The Deployment

There were some people on T.V. this week who were calling for the President to bring our troops home. It sure would be nice to have all of our men and women home for Christmas wouldn’t it? The issue is this: There is a war going on right now. The Commander in Chief finds it necessary to have these men and women on the front line. You may or may not agree with the President and I will not get into politics on this site. But I think we can all agree on something……There is no draft. Those men and women that are overseas right now in harms way, volunteered. I was in the Army for 8 years. When I signed on the dotted line, it was made very clear to me that going to war would be mandatory should I be needed. After some careful thought, I signed.
This is where I am going with this. I think there are people in the church today that signed on the dotted line but want to protest the war. We want to say, “Hey I’m in the Lord’s Army” (remember that song?), but we refuse to go to war. We won’t get our uniform dirty by lying in the muddy trenches, and we certainly don’t want to be inconvenienced by having to make our way up to the frontline. Let me explain a little here. There is a war going on out there for lost souls, and all too often, Christians are refusing to engage the lost, and in turn, losing battles left and right.
We love to fill our days of the week with church people and churchy stuff, making absolutely sure that we don’t have time left in our schedule for the real work. And we can clog our weeks fairly well can’t we? Church on Sunday and then we have our church friends over for a late lunch or early dinner. Monday maybe a small group gathering, Tuesday prayer meetings, Wednesday…..I am not saying these things in and of themselves are a bad thing, but when was the last time you invited a neighbor to your after church cookout or bonfire? When was the last time you asked your neighbor, the atheist, to church? When was the last time you asked that family member, the one who has been turned off to Jesus and the church because of something that happened 20 years ago, to come to your small group? It is time we get into the thick of the fight and start engaging in this battle. If Hell is real, and I believe it is, how can we allow anyone to slip by us without at least inviting them to church? Its worth getting a little mud on our uniform don’t you think?
Next week is guest blog week. Since this issue was on my mind, I have asked several of my friends to write something that I will post. When I was thinking about this topic today, I thought…It will be cool to have some of my atheist friends and agnostic friends write something as well. So there will be a day or two next week where you might find something of interest. If you are a Christian and read this blog, sweet (I think there are about 3 of you). But the real reason I write this stupid blog almost every week, is for my friends that read this, that are not Christians. I care about them. I believe in Hell, and I don’t want them to end up there. I guess I am just trying to not go AWOL on my Commander in Chief’s call for deployment.

Thankful for a patch

My youngest son was messing around in my wife's jewelry cabinet the other day, most likely looking for something shiny to complete his Michael Jackson outfit.
(Don't ask).
A few minutes into his search he came over to me with his hand out.
"What's this, Dad?"
"That's a patch."
"What's a patch?"
"Well, a patch is used when you get a hole in a piece of clothing, like your jeans. You take the patch and put it over the hole and then you sew it in place to cover the hole up."
Insert reality check from a 4 year old here…
"Dad, when we get holes in our clothes, we just by new clothes."
In that very moment I felt the weight of how amazingly blessed we are. My kids have never had to wear clothes with patches. Their reality is that when something in worn, they just get a new one. If a toy is busted, they don't have to use their memory and imagination to recall how great the toy was, they just get another one. I think we have 3 DVD's of the movie "Cars" because the first 2 got scratched over time. I guess what I am saying is that I sometimes lose sight of the fact that my family just doesn't want for much. The patch granted me a teachable moment with my son. We talked about how in some places in our world, some kids his age don't even have clothes to put a patch on. For 10 minutes I talked with him about how grateful we need to be for all of the blessings the Lord has showered us with.
I don't want my kids to feel like it is wrong to have things, and I don't want them to feel guilty for having things, but I do want them to appreciate what they have. I want them to understand the importance of not forgetting about others less fortunate than them, and I want them to thank God daily for all they have, not just on Thanksgiving day. This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for all of the usual things. Health, my wife, my kids, and our friends, a good job, a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes on our back. But this year, I am thankful for a patch too. A patch that gave me a moment to share with my son the importance of giving thanks.
This Thursday, I hope you give thanks for all you have…..and then do it again on Friday….and again on Saturday…and...

