Susan Dolan is a member of Arlin's morning devotional email list. I met her and her husband Pat this summer at the "Go Giver retreat" at Arlin's farm. She shared this with the list earlier this week. Stethoscope. What would your heart sound like???
Here is another one that Susan shared last week. I missed it first time around... Invitation.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Divorce
Often times, the topic on which I feel prompted to write comes to me in the shower. Today was no different. I had already planned on following up yesterday's radio program by commenting on a note that I taken during the conversation.
Instead, I felt a very clear prompting to talk about divorce. I'll start by saying that I am happily married... for the second time. I was divorced nearly 20 years ago. To some, what I am about to say will smack of hypocrisy. I don't believe that is the case, but it is also not the point either.
The point is divorce destroys biblical community, relationships and families. There have been countless scriptural commentaries written on the subject. Here is one of the first I found with a brief summary below.
So then, as Christians, what should we do? Now, I am not a counselor. I'm not a therapist. I'm just a guy trying my best to live the life that God has given me. In that life he has provided some guidance, in the form of the Bible. He has also placed other people on this planet to help me along the way. Part of my purpose in being here is to help others in their Christian journey.
I ask again, what shall we do? What if we simply "discouraged" divorce as our baseline position. Rather than find reasons to condone divorce or excuses for why "this" divorce is acceptable, why don't we realize that divorce is not in God's plan for ANYONE?
If that is the foundation upon which we stand, then what? If divorce is not an option, what is the solution to marital discord? Prayer? Petition? Submission? There are probably a couple of more that I could think of, but these are probably a good starting point.
Let's step back for a minute and frame the situation. Who exactly are we talking about. Am I referring to the person who is considering a divorce? Am I addressing the spouse who is facing an unwanted divorce? What about the friends and family? YES. I believe that all parties are faced with the same challenge AND the same solution to the problem. Prayer, Petition and Submission.
What then shall we do. Pray! Pray specifically for BOTH the husband and the wife, for we know that both are sinners. What ever the "reason" for the breakdown in the relationship, you can be certain that both bear some responsibility for it.
Petition God to intervene. We know that in Christ all things are possible. We know that God's plan is for perfect community and oneness. Oneness in our relationship with him. Oneness in our relationship with our spouse and oneness in our relationship with others.
Submit ourselves to the purpose of truth, hope, peace and Love. The Greatest of These Is Love. If we are the husband or wife, we need to submit ourselves to the power of Love, the love that we pledged UNCONDITIONALLY on the day that we were married. If we are a friend or family member we need to submit ourselves to the love we have for the affected couple and the the love we have for God, whose heart is broken with each broken marriage. Sometimes that means speaking the TRUTH in love. That means saying things that may be very difficult to say but must be said, if healing is to occur.
Now, I am not naive enough to think that I can "talk" anyone out of a divorce. But I am confident that God can mend any relationship. He wrote the book on Forgiveness. Isn't that really what divorce is all about, the inability to Forgive? God can, does and will show you how to forgive as well.
In closing, I want to apologize for what may be a somewhat dis-jointed monologue and certainly one that is longer than I normally post. I also want to acknowledge the underlying reason for this posting. Each morning, my knees hit the floor and I pray. I pray for a lot of things, among those, the needs of others. There are currently three couples that I am praying for. All three are in different stages of "the process" but I refuse to concede a single relationship to Satan. I believe that God CAN redeem each of those relationships. For those that don't believe it, ask my Mother. That is a posting for another time... until then blessing to All!
Instead, I felt a very clear prompting to talk about divorce. I'll start by saying that I am happily married... for the second time. I was divorced nearly 20 years ago. To some, what I am about to say will smack of hypocrisy. I don't believe that is the case, but it is also not the point either.
The point is divorce destroys biblical community, relationships and families. There have been countless scriptural commentaries written on the subject. Here is one of the first I found with a brief summary below.
Divorce in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament):
Matthew 5:31-32: Adultery the only valid grounds for divorce:Matthew 19:3-9: Adultery the only valid grounds for divorce: Jesus returns to the question of grounds for divorce and confirms his stance in Matthew 5. He says that God intended men and women to marry permanently; divorce is not in God's plan.
Mark 10:2-12: There are no valid grounds for divorce: Jesus here
implies that all marriages are permanent; divorce is not allowed for any reason.Luke 16:18: Remarriage is not permitted: Jesus here condemns remarriage of both husband and wife.
1 Corinthians 7:10-17: Remarriage is permitted, in some circumstances: Paul apparently wrote this passage in response to some Christians who were married to other Christians and were considering separating from their spouses and leading
a celibate life.
