The Mind of God

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Psalms 8:3-4

This blog has kind of been lost in the shuffle of things in my life in the last couple of weeks, but I think it's time to fire it back up. I was reminded of one of my favorite thoughts a few minutes ago, and I thought it worthwhile to write about. It's a thought that brings tears of joy to my eyes every time I think of it: the fact that no matter what happens, I'm always in the mind of God.

 I won't go into that since I don't think it's appropriate for this blog, but I believe there's plenty of reason to believe that the writer of the play "Our Town," Thornton Wilder, was not a saved man. Despite that, in that play, he found a way to very eloquently relate the wonderful truth of the text verses.

In this post, I'm not going to talk about the scene in "Our Town," but I would like to talk about a scene from my own writing that was inspired by it. The central character of the scene is a 10-year-old native of Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, Paula Taylor. Paula has felt overwhelmed by things going on at school, at home, and an upcoming skating competition. She feels pressure to do extremely well at school because one of her brothers, Parker, is highly intelligent. She feels pressure to do well on the ice because her sister, Paige, is the most talented young figure skater in the area. The result is that she focuses too much on the surrounding troubles and loses sight of God and what He can do for her.

A chain of events that follows teaches her a couple of lessons. One is that she doesn't have to worry about living up to the potential of anyone else. All anyone can expect of her is that she does her best. The other is that no matter what happens do her -- and even when she forgets Him -- she is always in the mind of God. He is always concerned about her and always has her best interests in mind.

To drive that point home to her, Paula's mother recalls the scene from our town. I'll share the words of Mrs. Taylor here:

“When I was in high school, I had an assignment to read the play ‘Our Town’ by Thornton Wilder. It is told in the play that a character received a letter addressed like this: ‘Jane Crofut; The Crofut Farm; Grover’s Corners; Sutton County; New Hampshire; United States of America; Continent of North America; Western Hemisphere; the Earth; the Solar System; the Universe; the Mind of God.’

“I’ve never forgotten that in all the years that have passed since then. The lesson I learned from it is that no matter how small I am, God has never forgotten me, and will never forget me. No matter where I am or what I do, I’m always on His mind. You are Paula Taylor; The Taylor Home; Colonial Park; Lloydminster; Saskatchewan; Canada; Continent of North America; Western Hemisphere; the Earth; the Solar System; the Universe; the Mind of God.”

As the youngest of four children, Paula often feels insignificant. As you go through that progression, she -- and we -- appears smaller and smaller. Yet, when we zoom out farther and farther and go beyond even the limits of the universe itself into the mind of the Almighty Creator that spawned it all, there we are. On the scale of the universe, we're not even an insignificant speck, yet God is mindful of us. He's so mindful of us that He took on human flesh and died on a cross to redeem us.

Maybe your talents don't seem as great as those around you, and maybe you feel castaway by others, but God loves you nonetheless. You're always on His mind. You were on His mind while He bled and died. The account given may be one experienced by a fictional character, but I assure you, the truth is not fictional. It's as real as you, I, and the Mind of God.

Toiling in Obscurity

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:16

In my opinion, the teams of the Montreal Canadiens dynasty of the mid-late 1970's were the best in NHL history. During the last of their four consecutive Stanley Cup championship seasons in 1978-79, the Habs boasted no fewer than 10 Hall-of-Famers, names such as: Yvon Cournoyer, Ken Dryden, Bob Gainey, Guy Lafleur, Guy Lapointe, Rod Langway, Jacques Lemaire, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, and Steve Shutt. Among a cast of characters like that, the name Yvon Lambert doesn't stand out, but a close look at the stats of that season proves that he was certainly valuable.

Lambert isn't a Hall-of-Famer, and he never played in an All-Star game. He never finished higher than seventh team in All-Star balloting, and his career highs of 32 goals, 40 assists, and 67 points in a season don't stand out at all considering the era he played in. That's certainly not to say he didn't make contributions to his team, however. In fact, in 1978-79, his seven regular season game winning goals were tied for the second most on the team, with only Lafleur tallying more. In the playoffs, he would add one more game winner, and it would be one of the biggest goals of the season.

