"Tychicus will tell you everything." Ephesians 6:21

All days are not the same.  August 1^st.  Romans 12:1-2.  Mayfield Lake Youth Camp.  The night that changed everything for me.

As a counselor at the week-long camp, I needed to memorize the verses so I knew if the campers quoted them accurately.  So, I memorized Romans 12:1-2 in the King James Version.  “I beseech ye, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto the Lord which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

I remember lying on my bunch late that night being very convinced of two things, God’s goodness – the mercies of God – and my self – centeredness.  So, I “presented my body as a living sacrifice” to Him.  I had been “mostly committed” to Jesus, but not fully surrendered.  So, I gave Him my guitar and my future – even my willingness to go to Africa as a missionary.  Really, that is what I did.  Best. Decision. Ever!  No regrets.

The difference between following Jesus and following my own way could not be more drastic.  The path He has lead me upon has really been the best path I can imagine.  Let’s just say, mine would not have been.  Praise to Him for His wonderful conviction and guidance in my life!  August 1^st is different than all other days to me.

Thank you, Tychicus

(See Eph 6:21)

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I hope you had a great Easter Celebration.  I did.  It was unique for me.  For the second time in my life, my birthday and Resurrection Day fell on the same day.  [When you combine birthday and Easter do you get “Beaster?”]

Can’t say that I remember the first time all that well.  After all, it happened 62 years ago!  And when your birthday is on a major holiday…  you don’t invite friends over.  Most of them are busy.  🙂  So, this was a wonderful family celebration.

I was wondering when Resurrection Day would fall on April 5th again, so I Googled future dates of Easter.  I found that the next time it falls on my birthday is 11 years from now, when I am 77.  Then, when I am 88.  Then when I am 99.  I promise will invite you to my 99th birthday party!

But now that Easter is behind us, what’s next?  I suggest that the celebration of His Resurrection, gets to become the application of His resurrection.   Now we get to live out the most important Biblical truth for believers.  It is recorded in several places, such as Colossians 3:1, Galatians 2:19-20, and Ephesians 1:19-20.  But it is most clearly seen in Romans 6:1-14.  Of course all those verses are worth deep meditation, but please look at Rom 6:11-14 below.

¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  ¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Here is the message of Rom 6:1-10 in a nutshell…  “When He died, we died.  And when He rose, we rose!”  Wow!  A wonderful truth.  And what’s next (in vv. 11-14)?  Now, we get to live like that is really true!  We get to consider ourselves to be dead to sin and alive to God!  We get to plan like, think like, decide like, dream like, and act like, it is really true!  This command (to “consider ourselves to be dead and alive”) is the very first command in the book of Romans.  And because it comes 5 1/2 chapters in to the book, when we read it, it carries and extra punch!

No other truth is more important for followers of Jesus than to live out the resurrection of Jesus in our daily lives.  In fact, if the application of the resurrection does not follow our celebration of the resurrection, then our celebration has little value.

Thank you, Tychicus

(See Eph 6:21)

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Happy John 13-17 Day!  Well, that is a rather long and cumbersome greeting, isn’t it?

Thursday of Holy Week is the day which Jesus spoke what is recorded in John 13-17.  Other chapters describe other parts of this day, but these five chapters are the “Biggies.”  It was His last full day of planet earth.  It was the day He gathered with His disciples and shared in the annual Passover meal.  During this meal, He became their servant and washed their feet.

Later, He instituted the Lord’s Supper.  Toward the end of this time, Jesus gave them a “new commandment.”  This new command was that they would love one another – that part wasn’t new – AS HE loved them!   THAT was the “new” part!  He spoke to them about several themes like, the importance of love, the power of prayer, the importance of remaining (or abiding) in Him, how to experience peace in the middle of a world in upheaval, as well as His departure and the reality and role of the Holy Spirit.  At one point, they left the upper room and moved over to the Garden of Gethsemane.

While in Gethsemane, He prayed.  No, I mean, He PRAYED!  I believe that what we have in John 17 was prayed that night.  It is the capstone of His life and teaching to that point.  In it are incorporated the themes He has already shared with them about.  Love is there.  Peace is there.  Abiding is there.  Dependence upon His Spirit is there.  Perhaps minutes before the guards come to arrest Him, He is praying.

