Perspective

After watching a few bowl games over the long weekend I saw a pattern of behavior that I found interesting. Several teams lost after being down big early - 20-30 points behind in the first half - only to make a spectacular comeback in the fourth quarter. They fell short and still lost.

The thing I found interesting was the reaction of the coach and/or "star" player after barely missing a big play that would have brought them closer to a victory. They seemed completely dejected, as though the entire game was dependent upon that one play.

The reality is that if they had played with that same intensity early in the game they would not have been in as deep a hole as they were. I believe we can learn some things from this. Make every play count. Make your best effort before you get behind. Don't allow the cushion of time to keep you from pursuing the goal.

You can call it procrastination or complacency. You can call it lazy or unmotivated. It really doesn't matter how it is explained. The reality is it will require an extraordinary effort to recover from a slow start, and most of the time you will fall short of the goal. Determine now to do your best work. Make the effort now to improve your plan, skills, or work ethic.

My high school basketball coach, Gerald Fikes, used to say, "The best defense is a good offense." When you are scoring points the pressure is place on the opposing team to keep up. You can't always control what others will do. You can, however, determine the level of effort you will give. Make it your best, always, if possible. The game clock will expire one day. Make sure you stay ahead in the game.

Let 2019 Be Your Year of Wonder!

One of my favorite songs by TRUTH is All The Way Back Home by Gloria Gaither and Dony McGuire. It sums up the Believer’s response while in the wilderness when wandering finally turns to wondering.

Verse 1:

My rebellion I called freedom took

My birthright in its hand

And I woke up in some pigpen

In a distant alien land

But I saw myself this morning dared

To see what God could see

And admit I’m lost and lonely

So tomorrow I will be

Chorus

On the road back home to Father

I’ll not stop along the way

I was born to higher purpose

I won’t waste another day

Won’t be camping on the border

Just in sight of what I’ve known

It’s all the way or nothing

It’s all the way back home

Verse 2:

Never been a halfway person

All or nothing is for me

When my footsteps lost direction

I was lost as lost could be

But at last I’ve learned my lesson

Learned from many troubled days

Now that I have started homeward

I’m going all the way[i]

---

[i] © 1979 Designer Music/SESAC (adm. By CapitolCMGLicensing.com), Hanna Street Music/BMI (adm. By CapitolCMGLicensing.com)

Let this be your declaration as we begin a new year. Find the wonder!

Planer Graphs and Dr. Seuss

Without getting too technical I want to talk to you about graphs. You know, those things you probably hated to do in math class. When you get into a little more advanced mathematics it’s important to know if a graph is planer or not. That’s p-l-a-n-e-r. In other words, do all of the connectors on the graph lie in the same plane with no overlapping connectors?

The following graphs show simple planer graphs.

The second shows the connectors overlapping, however it can be redrawn in “planer” fashion as shown below.

The last shows a non-planer graph. The connectors overlap. It cannot be redrawn to eliminate the intersections.

Our lives are not planer. We have to interact with others. It’s called life. It’s the place where change occurs, decisions are made. When you met your spouse, that moment became an intersection for you. The two of you were traveling different directions. The dynamics at that intersection were strong enough to take both of you a different direction.

Sadly, many live their lives trying to avoid the intersections. They order the various aspects of their life with as few intersections as possible. This is not how God created you to live. Others think they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, regardless of what others may think; go any direction they choose without thought of who or what may be in their way. This is not how God created us to live.

Dr. Seuss is an amazing theologian. He wrote a book about Zax.

One day, making tracks In the prairie of Prax, 

Came a North-Going Zax And a South-Going Zax. 

And it happened that both of them came to a place 

Where they bumped. There they stood.Foot to foot. Face to face.  

“Look here, now!” the North-Going Zax said, “I say! 

You are blocking my path. You are right in my way. 

I’m a North-Going Zax and I always go north. 

Get out of my way, now, and let me go forth!”  

“Who’s in whose way?” snapped the South-Going Zax. 

“I always go south, making south-going tracks. 

So you’re in MY way! And I ask you to move 

And let me go south in my south-going groove.”  

Then the North-Going Zax puffed his chest up with pride. 

“I never,” he said, “take a step to one side. 

And I’ll prove to you that I won’t change my ways 

If I have to keep standing here fifty-nine days!”  

“And I’ll prove to YOU,” yelled the South-Going Zax, 

“That I can stand here in the prairie of Prax 

For fifty-nine years! For I live by a rule 

That I learned as a boy back in South-Going School. 

Never budge! That’s my rule. Never budge in the least! 

Not an inch to the west! Not an inch to the east! 

I’ll stay here, not budging! I can and I will 

If it makes you and me and the whole world stand still!”  

