Today is Memorial Day, 2012. As you see from my last blog entry, heroism is an important topic to me. I love seeing Superman, Batman, Spider-Man or Captain America swoop in and save the day. Incidentally, I don’t think it’s wrong to be inspired by an act of heroism even if it is portrayed by a fictional character. That said, it’s one thing to see heroism depicted in the movies and on TV, but it’s quite another to contemplate the fact that are real life heroes among us. That’s why Memorial Day has a special place in my heart.
It’s amazing for me to contemplate that there are men and women – people that I’ve never met – that died in an effort to protect the freedoms that I, as an American citizen, enjoy. These folks have my utmost respect and admiration. It’s humbling to ponder the brave, noble, and courageous men and women who gave their all for their country. These men and women are real heroes.
My mind and heart also goes out to the families of those who gave their lives in service of the United States of America. I don't know this firsthand, but I would imagine that this is probably a bittersweet day for you. In one sense, you are proud of their service for the country, but at the same time, you also have a gnawing sense of sadness on a daily basis for your departed loved one and that is only intensified as you are reminded anew of the ultimate sacrifice that they made. I want you to know that I respect and admire the great sacrifices you have made; you are a hero as well.
Kevin
Monday, May 28, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
"What better role for anyone to aspire to than hero?"
I finally had the opportunity to watch “The Avengers” the other day. It was well worth the wait; what a phenomenal movie! Before I move into the heart of this blog today, let me just state if you haven’t seen this film, go ahead and do so. “The Avengers” has everything you could want: eye-popping action, moments of absolute hilarity, and you may even shed a tear or two.
Ever since I watched this flick, I’ve been thinking a lot about the topic of heroism (because this is something that the Avengers display abundantly in the film). In another movie called “Superman/Batman: Apocalypse” Superman asks this thought-provoking question: “What better role for anyone to aspire to than hero?”
Perhaps you are thinking, “I know about the importance of heroism, but I can’t do anything as grandiose as save someone from a burning building, or stop a thief from robbing a bank, or that kind of thing.” I’m right there with you, but these examples are not the only way that heroism is displayed.
I love this quote from the late tennis player, Arthur Ashe: “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” This is profound, and it is Biblical. Jesus said that the greatest among us is actually the servant (Matthew 20:26). Heroism might actually be best displayed by selflessly serving others, and by looking out for the wellbeing of others first instead of looking out for yourself first.
For another example of practical, everyday heroism consider this scene from an episode of the TV show “Boy Meets World.” The main character, Cory Matthews, is having a discussion with his neighbor/mentor George Feeny on what it means to be a hero. Feeny puts it succinctly when he states, "A real hero is someone who does the right thing when the right thing isn’t the easy thing to do.”
For instance, maybe you are a single man who is tempted to go “all the way” with your girlfriend even though you aren’t married. The right thing to do, Biblically speaking, is to remain sexually pure until marriage, but that is certainly not the easy thing. The easy thing is to follow the cultural expectation and sleep around. But remember: “a real hero is someone who does the right thing when the right thing isn’t the easy thing to do.” The bottom line is this: you and I can be a hero, and we don’t even have to wear a cape or mask!
Kevin
Ever since I watched this flick, I’ve been thinking a lot about the topic of heroism (because this is something that the Avengers display abundantly in the film). In another movie called “Superman/Batman: Apocalypse” Superman asks this thought-provoking question: “What better role for anyone to aspire to than hero?”
Perhaps you are thinking, “I know about the importance of heroism, but I can’t do anything as grandiose as save someone from a burning building, or stop a thief from robbing a bank, or that kind of thing.” I’m right there with you, but these examples are not the only way that heroism is displayed.
I love this quote from the late tennis player, Arthur Ashe: “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” This is profound, and it is Biblical. Jesus said that the greatest among us is actually the servant (Matthew 20:26). Heroism might actually be best displayed by selflessly serving others, and by looking out for the wellbeing of others first instead of looking out for yourself first.
