I’m back!

Well, it’s been a while since I have posted a blog. I would ike to say that I have been too busy with things like a new baby and then moving but those are just excuses. I will try to be more up to date with my posts.

A Life of Service

What would you say if you were asked the question: “What does it take to be a good leader?” What would be your first response to this question? Would you say it takes someone who is a visionary? Tactical? Focused? Persuasive? How about likeable or inspirational? What about decisive or ethical? I agree that all of these characteristics are good qualities in a person or even in a leader but they are not the primary qualities of a good leader. In order to fully understand what it takes to be a good leader, we have to look at the greatest leader of all time – Jesus Christ! True leadership is not how nice we are to people, how quick we can make a decision, how persuasive we can be to get someone to buy the next best idea or how inspirational we can be. True leadership is servanthood!

Mark 10:45 states, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Christ, prior to coming as a Jewish baby bound for the cross, was fully God. Christ had all the privileges that were rightly His as King of the universe and He gave them up to become fully man, to live a perfect sinless life, to die an excruciating death on the cross and to be rose again. While He had every right to stay where He was, in a position of power, His love drove Him to a position of physical weakness and pain for the sake of sinful mankind. Mankind can sometimes be a little impersonal. Put it this way, Christ bore the cross for the sake of a sinful you, me, your neighbor, your co-worker and your friends. Replace mankind with your name and it becomes very personal. Christ didn’t come to be adorned with jewels, lots of land or for the riches of the world. He came to a life of service. To be a servant leader.

Can you imagine Jesus, King of Kings who came down from Heaven to serve us, His people? He was a humble King who, before his passion, death and resurrection served with great love, compassion and humility. All of His miracles and healings were not for His own benefit but for the benefit of others. He didn’t heal his own injuries or makes bread out of stone for his own benefit. He healed others of their sicknesses, injuries and plagues. He created fish and bread for others to eat. He washed the feet of His disciples, which is a great example of servant leadership. Jesus lived a life or great leadership by being a servant every day of His ministry and life.

“Ministry” is generally translated to refer to servanthood or service given in love. Serving others is the very essence of ministry. As Christians, we are called to ministry and to be servants for the glory of God. Living is giving, all else is selfishness and boredom. Jesus served us by sacrificing Himself on the cross for our sins and we should serve others by giving the gospel and our lives to them.

Jesus commands us to serve in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The King is asking us to do the best we can with, to use all the gifts we received and to develop those gifts in service to His Kingdom. When we give our best, serving one another, it pleases our King and we are called “faithful servants”.

I have learned over the past several months that a servant attitude is the most important quality in leadership. Our thoughts should not be on how successful I can be today at work or how great I can make myself? Our thoughts should be how can I serve the people in my life today? How can I reach out and care for the people that I will come in contact with today at my office, at school, in the community and at church? Are you a faithful servant? How can you use the gifts God has given you to serve others and to build His Kingdom?

If we do nothing, our results will be nothing. However, if we have a life of service for our friends, family, community and church we will see God do the most amazing things!

Father of 5

Legos of Life

When I was a kid I can remember playing with Legos and trying to build something really cool, like a space ship or a monster truck. Somehow my creations always turned out to look like a brick with wheels and my space ship could never fly. Some people are just better Lego builders than others but one thing is for certain, we are all builders of something. We are all builders of life!

Read Matthew 7:24. “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock”

The first word of this verse is “Everyone”. This means that everyone is a builder - a builder of life. We are all either a wise man or a foolish man. A wise builder or a foolish builder. Do you want to know what separates the two? A wise man hears the teachings of Christ, considers the message and then implements it in his daily life. A foolish man hears the same teachings, considers the same message but stops short of any actual application in his life. Both builders get the same weather report. Both builders know the storm is coming. While the implementer’s home weathers the storm, the note taker’s construction project caves against the wind and downpour.

In Latin, Legos means “I put together” or “I assemble”. How are you putting together life or assembling life? Are you a wise man who implements Jesus into your daily life or do you fall short of actual application? A wise man is someone who builds their life on the bedrock of Jesus and His message of the Kingdom of heaven regardless of the shifting cultural or religious fashions.

