20 Seconds of Insane Courage

Have you ever watched the movie, “We Bought a Zoo?” The movie is centered around a true story about a man named Benjamin Mee. It outlines a man’s attempt to rebuild his and his two children’s life after a devastating circumstance occurs. If you have ever watched the movie, you will no doubt recall the powerful scene when the father is standing with his two children outside of a restaurant, retelling them about when he initially met their mother. He retells the children about when he first saw her inside the restaurant, how he felt when he saw her beauty, and then goes into detail about how he approached their mother with trepidation. He explains how timid he was to go up and start a conversation with her. Then he explains to the kids that he decided to face his fears, and says, “You know, sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. Just 20 seconds of embarrassing bravery, and I promise you, something great will come of it.” Twenty seconds. A few weeks ago, I was preaching about a woman named Rahab. Rahab was a prostitute. You can read more about her story in Joshua Chapter . A quick summary for the sake of space and time is that she saved two Hebrew spies from death by making a deal with them. The deal was that she would hide their whereabouts, but when they returned, they must spare her and her family. I keep thinking about that decision she made. It was a gutsy one, indeed! She put her life and the life of her family on the line. If the Hebrew spies had gotten caught, it meant she was a traitor and ensured certain death. The Scripture informs us that the spies made it safely to their destination and, upon return, saved Rahab and her family. In fact, one of the spies ended up marrying her! Marvelously, Rahab is mentioned several times throughout the New Testament, once in the book of James, once in the book of Hebrews, and once in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Let’s go back to the twenty seconds… I think a lot about Rahab and wonder about her decision. I wonder how long she wanted out of that lifestyle. I wonder if she had prayed for a better future than the one she was involved in. I wonder about her courageous decision to act. Now I wonder about you. Is there something that you have wanted to do but have been too scared of? Maybe you just need twenty seconds of insane courage

The Lonely Ember

Years ago, I read a story called, “The Lonely Ember.”   A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.   Guessing the reason for his pastor’s visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs.   After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet fascination.   As the one lone ember’s flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and “dead as a doornail.”   Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting.   Just before the pastor was ready to leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.   As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said, “Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.” The story above teaches us two powerful lessons: First, it reminds us that we should attend worship on a regular basis. Isolation is a bad thing. Cutting ourselves off from one another is never a positive thing, and oftentimes isolation leads to negative consequences. The New Year is among us; I am not sure about your relationship with Church. I am not too concerned about the Denomination, more so that you attend regularly. Yes, I know firsthand that, unfortunately, churches are indeed filled with imperfect people. But I like to remind folks that we are imperfect people saved by a perfect Savior. Attending church has its benefits. You might find a community that supports you, a place to keep you motivated to live a better life, enjoy meeting people with similar values, and contribute your God-given talents. Why not find a church and visit? Second, if you are a regular attendee, look around, and see who is not in the pews. Did you know there are roughly 59 “one another” statements in the New Testament? I.e. “Love one another”, “Be devoted to one another”, “Be patient with one another”, Etc. Community is important to the Christian faith. Oftentimes, people fall away for whatever reason and need a phone call or personal visit. Going the extra mile just might be what a person needs to feel the warmth of the fire again.

What is inside of the Gold Box ???

What is in the Gold Box? Once upon a time, there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family. This particular year a few days before Christmas, he punished his little five-year-old daughter after learning that she had used up the family's only roll of expensive wrapping paper. As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all of the expensive paper to decorate one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. He also was concerned about where she had gotten money to buy what was in the shoebox. Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, "This is for you, Daddy!" As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her. But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. "Don't you know, young lady," he said harshly, "when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside the package!" Image result for gold box The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full." The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger. -Author Unknown. With Christmas right around the corner, it might be a little too easy to miss the incredible love that God has for you by looking in all the wrong places. The beauty of the season is not to be found in the shopping malls, or the TV sets. Rather it is discovered when you can finally comprehend the absolute love of God, found wrapped in the manger. Like the father in the story that initially missed the moment of grace provided by his daughter, we can too overlook the moment that changed history if we do not see the baby in the manger. Merry Christmas!

