One of my conclusions after raising 8 kids and having grandkids around all the time and seeing lots of kids in church is that every person is born lazy. If I would think, study, and read about what is the most predominate tendencies of our flesh I think I would say laziness. I believe Solomn came to that same conclusion as he writes the book of Proverbs to his son on how to live successfully and repeatedly encourages diligence and warns against being a sloth. As almost all character does diligence starts in our mind with right thinking. Growing up on a dairy farm I was blessed with a Dad who taught us kids how to work hard and more importantly,to enjoy working hard. Now, I have some self-talk rituals that I constantly use to keep the joy of working hard strong in my life. Each morning as I write my to-do list for the day I ask God for guidance, strength, and motivation and thank Him for giving me significant things to do with my life and not putting me on the bench. In the evening before going to sleep I again thank the Lord for the day and what I was able to accomplish for Him and then I ask Him if He would give me a little bit more to do tomorrow than I had today. In the evening I usually pray a short prayer before closing my eyes, “Lord, I want to be able to say what You did just before You were crucified when You declared that You had accomplished all the work the Father had given to You to do”. There is only one thing more enjoyable than working really hard all day long and that is Fishing. When I had been pastoring for just a couple of years I went to an event in Portland for Pastors and their wives where Chuck Swindoll was speaking. He said that the greatest occupational hazard for pastors was sloth. He listed half a dozen reasons why none of which I remember, but I do remember making a commitment to the Lord that I would work as hard as a pastor as I did as a dairy farmer. Proverbs 23:7, In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

The basic message of the book of Proverbs in the Bible is that if you seek for wisdom like silver, or gold, or precious treasure than you will get it. One of the things my Dad used to say often was ” just because you get older doesn’t mean you are necessarily wiser, there are a lot of old fools.” We must seek wisdom diligently, constantly or we will wake up some day and realize that we are an old fool. Wisdom is knowing what to say and what to do in any situation that we find ourselves in. As a pastor who counsels others often I want to have wisdom, as a Dad and grandfather and husband I always want to do and say the right thing. The most important source of wisdom for me over the years is counsel from others. Shortly after the first of our eight kids was born we would meet weekly with a Dad of 12 kids who were the best behaved and smartest most talented kids I had ever seen. When I started pastoring I was so dumb but I knew some very wise and experienced pastors who were willing to meet with me at least monthly and let me ask lots of questions. I have an ongoing goal of reading 100 pages in good books each week to learn and to acquire knowledge, and wisdom. I also listen to good preachers each week. With smart phones and pod casts this is so easy and convient. I ride my stationary bike an hour each day and I read while I ride and listen to the best preachers in the world. It is easy to acquire wisdom and then forget it so I do a lot of writing attempting to put into words on paper what I have learned. Thinking through situations and what I should have said or done and writing it down is a great way to write your own book of Proverbs for life. Psalms 119:97-100 says that reading the Bible will give me more wisdom than the aged or my teachers or even than my enemies. And James 1 promises that If I ask God He will give me wisdom. He won’t give to those who are naive or lazy but God does give wisdom to those who seek it diligently as if their life depends on it.

Of the 12 personal “Purpose Statements” that I wrote, wrote about, read often and meditate on, this one #8, “Be Strong”, has had the greatest impact on my life. In Joshua 1:9 Moses says to Joshua, “Be strong and courageous” and in 2 Timothy 2:1, Paul tells Timothy “Be strong”. This command is not talking about physical strength but an inner strength to deal with anything in life and to carry a heavy load of responsibility. It is all about how we think when pressures mount, crisis comes, and major obstacles come into our life that have to be fixed or solved. As I talk to young pastors I often say that their inner strength determines the maximum size of their ministries. I have 5 rules that I follow to “Be strong”. The first is “Never talk tired or stressed”. People often say, “I am so tired”, or “I am so stressed out”, or “I am so busy” or “it is so hard”. I work at not saying things like that because it only makes it worse and it is not what strong people say. Second, “Don’t grumble or complain about anything”. If I am going to be strong, I need to act like a strong person and strong people don’t whine. Third, ” don’t think weak, negative, self pity, or anxious thoughts”. I control my thinking by replacing weak thinking with Bible verses that I have memorized and begin to meditate on them. This requires the daily discipline of memorizing Bible verses and reviewing them.I practice this with immoral thinking, angry thinking, prideful thinking, bitter thinking as well. Forth, I ask God to fill me with the Holy Spirit and give me His strength whenever I am feeling tired, discouraged, depressed, or unmotivated. Fifth, I spend time every day “waiting on the Lord” reading the Bible, praying, journaling, reflecting and listening to my thoughts. Isaiah 40 says that those who wait on the Lord will “be renewed in their strength”. An additional key principle is to “Rest systematically”. Rest for me is not only sleeping but doing things that I enjoy and are challenging in a fun way. I would like to say at 85 years of age what Caleb said at that age, “I am as strong today as I was when I started on this journey” about 40 years earlier. I will do my part.

