I sat in a meeting today in work, my university work, and read an e-mail informing us that one of our faculty colleagues lost her battle with cancer this week. We didnt stop our meeting, take a pause or even acknowledge the loss of a friend and co-worker. Those who read the e-mail made a few "That's sad" comments but little else. we returned to our business in an effort to complete our tasks and get finished for the day as early as possible.
I was struck by how self-absorbed this act truly was. It has set me to think today about the selfish things that we instinctively do and how so often we seem to think that somehow our selfish actions or desires are perfectly justified. we are full of our own self-importance. The refrain from the parody of that Christian song came to mind, "It's all about ME, really, and all this is for ME ...." (sung to the tune of Its all about You, Jesus). Why do we fail to look around us at the world we live in and fail to think of others above ourselves? Why is it always about us, about our desires, about our wants, about our needs?
As followers of the Way, we must have a different mindset. We must have the mind of Christ, who being in very nature God, who was made of the very same stuff that God is made of, who was equal to God the creator of the universe in every way, yet He humbled himself - ahh, there it is. He HUMBLED himself, He - the creator, the maker of all things He HUMBLED himself, He lowered himself, He wasn't lowered by someone else, He wasnt forced into it, He HUMBLED himself. And as He did that He took on the very nature of a man, the Creator became a created being. He became finite, the infinite was contained. He HUMBLED himself.
Could the simple truth be that easy? Could it really be a matter of us recognizing that regardless of our gifting or ability or position, for us to be like Christ then we must do as He did. We MUST HUMBLE ourselves. We must fight against the world as it attempts to elevate us, and we must fight against ourselves as we attempt to elevate ourselves. We must resist the urge to raise our heads above all others and we must take on the very nature of a servant. We must force ourselves to seek out a life of service, a life where we look to raise others up, a life where we spend all of our energy in exalting others and leading them to the Savior.
HUMBLE yourselves therefore, under God's mighty hand, that HE may lift you up, in due time.
Flying to Orange conference with Dione on Wednesday morning - YAY
Getting the call that Julie's granda had passed away - BOO
Getting inspired about reaching the family for Christ through Orange - YAY
Booking separate flights to Belfast for my wife and I to be with her family - BOO
Having local parents (Mine) who love to care for my kids - YAY
Being in Atlanta while my wife flies to Belfast - BOO
Being able to purchase a ticket to Belfast to support my wife's family - YAY
Having to wait until I could get my passport renewed to be able to fly - BOO
Having a very nice passport office worker get my passport in 5 hours - YAY
Condensing 5 days work into 5 hours to try to get everything done before leaving - BOO
Getting a call that my wife's car keys have been found after being lost for 1 week - YAY
Getting rear-ended by some guy not paying attention and crashing into... me - BOO
Has it really been a month since I last spoke to you? Has it really been so long? I guess I have neglected you for 'the other woman' so to speak! I started my second blog with my 210 in 2010 Challenge and have put more emphasis into that site than this one.
As I write that I can't help but think about the message I just heard at the Orange Conference here in Atlanta. Doug Fields was on stage talking about how every day we have to make choices. Every day we only have 24 hours in which to accomplish all the things that we deem important. Every day we all have the same amount of time to fulfill our to-do list. What aspect of your life gets your priority? What part of your to-do list ALWAYS gets the best of your time, the pick of your energy, the quality of your day?
For many of us we struggle between a choice of giving the best of our time between one of two life arenas - our jobs and our families. So which one wins in your life? When push comes to shove and you have things left on your to-do list, do you go home only to still be at work? Do you grace your family with your physical presence only to rob them of your actual presence? When you switch off from the office, is the ride home little more than a moments respite from log-in sessions?
When you finally retire and they give you that gold watch - will your kids resent the career that stole their dad so much that they wont wish to share in the excitement of the presentation?
Let's change the scenario and swap work for CHURCH. Will you continue to argue that 'this is the Lord's work' and therefore is more important than your family? Will you weep when you sit all alone in your chair, abandoned by your kids who resent you and the 'mistress' that stole your time, 'their' time with you? How long will you neglect your family for some 'higher' calling? When will you realize that there is no higher calling than being the best dad you can be? When will you realize that the meetings will continue, even if you are not present, the discussions will go on without your input and the problems will be resolved without your assistance? When will you realize that your daughter will never dance at another 'first dance recital', that your daughter will never have another 'first soccer practice', that your daughter will never have another 5th birthday party?
