My son Mark sent me this exchange with a stair-racing friend of his about whether or not a particular race organizer would change the date of a race:

Friend: You don’t think it would be a bad look to change plans like that?

Mark: The right decision is the right decision. But that’s a broader discussion than just stair climbing events. I think a lot of people in this country treat someone worse for changing their mind than for sticking with a bad call. Sometimes you get new info. Sometimes the situation changes. Sometimes you just messed up and woke up in the morning and realized you were on the wrong road.

The right decision is always the right decision. The wrong decision is wrong but it’s even more wrong when you don’t pivot. Making the right decision should always be rewarded, whether it is on day one or day 99 – especially if you learn something and do better next time.

Friend: I wasn’t expecting a full-on wisdom bomb here. This is good feedback. I appreciate this response.

I don’t think I’ve heard the phrase “wisdom bomb” before, but Mark is not afraid to launch one in the middle of an ordinary conversation.

The Apostle Paul was accused of weakness by the Corinthians because he changed his mind about a visit. He spends 17 verses of 2 Corinthians explaining (2 Corinthians 1.12 – 2.4). Here’s his bottom line:

But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. (2 Corinthians 1.23 – 2.1, ESV)

The right decision is always the right decision. Jesus makes the same point:

What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” And he answered, “I will not,” but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, “I go, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father? They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.” (Matthew 21.28 – 32, ESV)

As everyone knows, Queen Elizabeth passed away yesterday at the age of 96. I won’t try to duplicate the work of many who are ahead of me. For example:

John Stonestreet on Breakpoint wrote:

Perhaps the most consistent features of her tenure, which seemed out of step with the modern world, were her sense of duty and her consistent expression of faith and religious observance. Her annual Christmas messages reflected theology that was mostly orthodox and a faith in Jesus Christ that seemed personal. Convinced that Divine Providence had brought her to the throne, she seemed to see the crown as a calling and not an entitlement. In both of these things, her death marks the end of an era. – Breakpoint, September 9, 2022

Introducing their daily news update, World Magazine wrote:

When one monarch kneels before another, it signifies surrender—not just of one person but of an entire nation. Queen Elizabeth II often knelt before Jesus Christ in prayer and worship. In doing so, the queen pointed not just her subjects but the entire world to their Savior. In her Easter message in 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, she said:

Easter isn’t canceled; indeed, we need Easter as much as ever. The discovery of the risen Christ on the first Easter Day gave his followers new hope and fresh purpose, and we can all take heart from this. … As dark as death can be—particularly for those suffering with grief—light and life are greater. May the living flame of the Easter hope be a steady guide as we face the future. – Queen Elizabeth, Easter 2020

I commend to you this obituary written by Mark Greene of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, author of Fruitfulness on the Frontline, from which I quote from time to time. Queen Elizabeth II, Beacon of Grace. On that page, you’ll also see a link to The Queen’s Way, a relatively long article, readable in its entirety, subtitled: A Celebration of Biblical Discipleship in Public Life.

I was struck by this picture on the front page of the Colorado Springs Gazette:

It was shot Tuesday, September 6, two days before her death. She was waiting to receive Liz Truss, the new Prime Minister, her 15th. (She had also met with 14 US Presidents dating back to Eisenhower.) Think about it, 96 years old and still working right up until she died.

Some monarch said, “I am saved by an ‘m’ – 1 Corinthians 1 says, ‘Not many wise, not many noble…are called.'” Not many – not, not any! An important distinction.

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep… (Acts 13.36, ESV)

I can’t leave the subject of work without a shout-out to my new hero Roberto, a server at the Colorado Springs DoubleTree Hotel. The Navigators just had a conference there, August 27 – 30. I first saw Roberto serving our dinner Saturday night. I didn’t think much of it until we showed up for breakfast the next morning, and there he was again…and at lunch…and at dessert at 8:30 p.m. following the Sunday night meeting (Sunday dinner was on our own.).

EVERY meal from Saturday night through Tuesday night, Roberto was there. Cheerfully bringing our plates, fetching tea if someone wanted it, clearing plates, making conversation. Engaged.

Everyone noticed him. “Have you seen Roberto?” “One of you men should be sure he hears the gospel while we’re here.” (Not because he was a “bad” guy but because everyone loved him.) I gave him one of my piano CDs Sunday night, and he pulled a little booklet about Jesus from his pocket – one in English, one in Spanish – “Look what one of your friends gave me!”

Tuesday night as I was playing the piano prelude before the last meeting, Roberto stopped by briefly to acknowledge he was listening to me play…as he bustled about serving.

I forgot to mention one thing: Roberto is…wait for it…78 years old! 78! And still joyfully serving.

Conferences and hotels have a lot of moving parts. Roberto helped make our conference more enjoyable, memorable, and inspirational.

Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men. (Proverbs 22.29, NASB)

We interrupt this blog series for our annual anniversary announcement: 54 years today, or, as we’re counting now, our 648th monthiversary. We’re blessed to be in love, following Jesus, and enjoying good health. Here we are a couple weeks ago on “Bible Point,” a small mountain on the property of YMCA of the Rockies at Estes Park: 0.8 miles one way, 500-foot elevation gain.

¹²  The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³  They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴  They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,
¹⁵  to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (Psalm 92.12 – 15, ESV)

Here’s a great follow-up story to yesterday’s Labor Day observance. Do we understand that we can do great work AND great ministry at the same time? Rudy is an IT guy in Indonesia. He and his wife, Donna, are carrying on an active Navigator disciple-making ministry while doing excellent work in the IT world. My friend Bulus Bossan of Nigeria (living in Colorado Springs) writes:

I often yearn to hear stories of God showing up in the corporate world. We hear of corruption and hindrances to people doing business ethically, and many Christians have been compromised or have failed. My heart’s desire has been to see Christians in business who are bringing the Kingdom of God near in spite of all the challenges there. Do we have testimonies of God coming through for his people in the midst of the challenges of an unhealthy environment? In Rudy and Donna, I found a very big “yes!” 

Rudy and Donna are ordinary people, so they are doing the normal things most Navigators do, but with an additional job. They are living out our vision of “ordinary people, in many walks of life, who are joyfully leading integrated lives.” They are bringing the Gospel to people in their natural networks, showing the difference that God makes in their lives.

Rudy has been able to combine extensive responsibility in the work world with very significant responsibility in the Navigator ministry. He is now in the process of co-founding a startup company. Earlier in his career he was the CEO for Indonesia over a large IT security distributor headquartered in Europe. In 2016-2017, he was voted Best CEO in all of Asia Pacific for his company. – Bulus Bossan, International Vice-President of The Navigators: Ordinary People Living Our Our Calling in the Workplace: Rudy and Donna Manurung

I commend the article in its entirety. It ends this way:

I asked Rudy and Donna what has kept them going, both in their Christian lives and in their commitment to ministry, while keeping a full-time job. They don’t see tension between those two worlds; they see synergy. Rudy told me that what he learned and applied was not unidirectional (learning from the Bible and blessing the workplace). He has also applied ideas from the corporate world to ministry. Rudy and Donna live an undivided life. They treat their colleagues like family by serving them, and they also invite people into their home and involve their children in ministry. God has given them close communities as they live out an authentic faith in front of everyone in their lives. 

Rudy and Donna find encouragement from Psalm 16. They point out that God directs our lives (verses 5-6); he can and does speak to his people so we should spend time in the Word listening to him (verse 7); and he will never leave us so we can entrust ourselves to him (verses 8-9). With this kind of simple and undivided trust, Rudy and Donna have been a blessing to their community and nation.

From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. (Genesis 39.6, ESV)

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3.23, 24, ESV)

Happy Labor Day!

It’s a day worth honoring ALL work, from the people who have an idea, develop a product and build the factory, to the people who work in the factory, to the people who provide the raw materials that the factory uses, to the people who transport the materials to the factory, and all the people who deliver the finished product to stores and homes. It takes them ALL. Thank you!

Consider the lowly #2 pencil:

Somebody had to cut down the tree (that’s real wood in there!). Someone mined the graphite. Yellow paint comes from a certain combination of minerals that someone mined and others put together. There’s a little piece of metal and an eraser. Someone had to build the machine that put all those pieces together under the watchful eye of the folks in the pencil factory.

And here’s the miracle: all that raw material and workmanship, and you can buy a box of 320 them, pre-sharpened, for…wait for it…$29.99. Is that not amazing? Less than 10 cents per pencil. It boggles the mind.

Thank you, workers! ALL of you. You are continuing God’s work in the world.

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1.31, ESV)

I need to write some lessons learned from I Corinthians, but first a bit of whimsy with a point: are we aware of how much of the scripture we eagerly embrace versus how much we ignore? Chapters 11 – 14 are filled with things we just never talk about. For example:

• How many of our churches require women to cover their heads? (1 Corinthians 11.1 – 16)
• How many of us believe that EACH of us is given a manifestation of the Spirit? (1 Corinthians 12.4 – 7)
• Which of these manifestations from 12.8 – 10 is yours?
  • Word of wisdom
  • Word of knowledge
  • Faith
  • Healing
  • Miracles
  • Prophecy
  • Discerning spirits
  • Tongues
  • Interpretation of tongues

• Do any of our churches practice the form of gathering described in chapter 14? 

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. (1 Corinthians 14.26 – 33, ESV)

• Some of our traditions don’t require the women’s head covering of chapter 11, ignore all the manifestations of the Spirit in chapters 12 and 14, would never dream of a spontaneous Spirit-led gathering, yet strictly hold to women being silent in the church, in part because of the very next two verses in 1 Corinthians 14.

