Anthony has a Nickname??

Have you ever had a nickname?

Not the nice ones either.  You know the kind that I am referencing here.  The ones that made you avoid walking down a certain hallway in school because so-and-so was standing at the end of it; waiting to unleash the new thought provoking title in a very loud manner. In front of EVERYBODY. Simultaneously humiliating you and enraging you... Don't worry, I have had that happen to me too once or twice in my life.

Nicknames are not always a bad thing, all of us have known a "scooter" or "slick" at one point in our lives.  Nicknames can actually reveal a lot about a person if you think about it. Pastor Craig Groeshel teaches that how a person addresses you will reveal how well they know you.  I think he is right.
Let me illustrate:

Let's pretend you are at dinner with me and we are waiting to be seated.  10 minutes passes and then you hear the server announce, "Klll U Deet US Party of 3."  Two things will go through your mind (1) Anthony you have a really messed-up last name and (2) the server absolutely does not know Anthony Kladitis.

Let's take this a step further. If you call me "Mr. Kladitis" or "Pastor Anthony" the chances are that you know me, but you are not that close to me.  You know of me, but the intimate details of my life are not on your radar.

Along the line there will be the people that call me, Anthony. Most people call me Anthony (at least to my face) and this tells me that we are, generally speaking, close.  At least closer relationally than the above groups.

But then there is this other group, the mysterious category of people that call me by a nickname: "Anth" or "Ant."  If you call me this, then this means we are tight. We have stories -scratch that- we share stories.  Private ones. One's that date us back years.

Here is a rule that I just made up: The way that you address someone will change according to your relationship with them. Take for example your spouse. When you are introduced by your spouse, they refer to you as their husband or wife.  I have never witnessed a wife walk up to her friends and say, "Hello!  I would like you all to meet Dr. John Wilson."  But I have experienced on several occasions a wife introducing her spouse the following way, "Everybody, I would like you to meet my husband, John Wilson."  The wife introduced her husband according to her relationship with her husband.

The names people call you reveal something about their relationship with you and it is no different with God. [The God-Bomb. You knew it was coming, it was only a matter of time].
David said, "Those who know your name will trust in you."
Let me ask you, How do you address God? 
-Saviour?
-Lord of all Creation?
-King?
-Friend?
-Father?

What do you call God? Do you feel close enough to call him Friend? Do you have in mind a distant Father?
Jesus had a nickname for God. It was something that a little child would call his father, "Abba."
Abba, translated into English simply means Daddy and was used by infants. Jesus was 30 years old and still called His Father Abba.  Let me ask you a question, Do you still call your mother and father by the same title today that you did when you were 3?
I thought not.
Jesus did.

It's pretty amazing what the nicknames people closest to someone will call them.
Isn't it?

A Poem: Sermons We See

Sermons We See

by Edgar A. Guest

I'd rather see a sermon

than hear one any day,

I'd rather one would walk with me

than merely tell the way;

The eye's a better pupil

and more willing than the ear,

Fine counsel is confusing,

but example's always clear;

The best of all the preachers

are the men who live their creeds,

For to see good put in action

is what everybody needs.

I soon can learn to do it,

if you'll let me see it done,

I can watch your hands in action,

your tongue too fast may run;

The lectures you deliver

may be very wise and true,

But I'd rather get my lessons

by observing what you do;

I may not understand

the high advice you give,

But there's no misunderstanding

how you act and how you live.

Why I love my Mom & Dad

On vacation I found a biography by Jay Leno that he penned early on in his career
I was mostly skimming through it, until I found this story on the very last page of the book.
It was extremely moving for me because it reminded me of the sacrificial love that my parents showed me over my life. I am sure that as you read the story, you will also feel the same if you've been blessed with great parents.

"When I was 14, before I had my drivers license, I scraped up $350 to buy a crappy old 34' Ford pickup truck. Even though I couldn't legally drive, I just wanted to have my own car. The truck actually ran, but it was a dented up nightmare. Every day after school I worked on fixing it up: sanding, filing, painting, buffing.

As a present, my mom and dad got me brand-new upholstery for the seats.

Then, one day, I slammed a door a little too hard and the window just shattered. I did not have any money to replace it.

Around that same time. I finally got my drivers license. My favorite thing to do was to drive myself to school. My high school was a big flat building, where you could see the parking lot from every classroom.

