Spiritual Retreat

It is a beautiful day.  The rain has cleared and the sun is shining.  It was a perfect day for my spiritual retreat.  I rode my bike down the Jim Martinez Sunflower Trail.  I have a couple of favorite spots by the Arkansas River where I stop to spend time with God.  I had some great time of seeking God and listening.

Awhile back, during another spiritual retreat day, I asked God what His vision for my life was.  I believe that answer is becoming more and more clear as I have been spending time seeking Him and listening.  As I have been reading through the book of Nehemiah, I sense an urging to become a repairer of the breach that has taken place in families.  This includes leading men to be better spiritual leaders, husbands and fathers, helping people to grow spiritually and teaching them how to pursue God (after all, His Holy Spirit is our “in-house” Counselor!), helping strengthen marriages and families, and by standing in the gap for single parent families.  I’m not so arrogant as to think I’m perfect and can do all of this myself or in my own strength.  In fact, the whole thought of it kind of overwhelms me.  However, I am available for however God wants to use me.

I believe that all of the ministries that I’m responsible for can be aligned under this key vision of building the wall and repairing the breaches that are happening in families.  God is teaching me a lot about leadership, which will be crucial as I lead teams in making this happen.  He is also leading me toward getting more training in couseling.  My heart is wide open to His wisdom and leading.  Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.

May God bless your family!

Nehemiah 5 – Servant Leadership

Matthew 20:25-28: “Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Servant leadership is a very important concept for leaders to learn and exemplify.  In fact, it is essential if we want to be more and more like Jesus.  If we want to be the kind of leaders that please and glorify God, we must serve and take care of those we are leading.  In Chapter 5, Nehemiah is shown to be someone who does that well.

It seems that in those days, many were so poverty-stricken that they were having to mortgage their fields and vineyards, were having to borrow money just to pay the king’s taxes, and were even having to sell their children into slavery.  Nehemiah was very angry with what was happening.  To deal with this outcry, he called a large meeting right in the middle of the rebuilding project, which showed the magnitude of the problem and the importance of resolving it.  Nehemiah met the problem head on and didn’t dance around it.  He told the nobles and officials that what they were doing was wrong and to stop it immediately.  He had a plan for them to follow and expected them to do it.  They knew what they were doing was wrong because “they could find nothing to say.”  They pledged to give back what they had taken and to not demand anything else from the people.

These days, we hear a lot about “social justice.”  What we see here was social justice in action.  These people were in the middle of a famine and couldn’t make ends meet.  It wasn’t that they weren’t willing to work.  The government that was supposed to be there to serve was taking so much that the people couldn’t didn’t have enough to live on.

Toward the end of the chapter, we learn that Nehemiah was practicing what he was preaching.  He wasn’t even taking what was “entitled” to him as a governor.  He knew the burden was already heavy on the people, and he didn’t want to take more from them.  He wasn’t in leadership to become rich at the expense of the people.  Rather, he was there to make a difference.  He was there to help others, not pad his own pocketbook.  In fact, he was right there with the people doing the work.  Why?  Out of reverence for God.  He wanted to work as if working for the Lord and not for men.

Nehemiah was in leadership for the right reason – to serve others.  Many get into leadership because they love power and money.  They will eventually go down in flames because that’s not the type of leader that is blessed by God.  God blesses those who are unselfish and who put others first.

May God bless you as you seek to be the kind of leader who serves others for His glory and not your own.

Nehemiah 4 – The Original Braveheart??

It is another beautiful, windless morning in Kansas, and I’m getting spoiled.  Yesterday, I finally put together an outdoor gazebo that we’ve had in the box for 2 1/2 years.  Soon after we bought it, we moved and it has been in the original box in the garage since then.  Since we had a cookout last night, I was motivated to go ahead and put it up.  Originally, we were waiting for the deck to be totally completed, but we decided it would be better on the patio because of the wind protection.  So… now I have a great new place to sit outside and spend time with God without worrying about being carried off by the monster mosquitoes!  By the way (since you’ve heard of my project woes before…), the instructions for the gazebo recommended three adults to put it together.  I put it mostly together by myself, with my kids helping hand me tools and then my wife helping me put the final touches on it so it would be ready for the cookout.  I was pumped.

Okay, on to my favorite chapter of Nehemiah, so far: Chapter 4.  Every man needs to read this chapter.  Actually, I think every man needs to read this book of the Bible.  Have you ever seen the movie Braveheart?  Well, in this chapter, Nehemiah reminds me of William Wallace.  In my vivid imagination, I could just hear him yelling, FREEDOM!!!

It seems that the opposition had become more aware that these people mean business and were going to build this wall.  So, they decided to try to demoralize the builders by telling them that they were just feeble Jews trying to revive a pile of rubble and that their wall wouldn’t even stand up to a fox jumping on it.  In Hans and Franz terms, “You’re just a bunch of girly men playing with your little rocks.  One look at our muscles and your wall will fall down…” Sorry, bad humor.

