Jump Start # 3567

Psalms 37:25 “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.”

“What’s next?” That’s a common question asked as one heads into a new chapter of their life. A high schooler graduates and at the graduation party, he is asked, “What’s next?” Implying, are you going to college, getting a job, or what? At a retirement party, it’s asked, “What’s next?” No more getting up and fighting traffic to get to the office to work. Are you going to do some traveling? Are you picking up a little side job? What’s next?

What’s the next chapter of your life look like? Have you thought about that? This thought came to my mind as I watched the memorial service for Bob Owen. I sure liked that man. He was one of my teachers in college and a good friend. Always an encouragement and he especially befriended one of my sons.

At the age of 70, Bob Owen and a handful of other, “old” preachers traveled to Africa to help teach God’s word. This wasn’t a one and done deal. Owen made the trip to Africa nearly twenty-five times. He and others helped turn things around and left an amazing solid legacy there. All this was done in the autumn and winter of his life. At a time when many are looking for the recliner for a full day of TV, he traveled to places many wouldn’t go, ever.

And, that got me thinking about the next chapter in life. So often, we are so busy with the here and now that we don’t think about what life will be like with children, or as empty nesters, or as retirees. If God allows this old world to continue on, we will all have another chapter to our stories. Have you thought about that? What’s life going to look like when your spouse is on the other side of life? The next chapter.

Here are some thoughts:

First, unlike a book, we can’t read ahead and know what the next chapter will be like. I’ve sometimes jumped ahead in a book to read the final chapters and then worked back through the book. Life doesn’t allow you to do that. You can’t look into the crystal ball and know what that will be like.

You can look around at others in the church or your family who are a chapter ahead of you and see how they are doing. But each person’s circumstances are unique, so your story won’t be exactly the same.

Second, like most of the world, we can just wait until the next page is turned in our life and see what that brings, or we can takes some steps to prepare ourselves. There are some practical and physical things one can do such as getting important papers in order, leaving instructions for what you want done, having a will and getting your finances shaped up. But there are many more spiritual things you can do. With kids grown and raised, retired from a job, think what you can do for the kingdom. Can you travel and help a small congregation? Can you finance a preacher overseas? Can you go overseas with the intention of connecting and helping brethren? Can you be more available to your home congregation? You can do a deep dive into some heavy books of the Bible. You can encourage young disciples by having them in your home. Thinking ahead, making plans, getting things lined up for the next chapter in life can make that transition easier and it can make yourself more useful to the Lord.

Third, the next chapter in your life may open doors to volunteer and serve at places in the community. Before you are in that chapter, what interests you? Do some research and get to know some of the people who run those places. Make your face known. And, when the time comes, you might find a smooth and convenient way to offer your help. There are so many places that would love to have volunteers.

I’ve heard people say, “I gave forty years to the company, now, it’s my time to do what I want.” Not only does that sound extremely selfish, Biblically, is it ever our time? The next chapter in your life could be the most rewarding and beneficial chapter ever. You may find yourself doing things that you never dreamed of.

What does the next chapter of your life look like? Have you given that any thought? Maybe you should. The choices you are making today may shape what that chapter will look like. Don’t look at it just though what you want to do, but keep the kingdom in your vision.

The next chapter…it may be the best one yet!

Roger

Jump Start # 3490

Psalms 37:25 “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or His descendants begging bread.”

I was listening to a financial program recently and the guest host talked about his financial struggles and mistakes he had made early in his marriage. It had been a journey for him. A long journey. He stated, “I wish someone had told me what I know now.”

That statement, “I wish someone had told me,” could be true of about all of life. Much of what we learn and experience comes from the choices we make and pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. It is rare for someone to detail everything you need to know to navigate wisely in life.

This is true in parenting. The diaper years. The terrible twos. The teen years. No amount of wisdom or books can truly prepare you. This is true of most careers, even preaching. Those of us that have trained young men to preach can guide them, but every congregation has it’s own flavor, unique challenges and atmosphere. It is impossible to fully prepare someone for all of that. I know for myself, when I first started preaching full time I was with a small church that did not have elders. I had never been in a business meeting in my life. No one had ever told me about them. Boy, my eyes were opened and I learned some things quickly.

