Envying Cows?

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We’re finally getting settled into Hautvillers, our little French village. It’s a far cry from the Paris area where we were but not too far from the city of Reims, where we help out in a church, when we’re not speaking in churches in different places in France.

After we moved here, I found that Hautvillers is sort of famous. The monk that reputedly invented champagne, Dom Perignon, lived here and is buried in the village church. Vineyards climb the steep hillsides all around us, rising up from the Marne river valley and we’re not surprised to hear tourists speak several different languages as we walk through the village.

One day, as I came back from buying my baguette at the bakery, I heard some people speaking English with an American accent. I talked to them and found that they were part of a tour group. They had a question for me.

“What’s it like to live in a village (like this)?” I knew what they were thinking. Narrow streets and old building facades give the town a very picturesque look. Flowers bloom everywhere in the Summer and Fall. They probably thought I lived an Ernest Hemmingway-type of life—sipping espressos on the veranda, while Edith Piaff croons, “La Vie en Rose” in the background.

I suppose I disappointed them, because they seemed to think my life somewhat enviable. “It’s okay.” At the time I was thinking about dealing with our small bedrooms and backing the car way down a narrow, sloped alley to park it for the night. There are pros and cons.

Last weekend, I was at a leadership retreat for our church and I went out for a walk in the country near the retreat center. The temperature was nearly perfect and I was intrigued as I walked by a herd of cows, lying in the pasture, munching grass.

“Ah, that’s the life,” I thought, regarding my bovine buddies who were regarding me back suspiciously. “Nothing to do but lie in the sunshine eating. No bills, no particular problems. The afternoon you just get up and waddle over to a tree, where you burp up what you chewed that morning and finish the job.”

But later I had a slight twinge as I reflected on my attitude. “David, are you envying a cow?” When you put it like that, it doesn’t seem so smart does it? I was worse than those tourist who thought I must be Ernest Hemmingway.

“If you really think their life is so great, all you have to do is crawl over the fence, lay down next them and chomp a little grass yourself. No one is stopping you.”

And, to be honest, this cow business probably isn’t so much fun when it gets cold, or the farmer decides that it’s time for you to head to market to be sold, killed, processed and drowned in mayonnaise in some kid’s Big Mac.

On second thought, I think I’ll pass.

The Good Life

The other fellow’s life often seems better, but if you really knew … We human beings have a tendency to make the worst of most any situation. A fellow can live in a mansion and drive a Porsche and still suffer depression because of his “difficult life.”

I think the Lord wants us to learn to be happy in Him. That way, if we’re in an old village, or camping out in a pasture, or in a prison, or in a palace, we can know joy. Paul wrote from a seedy prison cell,

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4, NIV).

How do you rejoice in the Lord? Take your eyes off your circumstances for a moment, whether they are good or bad and begin to think about what the Lord has done for you. “Practice His presence,” as one fellow described it.

Sing! Your singing might not make you neighbor rejoice, but who cares? Sing to the Lord. He thinks it’s nice, and like an adoring parent listens to their child squeaking away on a new violin, He comes close just to hear you.

Refuse to let depression or the “blahs” suck you into the pit of gray that struggles to sap all the joy out of your days. “Rejoice!” You know who is the subject of that command? You! “You rejoice!”

Trading places with a cow won’t improve your life. Neither will envying that pastor who lives in a French village—he’s probably wishing he could see his above-average-in-every-way grandchildren who are thousands of miles away.

There, where you are, rejoice in the Lord and live the life that God has planned for you to the fullest.

Doing as “Do” Lets Us Do

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When I was in high school I used to play dominos with my brother Charley, my friend Ricky, an older friend nicknamed Buck, and an African-American friend whose nickname was Totsie.

Totsie owned a little cafe in our end-of-the-road village and our domino game was a weekly highlight for awhile. You could probably hear us before you came inside the place because bragging and talking loudly played a vital role in impressing your opponents. When someone had a good domino he would slam it on the table for maximum effect and the others would make appropriate comments.

