Waiting for the Big Moment

As I finish up Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts,  I've been sifting through my own lack of gratitude and establishing intentional ways to build gratitude and a lifestyle of miracles and thanks (eucharisteo).

From a broader, less personal perspective, I've also been thinking through our culture and the ways that ingratitude is cultivated all around us each and every day. Simple politeness and manners aren't taught or demanded as they have been in the past, communication is scattered, and verbal and non-verbal ingratitude nearly reigns in the American mindset.
We have an entitlement complex like no other: we deserve extra, free, better, more! Always. It never stops, we are never satisfied... and we are unthankful for what we have because it's not enough. But what is enough? Is there not joy in the everyday, in the simplicities of life, in the common ? We're so busy looking for the extraordinary and the unique in our ideal realities that we miss the extraordinary miracles of our actual realities.

This is highly reflected by our culture's revolution around our ideal [false] realities that we create on Pinterest, Tumblr, facebook, Instagram, and even our blogs, literature, and other media. Isn't it harder to embrace real life when I have such "better" things online? We find ourselves in constant states of discontent, covetousness, and depression. Yet, God has given us every good and perfect gift (James 1:17), has not withheld anything good from us (Psalm 84:11), and is working all things in our lives together for good according to His purpose of making us more like Christ (Romans 8:28-29). The goal, as I've said before, is not happiness, but holiness.

For me, it's time for a reality check. If I'm not living fully in each moment, is my life really full? Our lives are more like leaky buckets, always running out, unable to satisfy and quench, than the overflowing fountains of blessings that God is really giving us. These holes aren't from our circumstances, but from our attitudes.

Marli Tague, a friend of mine, shared this quote over at Cause for Joy:

“I have always, essentially, been waiting. Waiting to become something else, waiting to be that person I always thought I was on the verge of becoming, waiting for that life I thought I would have. In my head, I was always one step away. In high school, I was biding my time until I could become the college version of myself, the one my mind could see so clearly. In college, the post-college “adult” person was always looming in front of me, smarter, stronger, more organized. Then the married person, then the person I’d become when we have kids. For twenty years, literally, I have waited to become the thin version of myself, because that’s when life will really begin.

And through all that waiting, here I am. My life is passing, day by day, and I am waiting for it to start. I am waiting for that time, that person, that event when my life will finally begin.

When Trials Come

Through my human circumstances of severed relationships, an unknown future, a demanding schedule, and raw emotions through it all, it's so easy to let myself be discouraged and frankly ransacked by guilt or anger or fear. Yet, as God reveals my idols one by one and graciously takes them out of my life, He also gives me the grace to remember His regenerating mercy and His finished work atoning for all my guilt. How He pursues my whole being despite my willful disobedience and my simple ignorance of His true glory

What a glorious God I serve who constantly purifies, cleanses, and molds my life to be more and more like my Christ who gave His all to be my all in all! Over the past week or two, God has deeply ministered His grace to my heart through the words of this song:

When Trials Come

Words by Keith 7 Kristyn Getty

When trials come no longer fear,

For in the pain our God draws near,
To fire a faith worth more than gold.
And there His faithfulness is told,
And there His faithfulness is told.

Within the night I know Your peace;
The breath of God brings strength to me,
And new each morning mercy flows,
As treasures of the darkness grow,
As treasures of the darkness grow.

I turn to Wisdom not my own,
For every battle You have known.
My confidence will rest in You;
Your love endures Your ways are good,
Your love endures Your ways are good.

When I am weary with the cost,
I see the triumph of the cross.
So in it's shadow I shall run,
Till You complete the work begun,
Till You complete the work begun.

One day all things will be made new,
I'll see the hope You called me to,
And in your kingdom paved with gold,
I'll praise your faithfulness of old,
I'll praise your faithfulness of old!

Thankfulness: A Choice

Last week, I returned home from a three week journey in the Philippines, where I saw God do great things as I boldly stepped out in faith to serve Him.
 
I joined a ministry called Student Movement for Christ International (SMCI) as they ran a 6-week evangelistic campaign. During this campaign (which is still in its last 2 weeks--please be praying!), a team of people from around the world joins SMCI as they go to high schools and universities, preaching the gospel in each classroom.

I learned many huge lessons as I grew closer to God during those three weeks, and some of them will be shared here on this blog in the near future. In the mean time, here are a few thoughts to ponder.


Upon returning home, I realized and learned many things as I looked out at my home life and the life of my friends with my fresh, drastically different perspective . One of the first things I noticed was that I had not heard anyone complain for the past three weeks.  
Our team involved people from 6 countries, who got together in an impoverished land to serve God from dawn to dark in less-than-luxurious conditions, with cultural barriers, communication barriers, sickness, exhaustion, and unmet expectations along the way. In this circumstance, it simply cannot be expected, humanly speaking, that no one would complain.

But they didn't. They kept their eyes stayed upon the Lord, asked for and expected Him to work in a marvelous way, and kept serving Him with patience.

Doubt Not His Grace

Over the past few months, I have been waiting on some very important news that would affect the direction of my life.  As I waited, every day I hoped that the news would come. It was extremely difficult at times to tell the Lord that I knew His timing was perfect and that I was content waiting for it.  During times of discomfort or suffering, it is often easy to overlook the fact that God is grace. He knows exactly what we need and He also knows exactly the right time to give it to us.  For some reason, even though we have all heard this a million times, trusting God when it's not comfortable is definitely easier said than done.


Long story short, the news came this week!  It came when I was least expecting it, honestly, and the outcome was also what I had least expected after waiting for so long.  I had had a rough day, and receiving an answer from the Lord to all of my many prayers over this topic was exactly what I needed in that exact moment.  No sooner, no later--that was clear.

