just further down the road

I thought you might find it interesting to observe me processing a difficult and trying experience. 

Last Saturday, I was driving in Spokane on North Division and was involved in a fender bender.  I bumped the car in front of me.  No one was injured and there was little or no property damage.  No air bags went off and Law Enforcement was not called. We exchanged information and went about our lives.    

I reported this to my insurance carrier just like I explained it here.  No excuses, it just happened.  I suspect that is why they call it an “accident”.

Today I was notified by my insurance carrier that the female driver of the car I bumped, decided she sustained injuries and is going to her doctor. 

 My dilemma is this. 

At the scene, she and I talked quite a while and we were both “uninjured”.  Now a few days later, she decided to change her status to “injured”. 

 Honestly, my mind tells me that if she were truly injured, then the right thing for her to do is seek medical treatment as soon as possible.  However, my heart keeps telling me that if she is looking for a year of free massages and a “payday” ~ then I am less than thrilled. 

 I am struggling with a myriad of emotions. Which means that I have retyped this paragraph 4 times and ended up deleting each of them. 

WHY?  Because I was too honest and they came across self-righteous and angry when I proof-read them. I can't have you thinking that of me.  

Yes, the good Lord is whacking me in the back of the head, trying to get me to be humble and trusting.  The problem is, I don’t want to ~ so there is a battle of “the wills” going on.  My will or God’s will.  That sounded stupid when I thought it and looks even stupider on paper. 

 My dear wife knows how much this situation distresses me.  So she asked me, “If someone came to you and told you the same story, what would you tell that person?”  The old scenario of a doctor healing himself. 

That is when I realized the amazing truth that there is 10,000 miles between a person’s head and a person’s heart. In my mind, I can rationalize this, quote Bible verses, pad it with religious platitudes and establish a “Christian perspective” on the situation. 

However, in my heart, I am….. sad. 

My head repeatedly tells me that everything will work out fine.  My heart doubts everything and (at this point) is struggling to see the light. 

I believe this is healthy for me to BLOG this for 2 reasons:

#1.  You need to know that I don’t live in a perfect world without stress or fear.  Someone wrote, “success is on the same road as failure ~ just further down the road”.  So often when people ask me for advice, I am simply “further down the road”.  I have already, “been there ~ done that ~ and got the tee shirt”.     

#2.  There are a number of real world applications for this BLOG.  Not the least of which is the simple point that everything is in God’s hands. It is healthy for you to know that I too struggle to “walk by faith”.  "Worry" and "Stress" is simply telling God HE can't handle it and needs your help. 

Then Jesus said, “Come to me,

all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.  
Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you,
because I am humble and gentle at heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.”  Matthew 11:28-29

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart.

And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.
So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27

2 Angels

"Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!"
Hebrews 13:2

Today my wifey rode her motorcycle to Republic to an accountant training of some sort.  She has never decided if the whole motorcycle thing is her "thing" or not.  She gets to Republic and ends up on a side street where the pavement ends and turns to deep sand.  This is tough going, even for experienced bike riders.  The bike goes down and she has a "bad experience". 

Eventually she gets out from under the bike and is pretty tattered and shaken.  She calls me to express her displeasure with the circumstances and begins to settle down.  I jump in my pickup and head her way.  A full 40+ miles of slow mountain pass roads. 

While I am stopped by 3 different traffic flaggers at 3 different road construction projects going over Sherman Pass, my concern for Michele increases.  Monday” seem to take great pleasure in pushing the boundaries of Murphy’s law ~ right to the breaking point.  You know, “Whatever could go wrong ~ can and will go wrong”.   

However, worry is only for the weak. 

The good Lord had His eye on Michele and was well aware she needed a hand. 

So on this sandy dead end road that went no where and had no traffic, a truck with a couple construction guys stopped to see if she was ok.  They set her bike up on its wheels and talked to her long enough to get her settled down. 

When I got to her, she was ready to toss the bike in the landfill but we will both be eternally grateful to the "2 angels" God sent to watch over my sweetheart. 

Her observation was that those 2 construction guys had no business being on that backroad to nowhere.  We will never know for sure, but no matter who they were or where they were going, in my book, they will always be the 2 angels the good Lord sent to watch over my bride till I could get there.

