The Tale of Three Trees

"Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: " I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I'll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!" The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on it's way to the ocean. " I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I'll be the strongest ship in the world! The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. I don't want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me they'll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world. 

Years, passed. The rain came, the sun shone and the little trees grew tall. One day three wood cutters climbed the mountain. The first wood cutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the first tree fell. "Now I shall make a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!" the first tree said. The second wood cutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It's perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the second tree fell. "Now I shall sail mighty waters!" thought the second tree. " I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!" The third tree felt her heart sink when the last wood cutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the wood cutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me." He muttered. With a swoop of his shining ax, the third tree fell. 

The first tree rejoiced when the wood cutter brought her to a carpenter's shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, or treasure. She was coated with saw dust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals. The second tree smiled when the wood cutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship was made that day. Instead the once strong tree was hammered and awed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even a river, instead she was taken to a little lake. The third tree was confused when the wood cutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. "What happened?" The once tall tree wondered. " All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God..." Many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. "I wish I could make a cradle for him." Her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and sturdy wood. " This manger is beautiful." She said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world. One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and a thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She new she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and the rain. The tired man awoke. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the king of heaven and earth. One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten wood pile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hand to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God. That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

The next time you feel down because you didn't get what you wanted, sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you."

~Edited by Angela Hunt.

Sweetly Broken

We sung this song in church today and I was just reminded how much I love this song. It's a pretty simple song but the lyrics are so true.

One of my favorite lines is: For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed. Showed that God is love. And God is just. 
The implication behind that verse is that God loved us SO much that he poured out His full wrath onto his completely blameless, perfect Son so that we can have a relationship with Him.

Listen.
Meditate.
Worship.
Rejoice.
Give Thanks.

Youtube - Sweetly Broken - Jeremy Riddle

To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of it's suffering I do drink
Of it's work I do sing


For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just


At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered


What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified


You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled


In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness

The Greatest Love

< Attention: This is a spoiler alert for Act of Valor. If you are going to see it please don't read the rest of this post until you do. If you do not plan on seeing it or have already seen it then you may continue >

So I had an interesting afternoon. After class I went with some friends to go see Act of Valor(AOV). Now as far as a movie goes it was quite well done. But normally when I watch a movie that has quite a bit of violence in it, as AOV does, it doesn't bother me too much because I know its just a movie. But with AOV it was a little different. There were still a lot of bad guys that got shot. And for the most part the Navy Seals came out mostly unharmed.

Until close to the end of the movie.

There is a scene where there are 4 Seals "sweeping" out a building. (Aka getting rid of bad guys.) They come into a room where there is a bad guy hiding up in the rafters. The guy drops a grenade right into the middle of the room. If it explodes all four team members will probably be pretty seriously hurt. The Seal on "Point" (in the front) who is also the head of this Seal team jumps on the grenade. He takes the blast saving the other 3 members.

The 1st thought that sprang to my mind was John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

It really got me to thinking. Why did Jesus come to earth? What was his purpose and mission while here. He was on a rescue mission. He came to save us. And the way that had to be done?

He, Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God. The Maker if the heavens and the earth. The Alpha and the Omega. The Begenning and the End. I AM. He jumped on the grenade for us. He took the full blast and fury of God Almighty's Holy and Just Wrath. "He who knew no sin, became sin on our behalf."

But here is the amazing part.

Go back the the verse from John 15.

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
So not only does Jesus, Son of God, Love us. He considered us friends. Yes. You and me. Dirty, rotten, filty-no-good sinners. Friends of God. 

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us
During worship at the MILL tonight I just kept being reminded of the depth, the heights, and just how great His Love is for us. (Yes we sung that song :D)

Just think about that for a while. The Creator and Supreme Ruler of the Universe loves me. And you.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen

Trevor's Top Ten Quotes!

Ok so there aren't 10 on the list and they probably are not my actual top 10 but I liked the alliteration so I went with the title (Though it prob should have been something like "Trevor 7 quotes that he happens to like at this particular moment)

So here they are (in no particular order)

- True religion and true philosophy must arrive at the same point. ~ S.S. Smith

- A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. ~ C.S. Lewis

- A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. ~ George Bernard Shaw

- “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” ~ C.S. Lewis

-  I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born.  ~Ronald Reagan

- A real Christian is a person who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip. ~ Billy Graham

- A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice. ~ Bill Cosby

Beauty

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100. 

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?


When I read this it got me to thinking. How often do we completely blow past the little glimpses of God's glory that he put out for us to see? Whether its a sunrise, a small flower popping up in the middle of a garden at the beginning of spring or maybe something kind someone say to us. A compliment or a word of thanks that might get missed in our ever busy and hectic world. 


