My Way Is His Way

Let's start with this video. It's a bit dated, as the striped shirts and banded collars will indicate. You can listen as you read. First, from the book of Mark:
"Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!'
Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!' So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.
Then they called the blind man, saying to him, 'Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.' And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.
So Jesus answered and said to him, 'What do you want Me to do for you?'
The blind man said to Him, 'Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Go your way; your faith has made you well.' And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road" (Mark 10:46-52).
Bartimaeus inspired me as I was reading through this. Here was a guy that was motivated. He knew of Jesus, though he hadn't ever seen Him. The Bible doesn't say if he was blind since birth; we just know that he was blind. But even though he had never seen Jesus, he had heard the good news of Jesus. He knew that Jesus could heal him. So when he got the opportunity to meet Jesus, he didn't pass it up. (Preachers, there's a sermon for you.)
I also learned from Bartimaeus is that you don't let anyone keep you from Jesus. Notice that as he is calling out for Him, the people are telling him to be quiet. He was not about to let his opportunity to meet Jesus go away. We receive pressures today from a world that is far from sensitive to Jesus. We want Him out of the spotlight, we minimize Him, trivialize Him, treat Him like a cartoon figure, or give Him less power than He has. Don't let that pressure keep you from realizing that He is what you need, and He will answer you if you call on Him.
The main things I noticed were:
When we come to Jesus in faith, we must expect a change. Bartimaeus knew about Jesus. Too many people had been healed, lives had been changed, and His fame went everywhere. That's why deep down he knew- he must get to Jesus. He will change me.
A side note- some things hold us back from the change we come for. Earlier in the chapter, the young rich man came asking what he needed for eternal life. Jesus told him to sell his riches and give to the poor. He walked away. His riches and his "good" life here were more important to him than the truly good life there.
Lastly- When He changes us, we cannot go back to our old way. Notice the end of the story. Jesus told Him to go his way. Bartimaeus began to follow Jesus. In other words, his way was God's way. 
Think of Ruth. When she had nothing left, she went with Naomi, saying essentially the same thing. Think of the Wise Men. When they went to Jesus, they went back home a different way. When God changes you, when you immerse yourself in Him, that's when the true change begins. You can't live the life you did before. You read His word, it shows the way to live. It shows what God expects. It shows what needs to change in you, and what of your lifestyle needs to go away.
That is the change in me. I can't have the friends that I did before. I don't have the opinions that I used to have. My life and my decisions are based on the infallible Word. I remember the time God revealed Himself to me and showed my my need for Him. I am thankful for my decision to follow Him. I am proud to say that My way is His way. Or His way is my way. I'm not perfect, by any means. But thankfully He is, and my trust is in Him.

"An enemy has done this."

This past Sunday I was reading Matthew in between calls at work. I was in Matthew 13, reading the parable of the weeds:
    "He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”
(Matthew 13:24-30 ESV)
That phrase really stood out to me in this instance. It has burned in my mind for days. Jesus explained it as a parable for the end of the age. But I have been seeing it in another light. Now obviously the wheat represents the believer in Christ. They are growing in the field. But their life does not stay isolated for long. Questions came up to me:
1: What has the enemy done?
He infiltrated. In this stage, weeds and wheat look very similar. They grow close together. They come in where they cannot easily be eliminated without damaging the wheat. In our world, it can look like a believer in Christ, but not completely following everything that the Bible says. It can be an attack on our character. It can be an attack on our marriage. He sneaks in at night to steal, kill, and destroy. He has many weapons at his disposal, and among the toughest is the "coexistence" that wheat and weeds have together.
2: How did the Master react?
Calm assessment and eventual judgment. He didn't burn the field; He didn't panic. He stepped back, saw what happened, and declared the best solution for the problem.
God has seen your situation. He knows that you may be hurting. A loved one may be about to depart this world. One may have just walked out on you. You may be tempted to give up on everything. He has a plan for you in this, though.
3: What is the wheat to do?
Grow. That's all it is asked to do. It is not easy. Weeds have a specific purpose. They steal nutrients from the wheat that prevent it from growing like it is intended to. Some weeds choke life out of plants. Wheat needs to stand (Ephesians 6) in the sun (or Son), soak it in (get engrossed in the Word, in prayer, and with other believers), and GROW. The rest of the Master's plan (eventual judgment) will soon take place.
4: What will happen?
At the end, the weeds will be taken, bound, and thrown in the fire. Weeding can be a difficult thing for the gardener, and can be annoying. But it is rewarding for the gardener when the finished work of the garden is revealed. Jesus tells His disciples when He explains the parable that like when the wheat will be gathered into the barn "Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (verse 43). Wheat, when it has grown and is ready for harvest, is a thing of beauty. Golden, amber waves...like when Job said "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold"(Job 23:10 ESV).
Long story short: God knows about the attack. He was not caught off guard. He is not unfeeling; but the situation has not given Him cause for concern. Trust His plan and grow. He will at the right time make all things right.

