Manage Energy, Not Time

I've heard and read much about time management. I wish I could say I've been helped by it. I really haven't. I recently saw this title: "Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time," on a list of books I should buy or borrow. Though I eventually got into the material and it was valuable, the title alone helped me immensely. Manage your energy. not your time. This is exactly right. It's not just physical energy either. It's creative energy and, for lack of a better word, "thinking" energy. Mental energy is what I mean. The things that drain it are everywhere. Checking the news on the Internet more than 5 times a day will do this. So will living through days that are repeats of prior days. If you are living a "Groundhog Day" life, you are losing energy. Boredom is exhausting. This is probably why traditional time management techniques are so limited in their outcomes. They are industrial and mechanical in their approach. They might save time on paper, but they do not save what makes time valuable. The key is to live an interesting life. It is our responsibility to make sure we do.  A safe, predictable, risk-free life often turns out to be an unproductive life. Worse yet is a life aiming for these things. When we call Jesus our Lord, we mean to call Him our manager. Pray that He will manage and redeem your time and your energy, so that you live a life that is interesting to Him and because of Him.

Rejections and Creativity

So, if this book of mine ever gets published, it looks like I'll have that typical testimony. I'll be able to tell people not to give up when they get down. I'll be able to list the number of rejections I received before I got my first contract. Right now, I'm resubmitting more material to one publisher, so that's not quite a rejection, but I do also have nine big, fat, juicy, confirmed rejections from some of the best known Christian publishers in the world. I know it's not enough for a good, tear-jerking story yet, but each one stinks. As I drink the cup of each rejection, I remind myself of one universal, undeniable truth: nothing of value is ever done outside the reach of rejection. From politics to art, from ministry to literature, rejection is nothing less than the soul-carving force of God. It, and sometimes I think it alone, is responsible for the best work that people anywhere ever do. The sting of rejection is necessary. Without it, there is no spark of creative excellence. This truth is more than something we tell ourselves when we fail. It is a barometer of how clear our view of reality is. If I somehow believe, because of my faith or some other distinguishing characteristic, that I have immunity from rejection, I am fooling myself. Ironically, I am also setting myself up for more and deeper rejection. Let me accept the rejection I have. Let me own it, so I don't sow the seeds for more of it. How about you? Rejection (or any other kind of failure) is in the eye of the rejected. What are being called to own?    

Currents

Soon, my sister Kathleen will be embarking on a round-the-world sailing adventure. Winds and currents are not things she and her sailing partner can take lightly. The winds and currents of life are the same. In my case, lately, the winds and currents have pushed the boat of my life in some interesting places. I won't write about the details, but some reading this who know me and know what's going on in our church know some of them. They involve expectations and plans. For example, I expected some new staff members in our church and some old ones to stay, but our staff is much smaller today than it was 6 months ago. This changes things. At the same time, I have more opportunities than I have ever had. All of it adds up to more work ... unless I step back. And here's the key. It's the key for me and anyone else going through something similar. A poor sailor fights the winds and currents; a skilled one harnesses them. In the days to come, I cannot decide to work harder or more. This will surely wear me out. I have to prayerfully interpret the currents in my life. God is sovereign after all. He directs the winds and currents at sea and in life. What does He want me do? The answer is not more. It might actually be less. If more is all I come up with, then I haven't prayed or thought enough about my situation. Ask the same question for yourself if winds and currents are playing strange tricks on your life. Lord, what do you want me to do now?  

 

Corners

Life sometimes feels like a series of surprises. We walk forward, turn the corner, and see something unexpected. My Caribbean cruise ended up in Newport, Rhode Island to avoid a hurricane. Sarah Palin is John McCain's running mate. The government now owns and runs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Unrelated to all this is the local news that Goodwill Church's building project is now funded. Hindsight sees the logic and even the predictability of changes, both in the news and in our personal lives, but living through them is always surprising. Who knows what's around the next corner? Whatever changes come can be described factually. The surprise comes in how they feel. Change is emotional. When Jesus was telling his disciples about his upcoming death, and it was days away instead of off in the future, it seems like they balked emotionally. It was supposed to be good news. He was going to "prepare a place" for us (John 14), but the feel of it was confusing. For many of us, navigating the emotions tied to change is tough. It doesn't matter if the changes are good or bad. The dialogs in John 14 and in other parts of the gospels give us clues as to how to deal with change emotionally. The disciples asked Jesus questions. We can do the same. If you struggle with change today, ask Jesus about it. With an open Bible in front of you, listen for the voice of God in the Word of God. In John 14, Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled." Change, good and bad, troubles our hearts. God knows it and comforts us with His Word.   

