Before it's too late...

I met a man in his late 70's yesterday. He started telling me a story that had a predictable ending.

A number of years ago, he and his wife were invited to a gathering of friends in a neighboring state. It was a class reunion, a wedding or some type of birthday celebration. He looked at his wife and said, "Let's go!" Her response was, "I can't. I have to work that weekend."

They planned on going a couple of months later to see their "friend." Wouldn't you know it... something came up at work and they had to delay their plans one more time.

Once again they set up a time to visit. A few weeks before their anticipated departure word came to them that their friend had passed away.

His stare was intense as he looked at me through his thick lensed glasses and quizzically proposed this thought... "Your business will give you three days off to go to a funeral, but they won't give you time off to see your friends while they are alive."

My iWitness...

"This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it!" (Psalm 118. 24)

I am not a fatalist by any stretch of the imagination.

But..

Let me ask you to consider this challenge for the week ahead...

You have people in your life that you admire, respect, love, care for and appreciate.
When was the last time you told them so?

How about this week we spend the time rejoicing in the day that the Lord has made by sharing our love and care with those people who have had a positive impact on our life.

We could text... email... phone... Skype... Facetime...write a letter and send it through snail mail... send flowers... offer a gift...write a post-it-note...trace a heart on a steamed filled mirror...

Let's be creative and let our love shine with the ones we love...

Before it's too late...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

Just say "No"

I mentioned the other day that a friend of mine in ministry was being "drained dry." I suggested to my friend that perhaps she was saying, "Yes" to too many things and that maybe, just maybe she should try saying, "No" a little bit more.

I received an email from her yesterday that was all lit up with capital letters and exclamation points about how incredible she felt because she had said, "No" twice, count em... not just once, but two times that day she had said, "No" to someone or some request.

She commented on how she had discovered a new sense of freedom. Woohoo!!

My iWitness...

Jesus had to face this dilemma on a daily basis...

When to say "yes" and when to say "no."

Where to minister... where not to minister...

Who to heal... who not to heal...

Who to see... who not to see...

What to do... what not to do...

Most of us live with a mindset that we want to do the right things, say the right things, please the most people as much as we possibly can and say "yes" as much as possible.

This is a great way to live our life.

But...

And that's a big BUT... there are times when we have to say, "no."
I am afraid my coworkers are going to read this post and when I ask them to do something today they are all going to say in unison, "NO!"

Seriously, it is all about recognizing within ourselves that we all have limitations.

We cannot be all things to all people at all times.

Sometimes that is hard for us to grasp.

If the Savior of the world had limitations and boundaries which He had to respect why would we think we are any different?

It just might be that by saying "no" more will lead to us having the joy of saying "yes" more!

So... here's the challenge of the day...

Will you say "yes" to saying "no" today?

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. (Matthew 5. 37)

Weenie

I had the pleasure of being in the passenger seat while Julie was driving the minivan to church with Faith and Joshua riding in the back last night.
For some reason I remembered this most lame joke from 5th grade and I thought I would try it out on the kids.
After getting everyone's attention I said, "What did Tarzan say when he saw the elephants coming?"
Joshua shouted out, "Weenie!"
I was speechless as the rest of the car broke out laughing.
I tried to be the "adult" in the car and responded with a serious, "Weenie? What are you talking about?"
Julie couldn't resist the moment at hand and since I had opened the door she decided to walk on through. She punched me in the arm and said, "Weenie... like... You are a Weenie!"
Faith and Joshua's laughter was uncontrollable as was Julie's and within a nanosecond so was mine.

My iWitness...

Do you ever wonder if the disciples along with Jesus during their three year run of hanging out together had moments like that?

All thirteen of them  are gathered around the campfire and Jesus is talking to them about serving and being faithful to the call and then all of a sudden Phillip rips one (passes gas) sending the disciples into hysterics and more potty jokes for about ten minutes while Jesus is sitting there laughing and thinking, "What have I gotten myself into here...?" (By the way... for the uninformed... when you get a group of men together... any group of men together... for any length of time... the aforementioned scenario will... and I repeat... "WILL" take place and uproarious laughter will ensue. It's the way God made us!)

Even Jesus had a sense of humor as found in Matthew 7 - “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ⁹ Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?"