I've Waited Two Years to Write This Post

On April 12, 2010, I turned 33 years old.
On April 13, 2010, I was released from my job of 10 years.
I have chronicled on here the ensuing 9 months of unemployed life. There was a lot of growing both mentally and spiritually during that time. I can look back and say it was for my good. But I haven't spoken much about what happened two years ago.
This was because of an agreement I signed that day saying that I would hold my peace for two years. Well those two years are up. Today I can now speak about it.
I was the first employee hired when Family Christian Stores opened a location in Hickory, NC in 2000. The location of that store was ideal for that type of business, and it was an answer to prayer to get that job. I owe a lot of good things in my life to working at that store. I met a lot of people that are still my friends today. I met my wife because of that store. It was a literal dream come true to work there.
In time, things changed. The company changed leadership in 2002. In 2003, longtime rumors became true when the company announced it was opening on Sunday. They found a theologian to back them in saying it was okay Biblically, and announced it to us in June. They said essentially it was a "missed opportunity for ministry," and that the focus on Sundays would always be ministry. We would be open limited hours, so it would not greatly affect our employees church attendance, etc.
They never openly admitted it, but the company lost 1/4 of its employees because of that. One store on Georgia had to replace its entire staff.
Over time Sundays became another day to sell things and make goals. Our store even opened for an extra hour, meaning someone was missing church.
Let's just say the changes started to fray some friendships. From then until my departure, working there became a personal hell. I use that word intentionally.
From 2004-06, I was demeaned by a new manager that sought to get rid of me, knew nothing about Christian Retail, and would use language that would make "Stone Cold" Steve Austin blush. She was only hired because she had management experience. The Christian part didn't matter. She was eventually fired after transferring to another store for inappropriate behavior.
I would become very familiar with corporate buzzwords. "Opportunity" was another word for failure or mistake. "Suggested" items meant mandatory items. "Goal" meant sales quotas. "Accountability" meant micromanagement to the nth degree. It became quite an exacting corporate culture.
I know add-on sales are a part of every retail store's marketing scheme. It's why there's gum & candy at grocery checkouts. It's why they have pens at the checkout at Staples. For us, your checkout meant the start of our sales pitch. First, we had to pitch Member's Only titles- A selection of items (it originally started as 1 title a month) for $5 each. We had to sell these to 1 out of every 4 customers. Next came Pre-buys: advanced selling of new books, movies, or CDs. We had to have a percentage. Next we had to sign people up for our Credit Card. Dave Ramsey didn't care for that one. We eventually got rid of that, but replaced it with child sponsorships through a global relief organization.
(Now, this is a big commitment. Deciding to spend $30 (later $35) a month on a child in Ghana or wherever is not an impulse decision. It's not something you should be pushed or pressured into. But we had to.)
It got so bad that if you didn't make your goals for these things, you were written up. Three strikes, you were out. Fired from an atmosphere of "love." It didn't matter if you knew everything about the Bible, could recommend a book, or knew everything about Christian music. If you didn't meet your goals, you were out. I saw too many people leave this company in that way. All the while we would bring in questionable movies to sell, but they were okay, because they were "family" movies, and they taught a lesson, even if it wasn't Biblical.
But I didn't get fired for that. No- My position- - which started out as a full-time position, and needed a dedicated full-time person, became part-time. I worked a few hours in my position, then worked on the sales floor. I sacrificed, worked various hours, and did what was asked of me.
That Tuesday morning, I was presented with my walking papers. No negotiation, no time to talk it over. I was done. They decided that part-time people should do my job. Makes sense financially- they can pay them less than I made, even though I hadn't had a raise in four years, and they don't have to dish out full-time insurance. I signed an agreement not to mention any selling practices or discourage anyone from going to work for Family for two years.
Yes, I was afraid. But I was relieved. Oh, I was so relieved. God used that for me in so many ways. I got to be there for the majority of my daughter's first year of life. I got to spend a great amount of time with my son. I felt a major burden lift from me. And I guess I grew up a little.
I dealt with bitterness and with a distaste for Christian retail in general for a time after that. I had to learn to forgive the people that I thought wronged me. I went back in that store once after that to say hey to old friends. Almost everyone is gone now- either fired or quit voluntarily. I will not go back in there again, or to any other Family Christian Store. There are better alternatives, companies that are actually concerned with serving the customer, not just emptying their wallets.
(One more note: as I got in the car and turned on the radio, the Christian band Bluetree was playing. The first words I heard were :
"Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city." 

It was God's way of saying He was only getting started using me.)

