What's It Like to Move from Texas to New Hampshire?

As of today (January 18), I have lived in New Hampshire for about eleven weeks. I knew I wanted to write something like this from the moment I moved, but I didn’t know how long it would take to get a sense of the differences between Texas and a more rural part of New England. In other words, what kind of impression does New Hampshire make on someone who lived in suburban Dallas for over 20 years?

The minds of those in Texas will invariably turn towards the weather. Texas is warm. New Hampshire is cold, especially in the winter. Interestingly, there’s a similarity of extremes between the two in that those who live in either one would say you haven’t really lived here unless you’ve experienced summer in the former and winter in the latter. Anyone can handle Texas in January or New Hampshire in August. You want to show me something? Turn the tables. Then we’ll see what you’re made of.

Well, I don’t know if the first three weeks of January qualify, but here I am, and I’m going to go ahead and make my observations.

First off, yes, it’s cold. But it’s not bone chilling cold. Just put on a coat. Now, ask anyone who’s grown up here and they’ll say it’s the mildest winter they can remember. Ok. Fair point, but you can only play the teams on your schedule. I live here today, and this is winter today. We’ve had one significant snowstorm so far, what the weather people call “plowable snow.” It was a foot and a half worth. It was in early December. It was fun, and since it hasn’t gotten crazy warm, some semblance of it is still here.

What is a FAR bigger adjustment is what the weather causes you to bring into the house – snow, salt, and dirt. Mudrooms are a NECESSITY, but no matter how you structure the transition, you’re going to track some of that into the house which you feel on your bare feet, and I can’t stand that, especially if it makes its way into your bed. It’s always the little things and that’s a BIG little thing. You can tell by the all-caps.

My second observation concerns population. The difference is stark. Collin County, where we moved from, has almost 1.2 million people. The entire state of New Hampshire has 1.3. There are approximately 65,000 high schoolers in Collin County. The state of New Hampshire? 135,000. The suburb of Wylie (60,000) has more people than Concord, the state capital (44,000).

But it’s not just volume. It’s also distribution. One million of those 1.3 live between Concord and southeast to the Massachusetts border. That leaves 300,000 for the rest of the state, and you can tell. Traffic, as the world defines it, almost doesn’t exist. I actually don’t like driving on the highway because I never see any structures. State routes and back roads at least have houses. Those houses remind me that I’m not living in a post-apocalyptic arboretum.

Third, cultural Christianity does not exist here, and I don’t mind that one bit. You follow Christ because you want to do so, not because it’s something just to do. Sunday mornings are a lifeline. You don’t go out to lunch with people after church. You go to their home. Part of that is because there aren’t many restaurants but its more because fellowship is precious and inviting someone into your home is an expression of community. Yes, I miss Tex-Mex, but the intimacy more than makes up for it. New Englanders are supposed to be cold and standoffishly independent. Maybe, but that’s not the body of Christ.

Is it really as hostile here to the things of the Gospel as it’s made out to be? I would say it’s clear that it’s not Christian friendly like it would be in the south. Sometimes that comes out in the form of aggression. There’s a church in Hanover (the home of Dartmouth) that owns land and wants to put a building on it. The town is fighting them because they don’t want another church in their community. So there’s that. The sheer number of churches, especially those who have a high view of the Bible, is also considerably less. That’s partly a function of population, but it’s also because this is truly one of the least “churched” parts of the country.

Again, though, I don’t mind that so much. I think that because it’s uncommon to be a Christian, because there’s more of a latent passive-aggressiveness against being a Christian, following Christ is more intentional. Not that pastoring is 100% synonymous with coaching or teaching but any coach or teacher will tell you that it’s more fun when they get to work with someone who wants to learn. There’s a hunger here that cannot be removed from the fact that those who offer food are fewer and far between.

There’s a lot more I could talk about. Interstate exits are known by their numbers not their names. Very few people care about college football. The words “mud-season” come up a lot. I’m curious to see it. I genuinely fear black-fly season and the tick is always in the back of my mind, but that’s more a product of being me than moving from Texas. Unless you have a woodstove, you need a generator, and since our water comes from a well, we need to get it tested every few years.

