Who Are You Listening To?

    The heat is on! Well, it was anyway.
    We were a little warm in church last week. The auditorium was fine, but the lobby? Something was definitely wrong. It was bad enough that we had no air on a 90° day, a day we had planned extra fellowship in the new lobby after our 4:00 PM annual celebration. The lobby was so hot we had to move the food into the auditorium where it was cool. But you wouldn’t believe Monday morning. It was 96° in there when I arrived and the heat was ON! Yes….THE FURNACE WAS RUNNING! Since both lobby thermostats were set to A/C, and since the furnace was running when the air clearly should have been, we kind of thought there might be a problem (smart people that we are). Even after completely shutting down the system from both thermostats, the heat kept running. The lobby became as hot as 98 degrees by the time we were able to cut the power to all units.
    The HVAC people finally came on Tuesday to solve the problem. Come to find out, the technician had programmed the thermostats wrong when he installed them last fall. They worked fine for winter heat, but the programming for summer cool sent the wrong message to the units and while the thermostat was telling us that it was asking for A/C, the message was being sent to the heating units running the furnaces. I’m still confused as to why the heat kept running even after we turned the system off.
    Just about everything mechanical or electrical today is run by computers: cars, cameras, HVAC units. If the computer is incorrectly programmed, whatever unit it is sending signals to will operate incorrectly. Data in, data out.
    Both Solomon and Paul talked about that. They lived too long ago to be familiar with computer programming, but they understood human nature. If we take in faulty programming, our thinking gets messed up, which then is reflected in our choices/behavior.
    Where does that input come from? Well, we get it from the people and influences we surround ourselves with: friends, teachers, co-workers, television and other entertainment sources, even churches. Its pretty important that we pay attention to who and what we are listening to because invariable, without a pretty good filter (God’s Word), the influences we surround ourselves with impact in a major way the decisions we make and the lifestyles we choose. Solomon said this, “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm” (Proverbs 13:20). The Apostle Paul put it this way, “Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33).
    Who are you hanging out with? Who are you listening to?

Find a Place

     We are a camping family. I’m sure for all of you who were born and raised in the city, that is your stereotype for those of us from Wisconsin. I will have to admit that I grew up enjoying the outdoors: hunting, fishing, camping, hiking and biking. Most of my happiest childhood memories were in the woods, hiking the bluffs along the Mississippi, on the Mississippi fishing, or sleeping in a tent in a campground. But believe it or not, most people in Wisconsin are no more familiar with the outdoors than those who grew up in Des Plaines!
    But for me, I’ve always loved it. Today, the outdoors is my escape. After living in Illinois for the last three years (almost), I couldn’t hold myself back any longer. I found a $1,000 pop-up camper on craigslist and the Zieglers are camping again! When we inaugurated the camper a month ago, we were entertained by wild turkeys in the state park for a good portion of the time we were there.
    One of my favorite aspects of camping, is the time I get alone with God. There is something about being in the middle of His creation, without the distraction of traffic, TV, or even the voices of other people, that helps me focus. I can relate to Jesus when in the height of his busyness, he would often leave the crowd, needs and all, and go into the wilderness to spend time with His Father. It appears that His favorite place near Jerusalem was the Garden of Gethsemane––sort of like a state park, I think. ☺
    Do you have a place? A couple of weeks ago, I spoke on the need for all of us to have a daily quiet time with God. I hope you are doing well with your own personal time each day with God. But there is also something special about being able to go to a place away from all the hustle and bustle, periodically, where you can spend an extended time just communing with your Creator. For me, that happens best in a state park or a wildlife refuge. Do you have a place like that? Luke 5:16 says, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
    What a great habit for you to start this week!

