Wasted Words

There have been a few times, in my parenting stint, where I have felt like I was completely wasting my words.  These have usually been extremely important instructional points that are sure to lead to complete destruction of their future if my children refuse to catch onto and apply them.  Examples might include things such as taking out the trash every morning; not fighting with one's sibling over something stupid like who had such and such toy first and who it belongs to in the first place; not leaving clothes piled on the floor of the bedroom or bathroom or living room or hall or any of the other rooms where my kids love to leave clothes piled up; turning off the lights when you're not in the room because we're using up all the electricity; not filling the bath tub up to swimming pool levels when taking a bath; or NOT EATING ON MOM'S RUG!!!  Ok, maybe those things aren't as life-altering to you as they are to me.  These are the things, however, which I seem to harp on over and over and over again.  It's like all my words on these issues are completely wasted.  You get that because I'm sure that you, too, feel like there have been times when your words have fallen on deaf ears and were wasted as well.

The truth is that it's not just the unheeded words we speak that are wasted.  You see, things can be wasted because they're used in wasteful ways OR things can be wasted because they sit there and are never used at all.  Quite honestly, we waste as many of our words this way as we do the other!  Perhaps it's that missed opportunity of telling someone how much we really do care.  Or, maybe it's those words of encouragement that could make such a huge difference in someone's life that we leave unsaid.  We, often, leave hard words unsaid because they could make things awkward, but we also leave great words unsaid because they could make things...well, awkward!  And then, there are some words we don't say because we've wasted a couple of other resources that are so valuable...time or money.  So, instead of being THERE to say the words we should be saying to the ones who need to hear them, we are off somewhere else using our time to make more money.  If you're like me, this is all very convicting.  That being the case, lets take it up a notch.

There are, perhaps, no words more wasted than those we don't say...to God!  Yep, I'm talking about prayer.  Lets be honest, some of us talk to ourselves more than we talk to God.  An Ellis Research Survey for Facts & Trends magazine found that only 16% of pastors are satisfied with their prayer lives.  The median amount of time that most spend praying each day is 30 minutes!  Another poll found that only 64% of Christians pray more than once a day.  Of these same Christians, only 38% see that an important purpose of prayer is to provide intimacy with God.  So, as a whole do Christians pray enough?  I don't think so.  According to these statistics, there are quite a few wasted words out there.  And, wasted is the absolute perfect term to use based on another study!  Did you know it's been proven that prayers are extremely effective?  A group of physicians wanted to determine the effectiveness of prayer so they set up a study.  Patients at a medical center in California were randomly divided into two groups.  One group was assigned to a group of Christians to be prayed for.  The placebo group had no one praying for them.  Before the study, there were no statistical differences between the groups.  However, the results of the study were astounding.  During the trial period, those who were prayed for suffered "less congestive heart failure, required less diuretic and antibiotic therapy, had fewer episodes of pneumonia, had few cardiac arrests, and were less frequently intubated and ventilated."  So, there you have the proof...prayer works.  And, when believers don't pray, we're wasting some pretty effective words!

Now, I could have bypassed all of the above and went straight to scripture to tell you this, but sometimes we need a few physical proofs to get us moving in the right spiritual direction.  Nevertheless, listen to what God's Word tells us in James 5:16..."the intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful."  That's right...those aren't just words you're speaking to God...they are, perhaps, the most powerful and effective words you could ever speak to anyone, anywhere!  So, Believer, pray it up!  Or, as another Biblical author puts it, "Pray without ceasing!"  I really don't want to get to heaven and find out that I could have had so much more impact on this world and the lives of those around me if I had just said a few more prayers!  I don't want to miss out on God's blessings, nor do I want others to miss out on His blessings, because I have wasted my words.  

Parents, pray for your children.  Pray for them when they can hear you and pray for them when they can't!  Husbands, pray for your wives!  Wives, pray for your husbands!  Children, pray for your parents!  Friends, pray for one another.  Pray for your family!  Pray for this world...it needs it, by the way!  Pray for our nation!  Pray for our leaders!  Pray for God's work to produce much fruit!  Pray for God's workers to be effective!  Pray that you'll be effective!  Pray for opportunities to serve and work for God's Kingdom!  Pray that God would bless you and those around you in crazy ways!  Hey, I have a few things that I'm praying for right now that are completely insane, but if they happen the only explanation will be God!  Bottom line...DON'T WASTE YOUR WORDS!!!!

