Treasures in Old Boxes

Every once in a while, I like to pull old boxes out in the garage, just to see what’s in them. This week I pulled out a box with some old pictures from when our twins were just about a year old. I can’t believe how much has changed, and how fast it did! In another box next to it, I busted it open and found some old concert programs from people I went to see in college and the first few years I was out of school. Exactly NONE of the hairstyles would fly anymore. Also crammed in the same box were a handful of VHS tapes of movies that I liked in the past. For those that don’t know--a VHS tape is a designation given to a thin plastic rectangular “box” that actually contains a roll of very thin film, which is used for making an analog copy of video. It must be used inside of a Video Cassette Recorder, or VCR. Some people still have them, but they don’t get used very much anymore.

Though none of them are terribly ancient, these would all be considered old items by one standard or another. But, the fun of them is still there, and I definitely traveled along memory lane as I flipped through all the stuff. While I obviously don’t need the things I found, I certainly see the value of each of them, even if it is sentimental.

Old things are not always bad. Depending on the model of it, and antique car almost always has a cool factor that a hybrid Prius can’t match, no matter which celebrity is driving one. Vintage guitars have a tone that only comes from a hand-crafted instrument that won’t be heard in a machine-generated, assembly line guitar.

Last week, while I was working, I heard someone playing the piano in the choir room here at church, which is separated from my office by a mere door. They were playing a hymn that I know because I grew up singing it in church as a child, and then as a teenager. It brought back memories of old hymns that mean a lot to me.

I’m a big fan of new, modern music in churches. I think it is a “language” by which some people are able to focus on God and worship. Only a fool would think that it is the only way to worship God, however, and I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the close-minded option in front of me. Instead, I prefer to recognize the value of all hymns and songs based on the content of the words, not the tune or the style. It just so happens that two modern versions of “old hymns” have been brought to mind lately, and both have words that have clobbered me.

Forbid it, Lord, That I should boast
Save in the death of Christ my God.
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
From “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”

How many times am I pulled away from my commitment to Christ by things that are insignificant and unimportant? (The way vain would have been used at the time this was written.) Why am I so quick to point out my temporary accomplishments, when it is the death of Jesus that gives me permanent life in Him? These are the things that I need to sacrifice and put to death, as Paul talks about in Colossians 3. They also tie in nicely with another modernized hymn we sang in church recently:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it
Prone to Leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, Lord, Take and Seal it
Seal it for thy courts above.
From “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”

After what I felt to be a particularly good Bible Study recently, I caught myself silently patting myself on the back about how well I presented the information, as if I really had anything to do with how God used His own Word to move through a Bible Study time that is supposed to be about Him. This passage jumped to mind, as if God were using a language I understand (music) to really get my attention about something that needed fixing.

I am prone to wander from bringing glory to God and pointing to my temporary accomplishments. I tend to boast in things OTHER than the death of Christ that brings me hope for my eternal salvation with Him. Why do I do these things? I know that “...Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved,” (Acts 4:12) and yet I still want to draw attention to me so many times.

Jesus said that to follow Him means to daily die to myself. (Luke 9:23) That means that I must sacrifice all of my pride and accomplishments, and put the glory on Jesus Christ. It also means that I must trust Christ to seal and guard my heart against the things that have the potential to pull me away. I truly do want to serve and honor God with my life, but if I’m not careful, I will be pulled away and become self-serving. But, if I abide in Christ, and He in me, then through Him, I can accomplish all things HE would have me do, and all for His glory, that others may know Him.

I thank God for the hymn writers through all the ages, and in all styles. So often, and for many people, their words can so often be the way the Holy Spirit gets our attention and challenges us to more effectively live our lives for Christ.

Spiritual Zits

FYI: I hope the new layout is not too confusing for you, but I wanted to keep it fresh!

I know that I am not old. There are people who laugh when folks of my age begin to talk of “getting old.” It’s at this point that I would like to quote a very wise song-writer name Jon Bon Jovi: “Like your favorite pair of torn blue jeans, this skin I’m in’s alright with me. I’m not old--just older.” I’ve gotten used to who I am, and I’m cool with the whole idea that I’m not going to be “young” forever. I also ascribe to the whole “you’re as young as you feel” mentality, and hope I can hang on to my “young mindset” for many years to come. I also hope that my “appreciation” for quotation marks remains.

So, this part about getting older. First, my hair started falling out. Then, I noticed arthritis creeping into my shoulder. I hoped it was an injury that could be treated, but two doctors, several x-rays, and one cortisone injection later, it’s just arthritis, that is threatening to become painful again. I am pretty sure I have it in my left pinky as well. I have recurring tendonitis in my wrists--yeah, both of them. When my mid-section started to grow a bit faster (my fingers just had a freudian slip and typed “fatster”), I really had to come to grips with my age.

