Friday is the last day of the work week for many Americans and there are always those last minute tasks that pop up which make you crazy as you dash about trying to finish them before five o’clock. What is the cause of your “frantic Friday” moment this week?
By the way, I gotta run…I have a sermon to finish!
I am a blessed man. That is true in a multitude of areas, but particularly this morning I am thinking about the blessing of my wife. Yesterday, we spent most of the day together and took a little side trip to Raleigh to see a musical. From the ride to and from Raleigh to the the musical (it was a great production of the Wizard of Oz) to the meal shared together at On the Border to our devotion time and prayer just before going to sleep, yesterday was a blessed time of relaxation and fellowship with the love of my life. God smiled on me in a big way when He brought Becky into my life and heart. I am so thankful He did!
Proverbs 31 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
10 Who can find a capable wife?
She is far more precious than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will not lack anything good.
12 She rewards him with good, not evil,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from far away.
15 She rises while it is still night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her servants.
16 She evaluates a field and buys it;
she plants a vineyard with her earnings.
17 She draws on her strength
and reveals that her arms are strong.
18 She sees that her profits are good,
and her lamp never goes out at night.
19 She extends her hands to the spinning staff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
20 Her hands reach out to the poor,
and she extends her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid for her household when it snows,
for all in her household are doubly clothed.
22 She makes her own bed coverings;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known at the city gates,
where he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes and sells linen garments;
she delivers belts to the merchants.
25 Strength and honor are her clothing,
and she can laugh at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and loving instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the activities of her household
and is never idle.
28 Her sons rise up and call her blessed.
Her husband also praises her:
29 “Many women are capable,
but you surpass them all!”
30 Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting,
but a woman who fears the LORD will be praised.
31 Give her the reward of her labor,
and let her works praise her at the city gates.
I just came from sharing lunch with friends from out of town. It had been a couple of years since I had seen Jim and Pam and it was a joy to sit and talk with them. This visit our fellowship was enlivened with, Abbie, their beautiful daughter. As I watched her enjoy hushpuppies and fried chicken, I couldn’t help but think back to when I first encountered her mom and dad. Jim and Pam were young singles that attended our church fellowship. Both were musically talented and committed to a walk with Christ.
Across the months, their friendship blossomed and soon they were talking about marriage. I remember meeting with them and talking about their impending wedding. I sensed in them a desire to honor the Lord with their marriage ceremony and their life together. It was a joy to be a part of their wedding and part of their life. God blessed me and my family through their friendship and Christian example.
Now there I was some eight plus years later watching them feed their infant daughter. The tenderness and love that flowed from parent to child stirred my heart. I looked across the table at my 22 year old daughter and remembered the moments we had shared so long ago with fondness. It was at that moment that I silently stopped and thanked God for his surpising grace.
Surprising grace is everywhere. It is in a baby’s smile and the smile of a 22 year old you remember as a baby. It is in a newly married couple’s first kiss and in the knowing look of a couple celebrating their fiftieth anniversary.
God meets us not just in stained glass sancturaries, but in the middle of life…with hushpuppy crumbs on the table and old friends nearby. God makes any place and any time holy ground. We love to departmentalize our lives and classify this part sacred and another part secular. We want God’s presence and favor when we are in church or when there is a need in our life, but many other times we act as if we can leave God back on some shelf with our dusty Bible. It doesn’t work like that!
We live our lives in His very presence. Psalm 139, verses 1-18 states this truth in wonderful verse:
1 LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
You understand my thoughts from far away.
3 You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue,
You know all about it, LORD.
5 You have encircled me;
You have placed Your hand on me.
6 [This] extraordinary knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to [reach] it.
7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.
9 If I live at the eastern horizon
[or] settle at the western limits,
10 even there Your hand will lead me;
Your right hand will hold on to me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light around me will become night” —
12 even the darkness is not dark to You.
The night shines like the day;
darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For it was You who created my inward parts;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You,
because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful,
and I know [this] very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from You
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all [my] days were written in Your book and planned
before a single one of them began.
17 God, how difficult Your thoughts are
for me [to comprehend];
how vast their sum is!
