Rockfest Day 10 - Sunday Contemplation

“For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all you ways.
They shall bear you up in their hands,
Lest you dash your foot upon a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.”
Psalm 91:11-13

As we think about the new week ahead, with all its opportunities and challenges, let’s remember we will not walk the road alone.

~

Rockfest Day 9 - The Cavalry is Coming

The other evening I was out with a friend of mine having a very pleasant time. We were sitting outside at a little bistro during what was one of the few wonderful Autumn days in Houston. Our pleasant time was interrupted when we heard the distinct sound of a rock being thrown against a car window.

Immediately the entire group of patio patrons stood, looked over the hedge toward the direction of the noise and from the safety of the patio began to yell at the would-be thieves. Just then two waiters came running out of the restaurant and started off down the street. By the time they got to the scene of the crime the perpetrators had driven off. Luckily, without any loot or finishing what they had started – although the front windshield was now a mess.

What impressed me about the action by the waiters was that they darted off without knowing anything about what they were getting into. They both had total disregard for the possibilities for danger. They did not know if the car-jackers had weapons, how many there may be or even whose car it was – it was on a public street, not in the parking lot. None of that seemed to matter, there was trouble and they were going to stop it.

There is an expression that people use when help is on the way “the cavalry is coming.” I like that expression. When it is used you just know everything is going to be alright. That’s what I thought when I saw those waiters run off, hang on, the cavalry is coming!

Cavalries have been used for protection and combat for centuries. A cavalry is defined primarily as a force that fights from horseback. Cavalries have always been the superior fighting force of any army. The position of fighting from horseback has many advantages; it helps multiply even the smallest fighting unit, it allows armies to outflank their enemy, it makes them faster and more mobile, they can surprise, avoid and outmaneuver, or retreat quickly. Fighting on horseback is also said to have a psychological advantage over a man fighting on foot. Bigger, stronger, faster – the cavalry is who I want in my corner whenever I get into trouble.

Today, army cavalries are largely ceremonial. Fighting on an actual horseback doesn’t have the advantage it once did when armies are up against a tank or IED. We don’t find ourselves in too much hand to hand combat anymore and that is where a cavalry’s true advantage comes in.

While armies don’t fight hand to hand much anymore I do. I seem to find myself in some sort of hand to hand combat almost daily. Yesterday I was in a big hand to hand battle with frustration. After a long day I got totally lost driving through an unfamiliar city. Even my GPS system told me it didn’t have enough data to figure out where I was and “re-calculate” my route. When you get so lost, your GPS is lost – you’re lost. Very frustrating and really easy to lose my cool and temper. I could have used a cavalryman to rescue me – literally and figuratively.

If I rode with a cavalryman everyday then I would be fighting my daily hand to hand combat from a position of greater strength. I would be taller than my enemy. I would be faster, more easily able to maneuver and outflank, surprise and overpower. And I would have a psychological advantage over my enemy as well. I would feel so safe and secure.

With a cavalryman at my side everyday my battles would be won before they ever began.

I was talking to God about this, as I was trying to find my way out of the piney woods town I was lost in, and asked Him if He might know of a good cavalryman for me. He said He did. He said I did too. He is the Cavalryman who already rescued me when He died for me on Mount Calvary.

Turns out the cavalry isn’t coming, it’s already here. I’ve just been spelling it wrong.

~

Rockfest Day 8 - From Me to You

Dear God,

I accept this day just as it is. You are the Lord over my life. I rejoice in this day that you have made, trusting that You are present with me. I will not regret or resent the way things are. I thank You for all things, the good, the bad, the great. I trust You and will not let fear be my guide.

I love you,
Me

~

Rockfest Day 7 - Early Adopter

“Early adopters.” It’s a phrase I hear thrown around quite a bit these days. It refers to people who adopt or buy-in to new ideas or technology early. Early adopters are first generation people. They accept things before all the bugs get worked out and before the general population accepts it. They get on board early with a new idea and help spread the word.

