I Can't Stop

The other day while doing research for upcoming sermons, I ran across an article by freelance writer, Patrice Lewis.  I have never heard of her, but the title of the article grabbed my attention.  The title was "We Ain't Got no Self-Control".  So I decided to read this article and part of the article stated: " What is self-control, anyway? And why is it important? Quite simply, self-control is the ability to regulate our personal impulses and reactions. It’s the realization that behavior (not moods or emotions, but behavior is often a choice.  Self-control is often referred to as self-regulation. Why is it important? The answer is eerily simple: If you can’t control yourself, someone else must control you.  We know we must control our young children to keep them from running into the street or engaging in other dangerous activities. Most parents instinctively know they must teach their children to control themselves (self-regulation) because Mom and Dad won’t always be there to keep Junior from doing something unsafe.  But while most parents teach their children self-regulation for life-and-death matters (such as not running into the street), far too many parents fall down on the job when it comes to other issues of impulse control. If I had to pick a single behavioral quality I want my kids to acquire during their growing-up years, it would be self-control. When you think about it, a lack of self-control has led to many of the problems our country is currently facing. Overspending, overeating, drinking or drug use, flash mobs, theft, lack of work ethic, abortion, STDs … the list is endless."

Daniel Webster, the former Massachusetts' Senator and Secretary of State once said, " Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and prejudice and evil tendencies subject to an upright and reasoning will, and you have done much to abolish misery from their future lives and crimes from society."

Edmund Burke, an Irish member of Parliament said, "Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites, — in proportion as their love to justice is above their rapacity, — in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and presumption, — in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters."

Charles C. Noble said, "First we make our habits, then our habits make us."

Benjamin Franklin stated, " “Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and prejudice and evil tendencies subject to an upright and reasoning will, and you have done much to abolish misery from their future and crimes from society."

Michel de Montaigne, a French write during the Renaissance said, "Not being able to govern events, I govern myself".

Joyce Meyer put it self-control in more human terms when she explained it this way:  "“I tell you what when I see chocolate chip cookies I can’t just eat one. I’ve got to eat a dozen. I don’t have any self control. Well, come on! You’re just talking yourself right into the pit! You do have self control, and you need to start looking at those cookies and saying, “If I want you I’ll eat you, and if I don’t I won’t!” Come on! Talk to that plateful of food! I am born again and baptized in the Holy Ghost! I have the power of the universe on the inside of me, and if I do not want to eat you I will not eat you! I mean how do you expect to defeat the devil if you can’t even defeat a chocolate chip cookie!?!?” 

The bane of American society today is our lack of self-control.  Rather than seeking to control our passions, we seek to legitimize them and normalize them.  All we have to do is look at the incredible spending-addiction of government to see this being played out.  In America, and even in California, we do not have a tax problem(i.e. a lack of tax revenue), we have a spending problem.  Each year, the average America now works 107 days of the work calendar to pay the taxes levied against them.  That's a lot of cash going to our local, state and federal governments.

But our government is such an easy and safe target.  Our culture is an easy and safe target.  Perhaps we should put a target on ourselves and the church.  Does the church have high divorce rates?  If you consider 30% a high divorce rate, then the answer is "Yes".  Does the church have problem with obesity?  Does the church waste time lazily viewing TV for hours at a time?  Does the church surf and view pornographic web sites?  Does the church have maxed out credit cards?  Does the church shop to relieve stress?  Does the church have closets full of clothes and yet still purchasing new clothes?  Does the church have addiction issues?  Does the church have consistent time in God's Word every day?  Does the church tell others God's plan of salvation?  Does the church...You can fill in the blank.  

The best quotes are not those which come from world leaders, but from God's very own mouth.  II Timothy 1:7 says, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, of love and self-discipline".

In Galatians 5:22-23, God's Word says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is...self-control."  

This is a reminder that God's Spirit strengthens us to say "Yes" to those things which are beneficial and "No" to those things which are destructive.  We don't have to reach down deep and suck it up.  We simply have to listen and heed the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Instead of asking for more "things", we need to ask God to give us self-control.  Take some time to honestly view your life, examining areas where you need self-control.  Take some time to confess and then invite God to do what only He can do...Give us self-control!

