sermon preparation

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I’m Realizing How Dependent I Am

The other day, I realized how dependent I am on my glasses. I don’t have a prescription, and I don’t wear them all the time, but I can’t do without them.

High-Quality-Rainbow-frame-Colored-Lens-Reading-Glasses-Fashion-Rimless-Women-Reader-12pcs-lot-Free-Shipping

It started in my 40’s. I noticed after studying for a period of time that my eyes would get all blurry. I couldn’t focus on anything.

That’s when I got my eyes checked. The eye examiner said that I needed reading glasses and handed me a prescription.

I never filled it. Instead, I went to a drugstore and found a pair of readers with a mere +115 strength. They seemed to work fine.

Well, I’ve been doing that for the past 18 or so years, but now my glasses are +250 or +275 … I can’t tell for sure; the marking has rubbed off.

Over the years, I’ve realized I need to keep my glasses close by, even though I don’t need them all the time. You never know when someone will want you to look at a picture on their phone or I will need to read a label of some kind.

I remember times when we would rent videos and I would forget to bring my glasses. I’d say to my son, Mike, “read the description on the back for me, will ya?” I couldn’t see all the tiny print.

Now I keep a few pairs of glasses at home, and a pair on my person. But the other day, I forgot them.

I left them on my night table … something I almost never do.

I got to work, fired up my computer, and within a minute knew that I wasn’t going to be able to work without glasses.

Fortunately, I had a spare pair at work. Now the problem with always having your glasses with you is that you don’t pay attention to the spare pairs you’ve put in places you might need them.

It had been a few years since I needed to use that spare pair at work. And even at that, it was just once and then a year of so before that.

So I flipped on those glasses in my desk, and I could tell right away that they weren’t strong enough. So I searched around to see if I had another pair.

I did, but I think they were even older. I had to put one pair of glasses on and then stretch my arm out as far as I could to try to read the strength of the lenses printed on the arm of the other glasses. It read +125.

Well, that ship had sailed a long time ago. I’m double the fun and double the strength now.

I knew that if I continued to work with those glasses, I would have a hard time finding the door of my office in about 25 minutes.

So I took off to the nearest drugstore and bought a pair of beauties. I don’t really want to be seen in public with them on, but I was able to work all day without the feeling that I was watching an old 3D movie without the glasses.

Here’s the thing: Your Christian life should grow more dependent the longer you are a Christian – just like how I need my glasses more and more and at greater strengths. We should become more and more dependent on Christ in our daily life. Never think that you are set, now that you’re a Christian. You need more of Christ and in stronger doses.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you become more dependent on Christ? Leave your comments below.

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You Can Trust Your Memory

I don’t know about you, but I don’t always trust my memory. I find I more readily trust what I’ve written down or am able to look up somewhere.

memory

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I don’t trust my mind with the information I gather. I feel I must write it down or I think I will forget it. The truth of the matter is I probably will forget it.

The process of writing something down seals it in my mind so that I don’t have to worry about using my mind to remember it at all.

But my mind is more powerful than I give it credit for. This week was proof of that …

I was in the research phase of sermon preparation, gathering information and gaining insight and understanding of the passage I would be preaching from on Sunday. I was recording this information, making notes on my computer.

At noon I stepped out for lunch and, when I came back, my computer was off. I hadn’t plugged it in and the battery had run down. My computer is six years old now so the battery doesn’t last as long as it used to.

I plugged it in and turned it on. Often in this case, the computer has just gone into a deep sleep, like a hibernation. It’s not really turned off, but it almost takes as long to boot back up as a fresh start up. The difference is all the programs are still open when it’s comes back on.

Not this time. I had to start up my computer and then open my programs again. When I did that I found I had lost all my notes.

It reminded me of the early days of computers when, if you didn’t save your document regularly and your computer crashed, you lost whatever you hadn’t saved.

I learned through many losses to save every time I paused from typing.

Now word processing apps save data automatically … but I don’t use a word processor to record my sermon notes.

I lost it all.

The great realization I made, however, was that I could remember a lot of the notes I had made.  The next day I was able to retype them and continue from there to make more notes.

I made triple the amount of notes I had typed the day before, but then had to leave for a meeting.

