This past week I was directing a session of Sooner Youth Camp located in Lake Murray State Park near Ardmore, Oklahoma. The facility is a group camp built back in the 1930’s by the CCC and WPA. All the structures on the property with the exception of the new bath house were built with resources found on the property. We are talking log cabins with rock peers and rock fireplaces. To say that it is rustic is an understatement. When it was new it was rustic. Now it is old and rustic, but for over sixty years it is the place Sooner Youth Camp has called home.
One of the reasons I enjoy going there year after year is the opportunity to get away from the city along with its hustle and bustle to enjoy taking in just a small part of what God has created for me to enjoy. Each morning at camp I wake up a little bit earlier than the campers and stagger over to the mess hall to be greeted by the cheerful voices of our wonderful cooks (there is a special place in heaven for those who have cooked at camp) and the wonderful smell of coffee and bacon. The only thing better is the smell on Tuesday and Thursday mornings which includes the smell of homemade cinnamon rolls. YUM!
There are other less fatting things to enjoy about camp. The refreshing coolness of swimming in Lake Murray, the sounds of crickets and other critters in the evenings, the morning sunrise and of course the sunsets at the end of a long day. I also enjoy seeing the multi-hand work of a spider that spins a web in the evening and by sunrise has taken it down. I enjoy seeing the rabbits, armadillos, raccoons, road runners and wild geese. Oh, and I enjoy seeing young men and women who are growing in the glory and likeness of the Father. I enjoy the opportunity to serve God by serving young people during a week of camp. It is hard exhausting work, but well worth the effort.
So as you begin this work week let me encourage you to “come to your senses” and enjoy what God has put around you this week. You will have opportunity after opportunity to interact with someone God created. They may already be Christ followers or they may be someone who is searching for meaning to their life. Seek them out and make a difference in their life. You may come across someone who needs a handing hand or a word of encouragement. Take the time to enjoy the opportunity to serve God and others and make a difference in the life of another person.
By living beyond yourself you will find the joy and beauty that God intended for you. It is only when you live within your self that you miss out on what God has created and planned for you to enjoy. So keep you eyes and ears open and discover the joy God has prepared for you this day. It may be a beautiful sunset, but it may be a lonely soul in desperate need of an ear and a shoulder. Praise God! You have two of each.
St. Francis of Assisi said it this way, “It is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned. And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Make me an instrument of Your peace, I want to know what it’s like to follow You. When men look at me, I want them to see, the Light of the World inside.”
Love God. Go Love Others.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Gate
You have heard the old saying, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. I would like to change that saying to this, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but if it is, get with it!” I say that mainly for my own benefit for I am guilty of letting broken things stay broken for too long. The most recent example is the gate to my back yard. For months the latch has been difficult to open and close. All it needed was a small adjustment, but it has been something that was easy to put off. Every day, two or three times a day I would go out that gate and think to myself, “I need to fix that”. As I said, this went on for months and months. Everyone who tried to use the gate would complain and wonder about the time line for fixing the problem. Well, I am glad to announce the gate latch is now in proper working order. Enter or exit with the simple ease of pushing the button. No longer will you have to push, kick, or bang your way in or out. Just push the button down and swing the gate out. It work just the way it was designed to function.
That is the way life is for most people, you have things in their life that need fixing or correcting and too many times you and I just learn to live with the brokenness in our life. You may or may not have anything major in your life that needs correcting or adjusting, but I can assure you that you have something in your life that needs improvement. Maybe you have a habit that you need to stop. Maybe some of your language is not what it should be. Maybe you drink too much or look at the wrong things on the internet. I don’t have to list all the possible areas for needed correction. I am pretty sure that each of you is aware of your own short comings, failures, bad habits, addictions, and selfish acts. Either you are self aware or someone who loves you has shared their concern for your life.
It has been my experience that most issues in life that need correcting or adjusting are simple things that have turned into a major issue. Just has the solution for fixing my gate had been a simple ten minute problem. That’s right, my family put up with a sticking gate for months because I did not want to spend 10 minutes to fix it. I know that my gate is a very small problem and it is not really even the point of this message, but it is a reminder to not put off those things which need correcting in your life. Make changes today.
You may need to be a better listener in your relationships with your spouse and children. Maybe you need to be more responsive to the needs of your family. Maybe you need to be a better boss or employee. Maybe you need to be a better neighbor or friend. Maybe you need to spend more time in prayer and personal Bible study. Maybe you need to focus on things that lead to holiness rather than the worldly. Maybe it is just a matter of putting first things first in your marriage, your family, and your spiritual growth.
So that a look around or take a look within and make yourself a to-do-list for self improvement. There are things in your life that need fixing, improving, correcting, adjusting, starting or stopping. Make your list today and then (and this is the important part) GET WITH IT!
Love God. Go Love Others.
That is the way life is for most people, you have things in their life that need fixing or correcting and too many times you and I just learn to live with the brokenness in our life. You may or may not have anything major in your life that needs correcting or adjusting, but I can assure you that you have something in your life that needs improvement. Maybe you have a habit that you need to stop. Maybe some of your language is not what it should be. Maybe you drink too much or look at the wrong things on the internet. I don’t have to list all the possible areas for needed correction. I am pretty sure that each of you is aware of your own short comings, failures, bad habits, addictions, and selfish acts. Either you are self aware or someone who loves you has shared their concern for your life.
