Tag: Joy

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Good Passion Versus Bad Passion

It all started with thoughts about passion; you know, good passion versus bad passion.

Psalm 73:25-26, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

TOMORROW

Annie sings that the sun will come out tomorrow; Tomorrow clears the cobwebs and the sorrow. Tomorrow we can start with a blank canvas and paint a new picture of our life. Tomorrow we can erase the errors of today and start over.

The Beatles sing about Yesterday that our troubles seemed so far away, but they’re here to stay. “I’m not the half the man I used to be.” The Beatles remind us of our regrets that we might improve our future.

Kaki Kings, the musician at a TedTalks convention, states that time runs endlessly for eternity backward and forward, making this moment seem insignificant. But the reality is that this moment is the most critical in our life; at this moment. So, all we have is to make this moment the most significant moment of all moments.

U2’s song Tomorrow, Bon Jovi sings, “Will you be back tomorrow? Open up, open up to the lamb of God. To the love of he who made the blind to see. He’s coming back.”

My arrogance, and maybe your arrogance, is that we might be granted a tomorrow. I go to sleep each night, asking for forgiveness of my transgressions and listing what I need help with tomorrow. I talk about friends that I need to reach out to because they suffer. I speak about deeds I will do for those in need. I ask for wisdom and discernment for the decisions ahead. I assume that God will grace me with one more day on this earth.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23, “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”

What if that was my last prayer here on earth; what if I did not see another tomorrow this side of heaven? What if that very night I met God face-to-face? Would I have regrets? Would I have deeds undone? Would I want one more day?

TODAY

Colossians 3:5, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

God continues to give us these two-edged swords; passion is one of them. Earthly passion can drive us to destructive behaviors. It is not just the passion to have more, be more and experience more. It sometimes is the passion to present ourselves perfect to the world around us. Earthly passion can disguise itself as a virtue. It feeds upon pride to puff us up. Worldly passion can make us feel superior to others because we care more. Earthly desire can cause us to be addicted to behaviors that do not glorify God but glorify ourselves. Worldly passion assumes there will be many tomorrows. Without tomorrow’s, earthly desire loses its meaning. Worldly passion feeds on the expectation of tomorrow.

Ephesians 1:4, “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

Spiritual passion feeds on eternity. Spiritual passion assumes that time here will end. Spiritual passion prepares us for when earthly tomorrows finish. We can do things that others might see as worldly passion, but our drive is different. For example: do we exercise to look good and feel good, or do we exercise so that we are prepared to do God’s will? Do we seek education to advance our future or to use it to glorify God? Spiritual passion is redirecting our worldly desire to glorify God.

Colossians 1:16–17, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

We may not be graced with another day; did we live today with that in mind? Chasing the passion God put within us at creation is about living each day to its fullest. It is acknowledging God is sovereign over all; he created all things for His glory. Therefore, everything we do is an act of worship to Him. What did your worship look like today?

1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

In our trials, did we focus on ourselves, or did we take the opportunity to glorify God, knowing that God will not give us more than we can handle? Did we find good in those who sought to harm us? Did we acknowledge God’s presence in everything we did?

Romans 8:28, “And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, to them that are called according to his purpose.”

FOREVER

I love what Kaki King said because it reminds me that every moment counts. There are no insignificant moments in our lives, even though the totality of our lives may seem trivial compared to eternity. Moments make up eternity, each one extremely important.

We get momentary pleasure for worldly passion. It is a temptation that is hard to pass up. We can start to believe that living in the moment is not harmful to our existence in eternity. But it is every moment that eventually adds up to eternity. So, God counts everyone as important.

Live this day, this moment, as if you might stand before God before tomorrow.

James 1:17-20, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

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Passion

Passion is sometimes it is like looking for a unicorn. You know, the pink ones with the long sparky mane, not the run-of-the-mill white one, they’re too familiar. For some people, passion is make-believe. Some people see it in others, but they can’t find it in themselves. But, once you do find it, it redefines you. It changes the way you approach everything; it becomes the air that you breathe. It’s a high that won’t stop.

How do we know we will ever find our passion? I’ll warn you that I don’t have answers. However, I have a little knowledge and a little direction, and possibly some experience that might help you find your passion.

But it is your quest.

