Overtaken* by Blessing or by Curse, You Decide...

 My family’s home was on a steep hill and we had Black Labrador Retrievers when I was growing up. They were intended to be duck hunting dogs, but became mainly just pets. Heckle and Jeckle, named after the mischievous cartoon Magpies of the late 1950’s, loved to run when released, each one trying to outdo the other. I once then tried to outrun them down our front yard to let them swim in the lake. I let them go and was running as hard as I could, but I was no match for my canine companions; they both clipped me at my knees when overtaking me, sending me into a bowling ball tumble into the Nandina bushes. Scraped and bruised, I then had to chase them through the neighborhood and put them back in our yard. The nandinas had a preteen boy sized indentation that would eventually grow back, but they were a reminder to me to be aware of where those dogs were when I was running. In that same yard, my toddler cousin would run down the hill full speed while laughing, until his little legs couldn’t keep up. He would fall head first and tumble, still laughing. My aunt would come and scoop him up and cover him in kisses and they would laugh and do it again and again. 

In the book of Deuteronomy, when Moses was reminding God’s people that they should love and obey God and not turn away from Him to other gods. He says “if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.” (Deuteronomy 28:15 ESV) The imagery is of a fast and strong animal that outruns, attacks, and overwhelms its prey. Moses had also reminded them that good things would overwhelm them if they loved God and obeyed Him. He says, “all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.” (Deuteronomy 28:2 ESV) But we all know what happened; the people were not able to obey and they were overtaken by their enemies, famine, and loss. 

This is where the Good News comes in. God sends His Son, Jesus, who is completely righteous and His great love outruns us, overwhelms us, and overtakes us. He pursues us like a mother chasing a toddler then scooping us up, snuggling us close, and kissing our whole face. As we respond to Jesus and love Him back, we are overwhelmed by His blessings. Jesus reminds us… “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (John 14:23-24 NIV11) 

I think I'd rather be overwhelmed by great blessings rather than curses.  Obedience comes from our love of God, not the other way around. We can’t religiously obey our way into loving God, but when we love God we will obey Him. 

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

Foundation Sacrifices?*

 I was working 4 jobs and my family and I were living with my in-laws. At my previous church in Nashville, we lived in the parsonage, so when I left the church with no place to go, we went to live with Anita’s parents.  I worked part-time at another church, at the local Baptist Association, at the UPS store, and at a local gymnastics gym, all while doing my due diligence and praying to find a new full-time ministry opportunity.  Some days I had to check where I was working that day. I had dyscalendaria, getting my days and weeks mixed up. My days didn’t have much time left in them for my family.  I tried to spend my days off with my family, but it seems I was working every day somewhere just trying to get my feet back under me, pay my bills, and rebuild my life. One day my father-in-law said, “Bill, your son really needs you right now.” It broke my heart. All the indicators in his life checked off: he was winning awards at school and playing golf with his grand-dad, he had friends and seemed happy. My other kids seemed to be doing well too, they were enjoying country club life and being spoiled by their grandparents, while attending a school in one of the best districts in the nation. But my father-in-law was right, I didn’t have much time in my schedule for my family. They kept their game faces on, because they knew I was looking for a new ministry, but I wasn’t there for some important day to day conversations about life in elementary school, bed-time prayers, or tuck-in times. When God led me to be a pastor on staff at another church, I had to live in Chattanooga and commute 3 hours to be home with my family until the school year ended.  The bonus was I only had one job instead of four.  When my family finally joined me in Chattanooga, we ate dinner together every night. Every Friday was set aside to go explore our new town together. We were finally creating some new memories and experiences together, but the days we lost over that year’s time would never be recovered.  The classic song, “The Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin still plays on the radio in my mind when I think about those days. 

In the book of 1 Kings there was a man whose name was Hiel, which means “Brother of God.” He was from the city of Bethel, which means “House of God.” He famously rebuilt Jericho, but gave up his family for the fame. This man, who was a supposed follower of God, had not consulted God but had decided to follow the prevailing practice of using his sons as “foundation sacrifices” to the pagan gods when building a building. Actual skeletons have been found in the foundation walls of buildings excavated around that area by archaeologists. The first son, Abiram’s name means “my father is exalted.” And the second son’s name, Segub, means “exalted.”  This man was willing to give up his family to be seen as exalted for his great work. This story comes from one verse in the book of 1 Kings. Here’s how it reads: “... Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn, he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest, he finished its gates, according to the word of the LORD he had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.” (1 Kings 16:34 CSB17)  Notice that the Israelite conqueror of the Promised Land, Joshua, had prophesied that this very thing would happen. Remember this was the city whose walls had collapsed after the Ark of the Lord and the Israelite army had marched around it for 7 days and they shouted and blew trumpets. Sometimes even people who are considered “God’s people” do the same things the pagans do for accolades, wealth, and benefits that cost them everything. 

