The Wild Man of the Beaver Pond

April 7, 2024Uncategorizedadmin

The Wild Man of the Beaver Pond

A Tale of Terror –

(This wild made-up story was first told to my kids around a campfire

somewhere in Colorado on one of our countless summer vacations,

and is re-told here. . . all in fun!)

Since the time I was a small boy, there had been rumors—wild tales I had heard—of a crazy man, a mysterious hermit, that people would catch glimpses of prowling up and down the river. A beastly man with a long beard matted with slobber, broken teeth, violence in his eyes, and no bath in years. A wild sort of character who lived off the land. People checking their fishing lines on both sides of the river often discovered the bones and body parts of chickens, pigs, and calves reported missing from nearby farms. Also, fish bones, hollow turtle shells, and blood-stained feathers. Wild berries were stripped from their vines. These reported sightings and the gossip over backyard fences by townspeople only exaggerated the rumors of a fearful dark figure to be avoided, one more like a bizarre, shadowy ghost than a real man.

I was at my mother’s little house in Leon, Oklahoma, about a mile east of the Red River. It was a forgotten little town with unpaved streets, worn out houses, a post office, and a grocery store where you could buy milk and gas by the gallon, except when it was closed for church on Sunday. Leon and everyone in it had been tired for as long as anyone could remember.

I shrugged off the crazy notion of a wild man on the prowl as I set off down the cow path to the river that cold gray day. Who could have imagined that this boyhood adventure would become a terrifying nightmare?

It was autumn. The Indian Paintbrush were changing to golden yellow, and showers of reluctant leaves were turning loose from trees and swirling aimlessly to the ground.

It was that time of day when all of nature—birds, insects, cows, and even the earth itself—seems to breathe a sigh of relief that another day is done. It’s when you take a deep breath, a step back, and relish those remaining moments before the sun sinks below the rim of our world. As darkness elbows it’s way in, Mother Nature seems to say to all her followers, “Hush…rest now…nap time.” Birds roost and insects land; cows quit their mooing; some animals head for their burrows and grassy beds for the night. All turns dreadfully quiet except for the occasional mournful caw of a distant crow.

It was downhill all the way to the river—not steep—just a winding, sandy trail lined on both sides with thorns and stinging nettles, cockleburs and Johnson grass, but not so tall you couldn’t see the trees lining the river in the distance. If you watched your step, you might sidestep the fresh piles of cow manure carefully left for you. This time I wondered if anyone would ever find me in the thick darkness if I got lost.

The lifeless limbs of the tall oaks hung low over the river, looking more like the icy fingers of a skeleton than branches. Close to the banks of the river, beneath those barren trees, were ponds of water left each time the river flooded, large enough for beavers to build their dams where they could leisurely trap and eat fish all winter.

Occasional flakes of snow fell from an unfriendly sky, sent as November’s tiny messengers to tell all the secrets winter was preparing for us. I wanted to be at the beaver pond to see a sight one almost never gets to see. . . the arrival of migrating ducks in their incredible V-formation, elegantly gliding in for a rest break from their journey. Maybe it was foolish, but I wanted to be there for those special few seconds when exhausted ducks touch down gracefully after a long flight from Canada. That happens just as the sun disappears and darkness crowds in.

And so, I trekked down that briary path toward the river, past the old barn on the left with the ‘No Trespassing’ sign (which everyone ignored) wired to it just to remind me I was not invited. I knew it was too late in the day to go without a flashlight, that I was running the risk of getting lost and not finding my way home in pitch dark. What in the world was I thinking? Something within kept driving me on, ridiculous as it sounds. I kept walking toward that pond. I should have spun around and run back up the trail, but I did not sense the disaster that was prepared for me just ahead.

How I wish I had known this carefree little hike was turning into a frightening catastrophe with awful consequences?

A startled beaver had tried to alert me that danger was near with the sharp slap of his tail on the water. I had ignored the excited chatter of squirrels and the frenzied flight of birds from their nests as both warned me to flee. Hundreds of ducks in their final glide path down to the pond had, at the last split second, banked sharply to the right and fled as their sharp eyes caught the slight movement and dark silhouette of what lay crouched in the brush.

The thought I should turn and run for home kept pounding in my head, but somehow, I couldn’t and somehow, I didn’t. I was strangely and mysteriously drawn to that pond, despite the haunting feeling that danger was lurking. I wasn’t about to let all those outrageous thoughts stop me in my tracks. Why didn’t I turn while I still had the chance? I walked on, now tripping over vines as it grew darker, and the path became harder to see.

The trail finally ran out and the tree line began. . .and there it was, the placid beaver pond lying as smooth as glass, perfectly reflecting the last rays of the sun that somehow snaked their way through the trees. There was not so much as a wisp of wind. Slender fingers of ice were beginning to cluster around the water’s edge. I found a decaying log to sit on where I could be partially hidden from the ducks as my solemn wait began.

The lengthening shadows of night became more ominous with each passing moment. It was getting colder and darker, and I shivered as the bone-deep chill pierced me like a knife. Why hadn’t I brought a jacket? Too late now. I’ll have to make the best of it.

At that moment I first sensed it: I was not alone. Something unseen and unheard was staring and glaring at me, stalking me, watching my every move. Wanting me. You sense it. Somehow you just know. And in that agonizing, uneasy silence you have never felt more alone, more helpless.

And so, I sat freezing and dreading the unimaginable. Completely paralyzed by fear. Unable to move a muscle and struggling for the next breath. My pleasant walk to the river to see ducks had suddenly turned into pure terror by something or someone I couldn’t identify. You want to scream, but it is stuck in your throat, and you can’t take in enough air to cry out. This thing behind me was stealing all the oxygen.

Thoughts raced through my head as I tried to sort out what was happening. What is back there? Lurking, hiding? Waiting for the right moment to attack me. I was too gripped by fear to dare look. Am I food? Am I just something to rip to pieces? Why am I the hunted? What has turned me into its victim, its prey?

It was then I strained to hear a faint sound…footsteps in the thick brush. . .a breaking twig, then another. Small limbs snapping, acorns bursting, and leaves crunching with each slow step toward me, breaking the awful silence like shattering glass. Something had gone terribly wrong. Something was creeping up on me, closing in on me. Step by step. . .carefully and quietly. . .closer and closer. . .methodically moving in for the kill. What should I do? Scream? Make a run for it? Turn and fight? But fight with what? Do I attack it before it attacks me? What enemy am I facing? How will it attack? Teeth? Fangs? Claws?

My imagination ran wild as I still sat on that log, suspended in time. . .trying to picture this “thing.” Turning around would have triggered an all-out, life-and-death struggle to survive. Would I get past the first blow? Lie dying, helplessly maimed?

The creature moved in close enough for me to hear and smell it.

I heard hoarse, raspy breathing. . .not fierce growls. . .but shallow, rapid, gasps of air from a mouth lathered in foam, becoming shorter and faster with each step.

And then I caught a grisly whiff that stuck in my nostrils: the nauseating, rancid scent of something hideous; a sweaty, greasy, hairy stench that turned my stomach, a musty, ghastly aroma that reeked of death.

The slowly approaching footsteps continued. . .until I could feel steamy, hot breath on my neck, and smell the rotting, putrid tang left by the last thing it had killed and eaten.

I sat in sheer terror, unable to think, to scream, to move, my lungs burning for the next breath.

This larger-than-life monster was now close enough to brutally attack, and I could not so much as lift a finger in defense.

Without daring to turn my head to catch a glimpse, I whispered a desperate plea: What are you? Who are you?

And after an agonizing silence. . .. the thing that I dreaded most happened.

He ate me.

Alternate ending:

And after an agonizing silence. . .he finally screamed at me:

Doooogggie!!! *

*Doogie was the nickname of a boy my kids knew well who lived where the setting of this story is located. As I recall, his only claim to fame (or at least how he got himself noticed) was that he could swallow a whole piece of stewed okra without first chewing it. It would be just like Doogie to sneak up behind any of us and scare us half to death.

Simeon

April 7, 2024Essayadmin

SIMEON

. . .. waiting, watching, and working.

Luke 2:23-35

The Quiet of the Land—that’s what Simeon and a few others in Israel were called. Simeon represents a worshipful, humble, faithful expectation that God will come in the time of his choosing to bring comfort to a troubled people. For him, there were no dreams of a great one who would come to crush all Israel’s enemies or drive out the hated Romans. It was enough to be “just, devout, and waiting,” not a bad job description!

What seemed like another tiring, monotonous day at the temple. . . people coming and going, some sleeping against pillars. . .smoke and incense blurring every room. . .the dull, ceaseless crowd noise with people talking and feet shuffling. . .got turned upside down with the shrill cry of a baby being circumcised, and perhaps a whisper in Simeon’s ear: ‘it’s him!” This makes a pretty good case for always going to church, for one has no idea who might show up. Look what Simeon would have missed had he slept in that morning (or watched online)!

Simeon had no idea whom to expect. . .a child, a youth, or an adult, but he had been given the special gift of knowing Messiah would come in his lifetime, that he would know him the minute he saw him.

Why Simeon. . .and not someone else, like Nicodemus or a priest or a famous leader?

What set Simeon apart was his “waiting.” And not merely waiting. . .but “waiting forwardly.” Expecting. Waiting on his tiptoes. Simeon looked, and he never stopped looking. One can imagine his making eye contact with everyone who passed. . .studying every face. . .looking for a standout in the crowd. . .listening for a baby’s cry. . .because on any given day, out of nowhere, the Lord’s Christ might spring up unannounced.

Simeon was just a harmless old man no one paid much attention to, something of a daily pest, and whom temple authorities might have felt had a runaway imagination. But Simeon had a heart for God, was precious to God, and for that reason he was told to stay on full alert.

If Simeon looked for the first coming of Christ, it is for us to look for the second coming. It’s no secret this time; we’ve all been told plainly: “I am coming again.” And if Christ chooses not to show up, at least in my lifetime, am I any the worse for it, if I have been found faithfully waiting, watching, and working?

Don M. Hull © April 2024

Saying Goodbye

April 7, 2024Articlesadmin

Saying Goodbye

“Goodbye, a 16^th century contraction of “God be with you,” is spoken as a concluding remark or gesture when someone takes leave of someone else. But that’s where simple stops and complicated begins!

Goodbye, like ice cream, comes in so many flavors. We have a parting word for about every taste. There is a flavor whose message is:

—good riddance, and don’t come back, as in Covid, a case of shingles, or Cousin Eddie

—letting go, by finding the courage to turn loose of what you cannot change. This may

test one’s strength to the limit.

