The Secret of Contented Living

We are so prone to be obsessed with "what" is happening in our life and to ask "why" if we are unhappy with it (as if the answer would make it easier!).  In my outlook with my disease, I agree with former Press Secretary Tony Snow when his cancer came back.  He said, "I don't know why I have cancer, and I don't much care.  It is what it is -- a plain and indisputable fact."  He would concentrate "Who" is with him.

I am inspired to focus on the "Who" of my life every time I read Daniel 3 -- the account of the three Hebrew young men facing the fiery furnace.  They were taken from their homeland as prisoners of Babylon.  Having proved themselves and serving in high office, they attract the attention of those determined to make their life miserable.  Then they were threatened with being incinerated in a huge furnace.  When those things happened, there was no lament, "God, we have faithfully honored you, this isn't fair!  Why?"  Look how they focused on their "Who" -- "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand.  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up..." (Daniel 3:17,18 ASV).  Awesome confidence!

Try this focus; you will like it -- Isaiah 43:2.

Dick Robinson

Joy In The Hard Times

I think one of the major challenges to a maturing faith is to believe God will make a way of joy and satisfaction when times are hard.  That’s why I like Habakkuk.  He knew hard times, really hard times, were coming for Judah.  He had faithfully fulfilled his prophetic role of announcing God’s judgment.  He would not be shielded from the effects.  He says if he has no income, no food, no sheep nor cattle, “…yet I will rejoice in the LORD,  I will be joyful in God my Savior.”  Hab. 3:18 NIV

How could he do that?  Look what he believed – “The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights”-- Hab. 3:19 NIV.  He believed strength, guidance, and good would be given in conditions that made his knees weak as he thought about them.

Dick Robinson

Americans are the Unhappiest People

A recent study by the World Health Organization and Harvard Medical School revealed Americans are the unhappiest people on earth.  I wonder if this isn't because we are convinced God will spare us any difficulty, pain, suffering, etc.  When life does not work out that way, we become unhappy.  The Bible will cure such errant theology.  My reading the other day, for example:

"Take the old prophets as your mentors.  They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God.  What a gift life is to those who stay the course!  You've heard, of course, of Job's staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end.  That's because God cares, cares right down to the last detail."

   James 5:10-11, The Message

In my future blogs, I want to share some of the prophets and OT personalities who pump me up!

Dick Robinson 

My BHAG

I became acquainted with a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” (BHAG) in reading the  book Built To Last, and adapted it to my personal life.  I am now working on refining it.  I don’t want to wake up in the morning and do an inventory of my  physical problems (a current danger, and if I start there, I will stay there all day) but goals that rise out of why God has placed me in this culture.  I want them to be big, hairy, and audacious, because God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, more than I can ask or think, according  to His power at work in me! (Eph  3:20)  Besides, Goethe said, "Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” – especially my heart!

 

Dick Robinson

IT WASN'T THE END!

I was typing Saturday at 6:00 PM, the time Harold Camping had predicted the world would end. For a moment I pondered the foolishness of setting dates, then looked out the window and imagined what it will be like when Jesus does return; the trumpet sound, the skies splitting, seeing Him… What a moment!  I think it is getting close.

 

Dick Robinson

Grieving

There have been seven deaths in the church family in the past ten days.  A number of church members, relatives, immediate family and loved ones of people in the church have passed away (just now, as I was typing this up, a member stopped in my office to tell me of his uncle that just died).

Paul wrote and said, "Brothers, we do not want you to...grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope" (1 Thess. 5:13).  Paul is saying that faith helps us to grieve differently -- hopefully -- confidently.

The saddest funeral I was ever part of was that of a woman who died in Florida.  She was flown back to Illinois and I was asked to have her funeral.  She had one son.  At the funeral service, in the funeral home chapel, there were a total of 7 people -- me, the son, and five others.  When the service ended, the son just stayed in his seat for over 40 minutes.  Neither mother nor son had faith and both of them lived lives closed off from others.  The only thing I could talk about was that God was available to comfort him and that people need Jesus.

Contrast that with the funerals of late in our congregation where there have been singing and laughter and joy.  Don't misunderstand, we grieve; Paul admits that we grieve -- we just grieve differently.  The worship center and fellowship hall have been full with loving support.  And what we are talking about is God's goodness and grace and promises and love and faithfulness.  We are talking about heaven and seeing our loved ones again.  And we are talking about what a blessing they were to us in their life.

Oh, yes!  God is still available to comfort us.  And more than ever we are convinced that people need Jesus.  But praise be to God, we don't have to grieve like those who have no hope!

One Of Satan's Most Effective Lies...

One of Satan's most effective lies is when he prompts us to question God’s goodness in the face of current circumstance, saying “it isn’t fair!” “We have been good; good things ought to happen to us.”