18 If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;
when I wake up, I am still with You.
Not only do we live in His presence, but He invites us to know the riches of His grace. Those who accept His gift of grace through the work of Jesus are just starting the journey. We are not only saved by grace, but we are kept by grace. In fact, as the old song reminds us…”it is grace twill lead us home.” His surprising, sustaining, life changing grace surrounds us like a flood. Let’s learn to open our eyes and see Him at work all around us. And by the way, don’t just enjoy His grace and keep it to yourself; instead be a channel of His grace in the lives of others.
I woke up today with the startled realization that I am beginning the second half of 2006. How can that be? Half of the year is already gone and I find myself wondering when our space time continuum accelerated to warp speed?
My shocked encounter with the unrelenting passing of time this morning brings to mind an African proverb that Thomas Friedman shares in his book, The World Is Flat:
Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better start running.
The bottom line is time is marching on and we can’t afford to sit on the sideline and let it pass us by. Eternity is closer than you think. What will Jesus do in and through you today?
In light of the adoption of the resolution, On Alcohol Use In America, at the June SBC Annual Meeting in Greensboro, the bloggers have gone nuts. In regards to the alcohol debate, there are many cries of “legalism” echoing about the blogs that view teetotalers as “jack booted” fundamentalists who wish to restrict everyone’s liberty with cultural concerns. Others are castigating those who fly the banner of ”our freedom in Christ” proclaiming that they seek a license for their sin. I believe there is another voice that is pretty much absent from the debate about alcohol. That voice is the one which proclaims grace and Christian liberty, but also recognizes the importance of responsible Christian living and the dangers of alcohol.
We often hear in the news that
America has a drug problem. Frankly, I agree with that acessment. In discussing that problem, we could talk about the dangers of cocaine, marijuana, meth, or heroin, but then we would be overlooking America’s #1 problem drug. That drug is not any of those aforementioned illegal substances, instead it is a legal drug called ALCOHOL.
Alcohol has produced more deaths than any other drug. Over 55% of highway fatalities are alcohol related. It causes heart problems, liver problems, and powerful addictions. There are over 17 million alcoholics in America today, and the number is increasing. Alcohol addicts, by far, outnumber the addicts of any other drug. And what about the misery index? When you consider the death, disability, psychosis, and addiction that alcohol causes, it surely produces more misery than any other drug.
But what makes alcohol so dangerous is that it is sold legally. Not only is it sold legally, but it is as widely available as a bottle of ketchup, a bottle of shampoo, or a baby’s bottle of milk. It is just another package of consumer goods. It is widely advertised on TV, radio, billboards, and magazines. Alcohol distributors will spend $600 million, asking you to drink their brand. And note this; Americans will spend $25 billion on beverage alcohol this year. Not million, billion!
But in spite of all the damage alcohol causes, we continue to ignore its evils. Now, some Christians are spending their time debating whether the consumption of alcohol is Biblcial or not. I think those friends miss the point. As Paul the Apostle wrote, “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be brought under the control of anything ( 1 Corinthians 6:12 Holman Christian Standard Bible).”
My friend, Dennis Swanson, has written a fine essay, Abstinence for a Life of Wholehearted Service which makes a great contribution to the debate. You may link to it by clicking on the title. After reading the article and considering the information presented above, see if you don’t agree that abstinence from alcohol consumption is a Biblically sound conclusion that is practical and evidences judicious prudence. Even with liberty comes responsibility.
To anyone who reads my thoughts here at the Grace and Peace blog on the World Wide Web it is easily discernable that I come to the plate with a Christian world view. I am a believer and follower of Jesus. That being said, I realize that not everyone sees life from the same point of view. There are those who even scoff at anyone who commits their self to follow the One whom they believe to be a non-existent myth.
