Swing for the fences!

 I love the game of baseball. I enjoy watching the battle of intellect and athleticism that takes place between the pitcher and batter. I am intrigued by the strategies employed by the different managers and coaches.  But probably the thing I love most about baseball is the intrepid player who comes to the plate with a ”Swing for the fences” attitude.  I love it when someone is willing to aim for the big stuff. Maybe it is the competitor in me, but I very much like the “Go big or go home” attitude! Don’t go up to bat hoping to not strike out, go for the gold!

Why is it that we don’t apply this to our own life? Why is it that we try to simply make contact with the ball, instead of hitting it out of the park?

The sad truth is that too often we don’t believe Jesus’ words in Mark 10:27. We are way too afraid of failing, so we seek out “safer” options because we think they will bring security. However, we fail to realize that there’s really no such thing as guaranteed security.

Suppose you live your life like that baseball player whose only goal is to get a hit. Is he really guaranteed to score once he gets on first base? Of course not! He can still get tagged out at second or third.

Friend, the only real security we have is in God. With Him nothing is impossible. There’s nothing He can’t help you achieve, accomplish or overcome.

You set your own limitations by how much trust you actually place in God. If you don’t believe God can help you hit a home run, He won’t. He will never allow you to hit a home run in life if you believe He’s only good for a single.

Stop looking everywhere else for security and look to God. He is your security and with Him nothing is impossible!

Give your Best to Your Best

Proverbs 5:9 give us some interesting advice. It says,  “Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:”

If you wonder what it takes to have meaningful, incredible relationships, here it is…Give your best to your best. I heard one person say it this way, “Invest the most into those who will cry the deepest at your funeral.”

Too often we give our best to every person around us except the ones who really matter, those who are the best in our lives. We let our work, hobbies and social circle take priority. Before you realize it, you find yourself chasing after the blessings of those to whom you are not even close.

I’m not saying you should not go the second mile at work or play a round of golf with a friend (or even an acquaintance). You should strive to work harder than everyone around you, and there is nothing wrong with having a favorite hobby! However, the problem arises when we place the wrong people and things at the center of our lives.

I recently read one person who describes the relationships that we have to the rings of a tree. Each new ring represents your relationships. The closer they are to that original core circle indicates how close they are to you.

Who’s in your center circle? Do you have any layers or is everyone lumped in together? Are there people in your center circle who should be moved to an outer layer?

In my own life, the only people in my center circle are my wife and kids. The only way to get into that first circle is to be born into it or marry into it. My circle has grown by three people. Once nearly seven years ago when I married my beautiful wife. It grew again five years ago when my daughter was born, and then again two years ago when my son was born. Someday, my children will get married (many, many years from now!), and my circle will grow again to receive their spouses.  Then with the birth  of grandchildren (many, many years from now!), that circle will expanded again.

I must give my all to those in my inner-most circle.  At the end of the day, they are the ones who will cry the deepest at my funeral. Sure I have other friends and family, some closer than others to the center ring, and I care for them deeply. But they are not in that center ring. Those in that center ring are my best and they deserve my best!

I want to encourage you to give your best to the ones that matter the most in you life. Pour your heart into the people that will still be standing beside you when the dust settles. Give your best to your best!

Patience is a virtue

Have you ever heard the old expression, “Patience is a virtue”? It is hard to relate to this in today’s culture. We have done so much through modern technology and innovations to take the “wait” out of everything. We have drive-through windows at the pharmacy, the bank, the dry cleaner, the ice cream shop, and the “fast food” restaurant. Think about that name, “fast food.” That says it all, doesn’t it? Do you think that our forefathers, just one hundred years ago, would have ever envisioned a society where you could drive up to a window and hand someone some money or a piece of plastic, and then they would hand you a giant bag of food?

We don’t wait well. We want it all, and we want it now! Why should we wait when we don’t really have to? However, please remember that in the spiritual realm, patience is a virtue. God tells us over and over again throughout the scriptures to “wait on Him.”

Waiting on an answer from God is not always easy, but it is through waiting that our strength is renewed. Waiting grows our faith and strengthens our relationship with God. It enables us to let go of our own desires and trust that He knows what He’s doing. So get out of your “fast food” mentality when it comes to spiritual matters and just wait on the Lord!

Columbus Day and other thoughts…

Ok, so yesterday was Columbus Day, and I was quite disturbed about the way in which Christopher Columbus is being trashed by many in the academic circles and the news media.  I read story after story about how so many teachers on all levels are blaming Christopher Columbus for all kinds of the evils. One Jr. High School history class went so far as to hold a mock trial and found Christopher Columbus guilty of war crimes!

