Black hole living

I have always been interested in astronomy.  I dabbled briefly with majoring in astronomy in college until I realized the amount of calculus and physics that was required.  Hello, political science!  An incredibly interesting feature of our universe is the existence of black holes.  A black hole is defined by Wikipedia as “a region of space-time exhibiting such strong gravitational effects that nothing—including particles and electromagnetic radiation such as light—can escape from inside it.  The boundary of the region from which no escape is possible is called the event horizon.”  Black holes are incredibly bright because of the light features known as accretion disks, which are made up of gas and dust that heat up and give off light as they swirl into the black holes, like water swirls around the sink before going down. Astronomers suspect that quasars, the brightest objects in the universe, contain supermassive black holes that release extraordinarily large amounts of light as they rip apart stars.  Can you imagine gravity so powerful that it can rip apart stars?  

The largest black hole ever found is 12.8 billion light years from earth, is 12 billion times more massive than our sun, and is 429 trillion times brighter than our sun due to the quantity of stars and other galactic matter that it is tearing apart and swallowing.  Our brains can’t even comprehend that kind of distance, mass and brightness.  A black hole has an insatiable appetite.  It can never be filled.  It will never stop swallowing anything that it draws into its gravity. Its hunger is never satisfied. 

As I thought about this, I thought about myself, and you, and Solomon. Solomon was the wealthiest and wisest man who ever lived.   He wrote the book of Ecclesiastes.  Ecclesiastes is about the meaninglessness of everything “under the sun”, apart from God.  We work to acquire stuff and we pass it on to people who may squander it when we die. We search for human wisdom, but Solomon says that with wisdom comes grief.  We search for pleasure, but it lasts only a moment, and leaves us empty and craving more.  Solomon testified that he denied himself no pleasure.  He indulged in women, wine, work projects and everything else his vast wealth could purchase, but he found it all to be meaningless.  Poor or rich, death and judgment await everyone just the same.

Solomon lived the kind of life none of us will ever live.  It was a life of excess, materialism, abundance and decadence.  Everything he wanted he had.  He lived a black hole life, acquiring and consuming everything that he could pull into his gravity, hoping that it would bring him happiness and satisfaction.  At the end of his life, Solomon finally learned the secret to a satisfied life.  It is not found in wealth, women, wine, work, or wishing for more.  Happiness is found in knowing God and appreciating and accepting whatever God provides each day, and being satisfied with it, so that a man may enjoy his labors under the sun. 

At various times in each of our lives, we have all probably lived black hole lives.  We wanted to enjoy every imaginable pleasure.  We have wanted to acquire more and more stuff.  We wanted to have more than the next guy so we could feel better about ourselves, believing that “the one who dies with the most toys wins.”  I pray that we have all reached the stage of life that we recognize that black hole living is meaningless. In the end, you will become more empty as a result of the things you acquired than you were before you had them.  You will become more depressed as you realize that a black hole life is never satisfied. A black hole life never has enough. It always wants more.  At the height of his wealth and power John D. Rockefeller was asked “How much is enough?” He answered, “One more dollar.”  That’s so sad, but that’s insatiable black hole living.  

Whatever material thing we think might bring us happiness, Solomon had it, and much more. If these things did not bring Solomon happiness, they won’t bring us happiness either.  True and lasting happiness is not found in the amount of stuff that you have.  True and lasting happiness is found in knowing that you are loved by God, that Jesus died on the cross so your sins could be forgiven, and that eternity with Him awaits you.  Do you know that today?  The only arena where we should continue to be black holes is in our appetite to know and love Him and His Word better.  Solomon would say to you, “Enjoy your family.  Eat a cheeseburger.  Love God and learn to laugh at yourself.” Everything else truly is meaningless. 

African children's choir coming to Grace Redeemer 6/1/18 at 7 pm

Come join the African Children’s Choir as they perform in our community during their US Tour. The Choir will be performing at Grace Redeemer Community Church on Friday, June 1 at 7:00 pm.  Come and experience a performance that shows the beauty, dignity and potential of each African child! Admission will be free for all ages; a free-will offering will follow the Choir’s concert.

