All that I have is Thine
Luke 15:11-32
The prodigal son is a familiar parable for many Christians. Two sons live with and work for their father. The younger son grows weary of the predictable schedule and desires to live independently of the structured life his father provides. He asks for his inheritance money, moves to a distant land, and wastes said money on a wild, party hard lifestyle.
Eventually his funds dwindle away, and a famine comes over the land. He joins the citizenship of that country and becomes a hired hand on a pig farm. No one would share food with him, so his meals consisted of whatever feed the swine would split with him. Realizing he does not have to live in such terrible conditions, he returns home.
His father see’s him coming down the road from afar off, runs to meet him and welcomes him back with joy and love. His father gives him a ring, a robe and plans a feast in honor of his return. The elder son is angered by this and expresses his frustration to his father. The oldest has never transgressed against the father and seemingly the younger son is rewarded for his foolishness.
The father says to his angry child, “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.”
Forgiveness is a wonderful gift. God’s grace and mercy are things that we should thank Him for every minute of every day. I don’t know of anything greater than being redeemed by the blood of Christ, and having my sin debt reconciled with the Father. If the only thing God did for us was forgive us for our transgressions, He would still be worthy of all our adoration and praise.
However, the Lord does not simply accept our apology and allow us entrance beyond the pearly gates, He wants us to have so much more. Ephesians 3:19 tells us that we should know the love of Christ so we can be filled with FULLNESS of God. The younger son received jewelry, clothing and nice steak dinner, but the oldest was awarded ALL, because “thou art ever with me.”
In a way, we sometimes settle for just redemption. We run from God’s presence, get “right with God”, and then repeat. I wonder if God is eager to give us so much more, but we fail to remain “ever with”, our Father. I wonder how much joy, peace, love, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Gal. 5:22-23) I miss out on because I stray from the side of my Lord and disregard the leading of His Spirit. If we weren’t so busy running back and forth between sin and God, we might be able to enjoy His presence.
As great as salvation is (and it is indescribably incredible), I believe God is so gracious to offer us more than just forgiveness and a ticket to Heaven. He wants to give us an abundant life (John 10:10), through the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the love of Christ. Stay close to God and break the cycle of sin, repent, repeat, there is so much more to the Christian life!
Summer time goals!
Summer is right around the corner! I work at a Bible college in Indiana, and my schedule in the summer is not as packed as it is during the school year. I don’t want to sit around all summer and accomplish nothing! I want to make the most of this time, so I set goals.
I set goals in four different areas: spiritual, mental, physical, and fun. The spiritual goals are designed to push me towards God’s Word. Mental goals deisgned to motivate me to learn more about the world I live in. Physical goals are set to make me get back into shape. Lastly, fun goals are set so I make some new memories and remember to spend time with the people I love.
My goals are very focused and definite not broad, general statements. The accomplishment of the goals may take me on a very expansive journey, but I intend to reach a specific destination not simply head in a general direction. For example I need to get back into shape, so I set a goal of getting my weight back down to 175 lbs instead of setting a generic goal of “workout more.”
The goals are used as motivators to make me do what I should do. I’ve set a goal of reading all of the bible epistles. I set that goal to help motivate me to read my Bible. I’ve set goals to rework lessons for classes I teach, again the goal is used to drive me towards study (because a good teacher is always a good student).
The reaching of the goal is not as important as the striving towards the goal. I will not be overly dissappointed if I fail to reach all of my goals this summer, I will be if I fail to put in the effort.
Set some personal goals, family goals and career goals, and use them to motivate you to become a better you.
Use It or Lose It
I’ve recently re-started my training regimen (more like re-re-re-started), of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay thai, and boxing. Usually when I’ve been off of training for a while I like to start with some light sparring to see where I am and what I need to improve on. My recent sparring sessions have been an eye opener! My reaction time is much slower, my footwork is very clumsy, and I had a hard time imposing my will on my opponent whether standing up or grappling.
