I received an email from someone in ministry bemoaning the state of the U.S. Along the way, he equates being a true Jesus-follower with voting a certain way. 

If you make an honest list of what the two leading ideologies stand for and cannot see clearly good vs evil I question whether you are truly a follower of Jesus.

The problem is, an author I read recently had this observation about people who vote the way the first guy said was the only way Christians should vote:

The disconnect between faith and faithfulness means self-professed Christians can support all sorts of unchristian things without feeling hypocritical because their Christian faith (and personal salvation) is ultimately determined by what they believe, not by how they live. 

Both men are saying, “If you vote a certain way, you’re not a true Jesus follower,” and each is really talking about the other!

Maybe we should all spend more time following Jesus than trying to decide if the other guy is following Jesus.

So tend to your knitting. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God. (Romans 14.12, MSG)

When Peter saw [John], he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21.21, 22, ESV, emphasis nine, different context, same principle)

Today is January 6, Epiphany, when we remember the visit of the wise men from the east. 

I’m noticing this year the difference between the responses of people in Jerusalem and humble shepherds in Luke 2, who couldn’t get there fast enough. 

The shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go! Let’s hurry and find this Word that is born in Bethlehem and see for ourselves what the Lord has revealed to us.” So they ran into the village and found their way to Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in a feeding trough. (Luke 2.15, 16, Passion Translation, emphasis mine)

Jerusalem people were a different story. Jerusalem in this setting reminds me of Washington, D.C., where everything and everyone worth knowing are “inside the beltway.” How do the Jerusalem “elites” receive the news?

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2.1 – 3, ESV, emphasis mine)

Am I open to God’s working, maybe in unexpected ways or through unexpected people?  

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” (John 1.45, 46, ESV)

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43.19, ESV)

On January 6, 2019, I decided to publish The Ewellogy daily. Today, January 5, 2020, marks the 365th consecutive daily blog. It’s been an interesting journey, and thanks to those of you who have traveled with me!

Here are a few principles and lessons learned:

• I try to make each blog about something current in my life, something God is speaking to me about today, rather than just resurrecting some teaching point.
• To publish daily, I definitely have to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If I waited and revised until a blog was perfect, I would never publish.
• The exercise has made me more observant. As Yogi Berra said, “You can observe a lot by just watching.”

• Once I got going, the streak took on a life of its own. Cal Ripken, Jr., the baseball player who now holds the record for the most consecutive games, 2,131, writes about the streak in the first chapter his book Just Show Up. Among his observations are the following:

Everything you do is a test of how well you do it, not just once or twice, but again and again, after your task has lost its newness or novelty, when it’s just the daily repetition of what needs to be done…It’s not what you mean to do, it’s what you actually do: it’s actions, not intentions…Don’t expect to be appreciated, though. That’s not why you pursue a streak. That’s not why you show up. You do it because it’s what you do. It’s your job. 

I have begun to feel that the daily Ewellogy is part of my job, and the process of putting what I believe are important messages out there is forming me.

Again, thanks for being with me on the journey. Year 2 starts tomorrow!

I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction… (Proverbs 24.30 – 32, ESV)

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day… (Exodus 16.4, ESV, emphasis mine)

They can prepare for what we do, but they can’t prepare for who we are.—Dabo Swinney, Head Coach of the Clemson Tigers, talking with the team before the Ohio State game on December 28.

That’s who we are. That’s what we do. We finish. —Dabo Swinney after Clemson defeated Ohio State on December 28.

So which is it? Which is more important, what we do or who we are? People wrestle with this as evidenced by this series of quotes that surfaced in the late 1960s.

The last line is a series of nonsense syllables from Frank Sinatra’s version of “Strangers in the Night.” No one really knows the actual origin of the other versions, but the story of an owner posting the first line on his warehouse wall followed by others in his company posting the other two lines is true, according to quoteinvestigator.com.

A number of years ago, a friend of mine, reflecting on all the inspirational leadership biographies floating around observed, “You can’t do what they do unless you are what they are.”

Surely, who we are is important, but often that’s reflected by what we do.

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. (James 2.18, NIV, emphasis mine)

There’s a saying around Christmas or any other gift-giving time, “It’s the thought that counts.” Actually, with respect to “holy moments” or doing good for someone, it’s not the thought that counts, it’s the execution.

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. (James 4.17, NIV)

You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world…Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5.13 – 16, NIV, emphasis mine)

I woke up the other day thinking about a portion of the old hymn “Lead on, O King Eternal,” written in 1887 by Earnest Shurtleff. 

The Kingdom comes not with a lot of noise but with deeds of love and mercy. This is exactly what Matthew Kelly had in mind when he wrote about “Holy Moments.”

The other day, when my next-door neighbor was out of town, I took a few minutes to blow the snow off his driveway. I would have wanted someone to do that for me. After the fact, I realized it was a holy moment. I’m not claiming that single act will usher my neighbors into the Kingdom, but maybe it will nudge them in the right direction.

By contrast, an out-of-town friend of mine called the other day, early in the morning, breathless with excitement about a new video series, full of “truth” about Genesis. I may be wrong, but such videos often produce “swords’ loud crashing” as we’re tempted to argue people into the Kingdom with the truth (or just make ourselves feel good because we know the truth).

I pray that I’ll do better in 2020 producing deeds of love and mercy. Join me?

Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love. (Hebrews 10.24, Passion Translation)

Encourage the believers to be passionately devoted to beautiful works of righteousness by meeting the urgent needs of others and not be unfruitful. (Titus 3.14, Passion Translation)

On New Year’s Day, I perused my email and was overwhelmed with gloom and doom both from a (Christian) news summary and a newsletter from someone in ministry. I’m not often overwhelmed with anything, but I felt fear, apprehension… Suddenly I stopped and said to myself, “This is no way to start a day or a new year! Get back to your reading of the Christmas story.”

So I read Luke 2.22 – 38, the account of Jesus being taken by Mary and Joseph to the Temple for the mandatory purification ceremony, where they heard the testimonies of Simeon and Anna. 

[Simeon said, ] “My eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel…Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2.30 – 35, ESV)

And make no mistake, if there had been a “News of the Day” publication in Jerusalem or even a “Temple Tidbits” summary of the day’s activities, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus’ visit wouldn’t have made it. The purification was completely routine, something the priest on duty would have done hundreds of times while thinking of something else. The powers that be wouldn’t have noticed Simeon or “Crazy Old Anna.” We know about it because Luke in his thoroughness documented it.

The point I’m making to myself is that no matter how gloomy things look, God is at work, most likely under the radar. I need to be listening for his voice, watching for him at work, and participating with my own under-the-radar holy moments.

Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. (Isaiah 8.12, 13, NIV)

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4.4 – 7, NIV)

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43.19, ESV)

As we write our goals and action steps for 2020, let’s remember to include surrounding ourselves with people who can help us grow.

I was researching Charles Jennens, the man who compiled the libretto for Handel’s Messiah, and I came across an article containing a quote from George Steevens who was not a fan of Jennens because Jennens had criticized some of Shakespeare’s work. Others have refuted Steevens’ perception of Jennens. 

The point of today’s blog is not whether the quote fairly applies to Jennens or not. The point is that the quote contains a valuable reminder for all of us. Ready?

The chief error of Mr. Jennens’s life consisted in his perpetual association with a set of men every way inferior to himself. By these means he lost all opportunities of improvement, but gained what he preferred to the highest gratifications of wisdom – flattery in excess. —George Steevens 

The warning is that if we associate only with a set of people inferior to ourselves, we lose all opportunities for improvement, and we trade gaining wisdom for gaining flattery. 

The ear that hears the rebukes of life will abide among the wise. He who disdains instruction despises his own soul, but he who heeds rebuke gets understanding. The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility. (Proverbs 15.31 – 33, NKJV)

I wrote soon after I was given an Apple Watch how it was motivating me to get more exercise. One of the ways it does that is by giving me monthly goals. I’m now seeing that there are two kinds of goals, and I’m debating which kind is more effective.

Some goals give me a target for the month: so many minutes of exercise, so much distance walked. So far these have been attainable especially with a bit of planning. I figure out what my targets are for each day, and I monitor my progress and get ahead when I can to make up for those days when I can’t do as much. This type of goal motivates me to do more than is required “just in case.”

This month’s goal is different: I have to keep up my daily minimums every day. Every day for the whole 31 days. There’s no incentive to do much more than the minimum since it won’t carry over. On the other hand, I’m not allowed to do less. Consistency is not just encouraged, it is demanded.

If we’re setting our own goals, which is better? When I started thinking about this, I thought I would say the second type since it demands consistency, and consistency is good. However, there’s no grace. What happens when I fail to meet my minimum? What’s my motivation to get back to it the next day? 

So as we set goals or make resolutions for the new year, I’m going to aim for actions that are attainable, maybe with a little extra effort, that inspire consistency, but are not so rigid that I quit if I miss a day.

Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. (Proverbs 8.34, 35, ESV)

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! (Philippians 3.12 – 15, MSG)

Please permit me one more Christmas meditation…

I wrote earlier about the baby Jesus himself being the sign to the shepherds; here’s some additional insight from Bruce Simmons, translator of The Passion Translation, from which I quote from time to time. Here’s his footnote from Luke 2.8 when the shepherds are introduced:

Many scholars believe that these could be the same fields where sacrificial flocks were kept for temple worship.

Bethlehem was only 6 miles from Jerusalem, hence a good place to raise lambs for sacrifice. But here’s the kicker—the note from verse 12 about the baby being the sign:

A baby lying in a feeding trough where animals were kept nearby, wrapped in strips of cloths, became a sign of the Man-Savior’s life on earth…The shepherds that night were possibly near Bethlehem at Migdal Eder, “the [watch] tower of the flock.” …It was at the lower floor of the watchtower (Migdal Eder) that the birthing of the Passover lambs would take place. Selected ewes that were about to give birth would be brought there. After the birth of the lambs, the priestly shepherds would wrap the lambs in cloth and lay them in a manger lined with soft hay to prevent them from hurting themselves, for Passover lambs must be unblemished with no bruise or broken bone. The miracle sign for these priestly shepherds would be a baby boy lying where the Passover lamb should be—in a manger, wrapped in strips of cloth.

I don’t think that needs more comment!

That night, in a field near Bethlehem, there were shepherds watching over their flocks. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared in radiant splendor before them, lighting up the field with the blazing glory of God, and the shepherds were terrified! But the angel reassured them, saying, “Don’t be afraid. For I have come to bring you good news, the most joyous news the world has ever heard! And it is for everyone everywhere! For today in Bethlehem a rescuer was born for you. He is the Lord Yahweh, the Messiah. You will recognize him by this miracle sign: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a feeding trough!” (Luke 2.8 – 11, Passion Translation)