Been thinkin'... again!

I was thinking about the times I've been at Myrtle Beach and been playing in the waves. I know where we placed our things on the beach and intend to stay near that spot, however, inevitably as we face the waves coming in we seem to drift. It's not that we try to drift, it just seems that we get carried along in the moments and suddenly stop to get our bearings. When we realize where we are supposed to be we start walking back that direction.
How many times in life do we know where we are supposed to be and we are carried along by life as it ebbs and flows? Sometimes the drift is in our vision of where we see ourselves being. Maybe it's a direction more than a goal and we know that we have to take corrective steps to get back in the right direction. For a company or church the drift can happen at good and bad times. We can get carried along in directions by dealing with all the good options and without stopping to be headed in the best option direction. It can be that we get caught in a "riptide" and are carried away by the bad... could be economy, decisions, personality conflicts. At times we have to stop and gain perspective. We have to remember where we were and where we intended to be and take steps to get there.
Being a pastor this thought takes deeper meaning. Personal relationships can have drift. The marriage relationship is one that is easy to have drift and there's always a need to have both people stop and consider where they were headed together and then take steps to get there!
Still, deeper still, is the relationship with have with God. Sin can be as subtle as innocently drifting. How many times I've stopped to examine my life and thought, "When did I get here?!" With a word of repentance I express my sin and begin the directional change to get where I know I need to be... headed toward Jesus!
I would venture that we all have moments where we allow ourselves to drift. But we also need to build into our lives moments to stop and reflect to see where we are. Instead of asking "why or how" we need to refocus our minds and ask God to lead us where He would take us. "Help us God to see what opportunities this allows us as we venture back toward and to You." Amen.

Speaking August 1st

By the way... I'll be speaking August 1st at Niagara Alliance Church (niagaraalliance.org)! My message is about Worship as a lifestyle not just Sunday service. Hope to see my friends and family there!

Lonnie

Not Abandoned... Thoughts on the book of Eli

I didn't forget that I have this blog! I have found myself doing more on Twitter and Facebook as of January. But I'm back.
Tonight I watched "The Book of Eli" with my wife. I didn't care for the swearing, or the cat on a spit (as supper... YUCK). I'm guessing that they had to go with the religious zealot stereotype in some form, alas. In worldly terms at least the guy could kick butt. :)
I did find this an interesting movie. The ending reminded me of the verse: Heaven and earth will pass away but my word will never pass away. - Jesus
I liked the teacher / disciple relationship that formed and loved the ending where she was going back "home" armed with the knowledge of the bible.
I found it funny that the Bible was blamed on "the war" which caused desolation and was to be destroyed. Only later it was sought after by "a bad guy" because he wanted to use it to manipulate people and build his kingdom. In the end the bible was found to have significance on which to build society. Intentional or not it placed the bible in a positive light. So good for them. I'm guessing that quite a few people wouldn't watch a movie about saving the bible, but with some guns and knives they probably picked up a few more people. ;)
I found it quite heartwarming at the end where it showed Eli's grave and the Apostle Paul's words "I have fought the good fight... I have finished the race..." May that be said of all who follow Christ to the end.

Get out of your bubble!

Sunday I was listening to Ken Hill speak. It was his first time, but he did great. There was one thought that he threw out... Get out of your bubble!
With that my mind immediately went to the Sprint(tm) commercial about getting out of your bubble of local friends so you can call anyone on any network. Well... it just hit me that so many times we get stuck in our church bubble or our circle of friends bubble. We need to get out of the bubble! It's pretty easy to stay comfortable. To be around people who act like the good people we like. Last Friday (January 8th, 2010) I was with Amy at her work party. There was some swearing and someone asked me if that was a problem since I was a pastor. I told them it wasn't a problem. I just didn't tell them why. Jesus spent a lot of time with people who didn't have their stuff together. They mean well and some actually want to do well, but they have a few walls that have to come down first. They need to know that you are not judging them. Honestly, I am not the Judge and will not be the One they stand before and give an account of to. So I can just be me and do what Jesus would do and say what Jesus would say.

Speaking on Sunday October 18th!

Just wanted to give a heads up to those that follow my blog that I'm speaking at Niagara Alliance Church in Wheatfield, NY on Sunday October 18th at the 10:30am service. The message is part of a series that started the week before on: "How to get what you want... God's way!" It's from the book of Proverbs and I'll be speaking about Prosperity. Hope to see you there!

Lonnie

Observations from "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs"

Got home from "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" with the family. The 3D glasses are so somebody's 1967 version of having fun with the crowd. (you'd have to see them... maybe I'll post a pic later...) Anyhow... so Here's my observations of themes that I saw in the movie:
1. We all need someone to believe in us (mom, dad, teacher, etc... God already does... sometimes we just need God with "skin on" to understand that)
2. Be yourself... I had to laugh at the guy who had to find his identity again... and the girl who thought she needed to be something else before people would accept her. (God made you and He doesn't make mistakes!)
3. Sometimes it's difficult for us to explain how much our Father loves us to others. (closing scene where the dad gets the 'universal translator' put on him to explain how much he loves his son, because communicating with fishing analogies don't seem to work) This is probably where my passion lies... I really want people to know and to understand how much God loves them. Unfortunately what I've seen in many churches does little to help people understand that. It's like "fishing analogies" to so many and they just don't get it, and even wonder if God doesn't just hate them because of what they are going through. We do a serious injustice to God when we cannot clearly and lovingly communicate His love story... how He has lavishly loved us in Jesus Christ.
I know that some will go to see the movie and think, '"Where did Lonnie see THAT in the movie!?!?" It's a gift, I don't talk about it much... :)

OH yea...Tomorrow

So as I looked back I saw that we had just begun summer and now we are hours away from Joel starting Universal Pre-K and Caleb starting 1st Grade. It's also my sister's birthday (how could I forget!) So much happening this summer. Seems that I just couldn't keep up. Maybe with the kids in school it will get easier... YEA RIGHT!

Anyhow...