**the following website was cited in this blog:  http://www.churchleaders.com/mobile/pastors/pastor-articles/150915-us-statistics-on-prayer.html

Income Inequality Is Real...Just Not How You Think!

You're rich!  Did you know that?  Before you react with an emphatic "NO!" you need to read the rest of this blog.  Now, when I say your rich I don't mean you're rich compared to all of the other people in the United States.  Although, you may be if you look at the numbers.  Here lately, in the US, there's been an increasing amount of talk about "income inequality".  Evidently, there are those who think that the "haves" actually have a disproportionately greater amount than the "have nots".  We could argue this all day, although I would point out that as long as there have been material possessions, there have always been those who have had more.  There's no way you can get around that.  So, when it comes to me saying you're rich, I can't say that with any certainty when comparing you to others in the US.  However, according to some recent statistics, if you're an American then compared to the rest of the world you are most certainly rich.

Check this out.  America's poorest still live better than many in other countries.  In fact, "America's poorest are, as a group, about as rich as India's richest."  Let's say you're in the bottom 5% of American's, based on income.  Your standard of living is about equal to the top 5% of Indians!  Hard to believe?  Further, even if you're in the bottom 5% of American's, income wise, you're still richer than 68% of the world's inhabitants!  What that means is that if your family income is around $10,000 a year, then you are wealthier than 84% of the world's population.  If you're family income is more than $50,000 a year, you make more than 99% of the rest of the world.  Seriously, the upshot of all of this is that, unless you are homeless and have no income at all, YOU ARE RICH!!!

Now, I realize this may be hard for us to hear...especially in a nation where we are, all, chasing an American dream that pits us against our neighbors and drives us to be materialistic and self-centered. In fact, we're convinced that we deserve the same things as everyone else around us.  That's created an entitlement mentality in our nation.  So much so that, now, our nation is handing out free cellphones because everyone deserves to have the basic necessity of a mobile device satisfied.  I wonder how much of the other 99% of the world have such a convenience?  Anyway, this isn't a rant against handouts...it's actually a rant against all of us who have so much, yet still feel entitled to more!

My point is that, despite the fact that you may not be doing so great a job at keeping up with the Jones', you are definitely pretty far ahead of, at least, 68% of the rest of the world's population and, if you're just an average American you're way ahead of almost everyone else in the world.  So, now that we've established the fact that, regardless of how we compare ourselves to other Americans, we are, in fact, rich from a global perspective, lets turn ourselves to a pertinent issue that applies to all of us rich folks.

JAMES has a message for us...you guessed it, right!  In chapter 4 of his letter he has some pretty serious words for those he classifies as rich.  He cautions them about putting their confidence in wealth.  He vividly makes the point that their wealth is going to perish and, if that is where their trust lies, they'll perish right along with it.  He echoes something Jesus once said about storing up treasure on earth.  Of course, Jesus made a point that one should do just the opposite of that, instead laying up treasure in heaven.  In my last blog, I suggested that there is a resource much greater than money...that of time.  It's the one resource we can't get back.  So, the question that hangs in the air with both Jesus and James is, "What are you spending your time on?"  Are you spending all of your time amassing for yourself a little treasure trove of temporary trinkets such as houses, cars, clothes, cash, etc. or are you spending your time amassing for yourself a treasure of eternal worth and significance?  Both Jesus and James would say that if you're of the former crowd then you'll find, at the end of the line, that all you have is a temporary treasure...eternity will elude you!  All of this is made much the worse if, while indulging in your excess, you have ignored or even mistreated the neglected and the needy in the process.  In other words, if you are rich (which we are, remember) and you use the resources God's given you for purely selfish means to please your selfish ambitions while ignoring the need that surrounds you then you "have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter."  Sound like a fun day to you?  Nah, me either.

So what does this mean?  Well, obviously, where you place your trust matters!  Regardless of what you may say with your lips, if the pattern of your lifestyle points to the fact that you put more faith in what you have than in who has you then you're in deep trouble my friend!  The sad part of all this is that you probably don't even realize how lost you really are!  The true believer realizes that riches are just resources to be used for God's Kingdom!

