April 9th, 2010: Coffee, Good Weather, and the Back Porch...

Being the weak human being that I am, I spend a lot of my time, why lie, most of my time, on the clock at my place of employment thinking of witty comebacks and "truth-bombs" I'd LOVE to drop in altercations, that for the most part, will NEVER happen at all. In ALL honesty I spend five hours a day becoming a slave to my fantastical daydreams of getting the rare chance to speak some wisdom into the managerial staff at Fedex Ground; a sad waste of energy, and, missed opportunities to worship God and speak love into other comrades lying in the trenches beside me; a dark chasm longing for the presence of God.

I was doing some thinking, a.k.a. detoxing, on the back porch this morning and had a wonderful thought dropped into my brain. In all sadness of truth, many of my coworkers HAVE to work second and third jobs just to eke by financially each month; the big, bad bully that steels your lunch, and, your joy!!! My thought, by the world's standards, I don't work a second job. Out of my own volition, and due to the priceless knowledge I have obtained of the call God has placed on my life, I work the 4 a.m. shift in a place that some would refer to as hell. I chose to execute this move so that in the evenings, four-or-so days a week, I can volunteer my time leading worship and mentoring junior high and high school kids within the four walls of my home church; setting the tone for God to knock one outa the park; yearning for other hearts to be wrecked by the same Jesus that wrecked mine. Most would think that volunteering is not a job; no currency exchange for the work rendered equals NOTTA JOB right? But my thought that tagged along behind that statement was; is money the only thing that you can be payed in??? Some get payed in money, others in food; some get payed in love, and others in friendship; some get payed in joy, and others in satisfaction and fulfillment. Just think, being God's hands and feet; loving on the lost and the broken; a job that many would speak of as "just volunteering;" a position that pays in a currency far greater than money; NOTING that our actions won't ever be enough, and will never be able to earn our way into heaven; but in all truth and wisdom, the GIFT of salvation is a far greater payoff to turning your back on the world's noise and following the peaceful revolution modeled by Jesus; a life driven by unconditional love and forgiveness.

So here's my formal declaration over the white noise around me; I choose to keep pouring into the lost and broken; a world in desperate need of a Savior..... Jesus. Knowing, that only by faith and trust in Him are we truly saved; a victorious payoff that took place two thousand years ago; a payoff that will continue to echo throughout time until His glorious return.