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You see this guy? This is me. Okay, not literally, but this image captures how I’ve been feeling for months.

I’ve been working so hard at my tent-making trade that I feel like I’ve had little time for anything else. I’ve woken up with my job on my mind first thing and often-times, I’ve gone to bed worrying about tasks and projects that I’m behind on.

Don’t misunderstand me. I enjoy my job, my bosses, and the fact that I work from home. I just have a lot of work to do (but I guess in these days, that’s a good thing) and I’m not feeling like I’m on top of it all.

Changes

Then, last month, literally over-night, I was handed the leadership role of the Knott Avenue Christian Church Media team. Lest I sound like I’m complaining about that, I’m not. It’s a tremendous blessing and I’m amazed and what God has led me to and through in the past two years that I’ve been a part of that team. Still, the day I found out that I was probably going to be leading it, I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders, right at a time when I couldn’t take any additional burdens. I had to learn things that I hadn’t done before (like all the post-production work and video editing of the church’s Sunday morning webcast) with no training. But to God be the glory: things have gone much smoother than I ever would have thought.

Reminders

Still, since that time, I’ve had daily bouts of anxiety and stress and worry. Sometimes to the point of tears. But thanks be to God for the gift of my wife who is always ready to encourage me and remind me that I’m not alone in any of it.

I notice a huge difference, though, when I wrestle against my flesh and, instead of getting up early and sitting down at my laptop, I instead pull out the Word of God. Today was no exception and I was reminded of the story of Mary and Martha.

When Jesus was on His was to Jerusalem to go to the cross, He stopped at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

39 [Martha] had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” –Luke 10:39-42.

Oh how long to be Mary, but feeling so much like Martha! No, there is nothing wrong with being conscious of doing Martha-type of work, but it cannot take the place of sitting at the feet of the King.

We cannot be so busy about doing work for the King that we forget about the King and neglect Him!

What about you? Have you ever found yourself in a season of being so busy and worried about things that you realized you became disconnected from your fellowship with God?

May He Increase!

Such a basic illustration but it goes hand-in-hand with the Radical series. I have to admit, it made me question my outlook on my life right now.

May He Increase!

It’s an achievement. It’s been a long road for all of us. There were times when we wondered if we’d see this day arrive the way it has, but we give all glory to God for what He has brought him through.

First I wanted to express my admiration and gratitude to my wife who, two years ago, took the huge responsibility of home-schooling my stepson for his last two years of high school. When we first started looking into the various options, I have to admit that I couldn’t understand how she was going to do it. It wasn’t so much a reflection upon her teaching abilities it was my own lack of how home-schooling worked. I’m married to a courageous and strong woman. She took this responsibility upon her shoulders and plunged into it.

But today it’s about my stepson, Jori. I wanted to take this post to share some thoughts on this momentous occasion in his life.

If I Could . . .

There’s a great song by Carl Anderson called “If I Could.” It’s a song from a father’s perspective about how he wishes he could shield his child from life’s travails and teach him “all the things [he] never learned.”

If I could
I’d protect you from the sadness in your eyes
Give you courage, in a world of compromise
Yes I would

If I could
I would teach you all the things I never learned
And I’d help you cross the bridges that I burned
Yes I would

If I could
I would try to shield your innocence from time
But the part of life I gave you isn’t mine
I watched you grow
So I could let you go

If I could
I would help you make it through the hungry years
But I know that I could never dry your tears
But I would
If I could

If I live
In a time and place where you don’t want to be
You don’t have to walk along this road with me
My yesterdays don’t have to be your ways

If I knew
I’d have tried to change the world I brought you to
But there isn’t very much more that I can do
But I would
If I could

You know I would
If I could

I love you, Jori. I hope you know that. And I know that Almighty God has a big plan for your life.

If I could, I would tell you to trust Him no matter what, especially in the dark days to come. Jesus is your shield, your firm foundation . . . your very life. Love him, serve Him with everything you are capable of.

Who can say what lies ahead? God only knows. If I could, I would have trusted in Him at the age you are right now. Instead I turned away and wandered for so many sad, hopeless years. Don’t make that same mistake. Life is too short and time too precious to waste. Make the most of every opportunity to give glory to God.

Congratulations on finishing your high school years strong. I knew you could do it. You have what it takes because you have Jesus.

Love,

Joe

I’m a little behind in my reading of Radical. As a result, I thought I’d change up the series a little and let David Platt do some of the talking.

Thoughts on the video?

[This is part of the Radical Series. Have you seen the other posts yet?]

May He Increase!

If you really want to get “Radical,” you can click below:

I have to confess: when I’m watching TV and one of those commercials come on about starving kids somewhere in the world, I don’t give it a second thought; I turn the channel. I don’t view these commercials any differently than I would a breakfast cereal commercial.

Then I read this from David Platt’s Radical:

Today more than a billion people in the world live and die in desperate poverty. They attempt to survive on less than a dollar per day. Close to two billion others live on less than two dollars per day. That’s nearly half the world struggling today to find food, water, and shelter with the same amount of money I spend on french fries for lunch. More than twenty-six thousand children today will breathe their last breath due to starvation or a preventable disease.”

The UNICEF website has a plethora of stats on the state of the world’s children. Check it out.

In looking for a graphic to include with this post, I ran across this one.

This picture haunts me for a few reasons. First, the child looks terrified or at least worried. But most of all, he looks like my own son, Nicholas.

There have been times in his first three and-a-half years where due to miscommunication between my wife and I, Nick has gone without really eating a full meal for an extended period of time. When I’ve realized this, it makes me feel like a failure as a parent and it breaks my heart.

Now magnify that feeling by Platt’s twenty-six thousand children figure!

We don’t let our own children starve unless it’s out of sheer neglect. What about the innocents in the rest of the world who are truly going hungry? What will future generations say of us who are letting generations of children starve?

What will Jesus say!

In chapter six of Radical, Platt hammers home this point. It’s caused me to look at my situation and realize that this is a huge “blind spot” for me. My family and I really need to deeply and prayerfully look at our role in this and what we can do to play a part in making a difference in people’s lives.

It’s been many years since I’ve been to places where there is extreme poverty. The last time–shamefully, I admit–was when I was a pre-teen and visited an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico.

Have you been convicted of this in the past? Have you been to areas of extreme poverty and were profoundly changed? What was your experience?

[This is part of the Radical Series. Have you seen the other posts yet?]

May He Increase!

If you really want to get “Radical,” you can click below: