Today we elect a new president.  Will your man be selected?  What if he’s not?

One of the disappointments to me in current culture is the disregard we have for the office of presidency.  I realize President George W. Bush is experiencing historic low approval ratings, but he is still the Commander-in-Chief.  Regardless of our agreement or disagreement with the person in office, as believers I think we have an obligation to respect the office and the office holder.  That goes for John McCain or Barrack Obama.  Tomorrow it will either be President McCain or President Obama. 

Romans 13 is clear that our responsibility is to submit to authorities.  This doesn’t mean we have to agree with everything they do or even work to change their policies.  It certainly doesn’t mean we have to reelect them in four years.  It does mean that we are to show them respect as we criticize them and as we disagree, because they are the elected leader of our nation. 

My best example of this is in my own family.  My boys may not always agree with me.  I am certainly not always respectable.  They are expected, because of my position, to always respect me.  They don’t have to agree with me.  As they become adults they may not even have to obey me, but my position as their father should garner their respect.  (I hope they are reading!)

One of the most frequent struggles Cheryl and I have encountered in ministry is infertility.  It’s a common, yet hidden pain in the church. Combine that with the fact that thousands of children are orphaned and need someone to love them unconditionally and you have a perfect recipe for one of those “I’ll never understand” things that God will have to explain to me someday. 

A solution that has worked for many is ADOPTION.  Grace Community Church in Clarksville has a free Adoption Seminar on Saturday, November 15^, 2008 from 9 AM to 12 PM.  The seminar will provide valuable information for people considering and wanting to adopt.  We will be giving professional information about domestic (independent and agency adoption), international adoption and foster care, as well as, sharing personal stories and experiences. 

This has been a historic election in so many ways, but the willingness of candidates to have fun with us has been amazing to watch. One clear winner in this election is Saturday Night Live. Have you been keeping up with the Saturday Night Live spoofs?

Click on this link to:

 Enjoy several Saturday Night Live Clips including the latest with the real John McCain and Tina Fey.  

My life has changed.  In the past few years I’ve transitioned to someone who invests in others and I have people who actually seek my advice. I know that sounds egotistical (which would not be unusual for me), but I don’t mean it that way at all.  It’s just that at almost 45 years of age, with a wealth of practical experience; including many negative experiences, I am at a mid-life stage where I have learned some things and, because I believe so strongly in sharing experiences, people sometimes seek out mine.  Looking back over my life I now think often, “I wish I had known then what I know now”. 

So, here are a few of those things I have learned.  If you are a young person, this is some advice I’d love to share with you.  You may not take it as seriously as I want you to, because I never did when I was that age, but I hope you do.  I know now that this is valuable information.  I only wish I had known it back then. 

1.      All experiences, good or bad, shape us for life.   Don’t let any of them pass you by without learning something. 

2.      Stay in physical and spiritual shape throughout your life.  It is much easier to maintain than to try and get back in shape. 

3.      If you have a strong passion to do something, (and it is honorable) be willing to risk everything to do it.  You can always recover if you fail and, if you fail, you will learn valuable lessons in the process.  Someone once said to me, ask yourself: What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?  Do that! 

4.      Never quit dreaming.  Dreams often fuel the best of life. 

5.      It goes by fast.  Let me say it again, because you read that too quickly.  IT GOES BY FAST!

6.      Things are usually not as bad as they appear right now.  Be patient, make wise decisions, and it will get better. 

7.      You will look back and wish you had done some things more and some things less.  Figure out those what those things are now and prioritize your life accordingly. 

8.      Let a few people into the deepest parts of your life. Allow yourself to be vulnerable with a select few.  There will be a time when this is needed.  (Trust me.)

9.      Make relationship decisions carefully. 

10.  Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.  (Proverbs 4:23)    

Now, I’m looking for someone in their late 50’s or older to share their list like this with me.  Anyone? 

Has a divorce in your past kept you out of church? 

“Not one person from that church has ever called me in three years.”  That was the response from the man I ran into at a store recently.  “I’ll never set foot in that church again”, the man concluded.  Sadly I’m not sure he’s setting foot in any church these days. 

Little would need to be said to convince people that divorce is a major problem in our society.  There are now more people in families that have experienced divorce than there are families never touched by divorce.  If the church today wants to reach families for Christ it must learn how to minister to divorced people. 

There are no easy answers. As a pastor who has experienced the pain of divorce personally, I feel it is imperative that we continue to teach Biblical truths and never allow our culture to dictate our teachings. (I realize there are plenty who feel a divorced person can’t be a pastor, and for that I would just say we disagree.) On the other hand, we must live within our culture and find ways to reach the people within the context of that culture.  In my counseling of people who have experienced divorce, I have learned there are a few things which are imperative for people who want to be accepted into the church following divorce. 

