Loving The Process

I admit that I’m a backyard BBQ enthusiast.  I enjoy grilling steaks and hamburgers, but what I’ve come to enjoy most is smoking babyback pork ribs.  For many years my wife and I have gone to the ribfest in Lincoln.  I got to thinking that I could make ribs just as good.  Last year I humbly confess that I mastered the feat of making some of the best  babyback ribs I have ever tasted.  It’s quite a process.  It takes about six hours to produce some of the most mouth watering, tender, wonderfully smoked flavored ribs you can imagine.  First I apply a special dry rub to the ribs and then I brush them with a special blend of apple juice and BBQ sauce.  I smoke them for three hours on a special smoker, adding apple wood chips to compliment the BBQ sauce.  After three hours of smoking at around 230 degrees, I finish them off in the oven, wrapped in foil smothered in my special sauce.  When they are done the meat literally falls off the bone, it’s delicious! Best ribs I’ve ever had, but then again I’ll admit that I’m a bit biased.  The thing of it is, I enjoy the whole process.  Not just the eating of the ribs.  For me it’s the process that makes it all worth while.  I’m thinking it’s the same way with God.  We might be tempted to think that what thrills God the most is the end result….us being conformed into the image of Christ.  But, I’m thinking that God enjoys the process just as much, as God interacts us with, marinates us in his grace, so that eventually our whole lives will be flavored with God’s love and goodness….so that when others taste of our lives they will be tasting of the goodness of Christ who lives within us!  Gotta go, it’s time to have some ribs…  

Busy As A Bee

There’s a reason we say; “as busy as a bee”. These wonderful little creatures are always on the go, collecting nectar and pollen to bring back to the hive.  In the process as they fly from flower to flower they make it possible for fruit trees and hundreds of other plants to pollinate.  It is estimated that one third of the human food supply depends on insect pollination, most of which is accomplished by the humble honey bee.  This Sunday is “Mother’s Day” and mothers and the honey bee have a lot in common.  Mothers are always busy and when I was growing up, our family was one hundred percent dependent on mom for our food supply.  But my mom did much more than just feed us and cloth us.  Through her unconditional love, her strong unwavering faith in God and in us, she pollinated so many good things, so many God things into our lives how could we not bloom no matter what circumstance of life we found ourselves in.  Thanks, Mom! I think God created motherhood so we could get a glimpse of how great God’s love is for us.  

Come Sit A Spell

It’s good to get alone and think.  To get away from all the artificial noise of the world, the radio, TV, and the sounds of the city.  To listen to the sounds and rhythm of nature, like the gobble of a wild turkey, or the honking of the geese as they fly over and the chatter of the birds.  Life can be so busy that we don’t take the time to connect with the core of who we are, and more importantly, whose we are.  The lone bench in this photo is an invitation to sit a spell and allow ourselves to be spellbound by the wonder and grandeur of creation all around us, that is so easy to take for granted or hardly even notice in the hustle and bustle of work and life.  As we do, I think we may very well rediscover what the Psalmist discovered hundreds of years ago.  And that is, we are never truly alone, in our thoughts or otherwise.  For we can never escape the wonder and grandeur of God’s benevolent care for us.  Though at times the waves of anxiousness and fear seem to wash over our souls and threaten to capsize our hope, we really are never alone, for the cry of our thoughts and our hearts are not hid to God.  Yes, it’s good to sit a spell and remind ourselves, it is well with our soul.       

Christ is Risen!

Several years ago my wife and I visited Jerusalem and one of the highlights was visiting the garden tomb and having communion with our tour group in that setting.  Is this the actual tomb where Jesus’ body was laid? No one knows for sure.  One thing we who are disciples of Christ are sure of is that the tomb (where ever it was) was empty on that first Easter morning.  It is the reality of the empty tomb, because Christ is risen, that fills our hearts with hope and anticipation.  Some might wonder how we can be so sure that the tomb was empty.  We believe Christ is alive, not because we have seen an empty tomb…but like the only hymn says; “you ask me how I know he lives, he lives within my heart”.  Christ lives within our hearts filling us with God’s love and an eternal hope! 

