Will the Real-Life Dad Stand Up

/1 Comment/in , , , /by

The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place. Deut 1:30-31

Who’s your favorite TV dad? The more seasoned TV watchers may come up with Jim Anderson of Father Knows Best or Ward Cleaver of Leave it to Beaver. Maybe you prefer the more unconventional dads such as Homer Simpson (The Simpsons), Phil Dunphy (Modern Family), Jack Pearson (This is Us), or Dan Conner (Roseanne and The Conners). Hollywood movies and Broadway plays have had their famous dads but somehow TV allows us to invite those dads into our homes weekly, where we can get to know them intimately. TV dads have been a staple within our homes since 1947 when Mary Kay and Johnny became the first sitcom broadcast in the United States.

TV allows us to sit under the words of wisdom that folksy Sheriff Andy Taylor shares with his son Opie while keeping the city of Mayberry safe, optimistic and fun-loving Herman Munster and his unorthodox family or Howard Cunningham as he deals with the unpredictable but lovable Fonzie. TV dads have been portrayed across a spectrum of personalities, characters, and mannerisms. However, the one thing all TV dads have in common, they are acting. Unfortunately, real-life dads don’t get a script nor are they able to walk off the set at the end of filming.

Father’s Day is a great opportunity to focus on the importance of real-life Fathers. Somewhere along the way, TV dads moved from the steady, even-tempered Jim Anderson of Father Knows Best and the homespun wisdom of Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffin Show to the bumbling and inept dads featured in many modern sitcoms. The American Psychological Association in a 2021 study found a marked trend among top-rated, family-centered sitcoms from 1980 to 2017 showing fathers as “humorously foolish, showing poor judgment, being incompetent or acting childishly.”

A U.S. Census Bureau report shows 1 out of 4 children live without a biological, step, or adoptive father in the home. Now not all of those 1 out of 4 dads chose to walk off the “set” but because of death or some other heartbreaking reason, they had to. Some of these homes probably shouldn’t be labeled fatherless since they have a father’s presence just in a different format. Yet for those truly fatherless homes, it has required a lot of brave Moms to start reading two scripts for the sake of their children.

The National Fatherhood Initiative labeled their findings as The Father Absence Crisis in America. Among some of the findings, fatherless homes result in 4x greater risk of poverty, 2x greater risk of infant mortality, 2x more likely to commit crime, 7x more likely to face abuse and neglect, 7x more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, and 2x more likely to drop out of school. (Father Facts: Eighth Edition.)

Father’s Day is an excellent opportunity to refocus on God’s understanding and not on media entertainment’s portrayal of fathers.  God designed the role of father and mother with great consideration. “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.”  Psalm 103:13

God understood the importance of learning. “Listen, my son (daughter), to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.” (Prov 1:8)

God understood the importance of home stability by including “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you,” (EX 20:12) in The Ten Commandments.

God understood how easily tempers could flare by encouraging “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” (Eph 6:4)

The writers who captured the words in our Bible thankfully didn’t just give us examples of wise, caring, have-it-all-together dads but threw in a good bunch of totally-blew-it dads. However, what the writers captured well was how God took the mistakes and recreated those broken stories into pictures of grace and redemption. God’s punishment was always interwoven with God’s expansive mercy. Father’s Day allows us to reflect on the failed stories, the winning stories, and everything else stories of fatherhood. It is out of God’s grace, they can become stories of forgiveness, redemption, gratitude, and hope.

Jesus gave us a great Father’s Day story. He told the moving story of a father and his two sons. The parable gives hope if you find yourself watching for the son or daughter to return or the determination to keep pursuing and praying for the child who stayed home but out of selfish motives. When the broken and beaten son finally comes home, the father doesn’t meet him at the door with an I-told-you-so attitude “but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15) That’s grace and love!

The story shifts to the older brother. Instead of joining in the celebration, he angrily refused to come into the house. The father had the right, as a parent, to command him to come into the house but instead of using his father’s card, he got up and went outside to his son, not in anger but in compassion and mercy. “My son, the father said, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” That’s grace and love!

Economists estimate more than $1 billion is spent each year on Father’s Day gifts. Dads, though you will greatly appreciate and enjoy every gift, make sure you tell your child how much you love him or her. Let’s change how the media views dads, and how society views dads, and maybe together we can change the next Census Bureau report for the next generation! “And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.” (Malachi 4:6 CSB)

God is great!

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my weekly blog, I greatly appreciate you and pray these devotional blogs are an encouragement to you.

 

Getting the Best Odds

/in , , /by

And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever. I John 2:17

Do you consider postage stamps gambling? If so, then I need to confess my gambling addiction. I dutifully enter the Consumer Reports and Publishing Clearing House sweepstakes. With the odds of winning $2,500 at 1:432,400, I’m not counting on it as part of my financial future!

