Losing Your Impatience

"And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing."

James 1:4 

We can all struggle with losing our patience.  You're out with your kids and they just won't listen.  Theyre screaming and running around everywhere.  Your tension is rising and you feel like you're about to lose it.  Or you're waiting on a co-worker for help with a project or piece of information.  They just don't understand how important what you need is and how much of your time they are wasting by not giving you the help you need.

What can you do?

Earlier this week I took my daughter to the mall for a special treat, a Carousel Ride!  As we were walking down the mall to the Carousel she could not contain her excitement.  She was hopping up and down.  She letting go of my hand and running off to look at the fountains or look in the store windows.  I was getting tense and impatient.

And then it hit me. Why was I getting tense?  She is two years old.  And what are little two year-old girls supposed to do?  Play!  Why was I getting upset?  All the tension left and I got to spend a fun afternoon with my little girl.

We get impatient when the world around us is not behaving the way we think it is supposed to behave.  I was envisioning my daughter being "the perfect little girl."  She should hold my hand and walk next to me (always keeping up with me).  She shouldn't jump and hop or talk loudly.  In other words she should behave like an adult.  That's the little girl I was expecting to take to the mall.  But that's not the way a normal little girl acts.  Normal little girls jump and hop and scream and PLAY every minute of the day.  Once I realized that I wasn't expecting reality, I lost my impatience.  And we had a great time!

Now I know this doesn't apply to every situation.  Your co-worker may not be doing their job.  Or maybe you're expecting too much from them too quickly.  Before you lose your patience, take a step back from the situation to get a new perspective.  You may find out that your boss has asked them to work on something else that takes priority.  Or they may be waiting for something from another co-worker to finish the task for you.

"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise."  

Proverbs 12:15

Find out the way the world is supposed to acting before you react to it.  Get counsel.  I'm not saying gossip about the situation with a friend.  Ask someone whose opinion you trust about the situation and find out what they think.  It may not even be someone you like.  As long as you trust that them to tell you their honest opinion.  It can be the difference between losing your patience and losing your impatience.  Believe me, losing your impatience is much more satisfying!

Christians Arrested for Handing out Bibles

I've seen emails talking about Dearborn, MI and always just blew them off.  Not anymore...

Saw this on Power Line Blog Three men are standing outside an Arab/Muslim festival.  They are just handing out booklets.  They are not even attempting to talk to people exiting the festival.  In three minutes eight policeman converge on them from two different directions.  You have to see it to believe it.



I don't know what editing may have been done, but it didn't look to me like they were doing anything but standing on a public sidewalk and expressing their freedom of speech. 

Gateway Pundit has picked up the story as well.

Sending Your Kids to Christian School

Good article about the faith it can take to send your kids to a Christian School on Christian Personal Finance website.

Happy Father's Day!

I've been a father for almost three years. And it has been worth all of the work, effort and lack of sleep that comes with it. The joy you experience when you get home from work, open the door, and hear footsteps pounding down the hallway and cries of "Daddy! Daddy!" You can't know how that melts your heart.

My daughter will be three in August. I know I've changed in those three years. You can't be a parent and not change. Just seeing your first child makes a change in your heart. Especially when it's a girl. Most men are protective of the women in their lives as a general rule. But that protective nature increases by unmeasurable amounts when you have a little girl. There is nothing that you will not do to protect her. I tell my friends that when my daughter starts dating that I will greet her dates at the door pleasantly, but when I turn around to lead them in they will see my .45 in a holster in the small of my back. They laugh. But I'm not kidding.

My son is only eight months old. He is a joy. A truly happy baby. Crawling to you and climbing up your legs. Ducking his head into your shoulder when you pick him up. Smiling at you with such a sparkle in his eyes. Fatherhood is AWESOME!! And as I look ahead to the times of teaching him to play baseball and soccer chills run down my spine.

