Living a 220 life

Kids Corner: Knowing God Better by Josh age 7

I woke up early this morning to have my quiet time with the Lord and spent about 45 minutes in great communion with Him. Then, with gentle little steps, like a sneaking mouse, my 7 year old emerged from his bedroom with sleepy little eyes. I said, “Josh, would you like to read your Bible with me?” He thought about it for a moment and then said sure. I had him read Psalm 1 and then asked what he thought. He responded, “A good guy delights in God’s law.” Rather surprised by his grasp of the text I said, “So what does that mean for you?” Again, he shocked me with, “I should spend more time reading the Bible.” I was rather dumbfounded at this point and told him if he believed this he should make a plan to accomplish it. I’ve scanned his plan and attached it here.

7 year old Josh's plan to know God better

Folks, now this is from a 7 year old. I only helped with the shell but the idea and the plan is completely his. He’s made the decision, since the Bible told him so, to read every day in order to know God better. Let me tell you: If this isn’t convicting to you…it should be. He’s decided he’s going to take real steps to know God better and he has a plan for it. Do you have a plan to know God better? If you do I would love for you to share it. If not, why not?

Friends, let me challange you with the example of a 7 year old. Commit your life to Him and develop a plan to know HIM better. AMEN!

Balancing a surrendered life

As I dig into the teachings of Jesus the concept that continues to jump out at me is His call for an extreme change of life. Somehow, many Christians today have developed this idea that a Christian is meant to be a very mild, middle of the road, conservative who never rocks the boat in any way. We’re meant to be financially secure, completely family oriented, and perfect in every way. I’m being a bit facetious here but many people have views that aren’t too far off from this. Somehow Christianity has become synonymous with boring and conservative. My friends, as you dig into the life of Jesus you’ll find that He was anything but boring and conservative; no He was radical and very progressive. So how do we balance our stable family life with the call to follow our radical God?

In Luke 14:26-27 we find Jesus teaching, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison–your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters–yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.” Ok, at first glance this is pretty extreme. I mean, this seems to have crazy cult written all over it. However, when this teaching is taken in context with everything else Jesus taught, you’ll find a deep calling to surrender your life as a servant to those around you. Rather than a call to sever all ties with friends and family, you’ll find a call to strengthen all ties with friends and family…with a twist. Let me explain.

Scripture teaches us in 1 Timothy 5:8, “But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.” Scripture never contradicts itself and therefore this Timothy passage must be in unison with the Luke verse, though they seem at odds. Timothy makes it very clear that we are not to abandon our family in order to follow Jesus. Luke makes it very clear that we are to love Jesus above everything else in life, including our own life. Though these verses seem at odds they actually fit perfectly. You see, our human understanding is warped by sin. We think we know how to love our family best but we don’t. Let me offer an example.

Imagine you have no idea what an automobile is or what it’s capable of. You have the desire to travel a great, great distance in order to show your love for someone. However, the distance is so great that you’ll never be able to walk there in your lifetime but you don’t know this. Jesus shows up with the nicest of sports cars and tells you to stop walking; in fact, stop doing anything you could do to move toward your goal. Just hop in this nice sports car and allow the car to take you to your goal. Now, to us this seems like a no brainer because we know the capabilities of a car. However, to someone who has no idea what a car is it would be pretty crazy to stop showing your love by halting your march toward the goal. The problem is this: you’ll never actually achieve your goal unless you get in the car! The same is true with loving your family and friends. You’ll never actually love them until you surrender everything to Jesus and love Him first.

The beloved disciple John explains this concept to us best when he writes, “We love each other because He loved us first.” (1John 4:19) Do you see this? We can’t love each other without the love of Jesus in our lives! Friends, when you step into a relationship with Jesus it’s like you’re putting on a supernatural love amplifier. Without the amplifier you can attempt to love but it won’t happen; once it’s on you’ll love like you never could before. The problem is that people don’t want to completely put the amplifier on. Remember the call from Jesus in Luke; it’s not a simple acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord…no, it’s a complete surrender of your life to Him. He must be your first and primary love. Only by seeking Him above all else is He able to guide your daily actions in order to love those around you.

You see, when you’re surrendered to Jesus and your daily actions are guided by His Word it’s actually Jesus loving those around you through you. If you desire to love your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, if you desire to love anyone, the only way to do it is through complete surrender to Jesus. Sometimes He’ll call you to do something you don’t understand. It might even look like it’s unloving to a family member, but you must trust Him. I’ve made some very difficult decisions based on His Word that eventually revealed His infinite love which I couldn’t originally see. My friends, trust me, when you live day by day surrendered to Him it will ALWAYS work out. It might be tough at first but He will never let you down. AMEN!

Learning to lead from the Iraqi Army

Let me begin this blog post by saying I’ve met some amazingly talented Iraqi Army and Police officers during my two tours in Iraq. The professionalism these organizations display is comendable. I’ve made many great friends, some of whom have risked their own lives for me, and I will forever be indebted to them. During my time in Iraq I’ve also seen some very humorous things as well. One such event caught my attention and taught me a very valuable lesson.