(V. 1 &5) Glorify Your Son!  (V. 11&15) Protect my followers!  (V. 17&19) Sanctify them!  And (V. 21&23) unite them!  Four key requests Jesus prayed and four key requests we can pray today.

The request to unite them deserves special attention for 2 reasons.  First, this is a request Jesus prayed specifically for us, today.  In John 17:20 Jesus says that He is praying “Not for them alone.  (But) I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message…”  His specific prayer is that we, His followers, would be “one” just as He is one with the Father.  What a high calling!  The second reason it is deserves special attention is because two specific outcomes are stated if (or as) we are united.  In John 20:23 Jesus says that if we are united, lots of other people will know 1) that Jesus was really sent from the Father, and 2) that the Father loves them just like the Father and Son love each other.

In many circles we don’t hear much about this day in Holy Week.  Maudy Thursday doesn’t seem to be too important to us.  But perhaps it would be very helpful if we took special time to recognize the importance of John 13-17.  And while we are at it, we could recognize them importance of John 13:17 as well.

(You will have to look that one up…)

Thank you, Tychicus

(See Eph 6:21)

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I wrote this post last year on this day.  It deserves another run…

February 12.  Happy Birthday to two very well-known historical figures.  February 12, 1809 two little boys were born.  One was born in The Mount, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, United Kingdom.  The other in Hodgenville, Kentucky, U.S.A.  There is no evidence that they ever met, but they would both go on to change the world.

One became a scientist, the other pursued law, and went on to become a president of his country.

Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born on exactly the same day.  This is an amazing “coincidence” of history.

About 12 years ago, Marilyn and I attended the National Day of Prayer meetings in Washington D.C.  We took a couple extra days to take in some sights in the area.  We did not have a firm plan, we were pretty spontaneous.  We knew of a couple things we wanted to make sure we took in, but did not have a schedule.  One of the things we wanted to make sure we saw was the Holocaust Museum.  We were struck like everyone is as we moved through the historical halls and saw the documentation of destruction.  I wept.  As we exited the building, we wandered and reflected.  We talked about the hatred we saw.  We talked about the senseless loss of life.   I knew how Darwin had influenced Hitler’s life and thinking.  Darwin’s thoughts were not the only influence, but they were an influence that allowed Hitler to justify his mass killing of those he deemed to be inferior.

Without planing, we soon found ourselves at the Lincoln Memorial.  We walked up the steps.  We looked out over the mall from where Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke his famous “I Have a Dream” Speech.  We read quotes from Lincoln that have been forever written in stone.  Then it hit me!  As I read the words of Abraham Lincoln, I realized the power and the contrast of one man’s ideas.  I will never forget the impact.

One man’s ideas allowed one of the world’s worst people to justify his evil.  They allowed him to leave God out and “dehumanize” people.  The result was the senseless death of millions of people.

Another man’s ideas allowed him to become one of the world’s best and most respected men of history.  Because they included God, he saw everyone as equally created.  The result was the freedom of millions of people.

Darwin and Lincoln – two very different men, two very different outcomes.

What we think matters.  The logical consequences of our thoughts are actions.  The result of our actions affect others.  Sometimes many others.

Thank you, Tychicus

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For much more about this contrast, see this link.

This morning, I got to share in the chapel of a Christian school in the area.  We “reenacted” Psalm 136.  I asked the kids to write out three reasons why they knew God loved them.  They did great!  Then I had them say a reason, and we all shouted out, “Your love endures forever!”  It was a fun time.

Later this week, we will be with almost all of our family around the Thanksgiving table.  Good food, good conversation, good folks, good dessert, and – hopefully – a good Seahawk victory over the 49ers!

Before the week is out, I will send the manuscript off to the printer!  Experiencing Life and Power through Biblical Meditation is compete, except for a few formatting tweaks.  I expect to have copies available by the middle of December!  I honestly think it can have a great impact upon believers who want to pursue more of His Life and Power!

