Anxious? What's the Answer?

 In my mid 20’s, I had the privilege to go to South Africa.  One of the highlights of the trip was an overnight stay on a gamefarm on the edge of Kruger Park. We rode on a game viewing truck, think padded bleachers on the back of a Landcruiser truck.  He drove us around and we saw many beautiful and unique creatures.  It was amazing. We had a braai that night, think, barbeque with meat and vegetables on a griddle over coals from an open fire.  It was delicious. I had never seen the Southern Cross so clearly in the night sky; it was awe inspiring (think Crosby, Stills, and Nash, “when you see the Southern Cross for the first time, you understand now why you came this way, the truth you might be runnin’ from is so small, but it's as big as the promise... of the coming day.”).  Our host left late that night to drive home. He told us to walk out to the watering hole to do some game viewing the next day.  He’d pick us up in the afternoon. All I could think of was the intimidating roars of the lion we had heard in Kruger Park a few miles away. It was quite a vulnerable feeling walking out a dirt road armed with nothing but a camera, still groggy from staying up too late the night before. We joked that we didn’t have to outrun a lion, just each other, unless there were two lions! Sticking together, we quickly made our way to find the viewing stand.  We looked intently into the bush, as our host had taught us, to see if we could see any eyes looking back at us: some looking to run from us, some ready to eat us. We saw some amazing wildlife and enjoyed the rugged beauty of the bush, but it was a very humbling experience. 

The Apostle Peter warned God’s people not to be anxious, because God cares for His own. However, anxiety, pride, and lack of connection with God make us vulnerable to a Spiritual Predator out there who is looking to do us harm. Peter tells us to stay humble and alert, remember we belong to God, and we can trust  Him with all those things that make us anxious.  He reminds them, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:5-9)  So, remember Whose family you belong to, stay humble, alert, and sober minded, and give ALL your anxiety to the One who sees us, hears us, is glad to be with us, loves us, and wants to do good things for us! 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

Meeting on a Mountain!*

 

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While in seminary, I interned at Travis Avenue BC in student ministry. We took a mission trip to Colorado Springs to support a local church plant. We caravanned in several 15 passenger vans to a beautiful Christian Camp in the mountains. The first morning, we split up and each van went to a different neighborhood to do Backyard Bible Clubs. I took my vanload of kids to one particular house and it was a rough morning. The neighborhood kids were having a bad day (read “Bill was having a bad day from lack of sleep and general orneriness; the kids were just being kids in a new setting”).  The TABC students did a great job of redirecting the youngsters and eventually the kids settled down and our students had things well in hand with the games, activities, and Bible Study they had planned. I decided the best thing I could do with an hour of time that morning was to go have some quiet time with God and get refocused. The neighborhood was just a few minutes from the Air Force Academy, so I wondered if the beautiful Cadet Chapel was open for a few minutes of solitude and personal Bible Study. When I arrived the Chapel was closed so I took a little hike up a nearby trail and found a bench, sat down, opened my Bible and began to read. I eventually was drawn to a passage in Hebrews that was hard for me to understand about an Old Testament king who was also a priest. These two don’t usually go together in Israel’s history. Kings come from the tribe of Judah and priests come from the tribe of Levi. So the writer explains in  Heb. 7:1,   "This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.'" As I sat there reading God’s Word, some people came up the trail to where I was sitting. One was in uniform and the other was a family with a young man who was considering the Air Force Academy for college. The officer stopped, shook my hand and said, "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Melchisedek.” He asked me a few questions, handed me his card and continued his tour for this prospect.  Bewildered, I dug into the passage more.

The writer of Hebrews wanted the early church of Jewish believers to understand that there was a new covenant that was much better than the first one that had depended on their good behavior and a sacrificial system to pay for their sins when they weren’t good. The writer reminded them,  Jesus is completely sufficient to save us in spite of our inability to do everything right and have a good day. He is our King, also our eternal High Priest, who offered Himself as the “once and for all” sacrifice for our sins. The incomplete sacrifices of animals made over and over again by Levitical priests who must be replaced over and over again for sins committed over and over again would never be enough.  The writer says, “Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”(Hebrews 7:23–25) Wow! I have never forgotten how God met me in the wilderness by a chance meeting with a recruiter with a unique name on a hiking trail at the Air Force Academy while studying His Word.

