And then there is Someone who will never change...

In my Bible, the heading for Hebrews 13 says The Changeless Christ. As a matter of fact, in verse 8 it says this:

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

What a comfort to know that my Savior does not change! In a world that almost worships change and considers all change to be good-better-best, I am so glad that Christ does not need to change. He is the same yesterday and today and forever, and that's really O.K. What would He even need to change? He's perfect. He paid it all. He's at the right hand of God. He's all we'll ever need, just as He is right now. Praise God for that!

Now "us" on the other hand, not so much. We need to change. Not to try and win favor, or to clean ourselves up to be acceptable. For those of you who are followers of Christ, we need to change because we are continuously in the process of sanctification until we see our Savior face-to-face. He loves us so much that He doesn't want us to stay the same.

What is Jesus asking you to change today? What is Jesus asking ME to change today?

Hebrews 13. It's good reading.

Who's allowed to change?

As the old sayings go, "What goes around, comes around" and "Turn about is fair play." I probably had this coming, but I really didn't see it until it was upon me. You see, this happened to my parents years ago, too. What am I talking about? Change - and who's allowed to change.

In late December, 1976 (about seven months after I graduated from college), my parents' house on the farm burned to the ground (it was actually New Year's Eve, I think). Fortunately, both Mom and Dad were able to get out before the fire consumed their house completely. But, they lost a lot - not the least of which was their home and a lot of their belongings. Soon after the fire, some friends of theirs invited them to come to Arizona for some time away from winter in Iowa and the devastation of the fire. They stayed out there a week or two and had a great time. When they returned, they announced to my sisters and me that they had purchased a lot and were going to be building a house in Sun City. They were planning on moving there later that year.

What? What do you mean you are moving to Arizona? How dare you decide something like that without checking with me first? I'm not sure if my sisters were as upset/perplexed as I was since they were both already married and raising families and such. But I was only a few months out of college, working my first job and living in St. Louis. If they moved to Arizona, what if I wanted to go "home" to visit them? Arizona wasn't "home" - Iowa was my home! How dare they change my world like that? What were they thinking?

Then a small voice inside of me said, "Well, what about you? You moved to St. Louis and didn't check with them first before you did that. So what's the problem? Are you saying that YOU can change all you want and they just have to accept it, but they can't change anything in their life at all? Is that what you are saying?"

Wow. Talk about being caught up short. It really made me think. Who was I to decide what is best for them and/or try to manipulate what they could (or couldn't) do? Talk about selfish on my part! I still didn't like the situation at all, but I had to change my attitude about it and realize that it really wasn't up to me to decide for my parents.

Fast forward to 2008. Mom and Dad still live in Arizona (part of the year) in the same house they built back in 1977. It has been such a great move for them! I've even grown to love their house in Arizona and kind of consider it to be a second "home."

This week with my own family, I tossed out an idea (by e-mail) of potentially making a BIG change in our lives. It had to do with our annual New Year's Day pancake breakfast tradition. Was 30 years of doing it long enough? Was it time for this tradition to end? Well, now I think I know and understand a bit more how my parents may have felt back in 1977 when they offerred up a big change in their lives.

So, who's allowed to change? Only "the young and the restless," or is everyone (even us old people) allowed?

Praise God that we all have the "freedom" to change, and that we live in a country that is free (at least for now?) and allows each citizen to decide what is right/best for themselves! I am so thankful for that. But, what happens when someone you know and love (and are even closely related to) decides to make a change (big or small) in their life? Are you willing to put aside your selfishness and be open to that? What if the change doesn't appear to be a good one for them (in your opinion)? Can you still accept their change, try to understand it from their vantage point, and love them anyway? I wish that I could say that it is easier 31 years later to do so, but shamefully it isn't.

"What goes around, comes around" and "Turn about is fair play."

By the way, we ARE going to continue the New Year's Day pancake breakfast tradition at our house - at least for a few more years... :-)

The Assassin of Character Creep

Back in late September of this year, I heard a man by the name of Mike Foster speak at a men's conference our church sponsored. He and his buddy Jud Wilhite have written a book called Deadly Viper Character Assassins. Good book. I am studying it with some men on Friday mornings, and I plan to give at least one copy to someone very special to me this Christmas.

