The Devil's Claw

  'The Devil's Claw' - the name alone strikes intrigue. Actually the 'Devil's Claw' is classified as a 'noxious weed' and native to the Americas. It's technical name is 'Ibicella Lutea'. It often grows along the road sides and can be more commonly found around watering tanks for animals. It's a devilish looking weed when the flowers and green leafs have fallen and it is broken off. The horn-shaped tentacles look menacing as they protrude from the seed pod which opens up when stepped on. The seeds often find their way into the ground or onto the hooves and heads of sheep; very often causing serious injury and eventually death by starvation. During the blooming season they have either purple or yellow flowers and appear harmless enough but it's odious scent does not attract the average person. The 'Devil's Claw' is not exclusive to weeds however...

  The Devil's Claw is also known by other names:

• "hurt"... as in 'ouch'
• "rejection"... as in 'really!?'
• "neglect"... as in 'only if...'

These attach to the hearts and minds of humanity. They irritate, dig in beneath the skin, eventually infect, and even spread seeds where others get hurt. Eventually, if left untreated, people starve themselves within relationship, or cause serious infection, pain, starvation and eventually the death of the relationships we would under normal conditions hold most dear. 

  Painstaking care is required in their removal. It seems to me that it's easier to identify the nature and even the source of these 'Claws' but much more difficult in removing them once af-fected or in-fected. This is where I believe the Shepherd is most needed. We need Him to sit with us and help us deal with each seed from the claw. He's a tender Physician really; never pushing the seed in deeper or twisting it around, only helping remove their ef-fects, covering over and healing us from these painful events and words. Our Shepherd also uses others to help us with this process. Our spouse, family or friends in our church often play that critical role in making us better. 

  This weekend one such person who has helped me and many others will be here in LA speaking to our church and community. Dr. Doug Weiss has been very instrumental in helping me identify some of these 'seeds' and provide me a path forward in my own life-journey. I hope you'll join us this weekend as we work toward authentic intimacy in our relationships. 

  In the meantime, if you discover a weed that has a purple or yellow flower on it which doesn't smell particularly too good, it may very well be a  'Devil's Claw'. Avoiding them, your life and the lives of your family and friends will be better for it. Also, if those seeds have found a way into your life or relationships, determine to no longer go it alone or avoiding the necessary remedy... there's help and hope available...

In Christ!

Brown Paper Bags

You never know what is going to show up at church! This happened to me a number of years ago back in Oklahoma; inside that brown paper bag were some very private videos...

Coal Count, Oklahoma is largely a 'Democratic' voting county; though in the 2008 election voted 'Republican'. The church I led there was largely reflective of the county in terms of political preferences. In the mid '90's you will recall that President Clinton was entangled in a moral and political mess over Monica Lewinsky by lying to Congress. During that time it was a very difficult subject to talk about publicly and even personally because of the political tensions. As I do now, I tried to center any political commentary around morals and ethics; so the subject was difficult to avoid... until one Sunday.

Roy and Peggy were in their 80's at the time and were very gentle and caring souls. They were faithful to the church and their Sunday School classes. 'Ole Roy', as I called him was always faithful to the Chuck Wagon (local diner) where we discussed cows, hay, rain and chances of rain and occasionally politics. In comparison to the geezers at the table, I was but a young pup... so I didn't say much. I never new until one Sunday where 'Ole Roy' stood politically.

The service had ended and Roy and Peggy had hung back from leaving in order to talk with me. Sister Peggy looked both ways and then whispered lightly and handed me a brown paper bag. She asked me to keep it secret and not open it till I got home. When I got home I opened the bag and there were a couple of VHS tapes on the Clinton administration and the Lewinsky scandal. You'd thought the way they were acting the brown bag had porn or crack in it... but I understood their intentions!

Regardless where you stand politically, I think we can all find agreement when it comes to moral issues. I find the 'brown paper bag' interesting. The issue is much deeper than political preferences. Think of your heart as a 'brown paper bag' for a moment. What are you hiding?  What are you trying to hide from the Holy Spirit? What role is shame currently playing in your faith and life? Critical to our spiritual and relational health is living life without having to have a 'brown paper bag'.

I have to laugh sometimes when I see a brown paper bag show up at church. I think of Ole Roy and Peggy, but I also think of how I need to live out a transparent life...

In Christ!

Metal Shavings

   It was in the fall of 1979. I had purchased a 1975 Chevy Blazer (4WD) with a 350, 4-barrel carb engine. Now at 17 you have this desire to trick the thing out with a potent 5M watt stereo system and some cool lights placed on the bumper for when you go mudding. It's at that point the story begins.
   I broke out my father's drill and 3/4" drill bit and went to work on the bumper to install the lights. I worked at it for over an hour getting the holes drilled. Feeling like a man's man with power tools in my hand, laying on the ground with the drill above me, grime, muck, dirt, ball cap tilted a little sideways, no safety glasses on, while flexing my then 145lb. frame... unaware that as I was drilling, tiny pieces of metal shavings were collecting on my face and into my eyes.
   I clearly realize now that I broke 4 of the 5 LANL safety initiatives, the most egregious being that I am admitting to it... but we all need a little grace to go around. Right? Right?!
   About three hours later I began to experience an odd burning in my eyes. I looked into the mirror through the watery image in front of me wondering what had happened. Praise God for moms, because when I asked her she told me to get to the eye doctor immediately. In one of those rare moments when you actually do what your parents suggest, I got into the car with her and went. The doctor examined my eyes and found metal shavings in both. His assistant cleaned them out, mom paid for the doctor visit and off we went back home. Lesson learned... kind of...
  Today, I'm very glad the ophthamologist I went to had good eyesight himself. Because see if the physician himself had metal shavings in his own eye the size of a steel girder, how could he ever take the metal shavings out of my own? Isn't that the point of what Jesus was saying about having a critical eye? As we go through life, I do believe it's vital to keep an eye on our own stuff before we attempt to even think of performing acute examinations on everyone else's stuff. (And yes, that's me in the picture above whose hair is as orange as the paint job... don't start hating on me because there's less of it and a differing color now...)
  I'm very thankful for the doctor who kept his eyesight in order. I'm thankful for my mother's direction and her payment to the doctor on my behalf. I'm thankful for the Great Physician whose holiness is beyond compare. I'm thankful for His Son's payment for my misdeeds. I'm thankful He is helping me get the steel girder out of my own eye. I'm thankful for the in[sight] He's provided me for living out my life...  In Christ!