Sima Ballinger defined passion as “passion comes from the inner desires of our heart. Passion comes from our belief and value system, which, in turn, creates a purpose for our very existence.”

There are three specific attributes she applies to passion.

Passion comes from the inner desire of our hearts.

Psalms 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

Proverbs 20:5, “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.”

Passion comes from our beliefs and value system.

Ephesians 1:11 “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”

Passion creates a purpose for our very existence.

Exodus 9: 16, “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

Here is the journey God took me on:

TRUST GOD

Trust is the foundation of all relationships. If it is weak, the relationship falls apart. If it is strong, the relationship weathers many a storm. It is gut-check time. Do you trust that God truly loves you and wants a great life for you? Does that trust extend to your wallet and your time?

Proverbs 16:9, “A man’s heart decides his way: but the LORD directs his steps.”

We have talked a lot about how God made you as a unique person having a destination. You have to be willing to modify your steps even after you have determined your way. There is no hiding the fact that you have to move, but will you allow God to steer once in motion?

It all starts with trust; do you trust Him?

USE WHAT HE GIVES YOU

We don’t reinvent ourselves; we repurpose ourselves. Our passion is built around the attributes that God created for us in the womb. We do not have to create this new personification. We are new in Christ, but we are the same person God originally made us; we are just trying to jettison the excess baggage. We are trying to shake off all the stuff that a fallen world has heaped upon us.

Finding our passion is not adding on but shaking off. We need to shake off old attitudes, old habits, old preconceptions of our self-worth or talents. We need to forget what the world defines as success and focus on what God has already defined for us. What is that small voice telling us about true joy? What is that hunger we feel? What is that longing?

It is to get back to what God had planned for us. It is to use the past to build the future.

Colossians 1:16, “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”

STAY IN PRAYER

James 1: 5-8, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

BE INTENTIONAL

You can’t steer a stationary ship. You want something; you have to move. I remember a hiking t-shirt that I saw that said, “The hardest step in a hike is the first one out the front door” I thought Amen to that. If we spent all our time thinking about how arduous the journey might be, we would never leave home. When we don’t know where we should go, we tend not to go anywhere.

If you don’t have a plan, then set a date when you will have a plan. That plan may only be to find out more information. But do something. Once you think you have an idea, pursue it until God stops you or redirects you. God will course correct you when needed. He may think you need some additional experience before you are ready. If you don’t keep moving, you will never get the experience.

Ephesians 5:15-17, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

Stay in communication with God at all times. You’re moving; you need guidance. Guidance comes from communications. Read, meditate, pray, seek Christian council, keep all channels open.

Proverbs 10:4, “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”

James 4:17, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

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Being Different

As Christians, we know that once we commit of lives to Christ, we become members of His family and are assured an inheritance in His Kingdom. We know that we will spend eternity with Him. We know that our lives here on earth are fleeting; they are but a whisper through eternity.

James 4:14, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

TODAY

But today is all we have. Today we have to face the dragons that are determined to devour us. No matter how much hope we have in our future, today is still today. We have never experienced eternity. We have no vision or memory to give us courage. We have a promise which we know to be true, but what about today?

Revelation 12:12, “Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

I get overwhelmed with today. I have issues, my friends have issues, and my country has issues. Many of these issues seem to multiply over time. Some of us, or our loved ones, are dealing with Illnesses or depression that will not go away. Many of us see social trends that are both harmful and, even worse, normalized. Some of us have fractured relationships that we hold so dear. At times, today is a tough place to be.

Psalms 54:4, “Surely God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my soul.”

Someone reminded me this last week that in every situation, I have two choices; I can let it devour me, or I can lean into it. I can fight it on my own, risking it overwhelming me, or I can give it to Christ to see how He will use it for His kingdom. I can dig in my heels, stiffen my back and wait for the full force of it, or I can embrace it, asking Christ to intervene.

There is nothing in your life that God has not foreseen. There is nothing that He can not use for His glory. There are no surprises, no unexpected events, and no actions beyond God control.

Jeremiah 32:17, “Ah Lord God! It is You who made the heavens and the earth, by Your great power and Your outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for You.”

BECOME A LIGHT

I am old enough that I stopped asking God, “Why?”. I now ask Him, “What’s next?”. I often see the cause and effect, but there are so many situations in my life that I don’t fully understand. In those situations, the reason why becomes superfluous. Knowing why won’t change the day. The real question becomes, what do you want me to do next? What do I do in the middle of this darkness? God does not ask me to find a light; He asks me to become a light.

