How Do I Get To Carnegie Hall? - Isa 28:9-13

There is a joke that has been around a long while that I'm sure everyone has heard in various forms from a variety of people.  The joke assumes that the person listening to the joke is aware of the place named Carnegie Hall.  Carnegie represents the pinnacle of performance venues for performers from a wide variety of musical fields. It was Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1891. It is one of the most prestigious venues in the world for both classical music and popular music.




The famous joke about this iconic place is pretty simple. "An old joke has become part of the folklore of the hall. One of the earliest print versions of the joke runs as follows: "Rumor is that a pedestrian on Fifty-seventh Street, Manhattan, stopped Jascha Heifetz  and inquired, "Could you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?" "Yes," said Heifetz. "Practice!"


The humor may not have you rolling in your seat but the degree of truth in that simple joke should give pause to our assumptions regarding our Christian calling and journey. The thing that propels a young violinist is not a secret corner cutting strategy but simple practice. 


One of the things that I have had to do over the course of managing technical teams and people is to help reign them in from coming up with an elaborate solution to an otherwise simple problem.  The most elegant solutions that I have encountered are the simplest in form and execution.  The elegance of practice is that it is so simple.  I recall taking guitar lessons for a period of time and the instructor showing me an exercise call a Hammer On and a Pull Off.  It is basically two very simple actions. 


The hammer is a quick pressing down on a string and letting go or holding it down to resonate.  The pull off is just the opposite; you pull your finger off the string, dragging it just a little to get the string to again resonate.  Practicing these two actions can quite literally push a person to the edge.  But that is how you learn.  While I was practicing my scales on the guitar the instructor would tell me to go slow and to make sure that I had my hand form correct and that the notes were clear. I was NOT to worry about speed of the playing (I wanted to be a frettboard burner). His words to me were, "If you can't play it slowly you will never be able to play it fast."  Simple and true.


Our Christian pursuits can be paralleled quite a bit I think.  The story might look like this. Jesus is walking down a dusty road and a man/woman walks up to Him and asks, "Master, how do I get to to be more like you?"  Its a stretch I know but think about it for a few more lines. 


Have you had the honor of having a young person learn an instrument in your home? The endless hours of screeching and squawking and starting over.  We are so bombarded by the imperfect sounds coming from the unlearned player that we begin to wonder, "is playing an instrument in school or church really that important?"  Of course it is!!  The learner will take away from this experience more than just knowledge of the notes and rhythms associated with playing.  They will learn that not getting it right is EXPECTED. That's right. It is expected for the learner to fail in their pursuit of perfection.  That is a powerful place that they must traverse. They must know in their heart and mind what the sounds should be and at the same time know what they are capable of doing.  What enemy is stalking their path all this time?


Discouragement. Frustration. Impatience. Self Criticism. Tiredness and perhaps Hopelessness. 
Do these wanted posters look familiar? What is the most important thing that the learner can do at this early and difficult stage? Keep Going!  The elegance of the simple answer belies the challenges that will accompany it. There will be internal and external voices telling the learner to give up or give in. They will have to see others who have advanced beyond their ability and the prowling beast of defeat will try to drag them down,"you will never be that good" "You don't have what it takes to get this right" or more seductively, "this isn't for everyone you know" "trying another instrument might be a better choice for you" "Just taking a little time off to rest and collect yourself will do wonders for you".


These things are lies of course. What the enemy doesn't want us to remember is that everyone had a beginning and beginnings are hard.  Maturity takes time, experience, and learning.  If a student is lucky they will have an teacher who can hear through the din that is NOW the sweet melody and passion that is THEN.  Words of encouragement for the moment. Words of challenge for the goals. Painting for the students mind the grand picture of the possible because he has faith in this prodigy.  The hall is full now and everyone has come to hear you play this instrument.  They dont know the steps that it took to get to this place. The instructor does, others that encouraged you in your pursuit do.  Other players know the price of competence and the price of excellence. You know. 


