A Few Thoughts

This was from a St. Louis newspaper. I hope you enjoy it.

Nine Rules Kids Won’t Learn In School:
1. Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teenager uses the phrase, “it’s not fair”, 101 times per day.
2. The real world won’t care as much about your “self esteem” as your school does.
3. Sorry, you will not make $60,000 a year right out of high school, and you won’t be a VP and have a corner office (unless it is in the far corner of the basement). You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn’t carry a designer label.
4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.
5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity.
6. It’s not your parents fault if you mess up. You’re responsible. This is the flip side of “It’s my life” and “You’re not my boss.”
7. Before you were born, your parents weren’t boring. They got that way paying your bills and listening to you.
8. Life is not divided into semesters. And you don’t get summers off. Not even spring break. You are expected to show up everyday for eight hours, and you don’t get a new life every ten weeks.
9. Your school may be “outcome based”, but life isn’t. In some schools, you’re given as many times as you want to get the answer right. Standards are set low enough so everyone can meet them. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life – as you will find out.
It is up to us, as parents, to supply the “real” needs for the real world for our kids. Remember, what you put in them today will eventually come back to you when they become your caretaker when you are old.

March 13

Read Acts 6

I love to eat! I know that surprises some of you. It is not just that I love to eat; it is that sometimes I do not know when to stop eating. Have you ever sat at the table, having finished eating; you hear this statement, “Well, I ate too much.” When I am with my father, dinner is not over until we hear those words. Sometimes I feel so full that it becomes uncomfortable.
I wonder what it would feel like if I was so full of what God wanted to feed me. Would I get that uncomfortable feeling because He is filling me up so that I can step into areas that I have never walked before? When thinking about this, I remember Stephen.
Do you remember Stephen? He was probably the greatest influencer in the New Testament. He may or may not have been in Jerusalem in Acts chapter two, but he came into truth somewhere. By Acts chapter 6, we see that Stephen is a man full of faith, wisdom and the Holy Ghost. In fact, he was so full of God that he ended up in some uncomfortable situations.
We must be full of faith. If we want to grow as people and as churches, we must be full of faith. We must have trust in what God is able to accomplish through us. We must trust His resources and His desire to bless and lead us into all things. If we get to the point where we are praying, “Lord, increase my faith,” then we will be able to say, “Lord, whatsoever you desire, let it come forth.”
We must be full of wisdom. It is not enough for human ingenuity to decide the path that needs to be walked. We need God’s wisdom to permeate our minds to make the right decision, not the most convenient. I would rather not go to just any place in life, but I desire to go to the “Kingdom” place by following after wisdom.
Finally, we must be full of the Holy Ghost. Our communities deserve and need a people full of the Spirit of God. Remember, it is “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord.”
However, we must also remember that when we get so full, he will allow us to get into some uncomfortable places. I stated earlier that Stephen was one of the most influential people of the New Testament. However, his influence was fulfilled upon his death. It was at his stoning that the Apostle Paul first saw the glory of God, and so when the light shone from heaven on his way to Damascus, he did not hesitate to address the Lord behind the light. As you may well know, it was this same Paul that is responsible for many churches throughout Asia Minor, and through the books of the bible that he wrote, to you and me. I wonder what would have happened if Paul had not come across a man full of faith, wisdom and the Holy Ghost. Or more directly put, what Paul of 2009 is out there waiting to see a person full of faith, wisdom and the Holy Ghost.

March 14

Read Romans 1:7

I like sports. Really, I could watch just about any sport; however, there are two sports that I love to watch; hockey and football. I grew up in Minnesota, and I still and always will, follow the Vikings and the University hockey team. The Vikings are the football team that I have cheered for my entire life. I remember the days of Fran Tarkenton, Ahmad Rashad and Ron Yary.
The interesting thing about the three men I named is that most football fans would easily recognize the first two, but Ron Yary would not be so recognizable. The first two were stars that had their name mentioned all the time while Ron Yary’s name was only usually mentioned in a game where he made a mistake.
He was an offensive lineman which means that his primary responsibility was to block for the rest of the offense so that they could score and get all the glory. However, as is often the case in life, it is not the star that makes the team go; it is the unknown men and women that allow the team to flourish. Without men like Ron Yary, Fran Tarkenton and Ahmad Rashad would not be recognized today. The unfortunate thing is that an offensive lineman is the epitome of the statement, “People never notice the little things you do, but everyone will notice them if you don’t do them.”
A saint is like an offensive lineman. They are oftentimes not recognized, but without them, the team is nothing. We often identify churches with the name of the pastor. It is Gleason’s church, Mangun’s church, Smith’s church, etc. However, we all know that the church identified by the name would be nothing if it were not for the saints.
In fact, Paul thought so highly of the saints that he referred to it as a calling. The greatest Apostle knew the value of the “offensive linemen” of the church. The saint cannot be taken lightly in any church setting. I know that some of you wonder why the saint doesn’t have there name “called” often, but remember this, people may not see the small things, but if the small things were not being done, everyone would notice. If the saint wasn’t being the saint, we would have no need of a pastor.
Today, I applaud the saint. We are all called to be saints first. The saint is the life of the church. God is not coming back for pastors and teachers and prophets and evangelists. He is coming back for His saints. If you are a saint in the church of the living God today, would you please pat yourself on the back, and in your best announcer’s voice say, “What a play by ____________. If it were not for that saint, the score would not have been made!”

March 15

I have heard it said that life is a little backwards. If we knew what we did at 50 years old and be able to apply it to our life at 20 years old, how different would we be? There is something that God had in mind when he created us the way He did. Have you ever wondered why you weren’t created ready to go into the world and accomplish all you can. Could it be that God designed a yearning to grow?
I remember when I was young that I wanted to be a hockey player. Or was it a fireman. Maybe it was a doctor or lawyer. Really, there was so many things that I remember wanting to be that I ended up having to make choices as to the direction my life would go. The wisdom that I had when I was a child pales with what I know today. I believe God designed it that way so that we would learn to trust in Him.
The Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I learned fear (awe and reverence) when I was just a child and was able to see all the things that God had done. If I had been full grown, I would have thought that I was in control because as a child I knew I needed my parents and teachers and all the others that have impacted my life to guide me into maturity.
When you don’t fear, then you don’t hear and when you don’t hear, you don’t learn, and when you don’t learn, you don’t grow, and when you don’t grow, you die. Where are you in that sentence? Do you stand in the presence of God with head bowed in awe of His majesty? Are you listening both to the written and spoken word of God? Have you spent any time learning what God desires for your life? Are you growing in maturity and relationship with Him, or are you spiritually dead or dying?
The answer to those questions will either give you confidence to continue in Him, or conviction to draw closer to Him. I hope everyone that reads this today spends some time growing.