Simple and easy

Luke 5 presents a unique insight into what it is to be open to guidance.  Guidance even from someone that is not an expert.

The air was permeated with the smells of old fish and rope.  The little ship had been out all night with Peter and his crew but with nothing to show for their efforts; not even a single straggler. They were bone tired and were washing and stretching their nets out on the beach to dry.   They were looking forward to a time of relaxation in the cool morning breeze with the gentile sun on their face.  These men were tired and just wanted to go home.  But here comes a crowd heading right for Peter and his freshly laundered nets.  There is no record of Jesus asking to use the boat but he needed a pulpit.  At risk of losing both his nets and boat Peter and his crew sat in the boat behind Jesus trying to stay awake as Jesus taught the crowd.

“When He finished teaching, He said to Simon, ‘push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch’”. (Luke 5:4).  It is with a little hint of sarcasm that Peter responds; “Master, we’ve been fishing hard all night and haven’t caught even a minnow.”

Here was this itinerant teacher, without a synagogue in which to teach, telling me a full time journeyman master fisher how to fish.  The nets now well trampled had to be washed again. It did not look like Jesus was any hurry to get out of the boat. He continued to sit in the bow with a look of expectation and a smile that Peter would come to look for before any great lesson to be learned or miracle to be had.  With a rough hand over his brow to shadow his eyes from the early sun and knowing full well there were no fish to be had this time of day, Peter agreed.  He had the crowd move off the nets and placed them again in the boat and set off tired and  probably a little more than frustrated.  The instructions from Jesus were simple and not very creative.  “Go out to deeper water and throw out your net.”  It was a waste of time for the master fisherman. It went against all the experience and intuition accumulated over his career.

I don’t know where the fish were all night but everyone within a mile took a detour that morning and found the net.  Peter tried with all his strength and skill to bring the net it but it would not come because of all the fish.

Jesus did not explain it was a great miracle to show Peter some well needed lesson.  No new teaching for the fisherman.

Sometimes following Jesus is simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy.  Remember the one telling you to fish is also the one who created the fish.

 

Daughter

Daughter:

I was going through some pictures  it struck me how much you mean to me.  Wasn’t it just a very short time ago that I first met you in the hospital in your mother’s arms? I remember well that tiny fragile bundle.  You wrapped your small sweet smelling hand around my finger and smiled.  You will always be Daddy’s little girl.

Twirling of batons , drum lessons, cake decorating, Grandmothers, late nights, candles on the window sill, tears and smiles; all punctuated your growth.  You grew up and now you have a daughter of your own.  How time flies.  I was not always there when you needed me. The Church often nudged you and the rest of the family into second place.  For that I am sorry.

I have always been quick with a word of advice and for what it is worth, please forgive me for spouting off again.

I want so much for you.  I want you to be whatever your heart pushes you toward.  While I am fully aware that at times your head gets in the way of just being you.  Don’t imitate anyone else; remain true to your vision of life.  Don’t pretend to be someone you are not, just to satisfy other expectations.  I discovered not too long ago that the definition of perfect is simply doing or being better than expectations.  My daughter you are perfect.  The world seems to want for us to put on a disguise hide our real person.  Sadly, over a period of time these disguises become the only thing the world sees.  You are the best daughter God ever made.  Don’t let the child in you die. As long as you nurture this child within you, you will find happiness and joy in life.

Remember that when someone loves you, it is because you have within you something very unique and special.  When someone loves you it is because you have touched them and given them joy.

The world in which we life is a wondrous place and sometimes small and petty things get in the way and try to hide its marvel. Strive to look beyond the seemingly harsh things that would steel your joy. You make it worthwhile.  Your strength and persistence makes a difference. Open your heart to goodness. No matter what happens, don’t let negative people or thoughts take hold of you. The choice between being an optimist or a pessimist will remain right there in front of you. Choose one, choose wisely!

My sweet daughter, if you ever get to a place you need a hug or advice, Dad is always to listen and pass no judgements.   If you get to a place where you find yourself close to failing at what you have a mind to do, I am here to give you a shoulder to cry on and a strong arm to hold you up.