In the NHL semifinals that season, the Canadiens squared off against the Boston Bruins. The series went a full seven games, and in the last game, Montreal appeared to have their backs against the wall.  The Habs had held leads of 2-0 and 3-2 in the series only to see Boston tie the contest each time. In the ultimate game of the series, the Bruins took a 4-3 lead and held that with less than three minutes remaining. But Boston was whistled for a too many men on the ice penalty, and with just over one minute remaining, Lafleur notched the game-tying goal, sending the game to overtime. The next goal would win the game, the series, and send the team that scored it to the Finals.

The goal would come 9:33 into the first overtime, off of the stick of Lambert from a pass received from Mario Tremblay. Lambert's overtime winner is probably not as well remembered as Lafleur's goal to send the game to an extra session or Lemaire's goal that clinched the Cup, but without it, the Montreal four-peat would be a three-peat.

In the Christian life, there are a lot of Yvon Lambert's. There are a lot of laborers that go unnoticed because their ministry is obscure or they're overshadowed by others. That doesn't mean, though, that their ministries are unneeded or unnecessary. You might not see the janitor of your church in action, but if the job went undone, you would notice. People may not see the Sunday school teachers of young children at work, but their job is vital to the future of the church. It's likely that few notice the elderly home bound lady that sends out cards to encourage people, but her ministry has no doubt helped its recipients get through some dark days.

It all boils down to this: do you "serve" the Lord because you want attention and notice from others, or do you truly serve the Lord because you want to be a part of His work and bring others to Him. Do you have to be the star of the team, or are you willing to play an overshadowed role because it's what's best for the body?

God is keeping score. A lot of the spectacular goals that people score in life will one day be waved off at the Judgment Seat of Christ because they were done for selfish motives. I think we'll be surprised at some of the game winners that will be recognized. Only one life, 'twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last.

I'll Keep on Leaning

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

If you're old enough to read this, I have no doubt you've come to a conclusion I've also reached: life is hard. If you haven't had a reminder of that fact lately, you no doubt will soon. I've heard it said before that at any given point in our lives we're one of three things: going through a store, coming out of a storm, or going into a storm. Experience tells me that there's a lot of truth in that statement.

With storms being a fact of life, it's very important that we determine how best to handle them. Some people try to ignore the problem. The problem with that is that it doesn't deal with the situation. While we try to pretend nothing is wrong, things could very well get worse. Being physically sick and doing nothing to try to improve your health makes no sense. By the same token, it makes no sense to sit back and ignore our spiritual and emotional issues. Something must be done to correct them.

Others try to handle everything themselves. To be sure, there are some problems that we can correct by applying ourselves to find a solution, but that won't always be the case. We're all human, and there are some things that are simply too hard for us. To make an application from the temporal realm, if I have a flat tire on my car, that's something I can fix myself by simply changing the tire. If my transmission goes out, that's beyond my ability. If I were to try to fix that, I'd likely make the situation worse. Often, when we rely on our own strength to calm our storms, we only complicate the matter.

It doesn't take a lot of thought to come to the conclusion that the best way to deal with life's difficulties is to turn them over to God. It might surprise you, however, when I say that there is a right way and a wrong way to do even that. When you take you troubles to God, on whose terms do you do so? Yours or His?

Let me explain what I mean. There are some who pray about a problem, already having determined in their own minds what the correct answer is, and more or less demanding that God do as they say. Some people view God as little more than a slave bound to do as their "faith" says He must. Those with that attitude need to reread 1 John 5:14-15: "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." The guarantee of receiving what we ask for is dependent upon asking what is in the will of God.

