Early Morning Musings...

It's strange to see the clock in the corner saying it's 2:22 a.m. My mind keeps telling me that I am supposed to be asleep in my bed, but my heart won't let me rest. Thoughts fly around freely, flitting from one topic to another, without form or even function. They're just thoughts, random and often not even significant, but occasionally one lands that grabs my attention and gives me some substance on which to chew.

I question myself - am I worried? Am I concerned? Am I afraid? I can't actually say that I am any of those. While it's hard to describe, I guess the best I could say is that I am contemplative. Even while I write that I feel it gives me more credit than I deserve. But it's close....

What occupies my mind so early in the morning? My children always are in my thoughts. Perhaps this is another opportunity for me to raise them again up to God and offer their lives to Him, not unlike Job did for his kids. They too have their contemplative times, and their trials, and their joys. Lord, please bless them today.

My wife, who has been my support and strength through so many trials, is on my heart. She has given so much of herself for others, and strives so hard to be a light shining for her Father in Heaven. Oh God, bless her and fill her with peace as she sleeps.

I think of my parents. I love them and need to connect with them more to let them know how I feel. Lord, be with them today.

I think of each person on the Prayers of Faith list. I pray for them and thank God for them. They have given me such joy as I have seen their prayers unite together to move mountains and their faith in our Father transform lives beyond my belief. Lord, please come into their lives today and bless them.

I am reminded of the families in Saipan, those whom I will be with in less than 3 weeks. The children at the school have been on my heart so much these last few weeks, and I have prayed that the Holy Spirit will prepare both my mouth and them to receive the message that comes from God. I am amazed that I have this opportunity to share what is bubbling over in my heart, and praise God for His goodness in giving me this chance to let my light so shine. Abba, Father - bless this upcoming Week of Prayer.

My work flies through my thoughts - deadlines and challenges and most importantly, people. Lord, You know the hurting, damaged lives that are out there - ones that the devil is systematically destroying. How it pains me to see what is happening to them - how it must kill You! Do you ever look down at the scars in Your hands and wish that Your children could fully understand what You have done for them? Lord, send Your Holy Spirit to guide them as they sleep, and draw them with Your everlasting love today.

So many more things bounce across the synapses of my brain. Friends, both old and new, flash through my thoughts. Where are they? More importantly, where are they in their relationship with You? Do they also look at the events that surround them and see the culmination of this earth's history, like a locomotive racing to its final stop? Have they taken the time to refresh the only relationship that really matters for eternity? Father, I cry out to you for my friends!

My Bible is at my side, and I turn the pages to familiar friends - those passages that have comforted me on so many occasions. I am guided to Psalm 121. My eyes pause on verses 3 and 4: "He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."

It comforts me to know that I am not the only person who is awake....

He also comforts me with verses 7 and 8: "The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore."

I claim this promise for all of my family and friends.

I am so blessed!

God bless you abundantly!

My Commitment....

A friend sent me a hyperlink that is changing my life. Amazingly, it is a link of someone who is a vocal atheist - someone who even won the Richard Dawkins award (an annual award given to a person who is a proponent of atheism). Maybe it's because it came from such an unlikely source that it has impacted me so much.

Most people have heard of Penn and Teller. Their unique approach to comedy and magic has made them popular in Vegas and on various programs around the world. Penn - the big guy with the long hair - is the atheist I was referring to. He does a regular video blog where he talks for 5 minutes or so on whatever topic he wants to discuss. It was through this venue that I came face-to-face with my own inconsistencies.

In this session I am referring to, Penn is discussing a man that came to his show and gave him a Gideon Bible - a little New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs. Penn was impressed with this business man who, in his words, "cared enough about me to proselytize and give me a Bible..."

That coming from an atheist is impressive. But there was something else that he said that hit me like a ton of bricks. In talking about sharing your faith, he said: "And I've always said, you know, that I don't respect people who don't proselytize - I don't respect that at all. If you believe that there's a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell, or not getting eternal life, or whatever, and you think that, 'Well, it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward.'" He goes on to say, "How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? I mean, if I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming to hit you and you didn't believe it, there's a certain point where I tackle you - and this is more important than that."

That's when it hit me. How many times have I thought, "I'll just live my life so people can see that I am a Christian, and that will be witness enough." A witness is someone who tells what he or she has seen or experienced. What would it be like if you were called on the witness stand and all you did was smile and show that you are a good and friendly person? Would the judge say, "Thank you so much for being such a good witness?" No - they actually call that contempt of court!

So here's my commitment: I will pray every day that God will lead someone to me that I can witness to, and then I will spend my day with my eyes open looking for opportunities to share Christ with them. No longer will I rely on being the "silent witness." I want my voice to be heard!

And you? What will you commit to do starting today?

God bless you abundantly!

The Stage is Set...

This coming week we are going to experience something that America has never experienced before. On January 20, 2009 we will welcome into office a man who, shall we say, can maintain his tan better than any previous president. Senator Obama becomes President Barack Obama. A man of color will step into the Oval Office to serve our country.

People around the world are saying that this is a historic moment. The eyes of all are focused on a nation that has prided itself on its' civil rights. Now we have the chance to see if it was lip service or a true transformation from the days when slaves were a common commodity. Now we will see if our nation is ready to follow President Obama's lead.

What bothers me is the fact that we even notice the color of his skin. Are we trying to convince ourselves that we are non-discriminatory in our attitudes toward someone we might never socialize with in our daily activities? Do we show support because he is black or because he shares our ideals? Are we willing to challenge him because we don't agree with him or do we keep our mouths shut because we don't want to appear racist? How much does his "diversity" affect our objectivity?

