15 Years Old

I met a man a few days ago who had to be in his 80s or 90s. He was wearing a hat that had a logo on it that read, "Veterans of Underage." I rarely miss an opportunity to thank military veterans when I see one. This day was no different. Assuming his hat meant he was one of those men who lied about his age when he signed up for military service, I asked him how old he was when he enlisted. He response floored me. "I was 15," he said.

Immediately my mind raced back to the days when I was 15. Days when you could find me hanging out with my friends. Days you would see me playing baseball, or football, or some game on Atari 2600. Yet, here was a man who suited up in military attire, took up arms and set out to free the world from madmen like Hitler and Mussolini. What a contrast!

I can't help but wonder what his mom thought the day he came home and told her he had enlisted. To be honest, its hard to imagine. For those of us born after that generation, I truly believe we have no clue. It was a different world then. A world in which boys didn't lose themselves in a virtual gaming world. No, this was the real deal. A world in which you didn't get unlimited lives. This was a world where the blood was real and the risk was high. This was a time when heroes weren't rock stars or athletes. It was a time when our heros where boys who were willing to preserve our freedom even if it meant losing their very lives.

I didn't have time to hear this man's whole story, but I'm sure he had one that would have kept me on the edge of my seat and brought me to tears. I struggle a bit when I see men like this because I know they won't be with us much longer. What a tragedy it will be, and how much poorer we will be when that generation is no longer with us.

I look around and I see a world consumed with this idea of entitlement. A world that's screaming for their rights and what they deserve. A world for the most part unwilling to make any sacrifice to preserve the freedoms and liberties we have. Of course, I'm not referring to our military men and women of today. They are a small remnant though in a world that's forgotten what it took to get where we are. Today if a 15 year-old boy or girl were to lie about their age and enlist, the military would have a lawsuit on their hands. Yep, times have changed.

I'm not advocating 15 year-olds in the military. I'm pretty sure you'll agree that the idea of today's 15 year olds in the military is quite a scary scenario. I'm thinking I wouldn't feel all that safe. At the same time, somehow, the idea of this gentleman I met being a defender of my freedom set me at ease. Perhaps, it was the gaze in his eye and the weathered skin that told the story of a man who had been to hell and back. I'm not sure. And perhaps, my view of this man at the age of 15 is way off. Still, somehow I know that even at 15 years old, I would sleep well knowing this man was defending my freedom.

At 15, I was shooting spit wads across the room, my mom had to wake me to get ready for school and I complained when I had to mow the yard. At 15, this man was dodging incoming shells and firing at the enemy. Indeed, times have changed. I'm just so thankful for all those "Veterans of Underage," and the parents who made those incredible sacrifices. Without those heroes, it is no doubt that my life at 15 years-old would have been much different.

Thanksgiving....So, That's What This Is All About

I was out running a few errands a few days ago and had to run by the grocery store. Now, I don't know if you've ever experienced a grocery store a few days before Thanksgiving but let me see, what was the word I used to describe it? Oh yeah, "INSANE!" Wall to wall people with shopping carts fighting for space in the aisles and stretching, reaching, and grabbing for stuff. A complete mad-house if you will. This particular store had a couple of people with microphones wooing people to try some particular food item. Personally, I think it was just adding to the confusion. It took me several minutes just to navigate through the crowded produce section. And, of course, after I made it through, I realized I had forgotten something on my list so I had to fight my way back through. And that was just the beginning.

I noticed, as I made my way through the store, the looks on most of the faces I past. Not alot of holiday cheer I must say. I'm sure had I looked in the mirror, I would have seen the same kind of expression staring back at me. I was not having fun. Ok, that's a little understatement. Let's just say I could think of several places I would rather be.

As we head full throttle into the holiday season, I can't help but think with all the "stuff" we have to do, we have become so good at missing the point of it all. Think about it. I'm in the middle of a crowded store where people are purchasing their food for their Thanksgiving celebration and I can't help but think how many were missing the spirit of the holiday. I know I was for one. I remember standing there thinking, "Please, get me out of this store!" Yes, I admit it, Thanksgiving was the furthest thing from my mind. The noise, the crowd, the craziness of it all did a great job of helping me lose sight of why I was there in the first place.

