Thankful With An Undivided Heart

November 25, 2014

“11 Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.”
–Psalm 86

Jesus was always concerned with the status of our heart. No wonder. That theme runs throughout his entire Scriptures.

Here, the Psalmist asks God to teach him the ways of God. Why? So he could have an undivided heart. Why have an undivided heart? So that he can give thanks to God.

Many Christ-followers find themselves with divided hearts.

We are attracted to this thing, or that attitude. We watch TV and see the “good life”. People are attractive. Having fun. Drinking beer–all the time. Thanksgiving is all about eating turkey. Christmas, which we’ve already begun preparing for, is all about the joys of buying.

Behind the scenes of all that TV goodness are people with torn hearts. We don’t see the recovery groups, the torn relationships from self-centered indulgence, the wreck of our financial life.

We can ask God to teach us His ways so that we can enter this season with a whole heart. Thankful to God for healing us from all the wrecks we’ve had or keeping us from a certain train-wreck in the future that would result from our indulgent behaviour.

As we center on God through Jesus, by study, meditation, prayer, listening, celebrating with others, we heal the heart.

True thanksgiving comes from a healed, undivided heart.

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One God One People

November 24, 2014

“There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

I almost always have something on my person with which to take notes. I currently carry a Moleskin notebook that fits nicely in the back pocket of my jeans. Sometimes it is a 3×5 index card wallet (I write my to-do list on those for the day). If nothing else, I can use the Notes app on my iPhone.

Late last week, I had a great idea for a blog post. I didn’t write it down. It’s gone. All I have is the memory of having an idea.

The weakest ink is better than the strongest memory” — Chinese proverb

Shema

The best I remember of what I was thinking came from my reading of N.T. Wright’s study of Paul, “Paul and the Faithfulness of God.”

He pointed out in a discussion (of several hundred pages) of Paul’s “rewriting” of his Scriptures leading to developing a new Shema (quoted above from 1 Corinthians 8:6). In the Greek, God is YHWH (we pronounce Yahweh or the Latin Jehovah, Jews would not pronounce) and Lord is the Greek kyrios–a word in the original Greek translation of the Scriptures that also refers to God. An interesting thing to ponder.

While reading Wright’s key passage, 1 Cor 8-10, my eye fell on a verse in chapter 11 about women. The verse, taken by itself (which you should almost never do), contained a seeming put-down of women. But this morning I returned to the passage and read the entire argument of 1 Cor 11-12.

That passage talks about the mutual submission of men and women. Something to meditate on when considering our relationships. But that’s another topic. It continues to discuss divisions in the church (ekklesia) in Corinth.

Read 8-12 as one long argument, and you get Paul’s main point. We have one God (the Creator in the Old Testament and the Father in the New), and one Lord (Jesus in the New Testament, the person who was God revealed to the people), and one ekklesia (gathering of people).

When we gather as a people of God, contention is not a Spiritual gift. It is not to be allowed. Social differences are to be put aside. Political differences are to be put aside. Personality issues are to be put aside. We worship the one God through the One who revealed God to the people as one people.

Imagine the letters Paul would write today to all of our churches about this core teaching of his. He’d need an army of admins to compile the email database to send us all the reprimands that we need and the instruction we need.

One God, One Lord, One People. Remembering that daily is perhaps the fundamental Spiritual Discipline we need today.

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Take Time To Be Grateful

November 21, 2014

This week I had a birthday while I was away at a conference. Some people knew and said something. I just said, well it’s just another day where I am thankful to be up and breathing.

Then I thought, well that is something to be grateful for. Maybe I should just pause right there and say a little prayer of gratitude for being alive, mobile, and alert.

Being grateful begins with that attention and reflection. Something good happened. I paused to recognize it and place my attention there–even if only for a few minutes. Then I reflect upon the thing for which I’m grateful.

I have a “to-do list” manager. Permanently on the task list is the note–practice being grateful. Every day when I scan my list of things to do, there it is. It forces me to stop in the midst of my hurry and think of something for which I’m grateful.

Sometimes it’s just for social interaction. Sometimes I wonder if I was born with some level of autism or Aspergers or something. I was pretty socially isolated as a youth and young adult. Studies show that being socially isolated is not good for your health.

Through business I know literally thousands of people (there are more than 6,000 people in my contact database, more than 1,000–I think–on LinkedIn. We’re not “friends” in a close way, but when I see them at conferences, it’s a good interaction. This week I saw more than 100 people I knew and could talk with for a while. It is energizing. I’m grateful to know so many interesting people.

If you have trouble with pausing from focusing on what you want or your cares and worries, maybe a permanent line item on your to-do list is the prescription. It reminds you several times a day to pause and think of something good.

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Blessed Are The Merciful

November 19, 2014

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

And again

“And the second is like it, you shall love others as yourself.”

Most people seem to have no problem with the last part of Jesus’ second command quoted above. We have no problems loving ourselves.