So what then Christian soldier? I know if you are reading this you are most likely not a green recruit, at least in time.  But we are all striving to become more like Jesus and less like ourselves.  Think of it for a moment. In my business life I have found that is often harder for people to "unlearn" a habit or a behavior than it is to inject a new behavior into their life.  The thing there is often dissonance between what we want to learn and what we already know. In order for this new learning to take root we must unlearn the dissonant action.  Pursuing Christ with honesty and passion is not easy and I do not believe it is supposed to be.  I know that there is that saying, "Live for God easy and it's hard, Live for God hard and it's easy."  That is clever and it makes sense, but I don't how to make a new and foreign discipline easy aside from saying that it takes practice. 


Consider the story that Jesus told the crowd about those who have once put their hand to the plow and then look back are not worthy of the Kingdom. What is this verse doing or teaching? It is talking to us about cost, commitment, and mind-made-up-ness.  There will be things that will make us want to look back.  Maybe it's not to see the things we left. Maybe it's to see how far we have come. Could that be so bad? No, but you run the risk of not being mindful of the NOW. The modern farmer can sit in his GPS guided tractor and read the paper and drink coffee and not look at anything happening around him.  


The kind of plowing Jesus was talking about was real work.  A crooked furrow meant crooked rows. Crooked rows meant more work to weed and more work to harvest. PLUS it was a billboard to anyone and everyone that walked by that the person working the field at some point became more concerned with what was behind that what was ahead.  I saw a movie one time where an Italian race car driver got into a very expensive race car and the first thing he did was tear the rear view mirror off the window; to everyones amazement.  Then he said, " Whatsa behinda me, is nota important!"


How do I get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!  How do I become more like my teacher Jesus? Practice.  I recently read someone that said in life there are no failures only lessons. In athletics you hear coaches over and over remind their players of fundamentals. You can't do the flashy stuff if you cant do that basic stuff.  But you also can't kick yourself day in and day out for not being a virtuoso if you just started or if you have given up practicing.  Kick yourself a little for giving up. Expect it to be hard to unlearn and learn at the same time. We have been given many great and precious gifts that will make our learning more effective if not easier.  Sometimes learning comes in spurts and giant steps are taken. Other times it is the day in and day out working on the same thing over and over and over.  Don't take that as an indication of some defect in you. Take that as a part of learning that has great value.  


The old saying is ,"If it was easy then everyone would be doing it" has some merit here.  Struggling is a good sign.  Jacob struggled all night with the angel of the Lord and the best he could do was not let the heavenly messenger go.  I can see it; this dirty, dusty, dude, long robe twisted around his body, maybe pulled up to his waist with the angels foot pulled close to Jacobs chest with two arms and hands locking it there.  Let's just be clear, this was not about wrestling, it was about commitment to not quit.  The angel was well able to eliminate all but the memory of Jacob from that place. That was not why he visited and let this mortal get a grip.  He was sent to see if this liar and deceiver would give up and maybe try to come up with a financial solution to his dilemma (remember he was afraid). No, Jacob laid down at the gate of heaven, the house of God, and the angel called him out.  "I know you want it but how bad?" " I know you can do it, but will you?" At the end the angel just touched him on the inner thigh and changed the way this man would walk from that day forward.  How did he feel after all that practicing? Exhausted probably. Sweaty and dirty? Yes! But he was no longer Jacob, the Liar. He had unlearned that. He was now Israel!!! He was a Prince with God. He had learned the lesson he dreaded but he learned it.  Let me go, for the day is coming!!!! I WILL NOT LET YOU GO UNLESS YOU BLESS ME!!!! So he crippled him, and changed Him.  Man that makes me want to shout!!!  He stood up, straightened his robes, dusted himself off, and (my imagination) took a bow as those in heaven watched these events and the skies thundered with their applause.  Not a wasted visit.  


So what then of you and I? Well, we need to practice before we preach.  I mean really practice before you preach.  There are elegantly simple truths that will take us a lifetime to refine. To bring out the full depth of emotion that is contained in them.  But it must be known. It must be felt. It must come from the work that it took to possess this knowledge. The price will have to be paid.  


