Old Dogs, New Tricks

    Have you ever seen a skeptic converted?  Well, now you have.  I have to admit that for some time I have been a skeptic about the Homecoming and Gospel Rally at MACU, my alma mater. It was formerly, when I attended, Roanoke Bible College.  Since graduation, I have attended sporadically but I have never made it a priority.  Most of my reasons were fairly legitimate. Like most of you, I lead a busy life with ministry or career demands. I have a relatively large family.  There's seldom enough time in the day to do all I need to do.  So it was easy to crowd Gospel Rally out of my To Do list.  I did not really see it as a valuable priority. Until now.
    I made it a priority this year. I was speaking in Delaware and had to drive straight in on Thursday. It took some scheduling and planning and jumping through hoops.  Just what you need, more hoop jumping, right?  But it was worth it. I needed to be there, I just didn't know how much.
    At the moment, my life is in a state of flux. We are attempting to get to know a new church family while constantly on the road and preparing to embark on one of the most, thrilling, terrifying, and faith-stretching adventures of our lives.  I had no idea how much I needed some familiarity, some stability, some comfort.  I needed to see some old familiar faces in some old familiar places.  God used that day and half to remind me that I'm not alone. We have support. There are people who are going through the same things, and there are those who have gone before. We are surrounded by a "great cloud of witnesses." So we will continue to fix our eyes on Jesus and not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
    Don't misunderstand me.  If you didn't have time, I understand. If life was too busy, I understand. If your kid was sick, I understand. I'm not here to beat you down or guilt you. I'm here to say, it helped me; maybe it will help you. 
    So next year, if you can find time, do it.  Make it a priority. Like me, maybe you will find strength for the journey, a smile from an old friend, or a hug from an amazing saint. Possibly you'll hear that gentle whisper that you wouldn't have heard if you had not run far away for just a couple of days.
    You don't often see skeptics change, but I'm glad this one did.
 

Golden Girls

     I’m about to let you in on a secret.  You may want to take my man card.  I used to really like the TV show, “Golden Girls.”  Thank you for being a friend, you traveled down the road and back again. You had to love that theme song.  It was a good one.  I really loved how sarcastic they were. I’m glad that sarcasm didn’t rub off on me.  Whew, dodged that bullet!  

     A show like that resonates with us because we all want friends.  There’s nothing like a good friend.  Paul needed good friends in a difficult time in his life.  Timothy and Epaphroditus were the right guys at the right time.  What made them good friends to Paul?  Timothy genuinely cared about other people.  There is nothing like having a “friend” who only talks about themselves and doesn’t listen to your stories. It’s easy to be that kind of friend.  We all want someone to listen to us and encourage us and be interested in our stuff.  We can easily drift into everything always being about...US.  We don’t want a friend like that and guess what?  Our friends don’t want someone that only cares about themselves.  Timothy cared about others!  I would bet that Timothy was a positive person.  I’m sure he got discouraged.  We know he had an illness.  Paul wrote to encourage him.  There is a lesson to learn here.  People who put others first don’t get as easily discouraged because they don’t focus on themselves and therefore have the time to get down.  Understand this; it has to be a genuine concern for others.  A false sense of humility and service just leads to more frustration because we are not getting the praise and satisfaction we are craving.  

     Epaphroditus, we’ll call him Phro, was another great comrade.  Paul called him a brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier.  Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”  There is nothing like a brother, they may argue with you and pick on you but when it comes time to get serious, they have your back.  We all feel complete when we have someone who will work beside us.  Nothing makes a tough job more bearable than having a co-worker.  Lastly, Phro was a fellow soldier.  Lasting bonds are made on the battlefield.  Men who served in wars like WWII still remain friends today even though years and miles separate them.  When you face death together and sacrifice together, whether physically or spiritually, it forms an unbreakable bond.  We need people to fight the good fight along side us. 

     So, what do we do?  Do we go in search of this kind of friend?  I believe if you do, that you will be frustrated.  The better course is to seek to be that kind of friend to others.  Going back to Kindergarten, the best way to have a friend is to be a friend.  We forget that along the way sometimes.  The church needs more friends to stand beside each other.  So go get your Sophia, Blanche, Rose, and Dorothy and live a little life. 

Moving to the Land Where the Deer and the Antelope Play.

Sometimes I get focused on the negative. Actually, a lot of the time. I have yet to figure out my personality. I should probably donate my brain to science when I die. I am a person with a lot of ideas. Many of them are good. Most of them are full of hope and big dreams. Yet, at the drop of a hat or another bill, I can become very negative about the state of things in my life. I know as well as anyone, that there is always someone worse off than me and that life is full of blessings. Though, time and time again, I find myself completely distraught at my circumstances or someone else's discouragement or lack of encouragement.

So, I have made my decision! I am going to use my greatly neglected blog to spend a few moments each day giving thanks for the great things in my life. So, if anyone reads this; I hope you gain some perspective and a little encouragement. If no one reads this, I'll take comfort in knowing I have praised my Creator "out loud" for the good things He has given.