ARE YOU WHO YOU WANT TO BE?...NEITHER AM I!
The latest CD release from Switchfoot, “The Beautiful Letdown” has a song in which lead singer Jon Foreman asks, “This is your life, are you who you want to be?”
Maybe it’s because I’m careening toward age fifty in November. Maybe it’s because my family and I are dealing with so many transitions in our lives right, but that question—”This is your life, are you who you want to be?”—smacked me in the forehead when I first heard it and made me ask, “Well, Mark, are you who you want to be?”
I have to say that the answer is Yes...and No.
Yes, I’m happy to be a husband to a patient, loving wife after nearly twenty-nine years of marriage. She’s had to endure my many faults and stupidities for us to achieve that landmark and I’m grateful.
Yes, I’m happy to be the father of two great kids of whom I am so proud.
Yes, I’m happy that God has given me useful work that I enjoy. I’m happy that the congregation I serve as pastor is doing well and that whenever people visit with us at Friendship, they say things like: “This is how religion is supposed to be.”
But no, I am not who I want to be. I get disgusted with myself. Although I know full well the truth of the bumper sticker author who wrote, “Christians aren’t perfect...just forgiven,” I find it vastly more difficult to forgive myself than God does. I can be embarrassingly selfish and incredibly inconsiderate of others, can say harsh things to my family, and in spite of how this little mea culpa may seem, I’m often quick to rationalize every wrong thing that I do.
My sense of disgust with myself extends to my achievements in life...or lack thereof. While I’ve experienced enough life to know that I don’t have the talent to be a modern day Leonardo da Vinci or Benjamin Franklin, boyhood fantasies I once entertained, I do sometimes stew over dying of “permanent potential.” I know that all of life is a gift from God and that most of the time, I am prone to squander it on selfish, pointless pursuits.
According to the wonderful book, “The Life You’ve Always Wanted” by John Ortberg, such thoughts can be dangerous unless we first take the step of putting ourselves in the hands of God. Failing that, self-critical thoughts will only lead us to self-loathing with no hope for healing or positive change. God doesn’t want that to happen to us!
When God came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ, the heart of God was on full display. Through Jesus, we see that God isn’t an angry judge looking for opportunities to “vote us off the island.” God wants us to place ourselves—sins, infirmities, and everything—into His hands. When we do that, God commits Himself to patiently helping us learn to become who both God and we want us to be.
A man named Paul wrote a huge chunk of the New Testament. He wrestled with the reality of his own sins and inadequacies, even attempting various self-improvement regimens. But he writes in the New Testament book of Romans, chapter 7: “I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something terribly different.”
Are you who you want to be? This side of heaven, none of us will be all we want to be. But Christ is the way to becoming that person, starting today and perfected in the world to come. Thank God!
Saturday, July 05, 2003
Wednesday, July 02, 2003
Allowing redundance to be driven into the ground, once again, I post this announcement. If you're in the Columbus area tonight, don't miss this special show to help a family in need...
COMEDY CONCERT TO BENEFIT ARSON ATTACK CHILD SURVIVORS
Reynoldsburg, OH - On June 16th a home was set on fire by arsonists. The family of Five (5) was sleeping. This attack took the life of a mother (Pamela Lee) of 3 children and her 8 year old daughter, Ti'ana Lee. The home was destroyed. Left behind to rebuild their lives are an aunt and the two young sons of Ms. Lee, Tremon and Marquis.
On July 2, 2003 a group of area comedians will be performing a benefit concert at Three Cups Coffeehouse 7524 East Main Street in Reynoldsburg to establish a trust fund in their names for future education, career or business dreams.
Performing at this benefit will be area comedians...
Dan Swartwout
Dawn Holley
Roxane Larimore
Kirk Crawford
and Marty Daniels
The show begins at 7:00 PM. A financial donation will be taken at the door.
Those not able to make it to the show can contact Sally Mowery at Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation by calling 614-422-3171 or emailing her at sally.mowery@chase.com.
