bad service...so-so food... and blessings...

My wife and I went out to eat the other night at one of our favorite local non-chain restaurants. This particular restaurant had a very good track record with us. Things were always predictable there. I like that. Especially with places I eat at. I think that predictability is solely responsible for the proliferation of restaurant chains all across the country. I immediately think of the popularity of Cracker Barrel. No matter where you go across the country their fried catfish or chicken and dumplins look the same and taste the same. Weirdly enough most of the food servers also look the same. Anyway, my point is people like the consistency of good food and good service when they dine out. So, when your expectations, based on past consistency, are not met it usually means trouble. This is exactly what happened. Now I am a pretty easygoing
non-confrontational guy about almost all things and figure anyone can have a bad day or be off their game. But…when you are in the business of interacting with the public and meeting their needs with some type of service, it’s important to be excellent. I really hate it and feel sad when someone misses an opportunity to be excellent. I guess the reason it bothers me so much is that I have missed the mark at times in the past and still do occasionally. I have always heard it said that the thing that irritates us the most in others is that same thing in us. It’s just easier to see it in others most of the time. I have a different reason to strive for excellence and that is because I am representing the Christ that is inside of me. I desire for who I am on the inside to match up with what people see on the outside. That is called integrity. When I try to be excellent in all that I do then that is being authentic to my true self and is what Christ desires for me. There is a synchronicity that happens. People know and are aware when you are in tune. You are able to meet others needs and expectations with ease and excellence easily flows from you. Some people have described it as being in the zone or the sweet spot. You are in perfect alignment with Gods’ will and purpose for your life because it is absolutely effortless. In Ephesians 5: 15-16, it says,

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

I really like the part of that scripture that says making the most of every opportunity. If we could just remember that one simple idea so many things would be different in our daily lives. One area that would certainly be different is how we view our work no matter what it is that we do. Our work is a daily opportunity to demonstrate grace, forgiveness and to be excellent in interactions with others. If we are detached from that and there is incongruity between what we desire and what God desires for us it shows in how we interact with others. We miss a huge blessing. God blesses us and our gifts and abilities so that we may serve and bless others. Thinking about those many blessings without then asking how God would like us to use those blessings is simply arrogance, greed and selfishness. These blessings are, in fact, a reward for our faithfulness. However, the primary reason that God always rewards our faithfulness is because as faithful people we are called to share our blessings with others. The danger is we start keeping all the blessings to ourselves, either as individuals or as a church. I can assure you that once we are no longer faithful the reward will stop. So, it’s ok if you’re having a bad day…it’s ok if the service is poor and the food is just average. Just remember that you can compensate for the things not in your control and change everything by striving to be excellent and trying to imagine that you possibly may be serving Jesus…

heaven is....

Sometimes I think that God gives you a little peek into heaven. I think He does it to keep us intrigued with our own definitions of what it looks like. We all harbor this secret hope that we are right in the heaven that we have selected for ourselves. I remember hearing, over the years, many pastors trying to plant a vision in my mind of what heaven really looks like. There was a clear conflict between that vision and mine. I often thought, “How could they possibly know?” I realize that there some specific facts about heaven that can be gleaned from the Bible. I also know that there were three people, from Scripture, who were privileged to see heaven. All of these men, Stephen and the Apostles Paul and John, were alive when they were given a glimpse of the wonders of heaven. I also know that I think those facts are what causes us some consternation when we think of a real place called heaven. I think the pearly gates, streets paved with gold, the many mansions and a whole entire city challenges us on many levels. It calls into play our faith in a very big and real way. The Bible says, in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” The things we do not see we can only imagine. Some people have a very vivid and complex imagination and others do not. Irrespective of all that there is universal agreement that it will be a place of perfection and that it is a real place. Jesus very plainly tells us this in John 14: 2-4, when He says,

“In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."

