To: My Dearest Blog

Hello blog. Its been a long time since we’ve visited. I’ve ignored you. For this, I am truly sorry. You’d think that for a person who is rarely short of words, who routinely preaches beyond his alloted time, I’d be able to easily come up with words for my blog. Though I still hold the sentiment, I’ve used my doubts as to who would actually read a blog from me as an excuse to ignore you. You deserve more, my dearest blog.

I will spend more time with you, even if all I do is open you and sit. Perhaps I’m a man of fewer words, contrary to what most think of me. On the other hand, I’ve already written quite a few words, given I’m writing to my blog.

Pastor Robert

Gray Hair, Bifocals and Hearing Loss

I recently noticed that my beard hair is almost completely gray. When did that happen? Then I accepted my Eye Doctor’s advice and picked out new glasses to include BIFOCALS. I realized later this will only enable me to see more gray in my hair. What a vicious cycle! What? You want to know about the hearing loss? I don’t know whether my ears have lost the ability to hear or my mind has lost the will to listen. Did I just say that out loud?

Seriously, I’m only 42. Half the population thinks I’m still young…the other half think I’m old. Personally, I think I’m just right. My physical dilapidation reveals something of a spiritual undertone to me. I’m sure there are many more lessons to be learned from my physical aging, but there is one sticking out to me.

It is obvious that I can’t see things the way they really are without some help. My sinful nature marres my vantage point. Corrective lenses bring into focus things as they are…not the way I’ve seen them or the way I’ve wanted them to be. God’s Word does this for us. But there’s a significant difference.

Corrective lenses are separate from me. God’s Word isn’t a separate instrument tricking my eyes to see properly. Instead, God’s Word actually CORRECTS my eyes.

“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.”

Therefore, “…store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven…”

Reflections on “BEING PREPARED”

Our close friends from Florida are visiting us in Arizona. It’s their first visit here. Where does one take visitors to Arizona, except the Grand Canyon?

It’s a five hour drive one way, requiring an overnight stay away from home. There is a degree of planning and preparation necessary for this trip. We have to determine the physical route; pack clothes for sleeping & the next day; remember to take all the necessary items such as soap, toothpaste and toothbrush; locate and reserve a hotel room; accurately estimate needed money for food, lodging, gas and park entrance (according to our budget, of course); and not forget our iPods!

There’s a lot of “preparing” to do! It has to be done. The consequence of not planning is being stuck without enough money, no hotel or getting terribly lost. There’s good reason for the age old adage, “those who don’t plan are preparing to fail”. It’s not always fun to go through the painstaking mental concentration of thinking through all the details, but one really can’t afford not to think through them.

The bible tells us that the disciples “prepared” the Passover meal, which turned out to be the very first Communion. We’re told even God the Father prepares. For example, “you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Paul told young Timothy, “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”

There is some preparing necessary for us to be a vessel of honor, sanctified and useful to the Master.

We approach trips, getting the kids ready for school and the week’s meals from a planning perspective. We even approach entertainment, what we’ll watch on television and sports with the realization of preparedness.

Why is it we, the children of God the Father, approach Him “by the seat of our pants”? Why do we avoid prayer, Bible reading and study, fasting and other spiritual disciplines…yet expect everything in our spiritual life to be sharp and go well?

Prepare! BE preparing!

THINK the Truth

“It’s raining”.  With those words, spoken by my wife to describe a mere 12 drops of rain, it was evident she was THINKING as an Arizonian.  Living under the influence of Arizona’s desert climate long enough, my wife began to THINK like an Arizonian, at least one that lives in the desert valley.

 If you’ve ever taken a foreign language, like Spanish, you know there are lots of things to memorize and remember.  There are also lots of concepts that exist in one language & culture that don’t in another.  Most never truly “learn” Spanish, they merely remember some of the details.  For example, they’ll have an English word in their mind and have to recall or REMEMBER the corresponding Spanish word.  To truly learn Spanish, most have to be immersed into the language and culture.  It’s not enough to take a course and only think about the course material when in class or when doing homework.  They need to live where Spanish is the main language, forcing them to deal with it all the time.

 Such immersion causes something amazing to happen.  What happens will seem subtle to the mind experiencing it, but it’s a significant change.  Here’s what happens:  they begin to THINK in Spanish.  In other words, they no longer think in English and REMEMBER the corresponding Spanish word, but they THINK in Spanish.

 This is what happened to my wife.  She has been so immersed in Arizona desert living that she now thinks like an Arizonian.

 Of course I have a bigger point.  Most of us are living life with very little exposure to God’s Word.  Sure, many of us hear the Bible read, even talked about or explained, at church.  But if we’re being honest we’d have to admit, this is the only time during the week we’re exposed to God’s Word.  This is the only time during the week we pray…and someone besides me is actually doing it.  As a result, we struggle to remember any biblical truth, much less biblical truth which corresponds to our circumstances.  This is especially a problem when in crisis.

 We need to intentionally place ourselves under the influence of God’s Word, not just at church, but daily.  Immersion in or enough exposure to God’s Word AS our Authority will cause us to eventually THINK the Word.

First Blog: Full Conversion to Arizonian

I recently learned that more people use Facebook and blogs than email. So, here I am!

Our vacation to visit family was good, though each of us are glad to be home…and Arizona IS home. My wife’s conversion to Arizonian was evident in a seemingly unimportant event while visiting family in Texas. Keep in mind, one of the things we miss about Texas is lots of rain…I mean really powerful thunder storms, lasting hours if not days. Well, one day while in Texas as we were driving about a 5 mile stretch, about 12 rain drops landed on our windshield…12 raindrops over a 5 mile drive. Commenting on the 12 raindrops, my wonderful bride said, “it’s raining!” In that single moment, indicated by that simple statement, my wife’s conversion to Arizonian was evident. Only in the desert, where it rains 7 inches annually, can anyone consider 12 raindrops over 5 miles “raining”.