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I work for a company like most people.  The majority of my life I’ve been a small business owner.  We had a very successful business and we sold it last year to big business.  In some ways achieving the “American Dream”.

It’s not my main point, just an, as a matter of fact, thing.

The Big Company has slogans, and reviews and goals and all the kind of stuff you can expect from a big company.  It’s a good place to work for the most part.  Of course, I’m doing what I’ve done for the past 16 years so nothing has changed in my daily responsibilities.

There’s a new term being tossed around from the “Big Guy”.  The company commander and chief coined a term that he wants us to use or live out.  It’s called Swagger.  Not to be confused with Swaggert, you remember that guy, don’t you?  We won’t go there today…

It’s a company priority for us to “swagger”.  I thought,”what does that mean?”

So like any normal person, I looked it up.

The first thing that I had to ask, “is this a noun or a verb?”  A person, place or thing, or an action word?  Hmm… I suppose it could go either way, but let’s assume it’s an action word.  A good old verb.  This company is built for action, so it makes sense. The possibilities are endless.

What does it mean to have “swagger”?

So there it is.  That’s what it means to swagger.  First of all that doesn’t really interest me.  I hope I’ve never pranced before.  I hope I never prance.  But to be serious the very act of what this means is repulsive to me in so many ways.  Not because I’m too cool for this or too high and mighty.  But because I just don’t like it for the simple reason I’m a follower of Jesus Christ.  This is the antithesis of what Christ calls me to.

I don’t want to sound as though I’m making fun of my company, I’m not, but it’s not a Christian organization and it doesn’t view the world like I do.

I try and view all things through a biblical lens.  Christ calls us to a different way.  And although I appreciate my company, it’s always a good thing to have a job, I have a higher calling to Christ.

I’m not going to personally, or even figuratively, or metaphorically, walk around strutting.  It’s just not the way I’m called to live.  And while it might sound good in a company meeting it is a contradiction for me personally.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8

Matthew Henry commenting on this passage says it so plainly.

Now what was the mind of Christ? He was eminently humble, and this is what we are peculiarly to learn of him. Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, Mt. 11:29. If we were lowly-minded, we should be like-minded; and, if we were like Christ, we should be lowly-minded. We must walk in the same spirit and in the same steps with the Lord Jesus, who humbled himself to sufferings and death for us; not only to satisfy God’s justice, and pay the price of our redemption, but to set us an example, and that we might follow his steps.

Daily we have new opportunities to respond in pride or in humility.  May we be known as people who respond in humility.  This is the way Christ calls us to walk.

Kevin

I’m sitting here thinking about lunch.

It’s Monday and for many, that is a bummer.  We have the week ahead and now we are faced with the reality of 5 days.

Why not go grab a taco for lunch?  Tacos are typically reserved for Tuesday.  Why?  Well because it rhymes of course.  Taco Monday just doesn’t have the same flair.

What does this have to do with anything?  I don’t know really, my mind is weird sometimes.  Life can be pretty serious and it should be serious but it can also be fun.

There are too many people that are shall I say…  “stiff”?  Yes, stiff is a good word.

We and when I say “we” I mean Christians, can be so serious that we are just no fun to be around.  The converse is also true that we can be so concerned about having fun or being funny that we won’t be taken seriously.   Please see Ecclesiastes 10:1.

In a previous time and place, I addressed the issue of God having a sense of humor.  I like what I wrote in some respects and in other ways I was probably a bit too stiff.  God obviously gave us a sense of humor but there are some things we need to have convictions and gravity.  To be serious, to be sober-minded and quite frankly not be a goof-ball.

There are plenty of goof-balls out there.

What are you known for?  What do people think about you?  This is an incredibly important question.  Yes, it’s important to balance a fear of man but I’m not talking about that.  I’m talking about how are you viewed by those around you?  Those that observe your life?

Are you angry all the time?  Are you a joker?  Do people take you seriously?

Don’t miss this opportunity to evaluate yourself, don’t be too hard on yourself  but don’t give yourself too much credit.  Try and be honest and then enact changes if you must, conform your mind to the mind of God.

Do you really want to know?  Ask someone else to evaluate you.  That’s hard, I’ve done that before and I didn’t always appreciate the answers.  My wife is honest with me.  And I don’t always appreciate it.

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.  Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.  Titus 2:1-2

If you can get this, you get it.  If you can strive for this standard you will be respected and you will honor the Lord Jesus Christ in your life.  This is what a godly man should strive for.  And I’m not leaving you women out.  There’s stuff in Titus 2 for you as well.

Have a great Taco Monday.

Kevin

Compassion for the human condition is one of the most important aspects of living an authentic Christian life.  There are certainly other elements to this formula but there must be real compassion, true compassion for those in our lives and those around us.

It has been my experience that most often this compassion is expressed in the form of physical suffering and ailments.  This is an important aspect of life.  Pain hurts.  Nobody likes pain.  It’s why so many medicate and many self-medicate whether it’s escaping the hum-drum of life or there is a real desire to escape the realities of our situations.

John recognized this when he wrote his third letter to the church.  He realized that it’s important for the physical to be functional.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health…  3 John 2a

I despise the suffering that so many endure.  I have friends that are suffering greatly at this very moment and it grieves my soul.  Perhaps this short word brings them a slight glimmer of hope.  I can only pray that is the case.

But we must also recognize we live in God’s world.  As it’s been said, there is not one random molecule in this universe that God does not declare His.  He is the ultimate Sovereign and I’m so grateful He is.  How does one deal with a world that is actually “out of control”, random and chaotic?

