Head or Heart... or both?

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to a couple friends about my faith and its balance with facts.  The first conversation was actually with a buddy struggling with his own faith.  He was hung up on the facts of the Bible.  The conversation turned to the science of Jesus being the Christ.  I’ve read quite a few books about the chances of Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament prophesies and I've come to believe its statistically impossible for Jesus not to indeed be the Christ.  We discussed that a little while and it quickly turned to talking about the inerrancy of the Bible.

For a very long time… from the time I was saved at 12 until I was in my lower 30’s… I had big concerns that people… humans… homosapiens could not pervert the words from God.  Not so much about the original text, but about all of the tranlations.  I couldn’t believe that all of these translations could be correct.  There are all of these biases… Calvanism vs. Arminianism… all of the different canons of the Bible… I just couldn’t see how anyone could be mostly right, let along completely right!

Somewhere along the line, I started to believe that the Holy Spirit guides me in my everyday life.  If that's the case, then believing that He can guide the hands of these authors isn't so far fetched.  I will admit that I still won't use certain versions to study and understand the real meaning.  They are fine for a second version to bounce against if I’m struggling with a passage, but just not as my primary text.  That said, I believe that the Holy Spirit will show me the meaning of the scripture if I’m truly seeking God’s guidance.  So back to the plot line...

So as we discussed all of this it dawned on me… he was feeding his head, but not his heart!  When I made my greatest breakthroughs in faith, it was by feeding my heart… and my head followed.  Actually, my head stopped getting in the way and those details that meant so much to me before… faded away.  So you ask, ‘what do you mean? You fed your heart’… glad you asked!!!

To me, feeding my heart is all about growing my faith, whereas my head-knowledge is all about facts.  We are called to have faith based on fact, so one cannot grow without the other.  Growing faith is about “feeling” and “sensing” God… His presense… His love… His provision.  That can’t come from a book or a lecture or a dissecting a Greek phrase.  It has to be experienced.  This means I have to trust my feelings… which is a big challenge all by itself.  Humans want to “prove” everything, but that’s not what faith is all about!

For me, the easiest way to feed my heart is to look for God’s fingerprints on my life.  Every day I can recognize many instances of God’s grace if I look for them.  Those coincidences from my last blog… I hit all the lights on my way to work… I somehow got all my work done so that I can leave on time even though I had back-to-back meetings all day… I saw that guy merging into my lane in time to hit the brakes so that I didn’t get hit… some of those probably sound trivial, but those things add up!  God knew the hairs on my head before I was born:

Mathew 10:29 through 31 - ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.³⁰ And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Another big way I feed my heart is through worship.  For me, singing is the most impactful means of worship… probably because for me it’s an extension of prayer. Whether on Sunday morning while on stage in the choir or in my car on my way home from work, I get the most from opening my heart to God by lifting my voice to praise God or simply talk to Him in song.  The words mean something to me and it’s not just a pretty noise. 

Serving and giving are two other big portions.  By giving back through leading in Celebrate Recovery and by giving financially, I get to represent Jesus Christ to others.  It is fulfilling beyond words to know that I’ve personally affected someone’s life to the credit of God… sometimes by face-to-face contact, but mostly through the peace and sense of purpose that I get through the Holy Spirit.

I can’t tell you how to feed your heart because I believe it’s a personal thing.  What I can say is that you should figure it out! Start by considering the basics: service, giving and worship.  From there, just get plugged in… wherever you feel led.  I guarantee that you’ll find out that there is a need for exactly what you have to offer.

Looking back on how I’ve matured in my faith in Christ, I realize that the more I feed my heart, the more my head is satisfied.  But if I don’t continue to feed my head, my heart and my faith grow stagnant and I don’t keep moving forward.  It takes both things to become more and more Christ-like!!

Ephisians 4: 12 and 13 – …so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Do “Coincidences” Matter?

I guess my flights are my time to reflect.  Today I was on the plane to North Carolina at the crack of dawn waiting for everyone to board and started thinking about random stuff… yes… the word random occurs a lot when referring to my thoughts J

“Ughhhh… I shouldn’t have ate that breakfast biscuit.  I’m gonna pay for that later today.”

