Along Came a Spider

Last night, as I was sitting in the courtyard across from my house, enjoying a Guinness and watching the remnants of the sunset spill across the western sky; I was witness to a very interesting site…

Just to my right, a spider began to descend, on a silk thread, from the top rafters of the open terrace, a distance of approx. 10 feet. While my initial instinct was to step on him when he landed, I’m very glad I didn’t. As soon as he touched down, he anchored the silk thread to the stone pavement, and quickly ascended the line, gently blowing in the breeze, back up into the rafters. Upon crossing two beams, he descended again and repeated the process.


It took me a moment to realize that he was setting the anchor of a new web on the stone pavement below. Wow, I thought to myself. Spinning one end of a web, a distance of over 10 feet, was pretty aggressive for such a tiny creature. You go, little spider guy!

Over the next 45 minutes, I watched as this amazing spider quickly and methodically spun his web of nearly invisible silk, working from strand to strand, gently swaying in the cool evening air. A master craftsman, executing the plans of this construction flawlessly.

At one point, a small bug became entangled in the web. The spider quickly made his way to this hapless victim, encasing it in a cocoon of silk, then continued with his construction duties, returning occasionally to check on his future meal.

All around were the quick, faint glows of meandering fireflies… The soundtrack to this event was provided by a choir of crickets, the gentle trickle of the nearby stream, the deep bass groan of a bullfrog, answered by another in the distance, and the occasional call of an evening bird.

Every once in a while, the web would catch the evening breeze and highlight the strands against the glow of the twilight moon. In no time, the web had taken on amazing detail, each row from the center, almost geometrically precise in it’s placement from the next. A true masterpiece of nature, and all from this little spider…no larger than the eraser of a pencil.

My thoughts upon viewing this scene, was just how vast, yet intricate God’s creation is.

This spider had no knowledge or concern about such things as the oil spill in the gulf, the crisis in Korea and the Middle East, or the state of the economy. He simply was doing the one thing he was created to do…spin a web…and survive.

I think one of God’s greatest gift’s to mankind…our minds, intellect, and free will, are often our greatest downfall as well.

What if we were just to make our main focus what we were ultimately created for?

“To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”

This might seem like an over simplistic approach. I know jobs have to be done, and bills have to be paid, but what if we approached life through this simple, yet profound concept. Focusing all we have to do through this prism of truth. How different would my life, and the lives of those around me be? Very interesting to ponder…

God, thank you for giving me a season of peace and quite, upon which to witness this event. It’s very easy to attest to the majesty of your creation when we stand in awe of a majestic mountain range, or to feel the cool moist air billowing off of a raging sea. But sometimes, when we allow ourselves to slow down and focus, we can witness it in the small things as well.

Help me to take this to heart, as it’s just not the big things I do that reveal you in my life to those around me, but the very small things as well; A smile, a touch, a simple word of encouragement. May I slow down enough to see these opportunities all around me, knowing that if I focus on the small things, the big things in life may not seem so daunting.

"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.

Thank you little spider, for catching my eye and revealing the awesomeness of God’s creation…

You Know...

First Watch is our men’s ministry at Irving Bible Church. We meet at 06:22 AM on Friday Mornings. We typically begin with a movie clip, followed by a brief message in a large group setting before breaking off into our small groups.

One of the things we have come to expect in our large group setting is the really bad joke. These are the kind of jokes that are so bad, they’re actually funny, and elicit laughter and the requisite number of groans.

There was one particular joke a few weeks ago that definitely fit into this category, yet was very poignant to the message, and has lingered in my mind. I’ll do my best to recollect it and explain. Here goes…

A lady walks into a business where the proprietor owns a parrot. As the lady walks past, the parrot looks at her, then exclaims, “Hey lady, you’re ugly”! The lady turns, visibly shaken, and storms out of the store.

A week later, the lady returns, and the same thing happens. The parrot looks at the lady and squawks, “Hey lady, you’re ugly”! This time the lady seeks out the proprietor to complain. The owner chastises the parrot, explaining that she’s in fact a valued customer, and if it happens again, there would be hell to pay. The parrot apologizes to the lady, and the owner assures her it won’t happen again.

A few weeks later, the lady returns. Upon seeing her, the parrot calls out, “Hey lady”, then after looking her over, quietly states, “you know…”

Wow. After the laughter and groans subside, you realize just how deep the underling message runs.

