Category Archives: Encouragement

Encouragement, Mission Report

Addis Ababa and Other Such Places (Part I)

Addis Ababa, ever been there?  Me neither, with one exception.  Over a week ago my plane landed there (Ethiopia) after twelve hours at 39,000 feet.  Sitting at the gate for my next flight to Kampala, Uganda I do not recognize a single word around me.  Foreign has a way of taking on even more foreign when the sites, smells, dress, heat and language are unrecognizable.  One can feel a bit insecure, anxious and excited all at the same time, but it’s another day in the kingdom of God full of anticipation.   It becomes a reality that my security is not found in where I am or whom I am with.  Native faces turn with each passing white face, while comments follow.  I find myself imagining that the conversation is about where this “foreign” person is headed on this African continent.

Vacation it is not.  I am here to serve the DOVE International family in the nation of Uganda.  The leaders have requested that I come to share on principles of marriage.  My prayer has been, “Lord, help me to be sensitive culturally, while at the same time remaining biblical.”  Further, “Help me to humbly remember that I am a foreign guest.”  While I do not desire to offend in any way culturally, worse would be to stray biblically.  I truly believe that God’s word transcends culture.  I am so pleased, so honored to have this opportunity before me.  “Foreign” is a feeling that every believer should feel on this earth anywhere they live or travel.  The Scriptures reveal that we are simply passing through this world into the next one.  If we begin to feel too comfortable, maybe we’ve become too familiar with our surroundings and our too normalized life.  Perhaps it’s time to ask your heavenly Father for an assignment that feels insecure, uncomfortable, stretching and foreign.  It’ll grow your faith and trust in Him.

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Encouragement, Training

Don’t Believe Half of What You Think

Several weeks ago I was in the state of Oregon and I saw a bumper sticker, which read, “Don’t believe half of what you think.”  I am unclear as to what the driver meant by this sticker, but I was certainly hoping that he was thinking clearly and believing that safe driving is the only option.   I really liked what this particular bumper sticker had to say.  There seems to be some truth to it.  Romans 12: 2 actually tells us to be transformed by a mind that is being renewed.  That word, “renew” in the Greek is, Anakainoisis.  It means to adjust the moral and spiritual vision and thinking toward the mind of God, which is actually designed to have a transforming effect upon one’s life.

There is this old nature in us that seems to be at war with our new nature.  Our old nature likes to get its own way through anger, rage, selfishness, manipulation, impurity, etc.  In actuality we are to starve this nature to death and not feed it…put it off as Colossians three tells us.  I have discovered that it is God’s nature to give us something new (better) instead.  For example, if my grandson picks up a sharp object I will remove and replace it with something that is not dangerous to him.  Salvation is regeneration, all things becoming new.  The process is growing in truth as Christ’s Spirit in our spirit teaches our mind a new reality.  A battle that can be won.  In the movie, First Knight, Lancelot said something about battle that applies to this fight.

  1. Anticipate your enemy’s move – be thinking ahead of him.
  2. In every battle there is a turning point – wait and watch for it.
  3. Don’t be concerned about dying – it’s what we’re called to.
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Encouragement, Leadership

A Listening Challenge

I was talking to a young man recently, maybe 27 or 28 years old.  He had multiple piercings and quite a few visible tattoos that did not represent positive themes.  His cloths were a bit too large, which I did not perceive to be a fashion statement.  Further, he was in need of deodorant.  I went up to him and asked him about his life story and what his dream is.  This young man took off with a plethora of words about a successful music career in Hollywood, CA with many “rock stars,” one of them being him.  He, further into the conversation, said he lived in Nashville, TN where he was a “country music sensation” dropping some well-known names.  At another time in the conversation, he told me he spent two and a half years incarcerated in Florida, on “false charges” of course.

As I was listening, I found myself thinking about what might be truth and what might not be.  I was wondering about his reality.  I was captivated by his incessant desire to be someone of worth and value, someone famous.  When we are attentive in our listening, we are making a statement that the one speaking is important.  It could have been easy to be distracted or simply want to move away from this person, but Jesus would have listened intently.  Jesus would have cared about his personal story even if it were fabricated.  Jesus would have given him every minute he needed without judgment.  And then He would have posed a pointed question like, “Do you know how much I love you with or without worldly success?”  Or, He might have said, “The kingdom of God is not meat or drink, but righteousness, peace and joy.”  How can I be more like Jesus today and who needs my listening ear without my judgement?

