TomNorvell – Page 61 – A Norvell Note

He Does Amazing Things

Vol. 15 No. 49 | December 17, 2012

Well, she is married.

Typically on Sunday afternoon and evening I put the finishing touches on the weekly Note, but not this time. If all goes as planned by the time you read thisNote our daughter (our ONLY daughter…MY daughter…my ONLY daughter) will be married. During the time when I usually finish up and hit “send” the reception will be winding down and I will likely have turned into a puddle of tears somewhere in the Hill Country of Dripping Springs, Texas.

Let there be no mistake, this is a wonderful occasion that has come to pass through the amazing wonders of our great, loving and merciful God. We are extremely proud of our daughter, the woman she has become, and we could no be more pleased with the man she has chosen for her husband. God has done, is doing, and always will do amazing things.

The text used in the ceremony is from Joshua 3 where the people of God were about to cross over into the Promised Land. They were to follow the Ark of the Covenant so they would know the way to go since they had “never been this way before” (verse 4). Then, in verse 5, Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

Amazing things. God does amazing things.

As I stand/stood before my daughter and my son-in-law I shared with them some of the ways we as their parents, friends, and family have seen and are seeing God work in their lives. It is amazing! God is amazing! God does amazing things!

For us this is a time of emotional reflection, a time of joyful peace, and a time of once again being amazed by how God works, in our lives as parents, as children, as His followers.

Over the months and weeks leading up to this day I have reflected on the day we discovered we would have another child, the first time I held her in my arms, and all the other firsts we have experienced. I have also spent several tearful moments thinking about all the lasts that we have experienced and that we are experiencing. In it all I am again overwhelmed by how God does amazing thing…in His way and in His time.

As we move from this season of our lives to the season of remembering the most amazing thing God has done among us: sending His one and only Son into the world to dwell among us, to teach us to live and love, and to show us the true meaning of life…the true meaning of living.

My prayer for us all is that we will not allow this season, or one day, to pass without remembering and thanking God for all the amazing things God has done, is doing and will continue to do in our lives and in the lives of those we love.

“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

Tom

When I Was A Child

Vol. 15 No. 48 | December 10, 2012

When I was a child the 365 days between one Christmas and the next seemed more like what I perceived must surely be an eternity. Now it seems like we just celebrated it last week.

When I was a child birthdays seemed to be more than a year apart…at least two or three years. I sometimes wondered if my birthday had been skipped. Now it seems like birthdays come once a month, and there is a temptation to skip one or two.

When I was a child I thought that people who were my current age seemed to really old, full of knowledge, stories, and wisdom. Now I think children seem to be really young, but full of knowledge, stories, and wisdom.

When I was a child I dreamed of what it would be like being a grown-up making my own decisions and setting my own schedule. Now that I am a grown-up I dream of what it was like as a child not having to make decisions and having no schedule to keep.

When I was a child I thought life would be easier when I became an adult and had my own job and my own money and could spend it on anything I wanted. Now that I am an adult I dream of what it was when I was a child and did not have a job and did not need any money and my parents provided anything I needed.

When I was a child I thought life was completely unfair and I was being terribly deprived. Now that I am an adult I realize how much I have been blessed and how kind and graciously God has treated me.

When I was a child I thought adults were way too serious, did not know anything, and that I had all the answers. Now that I am older I realize that I am sometimes way too serious, that I really do not know much of anything, and I have very few answers.

When I was a child I never thought about growing old and did not realize how quickly life can change. Now that I am older I cannot help but think about growing old and sometimes shudder at how quickly life can change.

When I was a child I thought almost everyone was nice and could not imagine anyone being cruel. As I have grown older I have learned first hand that everyone is not nice and that sometimes we can be awfully cruel to other people — sometimes even people we say we love.

When I was a child I thought God loved everyone and everyone loved God. Now that I am older I realize that God does indeed love everyone and cannot understand why everyone does not love Him.

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” (1 Corinthians 13:11, NIV84)

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I have tried to put childish ways behind me, but sometimes I wish I could go back to being like a child.

Tom

A Time For War and A Time For Peace

Vol. 15 No. 47 | December 3, 2012

As I bring this “A Time For” series to a close I am once again challenged by the words in Ecclesiastes 3:1,8b-11:

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time for war and a time for peace.What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

War is used to describe a wide spectrum of activities. We use the term war when we talk about nations engaged in military action against one another. Sometimes athletes describe competition on the football field as going to war. Legal teams discuss intense cases against their opponent as war. Politicians plan their campaign strategy as if they were going to war.

When it comes to war, opinions vary. Some say it is time for war when freedom is threatened, when the weak and the innocent are being oppressed or abused.

Some say it is time for war when we are being attacked or there is a threat of being attacked.

Some say it is time for war only when injustice exists.

Some say it is time for war when we need to express our views, promote our cause, and we need to prove our strength.

Some say it is time for war when our views and opinions are not being accepted and appreciated.

Some say it is time for war when we decide that we want to take possession of what others have.

Some say it is time for war only when we are defending “what is right.”

Some say it is time for war any time our free lifestyle is being compromised.

Some say it is time for war only when our free lifestyle is being compromised.

Some say it is only time for war when the calculations have been made and we know we can win the battle.

Some say there is never a time to go to war.

When it comes to peace the opinions also vary.

Some say it is time for peace only after our enemy has been defeated…and destroyed.

Some say it is time for peace any time we can avoid a battle.

Some say it is time for peace only when we cannot win the battle.

Some say we should always seek peace at all cost.

Some say peace is for the weak.