A wise investment

Unless you have been living in a freaking cave for the last year, you are aware that the state of our economy is just brutal right now. In October, the unemployment rate was 9.5%. Housing production fell by 10.6% overall in October, and the stock market has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. The combination of all of these things and more has led to just about every business magazine and investment journal trying to tell you what and where to invest for the future. They are telling you right now to invest in gold because of the weak dollar. Some say to invest in housing due to the low prices and the multitude of foreclosures that can be bought for a fraction of the cost will pay large dividends when the economy does come back. It's enough to make your head spin.
I read yesterday about a well known man who's net worth is hovering around 11 billion dollars. That's billion with a B.
He has obviously made his share of good investments.
He was in the news because he has just been diagnosed with cancer. He might survive the cancer and I hope he does. But when I read the news, a couple of things occurred to me:
1.) I get excited when I find $11.00 in my pants pocket. I can't even fathom 11 billion.
2.) This man is going to die. Maybe not from the cancer, but the last time I checked the survival rate of people going through life is fairly close to 0%.
So for all of the investments he has made, and all of the money that those investments have brought him, on the day that he dies, he will be forever separated from it. You have heard it said that a hearse is not equipped with a trailer hitch. You can't take your stuff with you.
So what do we invest in that will give us the best return? What is the wisest investment?
There is only one thing I am aware of that will escape this earthly life and make it into the next one.
The human soul.
And if it is true that souls will make it into eternity, doesn't it make sense that human souls are worth investing in above anything else? After all, you can take them with you!
Invest in human souls by caring for others, loving others, feeding the hungry, looking out for the elderly, and introducing them to Jesus Christ, who died so that they can spend eternity with Him. Wouldn't it be great to take some people with you?
When you invest in souls, you are not dependent on the status of the economy, or the status of the American dollar. You can invest daily, and the return on investment is unparalleled in any market.
That to me, sounds like a wise investment.

The Chair

Mother Teresa was invited to the White House for Dinner on numerous occasions and by multiple Presidents, but there was a prayer breakfast that she went to once that really impacted me when I heard about it. She was invited this time by former President Bill Clinton. There were quite a few people in attendance so obviously there were seating arrangements for all of the guests. Mother Teresa's seating assignment was right up front by the President himself. Like you would seat someone with her resume anywhere else. So the band is gearing up to play and meal is very close to being served and the President and everyone else are turning their heads to see if they can locate Mother Teresa, who has seemingly disappeared. When she was finally located, she was in the kitchen talking to the cooks and eating her meal with the wait staff. Here is the guest of honor with a chair at the breakfast table next to the most powerful person in the most powerful county on the entire planet, and she passed on the chair so she could be a blessing to others.
Most people would love the recognition that chair would bring. After all, it would feel pretty amazing wouldn't it? If I am being honest, I would have to say that my rear end would have been planted in that chair, enjoying the spotlight and the recognition and waiting for my grits and bacon.
But doesn't Jesus call us to leave the chair?
It's hard to leave that chair. It's comfortable and the spotlight is warm.
But Jesus tells us to leave the chair. Why?
Because it's not about us.
It's about Him.
He even tells us in Matthew 6 that if we are not careful, and we seek after rewards from people for our good works, that He will have no need to reward us later.
Would you rather be recognized temporarily by your peers or recognized in eternity by God?
Two things are for sure.
1.) There is always someone who deserves that chair more than you, and
2.) You can't be a blessing to someone else if your rear end is parked in the stinkin' chair.

Rock piles

In reading through some of the Old Testament this last week, I noticed something I really had not paid much attention to before…....
Rock piles.
Back in those days, if God had pulled you through a difficult time, people would gather rocks and make an altar and worship God and thank Him for what He had brought them through. One of these instances is in the Book of Joshua. Joshua and his people need to cross over the Jordan River and God stopped the flow of water so that they could pass to the other side. Once they got to the other side, Joshua instructed the people to take rocks and make an altar. He then tells them that in the future, when their children ask them about the rock pile, they will have an opportunity to share with their children the amazing thing God had done for them.
Obviously, quite a bit has changed since then. We can't just start building rock piles in the middle of Wal-Mart or in the middle of a traffic intersection or anywhere else that God has done something amazing for us. But what hasn't changed, is the need to share what God has done in our lives with our children. Are you keeping track of the times when God has worked a miracle in your life or pulled you out of an addiction or helped see you through a valley? Keeping a record of times like that will help us as well. When we get to a point in our life when we feel alone or depressed or uninspired, we can pull out our list and remember just how good God is, and how good He has been to us. As our children grow up and get to a point in their life where they are in need of encouragement, or if they arrive at a place where they need affirmation that God is in fact real and alive and is at work in their lives, we can pull out or rock piles and share the stories with them.
Maybe today is the day that you construct your first rock pile.
Happy building!

