Pursuing

“They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves” (Jeremiah 2:5).

Simple principle: I become what I pursue.

Pursuing things that will not last into eternity is worthless, and the pursuit of them will make my life worthless too. Allow me to elaborate with a few modified quotes:

“For where your [pursuit] is, there your heart will be also” (Jesus).

“All [pursuits] that are not eternal are eternally useless” (C.S. Lewis).

“But more than anything else, put God’s [pursuits] first and do what He wants” (Jesus).

“The impulse to [pursue] God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are [pursuing] Him we are already in His hand” (A.W. Tozer).

“But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each of us has [pursued]. The fire will show if a person’s [pursuit] had any value” (Paul).

“The true worth of a man is to be measured by the objects he [pursues]” (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus).

“I love those who love Me, and those who [pursue] Me always catch Me” (God).

“‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will [pursue] his principles unto death” (Thomas Paine).

As each week wraps up, I’m trying to remember to ask myself, “Did I pursue the right things this week? Were my pursuits eternal and God-honoring?” Good questions. Perhaps you could take some time to assess your pursuits too.

Remember, you will become what you pursue, so pursue wisely.

Too Busy

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Life’s coming at me way too fast today!

Like a runaway commuter train.

I’ve got way too much to get done today!

Like a shorthanded deli owner at the peak of the lunch rush.

My To-Do list is longer than my To-Day’s hours.

What goes first?

What can wait until tomorrow?

What can I delegate to someone else?

Wait… listen to this odd counsel about busyness:

“Tomorrow I plan to work, work, from early until late. I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” —Martin Luther

The first hours praying?!?

Not responding to emails.

Not getting a head start on the piles of stuff.

Not folding laundry before the kids get up.

Not going to the office before the phones start ringing.

Yes, get up earlier to pray more!

God knows your schedule.

He knows your To-Do list.

He knows your To-Day’s hours.

He knows what’s important … really important.

God says, “Love Me. Love others. Serve the world.”

“You must love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. And you must love your neighbor as yourself. Nothing else on your To-Do list is more important than these.”—Jesus

Too busy today?

Get up earlier tomorrow and talk to God about it.

“I direct the steps of those who seek Me. I delight in every detail of their lives.” —God

Get up and get praying.

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Generation Now

Interbellum, Greatest, Silent, Baby Boomers, Busters, MTV, Gen X, Gen Y, Post-Millennial, Gen Z. It seems we’re obsessed with naming and defining our past and present generations. The “experts” tell us what each generation is motivated by, what they’re thinking, what they dream of, and what they are afraid of. I have stacks of books on my shelf about how to relate to people in each of these generational groups, and I constantly get emails that tell me the newest way to get each generation’s attention.

However, when I look in the Bible I only see two generations: this generation and the next generation. God is not concerned with description, but with action. I love what God said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in THIS generation.

What you and I do in THIS generation reverberates into the NEXT generation.

The most important generation is Generation Now.

Yesterday I discovered something a whole lot easier than reading all of these books and sifting through all of the data to learn about GenNow. I discovered this by accident. I discovered it by fun. And I discovered it was exactly the same way Jesus connected with and related to His GenNow.

All I had to do was hang out at my office.

Throughout the day people saw my car in the parking lot, so they just stopped in. It was a blast! Just as Jesus spent times at parties, wedding banquets, in the market place, and with His friends, I got to know GenNow by simply being with them. We talked, we played music (great jam session!), I got beat in ping pong, we ate pizza, we worshipped God, we threw marshmallows at each other.

Through all of this, I learned what GenNow is dreaming about, laughing about, and worrying about. I also affirmed what I already knew: GenNow is a very special group!

Do you have a family member or friend that you want to connect with more deeply? Follow the example of Jesus: just spend time with them. I did, and it was great. In fact, I can’t wait to do it again and again and again!

Uniquely You

Thanks to Mr. Cochrane, my 10th grade English teacher, I have become somewhat of a literalist when it comes to the use of words. For instance, it bothers me when writers confuse your and you’re, or its and it’s, or their, there, and they’re.

Another vocabulary use that bothers me is when someone uses a qualifier with the word unique. It’s incorrect to say, “You’re very unique” or “It’s an unusually unique situation.” Unique, by its very definition, means there is nothing else like it.

Unique is defined as “existing as the only one or as the sole example; having no like or equal; unparalleled; incomparable.”

Do you know another great definition of unique: YOU.

Really, you are unique. You are the only one like you; you are the sole example of you; there is no one like you; you are unparalleled and incomparable. That’s you!

In one of his most intimate prayers, David says to God, “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” The Hebrew word for wonderfully means someone who is one-of-a-kind… unique.

You are uniquely you.

You were created in God’s image—uniquely.

You were created unlike anyone else who has ever lived—uniquely.