By the time I came back to my office, my computer had shut down again. And once again I lost all my notes.

Yes, everything! – the retyped notes from the day before and all the new notes I’d made in the morning.

On my third attempt to record my commentary, I made sure that I closed the program before I left my computer alone. Again I was amazed at how much research I remembered as I reentered my data for the third time.

The process of writing something out locks it into your mind more securely, which in turn allows you to trust your memory with that information.

Here’s the thing: Many people say they can’t memorize or remember scripture passages. You’ll find you are able to remember far more scripture if you write it out. If there is a passage you want to remember, write it out a few times, say it several times and you will find it sticks in your mind better than you thought it would.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your method for remembering scripture? Leave your comment below

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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.

billisard table 1

… 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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Get Greater Understanding From A Different Perspective

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

Risen

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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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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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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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.

Unsettled

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.

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Is It Really Time For A Change?

Apparently it’s time for a change in our country. That’s the mantra floating through the air in Canada this last month.

Time for Change clock

I hear it in every commercial for the Liberals and NDP. It’s either time for a change or it’s time for real change. Even the media have been telling us the voters want change.

I’ve heard people say the Conservatives have been in power too long so it’s time for a change. The government is not doing enough for some people; certainly they want a change – a new government who won’t do enough for a different group.

Sure, this election seems like it’s all about change, but is change really what the election should be about?

When I go to McDonald’s and order a Big Mac instead of a Quarter Pounder, I might say that I feel like a change. I might not even have a reason for the change; I just want something different.

But that’s called a craving; I don’t need a reason for a craving.

It’s fine for hamburgers, but is it good for an election? Let’s face it, the parties who want change, who want us to vote for a change, just want us to pick them.

For the opposition, change is good because it gets them what they want. They may try to disguise it to look like they really want what’s best for the country, but the bottom line is they just want to replace the government with themselves.

If they can get us to believe we want a change, a hankering for a new party to lead the country, that works in their favour.

But hey, it’s not like we’re all pregnant with whimsical cravings for pickles and ice cream or a minority Liberal government with an NDP opposition on top.

Choosing a government means we have to think of what’s best for the country as a whole. That also means it won’t be the best for every segment of the country. Some groups will not get what they want.

The bottom line is the government has to do what’s best for the country at large.

That’s why I question the Liberals wanting to run a 10 billion dollar deficit. Sure, the arts will get more money, as will other groups, but someone’s got to pay for it. It won’t be the richest 1% either, because they have lots of ways to reduce their income.

It will be the middle class … it’s always the middle class.

The NDP think they can spend their way to a balanced budget. They will take care of the environment, pay for daycare, fix our medical system, and give you what’s behind curtain number three (hint: the car is never behind curtain #3).

So that’s why some parties want us to believe it’s time for change. Because if we thought about what they really want to do, we wouldn’t want to change.

There isn’t a perfect party, and there is no government that will make everyone happy. But if we focus on what’s best for the whole, a stable and secure country is what we all really need.

Here’s the thing: Every day we’re tempted to do what’s wrong over what’s right, and choose bad over good. When we give in to our whims and our desires, we’ll give in to the temptation to sin. We won’t consider the consequences, or the pain it might cause, just anticipate an immediate gratification. If we think through about the temptation instead of reacting to it, we will choose not to sin more often.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How are you going to think through your decision this election? Leave your comment below.

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Every Man Wishes For A Close Shave

Today I cut the grass at my cottage; it had been five weeks since it had been clipped. As I got out my weed whacker and started trimming the edges, I thought, “Man, I wish I could trim it a little shorter.”

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That’s when I realized that one of the things men want most in life is a close shave. It doesn’t matter if it’s on our faces or the grass at the edge of our lawns, we just want a close shave!

We are always in search of something, some gadget or gimmick that will get us a closer shave.

The other day, I saw a commercial for a blade you can put on a weed whacker that’s supposed to get closer to the edges, trim down further, even get in-between the slats in your fence.

I found myself thinking, “I’ve got to get me one of those. I need to shave my lawn closer.”

We do it with razors, too. Gillette keeps coming out with more blades, pivoting heads or slippery stuff that moves the blades along. And it’s all to give us a closer shave.

