by Donald | Jan 14, 2013 | Blog
“O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?” (Habakkuk 1: 2 ESV).
Christians, perhaps above all people, should not need reminding that our world is full of trouble. Chock full. After all, our Lord and Savior told us clearly that “in this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33b) even as He was promising us the gift of peace. Trouble is inescapable, coming uninvited in so many ways: as a natural disaster, as disease, as accident, as a sad and sorry twist of fate, and as evil.
But knowing we live in a “fallen world” cannot assuage the assault of incredulity and grief of children being killed at a kindergarten in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. We cry out “violence!” and sadness overwhelms us. I heard the report on the radio and sobbed. Herod’s slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem was one of the first thoughts that crossed my mind. Evil, it seems, has a long memory.
I do not know if there is any easy way to get a sane mind around evil. Habakkuk couldn’t. I can’t. Can you?
In the face of evil we can only cling to goodness and to the promise of peace.
There is one story in the Bible that pinpoints God’s awareness of evil and His plans to set all things right. On a certain occasion, Jesus decided to take a boat ride across the lake with His Disciples. While Jesus slept in the stern, a furious storm attacked the boat. Frantic with fear, the Disciples believed all was lost and they cried out to Jesus. Jesus rebuked the storm. It stopped.
Reaching the far shore, the group was accosted by a tormented and violent man possessed by a legion of demons. Jesus cast them out from the man, saving him. The demons entered into a herd of pigs, causing the herd to stampede and drown in the lake. The man, released from evil, sat quietly at Jesus’ feet.
All the villagers who saw this episode, and the townsfolk who heard about it, asked Jesus to leave. Goodness can be bold, but it is not intrusive. Jesus and the Disciples got back into their boat and went home.
I wonder what the Disciples were thinking, watching the shoreline disappear from view. Have you ever gone through an experience where the whole point seemed pointless? Can’t you hear them ask, “Why cross the lake and risk a storm? Why cross the lake to a people who do not care about your message of love, your message of hope, your message of freedom?”
These seem to be fair questions. Since many of these men were fishermen, perhaps they said, “Well, at least we caught one.”
How much is a soul worth?
On that far shore was one soul who needed Jesus, and Jesus went to save him. Jesus got into a boat for one person and cared nothing about weather and adversity and evil and that makes a profound difference in how I respond to this life of woe and senseless tragedy.
Jesus was teaching His Disciples valuable lessons on that particular journey. The journey exposed the Disciples to human frailty, human need, human indifference, and the unmistakable reality of evil. Later the Disciples would connect the dots and become acutely aware of the lengths He would travel to save the one. They would again confront evil firsthand; having seen it on a distant shore driving pigs into the sea, now it was driving nails into God’s hands and feet on Calvary’s mountain.
The stakes are very high when evil takes hold of a world. And Jesus still crosses over storm-tossed seas to find us when violence clothes our world.
In ignorance I used to fear the words, “Come, Lord Jesus.” Now, I plead them. Send evil into the sea and heal our world; heal the broken hearted.
Amen
by Donald | Jan 1, 2013 | Blog
“For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish” (Psalm 1:6).
Where I live, January is an imposter. The dark and dreariness of winter hardly bothers us here in New Orleans where the probability of sunshine stands at 46 percent and the average temperature is 53 degrees Fahrenheit, and that is a shame. It is beneficial to be reminded by a quick glance out the window that winter will come to each of us someday, and it will come on its own terms—we cannot control the seasons of our life any more than we can control the natural weather.
Like winter in New Orleans, our lives can stand as imposters, too. Our rank, our responsibility, our ambitions, and our fortune can enchant us to believe we are to be found and considered worthy of love, or respect, in what we do, or what we possess, rather than in what we believe, or to be more precise, than in Whom we believe. It is easy to become self-absorbed and self-identified in our work and in the “trappings” of our lives. Charles Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge is hateful to us, but he is not so much a caricature as to be unrecognizable.
America’s great poet, Robert Frost, spoke of “two roads” that “diverged in yellow wood.” Frost reminds us that our choices matter. The Psalmist speaks to us in the dead of winter about two types of men: one is destined to live in winter and the other in spring where his “leaf does not wither.”
What distinguishes each of them? For the Psalmist, the answer is found in having and desiring to have a personal relationship with God.
One of them knows God and the other knows Him not. One longs to spend time with God and the other mocks Him. One stands under God’s blessings; one stands under judgment. Christians know that once, each of us sat in the seat of mockers, under judgment. But Christians also know that hope exists, even for the sinner. Jesus Christ made that possible. “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4).
It is a New Year, and the work that will occupy us as leaders in the days and weeks ahead is important work. Christians know that what we do in life truly matters in the big scheme of things. And in this time of reflection and planning for achieving goals and objectives in the New Year, ask yourself this question: “If God were trying to speak with me today, how would He get my attention?” Wisdom is found in listening to God.
In the midst of winter, the Psalmist sings of spring, of bearing fruit in season and leaves that do not wither. Such is the life-giving, breath-taking, awesome wonder of the God who is Creator and who is still creating newness of life in those He loves. Find yourself in Him, and everyone you meet will get the sense of spring.
by Donald | Dec 18, 2012 | Blog
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34 ESV).