It was funny. I actually read this this morning before I went to work but didn't have time to post it. While at work there were two separate occasions when 2 different 1-ish year old girls smiled at me, waved and said "HI". Now most of you know that I love kids. And both of those occasions brought a smile to my face and joy to my heart. 


Now I say that to say this. When you perceive beauty, stop. Smell the roses as the colloquialism goes. Take those moments to worship the one who made you and who made those moments.  

What was that?

Listen. How many time do we do that each day? My guess is more then you think. Maybe you're at Starbucks and listening to make sure they got your drink right. Or maybe you're on the other side and making sure that you get the customers drink right! Anyway you look at it, listening is not just a every once in a while thing. You are doing it all the time.
Now the listening I'm talking about here is stuff that if you miss something then really no big deal usually.


What about those times when you really need to pay attention? In today's culture do we take time to actually listen to other people? And what about listening to the Holy Spirit?


During this Christmas season it is almost impossible to go anywhere that isn't playing Christmas music. Its on at the store, its on in your car, it on at your house, you have it on your iPod, its EVERYWHERE. Now I would venture to say that it is this way year around. Probably not with Christmas music but the news, the latest podcast, music, or your favorite talk shows. We are inundated with noise! And while none of those things are necessarily wrong per-say, when they are always on we lose a chance to hear something else. That still small voice.
¹¹ So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORDwas not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, butthe LORD was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  1 Kings 19:11-13


God wasn't in the great, strong wind. He wasn't in the earthquake. Nor was He in the fire. He was in the gentle blowing. Now when I think of gentle blowing I think of that being in the Colorado mountains next to an aspen grove. And you might not feel the breeze but you can see it moving through the top of those aspens. Not even noticeable unless you are looking for it. I feel like that is the way that God talks to us. Unless you are looking for it, pursuing and seeking after God, you might just miss what He has to say to you.    Now there are other ways that God speaks to you. Through what is commonly known as you "Conscience." For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, ¹⁵ in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, ¹⁶ on the day when, according to my gospel,God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. Romans 2: 14-16


You know what I'm talking about. As a kid did you really need someone to tell you that it was wrong to steal or lie? No, you knew that it was wrong in your heart. And that same conscience "pricks" us sometime as an adult. 
"You really shouldn't run that red light"
"It is really the best use of your time to play video games for 6 hours on end?"
"Haven't you been on Facebook just a little to long???" (Guilty as charged...)
We all have felt that nudge from the Holy Spirit now and then. Sometimes we "listen" and sometimes we just drown it out. 


Imagine if you will, a guy (lets call him... Bob) at work who walks around all day with his really nice, Bose noise-canceling headphones in and his music blasting. Bob doesn't take them out for meetings, phone calls, conversations. Nothing. At the end of the year there is this big project due. So the day before it's due Bob takes out his headphone while everyone else is finishing up last min details, making last min revisions and asks "Hey what do you want me to do?" Do you think anyone is going to answer? He hasn't been listening all along so why should they think that Bob is starting now?
Is that you and I sometimes with God? We are always immersed in everything else and he is trying to talk to us. Tell us whats going on. Tell us "The Plan." But we can't hear anything. And then when we really need to know the plan we quickly pop out of our loud environmental and are like "Hey God I need that plan like RIGHT NOW!" And God's like "I already told you the whole thing..."


I wonder how much we miss cause we aren't listening to God? If you look back at the great men of faith in history, from Moses to David. From St. Augustine to R.C. Sproul. These men had devoted prayer lives. And when I mean prayer lives I don't mean praying for hours on end for every little need they could think of. No, you see prayer is not your monologue to God. Its a conversation with the Creator of the universe. The Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and End. The Always Has and the Always Will Be. The King of kings! And yet, He cares enough about you to not just listen to your grocery list of needs/wants/desires/ect. But he wants to have a relationship with you. So much so that He sent His own Son to die on the Cross for our sins. If that doesn't impact you then I don't know what will. Doesn't matter how many times you hear that truth. You hear it again and should just be in awe that the one who could have just destroyed us after Adam sinned, and started over. No! He loved us so much and desired relationship again that Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Phil 2:6-7 
This is the Christmas story. A story of a God who loved us. A story of one who left all his majesty to come to this earth and be born in a dirty stable. And have a bed of half eaten hay. This is the greatest story ever told. 


So this Christmas season, in the midst of shopping, working at a busy Christian retail establishment, planning parties, going to parties, making food, entertaining relatives, decorating, ect, ect, ect, ect. 
Make time to be silent. To listen. To hear what God wants to tell you. And to thank and worship the One who came for you.