Go to the Ant

In my last post I shared a dream I recently had that I feel applies to our current national and worldwide economic situation. If you have not read that post, it would be helpful to read it before you read this one, although this does stand on its own. In the dream I believe the Lord was speaking to me about a generation of people that will rise above the current economic patterns and habits that have been so prevalent in our history. Much of the financial pressure we are currently experiencing results from greed and irresponsible financial management. I believe the Lord is currently preparing a generation of people who will choose to conduct themselves differently than what is commonly accepted in our society. In this post I want to share a practical principle from the Bible that can help us as we begin to become this generation. This principle can be found in numerous passages, but one of the more common is Proverbs 6:6-8:

Go the the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise. Which having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.

The Lord has given us some very clear examples in nature that we would all be wise to consider. Ants are known to be hard workers, but their approach to their resources is also noteworthy. As they work, they continually set aside their surplus to be used later. Many other animals have the same practice. Squirrels, mice, alligators and even mountain lions store up food for a time when resources are more scarce. Humans are generally thought to be more intelligent than all the other animals in creation, but we could stand to learn quite a bit from wildlife. There have been times when storing up resources during times of surplus was the regular practice, but for many, this has become a thing of the past. We badly need to recover this.

There is an old saying that you "should make hay while the sun shines." That phrase was probably coined by a farmer who understood all too well that it does rain from time to time. When it's raining, you obviously can't make hay, but your livestock still needs to eat. Farmers may best understand the need to set aside surplus resources. I observed this first hand growing up with two Paw Paws who were farmers. Both of these men had multiple gardens and raised some livestock (all of this in addition to working full-time jobs, by the way). They both had freezers and shelves filled with frozen food and canned goods. At any given time, they probably had enough food on hand to last for several months. For these men, and many more like them, to not have reserves on hand would never cross their mind. This was their way of life, and largely because the grocery stores were not as accessible for them as they are for us today. Most of us just run to the grocery store whenever we need something, and there is probably not enough food in our home to last much more than a week.

This kind of lifestyle has worked for many of us because the grocery store is just right around the corner and whatever we need is probably on the store shelves. However, what would happen if the stores suddenly weren't as accessible to us as they are right now. What if we couldn't get to them, or what if we got there to find the shelves empty?

The majority of our stores operate on a "just in time" inventory system. This means that they don't have a significant stock room, instead, they only have enough inventory on hand to fill the shelves and every few days a truck arrives with just enough to replenish those shelves. This has worked up to this point, but if anything were to ever delay the trucks, our store shelves would be empty in a very short period of time. If there were ever a natural disaster, a major labor strike or a fuel shortage (or maybe I should say "the next time there is a fuel shortage"), these trucks could be delayed indefinitely, which means our food supplies would be stuck in a warehouse many miles from the store shelves. Here in the Carolinas where I live, we merely have to hear a rumor that we may see some snow flurries and there is no bread or milk to be found anywhere in town. This often gets laughs from my friends in the north, but it exposes the reality of the lack of stock in our grocery stores!

So, with all this being the case, what do we do? Do we dig root cellars and line our garages with shelves so we can store up hundreds of gallons of water and 500 cans of pork and beans? Do we buy a farm out in the country so we can plant food, raise chickens and shoot anyone that comes on our property? Do we do nothing and trust that the FEMA trucks will bring us bottled water and bagged lunches in the event that anything ever does happen? I think the answer may be different for everybody, and we have to seek the Lord for our own personal direction. There will be some that He will lead to have a farm, grow food and raise livestock. There will be others for whom the appropriate preparation will be to have an emergency supply on hand to hold them over if they were ever unable to buy what they need for a time. Whatever our course of action needs to be, and however it may vary from someone else's, the worst thing we can do is to sit back and do nothing. There is much wisdom in the old adage that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. We need to go the the ant!