All in all, anywhere you live has something. You learn the rhythms. You get used to it. I will say that I’m looking forward to being able to look forward to each season as being different and having different things to do, as opposed to dreading July and August. This Ohioan turned Texan (who was born in Connecticut) turned Granite-stater officially gives New Hampshire two thumbs up!

Where Do We Go From Here??

One of these days, I’m going to do this with regularity as opposed to twice a year…that being said…

I remember that I wrote something as a reflection on the 2016 election on a different platform, blogspot is where it’s housed. The gist of the post was that DJT stood as a referendum against the intellectual/political elites. I didn’t vote for him mind you. I went 3rd party but that was what those who like to use German call the zeitgeist, the spirit of the age. Call it the prevailing mood, the way the wind was blowing, whatever. You think you know what’s best for us? Take that!

Fast forward 4 years. They’re a mixed bag. Understand, I’m trying very hard to be dispassionate and measured. Hyperbole doesn’t help anyone and it never advances the debate. The economy (pre-pandemic) has done quite well. The 30% or so of us who have 401Ks have seen their value rise. On the other hand, migrant children have been treated, IMO, inhumanely. I’ve been to PGA tournaments and seen what we’re able to do with temporary housing when American Express and Lexus want to show their people a good time. We can do better than cages and concrete floors.

And, lest we forget, there’s a pandemic.

I don’t care what people think about its lethality. To say this has been mismanaged is an insult to the word understatement. There’s a line from the movie Armageddon where Bruce Willis’ character after being asked to save the world tells Billy Bob Thornton’s guy, “And this is the best you can do, that the government, the US government can come up with?” We all walk around believing that if really, really smart people work somewhere, anywhere, it has to be in the White House, right? Right?

Some of this was unavoidable for sure. You probably can’t have a novel virus without deaths but my goodness, all I’m asking for is reasoned leadership. Tell us that we’re trying to balance the economic and physical health of our nation. Tell us we’re still learning, that what we thought was best six months ago isn’t what the data is telling us now and so we’re adjusting our guidelines. We might need rolling lockdowns and we’ll get through this together. Maybe the government’s allowed to just print money and we’ll make sure people can eat and not get evicted.

This doesn’t mean I’m pro-Biden. Full disclosure, I am a registered Republican and moderately conservative in my political philosophy but I don’t like being put in a box or having assumptions made about what I believe based on labels. It is my deep conviction abortion on demand is a crime against humanity AND I believe climate change is real. I think regulations are needed to keep economic darwinism from running rampant BUT taxing the top brackets at 90% probably isn’t the best way to go. It’s possible these are really complicated issues and consequently, there’s no one size fits all.

So what do I think about this past week?

A Biden/Harris administration is not exactly the answer. Biden may be a moderate but the definition of that word is changing and for sure Harris isn’t moderate and in every way that matters, she’s the next in line. I have some distant anxiety about that but what other choice is there? I don’t want them to win. I’m not going to celebrate but this season we are living through now has to end. It has to end. This administration breathes dishonesty. Empathy is non-existent, self-interest appears to be all that matters to a level approaching clinical narcissism, and while in the best of times those things are an annoyance, we are nowhere near the best of times. We need leaders who won’t be making decisions motivated by what will benefit only the person making the decisions.

As a conservative, I am actually really encouraged by the results we’re seeing. Gaining ground in the House, very possibly holding on to the Senate. Republicans made progress with state legislatures and I think even picked up a governorship. We are most assuredly not a nation looking to become California.

These positions may surprise you, especially if you read my Twitter feed. I’m active there because I have all these feelings and I don’t know where to go with them. I intentionally word my tweets to be respectful even when critical and, yes, some snark comes out from time to time but it’s amazing to me how civility is in unbelievably short supply. Our leadership could take us in a different direction. They could encourage polite discourse and with the way our polarization works where people walk in lock step with those who call the shots, the masses would follow suit.

This is my hope and plea and my reason for writing these words. Be conservative. Be liberal. Be far right or far left. Be and believe whatever you want. For better or worse, our country with its incredibly complicated history has gifted us with space to believe and live free from reprisal. I know this doesn’t always happen but it’s more possible here than anywhere else and I’ve been to a few else’s. Let’s embrace that gift and give that space. Be civil. Be polite. Think of MLK today who said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

God bless you and I pray for God’s blessing on the United States of America.