All sorts of people are early adopters. They are not all nerdy, geeky types. Not all rich and can afford the new stuff types. They come from all walks of life. But early adopters tend to have one thing in common. Early adopters are considered by some to be risk takers.

I heard it used most recently in connection with the people who purchased the first version of the iPad when introduced. I am one such early adopter of the iPad. Buying technology doesn’t take great risk – risk doesn’t have to be great to still be risk – but it is risky because the technology could be riddled with flaws and fail and the early adopter is stuck with a useless, fancy paper weight.

We have had early adopters throughout our history. Think of the people who drove the first cars made by Henry Ford. They were early adopters taking risks because there were no gas stations on every corner to easily refill the fuel tank and not too many people could repair them when they broke down. And everyone was taking a risk because no one knew how to drive.

Early adopters like to be on the cutting edge. Like to be on the frontier, where things are happening and unfolding. If they encounter a few hiccups along the way that’s okay, that is part of the experience and they can help make the later versions better for having adopted early.

Today we tend to find early adopters in the world of technology but they are found elsewhere. I am reminded of twelve early adopters, the Really Early Adopters. These twelve men probably didn’t consider themselves to be big risk takers but they turned out to be ultimate risk takers. Most all paid for their early adoption with their lives or livelihoods.

These twelve Early Adopters came from all different walks of life – fishermen, a doctor, a tax collector, to name a few – and they didn’t really have anything in common, in the beginning. But they all believed in the same thing - Jesus. They adopted early, got on board and helped spread the word.

The cool thing about the twelve Early Adopters is that the Jesus they got on board with is the same Jesus you and I can get on board with today. He is still version Jesus 1.0. There is no version 2.0 and there never will be. The risk of adopting Jesus into our life doesn’t come from Him, it comes from us, from letting go of all the other stuff that holds us back.

It is risky to do something our friends aren’t doing. It is risky to try a new way of living by love. It is risky to ask for help from someone we cannot see. It is risky to live by forgiveness. It is risky to live by faith. But those are risks that we feel and we must let go of.

There is one more Early Adopter – the Original Early Adopter. God adopted us as his sons and daughters through Jesus before we were ever created. (Eph. 1:4-5). We have already been adopted by our Heavenly Father. He does not mind getting our version 2.0 or 6.0. He will get on board with whatever version we are.

It is not risky to let go and be loved by God. Why not adopt the One who already adopted you?

~

Rockfest Day 6 - Waterproof

Golf is an interesting sport. It is known as a gentleman’s game. Invented in Scotland, it is to be played in all kinds of weather. All kinds of bad weather. If you ever watch it on TV – or nap in front of it on TV – then you know the only time the golfers stop playing is because of lightening, flooding or darkness. But mere rain, golfers laugh at mere rain.

This past weekend a big international tournament was held in Wales, England between the United States and Europe – The Ryder Cup. Being it was October in Wales it rained a lot. Not to worry. The players donned their rain-suits and off down the course they went. Problem for the US players was that their official team rain-suits – complete with their names on the back – let the rain in. The suits did not keep the rain out. The players got soaked until new rain gear from the fan souvenir shop was purchased for them. While wearing their new gear the players were kept warm and dry, and now they blended in with the crowd.

All of this was really quite the news story. The official rain-suit provider was embarrassed and made to defend their non-waterproof waterproof clothes. Reporters asked questions about whether or not the players could concentrate properly while wet. Whose silly idea was it to put names on the jackets? Would this hurt the US’ chances of retaining the Ryder Cup? It seems a little bit of rain was having a really big effect on golf for a moment. The tournament was in a fluster.

Ever watch a bird in the rain? During a recent big rain storm I had a chance to watch a bunch of birds outside my office window. Some birds were sitting peacefully on the wire. Some birds were on the ground eating and searching for food. Some birds were in the trees preening and grooming their feathers. Some birds were flying around. All of them were getting soaked. None of them seemed to care.

