experiences

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I Desire To Do What I Can’t Do

There is something about not being able to do something that creates a desire for doing it.

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… I don’t mean a fanciful thing like seeing someone perform a neurosurgical procedure, or climbing Mount Everest – not that you couldn’t do those things, but they would require more than just a desire to make them happen.

I’m talking about seeing something that is perfectly in your grasp or power to do but you are prevented from doing it because of a commitment to do something else.

Today I went down into our family room and as I passed by the pool table it seemed more luring than normal. Maybe it was the way the light was hitting it. The lonely cue ball resting on the green cloth seemed to be inviting me, calling me, “Come and play”.

I took a longer look at the table than normal. My gaze lasted until I sat down. And in my mind I had a little conversation with myself on whether I should play a fast game or not.

I sat down on the couch and I didn’t play pool … but the urge was there. I wanted to but I really couldn’t because I was committed to doing something else.

I thought about it and realized that I didn’t really want to play pool as much as I didn’t want to do what I was committed to doing.

You see, that pool table has sat in the same spot for over ten years – It’s not the kind of pool table you move around. I pass by it every day. Every time I walk into our family room, it’s there to greet me.

But it doesn’t lure me in every time I see it. I don’t play pool nearly as often as I probably should. I ignore it more than I play it.

But sometimes when there is something I must do, but don’t feel like doing, that’s when the desire to play pool is at its highest.

I don’t know if you can relate or not but this phenomenon doesn’t just happen to me with my pool table. It happens with other things as well.

It’s that principle of longing for something you can’t have. It’s a temptation to shirk your responsibility, or put off what you don’t want to do.

I read a phrase in the Bible that is sort of like this principle. In Deuteronomy 28:67 it says, “In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening, ‘If only it were morning!’…”

Now the circumstances involving that verse deal with disobedience to God, but the idea of wishing for something you can’t have – because you don’t like what you are facing – is the same.

I didn’t give in to the lure of the pool table. I sat down on the couch and did what I was committed to do … write this blog post.

Here’s the thing: There will be times when something else will look more attractive than keeping your commitment to meet with God. It’s that principle of not wanting to do something you’re committed to. Don’t give in to the temptation because it will only become harder to resist the next time. Stick to meeting with God and see afterwards how luring that other thing really is. I’ll bet you pass by that pool table without a thought!

That’s life!

Paul

Question: What seeks to lure you away from your time with God? Leave your comment below.

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Saturday Morning Starts Early

Saturday mornings I play hockey at 7 am … some people think that’s too early to be getting out of bed for something you don’t have to do.

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I’ve been getting out of bed for things I like to do but don’t have to do for most of my life.

I wouldn’t say it’s always easy. There are many times it’s a struggle to get up simply because I haven’t had enough sleep.

One time in high school, some guys decided to set a new Guinness World record for the longest indoor ball hockey game.

We played in shifts over three or four days, 24 hours a day. Everyone would play for a few hours and then have a couple of hours off.

Some guys slept in the school but I lived across the parking lot so I went home. I had a tub of baking powder by my bed. I would sit on my bed, put my feet in the baking powder, and then go to sleep.

When I got up I would rub on heat liniment, put my feet back in the tub and get ready to play. There were times it was brutal trying to get out of bed for my next shift.

Then there were the times I played golf every Saturday morning with a couple of guys. Many times I slept through my alarm and woke up to little pebbles hitting my window.

It was the boys waking me up to hit the links.

I love playing hockey or golf early in the morning but it’s not always easy getting up.

That’s why I wasn’t too surprised when my son didn’t respond this morning for hockey … he gets half his genes from me you know.

I texted him at 6:15 am to make sure he was awake and ready for me to pick him up. I got no reply.

That was a bad sign. I waited five minutes, then I phoned.

Mike’s phone rang about eight times before it clicked off. I knew right then he might not make it.

I called him again with the same results; the phone just rang and rang. I decided to call right back thinking that maybe if the last call seemed dream-like this call would get him conscious.

