Friday, March 27, 2009

Showing up for work...

Okay, so I'm reading through the Bible again this year and I'm currently in Judges. I get to Judges 10 and the Bible makes brief comments about two of Israel's Judges; Tola and Jair. About all we're told of each of them is where they lived and how long they judged Israel: Tola judged Israel 23 years and he died; Jair judged Israel 22 years and he died. We get the added info that Jair had 30 sons who rode 30 donkeys and that they each had a city and that's pretty much it (Judges 10:1-5). Really edifying Quiet Time with this passage! It bugged me all day as I was meditating on these brief verses and I wondered why God didn't give us more information about these two guys. Later we get several chapters on the heroism and tragedy of Samson, but what about these two guys? Didn't they do anything? Well the Lord showed me something because Tola and Jair are more like the norm than Samson.
You see the key to understanding Tola and Jair is what goes on before and after they lived and died. Before these men came on the scene, the nation of Israel was a mess as an evil man named Abimelech seized power by murdering 70 of his brothers and the resulting unrest that followed such evil. After Tola and Jair lived and died, we're told immediately
"the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him" (Judges 10:6). In other words, this evil idol worship wasn't happening while Tola and Jair showed up for work everyday for a combined total of 55 years! No, they didn't kill 1000 Philistines with the jaw-bone of an ass, but they faithfully showed up for work and did what God called them to do; Tolah for 23 years and Jair for 22 years. God was pleased with their work and saw fit their faithful service to Him would be forever preserved in the pages of Scripture!
This encourages me as I faithfully show up to work to serve the Lord each day. You see greatness in God's eyes does not come so much from the astounding achievements we accomplish; but a lifetime of faithfulness as we do what the Lord wants us to do. I may never pastor a mega church, be the president of the SBC, or lead millions of people to Christ like Billy Graham; but I can show up to work and be faithful and by doing so, I can make a difference like Tola and Jair.
Paul told the Colossian Christians in 3:23-25: "23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality" (NKJV).
What a blessing to know that God rewards faithfulness and that by showing up for work, we can make a difference as we seek to honor the Lord. I'm determined to be faithful, serving the Lord heartily, from my little corner to yours....

Thursday, March 19, 2009

The still small voice...

I think people in our modern day think it would be really strange for God to speak to them personally. After all, that really doesn't happen today because God doesn't have time for that....or does He? Some people think God only spoke to people in the Bible and that He doesn't really speak to us anymore. I don't think its an issue of God not speaking, I think the problem is ours for several reasons but here are three: 1) We really don't want to hear God speak. 2) We allow so much noise in our lives, radio, ipods, cell phones, tv, internet and all that stuff causes so much static we can't hear God. 3) We're looking for God to speak in some dramatic way that stops us in our tracks because of the show God puts on when He's trying to speak to us.
Well the Bible gives some insight on how God speaks in 1st Kings 19:11-12 when He spoke to one of His prophets named Elijah: "Then He said, 'Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.' And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice."
Two times this week, the Lord spoke to me in a still small voice as I was doing my pastor thing. Both times happened to be in my truck as I was driving to work and talking to the Lord without the radio on. Both times, God told me to take a detour. 1st detour was on Wednesday when the Lord told me to go see some people in the hospital. I obeyed and went and I was able to minister to 4 people each with very different needs. One lady was an elderly lady in her 80's who was languishing in a semi-comatose state. She knew the Lord Jesus as she had accepted His forgiveness by faith in Jesus Christ. Not knowing if she could hear me, I stood by her bed and prayed for God to be gracious to her and take her home to be with him peacefully since she had a personal relationship with Him. Heaven would be a great relief for this saint of God. I prayed the gospel message in my prayer for the benefit of the nurse doing her charts outside the door. Within two hours of my prayer, I heard God had answered my prayer and this dear lady had crossed the finish line into heaven. I was thankful I got to encourage her and be a witness for the Lord as she was in the home stretch of her earthly race. I didn't know when her appointment with death was, but God sure did and wanted me to be there.
Another guy I ministered to is an agnostic who is probably not long on this earth with lung cancer. I've been told he's very cold to preachers and probably wouldn't want to see me. Not only did he allow me to visit, he was pleased that I offered to pray for him and of course I prayed the Gospel then too. I offered to come back and see him again and he was open to that. There is no doubt the Lord wanted me to go to that hospital that day at that time.
Today, I was driving again and talking to the Lord about my new ministry in this community. I love cops since I used to be one and have been wanting to meet the local police chief. I heard the Lord say to me, "Go to the PD now and say hello." Well my first response was he's not going to see me since I have no appointment and he doesn't know me from Adam. I'll never get past the gate keeper at the front desk. The Lord said again, "Go to the PD now and say hello" so I did. Yep, within 2 minutes of walking in, the Chief of Police was escorting me to his office and I ended up spending an hour with him. He said he had an appointment cancel out on him so he was free to talk! We hit it off immediately and I now have several opportunities for ministry at my local PD because I was listening for "that still small voice." It wasn't in the miracle and big show, it was just a quiet nudging from God's Holy Spirit speaking to my heart to do what He wanted me to do. What a week of ministry, just listening for that still small voice; and it's not even Sunday yet! Are you listening?
From my little corner to yours....

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Be strong & courageous...

