Tag Archives: life

Hide and Seek with a Dead Man

There is a crazy contrast of life and death between two men in 2 Kings 13 and 2 Chronicles 24.  Elisha is the prophet of God who pursues God at all costs, and it costs him alot.  He lives a life of deep, personal faith in God.  He withstands tough trials, he takes on people who hate him for his trust in God, and he sees great works of God done through his hands.  And he dies.

Joash was a prince who became king of Judah.  He was only seven when he became king, and he reigned for decades.  He was guided by a priest named Jehoida, who loved God.  Under Jehoida’s guidance, he turned the kingdom back to God, and had amazing success as a king.  He lived out a public faith, pointed people to God, faced tough battles with enemy armies, takes on other nations who hated God, and saw great works of God done through his hands.  And then, he died.

But when Joash died, it was ugly.  Jehoida, the priest, had died years earlier, and Joash quit following God.  In fact, he ran the other way, and abandoned God.  Because of this, he was wounded in battle, and then later killed in his own bed by conspirators.  His faith was wide, but not deep.  It was a faith to be seen, but not to be lived personally.  When he needed God’s guidance the most, his weak faith did not carry him, and he died a broken ruler who lost his way, at the hands of assassins.

Elisha died of a disease that slowly took his life.  But, through it all, he maintained a trust in God that guided his heart and decisions.  He died at peace, and was buried.  Later, some friends were transporting a friend’s body to a funeral.  As they went past Elisha’s tomb, some robbers came by.  They stuck their friend’s body in the tomb to hide it from the bad guys.  It touched Elisha’s bones, and the guy came back to life.  Even in death, God’s power and blessing stayed with Elisha’s body.

That’s a contrast.

Which are you shooting for?  A faith that is a Sunday faith, once a week, make everyone like you, and live life your own way the other six days?  Are you living off of someone else’s faith?  OR, are you working out a faith through tough times and trials that is deep, and just by being around you, people gain new life?

Two similar but very different paths.  Which are you on?

We’re Just Dying to Be Known….

What do you want to be known for?  No, really, what do you want people to say about you?  What do you want your reputation to be?  Is it to be known as a nice person?  Funny?  Beautiful?  Wealthy?  Smart?  If you had your way, what would people call you once you leave this planet?

I think I’ve found my title, my epitaph that I want to have said of me.

It comes from the book of Joshua, in chapter 24, verse 29:

“29 After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten.”

I know, I know, it’s in the Bible, so of course they are going to call Joshua “the servant of the Lord”.  But wait a minute.  Joshua was a lot of things.  He was an incredibly brave man.  This is the guy who went into enemy land as a spy, met giants, and came home saying they could conquer them.  This is the guy who was “vice president” under Moses’ leadership.  This is the man who was a brilliant military strategist; he took down one of the best fortified cities in history, with a week’s worth of parades and a big band concert.  This is the leader who organized hundreds of thousands of former slaves into a terrifying fighting machine.  This is the man who lead a nation to victory and peace, at a time where peace was impossible to find.  Joshua was a brilliant, brave, fearless, tactical, stud.

But when it was all said and done, those words weren’t adequate to describe him.  They could have been, and probably should have been.  But above those things, he was known for something else.  He was the servant of the Lord.  His life, in victory after victory, and in struggle after struggle, mirrored God.  His faith defined him to everyone who knew him.


All of the other praises and accolades would have been true.  He was all of those things.  But he was more servant to God than any other single thing.  


That is what I want to be known as when it’s all over.  Whatever God may accomplish through my life, I want it all to come down to being known as His servant.  That begins for you and I today.  Joshua formed that persona early on in life.  He was faithful when barely anyone else was.  He was committed to God when others wanted to quit.  He stayed and prayed when others were asleep.  He listened and learned when others were pursuing their own dreams.  You and I can have that same epitaph, but it doesn’t come at death.  It comes today.  Run after God today.  Pursue Him with all you are.  Be a servant today, and the rest will follow.


I really hope it will be said of both of us, “a servant of God”.  For His sake.  He’s worth it.

I Love You with All My Guts!

In Exodus 28, there is a cool set of verses.  God is telling Moses to set his brother Aaron up as the first priest for the nation of Israel.  God is describing for Moses what Aaron’s priestly uniform is to look like.  In the middle of a bunch of descriptions about gold, and tunics, and other stuff, it says:

29 “Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the Lord.30 Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord. 

