The Other Half

I had the good fortune during this past work week to actually sit down for lunch at a restaurant. Normally I'm on the go and eating on the run, so this was a welcome change.

Lately I've been eating much less than I usually do, so I decided for a something light by ordering a bowl of soup and half a sandwich. The soup of the day was split pea soup, one of my favorites, and I chose a half turkey sandwich to go with it. The split pea soup was the best I can ever remember having, even better than the famous soup up the coast of California near Solvang.

The half sandwich that arrived with the soup was absolutely huge. I'm glad it was just a half sandwich, because in the end, I couldn't finish it. As I began to tackle the task of consuming this monster sandwich, I noticed how cleanly cut it was when making it a half sandwich. I also noticed that for a sandwich that was buttery and toasty on the outside, it wasn't very warm. Then it dawned on me. I got a HALF sandwich. Did I get the first half or the other half?

The restaurant wasn't very crowded, maybe because it was just the top of the lunch hour, but there were about a half dozen tables occupied. So I thought to myself, did I get the first half that maybe sat a while before being served to me? Or did I get the other half that was waiting for someone to come along to claim it before who knows what would happen to it?

I'd like to think I came along to save this possibly unappreciated other half from some unsavory sort of demise. It wouldn't be cast off in the garbage to be tossed into a smelly refuse of a dumpster, or sent down to meet its gruesome end in the throes of spinning blades in a garbage disposal. (Do they have those in restaurants?)

No, it crossed the path of an appreciative and hungry man who enjoyed its wonderful taste and fulfilling character. This other half met with a happy ending... in my stomach.

Advisory

People like to be helpful. I think we all have this innate quality. We hear of someone's problem and we are ready, willing and able to fix it for them. Some are able to suppress this, whereas others should suppress it and don't.

As a man, I am told that we, as men, are the natural handymen and repairmen. When we are in conversation with women and hear their problems, we too often offer advice on how to fix them, when all they want to do is vent their problems. What we need to do is listen for a key question similar to this: "What do you think I should do?" Beware. This does not necessarily mean that you are now free to fix the problem. Feel her out. She still may be venting.

What is even more troublesome, though, is the good-natured person with good intentions that uses today's social media networks to give advice. There are those that like to post quotes and Scripture, as I do. I do this solely as a means to encourage someone. There may be someone out there in cyberspace, unknown to me, that could use what they read for their own personal situation.

Then there are those who seem to think they have training in counseling or psychology and freely give advice. Unfortunately, it's not clearly thought through and flawed. These are good-hearted people that just fall short in their intentions. Initially, it sounds good, but when you look more deeply at their advice the flaws are evident.

This is dangerous. It's a danger to those who are emotionally and spiritually vulnerable. To those who are doing this, I have just one simple request. STOP.

The Plunge

My bible Scripture this morning is -

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. - Philippians 1:21

Today is the day of my baptism.  Yes, I was baptized as an infant in the Roman Catholic church, but today I make the choice as an adult to make a public declaration that I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and that He died for my sins.  I believe that because He rose from the dead I have the promise of eternal life with Him in heaven.

A friend painted a picture of her baptism for me.  She said that as she was being lowered into the water, it signified her old self dying.  As she was totally immersed for just a moment it signified her old self being dead and buried.  When she was lifted out of the water it was her rebirth as a new creature in Christ.  What an awesome picture!

I don't know if I will have a revelation like that this morning.  I don't know that there will be any kind of change.  I know there will be people there that I love who also love me.  But there will also be others that don't know me or Jesus that will be witnessing this event and maybe God will touch their hearts and it will spur them on to make a decision.

I am excited about my baptism.  I also know that over the last few days up to this moment and up until I am actually baptized, there has been a power working against me in the spiritual realm.  The many prayers of my prayer warrior friends have put a hedge of protection around me to minimize the attacks as this power has attempted to keep me from being baptized.  I know I am not out of the woods yet, and there may be more attacks, but I have the assurance through the prayers of many that I am protected and God is in control.

Caring

A teen-aged boy says to his dad, "John's older brother is home from college and he's throwing a big party for the guys.  Can I go?"  His dad replies, "I don't care."

A young girl asks her mother, "Mom, can I go across the street and play with Mary?"  Her mom replies. "I don't care."

Have you heard similar conversations?  I sure have.  What message does this send?  What grows from this seed that's planted?

I absolutely despise the phrase "I don't care".  What do you mean you don't care?  What you're telling that little girl is "What you do doesn't matter to me."  What you're telling that teen-aged boy is "I don't care what happens to you."  What you're saying is "You are not important to me."  Is this the message that we want to give our children?  Really?  You don't matter to me?

