Cowboys vs. Redskins - Howdy

One of my favorite TV commercials of all times was the American Express commercial with former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry when he gets surrounded by Redskins (Washington players) and coolly turns to them and says “Howdy.”

I know this may seem as if it is somewhat lacking in spiritual depth to some, but that scenario played out in my head last week as I listened to Randy Harvey, Senior Pastor of The Crossing Church and devout Cowboys fan. I thought how much we could relate to football fans if we could put the spiritual warfare in the context of a football game. Pastor Randy talked about what all winners have in common. It is that they think positive thoughts. Since God calls believers “more than conquerors” I think that safely means we can call ourselves winners too.

So enter both teams from their respective locker rooms. These two teams couldn’t be bigger rivals. The rivalry has been brewing for years as if it has gone on longer than time itself. On one side you have the good guys, riding in on their horses. On the other side you have the bad guys with their angry red colors and warrior symbols. This is going to be a battle for the ages. These two teams will fight as if they are fighting for all of mankind.

As the battle begins, the bad guys strike first, right out of the gate. They have some really deceptive plays in the their playbook and the good guys fall for one on the first confrontation. You could hear the coach warning them but they decided they saw something their coach didn’t. So the good guys are behind and will play the entire game from that perspective. As the game goes on the bad guys keep pulling one deceptive trick after another. The good guys are warned by their coach just before or right in the middle of each trick play. Sometimes his players hear the warnings and don’t fall for the tricks and sometimes they recognize it only after it is too late.

An interesting thing has happened in the crowd too. Originally, they were overwhelmingly for the good guys, but they have started to cheer for the bad guys. They now enjoy the trickery and even the times when one of the players from the good guys gets taken out. In some parts of the stadium, the faithful fans of the good guys are starting to hide their faces and deny which side they are on.

But then the game changer happens. Coach Landry standing just as cool as can be during this entire game sends in the player that the bad guys didn’t know he had. Into the game he comes. Oddly enough, only a few of his players understand who this guy is. As the new guys starts to call out the trick plays from the field instead of the sideline, the players begin to listen to him and they begin to thwart the trick plays. The good guys are still behind but now they have hope and they begin to see the pathway to victory. The new guy says in the huddle, “I know you don’t know me but I am the way to victory. If you are tired of being tricked and ready to find victory, follow me. I am the only way.”

The miracle comeback is on. The good guys begin to all call out the trick plays and the enemy keeps getting more frustrated. As the gap closes and the good guys begin to redeem themselves, the crowd starts to turn back onto their side. It is as if the crowd is a heard of mindless sheep that seem to follow the side that has the upper hand. As it becomes safer to root for the good guys, the faithful followers step into the light and begin to lead cheers for their team.

The momentum has clearly shifted and the bad guys are on the run. They too bring in their secret weapon but the team is already to fired up and wise to be deceived. It is only a matter of time before the bad guys are overtaken and the good guys win. Just as predicted, the game comes to an end with the good guys being the only ones standing.

A reporter runs up to coach Landry and asks him how he kept his cool when it looked so bleak for his team late in the game. The crowd can be heard still praising their team as they file out of the stadium as the coach gives his answer. “I kept my cool because I know who wins in the end. I knew once my guys believed they would win, they wouldn’t be distracted by the setbacks along the way. The secret weapon who came into the game was my son. He knows all of the enemy’s tricks and I knew if he was on the field with the rest of the guys, they would hear him much better than they could hear me.”

How many of us have recorded our favorite sporting event only to watch it later. But the curiosity kills us so we look at the results before we watch the game? If we know our team wins in the end, it is much easier to stay cool when they are way behind in the first half. If you are a believer, I have good news for you. WE WIN IN THE END! God’s son is already in the game and he has given us all of his insight and power. So isn’t it time that you play with confidence and stop letting the small setbacks discourage you? Now that you know that you win in the end, put your pads on, pain those black stripes under your eyes, lace your shoes up tight and get out there and hit somebody with the good news.

And when the enemy shows up in your part of the field and surrounds you, just look at them and say, “HOWDY!”

