I have to tell you, I'm one thankful man. God is so good to me (and my family). I continue to be amazed at why God lavishes His love and affection on me as I continue to figure what it truly means to follow Him. As I stumble and fall and continue to strive to follow Him with my life, He extends so much love and blessings into my life. So, in light of Thanksgiving just passing us and really thinking through all that I have in Him and through Him, I've decided to make a list of 52 things that I'm thankful for. Here they are:
1. My Rescuer and Redeemer, Jesus Christ
2. Mandy Armitage (she gently shows me who #1 is)
3. My savings account
4. My back yard
5. My parents, Norm and Priscilla (they the bomb)
6. Meat
7. Ethiopia
8. North-Mar Church
9. My home
10. Logan, Landon and Levi (love spending time with those crazies)
11. A pair of shoes that I purchased from Target for $6.00
12. Our mini-van
13. John, Jeff and Kevin---my 3 friends who keep me accountable.
14. The book of Romans
15. Furniture in my house
16. Mandy's parents, Don and Betty
17. Chicken Wings (especially the garlic ones from Cleats)
18. Gulf Shores, Alabama
19. My small group
20. The men and women that I work with
21. United States
22. My Bible (that was recently re-bound)
23. My shed (or mini-barn)
24. The Junky Car Club (www.junkycarclub.com)
25. Missionaries
26. My family (bro, sis, their families, bro-in-law and sis-in law)
27. Canada (proud to be a Canadian citizen)
28. My fire pit in my back yard
29. The men and women who serve overseas
30. The students in my youth group (they make me laugh)
31. My farm
32. Minoungou (our sponsored child in Burkina Faso)
33. The Holy Spirit (real, powerful and ever so convincing)
34. Romans 8:28
35. Indoor Soccer
36. Trees that show God's creativity
37. Peamale bacon
38. Compassion International (www.compassion.com)
39. Internet
40. Computers
41. Amish people (they teach me that simple living is attainable)
42. College students that are preparing for full-time ministry (they have my prayers and admiration)
43. Subway $5 subs
44. Politicians (the ones that are actually honest)
45. Dangerous Wonder (a great book)
46. A Church that takes care of me and my family
47. Levi's birth mother (that she cared enough to give him over to an orphanage)
48. Hot Chocolate
49. Bon Jovi (the stuff from the 80's)
50. America's Funniest Home Videos
51. Vacations
52. Heaven
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Choosing to Cheat Part 2
We live in such a me-centered world. Everything is about the individual. Instant gratification is at our fingertips. We want things "now", and rarely are we willing to wait. We have high-speed Internet, call ahead seating at certain chain restaurants, express check-out at grocery stores, instant texting and express oil changes. We even have the capability to pay all our bills and do all our banking with one single click. The self-centered world that we live in is saturated with me-thinking that wants little to do with waiting and patience...the very things that Jesus modeled and wants in the life of His followers. We'll cheat everything else, but we don't like to be cheated. No one will cheat the almighty "ME". No way.
It brings me back to the book that I read a couple of years ago, "Choosing to Cheat" (which I've referred to in an earlier blog). When the most important collides with the less important, who or what wins? I work with high school students in my church and often times I find myself disturbed by the very things that students end up cheating. What's amazing is that there are some parents that aren't bothered by this "cheating". What I'm referring to is an ever increasing love for the things that really don't matter in the whole scheme of things and a lack of love for those things that will draw a student closer to the heart of God. Our high school sport culture is immersed in practice and winning so much that it has led to some students living unbalanced lives. Parents often urge their students to take a higher level of classes so that they can "pad" their resume...often times at the expense of their own students spiritual potential. Students become so busy and consumed with grades that they have very little time to give to God and fostering that relationship with Him. This is cheating.
Many students will spend hours upon hours at a field or on a court and have a hard time giving 2-3 hours a week to their local church. Now, I do believe in incarnating the gospel and believe that students can best live out the gospel of Jesus in their local school. However, the church plays a crucial role in developing, training and motivating students to take "the next step" spiritually. Without this crucial and essential training, students are often left with simply an activity-filled life instead of a life filled with purpose, meaning and opportunity.