The women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. (1 Corinthians 14.34, 35, ESV)

• And some of the traditions that do exercise gifts of prophecy and tongues have had women preachers for decades!

Go figure. “The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it!” Really?

• Can we exercise humility because none of us understands and practices all of it?
• Can we cut each other some slack for the same reason? 

In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity. – often attributed to John Wesley but first written in the early 1600s by Rupertus Meldinius, an otherwise unknown Lutheran theologian. (It’s not inspired scripture, but it’s not a bad practice!)

Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls… (Romans 14.4, LSB)

Here’s a feel-good sports story that illustrates an important lesson. Wynton Bernard, of the Colorado Rockies baseball team, made his major league debut on August 12, legging out an infield single, stealing a base, and scoring on a sacrifice fly. So what, Bob?

Bernard is 31 years old, he’s in his 10th season of professional baseball, he played 863 minor league games. This is his first chance in the major leagues. You can read the whole story here. Here’s how it starts:

Denver folks needed to cheer Bernard, who had given them a good cry before his debut. Late Thursday afternoon, Bernard shared his dream becoming reality via a video call with his mother, Janet Bernard, after being informed by Triple-A Albuquerque manager Warren Schaeffer that he was, indeed, getting the call to The Show. That emotional call was then shared with the world.

And the debut was magical. The scene of Bernard beating out a grounder to third was slightly awkward at first — due to first-base umpire Alex Tosi initially calling him out. But this is a feel-good story, remember, and after a replay review confirmed Bernard actually beat Josh Rojas’ throw to first, it sent both him and Rockies fans into euphoria. He’d later swipe second base for good measure.

According to STATS Inc., at 31 years and 322 days old, Bernard became the oldest player to get a hit and steal a base in his Major League debut since the Cardinals’ Joe Delahanty on September 30, 1907 (31 years, 347 days). – Thomas Harding, MLB.com.

You can see a video of his hit and the rest of the inning here, capturing the excitement of his teammates as well as the announcers. In his first 15 games, he’s batting just under .300, so he’s off to a good start. I hope he does well.

He persisted until he succeeded. There’s a lesson for us all.

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.14, ESV)

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. (1 Corinthians 9.24, ESV)

There’s a simple lesson in 1 Corinthians 12: we’re not all the same! Profound.

⁴  Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
⁵  and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;
⁶  and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
⁷  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ( 1 Corinthians 12.4 – 7, ESV)

To EACH is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. We could write a month of blogs on that alone. Church members generally believe that to the clergy a manifestation of the Spirit is given. But it’s EACH.

Paul goes on to use the human body as an analogy. No one part is sufficient. Sometimes football announcers are careless in attributing too much significance to the quarterback. If the “big uglies” on the front line don’t block for him, he’s worthless. If his receivers can’t get open and catch the ball, he’s worthless.

Our new friend Rod Carew from yesterday’s blog on focus has something to contribute to this discussion. Jason Gay asked him why the Major League batting average is so low. Rod’s response was clear: everyone is trying to be a home run hitter:

They’re trying to get everyone to hit the ball out of the ballpark, whether they can do it or not. These kids aren’t using their heads and understanding what kind of hitter they are. 

Luis Arraez with the Twins started off good, hitting the ball all over the place. Then all of a sudden, he hit a few home runs and started swinging up. I was in Minneapolis and I spoke with him: “What are you doing? Hitting six to seven home runs is not going to be of any value to you. Getting base hits and getting on base and scoring runs, that’s where your game is. Don’t fall into the trap … trying to lift the ball and hit home runs.” – Rod Carew, as reported by Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2022, emphasis mine

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. (1 Corinthians 12.18, ESV)

Sometimes, when delivering a series of messages at a conference or even a single presentation, I suggest a technique for applying lessons learned. Often people are inspired when they hear a speaker and are tempted to try to put several things into practice at once. I discourage that attitude with a little talk about focus. I show a picture of Clyde Beatty, the great circus lion tamer, and I ask:

What’s the significance of the chair?

The simple answer is that the lion is looking at the tips of four chair legs, which confuses the lion. He doesn’t know where to look. Too many things to focus on. I explain that this is what happens if you try to apply more than one thing from a sermon, a presentation at a conference, or even a book. We can do only one thing at a time.

So I encourage folks, even if they have three or four things they feel they need to work on, to pick one. Just one, and work on that.

Interestingly, Jason Gay, sportswriter for the Wall Street Journal, recently did an interview with baseball great Rod Carew, now in his 70s. Rod is a batting coach with the Minnesota Twins. Rod teaches what I just said:

The bad thing about video today is a lot of kids look at themselves and want to correct everything. Pick out something, work on it and then something else, and maybe the next day, you go back and work on that. – Rod Carew, as reported by Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2022, emphasis mine

Rod had another comment worth sharing that applies to our Christian walk. Stay tuned.

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little. (Isaiah 28. 9 – 10, KJV)

This one thing I do… (Philippians 3.13)