I think that I am on a roll! LOL This morning, I had a conversation with my roomie about this retractable leash that she gave me. We had been fussing a few weeks ago about my technique ,or lack there of, in retracting the leash when a car is coming down our alley way so as to protect the dog. Well, anyway, to make the long story short- the leash broke this morning as you may have read and my roomie was nice enough to fix it. But, I in my stubborn way and our fussing about my technique...LOL....decided I was going to go back to the old way of walking the dog- a plain old 6 ft leash because as I mentioned in the last post- I am going to be her Master again.
So, I hooked our old leash to her collar and off we went. As we were walking, I was thinking about the issue I have with the other leash. You see, I like it because its 20 feet as opposed to 6 and so when she wants to play with the other dogs as we are walking- she has the freedom to do so. The problem lies when she has stretched the leash out to its limit and a car is coming. I find myself tugging on the actual leash to get her out of harms way because the leash won't retract. At least for me it won't. Anyway, all of this is to say that here we have yet another lesson for the day. I think that God likes us on a shorter leash. We talked in the last post about staying close to the Master and the importance of doing so. When we have extra cord that takes us further away, it's harder for Him to get us back. A shorter leash is easier to manage and to wrangle back in when pending danger is coming near. I do believe that we have the choice to stay close or to walk further away. That would be Free Will. God is not going to tie us up to the tree and try to keep us confined but rather is going to give us the freedom to learn and to grow. The question is are we going to be connected to Him with a short leash or a long one? The choice is ours.
Don't be fooled. You can be on a short leash and still get into trouble. For example, when I was in College, I was a new Christian and I had gotten into a relationship that was not pleasing to God. I was trying to be in the world and be a Christian at the same time, but it wasn't working. I was in turmoil a lot as to whether or not this relationship was ok with God. Some days it seemed so and most days it didn't. My leash began to grow. During this time, I was involved in my home church and in the Campus Ministry and as my relationship with God grew, the shorter the leash became and the more I knew that I had to exit this relationship stage left. God didn't chase after me. He let me go and do my thing kind of like the prodigal son; but, at the same time, He never left my side and always waited for me to come back. I came to realize that my leash had gotten to long and was coming close to breaking and that I needed to lean in to Jesus for repair. And thus I did.
How long is your leash?
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Who's the Pilot?
Yesterday, I wrote about the Galatians 2:11-21 passage that was in my devotional reading. I want to comment on this passage again taking it from the perspective of what the author wrote in the devotional. He began the devotional with mentioning the bumper sticker that says, "Jesus is my copilot." He acknowledged that this bothers him because Jesus didn't come to be just a spiritual co pilot once in a while-he's meant to be in the drivers seat.
This is true. Jesus is meant to be in the drivers seat leading and guiding us around. We ask him that in our prayers- "Please lead and guide me, please direct my steps, please be the lamp unto my feet, etc...but yet when we get up off of our knees, we climb back into the drivers seat and look over at Jesus for the directions to where we are going. Its kind of like this: I walk my dog every day. Lately, she has been grabbing a hold of the end of the leash near her mouth and holding it while we walk down the Board Walk. It appears that she is taking me for the walk, rather than vice versa. Admittedly, it is amusing...but is this how it's supposed to be? I'm her Master. I'm the one who should be guiding her not her guiding me- yet she walks in front of me leading me along. The same is with our relationship with God. We say that we want Him to be our Master and yet when we get down to the nitty gritty we take control over everything that we do. And, while we are theoretically tied to the Lord, we walk ahead of Him trying to lead the relationship. This may be ok for a while but eventually, the leash is going to break- like it did this morning.
I think that we don't always mean to control the relationship-it happens, it's been programed into us since we were old enough to know better. Again, cultural influence says that we have to be in charge, in control, and have it all together but the reality is- from what I have read, that isn't what the Bible says. It tells me that we are a bunch of messed up people in need of a Savior and without him we will get lost. We even have moments where we give up control, but we always take it back at least a small part of it. I tied the end of the broken leash around Missy's collar but left the hook part attached until we got home. As we finished our walk, Missy took what was left of the leash attached to the hook and put it in her mouth- again, thinking that she was in control and taking me for the walk. Do we not do that too?