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Encouragement, Leadership

Being Human and Temptation (Part II)

In part one we said that a temptation is an appeal made upon a weakness within you.  Temptation is not wrong; we all have them.  Temptation is satan’s way of pulling you away from God thoughts, an unhealthy distraction from the focus of obeying your heavenly Father.  Even if it lasts only seconds, you still need to face it scripturally and not simply avoid it or wait until it seems to have passed because you know it will return with a vengeance.  I Corinthians 10: 13 tells us that God makes a way of escape from temptations.  What are those ways?

First, identify the weak area(s).  Acknowledge them, be accountable with them, pray over them and seek healing through the work of the Holy Spirit.  If you take the weakness out of the dark and bring it into the light, you give the enemy less to work with.  Be honest before God about them, confessing to Him your weak areas.  Next, study yourself, listen to your self-talk and discover when you are most susceptible to listening to the enemy’s voice.  For me, I have learned that it is when I am physically and emotionally spent.  Then ask yourself if any life changes are necessary in order to be less susceptible.  I had to discover just how much sleep I actually needed on a daily basis.  Further, I had to recognize and acknowledge personal stress areas rather than be in denial of them.  Lastly, keep inviting Holy Spirit into the process to show you areas of healing still needed within your soul.

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Encouragement

Being Human and Temptation (Part I)

We know the enemy of our soul is a liar, a manipulator and masterful at deception.  From the time he was cast upon the earth, he has attempted to cause us to miss the mark and disappoint our Lord.  Amazingly, he doesn’t seem to let up.  He waits for the perfect time, a time when you are physically exhausted, feeling down mentally or emotionally and/or exasperated with life.  He seems to know when you are most susceptible to his slithering alongside you to whisper a half-truth in your ear.   It might be in the middle of a time of fasting or prayerful concern over a loved one.  It could be that you are experiencing a physical disorder or family life disruption that feels bigger than life itself.  I can almost guarantee that it will be when you least expect it, with your guard down – a total surprise.

It’s a trap and he’s setting you up.  The bait is hanging out in front of you and you’re not thinking correctly, you’re unprepared.  Temptation is an appeal made upon a weakness within you.  That weakness may not even be clearly identified, but it is there or, at the very least, lying dormant.  The enemy wants to resurrect it and defeat you with something you were unprepared to face at the moment you had to face it.  It is a stealth attempt to tap into that weak area, not wanting you to recognize what is happening.  It is blindsiding you, coming from an unexpected direction or angle.  If you allow its pull, you’ll be sucked in before you know it.  It will go from temptation to sin quicker than lighting striking during an electric storm.  In part two, let’s take a closer look at overcoming the evil one’s temptation.

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Encouragement, Small Groups, Training

The Law of Attribution II

Last week we gave a clear example of the law of attribution in someone’s life.  Did you think of any examples from your own life?  When we believe something to be stress producing, it will be.  I have been in many traffic jams and find it rather amusing as I look around at the different reactions among drivers.  One driver is visibly frustrated and on their phone, another on their GPS trying to find an alternative route, others are yelling at someone in the car or at no one and still another is just sitting there calmly reading a book.  What is the difference between the one yelling and the one reading?  It’s the same traffic jam.  No one is going anywhere and yet one is enjoying the moment and another is steaming with anger.  That which we attribute to be stress producing will be.

Is there an answer to this dilemma?  Romans 8:15 says, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.”  Jesus never feared the storm.  In fact, He even slept through one in the bottom of a boat.  I love Psalm 112:7 which says, “He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”  Why?  Verse eight tells us, “His heart is secure, he will have no fear…” We make the choice to be in fear, in anxiety or stress.  When we do so, we are saying that our issue is too big for God to handle or be concerned with.  And that thought, my friend, is full of pride.

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Children, Encouragement

Whom am I Playing To?

The great American baseball player, Babe Ruth, once said, “Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from swinging for the fence.”   I remember as a young boy playing little league baseball.  I played for four straight years and in the final two years I was the first string catcher.  In that third and fourth year, I also remember that our team, the Moose Giants, came in first place.  We had some young, but talented pitchers and hitters.  It was great fun and excitement.  But, I also recall one other detail from those years.  Never once do I remember seeing my parents in the stands watching me play.  It just wasn’t their priority.