So, what did Nehemiah do?  You should know the answer to this by now:  HE PRAYED.  In fact, he prayed a pretty salty prayer against the enemy, and then they continued working.  They connected the wall and built it to half it’s height.  That really ticked off the opposition, and they conspired to attack Jerusalem.  By the way, in my experience, this is how spiritual warfare works.  The devil tries to demoralize, and when that doesn’t work, he brings out the big guns.  That’s why we must abide in Christ, where the Holy Spirit will arm us with the “full armor of God” so we can stand against the devil’s schemes.  As leaders, we must be in prayer against the enemy.

Again, they prayed, and this time set up a guard.  The enemy stepped it up a notch and planned a sneak attack to kill them and stop the work.  However, some Jews living nearby went and told Nehemiah, and thus God frustrated their plan.  Nehemiah developed a plan of defense, and it no doubt, it was a plan centered around prayer and around God going ahead of them.  However, there were also weapons involved: swords, spears, and bows. Can’t you just sense the testosterone levels hitting the roof!?

Then, Nehemiah saw the fear of his people, and gave them a rally cry:  “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”  If that doesn’t bring out the warrior heart, then you are a GIRLY MAN!  Just the thought of it makes my heart race.  Men are created to be protectors, and Nehemiah knows this.  As Emerson Eggrichs says, “It is no small thing that a man is willing to die to protect his family.”  Men have been so demoralized in our society, and many have been rendered ineffective.  All we see on tv is the bumbling idiots.  We need to see more men like Nehemiah and William Wallace, men who were willing to fight for a noble cause.  We need men who will build the walls of protection around their families, and, at all cost, fight for them.  We need men who will see the breaches in the walls of other families around them, and help stand in the gap.  We need godly men of prayer and of honor to step up and defend families against the enemy who is besieging the walls as we speak.

Okay, back to the story…  So, even under the threat of attack, they kept working.  However, this time, they were working with their weapons close at hand.  The builders wore their swords girded at their sides as they built.  Nehemiah had a plan where a trumpeter would sound the alarm if there was an attack so all could rally to where the trumpet sounded.  The trumpeter would be right with Nehemiah, which meant Nehemiah was going to be right in the thick of the action.  However, he also said, “Our God will fight for us.”  He knew who the battle belonged to.

I love the last verse:  “So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.”  Nehemiah was not asking  his men to do more than he was willing to do himself.  As their leader, he wasn’t barking orders from afar; he was right there with them ready to die if necessary.  I don’t know about you, but I want to be this kind of spiritual leader.

May God go ahead of you and fight the battles for you as you abide in Him!

Nehemiah 3 – The Power of Teamwork

I am enjoying a beautiful morning on the  patio.  I love spending time with God outdoors.  It just does my heart good.  I’ve seen sparrows, orioles, robins, chickadees, a woodpecker, a bluejay, a cardinal, and lots of squirrels.  This is the time of year I enjoy having lots of trees.  When fall comes, though, that’s a different story.

Well, in Nehemiah 3, the construction on the wall begins.  I love it that it starts with the priests.  As the spiritual leaders, they are the ones who are poised to set the example.   They rebuilt the Sheep Gate, where the sheep are washed before being brought to the temple for sacrifice, and they consecrated it.  They also consecrated the walls.  It was the firstfruits of their labor and was dedicated to God.

Then, as we go down the line, we see differing levels of involvement.  Some wouldn’t work while others worked with zeal.  Many were working in an area where they had a vested interest (close to their home or area of work).  It seems like some took multiple assignments.  This was a very diverse group of people who came together for one purpose: to rebuild the wall.  Each may have had different motives for being involved, but it was apparent that no one could do it alone.

I have no doubt that Nehemiah had incredible leadership skills to bring all these people together under one common purpose and vision.  He didn’t try to be some kind of her0 and do the work himself.  He must have cast a compelling vision with a good plan that included clear expectations.  I believe we can take this principle and use it in the church or our places of business.  People will rally around a vision if it is worthy and they can see their part in it.  Everyone has different gifts and talents and they would like to be able to use them if they can see where they could make a difference.  A good leader can cast such a vision.

It is so amazing when people come together and work toward a common goal.  Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.”  When two are working together, it’s amazing how they can get more work done that if they had each worked separately doing the same thing.  When many come together, watch out.  The results will be phenomenal.  Believe me, this is an area where I need a lot of work.  For too long, I’ve had a hard time asking for help and have had the “I’ll just do it myself attitude.”  Like I’ve said, I’m learning a lot and look forward to applying it.

AND, as we will learn next time, men will fight for their cause if they believe in it and have a vested interest.  Stay tuned for tomorrow when Nehemiah shows his “William Wallace” side!

I’m sure I could write much more about the power of teamwork, but I have lots to do to help get ready for a cookout here at the house tonight.  I’m really looking forward to having the families from our Wings of Love ministry over tonight.  We may even have a campfire and roast some marshmallows. Hey, maybe I can teach my kids the value of teamwork by casting a vision and getting them to help us get ready for tonight…

May God bless you as you work together, doing the work He has called you to do!