Jesus Goggles

I love myself. I know that sounds a bit egotistical and self-centered, but I don’t mean it that way. I simply mean I care about me. So do you – you care about yourself and you should. Each of us possess a love and sense-of-care for ‘US”. That’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that. One day the religious zealots of the day set out to trick Jesus with their question, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus promptly and confidently responded, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” See, there it is. Straight from the mouth of Jesus, “'Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus knew we loved ourselves. He didn’t say there was anything wrong with it. What he did say however, was that we were to not only love ourselves, but to LOVE OTHERS just as much.
Okay, it’s one thing to love myself – I mean that’s easy – I’m very loveable. But now you want me to love others too? Do you know ‘others’? I mean come on; some of them definitely aren’t like me. A lot of them don’t look like me. Many of them don’t think like me. A lot of them don’t like to do the same things I do. Many of them are different colors. Some of them are from other countries. A whole bunch of them don’t sound like me and many of them don’t even speak the same language I do. Jesus probably didn’t understand that, right? I mean He probably thought everyone would be just like me – same shape, size, color, nationality, language, value system, gift mix, personality, and I’m sure he had no doubt that everyone would, of course, be a University of Georgia football fan.
We all know that’s not true. Of course Jesus didn’t think we’d all be alike. And no, I’m sure he didn’t simply assume that everyone would be as ‘naturally’ loveable as me or you. Jesus knew there would be great diversity among his children. He knew that some would be easy to love and that some would just be, well, just plain hard-to-get-along-with. There was no disclaimer on Jesus’ statement. There was no footnote that gave us permission to ignore those who didn’t conform to our way of thinking. Jesus simply said that we were to, first and foremost, love God with everything that we have – all of our brain-power, all of our muscle-power and all of our heart-power. Then, he went on to remind us that we were to love others, just as much as we love ourselves – no exceptions stated.
So how do we do it? How do we love others as much as we love ourselves? I’m not talking about those that are like us; they’re easy to love. No, my question is, how do we love those that are hard to love – those that grate on our very last nerve – those that always say the wrong things, wear the wrong clothes and call us right in the middle of dinner – how do we love those that aren’t exactly like us ? I’d like to answer that question as simply as possible – in one word – JESUS.
Okay, I know – I just made it sound easy – like I know how to do it and I always do it right. Well, allow me to go ahead and bust that bubble. Let me share with you, up front, that I fail everyday when it comes to loving those who are difficult to embrace. I mean I want to love them. I try to love them. Then they go and cut me off in traffic, break in line at the movie theater or wear their pants just a little too low. Maybe they’re too loud or not loud enough – maybe their hair is not a natural color or they have earrings in places other than their ears. Maybe their car is sporting a door that is, interestingly, a different color than the rest of the vehicle. Or maybe their way of life and thinking doesn't match up exactly with mine.
There are lots of things that can trigger negative responses in our brains. When an experience takes us out of our ‘comfort-zone’ we will typically go on the defensive very quickly, and when that happens, loving others becomes quite a challenge. When those negative responses are triggered – when the fortress walls of our ‘comfort-zone’ are breached, it is then that we must turn to Jesus.
We must make a conscience effort to adjust our vision so we can see through His eyes – so we can see the value in everyone. We must be intentional about asking ourselves, “How does that person see me?” “How would I expect them to treat me?”
It’s remarkable what we see when we look at things from our own perspective. It’s even more incredible when we take the time to look through the eyes of our Lord. When we look at others as Jesus does, we don’t see different colored skin, we don’t see ridiculous clothes, we don’t hear languages that we don’t understand, we don’t see tattoos or too many body piercings, we don’t see rich or poor, we don’t see old or young, we don’t hear different tastes in music and our focus is not the geographic location of homes. What we will observe, when we see as Jesus sees, is that each person, everyone we come in contact with, is a loved and cherished creation of God – a person created in His own image.
Loving others isn’t always easy. Jesus never said it was. In order to love others as Jesus loves each of us we must be intentional about seeing them through His eyes, not our own. That takes work, that takes time and that takes intentionality.
Jesus ended his response to the religious leaders that day by saying, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Jesus knew that when we love God with every ounce of who we are and when we can love others with the passion and zeal with which we love ourselves, then everything else will fall into place. Following Jesus and living a God-honoring life is easy when we know and exercise that kind of love in all that we do. No it’s not easy to achieve. It is a process. No we’ll never get it 100% right as long as we live in this fallen world. But it is a worthy goal. It is something that we should all, as followers of Jesus, aspire to. It should be more than a goal. It is a commandment from our Lord. It is a commandment that we cannot ignore. It is a mandate passed down from Jesus Himself and it must not be disregarded.
I don’t know about you but I think I'll put on my ‘Jesus-colored-lenses’ - my 'Jesus Goggles' and take a look at the world around me. It’s amazing what I can see – people more like me because we’re all made like God!

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

Friend or Foe?

