When I was growing up, there was one thing that I knew at an early age, and that was you were expected to work hard. No one took it easy, at least very often. I was surrounded by hard workers, and I was expected to do the same. There’s something to be said about a job well done, and it feels great to finish. I wonder about those who don’t work hard. Solomon has a word for those; “foolish.”

In Ecclesiastes 10, Solomon gives us a few words of wisdom (of course) for parents, as well as those in leadership positions. He says that the foolish are easy to spot, and that they can ruin a lot of things that the wise have worked hard to accomplish.

In verses 1-3, he says,
1 As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink,
so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor.

3 You can identify fools
just by the way they walk down the street!

At first thought, I wondered if it was rue that the foolish wwere so easy spot. I think, at times, it is. Of course, if you watch the news you see it nightly. But then there are those times that your spirit tells you, warns you, that you are around or dealing with someone who is foolish. I pray that I don’t have to deal with that when my daughter one day introduces me to her boyfriend!

On the leadership side, certainly there are times that we have to deal with those who are less motivated than we want them to be. In verse 15, Solomon puts it this way,
“Fools are so exhausted by a little work
that they can’t even find their way home.”

Again, I go back to my childhood. I was raised knowing what hard work was, and I honestly believe that is a rarity in today’s society. There aren’t many I have found that come into the “real world” with an understanding of how to work. That falls on us parents.

There’s something to be said about experience and qualifications. Too many people believe God is just going to give them the six-figure income and corner office, for no other reason than being themselves! As leaders, we need to make sure that we are choosing and making wise decisions on those we put into leadership positions. As parents, we need to choose wisely when it comes to rewarding our children.

Solomon actually admonishes those things he had witnessed up to that point. In verse 5-6, he says
“

There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake 6 when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth.”

See exactly how Solomon describes this? He says it’s “evil.” He says it’s a “grave mistake” when the wrong people are in the wrong places. It’s a mistake to just put people or reward people with position, status, or any other form of award without merit. This is much different from blessing someone who has a need in their life. What Solomon is referring to here is that “good old boy” network, or illegal kickbacks and preferences.

We have a lot to consider! Solomon has definitely challenged us as parents, leaders, managers, or wherever we are in life. If it’s dealing with coworkers, employees, or our kids, he has given us some words to teach.

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It isn’t something that we think about often. It’s not conversation around the dinner table, it isn’t a subject of rumor, and it certainly doesn’t come on the news. There’s not a lot out there that encourages us to discuss it. And honestly, I struggled to blog out it, and probably will continue to do so as I write this. So, as you read, know that this was a tough one to write.

The fact is, one day, Christ will return. We won’t know when. There are lots of ideas. There are many that even believe the Mayan calendar is accurate in predicting that 2012 will be the end date. Honestly, I believe that they just got tired of counting…

As I watched the aftermath of this past Friday’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I had a lot of students who were scared and even made statements regarding the end of the world. To tell you the truth, watching that kind of tragedy really makes me wonder. But, Jesus told us that we really won’t know the time. He also said that we will know when He returns, and we won’t have to wonder. There will be rumors during that time that He has returned, but that won’t be accurate. When He returns, we won’t miss it!

In Luke 17: 22-24, Jesus says,

“The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it. ²³ People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them. ²⁴ For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes.”

When He does return, it will be as any other day in our lives. It won’t be because of a checklist that was finally completed, or that someone was able to say that all things were complete and ready for His return. It will be, well, normal. It will the day that the alarm clock goes off, we go to work or to school, we live life. We are doing our daily routine, and then, it happens. In verse 30, Jesus put it this way, “³⁰ Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

I guess that’s the scary part to me. See, part of my daily routine is not making sure that those I love, those in my daily life, those who mean the most–know God; that they have a relationship with Him. And because He will return on a day that is “business as usual” that means, I need to make a change. I need to put a priority on those I love. I need to think more about them. I need to change my “business as usual” to include them.

It will be surprising to many. There will some that will be divided. There will be those left behind to wonder why. There will be people who don’t even know what happened. In verse 34 and 35, Jesus said

  ”³⁴ That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. ³⁵ Two women will be grinding flour together at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.”

What will you change? What needs to change? For me, it’s my daily focus. It’s a change in what’s important. I can’t just continue to ignore this teaching. It’s about my kids, my friends. I am blessed that my wife is already saved, but I have friends who are not. I can’t change the past, but I can change the present. I can change my business as usual.

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First, let me say it’s good to be here again. I pray you had a wonderful Christmas, and that the celebration of Jesus was an amazing one. I have missed this blog, and sending it out to you. For those of you who don’t know, I have been coaching, and it takes a lot of time away from, oh, well, life. We are currently on a Christmas break, and I knew this was an opportunity to say a few things that God has put on my heart.

Back in November, our Pastor (Steven Yoes) was teaching on the story of Abraham and Isaac. In Genesis 22, you find the entire text of what I am referring to here. A brief synopsis is that God told Abraham to take Isaac and to sacrifice him.  Isaac was the son that Abraham had been promised at a very old age, and finally was born to Abraham and Sarah. Abraham was faithful, and went through with all things that would have been required of him to actually sacrifice his son. If you haven’t read this story, or if it has been a while, I would encourage you to go back and reread it, or read it with fresh eyes.

Here are a couple of things that jumped out at me.

In verse 7, we see that Isaac is beginning to wonder exactly what is happening. He, at this point, has no clue that he is the sacrifice. So, in verse 7, he asks his father about the plans.

Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” 

 “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

   “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

I’m sure Isaac was expecting his father to have a reasonable answer at this point. He must have known that his father was very wise, and would not just show up to sacrifice a non-existent animal. Abraham did not give him the satisfaction of a “reasonable” explanation. Instead, his answer was, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.” The amazing part here is what you don’t read. What isn’t said sounded so strongly in my soul I knew I had to share it here. Look in between Abraham’s quote and the next line that says what they did. What do you see? A period.

Abraham offered his explanation of faith to his son, and Isaac did what? Argue? Tell his dad that it was a stupid idea? Question his father’s wisdom? No. The very next thing you read is that …”the two of them went on together.” Catch this: Isaac’s faith in his father and in his God told him that this was the answer. At some point, Isaac’s faith had to have been influenced by Abraham, his dad, and he had been raised with a strong belief in God’s provision and miracles. Isaac didn’t question Abraham, he didn’t question God; instead he accepted that God would provide because he knew that God does provide as he had been taught and (I believe) had seen in his life. His faith was like his father’s.

My “bring it home” part of this? Given the same situation in our life, when the world looks dark, and the situation seems impossible, what would the reaction of my kids be? What would your children’s reaction be? If they have been taught from our lives, and from what they have seen, and what they have heard and taught, would their reaction be on faith or on false security? If my sons or my daughter were standing with me, and we had to face something head on, would they know that my God, our God, provides, or would there be more in between the period and climb up the mountain?  My prayer is that it would read as simply as Isaac made it. His father had faith. His father lived his faith and gave that to his son. His son had faith. Together, with the faith and faith of father and son, one of the greatest stories of the Bible still lives on. When your faith and your children’s faith is tested, what will be your story? What will last a lifetime on which you can build a lasting foundation of faith?

Begin now. Strengthen it now. Faith, and Faith.

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If there’s one thing that I have struggled with understanding it is the concept of the servant leader. For so long, it just didn’t make sense to me. How do you lead those “under” you, or those that you are supposed to be in charge of, by serving them? I struggled because I was trying to figure it out with my brain, not my heart.

If there was one thing that Jesus modeled to us, to me, it was how to be a servant leader. It all came to a head in a tense 24 hours before He was crucified.  During that time, He was determined to make sure that the disciples got it. He was about to send them into the world, to lead them to Him–by serving.

In John 13:4-5, we can see how He tried to get the point across. It says Jesus “…got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

Don’t miss the big story here. Jesus, King of kings, God in flesh, THE GOD, I AM, Lord of lords, got down on His knees, wrapped in a towel, and washed their dirty, dry, bare feet. The job of a house servant, HE DID IT. What a powerful way to make the point. To lead, you have to serve.  In verse 14, He put it this way, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” That is the call of the Christian life. To be Christ-like. We are called to serve. It’s a life of putting others before us, to die to self, and live a life that is distinguished not by what we accomplish on worldly standards, but in the people we touch.

That’s the servant leader. It’s how we serve our friends, our kids, our spouse, our coworkers, and the strangers we meet. We lead them by finding out what they need, where they are in life, and meeting them there. We lead them to the one who loves them like no one else can. To the greatest Servant Leader ever.

Who are you going to serve? How will you lead?

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Ever seen a grown man cry? It doesn’t take much when he realizes just how much his kids have grown and in such a short amount of time. This guy had a harsh reality check today when he realized how much time has absolutely flown by, and that his kids are growing up much, much too fast.

I hate to sound cliché, but honestly, it seems like yesterday. It seems like it was just yesterday my little Mica was this little girl who said the craziest things and was so small and cuddly. She captured my heart so quickly, I didn’t realize it had happened. Today, she started fourth grade. She is so tall and pretty, I am not looking forward to high school!

It seems like yesterday that I had to walk Caeden in the living room all night because he wouldn’t sleep (we later found out it was because he couldn’t sleep because of ear infections). He was just this little guy that I would sing to and pace the floor, and who would I would cry about thinking I had a son. Today, he started kindergarten. How did that happen? Where did that time go?

We have one other son, Crewe. He will start kindergarten in two years, and he was not happy about not starting it today. It hit me hard when I realized how close we are to having all of our kids in school. This little guy, our daredevil, gives hugs like you wouldn’t believe.

Where did the time go? Where did all those opportunities go that I had to prepare them for what was about to come their way? Where did all the time go to enjoy them in their most innocent days? I’m not saying that they are all gone, but honestly, the time has passed much, much too quickly.

The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7:29, “What I mean, brothers, is that time is short.” Indeed it is.

I can’t help but wonder, what else am I missing? What am I missing because time is passing by too quickly? What is it that God really wishes I were doing right now? What am I going to regret and look back at it wishing I had the time back?

Is it that friend that I haven’t tried to tell about Christ? Is it the time I wish I had spent with Mandie? Is it the date nights I wish we had? Or is it the time that I am currently getting to spend with the kids? One of my favorite things right now is story time at night. I love making up the stories about the kids. Of course, there’s the random book choice for the night occasionally, but hey, I’ll take that too.

We take time for granted. Life can be snuffed out at any moment, and it is so fleeting. What is it that you would change today? What is it you are going to regret looking back? What is it you’re going to wish you had done? Done more of? Who is it that you will regret not spending more time with or telling them that you love them? It happens quickly. Too quickly. Time is too short.

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