The Story - Chapter 12 - Bored...

I stood in the kitchen... Gazing into the refrigerator with the door hanging wide open.

I really wasn't hungry...
I was bored.

Ever been there?

Most of the trouble I got into as a kid I got into because I was bored.  We got bored playing in the field beside Grandma and Grandpa's house... and the creek was just right there... We got bored going around the block on our bikes... so we crossed the street...  We got bored with merely throwing the ball back and forth... what fun it would be to kick it...

Bored.

So I settled on a cheese stick (that I didn't need) and closed the refrigerator door and walked away... 80 calories to fill a hole in my mind that calories from a cheese stick couldn't fill.

I have often thought that was what led David into one of his biggest blunders in the Bible.  "In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem." 2 Samuel 11:1 NLT. 

In our day and age of instant communication, it would be odd for the President of the United States to be in the battlefield with the troops.  But in David's day, that was where David should have been... "when kings normally go off to war..."  But where was David...?  "staying behind in Jerusalem..."

Bored.  

And what is waiting for David in his boredom?  Sin.  "Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath." 2 Samuel 11:2 NLT. 

Bored. 

Ever been there? 

• Done checking my email, Facebook, Twitter... Just a couple of taps to that one website...
• Kissing and handing hands just isn't enough anymore... what if we...
• My relationship with my wife doesn't have the same fire... but this lady at work... 
• We've run out of things to talk about from our day... so we begin to gossip about that one girl... 
• Nothing is on TV... flipping through the channels... oh, this looks interesting... 

Bored.  

If only David would have remembered God's words to Cain in Genesis 4:7... "You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master."


Be careful of the open refrigerator door.  That cheese stick won't help.  Boredom has a way of increasing your waistline and capturing you in something you never intended to be in in the first place. 

JC 

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The Story: Chapter 11 - David's Heart

One Saturday afternoon when I was in middle school, I came home from a youth group trip to an empty house.  I didn't think much of it... I knew how to get in... so I did.  Nobody was at home so I went about my normal "I'm home by myself" routine.  After about 15 minutes, a knock came at the front door.  It was my youth pastor, who had just dropped me off, and a friend of our family.  (This was in the day before cell phones and instant communication.)

He told me that my Grandpa had died of a heart attack that morning while we were away.

While we were gone all day... my family had been dealing with this tragedy and I didn't even know it.  See, my Grandpa had had some trouble with his heart... he had high cholesterol and ate foods he shouldn't and smoked a pipe and eventually it caught up with him.  That's part of the reason why I began to run over 3 years ago... I know that family history is there and I want to avoid it.

There are times when I wish I could take my heart out of my chest and check it over.  You know... make sure that it's okay.  Clean out the corners like I clean out my son's humidifier.  Unfortunately, I can't just pop it out... I would die.

Spiritually, there are times when I wish I could pop out my heart and have a look at it too.

This week in the Story, we read about David's heart.  And we get an opportunity to see his heart from God's perspective.  Did David have sin?  Absolutely... next week we'll read about the greatest of his sin with Bathsheba.  Were there things David wished were different about his heart?  Sure.  Was David's heart messed up in some areas?  It must have been to do what he did.

But yet... what does God say David's heart?  Look again: "⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7.   A little bit later in Acts we read more about what God looks for: ²² After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ Acts 13:22. 

See... I know my sin (as Scripture says... it's always before me) and I know my dark places.  And I know God knows those places too.  I'm sure David knew his places as well as God did.  Yet God still called him a man after His own heart.  Does he see my heart that way too?  

JC



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The Story: Week 9 - Ruth is Redeemed

The first house that Jackie and I ever purchased was a foreclosure.  If you aren't familiar with a foreclosure, be thankful.  Basically, the previous owners couldn't afford it any longer and so the bank took it back.

When we purchased it, it was in rough shape.  The picture to the right is the living room.  The floors were warped and buckled where the bank hadn't shut of the water and a leak had ruined them.  Pipes had burst in the upstairs bathroom and had ruined the floors in the living room, two closets (one in the living room and one downstairs) and a lot of wall space.  Additionally, the walls in the living room needed repaired and the drywall was separating.  If this wasn't enough, tile floor in the dining room was ruined... the appliances in the kitchen were gone... and the previous owners had even taken the furnace with them when they left.

To make a long story short: The house was unlivable.  It was worthless.  It was trash.

