Season for Rest

In the classes I am teaching for our church one of the things I have emphasized on multiple occasions is the idea of not over-committing yourself or your children's time.  The world is too busy and we see burnout far too often.  The non-stop schedules that are kept often impede the growth of the family unit, and the vital development of an array of necessary skills.

Today I am taking my own advice.  In order to keep my mind sharp and to better protect my time I will be signing off from this blog, for a season.  During the off time I will be looking to rejuvenate my mind and allow some additional margin into my schedule.  This will also allow me to have more capacity for the things that remain on my calendar, including some upcoming challenges in my workplace.

At some point in the (not too distant?) future I expect to return to the blogosphere.  It is not currently clear to me whether it will be with a renewed focus or intent on the Workout Your Faith concept or if it will be starting with a clean slate and a new concept.  Time will tell and for now I will leave you with this thought:

Be willing to say no, selectively.  Involvement is a great and wonderful thing, but over-involvement can be crippling.  Take care of your relationship with God and He will help you take care of everything else.

Seasons of Success

The writer of Ecclesiastes said that here is a season for everything under the sun.  As I grow a little older, and hopefully wiser, I am beginning to understand this more and more.

This weekend has been an amazing time of celebration, dedication, and fellowship.  My family along with 20 something others from our church, and around 9000 others from across the country descended upon Nashville, TN for the annual Lads to Leaders Convention.  L2L is a youth leadership development program within churches of Christ that offers a variety of events structured to bring out the best in our youth, preparing them to serve in the church.

As to the season thought, this was the first convention without one of our kids who went very successfully through the program and is now a freshman at the Naval Academy.  It was hard to adjust to not having him around bit his season had changed.

We also, as our tradition holds, saw off one of our seniors who has now completed his course and will be moving to another season better prepared for the fight.  I and my church family wish him well in that future.  I am grateful  to have had an opportunity to observe the growth in each of these young men over the past 7 years.

There are still a good number, including my own daughter who are still around and walking in this season.  Each with a different direction and varied talents or interests.  My prayer is that each will continue to follow God's paths and grow to serve well in the church, create Godly families, and serve their communities as the Light of Christ is reflected in them.

May we all have a heart for service and take the lead, using the complete set of tools at our disposal to raise up children, not to be good kids, but to be great Christian adults.  If we can do this, then we will make today, and many more days GREAT!

The Christian Journey: Part 3 Marriage

Outside our relationship with God, no other relationship carries more weight in scripture than marriage.  In Ephesians 5:23-32 it is compared to the relationship between Christ and the Church. That is a pretty weighty comparison!

Unfortunately, marriage has seemingly lost its luster in our modern society.  Not only have forces been hard at work to redefine it, but many are choosing to forego marriage in favor of a variety of other relational options.  We are paying a high price for our abandonment of God's initial and eternal plan for this beautiful institution.

The toll being paid is found in several arenas.  The gradual destruction of the traditional home over the past 50+ years has been seen in a roughly 50% overall divorce rate that has immense implications for the children so often involved.  There is a tremendous emotional burden on the former spouses, not to mention the financial consequences of the legal proceedings and the resulting arrangements.  Often there are also implications to other relationships that may be strained due to friends/family members taking sides,

So what is the answer?  First it all starts with God.

I do not have all the other answers, and many would say that I likely don't have any.  But here are a few thoughts:

• Marriage needs to be valued - it is not intended to be disposable
• Marriage needs to be modeled for our children and our younger generations
• Marriage needs to look back at The Bible for its basis
• Dating should be more selective, you are not likely to marry someone you don't date
• Laugh if you will, but dating/courtship is really a job interview/audition process
• Get back to the basics (God-fearing, trust, loving, kind, sense of humor, provide/protect, compassionate) and away from physical appearances

Today think about what brought you into your marriage.  Then consider how to build upon those foundation blocks and if necessary begin repairs upon the structure you have built.  Understand that no good marriage was built overnight, and that most troubled marriages slipped in that direction slowly over time.  That being said any necessary repairs will also take time.

If your marriage is strong I am thankful, and you should be too.  I ask that you do all that you can to keep it going.  Our children and our society are counting on you.  If your marriage is troubled take a hard look and make the often difficult choices it takes to shore it up.

If you will do these things you will Make Today GREAT!

The Christian Journey: Relationships Part 2

Last week we began exploring relationships and their value in our lives.  God created us to be relational beings.  It seems that we are not taking our relationships as seriously as we once did.  Does this present a problem?  Or what is the nature of the problem?

In the good ole U.S. of A. we have seen dynamic change from the beginning of the industrial revolution up to the current day where we are now in the midst of a technological revolution.  The move away from the agrarian society of the past has deeply impacted the formation, quantity, and quality of our relationships.  While I admit that I would likely have struggled on a farm, it is also likely that I would have had fewer relationships, but of a deeper nature.

We have gone from working side by side on those farms, in unison, to achieve a meaningful harvest, to working side by side on the production line to send out as many widgets as possible, to now working in cubicles practically isolated from one another while moving vast amounts of information along the information superhighway.  I am a man torn by the draw of "advancement", yet quite beholden to the simpler times.  I feel the the craving for deeper relationships, and see or hear it in so many others that I have contact with on a regular basis.  If we lose our relationships, then where will we be?

