Author: Tom

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Can You Spare Some Change?

Spare ChangeOK . . . not that kind of change.

The first thing that probably comes to mind when you read this title is someone wanting money.

Actually, I want to write about something completely different.  Can you remember the last time your life changed in a dramatic way?  Perhaps a new baby in your family, a new job, the death of a family member, a new home, or perhaps you remember the greatest change of all – when the living God came to live in your very being.

As one who has faced transitions in life of various kinds over the past few years, I know that change can bring about a lot of feelings within us.  Some of these feelings are good and keep us moving forward with excitement during change.  Some emotions, however, frighten us and tend to make us resist changes.

I pray that as you seek to follow Christ, you would always be willing to make the changes that He calls for in your life – to enjoy the changes that bring joy and learn from the changes that bring hesitation.  God wants growth in our life and it is impossible to grow without experiencing changes.

May the changes in your life bring you closer to God so that you may serve Him wholeheartedly.

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Are You Ashamed?

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes:  . . ..”   Romans 1:16

How is your witness for Jesus Christ?  When the subjects of religion, the Bible, Jesus, or God come up around you, what is your reaction?  Do you make it clear where you stand in your relationship with Jesus?  Or would your actions, or even your silence, indicate that you are ashamed of the gospel of Christ?

In Romans 1:16, Paul makes a statement that explains why he wasn’t ashamed of the gospel.  We would do well if we understood and applied this to our lives also.  When we fully understand the power of the gospel, I believe we gain a new boldness to share it with others.  Paul states quite clearly that the reason he is not ashamed of the gospel is because it is the power of God leading to salvation.  It is when you and I recognize how lost we are that we can truly appreciate the power of the gospel to save us.

Do you believe you are a “pretty good person” or do  you acknowledge the sin in your life that requires the power of the gospel to cleanse you?  It is my prayer that as you view the power of the gospel being active in your own life, you would gain boldness in sharing this gospel with others.

May Jesus find you not ashamed of Him when He returns in all of His glory.

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Religion That Is Worth Something

“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”  James 1:26-27

We live in a world where a person’s word often means very little.  Many are surrounded on a daily basis by people who use words very carelessly.  Perhaps the language itself is filthy or the content of the words is hurtful or damaging to someone else.  In the midst of a society where we are so thoughtless with our words, these verses from James should cause us to take a serious look at our speech and how it affects our lives.

Is your religion a true relationship with Jesus Christ?  Are you actively working to keep a rein on your tongue?  Are the words that you speak wholesome and uplifting – full of encouragement and support? 

James wants us to understand that what comes out of our mouth, and our life, is a true reflection of what’s inside of us.  If you can’t keep control of your mouth with the help of the Holy Spirit, your claim as a religious person is worthless.  That can sound like a really negative and discouraging principle.  However, the rest of this passage gives us a positive side of our claim to religion showing in our life. 

Pure and faultless religion from God’s view sounds like something to be highly sought after by Christians.  By keeping a rein on our tongue, we are free to practice religion that God views as valuable.  This includes looking out for those that can’t look out for themselves.  Do you care about those who have no voice in our society?  Do you look out for the “orphans” and “widows” of our day?  Obviously, this should include those who are truly orphans or widows, but I think it goes beyond this.  There are many who are orphaned or widowed even though they may have parents or spouses living.  Do we care for them?  When we do this along with keeping ourselves from being polluted by the world, we have a religion that is worth something.  It is a true relationship with Jesus!

It is my prayer that you gaze intently into the Word of God and put it into practice.

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Stand Without Fear

I’ve been working at compiling a booklet based on articles I had written for the Deer Run newsletter from 2001 through early 2004.  I thought this would be a good forum to share some of those earlier writings of mine with a greater audience.  This is the first of those articles that I will be including in posts from time to time.

“So you must show mercy to others, or God will not show mercy to you when He judges you.  But the person who shows mercy can stand without fear at the judgment.”  James 2:13 (NCV)

I would guess that everyone would like the confidence to stand with no fear at the judgment.  James addresses this issue and lets us know that the way we treat other people affects our ability to stand without fear at the judgment. 

I believe this verse is in keeping with the context of James chapter 2.  The idea we need to think about is, “how do I treat other people, particularly those who are different than I am?”  The first part of chapter 2 talks about showing favoritism to someone because of what they appear to have.  James goes so far as to make it clear in verse 9 that to treat one person as better than another is sinning against God.

