Thirsty?

"On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink." John 7:37

I have spent the last couple of days with my mom and dad visiting from Florida. It is always great to get to spend time with them and just hang out. This year however, dad and I have also been hanging sheet rock in the basement for a little added fun. It is great to work side by side with my father, but hanging drywall is exhausting work. We are thirsty most of the time.

I have been reminded of a different kind of thirst that comes with all of the labor, and lifting, and dust. I don't think I have been this thirsty even after finishing a triathlon. It reminds me of the time that Jesus stood amongst the crowd and said, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink." What a strange picture that is, and yet what a beautiful image of a caring and loving savior who wants to bring us hope and peace. I have thought several times the past couple of days, please anyone bring me some relief for this thirst, and as soon as I get a sip I am good for awhile.

So back to what Jesus says, if we are thirsty come to Him. What does that mean? I used to just think of it in terms of relief from pain, suffering, difficulties, and burdens. But it is so much more than that. Relief does come, but so does healing. What kind of healing comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ? Complete healing. Does that mean we will never suffer or have pain again? Most likely it does not mean that. However, it does mean that if we spend time with Jesus Christ through prayer, time in scripture, worship, fasting, and pursuing righteousness that we will receive spiritual, emotional, and even physical healing. It may not mean the cancer is totally removed or the arthritis is gone, but it does mean that through Him and by Him all things are made complete. His ways are not our ways, and we can rest in the knowledge that He cares and desires for us to know Him as Lord and Savior and Master. He wants us to be healed, but more importantly He wants us to know Him. Our time on earth will one day come to pass and that is when we will either be with Him forever or seperated from Him forever. In the meantime, Christ has offered us assistance while we go through this life. What a big life He has given us. So many options, choices, decisions

Jesus also said, "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matthew 5:6.

What is it that you thirst for? Is it fame, fortune, popularity, or comfort? I think if we are honest with ourselves we will discover what we really long for is peace and a hope for a brighter today. Jesus tells us that it should be righteousness in order for us to be filled. Isn't that really what it is that we want? We want that void in our lives to be filled. We want that longing to be relieved. Jesus tells us that if we thirst we should come unto him.

My prayer for my family and friends this coming year is that together all of us will seek to be filled by the Holy Spirit as we pursue a deep and personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God and Risen Savior.

Happy New Year!

Pat

Christmas Season

The Christmas season is here! All of the hustle and bustle is taking place. As we finish the first semester today at Strong Rock with exams, luncheons, and parties the halls and classrooms are full of activity. Students and staff are discussing holiday plans and happenings and I see more smiles on everyone faces today than in the past several weeks as everyone has been busy and getting ready for finals.

I love the school setting. Just 30 minutes ago I was walking down the elementary hallway and saw parents taking pictures, setting up for parties, and everyone laughing and smiling. I am so fortunate that at any time during the day, I can take a walk down our halls and be reminded of why I love working in a school every day. I also have the wonderful blessing of being able to work in a Christian school where I can share about my faith and trust in Jesus Christ each and every day.

Maybe that is what struck me this morning as I was watching everyone in the hallways and classrooms. I was reminded of the simple fact that I get to work in a place where at Christmas time we all know what it is that we are truly grateful for. Yes, it is a joy to see children get excited about a vacation, and the anticipation of Santa and time with family and friends. But it is so much more. It really is about God coming to dwell among us. His coming as a child and living in this place, dying on a cross for our sin, and leaving the Holy Spirit with us demonstrated God's love for us. What a gift. What a blessing to be reminded of the birht of Jesus Christ. In fact, just a few minutes ago someone stopped by my office to share that a student in the elementary school had made the decision to follow Christ and they wanted me to know. What a blessing! I get to come to work each day and be a part of a ministry that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ and His death, burial and resurrection each and every day.

This December, I pray and hope that each of you will stop and give praise, glory, and honor to Jesus Christ, the hope of the world. For we are truly in need of a savior.

Father, thank you for loving us enough to send your son as a gift to each one of us that will call on His name and follow Him. Forgive our selfishness and may we let your light shine in us today for your glory alone. Amen.

Merry Christmas to all!

Giving Thanks

Give thanks in all circumstances

Parenting 101

I recently had the opportunity to take my 12 year old son on a hunting trip to Wyoming with a group of friends. We had the pleasure of making some new friends and bonding more closely with the friends we already had. I remember telling my wife as we were leaving that this trip (and in some ways every hunting trip) would be great for father and son, and would provide us with life-long stories to tell of our adventures while hunting. I can honestly say that my son is already a better hunter than me. As much as that may hurt my selfish pride, I can tell you that it is was incredible to be the first person to get a high five followed by a big hug when he shot his first mule deer that day.