Again, the important thing is to seek the Lord on a personal level and then do our best to be obedient to His leading in our lives. As we do this, He may choose to speak in a wide variety of ways, and one of the most common will undoubtedly be His written word. We should all bear in mind that His written word exhorts us to go to the ant and learn from her ways. Whether we are the ones who will have the farm, a freezer full of deer meat or just some canned goods and jugs of water in the basement, we need to follow the example of the ant and wisely prepare for times of lack while we are experiencing times of surplus. This may seem like an overwhelming task, but it is really much easier than many of us think. In my next post, I am going to share a few practical steps for creating a supply of food and water to sustain us for a season should it ever become necessary. My way is certainly not the only way, and it is probably not the best way, but it is the way that has worked for my family. You may find a way that works much better for you, but I am at least going to share a practical way to start.

The Next Greatest Generation

As we are all well aware, we are currently experiencing very tough economic times. All around the world people are dealing with financial pressure, and here in America, we are going through what is possibly the most extreme recession in several decades. If all of that isn't bad enough, we are not getting straight answers from our political leaders, and expert economists cannot agree on where we go from here. That's the bad news, but is there any good news?

I believe there is, and I feel like I have some today. Let me be clear that I am not an economist, and I do not know what all the future holds. I do believe the financial pressure is going to continue and is likely to increase for a time, but I also believe that this can lead us to a much better place. The other night I had a dream that I feel is talking about our economy here in America, and I think it is good news, but I also feel that it is a call for some major changes in our approach to money and the way we do business. There is an old saying that "when America coughs, the rest of the world catches a cold." That is certainly true in many cases, so I believe the opposite is also true: when America experiences breakthrough, the rest of the world can, as well. That being said, this dream certainly applies to those of us here in America, but it can also apply to other nations.

In this dream, I was taking a tour of the Bank of America headquarters in Charlotte, NC. This particular building is the tallest in the Charlotte skyline. I was exploring one of the middle floors when I was invited to come up to the roof. I walked out on the roof expecting to see just a roof, but I noticed that it was actually another whole section of the building that was unknown to most people. There was a parking lot with brand new asphalt and an excellent view of both Interstate 77 and Interstate 85. There was also plenty of office space with people busy working. As I looked around I wondered what this space was, and then somebody told me that this was Tom Brokaw's area.

Tom then came out of an office and we began to talk. I was thinking to myself that Mr. Brokaw was an author and retired journalist, so I didn't understand why he would need such a big space and so many people on his staff. I asked him what all he did there and why did he need all that space. He explained to me that he had his accountants over on one side, there was an office for his attorney, he had a section for his research team for his writing and there was a room in which he home-schooled his kids. I hung around what was going on in Tom's area for a little while longer, he fed me lunch and then I woke up.

As soon as I was awake, I knew this dream was from the Lord. I began to pray to find out what the Lord was saying, and over the course of a couple of days, the meaning, or at least part of it, started to unfold. I believe the Bank of America building represents the financial and economic system in America. The first thought I had about Tom Brokaw was the fact that he wrote a best selling book several years ago called The Greatest Generation, which describes the generation of people who lived through The Great Depression and World War II and went on to help rebuild this nation. I also feel that it is very significant that Tom's area was above the rest of the Bank of America building. There are many other important parts of the dream, but let me summarize what I feel those aspects of the dream represent. I believe there is a generation of people who will rise above the current financial and economic systems in America, and also the rest of the world. This will be a generation of people who will choose to do things differently than what has been the norm for many decades in this country.

