Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Happiness or Joy?


“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice!”
Philippians 4:4


I will never forget it.  A young mother was trying to pose her two little girls for a Christmas photo with two little puppies.  The girls, however, wouldn’t cooperate.  They were very tired from a full and busy day with family.  They wouldn’t sit still.  Finally the mother got angry, slammed down her hand on the floor and yelled, “Smile!”   Well then the girls started to cry.  I won’t tell you what the puppies did.

That simple story has always served as a reminder to me that you can’t command happiness. You and I can’t make someone else happy.  I think that is what frustrates many a spouse in marriage.  They make it their goal to make the other person happy.  When they can’t do it, they get “frustrated.”  When the other person gets discouraged or worried or fearful, they either think it’s their fault or they make it their responsibility to make the person happy.  All their efforts to make the unhappy person happy just make that other person even more unhappy.  The demand that they be happy has just added another burden to their life… another demand is made of them that they are doomed to fail.   You may wish for another person’s happiness but you can’t command it.  It’s just not in your power.

But how then can Paul write these words to the Christians in Philippi , “Rejoice in the Lord always?”  Quite simply this is because happiness and joy are not the same thing.  Happiness is at the mercy of circumstances.   If the weather is nice for my picnic… if I get a raise at work… If I am healthy I may very well be happy.  However, if the picnic gets rained out, or if I lose my job, or if I need surgery I may very well be unhappy.

Joy however is something different.  Joy is not at the mercy of life’s ever changing circumstances.  Joy is, according to Paul, a fruit of the Spirit.  Joy is a product of our relation with God.  The weather, our health, our employment and other such circumstances are constantly changing.  Our relationship with God doesn’t change based on such things.  God’s love for us is sure no matter what the weather, no matter what our job status or our health.  Good or bad, we continue to live in the assurance that He loves us either way.  Why? God gave His Son for us.   That fact doesn’t change with the weather.  God’s Son Jesus gave His life as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Having a good job or getting fired doesn’t change that fact. 

Happiness is at the mercy of our changing circumstances, not joy.  Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord always for no matter what else changes in our lives, we can always count on Him.  If I lose my job I am probably not going to be happy, but I can’t still rejoice in the Lord who will never leave me or forsake me.  If I have cancer that will not be happy news but I can still rejoice in the Lord for He makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him.  I was not happy when my dad and later my mom died.  I missed them.  I hurt.  I grieved.  But I also rejoiced for I believe that Jesus died and rose again and so I believe that when He comes again God will bring my parents with Him. 

My country sets as one of its goals the pursuit of happiness.  While happiness is a wonderful thing, such a goal for life is certain to frustrate you because happiness can change with the weather.  Much better is to seek after the God who has come seeking you in Jesus Christ.  He is unchanging.  His love, and His forgiveness are gifts that He will not take away.  The fruit of knowing Him and believing in Him is a joy that deals with the changing realities of life by trusting in the unchanging hope He gives.  The fruit of knowing God in Christ is exactly as Paul describes it in Philippians  – “Rejoice in the Lord  always; again, I will say rejoice!”


Wednesday, November 16, 2016

STOP and Think!


“Be still and know that I am God…”
Psalm 46:10a


He was one of my close friends in the Texarkana congregation.  He once taught me an important lesson in the midst of teaching his kids this lesson.  I witnessed a couple of occasions when one of this man’s teenagers was upset.  They were about to say something in anger or frustration.  Then their dad would hold up a hand.  “Stop,” he’d say.  “Stop and think before you speak.  Count to 10.  Do you really want to say this?  Are you taking this out on the right person?”

Stop and think!  That’s great advice.  It’s a lesson I have had to learn the hard way.  There were times in staff meetings, in one on one confrontation, in emails I have sent, in posts I have made to Facebook, when I haven’t stopped to think before I spoke or before I wrote.  Instead I spoke first, or wrote first before I thought.  Almost always things I have spoken in anger, or written in haste have simply made matters worse. 

