Present Tense

Somewhere along the way in one of my preacher books I learned that our English word eulogy means "good words." At any memorial service I officiate, I am sure to recall as I know, or call on others who do know, to speak good words about the person who has passed from this life.

Today, I write facing the inevitable passing of a trusted friend. I know his eternal destiny is secure in the hands of Jesus, but I mourn. I have been encouraged to think what I might say when officiating his memorial service. I know the Christlike character traits he exhibits that I will extol. I know I will preach from the book of James. I know I'll cry like I am right now...

But I know one more thing.

It would be unrighteous for me to wait until after he has passed into his eternal reward to speak these words of him. I must speak them to him while I still can.

Rather than saying, "I loved him because he was," to others, I must say, "I love you because you are," to him.

When you have something good to say--not just to the person near to heaven, but to everyone, anytime--when you notice an admirable deed, when you hear a kind word, when you see Christlike character, don't wait. Speak your blessing at that moment. Offer your praise without delay.

Philippians 4:8 challenges,

whatever is true

whatever is noble

whatever is pure

whatever is lovely

whatever is admirable

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy

think about such things.

Speak about them too.

Present tense.

Carrying

A warm spring day years ago when he was a toddler, Seth & I went to a Texas Rangers game. We sat high up from the right field foul line with few other fans around. With 20,000 empty seats there was plenty of space so we didn't sit for long. Seth wanted to roam. Up & down. Aisles to aisle. Home plate to foul pole. Right to left & back again & again & again in the picture of Ameriquest Field above. He had no concern for the game. He just toddled.

By the end of the game, going down the broad, spiralling walkway toward the exit Seth started to stumble. Weak from too many little steps around the big ballpark. Worn with blisters beginning on the sides of his sandals. I did what any Dad would do. I put him on my back to carry him. The tireless roamer laid his head on my back as I marched toward the car.

Yesterday, I was convicted by a verse:

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

Romans 8:26

I was captured by the phrase "in our weakness."

The Bible has more to say about weakness:

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Jesus' power is made perfect in our power? No. We delight in power? No. When I am powerful, then I am strong? No.

Weakness.

Our weakness. Astheneia in Greek means our "sickness, infirmity, feebleness or frailty." Sounds like that's close to the end. Sounds bad. Sounds like surrender. Surrender of our will. Giving up our delusion of control.

Yet it is there, at the end of ourselves, that the Spirit meets us to "help" us. And from the rare category of words defined with fewer letters or syllables that than the word itself posses... that Greek word for "help", sunantilambanomai, means "to carry with."

One of its roots is lambano, to receive or take. Among its occurrences in New Testament is Matthew 8:17. It says Jesus "took up" our astheneia (weakness, infirmity). To me that means, "to carry for."

Weak?

At the end?

Who is carrying with you?

Who is carrying for you?

Tears for a Friend

Have you ever cried for a friend?

You hurt because they hurt. You wish you could change their circumstances. You want to make it all better. You pray that everything would come right. You cry for a friend.

You see where things are headed. You expect the anticipated end. You know its just not here yet. You hope the end comes or maybe you hope against it. You cry for a friend.

I am comforted. Jesus cried for his friend, Lazarus. Jesus knows hurt. Jesus knows life. Jesus knows pain. Jesus knows me. He knows my friend.

Thank you, Jesus, for tears.

Thank you, Jesus, for my friend.

Thank you, Jesus, for befriending me.

Question Marks

Olympic marathoner, Peter Maher states, "Running is a big question mark that's there each & every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp, or are you going to be strong today?'"

I finished my second marathon feeling more wimp than strong on Saturday whipped by the 20-plus mph north winds that arrested my steps six out of the final eight miles. With greater nausea than celebration I crossed the finish line 10 minutes & 41 seconds beyond my four hour goal. Was I strong? Did I wimp out?

Running isn't a question mark for most. Life is. Work is. Marriage. Money. Parenting. Love. Forgiveness. Self. Pain. Addiction. Past. Future. Those are question marks.