Does this mean that if you're not trying to remedy some of the need and neglect in the world with what you have  then you're not a true believer?  Does it mean that true salvation is somehow tied to the work of giving?  Well, no...and yes.  No...giving doesn't save you.  In fact, there are more than a few non-believers who out-give believers precisely because they're trying to earn better Karma for themselves.  They shouldn't expect eternal life just because they give!  What you do with Jesus is what determines your salvation.  However, a true believer will find it difficult, impossible even, to self-indulge, all the while, knowingly ignoring the needs of others.  I know this to be true because I know who Jesus was and is.  He is, by nature, a Giver.  In fact, He gave all!  What that means is that those who follow Him will do the same.  So, a true believer WILL be a giver instead of a taker and, in that way, giving marks a "Christian" as a true believer.

So...surprise...you're filthy rich!  You should really thank me for opening your eyes to this fact!  The question remains, however...now that you know this, how will it change what you do with all that treasure?


**Articles cited in this blog:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/06/01/astonishing-numbers-americas-poor-still-live-better-than-most-of-the-rest-of-humanity/

http://www.oregonlive.com/hovde/index.ssf/2012/08/income_in_perspective_americas.html

The Time Of Your Life

I love teachable moments.  Since my background is in education, I’ve come to appreciate those times that pop up every now and then that lend themselves so easily towards a greater understanding of a complex thought or process.  This is especially sweet when it involves my kids!  Just last Sunday, my kids enjoyed the privilege of such a moment.  Here lately, every time we put our kids in the car, they think we should stop by a restaurant while out and about.  After worship last Sunday, they started the “Daddy, where are we going to eat?” questions again.  I gave them my usual answer, “Wendy’s.”  Now they used to get excited about that…now, they’ve come to realize that I mean Wendy’s kitchen , not Wendy’s Restaurant (for those of you not in the know, Wendy is my wife's name).  Last week we just happened to be on our way to Walmart to pick up a few food items before heading home so I decided to take the opportunity to explain why we eat at home.  I started by explaining that it usually costs our family at least $40 to eat at a restaurant like Chili’s (that’s their favorite).  Then, I explained that for $200 we bought groceries to feed our whole family three meals a day for a week.  After doing a bit of math with them to discover what 3 meals a day for a week of eating at places like Chili’s would cost, I asked them which was the better deal.  Of course, they agreed that eating at home was the way to go.  That’s when I dropped the bomb.  I said, “So, guys, we’ll eat out on special occasions, but doesn’t it sound like a complete waste of hard earned money to eat out all the time?”  To my surprise…and delight…they completely agreed.  I’ve always thought that eating restaurant food was a lot like eating money…it’s gone in no time and you really don’t have much to show for it…except a gut maybe!

Now, you may or may not agree with my thought processes when it comes to eating out, but I’m sure you’ll agree with me that money is an important resource.  Without it, survival becomes somewhat difficult.  However, as valuable a resource as money is, I can think of one that is infinitely more valuable…time!  I mean, I can always make more money, but no one has the ability to make time.  I can take something back to Walmart and get my money back, but no matter how hard I try I can never get my time back regardless of how unsatisfied I am with how I’ve spent it.  Generally speaking, we all come into this world with no money, but tend to increase that resource as we get older.  However, time is a resource that we continually lose the more we live.  Money is valuable, but time is invaluable!  In fact, at the end of their life most everyone would give all of their money just to buy a few more months, weeks or days of time!  

We’re reminded of this concept in the book of James.  In the latter part of chapter 4, James introduces us to a group of people who make all kinds of plans about how they’re going to spend their future.  Their pursuits are purely selfish and materialistic.  Worst of all, they carry on as if they had all the time in the world AND were actually in command of their time.  In today's world, they would be making a 5 year plan.  James reminds them of a few things.  First of all, their time is fleeting…”like a vapor” or wisp of smoke, each will come quickly to the end of their life and realize that time marches on.  And, sadly, it marches on without them!  Secondly, he reminds them that they are not in control...their idea that they are is a complete illusion!  They don’t know what’s going to happen later today, much less tomorrow!  We live in a world where all of our plans for this weekend or this summer can be cut short by one drunk driver at a stop sign.  We are not in control.  Finally, he reminds them that how they spend the little bit of time that they have is infinitely important.  He points out that “to those who know the good to do, yet don’t do it, it is sin.”  The way we spend our time matters!  We are all guilty of piddling away our time on momentary pleasures and worldly endeavors, all the while forsaking the things of great eternal worth that God has given us to do.  We can sit for hours in front of a computer, television or movie screen, then have the audacity to claim we don’t have time to study God’s Word, pray or share the Gospel with a lost soul.  We can involve ourselves in all kinds of selfish and vain pursuits...improving our golf game, our tennis swing, our physique...while completely ignoring our own spiritual health.  Our homes are full of children who drizzle away their time at video games, cell phones, sports and all manner of extracurricular activity, yet, as their parents, we excuse them from Bible study, church attendance, prayer and activities that would grow them spiritually because their lives are just “too busy”.  We work too hard, play too hard and have little time or energy left for the eternal things that really matter…and according to God’s Word, in doing so, we sin!

