15

Jump Start # 2963

Posted on November 15, 2021 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2963

Colossians 3:21 “Fathers, do not exasperate your children, that they may not lose heart.”

Our passage remind today reminds us that the Lord is concerned about all of life. That’s a lesson we need to impress upon others. Once you leave the church building, it’s not your time, your life, your choices. You still belong to the Lord. You always belong to the Lord. Everywhere and anywhere, you belong to Jesus.

So, our verse today is not about worship. It’s not about what takes place in the church building. It’s about home. Your family. My family. And, boy, we need help here. The American family is falling apart. No one is at the helm and so many families do not even have “family time,” any more. They eat separately. They watch TV separately. It’s like the house is a mini-apartment complex and everyone, once inside, goes their own way. It shouldn’t be this way. It’s going to be hard to instruct and leave godly examples when there is very little interaction. One cannot place the whole responsibility of learning good behavior upon the church. It just may be that one reason so many young people drift away from the Lord is that they do not witness a life with Christ once Sunday is over.

Our verse is directed toward dads. It’s fathers, not moms. It’s fathers, not grandparents. It’s fathers, not the church. You don’t want this deep responsibility, then don’t be a father. God lays this upon the shoulders of dads. Fathers are shepherds. They have a little flock, their family. And, what they do, is the same as elders in the church. The elders just have a bigger family to take care of. But the image, the principles are the same. Look out for those in your flock. Help them. Get them stronger. Get them closer to the Lord. That’s what shepherds do and that’s what dads do. What a natural step from being a shepherd at home to being a shepherd among God’s people. The only thing that changes is the size of the family and the added help from fellow shepherds.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children. A more familiar reading is, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger.” And, there is a reason for that. If that happens, they likely will lose heart. “Losing heart,” is being defeated, discouraged, and wanting to quit. Jesus told the disciples to pray at all times and “Not lose heart.” Provoking your children, will cause them to lose heart. It will discourage them. It may make some strike back. It may make some lose respect and love for you. It may lead some to run away.

Don’t provoke. Don’t exasperate. What does that look like?

First, don’t show favoritism. We know that was done in the Bible. Joseph was the favorite. It caused his brothers to hate him, and not even speak to him. They wanted to kill him, but settled on selling him and deceiving their dad into thinking he was killed by a wild animal. Among the children, there may be one that has similar interests that you do, but don’t play that favorite card. They will know. Dad’s with daughters may have to get out of their comfort zone to connect. Have that little tea party with her when she is little. Coach her soccer team. Go to her choir performances. Don’t have favorites. Love them all. Be fair to all.

Second, don’t belittle your children in front of their friends. Teasing hurts. And if you give it out, you best be able to take it back when it comes your way. There is a time and a place to have serious talks, deal with things that need to be improved upon. Putting them down in public and in front of their friends humiliates your child, embarrasses your child, and makes your child despise you. Few things will lead to losing heart faster than doing this. Instead, compliment your child. Compliment him publically. Let your child know that you are proud of him. There is a time and a place for correction.

Third, showing no interest in your child’s life is another quick way to lead him to lose heart. You may have to watch Frozen for the millionth time, but you do that. You may read the same book every night, but you do so. You work your schedule to be in the stands to watch their games. You let them pick a place to eat after Sunday worship, and, yes, it may be McDonald’s. You invite them to come with you. Now, don’t make the mistake of trying to be their best friend or their buddy. You can’t do that. You are the parent. Buddies have no rules. Buddies never get on each other. You must parent. There are moments when you have to be the bad guy. You have to set the rules. You have to discipline them sometimes. But you do those things and still show incredible interest in their lives.

Fourth, do not compare one child to another. They are not the same. You never liked being compared. It breeds resentment, competiveness and jealousy. Your children will not all get the same grades. Some will make the team and some won’t. Some will be student of the year, honor roll, class president. Others won’t Just as you are different from your siblings, so are your children. Don’t try to mold them into the same sports, musical interests or other things. Let their individual tastes be explored. I’ve heard adult siblings saying, “You were always mom’s favorite.” All those years later, the resentment was still there.

