Blind left hand turns

When I am in the United States I am blessed to go to an office that is very easy to get to.

That is except for the 2nd to last turn, it is in my opinion one of the hardest parts of my entire day - not because I'm not used to it, but because it takes experience and nerves of steel to navigate it safely.

Let me see if I can describe the turn:

• It's a left hand turn
• There is rarely (if ever) a turn arrow
• Oncoming traffic does not stop
• The oncoming traffic comes out of a dip in the road, I the traffic in my lane is pointed uphill and as you can imagine it is frequently difficult to see
• The traffic moves at about 50 MPH (though many drivers go much faster)

While driving to work recently I was waiting for what I believed was the right moment to turn when I came to a realization that my drive to work was a metaphor for life (my life anyway).

God calls each one of us to do something for Him, somewhere.

• There are times when the road is smooth - everything is going the way we expect it to.
• There are other times when there are minor pot holes or detours - things don't always go the way that we expect them to, but we know that in a short (or long) period of time we will be back on course
• There are times when we know where we are going and in order to get there we make a blind left hand turn

So the question was - how is it that every day I make a blind left hand turn and do so safely, without getting into and without causing others to get into an accident?

How does one do what God is calling them to when there is risk, things are moving too fast, and you can not see everthing that is coming?

1. Experience and preperation - You would not want to be an inexperienced driver or a student driver out on your first day trying to make a turn like this or drive on the freeway(1 Sam 7:3) preperation, practice and experience provide context and often times will help you know when you should move and when you should wait or take a different path to get to the same destination
2. Wait and be patient - being in a hurry leads to dangerous behavior (Isa 40:31), but being patient while driving and in life is a good idea
3. Watch and listen - being aware of what's going on by not being distracted and watching and listening for traffic. Being aware of what God is doing by being aware of His leading and what His Word says. Sometimes I have heard something on the radio that sounded like a siren or the noise of a car and it distracted me. Don't make the mistake of hearing or seeing something that is not really there or not hearing or seeing something that is.
4. Eventually I need to turn (or not) - eventually when driving or in life I need to move or decide that I won't and make sure that I know that once that decision is made it can not be undone, and there might be positive or negative consequences.

What is my point? Through life there might be times when you have to make a decision without a 100% perfect and clear view of where you are going - God has given you experience, senses, skills and His Word to guide you. It is your job to use what He has given to guide you to act within His will or to simply be patient and wait for the right time to act or for Him to show you a different way to get you to where He has called you.

Defending God

I’ve gotten into a bad habit lately of defending God. My obsession with defending Him is almost always in one specific area, and that is His goodness.

What do I mean by that? Let me give you an example- I often hear people say things like “God caused this to happen” or “God did this to me” or “why did God do….?” These statement almost always proceed a statement about some terrible event, deadly disease, or absolute tragedy.

I am more upset when I hear Christians say things that are lifted from the Bible in fragments that are absolutely disconnected from the context of the book they’re in or even the verse they’re in. Here’s an example that I’ve heard more than once “…we know that God causes all things…”. This is a misquoted allusion to Romans 8:28 and somehow is used to imply that when their is good or evil God is the author of it. In fact this verse says “we know that God causes all things to work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose.” Causing things- including tragedies- to work together for good is quite a different thing than causing all things to happen.

Let me give an example, I know a young man in the Central African Republic who lost both parents to AIDS when he was a boy. I don’t for a minute think that God caused the death of his parents. His parents died from a disease – disease was not part of God’s creation but came into the world when Adam fell. AIDS itself is also often contracted through illicit sexual activity or intravenous drug use. Sadly there are many others who contract the disease because of someone else's behaviors and are innocent victims.

As a result of this boy’s parents dying he was raised in a different home by Christians who taught him about the love of God and he eventually became a believer. Today this young man leads a class of children, many of whom have also been orphaned by AIDS.

God was able to use (not cause) this terrible situation and use it for His glory and to build this orphan into a man of God.

So do I need to defend God? No. He is more than able to defend Himself. Yet I will continue to deliver a message (which is itself the very core of my defense) that a dear friend taught me- “God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.”

Who’s kingdom are you growing?

In one way or another we’re all in the business of kingdom building. CEO’s focus on the growth of their company, coaches focus on the performance of their team, people in ministry are focused on the growth of their ministry.

The desire to see a company or ministry expand in reach and influence is absolutely natural, we as people desire to succeed and as a result we have an inclination to see the thing that we spend our time working on succeed as well. We look at things like market penetration, number of people served, and name recognition. Trucks are purchased and buildings are built with corporate or ministry names emblazoned on them as evidence of the success of the organization.

Don’t misunderstand me, there is nothing wrong with a ministry growing, or identifying the vehicles or buildings it uses for ministry.

In 1 Corinthians Paul shows an example of kingdom building:

“For you are yet carnal. For in that there is among you envyings and strife and divisions, are you not carnal, and do you not walk according to men? For while one says, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to each? I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. So he planting, and he watering, are one, and each one shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For of God we are fellow-workers, a field of God, and you are a building of God. According to the grace of God which is given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let every man be careful how he builds on it. For any other foundation can no one lay than the one being laid, who is Jesus Christ. And if anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, each one's work shall be revealed. For the Day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try each one's work as to what kind it is. If anyone's work which he built remains, he shall receive a reward. If anyone's work shall be burned up, he shall suffer loss. But he shall be saved, yet so as by fire.”
1 Corinthians 3:3-15

The work we do, no matter who’s name is attached to it must have God’s name attached to it. It must be focused on building God’s Kingdom and not mans, without jealousy or envy.

I have a dear friend who is a pastor of a church that rents a small building for Sunday and midweek services. When he drives past a large church in the area with a beautiful building and a large youth center, he might be inclined to be look upon the work their doing and say “Lord, why don’t I have a building like that? Haven’t I been faithful to what You called me to?” But he doesn’t, I know for a fact that this pastor actually prays for this church’s continued growth and effectiveness in their ministry.

A friend from the Central African Republic

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:  1 Peter 2:9

I met this young man in the Central African Republic.  He is an orphan.

One thing that I remember well about him was the day I met him.  While the rest of the children at the project he attends were playing he came out and away from the crowd, wearing a paper crown and greeted me.  

It struck me that he was the only child with a crown on his head, and how different he was than the others.  At that moment I remembered the words of Peter, that as followers of Christ we are to be different from the crowd, and that as members of God's family we are in fact royalty - even if the crowns we wear while on earth are only made of paper.

Gold stars

I remember grade school well, perhaps because I have a child who came through grade school, one in the middle of it, and one about to enter.

One thing I remember vividly about my own school days as well as that of my children was the gold star chart. The chart in case you are not familiar is a simple way to motivate children to accomplish a goal by placing gold stars (or something similar) next to their name. It usually resulted in 2 things; excitement over some nominal reward for earning said stars, and competition/comparison between children.

Sometimes as adults we long for things of childhood, and I believe the gold stars are one of them. We long for recognition and to know that we are achieving an objective or subjective goal. And not only with other people, but also with God.

Work gets done for public recognition and each of us silently (or publicly) compared ourselves to the next guy.

Did I earn a gold star for that? I must have one for giving. I must have more gold stars than him, after all I'm a....(deacon, missionary, pastor, elder, board member, etc...)

I'm sorry to tell you this, but there is no divine gold star chart where we can check our own standing against others. No, the Lord has no chart with carefully placed stickers by which He compares our performance against one another.

Revelation 20:12 references "books" in which works are recorded. But it is important to note that those books are closed, ie not open for public inspection and comparisson. 

The standard God looks at is not how we're doing compared to the next guy, but are we being obedient to the standard He has called us to in scripture and to the obedience on His personal call on our lives.

That Old House

About two weeks ago I was in my old neighborhood visiting with some friends and neighbors and got to see my old house. 

My kids wanted to go and play in the yard, but I had to explain to them that it wasn’t their house anymore and that it belonged to someone else. 

At the same time I started to notice things that were different – the Christmas decorations on the outside of the house were similar to the way we used to hang them, but different enough that it didn’t seem completely right.  Some of the landscaping that I personally had worked on had changed too.  Somehow all of us longed for this house to be the way it was when we were there.

But this was not our house anymore, God had called us to serve Him elsewhere.

I was reminded of the Israelites when they had just been taken out of Egypt - Exodus 14:12  “Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”

The people of Israel looked back at their old house and not at the place they were going, and though it wasn’t their home anymore.

There is something about the place we used to be and the things we used to do that pull at us…sometimes these things can be positive. All too often they are the bad habits or sins from years past that pull on us to walk past the old house and glance at what looks like a comfortable place to be and ignore the fact that God has taken you away from that place for a reason, and this is to live a life that would be able to glorify Him.

“And such were some of you. But you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
1 Corinthians 6:11

Never Use a Large Word When a Diminutive One Will Suffice

I heard a pastor say this on Sunday…and at first I though “you’re right”. 

You see - I totally missed the joke.

It’s the same way when it comes to some things in the Bible – we read the text and nod in agreement and sometimes miss the point.

Case in point…

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2:13-14

Somehow I’ve always had the impression, as a lot of people do, that this was a choir that suddenly appeared in the sky and was happing singing the first Christmas carol – when in fact it was something quite different.

I’ll do my best to present my own paraphrase after taking a look at the Greek.

Unexpectedly, there appear with the angel so many angels from the army of the Lord that the sky appeared to be filled by them, they praised God and shattered the silence of the night with this proclamation – Glory and worship is due to God most high in Heaven and to those on earth peace, and to men good will.

Imagine being one of the shepherds in the field seeing one angel (who caused them to be very afraid)…and then in the middle of the conversation the very army of Heaven appears and fills the sky – glorifying God – now that’s something even I wouldn’t miss.

Remember those bracelets?

Does anyone remember when the WWJD bracelets were the “Christian fashion”?

I do think it is a valid question to ask when confronted with a tough situation. 

The question I’ve always had about them is this- “How do you know what Jesus would do?”  Noodle on that for just a minute.

You know what He would do only by knowing what He did do.

What am I saying? The only way to know what Jesus would do is by knowing Him and by knowing what He has already done in history (you can find this in the Bible of course). 

I have seen people in various situations with the WWJD bracelet on or have even heard them say “what would Jesus do?” and then act 100% opposite of the way Jesus would have acted in the same situation.

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
(John 13:17)

My personal verse (?)

What I would call my personal verse has changed over time, but over the past couple years this one has stuck with me.

See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;
(Exo 31:2-6)

What does this mean? It’s pretty simple, when God needs something done- He will equip and enable the right person (or people) to do it.

New Bible(s)

This has little to do with the theme of this blog, but I had to share anyway.

This weekend I bought 2 new Bibles… one to carry with me all the time and one for general reading.

Why is this a big deal? If you take a look at my book shelves you would see that I have a lot of Bibles. Some of them are for reading, some are for research and some… well I’ll be honest some don’t get used ever.

When I find a Bible I like, I will use it until it is falling apart… and sometimes longer. A Bible I am retiring is currently held together by a custom made duct tape cover. When people see it I usually get 1 of 2 comments. 1- “do you need money to get a new Bible…” or 2-“man you must read the Bible a lot to wear it out like that…”. The truth of the matter is it’s more like this...I try to take a Bible everywhere I go, in a jungle, up a mountain, on the plane, in a village, in a boat…etc… and to be honest this puts a lot of wear and tear on a Bible.

I like to be able to have the Bible available for a quick verse lookup or just casual reading at a moments notice no matter where I am.

I have heard it said that a Bible in bad shape is a sign of a life that isn’t. Now to get to wearing the new ones out.

A partial DIY blog post - God is a life changer.

On your own read 1 Corinthians 6:9-10....

Now make a list of the things that Paul lists and just put a check mark next to the ones that ever described something you've done. Circle the one's that you've never done / or never would.

Take a good look at the list and ask yourself this question-why are these things in the same list?
I'll be more specific, one word that I'm sure everyone who is actually doing this check was "covetous" or something like that depending on your translation.

I'll answer in a second. Right after the climax of this passage--->

1Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

God is a life changer! He can change a heart & spirit of a person that was any of the things in that list....and even things that are not on that list.

What does this have do with missions? God is a life changer whether He's changing the life of a lost sinner in your neighborhood, or in another country. And He's a God who changes orphans into children who are loved.

Working for a reward?

This is a Do It Yourself blog post.... so get your Bible out before continuing.

The other day I was listening to a podcast about Matthew 6:1-6 (please go read it, this blog should still be here when you're done)....

It got me thinking about how God rewards people -vs- man rewarding people, and the motivation for why I (or anyone does what they do).

The funny thing is that I tend to not think about doing things for a reward (from men or God), but that doesn't change what Scripture says about it.

God is a rewarder of people who are seeking after Him ( go ahead and look up Hebrews 11:6 if you still have your Bible out.)

What makes a powerful ministry? (Bible verse and commentary for the day)

Some friends just worked at a volunteer fair yesterday and mentioned to me this morning that a lot of people wanted to do more "direct" or "hands on" ministry.

Sometimes we forget that the motivation and who you are doing the ministry for (ie God), and His empowerment is what makes ministry....a powerful ministry.  

For example Stephen:

Act 6:8  And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. 

What was Stephen's ministry? Surely he was an evangelist or great teacher! 

Nope- Stephen was a "waiter" in church who's job it was to distribute food to the widows.

Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. 

(Act 6:2-6)

 

Bible verse of the day

And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
(1Co 12:21)

Tools of the trade - a Bible

OK, I hinted at this before in an intro to tools of the trade, but I really want to take a moment here and discuss why the Bible is one of the most important tools you can have.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2Ti 3:16-17)

I don't just mean having a new leather bound version of the Bible either. I mean having the word of God in memorized in your head, engraved in your heart, spoken from your lips and implemented in your hands.

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
(Jas 1:22-23)

The Bible is not just "a book", it contains the very words of God and is:

• A manual for living
• A weapon against our enemy
• A mirror by which we see our own sin
• A yardstick by which all other things are measured

I have known people in various ministries that despite their best intentions and natural abilities had allowed the Bible to take a back seat in the operation of their ministry, and all have struggled and many failed as a result.

What is a hero?

Yes I know this appears to deviate from my theme and purpose, since this is my blog and since today is the day that it is  I 'll take the liberty to discuss it. I also I believe it applies to many missionaries.

I wish I could remember where I first heard it so that I could attribute the quote correctly, but the best definition I ever heard for a hero was something like this -

A hero is someone who is running into a place, while everyone else is running out.

Think about it for a second, and think about the people you consider heroes.

This statement applies to everyone from firefighters, to missionaries working in dangerous areas, to the Lord Jesus Himself.

For a firefighter the place could be a burning building, for a missionary it could be a country that everyone else is abandonding and for Christ it could be the life of a person that everyone else thinks is hopeless.  

But God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 

(Rom 5:8)

Bible verse for the day

Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. 

(Exo 22:22)

Bible verse (and commentary) for the day...

Most christians are familiar with this verse...

Come now, and let us reason together, says Jehovah; though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.
(Isa 1:18)

But that's not my verse for today, it's actually right before that:

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
(Isa 1:16-17)

Did you catch that?

I will give my paraphrase:

Get forgiveness for your sins, then stop doing evil. But not only that, learn to do the right thing too- here are some examples- seek justice for others, right the things that are wrong and help those who have been oppressed. Act as an advocate for orphans and plead the case of widows.

Scripture for the day

Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners: The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous: The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.
(Psa 146:1-10)