iHOPE

The Willing Heart

  I've been on vacation for a couple weeks. It was a good time away and its good to be back.

  Here is a quote someone passed on to me during that time and it stuck with me:

Where the heart is willing, it will find a thousand ways;
Where it is unwilling, it will find a thousand excuses.

  I'm not sure I like the implications of this quote, but I think it is true. If so, then an accurate window into my heart would be framed by both my persistence and my procrastination. 

  Hmmm.

'Most Richly Blessed'

It isn't new and we still don't know where it came from, but the following continues to be a helpful reminder and was part of yesterday's sermon:

      I asked God for strength, that I might achieve,

 I was made weak, that I might humbly obey.

 I asked for health, that I might do greater things,

 I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

 I asked for riches, that I might be happy,

 I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

 I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men,

 I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

 I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,

 I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

 I got nothing I asked for-but everything I had hoped for.

 Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

  I am among all men, most richly blessed.

A Pretty Good Person

  The quote I used in the sermon this morning was from Lewis Smedes. It was his book, A Pretty Good Person, that inspired the coming series (even if it started a week early!).   Smedes was one of my professors in seminary and I still remember his classes fondly, even as I am grateful for his writing. Here is the full quote:

“Deep in every healthy person’s heart simmers a longing to be a good person. A ‘pretty good’ person, at least. Every now and then we sense a fine urge inside of us that leaves us unsatisfied with what we are. And, for a fleeting moment fled to soon, we feel the flutter of a longing always to be the person we were in that fleeting encounter with our truest self…”

Lewis Smedes

Our Task

  On Sunday's sermon I quoted N.T. (Tom) Wright to illustrate what it means to implement what God has already accomplished in Christ.  Here is the full quote:

 

The foundation has been laid. The garden has been planted. The musical score has been written. The principalities and powers that kept us in exile have been defeated… Our task now is to build the house, to tend the garden, to play the score. 

The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is  p. 185

 

Theology

  The quote by Rob Bell last week reminded me of another observation by one of my favorite authors, Frederich Buechner.  In his book, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC he muses about the word 'Theology'

Theology is the study of God and his ways.  For all we know, dung beetles may study man and his ways and call it humanology.  If so, we would probably be more touched and amused than irritated. One hopes that God feels likewise.

A Nice, Neat God

The moment God is figured out with nice, neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God.

Rob Bell

I've been thinking about this quote lately. It seems we spend much of our time trying to make sense of God:

• Why does God do this?
• Why didn't God do that?
• Why would God allow that to happen?
• How could God.....(fill in the blank)?

We work hard to understand God. Yet if we succeed, we fail. The moment we have think we have God figured out is the moment we have a God that is too small. If God is small enough to be understood by our minds, then we have simply created a God in the image of our understanding.

  Maybe that's why explaining God is not all that important in the Bible. Scripture seems to be more interested in making sure we are awake to the reality of God around us.  The point seems to be less about comprehending God than about being captivated by him.

The Next Ten Commandments

  Someone sent this to me and I thought you might enjoy it. You might consider these as 10 New Year's Resolutions worth making:

MOSES COULDN'T CARRY ANY MORE TABLETS AND THESE GOT LEFT BEHIND:

11th. Thou shalt not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.

12th. Thou shalt not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.

13th. Thou shalt not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one has yet succeeded in accomplishing this.

14th. Thou shalt handle only one problem at a time, and leave the others to the Lord until their turn comes up.

15th. Thou shalt not take troubles to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows.

16th. Thou shalt not try to carry the problems of the world on your shoulders, for nobody (except for One) has a back that is broad enough.

17th. Thou shalt be a good listener, for God often speaks to us through the mouths of others.

18th. Thou shall not try to relive yesterday; for good or ill, it is
forever gone.  Live in the now and rejoice in it.

19th. Thou shalt firmly dismiss feelings of frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will interfere with positive action.

20th. Thou shalt count thy blessings, never overlooking the smallest, for our biggest blessings are composed of many small ones.

End of Construction

I saw a sign on a strip of highway once that I would like to have copied on my gravestone. It said, "End of construction. Thank you for your patience."

                 Ruth Bell Graham, poet, writer, and wife of evangelist Billy Graham (1920–2007)

Thanking God for a Broken Heart

If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in this world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.

Oswald Chambers

Mother Teresa Quotes

A number of people enjoyed the quote from this Sundays bulletin.  Several have asked if I could re-post the one I referred to earlier this Spring.  Here they are!

Joy is prayer - Joy is strength - Joy is love - Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.

The following poem, written by Mother Teresa, was engraved on the wall of her home for children in

Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;

               Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

               Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

               Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

               Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

               Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

               Be happy anyway.

The good job you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

               Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may not be enough;

               Give the world your best anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;

               It was never between you and them anyway.