We want to feel like we don’t have to shave as often. We want to go two days before someone says, “Hey, you didn’t shave today, did you?”

There are all kinds of razors out there, even ones you can take in the shower (not sure why you’d want to) that come with micro blades that whirl around to give you a pretty close shave.

I bought an electric razor because sometimes I don’t want to get out my blade razor and take the time to lather up. Sometimes a quick once-over the face with an electric will do the trick.

I have one that has triple-action floating heads. It purrs like a kitten. The first time I used it, I got a close shave – maybe too close … the next morning my face still stung from the feeling of having a thin layer of skin removed from the surface.

But that’s okay, I’m not complaining. I like that I got a close shave – that’s what we men are looking for.

And I know that we haven’t arrived at the closest thing yet. We still know that, out there somewhere, someone has an idea that will get us even closer!

I know that when someone designs a tool that will get me a few microns closer, or when a blade comes on the market that will clip those hard-to-get-to places on my lawn, I’ll be wanting it.

Some day I can picture us using lasers to clip hairs from our face and cut our lawn painlessly and in one swoop.

Oh, wouldn’t that be nice to get your face up close to a device that removes your hair right to the nubbies … and then you could just turn the dial up a few notches if you wanted a facelift.

Here’s the thing: We may never be satisfied with how close a shave we can get. We may always be looking for something closer. Well, that’s how we should be with our relationship with Christ. Have you become satisfied with it? Is your relationship with Christ “close enough”? That should never be. We should always be searching, looking, striving for how we can develop a closer relationship, closer walk with Him.

That’s Life!
Paul

Question: What part of your relationship with Christ are you not satisfied with? Leave your comment below.

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What A Mind I Have!

Sometimes our minds surprise us; sometimes they let us down.

i-forgot-day

It is a rare occasion when I’ve finished writing my sermon before about 6 pm on Friday night. But this past week I finished writing my sermon at 1:40 pm.

I can’t tell you how good it felt to be done that early in the day. It was like a burden had been lifted from me.

There is a weight that preachers carry with them as they prepare sermons. It feels heavy like a backpack that you can’t take off until you get to your destination.

But when the sermon is done, the backpack comes off and you feel light again.

I celebrated by going for lunch. I decide to try a new chicken fast food restaurant close by and I even got myself a pop. I was feeling good.

The crazy thing was, though I finished my sermon in record time for once, I still had more writing to do. So after a not-so-inspiring chicken lunch celebration, I was back at it. This time writing a funeral message.

The amazing thing was I was still focussed and by 6 pm I had finished that message and I was really done for the night.

I was feeling great, mentally exhausted, but ecstatic that I was all done.

In the evening, Lily and I went to a store and saw someone we knew from a distance. About two minutes after that I realized how my mind had let me down despite how focussed I’d been in writing messages that day.

Seeing that guy reminded me that I had forgotten to do something very important earlier in the day.

My message had flowed out of me like a tap turned all the way on, but I had forgotten to fill the baptistry tank in the sanctuary!

You see, another church had asked to use our church for a baptism service on Sunday afternoon and the guy I saw Friday night while shopping was from that church. Seeing him triggered my memory.

For a Sunday baptism, the tank must be filled and the heater turned on by Friday so the water will be warm enough.

I was ripped, upset at myself for not remembering. I was devastated that I would have to spend the rest of the evening babysitting a baptistry tank (it’s a 2 hour process).

How could my mind be so sharp that day but still let me down so badly?

I wanted to blame someone, or something, for how my day turned out. But in the end I had no one to blame but myself.

Here’s the thing: When something goes wrong, we want to blame someone else. It doesn’t change the outcome, but we feel justified being angry at whomever we pin the fault on … even if it’s God. However, accepting responsibility enables us to see how God works things out. I normally have a long day writing a sermon. This week God enabled me to write both messages in the time it usually takes to write one. Though the baptistry issue cost me time Friday night, God used that guy I saw to remind me about what I’d forgotten. When I put the blame in the proper place I can see how God helps me even when my mind lets me down.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has your mind amazed you and failed you in the same day? Leave your comment below.