There is a purpose in everything and everyone that comes into your life. Be bold, be brave and believe in the power of your dreams – the dreams that shine in your lovely eyes like stars will illuminate your way.

It is true that with every passing day, I will grow older and weaker. A day may come when I will become forgetful. But even then, you with your bright smile, will light up my heart.

I love you, dear daughter!

 

Holy and the day to day

For some reason, when it comes to our relationship with God, there are a lot of Christians who have taken the position that since God extends His grace to me when I sin, I ought to keep on sinning so that I can get more of God’s grace my life. On more than one occasion I have witnessed those who claim to be disciples of Jesus intentionally choose to do something they know to be sin and comment that it’s OK because they know that God will forgive them.

There seems to be an inner desire that wants to presume, to do something based upon unknown or future consequence.  To do something without proof.  Christians frequently presumes to act, teach, and promote beyond what the Lord has written. We frequently see the following rationale offered to justify man’s action, soothe his own conscience, and silence the inner plea to submit to God’s Word:

  • God is our Heavenly Father. He loves me! Does He not want me to be happy? I know my Father wants me to have this, because it will make me happy!
  • God may have been strict in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament we are under a system of grace. Therefore, we are not in bondage to worry about keeping every law perfectly. We do not have to worry about tedious, detailed observances of any kind.
  • Do you really think God would send me to hell just for doing this?
  • Will God really condemn me for this one sin?
  • What’s so bad about doing this?
  • Who will be hurt by doing that?
  • No one will ever know about what I do.

True, God is our heavenly Father, and He dearly loves us; however, He seeks our best interest, which is not always what we want, what satisfies for the moment, or what makes us happy in this instant.

But we pull out the Big Bible and quote from Matthew 7:9-11

Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 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 good things to those who ask Him!

The assumption here is that we know more about what is good for us than God.  We are assuming that we have judgment, clarity, foresight, knowledge, and wisdom paramount to God!

Since what we want and what God wants for us are often two distinct paths, only presumption would ignore God’s revealed will for us in exchange for satisfying our palpitating desires.

So then how should we live?

Let’s start with the fact that while It’s simple, It’s not easy.

I have discovered that losing weight is simple, but it’s not easy. All you have to do to lose weight is to consume fewer calories than your body needs. That’s simple. You figure out how many calories your body needs each day to maintain your present weight and then you eat less than that.  But restriction of the day to day snacks, and occasional cans of soda is not so easy.

The day to day life in Jesus is simple but it is not easy.

It’s Something I Have to Do

Nobody else can do it for you and you can’t do it for anyone else.  You are the only one that can die to sin in your life. Your wife can’t do it for you.  Not your Pastor or even your neighbor. It is my decision for me.   My deciding to live a holy life, that is a life that is in the center of God’s will and obedient to God’s will.

 God can’t or won’t do it for you, in the sense that he won’t take away your free will and force you to live a holy life, He’s willing to help in the form of the Holy Spirit. With God’s help you can do it. Do you believe that? But you have to want to. And it is a partnership.

Comments?

What does it really matter?

I made my way out to the little strip of lawn in front of my office, illuminated by my store front window light and one street light across the way in front of the local glass shop.  I really don’t remember how I got into a sitting position on the curb, but there I was. It was as if I had resigned to be picked up with the trash, I was on the curb and waiting to die fingering the keys to office. My chest pain had become almost unbearable. Each heart beat would cause a radiating pain down my arm.

I had been living in our little town for a while and had never heard a siren.  No police chases, no fire calls, and no ambulance runs had ever pierced the sweet serenity of our little town.  Well at least until now.  The hospital was about two miles away and I could hear the first blast of that industrial strength distress signal.  It was not one of those electronic sirens you hear today, but one that had to wind up to reach the optimal pitch and only wavered when a corner was turned as the sound bounced off walls and buildings. The siren was attached to the top of a station wagon style ambulance that had been re-purposed from being a hearse from the local mortuary.  I could imagine all the sleepy folks in town being awakened at the scream of the siren which most likely had been not heard but once in a blue moon.

As it got closer I was less and less concerned with my state.  The anxiety was going away. Help was almost here. Almost, in a surreal, out of body experience, I realized I could be dead in a matter of moments.

