I had just finished mowing the lower field with the old diesel Ford tractor when it was time for all the counselors to arrive. Our first meeting together was dinner. I walked in all sweaty and dirty. That's when Ashley and I met for the first time. As far as I recollect, and she'll have to fill in the gaps, she thought I was ruggedly handsome, but then once I started talking she just wasn't impressed. A bit cocky and self-centered, I suppose, as most single college guys are. Well, I guess she changed her mind about me. If she didn't I guess she was able to look past that and married me anyway. Boy am I glad!
That was eight years ago today. I have a lot of special days that land on the 10th of the month, so this one is pretty easy for me to remember. We married on May 10, 2003. We met on June 10th, 2001. My birthday is September 10th. My brother Ben's birthday is January 10th.
June 10th is a date that gets us thinking about Grace Bible Camp and all the fun we had there. My mind is always immediately drawn to Mr. Bill. I often wonder how he is doing. He has been at the camp for so long (I think it will be 50 years soon). The work requires so much and he is not getting any younger. We were offered to work there once. The plan was to eventually learn everything I could from Mr. Bill in hopes to be able to carry the torch after he retires. He said he would never completely retire because he'd always want to come back and run the Book Nook (our camp store). Mr. Bill was the first one I ever spoke to about pursuing Ashley. He and I had a great friendship, so confiding him in this was very natural.
Ashley had left a few things after camp was over that summer of 2001. I was still around helping out after camp, of course. Mr. Bill asked if I would be willing to deliver some things she left. What did she leave? One picture and a radio. You know what the picture was? The one picture she had purchased of all the camp pictures...me dressed up as a missionary nurse to help our Bible story come alive for the campers. Needless to say I was flattered and was obliged to deliver the picture in person.
And now here we are. We have literally hundreds of pictures of the two of us, the kids, and all that has happened to us over the years. But it all started with me dressed as a missionary nurse. I'll never forget that June 10th. I thank my God for how he brought the two of us together. I wouldn't trade my wife and my children for anything in the whole world.
Happy 1st Meeting Anniversary, Ashley! I love you as long as I live! In sickness, in health, for better or worse, till the day that I die, I will always love you.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Don't Let Your Tongue Get in the Way
First of all, let me say that I am truly enjoying my new position at work. The stress level is very manageable and I really feel as though I am in my element. The shift begins extremely early, but I feel like I've found a sleeping schedule that will work. Aside from that, let me take a moment to share what is on my heart this morning.
Yesterday morning I had just arrived at my post. The warehouse was vacant (as it usually is at 2:30 am) except for one man, the 2nd Shift Operations Manager (aka chief manager of that shift). He was just on his way out. He had just finished a phone conversation with another associate - not another manager or supervisor, but an hourly associate. After the conversation, this particular Ops (as we call them) slammed down the phone and said, "What an idiot! _____ is such an idiot!" I blanked out the name because I know the associate fairly well.
My heart hit the floor. I lost my respect for that Ops yesterday and I think you can see why. One of the most fundamental principles of leadership is that you never ever degrade another associate, especially not in front of other associates.
I've heard of people tripping over rocks, or a step they didn't see, but have you ever heard of anyone tripping over their own tongue? Okay, well, maybe we don't fall to the ground because of this powerful little piece of flesh, but it does get in the way all too often. In my eyes, that Ops hit the ground yesterday morning, and lost all credibility.
Ashley was sharing with me how she heard of a man who consciously chose to never say a single negative thing about anyone. How difficult would that really be for us? How easy it is to allow ourselves to say negative things especially when a particular person is the subject and brunt of the statement! The New Testament book of James says a lot about this...here are a couple of passages that should challenge us a bit.
James 3:7-10 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
What vivid imagery used here! Restless evil. Full of deadly poison. I mean, that's a serious picture!
James 4:11-12 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
So why is this one of the biggest struggles within the walls of churches today? I mean, there are people in every single church who are known for this type of ridiculous behavior. And this is not only a problem within the walls of the church, but it is one that people who are not Christians have a really hard time with. How many times of people who are not followers of Christ been the target of judgmental glances and remarks. Instead, how are we supposed to behave around people who do not follow Christ? Well, Jesus hung out with them and built relationships with them. He healed them of their ailments and showed them His power to save and gave them a place in his kingdom.
