There is a "new normal" coming! What do you want it to look like?

Everybody is talking about “the new normal”.  What if I told you that you can help decide what that “new normal” will be?  Are you willing and ready to take on that responsibility?

I have a feeling that one of the top buzz words or sayings for the year 2021 is going to be “new normal”.  I will just go ahead and say that will be the case.  At the end of this year you will have heard the term “new normal” so many times that the phrase itself will be part of your normal vocabulary.  I am either predicting the future or speaking something into truth if that makes sense.  We can tell ourselves and others what the future will hold.  Our words today can be followed up by actions that will put in place almost anything we want.  I can tell the world that the “new normal” for me will be that I will walk 2 miles every day.  Normally I do not do that but if I want it to happen, I just proclaim it to be and then take action to make it happen.  I can establish a new normal.  Others can guide what we perceive to be normal as well.

The definition of normal is conforming to a standard or pattern to be expected.  The more times you hear society tell you something is expected or okay, the more normal that behavior becomes.  Overtime the behavior or thought that used to be different becomes part of your everyday experience and therefore it becomes normal.  I remember vividly looking at an advertisement of this cool car when I was a young boy.  I do not remember the details of the car, but I remember the ad telling me “this was going to be the car of the future”.  My immediate thought was “yes it will be because you, the car company, are telling me what kind of cars you will be selling someday.”  I learned very little about a car that day and a lot about how others can persuade future behaviors.  Throughout history people have promoted ideological philosophies, political agendas, religious beliefs, and more.  Those people employ a variety of methods to persuade others that their belief is the best and work to implement those beliefs into society with hope that they can establish a new normal.  Over the past fifteen months alone our society has been persuaded to accept some behaviors as a new normal as well.  It is up to us to as individuals to analyze everything that society calls normal and determine if it lines up with our own personal beliefs.  Not everything that has been established as normal is good!

Think back about 2000 years ago.  A man from Nazareth entered the town of Jericho.  He saw a man named Zacchaeus, who was a tax collector, and asked to go stay at his house.  The townspeople gasped in disgust because it was not normal to stay as the guest of sinners (Luke 19:1-10).  This same man had actually touched a contagious leper before too (Luke 5:12-16).  Nobody does that sort of thing!  This man named Jesus came to earth to break the cycle of societal norms we had given in to.  On our own we cannot stand up against a society driven by sin.  So, He came to teach us how to live in such a world and then He died so that we can overcome death and live eternally in Heaven.  That was not normal!  My prayer for us today is that we stop and remember Jesus.  His words are written down in the Bible to guide us every single day.  When we accept Him as our Savior, we take on a new normal life.  A new life that loves differently, speaks differently, acts differently, and looks differently.  Living like Jesus is normal in His eyes, but it is not normal in the eyes of our world.  By living out His word and sharing it with others, my hope is that we can establish a new normal in this world!  It will not be easy, but it will be good!

 

 

Even the toenail was designed specifically to serve the body!

If you could pick to be any part of the human body, what would you choose?  If I asked 10,000 people this question, I would get a wide variety of answers.  My guess is the most common answers would be the hands, feet, legs, heart, lungs, brain, eyes, ears, and maybe a few more of the famous parts of the body.  I doubt many would pick toenails, armpits, nose hairs, or appendix (what does that thing do anyways?).  But, as you may have already guessed, each part of the human body was designed for specific function and serves an integral part in the success of the body.  Take the toenail for instance.  Each toenail is a hard protein called keratin and it protects the toe.  The toes are connected to your feet and help provide stability while standing or walking.  Without your toenail your toe may be susceptible to damage which can impact your ability to walk which is needed to retrieve food and water.  Can you survive in today’s world without a toenail?  Most likely.  But your body just would not be the same without them.  The same goes for you and me.

You and I make of the body of Christ.  Romans 12:4-8 reminds us that we each are individually made and yet serve to form one body.