When Jesus comes to Jericho much later there is “good news.” A man named Zacchaeus had given up relationships to become wealthy.  This Israelite tax collector for the occupying Romans, famously repented, had Jesus stay at his house, and also returned the money (4 fold) to the people he had gouged while collecting taxes. When Jesus turned his life around, it restored his relationship to God and the people he had hurt. A real relationship with God reorders our priorities and helps us act like our “Jesus-self,” valuing God and others over fame, prosperity and worldly gains. 

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

No Brakes! No Control!*

 

She had let off the throttle and killed the engine, but she was still careening toward me as I was preparing to help her dock her Seadoo. She was laughing and smiling having had an exhilarating ride around the lake but not yet realizing the impact of her mistake.  I had been around watercraft enough to know that this was going to hit the dock pretty hard and give her a jolt, so my wide eyes told her something was wrong. She tried to turn, but with no power jets, she had no control. I tried to cushion the crash by catching it with my feet and legs, but they were no match for the momentum of the water rocket.  I had scrapes on the backs of my legs from the dock and my feet hurt from trying to cushion the impact. She just about fell off the saddle as the personal watercraft hit the dock. A part of the bumper strip buckled and the dock was marred, but she continued to laugh as she climbed on the dock and threw the lifejacket at me. I wanted to be upset with this friend from one of our churches, but after some thought, God reminded me of the times I had barreled into a situation or conversation after my brain had already shut down. My words and actions careened into people who were trying to help me and I had no clue the damage I had done to our relationship. 

Wise King Solomon says, “One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless.” (Proverbs 14:16 ESV) Our actions and reactions have consequences. Sometimes we need to be reminded that our best self (our Jesus-self) always handles people with care. We will either use our power and strengths thoughtfully to intentionally bring kindness to people, or we hurt people when we mindlessly charge in like a “bull in a china shop.”  

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

Pop the curb!*

Photo cred: Benjamin Hunting

My father was a very patient man… except when he got behind the wheel.  He drove like Mario Andretti even when there was no emergency. Now, he could be helpful with his Jeep Wagoneer pulling people out of the ditch or taking someone to the hospital in the snow, but he could also use the 4 wheel drive feature to do some crazy things. While hunting one time we took an old wagon road that became so narrow he drove with one set of wheels on the path and one set  on the embankment… all I saw was grass, rocks, and red mud out my window from the passenger side and when I looked to the driver’s side my father was in his seat way above my head and I saw trees and sky out his window. When my family went to a stunt car show and the car went up on two wheels and drove around. I said “aw shoot, my Dad and I did that in the woods last year.”  Apparently, there were few rules for my father who grew up with fewer cars on the road and fewer laws on the books. He drove out of necessity way before he was 16 or had a license. Once, when he was trying to get to the hospital, the traffic was stopped, so he hopped the median to try another route. However, he didn’t notice the police cruiser on the other side. He got pulled over. When he tried to explain that he was a physician who was trying to get to the hospital, she did not care. She wrote him a ticket. He did not think that was fair, so he tried to appeal. The man who was trying to help him with the process said, “I don’t know what you said to that officer when you got pulled over, but she refuses to tear up that ticket and is determined that you will pay the fine.”  Being the child of my father, I too thought that there were few rules I needed to follow when driving. I definitely got my share of tickets, jumped medians, and rolled through stop signs. But it finally dawned on me that maybe I shouldn’t drive like that. I had just started seminary and was interning at a church in Ft. Worth. One day the traffic was very slow leaving the church parking lot, so I jumped a landscape median and a curb and pulled out onto the road. The next week, a new friend who helped with the church’s building and grounds team, said, “I saw you pop the curb last week.” I said, “yes, that is one benefit of having a 4Runner.” Then he clarified saying, “we don’t do that around here.” With an entitled edge to my voice I said, “Why not?” He then let me know “Why not! And What for!” He said it was rude, it ruined the landscape and irrigation, and it was not a good look for a church intern to be impatiently driving over medians. I said, “oh, I guess you are right, never thought about it that way.”  Sometimes we need to be reminded that our thinking is twisted. 