In his song "Surely God is With Us," Rich Mullins sings this about Jesus, "The whores all seem to love him and the drunks propose a toast!" That's about right! But this is not the case for us Christians. We stand outside the world and judge as though we were God himself. Well, let me tell you that while God may not approve of their behavior, he still died in their place so they could be with him, too.
Let me wrap this up by asking you (and I'm speaking to Christians here), why would you speak negatively or criticize someone else? Who are we to judge? Did Christ send us into the world to judge the world? Even he did not come for that reason...
John 3:16-17 For this is how God loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
There will be a day where God will judge the world, but that is not our job. IT IS OUR JOB, however, to get the world ready FOR that judgment! Let us seek to tell the world of the imminence of that judgment. It may be nearer than we think. SHAME on us for not letting the world know what is about to come. Instead we sit outside and look in and sneer at the world. The world will waste away and we will wonder why those people didn't know the judgment was going to come. It is because disobedient and prideful Christians can't see past themselves and their own mouths to enter into the world of darkness and let those who are perishing know how they can be a part of eternal life beyond the judgment!
So good luck taming your tongue! And I'm speaking to myself. But I have a good suspicion that if we begin by taming our hearts and tuning them with God's own heart, then our tongues will probably follow right along.
Luke 6:45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Yesterday morning I had just arrived at my post. The warehouse was vacant (as it usually is at 2:30 am) except for one man, the 2nd Shift Operations Manager (aka chief manager of that shift). He was just on his way out. He had just finished a phone conversation with another associate - not another manager or supervisor, but an hourly associate. After the conversation, this particular Ops (as we call them) slammed down the phone and said, "What an idiot! _____ is such an idiot!" I blanked out the name because I know the associate fairly well.
My heart hit the floor. I lost my respect for that Ops yesterday and I think you can see why. One of the most fundamental principles of leadership is that you never ever degrade another associate, especially not in front of other associates.
I've heard of people tripping over rocks, or a step they didn't see, but have you ever heard of anyone tripping over their own tongue? Okay, well, maybe we don't fall to the ground because of this powerful little piece of flesh, but it does get in the way all too often. In my eyes, that Ops hit the ground yesterday morning, and lost all credibility.
Ashley was sharing with me how she heard of a man who consciously chose to never say a single negative thing about anyone. How difficult would that really be for us? How easy it is to allow ourselves to say negative things especially when a particular person is the subject and brunt of the statement! The New Testament book of James says a lot about this...here are a couple of passages that should challenge us a bit.
James 3:7-10 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
What vivid imagery used here! Restless evil. Full of deadly poison. I mean, that's a serious picture!
James 4:11-12 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
So why is this one of the biggest struggles within the walls of churches today? I mean, there are people in every single church who are known for this type of ridiculous behavior. And this is not only a problem within the walls of the church, but it is one that people who are not Christians have a really hard time with. How many times of people who are not followers of Christ been the target of judgmental glances and remarks. Instead, how are we supposed to behave around people who do not follow Christ? Well, Jesus hung out with them and built relationships with them. He healed them of their ailments and showed them His power to save and gave them a place in his kingdom.
In his song "Surely God is With Us," Rich Mullins sings this about Jesus, "The whores all seem to love him and the drunks propose a toast!" That's about right! But this is not the case for us Christians. We stand outside the world and judge as though we were God himself. Well, let me tell you that while God may not approve of their behavior, he still died in their place so they could be with him, too.
Let me wrap this up by asking you (and I'm speaking to Christians here), why would you speak negatively or criticize someone else? Who are we to judge? Did Christ send us into the world to judge the world? Even he did not come for that reason...
John 3:16-17 For this is how God loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
There will be a day where God will judge the world, but that is not our job. IT IS OUR JOB, however, to get the world ready FOR that judgment! Let us seek to tell the world of the imminence of that judgment. It may be nearer than we think. SHAME on us for not letting the world know what is about to come. Instead we sit outside and look in and sneer at the world. The world will waste away and we will wonder why those people didn't know the judgment was going to come. It is because disobedient and prideful Christians can't see past themselves and their own mouths to enter into the world of darkness and let those who are perishing know how they can be a part of eternal life beyond the judgment!
