When I was growing up I had one example to follow and only one when it came to what it might look like to be a man - what it might look like to eventually become an adult and get married and start a family of my own . . . and become a father. That example was my Dad, and I remember being very young (10 years old) and thinking about that - what will it be like to be a dad myself and what might it be like to be an adult . . . and I gotta admit . . . whenever I thought about it - I got a little nervous inside . . . because when I looked at my dad - there was nothing he couldn't do . . . . . . I mean, he knew how to play ball and play hockey, he knew how to cut down trees so they'd fall in the exact spot he wanted them to, he knew how to drive a cat or a tractor or a combine and when they broke down he knew how to fix them . . . He knew how to care for cattle and how to grow a crop and tend the land and I remember thinking how incredibly strong he was - lifting hay bales with a fork . . . My Dad could recite poetry from his memory on a moments notice and he would quote really smart guys from history that I had never heard of but, what they had said - made sense . . . He knew how to live off the land and hunt and trap animals and he could tell you why things in nature happened the way they did . . . and the cycles of life in nature . . . And my Dad was a builder, he could take rough wood and make it turn into something nice . . . and as a ten your old. . . my dad was my hero and I thought he could do anything and I thought he knew everything and I wondered if I would ever be able to be like him . . . when I was old. And I gotta admit . . . I still feel like that . . . (I don't think I'll ever know as much about life as my Dad) but, . . . now as a father of 3 and almost an adult . . . there are lots of days where the pressure to know more than I do and be more and do more is substantial . . . and I'm sure everyone of you has had that feeling as well . . . (not just dads but all of us).
These days as a parent (talk to you because it's Father's Day), just in order to survive you have to know a 1000 different things . . . you have to know how to be a soccer coach or a hockey coach and then understand if your gymnastics coach is training your 6 year old properly . . . or if your kid is really learning anything on the piano or drums . . . Part of your job is a taxi driver or sometimes it feels like your a bus driver and you gotta know how to help your 12 year old with their math questions that seems harder than anything you ever took at school and then you gotta work 50 hours a week at your job to keep the money and career ship afloat and then it seems like you volunteer the rest of your waking hours in the community or at church . . . . And then, do all that with out letting your house and yard fall apart and all the while spending quantity and quality time with your kids and family and going for peaceful walks as the sun goes down with your wife . . . Sometimes as a parent, as an adult, as a father the pressure to do stuff and know more and become more . . . is tremendous. So how do you do all that and what do you do first?
Well today, I want to remind all of us again that there is a significant piece to our life puzzle that is of critical importance and in fact - it's of way more importance than all the activities of life . . . .
There's one verse from God's word that has become precious to me during these days and years of wandering through adulthood, fatherhood and life . . . Over-arching verse for today from the book of Proverbs -wisdom book.
"Above all else guard your heart for it is the well spring of life"
Proverbs 4:23
. . . (or in other words, your heart and soul - that's where your life comes from) . . . another translation says it like this -
"Guard your heart - above all else - because it affects everything you do"
Proverbs 4:23
And I believe if we (all of us) could see the priority of having a healthy heart as the most important thing in our lives . . . everything else in life really would flow from that place.
I'd like to use that verse as a bit of a spring board for us today, to say that our lives- (especially Dads and men) our lives are not just about what we do or what our job or career is . . . and I think this verse is a great reminder for us . . . that our lives can't be only about how busy we are, or what kind of golf game we have or don't have . . . or how many activities we have our kids involved with every week. Life isn't just about how cool our garage is or how nice your yard is and . . . life isn't about the size of the boat we own or the number of toys we have accumulated . . . God's word makes it clear that although any one or all of those things may be part of life . . . but, . . . life doesn't come from any of those things . . . Life springs from the heart and out of the heart's wellness, flows our life. Soul wellness is the key to life. Your heart is the well spring - the center and the start of where the rest of life comes from.
The big principle here is this . . . (that you live and breath and act and think and are, in your life, because of your heart) . . . . . . there is nothing good, in your life, or bad that didn't begin in your heart.
