a bus that was painted and used by a local church as a witnessing tool to share the love of Jesus to those who wanted to know more. So, as a toddler, Michael J Fox loaded in the bus and a man walked to the front with a pack of matches.

He said, "I have a pack of matches. Let me ask... what would it feel like if I lit this match and put it under my hand?" One child responded, "It would hurt." Then the man said, "Right! Now, let me ask you. What would it feel like if I lit a thousand matches and it burned me all over my body? Because that is what it would feel like if you didn't know Jesus and went to hell. Right now."

Michael J Fox said, as a child, his initial response was "If this is a religion that just speaks of fear and hell, then where is the joy in any of that?" So he walked out of the bus thinking, 'not for me'.

Now I am not saying we don't address the difficult issues. On the other side of the coin, you have a lot of churches speaking a lot of grace but portraying an "anything" goes kind of religion and Jesus was certainly outspoken on a lot of things that we are afraid to address in the church (Read the 'Woes' in Matthew 23). But the simple truth is this...

Church Marquees. You have 8 seconds to reach the attention of a passing motorist on the street. Would you rather take those 8 seconds to create fear or inspire? To cause doubt or give hope? To offend or actually draw people inside the church where they possibly don't feel that they fit in?

My hope... my prayer is that it is the latter.

It is easy to beat people over the head with Romans 3:23 that reads, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." But let us also be the church that reminds those of Romans 3:24 that follows that statement with "and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

That, my friends, is the rest of the story.

How will you use your 8 seconds today?

Renew.

Been hung up on the word, "Renew" lately.

On a daily basis, I am surrounded by electronics that are ALWAYS in need of recharging. Last night, as I went to plug my phone in, my charger was on the counter as my kids had claimed BOTH wall plug ins for their own electronic devices. Earlier this morning I found a spot at an overcrowded coffee shop and opened up the lap top to see I had 12 minutes left on my computer battery and, of course, no wall charger near me to plug into. Earlier this week, my Kindle was dead, thus leaving me to have to MANUALLY pick up a book and actually have to lift my arms to flip pages (the horror of it all).

Oh, the inconveniences of living in a technological age.

But as I was spending time in the Word, I ran across a verse that I had read hundreds of times but it hit me in a new way. So, I pass along to you praying that you might be in the same place as I.

We are a busy culture. It is not uncommon to sit at an intersection and look at the cars surrounding you seeing people on their blackberries, I-phones, rotary phones (ok, maybe not those) texting, talking, going, doing. I am in the ministry and I am, all too often, running all over town; meeting, greeting, investing in lives.

Busy is not a bad thing. But here's where I am this week:
Busyness WITHOUT renewal = Emptyness.

Look throughout the gospels. Over and over Jesus is on the move. He is meeting, greeting, loving. But then this crazy thing would happen. He would stop. He would go to a quiet place and be... renewed (Mark 1:35)

So here's the thing. If Jesus, being God in flesh, saw it necessary to spend time with His Father, over and over again in the gospels, can we really live our lives thinking an occasional Sunday morning check in at worship is enough?

I needed this message this week. I have been running on empty. But time spent in the Word has led to a refilling and a renewing of my soul and God has found me in the midst of my emptiness and renewing me daily.

So the good news for each of you, today? He can do the same to you.

Isaiah 40:31
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Be filled and know that you are loved, my friends.

Arms.

So I spoke this past Sunday on finding God in the midst of chaos in our lives. It is a topic that I feel very qualified to preach. It seems that there is always some type of conflict or adversity that our family is running into. My heart resonates with Mother Teresa when she shared, "I know the Lord doesn't give us more than we can handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much."

Reading through the book of Numbers in the old testament I came across a passage where Moses just PUTS IT OUT THERE to God. Not sure why reading it it makes me uncomfortable. Maybe it is because I feel, at times, I really can't be THAT honest with God, can I? But Moses does and he holds nothing back.

Moses said to God, "Why are you treating me this way? What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Did I conceive them? Was I their mother? So why dump the responsibility of this people on me? Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother, carry them all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people who are whining to me, 'Give us meat; we want meat.' I can't do this by myself—it's too much, all these people. If this is how you intend to treat me, do me a favor and kill me. I've seen enough; I've had enough. Let me out of here."

Moses has been holding the frustration of leading the Israelites and they were, apparently, a whiney group of people. And when God puts it out there to God, God responds with two things. One, he tells Moses to bring 70 people back with him and God will put the burden on their shoulders as well as Moses did not have to carry it alone. Secondly, God asks Moses the following question:

"The LORD answered Moses, 'Is the LORD's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.'"

What a beautiful question. God is saying, "Do you really think that you are so far away from me that I can't hold you where you are at right now?"

We forget that sometimes, huh? We get caught in our circumstances. We try to drive the car when, in reality, we were never called to control, simply to follow and trust.

So my prayer to each of you reading this now is that you would be held by the arms of God who is still very much in control of your life.

God is good all the time and all the time... God is GOOD!

"Say 'hello' to Jesus, first, Mom."

I wrote this for an event we are having at our church tomorrow called, "Pray That". It is an all day, open sanctuary event, for people who have been affected by cancer, whether personally or through the diagnosis of a loved one or friend. There will be scripture read, prayers for those needing it, and also there will be stories shared in memory of those that have died because of it.

The following is what I wrote for my mom who died three years ago to stage four small cell lung cancer. Though I am in Mandeville, LA, my son Nicholas will be reading it in the sanctuary in my absence tomorrow.

