Will Your Anchor Hold?

There’s a Stirring # 8   

 

             

            Picture this situation. You got a group of people stranded on a deserted island. A young woman says, “Everyone listen up! I found the plane’s radio equipment. I think we can get off this island.”

            Then a guy calls from down the beach. “Everyone listen up! I found the plane’s beverage cart. It is full of Bud light.”

            The pilot says, “Here we go!” He and all of the passengers, with great joy, go running madly toward the beverage cart.

            They are partying and celebrating with sheer exuberance. They start grabbing the bottles of beer and opening them up.

            One of the passengers fondles a beer bottle and says with deep emotion, “We're going to be okay.” And then he screams, “We're going to be okay!”

            Meanwhile, the woman who had found the radio equipment looks at the rest of passengers with an expression that says, “I cannot believe this. I can get us off this island, except for the fact I'm surrounded by a bunch of morons.”

            This was a commercial presented by BUD LIGHT during the 2010 Super Bowl. (To view the clip, click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dmpi0ydX0U

            Now, before we get too hard on them, remember this: that is the story of humanity.

We see this commercial acted out in the Bible over and over again. Moses comes out to God’s people and announces, “Great news! We have the opportunity to have salvation, fellowship, relationship, and communion with the Holy God!” Meanwhile, somebody else comes out and shouts, “Hey, I’ve got some gold, and I can make a golden calf!” The people shout, “Yahoo!” and head toward Aaron.

            Or Moses proclaims to the people, “Great news, you can walk with the Holy God, and he will feed you manna and quail and take care of you.”

            Someone else calls out, “Hey, they’ve got cucumbers and onions back in Egypt.”

            “Wahoo!” and the crowd heads back to Egypt.

             Throughout scripture there are like-minded people, abandoning the greatness of God for ___________. Read the Bible; fill in the blanks. There are literally dozens of examples.

            Here’s the catch, we all have a blank. What’s in your blank?

            Each one of us has a blank that consists of something that will get us so excited we will chase it, and lose sight of God. In God’s eyes, this is every bit as frivolous as people on a beach pursuing a beverage cart instead of turning toward their only hope of deliverance: a radio.

            What’s in your blank? I have had various ones in my life. Now, it might be that I love to preach at Shiloh. I have no dream job I am holding out for; this is my dream job. I can’t imagine retiring. Retire to what? However, if I live long enough, I will have to retire. Then what? If my blank is preaching at Shiloh, I will be in trouble.

            I cannot define myself by this job. I’ve seen people do that in various fields, haven’t you? It never ends pretty.

            As nice as it is, my job won’t save me. My ministry won’t save me. My ministry pales in comparison to salvation and the chance to relate to the Heavenly Father, and to His Son, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

            What’s in your blank? Parents often fill in their children’s blanks with the wrong things. Deut. 6:6-9 addresses the issue of what to place inside the blanks of our children: 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. NIV 1984

            Parents have the chance to share with their children the saving message of Jesus, equip them to walk with Jesus forever, and, just like the commercial, somebody calls all out to them, “Hey, I just found the plane’s beverage cart…” The parents then go running over to the “beverage cart” with their kids, and they leave behind the plane’s radio, which will help rescue their kids from the shipwreck of a fallen world.

            Let’s think about some of the ways we parents fill in the blanks for our kids today:

Sports

            Guys, if you are on the road, you honor the spirit and call of the book of Hebrews, and you take your family to meet with a local church for worship and encouragement; or you serve as a missionary. You host a worship service in your motel room. You commit to leading your family in this and make it an opportunity for mission work. You invite other players and families to come enjoy a Kingdom blessing.

            Do not lead your kid in some athletic competition that he or she will someday have to give up, all the while neglecting your spiritual leadership responsibility to equip your family.

            Listen, I appreciate the value of sports. I have arisen at five in the morning and played full-court, one-on-one basketball with one of my kids, and I will do it again if another kid wants to. I make myself available to my kids for practice. However, can I give you some free advice? Statistically, your kids are not going to receive an athletic scholarship.            