But we bought it anyway.  After 60+ days of work... new plumbing... new carpet throughout the whole house... new walls... new paint... new tile in the kitchen and dining room... new appliances... and a new furnace and A LOT of help from friends.  We moved in.  And we lived there for nearly 2 years.

Before: The house was worthless.
After: The house was our home.
Before: The house had no value.
After: The house was our most prized possession.

I couldn't help but think of our house as I was reading about Ruth this week in the Story.  Here was a woman who was worthless to her society.  Her husband was dead.  She was past the age of being valuable as a wife.  She had no children and no job and no house and no possessions and no future.  Nothing at all.  Worthless.

But God didn't leave her there.  See our God is in the reclamation business.  God is used to taking something that's worthless and making it valuable again.  God does that with our lives everyday.  He comes in and cleans out the sin and brokenness and replaces it with his holiness and his fullness.

God did that for Ruth.
He took her from worthless to worthy.

In fact, without Ruth... We would have had no Jesus.  Jesus came from the line of David... David's father was Jesse... Jesse's father was Obed... Obed's father was Boaz and his mother was Ruth.

The picture to your left is the same living room as above... After it was redeemed.  When we are back in North Aurora, we drive by our old house. People live there.  People call it home.  Because it was redeemed.

You might think, "God can't do anything with me.  I'm so broken and messed up."  But realize: That's actually God's specialty.

JC



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The Story: Chapter 7 - Weird Things...

God has a way of using weird things for His advantage...

• A giant fish that swallows up a prophet to protect him from peril
• The sun standing still in the sky to save time for a victory for Israelite army
• A fiery furnace to prove His protection for His people
• A baby floating helplessly, unprotected in crocodile infested waters
• Safe passageway on dry ground across what once was the Red Sea

This week, we read that God takes a city for his people (Jericho)... not with swords, spears and an army... but with trumpets, footsteps and a shout.  

Why?  

The Israelites, if you are following along, came up out of Egypt prepared for battle.  After their unfaithfulness to God's command to take the Promised Land, they were forced to march around in the desert for 39 years (until all the men of fighting age had died).  But they were still prepared for battle.  They still possessed swords, spears and other weapons of war.  Why wouldn't God simply send Joshua and the troops in to take the city.  

I believe: It was to show His power.  

God has a way of using odd things like the ones mentioned above, because when He does, the glory and honor for the victory can go to no one else but Him.  No one can make the sun stand still in the sky... except God.  No one could rescue three men thrown into a super-hot furnace... except God.  No one could command a giant fish to eat up a prophet and then spit him out unharmed on the shore... except God.  No one could protect Moses floating down the Nile... except God.  No one could dry up the Red Sea overnight so that His people could pass through... except.  

So there would be no doubt in the people's mind who would give them the victory in the Promised Land, God chose to use feet, trumpets and shouts to bring down the mighty walls of Jericho.  

Question is: what odd or weird thing might God use in your life to accomplish His will?  So that there will be no doubt that it was His hand at work... ?

The Apostle Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians 1... "²⁶ Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wiseby human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chosethe foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord."

JC

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The Story: Chapter 5 - Idol Worship

Last week was a difficult week, schedule-wise.  I know that technically I missed chapter 4... but I'm moving on this week with chapter 5.  Sorry.  I read chapter 4... but didn't time to blog it.  Myles threw a wrench into my week... in a great way!

++++++++++++++++++++
Last night, we threw a couple of Super Bowl parties for our students.  One for our high school kids... and one for our middle school kids.  Thankfully because Myles came a bit early, I had an opportunity to attend.

While I love football... I love the Super Bowl... I couldn't help but think of this video:



Then I sat down tonight to read chapter 5 of the Story.  See, when we read this chapter... we tend to think about folks like at the beginning of the video as idol worshippers... people with weirdly painted faces... bones sticking out of their noses... bowing down to little stone statues...

And when we see that, we think, "How ignorant is that?"

But the reality is... we do the same thing!

Oh, not with little stone statues, bones in our noses or weird headdresses.  But we do it none the less.  We sacrifice all that we have... all of our energy, enthusiasm, time and effort... for something that in the end, really doesn't matter.

Oh don't get me wrong... I have sports teams that I love to spend time with... Ohio State Buckeyes Football... Cubs' games... Da Bears...

