WRUNG OUT

My recent efforts to live a servant-hearted life have been more wrought with frustration than effective wringout out I would say.  Last fall our family jumped into foster care and a leadership role through our church all the while Hannah and I were both starting new jobs, we decided to home school our 6 year-old  and simultaneously found ourselves in a more demanding stage of parenting.  The last several months could be described as exhausting to say the least.  Joy, hope and contentment have been hard to come by.

When Jesus said that the weary and burdened can come to him for rest did He really mean it?  (Matthew 11:28).  I hope so.  Lately, I found myself having a hard time keeping up with the pace of normal everyday life and the degree of brokenness that surrounds us in the world.  The burden is heavy and the emotional, spiritual and physical toll is exhasuting most days.  I find that my biggest desire is for contentment, a joyful spirit and soulful rest amidst life’s daily struggles. 

I’d thought for a while that maybe my exhaustion was due to a crazy season of life that would come and go with passing time but one such season has inevitable led to another...and another....this has been the pace of life for several years now.  So what I’ve come to realize is that life is full of crazy seasons and that in following God we are promised no different; but the difference is that God promises to be enough in craziness, if only we will let Him.  

Nehemiah told God’s people in a difficult time that, “The Joy of the Lord [was] their strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10).  This is certainly the type of strength and a unique defining characteristic that our wandering world needs to see from those who claim to follow Christ.  Certainly joy that is not contingent on circumstances, deep, authentic, lasting and eternal joy is something that everyone seems to be searching for these days.  We all search for joy in the food we eat, the way we feel, the way we look, the fitness group that we attend or the amount of satisfaction we find in our job.  The trouble is we all have bad says, slow days, sick days or unproductive days and can feel our joy wavering as a result.  Lord we need your everlasting joy more than ever today.  

King David talks about joy and how difficult it can be to attain and maintain.  He says, “restore to my the joy of my salvation,” in Psalm 51:12. As king, David had ample reason to feel satisfied and secure yet he finds himself longing for the deep joy and lasting contentment that we are in search of today.  A “pure heart” and “right” or “steadfast” spirit are prerequisites joy to take root according to David, and I think we should pat attention to what the kind has to say.  

A pure and clean heart, one with a solitary focus, is difficult to come by these days with countless commitments and could be opportunities begging for our attention and our time.  Only by “calling on the Lord [every] evening, morning and at noon,” (Psalms 55:16-17) by continually coming under the promises and teachings of His word throughout the day do we have a chance to maintain a pure heart that is capable of experiencing deep and lasting joy.  

In recent weeks I have felt the need for Christ’s contentment and a lasting joy most in the life of our family.  Kathy Koch says that contentment is “confidently living life as it is,” and I have often been guilty of missing the present, the “as it is,” part of life because am am thinking, worrying or consumed with something that has yet to happen in the future.  This effects Hannah and the boys most of all.  

So when our pastor was talking recently about Ephesians 5 recently and the importance of our wives finding protection and security and safety if the overflow of Christ life and love and joy and contentment in us, “the washing of the water with the word,” this meant something to me.  There are so many times when I have so little to give at the end of the day, no overflow whatsoever, and I have often blamed that on being tired or the craziness of the circumstances going on that day but this excuse is not going to cut it any longer.  The craziness of this world, the brokenness of our culture is only growing more severe and that means that we cannot expect the demands and the “squeeze” on ourselves, our spouses or our kids to lessen over time.  The opposite is likely to occur.  This means that the solution to feeling worn out, tired, wrung out and spent is not just in doing less but also is doing more to continually submit ourselves under the life giving, thirst quenching wate Rolf God’s word and His promised.  Only in doing this are we going to have overflow enough to seep into the hearts and lives of our wives, kids and the parched world around us. 

AWARENESS OF OTHERS

Galatians 3:28 says “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

In Matthew 25:40 Jesus teaches that those who might be forgotten about or overlooked, the “least of these,” are no different than those recognized, accepted or elevated by our culture.  We truly are all on equal footing in the eyes of God.

Here’s a sports clip about a high school basketball player who understood this better than many of us do today.

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TONY HAWK ON POINT WITH DAD GAME

ESPN showcased a video today of skateboarding legend Tony Hawk coaching his daughter in the ways of the craft.

CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO

There is so much I love about his video.  The patience, not at all rushed, completely content and caught up in the moment....the body language, hands poised and ready to catch...the distance, far enough to allow independence yet close enough to instill confidence...then finally the celebration, joyful, ininhibited, unashamed and exuberant.

This is what we have the privilege to do as fathers and dads to our kids.  We get to stand beside them as they grow, learn to take risks, inevitably fall, and also learn to get back up and try again.  We get to be there to help them up when they struggle and celebrate in their greatest and proudest moments.  We get to patiently love them, encourage them and support them as they change and grow.  We get to celebrate who they are and who they were created to be each and every day.

DOES SCRIPTURE MEMORY MATTER?

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE AWESOME....

A LIFE WELL LIVED

Tonight while grabbing the latest ESPN highlights I uncovered the remarkable story of JD Gibbs.  Having lived in Charlotte, NC for nearly 4 years I’ve become increasing familiar with the wild world that is NASCAR racing.  So as I scanned through the highlight headlines the name of Charlotte race team owner Joe Gibbs caught my attention.

As is so often the case, what began as a 3 minute video clip turned into hours of watching other video clips and of me trying to uncover information about the life of JD Gibbs, much of it from a website decicated in his honor. What I discovered is this...

The Joe Gibbs Racing team recently won the Daytona 500 this past weekend.  Not only that they swept the podium with drivers finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd.  This all after the dust settled on a nasty twenty-one car pile-up on lap 190 out of 200, forcing much of the lead group to end the day early.  The team owner and company name sake called these events providential as the winning car driven by Denny Hamlin (a driver discovered by JD a few years back) even sported JD’s favorite number 11 and a special decal honoring his recent passing.  JD died just last month after a 4 year battle with a debilitating brain condition.  The recent Daytona contest was the first race since his passing and the team has dedicated the win to their former fearless leader.

JD Gibbs is the son of former NFL football coach Joe Gibbs. He became a Christian through the ministry of Young Life, passionately loved his God, his family and other people.  He played football in college then joined his father’s fledgling NASCAR team in the 90s.  He started as a pit mechanic, turned driver and ended up as the co-founder and president of the team before being diagnosed with a debilitating brain condition in 2015.  He married his high school sweetheart and together they have 4 sons. The youngest, Taylor, even had a long battle with cancer at the age of 3.  JD lived out a faith that was real, appealing and contagious.   The aroma of his life and the way he loved others right where they were and how they were is an incredible testimony of God’s real, appealing and contagious love for you and I right where we are.  I love what JD’s family has written on his website about the goodness of God in all things in the image at the beginning of this article.