—goodbye, so I may forget, with grace and generosity, those who choose not to love me,

who reject my friendship with dismissiveness and treat me with contempt.

—the crippling wounds (seldom mortal, always painful) that come with

the loss of someone incalculably precious.

—the cost of obedience to a higher calling, which frequently is the most

difficult of all goodbyes due to the commitment required.

There are times when we can’t wait to say goodbye to something distasteful, like an illness, a long-standing debt, or Cousin Eddie showing up on Christmas Eve in his Winnebago, uninvited and unwanted. But sometimes saying it keeps us from ruining the fine day ahead of us and not wasting a perfectly good fret over a really bad yesterday.

At other times we can’t bear saying goodbye. We postpone it, we try pushback, or we ignore it as long as possible. What anxious parent can forget the near panic when the bus hauls off her first grader to that first day of class, when that final hug, or four, made the driver honk? What adoring dad can forget the joyful-mournful strains of Mendelssohn’s’ Wedding March as he gives his priceless daughter away to a worthless bum, who later produces the finest grandchildren on the planet; that handing her hand over to the waiting hand of another and the sad-glad goodbye that change things, and us, forever.

Whether you spell it goodby, good-by, or goodbye, as I do, it’s the final thing one says after he says “hello” and conversation runs aground, or one wishes to part company.

In 1976 the Beatles released a popular tune about opposites, Hello, Goodbye, to poke playful fun at duality, one of the themes of our universe. They sang, “you say goodbye; I say hello.” Consider how many other opposites there are: high and low, everything and nothing, stop and go. . . .and yes, “hello” and “goodbye.”

Goodbye is simply hello with no place left to go, as when the whistle blows and there is no time left on the clock. Grief resembles goodbye in so many ways; what is grief if not love that has no place to go? The word takes us places we would never go in a million years, nor would we wish to.

We are all of us like Alice in Lewis Carroll’s immortal tale in which she falls down a rabbit hole that takes her into a world we can scarcely imagine, one in which she bumps into surprising, often delightful, creatures. We know we’re eventually going to bump into goodbye and its requisite pain, which never leaves us unaffected and changes us forever.

In our Wonderland we will bump into things in the aftermath of saying goodbye, like the sensations which wash over us when we feel the aftershocks of an earthquake. Sometimes the creature we bump into is sorrow, or an empty feeling of loneliness; sometimes, not irreverently, we bump into an amazing sense of relief when we are freed from exhausting caregiving.

What an exhilarating word “hello” can be. It kicks down the door to an unimaginable, uncharted world of adventure and possibility: new love, new relationships, new journeys, new places to explore, new thrills of discovery. . .like falling down our own rabbit hole. Consider how many words describe it: joyous, arousing, gladdening, intoxicating, energizing, and alluring.

What an exasperating word “goodbye” can be. It slams shut every door that “hello” opens, and often marks the chilling end to relationships, to love, and sometimes to life itself. It has the explosive power to blast our surpassingly happy world to kingdom come. Consider how many words describe it: vexing, maddening, irksome, disturbing, tormenting, and frustrating.

So, why do we have such a difficult time saying such a simple word? Let me suggest four likely reasons.

Goodbye seems almost invariably to have pain attached to it, a searing awareness of the loss of someone precious. It’s the acute sense that ‘I’m losing someone who cannot come back and can never be replaced.’ Their loss leaves a gaping hole, an empty place in our heart that cannot be filled. No substitute ever made satisfies the longing, the unending, unstoppable ache, left by such a loss. Who has not seen the photo of a dove standing helplessly over the body of his lost mate? Or the shepherd dog who sleeps on the grave of his missing master and refuses to leave?

Second, goodbye rudely confronts us with our mortality, our frailty, our vulnerability; it whispers in our ear the words of John Donne we may wish not to hear, “The bell tolls for thee.” We’re faced with the harsh reality that we’re not going to live forever, that a day most certainly will come when the valediction we hear will be said to us. Those fresh footprints “on the sands of time” are ours.

In a single breath, one final heartbeat, the one we love steps right into eternity, leaving us, like a man standing on the tarmac as the plane leaves, with an unwelcome truth: we are stuck here on the planet with relationships that will forever remain unfinished. We can angrily protest: “Not yet! We weren’t done!” We feel our lives have been burglarized, our pockets picked. What we could have said and should have said, and did not say, what we could have done and should have done, and did not do, comes back to haunt us.

Hours, days, years. . .moments of sublime happiness, magnificent achievement, indescribable glory. . .all slip through our fingers. Trying to hold onto them is as futile as tightly gripping a handful of fine sand on a seashore.

In the movie Patton, George C. Scott concludes the story with a sobering reflection:

For over 1,000 years Roman conquerors returning from the wars

enjoyed the honor of triumph, a tumultuous parade. In the parade came

trumpeters, and musicians and strange animals from the conquered

territories, together with carts laden with treasures and captured

armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphant chariot, the dazed

prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children

robed in white stood with him in the chariot or rode trace horses.

A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown, and

whispering in his ear a solemn warning. . .that all glory is fleeting.

Third, “goodbye” is hard to say because it carries the image of death, of the loss of someone. It means the revisiting of earlier goodbyes that are forever indelible in our memories, said to other people whom we have loved more than life itself. We never say it to just one person, but rather to layer upon layer of farewells said to others important to us. It’s those other farewells that act on the stage of our memory. . .face after face of those we have loved and lost, names we cannot summon without emotion. Saying goodbye has a way of tormenting us by reopening wounds which never quite healed, so that at any given moment we can re-live those happy-turned-sad memories of others we still cherish.

And finally, a meaningful goodbye needs to be personalized and customized, but the words don’t seem to form when we most need them. Attempts to lighten the intensity of the moment run the high risk of being cheesy, tasteless, or downright awful, as in: “See you later, alligator,” or, “Catch you on the flip side.”

If the reader doubts saying goodbye is difficult, then why does one find dozens of synonyms for it and in many languages? Why is it so hard to find the perfect word that has the right meaning and sets the right tone? We want our final word to be like an after-dinner mint that leaves the right aftertaste. But how does one say goodbye when goodbye isn’t enough?

Our euphemisms to avoid saying farewell can be as inane as they are endless: “Hang in there.” “More power to you.” How we love to tiptoe around the awkward moment when it’s time to say farewell! Sometimes we combine hello and goodbye when we pass a person, as in, “Have a good one!”. The truth is there’s no one-size-fits-all, foolproof way to say it.

Goodbye is the price we pay when we say that first hello that leads to a relationship, because in every promising greeting the seeds of an inevitable farewell are already planted. These mostly wonderful things we call life and love will bring with them the sweet and bitter, the loving and losing, the hellos and goodbyes.

Tennyson, the most famous poet of England’s Victorian era, probably said it best in his In Memorium:

“. . .’tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

Would we tamper with our choice to love deeply despite the unavoidable risks? Probably not, not if we are wise. Not if we are fortunate enough to have tasted that depth of affection.

In the wonderful movie Shadowlands, C. S. Lewis is walking on a snow-packed path with his brother Warnie shortly after the death of his wife, Joy. Warnie asks Lewis about his decision to marry Joy: “Do you wish you’d chosen differently?”. Lewis cryptically responds, “No.”

The point seems clear: as heart-breaking as saying goodbye is, to have never said the hello that opened the door to an endearing relationship is infinitely worse.

Maybe “hello” and “goodbye” are meant to be the bookends of our lives. . .of relationships, of everything and everyone we value, of who we are and whose we are.

They certainly represent the bookends of the author’s life—the “hello” and “goodbye” that opened and closed the relationship with the love of his life.

“Hello” happened that fine spring day in 1962 in the hallway of Travis Avenue Baptist Church, Fort Worth.

I cannot imagine the tragedy of not saying “hello” to that classy, feisty, brown-eyed beauty named Helen who attended TCU. . .wearing that stunning form-fitting white dress that fit her form in a way I should not speak of. . .the short-sleeved one, the one with pretty polka dots of gentle colors: lavender, pink, yellow. But who pays attention to silly details like those, or to expressive eyes and an effortless smile in which I could lose myself—the math major who could slam-dunk abstract algebra but couldn’t balance a checkbook—the one whose elegant hand slipped so perfectly into mine?

Love came softly and quietly for us, a gentle Camelot-thing, without pyrotechnics and loud noises. But it came quickly and effortlessly and gained the force of a locomotive in an idyllic dream that overnight became 56 years.

“Goodbye” came as dawn broke that crisp Sunday morning just before Christmas 2019, in a room at Brookhaven in Norman, Oklahoma. Cancer had gotten a head start on us five months earlier, and we never had a chance to catch up; we were beaten before we started. The battle we waged was fast and fierce and deadly, and we lost. In our joy-filled years together H and I never found the bottom to our love, just as I have not found the bottom to my sorrow. I had no idea grief could dive so deeply.

Maybe we who want to be wholly devoted followers of Christ should imitate the woman who insisted she be buried with a fork in her hand. Asked why, she replied with a twinkle in her eye: ‘Because we haven’t had dessert yet!’

Life has sent me on this unwanted journey to figure out how to do life without Helen, to breathe without oxygen, to engage the pain and at the same time seize the joy and hope of Jesus’ solemn promise that some glad day there will be a blissful reunion. Dessert, if you will. . .

So, why this article?

It’s the author’s attempt, as a Christ-follower, to do battle with the pain of some of the goodbyes he, like everyone on our tiny planet, has had to say, to sort out the clashing emotions that accompany crippling loss.

For the Christian the word goodbye can be as full of life-giving hope as it is of unbearable pain, in the same strange way we laugh and cry at the same time. We can shed bitter tears and yet be filled with hope and promise. . .just like goodbye and hello.

Goodbye carries its own meaning because of what Christ said: “I will come again. . .I will see you again.” (I Thess. 4:13-18) For the Christian, goodbye is seen in the light of Christ’s resurrection, and the promised, soon-coming resurrection of all believers. . .so that it means parting only for a little while. We will soon meet again.

Goodbye. . .God be with you because I can’t be.

Goodbye. . .until I see you once more.

Goodbye. . .but only for a little while.

For many, including new or immature Christians, the separation from a loved one brings great difficulty. We are left with our heart in our hands, asking: what do I do now? How do I come to terms with my loss? Our heart and head can offer very different, sometimes confusing, and often contradictory answers. To what do I turn for help that helps?

Some men turn to reason, to try and figure it all out, to get a sensible answer to the staggering question: “Why?”. We all of us share a desperate need for things to just make sense, but often that question swallows us whole. Human reason is vital for our survival, serves us wonderfully, and does enormous good; but it always disappoints us in the end because it makes promises it cannot keep. No reason, no rational explanation ever offered, can slake the thirst of the human heart.

