These past semester has been one of the toughest periods in my Christian life. With both the situation going on with my mom, as well as the difficulties that I have encountered in trying to get a staff job squared away with the Men's Basketball Team after graduation, as well as juggling a VERY intense workload in my 5 Senior Level Business classes, my faith has been stretched, tested and challenged in a variety of ways. For a couple of weeks now I have been reading a book by Pastor Jim Cymbala, the Head of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church called Fresh Faith. Pastor Cymbala had come to LU last semester and spoke, and I have had the book since Christmas, but have only just now started reading it. I was reading some stuff in Chapter 3 today that was a great deal of help in this daily struggle that I am facing to have faith in Christ no matter what the circumstances. Allow me to share some of what I have learned from Pastor Cymbala.
At the start of Chapter 3, I came across these lines that put a finger on some of my faith struggles. Pastor Cymbala said, "When most of us think about how we are doing spiritually, we think about surface things. We zero in on behavior patterns, such as have we been gossiping, have we been staying true to our marriage, have we been reading our Bibles, have we been tithing ? We concentrate on outward works while forgetting that they are simply the fruit of a deeper spiritual factor."
As I thought about that passage, I realize how frail my faith really has been during these past couple of months. Here I am thinking that I'm doing good because my wife and I are reguarly attending church, I'm meeting weekly with an accountability partner, we're tithing reguarly, we're serving at our church and I'm maintaining a steady devotional time with the Lord. I look at all those "activities" and I realize that at the core of it, I'm not allowing my "faith" to be strengthened by those activities because I'm not thinking that my faith NEEDED to be strengthened. As the past couple of weeks especially has shown, that was the wrong attitude to take.
Later on in Chapter 3, Pastor Cymbala made a statement based off 1 Peter Chapter 1 vs 5 that literally put a spotlight on how my lack of faith is affecting my mindset towards several important key areas of my life right now, especially in regards to my job situation with the basketball team that I work for currently. Pastor Cymbala said, "Faith ALONE is the trigger that releases divine power. As Peter wrote, it is through FAITH that we are shielded by God's power(1 Peter 1:5). Our trying, struggling, or promising won't work-FAITH is what God is after. Faith in the key to our relationship with Him."
As I read 1 Peter Chapter 1 today, I was struck by the verses 3-9 in how applicable they are to what I have been going through these past couple of months. I love what Pastor Cymbala was able to share some insight into those verses that was so right on for what I've been going through these past couple of months. Here's the verses, then Pastor Cymbala's thoughts,
"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls."
I loved Pastor Cymbala's thoughts on that passage as well, "When most people break down in their Christian life, they simply "try harder." I have since learned that the most mature believer is the one who is bent over, leaning most heavily on the Lord, and admitting his total inability to do anything without Christ. The greatest Christian is not the one who has ACHEIVED the most, but rather the one who has RECEIVED the most. God's grace, love and mercy flow through him abudantly because he walks in total dependence. The Christian who is getting right is the one who follows the words of Hebrews 12 vs 2, turning the other way and looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."
Reading those words was both convicting but also satisfying. Even today, facing the many struggles going on in my life, whether they be financial, or with my mom, or this job situation, it's so comforting to know that it's ok to admit that I'm weak and that I need to trust Christ for His provision to help my faith through those struggles today. How about you believer, do you try to control your life and the circumstances that you deal with like I have done ?? If so, I pray the Lord opens your eyes the way He opened mine to the simple fact that struggling along without real faith in Christ is not the way to go.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
My 2008 Wish List
I got to thinking some more this morning, and I started to think about if i could write down a wish list for 2008, not in any order of importance, just what are some things that I would like to accomplish or do or see, what would it be ? Here's my attempt at it, maybe having a written record will help me "stay organized" in trying to accomplish these things, but, in the end, I'm not God, so, I have no idea if He'll allow me to accomplish them, but at least I'm being honest, right ?? Here goes, not in any order of importance either:
1. Land the Video Coordinator job with the Liberty Men's Basketball Team or a Director of Basketball Operations position with another Men's Basketball Program.
2. Take another weekend trip with Jen to somewhere fun
3. Buy a newer car
4. Move into a nicer, bigger place, maybe a townhome
5. Watch Jennifer start graduate school
6. Read the 9 books that I have gotten as Christmas and Birthday presents that I still need to read
7. Graduate in May 2008 and finish my 3 remaining summer school classes
8. Go to Creation East 08 with Jen and friends
9. See Duke again in Cameron Indoor Stadium
10. Come in 1st Place in the Business Simulation Group Contest in my Strategic Planning/Business Policy class
11. Watch my mom beat cancer
12. Go to Florida and do the following things: Hang out with Memere(it's been too long), swim with dolphins, go to Disney, Universal, Busch Gardens Tampa and stay in a nice Disney Resort Hotel
13. Get better at communicating with my wife
14. Get in shape after graduation(seriously)
15. Become a better spiritual leader for my family
16. Learn how to operate a Mac at a high level and also learn the ropes with the GameChanger program, which is a film editing program college basketball programs use
17. Move into a place that has a dishwasher
18. Learn how to decorate a real home
19. Spend more quality time with Jen and other friends
20. Grow closer to the Lord
21. See another Red Sox game in Fenway
22. Watch a New England Patriots game in Foxboro
23. Go on a cruise
24. Get better at the Sports games on the Nintendo Wii
25. Get a new laptop for Jen and I
26. Hang out with my good buddy Mike Corey
I think that's a solid list to start with, we'll see how it goes.
