Thankful!

Since my hiatus from blogging we’ve given final exams at seminary and Bible school (much to my students dismay), taken a trip to Europe, a mission trip to Namibia, Africa, a ministry trip to Texas that included seeing family, and now getting ready for some meetings back home in Springfield. I can tell you this…it’s awesome sleeping my own bed!

Since our oldest is getting ready to head to college we wanted to really spend some quality family time together and have a blast. So I put my doctorate studies and everything else on hold and jumped in head first for a summer full of fun. I must admit, we have definitely had a blast but I’m ready for summer to be over! And a 16 hour plane ride across the Atlantic Ocean (to Africa and back) is not my idea of relaxation. But the time together has been priceless, and the mission work had an impact on everyone’s lives. What an enriching experience!

Over the course of the summer, the moments of thanking God for the blessing of a great family seem to come more frequently. I often reflect back on all the days of sowing into our children’s lives and secretly praying that they’ll still want to come and visit mom and dad even when they have moved out of the house and have families of their own. I’m overwhelmed at times by the shear realization of how blessed I am.

This realization comes as I sadly see others who have not fared so well. Family feuds, separations, and tragedy have marred the lives of far too many people. And even when I see (and sometimes experience) the hardships of life, I realize that God’s grace helps us through those times. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans in the book of Romans chapter 8, verse 28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

God has been working in my life through all the good and not-so-good times of my life. Through successes, failures, disappointments, and tragedy, God has always been there for me – and He wants you to know that He’ll be there for you if you let Him. Can you imagine…the God of the universe in your corner ready to help you at a moment’s notice? That’s just downright radical!

Are you in the zone?

While vacationing in Germany with my family we happened to ride the wonderful transit system that Germany enjoys. I knew the trains were very punctual and efficient since I had been stationed in Germany while in the Army many years ago (over 20), but knew I needed a little refresher course prior to hopping on. I visited with our hotel clerk and she shared the specifics of the automated ticket machines and the different "zones" you needed to specify when purchasing your ticket.

My German was rusty at best but I managed to understand enough to actually get us on the right train at the right time! So off I went to purchase our tickets. I had to enlist the services of a local patronage but finally got everything ready for the train. During this time I noticed that those folks who ride the train every day for work or leisure had no problem with the system and went through the necessary motions as though it was all second nature. I was reminded of places we had traveled to in ministry, like Washington, D.C., where people ride the subways everyday. They know the right trains to get on and what signs to look for - they know which "zone" they need to travel in - the blue line, red line, yellow line, green line. Whichever system of "zones" a community uses, the people gain an understanding of how it works.

As a minister, I began to think about spiritual "zones." I used to be in the "far from God" zone long ago and have seen others in a multitude of zones (since we all like to stereotype folks and place them in categories). I've seen the "religious" zone where everyone goes through the religious motions of doing what they think is right even when their heart isn't, as well as the Jesus fanatic zone and cynic zone. We've got the atheist zone, the deistic zone, the secular zone, and the relativism zone.

But I think there is a zone we all can experience and that's the Jesus zone (yeah, a bit corny but you understand what I mean I hope). Connecting with a God who cares about each of us through His son Jesus Christ doesn't mean we have to disconnect from reality. The Scriptures tell us that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalms 139:14). We can enter the work place or wherever God has placed us so that we can make a difference by our example. If we are fearfully and wonderfully made then we should realize that God only wants the very best for each of us.

I realize that bad things do happen to great people and that we do not live in a perfect world, but God truly does care about each and every one of us and longs to be a part of our world--but we have to let Him in. We have to choose whether we will willingly enter into his "zone" and allow Him to have leadership and Lordship of our lives. That's a daily challenge and may be why Jesus said that we had to pick up our cross daily. So what zone are you in? Every day is an opportunity to connect with God....will today be your day? I hope so!

Succes or Failure

As I boarded the small airplane on my way back home, I had the luck of being in seat “1B.” I wondered whether I would have a seatmate or have the whole section to myself, and I did not have to wait long until a nice young lady indicated that she would be occupying the seat next to me. I began to think of all the things I could say and the questions I could use to stir the conversation toward spiritual matters. After all, I had just finished reading a great book on apologetics and questioning evangelism—newly dubbed “conversational evangelism,” and was ready to engage. Sadly, the young lady began perusing her secular magazines and even when I tried asking interesting questions the conversation floundered.

After our small talk the stewardess brought beverages around and I settled in for some quality work time. I planned on typing up notes for a paper deadline and in the midst of getting everything situated I spilled some ice out of my cup. So I not only witnessed a conversation fissile, but I had now spilled some ice on my new-found, not-so-friendly seatmate’s feet. Luckily, the ice seemed to have landed on the floor of the airplane.

Toward the end of the flight as we started our final approach my new acquaintance discovered, much to my dismay, that apparently one piece of ice found its way into her open purse. I felt about three inches tall and apologized profusely; offering to get the stewardess’ personal supply of napkins if needed. The young lady brushed off the enormity of the situation, sharing that it was not a “big deal,” which obviously did not make me feel any better. I felt absolutely miserable with the results of my honest efforts at displaying proper airplane etiquette, and now to a much lesser degree, any evangelism opportunities that I had totally botched.

The reason I share this incident stems from our tendency as Christians to see evangelism as either success or failure. Success when gospel presentations culminate in prayers of salvation, and failure with anything less. But perhaps, as with my disastrous airplane flight, I merely needed to model Christianity at this stage in my seatmate’s spiritual journey. In the end God has called each of us to scatter seeds of faith, hope, and God’s love: allowing Him to take care of anything else that might be needed. Understanding the gospel obviously helps Christians share their faith when opportunities arise, but oftentimes demonstrating God’s love may be the most “successful” witness we can provide.