I was there because of Thanksgiving. I was there because I needed to pick up some last minute things for our Thanksgiving meal. A meal that I'll share with family and friends. A meal that I'll eat in a free country. A meal that I can afford to prepare. A meal on a day that we set aside to give thanks to God for all that He has blessed us with. I'm not sure about you, but my life is good. Its extremely good. God's blessings overwhelm me constantly. I have so much to be thankful for. We all do. Even if we are surrounded by negative things right here and right now, we all have so much to be thankful for.

Our problem is that we are very good at focussing on all that is wrong rather than all that is right. I'm thinking God knew that when He inspired Paul to write, "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are noble, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things." The truth is that whatever we focus on orchestrates our life. If we choose to focus on the inconveniences, the negatives, and all our problems, we will journey through life, depressed, upset, cranky, stressed, and critical. On the other hand if we can learn to focus on all the goodness that God has blessed us with, then all the negatives pale in comparison.

One of my closest friends is bringing his mother home from the hospital today. She suffered a massive heart attack almost two weeks ago. The doctor informed the family this week that 1/2 percent, yes .5 percent of those who have that kind of heart attack live. Not only did she live, but she is alive and kicking. Also, today a couple we know is bringing home a young daughter from Ethiopia that they have just adopted. Its been a long, drawn out process, but today that journey is complete and their family of 4 just became 5. Stories like that are going on all around us and it really helps to put things into perspective. I know that not all stories have happy endings. Let me rephrase that. I know that there are some events in our lives that aren't happy ones. The happy endings are the result of what we do when those difficult times hit us. The key is in that moment, in the middle of that event, we can still choose to set our minds on the goodness of God rather than our current circumstance. Yes, we can choose to look at all that is wrong, but there is so much more good surrounding each one of us. And, if we can make a practice out of focussing on that good, it will re-order our life.

God is good! He is always good. His goodness surrounds each and every one of us. Regardless of what is going on right now in your life, it doesn't change who He is and how He relates to you. True, genuine thankfulness, is birthed in the heart of those who really know that. Over the course of the next few weeks, you'll be challenged to lose sight of the important things in life. You'll be tempted to forget what this season is all about. My challenge to you is, in the middle of it all, to remember who God is and how He's blessed your life. Perhaps, you struggle to find His blessings in your life, but you can start with John 3:16. If that was the only thing we could find that was good in our life, that alone would be worth a lifetime of thankfulness!

Lessons From The Land Of Uz

A few thousand years ago in the land of Uz, there lived a man whose life gives us some pretty powerful lessons. While reading his story this past week, I was hit with a pretty big reality check. The story begins by telling us of this man named Job who seemed to have the perfect life. He had a great family, big house, and lots of stuff. Then we are given access to a conversation between God and satan concerning Job. God brings up Job and actually brags a little bit about him to which satan replies by saying that Job only loves and serves God because his life is so great. Satan tells God that given some calamity in life, Job is certain to view God quite differently.

As I read this, I began to think about myself. I pondered for a moment how often I truly fail this very test. I started to think how quick I am to get a little miffed at God when things don't go my way. When prayers seemingly go unanswered or when I'm not seemingly under a "blessing cloud." Perhaps, you're like me. You find that praising and thanking God for all He's done comes really easy when life is good, but it becomes quite difficult when life stinks.

If we are honest with ourselves we'll admit that in those moments we are doing little more than throwing a fit. Ok, perhaps we don't lay on the floor and kick and scream like we did when we were little, but our heart attitude is not all that different. We want something and we don't get it, so we pout, get an attitude, and want God and the rest of the world to know it. Sounds like a fit to me. Crazy isn't it. The very thing we discipline our kids for, we somehow justify when we ourselves do the same thing.

