Pausing on fear (part 1)

The biggest miracle Jesus had ever performed just happened: 5,000 men, plus all the women and children (easily more than 10,000 people total) were fed from five loaves of bread and two fish.  This wasn’t snack-time portions, either: 

Matthew 14:20
Everyone ate and was satisfied.  They picked up twelve baskets full of leftover pieces.

Everyone was full, as in “No thank you, I’m stuffed.  I can’t eat any more.” 

Next, it was time for everyone to go home.  Although the disciples had helped distribute the miraculous food and collect the twelve baskets of leftovers, Jesus did not have them help disperse the massive crowd.  They were at the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus was sending them to the other side.

Matthew 14:22-23
Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds.  After dismissing the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.  Well into the night, He was there alone. 

I can really empathize with Jesus here.  After providing for the spiritual and physical needs of a massive crowd, He needed some alone time – just Him and His Father.  It’s important to note that even Jesus needed to step away from the world and recharge.

At the same time, the disciples were struggling with the direction Jesus had sent them in.

Matthew 14:24
Meanwhile, the boat was already some distance from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them.

The Greek phrase translated as some distance from land is literally worded “many stadia from land”.  John’s account states they were 25 or 30 stadia from land (John 6:16-21).  Since one stadia was 600 feet, or about 200 yards, the disciples’ boat was about 3 or 4 miles from the shore – and they were getting pounded by the storm.

Storms on the Sea of Galilee were not uncommon.  The topography surrounding the large body of water creates a natural set of wind tunnels.  Wind comes off the surrounding mountains, crashes into the water, and massive storms were known to happen in the blink of an eye.

Several of the disciples were fishermen prior to following Jesus, so they knew what to expect, but also how dangerous it was to be caught in a nasty wind-storm in the middle of the night.  Survival would be the main goal, and getting to shore would be a big part of that.  But despite their best efforts, they couldn’t escape the storm. 

Let’s pause right here.  They just had a massive day.  Jesus’ biggest miracle to date had just happened, and they were a part of it.  Not just as witnesses, but they helped distribute food to 10,000 people.  Of course, they didn’t hand out fish and bread to every single person, but they were the ones who took the food from Jesus to hand out to others…and then collected the leftovers.  That sounds like an absolutely exhausting day.

As the sun is setting and the day is wrapping up, Jesus sends them to go across the lake, quite possibly taking some/all of the twelve baskets of leftovers.  They did exactly what Jesus told them to do – and got stuck in a violent storm.  Now, after already being worn down from an exhilarating day, they must fight the oppressive wind and do everything they can to keep the boat afloat and stay alive.

To top it all off, the last time a storm like this happened, Jesus was with them.  Although He was asleep in the boat when the storm happened, after they woke Him, He quickly calmed the storm with just a word (Matthew 8:23-27).  But Jesus isn’t with them this time.  They were going to have to survive this one without Him.

The next verse in this account offers a ton of hope to the disciples’ situation, but there is a small phrase in there that is easily overlooked – the next verse takes place very early in the morning.  Again, the Greek phrasing is very instructive here: during the fourth watch of the night, which means between 3:00am and 6:00am. 

Rescue for the disciples did not come until near sunrise.  They fought the wind-storm nearly all night long before Jesus showed up.  They were battered by the waves for hours upon hours.  Physically exhausted.  Mentally drained.  Emotionally sapped.

I’m sure some wanted to give up.  It’s possible that a few of them already had.  At the point of feeling completely done in, one of them saw something in the distance.  They probably didn’t trust their eyes in this storm-ridden moment.  Early daylight was piercing the horizon, but nothing was clear.  Whatever it was, it was moving toward them…on top of the water.

So with this background, we can have sympathy when we read the disciples’ reaction.  They were absolutely fried.  No one had ever walked on water before.  They had no idea that Jesus was even capable of doing so.  A slow walk across that distance would have taken Jesus up to an hour to reach them from the shore. Even if the disciples didn’t see Jesus until He was just one stadia (200 yards) away from them because of the storm, they would have watched this unknown thing come straight at them for two long minutes…which would have felt like an eternity.  Or possibly worse…what if they didn’t see Him coming because the storm was still so bad, and instead it was as if He appeared out of nowhere, 20 yards off the side of the boat!

I suspect our reaction would have been pretty similar to theirs:

Matthew 14:25-26
Jesus came toward them walking on the sea very early in the morning.  When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified.  “It’s a ghost!” they said, and they cried out in fear.

They were just done.  Done-in and done-for.  They were terrified, and likely thinking they were about to die.

Matthew 14:27
Immediately Jesus spoke to them.  “Have courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”

Notice that Jesus didn’t calm the storm.  He didn’t change their situation.  He didn’t give them the strength of Samson so they could reset the sails and try again.  He didn’t clear their minds of the cobwebs caused by exhaustion. 

Instead, Jesus gave them Himself.

Jesus spoke to them, giving words of encouragement.  He was close by – moving toward them when they couldn’t see past the raging storm and He was nearby when they were at their breaking point.  Their situation hadn’t changed, but their perspective on their situation was about to.