But if we were to make a list of “What I wish someone would have told me,” when I first became a Christian, what would you include on that list? Here are a few of my thoughts:

First, You do not live your entire life in one day. Your journey with the Lord is day in and day out. One mistake or sin does not mean you have failed. Nor, does one victory mean that you have completed the race. Day in and day out. Good days. Bad days. Happy days. Sad days. Special deals and normal days. Sundays and Mondays. Sundays and Saturdays. Holidays and weekdays. Traveling and staying home. It is important to build a strong faith that will last. Enduring is the key. There is something about special days. We seem to be ready for them. It’s the ordinary plain days that can be long, hard and straining on our faith.

Second, there are moments in your life that are hard. There are days that we do not feel close to the Lord. There are times when you have become sluggish and may even feel like you are going through the motions.  There are some giants you face and some mountains in your path that make you think that you cannot go on.

But, you do go on. You go on when it is hard. You go on when you don’t feel like it. You’ll get down to the church building on days when you may not want to. You’ll fellowship when you’d rather be alone. You’ll give when the money is tight. You’ll pick up that Bible and read when you would rather do something else. You do these things because you know they are right. You do these things because of the spiritual habits that you have developed. These habits have carried you and made a difference in your life.

Getting back to worship after a funeral or a divorce or even an apology you had to offer is hard. Satan always offers the easy exit ramp. Be safe. Do what you want to do, is what Satan always tells us. But we know better. As hard as it is, we push onward. And, in the end, we are glad that we did. It wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be.

Third, there will be some brethren who disappoint you. In theory we are all journeying together but some seem stuck. Some are negative. Some want to complain. Some seem to stand in the way. There will be some that may hurt your feelings. There will be some who act more like the world than they do a Christian. There will be some who say things that should never be said. You will see some out and about doing things that they should not do.

Remember, none of us are perfect, nor without sin. Also, remember, we are all on a journey. Some are ahead of us. Some are beside us. Some are behind us. We are not at the same place in maturity and knowledge. Some just don’t get it. They were baptized but they were never converted or changed. There is very little difference between them and the world. This is disappointing. For Paul, there was Alexander, who did him much harm. There was Demas, who deserted him.

When leaders disappoint, it is especially hard. Some break promises. Some say mean things. Some can seem cold and indifferent. Our faith is in the Lord, not the church. The Lord is our Savior, not the church. When you put your faith in others, you will be disappointed. Some will let you down. Some will take advantage of you. The Lord will never treat you that way. The Lord will never hurt you.

But, also keep in mind, all the wonderful brethren, worldwide, who walk closely to the Lord, who are trying their best. You are loved, accepted and fellowshipped by so many. Don’t focus on those want to stop and go the other way. Keep your eyes on Jesus and you’ll see a crowd of the best people on the face of the earth right with you.

I wish they had told me…sometimes, it’s just best to learn these things on our own.

Roger

Jump Start # 3183

Psalms 37:25 “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging for bread.”

Our verse today is wrapped around the personal observations of David, the writer of this Psalm. Been there, done that, is how our passage sounds like. Been young. Now old. This is what I have seen, David says. God has taken care of His people. The wilderness tells us that. God’s promises tells us that. Battles with giants, lions, fires tells us that. God helps His people. Give us this day our daily bread is just another reminder of how God helps us.

There are some thoughts we need to consider from this:

First, because I do not personally witness an aspect of this does not mean that it is not true. One does not have to taste the bread to know that God provided the bread. So much of a person’s thinking and even theology is wrapped around what they have experienced personally. Not everyone in the Bible literally heard God speak. Yet, we know that He did. Not everyone in the Bible experienced a miracle, yet we know that He did miracles. Very few people throughout the Bible were raised from the dead, yet we know God has done that.

