You Alone

It's just what I am thinking and feeling right now. 
I have been listening to this song over and over and over:

"You Alone", by Kim Hill

I lift my eyes when I am troubled
I lift my hands, I lift my heart
And there I stand knowing nothing can defeat me
Just as long as I know where You are

In You alone
Is where I find my comfort
In You alone
You're my only hope
In You alone
My heart has found a resting place
In You alone
In You alone

So I won't fear though darkness hides me
No, I won't let my courage sway
For You are near and at the brightness of Your glory
The shadows of the night melt away

In You alone
Is promise I can cling to
In You alone
You're my security
In You alone
My soul has found a dwelling place
Only in You alone

What could separate me from Your love?
Neither life nor death, nor anything at all
Anything at all

In You alone
Is where I find my comfort
In You alone
You're my only hope
In You alone
My heart has found a resting place
Only in You alone
Only in You alone
Only in You alone

Do You Love Your Work?

“If you love your work, you’ll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you—like a fever.” -Sam Walton

Sam Walton was the founder of Walmart. He started his first variety store at age 26 back in 1962. Today Walmart has over 11,000 retail outlets around the world. I guess you could consider him to have been a successful businessman?

Let's break down Sam Walton's quote:

"IF you love your work

you'll be out there everyday

trying to do it the best you possibly can

and pretty soon, everybody around

will catch the passion from you

like a fever."


Now let's talk about your Christian faith. If you call yourself a Christ-follower, a disciple of Jesus Christ, and he is your LORD, and you "serve" Him, then what is it that you are supposed to be "doing" in your "work" as a "servant" and a "follower"?

Jesus says in John 13:34-35 "I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Now, let's match up the Sam Walton quote, arguably one of the most successful businessmen of our time, but just like you and me in one regard, sinners in need of a Savior AND quotes from the Word of God, from Jesus Christ, who is God, the only man and God in flesh, who ever walked on this earth, sinless, who is our Lord and on mission to be the Savior of the world....ie successful, ie perfect.

"If you love your work............"Love One Another....."....John 13:34-35

you'll be out there everyday........"Then He said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with Me, 
                                         he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23

trying to do it the best you possibly can........"....And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20


and pretty soon, everybody around........."No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a basket or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand so that those who come may see it's light." Luke 8:16

will catch the passion from you......."whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men,"  Colossians 3:23

like a fever."............................., "for our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:29


Do you "love" your work.....for Jesus Christ?
 

A Transparent Look Into My Sinful Thoughts

I imagine from the title of this blog you are either going to read this with apprehension or excitement in learning something evil about me so that you can bring it up to me later to humble me. Regardless, either way, I hope not to let you down.

So I had a doctors appointment this morning for a six month check up to monitor my Gout. Yes, I have that. It wasn't by choice. I inherited it. So, I take a pill daily to keep my uric acid level low, so that it won't destroy my joints.

My appointment was scheduled at 8:40am. The appointment usually takes about 10-15 minutes, or at least it has in the past. This morning when I check in, I find out that my doctor has changed to another doctor. I'm not really happy about that because I liked my doctor, who was very proficient in seeing my on time and getting me in and out pretty quickly. So, I'm waiting in the "waiting room" and sure enough, I wait and I wait and I wait. I wait until 9:20am when my name is finally called. I go back and get my weight checked, shown to another room, have my blood pressure checked by a nurse, asked a few questions and told the doctor will be right in. So, I wait and I wait and I wait some more until about 9:45am when the doctor finally arrives.