From this, we learn the principle: Courage replaces fear when we recognize Jesus is near.

Just because we’re doing what God has asked us to do, that doesn’t mean everything will go to plan and meet our expectations of huge impact and easy victories.  We still must fight the battles with cancer, poverty, cruelty, anxiety, depression, broken relationships, and everything else that life throws at us.  Getting battered by the storms of life and reaching our breaking point doesn’t mean we are a bad disciple, a poor witness, or abandoned by God.

Jesus is right there, in the storm, with us.  He is our source of courage.  Hear His voice and don’t be afraid.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Pausing on doubts

I hate to second-guess myself.  I do not want to spend my time wondering if I made the wrong choice or fretting about the possibility I’ve traveled down the wrong path.  However, at one point or another in life, we wrestle with questions like these: Did I choose the right career?  Should we have bought that house instead of this one?  Did I marry the right person?  Was it wrong to _________?  What if I had said ________?

We could spin ourselves in circles with questions like those.

While we try to be as informed as possible when we make life-altering decisions, later on we are often faced with a moment that causes us to question our choices.  Doubt is powerful, and our circumstances play a huge part in how influential our doubts become.

But then there’s an even bigger doubt we sometimes face…one that we may publicly acknowledge does happen to people, but we are terrified to admit when we are the ones struggling with it…what about doubting God?  Doubting that I’m following Him like I’m supposed to.  Doubting the ministry that I’m working for.  Doubting that He really loves us or even exists.

I find it interesting that one of Jesus’ disciples, Thomas, gets the doubt-label “Doubting Thomas”, when there was an equally famous believer who did not get labeled as a doubter, even though he too struggled with doubting that Jesus was the Messiah.

I’m talking about John the Baptist.  For a quick review, let’s look at John’s resume: he was Jesus’ cousin, his birth was announced by an angel who prophesized a powerful Spirit-filled life, never had fermented drink, considered to be a prophet by the people, preached in the wilderness of the Messiah’s coming, persuaded countless numbers of people to turn from their sins in anticipation of the Messiah’s arrival and the introduction of the Kingdom of God on earth.  John the Baptist was the first to declare to the masses who Jesus was and what His mission would be – behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)– John also had the honor of baptizing Jesus.  Throughout his life, John did what God asked him to do, and he did it well. 

But the physical Kingdom of God didn’t show up with the Messiah’s arrival.  The established political and religious power structures remained in place…and the people at the top didn’t like John and his message.  So King Herod had John thrown into prison.

Let’s pause right here.  Put yourself in John’s place.  Everything you have done in your life and for God was supposed to lead up to the Messiah’s arrival.  And everyone believed that when the Messiah appeared, His purpose would be to setup the literal, physical Kingdom of God on Earth.  But that hasn’t happened…the circumstances John has been expecting – and telling others to expect – hadn’t come.  What is John thinking as time slowly passes in prison?  What would you be thinking?

Did I do the right thing?  Was I wrong about the Kingdom being at hand?  Is Jesus the Messiah we’ve been waiting for?

We don’t know how long John stewed over these questions, but at some point, he decided to get some clarity:

Matthew 11:1-3
When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.  Now when John heard in prison what the Christ was doing, he sent a message through his disciples and asked Him, “Are you the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

John’s question is a big one.  Essentially, he’s asking Jesus: Are you who you say you are?  Can I trust you to do what you’ve said you will do?

I think all Christians struggle with this at some point in their life.  Maybe we’re too scared to say it out loud, but when our expectations of God are not met…it can lead to some serious inner turmoil, especially when our circumstances are the opposite of how we thought God would come through.

We typically don’t verbalize our struggle because we don’t want to look bad in front of other believers.  Or we may have heard a preacher lay on a guilt-trip, extra-thick, for anyone who expresses any level of doubt toward God.  We try to laugh off our silent struggle by saying that we don’t want to get “struck by lightning” and have the situation become worse because we’ve verbally questioned God and His purposes.

But what does God think of our doubts?  How does He handle our struggles?  Let’s look at how Jesus replied to John’s question:

Matthew 11:4-6
Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by Me.”

Jesus doesn’t respond with lightning bolts.  He doesn’t even get angry.  Note, too, that Jesus does not explain or justify His current actions in light of John’s expectations.  Instead, Jesus points John back to the Scriptures, back to what Isaiah prophesied about the coming Messiah:

The blind receive their sight (Isaiah 29:18, 35:5),
the lame walk (Isaiah 35:6),
those with leprosy are cleansed (Isaiah 53:4),
the deaf hear (Isaiah 29:18-19, 35:5),
the dead are raised (Isaiah 26:18-19),
and the poor are told the good news (Isaiah 61:1)

That is an impressive list, and since Jesus was doing all these things, He certainly answers John’s question…but then Jesus finishes off His answer with a promise: and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by Me. 

The word blessed used here is the same as what Jesus said in His beatitudes (Blessed is the one who… from Matthew 5).  Jesus is telling John that He is the promised Messiah, but there is a blessing for those who do not get tripped up over how and when Jesus is undertaking His Messiah responsibilities.

