Excuses - "Church is too emotional for me."

Sacrifice. It is a word rich in spirituality. It means giving up something precious to someone else. God sacrificed His son, Jesus, for us. Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross for our sins so that those who believe can be restored in a relationship with God the Father. We also talk about the word sacrifice within the context of our military and law enforcement personnel. These men and women sacrifice their lives to protect the world from tyranny. Parents make sacrifices, too, often giving up what they want or even need for family, especially children.

For the four years that I was in high school, I was a member of our school’s Key Club, which at that time was a young men’s service organization sponsored internationally by Kiwanis International, a community men’s service organization. I had a lot of success in Key Club, serving our local club as president, serving as a Georgia lieutenant governor, and finally serving as Georgia’s state governor during my senior year. As I advanced, the opportunities followed. I was able to attend international conventions at major U.S. cities, attend leadership development seminars in Chicago, and spent a long weekend at a leadership event at Valley Forge. I also had to have clothes to wear on all these trips. And, it all cost a lot of money. I was the oldest of four mouths to feed, and our country was mired in an economic recession not unlike the one we live in today. Times were tough. I had a part-time job at the local newspaper and so I was able to contribute to my own personal expenses. The organizations I served contributed, too. But, there was a gap that our family had to fill, financially. It would have been easy for my parents to sit me down and say, “You can’t pursue these opportunities because we just can’t afford it.” It would have put me in a position to make a sacrifice. But, they did not do that. Instead, they bore the sacrifice. We’ve never talked about it, but I know my mom, personally, visited with civic leaders to help raise money for me to be a leader in Georgia’s Key Club. I have a hunch my mom and dad sought out donations from family, which would not have been easy discussions. My dad got up before dark, drove to Atlanta every day, and got home about 10 p.m. to ensure the four of us children were able to do the things we wanted and needed to do as young people. My mom was almost never without a job during those times. And, while these were tense and stressful times, our family got through the valley okay. My parents sacrificed to see that their children did not; we children sacrificed by “not wanting” beyond what we needed.

It is very difficult for me to write and think about those days without becoming emotional. That doesn’t mean I always cry (though I have a lot). Sometimes the memories stir up compassion for and sacrifice for my own children, and for other people. Sometimes, the memories help me find a peaceful place, knowing that with our Lord all valleys come to an end. Mostly, memories of the sacrifices just weld deeper the love I have for my parents and family. When I think about how much I love them – well, tears of joy almost always follow in varying degrees. You see, sacrifice – a deeper, deeper form of giving – plows our lives together with others. We become so deeply woven that it’s impossible to avoid being emotional – even if it’s private – over the sacrifice.

Do you know why most people cry at the end of the move, “It’s A Wonderful Life”? It’s because George Bailey, at the end of his rope, is confronted by all his family and friends, who one-by-one express a level of compassion and sacrifice to help him out of the valley. Heck, I’m crying about it just writing these words. Understanding and appreciating sacrifice almost always brings about emotion.

Excuses - "I Don't Need The Church."

I enjoy exercise. I enjoy going to the gym at our church, getting on the elliptical and listening to my Zeppelin or ZZ Top for 30-40 minutes. Sometimes, there are good people there – I encourage them and they encourage me. I always feel better after I exercise, and if I get in a regular schedule . . . I sleep a lot better. But, here’s the deal: I’m hot and cold when it comes to exercise. I get out of the routine, and then I stop going, and then I set deadlines like this: “Okay, after this holiday, I’ll start back.” But, I never do. Because the longer and longer I put off going back, the less likely I am to go back. I don’t go back . . . despite how good I know it makes me feel. I develop a casual attitude toward exercise and my health suffers.

I believe that all believers are drawn to one another. (1 Corinthians 12:13). There is only one Holy Spirit. He resides in each follower of Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit within us that draws us toward other believers. I believe there are a lot of believers who know they should be in the fellowship of other believers. I believe they even want to be in the fellowship of other believers, but, like me and the gym, they have been so long outside the fellowship that it’s awkward and uncomfortable to get back in the rhythm. And, outside the fellowship, I can assure you – there is Satan’s playground and it doesn’t take long for him to surround the believer with unbelievers, and the trap door waits to be sprung. Look at families in despair, and then look at how woven they are with other believers through a local church. More often than not, the further we get from the fellowship with other believers the more we ache inside.

My excuses for not going to the gym? I’m too busy, it’s been too long and people there will give me grief, and I can exercise at home. All excuses. (I’ve never worked out at home. I once got all ready, but then poured a glass of grape soda and watched Bonanza instead.) Believers who are not engaged with a fellowship of believers - a church – have all kinds of excuses. All of them are just excuses. Most believers get comfortable using them because Satan convinces believers that the excuses are legitimate and justified. They are not and never will be.

