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How do we increase our joyspan?

My husband Jim sent me a great article by Angela Haupt, a writer for Time magazine. Haupt interviewed Dr. Kerry Burnight, a geriatrician who treats older patients each day. Dr. Burnight coined the phrase “joyspan” and defines the term as: “the third piece of the longevity puzzle, alongside ‘lifespan’ (how many years you live) and ‘healthspan’ (how many of them are spent in good health). Joyspan, as its name suggests, describes the experience of well-being and satisfaction in longevity.”

The article also suggests that the sooner in life we make our “joyspan” a priority, the better off we are. It was a great article, and I couldn’t help but notice how, once again, that Scripture has always taught us lessons we don’t fully appreciate and use to govern our lives. Dr. Burnight’s suggestions for aging could be summarized as living with biblical priorities. 

God truly knows what is best for our earthly lives if we just believe and then practically apply his truth.

How do we increase our joyspan? Let’s see how Dr. Burnight and God answer that question.

How do we age with joy?

Dr. Burnight says, “The research groups it into four areas: grow, connect, adapt, and give. They’re all verbs, because they all take effort.” 

We all want to experience joy, but we often want it to happen to us. Biblically, happiness happens, but joy, according to Scripture, is a pursuit, an effort. Psalm 21:6 tells us, “For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.”

The greatest pursuit in life is our pursuit of God’s presence. God knew that we needed him, and through Christ, gave us his Presence when he gave us his Spirit. Joy is becoming increasingly aware that God is near.

How can we increase our joyspan?

  • Grow in our knowledge of, and love for, God. We tend to want to stop growing at a certain age. Growing older isn’t something we like to dwell on. But one of the best things about growing older is growing wiser about our priorities. Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are the gifts of aging if we will continue to seek God’s presence and make the effort to study and walk in his word.
  • Connect with God and others through his Spirit. God created us to need fellowship with him and with other Christians. The Holy Spirit of Jesus will help us with the how, the when, the why, and the words we need. The apostle John told the early believers, “But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge” (1 John 2:20). The apostle Paul told the church in Corinth, “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). When we connect with God and others through the Spirit of Christ, we will develop and enjoy our most meaningful relationships.
  • Adapt to the changes that are inevitable this side of heaven. King Solomon wrote, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). King Solomon’s life was filled with change, and he could never imagine what our century would be like. So, how are his words biblical truth? God looked at the chariots of Solomon’s era and knew that one day drones would fly. God looked at the wall of scrolls in the temple and knew there would be an internet. God looked at the tendencies of mankind and knew those tendencies would remain the same. We must adapt to changes all the time, while our unchanging God simply notices that these changes have arrived. The more closely we walk with God, the more we recognize that change is just the next stepping stone toward our permanent destination. Adapting to change is simply forward progress.
  • Give our best because that is what God gave to us. “For God so loved the world, he gave us his Son” (John 3:16). God set our example when he placed Jesus in the manger to grow up in this world. God taught us about sacrifice when he allowed Jesus to carry his cross and die for our sins. There is a reason people say, “You can’t outgive God.” That said, we need to make the effort to give to others like God gave to us. Jesus taught, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11). The joy of aging is that we have a lot to give, and giving is the example of Christ.

What is the measure of our joyspan?

Our lifespan refers to the number of days we spend on Earth. Our healthspan is the number of days we remain healthy on earth. Our joyspan is the number of days we make the effort to enjoy the blessings of God’s presence and purpose in our lives because, for a Christian, that is our greatest joy. 

We were created in God’s image. We were created to live with his joy.

If we choose to measure our days by his joy, we will continue to grow, connect, adapt, and give. Christians know that each day is an opportunity to store our treasure in heaven and go to sleep each night knowing that we are one day closer to eternal perfection.

Aging is a gift of joy when we see it through the lens of God’s truth. Let’s not spend so much time fighting the process as we spend focused on all that we are progressing toward. I hope those thoughts bring you joy today.

Let’s make the effort to live a joy-filled week in God’s presence. His Spirit will take care of the rest.

Photo by Beth Macdonald on Unsplash

Your influence with a Kingdom purpose

I ran across a graphic last week as I was preparing to teach a Bible study about the prophet Daniel and the influence he had on those around him. The graphic caught my eye, and I later learned that it reflected a current model widely taught in business circles. The graphic illustrates the process by which we can focus and improve our ability to influence others.

The graphic noted three circles we should use to separate and qualify the various experiences or relationships in our lives. The first and widest circle is the circle of concern, defined as those circumstances in our lives, including other people’s choices, that we cannot control. The second circle was the circle of influence, which comprises of those circumstances and relationships we have the opportunity to influence. The final, smallest circle, is the circle of control. Those are the areas where we actually provide influence in ways that cause or control final outcomes.

Oxford University described the point of the research saying, “The Circles of Influence concept, developed by Stephen Covey, can help you recognize which things you can influence and control, and which you can’t, even though they may impact on you. ‘Proactive people….work on things they can do something about.’”

The secular study has spiritual application for Christians. If we want to be proactive with our faith, we should focus on the influence we have on the people in our lives. For example, we should care about enacting laws that support biblical truth. But realistically, how many of us will be involved in the actual legislation of those laws? Our ability to influence a law is likely limited to a few conversations on the subject and a single vote on election day. 

The Circles of Influence concept encourages us to focus more of our energy on our circles of influence and control. When was the last time you considered how you invest your time and efforts in those two most important circles of life and ministry?

All riled up with no place to go

Forbes magazine published an article about watching television news during the COVID-19 concerns of 2020. The article said, “In general, the more hours someone spent watching the news, the higher levels of fear they had.” The article went on to say that “watching negative news has been associated with sadness, worries, anxiety, and increase in negative affect. In disaster media specifically, we know that increasing exposure to media is associated with alcohol use, tobacco use, insomnia, depression, and post-traumatic symptoms, according to Dr. Joshua Morganstein, Chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Committee.”

I’ve been told that part of my concussion protocol is to cut down on my screen time. In full confession, I haven’t been a very good patient. I work for an online ministry. Screens are difficult to avoid! I have noticed, however, that what I want to watch and listen to has been influenced by my bruised brain just a bit. I’ve turned off some of the loud conversations that the news media have used to “grab people’s attention.” The noise, the angst, and the vitriol are good for ratings but not good for our lives. We get all riled up about things we can’t control, and there is nowhere to go with our feelings. It’s actually been relaxing in some ways to have a minor concussion and need to avoid some of that!

