JRMITCH85 Faith, Hope, Ramblings

Even Greater Gifts

Now that the holiday season is past and the gift giving has ended for a while, I looked back at one of my deepest joys was getting the opportunity to look at the face of my son as he opened his birthday gifts earlier in the season, and Christmas gifts. For his birthday I decided to give him a skateboard (with a helmet and pads), and I was filled with so much glee that he wanted to go out and immediately put on the pads and go ride his skateboard. That feeling was only to be topped by “Christmas” morning, and he woke me up to tell me, “I got a kitchen daddy, I got a kitchen!”, when the night before I was up until 2 AM putting it together, but his excitement made the sleep deprivation worth it.

Although I am not always the most astute person when it comes to getting people gifts, I knew what it was that would bring him a great deal of joy. Certainly, the excitement of getting gifts is enough to bring joy, no matter what the gift might be, but there is a certain gleam in his eye when he gets some particular gifts. I was overjoyed that the gifts I picked out for him were those special gifts. Even when “Santa” gets the credit for bringing the gifts.

However, no matter how good I was at picking out gifts, God is better at getting us just what we need at the right time. At the same time, God is pleased to give us what we need, and sometimes we also get those wants. We are blessed, we are bestowed with gifts, and God expresses love to us in diverse ways. God wants a relationship with us no matter what, and has gone to the cross to show us the extent of that love.

Jesus teaches us about God’s gift giving in Luke’s Gospel,

“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks fore a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:9-13)

One of those great gifts God blessed me with after Christmas was snow. On Sunday after church the snow started coming down, and it kept going until the next morning. I was just in awe of the beauty with which God has blessed us. Although I never would have thought to ask God for snow, I hope that the worship filled response I had toward the snow, allowed God the same joy I had when I saw the excitement in my son’s face.

 

JRMITCH85 Faith, Hope, Ramblings

Thankfulness

Happy Day After Thanksgiving!

Many people like to refer to this day as “Black Friday”, because of all the shopping that goes on, and stores go into “the black” for the year, but I really wish we would just focus on the things that we have to be thankful for this year.

I am thankful for my family, for the friends that are so close that they are family, and for the people that have impacted my life in special ways. I am thankful for a job, and a roof over my head. I am thankful for all sorts of provision that has guided and guarded me in the past year. I am thankful that I live in this country, and I am free to speak my mind, and free to move, and free from many of the world’s vulnerabilities. Most of all, I am thankful that I have a relationship with a loving God that loves me more than I will ever know.

I appreciate Advent as we enter after thanksgiving. Let us prepare for the arrival of the King of Kings, by being thankful that the Lord of Lords has given us so much for which to be thankful. Let us think about those things as we enter into this season.

JRMITCH85 Character, Decisions, Faith, Ramblings

Illness Ignored

I am just getting over an illness that I could not understand, nor could I kick it until I decided that I needed to change the way I was living to allow my body to fight it properly. I went about my day, working and playing as if nothing was wrong, staying up late, eating whatever sounded good to me at the time, and not paying any mind that my stomach was upset, and living in this manner aggravated the symptoms, and I felt worse. Eventually, I got tired of feeling sick, and realized that if I wanted to get better, I would have to alter the way I was living, and maybe even go see a doctor. (Strangely enough, even at 31 years of age, I still have an uneasy feeling about going to see the doctor.) Eventually, I stopped eating whatever, and went on a diet of foods that were easy on the stomach, I went to bed earlier, I rested when I could, and I gave my body a fighting chance against whatever the bug that was attacking my system. Now, I feel better, and am taking it easy, sort of.

I missed the opportunity to truly enjoy spending time with my son, because I wanted to be able to just fight through this sickness. Because I fought taking a step back, I ended up going through the motions in our play and not fully engaging in the way I want to engage him. If I just would have taken a day to allow my body to rest, I’m not saying it would have been better immediately, but I wouldn’t have just been “blah” in the precious time he and I had together.

Many things in life are like this illness. Whether it is our habits, routines, addictions, lust, sloth, our current emotional state, mental health, physical health, any number of vices, or our lack of spiritual well-being, all of these can contribute to our illness. This illness affects the type of person we are with our loved ones, it affects our ability to work, and eventually it breaks down our physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies, until we are defined by our illness. It starts with something manageable, with something that doesn’t rule us, but because we convince ourselves that we can control it, we lose control without ever knowing when we have reached that tipping point.