How will I answer?

Where will I turn?

What will I do?

Who will I trust?

"There are grave difficulties on every hand, and more are looming ahead; therefore, we must go forward," wrote William Carey, founder of the modern missionary movement & no stranger to danger.

Psalm 23 goes so far to say that God's people will "walk through the valley of the shadow of death" & not over or around it. In John 10, Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd who protects & cares for his followers that he analogizes to sheep. In verse four Jesus says, "his sheep follow him because they know his voice."

What do I do with the question marks in my life? The big ones? The scary ones? The little ones too?

Follow Jesus.

Move forward.

Answer the questions.

Love One Another

There are a lot of "one anothers" commanded in the New Testament. Jesus both initiated & summarized those commands as quoted in John 13:34-35.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Christ-followers should love one another. Sounds easy enough, right? But what does a loving relationship look like?

Don’t imagine amorous or romantic “love” when answering these questions. Don’t think of how you “love” grandma’s pie or when your favorite team wins. We are talking about biblical agape love—the otherish love—the type of love that elevates the needs of another person above our own. It is the opposite of self-ish. Many times it is self-less.

When is the last time you felt loved in an agape, otherish way? When someone served you—your family had a sickness or tragedy & others brought you meals, sent you notes, prayed with you, & even cleaned your house. When someone gave you their time—you needed help watching the kids or another set of hands to finish a project. When someone gave & would take nothing in return—you wanted to pay them because you were overwhelmed by their generosity of time or service. When someone sacrificed joyfully for you—you smiled or maybe even cried because you saw the joy in their eyes at being able to love you in an agape, otherish way.

As Christ-followers we can not make one another love in this agape, otherish way. We can’t force it. We can’t program it. We can’t require it.

Yet as Christ-followers we can expect it. We can pray for it. We can look for ways to employ ourselves for others. We can live it.

Do not withhold. Love. Do not complain. Love. Do not give up. Love. Do not judge. Love. Do not walk away. Love.

Love one another, Jesus said. Agape one another. Otherish one another. Put one another first. Humble ourselves. Elevate others. Sacrifice ourselves. Serve others.

By this agape, otherish love may we be known & make Christ known to the world.

Dr. J.

Kenneth R. Jacobs, 75, died Wednesday February 11, 2009 at an Abilene, Texas medical facility. He was born July 9, 1933 in Franklin, North Carolina. His parents were Floyd S. Jacobs and Wilmer M. (Angel) Jacobs.
Kenneth entered the army on June 20, 1950 and served for four years and one day. This was during the Korean Conflict. After he was honorably discharged, he apprenticed to become a journeyman carpenter in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He worked in several cabinet shops in Iowa and Illinois.
In 1962 he married Marilyn J. Jacobs on April 28th. They were married for almost 47 years. They lived in Quincy, Illinois, Sweetwater, Texas, Lubbock, Texas and Abilene, Texas.
In 1963 he enrolled in Quincy (College) University in Quincy, Illinois. He graduated with a B.A. degree in history in 1967. In 1968, he took a job teaching history in the public schools in Sweetwater, Texas, and enrolled in Hardin-Simmons University in the master’s degree program where he studied under the legendary Dr. Rupert N. Richardson, dean of Texas Historians.
Dr. Jacobs completed his master’s at Hardin-Simmons University in 1971 and received a graduate teaching assistantship at Texas Tech University. He taught survey history classes and studied for his doctorate at Texas Tech University. In 1977 he received his doctorate in history and political science after studying under the eminent historian Dr. Earnest Wallace. In September of that year he accepted a position as assistant professor of History at Hardin-Simmons University. He was an immediate success in the classroom. The students loved his relaxed manner and the humor in his lectures. Attila, a massive tomcat, and “the Big O,” who could be approached about poor grades, are two characters that will live on in the memories of his students.
Dr. Jacobs was professionally active at Hardin-Simmons. He became associate editor of the West Texas Historical Yearbook in 1978. He became an editor of this journal in 1985. He held this position until his retirement at the end of the 1997-1998 school year. He was named Rupert N. Richardson professor emeritus after his retirement.
He published several articles in Texas history in professional journals, and in 1984 co-authored a book with Dr. B. W. Aston and Dr. Fain Downs, The Future Great, concerning Abilene, Texas. In 1990 Dr. Jacobs edited a new edition of a famous book by his mentor Dr. Richardson The Comanche Barrier. He held memberships in the American Historical Association, Phi Alpha Theta, The Southern Historical Association, The West Texas Historical Association and the Texas Historical Association.
During his career at Hardin-Simmons University, Dr. Jacobs received several honors. In 1986 he was named Reata man of the year. The next year the faculty voted him the Cullen Teaching Award. In 1989 the students at Hardin-Simmons named Dr. Jacobs the teacher of the year, an honor that he treasured above all others. In 1997 the All School Sing was dedicated to Dr, Jacobs. Dr. Jacobs was the original faculty sponsor the Theta Alpha Zeta fraternity.
Dr. Jacobs was preceded in death by his parents and by his brother Floyd S. Jacobs, Jr.
He is survived by his wife Marilyn and several cousins. He is also survived by his special adopted family Bryan, Elizabeth, and Luke Adams and many friends and former students.--Abilene Reporter News.