“Iniquity” is thinking that wrong behaviors are okay when they are clearly not. The Hebrew word for iniquity is a word that means twisted.  In iniquity, we have a mistaken view that self-serving, distorted, or harmful actions are okay for us to do. We may have learned them legitimately from generations before us, but they are still wrong. When God introduces Himself to Moses, He makes sure that Moses knows that iniquity can be forgiven, but it is never okay and that we are to behave differently when we belong to Him or it can affect our families generations later. Exodus 34:6-7 says, “The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7 ESV) Wow, that generation stuff is convicting, because I rode with my son a few years ago and guess what? He drives a little bit like his dad and his granddad.  My son and I have both chilled out in the last few years, but when triggered, I can still pop a curb with the best of them.  Only now I have remorse, I have to confess my iniquity, that I have behaved in a way that doesn’t look like the actions of someone who belongs to Jesus.  I’m praying that the driving iniquities will end with this generation. 

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

It Was Great Fun Until the Fight Broke Out*

When I was 10 we moved to a house that was next to a church. This church had a softball field, an outdoor lined basketball 1/2 court, Tennis courts, and an extra large playground. This provided hours and hours of fun unsupervised play. Most days there were enough friends there to keep the peace when one of us preteens/teenagers lost their temper for any number of reasons: bad day at home or school, a crazy hormone spike, or some hypoglycemia from our school lunch running out. We had no major injuries, but sometimes had some hurt feelings when we or our team lost. But the next day was a whole new day, injuries were scabbed over, relationships got a do over, and redemption for yesterday’s loss was possible. One day it was just me and a new friend. All that we found on the playground was a rubber playground ball that we usually played kickball or 4 square with. As per usual, a lack of other players didn’t stop us from making up a game. We played a simple version of wallball, only we did it down a set of stairs. We would throw it and scramble for it when it bounced off the wall and back up the stairs. This new friend was from another part of the neighborhood and a couple of years older than me. Somehow, this game grew very competitive quickly… go figure one teenager and one preteen boy with turf to defend, and something to prove with a new acquaintance. This new friend soon went from new acquaintance to now rival. I was a little smaller and quicker, so I used this to my advantage when possible. He was larger and stronger which he used to muscle me out of the way. We played for several minutes, sweating, breathing hard from running up and down the steps, and probably dehydrated (this was back in the day when we didn’t run around with water bottles). The ball  bounced off the wall, hit a step and headed back for the wall, we both ran down the steps, jumped the last three and headed for the ball. All four collided at once… and three of us bounced off the wall. We scrambled for the ball that continued bouncing around. I held my own for a moment but my quickness was no help in what became a test of strength. He eventually put me in a headlock and yanked the ball away. My pride and feelings were hurt, so I did what middle schoolers do, I jumped on my bike and rode home to lick my wounds. There was no attempt at reconciliation, no “see you tomorrow,” no “let’s play again,” just “game over” and some brick wounds with salty sweat in them. No more playing together, just competing and survival of the playground fittest. Then it was just awkward whenever he came to our side of the neighborhood again. No love lost between us.

How is it that what is supposed to be a community, so easily turns into “us” versus “them.” This happened at the church building, mind you, a place built to gather in Christ. This still happens in church communities around the world. Instead of us having fun, enjoying connection with our Christian brothers and sisters in Christ, feelings get hurt, isolation happens, it becomes “us” against “them” and community is lost. We begin acting like immature preteens, sacrificing community for our own wounded pride or a turf war. I am sure this is not what Jesus had in mind when he created the church.

The Apostle Peter who was familiar with church conflict and hurt feelings reminds the church. “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8 ESV) He may have been remembering the words that Jesus had told His disciples, “you will be known as one of My people because of your love for one another.” We are not known as Jesus’ disciples because we are the apex alpha who always wins: the debate, disagreement, skirmish, or kerfuffle.  God’s Word reminds us to “grow up, ” give each other a do over, and keep community.