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

You serve a purpose no matter what anybody tells you.  You were perfectly and wonderfully made.  I can tell you for certain that sometimes I feel like my purpose in life may clash with others around me.  I also struggle at times to stop and appreciate the gifts somebody else brings to the table.  It is very easy for us to focus on how we are different from one another and sometimes that gets in the way.  We must remember that we each were designed to serve the body of Christ uniquely and, when we act on the spiritual gifts woven in our DNA, we serve in a way that supports the body of Christ.

Recently I encountered some tough, emotional days.  I entered valleys alongside family members and in those hard days, our differences tended to be magnified.  Each one of us were dealing with the stress and sadness in our own independent ways.  We gathered as one body supporting our family but in our differences at times acted as individuals fighting for our voice and responding to our emotion rather than seeking a unified purpose.  It was very stressful.  Over time we worked to recognize that we were each different yet serving the same purpose as a unified family.  When we came together as a unified family, we were able to move forward together with great power!

Christians are called to be one body!  We are all perfectly and wonderfully made to serve Christ.  Our unique spiritual gifts may be different from those around us, but they are designed to serve a singular, unified purpose…to know God and make Him be known.  When you look at your neighbor and see a toenail or an armpit, remember they too are part of the body of Christ designed to work together right alongside you!

 

I witnessed a miracle on July 12th, 2017! My dad, our two oldest daughters, and two of our nieces are living proof!

Do you believe in miracles?  Maybe more specifically do you believe miracles happen still today?  The Bible is filled with examples of miracles that Jesus performed in his life.  Jesus turned water into wine, Jesus fed 5000 with just a little bread and a few fish, and Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead.  I believe God is at work and performs miracles even today.  I believe I witnessed one on July 12^th, 2017.  It involved my dad and it was the 2^nd miracle of three that he was part of.  Let me start at the beginning.

My dad was watching our two youngest children (ages 6 and 7 at the time) along with a niece and nephew of ours.  They had spent a few days together and were at a local pool swimming for the afternoon.  They finished swimming, the boys got in the pickup with grandpa (my dad), and the young girls road home with grandma.  The girls made it home first and were waiting for the guys to get home.  Eventually my dad came crawling into the house.  Something was not right.  We learned later that when the boys got into the pickup to come home, my father had a full body seizure.  This was the first of his life and he didn’t know what it was.  The miracle was not the seizure but when it happened.  He was in a parked vehicle in a quiet parking lot.  It takes less than 30 seconds to enter a vehicle, put on your seat belt, and put the car in drive.  Trust me, I have timed it.  That was the time frame for my dad to have a seizure without harming himself or somebody else.  The seizure could have occurred anytime while they were swimming, anytime while driving home with two young boys in the backseat, or any other time during that few days.  Something protected my father, the boys, and those around him from getting hurt during that first seizure.  I believe God had a hand in it.  I will forever look at their lives as miracles!  Skeptics can say that was pure coincidence but just a few weeks later God’s protection was demonstrated once again.

Just a few weeks after watching our youngest two children, my dad picked up our oldest two daughters and headed to Ohio.  At that time the doctors believed my dad had simply been dehydrated a few weeks earlier in the pickup with the boys.  There were no other signs of seizure activity.  They were going to Ohio pick up my two nieces and come back to Kansas for some good family time.  On their way home they stopped at St. Louis to visit the Arch and then took an impromptu float trip down a river in canoes.  Some of us had his dehydration on our minds and were worried but they eventually made it safely back to Kansas City.  The date was Wednesday July 12^th, 2017.  I normally work at the office but for some reason I was working from home that day.  They pulled into our driveway and the girls got out of the car and were sharing all the highlights with my wife Andrea.  My dad began cleaning trash from the pickup.  That’s when I heard him yell for help.  I rushed out to find him laying on the grass having a major seizure.  It lasted less than a minute.  My heart sunk.  We remained calm and called an ambulance.  My dad went to the hospital and just two days later the doctors found a cancerous brain tumor.  Once again, the seizure was not the miracle; it was the timing.  Anytime on the road to Ohio and back he could have had a seizure.  Anytime in the canoe on the river tragedy could have struck.  I fully believe God watched over everyone that day again.  The seizure that controlled his entire body happened safely in my yard within a few minutes of parking the pickup.  God is good!  My dad, two of my daughters, my son, my nephew, two of my nieces, and everyone on the roads those few days all survived his first seizures.  The picture attached is of the four girls on their way to KS in Columbia, MO just a few hours before dad’s second seizure.  I will forever look at their lives as miracles!  Those are two of the three miracles that God has done in the life of my father.  I witnessed one of them firsthand.  I believe God can and does do miracles even today!