So, I’m going to take four weeks and look at the Top 4 excuses for not being with church. And, I’ll work in reverse order.

No. 4 : “God is everywhere. So, I can be anywhere and worship God. I don’t have to be in church.” I’m not taking away from the power of corporate worship, but how sad it is to have narrowed the church to a one-hour service on Sunday morning.

While corporate worship is absolutely essential to the believer’s faith journey, Acts 2:42-47 gives us the characteristics of the church: Teaching ministry; fellowship ministry; communion (the Lord’s Supper, but also the integrating of lives with one another); and, prayer. They met together all the time. They shared everything they had. They worshipped together, and they practiced hospitality. You see, the fellowship of believers is being arm-in-arm with one another all the time – not just Sunday morning. The believer’s walk with other believers has never been about a one-hour service on Sunday morning. We are the church even when we are not at our church’s property.

A few years ago, I met a friend for breakfast. Once, he and his family were very active in our church. He was involved in several ministries. Then, they got out of the rhythm and ultimately stopped going, and the spread of absences increased until it just became hard to come back. Our breakfast gave me opportunity tell him how much we missed them in Sunday School. He said, “Scott, I’m a believer. We’re just busy on the weekends with our children, and I feel we can worship God wherever we are.”

He was right. God is everywhere, and as worship is a complete focus on honoring and glorifying God, he could worship God anywhere and everywhere.

But, just as I never work out at my home, would he worship God all by himself? Not regularly. Very doubtful. Ultimately, his life has proven out that he can’t do it.
But, he and his family also missed all the other benefits of being with a fellowship of believers.

I certainly can’t encourage others who exercise by working out all alone in my home. And, no one can encourage me, either. My physical and emotional health improves when I am with other people, in public, while exercising.

It’s the same with our faith journey. To experience the fullness of God’s love, through Jesus, we must be involved with other believers. And, that extends from the individual to the family.

In the New Testament book of Hebrews, (10:24-25) it’s written, “And, let us (believers) consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” These verses implore us to spur (incite – stir up) one another for love and service. God did not design believers to be completely independent of one another – He designed us to need one another for love and encouragement, and He caused us to love and encourage one another. To withdraw from corporate strength is like the soldier who lags behind in battle – he is at risk of danger, and he is outside the platoon’s reach of encouragement. But, even worse, he’s not there when needed to encourage and support the other soldiers. You see, we can’t be Christian consumers, only, because at some level that becomes sinful. If faith is all about what I receive then the focus becomes on self, and that’s the root of all sin. I can’t lag behind and be a consumer; I’ve got to be in the mix exercising my faith and allowing others to exercise their faith toward me.

I have started texting my college boys with this, “Who did you encourage today at church?” I am constantly telling them – “find a church where you can see God at work and where you can encourage others. There are lots of faith-based churches – find the one that fits your feet and begin the journey.”

The Hebrews 10:24-25 verses tell us something else: “let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

If the Lord came back to Earth today, and He absolutely could, do you want Him to find you separated from the church that He established, that He loves and cherishes like a husband loves his bride? (Ephesians 5:22-23)

Paul writes in Romans 12:5 . . . “So, in Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

When people say they “don’t need church,” here’s what you and I need to understand:

1. They may not know Jesus. They know about Jesus, they may call themselves Christian, but they may have never confessed Jesus as Savior. Scripture is clear – believers need one another. Believers, through the Holy Spirit in each of us, are drawn to one another. Move beyond the church discussion to the faith discussion.
2. They may know Jesus, but they are not following Jesus. They have slipped into a consumer mentality, and don’t understand how much the church needs them.
3.  If they are discussing church (even negatively), let that be your cue that church is on their mind, that the Holy Spirit may be calling them to be with other believers. Don’t’ shrug it off – build a relationship, let them see the value of church to you and your family, and welcome them in to the fellowship.

