Who are you going to be?

When I was around 15 my dad asked me if I remembered what I said I wanted to be when I was, like 5 or something. Of course I didn’t remember so he told me. I wanted to be a fireman. I actually don’t remember ever saying that and to this day cannot figure what I would have ever liked about the position except that firemen are always looked at as heroes. No other emergency organization runs into situations when everyone else is trying to get out. Firemen (and now women) are uniquely trained to deal with the heat of fire, the pitfalls of flames, and the dangers of falling structures. For this reason many of us have a lot of respect for the men and women of the fire departments in our local municipalities. We don’t actually see ourselves doing what they do, but we like the fact that someone is trained to do what they do, God forbid, we ever have need of their services.

We all have people that we have wanted to pattern our lives after, whether it was because we want to be like them, or learn to perform in their vocation. These people become vicarious mentors for us as we set goals for ourselves in our schooling, in relationships, in our physical development. We see what they have done, and we try to follow in their shadow. Last week, I asked in Facebook, “What music star did you secretly want to be like when you were a kid?” and the responses were pretty funny considering what many of those who responded are doing today. We see people all the time and want what they have without, many times, considering what it would take to get there. Are you ready to deal with the fire of rejection, the pitfalls of bad decisions, and the dangers of crumbling relationships?

Ephesians chapter 4, verse 15 & 16 says “

But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

We must grow to be like Christ. Make Christ your goal. He will give you (us) what we need to be able to grow into the people he has created us to be. You (we) have been given gifts and talents to be able to work in this world and make a positive impact for Christ; but it is you that has to make the decision to go after him fully. For many of us, that decision doesn’t come until after we’ve been burned, or had to deal with our lives falling down all around us. I thank God for a Savior who would run into the burning building that is my life just when I was ready to give up because I couldn’t see my way out. I thank God for a Savior who would put on the flesh of humanity and feel the flames of human hatred when I felt like giving up. I thank God for a Savior, who, when everything around me was falling apart knew how to keep my safe.

Today make your decision to grow up.

A City to be excited about

A Small Story Visual – Discipline

 

And the work out continues . . .

It’s been a while since I’ve been here in the blogosphere. It seems blogging at times takes so much time, and I feel like I can get my thoughts out in 140 characters or less making the need to blog as often almost unnecessary. But there is an analogy that has really resonated with me this year, my year of living fearlessly, and it is the analogy of the gym. I have gained new insights toward worship and toward God as I have been attempting to be more diligent in getting my physical body in order. So since the beginning of the year I have hitting the gym 3-4 times a week, concentrating on a different muscle group each time, and taking 1 day to just do cardio (read play basketball).

While I was in the gym one day, it occurred to me that everyone who enters the gym comes for different reasons, but all want the same result: a better body. Within the group of us that are there, you can almost tell why they are there based on what they are doing. Young men, spend time on the weights, to build muscle to enhance their physique. Older men (like me) no longer care about how big our muscles are, but are more concerned with health, and burning fat. Older men  want to make sure they are not dead!! It’s a joke, I’m kidding. But you get it, we all work out for different reasons.

Well so it is with our spiritual walk, we all go to church for different reasons, but we all want the same result, or do we? Do you really want a closer walk with Jesus? Are you ready to put in the necessary time to learn all the exercises and lift the proper amount of weights? It takes a special kind of courage and willingness to be able to see the results afforded by working out in God’s gym.

Talking to the weights will not build muscle or burn fat. You have to lift the weights. As a matter of fact, you have to lift them repeatedly in order to get the desired result. God will continue to put you through exercises (faith building opportunities) to develop you into the person He knows you can become. So I continue to work out, in the physical and spiritual realms getting ready for the day when my entire workout regime is just spending time at the feet of Jesus.

Let’s go!

What about a system reboot?

I’m a person who is used to change, but still resists it when it seems like the change is too quick or might make me into something I don’t want to be. The funny thing about that is if I don’t change, ultimately I cease growing, becoming, expanding. When things don’t change, or at least update,  like building and such, we notice that paint begins to chip, weeds and things can grow up and around. They no longer have that “new car” smell or the gleam of being new. There is value to unchanging things. They provide strength, consistency, resilience, anchoring, and roots. I’m not speaking against things that don’t change, I’m not sure that that is the way people are supposed to live however.

Christians regardless of denomination live everyday with the hope of a change that would come soon in the event of the 2nd Coming of Christ. While we look forward to that day, we live in world that is rife with technological and social change. It seems natural then, that we would change too. The Bible in many places speaks of changes that can occur in the life of the believer. We are admonished to be transformed (Rom 12:2), be new creations (2 Cor. 5:17), and to get rid of the old man (Rom. 6:6). Each of these situations signal a change, a turning point, a place where we have to do something different. By virtue of that, ultimately we are different. Sometimes the systems that we are involved in are so entrenched, we forget that they need to be updated, changed, revisited, otherwise we risk being taken over by weeds, mold, and moss of traditionalism

There is a need for a change in the system, the way we do church and church organization within Adventism. I don’t claim to have all the answers, and like I like to say, I’m only good for one good idea a day. And that idea, may not be original!