So then, as Christians, what should we do? Now, I am not a counselor. I'm not a therapist. I'm just a guy trying my best to live the life that God has given me. In that life he has provided some guidance, in the form of the Bible. He has also placed other people on this planet to help me along the way. Part of my purpose in being here is to help others in their Christian journey.
I ask again, what shall we do? What if we simply "discouraged" divorce as our baseline position. Rather than find reasons to condone divorce or excuses for why "this" divorce is acceptable, why don't we realize that divorce is not in God's plan for ANYONE?
If that is the foundation upon which we stand, then what? If divorce is not an option, what is the solution to marital discord? Prayer? Petition? Submission? There are probably a couple of more that I could think of, but these are probably a good starting point.
Let's step back for a minute and frame the situation. Who exactly are we talking about. Am I referring to the person who is considering a divorce? Am I addressing the spouse who is facing an unwanted divorce? What about the friends and family? YES. I believe that all parties are faced with the same challenge AND the same solution to the problem. Prayer, Petition and Submission.
What then shall we do. Pray! Pray specifically for BOTH the husband and the wife, for we know that both are sinners. What ever the "reason" for the breakdown in the relationship, you can be certain that both bear some responsibility for it.
Petition God to intervene. We know that in Christ all things are possible. We know that God's plan is for perfect community and oneness. Oneness in our relationship with him. Oneness in our relationship with our spouse and oneness in our relationship with others.
Submit ourselves to the purpose of truth, hope, peace and Love. The Greatest of These Is Love. If we are the husband or wife, we need to submit ourselves to the power of Love, the love that we pledged UNCONDITIONALLY on the day that we were married. If we are a friend or family member we need to submit ourselves to the love we have for the affected couple and the the love we have for God, whose heart is broken with each broken marriage. Sometimes that means speaking the TRUTH in love. That means saying things that may be very difficult to say but must be said, if healing is to occur.
Now, I am not naive enough to think that I can "talk" anyone out of a divorce. But I am confident that God can mend any relationship. He wrote the book on Forgiveness. Isn't that really what divorce is all about, the inability to Forgive? God can, does and will show you how to forgive as well.
In closing, I want to apologize for what may be a somewhat dis-jointed monologue and certainly one that is longer than I normally post. I also want to acknowledge the underlying reason for this posting. Each morning, my knees hit the floor and I pray. I pray for a lot of things, among those, the needs of others. There are currently three couples that I am praying for. All three are in different stages of "the process" but I refuse to concede a single relationship to Satan. I believe that God CAN redeem each of those relationships. For those that don't believe it, ask my Mother. That is a posting for another time... until then blessing to All!
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Bahlog: Managed Services for God?
The MarketPlace Ministry radio program was a success and a wonderful experience. You can read a bit more about it here. The Bahlog: Managed Services for God?
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Marketplace Ministry
Join Stuart Crawford, Jeff Wood, Brad Schow, Arlin Sorensen and me (all HTG members) on Friday at noon eastern on blogtalk radio. All of these guys are veterans of the "Go Giver" retreat that Arlin hosted this past Summer. Their membership in HTG ensures that they are serious about their business, but tomorrow's discussion will focus on their commitment to God and His Business. We will be talking about ministry in the workplace and how faith and business do not have to be separated and kept apart. Join us on Friday at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb and join the conversation. The session will be recorded, so if you can't make check back and listen when you can. For that matter you can download is an listen at your convenience.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
American Depression
This week I am in Seattle for the Microsoft Mobile Communications Partner Summit 2008. Quality Systems Solutions, Inc., the company I own, is one of just over 400 Microsoft partners in the US with the Mobility Competency, so we were invited to attend the two day event. You can read my comments on the conference here.
In the morning keynote speech, Allison Watson, Corporate Vice President, World Wide Partner Group, spoke about the tough economic times we are facing and made several references to the Great Depression. I'm not much of one for reading the newspaper, but late last night I was having trouble sleeping, so I picked up the copy of USA Today that had been left in the room. On page 11A I found a FULL Page advertisement that caught my eye. The title was, "WHAT AMERICA CAN DO TO AVOID A DEPRESSION ." Apparently the ad is a reposting of the blog, http://remortgageamerica.blogspot.com/ .
Rather and repost the contents of the readily available blog, I would highly recommend you check it out. The idea is SO simple and it make so much GOOD SENSE, it is almost destine for failure. For some reason, our politicians have a real challenge with simple solutions to complex problem, that might actually work. Instead they would prefer to toss money around (your money and mine) giving it to the very same people who caused the problem in the first place.