Then next Monday and Tuesday I get to gather with about 125 other leaders in the Pacific Northwest at the annual NW City Impact Roundtable.  I have been part of the leadership team of this gathering since it began about 13 years ago.  It is always a very “impactful” time.

Here is wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving time!

Thank you, Tychicus

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All days are not the same.  Some days have more significance than others.  Today is one of those significant days in my past.  It was August 1st, 1968 when I fully surrendered my life to be a follower of Jesus.  I have never regretted that decision.  In fact, I would clearly say it was the best decision I have ever made.

I had the privilege of being influenced from my earliest memories by my older sister who made the same decision when she was 12 and I was 3.  I prayed prayers at various times with her, in Sunday School classrooms and at Vacation Bible Schools.  Because of my sister’s influence, I was baptized when I was 13.  Jesus clearly had a “place” in my life, but it was not “first place.”  I lived as though He was my savior, but I was my lord.

But everything changed the night of August 1st.  I was actually acting as a councilor at Mayfield Lake Youth Camp for a week.  As such I was responsible (among other things) to hear campers quote memory verses to me.  So, I needed to know the verses as well.  Two verses I had memorized were Romans 12:1-2.  I memorized it in the King James Version back then, but here it is in a more recent translation.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

I still remember pondering this significance of these words as I laid on my bunk in the second cabin down the hill on the left.  I remember thinking about how good God had been to me and how He really was the only one worthy to live for.  As I mentioned earlier, I was “mostly” committed to follow Him.  But this night, as I felt that very real conviction from His Holy Spirit, I did what this verse called me to do.  I presented myself – body, soul and spirit – to be a living sacrifice.  I prayed a prayer something like this: “Father, I surrender everything I know to you!  I will even give you my guitar and my desire not to be a missionary in Africa!”

I still remember the peace that came that night, and especially the new set of eyes that came when I woke up the next morning.  It really was like I was “born again.”

Since that day, I have seen Jesus transform my life.  He has changed me from the inside out.  He has renewed my mind.  He has made His will known to me so that I could follow Him.  He has filled me with His Spirit and given me more joy than I could ever have imagined.  He has taught me, led me, blessed me, and comforted me.  in short, I am a “satisfied customer of Jesus Christ!”  I am so grateful for how He both called me and gave me grace to respond.  And how He still calls me, leads me, and transforms me.  I still need it.  I still need Him!

So on this day, I will say again…  Surrendering my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ was, by far the best decision I have ever made.

After I wrapped up the call, I just had to call Marilyn and include her in this blessing!  But when I was telling her, I couldn’t hold back the tears.

Forty years ago, during my last two years at Multnomah School of the Bible, (Wow!  Doesn’t THAT sound old!) Marilyn and I lived in the daylight basement of Harold and Peggy.  They had a heart to help Multnomah students and a house that bordered a park on two sides with a great view of Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Hellens (back when it was all there).  We drew the lucky straw.  We not only had very cheap rent, we had free firewood, utilities, and even some free meat at points along the way.  They were a great blessings to us.  We continued to trade Christmas letters until Peggy could not longer communicate.

Now fast-forward to today.  I received a phone call from Judy, who had a question for me about a prayer guide for Clark County I helped put together.  She asked her question.  I pointed out a typo and after a minute or so, she was fully satisfied.  She went on to say how much she enjoyed the prayer guide and that she used last year’s guide all year long.  I was blessed.

But that was only the hor’ dourve of the blessing to come!

Judy then mentioned to me that she had prayed for me for many years.  “Really?”  I had no memory of ever meeting her or hearing her name before.  She went on to explain that she knew Peggy.  In fact, she was her prayer partner.  When we were renting from Harold and Peggy, Peggy and Judy got together and prayed for their renters, Dennis and Marilyn.  Judy told me that she didn’t know where we moved to or what we were doing, but had prayed for us, even after Peggy passed away a few years ago.

I was not only stunned, but blessed!  Totally blessed.  Wow…  just wow!  I thanked her profusely for her prayers for us.  But my words seemed so shallow compared to what I just heard.  I didn’t know what else to do or to say.  So, I called Marilyn.

And I also prayed that I would be able to bless someone else in a similar manner!