How DOES He do it???

Do what, you might ask. So glad you asked!!! Let me tell you. How, in all the whole wide, wide world of sports does God make so many different things out of the exact same ingredients???????

You know what I mean...or maybe you don't. Let me enlighten you, Padwan Learner. Have you ever noticed that God takes the exact same ingredients of the physical world and makes them into something different every day??? The same sky, the same moisture in the sky, the same sun, the same mountains. the same plants, the same animals, the same clouds, the same places that we have lived for hundreds and hundreds of years, and yet He combines them in such infinitely diverse ways that not two days are exactly alike??????? How DOES He do it??????

And, analogically speaking, how in the wide wide world of sportsmanlike conduct does He take the same ingredients that make up our lives and make each day a new wonder???? The same identity, the same body, the same eyes, the same ears, the same smells, the same sights, the same sounds, the same people, the same places, and very often the same events, similar feelings, thoughts, and emotions...and yet each day is absolutely and peculiarly diverse.

What...who...why...how....I....doh!

Commentary on Leviticus 19 (Woohoo!)

You just gotta love Leviticus. And, I might add, Leviticus 19 is by no stretch of the imagination least among the chapters of the book. "And you, Levitcus 19, by the sea, are by no means least among your brethren; for out of you shall come forth wisdom and insight to match that of your forebears and peers, and shall shepherd my people Israel," or something like that.

There are so many good things in this chapter that it is hard to say which we like the best. So let's start at or near the beginning. Verse 2, of course is where they get the famous verse out of 1st Peter that states, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." (God speaking). Of course God says that in a lot of other places throughout the old testament, but what the heck. Let's go on.

Verses 9 and 10 are very cool, but not just for what they say, but for what they tell us about what's on God's mind and heart. And here, in these two verses, we can see that what's on His heart and mind is the welfare of the less fortunate in the land. He commands them, "Now, when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; YOU SHALL LEAVE THEM FOR THE NEEDY AND THE STRANGER; I am the Lord your God." Pretty cool stuff because it shows that--God cares! One of the things I love about the old testament is looking for Jesus in all of it. Because we know that the entire thing points to Him if we can have the eyes to see it.

Verse 13 is cool; "The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning." Boy, if only WE could get paid after every day we work!!!

Verse 15--"You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly." God is also righteous as he cares for the poor. He says, "Yes, I care about them, but that doesn't mean that you are to make judgments in their favor that aren't right just because they are poor!"

And now we come the verse that is my personal favorite in the whole chapter, verse 17. He states, "You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely REPROVE your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him." So there it is in black and white...we are allowed to confront and reprove each other!! God's like, "No, you may not hate each other... you may not walk around bearing a grudge against people...but if you need to reprove them for their actions, yes, you may do so!" That's some good stuff right there baby.

And, of course, then there are the obligatory verses which make ABSOLUTELY no sense to us whatsoever, such as, "you shall not wear a garment upon you of two different kinds of material mixed together." (19) Hmmmm. I guess there's probably something in there about not being mixed with something else so as to be pure??? Who knows. Or this one--"You shall not round off the side growth of your heads, (?) nor harm the edges of your beard." Ooookaaay. If you say so Lord. :)

You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find...

...you get what you need!

Here is the most classic mistake that I have made, and that I try to help others avoid making--using God to (try to) change your circumstances instead of using your circumstances to better know God.

I spent years and years and years, and years, frustrated, angry, and depressed because I couldn't get God to do what I wanted Him to do.

Yes, I was a Christian. Yes, I was faithful to go to church and to tithe and to read my Bible and to pray. I stayed in fellowship and served and did ALL the things that we are supposed to do as Christians in order to be healthy and obedient. And I did them a lot! But my faith never worked. Why did it not work??? Well, for the answer to that question, we will go to the Bible. Galatians 5 states that faith works through love. So, the logical answer then, would be that I did not have love. If faith works through love, and my faith was not working, then it must be that I did not have love, or at least, enough love.