My #7 personal purpose statement is “Train Well”. Most people when they want to overcome a bad habit or character flaw or a sin in their life ” Try Harder”. Trying harder doesn’t change much and usually results in frustration, guilt, and despair. Training as an athlete or a piano or violin player would is what produces steady and lasting growth. A synonym for training is practice, and almost all of us have had experience in sports, music, or other endeavors, and know that to get better at any skill we need to practice. There are five key words that make practice effective. The first word is pressure. We don’t improve without increased pressure that we create for ourselves by choosing harder music, lifting more weight, attempting to run faster, or practice longer. The second key word is gradual. We add or create pressure at a gradual pace so we can grow and change and get better. To much pressure to quickly results in injury in sports and failure and frustration in life. The third word is patience or endurance. We recognize that it takes years of practice to be an excellent piano player so we keep at it without giving up. Those who want to become like Jesus in character in a short time usually don’t even come close because they quit. The forth word is basics. There are basic drills in sports. When players or teams aren’t doing well a coach often takes them back to the basics. There are certain repeated basics that results in automatic responses or behavior in the midst of the game when choices have to be made quickly and without thinking. Living life is the same way. Most poor choices in life are made in the midst of termmoil and pressure because we hadn’t trained ourselves to respond correctly automatically. The basics as a Christian are reading the Bible, spending time in prayer, attending church, examining our life and confessing sin, giving money, worship etc. the fifth word is devotion or commitment or faithfulness. Practice doesn’t work if done occasionally, intermittently, conviently, or comfortably. Daily is usually the price tag for success in any area of life with occasional rest days. The bottom line key for these five key words to happen is personal goals that are clearly written to express exactly who we want to be and what we want to accomplish. If we don’t have a clear picture of what we aspire to we won’t practice faithfully, we just won’t.

My # 6 “Purpose Statement” is “Keep it Simple”. That basically means be content with what we own and work at getting rid of some of the stuff we have. 2 Timothy 2:4 says ” No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” The Apostle Paul is talking to Timothy who he has trained as a pastor on how to be successful in ministry. It basically is a time issue. Everything we own, owns us, we have to take care of it, use it, maintain it. There is 24 hours in a day and we get to use it up every day. It is our choice if we use it up on things that mater or things that don’t. The more we own the less time is available to serve the Lord and people. It is basically an energy issue. What we own owns us, and we have to use energy to wash it, grease it, fix it, and use it. We all have a limited amount of energy and when we get tired we don’t do much that really matters. We tend to think about, worry about, protect from getting stolen the stuff that we own. So this stuff that owns us not only takes our time, our physical energy, but it also uses up our emotional energy. In my life emotional energy is super important in teaching and creating sermons that motivate and inspire those who hear to live for God. It is an issue of money. There is so much good that can be done for people who have needs that we can meet if we have some extra money that is not being used to purchase or take care of stuff. It is an issue of love. The Bible says we can’t love God if we love mammon, the Bible word for stuff. The stuff we own owns us. It takes our time, our energy, we worry about it, it sucks up our money, and we fall in love with it. A garage sale sounds like a good idea or a dumpster.

Just before Jesus ascends into heaven after the crucifixion and resurrection, He gives to His disciples what has been termed the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28:19-20 when He says, “Go and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all my commandments, and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age”. It seems that if this is the major responsibility given to those who follow Jesus then I should make that one of my main purposes of life. Every person who is a follower of Jesus has a “Spiritual Gift”. This gift is an ability that is given to us by God that is supernatural and intended to do the work of God in the lives of people. God has given me the gift of teaching His Word. I want with all my heart to use this gift to make disciples. A disciple is a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ who is doing the will of God and bearing fruit for God. God has given me this gift but it is my responsibility to develop it and make it better and better. Whenever I preach or teach my Parkinsons isn’t an issue, and the normal weariness that I have most of the time from that disease seems to go away. A key part of the “Great Commission ” is to teach so I am committed to teach as often as I can, to take advantage of every opportunity that comes into my life, and to create opportunities as well. As I have the purpose of making disciples I am committed to teaching and encouraging people to do what disciples do, to faithfully read the Word of God every day, to be devoted to prayer, to be a seeker of wisdom, and to be a fisher of men.