Finishing Well - The Days Of Our Lives

Since the early 1950s, daytime serials or “soap operas” have been a significant component of American television and American culture.
These 30-60 minute programs started on radio and transitioned to Monday-Friday afternoon television, targeting American housewives in post World War II suburban America. They were sponsored and produced by American soap manufacturers (Proctor & Gamble, for example). The plot lines ran concurrently, never-ending, and kept viewers coming back for the continuation of the story the next day. These programs became such a part of our culture that we still describe “over-dramatic” relationships as “a soap opera.”
By 1976, Time magazine called the daytime soap market “America’s richest television market” but that was also the beginning of the eulogy. In the late 70s, as most American women flooded the workforce, daytime soaps lost their footing. No new daytime soap has been created since 1999, and many of the 1950 veterans have been cancelled. Television producers made a shift in the late 70s, pushing programming to the evenings and launching programs like Dallas, Dynasty and Falcon Crest. Today, arguably, we still have soap operas in the form of reality television like The Bachelor – programs that at their core “spy” on the relational drama of others – real or fictional.
One of my mama’s favorite soaps was “Days Of Our Lives,” which – oddly – remains on television today and has been extended through 2013. “Days Of Our Lives” continues to open as it always has, with a creepy hourglass through which sand is sifting. There’s the “tick tock”  opening music, reminding us that our lives are on a clock that never ends. The late MacDonald Carey, who starred on the show, still narrates this opening with these words, “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”
One summer, when I was 10 or 11, my mom was working and paid me to watch her “soaps,” and record the highlights of the various storylines. I joke that this was my first paid reporting job, which led to 20 years of newspaper work. The opening of “Days Of Our Lives” is still haunting, a reminder that our days are numbered. It’s a reminder that our days, like grains of sand, are slipping through our fingers and can never be recaptured.

About 3,000 years ago, King Solomon was the man who “had it all” – tremendous intellect, power and unbelievable wealth. Kings from other nations came to him for advice. He was the son of King David, and built the first temple in Jerusalem. His economic system made money on top of money, and with money came undeniable power throughout the world. And, yet, he was a man adrift from God. He fell into worldly lust, worshipped idols and took multiple wives who introduced pagan rituals and idol worship into his home. He knew God and his advice to others was to follow God, but he lived the majority of his life apart from God.
At the end of his life, presumably, and now a very old man, Solomon writes the simple Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. He writes it all of us who are young and those of us who remain active, and he provides a cautionary and sobering reminder that our days are numbered. He tells us to understand the fragile nature of life and to live extraordinarily the days of our lives.

The Days Of Our Lives count for something. They are numbered. We will never have a chance to live today again, or make right the decisions we make. Life is a chess game; and, you can’t take back a move.
In my own life, I think about the time wasted, rushing after career and money and influence. I picture Jesus sitting at my kitchen table, watching me chase all the unimportant drama in my life. Each time I rush pass the table, I can see Him calmly reach for me and say, “Scott, slow down. Slow down and follow me.” And, of course, I was too busy to listen. How much more peaceful my life would have been had I listened.

I picture Solomon as a very old man, living his last days in a nursing home, desperately wanting to throw back a warning to everyone headed toward this same fate . . . or worse.
He writes in Ecclesiastes 11:7-10: “Light (life) is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning. When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days (death). Everything still to come is meaningless (compared to our eternity). Young man, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.”
And, Solomon concludes in 12:13-14:
“Here now is my final conclusion: Fear (honor and respect) God and obey His commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.” (The words “everyone” and “everything” always get my attention.)

Here are my personal take-aways from this:

1. Remember Our Mortality. Solomon reminds us that we will spend more of our days in death than in life. We are going to die. Within all our networks – Sunday School, high school classes, family - there will be a “last one standing” – many of us will bury one another, will cling to one another in death, and will walk through the valley of death with one another. It’s coming. That’s why Solomon says don’t waste the adventure of life – one day my life will be over. Make your lives extraordinary – even today. If today is my last to breath, how will I mark it – how will I sign my name to it as one that was extraordinary? Oh, please don’t let this day be ordinary. One day, I will bury Vicki or she will bury me, and that provides an urgency for my loving her extraordinarily today. One day, I will bury my parents – is that worth a telephone call today, reminding them that I love them? There are no guarantees – we must live each day beyond ordinary. One day . . . soon . . . one day . . . each of this will be no more. We will have no more time to invest in the lives of others. More importantly, we will have no more opportunity to come to faith and to introduce others to Jesus.
2. There is the threat of Meaninglessness. If you should die before me, I want to stand among your friends and family – even casually – and say, “I know He knew Jesus. I know She is with our Savior in paradise.” Any life not lived in the fullness of salvation will end full of meaninglessness. What separates us from despair is not our bank accounts, or our address books, or the resumes we put together – no, it’s the light of our Savior flowing through us to improve the lives of other people and help them discover Jesus. Please don’t be that pitiful and pathetic person whose life is marked by the funeral parlor cliché - “He was a good man; she was a good woman.” No, be the person remembered this way: “He poured his life into others because He knew Jesus as His Savior; She never celebrated anything but the great things God did through the lives of those she knew.” A life without Jesus produces regret, bitterness, loneliness, and hopelessness. A life centered in Jesus is fulfilling and can be richer and more bearable. Solomon reminds us that squaring our lives with God points us to an end with no regrets. When Solomon says, follow God’s commands, we skip to the New Testament and know those are to (a) love God; (b) love others; (c) and, make disciples. That’s the only way to avoid a meaningless life.
3. Remember Divine Judgment. No person will escape the judgment of God upon his or her life. After telling us to follow our dreams and live extraordinarily, Solomon reminds us that everything – all things – even the secret – what we say, what we do, and what we think – are seen by God and known by God, including the motives. Not even the inclinations of our heart or the desires of our eyes escape His knowing. We are called to live extraordinary lives, but we are commanded to live “right” lives. The Holy Spirit, within us, reminds us of what is right. We don’t have to worry over changing ourselves; the Holy Spirit will change us according to God’s plan for us. Thank goodness we have Jesus – not to escape judgment – but to be pardoned because of our faith in the One who died for our sins.

