Give it a little more time...

As a preacher of the Gospel, I have had the idea that at a certain point one should be at a certain place and doing "A", "B", "C". I mean this is what is said without being said by those who are of the same vocation I am, and yet there are those of us who haven't measured up to the said status quo, and this is tends to give me fits more than anything else. Why have I not...? What is it that...? When do I...?

There is a parable Jesus used in Luke 13:6-9, and I know this maybe a bit of a stretch to use this passage of scripture to show my point but if you bare with me I think you'll get what I'm saying, or at least I hope you do. Jesus was telling us about a man who planted a fig tree in his vineyard and after coming to see if the tree had produced any figs he didn't find any, so he told the gardener to cut the tree down. The gardener; who in this case is a representation of Jesus, tells the owner to wait just a little while longer and let him, the gardener, spend more time with the tree, and if after a time it doesn't still produce then OK we'll cut it down but if it does then it's all good.

This parable help me to understand that though the status quo says, "...at this stage in the game you should be here and if you aren't then..." that there are times when certain 'trees' aren't going to bring forth fruit right away and that it's going to take just a little more time perhaps than most, but as long as I'm in the hands of the Gardener I know that I will continue to receive the proper nutrients necessary to promote the growth needed to bare the fruit required to feed those in need.

Have you produced fruit at every stage in your development? What parable or passage of scripture have you found beneficial in helping you produce?

Open or Closed; Which Mind?

I have been thinking a lot about the idea of one being Open or Closed minded, and how often I hear the words used in more arguments than I care to attempt to list in this post, because if I did the post would be nothing more than a list of arguments from: interracial relationships to sexual preferences to political beliefs, etc.

So, what is it to be either open minded or closed minded?

Open minded: 1. Having or showing a mind receptive to new ideas or arguments. 2. unprejudiced, unbigoted, impartial.

Closed minded: Having a mind firmly unreceptive to new ideas or arguments.

My position has in years past been one of a closed mind, because I was under the false pretence that if I showed a willingness to listen to points of view that were different from what I was familiar or accustomed would give an impression of agreement or alignment with the opposing belief of whatever subject being discussed. I've later come to realize that I was unable to effectively dialogue if I wasn't willing to be receptive.

It is through our willingness to be open minded that we are able to filter all of the presented argument and solely on speculation or hearsay which promulgated out of ignorance, fear or indifference.

The scriptures teach us to reason together, and in the midst of reasoning there must be an openness and it is through this openness can we Narrow in on Truth.

'Hello? Can You Hear Me Now?'

I have to admit...I have, what some would consider, selective hearing. i don't mean to have it all the time, but for some reason it seems to manifest, (that's a very spiritual word we like to throw around in the Pentecostal churches to show our deepness), when I'm being asked, by the Mrs., to do something around the house or going to the store. I have a type of sixth sense when it comes to these things and because I really don't want to them right away, my hearing is switched to the selective slot and pretty much every third word is heard.

example:
wife: Hey, honey I need for you to go to the store before the game.

what I heard: Hey...I need(meaning she needs)...to go...before the game.
my response: Ok.

I know I'm not alone with this type of affliction, (another pentecostal word), which seems to the only affliction no one wishes to be free of anytime soon.

I was thinking about the importance of hearing, and how our very safety is determined by what we can or what we have heard. The announcement by flight attendants, the sound of a fire alarm, instructions by tour guides, scuba instructors, etc. When we ignore what we are hearing could change the very course of our lives for the better or for the worse.

The scriptures tell us; that only the those who belong to the Lord know what His voice sounds like and that a stranger they won't follow. So, how is it that we sometimes get side tracked? I believe it is because of a couple of things:

1. What we are hearing the Lord speak to us at that time isn't as satisfying to us as is what we are feeling. We allow what we feel to override what we know we hear. The example to this being, Issac in the 27th chapter of Genesis. Issac knew what he heard was the voice of Jacob, but he allowed what he felt with hands to fool him.

2. We are side tracked because we blatantly refuse to hear what is being said. Because we fail to listen to the instruction of a test in school we fail the test. the Lord told Adam not to even touch a certain tree in the garden of Eden (Gen 2:15-17), but Adam ignored what the Lord had said; which brought about the fall of man.

I believe that our hearing whether natural or spiritual is perhaps the most important of all our senses, and that it has to be very important to God as well. The scriptures record verses like: "he that has an ear to hear...", "faith comes by hearing...". There were times in my youth when they use to check our hearing at school and when I received my first drivers license, a persons hearing was important.

Hello? Can you hear me now?