Don’t Be Plagued by Divorce.  Most divorced people feel that they are no longer welcome in the church. Many times this feeling is self-induced, but often it is a result of attitudes within the church.  Divorced people tell me they are often made to feel dirty in the church, rather than being ministered to with God’s grace as any other person would be.  The Bible is clear that God hates divorce, not because He hates divorced people, but because divorce hurts the people God loves.  Church is the place where hurting people belong!  You should feel welcomed into the church following divorce.  Don’t allow bad representations of who Christ is by other Christians to keep you from worshipping God. 

Find a Church of Grace.  I would never encourage someone to attend a church that doesn’t teach God’s Truth. God’s Truth, however, is that His grace is available for all.  There are churches that apply God’s grace to divorced people, while maintaining their allegiance to the truth of God’s Word.  Don’t be scared away from church by the legalistic and unloving attitudes of a few misguided Christians.

Be willing to learn from your mistakes.  Ask for help in discovering the mistakes you made in your marriage and the things that led to its breakup.  In every situation, each spouse contributed some part to the breakup.  Be willing to humble yourself and admit your part. 

Allow your hurts to help others.  One of the greatest needs in the church today is for people who are willing to be real and vulnerable before other people.  All of us can learn from the mistakes of others.  If you have been hurt by the pains of divorce, your experiences are valuable to others and to the church.   My divorce has “scarred” me in some people’s eyes permanently, but I know God has used my experience to minister to hundreds of others.

Prepare for future marriages.  When my sons each turned 16 years old they spent about 40 hours in driver’s training.  In most churches today they will be blessed if he gets ten percent of that time in counseling before marriage.  Before you consider remarrying, invest some time in premarital counseling.  If free counseling isn’t available, be willing to invest financially in professional counseling. A great marriage is worth the investment.

Find your strength in God:  Divorce is hard on everyone involved, but the recovery is much faster if the person is growing spiritually.  Even though you have been hurt by divorce, God still has a plan for your life.  It is with His strength that you will be able to recover from the pain of divorce.

As a person who watches statistics, I have wondered if one of the reasons church attendance nationally is declining is that we aren’t reaching the divorced people of society; one of the largest segments of the American population.  If you have been hurt by words and actions of people in the church because of your divorce, or if you feel unwelcome in the church, as a pastor speaking on behalf of the church, please accept my apology.  The Jesus I know from the Bible would surely not want you to be further wounded by the church He gave His life for and would welcome you to His church! 

The church should not embrace divorce, but it should certainly love and embrace the people who are being hurt by divorce and offer solutions to hopefully change the culture away from divorce.  That will never occur if the subject of divorce is taboo in our churches.  Certainly Jesus would have hated divorce.  His father does. I have often told people that I understand God’s Word when He says “I hate divorce” better than most people.  Divorce injures the people God loves so much.  I have the idea, however, that if Jesus lived in our culture He would have contacted the man who had been missing from church these past three years.  My question for the church today is this: Shouldn’t we do likewise?

Please accept my invitation today to be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ!

Here’s my can of worms.  I opened it.  Feel free to play! 

Fortune Magazine has a recent article entitled Men: The New Misfits.  The premise of the article is that in the boardrooms of corporate America men are losing ground.  While this may be welcome news to many women who have felt they were not treated equally for year, I hope the answer for this is not an attempt to “punish” men for the inequality of the sexes women have experienced over the years.  

The thought process also opens up a discussion for me of where we are in society relative to the treatment of men.  The fact is that men have been lowered to stupidity in television sitcoms for the last few years.  Gone are the Bill Cosby characters and they are being replaced with bubbling idiots who only crave sex and beer and can’t do anything without their women.  Men are seen as the absent minded, uncaring, jerks that frankly we can be at times.  I know I sound offended, but I see men being portrayed that way far more than for the positive impacts we make on society.   My wife agrees.  She has often mentioned that radio commentators, where one is a man and one is a woman, usually have fun with the woman constantly putting down or making fun of the man.  I realize this is all in the name of “fun” and being the practical joker I am surely I can take a joke, but I believe there is some seriousness to this issue. 

Ideally we should have equality among the sexes.  Each sex should treat the other with the respect all people are due.  Men have a role to play in society as do women.  My suggestion is that we all value each other. Somehow it seems to me that if we followed the mission of Christ we would avoid all extremes. 

My grandfather saves boxes; all types of boxes. Before he entered the nursing home if he emptied a cereal box, he saved the empty box.  Shoe boxes…all saved.  He loves boxes.  When asked why he saved so many boxes he would reply, “You never know when you might need them.”  That is just one example of how his life was changed by surviving the depression.  He was less trusting of others to care for him and it gave him a strong work ethic to provide for his family. 

Let me be very clear.  I don’t believe we are headed for a depression.  I believe the recovery that took 20 years early last century will happen much quicker in this economy.  We have safeguards in place that weren’t in place then.  We have a more global economy.  Change in life-cycles naturally occurs faster today than last century. 