Be sure to read that last part – and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by Me – as a promise and not a put-down, because of what Jesus then said about John to the crowds:

Matthew 11:11, 13-14
Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared…for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  And if you’re willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come.

Even after John’s struggle with doubt, Jesus still called him the greatest prophet.  For all the miraculous works and Messiah-is-coming teaching brought by the earlier prophets, John alone can claim that he was the final Old Testament prophet.  To herald the Messiah’s arrival is a privilege and honor afforded only to John.

What this shows us is that God can handle our doubts.  It’s ok to bring them to Him.  While God isn’t obligated to justify His actions, we can rely on the promises He has already made to us in Scripture.  And even when – not if – we struggle with doubt, God is still willing to bless us as we wait for Him to do what He has said He will do.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Flashback Favorite - When we don't learn God's lessons

I really hate it when I have to relearn lessons - in school, at work, for life in general. What do we do when don’t get it right the first time…or the second time…or the fourteenth time?

After so many failings, we often think that God is ready to give up on us - because, let’s face it, we’re ready to give up on us. But is that really the case with God?

When we don't learn God's lessons
originally posted on May 24, 2018

Hard times are called that for a reason…they’re hard to deal with.  But the author of Hebrews gave his readers a better perspective on how to handle the difficult times in life:

Hebrews 12:7, 11
Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons.  For what son is there that a father does not discipline?...No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

And yet I wonder…What happens when we don’t embrace God’s discipline?  What happens when we refuse to learn the lessons God is trying to teach us?

When we look back in Scripture, we find this theme of God instructing His people repeated, over and over.  Below is just one example of what He said to the Israelites after they had spurned Him and His ways.  In Hebrews, the end result of God’s teaching is the peaceful fruit of righteousness.  Keep an eye out for that here:

Isaiah 48:17
This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says:

I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you for your benefit,
Who leads you in the way you should go.

If only you had paid attention to my commands.
Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,
and the offspring of your body like its grains;
their name would not be cut off or eliminated from my presence.

God says His teaching would have resulted in peace as steady and calm like a river, and righteousness that is as massive and powerful like the waves of the sea.  What a beautiful (almost paradoxical) comparison…imagine your life…where you handle any/all situations with calmness and peace, and your life’s actions are so undeniably in tune with God’s plan for living that you move with power as your righteousness positively affects the people around you.  A life like that would be a huge comfort to us personally and even more so to those around us.

But let’s be honest…we know that we cannot grow to that level on our own.  So God offers to intentionally teach the Israelites how to be this way – how to reflect Him to the world.  It’s the same offer in our Hebrews passage, where God is training us to produce the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Teaching, training, and developing His people was God’s intention for the Israelites – both individually and as a nation.  It’s also His intention for us – both individually and as the church. 

But, like the Israelites, we are
hard-headed
stubborn
selfish
slow to trust God
slow to learn
prone to really messing things up
afraid

The Israelites rebelled so many times and ran so far from God, that He allowed their nation to be overtaken and plundered by other nations.  By the time they got to that point in their history, they certainly were not experiencing peace or righteousness themselves.  In addition, God says the course of the following generations was also affected – their families’ descendants and offspring were heavily impacted by the foreign invasion, to the point where family names and bloodlines were cut off or eliminated.

And when we look objectively back at the times we’ve stiff-armed God, trying to keep Him at arm’s length, we can still see some of the lasting effects in our lives and the lives of our family.  Perhaps we even say to ourselves like what was said about the Israelites: if only I had payed attention to God’s commands.  Regret and depression are heavy burdens…and we are unable to undo the past.  What do we do now?

Look back at the Isaiah passage.  Right at the top, how does God describe Himself?

Your Redeemer.

He is the one who buys back, delivers, and protects those who cannot do so for themselves.  The ones who have messed up beyond what they could ever fix or repay…they find rescue in Him. 

Yes, there were heavy consequences for how far the nation of Israel ran from God – but He did not abandon them.  Yes, God disciplines His church – but we’re still part of His family.  Our loving father is also our redeemer.  He loves us enough to show us how to live rightly, how to live well.

Even if we don’t get it right the first time.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Pausing on unexpected prosperity

There are many examples and proverbs in the Bible which teach that hard work often results in wealth and opportunity.  While there’s nothing wrong with having money, God doesn’t want us to just ask for prosperity so we can accumulate money and stuff.  Even Jesus’ brother James warned against doing so (James 4:3).   

Sometimes, however, wealth is just dropped in our laps: A relative dies and leaves you a large sum of money.  Your job gives an unexpected bonus to you and your coworkers.  You might win a raffle that you had forgotten you entered.  What are we to do in those situations?

Let’s go back to when Jesus was born.  Joseph and Mary were poor, simple people.  They didn’t have great wealth.  Due to Caesar’s decree, they had to go to Bethlehem to be registered as part of the census.  Jesus was born in a Bethlehem barn, and on that night both angels and shepherds rejoiced.  But sometime later, others arrived looking for Him:

Matthew 2:1-2
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?  For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”

Apparently, no one in Jerusalem was wise enough to notice this star-rising event, because the whole city was “deeply disturbed” by the wise men’s question.  King Herod even held a secret meeting with the wise men to discover when the star appeared.  He also told them to report back after they found this new king, claiming that he, too, wanted to “worship” the child.