COMEDY CONCERT TO BENEFIT ARSON ATTACK CHILD SURVIVORS
Reynoldsburg, OH - On June 16th a home was set on fire by arsonists. The family of Five (5) was sleeping. This attack took the life of a mother (Pamela Lee) of 3 children and her 8 year old daughter, Ti'ana Lee. The home was destroyed. Left behind to rebuild their lives are an aunt and the two young sons of Ms. Lee, Tremon and Marquis.
On July 2, 2003 a group of area comedians will be performing a benefit concert at Three Cups Coffeehouse 7524 East Main Street in Reynoldsburg to establish a trust fund in their names for future education, career or business dreams.
Performing at this benefit will be area comedians...
Dan Swartwout
Dawn Holley
Roxane Larimore
Kirk Crawford
and Marty Daniels
The show begins at 7:00 PM. A financial donation will be taken at the door.
Those not able to make it to the show can contact Sally Mowery at Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation by calling 614-422-3171 or emailing her at sally.mowery@chase.com.
Tuesday, July 01, 2003
Being redundant for web surfers in the Columbus area...
COMEDY CONCERT TO BENEFIT ARSON ATTACK CHILD SURVIVORS
Reynoldsburg, OH - On June 16th a home was set on fire by arsonists. The family of Five (5) was sleeping. This attack took the life of a mother (Pamela Lee) of 3 children and her 8 year old daughter, Ti'ana Lee. The home was destroyed. Left behind to rebuild their lives are an aunt and the two young sons of Ms. Lee, Tremon and Marquis.
On July 2, 2003 a group of area comedians will be performing a benefit concert at Three Cups Coffeehouse 7524 East Main Street in Reynoldsburg to establish a trust fund in their names for future education, career or business dreams.
Performing at this benefit will be area comedians...
Dan Swartwout
Dawn Holley
Roxane Larimore
Kirk Crawford
and Marty Daniels
The show begins at 7:00 PM. A financial donation will be taken at the door.
Those not able to make it to the show can contact Sally Mowery at Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation by calling 614-422-3171 or emailing her at sally.mowery@chase.com.
COMEDY CONCERT TO BENEFIT ARSON ATTACK CHILD SURVIVORS
Reynoldsburg, OH - On June 16th a home was set on fire by arsonists. The family of Five (5) was sleeping. This attack took the life of a mother (Pamela Lee) of 3 children and her 8 year old daughter, Ti'ana Lee. The home was destroyed. Left behind to rebuild their lives are an aunt and the two young sons of Ms. Lee, Tremon and Marquis.
On July 2, 2003 a group of area comedians will be performing a benefit concert at Three Cups Coffeehouse 7524 East Main Street in Reynoldsburg to establish a trust fund in their names for future education, career or business dreams.
Performing at this benefit will be area comedians...
Dan Swartwout
Dawn Holley
Roxane Larimore
Kirk Crawford
and Marty Daniels
The show begins at 7:00 PM. A financial donation will be taken at the door.
Those not able to make it to the show can contact Sally Mowery at Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation by calling 614-422-3171 or emailing her at sally.mowery@chase.com.
Today's e-mailed inspiration from Pastor Glen VanderKloot is something I just have to share on my blog. If you'd like to receive Glen's daily e-mails, write him at pastor@faithlutheran.com.
****************************************************
A Thought for the Day
10 things God wants you to remember
I will strengthen you.
I will answer you.
I will provide for you.
I will be with you.
I will give you rest.
I will bless you.
I will not fail you.
I believe in you.
I am for you.
I love you.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Bible Verse
1 John 3:1 NIV
"How great is the Love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God!"
Prayer
Lord, help me to trust you and your love. Amen.
****************************************************
A Thought for the Day
10 things God wants you to remember
I will strengthen you.
I will answer you.
I will provide for you.
I will be with you.
I will give you rest.
I will bless you.
I will not fail you.
I believe in you.
I am for you.
I love you.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Bible Verse
1 John 3:1 NIV
"How great is the Love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God!"
Prayer
Lord, help me to trust you and your love. Amen.
Monday, June 30, 2003
"People of the Lie"
A woman used to delight my family and me with tales from her life, usually chronicling her encounters with ridiculous people. In all of her stories, she was the sensible heroine, the last intelligent life form on the planet, doing battle with people who were either stupid or mean or both.
