Look out, Centerfielder!

“If you aim at nothing, you are sure to hit it.” - - unknown

When I played baseball growing up, I was a catcher. I loved the game, I loved the position. The catcher is like a coach on the field; he has to know everyone’s responsibility on every play, know hitters' tendencies, position players properly in the field, and like a master psychologist keep the pitcher from totally losing his mind. Some pitchers (Fain) were more difficult than others.

And, of course, the catcher’s biggest enemy is the base-stealer. The better catchers have strong arms with quick releases that unleash pinpoint accurate throws to second base just in time for the shortstop to make the tag and retire the base-runner. Me? I led the league in throwing out runners stealing centerfield. I had a strong arm and quick release, but sometimes my aim left a lot to be desired.

How many of us live life that way? We have a lot of strengths, some great ideas, plenty of talent and opportunities, but never seem to go anywhere. Except maybe around in circles. I recently took part in a discussion about why some people never seem to reach their goals. Some suggested reasons included fear, lack of ambition, entitlement attitudes, and such. My contribution was that so many people fail to reach their goals because they fail to set any. Too many people wander aimlessly through the circumstances of life only reacting to what it happening around them, like a boat drifting with the tide, rather than charting a certain course and navigating toward it.

As a new year begins, let me challenge you to work on your aim. What are you trying to achieve or accomplish with your life this year? Aim answers the “what” question of life – what do I want my life to look like at the end of certain period of time. Spiritually speaking, what do you want your life to look like on December 31, 2008?

After establishing the “what,” we move on to the “how” question – how do I get there? Once we have an aim, we need action plans that move us toward that aim. If my aim is to be a better prayer warrior, then one of my action plans may be to wake every morning 30 minutes before everyone else in the house to spend some quiet time in prayer. If my aim is to be a better Bible student, then one of my action plans may be to read through my Bible in its entirety this year. Action plans are tangible, specific, accountable steps that move us toward our aim.

Take aim and take action in 2008. Stop drifting through life and proactively begin to actualize the person God created you to be. I pray for a blessed and focused year for you this year.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:14

It's The Most Mind-Numbing Time of the Year

Before we got married, Andrea worked for a place called If It’s Paper. I am an office products junkie, in fact, when I go in Office Depot, I stay for hours. I just love that stuff . . . don’t know why, but I just do. I used to love to go visit her at If It’s Paper. The name was fitting, if it was made of paper, they sold it. Party products, plates, cups, napkins, table covers, stationery, copy paper, typing paper, wrapping paper, tissue paper, curling ribbon. Do you remember the scene from Forrest Gump where Bubba told Forrest about all the types of shrimp they cooked in his hometown? Well you could make an equally exhaustive list of the types of paper products in the store.

And paper is not all they had; they also had everything imaginable to use with paper – pens, pencils, markers, fasteners, report covers, binders, envelopes, correction fluid, rulers, protractors, compasses even balloons. . . you get the drift. In fact just reminiscing about the place gets my heart rate up. But after Christmas was the one time of year I made sure to steer clear of the place. The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day was the dreaded . . . INVENTORY WEEK. Every piece of paper, every paper clip, every pen, pencil, eraser, plate, napkin, and cup had to be counted. Everything in the store was counted, and it was a tedious task. Inventory can be a painstaking undertaking.

This time of the year affords us an opportunity to engage in a little inventory ourselves. While it does no good to recount and resurrect the minutiae of the past 365 days, we still are well served to take a look back and see how we have fared spiritually this year. Let me suggest some diagnostic questions to help us evaluate how much we have grown over the past year.

1. Am I closer to God today than I was 365 days ago? If yes, what factors have played a role in drawing me closer to Him? If no, what has cause me to drift away or stagnate in my spiritual growth?

2. In what ways have I seen the miraculous in my life this year?

3. Have I given adequate time to spiritual disciplines like Bible reading, prayer, solitude?

4. What would I say has driven me, motivated me, this year? A desire to satisfy myself? A family member? A boss or business contact? Or have I been motivated by a desire to please and obey God?