Democrats and Republicans like to espouse that our system of government is broken and that their self serving system of reform is what the country needs. I make no such assertion. I know I don’t have it all together, in fact, there is very little that I do have together! I would like to suggest a system reboot. As we’ve got GC folk travelling from constituency to constituency to hear from the people, I pray that there are enough people who are willing to say we need a change that we can believe in. Just some stuff I was thinking about.

It’s been a while

So I’m chilling at home on a Sabbath afternoon and I have alot of my family with me this weekend. It feels good to be around my Dad, his wife, and my sister. Haven’t been around them in about 5 years. I was supposed to play guitar for church today and I bowed out because I wasn’t ready. It got me thinking about when I really started to play guitar, the 5th grade. I remember at that time my Dad had moved out to “pursue his education” in another state. He would call occasionally to see if I was practicing, and I would dutifully say, “yes”. It would be a decade before I would pickup a guitar again. When I went to Seminary I decided I would start learning guitar for real, that didn’t last long either. Now I’m in California and this year among other things, I’m committing to practicing guitar more diligently. You would think by now I would be able to play more than the few chords that I currently can play.

It almost seems like I’ve come full circle. I’ve got my Dad hanging at my house restoring the years lost when he was missing in action, and I’m back practicing guitar. I’ve learned that as long as we are willing to admit that we don’t have it all together, we can be lifelong learners. Of course, there is a lot more to the theory, but there’s no need to go into it today. I’m just enjoying the Sabbath with my family . . . . and my guitar.

Namaste!

Wednesday’s Word – No Strings Attached

How many friends do you have? In a social media complex world with many of us having lots and lots of friends, and you know most of those friends are just acquaintances that like to look at your pictures. I’m talking about real friends, people who support you when they disagree with you, who tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not, people who’ve seen you in every state of mind and still hang around.

We sometimes make deals with people in our lives and we say, “no strings attached” when what we really want is for them to return the favor/deed/money in the near future. The truth is we don’t do any thing with “no strings attached” because everything we do has a consequence, and some of those consequences are unintended. We didn’t know how we would feel after sacrificing for you. I didn’t know there would be an unexpected bill after I gave you the money. I didn’t think you would really take the gift. More often than not, we want the strings attached so that we can get back what we gave up or  get that money we gave away. What strings do you think should be attached if you give your life on the behalf of someone else?

Church people like to sing “Jesus paid in all” and we ignore that ” all to Him I owe” part. There’s always a string attached, even with the Savior. The difference is even if you never give Him your life, He doesn’t stop loving you. That’s a real friend, a person who would love you after they have given everything for you and you ignore them. Most of us would just cut them off and move on (Forget You), but not Jesus, He just keeps on loving. I hear that He’s long-suffering that way.

My challenge nowadays is to try and live that “no strings attached” sort of existence. Doing for others expecting nothing in return and then not being upset when that is exactly what I get. To be satisfied with sowing good into the world and not being caught up in what the world owes me. It’s not easy, but it is necessary.

It’s time to go check on a few friends.

It’s been almost two weeks since my last post, so I have to do better, right?

You said . . . .

The other night we were having dinner with some friends from out of town. As with many gatherings like this, after dinner the parents remain around the table talking about whatever we talk about, while the kids were running all through the house tearing it up (welcome to my life). Anyway, my friend Jesse and I were talking about the challenges and opportunities afforded in youth ministry when his son, Noah, interrupted us to ask for something. I don’t remember what he was reminding his dad about, but I remember Jesse’s response, ” this guy doesn’t forget anything!” To which my wife responds, looking at both of us, that we should remember that our sons will always pay attention to what we say and remember what we say to them because we are their fathers.

I have for a long time believed that children get their ideas about God from the way they are treated, or mistreated, by their parents. If your parent(s) was a hard disciplinarian, you will grow up remembering God’s rules, but never desire relationship. And just like in your own house, when you got the chance to get away, you bolted to spread your wings and live life a little looser. The unfortunate thing is you did the same thing to God. In order to get away from His rules, you stopped believing that God had it right and started thinking there is no such thing as absolute anything. My hope is that you live long enough to realize that “there is a way that seems right to man, but the end is death” (Prov. 14:12, 16:25)

Anyway, that’s not why I’m writing today. I’m writing because what my wife said got me thinking about our relationship to God, and how we like children should be able to say to Abba, ” You said . .!” My son never forgets when I say I’m going to take him somewhere or promise to do something (he can’t remember his address, but that’s a rant for another time). As a result, when he thinks he has waited long enough for whatever that thing is, he will remind me of my words. “Daddy, you said we were going bowling.” ” Daddy, you said I can watch TV”, “Daddy, you said I could have two cookies”. I think that by now you may get where I’m going with this, but maybe not. So let me spell it out. In order for you to say to God, “you said . . ” you need to know what he said!