Read more from JD’s dad on walking through adversity by clicking here

Quest for Adventure

"THE GOSPEL" WORD STUDY

The phrase"the gospel" is used 97 time in the new testament by my count. Sixty-five of those references (greater than 2/3) are made by the apostle Paul and it is most commonly used in conjunction with the verb "preach" (35 times). In terms of how to preach the gospel, phrases such as eagerly (Rom 1:15), fully (Rom 15:18), not in cleverness of speech (1 Cor 1:17) are used.  Preach by definition means using words to communicate something of importance.  2 Timothy 4:2 reminds us that we are to “be ready to preach the word, in season and out of season.” 1 Peter 3:15 says that we are “to be ready to give the reason for the hope that we have, but to do this with gentleness and respect.”  Ephesians 6:15 reminds us to “have our feet fitted with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” In Acts 13, Paul is traveling through the city of Antioch on a missionary journey when he is asked by the religious officials if he has any words to say.  On moments notice, Paul proceeds to give a very detailed, prepared, succinct presentation of God’s redemptive work throughout all of history and the significance of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection for our lives.   Cleary Paul was prepared and ready should a chance ever arise to share about the most important thing in his life which he believed to be the most needed thing in the lives of his listeners.

Adjectives used to describe the gospel:  Glorious (1 Tim 1:11), gospel of hope (Col 1:23), gospel of peace, life bringing (2 Tim 1:10). It is the gospel of God’s kingdom (Mt 9:35) and it is the power of God (Rom 1:16). It is the word of truth (Col 1:5, Gal 2:5,14).

Who the gospel is for: the poor [in spirit] (Mt 11:5, Luke 7:22) but veiled to some (2 Cor 4:3).

Verbs that tell us what action we are to take with the gospel: Preach (35 times), further (Phil 2:22), live in a manner worthy of (Phil 1:27), defend (Phil 1:16), do all things for the sake of (Phil 1:12, 1 Cor 9:23), not hinder (1 Cor 9:12), repent before believing in (Mk 1:15), pass on (1 Thes 2:8), be stewards of (1 Thes 2:4, Gal 2:7), work in (1Thes 3:7), obey (2 Thes 1:8), lose life for (Mk 8:25), leave family for (Mk 10:28), be set apart for (Rom 1:1).   

DEPENDENT RESPONSIBILITY

One morning recently Hannah and I were both in the bathroom getting ready for the day, I think she was straightening her hair and I was putting in my contacts.  She started to tell me about something great she had heard in her ladies Bible study on The Transforming Power of the Gospel by Jerry Bridges.   She went on to say that in the book Jerry was able to succinctly and successfully describe the mysterious relationship we human beings have with the God of the universe, clearly a relationship not one of us has any business being part of by the way, but regardless, he said that man's relationship with God can best be described as DEPENDENT RESPONSIBILITY. I didn't fully grasp the magnitude of such a profound statement at 7 AM in the morning with only 1 contact in but the more I have thought about these two words, the more I realize it to be incredibly true.  

We are 100% dependent and at the mercy of God's will, but yet responsible for our choices, we are dependent upon his sovereignty yet responsible for our actions, and we are dependent on God's leading, and yet still responsible to take steps in faith towards that end.  As a good friend once reminded me, like every good quarterback, God hits moving targets.

While it is true that we should strive to make wise, smart, God-honoring choices, our efforts to do such should not get in the way of our ceaseless dependence on Him.  For example, our family is currently planning a cross-country move from Texas to North Carolina. The details of selling a house and finding a new one, all in the matter of two months have been enough to keep this old cowboy up at night from time to time.  I have frequently thought about the words dependent responsibility the last several weeks but it was my sweet wife who again reminded me tonight that there is a stark contrast between dependent responsibility and obsessive responsibility.  If one's not careful our desire to be, or at least feel, "in control" can masquerade as responsibility when really it nothing more than unhealthy obsession.  Obsession exhausts it's owner and will quickly rob a person of the peace, comfort and rest that God designed to flow from our dependence on him.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Lean on on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will direct your steps."   Proverbs 3:5-6  

OUR BROKEN WORLD

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."      
                                                                                  -  Rev. 21:4

Yesterday as we traveled home from spending Easter with family, we listened to March Madness on the radio.  Someone between getting food and and getting gas, the tone in the announcer's voice changed and it caught my attention.  I turned up the volume to hear what had happened.  One of the Louisville basketball players had broken his leg on a routine play.  

Once we got home I watched the video in disbelief.   He had made that move thousands of times in his career, jumping to contest an opponents shot, and for some reason this time his leg snapped in two. Why?

There is no answer this side of heaven aside from the reminder of the reality of the broken world we live in.  Not forever, but for now, we live in a world with pain, brokenness, weak bones, disappointment, hurt, at times death, and even the frustration of Easter weekend traffic on I-35. This is the reality of the world we live in but I am ever more thankful for the hope, power and purpose that Christ's life and resurrection brings in the desperate situation we find ourselves in.  The new life found in him provides joy in the midst of our pain, completeness in the midst of our brokenness, healing to our weak bodies and bones, purpose to our disappointment, peace in the midst of hurting, the promise of life despite the inevitable reality of death and even comfort when you find yourself stuck in traffic.  

Perhaps this outlook was what allowed Paul to say things like, "For me, to live is Christ, but to die is gain." And we, like Paul, should balance our eager yearning to go home one day with the steady resolve to exalt  Christ as the sole solution to the broken world we find ourselves in. 

BIBLE HISTORY

-Exodus
-Joshua takes into promised land
-Israel wants a king - Saul
-David next, then Solomon who builds temple, no good king after that 
-722 BC- Assyrians take over north (all kings evil)
-840 BC - Babylonians take over south (Judah).  1/2 good kings and 1/2 bad.
- Persians take over both - 2 Chronicles - Cyrus releases some Jews back to Jerusalem (Ezra and Nehemiah written during this time. 

THREE TYPES OF SIN

"Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin [sinfulness] is ever before me." Psalm 32:1:2 and 51:2-3.

King David gives us a perfect example of what true confession looks life.  Repeatedly throughout the psalms he uses three different words to describe his shortcoming before a holy God.

1. SIN - this is where we miss the mark despite our best efforts to do the right thing.

2. INIQUITY - A gradual drift away from the things of God because we are selfish at the core and prone to wander away from our Good Shepherd.  In 2 Samuel Ch. 5, David starts to make decisions that go against God's instructions for kings in Deuteronomy Ch. 17. Here begins the gradual compromise of David's purity that ultimately lead to his affair with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel Ch. 11. 

3. TRANSGRESSION - The most serious of the three.  This is a willful, intentional, defiant act in opposition to what we know is right.  David's gradual drift brings him to a point where he no longer desires to pursue the things of God.  His heart has become hardened to God's promises and he chooses to do what is blatantly wrong despite being warned (2 Samuel 11:3).  He then follows this transgression with several more in attempt to cover up his error.