            If they do, it is not going to be because you went all over the country and obsessed over that sport. Talent trumps everything.

            I had to learn this the hard way. My college football coach said I always had a place on the team because I was the team’s hardest worker. I always had a place—on the bench. That was, of course, if I paid my way through college.

            No one obsessed more and worked harder on sports growing up than I did. And I missed out on a lot because of it. If your kid has the talent, you don’t have to play him in twenty different leagues. The scouts will find talent.

            Why do you think colleges are in trouble all of the time for having athletes on their teams with police records longer than Al Capone’s? These athletes are not working out hard in their respective sports. They are too busy doing the things that land them in jail. Yet, they receive scholarships… because they have talent. Talent triumphs everything.

            If your kid has talent, I guarantee you he’s going to get a scholarship, even if he has a well-balanced life. If he does not, I don’t care if you work him out twelve hours a day; it’s not going to matter. Plus-you will have collateral damage to deal with from dragging him all around the country.

            Do you know how many talented high school athletes I have known who have received full scholarships to major universities who have walked away? They were simply burned out.

            To recap, I’m not telling you to forgo a trip to the Youth Soccer World Cup, I’m just saying balance your child’s life. And don’t lose sight over what is more important.

School/Academics

            Home school, public school, and Christian school-- I’ve tried them all with my kids. All have strengths and weaknesses.

            Here is the test: if your children are not growing spiritually stronger with their local church’s youth group because they have so much going on with their school’s activities, they’re blank is filled with the wrong item.

            We lived in a place one time, where I felt sorry for the youth minister. He could never get any kid to go a youth activity because they had committed everything to the public school.

            Home school can be wonderful as long as you remember it is a para-church organization. Some parents substitute the home school or co-op for the church. Folks, there is no “home school heaven.” There are no homeschoolers in heaven, who bypassed the church. After the cross, the only humans the Bible speaks of as being in heaven are those of the church. Many seem to ignore this.

            The same goes for Christian schools. I teach a senior Bible class at a Christian school called East Texas Christian Academy. I love ETCA, but there is no “ETCA heaven.” I’ve seen parents who have equipped their kids to spend a lifetime in the community of ETCA, but not to spend a lifetime in the community of Christ—His church.

            Godly parents, who love their children, equip them to love the Lord and love His church.

            Let’s transition now to the individual level. How about the blank of:

Personal Happiness

            For some people, the blank is a happy life—as pain free as possible. The talk of Hebrews is disturbing because it signals we might live lives of toil and pain for the Lord.

            And, if your blank is filled with a desire to live a pain free life, ended by dying in your sleep, you want to avoid a call of Jesus that can mess that up.

            I’ve got to admit this is tempting to me too. I want to live a fulfilling, pain-free life, and die in the pulpit. If not that, then die in my sleep.

            Here’s the problem, I’ve known people who went to sleep and then did not wake up. For the Christians, it was great; they went to heaven. But their families were devastated—“If I could have only said, ‘Goodbye….’”

            The alternative is something I have seen more—if you live long enough, and you don’t die in your own bed in your sleep, your body will eventually wear out. A lot of times these people have lived lives I would love to live, but it takes a long time for their bodies to die.

            Your body will not want to let go if you live long enough. You will end up in a hospital bed, and it will take your body a long time to let go of life. Your family will gather around your bedside, and they will hear a machine make this relentless sound: “BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.” They will watch a dot rise and fall, while waiting for it to flat-line. That will be hard on your family. It could be hard on you too.

            So unless the Lord returns and burns up this earth (destroying the blanks of many other people), you and I are going to have a difficult way out.

             (I did read about a guy in Weatherford a couple of years ago, who was still practicing law. He was one hundred years old. I'll cut him some slack!)

            Hebrews talks about a person’s blank, 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears (Heb. 12:16-17.)

