Yes I love technology, but not as much as you, I see,

Right now I am taking advantage of technology. The post you are reading was written several days ago and a new feature on blogspot allows the publishing of these posts to be arranged for whatever date I select. Today Carole and I are in Nevada. We have been here since Monday. Tomorrow we will begin an odyssey to celebrate our upcoming 30th wedding anniversary. We will go whitewater rafting in the Grand Canyon. (It was Carole's idea, really!) I'll be sure to tell more about it when we return.

Does anyone recognize the lyrics that made up the title of this post?

The reward

The two guys who risked and increased their master's assets were rewarded. But they were not rewarded with ease and comfort. They were rewarded with more responsibility. As our life for Christ progresses, we should see growth in what God can trust us with. There is no time here on earth for any of us to say, "I've done my share, now let the younger ones carry the load." As we risk and grow, we have to take the lessons learned and trust earned to do more for the kingdom. We must constantly be risking and growing. And we must constantly be increasing our areas of influence and responsibility. I'm not talking about getting involved in more programs or ministries, I'm talking about being a steward that God can trust with big things. Things that would scare a young believer, but that we can take on because we have "been there and done that" with God and we know that when He gives us something to do, it is His already and when we do it we are really risking nothing. The outcome is in God's hands. He knows what he is doing. He'll get'r done through us.

It will be awesome.

Then Heaven.

Sweet.

Risk and get rewarded- protect and get punished

The steward who hid his talent returned it to the owner undamaged. It was worth every cent that it was worth when it was entrusted to him. What did he get? A tongue lashing and punishment. The other two guys doubled the owner's money, but they had to risk losing it to cause it to double. They were praised and rewarded. I think the lesson here is that God is not calling us to live a nice life in a nice church with our nice church friends. He is calling us to a life that causes us to risk all for the reward that awaits us.


If you will notice, there is one character missing in this story. There is no one who risked and lost. I think the reason for this is that in the walk with Christ, there is no way to lose except to waste a life by trying to protect it. When we truly believe that "to live is Christ and to die is gain", we find that we can't lose. Our life is not our own. It is given to us by God. As a believer, we can experience incredible "highs" by risking it all for the cause of Christ. When we are doing what God calls us to do, the result is in His hands. If that risk results in us coming to the end of our earthly life, we automatically go to eternal life with Christ. There is no loss for the believer who risks his "talents".


Get'r done!

God owns everything- we own nothing

My first observation was that the owner retained ownership of the talents even as he entrusted them to the stewards. When we realize that God owns it all and only lets us use what we have, our hold on things and positions should loosen up considerably.


The second observation was that when the stewards put the talents at risk, they were risking the property of the owner and not their own wealth. That is both humbling and relieving. Of course we want to do well for the Lord and be good stewards of what He entrusts to us, but we can't really lose anything, because if God owns everything, He still owns it even after it leaves our hands.

We have to make sure that we realize our steward role in this world. It looks like we can't lose if our desire is to do God's will. The problems arise when we see God's assets as ours and begin to try to protect them by not putting them to use.

Rewarded with more work

In the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) I have noticed a few things.
1.The guys who were put in charge of the talents didn't own them. The owner did. They were entrusted with them in the assumption that the talents would be put to work so that they could increase. There was no understanding that the stewards would ever own the talents.
2.The guys who doubled the value of their talents had to put them at risk in order to grow them. They weren't risking their own possessions; only the possessions of the owner.
3. The guy who didn't risk was the one who was punished. Protecting the talent and keeping it in its original condition was not an acceptable outcome for the owner. He expected increase, even if it was small. Protection of the talent was seen as a punishable offense. Risk was rewarded.
4. The story tells only of risk and increase that resulted in reward vs. safety and protection that resulted in punishment. There was not a steward who risked and lost.
5. The reward for being a good steward of the owner's resources was more responsibility (i.e. more work).

I'll begin to apply these thoughts tomorrow.

I told you so!

Okay, all you doubters. I did used to have red wavy hair.