Fear is an emotion. Fear is not something we can touch but, rather something we can feel. Fear can be a good thing. Fear can keep children away from a roaring fire, a busy street or strangers in crowded places. Sometimes fear causes us to make decisions that, ultimately put us in a safer situation. Fear can be a good thing. But fear can also be a bad thing. Fear can paralyze us. Fear can cause us to become irrational and abandon all sense of reason and logic. Fear can cause us to do stupid things and make unwise decisions. Fear can cause our brains, for all practical purposes, to go into ‘full-lock-down’ mode. Yes, fear can be a bad thing.
Fear comes in all shapes and sizes. Children fear thunder storms, the dark, and the ‘boogie’ man. Teenagers fear pimples, pop-quizzes and first dates. When we become adults our fears change drastically. As adults we begin to fear things like rejection, loneliness, failure and embarrassment. Fear is no respecter of persons. Fear is an equal opportunity emotion. Some people do a better job of dealing with the fears of daily life but, at the end of the day, we must all deal with our own share of fear.
Fear can be our best friend or our worst enemy. King Solomon understood the value of healthy fear when he said, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…” (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10 & 111:10. The word used in these passages for fear is the Hebrew word “yir’ah”. It can mean respect or reverence. To have a fear of God doesn’t mean we have an unhealthy, paralyzing fear or sense of terror toward God, it simply means that we respect God and we show to him, out of our respect, a sense of reverence. King Solomon also knew a little about unhealthy fear – “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.” (Proverbs 29:25) Here, I really like the paraphrase used in The Message – “The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in GOD protects you from that.” Here the Hebrew word used for fear is “Haradah” – this literally means panic, fear, terror or horror.
Fear of God is respect for the one who created all things, including each of us. Fear of God means praising God for His greatness and majesty. Fear of God means thanking God for the incredible blessings he bestows on us – those blessings which are seen and those which are unseen – those blessings of the past, of the present and of the future. Fear of God means recognizing, respecting, thanking, praising and standing in awe of one far greater than ourselves – one who gave His son as a sacrifice for us. Fear of God means trusting Him, no matter what, in every situation. Fear of man means we have a chink in our ‘Trust of God’ armor. Fear of man means that we’ve decided to try to correct or solve a particular dilemma or trial on our own; without God’s help. Fear of man means we’re not sure if God can handle this situation. Fear of man means that we think we have a better chance of correcting the problem at hand than God does. Fear of man means trusting in ourselves. Fear of God is healthy. Fear of man is unhealthy. Fear of God is good. Fear of man is bad.
Fear can be one of our greatest friends or it can be one of our most formidable foes. My desire is to experience a far greater fear of God and to eliminate my fear of man. I’ll keep working on that. Pray for me!

Although a wicked man commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I know that it will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent before God. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow. (Ecclesiastes 8:12-13)

Here comes trouble!

What is a hardship? What exactly does that mean? Most would define a hardship as a difficulty or an inconvenience – perhaps as something that causes us pain or grief. I guess one of the best ways to describe a hardship is to simply say ‘trouble’. Life is full of hardships. We like to pretend they don’t happen that often or, after experiencing one, that we probably won’t see another one for a long, long. But they do come – one after another. And when it comes to hardships, most of us find ourselves in one of two camps. Either we trick ourselves into thinking that WE are the ones that cause all the hardships (Camp one) or we pretend that its never our fault and if it weren’t for OTHER PEOPLE we’d never come face-to-face with another hardship (Camp two).
I think we forget about the third camp. There is a third camp, you know. Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) The third camp is simply to accept the fact that we will have hardships – we will have trouble. We have to face the fact, there is no way to avoid it – trouble, inconvenience, trials, and suffering will be a part of our life. Notice Jesus didn’t say, “… there may be trouble…”, “… hardship is a possibility…”, “… some people will have trouble…”, or “… if you have trouble…” What he said was, “In this world YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE…” Jesus certainly knew a little about trouble. One day he was Time’s Man of the Year and the next day he was headed to Calvary. He experienced great hardship yet he knew that he had overcome the evils of this world.
I don’t really know the advice to give. I don’t have the ‘magic-cure’ for the guilt, pain, anger, confusion and disappointment that life’s hardships bring us. All I know for sure is Jesus told us to “Take Heart”, because he had overcome the world. Right in the middle of that next pain, that next disappointment, that next hardship I’m going to try to focus on the words of our Lord when He said, “But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

The 'Good Guy' for the 'bad guys'

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit…” (1 Peter 3:18)

That’s one of my favorite verses in the Bible - 1 Peter 3:18. It’s one of my favorites because it says so much. It gives us a glimpse of just how amazing God’s love for us really is.
Below is the ‘Greg Paraphrase’. No, I’m definitely not trying to rewrite the Scriptures or create another translation. I just wanted to put, into my own words, what that verse says to me.
How about you? Tell me, in your own words, what it says to you. And tell me some of your favorite verses and how you would put them into your own words.