From our own perspective is not a fair, accurate nor solid place to stand. We’ve not seen everything. We’ve not known everything. It is easy for us to make broad generalizations based upon our experiences and those conclusions may not be true. It’s easy to assume all Christians are based upon the interaction I’ve had with one. Or, that all congregations are like the one I had witnessed. Those generalizations do not see everything and they are often unfair.

For instance, it is easy for one generation to trash the previous generation and to conclude that they missed things, made a mess of things and failed. How harshly some talk about our spiritual forefathers. Some preachers have no respect for the men who have gone on before. Their words are critical, condemning and harsh when they talk about what was done in the past. Some are saying that the previous generation never talked about grace. It is said that they never preached grace except to condemn grace only. And, it is because of that, they claim, the church is in the hopeless trouble we find it today. It’s all because of the past generation of preachers who spent far too much time talking about issues of cooperation and never about the grace of God.

Those that say such things are foolish. They are ignorant of history and the long pages of evidence that says just the opposite. Read the old, old papers. There are tons of articles about grace that never mention “only.” There have been many, many powerful sermons for decades about the saving grace of God. To say that our forefathers, or the past generation hardly ever preached on grace is historically not true and a statement that stands without evidence. Broad generalities often can be so broad that they are useless. Because a certain person never heard lessons on grace is not to say that the whole generation never preached on it.

And, to put this in perspective, Jesus never used the word “grace.” The sermon on the mount doesn’t mention grace. Jesus’ interaction with the woman caught in adultery illustrated grace. Jesus’ words to the penitent thief on the cross is all about grace. The story of the prodigal is about grace. Yet, Jesus never preached “grace.” In fact, there are nearly a dozen times when Jesus talked about Hell in His teachings. He talked more about Hell than He did grace. Are we to conclude that Jesus was negative and more about condemning than saving? Our observations and conclusions can be a bit wacky.

And, it’s easy to be a backseat driver to other things that we seemingly see so clearly. Why did the apostles have such a struggle with faith? Why did they not get the proper kingdom concept earlier? Why were earlier generations preaching so hard about division, cooperation, organization and things like that? We weren’t living in those times. It’s hard for us to understand. But it’s not right, honorable, nor fair to those heroes of faith for us to trash them because we think they spent too much time on those topics. What will the next generation think of our preaching today? One must deal with things as they are with what information he has.

Second, only the Lord sees everything. David could say, “I’ve been young and now I am old, and I have not seen the righteous forsaken.” Yet, elsewhere in this very book of Psalms, the cry is made about why God doesn’t hear prayers. There are times the Psalmist feels alone. There are moments when he begs God not to turn His face away from him. All of that certainly could be viewed as “forsaken.” I’ve not seen the righteous forsaken nor his descendants begging bread, yet there was a time when David was so hungry that he ate the bread preserved for the priests. He might have felt forsaken, desperate and without options in that moment.

We must not judge a person by just one chapter in their life. What we jump into likely is not the whole story. There is always a back story. There are always factors surrounding the choices and decisions made. In the midst of a battle, be it a literal battle, a spiritual battle, or an emotional battle, we might draw some conclusions that fail to take into account the tremendous pressure of what was going on in that battle. God knows. God sees.

Third, God is good. The very characteristics of God is goodness and holiness. If you being evil, know how to give good gifts, how much more will your Father who is in Heaven give what is good, Jesus said. The parables of the prodigal, the laborers in the vineyard illustrate the kindness, generosity and love of God. Even if David had not seen with his own eyes the righteous being taken care of by God, we know that they will be. The nature of God is built upon that.

I have seen. Be careful making conclusions with what you have seen. You’ve likely not seen everything. You see things from your spot in the world and there may be exceptions and things you never realized. Let God’s word be our conclusion. Let God’s word form our thoughts, opinions and decisions.