We have to make the choice daily to follow the lead of our Master and to walk beside Him or behind Him but not in front of Him. There are times when we should allow Him to walk ahead of us to prepare the way, but know clearly that like Jesus, He will not leave us to walk alone.This is easy said than done because what I am saying is that we essentially have to walk in Faith and that is not easy; but are you willing to at least try?
This is true. Jesus is meant to be in the drivers seat leading and guiding us around. We ask him that in our prayers- "Please lead and guide me, please direct my steps, please be the lamp unto my feet, etc...but yet when we get up off of our knees, we climb back into the drivers seat and look over at Jesus for the directions to where we are going. Its kind of like this: I walk my dog every day. Lately, she has been grabbing a hold of the end of the leash near her mouth and holding it while we walk down the Board Walk. It appears that she is taking me for the walk, rather than vice versa. Admittedly, it is amusing...but is this how it's supposed to be? I'm her Master. I'm the one who should be guiding her not her guiding me- yet she walks in front of me leading me along. The same is with our relationship with God. We say that we want Him to be our Master and yet when we get down to the nitty gritty we take control over everything that we do. And, while we are theoretically tied to the Lord, we walk ahead of Him trying to lead the relationship. This may be ok for a while but eventually, the leash is going to break- like it did this morning.
I think that we don't always mean to control the relationship-it happens, it's been programed into us since we were old enough to know better. Again, cultural influence says that we have to be in charge, in control, and have it all together but the reality is- from what I have read, that isn't what the Bible says. It tells me that we are a bunch of messed up people in need of a Savior and without him we will get lost. We even have moments where we give up control, but we always take it back at least a small part of it. I tied the end of the broken leash around Missy's collar but left the hook part attached until we got home. As we finished our walk, Missy took what was left of the leash attached to the hook and put it in her mouth- again, thinking that she was in control and taking me for the walk. Do we not do that too?
We have to make the choice daily to follow the lead of our Master and to walk beside Him or behind Him but not in front of Him. There are times when we should allow Him to walk ahead of us to prepare the way, but know clearly that like Jesus, He will not leave us to walk alone.This is easy said than done because what I am saying is that we essentially have to walk in Faith and that is not easy; but are you willing to at least try?
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Who influnences who?
I was reading one of my devotionals and the scripture text was from Galatians 2:11-21. I thought to myself, how interesting because we are studying Galatians in Bible Study and that very text was what we talked about last week. Last Wednesday, we talked about the reasons why Paul confronted Peter in front of the other leadership as to his actions when he was with Jews as opposed to non Jews. During Bible Study, I thought to myself....isn't this soooooo us!? I mean how many times have we been one way and then turned around and been another? Are you following? I thought to myself...no, none of us would ever fall into that trap!! Yea, right! The reality is that we do get caught acting one way with one set of friends and another with other friends. There are some things that you would share with some people but would never in a million years think of telling others. And, we can think of a million excuses as to why this is so and feel justified in doing so. Let me say it a different way...maybe, you have a group of friends that you feel free to use inappropriate language around but say you would never use that same language around your family. Maybe, you tell crude jokes but would never do so otherwise outside of a certain circle of people. It's true! When I was in college, my campus pastor said that pastors tell and send the most crude jokes. I thought surely, she had to be kidding. I can honestly say that since becoming a pastor she's right. AND, I have been a guilty party in sending some bad joke emails to a couple of people. We do it. We think it's funny; and what's the harm?
Sorry, pastors! I'm not trying to throw anyone under the bus! I'm just thinking out loud, sharing an observation that I have made and being honest about how I have also been like Peter at times.
