The End

We all go through different periods in our lives. One of the things that I had wanted to do for quite awhile was to start a blog. I'm not really sure why, I guess I just had a lot of stuff bottled up inside of me that I wanted to say and I thought this was a good way to say it. So on August 30th of last year I did it - I created a blog and started writing. It's been a lot of fun and today is my 75th blog. However, it will also be my last one.

The fact is that demands on my time have changed over the last year. Between a full-time job and my responsibilities at church, I just don't have time to blog like I would like to. So I'm going to retire from blogging. I wanted to say 'Thank You' to everyone that dropped by and took the time to read what I wrote. For those of you that took the time to comment on my blogs, I just wanted to say how much I appreciated that. Knowing that someone was reading it and taking the time to comment really made me feel good. I probably enjoyed reading the comments as much or more than you enjoyed reading my blogs.

If I can, I want to leave one final thought with you.

I have a wonderful marriage. Kathy and I have been married for 26 years and I can truly say that I enjoy being a husband and I find fulfillment in that role. I have wonderful children. I have two great sons who have enriched my life tremendously. I enjoy being a father and I find fulfillment in that role. I have some unbelievable friendships in my life - so much so that I can't even express how much those friendships mean to me. I find fulfillment in those relationships as well.

However, I have become convinced through personal experience that you will never be truly fulfilled as a Christian until you are fulfilling your role in the Body of Christ. There is just something about being a living, breathing, working and contributing member of the Body that completes you as a Christian. Why? Because it is what we are called to. If you are not doing that there will always be an emptiness, a sense of unfulfillment in your life. So I want to encourage each of you to find your gift and begin to use it to edify the Body. Does is take more time? Sure. Does it take more discipline? Of course. Does it take more commitment? Absolutely. But I can assure you, you will never regret it. The effort is temporal, but the rewards are eternal.

So thanks for reading - now go Live the Eternal Life.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. - Galatians 2:20

26 Years in the Crucible

Crucible - A heat-resistant container in which materials can be heated to very high temperatures.

I've been thinking a lot this week about marriage. One of the reasons is that Kathy and I have been married 26 years today. I have learned so much over these 26 years. As those of us that are married know, marriage tends to bring out the good in us - but it also brings out the bad. Of all our relationships, marriage is truly the 'crucible' where we walk out our faith. Where else are two people thrown into a situation where every attitude, opinion and feeling is tested on a daily basis?

Just last week Kathy made the following statement to me:

"You need to practice what you teach".

She's right. I try and try to do the right things, and I can even do pretty good for periods at a time. But then a day comes when I am grouchy or frustrated or just having a bad day and things come out of me that I thought were dead and buried. When that happens, I usually take it out on her. I hate that. I hate the fact that I can't completely kill those things, and I hate the fact that she bears the brunt of it.

But this crucible continues to teach. And this past week I've learned again two lessons that it has taught me before, but it seems I need to learn again.

It teaches me just how much I need a Savior.

I am a changed man - I know that. I'm not like I used to be. But as long as I'm clothed in this earthly vessel there will never be a time that I can do it on my own. There will never be a time that I don't need Him. There's an old song by DC Talk that says it pretty well.

The disease of self runs through my blood
It's a cancer fatal to my soul
Every attempt on my behalf has failed
To bring this sickness under control

Tell me, what's going on inside of me?
I despise my own behavior
This only serves to confirm my suspicions
That I'm still a man in need of a Savior

It teaches me - through Kathy - what Love really is.

As always, I apologize and she forgives. That's what love is and that is how love acts. Through her I see love not just spoken, love not just explained on the pages of the Scripture, but love actually lived out.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs. - Proverbs 10:12

Happy Anniversary, Kat. I love you.

They're Watching

I was recently sent via email a link to a website that provides resources for teaching students. One of the links on the site took me to a video called "An Uphill Battle". The video shows a student walking down a typical school hallway. Every other student is going one way while he is walking the other, literally walking against the tide. The other students are bumping and jostling him and he has a look of dejection - a look that says he's tired of going it alone. As this is going on, the voice-over on the video talks about how we can and do get tired of going against the flow. How that sometime we come to a point where we feel that it would be easier to just give up, turn around and start walking the same direction as everyone else. As one student finally jostles him hard enough to knock his books out of his hand, he finally stops in his tracks. You can tell that he's had enough.