Spiking Gas Prices

On August 6, 2012, a fire ripped through the Chevron refinery in Richmond.  The fire would burn for several hours until the authorities were able to get the fire under control.  Thankfully, no one was killed and there was few injuries.  However, those who live in Richmond will be feeling the physical effects of this fire for years to come because of the toxins released in the air around the neighborhoods.  This is event has already begun to cause major tremors in the Richmond community and the way Chevron has handled this refinery.  However, my focus is on a much smaller scale.  The morning after the fire, I rode my bike to work.  As I rode by the four gas stations I pass on my way, all but one of them had raised their gas prices by over twenty cents per gallon.  The other station wasn't opened when I rode by, but when I rode home, their price had also been raised by over twenty cents.  It is now August 20th and gas prices in the Bay Area have gone up over 40 cents per gallon and close to 60 cents in many places.  These high prices are being blamed on the lack of gasoline available since this fire.  However, I was stunned to see how quickly these local dealers were willing to raise their prices after this calamity.  I doubt if any of those gas stations had received shipments of gas during the night which were more expensive to produce.  The pumps contained the same gas which they had in them eight hours earlier (Before the fire), yet the price had risen twenty cents.  I have often heard "big oil" blamed for the high prices, but these prices were high because the owners of those stations wanted to make a little money while they could.  Hey, if ALL of the stations are going to do it, why not make an extra buck for yourself also.  You can read about the prices going up by reading the following article.    http://hercules.patch.com/articles/gas-prices-rise-40-cents-per-gallon-in-one-month-ef9ee52e?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001

For the average consumer in the Bay Area, this is one more obstacle to overcome in just trying to survive.  Gas prices had finally fallen to about $3.65 a gallon when this happened.  Of course, I never have understood why we can have these refineries in our back yard and still have some of the highest gas prices in the country (But that is a rant best saved for another day).  I digress, so let me get back on track.  There is a heart condition of humanity that is evident on the price boards at gas stations:  People are, by nature, greedy.  We want to get what we can get for ourselves.  Often times, it doesn't matter who gets hurt or how we get it.  We just want to make sure we get ours, especially if others are getting some.  

Melky Cabrera was having a career year with the San Francisco Giants.  He was hitting almost 100 points above his batting average, was the catalyst to the Giants being in first place in the National League West and the MVP of the All-star game.  All of that came crashing down last week when he has caught taking steroids to improve his performance.  You see, he is in the final year of his contract (Which is only paying him $6 million this year) and could sign as a free agent with any team after this year.  So he decided to juice up and make a huge pay day.  Now, he is banned for fifty games and every general manager in baseball knows that he can't really be that productive.  He will sign with a team, but he will carry this mark with him for the rest of his career.  Since when did $6 million dollars per year to play a kids' game not be enough?  He saw everyone else getting theirs and so he decided to get some for himself.  Another two months and he would have had a guaranteed contract which would pay him close to $60 million.  Now, he will be fortunate to stay in baseball after his suspension.

The problem:  Greed.  It's been a problem every Adam and Eve were told they couldn't eat the fruit from the tree of good and evil.  They wanted  to get theirs.  Cain had the same problem when he saw Abel getting commended by God for his offering.  David had the same problem when he saw Uriah's wife bathing.  Judas had the same problem when he saw he could make some serious cash off Jesus.  Ananias and Sapphire had the same problem when they saw others selling land and making an offering to the Lord.  Simon the sorcerer saw the power of God working through Peter and John.  The list in the Bible is almost endless.

We have the same problem:  Greed.  We see someone and want what they want.  We see others utilizing shady methods to get some, so we want to get our share.  We see others cut corners and figure we might as well do the same.  We don't think about or even care about those we hurt.  We just want to get some for ourselves since everyone else is doing it.  In the heat of the moment, our base instincts kick in and we join the looting.  We take what we know isn't ours.  We reach for the proverbial second helping when the first was plenty.  