Today being Father's Day got me thinking about Fatherhood. A bunch of questions have been popping into my head all morning. Practical questions like how to get my two year old to keep working on her grandfathers' Father Day cards and not get distracted. And more serious questions too. Such as: Am I a good Father? How well do I reflect the Love of our Heavenly Father to my children?

I'm a man and a sinner. I get frustrated and lose my temper.   I make choices that hindsight will keep me from making again.  I know that I'm not a perfect father.  But I know that God is helping me.  I also know that God chose me to be the father of these two children. It wasn't chance. I was his choice. God will daily give me the grace and wisdom to parent my children. So with God's help. I can be the perfect father.

That's what I would like to leave with every father today. You were God's choice! Your children weren't placed in your life by random chance. Every gift that God gave you the day you were born was designed to help you be the father of your children. With God leading you, you ARE the perfect father.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

The Daily Call

We are called to take the Gospel to the world.  Most people hear these words and think that this means becoming full-time missionaries. You would travel the world and take God’s light to the darkest corners.   Or maybe you only need to go on short term mission trips.  Spend a week or two sharing Christ with those who haven't heard the gospel. But these types of situations are not everyday situations. You go into these situation knowing that you will leave them and go back to you normal life.

There is a freedom in going to another city or country to preach knowing that you will be interacting with people that you will in all likelihood never see again.  You don’t have to face the consequences of their opinions.  It doesn’t matter what they think of you.  To them you may be nuts, but why should you care?  You fulfilled your call and shared the gospel with them.  Now you get to go back to your life and they aren’t a part of it.

But what about sharing the gospel with your family, friends, or co-workers?  Your words could strike a chord in their heart. They might see the consequences of their sin. They might turn to Christ as their Savior.  Or not...  

Sharing the gospel with the people that are a part of your life is frightening.  The things that could result from you telling people you know about your relationship with Jesus Christ can scare you into being silent.  If you start to constantly preach at work or with your friends you will have to deal with the consequences. Those consequences could be as simple as jokes at your expense or elevate to all out ridicule. Someone might even accuse you of religious harassment. 

If you are constantly preaching to your unsaved friends or co-workers, in a short period of time you won’t have either.  Your friends and employer will get sick of you and you won’t be spending much time with either.  But sharing Christ with someone does not always involve talking to them about his sacrifice.

How often do we recognize that we are always sharing the Gospel even when we aren't “witnessing” to anyone? When the people around us know that we are a Christian they watch us. They see how we react to the events and happenings around us.  They want to see how we are different. Do we stub our toes and start cursing like a sailor or take a deep breath and move on? Do we take shortcuts with our work because “no one will notice” or do we put forth full effort into every detail? Through our words and deeds, or lack of word or deed, we speak.  We preach the message of Christ crucified every second of every minute of every day. There is no down time.

I have a friend, we'll call him 'George', who has been overseas on the mission field for several years now. He recently related a story about a new Christian. A friend of his, ‘Fred’, who had become a Christian 2 years ago, asked him to talk to a classmate, 'Bill'. Bill had seen the change in Fred's life over the past two years and wanted to know what had caused the change. They all got together and George and Fred talked with Bill about the sacrifice Jesus had made for him and the change that could occur in his life. They asked Bill if he would like to receive Jesus as his Savior. And he said “Yes, I do.” They prayed and Bill became a Christian.

Then Bill told George that they had met before. Surprised, George asked where. It turns out that Bill had been to a Christmas party that George had held two years before. He had heard the Gospel at that party, but wasn't ready to receive Jesus as his Savior at that time. “It was only after seeing Fred live the Gospel for two years that he was ready to receive Christ now.”

I don't know if Fred talked to Bill about his relationship with Christ. Maybe he just lived his life in front of him. Whether or not words were exchanged it is obvious that Bill watched him grow and develop as a Christian. He saw Fred change. He saw what Christ was doing in Fred's life. And that is what drew him to Christ.

You can't decide to take a break from Christianity. The calling to take the Gospel to the world doesn’t have a “when you feel like it” option.  God will use you to change people’s lives in many ways. All you have to do is act and speak on the truth of God’s love. 

