It IS easy being green!

Kermit the Frog has nothing to do with this.  Nor am I speaking of the environment.  Well, perhaps neither of those statements are true.  As I sat on my 8th floor condo balcony in Clearwater, FL this morning, I realized some very profound insights into Jesus, heaven, and the book of Hebrews.  (Greg Smith, if you read this, "Thanks again for that Hebrews commentary.")

From my perch as a friend's 8th floor condo overlooking Belleair Golf Course and a small bay, I enjoyed quiet and lush green surroundings.  It was wonderful to just be still and "know that He is God" as I thanked Him for loving me, gifting me this opportunity, an mostly for allowing me to be in the forever family Jesus' death and resurrection are making possible. 

I watched the grounds keepers do something I have never observed.  One guy came up the green of the hole nearest my perch on the porch.  This green looked perfect but apparently it wasn't ready for the day.  This guy unhooked a strange little lawn tractor from the back of his John Deere gator/mule thingy and began mowing the green ... side-ways.  He was facing one way but the mower traveled left and right.  It was cool!  It was like watching a ballet on the green but without the tutu.

He finished; hooked up his mower to the mule and left. 

A few minutes later another gentleman arrived on his Gator and stepped over to a rough spot of turf near the green.  He began to stand, not stomp, on the higher places in the rough and push and press with his shoe-covered feet until the rough places were smooth.  He did his dance on the rough then left for points unknown. 

The final dancer was another guy driving still another John Deere Gator.  This time he just looked over things and picked up a fallen palm frond, threw it in the back of the vehicle and propane-propelled himself away.

So what is the point?  The point is I was still.  I listened / read the book of Hebrews.  Insights and encounters with Jesus were not difficult to experience.  Maybe God means what He said in Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God..."   Why do I have to be reminded to be still, slow down, enjoy the moment...so often? 

On the heels of this More Than Married Workshop Carol and I co-led on Saturday.  We took time together Saturday evening to celebrate God's goodness, our marriage and family, the friends we've made and to celebrate Jesus.  With Jesus in us and in control we truly live, love, love to live, and live to love. 

Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength takes time.  Loving your neighbor (near ones) as yourself takes time too.  Obviously when time is ended for us or we've put too many activities in the time we have, we won't do either very well...loving God or other...even ourselves. 

Prayer:  Our Father, I want to do really well at the two things you told me were most important.  I want to love you, and I want to love others as you do.  In the work that I do and the people-investments I make, may your love for me and for others be the motive behind the acts of righteousness you have marked out for me.  Thank You for loving me and allowing me to live here and hereafter through Jesus Christ our Lord.

  Ephesians 2:10 is a great place to see this more clearly.

This Quote was a Little too Fishy!!

As I passed a church yesterday, I saw these words on their portable sign:  "We catch 'em and God cleans 'em!"  It was something close to that, though I may not have the exact working. 



"We catch 'em..."
No, we work in the power of the Holy Spirit to love people and share truth with them, but God draws them and saves them.  Yes, He allows us to sow seeds of the Gospel and to love those who do not know Christ, but truly He "catches 'em" with us as His co-fisherman, if you will.  I know Jesus called His disciples to become "fishers of men", but we don't catch 'em all by ourselves.

"God cleans 'em..."
Not really-well, sorta'!  If God cleans 'em, what does that say about Paul's admonition to "teach faithful men who will teach others also" or Jesus' command to "go into all the world and make disciples...teaching them all things I (Jesus) have commanded you"?  Doesn't that communicate that God doesn't clean 'em by Himself. 

Loving people and speaking truth go hand in hand.  In fact, to site Dietrich Bonhoeffer's statement about faith and works:  "If you have one, you have neither.  But if you have both, you have everything and more."  I believe God's power and personal presence are at work in "catching 'em" and in "cleaning 'em".  I also believe in most cases Abba allows us as Followers of Jesus to assist in both the catching and the cleaning. 

Maybe it is better stated that He draws people to His Son and we get to be there to speak the truth in love and to love them into the family of God.  Then after a person is born again, we get to love them into a deeper relationship with God and our forever family of Christ-followers.  So, God's love and our love are joined with God's work and our work in a powerful union that cooperates in the catching and the cleaning. 

By the way we don't clean 'em in the sense of scraping off all the scaly stuff and gutting them.  The process of becoming like Jesus is more a transformation that a "cleaning".  Wouldn't you say?

Could it be that the religious philosophy that says all we have to do is "catch 'em" then God will "clean 'em" may be a part of the image of the modern church as distant and unloving, that so many in our country hold. 

As I read in Dr. David Ferguson's book-Great Commandment Principle, instead of saying "you need God" the church should be communicating that "we need God and each other".  That seems to get the command of Jesus a lot more accurately when He said in John 13:34-35:
^"34A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  ³⁵ By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Let's lovingly speak the truth and live God's love so powerfully that all men will know that we are His disciples whether we are "catching 'em" or "cleaning 'em".
 

My Very Limited View of "Leaders" Just Got Expanded!

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The Basic Idea Ministries, Inc

Blog Post:  Originally in April but edited and published June 5, 2013

           

            Abba made it very clear to us early on that I am to live my life “to turn the hearts of fathers to their children and children to their fathers”.  In that light of the Word of God from Malachi 4:5-6, He has made it clear to me that families, marriages, and a core relationship with Jesus are at the heart of God’s loving plan for redeeming the world and loving the world to His great heart.  Seeing love at the family level, feeling the warmth of togetherness, and knowing the care offered by loving relationships in the home make His heart more clearly visible to the those who don't know Him and who do not have those loving relationships.

I believe part of leading well is to love those you lead and lead them to love too!

           

Alongside that marriage-parenting-family model, the Holy Spirit has empowered the church to be another community of loving relationships to show the world that we “are His disciples”, as Jesus said, when we “love one another”. 

            Two and a half years ago God’s course change for the Lewises was to leave North Point Ministries and begin The Basic Idea Ministries in order “to help leaders live loved and give love freely…starting at home”, which is our mission.  “Leaders” in my view at the time meant “pastors, ministry leaders, and missionaries”.  Since then God has clarified some of terms for us.  Apparently He is able to do “exceeding abundantly above” anything I can ask or imagine, as the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 3.

 

            Leaders – Certainly, the Lord meant leaders of Christian ministries as part of the target audience for TBI.  We have been able to come to know and serve some wonderful ministry leaders, former ministry leaders, and future ministry leaders, but that is too limited a view. 

The ministry has included mentoring men and couples, who want to lead ... from the Great Commandment heart and Great Commission mission of Christ.

Leaders - A “leader” is a parent tasked with the Biblical mandate to lead his home well.  I believe part of leading well is to love those you lead and lead them to love too!  Consequently, part of the ministry has included mentoring men and couples who are not necessarily leaders of churches or non-profits, but who are parents, grandparents, or singles who want to lead their friends, families, and businesses from the Great Commandment heart and Great Commission mission of Christ.

            Leaders – Though it would certainly have been a wonderful part of it, my original vision didn’t include what Abba is now allowing us to see.  Pastors and missionaries were included in the original vision, and now some of their leaders from denominations, seminaries, and associations are entering the picture and joining the discussions about reaching the next generation.  Our affiliation with Intimate Life Ministries and Dr. David Ferguson has allowed us at TBI the opportunity to discuss and begin to plan in some strategic places, relational ministry approaches to redeeming pastors, families, and churches from a failing model of ministry that has left congregations shrinking in number and power,  and communities unchanged and unclaimed for the kingdom of God.

Broken relationships bring their own curse because the love-glue of a society is dissolved in the solvent of ungodly counterfeit pursuits.

           

Leaders – Recently, besides some ongoing meetings with a few denominational leaders, we have been included in planning meetings with a city’s leaders to “take back their city”.  This very week will find us helping to lead a marriage conference and finalizing (hopefully) a strategy to launch effective marriage ministries in the coming months and years as part of the plan to reclaim a city almost lost to the enemy’s lies and empty promises.  By the grace of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit, territory will be reclaimed and “the hearts of fathers will be turned to their children and children to their fathers” to the degree that the “land with no longer be cursed”.    Broken relationships bring their own curses because the love-glue of a society is dissolved in the solvent of ungodly counterfeit pursuits.

Leaders – Another recent development is the meeting with national network leaders.  These men and women who have the nation and the world on their hearts are joining hands across denominational lines with the oneness Jesus prayed His Father would give the church in order to prayerfully seek revival and renewal in our day.  They/we/you want to see our nation turned to a new level of love for Jesus, for one another, and for those who are the least and the lost. 

So many of these developments are new enough in my experience that I have yet to understand what God is doing with me in the room as I experience some of these discussions and prayer gatherings.  But, whatever is to be my involvement, I am a blessed man to know so many are believing God for so much!  He is able to do much more than we’ve experienced - all to the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom.  From my limited exposure, thus far, I believe these leaders to be humble servants of Jesus who are filled with the Holy Spirit, and I feel very blessed to meet them.  

Prayerfully, TBI will be used of God to serve these leaders in ways that we can currently see and in even greater ways that we don’t yet see.  If Jesus returns today and takes us home to breath heaven’s air and join the throng of those who’ve gone before us in a mighty, eternal love fest with Jesus, I can honestly say that this journey of life has been a wonderful ride and more precious than gold.  However, I hope and pray that God will allow us to see His glory here in deeper ways before we see His glory there in eternity.  There are many more who need a clear view of our Father’s loving, powerful heart so they can believe in His one and only Son and get to enjoy the blessing of the Holy Spirit’s filling passing along a better heritage to the next generation than what they received from the previous one. 

Leaders honor previous generations of leaders by loving better and leading more wisely than they were led.  May we honor our parents and families by loving and leading our families even better than we were led.

ALMOST SHOWED THE DARK SIDE

Travel can be fun and an adventure.  Or it can be a royal pain when plans go awry. 

In the airport in Atlanta I had a pleasant conversation with a lady traveling to Jacksonville, FL, on business.  On the plane, God blessed me with a new friend.  This entertainer, who loves to travel and perform in musicals, had recently lost her daddy. She told me the wonderful story of his love for her, her Mom, and their family.  I am sure I will get to meet him in heaven one day.  And, I hope to catch her performance at the Fox Theater later this spring.  What a blessing to meet her and offer God's comfort over the loss of her Dad.  She loves, respects, and misses him greatly.

Also, I met an old friend on the plane.  I had not seen him for 10 years or more.  Besides a few sentences exchanged on Facebook, we'd lost track of each other.  As I walked down the aisle of the plane - which seem to be narrower than they used to be (either that or I can't drive roll cases as well as before) - I heard him call my name and we exchanged greetings then met at the airport to arrange a meeting while I am in Florida for the conference.  How cool to have made 3 great connections so quickly.

Then came the Jacksonville Airport where I was to wait outside Baggage Claim for my prearranged (or so I thought) shuttle to take me to the hotel.  I waited.....and waited....and tried to give them the benefit of the doubt since our plane had arrived early and I had had no baggage to claim.  I did finally get a call through to the agency to find that my reservation didn't actually "take" when I made it online in Atlanta 3 hours earlier.  So, the lady, with whom I spoke on my 3rd or 4th attempt to call, made a real reservation.  I waited....and waited....and - you get the picture.  Another kind lady at the ground transportation kiosk helped me get the correct number for the shuttle dispatcher.

I was about to get really steamed but the Holy Spirit touched down to say, "You are in no hurry.  Just enjoy the scenery and relax."  I did, but I still was fighting the urge to tell my story as soon as the "big blue van" appeared.  I waited some more and finally a Yellow Cab not a "big blue van"  pulled up nearby (by that time I was about to jump in any public transit and go).  The gentleman (we will call him Paulo for confidentiality's sake) motioned for me and told me he was my ride to the hotel.  Great!

Before we even left the parking lot Paulo was telling me some of his story, apologizing for the wait, explaining the confusion he'd experienced as he waited for his fare (me) in another part of the ground transportation area.  Suddenly, my irritation turned to understanding.  Our conversation continued.

Paulo had recently lost an 18 month-old son to accidental suffocation.  Don't know details but that was enough.  Paulo's remorse and pain was palpable.  He questioned himself and his God.  He didn't understand and neither did I.  But for the next 10-15 minutes sitting in the parking area at the hotel, I listened and comforted (or tried to) and gave him scriptural direction, which he'd requested, then outside the cab in front of onlookers we prayed.  I thank my God for that opportunity and what He taught me about being still, listening, not getting my priorities out of sync with His.

Getting to the hotel was not the issue.  Getting to know the people and loving them in Jesus' name is always the greater issue.

In this case and I pray from now on, I will show Christ and my transformed "new self" to the world not the dark side of my old self.  That unproductive reactions of the old me are a waste of life and precious time when so many need so much from our Abba Father. 
He is always ready with the provision...many times through you and me.

Be blessed, my friends!

Marriage Man, we forgot to pray!

On the way back from Kentucky the weekend of March 2nd, our family was traveling to Atlanta after celebrating my Mom's 100th birthday.  We had a big party at our home church on Saturday, March 2.  I was honored with the privilege of preaching the Sunday morning service at my home church with most of my family attending.  I spoke on the importance of marriage to our culture.  It was a blast!  You need to know that in attendance in the worship service, where I preached, was only one of my grandchildren, 6-year old Evan.

After the Sunday festivities in Kentucky we drove back in a convoy, "of sorts", with my daughter's family in their van and Jeanne, Carol, and I in the rental car.  When we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner, all 5 adults and 3 children were settling in with the usual flurry of activity - getting boosters, high chair, deciding who was going to sit by Aunt Jeanne, opening packs of coloring crayons, and finishing drink orders.

As things calmed down, our food was delivered and we were about to eat when Evan (the 6 year old) leaned across the table, looked me right in the eye and said, "Hey, Marriage Man, we forgot to pray!"

Needless to say prayer did happen but only after we all regained composure!

Any Regrets? Yes - Final Thoughts

Regrets - My own children.
I won't spend much time here because we have addressed most, if not all the regrets, I had concerning my relationships with our children.  After Carol and I realized how inadequately we'd been trained and mentored to love, we began to invest in each other more wisely and our love grew...still grows.  Soon after this process began we went to our kids to ask forgiveness for not meeting heart needs, for being so focused on self that I had too little time to focus on them.  They forgave me then and continued to show grace to me  along the way, as I messed up.   I have wonderful kids and grandkids who deserve to be loved by a Dad/Grand-dad, who gets it and shows the love of Jesus clearly.

Regrets - Carol Lewis
This would take a book to write, and if I thought it would help others-I'd write it.  Let me simply say that the first half of our marriage was really good, a few years in the middle were starting to show signs of wear and tear on me, but the last 18 years have been a steady growth process for us.  We now love each other more as Jesus loves us.  Today, we are better friends than ever.  Tomorrow holds great hope for us because Jesus Christ is real and really at work to change each of us into His image. 

The Regret?  I wish I knew 42 years ago, when we met at Murray State University, what I learned 18 years ago through the Intimate Encounters material and the Galatians 6:6 Retreat in Memphis.  The more I experience love from her and give love to her, the more excited I am about the next years together...to the glory of God.  He started all this by loving us first.  Sound biblical?  It is.

Finally - I regret not spending more time with God in prayer, in His Word, and in quiet listening.  Oh, of course, I do pray and do listen, but I want to live in His presence without having to stay in a fixed location.  I want God to have my thoughts, my emotions, my choices, and my actions so that He controls all that comes from my life.  As He controls more of me, certainly I will have fewer regrets in the future than in my past. 


I know I could add other regrets, but for now....it is about lunch time and I am hungry. 

All these regrets give a fellow an appetite!

Any Regrets? Where was my Patriotism? Where is Greg Roberson?

Regrets - About My Patriotism
I truly wish that I had been engaged in not only enjoying freedom but also investing my life in preserving freedom for my progeny.  I have sacrificed very little to preserve my country's heritage of liberty and free enterprise.

I am now speaking out, paying up, and supporting those who are attempting to take us back to the foundational principles of the constitution.  My prayer is that I am not too late.  Oh, God, please help me not be too late to join those who are awakening and attempting to stop the flow of freedom being bled from the body of the USA. 

Regardless of the economy's status in the world, no one or nothing should be able to stop the USA from being one of the main sending stations of the Good News of Jesus and of the love of God revealed in strong families and gracious giving to meet the needs of the world.

When Carol, Jeanne, and I started The Basic Idea Ministries, Inc. in September, 2010, I truly believe that God gave and is giving us a chance to help reclaim our country for His purposes.  By helping pastors, leaders, and churches we are seeing God reclaim families and communities.  Our country must experience God 's love clearly displayed in the Gospel of Jesus and authentically experienced in our homes as the way to reclaim the next generations.  Without this powerful, clear display of the love of Jesus Christ, we are just making noise...see I Corinthians 13: 1-3.


Regrets - About Greg Roberson or Robinson
There is a young man, well I guess he isn't quite so young now, to whom I would like to offer an apology.  When he was a student at Briarcrest High School around 1974 - 1978-ish, he and I had some great discussions.  Greg was a good guy, godly young man, and as kind-hearted a person as you'd find.  The regret I have is that I judged him concerning his music choices.  I had much to learn from him but was too steeped in legalism to figure it out.  I wish I could tell him how much he taught me....though it took a while to sink in. 

There were other students in my youth groups in Memphis and Little Rock to whom I would also offer an apology and explanation to let them know that they were much more "right" than I was about the music and the musicians. Many of those contemporary artists understood God's heart much more deeply than I.  I have realized that it isn't the style or the volume that matters, it is the heart of the artist and whether or not he/she is clearly communicating the message of Jesus' love and truth.

Next Post:   My own children.