A Horny Tale

 Every day for weeks, this goat (I’d say, “Stupid Goat” but I’d get in trouble with my grandson), would get his horns through the wire fence and get caught.  Every day, someone had to go out and free him from his predicament. 

Finally, after a couple of weeks, the owner taped a piece of PVC pipe across his horns so that he couldn’t get into trouble in the first place.  It looks kind of funny, but it works.

Now, unable to get to the greener grass on the other side of the fence, he contentedly chews his cud.

There is a lesson for us.  How many times do we have a recurring sin or bad habit that keeps us stuck?  How many times do we have to get bailed out of trouble?

Because we have an underlying lack of trust in God, we get involved in destructive behaviors or worse, sin.  These tend to hang us up over and over again. The difference between us and goats is that we can tape our own piece of PVC across our weaknesses and sometimes help ourselves.  

Here are a couple of “PVC Fixes” that might be common to many.

• Pornography on the internet—Set a content filter and let your accountability partner set the password. I use X3watch  www.x3watch.com
• Procrastination—Log on to www.habitforge.com and get a daily reminder to accomplish that which you have been putting off.
• Gluttony—Join Weight Watchers or another group.

I’m sure that some of the other goats probably make fun of Mr. PVC, but he is able to make a go of it now.  Some of your friends may scoff at having external motivations, but sometimes we need them to help us move forward.

Last thoughts:  If we don’t figure out our own PVC solutions, God may tape his own solution on our head through circumstances, a board, or a spouse and the result may be a “time out” for restoration.  We need only look to the Old Testament to find numerous examples of God's intervention.

OK, now I’ll do my timeout for saying “Stupid”.

Bill Hybels

It requires courage to be a covenant keeper.

Keeping life in perspective,

Marcus Bigelow
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Rollerblading through Ministry

Every leader I know wrestles with the balance between work and family.  Every Christian leader I know wrestles with work and family in the context of living their life in God. Recently my coach offered a great analogy that has helped me put things in perspective.

Any two legged form of locomotion, skiing, skating, rollerblading, even walking, requires a tension between your right and left leg to go forward.  Progress is made only when you push from one leg to the other and back again.

 If you walk on one leg only, it’s called hopping.  If you try to rollerblade on one leg only you will go a short distance (usually in a circle) and then you will fall down as momentum stops.Always, there must be the tension between your right leg and your left leg. 

The same is true between work and family/personal life.  There is always a tension between the two.  When you are doing work you are not doing family.  When you are doing “quality time” with family you are not doing work.  So how do we move through life?  It is by focusing energy on the work side for a while and then consciously pushing off to the family/personal side for a while and then back

.

Too much focus on the work side without transfer causes us to eventually fall down and burnout not only ourselves but our family and friends as well.  Too much focus on our family/personal side causes us not to accomplish all that God wants for our lives in the ministry/work domain.

To be effective we must spend a little time figuring out how to move the tension back and forth between domains, explain to our families and co-workers how this works, and then do it.  At first, everyone will want you to stand on one leg only.  But as they see your effectiveness in both domains blossom, I believe they will be glad to help you with the shifts.

One more kicker, many of us try to do both at the same time.  This is a problem.  Rather than transitioning back and forth, we try to combine work and family (bringing the email home or doing family things at work).

Try this, stand up, try to move forward on both legs at the same time.  (You can do it, but it looks funny and uses huge amounts of energy for very little progress)  Now, try transferring the energy from one leg to the other (walking).  See, it works!

Your silence is confusing me

Recently I had a relationship go silent.  I had sent a proposal, was expecting a reply—and nothing --just the deafening roar of silence.  I needed an answer.   With every day of silence, my insecurities grew stronger and more persistent. 

As my inner voices became louder they wrote scripts that went something like this:  Day one—he must be busy; Day two—maybe he’s going to reject me and doesn’t know how to say it;  Day three—I wonder if he treats all his friends like this;  Day four—I guess he’ll never respond.  So, how am I supposed to respond eight days after a deadline?  (I’d tried a couple of gentle nudges to see if I could get a response.)

My natural response is to be hurt and respond hurtfully.  (Hell hath no fury like an insecure ego ignored!)  And in my heart I know that type of response is rarely helpful.

In God’s providence I’d just entered a coaching relationship with a godly man and I share his wisdom with you.  (BTW, if you are looking for a coach, you should investigate Ministry Coaching International, www.ministrycoaching.org)

Dick said, “I find that my confusion and ignorance rarely intimidates anyone.”  So, if you ask,” I’m confused about where we are now, can you clarify our situation?”  You won’t start a war but rather open a dialog. “

I so like that advice and because I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets insecure when people are too busy to respond, I share it with you.

Here’s the deal:  I wanted to say, “Why haven’t you responded?” which attacks and places blame on him. 

Dick taught me to say, “Help my ignorance and confusion” which gets the same information but allows the blame to rest on me.

As a follow up, Dick suggested that acknowledging my insecurities and what they do to me further defuses the situation if it becomes necessary.

With my bare hands and a 2X4

I heard the dog barking, saw blood dripping from a neighbor’s goat, and immediately was transformed from mild mannered Marc Bigelow to protector of the flock with murder in my eye.  I don’t say that lightly.  I was bent on killing those dogs with the 2X4 gripped so tightly in my hands.  I had reverted several layers down Maslow’s hierarchy and several centuries back in civilization. 

This morning I read 1 Samuel 17. 34 David replied to Saul, "Your servant has been a shepherd for his father's flock. Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock, 35 I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw, strike it, and kill it. 36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them. For he has defied the armies of the living God!"

Now I wasn’t facing a bear or a lion, but I think I could have killed one of those dogs with my hands had it been necessary.   Such is the protective urge inside of us.

For David, the height of his protective instinct was to strike down the Philistine because he defied the armies of the Living God.   I’m still in a bit of shock over my own reactions, but today I’m wondering if I would be as concerned about protecting the flock of God from a marauder.   I think about some elders and pastors I have known who have stood boldly against someone attacking the church and then I think of others who cave in to cynicism and agree with the critics of the church. 

I re-read Ezekiel 34 and Acts 28 today.  As church leaders, we are called to protect with our lives the flock God has entrusted to us.  It calls for calm at times, but it also calls for wild-eyed adrenalin pumping action at other times.    Shepherds know when to do both.  But remember, sheep need calm leadership, wolves need bold confrontation.

Three Goats

Yesterday I tried to rescue three goats from a pack of dogs who were attacking them.  The largest goat eventually had to be put down because he was too badly injured.  As I ran to the neighbors to help I watched a drama that is so appropriate at Easter.   While one dog savagely attacked the big goat, the others ran into the stable to attack the two smaller goats.  Though bleeding profusely, the big goat ran into the barn to help save his two little companions.  He drove the dogs out at least twice while I was running to help. 

In driving the dogs away from the smaller goats, he ended up giving his life for his friends.  One of the little goats was hurt, but will survive.  The other was uninjured.  Had it not been for the big goat, those smaller goats would have been killed.  Though dripping in blood from numerous injuries, the goat kept fighting until we arrived to drive off the dogs.

Jesus laid down his life a sacrifice for you and me.  Without the defeat of Satan, we all would have been destroyed.  Some of us “little goats” have been injured in this life, but we will recover because Jesus refused to quit until Satan was defeated.  

A great read- Free on Kindle for the next couple of days

The story of David and his mighty men-- Written by a soldier

http://www.amazon.com/Day-War-Lion-ebook/dp/B004TGNNGE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1329791790&sr=8-2 

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