1 Thessalonians 2:3-5

So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery. For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know. And God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money!

Some of the biggest relational disappointments I have experienced have been when I have discovered that a friendship I thought was based on who I am, was in reality a friendship based on what I could do for the other person, or what they hoped I would do for them.

Transactionalfriendships are prevalent in out society today, and it is very difficult to develop friendship that are beyond transactional. Over time it seems as if we are trading our friendship for networks that can help us out when we are in need of something. People tend to show preference to others who are wealthier, more famous, or have more or something that they do.

AFter me and Vicky first became Christ-followers, like 20 years ago, we started church shopping. I remember how good it felt when people would warmly introduce themselves to us at a new church and start up a conversation. Often times, it seemed like once they figured out we were already Christ-followers, they would quickly lose interest. It seemed like many of them were looking for someone they could convert, someone who could be a feather in their church hat.

Most of us have probably experienced the multi-level marketing pitch where someone becomes friends with you, invites yuo over for dinner, or out to dinner, and then finally drops the bomb about how they have an opportunity for you, which is really an opportunity for them.

As I grow older, I am increasingly convinced that I need to treat people how I want to be treated. I need to make sure that I am reaching out to people and offering them genuine friendship. I have to make sure I am not giving preference to people that I think can help me out at some point down the road. Intentional networking has its proper place, but I need to make sure I am developing more genuine friendships than I am transactional, networking friendships.

1 Thessalonians 1:6-8

 So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece—throughout both Macedonia and Achaia. And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God

Joy in spite of suffering. It’s hard enought for me to have joy in spite of living better than 95% of the world and having everything I have ever needed my whole life. Joy in the midst of suffering is inspiration to those around you. Moping around and complaining in a state of relative-plenty is a source of inspiration as well. Inspiration to NOT be like me.

How cool is it that these believer is Thessalonica were examples to their whole country, and cause the word of the Lord to RING out to everyone, even beyond their own country. That’s powerful. I would like even a tiny bit of that power in my life.

Colossians 4:5-6

Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

“Make the most of every opportunity.” As I reflect back on the day each night, I would consider it a great accomplishment if I could look back and say that I made the MOST out of EVERY opportunity. In order to do that I need to first, RECOGNIZE the opportunity. Recognizing every opportunity comes from being in close fellowship with God and keeping a watchful eye and being quiet and open enough to hear God’s still, small voice.

Once I recognize the opportunity I need to take action. I need to be strategic, and make sure I make the MOST of it. If I only have a short time, I need to choose my words and actions very carefully. If I have a longer time, I need to make sure I don’t talk so much that I say something stupid.

I need to also recognize the importance of every opportunity. I recently went to a meeting of JR High leaders and I noticed that all three of the boys I had in my 5th grade Sunday school many years back, that me and my co-leaders nicknamed the “three L’s” had become Jr. High leaders as they moved into high school. Each of the had an “L” in the first letter of their name, and if you had all three of them at once, you were in BIG trouble.

None of us leaders in that 5th grade Sunday school would ever have believed that all three “L’s” would grow up to want to contribute and build into the lives of other kids.  I am not trying to say that our leadership in the 5th grade with them was the sole cause of the decisions they made, but I know for sure it was a part of the process. We contributed to their development, in a small but meaningful way. It is one area that I can say I tried to make the most of the opportunity to spend an hour with those kids every week.

God can take the little we have to offer, the two fish and 5 loaves, and turn it into amazing things with his power!

Colossians 3:8-9,12-13

But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other…you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.

I like this chapter because it reflects a basic truth about the Christian “walk.” It is possible to be a follower of Christ, receive salvation and be headed to eternity in heaven, forgiven for all my sins, and still be a jerk. I live that out most every day. Jesus gives us the power we need to not be a jerk, to follow after him in our thoughts, words and actions, but it is not a guarantee. I have to work at it, and want it, every day.

I like the imagery of “clothing” yourself with mercy, kindness, gentleness, patience. Fortunately for the rest of the world, I have never left my house and later realized I forgot to put on my clothes. I have never forgotten or failed to get dressed before I leave the house. Unless you have serious issues, you would never leave the house without clothes.  If I could only have the same discipline in getting spiritually dressed and ready for the day. I am not sure how to make it happen, but if I could just put on kindness and patience, like I put on my socks, shirt, etc., how cool would that be. Once I had them on, I would exhibit that quality. I wish it was that easy!

Colossians 2:16-18

So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things.

Halloween is always a big deal around our house. I love seeing my kids in cute costumes and seeing other kids running around the neighbor in their costumes. I love candy. I love eating my kids candy. I loved when my kids were too small to eat candy and I got to eat all of it. I love to buy too much Halloween candy so there is plenty left over afterward.

