I spent yesterday hanging around with a bunch of teenagers kayaking on the Youghiogheny River. It was a lot of fun! After our kayak trip, we invaded a local pizza place for some really delicious pizza. While we waited for our pizza, the TV blared news about the "earth-shattering events" of the day at the funeral of the King of Pop Michael Jackson.
Now I'm cool but I'm not hip to Michael Jackson. I don't own a single one of his Cd's nor do I aspire to. I've seen passing glimpses over the years of Michael in some of his "over the top" performances. I've heard more than I wanted about his bizarre lifestyle. I remember the picture of his dangling his infant son Prince Michael II over a balcony in Berlin and other even more unspeakable bizarre acts and accusations that swirled around Michael Jackson during his life.
Yesterday I watched Michael's daughter Paris struggle to talk about her father through her tears while her Jackson aunts and uncles stood in a circle around her. What I heard and saw moved me to tears in my heart - not because of Michael's death - but rather because of his life and what it says about the world we live in.
Michael Jackson is the epitome of tragic living! Some say he had it all: he had the world by the tail. Millions worshipped at the altar that was Michael Jackson. I never knelt at that altar but I do mourn from my heart because of who Michael was and the picture of our culture he presents. In that one frail abused body - remanufactured over the years with life-altering surgeries and other treatments - is a living parable of what our American culture worships.
If he did have it all, then why was he so desperately unhappy? What led him to always push the edge of bizarre behavior to one more atrocious act after another? What really went on in his mind and heart? What really happened on his Neverland Ranch in those "secret rooms"? Why was he the boy who never wanted to grow up like his idol Peter Pan?
Michael Jackson had fame. He had celebrity and notoriety. He had money and glitz beyond description. He had adoring crowds screaming at his every gyration.
His life was a long story of abuse beginning in his own childhood. Apparently his own father "dangled his son Michael" from a dangerous height just because he could as he pushed Michael to be a super star - the King of Pop. Accusations of drug and sexual addictions, pedophilia and all kinds of bizarre behavior followed Michael Jackson around wherever he went and even when he tried to hide - under his umbrella or on his Neverland Ranch.
One op-ed piece in the New York Times by Bob Herbert (July 3, 2009) describes Herbert's mid-1980's meeting with Michael Jackson "as one of the creepier experiences of my life." Later in the same article Herbert writes that Michael "weirded me out."
Herbert continues: "... what I wish I had thought more about in those long-ago days of Michael-mania was the era of extreme immaturity and grotesque irresponsibility that was already well under way in America. The craziness played out on a shockingly broad front and Jackson's life, among many others, would prove to be a shining and ultimately tragic example. ... All kinds of restraints were coming off. It was almost as if the adults had gone into hiding. ... In many ways we descended as a society into a fantasyland, trying to leave the limits and consequences and obligations of the real world behind. ... Jackson was the perfect star for the era, the embodiment of fantasy gone wild. He tried to carve himself up into another person, but, of course, there was the same Michael Jackson underneath -- talented but psychologically disabled to the point where he was a danger to himself and others.
Reality is unforgiving. There is no escape. Behind the Jackson facade was the horror of child abuse. Court records and reams of well-documented media accounts contain a stream of serious allegations of child sex abuse and other inappropriate behavior with very young boys. Jackson, a multimillionaire megastar, was excused as an eccentric. Small children were delivered into his company, to spend the night in his bed, often by their parents.
One case of alleged pedophilia against Jackson, the details of which would make your hair stand on end, was settled for a reported $25 million. He beat another case in court.
The Michael-mania that has erupted since Jackson's death - not just an appreciation of his music, but a giddy celebration of his life - is yet another spasm of the culture opting for fantasy over reality. We don't want to look under the rock that was Jackson's real life. As with so many other things, we don't want to know." (Bob Herbert, New York Times, July 3, 2009)
There is a huge teaching moment in the tragic story of Michael Jackson's life and death. It is call for serious Christians - especially parents - to stop and ponder some life lessons we can learn from Michael. Perhaps the greatest success of Michael Jackson's tragic life would be if men and women, teens and children whose hearts belong to Jesus could see this tragedy as a call to reevaluate what we value, what success really looks like from God's perspective and what we need to change in our own hearts.