I love that Jesus says that heaven is a real place and that we know the way to get there and that He will be there…waiting on us. We are quick to say…this is heavenly or this is like heaven or I’m in heaven. But clearly it cannot be unless Jesus is there. I think that John Piper, in his book God is the Gospel, says it best when he says,

“The critical question for our generation--and for every generation--is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever say, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?”

Of course not…God gives me a peek of the heaven that I often imagine on perfect days like today. It’s really simple actually…me, my best friend, my bike and a really long road. I call it bliss which is defined as a state of profound spiritual satisfaction, happiness and joy, often associated with religious ideas of the afterlife. It means you are in such perfect alignment with God and His purpose for your life. It is what some have called the sweet spot and we know it when we are there.I think about that every single time that I get on my bike. Not only do I think about it I feel it in the depths of my soul. Every time. I remember telling this to my wife when we went to Chicago last year to ride BIKE THE DRIVE with a really good friend. It was the early dawn light of a summer morning before sunrise. We were riding down the middle of a deserted and quiet Lakeshore Drive staring ahead at the downtown heart of Chicago. Just me…Joanne…Jesus…two bikes rolling along on a long road. I looked over at her…and with tears in my eyes said, “This is what heaven’s gonna be like…” She smiled.

even better...the second time around

So, I’m sitting on the bench …waiting…to be put into the game. I have trained hard for this moment and I feel especially confident that God will use me. I have “suited up”, I’ve studied the opponent, have learned the plays….C’mon God…put me in the game. Can’t you see I’m dying here? I can help “our side” win. Seriously, God, I’m ready…this is the big game…this is the one I’ve been waiting for. This pretty much sums up how I feel a lot of the time. I am waiting for the next big thing, that big opportunity to show God what I can do for Him. Sadly though, I am going through the agonizing process of learning this is not what God wants from me. As famed writer, Herni Nouwen says,

“Waiting is not a very popular attitude. In fact, most people consider waiting a waste of time. Perhaps this is because the culture in which we live is basically saying, “Get going! Do something! Show you are able to make a difference! Don’t just sit there and wait!” For many people, waiting is an awful desert between where they are and where they want to go. And people do not like such a place. They want to get out of it by doing something. In our particular historical situation, waiting is even more difficult because we are so fearful. One of the most pervasive emotions in the atmosphere around us is fear. People are afraid—afraid of inner feelings, afraid of other people, and also afraid of the future. And fearful people have a hard time waiting”.

I particularly do not like the waiting part and many times I do, in fact, feel like I am in that awful place between where I am and where I want to go. And for me my natural inclination is to help God along in “putting me into the game” by busying myself with trying to show God how ready I am. WRONG. Not what God wants at all. He made that clear in Luke 10:38-42, when it says,

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Ah, it’s the age old dilemma…doing versus just being. I so long for God to use me and place me in situations where I can serve Him in extraordinary ways. I have always wanted God to use me to reach out to touch the lives of other people, to be of service for Him and for others in unimaginable ways , to be a useful and valued part of the Body of Christ. I am so busy looking for the big things I realize I quite often miss the small things. I have agonized and wrung my hands needlessly wondering why God just won’t use me for this thing or that. The truth hit me full on and it was that there is a significant difference between God’s desires and mine. Whoops… So, let’s see…God’s desires…not mine, be still and don’t busy myself with things of little importance… Hmmm and finally wait on God and don’t be fearful.WoW. I think these are challenges for all of us as these are the pressures that bear so heavily upon us in our daily lives. A daily prayer for us all is Psalms 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God…”. In that stillness we are reminded of the ever present voice speaking as it always has and always will. There is no need to fear the wait because this is what God wants and He tells us “blessed is he that waiteth”. So, I wait and I am learning that that’s ok.

heading for the ditches...

