There has been a lot of great reading on the web over the past few weeks. Here are some of the best ones I read –

CHRISTIANITY

I Am Barabbas

Eight Laws for Spiritual Growth

Seven Unbiblical Statements Christians Believe

Do You Think it Happened or Not

CHURCH

How to Destroy Your Pastor

11 Secrets Most Leaders Won’t Tell You

FAMILY & MARRIAGE

I Wasn’t Ready for Marriage

7 Things You May Not Know but You Need to Know about Your Wife

How to Evaluate Your Relationship to Your Spouse

INTERESTING

What it’s like to be laughed at on the Internet

Why We Fail the Grieving

* A FUN VIDEO – Monday Morning Fail

* Another FUN VIDEO – A Math Teachers April Fools Prank

Dylan Thomas begins his powerful and most popular poem “Do not go gently into that good night” with these lines –

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

[You can read the rest of the poem HERE]

I am told that he wrote the poem as his own father was facing death. It is a plea to push back against death with all the force and vengeance we can muster.

This poem has been on my mind lately because of my own father. Partly because I want him to push back against this stroke and live on another day. There is another part to his story that is important for you to know. On May 5th my dad will turn 80 years old. He has now suffered a heart blockage, a massive heart attack, a heart surgery and now a stroke. He is old and well advanced in years and has every reason to sit back and let the light of his life slowly die. But …

I sat in his chair, as in no one else sits there when he is in the house, on Sunday night. I looked over to the left side of his chair at the end table that is pushed up against the wall. There I noticed several pages of hand written notes. I picked them up and began to look at them because I knew they were in my dad’s handwriting. It was pages and pages of notes on the gospels. My mom said, “It was his Sunday School lesson for Sunday.”

My dad had been working on putting together his Sunday School lesson right up until the night before his stroke. Then a thought his me like never before, “What will I be found doing with my final hours?” Now, I am thankful those were not my dad’s final hours and there appears to be more chapters written in his life. I did not know that at the time. So I wondered, what will my final actions in this life reveal about me?

While my dad had every right to sit back and just coast through these last few years, he has chosen not to. Instead he has chosen to continue serving as long as his light burns. I know one thing about my dad, he will not go gentle into that good night. He will burn and rave and … he will be teaching – Teaching the good news of Jesus.

Colossians 4:2 says “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” We are not just told to pray for people but to keep our eyes open, being watchful. But the next word makes me think the apostle Paul wants us to watch out for reasons to be thankful as we pray. Those small blessings we might otherwise miss. Today I am thankful for the thousand little blessings in my life.

– For my dad being alive.
– For having a ministry close enough to drive and see my dad for two days.
– For a Church that understands my situation and allows me to travel and miss work.
– For a group of people who asked me about my dad on Sunday and really cared.
– For hundreds of people praying from all over the country for my family and especially my dad.
– For safe travels.
– For a great mother who stands quietly in the back giving support through everything.
– For a caring wife who went with me without question.
– For having boys who love their grandfather.
– For watching my mom and dad kiss like teenagers when she came in the room on Monday.
– For dad saying “Wonderful” when mom and I walked in the room on Tuesday.
– For finding joy in my dad knowing everyone’s name.
– For listening to my dad laugh, even with a feeding tube.
– For having people who blessed me through a financial gift that allowed me to care for my mother’s needs (even a little).
– For quiet moments holding my dad’s hand.
– For seeing my dad’s health improve over the last couple days.
– For the pain of leaving because of deep care.
– For the hope of eternity found in Jesus Resurrection.
– For my dad being a Christian. For all of my family for that matter.

I am sure I could fill pages and pages of little blessings I have experienced over the last few days. People have prayed and God has poured out his blessings. Today I want to stop and thank your for praying. I especially want to thank God for all he has done.

One final thought. What prayers has God answered for you? What blessings has he poured out in your life? I think you will see them if you take the time to look.

Thoughts from a Waiting Room
I have spent the last couple of days in and out of an ICU waiting room. There are only two people allowed in my dad’s room at a time, so the family is taking alternating periods in the waiting room. Since we are at a large hospital there has been a lot of turnover of patients and their families in the last 48 hours. Spending all these hours in the waiting room has shown me a few things while watching people.

1. Support is Vital. Everyone needs a support network of people. I once read that people in the hospital who have numerous visitors recover faster than those who have few to no visitors. I am not sure of the scientific proof, but experientially I know it is true. All of us want and need the support of people who love us. That leads me to two thoughts. One, “What kind of support do I have? Two, “What kind of support am I?” I need to continually remind myself of the power of mutual support.

2. Religion is Important. I have seen three ministers visiting with families and a few people offering up prayers. There is a Bible on the table and a chaplain walking through the ICU offering any support she can. The old expression is “there are no atheists in foxholes.” It is almost equally true that there are no atheists in ICU waiting rooms. While I believe our faith in God is important everyday of life, it is vital in life’s darkest hours.

3. Life is Precious. We take so many days for granted. We take most of our relationships for granted too. When we are faced with life and death situations we appreciate every moment we have been given with the people we love. My question is, “Why do we wait until these moments to value our time together.” Share your love today.

