Consumed With Consumerism

Once there was a man, or a woman, or a child who made a long, long Christmas list! I want …, I need…, I saw…, My friends have … began the lines of desire that filled the college-ruled notebook sheet. When Christmas morning came, it was all there! Every request, regardless of value, was under the tree, waiting for its turn to be unwrapped and used! Everything!

The man, or woman, or child said, “Cool! I got everything I wanted! I’m going to have to clear out some closet space for all my new stuff! I might even have a garage sale to see if any poor people want the toys/tools/trinkets that I got last year! Now I can eat, drink and, finally, I can be happy!

What if, on the day after Christmas, we hear this the trumpet call of God, and the voice of the archangel announces that the return of Jesus has come? What will he say to us about how we’ve spent the weeks between Thanksgiving and December 25? What will he say you about what you thought about the things that were or were not under your tree? We certainly don’t want him to call us fools!

If you don’t want to come across as foolish, keep in mind what Jesus said before he told the Parable of the Rich Fool, “Life is not about the things that you possess” (Luke 12:15). Maybe those words will help us resist the temptation to become consumed with consumerism. Maybe this year we won’t spend ourselves into the slavery of debt. Maybe this year our families and friends will see real life at work in us, and Jesus will say, “Good, job you faithful and wise servant!” That’s Life at Work!

Give Thanks in All Circumstances

“Give Thanks In All Circumstances, For This Is God’s Will For You” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

This Thanksgiving season, be attentive to the need to express and share an attitude of gratitude. You’ll have to be vigilant. Thanksgiving certainly hasn’t been commercialized like some of the other holidays, but the theme is often neglected. Maybe the theme has been neglected when the paramedics who have been called because you are lethargic find that you have a “gravy blood level” of eighty percent. It is a good thing to be grateful for overflowing food, football, and early bird specials at the Thanksgiving sales, but there are many other things for which we should express our thanks. Here are two things I really want to encourage you to do in Thanksgiving: (1) Pray a lot - more often than before the major meal. Seriously, commit to praying when you first are up and around; before you go to bed; when you find that you are all in the same room; when you’ve heard someone express a concern about something. Go ahead and pray alone if you are by yourself or together if you are with family. (2) Tell other people some of the stories you have that give reason to be thankful. The people around you, especially the children around you, need to know the stories about God blessing you so that they are more aware of the array of blessings they have.

Can you do those things for the remainder of the week? Pray more than you’ve ever prayed in a four day period. Tell the stories that build an attitude of gratitude in the people who spend some time with you this Thanksgiving. That’s Life at Work!

The People We Meet

It was like Saul/Paul used the death of Stephen as the catalyst to destroy the church. He went on a rampage, conducting a house to house search for disciples so he could drag them to prison. He led the way, but he wasn’t the only one out to persecute the disciples. Though the apostles stayed, many of the Christians in Jerusalem got outta Dodge.

Still, they didn’t leave just to survive. One thing they learned watching Peter, John, the rest of the Apostles, and Stephen – don’t forget Stephen – was that people need to hear about Jesus. They scattered with hearts full of good things and the saying of Jesus came true in their lives, “Words from your mouth are the overflow of your heart” (Matt 12:34).

Philip’s heart was overflowing. Luke tells the story about Philip’s preaching in Samaria and along a lonely road. We learn a lot from Luke’s account of Philip’s travels, including the kind of people that we are likely to encounter as we live and allow the overflow of our hearts reveal what Jesus has done for us.

You will encounter people who have a need that you can help meet, and who pay attention to what you say because they see power working through you. You may help them overcome defeat from sickness, financial struggle, family breakdown, lonely times, emotional crash, tough temptation, or moral failure. Because you care, and because you can help them, they listen with softened hearts to the words about Jesus that come from your mouth.

You will encounter people who have a hard time renewing their minds. When we’ve been brought up in a particular way, when we’ve lived by the same code for a long time, it is hard to change. Even when people really want to change, it is hard. If a man has lived his life for the attention of others because that attention brought power and wealth, it is hard to shake that drive for attention. You will likely say things like “With God everything is possible.” Philippians 4:13 will be overflowing, no doubt. You will patiently, sometimes sternly perhaps, one decision at a time, help someone in their metamorphosis to Christ likeness.