Jesus died as a sacrifice for our sins – in our place, so we wouldn’t have to. Jesus did this one time. His sacrifice on that cross at Calvary was all that was needed. Now we must put our faith in Him and His sacrifice for us. He’ll never have to do it again – it’s just not necessary – once was enough. This was a case of the ‘Good Guy’ sacrificing himself for the ‘bad guys’, so that we, the ‘bad guys’, would have the opportunity to know God – to know him intimately and, as a result, through faith in Jesus, live forever. They killed Jesus earthly body, but he rose again three days later and is still alive today. And He has sent the Holy Spirit to live with each of us who will trust in Him.

Let's heat it up...

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, its lukewarm coffee. I like my coffee hot. I always laugh at the warning messages on the paper coffee cups. You know the messages I’m talking about, “Warning – Contents may be hot.” I always want to say, in a very calm voice, “Oh really?” Then, in a very loud and matter-of-fact voice, say, “IT’S COFFEE – ITS SUPPOSED TO BE HOT!”
I just walked back into my office a few minutes ago. I didn’t think I had been gone very long. Apparently I’d been gone longer than I thought. When I walked back into my office there was my cup of coffee on my desk. I picked up my cup took a sizeable swig and almost spewed the coffee out of my mouth… it was lukewarm and, as I’ve already mentioned, I’m not very fond of lukewarm coffee.
As I poured myself a fresh, HOT cup of coffee, I thought about the words of Jesus in the book of Revelation. “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:15-16) As I thought about the nauseatingly lukewarm coffee I had experienced earlier I reflected on my life – on my walk with Christ. Am I hot – on fire for God? Does my passion glow like a red hot ember in a roaring fireplace or am I more like that cup of lukewarm coffee? I know there have been times in my life when I have truly been on fire for God. There have been those times when the pursuit of Jesus Christ consumed every fiber of my being. There have been those times when I have sought Jesus with all my soul, mind and strength. There have been those days, in my life, when I, like the Psalmist, I have meditated on God’s Word night and day. There have certainly been days when I have been ON FIRE for God. As I continued to think I realized that in addition to those ‘on fire’ days there have also been more than a few ‘lukewarm’ days. There have been days (more than I’d like to admit) when the words I have spoken have said ‘Jesus’ but my heart was in a different zip code. There have been days when, as I rolled out of the bed, ministry began and later that evening, as I slid between the sheets, ministry was still on my mind. Yet, even during those ministry filled days I have often failed to stop, even once, to say hello to Jesus. During many of those ‘busy’ days, there was a lot time spent in God’s Word but usually, even that time was more academic oriented than “God and me” relationship oriented. How saddened Jesus must have been on those days. How much he must have wanted to spit me out like a big gulp of lukewarm coffee.
The late John Wesley once said, “Get on fire for God and men will come to see you burn.” Being ‘on fire’ for God is a choice. It isn’t our natural inclination. If we simply allow our lives to drive themselves naturally we will usually find ourselves drifting toward self-fulfillment and personal gratification instead of, headed full steam, toward honoring God and lifting up Jesus. We may still try to keep up with our life of ‘Christian busyness” but we will begin to allow the relationship gap between ourselves and Christ to grow larger and larger. We will become lukewarm. Lukewarm is not good. God likes His children hot – he likes His children on fire – on fire for Him! What if, in the Body of Christ, even 50% of us were on fire, I mean REALLY ‘on fire’ for God. What would the world look like? I’d love to find out.
While I’ve been sitting here and writing this blog my, coffee has gotten lukewarm again. I don’t know about you but I’m going to go heat up my coffee and then I’m going to try my best to get focused – to get focused on ‘being on fire’ – being on fire for God. WE'RE CHILDREN OF GOD, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE HOT!

"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. " (Matthew 5:16)

Take me out to the ballpark...