Well...Of course the world didn’t stand still. The world grew. 

In a couple of years, the new highway came through 

And they built it right over those two stubborn Zax 

And left them there, standing un-budged in their tracks.

When we’re born, we have a pre-disposition to go a certain direction, the way of Adam. Jesus came to be an intersection in our life. He forces us to make decisions, to change direction. Jesus comes to us to show us “The Way, The Truth, The Life.” We now have a choice to make. Do we continue to follow “our” path or do we choose His way for us?

This is where the phrase “cross roads” comes from. You see, the roadway system is not planer! In the early days of automobiles there were some strange procedures developed to ensure you did not have a collision at intersections, or cross roads. You first had to stop the vehicle and shut off the engine. You then sounded your horn to indicate your presence. If there was no response it was suggested that you then fire a shot with your gun to indicate you were about to enter the intersection; very different than today’s driving.

If you notice, there’s always traffic control devices at cross roads. It’s as simple as a stop sign, or as complex as multiple direction traffic lights. These are all designed to keep us out of trouble.

The same is true when you begin your journey on the path of Christ. Our spiritual “traffic controller” is the Holy Spirit. That is why it is so important to learn to hear His voice. He speaks to give us information that will help as we traverse the non-planer graph known as the Christian life.

Communion is one such “cross roads” that we must choose to encounter. It’s a built in rest stop on our journey where we can take opportunity to rest our souls, check the tires, see if there’s anything that is going un-noticed on our vehicle, and deal with it. Paul said to “consider the Lord’s body” to see if there’s anything unclean in us. It gives us a chance to adjust our course, check our map to see if we are still on track with the Holy Spirit, pursuing the destiny that we took on when we encountered Jesus at the “Salvation Cross Road.”

It is not ironic that the symbol of our faith today is a cross. As a matter of fact, it is the very reason Jesus came from heaven to earth. He came to “cross” our path to introduce us to the Father. What will you do with your “Cross road” moment? Let’s choose well. Let us choose Christ.

If Wal Mart Can Sell Valentines At Christmas, I Can Talk About Easter At New Years

It's amazing to me how retail has started getting the jump on every holiday. I remember standing in Cracker Barrel in early August. There was, of course, football everything and the remnants of July 4th, but also Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas merchandise everywhere. I was in Wal Mart on Christmas Eve and noticed Valentine's Day displays. It's pretty crazy, but not more crazy than a minister of music's life.

While the Christmas decorations are still hanging I'm in full-blown Easter mode. Actually, I've been working on it for about a month, even before we performed our Christmas music at church. It's just the way it is.

This year I'm working on a new approach to telling the Easter story. I would like some input on this, so if you're willing, so please comment either here or on Facebook. Or, you can private message or even e-mail if you prefer to be more anonymous at ibworshipin@gmail.com.

The things I'm looking for are the elements of the story you find most compelling, and why. Was it the triumphant entry, or the Passover meal with the disciples? Perhaps the trials, betrayals, etc.? Gethsemane? The crucifixion itself? What about the burial, or the resurrection? How about the Emmaus Road experience, or other sightings of Jesus after the resurrection? The ascension?

I'm looking at some of the backstory to why Easter was needed in the first place. Things like the Garden of Eden - the place of original sin. Or the deliverance from Egypt - instituting the Passover. And then there are numerous prophecies, types, and shadows of how Messiah would die, be resurrected, even the method by which He would die.

Any thoughts you have along these lines would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking forward to hearing some of the elements you find most interesting about Easter. Thanks in advance.

By the way, any unique ideas I choose to use I will give you credit, if I know who you are.

Any Day Can Be New Year's Day

My friend, Jeff Jenkins, posted something today that brought a verse to mind. He said, "It's not just the beginning of every New Year that we can have a fresh start, it's the beginning of every day! Every new day is God’s invitation to a start all over again."

In Exodus 12, before Israel had been delivered from Egypt, God spoke to them and said, "This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.” Exodus 12:2 (ESV)

Regardless of your circumstances, even while you are still in the middle of the problem, your life can be changed. Any day is an opportunity to begin a new life, get a fresh start, begin to live, maybe for the very first time!

Never consider your life over. I have several friends fighting for their life against disease. Today could be the day that God speaks a new beginning for them. Even if you're not facing something this dire or dramatic, it still matters to God. He wants you to have the life Jesus bought for you through His sacrifice on the cross. In John 10:10 Jesus said, "I came to give you abundant life." Abundant means, "The God kind of life." The life He gives exceeds anything you could imagine.

Be willing to allow God to change your circumstances. Like Israel in Egypt, they had to believe what God said to them and act on it. The result was freedom for centuries of captivity.

A new day. What a concept. Literally, a new beginning.