Some men erupt in rage. . .at God, at life, at others, at the innocent, and at self. Some lash out, “I will not speak to a God who allows such tragedies to happen!” Anger has many close relatives who gladly consume every ounce of our emotional energy: bitterness, cynicism, pessimism, withdrawal, denial, sarcasm, hostility, and sometimes cruelty. All these shrivel the soul, drive away the people who reach out to us, and alienate those whom we most need. When our fury is spent, we sadly self-destruct.

Where then can we turn? Is there a way out of the dark place I’m in?

The writer did not discover the way; the way discovered him. It is the way of the grateful heart, the thankful one. It is the discovery that gratitude, more than any one other thing, drives away anxiety, sorrow, confusion, and doubt. It is the thankful heart that is the happy heart; and happy hearts heal. Thankful for what?

for our families, for children and grands, for good friends and even Cousin Eddie
for the sheer joy of tasting love and friendship
that life is pure gift.
for hope, the one thing every Christian has that sadly no unbeliever has.
for God’s unconditional love, and that happy day we became a believer.
for God’s Word, the bottomless aquifer of truth and comfort from which we drink.
for Christian friends, those little colonies of heaven scattered all over the place.
for the privilege of growing old
. .. (supply your own)

On what is this “grateful heart” based if not an unshakeable belief in a sovereign God who is surpassingly gracious and compassionate, supremely good, kind, forgiving, and just.

We all of us are going to be saying “goodbye” to something or someone as long as we live. . .be it pets, homes, friends, dreams, and relationships no longer possible. But for the believer, goodbye is simply the prelude to the best hello we can ever imagine.

Thank you, Henry VanDyke, for uplifting us:

“I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side, spreads her

white sails to the moving breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She

is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until, at

length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and

sky come to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says, “There, she is gone.” Gone where?

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast, hull

and spar as she was when she left my side. And, she is just as able

to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished

size is in me—not in her.

And, just at the moment when someone says, ‘There, she is gone,’

there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to

take up the glad shout, ‘Here she comes!’

And that is death. . . . .”

Heaven: What It, And We, Will Be Like

September 23, 2021Essayadmin

Heaven:

What It, And We, Will Be Like

Heaven is about people. You. Me. And countless other redeemed people living forever in a community of oneness with the living God. It’s about relationships.

We miss that point when we ask questions about heaven; Will I be able to keep my cell phone? Do all dogs really go to heaven? Room service? What makes heaven heaven is people.

Years ago, John Ortberg profoundly influenced my thinking about heaven. Many of the ideas in this article reflect his thoughts. He said, “The best part of heaven is the sort of persons we will become.”

That’s the deal. Who we will be with and the kind of people we will become—that’s heaven. To enter it is to enter endless life. By comparison, our brief stay on earth seems only a trifle, but is of enormous consequence. Life will have only begun when heaven begins. What is of significance is the development of our character and the kind of person we become.

In heaven we will not sit around looking at each other, or at God, waiting for something to happen. Our purpose is to join the Father as His heirs and co-regents in His never-ending creative work. I’m baffled so many Christians seem uncomfortable or unwilling to talk about it. As I try to engage friends and other believers, the responses range from virtual silence to polite dismissiveness.

While there seems to be bewilderment in what heaven will be like, there is unprecedented interest in end-times speculation. A recent book series sold millions of copies and was then made into films which follow a scenario featuring Christ’s secret return to earth to rapture His church from the so-called “great tribulation.” Still another return of Christ follows, this one public, a second ‘second coming,’ to consummate history. Many apparently do not realize or care that the series was written as fiction. These end-time thrillers first create, then cash in on, a sense of crisis and urgency, followed by further popularizing them with vital products like coffee mugs, t-shirts, and screensavers.

So why does talking about heaven interest us so little?

Maybe it’s a topic too close to death, one very unsettling to many. If we just ignore it, maybe it will go away.
Our obsession is with the present moment and keeping our overcrowded, constantly connected lives from flying apart.
Heaven to many may seem like an incredibly boring place. What will be do? How will we occupy our time? Will there be endless singing around a campfire accompanied by ukulele?
Much of what we claim to know about heaven is simply bogus, trivialized by tasteless jokes and inane television commercials. It is more than fluffy white clouds, fluttering wings, and a fog bank into which people disappear.

Despite all this, the return of Christ and the reality of heaven are still the blessed hope of the Christian. And to treat either with disinterest suggests a serious shortsightedness into precious Biblical truth about our glorious future.

It wasn’t that long ago I would have responded to questions about heaven with a stifled yawn, but then I got a good dose of Biblical truth and learned about the incredible future that is the birthright of every Christ follower. After many years of deliberate avoidance and self-inflicted poverty, I studied the Biblical book, The Revelation. Setting aside the nonsense of sign, date, and event-setting, all being supported with obscure Bible verses, I sought the message God had for my heart from this book that has been so maligned.

I am not a trained Biblical scholar, rather an ordinary Christian with a teachable heart. From my personal study of Revelation Chapters 21-22, here is my understanding of what heaven, and we, will be like.

Intimate, Unbroken Relationship with the Living God

From everywhere they come, the redeemed of the earth. God’s priceless treasures—men, women, boys, and girls—each so different, and yet brought together as His family through the substitutionary death of His Son for our sins. John saw these people, this family as he wrote Revelation:

“. . .I beheld. . .a great multitude, which no man cam number, of all nations, and

kindred, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb,

clothed with white robes, and palm in their hands. . .” Rev. 7:9 NIV

God’s people have come home, having been scattered across the centuries, to heaven our real home. He is with the people who bear His name, never to be separated again:

“. . .Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. . .God himself

will be with them and be their God.” Rev. 21:3 NIV

This grand picture of being together, in perfect fellowship with each other and with God forever, summons up emotions too deep to express. Nor can the scope of such an experience be imagined. Our minds and emotions suffer hopeless overload when we think of the indescribable sweetness of what it means to be in heaven, to be home. A joyful, song-filled homecoming like this has never happened before. For many Christ followers it has been such an exceedingly long wait, an exhausting journey filled with suffering and sorrow.

For the very first time we can see God. John said, “We shall see him as he is.” I John 3:2 NIV It will take all eternity to explore this One who can hold our universe in His palm, who can create more than one trillion galaxies. Such is our God. How can we begin to understand his limitless goodness and greatness?

The Restoration of Community

“. . .They will be his people. . .” Rev. 21:3 NIV

The church, founded by Christ, is to be a community of God’s people on earth to demonstrate to a skeptical world the great value of knowing Him. It is to be a living example of what true community can someday be.

True community means oneness. It is pure and perfect fellowship, without hindrance and tarnish. Community originated in the oneness of the Godhead—the Father, Son, and Spirit—and extended to Adam and Eve who, before their sin and rebellion, were in perfect harmony with God. The fall of man into sin and alienation from Him wrecked everything.

Authentic community will be reestablished for all eternity at the return of Christ. The countless dead in Christ shall be called forth to resurrection life and joined by present believers, all of whom will be transformed and transferred into eternity as one body, a fully formed community of fully devoted followers: A New Community.

This New Community, this gathered church, is God’s centerpiece of all history, a unique people called out to be the showcase of His grace. The church is God’s most precious possession and fulfills his dream of a community of oneness. It is composed of all the redeemed people of the earth outfitted in resurrection bodies, rewarded for their faithfulness, and forever enjoying the presence of the living God.

Elimination of all Evil

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no

more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:

for the former things are passed away.” Rev, 21:4 NIV

Satan will have spent his allotted time trashing the universe and wrecking the lives of mankind. This is the day all the carnage will be hauled off and dumped, never to be seen again.

Every heartache that mankind ever felt found its way into human experience through sin. Life in the Garden of Eden was perfect for Adam and Eve until sin entered the story of which all mankind is still a part. But now, sin has been erased from the universe, and all the problems associated with it vanish.

All the things that make us cry—gone forever. All the things that make our hearts heavy, that burden our spirits and cause us unbearable sorrow—gone forever. Suffering, sickness, disease, disability, evil, injustice, even death itself—all gone.

On this first day of eternity God wipes away many things: our tears, our most painful wound, our worst dread, our most difficult relationship, our most devastating loss, our deepest disappointment, all the hurts that would never go away, and the things that make us afraid. On this day God makes everything right, once and for all, so that all that remains is peace, comfort, and inexpressible joy.

Perfect Personal Holiness and Godliness

The celestial city John described in Revelation Chapter 21—the New Jerusalem, the “bride” —is the church. It is believers, followers of Christ, from all the ages. God knows every square inch of this city which symbolizes his people (21:9-27 NIV). He knows everything about them, and to Him they are an absolute moral treasure.

Men crave darkness because it conceals their wicked deeds (John 3:19, NIV). But in heaven there will be no more darkness, and no more night for people to fear:

“The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God

gives it light, and the Lamb is its light. Rev. 21:23 NIV

There will be no more night. . ..” Rev. 22:5 NIV

Think of it! There is coming a time when what we have yearned for all our Christian lives will be reality—we will be completely free from personal sin, including the desire to sin. Our sinful, fallen nature, against which we have struggled all our lives, will be eliminated. The human heart was included when God said,” I am making everything new!” Believers will undergo radical spiritual transformation:

“. . .in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye . . .we will be changed.” I Cor. 15;52 NIV

In moral character and personal holiness, we will be, not similar to, but like Christ:

“. . .now we are children of God . . .we know that when he appears, we shall

be like him . . .” I John 3:2 NIV

What is heaven if it is not when you and I will be like Christ in every sense?

You and I will be able to “walk in the light as he himself is in the light.” I John 1:7 NIV

No more moral lapses. No more dragging ourselves back to confess the same sin we’ve committed countless times before. No more guilt. We will know what it feels like to be morally flawless, and free from the terrible grip of fleshly cravings. Completely pure, and able to love God effortlessly. You and I will have a new heart, a renewed mind, and transformed body. We will think only good and noble thoughts, speak only gracious words, and do only worthy deeds.

Complete Personal Fulfillment

Is anyone thirsty?

“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new! To

him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the

water of life’.” Rev. 21:5, 6 NIV

Is anyone afraid? Not feeling safe? In heaven there will be no elaborate security systems, no need to lock your doors because there is no night, and no wicked person to trouble you:

“On no day will its gates be shut, for there will be no night there. . .nothing

impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful”

Rev. 21:25-27 NIV

Is anyone feeling unloved, unknown, forgotten, marginalized?

