Sowing and Reaping

One of my significant financial regrets occurred a number of years ago when as a subscriber to the prairie agricultural newspaper the Western Producer I came across a classified advertisement for 120 acres.  The asking price was $39, 500 ( I’m under no illusions that this was a perfect patch of paradise so don’t get sidetracked by issues of whether the land was half under water or a former toxic dump). 

In my conversation with the fella who was selling he informed me that the land was currently being rented out to a nearby farmer who had already put in a crop.  For the sake of my example let’s say we work out all the legal stuff and I purchase the land complete with its growing crop of canola. 

Let’s say that, with the canola in full bloom, I discover I have severe allergies to canola and decide that I would prefer a field of barley instead.

What’s going to happen?  Will my crop change from canola to barley? 

What if I pray for it to change?

What if I claim it by faith and tell everyone it has changed?

What if I post signs saying “THIS IS BARLEY”?

I’ve seen this sort of thing happen too many times to believers, ministries and churches.  Well-meaning believers who have been convinced that renaming a crop, or claiming a change of crop will make it magically happen.  And I used the word “magically” intentionally. 

The Biblical principle is this:  You reap what you sow.

Now, I can auction off all my canola machinery and buy a whole new set of all the machinery and equipment I need to harvest barley, but that still won’t change what is in the field!

Too often churches and ministries discover this the hard way.  Their current leader or pastor leaves (jumped, pushed, dropped, sails) and when the new “machinery” arrives they expect him/her to change a crop of canola into barley.

It doesn’t work that way.

It is a soundly biblical and eternally consistent truth that you reap what you sow.  I like how utterly emphatic the Apostle Paul is in writing this truth to the first century believers in Galatia.

Galatians 6:7 (PNWiV)

⁷ Do not be duped:

God is not mocked,

Whatever you sow, that’s precisely what you will also reap.

I have no way of knowing what season you personally (or your family) may be entering.  But I sense in my own spirit that the I, my family and the ministry in which I am serving are entering a time of sowing.

If that’s true… if that’s also you… it requires… it demands that we be intensely vigilant.  It requires us to tune ourselves intentionally to the whisper of the Holy Spirit because what we do in this season is going to have ramifications not just for the present but from now until it is harvested.

What you “put in the ground now”…

·       relationally…

·       in time…

·       in energy…

·       in ministry…

·       in attitude…

·       in programming…

·       in finances…

…all of these and more – is going to “die” and then “multiply” (John 12:24)

Plant wisely

…just sayin’

Are you Ready?

Hey, I know Christmas isn’t here yet but, a new year is just around the corner!

Happy New Year!

What that means in this neck of the woods is that... well... that the sun went down (like it normally does) and came up the next morning (like it normally does)... and ...well... I don't know.

Face it... it's just another day - a day off from work and school... but still, just another day.

I don't know if you engage in the ritual of writing out resolutions or not...
...stop smoking
...lose weight
...spend more time with family
...make more money
...spend less money
...get out of debt
...find a job
...move out of Mom's house and find a place of my own...

the usual...

Here's my question.  When you make those resolutions what are you actually saying?  It seems to me that a resolution is an acknowledgment of a couple of things:

 First, that something in my life is busted.  Something needs to be changed.  an unhealthy habit needs to be broken or a healthy one needs to begin.  Right?  Resolutions are a call for change...

Secondly, I would say that resolutions are also a plea for help.   You waited for this magical date... January 1st. Why didn't you quit smoking on December 8th or started the diet on the 17th?  ...because you didn't have the strength to... but now... after January 1st... the year is new... the sun is new... you are new and you suddenly have the strength to go through with that diet..

No you don't...  you need help... more help than a fresh calendar can provide.

So stop what you're doing.. stop what you were going to go back to after reading this... and call someone close to you... a sibling, parent, child, friend, spouse and tell them, "I need your help with something.. this year I want to [insert something you need help with]... and I cannot do it on my own.  Will you help?"

If you don't do that now - then print this off and put it somewhere where you will find it January 1, 2016.. you're going to need it again...

…just sayin…

The Baby in the Manger.

Protestants are adamant about their crosses. 

Maybe you haven’t noticed. 

Catholics typically use crucifixes.  The term “crucifix” is of Latin origins and essentially means ‘fixed to a cross’.  So most Catholic crosses contain some representation of Christ affixed to the cross. 

Protestants on the other hand, typically employ naked crosses.  That is, crosses without a body.  “Christ,” many are eager to declare, “is risen!  He is neither in the grave nor still fastened to a Roman cross!”