Wanted to share it with all of you.

Blessings,
Mark

--------------------------------

I have been singing most of my life. Funny thing is, my mom always told me growing up that I sang my first words, I didn't speak them. As i think back, I realize that music has always been in me and it was always my mom that encouraged me to share that gift. I sang for small city festivals. I traveled to the nursing homes and sang for the residents. I sang at our home when my parents had friends over and I always had to sing Christmas songs EVERY Christmas Eve until my mom thought our house had officially caught the "spirit of Christmas". Music; it has always been a part of my life.

It was April of 2008 when our family learned that my mom had stage four small cell lung cancer. From the day that she checked into the hospital and found out it was cancer, to the time she died, it was about two weeks. It happened so quickly.

I remember our talks in the hospital. I remember one specific moment when mom looked at me and said,

"You know I love you, right?"
"Of course I do, mom."
"And you know that I know without a doubt where I will be going when I die."
"Yes, mom, heaven."
"And you know who I am going to see when I get there don't you?"
"Jesus."
"No, Mark. Elvis! I am going to get to see Elvis!"

(I encouraged her to speak to Jesus first. Then Elvis.)

But the one moment I will carry with me will be the moment I brought my guitar and shared with her a song I had written several months prior to her diagnosis called, "Hallelujah, Anyway". In typical mom fashion, she called every nurse and doctor she could find and gathered a small audience for me as I played the song I had written.

"When it all falls apart. Unraveling at the seems. And the words won't even start, and you find it hard to breathe.
And you need a hand to lean on, but there's nothing there to see. You can rest upon this promise, and you can say this prayer with me:
Hallelujah, Anyway. I'll give you all the glory. Hallelujah, Anyway. Let me life proclaim this story. I may not like this place, I find myself today.
But this my humble cry: Hallelujah, Anyway."

It was hard to get through that song. As I sang, my mom closed her eyes and mouthed the words; "I may not like this place, I find myself today, but this my humble cry, hallelujah anyway". I prayed for healing that day in the hospital. And though mom passed away, i realize healing did come.

It has been three years since mom died. Hard to believe that time passes by so quickly. But I am certain of this: she is front row-center at every worship event I lead, every song I write she is singing along and every sermon I preach she is listening in. And, praise God, I know where she is and who she is with. (I just hope she said hello to Jesus first before finding Elvis;-)

Mom, thank you for starting the music in my life.
Mark

Lessons Learned from Stained Glass

Our church in downtown Shreveport is known for a lot of things. It literally is at the head of Texas street. Meaning, as you drive through downtown, the main traffic road takes you directly to the sanctuary of FUMC and dead ends. Our church is on a hill. Literally at one of the highest peaks in the city. Our steeple. Well, currently, our lack there of. Rumor has it that Hank Williams Sr. was coming into Shreveport, LA, on the back of a flat bed trailer and after seeing our steeple at the head of Texas, he was so inspired that he penned the words to "I Saw the Light" (still seeking out the truth in that but it sounds good to me). Then there are our stained glass windows. Always been fascinated by stained glass windows. I literally can sit and stare at them for hours. They tell stories. They have color that is rich, deep and beautiful.

It wasn't until recently, however, that I ran into the wisdom of one of our staff members at the church that gave me a challenge. He told me to step up to one of our windows at FUMC and put my nose up against it. Now, I am a gullible person so it was easy for me to envision my sticking my nose to the glass only to have the staff member slap me on the back of the head leaving me a bloody nose and running off laughing (yes, we have those kind of people on staff). But, I went for it. Actually stuck my nose on the glass. Then I was asked the question, "What do you see."

It was an awkward moment for me trying to focus on what was in front of me. Really, I could make out color, lines, but honestly, I had no idea what I was looking it. What I was looking at was beautiful but, really, it was a picture I couldn't make out. Then, I was asked to step back and explain what I saw. It was at that moment that I took 5 steps back and it all came into focus.

I haven't forgotten that moment and here's why.

Today has been "one of those days". I feel like the more I have tried to walk towards God, the more I have been pushed, shoved and thrown off the path multiple times. The things I thought were in place, I have found they are not. The things I thought I had control of, I did not.

Then, in the midst of this day, a beautiful reminder of stained glass.

Maybe you are there. Take refuge in this: what you face, what you see may not make sense to you now. It may be various colors, shades and lines that are completely undecipherable that looks like chaos. But the truth is, God is still making a beautiful work in your life even if you don't see it. Take some steps back and may you be reminded that you may not get it today, but God is still very present and at work, even when we don't see it. So my challenge to you is to take some steps back and remember that you were put here to shine, bringing out the God colors in the world.

You are prayed for!

His Peace,
Mark

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:15-17 MSG)

Too Busy?

Mark 6:31 NCV
Crowds of people were coming and going so that Jesus and his followers did not even have time to eat. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves, and we will go to a lonely place to get some rest.”

Confession; I work for the church and all too often I have very little time to breathe. Reading this verse this morning reminded me of a simple yet profound statement:

If we are too busy for God, then we are much busier than He ever intended for us to be.

So today, I plan to breathe. Not shallow, non sustaining breaths, but really deep ones. I plan to "see" people. Actually look and listen when engaged in conversation and take rest in the fact that I am a child of God and He loves me unconditionally. Just as I am.

Care to join me?

You Are Loved...

Love this. Read on...

A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again."; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough... It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again," to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again," to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

That was a quote from G.K. Chesterton.

Be inspired. You are loved by the Creator of the Universe.