Let Fear Be Your Guide

I once got the rare opportunity to drive a race car on a real race track. It was a customer relations event where I was allowed to drive the car on my own with only a few other cars on the track that was over 2 miles long. A friend of mine used to drive races cars for a living and he was helping me tighten the belts. Right before I drove off to run some laps, I asked him, “Got any last words of wisdom?” He said, “Let fear be your guide” then smiled. What a wonderful thing to hear!

Recently, I got to thinking about how fear as a guide is a relative term. Some people jump out of airplanes but I just don’t think I could do that. Why? Because of fear. But I could drive a race car at nearly 200 mph. I also ride motorcycles. Some people would never do that because of fear. So fear is a relative governor for each of us. It then hit me how much this relative fear has changed over the years. There seem to be fewer and fewer people who fear the long arm of the law. Fewer students fear the principal in their schools. Fewer kids fear their parents or have fewer parents to fear and fewer people fear the embarrassment associated with the exposure of their sins. This last one is the key to our society.

I am sure if you like to think ahead like I do, you might think that I am going to say that our society has made many things ok that were one considered to be secrets you would never tell. I remember as a kid hearing about a couple who got divorced back in the early 70’s. It was talked about very quietly and those two people both seem to disappear from the radar. They were embarrassed enough to go find a new set of friends that didn’t know what they had just done.

But that is not where I am going with this. The embarrassment someone feels when their sin is revealed is based on fear of exclusion and judgment from people on earth. I don’t fear that form of embarrassment because I am not fearful of being excluded due to someone’s judgment of me. My fear is exclusion from God and my sin is between Him and me only. Everyone who has read the bible knows that sin is always accompanied by some form of consequence. My fear is of the consequences which then drives my behavior. The consequence I fear is distance from God and being removed from his protection. I have actually led a more honorable life since I truly began to fear being removed from God’s favor and protection.

It is my belief that society has done everything they can to avoid judgment of their sins. Instead of stopping the sin, they remove the method of judgment of that sin. Many people who don’t want there to be any consequences of their sin will reject God with all they have. They will seek to legalize their sin. In all or parts of this country, it is legal to commit adultery, divorce, marry someone of the same sex and lie (while not under oath). It is almost predictable what will happen to us (the country) as we distance ourselves from any moral compass.

All Work No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy

I once got an opportunity to sit in on a meeting of Christian business owners. This forum was specifically for owners of business who want to run their organizations according to God’s principles. The leader of the group was quite a godly man and was full of wisdom. We watched a video from a Casting Crowns a Christian music group who are not afraid to put songs out there to challenge our worldly ways of thinking. This specific song was “American Dream” and talks about how a man works all day and night missing his wife, kids and life. He poured so much into his job that he was missing the things that were really important. He thought he was giving his family the finer things by making more money but he was depriving them of what they needed most in life; a husband and a father.

As the discussion went on in the group about work life balance, I was glad to hear the business owners talk about how they work hard to balance their time at work and their time with their families. There were really strong points made about how important they know it is to focus on God, their families and work in that order.

Then I asked the question: How many of you have people who work for you that seem to be there way beyond 40 hours per week. Each person in the room raised their hand. Then I said, “Don’t we have an obligation as Christian leaders to tell them to stop working so hard…to go home and be with their families? If we all feel so strongly about that, how could we let our own employees go down this destructive path?” The room fell silent.

Most of us as leaders have problems getting people to work, not to go home. Each of us likely has led someone who “works all day and lies awake at night” as the lyrics in the song say. Are we really leading if we let them work themselves out of being a husband and a father?

Consider it an Honor

I sure have my share of life’s ups and downs. While I have been through much since I turned 18, I still realize how good I have it compared to others. Since becoming a believer around the age of 40, it seems the trials in my life have come in greater numbers. I hope that doesn’t discourage anyone who stumbles across this blog and does not yet know God. But I can say that my attitude towards those trials is completely different than it was before I met God.

I once worked at one of the premiere consulting companies in the world. Just before I could make partner at that firm, the firm folded. You might be able to figure which firm but that is not important. Just before that happened I went through a painful divorce, injured my knee and dealt with other emotional issues. I was not yet a believer and these times were very hard to handle emotionally. Since then I my work life has been in a continuous state of change. I have had three positions eliminated (while I was holding them) and one that we mutually agreed to part ways. I have gone through many employment transitions and fully understand what it means to be unemployed with no vision into the future.

