Category Lifestyle

Jul 8 2021

Halfway

Bon Jovi probably has the best line using the word halfway. In his song “Livin’ on a Prayer” he tells of Tommy and Gina trying to make their love last. In the chorus – in a melodic scream he shouts:

“Woah, we’re halfway there
Woah, livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand, we’ll make it I swear
Woah, livin’ on a prayer”

Technically, July 2 is halfway through the year. Midway between two points in time on a calendar.

So here we sit, a little over halfway through the year. Let me just stop and ask – how are you doing?

At the beginning of 2021, I made 9 commitments, what some people call resolutions, to do every single day of the year culminating in a desired result by the end of 2021.

My commitments were as follows:

  1. Weigh under 250 lbs by the end of the year
  2. Read 25 books (keep list, reviews)
  3. Be happy
  4. Cumulative 500 miles by the end of the year
  5. Pray Daily
  6. Read Bible Daily
  7. Read Other book daily
  8. No more than two Diet DPs a day
  9. Drink a gallon of water a day

I have my reason for each of these. Let me take a moment and walk you through each of them, why I chose them, and how i’m doing on each one. I do this just to help hold me accountable.

Commitment – Weigh under 250 lbs by the end of the year

Why I chose this – Well, who doesn’t want to have a weight loss goal right? Before I moved to Huntsville, I weighed 315 pounds. Then, my brother passed away from a combination of heart problems, sleep apnea, poor health, and more than likely obesity. He had shed quite a few pounds before he died, but the effects of poor decisions took it’s toll on him. So I decided it was time to take it seriously.

I got down to 267 pounds doing strict keto. Then at Thanksgiving/Christmas, I dropped the Keto in exchange for holiday sweets and treats. I got back up to 287 pounds. For those of you who struggle with weight problems, you know it’s an ongoing battle that never goes away. So I made it a commitment for 2021. I was going to achieve a very reasonable 40 pound loss, in a matter of a year. My doctor helped me make a few changes, I went to eating 2200 calories a day, tracking everything on My Fitness Pal, and exercising (see below).

For my weight – i’m measuring in inches my waist, belly, chest, and neck, and then also pounds. I do this only once a month, usually around the 5th or 6th of the month.

How am I doing? I’m happy to say that as of the time of writing, it was time for my measurement day.

My measurements thus far:
– Neck – I’ve lost 1″
– Chest – I’ve lost 2.75″
– Belly – I’ve lost 3.5″
– Hips – I’ve lost 1.5″
– Weight – I’ve lost 19 lbs (since March 2). That puts me at 268, which is right at where I was before I put the weight back on. While 250 is the goal by the end of the year, the ultimate goal is under 225. For a guy that is 6’2″, I think that’s pretty okay.

Commitment: Read 25 books (keep list, reviews)

Why I chose this: I’ve always had a hard time finding good books to read, unless they were Calvin and Hobbes or Far Side comic strips. I wanted to challenge myself on reading some good books, providing reviews for them, and telling people when I’ve found a good one.

How am I doing? I started my 13th book yesterday. I’m right on pace.

Commitment: Be happy

Why I chose this: You know what? Sometimes, I need to choose to do this.

How am I doing? At the end of each day, I evaluate all I did and I write down something that either made me happy, something that I should have found happiness in, or I’ll be brutally honest and gripe about how I did not find happiness.

Commitment: Cumulative 500 miles by the end of the year

Why I chose this: I’ve never ever enjoyed running or walking or anything in between. I’ve had what you may call
“laziness” and I was sick and tired of it. Plus I knew if I was ever going to get to the 250 pounds, I’d have to exercise.

How am I doing? Just a few days past the halfway mark for the year, I hit 247 miles. I try to get at least 2 miles in 5 days a week. It was a bit harder through the winter.


Commitment: Pray Daily

Why I chose this: I found myself only praying corporate prayers at church, in classes, or at meal times. I was struggling in my prayer life.