Now I freely admit that Christopher Columbus was not a perfect individual; neither of us are. He was wrong in most of his assumptions and calculations. He also was a horrible  administrator. But to accuse him of war crimes and other atrocities is outrageous!  Most of what Christopher Columbus did was accidental! But I personally thank God for those accidents.  For if he had not miscalculated the circumference of the earth and accidentally discovered the Americas, we quite possibly would all be living somewhere in Europe, Asia, or Africa, with far less freedom than we now know.  The United States of America has been the greatest champion for freedom and prosperity that the world has ever known, and its founding (and the principles upon which it was founded) have in arguably changed the course of world events, I believe for the good.

I apologize for the rambling, but I am so tired of people denigrating everything we used to hold in high esteem in our history.

Jeremiah 2:13

“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13

Ok, so I was reading Jeremiah chapter 2, and in verse 13 this great prophet reminds me of two sins that we are so often guilty of committing:

First, we have turned away from God. We are broken. We have forsaken the One who can truly quench our thirst.

Second, we try to do-it-ourselves. We try to fix the brokenness in our lives. We try  to quench our thirst on our own. Have you ever thought all of the ways that we in America do this? We stay busy, read self-help books, and go to conferences. We numb our emotions and mask our brokenness with mind-altering prescriptions, therapists, alcohol, illegal drugs and empty, illicit relationships. We try to meet our own need, dig our own cisterns if you will, but they are broken and cannot hold the water we so desperately need.

When it comes to your pain, your emptiness, your brokenness- don’t do-it-yourself. Allow God to quench your thirst. He wants to. Remember Jesus’ promise in the book of John. “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.”

Pray for your pastor!

So I was reading this book, and it had some startling information. I do not know how accurate this information is, but I have no reason to doubt it. I trust the author, and my own observations lead me to believe this as well. With that in mind, did you know that:

• 1,500 pastors in America leave the ministry every month due to moral failure, burnout, or trouble in the church.
• Of pastors and their wives, 82% are discouraged in their work because they are told daily of someone who is displeased with them.
• 97% of all pastors have been betrayed, falsely accused, or hurt by their trusted friends.
• 78% of pastors do not have a close friend.
• 50% of pastors will have their marriage end in divorce.
• Of all pastors’ children, 80% have a low trust of people within the church.

It is clear that the Devil has made pastors a high-priority target. The devil will target your pastor not only because he wants to damage his ministry, but because he seeks to destroy the people under that ministry.  Your pastor will be Satan’s top priority, and that is why praying for him daily must be your top priority as well.

Make it a habit to pray for your pastors today and everyday!  They need you!

2 Timothy 4:1-5

I was just reading 2 Timothy 4:1-5.  It really made me think about today’s society…how there is a tendency for people to seek out a faith that matches their lifestyle. People seek a god that fits their lifestyle and beliefs  instead of a lifestyle and beliefs that fit their God. Gone are the days where right is right and wrong is wrong. It seems like most people have already decided their life philosophy and they are just looking for a theology to wrap around it.

I think sometimes we have even polluted the doctrine of forgiveness by subtly making it a license to sin. It’s the old “easier to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission” concept. The problem is that God knows our hearts. Nothing is hidden from Him. He knows our motives, the depth of our sincerity, the contrition of our heart, and the genuineness of our desire to please Him.

The more I listen to the people the more I am convinced that we’re living in the day described by Paul in this passage. When tolerance is valued over truth and we have a “what’s in it for me” mindset when it comes to spiritual matters, we’ve drifted from God. 

Our mission is clealy laid out for us: Endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Let’s stick to the task entrusted to us by the Savior!

Summer is almost over…

I just took my oldest child, Audrey, school shopping for the first time as we prepare for her to start Kindergarten.  It was exciting and sad all at the same time. It is exciting as she prepares to enter into this new phase of her life, with all of the wonders that learning and discovery have to offer, and sad because she is transitioning out of, what to me has been, a very special time of her life. Children seem to grow up way too fast.

It is a not-so-gentle reminder that time moves forward…stopping for no man.  We are all time travelers.  However, unlike the time travelers of science-fiction lore, we can only move slowly forward through time. There is no going back–recapturing the moments that are past.  They are gone– like the morning mist. The Scriptures remind us of this in the Book of James: “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (James 4:14).”

As I look back on Audrey’s life–at the moments that appeared for a little time and then vanished away–I wonder if I really took advantage of those moments, for they can never be reclaimed.

What about you, Dear Reader? Summer is almost over. The vapor of your life is vanishing, ever slowly, away. What are you doing with the time allotted to you?