In confession we should be aware of all three levels of our disobedience and not only confess our shortcomings, but repent (turn from them) and pursue God's presence once again.

MARCHING ORDERS

Matthew 10

PRONE TO WANDER

"Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love..."

Truth is the tether that ties the large balloon that is our ego to the armchair of God centered reality.  Without it we are left to float aimlessly about at the mercy of our own selfish imagination.

I have found that I regularly need to hear God's word and the words of men who reflect upon it if I am to stay grounded to God's purpose and His glory.  It's amazing how quickly I can become off kilter, self centered and unbalanced.  I rely heavily on the gentle tug of God's spirit speaking through his word to nudge me back in the direction I ought to go.   For this I am so thankful.

Last edited 1/24/12 ddb

FAME...

FAME...a False Assessment of Meaningful Existence. First Tiger Woods, now Lance Armstrong....as America's athletic heroes fall from grace one by one, forced to confess the ugly details of their tainted pasts, I cannot help but think on the emptiness of the idols we worship in this world. Theologian Peter Kreeft once wrote that "the opposite of following Christ is not atheism but idolatry," and this has never been more evident than it is today.





In the end, Inevitably, we all worship something.  The real question is whether we will put our faith, hope and trust entirely in God to sustain, satisfy and save our souls or instead spend out lives aimlessly chasing after one thing and then another until we have wasted all our time, thought and talent on empty living and a meaningless existence with nothing to show of Christ or anything that truly matters.

I think C.S. Lewis captured it best when he said, "It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Last edited ddb 1/23/12

THE COMPLEXITY OF BEING SIMPLE

Home at last!  After a great time visiting family over Christmas, we finally rolled into the driveway about ten o'clock at night. By eleven, I was still unloading.  I had carried in the endless bags of baby presents and and only needed to squeeze my bike into the garage before I could finally head in and collapse into bed.  No luck.  For Christmas, my brother had bought me a new set of handlebars, and it was those awesome, new handlebars that were preventing my bike from fitting into its usual space.  As I was bending, folding, and wiggling the bike into every possible position but to no avail, it dawned on me that oftentimes the things we "want" so badly in life to add completeness instead bring complexity and chaos. As Robert Downing said in 1855, maybe less really is more.


While we are told to be good stewards of all we have, having lots of stuff can be a great burden to say the least.  As any homeowner will tell you, it takes a great deal of water, effort and money to keep a lawn growing and green.  And all that so we can spend every other Saturday mowing it down to repeat the process again and again.  It's completely crazy!   In Matthew 5:8, Jesus offers these words, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."  Perhaps the reason so many of us struggle to see God's presence in our daily lives is that our vision is clouded by our heart's pursuit of other things, thoughts and desires to the point that we have to time, attention or affection to place anywhere else. 

Sometimes the sweetest things in life truly are the simplest.  For all of us, there will be undoubtedly be times of abundance and times of need.  It takes great faith and security in something greater that this world to find contentment in every season of life.  The Apostle Paul expressed this difficult reality when he wrote to the Philippians in 4:11-13 by saying, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."  Only by remembering that everything we see, touch, taste and hear comes from the mighty hand of God will we be able to see our earthly trappings for what they truly are- an avenue to spreads God's love and His glory to those who need it most.   

"I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why"

These timeless lyrics from this 1992 Alabama hit unfortunately depict the lives of far too many of us. People are hurrying today just like they were in 1992 and it was no different in Jesus' day.  Jesus was specifically to these hurried and busied people in Luke12:16-20 when he said, "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.  He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

Perhaps the best way to experience true satisfaction in life is not by doing, buying, seeing, experiencing, tasting or trying the next greatest thing, or by building bigger barns to fill with our stuff, but by being still.  Still enough to see, contemplate and appreciate the greatness and holiness of our God. Only then will our vision by clear enough to stay fixed on the task and hand and our heart pure enough to live out that calling each and every day. 

Last edited ddb 1/23/13     

LIVING FOR HOPE

IDENTITY

SNAKES AND STONES

"Is there a man among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" - Matthew 7:9-11

Two months ago I became a Dad.  It is amazing to experience the abundance of love you possess for a tiny blob of life that poops, sleeps and eats....and sometime smiles.  I truly love and want the best for my son, but my love is far from perfect.  I know I will falter many times but God's love never will. He wants to provide the best to a level I will never be able to reach regardless of how hard I try as a father.  

We have to remember the how good of a Dad our heavenly father is, especially when life takes its unexpected turns.  Trials and difficult circumstances can feel like obstacles, set backs or even punishments that have been set before us. How can a good God, who is all-powerful allow such things to happen?  Surely he saw it coming right?  Why didn't he stop it?  Perhaps the things in our lives that initially feel like snakes and stones are really fish and bread that God has sent to provide for his people a deeper love, devotion, trust and abiding sense of peace for his people.

CHRISTIAN LEGACY

HUMBLED AND NOT HINDERED

I was recently asked the question of where I find Jesus on a daily basis. I found it difficult to answer.

In short, I think it depends. There are times when I see Him everywhere and also those that I find him nowhere at all.  There is rarely much in between for me because it all starts with my attitude.  Humility is absolutely essential for me.  Greg Slayton defines humility by saying "it [humility] is having an accurate view of your strengths and weaknesses and a true understanding of your place in God's universe."  Often times I drift into this false reality that the world and everything in it revolves around me.  If you've been in an airplane that climbed to a few hundred feet and seen the thousands of houses splayed out below, you've experienced the humbling reality of how small you and I truly are.  A hike to the beautiful mountains or a trip to the pounding surf of the ocean has the same effect on me and I am reminded of how powerless I really am.  

This humility coupled with the constant awareness of my shortcomings leads to a healthy brokenness in my life.  Have this appreciation for my brokenness only comes through time in God's word.  The pages of scripture echo the resounding theme of God's unfailing love for me despite the fact that I constantly fall short of His holiness. This understanding helps us to realize our need for him all the more and keeps us humble.  Humility like this sets off a domino reaction of thankfulness, worship and praise in my life.   The result is that I begin to see Jesus in everything I do.  In the conversation with the greeter on the way to work, in the normal everyday delivery, in the heartbeat that you get to hear in that patient, etc.

In the same way that we must implement habits into our life that help us draw near to the Lord, we also must recognize and remove those things that deter us from Him.

Hebrews 12:1 reads, "...let us throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us you with perseverance the race marked out."

Hindrances and sins are two difference things, but both will keep us for the Lord.  Sins are obvious to most people; they are usually easy to identify and hard to deal with.  Hindrances though, are much subtler.  These are often morally neutral things, that have grown to play an unhealthy role in our life.  Hindrances are things that distract, detract or distance us from the chief goal of bringing honor and glory to our savior and Lord. These are often both hard to identify and to deal with.

