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Is This Love??????????

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Pastor loses his temper in church! – YouTube.

Oftentimes things in life can get complicated. One such thing that is complicated is love. Not the romantic love between a husband and wife, but love we can have for a friend, neighbor, or co-worker. What does this love look like? One thing is for sure it doesn’t look like the video above.  In fact this video is a prime example of what love and grace is not about.  While I fully agree our culture has no sense of cell phone etiquette, and it was extremely rude for that person to not turn their phone off or as the very least turn the ringer off. Though maybe naive I truly believe this person wasn’t intentionally rude, but simply forgot to address their phone before going into a place where it is inappropriate for their phone to be going off. I digress, back to the main point. How are we to approach people and act around people, especially when they frustrate us?

The simple and complicated answer is to love them. This doesn’t mean that we will be best friends with everyone or want to spend hours on end with everyone we come across. To love simple means to care for them and want the best for them even if they worry us. It means to show them grace as we would want to be shown grace. It means to be patient with them even when we are standing behind them in line at the local Starbucks or grocery store as they take their dear sweet time when we are running 5 minutes behind. It is treating them with decency and respect as you would want to be treated with decency and respect.

Isn’t this subject of loving others, a significant portion of the Bible?

“‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:18, NASB95)

“One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”” (Matthew 22:35–40, NASB95)

Here is the skinny what God expects of you and I. Two things that sound easy and roll off the tongue easy. The two things are: Love God and Love Others.
When it comes to loving others I truly worry about the direction of our culture, yet when it comes down to it we can only control what we do as individuals. So here are my questions for you.
How are you doing at loving others?
What are you going to show love toward others? With your friends? Co-worker? Neighbors?
How can you do a better job with loving others?
Are there times you just need to take a breath before you speak or react? Would this help you in loving others?

 

 

Living with Joy and Happiness

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We all want joy and happiness. Yet how can we live with joy and happiness? We dream about it. We say to ourselves if only we could do _______ then I would be happy. If I could only attain this goal then I would be happy. Thoughts and dreams of joy and happiness consume us.

We spend good money in hopes of finding it. If only I had that car or that TV or that house or those clothes or those shoes or that ‘toy’ then I would be happy. Isn’t this what stress related shopping is all about? Isn’t the search for joy and happiness one of the main culprits to driving us to live beyond our means financially?

We act a certain way because we think this will bring us joy and happiness. We say to ourself if I was like______ then I would be happy. If I was like anyone else except myself then I would be happy.

Actors and Athletes get paid millions of dollars to entertain us to bring us joy and happiness.

If you are a parent you may put you happiness and joy in your children. If my child does______then I have accomplished something.

Yet does all of this stuff really bring us joy and happiness? Does it? Let’s be honest with ourselves. Does this stuff really bring you joy and happiness? Now please hear me. I am NOT say that any of this stuff is good or bad in and of itself, yet I am asking does this stuff really bring you joy and happiness beyond the momentary.

Let’s pause that thought for a moment and let’s define what is happiness and joy. Are the words happiness and joy synonymous or can we use them interchangeably? Many people do use these words interchangeably but I argue that while they are similar they are different.  Happiness is temporary and is brought about by something that makes you smile, laugh, or feel good about yourself or someone close to you. Happiness is linked to your emotions and they way you feel. The key words here is temporary, emotions, and feeling. For instance when our favorite team wins makes us happy. You are happy when someone compliments you for the way you look or for something you have done. May that long awaited vacation makes you happy. Yet, how long will you be happy about your team winning or about that compliment or that vacation? Maybe a day or two, a week, or maybe even a few weeks. Ultimately Monday rolls around, a difficult decision, or the neighbor you don’t particularly like knocks on your door and that happiness recedes to recesses of your mind until it is forgotten completely.

What about joy? Joy is a deep down, unshakeable satisfaction and contentment.  When someone said something cruel to you your happiness may be taken but your joy remains. When you are let go or fired from your job your happiness may be taken but your joy remains. When your world comes crashing down because of some tragic event your happiness may be taken but your joy remains. Many of you know my story with the loss of my beloved wife Anna to cervical cancer. As Anna became sicker and sicker and ultimately passed away I was not happy. Happiness was the furtherest thing from me. I was the most depressed I have ever been and probably will ever be. Yet through it all my joy remained. You ask, ‘Why did my joy remain?’

I’m glad you asked because this brings us to source of joy. Joy comes from a source greater than things, trips, or relationships. Note with me the source of joy:

  • Romans 15:13 (NIV)- “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
  • Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)- “ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
  • 1 Peter 1:8-9- “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Joy that is unshakeable comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ. While we are not promised that everyday will be footloose and fancy free, we are promised joy that comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ.

So here is my question for you, have you found joy?

 

Tell me what you think. I would love to have a dialogue on this topic.

Getting Started

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For the last several years I have wanted to start a blog, yet for one reason or another I have always delayed. With this blog as well as with so many things in life getting started is without question the hardest part. It is past time to face the trepidation of starting, so here we go.

We live in a world where antidepressants are the second most common prescribed drug for those living in the United States, just behind cholesterol medicines (http://www.imshealth.com/deployedfiles/imshealth/Global/Content/StaticFile/Top_Line_Data/2010_Top_Therapeutic_Classes_by_RX.pdf). The reason for this is the side-effect and conviction that we are experiencing a cultural drift from faith and practice. Therefore, my intent is to write on the cross section of faith and culture at least two times a week. While I would love for every post to be challenging and life changing to you, the reality is that there will be some post that are more interesting to you than others.

With the subject matter being the cross section of faith and culture the content will vary due to the vastness of this subject matter.  While I want to challenge you and make you think, yet I will always endeavor to be practical. For instance my next post will be on the subject of Living with Joy and Happiness.

Further, I will post my sermon notes/manuscript each week.

So let’s have fun, think, and grow. Let’s get started!