The glitz, the "success" and fortune all came to a crashing meteoric burn when the King of Pop lost his life for whatever reason (to be determined at some future date related to various tests by forensic pathologists). The bottom line is that Michael the man is dead. He will never prance across another stage. He will never perform another bizzare act or be accused of some audacious activity.
In both life and death Michael screams for thoughtful people everywhere to take a serious look at what "success" should look like in our world. For Christians, the search for what God thinks "success" looks like might begin with the ancient prophet Micah: "Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)
If we summon the moral courage to turn over the rock of who and what Michael really was, we will find some horrors but we may also discover what is real and true by way of comparison. That would be a very good thing from a very tragic life!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Chasing the Small Stuff
Occasionally beached whales make the news. Recently I saw an article about 300 beached whales. These whales were chasing small stuff - sardines in this case - and got trapped on the beach at low tide. They were so preoccupied by sardines that they encountered danger and death on the beach. The "small stuff" drew them and preoccupied them. They perished as a result.
In life we chase "sardine small stuff." When the "small stuff" fills our focus, we forget more important things. The "small stuff" gets our whole world out of whack.
Jesus put what we should focus on very simply: love God first and most and then love others. We love God because He first loved us. God made a huge sacrifice to demonstrate His love for us. He sent Jesus to the cross.
Recently Islamic extremists in Somalia killed two young sons of a pastor. The pastor, his wife and remaining son fled for their lives to a refugee camp in Kenya where they live without shoes or shelter. The loss of a son is huge! I'm sure that family understand God's love in a deeper way than before their loss. What God did to demonstrate His love was an incredible act! He gave up Jesus to show His great love for us!
We can love others simply because we see what love looks like in God's demonstration of love for us. God touches our hearts with His love and changes us forever! He gives us His love so we can love Him first and others next.
Loving God first and others second is the way to change our world one heart at a time!
The beached whales lost their way chasing small stuff. We too chase "small stuff" to our peril. Our focus must be on God and then others!
In life we chase "sardine small stuff." When the "small stuff" fills our focus, we forget more important things. The "small stuff" gets our whole world out of whack.
Jesus put what we should focus on very simply: love God first and most and then love others. We love God because He first loved us. God made a huge sacrifice to demonstrate His love for us. He sent Jesus to the cross.
Recently Islamic extremists in Somalia killed two young sons of a pastor. The pastor, his wife and remaining son fled for their lives to a refugee camp in Kenya where they live without shoes or shelter. The loss of a son is huge! I'm sure that family understand God's love in a deeper way than before their loss. What God did to demonstrate His love was an incredible act! He gave up Jesus to show His great love for us!
We can love others simply because we see what love looks like in God's demonstration of love for us. God touches our hearts with His love and changes us forever! He gives us His love so we can love Him first and others next.
Loving God first and others second is the way to change our world one heart at a time!
The beached whales lost their way chasing small stuff. We too chase "small stuff" to our peril. Our focus must be on God and then others!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Heroes
We are so silly - to the point of stupidity - about who we mark as "heroes" in our culture: From a LONG list, these few stand out just in this week's news: Michael Jackson and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford - both "heroes" of a sort.
Michael Jackson blurred the lines between insanity and genius with his music, his plastic surgeries and his lifestyle. Like Peter Pan, Jackson's own personal hero, he wanted to be the boy who never grew up.
In the arena of politics, Mark Sanford is only the latest in a long line of political figures who stepped off the straight, narrow path of morality, ethics and family values. He crossed the line from "genius" to the insanity of stupidity. Family man with a beautiful wife and four handsome sons, Sanford chose the insane path of infidelity over commitment and faithfulness.
There are other heroes. One of note is Oprah, one of the wealthiest women in the world. Her daily television program is watched religiously by millions. She is a living icon who has shaped culture in her own image. The "Oprah cult" is alive and seems well. She is a blazing star in this day and time.
The list of heroes - both real and fictional - goes on. Literature and life give us these heroes. They are larger than life. They do extraordinary things. They face danger, adversity and challenges with courage and self-sacrifice for some greater good. Our culture worships these heroes and models them.
The meaning of "hero" is rooted in the ideas of protector, defender and guardian. All too often the heroes in history, in literature and in real time here and now eventually evidence flaws that damage both themselves and others who have worshipped at their feet.
Particularly pop heroes (or heroines) shape culture with their music, beauty or brillance. The sad truth is that often these individuals betray the public trust by their actions. Brittany Spears, Madonna, Elvis Presley, Bill Clinton and a long list of others have blazed in glory and then crashed and burned.
