Kingdom Hearts

Obviously much can be said about Christian stewardship.  There are many tangible things for which we are grateful and we make it a point to thank God for these things.  And we do often recognize the importance of being good stewards with these things.  And this is great.  We should be doing this.  But I believe our stewardship of what God has given us should also extend to the spiritual blessings we have through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

One such blessing is our influence.  When we become Christians, we start to have an influence………whether we like it or not.  I can recall several years ago, when NBA great Charles Barkley was coming to a close of a great career, and he came to Houston to play for the Rockets.  Apparently he had gotten into some trouble legally at a local restaraunt and when confronted with it by the media, he stated something to this effect, “I am a basketball player.  That’s what I do.  I never asked to be a role model for kids.  Being a role model is not what I set out to do in life.  I don’t want to be an influence.  I play basketball.”  And I remember thinking to myself, “Gee Charles, you don’t really have a choice.  It comes with the territory.”

The same is true with Christianity.  We don’t have much choice.  We carry an influence as Christians.  It comes with the territory.  We don’t get to choose whether or not we are an influence.  What we do get to choose however, is whether or not that influence is good.  Jesus describes life in His kingdom this way:

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?  It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.  You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16).

For those who are part of God’s kingdom, Jesus compares that influence to salt and light.  What are some things salt does?

• It enhances; it makes things taste better.  Do we enhance or make better things and people that we are around?
• It purifies.  Do we have a cleansing effect on others due to our own purity?
• It preserves.  Do we preserve Godliness in the midst of a society that doesn’t?
• Once something loses its flavor or purity, it is next to impossible to get it back.  The same lies true with our credibility.  Our credibility is vital when it comes to our responsibility to teach people the gospel.

What does light do?

• It shines
• It guides
• It warms
• It attracts
• It exposes darkness
• It produces growth
• It gives energy

Also, a common characteristic with salt and light is that its influence is not about the salt or light itself.  No one says after having put salt on their food, “Man, this salt tastes good.”  It is really about whatever it influences.  And the same lies true with light.  It is not always about that light, but it is more about what the light is impacting or accentuating.  Hence Jesus’ words, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

How has our influence been?  Are we seeking to establish credibility for ourselves so that we may be able to successfully meet God’s charge  to teach people?

Peace!

Chase, our youngest, a 4 year old, is going through a lot of phases right now.  One is asking questions.  He loves to talk.  Often times, I wonder to myself, “will this kid ever just shut up?”  We were going fishing Friday and so earlier in the day, I was outside putting line on the poles and getting the hooks on; basically getting everything “ready to go.”  There was a bombardment of questions. 

“Dad, is this your pole?” “Where is my pole?” “Dad, am I going to fish?” “Hey Dad, is this pole brown?”  “Hey Dad, are the trees blowing?” “Hey Dad, are those birds up there?” “Hey Dad, are we going to eat hot dogs” “Dad, where’s the bait?” Dad, are Aaron and I going to have to share?” “Dad, when are we going?”  Are we going tomorrow too?” “What time do we have to come home?” ”Dad, do we need rain?” 

Just question after question after question.  I love this kid and I am glad that he is curious enough to ask questions and desire conversation with his daddy.  Even if it does drive me crazy and make me want to scream at the top of my lungs at times.  Another phase he is going through currently, and I don’t take as well to this one, is taking my things.  He means no ill will; but he wants to be like daddy.  He doesn’t want his toy keys.  He has no desire to play with his “toy” wallet.  He wants the real thing.  So he takes mine and apparently forgets to put it back where it belongs.  So a couple of times this week, I have had to go on mad searches through the house, looking for my wallet.  After finding it yesterday, Chase and I had a little “talk,” and I can only hope that this little “phase” is nipped in the bud.  However, I have my doubts.  As irritating as it is though, thank God He has blessed me with a child that loves me and wants to be like me.  Now let’s just hope I can fulfill my responsibility and give him a good example to follow on the important matters.