There are things in this world that are not fair. My illness is not one of them – Jesus said storms come, Matt. 7:25. It bothers me when someone says, “It is not fair that you have this disease”. I have a picture on my computer that I keep to remind me of what is not fair. It is of a starving Sudanese child, crawling in the dust toward a feeding center. . A vulture is a few feet away, watching her, waiting.

I live in a comfortable home -- she crawls in the dust. I have hospitals, doctors, and medicine to make me more comfortable – she lacks even the essentials of life. I have many friends that help me -- she lacks one person to pick her up and take her a few hundred yards to the feeding station.

God’s will for us:  “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  I Thess. 5:16-18

Dick Robinson

PS: Next time you feel sorry for yourself, remember this:  If  you make $24,000.00 per year, you are in the top 10% of the world’s wealthiest. If you make $80,000.00 per year, you are in the top 1% of the world’s wealthiest.

EMPOWERED!

I read this prayer several times a week to remind myself of the power that is in the Christ follower – the same power that raised Jesus from the grave!  After dwelling on this passage, I feel I want to do something significant with my life, and there is nothing I cannot handle.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:17-21 NIV)

Dick Robinson

I Need Good Friday!

“I wonder why God has done this to you” is the most troubling comment made to me since my diagnosis. I wish I  had a voice to respond, because I wonder why any Christ Follower would say that God capriciously hands out suffering.

I do not know why this has happened, nor do I care.  There are many things I have seen in life that I do not understand; that is what I think “walking by faith” means.

That’s why Good Friday is important to me. I will marinate my soul in the wonder that Christ “loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20) and align my life more perfectly to His will.  In light of His love for me, I will ponder the assurance it gives: “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to  come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:37-39 (NASB).

Dick Robinson

Happy Easter

Several years ago a Presidential election turned on the phrase, "It's the economy, stupid!"  The mantra meant that the key issue was the economy.  

I was raised not to call anyone stupid, and I don't except for occasional outbursts when I'm driving.  But I would like the world to know -- "It's the resurrection, __________!"  It all boils down to the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, then He is not the Messiah, the Christ, Lord or Savior.  But if He did...then He is all those things and more.  If He did rise from the dead, then He did die on the cross for my sins; then He is the way, the truth, the life and there is no other way to God except through Him; then He has a rightful claim to be Lord of my life; then I am lost without Christ; then there really is a heaven and hell; then there is eternal life; then He is coming again.
  
"It's the resurrection, ___________!" means that because of Easter there is forgiveness, and life, and hope, and an eternity.  It means that God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son.  

Happy Easter! 

DON’T FEEL SORRY FOR ME – I MIGHT HAVE A “LEG UP” ON YOU!

The Grammarian defines the idiom, “leg up” as a “position of advantage”.  Early in my diagnosis, I came to see II Corinthians 12:8-10 in a new light. That passage is where the Apostle Paul talks about his physical problem that was so aggravating he prayed three times for God to heal him. What arrested my attention was God’s message too him, “…my  power is made perfect in weakness.”  When people say, “I feel so sorry for you”, I want to say, “Hey, I have a leg up on you in being filled with God’s power”! 

Perhaps, as Christ followers, we should all say, with Paul, “Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.”  (II Cor. 12:10 Message)

“Leg up” Robinson

Volunteer Week

I just heard today that this is National Volunteer Week!  So let me say how proud I am of all our volunteers at Woodview -- we literally could not do everything we do if it weren't for you!  And let me say a big, huge "thanks" to each and every one of you!  You are awesome!

The Bible says that Jesus came to serve, and if we are going to be like Jesus then we have to serve also.  Serving is more about attitude than it is placement.  Some serve by teaching, or leading, or cleaning, or helping, or driving, or cooking -- the list goes on and on.  But it is legitimate serving when we do it in an attitude and spirit of humility.

Someone wisely said, "You know if you are servant by how you react when people treat you like one."

Thanks again for your service, volunteers!

Cravings!

Why did Jesus say that we should hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5:6)?  I know that food and water are the basics of life - I get that.  It's just that usually I crave things that aren't that good for me.  You know, I crave ice-cream or Little Debbie Swiss Rolls or more bacon.  I wonder if I could suggest to Ben & Jerry that they try making an ice-cream flavor of Swiss Rolls and bacon?  I'd buy it!

How does someone get to the point where they really do crave what is good for them?  I guess if you are crawling through a dessert and you feel yourself dying of thirst you'd accept a glass of water instead of asking for a Chai tea with a sprig of mint.  So maybe the way to crave the good stuff is to get really, really desperate.


It seems that another way it would work is if we were able to somehow retrain ourselves so that the stuff that is good for us becomes the stuff that we really want.  You know, retrain our brain so that Brussels sprouts actually do taste better to us than a candy bar.