Can the people you interact with on a daily basis see that you’re different?

Does your life speak to others of the Goodness of God?

How much does your life draw people to Christ?

If you don't work, you don't eat

I didn’t intend to mix politics and religion on this blog.  But who am I kidding?  It was probably inevitable.  So here goes...

Since when has it become Christian to let our government take care of our call to help the widows and orphans?

I heard stories in the news about a “Christian Leader”, someone I've never heard of, saying it is our obligation as Christians to support government programs such as unemployment benefits and welfare.  They said that opposing these government programs is un-Christian.  As Christians we should help anyone and everyone in any way that we can.  If that means paying more in taxes to support these government programs then so be it.  We are helping the poor.  That is what Christ told us to do.  Or is it?

I don't have any issues with helping out a person who is down on their luck.  People fall on hard times and just need some help to weather the storm, get their feet back on the ground and move forward.  But who should be responsible for that help?  Should this aspect of charity be the responsibility of our government?  I don't think so.   Yet, recently Congress passed a law extending unemployment benefits.  If you lose your job, you can receive a check for doing nothing other than “looking for work” for almost two years.  TWO YEARS!  Should it really take two years to find a job?
 
Maybe it can take two years to find a job.  What are some excuses reasons that it would take 2 years to find a job?  “I can't find a job that pays enough.”  “I can't find the right job.”  “I need time to focus.”  “No one will hire me.”  I’m sorry but I don’t buy it.  I may be a little cynical but I think the main reason is “The government is giving me money for doing nothing.”  That money doesn't magically appear in the government's back account to supply your family food, shelter, cell phones, cable TV and Internet while you take your time looking for the perfect job.  It’s coming from the taxes we pay.  That I pay.  Especially if you have a family you better be willing to man up and bring some food to the table.  I don't care if the job pays minimum wage.  Minimum wage is still more than no wage.

But I’m not being loving enough.  As a Christian I'm supposed to love my neighbor.  If I'm not willing to support you while you take your time to find the right job I am not walking in Christ’s love.  Let's be blunt.  WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!  What does scripture say?  2 Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”  If you haven't figured it out from the title of this post, this is how I interpret this scripture:  If you don't work, you don't eat.  Yes, that sounds harsh.  But if you're willing to work at something, anything, you will have work to do.  It may be picking up handyman jobs.  It could be flipping burgers at McDonald's.  It could be volunteering at your church or local soup kitchen.  If you are willing to work there is something out there for you to do.  And if you are working at something, anything, God will provide for you.

Last year while my wife was pregnant she had to go on modified bed rest.  Suddenly our income was not going to be enough and I had to find another job to make ends meet.  And it had to be a job that would work around my full-time job.  In about a month I was working at a retail auto parts store.  To put this in perspective, the most complicated thing I had done to any car at that point was change the oil.  I did not know cars.  So in a working environment where almost 10% of the country is out of work, I was able to find a 2nd job selling something that I knew almost nothing about.  And to top it off I was part of the management team.  There is work out there to be had.  You just have to be willing to do something you don't want to do for less money than you want to get paid.

But wait!  Jesus fed the hungry, right?  He took the loaves and fishes and fed the multitudes!  So why don't you want to help someone who needs it?  Yep, Jesus fed the hungry.  HE fed them!  He didn’t pass the buck to the government, HE FED THEM!  If you know someone in need you fill that need.  You don’t direct them to the nearest welfare office to pick up your charity check.  And it is not always their immediate need that you should be focusing on.  They may be hungry and want food.  But they need a way to make sure that they don’t become hungry again.  Remember the old proverb.  If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day.  If you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime.  So if you’re hungry and I truly want what is best for you am I going to give you a fish and walk away because my obligation as a Christian is satisfied?  Or am I going teach you to fish?  Am I going to take care of the need the you have right now or am I going to teach you to take care of that need for the rest of you life?

