Small Habits = Substantial Changes

My friend Johnny Mac graduated with one of those high school classes that has a reunion just about every year. Every year he gets away and heads up to Central Oregon to spend time with his buddies from almost a half-century ago. When he comes home, he regales me with stories about their time together. I walk away from those tales feeling like I was there with him

I didn't graduate in one of those classes. In fact, my high school class has had very few reunions over the years and I was able to attend only one. It was an eye-opener. It's not that I felt shock at how the years had wrinkled everybody but me. The changes I saw weren't so much the natural progression of time as the obvious ways different classmates had used their time. I mean, some of those who had been the life of the high school parties now looked like they wanted to melt into the wallpaper. Others who had been the quietest kids in school were now confident and outgoing. What had happened?

I started to realize those changes as I watched an old friend. He was the mascot of high school success. He went on to a very successful career. Yet, I noticed that he couldn't handle the crowd of former classmates without a few beers under his belt. At the same time, I had a brief conversation with a woman whom I barely remembered. We had been in high school band together and I remembered her as quiet to the point of being reclusive. Our short talk showed me that she was calm and confident in ways I never would have imagined.

The lesson I learned at that reunion was simple, but profound: small habits over a long time can make substantial changes. As follower of Jesus, I have been noticing the way one small habit has reshaped me over the years. It's the habit of reading my Bible every day.

Many years ago, I was intrigued when a publisher introduced The One Year Bible. At the time, it was unique. I

bought the book and began to read small passages from the Old Testament and the New Testament every day. Those passages were followed by a short excerpt from the Psalms and a few verses from Proverbs. I discovered that an investment of 10-15 minutes a day would make it possible for me to read the entire Bible in a year.

I would love to tell you that I had already been reading the Bible through each year; by then I had been a pastor for quite a while. However, it took the One Year Bible to encourage me to develop this habit. That was a little over 27 years ago and I have been reading the Bible through each year since. To be honest, some of the early years included days where I was mystified by the content I was reading. Verses (and sometimes whole passages) didn't make sense. I kept reading anyway and the volume gradually became familiar territory.

It's understatement to say that the Bible changed me. How did it do it? Pretty simple, actually. I started out reading the Bible and soon discovered that the Bible was helping me read myself. I saw things in my life that didn't reflect the character of God's people in the Scriptures. I discovered ways to handle many of the everyday stresses of life. I learned how to treat Cathy and love my kids. I learned about how to manage money. I learned about generosity. The list goes on and on.

This week at Stone Ridge Church, we will talk in depth about ways the Bible changes us. Can't join us? Catch the podcast!

 

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40 Days for Life Change

Something in me deeply believes something about you. I deeply believe that you would make some changes in your life and that you would make those changes every day for 40 days if you KNEW that they could change your life long-term.

Perhaps you have wanted to start reading the Bible every day, but you find yourself getting bogged down. One reason you get bogged down is that the Bible is such a large volume and, let's face it, sometimes it just doesn't make sense to you. If, in 40 days, you could get significantly more understanding and insight from the Bible and you knew this would change your life, would you give 40 days? I think you would!

You might be a person who wants to develop your prayer life, but you must admit to yourself that your prayers are far too infrequent and God seems to be way far off. If 40 days of encouragement from friends and practical tips on how to pray could change your prayer life from now on, would you do it? I believe so!

If you could invest 40 days, not to change your own life, but to help a friend change theirs, would you do it? I'm certain you would!

You might not change from a couch potato to an Iron Man champion in 40 days, but you CAN change to an "ex-couch potato." You can change from a television addict to a book reader in 40 days if that is your goal. Your 40 days transformation can be many things, but those days will be but the beginning of bigger changes to come.

But, why 40 days? Why not 50 or 30 or 12? For some reason, God established 40 days as a period during which we can experience significant transformation. Want to see the various 40-day transformations that took place in the Bible? Go check this website out. It's pretty amazing.

