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Apologies, Clarifications, and Such

January 6, 2015 2Comments

You ever say something that just didn’t come out right? Well, I wrote something that just didn’t come out right. In my last blog, “Stay Humble and Carry on”, I explained how God had blessed me. Then, I explained my shortcomings with humility. After that I explained how I cope with my shortcomings. And lastly, I explained how Jesus was the ultimate example in humility. However, I wrote a blog about humility and managed to sound anything, but humble, especially when I discussed my blessings…

Okay, update. I just re-read my blog again. Now I think that there are two issues with it. Firstly, as I said earlier, some things just didn’t come out right. I meant to say that I was arrogant in my younger days and became more humble when I started honoring God. Maybe I didn’t do that very effectively. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it may reflect my need to be more humble. I mean if my blog about humility sounds arrogant in a few places, I may have an issue with humility….just saying. It’s also ironic that my blog about humility has humbled me. Nothing like your own words coming back to bite you, huh?

On a somewhat related note, my newly discovered need for more humility brings up another point: there can be a fine line between confidence, which is a biblically endorsed asset and arrogance, which is the lack of humility. Sometimes the distinction is easy. The person who can’t stop talking about himself/herself is arrogant. The person who never admits mistakes is arrogant. The person who can’t value another person’s opinions is arrogant. But what about the fuzzy, gray area between confidence and arrogance? Did I cross the line when I spelled out my blessings in my previous post? Where is the line between confidence and arrogance? And when do we cross the line between confidence and arrogance?

I simply don’t know the answers to the preceding questions. And I bet if we asked ten people, we’d get ten different answers. I just googled the difference between confidence and arrogance. While there were some good articles, we should be hesitant to ask “the world” about gray areas. I personally think “the world” errs on the side of arrogance. The best thing we can do is to follow Jesus’ example and to pray. I kinda wish I had prayed before publishing the last post. If we ask Him for guidance, he’ll tell us where the line is before we cross it.

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Stay Humble and Carry On

“Whoever honors himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be honored.” Mathew 23:12

Sometimes it’s easy for me to get cocky and borderline arrogant. I was smart. I made good grades in school. I was on the academic team and won several awards. I was also athletic. I played sports. I went to college on an academic scholarship. When I started working, I moved up quickly. By the time I was 24 years old, I was in charge of a business with over a million dollars worth of assets. After I began my career as a public servant, I was promoted to a supervisory position within 4 years.

Up until about 10 years ago, I thought that I had accomplished all those things on my own wit and determination. I didn’t realize that all of those accomplishments were blessings from God. I had started to honor myself. I was honoring my intelligence, my athleticism, my determination, and my hard work. And God humbled me. In the span of about two years, I was passed over for promotions three times in a row. Back then, I found my identity and self-worth in my work. Being passed over for promotions three times in a row was devastating to me. I became angry, bitter, and completely pessimistic. But God isn’t a mean, vengeful God. After he taught me the lesson, he put me on a trajectory where I wound up with a much, much better job. Today, I work for a very prestigious law enforcement agency.

You may be wondering what’s wrong with being smart, athletic, determined, hardworking, etc? Nothing. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with those things. I simply forgot WHO made me smart, athletic, determined, and blah, blah, blah. I started honoring myself, instead of honoring God. And he taught me a lesson that was painful, but necessary.

So, how can we avoid those painful lessons in humility? Don’t be a glory hound. Don’t expect praise. Emphasize other people’s contributions. Don’t brag, boast, or flaunt, but maintain a quiet confidence. When we need an example of humility, look to Jesus. He was all-powerful. He was part of God himself. He could have been born into a royal family. Instead, he was born in a manger. He could have had aristocratic friends. Instead, he hung out with fishermen, prostitutes, and tax collectors. He could have had servants. Instead, he was a servant. He could have chosen not to die. Instead, he chose to die. He could have chosen to die an “honorable” death. Instead, he chose to die like a common thief. My friends, that is hard-core humility.

I’ll never be as humble as Jesus. But when I need an example or a reminder, I know where to look.

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Does God Really Give a Crap?

December 20, 2014 2Comments

1)Did you know that there is about 92 billion light years of observable universe? A light year is the distance light travels in a year. And light travels just over 186,000 miles PER SECOND…. Obviously, that’s a lot of real estate. Here’s the entire article: http://www.space.com/24073-how-big-is-the-universe.html

2) Did you know that there are actually more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all of the beaches in the world? Here’s the entire article: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/dec/03/astronomers-mystery-universe-missing-stars

3) There’s also about 7 billion people on Earth, according to Wiki.