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Larry Staab teaches many coaching and physical education classes and often uses the old maxim, “use it or lose it.” Simply put, if you refuse to stay active in the sport of your choice you will eventually fail to excel at it. Any coach or martial arts instructor I’ve ever worked with has, in one way or another, told me nothing can replace gym time. Honestly, many times the difference between competitors who lose and win is the effort and time they put in at training. Many times fights are not determined by the technical knowledge but by the training discipline of a fighter.
I think that many areas of life are similar, if we refuse to do the things that make us successful in those areas we eventually fail. There are certain things as Christians we can never neglect otherwise we will see deterioration in our skill to live life to at its fullest.
1) Bible Study
Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
We need to understand how God intends for us to live, and we will never understand that to the best of our abilities without study and meditation of the scriptures. Our relationships and ministries fail many times because we are not following the principle of seeking Biblical wisdom.
Wisdom is found in the constant seeking of truth. I don’t know if we will ever come to the place where study is not necessary. Study exposes us to truths we’ve never encountered or different applications of truths we’ve known for years.
Proverbs 3:35 “The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.”
2) Conscience Application of Biblical Truth
Matthew 7:24 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:”
Along with the seeking of Biblical knowledge and wisdom is the effort to live out the truths we’ve discovered. There are hundreds of sports analysts and fight fans who have a head knowledge of many techniques used in brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA. They know the difference between the omoplata shoulder lock and the gogoplata chokehold, however they lack a real practical knowledge because they do not train. They do not apply the head knowledge to real life action.
James admonishes us that “faith without works is dead.” We must act out forgiveness, love, compassion, mercy, patience, charity, praying for the sick, exhorting, teaching and preaching, etc… The Bible must be my standard of operations. I must let its principles and commands determine my daily actions.
3) Listening to Bible Preaching
1Corinthians 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”
There are many reasons to listen to Bible preaching. One of the best reasons to listen to others preaching is that you get to use their brain and their study time to learn more Bible truth. You will not be limited by your comprehension abilities, and your study skills if you will listen to others teach on the Bible. This should not replace your own personal study but is just another training tool in your spiritual gym. Be humble enough to admit that there may be other people out there who understand some portions of scripture better than you do.
Overcoming Writer’s Block
Image by Rennett Stowe via Flickr
Many times a blogger, such as myself, will come face to face with writer’s block. It is an awful situation! You want to get a thought out, but the words are just not coming, or words are coming, just not any great thoughts. Here are some quick thoughts on hurdling this dreaded obstacle.
1) Mental Buffet at the Local Library
Go to the library, wander the aisles and find book title’s that catch your attention. Read a page or two and move on. You are allowing your mind to sample different flavors and hopefully it will like a phrase or paragraph that will spark some ideas for writing.
2) Read About Something You Have a Passion For
Read about a subject that get’s your emotions running. It is amazing how fast my mouth moves when I am mad! When I get stuck, I find something that lights a fire in my heart, which heats up the burner in my brain. Start reading about something you have strong opinions about, and hopefully your opinions will end up in print.
3) Do That Thing You Do To Get Good Ideas
I have good, clear thoughts after I workout, train, paint, sketch or do physical labor. I get a lot of sermon, lesson and blog ideas while I’m working in a yard by myself. I don’t know why my brain works that way, but it does. Find out what it is that you do prior to all you great ideas – and then do it! Maybe it’s a walk in nature, or a drive through the city, find out what puts your brain in that good place where ideas are born.
Also, if all else fails: write a blog about writer’s block.
Man Up and Get a Job
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Flip a burger, dig a ditch, push some paper, mow a lawn, drive a truck or stack a box. Get a job. I worked at a fishing wharf when I was 17. One day I scraped seagull poop off the tin roof. It took me 10 hours and I didn’t go home and cry about it. May be the best $5.75 an hour I ever earned.
Deliver a stinkin’ pizza.
I feel bad when people lose their jobs. If I lost one, I still have two more to fall back on. I wonder why I have three jobs and some guys can’t get one. I wonder what the ratio is between available jobs in America to able bodied men. I wonder if you the people who have time to read this are unemployed.