New thoughts entered my mind: I thought about my wife, of roast pork, kids, the little church I had attended last Sunday, and God.  All the things you would normally think about as you faced the abyss of an approaching blackness.  I also thought of the minutia in my life; did I lock up my office completely, were the lights turned off, were my shoes tied, tomorrow as garbage day and I wondered why the house next door had painted their screen door red. It was at this point I experienced an epiphany. It was a lesson to be learned.

It really didn’t matter.  The world would continue.  I thought I was going to die, but it really didn’t matter.  At that moment, facing the end, I understood the importance or rather the lack of importance of my life.  I was content in my home.  I was content with how my kids had been raised.  I was content with the affect I had made on this little town.  My life, while seeming so important to me was of little consequence to the bigger picture.  The phrase that kept coming to mind was that was quoted to me by my father, “don’t sweat the small stuff and it is all small stuff.”

I guess the lesson learned is not to worry about that future that much.  We all are going to come to this same place someday.

Oh, of course there is a concern about our loved ones and all that I would have missed, but in reality I had no control over that.  We are just who we are.  An in that moment of time I realized enough is enough.  It was not about my aspirations or my plans but it was about being who I was.

I cannot be you.  I cannot be even be what you expect.  I can only be me.  When approaching the end of life, it is not about a comparison between whom I could have been and who I ended up to be.  The only regret is not being the best me I could have been.  It is the lessons we have learned along the path.  It is the small nudges He has given me along the self-conceived path to move me to a better understanding of who I needed to be.  It is not up to you or anyone else to dictate or judge me.  If this is all there is, then so be it.  If there is something more then I was ready.

The two ambulance attendants placed me on the stretcher amid my pain induced fog.  The lights were flashing and out of the corner of my eye was my wife waving me goodbye.  I passed out.  No bright light, no special warmth, just darkness and pain.

By the way I didn’t die. “Lesson taught and a lesson learned.”

What is a Saint?

What are little boys made of:
They are made of frogs and snails and puppy dog tails,
What are little girls made of:
They are made of sugar and spice and everything nice.

But what makes a saint?
They are made of very real stuff; costly stuff, the stuff of conflict and struggle. They are made of failure and defeat. They are made of repentance and renewal. I once asked a Junior High Class in Sunday School what made a saint. After quite a bit of time in silence and seemingly looks of question, one particularly quarrelsome young man exclaimed, “A saint is a dead Christian.”
God’s saints are men and women seasoned by many of life’s deepest and most tragic human experiences. Saintliness comes from hard times. Saintliness comes from fires of life. When you around one of these special people you can almost smell the smoke on their clothes. They most often focus not on doing things right, but more on doing the right thing.
They have within them a fire that burns as much as a candle burns and puts out a special glowing fire. The brightness of thier lives determine the length of the candle. Their real character is not determined by reputation. Their real character is not determined by their professions. A saint’s character is determined by the Spirit of Christ that dwells and shines through them.
I have met a few saints and none of them would like the title.

The Church and Leadership

There is a giant gap between leadership and management.  This truth is ever more important as it pertains to the church.  The main difference between a church leader and manager is that a leader has people follow them, while managers have people who work for them.  I have had personal experience with both.  The very nature of the person that would be person up front can well be defined as having one of these two styles.  The issue is there are few that would characterize themselves as leaders and in doing so their influence in making positive change is severely limited. The primal cause of this situation is the church, in its efforts to be relevant in today’s society is trying to emulate the societies norms.  Managers are good enough. Any church, no matter how large or small must find and build up leaders; managers are not enough to make a real lasting difference in the church.  It is a good thing if the person of influence holds both characteristics if leadership and management, but settling for the latter is a shame.

Leadership is about getting people to understand and believe in a vision and to work with the people to achieve visionary goals while managing is more about administering and making sure the day-to-day things are happening as they should.

I know that a plethora of materials and data exist on personality assessments and characteristics.  And I have discovered many great sources.  There is a common tread to most of them.  There are some distinctive traits that make up a strong leader.

