3000.00

The conversation started something like this, “Greg, our children are extremely important at Midtown.  I want to make sure we are taking care of them as best as we can.  I know finances are a bit tight around the church, but I believe we should invest some money into the children’s room.  Our walls are unfinished, carpet is missing in some areas, and wires are dangling from the ceiling.  I just don’t feel as if we are doing the best we can for these children and their parents.  Can you bring this up at the next elder’s meeting and see if we can put some money towards the room?”  My children’s director, Brittany, had just expressed to me her heart’s desire to make sure we, as a church, are doing what we can to take care of those who walk in our doors.  She saw a weakness in our facility that she wanted to address for the children’s safety.

“Here is what I need from you Brittany, come up with two budgets for the job.  A budget that consists of the bare essentials and a second budget that would cover what you would like to get done to the room.  In the meantime, I will talk to the elders about this idea and feel them out.  But you know that we really have no money set aside for anything like this, so I cannot promise anything.”

A week later she presented me with the two numbers.  In her estimation, it would cost $2,000.00 to do the bare essentials to the room and $3,000 to do what she would like to do to the room to make it more comfortable and safe.

“Brittany, here is what we decided as the elders of Midtown.  We do not want to make an executive decision on this but want you to make the decision for us.  Over the past year and a half, we, as elders, have been praying for God to take care of our needs around the church, and he has done so.  Therefore we know without a doubt that the Lord will guide you in this decision.  If he wants you to do this project then the money will come in.  So we want you to pray for one week on this and ask God to either change your mind on the project and tell you that it doesn’t need to be done, or pray that he will provide the money.   Regarding the two numbers, we know that in God’s economy $2,000 is no different than $3,000.  So we want to forget about the $2,000 and lock in on praying for $3,000 to be provided for the job if the Lord wants you to move forward.  Therefore, next week when we meet, I want to hear God has guided you in this, and if you say we are moving forward then we will move forward and trust that the Lord will provide the $3,000.00 to accomplish this job.”

“Ok” And she went off to pray for a week.  In the meantime, we prayed that the Lord would reveal himself to her and to us in a marvelous way in this matter.

One week later, she came to our staff meeting and reported.  “Greg, I believe we can skip out on a couple of the small projects, but through prayer, I believe God is leading me to move forward on this.”  On my lap at the time was a stack of mail that was just brought in by one of my deacons.  I typically don’t multi task during our meetings, but this time I was.  As we discussed the certainty of her feelings about the job (asking questions to discern God from fleshly desires, which is easy to do when you spend time in prayer and have a corresponding peace that follows your prayer life), I ripped into an envelope from an attorney’s office.  I was expecting junk mail, but instead I received a letter that was sent by the hand of God. Let me summarize it to you. 

Dear Midtown,

“It was determined that the claim you filed and the deductible you paid regarding the flooding incident a couple of years ago was not your fault.  Therefore, please sign these documents and return them immediately for a refund of your $3000.00 deductible.”  If I didn’t have arm rests in my chair I would have fallen out as I was laughing so hard (this is how I respond when God reveals Himself in a mighty way).  I couldn’t believe what I was reading as it showed Brittany what the power of prayer can do. 

You see, as her pastor, I also spent the week praying.  I prayed for something slightly different.  My prayer went like this, “God, don’t let me down here.  I have challenged our Children’s Ministry Director to pray to you and to receive your guidance in the job.  I am totally expecting you to move in an incredible way here.  I am a little nervous that I am acting foolishly and I will have to explain to her next week why you didn’t answer her.  Please do something great for her.”

And he did, not only for her, but for me!  As much as Brittany was able to see the goodness of God, I also got to see it and learned a great deal of God’s faithfulness through it.

She prayed for God to either change her thinking or provide the money while I prayed for God to reveal himself in a mighty way.  He answered both of those prayers in a way that reminded us of his faithfulness.  Philippians 4 says that my God will provide for your needs according to His riches in glory.  Amen.

 

Blue Daze

Blue Daze is a low lying shrub, growing no higher than 18 inches off the ground that creates a beautiful ground cover for any landscape.  This flowering shrub makes a beautiful canvas of greenery spotted with a touch of blue throughout.   It is a great addition to any yard as it weathers periods of dry seasons and sandy soils very well.

The blue flowers that bloom are no larger than a dime.  In fact, they are so small, it takes a small army of them to reveal the true beauty of the plant from any reasonable distance. 

