OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #277 Empty is Not Void
Hi Folks:
When I think of the word “empty” my first thought is of disappointment. An empty plate in the fridge means the boys ate the leftover meatballs. When the needle of the gas gauge sits on E, I’ll have to make another trip to the pumps. However, an empty bank account may prevent me from filling the empty tank. An empty cupboard, so the nursery rhyme goes, frustrated Old Mother Hubbard. Empty words are broken promises.
“Hollow” is a related word with the same letdowns. A hollow potato is rotten in the centre. We gain nothing in a hollow victory. To be hollow-hearted is to be insincere.
That was the feeling I had as a child when I discovered that my Easter candy was hollow. What kind of sick joke was that, to build up my milk-chocolate hopes, only to have them crack like the sides of bunny under my teeth?
Empty and hollow are not always disappointing. I love finding empty parking spots. PEI, where I grew up, is covered with pretty farms located in hollows between the hills. I have secret compartments in my desk, small hollow spots perfect for hiding trinkets.
Empty was good on Easter Sunday. When the women first spotted the empty tomb, they didn’t yet know what it meant. Had someone removed Jesus’ body without telling them? It took a little while to understand that the empty tomb was a good thing. “He is not here; he has risen,” and angel said.
Imagine their joy as Mary, and Mary, and Peter and John, and soon all the others began to realize the empty tomb meant Jesus was alive. The impossible was possible with God. Empty was where hope began.
Genesis tells us that before creation the earth was without form and void, another way of saying it was empty. God took that emptiness and turned it into something. He brought order form the chaos and turned nothing into something. That’s what the resurrection was. The empty tomb was not void.
We tend to see empty as the end. We had something and now it is gone. But with God, empty is the beginning. This is the place where God can fill us up once again. I wish there were an easier way, but it seems we often don’t discover how powerful God is until we’re sucking the fumes of our empty. In this way empty is where hope begins.
May God fill your empty on this Easter Monday morning. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Apr 9, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire is an occasional letter on Christian faith and character
Monday, April 9, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
OnFire #276 Lessons from the Fish Tank
OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #276 Lessons from the Fish tank
Hi Folks:
My latest post on Pastor of Everything Else is “What To do When the Senior Pastor Resigns.” So far, I’ve spent a total of almost three years of my nine years in associate ministry without a senior pastor at the helm. Feel free to pass this along to associate pastors you may know.
http://www.pastorofeverythingelse.blogspot.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few weeks ago I began to see signs that our koy and goldfish were distressed. Not the “I’m overwhelmed and I’m going to flip out” kind of emotional distress, but the lethargic, not eating, kind of distress which signals that the fish were weak and might not survive.
To explain, these are fish that I brought in from our backyard pond because last year’s fish didn’t survive the winter in the shallow water. A friend gave us a tank and all winter we’ve been keeping 3 koy and 4 goldfish. I couldn’t catch one goldfish, and so it remains somewhere in the pond, forever traumatized by my efforts to net him.
Anyway, one by one and two by two I lost all of the fish over the next couple of weeks. They died despite my best efforts to change the water and filter and clean the gravel. I felt really bad that I tried to save them from freezing, only to have them die in my fish tank later from problems I was ill-equipped to handle.
It was hard not to reflect on those fish and see my life. I sometimes wonder if I’m pouring time and energy into situations and problems which will only be a wasted effort. How depressing that thought is! And yet, it is one of my secret fears. Is all this trouble for nothing? I’m generally a positive, hopeful person. It’s something people like about me. But deep down, when things aren’t going so well, I have these fears.
I have to be careful because some people think I write OnFire like a diary or journal. They think I must be writing about church life or my current mood. This is not always so. I write OnFire because I think that if I talk about the secret feelings we’re afraid to say in public, then we’ll all be better off for it. If I feel this, then others do, too, and so let’s do this together. “I’m not the only one!” is what I hope people will think.
I was surprised when I had these thoughts, and I had to work through them. It really came down to this. As frustrating as things are sometimes, as difficult and discouraging as they may be, I cannot surrender to these fears. Even as these thoughts occur, I must reject them and choose instead to trust that God is good and He is not finished with me.