“. . .the city (was made) of pure gold, as pure as glass. . .” Rev. 21:18 NIV

The city, the people of God, is of incalculable value to God. John uses the imagery of gold, precious stones, and pearls to ascribe value to every believer. One need never feel lonely, forgotten, or worthless again.

People futilely chase after many things while seeking fulfillment: wealth, fame, pleasure, intimacy, influence, and acquisition—always in pursuit of ‘just a little bit more.’ But enough is never enough. Fulfillment eludes us. In a rich country like America, men and women can spend their entire lives driven by appetites, destructive overwork, overeating, overcompensating, and over connectedness.

When we finally discover God is all we have, we learn He is all we need.

Ceaseless, Useful Service

When we die, we don’t cease to be who we are. Our personality isn’t scrapped, our rich experience isn’t scuttled, and our Holy Spirit implanted gifts and skills we’ve spent a lifetime honing aren’t scrapped. It all goes with us—the progress we have made as disciples, the excellence of character—all transferred to heaven because it is valuable to God and essential for our unimaginable service in the life to come.

“. . .the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants

will serve him.” Rev. 22:3 NIV

Heaven will be teeming with vital life and brimming with creative activity. God has never ceased creating; He never will.

Consider how busy our little planet gets when it leaps to life in springtime with the coming of the sun’s warmth and gentle rains. Nature explodes into frenzied activity. Seeds sprout. Flowers bloom. Birds sing and build nests. Animals seek mates. Just try holding all this back when the unstoppable forces of spring break free from winter’s grip! It is called ‘life,’ and it drives the springtime.

Eternal life, not the seasonal trappings to which we are accustomed, will be the driving force behind heaven’s activity. Try holding that back! Eternal life will have been turned loose in a perfect environment with people whose lives are perfect and are in perfect harmony with God’s will. God will ask a simple question, “What would you like to do”? The result will be mind-numbing and will set into motion things to be done and services to be rendered that make busyness on our little planet look like children at play. Dallas Willard says,

“. . .the intention of God is that we should each become the kind of person whom

He can set free in his universe, empowered to do what we want to do. Just as we

desire and intend this, so far as possible, for our children and others we love, so

God desires and intends it for his children. But character, the inner directedness of

the self, must develop to the point where that is possible.”

We cannot wrap our finite minds around the incalculable creative work God has for us to do in his workshop which we call our universe.

Endless Personal Development

In heaven there will forever be room to learn and grow unless we assume we will be all-knowing and fully developed. I don’t. Consider Jesus who was perfect in every respect. Sinless. Flawless. Yet we are told he developed personally:

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.” Luke 2:52 NIV

The moment we see the face of God, experience Him, hear His voice, and feel His touch, it will be a teachable moment unlike any other. We will have endless eternity to grow and develop as God further enables and equips us to serve Him at levels we have never imagined.

Paul suggests there will be a profound change in the new eternal order in what we know, how we know it, and how we learn it. (I Cor. 13:9-12 NIV) The way we presently speak, think, and reason is like that of a preschooler compared to the way we will react when we are face-to-face with God without all our present limitations.

We are told the virtues of faith, hope, and love will remain after everything else has ceased, that these will be transferred from the old order to the new. Hope has its eye to the future, always anticipating that it will bring favorable change. Hope looks for that which is not yet realized.

We have not begun to comprehend Jesus’ parable of the talents when He spoke of His coming kingdom:

“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things,

I will put you in charge of many things.” Matthew 25:23 NIV

Ortberg has taught us to ask bolder, more expansive questions worthy of the glories of heaven: Will there be things to do in heaven that require the utmost strength of character and willpower? Will there be adventure beyond our wildest dreams? Will there be opportunities that require our best thought, our best problem-solving skills, and ability to lead? Will there be mind-numbing challenges to engage and give our best effort to? Absolutely.

Heaven is where our real service begins. This life will remind us of our childhood tricycle with training wheels. All our experiences will have only been a prelude as we pass the rim of our world and engage the boundless stretches of eternity. This world as we know it will have only been a training ground for heaven when we will be unleashed in ceaseless creative, productive activity. We ought to hone our gifts, sharpen our skills, and acquire all the useful abilities we can while we yet live. We ought to vigorously press ahead in becoming a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. Our life on earth is an incredibly important dress rehearsal for the life to come.

My feeble efforts to share these thoughts about heaven seem such a trifle. Heaven is so expansive; no one can conclude with any finality what it will be like. We can only pause, as C. S. Lewis does in the conclusion of Narnia, and allow the story’s characters, and ourselves, to be caught up in the wonder of it all:

“But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world

and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page; now at

last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read;

which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

Don M. Hull © September 2021

Christian Discipleship: Connecting “Here & Now” with “There & Then”

August 25, 2021Articlesadmin

Christian Discipleship:

Connecting “Here & Now” with “There & Then”

The spiritually healthy Christian is one whose life in the present is loaded with the future, and whose future is loaded with the present.

But many believers live as though their present efforts toward maturing as a Christ-follower are disconnected from their future life in heaven, that one has no particular bearing on the other. That’s understandable when we consider how radically different they are. Our present life is “here and now,” physical and visible, and intensely practical. Our future life in heaven is “there and then,” spiritual and unseen, certain and secure, but somewhat fanciful and speculative.

Discipleship isn’t just about becoming a better follower of Christ in this life, worthy as that is. It is infinitely more important for the life to come. Here’s why.

The Race Marked Out for Us

It is misleading to speak of a present life and a future life as though they were separate realities. If it is true that eternal life begins the moment of our Christian conversion, then the more accurate view is that we have one continuous life which is lived in stages. The author of Hebrews suggests we think of the Christian life as a race to be run:

“. . .since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw

off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run

with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1,2 NIV

We can expect this journey to include three stages common to all believers.

The Stage of Spiritual Growth

As a believer cooperates with the Holy Spirit in his transforming work, he gradually becomes like Christ in character, thought, and deed. He embraces virtues such as love, forbearance, grace, and kindness, and he becomes even more useful and effective.

The Stage of Transition

The rite of passage we call death merely describes our transfer from our present earthly existence to the future spiritual realm. We undergo glorious change, including the elimination of our sinful nature, and become equipped to live in a resurrected spiritual body. Our personality, skills, spiritual gifts, and experience gained in life—everything about us—remain intact as we morph from mortal into immortal.

The Endless Stage of Reigning With Christ

It is almost impossible to think about this stage without becoming choked with emotion. This is our unimaginable future life with Christ for which we are being prepared, and it for us.

Heaven will be teeming with life and brimming over with endless creative activity in a community of oneness with God and countless other believers. We will each of us have enlarged, ennobling responsibilities as we learn to serve Him who is rightly called The King of Kings:

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has

prepared for those who love him.” Isaiah 64:4; I Cor. 2:9, NIV

Herein lies a subtle and serious problem. Unless the connection is made between discipleship in this life and full participation in the next, there will be multiple consequences.

First, we rob the present. Take away his hope in the future and most of what enables the Christian to function is removed. Hope empowers the believer to live in the present. It defines and sustains us as nothing else can. The glory of the life to come makes the worst trials of this life seem like a trifle. Paul said,

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that

will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18, NIV

The future, understood and embraced, makes the present make sense. Dallas Willard observed,

“We are greatly strengthened for life in the kingdom now by an understanding

of what our future holds, and especially of how that future relates to our present

experience. For only then do we really understand what our current life is and

are able to make choices that agree with reality.”

Second, we shortchange the future. If Christian discipleship is about the perfecting of character, then it is the most serious business we undertake. In heaven we will not sit and stare at each other, or at God, watching for what happens next, or waiting for someone to make a move. We are created to take an active role as we join the Father in his never-ending creative work. Jesus made it clear that the development of our character and faithfulness in handling responsibility sets the level of our participation:

“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things,

I will put you in charge of many things.” Matthew 25:23, NIV

Being entrusted with many things speaks of the excellence of our character and our trustworthiness which permit God to grant us unprecedented freedom and empowerment in the life to come.

Our Astonishing Service in Heaven

The author, John, speaks of man’s role in the new heaven and earth God will create:

“The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his

servants will serve him.” Revelation 22:3, NIV

Think of a new and perfect universe filled with people who are perfectly right with God and right with each other, who are in perfect harmony with His will, and who have a heart to serve! In our known universe there are millions of unoccupied galaxies available for growth and expansion, providing unlimited space for creative things to be done that will boggle our minds.

As I visualize what our service in heaven might be like, it helps to remember the role originally given Adam and Eve, as well as all mankind. Adam was told to “work it (the earth) and take care of it.” He was placed in a position of oversight and stewardship.

All through his long and storied history, imperfect man has been doing imperfect work imperfectly in a imperfect world. We cannot fully grasp or understand the terrible extent to which sin crippled God’s plan and wrecked man’s ability to glorify Him.

Perhaps man will once again be liberated and empowered to do God’s will, not in the Garden of Eden, but in a new order and on a glorious scale that is unimaginable. Redeemed men will have undergone a spiritual makeover that eliminates forever the devastating, scarring effects of sin and rebellion.

I cannot wrap my mind around how it will feel to be exactly like our Lord, to experience what it means to be a son of God and joint heir with Christ, and not feel the downward pull of a sinful nature. What will it feel like to effortlessly love God with a sterling heart?

Equipped with a new heart, a renewed mind, and a transformed body—capable of only noble thoughts, gracious words, and worthy deeds—we will be productive at a level that staggers the mind. How little we grasp the implication of the phrase, “his servants will serve him.” (Revelation 22:3, NIV) Jesus did not say specifically how he would reward his followers for their good works, but the suggestion is strong it will include greatly enlarged opportunities to serve.

I believe there will be mind-numbing challenges to solve and causes to champion in heaven that will stimulate our minds and require our leadership abilities as never before. In the boundless expanse of eternity there will be great good to be done and indescribable service to perform that requires the utmost bravery from the stoutest heart.

Preparing To Serve in Heaven

For the believer, our present stage—what we called “The Stage of Spiritual Growth” —is a critically important time of preparation.

The Scriptures repeatedly use the analogy that, at conversion, we are born spiritually much like a human baby. (II Peter 2:2) With our obedience, and the patient work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we can and should grow into mature, fully devoted followers of Christ. (Colossians 1:28) In that spiritual journey, we begin as immature disciples who need training and empowering, and grow to assume a greatly enlarged role as servants, as joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:14, 16 NIV), and as his co-regents to reign over the new order:

“. . .his servants will worship him. . .and they will reign forever and ever.”