In Between Two Worlds

By nature, I’m someone who ponders. Something pops into my head and it’s usually followed by a quick Google search. It can as pedestrian as the makeup of grape skins. Doesn’t matter. That’s just how my brain works.

Today’s subject is what’s called Holy Saturday. When I first read that this is what it’s called, I remember thinking that they could have been more creative. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Resurrection Sunday, these make their mark. Holy Saturday…ok. It is what it is.

If there’s some kind of system in eternity (and I really hope there is) where we’ll have the ability to rewatch or relive scenes from biblical history, this will be a big one for me. I picture it like a giant movie theater where the rooms are numbered 1-1000 or whatever. Parting of the sea? Go to theatre 5. Elijah on Mt. Carmel, that’ll be number 25. Maybe there won’t be as big of a crowd as there might be for the feeding of the 5,000 but this is what I want to see. I want to be wherever the disciples were between Friday afternoon when they learned that Jesus had passed and Sunday morning when EVERYTHING changed.

The biblical record doesn’t provide much. Matthew tells us that it was on Saturday that the chief priests and some other Pharisees asked Pilate to secure the tomb in which Jesus was laid. Mark gives us the Friday burial. John, not a word, and it all makes sense when you consider these words from Luke 23:56, “On the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandment.”

But we know it wasn’t simply on account of the Sabbath. It’s not that if Jesus had died on a Tuesday, they’d be going about their daily activities as if nothing had happened. Friday marked a new reality for the Lord’s small band of followers. Life as they had known it for the past three years was over.

What were they feeling? What were they thinking? The best we can do is try and imagine ourselves in their sandals so to speak. I would have wondered how I got it all wrong. I mean you spend that much time with someone, day in and day out over more than a thousand of them, you’d think you’d know the person. When had He ever wavered in His convictions about anything? When did He inspire anything less than total confidence? No one lived like Jesus lived. No one talked or taught like He did. No one accomplished what we’d seen with our own eyes. There’s NO WAY we dreamt it all; not the twelve (correction: eleven) of us. How could His life come to that kind of end?

I would have been afraid of the Jewish leaders. I would have feared the Romans. I’d have even been scared to return home to face whichever family members I’d left behind to devote myself to this teacher. What if they’d warned me not to go? Most likely, I’d have spent all of Saturday in a state of shock trying to piece together how my life was supposed to move forward. How do you settle on something that has more in common with hell when you’ve seen the Kingdom of Heaven draw near?

I’d like to think the disciples were together over that Saturday. We know they were for the most part on Sunday. When the women arrived with the news that the grave was empty, it doesn’t appear that they had to go from house to house. What I do know is that wherever they were physically, God allowed them to sit in their despair. He permitted the confusion, the anxiety, the doubt. He gave their minds free rein to contemplate all manner of what ifs. Why, because He knew Sunday was coming and Saturday would stand as a lesson for the remainder of their time on earth. God. Can. Be. Trusted.

This is as unusual an Easter weekend as most of us will ever experience. The what ifs are all over the place. I’m not sure they can even be quantified. Just like the disciples sat in between the world of what life was before Friday and what it would be after Sunday, we sit in between what we had before COVID-19 and what we don’t have a clue is coming when it’s all concluded, compounded by the fact that we can’t even say when that will be.

Yet, God is still God. Jesus died on a Friday and He rose on a Sunday. I believe all of it happened and that it directly and dramatically impacts our lives today. To trust that His death was for you is to belong to Him and when that happens there is zero ontological difference between His people today and those who walked the earth with Him 2,000 years ago. God’s as committed to us as He was to them. There is no distinction.

Sitting here between two worlds, it helps me to know that everything I’m feeling isn’t unusual. I’m not unique. Others have been scared before me. Others have worried and God loves us all. He allows us to sit in silence. He permits our minds to run wild. He wants us to trust Him and He knows we fall woefully short. But He’s still at work. His purposes are not deterred. His intentions for me and for you have not changed. We simply need to live our lives and see what happens. With God, it’s always worth it. Always.

