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Warning Lights

June 30, 2022 /
TPMS Light

 

Friends,

Our family recently returned home from a much-needed time away on vacation. While skimming across our country’s interstates our car chimed and flashed a TPMS warning light. TMPS is “Tire Pressure Monitoring System.” At that moment, while I watched the little light flash, the steering wheel began to vibrate. The combined inputs into my neural pathways meant only one thing. I needed to get off the road quickly and check things out. Just prior to the exit, the vibrations went away, and I began to suspect they were actually coming from the roadway. After pulling into the gas station I checked the tire pressure and determined one was about two pounds lower than the others, but still within the safe range. With the problems identified and solved, we continued on our journey with no further issues. But it could have been a different story. Those warning lights serve an important purpose. They alert us to potential problems before they are really a problem and give us the time to take corrective action before a catastrophic vehicular event.

Of course, this post is not really about proper car maintenance. It is about life maintenance. I believe all of us have an LPMS. A Life Pressure Monitoring System. It’s just that some of us do not realize this is what we are feeling. We are like the person who puts tape on their check engine light to make it go away. The problem is out of sight and out of mind until the engine of life explodes.

What are your life warning lights? Indicators that tell you something is not right and you need to pause, assess, and correct. Maybe you find yourself irritable with people. Small things you would have brushed off you now can’t let go of. Perhaps, you find yourself mindlessly scrolling through social media, no longer looking at the posts, just scrolling, and scrolling and scrolling. Maybe you are snacking without thinking. Maybe you turn down chances to do things you know you love. The list could go on and on. What are your Life Pressure Monistory System lights and when they come on, what action do you need to take to correct your course and avoid a catastrophic life crash? Sometimes the correction can be as simple as getting up and taking a short walk outside or putting down the phone and picking up a  book or just taking a nap.

Blessings,
Stephen

Giving Credit: Special thanks to Dr. Brian Russell, who planted the seed idea for this post.

Uncharted Territory

July 13, 2020 /

Whatever there is to say about the territory we are in, I think it is safe to say we have never been here before. In the book Canoeing the Mountains by Tod Bolsinger, I came across this question that stopped me and caused me to ponder a change of perspective about my surrounding environment:

Could it be that God is taking our churches and organizations into uncharted territory in order for the church to become even more of a witness for the future of the world? (pg. 202)

If so, what does this mean about the way we respond to our current realities? Do we step into them, or do we try and find our way back to familiar territory as soon as possible? What if this is not only true of the church and our organizations but our lives as well?

Blessings,
Stephen

Sources:
Bolsinger, Tod. Canoeing the Mountains: Christian leadership in uncharted territory, IVP Books, 2018.

Photo by Natalya Letunova on Unsplash

Leaving Ourselves Behind

June 13, 2019 /
elephants walking through the bush

The story has been told in a million different ways and times. A man goes on a safari. For reasons outside of his control, he arrives late and the expedition party is forced to leave without him. Unwilling to miss the opportunity, he hires a few guides to take him on an express journey through the bush to catch the group. For days they press ahead at a breakneck speed. On the fourth day of travel, his hopes are high. If his calculations are right he should be able to walk into camp just as they are putting dinner on the table. But as he walks from his tent, pumped for another day of running, his guides are sitting around the fire. It is clear they have no intentions of going anywhere today. The man is incensed. After all, he is paying them, but they refuse to move. With teeth clenched and veins popping from his head he asks them why they won’t move. With determination in their voice that clearly communicates this is not up for negotiation, they tell him for three days they have been driving hard. Now they must wait a day for their spirits to catch up.

Have you ever been there, running so hard to achieve a goal, to get things done, that it feels like you have left who you are behind? I know I have.

Sabbath invites us to take moments to rest and evaluate who we really are and what are our real priorities in life. We have the space to ask if the journey we are on is taking us to the place where we want to go.

Sabbath invites us to engage in practices that give life to our soul. That being said, many of us resist Sabbath because we have memories of being forced into silent drudgery. A day without laughter and play. Sabbath should be anything but. It is a day filled with life, love, beauty, fun, play, friends, laughter, things that bring life, clarity, and health to your whole being. It is a day to celebrate the fullness of God’s creation. As a parent, if Sabbath is a day your kids dread, you are doing it wrong.

So how do we do Sabbath? That is a question we will start to answer in the next post.

Have a great week!
Stephen

Getting Better Every Day

June 2, 2018 /

question marks on trees
Marshall Goldsmith, outside of the world of business executives, is a name you may not know. He has been called “the world’s top-ranked executive coach.” He has helped some of the world’s highest performing men and women in the worlds of business, sport, and government get even better at what they do. And as crazy as it may sound, he pays a woman call him every single day to listen to him read questions he wrote and provide answers he himself came up with to those same questions. Why would he do such a thing?