It has been my experience that most issues in life that need correcting or adjusting are simple things that have turned into a major issue. Just has the solution for fixing my gate had been a simple ten minute problem. That’s right, my family put up with a sticking gate for months because I did not want to spend 10 minutes to fix it. I know that my gate is a very small problem and it is not really even the point of this message, but it is a reminder to not put off those things which need correcting in your life. Make changes today.
You may need to be a better listener in your relationships with your spouse and children. Maybe you need to be more responsive to the needs of your family. Maybe you need to be a better boss or employee. Maybe you need to be a better neighbor or friend. Maybe you need to spend more time in prayer and personal Bible study. Maybe you need to focus on things that lead to holiness rather than the worldly. Maybe it is just a matter of putting first things first in your marriage, your family, and your spiritual growth.
So that a look around or take a look within and make yourself a to-do-list for self improvement. There are things in your life that need fixing, improving, correcting, adjusting, starting or stopping. Make your list today and then (and this is the important part) GET WITH IT!
Love God. Go Love Others.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Freedom
The 4th of July is more than just another holiday, it is a reminder of the great cost we have paid and continue to pay for the privilege of living in this great nation the United States of America. Each year my family watches the movie “The Patriot” with Mel Gibson on the 4th. We watch it for a few reasons; it is a very good movie, the acting is superb, the story is worth telling and re-telling and it is a good reminder of the price which was paid for you and me to live in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”.
In the movie, Gabriel takes the torn and tattered flag from the belongings of a dead soldier and as he does another soldier tells him “don’t bother, it’s a lost cause”, to which Gabriel considers the statement, but takes the flag and begins the process of mending it. At the end of the movie when his father, Benjamin is going through his dead sons belongings he finds the worn and tattered flag which has been completely mended. It had been sewn back together with new tread and an occasional piece of new cloth. It was a representation of all they had been fighting to achieve. As the father looked at the flag which so many had died for he decides that this nation, this cause is bigger than him and worth staying the course. The sacrifice of so men and women demands that those who are living continue the fight for freedom. Freedom comes with great cost and sacrifice. The fight for freedom is not over; it is a fight that must be fought every day so that those who come after us can have the same opportunity and responsibility.
So what does that mean for you and me today? You will have to answer that for yourself, but as for me I am forever thankful for all those who died to make this nation free or to keep this nation free. I am reminded that with freedom comes responsibility. I must live in such a way as to be respectful of the great price that was paid for me to walk, talk, work, and worship in freedom.
As people who live in freedom we have been given great blessings. With great blessings also come responsibilities. You and I must live in such a way that we can share the freedom and blessings which God has given us and so many have died for.
So today, I am thankful. Thankful that I live in a nation which great men and women have sacrificed their lives so that you and I can be free and I am thankful for Jesus Christ who made an eternal sacrifice so that you and I could be free from sin and have a life for all eternity with the Father. What a blessing it is to be a Christian living in the freest nation in the world. The question is what will I do with the freedom I have as a citizen of the United States of America and what will I do with the freedom I have in Christ Jesus? The blood of the Many and the blood of the One and Only demand that I do something as a citizen and a Christian. To do nothing would make their death meaningless.
Father God, thank you for watching over this great nation. May we be a people who do not take this opportunity of freedom lightly. May we live up to the expectations of those who have died to give us the responsibility of freedom.
Love God. Go Love Others.
In the movie, Gabriel takes the torn and tattered flag from the belongings of a dead soldier and as he does another soldier tells him “don’t bother, it’s a lost cause”, to which Gabriel considers the statement, but takes the flag and begins the process of mending it. At the end of the movie when his father, Benjamin is going through his dead sons belongings he finds the worn and tattered flag which has been completely mended. It had been sewn back together with new tread and an occasional piece of new cloth. It was a representation of all they had been fighting to achieve. As the father looked at the flag which so many had died for he decides that this nation, this cause is bigger than him and worth staying the course. The sacrifice of so men and women demands that those who are living continue the fight for freedom. Freedom comes with great cost and sacrifice. The fight for freedom is not over; it is a fight that must be fought every day so that those who come after us can have the same opportunity and responsibility.
So what does that mean for you and me today? You will have to answer that for yourself, but as for me I am forever thankful for all those who died to make this nation free or to keep this nation free. I am reminded that with freedom comes responsibility. I must live in such a way as to be respectful of the great price that was paid for me to walk, talk, work, and worship in freedom.
As people who live in freedom we have been given great blessings. With great blessings also come responsibilities. You and I must live in such a way that we can share the freedom and blessings which God has given us and so many have died for.
So today, I am thankful. Thankful that I live in a nation which great men and women have sacrificed their lives so that you and I can be free and I am thankful for Jesus Christ who made an eternal sacrifice so that you and I could be free from sin and have a life for all eternity with the Father. What a blessing it is to be a Christian living in the freest nation in the world. The question is what will I do with the freedom I have as a citizen of the United States of America and what will I do with the freedom I have in Christ Jesus? The blood of the Many and the blood of the One and Only demand that I do something as a citizen and a Christian. To do nothing would make their death meaningless.
Father God, thank you for watching over this great nation. May we be a people who do not take this opportunity of freedom lightly. May we live up to the expectations of those who have died to give us the responsibility of freedom.
Love God. Go Love Others.
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