So far I've kept this conversation about food...but it really applies to all things.  I need to crave righteousness in my thoughts and relationships and words and actions and finances and -- you get the idea; all things.  So how is it that we get to the point where that is really, really, really what we crave?


First, we have to see the damage and hurt and pain and foolishness that result from craving what isn't good and we get desperate.  Second, we have to recognize that part of what happened when we came to Christ and were baptized is what the Bible calls a "new birth."  That means that the Holy Spirit did a work inside of us redirecting our true desires.  Now, there is a part of us, the real part of us, that craves righteousness.  We just need to break the habit of settling for what is easy or common or accessible or our old routine.

Leave it to Jesus to say something profound with few words. 

Faith and March Madness

I read an article yesterday about Dr. James Naismith, the creator of the game of basketball.  I didn't know that Naismith was a minister and that the motivation for creating the game was to give young men a physical activity that was based on strength, skill and good sportsmanship.  He believed that people could learn about Christianity and be reached for Jesus Christ through exercise and physical activity.  One of his original thirteen rules of basketball was this: "No shouldering, holding, pushing, striking or tripping in any way of an opponent.  The first infringement of this rule by any person shall count as a foul; the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made or, if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game."

I don't think there is any doubt that top-level basketball players are some of the greatest athletes on the planet.  And clearly March Madness is a huge event -- even the President of the United States filled out brackets!  The game is entertaining and a cash-cow.  I had a relative who got the contract to the do all the printing for the Final Four several years ago -- good gig!

I just wonder what Dr. James Naismith would say about it if he were alive today.  Like most of us, I think he would be entertained and enjoy the athleticism.  But do you think Koby Bryant or LeBron James or even Jimmer Fridette know that the roots of the game are in helping people come to Jesus?  Maybe instead of praying about our brackets we should spend some time praying for the players and coaches.

The painful path of growth

Ever have a time when you were scraping along thinking things were pretty rough, but something else happened to make life even harder?  Yeah, me too.  Here's what I'm thinking through -- the path to personal and spiritual growth is a staircase made of crises.  I know that doesn't sound very appealing...but I think it's what Scripture teaches.

Romans 5:3-5 says, "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,  whom He has given to us."  The things I really want...or should really want, like hope and love and character -- well, those verses make it pretty clear that the way to those good things is through perseverance.  And I can only persevere when facing a crisis, a struggle, suffering.

The Bible even says that Christ was made perfect through suffering (Hebrews 2:10) and the Bible says that Jesus had to learn obedience from what He suffered (Hebrews 5:8).  If suffering and crises were instrumental in the growth and perfection of Jesus, who do I think I am that I could possibly grow and mature without them?  

So here's what I'm determined to do -- I will remain hopeful and joyful and expectant no matter what comes my way.  And I will persevere.  Not only that, but I will view the difficulties and struggles of life as God's classroom -- teaching me things that I could never know any other way.

Japan Relief

There have been several people asking if we are going to take up a special offering to help with the Japan relief efforts.  We have tried to have direct contact with our stateside forwarding agents for missionaries located in Japan but, apparently due to the overload of requests for information, we have not been able to talk directly to them to know how to help or what kind of help they need the most.

If you would like to contribute to Japanese relief I would suggest one of the following agencies:  Samaritan's Purse, Salvation Army, World Vision, or IDES.  Samaritan's Purse is planning to distribute 93 tons of supplies and they will work through local churches in Japan.  The Salvation Army has about 150 volunteers on the ground in Japan serving meals, providing water, etc.  World Vision seeks to minister to the families and children and they are committed to not only helping to meet the physical needs of children but their emotional needs as well.  IDES is a Christian Church relief organization working to get food and water to the missionaries on the ground in Japan and they assure us that 100% of your donation will go directly to the relief effort.

Here is part of an e-mail sent by Chad Huddleston, a missionary in Osaka, Japan, to IDES:  "It has been a trying and sad time in so many ways: whole towns are gone, thousands upon thousands are without homes and businesses. The news coverage, especially as people's personal videos begin to hit the channels, is simply horrific. And the unknown factor of a nuclear meltdown in the same area looms over it all. But we know that our God is Good and that His desire is to turn this situation around so that many will find peace and comfort and He will be glorified. This is the time for the Christians in Japan (as few as they are! less than 1%) to unite, rise up and be the light. We cannot allow this opportunity to love to pass us by. I ask you to lift us up in prayer."

If you have difficulty finding the sites for any of these agencies or have questions, please contact the church office during business hours.

CIY Reminder!

A Quick Reminder to Parents of Middle Schoolers -

CIY Registration money is due this Sunday, March 20, to Lisa or Cindy. We strongly encourage you to send your 6th-8th grade students. It is weekend event that they will be talking about for a long time to come!

Welcome to Woodview Christian Church's Blog

We are excited to introduce Woodview Christian Church's new Blog with you!