As a kid I always hated
this time of year. There’s a mental shift once the calendar gets close to
rolling over from August to September. Even if the temperature is in the 80s or
90s, the pool’s still closed after Labor Day. All the fun and relaxed schedules
of summer come to an end, and it’s time to once again get into the routine of a
new academic year.
As an adult I look
forward to this time of year. The heat and humidity of summer (ever so
slightly) start to fade, it becomes safer to venture outside without breaking
into a sweat, and football season starts up again.
It’s a time of new routines.
Once you’re set in a
routine, it becomes difficult to make changes to it. My guess is that if you
regularly attend a church, there are either end-of-summer events going on right
now or a series of kickoff events for various ministry programs coming up in
the next month.
My challenge to you: be
intentional about designing your Fall schedule. If you’re like most people, you
probably don’t have a whole lot of extra time. If you’re interested in a Bible
Study, some kind of home group, or discipleship class that’s starting up soon,
you’re not likely to join it once it’s already been meeting for a month or two.
If you want to make it happen, do what you’ve got to do so you’re at the
kickoff event or the first meeting.
Hello Fall
I know it doesn’t seem
like it now, but in about six weeks you’re probably not going to be willing to
commit to an ongoing gathering because Thanksgiving is right around the corner.
After that December starts and, well, we all know how busy that month can be,
so you won’t be able to jump in to anything new until a few weeks into the new
year.
Whoa! In two sentences,
four months flew by! I meant for this to be a little ridiculous, but I suspect
it also rings true for a lot of people. The sole point of this post is that you
can’t just let life “happen” to you; you have to take control of your calendar
and wrangle it so that you set yourself up to spend time doing the things you
want to be doing.
The end of summer is a
great time to look ahead. By all means celebrate the fun memories you’ve made
over the past few months, but if you spend too much time looking backward, your
schedule will be dictated for you.
I’ve got three kids.
I’ve had my share of seeing one or more of them knowing that they ought to tell me something, even though they
don’t want to.
You can see the nervous fidgeting, their eyes looking anywhere but at you, and you know right away that the longer they take to tell you, the worse the irreversible damage might be somewhere. Did they flush something weird down the toilet and now it’s clogged and overflowing all over the floor? Did they pick up a fish from the fishbowl and accidentally drop it on the floor? Did they accidentally hurt their brother or sister, who now needs help in a hurry?
Your mind goes crazy
thinking about all the things that could
be wrong, and all you want to do is find out the truth so you can take
immediate action if you need to. As the kiddo stands there, searching for the
right way to break the news to Dad, it’s maddening to see them slow down even
further, hinting at things to gauge how Dad reacts to different approaches. On
the inside you’re screaming “just TELL me already!”, but you know that will
stall the truth even more, so you have to cover any appearance of urgency and
gently coax it out of them without looking mad.
Have you ever been in a
situation like that? All you want is the truth. It might be at the doctor’s
office after some test results come back. You see them start to hem and haw,
uncertain about the best way to deliver the news. All the uncertainty you’ve
been wrestling with has created more anxiety, and all you want to do is yell
“just TELL me already!”
Have you ever felt that
way on a grander scale? Not just for a blip during your past, but over a much
longer span of time. You’ve had your ups and downs, but it feels like there
ought to be more. Maybe you have a nice family, a nice house, you even have a
great career, but it still feels like something’s missing, or that you’re waiting
for the other shoe to drop. What’s this life all about? You don’t even care how
it’s going to make you feel; you just want someone to tell you the rest of the
story.
Well if you want it,
here it is.
You’re not good enough.
I’m not talking about not being good enough at your job, at being a nice person, or at not burning the crust in the oven. I’m talking big picture. When everyone, including you, was born, they were set on a course that does not lead to Heaven. And why? Because nobody’s perfect. Heaven only accepts perfection. Even if folks are good people that lead good, moral lives, after this life they are headed for eternal suffering and anguish. It’s not good news, but this is the sound of the other shoe dropping. If you don’t believe in the afterlife, I understand how it might sound kooky. Here’s the thing though…have you ever been on the other side of death?
There’s good news about
all this: there is a sure way to change course. There is a way out of this default
eventuality.
You’ve heard the name
Jesus Christ. You may even have said it a few times, but who is He? He’s God’s Son…the
power of God incarnate…all the power of God in human form. If He lived in
Heaven, why would God show up as a person on Earth?