God's Restoration Project

A couple of years ago my wife and I had the privilege of visiting Athens, Greece.  On our first night in Athens I was able to capture this picture of the Parthenon from the top of our hotel.  The next day we visited the Parthenon and our guide told us that it was built and dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena.  Athena was the goddess of victory in warfare along with being the goddess of wisdom and civilization.  She was worshipped as the protector of Athens.  As you can see the temple dedicated to her now lies in ruins, and you can also see the scaffolding in place as a part of the restoration effort to repair the Parthenon.  In the 5th century, the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church and then after the Ottoman Turk conquest, it was turned into a mosque in the early 1460s, before later falling into ruins. 

Palm Sunday begins Holy Week and on Good Friday we remember that Christ defeated sin and death, not by the power of force like an Athena, a goddess of warfare, but by the power of self-giving love, laying down his life for his enemies.  Christ freely laid down his life for you and me, indeed the whole world.  And in the process God confounds the wisdom of this world by showing us that God’s strength is best made known through weakness.  The apostle Paul saw this and declared that he would boast in his weakness so that the strength of Christ might rest upon him.  As Christians we have something in common with the Parthenon, we’re under construction and restoration as well……so when we feel weak, let’s not despair, but let us look to a strength that is greater than ours, for Christ who has begun the good work in us will be faithful to complete it….after all he was a carpenter!          

Blowing In The Wind

When you see this picture of a dandelion going to seed it may conjure up all kinds of thoughts, memories and emotions.  Like recalling stories of those who actually eat dandelion greens, I think I’ll pass on that one, thank you.  It could also stir up memories of an uncle or grandfather who made dandelion wine.  I’ve never made or tasted dandelion wine myself, but I’ve heard a lot of folks whine about dandelions, does that count?  Which brings me to what I’m guessing is the thought that’s upper most in our minds when we see a picture of a dandelion going to seed.  We hope the dandelion is not in our neighbor’s yard, with the wind blowing in our direction.  The fluffy white head of a dandelion is filled with hundreds of seeds, waiting for the wind to carry them wherever the wind will, so they can reproduce dandelion life wherever they go.  Interestingly enough, Jesus said that those who are born of God’s Spirit are like the wind.  Our lives are carried along by the wind of God’s Spirit and in the process we are seeding God’s life and love through our lives, through our words and through our actions.  A smile.  A hug.  A word of encouragement.  Grace and forgiveness offered.  Help freely and cheerfully given.  In all of this and more…puff…the wind of God’s Spirit blows through our lives, planting hope and God’s love in the hearts and lives of others.  I’m thinking that it’s a good thing when Christians go to seed, for in this way the love and life of God are reproduced in others!  I know that’s how it happened for me, and is still happening.  So the answer my friend is not blowing in the wind….we are blowing in the wind…            

The Red Pump

A couple of years ago my Aunt Margie died and somehow we ended up with the old pump that set out in her backyard, now it sets in ours.  When Margie and her husband Ray moved to town they took the old pump that had been in the washroom of their old farm house and brought it to town with them.  I guess they brought it as a memento of the many years they had lived in the country.  I remember visiting my aunt and uncle on the farm and as you came into the house you walked through the washroom before you entered the kitchen.  It was there in the washroom where you’d pump the handle on the old pump and draw up water from the large cistern with which to wash up after chores or before meals.  Now when I look at that bright red pump in my backyard I’m reminded of my Aunt Margie.  She and Ray never had children of their own, so she delighted in her sister’s children, and we never doubted her love for us.  Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter serve as reminders of how much God loves and delights in us.  Through Christ we are able to draw from an endless supply of living water, water to not only make us clean, but to drink that we may be refreshed and renewed.  I don’t know about you, but when I consider God’s awesome love for me and for every person in the world…..well….it pumps me up!