A Lesson from Politics

It's interesting to watch the growing profile of the upcoming presidential election. The conventions increase this. It is on everyone's mind, if only a little more than usual, for the next two months or so. And it all ends in a choice. This means that everything we hear from every source is designed to convince us to vote for one candidate or the other. In fact, we're told repeatedly that this one choice we make is critical. Faith is often presented this way, with the choice of Jesus as Savior presented as the touchpoint. Certainly, it is. Less so, but still important, is the choice America makes in November between Obama and McCain. There's more to the future, however, than just one day's choice. Here's where elections and altar calls fail us. There's always a day after. There are always more choices. The election results in November are limited in their ability to reveal what the future will bring. Candidates change once they are elected. No one, not even the candidate, can predict what these changes will be or what they will bring. I've watched many people come to Christ over the years. Putting aside theological considerations, let me make a statement: some make it and some don't. You just can't tell if the tear-filled eyes of a new convert to Christ will see a life of faithfulness to Christ. Perhaps they will look elsewhere and move on. So many do. This is a lesson politics teaches us. The direction of all our decisions confirms or denies the direction of one decision, even a decision for Christ. What are your thoughts on this? What decisions are you making today and what do they say about what you really believe?   

Reading

Reading is the key to learning and knowledge. Reading the Bible is literally as important to me as eating food or breathing air. I need it to live. Other reading - the reading of good books - is also tremendously important to me. I moved from preaching 4 services a weekend to 6 in February 2008, as part of what we're calling a "60 week sacrifice." By Easter 2009 we hope to be in our new building; we won't have so many services then, at least not so many that I preach at. Since the "60 week sacrifice" began, I've noticed a reduction in the amount of other reading I do. I hope to counter this soon.

Here's 4 reasons why this other reading matters to me: 

1) When I read a well written book, I get the best of what that author has to give me. No other media can hope to offer as much in quality and heart as literature. Film, internet, music and anything else that requires electricity to work can and usually does get caught up in itself.  A book must deliver. Its content must validate it. Only cool cover art can help it, otherwise.

2) Reading is thinking. Most of us, when we read, actually think through the words that our eyes are passing over. If we don't, we miss it. Media like television are not so demanding. One can easily turn one's brain off to enjoy television. Books, on the other hand, never reward a blank stare.

3) Reading is feeling. Instead of the background music telling you how to feel, like in television or film, you have to conjure up the emotions yourself when you are reading. The emotional interaction with a book, then, is authentic. This authenticity is not only good for your brain, but also good for your soul.

4) Reading is relating. We read to know we are not alone. Reading, like nothing else, staves off experiences of loneliness. Other media offer better escape and entertainment, but do nothing for one's sense of being alone. Every good author writes for only one reader at a time. The connection a reader and an author make is undeniably credible, especially when the book is good.

What are your thoughts and experiences of reading? Is what you're doing now reading? Does the internet rise to this level? I hope so.

God's Vice President

God has no vice president. He doesn't need to find just the right one to make up for His perceived weaknesses or vulnerabilities. He doesn't need ensure that His number two is vetted and media tested. He has no need for a vice president, since no assassin can begin to imagine harming Him in any way. In a world of imperfection, where the writer of Ecclesiastes is right to say that we despise wisdom even after benefitting from it (9:13-18), it is good to know that there is One who needs no support or vote of confidence. Much talk about mixing politics and religion has been inspired by Rick Warren's TV show featuring both Presidential candidates. It is interesting. Still, it's reassuring to look up and see no changes in Heaven. There are no debates in God's courts. There are no contenders for His position. Whatever answers He gives to whatever questions we have are so right that they must be recorded forever as absolute truth. God asks no one for permission to be God. God has no term limits. He never needs to see how things "play in Peoria." He never needs a spin doctor, even though this is exactly what some who operate in His Name seem to act like. He doesn't need secret service agents or a bullet proof car. He doesn't need, period. 

God doesn't need a vice president, but, if you spend enough time in His Word, it almost feels like He's looking for one anyway. The extent to which He wants to operate with and through forgiven believers is astounding, don't you think? Do you ever wonder why He straps His agenda and glory to the exploits of the kind of people we see roaming around our churches, the kind of people we are? Just look at His choice of apostles. Who were these guys? Jesus did the opposite of what we see our nation doing in the presidential race. Did He choose only those who failed a background check? And then the authority and position He gave to them was downright frightening. He seems to have done more than make each one vice president. He said in John 14:12: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these ..." Wow.