Matthew 2:9-11
After hearing the king, they went on their way.  And there it was – the star they had seen at its rising.  It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy.  Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Let’s pause right here for a moment and look at this situation from Joseph and Mary’s perspective.  It was a normal day.  They were doing normal, everyday things…like taking care of a child, planning meals, doing work…and then, completely unannounced, a caravan arrives at their doorstep. 

Come to think of it, the wise men probably arrived at some time during the night or even very early morning.  I mean, when else are they going to be led by star-light?  (not during the day…)  But whenever they arrived, no one was expecting them.  God had spoken to both Mary and Joseph about Who Jesus was and what he would do, but the worship and celebration by foreign strangers would have been quite a shock!

And to top it all off – they brought gifts!  Not just any baby shower gifts, either.  While we don’t know exactly how much gold, frankincense, and myrrh they gave…I think it’s safe to assume it wasn’t a small amount.  In the ancient world, these gifts were given lavishly at the birth of a new king.  These items were not trinkets, they were highly valued at this point in history.  Notice, too, how Matthew describes the scene…he states that they opened their treasures to take these gifts out.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the family’s financial situation changed.  An unexpected windfall had come to them.  After the Magi left, can you imagine the scene at the house?  Stunned silence, followed by ‘I can’t believe what just happened!’.  And now they have these rich items just sitting there, in their home.  What should they do next?

For the next part of the story, we pick up in verse 13.  However, what we don’t know is how much time passed between when the wise men left and when these next events occur.  It could have been the next night, a few days later, or even longer.  But for at least that first night, Joseph and Mary went to bed wondering what to do with these expensive gifts.  And then…

Matthew 2:13-15
After they [the wise men] were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying “Get up!  Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.  For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.”  So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt.  He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son.

Without warning, the family had hundreds of miles to travel.  Without warning, there were unexpected expenses…but funds had already been provided, through an unexpected gift.  They likely had no idea that King Herod was coming for them.  Because of the angel’s warning, Joseph suddenly uprooted and moved the family.

By pausing at the in-between moment – between receiving the gifts and the angel’s news – we can appreciate the tension Joseph and Mary must have felt.  They were just living their lives.  They didn’t know the next verse.  They had no idea that a major life upheaval was just around the corner.

What would we do if God randomly blessed us?  Immediately by a new car?  Take the vacation we’ve been putting off?  Pay off some bills?  Any of these choices could be good, in the proper context…but Joseph and Mary’s story shows us something that we need to consider.  We’re so used to getting into a crisis and asking God to fix it that we tend to forget that sometimes God prepares us financially before the need arises.

So if unexpected money shows up – a bonus, a raffle, a settlement, an inheritance – don’t give into the immediate urge to spend on something shiny.  God may have a different purpose on the horizon. 

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Pausing in the bitter moments

When we read the Bible, we have a tendency to read it too fast.  This happens a lot when reading the accounts of Jesus and His disciples or during any narrative portion of Scripture recounting historical actions and conversations.  Due to familiarity with the text and that we know where the story is going next, we run the risk of glossing over important details and poignant moments.  We forget that for the people we are reading about, this was once real life.  They weren’t privy to the next verse.  They were living their lives day-to-day, just like you and I do.

The moment I want to pause at is found in Matthew 26.  Early in the chapter, Jesus has His Last Supper with His disciples, and He revealed that one of them was going to betray Him.  As expected, everyone wanted to know who it was (especially making sure it wasn’t them!).  Later, when they are at the Mount of Olives, Jesus revealed even more of what was coming:

Matthew 26:31-35
Then Jesus said to them, “Tonight all of you will fall away because of me, for it is written:
I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.
But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

Peter told Him, “Even if everyone falls away because of you, I will never fall away.”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to him, “tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”
“Even if I have to die with you,” Peter told Him, “I will never deny you,” and all the disciples said the same thing.

Peter said this, but everyone else took the same vow.  Next, Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray.  You can read what He prayed in John 17, but the detail to note here is that Jesus separated from His disciples to pray…but took Peter, James, and John with Him.  He wanted to be with those He was closest to in His final hours.  Jesus asked that the three of them stay awake and pray while He wrestled with what God the Father would have Him do next.  But when He came back to them, they were asleep.  Waking them up, He specifically asked Peter – the one who promised undying support – “So, couldn’t you stay awake with me one hour?”  Jesus went back to pray and the scene played out two more times.  They couldn’t stay awake, despite Jesus’ need.  For a total of three times, Jesus’ inner circle failed Him this way.

Then Judas – the betrayer disciple – came to the garden with mob carrying swords and clubs.  When they took hold of Jesus, Peter drew his sword and hit a guy hard enough to whack off his ear.  But Jesus responded: “Put your sword back in its place because all who take up the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and He will provide me here and now with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then, would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?”  At this point, all the disciples deserted Him and ran away.