It didn’t work; no response. So I got in the car and backed out of the garage.

I decided to try one more time, just in case … no luck. I figured his phone was either buried under clothes or in another room.

I drove to the arena, got dressed, stepped onto the ice, took a few shots and then felt my watch vibrate on my wrist.

I took a look and there was a voice mail message. I knew who it was immediately. I went back to the dressing room and gave Mike a call.

He was pretty groggy but said he’d come. Surprisingly, he got about half the game in.

It was nice having him on the ice with me, and good to know that he’ll also get up for something he likes … even if he needs some friendly help.

Here’s the thing: Meeting with God in the morning is something I like doing, and I hope you do as well. But in order to ensure you’re able to get up, it’s best to get enough shut-eye during the night so you are able to rise to the occasion.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you ensure you can get up early for something you enjoy? Leave your comment below.

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I Got Sick Anyway

I did everything right and I still got sick! Has that ever happened to you? Well, that’s where I ended up.

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My wife came down with a flu of all flu’s. I’ve never seen her down for so long before. It hit her quick and it hit her hard.

Lily was in bed for two days, and dragged herself around the house for over a week. She even said that maybe next year she would get the flu shot … that on it’s own tells me just how sick she was!

This was not something I was going to catch if I could help it. So I did something I haven’t done often in our 30 years of marriage: I slept in the spare room.

There was just no way that I was going to breathe in what she was breathing out. I would get infected as I slept, completely unaware of what was happening to me.

It kind of reminds me of two guys back in college who decided they were going to prank their neighbours next to them in our dorm.

Their room was just on the other side of the wall and there happened to be a hole in that wall … on one side anyway. The guys made a small hole in their room at the same place.

During the night as the neighbours slept in bliss, the guys blew baby powder into their room. The neighbours next door never knew what hit them.

In the morning they woke up to their room covered in what looked like fresh fallen snow. The white powder was everywhere, on the beds, in their hair. … I think there was retaliation the next night.

The thing was the powder was silent. It came over them when they slept; they never noticed it at all.

And there was no chance I was having my immune system hijacked by Lily turning towards me and breathing flu germs in my face all night.

She realized this flu was not something that should be passed on and volunteered to sleep in the spare room for another four nights.

That’s five nights we slept in separate rooms while being in the same house. That has never happened before!

We did all the right things. I stayed away even when she desperately wanted a hug, just some human contact … well, I sort of hugged her at arms length. I was also washing my hands like a surgeon – I hope surgeons wash their hands as much as I did.

In the end, she slowly came back to the land of the living, yet still low on energy. She seemed to have recovered enough for me to let her back in our bed.

And then it happened. I was drinking lots of water – tons of it – getting plenty of sleep, exercising and taking care of myself. But I woke up one morning with a scratchy throat.

I didn’t end up as sick as she had been, but for all my purposeful, proactive prevention, the sickness didn’t escape me. I’ll be okay.

Here’s the thing: Sin has this kind of ability to sneak up on us. We can do all the right things, stay clear of triggers, give a wide birth to temptation. But when we are not looking, when we least expect it, sin can creep in when we thought we were in the clear. We can never let our guard down.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has snuck up on you, even when you took precautions? Leave your comment below.

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Get Greater Understanding From A Different Perspective

When you see things from a different perspective it opens a whole new world of understanding.

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I went to a movie yesterday; it was based on the Easter story called, “Risen”. It wasn’t quite the typical presentation about Jesus’ death and resurrection.

This movie gave the angle of someone from the outside looking in on what happened. We were witnesses to how the Easter story unfolded from the eyes of a Roman officer.

It’s a different way to look at it. The Roman officer was charged with unravelling the mystery of the disappearance of Jesus’ body from the tomb.

I won’t spoil the movie for anyone who might want to see it, but it’s very well done. It’s a good story and basically follows the Biblical account, from a non-Biblical perspective … that means there are events in the movie that are impossible to know if they actually happened or not, but they give you something to think about.