Television news is simply another form of TV entertainment. Walter Conkrite would struggle to be successful or popular as a broadcaster in today’s ratings war. Much of the news we view on our televisions will fall into that first circle of concern. We can see what is happening, but we have very little we can do to influence or control an outcome. Stephen Covey would suggest we limit our time involvement with that circle of concern. 

Jesus told his followers, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14–16).

What would happen if Christians were to take Covey’s advice and follow Jesus’ teaching? God’s people should be aware of what and who they have been called to influence and spend more of their time and energies working in those places. We are called to focus on the people and the circumstances the Spirit guides us toward. If we are not focused on his leadership in our lives, we can be easily distracted by those things that we have no actual way to influence or change.

Who around us will observe or be impacted by the light of Christ in our personal witness? Do we spend more of our time discussing the topics and choices we cannot control or those we can and should control? Jesus said, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Could it be that Jesus was teaching us about more than our money?

We are the light of the world. When people see our lives, they should be drawn to the greatness and glory of our God because of our words and our choices. Our influence should be focused on an eternal purpose more than on an earthly opportunity.

We can strengthen our Christian influence

G.K. Chesterton said, “The books that influence the world are those that it has not read.” I think there is a lot of wisdom in those words. The reason I am passionate about teaching the Bible is that I have found the wisdom of God’s word to be my greatest help in life. I want to encourage people to read that Book.

The world is filled with people, ideas, and values that shape our thoughts daily. Our lives are consistently bombarded with sights and sounds via screens. G.K. Chesterton’s statement made me realize that the Bible cannot fully influence people unless they read it for themselves. We can share God’s word, but there is nothing more powerful than reading Scripture and hearing God’s Spirit speak to our thoughts from the pages. How can we influence others to read the Bible for themselves?

We can strengthen our personal Christian influence if we strengthen our thoughts with the truth of God’s word. Are your words of influence authored by God’s truth or by something less? Paul was teaching this point to the early Christians when he told them, “You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Galatians 5:7–9).

Whenever we are not fully “persuaded” by the truth of God’s Word, we are being persuaded by the lies of something less. And a little of the world’s influence can impact our entire witness.

Billy Graham said, “God will never lead contrary to His word—so get acquainted with the Word of God, the Bible. Pray. He leads through the illumination of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Use whatever you have and be faithful. We are called to serve Christ in our sphere of influence.”

Some of our most interesting conversations are centered around the things in this world that we cannot control or influence. Those topics are compelling and entertaining. It’s just important to remember that our most important influential conversations will be focused on the biblical truth that can have an eternal impact on a person’s life.

Do you need to adjust your focus and spend more energy in your circles of influence and control? I know I want to do that. Let’s pray that we will become influencers who have a Kingdom purpose. God would love to answer those prayers!

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Focus on the “i” in the middle

Don’t you often find that it’s the small things that eventually trip you up? I speak from experience this week because I’m typing this blog with a black eye and a bruised face. I was playing soccer with my grandson, late at night, on the concrete driveway, wearing flip-flops. When he zagged, I zigged. The result was a pretty decent fall. I’m not that good at being a “senior” adult. I still want to do the things I did before, but sometimes that just isn’t a good idea. I’m older and slower, and my grandson is younger and faster. 

The whole accident gave me some food for thought – in addition to a black eye and bruised face. 

If I had taken just a moment to think, I would have done a few things differently. Hence, the point of this blog post. The English language has a lot of words that contain an “i” in the middle. Spiritually, it is a big help if we focus on keeping the “i” in the middle a lower-case letter. For example:

Think, but don’t thInk

If I had been thinking about something other than the idea that “I” wanted to play soccer, I might have realized a late-night game of soccer, on a concrete driveway, with a VERY fast, energetic grandson, who was wearing tennis shoes compared to my worn-out flipflops – well, you get the picture. That serves as an analogy for a more important spiritual principle.

I would look and feel a lot better today if I had chosen to think instead of thInk. I put my wants ahead of what I know to be true. I know I’m older, slower, and tired at the end of a long day. The facts are the facts. I ignored the truth and took a fall. That’s usually what causes us to fall spiritually as well. 

I love Isaiah 55:8, which says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” A lot of mistakes are made in this life when we “thInk” about ourselves first. We capitalize the letter in the middle, and things go wrong. If we go through life valuing our thoughts more than God’s, we are going to trip and fall. Our thoughts are not God’s, and it’s important to thInk about the consequences of thinking “more highly of ourselves than we ought” (Romans 12:3).

Faith instead of faIth

Romans 1:17 tells us, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Those words follow the important statement that the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). We cannot live by faith and enjoy a righteous relationship with God if we put a capital “I” in the middle of the word faith. 

The power of our witness is the gospel message, not ourselves. It’s important to share our testimony, but our words should reflect what God has done rather than ourselves or our own works. It’s good to ask ourselves if people see our “faIth” or our faith in God. Is our primary focus sharing our story or the gospel, the good news of Christ?

Come to think of it, we should be careful to share our “testimony” instead of a “testImony.” That little “i” really makes a difference!

Most sin is sIn

I recently taught Acts 6, which talks about the need for lay leadership in the early church. It was likely only about a year after the ascension when the events of chapter 6 occurred. The apostles were busy preaching and sharing the gospel with people. Scripture refers to their work as “the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). In the early church, a problem arose between two groups of women. The Hellenistic Jews felt like the Hebraic Jews were getting better treatment when it came to the passing out of food. 

That story from Acts is simply another example in Scripture about the perpetual, strongest motivation for sin. My husband often refers to it as “I” trouble. Eve put herself first and “sIn” entered the world. The sin of self can be found at the center of almost every sin that has been committed since the Garden.

Proverbs 26:12 says, “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” The early church chose faithful leaders who helped the women receive food more fairly. The question was not about “who deserved the food most.” The right solution was to ask, “Who deserved the food?” So many of our own sins occur when we value ourselves more than someone else.

If we counted our sins today, how many would be “sIns?” 