Fill out an application… NOW!
If I wasn’t a preacher I’d want to be on Deadliest Catch or Dog the Bounty Hunter. Those are awesome jobs.
Some guys have wimpy jobs, but I don’t say anything because at least they have a job. Man up and get a job!
I’m looking for a couple more…
The Pain of Bible Study
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Image by Wonderlane via Flickr
I often ask younger believers, “why do you not read your Bible?” I get all kinds of answers: too busy, can’t wake up on time, it’s boring, I don’t like it, I don’t understand it, etc…
Most of the time those are simply excuses and are not the true answer. The Bible is a sword, it is a weapon that can inflict pain. It cuts deep past the skin and flesh down to the soul and heart. We do not read the Word of God because it hurts.
It hurts our conscience, it reminds us of our personal failures and sin. The Bible is a cleanser of our soul, and too often we act like whiney 5 year old boys that refuse to take their bath.
We don’t want to read about what God expects from us, because we don’t want to feel obligated to laws and precepts that God holds us responsible for. Labuguenology states that if you know how to read and you live in America, you have a high accountability to the Scriptures. We sell Bibles at Dollar Tree!
The ancient proverb holds true concerning study of the Book; no pain, no gain. Growth in your life as a believer will occur when you can face the mirror of the Scriptures and deal with all the flaws you see. It may be hard at first, but you’ll be glad when you see the results. It’s the literary version of p90x.
Read your Bible.
Man Up!
Cover of The Delta Force
Man up. I won’t wear pink, purple or any shade thereof. I don’t have to prove I’m secure in my manhood by wearing girly colors. I like camoflauge. I don’t mind if my clothes get dirty. I don’t like low rise jeans.
I eat beef jerky, not turkey jerky.
I’m a man and I’m not ashamed I am. I’m not the idiot husband from your average sitcom family. I’m not scared of my wife. I’m not an overgrown adolescent. I don’t relate to you sitcom-bumbling-idiot-dad.
I don’t have a bff.
I’m a man. If I had my way your pre-school and kindergarten teachers would’ve been John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. I didnt want to have a “suite life” like Zack znd Cody, I wanted to be in Delta Force like Chuck Norris.
I shot a squirrel last week.
Man up. I attend a brazilian jiu-jitsu class. I’m in touch with my inner warrior \gladiator \samurai \ninja \ soldier \commando. Compete. Join your church softball league or community kickball league. Get out and get your athlete on. Man up.
Welcome to my new website section: Man up.
I hope you do.
Where’s my Blue Belt
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Jiu-jitsu class is always rough when you haven’t been in a couple of weeks. It doesn’t get any better when the instructor decides to skip the lesson and have us spar the entire hour. It’s August, the uniform makes me feel super hot, and I’m not in tip-top shape.
My first partner gave me a rough time but I fared well. The second looked and sounded like he was a 12-year-old, but he had this massive tatoo on his leg! I caught him with a triangle choke and started gaining some of my confidence again. My next partner was a state trooper (a big and scary state trooper). I submitted him twice!
My last opponent didn’t offer much of a challenge at all. I felt like I had dominated him from the very beginning. After 2 rounds, we were both happy. I was happy with my performance and he was happy it was over. With the end of the second round class was officially over.
We all sat on the mat feeling very tired and awaiting announcements from our teacher. Before any announcements were given, our instructor was going to award a blue belt promotion. This is a huge promotion for us because it is our first. Everybody was excited to find out who was the recipient.
The new blue belt was the man I had just finished mopping the floor with! He was surprised and I was puzzled.
I drove away from the gym a little confused and remembered a statement made to me by one of the older students a few months back. I was about to spar with a purple belt, and made a comment about how I was about to get killed. His reply was, “Mike, purple is just a color.”
I don’t attend class so one day I can wear a specific color belt. I can go to any martial arts supply store, pay $9.99 plus tax, and I will own a black belt. Colors don’t make your arm bars better. I go to class to gain knowledge and improve my game, not to worry about the color of my belt.