Well Jason, how long will it take you to realize that the greatest call that there is on your life is to be dad. to those precious gifts that God has given you - Julie your wife, Cara and Emma your daughters.
Don't let it be long. Create habits today that will produce a family that is strong and secure. Set in place a pattern of living where you are HOME when you are home. Take time to switch off from work, to unplug from church and to focus every ounce of your being on pouring your heart and soul into your family.
This week is an important week for my precious 5 year old. This week is the week that she needs to remember the books of the bible so she can achieve her goal in AWANA and get an invite to the Achievement Party. It was suddenly my responsibility to make sure she had it all correct – at least that was what she told me.
So I sat with Cara and her AWANA book – “Matthew, Mark, Luke …” the first group rolled off the tongue relatively quickly, although she did seem to lose Romans a lot of the time. I thought, “There are a number times that I seem to forget Romans too, or at least some of the things it says in it.” We finished that first group and moved to the epistles – a little tricky for a 5 year old, but she is a smart kid and I am confident that she can do it. She steadied herself and began, “Galatians, Ephesians, Philipians, Galloshans…” I paused her for a moment and enquired what that last book was again – “Galloshans! Daddy.”
She was so close, and yet so far away from the truth. I must say that my first thought was that of Dora the Explorer's little buddy, Boots, and maybe he went to the church of Galloshans. Then I had mental images of what the Veggie Tales people would do with the concept of Paul writing a letter to the church of the Galloshans. When I snapped back to my seat at the kitchen table, I realized that the most amusing thing was that she was sure she was right – and she would today believe that Paul wrote to the Galloshans, had I not helped her see the little pen stroke that makes a C into a G wasn’t actually there.
How often do we do the very same things? How often do we believe something, and believe it strongly, only to find out that our understanding is not 100% accurate, and often it is only the smallest of pen strokes, or most innocuous of things that makes all the difference. As I reflected on this incident this morning in my commute, I was struck by how many times we draw a line in the sand and defend a position that is indefensible, if only we saw all of the facts as they were and not as we perceived them. We believe that we are right, yet we have missed one vital detail. There are even times when we have inserted a pen stroke where none existed, we have inserted information where there should not be any. We have taken our understanding of a subject and defend it as strongly as any proven truth. Yet, we are wrong.
What do you do in those times? Is saving face more important than acknowledging our error and our weakness?
I know this is not how the famous little saying goes, but recently I have been wondering if the rhyme may be less than accurate. I have been considering the things that we say, and the way that we say them, and the power that is conveyed through our words.
The bible says in James 3:5-10,
“5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.”
The tongue is a very powerful weapon, yet how often we choose to carelessly use it, and cause considerable harm in the process. There is a fine line between challenging and chastising. This became tremendously apparent last week when I was preparing dinner at home while Cara and Emma were sitting at the table. Julie had left some things on the table that the girls really didn’t need to be playing with, so I asked them to put them aside and not play with them. The first request went unheeded and so the same request was made a second time. It was at that point that my 5yr old (going on 40) said under her breath, “We were just looking at them”. This is a new phase for her – a new boundary she is learning, but this was one muttered piece of back-chat that pushed the wrong button. I turned on my heel, and using nothing but words reduced my beautiful sweet angel to tears. Through my tone, and my inflection I used the same tongue that earlier had conveyed love, to now chastise. She got the point, but I fear there may be more moments of correction before we are free of this boundary checking.
This incident set me to think that the bible is true (fancy that) and the way that we use our tongues is incredibly powerful. There are times when I stand before the congregation and try my best to issue a challenge, but after listening to the podcast later I question whether I brought more chastisement than challenge. Oh how I wish I had the wisdom to get that one right in real time. One thing I have learned though is that what may come across to one person as a challenge may be considered as chastisement by the person sitting beside them. It is a very fine line to tread.
So how do we learn to tame the only muscle in the human body with one end unattached? I think we can do no more than follow what the Lord has instructed us to do in His word. Psalm 34:13 says, “keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies” – we need to exercise control.