Now why would I mention all of that under the title of Parenting 101? Let me explain further. I believe that as parents it is our responsibility to teach, train, equip, and correct our children in "the way that they should go" (Proverbs 22:6). I personally do not believe that you can substitute quality time for quantity time when it comes to training. What I mean by that is that for me to say that one hour with my son is better than 4 hours with him is silly. The more time I spend with my children the more opportunities I have to share my experience, life lessons, truth, consequences, etc. Now I am not saying that there are not some great things that we need to do with our children that don't require a lot of time in themselves. But I am suggesting that we as parents stop justifying our busy schedules and make time to be with our children. It is easy to become a slave to some really good things, and miss the really great thing of raising our children to love God and to love others.

I have also come to realize that when I get the opportunity to spend an extended amount of time with one of my children that I discover a lot about what is going on in their world that I don't get by just checking Facebook or MySpace or a quick question about the day. That is why I believe that while we still can as parents we need to invest as much time with our children as possible, because I know the day is coming all too fast when they will be out on their own, and I'll have to adjust to their schedules, jobs, families, and friends. Take time this week to go for walk, ride a bike, play a game, sit on the porch, fish, hunt, play catch, cook, shop or whatever it is that you and your children enjoy doing together.

Summer Time and Reading

Wow! It is difficult for me to believe that summer break is almost over for those of us with school aged children or those of us that also work in a school setting. As I type these words I am looking out my window at a beautiful lake, there are a couple of birds chasing each other, and it looks as though the dark clouds are about to open up and release rain for the next several hours.

I love the summer time for so many reasons. I love the beach, time with family and friends, a few extra rounds of golf than normal, and the overall casual feel of the season. But I have always loved and looked forward to the summer time because I find it easier to invest more time reading books. My current list of topics to read about include biographies, leadership principles, Bible studies, history, and even a few just for fun fiction.

For years I have told students and staff that "leaders are reader". I believe that a true leader is someone that is constantly reading to improve themselves, their relationships or their organization. I have come to the conlusion that if you are not reading regularly you are not growing personally, professionally, or spiritually. In fact, as a school as do so many other schools, we require students in the summer to read books that we have selected to keep them in the habit of reading. Research indicates that children and teenagers who love reading have comparatively higher IQs. They are also more creative and do better in school and college.

I want to suggest to each of you reading this blog, to consider doing a little research on the subject as well. Just a quick google search of the "importance of reading" will bring to light much research on the topic. It is startling to me that so many people today do not acknowledge or even believe in the importance of literacy in the world. As an educator it is one of the most important tools we can give our students for the future.

Pat Williams, Owner of the NBA Orlando Magic and a very respected businees man, wrote in his book, Read for Your Life,

"we are in danger of losing our very souls - that part of us that actively
engages with the hearts and minds of others, the part that lives on into
eternity, reaches across time, and spans the generations - due to
preoccupation".

We claim we are too busy to take time to read. I would propose that we are too busy not to take time to read. Just like physical excercise is important for our bodies to remain healthy, active, and alert, so is the importance of reading to keep our minds sharp and healthy.

It is not too late. Pick up a good book today and begin to excercise your mind. That 30 minutes in front of the tv watching that same show you already watched is a good place to start. If the average american spends anywhere from 2-4 hours a day in front of the tv, as current data indicates, then trade some of that time for reading. If we are honest with ourselves, we really are preoccupied by a lot of things some good, some bad, that we could easily trade for time reading.

I will conclude my comments with a challenge however. In fact, many people disagree with me on this issue. However, I believe that it is not just important to read challenging books and new material, but that we must also concern ourselves with the content of what it is that is being read. Quality of content is better than quantity, even though I do believe strongly that in most cases more is better than less in regards to how much one reads. For instance, I would rather my children read a shorter book with good moral values and beliefs than a longer maybe even more challenging book that is full of ideas and beliefs that are contrary to a healthy young person. Reading is a great way to be stretched to think about new ideas and grow in understanding of the world around us. What one reads has the potential to shape and mold many of the beliefs and values that they will carry with them through life. For that very reason, I believe and try to practice on a daily basis that I will spend as much or more time reading from God's Word - The Bible than I will with whatever else I may be reading. That is my personal belief and practice and not one that I would place on others, but it does keep my reading and time in front of the tv somewhat in balance.

Read On!!!

Discipleship

In my last post I encouraged readers to consider the word "disciple". It seemed like a good way to lead into the next several weeks of blogging about it and having open discussion. What I realized as I began to dig deeper into the actual concept and prinicples behind discipleship is that I did not have the understanding that I thought I had. So I began to study this commonly used word in churches to see what it really means.

What does it really truly mean to be a disciple and even more what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? As I mentioned in my last post I had been reading from the book, Tally Ho, The Fox, by Herb Hodges. His writings were encouraging me to take a deeper look into my calling as a Christian to "make disciples". Each believer in Jesus Christ is called to live a life worthy of the calling of the Gospel of Christ. (Philippians 1:27; Ephesians 4:1) It was at this time of study I read Mr. Hodges definition and I began to realize I had been using the term too loosely in my own understanding.

