So I have decided that my mantra for 2011 is “Be bolder in everything.” I’ll write more on that later, but one of the ways I intend to be bolder is in helping others not just within my circle of influence but outside it as well. With that in mind I am looking through the Gifts of Compassion Catalog trying to decide what I will purchase. If you haven’t seen it yet or heard of it please take a moment and check it out. For as little as $10 you can help make a difference in someones life. Also, take the time to pray and consider sponsoring a child at Compassion International. All it takes is $38 dollars a month to change a life forever.
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I spend a lot of time on the roof and my shoes are full of sand…
The other day I was contemplating Proverbs 21:9 and 19 “It’s better to stay outside on the roof of your house than to live inside with a nagging wife.” And “It’s better out in the desert than at home with a nagging, complaining wife.”
Really? Is that sound marital advice? I can’t see paying a counselor to tell me “Well Mr. Phillips how’s your roof?” or “have you considered vacationing in the Sahara, alone?” That can’t be right. So, I started thinking would I really rather be on the roof or in the desert than to listen to my wife nag? Well, yea, probably. (ok, Jenni, don’t stop reading yet, I have a point here)
But, really, why would she be nagging me? Most likely, from something I have done to warrant it. What is it to nag? <Nag: verb – to find fault or complain in an irritating, wearisome, or relentless manner>. Notice the word wearisome. Ok guys it’s confession time how many of you cause your spouses to be weary from repeated asking or requesting? Please take out the trash etc. Ring a bell guys? I know I’m uber guilty. So is it better to get out the ladder and head to the roof or trek into the Sahara? Not really except when you consider how most of us guys respond to our wives “wearisome, relentless requests” What do we do fellas? Am I alone here? I usually ignore it or shove back and start some goofy, unnecessary argument over some simple request. I get all busy with some other “important” project, like writing this blog right now instead of the simple task my wife asked me to do about an hour or so ago. While I have known my wife to “nag”, I can’t think of a single time it wasn’t brought on by something I could have done to keep her from going that route.
So, gentlemen, are we better off rooftop or camel riding? No, not really but if we respond the way we normally do, maybe we are. Proverbs 18:22 says “A man’s greatest treasure is his wife– she is a gift from the LORD.” Shouldn’t we treat gifts from the Lord with love and cherish them? Shouldn’t we want to care for, serve and love our bride the way Christ cares for, serves and loves His bride (us, the Church)? So, here’s my challenge: for the next week super serve your wife. If she asks you to do something for her get up and do it, then, not when you get around to it. If she asked you to do it, it’s important to her. If it’s important to her it should be important to you. Or how about this, do something for her before she asks. Now, there’s a crazy thought. Let’s do it together, brothers.
FYI: If she asks why your doing this don’t tell her “because that stupid bald guy challenged me to!!” Tell her it’s because you love her and cherish her.
Far from God
I hate the phrase “far from God.” It implies that we could escape God. As much as we may try that is not possible. You could be far from His ways and teachings but as soon as you turn to Him He is right there to lift you up. You may have turned your back on Him but He is still pursuing your heart, let Him in.
It’s like the phrase “wherever you go there you are.” The same is true of Him “wherever you go there HE is.” We can’t escape His loving arms but we sure can and do waste a lot of time trying.
In this mortal life, He never leaves us. It doesn’t matter the circumstances of your conception, birth or upbringing. It doesn’t even matter what kind of a mess you have turned your life into, God created each and every one of us out of love. Because of that love for us all He sent His one only son to die for us so that we don’t have to. Would you sacrifice your only child for another person or people if you didn’t want them around?
You serve a purpose. You may not know what it is but God does. So, if He created us all and we were created for a purpose that He knows about how could we be far from Him? He planned us and has plans for us. That sounds like an investment on His part. Why not explore the possibilities? Invest in Him, He’s not far from you.
Live or die?
Do you know anyone that is just sitting around waiting to die? I see it all the time in people usually 40 or older that think their life’s goal or mission is over. Your life mission isn’t over until your life is over.
Their kids grow up and leave the nest so it’s all over, or they retire and act as if they have no purpose left in life. Even others, lose a loved one and act as if they are the one that has died. Then they all sit around waiting for death to take them.
It’s sad to see, really. This life is not over until the last breath escapes our bodies. But then there is an eternity to be spent where we choose to spend it. There is an eternal life or an eternal death. The first part of Psalm 49: 10 says “We see that wise people die, and so do stupid fools.” So, we all fit one of those two categories, either wise or stupid and both of those groups are going to die. John 5:24 tells us “…whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (BTW, I’m not saying one belief or the other is wise or stupid. I know a lot of non-believers that are very intelligent and I know a lot of believers that aren’t playing with a full deck.)