When it comes to bringing a challenge, we need to exercise control and only bring that challenge that comes from the Lord, not add our own ideas to what the Lord has given us. I think we step across the line into chastising when we don’t control our words. I pray that as we continue to grow as a body together that we will be patient with one another, holding each other up and being gracious to each other. I pray that as a family together we will use our tongues to edify and not to destroy. When we find ourselves feeling that we have been chastised, then maybe we can show grace and help the speaker understand how we feel, without making them feel the same way. When we feel that we have been challenged, then maybe we can take seriously the challenge that was made and not selectively pick out single words or phrases which we then use to disqualify ourselves from what was said.
I suppose when it comes to controlling the tongue we need to do everything that we can to keep our speech pure, and maybe we should learn to believe the best from the speaker and trust that even though their ‘challenge’ may have felt more like chastisement, it wasn’t intended to come across that way. Then we can show grace and mercy with our tongue, and edify.
I know I have a lot more to learn on this, and I hope that as we grow together you will graciously help me in that process.
Today is St Patrick’s day - a day when the whole world attempts to claim it’s Irish heritage by dressing in green, drinking beer and if you live in America, eating corned beef and cabbage. Sadly, none of these things were actually done or would even be condoned by the Irish saint (especially the corned beef and cabbage thing) whose day this is all in honor of. St Patrick brought the truth of Christianity to the people of Ireland, but only after he has been kidnapped, beaten and sold as a slave before he eventually escaped and following his call from God and traveled to the Emerald Isle with Good News.
The following prayer is attributed to St Patrick and this version is found in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 4, §14, critical note on St. Patrick. Schaff, notes that this Irish hymn is found in the Book of Armagh, and is "called S. Patricii Canticum Scotticum, which Patrick is said to have written when he was about to convert the chief monarch of the island (Laoghaire or Loegaire). The hymn is a prayer for the special aid of Almighty God for so important a work; it contains the principal doctrines of orthodox Christianity ... in a composition intended as a breast-plate or corselet against spiritual foes."
This St Patrick’s day why don’t you take some time to pray this prayer and find out what the real St Patrick was all about.
St Patrick’s Breastplate
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgment Day.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.
I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.
Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort, [i.e., at home]
Christ in the chariot seat, [i.e., traveling by land]
Christ in the poop. [i.e., traveling by water]
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
My beautiful wife and I just returned from a fantastic short trip to see one of the 7 natural wonders - the Grand Canyon. We drove from Vegas to the South Rim of the canyon filled with anticipation of the sight that would greet us. We had seen photos and pictures, but there is usually no real comparison between the panavision and the real vision. We parked the car, and headed for the view. What a view it was! Breath taking, awesome, vast, OMG, are poor word choices which flooded my mind when I stood there on the edge of this great chasm.
As far as the eye could see to the left was a carved landscape of varying colors and eroded layers of time etched out of this barren landscape. Looking to the right provided a similarly stunning vista with the only difference being the direction the river had carved its path. One thing that was striking was the flatness of the top of the canyon that bounded this abyss. There were no mountain peaks to see, there were only sheer cliff-side drops that drew the eye eventually to the river below. When I say below, I mean way way way below. At the South Rim (where we were), it is a vertical mile (or 5,000 feet) from the rim to the river (7 miles if you walked the trail). The canyon is approximately 10 miles across from South to North rims and the canyon has a total length of some 270 miles.
I was stunned. What other emotion could one possess at that moment? What other thought could go through your head as you gazed upon this sight?
Just as I was contemplating the view I heard a voice from my right hand side. A husband and wife stood about 10 feet away from me looking at the same view I was awestruck by. The husband points to the canyon floor and says, "Look honey, there is the river." to which the most amazing statement was given in reply. The wife, with all seriousness, responds to her husband with these unforgettable words, "It looks kinda dirty, doesn't it?"
I'm sorry, what did you just say? You are looking at one of the 7 natural wonders of the world and your main concern is the fact that from over a mile away it appears as if the water in the river may not be crystal clear! I wanted to reach out the right hand of fellowship and slap the love of Jesus into that woman, but I refrained.
How can you look at a view like that and only see dirty water?
The simple answer is that this lady could make this statement because she is human - and us humans have the incredible ability to miss the obvious majesty and glory of a creator God and only notice the dirty water at the very bottom of the picture. How often do we stand in the presence of the creator of the grand canyon and instead of looking in amazement and wonder at His beauty, only comment on the dirt of the water in the river.
By day an Associate Professor in Physical Therapy at Marymount University. By night a husband to my beautiful wife Julie, a dad to my wonderful daughters Cara and Emma. A servant of Christ trying to build the kingdom.
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