You will encounter people who know that the Bible says something about their situation and need some help understanding the text. Philip dealt with an Ethiopian who, very possibly, was reading the Isaiah scroll where it was written, “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter” because he wanted the context of a passage that spoke to his situation:

"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant--
to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will not be cut off.
(Isaiah 56:4-5; NIV)

Philip began where he was, and told him the good news. Man, people need that! They’ve got that tune in their heads from when they were young, “My Jesus knows Just What I Need” but they need some help finding Jesus’ answer and you can help.

Sick, struggling, and searching – those words describe people who we encounter who need help getting well, overcoming, and finding the answers to their important questions. You’ve been where they are. Can Jesus count on you to help?

What's Inside

There is a sense of fairness, justice, and moral obligation that is on the inside of normal people of all generations in every part of the world. Different cultures drive on different sides of the road, but all cultures recognize that there are rules of fair play, issues of loyalty, and principles regarding truth. C. S. Lewis says specifically that we expect people everywhere to understand the standard behind a statement like, “I was sitting there first.” Everybody knows that you don’t desert you comrades in battle. All societies understand that you don’t lie. Selfishness is perceived across generations to be immoral.

Think about a couple of things while those thoughts cross your mind this week. Think first about the implications about our creator from the morality that the creation possesses. God created us with a sense of right and wrong and a conscience to guide us in choosing the right even when powerful natural instincts would lead us toward the wrong decision. That says something about what kind of God made us. What do you think that says about him?

Second, think about the importance of allowing that moral sense in you to have its way. Paul told Timothy about some hypocrites whose consciences have been seared (1 Timothy 4:2) If you kick a dog every time he comes to your feet for some petting, he’ll quit coming so often; and, eventually, will quit all together. Your conscience is like that. If you beat it away as it moves you to the right choice, it will quit coming so often. Eventually, it will quit all together. Like the dog, your conscience will still exist, it will have just been burned so much that it has hardened and has become useless. Don’t let that happen to you. That’s Life at Work!

Veteran's Day Prayer

Yahweh-Sabaoth, God of Hosts, commander of Heavenly armies, we beg you to guard the men and women who are serving in dangerous fields in effort to punish evildoers and provide freedom to the oppressed. We beg you to give peace, comfort, health, and joy to veterans who have served in prior days. As we give honor to whom honor is due today, please give your favor to American soldiers, past and present. We look forward with longing to your everlasting peace. Amen.

You're Holding My Heart

Clair, a nurse, was telling her new friend Daniel that while she was at work, a man who she was helping keep alive with heart massage suddenly looked at her and said, “You’re holding my heart.” Later, when Daniel was trying desperately to get to Helen, the love of his life, he was protected from the authorities who were after him by Clair. He knew he would not get away from those who were pursuing him without Clair’s help. He told her, “You’re holding my heart.”

That great line, “You’re holding my heart” from Forever Young (1992, Warner Brothers) expresses the feelings we have about those things that are in our core. Our heart keeps us alive. Those precious things in our hearts are what we live for – and would die for.

There are things – more than one thing – that are in our center. Those things include other people and the relationships that tie us to them. Those things include values like loyalty, love, and virtue. For men like Polycarp and Justin Martyr and women like Anne Askew, those things included faith. They all died – execution style – because their faith was more at their center than was life itself. Christian history is full of their stories. Books so old they are available in full text online like Foxes Book of Martyrs and newer books like dc Talk’s Jesus Freaks or John MacArthur’s Twelve Ordinary Men tell us the stories of people who have given up the breath of life for Jesus because to give up faith would have been to give up their soul – their entirety.

Stephen was such a man. He couldn’t accept God’s grace, yet hold his tongue. He wouldn’t keep the Spirit silent within him though he knew stones would be thrown at him. Faith oriented his eyes to see the Son of Man standing in concern and confirmation. Faith molded his heart to forgive those who were throwing stones. Faith was fundamental.

Your salvation is so important to God that he “gave his one and only Son.” If getting you to be in his presence forever is so important to him, shouldn’t it be to you? Furthermore, if Jesus is who he says he is and can do what he says he can do, doesn’t it make sense that we should say with Paul, “For me to live is Christ”? Would you give up your breath to hold on to your faith? When threatened with the wild beasts, Polycarp said, “Let them come. My purpose is unchangeable.” He meant that he couldn’t deny his faith, it was too much of who he was. How can we have that kind of faith?

How Then Can Anyone Understand?

It was the week before Halloween in 1999 when my family and I moved to Yukon. Before we even got completely moved in, we were in Piedmont in a hay-filled wagon being pulled by a tractor when someone whispered to me that a man from our church had passed away that evening. Every October, I think about moving here and about the Christian lady who became a widow that very first week.

I preached recently, near the end of October, from several texts in Proverbs that educate us about God’s plan and purpose for the world, and his involvement in the daily events of life – your life and my life. We ended with this proverb, “A man's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way?” It’s a given, in this wise saying, that God directs things from above; so the question is rhetorical. We won’t always understand his way. God moves in mysterious ways. His ways are above our ways. We know those things.

But wisdom, insight, and reflection into our own experiences can help us sometimes to understand where we are and what God has done in and through the events in our lives. I know that because as I preached that sermon on God’s plan, purpose, and involvement I noticed a lady sitting with her new husband on a different pew than she occupied five years ago. I noticed her because she was nodding and smiling with one of those “I understand” kinds of smiles. I smiled, too, when I saw her. She gets some of it – now – five years later. You probably already get that she is the lady that I think of every year about this time. How has God worked in your life? Have you done any reflection today? That’s Life at Work.

"So the Word of God Spread"

“So the Word of God spread” (Acts 6:7) I really need that assurance. I know I am not the only one who thinks about failure when I here complaint. Samuel Johnson wrote, “The usual fortune of complaint is to excite contempt rather than pity.” My own experience reveals that complaining, whether I’m giving or receiving, often ends with frustration. Even some of the Bible stories that we tell reveal the connection between complaint and relationship brakes. How many people died between Egypt and Canaan because they complained?

Why did this complaint from the Grecian widows result in good when so many complaints bring frustration at a minimum and sometimes downright evil? Here are a couple of my ideas about that:

First, it was the first complaint. I’m aware that there could have been some things that caused friction in the early days of the church that Luke doesn’t reveal, but this is the first time someone in the church grumbled about the way something was happening as he tells the story. Complaining doesn’t seem to have been a prominent part of the Christian’s linguistic experience in these early days, neither as a whole or individually. If you will be heard, you have to be sure you are not constantly making a grumbling sound. People who complain constantly are major turnoffs both to the subjects of their complaints and to any others who are in position to deal with the complaint. Like the boy who cried wolf, those who constantly complain often find their words falling on deaf ears.

Second, it was a legitimate complaint. The Israelites wanted to go back to Egypt thinking their best days were behind them. They were so wrong. They saw an approaching army, or faced other scary circumstances, and did not consider the salvation of the Lord. Actually, the best days were yet to come. God and Moses knew. The Israelites would not listen. They grumbled because they were not seeing what was real. Likewise, sometimes a complaint is couched in terms like “he always” or “she never” and it is dismissed immediately because those terms don’t reflect reality. The Grecians were right apparently. There was unbalanced attention given to the Hebraic widows. That’s what they grumbled about. Legitimate complaints, expressed in reasonable language, get deserved attention.

There are other things about the approach and about how the complaint was received that contributed to the positive result though the “grumbling” was negative. What do you see in the passage that you would include in an explanation for this super turn of events? What would you suggest to people, or what would you adopt for yourself, as part of a good conflict management style?

What's Important?

