A Great Cloud of Witnesses

Last night was staff night in AWANA. Each year, our staff hangs out with the kids in AWANA clubs in an attempt to connect with them. Past years have been challenging, particularly during game time as the competitive nature of our staff members has not always been held in check.

This year, we made a few changes in the format. Our staff divided among the three age groups and we spent the evening with our group. I was with the Cubbies - most of which are about about four-years-old.

During game time, I sat on the line and cheered my team as they participated in the relay races. As our time drew to a close, the leaders invited me and the other two staff members in our group to race one another. Soon, my Cubbies were chanting "Bro-ther-Neal, Bro-ther-Neal!" I was pumped. As they cheered, I was off around the game circle. Yes, I passed both my competitors, careful not to touch them or shove them "in the love of Christ" out of my way! And, yes, as a matter of fact, I did win.

And I owe it to my cheering section. I couldn't let them down, now could I?

You know where I'm going, don't you? " Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us..." Hebrews 12:1 (HCSB)

Just as my Cubbies cheered for me, you are being urged on by the fathers of our faith. RUN!

On the Fall of the Wall - Again

In an article published online yesterday in the Wall Street Journal entitled Reagan in Berlin, John Fund recounts some of the debate around President Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall Speech" he delivered in Germany in 1987. Many recognize this speech as the tipping point leading to the demise of the Soviet Empire. Fund mentions that streets are named after Ronald Reagin in Budapest, Warsaw and Cracow. But, in Berlin, no name changes have been made (though I do recall having been on JFK Street there). Fund then quotes Lothar de Maziere, the conservative who served as East Germany's last president before the country was dissolved:

"The decision to name streets is done at the district level, so maybe something can be done with the local officials," he told me. De Maziere, who as a lawyer defended people who had failed to escape East Germany, says he has no doubt that average people give Reagan a lot more credit for the Wall's fall than do elites. "The name of Reagan is in the heart of ordinary Berliners," he says. "While many people jostle to take credit for what Reagan set in motion, in the end his legacy is secure."

The last line has me thinking this morning. Each and every day you and I seek to set things in motion. To act today so that a better tomorrow can be realized. And we labor in the shadows - in secret - unnoticed and unheralded. But, we are effective. There will, in many ways, be a better tomorrow because we have given people hope, encouragement, exhortation and challenge today. And, if the change is really big (or at least significant), someone might even try to take credit.

But, in the end, you know and I know it was our influence that helped make it happen. And, in the end, our "legacy is secure."

So, the real challenge is this: are you willing to stand firm, labor silently in the shadows, and endure today knowing that it may be in excess of two decades before the effects of the change you influence today is realized? Knowing that your legacy or the significance of your influence may never be realized in your lifetime? Then, carry on.

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Cor 15:58 (HCSB)

On the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

These thoughts were recorded in 1998 as I prepared to journey to Eastern Europe for a three-year mission term. On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall, I thought I'd re-post them here.

In 1987, I made a choice. I was in Germany and had a free weekend to sightsee. My wife and I had been in Munich a couple of weeks before and I had enjoyed the visit. On this free weekend, I could return to Munich (which was familiar and "known") or I could journey to Berlin (the unfamiliar and "unknown"). I elected to return to Munich and enjoyed the weekend.

Two years later, I watched with millions of others around the world as "The Wall" came down, reuniting the divided city. At that moment I realized I had missed an opportunity that would never again be available to me. I had missed an opportunity because I had opted for the safe, familiar and comfortable destination rather than the one that held some "risk" for me.

For some reason I reflected on this experience this weekend as I thought about the people God brings into my life every day. Some I will never meet again. Others need a kind word of encouragement. Still others may learn something from our encounter that will impact the rest of their lives. For others, God might use the opportunity to draw someone into a personal relationship with Him.

God, help me recognize the opportunities of lifetimes. May I never turn from their challenges by escaping into the familiar and comfortable.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiahless/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Where did that come from? Redux

In the last post to this blog (a long time ago), I told the story about how a 10-digit number popped into my head while filling out a deposit slip at the bank. It was my oft-used, long-time frequent flier number.

Last week, I received a note from my airline explaining that, since they had merged with another operation, I now have a new frequent flier number. Really. After 23 years, I now have a new number.

I thought it was a loyalty program! How loyal can it be if it can be -gasp - changed without my knowledge or consent. It's my number! I want it back! Even if it is for my own good. Yeah, right.

Laughable isn't it. I found myself caught up in the "how dare they change anything without my consent."

Change. No one likes it. But it is necessary. That's been my mantra. I've used that line all too often. And, you know? Now that the shoe is on my foot, it fits. I embrace change.

And, in 23 years, maybe I'll have it memorized, too. Like the combination to the lock I used in high school and lost years ago.

Where did that come from?

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the bank to deposit a check. I do not carry deposit slips, but complete counter slips in the lobby. I filled out the slip from memory, including the branch number of the bank and my account number - all 10 digits.

After handing over the deposit to the teller, I watched her enter the data into the terminal and verify it. The expression on her face changed, and she re-entered the account number.

"That number is wrong, isn't it?" I asked.

"I think so," she replied.

I removed the slip of paper from my wallet with my account number and she made the correction. What troubled me was that I had no idea where the 10 digits I had written on the deposit slip came from. It surfaced in my memory without effort. It was the right length. I continued to stare at the number and wrote it on the receipt to so I could figure out where it came from.

Later in the afternoon, I did a search for the number on my PDA. Immediately it popped up in context, and I laughed out loud. My son looked at me with curiosity. I told him what had happened. Then, I apologized for having traveled so much when he was younger. That 10-digit number? My Delta Frequent Flier account.

Where did that number come from? From my experience. Yet another example of how we must be careful about what we take in from our experience - what we see, read, hear, etc. For, as my pastor says often, "what is down in the well, comes up in the bucket."

Did you wake up with worry?

In these uncertain times, it's not difficult to find something to worry about.

Someone has said, "Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday."

So, did your worry yesterday change anything? If something changed, it probably wasn't a result of your worry, but your perspective.

Jesus said it this way: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith? -- Matt 6:25-30 (HCSB)

Stripes with Plaids

There are a number of websites I read daily. Sailing Scuttlebutt is one of those. It is a summary of links related to Sailing and Sail Racing. It also concludes with CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION, which is a quote or observation that is normally quite humorous. Such as the following:

Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.” - Albert Einstein

Don't really have time to elaborate. You can see the point. Slippery Slopes are just that. Once you start down them, it's hard to stop. As you go through your day today, beware of compromise. We don't need anyone else wearing stripes with plaids or dark socks with shorts.