Take a moment and watch his video:

After watching the video, what top three questions would you ask of yourself, every day, about the practices of your spiritual life? Do you have the courage them write it down? In the video, Marshall says, “If you have the courage to write down the behavior that’s most important in your life and the discipline to do this every day you are going to get a lot better.” What’s the “this” he is talking about? Well, you will have to watch the video.

Take some time to ponder and process. It is not nearly as easy as it may sound.

And now that you have watched the video here are a few additional things I have learned about the process.

First, if you take on this challenge, you are going to fail and it will be epic. You will become discouraged. You will want to quit. Your ego and self-esteem will take a cataclysmic beating. But don’t give up.

Second, not just anyone can be the person who hears you give your answers. It must be a positive person. It must be a person you trust. It must be a person whose commitment to you remains unchanged no matter how legendary your stumbling might be.

Third, the only feedback the person can give you is positive and encouraging feedback. We are our own worse critics. There is nothing the other person can say to you that will be worse than what you will already be saying to yourself. What you will need is someone to help you battle the negative thoughts and remind you, you can do more than you think possible.

What’s left? To do it, and don’t give up.

Blessings,
Stephen

 

 

Credits:
Post Photo by Evan Dennis on Unsplash

Even So

March 22, 2018 /

burning match

Dear Friends,

The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found in Daniel 3 has always intrigued me.  In the story, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, a man with significant leadership issues, concocts a scheme to construct a giant gold statue, place it in the plain of Dura, and then command all of the people to bow down and worship his golden abomination. Those who failed to bow down and worship the golden figure were to be given the opportunity be special guests in the king’s sauna of fire.

Three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, exiles from Isreal, are not too keen on this new plan of the monarch. They unequivocally refuse to bow down to worship the shiny man because to do so would be an anathema to their God. This royally ticks off the king who forgets everything he learned in his years of therapy for anger management issues and he orders the three men to be thrown into the blazing furnace but just to make sure the men are really dead dead and not just dead he orders the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than normal. Unfortunately, this story happened in the days before OSHA. The heat from the furnace was so extreme it killed the soldiers who had been given the charge to toss the three men into the furnace. We all know how the story ends. Once they are tossed into the furnace the three men are joined by a fourth for a little furnace warming party. When the festivities are over, the original three walk out of the furnace without a scorch to a hair on their head or even the smell of fire on their clothes.

What fascinates me most about this story is not their miraculous deliverance from the furnace, as amazing as that is, but the speech they give to Nebuchadnezzar just prior to his attempted murder. With defiant courage they boldly declare to the king, ” If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand” (vs. 17). That had to take some major chutzpa to declare with such confidence their deliverance to the king who was about to have them burned alive. It is their next words that are the words of dazzling faith, “But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (vs. 18). That’s unconditional faith.

How often do we pray with conditional faith? Conditional faith is a faith that says to God, “I will worship and follow you so long as you __________.” There are so many things we could finish the sentence with:

So long as nothing bad happens.

So long as I get to live the way I want.

So long as you give me what I want.

So long as you don’t ask me to give up anything or move to another country or change jobs.

Our three friends have a very different kind of faith. Their unconditional faith recognizes our ways are not God’s ways and his plans are not our plans, and even when things don’t go the way we would want them to we will still worship God.  Their faith says:

God, I know you are are able to rescue me from the furnace, but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

God, I know you are able to heal this sickness but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

God, I know you are able to provide me a better job, a new house, a car that runs but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

God, I know you are able to mend my broken relationships but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

God, I know you are able to take this depression, darkness, and anxiety from me but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

God, I know you can remove the cancer from my body but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

God, I know you are the one who raises the dead but even if you don’t rescue me from death (my own death or that of someone I love) I will still worship you.

God, I know you are able to prevent wars and famines but even if you don’t I will still worship you.

This is the profound faith in God demonstrated to us by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Their faith in God remained unchanged even if God didn’t “come through” but what about us?

Blessings,
Stephen

We need each other

January 31, 2018 /

Perhaps you saw the recent announcement from Britain’s Prime Minister, Theresa May, of the appointment of a Minister of Loneliness. The announcement was met with significant contorting of faces. Despite a study coming out at the end of last year indicating as many as 14% of Brits battle chronic loneliness the idea of an official government appointment to address it seemed just odd.

empty chair

Even so, some studies indicate as many as 43% of Americans suffer from regular loneliness. The impact of this reality upon us are not hard to miss. Exacerbated depression, premature death, isolation, hopelessness, and so much more. What’s the cure? Really only one thing: face-to-face community. We can send all the birthday greetings on Facebook we want or mail an “I’m thinking of you card,” or even send a quick checking-in text. But nothing is really as effective as sitting across from another person and sharing a cup of coffee (or tea for our British friends).