I love baseball. I love to watch baseball and I love to play baseball. In Atlanta we have the Braves. I love the Braves. Before I moved to Atlanta I would occasionally go to see the nearby minor league team play ball. Now that was good baseball. Those players weren’t pulling down the mega-salaries that today’s major leaguers are. They were still playing baseball for the love of the game – silly minor leaguers!
Speaking of the love of the game, did anyone see the movie, For the Love of the Game? You know the one with Kevin Costner as an aging pitcher, struggling to find that last glimpse of glory. It’s not a bad movie. Costner ends up pitching in one last game – one last masterpiece if you will. Along the way, he has a lot of time to reflect on his life, etc, etc, yadda, yadda, yadda… you know the way those movies go. At one point in the movie, Costner walks on to the field, amidst the cheers, the boos, the obscenities and all the other baseball related noises, he takes the mound, leans forward to take the sign from the catcher and deliver the first pitch. It’s noisy - he can hear all the noise and see the overwhelming activity taking place all over the ball park… so… he leans over and says, to himself, “Clear the mechanism…” At that point the noise becomes hushed and all the extra-curricular activity becomes nothing more than a blur. The only things in Costner’s line of vision are home plate, the batter and the catcher. Allowing the distractions to take over his mind would have eliminated any chance of pitching a respectable ballgame.
Pretty cool, huh? Think about it. By eliminating the distractions around him he was able to focus in on the task at hand. He didn’t allow the hustle and bustle of the ballpark to distract him from his goal – pitching a baseball game. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we had a scripture that we would remind us to do that in life? Something like, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Oh, wait… we do! (Romans 12:2a)
There is little we do in the course of our day that doesn’t bring us in contact with ‘the patterns of this world’. We turn on the TV, ‘the patterns of this world’, open the newspaper, ‘the patterns of this world’, drive to work, ‘the patterns of this world’, surf the ‘net’, ‘the patterns of this world’, have a conversation with our co-workers, ‘the patterns of this world’, attend a church business meeting, ‘the patterns of this world’. See what I mean. So what happens? As we’re exposed to, over and over again, ‘the patterns of this world’, what happens to us? Are we conformed to those patterns? Or, are we transformed by the renewing of our mind? In order to be conformed to ‘the patterns of this world’ all we have to do is NOTHING… if we do nothing, the world will do the work for us. When we do nothing the world’s job of conforming us to its patterns becomes virtually effortless. On the other hand, to be ‘transformed by the renewing of our mind’ we must stay focused on God and be intentional about our relationship with Christ (Matthew 6:33, Hebrews 12:2), we must be aware of what is going on in the depths of our mind (2 Corinthians 10:5), we must know what God’s Word says to us (Psalm 119:97), and we must stay, always, in contact with God (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
It’s easy, in the flurry of daily activity, to begin to do the accepted thing according to the world’s standards. It’s quite painless to simply float downstream with the rest of the world and it’s no trouble at all to fall in line with the status-quo. But, it becomes more difficult to resist the values and standards of the world, it’s exhausting to paddle upstream, against the world’s current and stepping out of the world’s line and into Christ’s line takes courage – no matter how often you do it.
Over the span of the last few years, there have been a few times when I have said to myself, “Clear the mechanism” - a few times, but not nearly often enough. What I realize, when I’m truthful with myself, is that I need to be deliberate about ‘clearing the mechanism’ several times each day. The Message translation says it this way, “Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (Romans 12:2) So what do we do? Once again, looking to The Message, “We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Let’s all work hard and be intentional about eliminating the distractions around us so that we will be able to focus on the task at hand. Let’s not let the hustle and bustle of life’s 'ballpark' distract us from our goal – to fight the good fight, to finish the race, to keep the faith.
Clear the mechanism!

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7)

Home Improvement

We use the words house and home a lot. Often those two words are used interchangeably. “I’m going home”, we’ll say or, “I’m headed to the house.” House is defined as a building that serves as living quarters for one or a few families. A building – a structure – wood and nails or bricks and mortar, that’s what a house is. A home is defined several different ways - one's place of residence, the social unit formed by a family living together, a familiar or usual setting, a place of origin, or one's own country. A house is built by human hands and a home… well, a home is built by human hearts. To build a house, it requires a lot of sweat. To build a home it requires a lot of love. As a house is being built there is the sound of hammers and nail guns. When homes are being built there is the sound of stories being read at bedtime, long conversations around a kitchen table, basketballs bouncing in the driveway and familiar questions like, “What’s for dinner?” or “Can I go out tonight?” The building of a house requires permits and mortgages. The building of a home requires respect, and forgiveness. We spend a lot of time and a lot of money on our houses yet, often times, we spend very little time on ‘home’ maintenance. We take the ‘home’ for granted much of the time. Oh sure, we cut the grass, pull the weeds, vacuum the floors and clean the bathrooms but, do we spend more of our time repairing the ‘house’ or building the ‘home’?
I was in Home Depot the other day (it should really be called House Depot) and I noticed the expansive rack of various home repair and improvement manuals. I wonder how much money is spent annually in an effort to make our houses look better, feel cooler (or warmer) and function more efficiently. I wonder how many manuals, on the subject of home repair or home improvement, are sold each year. How many hours are spent watching the home improvement channels and television shows? What answer do you get when you ask yourself, “How much time to I devote each and everyday to building and maintaining a HOME?”
It takes a lot of things to build a home. It takes love, respect, forgiveness, laughter, tears, compassion, confidence, and it takes lots of communication. I could go on and on. The main thing it takes, however, is great love and respect for God through Jesus Christ. Just as every house has a foundation so does every home. The stability and sturdiness of our homes’ foundation determines how long it wall stand. Jesus once said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27).
The Lord has been good to me - much better than I ever deserved. He has blessed me with an amazing wife and an incredible family and He has held my hand as I’ve tried, as best I can, to build something that somehow resembles a home. I look at the home that we’re in the process of building and I know that some of the boards still need replacing. There may be some leaks that need plugging. The doors may squeak a little and the faucets might drip. But I hope and I pray that the foundation we have begun to lay will survive the most horrid of storms. When the winds blow hard and the flood waters come, my prayer is that our home’s foundation will not shift… not even a fraction of an inch.
My desire is to build a home that will stand forever – a home that can be passed down from generation to generation - a home that my children can pass on to their children and grandchildren. A home built on the principles of God’s Word and filled with Christ’s love.

