Life Comes at You Fast, Sometimes Furious

Friday afternoon I sat in a sun spot falling through the Florida room windows, talking to my agent, going over my next book ideas, my thoughts coming together after a brain dead week.

I'd been on deadline, traveled to St. Louis for a board meeting, spent 7 days with 18 writers and Susan May Warren, then flew to my sisters for a surprise 40th birthday party.

I arrived home on a Sunday night at 10:30 only to be up and at the court house for jury duty Monday morning. I was selected for a jury pool. A criminal case. I mean, man, isn't that every writer's dream!

But not me. I just wanted to go home and sleep. I thought I was going to nod off as the lawyers pep talked us. I wasn't selected and by six o'clock I was home and in my jammies.

By Friday afternoon, I'd recovered. I'd slept in, gone to lunch with friends, and began thinking of a new story idea.

And there I sat, chatting with my agent, ending the conversation, when a text message binged up on my iPhone screen.

"Jim Maher was just killed in a motorcycle accident."

What? I squinted at the screen. Surely I was reading wrong. I didn't have my reading glasses and... What? Impossible.

Finding my glasses, I read it again.

"Jim Maher was just killed in a motorcycle accident."

My heart broke. Hanging up with my agent, I called my pastor, my husband and the friend who texted me the news.

I called Jim's son, Reuben.

It was true. My former pastor, friend, worship leader and worship mentor was dead at 63.

As the news spread and people began to call, email and Facebook, I found an emotional plane on which to land. While gone from this life, Jim stood before Jesus. He'd finished the race, and he'd finished well.

Oh, that we all might here, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest."

Jim is in a place where there is no more pain or sorrow. No more struggle with sin and sickness. He is with the king of glory.

Jim had an amazing heart to love and serve. The man could take off in worship with the strum of the first chord.

When he moved from our city to Kansas City in 2000 to join the International House of Prayer staff, I was given an incredible opportunity. To lead worship.

He'd trained me by example. By having me on his team. By opening up his heart and loving the Lord above his own glory or fame.

Jim was a '60s hippie and Nam vet who should've never lived to 63. In '68, he was a helicopter gunner and during a fight, his chopper was hit. Jim was thrown clean from the open door and landed in the brush.

When they were rescued, the team asked, "Where's the man who sat here?" They pointed to the gunner's seat.

Jim said, "I'm the gunner."

They said, "No, the man who sat here is dead." The bullet hole in the seat was proof. By all evidence, Jim should've been killed before he was thrown from the helicopter.

But the Lord spared him.

After searching through drugs and all the eastern, meditation religions, Jim started reading his Bible and the Lord awakened his dead, cold, wounded heart.

But Friday, while riding his motorcycle on the first pretty day of March, on his way to a park with his daughter and her son, a truck turned right at a light, didn't see him, and the accident was unavoidable.

Jim's death is tragic and a loss. We can't understand how God saved a drug addicted twenty year old but took a husband, father, grandfather and full time worshipper-intercessor.

But His ways are not our ways.

I like that Jim is in glory with Jesus. That his race on this earth is done. And he finished well.

What remains with me is his laugh. I can still hear his laugh. Jim's imprint is on my heart probably more than I'll ever know or realize. His wife and children blessed me. His son is like a brother to Hubby and me.

Hubby said this to me the day Jim died. "Jim survived Nam, but died on a spring day in Kansas City, riding his motorcycle. It's true. It's appointed once for man to die."

A friend of mine recalled this as one of Jim's prayer verses: Eph 4:1 "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called..."

Oh, let that be all of our prayer. To walk in a manner worthy of the calling.

Jim Maher, well done. See you soon.

God's perfecting good work

I've found comfort and truth in the Word lately. Reading in Philippians this morning, Paul admonishes us, "and He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."

I read the verse a second and third time, then I wrote it down in my journal, and prayed over it, making it personal and about me, and my family.

God is doing a good work in me. Yay, I need it.

God will perfect His own work. Sigh of relief because I'm pretty sure I'm incapable of perfecting anything, let alone myself.

God will be with me, working in and through me until the day of Jesus. This means I'm never abandoned no matter what my circumstances look like. No matter how I feel.

This is Good News!

I've observed over the past decade that many make rules, laws, exceptions to life, to the Gospel based on their experiences and feelings rather than truth.

We embrace sin because of something we did in the past. Or because of someone we love. Beloved, this cannot be.

Our President wants to take over heath care because of what his mother went through. While I'm sympathetic to suffering, there are so many extenuating circumstances to health care, why people do or do not have provision. We must ask all the questions. Consider all circumstances.

We can't run this country based on emotion and I fear we are. That, and a thirst for power.

But God who began a good work in me, also began one in my country. He will perfect it until the day of Christ!

I am comforted by the enormous perfect of His heart and love.

Dignity in Death

Allison Wilson and I drove up to Kristy Dykes funeral yesterday. It's always good to spend time with Allison, but we were both looking forward to Kristy's home going ceremony.

