Valentine's Day - U R 2

O.K. guys, in case you are still mourning the end of football season and haven’t turned on a radio lately to hear all of the ‘flower delivery’ commercials – Valentine’s Day is THIS Sunday. There is no getting around it; you’ve got to make your ‘honey’ feel special.
While I am no ‘super romantic’ (or anything even close to that), I have an idea for you that I believe will knock her socks off and avoid a lot of shopping angst. This idea may sound a little ‘counter intuitive’ at first, and it will definitely require serious commitment on your part. But she’ll love it and you’ll be a better man because of it.
You will need to find a quiet time when you can be alone with her for a few minutes. Sit across from her, hold both of her hands, and look her right in the eyes. And then, in your own words, tell her something like:
“Honey, I want you to know that from this day forward, you are second.
“Regardless of what I’ve done or said in the past, I want you to know that Jesus Christ is going to always be ‘first’ – my first thought, my first action, my first priority. But you will be second at all times. Everything else will be a distant third: work, children, golf, TV, hunting, money, power, position. Everything.
“Although I already love you more than life itself, by always making Jesus my Number One, I will be able to love you better, and more.
“You are second – I promise.”
Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church - a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor - since they're already "one" in marriage. (Ephesians 5:25-28, MSG)

Groundhog's Shadow - A Sign?

“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign . . .”
Are you willing to show your age and admit to remembering when that song came out? Although referring to a different kind of ‘sign’, that song started going through my mind as I was reading the newspaper recently.
* All eyes are on Punxsutawney Phil to see the ‘sign’ of how much longer winter will last.
* A little cat named Oscar has been cuddling up to last stage Alzheimer’s patients in a hospice situation, indicating who has only days left. The cat is so accurate that the workers know to start notifying next of kin at this ‘sign’.
* A famous televangelist points to the earthquake in Haiti as a ‘sign’ of the deal Haitians made with the devil years ago to expel the French.
There are also lots of ‘end time prophecy’ gurus out there who point to all of the ‘signs’ that the ‘end is near’. You can look at what’s going on the world and see how accurately various ‘signs’ were stated in the Bible:
* "Wars and rumors of wars;" "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." Matthew 24:6 & 7. There are lots of wars, for sure.
* "There will be famines and earthquakes in various places." Matthew 24:7
* "Woe unto them who call evil, good, and good, evil." Isaiah 5:20. We seem to live in a culture that lets everyone decide their own ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.
* “Many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.” Daniel 12:4. Travel, satellite communications, the internet, etc.
* "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." II Timothy 3:1-5,7
* "And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them." Revelation 9:16. An army of that size had never existed until China's army reached that number in the 1960's.
* "For then I will return to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent." Zephaniah 3:9. Prior to the restoration of Israel in 1948, Hebrew was a dead language. Now Hebrew is spoken throughout Israel.
While I can really become fascinated with how so much of the biblical prophecy has been, is being, and will be fulfilled, I think there is a real danger with focusing too much on that. Certainly it is faith-building for me to see how prophecies have been fulfilled, knowing that the future prophecies will likewise be confirmed. But when we get wrapped up in ‘signs’, we are always anticipating the next one. And to some degree, we put off ‘getting ready’ until all the ‘signs’ we anticipate have been seen.
There are certainly many ‘signs’ left to be fulfilled before the Second Coming, before the Battle of Armageddon, before the Tribulation, before Millennial Kingdom, before the Final Judgment. BUT – there are NO unfulfilled ‘signs’ that stand between now and the Rapture. It could take place today, tomorrow, or in a hundred years. And there are certainly no ‘signs’ that stand between you and eternity – a bus could run over you tomorrow.

Are you ready?
Or are you waiting for some kind of ‘sign’?

I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” . . . But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. . . . [Therefore], what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. (2 Peter 3:3-12, NLT, emphasis added)

Don’t wait.
The time is now.