How many times have we peered into the mirror, and let those doubts and unspoken lies slowly creep into our psyche. “You know…”

“You’re out of your league”
“Everyone sees right through you”
“You’re not fooling anyone”
“You don’t belong”

Over time, these perceptions, if not checked, have the potential to become our reality. No doubt, in the sea of humanity, untold thousands are adrift, capsized by this condition.

If only we could see past our distorted perceptions and see ourselves as we truly are, an unfinished masterpiece, pliable clay, still being shaped and molded by the hands of the master.

The problem is, the more time we spend gazing inward upon this misconception, the more rigid and unusable we become. Maybe that’s why our focus is supposed to be outward. Reference the Jesus Creed…

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these"

I’ll bet the more time we sincerely spend directing our focus on others through this prism, the greater our inner perceptions will become. It’s definitely worth a try.

Stepping away from the mirror…

Welcome to the Family II !

A few weeks after I took ownership of my new bike, I received an unexpected package in the mail from Harley Davidson.

When I opened it up, I found a Harley Owners Group (HOG) patch, a pin, touring handbook, a magazine and a plaque. The plaque was very nice, and contained an image of my bike along with the VIN number, and a message,
“Custom Made for David Poe”.

Wow, how cool is that! Right away it make me feel welcome, like part of the family. And upon further retrospection, I realized that my only qualification for receiving this, was that I now owned a Harley. I wasn't asked pre-qualifying questions like, what neighborhood I rode my Harley in, what I wore when I rode my Harley, or where it would be kept. Just that I now owned one.

I thought it was a really nice touch, and it got me to thinking, why can't we be more like that as a church, or more simply...Christians in general.

It seems at some point, we feel the need to qualify people based on our own defined categories. Where do you live? Where do your kids go to school? What do you do? What do you drive? Where did you go to school? Based on their answers, we somehow subconsciously determine their worthiness. Why can't it just be good enough that we are all broken, hurting and need Jesus? I'd like to think that I could somehow just see everything on this level...but I don't.

There's an old saying that the average person can find more comfort in the local bar than in the local church. On some levels, I agree with this, but if the local bar and a motorcycle company can do this...so can we.

Going forward, each time I ride my bike, I'll do my best to remember this and how welcome it made me feel. May I always strive to treat others the same.

Welcome to the Family!

I got my first motorcycle for my 14th birthday. About a month later, Mark and Todd, the twins that lived across the street got their motorcycles. From that moment, the adventure was on.

Almost every day, we would mount up on our steel horses and off we would ride. We would head, to what we called “the woods”, a large undeveloped area of our subdivision. We would twist through the trees, fly up and down the hills, explore new areas, but most of all...we would ride.

Over time, memories have a way of turning into stories, and sometimes these stories develop into legends. To me, these stories are legendary. For the better part of a year, most all of our free time was spent on the backs of our motorcycles. Then, as I was approaching 15, my motorcycle suffered a catastrophic engine failure. The ride was over.

The next year slowly evolved into a learner's permit, followed by a driver's license. In short time, the legendary era of the motorcycle gave way to driving, cars, and girls.

Time went by, but there are three distinct memories that I kept from my motorcycle days. The first is the feeling of turning that ignition key and seeing that bright green indicator light, signaling the bike was in neutral. For the longest time, that green was my favorite color, and to this day triggers those memories. The next is pulling in the clutch in and pressing that gear lever down into first. As the gear would engage, you could feel the bike tighten up beneath you. And the last is that feeling, at the start of every ride, when you pull your feet off the ground and up to the foot pegs for the first time. It's the moment you know that “it's on”!

Over 30 years have passed since then, but Ive often looked back, longingly on those memories and wondered if they could be re-captured. Would the experience still stir my soul the same way. You know, it's like that perfect vacation you try to re-create, but yet seldom lives up to the memory. Try driving through your old childhood neighborhood. The memories come flooding back, but looking around, you know it's not the same. Just memories...

About six years ago, a friend of mine at work asked if a few of us would be interested in a weekend motorcycle riding class. Of course I said yes! Early on the first day, performing a very slow speed turn, I made the mistake of looking down to see if I had cleared the cone...and dropped the bike. They said don't look down, because where you look is where you will go, and sure enough, that's exactly what happened.

I went on to pass the course and get my motorcycle license, but that fall left a gash in my confidence. Shortly after, we moved to New York for a couple of years and then back home to Texas.

