Between Flesh and Spirit

   I have had a few people ask to have access to the message from Sunday, July 21.

Here is the link.

Between Flesh and Spirit

Impressed?

1 Corinthians 2:1-2

            When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.  For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified.

            This was the evening’s reading with my children, and if you know what my day was like, you might find it to be either coincidental, or divine.

            Today I had the privilege of delivering the message at my home church.  I am an automotive mechanic by trade, and as far as my speaking goes, you might refer to it as a calling.  This passage in Corinthians reminds me of some advice my pastor gave me in preparation for the message today;

            “You know Kevin, some people, when they get to speak at a church; they really try to impress their listeners.  But all a church really wants is for you to be who you are.”

            In a way, I’m thankful that I don’t know how to impress people even if I wanted to.   I don’t know any lofty words, and have forgotten the ones that I have looked up in the past.  I have never been accused of possessing impressive wisdom.  However, the TOUGHT of impressing people is something that I struggle with.

            Being asked to speak on occasion isn’t the same as having to pastor a church.  I have weeks and weeks to meditate, prepare, study, reflect and rehearse.  Night after night, I usually practice while splashing around in my bubble bath.  So by the time I have the mic, I should be polished more than if I were I to speak on a weekly basis.  

            I share this with you so that you know how I struggle.  That’s why, when you tell me, “Good job!”, I feel compelled to make sure you know that it’s Him.  Not me.  It is a great privilege to be employed in the service of the King of Kings.  As you continue to walk through life, I pray you have seen much of Him, and little of me.

 

        

I Know

                It used to burn me.  My dad would try to tell me something and I’d reply, “Yeah.  I know.”  Without fail, he’d inform me, “No.  You don’t know.  If you really knew, then I wouldn’t have to be telling you.”

                In marriage, in our faith, and in the workplace, the phenomenon is the same, and it’s why I spend very little time trying to tell people how to live their lives.  I made the mistake this afternoon of trying to tell a fellow mechanic about some very basic emission principles.  I wasted about 10 minutes of my life, because he already had the answers.  Oddly though.  He walked away completely incapable of getting to the bottom of the problem.

At Work

I don’t always have the right answers for other people’s problems, and neither do you, but even when we really do, there is a stubbornness that is impossible to overcome, no matter how clear you are.

                In my career, I have tried to train several apprentice mechanics, and I’ve given up trying to hold anyone’s hand. Earlier on, I’d tell apprentice after apprentice how to do things.  And nearly every time, they’d completely ruin it get it wrong.  So many times they’d tell me, “I tried it your way Kevin and it just didn’t work.”

                Even when we receive authentic words of wisdom, there is a stubborn spirit that wants to try just hard enough to be able to say, “Your way doesn’t work.”

                Seriously.  How many of you like to be shown where you’re wrong?  Do you really like taking orders from someone who knows better than you?  How about spiritually?  Do you want to know where you sin?

                In Marriage

                My wife had a friend who was having a difficult time in her marriage.  It isn’t like all of our advice was top notch or anything.  We aren’t nearly as authoritative as the kind of people who write online articles.  We did know a few basics though and did the best we could.

                From our perspective, she really seemed like she was doing the things that we recommended.  It wasn’t until years later that we discovered she was no different than the apprentice mechanic who put in just enough effort to make it look like he was doing as he was told.

                In time, she told us how she just needed to submit to her husband’s authority.  From our perspective she seemed like she had.  She did what her husband asked.  She made him supper every night.  From the outside, anyone would think that she was submitting in the way that a believer is called.  In her heart however, she confessed that she only did what she did in some attempt to get him to shape up.

                How teachable are you?  I fight almost everything I read, other than the things that I agree with.  If it’s written in The Huffington Post, I’ll find something I don’t like, even if it’s just the font.  How capable are you in recognizing truth for what it is, no matter how palatable it would seem?

                We are a creature that lives to instinctively defend whatever position we currently hold.  We defend our sin.  We defend our ideology.  We defend our actions.  What would life look like, if rather than finding evidence to support our thesis, or make our point, we began to seek out the truth?  After all, what else can set us free?

Test-Driving a Marriage

Every once in a while, whether in person, on TV, radio or the Internet, I'll hear someone say, "Waiting until marriage to have sex, is like buying a car without test driving the thing."

(Before I talk any more, lets get one thing out of the way. I am not the morality police. Make your own choices.)

Normally, I hear it from guys, but I'm sure many women think the same. What do you think about that statement? Is that really the clinching issue in finding a spouse?

This is going to sound rude. And the reason it is going to sound rude, is because it IS rude. This should be appalling.

If the deciding factor in finding a wife (or husband), is how well she performs in bed, that's pretty lame.

Today we celebrated my wife's birthday, and I've been thinking a great deal about what makes her such an amazing woman, mother, and wife. Although we do sleep together, and it is a lot if fun, that has very little to do with how wonderful she is.

The things our world values in women are very different from what I treasure about her. If you hear a song about a woman, it likely has to do with how she 'does it', shakes her hips, looks, feels when you hold her tight, smells or turns you on.