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind.
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

Be Still

One of the Bible verses where I turn most often is Psalm 46:10: Be still, and know that I am God. A few years ago (my daughter is now ten), I jotted down some thoughts about “being still” which I’d love to share with you.
* * * * *
Our 3½ year old daughter talks all of the time. From the moment she wakes up in the morning until nap time; from when she wakes from her nap until bed time – she is talking. And it’s not just idle jibberish flowing from her thought processes. She is asking questions, providing commentary, telling stories – all requiring the attention and input of her listener. You cannot get by with an occasional “yes, dear” when you hear her voice inflection indicate she is waiting for a response. No, you have to be actively listening in order to properly respond, “yes, Batman is a good guy,” or “no, Grace’s party is next Saturday,” or “no, Owen’s light saber won’t really cut your head off.” An incorrect or inadequate response runs the risk of a replay of all that led up to the question in the first place.
While I would prefer a bit less verbosity first thing in the morning, I’m not complaining. It is amazing and very entertaining to see how her mind works and is developing.
It would be nice, however, when bed time approaches, for her to wind down a bit more than she does. Our routine calls for: a bath, brush teeth, read a story, rock, climb in bed, a drink of water, sing songs, pray, hug/kiss, sleep. Until the “sleep” stage rolls around, she really doesn’t wind down very much at all. While rocking, I may get about ten seconds of good, quiet, still, snuggling. Then, its back to squirming, laughing, . . . being Rachel.
Again, I’m not complaining. This is a great stage of her life, where she is “doing” so much for herself and she is capable of so remarkably expressing herself verbally.
But I do sometimes long for that baby stage where I could just hold her for long periods. She was so dependent on me for everything. She would rest and relax in my arms and drift off to sleep. She would wake up slightly and look up at me as if to acknowledge, “yep, he’s still got me – safe, protected, taken care of.”

How true this whole picture is of our relationship with God:
● We spend so much of our lives developing our independence.
● We spend most of our “time with God” in a one-way conversation.
● We seek God’s answers to our questions instead of just seeking God.
● We want God’s affirmation of our words, actions, and thoughts instead of affirming Him with our words, actions, and thoughts.
● We so seldom take the time to just rest in the comfort of His love and the assurance of our salvation.
Obviously, any analogy that we can come up with relating to God breaks down on some level because He is so “other.” In relation to our human condition, we cannot even fathom His holiness, His power, His majesty, His glory, . . . Him.
We know He cares about our hurts. We know He wants us to bring our needs and concerns to Him. We know that He cares about every aspect of our lives and wants us to share it all with Him.
But I think He also longs for us to just rest and relax in His arms; to let go and acknowledge that He is in control and all will be just fine; to stop squirming, worrying, and fretting about the world beyond the comfort of His arms.
And I think He wants that for more than just ten seconds a day.
He may remove us from difficult circumstances; He may deliver us from pain. But so long as we are in this fallen world, He certainly desires that we . . .
“Be still and know . . .”

I hope you enjoy the lyrics of Steven Curtis Chapman’s song, Be Still and Know:
Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is holy
Be still, O restless soul of mine
Bow before the Prince of peace
Let the noise and clamor cease
Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is faithful
Consider all that He has done
Stand in awe and be amazed
And know that He will never change
Be still
Be still; Be speechless
Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know He is our Father
Come rest your head upon His breast
Listen to the rhythm of
His unfailing heart of love
Beating for His little ones
Calling each of us to come
Be still

My Hero?

I have never had any particular reason to be a fan of the Florida Gators’ football team, but I have really pulled for them the last couple of years as I’ve watched their quarterback, Tim Tebow. If you keep up with NCAA football at all, you know about Tim. His college career has been so amazing that it has even spawned a line of jokes similar to the ‘Chuck Norris’ or ‘Jack Bauer’ line of jokes, like:
The active ingredient in Red Bull is Tim Tebow's sweat.
Tim Tebow can get Chick-Fil-A - on Sunday.
People with amnesia still remember Tim Tebow.
Superman's only weakness is kryptonite. Tim Tebow laughs at Superman for even HAVING a weakness.
When Google can't find something, it asks Tim Tebow for help.
What color is Tim Tebow's blood? Trick question. Tim Tebow does not bleed.
Tim Tebow once stiff-armed a horse. That animal became what is now known as the giraffe.
When taking the SAT, write "Tim Tebow" for every answer. You will score more than 1600.
Tim Tebow gets called for roughing the tackler.
When Tebow spikes the ball, he strikes oil.
Tim Tebow can touch MC Hammer.
Tim Tebow frequently donates blood to the Red Cross - just never his own.
Referees created instant replay so they could admire Tim Tebow more than once.