I know of a family who will only let their children play one sport a year. Interesting...they may be on to something. Instead of cheating God and His Church, these parents have said, "we'll cheat sports so that Jesus can have a more active part in our kids lives". It's paying off too. Their children love God! I know that I've yet to parent a teenager, but even now as my oldest is seven years old, I find Mandy and I having to make some tough decisions. I refuse to allow sports cheat God and His mission for our children. Sports, school, and extracurricular activities will be cheated so that me and my family can do all that we can to love God and live congruent lives before Him.
Sound impossible? It's not, but its definitely difficult. I need the help of God and the help of other Christ-followers who think like this to encourage me and urge me to not cheat God and His activity in my life and my family's. I really want to live like this. I want my children to be involved in their school, their community and their neighborhood, but balance must be achieved. God must not be cheated. No idols will be erected in my house.
How about you. Are you balanced? Are you cheating God? Chew on it...
It brings me back to the book that I read a couple of years ago, "Choosing to Cheat" (which I've referred to in an earlier blog). When the most important collides with the less important, who or what wins? I work with high school students in my church and often times I find myself disturbed by the very things that students end up cheating. What's amazing is that there are some parents that aren't bothered by this "cheating". What I'm referring to is an ever increasing love for the things that really don't matter in the whole scheme of things and a lack of love for those things that will draw a student closer to the heart of God. Our high school sport culture is immersed in practice and winning so much that it has led to some students living unbalanced lives. Parents often urge their students to take a higher level of classes so that they can "pad" their resume...often times at the expense of their own students spiritual potential. Students become so busy and consumed with grades that they have very little time to give to God and fostering that relationship with Him. This is cheating.
Many students will spend hours upon hours at a field or on a court and have a hard time giving 2-3 hours a week to their local church. Now, I do believe in incarnating the gospel and believe that students can best live out the gospel of Jesus in their local school. However, the church plays a crucial role in developing, training and motivating students to take "the next step" spiritually. Without this crucial and essential training, students are often left with simply an activity-filled life instead of a life filled with purpose, meaning and opportunity.
I know of a family who will only let their children play one sport a year. Interesting...they may be on to something. Instead of cheating God and His Church, these parents have said, "we'll cheat sports so that Jesus can have a more active part in our kids lives". It's paying off too. Their children love God! I know that I've yet to parent a teenager, but even now as my oldest is seven years old, I find Mandy and I having to make some tough decisions. I refuse to allow sports cheat God and His mission for our children. Sports, school, and extracurricular activities will be cheated so that me and my family can do all that we can to love God and live congruent lives before Him.
Sound impossible? It's not, but its definitely difficult. I need the help of God and the help of other Christ-followers who think like this to encourage me and urge me to not cheat God and His activity in my life and my family's. I really want to live like this. I want my children to be involved in their school, their community and their neighborhood, but balance must be achieved. God must not be cheated. No idols will be erected in my house.
How about you. Are you balanced? Are you cheating God? Chew on it...
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Choosing to Cheat
Several years ago, I read a great book by Andy Stanley entitled "Choosing to Cheat". It's a simple book that takes no more than two nights to read (that's if you're a slow reader like me) and looks at the issue of when family and work collide. This simple but yet profound book has implications for not only family and work, but can affect our church involvement, how we parent, involvement in our respective school, community involvement, and how much money we give away.
In a nutshell, the book says that when the opportunity comes and you're confronted with a decision to prioritize either family and work, let the family value win. Tomorrow I leave for retreat with a group of high school students. All week, I've been preparing for this retreat, because I desperately want it to be a time that is both encouraging and inspiring for those high school students that come. I've put a lot of physical and mental energy into the retreat and in other areas that are a part of my "job". I'm constantly watching how many hours I spend away from my home and at my work (or ministry). I don't want to cheat my family, rather I'd rather have a ticked off elder board than a ticked off kid because his daddy spends too much time at "the office" (fortunately, I serve at a church where the elders are adamant that my service to my family precedes my service to the church).