Too Easily Pleased

Six days ago (Sunday night) I developed a sore throat with swollen glands. I stayed home the next day thinking that a day of rest and lots of fluids would do the trick. Throughout the day on Monday I felt sick but not horrible. Horrible came calling Monday night. I spent most of the week in bed. I think I’ve had everything except a fever: sore throat, cough, runny, stuffy, weak, achy, headache, lack of appetite, and weight loss. The last one I don’t mind so much. To all those who have been praying  ~  thanks. To those who have endured a similar fate ~ sympathy. To all those who have avoided this so far ~ hope. Someone recently sent me the following quote by C.S. Lewis. It is my hope that the quote and post are as much as an encouragement to you as they were to me. 

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"Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”  C.S. Lewis

Read the following as if  you'd never heard it before.

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. He was a godly man who hated evil. He was blessed with 7 sons and 3 daughters. He was a wealthy man who owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 donkeys. He was the greatest of all men in the east.

On a day like any other, a servant ran into the presence of Job with terrible news. “The Sabeans took all your donkeys and oxen and killed all the servants that were there. I am the only one to escape.”

While that servant was still speaking, a second servant arrived with terrible news. “The sheep and the servants who were with them were consumed by a fire from the sky. I am the only one to escape.”

While that servant was still speaking, a third servant arrived with terrible news. “The Chaldeans took all your camels and killed all the servants that were there. I am the only one to escape.”

Thankfulness - It's Contagious

Mrs. Max and I had the privilege of buying our first home in March of 1999. (We would have had it paid for on my 65th birthday, but we moved to Arizona!) We thanked God for His marvelous provision. The house and yard were beautiful and in excellent shape.  The boys enjoyed the room to run, the extra bedroom, the yard, the basketball hoop, and, especially, the pool.
  
We spent many hours planting, pruning, and doing general yard work. We completed several in-door projects: hanging ceiling fans, painting, stenciling, and wallpapering. I especially enjoyed puttering around in the garage ~ it’s a guy thing. It was a great house.
  
Hunting for a new home was sometimes fun but was often frustrating: big house--small yard, big yard--small house, nice living room--small bedrooms, nice everything--too expensive, inexpensive--bad neighborhood, or bad everything. When we think back on all of the homes that we considered purchasing, none compared to the one that we bought. We loved that new house and were proud of it.
  
Some might not have found our new home to be that great, others might have thought it average, while still others might have found it to be an excellent house. But even if others had really liked our house, they wouldn’t have appreciated it like we did. We spent nine years with three boys in a two-bedroom condo with one, just one, bathroom. We were happy there, but we really appreciated the new, bigger space. We thanked God for His provision. We appreciated what we had, and even more so because of what we didn’t have before.

  
Proverbs 17:22 tells us that a merry (joyful) heart is good like a medicine but a broken (crushed) spirit dries the bones. Joyful people are thankful people who like to share their joy. Complaining people are unthankful people who like to share their misery. A thankful person who finds a dollar might excitedly say, “Can you believe it? I found a dollar - way cool!” An unthankful person might sarcastically say, “Look at me. I found  a whole dollar.” Same find - completely different responses. You’ve probably already thought of people who might react in these same ways.  

My Sincerest Thanks

Years ago, I was kidding and being a bit silly when I told a group of teens that I had three goals in life.
     1. Write a song
     2. Become the vice-president of something
     3. Write a book

I recently added a fourth. My father-in-law, who I loved dearly, passed away in August. Okay, now I’m typing through tears. He was a great guy who taught me many things. Well, I got his cool, garage stuff: including two plastic cabinets with 105 clear plastic drawers. There are thousands of little items: nuts, bolts, screws, fuses, etc. I’m not even sure what some of the items are. The fourth goal – maybe you guessed it – use all that stuff before I join him. Crazy, I know, but why not? Well, there you go - busy guy with four extra things to accomplish.

I’m happy to report that the first two goals are in the books. When my oldest son (Michael) was about 4, I composed (made-up) a song called the Goodnight Michael Song. “There once was a boy named Michael who laid upon his bed . . .” Of course, as the other two boys got older it became the Goodnight Michael, Jeffrey, and Timmy Song. So, check off goal #1. I also secretly formed the “Pastor Max Fan Club” and became the vice-president. I couldn’t find a president or members, so the fan club quickly disbanded. Check off goal #2.

Now to goal #3. It was about a month ago that I started considering writing a blog. Why a blog? Truthfully? Goofy as it may sound - I’d like to put together a 365-day devotional book, and I thought it be a good way to get something on paper. Well, maybe it’s not actually on paper, but you get the point.

I knew little about how blogs worked or how to start one, but with help and encouragement from a grad student (JM) and a high school senior (GE), I finally got started. The theme of the blog is encouragement – with a focus on the three E’s of ministry: exaltation, edification, evangelism. Love God – exaltation. Love your neighbor as yourself – edification, evangelism.

Sustainability is the biggest challenge. The average post takes 3-4 hours. I’m a slow thinker, a slower writer, and an even slower typist. No one who knows me is surprised by any of that. I just like to share what God is doing. He’s an awesome God, and He’s always doing great things.

When I first started, I was hoping that someone would read the blog. 50 views in the first two weeks would have been a thrill. Tomorrow will be the end of the second week. As of this moment there have been 656 views. I am thankful and very humbled by the number of views and all the kind comments (by way of facebook). Please accept my heartfelt thanks. Goodnight. Have a great Lord’s Day.   Pastor Max

I'm against sin. 

I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, 

and I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist. 

I'll butt it as long as I've got a head. 

I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. 

And when I'm old and fistless and footless and toothless, 

I'll gum it till I go home to Glory and it goes home to perdition!

Billy Sunday (1862-1935)
American evangelist