These sobering Old Testament reminders remind us of the width and depth of Jesus’ sacrifice for each of us.
C.S. Lewis said that all people must make a decision about Jesus. Each individual will call Jesus, “Lord, Liar or Lunatic.” Those who call Him Lord, cannot be ashamed of Him, and must live lives that are numbered for Him, speaking His name, loving His church, serving His people, and reflecting His sacrificial love for others. Those who don’t do this, mock Jesus, and He says in Matthew 10:33, “If anyone acknowledges me here on Earth, I will openly acknowledge that person before God, but, if anyone denies me here on Earth (and fails to recognize me before men), I will deny that person before my Father in heaven.” And, in Matthew 7:22, Jesus says, “Many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord . . . but I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away.’”

These Are The Days Of Our Lives. Gone before we know it. While we are able:

1. Profess Jesus as Savior, ensuring our relationship with God for all eternity.
2. Communicate with God through prayer, Bible Study, and being in fellowship with other believers. Know God.
3. Love One Another. No conditions. Put others ahead of self. Let the Holy Spirit work through it. Live extraordinary lives of love and service.
4. Make Disciples. Be blessed along your own journey by helping someone on their journey. Point people to Jesus.

Those who live this way, will finish this life well.

Finishing Well - Helping Others Finish Well

About 20 years ago, during a period of unemployment, I was encouraged by my pastor to visit church members who were in the hospital.
His brilliant counsel was that if I focused on the pain of others, rather than my own pain, I would grow deeper in my faith life. And, through that, God would be able to teach me and massage me into the man He wanted me to be. Isn’t it true? Satan wants us to look in the mirror, where we only see ourselves and then migrate to places of fear, depression, loneliness, and anger. Paul writes in Galatians 6:2, “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” What is the law of Christ? Jesus says in John 13:34, “So, now I am giving you (followers of me) a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you (sacrificially), you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my followers.” Satan says look in the mirror and see self; Jesus says “look out the window and see others.” Jesus says, ‘lay aside your own life and love others.’

That’s what I began to learn visiting hospitals two decades ago.
On behalf of my church, and as a church leader, I would visit people who I knew, people I didn’t know, people who were long-time church members, and people who just called the church and needed a visit.
And, the more I poured my time and energy into the pain of others, the less I worried about my own plight. It did not ease my circumstances. It did not ease the valley that I was walking through. I still had to make right some immature and foolish decisions. But, my focus on the pain of others helped me fully surrender my own pain to my Savior, Jesus. And, He began to send people along to encourage and love and serve me. Those people had turned from their own mirrors and were looking out the window.

A part of our Finishing Well this life we are gifted is helping others finish well. Scripture is clear: We are to carry one another’s burdens, and we are to love one another and prove our love for Jesus to the world. If we commit to that kind of life, we will finish well. And, what a blessing to know that we are serving others in their own journey to finish well.

Seriously, whose life will be better because you lived today? Not an organization, but whose specific life will be better because I lived today? Family and friends, certainly. In addition – not instead of – how far can I reach into the “stranger pool” toward loving and serving someone today? I can do that by consciously being kinder and friendlier throughout my day. God will use it.

In 2006, Gary Hardin, pastor, First Baptist Shepherdsville, KY wrote the document, “Eight ways to show hurting people you care.” It was picked up and reprinted by LifeWay Christian Resources. I’ve taken his list as a foundation, and rewritten it.