There is no “I” in King

We know Jesus is our King, but too many times we spell the word “KIng.” We know we are second to God, but we like to think we are not small. Consider this relationship with Jesus as your KiNG.

  • K: King of kings and Lord of lords.
  • i:   Realize self will always be small in comparison to his greatness.
  • N: Nothing, NOTHING can separate you from his love.
  • G: God is good, all the time.

If Jesus is your KiNG, you WIN

I’ve shared this CeCe Winans song with you before, but it is worth hearing often. When Jesus is KiNG of our lives, we can know that one day we will WIN all the joy and reward our Lord has provided us in heaven. On that day, we will be made holy, righteous, and free from every sIn. 

Enjoy the song and enjoy knowing that the sins of self will one day be conquered by our Savior King. Until then, it’s our job to focus on keeping the “I” out of our thoughts, our faith, and our sinful temptations. The best way to accomplish that is to once again make Jesus your KiNG today.

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C.S. Lewis taught us to take care of our souls

It’s easy to ignore an essential aspect of our spiritual lives. Life on earth can be a distraction to the blessings our souls need. We are bombarded by messages, posts, and discussions about taking care of our health and keeping our bodies as strong as possible. It’s not wrong to prioritize our health, unless physical health becomes a higher priority than spiritual health.

C.S. Lewis said, “You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” When last did you look in the mirror for the purpose of seeing your soul reflected? How can we ensure that caring for our souls is a top spiritual priority? C.S. Lewis offers some great advice for that.

Pursue the joy of your salvation daily

We can wake up each morning with the joy and comfort Jesus provides. Upon our salvation, we received the daily companionship of Jesus through his Holy Spirit so that we could live with the assurance of heaven. One of the best ways to live on earth is to look forward to the perfection our souls will enjoy in heaven. 

We chase after happiness in our lives; we should also pursue the “inexpressible joy” that Peter wrote about.

Peter told the early church to live with the joy of their faith in Christ and their promised salvation. The apostle wrote, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8–9).

Everything on earth is temporary. Joy is pursuing things eternal.

Enjoy your promised salvation, but care about the salvation of others

Everyone you see this week is a soul living in a temporary, human body. Each person you speak to or pass by is either going to spend eternity in heaven or hell. Biblically, those are the only two options God provided. 

I’ve spent a lot of time with my mom at her assisted living home. I teach a Bible study there each week, and even in the memory care area, it is easy to spot those who are comforted by God’s eternal promises and those who still need to receive the salvation Jesus died to provide them. I never teach a Bible study there without reminding the group about their salvation in Jesus. Most are in wheelchairs, and the others move about slowly. Their bodies are worn out and tired, but the Christians have an eagerness for heaven that shines in their eyes. The salvation of their souls is their greatest joy. 

I’ve had so many unique experiences teaching up there. I’ve seen glimpses of the joy of Jesus in their faces, their words, and their expressions of love for one another. I’ve driven home with tears at times and the sense that I am incredibly privileged to help walk these saints home to heaven. 

C.S. Lewis wrote, “No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.” I’ve learned a valuable lesson from these Christians who are almost home. I should live with their eternal priorities now. It would be a shame to miss that eternal joy today simply because my earthly life is less limited by age-related issues. 

I’ve also learned to see each elderly person as almost eternal. If I love them as I should, I will do my best to make sure their eternity will be spent with the Lord. And I’m reminded that I should see everyone with that same eternal priority.

Do we love the unsaved as we should?

C.S. Lewis wrote, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock, it is opened.”

I will always consider my time with my mom one of the greatest privileges of my life. She is a Christian, and I know that one of these days, when the phone rings, I will rejoice through my tears that she is safely home in heaven. This time with her has been life-changing. The Lord wanted me to learn and experience these lessons for the sake of my soul and for the sake of my ministry.

These souls living on the edge of eternity have taught me not to wait until happiness runs out to pursue eternal joy. As C.S. Lewis said, we all have earthly bodies, but we are souls. I want to help others look in the mirror and see their soul reflected. I want all of us to spend the rest of our lives viewing other people with an eternal perspective.

I’ve been cussed at a few times while I was teaching a Bible lesson to the group. It was a bit shocking at first, but now I’ve come to realize those moments are God’s revelation to me and to the other Christians in the room. God is saying, “I want to love this person as much as possible, through you.” Interestingly, I have watched a lot of us develop a God-given love for some of those people who are obviously angry, sad, and desperate. 

Last week, as I was teaching, a woman stood up and walked toward me with angry, foul words. I just looked her in the eyes and told her how much Jesus loved her and wanted her to have his joy. I taught the rest of my lesson with this woman’s head on my shoulder as I hugged her. I pray the Holy Spirit was able to give her the message she needed to know about salvation that day. I have prayed for her soul to know the joy of salvation through Jesus Christ. 

I’ve learned that God can give me his great love for others, and I truly do care about the eternal security of these souls. I’ve also learned that I should feel that exact way for everyone I encounter, not just these elderly people whom I teach every week.. I don’t think I would have cared about another person who cussed me out like I care for those in my mom’s memory care area. But I should – and I want to.

Our souls live to bring God glory now

We care about the length of time our earthly bodies will live. We should care even more about the reasons our souls are still alive on earth. Each day, we have an eternal purpose for our temporary life on earth. C.S. Lewis wrote, “The Glory of God, and, as our only means of glorifying Him, the salvation of human souls, is the real business of life.” 

Some of the people you will speak to this week are spending their earthly lives without the joy of eternity in their souls. Some Christians are doing the same thing. Joy is the reflection of a soul that is filled with God’s glory. If you see that joy reflected in your mirror, others will want the joy of your salvation.

May our mirrors reflect the glory of God, and may our lives reflect his eternal priorities. If so, other souls will likely go to heaven as a result. And, as C.S. Lewis said, that is the “real business of life.”

Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash

A shot heard around the world

I had to smile when I read a post from the Babylon Bee, the day after Charlie Kirk’s memorial service. The Babylon Bee authors Christian satire and is a frequently forwarded post in my family’s text stream. If you enjoy satire, you should check out their site.

The Bee’s headline read, “Satan: ‘I’ve made a huge mistake.’” 

Several times during the service, I heard a verse from Genesis 50 quoted by people who spoke. Joseph told his brothers who had sold him into slavery, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20). 