How am I doing? I have kept a journal every day in 2021 of my prayer life. Some days it’s marked down as “Prayed on my walk tonight” and some days it’s a journal entry. I’ve made it every day but one.


Commitment: Read Bible Daily

Why I chose this: Here’s another confession. I’m not confident I’ve ever read the Bible completely all the way through. I’m pretty sure I’ve read most of it during my 43 years of church, bible classes in elementary school, high school, college, while teaching Bible, and then while doing ministry. But I’ve never made it a goal to read my bible daily.

How am I doing? Excellent. I’ve learned you don’t have to do marathon readings of Scripture. You don’t have to “read the Bible through in a year” for it to count. Nope – at least a chapter a day was my goal. Thus far, i’m nailing that one.


Commitment: Read Other book daily

Why I chose this: In order to hit my 25 books by the end of the year, I knew I’d have to read daily.

How am I doing? Excellent. I have successfully read every day this year something other than the Bible as well as read my Bible. Most days I aim for a chapter, but some days, it’s only a few pages. Either way, it’s something that is stimulating my mind.


Commitment: No more than two Diet Dr. Peppers a day

Why I chose this: I have a major addiction. One of the reasons I have never touched alcohol is because I know I’d be an alcoholic. I would drink daily. I know some of you may think that 2 Diet Dr. Peppers a day is still a lot. Well that depends on how you look at it.

How am I doing? Not very well. I’ll leave it at that. I still have a long way to go. Sadly, I’m often not even “halfway there.”


Commitment: Drink a gallon of water a day

Why I chose this: Initially, I chose this because I thought if I did this, i’d be less inclined to drink Diet Dr. Peppers. I was wrong.

How am I doing? Just okay. I do start every morning with 12-16 ounces of water before doing anything else. There are some days I hit about 30 ounces. But reaching 64 ounces daily has not happened but maybe a few times. Who has time to drink all that water when i’m busy drinking Diet Dr. Pepper?

Jan 13 2020

The Art of Letting Go

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Not too long ago, a small Japanese woman took the world by storm, all due to a book she had written “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.”

What is the art of tidying up?  In a nutshell, it’s de-cluttering your home and living a more minimal lifestyle.  It’s a way of organizing, sorting, cleaning, and discarding things in your home. 

She has very simple rules of “tidying” up. The most important one – Ask yourself if it sparks joy.

This idea has moved people to start cleaning out their closets, drawers, garages, attics – and getting rid of things in their lives that no longer spark joy.

However, Marie Kondo isn’t the first person to suggest we let go of things and move on.  In essence, she’s telling you what God has been trying to tell us for generations – and that is to let go.

I think there’s a vast spiritual connection here. If our body is the temple of the Lord, what kind of environment have we created for Him inside of us?

I think a lot of us may be good at keeping house, looking like we have it all together on the outside – but what about the inside? Is it full of clutter and mess?  Or is it a home that allows God to have space to work, create, and thrive inside of us?

The bible teaches us that if we want to be followers of Christ, that we have to repent, be baptized, and live our lives for Him. 

When we repent – we decide that we no longer want to live the way we are living in sin, and we are going to turn away from the lifestyle of the world.  Or, we’re going to get rid of things that clutter our lives.

When we are baptized – we start over, with a clean slate. We’ve allowed Jesus to cleanse us, to get rid of all the mess inside. It’s a new start.

Problem is – over a lifetime, we accumulate things we just aren’t sure we can get rid of.

When we did our own version of Marie Kondo’s Tidying Up, I found myself staring at 50+ items of clothing in my closet.  I pulled it all out and went through each item.  After I went through everything, I realized my “let go” pile was still awfully small. 

But why?  Why are we so hesitant to let go of things?  Maybe you spent a lot of money on something.  Maybe it holds sentimental value.  Maybe you just really like it.  Whatever the case may be, we have a hard time letting go.  We almost need someone to come in and say “It’s just stuff. It’s okay to let it go.”

We struggle the same way with the clutter in our lives.  This is where our relationship with God comes in.  We need HIS help to let go.  We need HIS help to come in and make us clean.  We can’t purge all the sin in our life without Him.

What ends up happening a lot of times when we de-clutter our homes, is that we get rid of some things, and then we end up going out and replacing all those things we just got rid of with more things. 

We do that with our spiritual lives as well.   We tend to go out and replace our sin with more sin.  But, with God’s help – we can keep this temple holy and clean.

Have you ever watched an episode of Hoarders on television?  This show often depicts a very serious psychological problem of people who cling to stuff for some reason or another.  And I’m not just talking about too many books for their shelves or too many clothes for their drawers.  They have so many possessions, they don’t have anywhere for them.  They end up stacking boxes on top of boxes, on top of trash, on top of clothes, and so on.

We look at these things with disgust – and we can’t imagine living in such filth, such disrepair, such chaos.


But I wonder, if the Holy Spirit living inside of you could show you what your mind looks like – would it represent a heart that had been tidied up like a Marie Kondo home, or a spirit filled with possessions like an episode of Hoarders?

The bible tells us over and over again to take our burdens, our worries, our struggles, our sins – and place them at the feet of Jesus.  To allow Jesus to take control of this body, heart, soul, mind – and purify us as only He can.

Psalm 55:22 tells us to “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you.”

Matthew 11:28 tells us to “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and he will give us rest.”

Isaiah 41:13 says “For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you ‘Fear not, I will help you.”

I Peter 5:6-7 says “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care on Him, for He cares for you.”

Isaiah 46:4 says “Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry and will deliver you.”

For some reason, we like to hold on to as much as we can, instead of letting our Almighty Creator bear our burdens for us.  We cram all of this junk into our hearts, we let it clutter our spirit, and before long, we can’t make sense of any of it.  But it’s time to let it go.

It’s time to start tidying up. It’s time to make room for Christ to work in your heart, instead of letting your fears, anxieties, worries, struggles, troubles – take up all the room and occupy a place in your head.

Here’s what you do.  Get into the routine of praying this prayer:  “Lord, anything that comes near me that can harm me, hurt me, cause anxiety, and the like – I’m just going to lay it at your feet and let you deal with it instead of bringing it into the house and letting it take up unnecessary space.”

Jan 1 2020

3 Ways to Be A Better Disciple of Jesus in 2020

3 Ways

We all try our best to either start or stop something when a new year arrives.  I’m not sure what it is about the date changing that causes us to intentionally focus on doing something new with our lives, but I’m glad it gives us a time to reflect and challenge ourselves to a new path.

In 2020 – what would it look like if you decided to take the calling of Jesus more seriously?

When Jesus went home to the Father to go and prepare a place for us – He gave us a task that is deeply intimate and personal.  He asked us to live a life like His, where we create relationships that are based on the relationships that He had with His disciples.  He asked us to teach others about Him, to teach them everything He had taught us, to live like He had lived here on this earth.

For too long, the church has not focused on teaching this idea.  The church has focused on growth through baptism, through adding numbers, through programs, by offering benevolence – and while all these things are wonderful things that should indeed happen – we’re missing out on one key component: being a disciple.

You are a follower of Jesus.  And when you put on Christ in baptism, it is so much more than just being forgiven of your sins.  You have decided to go on a new adventure where you put Christ at the front of every decision you make.

Here are 3 ways to be a better disciple of Jesus in 2020:

  1. Live like Jesus.

    How did Jesus live His life?  With purpose, with His eye focused on the goal.  He lived His life knowing that He had a job to do for all mankind.  He was going to go to the cross.

    You have a purpose as well.  You have a task of telling others about Jesus.