1. Land the Video Coordinator job with the Liberty Men's Basketball Team or a Director of Basketball Operations position with another Men's Basketball Program.
2. Take another weekend trip with Jen to somewhere fun
3. Buy a newer car
4. Move into a nicer, bigger place, maybe a townhome
5. Watch Jennifer start graduate school
6. Read the 9 books that I have gotten as Christmas and Birthday presents that I still need to read
7. Graduate in May 2008 and finish my 3 remaining summer school classes
8. Go to Creation East 08 with Jen and friends
9. See Duke again in Cameron Indoor Stadium
10. Come in 1st Place in the Business Simulation Group Contest in my Strategic Planning/Business Policy class
11. Watch my mom beat cancer
12. Go to Florida and do the following things: Hang out with Memere(it's been too long), swim with dolphins, go to Disney, Universal, Busch Gardens Tampa and stay in a nice Disney Resort Hotel
13. Get better at communicating with my wife
14. Get in shape after graduation(seriously)
15. Become a better spiritual leader for my family
16. Learn how to operate a Mac at a high level and also learn the ropes with the GameChanger program, which is a film editing program college basketball programs use
17. Move into a place that has a dishwasher
18. Learn how to decorate a real home
19. Spend more quality time with Jen and other friends
20. Grow closer to the Lord
21. See another Red Sox game in Fenway
22. Watch a New England Patriots game in Foxboro
23. Go on a cruise
24. Get better at the Sports games on the Nintendo Wii
25. Get a new laptop for Jen and I
26. Hang out with my good buddy Mike Corey
I think that's a solid list to start with, we'll see how it goes.
A Social Butterfly pushing some buttons........
About a month ago, Jen and i were at our church here in Lynchburg. For the past couple of months, Jen and I have started serving in one of the ministries here at Timberlake Baptist Church, the Welcoming Committee. Now I know what you're probably thinking here when I mention the words Welcoming Committee. You probably associate it with some old school Baptist Church in Podunk town that has a couple old ladies saying, hi, how you doing ?? I thought that was going to be the deal when we were offered the opportunity to serve in this ministry in our church, but little did I know that it would actually help grow our marriage in many different ways, which brings me to the title of this blog.
Ever since Jen and I got married over a year and a half ago, there have been, how do I say it........buttons that God has been pushing. For me, it has been God consistently pushing me through Jen to communicate my feelings and even more importantly, what my ideas and plans are for the week in a better manner. There are countless reasons why I think God has been doing this through Jen in my life, but I think the most important reason why is because I think my wife would go certifiably crazy on me if I wasn't communicating regularly with her about what my schedule is looking like for the week and where I see potential times where we can spend quality time together.
Now, on the other hand, with Jen, I'm firmly convinced that God is working through my love for being the social butterfly with other people in the life of my wife. She'll probably tell you how funny it is that I can talk with literally anybody about anything and have a good time doing it, as evidenced by alot of times when we are at church or hanging out with friends, she's constantly joking on me for striking up a conversation with somebody that I know about basketball or the Bible or even what kind of food that they like. It's our ritual when we are at church that I'll go and talk with one of the many friends that we have made there, which always follows with Jennifer saying something to the effect of, "How can you be so comfortable talking with so many different people from completely different walks of life ?"
As I thought more deeply this morning about why I think it's good that I'm a social butterfly in terms of Jen, I kept on hitting the words "Comfort Zone". Every one of us has them, whether they be nursing a warm cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee in the morning, or watching Duke basketball whenever they are on, or even taking a 3 hour nap in the afternoon like somebody is known to do(wink wink, I wonder who that is ?) For Jen, having been married for over a year and a half now to her, I've come to discover that one of Jen's comfort zones gets busted wide open when she's put in a position to meet new people and develop relationships with them. I am not saying that it's a bad thing, it's who she is, and as my wife has taught me it's possible to psycho-analyze pretty much ANYTHING, I think looking at how she spend practically her entire life in one city, going to the same schools, seeing her same friends, going to the same Tuesday Night Bible Study, and seeing the same family day after day, that helped develop in her a love or comfort zone in terms of developing her personality. With me on the other hand, being a military brat my entire life, we moved around alot, and on average, I was starting a new school on a 3 year basis. For matter of survival, i was forced to become the outgoing guy that I am, because otherwise I'd be the quiet dork off in the corner who never made any friends.
When Jen and I got married, those two personalities collided in a variety of ways. As most married couples go through this, there was definately some rough patches along the way as my natural personality of wanting to develop new friendships with people we met up here in Lynchburg started coming out, while Jennifer's preference to SLOWLY ease her way into the scene up here were oftentimes pitted against each other. Now, a year and a half later, it's interesting to me to see how God can take two strong willed people and help them grow in areas that they needed to. If you ask me today, is my wife a social butterfly, I would say probably not, but last night Jen did something that showed me how God can take a person completely out of their comfort zone and after awhile, they can actually start to like it.
