Harmony

Hearing is affected by...

The context of a person's life colors what a person hears and sees.  I grew up in the midst of Communist Russia threatening to destroy America.  My elementary school had a bomb shelter and we practiced hiding under our desks when the sirens sounded.  I grew up having witnessed the assassination of a President, civil rights leader, and the former Attorney General of the United States.  Vietnam was a controversial war and heroes arrived on our shores to a traitors welcome.  I heard of Jesus through that lens.

N.T. Wright explains the context of the world who heard from the mouth of Jesus, "the kingdom of heaven is near."   "The Jews of Jesus' day, as is well-known, were living under foreign rule and had been for several centuries.  The worst thing about that was not the high taxation, the alien laws, the brutality of oppression and so on, awful though that often was.  The worst thing was that the foreigners were pagans.  If Israel was truly God's people, why were the pagans ruling over her?  If Israel was called to be God's true humanity, surely these foreign nations were like the animals over which Adam and Eve were to rule."

There were three options available to the Jew.  One was to escape the culture and live in the caves at Qumran.  Their philosophy was to "separate yourself from the wicked world and wait for God to do whatever God is going to do."  The second option was compromise.  This was taken by "Herod: build yourself fortresses and palaces, get along with your political bosses as well as you can...and hope that God will validate it somehow."  The third option was to be a "zealot...say your prayers, sharpen your swords, make yourselves holy to fight a holy war, and God will give you a military victory...over evil."

So when these people heard Jesus say "the kingdom of heaven is near" what did they think that meant?

And today, what is your context as you sit in the seats of the worship assembly?  How do you see the world?  How do you view world leaders?  How do you view hunger and aids?  How do you see marriage?  How are you hearing the message of Jesus?

The message is the same...the world needs Jesus!  How do we communicate this amazing Savior to a world who lives in this context?

How much have you been forgiven?

They could not have been more opposite.  He owned a home.  She wrecked homes.  He invited people in.  She invited men to a hotel.  He spent lavishly on meals.  She gave her body to make money for meals.  He had a religious degree.  She was from the school of hard knocks.  He slept in his own bed.  She slept in other men's beds.

If you were to ask anyone in town who was more right with God...hands down, he had the vote.

He invited Jesus to dinner with other guests.  Slipping in past the guards was the woman of the streets.  She immediately went to Jesus.  She fell to the ground at his feet.  Her flood of tears soaked his feet.  Her hair became a towel.  She wiped clean the dust from his tired feet.  The host of the evening, Simon, was looking around for a way to remove her, but she stayed. 

She anointed his feet with an oil that probably cost several nights work.  Simon's thoughts should have never entered his head...Jesus heard the harshness of the judgments. 

Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet."

"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much."

"But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

In order to begin to experience a love that never quits we must first recognize how much we have been forgiven. 

That is your "God Story".  How much has he forgiven you?  Remember that reality as you interact with others.  It will make a difference.

God will be glorified!

Sunday morning will be a unique day.  People will arrive in a variety of moods and dispositions just because of what happened that morning. 

• Some will be negatively affected by the lack of sleep...a very late evening or something kept them awake during the night.
• Some will be disturbed by uncooperative children or a coffee pot that did not work. 
• Some will be dark because of an argument on the way to the building over clothing choices or what to do about lunch.
• Some will be excited about meeting with their friends for a time of worship.  They will arrive with a smile on their face.
• Some will be thrilled to serve in some way...sing, teach or other ways.

As all God's children arrive, He is working in every heart to prepare them for something amazing and wonderful.  He wants lives to be molded and shaped to be a shining star in an otherwise dismal world.  He encourages the lonely, downtrodden, broken, discouraged to look above the clouds and see a God who cares and loves through it all.  He builds up the strong to give to the weak.  He dispatches the wise and understanding to speak God into the lives of those who are empty and vulnerable.

How will you arrive?  What will you do tonight to prepare your heart for tomorrow?  What will you do in the morning to be a light to your family and the community of believers?  Tomorrow will be a great day, because He will lift up lives and be glorified in it all.

What do you do to prepare for meeting with God's people?

Choices make all the difference!