In other words, the birds were being birds. No fluster. No furry. No scrambling for cover. What is it the birds know that we humans don’t seem to about rain?

Perhaps birds understand that rain is a fact of life. In life we are all going to get wet from time to time. The trick is to deal with the rain like the birds and let the water just roll off our backs as we go about our day. We can’t let the rain get us all flustered and get us off our game.

Birds of course have a built in resource that we humans do not – they are waterproof. Birds have an oil gland at the base of their tails from which they spread the waterproof oil protecting them. It is helpful during times of rain be waterproof. Like the birds, we have a waterproof Resource we can reach for to protect us during our storms.

Our Resource is right there with us sitting on the wire, with us at the feeder, with us in the tree and with us as we fly around. He shelters us from the storms in our lives and strengthens us in our distress and provides shade from the heat. (Is. 25:4). We will get wet when it rains but our Rain Gear will never fail and never let us get so soaked we are taken out of the game.

With God by our side and by trusting in Him we are just as waterproof as the birds that fill the sky. There is no storm life can dish out that we will not get through. Our job is to make sure we’re using the right rain gear.

Just ask the Ryder Cup team.

~

Rockfest Day 5 - Origami

Origami – the Japanese tradition of taking a plain piece of paper and within a few simple folds creating a beautiful work of art.

God’s Origami – God’s tradition of taking a plain human heart and unfolding it with His love and creating a beautiful work of art.

Let’s let God play origami with our hearts today. Never know what may unfold.

~

Rockfest Day 4 - If You're Not Five Minutes Early, You're Late

I have a dear friend who, Lord love her, I think will be late to her own funeral. She is late for most everything. Parties, meetings, airline flights, movies, hair appointments, dinners. If it has a start time requirement she will, try as she might to make it on time, be late. And I’m not talking about a mere five or ten minutes late. I talking the twenty to thirty minute variety. That kind of waiting is frustrating. Being her friend requires patience. (Being my friend requires patience too but for wholly different frustrating reasons.)

Promptness. In theory it is easy. In reality it is much harder to achieve. For all the frustrating minutes that I have waited for my friend I realize there are things that get in the way of being on time. Life happens. Things slow us down, put us behind schedule. Promptness is hard to achieve because it’s so hard to define.

We live in a world that seems to have sped up overnight. Everything happens in seconds or milliseconds and if we don’t respond in like time we are slowing things down and gumming up the works. Mail used to take weeks or months to get to a person when sent via pony express. Now we call regular mail “snail mail” because 24 to 48 hours for a letter is a lifetime. And we are even watching the demise of email. It is too slow and plodding, replaced by instant messages and the ever horrifying “status updates” which are instant communications to no one in particular but to all my “friends” at the same time.

Patience has gone the way of the pony express it seems. We demand the same type of behavior and instant gratification from each other as we do from our smart phone. I want what I want and I want it – now.

And we demand the same type of instant behavior from God. We demand that God keep pace with our time table. We demand that God fix our problems when we want them fixed. God promised to help, so where’s the help? And when God does not bend to our will? Then God either doesn’t really exist or He no longer cares about us.

Back in the day, Moses day, people understood things didn’t always happen overnight. Circumstances of life impressed that upon them. To get anywhere Moses and his people wanted to go they had to walk. No cars or trains or planes to get them there in a hurry. It may take them months to get all those thousands of people from one place to the other.

So when Moses and his people asked God for something if it took a while they had the built in patience to handle the waiting. I’m not saying Moses liked waiting any more than you or I do. He probably didn’t but his patience muscle was better exercised for the inevitable waiting.

God will make us wait. We will wait for our breakthrough, for our healing, for whatever it is we are praying and believing God for. And He will deliver our answer. God has perfect timing. He will never be early, but God will never be late.

Think of all the times God has come through for you. Right on time, right on schedule – His schedule. Perhaps you think He could have done things differently or earlier to save you the wear and tear of stress? Perhaps the wear and tear of the stress was meant to bring you closer to Him and to bring Him honor and glory.