What happens when we are across from one another? Life is transferred. A parent hears they are not crazy for the incredible frustration they are feeling. A widow senses she is not alone. A child hears they are loved. A man knows he has what it takes. A woman is empowered to speak truth. New skills are gained. Life is lived when we share who we are with those across from us.

Blessings,
Stephen

On Mission

January 25, 2018 /

the mission launchesThe Milk Can returns! After a needed break we are back. In 1 Corinthians Paul says some things are spiritual milk and other things spiritual meat. The Milk Can remains a quirky look at life and an encouragement for your week.

 

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As Christians, our calling is to live as Jesus lived demonstrating and proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has come and is coming. God is always making things new. We are engaged in the mission to alert the world to the rule and reign of God through Christ. Therefore,

  • We feed the hungry because in the world to come there will be no starvation.
  • We release the captive because in the world to come there will be no prisoner.
  • We give sight to the blind because in the world to come there will be no blindness.
  • We welcome the stranger because in the world to come there will be no strangers, no one unwelcome.
  • We mourn with those who mourn because in the world to come there will be no more sadness and grief.
  • We call for justice because in the world that is to come there is no injustice.
  • We share Christ because in the world to come there will be no unbelief.
  • We speak hope to those who have no hope because in the kingdom to come there will be no hopelessness.
  • We are pro-life, in every way, because in the kingdom to come there will be no death.
  • We are generous because in the world to come there will be no shortages.
  • We celebrate different languages spoken because in the world to come all languages will be spoken around the throne.
  • We love because in the world that is to come there is no one unloved.

The challenge for each one of us is to ask, in my job, how can I alert the world to the rule and reign of Christ? What would it look like for a person doing my job to demonstrate the rule and reign of God through Jesus?

Blessings,
Stephen

Courage in the Place of Our Death

March 23, 2016 /

tangled vine

On February 29 of this year, Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward C. Byers Jr. was awarded our military’s highest honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor, having already been awarded the Bronze Start five times for bravery and the purple heart twice for being wounded in combat. Here is just a portion of the text of his commendation:

Chief Byers, completely aware of the imminent threat, fearlessly rushed into the room and engaged an enemy guard aiming an AK-47 at him. He then tackled another adult male who had darted towards the corner of the room. During the ensuing hand-to-hand struggle, Chief Byers confirmed the man was not the hostage and engaged him. As other rescue team members called out to the hostage, Chief Byers heard a voice respond in English and raced toward it. He jumped atop the American hostage and shielded him from the high volume of fire within the small room. While covering the hostage with his body, Chief Byers immobilized another guard with his bare hands, and restrained the guard . . .His bold and decisive actions under fire saved the lives of the hostage and several of his teammates. By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of near certain death, Chief Petty Officer Byers reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

During most of the hours of our days there is little opportunity to be either a coward or a hero. We eat our meals, do our work, chat with friends and passing strangers. Nothing significant really happens. John Eldridge says that every man is haunted by the question, “Do I have what it takes?” We wonder if we would have the courage to stand-up if the need were to arise. I think it is one the reasons action movies and combat video games are so popular with men. it allows us to live vicariously a life our soul tell us we could never live.

Rarely in life do we have moments of true courage. Rarely are we called to sacrifice ourselves for something that could truly cost us.

At the cross, we are confronted. The cross is the place of our redemption but it is also the place of our undoing. At the cross, we are confronted with the question “Do you have the courage to be changed?”

At the cross, all are welcomed as they are, where they are. But at the cross none are allowed to stay as they are, where they are. Everyone is expected to change. Everyone is presented with the option to change and asked if they have the courage to do so.

On the day of Jesus’ death a man named Joseph of Arimathea was confronted by the cross. He had been a secret follower of Jesus but now he was challenged to come out of the shadows. It is easy to be a follower of Jesus when the crowds are chanting “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” It is quite another to come forward and risk everything for a dead man and lost dream.

Joseph was a prominent man in the community. A wealthy, successful man who had been elected to the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish ruling body. The easiest thing for him to do was to remain in the shadows, no one had to know he had ever hoped in this man. But the cross confronted him to come out. Joseph was needed to take courage and come before Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body. Joseph was needed to take courage bury the body of Jesus in the tomb that had been prepared for Joseph.

