Have you observed that when God grants favor to others those in the kingdom often feel the need to point out their flaws and frailties. Blanchard, Blackaby, Warren and every other public figure is a blend of strengths and weaknesses. They may be the 10 talent guys but that’s no reason those of us with lesser talents can’t bless them and believe the best about them.

Rick Warren, some love him and some think he’s the devil incarnate, did an interview a few years back with Paul Bradshaw that might give you a better insight into his heart and mind. Take a look.

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys – you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:

If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain. But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book (The Purpose Driven Life) sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

• First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
• Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
• Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
• Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do. That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

Pretty interesting, eh! Perhaps a side of this leader you have never heard about. Instead of being critical of others, let’s learn to bless and pray for them that God would help them to use their influence not for themselves but for His glory. I love the idea of life being two railroad tracks. How about you? Are you focusing on your problems or your purpose?

grace to you, bob

I coached baseball for many years when I lived in Winnipeg. I always told the boys who were going to play for me they needed three things: Head, Heart and Hustle.

• Head - they needed to learn the game, think about situations before they happened, anticipate and be ready to respond.
• Heart – Love the game. Bring out the best in your teammates. Come with a great attitude to every game and practice.
• Hustle – I was looking for a 100% effort. Run out every hit, give your best on every play.

Now what does all this have to do with staying the course? It has everything to do with it when you tie it to that most important word, integrity. You see over the last several years professional baseball players have been accused of taking PED’s. Performance Enhancing Drugs. So, the fellow who hit the most home runs in a season to my way of thinking has an * (asterisk) by his name. The fellow who hit the most home runs in a career, same thing, *.  In other words, they didn’t do it fair and square, they wanted the goal so much they were willing to compromise their integrity to get it.

Reading Proverbs 4 today I came across these words of wisdom from Solomon,

My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. Proverbs 4:20-26

There is a danger as we continue this journey with Jesus to become distracted and lose sight of what God’s Word says, of what’s important. Let God’s truth go deep into your hearts, penetrating your minds and providing the foundation for every decision. Don’t compromise yourself to accomplish your goal.  Guard your heart, Avoid perverse talk, Fix your eves on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path! Interpretation, live with integrity. Live in such a way there won’t be a asterisk after your name. He/she followed Jesus for a while but then… (you fill in the blank). Stay the course. Don’t allow the lure of this world to draw you away from the life that God desires for you.

grace to you, bob

Don’t you find it interesting that Jesus chose to start his public ministry at a party?

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied, “My time has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. John 2:1-11

The Son of God invited to a party! He wasn’t just invited, the party got better because He was there. If you ask me, we as Christ-followers don’t celebrate enough. I am afraid over the last few decades people have come to know what we are against but not what we are for. Harsh, mean-spirited individuals make the headlines; those who are strong on the law but weak on grace. Let us invite people on a journey with Jesus. Let’s celebrate who is and what He did. He is the living Christ. When Jesus showed up, things changed…blind men could see, deaf people could hear, lame people walked, dead people lived. He celebrated the journey. Even though the cross was before Him, He did not live in dread or fear. His life was lived with confident assurance.

What a wonderful party we had Sunday evening. As we celebrated Erin’s baptism, the accomplishments of our graduates, and the God’s Stories among us I could sense the smile of God. Our children playing, riding in Mr. Tom’s wagon. The sharing of food, singing together under the beauty of a sunny day. My heart was full of thanksgiving that God allows me to celebrate the journey with this spiritual community. We are not perfect but I get the sense we are progressing toward Christ-likeness. We are learning to believe the best about each other, to respect differences and celebrate our diversity. God is working among us. Pray that you would have eyes to see and ears to hear what He is doing. Come to the party. God’s party. Celebrate the journey, His journey for you.  Don’t miss it by isolating yourself. If you do you mind end up having your own party,  a pity party!

If you can use anything Lord, use me. Let’s celebrate the joy of giving ourselves away for Jesus.

grace to you, bob

It was a beautiful fall day in Manitoba. I wanted to spend some quality time horesebacking riding with my eldest, Heather. I had ridden horses lots as a boy; in fact I used to race my pony when I was a teenager. I was full of confidence.

My daughter mounted her horse and was waiting patiently for me to get aboard mine. The owner of the horses  had warned me on another occasion that the horse I was about to mount sometimes acted up. No problem, I had experience. I was confident. I knew what I was doing.

I stuck my foot in the stirrup and threw my leg over the saddle. About that time Socks (which I discovered was an appropriate name) flew his head back, reared up on his two hind legs and before I knew what had happened I was laying flat on my back on the graveled drive.

I thought I was dead. I thought I was paralyzed. It took me 10 minutes to sit up and another 20 to get up. I finally made my way to to the car and drove to the hospital. I had parts of me that hurt I didn’t even know I had.

My church was very supportive, they said I shouldn’t have tried to put a wooden nickel in the K-mart pony.

Lesson: Too much confidence and too little caution can cause us to end up flat on our back.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ “Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ” ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test. “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Matthew 4:1-11

1. Temptation can come when we are earnestly seeking God.
2. Saturating our lives with God’s Word is a great place to begin when seeking to resist temptation.
3. Don’t allow Satan to twist God’s Word to fit your lifestyle. Adjust your life to line up with God’s Word.
4. Sometimes you just have to tell Satan to “git”! That is not the person I am anymore and through the power of the Holy Spirit I choose to say no.

Exercise caution, don’t be cocky and say that will never happen to me. You might just end up flat on your back!

grace to you, bob

Last Saturday evening I was weary. The plane ride from Illinois to check on mother hadn’t landed back in Calgary until 1:00 am. I crawled into bed around 1:45. We had planned to have another dinner with Pastor Bob and Debbie. I was tempted to cancel. I am glad I didn’t. Little did I know that God had one of those surprises that he often gives when we are weary.

After dinner we sat on our patio with the two couples who had joined us, enjoying the warm summer evening. As usual I asked the question, “Tell me about your spiritual journey.” As Chelsea shared I realized we were on holy ground. She talked about how God had changed her, loved her, forgiven her and how Jesus asked her to give that same gift to her mother. As she walked us through the story of taking baby steps to forgiveness I was blown away. It has such an impact on me I asked her to share her story on Sunday morning. Again, as she shared you could sense the deep work of Christ in her life.

Hosea was my text on Sunday. Just as Hosea’s loyal love would not let go of Gomer, so was God’s loyal love for Israel who continued to pursue her even though she committed spiritual adultery. Judgement was coming. Choices have consequences. But God promised redemption and restoration for those who would return. What a living picture this is of God’s relationship to us! He has loved us, not because we were pure, and holy, and lovely; for, in fact, He knew that we were none of these. In fact we staggered in our sin and unfaithfulness, He took us into a covenant relationship with Himself. Not because we were good, but to make us so; not because we were faithful, but to lead us to be so. He has given us all kinds of blessings. But how often we have strayed. We have departed from Him, and grossly betrayed His trust; till He has been reluctantly obliged to leave us to ourselves. But He waits to be gracious; and if we repent and turn to Him. He longs for us to walk in the transformation that His forgiveness brings.

Forgiveness…is there someone you need to forgive today? A parent? A spouse? A colleague? A friend? A child? Yourself. I love the quote by CS Lewis,  I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Eph. 4:32

Since we have experienced His great forgiveness, let us be a channel of that forgiveness others.

grace to you, bob