A Theology of Rest

I'm on vacation for a while now and have a two month sabbatical coming up at the beginning of next year. Both vacations and sabbaticals look great from a distance. When they actually begin, things look different. What do I do now? One thing I know: doing nothing is not restful. Rest is not inactivity. Rest is something which must be planned and engaged in. My 19-day vacation is one thing. A 60-day sabbatical is entirely another. There are all kinds of things on my to-do and goal lists: ministry at church, in the Air Force, via writing projects. All are challenging and involved. None, for me, come close to the challenge of rest. The Elders at Goodwill didn't know it when they "ordered" me to schedule a sabbatical, but they are forcing me to develop a theology of rest. Here's what I think I know so far about it:

1) The Bible concept of Sabbath is not marginal to healthy faith. It is central.

2) God, who doesn't need rest like He's designed us to, nevertheless, rests.

3) Rest and sabbath remind us that we are not in control, we are not indispensable, we are not what we do, we are not here forever, we can't keep up any pace forever, we can't maintain any activity forever, and we can't ignore the real cost of living: the spiritual-emotional cost each of us pays every hour of every day during life on this earth.

4) Rest doesn't have to be fun to be rest, especially at first.

5) Sabbath is designed by God to be part of a rhythm of life. He commands us to have this rhythm in life. Chaos and confusion are never His preference and often a warning that we have drifted too far away from Him.

6) God (like the Session of Goodwill Church!) will force rest on those who do not take it. 

What do you think? Do you have any contributions or thoughts concerning a theology of rest?  

Olympic Pressure and the Power of Nerves

The Olympics are fascinating. Watching the women's gymnastic competition (via "Tivo" since I fell asleep for it last night), I noticed the negative power of nerves. If you watch Michael Phelps swim, you see a calm demeanor combined with a relentless focus. The commentators even talk about how his face is relaxed and how important this is. The now famous loss of the French to the Americans in that amazing relay race is also credited to the French anchor tensing up in his last lap. Last night (or yesterday in China), Alicia Sacramone of the American gymnastics team fell off the balance beam and never regained her composure. She tried so hard. She tried too hard. She stopped having fun. You could see it in her face. It had nothing to do with her ability; she's clearly one of the best gymnasts in the world. The Chinese didn't beat her, her nerves did. It's an amazing lesson that sports at the Olympic level teaches us. The best performance always comes with being relaxed, not tense. Victory comes with the marriage of intense focus and deep mental peace. In Isaiah 30:15 it says that "in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength." Being quiet and being strong go together. When we're uptight, we lose focus, and not just on the balance beam or in the swimming pool. When we're not quiet on the inside, we can't do our best on the outside. Nothing weakens us like the noise of nerves. If we don't have a peace that transcends our circumstances, our circumstances get the upper hand. May God make you quiet today and may all of us be able to see it on your face.    

Thoughts on the Military

Looking through a pile of memorabilia yesterday, I stumbled across a few medals of mine from a few years ago. One detailed that I had been part of the support team for 19 military-related mass casualty incidents. It reminded me of all that I have seen over the years, especially since 9/11/01. Here are various things related to this that most people might not know:

1) When a bomb explodes, people don't fly through the air, like in the movies. Instead, it's pieces of people.

2) Statements of support for people serving in the military often sound better to those offering them than those receiving them.

3) Most of the best stories of honor and heroism in the military remain untold. For example, the mortuary at Dover is the scene of almost daily honor. People working there do their utmost to offer behind-the-scenes comfort to families of fallen soldiers, airmen, sailors, and Marines. No one knows.

4) For many, it's impossible to re-enter life after being deployed. Instead, they have to put together a new life using the ingredients of the one they left behind. Someone who has seen combat or who has had related experiences should not be expected or told to "get over it."

5) All have Post Traumatic Stress (PTS). It's the "D" in PTSD that's the problem. The "D" stands for disorder.

6) Much of military service is routine. It's about filling out forms and waiting in line more often than the media portrays.

7) So far, with today's wars, most people in the military are safe. They won't be killed or wounded, but they will still pay a price that many people back home simply will never understand.

8) The families left back home need much more love, care, and attention than they are getting. If we "support the troops," we should show it by supporting their families more.

9) There are many parts of military service that are more significant, exciting, challenging, and satisfying than they look in the media. For many people, it's a life calling they hold close to their hearts. There really are still patriots.

What are your thoughts on all this?