Shor Toots was a popular restaurant owner in New York City and a Giants Fan, when the Giants were a baseball team in New York. One night, Alexander Fleming, the inventor of penicillin came for dinner. Toots and Fleming were chit-chatting when an employee walked over and whispered in Toots ear that the Giants' manager, Mel Ott, had just arrived. Toots glanced over toward the door and said to Fleming, “I’ve got to leave you. Somebody important just came in.”

Importance, to us, is relative. To a healthy Giants fan in New York, Ott is more important than Fleming. One of the rules of communication is that the importance of an issue is directly proportional to the proximity of your audience. We will walk away from a TV news story about an earthquake in Croatia that killed five thousand people to watch the local fire department get a cat out of a tree down the street. Importance, to us, is relative.

So when is Jesus important? When your family is disintegrating? When you’ve heard the doctors say how sick you are? When your drinking has gotten out of control? When your finances are in shambles? When you’ve been caught in an embarrassing sin? When your kids start running with shady friends, their grades plummet and they’ve developed an attitude? Yes, Jesus is important at these times!

But Jesus’ importance is not to shift with the winds that spin your head around. Jesus is important when your family is healthy, you are healthy, you drink water at dinner, you have the ability to be generous, you are practicing self-control, and your kids are walking straight paths. Jesus is always important!

If you are in a spot where you realize you need Jesus, he’ll take you as you are. Don’t wait for the disaster to see his importance, though. He’s not a tool to fix your problems, though he can. He is to be the King of your life, every day!

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33). That's Life at Work!

Death and Rescue

“Here, Peter.”
“What’s that?”
”The money from the sale of some land Sapphira and I owned. I brought it to help balance things out; you know, between those who have plenty and those who have needs.”
“Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

“Peter!”
“Yes, Sapphira.”
“I see our pouch, but not Ananias.”
“Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”
“Yes, that is the price.”
“How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

There are two stories that dominate Acts 5. One is the story of Ananias and Sapphira, both of whom died for lying to God about the money they were giving from the sale of their land. The other is the twice-rescued apostles. They were rescued first when they were miraculously released from jail by the angel. They were rescued again when God used Gamaliel, a Pharisee, to convince the Sanhedrin to calm down and let God deal with the apostles and the movement they were trying to advance.

It’s not unusual for someone to die at the beginning of a great advance of God – look at the Read Sea and Sinai stories. You don’t goof around with God and what he is going to accomplish. A godly fear is a very healthy thing in the hands of the living God.

Just as God demands reverence, he offers rescue. Those who take God’s work seriously have as their help the kind of power that has raised the dead. If rescuing you is the way to advance his cause, to let the world know that what you are doing really is from God, he will do it.
Death or rescue -- that’s an easy enough choice for me. I’ll take God seriously. That’s Life at Work.

Why Did She Have to Die?

“Why did she have to die?” Many of us have heard that question asked from a heart filled with grief. Not a few of us have asked the question ourselves. None of us have had an adequate answer at the time that the question is asked. You still won’t when you get through reading this. When we are feeling less emotional and more contemplative – when our “issue is separate from the event” – thinking about some things written by Richard Swinburne in The Existence of God is valuable. Maybe even it will be helpful at those times in the future when we will be asking “Why did she have to die?”

Swinburne gives three reasons why he believes God made people mortal – made them so that they could die - whether by natural causes or at the agency of others. Let me tell you what they are, then I’ll offer a thought about them that I’ve been considering today. First, if people were immortal, if they did not die in this world, I could never hurt you enough that I would deprive you of existence; and God wants us to be able to be trusted with the power to take someone’s life, yet refuse to do it. Second, a world in which no one dies is a world in which the supreme sacrifice – a man laying down his life for his friends – cannot be done. Third, if I never died, I would not be as serious as I am about my contribution to the world. Since I know I only have a number of years to do the good I want to do and undo as many of the screw-ups as I can, I take my opportunities more seriously. I live like I am dying.

If you want to argue with Swinburne regarding the problem of evil especially as it relates to why God lets people die, you’ve got some room. But I was struck by these things as I read them today because though the subject is death, they all have their meaning in the importance of life.