As we have seen over these last ten days, the service itself has been a well-discussed event, and I’m glad. My point today isn’t to continue that discussion, but to look forward to the potential impact in the days ahead. Henry Blackaby said our job as Christians was to find where God was at work, and “get in on it.” His point was that rather than asking God to bless our plans, our priority should instead be looking to what God is already doing so that we can join him in accomplishing his plans.

I can honestly say that I’ve done ministry both ways, and I would heartily agree with Blackaby. God is often good to bless my ideas, but the end result is rarely as effective as when I see what the Spirit is already doing and join that work.

The Holy Spirit was profoundly apparent in that memorial service as people worldwide were led to truly worship God that day. I wish I could have been there, but I worshipped as I watched the entire service live, in my own home. I did, however, think a few moments contained some well-intentioned, but incomplete theology. That said, the message of the good news, the gospel, was shared over and over again. I believe God was greatly honored in that service for Charlie.

Now, it’s time for God’s people to get to work. It’s time to join the revival that is taking place in the hearts and minds of young people. It’s time to pray that God will give them courage on their college campuses to speak the truth. And it’s time to pray that the love of God and our love for God will continue to motivate the witness of God’s people.

A shot heard around the world

My husband and I have been in ministry for more than four decades. We have prayed for awakening in our culture and for revival in God’s church. We have spent a lot of time discussing what we have seen take place after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. We think these days might just be an answer to those prayers.

Charlie Kirk’s assassination has literally sent shock waves around the world. The Holy Spirit is inspiring a large group of young people to step out and speak up. Charlie’s death didn’t produce riots, anger, protests, or a call for retribution. That alone is evidence that the Holy Spirit is leading. Now, you can add to all of that the increasing desire that young people have to attend a Bible-based church, filled with genuine believers. 

The shot that killed Charlie Kirk was heard around the world, and Christians everywhere are responding. How will each of us join the movement of the Holy Spirit in these days?

The wisdom to lead by example

I recently spoke to a room of wonderful people supporting our ministry. As I spoke, I heard myself say, “Most of us are in the fourth quarter of our lives. I also think this may be the fourth quarter of world history as well.” Interestingly, I heard that statement along with everyone else. I hadn’t planned to say those words, but I did. 

Over the past few years, I’ve given a lot of thought to the Gates Foundation’s plan to send enough satellites into our atmosphere so that the entire world will be one contiguous “hot spot.” A recent article states that their hope is to “save the world” using drone and satellite imagery, which gathers the earth’s data. I look at their well-intentioned goals a bit differently.

As I have said before, Jesus told his disciples on the Mount of Olives, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). Those satellites that will one day gather all that data, will also be able to carry the gospel to every nation. The message Jesus gave to his disciples could literally come to pass in this century via those satellites.

Is your life as intentionally evangelistic as it needs to be? Young people seeking to determine if the Christian religion is valid need to see the truth of the gospel message through our lives and witness. How will you encourage the younger generations to live by the truth of God’s word? If they examine our lives, will they think, “This faith is what I want for my life”?

Let’s live our witness out loud

Those of us who have been Christians for a long time can be used by God’s Spirit as witnesses. There really is no more crucial call upon our lives for the “fourth quarter.” Wisdom does come with age. We can be confident in our faith because we have experienced more of God’s truth.

  • We know how to share the gospel.
  • We know how God has blessed our marriages and held them together.
  • We know how God strengthens our hearts and provides his comfort in the tough times.
  • We know the mistakes we have made and the “do-overs” that God has given us.
  • We know the value of walking in biblical truth.

Will we speak biblical truth with joy and confidence? Will we offer grace for those beginning to know God so they will continue to walk their faith journey and reach maturity? Will we care more about the eternal lives of those we meet than their earthly lives, or our own? Will we care more about the salvation and blessings our family members need than the earthly relationships we hope to have with them?

This is a tough one, but we need to care more about a child’s soul or a friend’s eternal relationship with God than we care about the earthly relationships we might risk if we speak God’s truth. 

If we “love one another” as we are commanded to do, we will see people turn to God, or back to God. We might also anger and distance a person who doesn’t want to hear biblical truth. We must remember that if we truly love them more than we love ourselves, we will want them to be right with God.

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Today, will we choose to share Jesus’ priorities for a person’s earthly life? If we don’t, we might be sharing Satan’s priorities instead. 

My prayer for this article is that Satan will hate it and wish I had written about something else. But I’m in the fourth quarter of life, and I plan to spend as much time as possible joining the Holy Spirit wherever he is at work. Right now, the Spirit is at work in the lives of people like Charlie Kirk, who boldly shared his Lord with non-believers, cynics, critics, and even hostile enemies. Let’s choose to live our faith loudly as well, so that others will see our lives and want to know our Lord. Amen?

Photo by Suhyeon Choi on Unsplash

A conversation with our mirror

It has been interesting to hear leaders like J.D. Vance speak boldly and nationally about Charlie Kirk. I listened to Vice President Vance’s interview on Fox and heard the gospel message presented to anyone listening. It is truly a unique time for our nation and hopefully an important time for God’s kingdom purpose. As Vance recommended, every Christian can use this time to “look in the mirror,” examine their own lives, and consider their witness to others. We all have sinful tendencies that, if left unexamined, can produce wrong actions. Christians, however, also have the unique ability to function under the Holy Spirit’s direction. It isn’t difficult to know who is in control of our thoughts and words. Is it self? Satan? Or is it the Spirit?

We can begin by asking our mirror: Am I sharing my faith as a regular, normal part of my daily conversations?

Witnessing isn’t just something we do; it is who the Holy Spirit creates us to be

Acts 1:8 clearly states that we “received power” when the Holy Spirit entered our lives and we became witnesses at that moment. The word in Greek literally means we “were transformed to be” witnesses everywhere we go.

If the Spirit controls our lives, He will lead us to share our faith as naturally as we might share a story we heard on the news or information about a mutual friend. So many hesitate, fearing they don’t know what to say in that moment. That’s actually a good thing. We should hesitate before we share the gospel because in that moment, we should be careful to pause and ask the Spirit of Christ to share the gospel through us. We aren’t supposed to create the words only from our thoughts and ideas. Jesus wants to say some things through us.