This is one of the thoughts I cling to. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus,” Paul wrote. (Phil 1:6)
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Mar 19, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire #276 Lessons from the Fish tank
Hi Folks:
My latest post on Pastor of Everything Else is “What To do When the Senior Pastor Resigns.” So far, I’ve spent a total of almost three years of my nine years in associate ministry without a senior pastor at the helm. Feel free to pass this along to associate pastors you may know.
http://www.pastorofeverythingelse.blogspot.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few weeks ago I began to see signs that our koy and goldfish were distressed. Not the “I’m overwhelmed and I’m going to flip out” kind of emotional distress, but the lethargic, not eating, kind of distress which signals that the fish were weak and might not survive.
To explain, these are fish that I brought in from our backyard pond because last year’s fish didn’t survive the winter in the shallow water. A friend gave us a tank and all winter we’ve been keeping 3 koy and 4 goldfish. I couldn’t catch one goldfish, and so it remains somewhere in the pond, forever traumatized by my efforts to net him.
Anyway, one by one and two by two I lost all of the fish over the next couple of weeks. They died despite my best efforts to change the water and filter and clean the gravel. I felt really bad that I tried to save them from freezing, only to have them die in my fish tank later from problems I was ill-equipped to handle.
It was hard not to reflect on those fish and see my life. I sometimes wonder if I’m pouring time and energy into situations and problems which will only be a wasted effort. How depressing that thought is! And yet, it is one of my secret fears. Is all this trouble for nothing? I’m generally a positive, hopeful person. It’s something people like about me. But deep down, when things aren’t going so well, I have these fears.
I have to be careful because some people think I write OnFire like a diary or journal. They think I must be writing about church life or my current mood. This is not always so. I write OnFire because I think that if I talk about the secret feelings we’re afraid to say in public, then we’ll all be better off for it. If I feel this, then others do, too, and so let’s do this together. “I’m not the only one!” is what I hope people will think.
I was surprised when I had these thoughts, and I had to work through them. It really came down to this. As frustrating as things are sometimes, as difficult and discouraging as they may be, I cannot surrender to these fears. Even as these thoughts occur, I must reject them and choose instead to trust that God is good and He is not finished with me.
This is one of the thoughts I cling to. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus,” Paul wrote. (Phil 1:6)
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Mar 19, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
Monday, March 5, 2012
OnFire #275 The Creepy Guy Emerges
OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #275 The Creepy Guy Emerges
We have a concrete figurine in our backyard, one of those little fishing boy statues which sits by our goldfish pond. Not long after we moved in we affectionately named him, “The Creepy Guy in the Backyard” because all he does is hang around and stare blankly into space. By the way, we like the Creepy Guy, even though we gave him this name, and the boys have resisted our suggestions that we should give him a new coat of paint. They like the “character” he has right now and he would be “too pretty” if we freshened him up.
As I write, the Creepy Guy is melting from the snow bank. With a few warm days his hat and eyes have emerged. I like the way he seems to peer above the snow and I think of him as a symbol of the changing seasons. There is hope for warmer and longer days ahead.
In my last OnFire I wrote about the difference between real and perceived limits. I wrote it on what I call a “low motivation day.” I get these occasionally, not regularly, but once in a while, when I am tired and not feeling like I can push myself. I’ve learned over the years that they last about a day so I just plan to do simple tasks which don’t require a lot of brain power or emotional strain. And then the next day I go back to my normal pace.
That didn’t happen. My low motivation day turned into the better part of a week. I have to be honest, it was a little unnerving. I like to work hard and to push myself. And yet I couldn’t seem to muster my full amount of energy. I put myself on “light duty.” The reality was I couldn’t do much more, anyway.
I’m still not sure what happened, other than I was probably exhausted, spiritually, mentally and physically. The next week was better, last week better again. I wouldn’t say I’m back up to 100%, but then again I’m not sure I want to go back to running at 100%. I recently told one of our church leaders that there are seasons when we go flat out, when it is necessary, and it even feels good to put it all out there. But, I said, we can’t do that all the time. (Someday we’ll all be better at taking our own advice.)
Somebody is going to read this and be worried about my health and my mental or spiritual state. A lot of my relatives are on the OnFire list, including my mother. I’m OK. Really.