What I find fascinating about this plant is that the flowers have a life cycle of a day.  Each morning, new blooms unfold as the sun rises.  Throughout the day, they hold the magnificent color of blue, displaying the wonder of God’s creation in this plant.  As the sun reaches its peak, the blooms are fully developed and the Blue Daze looks its best. But as the sun’s final rays are slowly concealed behind the veil of the earth, the blooms begin to whither and fall off.  By the dawn of the next morning the only thing reminding you of the previous days display of color are the remnants of dried petals scattered around the base of the plant as yesterday’s blooms bow humbly as the plant chooses to allow new buds to display its glory for the day.  These new flowers will undoubtedly come and go as the ones before them did, but not without first revealing a little glimmer of the splendor of the Blue Daze.

What a beautiful picture of the Christian’s life.  Like the flower of this plant, your days are already predetermined by the One who has created you.  He has called you into being for one purpose; to reveal, for a season of time, the splendor of his glory.  He knit you together in your mother’s womb perfectly for the sake of revealing his majesty in you.  From every placement of every hair on your body, to the way your lip quivers when you laugh, to your ability to love those around you, all of this is God’s handiwork on your life to show off his majesty through you.

Meditate on Psalm 8 as it speaks to the glory of God as it is revealed in you.  Just as the Blue Daze makes known its beauty through small, nickel size flowers, so God chooses you to reveal His beauty and majesty.

Psalm 8

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

² Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes,

to still the enemy and the avenger.

³ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

⁴ what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

⁵ Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

⁶ You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,

⁷ all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

⁸ the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

⁹ O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 

The Roach

Just the title of this entry can be unnerving to some.   Roaches hold no ability to do physical harm to people, yet they can wreak havoc on the human psyche.  They do not bite, claw, or injure us in any way (unless you are the fortunate few to have swallowed one in your sleep), other than being a menace.

But this insect which is no larger than a quarter has the power to send even the strongest men running.  They perch themselves boldly on our walls as we watch television, in our kitchen sinks as we prepare the evening meal, under our beds as we ready ourselves for a night of sleep, and when they are stumbled upon, they send a shockwave of fear throughout our nervous system.

Our defense to roaches is simple but drastic; kill them.  It doesn’t enter our mind to catch and relocate them (like we would do with lizards or butterflies that become trapped in our homes).  And we don’t just kill them, but we squash them as quick and as hard as we can.  It seems kind of extreme, yet most of us can’t help ourselves when we see one of these creatures. 

Why does such a small and innocent creature create so much havoc in our lives?  Why do we turn into this monster when one of these beings enters our homes?

My wife and I encountered the supremacy of one of these insects recently.  Our night began to unravel when she brought the basket of laundry in from the garage to our bedroom to fold it.  Moments later she let out a short but heart stopping scream.   Whatever I was doing at the moment became less significant as I did what any man would do and jumped to my feet to see what the matter was. As I entered our bedroom I saw her standing cautiously by the basket as she pointed and said, “roach!”  “Oh that’s it?” I bluffed; hoping she didn’t see the fear building in me.  I knew I was the one to solve this issue, but I didn’t look forward to that moment the roach and I would stare each other down as if we were in the octagon on the final round of the fight.

My first attempt at eliminating this bug was an utter failure as it sent the roach into hiding in the wrinkles of our bedspread.  I was now on a mission to find this thing as there would be no way that I would be sleeping with it.  An hour into the roach hunt, the room was torn apart, furniture was relocated as I desperately tried to locate this bug. Unfortunately, my altercation with the roach had managed to only injure the insect by severing one of its legs, leaving it like an angry wounded bear looking for revenge (at least this is the tricks my mind is playing on me).  I tore the room apart hoping to finish what I had started.  But the roach was a master at hiding. I could not find him, and my wife and I knew we had to eventually fall asleep in that room.   I never found the roach again, and needless to say, sleep tried to evade me that night as the roach did, as my mind was wrapped up around the thought of that roach being in our bedroom somewhere

Its four days later and I am still looking to settle the score with that nuisance.  But let’s be real, why do I give something so small so much power over me?  Why do I allow something that ultimately has no control over me the control to ruin a night of sleep?  Why do I allow it to play tricks in my mind telling me all sorts of lies like, “the roach is going to crawl into my mouth while I am sleeping.”  That is just silly.  I am allowing the roach to do more harm than it’s already doing by allowing it to control my mind and emotions.

This true story above represents a struggle Christians face daily. 

The small things in life tend to control us and do more harm to our existence than they have the ability to do in and of themselves.

Let me give you two examples of this.

You’re doing 7mph over the speed limit when you are pulled over.  You deserve a ticket, but you are hoping the officer lets you slide since the infringement is not that bad.  But the policeman sees it a different way and issues you a $110.00 ticket.  It’s a done deal.  But the rest of your day is full of anxiety as you allow yourself to dwell over a ticket that has already been issued.  At lunch with co-workers, you can’t stop belittling the police officer who pulled you over as you unfairly describe him as a man who you saw as insensitive.  As the day goes on, your mind is beginning to spiral out of control as you think about how you are going to pay for it.  You start to irrationally believe you will have to forego paying the light bill, as money is tight and there is just no way to squeeze in $110.00.  Then you start dwelling about the points on your license and the insurance rates that are going to go up, causing more stress and anxiety.  Your thinking only leads to irrational thoughts, and consumes your mind the rest of your day, thus this $110.00 ticket has done more harm to you than it was intended to do by you allowing it to control your mind and emotions.

