Why do you seek the living among the dead?

 

Aston Martin "Vanquish"

I was talking with a very good friend of mine on the phone yesterday and our conversation quickly turned to Easter. He asked me, "When it comes down to the essence of Easter... if you had to pick just one verse to explain it all, what verse would you pick?"

I was a little bit surprised by the fact that my response was so quick, so instinctive and so ingrained it would have even made Pavlov proud.

"And the angel said to them (the women who had come to the tomb), 'Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. He is Risen!'" (My paraphrase of Luke 24.5)

My iWitness...

Anybody who knows me very well, knows that I love cars. I am fascinated by high end expensive cars. When I am around these beautiful, purring, powerful, sleek driving machines my heart beats a little faster, my palms perspire more than usual and the wings of the butterflies in my stomach start flapping!

Yesterday was no different. I found myself getting giddy as I slowly, and I mean very slowly walked past an Aston Martin Vanquish. And then it hit me... "Why do you seek the living among the dead?"

Great question! Why am I seeking the living among the dead? Why do I begin to think that "things" which have no heartbeat, which have no pulse would provide me with the very thing I seek: LIFE.

On this Easter Sunday let's take a hard look at that which we seek.
Do we seek "Life" among the heaps of things which in the end are among the dead?

I find it fascinating that as Mary "ran" away from the tomb of the dead she ran smack dab into the One who said, "I am the life..."

Let's put on our running shoes today and seek the living among the living!
Get ready to run into the risen Lord Jesus who is not dead, but is alive!

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

Plans

 

We have been friends since 5th grade. We went to different schools but attended the same church. For seven or eight years we were inseparable at church. We never dated. It was one of those relationships when I wanted to date her she didn't want to date me and vice versa. And yet, true friends we were. Then she got married. Then I got married.

And then we went our separate ways.
Do you remember what life was like before Facebook?
People went their separate ways with only the memories tucked away in their back pocket, only to be taken out every now and then to reminisce and thank God for the friendships of old.

We reconnected about 13 years ago. And then we reconnected again once Facebook arrived.
I received a Facebook message from her the other day that ended like this...

"My life is so different than I planned."

My iWitness...

My heart bends, softens, melts and breaks over such sentiments.

My life is so different than I planned...

I was speaking at a Men's Retreat at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas a couple of weekends ago and a gentleman came up to me and said, "If you want to make God laugh, just tell Him your plans."

To my dear friend and to all who would venture to read this post -
"Whose plans for their life have turned out just as they planned?"

I started thinking about all of the curveballs, dead end streets and endless circles I have gone around thinking I was doing what I planned, only to find out that life was turning out so different than I planned.

I didn't plan on getting divorced.
I didn't plan on getting out of ministry.
I didn't plan on becoming a Senior Executive Consultant.
I didn't plan on having four children with two of them not talking to me for the last 16 years and 3 days (But who's counting?")
I didn't plan on being a Vice President of a University
I didn't plan on getting married again (So glad I did!!!)
I didn't plan on finding my "birth" family (Once again... So glad I did!)
I didn't plan on living in every quadrant of the United States of America.

I didn't plan on a lot of things...
I wonder if you can relate...
Help my friend out... let her know that just about everyone who reads this post's life has not turned out as we planned.

There is only one person I know whose life turned out exactly as planned.
His name is Jesus.
Today, Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified on a cross for our sins was no accident. It did not catch Jesus by surprise. It was exactly what Jesus had planned from the very beginning.
In three days we will celebrate with a raucous antiphonal chorus of "He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!"

It will turn out just the way Jesus planned.

Did your life turn out the way you planned?
Take great comfort in this... You're not Jesus!
It may sound trite but I have taken great comfort in the following saying for over 40 years...

"I don't know what the future holds, but I do know who holds the future."

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"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." Jeremiah 29. 11

In the Shadows

Over the last two days I have spent 18 hours painting the ceiling, the walls, the nooks and the crannies of our lower level in our home. I think I went through 200 hundred songs on my phone to help pass the time.