I believe God can and will use each and every one of us even in the memory of others beyond our death. If we just open our hearts and minds to Him, He will enrich and fulfill our current lives beyond anything we could ever imagine.
I also believe there is evidence that God uses us all, whether we turn to Him or not. You may give in to the destructiveness of alcohol or drug addiction and your family or friends vow never to let it ruin their lives like it has yours. You may be mean and hateful or endlessly negative, causing others around you to not want to be like you. So, God can use that all to help and inspire others but why live as a bad example? Why let your life story be a “what not to do book”? Why not open up your heart and mind and become an active part of God’s kingdom building.
Of course now you may be saying “You don’t know what I’ve done.” Quite frankly, I don’t care and neither does God as long as you confess it to Him. Here’s a little secret: He already knows what you’ve done. And, He’s already forgiven it through His son Jesus. He’s just waiting for you to bring it to Him and confess it.
Trust me I spent many, many years of my life being a poster child for “What not to do” as a husband, father, friend, business owner, employer… you name it I’ve screwed it up in one way or another. Truthfully, I still screw up. We all do, but now I have some guidance and direction to get back on track where before I just plowed that train right through no matter who or what I took out in my path.
So, what do you say are you ready to keep on living? There’s more to life than “this life.” It’s not really over when it’s over. The Bible tells us there is an eternity. Where will you spend yours?
Answered Prayer?
Does God only answer the prayers of the believer?
Some would say scripture supports that only the prayers of the believer can and will be heard by God, other than the prayer of salvation of the non-believer.
Psalm 66:18 says, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened”. Isaiah 1:15 says, “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.” And Proverbs 28:9 has, “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable.”
These scriptures might support that but can’t a believer also fit here? Can a believer “…cherish sin in his heart”? or “…turn a deaf ear to the law”? I have, and I don’t question my salvation, I know in my heart that Jesus Christ died for my sins as well as the sins of all man, even the ones that choose never to believe in Him. The difference is where that salvation will take me and where that missing salvation will take them. But, that’s another discussion. Let’s get back to prayer?
Now, I’m not talking about prosperity prayers or prayers that are self centered in nature. I don’t believe those are answered for anyone if it is outside God’s plan. I’m talking about righteous prayer that is in line with God’s will.
Long, before I was a believer I prayed for the safety of my wife and unborn daughter through a difficult child-birth. My daughter is now 18 years old, healthy and a faithful servant of Christ. Wait a minute, I’ve only been saved 4 1/2 years?!? But, isn’t that an answered prayer? I also added in “I’ll straighten up and change my ways…” Some would say I’ve done that and some would say that is an answered prayer for them too but that event occurred 14 years later. All in God’s timing not man’s, maybe? If, God had not answered that prayer, if Jenni or Marissa or both had not made it through would that have driven me further from God? Was this a coincidence or was this the starting point of a belief that would eventually emerge in my life. There were other times I prayed. I prayed for a safe return from The Gulf War. I made it home, some didn’t. That was even two years before that prayer for Jenni and Marissa. If I hadn’t prayed for that safe return or if God had ignored that prayer because I didn’t believe, where would I be? Where would Jenni be? Would Marissa be?Again, as far as we can tell, these prayers appear to line up with God’s will. You could say the prayer for a safe return was a selfish one but I had a wife, who would become an amazing sister in Christ, to return to. And a, yet to be conceived, daughter that is now turning into that same kind of woman. That is now an answered prayer of mine, albeit after the fact of my salvation.
Muscles don’t just appear one day. We have to build them. How can we build our faith muscles if we don’t excercise them? And how can we reach the strength to take that first huge step and ask for God’s forgiveness if we don’t exercise a little first? I’m not saying that’s all it takes but it’s a flex in the right direction.
God saved me from what I had turned my life into. I know that is an answered prayer of my wife’s. But, God gave me the life I was ruining. Maybe that initial life was an answer to someone else’s prayer. Where they a believer? Will they be someday because of that first step 40 some years ago?
What say you? Is prayer a private club only for the members that “said the oath” or is more than that? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Permission to Speak Freely
I just finished my review copy of “Permission to Speak Freely” by Anne Jackson. This book was birthed from a simple question posed on her blog FlowerDust.net a few years ago. “What is one thing you feel you can’t say in the church?”
With that one question Anne put a crack in a dam of sin and confessions flooded in from all corners of the world. “Permission to Speak Freely” has not only allowed a venue for these individuals to confess sin but it has uncovered how the church we have created has helped to create, perpetuate or hide these sins. I say the church we have created because I believe it is not the Church Jesus had in mind for us.
