Patched-up Pot-holes

Sometimes it's just nice to drive on freshly paved asphalt. You know what I mean, right? Even though it took the road crew weeks, maybe months to get the job done, driving on it is so smooth. Then there are some streets riddled with pot-holes and some of them patched up with mounds of asphalt, you get jolted going up and over the patch job.

Well, if you know me at all, I am a student of human behavior. I love sociology; how people interact with each other, the cultural dynamics, certain demographics, social class, et cetera. What does that have to do with pot-holes? I will get to the illustration and application in just a bit, but I need to set the setting.

Today at lunch, I went to a popular Asian buffet restaurant. They sat me in the corner of the room, so I had a good panning view of the dining room I was in. After an Asian family had left their table, the restaurant staff sat a huge party of (should I dare say it?) Russians in the next row to my left. I can tell they are Russians. There is a huge population of Russians in the Sacramento area. And they looked like it and spoke it to each other. There were six adults and ten children in a long table and the booth to the left of me.

Yep. After church, it was feeding time! And they all came out to have some Asian buffet. One of the guys had a full heaping plate of crab legs. One of the kids had... pizza! And it was interesting that it was the men who got up and got the food while the women were sitting down at the table with the children, getting more restless by the second.

Enter another slavic-looking family. Not as large of a party, but they also were dressed more casual, in tee-shirts, rather than the button-down shirts the other guys wore. These guys both had goatees, one guy with tattoos on his big arms. Which family (or party) do you think had the better behaved kids?

Surprisingly (or not surprisingly), the children that belonged to the more casually dressed folks were well behaved. I thought that was quite a stark contrast to the other group that wore skirts and dresses, with the guys in long-sleeved button-down shirts (in the summer in the Sacramento Valley). Those kids were screaming, running around the tables with their plates and somewhat disruptive.

That is why I tried to get out of there as soon as I could (for an all-you-can-eat buffet place). I had my plate of hot food, sushi plate, then a plate with prime rib and Chinese veggies, then my dessert plate of fruit and assorted pastry items.

But why would the children of seemingly God-fearing people act like that in a busy, buffet restaurant like that? Hunger, you would say?

Well, what I hadn't mentioned in the earlier description was one of the mothers yelling at her kid to "Listen to me!"

I dunno about you, but why would I listen to you if you can't speak to me so I could actually LISTEN to you? If she were actually more loving and caring, perhaps the kid would actually want to listen to her.

Just my cursory observation, but I think the buttoned-up families are more for the show. Do you know what I mean? The appearance of being all-together in their Sunday-best clothes is the facade they portray to the outside world, when internally they are just as MEssy on the inside! Lord God, I pray for these families that they may take a deeper look in who they really are in You, on the inside. Really.

And don't we all really need to look introspectively?

It's like the beautiful cake from Freeport Bakery. Looks so good from the outside (well, the cake part isn't that bad), but at the edges, there was so much frosting to cover up the imperfections of the layers of cake. I had a plateful of frosting and not much cake in my corner piece.

And just like patching up a pot-hole (back to that illustration), it may look okay from the outside, but still underneath the patch-job is a crack and hole that would jar someone's suspension and shock absorbers. The hole is still there. It's just filled with something that originally didn't belong there.

And that is how it is with our sin-filled lives. Every time we sin, we add another crack, another hole, another misaligned slice and imperfection to our once consecrated life. We try to patch things up on our own, but those things still embody us.

So what do we do? We need to give our lives to God, the Creator and Perfector of the universe to change us radically. Like the freshly repaved road, it takes a painful, painstaking process of digging up all the pieces and building anew the new roadbed. It takes Almighty God to change us in a way that honors Him.

Dear Holy Lord, please forgive me of my sins. I know I have made a mess of my life and I need You to come into my life and restore me. Please fill me up with Your Holy Love and help me to be a person who honors You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

If you prayed that for the first time, welcome to the Family of God. If you prayed that for God to renew your life in Him, continually seek God through His Holy Word, the Bible. If you have been out of fellowship, please find a good Bible believing (and preaching) church. And LIVE OUT your faith, not just adorn yourself with a shiny cross signifying you are a believer. What you do with your life is more important than what you want people to think of you.

And forgive me if I misjudged these people. However, I am usually a good judge of character. So behave out there!

Blessings,
Garret

Quest for Freedom

It seems like I'm blogging on the holidays this year (or close to them, I guess). But I had some of my profound thoughts seeing those people sweating out there in the heat selling fireworks. You see them almost every block. Non-profit organizations, school athletics programs, and churches spend their time these past few weeks selling explosives in the summer heat.

I'm glad I go to Bayside Church. Not because it is a large mega-church that doesn't have to sell fireworks  in a wooden shack filled with explosive materials in the Sacramento summer heat. But mostly because of the principle of faithfulness Pastor Ray Johnston has instilled in the church's philosophy of ministry. What would you rather do? Spend your God-given time and resources doing ministry with the community you are reaching out to, or sitting in a booth trying to sponge money out of those people in the community? I know I phrased that purposefully to make the former sound more honorable than the latter. But think about it. Is it just about the money?

A Biblical, God-honoring church shouldn't have to go to lengths and stoop to selling gimmicks to raise money. If the people in the church were faithful and generous givers, they would be able to make the financial needs of their ministries. Sure, we need to be out in the communities we minister to, however we should be giving to the community rather than taking from the community. Does that make sense?

Okay. That was one of my points I wanted to make.

But, it's the Fourth of July, Independence Day. We give much gratitude to the forefathers of this great country we live in for the freedom they demanded from the Mother country, England. And more importantly, we thank America's armed forces that are constantly keeping the freedoms of this country free. Really, freedom is not free. There is a price to pay for freedom.

And that is also true for our Christian liberties. We talk about dependence upon God. And we should always rely on God for strength, wisdom and His ultimate love upon us. But having that spiritual freedom we have been given, Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus died for all of our sins. Just like the soldiers sacrificing their only life for the freedoms of our country, Jesus paid the ultimate price of every body's sins with His precious blood. Only, Jesus is alive!

How can that be? Jesus, being fully man and fully God, was able to be resurrected from the dead to give us eternal life! If we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, then God will forgive us of all of our sins... past, present and future. That is how we can have freedom in Christ!

Through You the blind will see 

Through You the mute will sing 

Through You the dead will rise 

Through You all hearts will praise 

Through You the darkness flees 

Through You my heart screams, I am free! 

I am free to run 

(I am free to run) 

I am free to dance 

(I am free to dance) 

I am free to live for you 

(I am free to live for you) 

I am free 

(I am free) 

~I Am Free (by the Newsboys)

Okay, the Newsboys aren't really American (they originated from Australia). But because of their freedom in Christ, they understand what spiritual freedom is (or we also call it Christian liberties) and where it comes from. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. (Philippians 4:13)

So, do you have that freedom God has given us through His Holy Son, Jesus Christ? If not, and you would like to experience God's love and freedom, you can say a simple prayer like this: "Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive me of my sins. I ask for a new life in You and freedom to live my life for You. Thank You for Your love for me. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Once you have experienced God's love and faithfulness, then You can trust and rely on Him to provide for all of your needs (like my previous point). God may be invisible, but He is always faithful. I may not be the wealthiest person and I am struggling in this economy, like most of us, right now. But I am trusting in God and He does provide for my needs. Perhaps not as much as I would like, but I am making due, in God's timing.

Blessings,

Garret