One day at our church men’s breakfast, I was asked to speak and give a personal testimony. Of course part of that was how I must trust that God has a plan for me and that plan is for good and not for my destruction (Jeremiah 29:11). Since God’s word is true for those who believe, then this employment fun I have had must lead to something good. Since that time, God has given me several opportunities to sit with other men who have lost their jobs and don’t have the peace that I have through God. God has trusted me to handle this the way I have and help those find their way into God’s peace.

The bottom line is the most equipped people to help you with any given problems are the ones who have gone through it before you. Whenever God is taking you “through” a life situation, He is preparing you to help others with it. You are being trained and promoted into a role you didn’t have before experiencing the hardship.

Therefore, consider it an honor that God has chosen to work through you to help one of His children find their way to God’s peace in their situation. If you can truly grasp this it makes your own personal trials look and feel completely different.

Truth or Consequences on Pornography

I once struggled with viewing pornography. For some, reading that statement might change their opinions of me. For others, reading that statement doesn’t come as much of a shock as much of our male culture has this same struggle. And for others, they already know how my life has changed since I took on this problem head on.

There are two things I want to put out here for anyone who has the same struggle or a struggle with another drug-like addiction. I say drug-like addiction because I used this addiction just like someone uses a drug, alcohol or some other disorder like excessive eating. While the symptoms might look very different, fundamentally they are all the same.

The first point is, no matter what you use to soothe your hurt and how helpless you feel against it, God looks at them the same and gives us all a very comforting Word: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

Wow that sounds great but how do I see that work in my life? One thing we know is that when we are tempted (and I know this from experience), there is a fine line between moving on from the thought and giving into the temptation. Some in the psychiatry profession will say that fine line is less than 10 seconds. So here is the “way” I used to get past those 10 seconds. I would simply say (out loud most of the time), “God, I don’t want to give into this temptation and I ask you to take it from my mind.” Just in case you are curious, if you say that sentence twice without rushing through it, it takes about 10 seconds. Sometimes, I had to say it several times, but it never and I mean never failed to work. God tells us He is the way. I have no doubt about that.

The second point is, you should think about why you don’t do certain things that you know will cause you harm. The example I use repeatedly is how none of us will knowingly put our hands on a red hot stove. This is an easy one. I know exactly the outcome if I do this. I will get burned, feel immediate pain and see the results of my mistake for quite some time. It is possible that the scars that are left may never disappear. Now take that example and understand why it was so easy (relatively speaking) to give up pornography. I finally made the connection between my actions and the outcomes.

Small doses of radiation will definitely kill us over time. We know that and none of us would put ourselves in a place where we would be exposed. We also know that large amounts of radiation would kill us very quickly. But if you don’t know the radiation is present then you will just walk into it, be exposed and suffer the consequences. Pornography for me was taken in small doses over a long period of time without anything to offset its affects. For me, it was a killer. It destroyed my ability to connect to my significant other, distorted the way God wired me to choose my mate and ultimately affected my intimacy with my wife. Like radiation, pornography affects most of us the same way. People aren’t immune to radiation and it is guaranteed that small doses will kill us. So it is with sin of any kind. God promises us that all sin leads to death. There is no doubt about spiritual death and not much doubt about how some sins will kill us physically. So why do we keep doing it?

Back to the example of the hot stove. For those of us who are married, we have become one with our spouses. The bible talks about how our flesh is our spouses in both directions. So is it possible that I put my hand on the hot stove of pornography and feel no pain, but my wife’s hand is burned beyond recognition? Absolutely! I have heard many women talk about the scars they have from their husband’s porn habit. My wife still shows some of the scars of my habit and it has been almost five years since I last viewed it.

I have no doubt it hurts her greatly and our relationship is scarred by pornography. Knowing that, it is an easy decision. And your marriage is no different. Now that you know that, what is your decision?

The Set Up

Those of you who know me personally know that I have had a real roller coaster ride in my professional career since the implosion of Arthur Andersen. It seems I have had the worst luck when it comes to the number of sweeping layoffs and timing that anyone could have. But my luck is nothing compared to the story of a man named Lazarus found in John 11.