Anyway, Mike's message on "Character Creep" was really good. I took some notes from his talk and that is what I'll share in this post.

His first point was that slip ups in the small things are what happen first as our character begins to creep. He said that we all need to make good decisions in the small things. Apparently it was discovered after the fact that the Titanic sank not because it hit an iceberg, but because of faulty rivets. The manufacturer of the Titanic cut corners big time with the rivets that held the steel in place on that large ship. When it hit the iceberg, the imperfections of those faulty rivets exposed themselves. Mike said that we can not cut corners; we should not take short cuts. He cited the story of Enron. The executives of that failed organization did not determine several years before it failed to put plans into place for failure. No, they were slowly cooked; they slowly faded into poor decision-making that eventually caused the failure. Mike told us that we need to manage our rivets. The strength of our character is cumulative.

His second point was that we all need to work hard for complete transparency. We need to avoid "image-management." Don't hide things from others; don't fool people. Don't even try. Someone is going to find out the truth. Don't pretend that everything is O.K. - especially if it really isn't. Be transparent at all times. Avoid managing your "image."

His third point was a really good one. He said that we need to refrain from doing anything today that we wouldn't want to read in the headlines (or see on a You Tube video) tomorrow. Wow. Think about that. What if what you did yesterday (or the day before) was in the headlines tomorrow. Would you be O.K. with that? Be diligent about your character. Be strategic knowing that everything you do and say reflects the current status of your character - both good and bad.

Finally, since Mike is a Christian and understands this value especially for believers, he said that we need to "do it in community." We all need other people in our lives speaking truth to us. Don't be blind to your compromises. True friends stab you in the front. If your Christian friends aren't saying anything to you right now, then you are in big trouble. Just like in athletics, if the coach isn't riding you hard, he may have already given up on you. There is a lot of talk about accountability in Christian circles these days. Mike says that people can fake accountability. Rather, we all need to be "advocates" for each other. Challenge one another to stronger character and more Christ-like actions! We also need to be willing to stand by someone we love through the good and the bad. But, that doesn't mean that we just accept their character creeps and fail to challenge them. No, we need to get right in the middle of our wounded and hurt soldiers' lives. We need them to know that nothing they would ever do would keep us from loving them. We might be really disappointed, but we will not abandon them. We will stand by them anyway, even when the times get tough.

Character creep. It can happen so easily to all of us. Thank God for Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite who authored a really great book. Thank God for calling each of us to take stock of our character. Character matters.

Everyone has their Top Ten

We are far enough along in the college football season now to start seeing the BCS Top Ten listing each week. I don't know about you, but I am always curious by Sunday afternoon/Monday morning to see who landed on their Top Ten. And then, all throughout the week, people around me (and possibly around you, too?) debate the merits of the Top Ten teams selected. We all wonder why certain teams are even there, or why certain teams are not. Being in the BCS Top Ten is a pretty big deal!

You probably have some sort of Top Ten list yourself. Like the Top Ten places I want to visit in my lifetime. Or, the Top Ten things I would buy if money were no object. Or, the Top Ten names I'd want to name my children. What kind of Top Ten list do you have? If you are older, you might have a list of the Top Ten things I want to do before I die. Since it is November and we are soon going to be thinking about Christmas (if you haven't started doing so already), maybe your Top Ten list is for gifts you'd like to receive from family and friends.

David Letterman has his Top Ten, too. As a matter of fact, he has become somewhat legendary for his Top Ten lists during the past 15+ years. His lists are usually funny and/or cynical things, usually at the expense of some poor soul (or some group of unfortunate people). It's kind of like you really don't ever want to be on his Top Ten lists!

So, just about everyone has a Top Ten list. Even God has His Top Ten.

God's Top Ten have been around for a long, long time - possibly 5,000 years? And, His list of Top Ten hasn't changed in that time. The same Ten are on it year after year after year. They must have been the right Ten since they've stood the test of time, don't you think?

Unlike David Letterman's Top Ten lists, God put the most important one first, and then the other nine fall neatly into place after that with some degree of diminishing importance. Just in case you haven't looked at God's Top Ten lately, I thought I'd remind you of them here (compliments of Eugene H. Peterson's writings in The Message - Exodus 20):

1. No other gods, only Me.

2. No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don't bow down to them and don't serve them because I am God, your God, and I'm a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I'm unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.