Only when we set aside these things, and do so consistently, will we find the freedom to run the race that God has set out for us.

last edited: ddb 11/17/12

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

"But seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well."  - Mt. 6:33.  

These words of Jesus are so simple and attractive, yet very difficult to live out.  Where does a person  begin to find "His Kingdom" and does one start seeking after it?

Jesus knew his disciples, both then and now, would struggle with this question and he sought to answer it  in the 13th chapter of Luke.  He begins by asking, "What is the kingdom of God like? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of floor until it worked all the way through."  (Luke 13:20-21).

Baking bread was familiar to everyone in Jesus' time.  People in that time understood the effort required to kneed yeast through a large ball of dough and they knew well the visual transformation that takes place when yeast takes action and bread begins to rise.  This visual picture is lost of some of us today.

Perhaps a modern picture, more familiar to us all, is the spread of cancer in the human body.  Few words carry as heavy an impact in our society as cancer does today.  It is a truly frightening condition that has touched each of us in some way, shape or form.  Hence, we are all too familiar with the slow, hidden transformation that can take place inside a person's body, and the drastic visual changes that cancer can have on the way a person looks or acts.   Cancer of any kind, be it of the skin or brain, is the result of repetitive insults and invasions to our cells causing them to become altered and grow in abnormal ways.  These altered cells, if left unattended, can spread to other organs in the body unleashing a domino effect of destruction that cannot be stopped despite even the best modern day medicine has to offer.  

In the same way that bread with yeast is completely different from bread without, and that cells with cancer behave very differently than cells without, a human life seeking after the kingdom of God and one seeking after anything else look completely different.

Paul writes in Romans 7:21-25, "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me prisoner to the law of sin at work within my member.  What a wretched man I am!"

Seeking the kingdom of God is so difficult because of the selfishness that lives in us all.  Like bread requiring yeast to be pounded into it through and through or a human cell that can only be changes by repetitive insult and injury, you and I are in need of a forceful change at the deepest level.  This forceful change can only come by way of God's word which is "living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12).  Only by making ourselves vulnerable to God's word over and over again, by allowing it to pound away at the depths of who we are, allowing ourselves to be broken and changed, do we stand any chance at seeking the kingdom of God.

However when change begins to happen, when the selfishness that we like to live by is replaced by a spirit of service and a desire to give away one's life instead of keep it, that is God's kingdom.  In the same way that bread with yeast rises, our lives will start to look different.  The alterations in our priorities and values will spread like cancer through out bodies, causing our arms and legs to take action in service to others.  Our eyes will be changed as we look for ways to serve others rather than be served.  Our minds will be changed so that we look out not for our own interests but instead for the interests of others.  Living out the kingdom of God comes quite naturally once we start seeking it and the seeking begins by daily placing ourselves before God's word.  

STRIVING FOR THE GOSPEL

There are three things people often strive after in life, possessions, pleasures and projects.  I mostly struggle with the third.  I absolutely love projects.  Maybe it's the challenge or the sense of accomplishment that comes with taking something old and making into something with purpose again.

The apostle Paul would argue that there is only one thing to strive for in this life, and that is the gospel.  There are three components Paul mentions to "living a life worthy of the gospel." One of those is "striving together for faith in the gospel.  My most recent project involved fixing up a bike.  I cannot begin to describe to you the focus and attention I devoted to digging through dumpsters, combing alleyways and searching the internet for spare parts to complete my project.   I'm embarrassed to admit the amount of time, energy and thought I spent in doing all this but I now have a true understanding of what it means to strive.  What if we sought after the gospel in this way?  What you and I gave that amount of time, attention , focus and thought to both knowing the Lord in a new way and making his fame and hope known to those God has placed in our path.

last edited: ddd 11/17/12

DISCIPLESHIP

When Jesus left Earth, he instructed his followers to "go and make disciples of all nations." He wanted the story of his great love for all people to be told around the world. The act of doing this, of making disciples, is discipleship.

The real question is, how is this done?

A wise man once talk me that discipleship is teaching somebody how to do something until they are ready to go and teach someone else. That degree of teaching takes commitment, patience and the existence of a genuine love for another person. You have to forgive the failures that come with learning and endure the pain of watching someone you care about struggle.

Others have said that discipleship is pouring yourself and your life into the life of another person. This picture of one cup pouring into a second cup out of its excess is truthful but in some ways lacking.  The reality of discipleship is not meant to be this tidy or unidirectional.

Perhaps a better picture is one of  two cups, both filled to varying degrees, bumping into one another so that a portion of the water from one cup calls into the other.  Water inevitably spills in the process and not all the water that was intended for the other cups sticks. This is discipleship.

In this age of independence and self sufficiency, we must constantly look for opportunities to share our cup and our lives (2 Thes 2:8) with others.  The end result is the blessing of catching the overflow from the cup of another and giving away what God has provided to us.

A life of discipleship, one that is emptied our of the overflow from within must see to it that measures are taken to be continually refilled.

last edited: ddb 11/17/12

SPEAKING TRUTH

Ephesians 4:25 - "Therefor each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor."

What does it mean to speak truthfully to our neighbors and who are our "neighbors" anyway?

A neighbor is anybody you cross paths with on a regular basis during day to day life. This could be friends, coworkers, people who live next door, or even people you don't know well but keep bumping into. When we interact with others we are told to be truthful and not false. This is easier said than done. In 1 Thessalonians 2:8, Paul writes, "We loved you so much that we were eager to share with you not only the gospel but our lives as well."

One of the best ways to put simple substance to the complexity of gospel is to honestly share the details of our lives with others.  This could be as simple as talking about our kids, families or what we did over the weekend in a friendly, non judgmental, loving way. Most of the time though, we make small talk and say  things "our neighbors" want to hear. We typically don't bring up church, or bible studies or issues of faith for fear  of ruffling feathers and making others uncomfortable. While this is very considerate, it makes it difficult for Christ's light to shine through our lives. How will our neighbors know of the hope and difference that God's truth makes if our ultimate goal is to blend in with the darkness that envelopes our culture. Our goal should not be to blend end but to shine brilliantly in a gentle, caring and considerate way.

1 Peter 3:15 says to "always be prepared to give the reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect."

With discernment and patient, we can speak respectfully, gently, and truthfully to those around us about the faith we have and the difference it has made in our life.

last edited: ddb 11/17/12

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DIE?

This one is a work in progress....more to come

Paper napkin theology of the end times

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This idea was taught to me by pastor Gregg in Houston. You can outline the end times very simply with three arrows and two lines!

1. UP ARROW - the rapture. Christ comes for his church

2. SQUIGGLY LINE - Tribulation. Seven years of calamity

3. DOWN ARROW - 2nd Coming. Christ comes with his church

4. STRAIGHT ARROW - Millennium. 1000 reign of Christ with his people

5. FORWARD ARROW - Eternity. Heavenly paradise forever

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DIE - This is a great questions that I don't think anybody fully know the answer to. Here is what I have been taught from the Bible.

