Ramblings and Reflections

Philippians 3:8 “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. . .”

Dung! It conjurs an unmistakable image of a pile of. . .well. . . you know. Sometimes we can cling so tight to the earthly, we don’t see it for the dung it is.

How we like our dung!!

I’m reminded of a story.

Several years ago. . .all right it was quite a few years ago, I was probably somewhere around fourteen, I had a favorite pair of sneakers. This was before the day of fancy athletic shoes. These were plain old converse sneakers. I wore them all the time. They were with me when I ran that first mile in gym class. They were with me for a lot of milestones in my life. Then they started to wear out. Sob! As a matter of fact, a large tear formed on the side. It ran from my big toe area down towards my heel; a good six or seven inches long. If I wasn’t careful, my foot woud fall out when I was walking.

My mother hated those sneaks. She was probably afraid of what people would think when they saw me wearing them. “The poor Peters’ family can’t afford new sneakers.” But that wasn’t the case. They were my favorites. Who cares if my foot fell out when I walked. I thought of them as a conversation piece.

I wasn’t going to get rid of them.

One day (it was a Sunday), I was wearing my good Sunday-go-to-church shoes. But when I came home and I looked for my beloved sneakers, I discovered they were gone! My mom had gotten my sister and her boyfriend to drive to the next town over and dump them in a garbage pail somewhere in the downtown area.

But my love for my sneaks transcended town lines. I rode my bike down there and searched through the trash recepticles, one can at a time, until I found them.

Hey! Don’t judge me. I was a stupid kid.

You should have seen the look on my mom’s face when I walked back into the house with them. It was not a look of happiness.

I had to finally give in though, and start wearing new footwear. It was a sad day. I enshrined my sneaks in a box in my closet, vowing to hold on to them for eternity– tell stories to future children of the adventures we’d had together.

Somehow, over the years, I’ve lost track of my sneakers. They probably got thrown out a long time ago. Why not? They were trash. I guess I matured; grew up and realized what was treasure and what was trash.

Alot of us are like this with our possessions; even with false beliefs, power, and position. We hold tight to them like they’re the greatest things in our lives. We place them on a higher level than they deserve. In the grand scheme of things, you need to see your ripped sneakers, or whatever it is that you cling to, as the garbage–as the dung heap of life– compared to Jesus!

Read the verse again. Do you count all you own as loss, as dung, for the cause of Jesus Christ?

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

I have an overactive imagination. A blessing and a curse. A blessing because creativity is a wonderful gift. To be able to imagine worlds beyond this one, and create them in word, is a fantastic blessing that I thank God for every day! It’s a curse when it gets out of control. Try going for a walk in the dark woods, imagining all types of creature lurking behind each tree and bush. Try going for a swim and wondering if there are sharks down below your legs (and that’s in a pool).

Yes, I have an overactive imagination. That’s why the above mentioned verse is sooooo great. “To Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. . .”. I can imagine quite a lot, but I can’t out-imagine God’s abilities, or His love, or His gifts for me!

It’s like at Christmas, when you ask your parents for a matchbox truck; a small toy, an inch or two long. Imagine your surprise on Christmas morning when instead you unwrap a remote control, three foot long eighteen wheeler, with working headlights and horn.

We ask for matchboxes – God gives us Eighteen Wheelers! No matter what we expect from Him, He always goes above and beyond anything we could ask for or imagine.

Ain’t that wonderful.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go shark hunting in the pool.

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Every once in a while, God zings you with an undeniable message. This was the case several years ago when He used my son Jerry to teach me a lesson. The kid must have been around ten years old. We were sitting together, watching television, when a show came on that had questionable content. Don’t ask me what it was; bad language, sexual stuff. . . I don’t remember.

All I can tell you, it shouldn’t have been viewed by children. “Son, you’re gonna have to leave. You shouldn’t watch this. It’s not meant for children. It’s not good for you.”

Jerry didn’t argue. I continued watching, as he got up. As he left the room, he asked, “Dad, if it’s not good for me to watch, why is it good for you?”

