Tyranny of the Urgent

Creative Commons License photo credit: Pulpolux !!!On the rush to lunch+

Charles E. Hummel writes, “We live in a constant tension between the urgent and the important.” He talks about a cottonmill manager who said, “Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important.”

These ideas describe my life perfectly. I can rush from one great ministry event to another without ever meeting with God. I can work my fingers to the bone serving God and never experience Him. I can get so busy with the work of God, that I don’t really ever “work.” (I’m of no use to God). We must be very careful about priorities. A leader must be intentional about deciding what things are important and he must devote time to those things even if other “good” or “urgent” things are put aside. The “good” can be the enemy of the “great.” What’s that old saying? “If the devil can’t tempt you, he’ll make you busy.” He’ll do whatever it takes to render the believer useless. If the leader doesn’t set his calendar, then the calendar will run his life for him. Each of us is gonna be held responsible for being the steward of our time so we can’t let our calendars run our lives – we’ve got to decide what’s important and what’s not.

I first learned of Hummel’s essay “Tyranny of the Urgent” quite a few years ago while doing a Bible Study called, “Growing Strong in God’s Family.” It was truly a life-changing article for me. You can check out the full article (only 4 pages) here: Tyranny of the Urgent

Angelology

Angel
It is clear from the Scriptures that angels exist. They are actually mentioned in 37 of the books of the Bible. Jesus Himself speaks of them (Mt 25:31-32, 41) and interacts with them (Mt 4:11). Here are some of the basic teachings about angels from the Scriptures:

1. They are spirit beings. They are called “spirits” (Heb 1:14) and do not have bodies. They also do not die (Lk 20:36) or get married (Mk 12:25). However, they do appear in human form sometimes (Gen 18:3).

2. They are created beings. Ps 148:2-5; Job 38: 6-7; Col 1:16

3. They were all created at the same time. Heb 12:22 says there are “myriads” of them but since they cannot reproduce (Mt 22:30). . . .Col 1:16 also suggests a singular act of creation.

4. They are a higher order than man. Heb 2:7 says that angels are higher than men – even higher than Jesus while He was in the flesh. They don’t die (Lk 20:36) and have more wisdom than man (2:Sam 14:20). Their wisdom is limited though – certainly less than God’s (Mt 24:36). They have more power than men (Mt 28:2; Acts 5:19; 2 Pet 2:11) but it is still a limited power (Dan 10:13).

Some of the most prominent angels are:
Michael (Dan 10:13; 12:1; Jude 9)
Gabriel (Dan 9:21; Lk 1:26)
Lucifer (Is 14:12)

Some of the things that angels do include:
Serving God (Rev 5:11-12)
Ministry to Jesus (Lk 1:26-38; 22:43; Mt 2:13; 2:20; 4:11; 28:5-7; 1 Kgs 19:5-7; Acts 1:10; Mt 25:31)
Ministry to Believers
Protection (Ps 34:7; Acts 5:19; Rev 7:1-14)
Provision (1 Kgs 19:5-7)
Encouragement (Acts 27:23-25)
Direction (Acts 8:26; 10:3, 22)
Assist in answering Prayer (Acts 12:1-11; Dan 9:20-27)
Carry us home (Lk 16:22)
Serve God in Judgment (Rev 8:2-12; 9:1, 13; Mt 13:39-42)

How does this change my life? I believe it has and will continue to change my life every time an angel ministers to me as a believer. I am not aware of specific times when this has happened, but I do believe that it has. There are certainly countless times when I have been in need of protection, provision, encouragement, direction, and answered prayer and have received those things. I feel confident in saying that angels have probably had a hand in those situations. I also believe that their work in ministering to Jesus and in serving God have an affect on me – maybe not a direct impact, but that doesn’t mean anything. Also, by having this understanding of angels, I’ll be able to pray specifically for God to send angels when I find myself or my friends in need of these kinds of ministries.

(Info from “The Moody Handbook of Theology” by Paul Enns, pg 287-292)

Questions for Paul

Question_2
I thought this was a cool pic – even the earth has questions!

The Corinthians were given the chance to ask Paul some questions – you can read Paul’s answers to them in 1 Corinthians 7:1-16:4. Dr Loken took some time out of class the other night to have each of us write down the one question we’d ask Paul if we were given the chance.

Mine was:
In what ways do you see that our “Christian” culture today has been deceived, and how should we repent?

Here are some of the other questions people would like to ask Paul:
Do babies who die go to heaven, and if so, how is Jesus the only way? (Dr. Loken)
Why did God use you?
What was your thorn in the flesh?
What limits should be allowed when it comes to alcohol?
Why is it so hard to lead a sinless life?
Should women be in ministry and if so, to what extent?
Abortion?
Should a pastor serve at more than one church?
How do you deal with doctrinal differences in church?
What is “triple honor” and “double honor?” (1 Timothy 5:17)
What is the “cup of the Lord?” (Hab 2:16)
Spiritual gifts?
Why is it so hard to do what is right sometimes and not other times?
Were you always celebate? Did you ever have a girlfriend or wife?
Female leaders in church?
How can I know for sure what to do?
Under what conditions is divorce okay?
Can the church discipline without excommunication?
Speaking in tongues?
Would you be Calvinist or Arminian?
How does the Trinity work?