Now that I’ve finished ranting I have some challenges for you:

If you don’t agree with me: Tell me why!  Give me scripture and verse and show me I’m wrong.

If you have a job:  Help someone who doesn’t.  Take them to dinner.  Give them money for their bills.  If they’re a single parent, watch their kids while they go on job interviews.  Instead of passing the buck to the welfare system, get involved and help someone.  This isn't about not helping people.  This is giving people the help they need.

If you don’t have a job:  Do Something!  Anything!  Don’t sit around and don’t feel sorry for yourself.  Man up!  If all you can find is part time work and you need full time work, get two part time jobs.  If you need $15 an hour and all you can find is $10 an hour work for $10 an hour until you find a job for $15 an hour.  If the only work you can find is to volunteer at church cleaning the toilets then humble yourself and clean the toilets.  Put your hand to something.  One place you can volunteer right now is in Nashville.  Go to  serviceinternational.org to find out about flood relief trips.

Numbness & Worship

So I was late to church on Sunday.  This isn't an unusual occurrence when you have a toddler and a baby.  And every time I think to myself “I'm just missing worship.”  But this past Sunday I realized it was something else to which I've become numb.  I'm not just missing worship.  I'm missing a chance to connect with God and to prepare myself for Him to speak to me.

Have you ever noticed how much worship prepares your heart to receive?  As I began to think about it I realized that the church services where I was able to truly worship I learned a tremendous amount from the sermon.  I felt like God was speaking directly to me through our pastor's words when I had the chance to prepare my heart to hear from God.  But recently, more times than not, I'm late or distracted during worship and end up struggling to stay awake, let alone hear from God.

Have you ever been to a service where the worship time felt lifeless?  It's unbearable.  During my freshman year of college my parents had started going to a different church while I was away at school.  But the youth group was a strong connection.  I stayed at our old church and helped out with the youth group.  And then one night during the youth service worship everything felt wrong. I was standing in the crowd singing and I could tell that there was no life in the room.  It felt cold and oppressive.  It wasn't worship.  It was a group of kids hanging out.  I had to get out.  I went to the bathroom to get away from the feeling of emptiness that was in the room, regrouped and went back to the service.

I was able to feel the difference because whenever I visited my parent’s new church that there was a joy in praising God that I couldn't feel that night.  The members of that church were truly praising God.  They weren’t there to socialize or make an appearance.  They loved God and were truly worshiping Him.

Worship is not just a time to allow the late-comers a chance to sit down without having everyone look at them funny.  Corporate worship in a church service ushers in the anointing of God on that time.  When the congregation joyfully praises God he is able to do so much more.  Hearts will be touched.  Lives will be changed.  Worship is vital to our time with God.  Without true worship bringing God to the service, despite any attempt of the pastor, preaching becomes lecturing.

God is always trying to speak to us.  But any type of communication is two-way.  Not only do you have to be clear in the message you are trying to convey, they have to understand the message.  You may be an eloquent speaker in all situations, but if the other person is not listening you aren’t communicating.  If they can’t hear you because of noise, you aren’t communicating.

When you’re hardly trying or not trying at all, you’ve become numb to God’s message.  In that youth service, the kids weren’t trying to listen for God.  No matter what God would have tried to say to them, they were not going to hear it.  Last Sunday, I was partly trying to hear from God.  I was letting too much of the “noise” in my life get in the way of God talking to me.

No one is immune from the noise of life getting in the way from hearing from God.  Satan will do everything he can to distract you from God’s voice.  It takes an effort to make certain you are listening to God even, sometimes especially, in church.  Take advantage of the worship time in church to help to wipe away the noise in your life.  Stop singing loudly to show off your voice to the people sitting around you.  Stop singing softly because you’re self-conscious about your voice.  Don’t think about anything other than singing to God.  Praising Him for all He has done for you.  Worshiping Him for Who He Is!  The more your focus leaves the noise in your life and locks in on God, the greater the volume that still small voice take on.

It may only be for a short while, but in that time God will speak volumes.