Showing posts with label Faithfulness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faithfulness. Show all posts

The Bay Area, NASA and God

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , | Posted On Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 10:21 AM

Do you ever wonder if God has it out for you? I know it feels that way sometimes. And over the last couple of years it's felt that way for our Bay Area. The Rita evacuation was hard on a lot of folks. Then Ike hit, doing major damage across our area. The economy tanked, and the oil industry is struggling. Now, the 2011 national budget comes out, and NASA, and especially manned space flight, appear to be facing another blow.

Of course, no one really knows what the 2011 budget means for the Bay Area. It hasn't gone through Congress yet, and states like Florida, Alabama and Texas have a lot at stake with the manned space program. But all this week discussions that were going on quietly across the area the last few months since the Augustine Commission have been coming out into the open as people wonder/worry about what will happen.

It's a legitimate concern. I don't work for the Chamber of Commerce, so I don't have the exact figures, but I know thousands of folks in this area are directly and indirectly affected by NASA and the Johnson Manned Space Center. I'm sure we have hundreds of folks here at Gateway connected to the space program one way or another.

I'd like to tell you, "Don't worry. Be happy... Everything's going to be OK because God's going to do His thing and make it all work out so that we all live happily ever after." But, honestly, that's more of a fairy tale. God is not our magic Genie who snaps His fingers and fixes every problem we have.

The reality is, we don't know what's going to happen right now. We don't know what it's going to be like a year from now or five years from now or ten years from now. But you know what? We didn't know before this budget came out, either. The future is always waiting to be written, and the choices we make today make a big difference how that story will unfold. But, I do know Who is ultimately writing the future, because He is already there and going with us into as it unfolds.

I'm not saying we shouldn't be concerned or that we shouldn't be prudent in our planning. As a church, Gateway will have to watch this very closely. But I keep getting drawn back to a Scripture Jesus spoke:

“'That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? So don’t worry about these things, saying, "What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?" These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.'" (Matthew 6:25-33, NLT2)


To me, this isn't a "Pollyanna - don't worry, be happy" scripture. What it says to me is that in the midst of whatever is going on - good or bad - God still cares about each of us and our lives. He has a plan for our lives that has ultimate and eternal significance. He's always known what would happen - there are no surprises for God. He never promises a problem-free life, but He does promise to go with us and give us everything we need to live our lives with purpose and hope and peace.


It's an old cliche, but I'll say it anyway: "I don't know what the future holds, but I know Who holds it." My ultimate faith isn't in my job or NASA or the U.S. government but in God. Even when I don't feel it, He's with me and loves me and will see me through. That's a choice I have to make and remember every day. I'm going to seek first His Kingdom and trust Him to walk through this with me. I hope you'll join me!


Jesus Sometimes Creates Tensions in Our Families and Friendships

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | Posted On Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 12:01 AM

The Gospel of Mark is jam-packed with stories, and it's hard to pick out any one thing to write about in chapters 3-4. However, one thing did catch my attention - it's something many folks who follow Jesus discover, just as Jesus himself experienced.

"One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and his disciples couldn't even find time to eat. When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. 'He's out of his mind,' they said." (Mark 3:20-21, NLT)

Obviously there was some tension between Jesus and his family at this point in his life. Mark has told us nothing about Jesus' family, including stories about his birth. But all the Gospel writers recognized being with Jesus would be a source of tension in many families and friendships. In Matthew, Jesus cautions about what happens when people follow him, and then he quotes the Old Testament prophet Micah:

"'Don't imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. "I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household."'" (Matthew 10:34-36, quote from Micah 7:6)

Jesus didn't mean he came to intentionally create strife in families and friendships. But he realized that there was always a cost to being his follower. People would be uncomfortable with a follower's level of faith, with their commitment to Christ, with their moral and ethical choices, etc. It seems so radical, so extreme sometimes.