When last did you share your faith in Christ with someone else as part of a normal conversation? If you are prepared to yield your thoughts and words to the Holy Spirit, you will find yourself sharing the gospel or an inspired thought from God more often.

The Holy Spirit entered your life and you were reborn – as a witness, everywhere you go.

Can we describe ourselves like Paul described himself?

I love the book of Titus. Paul wrote that letter to a slave owner, and the style of Titus is a classic Greek “persuasive” message. Paul wanted Titus, the slave owner, to welcome back Onesimus, his runaway slave, as a fellow Christian and brother. 

Paul opens his letter by describing himself as “a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness” (Titus 1:1). You might say that Paul was offering his personal mission statement. If we substitute the word “apostle” with “disciple,” those words become an important mission statement for every Christian.

Can we describe ourselves as “a servant of God” and a disciple of Jesus Christ? Is our mission “to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness?” If that were our personal goal each day, how often would we hear ourselves sharing a thought or a message about Christ?

How is the Holy Spirit at work in your life to speak biblical truth as a regular part of your conversations?

Share what you know and allow God to do the rest

In his interview, J.D. Vance told Jesse Waters that Charlie would be so happy if one of the outcomes of his death were that “people would return to church” and Christian values. He hoped that more and more people would begin “speaking the truth about Christ.”

We know:

  • Jesus died to pay the price for everyone’s sins. 
  • All are invited to join the Christian family of faith.
  • “All have sinned” and fall short of perfection and God’s glory.
  • All can repent and invite Jesus to be their Lord and Savior.
  • We can all trust Jesus and receive his promised salvation if we will “call on his name.”
  • All who come to faith in Jesus will receive the “power” Jesus promised through his Holy Spirit.
  • All Christians are born again as witnesses to the gospel message.

But not all Christians live like the new, born-again person the Spirit wants us to be daily. That is the conversation we all need to have with our mirrors.

The conversation with our mirrors

We use our mirrors to ensure we present an improved self to the world. A good God conversation with our mirrors will likely enable an improved witness to others. 

  • An honest assessment of ourselves will likely provide the grace we need for others.
  • Honest gratitude toward God will create excitement in our discussion of Christ.
  • True repentance leads to the joy-filled knowledge of our own salvation.
  • Trust in Jesus leads to hope for eternal life.
  • The joy of our hope in Christ is something we will naturally want others to have as well.

Our mirrors can provide us the honest view of ourselves that we need to humbly share the good news of Christ with genuine grace, love, and compassion. Paul ministered to people every day, knowing who he had been and knowing who he had become.

And Paul’s witness changed the world. 

Who will our witness impact today? Let’s take some time with our mirrors and gain an honest, Spirit-led spiritual assessment of ourselves. Those moments of quiet contemplation will allow God’s Spirit to minister to our lives so he can use us to minister to others.

Let’s remember that our mission is like Paul’s: “to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness” (Titus 1:1). I hope it’s a wonderful, Spirit-driven day for all of us.

Photo by Omar Ramadan on Unsplash

God hates evil. We can too

I was working on a Sunday school lesson I would teach out of Psalm 5 when the news came in about the shooting of Charlie Kirk. Psalm 5 is a psalm of King David as he laments the persecution and mistreatment he was enduring. It is a psalm about leaning on God, trusting his judgment, and finding shelter in his loving presence.

As the news unfolded about the shooting and the subsequent death of Charlie Kirk, I began to realize I was studying Psalm 5 for more than a Sunday school lesson to teach.

1 John 4:8 says, “God is love.” Psalm 5 talks about what God hates. I gave that some lengthy thought and realized that the God who is love is also capable of hating. Those thoughts gave clarity to some of what I was feeling. 

God hated last Wednesday’s events and the events we remembered the next day, 9/11/01. God hates evil, and we can and should hate evil as well. David’s psalm describes the evil God hates and reminds the reader that we have a safe shelter in our loving God. 

Charlie Kirk sat under the shelter of an awning when he was fatally shot. As Christians everywhere lament his loss, we wonder why God didn’t shelter his child that day and protect him from an evil assassin. King David had similar questions about his life. I hope his psalm will help all of us today.

How did David pray when he was being persecuted?

Psalm 5 begins, “Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch” (Psalm 5:1–3).

David knew God’s heart and knew God would listen to his. He knew to seek God for his greatest needs because only God was sufficient for those needs. David knew God as his King, but he also knew him personally. The phrase “my God” is much the same as the phrase Jesus used when he called the Creator God his “Abba.” David knew to meet God in the morning and then watch for God throughout the day.

So many on the news said they were praying for Charlie Kirk’s mission to continue and prayed especially for his young family, who will continue without him. This is another time of heartbreak for our country. We all need to turn to God with the same faith as King David. We trust God’s divine holiness, but we also need to trust him as our Abba, who loves us.

What does God hate?

King David understood that the love of God requires him to hate all that is evil, all that can harm his children. David wrote, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man” (Psalm 5:4–6).

God hated the evil that controlled that young man who took the life of Charlie Kirk, his child. The Lord hated the slander and deceitful words that were batted about after the shooting. The Lord hates the vitriol on both sides of the political scene. One day, God will eternally judge and destroy those who are evildoers, liars, and bloodthirsty people. God cannot find any favor with the wicked because no evil can dwell with him in heaven. And God’s greatest desire is that people can one day dwell with him in heaven.

Heaven won’t contain everyone who lived life on earth. It will only include the faithful people, those who have been cleansed of their sins by the blood of his Son. Only those who have been purified can “dwell” in God’s holy Presence.

How will the righteous enter heaven on that day?

In contrast to the “evildoers,” David spoke of his ability to enter “the house” of God. He wrote, “But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me (Psalm 5:7–8).

David understood that God has abundant love for his children, and they will enter his presence in reverent awe of him as their Father. David prayed for the Lord to lead him to be righteous “because of” his enemies. We find a wonderful lesson in those words. It’s very possible that the most difficult times of our lives will produce our greatest rewards in heaven. David prayed that the acts of his enemies would cause him to be more righteous. We can all pray that prayer as well.

Justice is promised

I’ve known some victims of terrible crimes, and it almost seems like there is no complete, satisfying justice for their pain. If they have lost a loved one to an act of violence or senseless cruelty, there is nothing that truly provides justice because there is nothing that can bring back the person they loved. Often, the evildoer is never caused to speak or confess their wrongful acts and simply takes a plea deal that allows the truth to remain unspoken.