Jesus was once asked to come save His dear friend Lazarus who was dying. He told Mary and Martha that He would heal Lazarus but that He’d be there in a few days. A few days? Lazarus will be dead by then. Sure enough, two days later when Jesus finally arrived Lazarus was good and dead. With Lazarus’ family mourning Jesus went into the tomb where Lazarus was laid, prayed over him and Lazarus was brought back from death. (John 11: 1-44).

Lazarus did indeed get healed but Jesus timing was so that God could be glorified. (John 11:4). Jesus could have healed Lazarus days before, while he was still alive but it would not have had the same effect on others. It would not have brought such glory to the Lord. Jesus promptly healed Lazarus right on time.

Promptness – there is no one more prompt than God – we just have to adjust our definition and exercise that patience muscle.

~

Rockfest Day 3 - Sunday Contemplation

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever belives in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). That sentence is perhaps one of the most well known and often repeated scriptures in the bible. The scripture is so well known that the text is no longer necessary, just the citation will do. “John 3:16” can be seen on posters at sporting events and sprayed on road signs.

The trouble with such familiarity is that we tend to take the familiar for granted. I do.

John 3:16 is a short passage but it throws out a mighty big message. God so loved everyone in the world – those present and those to come – that He sacrificed His Son’s life to save ours’.

Would you do that? Would I do that? I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it. During Lent each Spring I give up doing something I enjoy as a way to honor God, but let’s face it giving up wine or chocolate for 40 days is not really in the same category.

I don’t think God is asking me to sacrifice my live or the lives of my loved ones for Him (although there are one or two loved ones I wouldn’t mind sacrificing). But perhaps the thought here is to try and not take His sacrifice for granted. To recognize that what He did was big, so big and loving, I cannot in my finite imagination imagine doing it.

Because remember, God knew before He did it what Jesus was going to be put through, how Jesus would be treated and how Jesus would die. That was the point of His coming. It wasn’t just that God gave us His Son, it was that He loved us enough to sacrifice Jesus for us.

When I think about those I love and think about me doing something like that, I know it would crush me and I could not do it. And that’s when it hits me just how much God loves me because it did crush Him and He did it anyway.

That kind of love I never want to take for granted.
~

Rockfest Day 2 - RockStar

Have you been to a rock concert lately? They are loud, raucous, vibrant, and exuberant affairs. The crazy costumes, make-up, and hairstyles – and I’m just talking about the audience. Gone are they days of the lighter raised in tribute; replaced by the cell phone screen-light raised in tribute. It looks a bit odd but at least it reduces the chances of a fire hazard.

The shows themselves put on by today’s performers are true productions. Clouds of smoke, lasers, risers and platforms, fly systems for flying performers in and out. It’s enough to get you out of your chair and on to your feet. Which is precisely where the band wants you.

I went to a concert recently. When my friend and I got to the show I was so excited because our seats were on the fourth row. I thought “awesome!” we’re going to really be able to see and hear everything from these great seats.

Well, I was sort of right. We did see and hear everything but not while sitting in our seats. The only time we sat down was before the concert began and then three hours later after the show was over – to catch our breath before walking out.

The show itself was terrific. I danced, I sang, I swayed, I raised my arms in praise to the singer and her songs. I high-fived strangers when she began the first chords of her popular tunes. I lost all track of time. I was truly in the moment, or moments, during that show.

I felt free and completely uninhibited there in the dark surrounded by strangers who while dancing and singing with me became friends during our communal reverie. I loved all of it.

And I imagine the singer loved all of it too. Watching her fans from the stage dance and sing her words back to her in loving tribute and adoration.

Which got me to thinking, why is it so easy to dance and sing back in praise to a celebrity but so hard for me to dance and sing back in praise to the One who truly is the Rockstar in my life? I don’t dance and sing that way for God. I don’t shout His name. I don’t hug strangers when the topic of God comes up. But I bet He’d love it if I would.