Let me say again that I am not an economist nor a financial expert. However, as we consider the current financial and economic system, it is easy to see that greed fuels so much of what takes place in those sectors. It is very rare to find someone who is truly content with what they have and are patiently working to attain more. Instead, it is very typical for a family to live well above their means, run up lines of credit and finance their futures for the sake of a better position in the present. There was a time when the widely held view was that if you couldn't afford it then you didn't need to buy it. Today the widely held view is if you want it but can't afford to pay cash for it, just charge it and pay for it later. There is much wisdom in the old saying: you can pay now and play later, or else play now and pay later. Many of us have chosen to play now at the expense of our future, and now it is really starting to catch up with us. Much of the economic pressure being experienced in the world today is because of overwhelming debt stemming from irresponsible spending. This has become the system in our nation today - from the government to the eighteen year old applying for his first credit card. This is the kind of system that I believe we need to rise above and choose to conduct ourselves differently.

The price we are having to pay right now for the irresponsibility of the past is very great, and, unfortunately, we have not made the final payment yet. There is still more pressure to come, and I don't think anyone really knows how the landscape of our nation will look once all the pieces have fallen. However, the good news is that through all of this, the Lord is preparing a generation that will not continue to make the same mistakes, but will help to establish a different system. In my dream, the parking lot in Tom Brokaw's area was brand new, which speaks further of "new" ideas being embraced as this generation chooses to act responsibly as they move forward. He also had accountants and an attorney which, at least in part, speaks of business being conducted, money changing hands and even involvement in the legal arena. In the floors below it was business as usual, but he and those with him were doing things differently. He was also choosing to homeschool his children, which I believe speaks of the proactive approach we need to take to ensure our kids are not educated to the standards of the current world system. We can no longer rely on the government to provide those things that we are responsible to provide, like education, for example. It may not mean that every family needs to homeschool, but we need to entrust our children's education to those that believe the way we do.

The last thing that really stood out to me in the dream was the fact that I had a great view of Interstate 77 and Interstate 85. In the natural, these two interstates do run through Charlotte, and they intersect a few miles north of the downtown area where the Bank of America headquarters is located. As I prayed about what these two highways represent, I had a strong impression to read Psalm 77 and Psalm 85. If you read through these two chapters, they are different, but they also have a similar theme. In both Psalms David is writing from a perspective of being in a season that was very difficult for him and the nation of Israel. In Psalm 77 we see David crying out to the Lord asking for help and wondering if God has forsaken him. He looked back and remembered a time when things were better and asks if the Lord will ever show him kindness again. He finally closes chapter 77 praising the Lord, and it seems that his faith has been restored. He talks about the Lord leading his people like a Shepherd. In Psalm 85, David asks the Lord many of the same questions. He looks back again at a time when things were better and wonders what the future will hold. As the chapter continues, his faith is again renewed and he talks about the goodness of the Lord, how the Lord will speak to peace to His faithful ones and fill their land with glory and salvation.

I believe that many of us are in a place similar to where David was when he wrote both of these Psalms. Just as it was in that season of David's life, this season for many of us is very difficult. We find ourselves looking back to a different time when things were better for us, and we look forward with uncertainty and doubt. However, just as David's faith in the Lord's goodness and faithfulness was restored, ours can be, too. The Lord never forsook David or Israel. The Lord will also never forsake us, and I believe He still has many great things in store for America. If we return to the Lord and the principles of His kingdom, especially as they relate to finances and the economy, our best days and the best days of this nation and the world will be ahead. Let us be encouraged and challenged to seek the Lord for His answers and leading as we press forward into this victory! I don't know what all is coming down the pipeline, but through whatever the future holds, there is a generation that can arise as the next greatest generation this country has ever seen. Let's be that generation!

Be Afraid . . . Be Very Afraid

The Bible is full of exhortations to not be afraid. A couple of the more common examples are: "... Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9, NASB) and "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (II Timothy 1:7, NKJV). We need to keep these verses fresh in our spirits, and in times like these, they can be much needed encouragement. However, there is a verse in the Bible when we are told that we should be afraid, and as the Lord's people, we need to remind ourselves of this one, as well.

Hebrews 4:1 tells us that God has made rest available to us, and we should "... tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it" (NLT).Experiencing the Lord's rest is so important that the Bible actually tells us that we should tremble with fear at the possibility that we might miss it! Let's consider this for a minute.