And there was always plenty of laughter and teasing.

Occasionally, Totsie would study his hand an extra long time before playing, probably wishing for a better solution than the dominos staring back at him. “C’mon Totsie. What are you gonna do?” I never forgot his response.

“I’m gonna do what ‘do’ lets me do!”

That was his colorful way of saying that he was going to do his best with the dominos he had. He usually did, too.

I’ve thought about that a lot in the years since. There have been many times in life that I wished that I had more resources to work with. How I’ve longed to see different situations or wished that I could do other things—maybe even envied others’ opportunities and open doors.

Mope Or Act?

But you know what I’ve learned? You can mope all day long because things aren’t the way you wish they were. That changes nothing. The best thing is to do what “do” lets you do. Take stock of your assets and do what you can with what you have.

I think one of the biggest enemies to accomplishing something in God’s kingdom is “the will of God.” Don’t get me wrong. I try my best to follow God’s will for my life. Things just don’t always happen the way I figured they would. So many “wait on the Lord” and do zilch. Zilch for the Lord anyway.

“God just hasn’t opened a door,” they whine. Look around–there are open doors everywhere! Maybe it’s not doing what you want to do but the opportunity is still there.

I heard a pastor tell of an interview that their oversite committee had with a young, aspiring pastor. The year before the young man had preached only one time. The committee insisted that if they were to continue recognizing him as a preacher in their denomination he was going to have to preach more than that.

“What will you do if we don’t recognize you again as one of our preachers?” the older man asked. “Why, that won’t stop me! I’ll go to the nursing home and preach. I’ll go to the street corner and preach.”

“You’re just lying,” the first pastor retorted.

“What?”

“You’re just lying. They haven’t moved that street corner or that nursing home have they? It was there all year long but you didn’t go. Why should you go this year?”

Ouch! While we’re looking for God’s will, it’s nice to do what we can do now–what “do” lets us do.

Back in high school, when I played football we had scores of plays we had to learn. And sometimes we would forget what we were supposed to do on a given play.

Coach Mac’s opinion at times like that? “If you don’t know who to block on a play, just knock the daylights out of someone!” (Slightly edited version for publication).

If you can’t do what you want to do for the Lord for the moment, “Do as “do” lets you do.”

I know a young man in Paris. He doesn’t preach but he’s putting a super website online with all sorts of helps for Christians. It has cost him some money and loads of time but he’s “doing as ‘do’ lets him do.” Others get involved in evangelism programs; some reach out to children in their community; others have a burden for older people…there are all sorts of possibilities.

The common denominator between all these people? They’re involved. They may not be doing what they dreamed they would do, or even what they feel called to do, but they are doing what they can with what they have.

Maybe you’re sitting around waiting for more resources, better opportunities, or for that thing that the Lord “called” you to do, to open up. All that is good, but while you’re waiting, look around at all these needs, all these opportunities crying for a compassionate touch.

Then, do as “do” lets you do.

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…” (Ecc. 9:10, NIV) or as the Message version says, “Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!”

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Hmmm…
“He promises a lamp unto our feet, not a crystal ball into the future. We do not need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know he leads us and ‘we will find grace to help us when we need it.” (Max Lucado, Traveling Light)

Why Doesn’t God Show Himself ?

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“On the third day at daybreak, there were loud claps of thunder, flashes of lightning, a thick cloud covering the mountain, and an ear-piercing trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp shuddered in fear.

“Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God. They stood at attention at the base of the mountain.

“Mount Sinai was all smoke because GOD had come down on it as fire. Smoke poured from it like smoke from a furnace. The whole mountain shuddered in huge spasms. The trumpet blasts grew louder and louder. Moses spoke and God answered in thunder. GOD descended to the peak of Mount Sinai. GOD called Moses up to the peak and Moses climbed up.” (Exodus 19:16-20, The Message).

