How Majestic Is Your Name

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Psalm 8

I’m out of town today at the wedding of my cousin and his finance. It was held outside at a beautiful estate near Austin, complete with 1800’s era plantation home, innumerable trees, and a sky that is barely given it’s due by the word “blue.” I know plenty of people that call this part of the world “God’s country,” as if God stopped just one extra moment to make this place more beautiful than human words can put into language.

As I took my first look at the morning, I was met by the brilliance of the bright sun, the vast sky, and the cool breeze, all I could think of was David’s words, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Yes, God speaks to us through the Bible and those words are vital to my journey of faith. However, I think that he also speaks through the beauty of his creation, a beauty that we struggle to define. I can see David looking out across the land and noticing all that God has created, trying to put it all into words. “How majestic is your name in all the earth!” All the beauty of the hills, mountains, icy glaciers, warm sandy beaches… all here for God’s children to enjoy and ponder what kind of mighty Creator brought all of this into being. What kind of Creator knit everything together with such wonder, and why would this Creator do so? In short, He did it because He loves us. Simple, really. Of course we can get into the more complex nature of it all, but for today, for this moment, I just marvel at the mystery of it all and the depth of His love for me and every single one of us, past, present, and future. Praise God!

Trading My Xbox

While doing some serious YouTube surfing this week, I stumbled upon this video I found at allaboutworship.com. It is called Trading My XBOX and is a response to Darrell Evan’s song, Trading My Sorrows. It poses the question about the place that “things” have in our lives. Are all the “things” in our lives stumbling blocks to us or are they all useful to us? I’ll admit that I’m a techno-freak in the making, and left to my own devices (well, literally and figuratively), I could inch my way off the path that draws me closer to Christ. I don’t have an Xbox or gaming “things”, but I keep my iPhone on, I twitter, my laptop is ever at the ready, and spend a bit of time online every day. Not saying that as a pro or con regarding technology, but I simply pose a question: What are you doing with your technology? Does it aid in or hinder your relationship with Christ and with others we are called to love?

I figure that if nature can praise God (You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. -Isaiah 55:12 NIV) that technology should too. Is your phone only used for gossip or judgmental texting about someone you dislike? Does the Xbox provide you with an excuse to ignore the other people in the room for hours every day? Does time online replace time visiting with people in your family, your friends, your community? Does the “daily Bible verse” you get in email on Sunday morning become your “out” for sleeping in instead of worshiping in a community of faith? Is your only connection to other people merely twittering?

What if… (thinking caps on now) what if we used our technology to reach out to people with words of grace, hope, comfort, encouragement, and then spend time with them in person (of course, if that is possible- doesn’t take into account folks you meet across the country/world). What if we utilize online Bible study and take that knowledge out into the world? What if we become so focused on Christ’s mission in the world (both as individuals and as a community) that our joy spilled out into everything we do, even in our day to day communications.

Jesus used everything around him to speak about the love of God: flowers, birds, vineyards, a plank, sheep. He spent time with people. He also spent time alone in prayer. Why shouldn’t Christ-followers do the same? What are you willing to trade in for time with God?

Indiana Idol

This week at our Lenten Bible study, we looked Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and how there was a focus on obtaining treasures. In the opening scene of the movie (see link), Dr. Jones (Indy, for those who know him well) is risking bodily harm moving through a booby-trapped jungle and into a dangerous maze of tunnels, just to get to a golden idol. He wants the idol for the purposes of turning it in to a museum, and mostly likely also just loves the adventure of it. After successfully grabbing the golden idol, he must run for his life, away from all the danger falling around him.Yet in the end, the golden idol that he almost died retrieving, is taken away from him by the evil Dr. Belloq. Indy barely escapes with his life intact. What a picture of Jesus’ message about storing up treasures on earth.