It’s kind of an odd answer: to withstand your punishment and serve your sentence on your behalf. Christ was perfect and fulfilled all of God’s laws flawlessly, but was wrongfully accused and executed. He spent a full day in Hell, taking my place, taking your place, taking the sweet grandma down the street’s place, taking the death row inmate’s place. Then He conquered it: He came back to life the third day after His death. By doing this He broke the power of Hell. Out of love, Jesus Christ now extends a hand to everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, orientation, national origin, regardless of everything. None of that matters, because each of those people falls short of perfection. By accepting His invitation, you switch sides…you’re no longer destined for eternal suffering and sorrow regarding this missed opportunity. People that take His hand are clothed in His perfection; they are destined instead for a joyous future in God’s presence alongside others that have made the same decision.
Some will tell you that
many roads lead to Heaven. I’m sorry, but that’s simply not accurate. A
relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way to ensure an eternity in Heaven.
He even said so in John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Now I just want to
explain something. My writing is simply not compelling enough to convince
people to make this decision. If you feel something tugging at your mind and
heart, though, that’s God working on you. I’m just the method He’s using to
reach you. Please don’t ignore the pull…Christ can whisper to you, but He won’t
force you to switch sides. You don’t have anything to lose, but you have
everything to gain.
Maybe you’ve never
prayed before, but if you’re open to this, pray this prayer along with me:
Dear Jesus…thank you so
much for loving me even when I don’t deserve you at all. Lord, come into my life,
change me, break me, make me new, make me whole…forgive me. Purify my heart.
Jesus I believe you died on the cross and rose again three days later. You are
my savior and one day I will live with You forever. But meanwhile, help me to
stand for you. To shine for you, to make a difference and let your truth be
known. Use me Lord, Holy Spirit fill me to overflowing. I love you so much! In
Jesus’ name, amen.
If you’re not quite ready for that, but you’re open to hearing more, I encourage you to listen to this man’s story. We’ve heard of instances where people die for a few moments on the operating table, only to be revived and tell stories of a brief vision of Heaven. But what if we got a brief view of Hell? It’s a remarkable story.
For those with a little less time (or for more encouragement after the first video), have a listen to this song. It conveys why Jesus would give up everything…because the Savior of the World would rather die than live without you.
Even if you’re skeptical about all this, please consider passing this on. If you’re already on board, please share it either by posting it in your social media or by forwarding this link: https://daregreatlynow.com/?p=650
Eternity hangs in the
balance. Will you see someone in Heaven because you helped them get there?
We live in a capitalist
country that’s driven by creativity and innovation. “The way we’ve always
done it” only lasts until someone comes up with a better way to do it.
Did you know that Kodak
invented the world’s first digital camera in 1975? Even though it doesn’t sound
right, that’s true. But the digital cameras that we know didn’t become popular
until the late 1990s or early 2000s. Why such a discrepancy? You’ll never
believe it. Kodak sat on the technology because executives thought it would
drive them out of the film business.
Back when film was the
way we did pictures, Kodak had a major market share of that industry. The
company let one of its employees try some hare-brained experiment with digital
technology, and he was actually able to take digital pictures in the lab.
Rather than play this hand and better position itself for the future, Kodak
focused only on the present business environment and buried the technology.
Instead of looking where it could go, it tried to prevent the present day from
turning into tomorrow.
There are many
Christians guilty of the same line of thinking. I understand that traditions
are very important, but that doesn’t give license to sacrifice effort to reach
people with the news of what Christ has done for them. The church should not be
the guardian of tradition unless the tradition we’re talking about is inventing
new ways to reach the lost. Solidify evangelism as the tradition, then foster
and encourage new ways of doing it.
The church is not made
of buildings, it’s made of people. The way people in society interact today is
different from the way they interacted 10, 20, or 30 years ago. Looking forward
from where we are now, the way people interact will likely continue to change
in the future. Speaking generally, Millenials or members of Generation Z think
and interact much differently from Baby Boomers or the Silent Generation. Is it
something to bemoan? Maybe, maybe not; I think it’s just the reality to which
we must adapt. It’s an opportunity for Christians to innovate new methods by
which they spread the news. Christians should think like corporate marketers:
how can we spread the message of Christ in an effective manner?