The third miracle I referenced earlier is the salvation we receive through Jesus Christ and the eternal life we receive through His death and resurrection.  I have shared about this in more detail regarding my father and how his journey with cancer has brought him back to Jesus.  You can read more about it here (http://writingsbyshay.blogspot.com/2021/06/cancer-saved-my-dads-life.html).  My father has experienced the miracle of accepting Jesus Christ as his savior.  God sacrificed His only Son, Jesus, on the cross to free us from our sins.  That is difficult to understand from an earthly perspective, but God is not of this world.  He created it and everything in it!  That’s what makes our salvation a miracle in my eyes!  A Father loved His children (us) so much that He sacrificed His Son for us (John 3:16).

Whew!  I know that is a lot to take in!  I could spend days sharing with you more details about my dad.  I love him and I love how God has worked in his life.  I want his story to be an encouragement to others.  I want everyone to know that our kids and nieces and nephews are alive because of God!  I want everyone to know Jesus and what He did for you.  Father’s Day is this Sunday!  Give a hug or send a note of love to the fathers in your life.  When we show love to one another our heavenly Father smiles from ear to ear and His heart overflows with joy!  Happy Father’s Day (early)!  

 

Cancer saved my dad's life!

Last week I shared with you about it being easier to convince a 60-year-old man to run a marathon than it was to lead him to Jesus (http://writingsbyshay.blogspot.com).  That man, my father, completed many marathons before I heard him pray for the first time in my life.  I am elated that today he openly shares with us his faith in Jesus.  The final steps, in my opinion, to get him to that place thrust my father into an entirely new marathon that he is now running.  My son’s favorite bible story, David and Goliath, helps define what he is experiencing.

Wednesday July 12^th, 2017, my dad went to the hospital with what we thought was dehydration.  Just two days later the doctors found a cancerous brain tumor.  My dad has always been healthy.  So much so that he was able to take up running marathons at the age 60.  His body was ready to fight cancer and he is as mentally tough as anyone.  The following Monday while he was in a recovery room, my 5-year-old son brought in his pictorial action Bible and shared with his grandpa his favorite bible story.  It was the story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel).   We were fortunate enough to capture that moment in the picture attached.  My dad was facing a new Goliath in his life, cancer.  He began fighting with all his might from the very first day.  And, just a few days after receiving his diagnosis, my dad did something that I had never remember seeing him do before.  He prayed with us!

I do not always understand why things happen.  I cannot sit here and tell you that God allowed cancer to overtake my dad’s body so He could overtake his heart.  I can tell you that cancer did overtake my dad’s body and God has overtaken His heart!  I am upset that he has cancer.  I get frustrated, sad, disappointed, heartbroken, discouraged, angry, etc. knowing he must battle cancer.  With all those strong feelings trying to distract me (Satan’s handiwork), I can tell you with full honesty that I have a peace that surpasses all understanding when it comes to my dad and his new battle.  I believe I fully understand what Paul tells us in Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  My dad is battling cancer, but it just may have been the final step in bringing him to a place of eternal life.  He is now following in the footsteps of Jesus and will someday live eternally by His side in Heaven.  The joy that brings to the heart of God and me vastly overshadows any challenges he will face along his battle.  I have peace knowing my dad knows Jesus!

