Making The Time . . .

Are our lives getting busier day by day or what?  Let's take a quick look at all the ways our lives are becoming more hectic;

• Staying connected to the ever-present digital world of social media; online-publications, shopping, and entertainment, and even work, through the internet and our smart devices
• Navigating through rush hour-packed freeways in nerve-racking traffic to work and home; shuttling our kids here and there. (Or we did before COVID . . . )
• Working long, hard, exhausting hours on our jobs
• Striving to keep ourselves and our families healthy by eating right and exercising
• Trying to keep our homes clean and in order and running household errands

This whirlwind of activities, noise, information, attractions, and distractions of our post-modern lives can leave us feeling exhausted, confused, and disconnected from God. So how do we find calm centers in the storm where we can rest and focus on God?

Sunset Grill

| summer evening | driving from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina | so burnt my socks hurt my ankles | day drawing to a close | |sunroof open | the world seems limitless | magic . . . | bookended by this song |

Some Facts About Lions

When Jesus told his followers to be wary of satan, He reminded them that their enemy prowled about roaring like a lion. This would be an example that they would be very familiar with. In Jesus's day, two thousand years ago, over a million lions roamed throughout regions that covered Europe, Syria, Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran, and India. Today, there are fewer than 32,000 lions left on earth. 

Here are some other facts about lions: 

Did you know that Aslan is the Turkish and Mongolian word for “lion?” It is also the name of the lion in C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.

Lions are the second largest of the big cats, after tigers.

Jesus and the Tabernacle

A few years ago our church hosted a life-sized replica of the Tabernacle used by the Israelites in the Old Testament. It was a powerful and moving reminder of God's desire to be close to His people, and all the ways throughout the centuries that He has moved heaven and earth to reveal Himself to His creation. 

I was working as the Media Director for our church at the time and one of my favorite memories was shooting some video footage in the Holy of Holies, alone and late in the evening, imagining what it must have been like for the High Priest when he pulled back the last veil and encountered the Almighty God . . . 

I think that, especially in our modern day, that we have heard so much about God that we have perhaps lost sight of the majesty of God. There is a tendency to profane holy things by making them common, ordinary, perhaps even mundane. Yet scripture continually reminds us that God is a Holy God, and sin is not tolerated in His presence. The habits and choices that we so casually make, God does not view in that same light. Yes, God is love, and He has provided a way of forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus, but sin is still repulsive in His presence. I'm reminded of the verse, "The prayers of a righteous man availath much." Because the opposite fact is also true, that the prayers of a unrighteous man, who casually flirts with the grace of God, are met with silence from Heaven.