What does it really mean to experience the Lord's rest? What does the Bible mean when it says we should "fear" that we might miss it? As most of you know, the New Testament was originally written in Greek, and the Greek language is much more expressive than our English language. Where our language simply says "rest," the original Greek reads "to settle down, abide and colonize." If we take our English understanding of rest and combine it with this additional insight from the Greek, we can better understand what the Lord's rest really is. In our society, rest is an occasional experience. For many, rest comes at bedtime and the hours between getting up in the morning and going to bed at night are filled with stress and worry about family issues, anxiety about our finances and striving to somehow live a life that will please the Lord. Even the "restful" hours can be filled with waking up thinking about deadlines, bills and the problems we are likely to face the next day. All of that is the opposite of rest. This is not what the Lord intends for us. He intends for us to experience His rest, which can be defined as not relying on our own strength and resources to provide for us, but,settling down and taking up residence in the Lord's finished work.

That's what it means to rest. It means that we our trust and confidence is in Him and what he has already accomplished. Jesus made this clear when He said:

"Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will

give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle

at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light (Matthew 11:28-30, NLT).

That flies in the face of so much that many of us have come to believe, but we need to reclaim this understanding. Most of us walk around with the weight of the world on our shoulders, and we were never meant to carry that weight. We spend our time trying to figure out life's problems, when the Lord already has every solution. Many of us live with a fear of what will happen if we fail, but the Lord has already succeeded, and as we walk with Him, we will also succeed.

It is important to understand that this doesn't mean that we become lazy people who just wait for the Lord to drop every provision in our lap. We still have to work - we just don't have to strive and toil. If you think back to the Lord's commission to Adam and Eve, they had the responsibility of tending the garden. Work is fundamentally a part of our purpose, but it's not supposed to be the frustrating, heavy yoke that many of us regularly experience. Jesus invited us to share His easy yoke. Working with Him should be productive and gratifying, and not the drudgery that has become the norm in our society.

Now that we have briefly discussed the rest, let's go back to the fear again. As we read in Hebrews 4:1, we should be afraid of not entering this rest. This is another example of the insufficiency of the English language. All our language says is "fear," but the original Greek word used in this verse is "phobeo," which is the word from which we derive our English word "phobia." Have you even been around someone who is afraid of spiders when one comes crawling down the wall? Have you ever watched someone run in terror when a bee buzzed by? Those are examples of how powerful fear can be. We need to have the same reaction to the idea of trying to rely on ourselves instead of placing our trust in the Lord. As long as it is up to us, we will be under pressure and have to deal with stress and constant anxiety that what we have not done enough. However, if we leave it up to the Lord, we can dwell in a continual place of rest knowing that He has it all figured out. Billy Graham once said "I don't know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future." As we look to the future, it is difficult to see anything but uncertainty, but in spite of it, we can rest knowing that the Lord will always guide us and provide for us. The only thing we have to fear is what might happen if we try to do it on our own without Him. Let us keep our eyes on Him and enjoy the continual rest He has made available to us.

Redefining "Dad"

In my last post, I talked about the tremendous need we have in our society for dads. I believe this is an immensely important subject that needs much more attention, so I am going to continue with the same theme in this post. I do not at all feel like I am an expert, but I am a dad, and I recognize the void created in our society when dads are not truly dads. The media has grossly distorted the image of men in general, and it is hard to find a movie or a television show in which the father character behaves like a real man. Now, I realize these shows and movies are intended for entertainment, but the standards and ideas they are producing in real life is dangerous, and we cannot afford to allow Hollywood to define who a dad really is.

