Archive for December, 2009

More Than Meets the Eye (Episode 2)

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 18 December 2009
in The Word
. 0 Comments

To recap… Wednesday we talked about jars of clay which was good imagery but really there is so much more to this passage that I am excited to get in to. So take a second and re-read our passage:

II Corinthians 4:7-18 (The Message)

7-12If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at.

We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

 13-15We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

 16-18So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

Verse 8-9 in the NIV reads: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” I want to pick-up there and may get through verse 12 today… it just depends on how fast I can get my “bird” fingers to peck the keys.  (Wow that was a lame start… I apologize)

The crazy thing about being pressed is that you never know just how much you can take before you are crushed, or how far can you be thrown down without breaking.  I know that when testing the strength of concrete they find the amount of pressure it takes to break it and the only way to do it is to actually break it. Continue reading ‘More Than Meets the Eye (Episode 2)’

More Than Meets the Eye

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 16 December 2009
in The Word
. 1 Comment

 The last couple of mornings I have been caught up on a passage of scripture and have found myself re-reading it over and over. This morning I took a look at it in a few different translations and I chose to share this one (for the Transformers reference… so theological deep). This is a pretty common passage of scripture but there were a few key pieces that grabbed my heart and I wanted to write them down because I know that I will need them again in the future. I will probably have to do continuations of this post because I am not going to write it all today (I would wear out my two typing fingers and you wouldn’t read it).

II Corinthians 4:7-18 (The Message)

7-12If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at.

We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

 13-15We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

 16-18So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

In verse 7 in the NIV it says that we carry the message in “jars of clay”. This was the first piece of this passage that grabbed. Maybe in part because it is the name of one of the first “Christian” groups that I actually owned a CD of because at that time there weren’t very many good ones. But the imagery here is pretty incredible. As a single guy this probably would have not triggered any thoughts but through my married years I have purchased my share of clay pots.

You know the plain orange pots that are the cheapest ones you can get at Home Depot. I have watched (and even assisted) as my wife has taken those plain clay pots and painted them, accessorized them, and turned them into some really nice patio and porch accents. Continue reading ‘More Than Meets the Eye’

6th Birthday note to Owen

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 7 December 2009
in Parenting
. 0 Comments

Yesterday my son turned 6 years old and so I am going to populate cyberspace with some words to him. Some may think this is a waste of cyberspace and if that is you… stop reading. I know that he may not read this for many years (good thing considering some of what I wrote) but I want him to know how much he means to me.

Owen,

I was reading in I Corinthians 15:33 this morning with your mom and I came across this scripture which I had underlined at some point. “Bad company corrupts good character.”  I want to go on the record and say that I am proud of the character you are developing. I am going to focus on that today but I want to also mention that this is only one of the many wonderful things that make me so proud to be your dad.

Many of those other things such as intelligence, resilience and creativity will get you far in life but character (who you are when nobody is looking) is what makes your heavenly and earthly father really proud and sets men and women apart from the crowd.

In the parenting department you are blessed with a phenomenal mom who spends a lot of time sowing into your life and working with you so that you will develop into an amazing man of God. In many ways when I compare myself to her I feel under qualified and am working hard to just not undo some of the stuff she has instilled in you. But we have corporately made some decisions about the influences in your life in hopes that we can protect your character as it develops.

You are already catching on in many areas because you are so smart. Like you are questioning the fact that many of the things you get from us where around when your mom and I were kids. For example, I am glad that Transformers are back but you are 6 and the 25 year old cartoons that we bought you for your birthday are better for you than the recent PG-13 movies. Yes the movie had some really cool robot battles but son the sexual references and images in this movie are not for you. (I saw the way that the Victoria Secret commercials grab your attention even at 5 so I know that your mind is already beginning to process some things.)

We realize that you will someday know that an ass is more than another name for a donkey and that the words that don’t make any sense in the radio edition of” Boom Boom Pow” really are just cuss words that the FCC won’t allow. At some point you will see that if Luke Skywalker had his hand cut off it would bleed like a stuffed pig (Unless the light saber cauterizes also?) but in 1980 that wasn’t a significant part of the plot.

Many parents (some reading this right now) will say that we are shielding you. My response to them is “yes we are”. As mentioned above I know that you will be exposed to this and so much more during life. I realize that at some point you are going to have to battle with raging hormones and strong negative influences but our prayer is that these battles will be easier because you were prepared a little longer with some positive character influences.

For example, before too long you and I are going to sit down for the first of many “talks”. Yes there won’t be just one but many conversations about sex and the feelings that you have. I can’t say that I am looking forward to those in many ways but I am looking forward to being the influence that you hear it from. Some might say that seeing Megan Fox mount somebody on screen is a great communication starter. Though this may be true I think that is a different conversation.

Son, your mom and I love you very much and are trying to be the best character influences we can be. We know that God has big plans for your life and that it is our job to assist in preparing you. This may lead to some confusion as to how Bumblebee went from a VW to a Camaro. This may even cost you a little bit of “coolness”. But son my goal as your dad is not to make you cool or even popular. Son my job is to help you become a man. A man who has enough character to stand up for what you believe in. A man that is strong enough to fight against the path of least resistance and be a leader.

Today you are a Padawan in your quest to be a Jedi (the certificate is in the scrapbook your mom made), though important I am focused more on your training to be warrior in God’s army.

We proceeded to pray this morning for the influences in your life and I started with me. I want to be your hero. I will share the roll today with Bibleman, Luke Skywalker and Optimus Prime but when you are a dad I want you to see me as a hero in your life. I want you to view me as someone who was willing to fight for you and our family at the cost of being over protective, conservative, old fashioned, and a little crazy.

These tactics and God’s hand on you have been doing wonders so far. You are a wonderful young man with so much potential. Many might even say you can be anything you want. I won’t say that because I don’t want you to be just anything… I want you to be exactly who God wants you to be. In that Owen you can and will find happiness.  

I love you Owen. Happy 6th Birthday.

Dad