Sola Deo Gloria

It's Always Something

My transition from pastor to teacher of missionaries hasn’t been the easiest and it’s taken some time for me to get my mind around why exactly I’ve found it so disquieting. I honestly don’t know what I expected but I genuinely believe I never expected to still be feeling things more than six months into the change.

Part of it stems from the nature of ministry itself. It’s a relational job and there’s no real line between when you’re working and when you’re not. Home + by yourself/with only family = for sure not working. Just about any other situation = at work. Some might argue there’s no way it’s ALWAYS work but if you can do or say something that adds or takes away from your church, it’s work. You aren’t, “off.”

What are the consequences? The word, “friend,” becomes difficult to define. This may all sound crazy but I’m telling you, talk to any pastor. They’ll confirm it. In high school, college, you had a group of friends. There were people you’d call on a Friday or Saturday night or maybe they’d call you and you’d go and do something. Laughs were had. Memories were made.

Pastors do the same thing but it almost can never be divorced from work. Why am I here? Why did I leave my house? Is it to have fun? Is it to enjoy the company of others? Or is it because I’m the pastor and I’m supposed to be here? People expect me to be here. People would think something if I wasn’t here or worse, the ever insidious feeling of having only been invited because I’m the pastor. If this smells like an identity crisis, your nose is in the right place. Ministry is a breeding ground for these kinds of issues.

Please don’t think I’m suggesting this is what was ever actually happening. Pastors have real friends. I’m just saying these are the thoughts that go through a pastor’s mind and it’s a HUGE reason the pastorate is a lonely place.

But I’m not there anymore. My life is different. There’s more of a 9 to 5 vibe now. If you’re in it long enough though (14 years for example), there’s a sort of PTSD when you step out. You realize that you’ve forgotten how to simply relate to people. You forget that one can enter into a conversation without feeling like you’re working.

Here’s the thing, however. Maybe none of this matters.

Several weeks ago, my wife and I were invited to be a part of a Seminary Wives in Ministry (SWIM) panel at Dallas Seminary. We were one of four (older) couples who were there to share our experiences re: the peaks & valleys of ministry. It was great. I’m thrilled we were asked and I couldn’t be happier that we did it.

Before it all started, the two of us sat down at an empty table. It was towards the front and it felt appropriate. We’d be able to get to the stage without having to weave our way between chairs but time went by and no one was sitting with us and so the indecision began. Should we wait? Should we move? If we move, to which table should we move? Since these were terribly important questions, my wife asked the moderator for advice and she said, stay put. We’re both rule followers so good. Now we have an answer. We aren’t moving.

Not long after, two elderly women came and sat down. I looked at their name tags and they were (and still are) two widows of Dallas Seminary professors: Jeanne (Howard) Hendricks and Maxine (Stanley) Toussaint.

This was a big deal. Their husbands had been professors of mine. I was trained by them. I was shaped by them but more importantly, these women literally represented SEVEN decades of ministry each and not as an appendage. They had their own ministries and because we hadn’t changed tables, we were able to sit on the receiving end of stories that I know barely shaved off the top of the iceberg.

These women had reached their 90s (and Jeanne Hendricks is still driving!) and were STILL pouring into the lives of others. Someone approached Jeanne and asked if she would take a quick picture with the young women who were part of her Bible study group. Not some group that had met years ago. They’d been meeting for the past few months.

One of the verses that motivates my life is 2 Timothy 2:2, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Paul references four generations: Paul to Timothy to faithful men to those they eventually teach. The women sitting across from my wife and I are the living embodiment of this chain of ministry, a legacy that can’t be quantified this side of eternity.

Whether or not this life lives up to my or whoever else’s expectations couldn’t be less important. The number of acquaintances we have vs deep friends is certainly helpful but that’s not what necessarily lasts beyond the grave. It’s what’s done for Jesus Christ. That’s what survives the fire of 1 Corinthians 3:15. It’s the by God’s grace difference we make for the Kingdom.

I don’t know what you’re struggling with. My experience is it’s always something. My encouragement is to focus on that which is eternal. Move THAT needle. Let the Lord’s grace be sufficient for where this life has left you wanting and if you need a little inspiration, think of these women (my wife included).