But it’s actually the man behind all of the statistics, victories, and hype that I admire. Although he is a devout Christian, home-schooled by missionary parents, and unashamed to admit to confused media types that he intends to remain a virgin until he marries, he has not (to my knowledge) ever tried to leverage his ‘celebrity’ to gain fame and glory for himself. In fact, one of the things that really started me liking him is how he realized that, in his position, the television cameras would be showing ‘close up’ views of him on a regular basis. So, he took that opportunity to write Bible verse references on the ‘glare strips’ he would wear under his eyes.

Although obvious, Tim’s proclamation of God’s Word was still subtle. While a guy wearing a rainbow ‘Afro’ wig and holding a ‘John 3:16’ sign in the endzone bleachers draws criticism and derision, when Tim had the same verse on his glare strips during the 2009 BCS Championship Game, Google recorded 93,000,000 hits for it.

For those of us who have been on Tim’s real team for a number of years, a verse like John 3:16 is just ‘second nature.’ But for 93 million other folks out there, an outstanding young athlete earned the right (in their minds) to point them toward the gospel message.

Patrick Morley (of Man in the Mirror) is similarly impressed with Tim and he tried to keep track of all of the verses Tim referenced on his glare strips this year. He says they were: Proverbs 3:5-6, Mark 8:36, Romans 8:28, Isaiah 40:31, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Psalm 23:1, Ephesians 4:32, Philippians 4:6-7, Colossians 3:23, Joshua 1:8-9, Romans 1:16, Hebrews 12:1-2, John 16:33, Ephesians 2:8-10. Look those up when you have an opportunity to see what Tim has proclaimed.

There are lots of NFL scouting experts who say Tim doesn’t have what is required to be a successful NFL quarterback – not accurate enough, too long of a throwing motion, etc. But if I had the chance to choose him, I would in a heartbeat.

Tim Tebow is a difference maker. Tim Tebow leads others where they need to go. Tim Tebow marshals all of his gifts and talents and efforts with victory in mind.

And Tim Tebow also plays football very well.

If you are like me, you probably don’t have the opportunity to ‘witness’ to millions of people each week. But what are you doing with the opportunities you do have?

Admittedly, you may lose some credibility if you wear glare strips under your eyes with ‘Philippians 4:6-7’ written on them when you attend your Monday morning sales meeting. And if you’re a surgeon, your patients may go elsewhere if you ask them if they know where they’ll end up if they die today.

But still – we are on the same team with Tim Tebow. The game plan calls for us making a difference; for us to lead others where they need to go; for us to maximize our gifts, talents, resources, and efforts.

Tim Tebow does some heroic things. But Tim Tebow is not my hero; Jesus Christ is.

Tim has shown us one way of pointing others toward our Hero. We should have our own ways of doing that as well.

Are you doing that?

Better question: How are you going to do that today?

“You are the light of the world - like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.
No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket.
Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see,
so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
Matthew 5:14-16, NLT

New Year Resolution

I’m not really much of a “New Year’s resolution” kind of guy. Are you?
I suppose that such resolutions have their place and can serve some good purposes, but they’ve never been too important to me. Maybe some deep-seated cynicism within me is trying to protect me from setting myself up for disappointment or something. Who knows?
It has always fascinated me though, how so many people focus so much on one little tick on the clock when our calendars change from one year to the next. They seem to really grasp at straws for the hope of a “do over” in some area (or areas) of their lives. “It’s a brand new year! The past is behind and I can start with a clean slate!”
But . . .
What about that mortgage, car payment, or credit card bill? What about that project you left on your desk at work on December 31st? What about those extra twenty pounds? What about that leaky faucet in the guest bathroom? What about the argument you had with your son on Christmas? What about that homeless guy under the bridge?
Do those things go away or start with a clean slate just because we went from 11:59 p.m. on December 31st to 12:00 a.m. on January 1st?
The reality is that there’s not much in this life that stops being what it is one second and then becomes something brand new the next. There isn’t much that disappears and will no longer burden us just because the clock went ‘tick tock’.
But - you know what did? Here’s a hint: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17)
Have you ever thought much about that? It’s really a wondrous mystery how that happens and it’s certainly beyond my explanation. But what is clear to me is that upon accepting Christ we do not become turbo-charged versions of our old self; we are not updated and improved; and we’re not “made over,” enhanced, or strengthened.
No, we’re NEW CREATIONS!! Completely new! We became something we weren’t before (and could never have become on our own).
However, unlike “New Year’s” revelers who want to pretend a new year makes all things new and leaves all the old behind, we become completely new and then we keep reaching back to our old self to bring it along for the ride. What sense does that make? We’ve been made a new creation, yet we drag the old with us into our new life!
And that just ain’t right.
The God of all creation has made me a new creation, for His purposes, by taking up residence within me (Gal. 2:20, Col. 1:27, 1 John 4:12). And then I keep dredging up the old me. I keep thinking I can ‘resolve’ to improve upon and make the old me acceptable to God to some way.
I’m tired of it. God deserves better.
The old me is gone and could never be made acceptable. He made a new me and He did what I couldn’t have ever done – made a new, acceptable me. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1, NLT)
None!

