It's Time to Consider Our Time

Mike Hosey, An Elder

All resources on earth are finite. There are no resources that exist naturally on earth that are without measure. Some resources, however, are more limited than others. For instance, just consider one of the resources we put a great deal of value in – money. If you run out of all the money in your bank account, you can make more. Money is replenishable. But only if you have time. And in that sense, it is very finite because eventually everyone runs out of hours, minutes, and seconds. Unlike money, time is not replenishable. You can plant more trees, you can hire more workers, you can dig for more metal, or recycle the metal you have thrown away. But you cannot grow, procure, or recycle time. Once a moment has slipped into the past, it is irretrievable and unreproducible.

The psalmist asks God to teach us to number our days so that we may have a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12). When we realize that time is ultimately and brutally finite, we are more likely to use that time wisely because it forces us to prioritize. Numbering the time helps us to see what is important and what isn't. But unfortunately, we often develop the false sense that we have more time than we do, and because of that, we miss special moments, beautiful experiences, and grand opportunities. When our time is not managed, our lives are not managed, our households are not managed, our walk with God is not managed, and ultimately our hearts are not managed. The truth of the psalmist has a lot of practicality. See how well your day goes when you count your time and reasonably schedule it. When you discipline yourself to do this, you will find that you have time to do many desirable things for which you thought there was no time!

But more importantly, being wise about time helps us to best serve God's purposes and advance his kingdom both in our own personal lives, and along the frontiers he would have us to push. The bible teaches us to make the best use of our time because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15-17), and you are the warrior God is using to force back that evil!

Measuring a Good Steward

Mike Hosey, An Elder

The standard definition of stewardship is to manage or look after someone else’s property. This is a good definition. However, its dryness falls short of what is expected of us as Christians.  Consider the following verses.  Psalm 24:1 tells us firmly that everything in the world belongs to God.  Did you get that?  Everything. That includes you, me, the ground we’re standing on, the computer you’re reading this with, or the paper you’re reading it from.  It includes the car you drove to work, and the home you live in. It includes your children, your pets, your job, your boss.  Everything!  Now consider Genesis 2:15. That verse tells us that the original purpose of man was to steward God’s creation. It’s what we’re made to do.  

Well before we can be a steward of God’s creation, we have to have something more in us than just an understanding that we are to manage his property.  We must have a strong understanding that what we are managing belongs to a great and mighty ruler.  Without this kind of understanding, we are not likely to be a good manager.  The first mistake that we are likely to make is to believe that our salary, or our time, or our “possessions” belong to us.  They don’t. If we develop the idea that those things are ours, we are less likely to use them on something other than ourselves when God asks us to do so.  Think about it, if you began to use your time at work as if it were solely yours, how long would you’re company retain your services?  If you had that attitude, you would be a terrible employee and it wouldn’t be long before you were replaced.  But if you use that time realizing that it doesn’t belong to you, and that the company expects a return on its investment in you, then you are likely to produce value for that company with that time. If it is a good company they will reward you accordingly. This is the same with God.  We will be rewarded when we realize that all we do is for the Lord and then act accordingly (Colossians 3:23-24).

So how do we measure a good steward?  We measure it in the same way a company measures an employee.  An employee is not measured by how much he is given.  He is measured by what he has done with what he has been given.  In the same way, God’s steward is not measured by what he has, but by what he has done with what he has.  There is an expectation of return for what has been invested in you, regardless of whether that investment is made of time, treasure, talent, or anything else.

The Energy in Waves

Mike Hosey, An Elder

A human's life ripples like the wind-pushed surface waves of the ocean on any given day, and it cycles like the gravity driven waves of the daily tides. It is never still. High tide. Low tide. A never ending constant push and pull. And that's good, because just like the ocean, the moment your life is without any kind of waves is the moment that life's energy has left you. An ocean wave is simply the transmission of energy through the water of the ocean. That energy ultimately comes from the sun. The sun heats the air, causing wind, which pushes the waves. It heats the water producing currents, which cause waves. The gravity of the sun and the moon pull at the oceans and cause tides, which are waves. Waves are just the medium for all of that energy. The vast majority of an ocean's waves are relatively small, and do little more than gently shape the shoreline, or keep the life and mix of the ocean moving and well balanced. Some waves are large and destructive and come in the midst of storms, but they too serve their purpose of keeping the life of the ocean balanced. Just like the sun heats the ocean and causes waves, God heats the waters of your life and causes waves. Sometimes these waves come in the form of economic difficulty, or death, or disease. One such wave that most people experience periodically through life is depression. 
 
