Friendship

Last night I enjoyed a special treat. We spent the evening with friends from Virginia. They are passing through the area on their way to Lousiana for a family reunion. Lynn, Nicholas and I lived in Charlottesville for two years from 1998-2000. While we were there God blessed us in many ways. The greatest blessing we received was the gift of friendship. Friendship is hard to define. At times it means laughter. At times it means inspiration. At times it means comfort. God teaches us so much through friends. Have you ever noticed that food tastes better when eaten with friends? When we moved to Virginia we never imagined how God would bless us with relationships that would be so rich and enduring. I'm so glad he did.

Good Monday Morning

Sometimes we begin Monday morning anxious to get past Monday. I happen to love Monday mornings because I spend time with some brothers at a Bible study. Yesterday I shared a quote from Kyle Strobel's book Metamorpha. I think it puts our Mondays in proper perspective. He writes how God has changed his view of Christian life. At first he focused on salvation only in terms of escape from God's impending judgment. Over time his understanding has broadened considerably. Strobel writes,

"It seemed to me I was saved from God by God. I failed to see I was saved by God for God and that his saving grace means eternal living here and now. My understanding of the Christian life had everything to do with what eventually will happen and had little to do with what currently is happening...we must never fail to actually journey with Jesus".

Let's journey with Jesus...on Monday's too.

Good Gift

What makes a good gift good? After encouraging his followers to ask, seek and knock. Jesus reminded them that the Father knows how to give his children good gifts. Through the years I have received too many gifts from my earthly father to remember. Many of the gifts I received are long gone. My dog I received for my second Christmas has been in "doggy heaven" for years. The bicycles that I rode and wrecked are on a scrap heap somewhere. But, I still have my bright red tool box in the garage. I remember when I received it for Christmas. I was a little less than excited at the time. Time has revealed that it was a good gift..a very good gift. I still have it. I still use it. It has traveled to Arizona, Virginia and back to Tennessee. Dad knew it was a good gift when he gave it to me. God knows when gifts are good when He gives them to us. We don't always recognize them.

Ask, Seek, Knock

Knock and it shall be opened to you. The expression "open door" has come to describe the opportunities we have in life. When I consider the opportunities that I enjoy today I realize how God has opened doors in my life. I have knocked on the door of God's forgiveness and He has given me peace. I have knocked on the door of God's love and He has given me a relationship with Him that is indescribable. I have knocked on the door of God's hope and He has replaced my fear with expectation. I knocked on the door of God's calling and He has given me a place to serve that brings me so much purpose. Knock and it shall be opened to you. What a promise!

Ask, Seek, Knock

The second part of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 7:7 is an encouragement to "seek". The promise is that if we will seek we will find. Our struggle to believe this promise is summed up in the words of a 1987 U2 song: "I still haven't found what I'm looking for". The words that follow Matthew 7:7 help me. Jesus points us toward relationships of love and trust. First, Jesus reveals that God, our Father, desires to give good gifts to us. Jesus concludes the discussion by pointing out that we should treat others as we desire to be treated. What does that have to do with seeking?

Ask,Seek, Knock

Questions are powerful. They express a full range of emotions. Sometimes they are rhetorical. Sometimes they are a cry for help. Sometimes they emerge from our lack of understanding and desire for knowledge. This week I will be giving a lot of attention to the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 7:7. Jesus taught, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you". It's a pretty bold teaching. Jesus encourages us to "ask". There have been many times that I have been teaching a class when I paused to give students an opportunity to ask questions only to be met with silence. What have you asked the Lord today?

United Worship

I just returned from a Promise Keepers event in Nashville. We had a great time making the journey together. The word "together" is the best word I have to describe the significance of the weekend for me. The speakers were very good. The event was presented with excellence from beginning to end. The arena was packed and we ate well. But, most of all I enjoyed experiencing worship together. It seemed that all of our differences were cast aside. Our backgrounds didn't matter. The style of music didn't seem to matter. There were moments of authentic united worship that we experienced together and it was powerful and refreshing.

What's for dinner?

I just finished a great meal. I went back to the neighborhood where I grew up and ate some of my favorite things...some healthy some not so healthy. It's always interesting to eat at a favorite restaurant that you haven't visited in a number of years. You always wonder if the food will be as good or whether it has lost it's appeal. Tonight, I was not disappointed in the food or the flood of memories that I enjoyed as I ate with Lynn and my mom and dad. Have you ever noticed that memories are powerful when they are associated with a meal? A great dining experience touches so many senses beyond the savoury smells and tastes. It seems that Jesus understood the power of a special meal when he sat down with his disciples to eat the "last supper" with them. As he drank and as he ate his comments combined the significance of the moment with a powerful anticipation of the future. He said, "I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God...I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." (Luke 22:16,18)

Mirror Mirror on the wall?

