The Seedling of Fear

09.29.11

Luke 12.22 22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about y our life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear..."NIV

Ah, the worrying! What will happen to me? How will I live? Will I be able to make the rent? Like a constant dripping wearing a hole in solid stone is worrying that wears a hole in my joy and erodes my faith. Worrying is the act of doubting God. Worrying is that destructive force that creeps in quietly and unseats the foundation of faith.

I worry all the time. I play home movies in my head about all the things I think I will be faced with. It’s funny when the worrying starts, my belief in God grows very small; I have to grab ahold of it or it will grow so small that you might wonder if I have faith at all. Worrying is futile.

Jesus told them not to worry because He knew they did and He knows we do too.

Worrying, like any mental exercise, has to be dealt with quickly and firmly or it will grow pretty big, pretty fast. To my knowledge, Jesus never worried; He never asked the Father, “How am I going to pull this off?” What He did say was, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26.39 NASB) If He didn’t worry, I shouldn’t. That’s why the Bible is so full of so many affirmations of God’s love, presence, and provision.

The affirmations in the Bible however, are not there as merely optional thoughts: well I can think this if things get too bad… Or, I’ll think this to make that stress less stressful. No, we’re to immediately deal with the stress, and before God confess it, and get rid of it, by claiming God’s truth against it. We’re to get used to claiming God’s truth when the worrying starts to drip…or bursts forth in a flood! God’s word is our Shield and Defense against those nagging little lies that tell us God is somehow going to let us down; let us fail. Those affirmations are also not for mild anesthesia – they are the very real weapons of our warfare in bringing every thought captive to God.

Worry is the seedling of fear and fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is a crippling cruel monster and must be killed with the truth. When our kids were young, we had some cassette tapes that had on them Scripture verses set to music. Each tape told a story and had these verses written into the story and set to music to help the listener memorize them. I will never forget Psalm 56.3: When I am afraid, I will trust in You. I can still hear the music in my head.

The truth is: I will get afraid at times. The question is: what will I do with the fear, how will I handle it? When I am afraid, I will trust in You. A friend of mine texted me this verse last week: O Lord of Hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You! (Psalm 84.12) These are powerful affirmations but also eternal truths. These are statements of who we are at the very core of our being. If the core is solid, worry won’t find fertile ground. If the core is weak, then all kinds of things will spring up and grow.

Yes, Jesus knows what worry does to us and His counsel is: do not worry. Today, I am to give over my thoughts to Him and think His. Today, I am to go out in the power and presence of the Lord, not my own. So that’s what I’m gonna do…

Lose the Life

09.26.11

Luke 9.24  24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. NIV

One of the things I ask my prospects is, What is the biggest thing affecting your business today? In other words, if it (whatever) was removed, what impact would that have on your business? Most people name something because they know what is affecting them and what will make the difference between where they are and where they want to be. As Christians, we should be asking the same question.

Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” It was His way of saying, lose the life. Trying to save one’s life is like trying to save peanut shells. Trying to save one’s life is clinging to all of those things that get in the way of God bringing out the finest things in us (that He’s placed within us). Clinging to one’s life is the very real act of hanging onto every objection to Christ and salvation. Really Paul? Really.

A mentor is good at teaching us what to bring along in life or on the job. Every now and then a mentor will say, “Lose the … (attitude, perspective, nervousness). They know that these things hold us back. Jesus was saying, “Lose the life; it’s holding you back.” And in Kingdom thinking, it’s also holding us out.

Losing the life is risky because it is losing control. It is becoming vulnerable to the point of being very uncomfortable. But discomfort isn’t always bad – more often than not it causes us to do something about it. The higher the level of discomfort, the more we’re motivated to relieve it. Jesus is telling us to lose the life no matter how it feels. Jesus is telling us to trust God because ultimately there is great reward when we do (Cf. Hebrews 11.6).

