The Definition of Enthusiasm

From our choir loft at church you can look out across the sanctuary to the glass front doors, and see people climb the front steps and enter the building. Last night as we sat in the choir practicing before evening service, a tall, lanky young woman made her way up the steps and into the church. As she approached, someone said these words, "Here comes Sam! Prepare to be hugged!"

Most everyone knows Sam here. Sam grew up on a horse ranch a few miles outside our small town, riding from the time she was very small. A few years ago she suffered a devastating fall from a horse that affected her both physically and mentally. Since that time, she has grown up (over 6 feet tall!) into a beautiful young lady. Last night as I watched her at church, I could not help but think of the definition of "enthusiasm".

When she enters the room, everyone is instantly her friend and should "prepare to be hugged". If your shirt needs tugging down a bit, she will walk right up and do it for you. As she sat in the sanctuary last night listening to a message of hope and faith, her enthusiasm could not help but bubble over into smiles and amens. When the pastor described Christ's love and sacrifice, Sam clapped her hands and said "That's awesome!'. That I thought, is true enthusiasm.

The word enthusiasm comes from the term "en theos" or "in God". According to Wikipedia, an enthusiast is a person inspired by God. When the early Christians would see someone convert to Christianity there was this overwhelming joy that followed the gift of salvation, but they had a problem. There was no word to describe this feeling so they combined the two words (in God) creating the word (entheos) from which we get the English word enthusiasm. So originally, someone who was enthusiastic literally had God bubbling up out of them. God was in them, and it could not help but show on the outside.

Sometimes what we need in our churches and our lives is a little enthusiasm. Today the word is defined as simply being excited about what one is engaged in. Enthusiasm, either by the original or the modern definition, is sorely lacking. I love this quote from Douglas MacArthur:

Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

We may wrinkle on the outside, but far too many are wrinkled on the inside. If anyone should have enthusiasm, it is Christians, who literally have God within. Too often we slather on creams and sunscreen to fight wrinkles on our skin, but we do little to screen out the things that wrinkle our soul.

I have many things to do this week, some that are seemingly routine and trivial, others that are much more important. I pray that I do all of them with enthusiasm. And I thank God that Sam showed up with a smile and a hug to remind me of the true definition.

Automatic Pilot

This morning I groggily got up at 4:18, shut off the alarm which had already been "snoozed" twice, and walked into the kitchen. It had been 4 very short hours since I had gone to bed, and I was still craving more sleep. I opened the refrigerator, got out the eggs and sausage, and automatically began making breakfast for my husband before he left for work. (No breakfast for me this early, my appetite will kick in about 9:30 or 10:00) I was standing at the stove cooking eggs when I finally woke up. "You need to go to the bathroom!", my bladder politely reminded me. I realized I hadn't even done that yet, rather just automatically gone into the kitchen to start breakfast. Before I could take care of the eggs and the call of nature, another call screamed through my brain. "Coffee!" I hadn't made coffee yet, that was still left undone. I quickly tied my legs in a knot and hopped over to get a coffee filter. Soon the coffee was brewing, the eggs and sausage were sitting on a plate, and my bladder was happy. But now my brain was fully awake, and it had seized upon an idea...automatic pilot.

How much of what I do everyday is just done on "automatic pilot"? I have caught myself driving to the post office or some other routine destination, and before I realize it I have somehow manuevered a monstrous 4WD Dodge Ram long-bed extended cab from point A to point B without even thinking about it. That's a little scary. Then when I get to the post office and someone says "Hi, how are you?" that automatic pilot kicks in again. "Just fine!" What is 'just fine', anyway? I'm 'just fine' and everyone I meet is 'just fine', too. (Our nation's motto shouldn't be "In God We Trust", it should be "We're All Just Fine!") How much of my day is just spent on automatic pilot, without much thought for or appreciation of the what, where, why, how and who?

And of course, that carries over into the spiritual. How much of what we do for God is just done on automatic pilot? Do we get up and get ready for church with an attitude of appreciation for all that worship entails, or is it just another part of our routine? Do we put any real thought into our prayers, our giving, our devotions, our study, or is it just another part of our routine that is checked off the list when done? And like the "just fine" at the post office, do we deal with others on automatic pilot, or do we really stop to listen to our brothers and sisters in Christ?

