A Birthday, a Time of Solitude, and a Special Olympian

I've mentioned before that my birthday is right around the corner. Most every year my parents will send me some money for this grandest of occasions. Usually, I end up spending the money on something extremely exciting like groceries or gas. This year I have made a huge decision. I'm going to spend that money on something that I truly want - solitude. I have always valued the spiritual discipline of solitude. Taking time to be completely alone with God. Time to be away from the TV, the xbox, the mp3 player, and even the cell phone. Time to be still. Time to meditate on Scripture and time to talk with no one but God. For me, finding time of such solitude has always been best served by taking my tent and going camping. It has been over a year since I have taken such time and am starting to feel the effects. I am in need of really reconnecting with the Lord. Many my find that last statement a bit odd for a minister to make. However, I suppose there is an occupational hazard to being a preacher in which you spend so much time with and doing the things of God that you miss God. It's not much different than a married couple who spend much time together maintaining the house, scheduling the calendar, caring for their children and yet spend little time actually being together, caring for their marriage. So this is my plan, to take the time (as soon as the weather cooperates) to go camping and to reconnect with the Lord.

There is one problem with my plan. Camping will only account for a fraction of my birthday money. So what else should I do? Many thoughts have come to mind. I thought of buying some music or a couple of books. I even thought of buying a video game. Not because I really play many video games but more so because my son would think I'm really cool. But none of this really seemed all that interesting. None of it seemed to be something that would have anything more than a fleeting impact. That's when I remembered that I could use this money to bring great joy to a special girl named Emilda.

Emilda is a young girl who is a sponsored child through Compassion International. She lives in the Philippines and she is mentally disabled. Emilda is also FAST. She can run and has ran her way into the Special Olympics. In order to compete in the Olympics, Emilda will need to raise nearly $20,000 dollars. Obviously, this is a virtual impossibility for a family that earns no more than $7.00 a week. You can read more of this family's story here: The Making of a Special Olympics Champion. I'd like to ask that you consider helping this special young girl achieve her dream. Help to show her family that despite their circumstances that there are people who will lift them up, give them hope, and love them in the name of Christ.

Emilda with her medals.

Compassion has set up a special fund to send Emilda to the Olympics. You can donate here: Help Send Emilda to the Special Olympics.

Thank you to all who give. Thanks to my parents for their gift to me that allows me to have time to restore my soul as well as to bless another in need.

In His grace, for His glory.

A Southern Baptist Struggles with Lent - Day 4

Well, Saturday was the third day of Lent and my goal to read a book of the Bible each day fell short. Sure, I could blame it on having a house full of kids, errands to run, and spending a good deal of the day trying to figure out what was wrong with my sermon for Sunday morning. The truth of the matter is, I just never said, "OK, I need some time to go and read." Even if Saturday was busy, I could have found a few minutes to read Jude or Philemon. I mean really, how long do those take to read. Never the less, I never made it.

So, even though traditionally Sunday does not count in the 40 days of Lent, I read a book on Sunday. Even here, I cheated myself. I chose to read the book of Ruth. Now Ruth is a great book to read with its story of God's providence, love, and redemption but I was reading it in an attempt to kill two birds with one stone. You see, I was reading it because I wanted to keep to my Lent commitment and I read Ruth because it was my text for my Sunday evening sermon. Now, you might recall, that one of the reasons for reading a book each day for Lent is because I had fallen into that rut that many preachers fall into in which every time they are reading Scripture it is for the purpose of preparing another sermon. Well, here I was reading to further solidify my sermon.

The lesson here is that even as one practices a discipline of the faith there will be times that you really learn and grow. There will be times that you experience an intimacy with the Lord unlike you have ever experienced. Then there will also be times where it feels as though all that you have done is checked something off your to do list. The important thing is to learn from even the so called "lesser" moments (which in the end may be your best learning moments) and to perpetually be moving toward God.

I wonder what today's reading will reveal?

A Southern Baptist Observes Lent - Day 2

I'd like to begin today with a quick clarification. I did not mean to imply yesterday that everyone who gives up something or practices the discipline of abstinence (that is not meant in the merely sexual sense of the word but in the technical sense of abstaining from any thing or activity) are only doing so for some other motive than to grow closer to God. Many honestly practice this discipline throughout Lent with the desire to know God and His grace and to use this time and this discipline to reflect on the suffering of Christ and rejoice in His resurrection and glory. My blog yesterday was more of a reflection of my personal experience (or lack of experience) with the observance of this season.

Now as for today, one of the reasons I choose to read a book of the Bible for each day of Lent was that I wanted to get away from picking apart a verse or two to find every detail in preparation for a sermon. Mind you this is something important that every Christian should do. However, it can also lead to a missing the forest due to the trees kind of effect if we (most specifically preachers) aren't careful. I wanted to take some time to read a book and really get a feel for the book as a whole. For instance today I read the book of Ecclesiastes. Typically, this book brings to mind "all is vanity" and a poem on there being a time for everything. Well, today when I read it I was constantly confronted with a desire to stop and just focus on one or two verses. Instead, I might have re-read those verses a few times but then continue on. In reading the whole book in a concentrated amount of time, I got a whole new feel for the book that I never had before. Ecclesiastes has this message of everything being a vain endeavor of life. To be perfectly honest, I've always felt that Ecclesiastes was a bit of a negative book. Today, I realized that the tone of the book is actually one of great freedom for the person who lives to fear God and keep His commandments. There is freedom when your life is lived for God and not for yourself (this is the vanity that the Teacher speaks of). It is exactly for this type of revelation that I choose to read a complete book of the Bible each day.

One final note as to why I am reading a book a day. By doing this I am obligating myself to stop, slow down, and to simply devote myself to hearing His Word. This isn't simply about completing reading assignments but about abiding in Him.