    You live your life like Jesus lived His – with intentionality.  Everything he did, He knew was a reflection of the Father.  The way he interacted with strangers and friends alike demonstrated that He was the Son of God.  Since we are part of God’s family, and since He is our Father, shouldn’t we do the same?

  2. Look like Jesus.

    What does it mean to look like Jesus?

    I know Jesus got angry when He overturned the tables in the temple – but He did that because of how it was offensive to God that people were turning the temple into a place full of corruption.

    What does it look like when you defend God?  What does it look like when you live like the Son?

    Be consistent.  Be disciplined.  Be focused.  Live your life so that people see the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in you by your actions.

    The old saying of “What would Jesus do?” works very well here – but replace it with this: will others see Jesus in this action?  If the answer is no, perhaps you should rethink what you’re doing.

    When people see you – do they see Jesus?

  3. Love like Jesus.

    Ephesians 5:2 tells us this: “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” (NLT)

    It looks like in order to love like Jesus, we simply follow His example.  Christ did this best when he told us to love our enemies.  In our world today – this probably looks like praying and loving those who have it out for us, who gossip about us, who spread rumors about us.  But it also means praying for those who don’t look like us, sound like us, or act like us.

    How better to love each other than in a year of political strife, campaigning, and fighting – you resolve to not look at whether or not people are in a red state or blue state, but instead examine their spiritual state.  Love conquers all.

Dec 18 2019

One of the Only Guaranteed Things in Life…

cloud-transformation-changes

Changes.  They happen.  I guarantee it.  Changes happen, regardless of whether we want them to or not.

Recently, I’ve gone through some changes.

First – my family and I made a move from Tampa, FL to Huntsville, AL.

Second – I got out of full time preaching ministry, and took a job as a Discipling and Associate minister.

Third – I went off some major medication.

Fourth – I lost something.

Now, let’s discuss these changes real quick.  Back in March of 2015, we moved to Tampa, FL from Nashville, TN to preach for the Northwest Tampa Church of Christ.  My time there was both a blessing and a hardship.  I will admit, I had a hard time there.  It was far from my family.  It was not the “Bible Belt” that I was used to.  It didn’t have the traditional southern charm we grew up with in my family.  But for 4.5 years, I worked with some great families in my church, and we miss our small group terribly.  There were some great folks in there, even though one of them did ruin my birthday cake by putting turnip greens into some cupcakes…but that’s for another time.

We were not looking to move – but an opportunity landed in my life that I felt was directly from God.  I was invited to work with the Mayfair Church of Christ and to serve on their leadership team as their discipleship minister.  I began that job in October, and it has been the greatest blessing of my life to work alongside the best ministry staff in the world.

At the same time, my wife was able to secure a teaching job at Madison Academy.

When we started to make this transition, I decided to go off some medication.  I hesitate to write about this, because it is deeply personal, but I feel like it could help someone in the future.  In August of 2017, due to some situations that had occurred in my life, my doctor thought it was best, after visiting with a counselor, to go on some anxiety medication.

I remember when I took the first pill, I didn’t know what to expect.  From my time in teaching and youth ministry, I was expecting to zone out – but what happened was exactly the opposite.  The things I worried about, struggled with, things I couldn’t let go of – I was now able to deal with them.  Things that got shut me down didn’t anymore.  Situations I didn’t want to face were no longer a problem.

Lack of encouragement was a real motivator behind going on the medication.  A person can only go so far without it, and was really struggling.  While the medication did not provide “encouragement” it did provide the ability to see beyond it, to compartmentalize things, to move forward.

On Sunday, December 15, I took my last pill.  I no longer need it.  I have been encouraged and uplifted here and that was a MAJOR factor in being able to move past the pills.

Another major change has been something I’ve lost.  Since August 7, 2019, I have been on the Keto Diet.  I used to laugh at folks who did the diet.  I couldn’t understand why people would want to restrict themselves.  How can you give up potatoes and rice and chips?