But then he turns his head around and looks back down the hallway. And there behind him are several other students who have been following him the entire time. He was never alone. There were always other people watching him, looking up to him and following in his footsteps. It's a powerful video with a powerful message. The funny thing is though that even though it's geared toward encouraging students not to give up on the Christian life, it spoke to me as a man.

When I watched that video, I didn't see a teenager walking down a hallway - I saw a man, a husband, a father. When he looked behind him I didn't see other students, I saw a family - a wife and children. We as men need to understand that our families are looking to us to be the spiritual leaders in our homes. They are looking to follow behind us as we navigate through the turbulent waters of this world. They are looking to us to be the leaders that God has called us to be.

Lately I'm around a lot of teenagers, both through time spent with my son's friends and through working with the youth at church. The damage done to these kids through divorce or through the actions of an absent father is a terrible thing, something that they will have to carry through their entire lives. Kids at that age shouldn't have to deal with bitterness and unforgiveness, but they are. They hide it well, but if you get them to open up you see the turmoil that lies just underneath the surface.

I'm sure the damage is done to both boys and girls, but maybe because I deal more with boys it seems the damage done there is more profound. They should have had a guide that they could walk behind until they were able to lead a family for themselves, but not only have they lost their leader but they've lost the one who was to teach them how to lead. These kids thought they had someone to follow, but have been left in a sea of turbulence to fend for themselves.

Men, when you are thinking about quitting - on Christ, on your marriage, on your family - please look behind you! Understand that your decisions don't just affect you. The decisions we make as men have long lasting effects on our children, so much so that those decisions will carry down to even our grandchildren and subsequent generations. We have a calling on our lives, to love our wives and children even as Christ loves the Church. It's not about why I want, what I need, what I desire. I am to give my life for my family.

Let us be like Paul, in that we can say to our wives and children ...

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. - 1 Corinthians 11:1

The Church (cont.)

Over the many years that I've attended church I've seen people come and go. The Parable of the Sower describes many of these - they spring up for a little while but then fade away. I understand that - I wish it were different but I understand it. However, I've also seen many true Christians leave a church over what seems like petty disagreements. That I've never understood. Why is that? Why do so many Christians seem to have the attitude of "I'll take my ball and go play elsewhere if you don't want to do it my way"? I believe the answer lies in the fact that a lot of us have a misconception of what church is all about.

Before going any further, I need to make something clear. When I speak of the church, I'm speaking of a local body of believers who congregate together. I am NOT speaking of a building - the building is where the church congregrates, but it is not the church.

Why do we attend a church? Before we answer that question let's look at what a true church really is. The purpose of a true church is five-fold:

Worship - This is our first responsibility. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Instruction - We are to preach, teach and disciple one another in order to grow in the knowledge of the Lord.

Fellowship - We are to fellowship and break bread with one another. We are instructed in Hebrews 10:25 to NOT forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

Evangelism - We are to spread the Gospel, fulfilling the Great Commission.

Outreach - We are to reach out to and love our neighbors by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and visiting the sick and imprisoned.

Seems pretty basic, right? I'm sure if we thought it about it long enough we could possibly fine-tune the list and add or modify a couple of things, but for the sake of discussion let's agree on those five as basically covering the purpose of the local church.

I mentioned earlier that it seems a lot of people have a misconception of what church is all about. I believe this misconception lies in the fact that people think that church is about meeting their needs. So when disagreements arise in the body they leave because their 'needs' are not being met. But that's not what it's about at all.

"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all." - 1 Corinthians 12:7

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God - 1 Peter 4:10

The Scriptures are clear - each one of us have been given spiritual gifts that are to be used for the benefit of others in the church. Let me repeat that - not some of us, not a few of us, but ALL of us have received gifts that are to be used for the benefit of others. Through these gifts the Holy Spirit manifests Himself and ministers to the body to strengthen and build it up. So in effect it's not about me and my needs at all - it's about me doing my part in the body.

Are you using your gift? Let me ask a tougher question - do you know what your gift is? If you don't, let me encourage you to find out. There is nothing more fulfilling in this life than to know what your gift is and to use it for the benefit of the body.