If they've heard it once, the chances are that they've heard it many more times.  You learn things through repetition.  Remember how you learned the alphabet as a child?  It was through repetition.  Remember how you learned the multiplication tables?  It was through repetition.  How will a child learn that he's not valued?  By hearing "I don't care" repeatedly.

What is sad is that I see this carried into adulthood.  The seed that was planted in the child has grown into a weed in the adult's life.  They've become apathetic.  They don't care.  They don't take pride in their work.  They don't take pride in their relationships.  Ultimately, they have no pride in themselves.

Do you see people like this around you?  How about the co-worker that just doesn't get the job done right?  There's always some loose ends that someone else has to tie up, or the quality of work just falls short of what was required.  What about the friend that does a little dance while back-peddling after being caught in a lie?  Kids that constantly hear "I don't care" turn into adults that don't care.

So how is this changed?

Faithfulness

Tuesday morning.  I was getting ready for another day of challenges at work and an evening of celebrating the completion of a ten week bible study with almost three hundred other people.  I checked my emails one final time before heading off to work and saw an unexpected one.

There was a need for drivers to help take twenty, and possibly even more, kids from one of my church's outreach centers to the movies.  Only two had responded with a commitment to help drive the kids.  It only took an instant for me to respond and to volunteer to help drive the kids to the movies.  I knew in my heart that sacrificing the time of celebration for these kids was the right thing to do.  Throughout the day there were several emails posted but no mention of any more drivers.

At the end of my work day, I went to see my bible study group leader to let him know about what I was doing.  He said he thought that I was making the wrong decision.  He told me that the celebration dinner was just a one time event, but there would be many other opportunities to help the kids.  I thought to myself that this was an immediate need to help and serve, something that we had talked about and experienced in our study.  How could I rationalize a party being more important than helping with these kids?  He finally said that he understood my heart and why I was choosing my decision.

I headed to the outreach center.  On the way there was a voice telling me that I was making the wrong choice, but it was giving me selfish reasons.  You're not going to enjoy a dinner with people that you have shared experiences with over the last ten weeks.  They're going to take a group picture, and you're not going to be in it after being there faithfully each week.  It's the last time that the group will meet, but you're not going to be there, so you can't say that you were at every meeting.  Because of this, I knew I was making the right decision.

I arrived at the center thirty minutes early and just hung around the office.  About fifteen minutes later I stepped outside and noticed there were four adults standing around waiting.  Then more showed up.  It looked like there would be just enough drivers there to take all thirty-two of the children to the movies.  Groups of children were assigned to different adults and they were gathering at the vehicles, but none had been assigned to me.  I thought to myself that I may be able to go to the dinner if there weren't any more kids hiding somewhere.  There weren't and I was not needed after all.

So I jumped into my car, called my bible study leader and let him know that I was on my way and would be a little late.  He was excited to hear the news.  It was 6:20 and the dinner started at 6:30 and I was probably thirty to forty-five minutes away in southern California rush hour traffic.  Between the center and the freeway on-ramp, I hit three red lights.  This was not a good start.

If you know the 55 and 405 freeways in southern California, you now they are horrendous during rush hour.  I was expecting the worst.  I got on the 55 and actually flew down to the 405 interchange.  On the interchange I saw that the 405 was moving pretty well.  The normal back-up was not there.  I continued flying to the off-ramp that I needed and saw that the back-up started just past the off-ramp.  From the off-ramp to the church's entrance there are nine traffic lights.  Every one was green.  Yes, every single one!  The trip only took twenty minutes!

I was stoked and shared the events of the afternoon with the group.

Why did this all happen?  I suspect that there was at least one person that prayed for me to be at the dinner, but it was about my faithfulness and God's faithfulness.  I was faithful in making the right decision to serve the needy.  God was faithful in blessing me for my choice and getting me to the dinner just ten minutes late.  It's about the faithfulness of a loving God who takes care of His faithful.

A faithful man will be richly blessed. - Proverbs 28:20

Lukewarm

Over the years, I've known many "pick and choose" Christians. They pick and choose what they want to believe in the Bible to validate their choices in life. They also disregard other parts of the Bible so they would not be called out by them. God calls people like this "lukewarm".