But here is another phase Chase is currently experiencing that I have taken very well to.  In fact, so much so, that I realize that I need to do a better job adopting it myself.  He loves.  And he loves unconditionally.  In the midst of all his questions and talking, he consistently stops to say, “I love you.’  Not just to me.  Not just to Cody.  Not just to Aaron.  He says it to everybody.    Last week when we were at Walmart he walked up to a stranger and said it to someone he had never seen.  Saturday he said it to our neighbor.  He loves.

I remember my parents telling me about a similar phase I went through in life.  Now I am left to wonder, what happened?  What changes as we grow from innocent childhood to adulthood?  As an adult, I go through a lot of phases too.  Hopefully love will be a phase I can adopt again and hold on to it. 

There’s no wonder Jesus tells us to become like little children (Matthew 18:1-4).  He also reminds us as kingdom citizens that we are identified by our love for one another (John 13:35).  Our love is how people know we are Christians.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  In this  the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God, but he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us (1 John 4:7-11).

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends… (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

Lord, be with us all as we strive to adopt this phase of love and maintain it.

Peace!

In my opinion, the best hymn EVER…

When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll.
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, It is well, with my soul.

 

(Chorus)
It is well (It is well) with my soul (with my soul).
It is well, It is well, with my soul.

 

My sin–O the bliss of this glorious thought–
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.

 

(Chorus)
It is well (It is well) with my soul (with my soul).
It is well, It is well, with my soul.

 

And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The Trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend.
Even so, it is well with my soul.

 

(Chorus)
It is well (It is well) with my soul (with my soul).
It is well, It is well, with my soul.

–H.G. Spalford

I am sitting here in my chair with the TV on and reading.  Makes a lot of sense, right?  I know, I know.  It’s a guy thing, I think.  Anyway, a commercial came on that got my attention.  It used to be one of my favorite commercials but I hadn’t seen it in a while.  It has a grown man and at first all you can see is his face.  And he is making these funny noises; sound effects.  And you can tell from his movements that he is emulating a sword fight of some type.  It is hilarious looking.  Then the screen expands to where you can see the whole picture and what he is doing is pretending to sword fight with his little boy in the front yard, who looks to be about 5 or 6 years old.  Then there is a caption at the bottom of the screen that says:

“IT TAKES A REAL MAN TO BE A DAD!”

Awesome commercial!  So that made me start thinking of things I love to do with Aaron and Chase.  Here are a few:

• Fishing
• Throwing the ball around outside (and inside when mom’s not home).
• Wrestling
• Playing Wii.  This is a relatively new one but we are having a blast.
• Making cinammon toast with them at night time after Cody tells them its bedtime.
• Tickling them.  This is for purely selfish reasons on my part.  There is just nothing quite like listening to the laughter of little boys….especially when they laugh so hard they lose their breath, snort, or…. well I won’t go there.
• Reading the Bible with them.
• Singing and praying with them.  I especially love to listen to them pray.  Wonderful!

And all of these are definitely things I don’t do with them nearly enough.  As a dad who has so much to learn, I would be curious to hear some things you enjoy doing with your kids.  I’m always looking for new and more creative ideas as I strive to be a better dad.

“Grace makes its appearance in so many forms that I have trouble defining it.  I am ready, though, to attempt something like a definition of grace in relation to God.  Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more—no amount of spiritual calisthenics and renunciations, no amount of knowledge gained from seminaries and divinity schools, no amount of crusading on behalf of righteous causes.  And Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less—no amount of racism or pride or pornography or adultery or even murder.  Grace means that God already loves us as much as an infinite God can possibly love.