The African Children’s Choir melts the hearts of audiences with their charming smiles, beautiful voices and lively African songs and dances. The program features well-loved children’s songs, traditional Spirituals and rhythmic Gospel favorites. Nearly every performance is concluded with a thunderous standing ovation! In spite of the tragedy that has marred their young lives, the children are radiant with hope, musically gifted and always wonderfully entertaining.

The free-will offering will help support the Music for Life Institute. The African Children’s Choir has been Music for Life’s major international program during its 30-year history. Music for Life Institute (MFLI) has relief and development programs in seven African countries. MFL has currently educated over 52,000 children and hundreds of thousands of lives have been impacted by Music for Life Institute’s international relief and development programs.

We’re looking forward to seeing you at this inspirational performance!

You Call that a Bagel?

My family moved from New Jersey to Texas in 2011.  We love it here.  It’s in the Bible belt, the weather is great, no state income taxes, and real estate is affordable.  As Pastor of my church, I feel like I have the best job in the world!  I have no regrets.  But I do have things I miss.  I miss family and friends.  I miss the beach.  The nearest beach is 5 hours away.  Good pizza is another thing I miss.  In Texas, Papa John’s passes for good pizza.  I shudder at having to eat it.  Another thing I miss is a good bagel.  I ate something this morning that was called a bagel, but was a pathetic imitation. It was like the two ends of a loaf of white bread facing each other, crust sides out, with a hole in the middle. No self-respecting northeasterner would have eaten that bagel, but I was really hungry and there were no other options.  

My point is this: Sometimes it is easy in our lives to overlook all of our many blessings to complain about the things that we do not have.  I would love to have access to a beach, good pizza and bagels.  But if those are the worst things that I can think of to complain about, then my life is pretty good.  How about you?  What are the little things in your life that cause you to complain and draw your attention away from the many blessings in your life?  I’m not talking about the real physical and emotional pain that life brings. I’m talking about minor daily complaints that we all mutter about life.   

In Exodus Chapter 14, God parted the Red Sea so that the Israelites could escape from Pharaoh and the Egyptian army that intended recapture them and either kill them or return them to slavery.  Immediately, in Exodus 15, the Israelites complained that there was no water in the desert, so God provided water.  In Exodus 16 they complained again: “² The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ The sons of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’”

In less than two months from the parting of the Red Sea and their escape from Egypt, the Israelites had already become chronic complainers and revisionist historians.  They had been slaves in Egypt.  They were brutally and shamefully mistreated for 400 years.  By the hand of God and Charlton HestonJ, they were led from their bondage in Egypt to freedom.  The first thing they did was to grumble and complain about the things they didn’t have, and to romanticize those things as if they were better than they actually were.  Their complaints would make you think that they were living like kings in palaces eating fois gras and caviar, rather than as slaves making bricks without straw. Some people will always find something to complain about and sometimes complainers have the loudest voices. Even after this chronic complaining, you can imagine God shaking His head at their unfaithfulness, and yet, God provided meat for them to eat.

Complaining is the result of discontentment with what God has provided. It is the result on an unthankful heart, a lack of faith, and a focus on self rather than God and others.  The Bible says, “every good thing and every perfect gift is from above.”  Everything we have is from God.  We ought to give thanks for what we have rather than complaining about what we don’t have.  We ought to trust God to provide the things we need, and not complain that we don’t have some of the things we want. We ought to be less focused on ourselves and more focused on God.  Often, the reason we complain is because we are spending too much time thinking about ourselves and our own selfish preferences and desires, and not enough time thinking about the goodness of God or the needs of others.  

The best thing God has given us is His Son Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins so that we can have eternal life with Him.  Let’s not complain about what we don’t have.  If you believe in Jesus, you already have everything!  Rejoice in that.  Now, if anyone can recommend a place in Texas where I can find a decent bagel, I’m all ears!