Here’s the thing, the reason why I’m writing all this. I figure that if I go through something, other people are going through the same thing, too. And that by sharing my experiences it helps and encourages other people. We’re not alone in this journey.
It’s OK if we’ve been running at 100% and we get tired and need to back off. Really. There really are limits. And it is OK to tell someone we’re tired. We often do much better at telling other people they can take their breaks. Somehow we think we’re unique and so we don’t need it for ourselves.
I think there are lots of reasons why we feel others can and should take breaks, but we can’t. 1) Something won’t get done. Well, sometimes things need to go undone before someone else will step up. 2) We need to prove we can handle it, that we’re tough enough for the job. But, who are we trying to prove it to? 3) Out of a sense of duty. This is my poison, and it’s a tough one because I’m often motivated by the feeling, “It’s the right thing to do.” I’m not sure I have the answer to this one, other than to say, sometimes I just can’t go any further, and that’s OK.
I’m guessing someone in OnFire Land needs to hear this today. I can’t be the only one riding this train. Be encouraged. It’s OK to admit we’re tired and that we’ve reached our limits. Furthermore, it’s even OK to say No.
The Creepy Guy is melting out of the snow bank. We’ll emerge from being buried, too.
I hope this helps. Be OnFire. Oh, and don’t take the “Creepy Guy” metaphor too far. I’m not suggesting that you or I are “creepy.”
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Mar 5, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire #275 The Creepy Guy Emerges
We have a concrete figurine in our backyard, one of those little fishing boy statues which sits by our goldfish pond. Not long after we moved in we affectionately named him, “The Creepy Guy in the Backyard” because all he does is hang around and stare blankly into space. By the way, we like the Creepy Guy, even though we gave him this name, and the boys have resisted our suggestions that we should give him a new coat of paint. They like the “character” he has right now and he would be “too pretty” if we freshened him up.
As I write, the Creepy Guy is melting from the snow bank. With a few warm days his hat and eyes have emerged. I like the way he seems to peer above the snow and I think of him as a symbol of the changing seasons. There is hope for warmer and longer days ahead.
In my last OnFire I wrote about the difference between real and perceived limits. I wrote it on what I call a “low motivation day.” I get these occasionally, not regularly, but once in a while, when I am tired and not feeling like I can push myself. I’ve learned over the years that they last about a day so I just plan to do simple tasks which don’t require a lot of brain power or emotional strain. And then the next day I go back to my normal pace.
That didn’t happen. My low motivation day turned into the better part of a week. I have to be honest, it was a little unnerving. I like to work hard and to push myself. And yet I couldn’t seem to muster my full amount of energy. I put myself on “light duty.” The reality was I couldn’t do much more, anyway.
I’m still not sure what happened, other than I was probably exhausted, spiritually, mentally and physically. The next week was better, last week better again. I wouldn’t say I’m back up to 100%, but then again I’m not sure I want to go back to running at 100%. I recently told one of our church leaders that there are seasons when we go flat out, when it is necessary, and it even feels good to put it all out there. But, I said, we can’t do that all the time. (Someday we’ll all be better at taking our own advice.)
Somebody is going to read this and be worried about my health and my mental or spiritual state. A lot of my relatives are on the OnFire list, including my mother. I’m OK. Really.
Here’s the thing, the reason why I’m writing all this. I figure that if I go through something, other people are going through the same thing, too. And that by sharing my experiences it helps and encourages other people. We’re not alone in this journey.
It’s OK if we’ve been running at 100% and we get tired and need to back off. Really. There really are limits. And it is OK to tell someone we’re tired. We often do much better at telling other people they can take their breaks. Somehow we think we’re unique and so we don’t need it for ourselves.
I think there are lots of reasons why we feel others can and should take breaks, but we can’t. 1) Something won’t get done. Well, sometimes things need to go undone before someone else will step up. 2) We need to prove we can handle it, that we’re tough enough for the job. But, who are we trying to prove it to? 3) Out of a sense of duty. This is my poison, and it’s a tough one because I’m often motivated by the feeling, “It’s the right thing to do.” I’m not sure I have the answer to this one, other than to say, sometimes I just can’t go any further, and that’s OK.
I’m guessing someone in OnFire Land needs to hear this today. I can’t be the only one riding this train. Be encouraged. It’s OK to admit we’re tired and that we’ve reached our limits. Furthermore, it’s even OK to say No.