I was walking into the chow hall on an ordinary Iraqi fall day when I saw a group of Iraqi Soldiers entering in front of me. These Soldiers were a part of the security detail for a higher ranking Iraqi Officer who was visiting that day. Typically these ‘body guards’ are better equipped and better trained than the ordinary Iraqi Soldier. Most of these Soldiers have been extensively trained by American Special Forces or some other Special Operations group. This particular group bore all the signs of this training: U.S. Patches proudly displayed on their Iraqi uniform, bandana’s worn rather than the typical beret, combat gear that looked like it was just purchased from Ranger Joe’s, the whole nine yards. Then I saw it: some of them had knee pads around their ankles. They were worn by only a few and they only had one knee pad a piece.

This one knee pad puzzled me. I mean, it looked about as weird as the first time the world saw Michael Jackson wear only one glove. I just couldn’t figure out why in the world they would be wearing one knee pad around their ankles. So I asked them, and the response blew me away. You know what they said? They said, “You wear them like this”

In other words, what they were saying is they had no idea what those things were for, but their American brothers were wearing them and they were going to wear them also. You see, some American Soldiers will push their knee pads down around their ankles when they come in off patrol. They certainly aren’t supposed to since it’s against Army regulation, but they do. These Iraqis saw this and began mimicking the action though they had no idea why.

I realized the burden of leadership at that moment. I realized as Christians we are called to be living examples all the time. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” Let me challenge you as a Christian, as a parent, as a leader; as you walk through life remember the people you come in contact with may be pushing their knee pads around their ankles. Is your life teaching others exactly what you desire them to learn? Parents, are you living the example you wish your children to mimick? They will certainly push their knee pads down every chance they get. Are you imitating Christ in order for others to imitate you? Friends, I pray we may all live a life imitating Christ that others may imitate us. AMEN!

Spiritual leadership in the home

“When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table.” (Psalm 128:2-3)

In today’s American home very few spiritual leaders exist. The men of our churches are not stepping up to fill the role they’ve been called to. When they do attempt to stand up they often go to one extreme or another; either yielding an iron fist of domestic dictatorship or sheepishly giving up upon the first sign of resistance from any family member. The Lord offers spiritual leaders some guidance and some encouraging words in Psalm 128.

The guidance for spiritual leadership begins in verse 1 when He says, “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.” Men, our goal as spiritual leaders in the house is #1 to fear the Lord. Our second goal is that out of our reverent fear for the Lord we walk in His ways. Similar to the safety procedure on an aircraft when you must place your own oxygen mask on before helping others, men, you must focus your own actions and thoughts to be captive to the Lord so that you may lead by example.

The encouragement for spiritual leadership begins in verse 2 and 3. We’re told that we will be happy and it shall be well with us when we eat the labor of our hands. The Lord is telling us that He knows it’s hard work for men to be the spiritual leader of the home. It’s supposed to be. God expects us to spend time in the analogous marriage fields, getting dirty, putting in hours of hard work, tilling the soil, and pruning the vines. The Lord tells us, men, if we put in the hard work tilling the soil of our marriage and cultivating a loving relationship between our wives and the Lord that she’ll be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of our home.

This must be understood: Though the man is the leader of the home, the woman is the heartbeat of the home. If your’ spiritual leadership is oppressive and abusive your home will most definitely suffer a heart attack. Likewise, with minimal or weak leadership the pulse of your home will be lost. Men, you must also understand that this means as spiritual leader you are no better than the woman; you are equals! You lead but she gives life to the home. You must love your wife and she must respect you. It’s a beautiful symbiotic relationship.

When the man is leading in love and humility the wife is a blessing to her home, bearing much fruit. Verse three also tells us when the man is leading and the wife is like a fruitful vine the children will be like olive plants all around your table. Olive plants are classy and add a bit of spice to your parties. They make things look good. If you wish to raise children who are honoring and make you proud the Lord reveals the recipe. Fear the Lord, walk in His ways, and put in the hard work to lead your family to do the same. Men, we’ve been given the burden to lead through servant hood to our family. We must humbly reject our own desires for the well-fair of our home. Men, we must become like Jesus! AMEN!

Raising our children for Christ part 4

In 1 Chronicles chapter 22 David is preparing to build the Temple for the Lord. He has been told by God that he would not be the one to build it but rather his son Solomon would build it. This chapter offers the Christian parent a few nuggets of gold for raising our children for Christ. I’ll touch on a few.

“David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord should be of great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for it.” So David made extensive preparations before his death.” (v.5) David recognizes that Solomon needs his father’s guidance in order to fulfill the mission. A key to understand David’s thinking and motivation comes when he explains what the Temple should be. David isn’t focused on Solomon being great; no, David is focused on raising Solomon up so he can better glorify the Lord. We as parents must focus on raising our children so they can better glorify Jesus Christ. David also made ample preparations before his death. We must ensure we make every effort to physically set our children up for success. Make the preparations now so they will be able to build a temple worthy of the Lord.

“Now, my son, the Lord be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the Lord your God, as he said you would.” (v.11) All too often we as parents set out to raise our children for Christ as we see a Christ-like life lived. We must live a Christ-like life as we believe it to be lived, but we must allow our children to live the life the Lord leads them on. We are called as parents to raise our children to love Jesus and follow His commands. Don’t place your children in a box. Allow them to freely follow the Lord.

“Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God.” (v.19a) There comes a time when we’ve laid the foundation and we must charge our children. We must be prepared to give our blessing and send them out. Many parents don’t understand the importance of bestowing a blessing upon their children. Parents, your children want your blessing. They need it. Raise them to love Jesus then give them your blessing and send them out. If your children have already gone out without your blessing it’s not too late, bless them. Let them know they are blessed by you. All for God’s glory! AMEN!