Purpose

Well, it has been awhile since my last post (sorry, to all my dedicated fans out there. :) ). I guess you could say I haven’t been that inspired lately. However, today is different.

Today is the birthday of a dear friend of mine who lives in Colorado (Happy Birthday, Ethan!!) In keeping with the age of text messages, g-mail, and e-vites, I decided to him an e-card. As I was eagerly looking through the vast array of e-cards, I stumbled upon one that, from the picture, looked as if it would be perfect for Ethan. When I previewed my selection, I found it to be more fitting than I had originally hoped.

Purpose to seek Him
He will be your reward
Purpose to know Him
He will reveal Himself to you
Purpose to follow Him
He will lead the way
Purpose to enjoy Him
He will be your closest friend
Purpose to praise Him
He will be your song
Purpose to trust Him
He will be your provider

On your birthday, may your heart rejoice in all He has done for you.
The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me… Psalm 138:8

This e-card proved to serve in me as a reminder. A reminder of who I am, what I am, and whose I am. Who am I? I’m Adam Haynes. Husband of Danielle. Son of James & Kaye. Brother of Amanda. I am me. No one else is me. I am the only me there has ever been or ever will be (hey...no comments out there). Whose am I? I am my Creator’s. My life is His who created it. I am my Savior’s. My life is His who saved it. What am I? Fallen. Fallen from the place God intended me to be. Created by God in perfection. Born by man in sin. Fallen.

God designed our hearts, our minds, our emotions, our thoughts, everything that we are to be aligned with His. And yet, in our pride and arrogance—in our sin, we destroyed the divine order of our very being. We as citizens of the human race can no longer naturally seek Him, enjoy Him, or trust Him. Instead, our inner most desires yield selfishness, contempt, anxiety, deception, doubt, etc.

BUT…

Then came grace. Through God’s grace and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our souls have been restored. We can begin anew. Our hearts can again sing praises to Him. Our lives can again be a sweet aroma to Him. We have been lifted from the fallen state in which we’d wallowed, and in His strength, we have been raised into a relationship that is right.

It’s not easy though—as the old adage says, “Old habits die hard.” We must now work for that relationship that was intended to come so easily. We must be diligent in seeking God. We must be attentive to hear from God. We must purpose to follow Him.

purpose
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): pur•posed; pur•pos•ing
: to propose as an aim to oneself

Merriam Webster used the verb "aim" to define purpose. On the flip side, sin is defined as “missing the mark.” We must set our hearts to know Him. We must aim—purpose—to enjoy Him. And in this, God will fulfill His purpose for us.

Now back to my birthday wishes. For those of you that may not know Ethan Moore, he is one of the truest people I know. And by that I mean, he knows who he is and whose he is. He seeks the Lord genuinely and, in that, finds his purpose. Ethan has purposed in his heart to know God. And faithfully, God has revealed Himself to him and is working through Ethan and his ministry. Happy birthday, brother!

A Week of Confusion

Well, almost a week has passed since the devastating tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Unless you have been keeping residence in your own personal cave, you have witnessed the shocking videos and images of the destruction that has, and is still taking place. “How did this happen?” and “Could it have been prevented?” have all run through our minds as of late.

I must admit, this catastrophe has been somewhat of a paradox for me. Every night as I get a glimpse of the ruin that used to be New Orleans, I am overcome with grief and sorrow for the faces that embrace my television—the one being relocated from one shelter to the next, the one laying on the side of the road beside their departed spouse, the face of an 8 year old child clinging to her mother’s side scared and bewildered with no comprehension of how severe the situation actually is. My heart breaks.

However, I, too, sit in bewilderment. Here is an entire city that has grown and has been developed, not only around water, but actually on the soggy marshes of the bayou, located on the Gulf of Mexico—a gulf known for attracting tropical storms and nurturing them to hurricane status. With their location, coupled with their “lack” of elevation, were the people prepared for what might happen? Or was their mentality much like ours in everyday life, “It won’t happen to us. Those things only happen to other people.”

I can’t help but think, “You had to have known this could happen. At any given moment, your house and all your belongings, could be sitting under 10 feet of water.” It’s only logical. When you hear about the “bowl effect” of New Orleans, you realize it is an obvious threat to the way of life of those who live there.