You are endowed by your Creator with a set of talents, strengths, and abilities (a gift package) that has never been seen before in the history of mankind, nor will it ever be seen again—uniquely.

You will cross paths with particular people at particular times in your life and their lives that can never be duplicated or recreated—uniquely.

In order to seize unique opportunities, you have to be uniquely you. In order to be uniquely you, you have to become more like Jesus. He embodied every godly attribute perfectly; He lived every moment perfectly; He handled every situation perfectly. “The more I become like Jesus the more uniquely I become myself” (Dr. George O. Wood).

How might you live your life differently today knowing that no one can do what you do the way you do it? The more you become like Jesus, the more uniquely you you will be. Try it!

Priceless Freedom

Turn it up!

I had a blast last night with a bunch of students at Calvary Assembly of God who are excited about Jesus. They are free, and they are hungry for more of God in their lives. It was awesome!

Jesus said, “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10 NLT). And He said, “If the Son gives you freedom, you are free!” (John 8:35 CEV).

Last night we looked at Paul’s instruction to Timothy where he reminded Timothy not to let anyone look down on him. If you dig a little deeper into the meaning of these words, it’s clear that you and I teach others how to treat us. In other words, Timothy was already devaluing himself, so others assumed that’s how they should treat him too.

Paul said, “Timothy, you are valuable. So hold your head up high and set an example worth imitating for everyone around you.”

God loves you so much that He created a cosmos to display His majesty, He gave you a conscience to prod you to look for Him, and He sent His one and only Son to earth to pay the price for so you could be in a personal relationship with Him.

You are of immense value to God. God bought you with a high price. And if you accept that incredible gift of Jesus, you are free to live… to REALLY LIVE!

When we closed the service last night, the students began to worship God, and they didn’t want to leave! They lifted their hands in freedom, they sang in freedom, they loved God in total freedom because they recognized their value in Him. And today I believe they are going to be living in that priceless freedom.

What about you? Are you living free today? Accept the gift Jesus already paid for your life and you can live free!

Feeding Jesus

Even before reading The Hole In Our Gospel, this thought has been haunting me: Am I doing all that I can to help the last and the least?

  • Am I speaking up for the one with no voice?
  • Am I looking out for the one who’s been ignored?
  • Am I feeding the physically hungry?
  • Am I feeding the spiritually hungry?
  • Am I representing the cause of the marginalized and ignored?
  • Am I doing this everywhere I can?

Jesus made it quite clear: after my brief life here is over, He’s going to say one of two things to me. Either I took care of the least and the last, or I didn’t. There’s no middle ground. The conversation either sounds like this…

“I was hungry and you fed Me,
I was thirsty and you gave Me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave Me a room,
I was shivering and you gave Me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to Me,” Jesus will say.

“Master,” I will answer, “what are You talking about? When did I ever see You hungry and feed You, thirsty and give You a drink? And when did I ever see You sick or in prison and come to You?”

“Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was Me—you did it to Me.”

Or like this…

“I was hungry and you gave Me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave Me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave Me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited,” Jesus will say.

“Master,” I will answer, “what are You talking about? When did I ever see You hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?”

“Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was Me—you failed to do it to Me.” (My paraphrase of Matthew 25:31-46)

Mother Teresa said that in the faces of the poor whom she served she saw “Christ, in His most distressing disguise.” My prayer is that God will open my eyes. I need to see the poor, the marginalized, the hungry, and the suffering through their disguises. That’s Jesus who is poor, ignored, and suffering, and it’s up to me to do something about it.

“Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” —Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision

Tell Your Story

People often ask me why I read so much, or even why I read the things I read. I like to read widely: classics to contemporary, history to biographies, and even a little poetry.

Tim Sanders wrote a book called Love Is The Killer App. In this wonderful book, he says that reading and studying should be motivated by love. We read and learn so that we can be informed enough to help others who are in need. Not reading just to read, but reading with a purpose. Reading to help tell someone a story. I haven’t found a book that does this better than the Bible.

The world’s greatest storyteller (ever!) was Jesus of Nazareth. Check this out:

With many stories like these, He presented His message to them, fitting the stories to their experience and maturity. He was never without a story when He spoke (Mark 4:33-34, The Message paraphrase).

Jesus could tell a story to anyone at any time. He learned, He studied, He observed, so He would always be ready. He frequently used whatever was at hand to tell His stories—a child, a farmer, fish, bread made with yeast, a coin, a bridal party—but He had to know something about each of those things in order for His stories to be effective for each person’s “experience and maturity.”

Once Jesus encountered a man so demonized that he spent his life naked and living in the graveyard (my friend Jim Wiegand calls him “the naked, cat-eating guy”!). Jesus set this man free from his demons. When this newly-freed man wanted to accompany Jesus, He told him, “Go home to your own people. Tell them your story” (Mark 5:19, The Message).