The odds of getting struck by lightning in any given year is 1:1,222,00. Winning the Mega Millions lottery your odds are pretty good at 1:302,600,000. If you are a Delta pilot you can feel pretty good your odds of being killed in a plane crash are only 1:11,000,000. However, dying in a car accident is not so good at 1:107. Your chances of getting audited by the IRS however are pretty good at 1:220, especially if you file a return of $0 or more than $10 million.

Odds are something will happen in your life simply because you are alive. If you can think up something, chances are someone will place odds on the event. One interesting note about certain odds, there is one sure thing that currently stands at 1:1. Those guaranteed odds are on death. I know those odds seem to come as a surprise to many people but my best research confirms these odds. At some point, you will cash in on the death odds. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die.” (Ecc 3:1-2a)

Two things are worth considering about death. First, there are some things you can do to improve your odds before you finally cash in your life ticket. However, the more important component is what happens after death.

Where you live can delay death slightly. Americans average 79.05 years of life. You get a couple more years added onto the average if you are a woman. You can increase the life expectancy if you move to Hong Kong where you can live to be 85.16. However, it is best not to move to the Seychelles where the average age drops to 73.65.

What you eat can delay death slightly. The more legumes, whole grains, and nuts you eat add a few more years. However, I like the lady on the Smucker’s segment of The Today’s Show as they recognize those celebrating 100 years or older. When asked how she lived to be 100, her response was she always ate her dessert first! My kind of person.

There are plenty of suggestions on various websites that will help you increase your life expectancy. Going outside, hanging out with friends, exercising daily, lowering your stress, turning off your TV, getting more sleep, and even flossing daily helps. Interestingly there are several key things left off of the numerous lists that I read – I failed to see anything about working longer hours, having more money, or getting more likes on Facebook.

How you view life may not increase your life expectancy but it does make life worth living. Warren Smith shares a story about the rebuilding of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.  “I am fond of a story about the great English architect Sir Christopher Wren. One day, while re-building the magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral after the Great London Fire of 1666, Wren walked anonymously among his workers – sort of a 17th century version of “Undercover Boss.”

 He asked three men building a wall what they were doing. The first answered: “I am cutting a stone.” The second said, “I am earning three shillings a day.” The third man stood up tall and proud. He answered, “I am helping Sir Christopher Wren build a great cathedral to the glory of God.”

The third man may not have had a significant role in the building of the cathedral but he knew he was part of something bigger than himself.  It was not in the task that he was doing that gave him his value, but the fact that he was part of something bigger. That something would ultimately be to glorify God.

The problem with trying to extend your life, no matter how commendable, is that you still don’t know the end. Jesus in the Parable of the Rich Landowner, who tried to store up earthly riches, heard the words, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (Luke 12:20)

The nameless rich landowner did everything right in extending his life. He lived in the right place, had the best food, had a nice bank account, and was probably very religious yet he failed one thing: He didn’t have a relationship with God.

This brings us to the second part of the equation about death. It’s not what you have that matters at death, but who you know. If you know the right person, eternity is a breeze. Jesus said to anyone who will listen, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

God understood the dilemma of death and decided to tip the odds in our favor. Since God loved the world that He created he made a perfect plan. “He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Jesus understood the dilemma if we try to handle death by ourselves. He opens the gates of heaven for us simply “by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph 2:8-9) Pretty amazing, isn’t it!

Heaven is not a longshot, distorted odds, or unreachable when you have Jesus as your Savior. The end results: “after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.” –I Peter 5:10

You can have all the “best” earth has to offer but it will be poverty in comparison to heaven. The few extra years you get on earth from eating kale will pale against the beauty of heaven. What an amazing joy and hope we have as, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more—or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.” –Rev 21:4

God is great,

Every Generation Needs Peculiar People

/2 Comments/in , , /by

Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Titus 2: 12-14 KJV

I just attended a conference with over 800 peculiar people! Peculiar is a word we don’t use anymore to describe someone, especially in a positive way. However, I thought about the King James Version’s use of peculiar to describe this group of people.

Connie and I attended the IMB Emeritus Missionary Conference. Listening to the stories, watching the interaction of people, and focusing on their passion for God; peculiar just seemed to fit the group. They are people who deeply care about the nations.  The dictionary definition of peculiar is “unusual or eccentric; strange; odd. Standing apart from others; calling for special consideration or attention; distinct and particular.” (American Heritage Dictionary)

They are peculiar when you think about how they left their homeland for another country. Peculiar in how they accepted assignments in difficult places. Peculiar in how they gave up the chance to achieve financial success. Each person there chose a lifestyle considered peculiar in our world today. During one of the sessions, a new group of missionaries joined the ranks of emeritus missionaries. Together they served a combined 1750 years or, put another way, One Millennium, Seven Centuries, and Five Decades.

