Discipleship--Not A Sure Thing

I was up well before the chickens this morning.I picked up a friend at the airport. He traveled here, to Guam to attend our Ministry Equipping Conference. This year's conference is on disciple-making. My friend has been involved in working with others, especially teens, encouraging them to follow the Lord. Working with people isn't like working with clay. We people aren't nearly as moldable. Nor are we like concrete or plaster. If you can manage to get concrete into the right shape for a few hours, it will hold that form for many years. No, when God created us, He gave us a will. If we exercised our bodies as much as we do our wills, we'd be in much better shape. My friend is broken-hearted. Some of those with whom he has been working have chosen another path. My friend isn't the first to face this problem. The Apostle Paul experienced the same sadness as my friend when he commented to Timothy, "Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me" (2 Timothy 4:10). When Jesus asked Peter and the others, "You do not want to go too, do you?" it was an acknowledgment that they could turn away if they chose to. Following the Great Commission of our Lord, is not like cutting out Jesus-followers with a disciple cookie-cutter. It's more like wrestling or trying to get somewhere in a small boat in the midst of a big storm. The outcome, from where we sit, isn't clear. If I start passing on what God has given me to another, do I have any guarantee that they will turn out right? No, absolutely not. But there is likely someone in my sphere of influence whom I can influence. Maybe I'm the only one who can. If I don't teach them, pray with them, do life with them, and encourage them to follow the Lord, then for sure they won't. My friend will be around a few days. I'll probably quote Galatians 6:9 to him. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." It's STTA.

Growing Old, and Learning from Those Who Are

Something To Think About Aging:

A while back a friend of mine, talking to me and another aging preacher, with suitable wit and sarcasm said, "I'm completely willing to admit that you are done."  It is a reality that's easier to see and declare in others than it is in one's self.  I'm a guy, have been all my life, so I speak with an element of bias.  We guys who gain a great deal of our self-worth from what we do struggle with turning loose of our careers.  Think about Big Jake and his irritation with the observation of folk who had only heard of him, "I thought you were dead."  A great deal of the appeal of the character was watching him prove his crusty reply, "Not hardly." A few years ago a wise counselor helped me understand someone.  A friend of ours was behaving in a difficult, obnoxious manner.  "Think about it," my friend counseled.  "This man has been in a position of influence all his life; he's just trying to hold on to that.  I'm working to conduct myself so my friend doesn't have to offer that explanation on my behalf.  I'm trying to maintain a modified Jacob McCandles stance.  I'm not dead, but I don't want to go around beating up people to prove it. You may be like Jake and me--you find yourself in a world populated by a bunch of youngsters who are taking over.  Or, you might be one of those kids trying to deal with one of those seasoned citizens.  A couple of thoughts: We oldsters may not be dead yet, but it is clear that we will be sooner than all these kids around us.  Clearly, we come to a point where good stewardship requires that we stop trying to hold onto power and focus on helping those who will still be here when we are dead to do their job better. When I'm gone I don't want those around me to say, "Now that he is gone we don't know what to do."  Rather I hope they will say, "Because he was here we know how to carry on." If you are one of those irritating, smarter, quicker, more capable kids, look around.  He may be a janitor, she is likely a secretary, maybe the person I speak of is your boss or grandparent.  There is likely someone in your circle who is marked with the hard-won scars of life.  Buy them a cup of coffee.  Sit down and listen.  You'll have to put up with some "When I was a kid . . ." stories.  You need to look at pictures of their grandkids, and don't make fun of them if the photos are actual prints. Maybe you thought this person was dead.  Give them a chance to prove the truth--"Not hardly!"  It's Something to Think About.   Young or old we all need the Lord. Find out more here.

A Difficult Pattern to Follow:

Something To Think About Tracing the lines, 8/18

I'm spending some time with some really smart kids.  It's interesting watching them play with toys that my boys used to play with 35+ years ago.  One of the kids had trouble identifying the farm animals, but then proceeded to ask me if we had an internet connection.  She wanted to download an App.  Little brother took over playing with the farm, and added in some cars--again three decades old.  He used the fence as a barrier and made a McDonald's drive-through. Kid's follow the patterns they observe in the adults around them.  That's a really important lesson to develop, but I'll save it for another day. Right now, I'm thinking about some patterns that our Lord laid down for us to follow.  Though the Apostle Peter uses a very child-friendly image to make his point, the lessons are entirely grown-up.      “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example,”  (1 Peter 2:21, NASB95)   We live in a world where finding our way is anything but child's play.  The people to whom Peter originally addressed these words, are described as aliens.  They had been forced to leave their homes by those who persecuted them for their faith.  I figure every instinct in them cried out for revenge, but pattern Jesus left behind was of one who "while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;" (23) I have to really focus and work hard to trace over the lines my Lord laid down for me to follow.  Staying in the lines is not simply a matter of a nice looking page in my coloring book.  The end result is a life well-lived. It's Something to Think About.

Leverage

Financial gurus often speak of "leverage."  About the only thing I know about finances is that I don't know very much, but, as I understand it, leverage has to do with an individual investing a relatively small amount of his money, combining it with a great deal of the investment of others, and reaping a result that is far greater than would otherwise be gained on the basis of the small personal investment.  I don't have any experience with that in the fiscal realm, but I have seen it work spiritually.

When I invest in the lives of others my efforts are leveraged to produce far, FAR greater results than my meager resources would ever be able to accomplish.

 
• I'm not the smartest guy around, but God has given me the opportunity to invest in some some really sharp folk.
• My business ventures consist mainly of others giving me the business, but there are businesses that are guided, in part, by the influence the Lord has enabled me to have.
• I already mentioned my financial limitations.  Yet there are others who speak amortization without being mortified, with whom the Lord has given me the privilege of working.

Leverage--having an impact bigger than, longer lasting than, and far more impressive than anything I, with my limited resources, could accomplish.  Long before the "How-to-Get-Rich-with-the-Change-in-Your-Pocket" books were written, THE BOOK talked about this maximization of impact, not by investing the resources of others, but by investing in others.  Go out there and encourage, teach, counsel, or come along side one to invest in them.

Leverage your efforts for the glory of God.

It's STTA