Ringtail Cats and Rocking Chairs - Pt 2

On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.” (Exodus 16:22-26 ESV).

The first step in developing rest in our lives is to take one day as a “Sabbath.” Taking a weekly day of rest is a sign that we desire God. Taking one day a week to cease our strivings and focus on God shouts out that we desire God above status, financial reward, promotion in the workplace, achievement, and all other things that would distract us from the one we love. Not taking time with someone we love when given the chance is a sure sign of diminished desire to be with them, to reflect together on the good times spent together in the past, and to consider what the future holds. When we specifically and intentionally set a day a week aside to focus on the Lord, as the old covenant people of God were commanded to do as they journeyed (vv. 23, 25), we signal to the world that our hearts belong to him. Setting aside this day is a means of treasuring both rest and worship. The journey from Egypt to the Promised Land was not an easy one. It is no wonder that God needed to provide food for them as they trekked across the desert. He decided to do that through the means of this miraculous appearance of manna each morning. The Bible describes it as having the appearance of bdellium, adding that the Israelites ground it and pounded it into cakes, which were then baked, resulting in something that tasted like cakes baked with oil; and, raw manna tasted like wafers that had been made with honey. However, it didn’t just drop on to their plates. They were responsible to gather it each day, except on the Sabbath. They were instructed to get twice as needed on the day before to allow this “day of rest” from their work of gathering food. It was a clear example of the difference between work and labor. Christianity often feels like more stuff to do. But according to Jesus, the core of the Christian experience is rest. Dallas Willard says that most of us jump into the busy part of Christianity—serving our neighbors, being active in the church, keeping up with spiritual disciplines—but we skip the “rest” part, which is crucial to being able to accomplish any of the other stuff. Those most mature in Jesus are not those working hardest for him but those resting best in him. The first step is to actually schedule a day for nothing but rest. This rest will look different for each of us. What ought to be the same is that it is the cessation of striving for more. It is the “pause” in our week that allows us to renew our bodies and minds for the continued journey.

Ringtail Cats and Rocking Chairs - Pt 1

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11 ESV).

“I’m busier than a ringtail cat at a rocking chair convention!” Or, at least that’s the colloquialism I have heard often said in an exasperated moment of frustration. It’s usually the result of the feeling we get when we have more to do than we have time to do it. The cry of our age is “busy.” How are you? “Busy.” How’s work? “Busy.” How are the kids doing? “Their lives are so busy. I feel like I’m just a taxi driver.” How was the shopping mall today? “Too busy.” Can you help me? “I’m busy at the moment.” And on goes the chant of our culture. God knew that would be our frustration. In fact, it is a part of the judgment passed on through the Adamic Sin (cf. Genesis 3:17). Because of this knowledge, God provided some guidance to us. In the fourth commandment given to Moses he sets out the principle of Sabbath rest. That’s the reading I’ve selected for today. Man was never created not to work; he was created to work without laboring. Unfortunately most of us haven’t learned the difference. Laboring in life is operating at the fast-paced mode that pushes God to the margins and easily turns into burnout. Yet expectations of keeping up with everything continually escalate. We are all susceptible to the expectation that we are always available, aware of everything that is happening, and capable of achieving anything. Unsurprisingly, this demand to be omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent places pressure on all of us, whatever our level of social media dexterity. Add some more ingredients like inadequate sleep, poor dietary habits, caffeine addiction, the urge to project our preferred identity, a sedentary lifestyle and we have the perfect recipe for unremitting anxiety and restlessness. The constant hustle and bustle is of our own making, at least to some extent. We would do well to heed the call for how much we try to pack into life. The futile attempt to sustain ourselves by our own efforts is not new. Our digital age simply offers new manifestations of the age-old temptation to usurp God’s role for ourselves. But against this age-old temptation, God offers an age-old response: REST. Jesus invited us to come to him for that rest (cf. Matthew 11:28. In the next few days I hope to lead you to see what a habitual pattern of resting each week might be. It is different in everyone’s life, simply because we are each unique in how we rest. What is the same is the principle of coming to Jesus. That’s the focal point. That’s the core of rest. Today, commit yourself to leaving the rocking chair convention. That’s a lot easier than cutting off your tail!

