Emmanuel

Riding along in my car today, worried about this and that.  Asking questions like, “How?” “When?” “Where?” and even “Why?”  When suddenly I became overwhelmed with the sense that God was with me, right here right now in the middle of my life.  It was the strangest sense of peace, calm and assurance that He is in control.  When I stopped to really take notice of the fact that HE was with ME,  I felt like I could take a breath so deep that it went to the very bottom of my feet and filled right up to the top of my head.

As Christmas approaches, some will need Him to be their Prince of Peace, and others their Wonderful Counselor.  Some will focus on the fact that He is Mighty God.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign.  Behold the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel – Isaiah 7:14

But today, to me, He is Emmanuel, God With Us, right here in the thick of it all.

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We’re Moving.

We ARE Moving!!!  And I’ll tell you more about that later.  But first let me tell you that I am moving over to a new blog address:  shannongreer.wordpress.com. I’ve taken enough time off, got a lot to say and thought it would be great to start with a new page.  SO. . . . if you’ve followed me here, or linked to my blog from yours, bounce on over to my new site, and link up there.   I’ll explain more about our move, and all that good stuff at my new blog.  So I’ll see you there.

The End.

The scene is a pretty memorable one, if you’ve seen Forrest Gump, of course.  Its the scene where a long bearded, rather odd man has been runnin, and runnin, and runnin and suddenly he stops . . . and turns around.  His narration says “I had run for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours.” He turns around and says, “I’m pretty tired. . . I think I’ll go home now.”  And as unpredictable as his start, Forrests’ 3 year, 2 month, 14 day and 16 hour jog comes to an abrupt halt.

I’ve been writing here on this blog for one year, six months, and 15 days.  With this post I will have made exactly 321 installments into the abyss of the blog realm, and pulled 440 comments from you the readers.  And though its a small number by most “bloggers” standards my blog has been “viewed”  a little over 27,000 times.

I absolutely love writing.  Its cathartic for me.  And this blog has been a small outlet for the swarms of thoughts fluttering around in my head.  I’ve posted everything from family videos, to deep spiritual thoughts, book reviews and gobs of other banter.  Everything I’ve posted, I’ve submitted to you the random reader with the hope that it would someday provoke you to think, brighten your day, or nudge you just a little closer to God.

Over the last few weeks, my posts have been a bit more sparse, and . . . . while it may seem a little abrubt . . . I felt like today was the day in which I would write my final post, on this blog at least.  So thanks for being part of this little journey.  Thanks for your comments and encouraging words to keep writing.  I’ll keep the site open so you can scroll through and see some of the stuff I’ve written.  And when the day rolls back around to open up a new chapter, I’ll let you know.

Thanks for reading.

The End

The Shack (2)

Well I got some pretty favorable comments about The Shack yeserday.  No real surprises there.  My opinions are certainly not earth shattering, but for the record here’s my take on this #1 NY Times Best Seller for 36 weeks running:

The Negative

I really only have one negative about this book, and it was actually stated in one of the comments from yesterday.  I think its a very tricky thing, and maybe even a dangerous thing to write or speak on behalf of God.  I would say a fair 75% of this book is written as a conversation between God and a human being.  Now many people who read it will understand that this book is fictional, and Young’s attempt to speak on behalf of God is to further convey His character which is clearly presented in Scripture, but might be missed by the average person.  I respect that.  Still, knowing that this book has made its way into the hands of millions of people who do not have a Scriptural basis, or perspective from which they can read this book, is concerning.  Many people who’ve never opened a Bible, have or will open this book, and may likely walk away from it with a perspective of God that is watered down.  I don’t want to venture into a deep discussion about the character of God as presented by the Shack.  Suffice it to say, I’m a little uneasy with the author’s attempt to speak on behalf of God in this book.

The Positive

I appreciate the picture that Young presents of God’s love for us as humans.  I must admit that the picture of a God who loves me unconditionally, who isn’t angered, frustrated, or put off by my failures but even uses my failures as part of His overall plan for my life, that picture comforts me.  Reading this book has influenced how I talk to God in times of prayer and meditation.  I notice I’m loosing a lot of the prayer phrases.  You probably know the ones I’m talking about, the ones you’ve heard used in prayer all your  life, and you use them, because they are good fillers, and they sound spiritual.  Instead I find myself wanting to simply talk to God like I would talk with you.  Still preserving reverence, but abandoning ritualistic cliches.   Young has artistically painted a picture of a God who truly desires relationship with us, a pure, real, un-fabricated, even raw at times, type of relationship with me.  And to Mr Young I say thank you.

