Shine!

Life is full of circumstances, people, and things. I can either choose to allow these types of things to bring out the worst in me or I can allow God to use trials to bring out the best in me. Job 23:10 “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” If I am going to shine for Christ then I have to learn to embrace circumstances, people, and things from God’s perspective.

Test often follow triumps. I have just had an amazing experience and opportunity in Haiti. Should I be surprised that a test often follows? Faith moves in the direction of peace and hope while unbelief leads to fear and restlessness. In my circumstances I must not get distracted but remain focussed on Christ and what he is trying to teach me and accomplish through me in spite of the circumstances. I must choose not to allow circumstances to bring out the worst.

There will always be people that are either obstacles or opportunities. I can run from them or I can choose not to leave my alter by staying in fellowship with God no matter what they say or do. God has a purpose to fulfill in me and through me if I do not leave my alter.

I love this statement by Warren Wiersbe, “If God is first in my life it makes no difference who is second or last.” I need to trust and believe God for the impossible and not live for the possible.

Here is the real kicker, MY faith in God determines how much of his blessing I will enjoy. DANG.

Satan uses people, circumstances, and things to bring out our worst while God uses the samethings to bring out our very best. Am I willing to let God be in total control in spite of circumstances, people, and things? Will I allow Him to take me through the trials where I can come out as gold?

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. Psalm 138:8

Things I learned from Haiti

Haiti is an entire country that is in poverty. They do not have what I have always considered the basics like inside plumbing, running water, electricity, television, grocery stores, beds, roof over their heads, security, or an ability to change any of it. They are an oppressed nation an hour from Miami. The way of life is at a much slower pace. Most of their time is spent in surviving. My prayer was to never loose what I learned from my time in Haiti upon coming home.

1 John 2:15-17 states “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions is not from the father but from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Compared to how I used to be or many other people around me, I would have said prior to Haiti that my life was not wrapped up in the world. However, upon reflection I realize that too much of how I have been living is wrapped in being worldly. My outer life should be a reflection of my inward relationship with Christ and what is important to Him.

For me, that means being intentional about not forgetting all I learned in Haiti. It means writing out a plan and reviewing it often so that I can be a better steward of money, time, and truly being a neighbor to the nations and at home. It’s about an increased prayer life while I also make adjustments to diet and exercise. It’s about intentionally pursuing employment that is for God’s glory and purpose he intended for me. It’s about living on less where I can give more. It’s about exploring foster care or getting more involved with the oppressed and forgotten right here and abroad. It’s about pursuing Christ and being a neighbor according to Christ which always requires sacrifice and living intentionally with accountablility built in.

Our pastor challenged us with a statement while in Haiti that asked the question…Did I long for Christ like I longed for what I was missing from home. Sadly, I could not honestly say that I was longing for Christ as much as I was loved ones and comforts of home. That must change in my life.

Methods or Revealation

I recently sat down with a couple of ladies from my church for a planning session to discuss vision for the children’s ministry. The agenda was simple. We were to spend time with God in his Word and prayer as He revealed how we were to move forward. It sounds easy enough but what I found that morning is how hard it was to separate methods from revealations that are God inspired. The methods were easy to discuss but to stay focused on solely what God was leading was quite hard. God tells us to rely on Him. Since that morning, I have begun really evaluating how much I am relying on methods as opposed to God. Now, I am not saying that methods are wrong because that is not the case. Methods are very important but they shouldn’t be first. William Edgar from Westminster Theological Seminary is quoted as saying “When we are properly communing and conversing with the living God, we will do a great deal of good on this earth. When we love God as we should, we will love our neighbors as well. Paradoxically, those who are most devoted to God are often the most productive in the world.” We cannot separate our time spent with God and our service for the kingdom through our local churches and missions. Everything we do in Christ has to have come from communing and conversing with a living God.

Step out of Traffic

I love my Iphone. I can surf the web, check my email, text, facebook, access my calendar, or even make a phone call which would be my last choice of communication. Why is that? I love to communicate electronically. I am not sure what that really says about me. One of the main reasons I like having a “smart” phone is the ability to manage whatever I am involved in whether personally, work, school, or church. It helps me to maintain structure and orginazation which is a must with a busy schedule or is it that it makes me feel more in control?