“There is a simple cure for people who doubt God’s love and question God’s grace: to turn to the Bible and examine the kind of people God loves.  Jacob, who dared take God on in a wrestling match and ever after bore a wound from that struggle, became the eponym for God’s people, ‘the children of Israel.’  The Bible tells of a murderer and adulterer who gained the reputation as the greatest king of the Old Testament, a ‘man after God’s own heart.’  And of a church being led by a disciple who cursed and swore that he had never known Jesus.  And of a missionary being recruited from the ranks of the Christian torturers.  I get mailings from Amnesty International, and as I look at their photos of men and women who have been beaten and cattle-prodded and jabbed and spit on and electrocuted, I ask myself, ‘What kind of human being could do that to another human being?‘  Then I read the book of Acts and meet the kind of person who could do such a thing—now an apostle of grace, a servant of Jesus Christ, the greatest missionary history has ever known.  If God can love that kind of person, maybe, just maybe, he can love the likes of me.

“I cannot moderate my definition of grace, because the Bible forces me to make it as sweeping as possible.  God is ‘the God of all grace,’ in the apostle Peter’s words.  And grace means there is nothing I can do to make God love me more, and nothing I can do to make God love me less.  It means that I, even I who deserve the opposite, am invited to take my place at the table in God’s family” (Phillip Yancey, What is so amazing about grace?, pp.70-71).

James made the following statement:

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.  For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?  Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

….but if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. (James 2:1-9).

Jesus made a similar point, according to Matthew:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.  For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others?  Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect (Matthew 5:43-48).

Of course, Jesus not only taught that a component of kingdom living was to forsake prejudices of all types, but He actually “walked the walk.”  There are a plethora of scenes depicted in the gospel accounts of Jesus reaching out to others and making a difference in their lives.  Whether it was healing lepers, relieving those who were demon-possessed, encouraging the poor, breaking cultural and religious barriers to reach out to a Samaritan woman in an adulterous relationship, or simply eating with and spending time with sinners, Jesus took the time for people.  He made the time for the physically ill, the mentally ill, the financially ill, and the spiritually ill.  He did not always approve of what the people He made the time for were doing.  But He was kind, gentle, and compassionate nevertheless.  These are the types of people He converted.  As different as these people were, as wide on the spectrum as they are, and as diverse a population as this might have been, there were some similarities between them too.

• They were “underdogs.”  Most were at some distinct disadvantage in life, whether physically, mentally, socially, financially, spiritually, or all of the above.
• They were people that the rest of society wanted nothing to do with.  There was some kind of “stigma” about them that drew the common people away.
• They wanted help and were begging/crying for it.
• Jesus didn’t let the others’ reactions to Him helping and reaching out to these people stop Him.  These people being exposed to life in the kingdom was much more important than the cultural barriers that existed in that day.
• Every one of them needed an act of grace

……..and so do I….big time! (Romans 3:23).

Hopefully all of us as kingdom citizens are striving to remove prejudices in our lives.  And there are many: toward the poor, toward the sick, toward the mentally challenged, toward the elderly, toward younger generations, toward those who come from different cultural backgrounds, toward other races, and even toward those whose views and opinions differ from ours politically and religiously.  As followers of Christ, we are partners with Him in His kingdom and are hopefully striving to emulate Him in all we do.  So look no further than those to whom He reached out and impacted. 

The kingdom may not be all-inclusive simply because some will not accept it on God’s terms.  But it was certainly designed to be.  The kingdom may not include every one, but may this unfortunate reality never be a result of our lack of effort.  May we be cautious so as to not leave out those people who would likely be the most receptive.

What prejudices might we have that we need to work on?

Faithful love flowing down from the thorn-covered crown,
makes me whole, saves my soul, washes whiter than snow.
Faithful love calms each fear, reaches down, dries each tear;
holds my hand when I can’t stand on my own.

(Chorus)

Faithful love from above came to earth to show the Father’s love.
And I’ll never be the same, for I’ve seen faithful love face to face.
And Jesus is His name.
Faithful love from above came to earth to show the Father’s love.
And I’ll never be the same, for I’ve seen faithful love face to face.
And Jesus is His name.