The word "disciple" in the New Testament defines a committed, lifelong learner
and follow. This is the definition that Jesus intended in the Great
Commission, and it constitutes our marching orders. We are to go
everywhere and "turn men into committed, lifelong learners and followers of
Jesus Christ." You see this meaning is an adherent (one who adheres, like
adhesive taep, to another), or an apprentice, of Jesus Christ. Indeed,
spend some time exploring the words. A disciple is a person in
training. Indeed, he is a leader in training. Herb Hodges, Tally Ho,
The Fox.

It is the resonsibility of those that are followers of Jesus Christ to help train more followers to act and live like Jesus Christ. This is not a job for the masses, but rather for one disciple to invest themselves into another so that they can then invest themselves into another. Discipleship is not about adding members to a church, but rather it is about creating world-visionary, world-impacting, reproducing disciples of Jesus Christ.

One of my prayers for this blog is that Christians will be encouraged to take a closer look at their lives and the calling God has placed on them to make disciples. Another prayer is that those who do not know Christ as Lord and Savior might begin to ask questions about being a follower of Jesus Christ. I know that the peace, joy and freedom that I find in Christ is only because of His work in my life and the forgiveness and grace and mercy that come from knowing Jesus Christ personally.

In His Service,
Pat

Uttermost Parts of the Earth

I have just returned from a wonderful week in India with two of my closest friends. It is almost impossible for me to put into words the experience. We were blessed to see much of the city of Calcutta and the surrounding areas. We worshipped and fellowshipped with other Christians and saw first hand the work of the Holy Spirit and the message of hope that the Gospel brings to those that will follow Christ. I was blessed by those that we met with. I was reminded of the simplicity of the Gospel, "that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:15 & 16

I was also reminded that in Acts 1:8 Jesus Christ promised His followers that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit, and that they were then to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth. I went to India with the mindset that we were going to the uttermost parts of the earth to share Christ and encourage fellow believers. A truth that I discovered while in India is that many of the believers in India look at America as the uttermost parts of the earth. I also returned home with an assignment to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with more purpose in my Jerusalem - Atlanta, my Samaria - America, and the uttermost parts of the earth - the entire world.

Much has been written over the centuries about the call of each Christian to share the Gospel through local and foreign missions. Strategies have been shared and evangelistic tools have been created to help us in this task. However, I can't help but think that we have really missed what God has called us to do. It is not about adding people to our church rosters, but rather about multiplying His disciples in our neighborhoods, our places of employment, and our sphere of influence. For each of us that call Christ, Savior and Lord, we must accept this incredible honor of sharing the "Good News" of Jesus Christ, in our city, in our country, and in the world.

Herb Hodges' writes in his book Tallyho, the Fox

Jesus intends His church to be a truth-telling, educational, feeding fellowship. And this is the assignment of every believer. "By all means" (I Corinthians 9:22) - spontaneous word, prepared testimony, formal teaching and preaching, the dissemination of tracts, books, magazines, letters (God is high on letters), cassette and video tapes, radio and television, face-to-face and at a distance - the Christian's goal should be to influence, to bend, to sway, "to win some."

My prayer is that each of us that claim to be followers of Jesus Christ would take seriously the call to make disciples at home and to the uttermost parts of the earth. I would encourage those of you that follow this blog to begin to examine the word "disciple" and see what it really implies. I will begin to share some of my thoughts and research concerning discipleship in upcoming blog posts.

What Is Being Taken Out Of The Classroom Now?

Today I have posted a link to the Breakpoint Ministries website. The article is titled, Editing the Dictionary.

http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=10877

It does not surprise me. However, I thought all of my friends would find this enlightening and maybe even frustrating.

The Main Thing

I often times hear people say in different circles of friends that it is important to keep the main thing the main thing. I guess the main thing depends on who you are talking to at work, school, church, the grocery store or wherever. However, for those of us that are followers of Jesus Christ there is truly only one main thing. What is it? Is it humility or a servant heart? Is it love for God and others? Is it giving grace and showing mercy? Until recently, I would have said it is all these things and even more as we grow and mature in our relationship with Jesus Christ. I believe that all of those things are important. I believe as followers of Christ Jesus, that they should be evident in our lives, and evidence of who we serve.

However, let me share what Jesus said the main thing or the first thing was. He said, that each of us "should seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and then all these things will be added unto you." What Jesus was speaking about specifically was about meeting our needs for each day. In other words, if we put our trust in Him he will supply all of our needs. Not wants, or selfish desires; but our needs He promises to supply.

The other realization is that it is to be His kingdom I am seeking and not my own. It's not about my power, prestige, place, or anything of that matter. It's not about my self righteousness either. It is all about Him. If each of His followers would keep the main thing of seeking Him first in all of life, then the church - the body of Christ - would be a much more dynamic group.

My prayer for the New Year is that each of us takes seriously the privilege of seeking Christ and His ways first. Let's represent Christ well this year.