What I'm talking about is Jennifer took off last night to go to church for the Tuesday Night Ladies Small Group Bible Study. She's been going for a few months now with a friend of ours, and trust me when i say this, that Bible Study is not your typical Tuesday night bible study. It's filled with women of all age ranges, and it seems to have a level of organization that Jennifer is most clearly not used to. Last night when Jen got home, I was finishing watching a movie and I asked her how it went. She said something that I will never forget as long as I live. She said, "Well, we had a really good time. There's a couple ladies there I look forward to seeing every other week and they are taking more of an interest in me, which is kinda neat."
If you had told me a year and a half ago that Jennifer would be uttering those words to me about developing relationships with women who so clearly are different from her in a variety of ways, i would have been like, "You're CRAZY." However, thinking about it today, it's no different from the path that God takes us on in our walks with Him. Many of our lives have taken twists and turns, and oftentimes in the moment it seems like this is the craziest thing to do, but in the end, God always has good reasons for taking us through those different paths.
Ever since Jen and I got married over a year and a half ago, there have been, how do I say it........buttons that God has been pushing. For me, it has been God consistently pushing me through Jen to communicate my feelings and even more importantly, what my ideas and plans are for the week in a better manner. There are countless reasons why I think God has been doing this through Jen in my life, but I think the most important reason why is because I think my wife would go certifiably crazy on me if I wasn't communicating regularly with her about what my schedule is looking like for the week and where I see potential times where we can spend quality time together.
Now, on the other hand, with Jen, I'm firmly convinced that God is working through my love for being the social butterfly with other people in the life of my wife. She'll probably tell you how funny it is that I can talk with literally anybody about anything and have a good time doing it, as evidenced by alot of times when we are at church or hanging out with friends, she's constantly joking on me for striking up a conversation with somebody that I know about basketball or the Bible or even what kind of food that they like. It's our ritual when we are at church that I'll go and talk with one of the many friends that we have made there, which always follows with Jennifer saying something to the effect of, "How can you be so comfortable talking with so many different people from completely different walks of life ?"
As I thought more deeply this morning about why I think it's good that I'm a social butterfly in terms of Jen, I kept on hitting the words "Comfort Zone". Every one of us has them, whether they be nursing a warm cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee in the morning, or watching Duke basketball whenever they are on, or even taking a 3 hour nap in the afternoon like somebody is known to do(wink wink, I wonder who that is ?) For Jen, having been married for over a year and a half now to her, I've come to discover that one of Jen's comfort zones gets busted wide open when she's put in a position to meet new people and develop relationships with them. I am not saying that it's a bad thing, it's who she is, and as my wife has taught me it's possible to psycho-analyze pretty much ANYTHING, I think looking at how she spend practically her entire life in one city, going to the same schools, seeing her same friends, going to the same Tuesday Night Bible Study, and seeing the same family day after day, that helped develop in her a love or comfort zone in terms of developing her personality. With me on the other hand, being a military brat my entire life, we moved around alot, and on average, I was starting a new school on a 3 year basis. For matter of survival, i was forced to become the outgoing guy that I am, because otherwise I'd be the quiet dork off in the corner who never made any friends.
When Jen and I got married, those two personalities collided in a variety of ways. As most married couples go through this, there was definately some rough patches along the way as my natural personality of wanting to develop new friendships with people we met up here in Lynchburg started coming out, while Jennifer's preference to SLOWLY ease her way into the scene up here were oftentimes pitted against each other. Now, a year and a half later, it's interesting to me to see how God can take two strong willed people and help them grow in areas that they needed to. If you ask me today, is my wife a social butterfly, I would say probably not, but last night Jen did something that showed me how God can take a person completely out of their comfort zone and after awhile, they can actually start to like it.
What I'm talking about is Jennifer took off last night to go to church for the Tuesday Night Ladies Small Group Bible Study. She's been going for a few months now with a friend of ours, and trust me when i say this, that Bible Study is not your typical Tuesday night bible study. It's filled with women of all age ranges, and it seems to have a level of organization that Jennifer is most clearly not used to. Last night when Jen got home, I was finishing watching a movie and I asked her how it went. She said something that I will never forget as long as I live. She said, "Well, we had a really good time. There's a couple ladies there I look forward to seeing every other week and they are taking more of an interest in me, which is kinda neat."
If you had told me a year and a half ago that Jennifer would be uttering those words to me about developing relationships with women who so clearly are different from her in a variety of ways, i would have been like, "You're CRAZY." However, thinking about it today, it's no different from the path that God takes us on in our walks with Him. Many of our lives have taken twists and turns, and oftentimes in the moment it seems like this is the craziest thing to do, but in the end, God always has good reasons for taking us through those different paths.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Keeping Things Organized..........
Jen will tell you that I probably utter the title phrase of this blog multiple times during a given week. Everybody who knows me knows that I have a deep seated need to at least try and keep my life organized, broken up into different departments that I try to give the necessary effort and attention to. Jen will tell you that if I have a few spare hours one day, I'm more apt to try and do something else to get ahead, whether it be do some school reading, or write some interview questions for articles I'm working on, or whatever task I deem to be good enough to fill this open time that I have. Very rarely do I actually enjoy having free time to do nothing, because, as a task oriented type of person, I feel a sense of accomplishment and self worth when I accomplish multiple tasks in a given day, no matter how small they are. This brings to me to the start of a new semester here at Liberty, quite possibly my hardest one yet. Allow me to elaborate.
