A Good Buffet Anyone?

February 23, 2010

Have you ever been to a really good buffet?  Do you like buffets  I like buffets!  I may even like them too well!  J  I could have the tendency to eat too much!  They give me the opportunity to eat obnoxious amounts of delicious foods.   It’s the kind of restaurant where everyone can get what they want. They can go down the line and pick and choose … Mexican food, Seafood, Chinese, Italian, good old American. You can try something new, and if you don’t like it … set it aside and go back for something else…

That’s great when you’re eating out (except that you may over-eat trying to get your money’s worth). But it doesn’t work so well when you take the buffet approach to your belief system. A lot of people think of “religion” as a kind of smorgasbord. They take a little of what Buddha said over here and try out some of what Mahatma Gandhi said over there with a little Jesus sprinkled over it and some Scientology sauce on the side. And for dessert they try some Dr. Phil and Dr. Laura or a little bit of Oprah sprinkled on top. If it all tastes good, they keep it … and they’ve put together their own buffet of life. The best part is, if they lose their taste for any part of it, they can set it aside and try something else.

The only problem is: the Bible doesn’t offer a Buffet. God isn’t a buffet kind of God. The Bible presents ONE God and ONE way to be saved.  ^“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  John 14:6 (NIV)

So I like buffets!  I will probably always be tempted by them!  I like what they have to offer!  I may even see you in a buffet from time to time.  However, because I believe in Jesus Christ and what He teaches in the Scriptures, I have no option to include anything else for my salvation.  Christ alone is my rock, my fortress and my salvation!  And by the way, that’s exactly what you’ll find taught at Northside Christian Church!

Robin

Comfort Zone

February 16, 2010

I have been thinking about this for a while and have been prodded by others to write a weekly blog.  Well, I guess I’m here!  In the blogosphere that is. I have to admit I am writing it with some hesitancy, thinking my plate is already full and where will I find the time.  Another concern, was that this whole blog thing might just be a little out of my “comfort zone”.  However, in a recent sermon, I talked about “getting out of our comfort zone”.   How could I use that as an excuse?

I used the passage in Luke where Simon Peter had fished all night.  They had caught nothing.  They were ready to hang it up for the day, when Jesus said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”  5Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”   . Luke 5:4-5 (NIV)

I can imagine Simon Peter and his partners were ready to call it a day. They had fished all night long and had caught not so much as a single little fish. They are tired, frustrated, discouraged, and defeated. The last thing any of them wants to do is go back out and fish some more. Yet, when Jesus tells Peter to do just that, he surrenders to the will of the Lord and goes out to fish.

Jesus told them to “put out a little deeper”.  That may be like telling us to go out a little farther and put out a little deeper.  Today we might say he is calling us to get out of our comfort zone.

What happens in the deeper water? It can be scary. It is more unstable.  It is at least more unfamiliar.   All of us, I believe could have the tendency to, just stay inside our comfort zone.  I believe we all should be challenged to step out of our comfort zone!

I experienced this in a recent Mission trip to Mexico.  I had the opportunity to take, as it were, a leap of faith!  I was challenged to “bungee jump”.  Now I wouldn’t say I have a fear of heights, but rather a healthy respect for heights.  I had worked and walked on a 12” ledge,   3 stories high just that week on the mission trip.  But there is something practical about thinking, “I don’t know if God has called me to jump off of a 16 story tower!

A few years ago – sitting at a table underneath Bungee, some of our group had gone up to bungee jump.  I can remember sitting there, as a leader of the group, knowing our people were going to jump and my palms were sweaty, just thinking about it. But this was the year to add it to my “bucket list” if I was ever going to do it!  I was cool, calm and collected.  Which I interpret that I didn’t  FREAK OUT!  My mind also went to the Scripture where Jesus says – “lo, I am with you always!”) I’m not thinking that included bungee jumping (or maybe riding in an airplane for some of you!)

For whatever reason this year, it was absolutely not a problem!  Of course, I was a little worried being in Mexico that they might think I was a huge piñata!  And I do have to admit that on the platform I did look at the cords to make sure they weren’t frayed!  After I was wrapped up and tied up with no place to go on the platform, but over the edge with the twinkling lights below.   Wait a minute – “What was I thinking?” But I had too much pride to back out!  I would have never lived that one down.  Yes, it would have been easier to die and go be with Jesus.  I took the plunge! And the trip was “exhilarating!”  WOW!  WHEW!

What happens in the deeper water? It can be scary because it is unfamiliar to us.  But when God is taking you there you can be assured that He will be there for you!  God’s commands are God’s enablements!   When Jesus meets us, He wants to take us from shallow faith to a deeper faith!  The only way we can do that is to “step out of our comfort zone”!

Simon get back out there to the deep water, get in over your head and lower your nets one more time. Even though you appear to have failed, try again, risk again, believe again, and work again.  Peter said, “At Your Word, I will try again.” When they let down their nets this time, they caught so many fish that their net broke and they had to call their partners to help them get the catch loaded into the boats.  What made the difference? Obedience to Jesus, even when Peter did not want to do what the Lord asked him to do!

So when Jesus says to us get back out there to the deep water, get in over your head and lower your nets one more time. Even though you appear to have failed, try again, risk again, believe again, and work again.  Step out in faith!  Step out of your “comfort zone” and see what God will do through you!

Robin

Happiness is Elusive

Happiness is Elusive, isn’t it?  How often have you thought, “If only I could find someone to truly love me, then I’d be happy.  If only I had that car, then I’d be satisfied.  If only I wasn’t under so much financial stress,  If only I could find another job…”  The “if onlys” are endless aren’t they?    Our culture has developed its own “conventional wisdom”.   By conventional wisdom I mean the current thinking of our culture on how to live, deal with others, and view the world itself. Most people navigate their way through life by this conventional wisdom. By it they know how to behave and they know their place in society.  They would say, “happy are the successful, the powerful, the rich, the famous, the aggressive, the self-reliant, the self-confident, the glamorous.”

Sometimes, I relate people chasing after happiness to eating cotton candy!  You put cotton candy into your mouth and for an instance there is sweet satisfaction, but it just disappears in your mouth doesn’t it?  (*It may re-appear on your hips, but it disintegrates in your mouth.)  It also doesn’t have any real nutritional value.  Many people are always searching for that “happiness” that is just out of their grasp.  They grab onto something thinking it will be what truly satisfies them only to discover that it doesn’t give any real lasting value.

Jesus taught a whole new way of life, a whole new way of thinking.  Jesus taught if you really want to be “happy” or “blessed”, it is sometimes quite the opposite of “conventional wisdom”.   What Jesus teaches seems like a “paradox”.  It seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses truth.  In Luke 5, He teaches his disciples saying:  20 …   “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  21Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.    Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.  22Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.  23″Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.

When was the last time you really lived like your life was a paradox?  When was the last time, we did something that might have seemed odd or “out of sorts” with the rest of the world.  Do we cave into peer pressure or do we march to the beat of a different drummer?  Who leads that procession in your life?  Jesus taught us to live differently by thinking differently.  You’re thinking affects your behavior.  Here’s the secret!  Renew your mind!     1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Roman 12:1,2) Memorize it! It’s a great verse!  Find that “happiness” and “blessing” that Jesus teaches about.

Robin