I would take this thought one step further and say that this passage is also a passage that reflects what Paul says in Romans 12:2 about not conforming to the world but rather being transformed by the renewing of the Spirit. Others say...we are to be in the world but not of the world. But does it really happen that way? If we take a hard look at our lives- hopefully, there will only be a few places where the world leaks in but for many the world consumes us and has quietly taken over our lives. For example, I was reading a book where the author did an experiment. She taped 10 minutes of a popular tv program and showed it to a group of people. She asked them to count how many times a sexual innuendo of any type was made during that 10 minute segment. Most people only caught a few but the reality was that in 10 minutes there were something like over 40 innuendos made. Things like this are so common place that we have accepted it and become numb to the fact that it is happening- that we are absorbing what culture is feeding us. Thus in turn, we take this into the church with us and eventually, it begins to quietly take over there also. Pastors and seminarians and people who are interested in church culture talk for hours about how statics show that the culture influences the church more than, if at all, the church influencing the culture. We talk about how we need to make the paradigm shift in the local church in order to switch who influences who but we can't have this kind of a shift until we make the shift in our own personal lives. People may walk in and see resemblances of "the church" such as pews, the alter, people greeting them at the doors, etc but when they get past the facade and get to the heart of the church- they discover that there isn't much difference between them and the outside world if there is any difference at all. Ouch! That's why we get called hypocrits I think. If we were more honest with those on the outside about how messed up we are and that church is the place where we are seeking healing...in the sense that its a place where you are developing your relationship with Jesus and He is the healer of your life. The church is the place where you can go to worship your healer along with the other people who are seeking healing also. And, church is a place where you find people who support one another on the journey.
Is culture influencing you or are you influencing the culture? If the first part of the question is you...what are you going to do to make the paradigm shift in your life? If the second part of the question is you...what do you do to keep the culture from seeping into your life?
Sorry, pastors! I'm not trying to throw anyone under the bus! I'm just thinking out loud, sharing an observation that I have made and being honest about how I have also been like Peter at times.
I would take this thought one step further and say that this passage is also a passage that reflects what Paul says in Romans 12:2 about not conforming to the world but rather being transformed by the renewing of the Spirit. Others say...we are to be in the world but not of the world. But does it really happen that way? If we take a hard look at our lives- hopefully, there will only be a few places where the world leaks in but for many the world consumes us and has quietly taken over our lives. For example, I was reading a book where the author did an experiment. She taped 10 minutes of a popular tv program and showed it to a group of people. She asked them to count how many times a sexual innuendo of any type was made during that 10 minute segment. Most people only caught a few but the reality was that in 10 minutes there were something like over 40 innuendos made. Things like this are so common place that we have accepted it and become numb to the fact that it is happening- that we are absorbing what culture is feeding us. Thus in turn, we take this into the church with us and eventually, it begins to quietly take over there also. Pastors and seminarians and people who are interested in church culture talk for hours about how statics show that the culture influences the church more than, if at all, the church influencing the culture. We talk about how we need to make the paradigm shift in the local church in order to switch who influences who but we can't have this kind of a shift until we make the shift in our own personal lives. People may walk in and see resemblances of "the church" such as pews, the alter, people greeting them at the doors, etc but when they get past the facade and get to the heart of the church- they discover that there isn't much difference between them and the outside world if there is any difference at all. Ouch! That's why we get called hypocrits I think. If we were more honest with those on the outside about how messed up we are and that church is the place where we are seeking healing...in the sense that its a place where you are developing your relationship with Jesus and He is the healer of your life. The church is the place where you can go to worship your healer along with the other people who are seeking healing also. And, church is a place where you find people who support one another on the journey.