Peter escaped the arresting mob, but then hung back and followed them at a distance as they took Jesus to the high priest.  Peter was able to get inside the courtyard, but could go no further.  In Jerusalem, he was a fish out of water.  Peter was a rough fisherman from up north, in Galilee; and the sophisticated Jews of the south considered Galileans to be crude, unrefined hicks.  Peter would have to wait outside and among strangers to find out any news.  This is where we pick up the story:

Matthew 26:69-75
Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard.  A servant girl approached him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean too.”
But he denied it in front of everyone: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
When he had gone out to the gateway, another woman saw him and told those who were there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene!”
And again he denied it with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”
After a little while those standing there approached and said to Peter, “You really are one of them, since even your accent gives you away.”
Then he started to curse and to swear with an oath, “I don’t know the man!”  Immediately a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”  And he went outside and wept bitterly.

He wept bitterly.  Pause right there.  Put yourself in Peter’s sandals for a moment.  He had followed Jesus for 3+ years.  Peter was part of Jesus’ inner circle and the de facto leader of the disciples.  Just a few hours ago, he made a vow on his life that he would never deny who Jesus was and what He meant to him.  But what’s happened since Peter made that adamant vow?  Jesus rebuked him on three separate occasions…and then Peter vehemently denied even knowing who Jesus was – three times, just as Jesus predicted!  The last denial was a complete opposite of the vow he made to Jesus.  Don’t sugar-coat this part.  Him “cursing and swearing an oath” would have come across as something like: May God strike me dead if I’m lying, I don’t $%#@ know the man!  As soon as he said these words, the rooster crowed…

Don’t move on in the text just yet.  Stop and feel Peter’s shame.  Remember what it’s like to completely fail someone you love.  Over the last several hours, every action Peter took and every word Peter spoke was wrong.  He failed, spectacularly.  And as far as Peter can see, there is no chance for apology or restoration.  Peter is stuck, alone, and utterly disgusted with himself.  Now…we understand his bitter tears.

We have moments in life like Peter’s.  We’ve blown it so big that we don’t know how life can go on.  But just because Peter didn’t know the next verse doesn’t mean he would forever live in that shame-filled moment.  As we continue to read the Scriptures, we find that Jesus did restore Peter (John 21:15-19). 

By pausing and identifying with this part of Peter’s story, we find that it is an example – God can restore us, just like He restored Peter.  Even when the bitter tears we cry are completely our fault. 

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Flashback Favorite - Walk this way

We desire practical application. Learning new things is great…but our new knowledge isn’t useful until it is put into practice. Long-term investments are good…but only if there is a payout in the end. We also see this desire for practical application as we raise our children…we hope and pray that our parenting efforts produce healthy adults.

But when the “win” is achieved, who gets the credit?

Walk this way
originally posted on July 17, 2015

Spiritual gifts are meant to have physical impact.  God doesn’t give us grace, peace, wisdom, etc so that we can sit back and be comfortable.  Paul demonstrates this as he describes to the Colossians his prayer requests about them.  Look at the verses below and notice what Paul is requesting from God, but also look for why Paul wants God to give them these things:

Colossians 1:9-10
For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you.  We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.

Paul requested that God would fill the Colossians to the brim with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.  As comforting as that sounds, Paul expected that there would be a practical, physical result of these believers growing closer to God – namely, that their lives would begin to reflect their relationship with God.  To walk worthy of the Lord means that the believers in Colossae would conduct their lives in a way that would point to God and bring honor to Him. 

Shortly after my oldest son started his first job, I received an Instant Message from a co-worker I had never met.  Her message was both short and striking:

Good afternoon, I wanted to let you know that I met your oldest son today on my lunch break.  You should be very proud – he is a great young man.

After interacting with my son, she was so impressed with his conduct and helpfulness that she felt the need to seek out his father.  When our children follow through on the instruction we’ve given them, they bring recognition and a good reputation to our family name.  When we hear back from others – whether it is from people we know well, or from complete strangers – that our kids are making wise choices and are conducting themselves in this way, we receive honor as their parents.

The spiritual parallel is obvious.  Our walk and our fruit in every good work need to point others back toward our Heavenly Father.  Paul knows this, and as such, he prays that the Colossians may be filled with the knowledge of His will.  When we know God well, we know how to represent Him well – and those around us will take notice and seek the God we serve.

Paul’s desire for the believers in Colossae to walk worthy of the Lord mirrors what Jesus said during His sermon on the mount:

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Do others see our Father in heaven based upon how we walk through each day?  If not, what are we being filled with…the knowledge of His will or something else?

Keep Pressing,
Ken 

Flashback Favorite - Work and a hobo’s paradise

My job has been pretty demanding over the last few weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I like what I do. However, the pressure has been to the point that I’ve thought about retirement life and not having to deal with the constant responsibility, expectations, and problems.