How do we manage this wave? Well one way is to keep the right focus. One of the problems of depression is that it can cause an excessive self-focus. The more we focus on our difficulties, shortcomings, troubles or headaches, the more depressed we get. When we start to focus too much inwardly, we lose sight of important stuff and begin to sink. In fact, waves that are actually of little consequence in the grand scheme of things can morph into tidal size waves in our minds. Remember the story of Peter stepping into the waves the night he saw Jesus walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-30). When Peter stepped out of the boat to meet Jesus, he focused on the wind instead of Jesus and began to sink. When you're depressed, take your focus off of yourself, and place it on Jesus, then use that focus to serve others. The depression won't go away immediately, but it will be harder for it to flourish in your outwardly focused life. Plus, you will be in a place where God can use that wave to change you for the better – and perhaps the people around you.

Does God Cause Disease?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

The fact that we live in a fallen world where everything is broken, and an ungodly evil seems to reign is indisputable. One need only look around on any given day to witness death, strife, unfaithfulness and all manner of human problems that spring from humanity’s obvious brokenness.   One frequent sign of brokenness is disease.  The standard explanation for disease is that the first humans broke the world when they disobeyed God.  Death and disease entered the world when our greatest grandparents dropped the ball.  But that’s not the only cause. Occasionally, disease is the result of satanic forces (Matthew 17:14-18).  Often, disease comes from our own unwise behaviors.  Alcoholics have an addictive disease, in part, because they drink too much.  Many people with gingivitis have that disease because they don’t brush their teeth appropriately.  But sometimes we can’t find a good reason for disease.  In times when people who appear to be clearly innocent are afflicted by disease, we question how a good God could allow something like that, even in a broken world.

But what if he doesn’t just allow it?  What if he sometimes causes it? 

In reading that, you might consider the very question heresy.  But if so, you will have to contend with Jeremiah who argues in the King James Version that both evil and good come from the mouth of the Lord (Lamentations 3:37-38 KJV). Or consider Isaiah 45:7, where that prophet relates that God creates peace AND calamity  -- or if you prefer King James, he makes peace and creates evil (Isaiah 45:7 KJV). So why would a good God do this?  Perhaps we can find some clues in the word “disease.”  The prefix “dis” means lack.  So DIS + ease = a lack of ease.  When I make my children do their chores, or their homework, or (sometimes) to go to church, I am causing them a lack of ease. It is not because they did anything wrong, it is because I am disciplining them to be good adults, and to have right skill sets, and especially right attitudes.  Sometimes they fight this process, and when they do, the “dis”-ease is longer and more intense, but only because of their attitude. The psalmist explores this a bit (Psalm 119:67-75). In that passage, he describes how he was afflicted – which is a word used to express disease. He says that before his affliction he went astray, but by the end of the passage he rejoices that a faithful God improved him with the tool of affliction.  Through the whole passage he maintains that God is good and right.  Like Job, and like that psalmist, we should never charge God with wrong doing (Job 1:22). Instead, we should recognize that he is good, and because he is good and we are not, he is able to use all things for good purposes including our diseases (Romans 8:28-29).  While reading that passage, be sure to notice that in verse 29, we are being conformed to the image of Christ, and consider what that might mean.

The Best Way to Prepare for Your Death, and Perhaps the Death of Someone You Love

Mike Hosey, An Elder

The Earth teems with death. Death from war. Death at the murderous hands of others. Death by accident. Death by stupidity. Death because of disease. Death because of starvation or dehydration. Death from suicide.  Death, death and more death. It’s everywhere.  And yet somehow we’ve managed to temporarily separate ourselves from it. We rarely see it -- unless it is the dramatic, gory, violent and theatrical deaths of the movies, or the distant, impersonal deaths of the television news.  But most of us don’t intersect the occurrence of death at the frequency (or the intimacy) with which it actually happens. This is especially true for those of us who live in the United States.  We are insulated from it.  Many of us fear it with great intensity. In fact, I think it was Woody Allen who quipped that he wasn’t afraid of death, but he didn’t want to be around when it happened either! But the truth is that for all of us, the bodies we now occupy will all succumb to death eventually. There is no escaping it. We will be there when it happens. Wiser men than me have noted that death isn’t something for which we should give an ounce of fear.  The real object of our fear, they have argued, is a life not fully lived – particularly if it wasn’t fully lived due to a fear of death.

