You could make a case in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. for the Greatest Champions of Faith not mentioned in Hebrews 11. Take some time to read Daniel chapter 3.
As I read this passage again, I'm reminded of the faith I strive to model. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego you could say were minding their own business and doing nothing wrong. Yet in the eyes of some they were doing something very wrong. They were not obeying the King. Today we find ourselves in difficult times. The world is very dangerous in some parts. It is very unstable in the financial markets and we would sure not want to lose our job. So it can be difficult and tempting for us to do something for our boss that would violate something unethical or something we see as morally wrong. But how do we resist? It would have been easy for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego just to bow. Even when they were given a second chance knowing their punishment would be death.
Yet it is through this death that their faith is an example for us. Are we willing to give up everything we have to follow Christ? Or just the easy things? That is the path before us each day as we strive to find the fire, and then walk into it.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
OJ Experience
I had one more semester of school left before graduation. But before that could happen I had a summer to get through. I found a job in my future field that was close to my home and it was also my first job that I had in my new career. It would be a great opportunity to apply what I've learned and also be able to add that on job experience to my resume.
My first job with this company was to help one of the veteran employees, Brian, who was needing help with a big project. It was a difficult hard labor type job that tested my limits. The blessing came from finding out Brian was a believer. During our lunch hour he would turn on the radio and we would listen to the Christian talk station. As I met the other employees after a month into this job I found out from their responses that they were surprised Brian was still on the same job from a month ago. I was young and I thought things were progressing rather well.
It wasn't until mid-July I was called into the office so Tom the owner could go over some paperwork with me. But when I arrived early I quickly found out the meeting wasn't about paperwork, rather my performance. It seems I didn't meet Brian's expectations and I was apparently expected to have more expertise (based on what school I was about to graduate from). It was a difficult situation for being only on the first rung of the company ladder. But it was even more perplexing from a Christian stand point. All those sermons Brian and I listened to during lunch time just seemed to be meaningless to him. I wondered why he just didn't approach me first before going to the owner? Or even mention how to correct something I was doing wrong. As far as I knew I was doing just what he needed done and doing that the correct way.
I'm sure in some strategic way by Tom, I never saw Brian again the rest of the summer there. I helped out the other techs and they really helped me learn some things. In fact they were more forth telling about how Brian was lazy and should have been done with that job a long time ago. I can't say I agreed with them, cause I knew the long hours and sore muscles that became my wounds from working on it. Was I really lazy or was it Brian that was actually lazy and I took the fall for him?
Maybe you've found yourself asking similar questions. You know those questions we ask, but know we really won't find out the answer. I find comfort in knowing that those who love God all things work for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. - Rom.8:28
My first job with this company was to help one of the veteran employees, Brian, who was needing help with a big project. It was a difficult hard labor type job that tested my limits. The blessing came from finding out Brian was a believer. During our lunch hour he would turn on the radio and we would listen to the Christian talk station. As I met the other employees after a month into this job I found out from their responses that they were surprised Brian was still on the same job from a month ago. I was young and I thought things were progressing rather well.
It wasn't until mid-July I was called into the office so Tom the owner could go over some paperwork with me. But when I arrived early I quickly found out the meeting wasn't about paperwork, rather my performance. It seems I didn't meet Brian's expectations and I was apparently expected to have more expertise (based on what school I was about to graduate from). It was a difficult situation for being only on the first rung of the company ladder. But it was even more perplexing from a Christian stand point. All those sermons Brian and I listened to during lunch time just seemed to be meaningless to him. I wondered why he just didn't approach me first before going to the owner? Or even mention how to correct something I was doing wrong. As far as I knew I was doing just what he needed done and doing that the correct way.
I'm sure in some strategic way by Tom, I never saw Brian again the rest of the summer there. I helped out the other techs and they really helped me learn some things. In fact they were more forth telling about how Brian was lazy and should have been done with that job a long time ago. I can't say I agreed with them, cause I knew the long hours and sore muscles that became my wounds from working on it. Was I really lazy or was it Brian that was actually lazy and I took the fall for him?
Maybe you've found yourself asking similar questions. You know those questions we ask, but know we really won't find out the answer. I find comfort in knowing that those who love God all things work for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. - Rom.8:28
Monday, January 23, 2012
E=R
Our family is a racing family. We love watching NASCAR and Indy Car races on the weekends. Even going to them occasionally and all the drama involved with the drivers and different race teams that participate week after week. It was my Uncle, who has worked in the tire industry for years, that got the racing bug in us. I remember when I was younger I was at his warehouse helping him out on a weekend. We took a break and went into his office where he had several different pictures of himself with famous race car drivers, crew chiefs, and car owners hanging on the walls. There was one picture that caught my eye, in fact it wasn't a picture at all. It was a framed piece of paper that looked like it was printed off of a computer printer. In bold letters it read E=R. I asked my Uncle what does that mean. He said it came from the legendary car owner Roger Penske. It stands for Effort Equals Results.
James 2:14-17 states: 'What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.'
There is effort involved in a racing team to prepare for their race, but their results will improve the more effort that is put forth. It is the same for whatever we are doing. Whether it be our jobs or the effort we put forth to do things together as a family. A result will equal the effort put forth. James reminds us that our works are not the result of our efforts, rather they are the results of our faith in Jesus Christ. If we understand our faith in what we read from God's Word our results will be glorifying God and not ourselves.
James 2:14-17 states: 'What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.'
There is effort involved in a racing team to prepare for their race, but their results will improve the more effort that is put forth. It is the same for whatever we are doing. Whether it be our jobs or the effort we put forth to do things together as a family. A result will equal the effort put forth. James reminds us that our works are not the result of our efforts, rather they are the results of our faith in Jesus Christ. If we understand our faith in what we read from God's Word our results will be glorifying God and not ourselves.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The Messiness of Joseph
Joseph was a young man that was highly favored by his father Jacob and God. So it can be difficult to understand how someone so favored ends up as a falsely imprisoned slave. Where’s the favor in that? How do children of God become victimized by dishonest people?
We’re promised mountain-moving faith (Mark 11:22-25) & answers to all our prayers in Jesus’ name (John 14:14). Yet we as Christians suffer, frequently at the hands of godless deeds. More often than I would like to admit, the wicked seem to prosper & the righteous seem to miss out on the prosperity. The meek don’t seem to be inheriting very much. Something seems wrong with that picture.
However that’s not how God sees things. He takes our worst predicaments to accomplish His purposes, both for our good & for the sake of His kingdom. By some means He factors human messiness into his best equations. And while he already sees the outcome of our story, we only see the obvious implications for the moment.
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