In Case You've Ever Doubted: Romans 8:28 IS TRUE

Here is that verse, presented in the King James Version:
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
It pops up whenever someone goes through the slightest hard time, or whenever anyone is dealing with a difficulty. It's like the standby verse for Christians, our Pepto for the upset stomachs of life. We use it so much whenever someone deals with a difficulty it almost loses some of its meaning.
Allow me to present this real-life scenario to show you that the verse is absolutely true.
We have been dealing with constant sickness in this house. My children have had it, as well as my wife. My mother-in-law and father-in-law have been sick for most of the previous week. I came down with it hard and heavy on Monday of this week. For my father-in-law, it seemed he had turned the corner.
Actually, he had not.
I got a message at work (yep- I went to work that day, and I shouldn't have) that he has the stomach virus. Another one came saying he was violently ill and would probably have to go to the ER. Next message said he was taken by ambulance. He was admitted for observation and to give him fluids because of dehydration. Here they determined he actually had Norovirus. Also, they believed that he had suffered a mild heart attack in the midst of this and needed to go to a better hospital.
He was taken to that hospital Tuesday morning. A heart catheterization was performed Thursday which determined that one of his arteries was blocked 100 percent. Another was blocked 95 percent. He would need double bypass surgery the next day. Wait- another message- another artery is blocked 99 percent, he will need triple bypass surgery.
He has had no symptoms of heart trouble. There were no indicators that this was even a factor.
I'm proud to say today that the QUADRUPLE bypass surgery was successful. His recovery will be long, but considering the alternative, we'll take it. We'll also take your prayers as we face this as a family.
But think about it.
None if this would have been discovered without him contracting the norovirus. My family would have had a father, grandfather, or husband taken from them suddenly without otherwise knowing there was a problem.
All things do work together for good to them that love God.
Even some of the worst things.

Church Signs, part 2: A Season for Everything

I wanted to show you two more church signs that I have seen in recent months. Two signs that remind us of the joy of the Christmas season. That glorious time of the year, when the weather is cooler, etc.
Scene 1:

Feel free to come to this church if you are interested in adoption or adding to a family in rapid, rapid manner.
Scene 2:

This church is rapidly becoming the proverbial gift that keeps giving.
I know you're looking at this and saying "You know, there's nothing really wrong with this. It's cheesy, yes, but no typos, no grammar issues. Why is it here?"
IT WAS TAKEN TODAY- MARCH 1, 2012.
Maybe this church is taking to heart the sentiment of celebrating Christmas all year long. Or maybe this is the church where the people that leave their Christmas lights up all year long. Whatever the case, Merry Christmas, people. I forgot to take the picture for scene 3. Maybe we'll make that into another topic for another time.

Deception is Like a Simile

This one will be quick. Yeah, I know, I've said that before.
Today while driving to work the new song by the Newsboys, "God's Not Dead." It's a worship song that's been out for a couple of years. Their version is, well, different. The chorus says "My God's not dead, He's surely alive/ He's living on the inside, roaring like a lion." (It repeats, so for those of you that don't care for worship music, I won't bother.)
While I was listening, this verse came to me: "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8 NLT). 
Weird, isn't it, that a worship song about God would make me think about the devil?
As I thought about it some more, the more I realized, there is one key word in that verse: LIKE. Like is a simile. From dictionary.com:
Simile (noun): A figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.”
Think about it. Jesus is called the "Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the root of David" (Rev. 5:5).  Satan moves "like" a roaring lion. In other words, he's not the real thing. Jesus called him a liar, and the father of lies. He is a deceiver. That's where this simile "like" comes in.
Deception is one of the enemy's greatest tools. Like Shift the ape from "The Last Battle," last of the Chronicles of Narnia,  he disguises himself in a similar manner to deceive Christian and non-Christian alike. (See that? Another simile!) He uses things that sound good, look good, Christian-like to pull people away from the true Gospel. He then devours his prey, catching them far away from what they wanted, far from the God that loves them. 
Yes, he is a cunning enemy? What's the solution to stopping him? Keep reading 1 Peter 5: 
"Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever! Amen (v. 9-11)."
The key is to root yourself in the Word, in prayer, in daily fellowship with God. Then you can resist the impostor, this faker, this false lion. The he will flee from you. In other words, you will send him running like a scared cat. (Another simile!)
There's no faking that.

Support a Good Good Cause Cause

Last year I chronicled the great experience I had going to "Loving Lenoir" and joining other Hibriten High School Band alumni at the homecoming game. It was my most viewed blog ever, and you can take a look back with me by clicking here. 
At the end of that article I mentioned how the HHS Band now receives no funding, and depends primarily on charitable contributions and fundraising efforts. Here is one of those efforts, and it is delicious.
The band is raising funds to purchase a sousaphone. These are not inexpensive by any means. A refurbished sousaphone costs $4500. I can attest to the need because the instruments currently at the school are the same ones there when I was a student.  They were old then, and I graduated seventeen years ago.
So how can you help?
Go to pizzakit.com. The Hibriten Band is selling Little Caesars Pizza Kits (say it with me- Pizza Pizza). Unlike the fundraisers of my day, you can purchase online! How amazing!
Once on the site, go to "Order Online." You can choose pizza kits, cookie dough (yum), and/or pie kits. Once you add an item to your cart, it will ask you to create an account. After doing that, you can continue to checkout, or continue shopping (strongly encouraged). In the checkout screen, it will ask you for a fundraiser ID. Enter 240322 to support the Hibriten Band. After checking out, sit back and wait for your pizza to arrive, bake, and enjoy! Even more than enjoying the food, you get the enjoyment that you are supporting a most worthy cause.

Also- wouldn't it be nice to put this over the top? To give them more than the needed funds to apply to other things?
Don't wait- the fundraiser ends March 2. Pizza Pizza!