  1. Leaders believe they are leaders: I have seen leadership become management just because of the lack of self-confidence. It is easier to minimize risk than to take one.  It is easier to do a thing right than to do the right thing.  It is easier to be reactive than proactive. It is easier to set plans around constraints, than to set direction and lead toward that direction.  Leaders have an inward confidence in what they are and what they can accomplish.
  2. Leaders make a difference through vision. Leaders have a vision, believe in that vision, and know that vision will make a positive impact. Leaders know where the church is and where the leader wants the church to be.   A leader goes out and enrolls the body in charting a path for the future. The capacity to imagine and articulate exciting future possibilities is a defining competence of a leader.   If the church can’t see a leader’s vision, there is little hope in them following. The leader must be confident in himself.  A leader must believe in leadership.
  3. Honesty & Integrity: are crucial to move people to believe you and buy in to the journey you are taking them on. What does it take for others to believe in a leader?    It has been said many times, and it bears repeating again.  In these times when even those in the church are becoming more and more cynical about leadership and institutions, it has never been a more important than the character of the leader is believable.  The church must know what the leader has committed himself to do and be.  They must know and see what the leader values.  If the leader of a church values only that the bills are paid and the grass is mowed, there is little value to the larger picture or the greater vision. Either lead by example or don’t lead at all.  Leaders have to keep their promises and become role models for their vision, values and actions.
  4. Inspiration: The church needs to be stirred. A leader no matter how well trained and gifted, no leader ever accomplished anything extraordinary without the talent and support of others. Going out on a great visionary journey without others is nothing more than walk around the block.  Leadership is a team sport and for your team to be all they can be each must understand their role in the bigger picture.   They have to be inspired in more than just a destination but are enthused by their part in the journey. Managers are all about work to be done, leaders only about leading people through vision.
  5. Trust: If you can’t do it alone and rely on others, what is needed to make the vision happen?   Trust is the social glue that holds individuals and groups together. It is directly proportional between the level of trust and influence.  A leader has to earn trust of any one is to follow.  The leader must give trust before expecting any in return. A large part of this trust is based upon honest and complete communication. Keeping the team informed of the journey, where you are, where you are heading and share any roadblocks you may encounter along the way is the best way to earn trust.
  6. Challenge: Exemplary leaders, the kind of which people want to follow, are always associated with changing the status quo. Great achievements don’t happen when things are kept the same.  Change invariable involves challenge, and challenge test everyone.  Change introduces everyone in the church to examine themselves inwardly.  It brings each member face to face with their personal level of commitment.  It forces each to dig deep into personal values and belief. Change changes everyone.  The goal of a manager is toward stability and for a leader is change.
  7. It is a matter of the heart: Leaders who love their followers are great leaders. Leaders that have empathy for follower’s pain are followed. Leaders make others feel important and are gracious in showing appreciation. Love is the motivation that energizes leaders to give so much to the vision and those following the vision.  Managers see the flock as subordinates and leaders as fellow followers of the vision. Managers are motivated by the head and a leader by the heart. The wonder of it all is that leadership, great leadership, driven by first and last by love.

What do you think?  Add a comment.

The primacy of destination

My wife and I are diametrically opposed in our concept of traveling.  I prefer to set of in a general direction of a destination and am quite happy to just see what is to been seen.  I like to read the signposts, billboards, and advertisements as I go and let them provide hints where the next turn will be.  I get excited in finding new roads and even trails that I haven’t been on before.  If I have to sleep in the back of the Jeep, that’s just fine. Sometimes I would like just to go, take the nearest road and just explore.  It is a discovery, a grand adventure.  Never-the-less, my sweet wife would rather know in advance what the road is going to be like.  She needs to know what hotel we are going to be in.  She has to know what are the places we are going to visit.  Every restaurant must be checked out prior to even leaving the front step or turning on the car.

Most readers may also be divided into two types.  Some skip the introduction and by looking at the table of contents, jump to what has the most interest.  I was taught in sixth grade in a class on speed reading, to go to the last chapter and read it first just to see where it goes.  Others will start from the first word and dissect the introduction to ending.  Making sure nothing is missed.
Likewise, we go to church and some will just listen to the sermon expecting to learn something.  Others take notes and analyze it with all due diligence.