But my point is... how quick are we to assume that we don't have idols in our hearts?  An idol is really just anything that gets the time and attention that God should receive.  Maybe a girlfriend or boyfriend... maybe a sport... maybe a club... maybe homework... All of those things are good things but all of those things can become idols.  But they are idol worship when they take the place of God.

So... while we read chapter 5 of the Story, be careful to not quickly point the finger at the Israelites who quickly slipped into idol worship, without checking our closet first!

JC

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The Story: Chapter 3 - When It Doesn't Go "Right"

Everyone has heard the song that goes... sing along if you'd like...

"When you wish upon a star...
Makes no difference who you are...
Anything your heart desires...
Will come to you... 

If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do..."

Leigh Harline and Ned Washington wrote that now famous song for Walt Disney's version of Pinocchio in 1940.  The song is sung by Cliff Edwards as the character of Jiminy Cricket in the movie and can be heard in the opening credits and final scene of the movie (according to the Wikipedia article found HERE).  In 1940, it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.  Since then, it has become synonymous with Disney World and the Walt Disney Corporation.

Funny thing is: It's a complete lie.

It's a nice thought... It's pleasant to think about... It's even fun to dream about...

But unfortunately, it's a lie.

I can dream about becoming an NBA Superstar... or a starting NFL Quarterback who wins the Super Bowl... or running a 5 minute mile... or winning the Nobel Prize in physics.  While I can dream all I want, some things just don't come true.

As many of my faithful readers know, I'm a marathon runner.  I have run now two full marathons and a handful of halfs and a bunch of 5k's.  While I like to think that I could keep up with the likes of Ryan Hall and other amazing runner athletes who will be contending for the title of winning the Boston Marathon in a few months, it isn't going to happen.  My only hope is to, someday, be fast enough to get to run the race at all (which, by the way, is pretty fast).  I have absolutely no chance to winning it... no matter how much I dream, wish upon stars or fantasize about it.

Question is: How do you deal with that reality? the reality of shattered dreams...

When the bank forecloses on your dream?
When you lose the dream job that you thought you had?
When your high school sweetheart walks away from your marriage after 5 months?
When you don't get into the college you always saw yourself attending?
When you can't cut it in the college major you thought would lead you to your dream career?
When you drive that $1000 Honda instead of that Porsche you saw in your imagination?
When you don't make the team?
When you don't get the girl or the guy?

Bummer... huh?
How do you handle that?

See, this week we are reading chapter 3 of the story.  This part of the story is all about Joseph.  And if anyone had some wild dreams, Joseph had some wild dreams.  He was the youngest of 12 children and he had the dream... not once but twice... that all of his older brothers and even his parents would bow down to him.  Crazy dream!

But Joseph believed it... right up through being sold into slavery by his brothers... sold as a slave in Potipher's house... wrongfully imprisoned for years... stuck in a jail for a crime he didn't commit... forgotten... alone... left to rot...

What do you do when your dreams don't come true?  When they don't work out like you had intended?

I'm fairly confident that most of our dreams aren't going to come true.  I'm never going to be an NBA Superstar... or start at quarterback in the NFL... or even run a 5 minute mile.  And I'm okay with letting go of those dreams (a couple of which I never actually had)...

I'm okay with trusting God to take care of the details and following His lead... when things don't work out like I had wished...

JC


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The Story: Chapter 2 - A Leap of Faith

How good are you with the unseen?

For most of us, seeing is believing.  If we are going to see believe something, we want to see it... touch it... hold it in our hands... experience it.  We don't just accept things without seeing it.

What would you have done in the above scene?  Would you have stepped out?  Would you have trusted?  Would you have had faith?

Abraham did.

This week, in the Story chapter 2, we meet a man named Abram.  God came to him in Genesis 12 and asked him to "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." (Genesis 12:1, NIV)

I love to go to new places... I love to experience new locations.  But there is also a security in knowing where it is that I'm going.  Most of the trips that we take with students we take to locations that I am familiar with.  It gives me better security to be able to answer parents' questions about specific locations.  What the dorms are like... what the chapel is like... what the cafeteria is like... how close is the hospital and Walmart... things like that.  When you are new to a location, you don't know those things.  So I prefer to go to locations with students that I have been to before.

God called Abraham to go someplace that he had never been before.  God asked Abraham to trust Him.

And the best line in Genesis 12 may be verse 4: "So Abraham went..."

Abraham took a leap of faith.  He took a long look across the valley and not really knowing what would happen, he stepped out.

Would you?

