Vested Interests

I recently read this Irish blessing and it made me laugh so I thought I would share.
May those who love us, love us.
And those who don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn’t turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says we who follow Christ are to, “Encourage one another and build each other up …” One of the best ways to do that is to give people hope. I’ve found an excellent way to give others hope is to tell them how I got through something they’re currently facing. When you know someone else has gotten through what you’re facing, it infuses you with hope.

I heard someone explain it this way once: It’s like being in line at an amusement park waiting to get on one of those mega rollercoaster. By the way, I’ve often wondered why they don’t have a little more truth in advertising when they name those things. I proposed we name them, “The Spin til You Puke”, or “Spinal Tap, the Ride” or “The Chiropractor’s Best Friend.”

Anyway, you’re standing in line and you’re thinking, “Is this a smart decision?” Then the person in front of you, some 15 year old kid holding a chili dog, turns around and says, “This is the greatest ride ever. I’ve been on it sixteen times today.” And you’re thinking, “Ok, I’m going to live. This little chili dog eating dweeb has done it sixteen times today and he looks just fine. It’s got to be ok.”

See, it doesn’t register that you’re 50, and they’re 15. But they give you hope and hope is a powerful thing. By the way, do you know why there aren’t any other 50 year olds in line? We’re smarter than you! Sorry, that wasn’t very encouraging was it? Bottom line: share the stories of how God has seen you through tough times. Someone might really need the encouragement.

We should make a point to stop and remember the great things God has done for us. When I was a boy we used to sing a song in church entitled, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” My favorite line comes from the second stanza; “Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come.” That song was written in 1757 and that line drew its inspiration from 1 Samuel 7:12, “Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the LORD has helped us!” (NLT)

Today is an Ebenezer day for our family. You see, fourteen years ago on this date, November 1st, my two oldest daughters, Amaris and Mallory, and I were in a horrible car accident. For our family this day has come to be known as “Celebrate Life Day.” We celebrate that we survived the crash, something the two passengers in the vehicle with which we collided tragically didn’t. We celebrate that we were able, through the gracious hand of God, to get out of our vehicle just before it burst into flames. We celebrate that our baby girl Mallory, who was barely three years old at the time and suffered the greatest injuries by far, today is wonderfully healthy and active. Today we offer God our heartfelt thanks.

Jesus once said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48).  Those words trouble me as I think about them in the context of the amazing church I serve.

Kainay was founded a little over 22 years ago by a man named Glen Maiden and a handful of his friends who wanted to make a difference in Muskegon. The success rate for a church plant in the late 80’s early 90’s was around 20-25%. In other words, the odds were against a church seeing its 2nd birthday, much less its 22nd. Just the continued existence of the church could put it in the “given much” category.

But that’s not all. The average size church in America today is 186 in weekly worship attendance; the mean average is even lower at around 84 per week. Kainay’s average for 2011 is around 850 per week placing Kainay in the top 5% for average church attendance.  I would say that God’s entrusting us with so many people on a weekly basis could also be considered “given much.”

And perhaps the coup de gras of evidence for our church being “given much” is our growth rate which has been around 20% a year for the past four years in a community that is bleeding people; it’s not as if Kainay is growing by default. Ours is one of the rare churches in America who have had that sort of growth rate.

Which brings us to the thrust of our verse: much is demanded, much more will be asked of those who’ve been given much. These words trouble me because I want to make sure we’re doing all we can with all we’ve been given. The challenge is to find within ourselves the drive to respond to God’s blessings in kind.

On our recent trip to Texas, my girls played this game called “Banana;” the object is to be the first to spot a yellow vehicle and then call out “Banana!”  If you do, you get to gently punch on the arm the others who are playing.  I never realized how many yellow cars, pickups, semi’s and various other delivery vehicles out there are yellow; I guess you don’t notice them unless you’re looking for them.

It reminds me of a great verse: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8, NIV).  So often I get a little discouraged by all that’s going on in the world … I think mostly because I listen and watch the news a lot.  If you haven’t noticed, the news is full of negative stories.

 So I’m determining to shift my focus … to think about the things I’m commanded to think about.  They’re out there.  I think we should ask ourselves when’s the last time we’ve taken time to really admire the beauty of nature, enjoy the laughter of a child, eat slowly enough to really savor our meal, or to stop and smell the wonder of bacon frying?  Amazing!  So, what’re we waiting for?

A woman was sipping on a glass of wine, while sitting on the patio with her husband, and she said, “I love you so much; I don’t know how I could ever live without you.” Her husband asked, “Is that you, or the wine talking?” She replied, “It’s me … talking to the wine.” Not too encouraging, is it?

Last week we talked about being a Balcony person as opposed to a Basement person. How are you doing with that this week? Let me encourage you to intentionally seek out someone to encourage today and then encourage their socks off. Just so you know, I practice what I preach: this week I’ve encouraged the lady that cut my hair and a waitress (in both cases I left a healthy tip and complimented their service), and a few friends (made a couple of phone calls, sent an email or two, and posted several nice Facebook® comments). It’s easy, fun and rewarding to be an encourager.