Yesterday a song by Switchfoot struck a deep chord while my roller went up and down, up and down on the plain wall in front of me. I don't know if it was the overexposure of the paint fumes or the moving of the Holy Spirit... I will let you decide.

The title of the song was, "The Shadow Proves the Sunshine."
I cannot even tell you what the lyrics of the song say, but I can pay witness to this...They sang "the shadow proves the sunshine" over and over and over again.

My life has been in the shadows lately and I was emotionally, physically and spiritually enlightened by this mantra "the shadow proves the sunshine."

My iWitness...

Are you saying this phrase over and over again in your mind like I have been for the last 24 hours?
Like a hard rain trying to penetrate the hardened pan of dried dirt, I do believe the Holy Spirit finally made its way into my heart of hearts.

You cannot have shadows without sunshine!
With no brilliant light, shadows have no life.
With no ray of sunshine shadows are nonexistent.
Without the power of light, shadows are powerless.
It is quite the irony and oxymoron all rolled up into one.

So here I am living life in the shadows and my heart is overjoyed!
Why?
Because, "the shadow proves the sunshine!"

I don't know about you but this is a game changer for me.
Are you living in the shadows these days?
Life seem a little darker than normal?

Rejoice and again I say rejoice!
God is shining bright!

Call me crazy...
Call me maybe...
But whatever you do,
Don't call me despondent...
Don't call me down and out...
Don't even call me delusional...

Just call me overjoyed!
I'm "in the shadows!"

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and fear not!
David!

"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1. 5

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust." Psalm 91. 1-2

Your Name

We walked out of church yesterday and the pastor enthusiastically said to my daughter, "Good bye Faith!"
We hadn't walked more than two steps when Faith looked up at me and said, "I can't believe she remembered my name."

My iWitness...

What is it about our name?
Whenever we hear it called out in a crowd, our head will automatically turn.
Whenever our name is attached to the end of the phrase, "I love you...", our hearts burn with joy, security and love.
Whenever our name is used in conjunction with our middle and last name respectively we know our current standing just might be in jeopardy.
Who doesn't love the sound of their name?
Do you ever wonder if God calls you by name?
Have you every heard God say, "I love you (insert your name here)!"
Does your neck ever get sore from twisting this way and then that way because God has called your name so many times in showing you the beauty and wonder of His world?
"David, come look at the sunrise!
David, smell the bluebonnets!
David, witness the wonder of the love of your friends!
David, breathe deep the richness of my grace and unconditional love!
David, seize this opportunity to serve the people around you!
Goodnight David...
I love you David!"

The One who made me...
The One who made you...
We should never be surprised that God remembers our name.
The real question is, "How could He forget it?"

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine." (Isaiah 43. 1)

ps - Thank you Pastor Kat for remembering Faith's name. You made her day!

Trash or Treasure?

I am far from being "Green" but I do try to do my part by picking up litter when I do see it around the campus of which I work.
The other day I rushed out the front door of my 1926 built brick building on my way to chapel and noticed a scrap of paper awkwardly folded on the sidewalk. I ran right past it.
After chapel I retraced my steps across the quad and made my way up the front stairs to my office and lo and behold there sat that same piece of awkwardly folded paper.
I reached down, picked it up and got ready to throw it away in the appropriately placed trash receptacle. I paused momentarily as my curious mind wanted to know if there was anything written on the paper.
Sure enough...
On this piece of trash was printed a true treasure...

Prayer by Julian of Norwich
"Lord you know what I want. I fit is your will that I have it, or if it is not your will do not be displeased with my prayer, for I do not want anything that you do not want ."

My iWitness...

This faded treasure piece now sits on my desk and has become my daily prayer.
Julian Norwich has a fascinating story...check it out on Google.

I was blessed the other day by "pausing."
Had I not paused I would never have found the treasure that I thought was trash.

There's a lot of treasure to be found in our world.
So many times we make the quick decision that something is trash without pausing long enough to discover the treasure.

That is perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned over the years with some of the most bizarre people I have come across.
People who don't believe what I believe,
People who act differently than I act,
People who live differently than I live,
People who think differently than I think,
People who dress differently than I dress...