Is there such a product?

With all of these things pointing towards the fact that I am “not old--just older,” why is it that I am not too old to get a pimple? When do I outgrow those things? It seems only fair that if one is going bald, they shouldn’t have to deal with zits anymore. The other day, I had an itch on my nose, and as I reached up to scratch the underside, It hurt! As luck would have it, brewing beneath the surface of my skin was one of those pimples that starts deep within the skin and hurts for days until it finally comes to the surface. All in all, it’s a very pleasant experience. Yeah, right. Just call me Eeyore.

Most people just put Clearasil on it and move on. However, I have to think about it. Here’s how all of this craziness came together in my mind. As we grow as Christians, things about us will change. Both Peter and Paul said that we can’t stay on spiritual milk for long--we must grow up in the faith and move to solid food. (1 Peter 2:2, 1 Corinthians  3:2) Since we will live forever in eternity,I suppose age really doesn’t matter, so I guess we don’t get old--just older. However, no matter how mature in the faith we get, while we still live in this limited body on earth, we can never escape that blemish that lies beneath the surface. We are all still very prone to sin.

We can do all the exercise we want to maintain our strength and our health for our bodies, and even spiritually as we pray and read God’s Word on a daily basis. However, it only takes one little temptation or unguarded thought to begin the painful process of bringing sin to the surface.  Often times, the Holy Spirit brings conviction long before anyone can see outward manifestation of the sin in our hearts, and I believe it’s safe to say that most conviction of sin is painful. Sometimes others can’t see evidence of the “spiritual zit,” (that phrase is currently being trademarked) but we certainly feel the pain under our skin. Whether we have to swallow our pride and admit short-comings, or agonize over a confession we must make to a loved-one, we feel the sting and the hurt of these blemishes.

I kept looking in the mirror over the last few days, waiting for the inevitable, but the pimple never surfaced. In fact, it seems to have healed up and gone away. If we learn to deal appropriately with our sin at the first pain of the Spirit’s conviction, the grace of God may protect us from the embarrassing, and sometimes explosive (yeah, I went there) public showing of the “spiritual zit.” If that happens, thank God from the bottom of your heart, because it is most certainly NOT what you, or any of us deserve. Then, learn from the experience and do what you can to keep your spirit clean from that point on.

We will spend time and money on products and treatments to keep these blemishes from appearing on our skin, but how many of us really put in the same amount of effort to keep these blemishes from appearing in our spirit? There are no guarantees that face wash will work, but it never hurts to try. Getting into God’s Word daily, and spending time with Him in prayer can only benefit each of us as we grow in our faith. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” If we fill our hearts and minds with the things of God, we have a better chance at defeating the temptations and thoughts that can become full-fledged sin in our lives. Chances are, you’ll scrub your face today. What will you do to clean your spirit?

Lights Out!

As we were leaving church in two cars a couple of weeks ago, my wife called me from her vehicle to let me know that my driver-side headlight was out. I hadn't noticed it, so there's no telling how long it had been out, but sure enough, as I pulled up behind her vehicle at the next red light, I could see in the reflection that only one light was working. I told her I'd look into it.

The next day, I got into the car, and after starting it, got out and walked around to the front to see if it was completely out, partially out, or what. (By the way--I'm not exactly a car expert, so I didn't really know what I needed to see, or why I needed to see it again from the front anyway.) To my surprise, both lights were working. I watched all day, and there didn't seem to be any trouble.

Unfortunately, a few nights later, we noticed that the same light was out again. Maybe it's a loose wire or something, and possibly a blown bulb. I guess we'll have to figure that out. Truth be told, I've never changed a headlight bulb. I've changed a tail light, and my sincere hope is that it is at least relatively close in procedure, as I managed to do that one in under 10 minutes.

With my luck, I'll get the bulb, pop the hood to the car, attempt to make a simple change, and somehow do something that causes the car muffler to fall off the back of the car. It seems a bit dramatic, but that's how these things go for me. Truthfully, I'll do some research and find some pretty good directions before I attempt anything. I'm not like the average dude that is convinced I can fix it the first time without any help. I know my limitations, and figure it's cheaper in the long run to swallow my pride, and just look at the directions, take it slow, and then HOPEFULLY get it right.

Life isn't like those headlights--it doesn't come with an instruction manual to tell us how to do everything. In fact, many times we can feel like we are expected to go it alone without any instructions, and to get it right the first time. As a believer in Christ, I know that's not the case. When I first began my relationship with Him, the Holy Spirit came to live in my heart. Jesus promised He would always be with us, and through the Spirit, He is.