By way of example, one
of my spiritual gifts is exhortation, and one of my talents is writing. A
hundred years ago, that combination would result in something that looks very
different from the blog I write today. Back then it might have been a regular
column in a newspaper or magazine, or maybe a book of some kind. The modern
version is something that’s available for anyone in the world to see. While the
methods are different, the goal is the same: encourage readers to live a life
of higher impact for Christ using the gifts, talents, and resources entrusted
to them. In light of that example, visualize the things you can do, and how you
can do them differently than the way they’ve already been done.
As long as we spread
the message, it will take root where and when God wants it to. We’re commanded
to spread the word and make disciples of all nations, including our own. In a
world where everything is relative, there are people that are hungry for truth.
What part will you play in delivering that truth to them?
Programming note: between Memorial Day and Labor
Day, I’ll be cutting back to posts once a week for most of the time. It’s too
early to tell, but that might become permanent. Thanks for reading!
In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus tells a few
different parables to describe the period of time where we wait for the second
coming. After telling a story about not knowing when it will occur, He launches
into a story about how we’re supposed to act while we’re waiting. It’s the
parable of the talents.
In this case a talent is not a “skill.”
Here it’s a weight measurement. Before coins were used widely, it was common to
use measures of weight for paying amounts of precious metals during
transactions. A talent is about 75 pounds, and the most common precious metal
used back then was silver. In the context of the passage, we can consider a
talent about 20 year’s worth of minimum wage.
Jesus wants to drive home a point each
time He uses a parable. In this one He’s stressing that it’s important not to
rest on our laurels in terms of building God’s kingdom while we pass through this
life. In the story we have a rich man who’s heading out of town for an
undetermined amount of time. He calls three of his servants together and
entrusts each of them with a large amount of money (five talents, two talents,
or one talent), each according to his ability. Each servant is to work at
growing the value of the money he’s been entrusted with while the master is
away.
The master eventually returns, and he
calls everyone together to see what they’ve been able to accomplish. Both the
five-talent and the two-talent servants had gone out, worked hard, and doubled
the boss’s money, and he praised them both for it. The third guy hadn’t even
tried. He went out and hid the money, rather than even bother to put it in the
bank where the boss could collect interest off of the deposit. The one-talent
servant started making excuses, portraying himself as being afraid of the
ruthless opportunist that he calls his master.
“So let me get this straight,” says the
master. “You think I’m a ruthless opportunist…you fear what I’m going to do
when I find out how little you’ve done…and still
the best you can do is dig a hole and hide the money in the ground somewhere?
You didn’t even take the time to go put it in the bank so I could collect
interest?” The master takes the talent from this guy, who has proven himself
incapable of handling this amount of responsibility, and gives it to the
five-talent (now 10-talent) servant, who has demonstrated his ability to handle
it.
There are a few things I think are
interesting about this parable.
First off, the two diligent servants
received exactly the same reward, even though they brought different amounts
for their boss. This demonstrates that the reward is based on faithfulness, not
results. No matter how little (or how much) you have, be faithful with it. Even
if you don’t think it’s much, God can do big things with it if you devote it to
God’s plan (remember that Christ used a kid’s lunch to feed a crowd of at least
5,000). It’s important to remember that the master gave to them according to their ability. No matter
how much you’ve got, be faithful with it.
Secondly, this parable illustrates the idea that as you prove yourself capable of handling responsibility, you’re entrusted with more of it. When the master gave to them according to their ability, he did it with at least the partial intent to develop and grow their ability. Remember that God doesn’t need to see you demonstrate your ability to do something; He already knows better than you what you’re capable of. Demonstrating an ability to handle responsibility is more for you than for Him. At the end of this parable, there was a servant with 11 talents, a servant with four talents, and a servant with no talents. Just from the few verses we see about these men, we know that the first two didn’t always oversee the amount they eventually ended up with. Looking at your own life, have you grown in trust and capability, to the point where you can look back at past experiences and see how they helped lead to areas of greater responsibility later in life? With your current level of faithfulness, might you one day be placed in charge of 20, or even 50 talents?
This is a parable about the tragedy of missed opportunities. Our King, the master in the parable, is coming one day. We’ll be called to account for the things that have been entrusted to us, and we’ll be held responsible for the faithfulness we’re now demonstrating. In light of that accounting, will you be happy to see the Master return, or are there changes you need to make first?
Matthew 25:14-30 (ESV) 14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
A view of Earth rising above the lunar surface during Apollo 8
When I was a kid I
wanted to be an astronaut. I loved learning about the space race of the 1960s
and 70s, and at one point I knew the name and assigned crew position of every
Apollo astronaut that flew on a mission during the Apollo Program.