Strength and courage; those are two items that are often lacking in our society and in our personal lives as well. In the face of a bad economy with huge financial uncertainty, I talk to people all the time who are really fearful of what tomorrow holds for them. I have sons who are going through the "new kid on the block" thing at their schools and I have discussions with them on responding to teasing and bullying in a way that honors the Lord. I shared something with them recently from one of my favorite chapters in the Bible: Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." I shared with them that the Lord is with them as they go to their schools and face the stuff kids throw at them and I challenged them to be strong and courageous in the face of difficulty. I told them Joshua's story and how this was God's encouragement to him as he faced huge changes and stress in his life as he was now responsible for the millions of people Moses had led out of Egypt since Moses had died. The same God who had been with Moses, promised Joshua He'd be with Him also as Joshua obeyed all of God's word (Joshua 1:8).
So I applied this to my sons and their struggles in their schools, the same God who was with Moses and Joshua will be with them as they obey Him too! Their attitudes began to change and I could see their spirit's being strengthened and courage growing inside them as they came to understand this truth. God almighty is with them as they go to school or wherever else they go. I'm sure I'll need to remind them of this again soon; I need to be reminded of it regularly when fear begins to creep into my life. God's track record of faithfulness is perfect and He is with me everywhere I go. For a child of God, being strong and courageous are not options, they are commands. God expects us to obey Him and His word and He's promised to be with us everywhere we go. I hope you'll study Joshua 1 and ask God to embed this into your heart and mind and that you too will be strong and courageous. From my corner of the world to yours...

Friday, March 6, 2009

Making it hard to be legal...

So I've been in Maryland now for 68 days. I feel guilty every time I walk out to my vehicles and I see that I am still sporting Lone Star license plates bearing the name of the great State of Texas. It is not that I'm ashamed of Texas, far from it, I love Texas and think it is a wonderful place. I was married there, all of my kids were born there, we have family and lots of friends in Texas so it's always going to be a special part of my life.
It's just that I believe home is where you hang your hat and that I should bloom where I'm planted. God has called me to make Maryland my home. I want to have Maryland plates on my vehicles as a good citizen under the authority of the powers that be because Romans 13:1-4 commands it of me and I used to be a policeman who enforced this kind of stuff. Not to mention I'm sure everyone in my church is wondering if I want to go back to Texas.
It should be a simple process really, go down to the DMV (or the MVA as they call it here), give them your info, pay the fee and walk out with plates. How hard could this be? Well much harder than I imagined. Need to get a MD DL first. After a long afternoon and several trips home to get more documentation, I finally got that. My wife Cheryl asked me if I wanted to go try to register the cars that same day and I said no, didn't think I had the patience for that.
I talked to the guy at the answer desk, think I've got all the documents. Except before you can get your plates your cars have to be inspected. Now I have to find a mechanic I can trust and that whole thing. Well of course there are numerous things wrong so far with my truck and I'm sure the list for Cheryl's car is going to be a problem. Already know I need a windshield for it. Lot's of money out the door and still no plates. Every local I talk to about this process warns me the price tag at the MVA is going be outrageous too.
Needless to say, it's frustrating to try and do what's right and in this case what's legal, knowing its going to cost me dearly in time, energy and resources to jump through all the government hoops just to get some license plates. I've got other stuff I'd rather spend money and my time on than to try and satisfy the law. This whole process is a reminder to me that we humans can really mess up the simple and complicate it with lots of rules and regulations to try and legislate behavior.
It's only gotten worse since Adam and Eve ruined God's perfect environment. They found out the hard way that the law is never satisfied. My problem getting legal in Maryland is a lot like Adam and Eve's problem in getting legal with God. Fortunately, God's grace is what provided for Adam and Eve and also a means for us to be right with God through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ on a cruel Roman cross. When I accepted His gift of salvation by faith, I was made "legal" with God. Being made right with God is a far more simple process than getting license plates in Maryland! Becoming a Christian is a simple as ABC...admit you are a sinner falling short of God's standard of perfection, believe that Jesus Christ died in your place, was buried in your place and that He rose again, then confess him as your Lord and Savior and commit to live for Him the rest of your life. I like God's plan to be legal much better. Maybe the State of Maryland could learn from God a little something about simplicity and grace...but there's probably a rule somewhere...
From my little corner to yours...

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Bodily exercise helps a little...

New Year, new goals. I decided it was high time I get back into a fitness regimen so I've been running on my treadmill and have started toning muscles with weights in the gym. After running 2 miles on the treadmill in a little over 24 minutes, the calorie read out said I only burned 350 calories or something. I didn't pay attention to closely because it was too depressing since I know a grande green tea frappuccino from the SB place has about 600 in it. I've been working out in the gym and on the treadmill pretty consistently since the beginning of the year and this verse comes to mind every time I see that irritating calorie counter on my treadmill: "Bodily exercise profits a little, but Godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." (1st Timothy 4:8). Paul isn't kidding about it helping a little! Sure bodily exercise important since my body is the temple of God and I need to be around to help my wife with those boys of ours. Besides, I want to have a long and fruitful ministry for the Lord; but in the grand scheme of things, physical exercise doesn't fix all of my problems. Godliness on the other hand, being like Jesus, solves a lot of issues in my life. So I believe I'll keep running on that dumb treadmill knowing full well it's only helping me a little bit. I am going to do what verse 7 in that text says: "exercise yourself toward Godliness." I'm going to keep my spiritual muscles in tone by lifting the weight of my Bible every morning as it burns deep into my soul when I read it and I will keep getting aerobically fit on my knees in prayer as the the Holy Spirit gives me strength that I need for today's race. From my little corner to yours...