Let’s look at one other example.  At a recent doctor visit, the doctor notices a mole on your arm.  His off the cuff comment is, “Hmm, that doesn’t look good, let’s remove it.”  The horror stories of skin cancer flood your mind as he scrapes the mole off and sends it off to be biopsied.  You wonder, “why did he say hmmmm?  That wasn’t a good hmmm.”  And now you have to wait five days for the results.  You hardly sleep or eat those days as you are consumed with the thought of having cancer and the result that it will have on your life.  You travel through emotions that should only be reserved for a person who actually has cancer, and not one who is simply imagining that he does.  Your anxiety level is high, you call multiple friends to find peace, yet this small mole accompanied with the “Hmmm” from the doctor has set your world in a tailspin.  The biopsy comes back clean, yet your spirit went through a whole spectrum of emotions that it wouldn’t  have  otherwise.

Be it a rumor about yourself, a possible financial hardship, or a teacher sending a note home with your child about some disturbing behavior they saw that day, small things can control us more than they should if we let our guard down and allow the lies or the worries about everything that can go wrong, plague us until we find the answers we need.

The question is; how does one release himself from this mental prison that is built on these worries in life?

When you face those moments in life, you need to take major corrective measures to your thought life in order to gain control over your thoughts that are running wild.  You must decide to not let your mind wander any farther from the sanctity of the Gospel and the truth of what you already know, and lock onto what is good.

In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul tells us that the war we are in daily is not a war of flesh and bones but a spiritual war, a war that is unseen.  As you live out your day, the enemy of the Gospel wages war against you, using every day scenarios to lay land mines in your thought life.  The enemy knows that your mind is the key battlefield to controlling you.  So he will look to ambush you throughout the day in order to take captive your mind.  He will use the seemingly innocent things to hide behind as he looks to devour mental ability to reason.  Something such as a speeding ticket or an irregular mole is simply the bush in which the enemy has chosen to hide behind to carry out his attack.

Your defensive move is to take back your mind with the truth of the Gospel.  Paul says, “ ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. ⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, ⁶ being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. ^[1]

Therefore, you must take back what the enemy looks to imprison daily.  You must grab hold of these thoughts and subject them to Christ.  You tell yourself that Christ has forgiven you of your sins including the speeding ticket, that it was a mistake, and that you will pay the consequences of that mistake, but at the end of the day, your Lord has wiped that sin away and will provide for your needs according to his riches in glory.

You lock on to the fact that Christ is your healer, and that one day you will be without blemish.  You praise God not based on a good biopsy, but regardless of the results of the biopsy.  You praise God for the life he has given you, and the breath you currently have, and for the opportunities to reveal his glory in this health situation.

Taking captive every thought is a discipline that you need to sharpen in order to stand against the fiery arrows of your enemy.

You may need to do that right now.  Is there something in your life that has gained control over you that shouldn’t have?  Is there something you have been worrying about that is full of what ifs and lies?  Practice taking it captive by subjecting it to the truth of the Bible.  Take that thought captive, gain control over it and destroy it.  The result is, you will live once again in the freedom that God has designed you to live in.

For me, I will be able to sleep, even if the roach is still under the bed.

---

^[1] (2 Co 10:4–6).

The Front Porch

The front porch was dusty.  A white plastic chair was occupied by a man smoking a cigar.  In the center of the porch was some matching plastic chairs placed around a small white table, with three other men sitting around it enjoying their self rolled smokes and whatever liquor was in the clear labeless bottle in the center of the table.  The floor of the porch was made out of old 2x4’s, some that were splintering, and others that were warped over the many years of soaking in the hot Mississippi sun. 

I sat there on this porch, with these men as I awaited the return of my money.  I traveled 45 minutes from Jackson to receive the promised payback of my $300.00.  I should have known the situation I was putting myself in as I was directed by the man who owed me my money to turn down an obscure gravel road off of highway 98.  We traveled down this road for about 4 miles before pulling into what could hardly be called a home. I should have never been on this porch to begin with.  The feeble state of that front porch represented the situation I would soon find myself in.