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)

P/S – I’m pretty good at ‘house’ repair and maintenance. But when it comes to ‘home’ building, I’m still an apprentice… it’s my wife who is the “Master Home Builder”, and to her I say thank you and I love you!

Nevertheless...

Nevertheless – I think this is a word that we don’t use often enough when talking to God. Nevertheless – it means, in spite of. When we pray we say, “God, give me A, B and C and help Mr. D and Mrs. E and give me strength and wisdom, etc, etc.” The word we, or at least I, seldom use is nevertheless – in spite of. “In spite of what I’ve asked, God, your will be done, not mine.” That’s kind of a scary thought. What if we never get what we want again? What if God’s ‘will’ is for us to serve in Zimbabwe, Timbuktu or even worse, the church nursery? Shouldn’t we put some ‘qualifiers’ on a statement that begins with the word nevertheless?
We think God doesn’t want to give us what we want. We think what God wants to give us will not, in any way, resemble anything close to what we want. Far too often we have a skewed view of how God does things – of what He thinks is important. First of all, whenever we approach God with a request, He is interested. If you’re a parent you know your children have and will approach you with many requests. Many of them, especially in the early years, will be totally irrelevant to anything important going on the world around us. You know the questions – questions like, “Can I have the latest Power Rangers action figure?” “Why can’t I sit in the front seat?” “Can I stay up all night?” or “Why do I always have to take a bath?” They may not be questions that will impact world peace, the war on terror or the Falcon’s draft picks next year but they are important to us as parents. Why? Because they are questions from our children - they are questions that are important to our children therefore they are important to us. God sees our questions the same way. The request we present to him may have absolutely no relevance at all on His plan for our lives but, because we are His children and because we take those requests seriously so does God. He cares about us more than we can ever know. His love for us is a love so deep and sincere that we can never fully understand it. We should never be afraid to take any request to Him and lay it at his feet. You may say, “But, so many times He doesn’t give me what I’ve asked for or told Him that I needed.” We’ve somehow developed a mentality that says, “If I don’t get what I ask of God He doesn’t like me, doesn’t care about me, doesn’t hear me or maybe doesn’t have time to deal with me or, worse even, maybe God doesn’t love me.” Maybe God chooses not to give us all that we implore of Him because our request or requests, at that particular time, aren’t in our best interest. One day I was in Wal-Mart with my nine year old son. He was five at the time. As we passed the glass case that housed a large display of knives and other hunting equipment, he pointed to a large hunting knife. I mean it was a BIG knife – probably about ten or eleven inches long. He pointed to this really, really big knife and said, “Daddy, can I have that knife?” Of course, my prompt and certain reply was a resounding, “NO! No, you cannot have that knife son, I’m sorry.” Let’s review my son’s request and my answer. Why did I say no? Why did I not allow him to have what he had requested of me? Did I not like him? Did I not care about him? Did I not hear his question correctly? Was it that I didn’t have enough time to deal with his request? Did I not love him? Of course I like him! Yes I heard him correctly! Definitely I care about him! Certainly I had time to deal with his request if necessary and absolutely I love him, more than he could ever imagine. So why then would I not allow him that simple request? Why you ask? Simple, he would have cut his leg off! It wasn’t in his best interest! I didn’t deny his request because I didn’t love him. If lack of love for my son had been my motivation, then whether or not he amputated a limb would have been of little consequence in my mind. If I didn’t love him there would have been little or no thought given to his well being and safety. But, the truth is I DO LOVE HIM! And I did not want to see him hurt. I knew he was not old enough, wise enough or mature enough to handle a weapon like that at that particular point in his life. Will he ever reach a point in his life when I feel like he can correctly handle something like that knife? Yes, there will be! He will grow in wisdom and maturity. He will one day be able to make wise decisions and better understand the consequences of mishandling an eleven-inch, razor sharp blade of steel. One day he will more fully comprehend the dangers of allowing a five-year old to own a dangerous weapon. One day he will understand that cutting your leg off is not a good thing. One day he will understand that I denied him the knife because I DID love him, not because I DID NOT!
Sometimes when we pray, “… nevertheless, not what I want God, but what You want”, sometimes when we pray, “God, do what You know is best for me, in spite of what I want” we won’t get what we wanted or even what we were certain we needed. But, as we mature, we may get it. We may receive what we’ve asked for when we or more mature and able to handle it. On the other hand, we may never get what we’ve asked God for or what we were confident we needed. But maybe, if we’re honest with ourselves and if we truly trust God, we will, someday, realize that not getting everything we want from God is not a bad thing. As we mature as Christians and as our faith grows, we will be able to use the word ‘nevertheless’ with confidence – the confidence that God knows far more than we do and that He cares about us far more than we will ever comprehend.

