As Iron Sharpens Iron

Got a visit from an OLD friend today out of the blue. MY seminary buddy Brad Smith just happened to be passing through. He stopped by and we did a little catching up. Made me think of my seminary days in New Orleans and all the great friends I made. I still feel their influence today, even though I haven’t been in the same room with them for 20 years or more. It reminded me of a Proverb of Solomon. Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

For as long as I've been in ministry, no wait, as long as I've been a Christian, I have heard people ask the question “Why do I need to go to church?”. I've heard people list any number of other things that bring more personal satisfaction and create a more worshipful attitude than sitting in Sunday School and Church on Sunday. I get it. When I was a kid I didn't care much for anything green. I wouldn't touch collard or turnip greens. I loathed green beans. Don't even mention spinach, brussel sprouts, or asparagus to 8 year old Todd Dean. I don't know when things changed, but they definitely did. I don't think I suddenly began to feel compelled toward healthier eating by my conscience. I get guilt over what I eat, I do not eat things because I feel guilty if I skip them. It's a matter of taste. My tastes changed. The fact remains that the health benefits of those foods is well documented. Nutritional facts didn't make it happen. It was relationships with people that drew those healthy foods into my regular habit and eventually they became part of the joy of eating. I don't remember how old I was, but I remember going to a friends house to eat. Her Mom (Faye Duke Wilson) made green beans. We sat down to eat and I saw the green beans from across the table. I panicked. “I hate green beans” I thought to myself. Immediately I could here my Mother's voice in my head, “Don't be rude. If you are offered something, take it and get it down anyway you can!” I thought to myself, “I just won't get any. Problem solved.” Mrs. Faye immediately said “Todd, would you like some green beans?” I don't know if Mom had been talking to her, but it sure felt like I had been suckered. I grinned and said “yes ma'am.” She served me up a nice helping. Everything else I saw seemed like my kind of food, but my dread of those blasted beans seriously undermined my ability to enjoy the rest. I said to myself, “There's no help for it Todd. Your napkin isn't big enough to hide them in. Just eat them first and get it over with.” So I tucked in. Guess what? Those green beans were amazing! They were seasoned to perfection and just the right texture. My life was changed.

We had a pastor growing up. He was the essence of cool young preacher guy. He took us to play golf. He went with us to youth camp. He was an adult (sort of) but not like most of the adults I knew. I wanted to be like him. We all did. He had one significant flaw. He loved turnip greens. The little old ladies at church would all make turnip greens for pot luck, hoping he would pick theirs. One week he talked me into trying them. My life was changed.

I got married in 2001. I had lived 31 years of my life never having once touched a brussel sprout. Along with my children and her own brand of furious love and faithfulness, my sweet wife Cecelia brought me an appreciation for brussel sprouts. Love of my life, love of my kids and love for brussel sprouts (properly prepared), that's just a sampling of what that relationship has brought me.

I can hear you now. “I thought you were going to talk about why we ought to go to church? What's that got to do with green vegetables?” The stories above were about more than vegetables. They were loving odes to the people that have influenced me in a healthy way. Were it not for them, I'd probably still be eating nothing but corn and potatoes and not much else. The people and relationships that we surround ourselves with shape us in a million ways we never notice. We pick up habits and attitudes like cheap suits pick up lint. The quality of the people you surround yourself with makes a huge difference in your life. No, I'm not saying that there are no quality people outside the church. Nor am I saying that everybody in or attending church regularly is a good person. The Bible tells us that actions reveal the heart of any person. It's as plain as the nose on their face. Going to church does increase the likelihood that some of your relationships will be with people who are under the influence of the Bible and God's transforming message and love. That's why Solomon said and had this phrase preserved in scripture. “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” The concern is two fold here in my opinion. To sharpen something makes it better, a more useful tool. People are sharpened by the people they are in association with. It is impossible for a person of questionable character to sharpen you for good works. What they will make you better at are the things they are inclined to. Let that sink in. The more time you spend with an individual the more you are influenced by them and ultimately become like them. Do you want to be like the people with whom you currently associate? Take it to heart. The second concern is to have no relationships and not be sharpened at all. I recently heard a prolific woodsman say “A dull ax is worse than useless. It's dangerous.” We need to be in relationships that call us to be something better than we are. Not every person attending church is such a person but you can definitely find some there that fit that description.

As a kid, I remember my mom constantly saying “eat your vegetables”. This is kind of like the law. Being told to do something immediately cuts the joy of that thing in half, but we rarely need to be told to do things that make us happy. We gravitate to that stuff. We often need to be urged toward things that are healthy. Unless that urging is consistent we probably won't persist. But if we persist in a healthy habit at the urging of someone that we admire/respect/love, then we become grateful for not only the habit that we added to our lives, but the relationship that was its inspiration. A relationship that makes you better is a special thing. It is one of the sweetest gifts of God this side of heaven. SO – the Bible says “ And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25 (NLT). Those are vegetables straight from your Father's table. If you are reading this, we are probably friends and I probably love you. Come see me at church and help me be better. I might be able to help you with something you’re struggling with. Together, we can be better than we are. We can be more useful to our Father. See you at church!




Sharper than the sharpest two edged sword....