When I see a young person who is well mannered, pleasant, smiles at people, talks to people in a way that shows that they are obviously concerned about them, asking good questions, takes initiative when in a group to introduce themselves, makes a point to target older people to honor them, doesn’t talk critical about others, and has an obvious poise and confidence in who they are but not obnoxious or haughty, I think to myself, they have been well parented. Patty and I had eight kids and one of the major purposes of our life was to raise champions. They are all adults now, seven married with their own kids, and when I am around them I enjoy watching and listening as they interact with others. I don’t think anything gives me more joy at this stage in my life then seeing the character that they all have that makes them a very positive influencer of those around them. We have 22 grandchildren and though it is different I still try to think how I can be an influencer in their life so that they are champions. The most important thing I have done and continue on a daily basis is pray. I believe that God gives great authority to parents and grandparents with Him when they intercede for them faithfully, specifically, and diligently. The second thing that I can do is be a good model when around them of godly character. As I get older I have found that I have a strong inclination to be withdrawn and uninvolved, to grumble and be grouchy, and to just figure my job is done. As I regularly and often review this purpose of my life it prompts me to be proactive as a Dad, father in law, and grandfather and to choose how to act when around my family. A third thing that I work hard at is to praise them for who they are and what they do. A forth way to influence is to give counsel for living when there is an opportunity and it is approiate without lecturing. The last part of that is difficult and I find myself repenting often of it as I review the day. The last is to help whenever I can by meeting needs financially or by doing things that help with needs or problems. Being a Dad, Father-in-law, and Grandfather is a high calling from God, and I want to do it well.

My personal dozen “Purpose Statements” are 1. Love God, 2. Love Patty, 3. Love people, 4. Raise Champions, 5. Make disciples, 6. Keep it simple, 7. Train well, 8. Be strong, 9. Be wise, 10. Work hard, 11. Be a witness, and 12. Finish strong. I wrote about loving God and loving Patty in the last 2 blogs, in this blog I will write about loving people. Of the 12 this is the one that is most difficult for me. Not difficult to do but difficult to stay motivated to do. That is because I am so selfish as most are. The first thing I do to overcome my natural selfishness is to pray for people. I do this systematically so that I will be faithful. I used to have a big 3 ring binder with one person per page where I would write the needs, problems, and character issues I needed to pray about for each person. Now I have an IPad where I do the same. The second thing that I do as an act of love is to forgive anybody of anything no matter what they do or how many times they have done it. The third way I can love people is to honor them by listening and paying sincere attention to them when they share their story, needs, problems, and dreams. I am always in a hurry so this is a discipline that I must work at diligently. The forth commitment that I have as an act of love is not to gossip or slander a person to another individual. The last thing is to meet needs in those around me if given the opportunity. I try to pay attention to those obviously God ordained opportunities that come into my life. None of these aspects of loving people will happen unless I review these regularly and think about how I am doing.

One of the commands in the Bible that seems impossible to obey is Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her”. This whole list of 12 purpose statements began when Patty asked me what I meant when I told her That I loved her. It took me a number of days to think that one through and when I finished I wrote out a list of commitments or promises that I was making to her every time I said “I love you”. The first commitment is that she is the only woman in my life. She is the only one physically, emotionally, and mentally. Every time I say “I love you”, I am remaking that commitment. The second promise that I am making to her every time I say “I love you”, is that I will not get angry at her, not even a little bit irritated no matter what she does, no matter how many times she does it, but I will forgive her of anything quickly. The third is that I will talk to her any time she wants for as long as she wants listening attentively, paying sincere attention to her words. The fourth is that I will not be overly dependent on her and possessive of her time, and I will encourage her to develope her Spiritual gift and personal ministries. The fifth promise I am making to Patty every time I say “I love you” is that I will pursue her like I did when we first met and will work diligently to grow in our intimacy and closeness as husband and wife.I review this list of commitments regularly and often so that my declarations of love to Patty are not thoughtless and meaningless. When I finished this statement of love to Patty I decided to do the same for God and then the remainder of my personal “Purpose Statements” followed.

The first of my 12 purpose statements is “Love God”. It seemed reasonable to me when I was making this list that this should be the one on top. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might”. Knowing what the great commandment is, is not the hard part, the hard part is how. As I mentioned in my blog a couple days ago I have 5 specific “How’s” under each of the purpose statements. I will love God by seeking Him. I will seek Him by spending time with Him in solitude daily praying, listening to my thoughts and writing them down in my journal. I will love God by worshiping Him. I will work at thanking Him all day long for everything working at taking nothing for granted and taking credit for nothing that He has accomplished through me. I will be conscientious in corporate worship times to sing loud and to direct the words I sing to Him and pull my thoughts in when they wander away. I will love God by honoring Him by grumbling about nothing that happens no matter how bad it may be, and will choose to rejoice instead, always. I will love God by keeping His commandments and confessing all known sins quickly. I will love God by giving money to Him sacricially to help keep myself from loving the world and the stuff in it and being an idolater. I will be very careful to reflect and examine myself often recognizing my flesh’s proneness to wander away from God and leave my first love.