Losing one’s life is counter-intuitive, strange, and discomforting but it brings with it a way that God can and will use us that without the losing we’ll never get. The choice is ours: do we throw all caution to the wind and trust God? What will people say when we do? And do we care what they say? Once, Peter said to Jesus after Jesus told them He was going to be mistreated by the Jewish leadership, Never Lord! This shall never happen to You! Jesus rebuked him – Peter was trying to hang onto life.

Today, the choice is ours. Today the great wrestling match begins all over again. Jesus says to us, Lose the life! Will we do it?

Determining Mission

09.25.11

Luke 8.38-39 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him. NIV

Recently, many people have urged Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chairman of the House of Representatives Budget Committee, to run for president – Ryan has declined saying he can serve this nation better where he is rather than as president. Ryan, for now, has determined his mission.

The restored man in Luke 8 wanted to go with Jesus; he begged Jesus for that privilege. Jesus sent him away with a different mission: “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” It was more important for the man to return to his family and friends than go with Jesus as a side-show.

For years my mission was to be a pastor and a public speaker. I wanted to lead a congregation and preach God’s truth to people. In ministry, to be vocational makes ministry into a different creature. I wasn’t used to the lack of money, the need to be bi-vocational, and the difficulties of pastoring a flock who seemed willing to listen but unwilling to act. Now please, that is not an indictment of some very good people, it’s just the way it is in American Christianity: be present, be faithful in giving, but no need to participate (at least on a level that’s too deep or time-consuming.)

Jesus knew the man who’d been restored would be far more believable among those who knew him than among those who didn’t. The ones who knew him would be more impacted by his life change than those who had no point of reference. That’s why we’re to live out our faith actively and faithfully in front of those in our immediate sphere of influence; if anyone can readily see the difference in us, they can.

And faith is really not about the showing, it’s about the knowing. The one who knows God and trusts in Him will stand out from those who don’t. The ones who determine to let God dictate the identity of their lives will shine in ways that those who don’t, won’t. The man in Luke needed God to determine his identity (and be found in Him) rather than let his time of demon-possession take center-stage. Yes, his healing was radical and tremendous, but his relationship with the Living God was infinitely beyond that. Circumstances are what they are but responding to God and steadfastly remaining with Him in the midst of them is what makes the difference.

In this stage of life what is important to me is my relationship with Jesus and letting others see that in me. I am not all about preaching and teaching (although, if you invite me to speak at your church, I’d probably take you on it…). What I am about is living out my faith and trying to influence the people around me to see my faith and look for God for themselves. The wisest and kindest thing Jesus did for the man in Luke 8 was to send him home to reconnect to the lives of people he’d probably chased off in his time of incarceration in darkness. Had he gone off on the preaching circuit, they probably all would’ve thought he’d just traded one craziness for another anyway…

Preferential Treatment

09.21.11

Luke 4.25-27 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” NIV

What they knew, and what they thought they knew, were two different things. They knew they were God’s chosen people; they knew they were His holy possession; they knew they were set apart from all the other peoples of the earth, but they thought because of their status they were guaranteed preferential treatment. A Sidonian widow and a Syrian warrior just didn’t add up in their theology. Jesus, are you saying God dealt better with them than He did with us!!??

We must be careful that what we know adds up with what we think we know. Otherwise we can get into some pretty stinky thinking if we’re not careful. Thinking like this causes marriages to fail, leads to oppressive government regulations, and is a breeding ground for pride and arrogance. There is an ancient persistent misunderstanding on the part of the Jews of what God really called them to, and what His intentions for them really were. It’s not that they’re bad, it’s just that they never seemed to have completely understood God’s love for them and His sovereign treatment of others. That’s why the ministry of the Holy Spirit is so vital to the life and spiritual health of the believer enabling them to ask, “God, what do You really want from me?”

I think what God really wants is unquestioning love because of His tangible demonstrations of His love. Like any good parent, I think God wants His kids to love Him, accept Him, and obey Him with trusting, willing hearts. I don’t think the formula is all that complicated. Sin complicates, love simplifies.