Paul knew this. He argued in Philippians 1:21 that to live was Christ and to die was gain. A preacher I heard this week explained that verse this way:  He said, if you live for pleasure and for its moment, then death will be a loss because once dead, pleasure and the moment will no longer be available to you.  But if you live for something greater than fleshly and temporary pleasure – like living for Christ – then death will be gain because you will be united with Christ and all of the pleasures he has to offer.

So the best way to prepare for death is to live life to its fullest. Waste no moments. Live as Jesus would have you live.  To live is Christ, Paul teaches.  It is to preach his gospel, to spread his news, to be his hands and feet.  When you do this, death will have no sting (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).  Interestingly, living this way best helps prepare others for their eventuality as well.

What To Do When You Are Beaten By the Waves

Mike Hosey, An Elder

If you’ve ever done a serious study of Job, you know that he was inundated by wave after wave of troubles.  He lost his children, he lost his wealth, and he was inflicted with a painful disease. In the midst of these waves, his wife told him to curse God and die. Even his friends became a wave of anxiety and trouble as they pummeled him with their well-meaning – but wrong – opinions that he was somehow responsible for the rough seas in which he found himself. These waves were rocked by Satan (Job 1:6-12). His intent was to show that Job was not loyal to God.  He was trying to push Job off course.  And he probably came close a number of times.

But Job was able to withstand wave, after wave.  And in the end he triumphed over Satan because he deliberately, intentionally, on purpose refused to see God as anything but good and in charge.  In that moment when his wife told him to curse God and die (Job 2:9-10), he replied, “Shall we receive good from God and not Evil.”  In that statement, he recognized both the control of God, and God’s right to allow any circumstance in the universe. His faith in the goodness of God kept him from the sin of charging God with any wrong.  Job succeeded in withstanding the waves where Peter, who had actually walked with Jesus, failed (Matthew 14:22-23).

In the Peter story, the disciples are in a boat on the sea being beaten by wave after wave, and they observe Jesus walking toward them on the water.  Peter, in his enthusiasm steps out of the boat and begins to walk toward Jesus. But as soon as he notices the wind, he begins to sink.  Jesus famously lifts him out of the water and asks him why he doubted.  Peter had lost sight of the power of God, as well as the decisive control of God.  Job, who had never physically walked with God, and could not even see God, recognized that God was both good, and in control of everything, even his torment. Peter, miraculously walking on water just a few feet from the very God he had lived with face to face for quite some time, forgot that fact.  He saw the wind and the waves instead of the God who loved him.

When a boat is in the dark night of the storm, and is being tossed by the waves, it must keep itself pointed at the light house.  When you are in the midst of those waves, always remember, like Job did, that God has you covered, and that he has a reason, even if you don’t understand it.   

Three Ways to look at "The Way."

Mike Hosey an Elder

Jesus uses words and metaphors with great mastery! Consider how he told his disciples that he was “the way” (Matthew 14:5-7). In using that particular word he opened up a lot of different meanings to explore. Like God himself, the depths of the words of Jesus are very, very deep.  So what did he mean when he said he was “the way?”

1) He meant that he was the only way:  In that passage, Jesus tells the disciples that he is going to prepare a place for them, and that he will take them there.  Thomas asks him how they can get to that place since they don’t know the way.  Jesus explains that HE IS the way, and that no one gets to that place unless they go through him. The standard translation for the Greek word, “way,” is a road, a path, or a journey.  Because he said “the” way, and not “a” way, he limited himself as the only path. It’s very exclusionary language.

2) He probably meant for us to follow his example:  The word “way” has a metaphorical meaning in addition to its standard literal meaning. Metaphorically, it means “a course of conduct.”  For instance, the way one should behave oneself. If you walk in the way of Jesus, it means that you live the kind of life that he lived.  Ultimately, it means you submit to the will of God – just like Jesus did – and you live a sacrificial life with Jesus as your example. If you live the way a thug lives, you will live a violent, crime ridden life. If you live the way Jesus lived, you will live a life marked by sacrifice, love, communion with God, and communion with people.

By Matthias Via Wikimedia Commons

3) He might mean that he is a journey:  If you ever have a chance to go on a real journey, you will find that you are a different person at the end of the journey, than you were at the beginning of the journey.  When you walk the path of Jesus, that is when you follow his example, live a life of ministry to others, you will be changed by the work you do, the sites you see, the battles you win (and lose), and the many experiences along the way.  This journey of Jesus is part of the way that you are made into a new creature, and part of the way that your old, sinful self dies.