Penalty!

We've all had our share of incidents in our lives when we look back and say,"I shouldn't have done that." I had one this past Sunday. I was scheduled to play the offertory piece on the trumpet, and I had selected a hymn that wasn't too difficult. Anyone who has heard me play solos in church knows I prefer to play slow, gentle music as opposed the typical trumpet fanfare. This time was no exception, so I approached the situation with a "business as usual" attitude.

A wrench got thrown into the plan a couple of days prior to my solo, when my 3-year-old son got overly excited and rammed his head straight into my mouth. My bottom lip was swollen and bleeding for a while after that. If you've ever tried to play a brass instrument with an injured lip, you know it can be difficult and painful. I waited a day or two for the swelling to subside, then I picked up the horn to see if I'd be able to get through it. There was minimal pain, but there also wasn't quite enough sensation to be able to tell what I was doing. Still, I figured that I've done this enough to be able to get by. It's only a few minutes' worth of playing anyway, right?

Sunday morning, the piano intro played, my mouth went to the horn, and...BRAP! False start! Oh sure, I recovered well enough to at least make the piece recognizable, but I considered the overall performance to be a train wreck. I'm my own worst critic when it comes to performance, so regardless of how many "good job" comments I received that day, I assumed everyone was just being generous. For the record, I've rarely (if ever) been able to take a compliment well.

I believe that the Lord was demonstrating my fallibility before everyone to teach me a lesson. He was reminding me that I should never approach any task with a nonchalant attitude. I should never settle for just muddling through and hoping it all works out. He reminded me that I wasn't playing for me or for any other sinful human being; I was playing for Him. Whatever I do for Him, I know that I am expected to give my very best effort. Instead, I took things for granted.

Father, thank You for keeping me humble. Thank You for reminding me that I should never take any gift You have given me for granted, because I know that everything I have can be taken away in an instant.

Hmm...Perhaps it's time I read the book of Job again.

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31

"And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." - Colossians 3:17

Auto-Pilot

Most of us have experienced those moments when our bodies are on "auto-pilot". It is a situation in which we've performed a task so many times in the past that our bodies just carry out the necessary action without our brains becoming actively involved. It may be something as simple as getting out of bed and showering in the morning. It could be much more complicated, like driving to work. It's a bit scary to finally engage your brain at the office and wonder how you got there!

Some of the most interesting "auto-pilot" moments for me happened when I was working for an inventory field office. Our job was to take a team of counters to a store, split up, count the stock, and key our counts into little machines attached to our hips. At the end of the inventory, all our data would be combined on one computer, and we would present the store manager with his inventory report.

For those of us collecting the data, the ability to be both fast and accurate meant being able to delegate two separate tasks to two separate parts of our bodies. Our eyes alone were responsible for counting - no hands allowed. Our hands alone were responsible for keying - no eyes allowed. Any time either body part was used to help perform the other's task, one of the two tasks was neglected, and our productivity plummeted. It was essential to focus each member on its assigned task.

To be fair, not everyone is cut out for this type of work, because to be any good at it, it requires relearning how to count without using your fingers to guide your eyes, as well as relearning how to key a numeric pad without looking at what your fingers are doing (or at a screen). In essence, it requires your brain to "trust" what each member is doing without requiring the other to intervene. It takes a LOT of practice.

Once I had been doing that job for about a year or so, I began to have those occasional "auto-pilot" moments. I would finish a shelf unit without remembering if I had counted everything, yet when I looked back, all the stock was tagged as counted, and all the data was in my machine. It became almost scary the day I "woke up" at the end of an aisle that had to have been close to a hundred feet long, and I realized I had just counted the whole thing by myself!

Sunday morning's special music held another "auto-pilot" moment for me, but this one was different in one very important way. I had not spent over a year training my body to do what it did. A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to replace someone in an upcoming quartet number, something I had not participated in before. Because of the short notice, we only had the opportunity to practice the piece together a few times, and every time we practiced, I missed notes here and there. Apparently, it wasn't obvious to anyone but me...or at least if it was, they didn't say anything about it.