The list could go on and on.
When I have taken the time to pause, more times than not I strike gold!

Perhaps my prayer today in addition to Julian of Norwich's prayer is this...

"Oh Lord, please give the people that cross my path today enough time to pause to discover the treasure in me... And Oh Lord, please give me the time today to pause and discover the abundant treasure in others."

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." (Matthew 13.44)

The Tonight Show

I grew up in Southern California on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.
The routine was typical.
Watch the 11:00 news on a TV that didn't even know what a remote control was.
At 11:30 continue watching the same station which meant you didn't have to get up and manually change the channel.
With its multi-colored curtains flowing the familiar booming voice of Ed McMahon would offer these two historic word - "Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!"
From behind the curtain Johnny would appear. I always wondered, "Who pulls the curtain back for Johnny to walk through?"
For the next ten minutes we would sit as a family in complete silence only allowing the voice and image of Johnny Carson to fill our family room.

Six hundred seconds later the monologue came to a conclusion and off to bed I went.

The Tonight Show torch was soon passed to Jay Leno.

On Monday February 17, 2014 the Tonight Show Torch was once again passed on to none other than Jimmy Fallon.

Jimmy Fallon busted out on to the New York stage and did a fantastic job of introducing himself by revealing his age (39), his six month old daughter, his wife, where he was from and then he said something like this...

"My mom and dad are in the audience tonight... I hope they are proud of me..."

My iWitness...

My first thought leapt out of my brain, "What do you mean 'I hope they are proud of me'? You're the host of The Tonight Show! You just came off of a successful run as the host of The Late Show. You started out on Saturday Night Live and now 39 years into your life you are wondering on the debut of your hosting the most successful late night television program in history whether or not your parents are proud of you."

My heart sank...

He didn't know...

I have talked about this topic before but it bears worth repeating here...

As children who grow up to be adults...we need to know if our parents are proud of us.

If Jesus had to know, then we have to know!

 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; ¹⁷ and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  (Matthew 3. 16-17)

If you have never done it or even if you have done it a thousand times, let your children know that you are proud of them... that you are "well pleased" with them.

It just might make their day or perhaps even their life!

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

The Message

The message to Faith and Joshua's teachers was quite simple...
"Please send Faith and Joshua to Y Care after school."
Two hours later Julie arrived at the school for a meeting about 5-10 minutes after school had let out. On her way to the meeting she decided to stop by the gym to say hello to Faith and Joshua.
Julie saw Faith...
But no Joshua.
Faith said Joshua never showed up.
Julie proceeded to the school office to inquire if she had sent the message to Joshua's teacher.
The answer was an affirmative.
The school office used the 1960's style "intercom" system to call Joshua's teacher and asked her if she had sent Joshua to Y Care.
Within seconds Joshua's teacher came running down the hall. She had just seen the message that the "runner" had left on her desk while she had been out in the hall dealing with a disciplinary issue.
Mama Bear Julie started running...
She ran down the hall
She ran through the front door
She ran across the street
She ran down the hill to the park which is the usual rendezvous spot to pick up Faith and Joshua after school...
And there he was...
All by himself...
In the snow covered park...
No other cars in the parking lot...
No other parents picking up their children...
No other children waiting...
Joshua was building a snowman...
Julie ran down the hill and yelled, "Joshua!"
Joshua turned...
Saw his mama...
His reaction was immediate...
He burst into tears...
The reunion was sweet as salty tears ran down their faces...

Why was Joshua in a snow covered park by himself?
The explanation was quite simple... Joshua hadn't gotten the message.

My iWitness...

Has this ever happened to you?
You are doing everything you are supposed to be doing.
You are going where you are supposed to be going.
You are following protocol.
And then all of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of a snow covered park on a subfreezing day frightened with no one in sight, with no clue why it is that the people who love you the most are nowhere to be found.

The explanation is quite simple...You didn't get the message.

Fear not...

If you listen real carefully, you will hear the footsteps in no time..
It's God...
And He's running...
To you!

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
    he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
³ For I am the Lord your God... (Isaiah 43. 1-3)