And so it was. As the years went by, and I grew and changed I eventually saw it. My main concern in life was my quality of life. That is what I focused on, and that is what I thought God's role was in human affairs--to make our lives better.

So I begged, I pleaded, I worked really hard. I flew myself around the country and the world trying to do the things that I thought were necessary to get Him to fix my life. And guess what happened? Not only did it not get better...it got worse!!!

Well, you can imagine my disappointment. Here I was doing all of the things that I thought a person was supposed to do to fix his life and get his act together, and none of it was working! What was I to do??? More of the same, but even harder???

Well, fortunately, God has ways of getting our attention. And pain is one of the best. The pain factor got so high that not only did it become extremely unattractive to keep on doing the same things I had been doing, it actually became impossible. My house of cards fell down. KABOOM!!!

That certainly got my attention. When you are not only uninspired to do things, but actually unable to do them, you are forced to do something else. So I did. And then, wonder of wonders, and miracle of miracles, guess who started to show up in my life? No, not Ed McMahon and the Prize Patrol...God! Yes folks, God Himself began to show up on the scene.

And let me tell you, THAT was a surprise. I wasn't even tithing, and yet here God was showing up in my life! Nor was I attending church regularly. I was still reading my Bible and praying, although not in the same manner that I used to. And here was God. Real and living, God.

Well, that was my first clue. Things sure must be different than I have thought for most of my adult life! And different they were! It is hard to describe how different things began to look.

Fast forward a few years, after learning many lessons from this real God who had decided to show up in my life. There I am sitting in the car in front of my house with a good friend of mine, and we are talking about God, as we always do. I do not remember very well what specific things the conversation is about, but somehow or other it comes around to this. "What if God exists primarily to be loved?"

Now, I am not privy to everything that happens in the spiritual dimension, but I like to think, that at that very moment, in the heavens, time stood still, all movement ceased, and an infinite silence reigned. Nothing moved; every gear ground to a halt, every passage of energy ceased, and every being that was in activity stopped to listen. All was still and grey, and the very spiritual essence of the universe stood perfectly still, waiting. The universe and it's Maker watched and listened.

There I sat in my friend's car. We finished our conversation, I got out and walked toward the house, and he drove off. And one thought reigned uppermost in my mind. What IF God existed primarily to be loved??? What IF that was why He existed in the first place??? What IF that was actually why He created human beings in the first place??? What if that was what He wanted from us more than anything else??? What if...what if God's primary reason for existence, and mine as well, was simply... friendship and love?

So, as the stars bent their ears down to listen and closed their eyes in anticipation, and as the winds that blow the Spirit slowed and stilled, and as all Creation held its breath, I decided. "God," I said, "I'm sorry that I have always viewed you as simply someone who exists to do stuff for me. I am going to change. I am going to begin relating to you as a person, a real person who can be known and whose primary reason for existence is love and friendship. I am going to be your friend."

And the winds again began to blow. The stars returned to their shining, the wheels began to spin once more, the Spirit began to move, and all of Creation resumed its course. But there was one small part of the universe that was spinning and moving in a new and different direction--my spirit. And, as we have previously discussed, when you begin to move in a different direction, things begin to look totally different than they have!

Oh, the difference. The difference between these two approaches to life with God is so vast, that it cannot adequately be described with words. Nevertheless, I am going to try! The one keeps you in a box, with walls that continuously move inward, squeezing more and more of the life out of you; the other opens up the universe to be explored. The one will turn you into a living, breathing example of myopia, while the other will allow you to personify the words of Jesus, who stated, "He who believes in me, out of His innermost being will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38) The one helps you to create your own prison, and to constantly reinforce the walls with steel, brick, and mortar; the other sets you as free as the Holy Spirit Himself, Who IS freedom!