Sometimes that automatic pilot can be a good thing. Automatic pilot gets the eggs and sausage ready when I'm still asleep, and sometimes it gets me to the post office. I hope that some part of me is always "on automatic pilot" as far as God is concerned, that I will live and think and react in a way that pleases Him. The obvious cliched answer is to let God be our automatic pilot, and in a way that is true, we should be led by the Spirit of God. But God doesn't call us to live out cliches, nor to waste our time without thinking about what we're doing. Life and the people around us are much too precious for us to live that way.

The Message says it this way in Ephesians 5: " Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!
Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants."

The 12 Opossums

This is one of the better things making the rounds on the internet right now:

The Bible explained by kids - truth has been redefined!

One of our favorite jobs has been leading junior church. We try to do more than baby-sit our church's beloved little ankle-biters during their time in our special junior church facility. We aim to give them a solid background in biblical history. At the end of each year, we give them pencils and paper and ask them to chronicle what they have learned. This assignment never fails to elicit some intriguing responses. In case you're a little foggy on your biblical history, let our junior church students help you with this complete overview of the Bible, compiled from their essays:

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one,' but I think He must be a lot older than that. Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did. Then God made the world. He split the Adam and made Eve.

Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.

Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.

Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something. One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a ham.

Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.

After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.

Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable. God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then He gave them His top ten commandments. These include don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's bottom (the Bible uses a bad word for bottom that I'm not supposed to say. But my Dad uses it sometimes when he talks about the President). Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother.

One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua, who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town. After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me. After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.

After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of the New Testament. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn, too, because my mom is always saying to me, Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')

During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Republicans. Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.

Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount. But the Republicans and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.

Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven, but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.

There! Now you understand it.

Holy Land Tour Logjam

I listen to Christian radio alot, and it seems as if every organization and ministry is offering a Holy Land Tour. "You'll walk where Jesus walked, by the sea of Galilee!" "Come take communion in the Upper Room, just like Jesus and the Disciples!" "We'll have special prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, just as our Lord did on this earth!"

One day, after hearing several ministries all making pleas for participation in their particular tour of the Holy Land, I got this ridiculous picture in my mind. Dozens of tour groups, each with their own little ministry tags and ID's, tramping around the Sea of Galilee. Myriad groups of Christian pilgrims, waiting their turn to down a thimble of juice and gulp a cracker in the Upper Room and then make way for the next group. The Garden of Gethsemane, the place where Christ contemplated the cross in fervent prayer, now a scene of bustling activity as each group is hustled through by tour guides and directed to the gift shop for a t-shirt or mug.

I'm sure this little comedy is only in my mind, and walking where our Savior walked would be an inspiring and spiritually uplifting experience. But if we really want to "follow in His steps", there is something more we can do.

Jesus went places that no one had gone before. He went to the outcast, to those that didn't have great standing in society, to those that couldn't repay the favor. He walked in love, in humility, in forgiveness, in obedience, in faithfulness, in fellowship with the Father. He walked to the cross, and lay down His life for others.

He went someplace else that was groundbreaking. He went beyond the physical and material to the spiritual. He taught that it's not enough to serve God with our outward man, but the inward man must serve Him also.

A lot of people are "taking Holy Land Tours", walking where Jesus walked in this earthly realm. If we really want to be His followers, we will walk where He walked in the spiritual realm. We will walk in obedience, in love, in forgiveness. Following in His steps means loving those who we don't categorize as loveable. Following in His steps means putting others before yourself. Following in His steps means walking in unbroken communion with our Father. For some it may mean walking away from some things that cause that communion to be broken. And for some it could mean literally walking across the living room, the office, or the sanctuary and saying "I'm sorry. Please forgive me." or "I'm sorry. I forgive you."

Walking by the Sea of Galilee is an easy way to follow in His steps. Walking in love is a bit more difficult.

Thinking About The Ant...

I mentioned yesterday that my darling husband jokingly woke me up at 4am with these words, "Wake up, it's morning...think about the ant!" (He was joking and he was smiling) He was also making a direct reference to Proverbs 6:6-11. Here is that verse from The Message:

6-11 You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.
Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions.
So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing?
How long before you get out of bed?
A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?
Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest!

Well, I did get up out of bed, and while I went about my routine, I did "think about the ant". This verse tells us to look at an ant, watch it closely, and learn from it. On the surface this obviously tells us not to be lazy, but if we take that closer look I think we can learn even more.

