Cursed

It was a hot summer day. I don’t remember all the circumstances, but what I do remember was the feeling of hot rage boiling through my body as I slammed out of the kitchen into the garage. The door hadn’t taken a hard enough beating to assuage my anger so I swung at the next thing I saw. It happened to be the antennae on our green station wagon (yes I believe it also had faux wood grain as well). Sure enough. “Snap”. Then the clinking of thin metal on the cold concrete floor. Quickly, I snapped back to reality. I knew I was in trouble and it was my own fault.

It wasn’t the only time something like this has happened. Sure as I have matured my temper doesn’t flare quite like it did back in its heyday. But every once in a while it rears its head as a reminder of my own humanity. My own fallen nature. It makes me feel cursed.

The other day I came to a completely new understanding of curse. Genesis 3:14-19 God declares a series of curses based on the newly corrupted relationship between mankind, creation and God. What is of particular interest to me was the curse placed upon the serpent. (Now if your not familiar with the story God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden and told them they could enjoy everything in the garden except for the fruit of one particular tree. Along comes Satan in the form of a serpent and convinces Eve to eat the fruit who then turns to Adam, who was with her the whole time, and he takes a bite too.) This is what God said,

“Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all the animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15 NLT)

I’ve always looked at this passage and thought to myself that the serpent really got off pretty easy. 1. I always assumed that the serpent was a snake so he was already accustomed to crawling on his belly anyhow. Apparently not the case. 2. It just seems natural to me that for the most part we as humans are scared of snakes and usually for good reason…they like to crawl and bite. But here’s the reality. This isn’t just a man vs snakes situation. This is a man vs. Satan deal. And the words God speaks are more than a curse they are a prophecy about how man and Satan would get along. Satan is a distraction. Satan is limited in his power. The evidence here suggests that Satan can wound us, but not mortally. Getting struck in the heel hurts (ask any mom the next time your at Wal-Mart), but it’s not life threatening. Furthermore, God states that the offspring of Eve (that’s us) would strike Satan in the head. Getting struck in the head is usually a life threatening situation. This has been fulfilled ultimately by Jesus!

The bottom line: We have been delivered from Satan. The victory is Jesus’ and he invites us to share in it.

What areas of your life do you feel cursed? How would that change if you KNEW that the curse had been broken?

Cat’s in the Cradle

Ran across this video this morning. I’d forgotten about it. My guess is that she is 4.

Yesterday she started 4th grade. 4TH GRADE!!! Man it flies so fast, but I’m loving every minute of it!

Hooked.

Went fishing for a little bit yesterday afternoon. It was a lot of fun as the fish were biting. Most of them would barely qualify as minnows. It was interesting to watch as I would pull my topwater fly in fish would inevitably come to the surface and take a bite. Sure enough I would set the hook and the game was on (for me). The fish would desperately do everything they could in their power to head back to deeper and safer water. But it was too late. Next thing they knew they were gasping for air on the bank of the pond as I would remove the hook from their mouth. Fortunately for them I let everyone of them go back to the water. No keepers. It wasn’t my intent. As far as I know all the fish survived despite their rude awakening.

It really got me thinking about us as humans and sin. We get “lured” away by enticing and seemingly innocent things. It could be a TV show or an innocent relationship, but then SNAP! Just like that we are hooked. What appeared to be innocent and ok at the time was really a trap or a deception. We think we can handle it or Satan places something in front of us and we get hooked. Next thing we know we are gasping for air as our lives are crumbling and tumbling all around us.

Jesus told us to be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” We want to believe that we have what it takes to withstand any temptation. We want to believe that on our own we can avoid most if not all trouble in life. We want to believe that our struggles are the result of us being innocent victims of some cosmic tragedy. The reality is that we are the ones to blame. We are the ones who took the bait. We are the ones who got hooked and it is only by staying in the power of Jesus and His Spirit that keeps us safe from those lures.

What’s got you hooked? What lures do you fall for most?

Prayers and Incense

So what happens to our prayers? Revelation 5:8 says: “…the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.” I’ve always thought that incense referred to the aroma produced by burning something. Not true. Incense is the material burned which in turns produces the aroma. So our prayers? They are a product that produces a holy and acceptable aroma to God as He sits on His throne. I wonder if they smell like patchouli or sandalwood or probably something way better than all those…
What do you think your prayers smell like?

The Measure of a Man

Some say the measure of a man is found in his accomplishments.

Some say the measure of a man is found in the measurement of his strengths.

Some say the measure of a man is found in the depths of his love.

I don’t excel at any of those things, so I say the measure of a man is found in his friends, and yesterday (my birthday) I felt like a man!

Shhh…quiet…

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.”

I’m trying to listen, but there’s so much noise and commotion.

What are you hearing?

Drinking the Kool Aid.

Even though today is Free Tea Day at your local McAlister’s Deli I chose to drink the Kool Aid. Not just sip it but tip the jug and chug! For me drinking the Kool Aid is reading the latest news about controversial events or reading all the blog posts about what’s right and wrong with the Church.

It gets my blood pumping.

It focuses my mind.

It makes me feel engaged and intellectual.

The end result though is devastating. I get mad. I think I’ve got all the answers. My spirit rises on the wings of my arrogant thoughts and knowledge. I have to remind myself that our battle is not against flesh and blood. I’ve got to focus the battle against me. Not the events and news happening 1000 miles away. Not the rantings of some anonymous or not so anonymous blogger. Its me and every selfish desire that places me above all else. The cure is not blissful ignorance (I will still be keeping up on current events, probably cutting back on the number of blogs I read though). The cure, I think, for me is to slow down. Think more. Talk less. Respond less. I don’t know.

What Kool Aid have you been drinking lately? What’s your cure?

Ahh…the mountains.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

In a couple of weeks I get to head to the mountains of New Mexico with the family. I am very excited even though the temperatures have taken an unexpected dip lately. Mostly, I am looking forward to the opportunity to do some flyfishing. I’ve hit several trout parks in Missouri and love just about every aspect of flyfishing. But now it’s time to take the training wheels off and head out to the wild. No guides, no private stocked ponds, just me, a fly rod, some flies and a New Mexico state fishing license. So for all you seasoned flyfishing veterans out there…

What do I need to be prepared to flyfish Red River/Rio Grande/Enchanted Circle area? Where would you recommend that I go? What flies do I need to stock up on?

For those of you who have traveled recently to the area…

What activities do you recommend? Where do we need to go?

PS We will be staying in a house on the golf course in Angel Fire.

When it comes to serving…

I had the opportunity to sit in on a conference call with Dino Rizzo from Healing Place Church in Baton Rogue, LA. He has recently published a book called Servolution. The bottom line: when it comes to examples of churches embodying the idea of serving your community they are doing it very well. So I was challenged. I’ve always been one to talk big about serving and I’ve tried to live it a little. The truth is that I often find myself sitting at my desk, doing stuff on the computer, looking out the window with the feeling that something is not right. I’m a pastor. I’m supposed to be out serving people. Loving them. Showing them how much Jesus loves them. Yet I’m very content to sit inside, in the AC, manipulating binary code on a computer, all in the name of Jesus. (I don’t doubt that some of what I do on the computer is essential to accomplishing kingdom tasks.) So my challenge to myself this week. Get out of the office and go serve somewhere. Kick my butt if I don’t!

When it comes to serving, what do you do to get yourself out the door?

New Stuff

I am on staff at The Heart Church here in Tulsa and we have just switched over to a newly redesigned WordPress based website. I’m very excited about this and hope that this new site gives more people more opportunities to connect not just with The Heart but the story of God’s amazing grace. You can check it out here.