John 1:5, “But if any of you lack wisdom, let them ask God who gives to all generously and without reproach and it will be given to you.”

This approach may seem counterintuitive. When we need someone to reach down into our lives to help us stand, God, asks us to extend a helping hand to others. Everything we go through in life is not isolated to us. We are not the only ones affected; others become collateral damage—other people in our life hurt with us. Our testimony is how we react in hard times. Are we Victims or Victorious? Is the God we worship passive or active? Are we different because of the hope we have in Him?

Psalms 16:3, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do and He will establish your plans.”

Hard truths are not easy to understand. Living the Gospel requires us to be different. That difference does not come naturally. It is born and nurtured through our faith that God has been, is, and always will be there for us. We have never experienced eternity with Christ, but we have seen what He had done through us when we were open to His lead. That history is what we use to guide us to Him in times of uncertainty and trouble. That is what makes us different. You have the full force of the Holy Spirit that lives in you.

2 Timothy 1:7, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.”

It takes courage to be different. But being different in a fallen world is not a bad thing. On the contrary, bringing compassion, grace, and love to those who hurt with you is the best way to heal your wounds.

Job 42:2, “I know You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”

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My Testimony

Psalms 107:4-6, “They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.”

THE STARTER’S GUN

I was kind of late to Christianity. Although I was baptized at a young age, it was more because I was a joiner. By the time I left High School, I was the president of the Baptist Youth Fellowship at my small church. These things can happen in small communities; the one who raises their hand gets the job.

I went to college not because I had a life plan but because it was the next step. I worked full-time during college; my goal was to get a diploma, not an education. If you don’t know what you want to be in life, what is the point in getting too educated on stuff you may never use? Sorry parents, there are a lot of kids in college with this plan.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games, exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore, I run in such a way, as not without aim.”

THE TURN

After college, I packed up all my stuff in a Chevy Vega and headed 750 miles south to get a job; I didn’t know a person in town, had no business connections and had no direction. I was working on the next step in life; I got a diploma now get a job. A man has to eat. At this point, life was just a series of checkmarks. Next on the list was marriage and family. There wasn’t any real passion or objective to being alive. I was insanely insecure, insanely angry, and insanely driven. This mental state was a tightly joined lethal cocktail. My insecurity drove my anger which forced me to overachieve. I look back on it now, and it seems so illogical, but it all made sense at the time. The good news for me was that I was an ambivert, you know, the guy that fits well in a social environment but has to go home to hide. I could mask all of my daily issues and feed them when I was alone at night.

The weird thing was that I thought this was all normal; it was just life. Everyone was fighting to get ahead. But it was a formula for disaster; still, I didn’t see it. Even when I was in the lifeboat watching the last of the ship as it dipped below the waves, I thought, this is life; everyone has problems. A wrecked marriage and a pacemaker at thirty, stress was the fuel. Stress kept me focused; it fed the anger to be someone.

Jeremiah 12:5, “… you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out,”

THE STRETCH

Finally, I had to agree that this approach wasn’t working. I couldn’t keep it up for a lifetime. There had to be better way.  Back in childhood, there was this book that was supposed to have the answers. So I got a copy, it was the Bible; I started to read. I wasn’t looking for salvation; I was looking for a better life. Up to this point, life was a sprint that turned into a marathon; I wasn’t prepared for it. I read the Bible from cover to cover eight times. Every time I learned something new about how God made me and the way I needed to live my life. I was convinced God existed; Christ was still a little iffy.

Proverbs 4:13, “Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.”

I started going to church. Over time there grew a desire in me to become something bigger than just me. I began to question my existence. Just why was I driven to achieve, and what exactly was I to achieve? Then I read the book “A Case for Christ.” From both a historical and factual standpoint, it was almost impossible to deny Christ’s ministry. He had to be who He said He was; what did that mean to me?

My conclusion; I was dead in my sin. Christ did die for my sins. He did raise from the dead. Salvation was real. I rededicated my life to Him. With that rededication, I am a new person in Christ no longer driven by anger and insecurity; I was created in the image of Christ. But I was still internally driven, still focused on worldly standards. It was still easy to separate my Christian beliefs from my material efforts. The scoreboard was about using everything God had given me to become a better me. I started out embellishing my worldly resume, then I turned to embellishing my spiritual resume.