For people who lived before Jesus was resurrected:
- Non believers will go to a place called Hades or Sheol which is a place of isolation where people wait for final judgment.
- Believers will go to a place called "Abraham's Bosom" which is similarly a holding place of peace before the great white throne judgment. (Luke 16)

For people after the resurrection:
- Nonbelievers still go to Hades/Sheol
- Believers go straight to heaven. Luke 23:43 - "Today you will be with me in paradise."

RAPTURE (1 Thes 4:13-18, Revelation 4-5) - Some people feel like the rapture will come after the tribulation but I think it will come before. Here are a couple of reason why

- Throughout the Bible, God often protects and removes believers before his judgment or wrath is carried out. Examples include Noah, Moses, Rehab and Lot.
- This view fits with the chronological order of the book of revelation.
- The word "church" in not found in the Bible during chapters 6-19 of Revelation which details the tribulation.

In regards to the rapture, we are told that "the dead in Christ will rise first" (1 Thes 4:16). This means that the souls believers in Christ who have died after the resurrection will come out of the graves and join Christ in the sky. Next, followers of Christ who are alive when he returns will "be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thes 4:17). This will all begin with a trumpet call (v. 16). I am not sure if all people will hear this or only those who are being called to join the Lord. Whatever the case, this will be a bizarre time when people are present one moment and gone the next. Whether our actual physical bodies will be taken or left behind I'm not sure but I hope that those who are left behind realize what has taken place and start reading the Bible of their freinds who have been taken away. The choas from removing believers from the earth will likely be the catalyst that propels the antichrist to power and signals the beginning of the tribulation.

TRIBULATION (2 Thes 2, Revaltion 6-19) - On the heels of chaos and confusion caused by the rapture, and as the world heads towards the tribulation, the Antichrist will rise to power. This will be a person that unites the world as one and ultimately calls all people to worship him. The tribulation will begin with 3 1/2 years of peace and the signing of a treaty with Israel but this will be followed by 3 1/2 years of calamity in which Christians will be martyred for their faith.

The possibility of a one-world power is becoming more and more a reality in recent years.

• Advances in media and technology would allow for global communication that could unify the entire world under the command of a single regime.
• Economic instability in the United States and abroad has people more eager than ever to find a new currency to use as the economic standard. Already the euro is in place
• The formation of the European union would be a prime starting point for a leader to take control
  
• The decline of America currently will leave a void that the one world power could step in and fill
• The political correctness with which people view religion currently is setting the stage for the Antichrist's efforts to unify all faiths and ultimately cause people to worship him.
  

"We do not need another committee. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of the people, and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man, and be he God or the Devil, we will receive him” -Paul Henry Spack, former Secretary General of NATO, 1957

"The goal of studying prophecy is godliness."

1 Thes 4:18 "encoruage one another with these words"

CHASING CHRISTMAS' SHADOWS

"....These are a mere shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." - Col 2:17

Do you ever find yourself giddy with excitement and expectation as the holidays approach only to be left a sense of subtle sadness when their end comes all too soon.  Thought of returning to work and the normal routine becomes repulsive in light of the fun and freedom that comes with a much needed break. Perhaps we focus too much on the celebration or the people involved in our holiday get togethers rather than the reason for and behind it all. It's interesting that during this time of year when our hearts and eyes should be most set on our God that we find ourselves the furthest away, making excuses for our lack of spiritual focus, telling ourselves well get back on track once the holidays are over.

Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day is no different than any other day when it comes to our role and place in the world. We exist to make much of our God. I can't think of any better time that the holidays to share the love of Christ with others or a better reason to look forward to going back to work and the routine when the holidays are over.

Joy to the World. I thank God that we get 365 days of the year and not just one to share with the world the great things our God has done. Christ needs to be shared on the Monday after Thanksgiving, December 26th, and January 4th and March 22nd, ans so on, just as much as he needs to be shared on Thanksgiving or Christmas day.

This holiday season, my hope for you and me, is that we might find ourselves looking more to the substance of the person of Christ than to the mere shadows of Him that we see might find in food, fun and laughter with family alone. Have a great holiday season!

BATTLING THE BUSYNESS

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish." - Luke 14:28-30

Many of us set out with big plans to live a God-filled life...but rarely get past laying the foundation.  Progress halts quickly once resources like time, energy and effort start run thin.  The best intentions and the most earnest, heartfelt desires can so easily be brushed aside to make room for the busyness of everyday life.

A friend and I were talking about the subtle differences between busyness and business the other day.  I found this very interesting.  Websters defines business as "movements and actions that accomplish an objective or mission," where as busyness is defined as, "cluttered with detail to the point of being distracting".  Strange that a single letter can make such a subtle difference in the meaning of a word.

Isn't it the subtle busyness of our lives these days that often detracts and distracts us from pursuing the "business" of Christ's kingdom and work like we should or originally intended.  For most of us it’s not the bad things in our lives that keep us from the Lord, it is the sheer number of good things we try to manage that gets us in trouble.  

I find these words from CS Lewis Screwtape Letters very telling:

[From Screwtape to Wormwood]...There is only one thing we can do. We must redouble our efforts. We must do everything we can to make sure that these humans do not believe in Jesus. And if they do believe then make them lukewarm and too busy with other things to be of any use to him.

We have some reason to hope. Much of the media help us. And there is such a climate of pleasure-seeking and materialism that often the Christians aren't any different from anybody else. Many Christians are uncommitted. Some are hypocrites. And we have got many sincere people convinced they are so guilty that they have no hope. Others are bitter and have closed their ears to the message of the Ressurection. Others are just self-satisfied and only care about now...

Are you too busy right now with entertainment, activities and stuff to be of much use to the Lord and his kingdom?  Is your life complicated and heart cluttered to the point your you can't carry out the Lord's business in the best way possible each day? Maybe it's time to take inventory and clean house. Maybe it's time to set some other things aside so you can go back to building upon the foundation of your faith and pour into the kingdom of God. 

ON BEING CLEVER

There was once a professor by the name of Bartlew who studied at Glaskow University in Scotland.  Upon graduation with his doctorate degree, the professor set out to do several other things before eventually settling into the pasturing of a local church.  One day while walking around the town, this young pastor bumped into a elderly woman from his congregation.  They talked about this and that for a while until the professor asked the lady how she was liking the services and fellowship at the church.  The lady astutely replied, "I think you are a very nice man revered but I can't understand a thing you say."

The young professor instantly realized his error and this conversation would change the course of his life.  He came to believe that the true mark of cleverness is not sounding smart or having sound logic but being able to take the really difficult to understand things in life and make them sound simple.  He would go on to write two fine books entitled: The Plain Man's Guide to Prayer and The Plain Man's Guide to the Bible. 

We should do the same with own talk about God and about the Bible.