I must not stop short of John’s thought, however, because he didn’t stop with the physical, as important as it is.

…as it goes well with your soul.  3 John 2b  

It is at this point I begin to cry…

Our physical health is important.  And our eternal soul is FAR more.  A friend died this week.  He was 72.  That’s really not that old.  He was a quiet man, never said much, but he always listened.  He served his country for the majority of his adult life.  He had achieved a high status in the Navy and he was proud of his accomplishments, as he should be.  But no matter his status, where did he stand before the King of kings and the Lord of lords?  This is what matters, was it well with his soul?

The gospel is a simple message.  It says that we are all guilty sinners before a Holy God.  We’ve broken His laws, we stand condemned before His perfect and righteous standards.  We are without hope.  He can no more pardon a guilty sinner than He can commit sin.

But God…

Because of His great mercy and loving kindness paved a way for us to be reconciled to Him.  The pathway back to Him was through a bloody cross.  He that knew no sin, became sin on our behalf.  Satisfying the justice of God and breaking down the wall of separation, bridging the impassible chasm between us and Him.

Do you believe this?

Have you repented of your sin?

Have you placed your full faith and trust in Him to save you on the day you stand before Him?

The gospel shows us our hope must be in another.

Stop trusting in yourself.  Trust in Him.

This is the message of compassion.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  2 Corinthians 1:3-4 

May the Lord grant us compassion to love others as He loved us.

Kevin

“Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”  Andy Dufresne – The Shawshank Redemption

What is it about hope that springs eternal?   You might even ask, what does that really mean?  Dictionary.com says this:

People will keep on hoping, no matter what the odds.  For example, I keep buying lottery tickets–hope springs eternal.  This expression was coined by Alexander Pope (An Essay on Man, 1732) and quickly became proverbial.

That’s fair enough.  We all want to have hope in something.  I’ve never had hope in winning the lottery but many do.  If I played the lottery I would never expect to hit it someday and then, bam, just like that I’m on easy street.  However, many people think this way.

I try to be more concrete in my thinking but in order to be more “concrete” I need something stable.  The lottery example is nothing more than a “wish” or a “pipe-dream”.  Sure enough, it happens on occasion for people but the odds are better you’ll be eaten by a Great White Shark.  Even if you don’t swim in the ocean.

Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?  Can reeds flourish where there is no water?  While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant.  Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish.  Job 8:11-13

The Scripture paints a masterpiece word picture.  It’s really easy to see what is being said here.  Without God what hope do you have?  It gives us a grim reminder that life is temporal, and destruction can come upon us like a flower being cut down or plants withering away.

Wow, that’s pretty depressing.

I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.  Isaiah 8:17

This turns a corner.  We see a glimmer of hope, although at times the Lord may hide his face from us, if we are trusting in Him there is a great hope.  Hope that is real, must depend on the object of our hope.  Outside of the everlasting love of the Father, there is only false hope.

But that’s not so for us…  if we are in Christ.  That is our great hope.  He died and rose again and sits at the right hand of the Father.  Don’t allow your circumstances to dictate your true hope.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of JesusChrist from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  1 Peter 1:3-5

Did you catch that it’s a “living” hope?  Why was Peter stressing this so much?  Because his readers were experiencing great suffering through persecution.  While there are times we suffer greatly through no fault of our own, extreme physical trials are faced or just the circumstances of life, we must remember we have a Savior that has not abandoned us.  He is there to walk us through the worst of life.

May we cling to this hope.  Because He who began a good work in us will see it to completion.

Kevin

The demands of pastoral ministry are high, not only as it relates to the potential workload but especially to the character of the men that are called to it.

I’ve embarked on a journey.  I have no idea where it will end up but I know where I don’t want it to end.  In disgrace.  I will remove myself quickly if I ever bring reproach to the name of Christ.  That is a higher responsibility to me than holding onto an idea that I have about myself or my “potential”.

No, there is a lot at stake here.  There are many that have shipwrecked their own “faith” but have also ruined their reputation and sullied the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  There are “posers” out there; those that profess to be something they really are not.

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.  1 Timothy 4:12 

My youth is not in question, but how about the rest of this?  This is serious business.

Matthew Henry lays it out so beautifully:

Those who teach by their doctrine must teach by their life.  Their discourse must be edifying; their conversation must be holy; they must be examples of love to God and all good men, examples of spiritual-mindedness.  Ministers must mind these things as their principal work and business.  By this means their profiting will appear in all things, as well as to all persons; this is the way to profit in knowledge and grace, and also to profit others.

Many men can say one thing, or be something in certain settings, but how does he live in private?  Is his personal life, the same as his ministerial life?  Is he a man you want to emulate in all manner of living?  This is the true test of the man.  The character of this man is revealed in private.  Ask those closest to him how he lives?  Here you will find answers.

In Dave Harvey’s book Am I Called? he says this about a man’s ordination service where the pastor’s wife was asked to speak about her husband:

She shared about the effect of her husband’s gospel-inspired example upon her and the kids.  She said, “He’s the same at home as he appears at church; no double standards, no duplicity.  If you shot footage of our family, you’d see no surprises.”  The wife’s words testified loudly to the man’s life.  They spoke volumes to the church, both about the man’s leadership and about the God this man was called to represent.

This is a high calling and one that should be embarked upon with great concern and caution.  May the Lord give grace to those whom He has called to live a life that is pleasing and acceptable in His sight.

Kevin