thinking man

Do you ever have those ‘splinter in your mind moments?’ That one thought or question that just seems to stick, and the harder you try to get it ‘unstuck’ from your mind, it actually only drives the splinter deeper in. Well here’s my ‘splinter’. Does God have a purpose? Now before you answer that question, you must realize how I and ‘Webster’ are defining purpose. Purpose answers the question of ‘why do I exist?’ This word can be used in a few different ways, but for the purpose of this splinter, I am being single-minded in defining purpose in its most pure form – ‘the reason for which something exists.'

So here’s where the splinter begins to dig in a little deeper. God has no beginning or end – meaning, there is no starting point for God. He’s always existed. There was never a point in time when God was not. So if God has always been and always will be, how could He have a purpose? Who would define His purpose? The only reason you and I have purpose is because our Creator has made clear what our purpose is. God does not have a Creator – so who defines His purpose? Does He define his own purpose, i.e. why He exists? But, how does God who knows nothing of not existing answer the question, this is why I exist?'

My purpose (why I exist) is clear – to know my Creator. To be in right relationship with Him, both now and for eternity? Jesus, God’s son made that possible. But God does not exist to be in relationship with me. He is completely satisfied and complete within Himself (the Trinity).

Scripture makes clear on numerous occasions that God has a ‘purpose’, that is He has plans, or a Will to be carried out, but again, I am not speaking of purpose in terms of plans, or a will. The splinter of this ‘thinking man’ is why does God exist? He was not created, so how does one answer that question, and how is it possible that the created being could say of its Creator – ‘this is why our Creator exists?’ Any thoughts on this particular splinter?

Luggage

As I sit in the Philadelphia airport headed back to Boston, fresh in my mind is the question ‘do people know that God cares?’ Care about what you may wonder? The plight of humanity is what I had in mind. Like most, when I travel I enjoy doing one of three things – zoning out to my music, reading a book or sleeping. But today was different. As I sat down in my seat, I noticed the person I was sitting next to was crying – not uncontrollably or anything, but certainly enough for me to notice. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for me to hear God say ‘Michael, I want you to let this person know that I care.’

What God wanted me to do got me thinking – ‘do people know that God cares?’ Everyone would answer this question differently, but for me, I would say that a majority of the people I’ve encountered along the way believe that God is aloof to their story. I wonder how this could be, but an answer came to mind as I spent the better part of the day in the airport.

Every where I look, I see people carrying some form of luggage. Some luggage is carried on people’s backs, while others is pulled behind them. No shock to see this at an airport, but the reality is that people carry all sorts of luggage even outside the confines of an airport. People can be found with all sorts of luggage. Guilt. Fear. Shame. Doubts. Worry. Brokenness. The list could go on and on, but I wonder if we pack so much into our suitcases because we do not know that there is One who has invited us to cast the contents of of our suitcases on Him. The one verse that I shared with the individual sitting next to me on the plane is one of my favorite in all of the New Testament.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) This one short, but powerful verse reminded me of a transformational reality – God cares! Life can be lived one of two ways. We can carry our own luggage, and in one lifetime we can accumulate a lot, or we can allow the God who created us, knows us and loves us to carry that luggage for us. Peter gives only one reason for why we should cast our anxieties on God - because He cares! That’s it. Not because we can’t handle it (which if were honest we often can’t), but because He cares. A lot of people don’t know of this invitation. A lot of people don’t know that we were not meant to carry the anxieties, worries, doubts and fears that come with being human. At the end of the day, a lot of people do not know that God invites you and I to cast our ‘anxieties’ upon Him for one reason – because HE CARES!

It was a good plane ride today. Partly because of a conversation that took place between me and a new friend, but mostly because I was reminded that God cares. I can either give Him my anxieties, or I can go on carrying my own luggage. After a long day at three different airports, my shoulders are tired from carrying around my luggage. I am thankful that God has invited you and I to drop our luggage, however big or small it may be, and trust Him to carry these things for us because He cares for us!

Run FREE

Great questions have a way of flooring you. That happened to me today. “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.” Galatians 5:7-8

As I pondered this question, it occurred to me that we spend a better part our lives running somewhere, but what often happens is that we get ourselves running so fast, we never stop to consider if we are running in the right direction. It happens to me more often that I’d like to admit – running real fast, but not always in the right direction. To Paul’s question – he recognizes that the Galatian community had been running a good race, but something or someone ‘cut in’ on the race they were running. They were at one point running a ‘good race’, but something happened that got them off track. And when we get off track, we don’t stop running, we just start running in another direction. For the Galatian community, they began running towards a works based faith – but Paul loved them enough to ask them a tough question ‘who cut in on you?’

I love to run – metaphorically speaking. But this morning at 8:56 AM I was floored with a question. God gently but firmly reminded me that I was not only created to run, but to run free. As I look at this picture, I see a little man who is running free indeed. His head is looking forward, not to the right or to the left, and certainly not behind. Maybe he sees his father in the distance and he is running towards him? I pray that that little boy will continue to run free, and I pray that this little boy now grown up will continue to run the good race which Jesus invited him to do - in FREEDOM!

Feast in the House of Levi

The story behind this painting is told by Philip Yancey in his book 'What's So Amazing About Grace.' 'Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) got in trouble with the Inquisition because of this piece. As you can see, the painting depicts Jesus as a banquet with his disciples, complete with Roman soldiers playing in one corner, a man with a bloody nose on the other side, stray dogs roaming around, a few drunks, and also midgets, blackamoors, and anachronistic Huns. Called before the Inquisition to explain these irreverence's, Veronese defended his painting by showing from the Gospels that these were the very kinds of people Jesus mingled with. Scandalized, the Inquisitors made him change the title of the painting and make the scene secular rather than religious. In doing so, of course, the Inquisitors replicated the attitude of the Pharisees in Jesus' day. They too were scandalized by the tax collectors, half-breeds, foreigners, and women of ill repute who hung out with Jesus. They too had a hard time swallowing the notion that these are the people that God loves.'

Thank you Jesus for having a heart for me – a sinner that once was lost, but got found, was dead but had life breathed back into my soul. Thank you!

The Prodigal Son

'The Return of the Prodigal' by Rembrandt. A painting that has moved many to tears throughout the centuries including me. Its a story that speaks to the human condition, and this painting beautifully depicts what humanity longs for most. If you live in Boston, join the GENESIS community beginning this Sunday (7.06) as we walk through this powerful story... md4jc



Another great image of the prodigal was a piece created by artist Charlie Mackesy entitled 'The Prodigal Son'