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Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

My Dad gave me a knife nearly four decades ago. It had a nice leather belt case. I proceeded to do what most kids do with things they don’t fully appreciate. I lost the case. I left the knife outside on numerous occasions. I let it get rusty. I ignored it for years , enamored with new things that seemed more stylish. I never lost it, but my own immaturity allowed it to be neglected for many years. Recently I began cleaning it and trying to make it look nice so I could carry it again. I guess Father’s day and the loss of my Dad two and a half years ago brought out something in me that made me want to reconnect with not only the knife, but I suppose more significantly, the one who gave it to me. I reached out to a family member that makes beautiful knives and asked him if he could possibly make me a sheath for it, like the one I’d lost. He said yes and did an amazing job. It’s a little larger than your standard pocket knife, so the sheath helps me carry it without filling my pockets. It makes me happy and I feel connected to Dad in a tangible, daily way.

Knives always make me think of Hebrews 4:12. The word of God cuts. The word of God exposes. I think sometimes we let ourselves ignore the daily reading of the word of God for those very reasons. Some say “I’m not a reader.” Others say “It’s hard to understand”. I recall a quote from Mark Twain where he said he didn’t have any problem with the things in the Bible that he didn’t understand. His main struggle was with those things that were as plain as the nose on your face. Things like “Love your enemies and do good to those that use you”…. Or maybe, “take up your cross and follow me”… And not the least of the plain scary stuff “if you love me, you will obey me.” A daily examination of scripture and our lives in its light can be painful, but it is necessary.

Lots of things seem more interesting than the Bible. It’s easy to use verses to encourage ourselves and others and ignore the parts of scripture that challenge the claims we make and the lives we live. No matter how we use or misuse it, it is still the voice of our Father speaking to us. Walking with it daily connects us to Him in a powerful way. It has the power to transform. God gave us a promise concerning His word. It won’t fail. It will go out and will accomplish His will. It won’t return void. There’s no other thing on this planet that can make such claims. Talk to your Father in prayer. Let him talk to you in the pages of His Word.

Everywhere I Go

Tybee Island, GA

Tybee Island, GA

This will be a brief blog post. Cecelia, the girls and I just returned from a great family vacation on Tybee Island in Georgia. We swam in the Atlantic (a first for Cecelia and Emma) , ate some amazing food, and got some much needed rest. I was taken by the beauty of the Island and all that God put on display for us. It seems like the beach really captures my imagination and I can see Jesus wandering and teaching on the shore, walking on the water, calling His Disciples. The presence of our Father is palpable as I stare at the vast open water and marvel at the one who created it. Rest plus natural beauty makes it so easy to commune with Him.

But, back to home, and work, and the well worn rut that sometimes makes missing His beauty and the work that He’s doing right under my nose…easy. Sad that being familiar with your surroundings can lull you to sleep and allow you to miss so much of His everyday beauty.

We have to work at training our eyes to see him in things we’ve looked at a million times. We have to know the Shepherd’s voice so that we don’t get so enamored with the pasture land that we can’t hear him call us into a deeper relationship by waters that seem strange to us.

Tonight, as I drove toward Wal-Mart, I saw a beautiful sunset, right here in Sylacauga. I heard my wife and children laugh and make jokes about my driving as I tried (stupidly/stubbornly) to get a picture of it. I felt the unseasonably cool wind on my face. In all that, I felt Him close to me - in spite of all my failings. He knows me. He wants me to know Him, in all his beauty.

Blessings and Peace in Christ Jesus our savior - Todd

Sylacauga , AL

Sylacauga , AL

Unless the Lord build the house...

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I frequently see the remnants of an old structure around Sylacauga and wonder who built it and if this is what they thought their work would come to. It’s a humbling experience to think that no matter what your work or contribution to this world may be, we are only 2 generations away from being little more than a memory. I saw this chimney over behind the high school and Psalm 127:1 immediately came to mind. “Unless the Lord build the house, the builders labor in vain.” All the work and care that built this house finally gave in to the way of all human endeavors. All that’s left is a piece of the original to remind us that something significant once stood there. A home that was once someone’s respite from the world. No longer.

We all want to believe that we have worked for something, and made an impact of significance. But the truth is, if the Lord was not the beginning, middle, and end of any endeavor, we labored in vain. This brings another passage to my mind. Matthew 6:19 gives us a warning. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.”. Jesus is subtly trying to point out the disappointment that awaits those who are materialistic. Time or the sinful schemes of man will always spoil our best efforts to own stuff, or build a reputation with possessions. The only work that lasts is that which is done in service and for the glory of our Heavenly Father.

Without doubt we have daily tasks that must be done and repeated that seem to have no spiritual significance. I think about this when I’m cutting the grass. It must be done, and all too soon it will need to be done again. Like washing dishes, or laundry, making beds and scrubbing toilets, it is an odious repetitive cycle. There is no job that I know of that is done once and then forgotten forever. So where do we find the diligence for these tedious tasks? Colossians 3:23 says that we are to do ALL things heartily, as unto the Lord. I think this is especially true of the hum drum every day thankless tasks. It infuses any task with purpose and power. When we think of the joy of the recipient of our labors our satisfaction in these things grows. Great is the joy of those who serve the heavenly Father with great exuberance in even the most menial tasks. Remember this as you worship on Sunday morning. Remember it as you wash dishes. Remember it as you drive your kids to the 10 million things kids need to be dropped off at and picked up from. I am at work for the giver of all good gifts, the savior of my soul! This is my offering.