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Continuing the story of the conversation with the young man I introduced yesterday, who is enjoying our mentoring relationship and thinking about doing the same for someone else…

Josh will be leading a vacation bible school for teenagers this summer: five evenings with 60 – 70 kids. I asked him, “Will you be including daily time with God in your teaching?” He responded, “Oh, yes! We will be talking about that.” I countered, “Are you going to talk about it or are you going to do it?”

I explained that when I had 10 days with seminary students in Haiti, I taught them the first day how to have time with God. Then I assigned them a daily reading for each of the rest of the days, and we shared what God was telling us first thing every class period. As one of my graduate school professors used to say, “People don’t do what you EXpect; they do what you INspect!”

I also encouraged Josh to figure out a way to keep them going after the five days. Maybe give them another set of readings and set up accountability among the kids. For example, some men I was meeting with used to text each other daily with the main thought from our time with God.

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3.13, NIV)

The kids won’t remember much of what Josh tells them, but some may continue the practice of daily time with God if Josh teaches them how, encourages them during the week, and sets up accountability mechanisms to keep them going.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28.18 – 20, NIV, emphasis mine)

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Another gem from Seth Godin, whom I’ve quoted and recommended before:

It’s the blockbusters that get all the hype. The home runs, the viral videos, the hits. It’s the sudden shifts, the ideas that change everything, the fell swoops. Fell swoops seem like they’re worth chasing, but a hit isn’t a strategy, it’s an event. Nice work if you can get it, but hard to plan on or build on. It takes patience to avoid planning on swoops. It’s more productive to live in a house that’s built out of bricks, one at a time, day by day. (May 22, 2019)

The application to ministry is obvious, at least to me! I’ve written before about the folly of relying on big events. This is just another word picture on the same thing.

I was encouraging a young man yesterday on the importance of investing in others, just one person at a time. He’s beginning to get the picture and to think about doing that himself. He asked me, “How long do these mentoring relationships last? I expected just one conversation with you (by phone) when we started nearly a year ago and here we still are!” I replied that I was honored to invest in him, a 33-year-old, who will be doing ministry long after I’m gone.

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. (Hebrews 7.23, ESV)

None of us is going to be here forever: that’s as good a reason as any to invest intentionally in the next generation, brick by brick, one day at a time-building blocks, not blockbusters!

He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach. (Mark 3.14, NIV, emphasis mine)

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2.2, NIV)

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I had lunch with a friend earlier this week, and I was in the last hours of completing a painting project. All projects are exciting at the start, but they quickly turn into drudgery and “How close are we to being done?!” As I get older, this is more and more the case. So I asked him to pray for me, and he graciously launched into the most encouraging prayer, asking for energy and joy.

Energy and joy! That’s a compelling combination. June was away at a retreat, and she let me know around 2p that she would be home around 5:30. So I went into high gear, finishing (at least finishing “enough”) just two minutes before she pulled in. (Timing is everything!)

Be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let joy overflow, for you are united with the Anointed One! (Philippians 4.4, Passion Translation)

I like that verse: “be cheerful…in every season of life.” A good word. And I learned that good cheer brings energy as well.

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Some of us don’t often think about the next life. Things are pretty good here and now…until they’re not. Last Wednesday, I was enjoying a silent retreat at a quiet, mountain retreat center near here. June was taking Babo, our less than 20-pound dog for his evening walk when he was suddenly attacked by our neighbor’s German shepherd. Here’s June’s account as she shared with a friend the next day:

Babo and I had a very traumatic experience yesterday as our neighbors’ German shepherd attacked Babo and would have killed him if I hadn’t screamed at the top of my lungs until the dog dropped Babo.  We spent hours in the Pet ER and finally had to leave him overnight because they were so backed up.  They had to shave the wound area and clean it.  Amazingly, no sutures needed.  But he is badly bruised and does have puncture wounds, one severe.  We have to keep him quiet and Bob will be gone all day today, so I am on nurse duty.  Bob and I left the ER last night around 10:30 and went back at 6:30 this morning.  Must run…my puppy needs me.  By the way, this was one of the worst things I have ever been through!  I sobbed for an hour…I know you understand.

As I write this a few days later, he is recovering nicely despite some significant bruising, and for that we are thankful.