“Dang it… I didn’t buy a magazine, now I’m gonna have to look at Sky Mall… at all of the overpriced novelty stuff.  Does anyone actually buy any of this? …ooo… that watch is cool… what?  $400 for a Casio?!?  Are they nuts!?!?”

“Hmmm… wonder what we’ll eat for lunch?  Oh… we’re going to The Oceanic for supper!!!  Woo Hoo!!! Grouper and those awesome hushpuppies!!!”

Then I fell asleep. I never sleep on flights, but this morning was an exception.  Next thing I know, we’re taking off and the rumbling of the wheels on the tarmac kinda startled me.  I don’t know why… well yes… actually I do… but anyway… I started thinking about my job.  Specifically how I’m not all that excited about it.  I’ve had to deal with some very difficult personalities in this new assignment and even been yelled at and called stupid. Add to it that I’m supposed to help break into a new business while dealing with a huge company that resists change.  Basically, I was questioning if I’m where I’m supposed to be.

As with most of my rabbit trails, I took a left and headed a different direction that I thought I was heading.  I started by telling myself that I’m in the wrong place and I’d normally start exploring my options for a job change.  Instead, I started looking for evidence that I was in the right spot.

I often look for God’s direction or affirmation in “coincidences” that happen in my life. I believe that “coincidences” don’t really exist.  Those situations fall into the “if it’s seems impossible, then it was God” category.  If I truly believe that God controls everything, then He made it happen.  If He made it happen, there is purpose.

So the big “coincidence” that I immediately thought of was how I got this job in the first place. The role I was previously in had a bunch of ups and downs.  There were some weeks and months where I had nothing to do, so I had tried to get on with my current program. At the time, nothing was available.  Fast forward about six months.  My previous role was ending and I needed a new assignment.  Just so happens that my current program needed some help, so I went over.

I started helping out and the managers mentioned that they needed to assign a Chief Engineer.  This role was the next logical step in my career… the “coincidences” are building!  When they finally got around to conducting interviews, I was the logical choice because I already had a few months of experience doing the job.

Wow! So I really was supposed to get this job.  God must want me here! 

Hold on… the trail keeps going… I’m working with two customers and they are both huge challenges. One is located in Wilmington, NC, and the other in Lynchburg, VA.  These are both really small towns. What are the chances of knowing anyone from either?  Apparently, they are pretty good!  Within the last year or so, I’ve become really good friends with three people that are from each.  I know, you’re thinking… ‘so what? That’s random, but doesn’t mean anything’. 

Well that’s where my epiphany came in… it does mean something!!!  It means everything!!!  God doesn’t do everything in big bright flashing lights!!!  Sometimes He is very subtle!  I’d much rather Him smack me in the head with His message, but then its not Faith!  I gotta keep looking for Him in the little things cause it’ll keep me encouraged… it’ll build my faith… it’ll ensure to me that I’m in His will… and frankly, that’s where I want to be.

So tell me, what have you experienced that shows God’s fingerprints?  Big or small… let me hear ‘em!!

My first blog... the moon and the sun!

So last week while driving to work, I heard a song that I’ve heard hundreds of times… Starry Night by Chris August.  The specific lyric that caught my attention is “I’m giving my life to the only one who makes the moon reflect the sun”.  I started thinking about how their point was how we are supposed to reflect the Son...the Son of God. The thoughts kept building and building… that is a pretty big responsibility for me and anyone who claims to be a Christ follower.  I am called to let my faith be known, which means I also represent Jesus Christ to everyone I encounter.  I have an ichthus (fish) and cross tattoo.  I don’t even have to say a word for folks to know what I believe.  Frankly, that’s why I got them.  But that also means that I’m looked at “differently”… measured to a different standard. 