Two weeks prior to this day, I met a man who was in need of some help.  We struck up a casual conversation about life at a gas station in the inner city of Jackson Mississippi.  I learned that this man was living in and out of hotels as he was able to afford it.  Upon hearing his story, my compassion for the man and his estate led me to purchase him a 3 night stay at a local motel.  He was so elated to hear of my desire to help him that he promised he would pay me back.  Two weeks later, he called me up and said he had a friend who owed him $300.00 and wanted to take me to his home to retrieve the money in order to fulfill his word to me.  As a college student, I was delighted to have my money back.   We jumped into my freshly washed and waxed truck (the pride of my college days), with my chrome rims shining and pumping stereo system blaring, and took off to a location that was foreign to me.

Now I have been sitting on this porch for two hours, beginning to doubt the validity of this man’s words to me.  “Tony, when is your friend going to be here?”  “Soon, white boy”, he responded as his friends chuckled.  Thirty minutes later, a purple grand marquis rolled into the driveway.  I was grateful to see it pull in as I finally thought I would be getting my money and be getting out of there.

The driver and two other men stepped out of the car.  The driver pulled what appeared to be a .45 out of his waist line and tossed it on the hood of the car.  His passenger pulled out an equally commanding hand gun and tossed it on the hood of the car.

“Man this car is great” the driver said with pride.  “We just jacked it last night.  It was tough breaking into the trunk, but we finally got in.”  I looked at the trunk lid and saw the drilled out key hole and I knew these guys were not joking around.

Then came the conversation that was my que to leave.  “Did you hear about the man Franky got last night?”  I mentally flashed through all of the definitions of what “got” meant as quickly as I could, as I was clearly outnumbered and looking to be the next story these men told. “Yeah, he killed that man with one shot.” 

I turned to Tony and said, “Merry Christmas, you just made yourself $300.00.  I am going to take off.”  “No, No Greg, don’t take off, your money is coming.”  “Tony, you got to be kidding me, I’ve been here for three hours, my money is not coming, and I am starting to see that there may be another reason for me being here.”

I got into my truck and fired it up.  As I was preparing to pull out, four of the men surrounded the truck, with the owner of the .45 leaning into the passenger window.  “You got a clean truck.  Nice system, real nice vehicle.”  I quickly replied, “And I am going to keep it that way.” I threw my shifter backwards into reverse, and took off.

My mind plagued me as I drove back down that gravel road without my $300.00.  “How did I put myself into this position?  Why did I even help this man out to begin with?  It’s not like I am rolling in money, and yet clearly this man can’t afford a home because of the lifestyle he has chosen and the decisions he has made.  Why did I throw my money away!”

Those thoughts plagued me for a long time as I tried to reconcile my actions to my Christian obligation to love and to make disciples.

The flaw in my thinking at the time and in the thinking of many Christians I have spoken to, is the thought that compassion for an individual is what ultimately drives the great commission.  Although this is partly true, there is one other thing that comes before my compassion for an individual that should drive my evangelism, and that is to see the glory of God revealed in that person’s life.

The problem with being led solely by compassion is we will make decisions based upon a person’s comfort level and therefore try to appease their physical estate in order to show them love in hopes to soften their hearts to the Gospel.  This is a very dangerous approach to making disciples as this has the potential of removing some of the consequences of a person’s sin from their life, thus removing the full weight of their sinful lifestyle. Therefore our compassion enables them in their idolatrous lifestyle.  The continued effect is, they no longer are starving for the truth.  They become that much less receptive to hearing the Gospel and really soaking it in (although they may “listen” to you to appease you as you are the bearer of some tangible gift”).  Romans 12 says to give basic necessities to our enemies, food and water, it doesn’t say that we are responsible for clothing, shelter, utility bills, and other commodities.  We are not called as Christians to toss our resources as a church or as individuals at the feet of those who will simply consume them for fleshly desires.  I believe the church has thrown away too much money and resources already with this approach to evangelism, that is, handing out free stuff to whomever without consideration of what Scripture says on how we are to rightly use our resources. 

I made myself $300.00 poorer in order to give Tony 3 nights to enjoy what I later learned to be a drug ridden, whoring lifestyle.  For three nights he did not have to think about providing a roof over his head or if the mosquitoes were going to be out that evening, or if he would have to go find some quick work to give him the comfort of a bed.  For three nights, he didn’t have to face the consequences of his sensual lifestyle; rather, he got to indulge in it a bit more.  I would have been much better off feeding him a pbj sandwich and giving him a glass of water and talking with him about life than just opening up my checkbook hoping that my wallet could soften the heart of this man, a job that only the Holy Spirit can do.

Matthew 7:6 Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

I have learned that there is something more that the world needs than my compassion and that is Jesus.  Now, I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in how I am to physically help people, but also to show me the truth of their situation in order for me to do my part in revealing the glory of God into their lives.

Tony’s will show up in our lives all the time, we don’t want to turn a cold shoulder to them, and we don’t want to toss our pearls at their feet. Instead, let’s commit to be guided by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit in those moments to reveal the fullness of God and His truth in their moments of desperation.