1. Listen, Listen, Listen – Hurting people need to talk it out. Just listen to them.
2. Avoid giving advice about the situation because you are probably not a licensed counselor. Instead, focus on spiritual foundations: Faith in Jesus, prayer, and what Scripture says about situations. I always find a way to ask, “Where is Jesus in all this?” and then I always offer to pray over people regardless of the public venue.
3. Refrain from condemnation and judging no matter how it might grieve you. This even applies to spouses and parents, who might be concerned about blow-back to their own reputation. Remind people there are consequences to bad decisions, but no life is ever ruined. In Jesus, God provides endless grace. Ezekiel 34:6 says, “I will cause the shower to come down; there will be showers of blessing.” Grace is an ocean; it’s not drops, or sprinkles, or mist. It’s a shower. Help people put an X on today, and begin a new life in following Jesus as Savior.
4. Avoid saying, “I know how you feel.” Unless you have truly been there, it’s impossible to know how that person feels. A few years ago, I was asked to visit with a family whose preschool son had died. I had never been down that road, and I knew it would be hard. A grief counselor gave me this encouragement, “Tell them, ‘Through our faith in Jesus, I love you. I don’t know what you are going through, but I am hurting with you because I love you. And, I am going to walk this journey with you.’” But, be careful when you say, “I’ll walk this journey with you.” That can become an over-promise and under-deliver. Please make sure you are clear in what that means to you, and for them. Never promise a long-term ministry response that you can’t be passionate about.
5. Be alert to a person’s warning signals that pain is getting a foot-hold. Be attentive to a person’s change in mood, change in communication, change in perspectives, and change in conversation. When you notice these signs, and you have a relationship with the person, wiggle in closer and listen, listen, listen. Talk about work, family, health, and faith. The pain will begin to pour out of them. Contrast this approach with the person who comes up to someone they don’t well and blurts out, “What’s wrong?” or “Is everything okay?” or “You look like something’s bother you.” If you do that to me, prepare to see the teeth.
6. Don’t discount the power of presence. Just be there. Sometimes that’s all you need to do. Be there. But, we sure don’t like silence do we? If it gets too awkward, lead a vocal or silent prayer time. Open Scripture and begin to read it. I had a pastor tell me one time, “A believer will never go wrong, anchoring himself in Matthew chapters 5-7.”
7. Keep it all confidential. I will try, after some time, to nudge people toward carefully expanding the loop, calling on other believers to pray and listen – even if it’s just to my own private prayer partners. I don’t even have to tell those partners the names involved. I know that sin loves the quiet, dark places. When it is exposed to light, everyone must deal with it.
8. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Psalm 25:4 has this prayer, “Make your ways known to me, Lord; teach me Your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me.” Satan does not want you and me ministering to the pain of others. He creeps in and tells us that we are not qualified, we are too busy, it’s too late in the day, or we are too broken ourselves, or that we are too inadequate. Really? That’s not what Jesus says. He says, “Love one another (without condition).” When I made that first hospital visit those 20 years ago, I sat in the parking lot and wanted to be sick. I did not want to visit people. My legs were weak and I felt so unworthy to approach people, encourage them and pray for them. But, the Holy Spirit moved me. And, He gave me just the right words to say. On one visit, I went to see a woman dying with cancer. Her husband was so glad to see me – really, he was glad to see anyone. I stayed for three hours. We prayed, we ate lunch together, and we played checkers. I cried all the way home. Whatever blessing that man got from me was not a fraction of the blessing I received from my Savior for being there.

I believe that God will send hurting people to those who He can trust to love them.
And, so a measure of my own spiritual growth; a measure of my own “finishing well” is when God crosses my life with those I can love and serve. And, then I feel the Spirit’s nudge to do it.
God won’t send people to the self-centered and self-obsessed. And, those people will be found useless to the Lord. Oh, follower of Jesus, do you really want to be found useless in your journey with Him?
And, so as we proceed along this journey toward finishing well, let’s evaluate: Am I a follower of Jesus? Am I loving others and serving them? Have I plunged my life into those around me, reflecting Jesus’ love for me? Am I waist deep in the burdens of others? Is my life pointing people to follow Jesus?
God wants people who are like that. Be the person who finishes well by helping others finish well.

Finishing Well - The Believer's Bucket List

In 2007, Rob Reiner directed “The Bucket List,” a movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two terminally ill men. Meeting in a cancer ward, they escape and head off on a road trip with a wish list of “to-dos” before they “kick the bucket.” The movie arguably re-introduced this notion of a “Bucket List” of things to do before we each die. It’s become a slogan within our culture: “Here’s my Bucket List.” I know people who have made these lists and are working to complete them. A friend of mine in Atlanta has already hiked 400 miles on the Appalachian Trail, jumped from an airplane, and is taking guitar lessons.

It’s not a bad notion, really. It’s easy for life to become ho-hum. I remember when I worked at the South Carolina Baptist Convention. At various points of the year, we would get the exact same form-letter reminders from Accounting or Human Resources. On the calendar, there were the same “big events” occurring on the same days, and largely looking exactly as they did the year before. Within our families, it’s easy for Christmas celebrations to move from being traditional to simply tiring in their consistency and their habitual nature. I’ve never understood the folk who go on the same vacation to the same location at the same time . . . every year. I appreciate that consistency if they are happy, but it’s not a suit of clothes that would fit me well.