Earlier this summer before all the changes began – I ballooned up to 315 pounds.  It was officially the heaviest I’ve ever been.  I was miserable.  I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea.  I was in a bad place.  When my wife and daughter moved to Huntsville ahead of me to start school, I began doing the Keto diet.  No more than 30 carbs a day, try to keep under 1600 calories a day, and lo and behold, the weight started to come off.

I wasn’t able to weigh myself over the past few months since we’ve been staying with my in-laws with all of our possessions in storage.  So this past weekend, when we finally closed on our new house and moved in, I was able to find the scales.

I’m down to 275.  40 pounds gone.  And it feels wonderful.  I still have a long way to go.  But I feel so good.  I’m not bloated, no upset stomach, food is no longer a major motivator in my life.  I can bend over and tie my shoes without struggling.  I’ve struggled with weight most of my adult life.  I know that dieting is not a fleeting moment, but rather, a lifestyle change.

I say these things to motivate you.  To encourage you.  If you think you may need medications for anxiety, depression, etc. – don’t wait.  Go see a doctor today.  If you need to lose weight, don’t put it off.  There’s no time like the present.  I know, I know, the holidays are coming up, so you’ll “start it in the new year.”  No, you probably won’t.  Sure you may go and buy what you need and plan on it, but if you wait, there’s always an event coming up that you don’t want to miss.  I did TWO THANKSGIVING MEALS and DID NOT CHEAT!  Christmas is coming, and I’ll again do the same.

Finally – I’ve moved my blog to this new site – http://www.ministerlane.com – with hopes of having a more regular presence once again.

Jul 29 2013

The One Where I Say Its Okay To Send Your Child To School

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EDIT:  Due to my inability to think through things and my lack of not properly proofreading and editing – I need to add a disclaimer – my church is a wonderful church, and pays me more than well enough to do all we need to do and more.  Some of you may misunderstand my purpose behind this post, so let me make it perfectly clear – this is a post that is trying to let you know its  okay to send your child to public school.  I know many who struggle with this decision, and its a hard one.

My parents sacrificed A LOT to send all three of us (my brother and sister) to a Christian school.  I’m better for it.  I hope in the future we will be able to send our child to a Christian school.  But for those of you who struggle with sending your child to a public school – I want you to know from this post – that its okay.

I have rewritten this post to emphasize my point  – which is, we should take every opportunity to share the message of Christ with people we come in contact with.  99% of the comments I have received on this post have been very, very positive.

I just did not want this post to reflect poorly on my wonderful church family or elders – who take care of us beyond imagination.  After re-reading this post, I felt like it might be best to say that, and to edit it.  Note to self … ALWAYS EDIT and PROOF!

Begin post:

On Thursday, August 1, 2013 my 5 year old daughter will start Kindergarten.

I don’t know if you all realize how big of a deal this is – Kindergarten!  It seems like she just learned how to say her first word, use the potty, sleep in a big girl bed, eat with a fork, and all the other simple things you learn in the first few years of life.

She’ll be dropped off on Thursday morning for a half day here in Davidson County, and I know when my wife drops her off, she’ll be bawling for the next few hours.  She is, after all, our little girl.  She’s the only one we have.  She means the world to us.

But I have to stop and tell you something.  I’m not scared at all.  We’ve done what we can in these first five years to prepare her for this moment.  And now, its time for her to grow some more.  The hardest time I’m going to have over the next few weeks/months/years is reading about whether or not we should have put her in public schools.

You have to understand, we are a blended family.  Not only am I an Alabama fan and my father in law is an Auburn Alumnus, but I grew up in Christian education, and my wife didn’t have that until she went to college.  From Kindergarten till the day I walked across the stage at Friendship Christian School in May of 1996, I went to the same Christian School, followed immediately by 5 years at a Christian college.

When we moved to Nashville, people told us that Davidson County schools were awful.  We were told to live in Williamson County, but it is getting further away from our church family, and we don’t want that.