Human stories are replete with examples of people going about their daily events living as they please...making choices of various kinds. In reading the Bible I am often reminded of this reality that people often choose their own path.  We do "what is right in our own eyes" when it comes to accumulating wealth, parenting, marriage, entertainment and relationships.  The Kings of the Old Testament are a myriad of stories of people choosing their own path...some chose to follow the path of God and were blessed and others chose their own way and ended up in misery.

The life of God is not a life of ease.  It is not a life that is pain free.  The life of God calls on us to make tough choices to go against what I might naturally "feel" to live a life that God blesses.  There is a life that God blesses.  And that life is one made by choosing his way.  The life God blesses is full, rich, peaceful and rewarding

As God is painting the picture of those who did not pass the life choice test in order to enjoy the rewards of the blessed life, the list is stunning  cowards, unbelieving, vile, murderers, sexually immoral people, practitioners of magic arts, idolaters, and liars.  We typically have categories of each of these.  We lock away the truly bad perpetrators in prison and the lesser continue to walk the streets.  Some of these are our neighbors and some are us.

The life of God is a rich and rewarding life, but it is a life of choices...difficult choices...deciding that the life of God is better and fuller than the life I naturally want to choose.

For you...how has your life been blessed by God by making God blessed choices?

Effective Relationships are Built on Purpose!

My current class in grad school is called "Managing Organizational Change".  The basic premise of the class is that change constantly occurs in every environment and leadership must acknowledge and compensate in their style of working with people if they are going to be successful.

In today's world people are more virtual in their lives and so organizations must learn to adapt and capitalize on this reality.  This is not only true for companies but also for churches and families. 

One key component in this new reality is that trust must be built, established and maintained.  Trust experts, Dennis S. Reina and Michelle Reina, recently wrote Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace:  Building Effective Relationships in Your Organization.  According to them, the behaviors necessary for leaders to establish trust are:

1.  Manage expectations. Both explicit and implicit expectations regarding the work must be clear.  In addition, managers must set realistic goals.  Husbands, wives, parents and children have the opportunity to set realistic goals and expectations with each other.

2.  Establish boundaries.  Roles and responsibilities must be well defined, and the parameters and direction of the project must be clearly mapped out.  Boundaries in the home can help build healthy relationships.

3.  Delegate appropriately.  When giving responsibility, you must also give them the necessary authority, resources, and voice to accomplish the goal.  This is a great training tool in raising responsible children.

4.  Encourage mutually serving intentions.  You want your team members to share the attitude that they are all in one boat and together can pull through any storm.  The family is a wonderful place to put this into practice.

5.  Be consistent.  Even when adapting your strategy to the demands of a constantly shifting environment, your behavior should be based on principles and values rather than on expediency.  Parents...this is a behavior children desire.

6.  Keep agreements.  If you must break an agreement, renegotiate promptly.  In godly terms...repentance and forgiveness.  Absolutely necessary in the home. 

What do you expect from your marriage?

We’ve heard the lines from movies and songs...

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry”

“You complete me”

“You are every woman in the world to me”

“If I had to live without you, tell me what kind of man would I be”

We enjoy Father of the Bride, You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle and other “chick flicks” that fill us with notions that every marriage is full of romance, minimal problems and rarely an argument.  Most movies portray marriage as white teeth and fresh breath.  Clean house and washed car. Family dinners around the table every night.  Children helping with dishes and folding of laundry.  A warm greeting at the door complete with tender kiss.  Snow white was a fairy tale and so is the picture given to us by Hollywood.

Gary Thomas in his book Sacred Marriage portrays the true emphasis of marriage as a place for holiness to be made complete.  Ponder some of these statements by the author. 

  “God desires that we use the challenges, joys, struggles, and celebrations of marriage to draw us closer to him and to grow in Christian character.”

  “If you are afraid to face your sin, don’t get married because this relationship will expose your sin like nothing else.”

  “If we find that the same kinds of challenges face every marriage, we might assume that God designed a purpose in this challenge that transcends something as illusory as happiness.”

  “If people get married for a reason as trivial as a romantic high, they will probably end up divorced for something as trivial as the loss of romantic intensity.”

If you are ready for the challenge and a true paradigm that gives purpose to everyday married life then pick up Sacred Marriage and rewire your brain to God’s pattern.