In 1961 the Americans
had barely touched space. America’s first man in space, Alan Shepard, didn’t
even complete an orbit; the weak rocket he used only got him high enough to
kiss the edge of space. The Soviets had already sent their first Cosmonaut into
orbit, and this launch was a weak American response, barely doing enough to
keep us in the race. Less than three weeks later, American President Kennedy
threw down the audacious goal of beating the Soviets in a manned mission to the
moon before the end of the decade, as a way of establishing American
preeminence in space.
Thus began a harrowing
eight or nine years for NASA. It had to not only figure out the best strategy
for meeting the goal, but it also had to develop skills and equipment that didn’t
exist.
The process moved fast
and grew increasingly complex with time. First NASA sent up one astronaut at a
time, and the longest that any mission stayed up was just over a day. Then it
started launching two astronauts at a time. They started to do spacewalks, to
rendezvous with other orbiting objects, and to see if a capsule and crew could
physically last for the two weeks in space that it would take to make it to the
moon and back. Finally, it was time for the Apollo missions, which carried
three men and the ability to use a lunar lander that would be used to land on
the moon.
By all measures, Apollo
was a beast of a program. The spacecraft systems’ subsystems had subsystems. Engineers
working on the spacecraft worked in round-the-clock shifts, and projects still
fell behind schedule. Everyone worked at a breakneck speed to get things ready
to meet the deadline. In January 1967, the first Apollo mission finally drew
near. Three astronauts sat atop their huge rocket and conducted a final test to
demonstrate that all systems were ready to operate on their own.
Then an unmitigated disaster
struck, freezing everything in its tracks. As the rocket still sat on the
launch pad, a ferocious fire erupted inside the cabin, and killed the three
astronauts before they could escape from the capsule. The fire killed America’s
second man in space, its first spacewalker, and a rookie astronaut. The
devastating setback stunned the nation. All work stopped while NASA, the
spacecraft contractors, and even Congress sought answers to what went wrong and
whether the moon was worth the cost.
Fellow astronauts escort Grissom’s body to Arlington Cemetery
It wouldn’t be until
October 1968, more than a year and a half, before another manned American
launch occurred…an eternity when considering JFK’s looming end-of-the-decade deadline.
With time running out, everyone needed to figure out how to grieve but still
move forward. In the miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon,” Wally
Schirra, the commander of the first space mission after the fire, was asked
about preparing for his upcoming launch while living in the shadow of the
Apollo 1 tragedy. He responded “You’re sad. You mourn the loss.” He paused
for a moment before adding “But you don’t wear the black armband forever.”
Without question, there
are tragedies in peoples’ lives that knock them down hard. The death of a loved
one; a betrayal by someone you trust; a feared diagnosis; a job loss; a
terrible injury; an addiction you’re fighting through. There are serious and
legitimate times in our lives when we just can’t be an effective contributor to
God’s kingdom. Nobody faults you for things that are beyond your control. It
takes time to fight through many of these problems, and many times God will
make something good out of them. Just make sure that you don’t start using your
sorrows and difficulties as an excuse not to move forward with what God’s
calling you to do.
You’re the only one
that knows whether or not this is an issue you’re dealing with. You WILL be knocked down;
Jesus promised that we’d have trouble in this world. Sometimes you need to stay
down for a minute, but don’t forget that you do need to get back up again.
Don’t wear the black
armband forever. There are people you might not even know about that are
waiting for you to get back up again.
The next few days after my father-in-law, Lee, got whisked away to the hospital were a blur. Whatever had gone wrong with his heart was a complicated thing. Doctors put him in a medically induced coma and dropped his body temperature for a few days as a way of “rebooting” him. Since this was right after Christmas, family that had just left turned around and came back. One of Lee and Pam’s daughters flew in from Alaska. People were constantly calling, trying to find out the latest information, even when there was nothing new to report. The adrenaline we all ran on started wearing off, and the exhaustion began setting in.
Lee’s hospital was
about an hour away from his house, where my wife and three young kiddos were
staying. My wife would go up there every day, but an extra two hours of travel
time a day added to the burden. My kids started getting antsy; at the time they
were 5, 4, and 14 months, and Mommy had never been away from them this much
before. In her place, they got a guy that meant well, but just couldn’t compare
to Mommy. Some of the meals I came up with were really just glorified snacks,
and sometimes it was the same thing over and over again. The walls started
feeling like they were closing in on all of us. We needed to find some kind of better solution as we got
closer to the time the doctors were going to try to raise Lee’s body
temperature and revive him.