So we’re happily sending our child to the public school near our home.  (For security’s sake, I will not disclose what school our child will be attending.)

I simply don’t know what to expect.

Now,I am going to have people reading on Facebook, Twitter, news channels, family events, and other various venues, telling me I should have homeschooled my child.

Understand this – I have nothing against those of you who have chosen to do this.  If you have the knowledge, the means, and the ability to do this, more power to you.  But I believe there is a reason why there’s an old saying that goes “It takes a village….”  I have minister friends, church friends, and family that homeschool.  I respect them beyond imagination.  But homeschooling is not right for us.

My wife is the product of public schools, and I think she did just fine – going to college on an athletic scholarship and graduating with a nearly perfect GPA.  In fact, she finished a lot better GPA than me, the product of the Christian School.

I’m not scared to send my child to school.  She knows God, she knows what is right, she knows how to be a good influence, and she knows that there are people out there who don’t believe in God – and she’s prayed for them.  No, I’m not saying she’s a little missionary, but she has a heart for God that I didn’t have when I was 5.  She will have a chance to influence the boys and girls in her school for God.

On top of that,  we live out of the area where many of our church family goes to school.   We will be in a school where we know absolutely no one.

We’ll be going to parent meetings, teacher meetings, and school events in a place where there will be a great opportunity to share the love of Christ through our love and actions.  Sure, it would be easier to send my child somewhere where I knew the people, and felt more comfortable, but that would take away a great ministry opportunity God has put before me.

I’m not certain why some people are so afraid of sending their children to  school.  We can’t keep them in a bubble forever.  The world is changing, and I want my child to know what she’s up against.

Many of you who are hardcore homeschool advocates won’t understand this.  I have family members who homeschool that won’t understand this.  Is there a potential for her little mind to be scarred by things she wouldn’t see if she stayed at home everyday?  Sure.  But she’s going to experience the world one day, and I would much rather be in control of it now at the age of 5 when she heads off to college at 18.

On top of these things – know this:  I know that God is with her.  I believe in prayer.  I will pray for her daily.  My wife will pray for her daily.  With confidence, we will be able to send her off to school to learn, play, and become assimilated with society – and we will still be in control of her every step of the way.  If the school teaches something we disagree with, that’s fine.  Because we’ll still be teaching her at home, and still be teaching her at church.

So many who homeschool say the problem is that they have no control over what they are taught.  I don’t plan on just turning my child over to the system and then check back in with her every May at the end of the school year.  We will go over things.  We’ll discuss things.  We’ll take time to teach alternative things to evolution and liberal government.

I’m not scared.  I’m proud.  I’m proud of who my little girl has grown up to be in these short 5 years.  I know God will take care of her.  May God bless all our children as they start school over the next few weeks.

Jan 14 2013

The Parable of the Sower (From my series entitled “Once Upon a Time: Lessons from the Master Storyteller”)

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Sunday, we began our new series on the study of the parables.  We began with the “Power” parables from Matthew 13, the first of which is the parable of “The Sower.”  It goes like this, from Matthew 13:1-9 – 

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

What a great way to start this chapter.  I can easily envision Jesus sitting down on the boat, with no notes at all, looking out in the fields and seeing a farmer doing the very thing he speaks about.  No machines, no tractors, just a bag of seed and a farmer, spreading the seed around his beloved fields.

The farmer is Jesus – and one thing that I quickly notice is that he did not discriminate where the seed was thrown.  If we are to be sowers like Jesus, we need to realize first and foremost that it is not our responsibility to determine whether or not the soil is fertile.  We just need to plant the seeds.

There is a lot of power in a seed.  Such a small item can grow to produce might trees, taller than buildings, stronger than man made items, that produce life and fruit.  There is no problem in the seed that is being thrown, nor in the one sowing the seed.

The problem lies in the soil.  