I for one, am very, very thankful to the many courageous preachers from the past generation and even those beyond. They have helped us. They have encouraged us. They were not perfect, and neither are we. They did the best that they could, as we are trying to do the best that we can. Many a preacher who is currently being paid far more than any of us deserve ought to realize the powerful sacrifices that those preachers in times gone by have made to make all of this possible. Living in preacher’s houses, paid so little that many had to work another job, those heroes preached their hearts out without complaining. To say that they didn’t do enough or that they didn’t do it right is a mockery that ought not be tolerated. Saying such things is disrespectful, unkind and should be stopped. God bless the great heroes of whom we stand upon their shoulders.

I’ve been young and now I am old…

Roger

Jump Start # 2368

Psalms 37:25 “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.”

I was in a store the other day buying some allergy tablets and the automatic checkout warning buzzed. A store clerk came over to verify that I was over 40 years old. She looked at me and said, “Yep, you’re over 40.” I thought, she didn’t even ask to see my I.D. or ask what year I was born in. That was a great way to start the day!

Yesterday we talked about Paul being depressed. There is another aspect that we need to mention and that is anxiety among young people. This is huge. Depression among teens is off the charts. Now, I chose our verse today for a reason. I’ve been young, it says. I can say that. Now I am old, the verse says. And, I can say that, whether I want to or not. And that can be part of the problem with the problem of teen anxiety.

First, we can be so much into our world that we no longer understand the world of the teens. It’s been a long time since I was a teen. The world has changed. Adults can look at their teens and wonder, “What do you have to be stressed about? I have the mortgage to pay. I have a job to keep. I have to take care of the house, the cars, the family. There are taxes. There are doctor visits. One needs glasses. One needs braces. The car needs new tires. Mama wants to take a vacation. Stress? Live in my world.” Adults would love to be teens. Go to school, come home and play video games. Food is provided. Laundry is done. What is expected and required isn’t much. Love to be a teen, we say.

Second, although the teen doesn’t have the responsibilities that adults do, by making light of what they go through doesn’t help them. To them, their pressures and anxieties are as great as the adults. This is one reason teen drug abuse is so high and teen suicide is a real problem.

There are some things we learn in the maturing stages of life that we adults get, but teens are not there. Adults really do not care what you think of the outfits we wear. Guys can wear clothes with stains on them or holes in them and we really don’t care. We don’t really care what co-workers think about us. We go and do our jobs and we understand that the job is only a job. It is not our life. As long as the co-workers do their jobs, it doesn’t matter how off the wall they are, how strange they are, or how dumb they are. It doesn’t bother us. It’s not that way for teens. Fitting into the social scene IS their world. While adults worry about job performance, the teen worries about being trashed talked, or ridiculed on social media. While the adult may enjoy eating alone, for the teen, that’s about one step away from death.

Third, today’s teens are stretched like a rubber band. They have friends telling them what to do. They have parents telling them what to do. They have Bible class teachers telling them what to do. They just want to be normal, but when you are a teen, no one knows what normal is. Issues of transgender, bi-sexual, homosexual—are racing through the hallways. Some kids are going down those paths just to be accepted, to be one of a kind, to have a name. In my days, it was length of hair. The hippies grew long hair. The rock ‘n rollers had long hair. To have long hair was it. Those things seem like nothing compared to these sexual gender issues that teens face today.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Make your home a place of comfort. It needs to be an oasis. They should want to be there. Home, sweet home, where a person gets three meals a day and a thousand hugs.

• Parents, don’t expect your child to be perfect, because you certainly weren’t. They will make poor decisions. They will run on impulse and not think things out. They will side with peer pressure. But help them. Don’t always be on them about every little thing they do. If you are, in time they won’t talk to you and worse, they won’t want to be around you.

• Your teens need to know that you are in their corner, on their side and love them. They need to hear that. They need to feel that. They need that. They, in their own world, come home beat up from all the pressures at school and among friends. Their minds are swirling. They are hearing some of the worst things. There are kids who are on the edge of doing some very wrong things. Sadly, sometimes it is the kids at church who are talking this way. Allow your teen to talk without interrupting, jumping to conclusions, running past Jerusalem, or hitting the panic button. They will know kids at school who are doing drugs. They will know kids who got arrested. They will hear some talk about suicide. Again, sometimes, it’s the kids at church who are saying these things. There comes a time and a place for lectures, but not in every conversation. You are leading their minds and their hearts. You are trying to get them to see through the smoke of temptation and false things. You praise them as much as you can.