Is culture influencing you or are you influencing the culture? If the first part of the question is you...what are you going to do to make the paradigm shift in your life? If the second part of the question is you...what do you do to keep the culture from seeping into your life?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Another Dog Tale
I was thinking earlier that I should have named my Blog "Tales From the Dog House." I think I told you in my last Blog that I live with a friend of mine who rescues stray dogs from the streets. It seems that there is never a lack of material while living here. I could tell some funny stories; but in the same breath, I could tell some stories that might break your heart like Princessa. Anyway, this past weekend was no exception to the regular excitement that we have happening on the ranch. On Friday or Saturday, I noticed that one of the dogs outside had a bald side on the side of her backside. Being the nosy person that I am...I mean inquisitive person....I asked what was up with the bald spot. My friend said it could be a number of things and so we decided to clean and spray the spot with some anti fungal solution. On Saturday, I noticed that Missy was chewing on her tail a bit more than usual. Seems like she got whatever the other dog had. We sprayed her also but not without a minor fight. We've since determined that they both have contracted ring worm. So, in an effort to help my poor girl out- we gave her a bath and then poured a sulfer solution over her body. Then, my friend placed 2 Elizabeth collars on her- a conventional plastic one that turns her into a cone head and an inflatable one that alone looks like a life preserver. Why two? Well neither of them fit the way we need them to and we were fighting with her not to bite her tail. Now, she's running up and down the hall trying to get out of her new contraptions. At one point, I stopped her- picked her up and just held her in my arms. I rocked with her back and forth trying to comfort her and telling her it was going to be ok. As I stood there with her, I couldn't help but wonder- 2 things. First, I joked on my FB status that I think this is God's funny way of preparing me for motherhood. Hey, I've learned a lot about being a mom from having a dog! But as I stood there- I wondered...wow, what experiences will I have with my child(ren) that I will hold them in my arms, trying to comfort them and assure them that everything will be ok? If you are a parent, you could share with me lots of examples-I know; but God, which ones will be unique to me?
The other thing that I wondered was is this a reflection, a pre-taste, of what is to happen as my ministry to the homeless and those in low income housing continues to grow? Who will I be holding in my arms, comforting them and trying to reassure them that everything is going to be ok? Will it be a mother who has lost her son to gang warfare? Will it be an addict from the streets who is going through detox? Will it be the "crazy" lady from across the street who is not really crazy but has serious mental health issues that have not been addressed properly? In the book, "Souls in the Hands of a Tender God" the author tells of his journey of meeting people on the streets and how he develops relationships with them. Often times, it just begins with a simple hello as they walk by each other which eventually leads to him helping them with a bigger problem or issue. He also discusses what it really means to walk with someone on the journey from the beginning to the point until they are ready to fly on their own. It's not an easy journey. It's full of heartache and pain. It's full of triumph and joy. It's full of ups and downs and mountains and valleys. With the short attention span and the busy lives that we have these days- who's going to be willing to really walk on the journey?
It takes a lot of commitment to walk on the journey with someone. It takes a lot of stamina and endurance and patience and understanding and so much more; but mostly, it takes a lot of love. But do I have that much love? Missy has only had her condition for a couple of days and she has already scratched me up from holding her down to be sprayed. I think for a mil a second when I was giving her a bath she actually considered biting me when I attempted to cut some of the hair from her tail. (For those who know her- that might have been a shocking statement. Missy is the kind of dog who will hang and chill with you. Biting is not her style at all.) She's looked longingly at me with her big brown eyes pleading with me to help her but at the same time being in the midst of pain and fear. What I'm trying to say is that- I can see in her eyes that she longs for help but is afraid that it will hurt more. She's torn. I'm torn. But yet, I'm her mother for all intents and purposes. It's my job to take care of her. My job to keep her safe. My job to help her get better when she's not feeling well...but sometimes it hurts. It hurts her and it hurts me. I have made the decision to do whatever I have to do to be the best mom to her. I love her!
In the same manner, do I have enough love for the ones I work with on the streets and in the casarios? Will I have the same attitude and concern when someone I love is clawing and scratching at me as they withdraw from drugs? Will I stand there at take whatever tongue lashing they give to me because they are in pain, are hurt, angry and confused? Will I still love them when they walk away from everything that I have done for them to help them have a better life to go back to their old ways? Will I still love them when they repeatedly come back to me begging for forgiveness and then turn around and do what has hurt or offended me again? Will I love them?
