Hef and Graham

The film, Saving Private Ryan, released in 1998, open with a scene of a old man walking slowly across a field of white crosses that mark graves of soldiers. When he a grave bearing the name of Captain Miller, he falls to his knees.  The captain's dying words echo in his memory.  As he lay dying Miller told Ryan, "Earn this, make this count for something!"   Now an old man, James Ryan, turns to his wife and wonders aloud if he is a good man, if he's lived well.  Has the life he's lived been worthy of the lives given to save him?

Sooner than you or I realize, we will be nearing the end of this earthly stay. Like the fictional James Ryan we will wonder, "Did it count? Have I lived well?" How we answer that will depend on two things - what we choose as the measure of success and our daily choices.  

Hugh Hefner, of Playboy fame, has spent his life in pursuit of sex and money. A succession of bleached blondes whose attention was purchased with his fortune have shared his bed. Many silly men envy his hedonism. I wonder if Hefner ever realizes that he's accumulated a treasure of fool's gold? He came to his place in life one choice at time, beginning more than 50 years ago. Even if he feels little regret now as a result of a scarred conscience, he will soon face God. What then?

About same time that Hugh Hefner started to build the Playboy empire, another man in the city of Chicago made an entirely different choice. He decided to give away his life to tell the Gospel story to as many people as possible around the world. Billy Graham  started talking about Jesus. His team, which he kept around him for decades, committed themselves to each other and their lives to integrity. They remained faithful to their spouses and chose to handle the fame and wealth that came their way responsibly and with integrity - day after day. They stayed faithful to Christ Jesus.

A life lived well is an accumulation of days lived well! 

It isn't the single stellar moment that makes a life. Rather it is the consistent choices, made day after day, that add up to a life worth remembering.

Are you waiting for your 'big break?'
Are you letting one day after another slip away into history while you sit on the sidelines waiting for something to happen?

Instead of taking the opportunities that are available to do something good, people wait.... and wait ... and wait. Little do they realize that, like the blink of an eye, 25 years will disappear over the horizon of time. Then, too, there are those who choose to waste the present. They're going to do something different, 'tomorrow.' So they spend week after week, watching the same boring TV, playing games, surfing the 'net, and avoiding responsibility as much as possible. They are waiting for tomorrow, which never comes.

 Today matters! 'Today is the first day of the rest of your life.' It may be cliché but it's true. So make a difference, starting today. With the counsel of the Spirit and the Scripture, choose the path of the righteous, and then walk it - consistently, day after day. I can make this guarantee - you'll never live to regret it!

Here's a word from the Word for today. "This is the only race worth running. I've run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that's left now is the shouting-God's applause! Depend on it, he's an honest judge. He'll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming. " (2 Timothy 4:7-8, The Message)

Merely Repentant? That's not enough

CGB, a new Sunday night program on ABC TV, was created around characters from a novel by Kim Gatlin called Good Christian Bitches.  (Please don't be offended.) It is a story about women in an upscale Dallas neighborhood who lay claim to being 'good Christians' who fight, hold grudges, and strive for social status. (No, I don't watch it. I saw the previews and read the online critiques!)  Like any comedy, CGB requires enough connection to reality to allow us to laugh.  From what I've read, I wouldn't find it humorous.  The hypocrisy of the characters, though fictional, is tragically all too common.

John, the Baptist, preached a stern message of repentance, calling people to turn back to God and baptizing them in a symbolic ritual of cleansing.   He recognized the limits of determination to please God that is based on human will and devotion.   He pointed to Jesus and the new life He would make possible:  "I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!" (Mark 1:8, CEV)  After His Resurrection, Jesus instructed His disciples to wait to be empowered.  "Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before ...  you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere-in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:4,8, NLT) 

Are you filled with the Spirit of God?    

I am not asking you if you know God, or if you have had mystical experiences, or if you are a 'super Christian!'   Does your friendship with God show? Is there a Presence that is part of your life that makes a difference in you?   This is more than a weekend experience that provided a moment of spiritual bliss.  It is not just an emotional response to a highly charged 'revival' atmosphere.   This is a supernaturally formed life of the Spirit which Jesus said was like a "fresh, bubbling spring within them." (John 4:14, NLT)

If you through with the cycle of sin and regret, if you want to be genuinely changed - it is time to seek the Lord!   With a real  faith and an open heart, turn to Him and ask to be baptized in the Spirit.   You will discover that the life He gives is as different as day from night in comparison to the old religion you knew before. Trials will still come your way.   Yes, you will still fall prey to temptation from time to time.   And, yes, your personality will remain intact!  But, you will become a person renewed from the inside out, learning to delight in loving God.  You will be "transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him." (2 Corinthians 3:18, The Message)   Isn't that an exciting promise?