            Isaac had said to Esau in “Bud Light” language, “We are stranded on this planet, but I found a box that I think can get us off.”

            Then Jacob hollered, “Hey, I’ve got some soup!”

            And Esau said, “Here we go!”

            The preacher of Hebrews talks to these Christians about what should be in their blanks. It has to do with a promise of hope. He talks about the hope God offers. Look at Hebrews chapter six, 13 For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:  14 “I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.”           

 15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.

            These Christians needed to know that their hard way of life—facing persecution—was all headed toward a good goal. What they were tempted to do was to abandon Jesus for false hopes and mirages. It was like finding salvation in the plane’s radio and abandoning it for the illusion of a good time to be found in the beverage bin.           

            The preacher reminds them of the story of Abraham. God made a promise to Abraham. He fulfilled that promise. It took a long time, but God came through.             These Christians were becoming discouraged because they expected their hopes to be fulfilled instantly. (I'm glad we don't have that problem anymore!)            

            Abraham, according to verse 15, had to patiently endure. Maybe you are feeling that way right now; maybe you are having to endure for the hope. If so, listen to these words, 16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. NLT

           

            Then the Preacher of Hebrews says that you can count on God delivering, 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

            These Christians felt like refugees, and they needed something to hold on to. So the Bible in verse 19 uses an image that it uses nowhere else–an anchor. That anchor for the Christians is God's promise. It is rock solid.

            He says, “God has promised to get you off of this planet. You place a relationship with the God of this promise, in your blank.” Furthermore, he adds this, 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. ESV

            He calls this hope an anchor. What is an anchor for? In a boat, it is what holds you steady in a storm.

            Where is your anchor? Can I recommend the one other place we can turn?

            (Warning! Sarcasm Alert!)

            How about your retirement? That is safe, isn’t it?

            How about in your government? They will take care of you, because they care, right?

            Listen, if you think you can trust fallen human beings to take care of your health, you are sadly mistaken. Even with the best intentions, it will not happen.

Beware of Ungodly Expectations.

            You know who are the biggest threats to civilization: those who have nothing to lose--those who have sold out to a cause higher than themselves.

            Since they are focused on a cause greater than themselves, they are not focused on themselves. They have nothing to lose, which means they have low expectations. That means they can withstand anything.

            That is why terrorists who have these qualities are so dangerous. That is why we lost the war in Viet Nam. The Viet Cong was willing to fight until literally the last man, woman, and child was dead.

            We American Christians, on the other hand, chase our frivolous blanks and get diverted. We have anchors that cannot hold. When our expectations are unmet because we are chasing after frivolous blanks, and our paper anchors don’t hold, we lose our Kingdom effectiveness. We can even cease to function in the Kingdom.

           

            Ungodly expectations are nothing more than elevated idols.

            When they are unmet, we have trouble coping.

            What if we had nothing to lose because we sold it out to Jesus?

            What if we could withstand everything because of the hope of what we have to gain?

            There is a song in our church song book based on Heb. 6:19-20. It asks the same question this preacher does:

Will Your Anchor hold in the storms of life,

When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?

When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain,

Will your anchor drift or firm remain?

            Your anchor is your blank.

            What are you putting in your blank?

            Will your anchor hold?

# 1 Thing I Have Learned Each Decade: Decade # 4—God Is Gracious

            During my first two decades, life was relatively easy. The third decade of my life, I discovered that life was hard. This was a good lesson for me, because it prepared me to appreciate what I learned in the fourth decade of my life – God is gracious.

            I discovered God’s grace in college. I internalized the biblical message that I was saved by grace. However, I was in my 30s before I truly began to appreciate God's gracious activity in my life and each blessing He gave me.

            One place this was exemplified was in my profession. The first five years of the decade, I lived in Argentina doing foreign mission work. I loved those years. Until my children were born, those were the greatest years of my life.

            In 1995, I was given the privilege to preach at a church in Brownsville, Texas. Four years later, I was blessed to begin preaching in Winters, Texas, near Abilene and Abilene Christian University.

