Something to Think About

Got this poem from a friend.  I thought I would share it.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,

I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.

My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,

My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

 

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,

Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,

Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

 

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,

Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.

In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,

So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

 

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,

But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.

Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,

 Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

 

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,

And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,

A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

 

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,

Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,

Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

 

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,

"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!

Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,

You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

 

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,

Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light

Then he sighed and he said "It’s really all right,

I'm out here by choice.  I'm here every night."

 

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,

That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,

I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at 'Pearl'on a day in December,"

Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."

"My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',

And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,

But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile."

 

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,

The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,

Away from my family, my house and my home."

 

"I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,

I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,

Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.

Who stand at the front against any and all,

To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,

Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

 

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,

Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done,

For being away from your wife and your son."

 

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,

"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back home while we're gone,

To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,

To know you remember we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,

That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

The Fallacy of "Meat" and "Deep"

How many times have you heard the expression "I really want to go deep" or "I really need some meat" and wondered exactly what that meant.  I don't know how many times I have heard people say one of these and when asked what they mean they can't give an explanation.  They just want depth and solid food!!  Okay then?

I don't think people really understand what "deep" and "meat" means.  Louie and I were talking about this.  He said that some people equate these with complicated.  There are a lot of people who think you aren't a "deep" preacher "feeding" the congregation because you aren't getting into the Greek and looking at the conjugation of verbs and considering the tense in order to explain the mystery behind the meaning of....blah, blah, blah.

If one takes a look at Jesus' teaching it would be found that his teaching was not very complicated and yet it was still deep.  In fact one of the strikingly remarkable things about Jesus's teaching is that he used parables or stories; a very simplistic way of communicating a lesson.  Mark 4:33 says "With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.  He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything."  I'm not saying a parable needs no explanation, but on the other hand it is still a simplistic way of teaching. 

Paul speaks of milk as opposed to solid food.  A lot of people think simple is milk whereas complex is solid.  I have grown to understand the meaning of these in a different way.  Milk is the basics of Christianity; the Gospel message.  In fact, if you really look at it, the Christian message is not a complicated message at all.  Yes we have a big book called the Bible, but it's message is not very difficult event though there are a lot of stories. God loves us.  God is the perfect standard.  We sin.  We deserve death.  God sent his son as an atoning sacrifice (Jesus took our punishment).  Through Jesus we can have eternal life.  Through Jesus we can love God back.  Not very complicated, but somewhere along the line Christians have developed this idea that there must be more beyond the simple (milk) message of the Gospel.  There must be some solid food in that book.  Truth is, solid food isn't found in Scripture.  It is found through the living out scripture. 

People who say they need "meat" need to spend more time doing what Scripture says.  It is that simple.  I think the desire for "meat" is really an excuse to not do what God truly desires.  That is where the complication comes in.  Even though there is a simplicity to the Bible and Christianity, it is our putting it into practice that complicates it.  It is the conflict between our selfish fleshly desires and spiritual nature which desires to serve and obey God.  Some people want to go "deep" because they don't want to deal with the this conflict.  Going deep is really the easy way out.  There is a deep spiritual feeling but no real depth in one's walk with God. 

The culmination of all that God has done is Jesus working through the church to bring people to Himself.  How can there be anything deeper beyond?  This idea was a major contributor to the formation of Gnosticism.  Gnosticism taught/teaches that there is more beyond what we see.  In fact, all that is material is really evil and cannot be trusted.  To learn the truth one must be initiated into a special group of people who hold the key to unlocking the truth.  In essence, such a notion that there is something more beyond the very simple has led people away from Christ.

If your one of those people who want to go "deeper" and be fed "meat" then I challenge you to take what you know and really put it into practice.  God has called us to be doers.  He has not called us to be intellectual giants.  Put what you know into practice.    "One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much..."  "Well done, good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much."

Practicing What I Preach

I admit.  I am one of those pastors (of which I think there are many) who, for the sake of making scriptural applicable to the average Christian's life, comes up with "action steps" and "what we do nows?" but never really puts those things into practice.  Now some will say that I am a big hypocrite.  I don't practice what I preach, but I don't make any pretense of of doing the things I preach.  I try to be open about my own life, sometimes to the detriment of my wife, about my hangups as a Christian.  I struggle just like every human being struggles.  I do see the importance of Scripture.  I do see the need to put it into practice.  This fuels my desire when I teach to come up with some way to make it applicable, even if I don't follow through myself.  I don't see that is being hypocritical.  I see that as being a teacher trying to teach truths and biblical principles regardless of my own faults.  In a lot of ways I have become like teachers/professors in higher academia.  In essence, I have become a theorist.