Back to the new earth. Here’s part of Isaiah’s vision:

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind…no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress…The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the LORD. (Isaiah 65.17, 19, 25, ESV, emphasis mine)

If the wolf won’t hurt the lamb, I’m adding, “German shepherds will not attack small dogs!”

The deck is prepped and ready to be stained this week…

It had been raining/snowing all day Monday with the usual prediction of 1-3 inches total. I didn’t even know the forecast had changed until my son in Atlanta texted me: “Just looked at your weather…8 inches tonight?” We got 12, and we’ll get to the deck…eventually.

We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. (Proverbs 16.9, NLT)

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I’m proud of our oldest son, Mark, who, one day after racing to the top of the Empire State Building, finishing 8th among US men, sat down with Greg Fowler and did a live 45-minute interview on real estate sales and life. If you have the time, you can watch it here. 

Here are a few of the highlights I took away:

• Integrity: Mark works hard to meet the needs of the client with integrity. He also is able to relate to some clients because of hardships he has experienced. Recently he sat down with a potential buyer who wanted to back out of the deal. Mark listened to him and after five minutes said something like, “You’re right. This is not the right time for you to buy this house.” The interviewer said, “Wow. That’s integrity!” Mark replied, “The prospective buyer went away happy and affirmed, and I could sleep that night!”
• Keys to success: Mark offered two words for success and a fulfilling life: gratitude and responsibility. Be thankful for what you have and realize that whether you have what you want or don’t have what you want, you’re responsible.
• Goal setting: Mark believes in goal setting: he sets high goals and is prepared to work hard to achieve them. He now believes that the “goals” are the things you want for your life and family. The business is the means to reach those goals. With respect to working hard, he advises other real estate agents to just “answer the phone.” 
• Discipline: he’s a learner: he reads books and listens to books and podcasts.

Although not discussed in the interview, a large reason for his strength of character and stamina comes from his habit of daily time with God. He reads the Bible every morning as part of his daily routine. Here is one of his closing quotes:  

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. (Proverbs 24.33, 34 (NIV)

And here is my closing quote!

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. (Proverbs 23.24, ESV)

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My new friend Father Hanh (rhymes with “line”) told about the preacher, who, when asked the secret of his sermon preparation, replied:

• I read myself full
• I think myself clear
• I pray myself hot
• I let myself go!

Hanh applied the principles to Paul on his first missionary journey in Acts 13 and his first sermon, beginning in verse 16. It ends:

So listen, friends! Through this Jesus, the forgiveness of sins is offered to you. Everyone who believes in him is set free from sin and guilt—something the law of Moses had no power to do. So be very careful that what the prophets warned about does not happen to you: “Be amazed and in agony, you scoffers! For in your day I will do something so wonderful that when I perform mighty deeds among you, you won’t even believe that it was I who did it!” Acts 13.38 – 41 (Passion Translation)

Paul spoke boldly and confidently because he had read himself full, thought himself clear, and prayed himself hot!

When I talk about daily time with God, I talk about the 4 Rs: read, reflect, respond, record. The first three are exactly what the preacher did. 

• Read, not for knowledge only, but to be full of what God has to say to us
• Reflect, thinking clearly about the text and how it applies to us!
• Respond in prayer, praying ourselves hot with the presence of the Holy Spirit
• Record in a journal. But this shouldn’t be the last step! It’s the last step while we’re on Holy Ground, as I wrote yesterday.
• But the next step is GO! Do it! Share it! With confidence!

These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards. (Matthew 7.24 – 27, MSG, emphasis mine)

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13.1, 2, ESV)

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Yesterday I wrote about Moses’ call while he was tending sheep as recorded in Exodus 3 and 4. When Moses turned aside (there’s a lesson itself–Moses was paying attention!) to see the burning bush, we have God’s response:

When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3.4, 5, ESV)

Why was it “holy ground”? Because of the bush? No, as Ian Thomas wrote in Saving Life of Christ, “any old bush would do.” It was holy because it was the point that Moses turned aside to pay attention to God.

