O Be Careful Little Eyes

Remember this little song from when you were in Sunday School as a child:

O be careful little eyes what you see

O be careful little eyes what you see

There's a Father up above

And He's looking down in love

So, be careful little eyes what you see

Since childhood,  I have been fascinated with magic and illusionists. I remember when I was around 14 years of age we had some friends join us for dinner at our house. I decided to show them a "magic" trick in which I put a wooden match in a handkerchief and then had the man and his wife feel the wooden match wrapped inside the handkerchief. After they confirmed that the match was there and indeed unbroken, I had the wife snap the match stick in half. After saying some "magic" words to make the match stick be restored, I opened the handkerchief to reveal an "unbroken" match stick. The wife was totally amazed and thought it was a great "trick". The husband, on the other hand, wanted to inspect the handkerchief and upon close inspection found the secret seam that contained the broken match stick. The secret had been found out!

Over the years I have continued to have a fascination with illusionists and have learned quite a bit about how illusions are accomplished. The keys to all illusionist's success are those people who assist in the illusion and the fact that we tend, as humans, to accept what we "see" as being true and almost irrefutable. Especially in large illusions, without a faithful assistant who helps the illusionist "deceive" the eyes of the audience, the illusionist would have a really hard time accomplishing the feat. Over the years I have learned that "magic" wasn't really my calling in life but I still love to see a good "magic" show from time to time. Even though I understand how a lot of the illusions are accomplished, I still love to watch them because it is just plain fun.

Several months ago, due to an accident with a deer about a mile from our house, some friends of ours had to borrow our Sante Fe to travel up to visit a college. Everything worked out well for them on the trip and we were glad to assist. I mention this to provide an object lesson. Although my Santa Fe has been to this certain college, Karen and I have not been there. If somebody that we know well would have seen my Sante Fe, with the special Indiana Wesleyan University license plates and unique scratches on the drivers side rear panel, they would have suspected that we were visiting that University. By all appearances, they would have been justified in believing that we had been there. The proof would have been in the fact that our vehicle was there. However, by asking us personally about whether we had been there or not they would have found out that it wasn't us but somebody else who had borrowed our vehicle. Innocent enough, but these types of real life "illusions" happen.

As I have stated in the past, things that happen in the physical realm have application in the spiritual realm and vise-versa. Over the last several months I have viewed some things going on within my circle of friends that I have had to apply some of those spiritual decision making principles to that I spoke about in my "Now What God" post.

As much as I wish it were not true, as Christians we are not immune to making judgments about other people without knowing the full truth. Sometimes we listen to those disgruntled people who run around promoting "illusions" as facts that support their own less than honorable agendas. I don't argue that it is extremely challenging to know what is truth because so many people have become so adept at telling lies that appear to be truth. That is why I keep reiterating that we as Christians need to keep God first and foremost in our decision making process. We need to seek God to reveal to us what is truth and what is not. That may not happen instantaneously, so I also ask that people don't act on impulse and do things that could be damaging to another person's spiritual, economical, emotional or physical well being based on the "illusions" presented by others and that people will wait on the Lord to lead them into what they should be doing. In the mean time, we need to practice 1 John 3:18 which states, "Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."

Lessons Learned With Austyn: Accepting Responsibility for Your Actions

The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them. Ezekiel 18:20 NIV

 

Anybody who truly knew Austyn knows that the young man was no angel. In the few years that I had known him he had committed several crimes and had wronged a lot of people. Because of his track record, most people didn't trust him and I will admit that when he came back into our lives 14 months or so before he passed away I was a little hesitant at first. One of the problems with Austyn was that after he committed a crime or hurt somebody, he wasn't usually remorseful about it. In fact, he was usually quick to blame somebody else or justify his actions based on his perception of somebody else's' prior actions. If he was apologetic, it was usually a "snow job" attempt to get off the hook for what he had done.  In a way I kind of understand why he was that way. He had been around a lot of actors/actresses and a lot of people who only pretended to be repentant or remorseful for their actions.