You hold the lives of others in your hand. Are you trustworthy to respect that life so much that you won’t destroy it regardless of how you feel about that life today? Since you can die, you can die for others. Have you grown to be the greatest kind of hero and lover who would give up what is so important to you in order to protect another person or an important ideal? Finally, considering the limited time you have, what you do with today is incredibly important. You wouldn’t waste it, would you? Don’t waste it! We all have to die. That’s Life at Work!

Ruler of the Land and Sea

“Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, ‘There will be no more delay!’” (Revelation 10:5-6)

The image of God’s angel standing with one foot on the land and one foot on the sea was a vivid reminder for God’s people that Rome did not rule the world, God did. The perception that people can “rule the world” by their might or wealth existed before the rise of the Roman Empire, and exits even since its fall. Sir Walter Raleigh wrote in “A Discourse of the Invention of Ships, Anchors, Compass, &c.,” “Whosoever commands the sea commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.” That’s just wrong. Wealth doesn’t determine rule. The one who created wealth created everything, and it is by the nature of creation that he rules the world.

The Revelation of John reminds us that the creator of the land and sea – and everything in them – is active in the world even now, and will cause this heaven and earth to pass away. Rome would not submit voluntarily to the rule of God in its day. That was a problem. It’s a problem now for you, too, if you don’t voluntarily submit. It’s true that no one wants to submit to a cruel dictatorship. Jesus is so loving, so merciful, and so willing to bear your burdens, though. Give the right to rule your life to the one who created you and cares for you. Eternal life will be your inheritance. He rules in heaven, too, after all. That’s Life at Work!

Keep the Good Going (Part One in a Series from Acts 4)

"What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name." Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.”

“You’ve got to be kidding!” That’s how I think I would have responded if Luke were actually sitting in my living room telling me what he wrote for us in Acts 4. “They know they can’t deny the miracle, but they still are desperate to stop them from talking about Jesus?” How can they justify that? Why are they trying to stop something that is obviously good? Peter and John did a nice thing, showing tremendous power, for a crippled man!”

Why would people try to stop something this good from happening? One reason, in this case, is that they had a bogus belief to which they were committed. That’s true, at least for the Sadducees. “There hasn’t been a resurrection; there isn’t a resurrection; there never will be a resurrection. Do all the miracles you want, you can’t convince me that someone can raise from the dead.” It was their rejection of any teaching based on the idea of resurrection or including the promise of a resurrection that motivated them to threaten Peter and John.

In our churches, people with bogus beliefs sometimes try to stop good from happening because of conviction to those beliefs. Sometimes the evidence against their belief is as plain as the healing of a crippled man, but not usually. They believe they’ve got a good argument to make, but will deny the possibility of other positions that might have good argument, too. “I just can’t see how it can be any other way,” someone might say.

Before you diligently labor to stop some good that someone is trying to do; before you threaten anyone with anything – ask yourself this question: “Do a significant number of others with whom I usually agree (for instance the people with whom you assemble) believe something differently about this issue?” If you answer that question affirmatively, you would do well, for yourself and for others, to recognize that there other legitimate possibilities. You may not see them, but others may. You have right, and perhaps an obligation, to teach and persuade people to believe what you believe with an attitude of love. You have no right, however, to expect that because you can’t see the possibility of something being true, others who disagree must conform to your dogmatism – especially if a significant number of others with whom you regularly agree, disagree with you in regard to this issue.

Truth is not determined by the number of people who believe a thing, but if a number of people with whom you regularly agree don’t believe what you believe, it might just be your conviction that needs adjusting.

Amateurs

An amateur is good, just not good enough to be paid yet. One of these days she’ll be good enough to be paid, and she will be a professional. We are right to use the word “amateur” in that way. Current usage dictates meaning. Maybe we can understand the positive side of “amateur” when we consider the Latin word that is root to our English word. Amator means “lover.” An amateur loves his past-time, role, hobby, or sport so much that he doesn’t need pay to play.

Amateur husbands, preachers, parents, deacons, wives, elders, Bible school teachers, friends, servants, administrators, assistants, and leaders sound pretty good in that context, don’t they? I can’t think of any of those “jobs” in which I haven’t known a number of people who have and will do them without pay because they love them.