I have come to realize that I can only go so far in teaching people how to apply Scripture to their lives.  I can theorize about how scripture is applied, but if someone were to come and ask me "What has your experience been?" I could not give them any kind of a definite answer.  With this realization I have been challenged to change things around in my life.

After writing a few of my most recent blog posts, teaching the teens and attending small group I have decided to practice what I preach.  I want to be able to answer the "What has your experience been?" question.  I have started with putting God first in what I do and what my family does.  I am not saying that I have instantly changed, but I am making a conscience effort to make God the main thing in my life.  This stems from the post I wrote about  Prioritizing the Important Things.  My son and I are challenging each other to read our Bible daily.  It has been refreshing.  I have forgotten what it was like to be in love with Scripture.  I have begun the process of simplifying my life.  I have cut out many unnecessary activities so that I can make God the number one priority and try to balance my family, work, rest and sharing my faith priorities.  It is a tough road, but at least I am on it.

I wrote a blog post about the priority of marriage.  As a result I am trying to make the changes in my marriage and family.  One of the changes that has been made is starting our day together as a family with discussion over Scripture and prayer.   We've only done it for a few days now, but I am loving it.  Beginning the day like this seems to help with the rest of the day.  I taught a lesson and blogged about this (Working Together in Developing Godly Habits).  I'm putting my "action steps" into practice.

I no longer want to be a theorist.  I want to live what I teach.  God is the priority.  I pray that he will continue to shape and mold my life.  I encourage all who read this to do the same thing.   At our church we have been learning about what it means to be salt and light.  True salt and light comes from Christians who are growing in their relationship with Christ.  They allow God to shake their lives up.  They are open to the changes that need to be made.  They do their best to be like Christ.  Will you join me?

Working Together in Developing Godly Habits

Last night I taught some of our parents and teens about how families can work together to develop godly habits.  What I taught does not only apply to the family but any group or partnership where mutual accountability takes place.  Mutual accountability is when two or more people give one another permission to help them grow and develop in their relationship with Christ.  It involves learning together, doing together, praying together and using scripture to teach, correct and rebuke one another (2 Timothy 3:16).

When we receive Christ hold habits have to be replaced by new habits.  Jesus taught that if anyone is to follow him they must take up their cross daily.  He also said that those who would save their life will lose it and those who lose their lives will save it.  Paul goes on to explain that when we receive Jesus as our Master and Savior he makes us a new person and the old person dies.

It is an interesting discussion concerning personhood.  What makes a person a person?  To be brief, a major part of personhood is character.  Stephen Covey said "Our character is basically a composite of our habits.  Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character."

I think Stephen hit it on the head.  Our character, and part of what makes us a person, is based on our habits.  Before we knew Christ as our Master and Savior we had developed a "worldly" character that was a composite of different habits.  Some were destructive and worthless.  But!!  When we came to know Jesus as our Master and Savior it should have become obvious that many of our habits were in fact sins.  It was for our sin that Jesus died.  He took our sin upon himself.  He paid what should have been our penalty for our sin.  The result of really understanding this should have caused us concern over those habits that were/are sin.  This is what Jesus and Paul meant.  Our understanding of what Jesus did should lead us in putting to death our old selves and developing our new selves.  In short, replace the old habits with new ones.

It is essential that the Christian develop new habits, or godly habits.  Habits have a tendency to reassert themselves if they are not replaced by new ones.  Christians must be consciously developing godly habits to replace the old.  Here are three reasons why it is essential to develop godly habits.

First, in the beginning of a new Christian's life habits have to be formed to help a person grow closer to Jesus.  I've seen too many new Christians go back to their old lives because no one has helped them develop new habits that replace the old which help them in their fledgling relationship to Jesus.  It is sad, and I think it reveals the state of the Christian church today.  I think part of the reason why new Christians are not encouraged and taught to develop these new habits is because many people in the Church have never truly developed godly habits.

Second, the continued development of godly habits is essential for the Christian to "remain" in Jesus and produce "fruit" (John 15:1-11).  A person who truly understands what Jesus did in their life will be a changed person, but it does require work on our part.  I think that some church traditions, such as ours, so emphasize the fact that there is nothing we can do to be saved that we assume there need not be any work done on our part.  The truth is, what Jesus has done for us should cause us to want to change and tell the world.  Jesus says in John 15 that if we are to truly remain in him we will bear fruit.  We will make disciples and our character will change (Galatians 5:22).  In fact, godly habits are fruit within the Christian's life.