Lee and Pam knew a
bunch of people in the area near the hospital, and we decided to make the drive
as a family up to that region with the intent to start staying the night up
there somewhere. We packed a bunch of our stuff and left Lee and Pam’s house
not knowing where we’d be spending the next few nights. We made it to the
hospital and went to the waiting room where we saw lots of familiar faces.
During the day all kinds of friends and well-wishers came and went, some of
them even bringing much-appreciated care packages of food and things to help
pass the time. My kids enjoyed the extra time with Mommy, even if it was in a
waiting room. Even with all the extra family and friends helping out, though,
they didn’t have to stay in the same room long before they started getting
antsy again. They needed somewhere to feel settled.
During the day we were
still trying to find a place to stay. One family offered us an available room
in their home, but five of us is a lot to cram into one room (especially when
two of the kids still napped), so we wanted to see if we could find anything
else. Someone had two rooms available for us, but they had a dog that my son
would’ve been allergic to. Late in the day we got word that there was a family
willing to let us stay at their place. They had two rooms for us, no pets, and
the house was less than five minutes from the hospital. The offers weren’t going
to get much better than that and it was getting late, so we grabbed it. By the
time we arrived at the house it was after dark. The house was cheery and still
decorated for Christmas, and when the door opened we met some of the sweetest
people we could have hoped for. Jay and Esther and their daughter Tracey welcomed
us into their home in one of our young family’s hours of greatest need.
Jay and Esther were
great-grandparents, and they had a large family. Their house was so warm and
welcoming, and someone was always popping in because…that’s just the kind of
place it was. They had one of their grandsons staying in their basement at the
time, and he and a visiting friend helped us bring in our luggage, pack ‘n
plays, and anything we brought with us. By the time we got there, it was time
to get the kids to bed. We got our daughters set up in one of the rooms, and we
set up our son on the floor in the room where my wife and I stayed. I think my
wife and I spent a little time visiting with the family before we collapsed
into bed, too. That was our first restful night of sleep since the whole ordeal
with Lee began.
The next day my wife
headed off to the hospital early again, but my kids and I were able to stay in
a place the kids finally felt comfortable and occupied. If memory serves, Jay
and Esther had five kids; as grandparents and great-grandparents, many children
had come to visit this house, and there were all kinds of fun things for my
kids to play with and explore. They also had all kinds of Christmas decorations
that sang or danced after it got squeezed (a favorite for kids). In addition to
all kinds of stuffed animals and toys, they had a foosball table and a pool
table in the basement…something that kept my kids occupied for a very long
time.
Our hosts also figured
out that Daddy was good at getting his kids riled up and roughhousing, but
maybe needed some help in the food preparation department. Oh, man, they were
so great. My kids actually started having balanced meals. Those wonderful
people made it possible for us to put one foot in front of the other on our
march through the trial we faced.
Last story about
staying at their place. During naptime one day, I laid down my youngest in a
pack ‘n play in a room by herself. I laid my son down in his sleeping bag on
the floor in our room, and I set up my oldest daughter to play/color/draw on
the bed in our room. My son fell asleep right away, and I told my daughter I
was going to read on the floor. Once I laid down, though, I figured out pretty
quickly that I wasn’t going to stay awake long, so I let her know I’d probably
take a nap on the floor. My five-year-old daughter got down off our bed with
her little blanket, came and lay down beside me, and all three of us took a nap
in a row on the floor. We were finally in a place where we could rest.
I’ll get you caught up
on Lee in my next post, but this one’s about how much we were able to benefit
from the generosity and hospitality of these wonderful people. That was their
gift, they loved helping people, and it was amazing and much appreciated to be
ministered to in that way.
This whole site is geared toward encouraging you to use your gifts to live a life of higher impact for Christ’s Kingdom. Not everyone is going to be an international gospel singer or someone that proclaims the truth boldly in stadiums across the globe. I don’t know what your gifts are. You might not accomplish anything earth-shattering by being hospitable to someone who needs help, but let me tell you…it can mean the world to the person receiving the help. Whatever your gift is…please…find a way to use it. God gave you that gift for a reason, and if you let Him, He’ll tie you into His master plan.
Technology today enables us to obtain “analytics” about everything. Most new cars tell you what kind of gas mileage they’re getting. Social media accounts tell you with ridiculous accuracy all kinds of statistics about interactions between you and your connections. You can wear a watch that tells you how many steps you take and how much and what kind of sleep you get.