Friday, April 2, 2010
A Dog Tale
I now live with a friend of mine who has a ministry of rescuing stray dogs from the streets of Puerto Rico. She takes them in and watches them for a few days-checking out their behavior and a few other things. Then, she takes them to the vet to get all of their shots up to date and to have tests run for Heart Worm, etc... If they have not been sterilized then she makes sure that they get "fixed" as well. After they have a clean bill of health, she adopts them out to loving families. Most of the dogs are actually shipped to a couple of shelters in the United States where they find new warm and loving homes.
A few weeks ago, a guy from the streets who helps my friend clean the dog crates stood at our gate and begged her to take his mom's dog. Princesa, a real live ankle bitter....I mean chihuahua...looked like the majority of all of the other dogs who come through this ministry. They are extremely thin and in need and a great amount of TLC. So, we took her in. I took a picture of her and showed her to some friends who are actively searching for a second dog. I told them that after she goes to the vet for a check up- she would be all theirs. In the mean time, my friend and I began dreaming of the great life that she would have and how spoiled she would be with our friends who love and adore the dog they already have. Princesa would live a life fitting to her name- a Princess. A few days after her arrival she had blood in her urine so my friend took her to the vet. ( I guess you could say that this is one of the other things that she looks out for.) It seemed that she was more sick than we thought but that didn't stop us from dreaming for her. After a week or so, she came home from the vet and while she was still sick- she began to perk up and make herself at home. She really enjoyed having her own house and being inside with the indoor dogs. She spent her days hanging out on the back of the couch, soaking in the sun rays by the back door, and lying on the middle of a big doggie bed by my friend's computer. She ordered off of the gourmet menu eating things like soft dog food, rice, yogurt, little pieces of cheese and ham from our sandwiches and her favorite-hot dogs! Mmmm....she was preparing herself for a life of luxury after have been a tied up macasina (carport) dog all of her life.
On Tuesday morning, her breathing became labored and my friend decided to take her back to the vet. On the way, Princesa breathed her last breath. We were all shocked-even the vet who knew how bad she had been. He thought that she might have been poisoned and asked my friend to bring her to the office for an autopsy. He called today and gave us the report. The heart worm that she had tested positive for had been far to advanced. For those who don't know heart worm is a parasite that lives within the heart of a dog. Worms grow and multiple within the dog slowly choking the life out of the heart if left untreated. Dogs get infected when a mosquito bites an infected dog and then bites an uninfected dog during a later feeding. Because the heart worm had been left untreated for so long, there was nothing that we could have done; and it was a sad day at the ranch. Despite the sadness, we have been able to look at the brighter side and celebrate that in Princesa's last days, we were able to give her the life that we dreamed of for her. She died a very happy and very loved dog.
Now, why tell this dog tale? Well, I think it causes us to stop and reflect on a couple of things. You see, if we are not careful, we can get bitten by an infected mosquito; and then we will begin to grow a parasite that may eventually choke the life out of our hearts if left untreated for to long. As we are approaching Good Friday in just a few hours, I'm thinking that is not what God wants for us at all!! Scripture tells me in the famous verse (John 3:16) that "God so loved the world that He sent his only son so that none shall perish but have ever lasting eternal life." No where does this verse or any other verse state that God desires for us to have the life choked out us. In fact, Peter wrote that God is waiting patiently so that none shall perish.
So, what has bitten you? Who has bitten you? By identifying who or what has infected you is the first step in treating this heart killer. The power that it has over you is not as strong when you say it out loud because when it remains silent- it's a secret. A secret that Satan holds against you and torments you with. But when you have the courage to say it out loud it's liberating and you are no longer bound by your secret. This isn't about airing your dirty laundry to the world but it is about confessing your diseased heart to God- your creator and maker so He can operate on you and bring healing into your life. You may indeed decide to share whatever it is with a physical someone- someone who can walk with you on the journey. Someone who can pray for and with you. Someone who can be a vessel in which God uses but in order to bring on the healing process you must confess.