As a 2nd Semester Senior, the end is finally in sight for me. After this semester ends, I will only have 3 classes left to finish, all of which aren't super hard. It's looking like I'm going to be able to participate in the May Commencement Exercises with Jen, which brings great joy and happiness to the both of us, as we both are a bit burnt out on school(well, I'm way more burnt out than she is, but that's a side note.) This semester promises to be the hardest one ever simply because the 5 classes I'm carrying are ALL Senior Level 400 Business classes, which I am convinced are designed by the University to scare the living daylights out of the students who have survived to this point, as if they don't want us to have confidence going towards Graduation that we are in fact, going to graduate. I just finished the first week of classes, and already alot of my professors tried to instill a fear in me that I and the rest of the class could quite possibly fail and not graduate. Tales of group projects with 5 major parts to them, including creating promotional campaigns for local business, or writing a 30 page strategic plan for a multi million dollar company like Panera or PepsiCo were tossed at me and my fellow Seniors like a gauntlet was being laid down by the school. It is at that point that my inner drive to organize kicked in, but I find that several things are diverting my attention.
First, we had a snow day this week !! Yes, it's amazing that LU actually closed down school, but considering that close to 3 inches of snow fell on the ground and there was icey roads, our fearless leadership showed that they had a heart and gave us a day off from school and work. Much rejoicing was done on my part when I woke up in the morning and realized that the school was going to be shut down, but I was rejoicing for an entirely different reason than most. I saw that snow day not as an opportunity to goof off and play in the snow, but rather to get some homework done and get ahead for a brief while until the hammer really drops as we progress in this semester. However, something happenned that morning that I did expect to have happen, simply because it's not really a part of my radar when I have free time. You know what happenned.................??
I ACTUALLY TOOK A 3 HOUR NAP. Crazy isn't it ?? The one guy who always pushes through his tiredness to get the job done, whatever it may be, actually layed out on the couch and took one of the most glorious naps I have ever taken. Jennifer looked upon me when I woke up from my nap with a look on her face like she had witnessed a miracle or something, because the likelihood of me taking a nap normally is somewhere between me wearing an all purple outfit or eating a cream based sauce. Now, granted, I woke up and got a 2nd win and I got alot of homework done that day, which was great, but this new experience got me thinking about something...........is it possible to keep things organized in my mind while still engaging in an occaisional rest or relaxing activity ?? Luckily enough, something came in the mail today that I think will test the very fiber of my desire to be organized self.
As I got the mail today, folded inside my Wall Street Journal(it's for a class), was none other than a Creation Festival 08 Magazine. Having seen one of these before my inaugural journey to Creation 05, I was instantly excited because this magazine has the tentative schedule for when bands are playing. As I swiftly tried to find that schedule page, Jennifer uttered some of the most beautiful words I have ever heard her utter to me in our entire marriage........she said, "Sweetie, STEVE FEE is gonna be playing Friday morning !!!" Jennifer will tell you that if there is one CD that I am guaranteed to play at least once a day in the car, it's my Steve Fee CD that I got at Passion 07 in Atlanta, GA. They are one of my favorite bands, and the excitement that they were going to be playing at Creation Festival 08 sparked an excitement level to see who else was going to be there. I looked through the Schedule and saw that some of my other favorite bands were going to be there.......like Pillar, Jeremy Camp, SuperChick, Toby Mac, Newsboys, David Crowder Band and many others. I grew more and more excited until organized Steve mindset tried to kick in.
As I sat and pondered the excitement of going back to my 2nd Creation with my wife and our dear friends the Davis's and rocking out and worshipping the Lord with these awesome bands, I was instantly struck with thoughts about what's going to happen this summer ?? As Cindy and Jen and I have talked before, I may be working full time for the Men's Basketball Team this summer, or who knows, there may be something else coming up that would keep me from going to Creation Festival 08. Every fiber in my being wants to just go up there with Jen and our friends and rock out and have fun, but the ultimate struggle is being played out. On one side is my logical, rational, organized self who realizes that it's hard to commit for sure right now to get the tickets for Creation and just say that we're going because I don't know what committments I'm gonna have this summer. On the other side, this side that I'm learning to keep in balance, is just a desire to say you know what......we're going, no matter what. It's this struggle of balance that I am dealing with right now. As Jennifer would probably say to me, "You should pray about it," that's what I'm gonna do, because as I have learned, God has a way of working out in my life what He wants me to do, and as I am learning today and many other days, I've gotta have a balance in my life.
So, we'll see what's gonna happen, stay tuned friends.
