My Hyundai Sonata just turned 13 years old last month and still looks and runs fabulously…except for the headlights! They’ve never worked all that well and lately, the light they give off has been almost non-existent. So, I finally took it to a local mechanic, and learned a lesson (about headlights and discipleship)!

After the car had been in for a few minutes, I asked the owner, Thom, if they were making progress. He replied, “O yes. The bulbs weren’t in the right position to bounce the light off the reflectors properly.” At this point, we could have had this conversation:

• Me: Of course! I understand that well. I’m a math guy. The reflectors are parabolic, and the bulb must be at the focus of the parabola in order for the light beams to be reflected parallel to each other.
• Thom: You may understand the mathematics, but that understanding didn’t help you install them correctly, did it? My guy Ben probably doesn’t know anything about parabolas, but he does know how to put in headlight bulbs!

In some of our Christian traditions, we are happy if people know the details of some theological concepts. God is more interested in our putting the Word into practice. I heard a pastor say once, “I have people who can parse the Greek and the Hebrew, but they are useless in doing anything for the Kingdom.” Knowledge is good, but skilled application is better!

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22, NIV)

“As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD.’ My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. (Ezekiel 33.30 – 32, NIV, emphasis mine)

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5.16, NIV) The pastor I quoted above points out that this text says, “See your good deeds” not “Hear your good words.”

Here’s another aspect of God’s will that I grew up with, the negative side, often expressed as, “Is it OK for a Christian to…?” Every tradition has its own list of questions and answers. 

Andy Stanley in his book Irresistible suggests that this is the wrong question. Andy calls a concern for what we can or can’t do “Vertical Morality” or “Sin Management.” How much can I get away with and not make God angry with me? Or even, more positively, how can I keep myself pure?

It’s still the wrong question. I can play a game, say, basketball, and never break a rule. Never be called for traveling or double dribbling. Never foul my opponent. But if I don’t help my team win games by being an effective scorer myself or helping others to score or preventing the other team from scoring, I haven’t contributed.  

Andy argues, and I agree, that the better question is,

What does love require?

Andy calls this “Horizontal morality,” not, how am I relating to God, but how am I relating to others? Scripture is clear:

[Jesus said, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22.39)

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13.34, 35, ESV)

Growing up, a familiar verse was Romans 12.2, which in the King James reads this way:

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Sometimes we were taught to pursue God’s “perfect” will for our lives and don’t be satisfied with merely his “good” or “acceptable” will. And so God’s will was some mysterious thing we were supposed to find, especially in areas like which college to go to, whom to marry, what job to accept, etc.

In fact, most of the newer translations see the “good, acceptable, and perfect” as attributes not as increasing degrees of suitability:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12.2, NIV)

In that vein, the January 5 meditation in LICC’s 40-day Growing in Resilience series (I recommend) reminded us that God’s will is daily and continuous, not just occasional “big-event” decisions:

We are constantly being encouraged to conform to the pattern of the world around us and adopt its values. This happens through advertising, social media, workplace culture, the films we watch, and the books we read. Paul explains that the purpose of renewing our minds is to enable us ‘to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ As our minds become renewed we are more attuned to God’s thoughts, viewing situations and people from his perspective. By contrast an unrenewed mind, conformed to the world’s thinking, will have difficulty discerning God’s will.

As I wrote in other words on January 3, God’s will for us is “Deeds of love and mercy”–holy moments!

Here are a few other “suggestions” on what the will of God might include, right out of Romans 12:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. (Romans 12.9 – 13, NIV)

Here’s an important lesson from the life of Joseph, husband of Mary:

After they had gone, Joseph had another dream. An angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Get up now and flee to Egypt. Take Mary and the little child and stay there until I tell you to leave, for Herod intends to search for the child to kill him.” So that very night he got up and took Jesus and his mother and made their escape to Egypt… (Matthew 2.13, 14, Passion Translation, emphasis mine)

“That very night he got up…” Sometimes obedience must be instant. No time to think or plan or debate with oneself. No waiting until morning. Just do it. 

The shepherds came with haste… Joseph and the family left in haste. 

A pastor friend used to say, “If a man says he’ll do something, he’ll do it! There’s no need to nag him every six months about it.”

My mother used to say, “Delayed obedience is disobedience.” June would say I still have that problem! Instead of making a note “to get to it later,” why don’t I just do it now?

Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.” (Ruth 3.18, NIV, emphasis mine)

This is what the LORD Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD’s house.’” …This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD. (Haggai 1.2, 7, 8, NIV, emphasis mine)

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)