A couple of weeks ago, I found out that Bob needed a second back surgery in less than a year. We really did not have much time for preparation so plans changed rapidly. I can handle most things okay but I do not do so well with silence. I had a lot of silence being at the hosptal and home after the surgery. So much silence that it made me really uncomfortable and as it turns out, Apple does not have an app that remedies the problem. Go figure.

The verse that came to mind quite often was Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Message translates it this way…

8-10 Attention, all! See the marvels of God!
He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,
Bans war from pole to pole,
breaks all the weapons across his knee.
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,
loving look at me, your High God,
above politics, above everything.”

We did not willing step out of traffic but as a result of this surgery, it has enabled both of us to take a long loving look at our High God above everything else. In doing so, I know that there is something I need to pursue. Something that I had really given up on. Something that I didn’t see would ever happen yet I have known I was to be a part of it. I have been reminded the last couple of weeks that it is not about what I see but what He commissions and accomplishes through willing vessels. In fact, it is nothing I can do on my own which is good cause I would screw it up. Yet we have to be willing to step out in faith. A pastor at NewSpring said this morning that the definition of faith is present action based on future promises.

It has been a crazy couple of weeks in so many ways but it has also been amazingly revealing. The bottom line is that I was looking at things from my perspective instead of from the throne’s perspective. I was settling because I did not see another option so I moved on and chalked it up that I obviously misunderstood what I thought God wanted me to do. Here’s what I’ve learned, I didn’t misunderstand but I did stop pursuing and it took me stepping out of the traffic to see that clearly.

On another note – I did much better with exercising this week than the last couple. The goal this week is 6 out 7 days. My diet has totally sucked. I have learned a valuable lesson that you have to go to the grocery store more often and have healthy foods readily available in order to be more successful at making wiser healthier choices. So I am not giving up and will continue to make adjustments. Oh, I totally hate clipping coupons. I know I need to bite the bullet and just save them and take advantage of the “triple” days but I don’t like it. Maybe Bob can take on that responsibility while he is healing from surgery.

Doggie Detention

Well we are a month in on dog obedience classes for Lila. Honestly, we have not worked with her as much as we should have been over the holidays. It really showed tonight when the instructor told her down. Lila ignored that command and opted for growling and teeth smiles. Her performance has landed us a PRIVATE session. Fun!

Bottom line…we have to put the time and practice in for Lila to be more successful and for us to see an obedient dog. Likewise, we have to be determined to spend time in God’s word and practicing what it says if we don’t want an uncomfortable private session with God called discipline.

Week 1 Results
1. Shopped at Big Lots and saved some money.

2. Thus far only 2 meals that were not within guidelines.

3. Exercise has not happened. Got to start getting up early.

4. Spiritually. Don’t give up. Be alert. 2010 is going to be amazing.

5. Looking forward to working with children’s ministry at Capstone.

6. Go Bama

Dog Obedience. Day One.

We had a great new addition to our family this past summer in the form of a Boston Terrier/American Bulldog mix. She is so much fun and really loving but has split personalities to say the least. She jumps on counters and hates a collar with a passion. She could find mud in the desert. She terrorizes the senior citizen dog like crazy. However, this past week, she ran towards the road after who knows what and wouldn’t stop. So I enrolled her in obedience classes. The first class was tonight without the dog. The basic deal we learned tonight was to use a collar and a short leash. If she tugs or refuses to walk properly or wanders…we are to jerk the collar kind of quickly. I thought that will never work with Lila but am willing to give it a try. As I watched this lady demonstrate the quick jerk technique, I could not help but think about God. We have all heard the expression if you give someone enough rope, they will hang themselves. The class tonight was about the small, quick jerks that bring the dog back to where it needs to be. The instructor said that dogs are extremely situational, meaning that as the surrounding change, the demonstration of the collar jerk has to be done again. Oddly, supposedly most dogs get it after a couple of jerks. What about us? If we are Christians, then the Holy Spirit lives in us. He guides us and corrects us, but are we obedient? Let’s face it; it takes us way more small jerks for us to stop sometimes. It’s really sad if you think about it. God gives us these tugs but we ignore them at times. So, then we end up in a place in our lives that is totally out of whack. We find ourselves saying what is up with this in frustration or even get mad at God about it. However, all along, God was giving us gentle tugs. Unfortunately, when we don’t submit to God, we do find ourselves at the end of that rope. Thankfully God is still there when we finally give in to Him but what a mess we have made. I am so thankful that God loves me enough to correct me and gives me those tugs that I need to remind me to submit to Him in obedience.