So, . . . I resolve to leave the old self behind and focus on perfecting the new life to which He has called me. I resolve to make this new creation submissive to its Creator; to more fully trust the Most Trustworthy One.
And I resolve that this resolution will not fade away with the passing of time. Because some things, like the new life He has given me, are eternal.

A Tale of Two Fathers

Has there ever been a father who didn’t swell with pride and hope while embracing sky-high aspirations for the newborn baby he held in his arms? After getting home from the hospital, away from all the excitement and holding that brand-new little baby, sleeping in peace – fathers tend to start looking way out into the future to imagine what is to come:
Maybe they see their son striking the familiar pose of the Heisman trophy as he leads his college football team to the national championship.
Perhaps they see their daughter in a lab coat winning the Nobel Prize for inventing the ultimate cure for cancer.
They may envision their child being the biggest box-office draw in Hollywood, or chairing the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or writing the ‘great American novel’, or walking on Mars, or singing at the Grand Ol’ Opry. They have dreams – big dreams for the little miracle they hold in their hands.

Do you think it would have been any different for Joseph when he first held Jesus in his arms in the stillness and quietness of that Bethlehem night? Even though Joseph knew he wasn’t Jesus’ ‘biological’ father, I’m certain that he had the same feelings of pride in anticipation of what his ‘son’ would become.

Of course, Joseph had an added advantage of having been told by an angel: “[Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) And his wife had been told: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Luke 1:32-33

So Joseph had more than just ‘fatherly pride’ to fuel his imagination of what the future would hold for Jesus – he had the angel’s prophecy to bank on. However, Joseph’s anticipation of Jesus “saving his people”, “being great”, being given the “throne”, and “reigning forever”, was probably much different from what actually took place.

As Jesus grew, I’m sure Joseph experienced the same things most fathers go through as the mundane, day-to-day aspects of life tend to crowd out those euphoric dreams and visions of what was going to be. It’s not that fathers ‘lose hope’ or ‘settle for something less’ for their children. Rather, most fathers learn that enjoying those daily experiences and accomplishments pushes those ‘future’ dreams out of focus. They learn to treasure the ‘here and now’ of their children rather than looking to the ‘maybe someday’. And as we participate in our children’s lives, we don’t lower our aim, our goals just morph toward what is most important to them.

Joseph surely cherished the time he had with Jesus as Jesus learned his father’s craft, was perfectly obedient to Mary and him, and assisted with the responsibilities of rearing his brothers and sisters. Joseph didn’t have to look to what he may have wanted or thought Jesus might become – he knew he was truly blessed to have him as his son.

What about Jesus’ ‘other’ Father? What do you think He may have felt as He cradled Jesus in His arms on that first night in that lowly stable?

Well, being eternally omniscient and not constrained by the limits of time as Joseph would have been, the Father would have had no unrealistic hopes or expectations for the life of that Child. While His expectations were impossibly high (the perfect salvation of man), they were certainly not unrealistic since He knew they would be totally fulfilled.

