High Points

Last time, I mentioned how much I like holes. Well, if there’s one thing that I like way better than holes, it’s being up high. I like flying, I like being at the top of tall buildings (Sears Tower, Empire State Building, World Trade Center, Eiffel Tower, the Space Needle), and I like being up on high mountains. Over 13 years ago, I had the opportunity to take a cable car to the top of Mont Blanc in the French Alps which I believe is the highest point in all of Europe. From this point, you could see France, Italy, and Switzerland. In the middle of July wearing shorts and a windbreaker, I have never seen anything more majestic. Seriously, we were above the clouds, and we could see other snow capped mountain peaks poking through. The sky was brilliant.

Mountain top experiences have also happened for me in the general experiences of life. Recently, going to Willow Creek’s Group Life Conference was a mountain top experience. Going on vacation with my wife to Hawaii and France were both mountain top experiences for me as well. Getting away for a small groups retreat (or any other retreat for that matter) is exhilarating. Running and finishing a marathon or other race is another mountain top event which I’ve experienced.

The only bad part about being up high like this is the fact that at some point you have to come back down. We can’t always live our lives up on the mountain.

For me, we need to use the “mountain top experiences” and “valley low experiences” to positively influence the way we respond to the mundane experiences of every day life.

Until the next post…

Hole

When I look back in time, I think that I’ve always had an obsession with holes. Huh? No, you heard me correctly, I think I’ve liked holes for a long time. I like digging them. I like climbing into them. When I was a kid, I can remember going to the beach with my family and digging a whole that was four or five feet deep. When I was finished digging the hole, I climbed in and enjoyed the new perspective on the beach.

When I was in junior high, my brother and two of my friends dug a hole in their front yard. I’m not kidding you when I tell you that it was about 7 feet deep, 7 feet wide, and 7 feet long. We spent all day digging this hole. It was fun to work together and dream about how we would deck out our new fort.

Recently, I’ve been listening to a song that my little brother wrote and performed years ago called “Taking You Back”. The chorus of the song goes something like this:

“I’m taking you back,
’cause I don’t want to see you
dig a hole that gets deeper
that you cannot escape from…”

Sometimes, holes can be a bad thing. Obviously, sink holes are bad. Holes in the floor or walls are bad. How about holes or places we put ourselves into that are difficult to get out of on our own? Perhaps, it’s insurmountable debt. Maybe, it’s a bad behavior that has become a habit or pattern. Or maybe it’s a relationship that just seems to be beyond repair – at least when put to our own efforts. These are the holes that I hate.

I hate these holes for the obvious feeling of despair that seems to happen. I also hate them because if I really think about it, I realize that I can’t get out of them by myself, I have to ask for help.

Many times we can escape these “holes” with the help of a close friend. Do you have close friends in your life who won’t let you “dig a hole that gets deeper?” Thank God for friends like these. Sometimes though, I think the only way we’re really going to make it out of these “holes” is to rely on God whose love for us is deeper and wider than any hole that we could find ourselves in. Who’s got your back today? Who’s there to get you out of your hole?”

Until the next post…

Prayer Thoughts

A long time ago, I learned an acronym that can be used to organize our prayers. A.C.T.S. The “A” stands for acknowledge – expressing how great God is and who he is. The “C” stands for confession – Lord forgive me for…. The “T” stands for thanksgiving – thank you for blessing me…. And the “S” stands for supplication – God, please help so and so….

I’ll be honest I do an okay part at the T, and I do a great part at the S, and sometimes I hit the C. But if I’m completely honest, I most often miss the A. I was reminded of this today when I was reading in 1 Chronicles 29. Look at David’s prayer; his prayer is full of praise for God.

From 1 Chronicles 29:

10 Then David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly; David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, forever and ever. 11 Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. 12 Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name. 14 “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to make this freewill offering? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. 15 For we are aliens and transients before you, as were all our ancestors; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. 16 O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. 17 I know, my God, that you search the heart, and take pleasure in uprightness; in the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. 18 O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you.”

See what I mean. I’m guessing the reason that this comes so hard for many of us is that we are so self centered – instead of God centered. I’m thankful for God’s patience in my slow and erratic growth pattern. I’m also thankful for reminders from the Word that help to transform my thoughts, my actions, and my heart.

Until the next post…

Remembering Dan Herbert

Last night, Leanne and I went over to Dresher to be at the memorial service for one of my co-workers, Dan Herbert. Dan Herbert was a great guy, and there were so many things shared last night that I don’t want to forget. Perhaps, you will be motivated, encouraged, and inspired as well:

Dan was first and foremost a servant of God. He lived this out through his generosity, his behind the scenes service to others, and his committed faith.

Dan always put his wife (Eda) in the place of honor. He taught his three boys to respect their mother, and he always made sure that after God, Eda was first.

Dan was committed to his family. He parented each of his three boys differently, because they are all different. He put their activities at a high priority. He always did his best to be at track meets, scout meetings, youth events, graduations, etc.

Dan was always available. Dan had an open door policy at work and in life. From the sounds of it, there were always people over at the Herbert’s house, and Dan was always available for a phone call from a friend. I experienced this in my own life. At least twice, Dan took time away from his busy schedule to take me out to lunch to discuss some of my own career wrestlings and projects.

Dan was not a quitter. Even as he faced his illness (pancreatic cancer), he laid out a plan for how he would face the illness – not just from a healing standpoint, but from a family and legacy standpoint.

Dan was an affirmer, a motivator, an encourager, and an inspiration. This was Dan. It’s hard to explain it more directly, but Dan was every one’s biggest fan and cheerleader. He wanted the best for everyone in which he came in contact – at work, at church, in the neighborhood, at home.

Dan knew the love of Christ and wanted others to know that same love. It is so hard to see someone like Dan leave this earth earlier than expected. It seems unfair that his family and friends will miss out on more of what Dan brought to the table every day. The message of the gospel was quite loud and clear as we heard about and celebrated Dan’s life last night. My prayer is that this aspect of Dan’s life will continue on through lives that have been changed just by knowing Dan.

It truly was an honor to know Dan Herbert. He will be missed.

Sacrifice

This morning, I was reading the Bible, and I came across two passages that spoke to me about sacrifice. First, 2 Samuel 24 recounts the story when King David decided to do something that was against God’s way. As a result of David’s actions, God sent a plague or pestilence on the kingdom that killed 70,000+ people. (Can you imagine making a mistake that costs so many lives?) At any rate, as the story concludes, David is instructed to build an alter to offer up a burnt offering to God. As David tries to buy the land and oxen for the offering, the owner offers it to King David for free. Here’s David’s response, “No, but I will buy them from you for a price; I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing (v. 24).” At first glance, this strikes me as odd. After all, didn’t David’s mistake cost 70,000 people their lives. Surely, King David had more than enough money to make this purchase seem like nothing. Putting that aside, I was reminded that a sacrifice costs. Are we willing to sacrifice or give up something that costs?

A second passage that I was reading this morning was Mark 10. In this passage, James and John come to Jesus to make a selfish request. They wanted to sit on Jesus’ left and right when they get to heaven. In this story, Jesus asks them if they are willing to make the same sacrifices that he will make (v. 38).

If we are truly going to be fully devoted, all-out followers of Christ, it is going to cost. Are we ready?

Be Strong and Courageous

This morning, I attended a men’s breakfast where part of the video below was shown. I have been processing what was shared in the video along with what was shared at my table with other men.

I think the verse that hit me most this morning comes from I Corinthians 16:13:
13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.

Francis Chan encouraged the men at the breakfast to be alert and to be a man about following Christ standing tall for Him. This sure lines up with some of my recent thoughts.

Check out the video. It’s not the whole thing, but it will give you a taste.

Until the next post, be strong…

Reflections on Yesterday…

While sitting on the lawn tractor last night for an hour and getting a little run in this morning, I’ve been reflecting about my day yesterday. There are a couple of things that hit me (probably more than that but two for right now).

First, I made my second appearance at a men’s Home Team (or small group), and I left challenged and encouraged. There were eight of us sitting around the tables, and I’m quite certain that we are all at different points in our spiritual lives and that we all have different areas in our lives where we struggle. During part of the conversation (and I don’t think I’m breaching any confidential agreements here), I shared that I believed our workplaces were mission fields. One of the guys spoke up immediately asking me how that was working for me – being a witness for Christ in my workplace. I was able to provide an answer on the spot about setting the tone through my actions. This is true; however, I’ve been pondering the question since then to see how I could be more effective. Great challenge!

Secondly, I fought out that there is another PK (pastor’s kid) in my department. We just hired this guy, so I don’t know him that well, but I was surprised by the news. His dad is pastoring at a Lutheran church up in the Lehigh Valley. I was struck by a comment that was made during this conversation by my new colleague (and I roughly quote): “I don’t like to talk about religion. There are two things you don’t talk about: religion and politics. If someone starts talking to me about this stuff, I tell them that I don’t want to talk about it.” Hmmm…. Is this my same attitude? I don’t think so; however, I did notice the volume of my voice dropping quite a bit as we had this conversation in the open cubicle environment that I work in. He also indicated that he doesn’t attend church regularly right now, but that he would probably return to it later in life once he started having a family. Why is this? I have many things cycling around in my head about this conversation. And I think it does tie together with my first reflection above.

