My puppy went to church tonight.  Sounds like she wrecked havoc on most everything until I took her home.  Nothing says small town church like having a hyper dog running loose on the grounds.  Some students stopped by the house this afternoon to visit.  What is surprising about this is that my daughter is away at Baylor.  Pokey greeted them in her state of excitement as usual.  My guess is she followed them over to the church rather than staying in the yard.  I heard very little upon my arrival later but stories of her being friendly with everyone.  Sure enough she came following me when I walked outside the building and whistled.  We trudged back home through the rain to deposit her safely away from the crowds.  Who knew that a typical Wednesday evening would become so animated just by her presence?

Church life can be thrilling enough without the added exposure to a very young puppy.  We just tend to get all wound up for all of the wrong reasons.  Far too much time gets spent trying to track down all of the reasons for turmoil.  I think that having some detective skills comes in handy with being a minister.  The one downfall is there isn't much one can do even when deciphering the reasons for an uproar.  This is not to say that doing church stuff falls short in the excitement category.  Scripture paints us a picture of a church that is never at a loss for thrills.  They are always in over their head when it comes to being on mission.  Sometimes we lament at how cold our services can become.  It may well be that we prefer that to any discomfort from being radically engaged with God.  Perhaps we get what we truly desire?

Think about this.  Faith can be risky.  Just ask Abraham about that call of God to offer up Issac.  Faith can be weird.  Just ask Moses about calling plagues, frogs and the like into reality.  Faith can be dangerous. Just ask Paul about his physical pain from being thrown out of towns.  Faith can break your heart.  Just ask Peter about his road to recovery.  None of these characters needed a puppy to create a sense of excitement.  God acts in lives to move us to His purpose.  Following Him will often create upheaval in our being.  Boring is a word not associated with joining God in His work.  One can only hope that our spiritual life will be thrilling for all of the right reasons.  You may find it beats having a puppy on the loose in church.

Bro. Trey