Working at a college I sometimes see students rushing through school to earn their degree. I am 153 % for students finishing school and earning their degrees. However, just as the color of my belt doesn’t make me any better a jiu-jitsu player, a piece of paper in itself will not make you anymore prepared for your future.
A belt is supposed to represent my accumulated knowledge and ability to perform my techniques. I guess in life it’s pretty important to be everything you want people to think you are.
Re-run Meetings: The Death of a Motivated Worker
Ever sit in a meeting and become overwhelmed by the strange, surreal feeling of deja-vu? The conversations, questions, tasks, and “new” assignments are all too familiar. You may be the victim of a re-run meeting. This is a meeting in which the conductor has no recollection of the previous meeting on the same subject and must redo all the work which was accomplished in the prior meeting. Translation: WASTE OF TIME.
Image by code_martial via Flickr
It is already hard enough to motivate our followers, so why deflate any good spirit they have by running a repeat meeting. Meetings are supposed to motivate productivity, not set a bad example of it. The re-run meeting will breed a disrespect for any future meetings you schedule and ultimately a disrespect for your leadership.
Here a few helpful guidelines to prevent the re-run meeting:
1) Have someone take notes.
How hard is it to have an employee bring their laptop to a meeting and record all decisions and task assignments? Now you have a record of everything decided, and you don’t need to re-figure it out in the next meeting.
2) E-mail copies of the notes to everyone in the meeting.
Within 24 hours every attendee should have a message in their in-box concerning the meeting. This lets them know that what was decided is still on your mind and you expect to be on theirs.
3) Prior to your next meeting contact everyone who has an assigned task.
Let them know that you are expecting an update and results. In the next meeting the first few moments will be used to review work assignments, assess progress, and adjust the game plan or formulate a new one if needed.
If it is important enough for you to pull your workers away from production to meet, then do it right. If you run too many re-run meetings then your good workers might just end up changing the channel.
3 Small Steps Towards Better Health
Everybody wants more energy, to lose some belly fat, and to not be scared of the bathroom scale. We all know how important our physical health is, but many of us fail to do anything to improve it. We see the infomercials full of six-pack ab toting young guns and compare it to our… more well-rounded appearance,and become discouraged.
Instead of getting discouraged get going! Maybe you don’t have an hour a day to give to exercise, or you refuse to give up your favorite fast food, but start taking small steps in the right direction. I believe something is always better than nothing. If you would make small changes in your diet and habits, you may see big changes down the road.
1) Drink More Water
I read an article that stated 75% of all americans are chronically dehydrated. I talk to a lot of people about their diet and I’m amazed at how many times people will go DAYS without drinking water! Water is in every cell in your body. Your body will function better with healthy doses of H2O. Most professionals recommend 8 glasses a day. If you need to start with 1 glass with each meal. Work your way up to 8 glasses.
2) Consume Less Sugar
We all know we should cut back on the sweet stuff… but it is soooooo good! Try this to begin with: skip out on your nightly dessert. If that is out of the question give up sugary drinks from at least two meals a day. Find different ways to replace the processed sugar in your diet. Replace sweet snacks with sweet fruits; strawberries, blueberries, grapes and nectarines are all great tasting replacements.
3) Get Physical
It is really hard to begin an exercise program when you current physical activity list consists of changing channels, walking to the fridge and reading. I suggest you find a physical activity that you enjoy and will hold you’re interest. For me it is brazilian jiu-jitsu. The class warm up, lessons and sparring all make for a good workout. I can push myself as hard as I want – or I can go as easy as I want, it all depends on how I feel!
For you it may be swimming, basketball, volleyball, running or weight lifting. The main thing is find something you enjoy and will want to do on a regular basis. The goal is not to become a professional athlete. The goal is to get you off the couch and out moving, elevating your heart rate and eventually exercising on a regular basis.
These are small steps you can take to begin improving your health. And remember, as the old chinese proverb says: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
God bless,
Mike Labuguen