Worth the risk

So my wife and I were talking to this young man last night about the possibility of him moving into our home. We have done this from time to time with other people in need of a roof over their heads, but this time is different. There is greater risk involved than times past.
By the time he was 10, he had seen 3 people shot to death just several feet from him. His dad has been in prison for his entire life, and numerous other personal events have taken place that have taken him in and out of shelters and group homes. As we were sitting there listening to his story and learning what transpired in his life to get him to this point I couldn't help but think of the opportunities I have had in life just because of the parents God chose me to be born of. This kid is sitting behind the eight ball in large part because of who his parents are. Sometimes life just doesn't seem fair. Due to issues from his past, he has the potential to be violent at times, and therein lies the risk. I have a wife and 3 little kids to be concerned about. They are my priority.
While we were meeting with this young man, we asked where he had been sleeping. It turns out he had found a nice comfy spot in an alley behind a bank, where the drizzling rain has been keeping him awake for the last couple of nights.
I know that I have a duty to protect my family from harm, but what happens when that duty runs face first into my duty to not allow another human being to sleep in an alley in the cold drizzling rain?
After we got back home last night, I was reading this book by Donald Miller called "A million miles in a thousand years". There is a part in the book where Donald is thinking about how he grew up without a dad and decided he was going to help others who might be going through the same thing. He hooks up with this other guy named Duncan, who had a similar idea and acted upon it, and as a result, has helped hundreds of underprivileged kids find a platform to launch a new life from. The two men were sitting in Duncan's office, discussing their past. As I was reading, I came to this comment:
"The most painful of Duncan's recollections was that he never had an adult friend. Somebody to show him the way".
Then I started thinking about Jesus….
Jesus was a risk taker. He went to places where He knew people wanted Him killed. He went there because there was a goal He was after that was worth the risk involved.
His Father's business.
We have a graphic on a wall at our house that says, "..as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". I noticed that it doesn't say, "…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, unless it involves risk of some kind".
I suppose I could spend the rest of my life trying to be safe, and in turn never have to help anyone, but then I am just not so sure I would be able to tell someone that I am a Jesus follower.
I was listening to Francis Chan this morning and he said, "we are not just called to SHARE a verbal picture of God with people, we are called to SHOW a picture of God".
What better way to live this out than to take a little risk that might just lead to a huge payout for a young man that calls an alley his home.

The H1N1 has left the building

Over the last 10 days, it was like Night of the Living Dead at our house. People were walking around like their brains had been sucked out and replaced with green syrup that runs freely from the nostrils of the abducted. I began to wonder if it would ever end……and then……the H1N1 left the building. I don't think it happened all at once, but the proof that it had evacuated our bacteria-ridden house unveiled itself to me in about a 3 minute segment while at the dinner table the other night. I will do my best to describe the scene as I remember it.
All 5 of us are at the table eating…..
Caiden: jumps down and goes into the bathroom
Caiden: jumps out of bathroom with underwear around ankles and begins hopping to the table
Gavin: laughing, decides to join the naked jumping
Me: laughing
Kir: "Boys, pull your pants up and get back to the table"
Gavin: pulls pants up and gets back into his chair
Caiden: pulls pants up and goes back into the bathroom
Aislin: climbs down from her chair and pulls her pants down and begins hopping around
Caiden: back out of the bathroom, pants down and joins his sister hopping around
Me: laughing
Kir: "Aislin and Caiden! Pull up your pants, sit down and finish your dinner"
Gavin: "Can I be excused?"
Kir: "Have a couple more bites of chicken"
Gavin: shoves 2 chicken tenders in his mouth and disappears into living room
Caiden: follows Gavin
Me: laughing
Kir: "Caiden, you're not done, get back in here"
Caiden: rounds the corner with pants down hopping to the table, laughing hysterically
Aislin: climbs down with blueberry juice all over her and starts to pull her pants down
Kir: "Aislin!! Little girls do not do that…..neither should your brothers"
Me: laughing
Kir: "Thanks for your support, Tom"
Me: laughing
Now I feel something cold and pointy on the side of my head.
Gavin: with pants down holding a light saber to my temple, "I'm Luke Skywalker and you must die!!"
Kir: laughing
Me: "Thanks for your support, Kir"