There is an odd and curious driving effect that happens when we take our eyes off the road immediately in front of us. It appears that whatever we look at we drive toward. I am sure this is some kind of mystical physical law of the universe. Actually I have even noticed that you don’t necessarily have to be driving a car for this to happen. I have experienced this phenomenon while riding my bike. I have caught myself looking a little too long at something along the road and we begin to converge. I haven’t quite put myself in the ditch yet but I have come very close. I know at this point you may be wondering to yourself…”where’s he going with this?”, right? I am getting ready to draw a tremendous analogy here. In our daily lives the consequences of taking our eyes off the road we are on can have just as a devastating outcome. A brief period of inattention and looking at something peripheral to our chosen path can have a life altering and disastrous effect on us and others. We can lose focus in the blink of an eye. We willingly steer our lives right into the ditch and wonder how that happened. Simply put we go toward that thing we are looking at. Satan knows that so well and appeals to our poor driving skills and our propensity to end up in ditches. In Hebrews 12:2, it says,

“Let us fix our eyes on the Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

I have also heard this referred to as “keeping your eyes on the prize”. I am not sure I actually like that one as it sounds too much like the proverbial carrot on the end of a stick. I don’t like to visualize the concept of driving well and working hard not to drift across the line for a reward at the end that I’ll never really receive. Although I do believe and understand there is a reward called heaven, I think the incentive for me personally is just the powerful memory of a few bad wrecks I’ve both had and caused. Sadly, there are some people who really like pain or have short memories for bad stuff and this wrecking doesn’t bother them much. When we start to veer and move toward the thing leading our eye away, God gives us a chance to correct before it’s too late. In that correction there is grace and in that grace there is redemption. God knows I am a bad driver and He knows I’m going to get distracted and look at stuff too long. I just imagine Him wincing, watching me and saying, “ooooh, this is gonna be bad…” It’s just like He is watching this big giant cosmic NASCAR race and patiently waiting for the predictable wreck to come. Except for the big wipeouts everything else just moves along uneventfully seemingly without notice. Days and years go by and we settle into a routine. As the saying goes, we fall asleep at the wheel. We become numb and hypnotized by the road because it’s straight and boring and we have everything we think we want. Our faith has gone to bed and we become adverse to risk. We become oblivious to the danger signs, road hazards and become casual and reckless and start to look around at things along the road. And then…we hold that gaze just a little too long…we take our eyes off the prize...yeah, the grass looks greener…in the ditch…yeah, this one’s really gonna hurt…...bad.

just say ...abracadabra

There is something that I particularly enjoy about watching a skilled magician deceive me with ease. I love to be amazed by the simplest tricks that challenge my understanding of what I believe I am seeing. Somehow there is this fundamental disconnect in my understanding of reality that happens in a blink of an eye. How easy it is for us to be deceived by others even when we know it and are on alert to the clues of the magician. God was keenly aware of our ability to be deceived as it is a major tool Satan uses to destroy our lives. There is a real basic design flaw within us. We have struggled with the consequences of being easily fooled for a really long time. From the very beginning of our presence on earth, Satan has been the greatest deceiver ever. We know that and we are constantly reminded to be on guard against deceptions of the enemy. God speaks to us throughout the Bible warning us over and over to be alert to various deceptions that can masquerade themselves. However, even worse than the deception of Satan and others is how easily and frequently we can deceive ourselves. In a recent blog, VirtueOnline, Ted Schroder, states,
“Self-deception is a shadowy phenomenon by which we pull the wool over some part of our own psyche. We put a move on ourselves. We deny, suppress, or minimize what we know to be true. We assert, adorn, and elevate what we know to be false. We prettify ugly realities and sell ourselves the prettified versions...We become our own dupes, playing the role of both perpetrator and victim. We know the truth - and yet we do not know it, because we persuade ourselves of its opposite. We actually forget that certain things are wrong and that we have done them. To the extent that we are self-deceived, we occupy a twilight zone in which we make up reality as we go along, a twilight zone in which the shortest distance between two points is a labyrinth.....A moment's reflection reminds us that self-deception has long been a growth industry. Why do alcoholics and other drug users typically go through years of self-denial? Why is the revelation of incest an astonishment to people who are living right in the middle of it?...Why do battering husbands offer minimizing and euphemistic accounts of the beatings they administer, and why do battered wives sometimes accept and repeat those accounts?" Jesus calls such self-deception 'hypocrisy'. Under the guise of doing good, of polishing one's image, vices masquerade as virtues. We learn to present something falsely, to make our presentation credible, and to avoid exposure. Even Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor.11:14) in order to look merely plausible. Evil appears in disguise. Hence our need for the Holy Spirit's gift of discernment. Hence the sheer difficulty, at times, of distinguishing good from what is evil. As sinners we try to keep up appearances. We are acutely sensitive to what others may think of us. Hence the constant attempt to explain, to justify, to rationalize, and to scapegoat evil. We want to appear to be good people.”
That desire to appear to be a good person is what gets us into so much trouble. We work hard to maintain appearances and to fool people much as a magician does. Our energy is spent creating a false reality where our faith is never engaged. We become only hearers of the Word and are single mindedly focused on image and our ability to exert influence. This is not what God intended. In James 1:22-25 it says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” It is clear we are called to be doers and goers and not to sit idly by, not putting our faith to work in a risky way and living out of the confining boxes that have become our churches. This is where the real magic happens…when we serve others and advocate for social justice for the oppressed. Sawing a pretty girl into two halves or making an elephant disappear pales in comparison…anybody can do that…