5. What have I let slip in my life this year? What have I strengthened?

A little retrospect does us well. As we evaluate, we learn and hopefully see where we can grow. We identify area of our lives where we want God to help us. Set aside some time as this year winds down to take inventory in the spiritual stock room of your heart. It will prove to be time well spent.

Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.

Psalm 90:12

Get That Baby Out of the Manger

“Hey, were you born in a barn?” I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard that growing up. Leaving doors open was a major taboo in my upbringing. But reckon Mary ever said that to Jesus? The stable and manger are prominent features in the most important event in human history. God demonstrated His love for common man by introducing His Son in the strangest environment; not a place of privilege or prominence, but a place obscure and unexpected.

We sing songs like “Away in a Manger, “Silent Night,” and “What Child Is This” to celebrate the coming of Jesus to earth – born a child, born of a virgin. But are we guilty of leaving Him in the manger and never letting Him grow up in our lives. I think the inclusion of the Magi in the Christmas narrative reminds us of the reason the Baby was born.

We are not sure how many Magi there were, who they were, or exactly where they were from, but we are sure that they came from a great distance to worship Jesus. And, in an act of true worship, they brought gifts. You see, worship is not something we experience, it is something we give. Worship is not singing songs, feeling spiritual goose bumps, and following a well designed order of service. Worship is what we GIVE JESUS. Worship can involve songs, prayers, sermons, offerings, and such if those activities are heartfelt means we use to ascribe to Him the honor and glory He deserves. But they are just that – means, not ends in themselves.

The particular gifts the Magi brought Jesus are significant as well. They brought Him gold which symbolized His royal position as King of Kings. While I doubt they fully recognized the spiritual nature of His kingdom, they nevertheless recognize His sovereignty and gave gifts that promised their allegiance to Him. We get the Baby out of the manger and give Him the gift of Kingship when we submit to His rule in our lives.

They also brought frankincense which symbolized His spiritual position as Lord. Frankincense was a fragrant powder used in worship. The Magi recognized that this Baby was unlike any other and was the One ultimately worthy of worship. We get the Baby out of the manger and give Him the gift of Lordship when we make Him the ultimate pursuit of our lives.

Additionally they brought a most unusual gift for a baby – a burial spice called myrrh. Even at His birth, the Bible foreshadowed His sacrificial death. We get the Baby out of the manger and give Him the gift of our lives when we recognize His place as Redeemer, trust Him as our Savior, and share the good news of salvation with anyone we get the opportunity.

Don’t you think it’s time for Jesus to grow up in your life? This Christmas, allow Jesus to get out of the manger and take His rightful place on the throne of your life. Recognize His Lordship and make Him the passionate pursuit of your life.

To all my readers, thank you for the blessings of your comments and suggestions during this year. You have made it a pleasure to share my spiritual journey with you. I wish you all a blessed and most precious Christmas.

Birth Announcement

I remember the day Bekah was born. After checking to see that Andrea was OK, I went over to the table where they were cleaning up Bekah – you know changing her from that weird green color to a more human hue. I stuck my little finger out and she wrapped her precious little hand around my finger and my heart has been wrapped around her finger ever since.

Babies are born with so much promise. We look at them and wonder what they will be when they “grow up” and we even attempt to map out a course of greatness for them – maybe a successful business person, talented musician, famous athlete, or noted civic leader. When children are born, we are hopeful for the best, and we always picture the brightest future for them. Have you ever seen a parent look longingly into a newborn’s eyes and say, “Oh look, there’s my precious little failure.” Of course not.

Jesus was born with great fanfare. An angel had already appeared to Joseph and Mary to let them know that the child Mary would soon conceive would eventually be the Savior of the world – the long awaited “Anointed One.” A chorus of angels announced his birth to a group of shepherds, and they, too, called him the Savior. And Mary and Joseph were faithful to prepare him for that mission. After all, we read about him at twelve years old so involved in religious discussion in the temple that he even astounded the adults with his insight and knowledge.

