Advent day 14...anticipation...

good evening...

i am at the sleep inn, ft pierce...

great lunch with bill hobbs at waterway cafe...

great supper with glenn davis at pf chang's...

buddha's stir-fried vegetable feast with tofu was heavenly!!!

time for a blog and then finish a sermon [along with a trip to the hotel treadmill]...

blog thought first...

jeep can tell time...

he has an uncanny ability to KNOW when it is time for me to come home from work...

but, although he can tell time...

he cannot yet understand explanations as to why i sometimes run late...

so, at the right time [when i should be home]...

he stands at the door...

staring out...

waiting...

and waiting...

and sometimes waiting longer...

but then comes that moment...

the one he has been waiting for...

i pull up, get out, activate my car alarm...

and it beeps...

HE GOES WILD!!!

his waiting has paid off...

what he has anticipated is almost reality...

his hope for my homecoming is fulfilled...almost...

as i climb up the front steps, i watch my buddy...

his whole body is doing the wave...

from nose to tail...

his little nub of a tail is moving at hundreds of miles per hour...

he is prancing around as if the floor is just too hot for him to stand on...

what a welcome...

eager anticipation...

unbridled excitement...

living hope...

advent is about this kind of moment!!!

anticipating the fresh coming again of the Christ child in our lives this Christmas...

excitement about Abba's greatest gift to humanity -- his unique son Jesus...

hope that the truth of Christmas makes ANYthing and EVERYthing else in this challenging [and sometimes crappy] world OK...

no, better than OK...

the hope of Jesus is MORE than enough for us to live, to die and then to live forever...

there is this same kairos moment latent within this parable...

as we look toward a new year...

2011...

there is the possibility that the soil of our heart will be healed...

hard hearts can be softened...

shallow hearts can be deepened...

crowded hearts can be focused...

when GOD performs this miracle...

when HE heals our heart...

the fertile soil cries out...

with anticipation...

with excitement...

with hope...

for FRUITFULNESS!!!

not just for addition...

but multiplication...

100 fold increase...

the release of the good news through our lives to the world is viral...

it spreads like an epidemic...

an epidemic of hope...

what about me...and you???

what fruit are we anticipating in our lives in 2011???

what fruitfulness are we excited about in 2011???

what hope sustains us as the new year soon dawns???

anticipation...

excitement...

hope...

for fruitfulness...

sweet dreams...

guy

i can't wait to see jeep tomorrow afternoon when i get home!!!

Advent day 13...anticipating fruitfulness...

good evening...

i am headed to south FL early in the a.m.

visiting close friends on sat...

preaching in ft pierce on sunday...

i promise to get back on track tomorrow...

love you all!!!

guy

Advent day 12...

oops...

Advent day 11...three things...

greetings!!!

number 1...i got a text from one of my most brilliant and creative friends today...

i love him...all of him, but especially his mind...

what a blessing he is...

i will quote his brilliance...

"i thought a lot about the hard heart and the ideas of watering the soil...

the image of a water balloon expanding as it fills up, from a hard raisin heart to a juicy grape heart...

i am praying for that kind of refreshing expansion to the hard areas of my heart..."

i join him in this prayer...

what an image!!!

wish my old brain worked like this!!!

i am so proud of you JS...

i am thankful god has allowed me to sow seed into your life...

so glad we are sharing the journey together...

number two...i have been thinking of valuing the simple...

over the complex...

over the crowded...

over the competitive...

soren kierkegaard once said that "purity of heart is to will one thing..."

ben haden said "the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing..."

the main thing is jesus...

loving him...

receiving his love...

loving others who love him...

and loving those who are yet to love him...

the main thing is NOT...

religious skubala...

prominence, prestige and popularity...

gorging the false self...

glittering toys and stuff...

pleasure as our god...lust as our idol...

the weapon we need is simplicity...

not the easiest option in today's cultural press...

we will have to be a riptide...

going against the flow of our prevailing culture...

number three...i love my patient mr w...

i have been given the privilege to serve him in jesus name for over 2 years...

blessed to meet his most basic needs...

food...

clothes...

blankets...

tv...

companionship...

a couple of weeks ago, i saw his right foot for the first time in two years...

gross out...

his sock had not been off for well over two years...

we have no clue when he had his last bath...

not lately...for sure...

when i came by a couple of fridays back, he was pulling dead skin off his foot -- there was a whole big pile of yucky skin stacked on his floor...

i was worried...his foot looked hideous...

i contacted the nurse...

she went by, with a tech, to check out his right foot -- and maybe even his left one...

they had to cut the sock off his left foot...

a layer or two of skin came off with the socks as they peeled them off...

his feet were cracked and infected...

he needed antibiotics...

he needed care...TLC...he needed cleansing...

he needs ongoing soaks for a couple of weeks [which he will get]...

he needed new socks [which he already has]...

he needs LOVE...

i am so happy for the way my hospice team lavished love on mr w...

BUT, my hope is still very future-oriented...

mr w is a child of abba -- he is royalty...

he doesn't look it...

or smell it...

his hideous flat in the hood does not look it...

BUT, the kingdom will come for mr w...

he is one of the least of these that jesus will present with honor to abba...

one day, he will live like the royal heir that he truly is...

and, so will we...

i can't wait!!!

it really is pretty "simple", isn't it???

later...

guy

Advent day 10...soil testing revisited...

greetings!!!

back to our soil discussion...

maybe i have been hesitating on this one because it is MY challenge...

oh well, here goes...

"other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants..."

"the seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature..."

there are times the seed of intimacy with jesus takes deep root in my life...

intimacy is the focus of my existence...

it is THE thing...

consuming...

captivating...

sweet...

MORE than enough...

BUT, there are other times when Jesus has to compete...

my heart is CROWDED...

the competition within is fierce...

worries, anxieties and panic...

riches, toys and materialism...

pleasures, whims and off-limit pursuits...

there is a price to pay for a crowded heart...

the cost is devastating...

we keep on living, but we do NOT fully grow up...

maturity eludes us...

little or no fruit...

certainly no fruit that lasts...

we are tired...

spiritually exhausted...

the battle within rages incessantly...

just going through the motions...

the competition for our passion and focus never quits...

fatigue crowds out fruitfulness...

the crowded heart...

is there hope for the confused and scattered soil???

how do we zero in on our first love once again...

a great question for tomorrow...

blessings...

guy

stay warm tonight!!!

Advent day 9

it is SO COLD...

it is SO COLD my fingers are not working...

it is SO COLD i just want to go hide under the covers til morning...

with jeep!!!

i am going to hide under the covers and celebrate advent by looking for jesus in my dreams...

NO -- i am not wimping out -- i am serious...

have a great night...

guy

stay warm...

Advent day 8...

good evening!

the THIRD DAY concert was awesome tonight...

to quote Mac Powell of third day: "this ain't a show, this is a church service..."

better than most any church service i have ever been in...

jeep and i are turning in...

good night...

guy