What if we had
something that tells us how much time (and the level of intensity) we spend
thinking about various topics?
Uh oh. It just got
uncomfortable in here.
Think about this: your
daydreams and wishes may not always come true, but the things you spend your time
thinking about represent the direction in which your life will move. Stated another way, your life
moves in the direction of your most prevalent thoughts. If you received
a pie chart with percentages of the time you spend thinking about different
things, both good and bad, would you be pleased with your life moving toward
the biggest slice of the chart?
I have a full-time job
and a family that includes three kids. Life is busy. After we lay the kids
down, most of the time I just want to switch my brain off and watch something entertaining.
There’s definitely a time and a place for that, but if that’s what you do most
of the time, there’s not much deliberate thought built into moving your life in
the direction you want it to go. A life with thoughts that constantly drift
leads to the kind of life that does the same thing.
Time for another
hypothetical chart. How many hours a week are you a Christian? One hour,
sometimes, on Sunday mornings? Are devotions built into your day? Is there a
group you can join…some kind of a Bible study or home group you can be a part
of? A close friend with which you’re able to discuss the challenges you face in
your Christian walk?
I say this not to shame
anyone, but to help you determine if any sort of changes are in order. There
are five weeknights in a week. Let’s assume that for whatever reason, two of
them are already spoken for, and you have three nights available. Consider
devoting at least part of one of them to this second chart. Put down that book
that isn’t doing anyone any good, and pick up something that’s going to focus
your mind where it should be focused. Instead of channel surfing, there are
plenty of inspirational talks, or even sermons, on YouTube. To get you started,
check out this website’s “Additional Resources” section: https://daregreatlynow.com/additional-resources/.
Your time is valuable.
That means that you probably value the things you spend thinking about during your
small amounts of free time. Do they honor God? Strive to make that happen, and
I promise you your life will move in a better direction.
I’m gonna skip ahead a
little bit on our Olympic adventure.
My buddy and I woke up at a rest stop on our first day in Utah after snoozing in sleeping bags in the car. Our breath had condensed and frozen on the windows overnight. We were only about an hour away from Salt Lake City. After all the driving of the past two days, we were excited to be so close, so we got ready for the day and headed out.
Our breath condensed and froze on the car’s windows overnight
Just arriving in the
area was thrilling. Olympic signs and venues were all over the place. Ski
jumps, the Olympic rings, extra decorations, it was great. As we drove on the
highway through the city, a lot of the buildings were decorated with massive
posters of winter sports. We drove into the city, parked, and walked around
downtown, happy to be done driving long distances for a bit. The weather was
gorgeous; sunny and warm. We saw the Mormon Temple, some of the other local
sights, got some donuts, and toured the State Capitol, where there was a
traveling exhibit of the Declaration of Independence.
We were super excited
to finally be at our destination, but we still had to figure out where we were
going to sleep that night. A little after noon we drove out of the city and
toward some public land. As it turns out, the public land in that area is much
higher in elevation. Added elevation brings lower temperatures and more snow.
As we drew near the place we intended to camp, we stopped at a ranger station to get some more info. Following their directions, we drove until reaching the end of the line; past a certain point they stopped plowing the road. Snowmobiles were all over the place. The only other way in was on foot.
It’s on foot from here
My buddy parked the car
in the parking lot and the two of us broke out our cross-country skis. Between
the weather and the time of day, visibility was starting to drop and it was going
to start getting dark soon. We needed to find a campsite quickly, and we didn’t
have time to be too choosy about what spot to use. The two of us skied in, found
a spot, then skied back out to the car to grab our gear. We were both decent
skiers at the time, but neither of us had ever skied with heavy packs before.
They throw off your balance and make it much trickier!
We returned to our site and stomped down the snow to make a spot for the tent. We set up the tent, broke out the stove, and started heating up dinner while unpacking and arranging the rest of our gear for the night. Between not having much to do after dark and still being accustomed to East Coast time, we cracked open and tossed some footwarmers into the sleeping bags and were in for the night a little after 7:30 pm.
Just as a refresher, up
until this point in my life the only other time I remember sleeping outside was
in a tent in a neighbor’s backyard in the summer as a kid. Now I’m sleeping in
a tent in the Wasatch Mountains in February as the snow/sleet falls around us. After
sleeping in a car for the past two nights, it was a nice change to be able to stretch
out all the way. I slept pretty well until the coyotes started howling later at
night. For anyone accustomed to hearing them, you know that there’s nothing to
worry about, but if you’re not used to them, you start wondering just how long
it will take for a determined coyote to rip through a flimsy tent.
