A Text Was A Simple Act of Kindness

A friend sent me a very simple text recently. The brief message included positive words of love, encouragement and appreciation. The person who sent the text could not have known this but the timing happened to be just right.

This thoughtful action by my friend couldn’t have taken much more than a minute, or so, however it brought a wonderful ray of inspiration and joy to my life.

Small acts of kindness can often bring significant benefit to the recipient of the kindness. When we do something that touches a person’s heart in a good, positive and uplifting way—even if the action is small—we are doing something beautiful and sacred.

What if we all quietly did something beautiful and sacred for someone today? 

A Resurrection Is The Best Explanation of the Facts

Dr. William Lane Craig, is a theologian and scholar who has spent decades carefully examining theological issues, in particular, the resurrection of Jesus. Dr. Craig states these four facts “are widely accepted by New Testament scholars today.”

Fact number 1: After his crucifixion, Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea in the tomb.

Fact number 2: On the Sunday following the crucifixion, Jesus’ tomb was found empty by a group of his women followers.

Fact number 3: On multiple occasions and under various circumstances, different individuals and groups of people experienced appearances of Jesus alive from the dead.

And… Fact number 4: The original disciples believed that Jesus was risen from the dead despite their having every reason not to.

There are many more things which could be said in support of each of these four statements but a great question to consider in light of these truths would be this: What is the best explanation of these facts?

If you are my friend on social media you already know my position on the matter, but I will state it here, anyhow: the best explanation for these four facts is that God, the Father, raised Jesus from the dead.

You say, “Yeah, but if you believe that explanation it means you have to believe a miracle occurred.”

That’s true. But it’s okay. He’s God. He is capable of performing miracles. In fact, what we consider miraculous is actually simple and natural to Almighty God.

“He isn't here! [The tomb.] He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen.”

Matthew 28:6

E-Flash From Dan, March 23, 2016

Dear E-Flash Friends;

We are geared up and excited here at the church. We’ve been having rehearsals in the evenings, people are praying, invitations are being extended, I’m still tweaking and honing an Easter message I pray will be interesting, helpful, inspiring, challenging and used by God. The time has almost arrived for our Easter services.

 

I know most of you are aware but I’ll mention the schedule again:

Good Friday service, March 25, 7pm

Easter services, Saturday, March 26, at 5pm and Sunday March 27 at 9 and 11am.

I’m already thanking God for the good things I know He is going to do!

Can you think of someone you might invite? Why not take a little risk and make an invitation. The worst that could happen is the person would say “no thanks.” The best that could happen is a person could potentially have a life-changing encounter with the risen Lord Jesus. Who knows?

I’m looking forward to seeing you this weekend.

He is risen!

Love and blessings,

Dan

P.S. We created an Easter invitation video. It’s humorous and fun. Click on the link to watch. Perhaps you could pass this along to a friend.

                         LINK: Click Here!

Where Is God In Our Troubled And Chaotic World?

Sometimes the world appears to be so troubled and chaotic it may seem like God has turned His back and is no longer there.

God has created human beings with free will and there will be people who will exercise free will in ways that are terrible, foolish, dangerous, tragic, inhumane and, yes, evil. If God were to intervene and stop a person from exercising his/her free will, then it would no longer be free will.

But God has not turned His back.

Our understanding is limited. I realize remarks like this can sound like trite cop outs when tragedies occur but it is true. We only see in a partial way. I do not write this to excuse or minimize the atrocious things which happen in our world. They anger me and they break my heart.

I only mean to suggest that as we try to analyze and think about the events in our world—as we try to make sense of what surely seems to be senseless—we are doing so with limitations in our knowledge and understanding.

When I am frustrated by the pain, turmoil and hate in our world and I think, “Where are you, God?” it helps me—at least a little bit—to remember God understands what it means to be the recipient of pain, turmoil and hate in a very personal way. He is not a deity who stands removed from the difficult realities of life. He is, the Bible reminds us, a God with wounds.

Life can definitely be perplexing and perhaps we will not always be able to see it, but He does care.

Responsibility Is A Pretty Valuable Character Trait, After All

I think “responsibility” is an underappreciated value. Being responsible brings to mind qualities like being steady and reliable. These concepts almost sound boring to most of us.

“That Joe is a steady fellow!”

It makes you want to yawn, right? It doesn’t seem very flashy or cool!

But responsible people are often the ones who get important things done. (Do you want a responsible person to oversee the building of the bridge you are driving on or an irresponsible person?)