Is this you or I that James could be talking about?  How do we decide whom we will associate with?  Do we ignore some people because they don’t do things the way we want?  Do we seek out only people who agree with us all the time?  Do we determine friendships based on how rich a person may appear to be?  Do we avoid people who may appear poor?  Do we show mercy in our relationships with others?

James continues in the end of chapter 2 to show that our actions do speak louder than our words.  Who we choose associate with, and even those we choose to help, speak loudly about our willingness to show mercy and accept people as equal regardless of race, wealth, or family background.

May you be found showing mercy so that you may stand without fear at the judgment.

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Chameleons

Relevant.  What, or who, is?  What, or who, isn’t?  How do you know?  Who determines that?  Is it dependent on you?  . . . or someone else?  Does it change?  . . . or is relevance a fixed commodity, able to be defined once and for all?

Last night I had the privilege of preaching at Deer Run for our Chapel Service and in preparation, God kept drawing me to this question of relevance.  In a spiritual reality, what makes a person’s life relevant?  What makes an individual Christian, a church program, or an entire church itself, relevant and what keeps any of these from being relevant?  Is it really based on me and my particular likes, desires, and needs?  That would seem a rather selfish definition of relevant, but one that we commonly use – it’s applicable to me, so it is relevant. . . . or, it is not applicable to me, so it is not relevant.  Sound familiar?  Oh, we often go to such lengths not to sound selfish.  We wouldn’t say it’s about me and what I connect with.  No, we find someone just like us and use them to help define relevance according to what suits me, eh, I mean them.

This morning as I was reflecting on last night’s message, I began thinking about chameleons and how their nature relates to relevance.  (I know, some of you are saying, “What!  Where did that come from?”)  Please hear me out.  A chameleon becomes relevant to its surroundings by taking something neutral, skin color, and changing it to fit into a variety of settings.  There are a couple of very important things to note here:

  1. It is not a matter of choosing one color that works well in one setting and sticking with it because that is the one the chameleon likes best.  There really is no relevance in that.
  2. The changes are all superficial and do nothing to diminish the fact that the chameleon is still just that – a chameleon.  The relevance is not in changing what it is, but in changing how it is seen.

 Too often, the idea of being relevant and a “chameleon” Christian gets a bad rap because we tend to hold on to the “neutral” elements of life and compromise on the core qualities of being Christ-like – all in the name of relevance.  True relevance and “chameleon” Christianity reflects great flexibility in the non-essentials while holding fast to the very things that make a Christian Christ-like.

True relevance is found when others are brought further along in their relationship with Christ because of their encounter with you and me.  If we are living a relevant Christian life, people will be bragging about Jesus Christ and not about the things we have done or said.

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Accumulating Treasures (What’s In Your Heart?)

I moved to South Bend a little over 6 years ago and left behind a building and a barn full of treasures that I did not have room for in our new place.

The new renters of my old place wanted more space and so my parents decided to rent the building on the property to them as well.  Uh – Oh!  It is full of stuff.  My stuff.  My father-in-law’s stuff.  My parents’ stuff.  All stuff that was too valuable to throw away, but as far as my part of the stuff – stuff I hadn’t needed for over 6 years!

Clean-out time had come.  Everything had to go!  What was worth keeping?  Was anything worth keeping?  The time to decide was here.  Oh . . . did I forget to mention that I’m a pack-rat?  I guess maybe the building and barn full of stuff kind of gave that away. 😛

There were a few things that I felt I could use.  A couple very nice basketball goals . . . an old wooden desk chair . . . something else . . . and something else as well, I guess.  There must have been a few other things, at least we brought 3 van loads home.  But that was nothing compared to the truck and trailer loads that were hauled off and dumped.  Much of it was simply trash . . . waiting for the day that it would be called what it was and dealt with appropriately.  For much of it, that day had come.  There is likely stuff that was kept and saved by myself and other family members that actually fit the “trash” category, but it wasn’t identified as such yet.  Perhaps one day it’s time will come as well.

It made me think of the principles Jesus taught . . . “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  . . . “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”  Wow!  What is the treasure that fills my heart?  What does my mouth sound like because of the treasures that I am storing up.  Is it time for a continual cleaning out and an honest calling of the clutter, trash?  It is not just the garages, basements, barns, and storage buildings that fill up with worthless items.  Much worse is when we let our hearts, minds, and souls fill up with things that are worthless so that the things of the Spirit have no room.

May you and I clean “house” and give the Spirit ample room to live and work!

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Can You Hear Me Now?

