Please press the pause button…

There is a word in the Old Testament of the Bible that is used a lot in the book of Psalms. The word is Selah. It can be a difficult process to take Hebrews words or terms and bring them into the context of our daily life in 2009. Without going into too much detail, the word means “to weigh”, as in “The lawyer should weigh his words carefully.” And what is really being implied is that this word means to take a moment and consider carefully what is about to be said or done.

It really points to the idea of a purposeful Pause. Wow…I like that.

Beginning on May 31st we will embark on a 12 Sunday adventure into the book of Psalms. This will be our summer series. What a great way to look at summer time - Pause. The word Selah figures prominently into the book of Psalms…as if to say, “Wait a second, pause here for a moment.”

Everything moves so fast and our lives are filled with so many responsibilities that we really don’t take much time to pause…over anything! Food is consumed quickly, friendships are maintained hastily, and errands are done as if we were being timed for some sort of record. Race, race, run, run. It’s like we are trying to shove everything we can into just a short period of time. And what we end up with is perhaps quantity but very little quality.

For me this hurts the most in my spiritual life. I study for sermons, or read the Bible too quickly just to get through the Bible Reading Schedule. We live in this amazing time where we can get more “spiritual feeding” that anyone could possibly consume. I subscribe to multiple podcasts from other churches and leaders. I have magazines and devotionals, books and commentaries and Christian radio and, and, and, and….

Anyway, maybe it is just me, but I really feel like it is time for us to take a moment to Pause…to Selah…to weigh carefully…what God is sharing with us in his Scriptures. The Psalms are a great place to settle in and Pause and we are going to do that.

So what does it all mean? Well, I wish for myself and I wish for all of you that we would slow down and enjoy every bite that we take of God’s word. My wife is fond of saying that the first few bites of any awesome food are always the best. And sometimes more is not better…it is simply more. So slow down, take a small portion, twirl around in it a little bit and ask God to help you savor each bite. Don’t go for quantity so much…go for quality. I think we will all be amazed at how much we can grow and change by marinating a little bit in His love letter for us. What do think? OK…ready…set…pause.

Believe it or not I have a few reoccurring questions that people ask me.  One of them I would like to share in this Blog.  It usually comes in a couple different forms.  One might be: “If you were sent to a desert island and only had 5 faith building books to take with you, which books would you take?”  A follow up question might be: “If you could only put 10 songs on your Ipod, what would that playlist look like?”  I want to take a stab at the first question and I will get to the second sometime down the line.

OK…first of all, the Bible is a given.  We would really struggle without it and so the Bible is number 1.  And by the way, I am not just saying that because I’m a pastor and I have to…I really believe it. 

Alright…here are numbers 2-5 in no particular order…sort of…

1. My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers.  I was given this daily devotional at my College Graduation 20 years ago.  I must admit that I had never heard of it before and it came with a nice dedication from the person who gave it to me.  I have pretty much read it daily since then.  It is broken down into 365 devotionals, all of which challenge me every single day.  I recently picked up a copy that uses modern “American” English and it reads a bit easier…I recommend that version.  Chambers was British and some of the wording can be cumbersome. 
2. Shadow of the Almighty by Elizabeth Elliot.  This was one of those books that changed my life…literally.  It is really a story of love and longing…for God first and then for a woman.  The story is pieced together by Elizabeth Elliot as a memoir of she and her husband Jim’s life together and then as missionaries to Ecuador, where he was eventually martyred at 29 years old.  Jim Elliot has become one of my heroes of the faith and I highly recommend this book.
3. Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.  Tozer was one of those guys who was amazingly brilliant but made the faith so real and tangible that it is remarkable.  I love guys like that…I want to be like that!  My favorite chapter is a chapter called, “The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing.”  Sounds heady, but when you dive in you will be really encouraged!
4. A Severe Mercy by Sheldon VanAuken.  Ok…this book will take you on a roller coaster that will bring you much laughter and many tears.  It is a love story that turns into something so much more when the couple meets C.S. Lewis in England.  A true story, you will be sorry this book ever ends.  This young couple comes to faith through Lewis and their lives are turned upside down when one of them gets sick.  I loved it and read again every few years.

OK…there are my five.  I would be interested in hearing your top 5.  Respond to this blog by clicking on the comment link.  I can’t wait to get your recommendations.  Please remember that all comments are subject to the censor (me) and once approved will be posted to the website.  Thanks!!!!

pb 

Scratch and Sniff Image...Try it!

Once a week I drive a bread route through the wine country.  I get up on Friday morning at 2am and drive to the bakery in Sonoma to load up the fresh bread and then head out to various stores to deliver it.  If you have never been inside a bakery that produces amazing sourdough bread, you don’t know what you are missing.  The smells are unbelievable!  And when it comes right out of the oven you wish you could grab a stick of butter and an entire loaf and just go for it.  I can honestly say that this special Basque bread is some of the best I have ever tasted.  It is sooooo good!

This bread is delivered daily; there is a desire for it each and everyday.  The bakery bakes each day of the year with the exception of Christmas Day.  It truly is “daily bread”. 

While driving the bread to Calistoga one Friday morning I had a bit of an insight.  We are designed for fresh bread every single day.  What I mean by that is that we are literally in need of having food every single day.  We can go without for a period of time, but our bodies are created in such a way so as to need the energy that food gives us.  And if you think about it that way, then it is not only daily bread, but life bread. 

In John 6:35 Jesus says this: “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry…”  Bread was a staple food in those days.  All who heard this understood what bread was for people.  And here is Jesus saying that He is the Bread of Life.  Later, when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, one of the things He tells them to pray is, “Give us this day, our daily bread.”

It isn’t difficult to see that we are designed for fresh bread…for daily bread.  Jesus wants to connect deeply with us and we need to connect deeply with Him.  This really is a relationship.  He wants us to take of this bread…the bread of life…or more simply, Himself!  How do we do that?

I want to hear from you.  Tell me what you do to connect with God everyday.  I want to hear the great stories of how you engage in relationship with Him.  Share a story of a watershed moment for you in this regard, or when you finally sort of “got it” that you need fresh bread everyday.  Tell me your story…and share it with all of us.  Maybe it came out of a painful time or even a remarkable victory. I am looking forward to hearing from you!

By the way, if you actually scratched and sniffed the computer screen where the image of bread is….fess up and let me know.  You can comment on all of this below.