This story is not about my dad’s cancer, and it is not about my peace that surpasses all understanding.  This is a real-life example of one man’s journey to Jesus.  His path to Jesus looks different than mine and maybe yours.  We all come to Him in our own ways.  The most important fact is that we come to know Jesus.  His parents took him to church at a young age.  I shared my faith with him for 20+ years.  Others have shared the word of God with him.  My family, including my 5-year-old son, shared verses and bible stories with him.  I believe cancer is part of his journey to Jesus too.  My dad now prays!  My dad now talks about his faith!  My dad even shared with me that he has comfort knowing that his father, my grandpa, will be in Heaven after his passing just 19 months ago.  Amen!  I pray you can grasp just a small portion of the power of God working in this story.  Take a moment if you will a look at the picture attached.  The stillness and peace in this imagine radiates the kingdom of God.  You can see a 5-year-old boy with childlike faith being a disciple to his 63-year-old grandfather.  This child is sharing his favorite story about David and Goliath without knowing that his grandpa is beginning his battle with his own giant that very day!  There is pure joy in the hearts of both man and child during a dark day.  The power of God is so great that He can bring hope and joy to even our darkest of moments!  Cancer saved my dad’s life!

It is easier to convince a 60-year-old man to run a marathon than it is to lead him to Christ!

In my experience it is easier to convince a 60-year-old man to run a marathon than it is to lead him to Christ.  At first you might think this is a crazy statement, but I know this to be true because it happened to me.  For over 20 years I have been trying to live by example in going to church and living a Christian lifestyle.  I have talked many times about my faith with this man over that 20+ years and he has seen the positive impact it has had on my life.  More recently (within the last 6-7 years) I have taken up running.  I used to hate running but my wife convinced me into run a 10K (6 miles) with her.  Then she convinced me to run a half marathon (13.1 miles).  After those first races I kept at it and began running marathons (26.2 miles).  This man, who has heard me talk about being a Christian for over 20 years but did not go to church, also observed my new running passion.  Having never ran a race before, he took interest and joined me for a half-marathon at age 59!  Then he signed up and completed his 2^nd ever race, a marathon, at age 60!  If you ask most 60-year-old men out there who have never run a race before if they would like to run a marathon, they just might say you are crazy.  I imagine most of them would say to me “Take me to church any Sunday you’d like but I’ll never run 26.2 miles in my life!”.  As I look back my experience with this 60-year-old man, I can understand why he chose to complete a marathon before committing to going to church.

Running any distance can be challenging.  Your body may not be physically capable, or you may not feel equipped to run.  There are thousands of resources out there that can guide you from your couch to a 5K or even from your couch to a marathon (written instructions).  Many of these resources are written by experienced athletes and even scientists (experienced mentors).  You can follow simplified plans that work for your time schedule (time flexible).  You can pick an effort level you would like to pursue, even it that means just to finish your running distance (all experience levels accepted).  There are resources on how to plan your eating (written instructions).  There are stores all over for the shoes and gear you need (facilities to support you).  And, I think most important of all, along the way almost everyone you encounter in your running journey will be supportive and encouraging (fellow participants).  Very few people out there are shouting from the rooftops that you should not be running.    The 60-year-old man in this story understood the steps needed to run a marathon and he could envision the end goal.  When committing your life to becoming a Christian, you have access to all the same “tools”.

The support network to being a Christian is available!  We have a Bible (written instructions).  We have spiritual leaders and Biblical scholars (experienced mentors).  We have many opportunities to gather with other believers to worship, pray, and learn and you can also worship, pray, and read the Bible on your own (time flexible).  Anybody who wants to be a Christian is welcome (all experience levels accepted).  We have churches, schools, colleges, stores for materials, coffee shops, unlimited digital resources, etc. (facilities to support you).  Also, there are millions of fellow believers across the world who are walking along side you as Christians (fellow participants).  Something held the 60-year-old man back from making the choice to pursue Christianity even though all the resources were there.  What made the marathon the easier choice?