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

Who Are You Becoming?*

In college, I took a semester off and worked at the Louisiana World's fair in New Orleans. My first day of work was Ash Wednesday.  I arrived at the office a few minutes early, but even after start time, no one was there.  I was confused, so in my naiveté I asked, "where is everyone?” They said, “It’s Ash Wednesday.” I thought, “oh maybe they were very religious and just wanted to kick the beginning of the Lenten season off right, having some extra morning devotion.” I quickly learned, however, that everyone had apparently really indulged in the fatness of Marti Gras. I noticed the longer I stayed in that city, the more I not only began to accept this destructive overindulgence, but I indiscriminately embraced the behaviors that devalued others and myself and harmed my relationship with God.  It was a city with great fun, food, music, culture,  but foolishness came easy for me there.  At first I lived in Kenner a little drive from the city. Then I moved into New Orleans. Then some the not so good values of Crescent City moved into me and I became less like the person God intended me to be. God helped me realize I needed to get out of that town and get parts of that town out of me. (No offense to New Orleanians, I loved the food, fun, music, and culture of your great historic city, but in my weakness, I was too easily drawn to become someone God didn’t intend for me to become. My denomination has a seminary there, but at the time I was not drawn that direction. As a matter of fact I was running from God’s call on my life. Also, my apologies if this sounds moralistic or judgmental of others, that is not my intention.)

They say you become like those around you.  In the Bible, we learn about Lot, the nephew of Abraham. Abraham, though far from perfect, kept seeking God and was blessed.  Lot on the other hand kept drifting further from God. At first, he and his family lived on the plain outside of the wicked city called Sodom. Then Lot is living inside the city accepting the city’s behaviors as normal. Then just before God is about to destroy the city, Lot is sitting at the city gate where the leaders sit. He had become just like the worst of those in the city, even offering his own daughters to wicked men.  In God’s grace He sent angels to rescue Lot and his family from the coming judgement He would bring on Sodom and sister city Gomorrah. Lot was about to change his mind about getting away from the evil city, but God’s messengers insisted.  Genesis 19:16 says, “When he (Lot) hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.”  God’s plan is always to rescue, but we gotta accept being rescued. We also read that the angels had warned Lot's family not to look back, but Lot’s wife couldn’t resist and she infamously became a pillar of salt, an icon of the consequences of continued and deepening disobedience.  Who are you becoming like?  When we run toward God and away from evil, we begin to act more like God’s children, but when we are drawn toward evil, we become someone God never intended us to be.

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all! 

Don't Go It Alone!*

 Don’t go it alone?  My sweet bride and I were blessed to go to Maui for our honeymoon. A friend told us about an inexpensive condo in Kaanapali. We had a marvelous time snorkeling, biking, and enjoying the beauty of “paradise,” and I was trying to figure out how a husband is supposed to act around this beautiful human I had espoused.  We were told we needed to drive the road to Hana to fully enjoy Maui, so we turned in our standard rent car, got a convertible for the day, put the top down, and started driving. At the time the map wasn’t very helpful to me and audio and video guides weren’t around at the time. Besides, I was a man and wanted to impress my new bride. The manly conventional wisdom of the time was, for a man to ask for help or use a map was a sign of weakness. (Turns out it would have been much wiser to get some conventional help by asking someone.) Our destination was the “Seven Sacred Pools.” We started driving and saw beautiful ocean scenes, cliffs, flowers… it was amazing. I stopped at a place that I thought perhaps was a trail to the Seven Sacred Pools. Anita and I parked, jumped out and started hiking. Anita, said maybe we should ask someone, "this doesn’t look right." And I was like, “no, here’s the trailhead, let’s go.”  The further we walked the darker it got in the jungle canopy of the bamboo thicket. I was kinda proud of myself, blazing the trail for my new bride, when she finally spoke up behind me saying, “Bill, I don’t think this is the right trail.” I turned around ready to convince her that the pools must be just up ahead, when I saw her lovely lily white legs covered in black dots… On closer observation, they were mosquitoes, dozens of them sucking the blood out of my sweet new wife. I started swatting them, which didn’t really help because she then had red swat marks on top of white bite welts... So, I quickly said, “You are right, dear. This must not be the trail. Let’s go back.” As we emerged from the deep jungle, Anita, covered in bites and swat marks, was not to be shaken, so we kept driving.  We finally found the beautiful Seven Sacred Pools clearly marked with a big sign and we jumped in the water for a moment before driving back. We had been warned “don’t drive the curvy road in the dark!” Fortunately, I did heed that warning and we returned to the hotel without further incident. In my pride and confusion about how a husband who belongs to Jesus really acts, I pretended to know where I was going, when I had never been there before.  I thought I was supposed to figure this out “all by myself.” 