The implications have broader affect when I look at my finances. Mandy and I recently bought a couple couches for our family room because the current ones are worn out and falling to pieces (literally). We saved up, shopped around for deals and didn't spend the money until we really needed the couches. Due to this out of the ordinary expense, the temptation and opportunity came to cheat God with my finances. Before I could be tempted to hoard and keep my money, I ran over to my check book and made a check out (my tithe). I didn't want to cheat my Lord. The same resolve I had to not cheat my family of time and security, is the same resolve I want with my finances and every facet of my life. I want to serve my Lord regularly. I want to spend time with Him regularly. I want to give my money and time to Him regularly. I don't want to cheat my Lord. I'd rather cheat myself and keep the dilapidated furniture than cheat Jesus.
Choosing to Cheat has even wider implications. More on that later...stay tuned!
In a nutshell, the book says that when the opportunity comes and you're confronted with a decision to prioritize either family and work, let the family value win. Tomorrow I leave for retreat with a group of high school students. All week, I've been preparing for this retreat, because I desperately want it to be a time that is both encouraging and inspiring for those high school students that come. I've put a lot of physical and mental energy into the retreat and in other areas that are a part of my "job". I'm constantly watching how many hours I spend away from my home and at my work (or ministry). I don't want to cheat my family, rather I'd rather have a ticked off elder board than a ticked off kid because his daddy spends too much time at "the office" (fortunately, I serve at a church where the elders are adamant that my service to my family precedes my service to the church).
The implications have broader affect when I look at my finances. Mandy and I recently bought a couple couches for our family room because the current ones are worn out and falling to pieces (literally). We saved up, shopped around for deals and didn't spend the money until we really needed the couches. Due to this out of the ordinary expense, the temptation and opportunity came to cheat God with my finances. Before I could be tempted to hoard and keep my money, I ran over to my check book and made a check out (my tithe). I didn't want to cheat my Lord. The same resolve I had to not cheat my family of time and security, is the same resolve I want with my finances and every facet of my life. I want to serve my Lord regularly. I want to spend time with Him regularly. I want to give my money and time to Him regularly. I don't want to cheat my Lord. I'd rather cheat myself and keep the dilapidated furniture than cheat Jesus.
Choosing to Cheat has even wider implications. More on that later...stay tuned!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
God and Eric...and what I'm learning from it all.
Okay, so it's been a long time since I last blogged. Actually its been too long. I fell out of the blogging world in the summer when Mandy started blogging more on our adoption of Levi. With all that surrounded the adoption of Levi and our impending trip to Ethiopia, I kind of put my own personal blogging on hold, and now is the time I shall resume expressing my personal thoughts, opinions and life lessons in the "blogosphere". So, I thought I'd share some thoughts and lessons from a new friend that I have. His name is Eric.
I met Eric at the beginning of the summer and soon realized that this brand new follower of Jesus had tremendous potential but desperately needed to get grounded in this new faith that he had in Jesus Christ. Eric has a past, which I won't go into, but let's just say that he has been restored by the grace of God and gripped by the mission of God. Eric is a brand new creation. Eric is incarnating the powerful reality the Apostle Paul penned in 2 Corinthians 5:17. His life was once devoted to drugs, loneliness and self-destruction and is now captured by God and His incredible love. It's been amazing to see the changes God has brought about in Eric's life.
A couple of weekends ago, Eric accompanied me on a road trip to Savannah, Georgia to help a friend of mine move. We left late on a Thursday night and drove through the night. Eric had never been on this type of "road trip", where the goal was to simply help a friend. While we were driving on I-77 in southern Ohio, Eric and I were talking about how it's often difficult to love people. Eric asked me, "Paul, have you ever found it difficult to love people?" I assured him that there have been countless times that my love for others has been less than perfect, in fact, sometimes my love for others has been quite pathetic. I find myself often not loving the way Jesus wants me to love. As Eric and I discussed more, Eric said, "I want to have more of a love for people...for people who are hurting." Eric expressed a desire to help people and offer the very hope and salvation that he had received. It was around 1:00am and I found myself thanking God for this brand new Christ-follower and his longing to have Christ's love flow through him into the lives of those that needed it most.