My wife and I used to live in the high Rocky Mountains of Colorado. We have seen a multitude of homes built literally feet away from the edges of cliffs which, in an instant, could crumble into nothing. Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas possess the New Madrid Fault which could shift and destroy thousands of homes. California has the San Andreas Fault. Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma have “Tornado Alley.” Washington even sits on active Mt. St. Helens. All who live in areas such as these, have to understand, accept, and especially prepare for what could and probably will happen eventually. Don’t they?

And so I sit, mourning the loss that has overtaken us—the loss of spirit, belongings, and life; and yet I am so appreciative for what I have been blessed with. Then there are the muddled up emotions of confusions of how this could have happened and how it caught them so off guard. I sit in awe.

Times like these truly bring out the truths of God’s Word. Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” No matter what we may “have,” it is only ours for a moment. The only thing God blesses us with that is eternal is the word of God—which is life in His Son, Jesus Christ.

To all those who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina, you are in our prayers.

It's All About the Upgrade.

So lately I've been looking into upgrading my computer at home, and even considering purchasing a used laptop computer (just for mobility's sake). I'm sure everyone has thought at one point or another, it doesn't matter what you have, it's never enough. We live in a world of constant upgrades. Everywhere you look, there is someone there attempting to sell, promote, or endorse the latest upgrade. Even when you buy something new, there's someone waiting at the door to talk you into the next version. I thought to myself, it would be a lot cheaper if I just invented a magic "Upgrade" wand. Here are a few of the things I would upgrade in my life (in no particular order).

My Computer - Step 1.) Gripe. Obviously, it's doesn't have enough GB, RAM, or MHz. It's too loud, too big, too slow, and too cream. The monitor's not flat enough. Step 2.) Upgrade computer. 3.) Repeat Step 1. Then Step 2. Repeat.

My TV - Apparently the kind of TV that I have been perfectly happy with watching for 28 years, just won't cut it. What was I thinking? I can't believe this world fooled me into enjoying a picture that was slightly curved. Give me the flat screen!!! Give it to me now!!! And while you're at it, hang it on the wall, too!!!

My Work Cubicle - Two Words: Deluxe Model. No more teal or puce for me. I want black walls and a wooden desktop made of genuine cherry. My chair: a La-Z-Boy. But sitting at work in a La-Z-Boy can be hard on the back, so just to be on the ergonomic safe side, I'll need to add a large flat screen monitor and a cordless keyboard and mouse. My cubicle will have its own "ultra-quiet" sound system (so as not to disturb my neighbors) and its own thermostat. Maybe now I will be able to feel my fingers and my toes at work.

The Interstates - This one's my favorite. I would upgrade the interstate system to accommodate the new "Adam-Only Lane" Ahhhhh!!! Freedom!!!!

Now the next two are for my wife. You know I would have to upgrade some stuff for her if I had a magic "Upgrade" wand.

Buy A Cat - Now this, at first, may not seem like an upgrade. Well, it's not. The upgrade comes when I upgrade the cat to a Tiger. Then I would buy an ant farm and upgrade it to be the sanctuary and the staff to take care of the tiger. It's been a life long dream of my wife's to be able to pet a tiger. Now she can. YEAH!!!

The Litter Box - When we got our first cat, my wife made the commitment to clean the litter box. So for her, we would upgrade to the LitterBox DX 2006. All....ahem!!...."stuff" disappears without a trace. No odor. No cleaning. No refilling. It also bathes, dries, and grooms the cat automatically every other week. Your welcome, Danielle. : )

Well, I hope you've enjoyed getting inside the mind of Adam. I know, it's a little scary. I would love to hear what you would upgrade to, if you had a magic "Upgrade" wand.

A Walk With Words

NEW. Complete. Breathing. Beautiful. Pleasing. Alive. Fruitful. FREE. Naive. Unaware. Fallible. Foolish. Oblivious. Gullible. Tempted. Charmed. Seduced. Coaxed. Tested. Conceded. DEFILED. Apprehensive. Watchful. Cowardly. Timid. Mortified. Worried. Ashamed. Regretful. Judged. Guilty. Bound. ENSLAVED. Expelled. Cast out. Removed. Banished. Displaced. EXILED.

Then Jesus came.

