Well Read

I was in college before it occurred to me that I could actually enjoy reading. Nearly all my reading was school work; and that was, well, work. I’m a slow reader, and I don’t have the greatest comprehension, either. Maybe it’s ironic that I like to write.

I took a speed reading class while I was in college, but I can’t tell that it did any good. I got good at passing my eyes over the words, but I couldn’t fully grasp the content. I have long since given up on those techniques.

I have found that sometimes the Holy Spirit gives me what feels like a supernatural ability to read and absorb quickly. Maybe that’s how some people read all the time. I often pray for that kind of mental clarity.

Christian mystic A. W. Tozer said that he would often read on his knees. He may have meant that figuratively, but he sought God’s help to understand what he was reading. Of course we want to read the Bible on our knees, asking the Spirit to enlighten us. But we also need the Spirit to enlighten us about everything we read. Tozer said that he would read great works of literature on his knees, asking God to help him understand Shakespeare, for example.

Tozer also said that there is a difference between being “well read” and having done a lot of reading. One can read plenty of books without really grasping the deep meaning of the work. Sometimes we may need to read a book over and over to mine it thoroughly.

This week I picked up my copy of Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster. I had read this book in the 1980s, and then read it again about three years ago. But when I read the first chapter again on Monday, the words were so alive that it seemed like I had never seen them before. My own markings in the book assured me that I had been there before.

The words hit home for me in a fresh way because God has grown me. Many times this happens when I read the Bible. As I grow in Christ, I am ready to hear things in a new way. The experience reminds me of the lyrics of Toby Mac’s song, “No Ordinary Love.”

Mama never said it would be like this.
I never knew such bliss existed.
Maybe it’s just so indescribable,
Love was liable to get it twisted.
She never told me, but if she tried,
I was a little to young and
it floated right by me.
I never dreamed of love so fulfilling,
Simply killing and over spilling on me.

There are a lot of things that have floated right by me. I want to keep growing, so I keep putting myself where God can pour himself into my soul. Who knows how much I’m missing? There is always more that Jesus wants to show me. Compared to knowing Jesus, everything is just trash.

Why Bother?

A caveman in an old “B.C.” comic strip was explaining the game of golf to a cavewoman. “The fewer times you hit the ball, the better,” he said. She left him speechless with her next question: “Why hit the ball at all?”

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In his book, Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster suggests 12 disciplines: meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. We know that God wants us to do these things, because the Bible tells us so. But, besides obedience, why engage in spiritual disciplines at all?

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Last week a friend shared an insight from the Christian writer Dallas Willard about the value of the disciplines. As most believers have learned, we grow the most through our difficult experiences. Through our suffering we grow more spiritually than through any other experiences. In our difficulties, we do what we have to. We face the pain. We learn to trust. We learn that God really loves us. We stop relying on ourselves. We get our priorities in order.

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In many ways, engaging in spiritual disciplines helps us simulate the experience of suffering, says Willard. With the disciplines, we interrupt our selfish schedules to do something that will allow us to grow closer to Jesus. In a way, we produce our own suffering, because we believe that knowing Jesus is worth it.

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I’m finally making sense of this. When I interviewed Charlie Engle, after he ran across the Sahara Desert, he also spoke of the growth that any person gains through suffering. As he tackles seemingly impossible feats, he pushes himself beyond reasonable limits. He said that we all will suffer, and we all can grow through that suffering. He wants to grow, he said, but he wants to choose the suffering intentionally.

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I thought there had to be some way to apply that thinking to the spiritual life. We can choose to “suffer” by engaging in spiritual disciplines. We push ourselves to read the whole Bible in a year, to fast for a day or two, to memorize a chapter of scripture, to pray for a half hour, to spend a day alone with God. Through it all, we get to know him and love him more.

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We can also push ourselves to “suffer” by stepping out boldly in faith – changing careers, adopting a child, giving sacrificially, volunteering in the community, running for office, going back to school, selling an extra car, becoming a missionary.

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A life without difficulties would make us dull and spiritually weak. I’m not asking for trouble, but I do want to grow spiritually. Choosing to engage in the spiritual disciplines seems like a great way to embrace a life of love with Jesus.

Ah, Friends

My family and I spent last week at the beach, and it was a great experience. With our time commitments increasing, I knew that we needed to make a vacation a priority. So, we spent New Year’s week at Long Beach, NC.

We got to read, watch cable TV (a rare treat), rest, walk on the beach, visit, play, pray, and eat. We learned to use our new “Cosmic Catch” toy ball. Lots of fun. We found some beautiful seashells.

I read through the book of Galatians in the Bible again, and I think I’m beginning to see what Paul’s big point is. Finally I am seeing how all the pieces of the book fit together. I did lots of other reading, too. I also took time to walk about two miles a day. (I have always regretted becoming a couch potato in vacations past.)

As fun and restful as our vacation was, I was ready to come home on Saturday.

We missed our friends. Fortunately, on Sunday, we had lots of time to visit. Of course we saw people at our worship celebration, and then ate lunch with friends. Then we got to spend all afternoon with friends again at a kid’s birthday party.

More than ever, I appreciate friends whose lives are woven together with ours. One of the best stress reducers in life is friendship. Having one or two close friends is good. And having a few dozen people who love you and build you up is priceless. I thank God for such meaningful relationships.