“And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.” (Luke 22:41-43)

Storm Advisory

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dangerous Hurricane Emily, a powerful Category 4 storm, kept churning toward the central Caribbean Sea and Jamaica with maximum sustained winds of nearly 135 miles per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said in an advisory on Friday.

____________________

Hurricane Cindy, Hurricane Dennis and now, Hurricane Emily – and don’t overlook minor tropical depressions Arlene and Bret. The storms seem to keep coming and coming. Where are they coming from? Well I heard something about the surface temperatures, over a wide area of the Atlantic, running a little higher than normal and something else about atmospheric patterns. But, being the brilliant metrological mind that I am, all I really heard was blah, blah, temperatures, blah, atmosphere, blah, blah, patterns, blah, blah. All I know for sure is that it seems as one storm clears out we can count on a seeing a family member on its coattails.
I like storms. Well at least to a certain extent I like storms. There’s something comforting about the rain pounding on the roof and the wind whistling through the trees. I must admit, although, there is a point at which my comfort turns to fear. When trees start snapping in two, limbs and debris start flying and the waters begin to rise – it’s at that point that I realize that I’m NOT in control. I think that’s the worst part of any storm… the lack of control. As long as the storm isn’t really threatening me or my comfort in any way then it’s kind of nice. But the minute the borders of my comfort zone are compromised, and I realize that I’m not in control, well, it’s then I head for the closet, away from the windows and doors – an area in which I can feel, at least to some degree, safer.
After each severe storm, after each serious threat on my comfort, I realize that I’ve learned something new about storms, about what I need to do to protect myself and my family, and usually, I’ve learned something about myself as well.
The storms that keep crashing into the southern coast of the United States are much like the storms of our lives. They keep coming and coming. They don’t seem to stop. Just when we realize that we’ve made it through one, along comes its big brother to test us yet again. Sometimes life’s storms don’t infringe upon our comfort zones. It’s those small storms that we brag about. We tell everyone how we “rode it out”, how we “were never afraid”, how we knew “exactly what God was teaching us” and how “we needed that storm”. But those are the small, non-intimidating storms. What happens when the ‘Big One’ comes to town? I’ll tell you what happens. We board up the windows, we buy lots of bread and milk (what’s up with that? Is that all people eat during storms?), we get in the closet or the bathroom and we pray for it all to be over soon and that we’ll be okay when it does end.
There’s something else we do when those BIG storms come. At least it’s something I tend to do. We ask God why? We assume we’re not in God’s will. “What did I do wrong?” we ask ourselves. We seldom stop to think maybe, just maybe, God planned for us to endure this particular storm. Maybe it was a huge teaching moment for Him – something we really needed.
In Matthew 14 Jesus had just feed five thousand people with nothing more than a five loaves and two fish. Amazing right? Soon after that something else very interesting happened. “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.” (Matthew 14:22-24 - NIV) Suddenly, without warning, the disciples find themselves in a difficult storm. Were they in God’s will? Were they out of God’s will? Let’s think this through. The disciples were in the middle of a horrible storm. They were in the middle of a horrible storm in a SMALL BOAT. They were in the middle of a horrible storm in a small boat WITHOUT AN ENGINE. It was dark. It was wet. The waves were high. The boat was being tossed around like a stick in the ocean. Prior to this point, they had not known about the storm (Peter, you have to watch The Weather Channel). But that doesn’t answer the question, were they or were they not in God’s will? I think the answer to that is obvious for all of us. Who had sent them into the storm? Jesus Himself “made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side”. They were smack-dab in the middle of God’s will. Jesus had sent then into the storm. Why? They needed to grow. They needed to trust. They needed to learn.
It’s important to keep in mind, in the middle of life’s storms that there is much for us to learn and ample room for us to grow. It’s like lifting weights. We only get stronger if we continue to add weight to the bar. That doesn’t make it easier to lift. It makes it more difficult to raise the bar each time. Sometimes we strain for what seems like hours to lift the bar. Sometimes we need help. Often we want to give up and have someone remove the weight. It was easier BEFORE we added the weight. God understands that principle. That’s why, over and over again, He adds weight to our bar. He knows life is easier when our boat goes smoothly from one shore to the next, but He sends the storms anyway. Why? He allows the storms come because He loves us… because He wants us to grow… because He wants us to trust in Him, not ourselves.
The next time you’re in the middle of a torrential storm, the next time you think someone has added too much weight to your bar – remember, there is plenty for you to learn, there is a God in whom to trust and there is much more strength that you need in order to make it to the end of the journey. Be strong. Hold your head up. Trust in Jesus Christ! The bar will get heavier, the storms will come and go but Jesus will ALWAYS be there!
Please pray for me. Pray that during my next ‘storm’ I’ll remember all of this!