"Anybody can make something sound difficult but you have to be quite smart to take a difficult concept and make it sound simple."  - Allistair Begg. 

TRUE GREATNESS

"The proper measure of our spiritual condition is the quality of our lives, which is measured by such attributes as lowliness, gentleness and longsuffering (Eph 4:2). "Bearing with one another in love" is a good indication that we are moving towards God's goal for us.
- Julie Ackerman Link, OUR DAILY BREAD

"Their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wished to become great among you shall be your servant." - Mt 20:25-26

We like to leverage out God given gifts and talents against the doings of others in order to show ourselves great or at least better than average. We get caught up in how we're doing compared to the next guy and live in fear that we will go unnoticed and unwanted, eventually succumbing to a life on the streets with beans and rice for dinner. We fear failure like crazy and crave attention like nothing else forgetting all the while what it really means to suffer. We forget the millions who have no food at all for fear that we will have too little. We think that by accomplishing things that we stand out, earn respect and that people will only listen to those who succeed in life. The desire to succeed has become incredibly strong in our culture and success is more commonplace and competitive today that it has ever been. If truth be told, success is rather commonplace and the most inspiring individuals and the people that truly stand out in life are those whose lives are dedicated to others.

I think about Welles Crowther, an ex Boston College lacrosse player who sacrificed his life in the South Tower of the world trade center 10 years ago by repeatedly leading groups of people to the only remaining exit in the burning building before it eventually collapsed on top of him.

I think about men and women in our town who give their time each week to mentor a student at a local school. They become a friend, a hero, and the first example of loyalty and consistence that these kids have ever known.

These are true examples of what it means to be great and a light in a dark place. Louie Zamperini, a POW for two long years during WWII hits the nail on the head when he talks about how we pick heros all wong these days, focusing on accomplishment rather than character. Accomplishment, which no doubt turns heads and catches people's attention for a moment will always fade in the absence of character. Think about all the sports stars and hollywood names who have achieved stardom only to fade and be fogeottne by age 50. Character consistent with service and humilty, the type of character that Jesus often speaks of when he mentions greatness, is what truly sets a person apart.

"Do nothing out of rivaly or selfish reasoning, but with humility of mind regard one another as more impmortant than yourselves...so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." - Phil 2:3,11

Our service should not be in pursiut of greatness for greatness sake but should be to the honor and glory of our God, the giver of life, who deserves praise for all things.

It is this attitude of embracing service and humble living that allows us to trust God in all things. In sickness and in health, in times of much and in times of little we can trust that God will continue to sustain us and give us just what we need to do what we were created to do - make much of him. Joseph (Genesis 37-50) is a great example of this. He lived the life of peaks an valleys, trusting his God each step of the way. The son of a good father, deserted and left for dead, the butler for a rich prince, prisoner in a dungeon, and assistant to the king. As Christians we are not guaranteed that things will go as planned, likely they will be difficult at times but we can live in hope, rest in peace and live a life defined by lowliness, gentleness and love because we know that our God is with us and he is enough - no matter what.

FINDING YOUR PLACE

Great words from CS Lewis:

To Become Really Doggy

"True personality lies ahead—how far ahead, for most of us, I dare not say. And the key to it does not lie in ourselves. It will not be attained by development from within outwards. It will come to us when we occupy those places in the structure of the eternal cosmos for which we were designed or invented. As a colour first reveals its true quality when placed by an excellent artist in its pre-elected spot between certain others, as a spice reveals its true flavour when inserted just where and when a good cook wishes among the other ingredients, as the dog becomes really doggy only when he has taken his place in the household of man, so we shall then first be true persons when we have suffered ourselves to be fitted into our places. We are marble waiting to be shaped, metal waiting to be run into a mould."

--from "Membership" (The Weight of Glory)

DOES PRAYER WORK?

Matthew 7:7 says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

John 15:7, "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

Verses such as these seem to support the claim that God answers prayer but often our experiences do not. Many of us have prayed for a loved one to be healed, for a struggle to end, or for God to see us through a precarious situation, only to have our prayers unanswered. How is it that sometimes God answers our requests and other times he doesn't? Does God really hear or answer our prayers? Is praying even worth it?

I think part of the reason we often think God doesn't answer our prayers is that we don't realize when he does. God answers prayers every day, all day long for things we didn't even think to ask him for. We don't think to ask God for each breath or each new day. We don't pray to see one more sunrise of spend one more day with people we love. We forget that God is holding all things and all life together and he's doing it all around us. Thinking about life this way makes the world look very different and we finally start to realize how blessed we are. Even the person in the greatest despair has been blessed beyond measure by the grace of God.

So, our dissatisfaction with how God operates is not rooted in the fact that God doesn't answer prayers as much as it is in that we don't like his answers or when he gives them. I once heard somebody say that God always answers prayers in one of three ways - yes, no, or not yet. This is a simplified way to think about things but it drives home the fact that an answer can take other forms besides the "yes" that we long to hear.

So really the problem is not that God doesn't answer prayers, it's that he doesn't always say yes when we want him to. But doesn't the Bible say things like "ask and it will be given to you" and "ask for anything in my name and I will do it"? These two verses simply tell us to pray. Here are two more verses that tell us more about how to pray.

John 14:13-14 says, "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

1 John 5:14, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. "

HOW TO PRAY - So according to the Bible, we are supposed to ask "in his name" (which basically means with the reputation of his name in mind) and "according to his will". This changes everything. The Westminster Confession accurately establishes that "The chief end of man is to glorify God." If this is the case, then his will becomes more important than our will and his glory more of a priority than our own. Praying in this way means that the focus of our prayers becomes the Lord instead of ourselves. We see this several times throughout the scriptures. In John 11, right before Jesus is about to raise Lazarus from the dead he prays, "Father I thank you that you heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe you sent me." In 1 Kings 19, before God consumes an ox in fire, Elijah prayed, "Today let it be known that you are God of Israel and that I am your servant (basically that I amount to nothing) and have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me that these people may know that you are God." In both examples the reason for prayer was completely for God to get the glory. How many of our prayers are designed like that?

This is a hard to swallow. Essentially this means that the way God answers our prayers will always been in line with his will, and that his answer will at times be different than our requests. This means that our prayers for healing might not always be answered and that God allows "bad things" to happen because they are a part of his will. How is God good in all this? God is good and not cruel because his will is different than ours. His will is long term and spans for all eternity while ours is short term and limited by our lifetime. In the same way that a parent might allow their child to experience temporary pain or "badness" for their better growth and good, God uses all things in our life for our spiritual growth and or the growth of others which is glorifying to him.

WHY PRAY - One question cannot be avoided in all this. If God really is sovereign and already knows his will for our life, why should we bother to pray? If we can't change the outcome of things, why does praying even matter?