Third, our godly habits eventually determine how we reflect Jesus to the world around us (Matthew 5:13-16).  In the famous salt and light passage of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."  A quote I found says "Watch your thoughts; they become words.  Watch your words; they become actions.  Watch your actions; they become habits."  Habits are in essence repeated actions.  If we want to reflect the truth of Jesus to the world we have to have godly habits in place.

Though godly habits can be developed on a person's own, I believe that the best place for the development of godly habits is within the context of relationships.  God has created us as social human beings.  Richard Foster said in his book The Celebration of Discipline "God intends the Disciplines [godly habits] of the spiritual life to be for ordinary human beings: people who have jobs, who care for children, who wash dishes and mow lawns.  In fact, the Disciplines [godly habits] are exercised in the midst of our relationship with our husband and wife, our brothers and sisters, our friends and neighbors."

The truth is, there just are not that many truly self-disciplined people in the world.  That is not to say that self-discipline cannot be developed (and in reality is a godly habit itself), but people need people.  Godly habits are best developed in mutually accountable relationships.  One of the best places is within the family dedicated to God.  In order to be mutually accountable there has to be some type of regular contact with one another, and I can't think of any better place then the family.  This isn't to say that mutual accountability cannot take place within other relationships such as discipleship partnerships, small groups, etc....  It just means that an opportune place is within the family committed and devoted to God.

In fact I need to make something very clear.  Parents are given the responsibility by God to disciple their children.  In reality, it is not my job as a youth pastor.  It has become my job as a youth pastor, but it is really the job of godly parents.  Parents must take the call to disciple their children seriously.  In the process of discipleship mutual accountability will develop and should be encouraged.  Families should be holding each other accountable and helping each other develop godly habits. 

I want to give a model in which mutual accountability can lead to the development of godly habits.  Before I do this I want to stress once again that I believe mutual accountability can take place in any kind of relationship between believers.  I am merely saying that the godly family presents an opportune environment for this to happen.

Here is a model for mutual accountability with the purpose of developing godly habits.  In other words, here is a model were a group of godly people work together to get closer to Jesus.

1.  Someone has to take the lead in humility.  The biggest obstacle to mutual accountability is pride.  Someone has to be humble enough to go to another person, or group of people, and say "I need your help in developing godly habits."  A mutually accountable relationship is a relationship where all individuals are honest about their need to grow in their relationship with Jesus through the development of godly habits.

2. Meet as often as possible.  For the family this can occur daily.  The point here is to stress that godly habits are not formed overnight.  Godly habits take time to develop.  If we are trying to develop them within the context of relationships then we need to be in each others' lives as often as possible.  Meeting together as often as possible gives all involved a chance to take a break from the business of life and focus on what is important.  This leads us to number 3.

3.  Discuss scripture.  The standard of our Christian life, and the standard of godly habits, is Jesus.  His story and example is revealed through the Bible.  If we want to grow in godly habits we must devote ourselves to understanding the Bible.  People who are in mutually accountable relationships realize the importance of scripture and the role it plays in developing godly habits.

4.  Confess short comings.  I'm not saying reveal every sin you've ever committed to others, but I am saying be open about what may hold you back from putting into practice what scripture says.  We need to identify where the obstacles lie.  In developing godly habits we will often find that what we are doing is replacing an old habit with a new godly one.  Being open about where the obstacles are helps us know how to hold each other accountable and leads us to number 6.

5.  Discuss ways to put Scripture into action.  Having gone over Scripture and discerning what it says and having talked about our short comings, it is now time to put it into action.  Talk about what it will look like as we develop godly habits.  Again, by openly doing this we can encourage one another and hold each other accountable.

6.  Pray together and for one another.  Prayer is essential to the process of developing godly habits.  The reason why we are developing godly habits is to get closer to Jesus.  The very cool thing is, Jesus wants to be a part of the process as well.  Not only are we in this process with others in our mutually accountable relationships but we are in this process with our Master and Savior.

7.  Hold each other accountable.  This involves discerning what the problem is when someone is not following through in developing a godly habit.  Scripture is useful for four things, according to Paul.  It is used to teach, correct, rebuke and train in righteousness.  Those in a mutually accountable relationship need to approach each other with these in mind.  We will find times when our partner needs to be taught what scripture says.  There will be other times where scripture will need to be clarified so that thinking needs to be corrected.  There will be other times when we will have to confront wrong head on knowing that our partner knows what they are doing is wrong.  There has to be an understanding though.  We understand that we have given each other permission to hold us accountable.  This also requires humbleness on everyone's part.  Also, holding someone accountable needs to be done out of love.