That was the zinger. I thought about it. Really thought about it. Much to my dismay, the kid was right. It wasn’t good for me to watch, either.

You may argue, “Hey! You’re an adult. You can handle it.” But think about it– Watching a show that portrays and belittles women as sex objects, that glorifies violence, that is filled with profane language. . . Is it truly good for you to see? Watching a show that portrays abnormal as normal, should you be filling your head with this? You may say you can handle it (Based on the rising number of sex offenders and the moral decay of our culture, I somewhat doubt that), but is it good for you?

For my Christian reader, I add, Does it glorify God?

Have we swallowed the term Adult Theme in exchange for vulgarity, crudeness, and soft porn? Don’t fool yourself. Don’t think because our culture says something is all right for an adult to view, that it is.

I believe, for a Christian, it’s also a matter of obedience to God.  Philippians 4:8. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

My son taught me a lesson that day. What I view, what I read, it truly does effect who I am. It matters. So now, when I’m going to watch something, or read something that is of questionable taste, I relive a version of that scene with my son- Only now, instead of me being the dad, I’m the child. My Heavenly Father stands beside me. He says, “Child, you shouldn’t be watching that. It’s not good for you.”

Am I willing to listen? Are you willing to listen?

Psalm 101:2-3. I will be careful to lead a blameless life—when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart. 3 I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.

Matthew 9:37-38   Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Sometimes Christians can get a negative mind set, where we see the end of the world, doom & gloom, and hopelessness around every corner. Take the above mentioned verse. I’ve heard people utter it as if it were a terrible thing. Imagine a glum, end of the world person, moaning, “The harvest is plentiful BUT the laborers are few. Oh my! What are we going to do? The laborers are few.” Then they give a sad shake of their head, kind of like Lurch on the old Adams Family TV show.

Recently, I stopped by at a youth camp to visit some friends of mine. I had the opportunity to sit in on a class. One teen complained about the lack of Christians in his school. “I only know a handful,” he said. Some of the others gave sad shakes to their heads.

First of all, I kind of doubt what he was saying. I’m not calling him a liar, simply misinformed. I will admit, though, that I could be wrong on that.

But, there’s a bigger truth here. Let’s take the teen at his word– There are only a hand full of Christians in his school. There are Christians, all around, who moan and complain about the same thing “I have no Christian friends. Oh, woe is me.”

So what’s anyone doing about it?

Let me try and illustrate a wonderful truth.

I’m going to come visit you and I’m bringing your favorite candy. Let’s say. . . jelly beans. When I visit, you’re planning on having a few friends over. There’ll be five of you, in all. I’m bringing 500 jelly beans. Wow! A lot of candy! Plenty to go around.

Let’s change the scenario. Lets say you have fifty friends coming over. Hey! You’re a pretty popular person. I’m going to bring 100 jelly beans. . . Uh-oh.

Which scenario do you like better? Come on! Admit it. The first. You want to pig out on jelly beans. (Personally I like the black ones. If they’re jelly bellies, my next favorites are juicy pear and root beer. Just in case someone wants to bring me a bag.)

The potential for jelly bean consumption is greater in the first scenario, isn’t it? Five hundred jelly beans and five people?

Let’s look back at Jesus’ words, in light of the potential for working towards the great commission.

The harvest is PLENTIFUL. A lot of people! A lot of potential Christians!! Be excited. There are tons of people who need to hear God’s word!

It’s like I came to your house with a billion ga-zillion jelly beans!

Black ones, juicy pear, tangerine. Even popcorn (though I find something odd about popcorn jelly beans.) Every flavor you could imagine. The jelly bean harvest is great. If the laborers are few, then there’s more for me! Wahoo!!

In spiritual terms, instead of bemoaning the lack of workers, roll up your sleeves. The harvest is great. There is more opportunities for you to shine! More opportunities to have God pronounce, “Well done!” Look to the fields. The potential is incredible. Let’s get to work!