Fifth, don’t say mean and hurtful things to your children. They will carry those words with them the rest of their lives. You are making the first and greatest impression upon their young hearts. So, when you get angry, keep a lid on what you say. Name calling. Insulting. Putting down. Hurtful words. Those have no place coming from you—ever. Your kids will disappoint you. They will make you upset. You will get mad. But you must stay in control. I have heard some of the most cruel things ever said while walking by families in stores.  Those tender ears were getting blistered by a parent who had lost all patience. What helps is remembering how God treats you. What helps is to run your words through some filters in your mind. What helps is to get that tea kittle in your mind off the burner before it boils.

Parenting the right way and parenting the godly way isn’t easy. It’s not for the faint of heart. With God’s help, you can do a great job. With God’s help, you can make a lasting difference. Don’t try to parent alone. Invite, include and ask for the Lord’s help. Together, great things can happen.

Roger

12

Jump Start # 2962

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2962

Haggai 1:7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.”

I watched an old black and white Clark Gable movie the other night. All in all, it was pretty good. Two boys, best friends, grow up on the opposite side of the law. One becomes a District Attorney for New York City. The other is involved in gambling, crime and even murder. The two remain friends. As scenes shift, the camera points to a clock with the inscription below it, “Young man observe the time and fly from evil.” This is shown multiple times during the movie.

As the movie progresses, the good kid, the District Attorney, runs for governor. His campaign manager, has a story that he is going to release to the press which will cost him the election. The bad kid, Blackie, is told this by the wife of the District Attorney. Blackie guns down the campaign manager. A trial is held, and Blackie is found guilty and is scheduled to be executed in electric chair. The District Attorney wins the election and is now governor. He has the power to stop the execution of his friend. Blackie is ready to die in the chair. He is smiling and cheerful. The governor agonizes over what he should do. Manhattan Melodrama is the name of the movie. It was released in 1934.

There was a reason I wanted to watch this movie. It was played in Chicago on a hot summer night. It happened to be the last movie John Dillinger saw. Moments after the movie, as he left the theatre, he was shot and killed by FBI agents. I wondered what Dillinger would have thought as he watched that movie. The bad guy. The trial. The jail. The execution. The reminder, “Fly from evil.” Did he have a conscience? Did that movie seem a bit close to his own story? Did he think that this may be the way it ends for him? He never knew that minutes after the movie was over, he would die. Dillinger sat there and watched a movie that in many ways mirrored his own life of crime. The criminal didn’t win. He didn’t win in the movies and he didn’t win in real life.

As Dillinger sat there and heard those words, “Fly from evil,” did he even think about his wicked ways? And, yet, how similar is this to us on a Sunday morning. The preacher tells us about the unforgiving brother of the prodigal. And, there is that person in our life, sometimes in that very worship room, that we have not forgiven and probably won’t forgive. The sermon is us, but do we take it to heart? Or, the preacher paints for us the wonderful picture of the apostle Paul. Strong. Faithful. Dedicated. And, there we sit, hearing those words, but pretty much certain that we’ll not be back for the evening services. There is nothing hindering us other than a lack of the very things Paul illustrated.

As King David heard that story that Nathan the prophet put before him of a rich shepherd who stole the sole lamb of a neighbor, David’s blood boils. The things that person ought to die. Yet, David never thought that Nathan was talking about him. It was not until “thou art the man,” that David got it.

Within the concept of receiving the word, is making application to yourself. How does this passage, this lesson, this class apply to me?

Here are some simple reminders:

First, see yourself before you see others. I have had folks tell me after a sermon, “I sure wish so and so were here to hear that.” I do too. But you heard it. Did it do anything to you? Look within. Be challenged. Open your heart. Open your eyes.

Second, humble yourself. That is essential to making applications. Pride will close our hearts. Pride will tell us that we are ok. What if no one else was in the room but you and the preacher. How would that change how you heard that lesson?

Third, application is wrapped around the idea that we all can do better. We must do better. The honest and good heart will grow when taught. It will change when rebuked. It will be comforted when encouraged. It is always looking to do better.