I am many years away from retirement age, but we all have entertained the daydream of doing away with ‘work’ and somehow living the easy life. That’s when this previous lesson-learned comes to mind:

Work and a hobo’s paradise
Originally posted on May 16, 2019

The Big Rock Candy Mountain was a song made famous by Harry McClintock in 1928.  Every few years, it finds its way back into pop culture; with some versions a little more cleaned up than others.  The gist of the song is a hobo singing about his version of paradise – a land of ease, described in fanciful terms.  There are cigarette trees, lemonade springs, and hens that lay soft-boiled eggs.  The cops have wooden legs and bulldogs have rubber teeth, and if you happen to get caught doing something you shouldn’t, then don’t worry about it – because the jails are made of tin and you can leave just as soon as you get there.  I think my favorite line is hobo’s boast that in the Big Rock Candy Mountains “there’s a lake of stew and of whiskey too, you can paddle all around it in a big canoe.”

While it is a cute little song, no one would take it seriously when considering their eternal destiny.  However, there is one line in the song that stuck out to me when I first heard it.  Out of all the cartoonish imagery, there was one sentiment that made me think: “Wow.  That’s kinda funny and would be nice.”  Here’s the line:

I'm goin' to stay, where you sleep all day, where they hung the jerk, that invented work, in the Big Rock Candy Mountains.

Because work is…well, “work”…right?  It’s often a pain.  We view it as some “necessary evil” that we must endure because we like to eat food and have working light switches.  Given the choice between going to work and not going to work – I’m pretty sure that 99% of us would not go.  Throw in the idea that someone, somewhere may have invented the concept of work?  Yeah…nobody would care much for that guy.

But is work really our problem?  And who invented it, anyway?

I think most Christians and Jews would place the blame solely on Adam.  After he and Eve blew it, here’s what God had to say about Adam’s curse:

Genesis 3:17-19
And He said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:

The ground is cursed because of you.  You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. 
It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it.  For you are dust, and you will return to dust.

Adam and Eve sinned by eating – from here on, they would suffer in order to eat.  Notice that God didn’t hand out working assignments.  He didn’t have to explain what “work” was; instead, God said that work would now become painful labor.  While his efforts would be able to feed his family, Adam would have to contend with thorns and thistles.

We have to go a little further back in Adam and Eve’s story to find the origin of work:

Genesis 1:27-29, 2:15
So God created man in His own image;
He created him in the image of God;
He create them male and female

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.  Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”  God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree who fruit contains seed.  This will be food for you…

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.

To fulfill these directions from God, Adam and Eve would have to do some work!  But since this was before sin corrupted everything – including the ground – what do you think their work was like?  What would you do if all creatures and plants cooperated with you and your efforts? 

Don’t think of the garden of Eden as being a little vegetable plot.  This “garden” was more like an arboretum.  So in addition to their responsibility to rule over the world, Adam was also God’s official landscaper…and there wasn’t a weed, thistle, or thorn to be found.  Imagine what a master gardener could do if they didn’t have to fight off the weeds!

This was how paradise started – not with lakes of stew and all-day sleep-fests, but with Adam and Eve partnering with God.  They worked and managed creation.  They walked and talked with God.  The land readily produced food for them.

I look forward to the day when Paradise Lost becomes Paradise Restored.  In Eternity Future, we’ll be able to live and work without sin and selfishness thwarting our efforts.  Just like we were created to do.

Keep Pressing
Ken

When the house tears itself apart

I grew up in the Western US, in the Nevada desert.  When I was in my teens, my family realized there was something wrong with our house.  And by “something wrong” I mean something structurally wrong with our house.  There were large-gap cracks appearing in the sidewalk and our living room floor was bowing.  Turns out, one part of the house was slowly sinking, while another section, on the opposite side, was slowly drifting away. 

How could this happen?  Well, the first thing you have to understand about desert soil is that it is very alkaline and it swells when it gets wet.  While the soil in the rest of the US will act like a sponge and soak in any rainfall, the top layer of the desert soil tends to swell shut and not allow additional water to be absorbed.  This is why “flash floods” happen in the desert – too much rainfall too quickly, the top layer of dirt swells shut, and any remaining water rapidly moves to the lowest elevation point it can find.  After the rain evaporates in the desert heat, the ground contracts back to normal.

Further investigation of the cracks and shifts revealed that the house did not have a proper foundation.  Sure, there was a concrete slab and some footers, but not much else underneath.  The house was about 25-30 years old at the time, and who knows what zoning/building laws were in place (or just flat ignored) when it was built.  In any case, we had to do something, because after a couple of decades of the ground underneath settling and the surrounding topsoil being treated like an accordion, the lack of proper foundation meant that the ground was literally tearing our house apart.

This wasn’t something we could patch with plaster or pour concrete over.  Ultimately, the best way to fix the problem was to start over with a new, properly-laid foundation.  Now, it’s one thing to place a new foundation behind an existing house…but it’s a completely different operation to move a house from its current foundation on to the new one.  We brought in and moved into a single-wide trailer on our property.  Next, our home had to be gutted.  Everything was removed, even the bottom layer of sheetrock, exposing the wooden frame.  Then, enormous metal beams were run through the gutted lower layer.  The last step was to have the house picked up by the metal beams and moved to the new foundation.  (It was quite a sight to see my entire home “floating” in the air, being supported by jacks.)  Afterward, my dad rebuilt the gutted portions before we could move back in.

