Deadlines...

What do you do when you're under the gun? Focus or fold?

Christ told a story one day that confused the poo out of His followers. He was very good at that, you notice? One day, He starts telling them this story about a guy who's going to lose his job as a CFO. The CFO realizes he's about to be out of a job and so does the proper Christian thing: starts planning for his next career move. (Okay, was that sarcasm?)
He starts calling in debtors and cutting them the "settled in full" deal on what they owed his boss. Christ points out that though this may have been a dishonest maneuver, it created cash flow and showed initiative and craftiness. The CEO's praise of his soon to be fired cashflow manager was not for his dishonesty, but for his "pour on the steam and make something happen"-ness.

If God is our creator, truly a loving Father, and desires for us to live a life unfettered from our own weakness, laziness, and self deceit, do you think it's possible that He knows us better than we do? Why do you think He put that lesson in His word?

When I walk away from this verse, what stays with me is a distinct sense that He wants me to develop a keen sense of the amount of time I do or do not have left here on earth and to act as if it could all be over tomorrow.

How do you react when you know you absolutely, positively, have to get it done right away?

Naturally Speaking

Josh Justice is a smart fella. I hear I am, too.

Both of us proved this wrong on Sunday because he told me he started a new blog about purity, chastity, abstinence, and he never bothered to tell me the URL, nor did I bother to demand it from him.

So, here I sit, ready to post about purity, and have no link to publish, and Josh hasn't yet returned my call. I'm publicly holding us both accountable for being more intelligent than that.

***Update*** I'm the lone moron, now. As I was posting, Josh was eMailing and sent me the aforementioned link. Your blogging homework has doubled, dear reader. Now, I am happy to introduce a controversial new blog by Josh Justice:
Glorious Gain. Read on...

***We now rejoin our blog post already in progress...***

Therefore, all I have to say today is-

Flee!!!

If you've never heard me say it before, look it up. And get serious about it. If you don't believe in God, just pretend that He exists for a moment, He loves you as an individual, and wants you to experience maximum freedom in the arena of sex. Unfortunately, we have been taught that maximum freedom in sex means "anywhere, anytime, with anyone." More unfortunately, that's akin to saying that maximum freedom with a lawnmower is "anywhere, anytime, with anyone."

The lie we believe is that "it's natural". Yes, sex is natural. "Animals do it." Yes, they do. But, we are capable of much higher thought and emotion, vis-a-vis intimacy. And, as long as we look at sex as an event, a thing we do, a moment, we miss the value and intimacy that God intended it to have. In fact, as long as we separate sex from intimacy, or fail to make the connection, we're cutting our lawn with a dull blade and a missing wheel - sure, the lawn is shorter, but it just "don't look natural..." Furthermore, we're not getting highest and best use of an amazing invention!!! What a waste of time...

We don't have time to get into the spiritual side of sex, but let's just throw this question out there to stir things up:
If sex is more than physical, more than emotional and mental, but spiritual, too, what are we missing when we consistently fail to tap into one whole side of it? The Bible teaches that we live in a broken world and what is natural after The Fall of man is really a warping of what God had originally intended. That is to say, "natural" doesn't necessarily equate to "beneficial" or "holy". What's natural about sex for sons and daughters of Adam and Eve is the union of all pleasures - physical, sexual, emotional, mental, and spiritual in the process, not event, of sex. What's unnatural is when the enemy tells us through direct counsel, media, or peer pressure, that the separation of urge and state is more fulfilling than God's "whole enchilada" approach.

When I began to discover this, I got very angry. I don't like getting ripped off. How about you?

That's all I've got for today. For now, think it over. Pray about it. (If you don't know how to pray, but feel moved to do so, just start out with "God..." and fill in what you're feeling. It's customary to end with "amen.")

When you're done with that, follow this link, and you'll be happy you did.

Measuring Your Maturity

It's easy to tell the truth when things are going your way. But, when money is tight, times are hard, relationships are strained, and the only difference between success and failure is so small that only you and God would know the difference, that is when your character, your integrity, your trust that God is big enough, will be put to the test.

"When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said" (Numbers 30:2 NIV).

Today, our task is simple - look for the moments when things aren't going your way. You may be in one right now. If so, ask yourself: "Is what I am saying exactly what I would say if everything were going perfectly?.

When the answer is an unqualified "yes"
and only then
open your mouth and speak.

I got so good at telling "white lies" for so long that I began to lose sight of the difference between truth and fiction. Today, I struggle with that area of spiritual maturity. And now, I win, but not without God's help and the loud, clear, admonishing voice of the Holy Spirit. Do you realize, because I didn't at the time, that your lie is a vociferous broadcast to the God who loves you, that you think He's big enough to handle eternity, but not big enough to handle the critical areas of your well-being?