For another example of practical, everyday heroism consider this scene from an episode of the TV show “Boy Meets World.” The main character, Cory Matthews, is having a discussion with his neighbor/mentor George Feeny on what it means to be a hero. Feeny puts it succinctly when he states, "A real hero is someone who does the right thing when the right thing isn’t the easy thing to do.”
For instance, maybe you are a single man who is tempted to go “all the way” with your girlfriend even though you aren’t married. The right thing to do, Biblically speaking, is to remain sexually pure until marriage, but that is certainly not the easy thing. The easy thing is to follow the cultural expectation and sleep around. But remember: “a real hero is someone who does the right thing when the right thing isn’t the easy thing to do.” The bottom line is this: you and I can be a hero, and we don’t even have to wear a cape or mask!
Kevin
Monday, May 14, 2012
Choosing delayed gratification
We live in an instant gratification world. When I was growing up, there used to be a “layaway” department where you could ask the store to hold the product for a time. While there may still be a few trace remnants of this notion in our culture, for the most part people simply put their purchase on a credit card instead of relying on the concept of layaway. We have immediate communication via e-mail, social media websites, and instant messaging. If you get hungry at midnight, no need to wait, you can simply go to a restaurant drive-through; they are open until the wee hours of the morning. We live in an instant gratification world.
Most of you know that I’m a big fan of superheroes. Even though they are fictional, to see superheroes that model such traits as selflessness, courage, and valor never ceases to inspire me to emulate such traits in my own life. Because of this, you will be surprised to read that I have not yet seen the movie “The Avengers.” I certainly plan to do so, but circumstances have not allowed for me to watch it as of yet. I’m very happy to hear of all the success the movie has had and I am eagerly anticipating the day that I can finally watch it.
While I’m not necessarily thrilled with the idea of not seeing the movie (it seems like everyone else around me has seen it and has told me how great it is), I also believe that it’s healthy to practice delayed gratification. It’s like the child who has to wait for his/her Christmas gifts. The whole gift experience is made more enjoyable because it was coupled with the anticipation and waiting. Whenever I finally do watch “The Avengers” I think I’ll enjoy it even more because I’ve had to wait all this time to watch it!
Kevin
Most of you know that I’m a big fan of superheroes. Even though they are fictional, to see superheroes that model such traits as selflessness, courage, and valor never ceases to inspire me to emulate such traits in my own life. Because of this, you will be surprised to read that I have not yet seen the movie “The Avengers.” I certainly plan to do so, but circumstances have not allowed for me to watch it as of yet. I’m very happy to hear of all the success the movie has had and I am eagerly anticipating the day that I can finally watch it.
While I’m not necessarily thrilled with the idea of not seeing the movie (it seems like everyone else around me has seen it and has told me how great it is), I also believe that it’s healthy to practice delayed gratification. It’s like the child who has to wait for his/her Christmas gifts. The whole gift experience is made more enjoyable because it was coupled with the anticipation and waiting. Whenever I finally do watch “The Avengers” I think I’ll enjoy it even more because I’ve had to wait all this time to watch it!
Kevin
Friday, May 11, 2012
In God we trust
I love this quote from Oswald Chambers: “Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.” Let those words sink into your heart for a moment.
As Christians, don’t we all have times when we wonder what in the world God is up to? We have surrendered control of our lives to Him, and He allows us to go through times that we find very confusing and frightening. We have said (to quote a song title) “Jesus, take the wheel” and He takes the car of our lives through rugged, bumpy terrain. We scratch our heads and wonder, “God, what are you doing?”
When we find ourselves in those episodes of life, I can tell you through personal experience that the best course of action is simply to trust God. You see, this Oswald Chambers quote helped me during a recent painful season of life when new challenges and stresses were piling on me. Chambers' words inspired me anew to trust in God and His character.
The Bible tells us over and over to trust in God. For example, in Psalm 37:5 we read, “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 118:8 says, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” Jeremiah 17:7 tells us, “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.” Is this an easy thing to do? Not necessarily. Even so, the fact of the matter is God is absolutely reliable, dependable, and trustworthy, no matter what.