What should be our role with this new leader? Paul, in his first letter to Timothy said, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." (I Timothy 2:1,2) Whether we agree with the majority that voted this president into his new role or not, we have a responsibility to support him with our prayers, and give thanks that he is our new leader.

Personally, I'm not too worried about his tenure in office. Because I believe that he is exactly where he is supposed to be! Romans 13 tells me that my responsibility lies in supporting those who are in positions of authority. I am to be subject to those who are in power, because "... there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God." (verse 1) Verse 4 says, "For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain." That means that with the authority that God has given him there also comes a responsibility to carry out God's direction. How he does that is between him and God.

I feel I am so blessed to be living at this time of the world's history! The pieces of the final chapter of this earth's journey are all falling into place. The stage is set for an amazing ride. What is coming in the future may surprise us, but what will never shock me is the fact that no matter what happens, I know that God is guiding each step of the way. Not only guiding, but traveling this path with me.

Are you ready to walk into the future with God by your side?

God bless you abundantly!

Thoughts on Trust...

I've been thinking a lot about trust. Actually, what stimulates my cogitation has more to do with my history of a lack of trust. Like most humans, I do a pretty good job of covering up the fact that I don't trust people. I smile just like others do, nodding my head as though I am completely dedicated to allowing some stranger to freely control my life. But deep inside (and maybe not so deep at that), there is no way that I am going to trust that person.

Trust is weird. Is there anyone who can trust someone without developing a relationship with that person? The truth is (at least from my perspective), the only way that you can build trust is by trusting. At some point, no matter how connected you are to that person, you are going to have to trust him before you can build a good foundation of trust. In other words (to make it even more confusing), if you want it you've got to have it before you can get it! Now you see why I say that trust is weird?

I see the effects of a lack of trust at work nearly every day. People are giving their lip service - their support or collaboration, if you will - to those people who are their closest co-workers. To their faces they are their best friends. Yet deep inside they are doing all they can to protect their turf and save their jobs, just in case someone should try to undermine their efforts. It's a wonder that any work can get done!

Sometimes I laugh (completely to myself, 'cause I also have to protect my job) when I see businesses having retreats to build trust within their leadership. They make executives do things like the "Trust Fall," or climb up poles and across cables while co-workers hold on to ropes to make sure that they don't fall and get hurt, all the while thinking that they are facilitating trust between those people. But all that is really happening is that the person holding the rope or catching the falling co-worker is thinking, "I can't let this person get hurt, 'cause I will be the one that appears to be incompetent or weak, and we all know what happens at work to those who look weak!"

Then I wonder about trust in the spiritual sense. Is it important? No, not just important - it is critical for our salvation. Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." It's not a halfway proposition - it's an all-or-nothing stance that we are expected to take.

So how do we do it? How do we take cynical, skeptical human beings and turn them around so that they are willing to give over their futures completely to a God who demands nothing less? How do we transform their natures to the place where they will allow God to dictate which paths they should travel?

It can't happen. There is nothing that we can do. We have to learn to rely on a Power that is totally outside of our control. We have to be reborn. We have to be transformed. We have to be new creatures - new creations.

It doesn't happen overnight. And speaking from experience, there will be times when we wrestle control out of His hands and destroy what progress He is making with us. But even during those times He can use our experiences to build a stronger foundation of trust - something that future tough times cannot shake.

And I'm good with that!

God bless you abundantly!

New Year's Resolutions

A New Year...

Actually, I feel it is an artificially created New Year, since nothing is new except the inch of snow that we got overnight. There are no new growths on the plants outside (and won't be until the weather decides to produce some temperatures consistently above the freezing mark!). No births of cattle in the fields, or even new lambs in the barns. Flipping the calendar to a new page really doesn't count, in my book.

But to much of the world, we are starting a new year. The IRS has indicated that my next pay check is going to be part of the 2009 tax year, and in a few weeks I will need to consider what I have to pay for taxes in 2008. Kids are heading back to college in hopes that their next quarters or semesters will be better than the previous (or hoping that they will be able to at least match what they were able to do before the break). And I will have to somehow remember to write "2009" instead of "2008."

But I have to ask myself - what did I learn in 2008 that will change my life in 2009? Is it just another day or week or month or year of the same thing that I have been experiencing all along? I agree with Max Lucado that God will meet us anywhere and come into our lives no matter what condition we are in, but it's not His plan to leave us like that - He wants us to be just like Jesus. But what has changed for me that makes me any more like Jesus than I was a year ago?

I don't know if you believe in making resolutions, but most of the people I meet can't remember what they resolved to do a year ago, much less achieved that goal. As Jesus said to a sleeping Peter, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

The first question (of a person who thinks he is a realist, but has been accused of being a pessimist!) is, "How should this year be any different?" If historically my "resolutions" have been more like "revolutions" - revolving around like a New York hotel door and showing up as "new" every year - what would make this year any different? Why should I even put any effort into making the change? And if I am to "try," what am I supposed to try to do?

I am reminded of the book of Romans. If you have a chance, sit down and read the whole thing from the beginning to the end (it's only 16 chapters long, and in my Bible covers less than 15 pages). Read chapter 6, about how our "old man," that part of us which pulls us away from Christ, can be buried, and how we can be raised to a new life. How, while we were once slaves to sin, we can become slaves to righteousness! Read chapter 7, which reminds us that while we can be controlled at times by the "body of death," our salvation comes from the life of Christ working through us!

Now ask yourself: If Christ has freed you, what are you going to do about it? Can you really say "Praise God" and go about your business? Can I? Is it possible, if I have been given new life, to even have the ability to keep my mouth shut when it comes to sharing my good news with others? If I can keep my mouth shut, do I really have any good news to share?

I want to be able to say, like Paul in Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes...."

That's my prayer - my New Year's resolution. Are you interested in joining me and truly making this year a year to remember?

God bless you abundantly!