What about you? You fill some of those roles. Do you allow your love for people to fill you up so that the “jobs” you do for them, you would do as an amateur – as if there were no payoff? Do your kids know that you are an amateur by the way you handle your role as a parent? Can the people that you do “nice” things for know that they are dealing with an amateur, or would they think they are dealing with a professional with some obligation to be nice? From this perspective, an amateur’s skill will likely excel that of the professional. Join the amateur ranks. That’s Life at Work!

Two Ears

“You never learn anything while you are telling the other person off,” says Robert Cook. One of Stephen Covey’s best chapters in The Seven Habits is, “Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood.” I don’t know who the wise man was that said, “Maybe the reason God gave us two ears and one mouth was so that we would listen twice as much as we talk.” Jesus spoke about discerning listening often with the phrase, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Have you used your ears much today? Did you listen to your spouse this morning? Did you really hear what your kids had to say? What has your co-worker, or boss, or employee said today that you didn’t really pay much attention to? What did God mean in that passage that you read allowed or heard from the audio Bible as you drove today? Did you misunderstand someone? We’re you already thinking about your response before you heard their heart? Did they even really get a chance to express themselves or were you in such a hurry, or being so impatient, that you settled the issue with your mouth before you understood it with your ears?

All of these are questions that we should review regularly. Why? Because plenty of wise people, including the most wise, have said that we need to hear the people around us. Why? Because you may be answering questions that no one is asking and leaving unanswered the inquiries that really matter to the people you love and need. Why? Because your Creator did you give one mouth and two years. What’s your ratio of talking to listening today? That’s Life at Work!

I've Seen A Good Man Sin

We don’t always do what we intend to do. In their vile hit “What It’s Like” Everlast sings about a beggar who never pictured himself begging; and a young girl considering an abortion who never dreamed that the man she’d been dreamin’ of would have dumped her when she got pregnant. They offer this rhyme that describes what all of us would likely admit we’ve seen with our own eyes and heard with our own ears:

I've seen a rich beg
I've seen a good man sin
I've seen a tough man cry

I've seen a loser win
And a sad man grin
I heard an honest man lie

Can you be a good man and sin? Can you be an honest woman and lie? Yes, you can. If that doesn’t describe you, it describes someone you know. Christians have a mindset for doing the things the Spirit desires, but we have bodies that wage a war against our wills. And sometimes, our bodies win a battle.
Thank God that he looks at my “want tos” instead of my win/loss ratio. There is no condemnation, Paul says, for the person of faith – the person who because of their trust in Jesus has decided to live for him.
Don’t beat yourself up because your decision hasn’t led to sinlessness. Don’t beat anybody else up because they don’t have it all right either. There’s no doubt that you will see some growth in your walk with Christ, but you will always see sin in your life, too. And there will always be sin there that you don’t see. The ultimate difference isn’t that you’ve got it right. The ultimate difference, the difference that brings “no condemnation,” is that the Spirit inside you keeps you spiritually alive despite your acts that used to lead to death. The difference in you isn’t you; it’s the Holy Spirit. Give God the glory. That’s Life at Work!

My First Ad

I saw one today. Maybe they’ve been around for a while, but I saw my first one today. It was an advertisement on TV prompting me to vote for a lottery in Oklahoma. I’m not sure who funded it, but I know various pro-lottery groups want my vote. If the lottery comes to Oklahoma, I’ll see a lot more ads. Millions of dollars will be spent by my state government to entice you and me to hustle down to the local ticket retailer to purchase as many tickets as we can afford. Millions of dollars will be spent by the government to get you and me to do that. I want the government of this state to do some things to make marriages last longer. Oklahoma does. I want my state government to promote charitable giving, and it does. I want my state government to advance the cause of justice. Oklahoma does. Now, some want the state of Oklahoma to entice me to spend my family’s money in a game it hopes I lose. They want to keep more money than they give. Now, some in state of Oklahoma wants me to stand in line next to my neighbor, whom Christ calls me to “love as myself;” watch him spend his hard earned money on a game of chance, and hope that he loses that money so that I can win. If the lottery comes to Oklahoma, the state government will spend millions of dollars trying to get me to play this game. That isn’t right. That’s Life at Work!

