Breathe

We all breathe, it is a natural, ordinary part of our living. Most of us never think about it, we take it for granted.  Researchers are discovering some very interesting things about breathing. According to the research it is optimal for an adult to breathe 6 breaths per minute.  Six breaths per minute allows deep intake of oxygen, and a full exhale of carbon monoxide.  This maximizes the human metabolism, produces energy, and keeps the mind clear and alert among other healthy benefits.  How many breaths per minute do you take?  The average American adult takes 18 - 20 under normal circumstances, up to 25 during times of stress.  The hectic pace of our living has caused us to be inefficient at something we should be naturally efficient at. Without even realizing it we are harming ourselves by our errant breathing. These shortened breaths limit oxygen intake, and cause retention of carbon monoxide. This slows our metabolism, dulls our alertness, clouds our thinking, and reduces our energy.

Throughout Scripture the original language words translated as spirit, even when referring to God the Holy Spirit, can equally be translated breath.  For believers, God had provided His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is to live in us. When we breath deeply of His presence He energizes us, gives us insight, wisdom, and revelation. As pentecostal believers, we are supposed to live full of Him, but I wonder if we at times get so caught up in our busy living that we forget to breathe deeply of Him.  

I challenge you, slow down, take a few deep breaths. More importantly, take some time to breathe deeply of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Who are you when no one is around?

Walking through a department store recently I heard the old Billy Joel song "Stranger" and it sparked my thinking.  In the song Mr. Joel sang about the masks that we all wear at times. The implication is that we do not reveal our true selves to anyone, ever. We instead wear the mask, the faces of the stranger, that we feel will most fit the situation we are in or the crowd we are with.  

I attended the funeral of a very well respected Indiana minister this past week.  I listened as several people spoke of his life, and the impact he had on their lives.  His children, a grandchild, and fellow ministers stood one by one and told of his integrity, his uniqueness, his knowledge of Scripture, his living of Christlike character.  I wondered as they spoke, what would be said of me if it were my lifeless body in the casket up front. What would my wife, children, friends, colleagues, etc. say about me?

Then today as I sat alone in my office (the heavy snow fall and high winds had sent everyone else home early) the thought hit me, who am I when no one else is around? Who am I when it is just me and God?  Now don't get me wrong, I definitely want my wife, sons, friends, colleagues, etc. to like me, to respect me, to think well of me, but more than all of them, I want God to be pleased with me. So I must guard my life: my words, my eyes, my thoughts, my hands, my everything. I, like all the rest of us humans, will continue to wear the masks, the faces of the stranger, before others, but there are no masks with God. He sees us as we really are... Amazingly He loves, and likes us anyway. 

Change

There are so many sayings about change: "the only constant is change," "ready or not here we change," "the only person who really wants change is the baby with the soiled diaper,"... 

Today I have been thinking about change. The scriptures reveal in Daniel 2:21 that it is God who changes the times and seasons. Through this simple text we learn a couple of key truths: 1. Change is going to happen, 2. It is God who brings or initiates change.  These two simple truths actually bring great relief to me in the current world situation, and church culture.  With the fast paced constant change in the world, and the pressure for the church to change it is easy to feel pressure and responsibility that do not belong to you.  I have watched so many pastors and church leaders mishandle change.

I think it ought to be made illegal for any pastor or church leader to stand in his/her pulpit and declare "I am tired of church as usual."  This usually brings a posture of confrontation. The ensuing confrontation is rarely a positive force for forward momentum. As a pastor or church leader the issue of how to handle change is vital.  To simply declare ones frustration with the status quo is not enough, we must lead people through the process of change.  Lead not push, pull, or point the way to change, but actually lead.  This begins with a building of mutual trust. Your people will not follow you if they do not trust you, know you trust them and have their and the churches best interest at heart. It continues with a recognition and appreciation for the heritage and history of the church, an accurate realization of where the church is currently, and at least a mental sketch of where God wants to take His church.  Once the leader has a firm grasp on these vitals he/she must communicate these to the church in love.  A key aspect of this communication must be the painting of a portrait of a preferred future.  Most people will be more motivated by a passionate vision for an improved future than they will be by a declaration of your frustration with the way things are now.  This is by no means the totality of leading through change, but hopefully it is something to spark your thinking.