And it's really not so surprising. Jesus said it Himself when He stated, "He who seeks to save His life will lose it, but he who loses his life for My sake will find it." The interesting part here is that He didn't say, "...but he who loses his life will find it." No, He said, "...he who loses his life FOR MY SAKE will find it." That means that we have to not only give up on all of those things that we think we want and need, but we also have to come to Him. TO HIM. THE REAL PERSON. Because He is, after all, a real person! One that can be known, just the way you can know any other real person! And in that RELATIONSHIP...I say it again for emphasis...in that RELATIONSHIP WITH THE REAL PERSON, JESUS CHRIST...we will find our lives!

And not only did Jesus say it, but God Himself said it about a million other times in the Bible. "You shall have no other gods before ME!" Not even the god of a life that looks like you think it should look!

Well, after this turning point, life became alive. I became alive. I am not sure what the heck I had before this point... it kinda sorta LOOKED like a life, but it was not really life! I still liked a lot of the same things, music, foods, places, etc., but how even those things took on new meaning and purpose!

Becoming alive, after you have been...dead?...even as a Christian, is an amazing experience, to say the least. And where does it come from??? Well, the Bible was right--it comes from love! And love can only be found in one place, in all of creation. There is only one place in all of God's huge, amazing creation that love can be found. Only one. And that place is---relationship! Oh,the logic of it all! Of course! How can you have love if there is no one to receive love from or to give it to??? Love, by its very nature, requires another to be the recipient! You cannot love if you have no one TO love or to be loved by!

And boy does your faith work when you discover love. Perfectly, no, because we, none of us, know how to love perfectly. But imperfect love is better than no love. To be learning to love, and to be loved, (which itself is a vast concept to explore!), is MUCH better than not loving at all!!!

Deep roots (again)

Time for some more about deep roots, because I love the subject: the illustrious elm tree and the magnificent dandelion. What do these two local favorites have in common? Well, yes, but I meant beside the fact that they are both incredibly insidious and impossibly difficult to get rid of. But, since you mention it, let's run with it. Why ARE these two beloved plants so tough to get rid of? And why is it illegal to plant an elm tree in Washoe County?? And why do they survive, thrive, and multiply like rabbits no matter what conditions exist or however much warfare is waged against them???

Well, it's pretty simple. Both of these formidable and indefatigable species are blessed with two of God's greatest gifts. One, which we are not going to discuss in depth here and now, is the ability to produce ridiculously exponential amounts of seeds. They are each masters at procreation. However, the other one, which is very near and dear to my heart, is this: dandelions and elm trees both have taproots that go so flipping far down into the ground that it is extremely difficult at best to remove them.

To be sure, it is a trifle to remove the visible parts of a dandelion; and many people do, on a regular basis. Why, just yesterday I was standing, talking with a fellow, and he knocked a couple off with the toe of his shoe. A noble gesture, that, but it didn't REALLY phase our friend the dandelion. Losing all of its leaves, stems, flowers, and seeds did nothing except delay the process a bit. Before you could say, "The ides of spring," the little dude will have sprouted several new leaves and even more flowers than it had before.

In fact, it seems to me, having been FORCED to watch them, for years, due to my career path, I suspect that knocking off all of a dandelion's above ground growth is actually WORSE than if we'd just let it go. When it gets its way, and reproduces by sending out three or four flowers, it feels pretty good and is relatively satisfied with itself; it can relax. However, force it to start over again from the beginning and it will retaliate with a vengeance. I ask you, have you ever seen an angry dandelion?? The admonition to take no vengeance has no weight in the plant kingdom. They will take all the vengeance they can get, without a hint of remorse. A dandelion so offended will send out so many new stems with new flowers on it you'd think it was a mutant strain of genetic anomaly accidentally introduced into the environment by some well meaning but misguided biologist. But I digress.

How, then, I ask, is the persistent little plant able to do this?? From whence cometh its persistence and its virility to produce so vehemently??? From its deep roots! A dandelion's deep roots give it access to more water, minerals, and other plant building materials than are available to its contemporaries whose roots extend only an inch or two below the surface.