That memory causes me to sometimes ask myself, “Whom am I playing to?”  In other words, whom do I desire to be in my “stands,” cheering me on in both the good and the not so good?  Whose approval am I looking for?  There is a certain fear standing at home plate with a bat in hand.  One reassuring smile from the stands would have removed that fear.  It would have said, “Go ahead son, you can do it; I believe in you; so knock it out of the park.”  Many years ago this was settled in my heart when I heard my heavenly Father say to me, “ You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”  And then He smiled reassuringly.  To whom are you playing to?

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Children, Encouragement, Marriage

Giving Away My Daughter

In two weeks I have the privilege of walking my baby girl down the aisle and then officiating the wedding ceremony.  While I felt so honored to be asked to perform the wedding, I now wonder about my sanity in agreeing to do it.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea, but am now the one with “cold feet” and wondering how I will get through it emotionally.  How do you “give away” your only daughter, the baby in the family?  She is about to spend more time married, with another man, than she ever spent with me, her father, growing up – it’s not fair.

I loved the growing up years from infancy on.  I was elated watching her first steps and missing her the moment she went off to kindergarten. I loved teaching her to ride a bicycle and playing softball in the front yard.  Her acting career in high school, although short-lived, was moments in time of sheer pride.  Teaching her to drive a car, a five speed, was exhilarating in more ways than one.  Sending her off to college four hours from her home…never easy.  Helping her move to Washington, DC for her first “real” job felt awkward at best.

But soon I will walk her down the aisle and then another man will walk her away from me.  There will be an exchange of authority, of leadership, of responsibility and another will be “laying down his life.”  I would do it all over again, from birth forward.  I would change some things, but not much.  I would not trade the struggles and tears, the laughter and joys for anything.  It is why God gave her to me (us) – to give her away, first to Him and then to His man for her.  It is why I/we spent thousands of hours training her and thousands of dollars raising her.  Brooke Megan, you are an amazing woman of God; you are a delight to my very soul.  “…Our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.” (Ps. 144:12)

(If you are single and wondering what are the most important character traits in a life mate, then read my first 21 blogs.)

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Encouragement, Leadership

The Gift of Repentance

God knew I needed refreshing while on a two month sabbatical from work/ministry responsibilities.  I knew I needed refreshment.  Little did I know, however, that it would begin with repentance.  To repent means to do an about-face, to turn away from and to pursue a different direction.  Was there some major sin in my life, no, but any shortcoming, any missing the mark should be major to us.  The Father was gently nudging and I was determined to listen, to hear, to believe Him and to respond.  I was acting upon a verse of scripture that He was highlighting to me.  Acts chapter three verse 19 says, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…”

I have been a Christ follower for 42 years and I sense there are seasons of my life where I simply forget about the gift of repentance.  It’s a gift because following true repentance I am then in right standing with God, not due to my own effort.  I know I am forgiven through one act of grace on the cross.  I love what Paul wrote to us in Colossians chapter one about this gift.  He said that at one time we were alienated from God, we were enemies, due to our behavior, but then came reconciliation through Christ’s death to, …”present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”  Wow, you and I are holy in His sight, without blemish and free from the accusations of the evil one.  Repentance, what a gift.

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Encouragement, Leadership, Prayer

Back From a Sabbath Rest

Two months of being totally out of the loop from those whom you serve in ministry or your work place can be a long time.  Eight weeks ago my last blog was that I would disappear from the blogosphere and engage in a healthy Sabbath rest.  It has been an excellent God time, rest time, journal time, training time, reading time, prayer time, centering time and listening time.  I do not regret one single day other than a few unexpected distractions.  Thank you for your patience and allowing me to take this time away.  The following are some of the things I learned or rediscovered on this sabbatical:

 

  • Sabbaths are vital and spoken into our lives here on earth by our heavenly Father.  They are God’s answer to self-depletion.
  • I rediscovered and was forced to face how much of my life is connected to my work, how much I think about it, worry about personal situations and pray for those I serve.
  • I am not the answer.
  • It was refreshing for my Father to gently work me through areas of repentance.
  • It became necessary to push through areas of distraction.
  • How easy and natural abandonment, rejection and un-forgiveness are while how supernatural is the cross, forgiveness and the depth of God’s love and acceptance.
  • How natural fathering/mothering impedes or enhances spiritual fathering/mothering.

There were more areas of a personal nature vital to my own self-discovery, personal wholeness and deepening faith.  Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made to benefit people, and not people to benefit the Sabbath.  And I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath.”  (Mark 2:27, 28 NLT)  Thank you, Jesus, for being Lord of my Sabbath.

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