Kevin
As Christians, don’t we all have times when we wonder what in the world God is up to? We have surrendered control of our lives to Him, and He allows us to go through times that we find very confusing and frightening. We have said (to quote a song title) “Jesus, take the wheel” and He takes the car of our lives through rugged, bumpy terrain. We scratch our heads and wonder, “God, what are you doing?”
When we find ourselves in those episodes of life, I can tell you through personal experience that the best course of action is simply to trust God. You see, this Oswald Chambers quote helped me during a recent painful season of life when new challenges and stresses were piling on me. Chambers' words inspired me anew to trust in God and His character.
The Bible tells us over and over to trust in God. For example, in Psalm 37:5 we read, “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 118:8 says, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” Jeremiah 17:7 tells us, “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.” Is this an easy thing to do? Not necessarily. Even so, the fact of the matter is God is absolutely reliable, dependable, and trustworthy, no matter what.
Kevin
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
The spiral notebook
One of my most prized possessions is a spiral notebook. This is an important item to me because it’s a document that my parents used to record a season of illness I had when I was a baby. For those of you that don’t know, for six months or so, I had what was labeled as “Infantile Spasms” or an infant that was having multiple seizures. In the notebook, my parents made comments and observations as to how many seizures I was having, as well as recording all of the steps that they took to try to minimize the seizures.
In this notebook, it is recorded that on April 24th, 1982 I stopped having seizures. In fact, this year is a special milestone because I haven’t had another seizure for thirty years now! On that April day all those years ago, I was in the hospital (based on entries in the notebook this was not an uncommon occurrence). For some reason that is still unexplained, I flat-lined; I’m told that I actually turned a shade of blue. After flat-lining for over three minutes, God intervened. The flat-lining stopped and my normal coloring began to return to me. Life returned to me! In short, if it weren’t for God’s miraculous intervention that day, I would not be alive today. I wanted to publicly give all the thanks, praise, and glory to God.
Every subsequent April 24th, I’ve stopped to reflect on life. This year, I’ve been thinking about what I want my life to be about for the remaining years God gives me. Christian singer and songwriter Chris Tomlin wrote a statement in his book “The Way I Was Made” that perfectly describes my life’s goal. He said, “We were created to shine the spotlight on God – to spread the fame of God everywhere we go.” As far as I'm concerned, you can put that sentiment on my epitaph one day.
Kevin
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think…to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” - Ephesians 3:20-21
In this notebook, it is recorded that on April 24th, 1982 I stopped having seizures. In fact, this year is a special milestone because I haven’t had another seizure for thirty years now! On that April day all those years ago, I was in the hospital (based on entries in the notebook this was not an uncommon occurrence). For some reason that is still unexplained, I flat-lined; I’m told that I actually turned a shade of blue. After flat-lining for over three minutes, God intervened. The flat-lining stopped and my normal coloring began to return to me. Life returned to me! In short, if it weren’t for God’s miraculous intervention that day, I would not be alive today. I wanted to publicly give all the thanks, praise, and glory to God.
Every subsequent April 24th, I’ve stopped to reflect on life. This year, I’ve been thinking about what I want my life to be about for the remaining years God gives me. Christian singer and songwriter Chris Tomlin wrote a statement in his book “The Way I Was Made” that perfectly describes my life’s goal. He said, “We were created to shine the spotlight on God – to spread the fame of God everywhere we go.” As far as I'm concerned, you can put that sentiment on my epitaph one day.
Kevin
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think…to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” - Ephesians 3:20-21
Sunday, April 8, 2012
The importance of Easter
Happy Easter, everyone! I hope that in the midst of your day today you take some time to reflect on the real reason for this holiday: Jesus Christ is alive! He literally and bodily resurrected from the dead over 2000 years ago.
It occurred to me that some of you might not understand why we Christians hold the resurrection of Christ up as such a momentous event. What’s so important about the resurrection? There are many reasons, but I want to camp out on just one today. Jesus Himself said that He was going to die, but that He was not going to stay dead. If you read the gospels you see Jesus, on more than one occasion, informing the disciples of what was eventually going to happen to Him (although they didn’t understand what He was talking about). Consider Mark 9:31 for example, Jesus says, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” Verse 32: “But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.”