If God called you to do something "crazy," would you?  Move to another country to work with impoverished people? Witness to your coworker across the office?  Invite a complete stranger at Starbucks to your Life Group?  Teach a small group of middle school girls?

What if God called you to do something crazy?
Would you?

I would like to think that I would...

Jim


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The Story: Chapter 1 - Choice

Hopefully none of my high school teachers are regular readers of my blog... but I'm sad to say that I don't remember many of the things that I learned in high school.  I don't remember how many electrons an element of sodium has.  I don't remember the names of all the bones in the human skull.  I don't remember how to say "what are we having for dinner?" in Spanish.  I don't remember how to rewire a lamp from shop class.  (Although at one point... I did know all those things...)

But I do remember this poem by Robert Frost (taken from here) called "The Road Not Taken"...

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could, To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there,  Had worn them really about the same,


And both that morning equally lay, In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh, Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." 

I have always loved that poem.
Choice is a good thing.  Coke or Pepsi... Steak or chicken... The Cubs or everyone else.  Choice is good. And God designed us with choice.  Take a look:

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:15-17, NIV 

When God created this world and all of its contents, he designed humanity with the ability to choose.  You can choose your likes.  You can choose your preferences.  You can choose whether or not you will follow God.  And that's a good thing.

God could have created humanity without the ability to choose.  He could have created me like my iPhone.  My iPhone doesn't get the choice of what to do.  It does what I tell it to do.  While this is helpful in getting things done (imagine if my iPhone could say, "No, I don't feel like checking your email feed right now).  But it's not helpful in terms of it's love and appreciation for me.

God designed us and created us so that we could choose to love Him... so that we could choose to follow Him... so that we could choose to appreciate Him.  That's why God put the tree in the middle of the garden.  That tree presented a choice.  Follow God or not.  Unfortunately, we chose not in that instance and brought sin into our world.

But we are still presented with the choice.  The choice to follow.  The choice to pursue God.  God could have created us like mindless robots, who are relentless in our pursuit of God without a choice or he could have created us as choice-ful humans, who can choose to relentlessly pursue God.  I'm glad He chose the later.

Noah was faced with this choice.  In a few chapters after the fall of humanity through the sin of Adam and Eve, God came to Noah with a choice.  Noah had found favor in God's eyes and the earth's wickedness had made God sad.  So God decided to start over... with Noah's family.  God came to Noah and asked him to build an ark.  That ark would save humanity and all of creation.  But Noah was faced with a choice: Do his own thing or follow the instructions of God.  Noah chose to obey God.

Today, you are presented with a choice: Follow your own way... Follow God's way... Those two paths end up in very different places.  I know which path I have chosen.  And I'm grateful for the chance to choose!



Jim

BTW: This is part of a 31-week series that I am doing here on my blog in conjunction with our church reading The Story together.  Here is a link to the first post in this series.  Feel free to click "The Story" label below to see other posts in this series.

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Beginning: The Story

We are beginning something at North Terrace that I am very excited about... We are set to begin reading next week (January 7th) and talking about on the weekends in worship (January 13th) a book called "The Story."

The Story is a resource designed to help people read the entire Bible.  They have taken the NIV Bible and smoothed it out by removing some of the difficult sections (i.e.: genealogies, lengthly law passages, etc) so that it reads like a story from front to back.  This book is NOT a Bible... but the passages that it includes are passages straight from the NIV version of the Bible.

What excites me about it two-fold:
First, its a chance for us to see the entire Bible's story.  As someone who reads through the Bible every year, I know how easy it is to get bogged down in Leviticus or Isaiah or a minor prophet.  Some folks stop when they meet resistance.  This will hopefully help us get through the entire Biblical story.

Second, our whole church is doing it together.  We will be preaching on the chapter from the Story in morning worship (you'll be able to download our weekly message podcasts HERE on our website if you can't make it to worship).  We'll be talking about in adult Sunday school classes at NTCOC.  Both our students (middle and high school) and children will be discussing it in their Sunday school classes.  So everyone will be able to talk about the same thing!

This is set to be really fun!

Since it starts next week... and runs for the next 31 weeks... I'm going to post weekly some thoughts about the Story chapter that we're reading.  I may comment on the whole chapter... or just a specific section of it.  But I thought it might give folks something to think about as they are reading during the week and it will be a reminder on Facebook and Twitter that you need to be reading the next chapter!

This is gonna be exciting!  I hope you'll join us for this journey!

Jim



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