That brings us to the proper way to take our burdens to God. We cast them on Him and trust Him to do as He sees fit, knowing that what He has in mind is best. This doesn't mean that He'll take us out of the storm. Sometimes, He does. Other times, He simply sustains us in the storm. Paul found out when he petitioned the Lord to remove the thorn in his flesh that while God didn't do as he asked, He did do what was best. Paul found that with the thorn came the grace of God, and he determined that it was better to deal with the thorn if it meant receiving grace.

There is a calm in the storm when we determine to rely on God  and trust His will. As long as He is aboard the ship, it will never sink. He is our captain, and He will bring us safely to shore. The sooner we learn that and claim it, the sooner we find peace. What can we do when we face difficulty? We lean on the Everlasting Arms. What do we do when the storm rages on? We keep on leaning. It's not always easy, but it's always the right thing to do. Yes, I've learned that life is tough, but I've learned that my God is tougher. The sun will eventually shine again.

An Arm Around Our Shoulders

He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. Psalm 147:3-5

As I'm sure many of you are, I stay pretty busy, being involved in quite a few things. I have a full time job in retail, I'm the music director at my church, I write two blogs, I write novels that I hope to have published one day, and I write for a local sports media website. Every one of those positions can be rewarding, and on Friday night, I witnessed something that helps make the last of those jobs so.

Part of the job with the website includes attending local high school football games so that I can write recaps for the site. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy that. I love seeing the passion and the excitement from the players and coaches as I walk up and down the sidelines. Because of access my position with the website gives, I'm privy to a lot of things that the fans in the stands never see. I see all the ups and downs on the sidelines up close and personal, I hear speeches from the coaches, and get to be in the middle of post game rallies.

Friday night though, I saw something while walking behind one of the coaches waiting for an interview that warmed my heart. There was a player that had had a tough game and was feeling very frustrated. His coach learned of it and responded by walking over to the player, putting his arm around him, and as we say in the South, "loving on him a little."

That's one of the marks of a great coach. He knew his player was feeling discouraged, so he tried to give some comfort and let it be known that he cares about him. I've been thinking about that moment a lot over the last two days. The more I thought about it, the more it reminds me of what our Heavenly Father does for us.

We all have frustrations in life, but thank God, when we are brokenhearted, He's always there to put His arm around us and remind us that we're loved. He has a complete understanding of our difficulties, and He has power them. Just as He calls every one of the stars by name, He knows all of our names. Just as that coach did to that player on Friday night, He will draw us close to Himself, one on one when needed.

I already had plans to make this post, but this afternoon, I was given more reason to do so. Less than an hour ago, I learned that one of my aunts passed away. It was unexpected. Honestly, I still haven't completely grasped it yet. Even so, I know that my Saviour is near. He's not only near to me, He's near to every member of the family. Whereas a coach can only be in one place at one time and can get personal with only one player at a time, God is everywhere and can give us all personal attention at one time.

When our hearts break, the Great Physician is there to heal. He'll put His arm around us and "love on us" better than anyone else could ever do. Frustrated? Heartbroken? Jesus is there for you.

Do We Need a Pope?

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Hebrews 4:14

The media is abuzz over the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to America. The visit is highly controversial among some, and the man himself is certainly controversial. I'm not going to wade into the politics of the situation, but I do want to take a closer look at the role of "pope." Rather, I want to look at the Scripture and answer this question: Do we need a pope?

Catholic doctrine teaches that Jesus chose Peter as the foundation of the church, and that the popes, as his successors are the modern day heads of the church. They base this claim on Matthew 16:16-19, claiming that Peter was the rock that Jesus would build the church on. That claim however, doesn't hold up to spiritual cross-examination. Jesus, in fact, is the rock. His church was to be built on the confession of Him, just as Peter did in the conversation in Matthew 16.

Rather, 1 Corinthians 3:11 shows that Jesus is the foundation. This verse goes so far as to say that no other foundation can be laid. Everything we do is built upon Him. Note that at the Judgment Seat of Christ, the question isn't whether or not the foundation lasts, but whether or not what is built on the foundation lasts. Only Jesus Christ and things done in His strength can stand eternally.