One such individual is Roy Hattersley, a British journalist and politician who is a socialist and atheist. Baron Hattersley’s satirical humor is often employed in mocking all things Christian and pointing out the failures and foibles of the followers of Jesus. That is why I found this recent article by Hattersley so intriguing. (Follow this link to read the article: Hattersley )
You may think it odd that a Christian would recommend that you read an article by an atheist, but I hope that reading the piece has opened your eyes to the importance of living a life of sacrificial love, even as Jesus did. Sometimes the only thing that will grab the attention of this world and those held in bondage to unbelief is the power of Christ’s love in action.
Since the first weekend in August, I have had the privilege of being involved in the wedding ceremonies of three sets of young people from our church. These are kids that I watched grow up…going through the joys and pains of transitioning from infants to toddlers to children to teens to young adults. I know them well and their parents and siblings, too.
It was strange standing in our worship center with them while they pledged their love one to the other in front of a crowd of friends and family. After all the years of familiarity, I almost felt like an intruder, an eavesdropper standing there while they recited the familiar words: “For better, for worse…for richer, for poorer…in sickness and in health…to love and to cherish till death do us part… and thereto, I pledge you my faithfulness.”
Each time as I stood and heard their vows and saw the crowd I thought of a greater presence that was there…though unnoticed. God came near to hear their vows. He was the unseen guest who knows the hearts of all those who make such promises.
In a world where promises are a dime a dozen…flippantly made and even more carelessly broken…we need men and women of faith to take a stand and find His strength to keep their word. So each time, I thought of the power of a promise kept and prayed that God would give strength to the young man and woman to be true to their vows.
God used Solomon to record these words:
Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words be few.
For a dream comes through much activity,
And a fool’s voice is known by his many words.
When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it;
For He has no pleasure in fools.
Pay what you have vowed.
Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
Ecclesiastes 5:2-5
Never are those words more applicable than to your marriage vows, because you are not just making a promise to a human partner, but also to the Lord. God chose marriage to be a symbol of His relationship with us. The Lord Jesus is the heavenly Bridegroom and the redeemed are His bride…the church. Our Groom is never unfaithful to His bride. He perfectly loves us and continually cares and provides for us.
So too, believers who are joined together in marriage should reflect that love…His love. Paul unfolds this truth in the fifth chapter of Ephesians starting at the twenty-second verse. We are to be examples to the world and live to glorify Him. So congratulations and best wishes to the Smiths, the Gants and the Taylors…shine for Jesus, my young friends!
I looked into the face of an hours old child today and thought of the creative majesty of God. Gabriel Isaac Copenhaver is a miracle resting in a hospital bassinet. He is made in the image of God and is dearly loved by his heavenly Father. Every time I go to the hospital to greet the newborn child of one of our members, I can’t help but think of David’s stirring words:
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
(Psalm 139:13-16 New Living Translation)
Baseball Hall-of-Fame legend Yogi Berra has this advice about following the crowd:
Don’t always follow the crowd. Nobody goes there anymore.
It’s too crowded.
How I wish that were true. More often than not, people do choose to follow the crowd and as a society, we continually sink toward the lowest common denominator. Mediocrity and worse has become the standard of behavior.
When an individual chooses to live with high moral standards, preferring civility to crudeness, and performing his or her work with competence and dedication, they stand out like a beacon in the darkest night. Where is excellence? Where is respect for others and self-respect?
Instead of penning an article bemoaning the low standards of our day, I want to offer some suggestions of ways we can “raise the bar” in our own lives and those that we might influence:
1. Honestly evaluate where you are. It is time for us to confront the truth about the condition of our own life and assess where we need to make corrections.
2. Learn to value others. It is easy to become fixated on our own situation and become inwardly focused. We need to lift our eyes and see the worth and dignity of others…and also see their needs and let compassion turn our hearts outward.
3. Practice the way of love. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he writes: Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT) What more really needs to be said?
We have a mistaken notion that love is an emotion. Actually love is a choice…and love is demonstrated by action. If we could get hold of that and realize the implications of the full expression of love, we would have a kinder and gentler society.
If we want to see love like that demonstrated, all we have to do is look at God. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8 NLT) Talk about “raising the bar”…God is the ultimate standard!
What I am advocating as an antidote for a sick society is godly living that emanates from a growing relationship with Jesus. What will you do…follow the crowd or follow Jesus?
