"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor." - Psalm 8:3-5
Here's a hodge-podge of brief encouragements that were put on my heart yesterday to pass along to you today.
1) Talked with a guy who obstinately argued against the existence of God. I encouraged him to ask the question, "If there's not more to life than this world," then look through a telescope at night and ask the question, "then who's in charge of that world?"
God and his creation are amazing and bring glory to Him.
2) I called the doctor's office in New Jersey that I owed money to because my Cassidy got sick on one of her summer Mission trips. I said, "In the category of it never hurts to ask, can you discount this bill if I pay it in full right now?" She said, "Yes!"
God would love us to see that as a parable of his own promise, "Ask, and you shall receive."
3) I was sitting under a tree at the Red Barn with a Veterans ministry and a fuzzy inch-long caterpillar scared me. It dawned on me that I'm bigger than the bug, so why was I afraid?
In the same way, God is bigger than all the things that scare me. So why am I afraid?
4) Coming back from the Red Barn, which is out in the country, I passed one of those country churches that looks like it yells at people for gamblin', cussin', smokin', and drinkin'. I about broke my neck doin' a double-take and then died laughin' when I saw its sign message, "He who drinks will live forever!"
I think they were referring to Jesus's comment in John 4:14 with the woman at the well, or maybe country churches have changed.
5) I parked in the lot of UAB hospital while I visited a member with cancer at the Veterans hospital. When I left the VA, I went through the UAB lobby past the counter to get free clergy parking. I told the guy I visited the VA. He said they only validate clergy parking if you visit in UAB. Then he winked and said, "But we could pretend." I winked back and said, "That's okay. Thank you."
And I chuckled to myself because my soul is worth more than two dollars.
6) I heard about the mass shooting in Washington, D.C. And I cried because the soul of each victim is worth far more than whatever the shooter is mad about. The thing is, ya know, the shooter may not be mad about anything. I don't know. Who does?
Dear God, please help our country. We need it really bad. Amen.
7) And then I topped off the day with my son's football game and a wedding reception for Joseph and Misty, two of my dearest friends in the whole world. And I got to hear my dear son laugh and my dear friend Joseph laugh and my dear friend Misty laugh. Have you ever just listened to someone laugh? I mean, like, listen closely?
Laughter is a beautiful sound. Find something to laugh about today. I'm quite sure it's good for everybody's soul.
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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