The good news is that in our spiritual life we don’t have to go it alone.  As a matter of fact we can’t. If we decide to go it alone or try “conventional spiritual wisdom” we end up on a dark trail somewhere, leading ourselves and the ones we love the wrong direction, and putting us all in harm’s way.  Jesus knows that we can be like this, so he tells his disciples (and us):“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16–17) He reminds them: “...when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” (John 16:13) Sometimes we need to be reminded that God will never leave us to figure it out all by ourselves. Often the Spirit will speak to us through more mature Jesus-belongers, who have "been there and done that." They can help us know which way to go. Immanuel, “God with us,” says, the Spirit will be with us, and in us, to guide us. 

Hang in there people. God is glad to be with us. I’m praying for us all. 

ALRIGHT!*

 Moody Center...

When my oldest daughter was a preschooler, she was curious about her dad painting a wall in the den with a paint roller. Anita was taking care of one of the other 3 preschoolers in another part of the house at the moment and I had just loaded my roller with paint from the roller pan on the floor. I climbed the step-ladder to make the “W” motion, just like the paint store expert told me. I was using a roller on a pole to reach the high part of the vaulted ceiling.  I could see out of the corner of my eye that MA had come through the door and I could hear her stepping on the plastic drop cloth. Just as I looked down, I yelled, “NO!”, but it was too late she had just stepped right in the middle of the roller pan. My shout startled her so much she turned and ran across the room in a frightened toddler scamper, making a footprint of paint with every other step across the carpet (did I mention this was a rental house). I quickly climbed down the ladder, shouting “STOP, STOP!” Which startled her even more and she continued to run, extending the paint trail of tiny footprints across the room.  I finally was able to put the roller down in the pan, catch her, and remove the paint covered shoe and start trying to get the paint off the carpet. In my parenting ignorance, I had resorted to probably the least effective method of trying to solve this issue… raising my voice. I had momentarily forgotten that toddling, inquisitive, baby humans are much more important than carpet or paint or anything else. I didn’t have a lot of calming, peace bringing tools in my parenting crisis toolbox at the time, only the one I had grown up with… effusiveness. This ability may have been something good for collegiate cheerleader to have, but it was not always the best parenting technique.  If all you have in your toolbox is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If all you have is effusiveness, every problem should be solved by yelling louder, RIGHT?  Though this tactic seldom worked, I had trouble seeing that I needed some more effective tools in my tool box for when the train was about to run off the rails or when it was already a full blown train wreck. I also didn’t realize how many of my decisions were made from fear: fear of messing up, fear of being inadequate, fear of lack, fear of being a bad dad or husband, fear of so many things… In my anxiety, my tool box could not expand or add more tools. The positive tools that I needed could only come if I operated in joy and love, rather than fear.

We operate in fear when we don’t trust that God loves us, cares for us, is glad to be with us and works all things together for our good.  These fears come from a religion based on anger and retribution, rather than a relationship of love, joy, and care. Not that God is not capable of anger and retribution (because His righteousness and honor sometimes require it) but the fact that He loves us enough to send His Son to save us, shows His great love for us. Though He always requires our reverence and respect, He is first about rescue, rather than condemnation. John, the beloved disciple, quotes Jesus saying, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”(John 3:17) God is about making everything new and alright. One of Texas’ favorite sons, Matthew McConaughey says it three times, “Alright, Alright, Alright!”  Our assumptions about life need to come first from the fact that God loves us tremendously and He is making everything “Alright” between us and Him. 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

Look Mom, NO BRAKES!*

photo credit someone on Ebay 

My uncle once showed up at our house with an old motorized go kart he found at a flea market and had been working on. What fun for us in early elementary school… at least for a moment.  We cousins took turns driving the go cart in small slow circles in the driveway while my uncle and father stopped us every once in a while to adjust something. We kept it slow because, oh yeah, there were NO BRAKES yet! Everything was fine and fun as we pretended to be racing on the big track. This, of course, was back when helmets were optional and maybe even frowned on for go karts, bikes, motorcycles, etc… I guess they thought we were hard headed enough or maybe it just wasn’t a part of the go kart package at the flea market.  When my cousin began his slow circle around the driveway for what would be his last one on that kart, my uncle, for some strange reason, jumped on the side of the kart, Thunderdome style, and pressed the accelerator to the floor, saying "Go faster son!” The accelerator spring that is supposed to “unrev” the engine when the accelerator is released, snapped and the kart began accelerating out of control. My uncle began falling and jumped off, my cousin, however, was seated and un-able to escape. He was wide-eyed and headed for the very steep hill with lots of big trees.  He lined up the driveway’s turnaround pad which launched the cart into the air. It hit a tree about 4 feet high and slammed to the ground. Fortunately the impact slowed the engine as my father and uncle ran to pull my cousin, crying and shaking from the kart. My uncle, embarrassed by it all, said to him, “oh, quit crying, you're not hurt.” And that about did it for the go kart thing.  Everytime I hear the words, “go kart,” I can see my cousin flying through the air, impacting the tree and slamming to the ground. Interestingly, as teens, my cousin and I would go to the go kart slick track extravaganza in Pigeon Forge to race against each other, accelerator to the floor, drifting through the turns, but this time with actual brakes (but still no helmets). 

