Saturday mornings are supposed to be a little more laid back than the previous five days. That usually works pretty well, when I am able to decide what to do--if anything. Well, as you might imagine from those opening sentences, one recent Saturday did not start out to be one of those.
Those who know me, know I am simply not musical. I always wanted to be, but it seems the Lord left out the artistic bone, or organ, or allele on whichever chromosome it is supposed to be that controls such things. Often, however, the Holy Spirit has caught my attention with a song. Saturday morning a couple weeks ago, music was playing in my head. Mind you, this was not a song I had heard recently that stuck in my mind. Most of you are not even old enough to remember Joni Mitchell, whose most famous song was "Both Sides Now." Here is a hint on the time frame of the song. She sang it live on "The Johnny Cash Show" in 1970. I cannot remember the last time I heard it. I know I had heard it sometime because I recognized it when I heard it this time. I suppose it has been over thirty years ago since the last time I heard it. Bing Crosby is singing the song on YouTube as these words are typed. I have no idea who was singing it that Saturday morning. It was not Joni, Bing, or any of the other half dozen or so people who have sung it for me on YouTube in the past week. It was, however, being sung with full orchestration as though I were hearing it live or at least in surround sound, except that I was alone in the room and there was not any music playing anywhere except in my head.
My hope is that by typing that account into the computer, the Holy Spirit might help me understand what the lesson is here. If this does not work, perhaps one of those of you who have greater, spiritual insight than I do can assist me.
If I have learned anything from Leroy Jethro Gibbs on "NCIS," it is that coincidences are few and far between. We have previously quoted Harold Hill's definition of coincidence from his book "How To Live Like a King's Kid." He writes that "Coincidence is when God performs a miracle and chooses to remain anonymous." I know the Holy Spirit is trying to give me some direction, some guidance, or possibly even some correction, but I am at a loss as to what that might be. Normally, I would just sit on this until I could tell you the finished story, but somehow this seems too important to do that. Perhaps this is even a lesson in community as in the group working together to understand the mind of God? That kind of sounds like something we might have learned in the previous post. I know I could use a little help here.
It has been a couple weeks now since I heard the song. I have listened to it and sung it and meditated on the words, literally day and night. I still have no idea what the significance is for me. If you read back a few posts, you may remember the description of a vision of Jesus putting a seed into my hand. I am still wondering about that as well. Somewhere, somehow, sometime, this is all going to come together. The sooner the better. Post your comments here, call me, or see me in person. God has something great in store. I just cannot put my finger on exactly what it is right now. Can anyone out there help?
Showing posts with label Harold Hill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harold Hill. Show all posts
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Serendipitous Coincidences
In the previous post, we discussed a chat on Face Book that we considered to be almost random. I particularly enjoy randomness. We all have stories of things that just seemed to happen out of nowhere and for no apparent reason. We variously refer to them with words such as chance, luck, good fortune, serendipity or coincidence, among others. The question is, are they really any of those things?
Let us quote a couple world-class Theologians as we begin this discussion. The late Dr. Harold in his 1974 book, How to Live Like a King's Kid defines coincidence as, "When God performs a miracle and chooses to remain anonymous." Television detective Barnaby Jones, played by Buddy Ebsen, said, "I find the harder I work, the luckier I get." Of course we see the truth in both those statements, but again, do things really just happen or is there a creative intelligence behind everything? We choose to believe the latter. That, is in no way, intended to advance the idea that we do not have a part in what happens in our lives and in the lives of those we touch as we tread this sod. It is interesting that, depending on which translation of the Bible one is using, either case can almost be made.
Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know all things work together for good..." (KJV), or "And we know that in all things God works for the good..." (NIV) The first translation almost suggests randomness while the second shows God actively working. The position one takes on this point will determine how one's life is lived. One either goes about life hoping God will be working everything out or lives life intentionally partnering with God in doing His work. The second position here is the one that demonstrates Jesus is Lord of one's life rather than simply an actor in it. This is a critical distinction because Jesus said, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." (John 14:21) If we want to experience God in our lives, we must do what He says.
Yesterday, we were deciding where we would attend Sunday services. Since we lead and teach on Saturday evenings, and since Jesus has not yet placed us in a local church, we have been fellowshipping at various different places on Sunday mornings. I had already decided where we should attend when I remembered they were having a different kind of service that I was not entirely thrilled to be a part of. My wife suggested another church which we had visited before. I was only slightly more thrilled to return there. My being less than thrilled had nothing to do with the fellowship, teaching, worship or the people at that church. I just doubt that is where we will be attending long-term.