From Left to Right: Jeanne Hendricks, Maxine Toussaint, Bree Banks

First or Last

With the turning of the page from October to November, we officially/unofficially enter the Christmas season, particularly the Christmas shopping season, with a brief pause for Thanksgiving and by brief I mean until about 6 o’clock that night which is when the, “doorbusters,” begin in such family friendly stores as Walmart, Target, etc.

I’m constantly intrigued by the story behind the story. I used to love listening to Paul Harvey’s The Rest of the Story whenever it would air over AM radio. Consequently, I’m curious about things like when the concept of Black Friday began. If you would have asked me yesterday, I’d have sworn that the day after Thanksgiving is called what it is on account of that being the day when retailers hope their revenues for the year transition from, “red,” to, “black,” i.e. when they begin to make a profit.

But yay internet for scratching my info itch. Black Friday was a term first used in the Philadelphia area in 1961 to describe the hellish amount of traffic caused by people using their day off to get a head start on their Christmas shopping. Black didn’t mean profit. It meant dark like a storm cloud. It wasn’t an incentive to get you out of the house. It was a warning to encourage you to stay home. I find that hilarious.

But wait there’s more. These days we aren’t supposed to notice Black Friday only. The whole extended weekend’s received a label. Saturday is now Small Business Saturday. The meaning of that should be self-explanatory: spend Saturday patronizing your local small businesses. Sunday’s just Sunday because, I don’t know, we lack creativity or something, but Monday is now Cyber Monday (shop online) and Tuesday is Giving Tuesday. Slightly exhausting but at least we’ve found a way to pass the time on this slow march towards death.

What intrigues me about all this, what makes me want to Anchorman up and get everyone’s attention so that we collectively stop what we’re doing and acknowledge this reality is where we’ve placed Giving Tuesday and what that says about who we are and what we believe.

Again, it should be self-explanatory but Giving Tuesday is when we’re supposed to contribute to charity. It’s noble. It’s honorable. It’s great that we’ve been prompted as a society to think of all those who are less fortunate than we are.

As long as the unfortunate understand their place.

Ok, maybe this part isn’t self-explanatory. We don’t think of giving first. We’re supposed to think of it last. We’re supposed to make sure that major retailers, small businesses, and online stores get theirs first before the hungry or the homeless or the ministries to teen moms or refugees or, “insert really worthy cause here.” Giving’s great as long as we know it’s place.

We do this all the time. Daylight Savings Time occurs over Saturday into Sunday because we can’t disrupt the economy of Monday or even Saturday but Sunday’s ok. It’s really not a big deal if church gets short changed.

Why weren’t you at youth group Timmy? I had basketball practice. Hmm. Why wasn’t it the other way around? Why didn’t Timmy miss basketball and give youth group as the reason? Because that’s not how we spend our time. That’s not how we’ve ordered our priorities and it’s exactly the opposite of the life the Bible calls us to live.

How do I know that? Do a simple word search on the term, “first fruits.” We’re supposed to give off the top not the bottom and if you’re wondering what this has to do with shopping, it’s because generosity itself exists because we’re spiritual people. It’s not a sociological concept. The desire resides within us because God is real and we’re made in His image.

The Lord is meant to come first not last. Our pursuit of Him should start our day not find its place in whatever happens to be left. The fact that we’ve placed Giving Tuesday at the end of our money usage train is an extension of our penchant to want the throne rather than yield it to Him. We have a word for that…

Idolatry.

The impact on satisfaction is direct. If we come first, it’s a race for fulfillment whose finish line can never be reached. If Jesus does, we discover the race never needed to be run to begin with.

How then should we live? Give to God first. Whatever you give of your money? Do it at the beginning of the month not the end. Don’t open your Bible at the end of your day. Do it at the beginning. Make church a priority as opposed to the one thing that’s expendable in your schedule. Not because God’s going to hate you if you don’t but because you’re already more loved than you can ever imagine.

You + Who is 4 Ever?

This past summer as my son and I were returning from a two week trip overseas, I came down with either the flu or the worst cold since I was a child. At its peak, my fever hit 102.6 which was unfortunate because it was in the middle of a family vacation. Instead of flying back to Dallas, we landed in Columbus, Ohio. It was my in-laws’ 50th wedding anniversary celebration and the whole extended family was getting together at a state park for a weekend of tubing, campfires, and general outdoorsy-ness.

