Saturday, October 31, 2009

Why?


It’s been at least 17 years or so since I read Philip Yancey’s book “Disappointment with God” so the last thing I want to do is to give a synopsis of a book I haven’t read in almost two decades. In one part of his book however he deals with the question that plagues most of us…”Why?”
It’s that unanswered question for some of the greatest challenges in life. It’s a haunting question, a frustrating question and at times you wish that God would somehow shout the answer from heaven to clue you in about why certain things are happening. Yet in His infinite wisdom, He doesn’t do that. So why doesn’t He give the answer? As Yancey wisely puts to the reader (I’m paraphrasing), if God told you why this happened or that didn’t happen, would you be happy with the answer? The obvious answer is probably not.
I believe there is an even greater reason God doesn’t give us the answer to the “why” question. Could it be that He wants us to trust Him fully, without hesitation? The Bible shows us so many great examples of men and women who trusted in the face of impossible odds and very few answers. All of them testify to the fact that God is absolutely trustworthy – even when the answer to the “why” in your life seems so illusive.
Don’t get bogged down with trying to answer why. Trust the Lord in simple faith and reap the great result of His promises!
Heb. 6:12 (NIV) … imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

My First Blog Post...About Blogging!


Ok, I guess everyone is doing this…blogging! Well, maybe not everyone, but lots of people. I’ve read a few sites about successful blogging and at the moment I can’t remember everything they said, but one mentioned that I should blog about my interests, be myself, don’t be too controversial, don’t be negative about people, be witty and use humor…oh, and keep it short. All in all, pretty good advice.
Let me start with the last one: keep it short. I am a pastor who preaches weekly and my congregation will tell you, keeping things short is not one of my strengths.
Be witty and use humor…uh, maybe in another post. Nothing funny or witty comes to mind.
Don’t be negative about people: I agree. Personal attacks are never right or Christ-like.
Don’t be too controversial: this is where it gets a bit sticky, because talking about my faith will likely be controversial for some.
Be myself…since I’m not 15 anymore, I should be fine with this one.
My interests: that should be easy. My interests are varied, but they are:
  1. Jesus Christ
  2. My wife
  3. My children
  4. The church I pastor
  5. The Boston Red Sox (and ultimately the game of baseball)
  6. Pretty much anything made by Apple
  7. Accordance Bible Software (more on that in another post)
  8. I like to golf, but haven’t done so in a really long time (since my brothers-in-law moved further away from me)
  9. Food, most of it, especially Italian food – I’m still trying to find a verse of Scripture that proves my belief that there will be cannoli in heaven…I don’t think there is such verse.
Well, that’s it. I think this post was too long…oops!