Final Hint

Some very good guesses from some late starters makes this hint almost redundant.

For the final clue, this is a photo of my weapon of choice with evidence of the slaughter all around.

The love of a father

As I shared recently, it is easy to think more highly of ourselves than we should because we lack God’s perspective. Today, I found the clearest picture of what is really happening in my life.

Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father / son team who compete together in marathons and ironman triathlons, except that Rick has cerebral palsy and can’t even walk and talk. He is pushed, pulled and carried through to each finish line by his loving Dad.

Likewise, if I make it to the finish line of Life with shouts and cheers, it is because my broken body is being powered onward by my ever-loving Father.

If you haven’t yet heard of Team Hoyt, watch and be inspired.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flRvsO8m_KI

Hint 2

A follow-up on Any Guesses??. Here's the source of the problem.

Beneath the surface...

He stood amongst the men’s group ready to sing to the Sunday congregation with a silly grin on his face, feeling and looking like he didn’t belong. Actually, he looked like someone who didn’t belong anywhere other than in a Bible College Library.

Everything about him shouted geek. Awkward shuffle. Glasses. A golden arches hairline. Pale saggy skin. Pokey teeth. A podge tucked into his belted pants. A middle-aged geek. I cringed. It is guys like this that give missionaries a bad name.

And it only got worse. He wasn’t just another voice singing from the purple hymn book, he was also the visiting preacher.

Inwardly I groaned as I saw him rise to the lectern. With the same silly grin, he began the sermon, massacring the Khmer language with his broad Canadian accent. At least the words he used were simple, making it easy to follow. He also spoke slowly but this only made me wonder about his intelligence.

Yet as I listened, my smug internal criticisms were muffled and silenced.

Four years earlier he had left Cambodia to return to Canada. He was determined to study at Bible College (see, I picked it) while also sending his two children to University despite not having any money of his own. Fellow churchgoers had looked down on him there – a returned missionary with nothing to show for himself. Yet, God had stood by him and provided for their every need.

It was an enthralling story. Everyone loves to hear how God provides. Yet, he wasn’t done. With the precision of a surgeon, the geeky preacher man then took a knife to my heart.

He led us to a story in Luke 7 of Jesus and the prostitute in Simon the Pharisee’s house. In what felt like excruciating detail, He showed us how Jesus looked beyond the outside, and then dealt with people who “merl ngee-ay” (look down on) others.

Had anyone else given this sermon, I would have nodded and keenly agreed with a warm glow of self-righteousness. It was only through my geeky preacher friend with the horrible accent that I could see the blackness of my own heart.

I wasn’t the only one. The Pastor was blown away. Others who normally sit tall were hanging their heads. Then the Holy Spirit did His work while we ate and drank from the communion table as a church.

It was a forceful example of God’s power being made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 5:9).

This guy is now a pin-up boy for me and I will always remember his sermon. I will also choose to reject the wide-spread mantra of “professionalism is next to godliness” for such thinking only serves to harden the masks of exterior holiness and deepen hypocrisy, destroying the power of God in our lives.

And I will celebrate that I am counted in the company of this great man.

Any guesses?

Happy New Year everyone. Rather than bore you with New Year Resolutions that I'll never keep, I am starting the new year with a photo quiz instead.

Can anyone tell me what I have been doing (besides neglecting my "velcro" heels)?