Big

Not too long ago I took my boys to Cabala's with me. Cabala's, for those of you who live in a cave, is the most awesome sporting goods store on Earth. They should hand out drool catchers at the door for people like me. I walk around in a trance with my mouth hanging open, imagining how many fish I could catch with all of the colorful lures that pretty much guarantee that I will catch the biggest fish on any lake (which has never happened). But that day I was on a mission. No time for drool. A group of guys and I were heading up north for a camping trip and I had to grab some supplies and get back home. I was really looking forward to the trip. For the weeks leading up to it, I had been focused on how BIG God is. How He does everything BIG. My idea was to share with the guys one night around the fire, just how BIG our Creator is. It's hard to convey that in our daily environment, but when you are up north and it's just you and nature, it carries a little more weight. I printed off pages from scientific websites and memorized mind blowing numbers about the span of the known universe. For example, Carl Sagan once said that there were more stars in the sky than grains of sand on all of the beaches on Earth, which blows my mind. In doing the research, there are quite a few scientists that agree with him. Simply amazing!
So in Cabala's that day, as I was still in "thinking BIG" mode, I took my boys to the mountain of animals in the middle of the store. I wanted to show them how God creates BIG.
I pointed out the Grizzly bear standing on his hind legs. We looked ar the Moose and the Polar bear. I was trying to point out to my boys the same thing I was hoping to point out to the men I was going camping with, that their God is a God who creates BIG, massive, colossal things and that if God is BIG enough to create those things, He is BIG enough to take care of whatever comes their way.
God had other plans though...
The students became the teacher that day. As we were making our way around the mountain, they were only mildly interested in what I was showing them. What they were interested in however, was the chipmunk. Of all the things to look at, the chipmunk captivated them. They spent 10 minutes talking about that animal to each other. They were making comments about how fast they are, how small they are, how the markings on it looked like racing stripes, and how cool it is that God makes such small things. They see stinkin' chipmunks everyday!!
And there was the lesson.
God is BIG. He is most definitely awesome and He certainly creates BIG, but don't spend too much time on the BIG things. He is in the little things too. He is in the normal stuff. He is in the creatures that we grow numb to because of the frequency in which we see them. You don't have to escape to some far off spot in nature to see Him. He is here today, right now. He is at your office. He is in your car during your commute. He is in the daily routine. He is present in the BIG things to be sure, but He is without question even visible in the chipmunk.
I never talked about the "BIG" topic around the campfire that week. I was too busy thinking about the little things.
This week…..Be careful not to miss God in the small stuff.

Mafia Wars

I have started taking a liking to Facebook. I don't post much on there but I do like checking in during the day to see what people are doing. The thing that I don't get is the games that Facebook offers to play. I saw one the other day called "Mafia Wars".
I mean, who plays this crap? Hold that thought….
Last night I visited a friend of mine. I was just in the neighborhood and decided that I was going to drop in unannounced. Now this guy is very well read. He is the kind of guy that can quote scripture and tell you exactly where it is found in the Bible. He attends a Christian college and gives the professors a run for their money regarding interpreting scripture correctly. He and I have had some great conversations about what true faith is, how we know we are heaven bound, and many other topics. Last night we were discussing possible Jesus sightings in the Old Testament and some good laughs. As I was leaving, I apologized for interrupting him and what appeared to be some on-line studying perhaps. He assured me that it was never a problem to drop in. He also told me that the only thing I interrupted was his game of Mafia Wars on Facebook.

Test tube Jesus

Remember Chemistry class in high school? I hated Chemistry with a passion. I still have no idea why I had to learn that Gold is actually "Au" on the periodic table of elements. Now, there is a useless bit of information that is taking up room in my brain. It is probably housed in the compartment that could be used to solve world hunger, and I only need that much more space to solve it, but "Au" is hanging out there, never to be removed apparently. What I did like about Chemistry class was when we got to play with the beakers and test tubes.
I remember the teacher telling me to put the right amount of the liquid labeled "A", and the right amount of liquid "B" together in the test tube for a desired result. Of course, I would follow the directions the first time, but that got old real quick. In no time at all I would be wondering to myself, "what if I mixed a little less of "A" and a little more of "B", and maybe threw in some potentially hazardous "C" and then some…..", and without fail my experiment would end in disaster. The point is that I think we do the same thing when it comes to following Jesus. We like to say we follow Jesus, but it is really a Jesus we create, isn't it?
We like to set up our test tube and our measuring spoons and pull our Bible out. When the real Jesus calls for a level spoonful of love, we take the level spoonful and dump most of it in the test tube but stop short at the measuring line that says to love our enemies. We see that the recipe for the real Jesus asks us to put 10 droplets of tithe, so we put in 20 and look to the person next to us to make sure they see how many drops we put in. The recipe for the real Jesus calls for 2 teaspoons of caring for people less fortunate than we are, and we just sift in enough until it starts making us a little uncomfortable. See, the real Jesus cannot be concocted in our religious labs. The real Jesus cannot be tampered with. He is the same all the time. There are no other versions of Him. There is only 1 true Jesus and the only way to find the true Jesus is to study the real Jesus and choose to follow the real Jesus completely, not just partially. Are you studying the real Jesus or are you creating one from your own test tube?

The jump

Today is the day.
Looking back on the 2 options: The road to the left and the road to the right, I know that the reality is that there was no option. When you feel the Spirit of your Creator calling you down a certain path, you simply "go". Praying through this last week and a half has really just been affirmation for me. Thanks to those of you who prayed along side of me. I seriously appreciate it.

I am now jumping into the unknown and uncomfortable.