It's now Good Friday; and today we are going to remember Jesus' sacrifice on the cross- His dying for our sins, our transgressions. But, today is not the end...you see in three days, we will celebrate the Resurrection, the truth that He has risen, that He is ALIVE and that we are FREE in Him! He wants you to live like a princess or a prince. He wants you to have the best of everything- the lap of luxury! So, what's bitten you?
A few weeks ago, a guy from the streets who helps my friend clean the dog crates stood at our gate and begged her to take his mom's dog. Princesa, a real live ankle bitter....I mean chihuahua...looked like the majority of all of the other dogs who come through this ministry. They are extremely thin and in need and a great amount of TLC. So, we took her in. I took a picture of her and showed her to some friends who are actively searching for a second dog. I told them that after she goes to the vet for a check up- she would be all theirs. In the mean time, my friend and I began dreaming of the great life that she would have and how spoiled she would be with our friends who love and adore the dog they already have. Princesa would live a life fitting to her name- a Princess. A few days after her arrival she had blood in her urine so my friend took her to the vet. ( I guess you could say that this is one of the other things that she looks out for.) It seemed that she was more sick than we thought but that didn't stop us from dreaming for her. After a week or so, she came home from the vet and while she was still sick- she began to perk up and make herself at home. She really enjoyed having her own house and being inside with the indoor dogs. She spent her days hanging out on the back of the couch, soaking in the sun rays by the back door, and lying on the middle of a big doggie bed by my friend's computer. She ordered off of the gourmet menu eating things like soft dog food, rice, yogurt, little pieces of cheese and ham from our sandwiches and her favorite-hot dogs! Mmmm....she was preparing herself for a life of luxury after have been a tied up macasina (carport) dog all of her life.
On Tuesday morning, her breathing became labored and my friend decided to take her back to the vet. On the way, Princesa breathed her last breath. We were all shocked-even the vet who knew how bad she had been. He thought that she might have been poisoned and asked my friend to bring her to the office for an autopsy. He called today and gave us the report. The heart worm that she had tested positive for had been far to advanced. For those who don't know heart worm is a parasite that lives within the heart of a dog. Worms grow and multiple within the dog slowly choking the life out of the heart if left untreated. Dogs get infected when a mosquito bites an infected dog and then bites an uninfected dog during a later feeding. Because the heart worm had been left untreated for so long, there was nothing that we could have done; and it was a sad day at the ranch. Despite the sadness, we have been able to look at the brighter side and celebrate that in Princesa's last days, we were able to give her the life that we dreamed of for her. She died a very happy and very loved dog.
Now, why tell this dog tale? Well, I think it causes us to stop and reflect on a couple of things. You see, if we are not careful, we can get bitten by an infected mosquito; and then we will begin to grow a parasite that may eventually choke the life out of our hearts if left untreated for to long. As we are approaching Good Friday in just a few hours, I'm thinking that is not what God wants for us at all!! Scripture tells me in the famous verse (John 3:16) that "God so loved the world that He sent his only son so that none shall perish but have ever lasting eternal life." No where does this verse or any other verse state that God desires for us to have the life choked out us. In fact, Peter wrote that God is waiting patiently so that none shall perish.
So, what has bitten you? Who has bitten you? By identifying who or what has infected you is the first step in treating this heart killer. The power that it has over you is not as strong when you say it out loud because when it remains silent- it's a secret. A secret that Satan holds against you and torments you with. But when you have the courage to say it out loud it's liberating and you are no longer bound by your secret. This isn't about airing your dirty laundry to the world but it is about confessing your diseased heart to God- your creator and maker so He can operate on you and bring healing into your life. You may indeed decide to share whatever it is with a physical someone- someone who can walk with you on the journey. Someone who can pray for and with you. Someone who can be a vessel in which God uses but in order to bring on the healing process you must confess.
It's now Good Friday; and today we are going to remember Jesus' sacrifice on the cross- His dying for our sins, our transgressions. But, today is not the end...you see in three days, we will celebrate the Resurrection, the truth that He has risen, that He is ALIVE and that we are FREE in Him! He wants you to live like a princess or a prince. He wants you to have the best of everything- the lap of luxury! So, what's bitten you?
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