Nothing further happened with motorcycles, partly due to that small gash in my confidence, allowing doubt to slowly drip in. This year I decided the time had come, and signed up for another class at our local Harley dealership. The class was this last weekend, and was incredible. The class chemistry and instruction was amazing, and the damage to my confidence has been repaired.




One of my favorite quotes by Benjamin Franklin:

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

While I hold to this truth, I think the same can be said about motorcycles. I know our role here is that of Ambassador, as we are to be representatives of eternity; but I truly believe that we are also created for pleasure and God wants us to be happy while we are here.

I love to picture in my mind, Jesus and His close friends, sitting around a campfire laughing, cutting up, talking over the events of the day, and just relishing the moment. I know these times were cherished by all, but especially Jesus, knowing His mission and what lied ahead. Just one of the many wonders of His creation and I love that.

So, was I able to re-capture the magic? Well, if my ride today was any indication...YES, and I'm well on my way to creating new stories of legend.

For those of you stirred by this story, and you know who you are, I highly recommend taking the new rider's course. Here's a quote that was in my log book that pretty much sums it up...

“Four wheels move the body.
Two wheels move the soul.”

Well, that's another view from life's sidecar...this time taken from the back of my Harley!

The Shack

So I just finished “The Shack”, and per the author’s suggestion, decided to Blog my thoughts about it.

First of all, this is not a SPOILER review. I just want to address the major themes, and attempt to tackle some of the negative controversy surrounding this book.

Ok, let’s get started by stating the obvious. It’s a book of Fiction. I’ve seen several posts where people are attacking the Theology of this book. I don’t think the author is attempting to solve any great theological debate; just someone saying, “God reached down and touched me, and here’s how it feels”.

The second biggest complaint is the supposed trivialization of the Godhead, and how they are depicted. OK, once again just to clarify, this is a work of fiction. However, at what length would Jesus not go to reach out and re-establish relationship with His creation?

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:6-8

Now, to get back to what this book is about. It’s about forgiveness, redemption, and most of all…relationship; the kind of relationship that God longs for with His creation.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.”

Matthew 23:37

The kind of relationship depicted here, a place of warmth, safety, comfort, and complete peace. The kind of relationship that Luke describes for us at the end of Chapter 10, where Jesus is relishing in the time spent with Mary, just sitting back, sharing, and being in the moment. So many Christians today are just like Martha, where they are so busy about the doing, that they forget about the being.

Now don’t get me wrong. Obedience and action are very important, and necessary for the furtherance of God’s kingdom. But, obedience that stems out of relationship, not obedience in an attempt to gain it.

We busy ourselves with our huge lists of do’s and don’ts in an effort to keep favor, and when we feel that someone “jumps the line” by coming in and sitting at the feet of Jesus, we get bent out of shape. See Matthew 20:1-16.

“I’ve sat in this pew for 20 years, made every Wednesday night service, served on 2 committees, even made visitation most of the time. I’ve paid my dues. You just can’t wonder off the street and receive the same portion of Grace I’m entitled to…”

How many people have heard, or even felt that. I know I have. That’s why so many Christians have a problem with the thief on the cross. And here’s that phrase that comes screaming out of our childhood…

It’s not fair!

Wow, if we all got what’s fair…heaven would be a very lonely place. Thanks be to God that, through His son, He paid a price we would never be able to pay, in order to redeem us and re-establish the relationship we were ultimately created for.

So read the book and enjoy it for what it is; A picture of forgiveness, redemption, and relationship. And the next time you find yourself too busy, take a moment to sit at the feet of Jesus and breathe Him deep. It’s a reminder we all can take to heart.

A Moment in Time

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is John 9.

It contains great Theology themes (suitable for discussion) such as :

suffering = punishment,

ceremony > results,

and one of the best 1 sentence summations of the Gospel to be found, but more on this later…

It documents one of Jesus’ miracles; restoring sight to one who was born blind. While this is an amazing picture of God’s grace, it’s also slightly disturbing for me. I really struggle with the concept of predestination, and find it difficult to assemble the words that express my personal interpretations. It’s one of those God concepts that’s almost impossible to wrap the human mind around. Visualize reading Shakespeare to a dog.

