northpoint notes

My daughter and grandchildren and I were preparing to go to the pool on Saturday. Ethan (age 4) was ready and waiting for his mother. When she came out with her bathing suit on, Ethan looked at her and said, “Put some shorts on. Nobody wants to see you like that.”

A couple of years ago I overheard a man in an airport giving an airline attendant a piece of his mind (which I felt he couldn’t afford to lose). He was upset about a flight delay and explaining rather graphically the inconvenience this was going to cause him. The airline attendant, of course, had no control over flight delays but was merely a servant whose job it was to see that the right passengers were on the right plane.

I wish someone would have spoken to that man and said something like, “Put on a different attitude. No one wants to see you like this.”

The Scriptures talk about putting on Christ – being clothed spiritually with His righteousness.

I have a friend who told me how he clothes himself each day. He said that every morning while he is in the shower he prays that portion of Ephesians 6 that describes the armor of God. He said he doesn’t want to leave the house without being properly clothed.

We live in an age that says personal transparency is a value. That is often translated to mean we should simply let our worse side show and let those around us deal with it. I don’t want to see a person’s worse side. I want to see the person who is being clothed with Christ – who is beginning to resemble Him more than they resemble the natural man they used to be.

I want to put on Christ – no one wants to see me the way I would be without Him. It is not a coverup. It is a new garment.

Another Sunday – There were new faces today. Whenever new people come there are numerous questions that come to mind?

What are their stories? What or who brought them to church today? How can we minister to them?

Will they decide to return?

Did we greet them well?

Were they able to worship?

How can we help them connect with other families?

I always feel honored when the Lord trusts a new family to us so that we might help them become His disciples.

It’s always good to see new faces.

I have enjoyed camping with my son in the Canadian Rockies – back-packing, hiking mountain trails, cooking on a micro-stove, setting up tent and sleeping in the quiet of a mountain campsite.

Last night was different, I spent the night with my grandson (age 4) and granddaughter (she is 8) in a tent in our back yard. My grandson would only agree to a night in the tent if his mother would stay as well. He was afraid raccoons might get us. So the four of us spent the night in the tent. The experience was quite different than the mountain camping trips.

Mountain sounds: water rolling over rocks in a nearby stream and leaves blowing in the wind and an occaisonal snore.

Backyard sounds: katydids and other insects, a neighbor bouncing a basketball in his driveway at mid-night, a low-flying airplane, sirens at 2:00 AM, a jet, a train in the distance and cars, trucks and motorcycles through the night. The motion detector light on the nearby deck came on before dawn. Was it the dreaded raccoon, a possum, or a stray cat?

It is obvious I didn’t sleep as soundly as I might have in my own bed – in addition to the noises of the night there were knees and elbows in the back; a grandchild’s head on my stomach.

I got up while the others were still sleeping and went for my usual 5 mile run – weary and slower than usual but thankful for the special time with grandchildren and for another memory.

It is difficult for me to listen to two or three conversations at once. I know I will miss something in one of them but when grandchildren come to visit you have to try to catch every word. There is so much to catch up on. There are stories of visits to the zoo, recent books read and requests for so many things to do – can we go swimming, read book, put up a tent, watch a movie, get something to eat, have some ice cream, play in the basement, eat a cookie?

Although I am tired at the end of the day, I want to hear it all. They are so full of energy and questions and ideas. In the middle of all the chaos, they look to parents and grandparents for direction. Do we watch the movie first and then swim? Do we take a nap before we go to the pool are after we come back?

Then there are the questions. Why do raccoons sleep under the deck? Why does the song say, “Big girls don’t cry” when I have seen big girls cry? Why do you have three remotes?

It is a treat to watch them grow and learn and develop. For a few days, it will be chaotic and then they will go home. We will be tired but the chaos will have been great.

After Jesus sent the 12 out in pairs to do ministry, they returned with exciting tales of demons being cast out and people being healed. I think it was wonderful chaos for Jesus. His followers were full of energy, excitement and questions. Jesus listened to theirs stories and then helped them see that what was really important – their relationship with Him – their name recorded in His book.