Why don't we see healings like the book of Acts? Why aren't we able to call out the names of the interlopers(unclean spirits) that visit our assemblies for the deliverance of people?  Why are we grumpy (petty and judgmental) when we see a dirty person at the store? Why indeed.  We haven't learned it yet from Christ!!  Sure we have read our bibles and can find even the minor prophets when they are referenced by the preacher. I mean who reads Hosea unless the minister calls out the verse?  There is a practice lesson in there brother and sister. Read of the prophet and his love for an unfaithful woman, Gomer, and see if the lesson of forgiving and forgiving is not there for us.  It takes practice. 


I will let you in on a secret. I am trying to learn this lesson from the Master Teacher.  Miracles and great demonstrations of the Spirit are for the Glory of God. Not the church. They are to show and remove all doubt that God is God and all the praise and honor is his. This is a hard lesson for me, I have to admit. But it's consistent with the rest of the lesson book. This thing is not, nor has it ever been, about me. It is always and forever about the Glory of the One. "I am the Lord and My glory I will not give to another!" The Most High whose train fills the temple and his voice makes the mountains shake. Whose very garment was a high voltage transmission line of virtue to heal.  Faith is necessary, but I think that hard part is the WHY of healing. Why do I want to see them healed? For their healths sake? That might be good enough for the one who breaks through the roof to get the one in need into the meeting, but is that good enough for me as a minister of the Gospel, empowered by the Spirit that RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD?  When I have a better grip on this or have it learned, and if the Lord allows it, I will share this also in a blog.  For the time being, know that class is in session for anyone who wants to shed the hold, the stain, the stink of this world and hide themselves in the savior, for then will we appear with Him.


God bless you and give you a ravenously hungry heart for truth and righteousness!


Jim

I Do! Or Do I? - Revelation 19:4-9

I love our small group. We have developed a sense of closeness and are gradually getting to a place where our community provides a platform to minister to one another in the Holy Ghost.  I love our small group.

This past Thursday night we dove into one of those group topics that if we are honest with ourselves, cannot be covered without it resulting in some deep introspection. We were led (quite effectively by one of group members) through the subject of Forgiveness.  Lots of very transparent discussion, however lots of transparency (I would say) held back.  I think this is natural really.  There are some things that are hard to put into words and there are other things that we know clearly; but are afraid or ashamed to say them outloud ( to God or the group).

This isn't about that topic or group really.  It's about what happened after group between my wife and I.  See the depth of this topic and its keystone role of the Christians life caused us to continue our discussion and sharing.  We shared our thoughts on the subject. We shared our thoughts on the groups dynamics. We shared our thoughts on each others comments. Finally we shared our hearts regarding the feelings and emotions raised by the subject.  If you have been married for any length of time (and you are trying) you know that some things, when they come up, must be tended to at that moment.  I have had meetings at work rescheduled for any number of reasons (probably a bad habit I know) but not everything that gets done at work really matters, so it gets put on hold.   This is not the case with the relationship that my bride and I are building together.  We are not Ozzy and Harriet by any means, but not only do we love each other, we are trying to love each other.

Part of this story includes a brief mention of my works requirement that I facilitate a conference call with some US, UK and Dutch colleagues at 2 AM our time the following morning. This discussion that my wife and I had, took time to get past the surface items and to get to the level where the real discussion needed to happen. We hit that point about 11 PM.  I have to admit that I did think about that meeting that was rapidly approaching, but as quickly as the thought rose up I had an overriding thought that we needed to talk about this and I needed to listen carefully.  So we talked for about another hour and then went to bed with a greater sense of understanding of each other and nothing lingering over or around our relationship.

Here's where its gonna get a little prickly for you the reader.  I have been thinking about this for a few days now and am convicted by the level of respect and effort that I put into my relationship with my Heavenly Bridegroom.  It was needful, regardless of the time or upcoming circumstances that my wife and I talk and get our hearts out in front of each other. It was more than needful, it was manditory in my mind. Better to run that meeting a little tired than to get another 60 minutes of sleep and leave my lovers hurting heart to beat untended.  There would be no rescheduling this discussion.  Some things are very timing sensitve and as a husband I need to be ever so sensitive to those things and to seize the moment when it arises.