For me it seems I must accept life as I have it and not as I want it. I have it the way I have it because of God and therefore must continually conclude that what I am and where I am is what God has willed for me. That doesn’t mean I can’t ask Him to take away what I think is too difficult, but I mustn’t gripe and moan when He doesn’t. I must after asking, remember that I prayed about it and leave the results to Him. Trying to strong-arm God is futile. Wouldn’t unquestioning love be better than always suspecting that He gives bigger pieces of cake to others?

It all boils down to the condition of the heart and life, under God’s care, is conditioning. Life is designed by God to knock our rough edges off and to bring us to that place of unconditionally trusting God. So today, I must accept from God all that He brings and be careful not to expect preferential treatment according to my terms. I do, in Christ, get preferential treatment – it is according to His terms. Accepted in the Beloved…

Numbered Weighed and Wanting

09.20.11

Daniel 5.25 25 “This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN

Numbered, numbered, weighed and wanting – the Persians are coming; their presence is daunting. That in a nutshell is the message Belshazzar the king of Babylon got that night – the same night the Medes invaded the city and killed him. What really killed him was pride; he was so arrogant that he forgot all the great things God had done for his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar.

Pride and arrogance are evil things. They occlude vision (perspective, outlook, etc.) and judgment in ways that defy reason. They drive us to make decisions that are wrong and to wander down strange paths. Pride kills and is a killer – just ask king Belshazzar. That doesn’t justify him or give him an excuse; it’s just the truth… he was killed for his pride.

Belshazzar had an advantage, as a descendant of King Nebuchadnezzar, of knowing what that did (or really, what was done) to him. Nebuchadnezzar met God in a special way because own pride broke him. Unfortunately, Belshazzar’s pride goaded him to ridicule God and misuse what God’s people knew to be holy and precious things. But that wasn’t the worst part – the worst part was Belshazzar totally ignored what God ultimately did in King Nebuchadnezzar’s life: God humbled then exalted Nebuchadnezzar more than he did for himself. .

So God told Belshazzar what He thought of him. It went something like this: Dude, you are worthless. God Himself judged Belshazzar and it wasn’t pretty. When God exalts it’s because He is pleased. When God condemns it’s because He isn’t pleased. But the funny part is that God always gives everyone a chance to be pleasing. God is pleased with people who are pleasing. God wants nothing more than for fallen, broken, evil, selfish creatures to succeed (according to His terms, not theirs). God loves to be pleased with people who please.

And God hates those who flip Him off (figuratively…well, actually even literally…). Giving God the cold shoulder because you don’t know Him is one thing. But to ridicule Him openly when you know of Him or what He has done good in someone’s life is quite another. God is a Big Boy and He can handle it, but He won’t let slights against Him slide forever; as they say, God doesn’t settle all His accounts in the month of October… but He does settle all of His accounts.

I think it’s time we realize that God is serious about our getting it. We need to get it – all of eternity hangs in the balance as to whether or not we get it: God is God and He is good. The sooner we get that the better. The last thing we want to hear from God is: you’ve been measured and found wanting. That’s the last thing I want to hear.

I know I am accepted by God. I know that. I know that God has blessed me beyond measure. I know that I have done nothing to deserve anything He’s done for me. But I also need to remember that I am responsible to respond to His goodness and abundant love. And the worst thing I (or anyone) could ever do is to snub Him for His goodness. Belshazzar was guilty of that. I suspect Belshazzar was a spoiled rich kid. But that notwithstanding, he should’ve learned his lessons better and never treated God the way he did. God didn’t kill him but his pride sure did.

Biblical No-Names

09.19.11

Luke 2.25; 36-37
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

Simeon and Anna – what a pair! Simeon was righteous and devout. That meant he was God-centered and Heaven-bent. The winds of life bent him toward Heaven and he always thought about God. The righteous always have that quirky trait: their thoughts are incessantly about God; day and night they think about God; work and play they think about God. Little in life distracts them from the Majesty of Him.