And, in order to provide equal time to our friends the elms, they set the standard for deep roots. I am not aware of ANY other trees that have such deep roots as elms. To prove this point, go, find yourself a spare elm tree, accost it with any implements of destruction at your disposal. Cut its branches off; see if it cares. Cut them off again next year; it will take no notice. Get mad; get your Homelite out and cut it all the way down to the ground! It will come back baby, stronger than before.

As a landscaper, I have had the pleasure of removing both of these types of plants from peoples' yards. And here is what I have seen. On both dandelions and elm trees, THEIR ROOTS ARE USUALLY FOUR TO FIVE TIMES LONGER THAN THE PART THAT CAN BE SEEN ABOVE GROUND.

So,the analogy is there for us to learn from. OUr roots need to extend down into God, into His Spirit, into Jesus Christ, and into all of the truths of His kingdom. As it says in Jeremiah, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, THAT HE UNDERSTANDS AND KNOWS ME, THAT I AM THE LORD, who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24). Not only can we extend our own roots deep down into God and His truths, but we can do the same for the next generations by teaching them and training them in God and His truths as well. We, as adults, have the ability to create deep roots in kids without them even knowing that we are doing so! Make sure that your kids know how to receive love, how to trust, and how to be responsible, and you will start them off with deep roots.

Til we meet again, may your roots extend deep into the LOVE of God. Just as plants' roots will always go where they find water, so a person's roots will always go where they find love. And since God is love, He is where we must send our roots!!!

Back to Basics

What's it all about? Why are we Christians?? Better still, why do we even exist?? Why are we human?? Why do we get out of bed every day?? Why do we work, why do we have relationships, why do we have cell phones and send e-mails and make plans for our lives and have goals and have Bible studies and go to meetings and church and the like?? For those of us who are Christian, why do we read the Bible?? Why do we pray--for ourselves and others?? Why do we have fellowship with each other on a constant basis?? Why do we go to conferences and read books and fast and learn about spiritual gifts and change our lives and discipline ourselves??? Why, WHy WHY??? Why in the world do we do all this stuff????????????????????????????

8 am, Saturday morning.
"Jesse?"
"Yes Father?"
"Jesse...I love you."
"I love you too, Father."
"Jesse?"
"Yes, Father?"
"I really love you."
"I love you too, Father."
Silence... thirty seconds pass; then-- "Jesse?"
"Yes, Father?"
"You know... I love you!"
"Father... I love you too!"
"Yes... but I love you more than you can possibly fathom."
"I know you do Father. And I love you a whole lot as well... I think you are more beautiful than the stars on a cold and wintry night."
"Yes... but...Jesse...I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LOVE YOU. More than I am able to make you understand, I love you."
"Father, you are so beautiful. I love you more than I can say as well."
"Yes, but Jesse. I love you so, so, SO stinkin' much that it hurts, how much I love you. I love you like I'd pull the car over to the side of the road, get out of the vehicle, walk over to your side, look you in the face, and tell you so that you understand...I LOVE YOU."
"Wow... ok... like, you must really love me!"

Romans 8 states that God pre-destined us to be conformed to the image of His Son. That is one thing that we can all agree on as Christians. We are to become just like Jesus.

Well, if that's the case, then it is going to be absolutely necessary for us to have, and to continuously develop, a close, deep, intimate relationship with the our Father, the Creator. Because this is what Jesus had. Jesus was constantly making statements such as, "I speak the things which I have seen with my Father," and, "I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent me," (John 8:38, 7:29). And, "...I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught me. He who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him," (John 8:28-29). And this one--"I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world," (John 8:26). And, addressing some of His contemporaries, "But as it is, you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God;" (John 8:40). And it continues--"But even if I do judge, My judgment is true, for I am not alone in it, but I and He who sent me," (John 8:16). "I am He who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness of me," And so they were saying to Him, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You neither know me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father also." (John 8:18-19). "We must work the works of Him who sent me," (9:4); Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, "He is our God. And you have not come to know Him, but I know Him..." (8:54-55). "...even as the Father knows me and I know the Father..." (10:15). And the coup de grace..."And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God..." (17:3).

Basically, the entire book of John goes over Jesus' relationship with God, THE FATHER. And we are to be conformed into Christ's image.

Many people have the notion that a change to their circumstances would make them happy. Well, that may help, however, better circumstances are certainly not the goal. The goal, and what really makes a person happy is being in love. And that's why we do everything that we do...to be in love with God, and to be in love with others. That's it! DO NOT USE GOD TO MAKE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES BETTER...USE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES TO KNOW GOD BETTER.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love this verse out of 1st Timothy that states, "But the goal of our instruction is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." (1 Timothy 1:5). That verse could be the summarizing verse for the whole Bible. What's it all about Alfie? It's about loving God and loving people.

We are here for love! As Christians and as people. What is all of the stuff in Christianity for?? What is prayer for?? To get us in love with God. What is church for?? To get us in love with God and each other. What is prophecy for?? To get us in love. What is teaching for?? To lead us to being in love. What is Bible study for?? To get us loving God and loving people. What is evangelization for??? It is to lead other people into a loving relationship with God. EVERYTHING IS ABOUT LOVE. Human beings were created to be in love! It's just the fact!!! THE FACT!! We are meant to be rapturously in love with our Creator. As in, Knowing Him well all the time and falling madly and deeply and passionately in love with Him. Hearing Him, seeing Him, feeling Him.

Someone will say, "You can't see God!" To which I say, "Au contrair, mufrair!!!" Romans 1:20 states that what can be known about God can be seen in what is created. So....... this being the case, let's start a project, it being Springtime and all. For the next two months, every time you witness something beautiful in nature, realize that you are seeing Him. Every flower, every bird, every breath of warm air...every ray of sunshine warming you, every green shoot coming up in the garden...every baby kitten, every puppy, every baby horse and cow... every green shoot coming out on the ends of the branches of the pine in your front yard...every sunset... every windy night that moves the trees when the moon is full...THERE'S YOUR CREATOR. THERE'S YOUR FATHER.

Want to know Him??? When your cat jumps up in your lap... when your kids laugh... when a beautiful woman walks by.... there is a picture straight out of the heart of your Creator. GOD IS EVERYWHERE. To those paying attention, He can be seen almost everywhere and in almost everything in Creation. (I say almost because there are those parts of it that we have screwed up that DO NOT represent Him in the least!) However, the next time you enjoy a nice piece of hot raisin toast with butter melting over it, or you pour your favorite green salsa on your chicken tacos with white onions and cilantro, or you hear a song you haven't heard since you were twelve that brings back all sorts of wonderful memories and emotions.... get to Know Him!!!! Start with the obvious things!!!

accept the pain

Here is a thought. A healthy one at that.

A lot of people I know, myself included, have been in the past or are in the habit now of feeling bad and being full of regret for bad choices that they have made. And I would hazard a guess and say that much of the world does this. People are depressed, angry, bitter, unproductive, etc. etc. because they have made choices that have brought on undesirable circumstances.

Well, here's a thought. Maybe making wrong and stupid choices is just about as normal an event as one could hope to have during this lifetime; and instead of living in anger, depression and regret, we should accept the pain and/or consequences as entirely normal as well and learn from them. Sure our lives wouldn't look like we think they ought, but do they anyway??

We should change our view of life. We should change it from "life has to be just how I envision it or it's not worth it" to "I am going to make PLENTY of mistakes and that is as normal as breathing", and then accept the new circumstances that the stupid decisions brought to us as the most normal things in the world.