----------One day it began to rain very hard

Because of the broken glass, I sat in class and watched my truck, and the new upholstery, get thoroughly drenched.  And I could not do anything about it

Then, suddenly, through the window, I saw my mom and dad tear into the parking lot. They screeched up next to my truck and dragged a huge piece of plastic out of their car.

Then they covered the truck in the pouring rain. My dad had known that the rain would ruin the new upholstery. So he left the office in the middle of the day, picked up my mom, and bought this hunk of plastic to save my seat...

I watched them do this.
And I just began crying right there in class...That memory has always stayed with me. There are so many things to miss about my parents..."

I am not sure why this story grips me so much.
It actually leaves me with a large empty feeling in the pit of my stomach each time I read it.
I am not sure if it does the same for you ...
Perhaps it is the way Jay tells it. He is reminiscing, which means his parents have passed on as he is writing it.  To me, there is a sadness to that.  Looking back and remembering the great times you had with those you loved the most and then having to put the pen and paper down only to live life without them is deeply sorrowful.

Or maybe the story moves me because I see my parents in the story...
Getting drenched in the rain for their son.
Putting themselves second for me ... again.
Sacrificing over and over.

--When I am honest, it is both.

I love you mom & dad.

Me & Mom! 
Some people say we look alike... ;)

Dad goofing off at Christmas.
He is wearing his new snow shoes on his head!

-If you have (or had) parents like Jay's share this story in their honor.

Should You observe Ash Wednesday?

Question:
Should a Christian observe Ash Wednesday?

Answer:
Since the Bible nowhere explicitly commands or condemns such a practice, Christians are at liberty to prayerfully decide whether or not to observe Ash Wednesday.

If You decide to observe Ash Wednesday and/or Lent, it is important to have a biblical perspective. Jesus warned us against making a show of our fasting: “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen” (Matthew 6:16-18).

We must not allow spiritual discipline to become spiritual pride.

It is a good thing to repent of sinful activities, but that’s something Christians should do every day, not just during Lent. It’s a good thing to clearly identify oneself as a Christian, but, again, this should be an everyday identification. And it is good to remember that no ritual can make one’s heart right with God.

*The above was shared from an Orthodox perspective on Ash Wednesday.

How I found myself.

Have you ever spent time with someone that was truly unique?
Even if you could not put your finger on it at the time, there was just something about that person, wasn't there?
-How the heck did they get that way? 
-Were they born that way?  
-Did they read something that I missed? 

Truth is, many times a person of influence goes through a process in life that had 3 stages.  Many are not aware of the process, while some others are; nonetheless, there are 3 phases that you will go through to find yourself.

Stage One:  Looking OUT
Generally, in this first phase, you spend a lot of time learning about great people.  You pick up books about inspirational men and women, you pay attention to those admirable people around you and you start mimicking the qualities in them that you admire.  I can remember in seminary watching many of my classmates mirroring our homiletics (fancy word for the guy that taught us how to preach) professor.  The interesting thing is that the students did not even know that they were doing this.  Over time, his voice became their voice.  His emphasis became their emphasis and so on.  There is nothing wrong with this, and is very appropriate during this stage.  Great men and women are admired and worthy of our modeling.

Stage Two:  Looking IN       

Somewhere along the line, time passes and you start looking at yourself.  You notice that you do not want to sound just like your seminary professor.  You want to sound like you; like the distinct person that God created.  So you start looking within, and begin the painful and long process of discovering who you uniquely are.  During this stage, you realize you have to grow in all aspects of your life if you want to be successful and develop in to the man or women God intended you to become. 

Stage Three:  Moving ON
This is the point in your life where you develop your own voice.
You are your own person.  You express yourself in your own way.  People know your style and more than this, people can identify it as yours alone.  People stand back and say, "Anthony just preached a sermon that only Anthony can preach."
Unfortunately, for many people, their development stalls in the 1st stage.  The reason?
It is easy to remain there.  Don't kid yourself.  In order to get to the 3rd stage, it will take all of your resources.  And when I mean all. I mean ALL.  Time, energy, money, family, friends, Etc.

I have seen this process in my own life.  I can remember downloading and listening to every great preacher.  I can remember reading all the homiletics books that I could get my hands on.
But over time, a funny thing happened. 

-I shed my skin-

Today, I couldn't tell you who was the greatest or most famous preacher.  All I could tell you is if you come and listened to Anthony preach on a Sunday morning --- you'll hear a sermon delivered in the tradition of Anthony Kladitis. 

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to

 make you something else is the greatest

accomplishment.” 

― R. W. Emerson