The truth and problem is that we are all flawed no matter how we try to hide behind brillance and glitz. It started in the Garden of Eden when a man and a woman were seduced by wanting to be like God. They ate the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They passed on to all their posterity the pain of brokenness. Satan, once the most powerful and beautiful of all the angels, fell from the height of heaven because he wanted to be like and even more important than God Himself (Isaiah 14:12 - 14). There is something so seductive about beauty, prestige and power.
The stuff of heroes - both for the hero and his following - is sitting on a high pedestal surrounded by throngs of "worshippers." The true hero (or heroine) is the one who perseveres to the end protecting honor and integrity, defending right and good and guarding truth.
The only One who has ever lived and persevered as Protector, Defender and Guardian without flaw or failure is Jesus, the Son of God! He alone is worthy of our worship! He lived the perfect life so he could change our hearts and our culture forever.
Other heroes are flawed and broken no matter how they dress up with glitz and glitter. Jesus made no pretense. Jesus led no army. Jesus had no beauty that distinguished Him from other men (Isaiah 53:3). An endless stream of heroes have marched across the pages of literature and life, but only Jesus is the Hero Who never fails!
Jesus never wrote a best seller. He never was elected to political office. Actually He did none of the things that constitute a hero by our culture's standards. But His life validates Him as Hero more than any entertainer or politician or military genius. He never made a life-changing scientific discovery, but He created the world and all that is in it. He was born in obscurity but lives today as the King of Kings. He calls people from every time, tribe and tongue to follow His example of love. He modeled forgiveness when He called from His cross, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." He alone of all who have ever lived and carried the label "hero" is truly worthy of the name!
Michael Jackson blurred the lines between insanity and genius with his music, his plastic surgeries and his lifestyle. Like Peter Pan, Jackson's own personal hero, he wanted to be the boy who never grew up.
In the arena of politics, Mark Sanford is only the latest in a long line of political figures who stepped off the straight, narrow path of morality, ethics and family values. He crossed the line from "genius" to the insanity of stupidity. Family man with a beautiful wife and four handsome sons, Sanford chose the insane path of infidelity over commitment and faithfulness.
There are other heroes. One of note is Oprah, one of the wealthiest women in the world. Her daily television program is watched religiously by millions. She is a living icon who has shaped culture in her own image. The "Oprah cult" is alive and seems well. She is a blazing star in this day and time.
The list of heroes - both real and fictional - goes on. Literature and life give us these heroes. They are larger than life. They do extraordinary things. They face danger, adversity and challenges with courage and self-sacrifice for some greater good. Our culture worships these heroes and models them.
The meaning of "hero" is rooted in the ideas of protector, defender and guardian. All too often the heroes in history, in literature and in real time here and now eventually evidence flaws that damage both themselves and others who have worshipped at their feet.
Particularly pop heroes (or heroines) shape culture with their music, beauty or brillance. The sad truth is that often these individuals betray the public trust by their actions. Brittany Spears, Madonna, Elvis Presley, Bill Clinton and a long list of others have blazed in glory and then crashed and burned.
The truth and problem is that we are all flawed no matter how we try to hide behind brillance and glitz. It started in the Garden of Eden when a man and a woman were seduced by wanting to be like God. They ate the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They passed on to all their posterity the pain of brokenness. Satan, once the most powerful and beautiful of all the angels, fell from the height of heaven because he wanted to be like and even more important than God Himself (Isaiah 14:12 - 14). There is something so seductive about beauty, prestige and power.
The stuff of heroes - both for the hero and his following - is sitting on a high pedestal surrounded by throngs of "worshippers." The true hero (or heroine) is the one who perseveres to the end protecting honor and integrity, defending right and good and guarding truth.
The only One who has ever lived and persevered as Protector, Defender and Guardian without flaw or failure is Jesus, the Son of God! He alone is worthy of our worship! He lived the perfect life so he could change our hearts and our culture forever.
Other heroes are flawed and broken no matter how they dress up with glitz and glitter. Jesus made no pretense. Jesus led no army. Jesus had no beauty that distinguished Him from other men (Isaiah 53:3). An endless stream of heroes have marched across the pages of literature and life, but only Jesus is the Hero Who never fails!