So…when you walked down the aisle to say “I do” what did you expect from your marriage?

God thank you...

Thanksgiving is a time for many things.  Great food.  Delicious desserts.  Stuffed turkey and overstuffed people.  Smiles.  Hugs.  Perhaps family who you have not seen in a while.  It also is a time to reflect.  So here are some of mine:

1.  God thank you for bringing me into a family that loved you and demonstrated that love in so many ways.

2.  God thank you for a brother who was always there beside me and still is a sterling example of godliness.

3.  God thank you for a wife who blesses my life everyday and helps me in my journey with you.

4.  God thank you for my children and grand-children and all the joy they have brought and bring to my life.

5.  God thank you for my church family who blesses and blesses directly and indirectly.

6.  God thank you for an amazing job and fantastic people to work with.

7.  God thank you for loving me enough to train me in the trenches as well as the mountaintops.

8.  God thank you for your Spirit who walks in me to show me you everyday.

9.  God thank you for your Son, his sacrifice, and daily blessings.

10.  God thank you for holding me safely in your hands at all times.

What are you grateful for?

You Raise Me Up!

One of my favorite songs is "You Raise Me Up".  My oldest son, Matt, sung it to me on my 50th Birthday.  The best rendition ever!  What a powerful message of the power we can have on other's lives.  As you go into the holiday season, remember the impact you have in your relationships.  Who is one person who has raised you up...encouraged you?

 

 

Who is watching you?

It is easy to think you live your life for yourself.  It is all about you!  Then suddenly you are in a conversation with someone and they quote something you said.  Or you watch your child mimicking your behavior and then you become starkly aware that others are watching.

I was sitting with my son recently and he was telling me of something I had said a few months ago in a class I was teaching...wow!  Others are watching!

Reading the story of various Bible Characters as well as political heros of our world, I am reminded of how a life affects others.  The Old Testament character, Jacob, was a man who learned from a very young age to swindle to get what he wanted.  And then he watched his sons do the same.  Others are watching!

Abraham Lincoln felt strongly that President Polk manipulated the war against Mexico even though most Americans perceived the war to have been noble and necessary.  Lincoln's constituents in Illinois observed his strong words and turned against their congressional son.  Others are watching!

So who is watching you?  Who will you have an effect on today or tomorrow?  Live your life remembering that God is working through you to bless his children.  And what a blessing you are!  He believes in you.

Grateful God looks at the heart!

Human intuition, marketing, and experience tell us that if it looks great it probably is great.  We judge scenery, food and people that way.  But Susan Boyle caused us to recall the words of God to Samuel, "don't judge by the outward appearance of a man."

The AP wrote:  "She may not have won, but unlikely singing star Susan Boyle showed she could face the music.  Boyle, with her show-stopping voice and frumpy appearance, became an Internet phenomenon after she auditioned for the television talent show." 

"Boyle's entree into the limelight has become reality-show history, after being viewed millions of times — the fifth-most watched clip ever on YouTube.  She introduced herself on camera as someone who lived alone with her cat, Pebbles, and had never been kissed. Those details, combined with her matronly appearance, had sent the studio audience into titters."

"But then she began to sing. And as Boyle hit a high note, Cowell's eyebrows rose along with her voice."

"The 48-year-old church volunteer defied naysayers who doubted her place in 'Britain's Got Talent' and gave a polished performance that earned her second place in the finals Saturday night, behind a dance troupe called 'Diversity.'  It was unlikely to be the end of Boyle's showbiz dream, however, as she told Boyle told broadcaster ITV she hoped to release an album and would 'play it by ear' in her new music career."  And she has!

"For the finals, she returned to the song that made her a YouTube sensation, 'I Dreamed a Dream' from the musical 'Les Miserables.' She wore a glamorous but modest sparkly floor-length dress, and her once-grey frizzy hair was a soft brown halo."

"'A lot of people said you shouldn't even be in this competition, that you weren't equipped to deal with it,'Judge Simon Cowell told Boyle after her performance. 'You had the guts to come back here and face your critics, and you beat them.'"

Next time words of judgment or immediate perception begin to surface, remember to look deeper.  Aren't you glad God sees your heart?