And Anna! Oh what a precious jewel she was. She too thought about God all the time but she also prayed all the time. The righteous are in constant conversation with God; they have that quirk – always, always in communication with their King. Anna kinda reminds me of Teresa of Calcutta for some reason…just sayin’.

Simeon and Anna were indeed quirky – they weren’t like the rest of their pedestrian fellows who were busy working or parenting, or politicking or whatever. Oh yes, the rest went to church, paid their tithes and offered their offerings, but they lacked that God-centered, gentle quirkiness. Make no mistake, quirky is not synonymous for weak – Anna and Simeon may have been aged but they were certainly NOT weak. And they weren’t harmless either. The devil himself hated them for their faith, and you can bet they paid the full price for their belief. But weak and harmless are not words to describe the faithful who will not budge from their devotion to Christ regardless of the swarms of satanic flies that pester them. God is King! And they both knew it very well.

I’ve taken inventory of my thoughts today and sadly, I have not been righteous in that regard. It’s not that I’m not righteous in Him, because He is my righteousness! It’s just that the winds of life have blown me in a direction other than toward heaven. It’s just that my thoughts have been self-centered, and weak, and fearful. And my prayers? Gosh, for the most part there wasn’t much praying either; just more self-centeredness, weakness, and sadly, faithlessly, fear.

Anna and Simeon weren’t sinless; they were just beheld by the Beholder as His own and thereby righteous, devout, and accepted. Yes, there was maturity and some life-experience with both – but those things only led them both closer to God in their living; and remarkably when God’s Son entered the Temple that day (via His earthly caretakers), Simeon and Anna both had front-row seats! Not bad for a couple of otherwise Biblical no-names…

To be truly a saint doesn’t mean you get the posthumous title. Teresa of Calcutta at this moment probably snickers at the thought – her life was all about Jesus and walking every step of the way right next to Him – that’s what sets a saint apart from the rest of the pedestrian crowd. Jesus probably snickers too!

Preparation

09.18.11

Luke 1.17 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” NIV

Many times the question is asked, “If you were to die today, would you be ready to meet the Lord?” It’s a valid question. Meeting the Lord isn’t like meeting the president, or some celebrity – meeting the Lord is the most awesome thing that can or will ever happen to a person. I think when we share the gospel we often understate that. Meeting the Lord is meeting Someone who will totally transform one’s being at first glance. Meeting the Lord is meeting Someone who will suddenly and instantly bestow a perspective that no one else ever can. Meeting the Lord is losing our precious control…

John was to come in the spirit and power of Elijah. John’s ministry was to prepare God’s people for their meeting with Jesus, the Lord. John was to make them ready to meet Him. The only miracle that John did was to convict a populous of the coming of Jesus. And to some degree I believe he succeeded. Elijah’s last stand was on Mt. Carmel when he convinced many in Israel that the Lord was the only One who would consume the water-drenched sacrifice; it was an awesome display of the Lord’s presence and power (1 Kings18.16 ff). John’s ministry was to prepare them; Jesus’ ministry was to save them. So, if you were to die today, would you be ready to meet the Lord? In other words, are you prepared?

And who is responsible for your preparation? You are partly. You are to make yourself prepared but others are to come alongside as well and assist in the preparation process. The biggest part of preparation for the Lord is simply belief. The thief on the cross believed, and that is why we’ll meet him in heaven. He met Jesus in his way, on his day. Our preparation may be a little less dramatic, but we must be prepared nonetheless. I know, we sing, Just as I Am but that is how we come to the Lord. We also sing, We Are an Offering – that is how we are to live as we wait for the coming of the Lord. Big difference.

What a difference in my life as I live waiting for the Lord, focused solely upon Him. And what a difference my life makes as I do. There is a need today in this world for unflappable people and those who wait upon the Lord are unflappable; their lives are transformed, their lives have a perspective, and they would be the first to tell you: in Him, I’ve lost all control.