The battle over integrity is never about what we would gain in the moment, but about what we would lose long-term in the habit of spreading falsehood over and over. It's like an investment in character - miss a payment to your Roth IRA one month, no big deal. Fail to invest over a five year period, and you're a million and a half off your goal in the end.

It doesn't mature. Character is the same way.

So, there's the question, and a possible answer - "Are you mature enough in your character and relationship with Him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

Weaker Than Who?

While Peter is busy scratching away under the influence of the Holy Spirit, words come out that have offended the feminist movement for ages...

"In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. If you don't treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard." 1 Peter 3.7, NLT

I think the NLT gets the Greek word "time" right here - it is often translated "respect" or "value". But, "honor" is a word often used reciprocally in reference to the relationship husbands and wives should have. But, there is no need for offense. This is not a "barefoot and pregnant" command. This is not in any way meant to be misogynistic. Hard to believe?

Let's give credit where due - we men, as a whole, tend to be rough, brash, more focused on logic and solutions than women. Oops. Just lost credibility... Am I painting with broad strokes? So was Peter. Does he leave room for exceptions? Clearly. However, as a general rule, if you were God for a moment and you knew how stubborn men were on the whole, and you had seen them screw up this relationship thing over and over, wouldn't you give them a clear and clamorous caveat about their bumbling approach to relationships?

Boys, what do we do when carrying an object of great value? I'm thinking a Ming vase filled with water. Are we a bit more careful where and how we step? Do we take into consideration every edge, corner, and surface of the objet d'art we hold in our hands? Notice, though, that Peter urges us in indefinite terms first and then comes back to definite status "she may be weaker... but she is your equal partner". In other words, "you are equally yoked, but will have a tendency to pull at different speeds - in emotional situations she will walk more steadily than you (broad strokes, again), but you may have a tendency to drag her through logic when she really needs nurturing. Take care - heed her mood, read her mood, lead her mood in the way she needs her mood to be lead, and then you will avoid unnecessary relational damage, scars, and bruising - your prayers will not be hindered."

Am I reading too much into this? Are these generalizations degrading to women? What if God knew something ages ago that we still struggle with and stumble over to this very day - that men and women are different and we must learn how to treat each other to avoid the relational chaos that so permeates our broken, selfish world? If He didn't know that, do you think He'd have put so many pairs of relational counsel in His word? Notice how often advice is given first to one sex and then to the other?

We have the potential to come together with the word of God between us, or to let our misunderstandings of it divide us. But, if God's greatest commands are to love Him, and love others as ourselves, wouldn't it make sense that his warning to men would be - treat her tenderly, with honor, value, and respect, as you would if she were a weaker partner or your hard, unflexible heart will connect to me like a bogged down DSL connection in a busy chat room?

Simply stated: "Treat her as if or I'll make you wish you did." - God

Or, in the words of my favorite Haiku

"Oh, she wants me to
love her just like she would love
her if she were me..."

Wait... WAIT?!?!

The Bible is full of passages that talk about trusting in God and waiting on Him and "His timing" and "working all things for the good..." And, in an ideal world, that just sounds so nice and warm and fuzzy, doesn't it? But, we live in a broken world, where crime, disease, dishonesty, depression, chaos, financial "oops!"es seem to violently lock answers with these so-called "truths". But, God is beyond optimist - He is beyond pragmatist - He is God. He is supernatural and can make anything happen that He wants.

But, He doesn't. He doesn't make us love Him. He doesn't make us follow or obey Him. He is gracious enough to let us choose or deny those opportunities. And yet, in the balance hang the desires of our hearts. He gives us boundless opportunities to go after them the right way, while the enemy entices us with boundless times 1,000 ways to get them the wrong way.

Being beyond optimist, He also gives us the opportunity to grow and become more and do more, but only through believing more first. I firmly believe that as it is written Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

We are granted the opportunity to see the glass as half full or half empty - to see something in our minds that our eyes can not perceive. What does that tell us about God? What does that tell us about us? Will you think about that today? What is it that you want deep in the core of your heart that God has not yet delivered? What could happen if you verbally committed to the statement: "God, this is Yours. I'll do everything I can to achieve it or get it, but I'm trusting you to fill in the gaps."? What if all you have are gaps? Do you believe in a God who is big enough to bring in an Africa sized dump truck to fill in those gaps?

Trust in the Lord...

You know, I've heard that verse about "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding... and He will make your paths straight."

Tonight, I trusted that regardless of lousy pitching, the Lord would deliver the Red Sox into victory. And He did. I also trusted that He gave me a very cool parking space at Turner Field. But, when I returned to that very cool parking space, I found several people on their cell phones with the same look on their faces. It was the "dude, where's my car" look. Yes. We had all disobeyed a rule that we had never even seen and they towed probably a good 25 cars, among them, mine.