"Well Done God -- Thank You" 

 

Why Bother?

There is so much confusion about "church".  Most people can't give you a good reason why you should bother to go on Sunday mornings.  So exactly what is the point of going to church? I will give you two honest reasons to consider. They are not in any particular order and there are a zillion other reasons to go, but for now, just these two.
#1. Life is tough and the daily grind wears you down. Going to church -- hearing God's message from His Word to you -- puts gas in your tank and gives you what you need to tackle tomorrow and with all it's challenges.
#2. Life is tough and in the hectic frantic race to get everywhere you need to be, when you need to be there -- it is easy to forget to stop and recognize God for who He is and acknowledge who you are in God's eyes. At church, you stand shoulder to shoulder with other wounded warriors and lift your hands to God and say, "thanks Father".
" I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." Psalm 122:1

Weapons of Mass Destruction

There are more angry bees this year than any time in my life.

I make weekly patrols around our buildings with cans of “Weapons of Mass Destruction”.  You know, those green cans that shoot bee killer foam about 21 feet and whack the snot out of bees nests? 

I am shocked how large a nest those little devils can build in a few short days. They work hard and long to find difficult to reach spots to build nests.  And occasionally they simply amaze me at how clever they are at hiding their nests.   

And this next part, if I hadn’t observed it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it.  There is some kind of psycho bee around here that takes up a defensive fighting posture when I approach them with my “Weapons of Mass Destruction”.  They look like ninja fighting bees. 

Michele and I have been stung more this summer than we have in our entire lives combined. 

Michele was trimming our hedge the other day and managed to whack a yellow jackets nest with the hedge-trimmer and got stung about 6+ times. The nest was so well conceiled that even after I knew where it was, I had a hard time getting to where I could see it and a harder time getting to where I could spray it.   

This BLOG has a spiritual application with two practical thoughts. 

(a)             if you are not vigilant at all times, sinful threats will subtly find their way into your home ~ they are sneaky and very subtle
(b)            sinful threats that find their way into your home will ALWAYS hurt your family 

There is no such thing as a harmless small sin.  All sin is offensive to the good Lord and a threat to the health of you and your family. 

So, exactly what are you looking for when it comes to subtle spiritual threats to your family? 

I usually define sin two ways:

(a)             missing the target
(b)            trespassing

“missing the target” is like someone shooting a bow & arrow and having the arrow fail to hit the center bulls-eye. Think of the 10 ring as God’s will ~ God’s plan for your life.  So when you make decisions or have actions or attitudes that fail to hit the 10 ring, you have sinned. 

“trespassing” is when you commit an offense against the law or another person.  You are trespassing on ground where you have no right to go.  And if the “law” is “God’s Law”, then you understand what King David was saying in Psalm 51:4, “Against You (talking to God), and You alone, have I sinned, I have done what is evil in Your sight.  You will be proved right in what you say, and Your judgment against me is just".

 So I will close with one of my favorite Bible Verses. This verse ties this BLOG together.  Because it forces each one of us to make a choice: 

“if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:15

A BAT

"A BAT" -- 'nuff said.

Tonight, Michele and I are sitting in the living room, working on writing projects, enjoying the peace and quiet when, a BAT flew a lap around the living room and headed into the kitchen.

Michele expressed her displeasure with the BAT being in her house.  (yes, I am the master of understatements) Her condition for giving me permission to write a BLOG on our adventure, was that I would somehow make her the heroine of this story. Which is why it is called, "creative writing".  

The little kamikaze flew recklessly around the house from room to room.  (I suspect it is some sort of psychological warfare to freak out their victims) 

At this point, Michele was already Googling cities without bats, in an effort to locate where we would be moving -- tonight. 

I had the bright idea of opening all the doors and windows.  You know, chase the little monster around the house long enough, it was bound to accidently fly outside at some point.

Yea, right.

 First, hoards of mosquitos swarmed in through my open doors and windows. I suddenly became less popular than I was before. 

Great, more flying blood-sucking creatures to contend with while attempting to sleep.

Second, I'm not as worried about the single bat, as I am trying to figure out how it got in the house in the first place.  Are there 300 brothers and sisters squeezing in through the same small crack he used for access? 

Last, the little devil flew into our bedroom and disappeared. 

