The apostle Paul had an anchor on which to hold in order to stay true to the Lord and his values. This is evidenced by his faithfulness to God in the face of monumental changes that occurred in Paul’s life. Paul was well-educated, disciplined and determined. He was zealous in his endeavors, so he was not a man you could accuse of being lazy. Despite the accolades and respect he had early in life, it all changed when Paul met and followed Jesus. Instead of respect, he was hunted. Instead of love, he endured hate. All that Paul accomplished was discarded in the eyes of many because of his decision to follow Jesus.

What helped Paul stay loyal to the Lord despite such drastic changes? Paul held on to the reality of the resurrection. He told Felix, “I have the same hope in God as these people themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I always strive to keep my conscience clear before God and all people (Acts 24:15-16, TNIV).” In order for Paul to live the life he did, it could not be based on his education, his job or any of his other accomplishments. All of those things were not eternal and could disappear in the blink of an eye. He needed something sure upon which to build his life. Paul was certain of the resurrection when everything else fell apart. It was the reality of the resurrection that motivated him to live life with character and integrity.

You will likely experience several unexpected changes in your life. Plans will fail, and disappointments will occur. What will you do when your plans for school do not happen? How will you respond when you lose thee job you thought you would have for the rest of your life? How will you move on in life when the one person you thought you would have longer in life is taken away from you far too soon? What will help you stay true to your values, to the life God called you to live? How do you manage that when everything may seem to fall apart?

You can still stay true to the Lord if your character is not rooted in what happens in this life. There is more to you than what transpires this side of death. Live your life with integrity regardless of any changes you experience. Don’t live an outstanding life only when it seems easy. Do not base your decision to follow Jesus if you think life will only be easy because of it. Be committed to living rightly because that is what matters on both sides of death. Paul knew that, lived by that and encouraged others to do the same. No matter where you are right now, live by the certainty that life goes on after death.  That will never change, so live by the reality. When you live by that certainty, you will live a life of character and love worthy of respect regardless of how things change.

We know God did not create His people to be lazy. Man was made in God’s image, and commissioned to work in the Garden of Eden

(Genesis 1:26-30). This work included the rule and care for God’s creation. In the New Testament, Paul reminded Titus that the church was created to be zealous for good works (Titus 2:14). Titus was also encouraged to devote himself to doing what is good (3:8). God designed good works to be done through the church. It is against God’s created order for His people to be lazy and stagnant.

However, if we never allow time for rest and rejuvenation, the body and mind will fall apart. Even Jesus acknowledged there was a time to work, which implied a time to rest (John 9). There were times Paul worked long hours because of special circumstances (2 Thes. 3:8), but his body had to rest. Humanity always seems to suffer from two extremes: laziness and busyness. Laziness does very little, if anything, to contribute to the overall good. It would rather expend all its energy in taking, like a leech. Busyness keeps doing so much activity that it can neglect the things and people for which we are living and working. Both extremes are unhealthy and damaging.

It is easy to work around the clock since many jobs do not require the sun to dictate our hours. Devices designed to make lives simpler have merely contributed to people doing more. What we have to remember is that we were not created to serve our technology, our jobs or the almighty dollar. We were made in God’s image and live life by that identity. Our resources should be used to contribute to that mission, not the other way around. God did not free us from sin to see us enslaved to busyness.

God’s people work and rest for a purpose. We work to contribute towards God’s mission on Earth. In everything you do, do it because you are serving God (Col. 3:23). At the same time, we must value the purpose and times of rest. If you feel guilty for resting and your mind stays preoccupied with work, then you will not enjoy the recharge you need. God understands the balance of work and rest. We must be wise and humble enough to respect that balance, even if it goes against our nature. Remember to allow God’s order to direct your work and rest rather than the extremes or laziness and busyness.

Reblogged from Inside This Guys Head...:

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This was written my beautiful bride of 8 years (today!), Alison. May her thoughtfulness bless you as she shares some of our story.

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A number of years ago, Fred and I went through premarital counseling with Jim Brinkerhoff, my campus minister from Auburn. His first statement at the beginning of the session was “Marriage is hard work.” In my naïve, “I’m currently planning a wedding, getting into shape, and trying on wedding bands” phase, I felt my mind snicker.

Read more… 654 more words

This is a fantastic first-person account on the work off marriage. I had to read it a couple times initially just to soak in its wisdom. It is one I will likely reread again many times in the future.