There isn't one word, or thought, or decision, or deed that began on it's own . . . outside of your heart. Folks, your soul is involved in everything you do and are . . . . And it's in the overflow of our soul that the rest of life comes from . . . Got it, (that's a shift for us . . . I believe), but it's absolute truth . . . your heart is the well spring, the head waters, the origin of life . . . .
Now spin that idea a bit . . . What would happen? if our hearts aren't well - What might happen if our soul isn't over-flowing to the rest of our life? What will happen?
Well my suggestion is that an under developed soul - or an unguarded heart - leads to something other than real life, and I would even go further to say that if you and I are not able to live from the inside out - if the rest of life doesn't flow from our center God's word would say that we're simply not fully alive . . . Our voice of wisdom this day from the book of proverbs would say . . .that unless your heart and soul are expanding . . . and unless you live out of that over flow . . . you are not alive and are actually dying . . . . . . . Now . . . you may have glimpses every so often of real life . . . but your experience most of the time will be other than what it could be . . . and your life will be something other than what it was meant to be . . .
So what's the answer? Because I think everyone of us - especially on Father's day - every one of us has a desire to be alive - (not just living) - but alive and well and living out of the overflow in our lives . . . All of us want to experience life to the fullest, isn't that true? And wasn't it Jesus who spoke this incredible promise
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full - more and better life than you can imagine?
John 10:10
So if our hearts expansion is the key to life and if Jesus promised that by faith in Him we'd have this abundantly full more and better life . . . Then how do we get there? Well I believe that living life to the fullest starts with one simple thing . . . (by taking a look) - by doing a regular maintenance check-up and evaluation of our hearts . . . as we walk through life . . . and if we were to do this and live with heart awareness . . . I think it would all make all the difference in the world.
3 Ideas
1. Look Inside
"An unexamined life is not worth living" Socrates I think the first place to look if you want to have an expanding heart is simply to look under the hood (ourselves). I mean before we can make any adjustments or changes . . . you and I have gotta get our bearings - our direction - and the state of our heart figured out - where are we at? How dry is this spring that's supposed to be overflowing into the rest of life - and when is the last time we took a look into the mirror of our inner life and . . . I don't mean a glance - I mean a good long studying look at our souls - to see where the holes are - or where the walls are . . . or the rivers inside of us come from and to really study where the desert lies inside of us . . . When is the last time - (be honest) you looked in any kind of in-depth - focused way at your heart - 6 months ago? 6 years? Have you every done a full on, right to the bottom look into the mirror of your soul?
Guys, talk to you for a moment. We get running so fast doing what we do, that we forget to be . . . and life is a whole lot more about being that doing . . . we've gotta learn to look inside our hearts . . . And it's a pretty important exercise when you realize how much of life is affected by the health of that heart and soul (or the lack of it).
This week I had a great example of this . . .placed right in front of me . . . you know there's nothing like a little pressure to bring out what's actually in our hearts . . .
Airplane/airport story Chicago/Indiana - trip for the church/conference. Monday drove from Indiana to Chicago
Wait - delayed airplane
Air conditioner trouble at airport
Got to Minneapolis - connect home - (9:30 pm)
Delay - delay - delay - 11:15 pm - cancelled
People's reactions just blew me away
Frustration - anxiety - now what?
Oh - no?
One lady started to cry . . (I went to help her out)
Fishing trips/business trips
Anger - talking down to the flight attendants - Mean spirited
Hotel isn't good enough (I stay at the Hilton not the Days Inn)
Now, I was in a different spot. (Not normal) spent most of the day alone with God. Quiet, had a pretty low stress attitude. God showed me in kind a slow motion what happens when you have a dry heart. When you fail to look inside . . . wisdom and self control eluded them. I wanted to say suck it up kids are starving in the world, bullets are flying in Iraq, people have cancer your plan will go in the morning. But I didn't (calm Canadian with a whole bunch of angry Americans)
Folks, unexamined lives are not worth living - living that close to the edge - living without any margin . . . living when you can't see where your heart is at, isn't really life. And you know what? The place where a dry heart comes out the most often is at home - not in some airport - at home with the people we love - they catch the brunt of our dry hearts . . . and it not only begins to ruin us but it begins to mark them as well . . .