8.  Pray together and for one another.  Again, prayer is key. 

We need to work together to help each other develop godly habits.  The purpose is to grow closer to Christ.  It is vital that we remember why we are in these mutually accountable relationships.  Jesus needs to be the center of our lives.  Jesus is a part of the process.  Never should our mutually accountable relationships become more important than our relationship with Jesus.  Never.

Book Review: The [Expanded] Bible: New Testament

The tagline for The [Expanded] Bible (New Testament) is “Study the Bible While You Read.”  So I got one, opened it and read.  My first impression…CONFUSING!!!  Isn’t this supposed to be an easy way to Bible study as you read?  I soon discovered that in order to use it I needed to know the key.  There are different indicators used to show whether a word can be translated in other ways, can be taken in an alternative direction, has a literal rendering and/or traditional rendering found in the KJV, needs more explaining, has a cross-reference or parallel scripture and has surrounding conflict due to discrepancies between manuscripts.  Not as simple as I thought it would be.

After using it for awhile it became easier to decipher, but reading it is just plain…clunky (for a lack of a better word) due to all the bracketing and extra info inserted in the text.  The version itself is based on a paraphrase The New Century Version.  This could pose some problem for people who are anti-paraphrase (I don't like a lot of paraphrases).  I’m not going to say it doesn’t have value though, but I am going to stick to traditional methods of Bible study.

Living a Life of Praise

Oh how I struggle with praise.  There was a short period in my life where "Praise God" was continually on my lips.  It didn't matter who was standing in front of me.  It could be a Christian or non-Christian.  I said it often and I meant it, but I have found myself lacking in praise lately.  (I should probably title this blogsite "Confessions of a Pastor."  I seem to do a lot of that here).

This week for our Salt n Light campaign we are talking about praise and specifically, how praise plays a part in our being salt and light to the world.  It is challenging me.  To a certain extent, I feel like I am a negative person.  I'm always looking at what is wrong around me.  I often find myself dwelling on the negative instead of the positive.  I don't often look for ways to praise God.  I know this has got to change.

One might ask "What is praise exactly?", and I might answer "Praise is more than just thanks to God.  A lot of people equate praise with thanksgiving, but praise is much more.  I think the best way to define praise is exaltation.  Problem is, exaltation needs to be defined as well.  Praise is pointing out the magnificent and wonderful things about God.  It can include thanksgiving but it is not limited to.  God needs to be praised all all times in all circumstances.  It is not just when we are thanking him for what he has done."  That's my answer and I'm sticking to it.

Of course, that would be a very short definition of praise because I truly believe that praise is a lifestyle that every Christian should strive to attain.  Praise involves a constant looking at others besides oneself.  It is constantly seeing magnificent and wonderful things about God.  It extends from looking for those things of God to looking for praiseworthy things in God's creation.  This includes other people.

Our biggest struggle in life is our selfishness.  Our desires confound lots of things in our life.  Imagine what life would look like if we weren't always looking out for ourselves.  Imagine what life would be like if we constantly looked for ways to praise God for who he is, what he has done through creation and what he has done not just through our lives but the lives of others.  I think life wouldn't be such a struggle.  Praise actually benefits the individual doing the praise.  In a way, praise can be seen as self serving.  There shouldn't be any misunderstanding of what I am saying.  Praise should always be sincere without the thought of oneself, but the knowledge that praise is beneficial to a person should free them up to strive for a life of praising. 

I will admit that it is hard to develop this lifestyle.  We are so consumed with ourselves.  So I suggest that we start somewhere simple.  One of our SNL small group members said that he begins his day with praise.  When he gets up he praise God before he does anything else.  This might be a very simple place to start.  After we have developed a habit of praising God in the morning (and according to some "experts" that should take 3 weeks of consistency) we could move on to something else such as striving to find one thing during the day we can praise God about.  After another "expert" confirmed 3 weeks we could move on to something else.  The point I am trying to make in all this is we need to try and develop a lifestyle of praise and it need not be difficult.  Start out simple and slowly move forward.

I am going to work on how I praise.  In fact, I'm going to start right now.  I praise God because he knows what is best.  Not only does he know what is best, he is constantly working in the lives of those who seek him.  As long as I am seeking him I know he will guide me in knowledge and understanding of his word.  I know that he will continue to help me develop and become more like Christ.  He doesn't hold back from those who seek.  I praise him because he is a loving, benevolent and generous God.  I don't know where I would be without him.  I praise you Lord for who you are!!