When our time came to sing, it was a genuine "trial by fire" moment for me in front of the whole congregation, yet somehow I felt no fear. There was only peace. There was even a sense of enjoyment. When the music stopped, I suddenly realized that I had sung the entire piece without a mistake. Only God could receive credit for something like that, because the end result didn't come from within me. I was not the one in control. This is what it feels like to have His Holy Spirit working through me. It's an incredibly liberating experience.

Control? Who needs control? That's what I have Him for! We serve a wonderfully awesome God, One who can take a simple, weak moment like that in my life and use it for His glory. When I am weak, His greatness is shown in me. To God be the glory!!

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence." - 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

"For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me." - 2 Corinthians 12:6

The Old Man and the New Man

This past week, I was contacted by an old friend of mine whom I had not spoken to in several months. He asked what was going on in my life, so I told him all about the things that my family and I are involved in at the church, since that's what is most prominent in our lives right now. I explained that, over the course of the last year, I had grown closer in some respects to my church family than I ever had been to my earthly family. This is not an uncommon thing among believers, because when God becomes the center of a relationship, God blesses that relationship with His strength and love.

It became apparent to me, from the worldly way my friend responded, that he did not truly have a relationship with Jesus. Since he had not shut me out completely and asked me to explain what I meant by having a stronger relationship by making God the central focus, I pressed on by laying out the pathway to salvation for him. His first response took the typical diplomatic "works for you but not for me" route. I was content to offer him some references for additional information and leave it at that, because my job as a believer is merely to present Jesus' offer of salvation and leave the decision to the individual. He didn't have to take my word for it, because my words are not what produce a saving faith in Christ. God's word does that.

Because I know this person very well, I expected what happened next. He became very indignant with me, insisting that I was treating him as though he'd never spent a day in church. He responded with everything he thought he knew, about how the Bible is just a book, and that people can make it say whatever they want to fit their own purposes. He told me all about how there are so many different ways to Heaven, and he believed that I was trying to beat him into submitting to my own personal way of thinking. Anyone who has ever tried their hand at soul-winning for Christ has heard these and many other arguments like them before.

If you have a personal relationship with Jesus, especially if that relationship did not begin until adulthood, you know that it is absolutely possible to spend a lifetime in church and never really "get it". Going to church every week doesn't make you a Christian. Listening to others' opinions on what the Bible is and what it says without examining it for yourself does not make you knowledgeable about it. Listening to what the rest of the world says about God doesn't tell you who He is. God preserved His inerrant, unchanging word for us for a reason - so that we could find and commune with Him on our own, without the influence of the world.

Only human arrogance would assume that it is possible to reach God on our own terms, and this very notion violates the holiness and sovereignty of God. This is why there are so many religions in the world today - people are still trying to reach God their own way, because they don't understand who He is! God's word says there is only one way to Him, and that is through a saving faith in Jesus Christ. A relationship with God cannot truly begin until God's word finally sinks in, until you realize that God doesn't judge by your own personal standards but by His. When you finally realize who God is, and who and what you are in the sight of God, when you truly humble yourself before Him for the first time and throw your very life upon His mercy, when you acknowledge that Jesus paid your sin debt in full, then and only then can true fellowship with Him begin.

Satan amplifies human arrogance through religion, by encouraging us to believe that we can be good enough for God on our own. Satan attempts to tarnish the name of Jesus by tempting Christians to sin, and by encouraging those who are not disciples of Christ to call themselves Christians. Satan dilutes the very word of God by encouraging us to create "newer and better" translations of the Bible which change or leave out key words and phrases (Acts 8:37 is a great example). Don't be fooled by this! Blow the dust off your family's ancient King James Bible, and start reading. Research the original words and their meanings. (Strong's Concordance is a great way to do this.) Discover for yourself that God's word means what it says!

I regret to report that my friend did not choose to receive Christ. Nevertheless, I have pleased my Lord by delivering His good news and offering His gift of salvation to another. All I can do for my friend now is pray for him, which I continue to do. I trust God to do the rest, for I know that it is His will that we all humble ourselves before Him and receive Christ. I still love my friend dearly, but I serve the Lord first.

What amused me about our conversation was that my friend insisted that I was not behaving like the person he once knew. He's absolutely right, because I'm no longer that person! The study of God's word and the fellowship I've been privileged to share with other believers has done (and is still doing) a tremendous job of transforming me into the person that God wants me to be, so that I may serve Him the way He wants me to serve Him with my life. Praise God for leading me back to a Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church! Praise God for the life-changing power of His word!