We continued to drive and discuss, until Eric said, "Paul, u gotta' stop. That transport truck on the side of the road is flipped over." I gathered my thoughts, waited for the next exit, turned off and proceeded to go back towards the flipped over transport truck. As we approached the transport truck, it became obvious that this was a serious accident. There were no police or EMT on the scene yet, so besides one other guy, we were the only ones on the scene. Before I could pull our mini-van over on the shoulder of the dark interstate, Eric darted out of our vehicle and ran towards the demolished transport truck. As I got out of the van, I saw a body that looked lifeless lying right beside the shattered window of the truck. It was obvious that this truck driver was ejected from the front window of his truck.
It was dark but this didn't keep Eric from kneeling right before the truck driver and he reached down by his neck to check for a pulse...and YES, he was alive. Eric asked the truck drivers name, and it was Paul. For the next 5 minutes until EMT arrived, Eric took care of Paul. Paul's head was badly bleeding and it was obvious that he had some dislocated and broken body parts as there was bone exposed in the arm area. It did not look good for Paul. Eric got his own jacket and wrapped it around Paul's lacerated head so that the bleeding would subside. Eric kept the attention of Paul as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Eric was right there with truck driver Paul, showing him the affection and care that he just admitted five minutes earlier that he desperately wanted in his life. The EMT arrived, we briefed the state trooper and the medical workers, and then Paul was rushed into the ambulance. We sensed that we were no longer needed, so we made our way back to our van and continued on our road trip.
Following a stop at the nearest rest area to wash the blood off of Eric's hands from the accident, we re-counted what just happened. As we talked about truck driver Paul and this unfortunate accident that we just witnessed, Eric said "Hey, we gotta' pray for Paul". Eric prayed and I agreed as we prayed in our moving vehicle on I-77 in southern Ohio. I reminded Eric what we had just been talking about before we came upon the flipped over transport truck. Eric wanted to have a love for people. Eric wanted to help people. Eric wanted to express love and grace to those people that needed it the most. Eric realized what God was doing, and so did I. Eric had just loved in a very selfless way. He got down on his knees, gave up his own coat and got his hands bloody as he checked the pulse of this poor, broken and injured truck driver. This was love. This was Jesus making a difference in the life of Eric. This was life-change!!!
I'm thankful for the lesson Eric taught me on that late night on I-77 just north of Marietta, Ohio. Eric embodied the very truth that Jesus illustrated in Luke 10. The parable of the Good Samaritan says that while the religious people walked by the beaten, robbed and half dead man, the Samaritan STOPPED and paid attention when others were too busy or too ignorant to stop. It says in scripture that when the Samaritan came upon the man laying on the road, "he took pity on him". This same pity that Jesus described I saw in my friend Eric as he approached the truck driver, cradled his bloody head with his jacket and then patiently waited with him until help came. This is love. This is the love Jesus wants from me. Lord, help me love like this. Help me to take the time to STOP. When I see a need, whether a truck driver ejected from his cab, a homeless man or a hurting teenager, I want to have love. Lord, help me to slow down, see the need and then be filled with compassion and moved towards action. I want to live like this.
Thanks for the lesson Eric!
I met Eric at the beginning of the summer and soon realized that this brand new follower of Jesus had tremendous potential but desperately needed to get grounded in this new faith that he had in Jesus Christ. Eric has a past, which I won't go into, but let's just say that he has been restored by the grace of God and gripped by the mission of God. Eric is a brand new creation. Eric is incarnating the powerful reality the Apostle Paul penned in 2 Corinthians 5:17. His life was once devoted to drugs, loneliness and self-destruction and is now captured by God and His incredible love. It's been amazing to see the changes God has brought about in Eric's life.
