Madelyn

The day is drawing near when our first grandchild, Madelyn Ruth Dees will be born.  She is already our grandchild; we just have not seen her or held her yet.  So I thought I would write to her the first of what I hope to be many thoughts about her.

Madelyn,

Although I have never seen you, you are beautiful in my eyes.

Although I have never heard your voice, I listen for it.

Although I have never touched you, I feel your nearness.

Although we have never met, I love you.

Papa

Flash Mobs are Cool!!

I saw a commercial recently of a dude breaking out in dance and then getting a text saying, “Flash Mob moved to 12:30.”  The term was new to me so I asked Jake, “What’s a flash mob?” I know I am showing that I am behind the times, but my oldest son, Rickey, played a flash mob video on YouTube for me last night.  Flash mobs are cool!!  (See the video below.)

What is a flash mob?  You can look at Wikipedia for a fuller description, but generally it is an organized event that appears spontaneous and is designed to promote a product, issue or just bring joy to the people who witness the event.   It is said that the first flash mob occurred in 2003, but I began thinking and realized it was much earlier, say around 30 A.D.

On the day of Pentecost the Spirit of God was poured out and a group of believers began to speak in the languages of those around them.  You can imagine their amazement!  They spoke of Jesus, who he was, what his death meant to those who believe and explained what they were seeing; a fulfillment of God’s promise.  People’s lives were changed that day and its effect has continued.

Imagine if all who are Christians really began to live in the Spirit of God and show the fruit of the Spirit of God.  Imagine if our pursuits were love instead of lust, joy instead of anxiety, peace instead of chaos, patience instead of quick-tempered, kindness instead of spite, goodness instead of immorality, faithfulness instead of fickle, gentleness instead of callousness, self-control instead of self-indulgence.  The glory to God would be seen and the results would be more impactful than a few hits on You Tube.

Christians, lets flash mob!

Decision Making

Decisions can be difficult, especially when emotions become primary in making them. I have often heard and even said the phrase, “Follow your heart.”  It sounds good, but what if your heart is leading you into a destructive lifestyle? Instead of following your heart in decision making you should lead your heart to understanding (Proverbs 2:2).

How can we know when emotion is dominating decision making?  Usually emotional decision making is identified when we use the word ‘feel.’  “I feel lonely,” can lead to making a bad relationship decision, or “I feel tired,” can be the first step in shirking responsibility.

So, how can we lead our heart in decision making instead of our heart leading us?  Here are a few suggestions from Proverbs 2:1-5

1.      Be intent on making a right decision as opposed to deciding what you want to do.

2.      Discover what God says about your particular decision.  The Bible is filled with counsel for a variety of decisions.  I believe you will find what you are looking for regardless of the decision you face.

3.      Listen to wise, godly counselors.  Apart from the Bible, these are the people that make the biggest difference in my own life.  They are mature believers with a multitude of experience.

4.      Pray a lot!

Learning to be Content

Being bound to Christ enables us to live out God’s passion,by His power for His pleasure.  His passion is to transform us into true worshipers in the image of Jesus His Son.  Honestly, I have a long way to go.  Let me share a story with you.

Lying in a hot, dark room in Haiti was uncomfortable but what we were doing made a difference to a few Haitians who had suffered much from a devastating earthquake.  We were sinking pumps into wells that had been dug by the people.  The days were hot but so were the nights.  We went to bed each night sweating and miserable.  But things grew unbearable when the man in charge of the house we were staying in would remove the battery from the generator that powered our fans to put in his truck.  We complained to one another about the situation and then finally, out of frustration, we demanded that the battery remain in the generator.  Eventually, we bought a new battery so this would not occur again.  Our grumbling about the generator demonstrated our self centeredness and lack of contentment.  We would return to the comforts of our homes in a few days.  These people would remain and continue to struggle against their environment and pain of loss.

To grumble is not loud and outspoken griping. It is the expression of dissatisfaction through continuous complaining.  It’s the chatter of cliques when they talk about others. This seems to be the way churches function often and it is really distasteful to mature believers and ironically, to those who are not believers.  Humility demands satisfaction, or contentment with yourself, your circumstances and others.  Later in Philippians Paul says that he has learned to be content in all circumstances.  Contentment or the absence of grumbling is a learning process.  Once again Paul brings Christ to the forefront and teaches us what he has learned; all things can be accomplished through Christ who gives strength.  With that in mind, here are a few hints toward contentment.

1.      Avoid complaining about anything.  Instead seek the Christ honoring words for the moment and if you do not find any remain silent.

2.      Avoid imagining yourself in a situation you are not in. 

3.      Avoid comparisons of your station in life with someone else.  They are probably thinking you are better off than they are.

4.      Never allow ourselves to wish that this or that had been otherwise.
Rules for Contentment #5: Never dwell on the morrow; remember that it is God’s and not ours.Rules for Contentment #4: Never allow ourselves to wish that this or that had been otherwise.
Rules for Contentment #5: Never dwell on the morrow; remember that it is God’s and not ours.Avoid dwelling on tomorrow.  Today has enough to dwell on.GodG    

5.      You can do all these things because Christ strengthens you to do them. (Adapted from Edward Pusey)