When I taught kindergarten I had an ant farm in the classroom, and I used it to teach the kids about cooperation and hard work. Ants are pretty amazing, and like the verse says they can teach us a thing or two if we watch them closely. In the ant colony every ant has a job. The colony has areas divided up for different purposes such as food storage, raising little ants, and even has a mortuary where some ants take the job of disposing of the dead ants. There is an infirmary where some "nurse ants' take care of those who are weak and sick. Some colonies have "warrior ants" that provide a line of defense. Some ants gather food, some do the physical work of building the colony's rooms. It is fascinating to watch all this activity. There is also some down time, when the ants literally stop moving and rest from their work. (This is called diapause, for you trivia buffs!)

Ants don't form bloated committees, bureaucracies, or focus groups to figure out what needs to be done. Somehow they understand "the basics" and take care of what matters. They don't say "this or that needs to be done" and then all nod in agreement, but no one does what is needed.

Ants are smart enough to save up for a rainy day, to put something back for the future. Somehow they know that there are going to be times of plenty and "lean seasons", too. They are smart enough to divide the work, so that everyone plays a part instead of just a few doing everything that needs to be done. They are smart enough to stop and take a break, instead of working themselves to death. In all this clockwork precision of activity the young are still nurtured, the sick and dying are cared for. Ants are smart enough to do all these things.

What a picture of how the church should operate! Everyone participating, everyone with a job to do, instead of just the few working til burnout hits. The understanding of and preparation for both good times and bad. Focusing on the basic fundamentals of Christianity that cannot be neglected. There is no "me mentality" but all things are done out of love for one another. (a verse in Romans 12 says "practice playing second fiddle"!) The young (both chronologically and spiritually), the sick, the dying, all cared for. And in the midst of all this activity, time is taken to literally stop and rest, and truly worship.

In an ant farm, the colony cannot grow and reproduce without a queen. They may work for a while, but without her the colony will eventually die out. In the same way, without the presence of Christ, our King, we cannot truly function as a church. There are many churches that are a beehive (or anthill!) of activity, yet the Lord is not really there at all. Christ must be central to all we do, both as a church and as individuals.

Paul used the interworkings of the human body to describe how the body of Christ functions. If we would "look at an ant" it could also "teach us a thing or two" about how the church and its' members should operate. What part are you actively playing? Do you have a "second fiddle" mentality, with Christ and others placed ahead of you? And will you stop the activity to rest in Him this week? Think about the ant...

(adapted/expanded from another personal blog - all scripture from "The Message")

Was Yesterday Valentine's Day?

This was originally posted on our church website blog in response to some other posts, but thought I would share it here. Even if you don't know the "who", I hope you will understand the "what and why".

Valentine's Day kind of limped past at our house, too. Jeff woke me up at 4am jokingly saying "Get up, it's morning...think about the ant!" I think he had been reading Proverbs 6 the night before. That was not exactly the way most women would start a "perfect dream holiday of love and romance" but it was our normal routine. He got up and went to work, but I have become accustomed to him not being there sometimes on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, etc. so Valentine's is no big deal. He came in from work and ate something quickly standing up and had to go to the shop to make a part for a farmer's broken down tractor, so there was no candlelit dinner here either. There were no cards, no chocolates, and we didn't even mention that it was Valentine's until right before we went to sleep that night. All we exchanged were the words "Happy Valentine's Day", but a lot more was "exchanged" that really shows what love is. Like Tracy said, the getting up and going to work when you don't want to, but because you love someone, the getting up and fixing breakfast (when you ache all over) because you love someone, etc. Just the normal routine that says "I love you" more than a card ever could. Maybe sometime in the future when time allows we can go have a meal out or something "romantic", but life and love don't always work around a "holiday" schedule. Life went on just as usual this Valentine's Day, but it was that usual routine that showed what love really means.

We are very blessed, aren't we, not to just have the Christian husbands we have...but also to know and understand what love is about. So many people think it is about what cards or flowers or candy you give and get, but true Godly love is about giving and receiving things that can't be bought.

(P.S. Even if he had come home and said "let's go, I'm taking you out for a romantic dinner" I would have had to pass anyway! Ha Ha I hadn't washed my hair since Saturday and hadn't touched makeup since Sunday. true confession time. I didn't look OR FEEL like a Valentine yesterday!)