the hardest thing to say...thank you

I sometimes am reminded about how blessed I am in a lot of different areas of my life. Some people like to call it luck…but I really dislike that term as it relates every good and bad thing that happens to chance. I actually used to think that way a long time ago. I suppose if we believe that we live by chance and total randomness then we live as victims of the whims of fate. Unfortunately, the problem with that is we don’t have to accept any responsibility for anything that happens. We just say that we have good or bad luck. The other problem with living on luck is that you lose your ability to be thankful and have gratitude. This is a big deal to me because it removes God from the equation. I think being thankful and having the ability to recognize where all that I receive flows from is critical to understanding our purpose and connection to God. I tend to look at things very simply sometimes and having gratitude and being thankful is one of those things. I really believe that the reason that people so easily forget this basic etiquette is this unspoken sense of entitlement that we live by. A sense of entitlement robs others of the ability to bless me because I already believe I deserve what I am receiving and therefore am unable to be thankful. The core attitude of being able to give thanks is humility. Humility is defined as, "A quality by which a person considering his own defects has a humble opinion of himself and willingly submits himself to God and to others for God's sake." One can readily see that submission to God and others is a key component. Perhaps this is where the rub lies. This is where we fail to understand. This is where we fall down. We are not submitting to anyone or anything except for our own selfish desires. It is in that submission to God that we recognize the inadequacy of the skill sets and talents we possess and become dependent and reliant on God just as He designed and intended. People, as we are prone to say, like to “live large”. We become legends in our own minds. We are measured by our Facebook and Twitter followers and blog statistics. Social media has become the barometer of our self worth and how we are valued by others. We assume a persona which is another word for a mask. This is not what God intended. We have become Gods bratty children expecting a cosmic “happy meal” with the latest cool toy inside. We have it all wrong. Very wrong. God wants you to have manners like back in the old days when we said please and thank you and may I be excused from the table. God doesn’t want you to wear masks because that interferes with people seeing Him in you. The thing that is... the most amazing part of all this is... that despite our inability to acknowledge the source of everything we have and are and to say thank you…He keeps right on giving. "Thankful people recognize their need, and the generosity and beneficence of the Giver, and every truly grateful person is humbled by the amazing gifts he’s received from God. So I see that true humility will always be accompanied by gratitude, and also, that those who are truly grateful will be growing in the beautiful characteristic of humility. May it be so for us."

in the blink of an eye...

