On Pictures and Plans

God says He has plans for us.

Think about this…
A building always starts off as an idea in the mind of its designer.
It begins as a VISION that only the ARCHITECT sees in his mind.

That vision can be conveyed to others best by a hiring an artist to create a RENDERING or PICTURE of the building.
Now while a PICTURE can help others see what the architect sees, a PICTURE does not convey enough information to actually build the building.

A set of PLANS needs to be created and given to a BUILDER in order for the vision to become reality.

The BUILDER knows how to take the PLANS and create a SCHEDULE of needed MATERIALS and LABOR, that if followed step by step, will create the building successfully.

So all of that to say this…

If God has PLANS for you and me, it must mean that He already has a VISION – a picture in His mind of what He wants our lives to look like when the building process is complete.
PLANS imply to me that there is nothing haphazard about our lives.  All things are working out according to God’s plans.

That is good to know in a world that feels like there is more being destroyed than built sometimes.
From a human vantage point, history is the story of mankind’s inability to build a world the way we know deep down it should be.
A world without suffering, selfishness, sorrow and pain.

But God has a PLAN, and from His vantage point, He is building something glorious in the middle of this troubled world!
His plan shows us that there is going to be an end to suffering and selfishness, to sorrow and pain – yes – even to death itself.
In the end, love and peace, life and joy will be the only things growing in this world of His.
He is going to pluck all the stuff that hinders love out of this world like a gardener pulls weeds out of the garden so the good stuff can grow and thrive.

So, if you want to see a PICTURE of the kind of people God wants to build, just look at JESUS.  He is God’s VISION for HUMANITY.

The Bible paints for us – using WORDS – a picture of who JESUS is in reality.
The Bible also contains the PLANS God has to build our lives together into the people He desires us to be.
This is why it is so important to hear the words of the Bible, so we can see God’s PICTURE and know God’s PLAN.

If we don’t look to God’s PICTURE and build our lives according to God’s PLAN, our lives will end up becoming something other than what God wants.
We will certainly become a weed in the garden rather than a plant.
Remember, God plucks out the weeds – not because He hates weeds necessarily, but because of what the weeds do to damage the other plants in His garden.

God is the ARCHITECT, but he uses other people in our lives as BUILDERS to help us implement His PLAN in our everyday lives step by step until we become like Jesus.
That’s why it is important to be a part of a thriving Christian community because that is where God’s BUILDERS are found.
We can’t build our lives on our own- God made us to need other people.
Someday, if we cooperate with God, we can become BUILDERS used by God in the lives of others!  What a purposeful and fulfilling life that is!

Time to close this blog entry with some words from the Bible :

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” – Psalm 127:1

“For I know the PLANS I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:11-13

“For he [Abraham] was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose ARCHITECT and BUILDER is God.” – Hebrews 11:10

Think about it.

A New Lens

About a year ago, I embarked on a journey of faith that has me working with my father designing and building homes in Boise, Idaho.  The previous 15 years of my life were spent in computer engineering and software development in Florida and North Carolina.  As a follower of Jesus, I endeavor to serve Him faithfully in every sphere of living – whether it be as a husband, father, son, brother, friend, software developer, builder…you get the idea.  Whatever hat I may be wearing, Christ is my boss.  Christ writes the job description for every role in my life – He is my Employer.

Jesus taught His disciples about the kingdom of God using parables drawn from the stories they lived every day.  To agricultural people, the kingdom was like a farmer planting seeds.  To fishermen, the kingdom was like a net being dragged through the sea catching fish of every kind.  To sheep-herders, the kingdom was like a shepherd who separated the sheep from the goats.

As I have embarked on this new vocation of building homes with my father, I am starting to see the kingdom of God through the eyes of an architect and builder.  As my eyes open, I hope to use this blog to start sharing what I am seeing – hoping that someone who happens upon this blog can derive some benefit or be helped in some way.

Building

Laying a strong foundation

I started a new blog (click here to see it) which documents the house we (my dad and I) are building here in Boise, Idaho.  This is our first project working together.  It has been amazing to see the process of going from a blank sheet of paper (OK, a blank screen actually!) and seeing lines on the plans become holes in the ground.  This is  a rich time together with my father, and I am convinced we are building more than bricks and mortar together, but memories and a family legacy that will hopefully last for generations to come.

Where are you?

“Where are you?” called the Lord God to the man and woman hiding in the bushes for fear and shame after violating God’s simple commandment not to eat the fruit from a certain tree.

Today, we who claim to be His children, don’t run and hide from God, but we boldly and confidently go about our business believing we are living according to His simple commandment to love Him and love others.

Yet, I wonder if in our confident obedience, God is not still saying to many of us, “Where are you?”

What if all the Christians spending time seeking deeper encounters with God in prayer and worship (I’m all for encountering God!), and all the Christians seeking “revival” – whervever that might be and whatever that might mean (I’m all for seeing lots of people turn to the Lord!), and all the Christians defending the faith against heresy – as they understand it - (I’m all for sound doctrine!) … What if they spent most of their time and energy serving Christ where He is thirsty, hungry, and naked, and in prison - don’t you think it might become clearer to the world (and the church) what it truly means to be a follower of Jesus?

What if we are seeking to find Jesus in places that He never promised to be found?
How do know it is Him we are finding in all of our ardent seeking?

Follow me. I am hungry. Where are you?

Follow me. I am thirsty. Where are you?

Follow me. I am in prison. Where are you?