The other thing is that even though day-to-day living has its difficulties and trials, I do have a manual that can help me. God's Word is there to give me encouragement and guidance. Okay, let me pause right here: I am well aware that this has just taken a seemingly very cliche approach to the Bible being the "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth." But stay with me a second, and maybe I can still make a positive application for you.

The truth is, the Bible is the Living Word of God, given for instruction, teaching, and correction. (2 Timothy 3:16) But, as far as specifics go, it won't spell out the answer for how a dad should handle a son's refusal to quit overreacting to the slightest attempt to settle him down. There is no book in the Bible dedicated to helping a husband specifically handle the feelings of inadequacy that comes from not being able to relieve his pregnant wife's back pain. I haven't found the passage of scripture that tells me exactly what time of month is best to pay certain bills so that the paychecks last longer through the month.

BUT, I do know that there are passages that deal with disciplining children and allowing the Spirit to help us maintain patience. I also know that Scripture encourages husbands to love their wives enough to be willing to sacrifice in order to meet their needs. Beyond that, I also know that there are plenty of passages that deal with trusting God to meet our needs and making wise decisions.

So, while there may not be specific answers to some of the issues we face, with the Bible we do have a great resource available that points us in the right direction. At that point, the Holy Spirit within us can step in and guide us to make the best choice based on our current circumstances. There's still some room for human error here, and just because we are led towards a certain path doesn't mean we'll take it. But it's good to know that we aren't left hanging out to dry, just waiting for the next problem to take us further into dispair.

Like my wife, I'm anxious to see if I can fix this headlight problem on my own, or if I'll need to call in someone with more experience to bail me out. But, at least I've got Google--I can find those instructions somewhere, and eventually, and hopefully painlessly, there will be two working headlights once again.

A Little Steamed

You ever have one of those moments when things aren’t going exactly the way you wanted, and you get a bit frustrated? Have you ever continued the downward spiral where at that point everything continues to make you more and more mad, and you continue to act worse and worse until you find yourself snapping at those around you and escalating the situation to embarrassing proportions? No? Yeah, me neither.

Well, except for this weekend. Saturday rolled around, and like fools, we made plans. Don’t you know that when you have children, and you make plans—they tend to get messed up and fall through? Maybe not every time, but you can pretty well bank on the fact that your specific plans will not happen they way they are crafted and diligently rehearsed and laid out in that perfect little existence of your mind.

We were going to attend the Virginia Children’s Festival in Norfolk. However, while they were not being terribly obnoxious about it, they boys decided they didn’t want to help us out by following our schedule. That got me just a bit frustrated. Then came another little discovery that slowed us way down, but I won’t bore you with those details. Let’s just say I needed to run a quick errand, just as the rain started to fall. In torrents.

The key to this whole story is that every so steadily, my temper and frustration level were boiling up, and I was the proverbial pressure cooker waiting to explode. Finally, I think it was something the boys said or did. The fact that I can’t really remember shows how unimportant it was in the grand scheme of things. But, much to my chagrin, I finally hit my limit.

All in all, I handled it better than I could have. There were no spankings in anger, there was no throwing of items across the room. But there was a bit of volume increase on my voice, and there was the slight issue of banishment from the kitchen forever. (I never said I was completely rational in my reaction.) Long story short, the boys got sent to their rooms in tears, and I managed to act more like the child throwing a tantrum than they did.

The really sad part of all of this was that just as things started heating up, I heard a very clear voice in my mind or my heart telling me, “Take a break, you’re about to get too frustrated.” In fact, I kept hearing similar warnings the whole time. When the explosion came and went, the same voice said, “you don’t really feel any better, do you?” Nope.

In fact, I was feeling pretty low. I was only mad at myself. We had spent a good bit of time at church the previous week discussing the Holy Spirit, and how many of us ignore it, or get it confused. The truth is, in this situation, I was too determined to get my way, and when my way wasn’t happening, I was still stubborn enough to try and get control. Funny how neither of those things happened...

If I had only listened the first time, I think I might have been able to keep my cool. I’m sure of it, because the Spirit works to bring Honor to God, and my yelling needlessly at the children didn’t do that.

Many times, if we just follow the direction of the Holy Spirit, and stick to the truth of the Scriptures, especially that one about Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, and Self-control (which, incidentally, come from following the Spirit’s guidance), we will diffuse the situation before it gets to the aforementioned level.

I smoothed things over with the boys, and I apologized to my wife for acting like a total Neanderthal. (Cue the Geico cavemen.) The day was salvaged, and we ended up having a pretty good day. But, I will never be able to completely take back what I did. Listening to the Spirit isn’t always easy, but it is always the right thing to do.