The Compass

A very interesting thing happen to me this past Sunday. As my family and I (well, actually two of my four children are still in pre-school class during the worship service...but that is not really important to this story) enjoyed the preaching at the worship service of our church, my oldest (she turned eight in April) began to draw on a piece of paper with the crayons that we put in her "Worship Bag" (this is a canvas bag that every child receives from the church once they are old enough to attend "big church"...the kids really love it). As the different shapes and colors began to take their appropriate place on the page, I began to see the picture for what is was...a compass. It was a very good compass. It had its North, South, East and West. My daughter even went so far as to put the "little lines" between the larger ones that represent NW and so on. Not bad for a second grader. :)

As I sat there listening to the sermon so eloquently delivered by our pastor (He really is good...Side note...Go to "My Church" link here and you can listen to audio or even watch video of the messages...Sorry, another shameless plug), I began to think about that compass. I began to think how interesting that she would choose "that" picture at "that" time. Later I asked my artistic little angel, "What made you draw a compass in church?" (I truly thought that maybe they had talked about a compass in Sunday School or maybe a friend at church had brought one to show to his/her friends) She looked at me with her big beautiful brown eyes and said, "I don't know, that is just what I had in my head." At that moment I had an "Out of the Mouth of Babes" moment.

The picture of the compass began to fill my head. I remembered when I was a kid at camp one summer. We were taught how to use a compass. We went through the basic training that morning and then put our new found talent to the test that afternoon. We were all taken to different "stations" in the forest. Then, we were given a list of directions to follow. If all worked the way it should, we were suppose to find our way back to camp. I remember being a little nervous. Looking back, I'm sure we were no more than a couple of hundred yards deep, but to me it felt like miles. I thoroughly read my directions, I set my compass, and off I went. There were times that I felt that my compass had to have been broken. "This is taking to long" and "Did I make a wrong turn", were just a couple of the thoughts that went through my head. My compass had led me into a very thick patch of trees and brush. I came very close to tossing the compass away and running in the other direction screaming as loud as I could in hopes that help would come, but I didn't. I remembered what my camp counselor told us during the training, "Trust the compass and it will get you back. If you trust your eyes, they can deceive you. If you trust your ears, they may lead you in the wrong direction. Trust the compass and it will get you back." So I did. I trusted the compass. I went in directions that I would have never chosen myself. I made turns that I knew had to be wrong. In the end, I made it back to camp. I was the last one back...I had a few scrapes from some of the falls I had taken while being so nervous... I even had some mist in the eyes from being scared...but I made it. I even remember the look of excitement in the eyes of my counselor when I appeared, I was really touched he cared so much (looking back I think he was excited to not have to send out a search party or having to explain to my mother that they lost her child) :)

How appropriate is it to think of a compass at church? You see, Christ is our Compass. We go through our training, whether that be church services or Bible study of our own, and learn to build a trust with our Compass. Then, there comes a time (or many as it always seems to be in my case) when we have to take this new found trust out for the test. Is all that we have learned just book knowledge, or do we know enough about our Compass to really go exploring? So we do it, we take the plunge into that deep dark forest we call life. We try to remember the words of our Counselor, "I will never leave you or forsake you." So with truth ringing in our ear, we depart on the journey. Oh man, how many times do we look around us and think, "This is not where I am suppose to be. Something is wrong. My Compass must be broken. I'm going the wrong way." The stronger those feelings become the more we want to toss the Compass and run in the other direction screaming as loud as we can, just hoping that help will come. It is at those moments that we must remember our training. It is at those moments that we have to remember that if we toss the Compass, then we will really be alone. No, this is the moments that we must hold tight to our Compass and understand that if we trust our eyes...they can deceive us, and if we trust our ears...those sounds we hear may be leading us in the wrong direction. It is our Compass that will get us back to camp. It is our Compass that will get us safely home. And when we get there, we may not be the first to emerge from the forest and therefore unable to brag about how well we listen to the Counselor during training. We may not be entirely clean, because of some of the falls we had taken along the way. We may even come humbly from the tree line with tears in our eyes, because deep down inside we really didn't think we were going to make it. But when that moment comes, and we are able to see the Son Shine once again. Oh, what a beautiful day it will be. What joy will be in our hearts. And how great it will be to hear the voice of the Counselor say, "You made it."

