Philippians 3:13-14
“One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

I wonder if Paul, as he wrote these words, was remembering the day he stood by and watched Stephen be killed or the days that followed when he was a great persecutor of the early Christians.  Surely he regretted his actions. 

Maybe it was the last day of the year and he was thinking back over how he had lived the past 365 days.  In his mind, it probably wasn’t one of his better years.  Maybe all kinds of feelings were swirling in his head — shame, guilt, …

Then, under the great inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he put to paper the words, “Forgetting what is behind… I press on.”  Perhaps as he read back over what was written, the truth sunk in — mistakes happen… and so do miracles.

The miracle of a life transformed.  Changed.  Renewed.  Restored.  Set upright again… and called… by God.  Called onto the divine playing field to run some pivotal plays for God’s team. 

Don’t think you’re off the team because you made some mistakes in 2007.  Don’t think the sidelines are your place either… that God won’t use you to make a run for the goal line anymore because you fumbled in some previous quarter.  God doesn’t coach that way.  God’s playing field doesn’t have sidelines or benches or even bleachers.  It’s all field, all the time.

As 2007 comes to a close, make sure you’ve learned its lessons… and then forget about it.

As 2008 comes to an open, come out and play.

I had to be in north Austin early the other morning.  The coffee had yet to pierce the glaze on my eyeballs when I stumbled into the truck.  As I turned onto the interstate, the defroster hadn’t warmed up enough to manage the whatever that is that was on the windshield.  As it did, that level of unclearness only beget the next, morning fog.  I pressed forward though, knowing I was at least going in the right direction.  By the time I reached the county line, the fog broke, pierced by the rays of a star some 93,000,000 miles away.

Then the brain began its day, firing for the first noticeable time thus far.  A verse came to mind, a parallel to the realities that had now become the history of this particular Saturday in the life of me.

“We don’t yet see things clearly.  We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

For me, that says I don’t understand much at the moment, but I am looking, intently, peering and squinting.  I’m seeking.  I’m walking in the not fully known, but not unknown, engulfed in it.  Although my sight is not perfect, there is enough vision to go forward.  In all, it’s really rather cool.  One step at a time, squinting and peering through… and seeing.

You?

“If you live to be 100, I want to live to be 100 minus one day, so I never have to live without you” (Winnie the Pooh).

Let me ask you a question: Where is Adam while the serpent is tempting Eve? 

Answer:  He’s standing right there: Genesis 3:6 says, “She also gave some to her husband, who was with her.  Then he ate it too.”  The Hebrew for “with her” means right there, elbow to elbow.  Adam isn’t away in another part of the garden — he has no alibi.  He is standing right there, watching the whole thing unravel, knowing full well they were not supposed to eat from that tree, period.  And what does he do?  Nothing.  Not a huge concrete structure that holds back large amounts of water thing.  He says not a word, does’t life a finger.  He won’t risk, he won’t fight, and he won’t rescue Eve.  Our first father — the first real man — gave in to paralysis.  He denied his very nature and went passive.  And every man after him, every son of Adam, carries in his heart now the same failure.  Every man repeats the sin of Adam.  We won’t risk, we won’t fight, and we won’t rescue Eve.

Or will we?

Men, you are by true nature risk takers — explorers, builders, conquerors.
You are fighters — Life ain’t no sitcom or soap opera; it’s a world at war for our souls — yours, mine, your wife’s, your kids,…  Braveheart is you.
And men, you long for a beauty to rescue.  It’s hardwired in your spiritual DNA.  You want to be her life saver, life lover, and prince.

Boys, will we be men?
Will we step up and man up?

Everything is at stake her fellas.  If you’re tracking with what I’m saying, but you’re not quite sure what I’m meaning, dude… call a man meeting and spill your guts to the other guys.  Some of them may be confused too, but this can be figured out.  Adam blew his chance and look what has happened.  Don’t let your marriage or your kids be devastated like that. 

Risk.  Fight.  Rescue.  It’s how God made you.

(Adapted, edited, embellished, and otherwise from, Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul, by John Eldredge).

One day (at Band Camp…), Jesus decided it was time to enlist some others in his mission to save/redeem/rescue the world.  He took a walk down by the sea, saw some fishermen, and asked them to come follow him… and he would make them fishers of men.  Apparently the fellas didn’t think that was a weird statement at all — Scripture says that, “At once, they left their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4:20).

( I wonder if he asked any other professionals and got turned down.  I mean, I doubt it… since he’s God and all… and knows like a bunch of stuff… like who to ask… but I still wonder.  Sorry.  Geez, why you gotta be that way? ) 

Anyhow, now that you got me off track… I think there’s a little something something to be learned from the men that fished.  Here it is:  They were living their lives, going on about their business (fishing, that is), and then decided to close out that chapter and start a new one. 

See, your life is a story too with a new chapter soon to be released.  The nifty thing about the book that bears your name is that you are both a character and an author.  Yes, that sounds a bit like an auto-biography, but not really — As you write your book, you’re not writing from the past to the present, but from the present to the future.  You are writing the next moments of your life.  You choose the stories that define and create your life.  In large part, you choose the chapters.  And perhaps even better, you can edit out unwanted stories before they are ever written.

So, what are you going to write about this year?  If you could outline your life for the next 12 months, what would the main headings be?  Themes, plots, other characters, …? 

Write the story.  It’s your life.  Live it… deliberately.

And remember, you have a co-Author.  He writes well… and edits too.  Consult with Him.  Collaborate.  Co-create.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

P.S.  Which entangling nets do you need to leave behind as you go forward?

I received a gift today.
It was not found beneath a tree.
It was not wrapped.
It was a voice.
The voice of a child.
The voice of a child singing Silent Night while standing next to his fathers.
His earthly father, his Heavenly Father, and him.
The three of us, standing together… singing about the Son.

Kids are a gift from God.
(My kid to me and His Kid to us all.)

Christmas elves do not exist.  Someone has to wrap all the gifts and clean the house… and I’m running out of time…

(Being single is soooo educational…)

“Unto us a Child is born and His name is Jesus.”

It is very often the person who has been on the opposite side of good who knows the most about good.

David, the man who needed a whole lot of God’s mercy and forgiveness, wrote some of the best praise and worship songs… about a merciful and faithful god.

Paul, the guy who helped kill the first Christian martyr and harshly persecuted the church, later wrote the premier theological treatise on God’s grace, the book of Romans.

The Bible is peppered with these people.  Bad… who discovered good… and taught the rest of us from their experience.

You learn some things while you’re off the narrow road… hopefully.

In light of some of the other stuff I wrote in this meandering blog, one of you wise guys asked me to define sex.  At first, I was a bit torqued by such a request, given that I’m not married these days, but then the attitude waned and the challenge of it all set in. 

I discovered that it’s not exactly something you can find in a theological dictionary, nor is Wikipedia worth consulting.  The whole concept is apparently quite divergent and even disturbing to many out there.

How about this?

Sex is not the search for something that is missing, as some make it out to be.  Rather, it’s the expression of something that has been found by two people.  It’s the overflow of the love that exists between them.  It’s a celebration of their living love. 

Your thoughts?