I’d be lying if I told
you that I wasn’t afraid of doing what we were doing. It’s one thing to talk
like you’re going to do something that stretches you, but it’s something else
entirely to do it. Driving from New York to Utah is an adventure in itself, but
at least during that whole time, you’ve got a car…with heat, a roof, and a
trunk full of stuff. Now we had a tent, sleeping bags, and whatever we could
carry in our packs, and we set up camp in a spot that, for all we knew, was at
the bottom of a mountain that was ready to trigger an avalanche. And it was snowing.
Why on earth would I do
this?
I was willing to do it
because this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I refused to be left behind. I was
in college with few or no other responsibilities, the Winter Olympics were
happening in my country, I had the opportunity to go see them, and I had a
friend that was willing to do the same crazy thing. In the 17 years since that
trip, no similar opportunity has come around again for me.
For just a moment, think
about your life and the choices you regret. Often the things that come to mind first
are the things you did not do. For everyone,
even Christ-followers, there are things you wish you would’ve done differently.
Think about the choices that lie before you now, or that you’ll have to address
soon. One day you might pause to reflect on them, too. At different times in
our lives, everyone’s got a “thing,” an idea that nags at them even when they
try to shake it. Many times this is God’s nudge, saying “hey, I want you to do
this.” You probably don’t know what will happen if you do it. Maybe you do. Some
day you might be in Heaven, talking face to face with the creator of the
universe. “Remember when I prompted you to do that thing?” If you have regrets about not
doing something now, imagine what it
will be like then.
Don’t feel bad about
being scared; everybody’s scared of something. Letting fear stop you from doing
or being a part of big things is where you start missing out. Don’t let a fear
of being fearful paralyze you and prevent you from taking the next step that God’s
called you to take.
Refuse to be left behind.
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Starting your senior year of college is unlike the start of any other year of college. Last year’s seniors are all gone, and now YOU are part of the class that’s graduating next. It’s the last time you head back to start a new academic year. You’re either excited about the prospects of the coming year, or terrified of what comes after you graduate. For me, one of the highlights of the coming year, to be sure, was a road trip across the country with a buddy to go see the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. We originally hatched our scheme a year earlier, and now here we were only about five months away from actually doing it.
At the start of my Senior year, I had no early class on Tuesday/Thursdays. That Fall I didn’t have to be in class until 9:40ish in the morning. One Tuesday morning about two or three weeks into the year I walked into a class in the science building and grabbed a seat in the classroom. Something was off, though. Everybody just had kind of a different mood and the place was abuzz. It took me a minute to piece together what was going on.
They told me that two planes had crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City and the two buildings had collapsed.
At first I was just confused and didn’t believe them. What was this, some kind of a sick joke? I had been to those towers before. They were immense. How could two planes have crashed into two buildings right next to each other on the same day? I didn’t yet understand that it was commercial jets that had crashed into the towers, that it had been done on purpose, and that there was a coordinated effort between terrorists on four different aircraft that participated in that day’s events.
I don’t remember what the lesson was that day. I just remember trying to wrap my head around the idea that those two buildings were no longer there. We had family in Brooklyn, and ever since I was a kid we had frequently taken trips there and would sometimes go sightseeing in Manhattan, including trips to the World Trade Center. After all the trips we’d taken into New York City, I couldn’t imagine the NYC skyline without the World Trade Center.
With some family atop the World Trade Center, probably a year or two before 9/11/2001
I thought back to the last time I had been there. I couldn’t think of anyone I knew who worked in those buildings, but I remembered riding in the elevator for the long ride up to the observation deck. The last time I took that trip, there had been a guy at the elevator’s controls that talked to us a little bit during the ride, and then without missing a beat turned to a little boy and started speaking fluent Spanish to him about sight-seeing in the city. I later found out about others I knew who worked in this area of Manhattan, but that day this elevator operator was the only guy I could think of in the towers. I still have no idea if he was in the towers that day or what happened to him.
I don’t think it became real to me until after I saw news coverage and replays of an aircraft striking the second tower, the subsequent collapses, and the terrified people running through the streets. Back then nobody had ever heard about the Taliban. Hardly anyone knew where Afghanistan was. Nobody knew what was happening, but everyone’s lives changed that day. As the reality settled in over the next few days, I started to wonder if there would even BE an Olympics for us to attend.