Ladies and gentlemen, we should be absolutely ashamed of ourselves.  And, for those of you who are reading this, I’m sure that some of you join me in that shame.  The sad truth, however, is that many will never even read these words because they don’t think they “have the time”.  Believer, our lives were meant to count for so much more than the pitiful temporal things we spend them on.  So the question is, how are you spending your time?  It’s a resource that you can’t get back, you know…  At the end of your life, you’ll get a tombstone with two numbers on it.  One will mark a beginning for your lifetime and one will mark the end.  In the middle will be a dash.  Can I ask you what your dash will stand for?  How will you spend the time of your life?

You might hate me for this post, but if you do...

As I'm sitting, writing this, I'm also doing something that I've done at least 8 times now...watching the new Disney movie Frozen.  I've seen a lot of Disney movies in my life.  I have a sister that's 12 years younger than me so, as you can imagine, I spent a lot of time watching Disney during my teenage years.  Not only that, but my wife is a huge fan of all things Disney so we've seen almost every movie Disney has ever made.  My humble opinion is that Frozen is, by far, their best one yet.

Somewhat surprisingly to me, this movie has become a little controversial in Christian circles.  There are those who think it is pushing an agenda.  Honestly, I don't see it...at least not in a blatant way.  One would have to do a good bit of "reading into" in order to make a case for that, I believe.  However, there are also those who see a lot of parallels to Christianity in the movie.  After watching it so many times, I, myself, see quite a few Christian themes in the movie, as well.  It's definitely got more of a Christian theme than Noah, the latest "biblical" movie to come out.  Anyway, that's another blog for another time.  I definitely won't go into all the good themes I see in the movie Frozen (by the way that's been done pretty impressively by other bloggers), but I would like to unpack one of these because it just happens to line up with the current study we're doing with our students in our FaithWorks series from the book of James.

By the way, SPOILER ALERT!  If you haven't seen the movie, you probably will want to stop here, go see it and come back.  Otherwise, you've been warned!

The movie is about a girl, Elsa, who has the power to freeze things.  After an accident with her sister, Anna, during childhood it's suggested that she hide these powers until she's able to control them.  The rub is that she never is able to control them because, unbeknownst to all involved, it is her sister's love that gives her the power to overcome the raging storm inside her.  Wait, did I mention that her sister's memories of Elsa's powers have been erased?  Anyway, coronation day comes and Elsa is pronounced Queen of Arundell and, it being an emotionally charged event, the predictable happens and her facade cracks.  Her powers come out and Arundell is plunged into an eternal winter.   Elsa runs to the North Mountain, after her powers are revealed, where she hopes to leave Arundell behind for good.  She believes that her sister and the other inhabitants of her kingdom can live safely and peacefully in her absence.  Back in Arundell, there are a lot of mixed responses to the discovery of Elsa's powers.  Some respond with fear, others with awe and wonder.  Two responses, in particular, stand out.  First, there's the unconditional love and genuine concern that drives her sister, Anna, to go after her.  Anna hopes to bring Elsa home and help her to learn to control her powers.  She's not put off by Elsa's revelation.  Even after Elsa inadvertently hits her with her powers, thereby freezing her heart and bringing about her impending death, Anna's desire continues to be to see her sister restored.  This response is so very different from another character in the movie.  The Duke of Weselton wants one thing and one thing only...Elsa's demise.  He claims Elsa's power to be "sorcery" and demands that she be brought to justice.  In his mind, she's a monster and Arundell will never be safe until she is disposed of.  At one point in the story, he sends his men along on a rescue mission for Anna, commanding them to "end this winter"...ie, get rid of Elsa.