It’s like a different camera angle of the same scene. … There was a movie called “Vantage Point” that was made that way.

In that movie a president was shot and the movie took you through six different sight views of the shooting. Each angle provided a little more information because they could see something from that view that they could not have seen from one of the other vantage points.

In my sermon yesterday, I made reference to this same principle. I said if you have trouble forgiving someone who has hurt you, look at all the sin you have committed against God and put it on a scale opposite to the hurt you experienced. I’m sure that hurt will pale in comparison; yet God has provided forgiveness to us in Christ Jesus.

A different perspective gives you new information to help you understand and make better decisions and judgements.

When a hockey team snaps their nine game winning streak, some people wonder what’s gone wrong. From a fan’s vantage point there’s a problem with the team.

But from the team’s perspective, they know they’re in first place and are, therefore, rolling out all four lines against a team that is trying to gain a higher place in the standings and are sending out their top line every second shift.

That’s what made the movie I saw yesterday refreshing. It wasn’t just a re-tell of the same story. It was the same story from a different vantage point.

Unfortunately, this movie has a limited run in theatres; it may not even be there in the two weeks before Easter.

I would recommend the movie to anyone. But go to the movie knowing the Biblical account of the resurrection. First read the last chapters of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Then you will be ready to see the Easter message from a different vantage point. It will get you thinking.

Here’s the thing: Many people make up their minds based on something they’ve heard, or an experience they’ve had. That’s okay to do when the issue is where to go on vacation or what restaurant to eat in. But when it comes to your life and future, you need to look at all the angles. God loves you; check out how He has shown His love to you. Read the Easter story, see the movie “Risen” if you can, and make a decision based on a greater perspective.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What keeps you from seeking a greater perspective? Leave your comment below.

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Don’t Get Caught Up In The Moment

Have you ever been caught up in the moment, so much that you didn’t think of doing something that could improve that moment?

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… That sentence sounded a bit like a riddle that will leave you hypnotized. Let me try to explain.

The other day I was driving to work and my car was very cold. I was shivering and thinking about how cold I was almost all the way to work before I turned on the heat to warm things up.

I’ve had my present car for over six years now, so I know the car’s ways and quirks. One of the things I know about my car is how long it takes to warm up when it is cold.

I need to travel 4 kilometres before the heater really kicks in and starts to blow warm air into the cabin of my little Accent.

Up until that point, turning the heater fan on is pretty much counter productive. I’m cold already from the temperature outside; I don’t need to add to my coldness with a frosty breeze in my face.

So what I do is leave the fan on low or completely off until I drive four kilometres, and the heat starts to kick in.

I take the same route to work each day so I don’t have to look at the odometer to check if I’ve gone the necessary distance. I know when I pass a certain spot on the route that I can turn on the heat and actually get some.

The other day, however, as I was driving to work, I couldn’t get over how cold it was. We’ve had such a mild winter, I figured it should be pretty much over, and higher temperatures should be on the way.

I know the various groundhogs in Punxsutawney, Wiarton, and Shubenacadie had mixed responses when they emerged from their holes. But we should get the benefit of the doubt – two of the three didn’t see their shadows … that means early spring!

… I’m not sure you can trust the judgement of a groundhog anyway. I was just trying to get to work quickly so I could get out of the cold.

It was then that I realized that I’d passed my heat point several kilometres back. I was less than a kilometre from work when I remembered to crank up the heat.

It barely took the edge off by the time I pulled into my parking spot.

I was kicking myself for shivering all that way when I could have had the heat on and gotten warm instead.

My present situation of being cold had captured my attention and kept me from taking a small action that could have changed my circumstance.

Here’s the thing: When we are dealing with something that discourages, saddens, or frustrates us, we can concentrate on our state to the point where we don’t take any action to change our situation. There may be nothing in our power we can do to remove or change our present circumstance, but if we fail to take our situation to God, we miss out on an opportunity to find relief. Don’t be so into your moment that you fail to call on the Lord who can help you. He’s right there all the time.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: What caught your focus so that you failed to do something that could have changed your situation? Leave your comment below.