Austyn and I had some pretty intense face-to-face interactions over the first few months after he came back. He found out that Karen and I were not as naive as he believed us to be and that we would not accept the excuses he offered up for his actions. I made it very clear to him that he was responsible for his actions and nobody else. It truly was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. It was tough love in a very tough way. The things that we made sure of, Austyn knew we cared about him, would always follow through with any promises we made to him and above all, loved him through our actions. He kept coming back. I guess that says it all.

When Austyn went to Lark Ranch with us in October 2012, he was wearing a cast on his right arm. Austyn had been accused of a crime, based on his prior history, and in his anger hit a cement block wall with his right fist. That fractured several bones in his right hand/arm. It was proven later that the accusations were false and that he was truly innocent of the charges. Austyn justified his actions of hitting the cement wall because he was angry that he had been wrongly accused. At that moment, I had to enact the toughest love that a "father" can. I made it very evident to him that he needed to start taking responsibility for his actions and stop blaming others for the "stupid" things that he was doing. That was the beginning of a transformation that God was preparing Austyn to go through. I would love to say that Austyn was on the right path at that moment, but it would take one more incident to really get his attention. He was arrested in December 2012 for operating a motor vehicle without a license and spent several weeks in the Martin County Detention Center.

It was after all of that when we starting to see a change. The old Austyn was being transformed because of the GRACE of God. We could really "see" the changes in Austyn. He would sit in the kitchen and tell us that he had made so many mistakes and owed so many people apologies. You could tell that he was being sincere and genuine. The "snow job" was gone. He had started taking responsibility for his actions, past and present and he wanted to make amends. At times he seemed almost in a panic because he wanted to apologize to people that he had wronged, he wanted to do it in person and he wanted to do it as quickly as possible. I would love to say that Austyn accomplished his goal, but unfortunately some folks would not allow him to apologize and I am sure they wouldn't have believed him if he had. Some folks only believe in God's grace when it applies to them, and not to somebody like him. Here is what I believe though because it is what the Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9, " For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is

the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast."

Really Loving Your Neighbor

When Karen and I moved to Indiana in 2004, we were hoping to buy a place with a little land where we could have an orchard, garden and a place for the boys to play. We were blessed to get a nice home out in the country with good tillable ground and some woods to hunt in. God truly blessed us in that area.

On top of that, we got some wonderful neighbors. Mike and Pat (his wife) have been really good neighbors. We know that they watch out over our place whenever we are gone and they have helped us in the past by tilling our garden (before we had a tiller), plowing our driveway and doing a myriad of other things. We have reciprocated in other ways. Overall it has been a really positive experience and I am grateful for the neighbors we have.

One of the most interesting passages of Scripture in the Bible is Matthew 22:35-40, where Jesus was asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus answered that the two foundational commandments in the Bible are, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind”; and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus was teaching us that the two greatest foundational commandments had to do with relationships. If you start looking through the scriptures, everything boils down to these two areas: relationship with God and relationships with others. It really is that simple.

Sometimes as humans we overlook simple things because we are always looking for things to be more complex, but have you really ever stopped and asked yourself: Who is my closest neighbor? Well, the answer is really quite simple. If you are married, your closest neighbor is your spouse. If you have children, that would also include them!

If one of the foundational commandments that Jesus gave had to do with loving our neighbor, and our closest neighbor is our spouse, then the Scriptures have a lot more to say about marriage than many people realize.

So when we read in Matthew 6:14-15 about our need to forgive others, we need to apply that to our marriage and family. When Colossians 3:8 tells us to put aside “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from (our) mouth,” we need to examine ourselves and examine how we talk to and about our spouse and children.

As you read through the Scriptures over the next few weeks, look for ways to apply biblical truths to your relationships at home. After all, if your faith doesn’t work in the context of your family relationships, where will it work?

God Given Gifts of Laughter

There are times when I just need a good clean laugh. As a human being with problems and issues similar to what everyone else faces from time to time, I find myself slipping into a mode of negativity. For that reason I decided to write something with a little more emphasis on the happy side of life. There is no doubt in my mind that God gave us the gifts of laughter. There are so many benefits from laughing that I wanted to explore them just a little. So you’ll have to humor me and here we go…

Laughing helps us not to take ourselves too seriously!

Let’s face it. I can’t walk on water all of the time J. I make mistakes from time to time and sometimes it’s downright funny. I am forever laying items down and forgetting where I put them. There is absolutely no doubt that I could hide my own Easter eggs and have a good time trying to find them again.