Fourth, I like taking notes. I still do when I listen to others. This helps me remember. This keeps the thoughts fresh. Get a notebook and fill it full of sermon notes. Then, every once in a while, go back through those and take another look. They will help you.

Sermons are like bricks. Week after week, the preacher is handing you another brick for your foundation. Someday when the storms come, you’ll be ready. You’ll stand firm. You’ve wrapped your faith around a strong and steady foundation.

A bad guy watching a movie about a bad guy. In the end, crime never pays.

Sure makes you wonder…makes us wonder about Sunday sermons. Makes us think about our verse today, “consider your ways.”

Roger

11

Jump Start # 2961

Posted on November 11, 2021 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2961

Hebrews 12:3 “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.”

The running theme in these first few sentences of Hebrews 12 is endurance. The word endurance implies something taking some time. An endurance race is long. And sprinkled with endurance is patience. Without patience a person cannot endure. We see that all around us. Impatient drivers sitting in a long line of traffic. There will always be one guy who drives through the grass to get ahead of everyone else. You go to a restaurant and you are told that it will be a forty-five minute wait. Most leave and go some where else.

One of the challenges of our spiritual journey is endurance. If we went to Heaven the day after we were baptized, we’d think that there wasn’t much to this walk with Jesus stuff. But for most of us, our journey involves decades and decades of walking with Jesus. Sometimes it’s not the difficult days, but the plain, ordinary days that we tend to lose our focus. We must finish. There is no glory in starting and then dropping out. There is no consolation prize. You don’t get a T-shirt for just being a Christian. God expects you to finish what you started. The devil will do everything he can to get you to stop. Hardships. Challenges. The length of the journey can impact whether or not we stay with it and finish.

Here are five reminders about finishing the journey:

First, sometimes the darkness lasts a long time. I think about that Psalms 23 passage and walking through the valley of the shadows of death. Those words seem dark. It paints a picture of darkness for us. Valleys can be dark. Shadows are dark. Death is dark. The bent over woman had her ailment for eighteen years. The woman with the issue of blood had her problem for twelve years. The sick man at the pool of Bethesda, had been ill for thirty-eight years. For others, it’s a lifetime. A lifetime of not being able to see. A lifetime of not being able to walk. Those who cannot endure, will give up on God.

Second, sometimes God’s silence makes us wonder. The bent over woman was in the synagogue. She had gone there to worship. Don’t you imagine that she had prayed and prayed and prayed and yet nothing. For eighteen years nothing. Was she not praying right? Was there sin in her life? Was the Lord waiting for her to do something? All of those questions and thoughts might go racing through our minds if we were in her shoes. Our impatience expect God to answer our prayer by the next morning.

Third, sometimes others are ready to quit. Job’s wife was. She was out of patience, faith and endurance. Time to toss in the towel and just die. Those were her words to Job. This can make endurance even more difficult. Family members who are encouraging us to turn our backs on God. Family members who have no patience and no faith, hate to see us hanging on to hope when they do not believe there will be any hope. It’s hard to be strong when you are surrounded by weakness. It’s hard to get encouragement when all you hear is discouragement.

Fourth, sometimes quitting is very tempting. That’s being honest. You wonder what good is all of this doing for you? Thoughts you never had before start showing up in your mind. The bottle. The pills. Even suicide starts to seem reasonable. When things are great, you never have those thoughts. But now you do. You don’t see any end to your pain or sorrow. The journey seems so long. You’ve hit the wall, as runners understand. You start thinking, ’I can’t go on.’ And, when you have others around you encouraging you to stop worshipping, all of that becomes something to think about.

Fifth, endurance is the ability to look beyond the immediate and see the goal. What you are going through won’t last. It’s temporary and someday will all be behind you. Forever in Heaven, is just that, forever. Once a person has landed safely at an airport, it doesn’t matter how crowded the plane was, how bumpy the flight was, you are on the ground and that’s all that matters. So it will be with our journey. Once we are in Heaven, all of this stuff will not matter. Not at all. Worry focuses upon the problem. Faith sees God. Our problems stay here. They don’t go with us to Heaven.