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:30-31 – NIV)

I'm gonna need new sandals...

“Are you sure you want to try this again?” “Can’t you at least ‘water-down’ your message a little? I really hate those floggings… and it’d be wonderful to NOT get kicked out of town for a change.” As I sat on the bus, riding through the Greek countryside a couple of years ago, I wondered if that could have been the ‘Silas’ side of a ‘Paul-Silas’ conversation; a conversation that had taken place as they walked, on foot, in very primitive sandals (no Clarks), along the long winding road from one Greek city to the next. Paul and his ministry associates hit the Macedonian shores and traveled from Philippi to Thessalonica on to Berea then the long road to Athens and Corinth. Yet, although the scenery changed there were a couple of constants. One, Paul continued to share the good news of Jesus Christ and two, people continued to be unhappy with Paul. Things started out poorly in Philippi. They were dragged into the marketplace, tried, stripped and beaten, thrown in jail and yet, in the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns. Of course, that’s what I would have been doing to… oh wait… maybe it’s not.
I’ve been to Philippi. I’ve seen a jail cell much like the one Paul and Silas were thrown into. Maybe the same one they were thrown into. It’s wasn’t a very ‘human-rights friendly’ cell. Actually it makes Alcatraz look like the Ritz-Carlton. It’s dark, cold, underground, full of all types of unidentified ‘creepy-crawlers’ and, the best part, the sewage drain-off was directed in a way that it ran directly through the cells. I’m sure the stench of raw sewage made a huge dent in the appetites of Paul and Silas as they were served there jailhouse cuisine. Excuse me, I’m feeling a little queasy myself.
So they’ve been dragged through the streets of Philippi, stripped and beaten and they got to spend a night in Philippi’s finest. So what now? Is it time for a huge pity-party? Is it time to rethink the ministry plan? Is it time to give up altogether? None of those options were the choice of Paul and Silas. Instead, at midnight, they began to pray and sing hymns. Wow! If this story stopped there that would be a HUGE display of faith and perseverance but, as you know, the story goes on. They get out of jail, tighten up their sandals and move on to the next stop on their whirlwind tour… same message, same result. That pattern repeats itself over and over again. I’m sure Paul was tired, I’m sure he was in pain, I’m sure he was hesitant from time to time but, he kept on doing what Jesus had called him to do… spreading the good news.
I truly believe, years later, as Paul sat in that Roman prison, awaiting his execution, he had not given up. He was planning his next tour-of-duty. His next letter was already a work in progress. He was in the middle of more than one ongoing conversation with other prisoners, trying to lead them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Despite all that he had been through, the jail time, the beatings, the ridicule, the shipwrecks, the stoning and the long, lonely and painful walks from one town to the next Paul never forgot his mission. And he always expected God to keep it going as long as He (God) decided. Paul never veered off course. He kept his eyes on Jesus and he continued to focus his mind’s attention and his heart’s affection on Christ.
Paul knew what his purpose was. Did he enjoy the beatings? Did he find comfort in those dark and putrid jail cells? Was he encouraged by the continued hatred he was shown? I think you know the answer to those questions… of course he didn’t. But, no matter what, he continued to forge ahead for the good of the Kingdom.
What’s in your way? We all have a calling. We’re all ministers - some of us at school, some at home, some at our jobs, some in bridge clubs, some at the mall, some of us in churches across the country. Will you continue to move ahead, 110% committed to the calling Christ has placed on your life? The road IS long. The beatings DO hurt. The discouragement WILL come. I hope I can be like Paul… I want to simply move ahead, focused on Christ… praying and singing even in the most difficult of circumstances.
The reward WILL be amazing!

Do you know how much longer?