What about my relationship with the One who loved me first?  I have to honestly tell you I have intended to communicate with Him and to share the deep things of my heart, but then something comes up. Important things like; I get tired, or I catch a descent wave while surfing the internet, or I begin doing something else that eats away the time and my urgency to share.  This is not even how I should treat a familar aquaintance let alone the One of has given me His name and all the blessings associated with his authority.  However, with the best of intentions I tell myself, "tomorrow I will put that time in my planner and it will happen. I will block everything else out and spend some really quality time with the Savior."  I think you can guess how the next day plays out. Putting it in the planner does not keep these interruptions and time seductions from coming around that next day.  Honestly, the more I say yes to them, the easier it is to let the first things slip further back in the list of priorities.  I read this years ago and found it and interesting testimony to our modern age.  We often say that we have many priorities, family, friends, work, pleasure, etc.  What I read once was that there was no plural form for the word Priority.  By nature having more than one meant that you had none. So when someone asks for your list of priorities share with them a list of one item and see what reaction to get. Confused, I would bet.

Where is my sensitivity to the relationship I should have with Jesus? Where is my sense of urgency to be with Him and to stay with Him till he draws out of me the "real" things in my heart?  Amazingly, there is a time of urgency in our relationship but its usually when I am in trouble. I wrap my selfishness in a cheap covering I try to call faith.  I get down on my knees and quote the right verses as I make my request known to Him. I am certain he hears me. He never sleeps or slumbers so my words find His ears. But they come to him like a request from a person standing at the pharmacy counter and I have written (forged) my own prescription that I am handing Him.  And it would be really great if I didn't have to come back for this request. "Could you fill that while I wait here at the counter?" It's hard for me to write these things because of the sharp edge that honesty has. Who honed this self assessment to the edge it now has? I think I know.

The book of James is a no-nonsense letter of instruction to the believers.  The Lord inspires him to get out the sharp knife and to peel back the pretensive layers of the reader and to expose the true matter. I am a believer in positive thinking, but ignoring an anti-Christ behavior and saying that "He understands and that His Grace is enough for me" is a complete misunderstanding of not only His Grace but also His understanding of us.  I mean really, we can sell ourselves just about anything that makes us feel good, but that line does not, will not work with God.  He does understand us and honestly it is because of His grace that we are not consumed!!!

James scalpel exposes the duality of our hearts.  With our own tongues we bless God and curse man. We try to send out sweet water and bitter water from the same polluted well. We think we are bearing fruit, but we have no idea of the type or the nature of our fruitfulness or fruitlessness. If we have bitter envyings and strife in our hearts, we had better not try to claim the grace of God to "make it alright between Him and I". Not if I am not trying to do ANYTHING about this personal condition. Grace is not a pass to continue in our self deception but it is the favor of God to help us in our earnest efforts to become more and more like the One who has called us by His name.

Let me say this now. These sharp edged instructions in the Bible are not there to keep us in our place. They are they to let us know that God knows the human desire to find the easy way. To seek the path of least resistance as we walk in this Christian Way. There is so much available to us as a part of the Bride, but it is not just a vending machine Gospel where I can select the gift or the promise that I want at any given moment  and pull the knob and down from heaven drops my healing, my financial needs, my desire for family and friends, to come to the knowledge of the Savior.  Let me say this now too, you don't have to agree with me on any of this. You can walk the walk that God has called you to and you can hear the instruction of the Holy Spirit as He delivers it to you.  But don't kid yourself.  The plan of salvation is very specific and I am doubtful that the life that I have "In Christ" would now become a self written success plan for the race I have been called to run.

Remember I said James brought out the sharp knife.  If you read just the first few verses of the 4th chapter of James you can feel just how sharp it is.  He talks about our lusts, our angers, our selfishness and our double-mindedness in just the first 6 verses of chapter 4. I am coming back to this idea of relationship now.  When my wife and I were talking I quickly worked the gain and loss equation in my mind and DECIDED that I would spend whatever time I needed to with her to get things understood between us.  Why is it so easy to allow the distractions of life to devalue my time with who should be my hearts desire - Jesus?   It doesn't really take a great deal of time to grow distant from someone you once loved when you said, "I do!". Intimacy does not just magically happen and like it or not the "feeling" of love is just that, it's a feeling, and feelings are very transient and are governed too much by circumstance or perception.  Love, lasting love and intimacy is a decision to develop this feeling that we start with into a full and complete union between a bride and groom. Emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, and cognitively.  Decide, decide, decide.