Off we went. When we found our seats, we noticed the pastor was not the person wearing the microphone for the service. In fact, we recognized the man who was wearing it as Tom Demaree of Pentecost Walk fame. We had become acquainted with Tom and his wife Deanna when they were in the area leading a prayer walk. We have mentioned him previously in these pages. If you would like more information on Tom's ministry you can find some at www.pentecostwalk.org.
I have no doubt the pastor of that church would have delivered a good message, but we both knew we were in that service because Tom and Deanna were there. (Be sure to read the next post. We will mention a couple things Tom told us personally.) We were experiencing a serendipitous coincidence. I would have believed my wife had the mind of the Holy Spirit when she suggested we attend there, but for a statement I had heard Dr. Jack Hayford make many years ago. He said. "Everyone knows God cannot talk to you through your wife." (Need I tell you it was obviously a tongue-in-cheek remark? And by the way, so was the last one I made.)
One thing I have learned fairly recently is that we can do things intentionally or accidentally. There is a creative intelligence behind everything we perceive with our senses, and all the things we do not. Everything in the universe, from creation to the present, has been done with intention and purpose. Perhaps you have been "tossed around" (Ephesians 4:14; James 1:6) either by bad teaching, a lack of faith, or both. It is time for that to stop! If things are not going the way you would like, seek the wisdom of God to discover if you have either not been intentionally doing the right things or perhaps even intentionally doing the wrong things. Either of those will stifle your maturity, mitigate your growth, and reduce you to living a life where you do not recognize the hand of God at work. In short, you will not be able to live the abundant life Jesus promised you. (John 10:10) Any good things that happen will look like serendipitous coincidences.
Let us quote a couple world-class Theologians as we begin this discussion. The late Dr. Harold in his 1974 book, How to Live Like a King's Kid defines coincidence as, "When God performs a miracle and chooses to remain anonymous." Television detective Barnaby Jones, played by Buddy Ebsen, said, "I find the harder I work, the luckier I get." Of course we see the truth in both those statements, but again, do things really just happen or is there a creative intelligence behind everything? We choose to believe the latter. That, is in no way, intended to advance the idea that we do not have a part in what happens in our lives and in the lives of those we touch as we tread this sod. It is interesting that, depending on which translation of the Bible one is using, either case can almost be made.
Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know all things work together for good..." (KJV), or "And we know that in all things God works for the good..." (NIV) The first translation almost suggests randomness while the second shows God actively working. The position one takes on this point will determine how one's life is lived. One either goes about life hoping God will be working everything out or lives life intentionally partnering with God in doing His work. The second position here is the one that demonstrates Jesus is Lord of one's life rather than simply an actor in it. This is a critical distinction because Jesus said, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." (John 14:21) If we want to experience God in our lives, we must do what He says.
Yesterday, we were deciding where we would attend Sunday services. Since we lead and teach on Saturday evenings, and since Jesus has not yet placed us in a local church, we have been fellowshipping at various different places on Sunday mornings. I had already decided where we should attend when I remembered they were having a different kind of service that I was not entirely thrilled to be a part of. My wife suggested another church which we had visited before. I was only slightly more thrilled to return there. My being less than thrilled had nothing to do with the fellowship, teaching, worship or the people at that church. I just doubt that is where we will be attending long-term.
Off we went. When we found our seats, we noticed the pastor was not the person wearing the microphone for the service. In fact, we recognized the man who was wearing it as Tom Demaree of Pentecost Walk fame. We had become acquainted with Tom and his wife Deanna when they were in the area leading a prayer walk. We have mentioned him previously in these pages. If you would like more information on Tom's ministry you can find some at www.pentecostwalk.org.
I have no doubt the pastor of that church would have delivered a good message, but we both knew we were in that service because Tom and Deanna were there. (Be sure to read the next post. We will mention a couple things Tom told us personally.) We were experiencing a serendipitous coincidence. I would have believed my wife had the mind of the Holy Spirit when she suggested we attend there, but for a statement I had heard Dr. Jack Hayford make many years ago. He said. "Everyone knows God cannot talk to you through your wife." (Need I tell you it was obviously a tongue-in-cheek remark? And by the way, so was the last one I made.)
One thing I have learned fairly recently is that we can do things intentionally or accidentally. There is a creative intelligence behind everything we perceive with our senses, and all the things we do not. Everything in the universe, from creation to the present, has been done with intention and purpose. Perhaps you have been "tossed around" (Ephesians 4:14; James 1:6) either by bad teaching, a lack of faith, or both. It is time for that to stop! If things are not going the way you would like, seek the wisdom of God to discover if you have either not been intentionally doing the right things or perhaps even intentionally doing the wrong things. Either of those will stifle your maturity, mitigate your growth, and reduce you to living a life where you do not recognize the hand of God at work. In short, you will not be able to live the abundant life Jesus promised you. (John 10:10) Any good things that happen will look like serendipitous coincidences.
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