So there you have, lets keep the conversation rolling:

Jo

Man. . . my little JoJo is turning three years old today. . . and I can’t believe it.  Of all of my three Josie is the one that most people don’t know much about.  She likes to play the shy one, the one whose a little harder to get to know.  She has her favorite people that’s for sure, and if you happen to be one of her favorites, you know it.  And if you’re not, then you know that too.  Josie has always had the strangest mix of people that at the moment she saw them, she would burst into tears.  I thought she was past all of that, maybe that it was just a two year old thing until Sunday when she saw a couple brothers that go to our church, and she cried buckets of tears.  She hates for people at restraunts to come sing “Happy Birthday” at our table, so you can imagine that won’t be happening tonight.  She’s addicted to Orange Juice, drinks it like its water.  When i come home from work, she meets me with wide open arms saying “Daddy I want to hold you.”

For her to be so scared of some people, she loves to be tossed up in the air like a floppy little bean bag.  I can do all kinds of tricks with her (safe one’s of course) and she’ll laugh and beg for me to do it again.  She’s a snuggler.  She can melt my heart with a simple “Daddy I love you.”  The other night our family was praying together, and she whispered loudly, “don’t forget to pray for my birthday.”  Later she crawled up in my lap as I was praying and tried to pry my eyes open.  When I opened them voluntarily, she laughed like a hyena.

I could go on telling you crazy little things about this crazy little kid.  She makes me smile just thinking about her.

Anyhow its the big number 3 for her today. So would you join me in wishing my little JoJo a Happy 3rd Birthday?

The Shack

Well I know I’m pretty late to the bandwagon of people who have read The Shack, by William Young.  And I have to be honest and tell you that it took me some time to read this “Best Seller.”  I know of people like my mom and several others that have read the book in one day.  Well not me.

Anyhow, I finished it last night and. . . I have good news and I have bad news about what I thought of the book.  So . . . I’ll tell you what I thought tomorrow.

Until then, I’d love to hear what you thought about the book.  I’m sure you’re one of the gazillion people who’ve read it.

SO. . .  tell me.

More to come tomorrow.

what if?

Over the last few years I’ve had some amazing conversations with guys like this guy, this guy and this guy about effecting change in their world.  I mention these guys because I know that one day they will truly impact the world for Jesus Christ.

I’ve had the opportunity to talk to guys like this pastor, this leader, or this guy all of whom are doing some pretty amazing things for God RIGHT NOW!!!

I’m so honored to have this guy in my family.  And I can tell you that this man has done more for the Kingdom of God from the furthest corners of the earth than anyone will ever know and I know he has a lot more work ahead of him.  I remember sitting with him  a couple of years ago in the food court of a mall in downtown Atlanta.  As we polished off some Chick-fil-A I remember telling him that my greatest fear in life was the fear that I would one day find myself sitting in the grandstands of heaven watching a heroes parade of the people that did something amazing for God in their lifetimes, and I would simply be a spectator.

I gotta tell you that thought still scares the daylights out of me.

The craziest thing though is this.  I believe the one thing that could possibly stand in the way of me truly doing something GREAT for God is the one little question: “what if?”

What if I fail?  What if I’m wrong?  What if I try to lead, but no one follows?  What if? what if? What if?

I love the story of Peter walking on water to Jesus.  I imagine this guy had some BIG TIME what ifs bouncing around in his head before he got his feet wet.  The big one:  What if I drown?  But I’ve often wondered what if Peter DIDN’T step out of the boat.  Would his story be the same?

Would he have continued to be one of Jesus’ closest disciples?

Would he have been restored to relationship with Jesus even after denying him?

Would he have led thousands to Christ in one sermon on the day of Pentecost?

Would his shadow have brought healing to whomever it passed over?

Would he have been arrested for preaching the gospel, then released from prison by an angel?

Would he & John have healed the crippled man at the temple gate?

Man I don’t know the answer to those questions, but I seriously have to doubt any of those things would have happened if he gave in to “what if?” sitting on that boat that night.

I guess the point I’m getting at is this:  What if I don’t do what I know Ive been called to do with my life?  What if I don’t walk the path that has been divinely planned just for me?  What miraculous things will I miss seeing with my own eyes.  It may be that my greatest fear of sitting in the grandstands of heaven watching the heroes parade go by me, might come true.

You know what?  I don’t want to take that risk.   I may not be in a heroes parade in heaven one day, but I refuse to sit in the grandstands and just watch.  I’m stepping out of the boat?

You comin?