God Is In the Gaps

As someone who is spending a lot of time "in the gaps" these days, I really appreciated today's blog from Dr. Chris Stephens. Hope you do, too.

Hey Friends,

We are in our third week of the series, Eyes Wide Open. The series is about dreams and helping others you love achieve their dreams. This weekend we are going to deal with delayed dreams. All dreams are delayed to a certain extent because when we achieve them, they are no longer dreams.

Remember, life happens while we are on our way to our dreams! The journey is more important than the destination of our dreams. Let’s face it – we get discouraged in the meantime. We get discouraged when there are delays in our dreams. I think we will call them the “gaps.”

By definition there is a gap between the receiving of a dream and achieving it. We hate the gaps, but as Chuck Carringer said: “God is in the gaps.” Abraham had a gap, Joseph had a gap, and so did every other biblical character that actually achieved their dreams. For some of them the gap was decades long. Some gave up before the dream became reality.

Do you sense God in the gaps? Do you look for God in the gaps? When our kids were younger and we went on family trips (purgatory) they would ask, “Are we there yet?” “I wish we were there.” It is so easy to wish our lives away and try to skip the gaps when they really are the biggest part of our lives. To enjoy them is to experience the life Jesus bought for us on the cross.

You may be in a gap right now and He is with you. He promised He would be. I love receiving dreams and achieving them, but God’s revealed desire for us is to delight in the journey.

Are you?

Pastor Chris

Anything's Possible - Dr. Chris Stephens

Amazing story of God's faith and redemption on an amazing man: Dr. Chris Stephens. Watch this when you can...

Plan B

I'm always on the lookout for a great book. But the best books somehow have a way of finding me.

That is what is happening with me right now with Plan B by Pete Wilson. I'm just a few chapters into it, but already I can tell it is just the right book at just the right time. The fact that one of my best friends surprised me by buying a copy for me to read only makes it even more providential.

Pete is a pastor of Crosspoint Church in Nashville. I've been following him on Twitter for a while. And recently I've been impressed and inspired by the work he and his church have been doing in the wake of the terrible Nashville floods. Being a Nashville native and having seen the damage first hand (my 2 sisters both had flood damage to their homes) I was very thankful and moved by how Pete and his congregation have witnessed and worked in the midst of this tragedy.

As I kept hearing about Pete's work in Nashville, I also kept hearing about his book. Plan B is about what we do when things don't work out the way we wanted them to. What do we do when God doesn't come through the way we thought he would or could or should? How do we deal with disappointment?

It's so ironic, because in many ways my hometown is going through one great big Plan B experience. No one expects the greatest amount of rainfall in over a Century to happen in a matter of 24 hours. But it did. So what is our response as Christians?

Personally, I feel like I'm going through my own Plan B right now. Actually, somedays it feels like I'm on Plan G...or H...I...J...K...

Some days I feel like my plan is like a big bowl of alphabet soup.

I didn't expect for my agency to hand me my last check almost 3 months ago and say "we're closing the business." I didn't expect to still be out of work. I didn't expect my father-in-law to still be living with us, almost 1 year after he first got sick. But that's where things are. So do I whine, complain and moan about "the good ol' days"? Do I spend my time and energy wishing things were somehow different?

The healthier response is to stop clinging to Plan A and trusting God that Plan B can work. Notice I said it was healthier...not easier. In fact, being ok with Plan B has been one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

But I'm trying. And I have a feeling that by reading Pete Wilson's book, it's going to help me tremendously along my new path.

My hero

Steve Nash is a total bad-ass. His performance last night was so beyond next level. That went into Willis Reed/Chuck Norris territory. Draining 30 footers and dishing Magic-esque dimes in a NBA playoff game w/ one eye!?!?!? AMAZING!

Favorite. B-Baller. Ever!

Word to Your Mother

Mother's Day is upon us and the older I get, the more I realize that mothers rule. Seriously. I have a wonderful mom and am married to an equally awesome mom to my 2 wild childs. Hopefully that's enough to compensate for the crazy father of theirs.

Here are two posts from some amazing moms and good friends of mine:

Patti and her awesome adoption story of her son Samuel.

Katie and her inspiring story of her oldest son who is struggling with drug addiction.

2 amazing stories. 2 amazing mothers.

To all of the other amazing moms out there...HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Knox Area Rescue Ministries Jubilee Videos

The amazing organization KARM has the videos about their 50th Anniversary Jubilee uploaded to YouTube. It was such a blessing to be a part of this production. Please take a look and support KARM any way you can.



Check out all the other videos here.

Hypocrites

We had some tree work done at our house this past weekend. Tree guys are definitely a different breed. One of the guys doing the work told me how he eats poison ivy leaves to "build up his immunity."

Like I said, these cats are a different breed.

But the poison ivy eating tree guy wasn't even the most memorable one. That distinction goes to a guy named Brian.

Brian has stage-4 cancer in his esophagus. While he still has a full head of hair, he is undergoing aggressive chemotherapy and radiation. He is rail thin and it looked as if every step he took caused him great pain.

Yet here he was, helping the guys up in the trees clear the brush and carry the branches out of the road. I felt bad that he was doing this work, but he insisted. Said "I don't really want to do it, but I want to do it..."

I knew exactly what he meant.

When they were done with the job and about to head out, I had a few moments to talk. I asked him about his cancer and what the doctors were saying. He said the outlook wasn't good, but he was going to fight with all he had.

I told him I'd be praying for him. He paused and looked down for several moments.

When he raised his head, he had a fire in his eyes that I hadn't seen all day. "You know, it's a damn shame that most churches are full of hypocrites."

I asked him what he meant and he told me a story that pains my heart just to think about it. He said he has been going back to church and trying to get more involved. This church that he has been attending has some type of mission to provide food and clothes for those in need. I got the sense that Bryan was definitely a hand to mouth type of guy, not that there's anything wrong with that. But he didn't have a home, and it seemed like whatever money he made was from the occasional odd job. Add in the stress and expense of dealing with stage 4 cancer and, well, the outlook isn't bright.

It seemed that Brian had gone to this church several times. He had been losing a great amount of weight, due to the cancer. He was rail thin when I saw him so this seemed very legit. Evidently the person at the church charged with giving out the clothes told Bryan he had "used up his allotment" and he wasn't welcome to any more items.

Now, I realize there are two sides to every story. And every church and non-profit has to gracefully deal with those who are out to game the system.

But really? There had to be a better way to deal with this situation. ESPECIALLY in a church. Somehow I can't see Jesus getting caught up with the fact someone in need had already passed through the line once.

Brian said it best, "I told the guy I'm already losing my life...now you're telling me that I can't even get a free pair of jeans that fit?! You need to find Jesus in your life!!"

Pray for Brian. That he his given strength as he battles his cancer. And that the next time he has an encounter in church, it is marked with more grace, mercy and compassion.