One of the biggest conversations that a person must have each day is with themselves. What are you telling yourself about yourself? What are you telling yourself about God?

Are your words full of truth and life? Are they full of hope and optimism? Are they darkness and lies? Are they negative and full of despair?

The Psalmist says in Psalm 42:5-6(a) “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and (6) my God.”

It is a reflective passage. The writer is talking to himself. It is an inner question of the soul. Why so downcast? Why so disturbed?

The personal response is quick and clear. “Put your hope in God.”

With all the ugly things spinning around in our heads we need to be continually reminded of the goodness of God. He is bigger than our problems. He is able to bring hope to difficult situations. He can transform my failures into possibilities. He is Savior and God.

Everyday we can tell ourselves to focus on our problems or we can tell ourselves to focus on God. What will this day bring for you?

I was standing in the middle of a worship program. People were standing and lifting their voices to God in praise. The emphasis was truly on God, but for some reason I lowered my gaze and began to look around. There in the crowd of people stood several younger people, a few people my own age and numerous “older” adults. In that moment God nudged my conscience to thoughts of those wonderful seniors who had gathered there in worship with me. Some might say that God was speaking to me in those moments when I was singing my praise to Him. I had two clear and separate thoughts about those people worshiping with.

1. Praise God for Lifetime Believers. To my right and in front of me stood teenagers and I wondered if their journey of faith would see them in worship 50 plus years from now. Rare are the ones who give their life to Jesus at a young age and stand with him over an entire lifetime. I do not mean that they haven’t sinned, rather they hung onto God’s grace through all of their mistakes over a lifetime. Thanks to God for those who have given a lifetime to Jesus.

2. Praise God for Those Who Changed Later in Life. If these older people were not believers their entire life then they must have made a commitment to Jesus later in life. That means change. The saying is “that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” How hard must it have been for some of the older people in Church when they came to Jesus? Imagine the courage it took for someone to change their life as an adult. They had to change habits, friends and lifestyle at an age when most people have settled in for the rest of their life. Thanks to God for those who have been willing to change.

In that worship program I paused for a minute or two to thank God for the older adults in my congregation. All of them fall into one of these groups and either way it has been a hard journey. Thanks to God for our senior saints no matter what their story.

Everyone is busy. We already have long lists of things we need to do. I believe in the midst of all of our running from here to there we can sometimes miss the most important things in life. So let me add a couple small items to you “to do” list for this week.

1. Tell an older man how much you respect and admire them. This can be dad. It can be a sibling. It can be a Church leader.

2. Tell an older woman how much you love and appreciate them. It can be your mom, sister or just a woman you know.

3. Tell a young person how much potential you see in them. This can be your children, grandchildren or just any young person you know.

4. Thank God for one blessing in particular.

When you take the time to do these things weekly or even daily. I think your perspective will change about the other things on your to do list. You will slowly become more focused on others and more grateful in your own heart.

If you don’t have time for some of these simple things, maybe you are just too busy.

Being uncertain can often mean two very different things.

First, it can mean we have not planned ahead. We had not thought through our actions and now we are left with an unclear road forward. Something happened that left us doubting our own actions in this situation.

Second, it can mean that we know the way forward but we are not sure we want to go that way. If we go the way we need to go there will be difficulty and struggle. We know what needs done, but we are not really sure we want to pay the price. Someone saying they have no clear path forward usually means that there is no easy clear path forward.

I rarely see people in the first situation. I most frequently see people living in the second scenario. As odd as it may sound, most of us know the right thing to do. The trouble is doing it.

There are a few verses of scripture that my children have heard over and over. Most of them are not the verses you would expect. One is Matthew 20:16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” This has often been quoted to remind them not to be selfish. The boys hurry to line up and get the first piece of cake. They start pushing and shoving and Michelle gives the boy who is last in line the first piece while quoting this verse. It is a little bit out of context but it does capture the idea of choosing to serve others over being selfish.

One other verse has probably been quoted even more than “the last will be first.” That verse is Matthew 5:37 “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” [Ask my children, they will confirm this verse is regularly used.] The context of this verse is very important. Jesus is preaching The Sermon on the Mount and he addresses the issue of making oaths. People of that day would vow to do something and then they would swear by some object. We might say “I will do this, I swear to God.” They would have said, “I will do this, I swear by heaven or by earth.” Same concept. You are trying to show you are taking this commitment seriously.

In response to this type of thinking Jesus says, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’. In other words, if you are going to be a follower of Jesus you need to simply keep your word. You do not need to swear by anything. If you say you are going to do something, then do it. If you don’t want to do it, then say no (and it is okay to say “no”).