Yet as followers of Christ, we have two big issues with greed:  (1)  We know that greed leads to destruction of our integrity and what we gained in our greed.  We may lose our reputation, family and income.  In the first chapter of Proverbs, this book of practical faith begins in verse 19 with a reminder about greed.  "Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gains;  it takes away the lives of those who get it."  The temptation will always be there to to get some for ourselves, but we know that this will only yield pain in the future.  (2)  We aspire to a higher calling since we follow Jesus.  According to Philippians 2, we are to be "blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe".  If this generation sees us operating on the same plane with the same motivations they have, we will have no testimony.  A greedy world is looking for those who have contentment.  Our world of chaos is not looking for religion, they are looking for those who have peace and serenity in the midst of craziness.  This only comes from total surrender.  We surrender having worldly things for following Jesus.  We surrender what we think is important for the priorities of Jesus.  We become givers instead of takers.  We become generous instead of being greedy.  We allow the power of God to transform us so that we don't follow the pursuits of the crowd.  We humble ourselves before God and allow His Holy Spirit to change our minds so that we focus on things above, not on things of this earth.

So how are you doing with greed?  It's a part of our human nature and will never be removed from our lives totally.  However, the Holy Spirit will give us fruit which overcomes this nature.  May you drink from the cup of sacrifice and service alongside Jesus which never runs dry.

Never Surf Alone

I first learned to surf in 1986 while living on Oahu.  I had always wanted to learn how to surf and so one of the seniors at Hawaii Baptist Academy took me under his wing and taught me how to surf.  Some of the most relaxing and refreshing moments have been spent on the waves of the 50th state (No, I don't surf in Cali because the water is way too cold for me).  But there is an axiom which is of great benefit to anyone surfing:  Never surf alone.  Most of the time, this is for safety reasons.  There have been times when a friend has had to pull me out of a perilous situation because the waves broke my board and I could have drowned or drifted off to sea.  There have been times when we have been surfing and sharks have shown up, so we were able to stay safe by paddling in together.  There have been times when we were surfing and a swell came in, bumping the height of the waves up dramatically.  We needed each other to give us the confidence to take off on those mammoth waves and make it to shore safely.  But most of the time you want a friend with you when you are surfing to multiply the pleasure.  I remember my first big barrel at Ala Moana Bowls as my friend was paddling out of the shoulder of that wave watching me lock in deep.  I remember surfing on the North Shore with a friend when a whale began to breach just a few hundred yards from us.  I remember being out in the line-up with a friends at Threes in Waikiki and seeing a pod of dolphins swim right between us, close enough for us to touch them.  Most of the time "surfing" is actually spent sitting on the board in the line-up waiting for waves.  Having a good friend gives time for good conversation and helps those lulls in the waves pass more quickly.

I was thinking about that this morning on my bike ride to work as I reflected on yesterday's sermon about accountability.  It seems to me that most followers of Christ avoid accountability because it sounds like someone is always going to be on your case.  Someone is going to be checking up on you to make sure you are not slipping up and sliding into sin.  Someone is hounding you to point you in the right direction when you are having struggles or confusion.  In other words, we think accountability is having someone to rescue us when we wipe out or challenge us when we don't charge the big waves.  To a certain extent, this is true.  We all need someone who will be there as a human voice speaking God's Word into our lives.  Read Philippians 2:19-30 and you will see that even the Apostle Paul had Timothy and Epaphroditus with him to assist him and help him in his time of need.  So if Paul needed a brother in Christ to keep him in check, don't you think we need that also?

However, most of our journey with Christ is not spent with some great temptation or struggle.  Most of our journey is spent seeking to live for Him in the mundane, everyday moments of living.  There is no calamity or heart break, just the ups and downs in the typical day.  It's kind of like the surfer waiting for a wave during a lull.  Having a brother/sister in Christ who is intimate with our lives allows the journey to be more joyful and have someone who celebrate those small successes.  It's nice to have someone hooting encouragement as we try something new for us, like teaching a Sunday School class, witnessing at work or praying aloud for the first time.  That's why a true follower of Christ does not detach Himself from the body of Christ, even if there have been some issues.  One day, we want someone to share our overflowing joy with when our grandchild did something marvelous and the next day, we need to listen to a brother/sister share their overflowing joy when their grandchild has done something marvelous.  This multiplies the joy when we have someone involved in our journey.

To do this means we must take a risk.  We must open ourselves up honestly to someone and let them see that we struggle.  They need to know that we don't have it all together, even though we try to project that every Sunday morning.  They need to know we are vulnerable, weak and struggling, but desperately want to honor Jesus in our total being.  This is risky because they may let us down.  They may not really show the caring and compassion that we need.  They may be just as human and fallible as we are.  Yet to never risk is to miss out on the truth of Christian fellowship.