In my opinion there is a tangible, on-earth-obtainable goal that you can fully experience when running a marathon.  The end is in site, there is a date on the calendar, and you have access to all the tools needed.  When committing to being a Christian, the finish line isn’t quite something you get to fully experience on earth.  Yes, you will get the pleasures of living a life as a Christian, but we must wait to live eternally in Heaven, and we don’t get to experience that finish here on earth.  I believe we as humans have the propensity to choose paths the lead us to a tangible end over paths that offer hope.  We like to see the fruits of our labor.  The 60-year-old man in this story made a perfectly human choice.  He had two great options in front of him and he could have even pursued both at the same time.  But I believe he chose to run his first of many marathons at age 60 because he was going to fully experience the results of his work.

Does this story resonate with you?  Have you been sharing the gospel with somebody for a long time and they just haven’t jumped in with you yet?  We have experienced God’s love as Christians and at times we do not understand why others choose not to accept Him.  Have faith my friend and do not give up.  The 60-year-old man in this story first followed my lead in running a marathon.  I am also excited to tell you that a few years later while training for a marathon, this man also stepped into a walk with Jesus!  Amen and Hallelujah!  This man, my father, is now running a life with Jesus by his side!  The picture you see here is me and my father after he completed his first marathon in 2014.  It is true that it’s easier to convince a 60-year-old man to run a marathon than it is to lead him to Christ!

 

It is about time we unconform to the ways of this world!

I believe it is common knowledge that America is consumerism driven.  We can almost get anything we want the way we want it and as quickly as we want.  I personally have been able to order a non-essential item from Amazon in the morning only to see it delivered to my doorstep that afternoon.  My house is close enough to so many sporting goods stores that I can get almost any item I want within a few hours any day of the week.  I have access to multiple grocery stores and restaurants that will cater to any budget and food item I desire.  If I need a new shirt or pants the opportunities are almost endless for me to find something new or used.  When I feel the need to be entertained, there are parks, theaters, museums, stores, streaming services, etc. Burger King defined it best a few years ago when their slogan was “Have it your way!”.   I feel we have been trained that we can have everything our way and, if we don’t get it our way, there is something out there that will do it for us.  But does that consumerism translate into God’s church?  I don’t believe it does, but I think we’ve allowed it to come into our walk with God.  Hear me out.

Over the past 20 years I have heard Christians have candid discussions on preaching styles, service times, music preferences, small groups vs Sunday school classes, how often we should have communion, hymns or contemporary songs or both, fog machines, building expansions, payment options for tithes (credit cards, debit cards, QR codes, etc.), children in service or not in service, online vs in-person, which bible translation should we use, Ash Wednesday services, global versus local missions, and the list goes on and on.  Sometimes these topics lead to good discussion and sometimes these topics lead to division.  If I am not happy about how church approaches any of these topics, there is one out there that will appease me, temporarily.  At a quick glance there are over 400 churches within 10 miles of my home and I easily pass 20 churches on my drive to Central Church of the Nazarene.  In true American consumerism style, I could search around for a place that has the music I like, at the time I want it to occur, preaching from my preferred Bible translation, where my kids have their own service, the congregation size is just right, the seating is soft, and that there needs to be free coffee available.  We tell ourselves all we need to do is find the right place that meets our needs and then all will be good.  And then after a few weeks of finding the “right” place, they play a song that we didn’t like, or they had the kids set in with us during a service and it was hard to focus.  It is America people!  We should be able to get what we want when we want it, or we’ll just move on to the next church.  I hope you are picking up on my sarcasm here.  Yes, American consumerism has crept into how we view our church.  No, I do not believe God designed it that way.

