Busy days are here!

We are in the VERY busy time of the year.  The Holidays are approaching.  Charleston Southern University is in overdrive.  On the horizon is more of the same!  I have discovered these two sayings to be true when things get busy and times get hard.

• Difficult times build character. Remember these words in James 1:2-4?  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  So what these verses say is that difficult times build perseverance, and in those times of pushing through the difficulties, we are becoming more well-rounded, more complete, and more like Jesus.  So difficult times actually can work on our behalf.  Don’t pray for lighter loads, pray for stronger shoulders!
• Difficult times reveal character. This is the point that I emphasize to my office staff every year about this time.  People are looking at us to see how we handle the pressure.  Are we going to handle difficulties in a way that points people to Jesus, or are we going to react in a way that brings reproach to our Lord?  Remember, we represent Christ and people can see Christ the most clearly in us when difficult times come.  “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  2 Corinthians 5:20

So let the busyness run its course.  It might not be fun, but it has a purpose…and we will be the better for it.

A short message for my preaching friends…

I have a problem.  I am a preacher and I really don’t like to talk a great deal.  This can be a challenge when I have the privilege of preaching and the church has set aside 40 minutes for the message and I really only planned to preach 30 minutes.  Although, when we beat the other church goers to the local restaurants for lunch on Sunday, everyone who attended our service really appreciates my “problem!”

Now don’t get me wrong, there have been times when I preached 40 minutes or so, but that is rare.  For the most part, I think messages should be short and to the point.  I’m afraid that too many of us who preach have diarrhea of the mouth.  We get started and we can’t stop!  We love to hear ourselves talk more than we like to deliver the message that God  has laid on our hearts.

Why should most messages be short?  Here is my list…a SHORT list of reasons why this is the case.

1. The mind can absorb in only what the seat can endure.
2. People respect those who respect their time.
3. Proverbs 17:27-28…you HAVE to read this!
4. It shows that the preacher has spent valuable time refining the message.

I could ramble on, but you get the point.  I’ll end with this quote from French aviator and author Antoine de Saint-Exupery when commenting about engineering elegance:  “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

Preachers, let’s say what God has for us to say.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Maybe being a man of few words is a good thing after all…

The Cure for Erroneous Philosophy

In our country today, Judeo/Christian values are under assault.  What brought this on?  How could this happen so quickly?  I thought that we were “One nation, under God…?”   Our currency still says, “In God We Trust.”  Let me suggest 3 erroneous philosophies that have crept into our world.  I want to also give you the cure to this faulty thinking.  (Read Acts 4:1-12 and you’ll get the basis for this truth.  It is a GREAT story…so really, go read it!)

1.  We don’t believe in absolute truth. We believe that everything is relative.  Nothing is absolute.  What may be true for you is not true for me.  There is no black and white.  Everything is gray.  We believe that no one is right and no one is wrong.  WE DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN OUR OWN EYES.  After all, if there is no universal truth, than who decides what is true?  We do.  So truth varies from person to person, region to region, culture to culture.

The Cure: Anything that is built to last is built on truth.  Absolutes.  Solid.  Sturdy.  Like a corner stone in a building.  The key to any building is the foundation.  The corner stone is of utmost importance.  If it is off, not stable, level, or sturdy, then all of the building is in vain.  That is why we use a plum line and when things are straight, we say it is “true!” Jesus is the corner stone!  He IS truth personified.  Read John 14:6; 17:17; 1 John 1:5-8.  Jesus is truth.  His word is truth.  He is the cornerstone that is ultimate truth.

Show them the truth.  Jesus is truth.

2.  We embrace positive tolerance. Now tolerance is a good thing.  We need to be able to coexist even if we don’t agree with each other.  But today’s tolerance is really positive tolerance in the sense that we are told not only to get along with each other but to EMBRACE the ideas and lifestyle of others as equally valid.  Afterall, if we say no one has the corner on truth, then ALL must be true and we must embrace everyone’s idea of what is right and wrong.  If we don’t, we are intolerant, and that is branded as the ultimate evil in our day.  (Isn’t it funny that the “tolerant” can’t tolerate the “intolerant”?!)