So this week, make sure to call your prayer partner you met with yesterday in church.  If you weren't at Hillcrest on Sunday, ask God to put someone on your heart with whom you can have contact with three times this week.  Remember to share:  What has God revealed to you lately?  What is one struggle you are facing?  How can I pray for you?  Do that for the next two weeks and see if this doesn't make your journey even more enjoyable.  Just as the surfer should never surf alone, the Christian should never walk alone.    So perhaps this Sip from the Well will allow you to refresh a fellow pilgrim on his/her journey with Christ.

Disagreeability

There appears to be a tremendous lack of civility in our country today, especially as the election heats up.  Abusive words (Bigot, hypocrite, hater, libetard, democrap, whacko, right wing nut job and many more)  are tossed out at any moment with no thought given to the depth of the crassness.  In America, we have forgotten how to disagree with sensibility and respect.  We are so quick to demonize anyone who has a view opposing ours.  We want to label and call them names rather than listening and reasoning with them.  We have lost the ability to disagree in a respectful manner which allows for resolution or, at least, peace.  Before you think I am speaking about the group which opposes your particular view, I am speaking to your group.  Rarely do we see meaningful, thoughtful dialogue about any issue.  The past few years has ushered in a new wave of vitriol and antagonism which has caused deep fissures in our country.

We often forget that in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, there were major disagreements.   The disagreements were over how the legislatures would be chosen. They decided the new congress would have 2 houses, a Senate in which all states would be equally represented by 2 senators, and a lower House of Representatives in which the number of delegates would be apportioned based on state population. State legislatures would appoint Senators every six years, while the people would elect representatives to the House every two years. The new congress had all the powers it had under the Articles of Confederation but also had the power to levy taxes.  They disagreed over the issue of States rights, the power of the federal government, slavery and host of other issues.  However, their disagreements allowed them to develop what is regarded by many historians as the greatest document in human history - The American Constitution.  Did the delegates disagree?  Yes.  Did they have major obstacles?  Yes.  Did one side get their way?  No.  Did they compromise and develop a guiding document for the United States of America?  Yes.  The disagreed, but were still able to reconcile those disagreements in compromise.  Think what America would be like if there were no document unifying the states.  Each state would be her own country with her own laws and government.  The UNITED States would have ended before she even started.  Perhaps the quote by Tomas Jefferson below puts this into perspective.

This level of antagonism and demonizing of people was so evident this past week.  Last Wednesday, my family and I chose to eat at the nearest Chick-Fil-A, which is about 30 minutes away.  We arrived at 3:15, finally got to place an order by 4:00 and had our food arrive by 4:30.  Why did it take so long?  The place was packed with several hundred people.  The owner told me that over 3,000 people had come to eat at the restaurant and they actually ran out of food at 4:30 and had to send people away.  Some people came because they wanted to support freedom of speech.   Some came to support Biblical marriage.  Some came to support the right of a company's owner to speak his mind.  Some came because they like the food.  Yet in the midst of this long wait, no one was impatient or upset about the wait.  It was actually rather festive.  I have never been in a crowded restaurant with that kind of atmosphere.  Of over 3,000 people who came to the restaurant that day, only one protested.  She was quoted as saying that in the long line of people, all she could see were people who supported discrimination, hatred and bigotry.  That's kind of a broad, sweeping statement to make about 3,000 people whom you have never taken the time to meet of get to know.  Here is a link to the news report if you want to watch it.  Oh, you can also see my family and I leave the restaurant after eating at the 16 second mark.  So I guess we are stars.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Fnorth_bay&id=8757721

