“America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” -Alexis de Tocqueville

One definition of good is “that which is morally right; righteousness,” with synonyms such as virtue, righteousness and integrity. This past month I have been working my way through Paul’s letters to the young and growing church. Throughout Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, we can see the theme of Paul encouraging these young and growing churches to always “do good.” Just 2 examples:

Galatians 6:9 - “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

2nd Thessalonians 3:13 - “And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.”

Now let’s define the word do, it is “to perform,” with synonyms such as undertake, execute and accomplish. So if we put them together we get “perform that which is morally right.” What a thought that is! That we are charged in the Word of God not to sit back while the world around us falls apart. We are charged not to be apathetic or careless in our daily lives. We are called to think of others, to put their needs ahead of ours and to do good.

We are called to live counter-culture and help others without expectation of return. The return we receive is the blessings that follow when we obey the Word of God, that is “at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  Look again at the verses. “Do not become weary” and “never tire” let us know that it’s going to take effort. It’s going to take us getting up when we don’t feel like it, pushing forward when our body is tired and just wants to shut down. It’s going to mean believing the best, and helping a person who seemingly always fails just one more time with the hope and belief that God is bigger than we are.

We are called to stand up for what is righteous and morally right for everyone. The church will be great when we, the body of Christ, never tire of doing good. When we consistently perform that which is morally right. When we, both as individuals and as a whole, make the decision that second best is not good enough for our almighty, magnificent, merciful and all-knowing God. Let’s do good.

With the New Year here, and everyone talking about the goals they have made for this year, I came across a great devotional on Focus: letting go of nice things that don’t matter. (NKJV, Maxwell Leadership Bible)

As I was reading it I began to think about the problem of setting goals that we want to achieve. What stops us from achieving them? What causes us to so easily give up on one thing and move on to something else? Perhaps one reason is that we rarely plan, and prepare accordingly, for the things that we will have to give up in order to achieve these new goals. For example:

  - Your goal is to get a promotion and a raise at work. Perhaps the trade-off is less time at home with the family, or maybe you will have to walk over other people in order to achieve it. If you gain position, but no on likes you and your kids don’t know you, what good is it?

   - Or let’s say you will lose that 20 pounds… and actually keep it off! The obvious trade-off is time and pleasure. You will have to change priorities to add exercise to your regular routine, and you will have to deny your pleasure urges every time you walk past that coveted 5 lb. chocolate bar!

I think most people will often think about the things we want to add to our lives, the goals we want to achieve. The problem is that too many times we do this without realizing that we also have to remove some things in order to make a way for the new goals we have. When we want to excel in our lives, without counting the cost and making a plan, we are like a ship with our anchor down trying to break a speed record. We have to also focus on letting go, and letting God show us the things of old to get rid of.

Let’s look at Paul for example. It is pretty clear that, once he decided to follow after God, he was a passionate man who learned a lot about sacrifice. In order to follow God’s plan for his life he discarded many things that had major cultural significance in his time. In Philippians 3:5-9 we can see how he discarded:

·      His heritage: a Hebrew of Hebrews
·      His pure lineage: from the tribe of Benjamin
·      His former legalism: a strict Pharisee
·      His past zeal: a persecutor of the church
·      His self-righteousness: a blameless life

As we begin 2015, let’s make an honest assessment of 2014. What did we achieve? What did goals did we accomplish? What goals did we not accomplish? What are we willing to give up, and what are we not willing to? What stops us from moving forward, and what do we need to let go of in order to make room for something new and fresh?

Perhaps you have heard of the popular journaling acronym for devotionals, called SOAP. It stands for:

·      Scripture

·      Observation

·      Application

·      Prayer

The premise is simple. Read a passage of the bible and record it in the Scripture section. Then think about what you read, meditate on it, and write your thoughts and perspectives in the Observation area. After that, think about what this passage of scripture is saying to you and how it can literally change your life, and write that down in the Application portion. Finally, write down what you are praying for, and perhaps something new that you want to pray for because of this devotion, and record it under Prayer.

It’s really quite simple. Having a specified time every day, that we set aside for our devotion, is one of the basic responsibilities every believer carries. I have found that journaling about it afterwards helps me to remember what I learned... and really helps me to apply that in my life in a daily, practical way. 