At first, it’s kind of a Hallmark card, “Aw, isn’t that sweet” kind of deal.  But wait.  At this time in history, you didn’t love someone with all your heart, you loved them with all your guts.  That’s where it hurt when you were in love, so they described love as coming from the guts, not the heart.

So why have Aaron put the names of the people of Israel over his heart if it wasn’t a symbol of God’s love for them?  I’m not sure.  It might be that the heart was a symbol of life.  Aaron represents God.  The tribes names represent all of the people who follow God.  Maybe it’s a beautiful symbol of God continually giving life to those who love Him.

Either way, it’s amazing that God goes out of His way to be sure we know our names are on God’s heart all the time.  

I don’t need to understand any more than that, and I’m good.

Time Out


I’ve been on a vacation for the last two weeks. I haven’t taken two weeks off since I was in college. I say that with regret, not pride.

It was simply fabulous! I can not express what good it did me to be gone for an extended period of time. If you have the ability to link some days together to get an extended break, take it. It is healing and healthy. My family is better off, my marriage is better off, and I am definitely better off.

It’s funny that God prescribes rest, He orders it and calls for it, but we don’t take Him seriously. Then we wonder why our faith is weak, our ministries are a weight, and our burden is heavy. At least I do. My challenge from here is to do a better job at building rhythm. I’ve worked at it before, but I have to continue to try. I can’t give up.

What are you finding that works for you to help with the rhythm of life?

Beep Beep


The craziest thing happened while I was sitting here. Jim’s heart started beeping. Loudly. Jim is the pastor who shares the office with me, and apparently at 10:06 every morning, his heart beeps for 45 seconds very loudly. It was crazy! He explained it to me, it’s his pacemaker. The thing is talking to him, because the battery is starting to wear out, and has to be replaced in the next two months.

First of all, having your heart beep at you, and I mean loudly beep at you, is freaky enough. But then to be told that the battery in it will only last two more months, that’s some stiff news. Jim has to schedule an appointment to get his pacemaker replaced. Major surgery. Big time stuff.

Yet, Jim handles it all pretty well. I mean, I’m sure he worries about it at some level, but his faith seems to be carrying him along.

Now before we get all upset about Jim, we need to consider that the only difference between him and us is his heart beeps loudly. Listening to him explain what is going on reminded me that we all have a beeping heart at some level or another. Death is that topic we all hate to admit exists, yet it’s simply a universal part of living. So, the real question is what do we do while our heart is still beating along? How do we invest our days? It’s the age old question, yet it is still well worth asking. And answering.

Invest your day well today. After you read this, pray. Ask God what He has for you. Listen to what He says. The beeping is only the signal for a transition. What we do here carries on once we are done. Don’t be afraid of what is coming. Let your faith carry you. But don’t miss today either.

Five Days and Counting


Okay, I admit it. I have trouble slowing down when I’m sick. I’ve been feeling under the weather for the past five days. It always goes away on it’s own. Always. Sometimes. But I’m starting to wonder if it’s going to this time. I may have to do the one thing I have such a hard time doing…go to the doctor.

Why does this bother me so? Because I’m the fixer. I mean, my name, according to all of those cheesy Christian store bookmarks and coasters, means “Healing One”. I fix everyone else. I don’t need fixed. Oh, I know, this sounds ridiculous. But it’s there, under the service. It’s not an idea that I am regularly aware of, but it is definitely a value that drives me. I encourage others to get help when they need it, but I rarely take that advice. I’m a complete hypocrite in this area.

Isn’t self revelation tough?

So, what am I to do? I’ll go to the doctor in the morning, for one thing. I’d go today, but I have to teach my class at Taylor. (How do you like that justification?) But I need to do more than this. I mean I have spiritual sickness and emotional sickness as well as my physical ailments. I’ve got to return to trusting my friends and letting them into my soul and life.

Sigh…

When? It’s easier to write it than to do it.

I honestly don’t know. Unfortunately, it won’t be today. I am legitimately too busy.

Wow. More than an excuse, I have ordered my life poorly, in such a way that I really have boxed myself in. It will take a while to rework this. But I must. God’s been pushing me on it for a while, so I need to keep moving towards this.

He is faithful. I just need to follow. I can do that.