Flotsam and Jetsam

Thursday night Hazel and I went to see Chris Tomlin and Tobymac in concert. I t has been a pretty stressful year regarding Hazels job and my job uncertainty mixed in with church business and family business. It was just nice to have a night out without the kids. We were just sitting back and relaxing eating our $17 in junk food which included the nastiest Diet Pepsi I have ever tasted and crappy individual pizzas from the concession stand. The lights went down and I could feel the excitement just begin to grow. Chris Tomlin began with a rocking version of "Our God" and as the drums and bass picked up with intensity and the guitarist began this beautiful melodic shoe gazer lead I could feel a wave of emotion come over me. The volume of the music and the thunder of beat made me feel like I was in a sauna and all the impurities just started pouring out of my body. I could feel the water in my eyes and I just felt like crying. All the crap from daily life was being sucked out of me. The stress of our jobs, raising two kids, a few marital spats, disagreements with our Church was just being driven out of me. The Holy Spirit just filled the arena and its power was amazing. After about 3 songs I got my composure back and just stood and enjoyed the rest of the Chris Tomlin set. It was a great praise the session. I looked at Hazel and she just had a glow about her face as she danced and clapped and sang.
Tobymac came on and it was just a huge dance party. It was the perfect way to celebrate and enjoy the release of all that flotsam and jetsam in my life

tiny breath

Today our youngest daughter Lily came down with a very bad viral infection in her lungs. She normally has the most outgoing personality that loves to laugh and bring great joy to the world around her. She spent this evening just laying on my chest like a sack of potatoes. I could feel her tiny heart beating. I could hear her struggling for breath. Short quick little gasp. I just stroked her hair and kissed her head. I would do anything to take her discomfort away. Children are such the perfect example of God's relationship with us. He is all nurturing and caring and probably gets a little frustrated when we dump the high chair tray onto the floor when we are done eating. Yet he is always there for us. He will stroke our hair and kiss our forehead when we lay in his arms and seek his comfort. I am sure he laughs when we run around butt naked after a bath because we havent realised the shame in this because of our sin. He does not have to chase us because he already knows where we are going. I cant wait for Lily to feel better and start streaking through the living room. Sounds like a Psalm.

Ride- In a different place

i

at least were not homeless

Hazel and I had a very interesting thing happen to us this past Thursday. We were driving to the northeast side of Grand Rapids to do some work and while we exited at the corner of Ann St and 131 we came upon a homeless guy. He had a sign that said he was homeless and needed food and had a expectant wife. I have been through this situation before and never know what to do. I have given money before and have also driven by trying to ignore the situation. I read in one of my Rob Bell books that giving should be unconditional and I pretty much agree. I know that there are those that say do not give because the guy is a con artist and will probably just go buy liquor. Well this time I just had to open my wallet and all I had was a ten dollar bill and 2 one dollar bills.
I just rolled down the window and handed the guy the ten dollar bill and went on our way. He responded with a really loud "thank you man" ! Hazel and I talked about it and decided we did the right thing. Hazel told me she could see the tears in the guys eyes and I do not know if this was real or just a way of justifying our charity. Even if he did con me at least he could buy some liquor and sleep with a nice buzz. I felt good about it and I guess that makes a difference. I wish I had a celebrate recovery brochure or a number of a local church to help him, but all I had was my heart and conscience. About an hour later we were traveling down 5 mile road when we saw a sign for a moving sale. We stopped by and the lady happened to run a day care and had allot of leftover books and cool educational toys for sale. Hazel picked up a few books and some some toys and said this would be really great for the daycare she works at. I looked at her and said we only have $2 in cash in my pocket plus some change. We started talking about how we got rid of our ten dollars to the homeless guy and the lady over heard us. She asked Hazel if she worked in a day care and Hazel said yes and told her about our church. Hazel looked a t me to make an offer and all I could say was that we had $2.90. She took the pile of books and toys and she put them all in a bag and said take them. I felt so poor at that moment but I looked at her and said. "thank God were not homeless". She just smiled and said "thank God were not". We got our $10 back plus a little extra for the $2.90 we had in my pocket. We felt pretty good about ourselves and went on our way to go see a movie. I think in the back of my mind I was still wondering if giving $10 to a homeless guy was too much. The next stop was at Celebration cinema to see a movie. We decide on "Robin Hood" and bought our tickets. Next stop was the concession stand and of course we purchased the $10.50 bucket of popcorn and large soda. $10.50 for a bucket of stale popcorn and a large soda? I guess that $10 to the homeless man was a better bargain.

ARE WE READY? 2 Corinthians 12 19-20

 

"For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish- that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder"

I was doing my evening Bible reading last night and I read this passage. It just kind of lodged its self in my mind and I tossed it about it all night long and through this morning. It just felt so appropriate for our church at this moment. We are patiently or no so patiently waiting for the new Pastor God has chosen for us. The list of sins is long in this verse and may or may not apply exactly but the general idea is a good one. I know I personally have committed one or two and witnessed a few of them also. A lot of them are just because we were all born sinners. I hope that we can take a look at ourselves and our church to pray and minimize some of the events that have occurred and not let them interfere with our churches mission statement. I know we are struggling financially but this should not allow Satan to use finances as a way to lead us to bad decisions or unchristian behavior. As a church leader in the consistory I am very aware of my actions and relations with others in the Church and outside the Church. I make mistakes and will focus on trying to create a positive environment for a new pastor to enter. I hope all others in leadership areas and employees will also.