On the first weekend of February, Stone Ridge Church will begin 40 Days in the Word. I am challenging our church to.

1. Attend worship each week and we will study together. Can't attend? You can catch our podcasts here.

2. Join a 40 Days Small Group. Sign up this weekend.

3. Do the 40 Days Devotional. Sign up here.

4. Memorize the weekly verses.

5. Bring a friend with you. Be a part of their transformation.

We are about the reach the starting line. I invite my readers to join us in this life-changing season!

 

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Anger Danger

Two men named Saul were both known for their anger. One of them, the Old Testament King, allowed anger to compensate for his deep insecurity. At the time of the announcement that he was God's chosen monarch, he couldn't be found; turns out he was hiding among the baggage (1 Samuel 10:22). As he reluctantly took the reigns of government, he overcame his insecurity with a counterfeit solution: anger. Every time he was faced with a challenge he couldn't handle, he had a rage outburst. Ultimately, his anger destroyed him.

The other Saul considered anger an outpouring of his religious zeal. The only problem was that his zeal set him against, rather than for, the plans of God. His anger began to change one day on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), when Jesus Christ appeared to him from heaven. It took a painful discipline, three days of physical blindness, to show Saul just how blind his rage had been. No doubt he spent a part of those days thinking about his own foolishness. I find it interesting that Saul -- now called Paul -- still had to face the harvest of some of that anger as a young follower of Jesus. It was primarily his "righteous indignation" that caused the separation between him and Barnabas just before his second missionary journey (Acts 15). Paul 's later writings demonstrate the maturity that came from his identity in Christ, maturity that brought his anger under control.

When you compare the two men named Saul, they present a life lesson on anger danger. Like all of us, they were people whose lives held great potential for good. Through the lens of history, though, one of them became known for changing the world while the other is remembered for not being able to change himself. One of them conquered giants of false religion while the other withered before a single giant named Goliath.

God designed you and me to face giants. We will never see the big ones fall if we can't deal with the small inside us. What giant is holding you back?

Facing Your Giants is our topic this weekend at Stone Ridge Church. Can't join us? Catch the podcast!

 

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Letting The Sun Shine In

I think that God allows some storms in our lives just to accentuate the light of the sun when it breaks through. That was certainly the feeling one particularly tumultuous summer when I was a teen. Early that summer, the house my grandparents had built on their homestead caught fire and burned. A few weekends later, my dad went there with others to pour footings for a new abode; my uncle was living there at the time. As dad returned home, he thought about stopping in to check on Grandpa and Grandma, who lived just around the corner from us. He was tired that Sunday night and thought, I'll check in on them tomorrow."

Early Monday morning, our phone rang. It was my cousin Gary, who had spent the night at our grandparents' house. Grandpa had just suffered a massive heart attack and died. Though he was 81 and they had moved down from the mountain because of his heart problems, the grief we felt from Grandpa's death was mammoth. It was the heaviness of that storm that made our summer vacation so significant.

Normally we would have traveled to the Rocky Mountains in northern New Mexico for a vacation with relatives, picnics and fly fishing. That year, regardless of the painful loss, a house had to be built. Various family and friends started gathering, some from far away. They brought their skills, their tools, and their helpfulness to focus on the erection of a simple, four-room house to replace the one that had been lost in the fire. Our family stayed in tents. I don't remember how (or if) we showered that week. I do remember getting up each day, eating a hearty breakfast and going to work. Foundation, flooring, and framing each took about a day. Amazingly, a house took shape in about a week.

Each time I am able to attend our family reunion in Pie Town, NM, I remember that week of my teens. That house still stands; in fact, some of the family always stays there on reunion weekend. It's a joy to recall the way everyone worked together to accomplish a slightly amazing task. That week so long ago became the sunshine following a grievous storm.

Remembering the good things is one of the joys we ought to experience as we begin a new year. I hope you can join us as we celebrate some of them this weekend at Stone Ridge Church! Can't join us? Catch the podcast!