3. No using the name of God, your god, in curses or silly banter; God won't put up with the irreverent use of His name.

4. Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don't do any work - not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everyting in them; He rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; He set it apart as a holy day.

5. Honor your father and mother so that you'll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you.

6. No murder.

7. No adultery.

8. No stealing.

9. No lies about your neighbor.

10. No lusting after your neighbor's house - or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don't set your heart on anything that is your neighbor's.

It is amazing to me how these Top Ten, quite simple and written so long ago, still apply to us, even today. Oh, and by the way, they can be found in a book that has sold more copies than any other book ever in existence - the Bible. Good reading!

You are what you eat...

When I was growing up, a common axiom that floated around quite a bit (at least in Iowa!) was "You are what you eat." I was always curious about that expression. Let's see, if I eat Oreos, then I become an Oreo? If I eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, then I become one? What did this axiom really mean?

Obviously, the expression "You are what you eat" was really meant to challenge people to think about what they were eating. Someone wanted all of us to understand that the foods we chose to eat determined (to a large degree) our overall health. I think this might have been the same someone who wanted us to understand that we needed to have a balance between all the food groups to be healthy. It couldn't all just be dairy, or protein, or chocolate (my wife has told me that chocolate is a food group all by itself!)! We needed balance.

For some reason, a similar axiom popped into my head last week. It was "You are what you read." In other words, what you choose to read determines your intellectual health and how you'll think. If you only read one type of communication (or from only one source of information), then you will think a lot like that one form of communication (and/or like that one source of information). For true intellectual health, we need balance. We need to read from many types of communication and from many sources of information. If we don't, our perspective gets skewed and we become unhealthy.

There's another axiom that is out there, namely "Garbage in, garbage out." That kind of applies to reading as well. If what we are reading is "garbage" then how we think will be "garbage" also.

That is why I like to have a healthy dose of Scripture every day. By reading God's Word EVERYDAY I am somewhat protected from a lot of the garbage that is out there polluting my thinking. You see, as a believer in Jesus Christ, I NEED to be reading the Bible everyday or else I'll get confused and maybe even "sick" from all the other stuff that is so easy to ingest.

You are what you read. Remember that this week.

So, what are you reading these days? Are you getting all of your food groups?

Who is qualified?

Tuesday, November 4th, is election day in the United States. I am so grateful to God for the freedoms we enjoy in this country, including the great privilege to vote. I hope I'll never forget that it is a "privilege" and a duty, and one that I should not take lightly.

I already early-voted (hallelujah for that!), and this was my 10th opportunity to vote for President/Vice President of the United States. Hard to believe it has been that many already! Wow, how did that happen?!?

Every presidential election we have to make one choice, usually between one team of nominees for President/Vice President from the two major political parties. Too often I hear people say leading up to the election that they are unhappy with the choices they are given, and even question whether the candidates running are "qualified" to serve. Makes me wonder "Who is qualified?"

How easy it is for us to sit in our homes and offices and openly declare that someone is not qualified for a job that we know precious little about. For example, what is it that qualifies someone to be either President or Vice President? Is it written down somewhere? Has this list been in existence for awhile? Can you find it on Wikipedia? Who is it that determines what makes someone qualified to be President or Vice President of these United States?

How arrogant of us to decide whether someone we don't even know very much about (except for what the media gives us) is qualified or not qualified for the job. I wonder, am I qualified for the job I am currently doing? Somedays I think so, but most days I am just doing the best I can. Somedays the only thing that gets me through the day is "character" because I know that I am NOT qualified for the position. How about you? Are you qualified for the job you are currently holding? How do you know? Is there a list and you measure up well against that list? How would you like it if someone who knew very little about you and/or your job started spouting off to everyone about how unqualified YOU were for the position you now hold (or the next job you'd really like to have)? Hmmmm?

Next time you are tempted to make a snap judgment about someone else's qualifications, why don't you think about whether you'd like to be judged in the same way. And, don't forget "character" - because a person's character is what really determines how well they'll perform in certain jobs.