How Impressed Are You?

Cripple him, and you have a Sir Walter Scott.
Lock him in a prison cell, and you have a John Bunyan.
Bury him in the snows of Valley Forge and you have a George Washington.
Raise him in abject poverty, and you have a George Washington.
Subject him to bitter religious prejudice and you have a Disraeli.
Afflict him with Asthma as a child, and you have a Theodore Roosevelt.
Stab him with rheumatic pains until he can’t sleep without an opiate, and you have a Steinmetz.
Put him in a grease pit of a locomotive roundhouse, and you have a Walter P. Chrysler.
Make him play second fiddle in an obscure South American orchestra and you have a Toscanini.
At birth, deny here the ability to see, hear, and speak, and you have a Helen Keller.
-- Abigail Van Buren

Greatness despite adversity – some would say, “because of adversity.” That’s Life at Work. But I noticed something about the folks on this list from “Dear Abby.” To know some of them, you need to have come from a particular generation or be interested in a particular field. Try this one from me, and countless others:

“Kill him on a cross then raise him from the dead, and you have a Jesus of Nazareth.”

You also have the Savior of the world – your Savior. He is the greatest man who ever lived among us. He is known by every generation since his time among us; and he is important to every individual regardless of any field of interest. Does your life express how impressed you are with his story? That’s Life at Work!

B-E-A Utiful

“… A man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful.” He was hoping to find some beautiful hearts who would prompt some beautiful hands to dig deep in some beautiful pockets and bring out some beautiful coins to place in his crippled hand. It was three o’clock – time for the closing prayer. God’s people would be passing by. I wonder if he said, “I hope they are feeling beautiful today.”

The gate to the temple area that he chose was made of Corinthian brass. It was more costly than other gates that were made with gold and silver. This gate was incredibly heavy; so heavy that twenty men were called on to open and close it. Maybe to the perfect people, the man was out of place; his physical condition might have caused them to turn their heads. He couldn’t even serve as a doorman. But they probably anticipated his presence. This day at the gate called Beautiful was likely not his first. It would be his best!

Peter reach down toward the man with a hand empty of gold and silver, but full of love and the power of God. That was beautiful! The ankles and feet of the crippled man became instantly strong. That was beautiful! With a heart full of joy, the man walked and jumped throughout the temple area, praising God. That was beautiful! Peter and John used the interest of the observers who came running to see the formerly crippled man to tell the story of Jesus. That was beautiful! The murders of Jesus learned that their sins could be blotted out and that they could know about the times of refreshing from the Lord. That was beautiful!

Ultimately, Beautiful was just another gate. The entrance was just another entrance. But beautiful things happened that day that we are still reading about today. And the beauty continues because the love and power of God are still evident; the weak are still made strong; people impacted are still jumping and praising; the story is still being told; and times of refreshing are still here. See the beauty. Be the beauty.

Interruptions!

Rod Serling spent his life trying to communicate messages. Some of you may know that he did more than just the Twilight Zone gig. He said one occasion, “It is truly difficult to produce a television documentary that is both incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by those dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper.”

I bet Jesus understands his frustration. You talk about someone trying to communicate a message – we call Jesus the Logos, the Word. He has a message! It is a message of love, justice, mercy, service, judgment and faithfulness. After he personified this message among our forefathers, he provided it in writing for future generations, including our generation. I wonder what he thinks about the interruptions.

A wise man wrote a song about a strong, righteous person: “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” The courageous man wrote, “In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust….” The individual determined not to sin affirmed, “I have written your word in my heart.” The one who loved to obey proclaimed, “I will not neglect your word.”

How would your life be different if soccer was interrupted by study? Do you think you would benefit if you allowed making money to be interrupted by meditation? How honored do you think God would feel if you stopped hustling to the next appointment, and let him come into your heart to refresh and rebuild you? That’s Life at Work!