I see just enough people who can empathize with others to maintain my faith in humans. For so many seem to have little or no empathy.

My generation was dubbed the “Me Generation” years (and years) ago by Time magazine, I believe. I remember talking to a classmate in college about having empathy toward a professor who had a lot to offer, yet he wound up at a small liberal arts college in rural Ohio. “I don’t care,” he replied.

I have witnessed the very same attitudes countless times daily since then. “I don’t care.” “They got what they deserved.” “What orphans?” “So what?”

Even in everyday conversation. Do you ever catch yourself that your comments are all about yourself? Is it just occasionally? Or is it often. Try stopping to count.

Do you ever notice speakers whose every reference is about themselves?

How many of our generation will receive mercy?

I pray for a reaction by the next generations who may rebel against all that “all about me” thinking?

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Taking Care Over Our Priorities

November 18, 2014

I’m usually writing this about 6:30 am Eastern time, but I’m in the Los Angeles area today. 5:30 am, I’ve been up for an hour. It’ll be a long day.

Yesterday, I wrote about marketing. And whether (or how much) marketers try to influence our perceived needs–especially by ever-increasing devious means. There is advertising disguised as editorial. Product placements in media or entertainment. And on and on.

Just yesterday, Wal-Mart sent me five emails promoting Black Friday sales. FIVE. (I’m on their list because I occasionally have actual prints made of my digital photos.)

While thinking about this a few minutes ago, Gary Haugen of the International Justice Mission was speaking about Christian responses to some of the most horrible things that humans are doing to other humans.

I just had to pray. Am I doing enough? Am I influencing enough to counter the now-global onslaught of advertising promoting not only consumption, but our misplaced priorities hidden behind the consumption.

There are good products. Products that enhance our lives and provide for enjoyment. But why do we buy them? Is it momentary impulse resulting in another piece of unused labor and material sitting on a shelf in the closet?

Let’s take care of our priorities first, then proceed into the market.

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Ethics and Marketing–An Oxymoron

November 17, 2014

Christmas. Ah, that time of joyful giving. Celebrating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Carols. Hot chocolate with whipped cream.

Oops, it wasn’t even Halloween yet, let alone Thanksgiving. The stores were full of Christmas stuff. It is still two weeks before “Black Friday” (the day that retail stores go from red to black, or loss to profit for the year) and my email box has Wal-Mart ads for the day.

Everyone knows that retail stores depend upon Christmas sales for the year’s profits. This has been known for 100 years.

This is obviously bad management. But, we get what we deserve, I guess.

Business managers turned to a new thing called “marketing” a long time ago. The job of marketing people was to entice people into the stores.

Then we got TV. And TV needed advertising for revenues. Marketers needed advertising to get their message to the people. Before TV, there were newspapers and magazines. Note: I’ve made a good living from the magazine business, and even today I’d like some advertising on my other Website to help pay the bills.

But marketers weren’t as successful as they would have liked. It wasn’t enough to just use superlatives to promote their stores and products (have you ever seen ads from the 1920s?). They turned to the findings of that new academic discipline called psychology to figure out how people work.

So now, we have turned to manipulation. Create a need where none existed before and then offer to fill it. Muscles not big enough? Breasts not big enough? Kids may not make it into Harvard? We’ve got a solution.

The current trend in magazine advertising is to write advertising that looks just like the editorial content of the magazine. The idea is to trick the reader into reading the ad. They may even think that the claims made in the ad are from the supposedly unbiased editors of the magazine. The more respected the editorial, the better the success with this form of advertising.

By the way, I hope you know that for many years, advertisers in women’s magazines have had a clause in their contracts that the magazine may not run an article that is in any way critical of makeup or other products including the way they test makeup. All articles in women’s magazines must be promotional of the types of products that will be advertised.

But even in business-to-business which is my market, marketers and publishers want things to be just as great and happy as possible. I have a friend who just left his magazine job and is trying to sell a subscription-based newsletter. “I don’t take advertising, so I can be honest,” he says.

Well, I hope I’m honest too. 😉

What’s the reason for this season (actually following Thanksgiving, which is also a good thing to celebrate)? Let’s keep this in mind. Don’t let marketers convince you that you need things you don’t. Keep your head. Buy presents, sure, but buy with intention not under the influence of artificially inflamed emotions.

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Getting Fit For God’s Work

November 13, 2014

This spring began a season of stress and frustration. A business deal with which I was uncomfortable from the beginning went rapidly downhill over the winter. By spring, I was looking for a way out.

Travel is not always that bad. But when you combine personal travel on top of business travel, it means there is no time for pause. For rest and reflection.

On top of that, my soccer responsibilities grew and became frustrating in some regards and just plain hard work in others. And I had taken on responsibilities at church during a lull period in my life. Well, that lull went away 😉

As a result, my ability to work out decreased. My ability to sit still and focus during meditation withered. Still, I accomplished much.

