Proverbs 11

Proverbs 11 is one of those speed chapters. You know what I mean right? I typically read it as fast as I can. In the past I would have told you the basic message is it is better to be good than it is to be bad.

That's not a bad summary, but not quite the thing I apply throughout my day. I think if  you and I speed through Proverbs like its a list of camping locations in Numbers 33 then we will miss what it has to offer each of us.

Here a couple of lines from Proverbs 11 that are resonating with me. Not the only ones but the ones I'll discuss here.

When the righteous prosper the city rejoices...Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted...A generous man will prosper he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed...A kindhearted woman gains respect...

When you and I are righteous...truly righteous...our neighborhood is a better place to live.

When we live the way God intended for us to live the people around us are blessed. They city rejoices and is blessed through the blessings and prosperity of the righteous. I didn't say Christians, because Christians aren't typically respected or celebrated in our communities today. (Christian has become a label we put on ourselves regardless of our morals and behavior. Righteous is a universally accepted standard of morals and behaviors, that in fact are displayed by some folks who also call themselves Christians.) Now some of you will read that statement and start booing the world and culture we live in. I read it and start booing the Christians.

Imagine this situation: Your church receives a donation of $10 million. OK if you are a pastor you need to take a deep breath. Your church just received $10 million. The local paper, the TV channels all show up and ask questions and report the incredible news. How will the average single mom in your community react?

How will people who don't come to your church react?

Would they celebrate the blessings your church received or would your community greet the news with skepticism? Proverbs says, "when the righteous prosper the city rejoices". If our cities and friends wouldn't celebrate a great blessing in our life then we aren't righteous, truly righteous. If the believers in Jesus Christ would make their neighborhoods and communities better places to live then the world would respect our women and celebrate our prosperity and blessings. The solution lies with us.

What can we do to make our communities a better place to live? What are we actually doing? Let's take the Wisdom of Proverbs 11 and start to engage our neighbors in ways that bless them.

Photo by Justin Capp

Sabbatical Part 1

At the church I serve at there is a policy in place that a Pastor on staff for 7 years must take an 8 week sabbatical. Today my sabbatical ended. I wanted to share a few experiences and funny stories from my time away now that its over.

I started my sabbatical on May 15, by taking my wife, Kristi, to San Francisco for 5 days. It was a great trip to get away. We stayed at a boutique hotel across the street from Fisherman's Warf. We did all the tourist type stuff you hear about in San Fran. We went to Alcatraz (in the rain no less), we rode bikes over the Golden Gate Bridge. We rode cable cars, we ate at local restaurants, we found an Irish pub and tried their "world famous" Irish coffee. It was an awesome way to begin a season of rest and renewal.

After all these years of marriage and ministry it was incredible to spend time with my wife and realize we both still enjoy each other's company. If you said I could go to a new city and explore it for a few days, I wouldn't pick anyone else on this planet to accompany me. I'm pretty sure, she'd still pick me as well. I will never forget my first trip to San Francisco and the incredible woman who made the trip wonderful and adventurous.

The trip itself really didn't feel like anything other than a cool vacation. What was really bizarre was coming home from a trip like that and not going back to work. I didn't even check my work email....weird. I began to think about work a couple of times that first week home and realized that the church was pretty successful before I showed up and would probably continue on after I leave, it could manage without my incredible gift and contribution for a few weeks.

I never found myself longing to be back at the office. Don't get me wrong I love my job, and I really love the people I'm surrounded by each and every day at CCV. They are a great church I worship with each and every day. I had a few plans for work related projects during my sabbatical. Pretty quickly I realized that if someone wants to do work projects they shouldn't take a sabbatical when their wife is off work and their 3 kids are out of school. So I found myself putting the work projects on the back burner.

One funny story from our San Francisco trip: Our first night in town we wanted something local to eat, but everything was packed. We finally found ourselves at the Boudin Sourdough Bread Factory. They have a sweet restaurant upstairs- so we get our table buzzer from the hostess and begin our wait for a table to open up. A fine-looking gentleman and his male companion (if you know what I mean) come walking up the stairs holding hands {Quick aside- it didn't bother me at all that these two "friends" chose to interlock their fingers while pursuing dinner that night, I was prepared for the "sights" of San Francisco and promised myself I wouldn't stare too long if anything weird starting happening} …back to the story- I see these walk up and I look away to practice my promise of not staring...when I realize one of the guys is staring at me. I look over and my friend is looking right at me. At that moment I do what any other guy would do if a guy were looking at him (outside of San Francisco) I give him the "hey what's up dude?" head nod.
Well lets just say in San Francisco the "hey what's up dude" head nod, is a secret code for, "why don't you look me over like a piece of meat 3 or 4 times.

I have to be honest I didn't really expect to be checked out in such an obvious manner. I'm used to people checking me out being a bit more subtle. Kristi thought is was the funniest thing she had ever seen. Especially the way my face turned red, and I had no idea what to do. She said I looked like a big cuddly teddy-bear, to that little bitty skinny fella.

More sabbatical learning and experiences to follow.

Newest book on self-help

I've read a great book recently that is going to change the world.
I went through the self-help section of my local book store and couldn't find it.
I went to Amazon and typed in leadership and it didn't show up there either.
You may have a hard time finding it yourself, so your welcome for sharing about it here.

As I've renewed my own interest in closing the gaps that exist between who I am and who I want to be, I think I've stumbled across a book which will help me in this journey.

The next few weeks, as I take up this blogging thing again, I'm going to focus my thoughts from this incredible book.

During a recent season of reflection I realized that everything I struggle with is addressed in this one book.

I also realized the situations most other people struggle through are addressed in this book as well.

I hope you find this book as helpful as I have. I hope my thoughts and questions lead you in a positive direction.
The book of Proverbs opens with this claim:

"for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life; doing what is right and just and fair..."

As I've been reading Proverbs I've come to realize that all the things I wish were different, really can be. Join me as I look at this challenging book through the lens of gaps and how we can all close the gap between where we are and where we want to go!