You don’t have to remember them all, but I think there are a few that if you keep them in mind, can change your outlook in a lot of situations. If you’re like me and there are things you want in life, but feel like you will never see them: “Daddy, you said If I seek first your kingdom all these things would be added unto me!” (Matt. 6:33)

If you think you cannot be saved:

“Daddy, you said if I confess with my mouth, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in my heart that He’s raised from the dead, I will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9)

When you are in need:

“Daddy, you said if I ask anything in your Name, you will do it.” (John 14:14)

What do you need to remind your Father about today?

Wednesday’s Word – Training

We started a workout regime at my house. It’s one of those things that I pledged to do with  my wife at Christmas. We’re four days in and I want to quit. I don’t feel like getting up, I don’t believe that this guy on the screen is serious when he says “Dig deeper!” and “Push through!” and “C’mon you can do it!”  I’m giving it all I’ve got and I can’t keep up. I’m winded after about 5 minutes of his draconian workout regime. You know what’s interesting with all of these workout programs is that the want you to take a before picture. No matter how ashamed you are of what you look like at the beginning of the program, they want you to have a reference point, a place to start from. They know that you’re not going to get it all in one fell swoop. It’s about the repetition, the reps. The more you keep doing a certain thing, the better you will get at that thing, whether it’s good for you or not.

The goal of the picture is to chart your progress, because without even knowing you(or me for that matter), the trainer on the T.V. knows that we will be different by the end of the program, and committing the time every day to jump, skip, push to the new you will be evident in not only how your body looks, but how your body feels.

I think of all the time I spent in questionable behavior.  Whether my thing was promiscuity, porn,  drinking, lying, or  partying. Whatever that thing was, the more I did it, the better I got at it. But wasn’t becoming better. None of those things fulfilled me.  I was never satisfied. I was looking good on the outside, but warring with myself on the inside. I wanted more, but wasn’t always aware of how to reach it. I needed someone to lead me to better, to tell me I can be better, and then show me examples of what better looked like. I wasn’t gonna get it instantly, but if I committed to showing up, my life would be better when all is said and done.

The Bible gives some ideas about working out. Paul talks about bringing our body’s under control (1 Cor. 9:27) and in another place says the we must keep pressing to the goal (Phil 3:14). We are given the promise that all things can be done in Christ’s strength  (Phil 4:13). He’s the trainer with the six-pack abs and toned arms saying “You can make it!” and “Dig deeper”. And if you need to take a break, don’t stray just drink some of His water!

I’m not training to look like Mr. Universe, although that would be cool. I’m training so that my picture will continue to change and have me start looking like the trainer of Universe. So when you look at me, you’ll see Christ. He worked it out for me, now I’m working out in Him.

Here’s to the new me this year. I hope there will be a new you, too!

Forget you!

For the last few days I have had a song in my head that I keep humming subconsciously. If you are not a person who listens to secular music, you need to stop here and read an old random post, otherwise we are about to go in on Cee-Lo Green’s chart climbing lightning rod of a song, “Forget you!” For the secular heads, you know the original title, which I will not reference. I guess what has me arrested by this particular piece of music, is a theme that we repeat in our daily lives. When things don’t go our way, or outcomes in relationships aren’t what we expected, we tend to look at those people/situations and say “forget you!” And even many of us in the Christian community whisper other words in our heads in order to remain sanctimoniously pious in the eyes of our unbelieving friends/co-workers/family.

I mean, even Jesus talking to the disciples, entreated them the shake the dust off their feet when dealing with folk who did not want to receive the gospel (Matt. 10:14, Mark 6:11, Luke 9:5), essentially saying “forget you”. Now I know someone is going to get at me for using this originally profane song to extol the virtues of the gospel, and that’s cool, because the world I live in is tired of a Christian community that has segmented itself so much from reality that we can no longer find common ground.  Maybe this is my first risk in the almost New Year.

There’s a line in the song that says, “if I was richer, I’d still be with you . . ” and some of us need to praise God that we aren’t richer, didn’t get that job, missed that flight, got rejected from that school, broke up with that girl(or guy) because had things gone differently, you would still be stuck in the revolving door of sin and faux repentance that you were used to living. Look at you now. You sought God when you realized there was no other way. You made a decision to follow the Lamb wherever He would go. You said to the hurt of the past “forget you!”

So as now as 2011 is almost upon us and we get to say “Forget you” to 2010, I’m so glad then when God saw me “driving around town with the sin I love”  He wasn’t like “Forget you!” Instead what he says is that that when I repent, He will cast my sins into the depths of the sea ( Micah 7:19) so that there is nothing that will separate me from His love (Rom 8:37-39).  His truth will be my shield and buckler (Psalm91:4). He will inhabit my praise (Psalm 22:3) and prepares for me a table in the presence of mine enemies (Psalm 23:5). So while we can forget a great many things and people, hurts and hangups, places and projects, don’t forget God because He will never say . . . .well you know!

Against all odds, I made the choice

To give You my life, now I rejoice

You answered my prayers not a moment to soon

Your word I embraced, my sins You erased