ice, ice baby...sanctification on ice

We had a good snow/ice/rain storm yesterday and this morning every thing was covered in a thin sheet of ice. So before I dropped my kids off at daycare I chopped ice at the neighbors house and put down ice-melt and sand at my house.  I chopped the thick ice, melted the thin ice and put sand on my steps because they are concrete pavers and ice-melt makes them crumble (learned that lesson the hard way).

On the way home I drove past a kid walking to school doing the skate-walk-shuffle. Some walks were clear, some where not. Not judging anyone, just saying what was.

As I passed the him the verse "Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand"(Psalm 37:24) came to mind. I like this translation from the ESV. It doesn't say we won't slip, or stumble, it says we won't bash our heads!

God does allow the ice in this world but we are given the grace and power to deal with it.  Jesus prayed that we would be safe in this world, not removed from it.

Some things God needs  to break, the thick ice, (our hardened hearts, habititual sin) via the power of the Holy Spirit.  Once the thick ice is broken we are left with the thinner ice. This breaks up easier because it isn't attached to the driveway. Resentment, lust, greed and the like can be melted after the thick heart has been chipped away.

And then there are things that need the gentle sand, a protective covering that lets us get a solid grip and foundation while we walk on top of the underlying danger.

We are all ice, ice baby  as we await the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some are in the process of being chipped, others are being salted and some are being gently sanded. Where are you? How long have you been there? Are you craving the ice to finally go away?

Ice, ice, baby. We're all in this world together.
b

deer beds and suckin' air

So yesterday was MLK day and my wife had the day off. We loaded up the kiddos and went to the pool but I really needed to be outside. When the kids finally passed out for their naps I was released to go play!

I grabbed my snow shoes (actually my wife's which are better for deep powder) and thought it would be fun to hike up Avon Mountain (a hill actually) off trail. I found that two feet of powder is sweet in only one direction. It was a hump. But well worth it.

The woods were full of every kind of animal track imaginable! Fox, deer, mouse, squirrel, birds...scat (poop for you folks), urine, gnawed saplings, acorns, a pile of feathers from someone who is no longer. I even came across two deer beddings! ...so many signs of life. And it was just off the beaten path.

So God started moving my mind as my lungs were sucking in volumes of air; Bryan, come and follow me off the beaten path and I will show you the reality of what is really going on. Get off trail, and look. What is lying beyond sight? An abundance of life just waiting to be discovered!

 This is what the LORD says:

   “Stand at the crossroads and look;
   ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
   and you will find rest for your souls.    

But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ 

So today, where will you be walking? What will you be looking for?  Are you willing to put in a little effort for great rewards? And if perchance you stumble across something...what are you going to do?

Jeremiah 6:16

Dance like nobody can see ya

So I don't dance like I used to...
I used to hang out with my friend Doug who was the lead singer/guitar player for The Suns of Jubal. They were a local reggae band in the Hamptons during the mid 80's -90's. Doug was a full-on White Rasta, waiting for the return of Jesus.

I had long sun-bleached hair then, and wore ( like we all did) beads and strings, jingly-things and ripped jeans. I'd go and just dance all by myself, and just get lost...

But something happened and I stopped dancing. We all do, don't we? We privately tap the steering wheel and sing in our cars. We might shake what our mamma's gave us when no one is around. But do we break out like our souls really can? Why not, what happened? I think it's because we're too concerned with what the world thinks, and less concerned about what God thinks.

Not my kid. She just dances, wild and free...and accessorized from head to toe.

This year I resolve to dance wildly again...and here is the first dance lesson;

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 3-5

I once read that there is not a box that man can build which Christ alone cannot shatter upon which He can build a dance floor to celebrate life.

I always wanted to be a dancer. I watched Solid Gold Dancers and even bought  the Denny Terrio Learn to Disco Dance album with my paper route money when I was in 7th grade. I had a book with footprints. I was teaching myself. Now I am letting the Lord of the Dance teach me.

Care to join me in the dance party? This one goes on forever.