I was discussing this with Father Hanh Pham, who used to work at Regis University in Denver. In making the point that any place we choose to listen to God and be available to him is holy ground he told this story:

There is a room at Regis University that no one is allowed to go into without the permission of the university president. He has the only key. When you do go in, you see it’s a simple room, fairly small, containing a table, two chairs, and two water glasses. Why is it special? Because it was in that room that US President Bill Clinton sat down and talked with Pope John Paul II in 1993 during World Youth Day. If we honor a room like that where two human beings once talked, how much more should we honor the places where a human being can talk with the God of the Universe!

In other words, our daily time with God matters! And it helps if we have a daily routine and a place set aside. I have a recliner in my office area that’s becoming holy ground. The dog likes to sit with me first thing in the morning while we have “prayer in the chair.” It’s holy ground. In my Time with God handout, my first recommendation for implementation is, “Find a time and a place.”

And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you… (Exodus 25.22, NKJV)

Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. (Proverbs 8.34, NIV)

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One summer, when I was in college, I worked as a youth pastor for a small church in Indiana. One of those weeks I served as a counselor at a church camp. I’ll never forget the pastor who preached that week. One night, he said something like this:

I drove many of you all up here on the bus, and I all heard you talk about was the movies and television programs you had seen recently. Folks in my church say, “I wonder why our young people are not hearing the voice of God anymore.” WELL, I DON’T WONDER!

And this was 1967 when about all there was to distract us was television and movies (which I wasn’t even allowed to go to!). Now it’s ubiquitous screen time with its social media. Additionally, literally thousands of engineers at YouTube are figuring out how to make us click one more movie clip to watch.

And it’s not just the kids. I’ve seen mothers at restaurants ignore their young children while they’re texting with their friends.

I’ve written about Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism before, and I’m trying, not always successfully, to be more intentional about my use of technology. Ignatius said way back in the 1500s:

The other things…are created for the human beings to help them in the pursuit of the end for which they are created [to love God and serve people]…It is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things…and choose only that which is more conducive to the end for which we are created. (From The Ignatian Adventure by Kevin O’Brien.)

I thought of all this today when I read God’s call to Moses in Exodus 3.

Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3.10, ESV)

Our kids and our neighbors are not “in slavery,” but many are enslaved. I’m wondering how God may use us to help free them so they can hear the voice of God.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8.31, 32, ESV)

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World Magazine posted a chapter from Embodied Hope: a Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering by Kelly Kapic. The chapter was long and sometimes technical, having to do with trying to defend God with an Enlightenment framework, but this paragraph on being a “pastor” jumped out at me:

To be pastoral does not mean earning money for working in a church. Throughout Christian history God’s people have always been thankful for those with pastoral gifts among them—whether women or men, ordained or not, young or old, rich or poor. “Pastoral” in this sense refers to the ability to give wise counsel, to know how to love well, provide necessary guidance, and in the end to help a fellow believer flourish under God’s grace and love, even as they seek to love their neighbor and serve God’s kingdom.

I love this. The concept fits in well with my (and, I think, scripture’s) frequent emphasis on “all.” Everyone in ministry. Please see We’re all ministers here and What part of all do we not understand? for example.

And when it comes to pastoring, some are better than others. I’m in the “others” category. If there’s pastoring to be done, I call on June! Here’s an example: a few years ago, I received an urgent call from a friend who used to live in Colorado Springs and had since moved across the country. He had a married daughter living in the area, and she and her husband were going through an intense crisis caused by factors beyond their control. When my friend called at 7 am, he thought they were contemplating drastic action. Would we please check on them?

I was leading a men’s bible study at the time (the men were in table discussions so I was able to take the call) and couldn’t leave immediately. I called June, and she went, praying all the way, and sensing that she could be a mother, a nurse, and a Christian friend. Nurse kicked in first: “Have you eaten anything recently?” “No.” So she made some toast and insisted that they eat it. I would have tried Biblical counsel, and I would have failed miserably! I would never have thought of offering them food first. Later June left them a copy of Streams in the Desert, which helped them over time learn to trust God to work through the problem.

The author went on to say, There is no theological replacement for knowing people, their problems, the complexities, and the stories… Pastoral wisdom and theological instincts must go together. They must serve one another.

June would not call herself a pastor, but she has pastoral gifts: love for and understanding of people and what they need physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

So don’t wait! Don’t wait for more education, more seminary courses, more credentials. Serve others with the gifts you have, and if you’re a pastor, pastor well!

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers… (Ephesians 4.11, NIV)