Being prepared for the Lord is coming to know Him and spending time with Him. It means praying His prayers and letting Him dictate the cadence of life. It means conforming to His will because much time is spent seeking to discern His will. It means reading His word and looking for those bits and pieces of life to restore those that are lost by the push and pull of this world. It means living in such expectation that even bumping into an angel at work, frightening as that may be, is accepted as God doing whatever He does to get our attention.

And it means living life every day, in ever increasing expectation and anticipation of meeting the Lord face to face. That’s preparation. That’s the measure of our present life and how ready we’ll be on that coming Day.

Don’t Do That

09.17.11

Revelation 22.9 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!” NIV

Most parents know the phrase. Many parents have said it to their children all throughout their little lives. I remember going into a public restroom once with one of my toddler kids only to see him to make a beeline for the urinal and place his precious little hands on it… I almost had a heart-attack! Don’t do that! I exclaimed in a voice that scared him. He knew he’d trespassed and dad was serious. I scared him and I think I hurt his little feelings. I don’t think he ever did that again. In retrospect I think I over-reacted, but I never had to say that to him again.

I thought about the inflection in the voice of the angel who said to John: Don’t do that! I think it was along the lines of DON’T DO THAT!!!!!!!!!!!! Obviously, John caught up in the moment, made a beeline for a response and did something that the angel knew he shouldn’t ever do: John took his eyes off God. The exclamation point is there for our edification and exhortation: don’t (ever) do that! Something in me makes me think John might’ve been rattled back into reality during this exchange. Hurt feelings or not, I don’t think he ever did it again.

The angel, I suspect, had witnessed the fall of Satan and knew full well the consequences of taking one’s eyes off of God. The angel I suspect witnessed the fall of man and saw the agony of the Godhead when man chose to exchange the glory of God for his own. The angel, faithful to what he knew, came to John’s aid by slapping him upside the head: Don’t do that!

Recently, a friend of mine came alongside me and (figuratively) slapped me upside the head. He actually said in the course of the conversation: Don’t do that! He went on to say, “Don’t even entertain thoughts like that!” I was rebuked but he made his point and it made its mark. He is still my friend and I value his advice even more – he helped me when I needed help. Encouragement needs to be effective because the bottom line in encouragement is love; and sometimes love must be tough, abrupt, and even to the point of a stern rebuke.

The other inflection I heard in the angel’s voice was: worship GOD! It wasn’t angry but it was way emphatic – worship GOD – for crying out loud man, have you completely missed the point!?

In John 14 Jesus and Philip had this exchange: Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” (John 14.8-10 NIV) Jesus was slapping Philip upside the head…

For me my toughest battles are fought in my mind where thoughts assault me to just give up, give in, and cave in on my faith. (Paul, don’t do that!) Thoughts can be very convincing because they are based on – among other things – our circumstances; and often when circumstances go south, so do our thoughts. (Friends, don’t do that!) The toughest refining comes only when we go through the fire but the result is we will come out on the other side unscathed and worshiping God! But we need to be vulnerable enough to admit our needs to one another – and to slap each other upside the head when necessary – true love, true faith, true worship.

Giant Oysters

09.16.11

Revelation 21.21 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. NIV

Somewhere there are giant mollusks which produce giant pearls. I believe those exist somewhere right now at this moment. I believe if we were able to go there, wherever they are, we’d see those giant oysters. The gates of the New Jerusalem are pearls; each made of a single pearl – hence the giant oysters.

God’s universe is vast and wide and incomprehensible. But one thing is for sure: everything in God’s universe is there for God’s pleasure. A city is there where God’s people will/do dwell and between giant pearls and streets of the purest gold it is an awesome (in the God sense of the word) place.

