Long Obedience in the Same Direction

Eugene Peterson wrote a book by the title Long Obedience in the Same Direction. This past week, I saw this on full display.

I was with a missions team in Santiago, Chile, working on a children's center. This project has taken over eight years now, and it looks like it might be another five, depending on resources and volunteer teams; however, the missionaries are not giving up because of the significant impact this place will have on children and families in this city for generations to come.

 

One evening, a couple of us went to meet the missionary legend, Paul Hoff. Paul has trained thousands of pastors and leaders in South America through his teaching and writing. For over an hour, we sat and listened to his stories of giving his life to Jesus at age 5, his early years of learning to read the scriptures while working on his family farm in Minnesota, his obedience to the Lord in becoming a missionary, and his vision to start an independent Bible school in Chile to serve the Pentecostal movement.  He is still faithfully serving the Lord at age 94, and serving the school he founded over 40 years ago. This is a life well lived.

I have to admit, sometimes I feel like giving up when things do not happen as I had planned or as quick as I wanted. But then I am reminded by my missionary friends, God is still in control, and I have to keep moving forward. I am also reminded that my calling is more than about me, and the works God has asked me to be part of will live on far past my time here on earth.  

Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Keep moving. Keep serving. Keep loving. Keep laughing. Keep obeying.

Keith

Change Before You Have To - A Thought for Moms

I am excited about our new series, "Change Before You Have To" that we are kicking off on Sunday, April 12th. Change is sometimes uncomfortable, but authentic change can bring the life of abundance, passion, and satisfaction you've always hoped for. 

We will be using the book by Rob Ketterling with the same title and studying God's Word to see who change is possible. 

One of the people we will be studying is King Josiah (found in 2 Kings 22) and the great reforms he made in the nation of Israel. He made radical changes in order to bring the people back to worshipping Jehovah. 

What struck me as a side point, was how he got to this point. His grandfather was Manasseh, the most wicked king of Judah. His dad, Ammon, continued the wickedness and was murdered after only two years by his own servants, and Josiah becomes king at only eight years old. 

Here is a text describing him: 

"Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left."

So young and so committed. 

It makes me ask some questions: "Who taught him?" and "Where did he get a heart to follow God?" For sure it did not come from dad.

The answer is found in the text - his mom and likely his grandfather on his mother's side, Adaiah. The only thing we have to go on is that Jedidah must have been a godly woman who greatly influenced her son. 

My point - All you moms who feel like you are alone in raising your kids, you make a difference. Your names may not get mentioned often in the history books, but the lives you are impacting can change the world, just as Josiah brought about some of the greatest spiritual reforms in all of Judah's history. 

Who knows mom, maybe you are raising another Josiah - we could sure use one right now.

Keith

Leaving a Legacy of Generosity

When God wanted the Israelites to build the tabernacle, a visible place for Him to dwell in the middle of their community, He instructed Moses to receive an offering to pay for it. This was an offering of gold, silver, bronze, fabric, ect. The instruction for the offering is found in Exodus 25:1,2 and Exodus 35: 4,5. The interesting thing about this offering is that it had to come from people with “willing hearts.” One translation says, “generous hearts”. This was not a tithe, or tax or an offering that was cohered. No, this offering came from willing and generous people – people who believed in the project. In fact they were so excited to give that at one point Moses had to ask them to stop giving.

If you would like to hear my recent message on generosity, just click here. 

Generosity takes giving to a whole new level. It comes from a place of joy.

I love hanging out with generous people. They are contagious and they have a positive disposition.

This is what I know about generous people:

1. They have open eyes. They see the world from a different perspective. Their vision is higher than their circumstances and looks beyond the present.
2. They have open hearts. They not only a need, they are moved to respond.
3. They have open lives. There is room for one more in their relationship circle and are invested in what they give to.
4. They have open hands. They are simply conduits of God’s blessings. I heard someone say once, “Some people won’t let go of what is in their hand because they are afraid that God won’t let go of what is in His.” Think about this, in light of God’s hand, how small is your hand compared to His? The problem with a clinched fist is that nothing can get in either.
5. They have open ears. They have a global positioning unit hardwired into their ears and the voice that is giving them directions is God. Several years ago, Esther felt impressed to give a struggling couple the next check that came in our mail. Little did we know that the next check would be the check from her parents to help us pay our mortgage that month while we were in grad school. Convinced it was the Lord’s voice, we gave it anyway, and guess what, we still made our mortgage payment. The Lord not only used us to provide for someone else, but he provided for us. We have so many of these stories just like all generous people have.

There are two types of generosity. First there is the planned generosity. It is reflected in people’s giving above their regular giving. So many in our congregation not only give to the church, but they also give to missionaries and special projects on a regular basis. It is built into their budget every month. This kind of generosity speaks to the person’s passion. It tells us what we really love.