The Cure: Jesus showed us the ultimate love by giving his life for us.  “Greater love has no man than this, then to lay down his life for his friends.”  John 15:13  He has made salvation free to us.  If that is not love, I don’t know what is.

We embrace positive tolerance because we all want to be accepted and loved.  That is the motivation behind positive tolerance.  But listen, it is not love to accept something that someone is doing that is not healthy, holy, or right.  That is being an enabler.  That is calling “right” what God has called “wrong.”  Here is a great quote from author and pastor Max Luccado, “God loves you just the way you are…but He loves you too much to leave you that way.”  We are to speak truth in love to our neighbors.

Show them love.  Jesus is love.

3.  We make the sincerity of our faith more important than the object of our faith. We believe that the tenacity of whom or what we believe is more important than whom or what we are putting our faith in.  It becomes more about us than the object of our faith.  As long as we believe it with all of our hearts, it has to be true.  After all, to quote Disney, “If you wish upon a star, your dream will come true.”

The Cure: The key is not how much faith we have but where we put our faith.  Jesus brought this to light when he said to his disciples that if they had the faith of a mustard seed (smallest seed in that region), then they could move a mountain.  So it is not about the amount of faith that we have.  (Even our faith is a gift from God, but that is message for another day.)  The key is what or whom we have our faith in.  Simply because we really, Really, REALLY believe something is true, it does not make it true.

Show them your faith in Jesus.  Show them Jesus.

School days stay with us all of our days

It was fun…and funny.  My dad asked me and my two siblings to come to his house a couple of weeks ago.  What was the occasion?  A holiday?  Birthday? Family reunion?  Nope.  He wanted us to meet three of his high school class mates.  These were people who had their friendship cemented for life when they went to Winyah High in Georgetown, SC over 50 years ago.  It was interesting to hear all of the  stories about football, dates, dances, class work, letterman jackets, and just hanging out.  They talked about the good old days as if they were yesterday.  Those memories were still so fresh in their 70+ year old minds.  The emotion was still there.  Smiles and tears.  It’s hard to fathom.

However, I have to say I can relate.  I still consider Chuck and Steve, my two high school buddies, my best friends.  I only see them once or twice a year, but we shared so many great memories in those years at Williamsburg Academy.  How could I ever forget the early morning football practices, Friday Night Lights, Jr./Sr. dances, going to the movies, being dumped by girls, getting stranded on the lake, and weekends doing much of nothing but hanging out.

One of my favorite messages that I like to share is “Five things that remain.”  I don’t want to preach here, but these are the 5 things that will stand the test of time:  our name, our character, our relationships, our memories and moments, and our Jesus.

Seeing my dad relive his high school memories reminded me of this.  School days stay with us all of our days….

A window made me move…

It was all because of a window.  I had been in the same office here at Charleston Southern University for almost 7 years.  It was a big office with plenty of space for my four bookshelves, sofa, lateral file, huge desk, and tons of pictures.  But there was only one problem.  I had no window in my office.  No view of the outside world.  No sunshine to pour into my work space.  No rain to splash against my window.  So when the opportunity arose for me to give up some of my space and much of my privacy to share an office with a friend of mine, I volunteered to move.  People could not understand why I would chose to move.  But I know why I moved.  It was the window.

The window is a great invention.  It is a passageway to the outside world…God’s world.  I see His handy work in the majestic oaks.  I observe His power in the towering thunder clouds.  I see His movements through the warm summer breezes.  I see His care through the refreshing showers.  I see the handy work of my Father.  Although painters and photographers have spent centuries trying to capture its beauty, there is nothing quite like seeing nature for ourselves.