Laughter helps us heal physically and spiritually!

In fact, research shows that it also has quite a positive impact on our physiology-relaxing our muscles, boosting our immune systems, releasing endorphins and decreasing stress hormones. From a spiritual perspective, it helps us to shake those negative thoughts and replace them with positive, God inspired ones.

Laughter helps us maintain balance in a world that can be downright ornery!

I don’t know about you, but I work in a place that can be dog eating dog at times.  People are stressed to the max for a myriad of reasons. One of the best places to see people exhibit their less than pleasant attitudes is at Walmart when they are in a hurry and not getting what they want. Sometimes I have to take a step back and just laugh at the ridiculousness of people! If only they could see themselves the way I see them…LOL.

Laughter helps us individuals and communities stay sane.

Laughing shifts our perspective and alters our mood. When things get extremely stressful, it really helps our outlook on life if we can find something to laugh about. Have you ever noticed how contagious laughter can be? One person starts laughing, then another and then another until everyone is laughing.  A group of people with a good sense of humor can accomplish a lot more than a group in turmoil (and have more fun doing it!)

Laughter empowers us to live more and more in the image of God in which we were created.

"But You, O Lord, shall laugh at them; You shall have all the nations in derision." Psalms 59:8
"The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming." Psalms 37:13

If God has every good quality, and a sense of humor is a good quality, then it stands to reason that God has a sense of humor. Most of the instances in the Bible which portrays the quality of humor in God are when God laughs at men because of the futility of their efforts. It is evident enough for me that there are things that the Lord finds funny. So if God can laugh, I feel it is ok for me to laugh as well!

Secret Places

In my last blog, I talked about decision making and how when it comes to making decisions, God expects us to be spiritual people who focus upon spiritual decisions utilizing spiritual principles. If any of the leadership within our body read my last blog, they would have recognized the practices of increased prayer, searching the scriptures and seeking what would be most glorifying to God. That is the policy that the leadership adopted several months ago whenever important decisions needed to be made that could have huge spiritual or financial impacts on the body.

I shared that because over the last several months, Karen and I have adopted that same policy when it comes to making spiritual and financial decisions within our own home and we know from practical experience that it truly works. As a person who too often allowed my emotions to lead my actions, I have had to learn to allow God to be in control of issues that fall into his realm of expertise and ultimate final judgment. Of course, God doesn’t expect Christians to be totally catatonic when it comes to things going on around them. He expects us to react when he leads us to react and he expects us to speak out when things don’t line up with the Word or nature of God.

I alluded to this post in my last blog because I felt that God gave me both topics at the same time several mornings ago while I was lying awake in bed. When this topic first came to me, I really thought that “Secret Places” was going to be about physical places. As I was doing some labor intensive work out behind my house, I was “talking” to God at the same time and asking him for direction when it came to writing this blog. It was then that God revealed to me that what I had envisioned as “Secret Places” and what he intended were two different things. He was talking about the “secret places” that nobody except God could visit. It is the secret places of the heart.

I have chosen several verses from Psalm 139 because they tell us that God knows everything, including our thoughts and motives of the heart. I left some verses out because it is rather lengthy, but it doesn’t change the meaning of the message. (Psalm 139) ¹Lord, you have examined me and know all about me.² You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them.³ You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do.⁴ Lord, even before I say a word, you already know it.⁵ You are all around me—in front and in back—and have put your hand on me.⁷ Where can I go to get away from your Spirit? Where can I run from you?¹¹ I could say, “The darkness will hide me. Let the light around me turn into night.” ¹² But even the darkness is not dark to you. The night is as light as the day; darkness and light are the same to you. ²³ God, examine me and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. ²⁴ See if there is any bad thing in me. Lead me on the road to everlasting life. New Century Version (NCV)

When my family travels long distances, we frequently listen to the dramatization “Affabel, Window of Eternity” by John Bevere. One of the most enlightening statements comes from one of the rulers to a person who is getting ready to stand before the King (God). She says, “Your rewards depend on what you say and what you do. Not only will your words and works be examined, but the motive behind them. You will also be judged by the thoughts you embraced.  Do not forget God’s judgment is righteous, testing the mind and the heart. Man's judgment is in light of the visual world but God's is based on a different light.”