Secondly, there is spontaneous generosity. This reflects a person’s compassion. Sometimes it is an emotional response, but it’s usually much deeper. When a person is listening to God, He shows us places to give with sometimes little notice, but God wants to use us to respond to different needs and critical situations.

The reality of generosity is that sometimes we miss the mark and feel like someone is taking advantage of us. This will happen at some point and we have to be ok with understanding that we were obedient to God’s voice and we are giving to Him.

Generous people have a trust in God. Recently I received a phone call from a investment broker. He was convincing enough and he talked me into the next part of the conversation. He asked me if I wanted to see my kids go to college and have money when I retire and have money to travel. If course I wanted all of those things until it dawned on me that I had no idea of who I was talking to. I stopped him and said, “Wait, I have no idea who you are. If I am going to invest, I want to at least know the person I am investing with.” I hung up before his next sentence.

Generous people understand the “Big Shovel Principle.” We have a giving shovel in our hand. When we use it to bless others, God also begins to shovel. And guess what, God’s shovel is a whole lot bigger than yours. He is waiting to bless people who generously bless others. I can tell you without a doubt that every time we have been asked to give financially, God has moved in a miraculous way.

Proverbs 11:24-28, “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell. He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it. Whoever trust in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.”

Leaving a Godly Legacy

Everybody has a family tree and they come in all shapes and sizes.

Some are large and complex.





Others are simple and somewhat cartoonish.



Either way, we all have them. Some of us want to protect parts of our family tree while seriously pruning other parts. 

I believe that for all of us we want to protect parts of our family tree while pruning other parts of our family tree. While you may not be able to do anything about the people in your family tree who came before you, you can change what your family tree looks like in the future, and we all want something better for the following generations. I have never heard someone say, “I want my kids to be worse off than I had it growing up. The fact is that all of us do leave a legacy; the only question is what legacy do we leave and what fruit do you want your family tree to bear?

When thinking about a legacy, the first thing we need to think about is a good name. Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Think of the names that are passed on in history. Many of them come from the Bible, like John, David, Samuel, Mary, Ruth, Elijah, Jacob, etc. These names are passed down because the name represented some kind of goodness. You never hear someone giving the name Jezebel, Bathsheba, Judas or Ebenezer Scrooge to his or her children, and for good reason – they do not represent the goodness they want for their kids.

Here are a couple of thoughts about a good name:

A good name is built one day at a time. 

This takes intentionality and daily work. William S. Burroughs (American novelist) said, “Build a good name. Keep your name clean. Don’t make compromises, don’t worry about making a bunch of money or being successful — be concerned with doing good work and make the right choices and protect your work. And if you build a good name, eventually, that name will be its own currency."

Everything you do every day contributes toward building a good name. As a society, we are obsessed with the immediate. We are on an intense quest for the quick fix, but we must diligently manage our life one day at a time over a log period of time. Eugene Peterson says that the key to discipleship is “Long obedience in the same direction.” This is also applied to building a good name.

A good name is built on Godliness – the ability to honor God. 

If you are a Christian, your name ultimately reflects God’s name. This is about your spiritual legacy. Just like the first commandment sets up the others, “You shall have no other God’s before me.” Making God the center of your life takes care of everything else. A Godly legacy is the most priceless gift you can pass on to your children and grandchildren and it is imparted over the course of a lifetime.

A good name is built on gratitude – the ability to say “Thank You.” 

Gratitude is expressed in many ways, but it begins with two simple words, “Thank You.” Take time to reflect on all the people who have invested in your life.

Here is a quote from a recent Facebook post:

I'm starting a new series "A Legacy Journey" and the focus will be on what we leave our families. Since my dad left me no legacy, I had to look to my cousin's dads. I am one fortunate person to have grown up with so many Godly male influences around me. Brother Beahm, Uncle Jim, Uncle, Ed, Uncle Dave, Uncle Harris, Daddy John, Uncle Harry, Uncle Marvin, Uncle Tom, my Father-in-law, a bunch of professors and mentors, etc. I have many times thought about writing a book and dedicating a chapter to each of them and what they taught me. I know so many guys who have never heard "I'm proud of you." Although few of my uncles could actually express it in words, they showed it by including me in their lives. Although I hope to be able to pay some of it forward, I am so in debt to their generosity and love that I will always live in debt to their investment. Well... that's what I was getting at.

A good name is built on generosity – the ability to look beyond ourselves. 

Generosity is an intentional benevolent act of kindness that serves the benefit of others and reflects the Great God that we serve. It is a learned character trait that involves both attitude and action. Generosity is not a random idea or haphazard behavior but rather, in its mature form, a basic, personal, moral orientation to life. As generosity matures, it becomes who you are, not random. Proverbs 11:24-25 says, “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”