Okay, many of you may get angry that I even mentioned Chick-Fil-A because you feel they are a company full of bigotry and hatred.  The point of this Sip is not to entice anger or get a rise out of anyone.  I simply want to point out the fact that Americans have lost the ability to disagree with respect.  So, let's try this.  On Saturday, my wife and I went to Oakland to support the passage of Prop 35.  Here in California, the penalty for pimping/sexually exploiting women is much less than for dealing drugs.  So there is an epidemic of men taking your women, girls and boys and forcing them to work the streets in prostitution.  Prop 35 will raise the penalties for this crime and make it easier to prosecute and make the penalty more fitting of the crime.  We met with over 300 others and marched through Oakland, down one of the streets where this pimping take place to raise awareness and support for the passage of Prop 35.  Most of the reception was positive, but there were those in the shadows who were agitated and angry.  Marchers had some wonderful discussions with people on the streets, but there was a palpable spiritual tension in the air.  My wife and I decided to let people know what we support rather than spending our energy boycotting what we don't support or trying to tell people how wrong they are.  We just don't feel that is productive in our world today.  Too many people in America want to tell you what they are against, but can never tell you what they actually affirm.  We affirm the right of women and girls to live in freedom and without fear of being taken hostage to the sex trade.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Feast_bay&id=8762024

On March 21, 2011, Brian Stow was attending a baseball game in Los Angeles as his beloved San Francisco Giants played the LA Dodgers.  After the game, he was beaten, suffering a brain injury.  Why did this attack take place?  Because Brian Stow had the audacity to cheer for his team at the opponents' ball park.  This is another example of how out-of-control our conversations have become.  Brian Stow is a husband and father, and this attack has irreparably affected his life and the life of his family...all over a baseball game.  As much as my son and I love to watch the Giants play, we would never to go LA to watch the Giants play because of this attack.

What does this have to do with faith in Christ and Hillcrest Baptist Church?   Simply this:  Though our world has no room for disagreements, in the church this should not be.  We can disagree without being disagreeable.  We can have meaningful dialogue about things in which we disagree.  The church is not a homogenous group where everyone thinks the same and does the same.  The world may define us that way, but they don't see the incredible diversity in our church.  We have a variety of ages, races, socio-economic levers, education levels, etc.  The only way we can have unity is if we are truly filled with the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit allows us to accomplish Ephesians 4:2, which says "Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in agape."  Great words to live by.  It would be nice if our world would do the same, but since they aren't saved and don't have the Holy Spirit to guide them, this is just a pipe dream.  However, in the Church, we get to experience this every day.  We cannot change the temperature of dialogue in America, but we can certainly impact lives on Sunday mornings.  So have you been patient with your fellow brother or sister in Christ?  Have you been bearing with them, even when they let you down?  Have you stood beside them when they fell or struggled?  Our greatest testimony in the world today is the respect and agape love we share with each other.  People are longing for and looking for that type of real and authentic love.  May this Sip give you the strength to call someone, write someone or e-mail someone to encourage them in their walk of faith.  May you be given a reserve of patience and energy to love those who test your patience.  May we truly love others the way Christ has loved us!

The Cure for a Restless Soul

"I have climbed highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for"

These words  were written and sung by the group U2 in 1987 and first appeared on their "Joshua Tree" album.  The haunting chorus paints a vivid picture of many in America...We have looked in so many places, but we still haven't found what we're looking for.

According to enrichment journal on the divorce rate in America:  The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41%.  The divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60%.  The divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%.  We still haven't found what we're looking for.

The Office of National Statistics shows that one in six adults in America are now cohabitating - Living together without being married.  The average person who chooses to live together instead of getting married will live with six different partners (On the average) before finally getting married.  Those who do end up getting married have a 70% divorce rate.  We still haven't found what we're looking for.

The average stay for an American pastor at one pastorate is less than four years.  Only 10% of those who begin their professional career as a pastor will retire at age 65 as a pastor.  Over 80% of American churches have had conflict in the past three years.  We still haven't found what we're looking for.

The Employee Benefit Research Institutes states that the average tenure of the worker today is 5.2 years.  The average American worker will have over five different jobs or work for over five different companies during their working years.  We still haven't found what we're looking for.

The list is almost endless if you want to google the amount of change in the American lifestyle.  We try one thing, then another and then another.  It's not just the culture, this happens in the church also.  Churches jump from one program to another and one ministry to another.  Those in the pews of the American churches chase after the same things as the culture does.  

Jesus gives a profound understanding as to the cause of this restlessness in Matthew 11:29.  He says, "Take my yoke up you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls".  Americans have few roots and little perseverance because we have restless souls.  So many who are in perverted lifestyle want those lifestyles accepted because they have restless souls.  We hope from one marriage to the next, one job to the next, one church to the next because we have restless souls.  This is the inescapable truth of the modern American narrative.  We are an attention deficit society because we have restless souls.