So many things get in the way of being the best us! Whether it is something that happens to us, or something we do to ourselves or others, we are susceptible to contracting this illness. When it eventually hits us, and it will hit us, what is our response going to be? Are we going to try to just live our lives as if we are in control of the symptoms? This is our pride surfacing. Most All of the time, we have an out. We need a doctor to guide us through the maze, to help protect us from ourselves. We are not able to do this on our own. A change needs to happen, and Jesus is here for us, so let’s not ignore the fact that He chose to dine with us, not the scribes and pharisees. (Mark 2:16-17, Matthew 9:11-13)

We are all sick, don’t ignore it, dine with the Physician tonight.

JRMITCH85 Faith, Ramblings

Election 2010 Postmortem

First of all, I have friends that are happy, I have friends that are sad, but most have some sort of mixed reaction to the results from last night. I am proud to say that I have friends I disagree with, and that no matter where we stand on any of the issues, we can still be friends. (Just like a lot of people don’t like the fact that I am a Laker fan, but they’re still my friends, right?) However, that is the hardest thing for me to see during these election cycles, my friends, the people I love, divided over this person or that person, this proposition or that proposition. The great thing about this country is that we are free to see things differently than somebody else, but that in all reality we are a lot more alike than we are different.

“If we amplify everything, we hear nothing.” -Jon Stewart

Certainly, many think that one solution is better than another, and we should be able to have a certain amount of civil discourse to discuss the merits of each other’s proposals. However, neither side is generally willing to complement some one from the other side of the aisle. Pardon my opinion that the concession speeches I hear seem utterly disingenuous. It is hard to hear that LOSING CANDIDATE wish WINNING CANDIDATE well and think that it is genuine, especially since we have heard the two candidates bash each other’s heads in with their negative advertisements for the last six months. (This is an another issue I despise, and am sad that it is the most effective strategy. Negative advertisements work, which is why they get used most often.)

I hope and pray that we as a people rise up and make this statement from then Sen. Obama ring true in our hearts.

“There is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America”

If we join together and work for the welfare of all people, and we all get together and push, the United States of America will be “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” However, if we are going to allow our partisan politics divide us, we will not progress as a nation, and will fall short of the ideals to which we cling.

As for me, I will pray for these leaders. Not that they personally succeed or fail, but that we as a nation are able to bring hope to those that lack hope or options, and that we as a nation succeed together, not by standing on the backs of others. I truly believe that a non-zero sum is possible, and that through honest leadership, and the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will be blessed. I am not going to wait until my team wins to pray, I am not going to bicker, I am not going speak poorly of my leaders, but I will pray, I will fight for truth, and through it all I will strive to be a voice for the Kingdom of God in this place.

JRMITCH85 Decisions, Faith

Happy Reformation Day

The popular belief is that on this day in 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses, and sparked the Protestant Reformation. Later today it is my task to preach the Word of God. I feel obliged to include in the presentation of the Word, the actions of Martin Luther in 1517.

Ultimately, the importance that we find in scripture, and in history, that no human institution or human action is worthy of worship or praise, but rather it is God Almighty alone that has the power to save us from anything. Therefore, the important thing to understand is that through the prodding of the Holy Spirit, God granted Martin Luther the boldness to present this argument to the church. Certainly, Martin Luther had to respond to the prodding, but it is the Holy Spirit who reforms us, not an action by a single human, or human institution.

When we lose our way, and begin lifting up the institution above God, or even at equal position with God, we lose sight of the reforming and transformational character of God. This breaks God’s heart, because the Almighty loves us so much that when we fall into the traps that trap us in thinking that God requires a special formula, or the right “hocus pocus” to be effective, we become stagnant in our worship, and restrict ourselves from taking a step back and breathing in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. When we do this, God laughs and cries because we simply miss the point that God is God, and we should strive to be more like God, and less stuck on our own patterns and ideas about right and wrong worship.

The Almighty God alone judges. God is bigger than our churches. God seeks to grant us each a deep and true Shalom, wholeness, prosperity, peace, and completion. Only if we are willing to come together as the Church, are we going to see the true Reformation. However, that starts with our own personal expression.

God desires a personal relationship with each of us, and that relationship takes time and effort on our part. How do we respond to the grace that is present for us before we do anything? We are called to respond with JOY, GLADNESS, THANKSGIVING, and SERVICE. This has nothing to do with being Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, etc. This has to do with God, and coming together to be the true church.