"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. (Mat 6:19-21, The Message)

What kind of time do we human creatures put into obtaining treasures? Whether they are good or bad, useful or not, we still spend huge amounts of time gathering in our stockpile of treasures: money, new clothes, vacations, car, the latest tech gadget, relationships with family or friends, time spent on hobbies… (add your own list here). Is money evil? No, but the love of it is “the root of all evil” (1 Tim 6:10 KJV). Are new clothes a no-no? No. They are quite necessary at times, but making them the center of your being pushes other great possibilities out of your reach.

Wait though, what about relationships with people? Isn’t that a good thing? Absolutely. We should spend quality and quantity time building and nurturing relationships with others. But how often do we put those relationships above building and nurturing our relationship with God? (e.g. “I’ll pray later, God. I’m watching TV tonight with my spouse.” “I’ll read your word later, Jesus. I’m busy reading another novel with my child.”) Again, not that those things are wrong, that is until we let it totally replace our time with God, justifying it as “family time” or “me time.” Can family or “me” time not include spiritual acts of prayer, reading the Bible, or having a lively discussion about faith? Why do we separate our waking moments into “church moments” and “everything else”, carefully keeping our life divided into sacred and secular categories?

What are the treasures in your life? Which need to become less treasured? What “things” do you think you treasure, but spend little, if any, time on? If God is our greatest treasure, how do we honor Him? I encourage you to spend time seeking the greatest treasure, a relationship with God, who created you, loves you, and offers you His grace and mercy that restores and recreates us in ways beyond our imagination.


Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. (Psalm 62:5 NIV)

Cracked Lives (or Illustrating Priorities, part 2)

In yesterday’s post, “Illustrating Priorities”... (you might want to read that first. I’ll wait…

… I described an illustration that I used to show how we sometimes get our priorities all messed up. Using a glass jar, shells and salt, I showed how we put some things (doing bills, watching TV, jogging, etc) ahead of the things that we SAY are important (worshiping God, Bible study, prayer, family, etc).

(Cue old soap-opera organ music and whispering announcer:) “When we last left Pastor Valerie, she was holding up the perfect illustration of well ordered priorities, the glass jar filled with all the shells and all the salt, and room to spare.” (Cue ominous music: duh, duh, dummm…)

So there I was, allowing the perfect illustration to soak in and then begin discussing it with the group. I tilted the jar a bit and salt began to stream out from the jar onto the table below. I looked at the top and the salt was not spilling over the lip of the jar. For a moment I was baffled, and then I heard giggles and then laughter as I turned the jar around and saw a small hole where the salt was pouring out. Something had obviously cracked the thin layer of glass there and now there was a hole this size of a dime. The vase/life was broken. “That’s life! Sometimes we get broken” I smirked. The faux pas brought up a real point in addition to the intended and original point.

Even when we are trying to follow Christ and put God first in all things, sometimes our lives get cracked. Sometimes the “things” we have in our lives pour out uncontrollably and cause a mess. But no matter how much loss, pain, suffering, or despair we face, God remains inside us, with us at all times. (“Remain in me and I will remain in you.” John 15:4). Now, I couldn’t repair that cracked vase but God can take cracked lives and re-create them into new lives (“Behold I make all things new.” Rev 21:5).

So on my way into my office to write this piece, I was carrying a box with the remnants of the study decorations (grass skirts, fishing nets, shells..) that we used for “Cast Away.” I was busy in thought about the symbolism of the cracked vase. In the blink of an eye the box of shells crashed to the floor. Broken: the delicate ones I found in Galveston on a family vacation. Broken: the colorful ones from a Mexican beach. Broken: that special sea urchin shell (that came from my grandmother’s store) that I’ve had since I was 16. Broken and a mess.

