A Christ-follower with a limp: May 2018

Monday, May 28, 2018

Life is fragile

“Time is long but life is short.” Stevie Wonder

The human tendency is to be presumptuous when it comes to life and death. This past Wednesday my breath was taken away as a heartbroken friend shared that a student on his way to high school, just a few days before graduation, was in a tragic car accident and killed. His brother, also a passenger, survived but had to be flighted to Froedert Hospital.

None of us…young or old…is guaranteed tomorrow. Scripture warns us of the fragility of life: “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:17). Life is short and uncertain. There are no guarantees about tomorrow, let alone next year or ten years from now. You may be young and healthy this morning but could be a corpse by sundown tonight.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “That’s so morbid! I don’t want to think about that!” But if you ignore the fragility of life, you won’t live your life wisely, purposefully, in light of eternity. We must remember that…

Life is frail. None of us know what’s going to happen ten minutes from now. We easily presume on an unknown future that we have no control of and no guarantees about! The healthiest young person among us could easily be dead by nightfall. There are so many easy and unexpected ways to die! Right after college I had a 13-year-old boy die in my arms while we were playing Capture the Flag on a winter retreat. No one knew that Marty Wright had a heart condition. Visit any cemetery. While most of the graves are for those who had full lives, there are many who were taken in youth.

While you shouldn’t obsess on these things, if you never think about them, you’ll waste your life and won’t have a proper view of God and eternity. You’ll foolishly make plans and go on about life as if you’ll be forever young and healthy…but you won’t be.

Life is very short. It was foggy this past week. A vapor is short-lived. The mist is there one moment, moments later it’s gone. Steam rises off your coffee and in just a second, it disappears. Life is like that. In Psalm 90, Moses laments the brevity of life, comparing it to the grass in the field that sprouts in the morning and by evening, it has faded under the hot sun.

Even if you live to be a hundred, how quickly life flies by! One wise wag said life is like “the roll of toilet paper—the closer you get to the end, the quicker it goes!” It’s why Moses prays (90:12), “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” Only God can give us the wisdom we need to spend our short life profitably in light of eternity.

Death is certain. George Bernard Shaw astutely observed, “The statistics on death are quite impressive. One out of one people die.” You’d think that because death is not just probable, but absolutely certain, and that it can happen at any minute, and that each person must stand before God to give an account for his or her life, then every person would be desperate to know how to get right with God. Yet, strangely, people put it out of mind and go on about life as if they will live forever.

They can watch the catastrophe of a volcano in Hawaii or a shooting at a high school in Texas, shake their heads in disbelief, and go out the door to their daily routines without getting on their faces before God and repenting of their sins! That’s truly amazing!

When we hear about disasters, whether human-caused like that Texas shooting, or due to natural causes, such as hurricanes, make sure that you have a right relationship with Jesus Christ, that you’ve repented of your sins and know Him as your personal Lord and Savior. To be unprepared for something that’s 100% certain is beyond foolish.

God is Sovereign. First, this means that we’re not in control. Wonderfully, a loving God is. While there is nothing wrong with making plans or planning for the future. In fact, planning is commended in Scripture (Luke 14:28-32). Financial planning is good stewardship if it’s done in dependence on God and with regard for biblical priorities. It’s wise to have a will or a living trust. It’s wise to have some savings to cover possible future expenses or an emergency. Scripture commends hard work and being rewarded financially for it. The problem is when we plan as if we are in control and not submitting and trusting in our Sovereign God.

The last days of the famed British statesman and colonial leader, Cecil Rhoades, were filled with terrible disappointment. Rhoades died from heart disease at a time when he was beset by personal scandals and discredited by unwise political decisions. As he neared death, those gathered around heard him murmur the words, “So little done, so much to do!”

Rhoades had migrated to South Africa from Britain for health reasons. It was there that he’d made a vast fortune in gold and diamond mining. Though he’d made a fortune and had accomplished so much, he died feeling that there was much more to do.

What is it that you have your hopes and dreams set on? What is it that you plan to do with the rest of your life? You and I must be wise and heed Scripture’s warning on the fragility of life. As Edgar Guest wrote:

He was going to be all that a mortal could be: TOMORROW.

No one would be kinder or braver than he: TOMORROW.

A friend who was troubled and weary, he knew

Who'd be glad of a lift, and he needed it too,

On him he would call and see what he could do: TOMORROW!

But what if tomorrow never comes...

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.

Sunday, May 20, 2018

We lost more than the Boy Scouts

“Don't wait to make your son a great man - make him a great boy.”