As a 2nd Semester Senior, the end is finally in sight for me. After this semester ends, I will only have 3 classes left to finish, all of which aren't super hard. It's looking like I'm going to be able to participate in the May Commencement Exercises with Jen, which brings great joy and happiness to the both of us, as we both are a bit burnt out on school(well, I'm way more burnt out than she is, but that's a side note.) This semester promises to be the hardest one ever simply because the 5 classes I'm carrying are ALL Senior Level 400 Business classes, which I am convinced are designed by the University to scare the living daylights out of the students who have survived to this point, as if they don't want us to have confidence going towards Graduation that we are in fact, going to graduate. I just finished the first week of classes, and already alot of my professors tried to instill a fear in me that I and the rest of the class could quite possibly fail and not graduate. Tales of group projects with 5 major parts to them, including creating promotional campaigns for local business, or writing a 30 page strategic plan for a multi million dollar company like Panera or PepsiCo were tossed at me and my fellow Seniors like a gauntlet was being laid down by the school. It is at that point that my inner drive to organize kicked in, but I find that several things are diverting my attention.
First, we had a snow day this week !! Yes, it's amazing that LU actually closed down school, but considering that close to 3 inches of snow fell on the ground and there was icey roads, our fearless leadership showed that they had a heart and gave us a day off from school and work. Much rejoicing was done on my part when I woke up in the morning and realized that the school was going to be shut down, but I was rejoicing for an entirely different reason than most. I saw that snow day not as an opportunity to goof off and play in the snow, but rather to get some homework done and get ahead for a brief while until the hammer really drops as we progress in this semester. However, something happenned that morning that I did expect to have happen, simply because it's not really a part of my radar when I have free time. You know what happenned.................??
I ACTUALLY TOOK A 3 HOUR NAP. Crazy isn't it ?? The one guy who always pushes through his tiredness to get the job done, whatever it may be, actually layed out on the couch and took one of the most glorious naps I have ever taken. Jennifer looked upon me when I woke up from my nap with a look on her face like she had witnessed a miracle or something, because the likelihood of me taking a nap normally is somewhere between me wearing an all purple outfit or eating a cream based sauce. Now, granted, I woke up and got a 2nd win and I got alot of homework done that day, which was great, but this new experience got me thinking about something...........is it possible to keep things organized in my mind while still engaging in an occaisional rest or relaxing activity ?? Luckily enough, something came in the mail today that I think will test the very fiber of my desire to be organized self.
As I got the mail today, folded inside my Wall Street Journal(it's for a class), was none other than a Creation Festival 08 Magazine. Having seen one of these before my inaugural journey to Creation 05, I was instantly excited because this magazine has the tentative schedule for when bands are playing. As I swiftly tried to find that schedule page, Jennifer uttered some of the most beautiful words I have ever heard her utter to me in our entire marriage........she said, "Sweetie, STEVE FEE is gonna be playing Friday morning !!!" Jennifer will tell you that if there is one CD that I am guaranteed to play at least once a day in the car, it's my Steve Fee CD that I got at Passion 07 in Atlanta, GA. They are one of my favorite bands, and the excitement that they were going to be playing at Creation Festival 08 sparked an excitement level to see who else was going to be there. I looked through the Schedule and saw that some of my other favorite bands were going to be there.......like Pillar, Jeremy Camp, SuperChick, Toby Mac, Newsboys, David Crowder Band and many others. I grew more and more excited until organized Steve mindset tried to kick in.
As I sat and pondered the excitement of going back to my 2nd Creation with my wife and our dear friends the Davis's and rocking out and worshipping the Lord with these awesome bands, I was instantly struck with thoughts about what's going to happen this summer ?? As Cindy and Jen and I have talked before, I may be working full time for the Men's Basketball Team this summer, or who knows, there may be something else coming up that would keep me from going to Creation Festival 08. Every fiber in my being wants to just go up there with Jen and our friends and rock out and have fun, but the ultimate struggle is being played out. On one side is my logical, rational, organized self who realizes that it's hard to commit for sure right now to get the tickets for Creation and just say that we're going because I don't know what committments I'm gonna have this summer. On the other side, this side that I'm learning to keep in balance, is just a desire to say you know what......we're going, no matter what. It's this struggle of balance that I am dealing with right now. As Jennifer would probably say to me, "You should pray about it," that's what I'm gonna do, because as I have learned, God has a way of working out in my life what He wants me to do, and as I am learning today and many other days, I've gotta have a balance in my life.
So, we'll see what's gonna happen, stay tuned friends.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The Balancing Act
One of the things I was hoping to accomplish this Christmas Break was plug into some new books that I had been wanting to read, but unfortunately had run into the buzzsaw that is reading for school. Thankfully, I have been able to plug into a couple books that have just been phenomonal reading for me. One is called the Truth War by John MacArthur, which focuses on the efforts of the PostModern Emergent Church to speak out against absolute truth, while the other book that I am reading is called UnChristian, written by the President of the Barna Research Group, David Kinnaman, as well as Gabe Lyons, who heads up the Fermi Project. That book was a 3 year research process surrounding how the "UnChristian" world perceives modern day Christianity and the Christians who subscribe to that name.
As I have been reading both books at the same time, I've been struck with looking at the reality of my conversations with those who do not profess the same Christian beliefs that I have. On one hand, when I read the Truth War, I feel the compelling of Scripture to contend for the faith that I believe in, but when I read UnChristian, I become accutely aware from what the research has shown as a very widespread perception in the USA that Christians are considered to be, "unwilling to engage in healthy dialogue, who are just looking to win arguments and convert souls than taking a real interest in caring for somebody with deep needs." In that same section that described alot of people's feelings towards modern day Christianity, the writers wrote about the response that a large portion of the Christian church has had to this perception,
"they respond to outsiders negativity by promoting a less offensive faith. The unpopular parts of Christian teaching are omitted or deemphasized. They hijack the image of Jesus by portraying him as an open-minded, big hearted and never-offended-anyone moral teacher."