Many of us as Christians automatically assume since we’ve given our lives to Christ, that we must indeed be the good soil, but I don’t necessarily think that is true.  I believe all of us at one point or another in our lives have evidence of there being a layer of hard soil, rocky soil, thorny soil, and the good soil.

The hard soil is a soil that has been packed down, worn as people and animals have walked on it over an over again.  The seed lands on it, but has no chance at all to dig and grab hold of anything.  Before it has a chance, its taken away by the evil one.

The rocky soil is perplexing.  It looks like normal, good soil.  However, a few inches below lies the rocky layer.  A seed can begin to grow, and even become a sizable plant, but its roots never fully plunge beneath the surface.  We have some woods in our back yard, and the other day I was able to pull an eight foot tall tree right out of the ground, roots and all.  It looked like a tree that was developing, but really, it was just growing on the surface.  It had no chance to survive.

The thorny soil (or weeds) also pose an interesting dilemma for us.  All of us worry about things – but many of us allow the worry to choke out the spiritual.  We let the worry of where our next mortgage payment will come from choke out the blessings that God promised us.  In Matthew 6, Jesus reminded us that if God will take care of the birds and the flowers, will He not take care of us as well?

And finally – the good soil.  We can’t just assume because we’re going to church and living a Christian life that it means we’re automatically part of this good soil.  Good soil allows a seed to grow, take root, and produce fruit.  If we look at the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control), and we’re not producing these things, maybe we’re not quite the good soil we think we are.

Lord, make all of our hearts good soil!

 

Nov 21 2011

Don’t Be So Hard on Them

I’ve been a daddy for almost 3 1/2 years now. For most of that time, I’ve probably been way to hard on my little girl.

I need to realize that my child is not 33 years old like me. She can’t comprehend all the things I ask her to do. She doesn’t quite understand the principle of cause and effect. She doesn’t quite see that what we tell her is for her own good, and not for our entertainment.

I’ve always been overprotective of things. I never wanted our family dog to wander too far away from my sight when I was a kid. When other parents are a little more carefree than I am, I seem to be the one making sure they don’t break their leg while trying to balance on an upside down chair while doing a one handed hand stand. While other parents may be able to look past these things, I seem to be the one who is worried all the time that my child will run under some elderly person at church and cause them to break a hip.

This morning, I realized I was robbing my child of joy. I went home for an early lunch of pb & j, and while I was eating she kept telling me “Daddy, watch me!” and she would jump as high as she could on the rug in our living room. After about 4 attempts at trying to jump over the rug, I told her to stop. She was shaking the whole house, and I could just see something falling over and breaking.

While Kristen and I were talking, I heard that familiar sound of those feet landing on the floor again…and I reacted quickly. I went to her and said “Daddy asked you to stop jumping in the house” and gave her the stern look that is supposed to work but never does. She looked at me and gave me a frown, and walked away. I took away her joy.

I think there’s a fine line between letting a child have fun and letting a child run wild. I’m always very aware at church service not to let her run too wild. But what’s wrong with her jumping in the house? Not a thing at all. Relax Lane, its just a little girl jumping with all her might. She’s having fun. Lighten up a little, and maybe she’ll see you for the fun guy you really are instead of the grumpy old troll who lives under the bridge. Jump as high as those little legs will let you!

And if you break something, let’s blame mom.

Jul 26 2011

Love Without Limits

Recently, my grandfather passed away.  While at the visitation and the funeral, gathered around family, we were all reminded that he never had anything negative to say about others.  He didn’t speak in an angry way.  He loved life and loved others.  This was an excellent lesson he taught us, but one that Jesus taught as well.

Its easy to love people who treat you well.  However, how do you love someone who doesn’t treat you well?  The kid in school who makes fun of you?  The boss who takes credit for your work, or blames you for things going wrong?  Those people are a bit harder to love.