I bought a new cordless phone/answering machine last month and I really like it.  I actually hooked it up to the phone line a couple of weeks ago to replace a phone that wasn’t working consistently.  I immediately noticed a difference.  I was no longer getting those hang-up calls on the machine – you know, the ones where someone calls, hears the message, but doesn’t want to leave a message.  They were gone.  Two weeks without any.  This was amazing!

As I contemplated the advanced technology that must be at work to do away with these “blank messages”, I congratulated myself on choosing such a fine piece of equipment.  My analytical mind couldn’t leave well enough alone.  I had to think this through as to how this was possible. 

I slowly began to realize that not only did I not have any hang-up calls recorded, I didn’t have any phone messages recorded either.  Hm-mm . . . two weeks with no one leaving a message . . . that is very unusual . . . must be something wrong with this machine. 

Time to check it out.  Yep . . . plugged in to both power and phone line . . . I can make calls with it . . . I can receive calls with it . . . lights are all on . . . outgoing message is recorded . . . maybe it just needs reset . . . I’ll turn it off and back on again and see if anything changes . . . pressing on/off button . . . what? . . . Did that say “machine on”? . . . That can’t be . . . press again . . . “machine off” . . . press again . . . “machine on”!

Uh Oh!  No messages because it wasn’t turned on.  Everything else was in place, but it was not activated.  People calling were not hearing the message inviting them to talk to the machine, so they weren’t able to leave communication with me.  I’ve wondered why there were no messages and discovered it wasn’t that people weren’t trying to reach me, but that I had the answering machine turned off and therefore was unreceptive to their attempts to communicate.

I wonder how often we wait to hear from God and begin to wonder and question if this “prayer thing” really works.  We get out our checklist of what we think prayer is and ought to include.  Yep. . . . got that . . . did that . . . said that . . . and on we go, wondering if we’ll ever get this right.  Yet how often do we check that internal communication switch – you know; God living in us, the Holy Spirit.  Are we living a life filled with the Spirit, led by the Spirit, surrendered to God through the power of the Holy Spirit? 

Maybe we’re not consistently hearing from God because we’ve turned off His presence in our life by ignoring the Holy Spirit and the work He can do in us.

It is time to hit that “power button” and allow God’s Spirit to do His work in and through you to the glory of Jesus Christ.  May His message come through loud and clear!

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What Is Hope Worth?

Dad, Daughter, and Gulf of MexicoHope is one of those words that our English usage has managed to neutralize and take the power out of.  Our culture often uses the word to describe a longing for something that we don’t really expect to come about.  We may think it is possible, but not probable.

As a Christian, my hope does not rest on that which I wish for, dream of, or desire.  Instead, my hope is built on a confident expectation that God is faithful and always keeps His promises.  My hope is based on the faith I have in God.  Faith that the Bible defines as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

So, what is that kind of hope worth?  Is it worth life or death?  . . . health or sickness?  . . . wealth or poverty?  . . . strength or weakness?  . . . perfection or imperfection?  . . . joy or sorrow?  The answer is YES!  It is not an either/or question.  Whatever it takes to have true hope is worth it.

As I reflected on my previous post, I thought about some of the “rain” and “storms” that I have encountered in my life.  Things that some people find hard to accept and they doubt that anything could make those situations “worth it“.  Yes, there have been good “rains” as well and those obviously appear worth going through whether they increase faith or not.  As I think about the hope that I have, the following are some of the gentle rains and fierce storms that have helped shape it.

  • Did I want to marry Mary Jane?  YES!  . . . Is it worth it?  YES!
  • Did I want to work for an alcoholic boss?  No.  . . . Was it worth it?  Yes.
  • Did I want to spend years too sick to work?  No.  . . . Was it worth it?  Yes.
  • Did I want to have children?  Yes.  . . . Was it worth it?  Yes.
  • Did I want to raise a daughter with disabilities?  No.  . . . Is it worth it?  Yes.
  • Did I want to get fired from a youth ministry?  No.  . . . Was it worth it?  Yes.
  • Did I want to get back into ministry?  No.  . . . Was it worth it?  Yes.
  • Did I want to do ministry with Impact?  Yes.  . . . Is it worth it?  Yes.

The list could go on and would contain things that were desirable as well as things that were not.  Yet each one of these examples, as well as countless others, have served to build, strengthen, and grow the hope that I have within me.  This hope that is a confident expectation of eternity with Jesus.  A hope that is worth whatever it takes to have.

Does it make sense?  Absolutely not!  That is not the question to be most concerned with.  The bigger question is, “What is this hope worth to you?”  As for me, it is worth everything.