John Rice has had more of an impact on me spiritually than any other person in my life. He made a lot of headway with me because of his influence while I worked at Arby’s. When I worked Sundays, I heard a lot of talk about right and wrong while cleaning the lobby. I was not impressed with how many Christians eating lunch after church could behave and talk to us at working at Arby’s the way that they did, yet use the Bible to judge others’ actions and motives. While their conclusions might have been right when addressing other issues, I didn’t have much respect for their opinions based largely on how they spoke and treated us as fast food employees. Words and attitudes went a long way with me, as they do countless others. I am pretty sure we all agree with that. I served John and his crew many Sundays with his multiple 5 for $5 coupons and other discounts, trying to keep up with all the different orders of the kids that were with him on any given Sunday. While the kids would change their minds constantly about the little things they might like on their sandwiches, it didn’t annoy me because of how they treated me. This was before I ever knew John was a youth minister.

When I found out he was a minister, I immediately asked him if we could study the Bible together. He had earned my respect because of how he treated me. He could get away saying things to me that others could not because I saw that his words and speech about others matched the faith in scripture. I served John and the youth group for months, so I had plenty of time to see that consistency. I did not believe he was perfect, that he never sinned, or had it all figured out. But, he left a big impression on me.

Words are a big deal. They make an impression. More people listen or read them than we can imagine. That is why I am ultra-sensitive about how we speak of people, whether we know them or not. Our language makes an impact, and I know we all agree on that. I used to dismiss polarizing statements that I heard at times by Republican Christians about Democrats until 2008. I thought, “Surely, they are joking.” Well, the signs I saw in Carroll County, Georgia concluding that ”if you are a Christian then you vote Republican” or something to tthat effect revealed that people did believe that. Those statements implied that any Christian that voted for a Democrat was “un-Christian”(?).

Generalized statements only grew as the election year progressed. Christians would demonize actions of Barack Obama to such a degree that they wouldn’t always do to their own party (especially guilt by association, think Barack’s membership at Jeremiah Wright’s church). I made a Facebook status regarding the inconsistent standard we used regarding guilt by association in politics in order to tarnish the image of Barack Obama. That status resulted in preachers in the area assuming I was Democrat, which led to serious concern that I was one, leading to one of my elders being genuinely concerned about my spirituality based on the idea of belonging to a political party. That spoke volumes to me that we actually judged each other’s spiritual integrity based on a political party. That was a rude awakening.

My elders asked me to take down the status AND make a status stating that I was not a Democrat. While I took down the status, I refused to make a statement “assuring” others that I was not a Democrat. At that point in time, I knew it would be interpreted as looking down on Christians belonging to that party. I was not going to cooperate if it meant elevating one party above another regarding morality. This only reinforced the reality of the domino effect of judging others’ spirituality in light of which political party one was a member.

***I thank God that my leaders DID care about my faith and spirit. I know they

were trying to handle a delicate situation as best they knew how at the time.

Sadly, we were not on the same page about it.***

The thing is, I am not a Democrat. I never was a Democrat. When I voted in 2000, 2004, and 2008, it was not for a Democratic president. When I addressed Christians that knowingly shared false information about Barack Obama just to keep a “Muslim” or “baby killer” out of office, it was assumed that I spoke up “because I was a Democrat”. They were more concerned about keeping Obama out of office than they were about spreading lies.

When I see generalized, polarizing statements, I now know they have a more far reaching effect than what we ever intend or realize. I have found discussions about morality go a lot farther with those of opposing viewpoints if I deal with specifics instead of generalized judgments (hyperbole or not). These statements made in social media have an effect. They build on each other, and it will influence how we look at and judge others’ spirituality. That may not be what we intend, but that is reality.

So, I am sensitive about how we speak of these matters publicly. I want people to love Jesus. I want them to love Jesus because of our influence. We can make moral statements but destroy our influence by how we speak and judge others (whether we like it or not, we know it comes off that way even using hyperbole).

I have now explained why I am sensitive about our language using social media and politics. I have good reason to be sensitive about it, and I believe we should take that as seriously as we do on abortion and other matters.

Reblogged from Rogue Theologian:

Consider this about Hebrews 10:26-27 if you believe you are gonna burn if you don't get it all right.

This post is not for sympathy. Next month will be 30 years since it took place. I have found peace with it all after wrestling with countless thoughts and questions about it. Here I will briefly share what I remember happening, SOME of the questions I had and why I am at peace. 

He taught me how to climb the kitchen counters to get our cereal in the morning. He helped me learn how to eat while sitting on the dining room carpet without spilling my milk. He even helped me figure out how to successfully throw goose eggs across the barn without getting bit.