Without endurance we cannot finish. Jesus endured, even to the point of shedding His blood. We haven’t reached that point. Hang in there. Keep going. Don’t give up and don’t give in. Yes, it’s another day. It’s another week. It’s another month. It’s another year. Make the most of it by being a great example. Make the most of it by glorifying God. Make the most of it by helping others.

When God is ready, He’ll call us home. Until then, we have things to do. Endure. Endure well.

Roger

10

Jump Start # 2960

Posted on November 10, 2021 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2960

1 Peter 5:2 “Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness.”

Leadership, whether in the home, the community or in the church is something that is greatly needed. The way God designed us was for us to follow leaders. Of all the animals in the created world, God refers to His people as sheep. We are not the lone wolves who can find our way. We are not soaring eagles that can see things from far away. We are not dogs, kittens, turtles or monkeys. We are sheep. And, sheep need leaders. Sheep need watching over. Sheep on their own, do not do well.

Our verse today is very specific. Shepherd the flock of God among you. Following that principle are a pair of negatives and positives. Don’t do this under compulsion. Don’t do this for sordid gain. Rather, do this voluntarily and do this with eagerness. Attitude. Mode. Method. Disposition. All of those qualities are wrapped up in those pairs of words.

Shepherds across the country have taken a lot of grief and criticism in making decisions about masks, assembling and keeping things together. Not everyone was happy. Many complained. Some left. Some thought they could do a better job. And out of this comes five things we need to remember about leading.

First, it’s a lot harder than it looks. So often, the elders must make decisions that personally they’d rather see otherwise, but for the sake of the congregation, for the good of all, those decisions must be made. When we are at home on our couch, only seeing things from our perspective, their job seems pretty simply. It’s all black and white. But the shepherds must consider the young families, as well as the senior citizens, as well as those who travel a long way, as well as those who are struggling. A balance must be considered. There is such a mixture among us. Some are very strong and solid. Others are so weak, it wouldn’t take much to blow them over. Their job is not to make everyone happy. Not at all. Their job is to keep us all going spiritually. It is to see us growing and getting closer to the Lord. That may not make everyone happy, but that is their job.

Second, there is always a context and a background which most of us are not aware of. This is especially true with discipline. The time comes to announce discipline upon a member and some scream, “Why haven’t you talked to them?” Truth is, months and months of talks, prayers and interaction has been taking place. You didn’t know that. Shepherds are not to lead the flock on whims or personal agendas. Not at all. They put a ton thinking, studying, talking among each other into all of their decisions. Most just don’t know that.

Third, it is a whole lot easier to talk about what needs to be done than it is to actually do something. Working with people is hard work. Attitudes, backgrounds, baggage all come to the forefront when talking with people. You and I can sit back and say, “this needs to be done,” or, “they oughta be doing this.” Backseat driving. Arm chair quarterback. We all can be guilty of that. But who is it that actually gets into the mud and tries to pull one of us out and put us back on our feet again? It’s the shepherds. While many of us are talking, even complaining, or worse, gossiping, the shepherds are busy doing. You don’t see what they are doing, but they are busy.

Fourth, Shepherds are looking out for our best interests. They’ll plan a Gospel Meeting, not just because it’s the Spring or Fall, but because they believe the congregation needs a boost. They need to be built up. You and I may not want to come. You and I may have other things that keeps us busy. But they know what we need and they are doing their best to help us. Rather than diving in to the spiritual feasts, many of us roll our eyes at such things and pout.

Fifth, Shepherds love the Lord more than anything else. This is why they are leading us. It’s certainly not for the pay, because most do not receive any pay. It’s not for the praise, because that is often missing. Complaints. Weak hearts. Indifferent spirits. Some who won’t forgive. Some who are stubborn. Some who refuse to change no matter what. That’s what shepherds deal with. And, why? They do so because they love the Lord and they love His people. They want to try to make things better. They want to leave the church better than they found it.