As I read the Truth War at the same time, I realize thoroughly how important it is as a Christian to not water down or compromise the central message and tenets of my Christian faith, especially when I am communicating with somebody about my faith. Now, the hard part for me, well, the balancing act is that I know that I need to present the whole truth to somebody when I talk with them about Christianity, but oftentimes I am fighting the perception that I am a close minded, judgemental Christian who doesn't care about the person I'm talking with, but am just concerned with being right.
So, as I write this note today, I'm taking a journey to a place where I haven't been to really in my walk with Jesus. I hope and pray to learn through the two books, as well as through my experiences with other people who don't believe in what I do, how to balance communicating the truth of God's Word and the faith I hold dear, while doing that talking with many who have a wide range of feelings towards the faith that I am talking with them about. I'm excited to learn as I move forward with these new experiences, it's definately going to be different.
As I have been reading both books at the same time, I've been struck with looking at the reality of my conversations with those who do not profess the same Christian beliefs that I have. On one hand, when I read the Truth War, I feel the compelling of Scripture to contend for the faith that I believe in, but when I read UnChristian, I become accutely aware from what the research has shown as a very widespread perception in the USA that Christians are considered to be, "unwilling to engage in healthy dialogue, who are just looking to win arguments and convert souls than taking a real interest in caring for somebody with deep needs." In that same section that described alot of people's feelings towards modern day Christianity, the writers wrote about the response that a large portion of the Christian church has had to this perception,
"they respond to outsiders negativity by promoting a less offensive faith. The unpopular parts of Christian teaching are omitted or deemphasized. They hijack the image of Jesus by portraying him as an open-minded, big hearted and never-offended-anyone moral teacher."
As I read the Truth War at the same time, I realize thoroughly how important it is as a Christian to not water down or compromise the central message and tenets of my Christian faith, especially when I am communicating with somebody about my faith. Now, the hard part for me, well, the balancing act is that I know that I need to present the whole truth to somebody when I talk with them about Christianity, but oftentimes I am fighting the perception that I am a close minded, judgemental Christian who doesn't care about the person I'm talking with, but am just concerned with being right.
So, as I write this note today, I'm taking a journey to a place where I haven't been to really in my walk with Jesus. I hope and pray to learn through the two books, as well as through my experiences with other people who don't believe in what I do, how to balance communicating the truth of God's Word and the faith I hold dear, while doing that talking with many who have a wide range of feelings towards the faith that I am talking with them about. I'm excited to learn as I move forward with these new experiences, it's definately going to be different.
Monday, December 3, 2007
The Basketball Game of Sin and Life
Galatians 5 vs 16-21-But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
When you get up the college level of basketball, one of the essential activities a team does is watch film. They do it for three main reasons typically, all with the purpose of helping them to win the game. First, you watch film to scout your opponent to see what their tendecies are. Does their big man like to slip or pop out on a screen and roll ?? Does their guard like to back it out and call another play when you present a zone defense vs a man to man ?? These tendecies often lead to the next reason why a team will watch film, which is to discover their opponents strength's and weaknesses. Lastly, once you are able to discover a team's weaknesses and strengths as a team, you can then set up your offense and your defense to try and take advantage of what that team is trying to do.
When I read that passage up above, i don't know why, but I see a basketball game that is going on between sin and those who are trying to live by God's ways. As the passage clearly illustrates, the flesh represents our selfish desires, while those who live by the Spirit of God represent the team that is trying to win the game the right way, through living on a team with God, and who commits to living by biblical fundamentals. I'm sure you've probably never heard or read the analogy that the war going on between the sinful desires of our flesh and the pure and holy desires of God characterized as a basketball game, but the three principles that I talked about above make a lot of sense to me into how we can strive to live according to God's ways and not my own.
First, a basketball team scouts film of their opponent to see their tendencies. Now I know you can't plug in a DVD of all your past sins, but I think you can do a similar function in your mind. Every one of us knows deep down the sins that we commit on a regular basis. It could be lying to someone, it could be looking at something on the computer that you have no business looking at, it could be stealing money from your business, it could be anything, the fact is most of us could instantly remember in our minds the sins that so easily entagle us.