Now let me tell you about my sinful, selfish, thought process for the past hour. "Great, they changed my doctor. I am probably going to have to wait forever, just for him to tell me, things look great. Go get this blood sample and here are your prescriptions. I bet he's going to tell me I have to come and see him 4 times per year instead of twice per year. That's going to cost me. I bet he won't allow me to get my prescription filled without coming in to see him EVERY 4 months! What the heck is taking SO long?? Every time a nurse comes out to the waiting room SOMEONE ELSE get's called back. I had an 8:40am appt! Why even schedule it at 8:40am if they are going to call you back until 9:20?!?!? I don' have time for this! I have work to do! I have a BLOG to write!!This is wasting my time! How disrespectful! If this was a business ALL of the customers would be walking out! Sure, take me back to a room and let me wait for another 25 minutes!!!! I don't get it! Look at the degrees on the wall. He must have served in the military. Great! I wonder if he even knows what he is doing? I see references to God on the wall. He's probably a "health and wealth" gospel guy!"

Here is a picture of my friendly waiting room face. I took this selfie and texted it to my wife to give her a laugh and it did.

Yes, those were my thoughts. Pretty sad thoughts from a "loving and caring" pastor.

So the doctor finally walks in. He was very polite. He apologized for the wait. He introduced himself. He began to ask me the normal questions. Then he asked me what I did for a living. I told him I was an Executive Pastor at a church in Bixby. He smiled and thought that was great. He asked me how I was feeling and I told him that I was feeling great, my health was great and I felt really blessed by that because there are so many people out in that waiting room that are really hurting.(So get me out of here, so I can get back to work, is what I was thinking)

He went on to ask more health related questions and then he said, "I have a couple of patients who use the word "blessed" like you did. If you don't mind I have a couple of stories to tell you. Do you mind? He was genuinely excited to share his personal stories. I said "No" go ahead. He told me that he had a really good friend that he served with in the military, who most recently found out he had stage 4 brain cancer. He longed to see this friend to catch up with him, but since he has a family of 5 and his friend lived far away there just was never a good time to get to see him. Then the doctor told me that he had taken his family on a cruise vacation and when they were docked in Barcelona, he ran into his friend that he hadn't seen in years, on the boat, docked in Barcelona! He was able to reunite with him. He said, I just really felt God had blessed me with that opportunity to get to see him, and to catch up with him, especially after learning about his health.

The other story, was about his family. He was really having a stressful time with his two year old son. They have 5 children ranging in ages from 16 down to the age of 2. It was one of those days. He said I just prayed that God would help me through this stressful day. He said he placed some butter into the microwave and then he showed me this picture. He said this is what came out.

He said it brought a smile to his face that changed his attitude the rest of the day. I asked him if he would to text me that picture and he did. He then went on to ask how often I would like to get my prescriptions refilled. Is every 90 days OK? I said YES! that would be great. He said, you look to be in great shape. Do you think it would be OK to set our next appointment for 1 year, unless you need to see me earlier, that is fine too? I said next year would be GREAT!

I felt horrible inside for all of those things that I had been thinking and feeling. Here was a doctor who served 9 years in the military, was an obvious Christian, it showed in the pictures on the wall, in his caring voice, in his boldness to share some stories about, regardless of what you think, are a couple of special moments that he "sees" God in his life, and I'm not going there if you don't, I'm not making a judgement either way, I am just telling you the story as it happened. I'm just glad he's my new doctor. I could tell he cared about my health, but he also cared about whether to take my money 4 times of year, when he knows, I don't need to be in there 4 times of year. And he cared enough to walk to change our conversation and share his God stories with me. When I left, I thanked him for his service in our military

So, where were my fruits of the spirit this morning? 

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galations 5:22-23

Thank God, I can ask for forgiveness for my lack of patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. Thank you, Lord Jesus for dying on the cross for my sins today. Please forgive me for my lack of patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. Help me to learn from this experience today, so I can handle myself more like you, next time. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

"Parents: Stop Defending Your Child's Bad Behavior"

This article below is taken from Tim Elmore's blog dated today, July 16, 2015. What you will read below should shock you and challenge you if you are a parent of teens or younger. How many times do you see this happening on the news and/or social media? This type of behavior has become the "norm" in our society, not the "abnormal". Who is to blame? Some parents are raising the next generation. Some parents are "molding" the next generation, whether they take that responsibility seriously or not. Some are "molding" who their children will become as adults. 