The last thing I remember my brother, Larry, doing for me was pulling my wagon behind his bike. It may have only been for a minute, maybe more, but I know I had fun. I was mad when he undid the rope connecting my wagon to his bike. Larry was allowed to ride across the highway to take care of his calf. I wasn’t allowed to go, and I was pretty perturbed as I watched big brother go do what only he could.

Then IT happened.

The car flew by, and I didn’t see Larry anymore. I didn’t hear anything, and I didn’t run to get help. I was four years old.  I do remember going from angry to scared instantly. For some reason, I had the feeling I was in trouble. I walked into the house and went into my mother’s bedroom and watched her while she napped. I didn’t wake her. I just watched until I heard knocking at the door. The next thing I remember was Dad throwing me into the truck as we raced to the road.

Dad cradled Little Larry, asking him repeatedly if he could hear him. I saw that Larry was very still, very quiet, and it was strange seeing blood run down from his left ear. I didn’t know what to make of things, and it is all a blur after that. Come to find out, Larry didn’t die in the ditch. He either passed while in the ambulance or soon after arriving at the hospital.

The have had many questions for God over the years surrounding this event:

Would my parents’ marriage have been better?

Would my mom have gone further down a self-destructive path in grief and pain, never to return?

Would my Dad have been a little happier?

At the same time, I am glad Larry didn’t see how life turned out for Mom and Dad (though, Dad did eventually clean up and things have gotten better for him ~ he rocks and is one of my heroes).

At the same time, I am glad that Larry didn’t have to see and hear the same things I did through the years that ripped my heart in two.

At the same time, I am glad Larry didn’t have to live life suffering from his muscular dystrophy.

The diagnosis was confirmed the week of his death, so Dad says. Larry had been hurting for a while, and Dad sold calves to pay medical bills. When the results were received, Dad didn’t know how he could take care of his boy. How could he afford to help his son stop hurting?

I have no clue what my parents prayed for that week. I seriously doubt the last thing they prayed for was to have his life end. I bet they prayed for everything but that.

At least my brother’s suffering ceased that week.

But, my parents’ pain catapulted. They were hurting people in a broken world, trying to fill a void that could never be filled. Oh, how I wish God could have helped them love each other again. I wish they could have enjoyed some peace at that time, but that was not the road they travelled.

I will never know why Larry had to die that day (assuming there was a greater plan at work beyond an accident). I will never know if things would have been better, or worse. I know other children are left starving to death every day, while others suffer with the pain of their diseases and treatments. I feel weird thinking that God showed his love by taking my brother from all his hurt while millions cry out in anguish.

Life can hurt, no matter how you look at it. When I think about Larry’s last day, I do take some comfort knowing at least he didn’t have to suffer anymore. I don’t know if that is why his life ended that day. If it was merely an accident, it wouldn’t change why I have peace about it today. I believe if there is a heaven and rest beyond, Larry is getting to enjoy time with my mom that he never had before. I believe my mom is finally at peace with her demons so she can relish every moment with her son.

I have been angry about my brother’s death.

I have demanded answers from God.

I blamed his death for making things worse.

Now, I just thank God my brother is at peace. That is something I can live with, and still love my God as good. I AM glad Mom and Larry have each other in a way far beyond the troubles of this life. That, my friends, is very good. I rely on that while I don’t have a clue about some of the other stuff.

displays of His love. If you read carefully through the gospels,

it is the little things, the things we may even take for granted or hate, that display a love

that would even leave Shakespeare in awe.

I have heard that people like their feet massaged, and that pedicures are relaxing. Rubbing your spouse’s feet has been described as romantic and sweet.While that is true for others, the message I gave my dear wife was, “Do NOT touch my feet!”

My wife is a pleaser. Tabbetha will go out of her way to make sure you are happy (if it is possible). When we were first married it took some getting used to having someone do several mundane things for me. Of course, what I considered trivial, she interpreted as an action to make my life easier and pleasant. However, not everything Tabbetha assumed would be pleasing to me was actually so. One night she nearly had her face kicked when she tried to rub my feet. I couldn’t believe what she was doing. Tabbetha knew I was ticklish, but neither of us realized how sensitive my feet were. I have these ugly, finger-like, talon toes that I don’t like to show off unless I am at the beach. I never had anyone try to touch them before since I could remember. What Tabbetha, and it seems like many others, think is a soothing, relaxing action is nothing short of a atrocious for me.