I told you recently about a question that gnawed at me because it seemed to make such good sense: “If the only way to really know God is through His Son Jesus and it’s a question of eternal life or eternal punishment, why doesn’t God make Himself more evident, reveal Himself in an undeniable way?”

That sounds logical and just, doesn’t it? No one should be judged when he really didn’t have a chance. But is it really reasonable? Somewhere it seems I read of an atheist who commented that the thing that would prove him wrong was simply one verifiable miracle.

But would he believe afterwards? Wouldn’t he just say that the miracle resulted from some natural, scientific process that we don’t understand yet? Truth is, if someone decides he’s not going to believe, all the proofs in the world won’t convince him.

Look at the story which begins this article. The people of Israel had a revelation of the power of God, unprecedented in history—plagues falling upon their enemies, a great sea opening before them, and undrinkable waters healed.

Here they see a physical manifestation of God that no other people had experienced. They trembled.

Yet a few weeks later, with God’s manifestation still on the mountain before them, they unleashed an orgy of idolatry and partying that even shocked the pagan tribes around them.

They saw but it didn’t do a lot of good, did it?

Later, Jesus Christ did a miracle which stunned another group of people. A man who had been dead, walked out of his grave. For some it was a tipping point, “That was a turnaround for many of the Jews who were with Mary. They saw what Jesus did, and believed in him.”

Others saw the very same thing, though, and would you please explain their reaction to me? “But some went back to the Pharisees and told on Jesus. The high priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish ruling body. “What do we do now?” they asked. “This man keeps on doing things, creating God-signs. If we let him go on, pretty soon everyone will be believing in him and the Romans will come and remove what little power and privilege we still have.” (John 11:45-48, The Message)

They decided to kill Jesus after that particular manifestation of the reality of God.

God reveals Himself constantly. The problem is not that God doesn’t reveal Himself, it’s a matter of opening our eyes to see that revelation. Every honest-hearted person has the potential to do that.

God reveals Himself in nature’s beauty and mystery (Psalms 19:1-3).

God reveals Himself though my brother in Christ (Col. 1:27; 1 Corinthians 12:27).

God has revealed Himself to man in a way that’s understood by His creatures but they want to continue in their sins and so suppress this revelation (Rom. 1:18-20, NIV).

God reveals Himself through His everlasting Word.

God reveals Himself through His Son, Jesus (2 Cor. 5:18, 19).

He asks us to open our eyes and believe and this revelation becomes even more dazzling. He reveals Himself first to our hearts and our senses follow suit. But that’s the prerequisite—you’ve got to believe what He’s showed you and He’ll show you even more.

“…now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30, 31). “…We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved…” Acts 15:11.

Perhaps those who loudly decry the absence of revelation of God, should put away their sins and turn towards God, so that they can see. It’s not a five-senses kind of revelation but a much deeper sense that God has placed within each of us, because it’s not His will that anyone perish.
We have to respond though. We have to respond.
Maybe, just maybe, the problem isn’t that God isn’t revealing Himself clearly enough. The problem may be that we don’t what to see what He’s revealing. Let’s open our spiritual eyes and unstop our spiritual ears.
There’s plenty to see!
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Hmm…
The Bible wasn’t meant to be read. The Bible was meant to be meditated. Reading without meditating is like eating without digesting.—Mark Batterson

Age spots, pimple cream and stupidity

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Check out the podcast below: “It ain’t fair!”

Once I saw a commercial. This goofy teenager went to a party but the other kids shunned him. He left downcast. And how had he sinned to deserve such treatment?

He had a pimple!

But luckily for him, the television people had a marvelous solution—pimple cream! He put that miraculous paste on, went to a party, and the girls mobbed him. (Some of you teenage guys are saying, “Hmmm…what was the name of that cream?”)

I thought, “How stupid.”