 

The problem with the Secret Places of the heart is that as humans, we can’t truly tell what is there. There are some awesome men and women of God who we wouldn’t even suspect because they are extremely quiet and meek and work under the radar of our Christian detectors. They have good hearts and do good things for God and get little or no recognition for their work here on earth. On the other hand, there are those other people out there with evil hearts. Oh sure, we can sometimes see the fruit that an evil heart produces but sometimes people can be really good actors/actresses and can deceive a great multitude of people for a long period of time before the truth is revealed. Especially dangerous are those people who have learned fluent Christianese and church practices through decades of Church attendance. That is why it is so important to adopt a spiritual decision making policy in your own lives and to seek the Holy Spirits guidance. Here is the bottom line; if something doesn’t feel right, sound right, or look right, perhaps the Holy Spirit is telling you that it isn’t right.

Now What God?

Life has been so crazy busy lately that I haven’t taken the time to write much. The other morning, while I was lying in bed, I felt the sudden prompting that I was supposed to write two blogs. The first was supposed to be related to decision making and the other was supposed to address the concept of “Secret Places.” So here is the first one…

Karen and I are constantly doing projects around the house that either needs to be done due to routine maintenance and upkeep requirements or because we are attempting to change/improve the conditions in which we live. With every large project that we attempt, we almost always encounter some sort of hiccup in the process that causes us to spend more time or resources in order to bring the project to completion. So many times I have wondered what it would be like to accomplish a large project without those issues that seem to hinder productivity and someday I suspect that we will have a project that will go as planned. In all honesty though, it is through the solving of those issues/problems that come up that I tend to learn the most. It requires me to do a lot of research, ask a lot of questions and sometimes seek the counsel of friends and/or family.

Over the years and many projects, I have learned that not all the advice that I get from google searches or from talking to others is good sound advice. As well as the intentions of the folks are that either posts their opinions or experiences online or those who give me their advice face-to-face, sometimes it just doesn’t quite fit the bill. It is for that reason that I have learned to include God in all decisions that could be potentially dangerous or costly. Now I know there are those folks who are thinking, “You should include God in all your decisions” and my response is that God does direct all my decisions because he gave me the wisdom to make the routine day to day decisions without seeking extra guidance every time I turn around. As a parent I want my boys to make routine decisions on their own and I believe that God expects the same of us. It is those non-routine issues that tend to be problematic for me and it is those types of issues that I run to God with.

So how does one go about finding answers to those non-routine issues that pop up in life? As much as I wish I could go running to my friends for answers (and I do have some really great friends), I know that ultimately the best answers come from God. It is for that reason that my decision making process must include God first. I have learned over the years that any decision that I make ultimately needs to please God. You see, any decision I make in the physical realm affects the spiritual realm as well. When it comes to decisions, God expects us to be spiritual people who focus upon spiritual decisions utilizing spiritual principles. Then it only makes sense that it all would begin with prayer. When a question arises that will affect mine or my family’s lives, the first step for me should be to spend significant amounts of time in prayer.  

Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16 that Scriptures are inspired by God so that the people of God may be completely equipped for life and ministry. The second step in a good decision making process should include the examination of the scriptures because all the available information we need to make wise decisions when it comes to spiritual matters is located here. The third aspect of spiritual decision making is that the decision should result in the glorification of God. We exist to glorify God in the community in which we live and are a visible representation of God to the community. Paul writes, “We are therefore Christ’s Ambassadors’” (2 Corinthians 5:20). In the decisions I make and the actions I take, I should always seek to reflect the character of God in such a way that his reputation is enhanced by what I do.

Lastly, Proverbs makes it clear that the wise seek the advice of many counselors (Proverbs 11:14; 15:22; 24:6). By seeking the counsel of many, we gain greater insight and understanding due to differing perspectives. This is the area that I suspect people need to be very cautious in. Sometimes folks will skip or lightly skim the previous steps of prayer, searching the scriptures and trying to bring glorification to God in order to get advice from others because they already know that what they want to do either violates the Word of God or will bring dishonor to him and they just want somebody to agree with them. This is extremely dangerous, especially if those from whom they are seeking counsel have not gone through the same steps of prayer, searching the scriptures and seeking what would be most glorifying to God. Here’s what I know to be true when it comes to getting advice from others. If it violates the Word of God (scriptures), its bad advice and I wouldn’t follow it.

