Cure for Complacency???

I whispered in Mary's ear "we could be home by now if we had attended our regular place of worship." Now that was an obvious admission of complacency right there. My rear end was hurting real bad and after what seemed like eternity the preacher was finally coming to the close....this wasn't the first time I've sat through this word...

He had been presenting the case about our sorry assed complacency, exhorting us to finish well and finally we were on our feet, all heads bowed making a fresh commitment to do better and work harder...to put a stop to the complacency which can have such devastating results when we finally stand before our maker....he was doing his best to motivate us to love and good works... and staying hot...if we could hold tough till the end we would receive the "well done" from the master.

I was having a hard time holding on till he got finished...and was trying to imagine holding on till the end....

I so want to hear the "well done" but it was taking him too darn long to make the point...

Finally thank God the girl with the blond hair began to sing such a sweet song of worship and in a moment I was transported to the place the preacher had been trying to get us to for the past hour. With the song came a fresh revelation of how much He loved us FIRST. John says it this way..."Here in is Love, not that we love God, but that He loves us.....First".

In my mind I mused "Thank you Lord that First Love isn't some thing I drum up but something you have already initiated. Thank you Jesus for Loving me First. And thanks for the friendship...

Here is the quick cure for complacency and every other sin (anxiety, fear, unforgiveness, greed, lust, anger etc.)...try it...lean back and put your head up against His chest, take a couple of deep breaths, let Him wrap His arms around you, just be still and soak it up...waste some time with Jesus (B Manning)and learn the unforced rhythms of Grace (G Edwards)...and whalla ....passion is restored....

....good fruit is the natural result of abiding in His love...

The two sweet spots in Charlotte

I was leaving the Library, Billy Graham's Library, walking through the illuminated crosses in the last stage of the powerful presentation of the gospel for the umpteenth time... tears streaming down my cheeks.

There are actually two sweet spots I'll take you to in Charlotte when you come for a visit. Jack my brother in law, Ben my youngest, and I went first to the National White Water Center on Saturday braving the heat and the longer than usual lines. After signing off to any possibility of suing them for damages we spent at least 8 hours living on the literal edge... wrestling with all of the forces of nature....testing and proving our manliness. They told us nobody had actually died there that day.

We jumped off 40 ft. cliffs, tight rope walked over 60 ft gorges, climbed walls and ropes, sped through forests on zip lines and worked our way up to being thrown from the raft on our last and craziest run through the extreme number 4's....anyways all of the things Mary would find abhorrent. It was a sweet day!

But nothing is sweeter than an afternoon at the Billy Graham Library. I'll take you there when you come. We were ending our mostly self guided tour and again had the privilege of sitting in the comfortable theater seats watching Billy on the Big screen. George Beverly Sheas deep base voice was singing the last stanza of the close... "Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me and that though bids me come to thee, Oh Lamb of God I come, I come."

I can't visit the place without being physically and emotionally moved to tears as the presence of the Holy Spirit hovers. I still remember the first time at the age of five walking to the front of a stadium with the choir singing "Just as I am", acknowledging Christ personally as my saviour.

Scrolled across the screen appeared the last verses of Matthew 11. "COME UNTO ME, ALL YE THAT LABOR AND ARE HEAVILY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST".

Religion is such a terrible task master. It relentlessly continues to work at wearing us out by shoveling guilt, fear and shame, with the "add ons" and the "should have's" of regret and manipulation... the spoken and unspoken message of "your still not good enough"; so "give more, (laugh less) and try harder."

But today after a 56 year battle with religion, with tears streaming down my face I am realizing afresh that the message is still the same...it's still the best of news. It's how I began this race and it is how I will end it. It is all about How He loves! Every bit of it! LOL

The Message interprets it best, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

I'm about to be 61 and this is still the best of news...

He loves me....just like I am...

Come visit us in Charlotte!

Sweet Bliss....39 years

39 years of Bliss...yeah baby it's been sweet bliss...

We were driving through the mountains the other day together experiencing a powerful thunder storm and also driving in silence....complete silence for at least a couple of hours.

We had come to an impasse.

Mary had been speaking to me with hurt in her voice about an area in our relationship that she thought needed some improvement...and I had been completely unresponsive....as I tried to explain myself and secure her in the process. I was thinking that after 39 years she should just learn to accept my humor and wonderful personality...even if it sometimes put her in poor light...in all fun of coarse. "Gawd made me funny honey".

We were returning to Charlotte after a sweet weekend with Dan Mohler and our daughter and family in Nashville and I had in a couple of situations been publicly enjoying my wife's perspective on geography...

which of coarse reminded her of other times like just recently when I had made a last minute decision that I thought would make for a fun story but a story in which she was the pun of the joke ... just in fun I thought...

Anyways as I was saying we were driving in silence... at an impasse after 39 blissful years...

The next morning I was driving in to work and heard the Holy Spirit speaking to me about my sweetheart..."Lloyd" he said. "Have I ever had fun at your expense?" "Isn't that an interesting question" I thought.

You know, on my 25 minute drive into work I couldn't think of a time and by the time I arrived I had totally bought into what my sweet bride of 39 years had been trying to address. There were some tears of repentance and a phone call and letter to my sweetie.

Mary, you truly have been an amazing person to live with. Thanks for loving me.
And thanks Holy Spirit for continuing to love me more and more into your image.

Like I was saying...39 years of bliss....sweet bliss.