Have you ever had experiences like these? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Until the next post, I’ll be reflecting…

Rethinking…

Tonight, I was challenged a bit by what I wrote in my own blog post a few days ago and comments that I wrote to a post made by Brian Jones. I continue to wrestle with the issues and comments expressed in both of these places, and I now wrestle with some of the challenges laid before me this evening.

For one, I do not want my words to detract from others growth towards God. So if my words caused people to think twice in a negative way about this whole “Christ follower” thing than I apologize. That was by no means my intent. Paul in the book of Colossians 4:6 says, “6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” I’m not sure if all my words were full of grace (not by intent, but by perception), and I’m sorry for that.

On the other hand, Hebrews 10:23-25 says “23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Encouragement was the intent of my comments. I truly want people to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. I’m thankful for people in my life who have strongly encouraged me to grow.

One of the awesome things about going to our church is that there is a huge mix of people who are kicking the tires on this whole Christianity thing and people who are on fire for Christ. Understanding this and putting it into proper perspective gives some explanation into the reasons for my frustration in the first place.

I’m sure I will continue to wrestle with this for a while. I’m thankful for the grace of God and for the fact that I have people in my life who will call me on the carpet from time to time.

Until the next post, I wrestle on…

Weekend Reflection

As I reflect on this past weekend, I have some mixed feelings that I need to get onto paper (okay…virtual paper):

• Gene Appel spoke at our church on Sunday, and his message was incredible. I have heard him speak before while attending small groups conferences at Willow Creek in Illinois, so I knew he would be good. But honestly, I was unprepared for what Gene brought to the table. He spoke about how we should/would want to be remembered after we’re gone. I was challenged by his direction to go after faith, hope, and love (see I Corinthians 13) as the goals for my life. In the hope of leaving a legacy that will long outlive me, I want to strive after faith, hope, and love in my relationships with my God, my family, and those around me.
• I was blown away once again by the servant volunteers that call our church home. Between making three services happen and making a church picnic happen immediately following the third serve, I was re-impressed by the dedication of some of CCV’s finest.
• I was disappointed. Why? Well, it seemed like attendance at the service that I went to as well as the picnic were low. I wonder if this is because people knew that our main pastor (Brian Jones) wasn’t speaking. Or if it was because people were away on vacation. Or if people didn’t want to bear the unbelievable 98°F weather. As I think more and more about it, I wonder if there is something different that we should be doing. After all, any regulars who missed this Sunday’s service missed one of the best services in CCV history. And while I haven’t listened to the message on CD yet, there is no way that the CD can do justice to what actually transpired during the service on Sunday morning. I’m not about pushing people towards Christ out of pure emotion; however, every once in a while we all need to experience the mountain top experiences that can happen on a retreat, on a service project, or even in a Sunday morning worship service.
• I feel somewhat like a hypocrite for stating the above disappointment, because my family will be elsewhere the next two Sundays. Are we setting a bad example?
• I resonate with the words I read today on Bob Lewis’ blog about needing to take people to a point where they can handle the meat and not just the milk. How does this all work? Our church does such an awesome job getting people in the doors and reaching out to the community. Our goal is to make people fully devoted followers of Christ, but I feel like we’re still figuring out how that looks. How do we turn people from casual attenders to people who are on fire for Christ?
• I know this starts with people like me. Not only do we need to be setting a good example, but we need to be passionate about the lives we live in Christ. After all…”therefore if you are in Christ, you are a new creation. The old is gone. The new is here.” Do we really live like this? We need to be passionate about seeing people’s lives changed permanently and profoundly for Christ. “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection…”
• People matter to God. People also matter to people. When people fail to show up for community, they are missing out. They are also leaving the rest of the community hanging out to dry. I don’t want to leave people hanging out to dry. I want to be a part of a community that does life together in a way that dramatically changes the world.
• It seems like rambling, but it feels good to express it. Does any of this make sense?

Just some of my thoughts…

It’s Off to Work I Go…

• Sunrise over Manhattan from the roof of the Liz Claiborne World Headquarters in North Bergen, NJ
• Arrival of celebrities at the Rockefeller Center from one of the top ten floors of 30 Rockefeller Center
• Storage corridors under the Philadelphia Museum of Art
• “Dash for Cash” through the halls of Parrish Hall at Swarthmore College
• Historic attic spaces above the ballroom of the Academy of Music
• Mechanical rooms of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• Celebration of building openings at jobs like: Princeton University Genomics Building, Agere Systems in Allentown, PA, and the Perelman Building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Participate in the pharmaceutical world through jobs with Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Nanosystems, Clinical Trial Services, Sharp, etc.
• Worked on the 5 story home of an Italian doctor living on the East River in New York City
• I could go on…

As I stated above, I’m very privileged to have these experiences, and I look forward to the many adventures that lie ahead.

Until the next post, I’m off on another adventure…