And, so The Bucket List causes us to pause, evaluate, and, where necessary, shake things up as best we can. We are never too old to try new things, learn new things, and experience new things. Lord, protect me from being the person who fades away. Believe me when I tell you: This old pirate may grow old in years, but I will never be an old man in spirit.

For the follower of Jesus, the idea of The Bucket List takes on another, larger dimension. It’s a dimension that trumps all the “see and do” we might add to an Earthly Bucket List. Certainly, there are things I want to do and places I want to see before I die, but Scripture calls me to a Bucket List of much more significance and for consideration.

The great disciple, Peter, on whom the church was built, writes in 1 Peter 4:7-11:

The end of the world is coming.

(1) Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.

(2) Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.

(3) Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

(4) God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you. (See Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, and Ephesians 4:11).

(4a) Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all your strength and energy that God supplies. Then, God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to Him forever and ever. Amen.

Peter reminds us that there is an urgency to getting up and moving forward. The end of the world is coming. (The NIV translation says it this way: “The end of all things is near.”) Our days are numbered, and there’s no guarantee for tomorrow. So, we should be busy in living each day to “finish well” in faith the life that we have been gifted. We shouldn’t over-focus on death and dying, but on living in faith the day at hand.

We should pray. To do that, we should be clear-minded and self-controlled, squaring ourselves with Jesus and God’s plan for our lives.

We should give up self in order to show “deep love” to others, and I believe that also includes our homes and families. There is no person on this planet that will come between my love for my Vicki, and then my love for my boys. Because if I am loving them fully, I am grounded in a place where I can deeply love all others.

We should practice hospitality, opening our homes to build relationships with people, letting them see the love for Jesus reflected in our “true selves” not just our “church selves.” Sadly, there’s a difference that really doesn’t have to be there.

As the Holy Spirit lives in us through our faith in Jesus, we are gifted by Him in specific ways. We have to learn about our gifts, embrace our gifts, and exercise them to bring glory to Jesus and point people to Him.

So, here’s my Bucket List. 

1. I want to be more faithful to mark and end each day with the name of Jesus. I do this through prayer – real conversation with the Savior who knows me by name.

2. I want to “say I love you” to more people, and to show my love to them by living through the pain of life with them. I want to put feet to my prayers.

3. I want to be found faithful to my Vicki, all the days of our lives together, not just in deed but in thought and in word. I want to live out a “set apart” marriage of Holy Matrimony, putting what she wants for our marriage above anything that I want for me.

4. I want to be a cross-centered coach for my boys, and for the families they begin one day. When I leave this world, I want to know they are in faith-based marriages, grounded in the fellowship of believers. What must I do now to prepare for that chapter? What must my life reflect to be that for them?

5. I want to be more hospitable, opening our home to people and getting to know them better. I want the circle of friendship to keep expanding. I want God to send people who can help me grow deeper in faith, and who I can encourage along their own faith journey.

6. I want to be more attentive to exercising my faith through the spiritual gifts provided by the Holy Spirit, and also by loving and serving others.

7. I want all of my relationships intact. I don’t want to leave this Earth in conflict with anyone – I want to be at peace with everyone, especially everyone within my family. I don’t want there to be poison among believers, and I don’t want my family poisoned to others within our family. I want there to be peace.

8. I want to be faithful and more supportive of the fellowship of believers all of my days – engaged and involved with my church and those believers with whom I am called to serve arm-in-arm.

9. I want to introduce others to Jesus. I want the Lord to send people to me who don’t know Jesus, and I want Him to use me as a door-keeper – someone to help others find the cross. I do not want to face my Savior having missed opportunity to share Jesus with those around me. 

10. If I am fortunate enough to see the end of my life coming, and know that final hour, I want to be surrounded by believers at the time of my death. I want believers holding my hands, praying, and handing me off to the arms of my Savior. I want to hear them whisper, “Here is your servant, Lord, and we will see you soon.” (Then, I want there to be the party of all parties).

               

As you contemplate your own bucket list – the one grounded in 1 Peter 4:7-11, remember there is no guarantee of the hour or moment when you and I shall leave this Earth for eternity. Our bucket list is not for our 70s or our 80s. It is for today. This day. This very day. Put an X on yesterday, and all the wrongs thins done and said; and, begin today your “Bucket List” toward finishing well.