Faithful love is a friend just when hope seems to end,
welcome face, sweet embrace, tender touch filled with grace.
Faithful love, endless power, living flame, Spirit’s fire;
Burning bright in the night, guiding my way.

(Chorus)

Faithful love from above came to earth to show the Father’s love.
And I’ll never be the same, for I’ve seen faithful love face to face.
And Jesus is His name.
Faithful love from above came to earth to show the Father’s love.
And I’ll never be the same, for I’ve seen faithful love face to face.
And Jesus is His name.

–Ken Young

It never fails!  God always provides those opportunities for us to be humbled and it seems to happen more often than not, when we need it the most.  I was given a perspective on something yesterday and while I didn’t enjoy it at the time, I am glad it happened.

I am part of the Lion’s Club here in La Grange.  We do a lot of community activities but we meet on every Thursday for lunch.  And we are going through somewhat of a transition right now as far as having to decide if we are going to continue meeting where we currently are at the Country Club.  We like it there but we feel like we are getting “jerked around” a little bit.  They want to increase the price of our meal or give us a lot “less” for the same amount that we have been paying.  Well of course, none of us like that idea.  So we are looking at other options in town currently.  Meanwhile, while we are looking at these other options, we thought we would go ahead and try this “lesser plan” for about a month just to see if we like it.  Yesterday was the first day and needless to say, no one I talked with in the club likes it. 

They were a little short on food.  It was less in quality.  And to be blunt, all of us were pretty irritated actually.  So during the meal there was plenty of complaining, yours truly included.  In fact, I may have been the leader of the pack in that regard.  Well, after a bit I began to think to myself, “now Jason, you’re probably not being a good example.”  And then it happened.  Confirmation of what I was just thinking.

The guest speaker for the day was a lady in the community who had recently conducted a “poverty workshop.”  She and another lady were there to speak to us about underprivileged kids.  They are doing a lot of things to help these kids not be at such a disadvantage.  They do things in their organization such as provide food for the kids and buy school supplies, as well as provide a safe place for them to hangout and stay out of trouble.  They proceeded to talk about how these kids are not supervised by parents and that many have no guidance.  And that often times they would be more than happy to eat our leftovers. 

Ouch!  And here we were griping about a meal worth more money than we wanted to spend.  Talk about putting things in perspective!  All of the men I was sitting around just kind of looked at each other and thought, “well maybe its not so bad.”  I am certain that we will probably still go elsewhere and we still don’t like the way we were treated necessarily, but I know for me personally, I am going to think twice before griping about a lack of food.  I don’t have a clue as to what that’s like.  While I usually ask “what am I going to eat today?”, some are asking, “Will I eat today?”

This really gave me a new perspective.  And I needed it.  May I never forget how blessed I am and allow that to help me be a better example to those around me in the community.  And may it instill in me more of a sense of compassion and grace to those who are less fortunate.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me…Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me”—Jesus (Matthew 25:35-40).

Thank you God for reminding me to keep things in perspective and how grateful I should be. 

Have a great weekend!

Last night in our Wednesday night Bible study, we read and discussed Psalm 6. 

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.  Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.  My soul also is greatly troubled.  But you, O Lord–how long? 

Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.  For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?

I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.  My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.  The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer.  All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

I am sure there are a lot of approaches to take with this psalm.  But this is what I got from our study.  What a great psalm that reminds us that God indeed hears the prayers of the righteous (James 5:16).  It demonstrates clearly that God is with His people (Romans 8:28, 31).  And the psalms express confidence in this.  The writer of this psalm is generally regarded as David and we really don’t know what the circumstances were at this time that led him to pour out his heart to God as He does.  But whatever the circumstances were, he was greatly troubled.  He was miserable.  He was grieving.  Perhaps it is merely due to circumstances outside of his control or maybe he is repenting for his own weakness or sin.  Who knows?  It doesn’t matter, really.  The writer demonstrates a complete reliance on God for comfort.  He is distraught so he went to God.  That’s the lesson.