Revelation 22:3-5 NIV

We enter heaven as the same absolutely unique person we were on earth. Nothing about us is diminished or lost. We will be who we have always been, except we are retrofitted with a supernatural body like that of Jesus. We happily discard our sinful nature, and our character becomes morally flawless. The rich experiences we gain while on earth through diligent labor, practice, testing, and adversity—plus our spiritual gifts and skills honed to perfection—are all requisite to our future heavenly service.

The Bible does not provide clear answers to countless questions that tug at our minds. How will God be fair to believers whose lives were cut short, who did not have the privilege others had to grow and serve? We have so many questions about children and the kingdom. In heaven, how is God going to make the playing field level? We simply do not know. Regardless how He chooses to do it, we can be sure He will do the right and just thing with all His children. There will be no need to make comparisons, no “have’s and have-not’s,” and no inequities.

What is startlingly clear is the grave responsibility that rests upon those who know the joys of extended life and have many more opportunities to demonstrate their trustworthiness:

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded, and from

The one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

Luke 12:48 NIV

“What did you do with what you were given?” will be the penetrating question that searches the soul of every Christ-follower.

The thought that we are to join Christ in ruling and reigning over the heavenly order stretches my understanding. How can we, even though we are related to God and allied to heaven like no other part of creation? —“in our image, after our likeness.” What abilities do we possess that make us like Him, in form and semblance? At least four come to mind: the ability to think, speak, choose, and act. But how do we prepare?

Man is capable of action to effect change, the power to make things happen. To guide him in the use of that power he has been given the faculties of reason and volition. Reason informs our will, and our will directs our actions. So that right thinking leads to right choices which, in turn, lead to right behavior and deeds. Speech provides interaction with the world of others.

As one lives his life, can he become more like God in character and become better equipped to reign with Him? Yes. But never in the sense of getting where one can handle things on his own and outgrowing, as it were, our need of Him. Jesus showed us how.

With Jesus as our example, we are to be “like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.” Philippians 2:2 NIV We should lay aside selfish ambition, vain conceit, and in a spirit of humility look to the interests of others more than our own: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” 2:3-5 NIV

Jesus demonstrated through his life how it’s done: right thinking, which leads to right choices, which, in turn, leads to right actions. Philippians 2:2-11 NIV expresses it this way:

Right Thinking “in humility” and “consider others better than yourselves” (vs. 3); “look to the interests of others” (vs. 4)
Right Choosing “he made himself nothing” and “he took the very nature of a

nature of a servant” (vs. 7)

Right Acting “he humbled himself” and “became obedient unto death” (v. 8)

And what was the result of all this? “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name . . .” (vs. 9) Jesus’ example of thinking, choosing, and acting shows us how to please God. This is man acting like the man God created him to be, in His “image and likeness.”

Can you and I as Christ-followers grow in our ability to think the thoughts of God? Yes. Can we make better choices like those He makes? Yes. Can we behave in ways that reflect His character and bring honor to Him? Yes. And we must.

The Wise Use Of “Here & Now”

What do you and I need to be doing if the following precepts really are true?

What we acquire in this life (character, personality, knowledge, experience,

spiritual development, giftedness, skills, etc.) is fully retained when we die and is absolutely vital in the life to come, our “There & Then.”

The level of our opportunities to serve in heaven—our sharing with Christ in the rule and reign he promised—is directly dependent on our diligence, faithfulness, and

trustworthiness in our present life and work, our “Here & Now.”

We ought to be devoting every moment we have, and every ounce of energy we have, to proactively engaging in extreme living—embracing virtues like grace, humility, love, compassion, and goodness until they become our true character. We ought to proactively seize every opportunity to learn, grow, and develop as much as we possibly can. And, finally, we must understand, as Dallas Willard said, it is God’s intention that all believers become spiritually transformed to the point He can empower and set them free in the heavenly order to do that toward which they are drawn. For this to happen, the character of the Christian is not just important, it is everything!

In the “Here & Now” of our lives we can grow steadily forward—thought by thought, word by word, choice by choice, deed by deed—and become more like Jesus, thus taking on a strong resemblance to the royal, reigning family of which we are a part.

Despite all his sin, false starts, mistakes, and failure—despite the agonizing slowness with which growth and character development come—the Christian is still part of heaven’s nobility who will someday join the Great King and share the blessings of His reign.

Becoming A Christian “Minuteman”

August 25, 2021Essayadmin

Becoming A Christian “Minuteman”

The statue of the greatly admired Concord Minuteman stands at Concord,

Massachusetts, to honor a class of armed citizens who

pledged to take the field at a minute’s notice during America’s War

Of Independence. There he stands—fearless, committed, resolute, alert,

hand having just left the plow, and musket in hand—but

more than anything else, ready!

The Minuteman is a fitting symbol of the Christian who is

spiritually awake and ready to meet the Lord at a moment’s notice

when he comes again.

For some time, I have felt the tension that comes from professing a belief that Christ will certainly come again, just as He said He would, but living as if it is never going to happen. It’s that uneasy feeling that comes when you know in your heart what you claim to believe isn’t making any practical difference in the way you live. Conscientious believers ask themselves, “Why?” Line up one hundred followers of Christ and ask them, “Do you believe in the second coming of Christ?” My belief is that almost all will respond, “Yes.”

Now ask again, “Do you believe in the second coming of Christ with sufficient passion so that it affects the way you daily live?” And watch the eyes hit the floor! For too long my eyes have been hitting the floor. When was the last time you heard a sermon specifically about the Second Coming of Christ? For many in 2021, the idea seems as far away as the moon.

Problem

The victorious return of our Lord to consummate God’s purposes and man’s history is a truth clearly taught in the Bible. I believe it—all of it. Yet, unintentionally, I treat it casually, as if it is of only minor importance. I may go for days and weeks without thinking about the return of Christ. I am troubled at how easily I shrug my shoulders and treat with disdain an event I know ought to be scintillating and joyful.

Perplexities

Several problems seem to contribute to this tendency to neglect anticipating Christ’s any-moment return:

We tend to overcorrect too far in the opposite direction when the media exposes us to sensational views of prophecy that foist onto a trusting public its message loaded with hubris which features sign-seeking, date-setting, and event-matching between today’s headlines and carefully selected pieces of the Bible. Some call this “rapture frenzy.” If these so-called leaders obsess with the end times, I am dispassionate. I permit their outrageous teachings, of which they are supremely confident, to alienate me from great truths that I ought to be heeding.
Believers do not want to be perceived as some sort of spiritual ‘wackos’ who have gone off the deep end in apocalyptic fervor when we try to share what we do know about Christ’s return. I yearn for a clearer understanding of end-time events that I can “live with” and hold in humility, respect, and tentativeness.
Christ’s return may now seem so remote that we underemphasize it at every turn, in teachings, writings, and in conversations which present Christ as a wonderful Savior, but say little of His return to reign. In a short while, fully 2,000 years will have elapsed since men first started looking for Christ’s return. Scorners have more reason than ever to challenge the hope of a Second Coming with the question first raised 2,000 years ago, “Where is the promise of his coming?”
After twenty long centuries of waiting, some believers get a “disconnect” between the Biblical truth that he will eventually return, and the actual event of his return and the initiation of heaven, thus making the time of his return appear unrelated and unimportant. This leads to errors in thinking such as: “Christ can come whenever he wants to, but what’s that got to do with me if I’m going to heaven anyway?”

Promises

Speaking for myself, there isn’t any serious question of our Lord’s return to this earth. He often personally promised it. For example, he said: “. . .I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am . . .I will see you again . . .” John 14:3; 16:22 NIV

Christ’s certain return was attested to by angels at His ascension: “Jesus has gone away to heaven, and some day, just as he went, he will return!” Acts 1:11 NIV

There are numerous New Testament references that urge Christians to be alert as Christ’s second coming approaches. Paul cautioned believers that the day of the Lord would come as a “thief in the night,” and that they should “watch and be sober.” I Thessalonians 5:2, 6 NIV Peter warned his readers that scoffers would ridicule the Lord’s coming because on his long delay. He, like Paul, assured them of the certainty of it, and that it would “come as a thief.” Anticipating the coming of Christ, he asked: “. . .what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” II Peter 3:3-12 NIV

Principles

In 2021, how exactly is a 21^st century Christian supposed to “watch” for Christ to come? How do we do this without appearing to be a certifiable case of something abnormal? My question is not meant to suggest doing foolish, irresponsible things like sky-gazing all the time and losing the respect and validity we have with others. Nor do I want any of us to become so heavenly minded we are of little earthly use. I ask to raise the level of our personal awareness of His coming and to acknowledge that proactively looking for the Lord’s return is a real part of discipleship, whether He comes before this day is over or waits another century. In whatever way we watch, it must be done in a healthy and holy way.

What might 21^st century “looking for Christ’s return” look like? If I search the Scriptures for guidance, I find what I need to know in the teachings of Christ and in a better understanding of the word “watch” as it was originally used. The clearest teaching about readiness and watchfulness come from the lips of Christ as He urged the followers who were with him to be watchful servants:

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning like men WAITING

for their master to return. . . .it will be good for those servants whose master

finds them WATCHING when he comes. . .you must also be ready because the

Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. . .it will be good

for that servant whom the master finds DOING so when he returns.”

Luke 12:35-43 NIV

Jesus said the wise servant will be characterized by waiting. . .watching. . .and working. He also added stern words of warning to servants who grow careless:

“But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long

time in coming’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and maid-

servants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant

will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not

aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the

unbelievers.” Luke 12:45-46 NIV

The analogy is not about two groups of Christians—some worldly, some godly. It is about people who profess to be Christians—true and false servants. The punishment reveals this. Those who did not watch are punished with the unbelievers. The delay made no difference to the true servant. He busied himself in service and watched continually. The delay induced the false servant to sinful behavior. The Lord’s delay revealed the true character of both. Heart devotion, love for Christ, is what kept the true servant on the job.

Of the five different words for “watch” used in the New Testament, the primary one is used nine times, each of which is an exhortation to watch in view of an impending end—watch carefully because something important is about to happen. Jesus’ emphasis is on spiritual and moral wakefulness more than watching for His actual physical return. We simply do not know when the end time will come; the time is uncertain. Because it is, we are to watch. We are to be spiritually awake and not in a stupor. If we are awake and he comes today, we will be ready. If we awake and it is tomorrow, or some other day, we will be ready. Whenever he comes, we will be ready.