James instructs us to draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to us.  This idea of being "Nigh" to God and He to us, means to be joined together, one thing to another.  That is Grace my friends, as I get closer to God He gets closer to me.  These are not the same things.  When I get close to God I am exposed and revealed and there is so little in me that is anything but shameful and nearly rotten.  But when God draws nigh to me, He joins to me Himself and in that all that is His.  Amazingly, He is not repulsed by my poor contribution to this union.  No!  I am called. I am chosen!  I am a new creature in Him! He is not ashamed to call me His Friend.

Getting that close to God will have an effect on us. It will change us without question. Like Moses coming down from the mountain that burned with fire and thundered, his appearance was changed just from spending time in Gods presence talking to Him about His law and Moses responsibilities regarding the law.  In his presence we will not be able to keep up the pretense. We will not believe any longer the deceptions that have told ourselves about ourselves.  We will be humbled! We will be called to mourning for our wickedness!  Our laughter or positive mental attitude about our relationship will be turned to tears. Tears meant to empty us and to be an offering to the Lover of our soul.  AND THEN, in all that brokenness God will lift us up. This idea of being lifted up is Very God!  We will be lifted up and, can you believe it, exalted and brought to the very heights of opulence and prosperity, and we will be given dignity from His Graceful lifting. We will receive from our Bridegroom "more than more".

But these blessings of relationship are a part of intimacy, not part of a package deal that comes from a Sunday morning 15 spent at the altar. Think of the powerful scriptures that describe and instruct us to the kind of relationship He desires to have with us.

• That I may know him
• I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me
• Putting on Christ
• Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith
• This one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind I press toward,,, the prize,, of the high calling of Jesus
• We are dead to sin and our life is hid in Christ
• If we abide in Him (Jesus) we may ask whatsoever we will and it shall be done
• The Spirit of Truth abides with us and in us

This a tiny list of keys and indicators of the kind of relationship He desires to have with us.  The key is to make the development of that relationship a priority that is very difficult to alter or change.  Decide before a decision is required that your time with the Master comes before any other pursuits.  Allow Him to talk with you so that He can get past our superficial and defensive front and allow Him to truly examine us and begin to change and perfect (complete) us. 

Sorry for the length of this one. God Bless you!

Don't Mind The Spillage - Psalm 23:5-6

I had an interesting day today. It started out with a considerable amount of discomfort in the form of a headache.  I have been having trouble with the top 2 or 3 vertebrae in my neck C1-C3 becoming compressed. That seems to translate into all kinds of nerve messages that if ignored, like when I am sleeping, will result in a whopper of a head pounder. So thats how my day started up at 5 AM and down on the floor taking ibu- and applying heat and pressure trying to get things to just chill out so I could have a normal day.  Not very good luck there I am afraid.

However, a trip to the local Chiro and some more sleep and I was feeling in pretty good shape. Albeit I had lost a day that will never come back around.  Later in the afternoon I had some errands that I needed to run before I had an acupuncture appt.  So while driving from home to destinations I began, slowly and almost imperceptibly at first, to feel my head and heart begin to fill. Somebody cut me off at an intersection and the normal refrain of "knucklehead!" got caught in my throat and instead I said nothing.  Weird.

I went to the stores I needed to visit and everyone I smiled at (well almost everyone) smiled back. That feeling of filling was back. I went to the local book store to wait for my appt time and drink a cup of tea and it came on me again. Big time.  I could feel the float in my heart moving up and up toward full.  My brain kept thinking about my wife, my kids, my God, my life, and up, up, up went the needle toward full.  This probably sounds weird I know.  The feeling was so inescapable now that I paid attention to its steady rise.  I was thinking, "You dummy, if people see you sitting here smiling like a loony they will likely call the cops".  Didn't care.

I got a text from my wife and I started smiling.  I got a text from my oldest son and I smiled some more. Sent them both a text in return and I was grinning like I was holding pocket aces with two showing from the Flop (sorry if that doesn't make sense - google the terms). Basically I was telegraphing that I was feeling good!!!  I got into my car and started driving to the Pins and Needles doctor and the feeling like a huge wave was washing over me.  I mean I wanted to shout or something.  About what you might ask?  About almost everything!