No, Michele is not pleased.  (yes, further understatements)

While I am stalking the elusive intruder, Michele Googles "how to catch a bat".  (smart girl -- because I found my Colt .45 and was headed for the bedroom for a showdown)

The all-knowing Google advised to get a towel and use it as a butterfly net to capture the bat. 

Good plan but one small issue, I can't find it. 

I never realized how many hiding places there are for a tiny rodent.  Not a happy pastor.  After 30 minutes of diligent hunting and mentally watching John Candy's "Great Outdoors" movie (yes, he had the same problem - and the little beast was hanging on his back most of the time - yes, that gave me the heebie-jeebies)

 I spotted the BAT behind a fold in our curtain, used the towel as Google suggested and deposited the critter back outside where he belonged, 

What a goat rodeo. 

 "No test or temptation that comes your way

 is beyond the course of what others have had to face.
All you need to remember
is that God will never let you down;
he'll never let you be pushed past your limit;
he'll always be there to help you come through it."
1 Corinthians 10:13 Message Bible

Your spiritual "low hanging fruit" for today is, unexpected weird stuff will come flying at you when you least expect it, have 1 Corinthians 10:13 memorized and pause for God to give you perspective. 

How often do we stress out and in our minds, fight battles that steal our joy, only to find that the battle never takes place? 

OK, maybe I am the only one who does this but it is simply stupid and a waste of time. 

Living Between Sizes

The president's wife insists that living a active and healthy lifestyle is "rewarding".  Perhaps I have a gross misunderstanding of what the term "rewarding" means.  If "rewarding" is green and bitter tasting, then I am rewarded beyond my years.  What did I do to deserve this?

My personal observation is that I can be fat and happy or skinny and miserable. If there is a happy medium, I haven't found it.

Anyway, imagine what a shock it was to my system to find that "healthy" means avoiding all foods I love and driving past all McDonald drive thru windows. It seems unamerican but thus far I seem to be maintaining a pulse.   

So here I am, a few weeks into my new found "healthy" life, when I discovered that my Wranglers were baggy.  Never had that happen before. Michele insists that "baggy" is a positive thing to be embraced with pride.  This suggests that rap music singers are terribly blessed souls.   

The downside to discovering baggy Wranglers is that it requires a trip to the Walmart for smaller Wranglers.  My wifey is excited about the smaller Wranglers and the fact that I am close to being able to purchase Wranglers in standard sizes.   

Fast forward my storyline to the WalMart men's Wranger department.  One size is too baggy and the next size down is too tight. My insightful wife patiently explains that pant sizes skip a number here and there just to keep things interesting. Somehow that makes sense to me, so I buy her explanation.

Living in "the land between sizes" is an odd experience.

I was pondering what it is like to live in a world where you don't "fit in". There was a King that chose to become a slave.  He lived between the classes and was rejected by all.  He refused to tolerate sin and refused to allow peer pressure to draw Him into a proud religious mindset. 

On one side you have people who wear their pants too tight and definitely don't get enough oxygen. On the other you have a very eclectic group with baggy drawers that refuse any and all structure.  These people wave their hands in the air and identify themselves simply as “spiritual beings”. 

King Jesus lived in the land between the uber religious and the sin saturated crowds. His focus was simply to complete His Father's plan. 

King Jesus clearly didn't fit in with the religious upper crust. On the surface they dressed right and said the right things, but King Jesus publicly revealed, "They worship me with their lips but their hearts are far from me". They nailed Him to a cross for telling the truth.

So what was King Jesus' relationship with those "rough around the edges"? He invested massive amounts of time influencing them to be "born again" and follow Him. King Jesus revealed each day how much He hated sin but loved the sinner.

The "spiritual low hanging fruit" is simply that King Jesus wants you to live this life as a traveler -- moving through this world as an influential visitor but not sinking roots and participating in the selfish value system and sin saturated lifestyle. 

‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas
as commands from God.’
Matthew 15:8-9 NLT

But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples,

“Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
When Jesus heard this, he said,
“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.”
Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture:
‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’
For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous,
but those who know they are sinners.”
Matthew 9:11-13 NLT

GVCC sermon notes Ephesians 4:1-3

Garden Valley Community Church
Pastor Shane Moffitt         August 12^th 2012

 “Who am I before God?” series

Study of the Book of Ephesians
“What does UNITY look like?”    
Ephesians 4:1-3

“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.

 ² Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

 ³ Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”

Paul shifts from doctrine to duty

·        We MUST have UNITY in WHAT we BELIEVE before we can experience UNITY in our DAILY LIVES as Christians
·        Doctrine without Practice leads to hypocritical “rules” driven religion
·        Practice without Doctrine leads to intense experiences without God

4:1    ~ Live a Life Worthy ~

·        “prisoner” of who?   John 15:18-21
KEY:        See everything VERTICALLY  before seeing it HORIZONTALLY
MEMORIZE:  Psalm 16:8
·        “worthy” flavor equal weight in scales
Your day-to-day living must match               
Your spiritual relationship with God
·        “calling” defined in chapters 1-3
·        KEY: Know WHO you are in Christ   
 BEFORE you try to WALK in Christ

4:2-3  ~ FOUR Attitudes of UNITY ~

·        NOTE: all 3 have to do with HOW we relate to each other 
John 13:34-35
·        Unity:   KEY ~ Romans 12:18

1)    Humility: judge others with kindness      
Humility begins with perspective ~ 
HOW you see God, yourself, others
Numbers 12:3, Philippians 2:7-8

2)    Gentleness: is power under control              
* Gentleness is produced by humility                                    
* NT word for wind pushing a boat             
Matthew 26:53, 1 Samuel 24:1-7

3)    Patience: literally “long tempered”                      
* result of humility & gentleness
* opposite of “short tempered”

4)    Love: giving someone what they need   
the most ~ when they deserve it the     
least ~ at great personal cost to you   
~  without getting anything in return

* Genuine love has 2 qualities:
sincerity: opposite of hypocrisy
discernment: opposite of gullibility
* READ: 1 John 3:14
TEST of your love: How do you 
react when someone hurts you?

RANT

Have you ever sent an e-mail and then been filled with regrets? 

I am experiencing that same feeling with this blog. 

There is no doubt in my mind that it is accurate, however I wrote it when I was mad, which makes it…. edgy.

Since you are reading this, I decided to throw caution to the wind and see where it goes.  Much like flinging spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.  So, here it goes.....  

3 times ~ in 3 days ~ I have been forced off the road by reckless drivers.  6 minutes ago on Inchelium, a small blue sedan driving south, pulled out to pass me (yea, I was the guy on the motorcycle).  Normally this wouldn’t be enough to rattle me, but the car in front of me had his blinker on to make a left turn.  So the blue sedan passes me, notices the blinker and cuts in front of me so close, I almost ran into the back of her.  I locked up my brakes and caught my low gears trying to stay on the road and avoid an accident.

The other day I was on my motorcycle and a Canadian tried to pass me at the end of the Drive Inn 4 lanes.  There simply wasn’t enough of a passing lane left for her to pass, so I pulled over into the left lane to stop her from passing me.  She sped up and tried to pass me on the right, forcing me into oncoming traffic. Maybe in Canada that is considered "defensive driving". 

And have you ever noticed when you are driving from Kettle Falls to Colville, that the aggressive drivers that must pass you on the 4 lanes, are stuck right in front of you at the stop light in front of Super 1?  I often wonder what they think they have accomplished by beating me to the stop light by 2.3 seconds. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 32,310 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2011.  The NHTSA believes that this is wonderful since 43,510 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2005.  Does this number seem a little insane to anyone besides me?  This should not be "acceptable" or "good news". 

And since I am already in the deep end of the pool, I might as well go for broke.  I have been paying attention during my "close calls" and there is one thing common in almost all of them: the presence of children in the back seats.  People driving recklessly with their kids in the car.  If adults choose to participate in dangerous activities, well, they are adults.  But kids have their decisions made for them by the adults God put in their lives.  I am pretty sure the good Lord will hold them accountable for how well they handled this responsibility.  Jesus had strong words to say about people who hurt kids. 

“It must be Jehu son of Nimshi, for he’s driving like a madman.”
 2 Kings 9:20 NLT

The “low hanging fruit” from this blog has 2 parts: 

(a)             Your pastor is begging you to slow down and drive safely ~ I want to get to where I am going and I want you to safely get to where you are going…. 
(b)            Live every day as though it were your last, and someday, you will be right….