A follower of Christ does many things. He obeys, prays, loves, gives, worships, witnesses, studies his Bible, pursues a holy life, etc. I want to add another essential discipline to those we normally list; proactively watching for his Lord’s return by always maintaining personal spiritual readiness and wakefulness. For most of my adult life I have been busy and happy in the Lord’s work. No doubt you have been too, as have most committed Christians. It is obvious we must all wait for Christ’s return. It’s the watching part I need to watch!

Practical Application

How can a serious Christ-follower move to a higher level of watchfulness and readiness for an any-moment return of our coming King? What steps might we take? What spiritual disciplines should we undertake or strive to further develop within ourselves? As I strive to become a Christian Minuteman, I offer these three suggestions that are presently working for me:

Resolve to relentlessly pursue a lifestyle characterized by godliness and holiness. The practical effect of our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:11-14) is to call the disciple to a life of holiness characterized by unselfish pursuits and sacrificial deeds of compassion. This means embracing a lifestyle, not unlike that of Jesus, that is as free as possible from self-centered concerns, one that seeks to take up the challenge of Peter to see ourselves as a special people, called out by God, to be separate and different from the world. (I Peter 2:9-12)

It is also a life filled with the pursuit of virtues. In his book, The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges summarizes these virtues as threefold: (1) those that deal with our relationship with God (humility, contentment, thankfulness, and joy) (2) those that require us to deal sternly with ourselves (holiness, self-control, and faithfulness) and (3) those that enable us to deal graciously and tenderly with other people (peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, and love).

Accomplishing all these is dependent on making the next commitment.

Engage in an intentional effort to live much more simply. We must each of us set up reasonable boundaries in our lives by making choices that avoid the unwise, unproductive use of our time, attention, energy, influence, and money. Saying “yes” to the right things requires saying “no” to a great many more wrong or unnecessary things. In doing this we will discover the vast power which lies in one simple word, politely spoken: no.

In our present culture, this may mean becoming expert at saying “no” to telemarketers and to the frivolous use of time-squandering social media, to the senseless buying of a vast amount of what can only be called “stuff” (which requires rental space to store) that has little or no redeeming value, and to meetings (including church) without agendas and which serve no apparent purpose. Our obsession with cell phones which give us 24/7 instant accessibility knows no bounds, including taking them to bed with us. We must make some sensible decisions about who, and who does not, have unlimited access to us.

My friend, Dr. John Hunter, had a wonderful mantra: “I live simply, so that others may simply live.”

Align my life with a self-imposed accountability that has two components:

To include in my daily prayers and meditation a sobering acknowledgment that, “This could be the day . . .” How do I know that this very day isn’t the one when I need to be more alert and, on the job, doing than any other day of my life? Jesus had some of his harshest words to say to bridesmaids who weren’t prepared and to napping disciples.
To live according to a personal mission statement I prepared many years ago, to which I recently added a new commitment: “To cultivate an intentional attitude of calm attentiveness toward the certain, any-moment return of Christ, characterized by waiting, watching, and working.” A written mission statement is helping move me from vague intentions to commitments to which I hold myself accountable to better honor Christ while staying alert.

Blessed Are The Unsuspecting

August 6, 2021Articlesadmin

Blessed Are the Unsuspecting

The Awkward Subject of Spiritual Rewards

I do not remember asking my father for very much. I never needed to, for he always stayed one step ahead of me in asking and giving and was, I suppose, the most generous man I have ever known. He anticipated my thoughts; before I could ask, I received. What he gave seemed to always be more than what I was going to ask. That was my dad, and his giving was about grace. And relationship: I was his son!

What comes to mind as I think about rewards is not so much the worthiness of Christians to receive them as God’s outrageous generosity, as our Heavenly Father, in giving them. I have not thought this way most of my Christian experience which now exceeds 60 years.

A reward is simply God’s gracious repayment to the Christian for good things done which the believer would have done anyway had there been no thought of reward.

Rewards are defined in terms of grace, which is God’s unsolicited, unearned favor. Grace unlocks the door to understanding rewards from God’s point of view.

In the same way grace is extended to a repentant sinner to receive the forgiveness he could never earn, God likewise gives grace to His faithful servants in the form of rewards they could never earn. Rewards reveal the great heart of God; they are about his mercy and grace; they are about relationships.

Perplexity

The subject of rewards is unusually, perhaps unnecessarily, troublesome for growing Christians as we try to reconcile our seemingly contradictory thoughts about them. Why have we made it so difficult to talk about the coming rewards for faithful service that Jesus spoke about so often? One who raises the topic runs the risk of being looked at as someone who must not be very “spiritual”, or he would know better.

Can we discover truth that will help lighten up a subject that can give us spine-tingling joy? My godly mother suffered from none of these inhibitions. She was often heard to boldly, but not irreverently, exclaim about the bliss of future rewards, “I want some!”

The widespread expectation is that Christians ought to spend their entire lives in service to God and others, selflessly and with a glad heart, and with no thought of personal gain. This ideal obviously runs cross-grain with the values of our culture, and this conflict seeps over into our thinking about rewards. The world’s reward system requires something in return for something else; or, tit-for-tat, quid-pro-quo, “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” God’s reward system is radically different.

Grace, Tough Times, and Rewards

We intuitively know what the Scriptures make clear, that God’s grace is free and can never be earned, and that our lives are to express humility. We are to put the interests of others ahead of our own. Talking about rewards quickly becomes awkward because we don’t want to seem selfish or prideful, and we are certainly not supposed to think in terms of entitlement.

We live in a culture whose underpinning is: What’s in it for me? “What do I get out of the deal?” is the crass expression that drives much of the way business is handled, and the way life is lived for many. Not, “What can I do that will benefit others”? Or “What’s best for everybody”? Our most innocent questions about rewards seem to quickly get knotted up with suspicions about pride and humility, about works and grace. Are we working to earn God’s favor and rewards, or serving Him in response to His generous gift of grace through Christ?

We live in a broken world, one filled with broken people corrupted by sin, in which Satan is permitted to exercise limited rule. The ungodly really do prosper, while God’s people seem to be getting the worst of it. The wicked appear to be having a lot more fun than believers. Bad things do happen to good people who are doing good.

In the tough times, what Christian has not fretted, “It looks like we are losing this thing”? Or has not asked the question born out of grief and pain, “Does it really pay to serve the Lord? Is all this worth it?”

Matthews Henry astutely pointed out that we struggle the whole of our lives with two great anomalies: Suffering Goodness and Triumphant Wickedness.

Paradox

The thinking Christian wanting to learn about spiritual rewards immediately bumps into several paradoxes. For example, anyone who tries to serve God with any expectation of getting something in return, who reminds Him how deserving he is, will receive no reward at all. He need never ask, “What’s in it for me?” The answer will be as simple as it is terse: Nothing.

By contrast, anyone who works selflessly, whose only motive is love and gratitude for the grace he has received, will enjoy a reward from God all out of proportion to his capacity to receive it.

Two precepts about rewards come from this: (1) Scheming and expecting to earn rewards only reveals your greed, and you will surely disappoint the heart of God; and (2) Serving gladly with no thought of personal gain, with no other motive than love for God and others, brings great reward.

Why Bother Talking About Rewards?

So, why bother thinking about rewards if we cannot work for them and should never expect to receive them? Is it legitimate, or even wise, to write about them? Yes.

The Bible offers reasons why properly understanding rewards is a “must” for the Christian:

Motives (Are ours right or wrong from God’s point of view?)

Jesus never hesitated to talk about rewards. He taught that the wrong way to serve God (based on law) leads to nothing more than the hollow applause of men, while the right way of serving Him (based on love) leads to His highest favor. He said, “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. . . .do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.” (Mt. 6:1-4, NIV)

A legendary French nurse who died during World War I perhaps said it best when she wrote in her diary, “Do good, and disappear.” Maybe it was her way of saying, “Don’t stand around waiting for someone to pat you on the back for having done something good.”

The apostle Paul taught that our good deeds only retain their value after they have been severely tested by “fire”; that is, they are scrutinized to see what our motivation was in doing them. Only what is done with the proper motive will survive incineration: “If any man builds on this foundation (Jesus Christ) using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, his will be shown for what it is. . .it will be revealed with fire. . .if what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. . .” (I Cor. 3:11-15, NIV)

Comfort and Encouragement (Rewards can provide both!)

The ultimate reward for the Christian is to forever live in the presence of Christ. A day is coming when that will be living reality: “. . .and so shall we ever be with the Lord forever.” (I Thess. 4:17-18, NIV) Paul adds: “. . .encourage each other with these words.”

But until then, we live in a broken world filled with exploitation, greed, and indulgence. As a Christ-follower, I need to be told in clear terms that it pays to serve Him. I need the encouragement that comes from knowing God honors a life well-lived, and that He chooses to reward the Christian who pays the price of obedience and whose life is filled with acts of kindness done in His name.

Tell me again it is worthwhile to live virtuously, to give myself freely to those in need, to refuse to adopt the world’s mantra: What’s in it for me?

Tell me again and again about God’s plans to reward the faithful who slug it out day-by-day, resolved to live singleheartedly for Christ, and to honor Him with every thought, decision, and deed. I want to taste some of the “joy of the Lord” every Christ-follower is invited to share. (Mt. 25:22, NIV)

I need to know that, at the end of my life’s work, it is possible to hear Christ say: “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Mt. 25:21, NIV)

Relationship (The possibility of rewards challenges us to higher levels of relationship and faith with God.)

The favor of my own father has been a powerful motivator all my life. As a Christ-follower, it has been easy to grasp the significance of the favor of a Heavenly Father. No story Jesus told describes the great heart of God better than the “Prodigal Son.” (Luke 15, NIV) The much-loved story illustrates rewards are about grace (receiving) and not about entitlement (earning).

Upon returning home, the Prodigal thinks himself unworthy of his former father-son relationship and arrives with nothing except ragged clothes, misery, and the wreckage of a wasted life. Yet the glad father showers him with privileges, not for any favor earned, but in celebration and restoration of a ruined life. The rewards the son receives are based on relationship and grace.

Greater Opportunities to Serve (Not only now, but in God’s eternal kingdom.)

Jesus said, “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” ( . 22:12, NIV)

We determine the reward God will give us, much or little, by our service and diligence, and by what we faithfully did with what we were given. God does not reward us arbitrarily or capriciously, but in proportion to the initiative we show. We, not God, set the limits on what we receive.