Many followers of Christ choose not to celebrate Halloween, and that is OK. I certainly don’t hold it against them. There are many aspects of the holiday that are negative. Many people use it as an excuse to dress too provocatively. I am not a big fan of ugly witch costumes, or pentagrams, or things squirting blood. Many of those things are tasteless decorations if anything else.

What I do take issue to is when followers of Christ say they don’t celebrate the holiday BECAUSE it is a pagan holiday. The truth is, EVERY day of the year is a pagan holiday of some kind. It is a fact of history that Christmas is taken from the pagan holiday of Saturnalia, when Romans would spend seven days celebrating the God Saturn; and their was much wickedness associated with it. Easter is taken from a pagan holiday which celebrated the feast of the fertility goddess Ishtar, from whose name the word Easter is derived. The fertility goddess celebration makes the skimpiest Halloween costumes look like traditional Amish garb atcompared to a rip-roarin fertility festival.

If people wish to not participate in Halloween because of some of the things it represents that is OK, they just shouldn’t take their personal choice and turn it into a condemnation or a way to look down upon others. Certainly some of the things Christmas and Easter have come to represent are not all that great either; but, one of the great opportunities taht comes from being a committed Christ-follower in the world is that I can be an example of everything that is good, about any day, any event, any celebration.

Of course, it is important to temper any freedom you have been given within the broader context of loving otehrs so much that you put their needs above your own. In Romans 14:21, Paul exhorts us not to use our freedom to cause your bother to fall. I try not to make a big deal about Halloween, or having a beer or glass of wine, or whatever it is, around people that it would completely offend, or cause to go down the wrong path. My freedom should never be an excuse to harm someone.

I need to take the time to carefully discern every situation I am in, and carefully and lovingly look to the best interests of those around me.

Colossians 1:

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

That is just good to read. It is good to be reminded about who Jesus is, especially since he calls me his adopted child and loves me so much he would rather die than be without me.

I just recently watched a video called “indescribable” by  Louie Giglio. He speaks about the enormity of the universe from an astronomical perspective and a Christian perspective. Louie is part of an organization that has been reaching out to college-aged youth for more than a decade. You can learn more about him here: http://www.268generation.com

I can’t say I was 100% on board with every word spoken in the video, but overall it is an awesome video and I would highly recommend it. It underscores the crazy juxtaposition that exists between Jesus as almighty God, creator of the universe, and of Jesus the humble, lowly servant, who lived a s a peasant, and died a shameful, sinners death on the cross.

It is hard for me to keep both aspects of Jesus in my head at the same time. I normally think of him as being my humble savior; and not the almighty creator of everything. If I could keep both thoughts in my head at the same time, I bet I would worry a lot less, be a lot more brave, and attempt a lot bolder actions in following after Jesus.

I don’t just want to amen it, cheer, and woo-hoo how awesome and powerful Jesus is; I want to live it.

I want people to look at my life, and have it be completely obvious that I have a heavenly daddy who is all-powerful, all-loving and all-serving. I pray to live a life that would leave no doubt of who he is. I am far from that now.

Philippians 4:4-7

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

It’s very easy for me to mope around, be serious, worry about the “important” stuff going on. Part of that in my is being in engineering, I have always been charged with figuring out what could possibly go wrong, and then putting safeguards in place. I have been tasked with coming up with the complete set of things that can fail, and then figure which of these potential failures are fixable, and which ones we have to live with.

Dealing with everything and anything that could possibly go wrong in my daily work life has definitely left its imprint on my personality. I am routinely called “pessimistic” and I always snap back and say I am “realistic.” Whatever you call it, many times, if people were to examine my demeanor, my countenance, and then find out that I desire to be committed follower of Jesus, they might think twice about becoming a follower of Jesus themselves. He might say to himself, “If following Jesus has that kind of effect on Bob, I don’t know if I want any part of it.”

It’s pretty scary to think that how much I smile, how much I openly complain and how much I laugh might be effecting someone’s eternity without me even knowing it. As I started to realize this over the years, I began making a few changes. When someone asks me, “How are you?” I try to reply, “Today is the best day of my life!” And it should be. Today should be the best day of my life. It might be the only day of my life left.

The “joy” of following Jesus should be visible on my person most if not all of the time. Later on in this chapter of Philippians, Paul remarks how he has learned to be content in all situations, good and bad. When Paul was falsely imprisoned, his joyful demeanor was responsible for changing the lives of the prisoner and prison guards around him. If Paul can be joyful in prison, I should be able to be joyful running around one of the riches suburbs in the world, with absolutely no physical needs whatsoever.