Rather than bail out those that are "too big to fail", lets help those too small to steal (your taxes and mine). The reference to stealing implies my opinion that the money that was "lent" to these companies has a very LOW probability to being repaid and for all practical purposes it is being stolen...
In the morning keynote speech, Allison Watson, Corporate Vice President, World Wide Partner Group, spoke about the tough economic times we are facing and made several references to the Great Depression. I'm not much of one for reading the newspaper, but late last night I was having trouble sleeping, so I picked up the copy of USA Today that had been left in the room. On page 11A I found a FULL Page advertisement that caught my eye. The title was, "WHAT AMERICA CAN DO TO AVOID A DEPRESSION ." Apparently the ad is a reposting of the blog, http://remortgageamerica.blogspot.com/ .
Rather and repost the contents of the readily available blog, I would highly recommend you check it out. The idea is SO simple and it make so much GOOD SENSE, it is almost destine for failure. For some reason, our politicians have a real challenge with simple solutions to complex problem, that might actually work. Instead they would prefer to toss money around (your money and mine) giving it to the very same people who caused the problem in the first place.
Rather than bail out those that are "too big to fail", lets help those too small to steal (your taxes and mine). The reference to stealing implies my opinion that the money that was "lent" to these companies has a very LOW probability to being repaid and for all practical purposes it is being stolen...
Monday, December 8, 2008
Holiday Stress....RELIEF!
Admit it. The holiday season is upon us and you are feeling just a bit overwhelmed. I don't know too many people who don't feel at least a little bit stressed working their way through the end of the year. For me, working is the operative word, but that is the topic for another time and is not the reason for this post.
I have a Cure for treating the stress we can often feel during the Christmas season. Throw a Party! "You've got to be kidding me!!!" I can hear it now. It is almost unanimous. Holiday entertaining CAUSES stress.... That may be true, but if it is, its is because you are doing it all wrong.
Throw a party where it is not about you. Throw a party where it is not about your guests. Throw a party where it isn't about your house (which incidentally, is only worth a fraction of what it was last year) or you marvelous collection of Christmas decorations.
Throw a party for complete strangers! Throw a party for people you have never met. Better yet, throw a party for people that you will never meet. Oh, and by the way, ask your friends and neighbors to help out. That is exactly what we did last night.
I have a Cure for treating the stress we can often feel during the Christmas season. Throw a Party! "You've got to be kidding me!!!" I can hear it now. It is almost unanimous. Holiday entertaining CAUSES stress.... That may be true, but if it is, its is because you are doing it all wrong.
Throw a party where it is not about you. Throw a party where it is not about your guests. Throw a party where it isn't about your house (which incidentally, is only worth a fraction of what it was last year) or you marvelous collection of Christmas decorations.
Throw a party for complete strangers! Throw a party for people you have never met. Better yet, throw a party for people that you will never meet. Oh, and by the way, ask your friends and neighbors to help out. That is exactly what we did last night.
I have been leading a Table Group in our neighborhood for about 3 years now. There is a core group of families, totalling about 18 people that meet monthly for dinner. Dinner, that's it. Well actually, that isn't it. "IT" is COMMUNITY! We have committed to get together to be together. We simply Share Life.
We were scheduled to have our December gathering when a thought struck me. Willow Creek Community Church and World Vision have combined efforts to collect gifts for Ministry Partners in the Chicagoland area. The initiative is called, Stock the Storehouse. Why not combine the two? So we did. I printed off invitations and delivered them to every home in our neighborhood (77 in all). The rest of the group distributed invitations to friends, neighbors and associates. Over 100 families were invited to an Open House in our home.
The elf in the red shirt is me. You probably can't see it in the picture, but I was wearing an Elf hat with big Elf ears. I was in charge of greeting our guests.
Did we have 100 people show up? No. Did we have strangers show up? Yes. Are they strangers any longer. I think not... What about those people that we will never meet? Here is what we collected for them.
Everything pictured is brand new. All in all, there were 13 winter coats, 46 pairs of gloves, 20 hats, 19 toys, 13 pairs of pajamas, 14 pairs of socks and 2 sweatshirts.
I want to extend a heart-felt thanks to the whole TABLE! I couldn't have done it without you. Oh, and for those of you have left little "surprises" for Karen and I, you really shouldn't have, but, THANK YOU!!!
Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays!
"place politically correct holiday greeting here"
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