I love these lines from the hymn, “This Is My Father’s World” by Maltbie D. Babcock.  “This is my Father’s world, I rest me in the thought of rocks and tress, of skies and seas; His hand the wonders wrought.  This is my Father’s world, He shines in all that’s fair;  in the rustling grass I hear him pass, He speaks to me everywhere.”

So I moved from my big office.  I moved to be closer to His creation.  And it was all because of a window.

It was worth it.

That’s Life…

My in-ground, 25,000 gallon pool is leaking.  I’m stressed!

Vacation is next week.  I can’t wait.

Our kids are out of school.  Free time!

The air condition in our house went out.  It is hot.

Reports and planning all summer at work.  I’m busy.

I’m 47 year’s old.  I’m working hard to keep my body running properly.

I love to eat.  I’m fighting the battle of the bulge…and right now I’m loosing.

We refinanced our house.  We saved some money!

Our middle daughter will be a senior in high school next year.  Time is flying.

My truck has 106,000 miles on it.  It is time for a tune-up!

Life is seldom nice and neat.  As a matter of fact, it is down right messy.  It has an ebb and flow to it.  There are times of great blessings and times of difficult trials.  I know a fellow campus minister who’s beautiful 12 year old daughter died of cancer this week…and I think I have it so hard when I spend $750 on my pool and it still leaks.  Please forgive me Father!

I think Solomon said it well in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, “There is an appointed time for everything….”

I love the verses that are a little further down, Ecclesiastes 3:11-13, “He has made everything appropriate in its time…I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor – it is the gift of God.”

So let’s try to fix the pool.

Let’s enjoy vacation and make more memories.

I’ll have a few more minutes to play ball with  my son this summer.

The A/C will get fixed.

I’ll get the reports and planning done.

I’ll keep lifting, running, and sweating.

I’ve got to say “no” to midnight snacks.

We have to be good stewards.

I have to get ready to let my baby girl graduate and move on.

The Toyota Tundra has got to keep running.

All are gifts from God.

That’s life…

Time marches on.

There are two things that I am absolutely sure of:  God never changes but everything else does.  Time marches on.  And as much as we try to stop time, the very best we can do is slow down its effects through exercise, diet, and a simple lifestyle.  We even try to capture time through pictures and videos.  But it moves.  It continually moves.

I remember when I was a younger man hearing older people say that the older one gets, the faster time moves.  One man said, “As soon as you open Christmas gifts, it seems like it is time to begin wrapping gifts for next year!”  I thought that these we just ramblings from an AARP member, but now I see the wisdom in his words.

I love this quote attributed to  Eleanor Roosevelt.

“Yesterday is history.  Tomorrow is a mystery.  Today is a gift, that is why it is called the present.”

Good words to live by.  Here are some other good words  from a higher source:

“Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.  You are just a vapor that appears for a little while then vanishes away.”  James 4:14 NASB

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  Matthew 6:34 NASB

TIME MARCHES ON.  MAKE THE MOST OF IT.  Christmas is almost here…again!

The greatest thing we can ever do for God is…

I’ve heard it a millions times.  I’m sure I said it a few times myself.  “I want to do this for God _________________ (fill in the blank).”  It may be to go witnessing once a week, to be a part of 2 mission trips this year, to give 10% to my church, to…oh well, you get the idea.  It is a list of  things that we want TO DO for God.

Can I make an suggestion?   The key to living the Spirit-filled life and a life that pleases God is not trying to DO something for God, but it is about letting God DO something THROUGH us!  Do you see the difference?  What can we do for God that will make Him go, “WOW!”?  Nothing.  We are not going to impress God with our efforts.

I tried to make this point while on our mission trip to Baltimore back in March.  We served a week in Baltimore, giving all that we had for God to use and God did some great things in our midst.  But if you think about it, we only served 6 days of the 365 days of the year.  That comes out to be less than 2% of our year in service to Him.  There is not much power in that commitment.

