Yesterday at church a friend grabbed her camera and took some pics. Gosh… I love these ladies!
The Ladies
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Kicking Sallie Mae to the curb
Sallie Mae. Do you know her? I do. We are intimately acquainted. She tells me what I can and cannot do. She nags me. I don’t care for her very much.
Who is she? She is the organization to whom I owe my student loans.
I’m quite ready to dismiss her from my life.
After lots of prayer, counsel, and conversation with my bride I have taken a second job.
I have begun working nights at a local hospital. All of this additional income is going to pay off my student loans.
Sherri and I figure that in 3 years (or less) we can be free from Sallie Mae… of whom we are not so fond. 
Our plan is to drive to this guy’s headquarters after we’ve paid our final payment, stand in the lobby of his building, scream “We’re debt free”, and then write our name on his wall.
We will do this. The journey has begun.
Courage
A couple of weeks ago when Dallas and I were on our date we decided to do some rock scrambling.
One characteristic we want for our girls to possess is courage.
Courage is knowing that the task at hand is big and will require risk yet getting started anyhow. Courage is knowing that the trek will often require more than one move and getting started on the first one. Courage requires tenacity and risk. Courage steps up and puts the hand on the wall and begins the trek.
Another thing about courage is that what takes courage for me may be no big deal for you. Courage is relative to your size, age, resources, experience, etc.
What is common to all though is that the biggest break-through’s are typically preceded by some act or string of acts that required courage.
When Dallas scrambled to the top of the wall we had a party! Yelling! High-Fiving! Celebrating her success! Courageous action preceded raucous celebration! And it will in your life too.
So, are you ready to put your hand on the wall and begin the climb?
It’s fight time
People are in the fight of their lives. They are fighting for their marriages… they are trading blows with a fragile economy that threatens their jobs, homes, savings and stands over them with debt… they are working to beat down addictions… they are struggling to overcome their past… they are wrestling with obstacles on their way to achieving their dream… they are grappling with unexpected loss…
In short, people are fighting for their lives.
Honestly there comes a point where it almost seems easier to lay down and quit fighting… to give up… to walk away.
And yet people instinctively know that’s not right and won’t help.
God has been urging me to fight for these people. To stand up for them in prayer. To call them. To love them.
To be honest, this is overwhelming because I’m fighting too. I have a wife, six daughters, a church to lead, dreams to pursue, debts to pay, personal issues to overcome, etc. In short, I’m just like you.
But then I realize… this is what the CHURCH is called to do. To fight for one another. To stand up for one another. To come alongside one another. To pray for, encourage, support, and love one another.
If I fight for you and you fight for the guy next to you and so on and so on, we’ll make it! We will win!
So here’s the question, who are you fighting for? Who do you need to reach out to and let them know you’re standing with them and available to them? It’s time to step up and fight for one another so that when the bell rings we can all hold our hands in the air and experience the joy of victory!
By the way, if you don’t have anyone fighting for you, the best way to experience that is to fight for someone. Put yourself out there. Do what you can do for someone else and see what happens!
Strong man
One of my all time favorite Bible verses is Proverbs 24:16:
“…though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.” (Proverbs 24:16 NIV).
I love the optimism here. Righteous men (people) get back up! They can take a hit… multiple hits… and get back up. In the words of the aging Rocky Balboa, “… it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”
What’s really cool about this verse though is the fact that it is a warning to people to who think about taking advantage of or intruding into a righteous man’s home. Look at this verse and the one that precedes it:
“Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against a righteous man’s house, do not raid his dwelling place; for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.” (Proverbs 24:15-16)
A word to “bad guys” – if you must rob and raid, for your own sake don’t pick the house where a righteous man lives. You will find him to be an indefatigable opponent.
Now here’s the thing… strength is more than the size of your biceps or the number of weapons in your night stand. According to these verses, strength is something that belongs to righteous men.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “righteous” like this:
- acting in accord with divine or moral law : free from guilt or sin
- morally right or justifiable <a righteous decision>
- arising from an outraged sense of justice or morality<righteous indignation>
It looks like the man who man who has a guilt-free heart and a clear and good purpose is the man who will stand the longest, fight the hardest, and rebound the quickest.
Maybe the best thing that we as men can do for our family’s security is not to dust off the gun but to do a moral inventory, confess sin, and rediscover our purpose as warrior poets in our homes for our families.
As a husband and a daddy, I want my home to be a refuge; a place of safety and filled with the promise of peace, love, and laughter. The best assurance of this is to make sure that I am the righteous man in my home.
“Honey, I locked the keys in the car.”
Last week Sherri had a rough week. She ran out of gas in the parking lot of the grocery store and had to call me to get gas in her van. Two days later she locked her keys in the van at the mall and had to call me to bring the spare key. Both times these calls came at inconvenient points… and I let her know that.
Skip forward to yesterday.
After a morning of conflict over our schedules, I let her know she needed to get her act together then I left the house to go do the important work of ministry.
Then it happened.
I was leaving one meeting to go to another and couldn’t find my keys (you already know where this is going don’t you?). I finally found them… in the last place I looked… the last place I left them… on the inside of my locked car.