Be Considerate

Years ago, I spent summers flagging traffic for county road construction projects.  The upside is, I got to work with some very remarkable people that I am still friends with today.  The downside was, I ended up with a chainsaw stuck in the side of my left leg, resulting in over 300+ stitches.

This summer, there have been road construction projects going on between my house and the only road back to civilization.  I spend an average of 30 minutes, every day, stuck behind a traffic flagger. 

Every day as I am sitting there waiting on the pilot car, I am reminded of my time working as a traffic flagger.  Not only do traffic flaggers have to stand in the direct sunshine with no shade, but they have no access to bathrooms, and to top it off, no one is happy to see you ~ ever.    

Years ago, I spent a few college semesters working at a truck stop in Chicago.  Since we were short staffed, I worked as a host, waiter, toilet cleaner, coffee cup filler upper and listener to endless trucker stories. And a lot of my time was spent with a bucket of pure bleach scrubbing the brown nicotine stains off the white ceiling.     

I have good memories of my time at the truck stop. And truth is, every time I eat in a restaurant, I reflect back to my experiences serving customers.  This gives me unlimited patience with my server and encourages me to not be stingy with my tips. 

The “low hanging fruit” from these 2 stories is to encourage you to cut people in the service industry some slack.  It doesn't cost anything to be considerate.   

They make very little money per hour, probably have no benefit package, and work terrible hours. And they spend their time at the “beck & call” to Americans that are rude and thoughtless.    

To abuse a server is inexcusable. Remember, the good Lord promises that you will “reap what you sow” in Galatians 6:9.    

Just because we are having a bad day and they are vulnerable due to their job position, is no excuse to take our personal grief out on them.

I feel a “calling” to confront bullies.  When I hear someone giving a waitress verbal abuse, it raises my ire and I look for an opportunity to do something nice for the waitress.  I challenge you to show initiative and do the same. 

I don’t do this because I am a great guy, but because I am a member of the human race and this is how the good Lord intended humans to treat each other.  

“Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32 NLT

 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12 NLT

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” Colossians 3:12 NLT

A Labor of Love

Today I officiated a funeral for the mother of a longtime friend.

The whole family are “salt of the earth” and I consider it an honor to be their friend.  So preparing for today’s service was a pleasure and the family was terribly gracious. 

One of their few “requests” was that I would sing a couple songs.  I was to sing one song at the funeral service and “Amazing Grace” at the graveside.

I honestly would have sang “Yankee Doodle Dandy” if that made them happy.  So going into the service, I honestly had no idea what song they selected for me to sing. 

At the last minute, a quiet distinguished young man walked up and asked if I wanted him to sing with me. 

I believe that since everyone grieves in their own way, it is important that I remain flexible to the varying needs of each individual family member.  Different people express their grief in differing ways.  The bottom line is, at the end of the day, “no regrets”. 

So I tell the young man that I would be honored to sing with him.  The family had decided that we would sing “How Great Thou Art”.  So I made him a copy of the words and we determined which verses we would sing. 

I officiated the whole service and the very last item we had left on the agenda was our duet.  So I introduced him and asked him to join me at the front of the chapel. 

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect.  And frankly, I was keeping a very open mind with low expectations. 

As we began singing, I realized my partner is a highly trained professional with layers of skill that far surpass my own. 

I am still not sure what his exact training has been or how he uses his musical abilities but he could harmonize with very little effort. 

In fact, by the second verse, I found myself backing off and listening to his unexpected range and skill set. 

And for the first time in my career as a pastor, I witnessed a standing ovation at a funeral service.  The hearts of each person was blessed and moved by the heartfelt compassion expressed in song. 

I now know how Abraham Lincoln must have felt when he gave the Gettysburg Address: 

“The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here….”

No one in the chapel has any memory of anything I said during the service, but for the rest of their lives, they will for all times, remember the power of that duet singing "How Great Thou Art".  As one of their own family members, struggling with his own grief, stood up and blessed them with a heart rendering “labor of love”. 

Our “low hanging fruit” to take away from this blog is:  When God’s people gather in His name and humbly serve Him in ministering to those suffering ~ God shows up. 

 “We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:3