Selfish, Selfless, or Somewhere in Between?

Am I selfish, selfless, or somewhere in between? Have you ever been stirred with emotion over an unjust act? Is there anything that really bothers you that is taking place in this world? Do you ever find yourself saying somebody ought to do something about _____________? This is where I am camped out these days. It seems like everything I read or listen to have a common theme, injustice. I have been driven to tears over several sermons, books, articles, and videos in regards to starvation, human trafficking, and oppression that are taking place every single day. I am disturbed at the number of women and children that are being forced into the sex trade industry. Who are these people that are paying for this type of thing??? How could another human being violate someone like this? Children have become commodities!!! My heart breaks for people starving, homeless, unemployed, and those lacking proper medical treatments throughout our local towns and the world. Can one person really accomplish anything significant that changes any of that? Should we continue our lives focused on our wants and dreams while so many are hurting unjustly? Is that really the right thing to do? What if each one of us made a decision to stop thinking about ourselves so much and actually looked for ways that we can help others? What if the “churches” tore down the walls that divide us and start focusing on what unites us? (By the way, we are the church not a building) What if we started using our time, money, and talents for the good of others instead of ourselves? What if we stopped saying someone ought to do something and do it ourselves? I challenge all of you to do some research, check out the statistics, and truly evaluate what is taking place all around us. Upon self-evaluation, I am way too selfish. I am making some adjustments, how about you?

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally is a memory aid that helps us to remember the proper mathematical order of operations. It was designed with people like me in mind who are not naturally gifted in math. The last time I actually applied this concept was during a test on Venn Diagrams that I am pretty sure originated with Satan. Still, we could also apply the Order of Operations to our lives personally. Let’s take a look at what that looks like for each of us.

Parentheses – The stuff inside the parentheses are supposed to be done first. What is it in our lives that we would put inside parentheses? Where do we digress? Where have we deviated from God’s plan? Where are we putting ourselves first instead of Christ? If our lives are going to be in proper order of operation, then we have to deal with the stuff inside the parentheses before we can truly move forward to the next thing.

Exponents – something raised to the n-th power. What is it in our life that we need to raise to the n-th power? There is some area we need to increase our efforts. Where do we need to raise the bar? Christ gave his all for each of us & he expects nothing less from each of us. Where do we need to pick up the pace?

Multiplication – Whom are we sharing Christ with? Who are we inviting to church and our small groups? Who are we reaching out to in the love of Christ?

Division – Where do we need to be delegating? Where do boundaries need to be set?

Add – What needs to be added to our lives? What do we need to start doing? This could be exercise, a budget, daily quiet time, etc.

Subtract – What needs to go in our lives that is not honoring to Christ? What friends, jobs, majors, habits, addictions, girlfriends or boyfriends needs to go? What do we need to stop doing? Does something need to go so that we have time to do the things God is calling us to do?

Things I learned from a football game

I love college football. I am a total South Carolina Gamecocks fan. The Gamecocks played the Bulldogs this past Saturday night. When all is said and done, Carolina produces another loss. I’m totally emotionally disturbed that we could not convert in the end zone second half and in particular the final seconds of the game. We were in the RED ZONE and couldn’t convert. To say the very least I was not pleased. I was ready to stomp on my jersey and pull for another team. Can you say overreaction? But here’s the deal, as I was enjoying my temper tantrum, God really spoke to me. I remember when I didn’t expect the Gamecocks to be competitive. There was a time I would have been thrilled with a loss to UGA that was high scoring offensive game and only four points difference in the end. The thing is, that’s just not acceptable. Let’s face it, we don’t play competitive sports without winning being the priority. Yet, how many of us professing Christians are accumulating losses instead of victories. We think it’s acceptable just to show up on Sunday. We think it’s okay not to spend time in God’s Word. We expect our favorite teams to have done the work during the week in order to place them in the best possible position to win yet we don’t do the same with the most important “game” of all. If we are on God’s team so to speak then we should be doing everything we can to prepare ourselves and get in the game of spreading God’s Word through the example of our lives and dedication to service. We should be pumped for the game. We have the greatest stakes but we approach it so passively. We should be crazy hungry for a win every day. The definition of win is transformed lives!