Gain

"But godliness with contentment is great gain." -1 Timothy 6:6

This has become my verse for singleness. Of course, I will want to remember this whenever I am dating or married, too, but it is particularly encouraging to me in this time.

Godliness and contentment. These are not very powerful words when merely read. They are not words like "love" or "death" or "abortion" or "American" which instantly invoke strong emotion. But these two words are infinitely influential when we contemplate how difficult they are to attain.

Godliness - being divine; showing reverence to God; being like God

Contentment - happiness in any situation

How easy are those? Not very. Living the right kind of life is tough enough. It is also difficult to feel even a spark of cheer when we watch our loved ones suffer, or if we are in pain. Where is the "Easy" button!? Can't I just skip the godly-and-content part?

And yet, I do not seriously consider skipping that part. I know that these are the only ways to get me where I should be. I don't want to push a big red button, then look back on these long years and say "That was easy!" I want to look back and say "That was worth it."

... I nearly ended this blog right there, but when I went back to the start to review... the verse changed my mind. "Godliness with contentment is great gain."

Uh oh. Maybe I read too deeply into that... or too shallowly. Very possibly. When I first read this, my subconscious definition of "gain" was self-centered. I automatically viewed "gain" as getting what I envisioned for myself in life (boyfriend, husband, family) without considering the absolute definition. "Gain" was also defined in the Bible as death.

Yes, death. Paul said "For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21). ...So, stronger words really are involved in 1 Timothy 6:6 when godliness and contentment are set equal to gain. It's just as serious as "American," "abortion," "love," or "death" itself.

I'm not saying "Be godly and content, then you'll die." But I am saying that striving to be like God and finding happiness in every moment will get me closer to the will God has written for my life. No matter if His will is love or death or something in between, it is assuredly "good, pleasing and perfect" (Rom. 12:2). Whatever happens, I am promised to be gaining, and that's something I can live with.

"I'd Like to Buy The World a Coke"

I gave a speech on Coca-Cola this morning. My close Coke-drinking buddies (Paul, Corey, Ben, Neal, Tim, I love you all) have spurred me onward in my pursuit of happiness in the Coca-Cola-enhanced lifestyle. I bought 24 Cokes ("I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" - 1971 slogan.) to distribute to my speech class. The red labels shined in the morning sun. The cold bottles were fogging over in the red plastic carton. I bumped into a doorframe, and all 24 bottles formed tiny bubbles of carbonation around the top rim. I don't even drink Coke, but it brightens my heart to see it. I have discovered that I am enamored by how Coke's appearance. Red, white, black, and yellow are my absolute favorite colors, thus Coke matches almost everything that I own. ("Red, white, and you" - 1986 slogan.) I love the feeling from Coca-Cola advertising, too -- all smiles and unity.

Yes, of course, world unity is fantacy-made. My inner peace, tranquility, happiness, and contentment come from Jesus Christ. He's the real thing. ("It's the real thing. - 1969 slogan.) But Coca-Cola makes me smile, and I'm sure God smiles when His child does. Have a Coke, and a smile (1979). Enjoy (2000).





Here's a meaningless poem I wrote in my freshman year of highschool. Enjoy!

You pop it open.
You read its slogan.
It shoots like a hose
Right up your nose.
You giggle a little
And laugh til you spittle.
You shake it around,
And then you get drowned.
Please don't smoke--
Just have a Coke.

Valiant Men

1 Samuel 10:26 says that Saul was "accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched." Saul had burried himself in cowardice during the last blog, but atleast he got something right. Saul was surrounded by valiant people -- guys with wisdom and courage. These guys had good character and God had touched their hearts. Not touched by an angel, but by the Almighty Himself, and DEEP, in the core of their being.

This verse brings a huge smile to my face. I have been blessed with innumerable friends, but the greatest blessings I have recieved are the few faces that grace my mind when I think "valiant" or "whose hearts God had touched." These elite few are my Entourage -- godly people strategically placed in my life to fulfill Christ's mission. (See the Entourage sermon series at Elevationchurch.org.). Saul had his entourage already set up so that when troublemakers came (v. 27), he simply kept quiet. They picked on him, but they didn't get to him because of the confidence that had been built up by the support of his valiant friends.

This concept has changed my vocabulary. When I looked up valor in a dictionary, it said "the qualities of a hero or heroine; exceptional or heroic courage when facing danger (especially in battle)." My entourage isn't my "Best friends." It may be an elementary school complex for me, but even so, the term "best" seems isolated to only two people. " My new term is "Valiant Friends." Valor unifies and denotes a common goal already established for the group as a whole. The goal of the group as well as the individuals within it is to be led and touched by God. I need friends who are willing to fight with me for a noble cause.

To the valiant men (and women) in my life : I admire you, and I am with you. Let's get this job done.

Where Are You Hiding?

When God told Samuel to choose a king for the people (I Samuel 8:22), he chose Saul (10:21). But the people could not find Saul anywhere. The Lord pointed out that Saul had "hidden himself among the baggage" (10:22). Saul had just been appointed King, and he was hiding himself!?

