So last night I got really frustrated while trying to pray with my kids before bedtime. Here I am trying to thank God for everything in our lives and teach them how to pray...
meanwhile Justin is crawling on top of me while Kate is watching birds eating at the feeder we have in the back yard. So I snapped a bit...prayer time was over and bed time started. I know, I know, I'm the best dad ever (ok, maybe second best), right? But it's hard for kids, especially American kids whose parents give them everything they could possibly need, to imagine that they really need to be thankful for all that God provides. And is it really easier for us?
Not looking to make this a summary of the sermons at NCC, but I'm going to go ahead and reference this past week anyway.
So...Lysa TerKeurst spoke on how our reactions determine our reach. It was awesome...go watch it HERE. But what most hit me was a story she told about her son (adopted from Liberia). This boy was an orphan who lived on one meal a day, walked a long distance to school and was ostracized by the kids with families when he got there.
He didn't have much to be thankful for. But one day someone picked him out of a crowd and told him to stand and tell everyone what he thanked God for. There was nothing that this kid could say without lying...what could he be thankful for...his life? That wasn't anything to be excited about...his life pretty much sucked. The one meal of rice that he was getting for the day?
So instead, this amazing boy started singing. He praised God and worshipped him with a song...not because of what he has done, but because of who he IS.
This is huge. I've spent alot of time teaching my kids to pray...giving them examples of blessings, things and situations that they could thank God for. That's not bad...but it's so incomplete. If all we focus on is what he's done for us (like thanking a genie), what do we do when we don't believe there's anything to thank God for? Even in those situations where everything I hold dear is falling apart, I want to be able to thank God and praise him for who he is. That is worship in spirit and in truth.
Side note...the day after Lysa's son stood up an sang a song, another kid did the same thing (and her son joined in), and it grew every day. After a while, their singing caught the ear of someone who was visiting and they started traveling around the world to sing and raise awareness about the needs of orphans. Because of one song...one fumbling attempt at worship in the face of despair...many families have had the chance to grow in size, faith and love through adoption.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Burn The Fleet
The old flag will burn with the sail
And a new one won't fly if we fail
But the fire continues to rise
And it shows not a hint of any fear in our eyes
Burn the fleet, we can never go home
It's on to victory or under ground
Burn the fleet, we'll be heroes or ghosts
But we won't be turned around
The lyrics above are from one of my favorite songs...Burn the Fleet by Thrice. Sadly, I had no clue about the historical basis of the lyrics until this past Sunday. It's a bit of a crazy story...
So here's the deal. Hernando Cortez wanted to conquer the Aztec capitol, but the loyalty of his men in the face of danger was questionable. So he burned his ships...destroying the possibility of retreat or escape.
So at church we had the chance to hear from John & Eli Tiller. I didn't know anything about the Tiller family, but please check out their story HERE. The main point of John's talk was that we need to destroy the connections that tie us to a life without God. Only be doing that can we find hope in him and him alone.
Easy to say...so insanely hard to do sometimes. But why?
I'm not sure about most people, but I think I struggle with this mostly because I don't believe that God's plan is more important than mine. That's hard to write because I really do believe that God has this beautiful and amazing plan for us as individuals, families and nations. But I can admit that I don't really want my family or friends (or me individually) to suffer in any way to further that plan...where's the good in that (for me!!)?
So instead of trusting God fully and completely, we build safety nets and false security under the premise that we can step up when God decides to fail us (in our estimation). And when difficulty or tragedy strikes, we care much more about using everything at our disposal to get out of that situation than we do about looking for what God may be doing through it or just growing in faith through it all.
If our plan (or script as John Tiller put it) is the most important thing to us, then we'll continue to live in this way. If tragedy strikes, we'll find ways of convincing ourselves that this cannot be what God wants for us...as if our comfort, or even our life, is the most important thing to him. However, if we can embrace the idea that God is sovereign and his ways and plans (even those that crush us) are good, then we can be shaped by that plan.
So if you can accept that God is good and his plans are perfect, then burn the ships.
And a new one won't fly if we fail
But the fire continues to rise
And it shows not a hint of any fear in our eyes
Burn the fleet, we can never go home
It's on to victory or under ground
Burn the fleet, we'll be heroes or ghosts
But we won't be turned around
The lyrics above are from one of my favorite songs...Burn the Fleet by Thrice. Sadly, I had no clue about the historical basis of the lyrics until this past Sunday. It's a bit of a crazy story...
So here's the deal. Hernando Cortez wanted to conquer the Aztec capitol, but the loyalty of his men in the face of danger was questionable. So he burned his ships...destroying the possibility of retreat or escape.
So at church we had the chance to hear from John & Eli Tiller. I didn't know anything about the Tiller family, but please check out their story HERE. The main point of John's talk was that we need to destroy the connections that tie us to a life without God. Only be doing that can we find hope in him and him alone.
Easy to say...so insanely hard to do sometimes. But why?
I'm not sure about most people, but I think I struggle with this mostly because I don't believe that God's plan is more important than mine. That's hard to write because I really do believe that God has this beautiful and amazing plan for us as individuals, families and nations. But I can admit that I don't really want my family or friends (or me individually) to suffer in any way to further that plan...where's the good in that (for me!!)?
So instead of trusting God fully and completely, we build safety nets and false security under the premise that we can step up when God decides to fail us (in our estimation). And when difficulty or tragedy strikes, we care much more about using everything at our disposal to get out of that situation than we do about looking for what God may be doing through it or just growing in faith through it all.
If our plan (or script as John Tiller put it) is the most important thing to us, then we'll continue to live in this way. If tragedy strikes, we'll find ways of convincing ourselves that this cannot be what God wants for us...as if our comfort, or even our life, is the most important thing to him. However, if we can embrace the idea that God is sovereign and his ways and plans (even those that crush us) are good, then we can be shaped by that plan.
So if you can accept that God is good and his plans are perfect, then burn the ships.
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