So good luck taming your tongue! And I'm speaking to myself. But I have a good suspicion that if we begin by taming our hearts and tuning them with God's own heart, then our tongues will probably follow right along.
Luke 6:45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Empty Promise or Empty Faith?
I have been reading in Matthew lately. We are going through the Sermon on the Mount as a church. What an incredible passage. Recently we have been studying Matthew 7. I have been dwelling on verse 7 since I read it the other day. The verse reads, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." The more I thought about this verse, the more I had a problem with it. Now let me back up here and explain that I firmly believe that all of Scripture is God's Word and being such, it contains no errors. There are times, however, where I study a text and ask myself why it was translated in a certain way. Being a bit of a geek when it comes to language study, I pay attention to things like grammar and verb usage in particular. Should I apologize? I'm not sure, but hopefully I will not lose you by simply mentioning the words grammar and verb. But understanding the verbs in this verse is important to understanding its meaning as a whole.
Okay, so why did I have a problem? Well, if you're anything like me, I've asked God for plenty of things and have yet to receive them. I have sought God many times over and sometimes he seems very hard to find. I have knocked on plenty of doors that seem to be barred shut and vacant on the other side. So, how then can Jesus say "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you,"? Is this a bit of an empty promise on Jesus' part? Would Jesus ever make an empty promise? Never. So the problem must be in the translation.
The New Testament was written in Greek. The Greeks paid particular attention to something called "verbal aspect." This means, that rather than putting a lot of stock in verb tense (when the action took place) as we do in English, the Greeks were more concerned with how the action took place - that's what verbal aspect is all about, how the action took place.
The key to understanding Matthew 7:7 is in the commands, or imperatives as they are known to grammar geeks. The commands are "Ask," "seek," and "knock." Allow me to set the stage here. In the Greek, it is very common to have a command in a simple form known (are you ready for this million dollar word) aorist (pronounce "air-ist"). In layman's terms this aspect means that the action is simply happening. Nothing is really being said about how it happened, just that it happened. So if I were to command you to run in the aorist, I could simply say, "Run." BUT the commands in this verse are not in the aorist, which should catch the Greek geek's attention and tell him something is a little special about these commands. There are a lot of commands in the aorist, but not so with this verse.
They are not in the aorist, but are in the present form. In Greek, the present form is one that implies continuing action. If I were to command you to run in the present, I would say, "Keep running." This means you need to run without stopping. So it means a little more than just "run." Well, the commands in Matthew 7:7 are all in the present. SO, a good translation that brings out this emphasis would read, "Keep asking and it will be given to you; keep seeking and you will find; keep knocking and the door will be opened to you."
Now is the other translation wrong? No, but this translation brings out the emphasis of what Jesus is commanding. Can you hear the difference?
If I told you that when you asked for something it would be given to you, then you would expect that to happen without having to ask twice. And since Jesus has given us this promise, then it would be safe to say he would follow through on it, right? It seems as though this is an empty one since Jesus can do anything, but doesn't always give us what we ask for, especially after only asking one time. Does Jesus just hand out empty promises? I think not. That would be totally inconsistent with his nature.
Instead, if we understand that the verse is saying, "Keep asking and it will be given to you," then the emphasis shifts and the burden of realization falls on the shoulders of the one who is asking rather than on Jesus. You see, Jesus says to "keep on asking," "keep on seeking," and "keep on knocking." He desires that we continue to seek him for all our needs, rather than ask once and wait for something to happen. The gist of this whole verse is that we should continue to excercise our faith. Faith continually seeks after God regardless if the results are immediate or if they take years. A genuine faith is not in results - the benefit we receive, but it is realizing that God is faithful and true regardless of my circumstances. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." And that does not waver just because we do not see results.
So rather than this verse being an empty promise, it forces us to examine whether or not we have empty faith. It is as though Jesus is saying, "keep on seeking me," "keep on asking me," do not stop! A faith that continually seeks after God will not be disappointed.
How long must we continue to ask, seek, or knock? Well, if we really think about it, if we have faith that God is who he is, would we care how long it took to get results? It's like asking, "how far can I go before it is called sinning?" You can tell that the person who asks this is not concerned at all with living a sinless life, but wants to get away with as much as possible before he crosses the line. So, if we ask "how long must I seek you?" then our hearts' motives are made clear - we care more about results than our faith in God.