To end on a positive note, God has put some really great Godly people in our lives and I would seek their counsel any time because I know that I could trust them. They are Godly people who would follow a similar decision making process and would provide me with honest and sound Godly advice, even if it wasn’t what I necessarily wanted to hear. Those are the kind of friends that I appreciate and gravitate towards.

Convincing Doubting Thomas

In 2006 the Department of Army decided to implement a very stringent LEAN SIX SIGMA program world-wide and they decided to launch by training 16 individuals chosen throughout Joint Munitions Command as LEAN SIX SIGMA Blackbelts. The concept was that those 16 individuals would return to their respective commands and be change agents throughout the enterprise by convincing others to embrace the methodologies of LEAN and SIX SIGMA. Because the Army’s mission was increasing exponentially, it was vital for everyone within the enterprise to recognize they were all working toward the same goal – warfighter readiness – and to be excited about where the enterprise was going.

After months of traveling and intense formal training, Joint Munitions Command finally certified their first LEAN SIX SIGMA Blackbelt. Within weeks, several of the other 16 were certified and the Joint Munitions Command began an aggressive blitz for Continuous Improvement. There were a lot of leaders following the progress of those 16 and tracking mechanisms were created to monitor the projects that were being facilitated by the Blackbelts.

It didn’t take long for leadership and the Blackbelts to realize that not everyone was seeing the overall big picture and goals of the enterprise. Although top and mid-level leadership had embraced LEAN SIX SIGMA methodologies, the employees who were actually working production did not seem to recognize the need to change the way they did things and were not eager to do so. The real battle was brewing. It was soon discovered that the real issue wasn’t that people didn’t really want to change; they just wanted to be part of the change process. It was important for everyone to feel ownership and that what they thought was just as important as anybody else, no matter what title they held or salary they received. To have long lasting success, the Blackbelts would always find the "biggest doubting Thomas" and ask him or her, what it would take to get their buy-in. Then the Blackbelt built an action plan around their response. The key seemed to be that if you could turn the biggest doubter into a believer, you could likely turn others.

So by now you are asking yourself “so what?” Well, I have learned over the years that a principle in the secular world can also be a principle in the Christian world. After all, both are inhabited by human beings. As much as we would like to believe that as Christians we may have better control of our feelings and emotions, many of us don’t. I definitely don’t claim to be a giant in this area as I frequently battle to maintain control of my negative emotions. If you ask Karen, I have gotten better and I have tried to be more submissive to God’s and the Holy Spirit’s leading. I guess I will use a paraphrased version of John 8:7 to say, “He that is without sin among us, let him first cast a stone at me.”

I wrote a while back about unity within the body of Christ. One of the statements was that the church needs to become a living body of unified human relationships graced by the Spirit of God. Becoming a unified body of believers requires us to work together to create relationships that become the fertile soil for growth, revival and a tremendous work of the Holy Spirit. Did you see the important phrase in the last sentence? It is “work together.” Sometimes I wonder if one of the biggest challenges in the Church is that its change agents have big goals for the Church but there is not a complete buy-in from the rest of the body. As in the secular arena, I believe the real issue isn’t that people don’t really want to change; they just wanted to be part of and have a voice in the change process. It’s important for everyone to feel ownership and that what they think is just as important as anybody else, no matter what title/position they hold. The bible says in Hebrews 13:8 that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” As followers of Christ, we are to take the gospel message outside the walls of our church. As members of the Assemblies of God we need to commit to fulfilling the four-fold mission: evangelize the lost, worship God, disciple believers and show compassion. Unfortunately, the “how to” portion of that is left open for discussion and interpretation.

As I close, I want to reiterate that I don’t have all the answers. I am simply sharing an opinion and asking some difficult questions: Are we unified? If not, why? Keep asking “why” until you get to the basal cause. It may be very enlightening.

And just in case you didn’t know and were curious, yes I am one of the 16.