     I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. - Revelation 3:15-16


These Christians are hot about some parts of the Bible and cold about others. Here's an example:


     You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination. - Leviticus 18:22 AMP

This has become a contentious issue over the last few years. The argument from some Christians about this issue is that this is victimless. No one really gets hurt by doing this. Everyone has a right to love who they choose. This goes beyond that.  It's talking about "lie"ing or having sex between the same gender. Then they totally disregard the second part of this Scripture.


Abomination as defined at www.answers.com is:

     1. Extreme hostility and dislike  2. An object of extreme dislike.


God dislikes homosexuality to the extreme. I believe another word for this is hate. Because He does, it's a sin. He designed it to be only between a man and a woman. Remember Adam and Eve? It was Adam and EVE and not Adam and EVAN for a reason. Although we enjoy it, it was designed for procreation.


Some will argue that the Scripture from Leviticus was only a directive from God for the Levites or priests of the Old Testament, but this is what is said in 1 Peter 2:9:


     But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.


We Christians are the "priesthood"; we are the priests.


God doesn't want us to be wishy-washy about Him. We need to be in complete agreement and hot for Him, or cold and against Him. He is good with that, but being lukewarm is distasteful to Him. Ever have anything in your mouth that was absolutely awful? What did you do? You spit it out. That is what He will do with distasteful, lukewarm Christians.

Free Will

^{Jeremiah 1:5a} "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart."

^{Matthew 10:30} And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

^{Matthew 12:25a} Jesus knew their thoughts...

I loved spending time with my daughters as they were growing up.  Looking back, I realized that how they would react to certain situations became predictable.  It's because they were my children and I had an intimate relationship with them, teaching them about cause and effect and the consequences of our actions.

I've never been to seminary or claim to be a bible scholar, but this has been weighing on my heart over the last few days.  A few years ago, my best friend and I had a great conversation about free will.  I really didn't have an opinion about it then, but over time and reading Scripture, I've come to this conclusion, although I could be wrong.

Do we have free will?  The answer is a qualified yes.

Scripture tells us that God knows us intimately.  He knows everything about us.  I believe He knows everything about everything.  The word for that is omniscient, meaning all-knowing.  He knew us before He created us in the womb.  He knew what our DNA and genetic make up was going to be.  He wired us to be the individuals that we are.  He knew every detail about us, down to the number of hairs on our heads, and even how many hairs would be left after fifty-four years in my case.  He even knows our thoughts.  There is absolutely nothing that He doesn't know about us.

I knew what choices my daughters would make, or how they would react in certain situations.  God knows us, but much better than how I knew my daughters.  We are His children.  So we can make our choices out of our free will, but God knows us so well that He already knew we would make those choices.

Many think we live in a complicated and chaotic world, but I say that the Great Architect, the Great Planner has designed all of this and all the actions, reactions, and interactions.  God knew before creation what your thoughts were going to be at this very moment, and that you were going to be reading this at this very moment.  Not only you, but He knew what everybody else on this planet would be doing at this moment.  Not just us, but everyone else before us in time and everyone to come.  This is staggering.  This is overwhelming.  This is the omniscience of God.

There will be those that scoff at this and say I'm absolutely wrong, and I've already made that concession.  But think about it.  Many of us have made the claim that God is omniscient.  I don't believe we can fully and completely believe that if we attach any stipulations to it.  If we do, we diminish the power of God.  We make Him smaller than what He really is.  The God that I know is big.... REALLY BIG!

The UnForgiving

A few weeks ago, I just totally blew it.  I was absolutely rude to a group of people at a party when I tried to squeeze my fat butt into a seat in a crowded area forcing the people at an adjoining table to move elsewhere.

This was not the first time that I've ever screwed up.  God only knows how many times in my life I've done things like this.  I was taught at a very early age to apologize for the things that I was sorry for, and even the things I wasn't sorry for.

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. - Matthew 6:14-15 NIV

Since I didn't know when I was going to see any of the people at that table next, I emailed someone who is a respected leader at my church that was at that table, a letter of apology asking for forgiveness three days later. That was twelve days ago and I haven't received a response.

Some slanderous remarks were made against me a few years ago.  They came from someone that I respected as a mature Christian.  The allegations were derived from misconstrued remarks taken out of context. I apologized for the misconceptions, though not my fault, and asked for forgiveness.  As it is repeatedly brought back up, I continue to ask for forgiveness.

Forgiveness is not easy.  We've been hurt.  Someone has robbed us of our joy and even our integrity.  We've been shamed.  The command is clear.  If we desire the forgiveness of God, we must forgive those who have sinned against us.

As Christians, we claim the forgiveness of God through the death of Jesus for our sins.  So aren't Christians SUPPOSED to forgive?  Aren't they supposed to be different from an unforgiving world?  The answer to both is "Yes".  So why do mature Christians and Christians in leadership positions withhold forgiveness?