An Historic Day

In less than half an hour our nation (USA) will undergo a change of presidents.  As everyone knows the 44th president will be Barack Obama, a man of color. The first man of color elected to the highest office in our country.  Whether you voted for Obama or not, whether you agree with his politics or not, his election and inauguration are historic. As Americans we should recognize and celebrate the historic nature of January 20, 2009.  We are far from a totally equitable society, but we are further along the path toward equality than 100, 50, 25, or even 10 years ago. Over the past weekend I pulled up online the video of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I have a dream" speech.  Aside from the tremendous talent Dr. King possessed as a speaker, the substance of his speech laid a foundation of words that "we" as a nation are still building on. I enclose the word "we" in quotes to emphasize that all of us, human beings of every color, are building on Dr. King's dream of equality.  Recently my family and I visited Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown, Virginia. On our visit to the "Historic Triangle" I was struck by the language of freedom and equality with which our nation began juxtaposed against the reality of slavery and inequality that was the norm in our fledgling democracy.  The words "all men are created equal" are famous in our founding documents.  I don't know how Dr. King looked on these famous words. I don't know if they inspired or grieved him.  I do know that as I look at them and hear the word's of Dr. King crying for equality my heart is cautiously optimistic.  I am optimistic that we can indeed learn to view one another based on our intrinsic value as human beings created in the image and likeness of God, not on any external, whether it be color, gender, socioeconomic status, etc.  I am cautious, however, to realize that equality is not always easily defined, understood, or accepted. I hope that we can learn equality and live equally.  I know Obama's election and inauguration do not solve everything, but I trust it gives us a realistic sense of hope. Hope for all Americans, of all races, hope for an America that no longer has a racial problem.  Hope for a nation that views all men and women as truly created equal.  There are so many other problems, many of which we can solve, if we unite in purpose and no longer judge one another by the color of our skin.

Oh God, I Don't Know If I Can Do This!

I was a child in the 70's. My summer days were spent on my three speed bike. My friends and I rode everywhere on our bikes. During this era Evel Knievel was attempting motorcycle jumps over cars, buses, etc. I watched him on TV and was inspired. The fact that he crashed often didn't deter my inspiration.  My friends and I built a small ramp. Jump after jump went successfully so we raised the ramp; making it higher and longer. More jumps followed, all successful so... I decided I would make it more like Evel Knievel. We jacked up the ramp, higher and longer still, then placed my brother's tricycle, a big wheel, three bicycles, and an empty metal trash can after the ramp. It looked so cool.  I rode to the top of the hill, looked down at the ramp and took off. I made three passes to check my speed and then rode to the top of the hill one more time.  At the top I hesitated only a moment and hit the peddles.  If I peddled hard enough, I would max out third gear just before hitting the ramp. I did max it out, leveled the peddles with my left foot forward, my right foot back. At that moment the only thing going faster than me on my bike was my heart. It felt like it would beat out of my chest. I will never forget as my front tire hit the bottom of the ramp and I knew I could not turn aside or go back, my mind screamed "Oh God, I don't know if I can do this."  But I did do it. They say God looks out for fools and little children, well I know He looked out for this foolish child that day. I made the jump over the tricycle, big wheel, three bicycles, and the metal trash can and landed hard but kept the bike upright. Wow, what an adrenalin rush.  I was thinking earlier this morning about how many times leadership and ministry has been a lot like the childhood bicycle jump I made imitating Evel Knievel.  Sitting on the front pew awaiting them to announce me as the "preacher" for that Sunday night service, my first sermon, I felt my heart beating so hard it felt like it would burst. As I stood and walked toward the pulpit my mind screamed "Oh God, I don't know if I can do this."  I sat in the hospital family room and heard the number one pediatric brain specialist in the world coldly tell the family from the small church I was pastoring that their 13 year old daughter had sub-acute sclerosing pan-encephalitis, a terminal illness that gave her only six months to a year to live, and then said "I see you have your clergyman with you if you have any questions, you can talk to him. Once again my heart raced, and my mind screamed "Oh God, I don't know if I can do this." I looked at the estimates amounting to a quarter million dollars to make the needed repairs and improvements to the church building. When I had arrived only one year prior the financial report looked like it had been produced in a slaughter house. There was red everywhere. Now a year later we had worked hard and paid off the churches total indebtedness. I had made the brash statement from the pulpit that we would do everything from now on without debt. Staring at the cost estimate numbers my heart started that now familiar hard count, and my mind again screamed, "Oh God, I don't know if I can do this." Over and over this heartbeat and mind scream have taken place in my life: accepting ministry opportunities and realizing the job was so much bigger than me, walking toward pulpits with all eyes on me, expecting me to have a word from God,  looking at financial reports, trend charts, cost estimates, listening to people pour out their hearts wanting me to have their answer, entering a new office, my office with all of its responsibilities...  Time and time again my heart has beat fast, and my mind screamed, "Oh God, I don't know if I can do this."  But I am happy to report God has never failed me.  He has always helped me.  Reading the stories of the men and women in Scripture I have noticed that most of them are pretty ordinary people who were thrust into extraordinary circumstances and God helped them do what was beyond themselves. As a matter of fact God rarely asks us to do just what we can do. He almost always calls us to go beyond ourselves.  Then when we step out, when we hit the peddles and reach our maximum, and commit to no turning aside or going back, God shows up, and He never fails.  Evel Knievel had nothing on those of us who are in Ministry and Leadership.  