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The Danger Of Going Down Rabbit Trails

Yesterday, as I wrote my sermon, I kept going off on rabbit trails … putting aside the main thing I was working on to focus on some tangent, or supplementary topic.

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It happened quite naturally. In writing my sermon, I came to a place where I needed an illustration. As I got an idea, I started to research it in order to be able to use it in my sermon.

The problem was I got hooked on my research and about a half hour later found myself still working on finding out more about the subject of my illustration, instead of my sermon.

I felt like my brother’s dog, Chopper. He’s an adorable looking – in an ugly kind of way – Old English bulldog. … I guess what I’m trying to say is he makes you smile when you look at him.

He’s not the most active dog, though he can be. Most of his day he spends lying down, taking lots of naps, and just hanging out.

But if you say, “chippy”, he leaps from whatever he’s doing (usually laying down pretending to watch television), and he’s off, ready to case down some imaginary, furry little rodent, in the other room, in the back yard, wherever.

Well, that’s what I was like with this illustration, and the thing was I didn’t just do it once, but several times.

I kept catching myself getting lost in some story or detail that was way more than what I needed for my sermon.

It made for a long day of writing. I would write a little and then investigate something that I could relate back to my sermon but that in no way would get me closer to finishing my sermon.

I’m sure most people can not relate, but likely everyone, at some time or other, has had those moments when they got lost in doing something while they were supposed to be doing something else.

In the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator, the ENFP personalities are a little like that. Their prayer goes, “God, help me keep my mind on one th… LOOK, A BIRD! …ing at a time.

That’s not my personality type but I could own that prayer … at least yesterday I could.

Normally, if I struggle writing my sermon, I eventually get a little frustrated. The funny thing was this time I didn’t. I guess it was because I was discovering new things and I was fascinated by them.

There was a part of me that wanted to finish writing but another part of me that wanted to soak in other stories and interesting anecdotes.

I did finally finish writing, and it’s a good thing too because, though it was Friday, Sunday was coming.

Here’s the thing: Life can take us down various rabbit trails. Sometimes those trails have to do with hurts or opportunities. They can take our focus and interest for a long time, even years. But they prevent us from getting back to the main thing. And there is a deadline to that main thing; we just don’t know when it is. Be sure your sins are forgiven and that Christ is functioning as your Lord – that’s the main thing. Everything else is just a rabbit trail.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has been a long rabbit trail for you? Leave your comment below.

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A Baptism By Fire!

Have you heard the phrase “baptism by fire” before? It has come to mean someone’s initiation into something new.

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Many of us have had experiences like it when we began a new job or joined a new group, and were thrown into a task, leadership position, or project right away with no time to settle in.

The term “baptism by fire” was first used this way in the military around 1822 and referred to a soldier’s first time in battle.

But the original expression comes from the Bible in Matthew 3:11 where John the Baptist says, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” It refers to Jesus convicting people of their sin, of righteousness and judgement.

Years ago I had an experience that included all the meanings of this phrase.

I was a youth pastor and on one Sunday was going to baptize 13 teens, one in the first service and 12 in the second.

Some churches baptize people by sprinkling them with water, sort of like the first few drops in a light rain shower.

Not our church – we get you all wet, from head to toe. It’s baptism by immersion. It symbolizes that your old life is buried as you go under the water, and you have a new life in Christ Jesus when you come up out of the water.

When instructing teens, I would often tell them, “I’ll hold you under longer if you don’t pay attention” … I was just kidding.

I’ve baptized people in rivers, lakes, and an ocean. Sometimes the water’s been freezing, but this time it was hot – real hot!

I was ready to go into the baptism tank in that church, which was like a large, rectangular hot tub, without the jets. But as soon as my toe touched the water, I immediately jumped back, because it was burning hot!

I didn’t know what to do. I tried to go into the water a little way but came out; it was so hot.

I knew the teen’s mom was in the service specifically to see her son get baptized. The lead pastor was wrapping up the announcements and about to introduce the baptism.