Anyway, I thought there were some good questions. What would you ask him if you had the chance?

“Go Fourth and Teach”

Yes – I spelled “fourth” wrong on purpose – you’ll understand later. (It’s a really bad pun – but I’m just that stupid.)

Are you growing the way you should?

An interesting thought came out in class last night. We were talking about 1 Corinthians. Dr. Loken explained that Paul had planted the church in Corinth 4 years prior to writing the book we know as 1 Corinthians. (It’s actually at least the second letter he sent to them. – Check 1 Cor 5:9) Anyway, in Chapter 3 Paul makes it clear that he is disappointed in the Christians there for not growing to maturity. He assumes that after 4 years, they should have a basic understanding of their faith and even be able to teach others by that time. If you read Hebrews 5:10-6:2 along side 1 Corinthians 3, you can see the kinds of things the writer of Hebrews thinks they should understand: (1) repentance/life change, (2) Faith/trusting God’s sovereignty, (3) Baptism/Holy Spirit’s indwelling, (4) Laying on of hands/healing (James 5), & (5) Resurrection/Judgement – heaven & hell. (Each of these can be found in Hebrews 6:1-2)

Anyway, this whole 4 year thing is interesting to me – think about it – Jesus was with the disciples about 4 years – Paul expects maturity in about 4 years – we send students to college for about 4 years hoping that they would have a basic understanding of their subjects. Dr. Loken suggested (I think appropriately) that if you were discipling someone for 20 years and they hadn’t grown enough to disciple others themselves, then something is wrong. He never suggested that we don’t need long-term accountability or deeper teachings – but in regards to these basic tenants of our faith – we should be able to teach them to someone else after about 4 years of discipleship. This is not a scriptural law or some hard-and-fast rule, but simply a guide which the Scriptures seems to point to as a basic benchmark.

As a youth minister who will have students in my ministry for about 6 years, this was especially interesting to me. I think I’m gonna begin working on a plan to make sure that these ideas are clear in each and every one of our students by the time they graduate. I’ll try to work with our childrens coordinator to begin this process during the time when our students are transitioning from childrens ministry into youth ministry. For us, that happens in a “confirmation” process.

Anyway, it was a fun class – which brought up quite a few ideas which were new to me.

It’s a Small World

Whoa! Last night, I had class – it was the second of our 5 Gospel Literature classes at College for Biblical Studies. Anyway, there’s a guy in my class (Justin) who was going to sing a song for the group ’cause it went along with our discussion on Matthew 1. ( Andrew Peterson’s song “Matthew’s Begats” on Behold the Lamb of God – By the way, you should all check out Andrew Peterson – He’s an amazing writer. www.andrew-peterson.com )

Anyway, he had a guitar player who joined him, named Tim Dillon. I would never have recognized him, but Tim was one of the students who came to a youth program I was a part of in Tomball called “The Wave.” It was a skate ministry and by God’s grace there were lots of youth who came that were not from our church. For that matter, I’ll just be blunt and say they were really “rough” kids with drug problems and all sorts of issues. Some of the people in our church, wouldn’t let their own children come ’cause they didn’t want their kids around “those” kids. Anyway, come to find out, Tim was one of “those” kids. He said that he came every week just to skate, but most of the time he was stoned when he got there. I certainly knew that we had quite a few who were coming like that, but we still had the opportunity to let them know they were loved and to tell them about Jesus so I figured it was a good thing. Anyway, I’ll never really know a whole lot about what God accomplished during those days with those students, but I feel confident that there were seeds planted which with God’s help will grow and produce amazing fruit.

Tim has come to know Jesus now. Interestingly enough, he is a pastor’s son and it was after watching some friends die, that he became serious about knowing God. He plays guitar for an artist named Jimmy Needham now too. (Check him out @ www.jimmyneedham.com) It’s great to see that God is still at work among us all even when we don’t have a clue.

Friends and Heroes

With_dawn_and_jane_2 I got to spend some time this past weekend with some people who are both friends and heroes. Here’s a pic of Miranda and I with Jane and Dawn.

First I’ll tell you about Jane (cause she’s first in the pic if you go left to right)

Jane Miranda and I met Jane 3 years ago through Dawn. Dawn was my summer youth assistant my first year in Lake Jackson and she introduced us to Jane. Jane is a great Christian and she has lots of ideas about how our faith should be lived out. I really enjoy talking to her. She’s funny. Anyway, this past year she was diagnosed with cancer and she’s undergoing treatments right now. That’s why she doesn’t have any hair in the pic – but she has been known to shave her head just for the fun of it too. Anyway, a couple weeks ago she sent out an e-mail describing her feelings and I thought I’d share some of what she wrote here:

I have to admit…sometimes I pray more fervently for complete healings simply for the pleasure of not having to go through chemo again. I’ve never been the most patient person, and this time, the story is the same…I want all of God’s healing and goodness without having to wait or to do any of the work. So this brings us back to this morning. God graciously sent a dear friend to pry into my heart on the very morning when I was determined to “quit” regardless of the evaluation results. I was once told that God’s grace is always on time…I don’t think I’ve believed that to be more true than now. But even after much prying and praying I still wrestled, like the “good” and faithful servant that I am (sarcasm noted). Even throughout the entire afternoon…I was sure that God would HAVE to heal me…I mean, He just HAD to…chemo is too awful, cancer is too lame, people have been praying too hard…and most importantly, I was sick of it all. Sadly, there it was, the core of my whole reasoning…God just HAD to heal me, because I was tired of dealing with cancer. Then this evening, after my stomach stopped making noises, my concentration returned to me, there I sat face to face with my feeble conclusion. The reality is God doesn’t HAVE to heal me…He doesn’t have to do a thing…but He chooses to speak healing into me. Even the breath that I am currently breathing is only possible due to His abundant grace. Without His grace and mercy, life would be empty. I can’t believe how often I forget to count the blessings that He bestows upon me…all I seem to do is demand things that I “need”. Funny isn’t it how we always seem to assume we know what we need more than He does. . . . . . I will continue to have the courage and faith to fight regardless of the results…simply because He is calling me to this place right now, and as it were, I have to work on this whole obedience and patience thing. As a recent quote I read says, “You don’t have to do it well, you just have to do it and well will come one day.” I am realizing now more than ever that perhaps the greatest testament to grace is that He gives us the will to fight each day.

I don’t know about you – but this is the kind of person I look up to – a true hero. Jane has courageously looked into her own heart and realized that God has given her an incredible gift – even with cancer, she recognizes that she doesn’t deserve anything. It’s only His grace that “breathes” into our lives. I also see an incredible faith in her thoughts and I have seen her walking out her life following after Jesus. Cancer. . . .now that’s a scary word, but Jane knows her God is bigger.

Dawn OK – now Dawn. Where do I start with Dawn? As my summer youth assistant, she was great. Dawn truly has a heart for prayer and for the youth that we worked with. It was her desire to know them and really be a part of their lives. For Dawn, ministry comes out of relationship. (That’s my philosophy too.) Anyway, Dawn just got back from Africa where she was doing ministry in Swaziland for the past 7 months. She shared some incredible things and clearly has been called into mission work. Dawn is a tiny woman with a huge faith. She led two different teams of missionaries in Swaziland and talked about how God used them to reach people in incredible ways. God used them to perform healings and even more importantly the miracle of salvation for many African people. Dawn also worked in new Orleans and even hosted a bar-b-que picnic in the neighborhood where she lived. I know that doesn’t sound like a big deal, but when you know that she lived in the neighborhood which was considered the murder capital of the United States, and when you understand that the racial tensions are extreme – to imagine a little white girl hosting such an event – well – that’s why she’s my hero. Dawn listens to the Lord and acts on what He tells her. No matter what the risk, she understand that if it’s God speaking, it’s not a risk at all. Dawn has incredible courage! I’ve attached an mp3 of Dawn telling our youth about Africa if your interested: Download AfricaMissions 07.05.06.mp3

I thank God that He has given me these precious friends and I pray that He will continue to use them in mighty ways wherever He decides to send them.

John Commentary

Gospelofjohn Well, I’ve finally finished this process. We have been through the entire book of John with our students and I have typed up my notes. I have attached them here for anyone who would like to have my thoughts on these verses. I’m sure that over time I could add or change quite a bit of this, but this is where I am for now in it all.

Download John Commentary.pdf

It has been a fun process to study this book (My favorite part of my job.) Our students have grown quite a bit during this time together and I know that the fruit of this time will be incredible. For many of our students/branches, just as John 15 describes, God has lifted them up from the dirt, washed them off, and now they are able to grow and be fruitful for His Kingdom. I pray that’s true for me too. Lord, let me abide in You. Remain in Your hands. Labor for You and be fruitful for Your Kingdom. AMEN.

Project NOAH

06-07-18-01Last week was great! Here are a few reasons why:

1. We were priviledged to have God use us to bring hope to hurricane victims. NOAH = New Orleans Area Hope

2. We met some new friends from Baton Rouge.

3. Our own Mardi Gras Parade!

4. We saw Dawn Delany in New Orleans.

5. We heard about all the cool stuff God is doing to bring people together in that area. Dawn’s neighborhood was the murder capital of the country and she had a BBQ last week with lots of different races of people.

6. I got to hang out and work with my sister.

7. Some of our youth got to meet my sister.

06-07-18 028. The sunset on Lake Ponchatrain.

9. John from Baton Rouge was a true inspiration – I mean this blind guy snow skis and skydives.

10. Name that Tune!

11. Ms. Claudia.

12. The donuts Ms. Claudia brought us one morning.

13. Nail Guns!!!! Yes!!!

14. My friend Dustan says “If I didn’t sweat, I didn’t worship.” We “worshipped” alot on that roof.

15. Finally feeling like we were able to actually “do” something about the feelings we had when the hurricane hit.

16. Serving God.

17. Lousiana’s Best Fish Fryer.

18. Sharky, from the Good News Camp was AWESOME!