David said, “For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you (Psalm 5:9-10).

David understood the frustration of evil prospering. He also understood that his God was always just and that the evildoers in the world would “bear their guilt” when they stood in his presence.

God’s protection is guaranteed

David closed his psalm saying, “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield” (Psalm 5:11–12).

Even as I type those words, they have a hollow ring. Charlie Kirk sat under an awning to protect himself from the sun’s rays, but that awning didn’t protect him from a bullet. He was killed with one well-aimed shot that left widespread destruction in the lives of many. If God allowed the evil to prosper, then we know he has a plan to redeem the evil for his great glory. 

Charlie Kirk took refuge in God that day and he will “ever sing for joy.” God swept him to heaven because he has promised to bless the righteous. He has covered his child with favor “as with a shield.” We cannot know the many ways God will both judge and redeem the evil of last Wednesday. We can know that his word promises us that he will.

God hated what happened to his beloved child last week, and he hated what happened to so many innocent people on 9/11. His eternal redemption and justice don’t seem to feel like enough justice today. That’s okay; we love and follow a perfect God, incapable of error. We can trust God’s perfection because we know his character. Most importantly, God knows us. 

Let’s hate what God hates, but let’s be even more focused on all God loves. Justice is ahead, in God’s perfect timing. God’s plan for redemption will be seen in the days ahead, and we simply need to watch and wait for it.

Let’s pray like King David when he said, “I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.” Charlie Kirk died too soon. His witness, however, is stronger than ever before. How will you help carry the torch that’s been left behind?

Photo by Georgii Eletskikh on Unsplash

In many ways, things are improving

For many years, I wrote this blog post because I firmly believed that churches and Christians were too often compromising God’s word for the sake of grace, acceptance, and tolerance. ALL of those things are good, godly qualities for Christians to embrace—unless we offer those loving qualities without the permanent help of God’s truth. Scripture teaches us to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), and most of us are better at one of those things than the other. 

A very real story of love without truth

My husband was a pastor for many, many years. I worked alongside his calling, teaching, ministering, etc. I remember the first church discussion I had on the subject of grace and truth. We were pastoring our first church, which averaged about sixty people most Sundays. When one of our teenage girls became pregnant, everyone in the church was aware of the situation. She had grown up in the church, her parents were in the church, and her pregnancy quickly became a discussion. People were, as you can imagine, in two different camps. When it came time for the baby to be born, some wanted the church to host her baby shower, just like we traditionally did for someone else. (By the way, one of those someone else’s was me!) The discussion centered around, “Are we offering love and grace, or condoning and rewarding sin?” “Are we joyfully accepting the mom with forgiveness, or are we accepting/tolerating her choice?” And finally, “What’s the best thing we could do for that baby?”

As with most church discussions, everyone was a little bit right and a little bit wrong. I was twenty-six years old and a very inexperienced Christian and preacher’s wife. I knew how grateful I was to have had that baby shower for my first child, and I wanted that young teenager to have the same help as well. She wasn’t nearly as involved in the church as her parents, and I thought this might be a way to help her return to church, which could bless her life and eventually her baby’s life. I was too young and too confused to be of much help. I wish I could bring my older, wiser self into that important discussion.

We should have ministered to that young teenage mom and helped her out. I wouldn’t, however, have thrown the “party.” It seemed good in theory, but it just didn’t honor the biblical truth of God’s word. We should have loved that young teen and blessed her with gifts, but we should also have taken the time to tell her why we couldn’t celebrate with her like we wished we could. That young woman received love, gifts, and encouragement but never returned to the church while we were there. What she needed, even more than formula, diapers, bottles, and onesies, was the knowledge that God wanted to redeem her wrong choice, forgive her sin, and come back to a righteous, holy relationship with him as her Lord. Everything we gifted her was used up in those first months, and we failed to give the eternal gifts that would have changed her and her baby’s lives. 

As a church, we made a mistake. The discussion was whether or not we should offer love and grace or the truth about sin. We decided to choose the first option, and we didn’t have the right to make that choice. God’s word told us that he wanted us to do both.

Interestingly, that is the new direction we see the church taking. And the younger generations are leading the way!

Genuine, life-controlling faith is making a comeback

A recent article from Barna research has been widely used as encouraging news for God’s people and his purpose. The article begins by noting a “historic reversal” for the church in America in recent years. Barna reports, “For the first time in decades, younger adults—Gen Z and Millennials—are now the most regular churchgoers, outpacing older generations, who once formed the backbone of church attendance.”

Why are young people coming back to church? The Barna article says, “For decades, older adults—Boomers and Elders—were the most reliable churchgoers. Today, the pattern has shifted. Gen Z and Millennials, often labeled as disinterested in faith, show the highest levels of regular attendance.”

There has been a lot of discussion about this new trend. Older adults have often felt disenfranchised by the newer trends in worship. They like hymns and the theology of hymns better than they like the newer choruses. They prefer the reverence of vertical worship directed toward God more than the focus on horizontal relationships with fellow worshippers. Their preference is what people over fifty were taught was meaningful worship while growing up in the church.

Most of today’s young people began coming to church with the goal of community, and they still do. What is changing is their new yearning for genuine, strength-building faith. College campuses are having amazing revival experiences. Young people have been greatly influenced by the internet, but they have also realized that it has reams of false information that just isn’t truth. The places young people have looked to for guidance have often let them down.

That is crucial information for everyone. When younger generations are returning to church, they will need to be able to look to the older generations to tell them that a vital relationship to church and God’s word really works. Sadly, the faithful numbers in the older generations are growing smaller each Sunday.

Is that what young people see on faces when they come to your church? Are the older people truly worshipping, or are they simply warming their spot until it’s time for Sunday School (or whatever your church calls Sunday School)? Do they see happy marriages that actually made it fifty+ years and know that maybe they could have that too? And, most importantly, are they hearing and being taught that the richest blessings in life are a by-product of a faithful, albeit imperfect, whole-hearted commitment to walking each day with God’s direction in obedience to God’s biblical truth?

Genuine faith is always about speaking the truth in love.