The climax was three plus weeks of being home only three days — getting home from a business trip only to take a family trip. Most of the time I could not exercise. At my age, you deteriorate rapidly.

I noticed the first week back. Attempting to run daily. Back into my Yoga routine. My muscles ached. Constantly.

But the next week was much better. By the third week back into routine, I was running better, practicing Yoga better, feeling tight and fit.

It is no wonder that Paul often invoked the images of physical activities, of athletes, in his spiritual development messages. You have to work at it. And if you take some time off, your spiritual muscles will ache and protest until you get back into the habit and start feeling fit spiritually.

Read the letter to the Romans. Don’t stop and analyze each verse. Just grasp the broad strokes of what Paul is laying out. He is teaching us about spiritual development. First we were away from God living in our lives as we saw fit (sinners). Then something happened, some consequence of our actions impacted us. Then we saw that through Jesus God’s grace was available to us. We accepted, Gods grace was poured out on us, and we began to live the with-God life basking in the Spirit.

Just as we work at getting back into physical shape, we can also fall out of Spiritual shape. We work at it through study and prayer and practice and find that we have renewed our strength in God.

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Three Steps To Happiness

November 12, 2014

We are fascinated, even driven, to find what makes us happy. Even though we “know” (see my last post about the difference between knowing and doing) that happiness comes from the state of our heart, we keep seeking happiness outside. We fall into abusing alcohol and “friends” or even worse drugs. A mild form lies in buying things. Gee, if only I could have this new thing, then finally I’ll be happy. (Yes, for about five minutes when you need to buy the next new thing to make you happy.)

I subscribe to a Website called Big Think where the editors bring in writers to discuss big ideas. This post about happiness makes a good point.

It starts with one of Google’s first engineering employees, Chade-Meng Tan. He noticed his co-workers were often unsatisfied with life. He studied the situation and developed a three step process to happiness–sounds just like an engineer.

  • Step one is to quiet the mind through mindfulness meditation.
  • Step two is to track moments of joy.
  • Step three is to wish others happiness.

Meditation is slowing the mind and body down so that we achieve a state of relaxation. In this state especially if we have been focusing on a story or saying from Scripture, we can also allow God opportunity to whisper to us things He wants us to do or say.

We call the second step gratitude. Write down in a journal or piece of paper or an iPad daily or several times a week the things for which you’re grateful.

Tan’s third step is crucial. You now switch your attention to others. Steps one and two you do in your 15 minutes in the chair every morning. Step three is what you do for the rest of the day. You focus on how you can help other people. Even if it’s just opening a door or offering to carry part of a load.

In this way, happiness is not sought. Happiness is found. It is a fruit of the Spirit. It comes from within us–the state of our heart. A grateful heart whose attention is on service to others brings happiness and joy to its owner.

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It Is More Than Knowledge

November 10, 2014

James tells us, “But be doers of the word, not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”

Bible study is one of the basic Spiritual Disciplines. I certainly practice that daily. I know tons of people who know more than I.

Yet, I was struck with a convicting thought this morning. Why is it we can know so much, yet we have so much trouble putting our knowledge into action?

How often do we leave an interaction with someone and the thought hits us that we know better than how we acted–or failed to act???

I guess the first thing we need is awareness. It has always been my problem that I’m lost in thought and fail to really notice other people. It has taken me years to become more aware of people around me. Help them with a door, or dropped object, or anonymously pick up a check at a restaurant.

Or, when a woman brought a bouquet of flowers to a friend from Mexico at the dinner Friday evening, I said, “Boy I wish I were thoughtful like that.” Oops. My wife heard that remark. She said, “Me, too.” 😉

After awareness comes intention to help. It is a way of thinking and being. It becomes instinctive. You just help others. Eventually it is part of your personality. When people think of you, they think, “What a kind and helpful person.”

That becomes the goal. Knowledge helps bring us closer to God. Doing shows us as Disciples of Jesus.

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Healing Starting From The Heart

November 7, 2014

Wife got a new bread knife. It is sharp. Cuts bread, even thick crusts, as if it were warm butter. Cuts thumbs, too. Twice. I’m a slow learner. The last one was pretty deep.

I notice the healing is from the inside out. It also takes quite some time to heal.

Sort of like us spiritually. We need to heal from emotional and spiritual hurts also from the inside out. That is why Jesus was so concerned with the state of our hearts.

Jesus expressed to the Pharisees that it is not the food that defiles but what comes out from the heart. He also said that when we forgive, we need forgiveness from our heart. We should also love the Lord our God with all our heart. He condemned “hardness of heart.” On the road to Emmaus, the disciples hearts were burning. And “As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ ”

Just as we need to eat right, exercise, reduce stress to take care of our physical heart and improve healing, so we also need to feed our minds, exercise in prayer and meditation, and focus on God to set our spiritual heart right and heal our souls from the inside out.

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