I had to make a split-second decision. Knowing there was no way to tell anyone the temperature of the water, I went for it.

I waded into the water and made my way around the screen and into view of the audience. The water came up to just below my chest and it was scalding.

I’m not exactly sure what the temperature was, but the caretaker later said the hot water tank was set at 140 degrees, so it must have been somewhere between 120 and 140 in there.

It was so hot I could hardly spit out my introductory words. But in walked my victim … I mean, the young man to be baptized.

I stood there listening to his short testimony, but every time I even twitched, it felt like flames were coming up my legs.

When he got through talking, I put him under the water and back up again in record time. Then I almost pushed him out of that tank!

… My skin was beat red from 9:30 in the morning until about 2:30 in the afternoon.

Here’s the thing: For any baptism by fire, you’re glad when it’s done but you’re also thankful for the experience. Although Christ convicts of sin, righteousness and judgement, if you receive His forgiveness, you’re so thankful to experience that baptism by fire.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: What’s your baptism by fire story? Leave your comment below.

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Has A Problem Got You Stalled?

This week I had a problem that put me in stall mode. What I mean is that I couldn’t go forward or backward until I figured out my problem.

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Another time this happened to me was when I was finishing our basement. I had framed a few walls but then I got to a section that I didn’t know what to do with.

So I left it; I was stalled. I didn’t do any work on the basement for about a month. I just didn’t know how to proceed.

Finally Lily said, “That’s enough!” and she got a guy in and paid him to finish the framing.

I didn’t solve my problem, but the problem got solved.

It worked out great in that instance, but what if you can’t just turn your problem over to someone else? What if you are the only one who must solve the problem?

I ran into that this week working on my sermon. I got to a spot and realized that I wasn’t sure what the text was really saying.

I re-read the text over and over, looked at all the commentaries, and checked various translations of the Bible to get a different perspective on the text. I even listened to a guy preach a sermon on that text.

But nothing seemed to help me solve my problem. In all my research, they hinted at answering my issue but nothing I read or listened to gave a definitive answer.

It was like they all beat around the bush on the subject.

Still I couldn’t move forward on my sermon until I solved my question about the text.

I felt handcuffed, in prison, unable to free myself from my cell. It was like I was paralyzed and couldn’t move.

I couldn’t enjoy anything; my mind kept coming back to the subject. I was discouraged, filled with doubt. I was down, really down.

My wife, Lily, and I went to a hockey game to get my mind off my problem, to brighten my day.

The game was great; it was exciting. Our team won, but I still had my problem churning inside of me, not letting me escape its clutches.

I felt like Jonah in the Bible – no matter how far I ran from my trouble, I couldn’t outrun it; I couldn’t escape it.

I needed to preach something on Sunday regardless of whether or not I solved the text. That deadline only added to my tension.

What I was looking for was a definitive response to the text from a respected (by me) Bible scholar. And there wasn’t one to be found.

And that’s what froze me. I didn’t trust my interpretation. I didn’t want to risk that I might be wrong.

It’s a tough place to be in when you are unsure of yourself and are afraid of making a mistake. It’s a lonely place to be, with no hope on the horizon.

Here’s the thing: We all find ourselves in that place at one time or another. It’s a tough place to be in, but God can solve your problem if you will ask Him. Listen to His solution and then, in confidence or trepidation, follow through on His solution. For me the confidence came as I followed through.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has paralyzed you in the past? How did you get unstuck? Leave your comment below.

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Is Technology Making You Irrelevant? 

I’m a little concerned with where technology is leading us. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all “teched” up to the hilt in my world, but I don’t know how long I can keep going.

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I’m not concerned that computers stop being more and more useful; it’s that I don’t like the changes I have to keep making.

Software has to continually be kept up with or we appear to be old fashioned.

I experienced that the other day. People looked at me like I was from the dark ages because I didn’t have a certain app on my phone.

I was making arrangements to pay a guy for hockey, and he said, “Just send the money via etransfer.”