No one is expected to be perfect all the time, but I have to realize that I am always being graded. Not necessarily by my failures… I fail a lot… but definitely by my reactions.  Did I get really mad when things went wrong or did I look for God’s provision, knowing that it’ll all work out in the end?  Am I actually joyful regardless of the circumstances?  Did I look for someone else to blame when I was really the cause?  Did I act like a victim when I was wronged or did I offer forgiveness?  Do I expect perfection in others?  Did  I put expectations on folks to be like me?  Or did I accept people for who they are… not judge?  The world would say that I am a victim.  I should deflect blame.  I should get revenge.  Even some sects of religion say I should condemn.  But that’s not what the Bible says.

I’m also graded on my choices.  Can I quote movie lines from The Princess Bride and Star Wars… but can I quote the Bible?  Do I always catch that TV episode… Castle, The Big Break, Warehouse 13… but do I read the Bible every day?  What do I post on Facebook? Is it portraying the God I claim to love?  How do I spend my money? The world says that my gratification is the most important thing.  But that’s not what the Bible says.

Now don’t get me wrong here. This whole train of thought was a big encouragement to me.  My obedience to God over the past year or two has brought me more in line with God’s will than ever before in my life.  In respect to all of those questions, I can say that I do well more times than I do poorly… and all I can expect is that I continue to improve every day.  I have a daily quiet time… some days more quiet than others.  I pray a lot and include a lot of you in those prayers.  I have folks in my life that I share deep dark secrets. I admit my hurts, habits and hang-ups to them, to God and myself.  I’ve been able to let go of a lot of baggage… a lot of shame… a lot of resentment.  I’ve been able to accept the role God has placed me in.  What that means is still becoming more and more clear as I’ve started to listen instead of doing all the talking.  A little piece of evidence of this is coming up in just a few paragraphs, so let’s get back to the song and where that little lyric took my thoughts…

Then I noticed the moon.  It was pretty bright, almost a full moon. Another question popped into my head. What happens during an eclipse?  The earth gets in the way of the sun and the moon no longer receives anything to reflect.  Wow!!! The earth… the world… blocks the moon… us… from seeing and therefore reflecting the sun… the SON!!!  It was so obvious, but yet I didn’t see it until that moment!

Any of you who know me also know that I follow rabbit trails until there’s no trace of paw prints.  So I kept going… it dawned on me that God gave us this naturally occurring event to demonstrate his message and meaning… a physical and huge demonstration… not just words in a book! How great is it that He used the things that define our reality to show such a simple premise?  Any time I’m in the woods or see a sun rise, I can see God’s beauty and majesty, but this is the first time that I’ve seen this kind of message in action… imagery on the most grand scale!

Romans 1:20 - For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

When this came over me, I felt a bunch of different emotions. 

First, insignificant and unworthy… God used His endless, magnificent power to set this in motion and manipulate what defines my existence to show all of us mere mortals this simple, straightforward thing.

Second, important and relevant… He did this for me! While I was driving down a relatively insignificant road, to a relatively insignificant job, on a not all that special day, He gave this epiphany to little ole me. Maybe I’m not as insignificant as I thought… at least to Him!

So later in the day I started thinking, if I’m significant enough to get this message from God, then what am I supposed to do with it.  Writing this is the first thing that came to mind… to share my thoughts with you by writing this out and posting it. Since some of my friends (B-Rad, D-Weezy, T-Lite) have started blogging, I’ve felt led to add to the internet brain-trust, but I’ve just never followed through.  Today, as with most situations where I finally give in to God’s promptings, He set me up with 3 hours waiting on a delayed plane, a 3 hour flight and a pesky, nagging urge.  So this is the result… enjoy! 

As I wrote this, a few more thoughts popped up. Ever been out in the woods away from the city lights during a new moon?  You can’t see your hand in front of your face.  Ever been out there during a full moon?  You can almost read by the light of that moon.  Pulling this string can wait for the next blog entry… stay tuned!!!

BTW, if you want to see more, bug me!  If you miss reading someone else’s blog, bug them! If you know someone who needs encouragement to share, do it!  As I said above, God expects us to represent Him… sometimes that means being the voice, hands and feet to complete the message that the Holy Spirit is trying to get through someone’s stubborn head… possibly my head, cause we all know how stubborn I can be!