Now, as a person who loves to watch basketball film, the next part is key. Thinking about my sin, I know that I have strengths and weaknesses that lead me to either resist sinning or falling into a sinful lifestyle. Now, thinking from a basketball standpoint, I want you to think about where you are weak. Do you know what kind of triggers lead you to do those sins that you repeatedly do ?? It could be anything, it might be hearing a word, or seeing an image on tv, or maybe it's even a person you hang out with that leads you there, all i want you to think about is what weakness leads you to sin on a regular basis. Now, I know it's hard to admit that you're weak and that your weakness reguarly leads you to sin in particular ways, but I have learned in my walk with God that if you don't admit that you're weak, God's power won't be able to truly live inside you and help you overcome the struggles of your life. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
Now, the last part of doing film work to win a basketball game is taking what you know about yourself and your opponents strengths and weaknesses and crafting a game plan to win the game. Yesterday at service, Pastor Ferrell talked that as a believer, if you don't have a plan to actively combat the struggles of sin in your life and if you're not implementing those principles through the power of God, then you're gonna lose the game per se. For you, now that you know what your weaknesses are, and now that you know that the struggles of sin cannot hold up against the power of God, what are you going to do RIGHT NOW TODAY to not get caught up in your struggles ?? Maybe you need to memorize some Scripture verses that deal with your particular struggle. Maybe you need to seek out a close friend to talk to about your struggles who will walk alongside you and hold you accountable to what you want to do. Maybe you need to pray and seek the face of God for His love and power to overcome this stronghold. Whatever it is, it is vital that if you want to win the basketball game between your flesh and your desires to live by the Spirit of God, you MUST implement your game plan, no matter what the cost is, to win the game, you have to be willing to make the sacrifices to admit that you are weak and need God's help.
I know it's hard, but it's worth it. Jesus says to you who are willing to invest in living by His power in Revelation 2:7-"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."
When you get up the college level of basketball, one of the essential activities a team does is watch film. They do it for three main reasons typically, all with the purpose of helping them to win the game. First, you watch film to scout your opponent to see what their tendecies are. Does their big man like to slip or pop out on a screen and roll ?? Does their guard like to back it out and call another play when you present a zone defense vs a man to man ?? These tendecies often lead to the next reason why a team will watch film, which is to discover their opponents strength's and weaknesses. Lastly, once you are able to discover a team's weaknesses and strengths as a team, you can then set up your offense and your defense to try and take advantage of what that team is trying to do.
When I read that passage up above, i don't know why, but I see a basketball game that is going on between sin and those who are trying to live by God's ways. As the passage clearly illustrates, the flesh represents our selfish desires, while those who live by the Spirit of God represent the team that is trying to win the game the right way, through living on a team with God, and who commits to living by biblical fundamentals. I'm sure you've probably never heard or read the analogy that the war going on between the sinful desires of our flesh and the pure and holy desires of God characterized as a basketball game, but the three principles that I talked about above make a lot of sense to me into how we can strive to live according to God's ways and not my own.
First, a basketball team scouts film of their opponent to see their tendencies. Now I know you can't plug in a DVD of all your past sins, but I think you can do a similar function in your mind. Every one of us knows deep down the sins that we commit on a regular basis. It could be lying to someone, it could be looking at something on the computer that you have no business looking at, it could be stealing money from your business, it could be anything, the fact is most of us could instantly remember in our minds the sins that so easily entagle us.
Now, as a person who loves to watch basketball film, the next part is key. Thinking about my sin, I know that I have strengths and weaknesses that lead me to either resist sinning or falling into a sinful lifestyle. Now, thinking from a basketball standpoint, I want you to think about where you are weak. Do you know what kind of triggers lead you to do those sins that you repeatedly do ?? It could be anything, it might be hearing a word, or seeing an image on tv, or maybe it's even a person you hang out with that leads you there, all i want you to think about is what weakness leads you to sin on a regular basis. Now, I know it's hard to admit that you're weak and that your weakness reguarly leads you to sin in particular ways, but I have learned in my walk with God that if you don't admit that you're weak, God's power won't be able to truly live inside you and help you overcome the struggles of your life. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
Now, the last part of doing film work to win a basketball game is taking what you know about yourself and your opponents strengths and weaknesses and crafting a game plan to win the game. Yesterday at service, Pastor Ferrell talked that as a believer, if you don't have a plan to actively combat the struggles of sin in your life and if you're not implementing those principles through the power of God, then you're gonna lose the game per se. For you, now that you know what your weaknesses are, and now that you know that the struggles of sin cannot hold up against the power of God, what are you going to do RIGHT NOW TODAY to not get caught up in your struggles ?? Maybe you need to memorize some Scripture verses that deal with your particular struggle. Maybe you need to seek out a close friend to talk to about your struggles who will walk alongside you and hold you accountable to what you want to do. Maybe you need to pray and seek the face of God for His love and power to overcome this stronghold. Whatever it is, it is vital that if you want to win the basketball game between your flesh and your desires to live by the Spirit of God, you MUST implement your game plan, no matter what the cost is, to win the game, you have to be willing to make the sacrifices to admit that you are weak and need God's help.
I know it's hard, but it's worth it. Jesus says to you who are willing to invest in living by His power in Revelation 2:7-"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
God has a sense of humor and a perfect plan.......
Since Jen and I have gotten married, one of the things that I am daily learning is how to be patient during all circumstances, even the difficult ones. Just a few days before Jen and I left for our trip to San Antonio, I prayed a couple prayers for Jen and I and our marriage. With one prayer, i prayed that God would work His power in us so that we could be more patient with each other and with our circumstances. In addition, I prayed for Him to renew in me a fresh desire to connect with Him, through the Word, through prayer and just in my life. Never would I have thought that God would use a 5 hour airline delay, a rude couple at the airport and two books that I didn't even anticipate getting to read on our trip to San Antonio. Nevertheless, God is supremely in control and I'm not, so, I learned this past 5 day stretch that God's humor is much better than mine, and He always has the perfect plan.