What about you? Are you defending your child's bad behavior? Do you make excuses for it? Do you blame others for it? How does scripture and your faith lead you in guiding your children or does it? Proverbs 22:6 says to "Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." 

Parents: Stop Defending Your Child’s Bad Behavior!

July 16, 2015 — 

A 2013 Labor Day party of 300 teens turned into a crime. As many as 300 high school students broke into the New York home of former football great Brian Holloway and vandalized it. They painted graffiti all over the walls, urinated on the floor, and stole property. What’s crazy about this incident is that Brian and his son could watch it in real time on social media, as the teens tweeted out pics of their criminal activity as it happened. Needless to say, six of them were arrested on charges, and police said more arrests were expected. Perhaps hundreds more.

This act of vandalism and burglary is pitiful, but I suppose someone might say in response, “Ah, too bad, but… teens will be teens.” What troubles me most is how their parents reacted. Brian Holloway offered to drop all charges if the kids would simply apologize and clean up the mess. It didn’t happen. He invited parents to come and discuss the evidence of illegal drugs and alcohol at the party. The invitation fell on deaf ears. “I expected 100 parents to show. Only one showed up,” he told ABC News.

With no one apologizing for the crime or the drinking and drugs, Holloway re-posted the pictures the teens took—the ones out on social media already—on a website: HelpMeSave300.com.

Parents Acting Poorly

That’s when the parents got ugly. Rather than apologize to Holloway for their children’s behavior, some parents have contacted their lawyers to see what legal action they can take against the former Patriots offensive lineman, local affiliate ABC News 10 reported.

Did you catch that?

The parents’ greatest interest wasn’t correcting their children — it was protecting their reputation. They hoped to prevent it from spreading too far and wide on social media. I’m sorry, but you can’t have it both ways, moms and dads. Your kids are growing up in a world where bad behavior gets posted online. (Often by the perpetrator!) Further, we live in a world where technology enables us to track down crime more swiftly than ever. They had every reason to come clean. Instead, here is what these parents taught their adolescent children:

• When you commit a crime, don’t make it right. Cover it up.
• When you commit a crime, just don’t record it. It gets messy.
• If you do post your crime on social media, just enlist an attorney and defend your behavior by posing as a victim.

These teens will be adults soon. Look at what we’ve taught them about adult behavior. It’s shameful.

Correction Over Protection

The best way we can prepare students for the world that awaits them is not to prevent their permanent posts from being re-posted. The best thing we can do is to lead them to make restitution for their misconduct to their victim (in this case, Brian Holloway) and to let the social media reactions take their course. Teens can learn no greater lesson than to feel the consequences of social media on bad behavior… if you care at all that they stop.

We’ve migrated into a culture that only looks out for number one, not for the interests of others. We care more about how we “look” than about right and wrong. In our fear of social media posts or even litigation, we fight for our own reputation and image. It’s become our prime goal, even higher than justice.

If you think this is an isolated incident in New York, think again. Our 2014 research of 17,000 public high schools students revealed that ethics weren’t even on the radar screen for most teens. Adults have somehow taught them to cover up what’s wrong instead of teaching them to do what’s right.

The Landscape vs. The Selfie

We all know what a “selfie” is. It’s that photo we take of ourselves when we’re having a good hair day, or when we’re doing something fun that we want to capture. A landscape, in contrast, is a bigger picture. It’s a photo we take when we step back and can see more than a single person. We see the horizon. When it comes to life, we’ve got to help kids see the landscape, not just the selfie.

What Parents and Faculty Can Do:

1. Expose them to realities that enable them to see the big picture. Help them to empathize with the plight of others, not just themselves.

2. Discuss getting beyond legality (the bare minimum) to morality (our highest aim). Teach them to take the high road with others.

3. Walk beside them as they face consequences for their wrong action, but don’t remove them. It’s the best way to teach how life works.

4. Steer them to practice the opposite of what the parents did above: justice, empathy and responsibility over self-preservation.