Finishing Well - Keeping The Faith

I was about 10, and my dad bought my brother and me a Honda 50 motorcycle – though motorcycle is probably a stretch. It was more of a dirt bike / moped; the smallest of the Honda series of motorcycles. Think “Shetland Pony.”

But, we were two little boys living in the country – a long way from friends – and that red Honda 50 was great entertainment.

One of our first projects was to build a trail through my grandfather’s pastureland between our house and his house. This would allow us quick access between the two houses without the danger of being on Brookwood Road – a long and dangerous stretch of country road.

What looked like an easy task turned into a project that took two little boys weeks to complete. In building that trail, we might as well have been building a railroad. Digging in the pasture soil, we removed clumps of pasture grass and then had to fill in the divots. We encountered a large berm (“hump” for those of you not oriented to trail construction) in the pasture. The first time we drove the Honda over the berm, we went air-born and I thought for sure Tim had died. In fact, I approached his body while praying only to hear him say, “I think I’m okay.” He was. (He later became a fighter pilot). So, we had to take days to level out the berm, leaving enough to make it exciting but not dangerous. There was also a low spot in the trail, and the low spot would get pretty swampy when it rained. We scrounged around and found some old 2 x 6 boards, making a bridge over the low spot. The last leg of the trail was an incline. We wrecked the bike again trying to take it straight up, and that led us to days of creating a series of cut backs to better maneuver the incline.

As long as I live, I will never forget the day we finished the trail and prepared for the first official test drive. We even took a piece of mama’s red ribbon and nailed it between two boards as a ceremonial finish line at my grandparents’ house. Tim and I flipped a coin to see who would make that first inaugural run, and he won. So, I assembled at the finish line and called out my grandparents and dad to watch the first run. Through an old set of binoculars, I watched as Tim left our house on the Honda 50.

Down through the pasture he came, jumped the berm, crossed the bridge, and then zig-zagged his way up “the mountain” (our term) before crossing the finish line. When he crossed the finish line, he stopped, threw off his helmet, and we hugged and danced around like two little wild boys. It was so emotional because we had worked so hard, for so long, to finish that project and then it was successfully done. Knowing how sensitive we were (and are), I’m sure we were on the verge of happy tears. All that long, hot work had paid off and it was successful.

That trail took (a) having a plan; (b) having a perspective; and (c) having perseverance.

We had a plan to build that trail to connect two homes. We had a learned perspective that this was not going to be easy and there was no way to make it easy. We had perseverance because there were many days when one of us would want to quit and the other would push us along to the finish line. Through it all, we finished well.

The New Testament is full of encouragement to finish this life well.
2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Acts 20:24, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

Life is not easy. It’s a tough course with divots, and berms, and swamps, and high places that must be climbed.

But, we believers have been assigned a course to run through this life, and we have been given an individual ministry purpose to let our lives shine for the Savior who died for us. That ministry may be through our neighborhoods, through our workplaces, through our families, and through our community. Most likely, it all involves every corner of our lives. Our race is to run well through the trials, proclaiming the name of Jesus through our words and through our actions.
And, all around us – and there at the finish line – are all the believers with and ahead of us, cheering for us – cheering for our perseverance – as we finish well the life at hand. And, finishing well means that others see Jesus through us, and want to know Him because of what they see in us and through us.

Finishing well this life of faith is about having a plan – I want my life to go from here to there (and that journey can start today!). Finishing well this life of faith is about having a perspective – I know it’s not going to be easy, and I know it’s going to be very hard and very costly. Finishing this life of faith is about having perseverance – the “get up and go” even when the times are tough, and being in the fellowship of believers for encouragement and support. (Can you really expect to finish well without the support and encouragement of other believers?)

Start your race today.

If you are on a race, keep pushing forward.

If you need encouragement, let others know that you do.

Be prepared to say, “I live this life for one reason – to lift up the name of my Savior, Jesus.”

Finish well. The Finish Line is out there in our futures, and as we collapse into the arms of our Jesus, we want to hear Him say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Build on eternal; squeeze in the temporary

~ From Derek Miller

We make many, many decisions in our lives.  These decisions range from the routine easy decisions to complex and difficult decisions with long-term impacts.  In the typical day, we have to make thousands of decisions.  We make decisions on whether to shower or eat first, what to eat for breakfast, what clothes to wear, what time to wake our children and/or spouses for their day, what route to use to get to work, and on and on.  Many of these go without much forethought and are made in a fraction of a second.  Many of these decisions, however, even when they are perceived to be small, can have many life altering impacts.

