Sisters ...

Last weekend, I spent a lot of time with Emma and Lila. There are few things better than a Saturday spent with grand kids. The girls are coming up on their common birthday in just a month -- Emma will be four and Lila will be one. There will be great celebrating on the big day. This picture celebrates the heart of that shared birthday -- the simple joy of knowing that you will always have your sister's hand to hold, a best friend who will help you walk when the world is wiggly and someone who thinks you are just the most fun in the entire world. Sometimes we forget the great gift of sisters and brothers, of family, of friends and get caught up in stuff.

Shame on us, because we really do know better.

The really neat thing is that being the big sister who's keeping the wiggly world safe or being the little sister who honors you with trust are both needful. We all need that hand to keep us steady; and we all need to be needed.

Jesus talked about our need to be connected to each other in the 15th chapter of John's Gospel. He said ... I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit ... I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead I have called you friends ..."

It's really all about leaning on Him, growing in His love, and letting Him produce fruit in your life. It's about putting your hand in His hand and letting Him make your world less wiggly. You can find joy beyond measure in letting your best friend help you walk.

Emma and Lila did.

Keep the faith!

a fresh look down memory lane ...

On Saturday, just because the promise of Spring exploded with 70+ degrees and sunshine, we drove to Newport to do the Cliff Walk. After parking at First Beach, I noticed these kids frolicking on the sand. It brought back so many memories of Sean, Cil, Pat and Becky playing on the beaches of Cape Cod.

It always started with running in the sand, then the shoes and sox were off. There was always a promise that "we're only going in to our knees." I always carried wet children home after they'd discovered that swimming was more fun than wading. We all knew how it would end; and it was part of the fun to see just how long they could hold out before the call of the water was just too much.

It's good to see that kids really haven't changed -- that there is nothing quite as much fun as a good run in the waves and flirting with getting completely soaked.

While we were in the Dominican, our friends in San Francisco de Marcoris taught us a song about swimming in the river of God. The verses say that I don't want to just get my knees wet, my shoulders wet; I want to swim in the river of God. We should be impatient with anything less than to be completely immersed in His love and His presence.

The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:14 - 16 "because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."

I am mindful that as much pleasure as I took from watching my kids play on the beach and flirt with just how wet they could get, my heavenly Father takes so much more. He is watching to see just how deep we will get in the river of God's love. I know He smiles when we come up soaked in the Spirit!

Keep the faith

Richard

they that wait ...

In the movie Chariots of Fire, the Scot, Eric Liddell, preaches from the prophet Isaiah during the Sunday of the Paris Olympic games. The text is so familiar -- "yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary" (Isaiah 40:31) It is the marathoner's favorite verse and an encouragement to all who feel that they have given their all.

Recently, I had a chance to hear a friend talk about waiting on the Lord from a different perspective -- it isn't passively setting back and thinking positive thoughts. It is an active wait -- the kind of waiting that a birdwatcher in a blind engages in. You wait prepared, in a chosen place, because you expect to see a remarkable bird. Those sights are never seen by those who are not willing to rise early, to prepare and to set and wait. The reward is that you see what others miss. Photographers know the same truth about sunsets -- they pass quickly and only those who recognize the signs of a glorious sunset ever capture them.

On our return flight from the Dominican Republic, I found myself at Miami International Airport waiting for a flight back to Boston which was delayed because of East Coast weather. The windows faced west and I saw this glimmer in the sky -- there was a sliver of what is called the "golden hour" which back light the control tower. I spent the next half hour taking pictures of the glory that the Father shows us -- it renewed my spirit. If my heavenly Father provides such beauty which, like the lilies of the field, is here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will He show us when we spend eternity with Him! It is the certainty that greater things are coming; and that seeing Jesus face to face is greater than the most amazing moment we shall ever have on this planet continues to excite me.

At the end of the sunset, I saw a sky painted red and gold by my Father's hand -- He rewarded me for waiting upon Him and gave me the object lesson in active waiting. It is all about recognizing the signs of His coming and being ready to join in His work. If you don't look for the first signs of the golden light, you might just be in Starbucks waiting for a coffee when His handiwork is on display. As for me and my house, I want to see His glory -- I can get a cappuccino any day.