Blessed are those who spend their lives serving Me where I said I would be found.

~ Jesus

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

~ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus

 

On the day when each of us stands before the Lord to give an account of our stewardship of the many gifts God had given us over our lifetime, Jesus will be asking us questions.  He even told us what these questions would be so we could order our priorities around what really matters in the end (and perhaps see through the fog of the many deceiving voices and divisive doctrines that cloud our way).

These questions do not include:

“Did you sing to me when I wanted praise?”

“Did you seek revival?  Did you experience revival?”

neither will there be a 50 question test on sound doctrines…

 No, the questions Jesus will ask go like this:

“Where were you when I was _________”. You can read them in Matthew chapter 25.

Notice the appropriate response is not a verbal one.   The only response Jesus is seeking is what we did – our actions.

Let our response to these questions of Jesus be the test of the genuineness of our encounter with God, or the accurate blood pressure reading of our spritual vitality, or the benchmark of the soundness of our doctrine.

 

Boise

Here is a nice picture of the Boise Skyline.

on love

He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.
            ~ Jesus 

This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
           ~ Jesus

So, we show our love for Jesus by our love for one another.
We love our brother (who we can see) to demonstrate our love for God (who we cannot see).

Consider these words penned by John, one of Jesus apprentices:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

+++ Lord, lead me in the way of love today.  Help me to see and recognize the opportunities you give me to love those around me, and in so doing, love You. And help me to love like you,  laying aside my rights and privileges for the sake of others, even if it hurts me. +++

 

on simplicity

We are settling in to our new home here in Boise, ID.

As in any move, we are surrounded by newness at every turn – and we are adjusting one day at a time.  A new climate, new neighbors, new street names – the list goes on and on.  There is also a new landscape – both physically and spiritually.

In regards to the physical landscape here, we sit at the west side of the Rocky mountains – so we have a beautiful view of mountains both to the east and west of us near the Oregon/Nevada border. In between is a very flat desert that is irrigated for farming closer to the Boise River.  Those farms are rapidly becoming a complex maze of subdivisions and strip malls as the area continues to grow.

In regards to the spiritual landscape, it is evident that we are no longer in the Bible belt of the Southeast.  It becomes apparent rather quickly that we are in the heart of Mormon culture here (I guess they go by the term LDS now which stands for Latter Day Saints).  There are also many other flavors of pseudo-Christian groups here as well. 

As I ponder the nature and origins of these various groups and the complexities of their doctrines, I am reminded of the following passage from Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

Follow Jesus Christ. Love God. Love one another.  Take care of the poor and those unable to repay you.
It’s a wonderfully simple life!

 

 

Moving West

Here’s the moving truck in front of our house on what proved to be a beautiful, crisp winter day in January here in South Carolina.  It’s on to the next chapter in Boise, ID after spending the next day or two visiting with good friends we’ve made over the years here in the Charlotte area as the kids finish out their school year.

Upside down

I have set aside my typical diet of devotional and theological reading for more practical family life material of late.  (Actually devotional and theological works can be very practical if they are practiced!)

Anyhow, I came across one resource that spoke of the need to create and nurture a family culture that tis characterized by beauty.  Beauty in the way the each member relates to the other in grace and truth.  The author spoke of the need for a continual movement among the various members of the family from a “ME” to a “WE” mentality.  And that got me thinking…

The only difference between the word ME and the word WE is the fact that one letter is upside-down.  Which letter that is depends on your frame of reference I suppose. 

If you are a ME-centered person, then the W is upside down for you – which means you probably think it is odd that anyone could find pleasure in making others happy.

If, on the other hand, you are a WE-centered person, then the M is upside down for you – which means you probably think it is odd that anyone could find pleasure in seeking their own happiness while ignoring the needs or feelings of others.

So which letter is upside down to you?

2 Wrights don’t make a Wrong

It occurred to me today that my life has been strongly influenced by two Wrights.

The first is Frank Lloyd Wright.  I grew up in a home where a large picture of FLW was on the wall in the guest bedroom.  I always thought it was a picture of a distant relative or something.  Turns out FLW was my dad’s mentor when he [dad] left high school and became an apprentice to the great architect at the young age of 17.  I grew up in a house that was the product of my father’s years studying under the master.  I have always stood in awe of my father’s ability to design and am currently taking steps to pursue working with him and carry on the tradition of organic architetcure that he began in 1953 when he incorporated as Architectural Enterprises, Ltd.

The other Wright that has greatly influenced me is N.T. Wright.   He is one of the world’s foremost scholars of the New Testament in this generation.  He has helped me to better understand the kingdom of God and the origins of my personal faith and encounter with Jesus Christ in the greater context of human history (His Story).

Both Wrights are (were) visionaries who help(ed) us “see the bigger picture”.  One in the realm of architetcure, and one in the realm of God’s redemptive work in history.

It has been said that “two wrongs don’t make a right”; well, in this case, two Wrights could make a Wrong if we succombed to the temptation to wrongly idolize great men and their works.  We need to be careful to receive God’s grace that comes to us through men in a way that ulimately gives all glory to God Himself and places the contributions of men in proper perspective – as agents of the manifold grace and blessings of the Creator God.

So consider the following passage of Scripture from 1 corinthians 3 in light of these thoughts and ask yourself if there is any place in your own thoughts where you are giving men (pastors, teachers, preachers, artists, musicians, etc…) a seat of honor that is intended by God for Christ alone to occupy?

So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours,  whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

                       1 cor 3: 21-23