Fishrapper

Have I Told You Lately...

    Are you trying to get something done through someone else, maybe a spouse, child, or colleague, but having little success? Roy H. Williams, the Wizard of Ads, has some thoughts in his Monday Morning Memo.

    "Great coaches are great," he says, "not because they were superstars, but because they know how to awaken the star that sleeps in each of the players around them."   

    He then suggests a 7 to 1 ratio of encounters.

    "Great managers look for things to praise in their people, knowing that it takes 7 positive strokes to recover from each negative reprimand. Think about it. If seven out of eight times we encounter our boss we receive an authentic, affirming comment, a bit of happy news or a piece of valuable insight, we love to see our manager coming down the hall. But if our encounters with the manager leave us deflated, discouraged or scared, our hearts will sink when we see them coming."

    Check out the rest of Roy's post, Ronald, Bill and You.

Nothing Between

    I've been preaching on Jesus' invitations -- come to Me, follow Me, and abide in Me. I'm stuck on abiding and God is taking full advantage. In Jesus' illustration of the vine He lays out the principle of pruning that ultimately results in stronger vines and more fruit. That is God at work in me. His topics...

• Where is my dependence?
• I'm not stuck where I am. I can change.
• Christ-likeness to, around, and for others.
• But especially the issue of unity.

    Jesus prayed, in His discourse on unity in John 17, that His followers "may be one, even as We are one...that they may be perfected in unity."

    Here's how I saw it. God doesn't want anything to come between me and Him. No god! No idol! No idea! Nothing!

    That is what unity is all about. When there is nothing between us, we can come together.

    God says I am to guard jealously my relationship with Him. Likewise my relationship with my wife, and others.

    So, here on earth, nothing must come between God and me.

    Just like a car is separated from its source of power when corrosion builds up on a battery, so we lose out when something separates us from God.

    I have asked God to reveal the things that fit that category -- the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of anything. I am asking Him to remove anything that chokes out my relationship with Him.

    Pruning..... Ouch!

Mike Smith

    My dear friend, Mike Smith, aka Smitty or Mike the Tiger, is gone. The Lord took him home early this morning. I know He is in a better place, but we have lost a true son of the Living God.

    In 1983 God spoke to Mike at a retreat. God was calling and Mike was listening. I remember Mike saying, "I just don't see myself as a preacher, so I guess it's to do music. Pray with me." A week later he said God had not called him to be a preacher, or a worship leader, but simply to follow Him.

    He did!

    God brought Janet and her children -- Melissa, Jennifer, Miranda, and Adam -- into Mike's life. Or rather, he came into their lives. Mike had found his calling. He was not a preacher, though God often used him to speak to other's lives. He was not a worship leader, at least not formally, but he wonderfully led our young adult ministry in worship. He was no longer the symbol of LSU athletic supremacy, but he was still a tiger at heart. He was not the world's greatest golfer, but any golf game with him was a day well spent.

    What was Mike?

    A husband! A father! There is no greater calling, and he fulfilled it with pride.

    Thanks Smitty.   

    Good night.   

    See you later.

Old Friends

     Friends are rare. Some people never have one. One friend is a treasure; more is a mother lode.

      Proverbs says “…there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.” I had two brothers. We were very tight, yet I’ve been blessed with friends that were tighter.

      Max Lucado says friendship “means identity in thought and heart and spirit,” which means you always pick up where you left off, even if that was a long time ago.

      Thinking today about the men who have been close to me reminded me of five identifiers Gordon McDonald used of people in his book Restoring Your Spiritual Passion.

· Very Resourceful People (They ignite our passion.)

· Very Important People (They share our passion.)

· Very Trainable People (They catch our passion.)

· Very Nice People (They enjoy our passion.)

· Very Draining People (They sap our passion.)

      The significant men in my life plug into these categories very well. One even fits the “very draining” category; yet he was a very special person in my life.

      It certainly helped me to see how these men have affected me. I have needed people who ignited, shared, caught, or enjoyed my passion. Obviously I even needed someone to sap my passion.

      Friendships are increasingly on my mind. The older I get the more I reminisce. The more I take the time to tell them how much they have blessed my life. Watching Band of Brothers, as I did this Christmas, will drive that home quickly.

      Aren’t you glad Jesus calls us friends?   

Are We Family?

    In Alex Haley’s TV mini series Roots, the first three segments are about the growing up of the African, Kunta Kinte, and his obsession with freedom.

    His attempts at running away have cost him many whippings, the cutting off of half his right foot, and nearly his life.

    At about age 35 he falls in love and marries, but still longs to return to his beloved Africa as a Mandinka warrior. One night he hears native drums, follows them, and comes upon another African with like spirit. He is planning an escape that is sure to be successful and invites Kunta to join him. “Come when you hear the drums,” he says.

    Meanwhile, Kunta’s wife becomes pregnant and gives birth to a girl. Kunta adores her and convinced his wife to give her an African name and heritage.

    One moonlit night Kunta takes his daughter out to christen and name her. He unwraps her blanket, picks her up naked, holds her high in the sky – illuminated by the moon – and names her Kizzie. The drums begin to roll. Kunta is drawn. His wife hears them too. Knowing what they mean she begins running in their direction. She is filled with fear, of losing her husband, her daughter, even her own life.

    She meets up with Kunta in a clearing near the drums, appealing to him with all her being, begging him not to leave.

    Since he was 14, the day he was captured by slave traders, he had dreamed of this moment, literally lived for it.

    "This yo home," she says.

    “No, it’s not my home.” Kunta replies.

    “But this my chile, and we family.”

    Are we?

Top 10 No-No's

    Flying in a jet is not my idea of living. The travel is fast, but the noise is deafening. And the closeness of people minus relationships is debilitating. We sit next to each other and never speak. We ignore one another.

    Here are the one another's of non-relationships:

1. Ignore one another.
2. Curse one another.
3. Push one another.
4. Cheat one an other.
5. Lie to one another.
6. Defraud one another.
7. Shout at one another.
8. Hit one another.
9. Reject one another.
10. Hate one another.