            I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated both jobs. The two jobs were diverse in some ways. Each offered its own challenges. Moreover, I had many things to learn. Nevertheless, I appreciated getting to participate with God in His mission. Equally important, I appreciated God allowing me to follow the passions of my heart and aligning those passions with my profession.

            Having worked in real estate and roofed houses during the decade of my twenties, I was able to fully embrace the chance to do something I truly loved to do. I have not worked since I quit roofing in 1989.

            Let me elaborate: I cannot stress what a blessing it was (and is) to feel like I was doing what I was created to do; this sense allowed me to enjoy my work. When a person enjoys his work, it is not a job.

            The second major area in which God reinforced His graciousness was in the area of family. Judy’s and my natural-born daughters entered into this world during this decade.

            Fatherhood presented ENORMOUS challenges. I learned this immediately after Haleigh’s birth.

            Haleigh was born a little prematurely and did not eat enough in the first few months of her life. We had to wake her up literally every two hours—twelve times every 24-hour-period—to feed her.

            The physical and emotional strain was enormous. I can remember walking the streets of Argentina searching for something Haleigh’s pediatrician recommended and literally telling God, “I don’t know if I can do this (be a father.)”

            We somehow made it through that crisis, as well as the crisis our second daughter, Abby, endured when she ceased breathing immediately after birth and was placed in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for two weeks.

            From a selfish perspective, it seemed hard taking a day off each week with two little girls whose idea of fun was to play dolls, play dress up, and play CANDYLAND. I hate CANDYLAND, but I played it over and over with them.

            Personal pleasure for parents, of course, is irrelevant; however, I was later blessed to enjoy the fruit of those relationships, which was formed during those hours on the floor with dolls and CANDYLAND game boards. It wasn’t long before those girls grew out of those life phases and chose interests that corresponded with mine.

            Again, not that it is a right, but relatively early in my parenting career, I received the blessing of not only raising my kids but enjoying them as well.

            Lastly, I’ll mention that I was thirty when Judy and I entered the second year of our marriage. By then we were able to cultivate some good foundations for a healthy marriage.

            I enjoyed being married to Judy-so much so-I did not feel a deep yearning to have children. We were married almost 5 years before we had Haleigh. I wanted to have children because I felt privileged to participate in God’s work and mission in the world, not because I wanted to bring a third party into our household to compensate for something that was missing in our marriage.

            It was in that decade, before we had children, that Judy became my best friend. She remains so to this day.

            It was during that time that I really enjoyed being in her company. Those days, I would rather be at home with her than anywhere else. Later, I would rather be home with Judy and my kids than anywhere else. This feeling continue to this day.

            Looking back, I realize that during my thirties, God cultivated an understanding within me of how blessed I am. I remain blessed.

            This is God's gracious activity in my life. I don't know how long it will last. I am not entitled to these blessings, but I have learned to squeeze every bit of enjoyment out of them while I can.

            My children are not my toys. They have begun leaving home, one by one. This is as it should be.

            I would love to die at exactly the same time Judy does. It probably will not happen that way. Yet I remain forever grateful for whatever time we have left together.

            We humans deserve spiritual separation from God. Anything we get above that is a gift.

            Salvation comes by God’s grace. Other events that bring joy come by the grace of God as well.

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. Last week I finished LOOKING FOR ANNE OF GREEN GABLES THE STORY OF L. M. MONTGOMERY AND HER LITERARY CLASSIC. The author is Irene Gammel, a professor of English at Ryerson University in Toronto.

            Drawing extensively from Montgomery’s diaries and journals, Gammel provides a detailed backdrop of Montgomery's inspiration for Anne. While Gammel’s work is not a true biography, she uses her rich resource material to reveal a multi-layered depiction of Montgomery's life.