Why do we have restless souls?  Jesus reminds His apostles in that passage that they needed to take His yoke upon them and learn from Him.  We need to align our lives up with what Jesus has in store for us.  Too many in the church want God to align Himself with what they are doing.  They want to say the "sinner's prayer" or ask Jesus into their heart, but they have no plans to allow Jesus to change their lives.  They want to remain in their lifestyle and the church is accommodating that.  You want to keep living together in sin rather than getting married?  No problem.  You want to go through one marriage after another?  No problem.  You want to live in a lifestyle that is sinful?  No problem.  Hey, if you look around long enough, you will find a church which has proof-texted the Bible and will even justify that lifestyle.  And then we wonder why the Church has no standing in our culture and why we have no Holy Spirit power.  We feed the restlessness of the soul rather than calling people to be yoked to Jesus.

I guess you could look at my life and say I have been rather restless myself.  I chose a college to attend in which I would not know anyone and would be known by no one when I first started.  Then I moved from North Carolina to Kentucky to attend seminary, once again attending a school where I would not know anyone.  Then I moved to Hawaii and California.  So you could say that I've been a little bit of a rambling man myself.  There is probably some truth to that, but I pray that these moves have been a part of me being yoked to Jesus.  I would not have chosen to go to seminary in Kentucky, but felt compelled by God to follow His leading.  Even the moves to Hawaii and California were not choices I would have pursued, but were direct leadings of the Holy Spirit.  

When I was ten years old, I made a decision to follow Jesus.  That decision began to crystalize in my youth and became more solid in college.  By the time I graduated from the hallowed halls of Wingate College in 1983, I had found that I was looking for.  I didn't need to keep looking for the latest and greatest.  I found my peace in Jesus and had trusted Him enough along the way to realize He was trustworthy for my entire journey on this life.  He has taken me on a wonderfully, wild adventure in which I have met some wonderful people.  He has given me an incredible wife who has, incredibly, stuck by me for the past eighteen years.  He has allowed me to serve in three full-time ministries, averaging over seven years at each of those ministries (My current pastorate will be eleven years on Saturday).  He has allowed me to have two sons who we are trying to raise to be yoked to Jesus.  I have found that Jesus' yoke is easy and His burden is light.  I don't need to restlessly look for the next thrill in my life.  I have found what I am looking for.

How about you?  Have you found what you are looking for in Jesus or are you still a restless soul?  Jesus is waiting for you to yoke yourself to Him and learn from Him so He can give you rest... rest for your soul.

When God closes a door...

Have you ever heard "When God closes a door, He opens a window"?  I have often heard that phrase shared by Christians when the course they charted hits snags or suddenly ends.  I would like to add my own take on that saying:  "When God closes a door, He sends a servant".  You see, I have often found that when I am at my lowest point because of circumstances, God always sends a brother/sister in Christ at just the right time.  This fellow pilgrim may not even know the impact they have made on my life, but they speak deep into my soul by their words or their actions or their attitude.  

This morning my quiet time was Ephesians 6:10.  I am working my way through the book of Ephesians in my quiet time, but this one verse was more than enough as God spoke loudly and lovingly into my life.  If you haven't looked up the passage yet, it says "Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power".  That may not resonate with you, but it hits at my very fiber.  If I am to be strong in the Lord, then I must be weak in myself.  In other words, I need to stop trusting what I can or cannot do and begin trusting God, His direction and His purposes.  That's not easy for me to do.  When there is a problem, I try to fix it.  It something isn't right, then I will jump in and try to make it right.  My first response is NOT to pray or give God time to do His thing.  My first response is to fix the problem.  Work it and make everything run smoothly.  Which means whenever their is a problem, I get intense and focused until that problem is resolved the way I think it should be resolved.  Doing this is the polar extreme of being strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  God is loving and patient enough with me to continually allow me the opportunity to learn this lesson.