This has been a lesson my wife and I decided we wanted our kids to learn. I suppose we could have told them “not to bear false witness” or “don’t lie,” but we chose to emphasize this statement by Jesus. The reason we have done this is because we have seen a lot of people in the Church who say “yes” to things and then do not keep their word. Their “yes” often means “maybe,” “sometime” or “no, but I don’t want to let you down right now.” Unfortunately a Christian’s “yes” is often worthless and we have hoped to change that with our children.

I believe that Christians should be the most reliable people in the world. They should do exactly what they say. Their words should be truthful. They should keep their commitments. They should say “yes” and it mean “yes.” They say “no” and they mean “no.”

Let me ask you. Does your word mean anything? Do people trust you to follow through or do they expect you to let them down? When you say you will pray for someone, do you really pray? Do you sign up and then show up? Do you say, “I will help” and then show up to help? If you say you will be a part, do you then participate? Is your word any good?

I don’t think these are small questions. The way I follow through on my words is not just a reflection of my organization skills but I reflection of my spiritual life.

My oldest son and I went to a men’s conference this last weekend. There were three primary speakers who delivered five different sermons. During those sermons I heard them say about a dozen times an expression that I have heard at least a thousand times altogether. They said something to the effect that following Jesus is not about a religion it’s about a relationship. If you have been in Church for very long I am sure you have probably heard this type of statement.

First, let me say that I am tired of hearing it. The first time I heard it was meaningful but the thousandth time just makes it trite.

Second, upon reflection I am not sure it is even accurate. Religion is defined as “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.” If I read that correctly then I agree with it. I do believe in a personal God and worship him. I do have a form of religion and it doesn’t really matter what I call it personally.

Third, I am concerned about how men are hearing this in the Church. Let me ask you, If you told your husband that you were going to a conference about relationships, would he be excited? It is not that men do not care about others and how we get along. It is more about the fact that relationships sound like emotionally driven, touchy-feeling and even feminine experiences. At least they do to me and many men that I talk too. I am not sure preachers making this statement are having the impact they desire.

Fourth, I understand the desire to explain Christianity in a different way. Christianity worships a very personal God. The fact that He loves us and cares about us are important aspects of our faith. Christians want people to know that our God is not just all-powerful but also all loving. Describing it as a relationship makes it sound much more personal. Religion can sound cold and stuffy while a relationship sounds more alive and meaningful.

My conclusion is that Christianity is a religion. There are a set of beliefs about a God who came, who died, who rose again and saves us from our sins that we affirm. We do meet for worship each week as a body of believers following certain rituals. There are also the deeply personal characteristics of a relationship. The reason God saved us was because He loves us and wants us to love Him in return.

For me it is not an either/or prospect – Either religion or a relationship. Christians have a religion that is lived as a relationship. It is similar to saying “I am in a marriage to my loving wife.” Marriage may sound like a formal word but it is true that I am married. While some marriages are cold and empty experiences, mine is not. To me the question is not do I have religion or a relationship but do I live out my religion as an empty, dead experience or as a vibrant, living one? Maybe it is better asked, “Is your religion lived out as a relationship?”

The weather is supposed to be nice here in Adrian Missouri this weekend, but if you get a few minutes inside you might want to check out some of these articles.

Porch Preaching – a great article about talking to a couple of Jehovah’s Witness people at the door.

THE FOUR BIGGEST MISTAKES I’VE MADE IN MARRIAGE – An article by a lady married for 16 years

4 REASONS WHY TEACHING A CHILDREN’S SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS IS GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL – Substitute Children’s Church for the word Sunday School

When Ball Becomes Baal – A well written article about sports

9 Things I Love to Hear In a Sermon

I’M A CHRISTIAN AND I HATE CHRISTIAN MOVIES – This is not a great article but it says some things I have wanted to say.

Depth of field – Seth Godin

Going the distance – More great Seth Godin wisdom

All of our stories need context.

Imagine you go to the store and you start talking to a person you know. You are not close but you see each other occasionally. You start talking about your children and their achievements and suddenly this lady starts crying. You are not sure how to react. You end the conversation and think, “Wow, she is overly emotional.”

Now a week goes by and it becomes public knowledge that her son has made some terribly poor life choices. He was caught again and this time he will be going to jail for 3 years.

Does your attitude about that lady and that first experience change?

Now imagine a person you encounter at work. You try to tell them about Jesus and Church while they shake their head in disbelief. They tell you they once went to Church and then they grew up, went to college and got an education and they gave up on all that religious stuff.