Charmed by this woman's intelligence, we at first took in her doses of megalomania with good humor. We all tend to flatter ourselves. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," the Bible reminds us. My nearly half-century on this planet has shown me that that's certainly true of me: I do sin and fall far short not only of the way God wants me to live, but even of the way I would like to live. An awareness of my huge imperfections tends to make me charitable toward others' foibles.
But as we became more acquainted with this person, something alarming happened. Her stories and her opinions about others became more cutting, nastier. Her world began to be composed of her and of whoever happened to be kissing her ring at any given time. It was a world that shrank to small dimensions. Those she once embraced as dear friends were dismissed if they got in the way of her agenda.
She also attempted to enlist others in lying for her, coaching them to fib about her whereabouts and availability for those she once called her best friends. When people refused to lie for her, they were crossed off her list of friends.
In fact, it became obvious that lying was this woman's way of life. The seemingly innocent stories that had at first charmed us took on a more sinister air. As increasingly we caught her lying and scheming to lie, we couldn't help but wonder, "What other lies that we once accepted as the truth has she told us?" Or, "What lies might she have told about us?"
Those were jolting questions.
All our interactions with people--whether with the meat-cutter at the supermarket, the co-worker on the assembly line, the pharmacist filling our prescription, or the employee at the day care center--depend on trust. That's why Jesus said that we shouldn't have to go through elaborate rituals to assure that what we say is the truth. "Let your answer simply be yes or no," Jesus said.
I suppose that all of us have lied. Sometimes we may even lie to protect people from being hurt and there may be virtue in that. But as a way of life, deceit is destructive of friendships and of societies.
Psychotherapist M. Scott Peck wrote a best-selling book several years ago called People of the Lie. In it, he asserted that there are people--some of them warming seats in church buildings on Sunday mornings, some considered the pillars of society--who are given over completely to evil. They are like the people Jesus excoriated in John 8, children of the devil who, when they lie, are simply speaking according to their natures.
My family and I have learned from painful personal experience that such people exist and that when we encounter them, the best thing to do is to walk the other way.
Charmed by this woman's intelligence, we at first took in her doses of megalomania with good humor. We all tend to flatter ourselves. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," the Bible reminds us. My nearly half-century on this planet has shown me that that's certainly true of me: I do sin and fall far short not only of the way God wants me to live, but even of the way I would like to live. An awareness of my huge imperfections tends to make me charitable toward others' foibles.
But as we became more acquainted with this person, something alarming happened. Her stories and her opinions about others became more cutting, nastier. Her world began to be composed of her and of whoever happened to be kissing her ring at any given time. It was a world that shrank to small dimensions. Those she once embraced as dear friends were dismissed if they got in the way of her agenda.
She also attempted to enlist others in lying for her, coaching them to fib about her whereabouts and availability for those she once called her best friends. When people refused to lie for her, they were crossed off her list of friends.
In fact, it became obvious that lying was this woman's way of life. The seemingly innocent stories that had at first charmed us took on a more sinister air. As increasingly we caught her lying and scheming to lie, we couldn't help but wonder, "What other lies that we once accepted as the truth has she told us?" Or, "What lies might she have told about us?"
Those were jolting questions.
All our interactions with people--whether with the meat-cutter at the supermarket, the co-worker on the assembly line, the pharmacist filling our prescription, or the employee at the day care center--depend on trust. That's why Jesus said that we shouldn't have to go through elaborate rituals to assure that what we say is the truth. "Let your answer simply be yes or no," Jesus said.
I suppose that all of us have lied. Sometimes we may even lie to protect people from being hurt and there may be virtue in that. But as a way of life, deceit is destructive of friendships and of societies.
Psychotherapist M. Scott Peck wrote a best-selling book several years ago called People of the Lie. In it, he asserted that there are people--some of them warming seats in church buildings on Sunday mornings, some considered the pillars of society--who are given over completely to evil. They are like the people Jesus excoriated in John 8, children of the devil who, when they lie, are simply speaking according to their natures.
My family and I have learned from painful personal experience that such people exist and that when we encounter them, the best thing to do is to walk the other way.
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