Jesus never wrote a best seller. He never was elected to political office. Actually He did none of the things that constitute a hero by our culture's standards. But His life validates Him as Hero more than any entertainer or politician or military genius. He never made a life-changing scientific discovery, but He created the world and all that is in it. He was born in obscurity but lives today as the King of Kings. He calls people from every time, tribe and tongue to follow His example of love. He modeled forgiveness when He called from His cross, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." He alone of all who have ever lived and carried the label "hero" is truly worthy of the name!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Worrying Heart! Why?
Last night I opened a very disturbing piece of mail. Then I lay awake all night worrying - so much for living by faith! I'm not proud of my lack of faith, but that's me - SO much like Peter - looking at the waves and starting to sink! (Matthew 14:22 - 36)
Our oldest son took our two oldest grandchildren out in a canoe one Sunday afternoon. Our grandson began to get a bit nervous as they got farther and farther from shore. He asked, "Dad, can you swim to shore from here?" His dad answered, "Yes, Matthew. I can probably stand on the bottom and walk to shore from here." "OK, Dad." A bit further out, Matthew asked the question again. His dad gave him the same answer. Matthew breathed a sigh of relief and said, "OK, that's good, because if we tip over I don't know if Jesus can get here in time." His dad reminded Matthew of how Jesus took care of His disciples in a boat in a storm. Matthew's response was: "I know, but that was a bigger boat than this canoe because there were more than 12 men in that boat."
I thought that was a funny story, but after last night I realize I have the same mentality. I'm living like I'm not sure Jesus can take care of me and my problems. My worrying last night was no different than my grandson doubting "Jesus could get there in time." It's so hard to trust God and wait and rest. My way is to do what I can do to "fix" the problem or to do what I did last night and worry about how I'm going to fix the problem. What I need to do is let Jesus "do His thing" to restore the broken piece of life (no matter what it is) in His time and in His way.
It is like the old hymn says, "Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey."
My head knows He can fix anything - even this problem! My head knows Jesus loves and cares for us. The problem is with my heart. My heart is scared because - like Peter when he got out of the boat to walk to Jesus on the water - I start looking at the waves instead of looking at the Savior. That's when I sink into worry.
My prayer needs to be: "O, God, give me a heart to trust You and to wait for Your restoring grace." It may not be easy, but with a restored heart and keeping my eyes on my Savior - It's always right and good! Jesus said, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ... seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ... do not worry about tomorrow ... " (Matthew 6:27 - 34)
Our oldest son took our two oldest grandchildren out in a canoe one Sunday afternoon. Our grandson began to get a bit nervous as they got farther and farther from shore. He asked, "Dad, can you swim to shore from here?" His dad answered, "Yes, Matthew. I can probably stand on the bottom and walk to shore from here." "OK, Dad." A bit further out, Matthew asked the question again. His dad gave him the same answer. Matthew breathed a sigh of relief and said, "OK, that's good, because if we tip over I don't know if Jesus can get here in time." His dad reminded Matthew of how Jesus took care of His disciples in a boat in a storm. Matthew's response was: "I know, but that was a bigger boat than this canoe because there were more than 12 men in that boat."
I thought that was a funny story, but after last night I realize I have the same mentality. I'm living like I'm not sure Jesus can take care of me and my problems. My worrying last night was no different than my grandson doubting "Jesus could get there in time." It's so hard to trust God and wait and rest. My way is to do what I can do to "fix" the problem or to do what I did last night and worry about how I'm going to fix the problem. What I need to do is let Jesus "do His thing" to restore the broken piece of life (no matter what it is) in His time and in His way.
It is like the old hymn says, "Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey."
My head knows He can fix anything - even this problem! My head knows Jesus loves and cares for us. The problem is with my heart. My heart is scared because - like Peter when he got out of the boat to walk to Jesus on the water - I start looking at the waves instead of looking at the Savior. That's when I sink into worry.
My prayer needs to be: "O, God, give me a heart to trust You and to wait for Your restoring grace." It may not be easy, but with a restored heart and keeping my eyes on my Savior - It's always right and good! Jesus said, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ... seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ... do not worry about tomorrow ... " (Matthew 6:27 - 34)
Monday, April 13, 2009
Disability, Chocolate Bunnies and Easter Eggs
What does disability have to do with chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs? Well, nothing really! But persons affected by disability - which, in a sense, includes everyone because we are all broken in various ways - need so much more than chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs. Chocolate bunnies might fix the chocolate craving temporarily. Easter eggs are dyed pretty colors and hidden for happy children to find. But neither chocolate bunnies or Easter eggs offer hope for change to people affected by disability.