It happened again this past week as Hillcrest prepared for our largest outreach of the year, the Hillcrest Community Fair.  A barbecue place down the road from the church was going to cook our 120 pounds of chicken.  This opened up more workers and the parking lot for us to have more outdoor activities.  The Fair is going to happen on Friday, so I took the chicken down to the restaurant on Thursday at 10:00, when they told us to deliver it.  No one was there.  I called the place and no one answered.  They open at 11:00, so I figured I would drop it off then.  I show up at 11:00 and no one is there and it is still closed.  As I am pondering what to do next, the owner just "happened" to arrive.  He told me that they went out of business the week before and couldn't cook our chicken.  A huge, sound proof, steel door just slammed shut.  My normal reaction would have been panic, but a young man in our church was with me helping me move everything, so I couldn't panic in front of him.  We took the chicken back to the church and I drove the young man home, which gave me time to run through every option in my mind, but also led me to prayer (Prayer should have been my first option).

When I arrived at home a few minutes later, I called one of our wonderful servants on the phone.  I told Wayne if he could cook the chicken, since he had cooked at the Fair in past years.  His response..."No".  So I waited on the phone until he stopped laughing.  His words were something along this line:  "Pastor, we got this".  Wayne said he would bring his smoker and grill.  I asked if I should bring my gas grill and he said I could if I wanted.  When God closes a door, He sends a servant.  A few minutes after that call, another member called because I had sent him a text about the barbecue place.  Tom was serving jury duty for the entire week and was going to barely make it to the Fair before it began on Friday, so there really wasn't anything he could do.  As we talked about what happened and Wayne stepping up to cook, Tom said, "Well, I guess this is reason God allowed my jury duty to end a few minutes ago".  When God closes a door, He sends a servant.  Not only did God send one servant, but he sent two at the moment I needed it the most.  Once again, this served as a vivid reminder to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  Panic only kicks in when I see with my limited vision rather than trusting God's unlimited scope!

The chicken was cooked and cooked well, all 120 pounds of it.  They didn't even use my grill (See, I still couldn't just let it go and trust God's hand).  The Fair was a raging success as over 170 guests came to Hillcrest and experienced the tangible love of Jesus.  The side lesson was just for me:  Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  Trust Him to provide a way and a people to prepare the chicken.  Enjoy his servants who are bold enough to say, "We got this".  Trust God working through those folks rather than what I can or cannot do.

When God closes a door, He sends a servant!

When the Hebrews couldn't leave slavery in Egypt, God sent Moses!

When the Israelites couldn't rid themselves of the Midianites, God sent Gideon!

When David headed down the wrong path of adultery, God sent Nathan!

When John Mark was not allowed to go with Paul on the second missionary journey, God sent Barnabas!

The list goes on, but is best summarized by John the Baptist in John 3:30 when he spoke of his relationship to Jesus and said "He must increase and I must decrease".  Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

So what are you trying to fix?  Maybe God has closed a door so He can send a servant your way.  Maybe He will send you to someone in need and you can be the servant to someone who has had a door closed.  The joy of this journey with Jesus is that there is always an adventure awaiting us with wonderful pilgrims to join us and encourage us.

Wanna Be a Rebel?

We live in a culture which has devalued and mangled the first gift ever given to humanity:  Marriage.  In Genesis 1:18, God says, "It is not good for man to be alone": so He fashions Eve to be the wife of Adam.  The first gift ever given to humanity was the depth of relationship found only in marriage.  Yet our culture has chosen to misuse and abuse this gift by making divorce, not only common and accepted, but actually expected.  We have elevated cohabitation (Living together as boyfriend/girlfriend) as acceptable, if not more acceptable than being married.  We have evolved our view of marriage into a homosexual union.  We tax married couples at a higher rate than if they were single.  I wonder what twisted version of this wonderful gift from God will next arrive from the dark recesses of our culture.  The manner in which we have handled this gift shows our total disregard for the generosity and love of God.  We have taken that gift and degraded it into something which allows us to pursue whatever passion and lust is in our hearts.  The problem is not a political problem, nor an ethical problem, nor is it a societal problem:  The problem is a spiritual problem and the main culprit is the Church.  In the past twenty years, the Church has had the same amount of divorce as the rest of our culture (Although that has radically changed in the past eight years as divorce among those involved in Church is dramatically less than our cultural rate).  The Church rarely speaks about divorce or cohabitation and the effects of these upon marriage because we don't want to offend anyone attending our congregations or in leadership positions.  And so, the Church has ushered in the twisted form of "marriage" which is in constant flux in our culture today.