Folks, we've gotta do whatever it takes to lead our hearts to a different place . . . and that starts with a look inside . . .
Here's what I have done just recently . . . Got alone for 1 full day . . . Alone - mostly shut my phone off - mostly was alone all day - I just started asking myself some questions - as I looked into the mirror (not really).
Where is you life going?
What pace are you running?
Is that pace sustainable?
Are you enjoying life?
What are my gauges doing?
How empty are they?
Emotional gauge
Spiritual gauge
Relationship gauge
Am I moving forward with God?
Am I allowing Him to expand and grow my soul?
How am I treating other people?
Do I hear from God on a regular basis?
Folks, a look in the mirror - a little self-evaluation is absolutely key to living a vital life. . . and don't worry if you can't answer all the questions - or don't know all the questions to ask . . . Get alone . . and take time to look - the right questions and the right answers will come.
Look Inside.
2. Look Outside
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
Proverbs 27:17
The next place to look after you look inside . . . is to look out . . . to get another view - another reflection of your life and your heart from the people around you - the people closest to you . . . The verse says, if you want to sharpen an ax - the only way to do it is with another piece of steel - nothing else will do . . . And God's word says . . . if you want to be sharpened inside . . . if you and I want to be better, . . . . and if you want to have an honest, and helpful evaluation of heart and life . . . then we've gotta find another piece of steel . . . another man (if you are a man) who can think and speak with us and into our lives . . . Someone who can reflect back to us what's coming out of our hearts . . . (someone who can hold up a mirror in front of us) and tell us honestly what they see . . . How do you do this?
There's no simple way - or easy way - (people) you and I have got to have at least one relationship . . . one other person - that we can ask to sharpen us and who has the courage to hold up the mirror for us and point out the good as well as the bad? And you know what guys - women are just so much better at this than we are - they just kinda naturally move towards sharing their hearts with other women.
(So men), all I can say is what I know to be true in my life . . . having a few soul friends in my life over many years has kept we out of the ditch Having other men in my life who ask tough questions and/or hold the mirror up for me so I can see what's really going on inside. Guys who aren't afraid to tell me the truth or at least their opinion - those guys have saved my life.
Rich Jeanneau - Jeff Sopatyk - Lee Barbour - Bob Hamm
Those guys have sharpened my life . . . .and have kept me alive.
My heart is alive because those guys have had the guts over years to be true friends . . . Now, I wanted to make this hit home a bit - so I brought a small illustration . . . It's Father's day - (power tools on stage) bench grinder and ax (as iron sharpens iron - so one man sharpens another).
If you've been choppin' wood in your life - just running along living life and choppin' - at certain points it only makes sense that your ax will get dull - or in our case our hearts get kinda beat up and unguarded or under developed . . . Only way to sharpen an ax when it's dull is with steel. So lets give this a try.
1. Find a piece of steel 1 friend - ask - share - life
2. Put some effort into it It won't just happen in a couple days, build it and grow that relationship, invest time
3. Let the sparks fly Get down to it, be honest, force next levels of honesty, scrap it out What are you watching? How's your marriage?
4. Do this regularly Don't get honest once and then that's it, gotta keep the ax sharp
3. Look Up - one more idea
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24
Letting God hold that mirror for us as well.
Invite Al Neufeld up - Interview
God has been doing a lot of work in one man's heart among us . . . and I'd like to have him come and join me on stage . . . Al Neufled.
Al, how long have you bee at Lakeview?
Talk to us about your story?
1. When in your life did you start to really look inside?
2. Talk about a time when you looked to someone else to hold the mirror for you?
3. Talk about your journey with God in these past months - what's God been doing?
Folks, men and women, guard your heart, give it some exercise. Step away from doing - so you can be.
Look Inside
Look Outside
Look Up |