The implication is that this man was born blind, for this exact moment in time. I’ve always thought, “what a drag it was to be this guy”; For 30 something years, existing in complete darkness, never seeing his mother’s smile, the beauty of a sunset, or the splendor of God’s creation…all for this moment in time. And he’s not alone. The text reveals others, seemingly with their own singular tick on time’s eternal graph. For the woman with the blood disease, it was the touching of Jesus’ garment. For Zacchaeus, it was in the climbing of the tree, and for the Samaritan woman, it was her encounter with the Savior at the well…just to name a few.

It begs the question, “Was I created for a singular moment in time”? and if so, what if I missed it?! What if the blind man had chosen a different gate in which to sit by that day? The elderly woman decides she’s too frail to brave the crowds, the Samaritan woman chooses another time of day to fetch water, or Zacchaeus thinks that climbing the tree would just be an exercise in futility?

How many “would be” stories are absent from the Bible, victims of second guessed decisions such as these? And in my case, what if it was one of the days I skipped church, opted not to go to work, took a different route…the possibilities are seemingly endless. Did I miss something? I guess its human nature to pose this question.

There’s a story about a small group of guys sitting around one day, discussing how often they had sex with their wives. One guy exclaimed, “Twice a week”, and the others nodded, seeming to say, “not bad”. Another exclaimed, “once a week”, still another, “once a month”. One guy, remained silent, all the while grinning from ear to ear. They turned to him and quizzed, “So, what’s you story”? Still smiling, he replied, “Once a year”. “Once a year?” they shouted, “Why the smile”? In which he exclaimed, “Because tonight’s the night”!

That’s the shift in focus I think is required. A change from, “What if I missed it”, to “Today’s the day”!

And while these single events in time are all that’s captured of these people, the safe assumption could be made that their lives, and everything around them was altered for all of eternity. The Chaos Theory. You know, A butterfly flaps it’s wings… The little things I do today have the potential to alter eternity…exponentially… May I ever be mindful of that.

Oh, and that single sentence summation of the Gospel?

“...I do not know, but one thing I do know…I was blind, but now I see”!

Sums it all up, doesn’t it.

Serenity Now!

As the clock winds down on yet another year, we begin to reflect on those things yet accomplished, and what we will do differently in the upcoming year to see them through. Those New Year's resolutions. This year I'm going to...(insert dream here).

Plans we hang our hopes on, that begin to melt away long before the first flowers of Spring.

Recently, when I was in one of those reflective moments, I ran across something that I have seen a thousand times, yet in this instance began to resonate.

God grant me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can;

And wisdom to know the difference.

The Serenity Prayer. No doubt this simple phrase exists in thousands of variations and formats in Cracker Barrel motif homes all across the country.

It reminds me of those hymns that I grew up with in Church. The ones you can sing without missing a note, all the while your mind is busy thinking about that afternoon football game, or where you are going for lunch. In those rare times when you allow your mind to focus on the words, you realize why these old treasures have such staying power throughout the generations. The words may be simple, but they are truly powerful.

As I began to meditate on these words, I thought about all the situations that affect my mood, in which I had no control. Traffic. How many times have I allowed myself to get wrapped around the axle (no pun intended) over miniscule things...

"Seriously, three open lanes, and you pull out in front of me"!
"Your going to turn from THAT lane"!
"Hey, that light's not going to stay green forever"!

How often have a let the outcome of a sporting event, in which I didn't make one single play, dictate my mood for an entire weekend.

Let's not even talk about work...

Yet in those things in which I have some level of control, I often find myself greatly lacking in the effort department. Usually paralyzed by laziness, or that dreaded dream killer, procrastination. I usually attempt to make up for this by continuing to complain, or disproportionately dolling out excuses.

Maybe the wisdom portion of this comes in closing my mouth long enough to open my ears and listen with my heart. Much like those old hymns.

How different would the next year be for me, and those in my sphere of influence, if I made an honest effort to take this to heart. That's something to ponder on...

An additional note. In doing my research for this, I realized that there's an additional verse to the Serenity Prayer that seldom makes it's way to those needlepoint versions...

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

As it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right

If I surrender to His Will;

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life

And supremely happy with Him

Forever and ever in the next.

Wow, that's powerful stuff.

I think I'll do my best to make that part of my prayer for the up coming year. So the next time I see a ceramic rooster, or a decoupage "Kiss the Cook", may a take a moment to disengage my mouth, engage my heart, and ask myself, "So, how's it going"?

A "tip of the hat" to Reinhold Niebuhr who is widely referenced as the author.