The God Who Shares His Stuff

I asked my 13-year-old son if he had any stories of a time when he wished some other kids would have shared what they had with him. He said, “Tons of them.”

What kid doesn’t.

I was reading in Leviticus 6 today about God’s instructions on how offerings should be made, how the priests were to give special attention to what was being offered, and how to present it. Then I read something that literally made me cry. 

God is telling about how the grain offering is to be given and eaten by the priests. Half of this grain offering is to be mixed with oil and frankincense and burned as it belongs to God as “a thing most holy.” The other half of the offering, God says, Aaron, the high priest, and all 18-year-old male priests can eat –“I have given it as their portion of MY food offerings.”

Wow. God shared. Think of it. Our GOD shares … HIS stuff … with the priests … but does He share with us? With me? 

So I wondered: Since our God is a sharing God, what else does the Word says He shares? And does He share any of His stuff with me? To me, this is a huge revelation and … this revelation caused me to cry.

I had a vision–I walked with God through some old memories. I was back in seminary listening to my professor speak about this passage and I said, “Wait! Does this say our God shares? God actually shares HIS stuff? With me?” I tried sharing this news with my classmates but I kept weeping about it.

Next, I was back in kindergarten and I saw myself walking out to our elementary playground and a little girl was coloring with chalk on the sidewalk. She looked up at me and said, “Hey! Do you want to come over here and SHARE my chalk?” 

In my next vision, I was walking into my seminary cafeteria past a table with one of our foreign students and his family sitting and getting ready to eat together. When the dad sees me, he smiles and says, “Hey! Would you want to come over here and SHARE a meal with my family?”

These visions were so real to me. I saw and felt the power of sharing in my heart.

God does share –like the little girl. God does share, like the family. God was showing ME that He wants to share with ME.  

I then thought of Pentecost and how when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, what did they do? They were really big on SHARING. The word that describes that sharing is FELLOWSHIP, which means “to have in common.” We cannot have in common unless there we all share.

Sharing is a mark of a true disciple because it is a true mark of God. 

Sharing is a wonderful attribute of God. It is not listed in any seminary book as one of God’s great attributes, but it now stands out to me as one because I have experienced it. Thinking about sharing now makes me smile and love God more. 

After all, He shared Jesus –who was His very heart– with us … with me.

Amen.

How to Tell if God is Important to You

I asked my youngest, now 13, on a scale of 1-10 how important God is to him. He didn’t hesitate when he said, “Ten,” with a tone likened to, “duh!?” So since I had him on the hook I asked a more challenging question. “Give me five things you do that show God is a 10 in your life.”

I immediately predicted he would say, “Because I go to church.”

He didn’t. What he did say not only made me very proud but deeply challenged me at the same time. And it really didn’t take him long. He rattled off, first, “Because I’m compassionate.” Then he listed “kindness” and finally “seeing those others do not.” Then he explained that last answer (just to be sure I got it I suppose?).

“There are kids in school who don’t need anything,” he began, “kiss that truly don’t. They have everything they need. I see the kids who don’t. I see the kids who don’t talk to anybody and recently I’ve gotten two of them to start talking to me.” Not that I was going to grace his answer when I asked him, but this response was so much better than, “Because I go to church.” This lifestyle he responded from proves he goes to (a good) church! And hopefully comes from a good family. His response ranked up so high I’ve been praising God and feasting on it for several days now. This was something he caught and not just taught. And I couldn’t be more thankful to Jesus for it.

W2G Jonathan! W2G!

For the Flowers That Haven’t Blossomed Yet

My wife was talking to the neighbor when she had noticed that our three-year-old had been gone way too long. As they both looked and called for Jonathan, my wife met him coming out of the house with a cup of water. She explained to him that if he wanted a drink he would need to sit at the kitchen table.

He said, “It’s not for me; it’s for the flowers … the ones that haven’t blossomed yet.”

He then proceeded to randomly give a drink to several dandelion buds.

When was the last time you thought of “the flowers that haven’t blossomed yet?” Winter always lasts too long for me, but it doesn’t need to last too long in our thinking. It’s time to shake out the dead and put on some hope-filled, forward-thinking patterns and see the flowers that will be coming–the ones that haven’t blossomed yet.

And maybe even give them a drink.

“The People Here Don’t Know Us, Dad.”

Not long ago I could tell something was out of sync with my son. He is thirteen now and I believe is coming to the rude awareness that his innocent elementary days are behind him. He is observing his friends who said they were Christians make hurtful choices that show they are not at least acting that way and he is trying to walk through the confusion that brings. That is a tough place. But something God is showing me is that this really is normal. So normal I need to anticipate that this occurrence would and will happen. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the entire school system disappoints us let alone our friendships in that system. There will always be the feeling for the children brought up since child birth in a Christ honoring home to sense that something is a little off in school. And that can be a major awakening, and one parents need to be prepared for.

            The school system will never have what the Church has. My son said something to me when he was quite young that has stayed with me like a pondering of Mary’s own heart with her son Jesus. We were pastoring then and so it shouldn’t have seemed like such a surprise. It was just the insight my little boy had that shocked me as well as his verbal expression of it. We were going to the store and as we walked in I remember his looking around and seeing all of the people and after a few moments saying to me without turning towards me, “Dad, the people here don’t know us.” I didn’t understand then how huge that was. Years later I continue to unpack what was in the heart of such an observant child. And I think I am beginning to scratch the surface of that. 