            While her life might be described as a wonderful life, it was a very sad life also. Montgomery's mother died when she was young; raised by her grandmother, their relationship in adulthood was extremely strained. Both experienced an even worse relationship with Montgomery’s uncle, who attempted to remove Montgomery and grandmother from the family homestead—where Maud cared for her grandmother during the matriarch’s final years.

            Like most writers, Lucy Maud Montgomery was a complicated human being. Montgomery married a Presbyterian minister, Ewan Macdonald, while in her late thirties. She bore him three sons, one being stillborn.

            This I knew.

            What I did not know was that Ewan suffered a nervous breakdown, and was continually plagued by deep depression until his death. Moreover, she suffered from depression as well. Instead of each partner being available to pick the other up, Maud and her husband each exasperated the condition of the other.

            Most biographies and encyclopedic works note that Montgomery died of heart disease in 1942 at the age of 67. Ewan died one year later.

            (Not found in the book, but related information to Montgomery’s depression, is an article written by Montgomery’s granddaughter, Kate Macdonald Butler, published in the Toronto newspaper THE GLOBE AND MAIL, in 2008. She claimed that instead of dying of heart disease, Montgomery took her on life through a drug overdose. Here is a link to that article: http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080919.wmhmontgomery0920/BNStory/mentalhealth/

            A biographer argues that Montgomery did not kill herself: http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080924.wmontgomery24/BNStory/mentalhealth/

            Whether or not Montgomery took her own life, the consensus among scholars is that psychologically, she was in a bad way at the time of her death.)

            ANNE OF GREEN GABLES did not arrive solely from Montgomery’s inspiration. It was also the product of many years of reading, observing, and writing—the writing being only moderately successful… until Anne.

            Ultimately, I believe Gammel’s book is worth reading for anyone who is a fan of that redheaded girl from Prince Edward Island.

2. The more I listen to Washington talk about the debt crisis, the more I think Aristotle was right—virtue lies between two extremes. There are probably exceptions, but I think Aristotle affirmed the rule.

3. Four episodes to go in the first year of “24.” Haleigh has gone to DRY BONES this week in Denver, so I’ve got to wait until she gets back. I’ve got to concede—

Jack Bauer must have experienced the most stressful twenty-four hour period of humankind in a long time. I would not trade places with him.

4. The Texas Rangers beat the trading deadline with some good trades. I like it that they received Koji Uehara and Mike Adams—good pitchers for the seventh and eighth innings. I also like their chances in the playoffs—assuming they get there.

5. Who is going to beat the Eagles in the East? They made great moves last week, especially signing Vince Young to back up Michael Vick (similar qb styles), Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Andy Reid is a very good analyst of player personnel.

        

            

WWJD--WHSP?

“WHILE waiting for an elevator at the Fair Oaks Mall near her home in Virginia recently, Janice Im, who works in early-childhood development, witnessed a troubling incident between a young boy and his mother.

“The boy, who Ms. Im estimates was about 2 1/2 years old, made repeated attempts to talk to his mother, but she wouldn’t look up from her BlackBerry. ‘He’s like: ‘Mama? Mama? Mama?’’Ms. Im recalled. ‘And then he starts tapping her leg. And she goes: ‘Just wait a second. Just wait a second.’ ’

Finally, he was so frustrated, Ms. Im said, that ‘he goes, ‘Ahhh!’ and tries to bite her leg.’”

Julie Scelfo penned these words for an article last week in the NEW YORK TIMES. The article raises some interesting concerns for me.

You’ve probably heard of WWJD-What Would Jesus Do?

Maybe it’s time to ask a more specific question: WWJD—WHSP? What would Jesus do with His smart phone?

Last November, our family purchased our first cell phone family plan. Judy, our two oldest children, and I all purchased cell phones.

My motives for purchasing were multiple including family communication and ministry to our church. My inspiration came from research I did last year, which revealed to me the plethora of uses a good smart phone could offer. Moreover, the research fully convinced me that younger generations prefer communication by texts instead of email or phone.