Upon reflection I thought about the brokenness that we fear. What if I lost everything? My home, my car, my family, my piano, my friends… things that were far beyond my ability to “fix”? How could I cope? My only answer is that I couldn’t. That is, I alone wouldn’t be able to cope. “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” -1 Cor 15:57. Lent is a time to remember that Christ gave His all for us and paid our debt of sin, so that we will have eternal life. Victory over death. Victory over all the cracks and holes that mar our “perfect” lives. He knows our sorrows and will never leave us to deal with them alone. He is ever present and loves us without pause or fail. Take time to give thanks to God for His ever present and renewing Spirit.

Illustrating Priorities

During Lent my church is holding a Lenten Bible studies series called “Dinner and a Movie: Don’t Forget Your Change.” It focuses on the changes that come in our lives- changes that come via circumstances (both good and bad) and the changes that come when one allows the transforming power of God to re-create his people.

Our first study was about our changing priorities and based on “Cast Away.” Chuck, the Fed-Ex employee, allows “time” to run his life and misses out on important moments in life. His view of “time” changes once he is marooned on a desert island, shifting his priorities from allowing “time” to be his master, to mere survival and the hope of returning home.

As a part of rethinking our priorities, I did a short demonstration in the study, using a glass vase, sea shells and salt. The vase represented our lives, the shells were the vitally important things, and the salt was the peripheral things (both necessary and fun) that fill up our days. I began by pouring a container of salt into the jar, noting my “peripherals.” “I like to play with my nieces and nephews. I like to golf. I like to learn new things about technology. I have to wash the dishes.” and so on. The salt filled the jar about three quarters of the way. Then I began filling the jar/my life with the “important” things, and stuffing each one in as far as I could. “I need to study the Bible. I need to visit people in the hospital. I need to spend time with my family. I need to watch my health” and so on. However, by the sixth shell (6 of 15), I could fit no more in. The “prayer” shell hadn’t even made it in yet. The jar/my life obviously had no room for the things I said that were vital. Time to rethink my priorities… The illustration had their attention.

“Ahhh” I said. “If this is my life, I need to recognize that my priorities are all messed up. I need to rethink how I live day to day” as I poured out the salt and removed the few shells. With the glass vase empty, I reordered the process, putting in all the “vital” things first, and then pouring the “peripheral” things in after. In practice, I knew that all the shells and all the salt would fit now, showing that when you put God first, everything else would come together (“Seek ye first the kingdom of God…” Mat 6:33). I held up the vase and everyone could see the perfect illustration which is supposed to leave you with the thought that perhaps each of us needs to reflect on our priorities and ask God to direct us and transform us.

Yes… a perfect illustration, a perfect moment to reflect, however life is not perfect… (Wanna know the rest of the story? Watch for part 2 of this in tomorrow’s “Cracked Lives”)

During this Lenten season I encourage you sit in God’s presence, in worship, prayer, and study, and allow him to show you the changes that will transform you and bring you closer to Him.

Lent and Cardboard Testimonies

Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Countless Christians across the globe attended Ash Wednesday services and my church was no different. But this service, as in many churches in our country, is not the most well-attended service. Neither is Good Friday. Contrast that with Christmas and Easter services. Why the difference? I have heard it said by some that they don’t like to focus on the subject of sin. It’s depressing. It’s one thing to celebrate birth and resurrection, and another to sit and face your failings and shortcomings for a whole hour.

To that I say sure. I understand. I don’t like re-living my past mistakes and enduring the pain of it over and over. So I don’t. That’s not what Lent is about. It’s about remembering our tendency to sin and our need for God to forgive us. It’s about God wiping our slate clean and re-creating clean hearts in us, enabling us to walk closely with Him, instead of trying to hide from Him. It’s about remembering God’s power to transform us into Overcomers and Rejoicers who live everyday excited about what new thing God will do with and through us in that day.

I recently saw (again) a video that shows the concept of sin, forgiveness, and transformation in such a powerful way that it still affects me just as strongly as the first time I saw it. I hope that you will make time for your own testimony before God, and allow His transforming power to fill you will joy for all that He has done, is doing, and will continue to do for you and in you.