Keep the faith!


Richard



P.S. Remember the advice that Eric's father gave him ... "Run in God's name and let the world stand back in wonder"

Costly Grace ...

I've been reading Chuck Colson's book The Faith and have become stuck in a chapter called Exchanging Identities. In that chapter Colson writes about the real work of salvation and contrasts it with the ideas so common in America's re-branded Christianity.

The words "born again" and "being saved" roll off our tongues so quickly that we forget just how radical the idea really is. Sometimes when I read the third chapter of John's gospel, I think that Nicodemus must have left his thinking cap at home on the night he visited Jesus. "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" (John 3:4) The idea of a new birth is really hard to understand, especially when you have position and prestige.

It is the exchange of our old identity for the identification with Christ that is at the heart of being "born again." It's being ready to let go of who I am, what I do, and where I'll go that is at the calling. It is understanding that it's not about how I can change me, but how surrendering to Jesus will bring the real change in me. The point of being born again is not that I resolve my issues with guilt and sin, but that I take on a new identity. I choose to cooperate with grace and let His will be done in my life.

Colson tells of the radical transformation that comes with being born again. Dietrich Bonhoeffer came to faith in 1931 and changed. He became a leader in the confessing church which would not submit to Nazi control. He lost his university position, was denied access to the airwaves and forbidden to publish or speak in public. In June of 1939, he arrived in New York where he could have waited out the war in relative safety. His understanding of the cost of grace compelled him to return to Germany, spy for the Allies, and plot the assassination of Hitler. He could not stand idly by while the machinery of the Holocaust consumed its victims. His actions ultimately resulted in his execution only three weeks before the liberation of Berlin. While in prison he modeled the life that Christ calls us to. His prison camp doctor said of him,"In the almost fifty years I have worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God."

That is the radical change that being born again calls us to -- to choose to follow Christ when it would be easier and safer to stay away. To find the work that is set before us and do it unto His glory. When we think about salvation as something that is about us, we do miss the point. It is about living our lives under His control, for His purposes and for His glory.

The apostle Paul tells us how we are saved, who saved us and why we are saved in the second chapter of Ephesians -- For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph. 2:8-10)

There's nothing so radical as being redeemed and born again. There's nothing so costly as the free gift of salvation, and no victory so sweet as surrender to Christ.

Keep the faith.

John's Nativity Story ...

I'm looking out the window of the sliding door to the deck onto the scene of snow falling on the trees and the pond. I can see the reflection of the lights of the Christmas tree on the glass. As I do, I'm considering my options -- do we watch "White Christmas," "Frosty the Snowman," "Home Alone," or the local weather channel? I think that Ralphie, the Red Ryder BB gun, and the "Christmas Story" might just win. Maybe it will be "Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas."

I rejoice that families behave like families at this time of year. That we make and collect memories, tell the old stories, and get nostalgic over decorations, trees, and traditions. If nothing else happened, it would still be worth celebrating this outpouring of kindness once a year. But there is an amazing reality that sits just below the decorations, the celebrations, the music, and the giving.

In the Gospel of John we read ..."the Word became flesh and dwelt among us ..." (John 1:14). The scope of what John wrote is amazing because he also tells us that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." (John 1:1). John has just told us that the Creator chose to live among us. That is the Nativity story distilled down to its most fundamental truth -- that God chose to live among us in the person of Jesus Christ.

I'm so happy that the other Gospel writers tell us about Mary, Joseph, the angel, the trip to Bethlehem. About the magi, about Anna, about Simeon, about Elizabeth, and about the shepherds. They gave us a way to comprehend the humanity of Jesus' birth and love the humility of it all.

I have wondered why the apostle John didn't tell us more of the birth of His Lord. After all, Jesus committed Mary to John's care ..."Dear woman, here is your son, and to the disciple, here is your mother. From that time on, the disciple took her into his home." (John 19:26-27). John most certainly knew all of the stories that Mary hid in her heart. So why is John's Nativity story so different?