This is a lot of years of conversations, interactions, and frustrations, but joyful service in many different languages, cultures, and situations seeking to help others understand when Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

“Jesus didn’t say that any particular ethic, doctrine, or religion was the way, the truth, and the life. He said that he was. He didn’t say that it was by believing or doing anything in particular that you would “come to the Father.” He said that it was only by him—by living, participating in, being caught up by the way of life that he embodied, that was his way.” –Frederick Buechner

This group of peculiar people that we shared time with understood the challenges facing the world today. They fully grasp the reality and truth of John 8:12 and the difference Jesus makes in our world. The billions who live in the world daily without Jesus and the billions who live in the world daily with Jesus, all live in the same chaotic world. It is a world where injustice still impacts people, violence causes unrest and lack of peace and physical and spiritual hunger abound along with heightened mistrust of others.

Jesus spent a lot of time teaching about the Kingdom and helping us live a Kingdom-focused life. Jesus’ mission was to move people out of darkness into the light. His strategy was simple: “Follow me.” As we follow Jesus we avoid the darkness and can walk on his well-lit pathway. Those walking in darkness are constantly bumping into objects – objects of hatred, violence, and philosophical hopelessness.  For those of us who walk in the light of Jesus, we see the path ahead allowing us to avoid many of the pitfalls.

Dallas Willard, commenting on John 8:12 wrote, “Another important way of putting this is to say that I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he would live my life if he were I. I am not necessarily learning to do everything he did, but I am learning how to do everything I do in the manner that he did all that he did.”

CeCe Winans song, Believe For It might be a great theme song for peculiar people. The words of the song sum up well how peculiar people look at the world.  People who understand what it will take to change the world.

They say this mountain can’t be moved

They say these chains will never break

But they don’t know You like we do

There is power in Your name

We’ve heard that there is no way through

We’ve heard the tide will never change

They haven’t seen what You can do

There is power in Your name

So much power in Your name

Move the unmovable

Break the unbreakable

God we believe

God we believe for it    (CeCe Winans – Believe For It Lyrics | Lyrics.com)

Peculiar people will probably not win any popularity contests. Peculiar people will most definitely stand out in the crowd.  Yet it will be peculiar people that will move mountains, change the course of nations, break chains and impact the world.

For thou art a holy people unto the LORD they God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. Deuteronomy 14:2 KJV

Every generation has needed some peculiar people. Could this be the time to bring this old KJV word back into common usage? Our nation, our world, desperately needs some praying, godly peculiar people. How about you?

God is great,

Is Easter chocolate-covered bunnies or new life?

/1 Comment/in , , /by

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:21-22

 

The crowd ecstatic! The stadium reverberating! The noise deafening! Surely this is the Kansas Jayhawks returning to Lawrence, Kansas as NCAA basketball champions. The descriptors are correct but no, I am referring to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Sunday marked Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. Jesus’ entry brought crowds so thick you could barely move. Jesus is the hero of the hour but many in the crowd that welcomed Jesus with such enthusiasm will be the same ones yelling for his crucifixion in a few short days.

Last year marked the first time that American church membership fell below 50%. Recent statistics reflect some improvement yet fewer and fewer Americans identify with the church. Gallup first measured this statistic in 1937 when membership that year was at 73%. Over the following decades, there was a slight drop each year but still maintained a majority of the population until 2010. It was then a significant decline that began until last year when membership fell below 50%.

There is an abundance of statistics, reasons, and rationale as to why the decline is happening. I think we can agree that membership has never been a guaranteed barometer of church health.  Church membership doesn’t necessarily imply someone is a passionate follower of Jesus Christ and in some ways, this number may actually represent a positive trend as the church rids itself of in-name-only Christians. The church is growing leaner but hopefully not meaner. Could it be that we are on the verge of a new awakening?

As we approach Easter Sunday, I mourn those who have walked away from the church, yet I am hopeful the day will come after the world has beaten them down, robbed them of hope, and left them empty, that they can hear Jesus lovingly call, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

The message of Easter isn’t about a spectacular past event celebrated once a year nor is it about waiting to live a blissful life after death. “The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it.” –N. T. Wright

The Resurrection was and is bodily, a transformed body. The transformed, resurrected body of Jesus brings life and hope to a fallen world.  The power of Easter must be put into effect to “transform at a macro level and to the intimate details of our daily lives.” In the midst of changing cultural norms, increased social divisions, and rampant violent actions, it is only through the power of Easter that this world has hope. Easter as a once-a-year event gives us bunny rabbits and chocolate-covered eggs, but it doesn’t transform lives, doesn’t impact nations, nor bring hope to those in need.