Unfortunately, we arrived late due to the keen-o feature of her husband's Porsch-a 911. Automatically lock the doors if the key is not in the ignition. The fact that the keys were in the driver's seat made no difference. Yes, we were locked out of the car sixty-three miles south of Jacksonville.

Nevertheless, the part of the ceremony we did participate in was so sweet, and infused with the presence of God. I teared up many times. Not so much of missing Kristy, although that is part of it, but because the Spirit of God, the Love of God permeated the room.

For about a minute, I physically felt jealous of Kristy. She's with Jesus!!

For me, and I'm sure many of the hundreds at the service, and those who witnessed her life and death on the blog, she reminded me of the way I want to live. In doing so, reminded me of the way I want to die. With dignity, with the love I have for Jesus infecting thousands.

How am I spending my time? What am I doing with my money and my words? How am I loving people? At the end of my life, those things are the only things that really matter.

You know how I'm convinced Kristy knew and loved the God-Man Jesus? Because in her dying, in her weak-conscious moments she worshipped Him, she radiated His love, she knew and experience His grace and peace.

The most impactful moment for me was when Milton told Kristy right before she died, "You won, Kristy, you won!"

Every time I hear or read those words, I cry. But it's deeper than what Milton proclaimed over Kristy. It's what Jesus is proclaiming over us, His Bride.

In out dying, beloved, we win! Die to self, you win. Die for Jesus, figuratively or literally, you win!!

"I run the race in order to win the prize."

See you soon, Kristy

Friend and author Kristy Dykes graduated to the next life yesterday. Her husband blogs about it here.

Kristy was a shining spot to so many of us writers. A cheerleader, an exhorter. You can see from Milton's writings she was a loving, kind, spunky wife and mother.

Mostly she loved Jesus and reflected His light with a passion. Cancer took Kristy in this life, but has no power where she is now.

In juxtaposition, I occasionally follow a blog by another woman struggling with cancer. This woman does not know Jesus. In the course of her journey, her husband left her, she's sick, broke and alone. Bitter.

Watching two people struggle and die in cyberspace was a unique experience, but watching one who loves Jesus compared to one who doesn't, was sad. I feel for the latter. "Jesus, reveal yourself."

We will all miss Kristy. "Friend, see you very soon. We'll start a writing group that will last for eternity!"

Thank you Milton and family for being such a great example of Christian charity and exposing the inner heart of Kristy.

Romans 5

I love, love, love singing the Word. Get a three or four chord progression going and God's Word opens up and speaks to the human heart.

I've been super-duper busy lately and while it is NO excuse, my prayer and Word time has been scattered.

So, I sat at the keyboard this afternoon and opened to Romans 5.

I love this... starting in verse 3:

"Exalt in tribulation and trials. It brings about perseverance. Perseverance helps us develop proven character and out of that we have hope.

Hope does NOT disappoint. Look, God poured out His love within our hearts through the Holy Spirit whom He gave to us."

Isn't that amazing? God purposefully poured out His love in us, then gave us His Spirit to keep us in love.

One of the problems in American today, the Church chief among them, is we don't want to endure. We want the quick fix. We want life easy and simple, someone to fix everything for us. We don't own up to our own weaknesses and faults.

Listen, if the first thing out of your mouth when times are hard is, "Well, my mother..." Or, "My Dad..." Or, "My boss..." Substitute what you will... husband, kids, agent, editor, neighbor, pastor...

Stop pointing the finger, look inside, confess your sins and endure. Develop proven character. We need a whole lot more character in this world. We are so busy blaming and spinning the truth. Let it start within me, within my hearts.

I want proven character. I want hope. I want the love of God dwelling in me richly.

Here's the best part of this Roman passage. Verse 8.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

I've written four books in first person present. I am. I go. I want. I say. The reason I did this was for the immediacy. It has a "now" feel.

"God demonstrates" has the same immediacy, now feel. God demonstrating His love for us is not past tense. It's every day. Current. Happening even now.

As I was singing this verse, taking a direction of Jesus dying on the Cross, singing how He faced the grave, defeated all of Hell, took the keys of death, I stopped.

Whoa. Heavy reavy.

God is life, right? Holds all of life in His hands. Adam, in the Garden, surrender his authority over death to his enemy, Satan.

Jesus came as a man, faced His enemy for all of human kinds, think David and Goliath, defeated Satan and took the authority over Death from him. Now Jesus, a Man, holds the keys. A man of love, an intercessor, who also happens to be God.

Look, I know we all know this at some level. But it hit me deeper today. Jesus. A man. Fixed what Adam screwed up. Only a human could take the keys of death away from him. So God said, "I'll do it for them by becoming one of them."

Amazing!!! There is NO other religion in the world with this kind of Hero. None. No one compares to Jesus. None. Investigate for yourself. Compare. You'll see.

Well, off  to check on my cake.