Loyalty (part 4) - Communication

Loyalty illustrated through nature:
The honey bee is often thought of as a nuisance. During their lifetime (about 38 day) they exhibit extraordinary communication skills. Within that brief lifespan, they must take on 5 distinct roles each requiring a different form and level of communication, without which the colony would collapse.

In the scriptures:
Read about the Rechabite family's loyalty and ability to give and maintain a reliable message (Jeremiah 35).

Loyalty (part 3) - Standing with those you serve

Loyalty illustrated through nature:
Canadian geese mate for life. The partnering rituals include interested males squaring off in battle. But, even victory in battle does not guarantee acceptance by the female. She is very careful when choosing whom she will make a lifelong commitment to and brute strength is not the only qualification she is interested in. This couple will fight predators together and willingly give their life, if necessary, to protect each other and their family. It's been noted that a "mother" goose will sit on and care for an infertile egg for up to 5 months beyond the normal incubation period. Talk about loyalty...

In the scriptures:
Read about Mordecai's loyalty and ability to stand by the one he served in his time of need ( Esther 2).

Loyalty (part 2) - Adjusting my schedule to those I am serving

As promised, the first installment of loyalty illustrated through nature:
The great horned owl demonstrated loyalty by building it's schedule around the needs of its young. They choose to nest in the cold, late winter months, rather than spring. They must sacrifice and endure the winter weather for at least 4 weeks without leaving the nest to assure they are properly cared for and kept warm. This early nesting period allows the owls to hunt small pray for their rapidly growing nestlings when there is a lack of foliage and cover. The nestlings grow from 3 inches tall to over 2 feet tall in a few months...so this helps the owls meet the tremendous food requirements of their young.

In the scriptures:
Read about general Amasa's disloyalty and inability to adjust his schedule to meet that of king David (2 Samuel 20:1-13), it cost him his life.

Loyalty

Loyalty is a foreign concept these days. I've been in the workplace for over 20 years and in ministry for over 10...and things are no better in ministry. I know a guy who recently signed on at one church and was lured away to his "dream job" within 6 months. That's not the worst of it, he left his dream job, although he had signed a multi-year contract, before the first year was up. I guess God changed his mind about his commitment level or so the excuse goes, I'm sure.

Reality is, most people are living their lives for themselves. Making their desires a priority over those they serve. That doesn't even work in nature...most animals are more loyal than most people. For those of you who don't know already - I'm a huge nature fan. If fact, I've just been inspired to do a multi-entry post on loyalty...all related to nature.

I'll post the next several entries on loyalty specifically as illustrated in the world of nature...and tie it back to scripture...

What am I working on...

I've started my next book. I actually started it late last year, just really struggling to find time to put some real effort into it. The research has been on-going since I finished the last book in early 2007, but I haven't been able to organize and put the details into the work that I've done so far. I did have a few sessions of writing time that allowed me to understand this - it's going to be a very important work.

This book will be about the root problem in the world today. Anyone know what it is? The battle between love and selfishness. Jesus gave two commandments that are the foundational principles for every commandment in the Bible: "...love the Lord thy God with all of thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind... love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:7,39). It's no coincidence that both commandments involve love. Love and selfishness are the two greatest forces in life. A person chooses to walk in one or the other every day.

I'll be updating you with progress as things move along...all my fans will be the first to know what is going on!

Leadership

Leadership is a passion of mine. I've got so many cliche's I could make your head spin. Everything rises and falls on leadership...Leadership is a stewardship, it's temporary, and you are accountable...I could go on forever, but I won't. You do know that there is a difference between leaders and managers...right? Most of us have been "managed" for most of our lives, but few of us have the privilege of being "led"...much less led well. I recently heard some teaching that was called the law of thirds. It had to do with managing, but I think it would apply to leading as well.

Most of those around you fall into 3 categories...Supporters, Undecided, Nay-Sayer's. If you concentrate on your supporters, half the Nay-Sayer's will "disappear" and most of the undecided will shift to being a supporter. Unfortunately, most of us work on converting the Nay-Sayer's, because we naturally want everyone to like us. Nay-Sayer's almost never change, so when we take that approach, half the supporters "disappear" and most of the undecided learn that you get attention by becoming a Nay-Sayer.

Start working more with those around you that are positive and believe in you. I think you will see that others will start to come around and support you as well...

I've seen it all...

I thought there was nothing more in the world of weddings that could be discovered, but I was wrong. Check out this website: http://www.inflatablechurch.com. Click the enter the site area on the middle of the page and check this out. I'm not real sure what the market demand is for something like this....since no one really values marriage anymore anyway!

Speaking of marriage, by now you have probably heard that the divorce rate "in" the church has surpassed the divorce rate "outside" the church. Sad...but even worse is the reason why! If you think about it - it actually makes sense. The reason the divorce rate "in" the church is higher is because less people "outside" the church are getting married. Instead they are just living together and not going through the "formality" of marriage. They only see a piece of paper as the primary benefit...

Both aspects of this grieve the heart of God...marriage was the first covenant relationship created by God. Before governmental, financial or educational institutions - there was marriage. The "covenant" aspect of a marriage relationship is the foundation for all other "binding" agreements we have today. The fact that people consider it unimportant shows the nonchalant attitude of most toward something as important as marriage.