Francis Chan, in his book, Forgotten God, pointedly observes that some Christians fear that God might actually show up in their life! "What if God does show up and then asks you to go somewhere or do something that's uncomfortable? For many people, fearing that God will ask them to go in a difficult, undesirable direction outweighs the fear that God will ignore them. ... The truth is that Spirit of the Living God is guaranteed to ask you to do something you would not normally want or choose to do. The Spirit will lead you in the way of the Cross... mold you into the person you were made to be."

Here's the word from the Word.  "It started when God said, "Light up the darkness!" and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us." (2 Corinthians 4:6-7, The Message)

You gave yourself to Christ, the Lord, and you were given the Spirit of life.  Now, let the Spirit have you, flowing into in every part of your life, as Christ, plunges you into the Spirit - much like the pastor plunged you into the water at your  baptism.   The Holy Spirit's flow over you will fill you with inexpressible joy,  unimaginable power, and beautiful holiness based on inner transformation, not external religion. 

“Always abounding in the work of the Lord.”

Ambition,  is it a blessing or a curse?  Solomon's proverbs refer to the man without it as a 'sluggard.'  "A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing." (Proverbs 20:4, NIV)  Life happens to the person lacking drive and/or desire.  He just sits around waiting  for easy money, big moments, and break time. His guideline is minimal participation.  Usually, he ends up in debt, blaming the world!  Of course, when a person is too full of ambition he is impossible to live with; arrogant, and self-absorbed. Because he thinks the world exists for him, he uses people in a blind pursuit of his agenda; seeking wealth and/or power. He is too busy chasing his dreams to be concerned with love, family, or loyalty.

The balance is found in being ambitious for the glory of God.   The Word urges us to "make the most of every opportunity."  (Col. 4.5)   That is coupled with this reminder,  "...whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31, NLT)   John said it succinctly - "He must become greater; I must become less." (John 3:30, NIV)

Need to know when ambition has gone wrong?  Just ask yourself, "whose approval do I really want?"  If you are trying to win your family’s admiration, your bosses commendation, or your neighbor’s affirmation – you are aiming at the wrong goal.   

James says that selfish ambition is devilishly destructive.   Godly ambition will fill our lives with a harvest of good things!  "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."  (James 3:13-18, NIV)

I am, and have always been, an ambitious man.  I ask myself often "What are you doing today, Jerry, that is making the world in which you live a  better place?"   It is a loaded question that can be answered with very skewed choices if I measure making a difference in any way other than faithfully seeking and doing God's will.  I don't always get it right!  It makes me sad when I realize that what I said, what I did, was aimed at securing my own reputation rather than pointing to Jesus.   But, thankfully, when I confess my sin, He forgives and changes my heart.  Positively, nothing is more fulfilling than knowing that someone has felt the touch of Jesus, discovered the love of God, or chosen to live for the Lord because I was faithful to point them in the right direction.  Even when I am an invisible part of the process, there is a deep sense of purpose.

Never mistake passively drifting through life for humility! Be ambitious and find out what God wants from you, then pursue it with your whole heart - always for the glory of God.  Here’s the word from the Word - "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 15:57-58, NKJV)

The Day After

Yesterday was Easter. The church was full, the songs were joyous. Christians renewed their hope in the living Lord.  Today is ‘the day after.’  Life returns to ‘normal,’ whatever that is.  Everybody has gone home, the music has stopped, the decorations are all taken down.  Now what? 

Luke tells of two disciples walking the road to Emmaus on the day after. They were wondering what to do.  The crucifixion had drained them of all hope.  Jesus hung on the cross in disgrace, the dreams of the Kingdom dying with him. They spoke in hushed tones about the tragedy.  Somebody said that the women had seen him in the garden, that he was alive. Nonsensical, right?  Yet, this was Jesus! He had raised Lazarus from his grave. He had fed thousands with a little boy’s lunch.  Hadn’t he talked about tearing down the temple and raising it up in three days?   While they walked and talked, a third man joined their conversation. He fell in alongside of them and asked questions about their discussion.  “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.” (Luke 24:18)  Later, over dinner, the man offered prayer and broke the loaf of bread and they realized it was HIM! “Jesus quoted passages from the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining what all the Scriptures said about himself.”  (24:27) He encouraged them, then as suddenly as He came, He was gone! But, they were changed and they headed back to Jerusalem with yet another amazing story about the Risen Lord.

On this day after, I encourage you to take time to reflect on the Story, on the meaning of it all, on where you go from here.  The second look will provide greater clarity. Thinking it over without the noise will allow you to ask the question, ‘what does this mean for my life now?’  Jesus told the first disciples to stay in Jerusalem, to wait!  It was while they were waiting that the Holy Spirit came on them.  “You will receive power when the Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses,” Jesus told them.  What power it was. 

"Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:43-47, NIV)

Invite the Spirit to fill you up this day after!  Let’s live what we celebrated.