It was scary stuff, for sure. There are going to be times in your life where everything stops and your reality gets turned upside down. You’ll be devastated and in shock. It might be the death of a loved one; financial hardships; a diagnosis you didn’t see coming; a natural disaster. You can see no good reason why God would allow things like this to happen. The only question you’ll keep coming back to is “why?” In all honesty, you might not find an answer to that question this side of Heaven.
Some of you have already had experiences like that; others of you may not have. September 11th was a national tragedy, and it was on everyone’s mind and for awhile it was all anyone thought or talked about. The only good thing about it was that we mourned together. As time marched on and the events of that day have faded into the past, new or more urgent struggles have taken priority. It’s important to remember though, that the people with whom you come in contact any given day may be attempting to cope with an immense personal struggle.
Back in 2001 we mourned as a nation, but every day there are people who honestly believe that they are all alone in whatever struggle they find themselves. Please consider that the next time you feel the urge to really let someone have a piece of your mind. Not only that, but please be on the lookout for people that are fighting just to make it through the day. You might be the only lifeline God throws to them.
Taking a break from the Olympic chapter for a bit, but don’t worry, we’ll circle back later! If you know someone that you think will be encouraged by these posts, please let them know about DareGreatlyNow. Those are the people I’m posting for!
Congratulations! You have officially made it through Christmas, New Year’s, and if you haven’t already, you’ll probably be getting back into the normal routine soon.
For some, 2018 was a great year with uplifting stories and good fortune. Others have experienced loss or heartache and are happy to close the book on this past year. Wherever you are, we’re now taking our first tentative steps into 2019. The year that lies ahead holds unforeseen challenges as well as circumstances you can choose to interpret as either sweet or sour.
In a previous post I said that God does not force you to do great and impossible things; He invites you to come along and be a part of them. If you choose to turn down the invitation, don’t be confused when you wonder why you’re not finding more to this life.
To kick off the blog for 2019 I’d like to include an excerpt taken from a book I read this past year. It’s by a man named Erwin McManus, called The Last Arrow. The book takes its name from an Old Testament story where the king of Israel sought out the prophet Elisha to plead with God for protection against approaching enemies.
One of the odd instructions Elisha gave the king was to take some of the arrows he had and strike them on the ground. The king then complied, but stopped after striking three arrows on the ground. This angered Elisha, who said “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.” The king’s heart wasn’t in the effort, and he gave up too soon.
When an archer has a quiver full of arrows, they are not doing any good until they’re in flight. Regardless of how cool they look, a group of arrows still in a quiver only represents potential. They do not serve their purpose until they come flying off the bow. During a time when they ought to be used, an arrow that remains in a quiver is an arrow that’s been wasted.
Most of us naturally attempt something with less than full commitment, or we naturally maintain a bias for inaction. In other words, we don’t begin something unless we receive “a clear sign” that we’re supposed to embark on a new undertaking. We’re modern-day versions of Gideon, rolling out fleeces on the ground and waiting for improbable signs that will help us avoid acting on opportunities set before us, even if we recognize them.
Instead, what if we maintained a bias for action? What if we alternatively had the attitude of “I’m going to keep going until I get a clear sign to stop?” Another way of thinking about it is to “Go until you get a no.”
Wherever you are in life, don’t give in to the doubts you have. Don’t allow the excuses to pile up and sway you. “I’m too old.” “I’m too young.” “I’m too hurt.” “I’m too busy.” Whatever your “I’m too” is, don’t let that stop you. If you’re breathing, you can employ the gifts God’s given to you.
From The Last Arrow:
“The great tragedy that I have witnessed over and over again is that we keep underestimating how much God wants to do in us and through us. Too many of us have believed the lies we have been told: that we’re not good enough, we’re not smart enough, we’re not talented enough, we’re just not enough. One of the facets of God that makes him extraordinary is his ability to do the impossible through ordinary, everyday, common people like you and me. This book has one intention: that whether you win or lose, succeed or fail, live a life of celebrity or anonymity, that when you take your last breath, you will know without reservation that you have given everything you have, everything you are, to the life you have been entrusted with.”
There’s more out there. You were made for more. As we start 2019 I’m going to continue exhorting you to accept the challenges God has already and will continue to lay before you. Accept His invitation and prepare to be amazed at the power of God working through you.
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