Disabilities profoundly change the way life is lived. Disabilities affect more than the individual - the whole family is affected. Children affected by disability are often not included in "normal" activities like an Easter egg hunt for a variety of "reasons." These exclusions contribute to the isolation many who are affected by disability feel. Sometimes people with disabilities find that they have no friends. They are often over-looked or intentionally excluded because of their disability.
It’s an ugly reality of our society that perfection is honored and disability is distained. It is so sad that often people who can dress up and fix up and live to such a standard of “perfection” are really very broken people themselves.
People affected by disability are just like anyone else. They want friends. They need meaningful relationships. They deserve being treated with dignity and value. They want to be able to contribute to life and family in significant ways. They want to be included. They want to make significant contributions.
Just the other day I was at an office where a young man affected by disability was being coached in sound editing using certain software. He sat diligently with his headphones carefully listening and making adjustments. Being given a significant task and knowing he is making a difference is huge encouragement for him!
The real truth is, we all need each other. People affected by disability can teach the rest of us so much about endurance and hope and persistence. They are living parables of how to face challenges. We can all learn from each other. We all can contribute to the completeness of the whole.
Yesterday was Easter. For many people Easter means little more than candy and egg hunts.
For people affected by disability Easter should be the most wonderful day in the whole year. Easter is our celebration of Jesus coming back to life. The hope of the resurrection is the best news of us all and especially for people affected by disability! Jesus promises to “make all things new.” That includes broken bodies and minds! That includes broken relationships! That includes broken dreams and dashed hopes!
Jesus promises to “make all things new” (Rev. 21:5). This ULTIMATE makeover begins with Easter, continues when we journey with Jesus through life until that day in eternity when He will totally “make all things new”!
I have my own missing and/or broken body parts so I’m looking forward to “being made new.” My “issues” pale in significance when I consider how some live. Joni Eareckson Tada who has been a quadriplegic in a wheelchair for over 40 years wrote a devotional I received by email just today:
“My girlfriend arrived to get me up and ready for the day. It had been a rough night - sleeplessness, and stabbing, razor-sharp pain in my neck and shoulders. When I told her about it, she sighed and said, "Joni... I'll bet you just can't wait for heaven." As she brushed my hair, I sat and dreamed about what I've dreamed of a thousand times: my eternal home, just over the near horizon. … Some people look at my wheelchair, hear my enthusiasm for heaven, and conclude that it's a death wish. Now it's true, when I was first injured, I only viewed heaven as a place where I could get back what I had lost. I would receive hands that worked and feet that walked and even danced. … My attitude changed as I studied the Scriptures. I realized that heaven was mainly focused on Jesus, not me. (Joni Eareckson Tada, Pearls of Great Price, 2006)
And Joni knows what I also know: Heaven is the “getting” place for NEW in every sense of the word!
Disabilities profoundly change the way life is lived. Disabilities affect more than the individual - the whole family is affected. Children affected by disability are often not included in "normal" activities like an Easter egg hunt for a variety of "reasons." These exclusions contribute to the isolation many who are affected by disability feel. Sometimes people with disabilities find that they have no friends. They are often over-looked or intentionally excluded because of their disability.
It’s an ugly reality of our society that perfection is honored and disability is distained. It is so sad that often people who can dress up and fix up and live to such a standard of “perfection” are really very broken people themselves.
People affected by disability are just like anyone else. They want friends. They need meaningful relationships. They deserve being treated with dignity and value. They want to be able to contribute to life and family in significant ways. They want to be included. They want to make significant contributions.
Just the other day I was at an office where a young man affected by disability was being coached in sound editing using certain software. He sat diligently with his headphones carefully listening and making adjustments. Being given a significant task and knowing he is making a difference is huge encouragement for him!
The real truth is, we all need each other. People affected by disability can teach the rest of us so much about endurance and hope and persistence. They are living parables of how to face challenges. We can all learn from each other. We all can contribute to the completeness of the whole.
Yesterday was Easter. For many people Easter means little more than candy and egg hunts.
For people affected by disability Easter should be the most wonderful day in the whole year. Easter is our celebration of Jesus coming back to life. The hope of the resurrection is the best news of us all and especially for people affected by disability! Jesus promises to “make all things new.” That includes broken bodies and minds! That includes broken relationships! That includes broken dreams and dashed hopes!