And when I ask men what they like about their wives, the men who are happy in their marriages have yet to mention any sexual technique.

If you are worried about buying the car without a sexual test drive, don't worry about it. Dogs can figure it out. I'm sure you'll get by.

If I Have Ever Worked With You.....

                As I have worked with you, there have been many times that I have wanted to share a few words with you.  I know I talk a lot already and I have already said more than my share, but when we work together, there is often much that goes unsaid, which should be said.

                As you know, I am a follower of Christ.  Some of you have been willing to listen to me share about my faith.  Some of you have asked questions and seemed to enjoy talking to me about what I believe.  Some of you have told point blank to leave you alone, which I have respected.

                Whatever our specific relationship has been, I want you to know that I am thankful for the privilege of working alongside of you, no matter how brief or intimate it may or may not have been.  I am thankful for several reasons.

                On Respect

Each of you has shown me proper respect.  Okay....Everyone except the guy who wanted to beat me up, and the one who called me “God-boy”.  Lol.  Everyone else.  I doubt that those two guys are reading this anyway.  And even if you are one of them, I’m thankful for you as well, just not for this particular reason.  Sure you have teased me on occasion, but it has been rather light and fun compared to what many believers have to face in the world.

On Sin

                You haven’t asked me to approve of sin.  That’s a biggy for me.  A lot of nonbelievers get all bent out of shape when a Christian doesn’t approve of something, but that is one thing you have not expected of me.  I prefer to think that it’s because you have all been intelligent enough to understand that God’s approval isn’t mine to give.

                On Trust

                Many of you have given me the privilege of sharing in your burdens.  Whether it has been asking me for a reference, asking for prayer, sharing the issues of your marriage, family relationships or the physical health of your loved ones, you have placed in me a level of trust I am not sure I have deserved.

                On Listening

                You have listened to me.  You don’t always take my advice.  Few of you have wanted to follow Christ as I have.  Sometimes you probably think I’m off my rocker, but you listen.  When I have asked you to stay clear of The Mason’s, you listened.  When I urged you to stay away from the bottle or the drug in your time of distress, you listened.  When I shared with you what I didn’t like about your favourite inspirational video, you listened.  Maybe you didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but there is a maturity in your listening, which I don’t always see in the world.  In fact, I believe it to be rare.

                On Easter

                When I think of you on this Good Friday, I do still hope that someday you will consider Christ for yourself.  It doesn’t matter if you weren’t “brought up that way”.  I’ve had people at work look at me and say, “But I’ve sinned.”  That’s kind of the point.  If you still want nothing to do with Jesus, it doesn’t change how I think or feel about you.  If the day comes when you do, I hope you’ll let me in on it.

                Happy Easter!

                Kevin

PS – Sorry for BX93 days, and the singing. 

Interesting Theological Discussion

Today was my day off. As usual, after breakfast, I sat down to read a story with my youngest son.

Today we read part of The Wizard of Oz and I found it quite interesting.

Upon meeting the Lion, Dorothy asked him,

"Why are you such a coward?"......"Its a mystery," replied the lion. "I suppose I was born that way."....."Maybe you have a heart disease," said the Tin Woodsman.

Didn't expect to find those themes in that story.

The World Below (Hoping I'm Wrong)

“Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand.  Hide them all in the dust together, bind their faces in the world below.”  Job 40:12-13

      What do you think about what God is saying here?  What do you think about a God who would cut down the proud?  Our world celebrates pride doesn’t it?  We like to be proud of many things.  Proud of our children, proud of our accomplishments and proud to be Canadian.  Proud to be liberal or proud to be conservative.  Proud of our bank account or proud of our sexuality. I’ve even heard of pride parades.  Maybe you have to.

  But I could be wrong.  Maybe God really is fine with pride and I’m too literal.  

  What really struck me about this passage however was the reference to binding “their faces in the world below.” Job 40:13  What do you think He could be speaking of when referring to the world below>  I have read Job a few times before this, but I can’t say that I remember this part.  I tend to feel alone in the way that I interpret these kinds of words.

  It isn’t like this passage stands alone in scripture in what it seems to be saying.  It refers to a ‘world below’, which would serve to be a place of punishment for the wicked.  Being more faithful to the passage, the wicked are to be trampled down, buried in the dirt, having their faces bound in the underworld.  No.  I’m not making it up.  That is what it says.

  I can be wrong.  Maybe there aren’t people who are bound up under the earth, but it certainly seems like that is what we find here.  Maybe hell isn’t a place of fire, but little more than a burning garbage heap.  If I wanted to convince you, I would bring out other references in scripture that speak on people being under the earth. 

  Yeah.  I think there is a world below.  You can call it what you want.  I think it’s really hot, and dark with no chance of parole.  Ever.  I can be wrong.  In fact, I hope I am.

  Truth isn’t the result of a well defended thesis or argument.  Truth is the exact representation of reality, so it doesn’t much matter if you believe me or not.

   What do you really think about life after death?  Have you ever considered the possibility, that what you believe about eternity, holds absolutely no bearing whatsoever over what actually is?  Can you afford to be wrong?