Miraculous. Simple. Youthful. Growing. YIELDING. Eager. Teaching. Maturing. Purposeful. LOVING. Leading. Brazen. Veracious. Ridiculed. Scoffed. Mocked. Denied. Excluded. BETRAYED. Rejected. Beaten. Determined. Faithful. Selfless. SACRIFICED. Brittle. Frail. Lifeless. Omnipotent. Persistent. Powerful. Prevailing. Victorious. Restored. RESURRECTED. Forgiving. Embraced. Accepted. Fulfilled. Healing. Whole. Pleasing. Beautiful. Complete. NEW.

NOCURTAIN

(nAHk'-ER-tane)

"It's Undefinable"






MORE DETAILS TO COME.

The Garden

The other day, I was reading in Genesis about the creation and fall of mankind. I can't even begin to wonder the number of times I've read these verses, heard them in church, or sang about them in a song, but this time was different. One verse . . . ONE VERSE . . . knocked me back in my seat and made me sit there and think.

"The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." Genesis 3:21

Now, this verse by itself, isn't that shocking, and normally it wouldn't catch someone's eye. But this verse, when read in its proper context, is the essence of God's nature and His unwavering persistence. If we back up just seven verses, we find the true magnitude of this verse. Verses 3:14-19 immediately follow Adam & Eve eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. God then finds them in the Garden of Eden, and thus it begins--the first official reaming in history.

To the serpent: "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

To the woman: "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

And to Adam: "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

And then . . . after being ignored by His own children . . . after watching His creation break the only rule in eternity . . . after finding Adam & Eve among the trees of the garden naked and ashamed . . . and finally, after disciplining them as only a Father can do . . . God pauses . . . and did what any good Father would do. He met their need. "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." He personally made the garment Himself and clothed His children.

Does this hit you like it does me? Only a loving, faithful, and persistent God--desperately wanting a relationship with His children--could do this after being so carelessly rejected by those same children. How many rules have I broken? How about you? Have you ever found yourself naked and ashamed, alone and afraid after doing what you KNOW was wrong? I don't think I even want to start counting? Too many, that's for sure.

And then, to stay in character and prove His love for us, He did it again two thousand years ago. Only this time it wasn't a couple--it was the world. It wasn't a rule that was broken--it was a life. And it wasn't a garment--but His pure, forgiving righteousness that was draped over His entire creation. And this time we get to remain in the Garden . . . for eternity.

Automated Phone Systems

Okay, so the other day, I found the one thing worse than a normal automated phone system. As if having to punch 2, 4, 1, 1, 1, 1, 6, 9, 4, 3, 6, 4, 9, 0 just to speak with a human being isn't bad enough, they have come up with something worse.

My wife and I are in the process of scheduling a trip to the west coast. We are planning on flying into San Francisco and working our way up to Oregon. Since we would be flying, I pulled out the trusty ol' list of phone numbers for the different airline companies and began to make the rounds. During this time, I obviously encountered numerous automated phone systems, . . .but then there was the One. This one took the cake.

As I dialed the number to this carrier who shall remain nameless (solely because I called so many stupid airlines I can't remember which one it was. You got lucky this time, Mr. AirLine), it seemed to be just another routine call. Then SHE picked up. "Who?" you asked. Ms. APS (Automated Phone System). She spoke to me like we knew each other--like we were long lost college friends or something. She uttered phrases like, "Sure, I'll be glad to help you with that." and "Oh, I'm sorry I must have misunderstood you."

At one point during the call, I tried to check flights into Oakland, and when asked my destination city, I said "Oakland,"

Ms. Aps responded, "I heard you say 'St. Louis,' is that correct?"

"Nope!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Could you please repeat your destination city?"

"Oakland"

"I heard you say 'Phoenix,' is that correct?" questioned Ms. Aps.

"Still NO!!!!" I said, and then she came to the revelation of all revelations.

"Well, it seems I am unable to help you," she said, "let me transfer you to a representative that can assist you further." Hmmm . . . imagine that.

Now let me clarify, it wasn't necessarily the fact I was talking to a machine, but moreso the fact that this system insisted on insulting my intelligence. Not only are you not important enough to speak with a human being, but let me see if I can trick you into believing that they actually ARE talking to a human being. Why don't they just paint a face on a brick wall for us to talk to. That would be okay . . . right?

Case in point, if you want me to talk to a machine, just let it sound like a machine. That's all I ask.