This month I an going through one Proverb a day (31 Proverbs, 31 days in December), along with Andrea and several of our kids that are in college. Think about it!! Maybe it’s time for you to start journaling your devotions and quiet time with God!

Do YOU s.o.a.p.!?

Every parent should have a time machine! You know what I mean, right? Sometimes we would love the opportunity to go back 15 seconds to 2 minutes. Basically, right after we see the sad or hurt face of our children because of something we said that was too harsh or out of our own frustration. I had one of those moments with Josiah a few weeks ago.

Let me explain first before you judge!  In February my mom and sister came to visit us for 2 weeks.  Before they came I spent many hours thinking, planning, and researching for the things which are so easily available in America, but not available or way too expensive to buy here in the Philippines.  I searched website after website, user reviews, price and product comparisons... Then I finally found it! The perfect EGG SLICER!  Yeah that's right, egg slicer.  There are many household items that you just can't find here with the same quality.

Fast forward a few months and my getting-more-independent son, Josiah, thought he would slice his own apple this one time.  His motives were to fill his stomach, to do it on his own, and to show us that he is getting older now and is able to do some things without our help.  When I looked over and saw him using the egg slicer to try and cut up an apple I was shocked... I mean, he was pushing down with ALL his might, wondering why the apple just would slice.

For a split second I started thinking about all the research I did, the hours I spent on the internet to ensure that we would get the perfect products for the perfect price. I...me...myself... that was all I could think of. Naturally I used my loud voice to call his name and ask "What in the world are you doing!?"  I mean, after all, he is 7 years old and should know the difference between an apple cutter and an egg slicer, right?  Wrong.

He had no idea. It never dawned on him that he might be using the wrong utensil. The only thing he thought was "I am going to make mommy and papa proud by showing them I can do it on my own."  If I had a time machine I would have gone back in time and told myself to chill, relax, don't be so serious, and most importantly, remember that your son is more important
than an egg slicer.  I was able to apologize and reaffirm that I knew it was an accident. I recognized him getting older and being able to do more things on his own.

But still, I can't help but think my reactions carry more weight and long-term effects than I realize. Someday I will look back and wish he was that 7 year old again, ruining egg slicers with apples. I know that because sometimes now I wish he was that 4 year old running to me and calling "PAPA, PAPA!"  So what's the moral of the story? Relax. Remember that
sometimes the most important thing in life is to laugh. Just laugh.

Sadly, these moments come around too rarely in our house.  I have always prided myself on being a good father, and in many ways I believe I am, but when it comes to reproducing the heart and foundation that I have in the Lord, I have realized my ideals do not always match my actions and reality.  As a parent it is too easy to get wrapped up in the work and activities of life, forgetting the basics of spending time with your children and actually teaching them what it means to “read your Bible, pray everyday” (sing along time?).

Andrea and I have had the opportunity for the last year to go through some pretty impressive discipleship material with some our good friends Cliff and Sue.  We could go on for hours about everything we are learning, but as it pertains to this post there is one specific quote; “Schedule your priorities, don’t let your priorities schedule you.” –Dr. Ron Jenson

We talked for months about the best days, times, places to start a consistent devotion for our kids. We tried to consistently fit our kids' devotional life into our already very busy life, and for months we failed. It wasn’t until recently, when Andrea stayed home from one ministry/responsibility night and I went on without her, that she was able to get all the pieces in the right place to make these precious 10 minutes happen. For some it’s like a moment of revelation, but for me it was more like a “duh” moment.

I have to ask myself “What do I really value?" What is it that I believe in concept, and what is it that my actions show I believe? I was reminded of the God-Family-Ministry... or perhaps for some God-Family-Work model. I am still excited about reaching out to the lost, helping kids who have been victims of Abuse, Abandonment, and Dangerous Neglect, and pastoring at a youth group. But I am more excited about reconnecting with the importance of leading my family and setting the model just as Jesus did for us. 

So I ask us to challenge ourselves with 2 questions:

1.     What is it we believe in theory or concept, but our actions and where we put our resources show we really believe more in something else?
2.     In what areas do we need to schedule our priorities so that our priorities don’t schedule us?