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 1:18

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." - 2 Corinthians 5:17

"He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." - Matthew 10:37

Turnabout is Fair Play

Have you ever experienced that humbling moment of getting caught doing something wrong, not long after you were just telling someone else not to do the very same thing? If you're a parent, I'm pretty sure you have. We all try to set good examples for our kids, but we all backslide from time to time. Thus, the "do as I say, not as I do" philosophy of parenting often comes into play. It shouldn't, but it does. However, this article has almost nothing to do with parenting...well, at least with us as humans being parents.

Last week at AWANA, one of our leaders expressed to me his disapproval of the way that events for that evening had been organized. I told him that, while I saw his point and even agreed with him in some respects, it was not our job to arrange these events; it was our job to see that said events were run successfully - as they were organized. It was our job to present unified leadership to the kids we were shepherding throughout the evening. The decision had already been made, not by committee, but by our ruling authority. In other words, we had our marching orders; it was time to shut up and follow them.

This past Sunday evening, I found myself involved in a conversation with this same leader about various facets of our AWANA ministry that I disapproved of. I hadn't intended for our dialog to last over an hour, but it did. I kept wanting to walk out the door and get home, but the Holy Spirit kept me rooted where I was, saying "listen to this man." Eventually, I came to realize that our conversational roles from several evenings prior were now reversed. I was the one who was out of line, and he was correcting me.

It did not matter that we were not at a club meeting at the time, with kids all around us waiting for us to lead. What mattered was that I was now the one who was disrespecting the chain of command, and I was taking my problem to the wrong person. This is how divisions begin in the church, and as Bible-believing Christ followers, we should not be a part of this practice. The church should be unified before the world and before God, speaking with one voice, proclaiming the same gospel - the good news of Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, as the once-and-for-all atonement for our sins.

How easy it is for us to get distracted by our own narrow, selfish point of view. How easy it is for us to take our eyes off the prize. How easy it is to forget what our primary objective is as disciples of Christ - to go forth and make other disciples of Christ. I was reminded that God's purpose was being fulfilled through our AWANA ministry, so the petty details should not matter. Dozens of kids have been saved this year as a result of what God has done through us. There are only two club meetings left this year, and I here I am, attempting to muddy the waters, to prevent us from finishing strong. What a fool I am!

As my loving Heavenly Father, God is my provider, my guide, and even my disciplinarian when necessary. That is, He is the best parent I could ever or will ever have. My job as His child is to trust and obey - to leave the details to Him, to trust He knows what He is doing, and to do what I'm called, told, or led to do. God does not make mistakes, nor does He ever give us a bad example to follow. It was no mistake that He preserved His word for us to read today, and it was no mistake that, within His word, we are given the best example possible to follow - the life and death of Jesus.

"Father, You are my sovereign Lord. Thank you for your discipline. Thank you for giving me exactly what I need, exactly when I need it. Help me to trust always that You know exactly what You are doing, and to leave the details to You. Take my life, and be further glorified by it. In Jesus' name, amen."

"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." - Matthew 7:5

"Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." - Ephesians 5:21

Things Working Together

Have you ever been through one of those situations where you weren't sure exactly why you were put there, except to fill a space? That was me last night at AWANA. This is not to say that I didn't have anything to do. I had my usual handbook time with the kids, listening to them pass off their Bible verses, and I even got called forward to assist Pastor Jeff in an illustration by having my hands duct-taped together with those of two other clubbers (thanks for the tape burn, Pastor). Beyond that, however, there wasn't much for me to do.

It was auction night, a chance for our clubbers to spend all the AWANA bucks they had received for various accomplishments throughout the school year. Since the auction was held during what is usually game time, I had no games to oversee. I was just...there, doing what I had volunteered to do. This is not a bad thing, because I have already learned that life is not about me. Life is about the fulfillment of God's plan for all of us. I don't even pretend to understand the details of said plan; I just go where I am sent and do what needs to be done.