Many sitcoms today, including the ones being aimed at our children, make a mockery of parents, and especially of the dad. My daughter, Ava, and I were recently battling a stomach flu at the same time, so Nicole quarantined us in the same room. While we were trying to get better, I had the opportunity to watch several shows on the Disney Channel. I was appalled by much of what I saw. I honestly could not believe my eyes! Many of the shows feature a main star who is an adolescent or teenager, and their parents are being portrayed as out of touch idiots. They were merely on the show to get laughs. Later, Nicole and I watched some of the shows together, and we decided that our girls will not be watching much of what is popular - even if it is the Disney Channel. It will not do us any good to teach our children to be respectful of adults if we are going to allow them to watch television shows that undermine those same values. As I said in my last post, Andy Taylor and Cliff Huxtable are getting harder and harder to find on our television sets. With just a few exceptions, television is often anti-family.

Let me stop here and ask us parents a few questions. This is not to point the finger, but I want to be sure we are aware of what is going on in our kids' lives. Do you know who your kids' friends are? Do you know their friends' parents? What do your kids watch on TV? What sites do they visit online? Whom are they texting on their cell phones? Parents, if we don't know the answers to these questions, we are in danger of our kids slipping away from our guidance and protection. I know those are direct words, but the time has come for us all to face reality and become proactive in the leadership of our families. Dads, it starts with us. We have to be real men. We cannot allow the void that presently exists on so many levels to continue.

In many families, the dad is not present. It could be that he has left the home or never even lived in the home. It could also be that he is in the home but is never really there. Wherever either of these is the case, there is most likely a major void in the lives of our children. Dads, you have an extremely important role to play, and if you don't lead your home, someone else will. If you do not teach, instruct and guide your children, someone else will fill that void.

Some men are not comfortable hearing this, but, as your daughter grows, her self esteem and self image will be determined largely by the relationship she has with you. You might say "No, not me - that's her mother's job." Listen: it really doesn't work that way. Mothers obviously have a major role to play, as well, but your kids need both of you. Dads, your son's self confidence and outlook on his future will be shaped by his relationship with you. The kind of man your daughter will be attracted to and will likely marry when she is older will be the kind of man she sees in you. The way your son treats others, including his wife, when he is older will be because of the example you set. A young girl who grows up without an involved father will have the tendency to look for the acceptance that she needed from her dad in someone else. Many such girls grow up to pay a horrible price for that acceptance. A young man who lives in a home where the dad is not present will likely struggle to find his identity and truly be secure as a man.

Dads, that is the powerful, extremely important role we play. Now, I realize that there many children who grow up without fathers and they become secure, confident adults who marry great people and become awesome parents. The Lord is very gracious and merciful, and He can fill any void created by family issues or anything else in a child's life. However, when He created the family, He never intended for the father to be absent. If we were to poll a group of doctors, ministers, child psychologists, youth pastors, parents and children, they would confirm that what I have described is true in the majority of cases. That's why dads are so important. Our kids really do need us.

Who do you want your daughter to marry? Be that man. How do you want your son to treat his wife? Treat his mother that way. How do you want your daughter to see herself when she is 12 years old? Help her begin to see herself that way when she is 9 months old. How do you want your son to respond to pressure from his peers when he is 14? Begin telling him how you feel about those decisions long before he is 14. What do you want your kids' standards to be regarding sex before they are married? They need to hear it from you first.

Dads, we owe it to our kids to be real men. We cannot allow the media or any other aspect of society to define our role in the family, and we cannot trust them to raise our children. We have to be real dads who are there for our kids, dads who set boundaries for our kids and dads who teach our kids to love and forgive and dads who teach them Who God is. Dads, this is our responsibility, and we have to take it seriously and be proactive as we fulfill this role.

Let me close by talking to moms who are raising their children without the help of a dad, and to dads who have decided to be proactive and your kids are already middle school aged or older. First, to the moms: the Bible tells us in Psalm 68:5 that God is a Father to the fatherless. He is able to send the proper strong male influence into your kids' lives. Your children are not destined to a life of hardship because their dad isn't present. God's grace is sufficient for you, for your kids and for every situation they will face. Now, for the dads who are hearing the call to become more involved, there is no better time to start than now. Whether or not you feel like you have been there up to this point the way you would have liked to have been, start today being involved. You may have to apologize and allow some time for everyone to adjust, but the Lord can also make up the years that have been stolen. You still have a tremendous role to play, and your kids need you.

