Lessons from the Homeless

I have struggled with indecision about whether to write this post, mostly because it hit home for me, in a very real and personal way.  I struggle with prejudice.  Oh, I don't mean prejudice in color, natural ability or disability, or age.  I struggle with a deeper prejudice.  I have found myself looking at homeless men and women, and making a judgement about them.  I think to myself, he or she must have a strong addition to lose everything and wind up in the street.  I sometimes think to myself he must have dropped out of school, or isn't very bright, or is not sound in mind.  I see the missing teeth, the mismatched clothes, and the dirt on their hands, and I think they must not be clean.  I admit, I have walked away or across the street of a group of people who I knew to be homeless.  I did not want to have anything to do with them.  I was afraid.

Tied up in Knots

Most of you know I took up a new hobby last summer with sailing.  I hate to admit that I started sailing before I had proper training.  This summer, we took the time to listen to the seasoned sailors at the club dock tell us more about wind conditions, sail positions, retrieving a "man overboard," and safe docking.

One of the lessons I found I did not know was how to tie good knots.  I learned there are good knots, and there are bad knots.  For a knot to be considered a "good knot,"it must meet three primary criteria:

1. Good knots must have a purpose.
2. Good knots must hold, and not slip.
3. Good knots must be easy to untie.

There are many knots used in sailing.  Each kind of knot has a unique purpose.  Everyone knows the square knot (not pictured).  This is called a reef knot in sailing, and used to reef a sail (tie it up) during a storm.  The bowline knot (pictured above) is used to create a loop in your line (rope).  The loop end of the rope can then be thrown to catch a dock post.  The sheet bend (pictured left) is used to tie two lines together (can be uneven sized).  The clove hitch (pictured below) is used to secure your boat to a dock post.


I loved learning about these knots, and I found myself thinking about the "good knot" criteria, and comparing it with God's word.  Let's review each one in turn.

1. Good knots must have a purpose.
A knot is not considered "good" if it does not serve a purpose.  Interestingly, neither are believers.  Jesus Himself told the disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone," (Mark 16:15 NLT). This is the purpose He gave each of us.

2. Good knots must hold, and not slip.  
What good is a knot if it slips, and the boat gets away?  In the same manner, a believer who is not holding fast to the Word can slip, and fall away.  God told Joshua, "Study this Book of Instruction continually.  Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.  Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do," (Joshua 1:8 NLT).  This is the key to staying grounded in obedience.

3. Good knots must be easy to untie.
This lesson was the hardest for me to understand.  Why would I need to untie a knot quickly and easily?  To sail away from a dock, the line must be quick to loose and throw into the boat, so that the sailor can quickly jump onboard and man the tiller.  A knot may also need to be loosed quickly to avoid a dangerous situation of being tethered to something that could cause a boat to sink.  I thought about believers who are tethered to things that may become unhealthy.  I'm talking about how sometimes the things we hold onto can become idols in our lives.  A believer must be able to quickly loose the things that become idols to keep us from losing our focus.  "And what union can there be between God's temple and idols?  For we are the temple of the living God.  As God said: 

'I will live in them 

and walk among them.  

I will be their God, 

and they will be my people.'" 

(2Corinthians 6:16 NLT)  

I should mention it took me three hours to learn to tie these knots in a manner that I could remember later.  I was appalled that I couldn't learn these knots as quickly as I thought I should.  I felt stupid, but that message is for another post.

Spiritual Intimacy

Raleigh feels Maku's girlhood fears as her parents died

I recently saw the movie Pacific Rim on Netflix, that I found to be compelling.  It originally came out a year ago, and is just now beginning to gain popularity.

In the movie, the planet Earth is being attacked by very large evolving alien monsters called Kaiju (think Godzilla).  To fight these Kaiju, a branch of the military developed "Jaegers," large robots piloted by two people whose minds must be linked to operate it effectively.  One person could not operate it to defeat the Kaiju.  Both people needed to be linked and focused on the task.

This process of linking minds is called "drifting." To be able to drift, two people must be "drift compatible," or able to trust one another enough to bond at that level of intimacy.  When drifted with his partner, a pilot has access to her memories, feelings, everything.  Most of the pilot pairs were family.

I found myself thinking about this bond.  I thought about how we are often ill-equipped to fight the worldly temptations and battle the things unseen when we are not bonded with the Holy Spirit.  We have to rely on Him who is within us to be effective.  The more we trust the Holy Spirit, the more effective we become at overcoming what comes our way.  He is the One who knows our thoughts, our memories, our feelings, ... everything.  He understands what we struggle with, and He helps bear our pain.

Alone, we are not effective.
Bonded with the Holy Spirit, there is nothing we cannot defeat.

"What is impossible for people is possible with God." ~Luke 18:27 (NLT)

A Dream about Baseball (??)

I usually don't remember my dreams, but last week I had one that I really don't understand.  I believe it was a message, but I don't know who the message was for.  I don't even like baseball.

The scene opens up with a dad gazing lovingly at his 10-year old son who is sleeping and obviously dreaming.  Dad is able to go into his son's dream to see what he is dreaming about.  He sees his son playing catch with his favorite baseball player from the Cardinals, Adam Wainwright (starting pitcher).  Dad smiles and says, "Son, why don't you wake up, so we can play a game of catch?"  

The son resists Dad and says, "I don't want to play with you.  I want to play with HIM!" (pointing to Adam Wainwright).  He turns away from Dad who keeps on asking, "wake up."  Dad is persistent.  He finally succeeds in getting his son's attention, and gets him to face him.  The son begins to wake up, and they both start traveling to the bedroom where the son is sleeping.  

Suddenly, the dream changes, and the son is pulled back into the dream.  He is angry now at Dad for pulling him away.  Adam Wainwright is now surrounded by other ball players and does not notice the son.  The son looks back at Dad who had followed him back into the dream, and says, "I don't know you.  I know him."  He slowly walks away from Dad and moves toward his idol.  

I woke up watching Dad's facial expressions as his son rejected him.  

I have been reading the Old Testament prophets lately and have realized just how much our heavenly father pursued His people, and how many times His people rejected him.  Over and over, we see God's anger at His people who left, and over and over, we see His mercy renewed.  I can picture our God as the "Dad" in my dream, and His people as the "son" in my dreams.  We are constantly chasing our idols, turning away from our God, and this saddens Him.  He wants us to wake up and be in His presence.  

Won't you give up your idols and turn into His presence?  Open your Bible and find out what God is about for yourself.  Tomorrow is Sunday.  Find a church to attend with your family.

"This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out.

Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed."

~Romans 13:11 (NLT)

July Fun

Some photos from our church outreach gathering. I'm told we had 1900 community members come out for music, pony rides, bounce houses, and plenty of free food.  Fireworks were shot by our own church members.  I love how both our flags are prominent in these photos. Freedom in America and Freedom in Christ from our sins. We celebrate!

Happy Independence Day!!

Happy Independence Day 2014!!

Practice good common sense and be safe everyone!!