The funny thing is that Protestants have no problem putting a baby in the manger of their nativities.  In fact, you’d probably be surprised at the level of anxiety caused by annual “kidnappings” of  “baby Jesus” (do a Google News search of “baby Jesus stolen”).

Why, when we are so adamant about God no longer being cross-bound, are we OK with God being manger-bound?

…because a manger-bound god is easier to control… easier to fit into our holiday… our schedule…  our lives…

The manger-god asks only that we provide a manger, bow like shepherds, light some candles to remember the star and sing “Glory to God” to remember the angels. 

Baby Jesus is safe!  No… He’s contained!  No worries.  No stress!  He’s just a baby! Nobody fears a baby.  We fuss.  We don’t fear.  And in spite of the example of the Magi we don’t worship babies either. 

It’s hard to worship a God who is lying in a manger with a poopy diaper!

We prefer the Christ-baby!   So, each year we pause to celebrate our tiny, manger-bound God – wrapped in swaddling clothes. Then we congratulate ourselves for “keeping Christ in Christmas”

I often hear people talk about “getting”, or worse, “letting” God “out of the box”.

If that’s you, you need to get over yourself.  Fact is, you are too small to put Him in a box!  You haven’t the strength to put Him in a box!  And you certainly don’t have the capacity to see Him fully!  The best you can do is ask Him to blow whatever confines and restrictions you currently view Him through.

Now that would be an awesome Christmas present!  

_{(parts of this blog come from a sermon preached by Rev. P. N. Woodburn during Advent 2013)}

Power

I can’t remember how old I was… probably old enough to know better. 

It was Christmas morning. 

That year one of my gifts was a tin Indy 500 race car.  It might have had flames on the fenders.  I remember red, white, yellow and blue detailing and big fat tires but what made it special was that it was powered by a spring made of high tension steel.  No batteries required!  All you had to do was pull it back and let it go! 

 

Man, did that thing go! 

It didn’t take long before I wanted to see how far it could go on one pull.  Then I had to find out how fast it could go on a single pull.  Then I realized I didn’t have to pull it back at all!  If I wound the power wheels up and held them tight while setting it down I didn’t have to bother with dragging it halfway across the family room!

I was mechanically inclined enough to realize that the tighter I wound it the faster and further it would go so naturally each time I retrieved it I attempted to wind it up more…

…you know where this is going right?

I broke it!

Less than an hour of play… probably more like 30 minutes and I busted it.  I turned my wonderful high-tech, powered without batteries, once-in-a-lifetime toy into a paper-weight with wheels.  Of course, it still looked the same mind you.  It just couldn’t do what it was designed to do because the wheels had been cut off from their power source…

It doesn’t matter what a thing is… doesn’t matter how it’s powered – battery, solar, gas, diesel, wind, electric… spring…  Separate a thing from its power source and it becomes ineffective… useless…

So…

…what’s your power source?

…just sayin’

Following Jesus

So the other day I “attended” an online conference called theNINES.  This year’s version of the conference was entitled “Culture Crash: When Church and Culture Collide”.  They dealt with a number of issues, some of which would, have and will continue to divide churches. 

For those of you unfamiliar with theNINES - just over 200 presenters are invited to contribute a short video on one of the conferences themes.  These videos are then strung together over two days broken up by sporadic panel discussions.

As the conversation unfolded this year there were, as always, buzzwords that emerged, advice repeated, ideas presented and questions asked.  I couldn’t help but notice that in some of the conversations people seemed to argue on the basis of what they felt…  what they wanted… what they valued… what was important to them…

I don’t know if this was done intentionally or not – I’m guessing not.  Presenters don’t know which videos will play before theirs.  I think it was partway through the second day (it all starts to blur together after a bit) one of the presenters made the following statement.  I’m afraid I don’t remember who – maybe if you read this and you know who you can let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.  He said:

If following Jesus hasn’t cost you everything…

              …you might be following the wrong jesus…

He said it so casually and then moved off of it so quickly but it hit me with the force of the Spirit.  I don’t think it needs explaining…

Let me add one more thing.  I won’t comment on it here – maybe in a later post.

Luke 17:5-10 (PNWiV)

The twelve said to Jesus, “Jesus give us more faith!”

Jesus replied, “You don’t need more faith!  You could uproot an oak tree and fling it about with faith no bigger than a grain of sand. 

Have you ever heard of a slave-master inviting his slave to supper in the big-house after a day’s work?  Isn’t the master more likely to say, ‘Hey you!  I’m hungry!  Bring me my supper, now!’ 

Does the master complement the slave on his field work? Of course not!  The slave was only being obedient – as well he should. 