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself
Leo Tolstoy

Long before Daniel Goleman sold millions of books declaring that self-awareness increases emotional intelligence, Jesus was encouraging people to look in the mirror. In particular, Jesus pointed out that it is not wise to remove a "speck" from a neighbor's eye without first removing the "log" that is in our own (Matthew 7:4). In my experience developing self-awareness is similar to removing something from my eye. Although it begins with self-examination, it almost always requires help from others who are willing to be honest with me.

New Beginning

I have always been a morning person. Consequently, I'm not much of a night person. By the way, it's 10 o'clock and I'm blogging...this is a small miracle. I'm not sure why I have always enjoyed dawn more than dusk. But, it may have something to do with the joy of facing a new day with a fresh perspective. It seems like each sunrise brings new hope to my heart and a sense of God's grace for the day. In the words of an ancient prophet "Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day" (Lamentations 3:23). Last Sunday was a special day for us at Heritage Fellowship to celebrate God's grace. We enjoyed a church picnic. As a part of the picnic we had a time for baptism in water. Water baptism is a great illustration of a spiritual new beginning. It represents the dawn of a new day in the life of the person baptized. As the person is submerged in the water, it demonstrates that yesterday's guilt is left behind. And with emergence from the water, a new day dawns. I hope you greet tomorrow with a fresh hope!

Letting Go

Anxiety is a hangover of bad habits established when we were trusting things that were certain to let us down.
Dallas Willard

I love the way Willard hits us with the damaging aspects of worry. Not only does he compare worry to a hangover, but he also lets us know that worrying is a bad habit. He identifies some of the things that we tend to trust: human approval and wealth just to name a couple. Notice that Willard is "certain" that these things will let us down. Human experience is on his side. Is there a secret to breaking old habits? There are many methods for breaking habits. But, one of my favorite methods is replacing the bad habit with a good habit. Instead of worrying, try prayer.

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. (Philippians 4:6)

Number One

One of the most prevalent topics in leadership development circles is time management. Most time management gurus have a system to help us determine priorities. Becoming a wise steward of our days, weeks, months and years begins with some tough questions. What matters most? What do I value? What is most important today? I remember when I began my first "full time" pastorate. I was a few weeks short of 30 years old. I have often thought about the fact that Jesus was about the same age when he began his "public" ministry. Three years later he was crucified and ascended to heaven. That means he had less than three years to prepare his disciples (not always the sharpest knives in the drawer) to carry on the greatest mission this world has ever known. Jesus must have understood something about priorities and time management. It would help us all to listen to his great advice on priorities. Jesus said, "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you". Oh, by the way, the next thing He said was "therefore do not worry about tomorrow".

Pause

Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 26:10)
One translation of that great Psalm reads "Pause awhile, and know that I am God". Hit the pause button today and determine to know God and know that God is God. The German theologian Karl Rahner wrote "Some things are understood not by grasping but by allowing oneself to be grasped". Of course that requires us to be still. It requires us to release ourselves - our worries and trust God.

Luggage wheels

Luggage wheels. What is the greatest invention in recent years? Luggage wheels rank pretty high for me. Perhaps it is a reflection of just how much we tend to pack when we go on vacation. But, luggage wheels are awesome. Typically, we have three suitcases: each about the size of a baby elephant. With wheels it's a piece of cake. Of course, I have to fight my "man pride" that tries to convince me that I should carry the luggage even though they are equipped with wheels. This is not unrelated to our tendencies to worry. John Piper says the struggle of followers of Christ is "not a struggle to carry a burden, but a struggle to let a burden be carried for us". Jesus has invited us to find rest in Him. He has invited us to "cast our cares upon Him". Why not?

Are you worried?

Well, I'm still pondering about what it means to win over worry. It is a subject that I will return to again and again. Psalm 73 has been a favorite of mine for a long time. The Psalm starts out with a vivid description of a worried soul. In the end the Psalm is resolved with some powerful encouragement. It is encouragement that comes from a trip to the "sanctuary" of God.

Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever...But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all Your works.
Psalm 73:25-28

Back in the Saddle

Hey, vacation's over. That means I will be sharing a message at Heritage tomorrow. I'm looking forward to sharing a message that is very personal to me. It's about "winning over worry". Unfortunately, I can draw from a deep well of experience when it comes to worry. The words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are a little hard to swallow. His words "do not worry" are pretty easy for me to understand. Yet, I have invested a lot of my time and energy worrying. In the end, Jesus characterizes worry as a result of "puny faith" (Matthew 6:30). That hurts! I will spend quite a bit of time this week pondering the relationship between the strength of my faith in Christ and my tendency to worry. I can't help but think that the strength of my trust in someone usually depends on how well I know them. If this is true with Jesus then winning over worry will require us to know Him better.

Vacation Time

To blog or not to blog...that is the question. Here I am at a mall in Orlando in an Apple store logged into a computer thinking about giving a little blog time. Oh well, decision made. See you next week.