Remember Ephesians 4:29 says, Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. So let’s get out there and be a Balcony person!

We were traveling the other day and I spotted a police vehicle (something I’ve trained myself to do when driving). But this was no ordinary police vehicle, not the high powered Mustang, or Dodge Charger or Camero, the type of car that looks like it can do 200 MPH. No, this was a minivan … a police minivan. I must admit I chuckled a little when I saw it. A police minivan isn’t very imposing honestly. I’ve never seen a chase scene in a movie where the police are driving a minivan.

I sort of wondered who you would arrest driving a police minivan: jaywalkers, parking ticket violators, litterers? But you know something? If I needed a police officer, say if I have a flat tire on the side of the road, or some thugs were threatening to punch my lights out because they misunderstood a funny little something I intended to say to myself but actually said loudly enough for a ruffian to hear, I would be overjoyed to see a police minivan pull up. Those police officers in the minivan have just as much authority and power as the ones driving the muscle cars. In the minivan, it’s sort of a combination of nice and scary.

I thought about how the Bible portrays God; sometimes He’s scary, sometimes He’s nice. The Bible tells us the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10, etc) and that someday every knee will bow (Philippians 2:10) which is sort of the scary side. But we’re also told that the Lord is our Shepherd (Psalm 23), that He’s not far from the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18) and Psalm 18:35 says, “… your gentleness made me great” (ESV).

Perhaps that’s why we’re encouraged to “approach the throne of grace with confidence” (Hebrews 4:16). Isn’t that a cool mixture of ideas? Thrones are sat upon by those who wield power and have authority, yet grace is perhaps the most wonderful, peacefully nice thing in the world.

A man approaches a local townsperson and asks, “What’s the quickest way to New York?”  The local man scratches his head and inquires, “Are you walking or driving?”  The stranger replies, “I’m driving.”  The villager ponders the man’s answer for a minute and then says, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure driving’s the quickest way!” 

Have you ever noticed that not all advice is of equal quality?  And, unfortunately, sometimes the advice we get from Scripture seems so counter intuitive that we’re tempted to dismiss it . . .things like praying for our enemies, turning the other cheek, being slow to speak and loving our neighbors as ourselves, to name a few.  Often, those are just sort of difficult to pull off.

When I’m conflicted about what to do, I’m often reminded of one of my favorite verses, 1 Corinthians 1:25 which says, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”  I’m not sure God always expects us to understand; I am sure He always wants us to obey. 

When I tell my four year old to look both ways before she crosses the street, I don’t care if she agrees with me, understands why I’ve made that command, or even if she likes what I’m asking her to do; I just need her to obey.  When we’re faced with a tough decision, one that we find addressed in Scripture but also find difficult to make, let’s remember that understanding can wait, but obedience can’t.

I was driving on the interstate the other day (at or near the speed limit, mind you) and several cars passed me. I thought to myself, “Dude, those cats are flying … maybe I should join them!” But I refrained, and when I noticed a State Patrol cruiser in the median, I was glad I had. Even so, I did what we all do when we see a patrol car in the median; I tapped on my brake and started praying.

Now when, in my rear view mirror, I saw him pull out I got that sick, hollow feeling inside. My prayer life always increases at this point. I knew there were people going faster than me, but what if the officer had been taking a bite of his doughnut when those cars passed? Or, what if, since this was Indiana, he noticed my Michigan license plate and for some reason didn’t like Michiganders (I’m not even a real Michigander; I’m a transplant so that would really stink if I got a ticket just because I live in Michigan)?

Then I watched him cruise by and I started praising the Lord, “Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus.” Then I started guessing who he might be after. I watched as he pulled up behind a guy and then turned on his lights, thankful to not be that guy. But the trauma still wasn’t over because I always envision the officer pulling the guy over, quickly jumping out of his car and flagging me down from the side of the road, the killing two birds with one stone speeding ticket trick. That’s why I never look in that direction.

It’s funny how crisis in our lives will drive us to our knees in prayer, isn’t it? Difficulties seem to be some of God’s best ways of getting our attention. It was C.S. Lewis who said, “Pain is God’s megaphone;” fear’s not bad either.

Are you tired of all those cheesy “Friends” poems and forwarded emails? Me too! So I “edited” one and made it say what most of us want a “friends” poem to say … enjoy:

When you are sad … I will jump on the person who made you sad like a spider monkey jacked up on Mountain Dew!
When you are blue … I will try to dislodge whatever’s choking you.
When you smile … I’ll know you’re up to something and I simply must join in.
When you’re scared … we’ll high tail it out of here like we’re runnin away from sin.
When you’re worried … I’ll tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be, so you’ll quit your whining about that stuff, you great big baby!
When you’re confused … I’ll use little words so you’ll understand.
When you are sick … I’ll stay away especially if I see the swelling of your glands.
When you fall … I’ll pick you up and brush off all the dust, … of course that will be after I laugh so hard my gut I just might bust!
This is my oath; I pledge to the end. ‘Why?’ you may ask, because you’re my FRIEND!

Now that’s a “Friends” poem I can get behind.