What a lot of heartache and grief this would eliminate from the world. I think that this is what Mr. Maxwell is talking about in his book "Failing Forward" when he asserts that the main difference between achievers and non-achievers is how they perceive and respond to failure. Amen brother. If we were taught, from a very young age, that failure is a normal part of life, and that we should just get used to it, and THAT WE SHOULD LEARN FROM IT, what amazingly productive people we would be. Instead, at least in my life, somewhere along the line I learned (decided?) that the proper response to failure was to be depressed about it. Somewhere, somehow, I learned that failure is not normal. Who the heck got me to believe that false notion?? I'm going to kick their ass when I find out.

If I had known that failure was a normal part of life, at a young age, right now I'd be a freaking rocket scientist/millionaire/professor/evangelist/musician/writer/husband/Dad/teacher/business owner/restaurant owner/athlete/a million other things slash etc. etc. etc. Good God.

The things I am going to teach kids that were never taught to me.

Story: The Woman Who Did Not Know How to Receive Love

Once there was a woman named Charm Almy. She was a very neat lady. She could sing like nobody's business, had a great sense of humor, was a wonderful friend, and had absolutely no idea how to receive love.

One day Charm got sick. Actually, she had been sick for quite some time, and had been living in and out of nursing homes for a long time; she also lived in and out of my home for some time. Anyhow, when I say that she got sick, I mean that she got sicker than normal--so sick that she had to go to the emergency room, and ended up staying in the hospital for a long time.

While in the hospital, (Saint Mary's, to be precise), she called me up and asked me to bring her some of her pain medication that she had left at my house. I, after debating this course of action for some time, figured it would be wise to check with the Saint Mary's staff before doing this to avoid any medicinal conflicts or overdoses. After doing so, I became utterly convinced that bringing her more medicine than what she was already being administered would be very dangerous. So I told her no.

This brought on a barrage of insults, accusations, and anger. "You're not a true friend! A true friend wouldn't do that to a friend!" and "I wouldn't do that to someone that I called a friend!" And the like. "I know what's going on...those people at your house are stealing them!" And it went on and on. So much so that the entire relationship itself was called into question, because I would not bring her her pain pills.

I held out. I knew that it was the right thing to do, because I knew that if I brought her the pain pills, that she would take them over and above what pain medicine they were already administering to her right then and there. And, having already lost one person I loved to pain medication, I was not about to be a part of it happening again.

Well, she kept bugging me. Left nasty messages on my voice mail. So I went and talked to her. I told her why I was not doing it. It did not help. She did not understand, but insisted that I was not being a true friend. I finally informed her that if she was ever going to get her pain medicine, (which was rightfully hers), that she was going to have to get it herself, and that if she did, I would not stop her because yes, they did belong to her.

Well, long story short, she eventually made it out on a pass, and I brought her up to the house.(Maybe that was my first mistake).Then she asked for her pills. I broke down and gave them to her. I felt I couldn't say no at that point. Here she was at my house wanting what belonged to her. We then shopping, went to Burger King, and took her back to the hospital. We had a great time, and she thought I was the greatest. Then I went home.

The next day, I went on an overnighter with a friend. Camping and fishing at Boca... I love it. There we are, enjoying the crisp morning, scouting out the best fishing spot. The phone rings. "Hello?"
"Hello, is this Jesse?"
"Yes."
"This is nurse Smith from Saint Mary's critical care. We're calling about Charm Almy."
"Yes, what's going on?"
"We see that you are her primary contact number, so we need to let you know that Miss Almy went into a coma last night. We don't know why... she is in critical care."

So you can probably guess the rest. I rush to the hospital. There she is, unresponsive, barely holding on to life. I say a prayer. I talk to the nurses to gather all the info I can. Then I leave.

A week passes. I am at home on a Saturday morning. "Mr. Price?"
"Yes?"
"This is nurse Smith from Saint Mary's. We see that you are the primary contact for Miss Almy. We need to let you know that she passed away this morning."

And so it goes. Those who have no idea how to receive love, and those who are just learning to give it, and how they help each other along to destruction.

What is humanity's main challenge?? I've said it before, and I'll say it again. We have no idea how to receive love.