Last night of my LIFE Group

Tonight is the last night of the "Secrets of the Vine" LIFE Group. It has been a real pleasure to share this one. We have had some great discussion even on the nights when some of the material was kinda tough. I appreciate everyone who attended and contributed to the discussions or offered feedback both during and after the classes. The give and take of good conversation always stretches the mind. As Oliver Wendell Holmes said, and I paraphrase, "Now and then a man's mind stretched by a new idea and it never returns to its original proportions." I learn every time I teach. I'm looking forward to the next opportunity, wherever it arises.

Back in town

I flew in from California last night, and boy, are my arms tired! (rimshot) I had a really great time with all my family. Tyler did great on the airplanes. Carole and I went to Disneyland with Rob and Taylor, Sea World with Mark, Elizabeth and Tyler, and went whale watching with all of them. (No, we didn't see any whales, but we did see a lot of dolphins.) Tyler put his feet in the ocean for the first time. (see picture) Got to eat fresh seafood with everyone at Fisherman's Restaurant in San Clemente. We sat on the porch outside while the waves crashed on the shore below us. Watched the sun go down over the ocean. With my kids. I'm really proud of my kids and their families. I like hanging out with them, and if they don't like hanging out with me they do a good job of disguising it.

Goin' to Californee!

I won't be posting for a few days. I am going to California with Carole, Rob & Taylor, Elizabeth, Mark & Tyler to visit Carole's family out there. I probably won't think about you at all while I'm gone. No sense telling you anything else; you wouldn't believe me anyway. I've got a lot of ideas for new posts, and I'll begin when I get back. See yaaaa!

Spiritual Workout Disciplines

A proper gym workout regimen includes cardio, upper body, lower body, core and back routines. It is counterproductive to spend all of the workout time on only one area of the body, because true useful strength comes from the development of every part of the body.
It is the same idea in spiritual disciplines. We have to develop every area of our spiritual person. We must spend time reading the Bible, spend time in prayer, time in worship, be faithful in financial stewardship, and time in fellowship. The long-term continued faithfulness to these spiritual disciplines will make us sharper, stronger, and more effective for the Kingdom.
We have to continue them even though in the short-term we may not see any benefit. The benefit will come, but only through discipline.

Workout Discipline

Continuing to go to workouts requires discipline. Workouts are not recreation for me because they are painful and uncomfortable. I do them because I recognize the long-term benefit of short-term discomfort. That recognition is called discipline.
In my spiritual life I find two types of discipline. Today I will talk about the type we recognize as parents. At times we have to inflict emotional or physical pain on our children because we want to correct incorrect behavior with the purpose of helping to bring them to maturity. Out Heavenly Father will bring challenges into our path that cause us to actually trust Him, or to exercise our spiritual "muscles". It is during these dark times that we find out how big God is. Our experience in him goes from theoretical to actual. And when we realize that God is faithful even when we are not getting the outcomes we want, we begin to develop in ways that will not happen when we are unchallenged. We will develop endurance, patience, and tremendous faith.

The only way that we do not increase in our relationship with our loving Heavenly Father during these time is if we recoil from the pain and withdraw from our relationship with Him. But if we will draw closer to Him, we will find that we are stronger and more useful to the Kingdom than we ever thought possible. Hebrews 12:11 tells us "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Remember that the discipline of God is administered by a God who loves us and is not mad at us. He does not allow anything to happen to us without purpose and He will not put any more on us than we can handle.

Tomorrow I will talk about self-imposed discipline.

I Hate Working Out

I went to the gym and worked out this morning. I try to do that at least twice a week. I have to make myself go and I really don't enjoy the working out experience. When I leave the gym I'm sweaty and out of breath. I'll probably be sore the next day. I often compare my physique to the young guys there and find that I am severely lacking in the "WOW!" factor. I will never sport a "6 pack". Usually I am starving when I leave the gym, and it's still 3 hours until lunch. Right after the workout, I don't see anything positive about working out. Why do I continue to do something that makes me dirty, hungry and sore? Because I have seen the long-term result of regular visits to the gym.

When I'm working out regularly, I have increased focus and energy. I can stay on task longer and get more accomplished. I have increased stamina and I can work harder and longer. I can hit the golf ball farther. My blood pressure and resting heart rate are lower. The long-term benefits of working out outweigh the short-term pain and inconvenience of the workout.

You know where I'm going with all this by now. I'll finish up tomorrow.