The Creepy Guy is melting out of the snow bank. We’ll emerge from being buried, too.
I hope this helps. Be OnFire. Oh, and don’t take the “Creepy Guy” metaphor too far. I’m not suggesting that you or I are “creepy.”
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Mar 5, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
OnFire #274 Living between the Red Lines
OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #274 Living between the Red Lines
Last weekend the saga of the snowblower came to an end. After restarting the motor to finish the driveway, it revved way too fast and then there was a loud “pop.” The pushrod, broken and no longer bound to the crankshaft, smashed the thin walls of the engine. Judging from the pieces sprayed across my driveway, the motor will never start again.
I really enjoyed that little snowblower. I learned a lot about tuning the engine and I took a certain amount of pride in keeping it going. It was a nice mental break from what I normally do.
There are times I feel like that little machine, times when I wonder if life will rev to the point when something comes apart. I can’t be the only one who sometimes wonders how much more can be piled on and added before things suddenly go pop. That’s not a comfortable thought. Life doesn’t come with a red line to tell us where our limits are.
Now here’s a funny thought. I was at the gym the other day. Exhausted. Not really feeling like I wanted to be there, but knowing it was important to get some exercise, I hopped on the first machine to get some cardio. I wasn’t expecting good results. Just finish the workout, I thought, and go home for nap. A few minutes in, I felt my body respond to the challenge and the numbers on the electronic screen said I was working as hard as I normally do. I finished the weights and machines at full form. It made me wonder if it was mind over matter, that I was capable of more than I felt I was.
Some limits are real and some are imagined. If I go into the danger zone of the cardio monitor, I need to back off because my heart is at risk. Other times I need to push through because my limit is actually beyond where I think it is.
Reality is probably between these two lines, between where we think the limits are and where things go pop. It takes faith to work beyond our imagined limits, and discernment to know the real ones.
Paul knew something about living close to the limits, for real. “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope.” ( 2 Corinthians 1:9-10)
Discovering new limits means finding new trust in God. First, we have to hang in there to trust him more. And second, we discover new ways in which God is faithful. In both these ways we find new trust in God. Only when we run out of our strength do we discover God’s, and its a good thing, for at that point we don’t have what it takes. Paul writes, “On him we have set our hope.”
Hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Feb 15, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire #274 Living between the Red Lines
Last weekend the saga of the snowblower came to an end. After restarting the motor to finish the driveway, it revved way too fast and then there was a loud “pop.” The pushrod, broken and no longer bound to the crankshaft, smashed the thin walls of the engine. Judging from the pieces sprayed across my driveway, the motor will never start again.
I really enjoyed that little snowblower. I learned a lot about tuning the engine and I took a certain amount of pride in keeping it going. It was a nice mental break from what I normally do.
There are times I feel like that little machine, times when I wonder if life will rev to the point when something comes apart. I can’t be the only one who sometimes wonders how much more can be piled on and added before things suddenly go pop. That’s not a comfortable thought. Life doesn’t come with a red line to tell us where our limits are.
Now here’s a funny thought. I was at the gym the other day. Exhausted. Not really feeling like I wanted to be there, but knowing it was important to get some exercise, I hopped on the first machine to get some cardio. I wasn’t expecting good results. Just finish the workout, I thought, and go home for nap. A few minutes in, I felt my body respond to the challenge and the numbers on the electronic screen said I was working as hard as I normally do. I finished the weights and machines at full form. It made me wonder if it was mind over matter, that I was capable of more than I felt I was.
Some limits are real and some are imagined. If I go into the danger zone of the cardio monitor, I need to back off because my heart is at risk. Other times I need to push through because my limit is actually beyond where I think it is.
Reality is probably between these two lines, between where we think the limits are and where things go pop. It takes faith to work beyond our imagined limits, and discernment to know the real ones.
Paul knew something about living close to the limits, for real. “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope.” ( 2 Corinthians 1:9-10)
Discovering new limits means finding new trust in God. First, we have to hang in there to trust him more. And second, we discover new ways in which God is faithful. In both these ways we find new trust in God. Only when we run out of our strength do we discover God’s, and its a good thing, for at that point we don’t have what it takes. Paul writes, “On him we have set our hope.”
Hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Feb 15, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
OnFire #273 The Snowblower Saga
OnFire Encouragment Letter
OnFire #273 The Snowblower Saga
Hi Folks:
Thank you to so many for your encouragement over the last week. About 180 people went to my new blog for associate pastors in two-pastor churches, Pastor of Everything Else (www.pastorofeverythingelse.blogspot.com). Comments were positive and encouraging.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I write this morning, we have a snowfall warning for 15-20 cm. It makes me kind of excited because we were given a snow blower last summer and I want to try it out. We had less than 10cm a few days ago, and it seemed to work well, but I’d like to try it out with a little more snow.
Some of you will remember that we’ve had a little trouble with the snowblower. It was a saga, really. The first snowfall we had I couldn’t start it. Then I thought it was working, but it wouldn’t handle much snow. Then it wouldn’t stay running. And finally, it wouldn’t throw the snow. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever work, or that, heaven forbid (read sarcasm here) I would need to take it to the shop!
In the middle of all of this was my schedule and a cold snap. When I was free to work on it, it was too cold to work barehanded outside, and when it was warm enough, I was stuck in meetings and appointments. Finally I had some free time last week on a mild day. I discovered some really useful tuneup videos on YouTube and I set out to advance the saga to another scene.
To avoid making this story any longer than it needs to be, after I adjusted the carburetor, lubed the auger gearbox, and tightened the idler pulley it worked beautifully.
It took me quite a while to work out all these issues, trying different things to see if they worked. Sometimes possible solutions showed promise only to let me down later. There was more than one problem, which complicated things. And to top it all off, these issues were all new to me. Sounds like a lot of problems we deal with.
It was tempting just to give up on it, list it on the internet “as is,” but I wouldn’t have gotten it to work if I had done that. If these last steps hadn’t worked, my next plan was to check with my neighbour to see if he could help. And if not, then to take it to the shop. It was becoming a matter of pride – I wasn’t going to let this thing beat me.
Dealing with a snowblower is a minor thing when we consider all the issues and problems of life, but it illustrates a greater principle. Perseverance is steady persistence, to pursue a goal even when things take longer or are more difficult than we imagined. Not to give up when we get frustrated. To ask for help from people who know more than we do.
James writes, “We consider blessed those who have persevered.” (James 5:11) We musn’t give up. “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (1:4).
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Feb 1, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire #273 The Snowblower Saga
Hi Folks:
Thank you to so many for your encouragement over the last week. About 180 people went to my new blog for associate pastors in two-pastor churches, Pastor of Everything Else (www.pastorofeverythingelse.blogspot.com). Comments were positive and encouraging.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I write this morning, we have a snowfall warning for 15-20 cm. It makes me kind of excited because we were given a snow blower last summer and I want to try it out. We had less than 10cm a few days ago, and it seemed to work well, but I’d like to try it out with a little more snow.
Some of you will remember that we’ve had a little trouble with the snowblower. It was a saga, really. The first snowfall we had I couldn’t start it. Then I thought it was working, but it wouldn’t handle much snow. Then it wouldn’t stay running. And finally, it wouldn’t throw the snow. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever work, or that, heaven forbid (read sarcasm here) I would need to take it to the shop!
In the middle of all of this was my schedule and a cold snap. When I was free to work on it, it was too cold to work barehanded outside, and when it was warm enough, I was stuck in meetings and appointments. Finally I had some free time last week on a mild day. I discovered some really useful tuneup videos on YouTube and I set out to advance the saga to another scene.
To avoid making this story any longer than it needs to be, after I adjusted the carburetor, lubed the auger gearbox, and tightened the idler pulley it worked beautifully.
It took me quite a while to work out all these issues, trying different things to see if they worked. Sometimes possible solutions showed promise only to let me down later. There was more than one problem, which complicated things. And to top it all off, these issues were all new to me. Sounds like a lot of problems we deal with.
It was tempting just to give up on it, list it on the internet “as is,” but I wouldn’t have gotten it to work if I had done that. If these last steps hadn’t worked, my next plan was to check with my neighbour to see if he could help. And if not, then to take it to the shop. It was becoming a matter of pride – I wasn’t going to let this thing beat me.