            We were pastoring then and so my son was raised in a home well aware of the kingdom of God lived in community. Think about it. Every week we would go to the building across the lawn and see and be with people who ‘knew’ him. Focus on that word ‘knew’ and what that means. The same people week after week, perhaps with different methods but the same purpose—to meet for the sake of Jesus Christ and his story and discovering that our story is a part of the continuation of his. People shared, prayed for one another, sang, read the Bible story, and ‘knew’ each other. Every week my children were spoken to, greeted, recognized, smiled at, accepted, loved on, had hands extended to shake, welcomed into as being a part of, embraced. And so should it be any wonder that at a store with so many people where no one greeted you, but everyone was walking around us and past us and these elements experienced at our gatherings in another setting were entirely missing—that a little boy should make one the greatest observations a growing child of God can make in life—“These people don’t know me, dad. Something is different here. Something is missing.”

And so another time comes when a child of God is in the school system and notices at a rite of passage age, that people there are no longer as they seem. “Something isn’t right like I thought it was, dad. Something is different, and I am noticing it, don’t like it, and I am wondering what to do about it.” What are you going to say?

“You’re right son, it isn’t. You will never feel ‘at home’ at school for two major reasons—the school is a fallen system put in place by another fallen system in our world, the government, that is under a prince—the prince of this world. The school system that we have today seems like it is a lot of things that it really isn’t. Don’t get me wrong—God has secret agents stationed at their posts in this fallen system, but the school will never offer you what the kingdom of God in the Church offers you. That feeling you have is normal—normal because it acts like a compass pointing you to the place our heavenly Father has prepared for you—a new world that’s coming and that you are a part of. That feeling that you have at school is much like the feeling you had years ago at the store—you long know and to be known, to belong, to represent, to feel that sense that you have a greater purpose to serve and were created for. That feeling will never be satisfied at school by those around you. But it can be created. And that is the next step in your journey. 

 

God Is In Indianapolis

My 3-year-old was talking about his heart the other day and said, “That’s what I feel in my heart.”

“God is in Indianapolis.”

And he said it several times. Since I was on bath duty that night, I decided to explore what he meant a little further and asked him if Jesus was in his heart.

The response would have set any theologian into hysterics! I will try to remember and record the interaction here the best I can.

JD: “Yeah…he is. I sometimes hear him in my heart. He speaks to me. He tells me to play nicely with Allie and Andrew. But sometimes He is too far away because He is in Indianapolis.”

Me: “I see. So you hear God speaking to you? In your heart?

JD: “Yes. Sometimes I only hear his voice because he is away…He is Indianapolis.”

Befuddled, I rationalized that since the family took me to the airport and then picked up there a month ago maybe he thought the city and its greatness reminded Him of a place where a big God would have to live. So I probed a bit more…

Me: “So God is in Indianapolis. What is he doing there?”

Without a 2nd thought …

JD: “He is there taking care of his kids…his babies.”

Me: “Huh? What do you mean?”

JD: “He is taking care of baby Jesus there.”

Me: OHHHHHHHHHHH!

I wonder if the mayor knows? LOL.

Aren’t kids great! 🙂

5:1 Initiative Part 2: Joshua’s Bar Barakah

Instead of a bar mitzvah, I chose the route of what is being called the bar barakah, or ‘son of the blessing’ rite for my 13 year old. Below is the outline of this time together with some explanatory notes in [brackets].

 

WELCOME TO JOSH’S BAR BARAKAH [Son of the Blessing]:

OPENING PRAYER & THE LORD’S PRAYER

SONG (1): Jesus Loves the Little Children [Joshua was to pick out three songs himself]

THE MEAL/GREAT STEAKS! [we had porterhouse on the grill! baked potatoes, green beans, rolls, and pumpkin pie for dessert]

CALLED TOGETHER:  “Joshua” Means… [a reminder of what Joshua’s name means with short stories from the Bible]

INSTRUCTION/CEREMONY/CELEBRATION [my intro]

JOSH’S “These Three Verses I Cherish” [Joshua chose| Romans 5:8  | John 3:16 | John 11:35 | and he shared why]

SONG (2): Jesus Loves Me

TESTIMONY #1: “WHAT I SEE GOD DOING IN YOUR LIFE, JOSH…” Frank on Your Identity & God’s design for your life

TESTIMONY #2: “WHAT I SEE GOD DOING IN YOUR LIFE, JOSH…” John on Loving God forever, wherever & whenever

TESTIMONY #3: “WHAT I SEE GOD DOING IN YOUR LIFE, JOSH…” Scott on Keeping a Clear Conscience (Responsibility, Injustice, Authority)

TESTIMONY #4: “WHAT I SEE GOD DOING IN YOUR LIFE, JOSH…” Dave on My Testimony and Why Having A Quiet Time with God is So Important.

TESTIMONY #5: “WHAT I SEE GOD DOING IN YOUR LIFE, JOSH…” Pastor Tim on Friendships, Sexual Purity, and Relating Properly to the Opposite Sex

JOSHUA’S TESTIMONY: “What I took away from our time together (personal journal)”

TESTIMONY #6: Dad

RAISING UP AND A PRAYER OF BLESSING & RELEASING of “MY BELOVED SON!” [we lifted Joshua up on a chair and I shouted out loud “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased!]

SONG(3): Amazing Grace

PHOTO MOMENTS, Autographs–For memory’s sake & DESSERT!

After the men left and we cleaned up, Joshua was very joy-filled as he walked about the house. A couple of days later I asked him if anything was different and he told me that our time was significant and he has began to read his Bible every day since. As the days go on,time will only tell what germinated in that inner seed we invested in.