 

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Merry Christmas!

I confess. Cathy and I like to watch Christmas movies. In addition to It's A Wonderful Life, which is pretty much an annual tradition, we enjoy taking the occasional quiet evening during the Christmas season to relax in front of a family-friendly film. Some of them are cheesy, some are funny and some are ridiculous. I was caught off guard, then, by a quite serious and subtly hopeful film called Midnight Clear. Midnight Clear was written and produced by Jerry B. Jenkins, who co-authored the popular Left Behind series of books.

I mention this movie because I found it quite depressing at the start. It seemed as if every character was in emotional, relational pain. Each minute of the story seemed more hopeless than the last. I found myself wondering what would happen to turn this story around. I mean, isn't Christmas suppose to be about hope rather than hopelessness? Isn't hope a big theme in Hollywood? The stories are supposed to drag you to the depths, then give you a fast elevator ride to a hero (at Christmas, it's usually Jesus or Santa) who saves the day, makes you want to cheer and causes an "I'd watch that again!" to escape from your lips.

Midnight Clear didn't do that. Most of the characters were still in significant pain at the end of the story. Why, then, would I take the time to write about this film and even use "subtly hopeful" to describe it? It was only after a few hours of reflection that it hit me: real life isn't like Hollywood movies. Real life is far more about small decisions, subtle changes and stubborn determination to step into pain than it is about some hero flying in to instantly save the day. Real life is about real hope and Midnight Clear is full of it; you just have to look closely to find it.

If nothing else, Midnight Clear will make me look at this week's Christmas services with different eyes. Who will attend with a family member, grasping the last strand of hope that maybe -- just maybe -- their family can be healed? Who will miss because the loss they have suffered is just too overwhelming? Who will do something out of raw obedience and experience the joy of watching God work through it?

Those are the real joys at Christmas. They may not have people lining up to pluck down a small pile of hard-earned dollars at the box office, but I think they are pretty popular on heavenly screens!

This is our 42nd Christmas together and our 28th to share with Stone Ridge Church family. Cathy and I are overwhelmed with gratitude. Merry Christmas! May you experience the fulness of God's tender mercies and the speechless joy of discovering His purposes as you enter 2014.

 

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Purposeful Protection

On a recent night, I was tossing and turning, not able to sleep. It was on a weekend when I experienced an oppressive spiritual attack. As if out of nowhere, I was fighting off feelings of fear, anxiety, worry and hopelessness. I had suffered such attacks before and each time I arrived at a place of peace, experiencing God's presence in an unusual way. On this night, I was praying my way through and I suddenly sensed that Jesus was speaking to my heart. (Those of you who don't believe will struggle with this and I'm comfortable with your skepticism.) He took me back to the time my mom almost miscarried when she was pregnant with me. "I protected you then," He said.

Then He reminded me of how ill I was as a tiny child. "I brought you through," He said gently. One by one, He brought to memory different times that my life was in danger. At least one was my own fault, but several times I was suddenly thrown into dangerous circumstances. Each time He said, "I protected you."

I suddenly realized that there were other times; times He protected me and kept me alive that I never knew about. He orchestrated events to keep me from danger that was coming, but, instead, never got there. As I felt amazed by His goodness, He again spoke to my heart. "I created you for what is coming. I protected You because I designed you for my purposes which must be lived out." In other words, the God of the Universe designed me for a purpose (He did the same for you!) and He has faithfully worked behind the scenes of my life to put me in the situations where that purpose can be realized.

Some consider it just silly that we might be part of some giant, cosmic plan. In their world, we create our own destiny, either for good or for evil. In that way of thinking, there is no God or he isn't really that interested in us personally. We carve out our own niche, we reap the rewards for doing a good job or we pay the penalty for not doing well.

"Odd," you might say, "that you are focusing on this subject at Christmas." But, it's not odd at all...when you discover what was happening in the invisible realm as the familiar characters were experiencing the first Christmas in the visible realm. Not odd at all! Find out more this weekend at Stone Ridge Church. Can't be there? Catch the podcast!