Dealing with a snowblower is a minor thing when we consider all the issues and problems of life, but it illustrates a greater principle. Perseverance is steady persistence, to pursue a goal even when things take longer or are more difficult than we imagined. Not to give up when we get frustrated. To ask for help from people who know more than we do.
James writes, “We consider blessed those who have persevered.” (James 5:11) We musn’t give up. “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (1:4).
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Feb 1, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
Friday, January 20, 2012
OnFire #272 Rusty Hinges and Kindness
OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #272 Rusty Hinges and Kindness
We live in a 70 year-old-house with lots of character, which simply means there are lots of things which need to be fixed. A few weeks ago I realized that I had become so accustomed to the creaky hinges that I could actually recognize the sound of each door. The bathroom made one noise, our bedroom another, and each of the bedrooms made their own distinct sounds. It astonished me, first of all, that I had become so used to this, and second, that it took me until now to do something about it. And, that it was such a simple thing to oil the hinges. Such a little thing - a few drops of oil and a few minutes, and the doors were swinging silently.
We can be like those hinges. Sometimes we get a little creaky, and we don’t even realize it, but kindness is the oil on the hinges of our relationships. It doesn’t take much, and a little goes a long way.
Scripture is littered with reminders to be kind. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
From this and other passages we see that kindness means to love each other, show compassion, and even extend forgiveness. Our motivation ought to be gratitude: that we are kind because we realize that God was kind to us.
The word for “kind” in Greek is an interesting one, and it shows up in interesting places:
“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30)
The word translated as “easy” is actually the same word for kind. We could read, “My yoke is *kind.*” The yoke was a wooden beam placed across the shoulders of work animals so that they could pull an implement behind like a cart or plow. It had to be carved and formed with care or it would chafe and cut. Jesus promised to be kind and to do the heavy spiritual pulling in our lives.
This helps us understand kindness better. Kindness is about easing the burden in other people’s lives. When people come away from us, are they lighter or heavier in spirit? Do we chafe them, rubbing them the wrong way, or do we treat them “easily” ? Kindness is more than an act. It is our mannerism, the words and tone we use, the words we don’t use, our patience, how well we listen.
As I prepared this material for a sermon I preached last week, I began to see that some of my relationships had grown a little creaky. I needed to apply a little oil of kindness. It doesn’t take much time, and a little goes a long way.
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Jan 20, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire #272 Rusty Hinges and Kindness
We live in a 70 year-old-house with lots of character, which simply means there are lots of things which need to be fixed. A few weeks ago I realized that I had become so accustomed to the creaky hinges that I could actually recognize the sound of each door. The bathroom made one noise, our bedroom another, and each of the bedrooms made their own distinct sounds. It astonished me, first of all, that I had become so used to this, and second, that it took me until now to do something about it. And, that it was such a simple thing to oil the hinges. Such a little thing - a few drops of oil and a few minutes, and the doors were swinging silently.
We can be like those hinges. Sometimes we get a little creaky, and we don’t even realize it, but kindness is the oil on the hinges of our relationships. It doesn’t take much, and a little goes a long way.
Scripture is littered with reminders to be kind. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
From this and other passages we see that kindness means to love each other, show compassion, and even extend forgiveness. Our motivation ought to be gratitude: that we are kind because we realize that God was kind to us.
The word for “kind” in Greek is an interesting one, and it shows up in interesting places:
“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30)
The word translated as “easy” is actually the same word for kind. We could read, “My yoke is *kind.*” The yoke was a wooden beam placed across the shoulders of work animals so that they could pull an implement behind like a cart or plow. It had to be carved and formed with care or it would chafe and cut. Jesus promised to be kind and to do the heavy spiritual pulling in our lives.
This helps us understand kindness better. Kindness is about easing the burden in other people’s lives. When people come away from us, are they lighter or heavier in spirit? Do we chafe them, rubbing them the wrong way, or do we treat them “easily” ? Kindness is more than an act. It is our mannerism, the words and tone we use, the words we don’t use, our patience, how well we listen.
As I prepared this material for a sermon I preached last week, I began to see that some of my relationships had grown a little creaky. I needed to apply a little oil of kindness. It doesn’t take much time, and a little goes a long way.