I've talked with many Christ followers who have family members and friends who just don't understand or get it. A wife or a husband who thinks it's weird going to church, a friend who doesn't understand why you're changing some of your old habits, a co-worker who wonders if she or he can trust you anymore. This can be a real struggle for some Christ followers, to the point where they end up compromising their faith for the sake of these other relationships.

Jesus clearly faced this with his family at this point in his life. He'd given up a safe job as a carpenter to be some kind of itinerant preacher. He didn't seem to care who he angered or upset, including very powerful men. Some of the folks he was hanging out with were clearly from the other side of the tracks, or worse, tax collectors and sinners. Even though his mother Mary knew he had been a special child from God, this may have been more than they had bargained for, and they thought Jesus just might have lost it.

In fact, a few verses later, when his mother and brothers come to see him and talk to him, he refuses to stop his teaching and go out to see them. He even calls those who do God's will his "'...brother and sister and mother.'" (3:35)

Sometimes those we love just don't get it. They don't understand what it means to follow Jesus and the difference he can make in a person's life. And our relationship with Jesus can set family members and friends against each other. Maybe that's what you're struggling with right now.

But, this story doesn't end here. John tells us, "Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene." (John 19:25 NLT2) In fact, Jesus cared so much for his mother that as he hung there on the cross, he entrusted the care of his mother to the disciple John. Likewise, Jesus' brother James became active in the Jewish Christian church in Jerusalem. In fact, scholars believe that he ultimately led that church and wrote the Book of James in the Bible.

Sometimes family and friends don't get Jesus, but if we're patient and express the love of Christ to them, many of them eventually come around to become followers, too. It's always exciting to me to see a person come to faith in Christ, and before long see other members of their family and friends came to faith, because their witness was so encouraging. Sometimes it takes years, even decades. And sadly, some family and friends may never come around. While Jesus never compromised his faith and convictions for his family and friends, he also never gave up on them, and neither can we. We may be the very one God uses to reach that family member or friend.

Does it Matter if I Don't Give Jesus My Best?

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , | Posted On Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 12:01 AM

Jesus foretells the future through the bulk of Luke 21, talking about the end times and the importance of standing firm in our faith. His promise is that he will return to set things right and take care of those who have placed their faith in him. Jesus is vague about the timing of these events, and elsewhere he says that no one but God the Father actually knows when these things will occur.

But, the first few verses of this chapter really capture my attention. Jesus is commenting on the gift of the poor widow as she drops two small coins into the Temple collection box (21:2) - essentially, the offering. Jesus indicates this widow gave sacrificially, and in the eyes of God her gift counts so much more than those who just put in whatever was easy or convenient.

I've always loved this story because it reminds me that God is always more concerned about my motives and attitudes behind my words and actions. God is concerned about my heart! This widow gave sacrificially, from what little she had. Her love and devotion to God drove her to give. It didn't matter that to most folks her gift would appear to have little or no impact - to Jesus her gift was the greatest of the gifts.

Sometimes I feel like I don't have much to give to the work of the Kingdom. What can I do compared to folks who are really talented, or have lots of resources, or are really famous? Yet, God's not looking solely at what I offer, but what I offer in relation to what He has entrusted to me. My faithfulness and intent is what concerns God the most.

This excites me because it means I shouldn't compare what I can do to what others can do. Rather, I should just do my best, and trust that God will take it and use it and multiply it. The widow gave only two small coins, but God has used her story to inspire millions that whatever they do, if by faith they do the best they can, if they push their limits, if they live and give sacrificially, God will honor that.

As God seeks to do greater things in us this month, some of us may be tempted to give into the lie that there's not much God can do in and through me. Yet, this widow reminds us that if we seek God with our whole hearts and strive to be faithful to Him, we may end up discovering God does the greatest things precisely through those of us who thought we had the least to give (at least in worldly terms). By faith we come to realize that God is more interested in my availability than my ability. When we offer Jesus our best, he gives us - and the world around us - his best!
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