THE FINISH

I remember the day that I finally saw God’s truth. I was on the way to the airport in the early morning. I traveled five days a week almost my entire career; it was a typical Monday morning. A friend had given me a tape of a one-person play called “The Bema.” The essence of the play was to answer the question; What have you done for Christ since you knew Him? My answer was simple, nothing. It has always been about me; it went from me-pleasing-me to me-pleasing-God. But I was still the center of the story.

2 Corinthians 9:8, “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in good works”

The epiphany was that it has never been about me. Everything God created, myself included, is for God’s glory, not mine. Everything I have, had, or ever will have belongs to Him; I’m just a caretaker of those things.  I bring glory to God by taking what He has given me and serving others. This concept was a pivot point. This was the point in my life that I started to become the man God had always created me to be. This was the start of a life worth living.

Isaiah 40:31, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.”

Since then, I have tried to be more outward-focused. I want to see the opportunities God is giving me to serve others through Him. By the way, it took me several years to consistently give Him glory for what I was doing. I would serve someone, but I would forget to tell them that it wasn’t me but Christ in me who had served them. The first step in sharing the Gospel is living the Gospel. I’m getting better at a lot of things; I still have further to go.

Life is a marathon; within that race you can find a calming cadence provided by Christ that guarantees that you can finish the race confidently. My focus is not the road ahead, but the God of the Universe that created me to not only run the race but run it with hope and joy that the race is not in vain.

Hebrews 12:1-3, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

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Living on Purpose

Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

On a grand scale, our purpose is clearly defined in Acts: We are to be witnesses to what Christ has done for us. We are to demonstrate to others what it means to live in Christ. We are not just to teach the gospel but to live it out every day in our lives such that people want to know why we are different.

Acts 1: 8, “But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth.”

UNIQUENESS

This overarching purpose is what gives direction to who we are. Each of us is created uniquely to be a witness in a specific way. As the world is made up of many people exhibiting various personalities, skills, knowledge, experiences, and cultures, so should the body of Christian witnesses. There is no formula for who God has called you to be outside of the instructions laid out in the scriptures. Comparing ourselves to anyone else is to limit our impact. Our impact for Christ is as unique as we are.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.  And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.”

When chasing our purpose, we sometimes spend too much time deciding the worldly nature of our purpose. We focus so much on trying to be someone that we lose sight of the fact that we are to declare His glory in whatever we do. Although we are called through the spirit to chase a specific occupation or career, what we display every day is our faithful witness.

1 Chronicles 16:24, “Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.”

Your job, business, or skill may be the tool that God uses in your life to demonstrate His glory, but it is the way we live out our lives that is the real purpose. Every interaction we have in every situation is an opportunity to show others the difference between the way others live and how Christians live.

1 Peter 4:10-11, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

There is no direct analogy between success and kingdom impact. We like to think that being successful is one of the best ways for people to see how God has worked through our lives. The real-life problem is that most people are attracted to God through adversity. Nonbelievers want to see how we act when things are not going as we planned.  Can we be as sure of our faith when we don’t know the path ahead?

Luke 6:28, “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

SERVANTHOOD

Servanthood is the hard part of our purpose. It is getting down into the dirt and demonstrating that we are willing to be a servant even when being a servant is demeaning. Can we be supportive of a co-worker that just stole your idea? What about the passive-aggressive peer who wants your promotion? Then there is a PTA member or the Subdivision Board member that has let their authority go to their head? There is not a moment in our lives when we are not under someone’s control. Most of these people are nonbelievers. How do we model Christ to those who don’t know Christ?

Titus 1:16, “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work”

I love the ideation aspect of figuring out what God planned for me. I love to see how he uses my experience and opportunities to shape my future. There is this satisfaction in knowing I am on the right path. But in all of this, I must remember that every action in my life has a purpose. It is not just the mission I have been sent on, but every day I wake up.

Holding the door open for someone is works. Showing gratitude and appreciation is works. Letting someone have the closer parking space is works. Paying for a stranger’s cup of coffee is works. Take the time to listen to someone attentively rather than monopolize the conversation is works. Give someone an inspiring book is works. Put your phone away when in the company of others and do not keep checking it is works. Tell someone you do business with how much you appreciate him or her is works. Good works abounds all around you.