Recently, the Boy Scouts of America announced that the organization will begin accepting girls as members, thus ending their uniqueness. Many commentators have lamented the moral decline of the Boy Scouts, seen in the organization’s continued capitulation to the ideology of contemporary mores. Since its inception, the Boy Scouts offered a pathway from boyhood to manhood, a vision of the good life that brought together nature and nurture and lifting up a moral vision to be pursued and cherished.

Spending time outdoors with others in community was a way of traveling the ancient path of wisdom and virtue. Wisdom: learning how to flourish by living according to the grain of the universe. Virtue: choosing patterns of life that lead to the development of moral intuitions and character growth.

The Scouts offered a way for boys to track their progression toward the fulfillment of an idealized manhood. All the knot-tying and skills-learning were primarily about bringing yourself in line with the way the world works. It was about preparing and becoming a man, a man of character.

Today’s culture overflows with examples of “boy-men”– men who live in perpetual adolescence, never quite outgrowing juvenile behavior. Achievement today is mastering the latest video game, winning at beer pong, or sexual triumphs. Earlier generations of men achieved the traditional benchmarks of masculine maturity via marriage, parenting, stable employment, and a completed education by their twenties.

Very few do that today. Over the past several years, there have been a number of studies conducted where thousands of women were asked what traits come to mind when they think of the typical man today. Commonly used labels weren’t complimentary. They used terms like: Narcissistic, Perverted, Emotionally stunted, Deficient in communication skills, Unreliable, Afraid of commitment, Lazy. The typical profile of a 25-year old man today is drastically different than it was in past generations.

We could bemoan this, criticize and even ridicule young men…or we could do something supremely biblical. We censure the next generation for being irresponsible, so why don’t we determine to take responsibility to help the next generation in our midst? As a church, we can be part of the solution. We must seek to encourage redemptive manhood. It’s an ancient path that hasn’t gone away. It includes wisdom and virtue, though showered by divine grace. This path is clearer and more appealing than ever. The One who walked it before us made sure that it was narrow.

What can we do to give godly guidance to young men? There’s no magic formula. God must be at work in teaching us and our boys. It’s God that must be the one who causes them to grow (1 Corinthians 3:7), but we can plant and water. A vital way though that we can help the next generation is by first modeling for them what it is to be a man. So, what are some marks of maturity? In the Bible, maturity is always spiritual. It’s wisdom in knowing God and His will and applying it to your life (Proverbs 1:1-7).

Each Christian man must determine to set an example by his own manhood. He must commit to be like Paul, who said, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” That’s a big challenge and every man fails to live up to it at some point. In no special order, here are some traits that we must teach to boys to help them become men.

Take responsibility. Boys run from responsibility; men run toward it. Men hold down a job, know what it is to be committed and act maturely. If he doesn’t, then he’s little more than a boy with a beard (Prov. 10:1).

Have a backbone. Being a man means you must have the courage to take a stand for what’s right. It means speaking up for the powerless, defending the weak, fighting injustice and fighting for your family (1 Cor. 13:13).

If you have a wife and family, provide for them. Your wife and children must know you’re willing to go hungry to make sure that they don’t. It’s not the government’s job to take care of them. It’s yours. There’s no shame in asking for assistance if you need it, but you must be willing to work hard and take an unfulfilling job to take care of your family (2 Thes. 3:10).

Control your emotions. Emotions are God-given. There are healthy and important ways to express them. Don’t be ruled by them. If you don’t learn to master anger and other emotions, they’ll master you (Prov. 29:11).

Keep your commitments. Pay your debts, keep your word, and always speak the truth. When you’ve blown it, admit it and seek forgiveness. Don’t make your decisions based on your feelings; make your choices based on your commitments (Psalm 15:4).

Trust God. God made you and His plan for your life is the only plan that counts. Don’t be foolishly prideful so that you try to do it on your own. Life is meant to be lived in relationship and dependence on Him. If you walk with Him, you’re always headed in the right direction! (Prov. 3:5-6).

A godly man isn’t perfect. None of us will reach perfection until we’re in the presence of Jesus. A godly man though embraces manhood and knows that Jesus, not a lost world, sets the standard for what it means to be a man. He strives daily to model his life after Christ. He doesn’t excuse sin or weakness, but continually surrenders those areas to God and asks for His grace in overcoming them. Regardless of physical appearance, social status, or economic standing, each man can be a godly man if he loves God with all his heart and seeks to obey Him in every area of his life.

May God give us godly men and may God help us to help the young men in our midst to mature into being godly men!

Sunday, May 13, 2018

A Persevering Mom...Priceless!

“The race is not always to the swift

but to the one who keeps on running.”