Our Prayers Are With You and Yours Steven

Maria Sue Chapman was killed in a tragic accident at the Chapman home on Wednesday, she was only five years old. May we all take time to pray for the family of the man that has brought so much truth to the world through the gift that God has given him. God bless all the Chapman's and Jesus thank you for the certainty that is within us to know she is home with you. And may we all take just a few extra moments to squeeze those we love today and let them know how much we love them. God bless and Keep Looking Up

Shameless Plug

Yes this is a shameless plug....wait....this is my blog....I can plug what ever I want. :) Then allow me to plug a friends new blog. George and Ashley Weis have started a new blog for their company Tekeme Studios (click to go to web site). They are the ones that designed the page on which your eyes gaze at this moment and since I am completely satisfied with the work they did for me (I still log on to my blog and think, "Man, is this really my space?")...I wanted to give those of you that read a chance to win a web or blog design from these talented individuals. Just go to this LINK, and it will take you to their new blog. Follow the direction and you too may log onto your website or blog and think to yourself, "Man, this a cool looking site...I just hope the writing can keep up." :) Good luck to you all. God Bless and Keep Looking Up! :)

Dog and Pony OR Good Marketing?

Now this is a story that has both sides of my brain running. Read the story by clicking HERE, and then tell me what you think.

I am going to very honest; I do not know how I feel on this issue. I am going to share with you the battle that has been going through my head on this.

Argument 1: “At least it gets people in the door”
This is a very good point to make. I don’t know how many times I have said to myself and others, “If we can get them in the door, then they will be able to hear a message that may change their lives forever.” I am positive that this same statement has been made at this church. Why, because it is true. We do want to get people in the doors. We do want people to be able come and experience worship and allow God to work in their lives. I have seen with my own eyes what can happen to some of the most hardened hearts when the Holy Spirit touches them during a worship service in a church.

Many people would say that this Pastor should have gone into marketing. It could have easily been what he studied in college before being called to ministry. When it comes to figuring out a way to use the environment around you to reach people, this is a perfect example. He is taking a need (a very big need for many of us today) and fulfilling that need in a very imaginative way. I don’t care what you think about what the church is doing, you have to be impressed with creativity.

Argument 2: “If I have to get them in with a Dog and Pony Show, then I would have keep the Dog and Pony Show going to keep them.”
That was a very long quote, but was one that I heard several times when I was a youth at my local church. I did not grow up in church, so the very first experiences that I had with church were given to me by my youth minister. To this day I still hold him in high regard, mainly because of the love and support he provided me during a very awkward time in my life. But, this was his philosophy. He did not believe that people that are brought into the church through gimmicks actually stayed to become true followers of Jesus Christ. He always felt that once the feelings or the fun were gone for them, they would leave to continue on with the life they once lived. Now, I have to say (even with my deep feelings toward him) that I did not always agree with this philosophy. Even as a youth minister myself, I saw that there were a few that came for the fun that our group was having but stayed because they found more…but it was just a few. (But isn't one enough...just a question)

This is where I fall right now on argument two. I believe that church is a very special time. It is a time during my week that I can honestly say I miss if I am unable to attend the service. And even though I know that church is about community and coming together as a group of believers to worship our God and King, it is still something that is very personal for me. It is time for me to forget my struggles and my self-centered life, and focus on the most important thing in life…my Lord. Therefore, I have to be honest in saying that there is something inside of me that begins to hurt when I feel that this time of worship is “cheapened” in any way.

I am all about reaching people. I want people to come to know Christ and experience the freedoms that He provides. But, I think sometimes that we focus too much on trying to get people to come inside our walls…when what we need to be focusing on is taking the message to their walls…then extend the invitation to join us within our walls if they think that there is something to the message we brought.

I don’t know. Tell me what you think. Share with me what goes on inside of you when you read something like this story. I want to hear, “Brad, you are missing all the good that can come out of this.” I want to hear, “Brad, you should not be struggling with this at all, because it should never be going on within our churches.” I look forward to the conversation.

God Bless and Keep Looking Up

Feel The Words

When Love Takes You In
Stephen Curtis Chapman

I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever
cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in

Tonight I pray....For those that have experienced this kind of love....praise God, and pass it on....For those that have never experienced this kind of love....may Christ shower you with His love....and may you, for the first time, FEEL the Warmth and Peace that He brings.

