Devotion 1.4.17

I was watching Gary Kubiak live yesterday as he announced he's leaving the game of football.  Kubiak, a native of Houston, has been a part of the game for a number of years.  He played at A&M, and after playing behind John Elway for a number of years, he began coaching.  His head coaching years were spent in Houston and then Denver, where the Broncos won the Super Bowl last year.

Kubiak is close to my age (57), but he noted during the press conference that head coaching began taking a toll on his health.  He said that Bob McNair (Houston Texans' owner) is still a good friend of his, and the year he was relieved of his head coaching duties (which Kubiak said happens "in this game," McNair suggested he take a year off).  He went to Baltimore for a year and then "I got a call from John."  He fulfilled his potential by making Denver a champion quickly.  BUT, as he noted, he knew something had to give at the beginning of this year.  Consequently, he shifted duties to delegate some of those head coaching duties, which by game four or so, he noted, he took back.  "I just couldn't change," he said.

We seek to make meaningful change and somehow it just doesn't happen.  This time of year, the new year, is specifically a time where we take a date and say, "It's going to be the year I...."  The makers of gym wear, clothes and shoes and such, love this time of year because all the "It's going to be the year I...." typically involves health and wellness.  Sales soar and goals fail, typically by about the end of February.  Why is that?

Goals fail for a variety of reasons.  That said, what makes a goal attainable and habit forming?  Over the next few days, we will look at those goal in the context of Christian men seeking to be faithful Christian men who walk with Christ to be the kind of man, husband, father, son, brother, friend God calls us to be.

We pray that our goals, whether resolutions or goals we set during various times of the year, are centered under the knowledge that all we have is Christ's and that we do the things we do to glorify him, no matter how insignificant the action might seem to us.

Hope Men's Ministry

Devotion 1.3.17

Welcome to the New Year.  We hope the holidays, both Christmas and New Year's, were a time you enjoyed with family and those you love.

Dumpster fire.  I've heard the word quite a bit recently, especially in the sport's world.  The (insert the situation here) is a real dumpster fire.  Given the context and situations, it usually infers that it is a disaster in its impact that took a life all its own.  For example, "Tech's defense was a real dumpster fire in this game as it had no control of the game, giving Tech's offense no chance to stay in a game in which it totaled 675 yards and seven touchdowns to still lose by...." 

I'm not sure how we got to "dumpster fire" because it is used like that is a common occurrence we should all be familiar with.  I'm familiar with grass fire, because I've seen them, and they take a life all their own.  I had a friend who got the bright idea to burn his trash before we left his ranch.  As he filled the steel barrel with the trash, he doused it with gas.  The liquid went to the bottom and the fumes stayed around the various pieces of trash.  As he tossed the match in, the fumes served as a propellant and sent the trash, ignited by the match and fumes, skyward.  Suddenly, there were five men on his ranch scrambling to limit the spread of the fire from ground zero to his entire ranch with the grasses ripe to burn, dormant from winter.

However, I've had a friend who informed me last week that the dumpster in his neighborhood caught fire one night, started probably by a neighbor who cleaned out a fire place and an ember or two were not out entirely.  Upon hearing about the outcome, I've since accepted the use of "dumpster fire" for situations that seem to have no control over them (the plastic lids melted by the heat of the fire) as he noted the fire department got there and just limited the spread of the fire by hosing down the perimeter.

Christ came into this world in a potential dumpster fire.  Mother pregnant out of wedlock.  Engaged husband decides to leave her rather than follow through with charges and potential stoning. God intervenes through his angel.  While traveling with a  very pregnant Mary for a census in Bethlehem, she delivers while they cannot find a hotel room.  Now, as we celebrate events after the birth of Christ, wise men seek him which enables Herod to begin his search and destroy mission, as God again intervenes.