I don't know.  Clearly, that goes against what God desires of us.  All I can do is to forgive those who have not forgiven me, just as God has forgiven me.  That is the mandate.  That is love.

Revelation Learned Part 1

Today at my church, I began a journey to finally understand the book of Revelation in the Bible. To many, including myself, this book has been very challenging because of the symbolism throughout the book. For the next seven weeks though, our senior pastor will be taking us on a journey through the first three chapters of the book to help us understand what lies in them.

The points I learned today are:

• Jesus is not a mild-mannered Clark Kent but a mixed martial arts fighter
• Jesus has paid the debt that I owe
• Jesus death and resurrection guarantees that I will not have to face judgement like non-believers

In the very first verse it states "The revelation of Jesus Christ". This book is the "revealing" or "unveiling" of who Jesus Christ really is. He is the "firstborn of the dead". There were others that were raised from the dead, for example Lazarus, but Jesus was the only one to have been raised from the dead and not die a final time. He is not just the meek and mild-mannered forgiver portrayed throughout the majority of the New Testament. That is just one side of who He really is. This book will reveal the Jesus that will come to judge those who have not accepted Him as their Lord and personal Savior. What stands out for me in the description of Jesus in verses thirteen through sixteen are His eyes and tongue. His eyes are described as being "like blazing fire" and his tongue like a "sharp double-edged sword". These are characteristics of someone sure to be kicking some butt.

Jesus "loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood". This is just another portion of Scripture that explains that Jesus loves us. God loves us so much that He came to live with us as a man in the person of Jesus, to die for us and our sins on the cross. Our sin no longer condemns us. We are free.

Jesus has said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father BUT through me." {Emphasis added.) This statement simply states that the only way into heaven is by way of Jesus. That way is by accepting Him as your Lord and personal Savior. It's not accepting that He IS Lord and Savior, but that He is YOUR Lord and personal Savior. By accepting Him, He bought all that have, their ticket into heaven. There may even be a will call window at the pearly gates with their name on the list for tickets.

Being nice will not get anyone into heaven. Good deeds will not get anyone into heaven. Being philanthropical will not get anyone into heaven. When Jesus comes with eyes of fire and a sharp double-edged sword for a tongue, He will use these to judge those who have not accepted Him. The fire will illuminate and expose, and the sword will cut through to the core of all the good things done. Nothing will be hidden, and everything will be exposed. If there is just the smallest amount of tarnish on one of these, heaven will be denied.

The bottom line is this: I have accepted Jesus as MY Lord and PERSONAL Savior. Jesus died for my sins, so I am forgiven and the slate has been wiped clean of my sins. The slate is clean so there is nothing to be judged about. My entry into heaven IS secure. Thank you Jesus!

Extremism

"And live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."-Ephesians 5:2 NIV

There was a time in my life not too long ago when I rode the bus on a daily basis. One day I was at a layover and saw a man, whom I will call John, approach another, whom I will call Paul, for a handout to get something to eat for dinner. Paul reached into his right rear pants pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened up his wallet, pulled out a five dollar bill, and handed it to John. John was grateful and said, "God bless you." He thanked Paul and walked away.

The next day, Paul got off the bus with me at the same layover. John was there again and he approached just like the day before, asking for a handout. Paul reached into his back pocket, just like the day before, and pulled out his wallet. He opened it up, but this time he pulled out every single bill that he had in it and gave it to John. I didn't see every bill, but I can tell you the amount was substantial.

John stood there stunned. I'm sure he expected to get another five dollar bill, just enough for something to eat again that night. Instead, he got much more. John tried to give some of it back to Paul, but Paul would have none of it. John said, "God bless you." Then there was a sheepish utterance of gratitude from John as he slowly walked away. That would be the last time we ever saw John.

What Paul did was an offering and sacrifice to God. He gave to a person he didn't know, but just like Jesus, he gave out of love. Jesus didn't know you or me when He gave Himself as a sacrificial lamb to die for our sins on the cross. He was human. He was not God, but the Son of God.

God wants us to live a life of love. He wants us to love one another. He wants our love to be uncomfortable. He wants us out of our comfort zone. He wants our love to be extreme. He wants our love to be a sacrifice and an offering.

I don't know what Paul's financial situation was, but to me, what he did was an extreme. There John was, asking Paul for help, and Paul cleaned out his wallet. Would you clean out your wallet for somebody you didn't know?