In many ways, things are improving

I loved the Barna article, and I hope you will follow the link and read it for yourself. It was hopeful, but it was also convicting. We can study the truth of the trend, but we should also ask God’s Holy Spirit to convict our hearts with that truth.

These are important days, and we must be ready to serve this trend with foundational values. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t need to be reminded that we exist to be disciples, witnesses for the gospel truth of God’s word.

Vintage Faith

I hesitate to say this last thing, but I’m going to do it anyway. I don’t for one minute want someone to think this is why I wrote this blog post. That said, one of the reasons I loved the Barna article is that it affirmed and confirmed God’s calling in my own life. I spent most of last year writing a Bible study workbook called Restoring Vintage Faith. Henry Blackaby’s book Experiencing God had a huge impact on me as a young preacher’s wife. God used, and continues to use, those lessons in my life today. 

I wrote Restoring Vintage Faith because I wanted to teach this: The Bible has been unchanging, proven truth for thousands of years. If it has always been true for God’s people it is still truth today. Hence the title, Restoring Vintage Faith.

I felt this was an important workbook to print so that it could become a valued resource that someone could return to over and over. As you know, we are a non-profit and rely solely on the donations of those who consume our content. This study is being offered as a thank-you gift for a donation. I hope and pray that it will do for others what Experiencing God did for my spiritual life. 

Please know, I’m not selling a book with this blog post. I just want to let you know it is there if you or someone you know needs to seek God’s truth for the first time or return to God’s truth with renewed conviction. God’s word is truth, given to us because of his great compassion and love. Obedience is our best life and our highest joy this side of heaven because obedience is the path to blessing. 

Our job as disciples is to speak the truth with love. God has renewed my calling and conviction to this ministry of sharing God’s biblical truth.

How will you do that for the rest of your life?

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

Perfect advice from Jesus

The fashion police are suggesting we add animal prints to our wardrobes this fall. The health advisors are telling us to line up for this year’s flu shots, especially if you have passed your 65th birthday. The financial advisors are suggesting a lot of things, and we know how that advice can turn out. We don’t lack advice in this world, but neither do we lack advice that is always perfect.

What is the perfect advice Jesus offered? 

The Sermon on the Mount summarizes Jesus’ entire earthly ministry. Jesus left heaven to teach and make the New Covenant between God and man possible. Jesus began his Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes and followed those lessons with practical advice for daily living. If every Christian lived faithfully to Jesus’ most important sermon, churches would probably need to set aside thirty minutes of every worship service just for baptisms. 

Jesus made a statement in his Sermon on the Mount that might be the best advice he ever gave. He said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). I can’t think of a single lesson Jesus ever taught that isn’t covered by that one verse!

Jesus gave us that perfect direction. Now, how do we put it into practice?

Lesson 1: Seek first

What is the first thing you “seek” after you wake up? For me, it’s coffee! But once I have that first cup in my hands, I settle into my chair and consider the day. My mind naturally shifts to that day’s agenda and needs. Soon, I’m making plans, lists, and deciding how to accomplish things. Maybe the better question to consider each morning is, “What is the highest priority I should seek to remember today?”

How would our lives change if the first thing we sought each day was the sovereign word and will of our King? How would that priority lead us to seek a right relationship with him throughout our day? I have often heard someone teach “seek first” as the priority to set a time for morning devotion with God. While that is a great idea, it doesn’t really teach the verse correctly. Jesus was saying that making God King is the most important priority for our use of time all day and every day.

If you make God your sovereign King today, what will he add or take off your schedule? Who will you call, care about, or counsel because God’s Spirit chooses to work through your life to impact another? Making disciples is about offering people the opportunity to surrender their lives to a King.

What edict will your King give you to accomplish today? 

Lesson 2: The kingdom of God and his righteousness

The apostle Paul wrote, “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). The prophet Isaiah said, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away (Isaiah 64:6). It didn’t take Adam and Eve long to follow Satan’s suggestions, and people have been unrighteous since that day.

God gave us freedom to choose and then told us to surrender that freedom to his rule. Why would the Creator set up a system he knew would allow each person to sin and become unrighteous? God is the one and only King, yet every person will seek something or someone less than the God we are supposed to seek “first.” 

God created us with the ability to choose so that we could choose to love him and others. That’s why Jesus taught his listeners to seek God as King and to seek “his righteousness.” We will never be capable of righteousness on our own, and God will never be anything less than righteous. When we seek God as our King, we will also seek his will and word for our lives because we trust his perfection. 

Jesus had already told his listeners on the mountainside that day, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). Jesus taught that we should seek to be right with God as much as we seek to consume food and beverage every day. I won’t be fully satisfied with my life until I seek to be right with God even more than I seek that first cup of coffee each morning.

None of us is righteous. We all seek to please others sometimes more than we seek to please God. We often trust his grace for our choices more than we choose to submit our choices to his perfect grace. He gave us his word, his Holy Spirit, and his commands. Forgive us Lord, for the many times we have considered your sovereign will as an option.

Lesson 3: God wants to add every good thing to your life.

God is our loving Father. He didn’t give us his word and will to remove our choices, and he didn’t give us his Spirit to replace our free will. Instead, God wants to be our sovereign King to guide and empower our choices. God provided us with a clear path to live with his blessings. Why do we ever choose something else? But we do.

Jesus told those on that mountainside that if they would seek God and his righteousness, “all these things” would be added to their lives. When we truly know God’s perfection, we will want to walk in his ways. That’s our best life on earth and our rewarded life in heaven.

Which choices will you make today that God can bless? Every choice you make today that honors him as your King will matter eternally, for you and likely for others as well. Those moments are the best moments in this life! 

That’s what the “therefore” is there for.

After Jesus had given his listeners great advice for living as a child of God, he said, “Therefore.” What was the “therefore” there for? The answer to that question is one of the best ways to know whether you are living with God as your King today.

Jesus said, “Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). 

What are you worried about today? What possible problems or concerns do you have for the months and years to come? How might those thoughts or ideas hinder you from accomplishing something God has called you to do today?

If God is your King today, then you can trust him to be your King tomorrow and every day that follows. As you seek his priorities for this day, you can trust tomorrow’s worries to his promises. Every worry and every concern serves as a reminder to bow before your King and say, “I make you King of every moment. Remove those things from my life that hinder your will and add anything that is your will to my life. I will trust your direction as the work of your love and grace.” 