In summary, that’s quite a bit for someone to create and to manage. So, is it possible that a God big enough and all-powerful enough to create and to manage the universe, would give a rat’s rear end about one person writing a blog in Kentucky? Well, not only is it possible, I believe it’s a fact.

I have two instances in my life where I’m absolutely sure that God exists AND that he cares about my life. Instance number one happened about 6 years ago. I had very bad encounter with a co-worker that almost ended in a fistfight (yes, I am talking about two grown men). Regardless, after a few days of decompression, I felt like God was telling me to “make it right”. I can remember sitting outside a shady apartment complex doing surveillance. I had decided to call my co-worker. However, I know first hand how prideful and stubborn law enforcement people can be. So, I was praying to God that he would give me the patience and humility to remain calm, if my co-worker spurned my peace overture. Here’s what happened. I was literally about to press the call button on my phone, when it rang. It was actually my co-worker calling me to apologize. You simply can’t calculate the probability of that happening by chance.

Nevertheless, I guess if someone was a hardcore atheist, he/she might call the preceding instance coincidence. That’s why I have yet, another instance….

Two Thursdays ago, I had another instance where I was absolutely sure that God exists AND he cares about my life. By that Thursday morning, I had already written my previous blog about loving my enemies, citing Matthew 5:43-48. However, I hadn’t published the blog yet. On that Thursday morning, I was sick, and I really didn’t feel like being at the church at 0630 for my men’s group. In fact, it took some ill-received encouragement from my wife to get me out of the bed. When I arrived at the church at 0640, my group was reading bible verses. Therefore, I picked up a stray, anonymous Bible from the counter. After the group ended, I noticed that someone had bookmarked a page. The page contained verses, Matthew 5:43-48. Not only was the page bookmarked, the verses were also UNDERLINED.

What are the chances that I found a Bible with that particular page bookmarked, with those particular verses underlined, just after I wrote an unpublished blog with those particular verses? Isaac Newton couldn’t calculate the odds of that happening by chance.

You just can’t call that a coincidence. That was God’s little way of telling me, “I exist and I care”.

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My Ultimate Challenge – Loving my Enemies

December 13, 2014 0Comment

In the brief time that Jesus walked the Earth, he threw up some challenges to mankind. “Do unto others”, “rejoice when persecuted”, and “turn the other cheek” are just a few of the challenges that Jesus laid out. Perhaps the most daunting challenge, especially for me, is “love your enemies”.

Here is the complete verse from Matthew 5:43-48.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”.

Wow. Talk about raising the bar. If I had to give myself a report card, I’d get a B for loving people who love me. I’d get a C for loving my neighbor. I’d get an F for loving my enemy. Now, when I say “enemy”, I’m not necessarily talking about someone that I’m at war with. The term enemy should be expanded to anyone with whom I have issues. An enemy could be a co-worker, the person who cuts me off in traffic, an ex-spouse, or the grouchy lady at Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). How do I “love” these people? How do I respond with love to someone who responds to me without love?

I wonder if Peter had the same reservations when Cornelius called for him (the entire account is in Acts 10). Cornelius was a Roman Centurion. The servants whom he sent for Peter were probably soldiers. Peter’s first thought was surely, “Are they here to kill me?”. As the account unfolds, Peter learns the God wants him to lead Cornelius to Christ. At that point he had a decision to make. The Romans were an enemy of the Jewish people. Does he love his enemy and lead him to Christ or not? He made the wise choice and changed history. Truth be known, the Romans, who started as staunch enemies of Christ, became a proliferating force for Christianity.

Another Biblical person who changed history was Ananias (the account is in Acts 9). Basically, God told Ananias to find Paul and cure his blindness. Paul, of course, had been blinded during his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Ananias, knew that, up to that point, Paul had been a fierce, violent enemy of Christ. He then had a choice to make. Does he love his enemy and cure him or not? He made the wise choice and changed history. Paul transforms from Christ’s greatest opponent to Christ’s greatest proponent.

No, I will likely not change history if I am nice to the grouchy lady at DMV, but I may brighten one speck of the world. It takes discipline and practice though. Firstly, I have to realize opportunities. That shouldn’t be too hard. A clue for me is when my mouth starts to fill with profanities. Then I have to fight my instincts to respond without love. After that, I have to train myself to respond opposite of my instincts. Finally, I have to sit back and let God do his work. I may or may not see the result of acting with “love”, but I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing I did right thing. And as I get older, that kind of satisfaction gets more and more comfortable.

Apologies, Clarifications, and Such

Stay Humble and Carry On

Does God Really Give a Crap?

My Ultimate Challenge – Loving my Enemies

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