Stop and think!  I find this to be especially good advice when it comes to emails or social media posts.  Emails are so easily misinterpreted.  There have been times when I have received emails that have seemed extremely inflammatory.  In anger I have immediately responded.  Such responses have led to email battles that were totally unnecessary.  Yes I have learned the hard way that the best thing to do when I receive such an email is to Stop and Think!  Put down the email.  Allow my first reaction to diminish for a couple of hours, maybe a day.  Then, come back to read it again, with a cooler head.  Often the best way to respond, if at all possible, is to go talk to the person face to face or to call on the phone.  That way I can ask questions, listen and seek to understand before I respond. 

Far too often on Facebook, especially in recent weeks, I have seen people writing things about other groups of people that are very unkind, even down right mean generalizations.  You know, when we write such generalizations about people, we may without meaning to be writing about someone we know who belongs to that larger group… someone we know isn’t like the people we just described.  Generalizations are almost never true.  I know how this feels. I have had friends who aren’t Christians write nasty things about Christians.  It hurts.  Perhaps I have made such posts about those who aren’t Christians.  I hope they don’t think such things about me, but I have to admit that when I read them, I want to get angry, to write a sharply worded response.  But then my friend’s words to his kids ring in my ears -   “Stop and think!”  I don’t want my response to do more harm to what other’s think about our faith and our savior.  Often I just don’t respond at all.

There is a Bible verse that comes to mind whenever I think about my friend’s advice to his kids.  It comes from Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God…”  The Lord here adds a little extra to my friend’s advice.  Stop and think and talk to Me, God is saying, Remember Me.  Ask yourself and Him, “How would the Lord want me to respond?”  “How can our response reflect to others the loving God we believe in and worship?”    The Lord convicts me with the idea that my angry response is often attempt to act as if I am god.  That angry response is often me attempting to lord it over another person.   But I am not God.  Neither are you.   He is and He loves people.  He loves you… and He loves the person who wrote that nasty email.  He loves us all so much that for all of us He gave His own Son.

So the next time you are ready to post something or respond in anger to an email or a mean thing someone said to you – Stop and think.  Stop and calm down.  Stop and pray.  Or as the Lord puts it, “Be still and know that I am God…”  not you.  


Tuesday, November 8, 2016

The End of the World?


“The Lord is at hand”
Philippians 4:5b


It has happened every time the Cubs got close to winning it all.  You start seeing all sorts of cartoons and hearing all sorts of jokes about impending doom.  “Cubs are winning, Hell is preparing for a hard winter.”  “Cubs are going to the World Series, hell has frozen over.”  Last week, after they had won, someone joked, “Wouldn’t it have been appropriate if Jesus had come back during the rain delay.  Then we would never have known if the Cubs won.”  That’s the way it has been.  The Cubs start winning and everyone assumes it’s the end of the world.”

Now all of that is obviously said in jest.  People are joking.  Far more serious, however, has been all the worry and fear surrounding the election taking place today in the USA.  Each side in this election has claimed that if the other side wins that will spell the end of America as we know it.  What I hear from many of my countrymen is real fear of what will happen regardless of who wins.  Many are disgusted with all the candidates   Many believe that the election of either one will be a disaster.   I have even encountered fear and worry from people over here in Europe.  People here are closely watching this election, very concerned about the outcome. In the last two months, as soon as someone here figures out that I am an American they start asking about the election.  They want to know what I think about who will win.  They want to know who I am going to vote for. I understand that in Mexico they have prepared themselves for severe economic troubles based on who wins the US election. People are talking and acting at times as if the result of the US election could be the end of the world.

Well, as this 2016 Election Day begins in the USA, I have some great news for everyone.  The only thing that is the end of the world IS the end of the world.  This obvious truth has been a big help to me, because I am a big worrier, prone to over-react.  AS a new young father in debt there were many times when I worried myself sick about bills.  I have stressed myself out because I was so completely afraid to do something for fear of how someone else might react.  When my dad died, I wasn’t sure how I could make it without him.  I am not the only one who goes through such moments.  I remember one man whose wife was diagnosed with cancer, another whose wife wanted a divorce, a woman whose kid were in trouble with drugs… the list goes on and on. For each one it seemed at the moment as if the world was coming to an end.  And don’t get me wrong.  Each situation was serious.  However none of them was the end of the world.  What happens in this presidential election in America is not the end of the world.  The only thing that is the end of the world is the end of the world.