What I felt (and still do as I write this) is that my life has so little capacity to hold and contain the fullness of Gods blessings for me. Like that 5 pound bag I wrote about weeks ago, God is trying to cram 10 pounds of Joy and Peace and Faith and Love and Confidence into this 'Ol 5 pound bag and, well, He just cant seem to get it all in there. It just wants to overflow.

The 23rd Psalm is a staple that probably even non believers could quote at least part of. But to those who believe; it is a promise of the ever attentive God in our lives. He is always aware of us.  Where we are, what we are going through, what we need, and what we don't need.  He is our Shepherd and he knows us, each of us, by name and he calls us by name. We hear His Voice and we recognize OUR Shepherd and will answer and follow Him and not another.

There are some really awesome things going on in this scripture.  The Shepherd, the One who made everything, The God who is God over all other gods, The Creator who formed us in our mother's womb and numbered our parts, that same Shepherd is preparing for us a banquet table. Not in the back of some hall somewhere or inside a tent out of the sun and dust, but he is setting the table for US, in the presence of our enemies.  Right under the noses of the ones, and things, that vex us, that once bound us and desire to do so again. Smack dab in the front so that everyone can see.  Why would he do that? Let me suppose for a second.  I believe he does this so that everyone and everything that has our name on the most wanted list can see and know that we are watched over and provided for not by just anyone. No we are under the care of the One whom demons implored, "Jesus thou Son of God, are you here to torment us before the time". Torment in this sense sounds a lot like Water Boarding.  God does not play games. If being a Christian is anything, it is a serious calling.  Remember I was the one grinning so I'm not talking about stone faced, gloomy service to the King. I'm talking about a commitment for life. A burn the ships kind of commitment.  He ain't playin and we shouldn't be playin.

So the table is set and the banquet is spread and then the Shepherd pours Oil over our heads.  He anoints us with Oil.  Now there are not any direct parallels for what I am about to write other than like references and meanings for and of oil.   The word "anoint" is quite interesting.  One of its meanings is to be fat, become fat, grow fat, to become prosperous.  He is covering us with His blessing. Psalm 1 talks about the benefits and expected life of one who loves the Word and directs their steps according to its tenets and precepts. In verse 3 it says that the disciple of the Lord will be like a tree planted by a river (deep roots, healthy at all times of the year - drought proof) and WHATSOEVER HE DOES SHALL PROSPER.

Look I can see the corners of your mouth beginning to curl upwards in a smile. Go ahead and let go!  These are not just my promises (for me) they are His promises to Whomsoever Will. If all that were not enough the Shepherd begins to pour into our cup. Filling the bottom, then the sides, then crowning the brim and then, it begins to spill out and overflow. When does he stop pouring? Does it matter? I hope he never stops pouring!!! To me this says that the supply of refreshing is without end. Like the wedding at Cana, when the wine ran out the Masters mother instructed the servants to do whatever her son Jesus told them to do, and the  wedding feast continued with the best wine held in reserve.  If those jars had been emptied then I am certain that the servants would have filled them again with water and dipped out pitchers of wine.  God's supply is without end. He owns all the cattle on a thousand hills, and does not need our help with anything, but rather allows us to join Him in his labors to His praise and to our blessing.

So don't worry about that spillage from your cup. The Master is making sure that you have enough for the day and the day after that. He is trying to breath (or pour) into us confidence that we are not just barely getting by under His watchful eyes. No it is His great desire to pour out a blessing that we cannot contain.

Well my face is starting to hurt from smiling so long. I'm gonna call it a day now and go to sleep smiling.  If you don't think you have reason to smile and you know Jesus as Lord and Savior, you really need to get out a piece of paper and start the list of things that are a result of knowing Him.  Begin with taking your sin upon Himself and nailing the invoice for all our debts and infractions to His Cross. From there the rest should just begin to flow!  You have to know Him though.  Not just about Him but know Him.  You need to become a new creature in Him according to His plan that was laid out before the earth even had foundations.  Read Acts Chapter 2 as a starting place to see how it is that the path of salvation has been laid out for us!  God bless you!