At this point, the conversation would probably shift to Ephesians 2:20, which speaks of "the foundation of the apostles and prophets." This is another passage supporters of the papacy use to support their claims, but a look at the full verse shows that this foundation is also Jesus Christ. as the verse calls Him the"chief corner stone."

Why then, does the Bible speak about the "foundation of the apostles and prophets?" I think the best illustration I've seen is one found in the history of our nation. Our nation could be said to have been built on the foundation of the founding fathers. Were the founding fathers themselves the foundation? No. The foundation of our nation was a set of principles regarding individual freedom and the role of government. The role of the founding fathers was to lay this foundation. They gave us the foundation, and it's up to us how we build on it.

Moving that to the spiritual realm, if you're saved, it's because someone laid the foundation of Jesus Christ for you. They were able to do that because someone laid it for them. That can eventually be traced back to the apostles and prophets. The prophets told the world about the coming Messiah, and the apostles first spread the news that He had come. From then on, we all build on the foundation they laid. We don't build on them; we build on Jesus.

Is there then, any need for an office such as the papacy? No, there's not. Going a step further than that, there's no need for an organized priesthood. In 2 Peter 2:5, the Bible reveals that all believers are priests with access to the Father. Over us is our High Priest, the greatest of them all, Jesus Christ.

Do we need a pope to be the foundation for us? No. Do we need an earthly authority over the worldwide church? No. Jesus is our foundation and our authority. Do we need a priest to grant us access to God? No. We have that access in Jesus Christ and His work of redemption. Because of that, we can boldly approach the throne, no pope required.

Come Unto Me

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Hear the blessed Saviour calling the oppressed,
Oh, ye heavy laden, come to me and rest.
Come no longer tarry, I your load will bear.
Bring me every burden, bring me every care.

Come unto me, I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, hear me and be blessed.
I am meek and lowly, Come and trust my might.
Come, my yoke is easy, and my burden's light.

We all know what it is to be tired. Every day, we reach a point of physical tiredness and need to go to bed to sleep and recharge. During the first part of this week, I was under the weather because of sinus allergies, and that magnified those feelings. The more intense the feeling of tiredness, the greater the relief found in rest. Therefore, rest was a very precious thing to me this week.

There's a weariness outside that of physical weariness, though, that can be even more draining to us. There are times that each and every one of us come to a point at which we feel mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted. Sometimes, we bring it on ourselves, and other times, circumstances beyond our control cause it. Regardless of the source of this tiredness, it's not one that can be relieved by a few hours of sleep. We need something more to bring rest.

There are times that we can receive comfort from friends and family that helps to give us release from the burdens of life, but there are other times we're beyond help as far as other people are concerned. Sometimes, we just need more than what human fellowship can offer. There are certain burdens that people simply can't remove or help us bear.

When that happens, where can we go? When we're burdened beyond what we can bear and others are unable to help us, we still have the greatest source of rest of all. The Saviour invites us to cast all of our cares on Him and go to Him to receive rest. He alone can give us release from the things that weigh us down. He alone can give us strength when our burdens are too heavy.

This is not a rest that is begrudgingly given; it is one that is freely offered. The Saviour desires to give us rest. He loves us, and it is not His intention for us to go through life burdened. Jesus doesn't save us to make us miserable, but to give us freedom in Him. His plan for the believer is to live in joy, so it's obvious that He wants to give us rest from the things that steal our joy.

The fact of the matter is, when we go through life burdened and weary, without joy, we do so by our own choice. It's our choice to remain under the things that weigh us down when relief is waiting. As the writer of "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" said, we often bear a lot things needlessly because we don't take things to the Lord. The rest awaits us if we will simply go to Jesus and take it.

As long as we live on this Earth, we'll have days that we feel tired and need rest. It's a part of being human. The great news is, however, that part of being a Christian is having a source of perfect rest. The Saviour beckons us to come to Him for rest. If we do so, we'll receive the rest. He's truly the greatest friend we could ever have.