He is our perfect King and our holy Father. Let’s seek to enthrone him in our lives today and then do the same tomorrow. Let’s make sure we obey the perfect advice Jesus gave us first. Everything else will follow.

Photo by Nicolas HIPPERT on Unsplash

That Printer of Udell’s: A book that changed Reagan’s life, and mine

My husband Jim and I hadn’t seen the new Reagan movie yet. We thought we were just watching another film until it became more than that. The movie is well done and worth seeing, but the book I read after watching the movie is what most impacted my thoughts, and hopefully my choices in the future.

In the movie, Reagan’s mom and her preacher give a young Ron the book That Printer of Udell’s by Harold Bell Wright. It is such a brief moment in the movie that it would be easy to miss, but I was fascinated by the idea that a book changed Reagan’s life. I asked Jim to back up the movie and hit the pause button so I could write the title down. When the movie was over, I downloaded the book.

That Printer of Udell’s

This is what President Reagan’s presidential library said about the book: “After reading this book at age 11, Ronald Reagan said it had a lasting impact on his life, shaping his own moral sense.” 

Ronald Reagan wrote a letter to Harold Bell Wright’s daughter-in-law in 1984 and told her, “I found a role model in that traveling printer whom Harold Bell Wright had brought to life. He set me on a course I’ve tried to follow even unto this day. I shall always be grateful.”

John Fund, a Wall Street Journal columnist, said, “Many of Reagan’s accomplishments, as well as his outlook on life, can be traced back to that dog-eared copy of That Printer of Udell’s.”

Why did this book change Reagan’s life?

I have always been a fan of President Reagan. He is the president who shaped my ideas of what an American leader should be. After hearing that this book changed his life, I knew I wanted to read it.  This is a synopsis of the book from his presidential library:

Ronald Reagan noted that this book provided a lasting impact on his life, shaping his own moral sense. He identified with the central character, Dick Falkner. Falkner’s childhood was one of poverty and abuse from an alcoholic father. Recognizing his life for what it was, he ran away from his home, but he could not run away from all of his problems. Sixteen years later he found himself hungry of body and empty of spirit in a small Midwestern town.

Eventually, he is taken in by George Udell, a local printer and a kind-hearted man. George Udell gives the young man a job, and something more important: spiritual support. Through hard work and Christian morals, the man who becomes known as “that printer of Udell’s” rises above his past to a new life with God, doing what he could to change the lives of the town people.

Why did this book impact Ronald Reagan as it did?

The library says this about Ronald Reagan’s mom and dad, Jack and Nelle:

Jack was born in Fulton, Illinois on July 13, 1883, and raised in the Catholic Church. Nelle was born in Fulton, Illinois on July 24, 1883. The two were married in November 1904. Jack worked as a salesman most of his adult life and suffered from alcoholism. Nelle was deeply religious, and active in the Disciples of Christ Church.

The movie depicts Reagan’s mom and her pastor giving him the book so that he can understand he has choices to make about his future. He can follow in his father’s footsteps, or he can follow in his heavenly Father’s footsteps.

Ronald Reagan would be the first to say that he did not live a perfect life. Neither does the main character of the book. But, as the book makes clear, God and his true followers offer the grace we need to make mistakes and then move forward with better choices.

The book kept me home from church

That statement may seem like an odd thing for me to put in my blog post. Did I make a wrong choice after reading a book about making God-driven choices?

It was Sunday morning, and I woke up at 4:30 a.m. because I wanted to finish reading the book before church. I finished the final page at 6:30 a.m., leaving me plenty of time to get ready. People who know me know that I am a stickler for defining “on time” as five minutes early. In contrast, one of the most frequent arguments I have with my husband is because I married a man who thinks, “I can get one more thing done, before I have to leave.” I hate to be late. He hates to waste even one minute of time being early. We have been married for forty-four years so I don’t think either of us will change on this subject, so we now try to accept our differences.

Interestingly, on Sunday morning both of us were having the same struggle. He was rushing through some important moments with God, trying to be ready for church. I was also struggling with a multitude of God–driven thoughts about the book I just finished in order to get to church. Jim and I sat down together, talked, prayed, and both agreed we were supposed to stay home that morning. 

Sunday mornings are sacred times for worship. Why did God lead us both to stay home?

I want to recommend to you That Printer of Udell’s

If you have been a reader for a while, you know that I believe there is only one perfect Book. I would never say that a work of fiction should be considered in the same way as the Bible. However, That Printer of Udell’s is an inspired novel, even in its imperfection. It was published in 1902, and there are words and phrases about people that would not be acceptable today and might keep some from recommending the book. I recommend the book anyway because if you read carefully, you will see the author is often commending the character of the people, using words that were considered acceptable in 1902. It would be a shame to miss the message of this book because of when it was written. 

C. S. Lewis was referring to the wisdom of timeless literature when he said, “It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.” This “old” book is one of the best books I’ve read in my lifetime.

This week, I will teach some of my favorite verses in the Bible. I often quote Colossians 3:23–24, which says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Sunday morning, serving Jesus meant to sit quietly at his feet and listen. I’m still processing all that came from that time of spiritual worship and meditation.

Sometimes worship is about being alone with God and allowing his Spirit to author your thoughts and ideas. I can honestly say I hope everyone who reads this blog post will download That Printer of Udell’s. The book changed Ronald Reagan’s life, and I believe it will likely change each of our lives as well. It is a book about practical Christianity and the hard work it takes to live in this world with God-authored priorities. Living with those sacrificial Christian priorities is “our spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1–2).

Your life has infinite possibilities

In the book, Udell’s printer, the son of an alcoholic, works his way from homelessness to spiritual strength because of God. One of my favorite quotes comes from Udell himself. He greatly admired his employee’s difficult yet successful journey in life and said, “Truly, the possibilities of life are infinite. The power of the human soul cannot be measured, and no man guesses the real strength of his closest friend.”

This book is about the strength each of us has available to us through our closest friend, Jesus Christ. That Printer of Udell’s is literature, a work of fiction. But it is a work of fiction that God used to change a man like Ronald Reagan and a woman like myself. “The possibilities of life are infinite.”  

Have any of us reached our God-given capacities yet? This book can help us consider that question and then aim for God’s answers.