All of this sure makes us wonder about how we talk about the shepherds. It makes us wonder about our attitudes towards them. Do we approach them with a smile and a thankful heart, or are we acting like we are standing in line at customer’s service and we have complaints a mile long? We demand to speak to the one in charge. We demand to get our money back. We demand that they make it right. That’s what happens in stores and restaurants. Are we treating our shepherds the same way?

Maybe it’s time to be thankful to God for them. Maybe it’s time you told them face-to-face that you love them and are glad that they are at the helm of the ship. Where would we be without the shepherds? For many of us, we’d be floating off to la-la-land, singing and dancing with the devil all the way. God’s shepherds keep us close to the book. They keep us loyal to God’s pattern. We sure need them.

Shepherd the flock of God among you…

Roger

09

Jump Start # 2959

Posted on November 9, 2021 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2959

James 1:19 “this you know, my beloved brethren. But let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.”

On this side of the pandemic we’ve come to realize that things are not “normal” or as they once were. Just about everywhere you go, there are signs asking for help or hiring. Short staffed is hurting hospitals, restaurants and the construction industry. Another sign that things are not as they once were is finding some shelves empty at the stores, some supplies are delayed, and some orders are taking a long time to be completed. Short staffed and out of supplies is a real problem. In many cities, large parking lots are filled with new cars and trucks, waiting for chips to be put in them. The supply of chips is extremely low.

There are some things that never seem to run out. Here’s my short list:

  • Anger is always in supply. Tempers flare when people drive. Tempers flare when people get to work. Tempers flare when people go home. There never seems to be a time when society has just run out of anger. That just doesn’t happen.
  • Impatience is also always in supply. Impatient people quickly become angry people. And, because supplies run thin and the staff is short, people become more impatient. It would be wonderful if there was a quota on how much impatience there was in a day. Once it was reached, there simply would be no more.
  • Opinions are always in supply. Everyone has an opinion and everyone expects you to not only hear theirs but to agree with it. And, if you want to start an argument all you have to do is inject the topic of masks, vaccines and social distancing into a conversation. Blood pressures will rise, as will the volume of speech. Everyone knows what needs to be done, it seems. There never seems to be a shortage of opinions. They are always in supply.
  • God’s grace is also always in supply. God never gives us a limit on how many times we can be forgiven. He never has a level or cap on forgiveness. Nearly every prayer we pray includes, “forgive us of our sins.” And, with all the impatience, anger and opinions mounting around us and within us, it’s a good thing that there is plenty of grace to go around. No one hogs it all. No one takes so much grace that you can’t have any.
  • God’s blessings are always in supply. Today is one such blessing. Today is a gift from God. Jesus could have come last night. Your soul could have been required of you last night. But those things didn’t happen. Here you are, and you have a day given to you. Blessings of hope, prayer, love, fellowship, health are abundant to each of us. The blessings never run out.
  • God’s love for you is always in supply. God loves you. He loves you when you do what is right. He loves you when you do what is wrong. He doesn’t want you to disobey Him. He doesn’t want you to walk freely away from Him. But if you do, He still loves you. God has given you His word, the Bible. He has sent the best of Heaven in Jesus. He has put people in your life to help you and guide you. God has never given up on you. The love of God is always in stock. It is always on the shelf. It is always available.

So, this is the world we live in today. We can focus upon the anger, impatience and opinions. We can be bothered by those things and live in such a way that we don’t see anything else. Or, we can focus upon God’s grace, blessings and love. Those wonderful things are what can fill our hearts and our conversations. We can be sour and bitter because of the way things are, or we can be thankful and hopeful because of the Lord.

I wish the devil would run out of ideas and leave us alone. He doesn’t and he won’t. But our God is greater than the devil. Focus upon the goodness of the Lord and walk closely behind Jesus. All around us are those who are centered and defined by anger, impatience and opinions. You can join that crowd or be one who joyfully and thankfully sees the sunshine of God’s grace, blessings and love.

We’re all out—that may be in some things. Thankfully, that can never be said of God.

Roger