While at work,someone asked me yesterday,“where’s MY golden years?”I stopped and realized that I didn’t have anything profound, witty or comforting to say.She was lying there in her bed,looking at me and waiting…Waiting for me to tell her how to find that which,by all estimations,is gone.She recently had one of her legs amputated right below the knee.She sleeps a lot.Maybe she dreams of that life she imagined to happen when she finally was able to enjoy the fruit of years of labor working toward those elusive golden years.She had plans to spend a lot of time with the husband she has been with almost fifty years.She planned to be one of those grandmas that go to tea parties,the zoo,and on picnics.But everything changes. Because of choices we make in one part of our life there often times are consequences in later parts of our lives.She likes to cook.She and her husband owned restaurants.Now she watches The Food Network on a small television on her dresser. Things change…a lot.Some dreams don’t change and they die hard. Sometimes they die with us.Maybe that’s the last part of us to let go in the slow march to our graves. Maybe that’s all that really keeps us alive sometimes.We desperately cling and hang on to something that takes on a healing and saving role.I have never been one to dash anyone’s dreams or belief in potential miracles.My job is to bring hope and encouragement. If you are an encourager you are truthful and will not give fake compliments and fan the flames of false hope.You don’t have trite textbook answers to the hard questions.You are one of God’s greatest miracles and capable of bringing the truth and hope that lives within us.Encouragers will tell you to do the thing you are called to do—the thing you are most enthusiastic about, the thing that makes you smile just thinking about it—and never worry about how something will happen. Encouragers know that the “how” always shows up when you follow your heart. Encouragers help us to see possibilities that sometimes are obscured by our lack of vision. This is the thing that is so much more important than any pill I can bring you today.Being here in the moment…being present is the thing that goes beyond what is easily understandable.On the days that I struggle the most with the whys of what I do and where I work God speaks to me in a way I can’t ignore.He picks that certain someone who disarms me and challenges me to remember that I am a mere dispenser of his grace…nothing more and nothing less.I have no easy set answers for your hard question today but…I’m listening,God.

rewarming leftovers...

I used to not be much of a challenge or adventure guy. I was always the spectator on the sidelines. All that got changed a couple of years ago when God called me to this crazy thing that was very far from anything I would ever do...or even consider. It was called THE RIDEWELL BIKE TOUR. Yeah, a bicycle tour across America. Did you hear that "across Ameica" part? Me God? You're kidding, God? Right? No He wasn't and it happened and I did it and my life was forever changed over the course of a summer one pedal stroke at a time. Well...as they say,"Here we go again". Yes it's true. I am going on another amazing bike ride this summer, only in a different direction literally and figuratively.I am not going across the US, I am going from south to north. I will be biking THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD BIKE TOUR from Mobile Alabama to Buffalo New York, a total of about 1808 miles.
The Underground Railroad Tour starts in one of the dominate slave ports in American history and follows the "Freedom Trail" by tracing the rivers and routes of freedom seekers from the deep south to the free land in the north.
The team will stop in churches and communities en route to raise support and enlist "Freedom Partners" for International Justice Mission, a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice system
This hisorically important route witnessed countless numbers of slaves following landmarks and signs and being helped by "conductors" on their way to freedom. However, even more important that the sheer historical significance and the thousands of people that will be made aware of the issues of Human Trafficking/Modern Slavery, there is a bigger reason I am doing this epic ride. In Isaiah 61:1 it says,
" The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners..."
It's pretty clear to me that as a follower of Christ that I under a mandate to do exactly what it says in Isaiah 61:1. I love the "proclaim freedom for the captives" part. To proclaim something means to declare publicly, typically insistently, proudly, or defiantly and to praise or glorify openly or publicly. I can't keep from thinking how much things have changed in the never ending struggle against oppression and slavery and yet they haven't changed at all. We have a long way to go and there is always hope. Our goal on this ride is not only increasing awareness but to restore hope and the belief that things can be changed by joining our voices together in the call for social justice. I urge you to join us in any manner possible to support this cause. One of the most important ways you an support us is to pray. In James 5:16 it says, "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results". I know that it works and witnessed it many times on THE RIDEWELL BIKE TOUR where prayer moved some mighty big mountains. So, the challenging road lies ahead and I can hardly wait to see what's going to happen this summer...God is going to be busy...real busy.