I can imagine nothing God loving more than to hear my loud, clear voice lifted in praise to Him. To see my arms raised, uninhibited, in the air waving to Him in tribute and love. To see me high-fiving strangers at the mention of His name. To be with me as I lose all track of time because of Him. To watch as I stand on my feet for hours on end due to the sheer joy He is bringing me.

God is my RockStar. He the Rock that shelters me from the storms and protects me from my enemies. He is the Star that guides me through the darkness and that lights my life with joy. And He is the RockStar that brings the beauty and blessings and love into my life.

He is the music that sets my soul to dancing.

Not one thing on this earth sets my heart on fire like God does. There is no singer past or present that sings a song that makes me feel alive like God does. And there is no one in this world that loves me – or you – like God does.

God is giving a concert – whose going to stay in their seat?
~

Rockfest Day 1 - Come As You Are

When I was about thirteen, for my birthday my parents threw me a surprise birthday party. I typically don’t care for surprises too much especially the type where people jump out of hiding and shout “Surprise!" It tends to unsettle me and throw me off my game.

But this surprise party had a twist – the surprise wasn’t on me – it was on my guests. I woke up early and while still wearing my nightgown my parents drove me to my friends’ houses and I surprised them while they were still sleeping – typically by jumping on their beds in the dark and shouting “Surprise!” Each girl got startled awake to within a second of having a heart attack and then I took her to the next house and we would “invite” my next guest to the party.

It was rather hilarious with all my friends grabbed out of their beds still wearing their pajamas or whatever it was they wore to bed. Sleepily trudging off in the early morning to celebrate my birthday. No one was allowed to change clothes or even brush their hair or teeth – this was a “come-as-you-are-party.”

One of the fun things about come-as-you-are parties is that generally everyone is in the same state of disrepair that you are. No one likes going to a party being under dressed. Most people I know, including myself, like to be appropriately dressed and presentable. But if everyone looks terrible then that’s okay.

Generally speaking, no self-respecting 13-year old girl is going to go anywhere in the light of day outside her house in her nightgown, without brushing her hair and teeth and concealing her pimples. But if all her best friends are with her and they too are not at their peak of present-able-ness then its okay. The 13-year old girl doesn’t feel so self conscious because she in fact fits right in with the theme of the party.

The other thing I like about come-as-you-are parties is that there is not all the preparation or planning involved on the part of the guest. For most parties there is the planning of the outfit, the bathing and fixing of the hair and make-up and concealer. The trying on of several outfits to see which one looks like she’s not wearing an “outfit” before the guest decides she has “nothing” to wear in her packed closet and decides to just “throw this old thing on.” Come-as-you-are-not parties can be exhausting before you ever get there.

Jesus has invited us to a party and I am so glad His is the ultimate come-as-you-are. Jesus is asking us daily to join Him and discover a deep and profound relationship with Him. And He wants us just the way we are. He wants us with all our flaws and failings. He wants us to come and get to know Him while we are still angry, mad, jealous, gossiping, worried, sad, scared, have screwed up, are about to screw up and are carrying around every other burden known to man. No planning, no preparation, no getting our act together first. He wants us just as we are this very minute – and trust me, if your life is anything like mine, this very minute things ain’t too pretty.

Jesus wants us in our pajamas, with messy hair and un-brushed teeth. Why? Because He wants to redress us in His robe of splendor (Ezek. 16:10). He wants to brush our hair and teeth and make us beautiful the way He sees us. (Song 4:1-9). The fact of the matter is, Jesus doesn’t see us as we see us, He sees us as we were created - “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Ps. 139:14).

When we think that we cannot approach God because we have let Him down or are just too broken and sinful for God to want to have anything to do with us – we are flat out wrong. That is the moment when God wants us most. To take our burdens from us and replace it with rest. (Matt. 11:28-30). To wrap His love around us and cleanse us and beautify us – body, soul and spirit.

Come as you are – it’s the theme of God’s party. Feel free to leave the hair brush and concealer at home.

~