An Encounter With God

I salvaged some files from an old hard drive and found this story.  According to the file date it is from March, 25th, 1997.

An Encounter With God

by Paul Halverson

  

The secretary’s voice came over the intercom, “Mr. Smith, your appointment is here.”

Mr. Smith replied back, “Great.  Send Him on in.”

After a moment, there was a knock at the door.  “Come in!” Mr. Smith shouted.

God walked into the office.  “God! I’m glad I could squeeze you in, I've got a full schedule today.  Have a seat.  Make yourself comfortable.  I’ll be right with you.”

Five minutes passed with Mr. Smith working at the computer.  “John?” God asked.

“Almost done, God, give me a few more minutes.”

John continued working at the computer.  More minutes passed.  “John, we should talk,” God said.

“Right, one more second and I’ll be finished.”

A few more minutes passed and John finally finished.  “All right, I’m glad I got that out of the way.  Thank you for being patient, God.  OK, so what did you want to see me about?”

“How are things going?” God asked.

“Not too bad.  Busy though.”

The secretary’s voice came over the intercom, “Mr. Smith, your wife is on line 3.”

“Thank you,” he replied, then to God he said, “Can you hold on, I’ll only be a second.”

John picked up the phone.  “Hi.”  “No, it will probably be late tonight.”  “Can your mom do it?”  “How about mine?”  “Oh? I didn't know that.”  “Yeah, I could do that.”  “I love you.”  “Um, hold on a second.”  John looked at his appointment book.  “Yes, we could.”  “I love you, too”  “Bye.”

“Sorry about that God, thanks for your patience.  My wife needed me to pick up the kids tonight.”

“How is your wife?” God asked.

“Oh, she’s good.  Busy though.”

The secretary’s voice came over the intercom, “Mr. Smith, you have a call holding on line 1.”

“Thank you.” He replied, then to God he said, “I’ll make this one quick.”

John answered the call.  “Hello, this is John.”  “Hi Tim.”  “No, we can’t do that.”  “What about Frank?”  “He wouldn't, huh?”  “OK let me call him.”  “Yeah, he should.  I’ll talk to you later.”  He hung up the phone.

“One more second, God, sorry about this.”

John looked at his desk for a moment then picked up the phone again.  “Frank please.”  “Thank you.”  “Frank.  This is John.”  “You were, huh?”  “We can’t keep doing business like this, it is a waste of both mine and your time, and you know how precious that is.”  “Now listen, just work through it, and we’ll fix it in the future.”  “No.”  “No.”  “Frank, you are being difficult, I've got better things to do than to have you waste my time like this.”  “Thank you, Frank”  “You have a fine day.”  He slammed the phone down.

“Some people just don’t get the concept of time.”  He said frustrated.  “God, I need a few more minutes, this needs to be taken care of.”

John picked up the phone again.  “Doug please.”  “Doug we need to solve this problem, ASAP.  Let’s get-”  “Today.”  “Why not?”  “How about the day after?”  “Not until next week!”  “Doug this is ridiculous, it is important that we talk about this.”  “Give me a few minutes tomorrow morning?”  “Yeah that will work.”  “OK, I’ll see you tomorrow night then.”  “Right, talk to you later.”  He hung up the phone.

“Some people are just so hard to meet with.  You would think that because this is so important he would make more time for me.  Well, I’ll take what I can get I guess.  Thanks again for your patience God.  So what else did you want?”

“I was hoping we could start spending more time together.” God replied.

John chuckled, “I wish I had more to give, I mean, I hardly have time for myself.”

“It is important, John,” God said.

“It’s been pretty hectic around here as of late.”

“Look at me John.  It is important that we grow in our friendship.”

There was a quick knock at the door, and a man popped his head in, “John, if we are going to make our reservations we need to leave now.”

“OK,” John said, “On my way.”  He turned to God.  “I didn't realize how much time had passed.  I need to leave, maybe we can get together next week.”  He looked down at his appointment book.  “You know next week is booked, in fact this whole month doesn't have too many openings in it.  I’ll tell you what, how about when I get some free time,  I’ll give you a call.”

John grabbed his jacket and appointment book, and headed towards the door.  He stopped and turned back to God.  “Thank you for being so patient, I really appreciate it.  I’ll talk to you soon.”

After the door had closed God answered ... “I’ll be waiting.”

Putting our Faith in God, not man

I had the opportunity to give the message at New Hope Maui on 9.30.12 ... 



I shared about how the focus of our faith needs to be on God, not on man (or things, or ideas) ...

I spoke from 1 Corinthians, here are some excerpts ...

1 Corinthians 1:18-25 ... ¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

²⁰ Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

1 Corinthians 3:5-15 ... ⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

It is for Freedom that Christ set us Free

I had the opportunity to share the message at New Hope Maui on 12/4/11 ... If I get any audio I will post it later.

The message was on Galatians 5:  It is for Freedom that Christ set us Free.

The illustration was that sometimes how we see the world is impaired by our bondage.

Galatians 5

 ¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

 ² Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³ Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. ⁴ You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

 ⁷ You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? ⁸That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹ “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” ¹⁰ I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. ¹¹ Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. ¹² As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

 ¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

 ¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

 ¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Participating With God

I had the opportunity to share the sermon message at New Hope Maui on 8.21.11.

I spoke about God's challenge to me to become more intimate with Him.

The Parable of the Sower can be found in ...
     Matthew, Chapter 13; 
     Mark, Chapter 4; 
     and Luke, Chapter 8.

I also shared from 2 Peter 1:3-9

³ His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴ Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.⁸ For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Click here if you would like to download this message.

When The Past Catches Up With You ...

Have you ever been on a long road trip?  Cruising in the fast lane, "going with the flow of traffic", making good time? Then realize it would be nice to stretch your legs, maybe use the bathroom or get something to eat, so you find a good place to stop?  Then, after you are back on the road, back in the fast lane, you catch up and pass the same car you passed 50 miles ago?

Then that car becomes your highway arch-nemesis?  Where it seems for the entire length of the freeway through the next state, you are ever "leapfrogging" with this clever rival?  Your bladder gets a little fuller as you try to hold off as long as possible to make your next stop, knowing you will lose the valuable lead you have attained.  Your stomach growls a little louder in protest to your oversight of the last 6 food signs.  Your travel-mates grow restless unaware of the highway battle that is ensuing.

My past is like that.  There is a period of my life (of which the time frame is kind of hazy) in 1994/1995 where my decision making skills were, shall we say, being challenged.  And there have been many times where there has been something, sometime, somewhere, that has reminded me of those days.  And then I get on with my life and leave those memories behind.

However, the problem is, that many of my guilt and shame issues come directly from that time period.  Mainly around sex.  So, "getting on with my life", has really been more along the lines of, "stuffing these emotions and memories in a box and trying to leave it behind and never think of it again".

Recently, via Facebook, someone "found" me from the era of my life, which in turn has become other people finding me.  Which in turn has become being tagged in a picture or two.

My sister (who has her own blog) can confirm or deny if she is in this photo

So now, it feels like instead of "leapfrogging" my Highway adversary, they have pulled into the same resaurant I have stopped at and are walking through the front doors.  Our eyes lock onto each other with an unspoken understanding.  

Perhaps it's time I introduce myself.