God bless you all. Keep Looking Up.

Just a Thought...And a Few Questions

I was at work today (I work for a consulting firm, so my job changes as the projects change...this project has a lot of data entry into an excel spreadsheet...so I have to listen to music to keep my sanity) and was listening to some of my favorite music. I am a huge EAGLES fan! It catches people off guard (due to my history of working in the church) for people to hear that my all time favorite song in the world is "Hotel California" (I do think it has a very interesting message...but that is another post) Sorry, I'm chasing the hare from a couple of posts ago! :) Anyway, one of the Eagles all time greatest songs, Desperado began to softly play through my earphones. I began to think, there is a really good life lesson being taught by this song and with just a small amount of imagination...could be a great sermon. So sit back and relax, your about to really see how my strange mind works. :)



Desperado
The Eagles

Desperado, why don't you come to your senses
You've been out ridin' fences,
for so long - now.
(How many times in life does it feel that we ride and ride in life, but can never really find what it is that we are looking for?...Just a question)
Ohh you're a hard one.
I know that you've got your reasons.
(I look back on the times in my life - and they still happen from time to time - when I felt the coldest and hardest toward others, God, even myself. The one constant in every memory comes in this...I truly thought that I had a very good reason - or reasons - for feeling the way I did. The hardness that was within me was very justified...from my point of view.)
These things that are pleasin'you
Can hurt you somehow.
(With a show of hands....How many of us can say that things that we thought would bring us the most joy either don't last or actually bring us more pain? Think about that for a moment. Think about the things in your life that you have tried to fill that void with, did it work?...Just another question)

Don't you draw the queen of diamonds boy
She'll beat you if she's able.
(Diamonds, things that make the eyes widen. Diamonds, a girl's best friend. Diamonds, something that is very "precious" and worth a lot of money in this world. But, do they really bring happiness? I have seen people with all the money, wealth, "diamonds" in the world and still not have any sense of peace and happiness. What brings real happiness?)
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet.
(Things of the heart. Family, Friends, Faith...those are the things of the heart...those are always the best bet...those are what bring real happiness.)
Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table.
But you only want the ones
That you can't get.
(Why is it that we never seem content with what we have in life? If we all took some time to sit and look at what we have been given in life, I am sure that we could all find something that can be considered "some fine things". Yet, we always seem to desire the things we can not have and therefore never find that peace that true contentment can bring.)

Desperado,
Ohhhh you aint getting no younger.
Your pain and your hunger,
They're driving you home.
(Two thoughts here: (1)The older I get the more I realize that the things that use to really get under my skin, do not seem as important; and the things that use to be put on the "back burner" are now the things that I want to spend my time on pursuing. (2)Whenever I hear this I think of the story of the Prodigal Son in scripture.)
And freedom, ohh freedom.
Well that's just some people talking.
Your prison is walking through this world all alone.
(Freedom - that is a very funny word. I see the things that this world is trying to sell to the people with the promise of freedom attached to them. They do not bring freedom...they bring bondage. The most amazing thing about freedom is that it comes through making ourselves slaves. By becoming a slave to Christ, we find the true FREEDOM that only a loving God such as He can give.)

Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine.
It's hard to tell the night time from the day.
(Do you ever feel that you don't know which way is up?...Just another question)
And you're losing all your highs and lows
aint it funny how the feeling goes
away...
(When everything "goes away" what are you left with? We can try to hide our pain with all kinds of different things...things that bring highs and things that bring lows, but sooner or later we will be standing face to face with this pain. Then what? Another question)

Desperado,
Why don't you come to your senses?
come down from your fences, open the gate.
(I think there is scripture that something like this....:)
It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you.
You better let somebody love you.
(let sombody love you)
You better let somebody love you...ohhh..hooo
before it's too..oooo.. late.
(Hey Desperado's of the world - that includes me -, I have a good idea as to where to start on that "let somebody love you" idea....Jesus. Oh and by the way, all the questions brought out above...they can be answered with the same person.)
God Bless you all :)

Smiles Are Still To Be Had

Just when you think that the world is falling down around us, a story like this one comes along and proves to us that smiles are still out there to be grasped. Don't believe me, just read the story and then look at yourself in the mirror. Thank you Andree for this one! :) God Bless to you all.