Lessons from the ghosts that have been haunting me...

As part of my family's Christmas tradition we always go on a journey. Usually it includes a couple days in my wife's hometown in Virginia, and a couple of days in my hometown - Canton, NC. Then we do a vacation week with just the four of us. We continued our tradition this year. Returning to our hometowns is always a mixed bag. First we do love and enjoy seeing our families and getting to spend time with them. I was blessed to grow up in a wonderful family and our opportunities to be with them are too few and far between. Another enjoyable part of being back home is the holiday meal(s), and gift exchanges. I am just vain enough to admit that a third part I really like is the almost celebrity status I enjoy as the only member of my family to have moved out of town and now coming back home for a visit. There are always issues though: sleeping arrangements, hectic schedule trying not to miss seeing anyone, working our holiday events around the work schedules of my family, who are home in my hometown, and trying not get in their way... One issue though, that really hit hard this year was the ghosts... Now don't worry I have not lost my mind and started believing in "Casper" or the horror movie version of disembodied spirits bound in everlasting chains and sentenced to roam the earth and haunt the living. What I am talking about are the traces or residue of the relationships we have had, the decisions and choices we have made, and the sometimes painful regrets of knowing what was but is no more or possibly what could have been. In one of my early morning conversations with my Dad and Mom, while everyone else was still sleeping, we talked about many of my old high school friends. Unfortunately too much of the conversation focused on them telling me who had died this past year. I am way to young to have that many school friends dying. But a significant number have indeed died. Everyone of them from a self-inflicted cause - not suicide in its strictest sense, but lifestyle choices that robbed them of their lives. When I think back to the time I had with each of the people my Dad and Mom told me about, my heart breaks. Back in the day I was so inconsistent in my walk with Christ, to worried about whether or not I would be accepted and popular, so caught up in my own stuff that I didn't do a very good job of being a true reflection of Jesus to them and now they are gone, gone to meet Him... Regret is a tough pill to swallow! I cannot go back and change even one detail of my past, I cannot undo or redo, no one can. But the ghosts are haunting me, so what can I do?...........

I can learn from them to be more intentional in my living now. More careful to accurately reflect Jesus to those who are in my life now. I can't go back to then, and I am not promised tomorrow, but I do have now. So now I will love, live, share, give, converse, speak, reflect, preach, teach, work, be... with absolute passion for Jesus and the people he allows to be in my life.

Twas the day after Christmas...

Twas the day after Christmas and all through the land, many creatures were stirring, some happy, some sad. Jon got that Wii he was wanting, but Anne stares at the neckless in disbelief, she thought for sure she'd get the "ring." Lines are already forming at customer service as gifts are returned, tempers are flaring, parking lots overflowing, the after Christmas sales are in full swing, but in a few days it will all be over and a new year will dawn.

Now I realize that Jesus Christ was not actually born on December 25th, probably not even in December at all, but since the church has chosen to celebrate His birth on December 25, shouldn't we focus more on Him and His mission during this season. I was listening to a favorite podcast this AM, one that was done a week or so back, and I loved it, it spoke to my heart, right up until the advertisement for sermon series, music projects, books, etc. that would make a perfect gift for my loved ones, or even as a way to reward myself this Christmas. My heart was pricked.

Jesus came to be the gift of God to a world in total need of a savior. During His teaching time with His disciples He laid out the mission He was on earth for. He came to seek and save the lost, to be sight to the blind, health for the sick, food for the hungry, clothing for the naked, and the blood covering for those stained with sin. He did not come to the religious, to exchange accolades, to simply offer new insights into the theological conversations of the scholars, or to further the course of the religious establishment of the day. Jesus came to make, to be, the ultimate sacrifice. It is His coming that we claim to celebrate on December 25th. I wonder how He feels about the way we in the American church have chosen to to celebrate Him? I wonder if our "generosity" to our families and friends, our focus on the "perfect gift," etc. moves Him. I do love my family, and I do hope to live generously toward them. How skewed it has become hit me though, when my wife and I had to search for a gift idea, because aunt Mary already has everything a human being needs and wants. After all if there is something she wants, she goes out and buys it. I started thinking about how abundantly blessed most of we Americans are, especially compared with many in the impoverished parts of our world. I noticed, really looked into the face of the homeless man I had passed on the street several times this "holiday season." I wonder would it warm Jesus' heart more if we were to opt to spend time with our family and friends, and invest our "gift giving money" into some area of the mission of Jesus. Would my December 25th be more honoring to Jesus if I reached out to the homeless in my city, to the hungry across town and around the world. I wonder if Jesus would be more pleased if I sacrificed for those in need, instead of exchanging gifts with others who have as much as I have. I wonder...