Have you ever waited on something? Waited on a phone call? Waited on your food to be delivered to your table? Waited to hear the news regarding a loved one whose health is in jeopardy? Can you remember what it’s like to wait? It’s not easy. I guess, today, it’s because we live in the age of fast food, the internet and microwave ovens. I was upset recently when I had to walk, at least 100 yards, into the convenience store because the gas pump didn’t spit out my receipt after I had used my debit card AT THE PUMP… the nerve of that gas pump. My Palm Pilot definitely didn’t reflect an extra thirty seconds of free time that I could waste walking INTO the store. See what I mean. We live in a city, a nation, a culture that no longer understands the concept of waiting. What does it really mean to wait anyway? Webster says it this way: to stay in place in expectation of, or to remain stationary in readiness or expectation.
So why is it we don’t want to wait? Is it simply that we can’t be still for a period of time, long enough, to actually display any sense of patience? Are we really too busy? If our schedules don’t stay on track and if all of our ‘To-Do’ list items don’t receive the checkmark of completion, how long will it actually be before the world, as we know it, comes crashing down around us?
Sure I’m one of those people who does the ‘way-too-busy’ thing. But I like to think I’m a recovering ‘Busy-holic’. (Is there a support group for that?) But here’s what I think. I think the problem lies in the fact that we (myself most certainly included) have made ourselves far too important and we, without even realizing the degree to which we’ve done it, have greatly diminished the importance of God’s role in our lives. Many years ago, in a world without computers, Palm Pilots, cell phones and Pay-per-View television, the Psalmist wrote these words, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10a) Even then, in a world much less technologically gifted than our current day, the people had to be reminded to ‘Be still…”. Today we need to be reminded again to “Be still…”
I’ve been praying a lot lately. I’ve been praying a lot for God’s guidance concerning a number of issues. During these times of prayer I’ve not been shy about ‘asking’ God for answers, signs, wisdom and peace. I’ve done great at the ‘asking’ part but, as I reflect on it, I realize that my failure has come in the ‘listening’ part; the ‘being still’ part. I sit down a read a book. I sit down and watch a baseball game. I sit down and have a conversation with my wife and children. I sit down and type out a blog. Why do I find it so hard to sit and simply ‘be still and know that He is God’? I think it’s because I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait. God may answer immediately, the way I like it. Or He may wait hours, days, weeks, months or even (gulp) years. I just never know how long it’s going to take. If you tell me how long it’s easier for me to wait. When I’m at a restaurant, waiting to be seated, often times I’m the guy who continually approaches the host or hostess to ask, “Do you know how much longer?” It makes it easier for me to wait. God’s not in the habit of sharing His timetable with me. He just wants me to, “Be still and know…”
What have you been praying about lately? Has God answered? Have you even listened? I mean REALLY listened. Have you waited on God? Or did give up when the time limit YOU established ran out?
I can answer all those questions as they relate to my own life… I just don’t want to tell you what the answers are.

" The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. " (Ecclesiastes 7:8)

No Fear!

I love movies. I especially love movies from days gone by; movies that tell stories; stories that, somehow, I wish I could have been a part of. I recently watched the movie King Arthur for the second time. This time around, as much as I liked many things about the movie, there was one line that spoke volumes to me. At one point in the movie, when his faith in God was called into question, Arthur calmly remarked, “No man fears to kneel before the God he trusts.”
Have you ever asked yourself, “Why don’t I pray more often?”, “Why don’t I take more of my problems to God?” Could it be that there is still a fear that lingers in the remotest part of our minds; a fear that we aren’t good enough; a fear that we’ve somehow disappointed God; a fear that He can’t help us in this specific situation or, even worse, that maybe He’s just too busy to deal with us or has little or no interest in our lives. While all these thoughts are simply not realistic when it comes to our relationship with our Creator, in these situations I think it will serve each of us well to remember the words of King Arthur, “No man fears to kneel before the God he trusts.” We must reach a point in our lives when we are not afraid to approach the throne of God in any situation. Yes, we should maintain a “fear” or “respect” for God but not a fear birthed in our own lack of trust. But rather a respect for who God is, what He has done and for what He can and will do.
We must not and we will not fear the God in whom we genuinely trust and love with all of our heart, with all our soul and with all of our mind!

Note to self... Cling to Jesus!!!

Today, as I drove into work, I was doing a little ‘station-surfing’ on my radio. I came across the song Candle in the Wind by Elton John. Although I’ve never given much deep thought to the song I do know a little about the song. I know it’s his tribute to the life, career and death of Norma Jean Baker, otherwise known as Marylyn Monroe. I also remember that he used the same song, with slightly different lyrics, to honor and say farewell to Diana Frances Spencer, the young lady the world knew as ‘Lady Di’.
One of the things, in regard to the songs lyrics, that I had never actually given much thought to was one particular line in the song… one particular line that left me thinking all the way to the office almost forgetting about the busy I-285 expressway on which I was so treacherously navigating. The line was this, “And it seems to me you lived your life like a candle in the wind never knowing who to cling to when the rain set in…” Isn’t it sad to think that someone as well known, someone as popular, someone with so much prestige and someone with so many people around them, actually lived a life not knowing WHO they could depend on? Even more distressing is the fact that so many people on this earth today, literally surrounded by thousands of people, feel hopeless and all alone while they, and we, yes, everyone of us, has a God who loves us and a Savior waiting to step into our hearts and make an immeasurable difference in our lives; a Savior who wants to walk with us every step of the way so that we would ALWAYS know who to cling to when the rain sets in…
The line in the song that immediately follows that line, in my opinion, says it all. It says this, “And I would have liked to have known you…” Those were the words of Elton John, directed to Norma Jean Baker, but they are also the words of Jesus Christ directed to anyone and everyone who doesn’t know Him personally; to everyone who is confused and wonders if they truly have anyone to cling to when the rain sets in…

No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. (Joshua 1:5)