Tell them YOUR story.

The best story you can tell is your story.

It’s wonderful to read to be informed—I highly encourage this. I love to be able to say, “Benjamin Franklin said…” or “I love the Longfellow poem about…” or “Stephen Covey wrote that we should….” But it’s so much more effective to say, “Here’s what I have learned from my personal encounter with Jesus. Here’s MY story of what Jesus did for me!”

What about you? Do you have a story to tell? If you’re in a relationship with Jesus, you always have a story to tell. Keep walking with Jesus. Keep reading His love letter to you written on every page of the Bible. Then tell YOUR story—the best story of all!

Random

Betsy has no summer school today so we’re just chillin’ around the house. This is also one of the rare weekends that I’m not speaking anywhere. To celebrate the start of a long, lazy weekend, I thought I’d post some random thoughts about me.

Here goes…

  • I also blog short quotes and pictures on Tumblr. Check me out!
  • I don’t drink coffee.
  • I love tea: black, green, white, red, hot or cold.
  • My favorite author is C.S. Lewis.
  • My favorite book is the Bible.
  • A life-goal of mine is to read an autobiography or biography of every U.S. President.
  • I enjoy my Coke Zero with fresh-squeezed lime.
  • My favorite Detroit team is the Tigers.
  • My favorite all-time Tigers player is Ty Cobb.
  • Betsy and I dated for 5 years, 8 months, and 2 days before we got married.
  • I still love going out on a date with Betsy!
  • My ideal vacation is sitting by a lake with a huge stack of books and a big glass of iced tea.
  • I get jazzed by closing all my circles on my Apple Watch every single day.
  • I am more in love with Jesus today than I ever have been in my life!

There you go: a whole bunch of stuff you probably never knew or even cared to know! Have a great weekend!

What’s Your Work?

When I’m at business functions, I along with all of the other attendees are typically walking around with the “Hello, My Name Is” label stuck to my chest. The idea is that as I shake hands with new people I can glance down and say, “Nice to meet you, uh, Bob!”

Nine times out of ten, after the initial introduction is made the very next question people have for me is, “So, what do you do?” All of us usually give an answer related to our jobs: I’m a pastor, I’m a graphic designer, I’m a teacher, I’m a blogger, etc. Yes, that’s what you do; that’s your job. But what do you work at?

I’ve been thinking about this over the past couple of days. And what got me thinking were two “interruptions” to my job.

On Wednesday night I was teaching a Bible study. I was just getting to the pay-off—the part of the lesson where the attendees would really be challenged to apply the lesson to their real-life situations—when my lesson was interrupted. A friend had slipped out of his seat and was standing at the back. All of a sudden he was clutching his chest and saying, “I need help!” Immediately my lesson stopped, I was at his side trying to recall some of my medical training, and then asking someone to call 911.

I didn’t finish my “job” on Wednesday evening, but I did my work as a friend.

Today I had planned to devote the better part of my day to preparing a message for Sunday morning. It’s my “job” as a pastor to come to church prepared with a timely, relevant message. But after talking with a friend on the phone, I could hear the heavy despondency in his voice, and I knew I needed to go see him face-to-face.

I put my job on hold to go do my work as a friend.

Bill Hybels wrote, “Keep the ‘church’ in church work.” My work—as a member of the Church, as a friend—should always trump my “job.”

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

At the end of my life, I don’t think God is going to ask me how good my sermons were. But He is going to ask me how well I did my work as His servant.

Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited Me into your home. I was naked, and you gave Me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for Me. I was in prison, and you visited Me. … I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were doing it to Me!” (Matthew 25:34-36, 40).

How’s your work going today?

4 x 4

Have you ever heard the statement, “He’s so thick-headed you have to hit him over the head with a 4-by-4 to get his attention”? Sometimes I’m that guy.

Okay, I’m not that dense (or maybe you should check with Betsy on that), but sometimes I do need some help. Especially in the area of setting and accomplishing goals.

So Betsy and I are working on something new. We picked four goals to accomplish in the next four weeks (4 goals x 4 weeks = 4×4).

We took one verse of Scripture about the life of Jesus as our guide: And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men (Luke 2:52). This one verse shows the balanced way in which Jesus grew, so we have set our four goals in these areas:

  • Wisdom—a mental goal
  • Stature—a physical goal
  • Favor with God—a spiritual goal
  • Favor with men—an emotional/social goal

Even though we’re only four days into our first week, having this 4×4 is really keeping me motivated and on task. I’ll give you an update when we’ve finished our four weeks.

Another thought that’s keeping me focused during this is what’s happening in me during the process of pursuing these 4×4 goals. Zig Ziglar said it this way, “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

Do you have any big goals you’re working on? What do you do to keep yourself motivated and focused on your goals?