God's Refrigerator

I have a picture of the heavens

that of God’s refrigerator door,

Next to Dr. King’s Nobel prize,

is a little prayer I sent to God.

And He nudges angels, “Come and see,

that guy has finally handed me

the keys he held onto oh so tightly.

Now I can do my Holy Work.”

Between the mighty acts of saints

and paintings that the masters made

hangs my little offering,

a precious thing to a loving God!

Because it shows that I acknowledge

whose I am eternally,

held there not by holy magnets,

instead affixed with three crude nails.

Help me fill the walls of heaven,

from the depth of gratitude,

until I view God’s holy gallery

that testifies my Father’s love!

Let me know what you have hanging on God's fridge, okay?

blessings!

ron

But as I visited a young person in jail this week I wondered again what I could bring, what they needed. And it made me think that what he needed was to...

Let Me See Christ

Let me see Christ

Reflected in your eyes

As they drink in

The beauty of your world.

Let me see goodness

As you take the things you feel

And change them into deeds

That show you care for all!

Let me see love

In the action of your hands

As they take a cause

That waits for truth to come.

And though I cannot read,

I will know the truth.

And though I cannot see

I will know a way to live.

Because you lived in a way

That spoke rain to my desert,

Peace to my Holy War,

Hope to my hopeless heart.

Let me see Christ,

Reflected in your eyes

As they drink in

The beauty of your world! 

What are we doing? How are we responding? How are we loving? Trust in our banks is gone, is it appropriate to mention treasures in heaven? The housing market is in freefall, do we talk about mansions in heaven? Our nation sinks deeper into debt, do we share our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills?

We are uniquely positioned to respond in a way that could make an eternal difference. I raise the question, not with pat answers in mind but with a certain urgency of heart. How will we respond? What will be our “Spiritual Stimulus Plan”, even as we reach out to those in need. I am working on finding some answers, I hope you will join me! Please share your thoughts...

Amputated vision

Amputated vision brought

on crippled limbs

that drag in spastic pace

to see the best in you.

And that is how I base

my stunted view

imbedded in a heart

without the means to care.

And you hope I know

or somehow understand

because I nod or

maybe even smile.

Don't take my absent voice

to mean that I agree

because I can't, and won't

I haven't and didn't!

Like a cow that sees

a train go by

I hear the noise and

tremble at the sight...

But I might, someday

if you'll slow down and

come to me with love

and uncommon patience.

Then, my prosthetic sight

and transplanted heart

might share your love

with someone else!

otherwise, I'm gone...

So, if people want to talk about that certain game, they are supposed to use terms like, “The Big Game” and “Super Sunday”. Otherwise, I am using the NFL's ® trademark to further my interests. So, most advertisers just use a generic term, thinking that people will naturally know what they are talking about and what is happening on February 1^st. Well, I have a new one…

Instead of tickets in the $1,000 dollar range, people can come to church for free. Instead of endless commercials, they can hear the word of God and instead of a traffic jam after the game is over, they can enjoy a time of fellowship and coffee. At our “Super Sunday”, there would not be a winning and losing team, just people excited to experience God’s love! And who knows, the preacher might even be willing to add an “extra point” onto the sermon (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

We can make every Sunday “Super”, not by hype but by heart! Now, don’t get me wrong, I am going to watch the “Big Game”, but I am also going to try to remember something. If we believers would remember to get as hyped up about worshipping God as we do about the big game, our friends, family and neighbors might wonder what all the excitement is about. Then we might be able to encourage them to make every Sunday “super” as well. Enjoy the game, and I will see you Sunday!

“Look at Me, I’m Riding By!”

I’ve never gotten over it,

the urge to put a playing card

into the spokes of life and say

“Look at me, I’m riding by!”

And it makes a sound that, well,

sounds like a sound that’s trying to sound

important, but it sounds just like

exactly what it is, a fake!

But I pretend that I am proud

and you are polite, so you join in

perhaps in kindness, or more deep,

so I will play along with you.

And together bonded by the lie

we forge ahead with flapping cards

to prove that we are everything

“They” all wish that they could be.

How silly it must look to GOD!

When we invent reality

because we can’t accept a truth

that doesn’t fit into our plans.

And with a funny flapping sound

we rattle on past what we need

to chase a thing that isn’t there,

a product of our fantasy!

I’ve never gotten over it,

the urge to put my foolishness

into the spokes of truth and say,

“That’s a sound I understand!"

And I find it humorous I guess because I lose my stuff so often. It seems like I am always on the hunt for something I cannot find. And if you think I feel this way about losing my keys, forgetting my computer and leaving my phone on the charger, you can imagine how I sometimes feel in my spiritual life! I feel like I am going out ill-equipped, ill-prepared and ill-fitted!

I sometimes feel so out of balance with God, instead of striding to meet my day with a victorious attitude, it just sometimes feels like I am walking into the world with a soup pot my head! Thanks be to God that His love is never lost and His love is never hidden. 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are new creation: the old has gone, the new has come.”

I don’t know if you stay up late to ringin the New Year. I remember as kids wanting to stay up late and watch the clock strike midnight and bang on pots and pans and make a big noise. I didn’t really know why we were so happy, it was just another day. And for all of our trying, most of the time, we fell asleep around ten o’clock. I remember our favorite thing to do, was to say to people all that day, “See you next year!”

Well, now that I have kids and a mortgage and  responsibilities, I understand what all the celebrating was about. The New Year is a marker, a milestone, a moment in my accelerating life, when it is acceptable to reflect and what has been and dream of what could be. A chance to start with a clean slate, a whole New Year. A moment to resolve to make the New Year better than last year!

Usually, my resolutions are broken pretty quickly, though for a lasting change, I believe 2 Corinthians gives us the best chance for serious change! “If anyone…” that includes me, a servant of God who wants to be better than I am. “Is in Christ…” not so much a location but a lifestyle that is immersed in the world of our Saviour. “They are a new creation…” not a retread of the old me, a completely different person, forgiven from failure and blessed for success! How can that happen? “The old has gone” and in its place, “The new has come”. So, “Happy New Year, and Happy New YOU!

Blessings!

Ron Spence

And I think of all of this as I look forward to the charge card bills to come in, and anticipate taking down Christmas lights and put the boxes back in the rafters. For a few brief days I will be all aglow with the Christmas Spirit and pumped up on the joy of the season. Then, the day will pass and peace on earth will gave way to stories of the war and goodwill toward men gave way to gridlock, return lines and daily pressures and my Christmas Spirit will sag like a deflated Snowman. Yet, like the sagging Santa, with one hand, I can still reach for the manger, the baby, the gift, the Lord! The light that doesn’t burn out, the joy that doesn’t fade, the hope that doesn’t lose its promise! Jesus Christ, born, given, risen! And even though the world tries its level best to drain us of our joy and make us a crumpled mess, one truth remains, “Greater is He that is in me, than He that is in the world!”

So let’s stayed pumped throughout the Christmas Season and into the New Year!

God Bless

I live a few miles from one of the big fires here in Southern California. We are asking everyone to pray for all of the people who are in harm's way, and for those who have lost homes as well.

Times like these bring us to our knees and closer to God and then the next question is, WHY? What an impossible, pressing and crushing question. We see the TV coverage of various natural and human created disasters and we shake our heads and feel bad. We are moved by the scope of the devastation and burdened by the depth of loss.

Thanks be to God, that He is big enough for our questions, deep enough for our sorrow, wide enough for our wandering and near enough for our wondering. 

Thanks for your prayers!

Blessings!

Ron