I am convinced that John knew that Matthew, Mark and Luke had given us the baby Jesus in their Nativity accounts. John wanted us to take our comprehension of the baby Jesus one step further. John wanted us breathless at the manger. He wanted us to be, like the prophet Isaiah, "undone" in the presence of the Holy One.

I love God's style. He gives us a heart message -- the story of the baby Jesus who we can all love because it speaks to our love of our own children -- and a head message that captures our imaginations. He wants our hearts and our heads, and He feeds both.

So, as you celebrate this amazing intervention of the Word into the world, hold your family especially close -- make a memory. And think about the deepest blessing of this season ... that He dwelt among us.

Keep the faith.

The Forgotten Man at the Manger ...

Christmas brings lots of memories -- family gatherings, watching "It's a Wonderful Life," "A Christmas Carol," and the "Christmas Story" are all near the top. They remind us of the blessings of family and how precious it is to spend this season with the ones we love. It's also a season to remember the One whose birth we celebrate. It is so easy to get caught up in the cards, the shopping, the decorating, the parties and figuring out exactly how far our budget can stretch that we can forget just what we celebrate.

There are moments when it does come back into focus -- when we think about that night when there was no room at the inn. That night when, in the words of John's gospel, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14) I'm not sure that the Christmas creche is exactly right with shepherds, angels and wise men collecting in the stable on the same night. Matthew's gospel tells us that the wise men came to the house where the child was staying (Matthew 2:11), but I am sure that Joseph was present when Jesus was born.

Joseph amazes me -- he was asked to trust Mary who told him what must have seemed to be an impossible story. He had no visit from an angel to calm his fears or settle his doubts, and yet he stood by Mary protecting her and the Baby who would save them both. All that Joseph had was his love for Mary, and a dream (Matthew 1:20). I wonder how many of us would be willing to set aside our pride, our doubts and our hurts because of a dream that told us ... "do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife ... that the child is of the Holy Spirit ... and that you shall call his name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins."

Somehow in all of our remembrance of Bethlehem, the inn with no room, the shepherds, Mary, the cattle trough, and the Magi Joseph seems to slip quietly into the background. I have come to appreciate the rare gift of humility that he demonstrates -- just do the loving and right thing even if no one sees it. But Joseph received an honor that the rest of us can only imagine -- he was chosen to protect Mary and Jesus, to provide a home for them, and to love that holy baby. What an awesome reward!

This song, written by Michael Card, is the only Christmas song that looks to Joseph and opens up the heart of that father. Think of this as an early Christmas gift -- I hope it gets you into the real Christmas spirit.

Keep the faith!

Follow me ...

Last Thursday I visited an old friend who is now in hospice care. I had the privilege of joining more than 20 other men who know and love Lloyd. The men were all part of a Bible study that Lloyd taught for many years. The men came to minister to him, but Lloyd remained that faithful minister of grace that he has been for so long. He had a word of encouragement for each and every man there, he shared his hope for a cure, and his confidence that His Lord was waiting to say ... Well done, good and faithful servant.

Lloyd did not forget that it was grace that saved him and that it is grace that leads him home. Each time Lloyd spoke, the words of Scripture were on his lips. When you spent time with Lloyd, it was clear what a radically transformed life really is -- it is filled with grace, love, and peace. Everyone who knew him has the same description -- Lloyd is Jesus' gentle giant.

When I think about Lloyd, I am reminded of the Apostle Paul's advice to the church at Corinth -- Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1) This picture of a boat sailing on Narragansett bay at sunset so perfectly illustrates this -- you will note that there is a small boat being towed by the sailboat, following in its wake. For many, it has been a great blessing to ride along in that little boat following in the wake of this gentle giant.

Two days before the visit our Church Board and Deacons unanimously appointed Lloyd an Honorary Deacon. I am certain that no one has ever deserved the title more -- deacons were first appointed in the Jerusalem church to serve God's people. I don't know anyone who has been a more joyful servant.

Well done, my friend. I'm proud to sail in your wake.

Keep the faith!