Now, full disclosure, I’m what Jim Gaffigan calls, “indoorsy.” I like nature but I prefer it without bugs which means fall and/or winter which wasn’t going to happen in August in central Ohio. Still, though, it should have been a fun time.

Because I felt horrible and didn’t want to be the cause of “Swine Summer 2019", this picture is really the only view I had for three solid days. I remained self-confined to the lower level of a bunk bed alternating between sweating and freezing and grateful for serviceable wifi. As you can see, I also devoted a small amount of time to exploring what people had carved on the bunkbed ceiling.

I obviously don’t know who Ethan and Alyssa are and I have no idea what Brandy’s relationship is to Bambi. I can’t tell if they are the same person (Brandy aka Bambi), is it Brandy alla Bambi (whatever that might mean) or perhaps the second, “a,” is a, “d,” and so it’s Brandy and Bambi. I don’t know and I think I’ll be ok not knowing.

What struck me was that Ethan and Alyssa were together in 2009 and it’s now 10 years later. Are Ethan and Alyssa still together? I doubt it. It’s possible but I think it’s safe to say it’s highly unlikely. The age at which someone is inclined to etch their love in someone else’s property is less than adulthood and the percentage of relationships that survive adolescence is low. So the future probably didn’t survive the sentiment regardless of the claim that it would be, “4 ever.”

What does?

I’m not suggesting that we look for places to carve, “Jesus + insert name here,” although I think it would be terribly interesting if someone did. Regardless, it’s the one claim on which we can count. I don’t have a corner on this but it really will be, “Jesus + Brad 4 ever.” Why? Because while it takes two to tango for human beings, my relationship with the Lord isn’t dependent upon me. It’s dependent on Him.

It’s like the example I gave to a new Christian (yay!) just the other night. When you were a toddler walking across a busy parking lot chances are you were holding your mom or dad’s hand but while that’s true it’s not quite accurate. The reality is, mom or dad was holding onto you far more than you were holding onto them. Depending on how busy was busy, they weren’t holding your hand so much as they were vise gripping your wrist.

That’s how it is with Jesus. John 11:25-26, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die,” (NASB). “He who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” That’s eternal life. “Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” That’s eternal security. In those two statements Jesus promises that in Him reside both eternal life and eternal security. Once your with Him, it’s 4 ever.

I know people want to know about sin. What about the person who said they were a Christian but now they’ve gone to work for Satan, LLC. I can’t tell you what’s inside their heart but what I know is what Scripture says and it says that everyone who lives and believes in Jesus will never die. That mean’s they’ll never taste hell.

Please know that wherever you find yourself today, you can have a relationship with God that will never end and if you have that relationship, it will never end not because of sentiment or because you’re sure that you’re sure that you’ll try really hard to keep it that way. It’s because of Him. He has a hold of you regardless of whether or not you’re holding onto Him. You and Jesus are 4 ever and that’s that.

The Point of It All

As kids, we often think about or we’re expected to think about what it is we want to do when we grow up. The reasons are practical as well as ontological, meaning it comes from our very being.

Practically, 99.9% of us have to do something. We weren’t born with trust funds. Membership in the club of the idle rich isn’t an option for us and so food, clothing, and shelter will be things for which we have to earn money but that’s a good thing because I believe we were created to work.

Back up a minute. I believe we were created. We didn’t get here as a result of random processes. Our existence was conceived in the mind of an all-powerful, eternal, beautiful Creator who invested us with His image. That means we have dignity, value, and honor simply because we are. There’s nothing in any of those categories that has to be earned.

But the image is also functional in that there’s something we were born to do and that’s work. To not work is to deny a basic building block of what sets us apart as human beings. Animals do things to survive, to not die, and experience pleasure and satiation as a result. We, on the other hand, experience fulfillment. Our brains have the ability to get to the end of the day and conclude that a job was well-done…or not. The opposite is certainly a possibility and if we aren’t working or we aren’t working from a proper perspective we are capable of being frustrated or unfulfilled.