I desperately looked for some way in, because the thought of calling Sherri and telling her my dilemma was to much for me to bear! I had just let her know she had to get her act together and now….
Finally I broke down and called. She laughed and reminded me how I had handled her situation… and then she changed her schedule to come and unlock my car for me.
And here’s where it gets funny…
When she arrived, giggles and all, I reached into her ignition and took the keys… still determined to get to my next meeting and be about the important work of ministry.
And then I saw it… actually I didn’t see it, and that was the problem.
A while ago we loaned our car to a friend. When they brought back the spare key we did not put it back on Sherri’s key ring, instead we stuck it in the kitchen drawer… and that’s where it was… in the kitchen drawer!
Now I had to get in the van, ride all the way home with my giggling bride, get the spare key, then travel back to unlock my car. And oh, by the way, I had to cancel my ministry meeting. I suppose that was okay because by that point I wasn’t representing Jesus real well anyhow.
So what’s the point of this story? There are two:
- Always keep a spare key located somewhere on your vehicle.
- Always be nice to your spouse when their oversight inconveniences you. You never know when your oversight will inconvenience them and eating crow while canceling meetings is not so much fun.
Or in the words of Jesus, “Do for others as you would like them to do for you” (Luke 6:31).
How to grow spiritually
Really there is no magic formula. It’d be great to have a drink, swallow a pill, or take a pilgrimage to some holy spot and upon arrival… “BOOM”… you become holy.
Well, don’t get your hopes up because after thousands of years and multiple experiments the verdict is in… spiritual maturity is not something that happens in a moment or after one exercise.
Spiritual maturity is the result of a lifestyle… a series of habits… a regular and consistent practice of “trust and obey.”
This morning I was reading from Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology and he wrote something that I have to share with you:
The New Testament does not suggest any shortcuts by which we can grow in sanctification, but simply encourages us repeatedly to give ourselves to the old-fashioned, time-honored means of Bible reading and meditation (Psalm 1:2; Matthew 4:4; John 17:17), prayer (Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6), worship (Ephesians 5:18-20), witnessing (Matthew 28:19-20), Christian fellowship (Hebrews 10:24-25), and self-discipline or self-control (Galatians 5:23; Titus 1:8)
So how’s it going? Are you doing these things? Be encouraged and persistent in them and watch how God uses the best practices to grow your faith!
A small rant on racism, Drudge Report, theology
This was the headline on the Drudge Report this morning. It bothered me quite a bit.
We wouldn’t be asking this question if it were two white men back to back.
These are two brilliant men with two sets of ideas each of which appeal to millions of people.
Both men are articulate, passionate, and smart.
To ask this question is to do to these men what the sports media did to two great coaches who took their teams to the Superbowl (Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith).
When content of character and significance of accomplishment is trumped by the matter of race or sex it is clear that we have not yet achieved God’s view of humanity which happens to be…
All are created in God’s image!
The Greatest Memories and the Best Days
“The greatest memories are of the toughest victories and biggest challenges.
The most satisfying days are not the days when you had nothing to do.
The most satisfying days are the hardest days – the days when you had everything to do and you did it!”
(Mark Batterson in Wild Goose Chase)
“You have to have two sets that suck”
That’s what Rob (the owner of the gym where I work out) told me.
A couple of weeks ago Rob spent an hour with me teaching me about form, style and the methodology of proper weight lifting.
I took three pages of notes during that hour.
He told me that every exercise should have at least one warm-up set and consist of at least “two sets that really suck.” “Really suck” means they hurt! The body part you are exercising is screaming under the pressure!
Yesterday I worked out my legs. They were screaming! I worked them so hard that they actually failed to perform… they just gave out. They were so fatigued and sore that they couldn’t go anymore. That’s what a “set that sucks” looks like.
Today my legs hurt… BAD!
So why do “two sets that suck”?
Rob says that when you’re done exercising your legs (or any other body part) they leave the gym saying, “Whew! If he’s going to be moving that kind of weight, we’re going to have to grow!” And then they grow.
Gosh! There’s such a parallel here to the growth process required for development of every kind!
Want to grow spiritually? Do you want a specific character trait to develop? Are you interested in maturing? Then guess what?! You’re going to have to do “two sets that suck!”
Growth follows pain. If you aren’t interested in pain, you’re not likely to grow.
Don’t run from the pain in your life. Consider it one of the “two sets that suck” and watch how God uses the pain to develop you as a person.
The biggest growth follows the heaviest lifting!
CAVEAT: there is a difference between healthy and helpful pain and unhealthy and unhelpful pain. Healthy pain is inconvenient and makes you sore, but produces growth. Unhealthy pain breaks you and removes you from the game. Healthy pain is chosen and embraced. Unhealthy pain is often the result of bad form, inadequate preparation for the exercise, or ignoring the signals that the body is sending.
As you view pain as a tool for growth be sure to listen to your emotions, body, and spirit making sure that you are not crossing the line from healthy pain to unhealthy pain. Bill Hybels wrote an article entitled “Reading Your Gauges” that you may find helpful as you figure out where that line is for you. (click here to read the article).
