Ready or not here I come

I work at a golf course and many of our machines have headlights on them. For some particular reason, Steve, one of my fellow work mates, decided he would flash his headlights at people to simulate shooting them. So, in essence, we are having flashlight wars with very expensive flashlights.

Steve is very good at this game and very sneaky. Sometimes I can see him approaching and other times he is very sneaky. He has an advantage, he is not using a mower but using a work vehicle that allows him to speed all over the golf course to do what he needs to do. The advantage is that he can hear where I am and can slowly creep over the brow of hill behind me, or hide behind trees and wait for me to turn my machine around and then, WHAM, he hits me with a dazzling display of incandescent glory, leaving me frustrated that he has got me again. When I see him coming, it's a matter of who is thinking about their light switch or who is faster to the draw to determine who is the winner.

In a sense, Satan also plays a similar game with us. He is always in attack mode. Sometimes we see him coming but still allow him to attack. What's your power source and how good is it? Are you connected to God allowing him to powerfully shine his light through you or have you temporarily disconnected the cable from this power source. The choice is ours.

Shine on.

Bobber People

Have you ever gone fishing with a bobber and a worm? When that fish hits the worm on the end of the line, the bobber dips or plunges below the surface.

Life can be like that. We represent the bobber and our circumstances represent the dips and plunging. With God, we will always return to the surface.

John 16:33b "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Wrong Runway Dude

Courtenay Airpark 2006

Back in November of 2006 I wrote a post called "Boom Baby". At the end of post I mentioned eventually taking off again. Well, I have been flying again. Just remember, a runway has two numbers, one for each direction it faces. The sinlge runway at Nanaimo is 16 or 34, Vernon 05 or 23 and Qualicum 11 or 29.

You may be cleared to fly but make sure you use the right runway. I took off awhile ago and flew in the wrong direction. BOOM! Whoa, there goes the tail section. Anti-aircraft guns are still in operation. As expected, crash and burn. Now, I have a mess and repairs to be done. Having said all that, the incident has given me the answer to my question.

The last day I flew an actual plane I used the wrong runway. I heard the radio operator say the wind direction, but it went in one ear and out the other. I never really considered the information given to me. Never takeoff in a tailwind. Everything turned out alright, but listening would have eliminated the problem. The consequence was I never flew again, ...my decision, nobody elses.

Will I fly again? Yes, figuratively and possibly in reality as well.

The Big Picture

Sometimes people ask me where I work. When I tell them I work at a golf course at which one it is the reponse is something like, "Oh, that is such a nice course!" My reponse (to my self) is generally something like, "Yah, whatever." They don't work at the course so they don't see the wet spots, the ruts, the bumps, the bare batches...and on and on and on.

Is your life like that? Are you seeing the bumps and ruts and missing the beauty that others see?

One day at work recently, I was thinking, "Why do I suck at being social?" Here is the thought that came to me. "Because that is the way I made you and I got a plan."That's doesn't mean God doesn't want me to improve in this area but let's stick with my original thought shall we.

My social ineptitude is a bump, BUT God sees the BIG PICTURE. He's got a plan for me. He's got a plan for you. Maybe we need to step back every once and awhile and take a look at the big picture and not the details.

Stray glove

In the Bible, in Matthew 18:10-14 you can read The Parable of the Lost Sheep. It tells of a man who has a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away. The man leaves the 99 to go look for the one.

Why would somebody do this? Would somebody actually do that? This parable has always sort of baffled me. But maybe we do what the parable is talking about and we don't even know it.

The other morning I was making my way down from my third floor apartment to my motorcycle. I had a lot of stuff with me as I was about to make my way to work. When I finally made it to my motorcycle I realized I had dropped a glove on my way from my apartment. I left everything I had brought with me in the parking lot next to my motorcycle to go find the missing glove. And when I found it, great joy was mine.

The parable has nothing to do with motorcycle gloves. After I looked in my Bible commentary, I found out the parable has to do with God having concern about his little ones and how we should show concern for others as well. But that is not the point I am trying to make here. The point I am trying to make is that the God's Word does make sense and does reflect our tendencies as humans.

Traffic Signals

Your travelling down a busy road, surrounded by other vehicles doing the same. You are all hurtling you way toward a traffic signal which at the moment is green. Suddenly brakelights appear in front of you, and the long string of traffic slows down and eventually comes to a halt. The traffic signal has changed from green to red. You are close enough to the intersection to see what is crossing the path of the busy intersection, one car. ONE CAR! Are you kidding me? The traffic light changed for that one car.

If you where the only one on earth, Jesus still would have died for you.

Biblical DOH!

In the book of 1 Samuel 13 we read the account of King Saul getting impatient waiting for Samuel, the prophet, to arrive. Saul in his haste sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in place of Samuel. Samuel, in chapter 10 verse 8 had told Saul that he would come and sacrifce the offerings. Shortly after King Saul had finished with the sacrifices, guess who showed up? Yup, Samuel. DOH!

Are you waiting for something from God? Are waiting for that special someone that just never seems to arrive? Does it seem like you are in an impossible situation? Are you tired of hearing God say, "Nope, not that one."? I know I am.

When Saul disobeyed Samuel it cost him the kingship. If we decide not to wait for God's leading and obey his instructions in this matter, disaster is the order of the day... and it probably doesn't come wtih fries and a drink.

Does God have someone for each one of us? It is possible. Some of us may never marry. But you may be on the edge of the Jordon about to cross into the promised land.

It is better to wait than to say DOH!

The Great Zamboni

Have you ever seen a sheet of ice at an arena before it has been skated on? Our life is kind of like that sheet of ice, smooth and shiny at the beginning for most of us. As life continues, we get gouged and rutted up over time with out experiences. But if we come to know Jesus, He floods into our lives and the gouges and ruts are smoothed out. He is the Great Zamboni. Do all our problems and troubles disappear when we invite the Great Zamboni onto our ice surface? No, but He gives us the strength to carry on when we face those gouges and rough spots in life.

The Lord is my SAR Tech I shall not sink...

As I a child I had a poster of a ship sinking at sea in the middle of a storm. A man was still on the ship waiting to be resuced. Above him was a military helicopter with a Search and Rescue (SAR)Technician being lowered down to him.

Lately I have been thinking of my salvation along these lines. The sea represents my sin and me sinking in it. The helicopter represents God. Big and almighty with all sorts of power as the rotors of the helicopter spin with tremendous noise and incredible force. The SAR tech represents Jesus. He was lowered from heaven to save me from my sin.

Salvation to me is being resuced from my sin and that is what Jesus did.

Who are the people in your neighbourhood?

I didn't go to church tonight. Why? Probably because I don't know the people in my neighbourhood. When we go to church I, like many, normally sit down in the same general area. You could call this our neighbourhood. Do we welcome our neighbours, or just accept that they are there and don't bother to get to know them.

I was helping to stack chairs at an evening service. Helping is great, but my motive was wrong. I was avoiding getting to know my neighbours. If I help long enough, people leave and I don't have to get to know them. Pretty sneaky huh.

I rode a train from Edmonton to Vancouver one year as I headed back to the Island for Christmas. I got to talking to two other fellows on the trip. What we talked about was just stuff, nothing of real importance from what I remember. Here is the kicker, none of us throughout the entire trip knew the other person's name! We didn't really know our neighbour, we just accepted they where there.

I had a pastor tell me one time, "I knew you where here, I saw your truck." That might not mean much to you, but to me it spoke volumes. You know my face, you know my name, you know my TRUCK. Thanks neighbour. I know your vehicle also.

I don't know about you, but I need to meet my neighbours.