Did I just call God “Dude?”

I woke up this morning and called God “Dude.”

Unbelievable.

I’m pretty freestyling when I talk to my Creator; I know he wants our conversation with him to be real.

But, “Dude?”

I’ve had a bucket load of stuff going on the last few days. When I woke up this morning, not knowing where I was but having a series of events immediately busting into my brain’s thought pattern, I said, “God, Dude, I’ve got to have you show up in a significant way today!”

“Dude?”

I’ve been hanging with and around folks in their twenties and thirties for the last two days. “Dude” is used as much as “and” and “the” in normal conversation. It had to have been that influence.

Right?

Oh, man…

(I’ll wager he is smiling a Mona Lisa smile!)

As they say, “no disrespect intended…”

Distraught

This fellow storms into my office and was really distraught.

Distraught is an interesting word and not in wide use in people’s vocabulary these days.

It means “distracted; deeply agitated.”

This fellow definitely qualified. Tears, hysteria, hyperventilating, snorting, threatening… yeah, he was distraught. Why he was doesn’t matter; he was.

Unnecessarily.

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. —Paul

So many claim to know this Jesus fellow; so few actually get it.

I merely assisted my unexpected guest to see the “designs for glorious living” that Jesus had for him, had always had for him. I simply pointed out that Jesus had “had his eye” on him, on him.

And everything changed. He left not distraught…

Overstating the obvious

Free, at last?

Like the commercial where the little ol’ lady falls down and pitifully cries, “Help! I’ve fallen down and can’t get up!” so I yell, “Help! I’ve fallen into Ephesians again and can’t get out!”

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

Give me a break! Big, bad God wants me to be in on the plans HE is making for “everything on planet earth”?

Doesn’t that push the envelope just a bit too far?

Or, what about this lack of guilt thing?

I haven’t been a nice person for most of my life. I’m not always a nice person even now. How is it that I merit a get-out-of-jail card AND a pass-GO-and-collect-$200 card?

Either Paul has been hitting the Jack Daniel bottle a bit too much or he’s spilling the beans on a celestial conspiracy that has the potential to rock my world.

If it is the latter, then the words of the late Martin Luther King would be quite appropriate:

“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Ordinary Joe

I’m just an ordinary Joe.

I’m a Joe by birth, but really, I’m just ordinary.

Then I stumbled across this little gem early today:

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

Come on! Do we really embrace that as reality, or isn’t it just fanciful words thrown about in a religious setting?

If its for real, then maybe I am not “just ordinary.” Don’t we all honestly want to be extra-ordinary? Life, our experience, shouts that such isn’t the case. In fact, “ordinary” is a step up on the pecking order; more often than not we feel “less than ordinary.”

But we try to fake being at least ordinary.

Could it be that God –long, long ago, in a distant galaxy– decided to make us –me– the focus of his attention; that he took pleasure in doing so?

If so, what could it possibly mean for my life?

Musing

Sranding in the middle of hundreds (thousands?) here at the ARC Conference, it is so obvious that there is nothing new under the sun.

Solomon nailed it (but of course he did; the Spirit was guiding him!)

Your little friend looks like a dwarf

The titles used on spam email can sometimes be intriguing,

I just got this one: You little friend looks like a dwarf. I hope they were not referencing my queen… I might have to hurt them. I know it isn’t my bud Kevin M. – he’s a giant.

Looking at the email, I think they’re referencing a private part of my body because they’re selling Viagra.

Hitting below the belt.

Kinda reminds me of what our Adversary is always doing; intrigues us, then kicks us in the spiritual private parts.

Not nice.

This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.  Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet.   –Paul

Tired

There are days when you just want to run the white flag up the pole.

The last few days could easily be classified in the “bummer” category. So many people who are chronically ill and are grasping for any straw that might keep them afloat or offer even a crumb of hope. So many people who either don’t know of a greater Hope or, who claim to know it but don’t utilize it.

I actually had to yell at a fellow on the phone, a pastor no less. He was talking so mealy mouthed (“poor littl’ ol’ me…) that had I been physically present with him I would have probably hit him. Really!

I even told my queen that there had to be a better way to make a living.

Then I came across this tidbit:

He puts poor people on their feet again;
XXXhe rekindles burned-out lives with fresh hope,
Restoring dignity and respect to their lives—
XXXa place in the sun!
For the very structures of earth are God‘s;
XXXhe has laid out his operations on a firm foundation.
He protectively cares for his faithful friends, step by step,
XXXbut leaves the wicked to stumble in the dark.
No one makes it in this life by sheer muscle!
God‘s enemies will be blasted out of the sky,
XXXcrashed in a heap and burned.
God will set things right all over the earth,
XXXhe’ll give strength to his king,
XXXhe’ll set his anointed on top of the world!

Tired I am, but hope I have…

Bundled

Forgive my presumption!
But God is at work in you, developing a rule solid and dependable.
You fights God’s battles! As long as you live no evil will stick to you.
If anyone stands in your way,
XXXXif anyone tries to get you out of the way,
Know this: Your God-honored life is tightly bound
XXXXin the bundle of God-protected life;
But the lives of your enemies will be hurled aside
XXXXas a stone is thrown from a sling.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX—Blessing of Abigail

May it be to you…

Jumpin’ for Jesus

I’m fixin’ (Southern for “getting ready”) to hop on an airplane and head to the really deep south again.

Ubaúna is calling my name, and not being one to ignore that call, I’m going to Brazil in just a few days.

The Seed of Hope initiative that Gospel for Brazil oversees is moving along at quite a clip. For example:

• The town has ceded to GFB a community building that will be used as kitchen and cafeteria for feeding the children. Equipment (stove, refrigerator, freezer, etc.) needs to be purchased; tables, chairs, pots, pans, plates, utensils, etc. have to be procured; cooks and helpers need to be hired; and, the building needs a “cosmetic” face job.

• A house has been given to GFB to use as the Seed of Hope House. Measurements need to be taken, plans drawn up and temporary actions taken to make the house usable. We will undertake serious remodeling during the trip scheduled in August.

• Communication between sponsors and children need to be “tweaked.” We’re inviting all sponsors to send letters to their children and we’ll be bringing back letters from the children to their sponsors.

• We’ve been invited into several different communities to see works that are in progress and participate in them. An evaluation needs to be made in order to determine the Spirit’s direction.

• Strategies that can’t be handled long distance concerning the building need to be addressed.

• We have the opportunity to include more children living in the proximity of Ubaúna in the Seed of Hope program. For those who’ve seen Paxólas, the areas are even more destitute, if you can fathom that!

So, we’re jumpin’ for Jesus onto an airplane that will whisk us away to the interior of Ceará.

Ummm… could we have you to begin praying now?

Thanks!