"He found Jesus"

This week, while taking my daily stroll on the treadmill at the "Y", I happened across a television program (the idea of having a television built into the treadmill was a good one) called "WWII in HD" on the History channel. I enjoy reading, researching and watching documentaries and movies about WWII and this one intrigued me. I really enjoy hearing the stories told by people that were there and can remember the details with great accuracy. This particular episode contained a story about Captain Charles Scheffel, who was wounded during a campaign to take a town along the border in Germany.
Now, I can get choked up when someone tells a heartfelt story and this just happened to be one was one of those stories. Scheffel's company was traveling along with an armored division when they began to receive enemy shell fire from the Germans. While trying to radio for help, a shell exploded close by, knocking him to the ground. Scheffel recalled hearing a loud bang and then silence. He could neither hear nor see anything; he thought he was dead. He soon regained his senses and realized that he was still alive, but yet was able to see that the men that had been standing by him just moments earlier, now lay dead on the ground beside him. Bleeding, in pain, and not being able to bend his arm, Scheffel knew that if he didn't get help, and soon, he too would die. He wanted to live.
Just ahead of him was a ditch. Scheffel knew that if he could pull himself into that ditch and travel along he would eventually run into some of the other men in his company. In great pain and with much difficulty using his good arm, he managed to pull himself into the ditch and struggled to pull himself along. It didn't take long for him to find someone. The first person he came upon just happened to be a medic. When Scheffel asked what his name was, the medic replied "Jesus" (pronounced "hay-soos" in this case, but Jesus nonetheless). He found Jesus.
Sometimes we can find ourselves waged in a war of all sorts. we can feel like our plans have exploded and crumbled around us until we just can't take it any more, yet we still have a sliver of desire to keep going, a desire to live. All we have to do is humble ourselves and seek our "medic". All we have to do is find Jesus. And fortunately for us, we don't have to look very far.

The Bittersweet End.

This is my last semester as a bible college student, and it has been pretty bittersweet. I have enjoyed the last few years, but the last two semesters have proven to be the most difficult. Don't get me wrong. The workload has been pretty light; I mean I didn't have any classes this semester, and only a couple last semester, so it has been for the most part uneventful. Therein lies the rub. Last semester I had a night class and was there only once a week, and this semester, well as I mentioned earlier, I haven't even had to go at all. The problem is that I miss the interaction, especially with other like minded Christians, young and old alike. I miss the camaraderie and friendship between fellow students. I long for discussing deep theological concepts and debating dogmatic preferences. These are things that serve as a reminder that I'm on the track that I'm supposed to be on. It is easy, when you remove yourself from that environment, to become engrossed in the day to day routine that you gave up to enter into the pastoral field, caught in a period of waiting; between graduation and gainful employment in your field of choice. And so there I am, getting up, going to work, coming home, playing daddy, playing hubby, going to bed, and doing all over again the next day: a dangerous predicament to say the least. How easy it would be to simply keep my current job and continue on for the next several years, never giving another thought to the ministry, but that's not what I was called to do.
It has been a long and difficult journey, full of ups and downs, trials and triumphs, but I am confident that as long as I seek to do God's will for my life, I'll be alright. May will be here before you know it and then... well, who knows?

Sorry excuse for a person

Over the past few days, i have been reminded of an anecdote that one of my high school teachers had shared with me many years ago. It had to do with excuses. His position was that under no circumstances would he accept an excuse for being late to class, absent from class, or why an assignment wasn't turned in on time. He would however accept a reason. He said this because he believed that "a reason is the truth and an excuse is the skin of the truth stuffed with a lie". And so up until recently, I had only thought of that statement in terms of the things that people say, but I have now looked at that statement in terms of who people are.
You see, sometimes we can accept people at face value, what you see is what you get. Their actions, their speech, even their lifestyles are a true representation of who they are. Whether they're good or bad, they're the real deal, not a fake. On the other hand though, you have people that have this beautiful exterior and present themselves as good and wholesome. Yet just underneath the skin they're stuffed with lies and deceit; pure evil. And unfortunately, most people will never know what lies beneath the surface.
So I guess my advice is this: Be genuine, not a fake.

Silence isn't always golden

As this week concludes, I have found that the solace of being alone is not all it's cracked up to be. I mean don't get me wrong. I think that everyone from time to time should have a time and place for some quiet meditation and reflection, but an extended period alone is not my cup of tea. I have become accustomed to the general buzzing of activity of our home, our two girls running around and doing all sorts of stuff, my wife doing her day to day activities, and my son doing whatever it is that he does; people coming and going. When that activity is absent, it just makes me feel odd. The only upside is that I can simply concentrate on sleeping and going to work. That does not mean that I have caught up on any sleep. Maybe because I'm creeped out being alone, with the exception of the cat, who happens to be driving me biddy because apparently she misses the buzz of activity as well.
I enjoy the occasional day off to lay around and do nothing, but two weeks is a long time to do nothing. I have tried to fill up some of the time with trips to the library, some light shopping, a trip to the driving range and the like. I have also been doing some housework, cooking, laundry, etc., which I really don't mind. I even mopped the kitchen floor with my new mop and bucket that I got for Father's day (it was something that I specifically asked for). But the hard fact is that I miss my wife and kids. I mean I got married and had kids because I wanted a family to spend time with and when they aren't here, well, it seems lacking.
Tomorrow I will head off to church and fulfill my duties as greeter, attend Sunday school and the Service of course, after which I will probably return home, eat some lunch while watching a couple of episodes of the X-Files. All the while lamenting the fact that the house is dark, and quiet, and empty.
Genesis 2:18 says: Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." Today, I can say that I sympathize with Adam.

A funny thing happened...

It is amazing to me, that sometimes we have a tendency to believe something, even when it doesn't make any sense. At Bible Conference today, Dr. Jeff Manning was preaching from Revelation 3:14-20. This is the passage that speaks about being lukewarm. Although I did appreciate his very graphic illustration of the results of food poisoning from eating at a Mexican restaurant (the 8 point hurl), the idea of being lukewarm was defined to me that relieved any doubt I may have had about this particular passage.
For some reason, when Revelation states that God will spew or vomit us out of His mouth because we are neither cold nor hot, but instead lukewarm, it always seemed like it was as if it was better to be a non-believer (i.e. cold) than it was to be lukewarm. Obviously hot would be a good thing because we envision being "on-fire" for the Lord. Yet it never occurred to me the senselessness of saying being lost was better than being between lost and "on fire". Dr. Manning offered an interpretation that the passage is describing three types of Christians: cold, hot, and lukewarm. Cold describes a christian that has the ability and personality that refreshes and revives, like a cold drink of water on a hot summer day. Hot describes those Christians that have an ability and personality to restore and heal, like a nice, long, hot shower when you have gone without one for a while. Lukewarm, on the other hand, is neither cold nor hot, but lies in between the two. These are Christians who have made a profession of faith and not much else. They do not exercise any effort to advance God's kingdom or serve His People, they simply exist. They get saved and set their "spiritual cruise control". They are lukewarm. This makes God sick (hence the graphic illustration).
Then it hit me, because a lot of times that described where I was. I was asking myself when was the last time I invited someone to church, or offered some counsel, or led someone to the Lord. I was immediately convicted because I know that so many times we hide behind our work schedules, home life and even our obligations at school to excuse ourselves from doing those things which we know that we ought to be doing.
The great thing about that passage is how it wraps up in verse 20. The Lord is knocking on the door and if we answer it we can have a wonderful fellowship with Him. Let's strive to be cold or hot. Let's make an effort to do what we ought to be doing. Let's serve.