However, if we would allow God to live through us 365 days a year, then we would ALWAYS be on mission with Him!  Everywhere we would go, God would use us!  Listen to these two verses.  “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”  (Galatians 2:20, NASB, italics added)  “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”  (Romans 12:1, NASB, italics added)

The key to living the Christian life is NOT what we can do for God, but what God can do through us.  Let me say it this way:  The greatest thing that we can ever do for God is to be the person that He has created us to be!  Christ living through us…this is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

Baltimore, Baptisms, and Beyond

We made it back from Baltimore and our Spring Break Mission Trip.  I was hoping to write this last blog entry while I was still in Baltimore, but at 2 a.m. on Friday morning before we were to head home, I decided that it would be wiser to sleep than to type.  So here I am at my computer at home  three days later trying to wrap my sleep-deprived mind around an incredible trip.

Our last night in Baltimore was amazing.  We participated in The Vine service at the Church on Warren Avenue.  This was a service led by young college students.  Some of our students joined in and helped with the music.  At the end of that service, as was our nightly custom, the group from CSU had our own worship service.  Stories shared with eyes filled with tears was the norm for the evening.  We decided to cap the evening off with a very special baptism service.  Let me explain.

The night before, one of our students, Kayla Sexton, came to me and asked about being baptized.  She shared that she accepted Christ a little over five years earlier, but had never been baptized and she thought that this was a great time and place to make that commitment public.  We spoke with the pastor of the church and he said it would not be a problem.  But it was because we did not begin filling the baptistry up with water until 5 p.m.  We needed to have the baptistry filled before The Vine service began at 7:30 p.m.  Well, after 1 hour of running water into the baptistry, we only had about 8 inches of H2O to show for it.  So I knew I had to do something.  So, I began to fill stock pots from the kitchen with water from the kitchen sink, and carried them up about 30 steps to the baptistry.  After making about 10 trips, Kayla, the student that we were going to be baptizing, said she wanted to help.  So she began filling pots in the shower downstairs and running them up to the baptistry.  As our other students came in from working at the recreation center, they asked to help as well!  So right before The Vine service started, we had the baptistry full!  What a great picture of the family of Christ working together to help a fellow Believer receive Believer’s Baptism.  It was cool (pardon my 70’s language).

After I baptized Kayla, I asked if anyone else wanted to be baptized.  One of our students who was baptized as an infant said that he wanted to partake in Believer’s Baptism, so I dunked him as well!  Several more of our students said that they wanted to be baptized again as a symbol of their fresh commitment to follow the Lord.  When the night was through, we had baptized a total of nine people…and I looked like a prune!  It was a fitting end to an incredible time in Baltimore…but I don’t think that it was the end.  I really think that it was the beginning of a beautiful new chapter in the lives of our students.

The Power of Giving

Nothing breaks down walls like giving.  You know what I mean.  You’ve done this before.  We did it today.  We gave away baby gift baskets to young mothers who lived in city housing…and they gratefully opened their doors to us.  We showed a movie and gave away drinks and popcorn to neighborhood kids from low income housing…and the lined up to get into our little movie house.  We gave away hot dogs, chips, and brownies in front of the church today at our sidewalk cafe’…and financially wealthy people and poor people could not resist the power of tube steak! We gave away our time and energy to some senior saints at the church…and they loved us for it.  We gave a man looking for some work $20 to clean some windows

Giving.  There is something about it that brings us together.  There is a mystery about it that blesses the giver and the receiver.  There is the very nature of God at work in the midst of it.  And we are so much like our God when we give.  Wasn’t Jesus’ earthly ministry about giving?  He gave food to the masses (feeding the 4000 and 5000).  He gave healing to many who were sick (lepers and cripples).  He gave life to some who were dead (Lazarus and the widow’s son).  He gave words of life to the confused and lost (sermon on the mount).  HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR US – “For God so loved the world that He GAVE His one and only son…” (John 3:16).

Give…….Give……..Give……………………………………………………………..