We are not told what form rewards will take or specifically when they will be received. Jesus’ teachings make it clear they are of a spiritual nature, not material. There is in his teachings the strong suggestion they will include enlarged, ennobling opportunities to serve on a scale we can scarcely imagine. How we develop the talents and gifts we are given to work with in this life could not be of more critical importance. Jesus taught that our faithfulness over a “few things” will explode into being trusted with “many things.” Dallas Willard observes,

“. . .the intention of God is that we should each become the kind of person whom

he can set free in his universe, empowered to do what we want to do. Just as we

desire and intend this, so far as possible, for our children and others we love, so

God desires and intends it for his children. But character, the inner directedness

of the self, must develop to the point that is possible.” (The Divine Conspiracy, p. 379)

When Christians die, we don’t abruptly cease to be who we are. Our personality and rich experience aren’t left behind, and our Holy Spirit-implanted gifts and perfected skills aren’t disregarded or discarded. They all go with us as an essential part of our transformation and glorious future. Christ said, “I am preparing a place for you.” And piled on top all that will be God’s rewards.

Perhaps our rewards will include a kind of commissioning by God to join Him in endless creative work to be done around our universe. Empowered by God, and with His limitless resources at our disposal, we may ask the simplest question, “What would you like me to do”? only to find ourselves completely unprepared for His answer: “What would you like to do”? How we answer that question may set into motion things to be done and services to perform at a level that will numb our mind. Will there be difficult, complex problems to solve? Adventure? Challenges that will challenge our abilities to the limit? Unbelievable opportunities that will stretch our minds, challenge our courage, and test our ability to create and lead? No question about it!

Blessed Are the Unsuspecting

The best gift is the one that catches us unsuspecting. What excitement we feel when we receive something wholly unexpected! The rewards of heaven will be like that. Our heart will beat faster, and our breath will grow shorter when we hear the Lord call our name and say, “I have a surprise for you.”

Maybe one of the reasons we aren’t told what rewards will be is that God doesn’t want to be denied the fun of surprising us. Only one with the gift of giving understands the sheer delight of that.

There is so much we don’t know about the day when works will be judged, and rewards rendered. But we do know it will be a day of stunning, unexpected discoveries.

There will be tragic, shattering disappointments as many who thought themselves worthy of great position and reward protest to Christ that some terrible mistake has been made: “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name. . .perform many miracles”? (Mt. 7:22, NIV) In utter disbelief, they will hear Him disown their claims to a heavenly windfall: “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me. . .!” (Mt. 7:23, NIV)

There will also be gleeful, unsuspected ecstasy and unspeakable sweetness as Christ heaps rewards on startled disciples who ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry. . .thirsty. . .a stranger. . .sick or in prison. . .?” (Mt. 7:37-39, NIV) It never occurred to them their work was being observed and would be further rewarded. They had already discovered surpassing happiness in loving and caring for the people Jesus loved: “The King will reply, ‘. . .whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me’.” (Mt. 7:40, NIV)

The bonus blessings continue in a torrent: the small will be great, the unknown cheered, the forgotten remembered, the unnoticed crowned, the faithful honored, the mourning comforted, the hungry and thirsty filled, the pure in heart see God, and the poor in spirit inherit a kingdom!

Because we understand the greatness and goodness of God, we gladly do His will and work with no thought of “What’s in it for me?” We do what we do because of who God is and out of gratitude for His indescribable grace, goodness, and greatness.

Blessed are the unsuspecting, for they shall be greatly rewarded.

Don M. Hull

The One Best Word For God

July 2, 2016Devotionalsadmin

The One Best Word for God

If asked to choose a single word out of all the words you know that best describes God, which would you choose?

You know many words. So do I. Deciding on only one may prove difficult because God has so many traits, and all of them are good. As a Christ-follower, our personal experiences with Him probably influence to some degree our choice of words. We see Him in light of His dealings in our lives.

Words that could describe God would certainly include these: truthful and forgiving, righteous and unchanging, just to name a few. Some responding to my query may base their choice on a particular experience with God in which He met a personal need, provided guidance at a critical moment, or revealed himself in a fresh, exciting way. For example, an individual who has found forgiveness and restoration after committing a grievous sin might choose the word merciful, or perhaps forgiving.

Let’s frame the question differently: Suppose you are speaking to someone who has never heard the claim there is a God who exists. He or she has no spiritual background, no familiar religious jargon with which you can connect and begin to communicate. You are attempting to describe God, knowing He cannot be touched, seen, or heard. Our five senses are useless. But you know from personal experience that God really is “there.” What one word—what attribute, trait, or virtue—would you pick that best describes Him?

As I think about friends I know, I can usually with a little effort decide on a word that, more than others, sums up the person’s life, that comes to mind when I hear the person’s name called. One best word rises to the surface just like air bubbles trapped in water.

Remembering my father, only one word perfectly describes him: goodness. He was incredibly kind and generous with the poor, the ignorant, the marginalized, and the forgotten of the earth. In that sense, he was more like Jesus than any person I have ever known, of whom it was simply said: “He went about doing good.”

Every individual, I believe, carries a unique “life message,” a predominant character trait that edges out all other traits that might be mentioned. That one trait, that “life message,” will find expression more often and more forcefully than any other. It may be a very good trait, or one that is terrible and destructive. So, of one person we may say that he or she is “a very loving individual” while of another we may say he or she is “a very angry and bitter person.”

The protracted influence of our “life message,” remembered long after we are gone, is a staggering thing to consider. Our influence may prove to be beneficial or destructive, cherished or loathed. Some feel the influence Abraham Lincoln has had on American democracy and values is far stronger now than ever during his lifetime. If the idea of fairness was Lincoln’s “life message,” then consider the role his influence has played on civil rights and the fair treatment of all people over the past 151 years.

A person’s influence doesn’t stop when he or she dies. It goes on and on, and is inextricably tied to this word we call his “life’s message,” the one best word that describes him.

What is your best word for God in light of your personal experience with him and your understanding of how he disclosed himself through the Bible?

It recently struck me how many verses from the Psalms I had memorized which contain the word “lovingkindness,” and how vague was my understanding of the word. My search for its significance began that moment.

Here is my “take” on what I have come to believe is the one best word for God, at least in the Old Testament.

When the writer of Psalms reached for the highest, grandest, and most noble word he could find to describe God, more often than not he used the Hebrew word, Chesed. It is used 240 times in the Old Testament, and was variously translated as mercy, goodness, or favor to describe God’s attitude toward man.[1] But 30 of those times it was translated lovingkindness when it referred specifically to God’s love for his people, Israel.[2]

Lovingkindness does not appear in the New Testament, but finds its nearest counterpart in the Greek word for grace, Charis. Lovingkindness can be defined as “the kindly way in which God treats, or may be expected to treat, His people, because he loves them.[3]

The hyphenated double word “loving-kindness” was coined by Myles Coverdale when he published the first complete English Bible in 1535.[4] The King James Bible of 1611 followed closely Coverdale’s use of the phrase in its Old Testament translation of Chesed, so that lovingkindness appears 30 times, mostly in the Psalms. For example,

Psalm 26:3 “For this lovingkindness is before mine eyes. . .”

Psalm 36:7 “How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! . . .”

Psalm 119:149 “Hear my voice according to thy lovingkindness. . .”

Some modern translators of the Bible understandably choose words other than lovingkindness to use in light of the current meaning of the word: “tender and benevolent affection.”[5] Lovingkindness is not considered archaic, but neither is it used in everyday language and may not be understood by many. For example, where “lovingkindness” appears in Psalm 26:3 (KJV, NASB), it occurs in more recent translations as “love” (NIV, NCV), “steadfast love” (NRS), and “constant love “(TEV, NEB).

Lovingkindness tends to combine the elements of loyalty and love. It is more than God’s love for man, which Coverdale translated as mercy, goodness, or favor. One dictionary says, “The word stands for the wonder of his unfailing love for the people of his choice, and the solving of the problem of the relation between his righteousness and his loving-kindness passes beyond human comprehension.”[6]

Chesed acts as the centerpiece of God’s self-disclosure of his attitude toward His people: “It combines the ideas of love, commitment, duty, and care. It is explicitly linked with ‘truth’—i.e., a being true to oneself, truthfulness, reliability—and so there is a stress on the loyalty with which love acts. Taking the whole evidence of the Old Testament, Chesed holds together the ideas of love and loyalty with a strong emphasis on the practical more than the emotional sides of these ideas. It is the loyal love that is displayed when there is no other motive to action except love and loyalty.”[7]

And when God shows his “loyal love,” especially as we are loveless and altogether unlovable, we call that grace.

What lovingkindness is to the Old Testament, grace (God unmerited favor) is to the New Testament.

A man might be able to show kindness, or perhaps mercy, to another man without an ounce of love in his heart. But this could never be said of God. The kindness and mercy He shows invariably springs from sincere, steadfast love. And that is what the word lovingkindness attempts to communicate.

Lovingkindness grows out of the divine nature, a patient and inexhaustible trait that leads Him to redeem His people. It is how the Lord feels and acts toward His people. As a result, God’s people should act in the same way toward Him, and follow His example in the way they treat others.

Lovingkindness—what an expansive, rich, illustrative word it is! I lament the fact we do not use it more today, especially to describe God. It’s too bad it has fallen into disuse. “Grace” will have to do!

The day is coming when believers will be able to effortlessly love God with the love with which He loves us. There will be no impediment of sin; our sinful nature will be no more. We will truly have a new heart, a renewed mind that can think only good and noble thoughts, as well as a transformed body with a mouth capable of speaking only pure and gracious words.

In heaven, it will come to pass that the one great word to describe the people of God will be “lovingkindness.” We will live perfectly, in perfect community with others, and in perfect fellowship and service with God. And for the first time, we will love perfectly.

The writer, John, got it right: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God. . .we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as He is.” (I John 3:1-2, NIV)

Lovingkindness.

What a great word.

What a great God!

[1] Vine, W.E., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishing) 1985, Pg. 142-143

[2] Tenney, Merrill C., ed., The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia Of The Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House) 1976, P. 996

[3] Miller, M. S. and J. L., Harper’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper and Brothers) 1961. PO. 402

[4] Tenney, op.cit., P. 996

[5] Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam, Co.) l976, p. 682

[6] Richardson, Alan, A Theological Word Book Of The Bible (New York: Macmillan Company), 1950 P. 137

[7] Douglas, J.D. and Tenney, M. C., The New International Dictionary Of The Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishers) 1987, P. 603

Benediction

May 11, 2016Articlesadmin

Benediction

The day before she died, my 90 year-old mother confronted me with a question that startled me.

She asked, “Have you become the person in life you wanted to become?”

We had been carrying on lighthearted conversation in the lobby of her assisted living center and exchanging good-natured barbs. Then, out of the blue, she fired at point blank range this probing question at me.