Verses 9 and 10 is classic 1st century humor... "ask for bread and you give him a stone?" This is major "LOL, ROFL!" The disciples are slapping the dirt at this point begging Jesus to stop and get back to the serious stuff.

Those spontaneous moments of humor and laughter are worth treasuring.
May the seriousness of your day...be broken up with a back slapping humorous situation...
May the seriousness of your day...be interrupted with the contagious, hysterical laughter of someone nearby...
May the seriousness of your day...be suspended by that moment that hangs in the air for that one nanosecond before you bust a gut laughing...

Who knows... maybe you will get the party started by punching someone in the arm and saying, "You are a Weenie!"

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

ps - For those of you who skipped 5th grade humor, let me have the joy of completing the joke..

David - "What did Tarzan say when he saw the elephants coming?"
You - "I don't know... what did Tarzan say when he saw the elephants coming?"
David - The elephants are coming!"
The joke continues...
David - "What did the elephants say when they saw Tarzan coming?"
You - "Tarzan is coming!"
David - "Elephants can't talk!!" LOL!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Aren't you glad the Joshua stopped the madness before I could even tell the joke in its entirety!!

Suicide in Ohio

 

Ariel Castro

Today's headline reads...
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The man who held three women captive in his home for nearly a decade before one escaped has been found dead and is believed to have committed suicide, a prison official said.
Ariel Castro, 53, was found hanging in his cell around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, located south of Columbus in central Ohio, JoEllen Smith, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman, said early Wednesday.


My iWitness...

I am wondering how you react to such news...

Which camp do you find yourself in?

1. He got off easy by killing himself.

2. I hope he rots in hell.

3. This is so sad. I wish he would have seen that redemption was possible even after his horrific acts.

4. At least he saved the Ohio taxpayers a lot of money from having to take care of him for the rest of his life.

5. Why wasn't someone watching him more closely? I wanted him to experience the same hellish captivity he put those three women through.

6. Sweet justice!

7.  The three women he held in captivity will now live in peace knowing that he is no longer alive.

8. I have no doubt that the unsurpassing love and grace of God has saved him and he now rests comfortably in the heavenly kingdom, to live forever and ever in the company of the saints that have gone on before him.

9. Whatever... he's dead. Let's move on!

I am sure there are more than the nine camps I listed above...

It is a worthy exercise to take a moment and examine and examine again and again, "How do I really feel about this? Is there any scripture that supports or challenges my thoughts and feelings?"

Our reaction to such news just may say more about us than it ever says about Ariel.

If Ariel Castro was my brother or my father or my son would I feel differently?

Wherever we stand, this stark reality exists... the man named Ariel Castro that God so perfectly knitted together 53 years ago in his mother's womb is now dead.

Where is Ariel now?

God only knows...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” ⁵ And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself." (Matthew 27. 3-5)

Day by Day...

Crystal Lake Caves

Labor Day marked the unofficial last day of summer. Yes...I know that summer doesn't officially end until September 21st. However, with the beginning of football, a chill in the morning air and the leaves on the trees starting to announce the annual transition with a little bit of color change, the summer is now officially over in the Dendy household.

The other reason summer is over in the Dendy household is because we completed one last item on the "Summer Bucket List" yesterday by going to the "Crystal Lake Caves."

Walking underground through the caves was an amazing experience. At a constant temperature of 51 degrees we were fascinated by the formations of the stalactites and the stalagmites.

Stalactites are formed from the ceiling down.
Stalagmites are formed from the ground up.

More than likely stalactites and stalagmites form right above and below one another as the daily addition of water dripping from the one above helps form the stalagmite from below.

In reality these two formation are getting closer to actually touching each other day by day...

My iWitness...

In theological circles the idea and the reality of people becoming closer to God and more Christ-like day by day is called "sanctification."

For those of us who grew up learning about the Christian Faith through the "Westminster Shorter Catechism", question 35 looked like this...

XXXV. Question. What is sanctification?
Answer. Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man, after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.

(Please forgive the non-inclusive language. The Shorter Catechism was completed in 1647. Being sensitive with inclusive language hadn't been invented yet.)

With the work of God's free grace dripping down day by day, we are constantly being built up.

With each further and further grace inducing reach, we are reaching further and further up, until the day will come when we will actually touch... and be one...with the Father.

Until then we live with full confidence that we are being sanctified, slowly but surely... day by day.

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

" And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1. 6)

Drained Dry...