Dads, it's time to lead the way!

What We Really Need are Dads

Nicole and I have been married for about 4 1/2 years. Many of our close friends have also gotten married or have met the person they are likely to marry. Some have had kids or are pregnant, and we have two beautiful little girls. These have been special times as we've been able to see so many fall in love, and we've been blessed to be able to hold so many babies.

Since I first become a dad, I have become increasingly aware of the challenges we parents face in our modern society. Every generation has had its challenges, but we are living in a time that is very unique. I love technology, and I am thankful for the conveniences it has made available. We now have information on any subject at our finger tips, we can book a flight to the other side of the world in minutes, track the stock market minute to minute and most of us can do this from our cell phones! This is great, but there is a downside to all this, as well. Thanks to modern technology, we are bombarded with images and information constantly, and in many cases it can be harmful.

I love my girls more than anything, and I would do anything in the world to protect them. Nicole and I have spent many hours talking about schools, friends, peer pressure, the internet and all the things the girls will encounter. To be honest, the challenge to raise these little people in the midst of all of these can be overwhelming. I would love to just move my family to an island where they would never have to be subjected to the pressures and dangers they will inevitably face in life, but that's obviously not going to happen. This desire to protect our children is natural, but our protection can only go so far. While they are young, I will protect them to my own hurt, and I will do the same inasmuch as it is appropriate for the rest of their lives. However, as they grow, they are going to become increasingly independent and begin to make more of their own decisions. During those stages, my role will have to change. Robin McMillan made a comment recently that I found very helpful: "As parents, our job is not to protect our children from what they are going to encounter in life - our job is to prepare them for it."

Even while I am protecting my girls from the dangers of this life, I need to be preparing them to one day face them head on as godly, confident women. The only way I can do that is to be a dad - I mean really be a dad. Our kids need us to be real men. When our kids look at us, they need to see compassion, integrity, love, honesty, discipline, courage and most importantly, they need to see Jesus. Nothing short of this is going to truly prepare our children to be the people that they have the potential to be as they grow older. We need to be there, and we need to be available. Our families are the first line of defense, and they need to be the first school, the first church and the first safe place for our children to grow into who they are called to be.

They are not going to get what they need from society, and society has tried hard to make us look like idiots. It is hard to find a sitcom on television these days where the dad is a real dad. There are very few real men on TV. We used to see Andy Taylor help Opie deal with a bully and Cliff Huxtable talk to Rudy about her self image. That has all been replaced by Homer Simpson's disrespect, Ray Barone's incompetence and whatever happens on that poorly named show called "Family Guy." Dads of integrity and stature have been replaced by selfish, disrespectful morons, and that is being portrayed as normal. We really need to turn the tide. Dads need to be redefined in society, and we have to start in our own homes.

Unfortunately, it's not just TV that has changed. The curriculum in many of our schools is very undermining of the family, and, at times, our kids are encouraged to keep secrets from their parents. Many magazines and books are the same, and time would fail me to talk about the internet. If you don't know what sites your kids are visiting online, or if you don't know who their Facebook friends are, you need to find out immediately and stay on top of it. Do you know how your children get home from school? Have you met their friends' parents?

Dads, we have to be dads and truly lead our families. Society is going to work against us at times, so we have to be proactive in being involved in our children's lives. If we don't fill that role, someone else will, and we cannot afford to abdicate this responsibility. While Jesus walked this earth, He continually showed us our Heavenly Father. We need to follow His example and show Him to our kids as well. Our kids need us, and being a dad is one of the greatest honors in this life. It won't always be an easy job, but it will always be worth it. Dads, the time has come to lead the way!