I came across a quote from Larry Crabb. “To be a genuine follower of Christ is not to live in a land with no storms but to live in a home that no storm can destroy.” Assemble your life on the rock of Jesus and no storm can destroy it.

Father of 5

Greatness

Read James 2:23 – And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.

Abraham, who had no land, ended up with more land than he could put his eyes upon. Abraham, whose wife was childless and who was into his old age without ever having cribs in the house, ended up with descendents around the world. He was a man at whom the world would have laughed, but he had two things that gave him everything he needed. He had the promises of God, and a belief in those promises. With those two things, he changed not only his world, but our world. God gave to him everything He promised because Abraham believed God’s promise when everything in his life was to the contrary. So what about you and me? Do you believe what you are seeing in your life, or do you believe what God has promised you? Great men are not led by their failures or successes, but by their values and dreams!

Role of a Lifetime

The bible is a very visual book, filled from Genesis to Revelation with symbols, analogies, metaphors and word pictures. In order to help us understand who we are in relationship to God, the bible invites us to role-play an extensive cast of characters that includes occupations, animals and common objects. We are urged to think of ourselves as athletes, soldiers, trees, sheep, builders, fishers, conquerors, artwork, account managers, vine branches, aliens, children, shining stars, prize fighters and ambassadors to name a few. Today I want to discuss being God’s appointed Ambassador.

Did you know that the United States has more than 300 embassies throughout the world from Austria to Zaire? The U.S. embassy is a place of refuge and assistance for U.S. citizens and the residence of the American ambassador to the host country. An ambassador represents U.S. interests and concerns to that country. U.S. ambassadors are to accurately represent U.S. policy and positions, but also build bridges of goodwill to the leaders and citizens of the host country.

We are ambassadors of Christ. Read 2 Corinthians 5:20. We are representatives of His kingdom to those outside it and unfamiliar with it. We are trusted carriers of Christ’s message and empowered reflectors of his character. An ambassador doesn’t seek to impose American rule to the host country. Likewise, being an ambassador of Christ does not call for an overly aggressive stance or subversive approach with unbelievers. We are not spies or undercover agents plotting a coup. We are to love others, live a life glorifying Christ and lead the lost to salvation through Jesus. In this world we are citizens of another Kingdom with orders to so accurately represent our King that it makes others desire to emigrate to its borders.

How are you representing Christ in your home, your neighborhood, your workplace and in your community?

Father of 5

But God…

What are your first thoughts when you read the title to this blog? This is not the defiance you might get when you ask your kids to do something and get a “but Dad…but Mom…” response. This is a picture of great protection and a sovereign relationship with our Lord. Let me paint the picture for you. Read Psalm 3. In one of my earlier posts I discuss some tragedies that befall David due to his sin, including Absalom’s rebellion against David. Absalom is David’s son and revolts against David, causing him to flee his own city. David writes Psalm 3 as he is fleeing his city from Absalom’s rebellion.

The opening of the Psalm lays out a desperate situation for David with the verses repetition of “many”. Many foes. Many are against me. Many are saying. It’s not just that many are out to get him, it’s that one of them is his very son. I contend that Absalom’s rebellion against him hurt more and dug a deeper wound than all the other people combined. Needless to say, David is at the end of his rope. In a pit of despair. He his hurting, lonely, scared and on the run. Yet in all his despair, he is reassured: “But You, O Lord are a shield around me”. Over the next couple of verses, David calls to mind all the ways in which God has cared for him in the past and how he was able in faith to sleep peacefully in the face of danger. It didn’t matter who was against David, God was on his side. David was alone, but God answered his prayers. David was facing thousands, but God will protect and save him.

The same God that protected and delivered David is the same God that can and will protect and deliver you. You may be facing a challenge, but God is a shield around you. You may have many foes out to get you, but God is your glory. You may be hurting, scared and on the run but God is your Savior, your redeemer and your protector.

When trouble tries to intervene in our lives, faith interrupts with a “But God…”

Pictures of Jackson

More pictures of Jackson James can be seen online at www.our365.com. You can find his pictures by our customer number (37231286485517) and our last name (Gasek). You can look at the pictures taken at the hospital and even buy prints.

Father of 5