I received an email yesterday from a dear friend who is integrally involved in the ministry of her church as a staff person.
She has come to a place where all of us in ministry have been...

Call it what you will... but the dire result and painful experience is the same...

The Dry Riverbed of ministry...
The empty well..
The shallow end of the pool...
The desert experience while being surrounded by the forest...
The glass isn't half empty or even half full... it's just plain empty!
The water spigot is turned all the way on, but nothing but little drops dribble out...
The vessel in which God has poured His Living Water is totally dehydrated...

In the painful words of my friend... She is "drained dry from helping and doing."

Take heart my dear friend...
You are not alone...
You're in the same company of another good friend of mine...
His name is Jesus...

My iWitness...

The fourth chapter of the Gospel of John captures the story of Jesus arriving in Samaria (enemy territory of the Jews at the time).
Listen to John's witness..."Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour."

Did you hear those telling words?
Jesus was wearied from his journey.
Jesus got tired.
Jesus had to take time to rest.
Jesus had to take time out so that he would be refreshed and ready to do ministry.

There is a reason God rested on the 7th day! He was TIRED!!
There is a reason Jesus sat down by the well. He was TIRED!!

There is a reason we are "drained dry!" We are TIRED!!
There is a reason we are TIRED!!

We don't know how to REST!!!
Listen to the voices that surround us when we...
take a day off...
take a nap...
take some time to wander aimlessly around the mall...
Do the words, "lazy, slacker, unmotivated" and the like come to mind?

So... what do we do...?
We work and we work and we work just knowing that when we work and work and work we shall be congratulated, promoted and achieve the success that makes all of our friends envious.

Can you say, "BS" with me on that?

Early on in my ministry I remember a wise old lady telling me, "David, you have got to take time to fill in order to spill." If we are the chosen vessel that God uses to minister to and serve others then we need to make and take the time to "fill up" in order to "spill out."

We love to "spill!"
Rarely do we take the time to "fill."

How often do we read about Jesus taking time to go out alone to pray, to be by himself so that he could "fill" in order to "spill?"

The answer is.... A lot!

If you are really industrious, check out the four Gospel accounts of what Jesus was doing on the day before Palm Sunday.

Guess what the answer is?

NOTHING!!

It was the Sabbath! He was resting! He was getting filled up for what would be the biggest week of his life and ministry!

Feeling "drained dry?"
Be intentional about taking time to fill up on the living water of the Holy Spirit.
Don't be apologetic!
You are simply doing what Jesus did all the time...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶ But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray." (Luke 5. 15-16)

Just the two of us...

 

Joshua Knox Dendy

Julie has been working all weekend. As much as I miss having her around, the weekends where she works affords me the great privilege of solely being with Faith and Joshua.

I dropped Faith off at a "Fashion Show" birthday party at 1:00 yesterday and for the rest of the afternoon it was an incredible day with my son, Joshua.

We went to the tire store to get my leaky tire fixed. While it was being fixed we walked hand in hand across the highway to Wal-Mart. Walking around Wal-Mart is always an adventure!! We bought a bicycle tube for Joshua's flat tire and two cans of wasp and hornet spray for the yellow jackets which are determined to find a home on my home and we played basketball with the basketball hoop in the store (much to the dismay of a particular Wal-Mart employee).

Ninety minutes later we were on the road again to the Kennedy Mall! We always have to walk through "Dick's Sporting Goods" when we go to the Mall. We bought a tennis racket for Joshua and now it was time to eat a late lunch at "Pretzelworks."

While I was eating my "pretzel dog" and Joshua was eating his big pretzel with nacho cheese sauce, Joshua offered these words, "Dad... I really like it when we spend time together... just the two of us."

My iWitness...

How easy it is for us to get distracted!
Work...
Hobbies...
Workout routines...
Email...
Internet searches...
Writing blogs!!!!!!
Household chores...
Community commitments...
Friends...
Paying bills...

I wonder how many times God says to us, but we just don't hear it because we are so "busily distracted".... "I really like it when we spend time together... just the two of us."

God longs to...
Hear your voice...
Feel the touch of your face with His hands...
Smell the aroma of your soul...
Taste the grace and love that has washed over you...
See the delight in your eyes as you see the delight in His...

How about we take the time to spend some time with God today... just the two of us!

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!
"Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46. 10)