So too, when you have been obedient, you should say, ‘We are such unworthy slaves; all we have done is that which is our duty.”

…just sayin’

Failure

I have found that often when I ask people what they want to do with the next five years of their life, they shrug, laugh nervously and mumble something that often sounds  like, "I don't know..."

Often (not always) when I change the question and ask...

If you could do anything...
   ...and you knew it would not fail...
               ...What would you do?

The response is different.   Even if the person does not have a ready answer, often there is a smile of relief, a tilted head and the dreaming begins...

We find it easy to dream when the possibility of failure disappears.

What's tragic about this is the fact that we cannot grow without failure...   we cannot learn without failure...

I think I've only ever failed one test/exam in my entire life...   (I know, I know... get over it...)

The thing is a test/exam is not life!  

What I mean is this.   Before I ever sat to write the test or exam I spent hours learning how to get the right answer.   Hours erasing and trying again.   Hours squinting my eyes and trying to remember elusive facts, dates, formulas and the like...   In other words... for every right exam question I logged hours of failures.

If you could do anything and you knew you would not fail... whatever it is would be the failure.  

Success cannot exist apart from the possibility of failure.   In other words, if the thing cannot fail... it cannot succeed either.   If the only time an athlete competes is when success is guaranteed they aren't competing.   If the only time a business tries a new product is when its success is guaranteed it's not a new product...

Success and failure are the two inseparable sides of the same coin...

Want some advice?   If you do anything and it "fails" (whatever that means) get up and go at it again until you figure out how to get that coin to land success-side up!

…just sayin…

A Tale of Two Churches (PART II)

…but there is more to the story… 

(if you’re not sure what story I’m talking about you’ll need to go back and read “A Tale of Two Churches (PART I)”)

At the same time that the first group set out for the proverbial greener pastures, a second group, several days-journey north, also set out.  For some strange reason, this group decided that they would first commit themselves to each other.  In other words, each person agreed that they would do what was in the best interest of the community rather than self.  They agreed that they would look out for each other…

…to look after each other…

…to matter to each other.

As they prepared they faced a significant amount of ridicule.  Neighbours couldn’t understand why anyone would commit to travel with “that poor family from the other side of the creek”, family members who said “You’d be better off if you left Uncle Ted behind,” politicians upset that no one seemed to care for their advice.

The day they left was as miserable as any.  Rain came down in sheets, turning the already primitive roads into muddy rivers.  They didn’t get anywhere near as far as they had hoped but none of that dampened their spirits.  The evening was spent running from covered wagon to covered wagon and the sound of their laughter seemed to make music with the pit-a-pat of the rain.

The morning sunrise was spectacular… of course they always thought that.

Don’t get me wrong, their journey saw more than its fair share of danger, frustration and hardship.  Somehow, these things seemed to make them stronger both individually and as a community.  As issues arose, suggestions were offered.  At times there were debates that went late into the night and sometimes voices were raised as one person or the other sought to make their point.  However, because they had started with the conviction that no issue was more important than a relationship, it was never long before they were laughing, and caring, and sharing again.

Soon the weather signalled the inevitable changing of the seasons and a community gathering was called in order to discuss what to do.  There was no rule that stated only certain individuals should talk, but it seemed to make sense to allow those who had the experience and knowledge to be called upon.  When the suggestion was made that they stop travelling and prepare for the winter it seemed so obvious the only questions were “When?” and “Where?”.

I’ll spare you the details of the journey.  It was long, and difficult.  There were shortages of food, unexpected injuries, wild storms, freezing nights, blistering heat, strange illnesses and yes, several folks died. 

Of course there were also births, and birthdays, weddings and anniversaries, they regularly stopped to share meals of thanks and even managed a Christmas feast while they were enroute. 

Finally, however they reached their destination.

Soon all the evening gatherings focussed on planning the layout and the building of their town.  What buildings would go up first, where the roads would run, town square, market, community centre and so forth.  Most of those decisions were logical.  The most heated conversations centred around what to name the town.  Of course, there were several suggestions.  And given that the subject matter was more emotional than rational there was significant disagreement… some of it loud…

…but some inspired laughter. 

In the end, it was decided that the issue was not that important. 

“Let's build.” they said.

Voices in turn said things like, “Let's keep serving each other.”

“The name is something we can decide later.”

“Maybe something will emerge as we go along.”

As with their entire journey, it was clear that they were committed not to the project…

…not to the idea of a town...

          …not to the monetary value of the right name…”

But to each other...

As a result every, and any, little or large thing that might have torn them apart became nothing more, and nothing less than one more thing to bind them together.

Anyone want to take a journey?