“Christian holiness consists not of trying as hard as we can to be good but of learning to live in the new world created by Easter, the new world we publicly entered in our baptism. There are many parts of the world we can’t do anything about except pray. But there is one part of the world, one part of physical reality, that we can do something about, and that is the creature each of us calls, “myself.” –N. T. Wright

 

How do we live in this post-Easter world?

 

We live in the world with our focus on “a new heaven and a new earth.” Rev 21:1

We live in the world as different people because God said, “I am the LORD your God…Be holy, for I am holy.” Lev 11:44

We live in the world in light of Matthew 4:17. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

We live in the world letting “the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.” Col 3:15

We live in the world for we “are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one In Christ Jesus.”  Galatians 3:26,28

How do we live in the world created by Easter? Our answer is pretty simple, Jesus. This will be the only answer that will make a difference for those walking away from the church. This will be the only answer for those beaten down, rejected, and hopeless. This will be the only answer that makes any sense.

I hope in the days leading up to Good Friday and then Easter Sunday, you will spend time reflecting on what Easter means for you. Let it be a time leading to renewed hope, passionate grace, and an eternal outlook.

Lord, awaken in me the joy and excitement of Easter morning. Let me reflect on the morning that broke the chains of sin for eternity. Let me rejoice in the morning that brought hope and redemption as I believed in You. Thank you for the morning that shattered the gates of death. Amen

 

God is great,

 

 

Walking Billboards for Jesus

/4 Comments/in , , /by

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. Leviticus 19:1-2

Leviticus – the third book in the Bible, that many try to speed read on their way through their “Read the Bible in a year” plan. However, if and when we slow down in our reading we realize that “Be holy, for I am Holy” is at the heart of Leviticus. We come face to face with the holiness of God.  If your church still has hymnals, pick up one and let the words of this great hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy” speak to your heart in a new and fresh way.

Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee:

Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Leviticus is not normally read as good news and most certainly not in the context of how the world now determines what is a modern, culturally acceptable worldview. However, J. A. Motyer looks at Leviticus differently. He writes, “Leviticus is good news. It is good news for sinners who seek pardon, for priests who need empowering, for women who are vulnerable, for the unclean who covet cleansing, for the poor who yearn for freedom, for the marginalized who seek dignity, for animals that demand protection, for families that require strengthening, for communities that want fortifying and for creation that stands in need of care. All these issues, and more, are addressed in a positive way in Leviticus.”

Spend some time meditating upon chapters 18 and 19 in Leviticus. Try reading these verses as one who seeks God, treating life as holy, and allowing God to have control of your life. At the heart of each requirement is the holiness of God in the life of his people, a people set apart from the world. Culture no longer determines the standards, only God does.

As you read these two chapters, mentally or literally, create two columns. At the top of the columns, title one “God’s values” and the other “Human Values.”  It doesn’t take long to realize God’s values and human values are worlds apart.

Augustine wrote that “The LORD himself not only shows us the evil we are to avoid and the good we are to do (which is all that the letter of the law can do) but also helps us to avoid evil and to do good things that are impossible without the spirit of grace. If grace is lacking, the law is there simply to make culprits and to slay; for this reason, the Apostle said; “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6)”

Unfortunately, chapters 18 and 19 are not a Golden Corral buffet of principles. We don’t get to go through the line choosing what we like and leaving out the others. It can be so easy to pick a verse and sling it at someone, yet at the same time avoid verses we would prefer to overlook. The problem is that God didn’t give us a choice. Each requirement interlocks with each other forming a strong family, church, community, and culture.

Leviticus’ requirements set a people apart from the other nations. Jesus would take the law and empower it with grace. “Christ came provided with the Holy Spirit after a peculiar manner…that he might separate us from the world, and unite us in the hope of an eternal inheritance.”—John Calvin

Living a life set apart from the world requires God’s grace. Our focus shifts from the world to God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that “Your life as a Christian should make non-believers question their disbelief in God.”

New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis won the NFL 2021 Bart Starr Award for outstanding character, integrity, and leadership on and off the field. His wife, Tamela told the Christian Post, “Our primary mission has always been to be a walking billboard for Christ, so that others may be able to see and encounter Him through us and our experiences.”

Undoubtedly, Leviticus is a challenging book with some difficult passages, yet what a difference when our heartbeat is that of being holy. Take some time in prayer and reflect on where you are in light of God’s values. What will it take to restore and empower you to live a life set apart for God? Thomas Kelly wrote, “It is said of St. Francis not merely that he prayed, but that he became a prayer.”

Maybe in a world that is growing indifferent to God’s message, the best way we can reflect a different image is to become “walking billboards for Christ,” or as Jesus said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” –Matthew 16:24

God is great!