That is one of the reasons why the story of the woman anointing Jesus’ feet with her tears, perfume and hair stands out to me. When I read it from my personal tastes and customs, this is not at all sweet and comforting. If I were Jesus I would have told the lady to back off. But, I’m not Jesus, and I have to read this story the way Jesus wants. When you read the anointing of Jesus’ feet in Luke 7:36-50, you are reading an account of grace, beauty and amazing acceptance.

While Jesus is reclining for a meal, this woman wet his feet with her tears, kissed and poured perfume on them, and wiped them with her hair. Like me initially, this action was not interpreted positively by the host of the meal, Simon the Pharisee, but for entirely different reasons. Simon looked down on this behavior because of who the woman was. He assumed if Jesus knew what kind of life this woman lived, then Jesus would not have allowed her to touch His feet. Jesus did not receive her attention as horrible, but accepted it as beautiful. The washing of his feet in such a personal, intimate way expressed her love and gratitude. She believed Jesus and the hope He offered, and wanted to love Him for it. Her attention expressed faith, and His allowing it revealed acceptance and fellowship. Who knew washing feet would ever mean so much?

Simon did not respect or accept the role of Jesus that others believed. Simon did not think he owed Jesus anything, even having His feet washed as was customary. Simon’s lack of attention revealed how little he loved Jesus. The woman’s washing of His feet only reflected her awareness of the great things Jesus accomplished in her life. Touching Jesus’ feet was a powerful testimony of faith. It is amazing how an action interpreted as ugly by some could be seen as precious by Jesus. Grace and love is what made the difference. While I admire Jesus’ acceptance of this woman’s love, I am still not letting Tabbetha touch my feet.

I am not expecting an answer to these questions beyond the pat-answer replies: “God is sovereign; God is good; You just have to trust God.”, etc. The reason some of the questions I have trouble me is I try to interpret God’s actions in the Old Testament through the image of God in Christ. When I try to do that, things get murky.

We are against abortions. We will even support defunding Planned Parenthood, which offers much more than abortion services, just to prove our support for life. We will send mass e-mails against a president that is “pro-choice” because that ”must” mean he is against protecting all life. We will shake our heads and roll our eyes at the idea of following any leader that supports the death of our nations’ innocents, our unborn babies.

We use the Bible to support this. The same Bible that shows our Leader, our God, Jehovah, commanding His people, Israel, to slaughter babies as they invade and inherit the land of Canaan.

Don’t elect any leader that allows abortion, but follow a God that commands mass killing, which includes a whole lot of babies. Oh, and we tell others He is LOVE.

This is another one of the issues with which I wrestle. I struggle with it because we would call any man, woman or leader we know that would encourage the same actions a murderer, a monster or a terrorist. We go to the Bible to prove our point about it, too. Why on Earth don’t we say the same thing about God?

I wish I had THE definitive answer on this one. If anyone claimed they did, I would be skeptical, but still listen.

Reading scripture, I have noticed that God commands things for reasons that we would never understand at the time He commanded them. God operates from a bigger picture, foresight and understanding that I will never possess this side of eternity. The last chapters of Job reveal our limitations on understanding how things work.

BASED on that realization, God working from a bigger perspective than mine, I wondered what good could have come from the slaughter of so many babies in Canaan. I know God didn’t want the Canaanites left in the land because they would seduce Israel to worship the idols. However, orphaned babies cannot lead a nation to idolatry, right? That doesn’t make sense to me.

As I read how easily Israel turned away from God’s way countless times, and some of the brutality recorded in Judges, I see a people that was pretty unstable and NOT the posterchildren of morality. Based on how nations treated their captives and slaves, how would Israel treat the orphaned babies of Canaan if they kept them alive? How brutal would the Canaanites’ lives have been had they all lived? In Judges you still had entire towns that were so carnal that they would spend an entire night raping one woman, leaving her dead, only to have her body cut up into 12 pieces and mailed to the tribes of Israel to “get their attention” (Judges 19). Did God know something about the hearts of Israel that we don’t? Could they have easily become as debased and wicked as Sodom and Gomorrah before its destruction?

When I read how conquered women and children were treated in history, killing the babies of Canaan may have been the more humane option instead of keeping them alive (or, the lesser of two evils).

I wrestle with the “why” of God commanding something that we would no way on Earth consider moral or loving in any leader today. However, scripture reveals that God never commmanded something based on a whim or speculation. God knew a whole lot more than we do about the people He was leading. Maybe God’s command to kill the children of Canaan was an act of mercy. I know we screw up big time when we think we are making merciful choices, but we are not God. If He commands something, He knows How things will work out.