Jesus promises to “make all things new” (Rev. 21:5). This ULTIMATE makeover begins with Easter, continues when we journey with Jesus through life until that day in eternity when He will totally “make all things new”!
I have my own missing and/or broken body parts so I’m looking forward to “being made new.” My “issues” pale in significance when I consider how some live. Joni Eareckson Tada who has been a quadriplegic in a wheelchair for over 40 years wrote a devotional I received by email just today:
“My girlfriend arrived to get me up and ready for the day. It had been a rough night - sleeplessness, and stabbing, razor-sharp pain in my neck and shoulders. When I told her about it, she sighed and said, "Joni... I'll bet you just can't wait for heaven." As she brushed my hair, I sat and dreamed about what I've dreamed of a thousand times: my eternal home, just over the near horizon. … Some people look at my wheelchair, hear my enthusiasm for heaven, and conclude that it's a death wish. Now it's true, when I was first injured, I only viewed heaven as a place where I could get back what I had lost. I would receive hands that worked and feet that walked and even danced. … My attitude changed as I studied the Scriptures. I realized that heaven was mainly focused on Jesus, not me. (Joni Eareckson Tada, Pearls of Great Price, 2006)
And Joni knows what I also know: Heaven is the “getting” place for NEW in every sense of the word!
Disability and Extreme Home Makeover
The Easter Sunday 2009 segment of Extreme Home Makeover last night was fascinating. George and Barbara Kadzis opened their hearts and enlarged their family circle to include six disabled children from China. Melody is blind. Julia is deaf. Martin's right arm and hand are deformed. Phoenix anbd Celeste have cleft palates in the process of restoration. Aileen was orphaned by disease and desertion and facing emotional challenges as a result.
Barbara is a lifelong teacher. George worked as a dentist in a prison. Their resources were limited. Their home in Florida was badly damaged by a hurricane, and then George contracted terminal brain cancer. His dying wish was for his family to have a safe, appropriate home to live in.
George and Barbara didn't know a word of Chinese when they adopted all but their one biological son Chris. To communicate they used the medium of music. Several of the children played musical instruments: piano, violin, flute, zither and guitar. Julie dances to every note though she is deaf.
Extreme Home Makeover and their vast crew and main character designers madeover the Kadzis home in one week. During that week George was dying in the hospital. He died three days after his family moved into their new home.
I have lots of questions about the extreme home makeover concept and how much or little help it gives permanently. How can people who need so much pay taxes on this new and much more expensive home? and more.
But what was compelling about last night's episode wasn't the new home. What was compelling was the hearts - George and Barbara's obvious love for all their children and the reciprical love of their children. George and Barbara offered a whole new world and life to their six adopted children. To do so, they made significant sacrifices. Their example of love radically and obviously impacted their community.
That started me thinking. People affected by disability are all around us. The question is: how are we taking these who have such great need into our circle of love and friendship? Do we care enough to take the risk and step out of our comfort zone? Obviously George and Barbara benefited as much from their adopted family as did the children they adopted. By not including people affected by disability in our lives we run the risk of missing an incredible opportunity to be blessed and to be a blessing! Here's to warm hearts willing to include others who may have a different way of being into our circle and hearts and homes!
George and Barbara did in their home and family what A Restoration Church is doing in being a church in the South Hills of Pittsburgh - reaching out with genuine love and acceptance! George and Barbara needed the help of the crew for Extreme Home Makeover and their community. At A Restoration Church we need God's help to push us out of our comfort zone to make a radical difference in our community.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
One Small Step or One Giant Leap?
July 20, 1969 is the day man first walked on the moon. Neil Armstrong stepped down the ladder and onto the moon's surface where he spoke a scripted phrase, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." The only problem is that he boggled his line. He intended to say, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." NASA helped with the "cover-up" and claimed technical difficulties obscured the "a."
Covering up and reinventing history doesn't change the truth. There is no rewind button to go back and play the scene over again. It is what it is!
A huge part of God's restoration in our hearts is taking away our fear of exposure. God changes our hearts so we feel so secure in His love that we can acknowledge mistakes and sins. God's forgiving grace can make us bold to be honest and real!
It is in the moments of exposure that we come to understand best God's amazing grace and to know that He loves us anyway and always!
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