Fast forward thirty-three years from the stable in Bethlehem to a mountain outside of Jerusalem. A mother watched in horror as her son, the one she was told would be the Savior, was cruelly, needlessly, and unjustly put to a shameful public death. What about the promised plan? Could God have been wrong? Maybe Mary misunderstood; maybe she dreamed the angels’ announcement. How could a baby with so much promise meet such demise? How could a life that started with such fanfare end with such dishonor?

Had Mary known on Friday what would happen on Sunday, she would have felt differently. But, she couldn’t know; she was limited by human perspective. But on Easter Sunday, the disgrace of the crucifixion gave way to the victory of the resurrection and the promise that accompanied Jesus’ birth was realized. Those promises the angels made came true. He is indeed the Savior.

The story of Christmas is another reminder that from our human perspective we will fear, we will doubt, we will hurt, but from heaven’s perspective God is in control. Though we feel fear, we need not give in to it. Though we experience anxiety, we can keep going in spite of it. Listen to those angels, they know what they are talking about.

Do not be afraid . . . Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace . . . – Luke 2:10, 14

Immanuel

It’s been a rough December around these parts! In our church family that is. Quite an emotional roller coaster. One tick bite induced hospitalization, a heart surgery, a broken hip and surgical repair, and two deaths, as well as all the other stresses that come with this time of the year.

One the positive side, we are celebrating the greatest reality of all time: the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. We have heard festive music, viewed beautiful decorations, enjoyed refreshing fellowship. We have experienced the joy and fun of gift buying and exchanging. And our choir knocked a home run this weekend with two stellar performances that ushered us into the presence of Christ as we worshiped.

This afternoon as I thought about the ups and downs of the last 2½ weeks, one reality struck me – through it all one thing has remained constant: the presence of God has been with us. He has comforted us when we were sad, He has multiplied our joys, He has answered our prayers, and He has quieted our anxieties.

But then again, THAT is the message of Christmas:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14

The name Immanuel means “God with us.” The coming of Jesus to earth was God’s way of rubbing shoulders with His creation. Our God is not One who rules from afar; no, He has chosen instead to intervene in the lives His creation.

Whatever we go through – from our sorrows to our joys and every point in between – God goes through it with us. Even when Jesus announced He would be going back to heaven, He promised the continuous presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit. God is always with us.

What a comforting thought for this Christmas season – we are not alone, God is with us. He is acquainted intimately with everything going on in our lives, He understands us and our circumstances, and He is more than able to handle what comes our way.

Take joy this Christmas in the fact that God is near. He will give you direction for your decisions, comfort for your soul pain, and purpose for your life.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. – Joshua 1:9

Truth Decay

We’ve had some pretty clear examples of it lately . . . truth decay. Truth can most simply be defined as that which agrees with final reality. Truth means that things are the same on both sides of the equals mark. Truth is when our talk matches our walk; when our words square with reality. But truth is a rare commodity these days.

The most recent example, at least here in the Atlanta area, involves our past football coach. We all were duped into believing he was committed to the team only to hear him abruptly abandon the team and cast his lot with the University of Arkansas. He said one thing publically, but did another. Things were not the same on both sides of his equals mark.

Truth decay is not confined to the sports world, it also shows up in the corporate community, the arts, the entertainment industry, the medical profession, every facet of our lives – including the church, sadly. What have we become that we struggle so much with the truth? The Bible tells us that truthfulness is a prerequisite to enjoying the presence of God.

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false. (Psalm 24:3-4)

So why do we suffer truth decay? I think the answer is quite simple: we are self-centered. What has happened is that we have made our agenda, our desires, our plans, yes, even OURSELVES bigger than God and His standard of living. We justify the bending our rules and parsing of words (“It depends on what your definition of ‘is’ is.”) And the decay has spread to the pulpit and right down through the pews.