Don't Waste Your Time!

Have you ever wished for a 30 hour day? Imagine all of the extra time to fulfill those loose ends that keep on building up around you. Like that pile of laundry that is hitting your ceiling. Like those books that are sitting next to your bed. Like those letters that needed sent out yesterday still sitting on your desk. Would more hours really mean more productivity?  I think not.  If we are honest with ourselves, I am sure we would all find a way to fill those extra hours with more of the same unnecessary things we do now.  This is why Lord Chesterfield stated, “If you take care of the minutes the hours will take care of themselves."  The Apostle Paul as well urges us to care for our time when he writes, “Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15). I came across a piece of advice years ago that has transformed how I utilize my time.  It is called the "Tyranny of the Urgent."  The basic idea is as follows: "You cannot let the urgent things crowd out the important.” Simple, yet powerful advice. I cannot tell you how many times I am trying to accomplish something important and magically I find myself involved in some type of nonsense. Time to clip my toe nails.Time to catch up on my 1,320 Facebook friends. Time to perform an intense research study on the cast of "My so called Life.” This is why I adhere to the 11th Commandment of time management,” Do not leave undone those things which you ought to have done; or you will have done those things which you ought not have done.  With this in mind, everyday when I walk into work I have a list of the important items that I need to accomplish.  Then I work feverishly to accomplish that list and by the end of most days I do.  This method helps me sift through what is necessary and what is not.  In short, I have to be intentional about fighting the tyranny of the urgent because I know that without a plan, the seemingly urgent things will find a way to creep in and take over my life. 

TRUE north

The North Star serves many as the directing principle while navigating nature. For centuries navigators utilized this natural guide to aid them in their destination. I would argue that mankind needs a North Star aiding them to navigate life as well. The True North that should guide us is contained in the two important qualities our Lord displayed in His earthly ministry: truth and grace. We read in the Gospel of John that Jesus,“became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). It is my contention that these two qualities become the believers guiding principles throughout their lives. Other Scripture’s speak to this dynamic such as: "Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ” (Eph. 4:15) “…which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth” (Col. 1:6) “Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love” (2 Jn. 2:3). We see the emphasis of two critical ideas on the same coin, but different sides. Love and grace are so important because this will cause me to slow down, consider the situation, and take in all the information. I think about this as “pumping the breaks” and allowing God to work fully. We see this throughout the Gospels with our Lord as He would draw near to “sinners” while the crowd stood at a distance. I find it insightful that when we examine how Jesus ministered, He was always near people, and in doing so, was able to better minister to them. Hearing people’s stories is powerful and loving, it shows the person that you genuinely care. On the other hand we have, truth. You cannot love someone without guiding them to the truth. Oftentimes, our culture deems truth as “mean” or “intolerant”, however, that is far from reality. Consider a caring parent that is guiding their child throughout their lives. It would be grossly unloving if the parent(s) simply allowed that child to make poor decisions that the parent could have helped to prevent. The main issue, that I (and from my observation) many other believers need to think through is not speaking the truth, rather thinking through the manner by which truth is spoken. We can learn much from Proverbs 25:11 in this regard, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver, so is a word aptly spoken.” Meaning, it is not just what you say -but how you say it. Oftentimes, we need to think through how we will deliver truth and also take in consideration the timing of the message. All of this is hard work which is why love is so critical to the process. In conclusion, I utilize the concepts of truth (grace) and love in all of my relationships, from parenting to ministry, and everything in between. I believe these two ideas sit on the same seesaw but on different sides and it is up to me to carefully and prayerfully consider how best to utilize them. Though not always done perfectly, having these two principles pointing me toward Truth North will most likely guide me to the best destination.