I read this verse in the same week that I embraced my call to ministry and missions. I realized that I had been hiding, too. I wasn't hiding from God, but I was changing the subject every time He began to speak to me about His calling on my life. I have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Why would I hide like Saul!? I have fate written all over me. I had to ask myself what baggage was holding me back from God's will? It was not fear of the task...I'm NOT afraid of my calling to ministry. It wasn't shame either. I am NOT ashamed of the gospel (Romans 1:16). I found the baggage that I cowered behind was the writer in me. I want to write my own cool story with my life, so I often forget that the Author of my Salvation (Hebrews 2:10) is striving for perfection already. My wants get in the way of His storyline, which is so much better than I could ever write. I'm worried about carrying my baggage of authorship and not about the burden of the lost world surrounding me.

How many of us who have been called hide in our meaningless baggage? How long do we bury ourselves in fear that another burden called "commitment" or "dedication" will be added, when truthfully, if we claim the one burden that Christ has for this world that He loves, He will rid us of all other baggage. It will be present, but it won't be so heavy. We will have many of the same everyday responsibilities (family, church, work, bills, school, etc.) but they will be lighter because Jesus holds those burdens and assists us so that we can live the life He has called us to live.

Climb out from behind all that baggage. Leave it, and walk into your appointed position. For Saul, it was specifically kingship -- ruling a nation. For everyone, it's simply trust and obey.

We Want More Samuel

...Picking up in chapter eight of First Samuel....

Samuel was very upset that the people were rejecting him as their God-appointed judge. They were begging for a king like the other countries had. It was a "Greener on the other side" complex. Nothing was going downhill in Israel, so why did they covet another style? Samuel did not enjoy watching their discontent hearts. I'm sure he was feeling like a failure though he'd done nothing wrong. But God comforted him by saying, "It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king" (8:7).

Have we rejected God by rejecting His leaders? As students? As Americans? As Christians? There are many great leaders today, just like Samuel, but are we letting them lead? Or are we constantly looking for a new leader? And in that searching, are we begging for something that we don't even know we are getting ourselves into? We are a world that focuses on leadership abilities, but are our follower qualities also in check?

This verse is a teaser for the outcome: "The wicked are edgy with guilt, ready to run off, even when no one's after them; Honest people are relaxed and confident, bold as lions. When the country is in chaos, everybody has a plan to fix it-- but it takes a leader of real understanding to straighten things out." Proverbs 28:1-2 MSG

This Is An Emergency

In the past two weeks, I have witnessed three people being hauled into ambulances at separate times. First, on the way to a family reunion as traffic came to a dead stop in the mountains for an hour and a half for a motorcycle accident only about a half a mile ahead. Second, on the very next day as I was hiking, I watched one of my closest friends fall nearly 30 feet from a boulder then airlifted to GMH. And, thirdly, just last night, as I was watching my college football team, one of our players was taken off the field in an ambulance after a nasty tackle. In all these recent emergency situations, one thing grabbed my attention-- the unity of the witnesses.

In the first incident, all ethnicities, ages, and genders got out of their cars to see what was happening. Several made their way closer to see if they could help. They spread news from car to car about what they saw and knew. They called their families to suggest detours. -- Unity in chaos.

When my friend Ben fell, the three other friends whom I was with gathered around him and determined to get him out of the gorge. Strangers, a nurse, a Navy doctor, and two seemingly average guys came off the trails to help in any way they could. Everyone was on alert and of one mind to get Ben to a better area. -- Unity in chaos.

And last night, as one of our players fell hard on the field, the stands were silent and waiting, as if we were straining to hear his heartbeat in reassurance of his safety. Both teams stood praying on the sidelines. The administration gathered to make quick decisions. The EMS huddled around the stretcher near the end zone. We waited until he was on his way to the hospital, and then the game continued as planned. -- Unity in chaos.

Maybe it is simply human epinephrine ("adrenaline") that is kicked into action like a mother giving her life for her child. Maybe it's some leadership in all of us that takes charge and finds the moral thing to do in desperate situations like the heroes of 9-11. Either way, it happens often, and it comes so smoothly and swiftly that it must be natural. So when will this urgent mindset become part of our constant thought as Christians? Eternity is at stake. Lives are on the line. This is an emergency.

The Other Ark... (not the boat)

The Israelites and the Philistines seemed to always be battling in First Samuel. Chapter four through seven depicts one of those battles.

When the highly-respected Ark of the Covenant was carried into the Israelites' camp, the Israelites started yelling and singing praises and making this huge uproar, so much that the very ground they stood on began shaking and the Philistines heard and wondered what had gotten into them. The Philistines figured out that the ark had done this and stole the ark. Eli (you know him... he's the guy who took care of Samuel in my last overview) had two sons who were in charge of the ark. They both died when the ark was stolen. When news of this reached Eli, he fell in shock, broke his neck, and died as well. Also, his daughter-in-law who was pregnant at the time, went into labor and died.

Now, I know you're thinking "What in the world? These people are going crazy!" But really, the Ark was an extremely important possession. It held important artifacts of the Hebrews' faith and was structured by God himself, just like the temple was.