What we want is so important that we will stop at nothing to get it. Even in church. We will pretend to like certain people to get what we need out of them, only to backstab them when they are not looking. We stretch the truth, we perform semantic gymnastics, we only share the “beneficial” elements of the truth that forward our agenda. Oh, and the deadliest form of truth decay of all? SILENCE. When we fail to defend the honor of another and sit by silently as they are denigrated and discredited, we are accomplices to a lie.

So what to do? First, commit ourselves to integrity – to being men and women who tell the truth, the WHOLE truth and nothing BUT the truth. Second, place ourselves in subjection to the will of God and the needs of others. Putting God and others above ourselves frees us from the need to protect our turf at all costs. Third, genuinely value PEOPLE; all people, not just the ones on your “side.” Make it your aim to BE a blessing to others rather than using them to bless you. Use words to build up rather than tear down. Our words are powerful; always use your powers for good and not for evil.

Prevent truth decay by keeping things the same on both sides of the equals mark, by keeping God first and foremost in your heart, and by valuing others above yourself. Consider it spiritual fluoride.

Christmas Christmas Time Is Near

“Christmas, Christmas time is near, time for toys and time for cheer.
We've been good, but we can't last, hurry Christmas, hurry fast
I want a plane that loops the loop. Me, I want a hula hoop.
We can hardly stand the wait. Please Christmas, don't be late.”

The Chipmunk’s Christmas Song – one of my favorites. Christmas is just around the corner, and this time of the year is a needed reminder to all of us just how much God loves us – that He sent His Son, Jesus to be our Savior. The angel’s announced Jesus birth by saying that they had “good news of great joy for all people.” The best news any of us could hear is that God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die for our sins and that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.

This Christmas season, let me encourage you to make focusing on the real meaning of the season a priority in your life. In the middle of all of the hustle and bustle of this time of year, find a settled and quiet peace in the assurance that Jesus is living proof that God loves us and that He will move heaven and earth just to have a relationship with you.

Allow me to suggest some habits that might help you keep your focus where it belongs this year.

First, take time to renew every day. Every morning, renew your connection with God. Take time as your day starts to focus on Him. Thank God for the gift of the next 24 hours and ask His help in managing the time. Quantity of time is not as important as quality of time. You may need to get up about 30 minutes earlier in the morning to have some uncontested time to redirect your energies and attention, but it will be time well spent.

Also, take time to reflect every day. As you lay your head on your pillow at night, why not drift off into sleepy-land thinking about God’s goodness and blessings in your life? As we reflect on God’s activity in our life, we are reminded that we exist for the ultimate purpose of knowing Him and being known by Him. What an awesome blessing – that the Creator of the universe would be so imminent as to relate to us on an individual and daily basis.

Then, make sure you prioritize your life. We let a lot of things get in the way of what and WHO is really important in our lives. We often expend so much energy dealing with our responsibilities, routines, and requirements that we have little left for Jesus. A regular inventory of what is really important versus what is really happening in our life will help us reorder our priorities so that Jesus has the place of prominence in our lives.

Jesus is God’s gift to us . . . our lives are our gift to Him. Let’s give Him a Merry Christmas.

Making Great Time

There’s a funny story I heard once about a couple who were driving to a new vacation destination. The wife noticed that they had passed the same landmarks about three times and asked her husband, “Honey, where are we?” The husband responded, “I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is we are lost; the good news is we are making great time.”

How many of us go through life like that? We are going full speed, making great time, but we have no idea where we are or where we are going. I just don’t believe God intends for life to be that way. He is a God of design and I believe He has designed a life of purpose for us.