Our fears and worries over this election or over anything are very revealing.  Our fears and worries reveal that you and I are at time putting our faith in the wrong things and the wrong people.  When we worry about money… when we are fearful of making plans based on a presidential election… when we feel as life will end because we lost our job, or because our spouse wants a divorce – then we are looking to saviors who cannot save us. 

Friends, we already have a savior.  His name is Jesus!  Where others will most assuredly fail us,  Jesus will not.  That’s why Paul writes what he writes here in Philippians 4. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say it rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.  The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”  That’s probably the best way to know whether your faith is place rightly or wrongly.  Put your faith in those who are sure to fail you – worry and fear will always follow.  Put your faith in Jesus and peace guards your heart.  After all you have in Him a God and savior who loves you so much He gave Himself up for you.  He conquered death.  He can do anything.  He keeps His promises.  Jesus will not fail you. 

So as you go into vote, pray and put your faith in God.  Whoever wins the election – pray for that person and put your faith in God.  After all in Jesus, even the end of the world is not something to be feared.  There is no need to worry.  With Jesus the end of the world means He is coming back!  That my friends is reason for hope.  As Jesus once said, “When these things begin to take place, look up. Lift up your heads.  Your redemption is drawing near.”   And remember today – THE ONLY THING THAT IS THE END OF THE WORLD IS THE END OF THE WORLD. 


Wednesday, November 2, 2016

From Generation to Generation


Deuteronomy 6:7 (ESV)
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.


If you have been around me at all then you know that I am a diehard fan of the Chicago Cubs.  This year, for the first time in my life time, the Cubs are playing in the World Series.  Tonight is game 7.  Whoever wins this game wins the championship. This is going to be a fun ending to the season, whoever wins.

What you may not know is why I am a Cubs fan.  Quite simply rooting for the Cubs is for me, as it is for many, something that was handed down to me from my dad.  Now I could point to many things that were a part of that.  Today on my Facebook page I wrote about going to work with my dad as a child.  He would be working on installing or fixing some air conditioner.  My job was to hold the transistor radio.  For those of you who don’t know – that was a small hand held radio.  I still have the one from back then.  I wish I had it here to show you but it’s in storage in the states.  Anyway, my job was to hold the radio, listen to the game and tell dad the score.  However the real event where my dad passed on the torch was at my very first Cub game in 1969.  A foul ball landed in my dad’s beer, and spilled with the beer into his lap.  Without a moment’s hesitation my dad took that ball and placed it into my hands.  I have been a Cub an ever since.  That ball is still one of my prized possessions – mostly because of how it connects me to my dad. 

You know as much as I love the Cubs, the even more important inheritance passed on from my father and mother is my faith in Jesus.  Oh God used friends and teachers and pastors to pass on the faith to me.  However the most important people He used were my parents.  It all started on Jan. 1, 1958 when my parents took me to church to be baptized.  On that day, the took the faith and placed it in my hands as a gift… a gift just like that baseball, a gift more valuable that that baseball.  They kept doing it. They took me to church, to Sunday School, and to confirmation.  They talked about the faith at home.  They taught me to pray.  Teaching me about Jesus, making sure that I learned about Him is the most valuable inheritance they could pass on to me.  I may have groused and complained at the time, but now I am so thankful that they never let my grousing hold them back.  They never gave into me to please me.  They knew they were first and foremost my parents, not my best friends.  They knew this was the most important responsibility He had given them as parents.

That is how the faith is passed on: generation to generation.  That is God’s first and most important calling in our lives – to pass on the faith to our kids and grandkids.  That’s what Moses is saying here. “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”  As you bring your children to be baptized, as you read bible stories, talk about Jesus and teach them to pray in your homes… as they witness you going to church and reading your Bibles… as you take them to church and Sunday School regularly – you are doing what my dad did.  You are taking the ball… the faith and placing it in their hands. 

I don’t say this as a word of law but as a word of encouragement.  Sometimes we parents don’t know how important a gift we are in the lives of our kids and grandkids.  We don’t realize how God will use us to have an impact in their lives. We are all to aware that we make mistakes.  Yet God is gracious, God is loving and forgiving.  He will use us in the lives of our children.  So take that ball.. that faith and place it into their hands… let God write it on their hearts.  Jesus is the most important inheritance you can pass on to your children and grandchildren.