There's Gold in Those Pages

It's still reverberating in me...the importance of Scripture to a family foundation. Some questions I asked on Sunday:

• If Scriptures were gold, and your heart is a bank, how rich are you? (Lu 6:45; Ps 19:10) The Psalmist says that God's Word is "more precious than gold."
• Are you as diligent about training your children in the Bible as training as an athlete? (hours in study vs hours in practice)
• Which do you encourage more: cleaning their room or cleaning their mind?
• If someone asked your spouse or your children for a list of your most-read books, would the Bible be on the list?

No book compares to the Bible. The Scriptures are more precious than gold. How rich are you?

Here are some resources to consider for memorization:

1. Navigator's Topical Memory System - This resource helps you memorize 60 verses on important topics like discipleship, relying on God's resources, and growing in Christ. Great tool. Here's a more detailed description.

2. APP! Another cool tool is an app for your phone that helps you memorize. Check this out!

Don't forget to celebrate

Joey, my nephew, when he was four, got intrigued with dancing. “You play. I dance.” I call it dance but it was more like a combo of gymnastics and some kind of a seizure—gyrating, jumping, leaping, with a few brake dance moves thrown in. One thing it was though was a moment of abandoning himself to unconstrained, unhindered, free-style celebration. But after kindergarten, he decided he was too mature and grown-up for such behavior. Can’t get him to dance anymore. Now he’s entered that stage where everything is about competing with brothers and avoiding adults.

And there is something sad about it. Because he does what it seems we all do. We start out carefree, not worried about what people think about us, usually ready to celebrate—only to grow up, grow old, and quickly learn how to worry about what people think of us. We forget how to celebrate.

Seriousness has replaced celebration--introspection, emo...“I just wanna be real and how can I celebrate since there is so much suffering in the world?” Like one should cancel out the other completely. And there are some Christians who say, “Everyday is Thanksgiving so we shouldn’t celebrate a day.”

But why not take every opportunity to celebrate? I count at least 15x in the O.T. that God says, "You shall celebrate." This was in reference to special festivals His people celebrated. I think God knows our tendency about forgetting to celebrate.

You, who obey the other commandments, don't forget this one: "You shall celebrate."

Belated Veteran's Day Thanks

Something I wrote last week and said on Sunday...meant to post it (but just now getting to it):

I've heard it said: "Victory belongs to those who show up."
When Hitler threatened to kill the spread of liberty, they showed up
When the bullies of the world preyed upon the weak, they showed up
When terror threatened the powerless, they showed up
In the foxholes of Germany, on the beaches of Normandy, the swamps of Vietnam, and the shores of Tripoli…they showed up.

Although words seem inadequate and our 'thank yous' sound hollow…I for one, want to thank you ,Veteran of the U.S.A., for showing up.

Hope is Your Responsibility

As a leader, some things are not your responsibility. You're not responsible for the weather. You're not responsible for the downturn in the economy. You're not responsible to answer for everything that God does or doesn't do. But whether you're a Dad, a CEO, a daycare supervisor, a financial consultant, you are responsible for maintaining an hopeful attitude.

Hope is critical, especially in times of crisis and in times when we need to persevere. It's what keeps us going when we feel like quitting. It's what helps us endure the tragedy in a movie: "Just hold on. I know the ending."

Someone was responsible for a hopeful attitude when the Cardinals were 10 games out of first place in August. The manager, LaRussa had to inspire hope. The team had to embrace it. Why are leaders responsible for that?

Because there are hope drainers. It might be the discouraging business report. It might be the Eyores in your organization or family. It may be an unexpected crisis. We all have them--the 9/11's of life, when the wheels come off, when the sales report is abysmal, when the unexpected happens. And as Christians, there is also the problem of sin in all of us which can bend our attitude toward despair.

Hope can give way to hopelessness which means, “having no expectation of good or success.” They say, "Man can live about forty days without food, About three days without water, About eight minutes without air, But only one second without hope."

That's why you are responsible for hope. If you as a leader don't maintain and protect hope in an organization, you're sunk. John Ortberg says it well, "The church is in the hope business...you can’t delegate hope.1

How can we inspire hope? Paul the apostle says we are to rejoice in hope and be patient in crisis. (see Romans 12:12). As Christians, we can lead with hope because:

1. We believe crisis has the potential to grow us. "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces HOPE." (Romans 5.3,4, emphasis added) What produces hope? Hope is four steps away from suffering. You as a leader can help someone see,

• "This crisis in our marriage is difficult but I have hope that beyond this is a stronger, deeper relationship. 
• "This economic downturn is hard, but can make us learn how to be frugal yet strategic."

2. We believe that even in the bleakest of circumstance there is often the possibility of a good outcome. As leaders, we don't ignore the facts. That's stupid. But neither do we ignore the possibilities because "with God, all things are possible."

• "You failed the exam, but is it possible for you to take it again?"
• "You didn't get the job, but is there another option for you?"
• "The doctor's report is not good. But God is mighty."

Again, we don't ignore the facts. But neither should you ignore the possibilities.

3. As Christians, we believe Hope is a Person. Not a feeling. Not optimism. But our hope is rooted in the Person of Jesus, the One who triumphed over the ultimate weapon of hopelessness, Death, by rising from the dead!

• “What you’re clinging to is not the answer." (Meth, a loser, a job) Hope is found in Jesus. 
• "Even if we die, we have an eternal hope if we are in Christ, which cannot be destroyed." (see 1 Peter 1:23)

Leader, you're responsible for hope. Christian, you have a hope. This hope is Jesus Christ.

1. John Ortberg in LeadershipJournal.net, 2/11/2008. http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/currenttrendscolumns/leadershipweekly/cln80211.html (Accessed 2/11/2011).