One of the books I read last week is “Making Room for Life,” by Randy Frazee. In it he talks about life with more time for relationships. Reading it made me grateful for my friends and eager to go deeper into friendship. It also made me see how family has to be a priority. I expect to be sharing more about making room for life in the days ahead.

The Day After Christmas

I think I have enjoyed Christmas more than ever this year. Sometimes the Christmas hype and expectation yield disappointment when it’s all over. But today, it seems different.

We have worshipped more this year. At least the worship has seemed more meaningful. As we gathered at with our church on Sunday, we experienced the Lord’s presence through music, prayer and confession, his word and Holy Communion. On Christmas Eve, again we turned our hearts to the Lord in a quiet, contemplative way. I think that we all left the worship gathering with Jesus on our hearts and minds.

We also received a special offering that night. This is the first year we have taken up a Christmas offering. Although I have not yet heard how much we collected, the money will go to Living Water, Amani Baby Cottage, Miracle House, and church planting. It is exciting to me to think about Christmas giving that changes the world.

Jesus came to change the world. He invites us to be part of the movement. The more radically we cooperate with his kingdom’s coming, the more radically the world is changed. God is bringing all things under the headship of Christ.

Fixing Baseball

Last week the Mitchell report named dozens of major league baseball players for steroid use. Many of the superstar players found their names on the list. It almost read like a who’s who of baseball.

The whole culture of the sport seems to encourage the use of illegal steroids. Some players claimed they had doctors’ prescriptions for the drugs. Some may have taken supplements, not knowing that they were illegal. They certainly all fell prey to the “everybody’s doing it” attitude. To be somebody in baseball, you had to bend the rules.

Then they want to talk about it on Capitol Hill. It always amazes me when the U.S. Congress gets involved in baseball. What stake do they have in the sport? Well, for generations they have given Major League Baseball a non-competitive playing field. While leaving other sports subject to the open market, the law gives monopoly status to pro baseball. There are no leagues to compete with Major League Baseball. Periodically, congress renews that status.

Other pro sports are certainly not free from corruption, but they are subject to competition. The ABA gave the NBA a run for their money. The AFL also challenged the NFL. Both of those alternate leagues eventually merged with the older sports associations, but maybe they helped make the sports better.

While congress demands that baseball get cleaned up, they ought to eliminate the sport’s special status. Maybe then Major League Baseball would clean up its act. I wonder if fans would support a system where the athletes were all drug-free. They may see fewer homeruns, but they would also see fewer asterisks in the books.

An Army at the Parade

Saturday was everything I could have hoped for. Well, I could have hoped for snow. But everything else was incredible. The people of Crossroads turned out en mass to serve the community of Stokesdale. And while we were working, we were having a great time!

We helped turn the Stokesdale Holiday Parade into an even bigger celebration. Sharing God’s love is a whole lot of fun. We gave away 700 hot dogs, lots of coffee, hot chocolate and desserts. People kept trying to pay for the food, and we kept explaining that we just wanted to share God’s love with them.

Our band played for a couple of hours before the parade, having a great time. We even played a set after the parade was over.

But during the parade, we provided the play-by-play for the floats as they passed by. Before the parade, we asked for info on all entries. Then from the stage, two of our folks did the Katie Couric, Matt Lauer routine. They added a new element of life to the whole event.

In fact, they did such a good job, they have been invited to do the same thing for a springtime parade nearby. All the responses we have received have been very encouraging.

I am so glad that our people served with such enthusiasm. We owe a debt of thanks to the people who built the stage, ran the sound, played the music, bought the food, prepared the food, served the food, welcomed the crowd, and announced the parade.

May Jesus be glorified as we share his love. May the songs we sang and the conversations we had give glory to him.

Here Comes the Parade!

The Stokesdale Christmas Parade is always just a blast! We enjoy giving to our community and serving them in the name of Jesus. We have had entries in the parade since 1999, but last year we decided to do something different. Every year we had spent hours in the parade lineup, waiting for parade time. We were cold, hungry, and looking for something to do. So last year we gave out food and hot drinks, and we gave a free concert for anyone who wanted to listen. It was our way of sharing kindness with Stokesdale.

As the floats went by our sound stage last year, we realized that we could announce the floats as they came past. We just didn’t know what to say. We also realized that nobody really knew anything about the floats or their organizations.

This year we worked with the Stokesdale parade committee to get the info. Beginning last week organizations have been calling and emailing us with all the information they want announced at the parade.

This week we have dozens of people working to get ready for the parade on Saturday, Dec. 8. Yesterday we picked up the massive sound system, and tonight we will figure out how it works. Others are working with our food give-away, where we will hand out hot dogs, coffee, hot chocolate and desserts. Our band has been eagerly anticipating our concert at noon, playing until the parade steps off at 2 p.m.

This year we have some exciting new elements at the parade. Our stage will be set up at the Stokesdale Fire Station, just across from the main downtown storefronts. For the first time, the parade will have each entry announced as it passes by. A couple of Crossroads folks are gathering info on all the parade entries and, with appropriate humor and banter, will describe the entries as they pass the stage.

We are also giving out coffee with a purpose. The Land of a Thousand Hills coffee company sells coffee grown in Rwanda. By using this coffee, we are supporting business in this developing nation, blessing the coffee workers and helping build their local economy.

This has already been fun. See you Saturday!