I think it is interesting to compare this to what we might have a tendency to do when distraught and hurting.  We blame others, try to fix it ourselves, gripe, throw a pity party, or maybe even let it affect our faith.  There have been times when I am stressed that I do everything BUT run to my almighty Creator when in reality, turning to Him is precisely what God wants me to do.  Whatever is going on, David feels separated from God and clearly desires to be back in His sheltering arms.  And this is where we get into what I think the entirety of the psalms teach us and why it is so vital we make the psalms a daily part of our lives.  God is a refuge!  For us!  He is the shelter we can run to when life feels too challenging.

There is no problem we have that is too big for God.  In fact, he can handle it better than we can, which further demonstrates why we should go to Him anyway.  Think about how the Bible teaches us to pray with blistering honesty.  Jeremiah griped to God about unfairness.  Job drew the conclusion at one point that there was no profit in praying.  Habakkuk even accused God of being deaf.  Here in the psalms, how many times does David lash out to God, cursing his enemies?  He even questioned God by asking questions such as “how long” (Psalm 6:3)?  Yet never do we question David’s love and reverence toward God.  Remember, these examples are for our learning (Romans 15:4).  God is a source of protection for us.  We can feel safe with Him.  He is with us every day.  Hopefully this affects us by giving us confidence in Him, and helps us in our daily walk as well as in our prayer life.

Is God your refuge?

Monday night I was watching the 2009 ESPN Cash Cow, errrrr. I mean the 2009 Homerun Derby.  And something struck me.  I am not sure how much of the Homerun Derby most people have watched over the years but I have always enjoyed it… that is with the exception of the last few years.  It bugs me that ESPN has turned this event into a circus that seems to serve the main purpose now of giving them publicity (and making them money).  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I love ESPN.  You know I do.  But every one has their faults.  And I just happen to be blogging about a fault that really irks the snot out of me.

This event is way too long.  It has become boring.  And I suppose there are a lot of ways they can make it better, but if I listed them, I would digress.  Such isn’t really the point of this post.  I just mentioned it in order to make this point.  The homerun derby is supposed to be about the best power hitters in the game being able to display their power.  Or at least that is what it was about in the past.  Now it has turned into something else.  This is completely my opinion here, but it seems to me after watching the homerun derby these last few years that ESPN has made this event about themselves.

Then this got me to thinking.  How often have we done this ourselves?  I know I have…more often than I care to admit, really.  The temptation exists often, to take something that has nothing to do with us and turn it into something that is all about us.  Sometimes it is in the form of simply trying to always be the center of attention.  Other times it is in the form of taking things personal when we should not.  The latter is the category I fall under a lot.

Jesus seems to have understood this concept.  When He was mistreated, He did not take things personal.  I am sure He was tempted (Hebrews 4:15) as anyone would be.  At least not personal to the point where He forgot about where the issues really lied.  For example, what did He say when hanging on the cross in pain and agony while listening to others mock and further humiliate Him?  He said “Father, forgive them.  For they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  I don’t want to judge anyone, but I would suspect the majority of us tend to take much less persecution personally.  But Jesus knew His mistreatment was more about them and their issues, and not Him.  And consequently, He prayed for them.  What a tremendous example of how to deal with others in trying times.

I think a lot of what allowed Jesus to love and pray for His “enemy” was understanding that their mistreatment of Him was not about Him, but them.  Even when the Scribes, Pharisees, and Lawyers of His day questioned Him along with His actions and motives, He always managed to put the focus where it was supposed to be—-back on them and on their motives.  Yes life is about Jesus but the people’s mistreatment of Him was about their own issues, not that of Jesus. 

I wonder how much better we would be able to handle ourselves if we could just remember that.  It’s not always about us.  Perhaps this would help us in our efforts to have kingdom hearts—-to love even those who persecute us (Matthew 5:43-48) and demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22ff) toward all man.  I am going to try to remember this for sure.  I need all the help I can get.

It’s not always about us.