January « 2010 « The Blog Channel

Go ahead. Roast marshmallows on me.

Jan 21, 2010 9:47 am by Paul Jenkins in Evangelism, Evotions

Exodus 3:3-4
So he said, “I will go closer to this strange thing. How can a bush continue burning without burning up?” When the Lord saw Moses was coming to look at the bush, God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”

There are a bazillion types of bushes. Tall ones, short ones, fat ones, skinny ones, the kind with 2 birds in them and the kind that rule over the free world – twice. Bushes aren’t rare, and that was surely the case on the backside of the desert for Moses. But one that burns and is never burned up? Now that was enough to catch his attention, and typically that’s what we teach about from this passage. Preacher man gets up and says that God called Moses from within a burning bush to go and deliver His people from slavery and we all shout, “Amen!” After all, that is what the story says, right?

Well, yes. I was trying to build this dramatic pause, but the truth is that the passage says exactly what the preacher man preaches. Of course, if you look at that burning bush from a different angle, I think you might see another question in it, one that made me squirm a bit when I heard God ask it. Ready?

{There’s that dramatic pause I was looking for.}

Here it is: if God got Moses’ attention by burning a bush so that He could call Moses to something great, how do you suppose He plans on getting the attention of others around you so He can call them to something great? That’s right. He’s planning on burning you up, too. While I was reading this passage earlier, I had to ask myself if people ever saw my life burning for Christ and felt compelled to mover closer to investigate? Ouch.

The challenge for us all, then, is to become “this strange thing” that God uses to call the world to Himself. He has a plan for them all, and it begins with a fire that burns us up. Like the guys in National Treasure lighting a torch to find their way in the cave, am I willing to be the flame that helps others around me see Him more clearly? On my worst days, I want no part of that plan, but on my best days, I think my answer is that I hope so. I hope that He finds me willing to sit on the backside of the desert waiting for the time that He strikes the match and throws it on me. If I am patient, it will be the perfect time – the time that God deems most profitable for His purpose and glory.

Scary? Sure. But at least I know who holds the match, and if I trust Him, it makes all the difference. I can trust that He knows when to burn me and that I won’t be totally destroyed in the process. In fact, my life will serve it’s purpose by providing what others need to find theirs. I’ll be the fire that they sing around as they make s’mores, and isn’t that what Paul meant when he said that he was being poured out like a drink offering? Sure it was.

So light the fire, Lord, people around us have destinies to discover, callings to fulfill, and…

…marshmallows to roast.

Redeeming toilets

Jan 19, 2010 9:55 am by Paul Jenkins in Evotions, Family

Evotions Family Fixing toilets Redemption

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

I heard that what I’m about to tell you actually made it into a message preached by a friend of mine this past Sunday, so I thought I’d better write and about it and come clean: I fixed our toilet. I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in…

Now, as ordinary as that statement may be for some people who are considerably more handy than I am, when the words “I fixed our toilet” come out of my mouth, it is an extraordinary statement, the kind that causes people to pass out or place their hands over their mouths in disbelief. But I did, in fact, fix our toilet. It had been running constantly for a few days and I decided it was the perfect opportunity for me to try my hand at home repair because the worst that could happen was me calling our plumber to fix what I couldn’t. Sure there would be the shame of knowing that he knew that I couldn’t “man up” and fix something listed as “so easy a caveman can do it” at do-it-yourself websites, but we’ve shared that awkward moment before. Many times, actually.

A quick trip to a local hardware store got me what I needed, and I was off. There were a few times that Wendy came back and peeked in on me and smiled that “look at the way he’s trying” smile, but I shook it off! I would not be distracted until the last piece was in place, and when it was, I turned the water back on and flushed. It worked. Skeptical, I checked the floor to see if there was any water leaking. The floor was dry! I flushed it again…and again… and again. And every time I flushed, I smiled. In fact, for the rest of that week-end, I intentionally used that toilet so that I could flush it, and every time it flushed, I smiled.

(Before we get to the main point, let me assure you that I do not have some Pavlovian dog thing going on that makes me smile when toilets are flushed. That would be weird.)

As I told my friend later, it just felt good to be the fixer. It made me proud to know that I had saved our family the money of a professional service call and that it actually worked better when I was finished. But what I didn’t tell my friend is what I thought about later on when I wondered if this is also how God feels when He looks at those of us who were broken and in need of His repair. Is my fixed life one that causes Him so much joy that He can’t stop admiring His handiwork in me? And as odd as it sounds, does He just flush me over and over and over again so that He can see the new me, the one that actually works the way He originally intended? I think He just might, and if that’s what it takes to show off His grace to others who are broken, than I say flush away!

In the end, it’s all worth it to see Him smile.