In the Guideposts story written by Kevn Felts, he tells the story of how he was struck to give a $100 to a family that he did not even know.  As it turned out, he provided the seed money to print the initial 15 copies of a story that would become the bestseller, The Shack.  Do you see that?  A simple act of giving to others, allowed author Paul Young to print out 15 copies of his story to distribute to his family members.  God used that gift to help millions who have read The Shack which has sold over 14.5 million copies.  Kevin relays that he never knew who he gave the money to until he was called upon to be the camera man for a documentary about Paul Young and realized he was the beneficiary of the $100.  A gift that has been multiplied many times over when placed in God's hands.

In Matthew 6:19-21, we are called upon to store up treasures in heaven and not here on earth.  Jesus lays out the different economic lessons that God has for us.  Many times we get hung up on the marketing blitz of modern times and we lose out on seeing that many "treasures" we seek have a short life span and we find that we have to scratch that itch for the next latest and greatest thing.

In Luke 12:16-21, Jesus relays the parable of the foolish farmer who has a bumper crop.  Rather than being generous with his bounty, he decides that he is going to build bigger barns and take it easy for a while.  The story shows that while Jesus continues to show that we tend to focus on the temporary, God is more interested in the eternal.  One thing to notice here is that Jesus doesn't say that the man in the story is evil or wicked.  He simply calls him a fool.  Why does Jesus use this harsh word?  The man did not deliberately set out to neglect his wife or ignore his children.  He did not establish the goal of becoming greedy and self-preoccupied as possible.  He didn't purpose in his heart to defy God or close off all compassion for the poor.  He just had other things to do.  He was simply too busy.  His priority list of what mattered most would be:

1. Harvest large crops
2. Build bigger barns
3. Achieve financial security
4. Eat
5. Drink
6. Be merry

What he did not bank on was that all of these things were temporary.

When we do a little mental accounting, we realize that as we look around and think about our lives, there are many things that are temporary.  This list includes our possessions, our resumes, our bodies, money, pleasures, other people's opinions of us, security, titles and positions, youth, power, physical attractiveness, and health.  On the Forever side of the ledger, we find God, our investments in the lives of others, our soul and deeds of love are eternal and are those treasures in heaven that Jesus talked about in the earlier verses.

What these verses are saying is that we need to be rich toward God.  You may ask, what does that look like:

• Being rich toward God means growing a soul that is increasingly healthy and good.
• Being rich toward God means loving and enjoying the people around you.
• Being rich toward God means learning about your gifts and passions and doing good work to help improve the world.
• Being rich toward God means becoming generous with our stuff.
• Being rich toward God means making that which is temporary become the servant of that which is eternal.
• Being rich toward God means savoring every roll of the dice and every trip around the board in this game of life.

What stops you from being rich toward God?

A couple of things get in our way.  One is that we are in a long lasting desire to keep score.  The old "keeping up with the Joneses" routine.  It is easy to use stuff to keep score and it is very difficult to quantify the effect of loving and serving both God and others.  We love to compare and contrast ourselves to those around us and decide whether we are better than, equal to, or worse than someone else.  Second and very related to the first, is that we like to live in the here and now and we lose track of the coming accountability that we are going to have to give later on.  With all of this, it is important to recognize that wise people build their lives around what is eternal and squeeze in what is temporary rather than the other way around.

Kyle Orth has learned that very thing.  Growing up in Tallahassee, Florida, he was one of the best athletes that I ever saw.  Whether we played football, basketball, baseball, track or any other athletic endeavor, everyone always wanted to be on Kyle's team.  It seemed that his teams never lost.  In a relay race, he was the anchor leg to make sure that any deficit after the third lap could be made up with his speed.  I was on a recreation league team with Kyle and we won the league championship in come from behind fashion due in large measure to Kyle's play.  As the years went along, my family moved away and when we moved back to Tallahassee, his family had moved.  The last time that I saw Kyle was when he came to a bank I worked at in 1982.  We had lost touch with each other.

Recently, through a series of God centered events, our lives have reconnected when I noticed pictures of work he was doing last summer in South Africa.  After getting to see his sister on Facebook and getting his contact information, I corresponded with Kyle and he related his story of how he has gotten so heavily involved in kingdom work.  He related to me that while influenced by events that happened to build his foundation in childhood, his recent involvement in these missional trips has been triggered by a calling to do things with an eternal effect rather than a temporary one.  It started about a decade ago with a daily quiet time and then built into his following the footprints of Jesus into the world.  He answered the call of who will go with, "Here am I, send me."

Kyle is epitomizing that wise people build their lives around what is eternal and squeeze in what is temporary rather than the other way around.  I always enjoyed being on Kyle's teams because I knew that we were going to win.  Jesus' words show that we need to recognize that it is being on His team that really makes all the difference.  When we do that and we change our focus from ourselves and our needs to those of others around us that is when we become eternal winners!