Sometimes, your research is off. In this case, the only poor spot in my research’s performance was, it completely undersold the extent to which I would grow to use and depend upon my iPhone. I have made my iPhone my laptop computer. (My laptop computer has become my office computer.)

I use my phone for social networking, texting, personal finance, Bible reading, devotional reading, newspaper reading, magazine reading, pleasure reading (I have both the Barnes and Noble and the Kindle Apps), emailing, dictation, listening to songs, listening to digital books, and, oh, yeah, an occasional phone call.

Evidently, I am not alone. Recent research divulged the startling statistic that people now use their smart phones less for phone calls than for other reasons.

It is for these reasons this article entitled “The Risks of Parenting While Plugged In” has grabbed my attention. I know how easy it is to grab your phone in a spare moment and become totally absorbed by what you are doing.

Recently, MIT completed a five-year study investigating how parental use of technology affects children and young adults. The report found that many children felt hurt, jealous of their parent’s cell phone, and in competition with it for their parents’ attention.

Don’t laugh. Here is one example. Scelfo writes about Laura Scott Wade, who is the director of ethics for a national medical organization in Chicago. Recently, her son, who is three, Lincoln, lost patience with his mother’s repeated promises to get off the computer or cell phone. He now sets the timer on the microwave. Ms. Wade affirms, “… when it dings he’ll say, ‘Come on,’ and he’ll say, ‘Don’t bring your phone.’”

Our society began, a few years ago, the serious discussion of “should people use their cell phones while they drive.” Part of the debate was pondering the question, “What will our kids do with their driving after observing our example?”

Now it is time we put another antenna in the air. After growing up watching us, what will our children do with their smart phones outside of the motor vehicle?

Technology, like any gift, must be used well. It must be utilized; it is an instrument.

Technology, like any gift, can be squandered by little use. However, it can also become an idol through too much use.

Ultimately, the decision is ours.

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. Now, in light of what I just wrote, here is the antithesis. Seth Godin is a good observer of popular business culture. This is from his blog last week: “I saw a two-year old kid (in diapers, in a stroller), using an iPod Touch today. Not just looking at it, but browsing menus and interacting. This is a revolution, guys.”

2. This suggestion comes from friend Adrian Woods: Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas A & M join the Southeastern Conference, which promptly secedes from the BCS. They are all the best teams; they can decide the National Championship amongst themselves. Brilliant!

3. My World Cup pick? Brazil.

4. Just bought and started reading the book OPEN LEADERSHIP. It deals with the subject of leadership as impacted by social networking. It’s been really good so far; I look forward to reading more.

5. My blog is going out a little late today because I had the honor of officiating the funeral of Helen Donaldson—the mother of a childhood/high school friend named David Donaldson. She was a remarkable example of how to face life’s tragedies. Cancer and complications from surgery finally ended her life early Friday morning. Blessings on her family.

“Embracing God In Trials,” “Time is Filled with Swift Transition,” and

Embracing God In Trials

I admire people who respond well to trials and tribulations. I am so glad we have a holiday to celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday. I believe, and I am not exaggerating in any way, that he was one of the most important human beings, who ever lived on this planet.

When I was in Argentina, I experienced just a small taste of prejudice. But I did not respond well. I remember when I was studying Aiki Do, I earned a belt and began training those who did not have one as part of my gym time. I had a small group. But because of my accent, and the fact that I did not speak Spanish as well as a native, an older guy inserted himself and began teaching. I did not respond well to that. I felt humiliated. I felt patronized. That was nothing compared to what Martin Luther King and others like him faced.

I had someone tell me that in my home church, years ago when I was a boy, a lady in town who was black began attending. The preacher studied with her husband and he was converted and baptized on a Saturday afternoon. Saturday night, one of the members came, drained the baptistery, and “CLEANED it out,” lest someone white had to be baptized after him. God help that woman.

When I preach something someone disagrees with, I don’t have to worry about physical harm. My family for sure does not. Martin Luther King’s home was firebombed because he taught that whites and blacks should be able to sit anywhere on the bus.