By way of correlation, the same thing can happen to how we interpret the Bible.  The best way to handle Scripture begins with Observation (What do I see?), moves to Interpretation (What does it mean?), and ends with Application (How does it work?).  To use my house analogy, Observation is the foundation, Interpretation is the structure, and Application is the furnishings that make the building useful.  However…no matter how pretty we make the Application, or how much we like the Interpretation, the whole structure will fall apart if the Observation-foundation is not solid.

Perhaps you’ve lived with a particular interpretation you were taught decades ago.  But, over the years, you noticed some cracks in that line of thinking.  Maybe you’ve found that those conclusions don’t quite “fit in” with other clear statements in Scripture or your experience in life.  It’s hard to change your mind when it’s something you’ve “known” for a long time, or if it was taught by someone you respect.  When we realize that our Application is off or our Interpretation doesn’t work, it’s time to take a hard look at our Observation-foundation.  Ultimately, we need to let Scripture speak for itself.

One of the most common mis-interpretations of the Bible comes with the word “save” or “salvation”.  A regularly quoted verse about salvation is found in Paul’s letter to the believers in Philippi:

Philippians 2:12-13
Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.  For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to His good purpose.

“See?” they say.  “In order to be saved from eternal damnation, you have work to do and God has work to do.  Our obedience proves that we’re working out of our ‘saved’ state.”

But if you compare this statement with Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus, you find:

Ephesians 2:8-9
For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is God’s gift – not from works, so that no one can boast.

So which is it, Paul?  Is eternal salvation proven by us working or is it God’s gift?  Many people try to reconcile these two verses by putting the “work” concept from Philippians into the “faith” concept found in Ephesians.  They would argue that you are saved by grace through faith [which is proven through your continued obedience and work]…the problem with this reconciliation attempt is that anything done as work automatically disqualifies the work-earnings from being called a gift (as Paul states in Romans 4:4-5). 

Notice the cracks in the interpretation structure here?  Does the house look/feel unsteady?  To really address this interpretation problem, we’re going to have to inspect our Observation-foundation.

Our problem stems from the assumption that every use of the word “save” or “salvation” in the Bible refers to being eternally saved from the consequences of our sin.  When, in fact, no Old Testament use of “save” means that, and less than half of the uses of “save” in the New Testament refer to our eternal salvation.  The other uses throughout the Bible refer to being delivered from enemies, or healed from sickness, or delivered from physical death, or other types of “rescue”…all of which can be determined by looking at the context where the word “save” is used.  Let’s be fair here…we do the same thing in English: I saved money.  I saved someone from choking.  I saved you when I gave you a ride after your car broke down.  Lots of saving here…but nothing pertaining to eternity.

If we take the same context-driven approach with our Bible reading, we find that in his letter to the believers in Philippi, Paul used the term “salvation” three times (Philippians 1:19, 1:28, 2:12).  In his chapter 1 uses, the context makes it clear that Paul is talking about an earthly rescue from earthly persecution.  In the verses surrounding 1:19, he talks about his own earthly rescue, and then in the following two uses (1:28, 2:12) Paul is using himself as a pattern for the Philippian believers to follow for their own escape from earthly persecution.

With this new, solid Observation-foundation, our interpretation changes when we read Philippians 2:12-13.  We find that this rescue-from-persecution interpretation is more consistent with the rest of the chapter.  We also realize that those verses are not in conflict with Ephesians 2:8-9, and there is no need to shoehorn one verse inside the other.  When our observations are solid, our interpretations become accurate, and our applications will be more useful.

The same thing happened when we moved our house.  Since there was a new foundation being laid…my dad took the opportunity to add a master bath and other improvements that made the home more pleasant and useful to live in.  However, these extra amenities would have been useless if we had not replaced the poorly-constructed foundation.

Whenever you find an apparent conflict between Bible passages, go back and look at the context.  Rarely does the same word mean the same thing every single time it is used.  Even if it means we need to gut and replace what we’ve been taught previously, we must let the Scriptures speak for themselves.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

I hate the Happy Birthday song

Is there anything more deflating at a birthday party than the actual singing of the Happy Birthday song? 

I don’t remember the last time I heard someone actually sing the song and sing it well.  Most of the time, “Happy Birthday” is performed as a group, completely off-key, with all the enthusiasm of a funeral dirge.  Go ahead and add your cha-cha-cha’s or silly second verse…but you won’t catch me singing along. 

But Ken…it’s TRADITION!
Well, sure…but that doesn’t mean it’s a GOOD tradition.

Before you call me too much of a party-pooper, here’s something that really takes the cake (…yes, pun intended): according to the CDC, singing “Happy Birthday” can be good for you.  Not because the song itself has any healthy, healing powers – but because the CDC wants you to wash your hands properly.

The CDC says you need to wash your hands with warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds.  Don’t want to count to 20?  Their suggestion is to sing “Happy Birthday”.  Twice.

For me, that’s just not going to happen.  I can barely tolerate the tune in its proper context, but to sing that song – TWICE – every time I wash my hands?  Nope, not happening.  Not a chance.