The fact that Christians are getting divorced at record paces also grieves the heart of God. Marriage is not easy - by any means. But that doesn't mean that when things get tough, you can give-up or cave-in and just move on. Problem is though...just like many Christians give up on their marriage when things get hard, many give up on God in the same way:

"the 'Fair-weather Christian' has no problem serving and living for God when things are going well and the weather is good. As soon as the storm clouds roll in and the clasps of thunder can be heard, they whine, complain and tend to blame God for their circumstances. This person is always in church; in fact they may serve in many capacities at their church. The problem lies in their heart. This type of person is never content and often grumbles or complains when things are not going their way. They see people as a means to get their way. Unfortunately, they see God in pretty much the same light. The danger with this type of person is that they are often convinced their religiosity and superficial duties equate to salvation. This type of person may have often grown up in the church. Their familiarity with church life causes them to live religiously but never really have a life changing encounter with God. Because of the lack of a real relationship with Jesus, they do not live in the power of the Spirit, but on their own power. This causes frustration when things don’t go their way and they can’t fix their own problems, so they blame God. They live in the disappointing and delusional lifestyle of self-fulfillment."
(This excerpt is taken from the book Wake Up America by Steve Strickland, released in January 2008, Tate Publishers)

If you haven't got you copy yet...it's not too late! http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-60247-809-1
(available in audio book too on this site)

sick and tired...

I haven't blogged in a while because my son, Jacob, is sick again. Since mid last week he's not been breathing well and is on some pretty intense medication. I'm really sick and tired of him being sick. It's a stress on him, it's a stress on his mother and I, it's a stress on our marriage, it's a stress on our whole family. The frustration in knowing there is nothing I can do to help him is overwhelming. In fact, the knowledge that the doctor's don't even know what is really going on and can't control his breathing is even more frustrating.

If you are reading this, I would ask that you take 30 seconds to stop and agree in prayer with Diane and I for Jacob's healing. We know that God is able and agree that he will be healed. Thanks for your prayer and support...

Celebration

Tonight is Makayla's awards banquet for Track. She did so well this year...3rd overall at District for the 400 meters. Their 4X100 meter relay would have been first if they had not faulted on a hand off in the finals. Her personal best in the 400 is 62 seconds, only 12 seconds on the pace of the best time posted in the US in 2008 (high school, collegiate and professional) ... and she is only a freshman!

We are expecting phenomenal things from her in the near future!

Hockey

If you haven't been to a hockey game live and in person - you've never been to a real sporting event. I'm a big fan of the Tampa Bay Lightning (bad year, I know) and have been to several games. There is no other sport like it in the world. I happen to watch a good portion of game 3 of the Western Conference finals between Detroit and Dallas last night. Amazing athletes, highly skilled and tough as nails. In no other sport would you see a guy take a stick to the mouth, loose two teeth, need 15 stitches and be back out on the ice in less than 20 minutes. A football player would head to the locker room for the rest of the games...a basketball player would be out for 3 game...a baseball player would be on IR for a month.

We could learn a lot from their tenacity, willingness to fight and "never give up" attitude. I think too many Christians cave into the pressures and temptations of life. Too often they settle for the easy road and won't make tough choices. Life is going to bring a few "lost teeth" and require you to get stitches on more than one occasion...don't even let it show up on the injury report...fight through and use the strength that only God can provide to sustain you through difficulty and temptation.

Frustration

Funny that this post would immediately follow the patience post...

Life is very frustrating at times. Nothing seems to go smooth when it needs to, in fact, that's often when we find ourselves neck deep in "stuff" that just seems to push us over the edge. If it's not one thing, it's another. If we are trying to do ministry, our kids will struggle in school. It's always something trying to prevent us from living the victorious life God has called us to.

Please pray for me and my family - we've got some "stuff" going on and could use your prayers...

Patience

Sorry it has been a while since my last blog. There is a good reason this time. You see, I'm notoriously cheap and I was away for meetings the first half of this week - the Internet access was not free where I was staying...so I didn't have time to blog either...

I want to just rant a little about patience...cause I feel like I have some - but then I realize (when I desperately need some) that I don't really have enough. I've been waiting on some "things" for over 5 years now...and still I find myself waiting. I don't understand it, but I think I have finally stopped trying to make things happen on my own. I can say that when you try to make things happen for yourself - you often overlook what God has in mind for you. If you are patient...sometimes even beyond what you think is a reasonable amount of time...God will never disappoint you - in fact it will likely turn out better than you ever hoped or imagined! (Ephesians 3:20)

God's presence

We went to the Todd Bentley revival services again last night in Lakeland. The weirdo's were still out in full force, but things were different. The worship was so amazing and God's presence was thick. During worship I was so overwhelmed that I could not stand, but had to sit. As I sat, the presence of God continued to weigh on my, to the point of not being able to hold up my head and finally to the point that I could not keep my eyes open. I can't explain it any better than that, but for 75 minutes we worshipped in what felt like a heavenly atmosphere. The power of God was there to heal as well and there were many miracles. I'm still "buzzing" today and feel supernaturally charged.

Prayer

On this, the national day of prayer, it seemed the appropriate subject to write about. Prayer is something that is really easy that we tend to make really difficult. My pastor always says...if you can talk on the phone - you can pray. Prayer by many is generally selfish, which is OK sometimes, but it can't always be just about your and your needs/wants/desires. Instead of always praying for yourself...try interceding for someone else or for some worthy cause. It's amazing to me how many times that once I focused on others and their needs, my own needs were met in return! Make your prayer life a priority...otherwise your relationship with God will grow cold.