To be clear, this has nothing to do with a paycheck. The practical side of work means we have to make money in order to buy necessities but mothers who raise children for no money still work. I hope that’s obvious.

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A few seconds ago, I used the word perspective. Work must occupy its proper place in our lives. I think this can best be summed up by Paul’s words in Colossians 3:23-24:

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

We work in order to serve the Lord. We work in order to live out the fact that we were created in the image of God. This may come out as a, “duh,” but this means working with God and not against Him. Plying your trade by selling illicit drugs can’t be done, “as for the Lord.”

But it also means going with His calling on your life, much like we can either paddle with or against a current. Discovering this calling isn’t complicated. It isn’t easy but it isn’t complicated. It’s found in Mark 12:29-31. A scribe asked Jesus what the greatest commandment in the Law was and He answered thusly:

“The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Love God and love others. Do you want to be fulfilled? This is how it happens. That’s it. That’s all it is. Whether your an accountant, an engineer, a pastor, a doctor, a missionary, or any of an almost countless number of vocations, this is what’s supposed to come across in your work and since the Bible is also clear about what it means to love God and others, we know that it includes the proclamation of the Gospel, the good news that Jesus died for our sins and that by trusting in Him we can have a relationship with the Lord both here and in heaven for all eternity.

As you begin your Monday or Tuesday, or whenever you read this, please know that God loves you and all He asks of you is that you love Him and love others by making clear as you have the opportunity, that God loves others enough to have sent His Son to die so that they could be made whole, now and forever.

Legacy or Infamy

A fun exercise every now and then is to think about your spiritual family tree. We’re used to generational trees through websites like Ancestry.com. I’ve used them. I think it’s fascinating to see where you’ve come from biologically speaking. I could have the great’s wrong but through some digging I discovered that my grandmother’s great-grandfather fought on day 1 at the battle of Gettysburg. I don’t know if that really changes anything as far as my day to day existence is concerned but I love knowing that probably because in some way it connects me to a time long gone that cannot be visited in the same way we can a person or location.

Spiritual family trees on the other hand are evidence of the hand of God on your life. The Lord used someone to reach someone who reached someone who reached you with the life changing message of Jesus Christ. Unlike biological family trees, I believe this actually does something. It reminds us that one person can leave a legacy far beyond what they may initially realize.

For example, a man named Edward Kimball was instrumental in the conversion of D.L. Moody who impacted thousands through his ministry and who knows how many millions more throughout the years as a result of D.L.’s founding of the Moody Bible Institute which created the Moody Radio Network who’s been influencing the world through broadcasting those who preach the word of God such as Tony Evans and Charles Swindoll just to name two. My guess is that between Moody, Evans, and Swindoll, you’ve heard of at least one of them but not Edward Kimball. Yet, look at how God multiplied his ministry. The result is exponential!

However, consider this little asterisk. The man most responsible for leading Billy Graham to the Lord was a man named Mordecai Ham. Ham was an evangelist and a radio broadcaster and at one of his revivals in Charlotte, North Carolina, Graham came to know Christ. He was also instrumental in helping Billy get his own ministry off the ground. Yet, and here’s the asterisk, Ham was a virulent anti-Semitic who believed Jews were, “beyond redemption.” As a Jew who became a Christian, this gets under my skin like few things have the ability to do.

But does this negate the ministry of Billy Graham? Does it put an asterisk over everyone who met the Lord at one of Dr. Graham’s crusades? Not in a million years.

I don’t know what God did with Mordecai Ham at the moment of his death. I don’t know the condition of his heart and neither you nor I ever could but, regardless, I am more than ever convinced of this: God uses extremely imperfect people to advance His Kingdom. He works in us. He works in spite of us. He uses our obedience and He uses our sin even when that sin has horrific consequences. If the Apostle Paul wasn’t technically a murderer, he sure could have been convicted of it in a 21st century court of law and if God can use someone with the darkness of a Mordecai Ham to launch one of the single greatest eras of evangelism the world has ever known, then He can use you and He can use me and the overwhelmingly large majority of us won’t even know the extent of it all until we’re at home with Him.

Please, please, please, don’t lament your lack. Keep planting seeds and trust God to build the tree as He sees fit.