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| Another friend from high school, Angie, suggested for a blog
topic, “greatest thing you learned from the life of the Savior”. I’ve been
giving this one a lot of thought and I can honestly say it’s not humility!
After giving it much thought, I believe my answer would be sincerity.
That may sound kind of lame to some, but to others who knew me before I became
a Christ-follower might agree sincerity was an issue for me. Most who knew me
would agree that I was sincere about only two things: music and alcohol. But
since coming to Christ I have learned what it means to be sincere, and more
importantly some awesome things to be sincere about.
First I'll start with what it means to be sincere. Paul says in Romans
12:9, "Love must be sincere." Another translation says, "Let
love be without hypocrisy." What that word, sincere, really means is unfeigned,
undisguised, no hint of hypocrisy. That is my working definition of sincerity.
Now that we have that worked out, let's get to what I've learned.
The first think I've learned is to be sincere in my worship. Jesus warns of
"practicing our righteousness" like the hypocrites do, making loud
entrances, sort of "Here I am...check me out...I'm worshiping God...yes, I
am that good" in their actions. He says that when we worship it should
be an intimate experience between just us and the Father. This poses a problem
with me, since I still want to be Ace Frehley. I am a guy who loves to sing and
play my guitar, its even better (for me) when it is done in front of people!
But I have learned to, even during those times when I am leading worship, to
pull back and allow a sort of communion to happen where it's just me and God. I
have also found that it is in those time my worship experienc is most
meaninful.
The second thing I've learned is that my service should be sincere. In that
same passage, Matthew
6:1-6, Jesus tells us to serve without desire for self praise. I think that
in doing this we live out what James calls "real religon", as well as
fulfill the what Jesus calls the greatest commandments, loving the Lord our God
with all of who we are, and our neighbors as ourself. Jesus taught this not
only in word, but in deed as well. Think about the first recorded miracle,
turing water into wine. He didn't really want to do it, but he knew it was
important to his mother, so he did it. Think about who got the
"glory" among the guests, it wasn't Jesus but the bridegroom. Jesus
received the glory from his followers, but no one else knew...I think that's
the way he wanted it. Think about the times he saw hungry people on a hillside
or sick people laid at his feet. He fed them. He healed them, He served them.
I've also learned to love sincerely. The love that Jesus possessed caused him
confront and condemn sin, but still love the individual. He never accepted sin
(note what he said to the woman caught in adultry, "Neither
do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.") and called the
sinner to leave sin behind, but he loved those in sin, taking meals with
them...just sort of hanging out with them. Jesus in his holiness could have
come smashing sinners into the dust and raising the righteous to sit with him
on high, but he would have been alone in that high and loftly place (by alone I
am saying there would not be any of us, of course there would still be the
other memebers of the Trinity and angels...please no nasty comments about this
one). Jesus called folks to repentace, but had (has) a genuine love for all
mankind, seeking to see them in a "right" relationship with God. He
showed the way through is death and resurrection. "Greater love has no one
than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends," John 15:13.
One more thing before we wrap this up, I have learned a love
for my family that should be unsurpassed by any other. All we need to do is
take a look at Jesus on the cross when he saw his mother standing there
weeping. He saw her need, her hurt her longing for her son and told the
"disciple whom he loved" "she's
your mother now...take care of her like I did." And from day on he
did, taking her into his house and treating her like his own mother. This is
the one I'm working on the hardest, I don't always get this one right. Far too
often phone calls, travel, business, "God's business" gets in the way
of putting this into practice. I would say that I'm not the only one who has a
hard time with this though. I think that each day we should strive a little
more to live this principle out in our lives and families our world would be a
much better place.
There are manymore things I have learned from Jesus as I've
followed him, but these are the main things I try to put into practice
everyday. Each day is a new journey and a new learning experience. My desire to
grow closer to him and try to be more like him as I move around on this planet.
I'd love to hear what you've learned from following Him.
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| This suggestion comes from one of the coolest “chicks” I
know, Dolores May (I think this is the first time I've typed your “new” last
name).
My parents left officership when I was only 10, so I really
don’t have any recollection of the impact the moves had on me, but my dad was
in the US Army and we moved a few times so I’ll talk about that impact.