We pray for several reasons. One reason we pray is to strengthen our own faith. Praying helps to remind us of all the ways God is working around us and brings to our attention blessings that we ordinarily ignore. Try keeping track of prayers and ways that God is answering them and I think you will be amazed at the extent of God's grace. Seeing God work day in and out reminds us how faithful he is and strengthens our faith to trust him more in the future.

The other reason we pray is for the benefit of others. God is the world's best parent and he loves to give gracious gifts to his children so that his goodness can be made known. If we never ask God for anything, we deny God the opportunity to show himself great to the rest of the world.

ONE BREATH = ONE VERSE

"Godly men die in the bible all the time in just one verse, and in the next, God's story continues. It will be no different with you and I." - Matt Chandler

We are each small pieces of a much bigger thing that God is doing. We cannot forget that. We like to live like the world revolves around us and think that we are needed by God in order for God to get glory. Neither of those things are true.

Psalm 39:5 says, "Each man's life is but a breath." We have no control over when the breath that is our life starts or ends, we can only choose what we will do with our breath today. Will we invest it to speak, act, think and live for the God who created us and redeemed our life from the pit that is our self or will we spend it cheaply on our own musings?

ON SCHEDULE

"This day's been crazy, but everything's happened on schedule"

- Derek Webb, singer / songwriter for Caedmon's Call

I specifically remember a time in my life when the way I looked at the world and the God who created it changed completely. I was a senior in college, playing basketball for the school and about to start my final semester. It was an exciting time. One particular day was extra exciting because I had just picked my girlfriend of 1 year up from the airport who was moving from Texas to California so we could spend more time together. Hannah (now my wife) had found a job as a nanny just 5 minutes from where I lived and long distance dating was finally over!

Ironically, my mood that day as I picked her up was not pure excitement like I had pictured it in the days leading up to her arrival. I had lots on my mind and Hannah could tell so we drove to a park by the beach to take a walk. I began to tell Hannah of all the frustrations I was feeling with the basketball team and my whole transfer to the west coast not working out like I had expected. Just a few days earlier I had read Lamentations 3:37-38 and couldn't seem to shake these words from my head: "Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?" I shared these verses with Hannah as we sat down on a curb, overlooking the beach and the setting sun. I was in one of the most beautiful places on earth, with the most beautiful girl I've ever met and all I could do was cry.

I'm pretty sure I freaked Hannah out real bad that day. Our first day together in the same city didn't go anything like either of us predicted but I'm thankful she didn't give up on me then. The heavy heart and weight on my soul that I was feeling at the time came from the fact that I was realizing for the first time in my life that things wouldn't always go "good" in my life, and worst of all, that God had designed it that way.

For most of my life prior, I had tried with heroic human efforts to ensure that things went well. I studied hard, did the right things, ate healthy, exercised and when I did get sick, took medicine and my vitamins so that I could get better quick. I didn't like it when things weren't right. I never liked being injured, or worn out, or tired and I found myself constantly waiting for things to get better again so life could resume as normal. The strange thing was that before one thing could get completely better, something new always seemed to happen. Every time.

People often talk about how they want to rely on God more or be someone who lives by faith like the disciples did. They talk about how they need to read their bible more and be better about prayer but I'm not sure this is where relying on God really begins. Reading the bible will lead to more spiritual head knowledge which can give a person a false sense of spirituality but not true dependence on God. What I'm learning lately is that dependence often doesn't require a change in action as much as it does a change in perspective. You and I are dependent on God, utterly dependent in fact, the problem is that we just don't realize it. We quickly forget that at a moment's notice our heart could stop, we could be involved in an accident or receive a phone call that a loved one had died and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. We are ultimately not in charge even though we often feel like we are.

Reliance on God begins by changing our perspective on life to acknowledge that God is ultimately in control and that both good and bad times are meant to be used for his glory and his kingdom. If we choose to only live for the 10% of life that we consider good, fun, or exciting then we are missing out on 90% of what he had for us.

Just today I asked a classmate up at school how he was doing and his response was telling. "I'm good man, just glad to not have a cold anymore." Isn't that the perspective most of us have on life?

This is why Derek's Webb lyric is so great. To us life seems out of control, bad and crazy but to our heavenly father, things are right on schedule. We can save ourselves the heartache of trying to avoid, get through or get over the hard times in life if we will instead embrace them and the fact that our God is incredibly good and using everything for his glory - which is what it's all about right?

WAITING ON DEATH

This is not one of mine. It was shared with me by my parents and is written by David Roper for Our Daily Bread.

"I have a dear friend who served as a missionary in Suriname for many years, but in his final years he was stricken with an illness that paralyzed him. At times he wondered why God allowed him to linger. He longed to depart and to be with his Lord.

Perhaps life is very hard for you or a loved one, and you are wondering why God has allowed you or your loved one to linger. When Jesus said He was going to heaven, Peter asked, “Lord, why can I not follow You now?” (John 13:37). You, like Peter, may wonder why entry into heaven has been postponed: “Why not now?”

God has a wise and loving purpose in leaving us behind. There is work to be done in us that can only be accomplished here on earth. Our afflictions, which are for the moment, are working for us “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). And there is work to be done for others—if only to love and to pray. Our presence may also be for the purpose of giving others an opportunity to learn love and compassion.

So, though you may desire release for yourself or a loved one, to live on in the flesh can mean fruitfulness (Phil. 1:21). And there is comfort in waiting: Though heaven may be delayed, God has His reasons. No doubt about it!

Our greatest comfort is to know that God is in control."

PHIONA

AFRICAN CHESS PRODIGY - Robert Katende, a soccer coach and minister through Sports Outreach Institute in Uganda started a chess club for kids who weren't interested in soccer. One of his students, a 15 year old girl by the name of Phiona, has recently turned into a phenom and national contender. You have to check this out from ESPN!

WHY ME?

"As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?'

'Neither this man nor his parents sinned," Jesus said, 'but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in him life.'" - John 9:1-3

Like the disciples, we like to ask questions don't we, especially when it comes to why certain things happen to certain people and not others. For some reason. we feel that everything in life should make complete sense and that there should be a logical, rational explanation for why we experience the things we do.

Maybe you have realized like I'm just starting to and that's that answering these tough "why" questions can be extremely difficult and most times impossible. I think this is why we should take great comfort in John 9:3. While a person can never know this side of heaven why they get cancer or even if they will survive it, we can be sure that through all struggles (and even the fun times too) God wants to display his work and power it our lives. Are you letting him?

CEASE STRIVING

Psalm 46:10. Many of you are familiar with the popular verse, "Be still and know that I am God." We put it on our coffee cups and etch it into our minds to remind us to stop and make time for God in our busy day.