Regardless of where we are today, however, and where we were in the early 20^th Century, there will be changes in the way people think, act, and respond to the economy.  Anytime you have this much media attention and this much anxiety paradigm shifts are sure to occur.  I don’t know if people will begin to hoard boxes again, but a crisis that has gained this much attention and a correction of this magnitude is bound to have lasting impacts on our society.  Not all of these are necessarily bad; but some will be.

Here are some random thoughts and observations I see as possibilities.  These are strictly my opinions.  Feel free to add your own.

1.      Fancy gimmicks and advertising won’t be enough to lure customers.  Companies will have to earn their trust.

2.      Community banks stand to fare better than the large, corporate banks. 

3.      Cash is back.  Southwest Air and Frontier Airlines quit taking cash onboard flights.  Will they re-think this policy now?

4.      Creative financing will be important for growing companies.  Look for a rise in independent venture capital.

5.      People will be more conservative with their resources.  This will impact the places we shop, the products we buy, and the service we expect to receive. 

6.      Look for smaller, less ornate homes to make a comeback.  The creative builder will cater to this market offering more for less.

7.      People will value those things they can trust and that are lasting. This bodes well for families. 

8.      Mergers will gain steam, as will takeovers.  The strong will survive and thrive.  (You may even see this happen in the church world.)

9.      In order to build customer loyalty and trust, look for “real” customer service to return.

10.  Look for the return of things from the past; such as hair styles, fashion, and décor. 

11.  Music lyrics from new songs will incorporate some of the emotions people have experienced over the economy. 

12.  Wal Mart and other discounters are positioned well for growth.  Other discounters could rise up and established retailers may transform themselves to become true discounters. 

13.  The risk taking entrepreneur will have tremendous opportunities in this new economy.

14.   The customer is king…again! 

15.  We will see new government regulation in our life. Think of post 9/11 and the changes that occurred in the airports; then translate that to this economic situation. 

God’s word encourages planning. Consider “Plans fail for lack of counsel” (Proverbs 15:22) and “In his heart a man plans his course” (Proverbs 16:9).  Yet two things that are equally true are that change is all around us and ultimately God is in control.  Because of the lack of control most of us have over our future and the plans we make today are likely to be interrupted tomorrow when something changes, many leaders fail to plan.  In times of economic uncertainty or rapid change, for example, leaders are tempted to forgo the planning process until things “slow down” or “calm down”.  That, however, can prove to be a fatal blow to an organization’s future.

The age of discovery and information, the industrial revolution and technological improvements all helped to usher the world into the rapid change and instant everything mindset.  A natural reaction to that paradigm shift over time is for many leaders and organizations to “wait and see” what happens, because no one can as easily predict where we will go next as a society and culture.  The truth, however, is that if change is constant and we are encouraged to plan, then somehow those two worlds must collide.  We must learn to plan for our organization’s future in the midst of rapid change.  This process may be one of the greatest challenges for leaders of this century and culture.

The wise person will always plan for change and through change.  The leader’s role needs to be one of keeping the organization true to the overall mission and vision of the organization while at the same time always being aware of changes on the horizon which could enhance or threaten the organization’s success in the future and, in the end, steering the organization through those changes. Plans today must be much more adaptable and flexible to change and more inclusive of others and their opinions if they will succeed; but plans must be made that serve to move the organization forward.  

The world is constantly changing and God does hold the conclusion to a matter, but the “wise man builds a house” carefully, through planning, hard work, and by adapting to the changing culture and environment. Don’t quit planning during times of uncertainty or rapid change!

If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. Isaiah 7:9b NIV

I’m tired of the economic news of the day.  Are you?  I’m ready for the Dow ticker to be green on my iGoogle home page!   Still, the greater concern for me has been watching how people respond to uncertainty.  We seem to be in a state of panic.

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to trust in God when everything is going well, but when a little trouble comes our way, our faith waivers? Do you think that is why God’s Word consistently tries to prepare us for the tough times of life, and why God repeats the promise “I will never leave you nor forsake you”?

Let me tell you something I have learned from Christian experience, if I do not stand firm in my faith, I will have no faith at all! I can’t be half-hearted in my devotion to Christ, or I will have no devotion at all. It is not enough just to say I believe, I have to live it out every day; through the good times and the bad. If I play with my Christianity, Satan will win in his temptations towards me every time.

I can honestly say I have had my share of hard times. Don’t misunderstand, I can clearly see evidence of God’s goodness, but the truth is my faith has been tested. I have learned this, when I plant my faith deeply in God, in His Holy Word, and when I lean on Him completely and not on my own abilities, I seem to have a strength about me that overcomes the problems of this world. I seem to be able to conquer the spirit of fear and relish in the peace and joy of the Lord.

Life today requires a firm foundation of faith!  I have learned that without a firm faith, I have no faith at all! It is all or nothing with God!