Jesus tells the Pharisees in Matthew 5:43-48 they are to love their neighbor, but also love their enemy.  The King James goes on to say “bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”  We know Jesus wants us to love our neighbor, that’s for sure.  He tells us over and over again.  However, the Jewish Rabbis taught that their “neighbor” only applied to fellow Jews.  This worked out well because the Jews pretty much hated everyone else.  The Romans actually accused and charged the Jews with hatred of the human race.

The problem is that the Old Testament, or no where in the Bible in fact, tells us to hate our enemies.  There are places in the Old Testament where God hates evil, and may not care for the evildoer, but he never commands his people to hate their enemies.  We are to shower them with unconditional kindness.

I heard a story about Wade Boggs, former third baseman for the Boston Red Sox.  He hated playing at  Yankee Stadium while playing for Boston, not because of the Yankees but because of one particular fan.  This fan would heckle him, yell out insults and profanities.  One day, Boggs had listened to this enough.  He walked over to the area where this guy was, looked at him, and asked “Are you the guy that is always yelling at me?”.  The fan responded “Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?”

Wade Boggs took a new baseball, signed it, and threw it up for the guy to have.  The guy never heckled Boggs again.  In fact, he became one of his biggest supporters.

That’s what we are urged to do with our enemies.  Find a way to show them love, especially the love of Christ in all we do.  God is going to bless everyone on this earth, whether they believe in him or not.  He sends the rain and the sun to bless even his enemies by common grace (vs 45).  We need to love people without discrimination like God loves us.  We also need to love our enemies because we need to show there is no greater love than Christian love.

Jun 28 2011

To Tell the Truth

Paul Harvey told a story that I remember my dad using in sermon illustrations as a child.  Four teenage boys were late to school one morning because they were goofing off and having fun.  They walked into their first period class with about 5 minutes left, and solemnly told the teacher that they were sorry they were late, and that they had stopped to change a flat tire.  The teacher looked at them and smiled sympathetically, and said it was too bad they were late, because they had missed a test.  However, she was willing to let them make it up.  She asked the boys to go to the four corners of the room, and she handed them each a blank piece of paper.  She told them the make up test consisted of one question, and if they got it right, they would pass the test.  The teacher then asked the question – “Which tire was flat?”

Jesus commands us to be truthful.  In Matthew 5:37, he says to let our yes be yes and our no be no.  In the preceding verses, he has told the Pharisees to stop their complex system of swearing and making oaths, because they were time and time again finding loopholes to get out of them.  For example, if you swore by Jerusalem, it was not binding, but if you swore towards Jerusalem, it was not binding.  This was not based on any law God had made, but again, it was a loophole they had created for themselves to get out of keeping their word.  They had a whole system that allowed and rewarded dishonesty.

We do this time and time again.  We say that we’ll pray for someone, and we never intend on doing it.  We say we’ll be there for a person, but when push comes to shove, other things are more important.  We do what we can to sell ourselves as true Christians, but when faced with actually doing it, we get out of it by creating our own loophole.

Jesus is encouraging us at this point to live a life that we would not be ashamed of in any way, especially in our speech.  Live a life so that if all the things you said and did were being written down, you wouldn’t have any problem with someone going back and reading it.  Do you think that would drastically change your speech?  Ephesians 4:25 tells us that we shouldn’t lie to each other, especially because we’re all in this world together, and we should work together for the good of the Kingdom, not against each other.  Colossians 3:9 tells us not to lie to each other because when we became Christians, we put that lifestyle behind us.

Its also not enough just to tell the truth, we must be truthful in our actions as well.  Our actions must match our language.  Otherwise, we lack the integrity to back up the truth we speak.  Nothing can be more powerful than when the world hears a Word of truth lived out in our lives.  The words you speak are amplified by the life you live.

Ultimately, we walk in truth if we walk in the path of God.  Every time God spoke it was truth.  Everything Jesus said and did, it was truth.  If we are made in his image, and we are to strive to live like Jesus, shouldn’t we do the same?