Why serve a God that commanded His people to kill scores of babies? I still serve Him because God knew things about the heart of Israel and how they would have treated those enslaved babies had they not. That is what I believe anyway. There are many questions that can be thrown out about this situation, and I will bring up more myself down the road.

For now, I do believe whenever God had a child killed, it was most likely an act of mercy that we could not foresee.

Okay, I will open the Pandora’s Box: What do you think?

I hit the jackpot when Tabbetha gave me her hand in marriage. She is pretty, smart, very witty and conceals a wicked sense of humor. She supports my walk with God, and her auburn curly hair is second to none. I do not deserve her love and commitment, but she gives it anyway. She is a gift from God of such value that I could never repay. I am blessed to have her in my life, especially since she pledged her commitment to me until death parts us. We entered our marriage with the intention of being committed to the best interests of one another.

When we wed, it never crossed my mind to cheat, mistreat, neglect or leave Tabbetha. I never, ever reasoned “She has promised me her devotion as long as we both live. Therefore, I can now do whatever I want regardless of what she thinks or wants because she will never leave me.” To even consider that would have been absurd. That would have hurt my wife tremendously, and would have been a foundation of lies on which a marriage was forged. Wat I wanted was live my life loyal to Tabbetha. Therefore, my mind did not think about investing in anyone else but her.

When we become a Christian, we are joined with the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 6:17). We are promised ever spiritual blessing since we are in union with Christ (Eph. 1:3). We are made complete in Jesus (Col. 2:10). This includes eternal life in our Lord (Rom. 6:23). We are recipients of the greatest sacrifice ever, the one that ensures these blessings for eternity (Heb. 10:10-18). No matter how much sin can abound, grace can triumph (Rom. 5:20-21). When we are joined to Christ, we receive the greatest jackpot ever! That is why it hurts me to hear other tarnish God’s beautiful message of grace by saying it will lead to more sin (Rom. 6:1-2, 14). You know you are starting to understand the far reaches of God’s grace when you believe it IS too good to be true. Accusing God’s plan of grace leading to more sin ignores the reality that trying to keep rules doesn’t keep our hearts from wanting to sin and accuses God’s gift of being a stumbling block. God’s grace does not promote, push or lead people to sin more.

When someone understands the nature of God’s covenant and its blessings, he does not enter into it thinking he can do whatever his flesh desires. Grace leads us down a path of holiness that pleases our Lord. Because of God’s commitment to us by His grace, we are freed from the eternal consequences of sin to respond to God with our lives. Just as I understood that entering a covenant with Tabbetha meant loyalty to her, a person that understands forgiveness, grace and Christianity enters a union with Jesus with a heart committed to His maker. Grace does NOT lead us to sin, but to life. We understand that because all we want is Christ! The blessing of grace is tremendous, and we hit the jackpot with Jesus.

So much said in Christianity sounds more like victim language than empowered language. How often do we belive we are controlled by sin? How often have we felt desperate, discouraged, wasted and helpless because we keep failing in the same sins repeatedly? Don’t we encourage this thinking in our attempts to comfort one another? You know, we say things like: “I know. So many of us struggle with it.” We have no answer except work harder, try harder, pray harder, abstain more, etc.

Keep doing.

Don’t you ever get tired? The longer you live as a Christian you either deny you have struggles in order to rejoice or continue to spiral downward because of the victories of the flesh. You may not spiral downward, but you stay on the same hamster wheel trying and trying, but never getting anywhere.

But, what if that vicious cycle is a lie? What if we believed the truth that we can overcome?

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6:14, ESV

Who has dominion? Is it your flesh, or is it God? Who will win? If you keep rehearsing the lie that it will never get better, keep beating yourelf up because all your self-effort failed, then what role does God play? Do we believe all God secured for us was forgiveness? Did God not do more than that? Does God not reveal in Romans that under grace sin does not have dominion over us???

Instead of following the Deceiver’s lies about the power of sin, why not rehearse the truth of God’s promises? Give it a shot. Do you trust the truth of God over the failure of your own self-effort? Trust me, God is way greater than any of your failures.

Do you think we talk as if we are as helpless against sin as the world?

Do you think our self-efforts resulting in failure make it harder to believe God can do in our lives what we cannot on our own?

How does the truth of Romans 6:14 impact you?