As I now reflect back on that moment, her question seems to relate more to her life than to mine, as if she was asking the question of herself. It is evident she was thinking back over her life in sweet reflection. She was pondering her own long journey, how fulfilling it had been. And how fortunate she had been to reach so many goals in life which, to her, were sure evidence of how good and faithful God had been through the changing seasons of her life.

There were the stressful college years in the late 1930s when she worked as a café waitress, scrimping and saving every penny, hoping to eke out enough to go just one more semester. Then she married my father, and together they shared three decades of teaching in public schools, side by side. My dad’s early death placed my mother in a 32-year widowhood in which she served as an elected county school official, a community volunteer and church worker, and many years as a first-rate grandmother.

She had a huge inventory of cherished memories spanning 45 years that impacted thousands of Oklahoma youngsters going to school. She could recall those special kids she taught and helped along the way to become in life what they wanted to become.

Now my mother was asking herself the question: “Have I become the person in life I wanted to become?” “Am I there?”

The roots of that question can be traced back more than 60 years to a vow she made to God in a very dark hour.

I contracted a life-threatening case of pneumonia in the fall of 1940 when I was less than a month old. I had great difficulty breathing and the doctors told my mother is was “touch and go” whether I would survive. Three weeks passed before the crisis subsided and I was finally allowed to go home.

My mother told me several times—always in carefully-guarded, calculated language so as not to put any expectation on me—about her spiritual struggle with God during those desperate hours. How she pleaded with God to intervene, to spare my life which had barely begun. How she promised God that, if she could keep me, she would faithfully raise me for His glory.

Through all my growing-up years she was cautious never to communicate any sense of my being obligated to God, or implying any sense of debt I had to pay for my life being spared. But she did about everything else to raise me in the best possible spiritual environment. As an irresponsible teenager, there were countless times I was escorted to church under protest. But, despite all my growling, my mother did her job, and kept that commitment as well as anyone could.

All through college and doctoral studies. . .into marriage. . .through the years of raising my children who now have their own families. . .and finally as I engage the senior years. . .I have felt her gentle hand of influence. She never stopped encouraging and exhorting me toward faithfulness in prayer, excellence in Christian service (which was my choice), and trying to raise her grandchildren in the fear of the Lord. In a soft, relentless, positive kind of way, she set through her personal influence the bar very high to live right and do right.

I think her question to me about whether I had “become the person I wanted to become” was really her way of asking if I thought I could now make it on my own without her help. This is a 90 year-old asking a 60+ year-old if he still needs help! She seemed to ask: “Is my vow fulfilled? Do I have permission to lay the burden down? Can I put you down now?”

I paused a moment to think, then answered with confidence, “I have. I’m not completely there yet, but I’m close. Just need a little more time.” And then I had the presence of mind to turn the question on her: “What about you?” With no hesitation she replied, “Oh, yes.”

I pursued: “What does that mean?”

She replied simply, “Well, I wanted to marry Hull (my dad), and I got to do that. I wanted to have a child, and I got to do that.” I waited for more. There was no more.

All the troubles of this life. . .45 years of teaching countless kids. . .loss of friends and independent living and her own vitality. . .all dropped away as effortlessly as a tree sheds its leaves. She distilled a storied lifetime spanning nine decades down to two people, my father and me.

I kissed her and left. Our conversation had come to an end.

The next day her life came to an end.

She just slipped away, as quietly and gently as a snowflake falls. She died in her sleep, with no evidence of struggle, and with the slightest smile left on her lips. In sublime peace.

Mission accomplished. Vow fulfilled. Promise kept.

I think she found in my answer the release and freedom she sought to her question. Though I had no way of knowing it at the moment, my answer represented closure on a vow she had made a lifetime earlier. In surpassing beauty, I now see a picture of a tired, worn-out, but victorious old saint gently laying down the task she had carried more than six decades.

When God steps in to lift the weight of the last care and the last burden off the human spirit, what is left for it to do but stretch its wings and fly?

Home.

In some mysterious and precious way I wonder if my mother did not have some premonition about how eminent was her spiritual graduation day. There had been no hint of foreboding, no dread, no melancholy. She seemed to sense the final sentences of her storied life were being written.

There were no “loose ends” to tie up. No fractured relationships to repair. No longings of any kind to be fulfilled. No last-minute moralizing, teaching, or exhortation. No final rush to do or say anything at all. When it came time to die, all she had to do was die.

The pull of heaven overcame the pull of earth and her spirit took its flight.

My mother’s question now seems like a benediction on her life: “Have you become the person in life you wanted to become?” And without actually saying the words, her life message was like a prayer of blessing that concluded with, “I have.”

All we need to do now is say, “Amen.”

One more time: What Makes a Leader?

March 7, 2016Leadershipadmin

One more time: What Makes a Leader?

. . . Benefitting from the work of Dr. Daniel Goleman

Over the past 15 years I’ve read more than my share of articles and books on Leadership, Management, and Entrepreneurship. I’m also aware there now have been about 10,000 different studies into the definition and implications of leadership, not to mention a mind-bending number of articles and case studies that highlight one of more characteristics of what it means to be a leader.

One article that takes on greater and greater value for me each year is that of Daniel Goleman, “What Makes a Leader,” found in the November-December, 1998 issue of Harvard Business Review. The ideas in the article come largely from the groundbreaking work by Goleman published in 1995 under the title, Emotional Intelligence.

This is one of those few pieces of writing that I keep coming back to over and over to help me recalibrate where I am in terms of understanding what it really means to effectively lead people. I am only one of what must be a countless number of leaders, managers, academicians, or plain ordinary folks who have benefitted enormously from his penetrating insights.

As vital as IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and technical skills are to leadership, Goleman showed that Emotional Intelligence (EI) was and still is the sine quo non (‘without which, not’) of leadership. He correctly and convincingly pointed out that a person can have the best training in the world, be gifted with an incisive, analytical mind, have an endless supply of brilliant, innovative ideas, and still not make a great leader.

In Goleman’s research, EI proved to be twice as important to leadership as technical skills and cognitive skills combined—-where purely technical skills would include abilities such as accounting and planning, and cognitive skills would include proficiencies such as analytical reasoning and critical thinking (particularly big-picture thinking and long-term vision).

Further, Goleman showed “the higher the rank of a person considered to be a star performer, the more emotional intelligence capabilities showed up as the reason for his or her effectiveness.” In other words, as one moves up toward the highest levels of leadership within an organization, the more EI capabilities showed up as the single most important driver of effectiveness in leadership.

Rather than having a carefully-worded, formal definition of Emotional Intelligence, we might better understand it by looking at what it does, and how it expresses itself at work, on the job.

Goleman’s construct of EI had five components. The first three are about self-management skills, and the remaining two concern a person’s ability to manage relationships with others:

Self-Awareness means having an ability to assess oneself realistically and candidly. This leads self-aware people to have an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, emotions, needs and drives, and be honest and realistic about them. People with a high degree of self-awareness recognize how their feelings affect themselves, other people, and performance on the job. Self-aware people tend to know where they are going, and why. They have a growing understanding of their values and goals, and try to make decisions that are consistent with them. Self-aware people tend to be secure and self-confident, to the point they can invite constructive criticism, as well as ask for help when it is needed. Hallmarks of a self-aware person will include self-confidence, realistic self-assessment, and a self-deprecating sense of humor. People who can assess themselves honestly and accurately will be ideally suited to do the same for the organizations they lead.

Self-Regulation means being in control of one’s feelings and impulses (being “reasonable”) as opposed to being held captive by them. This ability has been compared to having an ongoing inner conversation with oneself that fosters the ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods, to think before acting. Self-regulation enables one to suspend judgment, seek out information, ask questions, and form intelligent, informed decisions. Self-regulation enables a leader to create an environment of trust and fairness, as well as one that can adjust rapidly to frequent, unsettling changes. Hallmarks of self-regulated people include trustworthiness and integrity, being comfortable with ambiguity, and openness to change.

Motivation means having a drive to achieve beyond expectations, either self-expectations or those imposed by others. Motivation suggests a deeply embedded desire to achieve for the sake of achievement in contrast to received rewards for achievement. Traits of motivated people usually include four things: (1) a passion for the work itself; (2) forever raising the bar on performance; (3) a love for keeping score to track progress and measure performance; and, (4) a deep commitment to the organization. Hallmarks of motivated people include a strong desire to achieve, optimism even in the face of failure, and organizational commitment.

Empathy means “thoughtfully considering employees’ feelings—along with other factors—in the process of making intelligent decisions.” Empathy involves an ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people, then skillfully treating them according to their emotional reactions to given circumstances. Strangely, the word “empathy” has a sort of un-businesslike like sound, as if it is misplaced in the business community. For that and other reasons, empathy tends not to be recognized, praised, or appropriately rewarded. Empathy fosters the ability to manage relationships with other people. Hallmarks of people who demonstrate high levels of empathy include expertise in building and retaining talent, cross-cultural sensitivity, and service to clients and customer.

Social Skill represents a culmination of the preceding four components of EI, and means “friendliness with a purpose,” friendliness that includes the ability to move people in the direction you desire. Socially-skilled leaders are particularly adept at managing teams and are expert in the art of persuasion. They have a knack for finding common ground with people of all kinds, for building effective rapport with them. Socially-skilled leaders know that, if a task is to be done, it will only be done through people, frequently through teams of people. Hallmarks of socially-skilled people include effectiveness in leading change, persuasiveness in the best sense of the word, and expertise in building and leading teams.

It has been shown repeatedly that the lack of Emotional Intelligence, as evidenced by the inability to build and maintain an effective team of people, is the number one cause of leadership and management “derailment” on the part of promising, rapidly-advancing executives. This lack of EI accounts for more executive derailment than all other forms of failure combined.

Who among us, at one time or another, has not encountered people (a boss, a fellow worker) with low emotional intelligence? It is not unusual to hear them described as self-absorbed and self-promoting, insensitive and uncaring, arrogant and egotistical, even cruel and mean-spirited.

The good news is that with a good amount of personal desire and concerted effort, together with the help of peers, coaches, and possibly a mentor, Emotional Intelligence can be learned. The process is not easy; it takes considerable time and a deep commitment to break up old nonproductive behavioral patterns and adopt new, effective ones.

Question: One more time, Daniel Goleman: What Makes a Leader?

Likely Answer: More than any other prerequisite, a high level of Emotional Intelligence. And, in addition, a lot of good, old-fashioned IQ and technical ability.

Sources: (1) Goleman, Daniel (1998, November-December) What Makes A Leader? Harvard

Business Review, 35-43

(2) Goleman, Daniel (1995) Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books

Don M. Hull