893 Quadrillion to One. That’s the likelihood of what’s happened to 20-year-old Dylan McWilliams. He was bitten by a shark, attacked by a bear, and bitten by a rattlesnake—all in just over three years.

A few weeks ago, Dylan McWilliams was body boarding off the island of Kauai, Hawaii, when he felt something hit his leg. “I saw the shark underneath me. I started kicking at it—I know I hit it at least once—and swam to shore as quickly as I could,” McWilliams told the media. The wound required 7 stitches. The odds of being attacked by a shark in U.S. waters is 1 in 11.5 million. For perspective, the average American has about a 1 in 5,000 chances of being struck by lightning during a lifetime.

While shark attacks get most of the media attention, the odds are that you’re more likely to be attacked by a bear (which is just one more reason to never go camping 😊). McWilliams, who backpacks across the U.S. and Canada, had a black bear bite him on the head while he was sleeping on a camping trip in Colorado last July. He escaped by poking the bear in its eye but it took nine staples to the back of his head. The odds of being injured by a bear are 1 in 2.1 million. In the lower 48 States just 14 people have been killed by bears between 1900 and 2009.

I should mention that in 2015, “Mr. Lucky” stumbled onto a rattlesnake while hiking in Utah. He said the bite had little venom in it so he decided not to go to the hospital, even though he was sick for a couple of days. The odds of being bitten by a poisonous snake in the U.S. are estimated at 1 in 37,500. The odds of being killed in a car accident are much more frightening at 1 in 112 (the moral of the story – don’t ride in a car).

Dylan McWilliams chalks all this up to being in the wrong place at the wrong time and encourages everyone to experience the outdoors. “I still go hiking, I still catch rattlesnakes, and I will still swim in the ocean.” But I believe that he’s a wuss…compared to a godly Mom who perseveres.

Motherhood can truly be the greatest adventure. Being a successful Mom doesn’t come from doing all the right things, or children making straight A’s or being all star athletes or the most popular kid, or even dressing them like they just stepped out of a Kohl’s ad. It’s not from buying natural food and preparing tasty, yet nutritional meals. It’s not from being able to balance out a career with being a Mom. It’s not even from having perfect kids or little angels at church. Great Moms are those who persevere!

We all know the horror stories of Moms who walked out of their marriages and worse, walked out on their kids. Yet, one can walk out emotionally and spiritually, yet still be 100% in place physically.

Being a Mom is never ending work. It’s to give it your all and do your best 24/7, but still be told that “You’re the meanest Mom in the world!” It’s to wonder what you ever did to be despised by those who you’d willingly give your life for, faster than a New York minute. It’s to be dissed by the media and culture who seems to only be impressed by super women, like a Senator who nurses her baby on the Senate floor, yet still holds down a powerful position. Or celebrities who six weeks after having a baby are back to their svelte high school figure.

Being a successful Mom doesn’t come from being beautiful or still able to fit in your wedding gown in middle age. While there are many spiritual fruits that are part of being successful, this first one is critical – persevering. It’s means that you’re faithful and still plugged in spiritually, mentally and emotionally when you’d rather bail. It’s saying “No” and sticking to it because saying “No” is the right decision. It’s saying “Yes” as much as you can to all that’s good for your children and what will help them be godly adults even when they’re screaming “No!” And when they’re adults and have walked away from God and everything you love and thought that you’d instilled in them, you still persevere on your knees.

One of forgotten heroines of the early church was Monica. Her son was a nightmare. Because of her faith, he ran away as far as he could from her. He was vile, debauched and immoral. He was everything that a Mom hopes her child will never be, but he was. To make matters worse, she’s married to a pagan husband and has no support at home or in her marriage. But even though her son ran from her, he couldn’t outrun her prayers. She made it her mission on earth to be the one who would constantly pray for her son…Augustine. To be the one, again from a human perspective, that God would use in bringing Augustine to Himself.

In his book, The Confessions, Augustine relates that his mother, Monica, told him, “There was only one reason, and one reason alone why I wished to remain a little longer in this life, and it was to see you…to see you become a Christian.” Wonderfully, Monica lived to see her prayers answered. Augustine not only became a Christian, he became one of the greatest leaders in Church History.

Mothers, God does not ask you to be successful. His first requirement is that you persevere, that you be faithful to Him. Study the pages of Scripture and Church History. You’ll find a consistent pattern. Often in the shadows, behind nearly every man or woman who loved Jesus and made a difference for eternity, is a faithful mother who persevered. It’s a Hanna, a Eunice, a Susanna Wesley or a Ruth Bell Graham…or YOU!

Sunday, May 6, 2018

YOU can be a hero!

