Crashing

You have know idea just how perfectly pleased I was with myself as I had the weekly Conduit Email polished and ready to go on Wednesday.  It was full of insightful and witty commentary about flying.  I wrote it as the flight I was on  leveled off at 32,000 feet.  There were astute observations about lift, clever banter about how entire gaggles of geese must be so jealous that gaggles of humans can fly without flapping, (seems like I had a clever joke about chickens being especially jealous)  
I speak of this with a sense of longing and despair, for you see my hard drive crashed upon my arrival in Minneapolis.  There is a certain sense of irony that my hard drive crashed right after writing prose that included something about an airplane crash.  Truth be told if forced with a gun at my head to choose between a plane crash and a hard drive crash I would begrudgingly choose the hard drive, but not without careful consideration about when I last backed up.
Going for 36 hours with no computer access was simply unnerving.  Especially when I got stuck in Chicago O'Hare for a 6 hour layover with nothing but a blackberry, coffee and a keen eye for the D level celebrities wandering the concourse  (the chiseled jaw guy from Fantastic Four and the dude from This Old House on PBS. )
I was told by an impossibly chipper mac "genius" that it should only take 3-4 days to get me back up and running.  But he said this with the kind of judicious fervor of a kid who used his computer for gaming and updating his myspace profile and not someone who manages his company, his bands, yes his entire life on his computer.  Think about someone telling you that they'll get your head sewed back on in 3-4 days.  
I digress.  
Last week we hit Revelation 2 head on. Remember as we look at these letters that
1.    They were written to an actual local church that at one point in history actually existed
2.    They apply to churches across the ages.  The letters say "hear what the spirit says to the churches" plural.
3.    They apply to you and I personally.  "he who has an ear, let him hear". So if you have an ear you qualify
4.    Amazingly, when looked at in order, represent the 7 epics, stages or whatever fancy name you want to call it of Church History.  
Ephesus represents the early church from 32-100AD.   The name Ephesus means darling in the Greek language that it was taken from, and that is exactly what the Lord was dealing with them about.  After commending them on their passion for sound doctrine and their good works, He challenged them because they had forsaken their first love.  That is a word for you and I personally and especially as a group at The Conduit.  We're passionate about the Word, and we're anxious to do good works.  We just can't forget the reason we do it all to begin with.  
This week is Smyrna.  It's a church name that means myrrh.  Remember myrrh? The very things the wise men brought at Jesus birth were Gold (for a king) Frankincense (for a priest) and Myrrh which was a burial spice.  Seems like someone (God) was up to something doesn't it.  At any rate Smyrna represents the church from 100-312 AD.  This is a time in history when 10 Roman Emperors carried out some of the most massive persecution and murders of Christians ever recorded.     Myrrh is a spice whose properties are released through crushing.  Crushing?  Well, we'll talk about that Sunday night.
This is the last Sunday night before Thanksgiving.  Would love to see everyone before I commit diet hari-kari.  
See you Sunday at 7pm!

Friends Are Friends Forever

Luke 16: 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 10"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?

Jesus had just told a story about a manager getting canned Donald Trump style for mismanaging the owners cash. The manager, like many desk job people(i.e. ME) realized he was entirely too old, too fat, and too out of shape to work a real job so he had to skate to the puck. Figure out what he would do. His solution was to call all of the folks who owed his boss money, and cut their bills in half as his last act of "management". His plan, a very shrewd one, was to make friends so that his future would be secured.

Here's what sort of surprises me, Jesus commended him. And then Jesus goes on to say that the "children of light" should take some cues from this guy and plan for our future as well. He says that we should use money to make friends.

Now I think I can speak for all of us when I say.. "what?" At first glance that doesn't seem to make any sense. But notice what Jesus says in totality.. "so that when it's gone, you'll be welcomed into eternal dwellings. "

Jesus is talking about making friends with your money, but not friends for the here and now. He's not saying to use your money to buy influence, or to get people to like you because you're the person who buys lunch. He is saying that we should plan for our future. OUR REAL FUTURE... Heaven. Friends for eternity. When you or I take the money that we've been entrusted with, and give it to serve the poor and the vulnerable. Those with great debts to the Lord so to speak, we are making friends. How so?

Imagine your first day in heaven. Imagine meeting folks whose lives were saved, whose suffering was alleviated, whose hearts were changed by the power of God as a result of money that you gave to a person, a church or an organization to fund them in their mission. Or money that you gave directly to someone in need. These folks, many of whom you may never meet this side of eternity, they are your friends.

And what Jesus is saying is that these friends, will be there to welcome you and I to our eternal dwellings. I personally can't wait to meet them. What a great day that will be.

So instead of my energies being focused on planning on my retirement, my bigger house, my shopping sprees, I can actually planning for the real future. Retirement is just a stopping off point on the way to eternity. Me spending money that I don't have to buy things I don't need to impress people I don't really like is ridiculous.

I can't take my money with me, but I sure can take other people. And those people, well they're my real friends. Friends that will be there to welcome me, and welcome you into our eternal dwelling.

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