Table Talk

Logan hears from God

Requests of God

"Do you know why I often ask Christians,
'What's the biggest thing you've asked God for this week?'
I remind them that they are going to God,
The Father, the Maker of the Universe.
The One who holds the world in His hands.
What did you ask God for?
Did you ask for peanuts, toys, trinkets,
or did you ask for continents?
I want to tell you … it's tragic!
The little itsy-bitsy things we ask of our Almighty God.
Sure, nothing is too small -- but also nothing is too big.
Let's learn to ask for our big God some of those big things He talks about in Jeremiah 33:3:
'Call unto Me and I will answer thee,
and show thee great and mighty things
that thou knowest not.'"

Quoted in The Navigator by Robert Foster

What did you ask for today?

Don't we all need this?

This was recently posted on the door of my dry cleaners. I wonder what would happen if you wore one of these on your back?

Third Place Gatherings

Micheal Frost, in Exiles, talks about what sociologist Ray Oldenburg calls "Third Places", "...places where people can regularly go to take it easy and commune with friends, neighbors, and whoever just shows up."

The movie Chocolat portrays a women who opens a chocolatery in a small French village, which becomes just that, and more. In stark contrast to the established church in the village, her shop becomes a place of comfort, friendship and transformation.

I may not need to open a third place, but there is a need for me to frequent third places where my friends and neighbors hang out to kick back. Over on another blog, Jan Cowles talks about a new believer who started out in a house church, then started a new one in another favorite house of worship, St. Arbucks. She was simply open to inquiring minds and now meets with new friends around the Scriptures and His presence, 5 days a week.

Epic as a Podcast

Both the Epic Live Video (see below) and the Epic Live Audio are now available as a gift from Ransomed Heart. Follow this link: www.ransomedheart.com/podcast

Pomegranates & Bells?

The other day I was reading about the priest's garments in Exodus. At the hem of the robe were to be alternating pomegranates and bells. The pomegranates were to be of blue, purple and scarlet material and the bells were to be of gold. This was to be worn by Aaron and the tinkling of the bells was heard when he entered and left the holy place, "so that he will not die."

I began to think about my life. Was it one of bells or pomegranates or, hopefully, a balance of both. I think that a life of just bells is one of "all talk and no action". Like heat lightning, all flash and no production. No fruit! A life of all action misses the point of mentioning who we do it for. The assumption is made that "he's just a great guy." Is that why I do good things. So others will say, what a nice guy", or is it to bring attention to my Master. No bells, just pomegranates. In a balanced life, the bells still tinkle, but they are subdued by the fruit in between.

Have you ever seen a pomegranate? Most fruit only has a seed or just a few. You could plant a whole forest of pomegranate trees from one fruit. Do my actions plant any seeds, at all? Make me wonder if the point is the sweetness of the fruit or the planting of seeds.

And then there's the whole issue of the colors of the pomegranates. Every pomegranate I've ever seen was a crimson color. Well, except the one we left rotting in the bottom of the fridge one time. It was brown with this green fuzzy stuff...well, you get the picture. I guess fruit wasn't meant to be left in the fridge, and in the dark.

Yeah, back to the colors. The pomegranates on the priest's hem were to be blue, purple and scarlet. Blue usually speaks of heavenly things, purple of royal, and scarlet speaks of blood or redemption. And remember that these bells and fruit were on the hem, not the collar. Sounds like where we walk. Gosh, do I walk the talk. Is my walk redeemed. Do I walk like I have been bought with a price. Is my walk royal. Do I walk like I'm a king. Yup, He made us Kings and Priests. Is my walk heavenly. I don't mean "so heavenly minded that I'm no earthly good". No, I mean the kind of walk where I know where I a citizen of and so getting down and dirty with people should be no problem. When was the last time I sat with a friend under a bridge or slept on a porch with the dogs and fleas and lots of "image bearers" of God? Or just served a bowl of hot soup to a hungry friend on a cold day. Maybe even sat down and shared it with him.

Speaking of priesthood, my fav priest was Melchizedek...or should I say is, as he has no beginning and no end. "...priest of the Most High God" and what does he do for Abram? He serves him and blesses him. I'd love to be that kind of priest. And Melchizedek's name means King of Righteousness and King of Peace. Am I known for bringing justice and peace wherever I go? But that's part of what it means to walk in the footsteps of my Master.

What kind of footprints are you leaving? Or are you just a ding-a-ling?

Intentional, Missional, Life...

From Felicity Dale's An Army of Ordinary People, p. 141:

"We have a friend who used to be the pastor of a legacy church in Denver. He tried an experiment. One afternoon, he sat at a coffee shop with a sign that read, "I'll buy you a cup of coffee if you let me tell you my story about God." Only one person took him up on his offer. The next day he went to a different coffee shop. This time his sign read, "I'll buy you a cup of coffee if you tell me your story about God." This time people were lining up to spend time with him. Many of them ended up in tears. most would refuse to let him buy them coffee, just thanking him profusely for listening to them."

Take a look at this commercial. This is the British version.

I wonder if people came back looking for this guy again? Would people come back looking for you?