Responsible people typically do not look to blame others if things don’t go as planned. (This is a big deal in our “everyone-else-is-to-blame-except-me” culture.)

When people find themselves facing serious problems it is usually a responsible person they turn to for help.

As I think about my life and the people who have had the most significant influence, I realize it has been the people who were responsible. Unfortunately, I think I often took their responsibility for granted. I thought their responsibility was a given, as if it was automatic and could never be any other way. I, often, did not appreciate what an important and valuable character trait it is.

I am realizing these responsible people are pretty special, after all.

First Dance At Ray And Rita's Wedding

My friends Ray and Rita were married in a lovely ceremony today. At the reception we were

all hoping they would dazzle us with some of their fancy footwork.

It is no secret Ray moves with a lightness, a precision and a grace that makes professional dancers look like they are stumbling around in a dark room wearing heavy, concrete-filled work boots. (Much of what Michael Jackson knew about dancing he learned from Ray, whom Jackson affectionately called “that guy with the sweet moves who digs Rita.”)

Well as you can see in the picture they did not disappoint! It was a marvel to behold. Twirling, fancy footwork, 2 or 3 backflips… they did it all.

I asked Ray and Rita if it would be alright with them for me to post a photo on social media.

Ray chuckled and said, “I would be shocked if you did not.” Then he and Rita laughed and clinked their glasses together.

Several moments later security personnel came and confiscated my camera.

…That’s why I always carry a second camera.

Seriously though, the dancing was terrific.

Congratulations to a wonderful couple!

Love and many blessings to you,

Dan

Talking With My Dentist

While the suction hook was hanging in my mouth my dentist—who is a very nice friendly fellow—said, “So, how are things going at the church?”

I couldn’t speak very well. But I managed to say, “Aghrr uughh ehh ohhhh zzzhhh”

He nodded his head knowingly and said, “Isn’t that the truth!”

And we continued talking in that manner throughout my cleaning and check-up.

At one point, following a totally garbled comment from me—I had three instruments in my mouth at the time—he laughed, shaking his head and said, “Yep. We have exactly the same issue at our church every year around Easter.” He was laughing so hard he had to set down one of the instruments in order to readjust his glasses.

I do not know how he could interpret what I was saying but his responses seemed to indicate at some level he was understanding what I was saying.

As I was leaving his office he shook my hand and said, “Always good to catch up with you, Dan.”

I said, “I feel the same way, Dr. Bob.”

Is It Possible My Life Is Not As Interesting As I Thought It Was?

I took a drive onto the grounds of the Midlothian country club today. I was doing this out of curiosity, since we happened to be in the area. As we drove the winding road past the main club house I pointed and said to Rachel, “That’s where I worked my first real job. This was before I was 16 years old. I was a dishwasher in the restaurant there. I don’t remember for sure but I think I was paid about $1.95 per hour.”

I thought she might find this autobiographical history lesson from my life to be of interest. To learn these types of facts about your father’s journey can be quite engaging.

She said, “Oh.” Then she reclined the car seat and went back to sleep.

…It’s hard to know with certainty but this may help explain why no publishers have any interest in my memoirs.

(Just wait till I drive past the shoe store where I used to work.)

Christianity Is A Positive and Optimistic Faith

Every now and then I encounter someone who expresses the belief that Christianity is a negative religion involving negative thinking and a pessimistic view of reality.

I may hear something to this effect, “It is an ugly religion that seems to self-righteously wag a finger at everyone while speaking of sin, punishment and other negative concepts.”

It is true Christianity acknowledges the existence of sin and it recognizes that people commit sins and this creates a serious problem for us. And it is true in Christianity there is a recognition of problems, troubles, pain and turmoil in our world.

However, I believe Christianity is fundamentally positive, optimistic and hopeful. I believe this to be true because in Christianity there is, in Christ, a solution to the troubles and problems we encounter. I contend it is positive, optimistic and hopeful because in the Christian faith we recognize one of the most important truths of our existence is that God loves us and He provided a way for us to experience the ultimate victory of life forever, with Him!

God loves us in a way that is so complete and profound that it is beyond our comprehension. He has made it possible for us to experience an abundant life, a joyful life and a life of genuine meaning and purpose that, ultimately, never ends.

In my mind, this is describing the truths of an incredibly positive and optimistic faith.

Answering the Question: "Who Are You?"

For many people, an answer to the question “who are you?” often results in a response involving a vocation or something they do which is very important in their lives. In other words “who are you?” gets this type of response:

“I’m an electrician.”