Both of these methods or mindsets are  nothing more than a preference of style.  In some areas one style may well be better than the other.  The issue is when the holders of preference do not allow for the preference of the other.  I teach a class on the Book of Romans.   We have been working through, making sure we do not miss something that God would have for the class.  We have had sixteen sessions so far and we have just entered the fifth chapter. This preferential methodology of study may not be for everyone.  I realize that some would rather have the notes and let it go at that.

For me it is the difference between hearing and understanding, between reading and study, between milk and meat.  The church needs deep things.  Every Christian needs to dig deeply into the Word of God.  The Bible is more than a tool for defining how we should live.  I does have great maxims of living a godly life, but if we are looking and reading just to find these guidelines, ruled, laws, suggestions, and even forbiddings, then we are missing the mark.  The Bible is for finding God.  The Bible is for feeding the soul.  The Bible is a revelation of a loving God.  As A.W. Tozer once said, “Our spiritual need is not the rock-lined pit for which a traveler longs, but the sweet, cool water that flows up from it. It is not intellectual knowledge about God that quenches man’s ancient hear-thirst, but the very Person and Presence of God Himself.”

Doesn’t really matter your method of traveling, it is about the destination, the direction and the why of the trip.

Let the Church sing

Everything that God does is to music.  I was blessed to have an amazing encounter with a professor in my college days.  T. C. Mitchel was much more than a dry lecturer that my fellow students would try to understand.  He made thing more than just an intellectual understanding of scripture.  He was a cut from the cloth of many great English preachers.  Rev Mitchel made clear that which was quite muddy at times.  To that end I found a recording of one of his best sermons.  It speaks about how the church has always been full of song and amazement. It is well worth the 17 minutes to listen and have your heart strings vibrate with the song of God.

It is called “The People of the Spring Sing

Quote of the day

It will cost something to walk slow in the parade of the ages, while excited men of time rush about confusing motion with progress. But it will pay in the long run and the true Christian is not much interested in anything short of that. (A.W. Tozer)

War and peace

I have owned at least twenty lawn mowers in my war on grass.  I had a push mower that never seemed to cut well because it was not sharp and I really did not know how to sharpen one.  I had a mower left in the garage of a house I bought in Colorado that refused to start unless I sprayed the carburetor with very flammable spray from a pressurized can.  There was one mower that would only run on denatured alcohol.  Some of my war tools had pull starters, some had electric starters.  One was self-propelled.  I have permanently loaned two of my latest weapons of grass destruction to my son.  I had one that smoked so badly that the EPA could well classify it as a gross polluter.

Each one, to a machine, was designed to cut the overgrowth of grass down to a perfect two and one-half inches.  Very few buy a mower just for its aesthetic value My goal with each and all of these spinning contraptions was to create the perfect lawn. You have seen those lawns.  Not a blade of grass out of place.  The uniformity of the turf could well be described as a carpet of luxury.  Never-the-less, the next day, no matter how good the mower was and no matter how contentiously the lawn was edged, there would be little blades out of place.  Perfection lost.

The typical keeper of the lawn has a number of choices: Let it grow until the city comes by and leaves you a nice compliance note, stop watering and let it all die all in the name of water conservation, or hire someone to do it for you.  Since I have loaned my last mower to someone that needed it more than I, the local landscaper comes by every two weeks and cuts my lawn.  No more fighting the battle of the lawn.  It still looks a little ragged by the second week but I have learned that there is a peace in letting someone else take responsibility for my lawn.  I can simply give up and give it to someone else.

There is a parable in this missive.  Sometimes, if not all the time, we need to just give up and let God do what he does best.  God doing the lawn work of my life.  If a little blade seems to be out of place, then my responsibility is to let God show to me how to take care of it.  His response may well be to instruct me to do something about the errant grass, His response may well to let him handle it, or He may provide a new tool to do the work.  But I have given my personal life to God. But the most important and most gratifying of giving my life to God (including my lawn) is that He gives peace.

Peace is a gift from God.  We do not make peace with God.  We receive peace as a boon when we come to a penitent trust in Him.  He is my peace.

The Study of God and Life