If Jesus was killed, and He stayed dead, it would have been revealed that Christ was nothing more than a liar. Why? Because He said on numerous occasions that He was going to die, but that He was going to be resurrected. Therefore, if Christ did not literally and bodily resurrect from the dead, Christianity’s founder, Jesus, was essentially nothing more than a charlatan! No wonder the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” But, hallelujah, Jesus did rise from the dead! It is a matter of historical fact. Despite Christianity’s opponents, no one has been able to produce conclusive evidence that Christ actually stayed dead. Christ the Lord is risen; He is risen indeed!
By the way, for those of you who are interested in learning more, I would encourage you to read “More Than a Carpenter” by Josh and Sean McDowell. It addresses the resurrection of Christ, but also many other important issues as well.
Happy Easter!
Kevin
It occurred to me that some of you might not understand why we Christians hold the resurrection of Christ up as such a momentous event. What’s so important about the resurrection? There are many reasons, but I want to camp out on just one today. Jesus Himself said that He was going to die, but that He was not going to stay dead. If you read the gospels you see Jesus, on more than one occasion, informing the disciples of what was eventually going to happen to Him (although they didn’t understand what He was talking about). Consider Mark 9:31 for example, Jesus says, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” Verse 32: “But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.”
If Jesus was killed, and He stayed dead, it would have been revealed that Christ was nothing more than a liar. Why? Because He said on numerous occasions that He was going to die, but that He was going to be resurrected. Therefore, if Christ did not literally and bodily resurrect from the dead, Christianity’s founder, Jesus, was essentially nothing more than a charlatan! No wonder the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” But, hallelujah, Jesus did rise from the dead! It is a matter of historical fact. Despite Christianity’s opponents, no one has been able to produce conclusive evidence that Christ actually stayed dead. Christ the Lord is risen; He is risen indeed!
By the way, for those of you who are interested in learning more, I would encourage you to read “More Than a Carpenter” by Josh and Sean McDowell. It addresses the resurrection of Christ, but also many other important issues as well.
Happy Easter!
Kevin
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
The amazing importance of rest
Today is the last day of a two-week vacation. As I contemplate returning to my normal routine tomorrow, a part of me certainly feels sadness to see it end. At the same time, I feel happy as I look back on a fantastic season of needed rest and relaxation.
We live our lives at such a frenetic pace today. We always have so many things pulling at us. That’s why it is so vitally important to take time out and recharge our batteries. I’m not necessarily referring to vacations per se (speaking for myself, I can’t go away on a vacation as much as I’d like to because of the responsibilities in my life). But as I thought about this topic, I was reminded afresh that God Himself told us how important it is to take time out of our busy lives to rest. Of course, I’m referring to the admonition to keep the Sabbath (Exodus 20:9-11).
I wonder if you’ve ever thought about the Sabbath as a one-day vacation. In my opinion, that’s what the Sabbath is supposed to be. It supposed to be a day set aside for recuperating from a busy week. How many of us are guilty of not following God’s command to rest on Sunday? I’m not trying to pile on the guilt; I'm simply trying to remind us all that rest is vital to our human existence. Without it, we will simply crash and burn from exhaustion. We need time to rest.
Kevin
"Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work" - Deuteronomy 5:13
We live our lives at such a frenetic pace today. We always have so many things pulling at us. That’s why it is so vitally important to take time out and recharge our batteries. I’m not necessarily referring to vacations per se (speaking for myself, I can’t go away on a vacation as much as I’d like to because of the responsibilities in my life). But as I thought about this topic, I was reminded afresh that God Himself told us how important it is to take time out of our busy lives to rest. Of course, I’m referring to the admonition to keep the Sabbath (Exodus 20:9-11).
I wonder if you’ve ever thought about the Sabbath as a one-day vacation. In my opinion, that’s what the Sabbath is supposed to be. It supposed to be a day set aside for recuperating from a busy week. How many of us are guilty of not following God’s command to rest on Sunday? I’m not trying to pile on the guilt; I'm simply trying to remind us all that rest is vital to our human existence. Without it, we will simply crash and burn from exhaustion. We need time to rest.
Kevin
"Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work" - Deuteronomy 5:13
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