1 Thessalonians 2 – Being a gentle, straight-shooting Christian

 

Sunset from Mt Adams

Nov 27 –  1 Thessalonians 2

 

It’s been nine days since my last entry. It’s challenging for me to carve out consistent time and establish a daily habit of reading/responding/reflecting/recording on scripture; but I am not giving up.

Today I am reading 1 Thessalonians 2 for the men’s group I attend. And there are three nuggets of wisdom that stand out to me this morning, and they weave together for one piece of understanding that I need to personally apply to my life.

1) Have hearts and behaviors to please God, not to please man.  Avoid flattery.  Be a straight-shooter.

1 Thes 2:4-6 ..we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.  You know we never used flattery, nor did we put a mask on to cover up greed – God is our witness.  We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.

Here Paul is saying that he speaks not to win the approval or praise of others, but from God alone. And he doesn’t butter-up/flatter people to pursuade them.  And this smacks me upside my head.  When I am not reading the bible and praying/listening to God daily, I have a strong tendency to want to win people’s approval and have them like me.  And I overuse my gift of encouragement, which turns into shallow, pointless flattery.  A friend emailed me this morning to ask my opinion on something and ended his email with the statement that “God loves a straight-shooter.”   Well said. And I imagine my friends would appreciate me being a straight-shooter as well.

2) Gentleness with others.

1 Thes 2:7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.

1 Thes 2:11 …for you know we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God…

This is a good reminder that as we work out lives and our faith together, to do it gently and lovingly.  To me this doesn’t mean to be soft when truthful and challenging words need to be spoken, or when sin needs to be called out.  Truth still needs to be spoken and we need to call each other out on sin (Luke 17:3)  but we need to do this all with love  (1 Cor 13:1).  

3) Being imitators of Christ

1 Thes 2:13-14 ..you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches…

Ed Stetzer, a guest speaker at church recently gave a lecture on representing Jesus and his kingdom.  And it reminds me that the whole point to all of this ‘being gentle, truthful, and not flattering others to win their approval’ is to be imitators of Christ, and to bring God glory in how I choose to live my life, minute-by-minute, day-by-day.  People are watching how I live my life/how we live our lives. Am I being an ambassador of Christ by loving God and loving others, or am I up to something else?

Proverbs 18 – Both Sides of a Story, Finding a Wife, and Honor

Proverbs 18.   Both Sides of a Story, Finding a Wife, and Honor

It’s Wednesday evening and it’s been a good week so far, full of productivity and laughs, but a long one.  And I haven’t made the time every morning to read/reflect/respond (in prayer) and record what God shows me in my study time.  So this evening, before heading to bed, I took time to get my habit back on track and read Proverbs 18.  I noticed three interesting points that stood out:

1.   Proverbs 18:12   Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor

Be humble Jeremy.  Consider others more highly than yourself.  A friend once said to me about finding a wife, “Jeremy, don’t look for the perfect girl, because is she did exist, you would just mess her up!”  Point taken.  Be humble.  I don’t it know all.  I am not perfect.  Jesus gives grace.  And humility truly does come before honor.  Without Jesus, we are all messes.

2.   Proverbs 18:17   The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him

There are always two sides to every story.  Enough said.  Before flying off the handle, or taking a friend’s position, ask the the other side what their experience was. 

3.   Proverbs 18:22   He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord

Good wisdom.  It is not good for main to be alone.  I’ll come back to this verse when I study Proverbs 31 at the end of the month.

I appreciate how clear, simple, and practical these three pieces of wisdom are.

Proverbs 15 – Better a Little Vegetables Than…

Proverbs 15

Better a Little Vegetables

Who would have thought this morning’s proverb would be a plug for vegetarianism? 

I’ve been reading several books about relationships and marriage lately, and talking with my married friends about the true realty of marriage beyond the honeymoon.  Yesterday my girlfriend and I were jogging and talking about pursuing careers that we are passionate about in life, even when those jobs/assignments/careers/businesses don’t exactly make a ton of money. 

She said she’d rather have her husband make a smaller income and come home at the end of the day satisfied in his work and have time to be home with his family, than make an extra $100k and be miserable and absent from her and the kids.  Not that she wouldn’t find ways to spend the money, but…it’s not what is most important to her.

And then comes Proverbs 15:16-17 this morning.  Awesome.  It says…

Better a little with the fear of the Lord
than great wealth with turmoil.

Better a meal of vegetables where there is love
than a fattened calf with hatred.

I enjoy a good steak every now and then, but give me a main course of vegetables with simplicity, with a healthy fear of the Lord and a house full of Love anyday.

 

Proverbs 11 – Seeking the Welfare of Our City

Seattle Center - Space Needle

Proverbs 11

Loving Our Neighbors Through Leading and Serving

The past two days have been packed full.  They’ve been rich, life-giving days, but I missed my goal of reading, writing, reflecting, and responding on Proverbs 11 & 12.  So today I am catching-up on the two days I missed and am getting back on track with Proverbs 13.  Thank God for grace.

Today Mars Hill Church Ballard campus has some 135 bible study/community groups meeting throughout greater Seattle each week.  And as a campus, each of these groups is working on our own vision for how to live out the mission of MHC.  The mission of MHC is “…living our lives for Jesus as a city within the city—knowing culture, loving people, and seeing lives transformed to live for Jesus.”

And here in the neighborhood I live in, Ballard, we have roughly 25 groups and are taking ownership of that mission statement with our own Ballard neighborhood vision statement of “knowing, loving, and serving our neighbors, as compelled by the love of Christ.”

And as we write out our neighborhood and individual group visions, I’m stoked that Proverbs 11 has several verses for us about neighbors, cities, and leading and serving well:

(11:9)    With his mouth, the godless destroys his neighbor…

(11:10)    When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy

(11:11)    Through the blessing of the upright, a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked, it is destroyed.

(11:14)    For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisors make victory sure.

As Christians, we are called to love God and love others. God loves us, and we are called to love the people God has placed in our lives.  This reminds me of Jeremiah 29:5-7 where it says:

“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

There’s a saying one of my business mentors has about serving and leading:  “If not us, who, if not now, when?”

Proverbs 10

looking south towards mt rainer from granite mtn

Proverbs 10 is full of one liners of wisdom and guidelines for good living. the idea that stands out most to me this morning is how important our words are.

with our words we can love, bless, encourage, and lead well. or we can hurt, seperate, and lead others into folly. here are four questions to consider:

 

are we being loving & leading well with our words?
-the tongue of the righteous is like fine silver (verse 10:20)
-the lips of the righteous nourish many (verse 10:21)
-the mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom (verse 10:31)
-the lips of the righteous know what is fitting (verse 10:32)

 

we all lead. how are we leading?
-those who pay attenton to discipline lead others towards a good life (verse 10:17)
-whoever ignores discipline leads others astray (verse 10:17)

 

do we welcome people to speak into our lives, or do we know it all?
-wise people welcome discipine and correction from others (verse 10:8)
-foolish people shun and ignore discipline, and are too busy talking to hear others (verse 10:8)

 

how are we working?
-Hard work brings success (verse 10:5)
-laziness brings poverty (verse 10:4)

 

i have to be honest, as i ask myself these questions, i can’t pat myself on the back and say i’m doing well in all these areas. i can think of several instances, just over this past weekend, where i spoke before thinking and didn’t use loving words. and that is where grace comes in.

this morning i was practicing a worship song  with lyrics that come from psalm 25.  and it made me think about how thankful i am for God and His leadership and instruction in my life.  and i don’t mean this is some religious sort of follow the rules kind of way.  

i am finding that as i get back into the habit of making time to start my day with reading, reflection, worship, and writing/journaling about what i read and have learned, God is doing something  in my heart.  giving me a peace, a contentedness, and a vision for what i need to be doing in my life.

speaking of doing what i need to be doing, i need to get working. blessings.

Good and upright are you Lord. You teach us sinners in Your ways.

You give grace to the humble hearted, and instruct them in your ways.

All your ways are loving, faithful, Lord to those who seek your face.

You give grace to the humble hearted, and instruct them in your ways.

Proverbs 9

Camping on Mt. Adams with Mt St. Helens in the background

Proverbs 9

Yesterday in Proverbs 8, I was looking-up the definitions of the three words, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. And today it’s interesting to be able to insert those definitions into Proverbs 9:10.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (the ability to make sensible decisions and judgments)
and knowledge (an awareness or possession of information, facts, ideas, truths, or principles)
about the Holy One gives us understanding (the ability to perceive and explain the meaning or the nature of somebody or something).

So, to put it together in a simple way that I can understand it and so that I can talk to myself while driving or working out (yes, I talk and ‘teach’ scripture to myself – it helps me memorize it), Proverbs 9:10 might read like this:

The fear of the Lord, the One who created everything, is the beginning of being able to make sensible decisions about life. And knowing more facts, truths, and principles about God brings about in us an understanding of being able to perceive and explain the meaning or nature of everyone and everything.

This gives me much needed perspective for the day. My work, my service, my relationships…they all make more sense, are more understandable, and have more purpose when held-up in the bright shining light of starting with, and ending with God.

That’s all for now. Time to get to work.

Proverbs 8

sunrise over seattle, from ballard

knowledge = general awareness or possession of information, facts, ideas, truths, or principles

wisdom = the ability to make sensible decisions and judgments based on personal knowledge and experience

understanding = ability to perceive and explain the meaning or the nature of somebody or something

when i think of  knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, i usually think of these pieces of character as traits i seek out, that i find.  this morning’s study has me thinking differently.  proverbs 8 starts out by asking the reader,

“does not wisdom call out and does not understanding raise her voice?  on the heights along the way, she (knowledge, wisdom, understanding) takes her stand.  beside the gates leading into the city, she cries out and says ‘listen, for i have worthy things to say.’”

a little later in verse 22, it says that “the Lord brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old.  I (knowledge, wisdom, and understanding) was appointed from eternity, from the begining, before the word began.”  …and this has me thinking about three things this morning.

1)  God created knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.  they are as obvious as the billboards we see when we drive through our city.  knowledge, wisdom, and understanding literally ‘cry out’ for us to pay attention to her, we just have to look. 

2) since knowledge, wisdom, and understanding were here from the begining, from even before God created the world, i want to explore the idea that the Holy Spirit and Jesus are the source of all knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.  

3) and our Creator gives us these things as gifts.  it’s not by anything we do, or deserve.  knowledge, wisdom, and understanding are not something we create; they are gifts from God. and just because we have been given them, that doesn’t give us reason to be prideful or think we’re better than others.  

in the song by stuart townend, How Deep the Father’s Love, there’s a verse that sums this up.  it sings…

i will not boast in anything
no gifts, no power, no wisdom
but i will boast in Jesus Christ
his death, and resurrection

 there’s a lot more inside proverbs 8 that is rich, but that’s all i’ve got this morning.  i am off for a run.

Climbing Mt Rainier, Sept 2008

The Summit

On Sept 5-7, 2008, a few of us guys set out to climb the “Disappointment Cleaver” route on Mt Rainier.

During the mere 60 hours of our adventure, we experienced some of the most beautiful weather imaginable – crystal clear skies with what seemed like unlimited visibility, moderately low winds (at least for 14,000 feet) and temps that even Goldilocks would approve of – not too cold or too hot, but just right.

 

 

To skip straight to the slideshow, click here  

To enjoy more of the story, read on…

 

 

Brett picked me up around 5:30am Friday morning and we headed over to pick-up Kipp.  Once we had the car loaded with all of our gear, we literally bottomed-out of Kipp’s driveway as we left and begin our drive south to the mountain.

After several stops for provisions and Starbucks, we pulled into the Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise. By 11am, we had registered with the Climbing Rangers and begin our long march to Camp Muir, elevation 10080 feet. 

Loaded-up and ready to climb to Camp Muir

 

It was beautiful when we started our hike through idyllic wildflower meadows filled with a canvas of color, babbling streams, and furry marmots. Unfortunately though, about half-way up the Muir snowfield all the gorgeous weather and blue skies turned into a foggy white-out of a mess.  

 

 

Sunset at Camp Muir

Once we climbed through the yuck of snow, ice and clouds, we reached camp Muir where it was beautiful again. We promptly setup camp, enjoyed dinner, talked it up with other climbers and guides, and took-in a spectacular sunset.  

  
 

The weather and views at Camp Muir were stunning

 

Saturday we hung around camp and downloaded some snow and mountaineering skills with Kipp and got prepared for our climb.  It was a gorgeous day around camp. 

At 4pm, we headed to bed to get as much sleep as possible, which turned out to be about 4 hours for me and a good bit less for the guys. Kipp said he thought he didn’t sleep a wink and Brett didn’t fare much better.  I slept great – thanks to ear plugs and an eye mask.

   

Cathedral Gap

 

We woke up at 10pm and got ready to start our climb by getting suited-up, eating dinner, or, eh, breakfast, and visiting the solar toilet, aka, outhouse. At midnight, we departed for the Summit.

 

This is a daytime picture of ‘Cathedral Gap,’ a wall of loose rock and ‘scree’ that climbers have to scale just after heading out of Camp Muir.  It’s as much fun at night as it is during the day. 

 

 

 

Along the climb up, there were thousands of headlamp illuminated steps, dozens of nerve testing moments, a few really scary situations, and one awesome moment of comic relief when Brett pulled off to the side to make a ‘blue bag’ deposit.  And there was an amazing sunrise around 13,000 feet.  Here’s a photo of the sunrise instead of Brett’s ‘blue bag’ escapades…

   

Sunrise from 13,000 feet on Mt Rainier

 

Jeremy, Kipp, and Brett at the Summit

At 8am on Sunday morning, 8 hours after having set off, we reached the summit and enjoyed some fresh coffee, hot chocolate, and snacks while cheesing-it-up for the camera. God Bless Brett for carrying the stove and fuel all the way to the top.

After a little break to enjoy our hot drinks and take in the views, we got our wits about us and headed down.

Brett locking-in for a hairy section of down climbing

 

Once we left the summit, it took us a little over 5 hours to get back down to camp Muir.  During the climb down, we had some intense moments dealing with some pretty steep terrain.  It’s a lot different climbing on a mountain in the dark when you can’t see how steep it really is.  Here’s a pic of Brett leading us down a ridiculously steep pitch. 

 

  

We got back to Camp Muir and had another 3 hours of getting some food and water in us, breaking down the tent and packing all our stuff up before yet another 3 hours of hiking from Muir to our car at Paradise.  Even though we were wiped out and ready to get off that rock, the hike down was stellar – we slid down on our butts for hundreds of feet at a time (which beats hiking down any day) and watched one of the most awesome sunsets with Mt. Adams and St. Helens looming off in the distance.

In all, including our hike up to Muir on Friday, we estimated we climbed arond 18,000 feet elevation change over 24 hours during our 2 ½ day adventure.  

Kipp, Brett, and Jeremy at Basecamp

 

Along with all the great fellowship, high adventure, and incredible sunrises and sunsets, we also endured various levels of mountain sickness, stomach issues, sore feet, and sore bodies. It was Kipp’s first climb and despite some sickness and fatigue from not getting much sleep, he self describingly ‘hacked’ his way to the summit.  Don’t let that fool you though -Kipp rocked it when it counted and didn’t quit.  It was an honor to climb with him and Brett both. 

 

Brett shared some scripture from Romans 1:20 that sums this trip up for me.  In the New Living Translation it reads…

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

I hope you enjoy the photos and experience some sense of the glory and majesty and wonder of the elevational highs of being on Mt. Rainer.  To God be the glory for creating landscape so unbelievable, so beautiful, and giving us the physical capability to get out and climb all over it.

If you’d like to see the rest of the photos, click here 

Kipp and Brett Climbing down the mountain

 

Jeremy at the Crater Summit

 

Brett, Kipp, a Marmot, and Mt Rainer

 

Our base camp at Camp Muir

 

Jeremy hanging out with Mt Adams in the background

 

Upload Your Photos and Create Framed Art

Jeremy & Ben Ride the Pacific Northwest - August 2007

This past Christmas I wanted to give my mom something different than the usual.  You know, something classy, something should would love, and something that would last a long time. 

So I decided to give mom a nice piece of art. And I thought ‘what better piece of art to give than a framed picture of my brother and I on our motorcycles?’

After hours of research on the best way to convert my high-resolution digital images into large format printed artwork, I chose ImageKind.com to print and frame my art.  They turned out to be a one-stop source for high-quality printing, framing, and shipping.

I was curious about the quality, and before I dropped a franklin on a print and frame, I created and ordered a smaller print for my good friend and employer Dr. Mitra Ray.  I uploaded a few prints, chose the frame and matting, and in less than 45 minutes had created my ‘masterpiece,’ if I do say so myself. The Imagekind website even told me how large I could safely print the images, based on the quality and resolution of the image I uploaded. 

When the framed images arrived, I opened it so I could inspect it before gift wrapping it.   The quality was as good as any local professional framing shop and a good bit easier than if I would have printed and framed the photos myself at a local DIY frame shop. Here’s how they turned out – fabulously!

With my first test turning out well, I confidently ordered my mom’s print at a huge size of 24×20 and had Imagekind ship it directly to her, sight unseen.  Total cost was around $140 – nicely framed, double-matted, packed and shipped.  Mom was blown away.

ImageKind.com is one of the easiest ways I’ve found to turn digital photos into real art that can be hung on the wall.  Try it – upload a few of those digital pictures from your camera or hard drive and try your hand at turning them into framed art.  You’ll be surprised at how easy it is.

 

Using a blog to email a group and somehow include attachments…

This is a test post.  I am searching for a solution that will allow me to broadcast email information out to a large subscriber base and include attachments. 

Ideally, I am looking for a listerv-type product that will allow me to create emails with attachments and send them directly from my email client (Outlook) to a subscribe/unsubscribe list that is managed on a server somewhere, but I haven’t quiet been able to find that solution without installing and managing my own email software on a personally managed server…and I don’t want to have to manage my own server. 

So I am trying a test to see how creating an entry here, and including an attachment, will work when it is broadcast to the subscribers of this blog.  If it works well, this might be a workable solution.

Here’s goes the test…

mhc_disciples_life

index-group-22-december-1996