Last night was one of those were you have hard time getting to sleep. Hannah and I were up late every night this weekend ripping up carpet and sanding the old wood floors in our 70 year old home. Maybe it was my internal clock being off, or just being too tired to be tired, but whatever the case, after 20 minutes of laying there I decided to read for a while. I should have reached for my Bible first but instead picked up my laptop (as is too often the case these days) and typed "staining hardwood floors" into Google. After browsing links for a while and picking up on some good tips I still didn't feel tired so I opened a medical fiction book that I've been reading for pleasure. After 15 pages, still no luck. Finally I reached for my Bible. There is just something about God's word that's different than reading other books at night. I think it's the fact that it not only calms the mind, but the soul as well. The Bible that I keep by me bed is different that the one I normally read, it's NASB translation and the other is NIV. Normally I don't pay much attention to the small differences in translation but I noticed one last night when I read through Psalm 46. In place of the words "be still" that I was accustomed to, "cease striving" jumped out at my off the page. "Cease striving and know that I am God."

What a difference two words make! Being still to me means taking a break from movement or a pause in the day to reflect on something important much like a car will stop momentarily at a stop light only to begin moving again when the light changes color. Stillness is a temporary state but ceasing is much different. To cease at something means to stop at it all together opposed to just taking a break; it's permanent.

What I realized as I thought about the differences in these two words is that perhaps I need to do less pausing in my life where I give my token of attention to God and move on, and change my outlook on things all together. Maybe I need to take inventory and cease with things being so much about me, and my plans and my worries so I can make things more about him.

How about you? Are you a pauser or a ceaser? Is your time with the Lord a short segway or even an obstacle to what you've got going that day, or is it the sole reason you exist? What if from the time we woke up until we went to bed at night, we stopped trying so hard to make it all happen on our own and simply enjoyed God for being God? I want to live more like that.

SO THANKFUL

As I begin my fourth and final academic semester of medical school and prepare for the next two years of hospital rotations that lie ahead, I'm starting to get my feet wet. Part of my schedule now involves one afternoon a week of spending time in the hospital talking to patients, helping here and there but mainly doing alot of watching.

Yesterday I had the privilege to talk with a woman in her fifties who had been in the hospital for several weeks with some mysterious swelling. The cause of her swelling remained unknown despite a barrage of testing until yesterday, when they told her she had cancer. My visit came less than an hour after her talk with the surgical oncologist had told her the news, that her mass was inoperable and that they would have to get back to her on the best course of treatment going forward. As I sat there and listened to this patient recount the events of her recent days, I found myself at a loss of for how to respond.

Last and night and again this morning my mind has wandered several times to the hospital room of that sweet lady. I can't help but wonder what is going through her head and sometimes it feels that I can almost taste a fraction of the hurt she must be feeling. These things are sad and never easy but they make me ever more thankful for the hope that we have in Christ. Every time I think about my new friend, I am thankful that she doesn't lie alone in her hospital bed because the God of all peace is right there with her and I am comforted knowing that she spoke of the Lord and the strength he has brought to her soul.

In her eyes yesterday, there was hurt, but there was also hope. So today I am extra thankful. Thankful not for my health of for that fact that it's not me sitting on the side of that hospital bed, but thankful for the hope that we always have in Christ. Whether in the darkest valley or on the highest of heights we have a God who loves us, is with us always, and who gives us great hope.

"What is man that you are mindful of him, or his children that you care about them? You made him ruler over the works of your hands, you put everything under his feet...O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name!" - Psalms 8:4,6 and 9

REAPPLYING THE GOLDEN RULE

"Do unto others as you would have then do unto you." I doubt that there is another moral or ethical code as well known or commonplace as the golden rule. When applying the golden rule, we try to treat people kindly because we appreciate kindness ourselves and love others because we like it when other people love us. But is there a difference kindness and love?

Absolutely. When thinking about how we ought to treat others it is easy to forsake difficult conversations that might be rooted in love for merely being kind and keeping things comfortable. The truth is, kindness alone lacks the depth and commitment required to truly love somebody and help them grow. Difficult conversations are not easy for anybody to have. How can we be better about loving people and sharing Christ with people we care about?

The motivation for having these important, life changing, difficult conversations about faith and what really matters comes from putting ourselves in the shoes of others. For just one second, imagine yourself apart from Christ, lacking hope, purpose and desperate for a change in your life. Would you want somebody to share the message of God's love with you?

Think about this question when you're having a tough time talking about your faith with others. Let the golden rule guide not only your kindness but your love as well.

Last edited ddb 1/23/13

MERRY CHRISTMAS

"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." -Psalm 116:7

The hustle and bustle has arrived and Christmas is just about here! Tomorrow Hannah and I will pack up to head home for some much needed time with family and friends in celebration of the birth of our wonderful savior.

At church, our pastor has been doing a sermon series on the first few chapters of Luke to keep in step with the season. One of the amazing things about God's word is its ability to "divide soul and spirit" by "judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12) over and over again. Despite the fact that I have heard nearly 25 similar Christmas sermon series, God's word continues to encourage and strengthen my faith for which I am incredibly grateful.

Recently, in listening to the sequence of events that transpired int the lives of Jesus earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, I have been surprised at how far from easy things were for them. From the beginning, their relationship was steeped in rumors of infidelity when Mary became "mysteriously"pregnant. To add injury to insult, they were poor and had to make an 80 mile trek on donkey back when Mary was about to pop with a baby inside. Hannah and I don't have kids yet but when I try to imagine what that journey would have looked like for us in their shoes I can assure you it wouldn't be pretty. Even Jesus' own birth was likely difficult in a less than ideal location and an angel sent the new parents to Egypt shortly after Jesus was born to take cover form the king.

These were the exact events that God chose to bring his son, and our beloved savior, into the world. Certainly not the way I would have drawn it up. From a medical perspective, you would want Mary as comfortable and stress free as possible and traveling late in the pregnancy, especially 80 miles bouncing up and down on a donkey, would be highly discouraged! Just goes to show that God is in complete control of even the craziest circumstances.

Mary and Joseph were blessed to be used as part of God's perfect plan but their obedience to His calling on their life was not comfortable or easy. Being a following of Christ today is no different. However, in the midst of their struggles, God always took care of them, provided for their needs, and proved that he was faithful and in control.

In the year to come as you and I try to follow God's call on our own life I'm sure there will be many moments when we feel much like Mary or Joseph did. God's plan doesn't always make sense from our point of view and we often lack the heavenly foresight to see how the end result will turn out. So we trust God instead. As I try to trust him more tomorrow than I do today I find these words from Psalms 116:7 very comforting.

"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you."

I don't know about you but my soul seems to like the restless state more than the restful one. I'm sure it has something to do with my unwarranted fears and the uneasiness associated with trusting someone other than myself. I'm always having to remind my heart to trust God and my soul to be at rest once more. Remembering God's goodness helps me to do this every time. Even when following God's calling is difficult, his presence and goodness are steady and true. They are always there and he is always in control. Nothing surprises our God and all things work to the good of His honor and glory. I'm confident that these are the truths Mary and and Joseph clung to and they should be what you and I lean on as we head into another new year. Merry Christmas!