This does not seem like a straight path to me.

But, then again, whose eyes am I looking through to see the path?

And, dare I ignore the Lord's counsel? Heck, no. If scripture is true, there's likely something amazing waiting for me on the other side of this!

After walking 2 miles back to where my friends could pick me up, I found out that the 24 hour impound does not allow you to pick up your car without paying for the release at the Atlanta Police Station... and that doesn't open until 8:00 AM. So, why was I so calm?

I'm not sure it's anything I did that made me that way. But God has been stamping into my heart and head that it's not really my car or my stuff in the first place. It's all created by Him, owned by Him, and loaned to us for a moment in time.

We don't own it, we're just lucky to manage it for a while. So, suck it up and trust in the Lord. Is it possible that making our path straight could bear striking resemblance to creating a more proactive character that looks out for "too good to be true" scenarios? What if God is dragging you through some unintelligible mess to prepare you for an impending tragedy?

World Ends at 10, details at 11.

Splitting headache tonight. I'll keep it short.

If there are five love languages, is it possible that there are five anger languages, too? I mean, if people whose love language is "quality time" know they are loved when people spend quality time with them, is it possible that people whose anger language is "fits of rage" only know that others are angry when they throw fits of rage, even if the other party's anger language is "reserved introspection"?

Anyone?

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Eph. 4:26-27, NIV.

It's Not What You Say...

John Maxwell and Jim Dornan put together a great book called "Becoming a Person of Influence". Right from the outset they make it clear that regardless of what we want with influence, we all have it with others. Some have it on a much larger scale than others, but we all influence people: in work, at home, in shopping, in driving, in all we do - we show a bit of who we are and what we believe is appropriate to do.

In Ephesians, chapters 4, 5, and 6, Paul gives us clear instruction on how we are to live. What examples does God want us to give to the world through the way we live our lives? If we are sent by our boss to a convention, a meeting, or a sales call, what will people think of our corporation based on our conduct? If we are sent to another nation as an ambassador of our country, what impression do people get based on how we carry ourselves?

It's an easy picture to draw, but, let's take it a step further. What if we had a camera crew come out to visit us at work, in school, in traffic (uh-oh...) and they were going to film us on a live simulcast to 180 nations around the world? What if, they had publicized this event for months in advance so that the world, indeed, would be watching? And what if, moments after they began filming, we were struck dead by a massive stroke? What, aside from our untimely death, would be the last words uttered from our mouths? What would the last thing we did, be?

A kind word of encouragement to a classmate? An act of selflessness for a co-worker? A one-finger wave and curse yelled at the idiot with his turn signal off? A word of condemnation to that subordinate that "just won't learn"? A "piece of our mind" to that professor who doesn't teach the way we learn?

Like it or not, we are all role models. We model what role we believe to be acceptable behavior given the circumstances around our actions. Whether people chose to follow that example is much farther removed from our control.

So, what do you want your last moment to be? How do you want to be remembered? How are you being remembered right now?

Can I Ask You a Question?

Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:

"How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?

If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.

But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke,

since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,

they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes."
Prov. 1:20-25,30-31

It almost seems as if there's no commentary needed here.

Unfortunately, that's just not the case, because while we all, Christians or not, alike, look at this passage and say "Yeah, that makes sense." we're still prone to glossing over the truth that lives within the text. We would all stroke our beards (those who have one) and say "wisdom is sooooo important..." But, the Bible classifies people in 4 different ways, repeatedly -
1) the righteous - those who heed the word of God in humility
2) the simple, or naive who just don't know what they don't know
3) the fool, who believes they are beyond consequence
and
4) the mocker, or scoffer whose attitude is more "I know, I just don't really care what you say..."

This is where one of my favorite questions comes in:"In light of my past experiences, my current circumstances and responsibilities, and my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing to do?"

A very secular question, but when applied through the lens of a relationship with a God who calls us His children and who has a plan for our lives, it's a bit weightier than the average "What's the right thing to do in this situation?" kind of question, isn't it? Honestly, with the weight of Divine appointment, eternal treasures in Heaven, and the eternal future of those God tells us are lost without Him, can you feel that question grow heavier in your hands?

So, there's the question for the day:
Not only, "what's the wise choice?", but in light of your relationship, or lack thereof, with a personal God, how much more valuable is that question in evaluating the many decisions you face today, this week, this month?

Running Lapse

Sorry, to all of you loyal readers. Last week was a bit mad with a lapse in internet at my new location, too much work to blog before or after work, and more chaos than I could shake a stick at.

"And runnin', runnin'; and runnin', runnin'; and runnin', runnin'..."

Pray that this week is no easier, rather, that I get better at managing it and saying "no" to low level tasks.

Back to the regular schedule, starting now.

Grace and peace,

Aarron