So, two hugely different responses.  And, as I think about them and our lesson from the Book of James, I'm cognizant of the fact that while Anna responded to Elsa with love, grace and genuine concern, the Duke's response was self-righteous judgment.  Now, lets be honest about something.  While most of us Christians would immediately identify ourselves with Anna, the truth is that the world would identify most of us with the Duke.  For the most part, Christians are seen as self-righteous, judgmental people who tend to unmercifully point out the flaws in others while turning a blind eye to their own.  Now, I don't think this would be case if it weren't at least partly true.  We do have a tendency to point out the faults of others.  We do tend to rail against certain sins that others commit while turning a blind eye to our own sins.  The world watches as we demonize homosexuality, drunkenness, fornication and licentiousness, yet frequently indulge, ourselves, in gluttony, gossip, slander, back stabbing, greed, materialism and sugar coated idolatry.  So, I say it again...though we think of ourselves as Anna, there is a great propensity for us to be more like the Duke.

Now, before you think I'm being soft on sin, let me point out an important little tidbit.  I actually believe we don't call out sin enough!  Let's face it...God has given us a high standard to live up to...and, I believe we've lowered the standard in today's church!  Identifying sin is not what makes us judgmental people.  We're judgmental when we set ourselves above others and self-righteously wag our pointing fingers, forgetting that we, ourselves, are sinners.  We should call out sin!  We should call out the sin of others AND we should call out our own sin!!

So, all of this to lead us up to what James has to say about the subject.  "Don't criticize one another brothers.  He who criticizes a brother or judges his brother criticizes the law and judges the law.  But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.  There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy.  But who are you to judge your neighbor?"  (James 4:11-12)  What is the law that James is talking about here?  Well, our gut instinct would be to say that it's the Law given by God to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt...the ten commandments.  That's not the law James has in mind though.  Remember that context is always key!  Look back a couple of chapters at James 2:8, where Ole Jimmy gives us this one.  "If you really carry out the royal law prescribed in Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself', you are doing well.  But if you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors."  James goes on to state that breaking any one of the Mosaic laws makes you guilty of breaking it all.  Therefore, since the Royal Law (given by Jesus in Matthew 22:37-40 and reiterated here by James) supersedes the Mosaic law, being unloving makes one guilty of breaking the entire law.

Upshot of this is that if you hate a homosexual because of their sin then you are just as guilty, if not more, than them!  If you hate an adulterer because of their sin then you are just as guilty, if not more, than them!  I could go on, but I think you get the idea...they may be breaking one of God's laws, but if you hate or self-righteously judge then you're breaking the entire law!  You see, the law that James is referring to is the law of love!  We're instructed to love one another and the reason that criticism and judgmental attitudes are wrong is because they cause us to break this law!  Be sure of something, here.  James is not saying we should be soft on sin.  Read the rest of his letter if you think that!  If anything he's setting the bar even higher!  We must call out sin...but we must figure out how to do so in a loving and merciful way.

Back to the movie.  Anna knew that what Elsa had done wasn't a good thing and she went after her, in love, to restore her and help her make things right.  The Duke, on the other hand, was ready to write Elsa off.  Anna was willing to leave the safety and familiarity of the castle to go after her sister.  The Duke was willing to do nothing but sit back within the walls of the castle and condemn her.  When pressed to go along on the rescue mission, he sent some guys in his place to carry out his mission.  (Not to open a can of worms here, but this sounds a bit like what we Christians do when we send other people around the world to the "heathens" to tell them about Jesus while we sit back in our comfortable pews and air conditioned churches in the most affluent culture on the face of the earth and, self righteously, pat ourselves on the back for a job well done)  Believers, we are called, just as Anna did, to go after those living in sin.  To get in the trenches.  To suffer along with them.  To get dirty so that we can lead the filthy to the One who can make them clean.  We're called to convince others to stop trying to hide their dirty little secrets and, instead, to acknowledge them and give them to Jesus (this is what true repentance demands, after all)!  And, most importantly, we're commanded to do every bit of this with a loving, merciful and gracious spirit...just like Jesus!

So, who are you?  Are you Anna?  Are you selflessly going after those who are failing and flailing in their sin, driven by the grace, mercy and love that was poured out on you when you found rescue from your filth?  Or, are you the Duke?  Self-righteously pointing a finger at others, condemning, convicting, criticizing, but really doing nothing to try to help their situation?  Truth is, I didn't like the Duke very much so I guess I can't really blame the world for criticizing when they watch believers act just like him.  Hey, this world is frozen in the grip of sin...let's get busy spreading a little love and warming some hearts!