The apostle John was worried about the early church. He didn’t want them going around accelerating through life with “no brakes.” He told them when we belong to Christ we can stop when it comes to sin. He reminded them (and us) that we who belong to Christ, act like Him, and He did not sin. He says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” (1 John 3:1–6) So, we need to remind ourselves the next time we are operating with no brakes, feeling out of control, unable to stop ourselves from sinning, that we are children of God and He gave us brakes.  He makes us like Jesus whose brakes worked perfectly his whole life.  Sure, we’re all going to mess up, that’s why Jesus had to come save us, but when we belong to Him, we begin to mature in Him and learn how to use the brakes and turn around when we are heading for trouble.  

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

I Love My Church!**

 

Wow! I’m thanking God for a wonderful “I Love My Church” Sunday. God involved so many people in this experience. I want to say thank you to everyone who said “Yes!,” when God asked them to engage in this week’s unifying, connecting, fun, worshiping, baptizing Gospel event. I would like to follow one particular God story that changed the lives of one family and blessed many others. I am sure there are many stories like this one, but this is the one God allowed me to see firsthand. I watched and listened as the staff talked about and planned the “I Love My Church!” Sunday. First, there needed to be an outreach to invite those people that either didn’t know Jesus or were not engaged in a church. Jonathan had asked us all to be praying for folks who need Jesus during our October Missions Month. A decision was made to make invitation bags available to take to these people for whom we were praying. The bag was simple: a card and a couple of cookies that said, “You belong here.” Bags, cookies, cards, and crinkle stuffing paper were ordered. A crew of several ABC volunteers came to stuff bags, stage them and pray over them before they were to be picked up. People picked up the bags the Sunday before to deliver them to invite friends, neighbors, family and coworkers. One ABC 2nd grader who herself had been baptized just a few weeks ago wanted 15 bags to take to her friends. Her mother said, “maybe a few,” but this little girl was insistent that she wanted her friends to know Jesus. I’m not sure how many she ended up giving away, but one of the bags she delivered ended up in the hands of a classmate. This classmate showed up to ABC for “I Love My Church!” Sunday. I happened to be in the lobby when this 2nd grader and his mother arrived. I was able to take the two of them to meet Rachel so he could join the Children’s Worship, Bible study, and fun. Mom then went to the worship center. The Holy Spirit moved Mom’s heart with the worship music, compelling Gospel message, and the sweet fellowship of 1000 worshipers. At the invitation to be baptized this woman came to the front of the room full of strangers and said, “Yes!” to Jesus. When she went to the baptistry changing room she was met by Adrian, who talked with her and learned that it was her first time to ABC and that her son was in the Children’s wing. Bill, Jo and the baptism team helped her get ready to be baptized. Adrian went to get this woman’s son, so he could watch his mother’s testimony that she belongs to Jesus through the waters of baptism. He watched his mother, then came to see her afterwards and gave her a big hug. He too wants to be baptized. Conversations about that are ongoing. I love how many people were involved in this continuing God story! There were planners, preparers, goers, givers, teachers, servers, cooks, cleaners, children’s workers, table setters, runners, towel washers… all involved in God’s plan to impact the lives of this family and others with the Gospel. 

Pastor Jonathan has been preaching on the Great Commission for the month of October. Matthew 28:18-20 says, “... Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20 ESV) There was a lot involved in the GO-ing (planning, ordering, stuffing, baking, staging, delivering…). But this little girl decided to GO to her friends with bags to invite them to ABC. This young man and his mother came because they were invited. His mother heard the Word of God, the Truth of the Gospel, and was BAPTIZED (and her son may be baptized too). Next in the MAKING DISCIPLES plan that Jesus gave us is the teaching part. This 2nd grader has already connected with the Children’s Ministry director and teachers who are TEACHING him and other kids what life is like when you belong to Jesus. Mom is being invited to an Adult Bible Fellow-ship Group to learn alongside other believers all the blessings, joys, and opportunities of belonging to Jesus. Lord, give us the boldness to GO and MAKE DISCIPLES like this 2nd grader! 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!