Yet, in spite of all of this, you look at King’s words and how they are rooted in scripture, and how he pulled off the single most difficult Christian act of the twentieth century, responding to racial hatred, violence, oppression, and injustice by living out the words of Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount, and you see someone who embraced God in times of trial, rather than reject God.

Sunday morning, our church will look at God’s work in his kingdom and two men’s responses to it when they faced trials. Saul rejected God to the point of suicide. David embraced God:

3 When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. 5 David's two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God (II Sam. 30:3-6 emphasis mine).

May I, and we, embrace God in our times of trials.


Time is Filled with Swift Transition

Monday morning this week, I went to Tyler Junior College and enrolled my oldest daughter in a dual-credit speech class. My daughter, Haleigh, is a junior now. Next year, she will graduate from high school.

All of this took me back to a day a few years ago, when my two oldest daughters were in elementary school. One morning, inspired by an article I read, I took the jar and set it on my desk. I counted the amount of weekends I would have my girls at home before they left for college. I put one penny in that jar for each weekend I would have the girls at home. The jar was a large jar, but I filled it half full.

Since then, at the end of every weekend, I have removed one penny. The pennies now stack up about an inch and a half high; they probably fill only one-eleventh of the jar.

My plan is to remove a penny a week until Abby leaves home and the jar is empty. Then I will begin the process over again for the final years my two youngest children are home. In a sense, this will be a reprieve, because time is flying by.

I am so glad I have engaged in this little exercise. In its own little way, it has served as a marker. All of these years, it has motivated me to squeeze everything I can out of the time I have with my kids. I truly see how our children are with us for such a short period of time.

10 Careers That Didn't Exist 10 Years Ago

Speaking of the passage of time, I was fascinated to see a list of 10 careers that did not exist in the year 2000. The following is a list of ten jobs that have evolved over the past decade:

1. Bloggers

2. Community managers or content managers

3. Green funeral directors

4. Interior redesigners

5. Patient advocates

6. Senior move management

7. Social media strategists

8. User experience analyst

9. Video journalists

10. Virtual business service providers.

To read more, click on this link: 1=23000&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=e89a6cfd2f1f4ce993a8b3504fc4d5c9-316868270-wc-6">http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-2126-Job-Info-and-Trends-10-Careers-That-Didnt-Exist-10-Years-Ago/?sc_extcmp=JS_2126_home1&SiteId=cbmsnhp42126&ArticleID=2126>1=23000&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=e89a6cfd2f1f4ce993a8b3504fc4d5c9-316868270-wc-6


Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. I saw where 2 million people were within ten miles of the epicenter of that horrible earthquake in Haiti. This is when I am glad that we pay taxes to help people who are suffering, such as those in Haiti right now. God bless the people of Haiti, and God’s speed to our resources and people arriving.

2. Look out! Texas is number one in college basketball.

3. I have been reading two books recently I have enjoyed: LBJ: ARCHITECT OF AMERICAN AMBITION by Randall Bennett Woods and THE REAGAN DIARIES UNABRIDGED: VOLUME 1 JANUARY 1981-OCTOBER 1985. Woods, in LBJ, has new things to say, which I would not have thought possible. I told you last year I had enjoyed reading THE REAGAN DIARIES. However, the version I read was edited. My current book, although covering only a little more than Reagan’s first term, is unabridged. Moreover, I found this hardback version on BOOKCLOSEOUTS.COM for a bargain price.

4. Still have not seen the movie INVICTUS. Maybe I can before it comes out on DVD.

5. Announcing: I have begun a new blog. It will be in addition to this weekly blog, which you are reading now. Unlike this blog, I will post my new blog every morning, Monday-Friday. I am calling it TELL ME A STORY. If you are willing to become a follower, I will send you a story every day. I hope you will find this blog encouraging, inspirational, helpful—or just plain fun. Here is the link: http://mark-edge-tellmeastory.blogspot.com/

Have a great weekend!