Father’s Day

Tomorrow is Father’s Day.  I love the fact that our culture celebrates fathers and sets aside one day to focus on the value of fathers and the impact that fathers have had in our lives.  We can’t do enough to enhance the importance of a father’s role in society and in the lives of their sons and daughters.  I have daughters so I know how a little girl can wrap a daddy right around her little finger.  I also have sons and know how much fun it is to have someone to train up to be a man.

 

I heard a radio host asking callers this week what they would like to say to their fathers.  They got lots of touching responses and it made me think about what I would like to say to my father if I could.  My Dad died when I was in the 6th grade.  He seemed fine when I went to bed that night and died of a heart attack before I woke up in the morning so I didn’t get any ‘last words’ to him.  It was sudden.  

 

So, what would I say to my Dad if I had a chance to tell him one thing?  I remember several years ago when Kathy and I went to a marriage enrichment seminar, there was a men’s breakout session and the speaker asked us to write down one thing that we would like to hear our fathers, whether living or dead, tell us.  That day, I decided that I would love to hear my Dad say that he was proud of me.  I think he would be.  As a matter of fact, I think he would be proud of all of his children.  One look that I do remember on my Dad’s face was that ‘proud Daddy look’ he had when all of us kids were playing the sports we loved.

 

But, what would I tell him?  I think I would want to tell him that he did a good job.  I would tell him that all of us kids, my brother and sister and I, are all well and that he has lots of grandchildren that are missing out on something because they didn’t get to meet him.  As I said above, I was young when he passed away so I don’t have lots of crystal clear memories of my Dad, but I do remember that he loved me and that I was important to him.  As a matter of fact, I think I’m probably a lot like him.

 

So, if your dad is alive, tell him that one thing that you would like to tell him while you can.  If he’s not alive, then I hope you have the good memories of him that I have of mine and that you, too, could tell him that he did a good job.  Enjoy your time with your dad today.

Born to worship

We had a worship gathering at Grace Capital Church last night.  It was a wonderful time of singing, worshipping, and praising God who has set us free from so many of the roots that have kept us from living in the freedom that He provides for us.  The band was great and I think they did a great job of keeping the focus off of themselves and on God whom we were worshipping.  I believe that we have been doing a lot of heavy work over the past few weeks as we’ve investigated the roots that are intertwined in us and this was a great time for us all to blow off a little steam, to celebrate the freedom we have in Christ, and start replacing those messy roots with good roots; roots that are grounded in the Word of God and watered by the Holy Spirit.

 

There is one message I want to follow up from last night with.  Worship isn’t what we do; worship is who we are.  We don’t come to church to worship and then go a week until we can come to worship again.  We worship every day by living a lifestyle of praise and worship to God.  We live thankful lives and grateful lives as a means of worshipping Him.  

 

I believe that so many of us come to church on Sunday and let Him set us free from the shackles that bind us and feel His freedom as we worship and praise.  The only problem comes when we wake up on Monday morning and put those shackles right back on ourselves and bind ourselves up again because our worship experience is over.  We need to remember that the Son has come to set us free and that when the Son has set us free we are free indeed!  We don’t need to shackle ourselves again with the junk that we laid at the foot of the cross.  Jesus paid the price for all that junk.  I believe an attitude of constant worship prevents us from re-shackling ourselves.

 

So, as we go about our mundane Mondays, tired Tuesdays, woeful Wednesdays, and so on, let’s remember that we are worshippers.  Let’s let our worship make our Mondays magnificent, our Tuesdays terrific, and our Wednesdays wonderful.  We can make this happen as we live to worship Him who created us, Him who loves us unconditionally, and Him who set us free.

Mystery

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says (Ecclesiastes 7:15) “In this meaningless life of mine, I have seen both of these; a righteous man perishing in his righteousness and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.”  Solomon had what we would consider as a good and successful life.  He was wise beyond measure and he was rich beyond riches.  He had all of this, built the temple in Jerusalem, was the son of David, and yet he called his life meaningless.  He must have figured out that money and fame don’t always equal meaningfulness.  ALso, even in all of his wisdom, Solomon couldn’t figure out why bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people.  This one mystery seems to be such a stumbling block to those seeking God. So many say that they would believe in God if only they could understand why a young child passes or why a young lady was raped or why a young man was shot and killed in a drive-by.  

 

Even Solomon couldn’t figure this out.  Perhaps this is the one mystery that God will not let us figure out because He wants our faith to be the answer.  He wants our faith to be strong enough to believe that He is in control and that He has a deeper and wider perspective on life and death than we do.  Perhaps we need to have enough faith to believe that He is sovereign and His perfect will is beyond our human comprehension.

 

I will have faith.  I will understand that I won’t understand.  I believe God is sovereign; that He sees the big picture and knows all things while my perspective is largely myopic.  I can’t doubt at the passing of a young one or a loved one.  I will just lean on Him and know that His understanding goes far beyond mine.  I don’t understand this and frankly sometimes I get mad about it, but I will turn those things over to Him and seek His peace that passes all understanding during those trying times.