I think it odd that Jon Stewart reminds us that we have more that brings us together, than that which pulls us apart, but if we amplify our differences, we wont be able to see our similarities. God loves you, God loves me, and because of that we should respond by loving one another.

It never was Luther’s intention, nor the desire of God, for the result of the Reformation to split the church into a million different denominations. In fact it was intended simply to be a corrective, and a call for the church to remember that which God’s calls us. We are called to be the salt of the Earth, and to bring the love of God to all of those lacking hope. Therefore, I pray that on this Reformation Day, we as the Church of God can come together and participate in the Reformation of the World.

JRMITCH85 Character, Faith

Intrusive Vanity

As I was running this morning I had to question my intentions. Why am I doing this? Am I doing this to lose weight so I am healthier? Am I doing this so I can be in good enough shape to run a half-marathon in December? Am I doing this because I am living out a life to which God is calling me? Or am I doing this so that I can simply be more attractive, or because of vanity?

I would be a liar if I began to say that vanity had nothing to do with it.

Certainly, there are good reasons why I am running; it does aid me in a healthier lifestyle, and my body is a gift from God, and I am called to be a good steward. The half marathon is more or less a neutral rationale, because there is also an aspect of vanity there.

While vanity was not the reason I started running, or planned to run a half marathon, the fact that vanity has crept into my desires to run bothers me greatly. This vain trap is intrusive, as it works its way into the things that are good and tarnishes them, making them less than what they once were.

I love the complements I have received about losing weight. However, my love for those comments tarnishes the fact that it is a good thing I lost weight.

This isn’t the only thing that vanity has intruded upon. When I preach, when I play with my son, when I blog, when I sit and read, and the list goes on and on and on. It works its way into so many things, and it feels as if everything I care about is vulnerable to the ugly tentacles of vanity.

It may be impossible to eradicate the danger of vain thoughts, what I can do is recognize them, and prevent them from influencing my actions. I do also need to continuously review the reasons I do things, and if they have anything to do with me and my pride, I should reconsider. I need to give these up to God, and not hold onto them. This is a difficult task and certainly not one that I have mastered, but have to flexible and ready to keep working on it.

I pray that pride and vanity do not take over, but it is something that I know I have to understand better, and make sure that my focus is upon the God that loves me, and calls me into the kingdom, and that I do this for God and not myself.

JRMITCH85 Faith

Weather or Not

Not to disparage meteorologists, but the predictions this weekend were wrong, and affected my outdoor plans. First on Saturday in Berkeley the chances of rain were less than 10% before 5pm, after the game was going to be over, therefore a friend of mine decided to go with me because there was not going to be rain. However, the rain started just before halftime, and by the end of the third quarter I was soaked. Fortunately, Cal beat up on ASU, and was leading by 40 points in the fourth quarter, so we left the game early. (Although we left later than most.) Yesterday, the weather was supposed to be 70 and mostly sunny at the pumpkin patch, so I planned a trip to the pumpkin patch. Unfortunately, it was much cooler than that, and it started to rain as we left. (I am thankful that it didn’t start to rain sooner, but I was not personally ready for rain, even though I did make sure my son was dressed warm enough.)

All in all I had plans based on information delivered to me through a couple of weather outlets. I trusted them.

How often has the weather forecast been incorrect? Although, this isn’t completely because of the insufficiency of the knowledge of weather predictors, but the nature of weather. It is difficult to predict many times.

It reminds me of where I place my trust. Granted, my weekend plans are very small in comparison to many things in life, but I think it is relevant I placed more trust in a prediction that has a less than stellar record of accuracy, than I place in God with some decisions I make everyday.

This should never be the case, but as I think about the things that I do in preparation of making a decision, I realize that my relationship with God is not always a major determining factor in doing something. Sometimes I feel as if the thing is below prayer, but sometimes I trust in my intellect, and still other times I trust in nothing more than a feeling.

Not that I am advocating for falling down on your knees for every decision, from deciding what you are going to eat for breakfast, to what career you are going to pursue, but I do advocate for each of us to ask how the Almighty Creator of the universe would feel about our decision, and the process we use to make the decision.

Ultimately, God is in control of the weather, not the weather people making predictions, thus God is much more worthy of my trust. Thus in life, God cares about all of my life and all of my decisions. Therefore, I should go to this personal God, and trust that I will not be led astray.