Junior

    That moment changed everything for me. I saw the world through a different lens. The words, “love” and “respon-sibility” took on completely different meanings. It was one thing to go from “single” to “husband.” That was actually pretty easy (for me––not for Linda!). But going from “man” to “father” changed me forever.
    Junior wasn’t always “Junior.” He actually has a different middle name than me and we originally planned on calling him “Daniel,” for his middle name. But everyone called him Scottie, so that’s what stuck. As a little guy, he would shoot across the floor before he learned to crawl, so we started calling him “Scoot.” Then came, “Scoot the toot.” I won’t mention where the “toot” came from ☺.
    He has always been a lot of fun. Junior loves to laugh and tease, and in our family, that’s a primary love language. I’ll never forget when he was a teenager and he started losing his hair. He was really worried about it. Linda told him one day that mayonnaise is good for hair and that it cures baldness, if you use it early and often enough. I knew she was making it up and left the room to keep from laughing. A few days later, the mayonnaise was scraped clean from the jar!
    In junior high and high school, he was a pleasure to be around. We never had to endure the rebellious teenage years that so many parents struggle through. He was a good athlete, decent student, looked out for the kids who got picked on (actually got into a few fights defending them), and outside of a few TP pranks on church and school people, never got into trouble. Between all that and his 6’1” frame, I’ve often wondered if we accidentally brought the wrong kid home from the hospital!
    But what I have appreciated most about my oldest son, is his heart. He truly seeks to live for Christ and loves to serve. Here at The Bridge, there are not many people who are more active in ministry.
    Today, he graduated from college. Wow! Some of you have been through this before so it may be no big deal to you. But it is to Linda and I. We couldn’t be more proud. I have often told my kids, “It doesn’t matter what vocation you choose in life, so long as you are passionate about serving God and other people.” Even through his college years, while maintaining a job, full time school, and now a fiancee, serving in ministry has been a priority.
    Thanks for being the son you are, Junior. And thanks for your example. Mom and I love you and are very proud of you!

Oil Slick

    It started with a lack of oversight. We don’t know the whole story yet, but it won’t be long before we learn that maintenance had slipped and accountability was lacking. Someone didn’t do something they should have done. When disaster struck, those responsible minimized the damage. Oversight agencies were assured that the owners would take care of it themselves. All the while, black oozed from the damaged area deep beneath the surface at the rate of 210,000 gallons a day (initially said to be a fraction of that). You don’t have to be an environmental activist to be alarmed at the damage this is causing to wildlife, or even the economies of the Gulf states, which are dependent on fishing, tourism and commerce along the Gulf coast. Now understood to be nearly unmanageable, the government is supposedly stepping in to make sure something is done. But as I am writing this, it is still questionable that any of the “fix-it” theories will stop the hemorrhage, or that the clean-up plans will not do more harm than good. This is truly a disaster that will eventually affect the entire country––environmentally and economically. And it all started with lax maintenance and irresponsible oversight.
    But don’t be too quick to judge!
    How’s the maintenance in your life going? Are you open to oversight? Or are some of the early signs of a massive disaster in the making?
    I see some very sad parallels between what is unfolding off the shores of Louisiana and the imploded lives of those who wreaked havoc in their world by letting sin get the upper hand. It starts when a person is distracted from needed daily spiritual maintenance and nobody is around to notice without active accountability in their lives. When the sin does become noticeable, the offending party minimizes the real danger and friends tend to back off, as though the same person who created the disaster is likely to fix it on his own. It doesn’t happen.
    People are shocked when the family, work, or church explosion occurs, but the cracks had been forming as deterioration had been occurring deep below the surface for a long time. Sadly, it's not just the individuals who are responsible who pay the price. Everyone around them is affected. As a pastor, I have had to help clean up the rubble in the lives of kids who are usually the most devastated by the aftermath of a spiritual explosion created by poor maintenance and deficient accountability.
    How’s your daily maintenance? Are you consistently in the Word and spending time in prayer with a daily quiet time with God?
    Do you have good accountability in your life with close friends or family members who are there to help you stay the course? Are you open to their help or do you recoil at any hint of correction?
    The oil slick in the Gulf is growing every day. Fishing is shut down, ports are closed, sea life is dying. And it all could have been avoided. Sometimes the thing that keeps me most on track is a reminder of what could be if I’m not. There’s too much at stake in my life. And there is in yours as well. If you don’t have a regular maintenance program in place, establish a daily quiet time today. And surround yourself with a few godly people who will help hold you to it!