“I’m a manager.”

“I’m a soccer player.”

“I’m a musician.”

“I run a small business.”

Notice, however, these responses do not actually answer the question “who are you?” rather, they tell us what the person does.

This reality caught my attention because I’ve noticed—even though I know better—I typically do the same thing. My identity is wrapped up in being a pastor of a church. In fact, I hate to admit it because it’s embarrassing, but in my very honest moments I have had to acknowledge to myself that much of my sense of self-worth is tied to being a pastor.

So, in my mind, the equation sometimes tends to work like this: If things are going well at the church and it is relatively healthy, I’m a worthwhile and valuable person. On the other hand, if things are not going well at the church and it is going through a season of not being particularly healthy my value as a person is diminished.

(Please understand, I realize this is unhealthy and incorrect thinking. I am not endorsing this type of thinking I am simply trying to honestly identify it.)

I am reminding myself today that my identity is not based on what I do—neither is yours, by the way. Our identity is rooted in the fact that we were lovingly, intentionally created by God. We do not deliver a higher level of performance in order to have greater worth and value. We already have worth, value and dignity because we are created in the image of God, himself.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:13-14

“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27

The Value of Experiencing The Things We Fear

Sometimes it can be good and helpful to actually experience the things we fear because when we are exposed to these types of issues in a firsthand way it is quite possible we will discover the experience was not as devastating as our fears made it seem.

A number of years ago I went through some troubles I would have put—at that time—into this category: Something I fear greatly.

Quite frankly, the experience was not pleasant but it was survivable. The world didn’t end. Everyone involved continued on with life.

Having gone through what I feared helped me have a different perspective. I discovered it is entirely possible the emotion we know as fear can be greater than whatever it is we fear. This may seem like a fairly strange idea to express but living through what we fear can actually be liberating.

"The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid." Psalm 118:6

We Need To Be Connected To Jesus To Do Works of Significance For Jesus

Followers of Jesus have to remain connected to Him, available to Him and obedient to Him in order to accomplish the things which matter in God’s kingdom.

This is a reflection of the truth that we need His guidance, His wisdom, His presence and His strength. We can think of it this way: to accomplish works of significance for Jesus, we need Jesus.

Because of my pride, I occasionally think this way: my skills, my talents, my education, my experience, my extensive learning, my best thinking are the key factors in doing God’s work. And then as an afterthought I will acknowledge, “Oh yeah, Jesus might be helpful, too.”

The flaw in my thinking is so obvious when it is laid out in this way, right?

Jesus was talking with His disciples one time about doing the work of the kingdom and He put it like this: 

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

An Extra Measure of Strength From God

Sometimes God gives us an extra measure of strength for the challenging tasks of life. I saw an example of this today.

My friend Jennifer sang a touching and emotionally potent song at the funeral service of a baby girl. To sing a lyrically moving song in this type of setting is not easy. The possibility of becoming completely overwhelmed, emotionally, is very real. Jennifer did an extraordinary job and her song was a gift which ministered beautifully to everyone present, including the grieving mother and father of the child.

It was a wonderful moment during a time of grief. I had tears in my eyes throughout the entire song and so did many others.

Afterward I said to Jennifer, “I think God gave you special strength for that one.”

She said, “He definitely did.”

His presence and strength in Jennifer was a blessing for me to behold.

Celebrating Teta Mary's Birthday

We celebrated Teta Mary’s 88^th birthday at Wildfire, downtown. (She is the lovely, spunky lady who is second on the left in the photo.)

At one point in the evening, for reasons that are still somewhat vague, Mary whipped a steak knife at me. (Now do you understand why I’m always stressing the importance of cat-like, ninja reflexes?)

But other than that, it was a fun, delicious, celebratory and peaceful evening.

We’re already planning a special workout at the dojo for Mary’s 89^th birthday.

Wakey, Wakey!

Earlier today I briefly fell asleep at a restaurant where I frequently go to get iced tea.

While I was fast asleep one of the workers who knows me as a regular customer walked by my table and grabbed my arm. She shook my arm and in a loud voice said, “Rise and shine. Wakey wakey!”

I jumped and for a moment, literally, did not know where I was or what I was doing.

It’s a weird feeling to wake up from a sound sleep, not recognize your surroundings, and slowly realize you are in a restaurant.

Several seconds later she was waving at me and laughing from behind the counter.

Chuckling, I called out, “You got me!” 

…Then I laid down on the floor and went back to sleep.