“A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength

but by the strength of his heart.”

When members of First Baptist Church in Boerne, Texas, heard the recordings of radio transmissions from a Southwest Airlines pilot who made a harrowing emergency landing in Philadelphia in mid-April, they recognized the voice as one of their own. Tammie Jo Shults—the pilot who guided Flight 1380 to the ground on April 17^th after a midflight engine failure shot debris through a window, killing one passenger and injuring seven others.

Tammie is part of the church family at this Texas church. Longtime friend and administrative assistant in the church office, Staci Thompson, said, “When we heard the voice” in media replays of cockpit recordings, “it was just like talking on the phone. That’s what she sounds like.” The church was “impressed” but not “shocked” at reports Shults, 56, landed the plane safely after a 20,000-foot drop in six minutes, then walked down the aisle hugging passengers. Social media reports by surviving passengers hailed Shults as having “nerves of steel” and being “a true American hero.”

Tammie Shults’ “biggest goal” amid the emergency landing and subsequent media coverage is to share her faith and have it open people’s eyes to how great a God we have. But this isn’t new for her, she’s long evidenced a heart for the Lord, evangelism and ministries of compassion. She’s provided housing for hurricane victims and widows, helps care for her disabled younger sister and her husband’s elderly mother, and shares her faith in Christ with co-captains on Southwest flights.

In a feature article on Shults, The Dallas Morning News seemed almost bewildered by her Christian testimony. “It seems that nearly everyone in Boerne has a Tammie Jo story,” the newspaper stated, “and taken together, they paint a picture of a woman almost too impossibly caring, too impossibly devoted to her community.” As media reports proliferate about Shults’ heroism, Thompson said, “she wants people to know that God was there with her” on Flight 1380, “that he helped her in getting control of that plane and landing that plane. “It was because of Him, not her,” Thompson said. “She was just a teammate and a co-captain. He was the captain.”

There’s no question – Tammie Jo Shults is a hero! But she was a hero long before she safely piloted Flight 1380 and prevented a tragic disaster. Crisis, trials, disasters…even stress only reveal what we already have in us.

Several new “hero” movies will be released by Hollywood this summer, but they’re just stories. Too often the actors who play heroic roles are terrible people that one would never want to associate with in real life. The same is true of many that our culture dubs “heroes.” Think about it. What’s truly heroic about being able to throw a ball or hitting a home run? What’s heroic about being rich, talented, intelligent, strong…or attractive?

God’s Word has a totally different perspective of what it means to be a hero. The high virtues of the Christian hero, by contrast, have precious little to do with ability or accomplishment. Scripture teaches that the first and highest standard of a Christian hero is a passion for repentance. A hero is the one who knows from top to bottom that he or she is not a hero, moving through each day fully aware of their own moral failures and of a need for total dependence on the grace of God in all its manifestations. A hero must know, increasingly, how weak and needy he or she is.

A true hero is not about the business of making a name for themselves, but of lifting others up and magnifying the name of Christ. True heroism begins with Christlike character. It’s evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit.

Like our greatest hero, King Jesus, the Christian hero forgives. It’s easier to do a good deed for others, than it is to forgive an evil deed done to us. The former flows easily from a high view of the self, “I can do this giving thing for you, because I have so much to give.” The latter flows more from a low view of the self, “I can forgive this wrong done to me because I know my need for forgiveness for the wrongs I’ve done to others.”

Heroism is a Robertson McQuilkin, who made a heroic decision after he discovered that his wife, Muriel, had Alzheimer’s. At the time, he was president of Columbia International University. “As she needed more and more of me, I wrestled daily with the question of who gets me full time–Muriel or Columbia Bible College and Seminary. When the time came the decision was firm. It took no great calculation. I was a master of integrity. Had I not promised forty-two years before, ‘in sickness and in health…til death do us part?’ This was no grim duty to which I was stoically resigned, however. It was only fair. She had, after all, cared for me for almost four decades with marvelous devotion; now it was my turn.”

You don’t have to fly a jet and keep it from crashing to be a hero. Wonderfully, each of us, by God’s grace, can be a hero…to someone. A Dad can be a hero to his family by exhibiting patience and self-control when it’s tempting to lash out. A Mom can be a hero to her children by praising and encouraging when she’d rather vent and complain about her lot in life. A single can be a hero by being content in the place God has placed them, gracious rather than groaning. Each of us can be a hero where we work and live simply by caring, by thinking of others before ourselves. By putting ourselves out rather than being put out.

Yes, Tammie Jo Shults is a hero. You, though, can be one too and you don’t even have to fly a jet to do it!