Here are the lyrics by Starrfadu:

Do you want to lay your head on my shoulder?
I don't mind if you cry.
Sometimes we all just need to let it out.
Just let your tears run down my arm,
so I can keep them in a blue jar.
We'll drink them later, so just let it out.
Let's take a walk just to clear our heads.
I don't mind that you're holding my hand.
You say you love me, so just let it out.
Your smile is a pleasant change from before,
when you thought that you couldn't take anymore.
Sometimes we all just need to let it out.

I'm so good at this!

Unbelievable! It's been over a year since my last post. I suppose I'm not the worst at this as I find other blogs that have been dormant for years.

What's new? The most recent events have been the total replacement of both of my knees. The left in October and the right in December. Initially messed up in sports with previous arthroscopic surgeries to trim cartilage and peek at torn ligaments, and then arthritis. It was so bad I couldn't walk for more than 15 to 30 minutes without having to sit and take the strain of my knees.

Here's a pic of what the knee prostheses look like. I was going to put 2 pics in (one for each knee) but one of my daughters said this was gross enough.

Not that there isn't any pain now but it's getting better, not worse. I was actually able to use an elliptical walker this past week and get out of breath. It felt great! Must be those long lost endorphins. I am still enjoying the benefits of occasional Vicodin but the need is decreasing and it will soon be unnecessary.

My physical therapist has been great (I say that while not being drugged). The sessions are difficult but "no pain, no gain". I'm soooo looking forward to hiking and geocaching when the snow goes away.

I have found now that having 2 "fake" knees and pins in my left heel from an unfortunate encounter with a cow has made me a pariah among my traveling companions. They breeze through airport security ahead of me and enjoy a six course meal while waiting for me to get "wanded". The past two wandings have been from tall black men who chuckle their way through the procedure. They all want to know what happened and break out in full laughter when I tell them the cow story.

A brief digression. To say the above reminds me of the scene in The Four Feathers, where Djimon Hounsou chides Heath Ledger about the way Englishmen laugh.

Back to the snow. Argh, the snow. That's where I've been getting my exercise lately. This make 6 or 7 weekends in a row that it has snowed. Today's started at about 5am with a few flurries flitting under the streetlight but it only amounted to about an inch of the stuff that you can float away with a broom. Never had snow like this Back East. I mean the fluffy stuff. We still have 4 foot drifts in the back from previous snows and 2 to 3 feet in the front. Yesterday I finally chipped away the refrigerator size chucks of ice from the driveway. The past month has made us LOVE our Subaru.

Nuff for now.

Epic Live DVD

Have you read John Eldredge's Epic?   If not, you should. Better yet, watch the Epic Live DVD. Perhaps I can best equate reading Epic and watching the DVD like reading Shakespeare and watching the play. It's almost like Epic was meant to be heard, or seen. In the DVD, John essentially narrates the books (really, almost acts it) in front of an small audience. Consider this commentary from ChristianCinema.com:

Discover the story God is telling.

Life, for most of us, feels like a movie we've arrived at forty minutes late.

Sure, good things happen, sometimes beautiful things. But tragic things happen too. What does it mean? We find ourselves in the middle of a story that is sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful, usually a confusing mixture of both, and we haven't a clue how to make sense of it all. No wonder we keep losing heart.

We need to know the rest of the story.

For when we were born, we were born into the midst of a great story begun before the dawn of time. A story of adventure, of risk and loss, of heroism...and betrayal. A story where good is warring against evil, danger lurks around every corner, and glorious deeds wait to be done. Think of all those stories you've ever loved-there's a reason they stirred your heart. They've been trying to tell you about the true Epic ever since you were young.

There is a Larger Story. And you have a crucial role to play.

The Gospel is an Epic, a Drama that has been unfolding now for some time. Journey with John as he explores this Epic in four acts:

• Act One: The beginning of the Trinity and the birth of Eternal Love
• Act Two: The villain enters the story. Evil follows.
• Act Three: The Battle. God fights for the hearts of His people.
• Act Four: Heaven. It is paradise regained, the life we've always dreamed of. The time when God makes "all things new."

In this exciting re-telling of the Gospel, you will discover why you love and connect so deeply with the movies and stories that you do. For God has written a story on the human heart, and every other epic we love is inviting us in and telling us about the true Epic-the Story that God is telling.

I loaned the DVD to my friend Dave and he and his wife Cindy watched it one evening. They were blown away. "Never heard anything like this before", Dave said. "It soooo puts things into perspective." He asked if they could take it to a Sunday evening service they have for boys who are in a group home for sexual abuse. Dave said quite a few of the boys were romanced by the story...to realize that they are a part of a LARGER STORY and they have a part that only THEY can play.

Dave asked today if we could watch the DVD in our small group meeting next week, and then gave it to our friend John to watch this week. Guess I'll have to get another copy.

Generous Giving

I just got an email from my friend and housechurch coach, John White. Sure enough, it's also on his and Tim Pyne's blog: House Church Chronicles. It discusses what kind of finances are freed up when there is no need to support a church building. You have to read this and jump over to the Generous Giving website.