Being a “beacon of joy” is an aspiration of mine, and something I have been praying for lately in earnest. Until I get there, my philosophy is to fake it until I make it. I’m not sure that is the best angle, but it’s all I got right now.

Philippians 3:13-14

but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on…

Why would Paul want to forget the past?

One of the great things about Paul is that he is real. He is transparent. He speaks the truth about his life, his actions, his sin. In Romans 7:24 Paul remarks what a wretched, miserable man he is, because he continues to take the wrong path, and do the wrong things, even when he knows better, and desires to do the right thing.

That sounds a lot like me. From that angle, I can understand why he would want to forget the past. But he must have done some good things also? Paul had many successes in his past up to this point. He had influenced thousands of people for good, and had mentored and trained up several of his closest friends. Why would he want to forget that?

C.S. Lewis  wrote a very insightful book titled “Th Screwtape Letters.” This book addresses the world of demons, and there is an older demon, named Wormword, in a leadership position on Satan’s team, that is counseling his younger nephew demon in the ways of evil. One of the things Wormwood says to his nephew is that he should strive to make human beings focus on the past, or the future, never the present. If they focus on the present, he lamented, they could possibly serve God and accomplish his purposes.

It is so easy to focus on the past, either your mistakes, or, even the “glory days” as Bruce Springsteen put it to song. Either way, focus on the past is really not productive and can rob you of the present. Worry about the future, or striving for some future success, power, position or money can also rob you of the present. I really only have today, right now, to love and influence those around me. Like the sign pained on Joe’s Crab Shack says, “Free crab tomorrow.” The joke is, tomorrow never comes. It is always today.

That is not to say I shouldn’t plan for the future, but I should focus a great deal of my attention on the present. I should seek and take advantage of all the present opportunities I have to love and influence those around me.

Philppians 2:3-4

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

This is really Christianity 101, and at the heart of what I think it means to be a Christ-follower. At the end of each day, when I look back on my day, most of my regrets fall into the category of being selfish, and most of the things that gave me joy during the day were opportunities I had to lift others up. It is so easy for me to be prideful and selfish. I wish I could tattoo these verses to the inside of my eyelids so I could read them every time I blinked.

I have so many opportunities, every hour of every day, to put others interests before my own, and to think of others as better than myself. Unfortunately, I miss many more of these opportunities that I take advantage of. Sometimes I miss them because I am too focused on other things to see them, and sometimes it is because I am too focused on myself to see them. In either case, I really need to pray that I may be sensitive to all the small opportunities to put others first, in my ordinary days.

It is easy for me to fall into the trap of thinking that putting others first has to be a big, monumentous occasion. Some huge act of generosity, rescuing someone from a burning building, etc. The reality is, the most important opportunities are every day, “small” things that would be easy to miss if I wasn’t paying attention, but very impactful if acted upon. Sometimes it is the small things in life that really matter, and really add up over time, positive or negative.

Philippians 1:9-11

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

I really like this version from The Message translation. The word Love is heard in many different contexts and has many different meanings. When my 16 year old daughter’s friend says she loves Justin Timberlake, I can be certain that she is speaking of a different kind of love than I share between me and my wife, or the love I have for my children, or the love I feel for the children and people I have gotten to know in under-resourced areas of the Philippines.

Paul is very specific. He wants my love to flourish, which means to prosper, or to thrive. Paul speaks of love that is sincere and intelligent. Only a guy could combine the words intelligent and love into the same phrase. If love puts the needs of others ahead of the needs of myself, intelligent becomes a pretty cool description. I am to think hard about how I can meet the needs of others. I need to be smart about it. I can’t give up at the first sign of trouble.

Living a circumspect and exemplary life. From dictionary.com: circumspect -> watchful, cautious, prudent; and exemplary -> worthy of imitation; commendable; serving as an illustration. Watchful means I should be diligent in anticipating and discovering the needs of others. Worthy of imitation. When people think of loving others, and loving unconditionally, would they really say, or think that Bob Clinkert is a great example of someone who lives a life of consistent loving? I don’t think so; but what an admirable goal to have that said about your life.

A life Jesus would be proud of, bountiful in fruit, making Jesus attractive to all. Am I living an hour to hour, minute to minute life that Jesus can be proud of? Maybe I have some moments, but they are too few, and too far between. Is the fruit, or output of my life so full of grace and love, and so obviously coming from a life of folowing Jesus, that my life is making Jesus attractive to other people? 

When the world rejects Jesus, when the world rejects God’s way of doing things, I have to take responsibility for my share of the problem. If the people around me are not attracted to the life and person of Jesus, then it is partially my fault, and it is my responsibility to do something about it. I am responsible to change the way I live my life so that it is an example to others, and it does make Jesus attractive, and proud.