God designed us to be around others.  God wants us to seek His will and teaching.  God provided us the Bible as His written word.  I have yet to find in the bible a preference on worship style.  He wants us to worship Him.  I have yet to find in the Bible what countries we should send missionaries.  He wants us to go and make more disciples.  I have yet to find anywhere in the Bible where it says who we should let in our homes or churches.  He simply says love our neighbors as ourselves.  I believe we need to focus more on God and less on ourselves.  We hear this all the time and we need to start asking Him what He wants instead.  I know it’s hard.  You and I live in a society that tells us otherwise.  We need to unconform to the ways of this world and let God transform us into new people by changing how we think.  Then we will learn God’s pleasing and perfect will for us (Romans 12:2).  Will you join me starting today?  In every interaction you have in the community, ask God what His will is.  In every interaction you have at church, ask God what His will is.  In every interaction you have at home, ask God what His will is.  I believe we need a revival!  We as Christians need to unconform to the American way so that we can get back to His pleasing and perfect will for us.

 

 

 

Two mothers in my life guided my walk with Jesus! For that I am thankful!

Did you know Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday?  If you have a mom in your life or know a mom, reach out to them this week and with them a Happy Mother’s Day.  It is very easy to overlook everything a mom does, especially if that mom stays at home to care for the family.

I wanted to take some time this week to let you know how important my mom, Jenny, and the mother of my children, Andrea, have been to me and my spiritual walk.  Without both in my life, I’m not for sure where I would be in my relationship with Jesus.  Their stability and constant faith during my life set me on track and put me right at the feet of our Heavenly Father.

I always remember going to church growing up.  We lived in Osborne, KS and we attended the Catholic
Church there. I say “the” Catholic Church because in small towns there usually is only one. Most likely every Sunday we would put on nice clothes and head to mass. I remember sitting in the pews listening the priest speak and I have vivid memories is sitting through a simple lesson in Catechism (Sunday School). Through my 8th grade year I lived with my mom and attended church with her. I can’t recall the day that I accepted Jesus into my heart. I remember my first communion. I remember going to church. I remember praying to God. I have always known Jesus was the Son of God and I have never thought otherwise. My mom helped lay a foundation of Christian faith in my life. She made sure we were introduced to Jesus from an early age and that foundation helped guide my life ever since. Thank you, mom, so much for giving me that opportunity! I do not know where I would be today without your discipleship.

Through my high school years and into my early years of college, I was on my own for spiritual leadership. My church attendance was dependent upon what my friends were doing that week or if there was a girl I was smitten for. The only consistency I had came from the foundation laid out for me through my mom in those earlier years. As you might be able to guess, this was a reckless approach to my walk with Jesus and could have been disastrous. I am very thankful that God brought me Andrea towards the end of my first year of college. Once again, I was smitten on this beautiful girl from western Kansas. I followed her everywhere. She took me to church with her and made sure it was a part of our relationship. As our relationship grew so did our dependence upon God. We talked about God. We learned about God. We sang about God! Through the Holy Spirit and with a little help from Winans Phase 2 (a fun story I can share another time), I eventually put God first in my life over everything, even Andrea. From that day forward I have continued to pursue Jesus more and more. I eventually convinced her to marry me and she became the mother to our four beautiful children. Now she is laying that same consistent foundation in our kids that I received from my mom.

I wanted to share my story with you today so you could see just how important mothers can be in our faith walks. When Mother’s Day comes around each year, we are reminded to show thanks for all that they have done for us or our children. This year I wanted to make sure I made it a point to thank my mom and my wife for the most important thing that they’ve done for me. They have consistently guided and fostered my walk with Jesus over my life. If you have a mom in your life that has done the same for you, please let them know that this year. 

Mom and Andrea, from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU for making sure I came to know Jesus! Because of you I know Jesus and am also doing what I can to disciple others along the way!  Happy Mother's Day!