There is an irony to this story. Into the place of Joseph’s death he placed the Lord of Life and by doing so Joseph received life. What seemed like a step that stood the chance of costing him everything actually gave him more than he could have hoped for. But first, he had to have the courage to come out of the shadows and allow life to enter his place of death.

Each of us have places of death in our life. Areas of darkness no one is allowed to see. Areas prepared for our death and undoing. Areas we will never voluntarily go. It is to these areas the cross calls us to take courage. Will we have the courage to put the Lord of Life into these places? We know something that Joseph could not have known that day: The impossible promise of resurrection and life, if we will allow Jesus into our place of death.

Will you do it? It will take more courage than you ever thought you had.

Stephen

 

 

 

Giving credit where it is due:
The concept for this series of blog posts and its accompanying sermon series draw from the masterful work, Seven Words to the Cross: A Lenten Study for Adults by J. Ellsworth Kalas.

Fire is Life

September 29, 2015 /

campfire

One of my proudest moments as a Boy Scout came while on a winter camping trip as a guest of another troop. As one might expect, significant rivalries can exist between Scout troops, ours was no different. Each task became an attempt to show whose troop was the best. So it was that a little contest was set-up to see who could build a fire the quickest. Each of us was given one match and the charge to build a fire. The first to do it gained the glory for his troop. I should point out the little detail of there being two feet of snow on the ground, just to make it a challenge. At the shout “Go!” we each trudged through the snow and into the woods to figure out the challenge. Much to the opposing troop’s disgust ,in less than five minutes I had a raging fire going. The others had not yet even figured out how they were going to do it. It was an unprecedented trouncing of the competition. How did I do get a fire going so quickly in two feet of snow and with only one match? I can assure you I didn’t cheat in any way, but if I told you I would have to kill you. Sorry, I must maintain the pride of my troop. Why was it an important challenge? In a survival situation, the ability to build a fire can mean the difference between life and death.

In fact, for all of us, fire is life. Having a fire means the ability to stay warm when it is cold. Having a fire means the ability to safely prepare food. Around the fire, community happens. Stories are told and the legacy of generations is passed down. Even in our suburban homes, fire is still life. The fire may be a Lennox furnace, a Maytag stove, and a Kenmore microwave, but its importance to life is no less significant.

A person whose fire has gone out is in a vulnerable position. The cold night may suck their life away. The inability to prepare food puts them on the edge of starvation, because fire is life.

A few months ago, I was having a conversation with a fellow pastor. In that meeting, he shared with me an insight from an Egyptian Christian pastor that he knew. The insight pertained to a passage of scripture I never really understood. The passage comes from Romans 12 and Paul is giving instruction as to the practical realities of living as a follower of Jesus in a hostile world. Paul says to his readers, quoting Proverbs 25 “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:20-21, NIV).

It seems that Paul has turned his own words onto their head. Is he really saying that our hospitality is an opportunity for us to heap guilt and suffering upon our enemy, as though we were pouring burning coals on their head? In effect, we serve them as a way to get back at them? While this meaning is not consistent with the surrounding verses, it certainly does seem to be the most obvious interpretation of the text. It’s an interpretation I have heard preached many times. Still it has never sat well with me as it appeared to be inconsistent with the larger context of the passage and the Bible. That was until my a recent conversation with my pastoral colleague. He shared that the Egyptian pastor said, as a middle easterner, he reads this passage differently. For him, fire is life. To heap burning coals upon your enemy’s head is to fill a jar with coals that may be taken home, carried upon the person’s head, so that they may restart their own fire. It is to give life to one whose fire has gone out. In effect Paul is saying, when your enemy has come to the edge of death and their defeat is imminent, give them life. Overcome the evil of your enemy with the goodness of life.

For millions of Syrians, their fire has gone out. They are in desperate need of someone to heap burning coals upon their heads and give them life before it slips away in the bitter night. Many Christians are tempted to look upon their suffering with fear. We wonder how many of their ranks are really members of ISIS, our enemy. Could we, by welcoming these refugees into our lives really be giving aid to our enemy and giving life to a person who, by our doing nothing, would be defeated? If our enemy’s fire has gone out, should we not let the darkness envelop them? Would this not be in the best national interest of our country?

Maybe it would be, but as citizens of the Kingdom of God, we live by a different standard of life. Our king says to us something so radical as “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”

Pastor Stephen

A Good and Holy Life

July 21, 2015 /

Standing in the Woods

Timothy Keller, in his book Center Church, says that “Legalism says that we have to live a holy, good life in order to be saved. Antinomianism says that because we are saved, we don’t have to live a holy, good life.” And I would add that Gospel says that because we are saved we get to and are empowered to live a good and holy life.

What do you think?

Pastor Stephen

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