Strive to make every moment count. You earn the right to share the Gospel through the way that you live your life everyday. Don’t let hypocrisy stand in the way of someone’s salvation.

FINAL NOTE

James 1:22-25, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

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Word of the Year – Post Truth

In 2016 the Oxford Word of the Year was “post truth”. Post truth is defined as ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief’.

IRONY

This really struck me as ironic. Ironic in the sense that 2016 we hadn’t come close to the dystopia currently on display today as it concerns post truth. In 2016 we were infants to this concept. After feeding on it for five years we have become raging pre-pubescent adolescents. The future of truth is bleak at best, and may fall out of our consciousness at worst.

This subject, this concept, this “ideology” is evident all around us every day. I was having dinner with a group of good Christian friends and the obligatory anti/for-mask/vaccine debate broke out. Everyone at the table was convinced (in a compassionate loving way) that they knew the truth. They each had their respectable sources and facts. They each had their gospel references. But yet they were on two sides of the same argument. Apparently God is both adamantly for and against all things related to COVID. These disagreements are creating wedges in the truth of the Gospel. The Gospel isn’t a reference tool to win a temporal argument.

James 1:26, “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.”

Rod Dreher wrote an interesting book entitled “Live not by Lies, A Manual for Christian Dissidents”. In it he spends the first half of the book relating the histories of all of the “isms”; Authoritarianism, Totalitarianism, Communism, Socialism, Marxism, Progressivism, Capitalism etc. He writes about how people gravitate to these ideologies based on the existence of an ideal state where everyone is cooperative. He goes on to say that the reality is that we live in a fallen world and the ideal state does not exist here on earth. Ideologies come and go, they all have a shelf life. They are all flawed by the human existence.

There is only one eternal Kingdom, that is the Kingdom established through Christ.

Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

SHOW AND TELL

As Christians do we tell but not show? Do we live based on emotions and worldly beliefs, while telling people of the power of God’s redeeming grace? Do we live in fear that the other side is going to win, all the while professing faith that God is in control? Or do we speak of the reforming grace of God’s word, while living it?

Most, not all, emotional bias have a foundation in fear. We fear that something will happen that will harm us or our loved ones. This fear grows into a belief that there is only one true protection from our fear. That protection, be it a person, place, or thing, becomes what we desire most. That desire starts to overshadow reality. We now have a fear that what we believe is in our best interest might not be in our best interest. This implicit bias drives us to sources that confirm or reaffirm our pre-existing position. We want to feel safe.

So ask yourself, is your fear based on worldly temporal issues or divine issues? Do you live your life avoiding contemporary fears created by current events or do you fear the eternal implication of your convictions? A health fear of the Lord is a fear worth having, all others will pass away.

GOSSIP

Proverbs 16:28, “A perverse man spreads strife, and a slanderer separates intimate friends.”

Are your conversations based on the steadfast word of God or the latest emotion driven opinions? Temporal politics and cultural attitudes will pass away, but God’s word will survive forever. People DO live what they believe. Look at someone’s life and you will see their convictions. People do not live a lie, they live the truth as they see it. What does your life show about you?

Patrik Bendas, son of the Czechoslovakian anti-communist Christian dissident Vaclav Bendas, states “When we look at what is happening in America today, we see that you are building walls and creating gaps between people, for us, we are always willing to speak, to talk with the other side to avoid building walls between people. You know, it is much easier to indoctrinate someone who is enclosed within a set of walls.” When we become hardened and opinionated we are actually fertilizing the ground that will eventually grow division.

Philippians 4:8, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

We should approach every conversation with grace and compassion designed to build someone up, not create a new fear.

GRACE

Good news is that as a Christian you have been saved by Christ grace. You have nothing to fear. Most contemporary issues are just that, contemporary. Years from now we will see that we overstated their implications. If we hold true to God’s word and seek Him when in turmoil, we will be held safe in the palm of His hand. There will be hard times, and some of those hard times will change us, but God’s love will remain steadfast and sure.

Ephesians 4:29, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”

Live a life worth living.

