"What Are Words?"

^"You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words."

2 Kings 18:20

I've always enjoyed watching American Idol.  Primarily for the outrageous auditions early on in the season.  This year one story in particular struck a chord with me, as it did with the entire country.  Chris Medina's audition was one that we all remember.  Before the audition we hear about how shortly before he and his fiancé Juliana were set to walk down the aisle, she was in a car accident, leaving her with a severe brain injury and he as her caretaker.  His words, "what kind of guy would I be if I abandoned her when she needed me the most?"  hit me the most.

Chris was eliminated from the competetion, but not from our memory.  On a television interview I heard him mention a single that had been written for him.  I downloaded it and was touched by the words.

It serves as a good reminder to all of us.  

We are so quick to say things we either don't really mean, or are unprepared to follow through with them.

I remember hearing a retired Salvation Army officer speaking to us at the Salvation Army Training College; he said, 

"If you tell someone it's raining quarters outside, 

they better be able to go outside and get a bucket full."

As a pastor it is so critical that I do what I say I am going to do.  As Christians, it is essential that we do what we sing we do.

When we offer up empty words to someone in need of encouragement or direction, we do them a disservice. 

We speak and we sing about the "Battle" and the "War" and our role as Soldiers in the Lord's Army, but what good is it if we don't live up to the words?

^"You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words."

2 Kings 18:20

So think about what you say, and how you say it.  Make sure you are prepared to follow through with things you say.

What are words
If you really don't mean them
When you say them

"A little bit of dirt in the right hands!"

I've been staring at my backyard a lot this winter, anticipating getting my garden going again, which I started last year for the first time.  It's a pretty incredible and religious experience to watch food literally come out of dirt!  Above are a couple shots of my garden from last year when it was looking like a lush tropical oasis!  It's pretty interesting however, to look at it now.  What only a few months ago was a thriving garden, is just a bunch of dirt in a box.  There is absolutely nothing lush or remotely tropical going on, just dirt.

The only thing that makes that 8x4 box of dirt more than a box of dirt is the seed, sun, water and time spent weeding and fertilizing.  Without it, either nothing grows, or whatever tries to grow withers away.

We are no different than a box of dirt.  God can take what seems to be lifeless, fruitless, and ordinary and turn it into a lush productive oasis.  There are so many references in scripture where God refers to himself as a gardener.  If we don't allow ourselves to be pruned by Him, we will no doubt wither away.  But if we allow ourselves to be watered and nurtured there is no limit to what we can become.

There were several days where I went out and notice a tomato plant or two had gotten too heavy to hold itself up, or had begun to lean to the side.  It wasn't the end of the world, it just simply needed a stake to hold into place and to guide it upwards.

There is a certain stigma attached to the word dirt "Girl, what happened?  Give me the DIRT!"  Or we talk about people having a dirty mouth, or a dirty mind.  Usually any phrase that has the word dirt in it is being used negatively.

But when I think about dirt, I think about potential.  Maybe I'm not there yet, but I can be, if I'm in the right hands.

I love the story in John 9 where Jesus heals a blind man:

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam”. So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.  His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” Some claimed that he was.Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”  But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”  “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.  He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

It's amazing to me to see what can happen in a life with a little bit of dirt in the right hands.