But if we’re going to make sure our hands are properly washed, we’ll need to come up with something better.  Here are a couple of suggestions:

Because I grew up in church, I’ve had multiple kids church songs burned into my brain.  One particular song was 1 John 4:7-8 set to music.  It takes about 25 seconds for me to sing through.  Now, I happened to learn it using the King James translation, so this is how it goes:

Beloved, let us love one another (love one another)
for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
He that loveth not, knoweth not God for God is love (God is love)
Beloved, let us love one another. 1 John 4:7-8

Pretty good 25 second reminder that God is love, He loves us, and because of that, we should love each other.  If I remind myself of this every time I wash my hands, that’s several mental resets I’ve suddenly placed into my day – before I put my contacts in, when I use the restroom before my next meeting, when I wash my hands before a meal…when I sing this tune, God can use each one of those transition moments to reframe my thinking.

Don’t know a verse set to music?  No problem – just recite verses that you know.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
(repeat 3x to get the full 20 seconds)

John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have eternal life.  For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that so the world may be saved through Him.
(repeat 2x to get the full 20 seconds)

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not give up.  Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.  For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.  So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
(repeat 1x to get the full 20 seconds)

Maybe you don’t know these verses from memory in order to say them while you wash your hands.  No worries!  Just recite what you can, and do it several times.  Trust me, a few days of you washing your hands and you’ll be surprised at how many verses you suddenly have memorized!

Lastly, feel free to take 20 seconds and talk to God.  Use your handwashing as a reminder of when you believed in Jesus for eternal life, He washed you clean from the eternal penalty of your sin (John 3:16).  Remember that as a child of God, He forgives us and cleans us from all wrong-doing when we confess our sins to Him (1 John 1:7, 9).  Ask Him to help you speak kindly during your next meeting.  Thank Him for available soap and running water.

There are many ways to fill 20 seconds of hand washing that are infinitely better than singing a tune that few people actually like.  It all depends on what you choose to fill the time with.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Dealing with gossips and trash-talkers

A couple of years ago, I engaged in what I would call “short-term mentoring” with a young man who was fresh out of college and just starting out in his career field.  We’d meet for coffee or food a couple of times, primarily so we could work through what he was experiencing as a Christian making the shift from the education world to the business world.  For some topics, he knew the right next steps – but just needed to talk through them out loud or bounce his ideas off of someone else.  For other topics, when he felt stumped, I would share my advice and experience.

One particular struggle was with a coworker who routinely bad-mouthed their other co-workers.  Can you believe so-and-so did that?  Watch out for them, they’ll serve you up to the boss in a heartbeat.  And that guy over there – laziest jerk in the company.  In my experience, there is always at least one person like this in any corporate setting, and sometimes this kind of behavior is throughout entire departments. 

But my friend felt stuck.  He was the new guy and because of their roles in the company, he worked with this individual all the time.  There was no “escaping” or “avoiding” the frequent negative attitude and gossip.  He didn’t want to talk trash on his other co-workers (that he just met and barely knew)…but he didn’t feel like he could look at this person and bluntly say “Thou shalt not gossip.”  He didn’t want to sour the relationship with someone he was required to work with, but he also didn’t want the other co-workers to think that he was gossiping and talking trash about them.

While the Bible does talk about the dangers and difficulties of gossip, most of the time it simply acknowledges that it exists and warns of the trouble it causes.  You won’t find direction on how to stop others from doing it.  It seems that God is much more concerned with what you do with gossip instead of deputizing you to become the gossip police.

Solomon addressed gossipy situations many times in his collection of Proverbs, for example:

Proverbs 11:12
Whoever shows contempt for his neighbor lacks sense,
but a person with understanding keeps silent.

Proverbs 20:19
The one who reveals secrets is a constant gossip;
avoid someone with a big mouth.

Proverbs 26:20
Without wood, fire goes out;
without a gossip, conflict dies down.

These proverbs give us three good options when we’re faced with someone who wants to spread rumors or talk trash: keep quiet, avoid the person, or don’t participate.

When I was talking through my friend’s situation at work, we agreed that the first two were not really options for him…since the person was someone he had to regularly work with.  So my advice focused on the last proverb’s point – that when his co-worker came to him with rumors or would bad-mouth their other co-workers, he did not have to accept the invitation to participate.  A couple of examples:

Hey, did you hear about so-and-so?  They got in trouble with the boss today…
I heard something happened, but I wasn’t involved.  If I need to be, I’m sure they’ll let me know.

Watch out, that lady will always stab you in the back.
I’ll keep that in mind, but that hasn’t been my experience with her.  Maybe she was having a bad day.

That guy is the laziest jerk in the department.  He never gets his reports done on time and his work is always sloppy.
Are you sure?  The last time I worked with him on a project, it went fine.

The main thing about these responses is that they do not pile on to what the gossiper was saying.  Maybe there is some truth to what they are complaining about, but “always” and “never” are rarely accurate labels.  It does no good to add fuel to the fire, and when we choose to not participate, conflict dies down.

The last point I made to my friend was that if he was able to consistently avoid gossip participation – if he politely refuted “always/never” or changed the subject to a relevant work matter – then eventually the person will stop bringing the gossip to him.  He’s no fun if he won’t gossip, too.  His consistency will be noticed by his other co-workers, as well.

Keep Pressing,
Ken