• Remember the steps of the prodigal’s father. Healing the broken begins at home. One mistake does not have to be a lifetime. You are trying to get them to follow Christ. You want them to be able, like Daniel and his three friends, to make the right moral and spiritual choices without you being there. Don’t leave all the instructions to the church.

• The cell phone is a real source of trouble for teens. A recent report revealed that teen anxiety reaches the highest at night. The same report made a connection between teens, their phones and social media while in bed at night. Maybe it would be good to have a conversation about these things. Maybe it would be good to have the whole family park the phones on the kitchen table before everyone went to bed. Have some times together where the entire family is unplugged. We’d tell our kids, long ago, that we were going Amish for a day. If it plugged in, turned on, or used a battery, it was off limits. This works well, if parents are doing the same thing. No phones. No tablets. Just you and the family.

• Don’t be afraid, as parents, to seek professional help if you child needs it. We, especially as people of faith, feel like we have failed as parents when our child is anxious and we are out of options. We are embarrassed to admit that our child has some issues. But, it is better to get over those feelings and get help rather than sticking your head in the sand until there is a real addiction problem or you have to make funeral arrangements because your child took their life.

• Linking our Jump Start from yesterday to today, we need to invite God into our lives to help as well. Pray about these situations. Try to be open and transparent with your teen. Don’t sugar coat things. Life can be raw and life can be ugly. The teen that is trying to do what is right faces so many things today. Connect your teen with great quality people you know.

When we lived in Kansas City, my youngest two would take out one of the elders to get root beer. The elder talked about his experiences in Korea. They did this over and over, and I was never invited. In fact, one time they said, “You can’t come, dad. It’s our thing.” To this day, they have fond memories of a spiritual giant that made time for them when they were teens. They honor him and respect him and love him.

Anxious teens—their only worry ought to be about getting good grades on a test. But we know there’s more. There is dating. There is making the team. There is the pressures to fit in. There is a world that is not nice, fair or kind to them. Your teen needs you. They need all of us.

I hope these thoughts help…

Roger

Jump Start # 1917

Psalms 37:25 “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.”

Last Sunday I had a birthday. It was one of those big milestone ones. My family threw me a party and the entire weekend was shuffling me here and there to honor me, and do things that I like to do. It was a lot of fun. All the grandkids were here and we played hard. It wore me out!

This birthday has bothered me more than any other. Many fear turning 40. Fifty gets to some. For me, it’s 60. There are just some reflective things you see looking back and looking forward that you know are facing you whether you want to admit it or not. I don’t know what “old” meant to the Psalmist who wrote our passage today. Our society is shifting in age. There was a time, not too long ago, that few, very few, made it to 90. Now, thanks to better conditions, health and medicines, lots of folks are well past 90. That causes financial planners to map out better savings plans for families and it has given the need for more and more assisted living places. So, 60 isn’t really old, but it’s still a long time. A 60 year old car is a classic. I don’t know anyone who is wearing clothes that are 60 years old. A 60 year old house is old and most likely needing some fixing up.

So, here are a few reflections on hitting the big one, as I have been told several times this weekend.

First, I have been blessed. God must be thanked. Living to 60 years isn’t a right but a privilege. Each day is a gift from God. There have been thousands of those daily gifts. Looking back one sees the multiple times God has helped a person. There has been doors of opportunity opened because of God. There has been prayers answered and sins forgiven. To live this long without recognizing this is to be nothing more than an old fool.