Our savior, our king, came into the world in a less than royal environment.  God intervened to limit this potential "dumpster fire."  This is true for our lives as well.  Whether or not we care to admit it, we sometimes are one step away (or one foot already in) a potential dumpster fire, and yet our God intervenes.  He delivers us from our own calamity by giving his Son as a free gift.  As we begin this new year, we give thanks for our savior and the salvation he gives us in our lives, our own personal dumpster fires.

Hope Men's Ministry

Devotion 12.23.16

God chose shepherds to reveal the birth of his Son to the world.  Why?  Why not the spiritual leaders in the synagogues who would be interested in the Messiah coming to earth?

We aren't told, so we cannot create God's meaning in the absence of an explanation from scripture, but the response from the shepherds may be all we need to know.  The angels come and inform the shepherds of Christ's birth.  "You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel a heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and good will among men!' When the angels went away from them into heaven, the said to one another, 'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.  And they went with haste...." (Luke 2:12 - 16)

The shepherds heard the word and responded immediately without thought.  Today, we hear the Word of God's Shepherd, sent to tend to His flock.  "'Simon (Peter), son of John, do you love me?' Christ asked. 'Yes Lord, you know that I love you.' Christ said, 'Feed my lambs.'" (John 21:17)  Christ would ask two more times and would tell Peter to "tend" or "feed" His sheep.  We are Christ's sheep. 

Christ responded to the Father's will and gave his life as the ultimate sacrifice.  We, his sheep, receive the gift of eternal life because of our Shepherd.  We respond to this without thought as well, responding to the love of Christ.

Have a truly Merry Christmas in the name of Christ whose birth we celebrate at this time of year!

Hope Men's Ministry

Devotion 12.22.16

The salt of the earth.  A phrase used to describe someone who is just a great person, known for giving someone "the shirt off his back," friend or even foe alike.  The salt of the earth works hard to provide for his family, and usually, these "old salts" are shaped physically by the work they do.  Their hands show they are working men.  Their faces are hardened and cracked by exposure to the elements, and yet there is a firmness to their features that is warm and friendly.

The salt of the earth comprises most of this nation's population.  If graduation rates are an indication of profession, only 25% of this country possesses a college degree.  So, much of the work to feed, clothe, build infrastructure, homes, places of business, and other such activities falls to these "old salts."  They aren't less than people who possess higher degrees or white collar jobs, but those in white collar positions aren't better than the working man either. 

God makes a statement by who He goes to and informs of the birth of Jesus.  While we cannot create a theology in this, it is telling that God sends his angels to shepherds.  As is noted in Luke in the King James version of the Bible, "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, an the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel of the Lord said unto them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:8 - 11)

Shepherds?  Not the learned of the day?  The angels didn't go to the temple and say to the spiritual leaders the Messiah was here?  They didn't descend on Rome or other political leaders and say, "The new king is here?"  No, God chose shepherds.  God chose a shepherd boy to defeat Goliath, and now God chooses his Son to be our Shepherd to save us from sin and death. 

As we grow near to the day that represents our Savior's birth, we rejoice in our Shepherd, Christ Jesus, and all He does for us in our lives.

Hope Men's Ministry

Devotion 12.21.16

Favorite Christmas memory?  This year will mark Christmas number 57 for me, so asking me that question is difficult.  From my own childhood?  From my early adult life?  Early marriage?  That point where I became Santa with our own children?  One favorite memory for me was on Christmas morning, and the kids were about 2 years old.  We were back in our house after having Christmas in a rental house the year before after a tornado hit our home in November.

Fisher-Price theme toys were the order of the day, and Santa had brought our son a pirate ship and our daughter a farm.  Captured on video, our son sat mesmerized with his toy, and our daughter sat opening and closing the barn door, attempting to capture the source of the "moo" that occurred with each opening.

Children cause us to view Christmas differently, their excitement of the entire season.  Pastor teases the excitement each Sunday with the Advent Wreath, which is used to mark observations, but Pastor knows what's on the kids' minds:  How much longer until Christmas?  So, from four Sundays down to the final candle and the next candle is the Christ candle which is lit on Christmas.  We add to the excitement with calendars (we had one in our home) that observe the month of December and have a prayer for each day before Christmas.  We decorate and begin to put gifts under the tree. 