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

No Sleep for Your Eyes Until You Repent*

 Photo Credit: OnlineSafetyTrainer.com

I was reminiscing with Chad, a co-laborer in Christ. He had joined my adult leadership team in my first ministry out of seminary. I was the student minister, he was a big hearted skilled craftsman, whose faith had recently been radically revived. The church had an exceptional group of kids and an adult leadership group that was fantastic. On our first mission trip, I took these kids to Cordele, Georgia to help a seminary friend, Ira, who was a church planter. His church start was in the government assisted housing neighborhood he had grown up in with a single mom. The first night of this mission trip, Ira took us to his old neighborhood in our church van towing a trailer and had us park right in the middle of the community. He asked if he could stand on top of the van and borrow our portable sound system to address the crowd. We said, “sure.” We all prayed and he instructed us that when he finished a short sermon we could go meet the neighbors and invite their kids to our Vacation Bible School. But the moment he climbed on top of the van and people began to come outside their apartments to listen, he said the Lord overwhelmed him and he began to prophesy against some of the people in that community. He called them by name and told them to repent. One man in particular, he called by name and told him if he did not repent the Lord would prevent him from sleeping. Ira said, “no sleep will touch your eyes until you turn to the Lord, and repent from your sins.” That man and some others yelled back at Ira, telling him to shut up and go away.  Once my friend came down from the top of the van we sang a hymn and left quickly. Obviously, after that our VBS plans were changed and we wouldn’t be going back to that community. We completed our week helping my friend clean up his rented building, hosting a very small VBS, and helping him host a revival night at his church. Some people came to Christ that revival night, but I never knew what came of those he had prophesied against, until now, 30 years later.  Chad told me that several years later, he was at a gas station somewhere in Georgia when a man came up to him saying he needed a little money for an alternator for his car so he could get home. Chad helped the man and as they talked and walked to the auto parts store, Chad discovered that the man was from Cordele, GA. Chad told the man he had been to Cordele on a mission trip. The man stopped him and said, did you have a preacher on top of a van with a trailer behind it? Chad said, “yes!” The man said, “that preacher on top of the van told me I wouldn’t sleep until I repented. It was true, I was a drug dealer and a pimp, I was a bad man.” He said, "I couldn’t sleep, no matter what I tried. He said he tried lots of alcohol… no sleep! All kinds of pills… no sleep! He said became so miserable he tried overdosing, but he didn't die, nor did he sleep! He said he finally went to the church and repented from his sins and was saved that day. 

The biblical prophet, Jeremiah, tells us that true prophets of God are known by their prophecies coming true (Jer. 28:9). And when God is speaking to Ezekiel about what he should tell the people, He tells him: “When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.” (Ezekiel 33:33) Wow, I hope we listen to God’s prophetic reminders of how we are to treat Him and other people if we really love them. God loves us too much to let us continue in sin, so He is gracious to pursue us and give us grace when we repent. 

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

A Wonderful Honeymoon in Paradise, but It Was What Happened Next that Changed Us More.*

Contentment? We were on our way back from our honeymoon in “Paradise,” when, as planned, we flew into DFW airport to make a visit to Southwestern Seminary where I would be starting classes the next semester. We went from the creature comforts of beautiful island scenery, pleasant accommodations, transportation, and a relaxed pace, to the hot, dry, hustle and bustle of the Dallas-Ft.Worth metroplex. The seminary was beautiful, but noticing the grand scale transition in physical comfort level was unavoidable. From driving a sporty red convertible exploring the tranquil beauty of an Hawaiian Island to a tiny red compact car, contemptuously named “Jellybean.” We were trying to survive navigating Metroplex traffic while looking up from our diminutive vehicle to speeding cars and trucks on converging interstates from every part of the country. We went from a comfortable condo with an ocean view, the sounds of peaceful waves breaking on the rocks and sand and cool breezes, to a dirty hotel room, with sticky carpet, threadbare sheets that your toes stick through and a view of a sweltering blacktop parking lot foreground and interstate background and all the sounds that go with them, as well as, a part-time air conditioner. Anita and I chuckled together at the stark differences that we wondered if they foreshadowed what lay ahead the next few years. God blessed us with a marvelous church, wonderful friends, our own little fixer-upper, and wonderful mentors, who taught us a deepening faith, but most importantly, God assured us that He was With Us. The faith I had known to that point was faith in a middle class home and church with the comforts that go along with it, but I didn’t know what it was like to have to trust God for the next mortgage payment or car repair bill and still trust Him enough to tithe on our meager, but adequate income. I continue to find that God is faithful to be with us in all our circumstances whether with ocean breezes or sweltering dry places or cozy accommodations or freezing cold winters… Christ is still teaching us how to be content in Him and to see His marvelous provision and presence and the comfort of connection to His wonderful people.

The Apostle Paul had survived all kinds of hardships, from shipwrecks, to beatings, to running for his life. He had known privilege, a great education, popularity, and power but he came to know that life and faith were much more than circumstances on this planet. He tells us,
“... for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. ‘I know both how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content - whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.’” Philippians 4:11-13 (CSBBible) As we look at our lives and the sometimes uncomfortable circumstances we are in, we begin to understand that this world is not our permanent home that we are citizens of heaven, but while we continue to dwell here we can handle anything because we have the Spirit of “God With Us” as a reminder and deposit of what He has in store for us for eternity. We can be content in “any and all circumstances.”

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