It seems that we have established vast networks of pseudo-relationships via the ever burgeoning social media outlets.  Yes, by producing this blog and distributing it over social media I am a participant, I recognize this as fact.  Let's ask ourselves this question:

What do we gain from 

our friendships?

A simple question really, but one I believe that we all need to reconsider.  Then ask this question next:

Do we use a different

criteria when selecting

our social media connections?

If the answer to this second question is yes, then why?  What are we looking for online?  One article that I found while putting this piece together had the following to say:

Social media forces upon us a feeling of intimacy

and closeness that doesn’t actually exist.

http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-tools/social-media-pretend-friends-and-the-lie-of-false-intimacy/

Is this true? Are we gaining a false intimacy via our social networks at the cost of true intimacy with those whom we actually live, love, interact, and "connect"?

That same article put it this way:

Is that what we want?

Spending considerable time building large networks of shallow connections, potentially at the expense of deepening a few cherished friendships upon which we can truly rely?

http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-tools/social-

media-pretend-friends-and-the-lie-of-false-intimacy/

“He who walks with wise men will be wise,

But the companion of fools will suffer harm?”

Proverbs 13:20

Does our consuming need for "connection" lead us astray from this teaching? We all know that the internet is full of distraction and foolishness of all sorts. I hope that we realize that like a hammer or saw that it is merely a tool in our hands. We still decide what to make of it, and I hope that you will use it wisely and not sacrifice actual relationships that have, or would have, physical proximity and emotional significance. I pray that we would all seek to grow in some of our actual relationships, and that we would all be smarter about the online relationships we form. If we do this we will Make Today GREAT!

The Christian Journey: Relationships

The Christian Journey: Relationships

Few things in this world are more important to our success, on any level, than our relationships.  It is clear that we are not made to be alone.  This is spelled out early on in Scripture where we are told,

And the Lord said, "it is not good that the man should be alone, I will make an help meet for him."  Genesis 2:18

From this we can see the natural affinity we have toward others, the shared humanity, and the need we have for companionship.  Although this is the beginning of our proof text for  marriage it stands as the basis for all our relationships.

Scripture speaks in great detail of our relationships to God and one another.  The Church is called the Bride of Christ, those in the Church are called brothers and sisters, God is referred to as the Father.  Groups of people are called out, or sanctified, such as the Old Testament children of Israel or the 12 Apostles of the New Testament.

From the beginning we have been a relational people, and for God's work to be done must effectively it must be done through the building and nurturing of  relationships.  That is what the Church is all about.

"Though one can be overpowered, two can defend themselves, but a cord of three strands is not quickly broken." 

Ecclesiastes 4:12

If you want to Make Today Great, and each successive day greater still, then look to the relationships in your life.  Build them up, grow them, and make sure they have been chosen wisely.  Not all relationships are beneficial, with discernment there are times that relationships must be severed for a greater cause. 

May you each find strength in many close and powerful relationships.

The Christian Journey: Baptism

The Christian Journey;

Baptism

Baptism is at the heart of the Christian religion, and is one of its tenets that pretty much sets it apart from others.  This act of obedience to God is a beautiful testimony to the faith an individual has developed.  I would encourage each believer to spend some time in study about this act.

As I have studied it recently I am struck by the various doctrines and practices that exist within Christendom.  While all Christian bodies embrace baptism as a part of their spiritual journey the varying levels of significance each places upon it is all over the board.  Even more troubling is when examining the websites for some of these bodies is the lack of Biblical supports that are given for most of their positions.

Scripture indicates in a number of passages that baptism is intricately linked to salvation.  In fact in the book of Mark it says:

Mark 16:15-16New American Standard Bible (NASB)

15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned."

There is a tiny word in the midst of this passage that holds tremendous impact as we read it, and, this little conjunction should leave us with little doubt as to the power of baptism in our faith journey.  Merely believing, while a good thing doesn't seem to get the job done.  But, you may ask, why does it say, "but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned"?  This clause doesn't say anything about those who haven't been baptized being condemned.  This is where simple logic should rule the day.  Why would one expect for someone who hasn't even believed to take the step of baptism?  For one who has no belief, no faith, to submit to baptism would be highly unlikely and of no benefit.

I am not here to stir up controversy or strife among those who read this but providing my honest assessment of what I see as a Biblical truth.  May we, myself included, each seek greater understanding of His Word each day, and may we not use it to beat people into submission, but rather to show a lovingkindness that draws others to Him.

If we will seek Christ in this way, then we will Make today (and every other day) GREAT!

Midweek Motivation

Today marks the opening of the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship Tournament, which is historically a low productivity day in America.  Yes the tournament is fun and this time of year used to be my favorite, but with age comes a different perspective.  Be interested, and enjoy the tournament while not losing focus on the important things in your life.

Final four prediction:  Villanova, Notre Dame, Oregon, and UCLA

National Champion:  Villanova in a repeat.

Who are your picks?

**This weekly post along with my Monday Morsel post is going away, for at least a while as I reassess my blogging priorities.  I plan to continue with my weekly post on Sundays.

Make Today GREAT!!!!