Later, I saw a commercial starring a lady of a certain age (that’s a nice way of saying “old”). One day she looked at her hand and saw an unsightly brown spot: an age spot! She was horrified. Afterwards when her friends asked her to go and do things with them she was ashamed and refused. She covered the age spot self-consciously with her other hand.

Fortunately for her another company had just the solution. They had invented something that took away age spots, so she used it and voilà!; Industry had saved her social life.

And I thought to myself, “That the stupidest commercial I ever saw in my life.” I didn’t even know it was bad to have brown spots until I saw it on television. I thought they were freckles or something.

I blew it off until the day that I saw an unsightly brown spot on the back of my hand! “I wonder where I could get some of that stuff,” I thought.

Have you ever considered? If you’re happy with yourself, a lot of people are going bankrupt and others are going to lose their jobs. What do you mean David?

Take those age-spot remover manufacturers for example. How many people do you think they employ? Ten thousand? And how much does the factory owner make a year? A million dollars, maybe?

What if suddenly everyone who had age spots decided that these blotches were beautiful? “Look, Myrtle! A brown spot!”

“Oh, honey, that’s so beautiful! Why do some people have all the luck?” Tattoo parlors would add the possibility of getting age-spot tattoos to their dragon and wild-women tattoos.

And 10,000 people would be unemployed! And the owner would have to sell his Mercedes, go on unemployment, and buy a bicycle to get around. And the economy of the city around the factory would suffer because no one would have any money. And what if that spread through the economy?

I tell you, it would be a disaster if you felt good about yourself! Don’t do it whatever you do.

Have you ever considered the messages that bombard you each day? “You’re too fat, too thin. You don’t have the I-pod xy3 which is ages ahead of the xy2. Your computer is only a 100 gigas? No, it’s not possible! That car is going to break down, you know. It’s been 3 ½ years since you purchased it and here’s a great deal that you can’t pass up (don’t read the fine print because we’ve got a catch that skins you alive). Look what your friend just purchased. Think how your life would be complete with all that. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”

I tell you folks! Buy it! You NEED it! Your life will be complete if you have that. And you’re keeping a lot of people in China at work.

What’s Happened?

We’re at the point that we need to do some real analysis about what’s happening to us. The advertisers—no, our society–has sold us the line that real happiness is more stuff, more gadgets. So how come we’re not happy more than a few minutes? Even our kids have mountains of toys, so many that we can’t move around in the house without stumbling over them. And all they want is another one.

You know, I think Paul in his day must have put a lot of people out of business. Here’s the way he lived:

“Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don’t mean that your help didn’t mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.” (Phil 4:11-14, The Message)

Notice he had to learn to live like that. And today, we would have to dare to be different because people would think us a bit weird if we had other priorities in our life than stuff. But stuff is like drugs. As long as you’re on them you get a little boost. But then you come off the high and you have to get your next fix.

Let’s take some time to examine our priorities and what really should motivate us in life. We might find ourselves living differently, spending our time and our money for other priorities. And sending different messages to our children!

But I warn you, you can live like that if you want to, but if you do a lot of age-spot remover makers are going to go broke. Lots of others, too. If you want that on your conscience, then go ahead.

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Hmmm…

D.L. Moody comments on a time when he had seen the passion for souls of a Sunday School teacher change the life of an entire class of young ladies. “I didn’t know what this was going to cost me. I was disqualified for business; it had become distasteful to me. I had got a taste of another world, and cared no more for making money. For some days after, the greatest struggle of my life took place. Should I give up business and give myself to Christian work, or should I not? I have never regretted my choice. O, the luxury of leading some one out of the darkness of this world into the glorious light and liberty of the Gospel.”

Sheepherder of the Autobahn

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To see a few pictures of the adventure described below, click on this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/davidporter55/SheepOnAutobahn

I thought you might be interested to learn that I’ve started a second career on the side. I’ve become a sheepherder. But not just any kind of sheepherder—I herd sheep on the autobahn in Germany.

Let me explain.

