MMMMM…sooo good…

My friend Ruth-Anne knows cookies. We got to know each other at a barbecue that a mutual friend held one summer day. The sun was shining, the kids were in the pool and the adults were sitting around chatting. Ruth-Anne walked around and said "Here, have a cookie." I took one and she walked away. We kept talking and I took a bite. As I chewed, something happened. Certain neurons in my brain started to fire. I took another bite. My senses became focused on that cookie. It actually interrupted our conversation. One after the other we began to remark, "WOW! These are sooooo good!" I've had those cookies many times since that first time yet I always wind up responding the same way. I bite it, chew a couple of times, let it melt in my mouth. My eyes close for a moment, the taste is really overwhelming, it really is. And then I say, "Mmmmmm...sooo good."

Ruth-Anne does this all the time. She bakes a batch for many church events. Not only does she make an incredible cookie, SHE LOVES TO MAKE THEM! My guess is that she sees how much pleasure her friends and family get out of it and that gives her joy.
I've heard of her legendary technique. Something about the order and the timing of preparation. The number of times you mix the batter, how long it's cooked for. It is truly an art for which she is a master. I hear that she even had a business selling them at one time

The other day I was meditating, not about this life, but about the one to come. I thought of all the people I'd like to see in heaven and I thought about Ruth-Anne. I imagined her coming out from her heavenly dwelling with a fresh made batch of cookies. "Here, have a cookie." "Mmmmmm...sooo good." I love her because she is a beautiful person, not because of her cookies. But the cookies sure do bless me!

I believe the fulfillment that we will have in heaven will have a lot to do with what we did on earth. I don't believe that heaven will be an eternal resort, laying out in the glory, catching some rays. I believe that we will have tasks, jobs. I believe that the tasks will be ones that bring us joy and pleasure and bless others. Remember what Jesus said to in the parable of the talents. "...I will put you in charge over X (number of) cities. Come enter into the joy of your Lord." I believe that part of Ruth Anne's eternal pleasure will be making those cookies and blessing others with them. And part of our pleasure will be enjoying them.

Global Day of Prayer

There is an organization called Global Day of Prayer which mobilizes people, towns, cities nations and continents around the world to gather together for a global concert of prayer on the day of Pentecost, preceeded by 10 days of fasting and preparation. Here is their mission:

To call Christians from all nations to unite in repentance and prayer, and to collaborate as God’s instruments for the blessing and healing of the nations.

The history of the organization and the prayer that came from it is just one of those amazing GOD THINGS. You can read it here.

Wouldn't it be awesome if you could get your friends together and pray and fast for 10 days and join the world in prayer on Pentecost Sunday? What about your church? Your town? Your state or province? Your country? Think about it...

Maybe you can be the one to do something great for God...

Read Me A Story...

I like reading books. I like reading books multiple times. I think this is my 3rd time reading Celebration of Discipline. But now I'm into something new. Audiobooks.

I remember the books on 15 casettes. I never bought them. I remember books on 5 CDs. Couldn't bear it. But now...Audiobooks on one audio file, downloaded on my iPod!

Audible.com is a great site for audio books. They have so many types: fiction, nofiction, inspirational, leadership. A really cool thing is that they are often read by the author. Or sometimes by famous people. Jean Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise (Patrick Stewart) reads one of the Chronicles of Narnia (The last in the series I think). That is a great narrator pick.

They have a great deal. Pay $9.95 for the year and download any book at 30% off. The books wind up costing between $10 and $20. You can also pay $14/month, get one book and the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal daily.

If you like books, I think this is a great deal. I listen mostly in the car during my 45-60 minute commute to and from work.

My latest read (listen?): The Purpose Driven Life.

Check it out.

Disciplines v.2.0

It's a new year and I am back where I started. Or better said, finishing what I started. I keep coming back to this book. I annually sit down in December and consider my life over the year. I look at what I accomplished and what I didn't accomplish. Ways that I've grown and failed to grow. Then I come up with a series of goals for the new year. They are not resolutions per se. They are actually things that I am setting plans out to accomplish. Some are events or accomplishments. Others are attitudes and lifestyle goals (getting that tummy under control...),

blocs are great resources for learning about goal planning. I've learned a lot from them. But then I come back to this book. It grounds me. Goals are good. They reflect an inner desire for what could (should) be but is not yet. However, the real struggle is the balance between what I can and must do and what the Lord must do. What a balance it is! We can make tremendous changes on the outside. However, only God can make changes on the inside. To be whole, the inner life must direct the outer.

In the first chapter Foster describes life as a path with a chasm on each side. On one side is the chasm of moral bankruptcy through trying to apply the will to resolve life's problems (overcoming that darker, undesirable inner part of us). On the other side is the chasm of moral bankruptcy of the "absence of human strivings. The path leads to the inner transformation and healing for which we seek." The path is not what produces the change. It is God's grace that we receive on the path which changes and heals us.

The Spiritual Disciplines put us in the environment to receive God's grace so that the gap between what we are and what we are meant to be can be closed. I am keeping this in mind entering this new year. I need a big heaping dollop of grace to become what my goals reflect. But not just one dollop; dollop upon dollop upon dollop. Slop it on Lord!