In that very moment the Father saw not only the ‘mundane’ day-to-day events His Son would experience over the next 33 years, He saw the extraordinary - and He knew the significance of each and every one. Yes, Jesus was pre-existent with the Father, but as the Father cradled this Baby, He saw the Baby:
● As an adolescent boy being perfectly obedient and submissive to the earthly parents to whom he was entrusted.
● As a young man with the same struggles as his peers but never violating a single commandment.
● As a missionary choosing to follow the Father’s plan wherever it led.
● As a rabbi teaching, healing, loving.
● As a Jew living the spirit of the Law rather than manipulating the letter of the Law.
● As a preacher offering hope and salvation.
● As a servant being betrayed by friends.
● As a prisoner being spat upon, beaten, mocked, and murdered.
● As a lamb taking on all of the most foul, repugnant, obscene, heinous sins ever committed in all time.
● As a victor defeating death and rising again.
● As a Savior bringing multitudes back to the Father.

The Father saw the ‘tragic’ from the perspective that turned it to the ‘glorious’. He knew what lay ahead and He knew His Son would do all that was necessary. Perfectly. The Father knew the pain, suffering, and separation His Son would endure. Flawlessly.

The Father knew He was truly blessed to have Jesus as His Son.

And He gave Him to us.

And we are blessed beyond imagination to have Him as a Savior.

A child has been born to us; God has given a son to us.
He will be responsible for leading the people.
His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God,
Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.
Power and peace will be in his kingdom
and will continue to grow forever.
He will rule as king on David's throne
and over David's kingdom.
He will make it strong by ruling with justice and goodness
from now on and forever.
The LORD All-Powerful will do this
because of his strong love for his people.
Isaiah 9:6-7 (NCV)

Spreading Good News

Who knows for sure, but in my mind I see the following scene unfolding up in heaven a little over 2,000 years ago . . .
As was customary at the start of each day, God was conducting a staff meeting to assign tasks, prioritize goals, and motivate the crew. He began the meeting by announcing that Thaddeus the sheep herder would soon lose his footing on a cliff side near Capernaum – someone was needed to keep him from an ‘untimely demise’. Several volunteered and an assignment was made.
God then asked for a volunteer to go encourage a priest near Jerusalem whose ‘calling’ was feeling more like a ‘job’. Several volunteered and an assignment was made.
Many more tasks were announced and assignments made until God’s tone changed slightly and He leaned forward a bit. God announced that He had “one more assignment.” This statement was not greeted with the fidgeting and stirring normally associated with the ‘last point’ to be made in a meeting. Rather, everyone sensed that something special was coming and the heavens became completely silent in rapt anticipation.
God then said that He needed someone to go to a teenage girl named Mary and tell her that the time had come: The Messiah - the One foretold by the prophets, the One to bring salvation to the earth - would be borne to her.
As you can imagine, the place went wild with wings fluttering, hands shooting into the air, and thousands upon thousands of “Me! Me! Me!,” “Can I do it?,” “Let me!”
Sure, it would have been cool to have been given the task of brandishing one of the flaming swords to guard the entrance to the Garden; it would have been an honor to warn Abraham about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; and it would have been great to tell Gideon he would become a mighty warrior. But this was to be the best job ever - to give the best news . . . EVER!
God called out, “Gabriel! I want you to do it.” The excitement could not be contained - all of the other angels cheered uncontrollably and congratulated Gabriel on being chosen for such an honored task. Then God told all of the other angels that He wanted them to be a part as well – He wanted them to herald the birth over some fields outside of Bethlehem in just a few months.
The exhilaration, the joy, the expectation – it was extraordinary. The angels just couldn’t wait for their opportunity to be a part of announcing ‘the good news’ – the BEST news.
“The Hope of the World! Salvation of mankind! Reconciliation with God!”

Isn’t that what Christmas is all about?
And haven’t we been given the same awesome opportunity of announcing the Greatest Gift ever to the world? “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” (Mark 16:15)
How excited are you about the chance to announce the ‘good news’?
Does it wake you up in the morning? Is it your central focus?
Could there be anything more important?
God came down – Immanuel! The Way was made possible – Hosanna!
The angels did their part. They proclaimed, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” (Luke 2:14)
It’s our turn.
Are you ready to proclaim the BEST NEWS EVER to the world? Are you able to contain yourself? Does the excitement overwhelm you?

It is Christmas – Christ Jesus has come. Go tell it on the mountains!