A Game of Inches - Pt 2

And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” (1 Samuel 17:33-36 ESV).

The first principle to employ in our lives is the acceptance that none of our experiences in life are insignificant. Small choices now can lead to highlight moments later. In the coaching ranks, ESPN and other networks will often televise the introduction of a new head coach in the college ranks or NFL. This moment is not possible without the roles that prepared the coach to be a head coach, like the hours as a low paid graduate assistant or living behind the scenes as a special team’s coordinator. Jimbo Fisher is no exception to this truth. His first ten years as a coach were spent in various roles, though none of them were considered “high profile.” It takes small steps of obedience to be prepared. It can be as simple as memorizing one verse and being prepared to share it in the moment. Many small acts of obedience lead to the highlight moments. Small acts of obedience lead to the highlight reel moments. Look at the reading again. The writer says, “But David said to Saul, ‘[I have] been keeping [my] father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.’” (vv. 34-35). David used opportunities as a shepherd, a low-level job, to prepare himself for bigger moments, like when he faced Goliath in battle. He knew God had equipped him to do things that were not normal. David didn’t know the battle with Goliath was in his future, but he focused on being excellent where he was day by day. We need to recognize the importance of every circumstance we encounter each day. So many people merely coast through their lives with no intensity. We lose our passion in the mundane. However, it is these common things that are practiced everyday that prepare us for the critical moments of life that seem to determine the success or failure of a particular event. Do everything you do with the same passion as if everything depended on it!

A Game of Inches - Pt 3

And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men. (2 Corinthians 8:22-24 ESV).

As a coach, you have to build your team up. In the game of football, defenses have to defend multiple types of offense, but before you can teach them to defend anything, they must learn how to tackle. It is a skill that is a simple expectation by the common fan, but every coach knows how important at every level it is to practice tackling. Tackling is a fundamental element of football that leads to success. This picture is one that shows the coaches working with repetitions of passing and catching. Sounds simple, right? In some ways it is simple; but, it is not easy. Practicing is a lot less fun than playing the game, especially if you are winning. That leads me to recommend you begin to practice the following fundamentals that are important to practice as Christian:  First, pray often, asking God to do amazing things in you and in other people.  Second, read the Scripture. This is how we listen to Jesus in order to do what He says.  Third, serve others. Helping other people connect with Jesus and connect with the church is a significant source of strength to finish well. Looking for opportunities to apply these fundamentals in your life can not only make a difference for you, but it will make a difference in the lives of others. When the church began and a man named Paul traveled around to help churches get started, he worked with a variety of people to share the message of Jesus. Paul describes one person, Titus, not just as another person on the team, but as someone he could trust: “As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ” (v. 23). It was through being faithful with the fundamentals that Titus was given more responsibility. The inches, every small choice we make, can be the difference between winning and losing. As a Christian, we know that in Christ we win, but we must also continue to fight for those inches, so others may receive the salvation that can only be found with Jesus.

A Game of Inches - Pt 1

And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” (1 Samuel 17:33-36 ESV).