Is it important that this coworker went to a Church that rarely taught them the Bible? Is it important that while they claim to have gone to Church a lot, that they really only went once a month or less? This person never went to youth group or a conference. They had little to no spiritual influence through their parents. Does any of that change their story? Does it matter that they went to an extremely liberal university? Does it matter that they didn’t ever go to Church during college? Is it important that they had no spiritual connections while on campus? Are those important parts of the story?

Let me go one level higher. You read a book where an author makes all kinds of religious claims. I think their life and background story are important. Maybe you read a book that makes claims against religion. I think the context of the author’s life is important.

You need to be very careful about taking anything today at face value. One of the reasons I share my life story in my blog on in my sermons is because I want people to know the context of my life when they hear my words. In fact, one of the things I love about ministering in a small community is that people get to know my story. The story matters to the message.

When you encounter a person who behaves in an unpredictable way with either tears or anger, what would happen if you found the context of their life? Would it change your thoughts about them?

What if the next time you read a story, an article or even a nonfiction book you asked, “What is the context from which this was written.” Would you hear the words the same way? Would you hear the solid truth and be able to separate it from the biased information?

The context of our story is important. All of our stories need context.

Recently I have been helping teach teenagers in both Sunday school and youth group about similar topics. We have been exploring questions about faith. Questions like “Is there a Hell?” Or “Why is there pain and suffering?” I have been a part of some great discussion and lessons over the past several weeks.

In this teaching exploration I have been continually reminded that questions about our beliefs are the fuel of faith. If we allow our questions to push us toward real answers, no matter how difficult to understand or accept, then our faith grows. Questions are not the absence of faith but the soil in which it grows.

With that said, let me give you a few thoughts on finding answers to the questions of faith.

1. There are answers out there somewhere. Your questions are nothing new. Man has been asking some of the same age-old questions since the beginning. Someone has written down their answer or made a video. When you have questions allow them to push you to find the answer.

2. Don’t accept the first answer as final. Sometimes the first answer you find is right but sometimes it is not. I get real nervous when someone says that a single book shaped their thinking.

3. Read everyone, trust no one. I know this sounds cynical .. and it is. Listen to a multitude of voices. This is important because everyone sees the world through their own set of lenses. Some people hate Jesus and some love him. Some people have studied deeply and others have not. In an information age we need to take everything with a grain of salt so to speak.

4. Discuss your thoughts with other people. Talk out your questions and your thoughts with other people in various settings. Talk to old believers, new believers, former believers, and non-believers. Work through your thinking out loud and listen to what other people have to say.

5. Learn to accept unanswered questions. I do not have all of my questions answered completely. Unfortunately the Bible does not answer everything. At the end of the book of Job God shows up. Job has been questioning his pain and suffering while his friends try to console him. God shows up and asks Job question after question. Job could not answer any of his questions. The point is simple, there are lots of unexplained things in our life and most of them we have just learned to accept. Faith is saying, “I don’t have all the answers but I have enough to hold onto my beliefs.”

Through the years I have found answers to many of my questions and my faith has grown exponentially. I have also been able to answer some questions and yet my faith continues to grow. I firmly believe that those questions you have hidden in your mind will help you, if you let them.

I am not a fan of baseball. I have watched a few games through the years and I have developed this love and hate relationship with the game.

What I hate about baseball the most is the fact that they play 162 games in a season. The season lasts forever. As a result a team can lose a lot of games and still make the playoffs. Last year the world series champion KC Royals ended the season with a 95-67 record. That means that more than one third of the time they took the field the team lost.

Then there are the players. I great hitter bats between 300-400. That means they only hit the ball three out of ten times at bat. In other words, seven times they walk to the plate and do not get on base. And those are the great players. An average to poor player has lower numbers, that means he hits less than two times for every ten trips to the plate.

I hate that. I want superior performance.

What I love about baseball is that they play 162 games. A team can lose a game and it will not derail their season. Last year’s best team lost 67 games in their season.

And then there are the players. They hit the ball only two or three times for every ten times they walk to the plate. They can get our seven times and still be great.

I love that. I love the ability to fail and still win.

I find that baseball closely resembles life more than other sports. Life is not a short season where every tiny event matters. Life is about stepping up to the plate and getting out over and over. It is about losing repeatedly in spite of our best efforts. The hope is not that we will never lose or strike out, the hope is that we will win more than we lose and occasionally we will get on base. Life is about forgetting the last at bat and the last lost and pushing forward.

Maybe you are going through a tough period in your life. Everything seems to be going wrong. Don’t give up. Today might be the day you get a hit. Step up, take your swings and remember that even the greatest players get out a lot and the best teams lose almost as much as they win. Today might be your day. If not, then maybe tomorrow. Keep swinging. Good things will come eventually.