We live in a world mixed (I believe) with far-fetched fantasy and rigor-mortem reality. I have a feeling that people in this world, whether they recognize it or not, suffer from the effects of sin and fallenness and because they do, I firmly believe that most people in their suffering long for something more (or other) than what they have. I also believe that most people in the world when confronted with the facts of giant pearls and streets of gold would say something like, “Huh-yeah, right.”

Believe it or not, the truth is, giant oysters and streets paved with pure gold do exist… whether I want to believe it or not. And since they exist, it follows that so does the Maker of those things. And since He exists, then I am accountable to Him for He also made me. Giant pearls and gold as paving material is no big deal to God. His biggest deal (if He has deals) is getting you and me to believe in Him because the Psalm says: Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in obedience to him. (Psalm 128.1 NIV) I would add, because their eyes will see prodigious pearls and pure pavement.

Right now it’s by faith and not by sight – tha’s all we got. I have to accept by faith that there are giant oysters out there which produce pearls big enough to be used as gates for a city. I also have to believe that God is working in me to transform me into the man, the disciple, the Christ-follower He’s created me to be; despite my herky-jerky belief – you know, the when-things-are-going-good-then-God-is- really-real belief. And the when things are going bad then He must be off distracted in some other part of the universe and has forgotten about me somehow – or He’s not who He says He is. Such is the sad, sick, fickle heart: so easily pleased with trinkets and so easily discouraged when the trinkets are removed.

Giant oysters are along the lines of: Okay, it could happen. Real belief and deeply seasoned faith however are along the lines of steadfast and immovable belief when it’s all going (or gone) to crap and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight – just a knowing that God has promised somewhere in the midst of it, and in control of it all. Whew! I can’t wait to see those oysters.

True Success

(To my readers: I apologize for the awkwardness of this post - some days are just like that...)

09.15.11

Revelation 20.6 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. NIV

(6:00 a.m.) There are, it appears, two deaths: the death of a life – the separation from physical life; and the death of a soul – the eternal separation from God and all that He has done. There are also (apparently) two resurrections: the first for those who will go into the everlasting presence of God; and the second only for those appointed, first to face, then second to go into the second death. The first death has eternal promise; the second death, eternal power. Those in the first resurrection are immune to the eternal power of the second death, and those in the second resurrection are immune to the eternal promise of life everlasting.

When I went to bed last night, I thought of how hideous I must be to God in my brokenness and sin. I realized (as I often do) how much I try to manipulate God into giving me what I think I want and realized as I do, I must come off as one who is horribly unclean and yet tries to make himself appear as acceptable. Bad breath, bad body odor, and stinking oozing sores are not things I want to embrace… and yet, God does. The promise of Christ is: I will be with you and I will be in you. Jesus, dwelling in a cesspool like me…

I know in Christ I am accepted in the Beloved but I also see the realities of how I try to take advantage of God. Recently I thought about how to measure the success of a day – any day. The true success of a day is for me to realize I am in the presence of God and that He, for all my faults and failures, is with me. My true success is not based on what I accomplish but how much and how often throughout the day I sense His hand upon me and His presence with me; and whether or not I celebrate His presence. (To be continued)

(14½ hours later) I must’ve been successful today because I cried aloud often to God. I had a miserable day by my standards and yet I managed not to throw my faith out the window and tomorrow I am going to dive right back into the fray. For those still engaged in it, work is an amazing teacher and revealer; teaching us about what we don’t know of God; and revealing just how much we try to manipulate Him.

So blessed are those who are saved from the second death and the second resurrection. Blessed are those who throw themselves on the mercy of God today and know that it’s a done deal when earth’s last canvas is painted. Today, I saw favor and mercy and a God who stands steadfastly by me at my worst. I’ll admit Heaven seemed fairly silent today but my car – and my heart – seemed full of its presence and God’s patient and knowing smile…

True success is to show up at the one death and the one resurrection and miss out on the second death and its resurrection. True success is spelled out in a life measured by just how often is spent in the presence of God and ignoring the push and pull of life that gets in the way of celebrating a presence like His.