I remember very distinctly driving home from my last day at my last job. I was just notified, without any advanced notice that the region I led for the oil field services company was being merged with another and I was the new guy and odd man out. I had just accepted this position four months earlier and couldn’t have felt I could find a better job for me. On one of the freeway exit ramps, I said, “Ok, God. I don’t get this. Why didn’t you keep this from happening?” After all, I am a faithful servant, tither and generous giver. Why does stuff like this happen to me? I felt very distinctly and with as much love and compassion He knew I would receive, I heard Him say, “I know you don’t get this. But if you had enough faith you wouldn’t need to understand.” Gosh, I hate it when that happens.

You see, I had already had enough witness about keeping a good attitude while being unemployed and we really considered this last job to be a gift from God. I had no oil field services operations experience yet was hired to lead an entire region. The job came as the economy was dropping like a rock and the energy industry was slowing tremendously. It sure didn’t make worldly sense that I got that job.

So back to the parallel from the story of Lazarus. About a week after I was laid off, I was playing Bible roulette and opened it up to John 11. Please read that story since I am not going to put it all down here. Here is what struck me about the story. Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary. He knew that Lazarus was sick but didn’t come to his rescue before he died. At least three times in the story, the people in the story said that Jesus could have kept this from happening had he been there. This is exactly how I felt. How many times have we said, “God? Where were you and why did you let this happen?” As believers, we so much want to be spared the pain of life. After all, we are believers in the God of the universe so we know He could keep anything from happening with just a word. But if he healed Lazarus when he was just sick would that have been a miracle. Surely not in today’s society. It would be called medicine.

So the story goes on that Jesus calls Lazarus from the grave four days after he has been dead. A good friend of mine likes to say that he surely stinketh by then. I know that when I go through tough times, after a certain amount of time, I begin to reek of my troubles. But Jesus called him out from the dead and Lazarus appears from the grave.

How much can you relate to how Lazarus’ friends felt? If Jesus had just come when he was notified, this never would have happened. But neither would the miracle. God still performs miracles for us every day. However, it is easy to forget that miracles can’t happen unless there is a crisis. If there is any way that we can explain something in worldly terms, we will do it. Even the strongest of believers fall into this trap. I know I sure do. So the next time a hardship falls on you, start looking for the ways that God will turn this into good in your life or in someone else’s life. Feel honored that He has chosen you to tell the story of how God performs great works in your life. Feel trusted by God to use this hardship in your life to spread His good news. You can bet Lazarus told a few people about what happened to him.

From Porn To Pure

A recent reply by God’s Speed to one of my posts brought about another thought that has kicked around in my head for some time. It is the affects of receiving the Holy Spirit in your heart. The Holy Spirit which was left to us to take the place of Jesus is the one who urges us to do right instead of wrong. The Spirit lives in our hearts after we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

So if we have God (in the form of the Holy Spirit) living in our heart, why do we continue to sin? For several years, I helped minister to men who were suffering from sexual impurity. I came with strong credibility since I had viewed pornography since I was in my early teens. I continued to do so into my 40’s and after I had accepted Christ into my life. I had hated this habit of mine for years but just couldn’t get beyond it. Then, it happened.

I was dating the woman who is now my wife when she came to me with a look on her face that I will never forget. She had found out about my sin and was not willing to have that as part of her life. So either my habit had to go or she was gone. At that moment, my head which is the part of me that decides what to do was convinced. My sin is a problem. While my heart had been telling my head that for a long time, my head wasn’t convinced until I understood the cost and/or consequences of my sin.

In an instant, the decision was made. I was done with pornography. Just as I learned that putting my hand on a hot burner would cause pain and consequences, I learned that my sin has consequences I was no longer willing to experience. What I also learned was that when two become married, the two become one. Using my hot burner example I realized that my sin might not burn my hand but would cause enormous pain on my wife’s hand.

Since the day my heart and head aligned I have been done with porn. That was almost half a decade ago. My prayer for those who suffer from porn addictions is that through some seemingly small event their hearts and their heads become aligned and they are free from the bondage and consequences of pornography.

If you need help with this issue a great place to start is www.xxxchurch.com or you are welcome to contact me.