Well, I’ve been watching reruns of the 2018 football season. It shouldn’t be any surprise that my favorite game of the year was on November 24th. It was the last SEC football game of the regular season and only decided after seven overtimes and a record number of points scored. With 84 points scored just in the overtime between Texas A&M (then ranked #22) and LSU (then ranked #7), the Aggies earned their first win over the since 1995. The final scored was 74-72. Kendrick Rogers’ catch in the end zone (pictured here) was just one of the incredible plays of that game. I listen to the press conferences and Aggie talk shows a lot during the football season. Coach Fisher is constantly emphasizing “the little things.” He did it again in the post game press conference when he said, “That was a heck of a football team. You say you have to make one more play. That’s what we did. How proud I am of our players. It’s about the players, period. They set a standard for what that Aggie helmet means.” That took me to our reading today. Sure, the long passes to the end zone are exciting. But in between the big plays are a lot of short ones, and those short plays are often decided by a matter of inches. Following Jesus often feels the same way. There are some “next” steps, like graduation, marriage, birth of your first child, or celebrating your fiftieth wedding anniversary that are like the big play that makes it to the highlight reel. But other next steps feel more like first downs. They’re not going to make the highlight reels, but they still move us closer to the goal of being more like Jesus. In the next two days we’re going to look at two fundamental principles that help us gain those “inches.” It’s always the simple things. David got that when King Saul asked him how he thought he could defeat Goliath. He simply said that it wasn’t much different than keeping his father’s sheep safe. If he could kill a lion or a bear, who would this Philistine unbeliever be in the face of a duel with someone who knew the Lord’s strength would be with him? You have that same strength within your life as well!

Euodia and Syntyche -Pt 8

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9 ESV).

We reach our final destination in the Apostle Paul’s encouragement to Euodia and Syntyche’s volatile situation. He pens a beautiful portion of Scripture saturated with both the peace of God (v. 7) and the God of peace (v. 9). Now, we do need to be honest with ourselves, we can’t resolve every conflict. Some opponents truly are “dogs” and “evildoers” (cf. Philippians 3:2), “enemies of the cross of Christ” (cf. Philippians 3:18). There are times we must stand firm in the Lord and not budge against such opponents (cf. Philippians 4:1). HOWEVER, Christians must not treat others, especially other believers, as opponents. We’ll be together with the Lord for eternity, so Jesus would have us get a head start on learning to live in his peace. I hesitated even writing that last bit of thought. For me, I have found it much easier to think of all my opponents as “dogs” and enemies.” The truth is that folks that disagree with me are neither. I simply misjudge them, and further have no right to judge at all. I ought to be much more careful about my “pay grade.” Judging others, most of the time, is well above either my rank or pay grade! The ability to apply wisdom toward my thoughts about others is given by the apostle as he finishes his letter. He desires us to find good role models and continue practicing these things (v. 9). Paul endured plenty of opposition from fellow believers (cf. Philippians 1:12-20). He knew what it’s like to be mistreated, maligned, and envied by those who are supposed to be on the same team. He learned how to rejoice in the Lord and his gospel through difficult conflicts. He’s shown us how one behaves when the God of peace is with him. Follow that example and you won’t go far off course. If there are those you have disregarded or shunned commit yourself to making that relationship right as far as is possible for you. The God of peace is with you!

Euodia and Syntyche - Pt 7

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9 ESV).

As the Apostle Paul comes near the end of his encouragement for Luke’s encouragement toward Euodia and Syntyche to reconcile their differences he says they ought to find something—anything—praiseworthy to focus on in their antagonist (v. 8). This is certainly true for us today. If we stew on what our antagonists did wrong, replaying the memories to ourselves and recounting our hurt feelings to others, we are sinning against God, who told us what to think about. Find something true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, or worthy of praise, and set your mind there. Many interactions these days have a kind of bumper-car quality to them. At work, at home, on the telephone, social media, even our email, we sort of bounce off of each other while we exchange information, smile or frown, and move on. How often do we actually take the extra few seconds to get a sense of what's inside other people, especially their good qualities? In fact, because of what scientists call the brain's "negativity bias", we're most likely to notice the bad qualities in others rather than the good ones: the things that worry or annoy us, or make us critical. Unfortunately, if you feel surrounded by lots of bad or at best neutral qualities in others, and only a sprinkling of dimly-sensed good ones, then you naturally feel less supported, less safe, and less inclined to be generous or pursue your dreams. Plus, in a circular way, when another person gets the feeling that you don't really see much that's good in him or her, that person is less likely to take the time to see much that's good in you. It should be any wonder that the apostle encourages us to see the good things in others. It works good in our lives as it conveys good into the lives of others.