 

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God's Orchestrations

Head spinning and knees ready to buckle, I stood on the parade field. I had been sick for several days, but I was NOT going to miss our graduation for boot camp. I was in the U.S. Army at Fort Ord, California and we were one day away from the ceremony that would mark the end of the beginning of our military duty. I was sick with the flu, but I refused to go on "sick call."

During the previous two or three nights, I had to wrap myself up in several blankets to stave off the chills. I slept all I could and got up each morning with enough energy to get the day started. As it wore on, I became weaker and weaker, with me plodding through classes and physical training, then finally dropping into bed as early as possible. Now we were at the last day of training and I was standing in formation on the parade ground; this was the final run-through of the ceremony which would take place the next day.

That night was the hardest of all. Other men in my unit were busy getting ready to enjoy graduation and I was bundled up on my bunk shivering. Several interruptions during the night added to my physical discomfort. Each time something woke me up, I wanted nothing more than to roll up in wool blankets and go back to sleep. The morning arrived with just enough hope that I could get through this last day. The graduation went as planned; I barely remember it. It was what happened after the graduation that was forever etched in my memory as one of God's mysterious ways.

Some of the men in my unit had family who came in from nearby cities for graduation. Others just took advantage of the liberty granted to them and headed into town for the night. I went back to my room, wrapped blankets around me and went to sleep. Late that afternoon, a couple of the guys came in to check on me. I will never forget their kindness. Others were out partying and these two guys from the Deep South were concerned about me. They told me they thought I should go on sick call. I was finally so ill that I simply said, "Okay."

The Fort Ord hospital was right across the street from our barracks. My two fellow graduates walked me across and took me to a medic who was on duty. The medic heard my symptoms and stuck a thermometer in my mouth. A couple of minutes later, he pulled out the thermometer, looked at it and walked out of the room. My temperature was so high that he came back in wearing a surgical mask to help protect himself from whatever I had. "We're admitting you to the hospital," he said. Within a few minutes I was upstairs in bed, being filled with medication and given strict orders that I had to drink a huge glass of fluids every few hours.

The next day, Friday, was transition day following graduation. Everyone was shipped off to their next duty station for advanced training. Many, like me, were assigned to schools at Fort Ord, so they were simply "shipped" to a different barracks on another part of the base. I, however, was lying in the hospital. I was told that I would stay administratively attached to my basic training unit until we knew how long it would take to recover. Then I would be assigned to an advanced unit for my next phase of training.

Cathy and I were in our first year of marriage at the time. Those brief months of separation felt like forever to us. We had been told that we could live off base during the next phase of training so we made plans for her to fly out. She was scheduled to arrive the Monday after graduation, Memorial Day. Fortunately I was much better by Saturday afternoon and was released on Sunday morning.

The following Friday was another transition day on that large training base and I was "shipped" off to my advanced training unit. I wrongly thought that I would be with the guys from my boot camp unit who were attending the same school. Instead, I was assigned to the company right next door to theirs. When I arrived, I discovered that the possibility of living off base with my wife was completely up to the Commanding Officer of the company to which I was assigned. Fortunately, Charlie Company's CO was inclined to let us have this privilege, within very tight restrictions. I wasn't there very long before I ran into some of my own buddies from basic and the conversation came up. Their company commander was unwilling to let them live off base, even if their wife was there.

I spent a very sick weekend in a hospital and it opened the door for me to stay with my wife rather than living apart. God orchestrated my illness to give us a great blessing. Also, Cathy's presence during that season helped open up a whole sequence of events that changed the direction of our lives.

The Christmas story contains pain, hardship and even the slaughter of innocents, with God orchestrating it all to accomplish His greater purposes. If you look at the story with the eyes of faith, you can begin to understand a little more of the mystery of God's work. We will talk about it this weekend at Stone Ridge Church. Can't be there? Catch the podcast!

 

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