4. “You never know what’s coming for you” This is one of my favorite lines in the movie Benjamin Button. It touches me because of its harsh reality. Walking to my father’s room I have seen a younger man in a room, a middle age woman and people of various ages. The rooms are not just full of old people, but all people. Life is precious and you never know when it will end.

I suppose all of this comes together in my mind today. Sitting in ICU I am surrounded by family, I cling to my faith and I treasure each moment with my dad, because I really didn’t see this coming. Then I adjust my sights to those around me. Their life is precious and I have no idea what is coming for them. I hope I can build them up in their faith and support them through their dark hours. I especially hope to show them love today as if it were our last day together.

What if our lives looked everyday like they do in the ICU waiting room?

The past few days have been filled with numerous ups and downs in my life and in the life of the Church. I thought today I would just give a quick rundown of some of those events.

1. The Good Friday community worship program went well. This is a combined worship service by the local Baptist, Methodist, Assembly of God and our Christian Church. We had 85 people come out for a worship program on Friday night. It was a great evening of worship, fellowship and study of the scripture. We also raised $800 that will be given back to people with financial needs in our community.

2. My Holy Saturday was eventful. Early in the morning I received a text that my dad had a stroke. At first it was described as “massive,” but has since been downgraded. I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and especially their prayers. Your outpouring of love and support has been wonderful.

3. Easter was another powerful experience. We started the day with a breakfast for everyone. I have no idea how much food was cooked by our men, but there was a large group who showed up and enjoyed the meal. Then we kicked off worship for the day. We had 204 people in worship including 33 kids in our Children’s Church. It was especially great knowing we had several of our regular attendees gone for the holiday weekend. We had numerous guests and a great day of worship of our Risen Lord.

4. After the dust of Easter settled I was able to talk to my mother about the situation with my dad. Upon discussion by my family we decided to head out as a family to Indiana to be with my father. It was a long day with 8 hours of travel but we arrived safely late in the evening. Thanks for all the prayers for safety.

5. Today I was able to go to the hospital and see my dad. Actually he was better than I expected. He is having trouble swallowing and is being fed through a tube. He speech is slurred but I can understand him if he talks slowly and deliberately. Finally, the right side of his body is gaining strength while his face is a little droopy. As you might imagine, he was happy to see me and excited to see his grandsons. The doctors are optimistic and pleased with his recovery already. Words cannot express my appreciate for all of your prayer on his behalf.

I can’t give you a lot of spiritual lessons that are currently on my mind. I keep thinking about how much I love my family, how I have been blessed by having great parents and how thankful I am to have just one more day with my dad. Everyday we are given is a precious gift from God and I hope we all get to spend them with people that we love.

Today is Resurrection Sunday. Better known as Easter in most Christian circles. It is simply the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his sacrificial death on the cross.
The Church has a simple echo statement for this day. One person would say, “He is Risen” and the other would respond with, “He is risen indeed.”

So this morning I shout out –

The rest is up to you.

Today is Good Friday. It is the day we specifically remember the death of Jesus on the cross. It is an important day on the Christian calendar because of its deep spiritual significance. In an effort to teach this lesson to my high school youth group, last week I did a simple object lesson. I gave each of them a piece of red ribbon about a foot long. I then had them write their names one it. Next I taught them about the cross. I told them the seven final words from the cross and the deep meaning of two of them – “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” and “It is finished.”

At the end of the lesson I challenged them to take their red ribbon, representing our sin filled life, and place it on the cross. I wanted them to know that Jesus did not just die for the sins of the world but for My sins. Here is the final product.

This picture shows the cross turned red – not just red by your sins, but also by mine.

That is the reason I celebrate Good Friday.

Today is the time in the Holy Week leading up to Easter/Resurrection Sunday that we celebrate Maundy Thursday. In some traditions it is called Holy Thursday. It commemorates the final night of Jesus life before he goes to the cross. It is the night in which he washes the disciples feet and institutes what we call the Last Supper or the Lord’s Supper.

In some countries today is a public holiday, but not in America. Some Churches have special programs today, but mine does not. In my tradition we take the opportunity each week to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, or as we often call it communion. It is a time for us to focus on the fellowship we have with God through the work of Jesus on the cross. It is a time in which we fellowship together at his table being reminded that we are united as believers by his grace. For us, every week is a reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made to bring us together in communion with God and other people.

Today is the day we remember how it all started. Today we remember that Jesus humbled himself and became obedient unto death – even death on a cross. I hope that at some point through this day you will pause and think about Jesus words. Maybe with a Church somewhere or simply with other believers in a group. Maybe with your family. Maybe just in the quiet of your mind.

Matthew 26:26-29 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
(27) Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. (28) This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (2)9 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

It is no secret that almost every Church will have numerous guests for their Easter services. Even the most non-religious people seem to be willing to go to Church on Easter. As a result, Easter will lead most Churches to add special programs to bring even more people to Church. They will have Sunrise Services, special breakfast, Easter pageants and extra worship programs. People who normally wouldn’t offer much help quickly volunteer to do special readings, sing special songs and help in the children’s programs with an Easter egg hunt. Churches are booming with activity and with people every day of this weekend.

The only problem is that most of the guests will not return the week after Easter. Some of them will only reappear at Christmas and others will not return until next Easter. Many of them will keep their negative attitude toward Christians and unfortunately even have them reinforced this weekend. It is my contention that all of the programs and special activities have little impact without paying attention to the small details. I believe the small things we do this weekend will have the greatest impact on our guests for the good of the gospel.

1. Park as far away from the building as you can. Save the best spots for the elderly, those with children and guests. How many of us have driven around a Wal-mart parking lot looking for that spot close to the door? Now imagine going to Wal-mart and all the spots close to the door are open. Does that change your attitude? Think about that in terms of a Church parking lot. You wrestle the kids to get ready this one day and then you get there and the only spots are a mile away. Does that change your attitude?

2. Sit at the front (and sit close together). Don’t make people who show up a little late (or even right on time) go set up near the front. If you are in Church once a year, you do not want to be right up front where the pastor can see you. If your kids might get fidgety during the sermon because they are not used to setting in worship then you do not want to set right up front. I am 100% convinced that the most selfish act that most Christians do is take the best seats at the back. If you do no other things to promote the spreading of the gospel this year, do this one thing – sit at the front and sit close together.

3. Talk kindly to strangers. Spend the majority of your morning talking nicely to people you do not know. Ask them about themselves. Ask them if they need to know where anything is located. Tell them a little about our church. Listen, listen, listen. And never say to anyone – “I haven’t seen you in a while” or “I never thought I would see you in Church” or “Are you lost?” You get the idea. Our tendency is to run and talk to the people we know and totally ignore strangers. This only reinforces the mean and negative spirit of Christians to a non-Christian world.

4. Remember the 5 minute rule. The 5 minute rule states that the first five minutes in a new location are the most important. The second most important 5 minutes are those right after the end of a program. The questions are simple, “Are these people glad I am here and willing to accept me.” The final question is something like, “That wasn’t that bad, I am going to give them one more shot to mess this up.” Thus – talk to people right before and right after. Don’t make it overly religious and don’t be self-centered. Invite people to lunch. If they say “not today, we have plans for Easter,” then say, “How about after Church next week?” Use these five minutes to show people Christians are friendly and not self-centered.

5. Pray. This is last but certainly not least. Pray before the program. Pray during the program. Pray after the program. Pray for those involved in the program for Sunday. Pray for those thinking about attending. Pray for those that attended. Pray for the people you met that day (by name). Pray, pray and pray. Ask God to do things that you may never see or know about. I firmly believe God can do great things if we ask Him to.

I know that each of these are seemingly very little things, but each one can have a great impact for eternity. It is one thing for people to invite someone to join them for Easter. It may be an even better thing that this guest then gets treated in a wonderful manner. Guests are great, but return guests can become believers and eventually disciples. One small action can change a life.

As you might imagine I am working full-time putting the finishing touches on all of my material for Holy Week. Last week I taught the teenagers a lesson on the cross and this week I am teaching about the resurrection. Friday night I am part of a local community Good Friday program and I am working on my sermon for Resurrection morning. Lately I am in this constant tension between teaching on the cross and on the resurrection. It is nothing new for anyone in ministry, but this year I have noticed something that I think is worth pointing out.

I think the reason I noticed this idea this year was because of a question from our Churches Children’s Church teacher. A few weeks ago he sent me an email asking if it was okay to teach on the resurrection on Easter morning and not talk about the cross. Not long after he asked me this question I was working on the Church website and looking for a good image to post online for our Easter program. As I searched the web I realized that almost every Church image for Easter morning contained a picture of a cross or of three crosses. Then this idea hit me, “We need to be very clear on the message of Easter.” Easter is not about the crucifixion of Jesus. Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus.

I think that over time the Church wanted some image to go with the resurrection of Jesus and they realized an empty tomb is a tough image to capture. So people took a step back and started using the cross as an Easter image. In some ways I suppose that it is okay, but in other ways it misses the point. Very early on in my ministry I was talking to a worship leader about our Easter Sunday morning program and he looked at me and said, “Be sure you kill and bury Jesus on Friday and have him resurrected on Sunday.” It was as simple statement that has guided my thinking, planning and preaching every sense that day.

Let me be clear, I do not think it is wrong to preach on the cross of Jesus on Easter or even to wear a cross as a religious image that day. I get the idea that everyone wants some image to show their faith and a cross is the most common. I 110% believe in the atoning death of Jesus on the cross. I also believe 110% that Jesus defeated the grave by his resurrection. The reason I celebrate his death is because he rose to life again. The Apostle Paul said, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” (1 Corinthians 15:17).

Easter is not a time to focus on the death of Jesus other than to be the context for a resurrection. Jesus was dead and buried on Friday but on Sunday the story is changed forever. I celebrate the cross but only because it was not the final word on Jesus. The empty tomb is what sets Jesus apart from all other religious leaders and Christianity from all other faiths. But that is a hard image to put on a necklace, earrings or even a Church website.