As it turns out, sometimes being in the proverbial background is a good thing. It allows me to see how God works in the lives of others without my being actively involved. It reminds me that God's work is not carried out by people working under their own power; rather, it is God working through people and situations to accomplish His sovereign will. Essentially, it's not about us. It's about Him. Everything is about Him, even if we fail to see it at the time.

Over the course of the last several months, two other AWANA leaders have come to me separately, on multiple occasions, to express their feelings about what's been going on in their own lives. Each time, I just listened and offered an encouraging word when I could. I also slowly came to realize how much these two people have in common, and I often wondered why they had not sought each other out for support, but I never really said much about it.

I found out later that a frustrating incident for both of them at last night's AWANA meeting prompted a two-hour phone call between them. This conversation blossomed into the beginnings of friendship. God used the pitfalls of the day in their lives to show them His possibilities. What a great reminder that God is at work all around me. It's a pleasant way to remember that God doesn't need me, but we all need Him. I may not understand His plan, but it's nice to know that I don't have to understand in order to trust and obey. Our God is so good. Thank you, Father, for the many wonderful ways You continue to bring peace to my heart.

(Names have been withheld to preserve the privacy of all saved sinners involved.)

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." - Proverbs 3:5-6

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

The Thorn

As my first year of participating in the church choir begins to wind down, I'm starting to look back over everything I've learned (and am still learning) by singing with a group on a regular basis. For example, blending with a group has never come naturally to me. It has taken me many months to learn how to listen to what others are singing as I sing, in order to adjust myself accordingly. I'd been told to do that repeatedly in my high school band classes, so I understood the concept in the abstract. I just never really "got it" until I tried actually working at it.

Another big step for me was learning to read bass clef. As a trumpet player in high school, I had only ever needed to read treble clef. Bass clef was something those "lower instruments" read. When I joined the choir, I was suddenly forced into a situation where I was reading the bass clef line 90% of the time. Yes, even with my high, squeaky voice, I fit best as a tenor. It was trial by fire, and I had to learn fast! Fortunately, knowing enough from my treble clef days, I was able to teach myself rather quickly. Still, there were some embarrassing days when I cheated during times of unison and read the ladies' part, only to keep singing with the ladies when our parts diverged!

As accomplished as our choir has become in the last year, I was very surprised to learn this past week that there are individuals within the choir who cannot read music at all. (This is one of my major faults - I've always assumed that, if something comes easily for me, anybody else should be able to pick it up too.) Now this is a humbling experience, to have been so focused on my own struggles that I completely dismissed the possibility that others close to me might be in a worse situation than I was! Sound familiar? It should; most of us do this every day. I know I still do.

As with most anything in life, there are many practical lessons which cannot be learned from a book; they can only be learned by experience. Most of us (even some expert music readers) cannot get a true feel for what a piece is supposed to sound like until we play or sing it through a few times. Only by singing or playing it through again and again do we begin to understand the emotion of the piece. Once we "get it", we start to make little adjustments here and there to better convey the appropriate emotion, and we start to truly make the music speak. Hmm...Maybe there's an analogy to reading the Bible and witnessing for Christ in there somewhere.

Development of new skills in life comes by doing, not by reading. Granted, if you can read about something first before trying to tackle the practical application, you're probably ahead of the game. However, reading is usually just a place to start. Consider this. There are those among us who cannot read about a subject first, because they don't know how to read. In some ways, they may be ahead of those of us who can read. Having not read about it first, they have far fewer preconceived ideas about what's supposed to happen when the doing starts, so their minds are more open to learn by doing.

Regardless of the method(s) employed, we all learn in different ways. A big lesson I learned this year was that the choir gauges the successful conveying of a piece's message by the number of resounding "amens" given by the congregation. There have been weeks in the past when we could have heard a pin drop after we sang; other weeks, as many as half the congregation gave an "amen".

This week, only one "amen" was heard, but it came from a place close enough to touch my heart. This week's number was The Promise of the Thorn, a piece about Paul's thorn in the flesh, and how God's grace was enough for him, because God's power is made manifest through our own weakness. The message broadened when the lyrics changed from "Paul was given a thorn" to "YOU may be given a thorn." As I mentioned in a previous post, my wife's health changes from one week to the next. Her health has not been good all weekend, yet she still came to church to hear the message. She was the one who said "amen."

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." - 2 Corinthians 2:9-10