Jesus is Precious

Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner. 1 Peter 2:7

This isn't the blog post I intended to make, but I feel led to do so. I'm sure I'll still make the one I had in mind, but for now, it will have to wait for another day. Tonight, my pastor preached a message that greatly stirred my heart. The text verse for this post was his text verse. The topic of the sermon -- and of this post -- was "Jesus is Precious." If you'll allow me a few minutes of your time, I'd like to give you a few reasons that Jesus is precious to me. This won't and can't cover them all, but it should make the point.

The first reason He's precious to me is that He's the greatest friend I could ever have. A true friend is one who sticks with you through think and thin. A friend doesn't wait until things are going well to come to your side, and he doesn't run away when they aren't. The Bible says that a friend loveth at all times, and no one fits that description better than Jesus. He knows my worst, and yet, He still loves me. There is nothing I could ever do to cut off His love. He loves me no matter where I go, no matter what I do, and no matter what I experience.

Secondly, Jesus is precious to me because He helps me bear my burdens. We all know what it's like to be, as Paul said, "pressed out of measure, above strength." Some will say that God won't allow you to face anything that's too difficult for you to handle. Speaking from experience, I can say that those people are wrong. However, I can also say that when the burdens I have to carry are too much for me, He's always there to help me. There are many things I face that are too hard for me, but none of them are too hard for Him. As much as I wish I didn't have to face such things, I'm thankful for them, because they prove that Jesus can sustain me.

The faithfulness of Jesus is a third reason He's precious to me. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, meaning I always know what I'll get when I go to Him. That's not true of people. Circumstances and moods can and will change how people deal with us, but I get the same Jesus every time I'm in His presence. Because of that, He's my rock. I can stand on Him and not be worried about the storms of life. My anchor is set in Him, and I can't be blown away.

The fourth reason I'll give you for why Jesus is precious to me is that He supplies my needs. It doesn't matter what the need is. It can be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual. He has the ability and the willingness to supply for them all. He's the King of Glory, and all of creation belongs to Him. He's the God of all comfort, and no heartache is too troublesome for Him to heal. With a God like that, who else do I need?

Fifthly, Jesus is precious to me because of His salvation. Anytime I really think about this, it brings tears to my eyes. Why would Almighty God take on human flesh and give His life on a cross, bearing the penalty for my sin? I can't explain it, and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to. This is nothing but speculation on my part, but somehow, I feel that even in Heaven, we'll spend an eternity marveling at His love for us. As George Amon Webster of the Cathedrals wrote, "Why did He go to Calvary? There's just one reason. I am the one." I'm so thankful that Jesus took my place and offers salvation through the work He did.

Reason number six for my saying Jesus is precious is His continued forgiveness. As much as I wish I didn't, I still sin. I still sin every day. I deserve nothing more to be thrown away, but Jesus doesn't do that. He offers eternal life, and doesn't discard me when I don't live up to His standards. Even better, when I confess that sin to Him, He washes it away and it's as though it never happened. My fellowship with Him is unaffected, and I'm fully restored.

The seventh and final reason I'll give you that makes Jesus precious to me is the home He's gone to prepare for me. The Bible says some wonderful things about Heaven, but honestly, most of them don't really matter to me. How can I say that, you ask? It's simple. One reason so far outshines the others that I'm blinded to them. The key is this statement by Jesus: "where I am, there you may be also." The other reasons that He's precious to me make this one the greatest of all. He's gone to prepare a place for me so that I can be with Him. What better way could there be to spend eternity?

Is Jesus precious to you? If so, tell me why. I'd like to know why He means so much to you. Let's worship Him for who He is and what He's done. If He's not precious to you, the only reason I can think of is that you don't know Him. If that's the case, I'd love to introduce you to Him. He's waiting for you with open arms. One personal experience with Him is all it will take to make you say, "Jesus is Precious."