We ought to be fearful of answering a knock on our door because often standing behind it is either opportunity or trouble. These uninvited visitors demand our consideration and will redirect our efforts and resources from what had, just moments before, been “important work.”
Opportunity and trouble, it seems, occupy two sides of the same coin.
Business leadership that is “distinctively Christian” in its attitude and focus is not immune from knocks on the door. Yesterday, trouble knocked on my business’s door, bringing all the “troublesome” elements of anxiety—threat of monetary losses, absorption of time previously expected to be expended on brighter projects, friendship injured, trust called into question, confusion, anger, and a sense of helplessness.
A Christian’s attitude about life does not eliminate the buffets of trouble nor keep us from experiencing normal emotions. Our Christian attitude, however, can give us perspective and peace—promises of our Savior.
What will result from trouble’s call on my business is unclear, but here are seven positive “truths” about trouble that will shape my response and dampen my anxiety about outcomes:
- Trouble is always a “test” (defined as something that determines the value or nature of something). Tests help us discover what God knows about us—undiscovered insights about our character and faith, and possibly the presence of idols or strongholds in our life.
- Trouble is a warning; its urgency may surprise us, but we must heed its call.
- Trouble has always and will always strengthen us.
- Trouble often is judgment on our actions. Judgment is not pleasant but is as integral to the knowledge of right and wrong as sweetness is to sugar.
- Trouble always has one outcome: it transforms us into a closer likeness of Jesus.
- Trouble calls our attention to God, revealing Him and teaching us to both trust and fear Him.
- Trouble brings glory to God. Always.
It is this last point that gives me the most encouragement. Glory comes to God in the midst of troubles because our errors point to His righteousness; His judgment on our wrong actions point to His Holiness; when He restrains judgment it points to His mercy, compassion, patience, and grace; and when trouble causes us to repent of our behaviors, we are given Jesus.
Trouble reveals the glory of God. The song, I Can Only Imagine (Mercy Me), describes being surrounded by the glory of God:
“Surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for you Jesus, or in awe of you be still? Will I stand in your presence, or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing Hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine.”
Surrounded by God’s glory, trouble becomes invisible and “we are more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37).
by Donald | Dec 12, 2012 | Blog
The video link is from an interview I did with Teena Myers (http://blog.nola.com/faith/teena_l_myers/). Teena is a Christian author who also looks for opportunities to interview “everyday” Christians about how they came to know Christ. Last spring, I had the opportunity to meet with Teena and recount part of my journey as a Christian. I appreciate her gracious offer to allow me to share our interview with you.
[youtube id=”oi58EANBot4″ width=”600″ height=”350″]
by Donald | Dec 12, 2012 | Blog
“Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones“(Proverbs 16:24 NKJV).
Chastisement of another is sometimes necessary. In the Christian community, the phrase “speak the truth in love” posits that admonishing or rebuking another is best accomplished when flowing from characteristics of truth and love as opposed to anger or retribution. But we can also choose to “speak truth and love” in better circumstances. Here is what I mean.
What attributes of Jesus come most quickly to your mind when you consider His time on earth, His ministry, and His interaction with people? John describes God as “love” (1 John 4:8b), so one attribute of Jesus must be love personified.
Paul, when encouraging Christians to live by the Holy Spirit described a Spirit filled life as one characterized by “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23), clearly attributes of Jesus.
Luke informs us that “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52 NKJV) when describing Jesus’ childhood. Jesus exhibited zeal and righteous anger when He cleared the Temple (Luke19:45), and often chastised the religious leaders for their hypocrisy, lack of compassion for others, and legalism (Cf. Luke 5:21-24, 6:1-11, and 11:17-54). His death on the cross revealed His mercy, humility, obedience to God, and His willingness to forgive others who sinned against Him.
But there is one characteristic that seldom gets attention: Jesus never hesitated to extend compliments to others. Here is a partial list of Jesus complimenting people: Peter (Matthew 16:17), the widow at the Temple (Mark 12:43), the Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:10), woman with issuance of blood (Matthew 9:22), Nathanael (John1:47), Zacchaeus (Luke 19:9b), Mary and the expensive jar of perfume (Mark 14:6-9), John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11a).
There is a remarkable distinction between flattery and compliments. Flattery has as a motive receiving something back from the recipient. Jesus did not flatter others. Jesus was quick to truthfully identify positive behaviors and character traits in others, and He complimented others publicly so that they were uplifted and encouraged. Jesus sought nothing in return. There is no surprise here—Jesus came to save the lost—His work, focused on changing and transforming lives, included loving people in their finest moments, and in their worst.
Jesus is truth. Jesus is love. Every time He spoke, He literally spoke the truth in love.
Words of encouragement, when delivered with truth and love, can change lives. As a Christian business leader, being alert to identify the good in others—in work, behavior, appearance, talent, and deeds—emulates Jesus. Speaking the truth in love honors His desire that we “grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).