The Philistines, however, had no respect for the ark, and placed it in the temple of their pagan god, Dagon. When the Philistines awakened the next morning, Dagon had fallen on its face before the ark. The Philistines set it upright again, but when they saw Dagon later, it had fallen down on its face and his head and hands had busted off and lay on the threshold. From that day, no one stepped on the threshold of Dagon's temple.

Each time the Philistine's relocated the ark, destruction came to that city. Eventually, the Philistines surrendered the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel.


I wonder where our passion and urgency is.... our respect and awe.

Extraordinary

I apologize for the past few days that I have not posted blogs. So many things have happened, and I promise that I will update for you as soon as I have time to recollect my thoughts and put them in blog-format.

But as for now, I just want you to know that God has been extraordinary in the past few days. Of course He always is, but at times, He reveals His awesomeness so vividly that we are incapable of doing anything more than standing back and watching Him.

While I'm organizing my creativity into an explanation of the last couple days, here's an old poem of mine.

Life Extraordinary (4-11-07)

They ask
"Who would choose a life like this?
Giving up your own power
To gain someone else's freedom?"
And I find myself raising my hand.

"Who would lose the world
To gain a purer soul?
Who would dedicate the one life they have
To gain a life never seen?"
And I find myself taking a stand.

"Who would put themselves
Through tremendous suffering
And then strip away popularity?"
And I find myself stepping out of the crowd.

"Who would choose to love
Someone they've never even seen
--Choose living an entire lifetime
As a slave to that one love?
And I find myself surrendering on my knees.

"That's my life!" I scream.
And I find myself whispering, "But it was His, too."

It's Story Time, Kids

Over the Labor Day long-weekend, my major assignment was to tell a Bible story in Spanish. Since it happened to be one of my favorites, I will share the English variation here.

Once upon a time, there was a family -- husband, wife, and two sons. The wife's name was Naomi (which means "pleasant"). There was a famine in their land, so the family moved to Moab. Shortly after, Naomi's husband passed away. Her two sons later married girls named Orpah and Ruth. But soon, Naomi's sons died, as well. The three mourning widows had no source of income or protection. Naomi told her two daughters-in-law to leave her and move back to their parents' land to find new husbands who could provide for and take care of them. At first, both of the younger women cried and said they would take Naomi back to her family and be with her instead. But Naomi was strong and stubborn. She argued that she would not have any more sons for the girls to marry. Orpah agreed and left Naomi.

Ruth, however, would not be persuaded. She refused to leave Naomi's side, giving a verbal contract that is now common for wedding ceremonies, and I assure you will be used in mine -- "Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me" (Ruth 1:16-17). These words make my eyes burn with tears, no matter how often I read them.

Naomi and Ruth traveled back to Bethlehem to find Naomi's family during the harvesting time of year. One of Naomi's late husband's relatives, Boaz, owned a field. From my understanding of the story, Ruth sneaked into the fields after everyone had already harvested, and picked up all the leftovers in hopes that it would be enough for her and Naomi. Boaz noticed her and asked one of his men to bring her to him. Boaz told Ruth that he didn't want her to work in anyone else's field, only his. He commanded all the men who worked for him not to lay a hand on her or even rebuke her as she worked. (I know some feminist readers may disagree, but as for me, that kind of protection is pretty sexy.) Ruth was surprised at his kindness and bowed at his feet in gratitude. She boldly expressed her curiosity to him, however, asking why he had paid attention to her, a stranger. Boaz explained that he admired her for her hard, dedicated work, the kindness she had shown selflessly and sacrificially to her mother-in-law, and told her that he hoped the Lord would find it best to use him to bless her. (WOW!) Then Boaz asked her to dinner. After she had left, he told his men to leave more wheat behind for her without letting her know. (How sweet!)

When Ruth told Naomi how nice Boaz had been, Naomi planned for Ruth to dress (and smell) nicely and go visit Boaz one night. Naomi called Boaz the "kinsman-redeemer." I particularly love the peculiarity of that phrase.... sometimes used in reference to Christ.

So Ruth visits Boaz in the night. I don't think it was anything scandalous. It seemed more sweet and serving. It says that she uncovered his feet (compared maybe to taking off his work shoes?) after a long day then slept at his feet. Boaz was so taken aback by her kindness that he called her "Eishet Hayil." This name is only used twice in the Bible. The other time that "Eishet Hayil" is used is in Proverbs 31 when the actual meaning is given... hence, Ruth is the only woman in the Bible specifically stated to be a "Woman of Noble Character."

Ultimately, Boaz was so happy that Ruth had chosen him instead of the younger guys on his property. Another man actually WAS supposed to purchase Naomi's property and subsequently marry Ruth, but something else came up and the man said to Boaz, "Buy it yourself." What a God thing!!!

And yet, the neatest thing about this entire story is that after Boaz and Ruth were married, they had a son ("Obed") who grew up and had a son ("Jesse") whose son was David. Yeah, that's right. DAVID! The king! The "Man After God's Own Heart." The one I've been attempting to talk about from First Samuel.... The Beginning of the line of the MESSIAH.