But the beautiful thing about waiting on Him is that he will renew our strength and give us a hope.  Some Scriptures that I have been meditating on this week talk about this hope and the fact that God hasn’t forgotten or left me in my struggles.

¹⁸I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that^[i] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.²⁶In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. ²⁷And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 8:18-27; 37-39 NIV)

I’m preaching on these verses in a couple of weeks…good stuff.

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

(Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV)

Don’t you think that God is maybe a little more concerned with the poor, the sick, the disenfranchised in this world?  I mean, I am just as big of sports fanatic as it comes, but let’s not blame God for the current standings in the NL Central!  The reason for the standings lies central on the players and managers of those teams!

Interesting article on “faith & sports” on CNN.com.  It is definitely a good read.

What do you think?  Does God really care about sports? Have we “trivialized” faith by “blaming God” for wins and loses?  Is this kind of “evangelism” more of a turn-off than turn-on to people?

When did God become a sports fan? – CNN.com.

I honestly don’t know that I have any words of wisdom for anyone.  You know, it’s funny how the older I get, the more ignorant I feel!  When I was 18, I was really smart.  When I was 25, I was even more smart–just ask me!  Now that I have been in ministry almost 20 years and worked on several church staffs, planted a church, and now in a “new & different” situation called Multisite; I really have found out that the only thing I know is that I don’t always know…you know?? (I’m sure that’s not good grammar there!)

I love this passage in John 9 of the healing of the man who was blind from birth.  Check out his response to the second set of questions from the Pharisees.  

He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

What about you?  What are some lessons that you have learned as you are getting older?

Lessons From An Older Pastor «.

Ran across this blog of a guy writing as Steve Jobs.  Pretty funny stuff.  However, there is some pretty sad stuff in there…like the idea that there is something “spiritual” about owning an iPad…

But let’s get back to you people who are waiting in line. I mean it’s not like you’re in Bolivia and there’s just been an earthquake and you need to line up to get food and clean water. It’s not like you’ve time-traveled back into the Depression and you’re waiting in line at a soup kitchen. And yet, in fact, that’s exactly what you’re doing. Spiritually speaking, we are living in the Great Depression, and you are waiting in line for sustenance. . . .

The truth is, this is all about spiritual emptiness. That is why you’re standing in line. . . .

The truth is, all over the world, across every culture, there exists a sense of yearning. A kind of malaise. An emptiness. At the risk of sounding like Dr. Seuss: There is a hole in your soul. That is what we’re addressing at Apple. That is the hole we aim to fill. Sadly, as you may have begun to suspect, that hole can never really be filled. The truth is that modernity, the condition of living in our modern world, has inflicted terrible wounds on your inner self. These wounds can never be healed. They can only be treated. At best we provide palliative care. Not a cure. Because, my dear fellow human beings, there is no cure for what ails you. The products we create provide only temporary relief. Their magic eventually wears off. The sense of childlike wonder they impart will, over time, begin to fade. And then you need a new product.

Convicting as a believer, isn’t it?  What might it be like if we tried to fill that hole with something much more meaningful than a piece of technology?

Then there is the final line that I have to keep thinking to myself to not rush out and buy the iPad with Professional Expense account monies. . .

Hold your iPad. Gaze at it. Pray to it. Let it transform you. And do it soon, because before you know it we are going to release version 2, which will make this one look like a total piece of crap.

So true.  So very true.

Check out the entire “open letter to the people of the world here.

The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs : An open letter to the people of the world.

Great quote from this article…

I am glad [the health care bill passed] not because I am a Democrat or a Republican but because I think that Jesus, who seemed to take great interest in health issues, is glad. Looking back on his life among people like us, he often acted as a healer. He seemed to delight in curing diseases, restoring disabled people to wholeness, and rewiring damaged minds. You cannot divorce these encounters from the rest of his public ministry. Health-care was in his frame of reference.

Check it out.

What do you think?

Jesus and the Health Care Bill | Out of Ur | Conversations for Ministry Leaders.

Here is my post from way back in 2007 when I went the first time.  It gives a bit of history of the monks and links to more info.  We are praying for them as they are in a bit of a “holding pattern” right now at that particular abbey.  Many of the monks living there are getting up in years and there have not been many new candidates come on board.  It is a really amazing place and these men are truly dedicated to the Lord in their particular “station” in life.

On the way home yesterday, went to Rockbridge for lunch.  It is an old mill that is now a trout park.  Then we headed into Ava for an ice cream cone for only 10 cents at the Ava Drug Store and soda fountain.  Here are some pics of the Abbey as well as my traveling companions.

The Culps from Granger Community on Vimeo.

Check out this video from Granger Community Church.  Really funny stuff!  Guess we should read our Bible more, huh?

“Do you leave a light on after bedtime? Because I get a little scared in the dark sometimes.”

Name that movie…go!

Missouri angler reels in state-record brown trout at Lake Taneycomo | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader.