It's New Years Eve! We have come to the end of another year which is also the end of another decade. I look back and realize this is the 5th end of a decade I have experienced. A lot has changed since 1970 when I saw my first decade turn. The biggest change in my opinion is what I will call the "velocity of life". The rate at which hours, minutes and seconds tick away is the same; however, the way we experience the passing of time has changed. I will not droll on about microwaves, cell phones and the Internet being evil things that have ruined our lives. On the contrary, these technological breakthroughs have made life better in innumerable ways. Microwaves allow us to utilize food more efficiently and decrease the amount of time required to prepare meals. Cell phones afford peace of mind and closer contact with our loved ones. The Internet has opened a new world of information to expand our minds and improve communication across the entire world. So who is responsible for the velocity of life? We are!
Two novels that were required reading through my school years were "1984" and "A Brave New World". Orwell's premise was that in the future Big Brother would control the world through controlling access to information and truth thereby exerting authoritarian control. Huxley's premise was that we would be so overwhelmed by information that truth would be unknowable in the avalanche of data. I must say Huxley was much closer to the truth.
What is our response? We have talked in previous blogs about understanding what we believe and turning it into action in our lives. In order to do that we have to increase our velocity. Speed up? You say, "I thought we just spent time talking about the velocity of life and now you want me to speed up?" Allow me to explain. First, there is a difference between speed and velocity. Speed is how fast you are going. Velocity is speed in a direction. It matters little how fast I travel if I have no direction. Attach a directional vector to speed and now you have velocity. Likewise, time is not our problem. If you are trying to manage time... forget it. No matter how hard you try you will never get more than 24 hours out of a day or 7 days out of a week. However, we can manage our priorities within the bounds of time. The high volume of information and opportunities we face today offer limitless distractions which increase our activity (or speed), but confuse our direction (or velocity). My observation is that we move aimlessly now that we are lost in this maze. By limiting our distractions and focusing on the truly important aspects of life we allow ourselves to have direction in our lives that give us power. Our lives are similar to a stream of water. Regardless of the volume of water contained in that stream, if you move the banks far enough apart you effectively turn a mighty river into a stagnant pool. On the other hand, pull those banks close together and the power of that rushing river can carve a canyon or generate electricity.
Julia Wesley had 19 children. You have no doubt heard of two of her sons, John and Charles Wesley. John was a tireless preacher and teacher of the Gospel and Charles wrote many of our beloved hymns. John reported that he asked his mother to define sin. Julia replied, "Sin is anything that distracts you from the truth of Scripture or violates the sacred right of another." I imagine a mother of 19 knew something about prioritizing time, hence her concise answer. I came to the similar realization when my two boys were young that I could not have and do it all. I decided I would focus on three things: Faith, Family and Vocation. That meant I would say 'no' to many things. I don't play golf, fish, hunt or many other things I could do. None of those things are wrong in and of themselves. They only become wrong for me when they become a distraction from truth I believe as a Follower of Christ or when they cause me to be less of a father, husband or steward of my gifts.
So how do we become the laser focused followers of Christ we are called to be? By narrowing our focus and increasing our velocity!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
What is Our Response? (Part 3)
It's Christmas! No better time to understand and strengthen our beliefs, move our beliefs to convictions and transform those convictions into actions. We have previously discussed understanding what we believe as followers of Christ. Is believing enough? Based on the modern usage of the word I would answer a resounding "No!" We believe so many things and we change those beliefs so easily it is hard to tell the difference between a belief and a loosely held opinion. Like many other adulterations of the Christian faith, modern society has stolen the the meaning of belief and replaced it with something safe and easy. We can easily answer the question, "Do you believe Jesus is God incarnate and He took on the form of a man to pay the price for our sins that we are unable to pay?", in the affirmative with a simple "yes"without giving any thought to what we have just affirmed.
I challenge followers of Christ to go beyond such simplistic belief to conviction. An opinion carries no strength and we change those easily. Belief is a little stronger but as we have just discussed it carries little more weight than an opinion in our post-modern world. We need to move past belief to conviction. A conviction is something you will die for to put it bluntly. A conviction becomes a filter for our decisions and actions. While we will change an opinion in a casual conversation or revamp a belief over coffee, we will die for a conviction. Until we understand and believe to the level of a conviction we are coming up short of what the Bible describes as saving faith. What is our response?
A conviction is not an idea we keep tucked away until we are asked what we believe. It is not simply the right answer to the preachers question after we walk the aisle. A conviction is a belief that molds our life from the inside out. A conviction is not manifest by words alone either. A conviction is seen in our actions and more specifically in the balance between our words and our deeds. Read James 1:19 - 25 and you will get a glimpse of what I am talking about. This is the passage that contains in verse 22 the exhortation, "But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
To summarize, understand the word of God by devoting the time to understand what it is we belief and why. Allow those beliefs to shape us from the inside and hold to the truth of our convictions. Those conviction will compel us to action. On the day we celebrate the coming of a Savior, let us consider honestly the truth of our words and how they should mold our actions the other 364 days a year.
Stay tuned for the final segment of the series when we discuss "what not to do."
Merry Christmas!
I challenge followers of Christ to go beyond such simplistic belief to conviction. An opinion carries no strength and we change those easily. Belief is a little stronger but as we have just discussed it carries little more weight than an opinion in our post-modern world. We need to move past belief to conviction. A conviction is something you will die for to put it bluntly. A conviction becomes a filter for our decisions and actions. While we will change an opinion in a casual conversation or revamp a belief over coffee, we will die for a conviction. Until we understand and believe to the level of a conviction we are coming up short of what the Bible describes as saving faith. What is our response?
A conviction is not an idea we keep tucked away until we are asked what we believe. It is not simply the right answer to the preachers question after we walk the aisle. A conviction is a belief that molds our life from the inside out. A conviction is not manifest by words alone either. A conviction is seen in our actions and more specifically in the balance between our words and our deeds. Read James 1:19 - 25 and you will get a glimpse of what I am talking about. This is the passage that contains in verse 22 the exhortation, "But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
To summarize, understand the word of God by devoting the time to understand what it is we belief and why. Allow those beliefs to shape us from the inside and hold to the truth of our convictions. Those conviction will compel us to action. On the day we celebrate the coming of a Savior, let us consider honestly the truth of our words and how they should mold our actions the other 364 days a year.
Stay tuned for the final segment of the series when we discuss "what not to do."
Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
What Is Our Response? (Part 2)
The first challenge was to understand what we believe expertly. How do we do that? Before we start with how, let's ask why? I go back to two scriptures to help answer these questions. The first is Romans 12:2 which directs us, "Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God." We are bombarded on every side by destructive world views that are packaged to appeal either to our old nature or to politically correct sensibilities. Consumerism and self-satisfaction are basic to our old nature and come in more forms than I have time to include or you have time to read. We consume and are then quickly consumed by pleasures of this world which render us totally ineffective because we become outwardly no different than those who espouse this world view. Political correctness is a polished version of the humanist religion that believes man is the measure of all things. If man is the measure of all things then how can one person force their beliefs upon another? We are bombarded hour after hour each day by this world view. The only way to combat this is to understand what you belief by renewing your mind constantly. As followers of Christ we do not have to fear truth! We must eradicate ignorance beginning with our own. We have allowed the secular world to tell us that we believe in a myth and that science has proven we believe a lie. Nothing is further from the truth. There is a saying in philosophy, "Beware the sound of one hand clapping." Question the prevalent world view and ask yourself if it is logical and answers the deep questions in your soul. Belief in God is logical and science only further reveals the wonder of His creation.
The second scripture is 2 Timothy 3:10 thru 17 that contains the familiar verses 16 and 17 which state, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." We have the inspired Word of God to teach us and to train our minds on the truth of what we believe. This is not brainwashing. The Bible challenges us to test the truth of Scripture. As an engineer I was trained to think logically, confront contradictions and seek truth. The truth of Scripture has nothing to fear from logical, honest examination. God created you and gave you a wonderful mind. Don't give your mind to anyone! Don't give it to the teacher, friend, parents or preacher. Instead, give your mind to the pursuit of the Truth of God. Choose your friends carefully. Question what teachers teach. Ask the hard questions to your parents and your pastor as you seek to renew your mind.
I have heard it said that if you spend one hour a day studying any subject, within one year you will be one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on that subject. In this day of sound bites and twitter postings, few people invest the time to understand what they claim to believe. Like physical exercise a small amount of time invested regularly yields positive results. Going to Church on Christmas and Easter will not transform your mind. Going to Sunday School and Church every week will not transform your mind. Labeling yourself as a "Christian", "conservative" or "evangelical" will not transform your mind. Labels are for people too lazy to spend the time to understand the issues and what they believe and why they believe it. Regular study of the Word using all the wonderful study aids available will transform your mind! We will then be able to give a defense to anyone who asks you for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15).
This is the first of the three challenges. We will cover the second in our next posting.
Continue seeking the higher road!
The second scripture is 2 Timothy 3:10 thru 17 that contains the familiar verses 16 and 17 which state, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." We have the inspired Word of God to teach us and to train our minds on the truth of what we believe. This is not brainwashing. The Bible challenges us to test the truth of Scripture. As an engineer I was trained to think logically, confront contradictions and seek truth. The truth of Scripture has nothing to fear from logical, honest examination. God created you and gave you a wonderful mind. Don't give your mind to anyone! Don't give it to the teacher, friend, parents or preacher. Instead, give your mind to the pursuit of the Truth of God. Choose your friends carefully. Question what teachers teach. Ask the hard questions to your parents and your pastor as you seek to renew your mind.
I have heard it said that if you spend one hour a day studying any subject, within one year you will be one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on that subject. In this day of sound bites and twitter postings, few people invest the time to understand what they claim to believe. Like physical exercise a small amount of time invested regularly yields positive results. Going to Church on Christmas and Easter will not transform your mind. Going to Sunday School and Church every week will not transform your mind. Labeling yourself as a "Christian", "conservative" or "evangelical" will not transform your mind. Labels are for people too lazy to spend the time to understand the issues and what they believe and why they believe it. Regular study of the Word using all the wonderful study aids available will transform your mind! We will then be able to give a defense to anyone who asks you for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15).
This is the first of the three challenges. We will cover the second in our next posting.
Continue seeking the higher road!
What Is Our Response?
As Christmas approaches we will attend parties, listen to special music and hear stirring messages about the birth of Christ. We will become nostalgic as we remember favorite Christmas memories. We will see old friends and family members for perhaps the first time in years and we will celebrate. We will celebrate the coming of the Savior! I would like to pose the question, "To what end is our celebration?" Any celebration, especially this one, should elicit a response. What is our response? Are we merely entertained by a sweet story from our youth? Are we inspired to give to those less fortunate? Do we focus on gifts to loved ones to express our love? Do we watch the sales figures to determine if the economy is in recovery? None of these responses are in and of themselves wrong, but if that is the depth of our response we have failed to grasp the magnitude of the celebration or the import of question.
Rather than cite the familiar Christmas Story from Luke, I will remind us of a passage from the Old Testament. Micah 5:2 states,
"Bethlehem Ephrathah,
you are small among the clans of Judah;
One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me.
His origin is from antiquity, from eternity"
The coming of the Messiah was foretold throughout the Old Testament with the fulfillment coming in the Christmas Story we will listen to over and over again this year. We ask the question, "How could the Jews have missed the Messiah they sought?" The short answer is that not all of them did. But the more pertinent question is, "Have we missed the Savior we celebrate?" What is our response?
I read a story about Abraham Lincoln recently. Reportedly he would attend a local Washington church quite often and would sit in a room adjacent to the main sanctuary where he could listen to the sermon without distracting the congregation. After one such visit he was asked by an advisor if the message was effective. Lincoln responded, "The message was Biblically sound and well delivered, but was a total failure because it failed to challenge the congregation." Is that our response to the celebration of Christmas? Are we sound, safe, sweet, entertained, but left unchallenged and unchanged? What is our response?
This Christmas I choose to challenge myself and professing followers of Christ. The first challenge is to understand what we believe expertly. The second challenge is to activate those beliefs into convictions. The third challenge is to turn convictions into actions. And the fourth challenge is to remove any obstacle that prevent us from accomplishing the first three. I pray that Christians will join me in transforming the members of the Body of Christ, so that we may be adequate ambassadors of the Savior we celebrate this time of year.
I will elaborate on these challenges in the next posting.
Tolstoy said, "Everyone wants to change the world, but no one wants to change themselves." Let's change the world!
Rather than cite the familiar Christmas Story from Luke, I will remind us of a passage from the Old Testament. Micah 5:2 states,
"Bethlehem Ephrathah,
you are small among the clans of Judah;
One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me.
His origin is from antiquity, from eternity"
The coming of the Messiah was foretold throughout the Old Testament with the fulfillment coming in the Christmas Story we will listen to over and over again this year. We ask the question, "How could the Jews have missed the Messiah they sought?" The short answer is that not all of them did. But the more pertinent question is, "Have we missed the Savior we celebrate?" What is our response?
I read a story about Abraham Lincoln recently. Reportedly he would attend a local Washington church quite often and would sit in a room adjacent to the main sanctuary where he could listen to the sermon without distracting the congregation. After one such visit he was asked by an advisor if the message was effective. Lincoln responded, "The message was Biblically sound and well delivered, but was a total failure because it failed to challenge the congregation." Is that our response to the celebration of Christmas? Are we sound, safe, sweet, entertained, but left unchallenged and unchanged? What is our response?
This Christmas I choose to challenge myself and professing followers of Christ. The first challenge is to understand what we believe expertly. The second challenge is to activate those beliefs into convictions. The third challenge is to turn convictions into actions. And the fourth challenge is to remove any obstacle that prevent us from accomplishing the first three. I pray that Christians will join me in transforming the members of the Body of Christ, so that we may be adequate ambassadors of the Savior we celebrate this time of year.
I will elaborate on these challenges in the next posting.
Tolstoy said, "Everyone wants to change the world, but no one wants to change themselves." Let's change the world!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Do Not Worry!
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life." These are the opening words to Jesus' teaching concerning worry in the 6th chapter of Matthew. I would like to tell you I don't worry, but that would not be true. I like to dress my worry up by calling it "concern" or by saying that I am "cautious", but in truth it is still worry. I worried about the weather Sunday night. My wife was scheduled to drive to Chattanooga early Monday morning and I was calculating all the possible options in my head. As it turned out she did not have to leave until later. Why did I worry I tell myself?
I go outside to clear the snow from the drive and decide to move my wife's car. As I turn the key I hear the sluggish moan of a dead battery. I open the hood and just as I suspected, I find a 5 year battery that lasted almost exactly 5 years. Those battery makers are amazing! Now my worry takes on another disguise, anger, or as I like to call it "frustration". Cold hands remove the battery after unhooking extra cables, removing the brace that runs across the top of it and then ever so gently snaking it out of its home. As I am removing the battery a neighbor drives by and stops to offer his help. I thank him, but assure him I have it under control. After all I am a man. Beyond that I am a frustrated man that is cold and ready to get this morning completed.
I secure a new battery, return home and very quickly have the car cranked and running as good as new. My wife heads off to work, I head off to Nashville to catch a plane. My oldest son now lives in Nashville and I call him on the way and we agree to meet and have a late lunch at a little place he likes on 21st Ave. I program the address in the GPS on my iPhone and I am soon there. We have a nice visit and as I walk back to my car I am aggrevated by the cold, the realization that my flight might be delayed and acutally still unhappy about my morning battery change and the $100 battery I had to buy. I get to the airport, secure my boarding pass and prepare to go through security. I am now a pretty savy flyer and I can very quickly prepare myself and my luggage to be screened very efficiently. As I work my way through the line, I watch as the people ahead of me fail miserably to follow the instructions of the TSA agents. I feel it beginning to grow inside me again. Here comes the frustration! I make it through in plenty of time and go to my gate. My flight is on time.
The next morning my phone rings as I am leaving the hotel room. It's my wife and I can tell from her voice something is wrong. The car that I put the new battery in now has a flat tire. We talk for a moment and I try to calm her and talk through the options. She decides to try to call someone in Chattanooga to come change her tire. I hang up realizing that at 7 am in the morning in 13 degree weather she is not going to have any luck. I go to my contact list and call a friend that works with me. He is about 30 minutes away and should be able to slip away from work to help my wife. I call and he says, "No problem. I will be on the way in 3 minutes."
Being away from home I call my younger son who is just home from college and ask him to find a place for my wife to get a set of tires that afternoon. That afternoon he meets his mom at the tire store and drives her home. She will use his car tomorrow.
This evening as I sit and think. I ask myself the question I should have asked two days ago, "Why are you worried?" Through some very minor inconveniences I have discovered the following:
1. I have a wonderful, resourceful wife.
2. I have a neighbor that offered to help on a cold morning when he could have driven right past me.
3. I have a good friend that was not at work, but was instead on vacation, however; he never mentioned that to me because he was only too happy to help me and my wife.
4. I have a great older son who rearranged his day to have a sandwich with his dad.
5. I have a great younger son that rose to the challenge of a situation and took care of his mom.
6. I have a good job that provides for my family.
7. I have money to buy a battery and a set of tires when I need them.
8. I have a warm home.
9. I have a phone with more memory than I do.
But most of all, I have a Savior that told me not to worry. And he told me why.
"Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"
Read the rest of the story in Matthew 6:25 - 33
My job is not to worry. My job is to seek first His righteousness. In other words my job is to be more like Jesus. To live in this world and function in this world, but to continually seek a higher path...a higher road.
There is never a traffic jam on the higher road!
I go outside to clear the snow from the drive and decide to move my wife's car. As I turn the key I hear the sluggish moan of a dead battery. I open the hood and just as I suspected, I find a 5 year battery that lasted almost exactly 5 years. Those battery makers are amazing! Now my worry takes on another disguise, anger, or as I like to call it "frustration". Cold hands remove the battery after unhooking extra cables, removing the brace that runs across the top of it and then ever so gently snaking it out of its home. As I am removing the battery a neighbor drives by and stops to offer his help. I thank him, but assure him I have it under control. After all I am a man. Beyond that I am a frustrated man that is cold and ready to get this morning completed.
I secure a new battery, return home and very quickly have the car cranked and running as good as new. My wife heads off to work, I head off to Nashville to catch a plane. My oldest son now lives in Nashville and I call him on the way and we agree to meet and have a late lunch at a little place he likes on 21st Ave. I program the address in the GPS on my iPhone and I am soon there. We have a nice visit and as I walk back to my car I am aggrevated by the cold, the realization that my flight might be delayed and acutally still unhappy about my morning battery change and the $100 battery I had to buy. I get to the airport, secure my boarding pass and prepare to go through security. I am now a pretty savy flyer and I can very quickly prepare myself and my luggage to be screened very efficiently. As I work my way through the line, I watch as the people ahead of me fail miserably to follow the instructions of the TSA agents. I feel it beginning to grow inside me again. Here comes the frustration! I make it through in plenty of time and go to my gate. My flight is on time.
The next morning my phone rings as I am leaving the hotel room. It's my wife and I can tell from her voice something is wrong. The car that I put the new battery in now has a flat tire. We talk for a moment and I try to calm her and talk through the options. She decides to try to call someone in Chattanooga to come change her tire. I hang up realizing that at 7 am in the morning in 13 degree weather she is not going to have any luck. I go to my contact list and call a friend that works with me. He is about 30 minutes away and should be able to slip away from work to help my wife. I call and he says, "No problem. I will be on the way in 3 minutes."
Being away from home I call my younger son who is just home from college and ask him to find a place for my wife to get a set of tires that afternoon. That afternoon he meets his mom at the tire store and drives her home. She will use his car tomorrow.
This evening as I sit and think. I ask myself the question I should have asked two days ago, "Why are you worried?" Through some very minor inconveniences I have discovered the following:
1. I have a wonderful, resourceful wife.
2. I have a neighbor that offered to help on a cold morning when he could have driven right past me.
3. I have a good friend that was not at work, but was instead on vacation, however; he never mentioned that to me because he was only too happy to help me and my wife.
4. I have a great older son who rearranged his day to have a sandwich with his dad.
5. I have a great younger son that rose to the challenge of a situation and took care of his mom.
6. I have a good job that provides for my family.
7. I have money to buy a battery and a set of tires when I need them.
8. I have a warm home.
9. I have a phone with more memory than I do.
But most of all, I have a Savior that told me not to worry. And he told me why.
"Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"
Read the rest of the story in Matthew 6:25 - 33
My job is not to worry. My job is to seek first His righteousness. In other words my job is to be more like Jesus. To live in this world and function in this world, but to continually seek a higher path...a higher road.
There is never a traffic jam on the higher road!
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