Yet all of this is designed around a very simple message that we need to remind ourselves of as the season unfolds. "For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11)  As we prepare for this day, this simple truth should be part of our daily routine.

Hope Men's Ministry

Devotion 12.20.16

A phase of the election process we probably either didn't know exist or rarely paid attention to, the Electoral College, is over as they met yesterday in their various state capitals to cast their ballots.  We know of this process and sequence this year because the election for our president in the United States has been less than traditional this past year or so.  What we learn as men of faith is that we are fallible creatures after the fall of man, and this fallibility invades every aspect of life, from governing ourselves as individuals to governing at all levels.

This certainly played itself out when Christ entered the world, a very hostile world under a most cruel system.  Rome and the Romans used iron fists to rule and they used regional kings and governors to enforce a rule that was designed to send a clear signal. 

Consider the hostile environment Christ was born under King Herod, whom the Study Bible notes was named king of Judea by the Roman Senate in 40 BC.  In Matthew 2, Herod learns of the birth of the "king of the Jews" from the wise men.  After hearing this, Herod summons his chief priests and scribes who inform him from the book of Micah, "And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah... for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people." (Matthew 2:6)  Herod uses the wise men to inform him of this "star" that appeared above the Christ, whom the wise men were searching for.  Herod uses a line that is revealing and disingenuous:  "Go and search for the child, and when you have found him, bring me world, that I too may come and worship him." (2:8)

The wise men were warned in a dream about Herod (2:12) and Mary and Joseph were warned in a dream and fled to Egypt.  Herod then plays his hand and begins to kill all the male children in Israel, age 2 and under, to snuff out this new "king" who would threaten his rule and stability over the region.

Today we observe the birth of Christ and soon we celebrate that birth in formal worship.  However, that birth and the subsequent years were not easy, and the birth marks the beginning of the promise that is fulfilled in Easter, where we learn nothing we do can overcome our sinful nature and the Christ we celebrate gives his own life to make perfect despite our imperfections.

Hope Men's Ministry

Devotion 12.15.16

Ever have work that you just, in a word, hate?  It's part of the job that you just dread.  You work to avoid it and wait until you absolutely have to do it, or put it off until the due date no longer gives you that option.  When I was in full education career, I did.  I can give you examples, but why?  You have them as well.

Imagine my surprise recently when my former boss and I were talking at a social engagement, and he began talking about some work at the office.  He looked at me and said, "I wish you were here to meet with (a person they contract with, not an employee) and to help him/her develop these reports.  He/she has no idea what they (the body making the request) expect.  You could probably help her."

That made me think about the frame of mind we have when we approach a task, including those we detest.  The task my former boss mentioned was one I did not look forward to, but apparently I did them to a level he liked or he wouldn't have said what he said.  How do we approach those things that are burdensome?

Imagine Mary, who has been told she's having a child who is God's Son.  Imagine the burden she must have felt when, at a young age, she becomes pregnant and is informed by an angel it is the Holy Spirit that has delivered this pregnancy to her womb (Luke 1:35).  Mary's response is best shown later after going to stay with Zechariah and Elizabeth, pregnant with John.  John leaps in the womb and Elizabeth praises Mary among women.  Mary's response, now known as "The Magnificat," tells of Mary's frame of mind:

"My soul Magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked o the humble estate of his servant.  For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name." (Luke 1:46-49)  The full Manificat is Luke 1:46-55.  I encourage you to read it because it reveals the humility that Mary views the pregnancy of our Lord Jesus Christ with, and the blessing she feels God has bestowed upon her.  What could be a burden is seen as a blessing.

Pray that we approach all God gives us is viewed as a blessing and not a burden.  Pray that we have that same frame of mind that Mary approaches her life with.

Hope Men's Ministry