… your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be. – Psalm 139:16

Paul taught us a thing or two about purpose when He wrote:

I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. – Philippians 3:12-14 (The Message)

What are your goals in life? Is it to achieve and attain? Is it to arrive and accomplish? Is your goal in life an “it” or a “Him”? Paul’s resume was a “been there, done that” list of accomplishments – highly respected family, prestigious education, successful career, on the fast-track to popularity and power. Yet all of that to him was literally “compost” when compared to the experience he had with Jesus. (see Philippians 3:7-11)

Paul wanted nothing more out of life than to constantly experience more and more of the power of Christ in his life. He wanted every day to be a new, fresh, and surpassing encounter of the greatness of God. He wanted it so badly he was willing to suffer to experience it, to die even, if it meant he could experience resurrection.

I believe so many of us lead an unfulfilling and confusing existence because we pursue the wrong things in life. We pursue things instead of Jesus. We make a god out of the creation rather than seek the God who created it all. We settle for less than the best.

So what is driving you? What are you chasing? What defines success for you? At what point will you finally say, “Now I have all I have ever wanted”? Until you make experiencing Jesus on a daily basis the passionate pursuit of your life, I can guarantee that you will always be chasing and never satisfied. Quit looking for answers and start chasing the Answer.

Defragging Life

I have been “defragging” since hard drives were measure in kilobytes rather than gigabytes. The changes that you save to a file are often stored at a location on the hard disk that's different from the original file. Additional changes are saved to even more locations. Over time, both the file and the hard disk itself become fragmented, and your computer slows down as it has to look in many different places to open a file. (Yes, that definition comes straight from Windows Vista®). Defragging is a process the computer uses to consolidate fragmented files and rearrange data on the hard drive so that it is more easily and quickly accessed.

I can’t believe that I have been using this tool on my computers for years and failed to see its spiritual benefit as well. Let me explain. As we live life, we process a lot of “data” ourselves – experiences, emotions, stress, joys, sorrows, you name it – and our lives get increasingly complicated and cluttered. Every now and then we do well to free up some space in our hearts so that God can access us more quickly and efficiently. Allow me to suggest some defragmentation suggestions.

Acknowledge. We are good about minimizing, rationalizing, and denying our sins. We blame other people or our circumstances to justify behaviors and attitudes that we KNOW are sinful. We are encouraged to confess – which simply means to agree and acknowledge – our sins to God (1 John 1:9) to receive His forgiveness and to others (James 5:16) to receive their help in prayer and accountability. Once we shine the light of acknowledgement on what weighs us down whether it be a sin, a sorrow, a shame, or a fear, then we able to counter its darkness and deal with it in constructive ways.

Forgive. I just recently wrote two blogs about forgiveness – “The Cure” and “Why Bother” – so I will not add much to it now. Forgiveness is not pretending that a hurt never occurred, but rather it is a constant choice, when a hurtful situation is brought to our remembrance, to refuse to dwell on the pain the situation caused and instead dwell on the grace of God that enabled us to survive the situation. When we let go and release the obligations we hold on others, we significantly unclutter our lives emotionally.

Simplify. Life can be simplified when we determine who and what is most important in our lives and order our lives accordingly. Business and organizations are encouraged to have mission statements to help define their purpose and steer their course, but I wonder how many of us have a personal mission statement? I have three, each stemming from the Bible: one that guides me spiritually (Philippians 3:10-14), one that guides me in my family roles (Ephesians 5:25 and 6:4), and one that guides me as a pastor (Colossians 1:28-29). In his essay “The Tyranny of the Urgent,” Charles Hummel warns us that we often sacrifice the important on the altar of the urgent. We are so busy doing what others insist is urgent that we have little time or energy left for what and who we know to be important. A personal mission statement provides us a tool to help us discern the difference between urgent and important.

As you ask God to defragment your life, I am sure you will come up with other defragging processes. In fact, if you have any other suggestions leave a comment and share them with us. Life is getting too cluttered. It is imperative that we all take the time to defragment or else we will find ourselves sluggish and bound up in the junk of life.