The last two weeks we were in Luxembourg filling in for a pastor on vacation, and taking advantage of our presence there to visit some of our old haunts. When we lived in the Grand Duchy, we loved to slip across the border into Germany and follow the Moselle river up to the city of Cochem. The Moselle follows a picturesque valley of vineyards, forests, and well-tended villages and cities, some with buildings dating back a half millennium or more. Makes me feel as if I’m in a storybook.

This time we decided to go directly to Cochem, spend the night, and follow the river back the next day. So that’s how we found ourselves hurtling up the autobahn, when suddenly traffic slowed, then stopped. What was the problem? As we looked ahead on the road we were shocked to see a little flock of sheep that had wandered onto our two lanes. A few seconds more and there would have been lamb chops flying in all directions (probably hubcaps and fenders as well).

Now they were huddling together in fear as traffic came to a halt just in front of them. I passed and pulled off to the side to help a few others who tried to herd them back towards the guardrail. That was no problem. The problem was that the fleecy airheads didn’t seem to grasp that they could bend down just a little and pass underneath, just as they had done to enter the dangerous area.

Sprechen sie deutsch?

One of my fellow shepherds was telephoning and she jabbered something to me in German. I have an extensive German vocabulary. It consists of “Jah!” and I usually say it a lot while shaking my head “yes” when I’m in Germany. No, actually I can do a bit better than that. I think she was calling the police and asking me what the closest town was. “Jah!”

Finally, though, the deed was done and our hairy intruders passed to the other side of the rail. I felt like “Babe.”

“Well done, pig.”

You know what amazed me? It was the lack of complaint of the huge traffic jam of people who waited patiently while we “Little Bo Peeped” the sheep out of the road. No honking. No yelling. No signs of impatience. There just seemed to be a lot of compassion for those poor, lost sheep. But I ask you, were those sheep so worthy of compassion?

A bit farther up the autobahn we saw a huge herd of sheep in a field next to the road on the other side. That was probably where our little varmints came from. I tried to imagine what had happened. “Hey guys. We’re never going to find anything fresh to eat here,” a rare leader among them might have said. “There’s thousands of us. And these others keep tromping on my grass. It’s kind of stomach turning when you try to eat it. I’m getting out of here.”

“Are you sure it’s alright?” blink nine other sheep nearby who hear him. “Sure, I saw a gap that leads to the best pastures you could ever dream of back up yonder. Come on follow me. Let’s get out of here while no one is looking.”

“Well, if you say so …”

So there go ten sheep, slinking away from the multitude. Sneak, sneak. “Baaaaaah!” “Shut up!” Sneak, sneak, sneak. “Baaaah!” “Be quiet.”

Until finally they pass through an opening under the autobahn and end up, you know where. I ask you, did they really deserve our compassion?j

When we finally arrived in Cochem, I saw a tourist bus that was evidently lost and had tried to turn into a narrow street. Traffic was partially blocked and at least two of the motorists gave the harried bus driver an impatient, “hoooonk!” as they made their way around him. “People have more compassion for sheep than they do for each other,” I remarked to my wife.

Unfortunately that’s true. I read an article in the paper this week and the columnist talked about the cruel way some animals are kept in a tiny cage before they are slaughtered for our tables. I agreed but couldn’t help but think that this same man would favor taking the lives of unborn babies. Hmmm…

Some men’s hearts are touched when they see a lady crying from frustration in a movie but they explode in anger when their own wife weeps. Some ladies are ready to give their favorite movie stars a second chance but they don’t extend the same favor to the person that they’ve pledged to live their lives with. Some people are all smiles to those they work with and all frowns to those they live with.

We suffer from selective compassion. I’m glad God isn’t like that, aren’t you? He wants to express His character through us:

“Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4: 31-32, The Message).

“So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.” (Col. 3:12-14, The Message).

If you live that way you’ll be smarter than a sheep.
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Hmmm…

“We look at our watches; God looks at the calendar.” Andy Stanley