Through the stories in this book and the ones that continue to appear at Permissiontospeakfreely.com we see a church that is not always built on the love that Jesus teaches but one of ritualism, legalism and even of hate. I’m not speaking of one individual church but of the global church as a whole. I believe this church could align with the Church Christ had in mind if we as it’s body can just get our act together and start working as one in His light and not based on our own wishes, wants or understandings.
With the bravery and faith shown in confessing her own stories Anne shows how God can use our sin and repentance to reach out and help others with similar struggles. Thank you Anne for your honesty, strength, faith and for cracking this dam and let us all pray that it will continue to weaken and crumble until it is no more.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Empty Nest
I hate the term “empty nest”. Yesterday we took our daughter, Marissa, to Anderson University for her first year of college. Of course I’ve run through the whole gamut of emotions as I’m sure I will continue to do over the next few weeks, months or maybe years but over-all I’m good. After seeing her face the first time I visited the campus with her and the peace that came over me for her while there I could’t help but be ok with it. I’m secure in the knowledge that that is where God has led her to be.
But “empty nest” implies a loss. While I am currently experiencing an absence of her in our home at the same time I am experiencing a fullness of her in my heart. I’ve heard many people describe this moment as if a piece of you has been removed or of having this hole in your heart. I don’t see it that way though. My daughter was and still is instrumental in the expansion and growth of my heart. If it weren’t for her and my wife and the unconditional love they poured into my life I may never have discovered and better understood the love that Jesus has for us all. I look at it more as my heart is being stretched to a larger capacity (over 86.41 miles to be exact). My love for Marissa is growing stronger and becoming more evident in her (temporary) absence.
I am so proud of her for the faith, strength, courage, discernment and wisdom she has displayed over the past few years. She has become such an amazing young lady. I feel that we have prepared her the best we could but more importantly, I know God has prepared her. So, I may be a little sad but I have no fear for her.
I can’t wait to see what’s next… (I love you Boo)
Everyone Communicates, Few Connect
While I found this book to be relatively easy to read and informational I couldn’t help but to be disappointed. John Maxwell has done a great job of motivating his readers but he seems to have all but abandoned his Christian roots. With his circle of influence he could do such great things for Gods Kingdom but he has chosen to remain silent. As a book on communication I would rate it okay maybe even above average. However, as a book from a Christian author and publisher I would rate it poor. It saddened me to see so many missed opportunities to share Gods word in a relevant and relative way with those that might otherwise pay no attention.
This book can be purchased at www.christianbook.com
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Everything HE Has…
Last night I attended a memorial service for Emma Faith Ullery. Emma was born with Trisomy 18 and she only lived for about two hours but God has used her to impact many. The faith displayed by Emma’s parents, Kyle and Corie, was inspiring. They only had a brief time with her but they praised and thanked God for that time. In the service Pastor Rollie mentioned how Kyle’s grandpa talked about how, right now, they were seeing everything God has to offer.
That made me reflect on the amazing gift that God gives us over the span of our life. What usually took years to witness was unfolding before us in the last few days. They experienced the courage and strength to get through this that comes from strong faith, trust and belief in Christ. They experienced the power of prayer as hundreds or more called out to God for those precious moments He blessed them with. They experienced the wonder of life as Emma was born. They experienced the community of family and friends as all gathered around. They experienced love as they held Emma. They experienced death as Emma went home, to be with the One who had created her. They experienced fellowship as their brothers and sisters in Christ gathered around them, lifted them up in prayer and loved them. And finally, they experienced the comfort and calming of a loving God. It was the whole cycle of life in fast forward. Everything our God offers us… we just need to accept it and Him through His son Jesus Christ.
It has been amazing and overwhelming to have experienced this gift all at once. To see it played out so briefly but so powerfully. It takes most of us many years to realize and experience this gift let alone to appreciate it for the blessing it really is and many never reach that point.
Thank you Kyle and Corie for the example of shear faith you have been to us all and thank you LORD for being the awesome God that you are.
For those of you unfamiliar with Trisomy 18 here is a video from another family that experienced it too and a tremendous display of their faith and courage in God.
Step into the Light
A while back I was in someone’s office and I noticed the following verse hanging on the wall… John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
It made me think about the times during my Christian walk that I’ve experienced periods of darkness. More often than not because I was follow Jesus.
I think that’s why we continue to experience at least spots of darkness at times, because we never completely follow Jesus. Even the strongest believer and straightest follower gets lost along the way at times.
Now, I don’t mean that God is punishing us for not obeying Him but that we are not receiving the blessings we could because we have not been obedient to Him in the first place.
When we step out of the light we are in darkness and the further we stray from the light the darker it gets. It seems so simple yet, sooner or later, one way or another, we always seem get there…
