Sunday, June 28, 2009

Titles

I've had many job titles over the past 16 years. It is amazing what a title can get you. When I was teaching in Indianapolis, I would use certain titles for certain jobs. For example, when I was planning choir tours, I would use the title "Director of Choirs". When I was working on student council activities, I would use "Student Activities Coordinator". I had titles that I could use for all sorts of things, from coaching to crisis planning to even working at the ice cream shop. I had a title. Now here, I have a title again. The title helps in knowing what I do, but does the title help in showing who or whose I am?

I think the hardest title that I have isn't one for my earthly position. It is my heavenly title of servant. There are times when this title gets in the way. To truly be living up to the title of servant is to put Jesus and others first. That is a very hard thing to do. My ego and earthly desires stand in my way. When you are servant, you aren't getting extra love from God. You aren't getting a bigger and better place in the heavenly kingdom. You are serving...giving of yourself for others, for our heavenly Father. There are times when I don't deserve this title, but God, out of love for us, continues to forgive and stamps that title back on us so we can better His kingdom. So what is the title God is giving you?

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Running the Race

I just heard a remarkable story about the Boston Marathon. It was the dream of this lady to run in the Boston Marathon. Her dream came true as she qualified. So her and her husband packed their bags and headed for Boston. As the race began, her husband waved and cheered her off, then after careful planning, he had it set that he could see her at three different points of the race. At each point, he would yell her name and cheer her on. At the final point, just before the final turn to the finish line, he arrived and yelled her name and cheered her on. This gave her the strength to finish the race. As the story was finishing up, she commented that if it wasn't for him cheering her on, she might not have made it. His cheering gave her strength.
Our God is cheering us on in our race. He was there when we started and has many points along the race to cheer you on. He calls out to you by name, giving you encouragement to finish the race. Our God doesn't stop cheering, even if we stumble along the path. He will continue to holler for you to get up and continue forward. What an amazing God. He wants us to finish the race; the race to our heavenly home. Look around, listen, God is cheering you on. Can you hear him?

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Camping Experience


My son, Joey, joined the cub scouts. He is starting as a Tiger Scout and is thrilled to be part of this. This last weekend his pack had a camping trip. This was his first official event as a Tiger Scout. So we loaded up and went with his pack and camped. Because it was such late notice for myself, we only spent one night there so I could be back for the weekend worship services. But that one night, those 18 hours were a delight. Joey was excited about everything. Cooking dinner in aluminium foil, seeing a racoon in a tree above us, walking and seeing fish in a lake, sleeping in a sleeping bag and tent, the flag raising, and most of all (the main reason why we went) to learn to shoot a BB gun. It was a thrill for him. His face was beaming. He was excited to do what little he got to do. He talked about it to me and had a grin on his face from ear to ear. I loved spending every moment with him. I loved watching him being excited about the little things.

This is the same for us as Christians. We have opportunities to do things, to share the message of Christ, to enjoy the creation He has given us. We have the opportunity to enjoy the moment that God has given us. It isn't always the big things that bring joy, but the small things. Seeing a deer eating by the side of the road, watching the sun set, feeling a gentle breeze on our face. It is those things we can find excitement about what God has given us. God is loving watching us, each moment, each exciting time, each little thing. He is watching, smiling, and loving it.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Self-Centered

When my children were younger, they would need help doing things. I thought that this was the greatest part of being a parent. They would ask, "Daddy, I need help" and I would help. Once the task is accomplished, they would run and tell Mommy. But when they did that, they would say, "Mommy, look what I did" or "Mommy, I did this...". They never mentioned that they had help accomplishing the task. They were excited about themselves and proud of what they accomplished.

Strange, but we still do this even as we are getting older. We tend to look only at the "I" and fail to look at who really helped us through things. Sometimes our focus in life isn't about God and His love for us, but on what "I" can do or what "I" can say. We fail to spend time in prayer. We fail to spend time in God's word. We fail to focus our lives on God. "I" can be a very dangerous word when it comes to our lives and what blessings we have been given. "I" can be a very selfish word when it comes to sharing the message of Christ. "I" isn't showing our Father to others. We can be very self-centered. When that happens, we need to re-evaluate who our focus in on. Everything we do, everything we have, we do it for Him, not for ourselves.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Job Description

I have had an opportunity to work in a few different jobs besides teaching and music. For a year, I managed an ice cream shop. I know that seems strange, but it started as a part-time summer job. Within a month the manager went on maternity leave and I found myself as the acting manager. So I ran an ice cream shop. It was a fun job, at times, a lot of work, but fun. One evening I was closing the shop along with an employee who was closing on his 2nd day of work. He was still in training. As we were closing, I showed him the check list of what needed to be done. He read through the items and proceeded to tell me that cleaning bathrooms was something he refused to do because he was not told in his interview that he had to clean them as part of the job. It wasn't part of his job description.

What is on our job description as Christians? What is it telling us to do when it says in Matthew to "go therefore and make disciples of all nations"? Just because you might not carry the title of Pastor doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't share the Word of God to those around you. Living a life for Christ is our job description. What we say and do exemplifies the love of God to those around us. It shares, not only who we are, but who we believe in. Our lifetime job description is to share the love of Christ and be a witness for Him. We shouldn't "refuse" like the young man in the ice cream shop, to witness because we might not feel like we are trained to do so. All it takes is a smile, a hello, holding the door, helping someone out, saying thank you. Being a witness for Christ; that is in all of our job description's.