Some say peace is for the losers.

Some say peace is for those who cannot fight.

There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace.

Some will say that when a domestic relationship become so intense, so out of control, and the anger escalates to a point that words can no longer resolve the issues that it is time for war. At that point anything goes. The families of victims of such violence will likely argue the point. They would prefer a time of peace.

Let us seek God’s wisdom and discernment to know when those times come, the courage to stand and fight, and when to seek peace, the love to accept and respect those who have different views, and the faith to know God will make each beautiful in its own time.

Tom

A Time To Love and A Time To Hate

Vol. 15 No. 46 | November 26, 2012

In Ecclesiastes 3:1,8a, the wise man says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to love and a time to hate.”

As a follower of Jesus it is sometimes difficult to harmonize these two statements. We know we are supposed to love. God is love. To be like Jesus means loving His people and His creation.

We love at all times.
We love all people.
We love the lost.
We love the oppressed.
We love the weak.
We love the poor.
We love the brokenhearted.
We love the unlovable.
We love because God first loved us.
We love one another.
We love the church.
We love deeply.
We love unselfishly.
We love sacrificially.
We love unconditionally.
We love our spouses as Christ loves the church.
We love little children.
We love our enemies.
The gospel in a word is love.
But, when do we hate?
We hate what is evil.
We hate sin.
We hate oppression.
We hate abuse.
We hate selfishness.
We hate what God hates.
We hate injustice.
We hate dishonesty.
We hate those who love violence.
We hate wickedness.
We hate the deeds of faithless men.

“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes,  a lying tongue,  hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies  and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” (Proverbs 6:16-19, NIV)

We love and we hate. There is a time for both. Part of me wants to encourage us to lean toward love. Part of me wants to pat us on the back when we hate the things that God hates. A greater part of me wants to encourage us all to pray for wisdom and discernment so we will know when to love and when to hate, and the courage to do both.

Tom

A Time To Be Silent and A Time To Speak

Vol. 15 No. 45 | November 19, 2012

In Ecclesiastes 3:1,7b, the wise man says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be silent and a time to speak.”

At the risk of crossing the boundary here are a few examples of each.

Times when it is appropriate to be silent

•When you have nothing to say that is worthwhile.
•When you do not know what you are talking about.
•When you are talking just to hear yourself talk.
•When you realize you are saying something that may not be true.
•When you are gossiping.
•When someone else is talking.
•When someone else is gossiping.
•When you are in the theater (and it is also time to silence your phone).
•When you are saying something that you would not say directly to the person you are talking about.
•When you are being judgmental.
•When you are talking too much about yourself.
•When you should be listening.
•It is appropriate to be silent unless you cannot improve the silence.

Times when it is appropriate to speak

•When what you say benefits those who are listening (Ephesians 4:29)
•When you can speak a word of encouragement.
•When you can express your love.
•When you can and need to express your appreciation.
•When you can speak the truth in a loving way.
•When you preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, release the oppressed, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
•When you need to ask for help for yourself or someone else.
•When you can truly empathize.
•When Christ is preached (Philippians 1:15-18).
•When you have good news to share.
•When you are offering hope and life.
•When you are being thankful.

I have said enough. Hopefully not too much; not too little. It is time to be silent.

Tom

Welcome to My New Blog

Beginning this week I will be posting A Norvell Note to this blog. I hope you will visit, read, share your thoughts, and if you see something worthwhile, share it with others. Obviously, this is a new plan for me so it will change and evolve as I learn the way it works. Here is this week’ A Norvell Note.

A Time To Tear And A Time To Mend

By: Tom Norvell

Vol. 15 No. 44 | November 12, 2012

There is a time to tear and a time to mend.

Sometimes the fences around our property need to be torn down in order to build or improve relations with our neighbors; sometimes the fences around our property need to be mended in order to build or improve relations with our neighbors.

There are times when walls of division need to be torn down so that divisions in relationships can be mended.

There is considerable talk in our nation of the need for the barriers that separate us politically to be torn down so that meaningful change can occur that will mend some of the ills that exist.

In families, churches, businesses, education systems, and other organizations, generational differences have to be torn down to create a spirit of unity and cooperation can emerge for the good of the whole.

Many of our communities have boundaries – some visible and some invisible – that isolate, insulate, and protect us in the security of our neighborhoods from the undesirables. Maybe it is time some of these boundaries are torn down so that the dysfunction in our communities can be mended.

Occasionally a wall may form between husbands and wives due to hurts, disappointments, or unmet expectations that are not confronted and dealt with. Those walls must be torn down or the relationship may be permanently damaged.

Parents may sense similar walls being built between them and their children as a result of poor and ineffective communication. Those walls must be destroyed in order to keep the relationship growing and healthy.

There was a time when mankind was separated from God because of our sin. We needed a way to tear down the curtain that kept us from Him. We tried but we could do nothing to make it possible. On the cross Jesus tore the curtain in two and forever mended our brokenness.

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. (Luke 23:44-46, NIV1984)

There was a time when we were powerless to do anything to repair the damage our sins had done to our relationship with God. By dying for us the relationship has been mended.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5:6-8, NIV)

There was a time when we were dead because of our sins. We tried to earn our way back into God’s good graces. We failed. There was nothing we could do to bring us back close to Him. The great love of the One who is rich in mercy made us alive and mended us and saved us.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:1-5, NIV)

There is a time to tear and a time to mend. Thanks be to God that He has seen fit to tear away all the barriers that keep us separated from Him and has mended our helpless condition.

Tom

Author: TomNorvell