I think I was strange in that I really liked moving, until
high school…I’m glad I was able to stay at Cole through graduation, even though
it was my 3rd high school. The experiences I gained in the different
places I lived have molded me into the person I am today. I can adapt to almost
any situation, and fit in pretty much wherever I go (unless it’s a boy band
concert).
I think the process of moving can be difficult for a child,
though. The process of packing seems final to a child. I don’t think children
(I’m speaking of small children, ages 3-8) have the understand of “turning the
page” from one chapter of life to another. It’s easy for young children to see
their attachments as irreplaceable, and thus making it difficult to pull up
stakes and move across town, much less across the country. Nevertheless, as we
grow our minds expand, and if handled properly, moving can give us a thirst for
new things that will lead some to great heights of leadership and innovation.
In short, I like to move every three or four years…staying
in one-place too long freaks me out!
I’d love to hear what you have to say on the topic.
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| Today I have felt the need to write, but faced something I just
hate: the blank page. I sent out a plea to my facebook friends, “wanna blog but
no ideas, tell you what...you come up with the topic and I'll blog about it.
only one rule, must keep it clean”.
Within an hour, I received three great
topics that I will now blog about in order. The first suggestion came from a
guy I knew in high school, Brandon Hopkins, “The wonderful world of sleep, or
sleep deprivation depending upon the day.” Since a good night’s sleep is seldom
found behind my eyelids, I will jot a few ideas about “The Wonderful World of
Sleep Deprivation.”
The idea of a good or full night’s sleep is a foreign idea
to me. Every now and then I may accidently slip in a deep slumber, that is uninterrupted
by a dog’s wet nose, a 4 year old crying, or some other reason known only to
God and the deepest most recesses of my psyche. However, these brief
flirtations with R.E.M. have forced me to learn how to function at an effective
level with less than the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep.
Sleep deprivation has taught me three things about myself:
undefined·
undefinedAlthough I am less “productive” (whatever that
means) I am far more creative
undefined·
undefinedWhile I am far less lucid, I am more entertaining
undefined·
undefinedEven if I experience long periods of staring in
to nowhere, there are intense burst of energy where much is accomplished (that
is usually after a HUGE cup of Dillanos coffee or two 16 oz cans of Red Bull)
I shutter to think what I would be like with 8 hours of
sleep each night for one week straight.
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| For those who know me, I am sometimes hyper-political. I've stayed out of posting anything about the Pres. race for my own reasons. Having said that, the race is over and I've been checking out the change.gov website, our new President-elect's web-communication tool. I have a vested interest in how those in poverty are treated by everyone, including the government.
The following is taken right from his website:
Raise the Minimum Wage to $9.50 an Hour by 2011: Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that people who work full time should not live in poverty. Even though the minimum wage will rise to $7.25 an hour by 2009, the minimum wage's real purchasing power will still be below what it was in 1968. As president, Obama will further raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing - things so many people take for granted.
On the surface this sounds like a good thing. Jobs that pay minimum wage will pay people working 40 hours per week a little under $20k per year. But think about this a little more. I work for a not-for-profit, and this blog is in no way endorsed by my organization or the thoughts/views of my organization, it just my opinion. I know that if I have to pay entry level workers $9.50 per hour that will cripple us.
It's not that I don't want to pay more, it's that I can't. If we had the cash flow, and people we not in such need, I'd pay everyone $15-$20 per hour. They deserve it! But they understand that our job is to help people, and we can't pay as much as other employers.
This wage increase will do damage.
Think about the cost of something we can all agree is essential to life...a Big Mac. Think about the simple cost of a Big Mac, gas, anything for that matter, if minimum wage jumps $2.00 per hour!
I hope this doesn't get passed.
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| New post on podcast http://glennsermons.mypodcast.com/
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Pointint to Him: Teamwork - Galatians 6:1-6
Paul understands that the body is stronger when we work as a team. Sadly, though many of us feel as though we are lone rangers riding the in tandem with our faithful and trusted sidekick, Jesus; and no one else. I can tell you this was never intended by the One called out of sin, into this great salvation. He did not just call us out of sin into salvation alone, but out of aloneness and into community. And it is within this community that we are to be there for one another. Just as mountain climbers help each other, we in the body of Christ must help each other. Paul shows us three ways to practice good teamwork in the church.
Episode download link: http://www.mypodcast.com/fsaudio/glennsermons_20081019_1230-316711.mp3
- Glenn Queener, [4:18 PM]
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