I know this has become a short novel, but I think you can see why this distinction meant so much to me. Let us continue to seek the Lord for more wisdom on how to apply his word! Let me know if this doesn't make sense. There were a lot of different words, but I tried to explain them so that anyone could understand. The bottom line is that we should be more interested in the condition of our faith and our hearts than with getting what we want. And that is exactly what Jesus is wanting us to realize as we continue to seek him.
Okay, so why did I have a problem? Well, if you're anything like me, I've asked God for plenty of things and have yet to receive them. I have sought God many times over and sometimes he seems very hard to find. I have knocked on plenty of doors that seem to be barred shut and vacant on the other side. So, how then can Jesus say "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you,"? Is this a bit of an empty promise on Jesus' part? Would Jesus ever make an empty promise? Never. So the problem must be in the translation.
The New Testament was written in Greek. The Greeks paid particular attention to something called "verbal aspect." This means, that rather than putting a lot of stock in verb tense (when the action took place) as we do in English, the Greeks were more concerned with how the action took place - that's what verbal aspect is all about, how the action took place.
The key to understanding Matthew 7:7 is in the commands, or imperatives as they are known to grammar geeks. The commands are "Ask," "seek," and "knock." Allow me to set the stage here. In the Greek, it is very common to have a command in a simple form known (are you ready for this million dollar word) aorist (pronounce "air-ist"). In layman's terms this aspect means that the action is simply happening. Nothing is really being said about how it happened, just that it happened. So if I were to command you to run in the aorist, I could simply say, "Run." BUT the commands in this verse are not in the aorist, which should catch the Greek geek's attention and tell him something is a little special about these commands. There are a lot of commands in the aorist, but not so with this verse.
They are not in the aorist, but are in the present form. In Greek, the present form is one that implies continuing action. If I were to command you to run in the present, I would say, "Keep running." This means you need to run without stopping. So it means a little more than just "run." Well, the commands in Matthew 7:7 are all in the present. SO, a good translation that brings out this emphasis would read, "Keep asking and it will be given to you; keep seeking and you will find; keep knocking and the door will be opened to you."
Now is the other translation wrong? No, but this translation brings out the emphasis of what Jesus is commanding. Can you hear the difference?
If I told you that when you asked for something it would be given to you, then you would expect that to happen without having to ask twice. And since Jesus has given us this promise, then it would be safe to say he would follow through on it, right? It seems as though this is an empty one since Jesus can do anything, but doesn't always give us what we ask for, especially after only asking one time. Does Jesus just hand out empty promises? I think not. That would be totally inconsistent with his nature.
Instead, if we understand that the verse is saying, "Keep asking and it will be given to you," then the emphasis shifts and the burden of realization falls on the shoulders of the one who is asking rather than on Jesus. You see, Jesus says to "keep on asking," "keep on seeking," and "keep on knocking." He desires that we continue to seek him for all our needs, rather than ask once and wait for something to happen. The gist of this whole verse is that we should continue to excercise our faith. Faith continually seeks after God regardless if the results are immediate or if they take years. A genuine faith is not in results - the benefit we receive, but it is realizing that God is faithful and true regardless of my circumstances. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." And that does not waver just because we do not see results.
So rather than this verse being an empty promise, it forces us to examine whether or not we have empty faith. It is as though Jesus is saying, "keep on seeking me," "keep on asking me," do not stop! A faith that continually seeks after God will not be disappointed.
How long must we continue to ask, seek, or knock? Well, if we really think about it, if we have faith that God is who he is, would we care how long it took to get results? It's like asking, "how far can I go before it is called sinning?" You can tell that the person who asks this is not concerned at all with living a sinless life, but wants to get away with as much as possible before he crosses the line. So, if we ask "how long must I seek you?" then our hearts' motives are made clear - we care more about results than our faith in God.
I know this has become a short novel, but I think you can see why this distinction meant so much to me. Let us continue to seek the Lord for more wisdom on how to apply his word! Let me know if this doesn't make sense. There were a lot of different words, but I tried to explain them so that anyone could understand. The bottom line is that we should be more interested in the condition of our faith and our hearts than with getting what we want. And that is exactly what Jesus is wanting us to realize as we continue to seek him.
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