Second, fewer things in life are better than family. The love, connections, stories and history with family beats any trip or any gift. Just being together with the people you like is amazing. This too is a huge blessing from the Lord. Not all families get along. Not all families like each other. Some families hurt each other. Some talk bad about each other. Such a shame and such a loss. The joy of your own children and then to spend time with their children, your grandchildren, is such a wonderful experience and blessing. We can be so busy these days that we fail to appreciate these wonderful blessings. For some, especially those who are spread out all over the country, it takes a funeral to get everyone together.

Third, looking back one remembers great people in their life. There have been wonderful people that has loved you, helped you and been there for you. As you age, many of those people are no longer on this side of life. They touched your heart and made you better. That wonderful impression has led you to be like that for someone else. There has been teachers, coaches, preachers, friends all through our lives. Some were like a comet that came in and out of our lives very quickly and were not there long, but they left a wonderful impression. Others have been there for us for decades. They were at our wedding. There watched our kids grow up. Dear, dear friends. We all have those. What a blessing that is. To live to be old without that is such a sad state.

Fourth, one begins to look back over their life and wonders what good he has done. When one is 60, as I now am, you look back to a working career of about 40 years. The first 20 some years of our life is spent growing up and getting an education. But after that, we hit it hard working, earning a living and building a career. We look back and see jobs that we didn’t like so well. We remember different people that helped us when we first started. We remember those early mentors in our lives. Many hours at the desk, on the phone and traveling. For me, it’s been preaching. Nearly 40 years of preaching, writing, teaching and talking to people. There has been a lot of weddings that I preformed. There has been too many funerals that I spoke at. Preaching overseas. Preaching in prisons. Preaching in little country church buildings and preaching in big city churches. Preached and preached and preached. One looks back and wonders what good was done. One sees things that should have been done differently. Those lessons are shared with younger ones to try to help them along the way. We think of what was said of David, that he served the purpose of God in his generation. That’s what we do.

Fifth, one realizes that there are some dreams that will not be fulfilled. Time, money and where you are in life makes you realize that some dreams just aren’t going to happen. That can make one sad, or one can realize that there have been other dreams and other goals that have been met. Life isn’t a constant. Things change. People change. Many are doing things now that they never planned to when they were in college. Choices and what life presents to us often reshapes our dreams. I think about those citizens of Judah long ago who were taken away to Babylon for 70 years. Some probably died in Babylon. This was not how they figured things would be in their lives, but, it’s what happened. Some of us are living in places that we never expected long ago when we were younger. As dreams change, one thing doesn’t, and that is walking with the Lord. You may have dreamed of being a world traveler and that never happened. Or, you may have dreamed of having a small farm and here you are in the suburbs of a major city. I once had hoped to preach for a small country church that had a white building set before a beautiful countryside. Instead, I have spent the majority of my life preaching for large city congregations. Dreams change.

Sixth, one realizes as they get older that the next twenty years will be a lot harder than the last twenty years. When you are 30, you don’t wonder if you will still have your mind in the next 20 years. That is a thought that you do have when you are 60. The health issues of a 30 year old are losing weight, sprained ankles from playing ball and things like that. When one looks past 60 he wonders about hip replacements, heart issues and other lovely thoughts.

Seventh, if one has been walking with the Lord, one will realize that it’s been a good life. No matter how much time is left, decades or days, it doesn’t matter because the Lord has been good to me. I find myself being much more thankful in my prayers than when I was younger. I find myself asking the Lord less and just happy that He still loves me and hears me.

Eighth, one doesn’t stop until the Lord stops him. A person may retire from their work and they may end their career, but they never stop walking with the Lord. There gets to be a time to step out of the way and allow the younger ones to take over. That’s understandable. But in doing that, one still has lots of good that he can do for the kingdom. Your years of learning, experience and understanding the Lord can help others. You can be that sound voice when others are jumping to extremes. You can be the go-to person when others have questions. Get that family close to the Lord. Use your influence to help others. Years and years will either give you a good reputation or a sorry one. Your choices. The good that you have done, and the way that you have treated others, will either make others respect you or despise you.

Those are a few of my thoughts as I round 60 and head on.

Roger