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Jan 20, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
OnFire #271 Who Likes Change?
OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #271 Who Likes Change?
Happy new year to everyone. I hope it will be, anyway – filled with joy, peace and satisfaction regardless of what happens. I don’t normally bother with new year’s resolutions, but I do think about change. I reflect on what changed last year and I wonder what will happen this year. There are always a few things which frustrate me which I hope to change. And, of course, there are always situations over which I have little control, and I hope simply for the strength to hang on for the ride.
Some changes we choose – to lose weight and exercise, pay down debt, do things differently, do something we’ve never done before. These are the changes we initiate because we hope they will make a positive difference in our lives.
And then there are changes we do not choose. These are brought to us, dropped in our laps and we are left to deal with the results. It has been said that the only one who likes change is a baby. Babies know they’ll be warm and dry, but when change affects us we rarely have a guarantee that things will go so well for us. I guess that’s what makes it so hard for us. We’d like to be able to prepare ourselves and take some little comfort in knowing that we have done all we could do, but there is often little we can do.
Isaiah 6 opens in just this kind of state. “In the year that king Uzziah died...” This simple opening sentence tells us more than when this event happened. It tells us something about fear for the future. We enjoy smooth transitions in government, but this was not always the case in the ancient world. While Uzziah was, generally speaking, a good and godly king, there was no predicting what would happen when a new king stepped into power. A new ruler could raise taxes, go to war, and oppress the people. There is a lot of fear and uncertainty tucked into these few words.
The next line is hopeful, thankfully. “...I saw the Lord seated on a throne...” To be seated on the throne was a symbol of power. God was in charge. Despite the uncertainty over a new king, Isaiah had reassurance that God was still in control. No matter who sat on the throne in Jerusalem, God would still sit on his throne, where it really mattered.
This is a good word for us as we face a new year. We will never know all that will face us in the upcoming year, but of this we can be sure. God is still on his throne. There are changes which we will welcome, and some which will be difficult, but God will not step away. He is always faithful. May this be a year when we say, “In the year that ____ happened, I saw the Lord seated on his throne...”
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Jan 4, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
OnFire #271 Who Likes Change?
Happy new year to everyone. I hope it will be, anyway – filled with joy, peace and satisfaction regardless of what happens. I don’t normally bother with new year’s resolutions, but I do think about change. I reflect on what changed last year and I wonder what will happen this year. There are always a few things which frustrate me which I hope to change. And, of course, there are always situations over which I have little control, and I hope simply for the strength to hang on for the ride.
Some changes we choose – to lose weight and exercise, pay down debt, do things differently, do something we’ve never done before. These are the changes we initiate because we hope they will make a positive difference in our lives.
And then there are changes we do not choose. These are brought to us, dropped in our laps and we are left to deal with the results. It has been said that the only one who likes change is a baby. Babies know they’ll be warm and dry, but when change affects us we rarely have a guarantee that things will go so well for us. I guess that’s what makes it so hard for us. We’d like to be able to prepare ourselves and take some little comfort in knowing that we have done all we could do, but there is often little we can do.
Isaiah 6 opens in just this kind of state. “In the year that king Uzziah died...” This simple opening sentence tells us more than when this event happened. It tells us something about fear for the future. We enjoy smooth transitions in government, but this was not always the case in the ancient world. While Uzziah was, generally speaking, a good and godly king, there was no predicting what would happen when a new king stepped into power. A new ruler could raise taxes, go to war, and oppress the people. There is a lot of fear and uncertainty tucked into these few words.
The next line is hopeful, thankfully. “...I saw the Lord seated on a throne...” To be seated on the throne was a symbol of power. God was in charge. Despite the uncertainty over a new king, Isaiah had reassurance that God was still in control. No matter who sat on the throne in Jerusalem, God would still sit on his throne, where it really mattered.
This is a good word for us as we face a new year. We will never know all that will face us in the upcoming year, but of this we can be sure. God is still on his throne. There are changes which we will welcome, and some which will be difficult, but God will not step away. He is always faithful. May this be a year when we say, “In the year that ____ happened, I saw the Lord seated on his throne...”
I hope this helps. Be on fire.
Troy
OnFire is a bi-weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Jan 4, 2012. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com. Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com.
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