Filed under: Leadership, Spiritual Formation | Tags: ministry, spritual growth
Our backyard neighbors have a beautiful flowering tree in the corner of their fenced yard. I know this because the tree’s branches are covered in amazing, pink blossoms that flow over the top and down the outside of the fence for our enjoyment. As far as I know our neighbors never deliberately chose to have these flowery branches spill over into our view. In fact, I’m quite certain they simply planted a tree for their own pleasure, watered it and nurtured it. They’re probably not aware of how the tree looks from our side of the fence or how we enjoy it every time we look out a back window or spend time in our backyard. One morning as I read my Bible on the patio I looked over at the tree and the words of Jesus came to mind…
“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart...” (Luke 6:45 NIV)
When we take time to nurture our walk with God and cultivate a relationship with Jesus, his grace, truth and joy flow out of us and into a hurting world. We don’t need to force it. Like our neighbor’s tree it just happens. The natural result of a real and vibrant relationship with God is lives being touched by the overflow. Whether you’re a school teacher, nurse, construction worker, cab driver, waiter, etc., if you have a genuine relationship with Christ you have a ministry. If you don’t have that relationship you don’t have a ministry, regardless of any title, ordination papers or religious activity leading you to believe otherwise.
So go ahead and nurture your walk with God. Make it your highest priority. As He works in you He’ll also work through you. Your job is simple…
1) Enjoy Him
2) Let it overflow
“Ministry blossoms naturally in holy lives” ~ J.I. Packer
(photos are courtesy of my daughter, a ‘budding’ photographer)
Filed under: Spiritual Formation
A few weeks ago my 11 year old son was having a sleep over with one of his buddies. It was a two-nighter and his mother and I we weren’t sure sleeping over for the second night was such a good idea. Sure enough, as we were settling in for the night the phone rang.
“Dad, I wanna come home. Can you come and get me?”
I couldn’t respond quickly enough.
“I’ll be right there,” I said as I grabbed my car keys.
He’s actually had a few aborted sleepovers through the years and I always love going to pick him up. This particular time as we drove home in the minivan I decided it was the perfect time to share an important message.
“You can always come home, you know. Never forget that. Whether you’re 11 or 20 or 30 or 50 (he grinned sheepishly) it doesn’t matter… you can always come home. Never forget that.”
I’m not sure what he thought of my words but I had no doubt about my goal for the conversation. I wanted this truth etched in his heart and mind. I wanted it to sink in to the very fiber of his being. I wanted him to know that he would always be loved and welcomed home no matter how terrible things seemed or how badly he messed up.
Then it dawned on me that I was feeling something similar to what Father God feels toward us. No matter how far we wander, no matter how poor the choices we make, no matter how big the messes we create… we can always come home… and we’ll always be welcomed with open arms. Always.
“There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’
“So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.
“That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father.
“When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’
“But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’
Luke 15:11-24 (The Message)
Filed under: Leadership, Spiritual Formation | Tags: influence, leadership, obedience, Romans 12:1-2, transformation
Today is the first day of school for my kids. After the typical photo shoot and goodbyes with my daughters I had some time with my son whose classes start later. I decided that breakfast was a great opportunity to discuss some basics of leadership with him. I already see his leadership ability and I want to encourage that gift and channel it in the right direction. During the conversation I asked him to explain the difference between the head and the tail in the animal world. He looked at our dog sprawled across the kitchen floor and said “The tail has a butt under it but the head has a chest under it.” I guess you never know what to expect when asking a 10 year old boy a question. We went on to discuss how the head always determines the direction of the tail and not the other way around. We talked about how everyone is either influencing or being influenced. I prayed with him and asked God to make him a leader and influencer at school this year. I prayed that he would be the head and not the tail.
Romans 12:1-2
The Message
Filed under: Spiritual Formation | Tags: choices, consequences, death, Romans 6:23, sin
Cheerful title, huh? This is not a warm and fuzzy blog post but I hope you’ll read it.
Over the weekend my wife defrosted our upright freezer which sits in our garage. I was reminded of an incident several months prior when I was getting a loaf of bread out of that freezer. I reached into the lower freezer bin and saw something disgusting… a dead mouse. Somehow it had gotten into the freezer, ripped a hole in a bag of bread, eaten as much as it could and died right there on the spot. I guess our freezer door was accidentally left open an inch or so (a frequent mishap) and the hungry little mouse took advantage of the situation… or so it thought. Interestingly the mouse died beside the bread and not the door. There were no scratches indicating an attempt to escape. It appeared that when the door was shut the mouse just kept enjoying the bread. With the rise and fall of blood sugar levels and the onset of hypothermia it probably paused to take a nap between fillings. The nap was permanent.
Once I got past the disgust of a dead mouse in my freezer the spiritual implications hit me. The incident is a vivid picture of how we often deal with sin. We’re quick to indulge in it while ignoring God’s Word and the danger signs. Romans 6:23 makes it clear that the wages of sin is death but like the mouse we think, “Just a little is okay!” or “Just a little more and then I’ll stop!” We’re oblivious to the fact that it’s killing us. It numbs us to reality without our even knowing it. Our spiritual senses become dull. We think we’re in control but we’re not. The deception leads to more poor decisions. We bring pain and destruction upon ourselves and those around us. It feels great at first but eventually we have to face the consequences. For some, the destruction is permanent. For others, recovery is possible but grueling. For some there is only partial recovery. Although God forgives completely we often have to live with the consequences of our sin. For all, the situation is avoidable.
So if you’re indulging in sin right now, this just might be your wake-up call.
Seriously.
Just in case the description wasn't disgusting enough here's a picture.
Filed under: Spiritual Formation, Worship | Tags: be still, calm, devotions, dogs, faith, guidance, lightning, peace, prayer, reassurance, storms, stress, thunder, trials, trust
It happened again. Turbulent storms pushed their way through middle Tennessee with torrential rains, deafening thunder and dramatic lightning.
I love storms but my dog doesn’t. She paces back and forth, hides under tables and my keyboard (think music not computer) and sometimes she even drinks from the toilet if we forget to put the seat down. I know that’s gross but humans have peculiar ways of dealing with stress, too. Last night as our beautiful Lab/Husky paced the floor I tried to calm her. I petted her gently and spoke in a calm, reassuring voice. I told her everything was going to be alright. She didn’t believe me. Actually, she had no idea what I was saying. She was completely focused on the violent thunder and lightning. Her tail, which normally wags with happy-go-lucky delight, was pointed straight down as she paced and panted. I wanted so badly to calm her but I couldn’t get through to her. I knew everything was going to be okay but I had absolutely no way of conveying that truth. It was sad. I was sad.
Then it hit me. Could this be how God feels toward us at times? He’s promised to take care of us and meet our needs. He’s promised to never leave us or forsake us. He’s promised to finish the work he began in us. But we can only hear the thunder and see the lightning. We’re focused on what the checkbook or the evening news or the doctor is telling us, shouting at us. Sometimes, many times, the voices are also internal.
“It’s helpless.”
“It’s hopeless.”
“You’re hopeless.”
But it’s all lies. He’s standing there waiting and wanting to reassure us, calm us, quiet our hearts. He wants to give us a peace that passes all understanding. If only we would turn to him. If only we would ask. If only we would receive. But on we go in our struggle and stress. We pace, we worry, we fret. We listen to the voices, but not his voice. If only we would tune everything out we would hear him. We’d hear that still, small voice whisper three simple words.
Psalm 46:10
Mark 4:39
Romans 8:31-32
Philippians 1:6
Philippians 4:6-7