Dr. Jacobs was my favorite history professor, my fraternity sponsor, & a dear friend.

I love Dr. J.

He was easy to love. All at once larger than life, yet accessible. A history professor & a dedicated husband. A mentor & a friend. You could count on him. You could count on comments, witticisms, criticisms, Attila, the Big O, Miss Marilyn, Miss fill-in-the-name of his grader at the time, and many, many more. Keen mind, quick wit, twinkling eye, & sonorous voice.

"Mr. Householder, can you tell me the year that all good things began?" Of course we all knew the answer that we would pronounce in our most dignified voice, "1901, Sir, the year Theodore Roosevelt became president." That oft repeated question spurred me in later years to read presidential biographies. I started with none other than TR. Many times as I read I would wonder if this story or that character trait of TR may have been attractive to Dr. J. The appeal of TR to man of history like Dr. J was obvious.

Such was the appeal of Dr. Jacobs to a young man like me.

Unpopular Word

The heart of worship is surrender.

Surrender is an unpopular word, disliked almost as much as the word submission.

It implies losing, and no one wants to be a loser.
Surrender evokes the unpleasant images of admitting defeat in battle, forfeiting a game, or yielding to a stronger opponent. The word is almost always used in a negative context. Captured criminals surrender to the authorities.

In our competitive world we’re taught to never quit trying, never give up, and never give in – so we don’t hear much about surrendering. If winning is everything, surrendering is unthinkable.
Yet, the Bible teaches us that rather than trying to win, succeed, overcome, and conquer, we should instead yield, submit, obey, and surrender.

And by surrendering to God, we enter into the heart of worship. This is true worship: bringing pleasure to God as we give ourselves completely to him.

Surrendering is best demonstrated in obedience, cooperating with your Creator. You say “Yes, Lord” to whatever he asks of you.

In fact, “No, Lord” is a contradiction. You can’t claim Jesus as your Lord when you refuse to obey him. Peter modeled surrender when, after a night of failed fishing, Jesus told him to try again: “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”Surrendered people obey God’s word, even when it doesn’t make sense.

God is not a cruel slave driver or a bully who uses brute force to coerce us into submission. He doesn’t try to break our will, but woos us to himself, so that we might offer it freely to him. God is a lover and a liberator, and surrendering brings freedom, not bondage.

When we completely surrender ourselves to Jesus, we discover that he is not a tyrant but a savior; not a boss, but a brother; not a dictator, but a friend.

Give yourselves to God ... surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes. Romans 6:13 (TEV)

(Note: This entry, written by Rick Warren, is from his Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals.)