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My Last Day in Toknok

As I sit in my room on the last day of my trip to Kyrgyzstan, I have mixed emotions. These are incredible people. Materially their world is not horrible compared to places like central Africa, but it is not close to Europe or other developed countries. The biggest challenges they have are non-material, it is spiritual, emotional, and cultural.

I had dinner the other night with three incredible young ladies; two were college-educated, and the third was in college. All three of them were exactly the type of person you would want working for you. They were intelligent, positive, and driven to make something of their lives. Their challenge was that they lived in a world that did not value that. They lived in a post-Russian, Muslim, male-dominated society that did not value educated, independent women.

All three of them were faced with the prospects of either leaving their family and country to pursue their dream or staying where they were and living someone else’s. For them, life started with hard choices. For them, life started with a deep dive into the black pool of uncertainty. Even the prospect of meeting the right man and raising a family required moving away; there are not many Christian men their age. They are not the first nor the last to face this dilemma.

This is the discussion we had, and you can scold me for an older man advising young women.

I have never lived a day in their lives. I have never walked a mile in their shoes. I have never been raised in a culture that puts a constraint on what a person can be. The only experience I have is the Word of God that says He has a plan for us. It is a plan to prosper. He has made us unique creatures explicitly created to use all He gave us to glorify Him. If they compromise on that belief, they compromise on the joy, fulfillment, and impact for His Kingdom that he has written for them.

All this week, we have been teaching hard lessons. We have spent our time telling new business owners the hard truth of managing their businesses. These are Christian business people living in a predominately Muslim world. These are hard lessons because they do not conform to the rules of the world. These hard lessons teach us to do what is right, not what we have a right to do. They tell us that we should love those who hate us, serve those who despise us, and give to those in need that do not value us. Through this, we glorify the One who made all this possible. We do it not as a command but as a form of worship.

We have to apply this teaching to incredible young people with their whole lives in front of them. I am incredibly excited for them and, at the same time, worried and concerned. These young spirits full of energy and hope are the story of fairy tales. They are the forgotten maiden searching for their prince. They are the heroin of God’s story for humanity. Yet like all great stories, it has to start with hard choices.

The sadness is that when I come back, and I will, there can only be one sad ending or another. These young women will have chased God’s vision for their lives, and I may never see them again. Or they will not, and I will see a shell of the person they could have been. My selfish prayer is that God’s plan for them will be revealed in a way that brings us both joy.

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More Reading Suggestions During My Sabbatical

AN APOLOGY – One of the things I have become acutely aware of is that everything on the front page of the news today is temporary.

WE SERVE AN AWESOME GOD – Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

REDEMPTION OF NAOMI – Her testimony was, “And God painted a new picture of my life.”

Ephesians 3:16-17“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love.”

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More Reading Suggestions During My Sabbatical

JOY  – A common question, “If I have a foundation in Christ, why is it that I have trouble finding joy?”

CREATING OUR NEW NORMAL – God sometimes takes things away so we can either appreciate what we had or give us clarity to see what He wants us to have.

LET ME GET HOME BEFORE DARK – Joy and fulfillment come from being who God made you to be. It does not come from things you own, titles you achieve, political causes you support, children you raise, friends you have, or any worldly desire.

1 John 4:16, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

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Sabbatical

I am taking a little sabbatical from posting. I am about to go overseas for a few weeks on back-to-back mission trips and need the time and energy channeled toward those endeavors. I’ll start posting again in September. Thanks for reading and enjoy some of my previous posts.

Traveling Partners – “We have a traveling partner; He is always with us. He will never abandon us. Not everyone has this.”

Lessons in Love – “Love can make your brain forget to breathe.”

Impossible to Unbelievable  – “God wants to take you from the mundane to the impossible to the unbelievable.”

A life Worth Living  – “The reality is that God puts people in our lives as part of His plan for us. Through them, He can speak to us.”

Psalm 1:1-6, “Happy are those who reject the advice of evil people, who do not follow the example of sinners or join those who have no use for God.

Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord, and they study it day and night. They are like trees that grow beside a stream, that bear fruit at the right time, and whose leaves do not dry up. They succeed in everything they do.

But evil people are not like this at all; they are like straw that the wind blows away. Sinners will be condemned by God and kept apart from God’s own people.

The righteous are guided and protected by the Lord, but the evil are on the way to their doom.”

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