Genesis 1:24 gives us all we need to know about marriage:  "For this reason, a man will leave his father and more and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh".  Everything we need to know about marriage is found in this passage.  One man + one woman + For life = Marriage.  Who should be married is stated plainly.  The timing of sexual intimacy ("one flesh") is stated plainly.  The length of the marriage is implied.  However, for many in America today, this has become too restrictive, while others seek to use bad exegesis of the Bible to justify the alternatives listed in the first paragraph of this blog.

Now, before you think I'm going all political, please know that this has nothing to do with politics.  Politicians in America can define marriage any way they would like, but that doesn't change God's definition of this wonderful gift.  Voters in America can vote to define marriage any way they would like, but that doesn't change God's definition of this wonderful gift.  Religions can redefine marriage in any "inclusive" language they would like, but that doesn't change God's definition of this wonderful gift.  In America, the Constitution guards our freedom to actually be able to do this.  So I'm not here to bash or affirm any political point.

Here's my point:  The reality of America is that we(As a culture) have adopted  misguided and unBiblical expressions of marriage.  This is just a fact.  However, I chose to be a rebel.  I have made a decision to be radical in my life and be viewed as an obscure relic, closer link to dinosaurs than enlightened, modern humanity.  On July 16th, 1994, in front of over 400 family and friends, I made a covenant with Leah Boggs.  I told her that I would be her husband for the rest of our natural lives.  I told her she could count on me to be with her through thick and thin.  I let her know that I valued and respected her too much to live with her without the covenant of marriage.  I let her know that divorce was not an option for me.  Eighteen years later, I am even more committed to her than I was when we first got married.  I'm not in a rush to age, but I look forward to growing old with her.  My covenant with her is not decided by the evolving whims of modern man, but by an unchanging hold on the first gift God gave to my ancestors.  I have chosen to honor God and His Word more than my own desires, which makes me a bit of a rebel in America.

Lest you believe our marriage is perfect and I am the perfect husband, you might want to check with Leah.  To my own shame, I have hurt my wife.  I have said things that were mean.  I have gotten upset in the heat of the moment and have argued with her.  I have been stubborn and unwilling to listen.  I have been busy with my own things and not given her enough time.  I have been so busy with the boys that I haven't dated her as often as I should have.  The list could continue for a long time, but you get my point.  There have been numerous times along our journey of marriage when either one of us could have quit.  But here's the amazing thing:  I married a woman who has the same rebellious attitude that I have about marriage, maybe even more so.  I married a Godly woman who is seeking to honor the vows she made to God in front of over four hundred family and friends back on July 16th, 1994.  That is why we are celebrating eighteen years of marriage.

I am so glad I chose to be a rebel.  If you want to know the most fun day of my entire life, it was the day I got married.  My bachelor party was the night before our wedding, an evening of uninterrupted basketball with close friends.  I spent the night before my wedding with several of my close friends and had an adventure before even getting to the church.  My youth minister from my teen years flew out to Honolulu to perform our wedding ceremony.  My brothers, their wives, my sister, two cousins and an aunt had all flown out for this event.  My best man and another groomsman had flown from the mainland to stand by my side.  Waialae Baptist Church was filled with  many friends who had touched and continue to touch my life.  I will always remember when the rear doors opened and Leah walked into my view for the first time on that day, escorted by her Dad.  I can still see her beautiful smile and remember thinking to myself, "I have got to be the luckiest man alive".  I soaked up those moments and enjoyed that day more than words can express.  It was the most fun day of my life.  But that was just the beginning.  Eighteen years later, Leah's smile still radiates straight to my heart.  She knows me better than anyone else and has been the greatest encourager of my life.  She has listened to me grumble, held me when I was hurting and forgiven me when I have failed.  She has loved the Goslen family as if we were her own.  She has seen the good in me when I could only see the ugly.  She has prayed for me and been the one who has helped me grow the most in my faith.  She has defended me when others were thrashing me.  She has been my best friend, my lover, my business partner, my confidant, my collaborator and much, much more.  We are two rebels on an adventurous journey together for as long as God allows.

Maybe the life of a rebel isn't so bad after all.  How about you?  Feel like being a little rebellious?  Then value this gift of God and honor Him in how you handle that gift!