The Box Re-Opened

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything new. My wife and I have been pretty busy getting ready to leave for Malta. By the way, our plane takes off in 6 hours. So I came to check in on my e-mail and whatnot and figured I should post something. So check this out...

One of my best friends from high school now lives with her husband in West Virginia. She was reading through some of the old posts on this blog and she had some awesome comments. This was part of a sermon she gave to the youth group that they're working with. It just so happens that she was talking to them about boxes.

We often hear of putting God in a box. We say "this or that church puts God in a box" or "these or those people put God in a Sunday box. (to them) He only exists on Sunday." No matter how we've heard it or said it ourselves, chances are we've heard it before. But then there is the phrase "Think out of the box" A more truthful phrase. Everyone has a box. This is my box (I held up a small box). We cannot limit God, in reality, only God has the power to limit Himself. What really happens is we, all of us, place ourselves in the box of spiritual ignorance. We cannot blame anyone, but ourselves.

While in our boxes we, unconsciously, set rules for God, foolishly thinking He's the one in our box. We use "logic", things other people have said, tradition, fear, and frustration to make up these rules we set down. Here are some examples of rules either I have set or have heard someone else set:

1) God will not simply guide me when I ask Him to.
2) God will not use me to reach others.
3) God needs me in order to reach a certain group of people.
4) God will not give me a free fridge because I have no money and my old fridge broke.
5) God cannot heal blind people without using technology.
6) God cannot make me beautiful or attractive.
7) God cannot be the one to fulfill my need for companionship.
8) God cannot teach me something new through a traditional church service or a sermon I've heard a million times.
9)God cannot bring me into a deeper relationship, or understanding, with Him without someone else leading me.
10) God cannot change this person or that person because they are too hard or stubborn.

I can go on and on and deeper with these rules, but we don't have time and I pray the point is well made. Consciously or unconsciously we have tried placing, or have placed rules on God. Each person in this room, myself included, I have observed. By the way you act, react, and through things you've said, rules have been set. We are not experiencing the fullness of God and seeing all that He wants us to see. We have no one to blame but ourselves. There are people who are seeing and experiencing. They have the same things, the same Bible, the same God, that we do. They just have more faith. Don't blame the church, don't blame your leaders, don't blame your friends, and definately don't blame God. You have the chance of connecting with God just like anyone else. There is no one to blame, but yourself. God is here. He is there, and He is waiting. Ask Him to open your eyes to the rules you've set, ask Him to break those rules and set you free from your box. Remind yourself, He is faithful. Trust me He will blow your mind away.

Who You Are

Hey everyone, check out the comment that my good friend Dave left on last week's post. Also this weekend, on a long car trip, I was reminded of a great song by Nicole Nordeman called Who You Are. She's a really gifted song-writer (one of the best musical poets, in my not-so-humble opinion), and this song really puts a lot of my own feelings into words. Here's the lyrics for you:

I was certain that I knew You
At the tender age of twelve
You'd so often been described by those
Who said they knew You well
Dark and rugged in Your thirties
With a smile as bright as Your robe

Every teacher, every preacher
With the very best intent
Found new ways to hide the mystery
Replaced by common sense
And to know You was to keep You in my pocket
So easy to hold

Chorus
I know I can't explain You
I would not even try to
And yet it's clear that You are here beside me
I marvel and I wonder
So near and somehow still so far
What makes You who You are?

It is easy to insist
On what is packaged and precise
And dismiss the clear suspicion
That You're bigger than we'd like
It is tempting to regard You as familiar
In so many ways

Chorus

I've tried to draw these lines around You
A definition or an absolute
But I could not be satisfied with black or white
There is so much more
There is so much You

Chorus