This past Saturday if you haven't heard, turned into a nightmare of a travel day. Jen and I were slated to fly out of Norfolk to Dallas Fort Worth at 6am, then connect to San Antonio and land around 10:30am San Antonio time(1 hour behind us in Virginia.) We arrived at the airport with high hopes and we promptly made our way through check in, customs and security, and still had close to an hour to spare before departure. We boarded our plan as planned, and just as we are getting ready to back out of the terminal, our Captain comes over the radio to tell us there is ice on the wings, and they have to get a de icer truck over to take care of it. Nothing to worry about says the captain, we'll be gone in 15 minutes. As we saw the de icer truck pull up with a gentlemen inside one of those boxes that phone companies use when they are working on phone lines, we all of sudden heard and felt a loud THUD, and then two minutes later, here's the captain, "Uhhhh, apparently we've had some technical issues with the de icer, we gotta get a mechanic to check it out." Long story short, due to operator error, a part of our tail wing was damaged and photos had to be taken and emailed to American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma to determine if the plane was worthy to fly. By the time we took off from Norfolk around 11am, we had gotten a free breakfast, been taken off the plane, and had witnessed a rather odd couple who seemed to be gunning for the rudest airline passengers known to man.
I say all that to tell you this...don't be surpised when God uses random situations to teach you about patience and understanding. I had brought two books with me to read, just some regular stuff, not anticipating I was gonna be able to finish them by delays end, but as luck would have it, I finished them, and knowing that we had a solid layover in St Louis coming back from Texas, as well as some extra time since we were on vaction, I ended up getting two books that were on my wish list for Christmas. One is called the Power of a Praying Husband, and the other is a new book by Gary Chapman called The Five Love Languages of Apology. By the end of the trip, I am halfway done with the Five Love Languages of Apology and I had made some good progress in the Power of a Praying Husband. Want to know the best part ?? With the extra time that we had, Jen and I were able to have several conversations about our marriage that really helped us grow in some areas that we have been needing to for awhile. Are we a perfect couple now who gets everything right and is patient and understanding all the time ?? No way is what I say, but if there's one thing I learned it's this, never doubt that God can use the most random, funniest or weirdest situations to help fulfill your prayers. If you're ever doubting that God's power can't help you with a particular struggle or area of your life, I want to say to you that I am living proof that God can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants and it's always what's best for us.
For now, I'm gonna keep reading and keep searching for the power of God to do His thing in my life, in my marriage and in the lives of those I come in contact with. It's a fun ride and I'm enjoying seeing Him more and more each day.
This past Saturday if you haven't heard, turned into a nightmare of a travel day. Jen and I were slated to fly out of Norfolk to Dallas Fort Worth at 6am, then connect to San Antonio and land around 10:30am San Antonio time(1 hour behind us in Virginia.) We arrived at the airport with high hopes and we promptly made our way through check in, customs and security, and still had close to an hour to spare before departure. We boarded our plan as planned, and just as we are getting ready to back out of the terminal, our Captain comes over the radio to tell us there is ice on the wings, and they have to get a de icer truck over to take care of it. Nothing to worry about says the captain, we'll be gone in 15 minutes. As we saw the de icer truck pull up with a gentlemen inside one of those boxes that phone companies use when they are working on phone lines, we all of sudden heard and felt a loud THUD, and then two minutes later, here's the captain, "Uhhhh, apparently we've had some technical issues with the de icer, we gotta get a mechanic to check it out." Long story short, due to operator error, a part of our tail wing was damaged and photos had to be taken and emailed to American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma to determine if the plane was worthy to fly. By the time we took off from Norfolk around 11am, we had gotten a free breakfast, been taken off the plane, and had witnessed a rather odd couple who seemed to be gunning for the rudest airline passengers known to man.
I say all that to tell you this...don't be surpised when God uses random situations to teach you about patience and understanding. I had brought two books with me to read, just some regular stuff, not anticipating I was gonna be able to finish them by delays end, but as luck would have it, I finished them, and knowing that we had a solid layover in St Louis coming back from Texas, as well as some extra time since we were on vaction, I ended up getting two books that were on my wish list for Christmas. One is called the Power of a Praying Husband, and the other is a new book by Gary Chapman called The Five Love Languages of Apology. By the end of the trip, I am halfway done with the Five Love Languages of Apology and I had made some good progress in the Power of a Praying Husband. Want to know the best part ?? With the extra time that we had, Jen and I were able to have several conversations about our marriage that really helped us grow in some areas that we have been needing to for awhile. Are we a perfect couple now who gets everything right and is patient and understanding all the time ?? No way is what I say, but if there's one thing I learned it's this, never doubt that God can use the most random, funniest or weirdest situations to help fulfill your prayers. If you're ever doubting that God's power can't help you with a particular struggle or area of your life, I want to say to you that I am living proof that God can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants and it's always what's best for us.
For now, I'm gonna keep reading and keep searching for the power of God to do His thing in my life, in my marriage and in the lives of those I come in contact with. It's a fun ride and I'm enjoying seeing Him more and more each day.
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