God is good. He is always good. He can't act outside of good, because that's who and what He is. That being said, bad stuff still hits our lives. We live in a world that is broken. We live in a world at war. A war that is constantly raging between good and evil. Between the forces of darkness and the forces of God. Those who sit around with the idea that they are immune from bad stuff happening to them have a "Disney" outlook on life. It isn't real. Its a fantasy world that is destined to come crashing down one day.

Job's life was great, but calamity and tragedy hit hard. Like Job, it is in those moments that we truly find out about our heart. It's here we find out a lot about ourselves. In those moments, we find out if we are little more than an adult who still has the same heart as a spoiled child, or if we have outgrown the mindset that the world should cater to our every desire. Finding the ability to look beyond the garbage in life and maintain a heart of thanksgiving toward a God, who remains good through it all, shows growth and maturity along our journey. On the other hand getting ticked off at God, angry with everyone else, and mad at the world shows that we have many more mile markers to go on our spiritual journey to maturity.

Count on it, bad stuff will hit your life. Friends will wound you, relatives will upset you, and this world will hammer you. Its how you react when it hits that makes all the difference in the world. Job's life in the end was better than it was in the beginning. I truly believe that is largely a result of how he handled the calamity that hit his life. Just remember in the middle of it all, God still remains God. In the midst of life's hardest struggles, His goodness, grace, mercy, and love can still be found. If you can find nothing else for which to be thankful, those alone are fuel enough to bombard the heavens with your gratitude.

My Life Is Good. It's Real Good!

How often do we go through life taking for granted all the good in our life? So often, with me anyway, I can easily focus on the few things that are not meeting my expectations. The things that are gnawing at me, and frustrating me to no end. Those things that don't go the way I want, end up the way I had hoped, or cause me some kind of inconvenience. For whatever reason, there they are constantly bombarding my mind and clouding my outlook.

Yet, at the same time, I am surrounded by blessings everywhere. I've come to learn that it is no accident that our eyes gravitate toward the negative. It is the strategy of our enemy, to distract us from all the good in our life, by magnifying the bad that we encounter. We only need to understand that strategy and make a decision to not allow ourselves to dwell on everything that is wrong.

It is true that my life is surrounded by negative things. Things that don't go my way. But, when I take a moment to focus on all the good, I quickly realize that my life is good. It's real good! I've got a wife that is the greatest. Two boys that I consider second to none. Brothers, sisters, Mom, in-laws, nieces, nephews, that all rock. Yep, nobody at odds with one another and everyone walking in healthy relationship with one another. Now, is that awesome or what?

Then there's the beautiful VW that is paid for. Debt that will soon be paid off, a place to lay my head at night, clothes to wear, and food to eat. I feel as though I have more quality friends than I have had at any point in my life. My wife and I are leading a new church that is touching people's lives. Every time I breathe I breathe in freedom because of the country I was born in. I have running water, hot water, A/C, and electricity. I'm telling you my life is good. It's real good!

But beyond that, God has blessed me abundantly in other ways. As bad as I get, I'm always loved by Him. His mercy covered me and protected me from the judgment of a just judge. His grace restored me to a position I don't deserve and could never have earned. When I fail, I find that same grace working in me and for me. His blood washed my sins away forever, and He chooses to not bring them up ever again. He rescued me from a life that was destined for hell. He empowers me to live the type of life I could never live apart from Him. He showers me with blessings I don't even have to ask for. His goodness is evident all around me. I'm telling you my life is good. It's real good!

Perhaps, you find yourself like me sometimes focusing on those things that are negative. If so, take a few moments out and begin to focus on all the things in your life that are good. You'll begin to see that even though bad stuff is hammering away at you, there is so much more that is good. Trust me, it'll change the atmosphere around you.

There is so much more good in God than there could ever be bad in satan or this planet we live on. God's goodness can never take a back seat to anything or anyone. God is good and His goodness is evident in your life if you'll take time to look for it. Truth is that wherever you find yourself today, your life is good. It's real good!