As we listen to the stories and questions, we look for those teaching moments that will help our grandchildren know what is really important. What an incredible privilege to be a part of what God is doing in their lives.

Jesus said – Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy. Jesus is saying there is a certain “blessedness” or “happiness” in showing mercy. Mercy has several components – almsgiving or relieving the poor – giving to those in need and forgiveness – extending mercy to those who deserve punishment.

I am a recipient of both pictures of mercy – I have been in need and God has graciously provided – often through the generosity or mercy of others. I know that  I also am one who deserves God’s judgment but I have received mercy through Jesus.

But my receipt of mercy seems somehow tied to my extending mercy. Jesus doesn’t seem to be talking about random acts of mercy but rather a state of being – I am to be merciful as a matter of course – a way of life. I am to be by nature a generous, forgiving person. The only way that can happen is if I have help from outside myself because I am not by nature merciful but self-centered and self-serving.

Jesus on the other hand is merciful and if He dwells in me then His mercy is expressed through me to those around me. Anyone can do random acts of mercy but only Jesus can make us merciful at our core. It is a part of what it means to be a disciple.

The text for Sunday is about being merciful – really, it is about being disciples who have a positive impact on others because they have become merciful because of Christ.

The wife of a local pastor has been battling cancer. It has been a long and difficult battle and she is not doing well. We have prayed for her and for him. She told her husband recently that she was thankful for her cancer because she has come to know the Lord in a way she would not have known Him without the cancer. This is often the case in suffering. Suffering removes all other distractions. For the length of the suffering there is just me, God and the pain (be it emotional, physical, relational). The greatest of these is God.

I attended a pastors’ prayer retreat this morning. We meet once each month on a Tuesday morning from 8:00 AM until 11:00 AM. There are usually 30 -50 pastors who meet for worship and prayer. The primary purpose of these monthly meetings is to build community – a sense of unity – among pastors and to pray for the city. Sometimes the focus is more heavily on building community and other times on praying for the city.

Today was a community building time.  It wasn’t necesarily planned that way. It just flowed out of a time of worship around Psalm 103. Several pastors shared needs ranging from discouragement to sickness and others gathered around them and prayed for them. It is encouraging to see pastors from various denominational stripes worshiping and praying together. Jesus’ prayer in John 17 comes to mind as He prayed that His followers would be one.

I just read a blog about a boy with an acute form of leukemia. His parents have both written and numerous people have responded to them. They have been incredibly transparent about their faith journey – their doubts, their fears, God’s word and how it relates to the suffering their son is experiencing. The father is director of men’s ministry at their church in Texas. They are a month into this very painful journey with their son. I was blessed to know they are in a faith community that allows them to be very transparent about their stuggle to understand what God is doing right now. As their church continues to surround them, they will see evidence of God’s grace. To get the story, check out http://gageupdates.wordpress.com/2007/07/22/dying-to-take-a-breath/

A pastor called today asking if we could meet for coffee. He is a second career pastor in his second year of ministry and is really discouraged. I have heard his story (from other pastors) too many times through the years. Unappreciated, marginalized by most of the people, criticized and alone. He is ready to leave and yet desperately wants to be a pastor. The “call” to ministry can be so strong that pastors are not careful in discerning where that “call” should take them. If this pastor does not find a way to cope with this church or leave soon, I fear he will be lost to ministry. Perhaps I can be an instrument for healing.

I was talking with my granddaughter (she’s eight) on the phone several months ago. She told me about her great-grandfather (other side of the family) who was sick, in the hospital and he might die. She reminded me that her great-grandmother had died a couple of years ago. She then began to talk in general about grandparents getting older and getting sick and someday dying. There was a bit of a pause and then she said, “My grandparents are becoming an endangered species.”

I have entered a new category. There are government protections for other “endangered species.” I guess this at least means there is no open season on her grandparents.