I replied that I didn’t really do that kind of thing … that’s when the looks started flashing around the room.

It seemed like I was the only one who didn’t use this form of money transfer.

My son just smiled and shook his head. He didn’t say it but I knew he was thinking, “Man, my dad is an old guy”.

He did ask, “Don’t you have the banking app?”, to which I responded, “What’s the banking app?” At that point I could tell his thoughts were, “It’s useless. He’s too old to understand this stuff.”

I know, in that moment, Mike was contemplating the next 20 years of helping me, holding my hand as the computer age passes me by.

I’ve watched that movie before! … only I was the one who had to hold my dad’s hand as he struggled to do some of the simple things on a computer.

I guess it happens to us all eventually. But I’m a computer guy and I don’t feel like I’m out of touch with what’s going on in the computer world.

I just don’t think I need to jump down every rabbit hole that technology is taking us on.

There are areas that I’m quite happy to leave alone, and leave for others to use. One of those areas has to do with my money and transactions.

There is something in me that likes to be the one who takes MY money out of MY bank account. I don’t like it when someone else – either the bank or a merchant – takes my money out of my account for me.

Now I’ll have to get used to etransfer or the computer age will pass me by.

I just don’t like where computers are leading us. I shouldn’t be considered out of touch or too old to figure it out because I don’t use a certain method of payment.

At the end of our conversation, Mike said he would do the transfer. That sounded perfect to me because the money would be coming out of his bank account!

I told him, “That works for me. I’ll just subtract that amount from the tab you’ve got going with me.”

Here’s the thing: Most of us want to remain relevant in this world. As you consider staying relevant spiritually, remember that God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. You can always reach Him in the same way; He’s always reachable by prayer.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: In what area do you fear becoming irrelevant? Leave your comment below.

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Help For When You Are Unsettled

I noticed something today that I didn’t really like about myself. I found that I was a little out of sorts over a bunch of small details I needed to work on.

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I felt unsettled, and that was not a great feeling as I was heading into a meeting where I couldn’t do anything about those details.

Dealing with several tasks in the course of a short period of time was not the real issue for me. The real issue was that I had a meeting to focus on so those small details had to take a back seat, and remain unfinished until my meeting was over.

I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t like things hanging over my head. I’ll either handle matters right away or block them from my mind so I don’t have to think about them.

I’m really good at blocking things out. The problem with that is I can forget about things and then procrastinate until it’s tough to get those details back into the active part of my mind so I will work on them.

The details that I was concerned about today could not fall victim to procrastination. They needed to be completed before the day was out.

Somehow I needed to put them on a back burner while I was at my meeting, and then move them to the forefront of my mind when my meeting concluded.

The meeting happened to be our church service, and I realized how I was feeling just minutes before the service started.

I had come to the front of the sanctuary to pray with those who were involved in making the next hour or so a significant time for the congregation.

Just before we went to pray I realized how unsettled I felt. I needed to put all my focus and concentration on the service and, in particular, my message.

All those minor details needed to be moved into a small, cramped place in the back of my mind where I didn’t have to think about them.

The worship team took to the platform, the tech guys headed to the back and I settled into my seat at the front of the sanctuary.

I didn’t really feel calm or focused, so I just bowed my head and started to pray.

The band started playing and music filled the sanctuary. The singers started to sing; the congregation stood, but I just stayed seated with my head down.

After a few moments I raised my head, stood up and looked at the screen.

The first words I saw were, “He will uphold me all of my days”.

I had just finished praying that God would help me to not worry about the things I couldn’t get to right then and help me to be single-minded on my sermon.

Then I saw those words on the screen. I settled right down. I thanked the Lord and started to worship with the rest of the congregation.

I was able to give my complete attention to my sermon, and not be concerned with those small details.

Here’s the thing: Often we struggle through times when we feel undecided or unsettled like I just did. God longs to help us in those times if we will just give the things that are distracting us to Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has God settled you down when you have been unfocused? Leave your comment below.