A couple of weekends ago, Eric accompanied me on a road trip to Savannah, Georgia to help a friend of mine move. We left late on a Thursday night and drove through the night. Eric had never been on this type of "road trip", where the goal was to simply help a friend. While we were driving on I-77 in southern Ohio, Eric and I were talking about how it's often difficult to love people. Eric asked me, "Paul, have you ever found it difficult to love people?" I assured him that there have been countless times that my love for others has been less than perfect, in fact, sometimes my love for others has been quite pathetic. I find myself often not loving the way Jesus wants me to love. As Eric and I discussed more, Eric said, "I want to have more of a love for people...for people who are hurting." Eric expressed a desire to help people and offer the very hope and salvation that he had received. It was around 1:00am and I found myself thanking God for this brand new Christ-follower and his longing to have Christ's love flow through him into the lives of those that needed it most.
We continued to drive and discuss, until Eric said, "Paul, u gotta' stop. That transport truck on the side of the road is flipped over." I gathered my thoughts, waited for the next exit, turned off and proceeded to go back towards the flipped over transport truck. As we approached the transport truck, it became obvious that this was a serious accident. There were no police or EMT on the scene yet, so besides one other guy, we were the only ones on the scene. Before I could pull our mini-van over on the shoulder of the dark interstate, Eric darted out of our vehicle and ran towards the demolished transport truck. As I got out of the van, I saw a body that looked lifeless lying right beside the shattered window of the truck. It was obvious that this truck driver was ejected from the front window of his truck.
It was dark but this didn't keep Eric from kneeling right before the truck driver and he reached down by his neck to check for a pulse...and YES, he was alive. Eric asked the truck drivers name, and it was Paul. For the next 5 minutes until EMT arrived, Eric took care of Paul. Paul's head was badly bleeding and it was obvious that he had some dislocated and broken body parts as there was bone exposed in the arm area. It did not look good for Paul. Eric got his own jacket and wrapped it around Paul's lacerated head so that the bleeding would subside. Eric kept the attention of Paul as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Eric was right there with truck driver Paul, showing him the affection and care that he just admitted five minutes earlier that he desperately wanted in his life. The EMT arrived, we briefed the state trooper and the medical workers, and then Paul was rushed into the ambulance. We sensed that we were no longer needed, so we made our way back to our van and continued on our road trip.
Following a stop at the nearest rest area to wash the blood off of Eric's hands from the accident, we re-counted what just happened. As we talked about truck driver Paul and this unfortunate accident that we just witnessed, Eric said "Hey, we gotta' pray for Paul". Eric prayed and I agreed as we prayed in our moving vehicle on I-77 in southern Ohio. I reminded Eric what we had just been talking about before we came upon the flipped over transport truck. Eric wanted to have a love for people. Eric wanted to help people. Eric wanted to express love and grace to those people that needed it the most. Eric realized what God was doing, and so did I. Eric had just loved in a very selfless way. He got down on his knees, gave up his own coat and got his hands bloody as he checked the pulse of this poor, broken and injured truck driver. This was love. This was Jesus making a difference in the life of Eric. This was life-change!!!
I'm thankful for the lesson Eric taught me on that late night on I-77 just north of Marietta, Ohio. Eric embodied the very truth that Jesus illustrated in Luke 10. The parable of the Good Samaritan says that while the religious people walked by the beaten, robbed and half dead man, the Samaritan STOPPED and paid attention when others were too busy or too ignorant to stop. It says in scripture that when the Samaritan came upon the man laying on the road, "he took pity on him". This same pity that Jesus described I saw in my friend Eric as he approached the truck driver, cradled his bloody head with his jacket and then patiently waited with him until help came. This is love. This is the love Jesus wants from me. Lord, help me love like this. Help me to take the time to STOP. When I see a need, whether a truck driver ejected from his cab, a homeless man or a hurting teenager, I want to have love. Lord, help me to slow down, see the need and then be filled with compassion and moved towards action. I want to live like this.
Thanks for the lesson Eric!
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