The Parable of the Blackberry

So here I am again, waiting out another layover at Chicago O'Hare International on my way to Ottawa, Ontario for business. In case you've been wondering why I haven't posted a parable in nearly 6 months, there's really a very good reason ... and no, I'm not lazy (ok, maybe a little). Right after my last parable post (circa August 2007) I accepted a new position at Nortel. It was an amazing opportunity that just fell into my lap and one that I couldn't pass up. But the amazing opportunity came at a price. I've been working a lot more hours and have had to travel internationally quite a bit. So far it hasn't been too bad. My family seems to have adjusted well to the travel and I haven't burned myself out just yet.

One perk that came with the new role was that I could expense a media-rich device so that I'd have access to a phone, email, text messaging ... all that stuff ... while on the road. I decided on the Research In Motion (RIM) Blackberry Curve (8310). At first it was awesome; I mean, I'm a gadget geek to the core so any new tech toy I could play with was definitely a positive for me. For example, while stranded here at Chicago O'Hare I can:

• Call home and talk with my kids
• Check my work and personal email
• Browse the internet
• Text message with co-workers
• Listen to music / watch videos
• Locate local attractions with built in GPS
  

But again, all of this comes at a cost. Sure, my company reimburses me for the monthly service charges but because they do, they also expect me to be available 24x7. The same benefits I listed above that enrich my life, are also used by my company to keep a grip on me. It's like I have a thousand mile leash ... I can run, but sooner or later they're going to come calling and yank that telephonic cord that's attached to my hip. So it's really a blessing and a cursing.

Pretty much how I feel about my Blackberry 8310 (Dude, cut the cord) - photo compliments of Flickr.com

But as I'm composing this parable about my Blackberry, it's made me think about the other 'always on' connections I have in my life. For example, on a more positive note, I will always be there for my family. And in like manner, God is always there for His family. In Deuteronomy 31:6 we are reminded that, "... the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you." So it doesn't matter where you're at or what time of day it is, God will always be there for you to talk to, to confide in, to provide comfort and peace. And one of the best ways to take advantage of this 'always on' connection is through a healthy prayer life. But I always hear, "Aaron, I just don't know how to pray ... so I don't." Well today we're going to unpack this communication with God thing that we call prayer.

So WHEN is the right time to pray? Well scripture tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to "pray continually." Now I know what you're saying, "How in the world am I supposed to pray all the time everywhere I go? I mean I've got to eat sometime don't I? Surely God doesn't want me praying with my mouth full (that ain't nuthin' but nasty). And I've got to sleep ... surely God doesn't want me talking in my sleep. And I drive a lot ... surely God doesn't want me driving with my eyes closed, right?" Well praying continually isn't about being on your knees with your eyes closed 24x7. Don't get me wrong, bowing or kneeling in prayer are great ways to honor our Creator by humbling ourselves. But it's not about praying every second of every day ... it's more of a mindset (or "heartset"). See God just wants to hear from us ... what's going on in our lives, the things we can praise him for, the things we need His help with, and how we'd like Him to help others too.

Next, HOW do should we pray? We try to make prayer into this formula or masterpiece with complex vocabulary when Jesus really had something totally different in mind. Mattew 6:6-7 reminds us, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words." You see it's not about the kind of words we use or how we can win a pray-a-thon ("I prayed 93 minutes straight without messing up!"), it's about the special intimate connection we have with God, an unbreakable connection through prayer ... dialog that is totally unscripted and comes from the heart.

So we've covered the WHEN and the HOW, but have you ever asked yourself, WHY do I pray? I think we’re a lot like a few of the disciples that were with Jesus one night in the garden of Gethsemane. You see Jesus brought these disciples with him because he knew that the next day he would be crucified on the cross and that thought was so heavy for Jesus to bear that he needed his friends there with him to pray for him. So Jesus left and he came back an hour later only to find his friends asleep and he looked at them and said, “Couldn’t you guys even stay awake for one hour to pray for me?” and then he said to Peter: “Watch and pray that you don’t fall into temptation for the spirit is willing but the body is weak.” See Jesus knew the answer to why we pray. You see because when we pray we have this amazing ability to tap into God’s power and Jesus knew that if the disciples would just pray that they could fight temptation. And not only can prayer help you to fight temptation but in James 5:16 it says, “For the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective.” So my question to you is this: What if you prayed and what if God did something amazing through YOUR prayers?

The power of prayer is real and it can change lives. But how does prayer relate to your life, I mean you've only spent the last few minutes reading about prayer in this blog but what does it mean for you? Well, maybe for some of you, you need to make a decision and say God I’m going to pray to you continually. Maybe for some of you you struggle with the knowledge of how to pray ... you might not know what to say or how to start. So maybe you just need to drive in your car or go for a walk and talk to God like he was your best friend. In reality that’s all God really desires. You can say, "God, I’m so depressed right now" or "God, I hurt so bad inside right now and no one understands it" or "My parents are getting a divorce and I have no one to talk to, I just want to talk to you God." Perhaps maybe for you you are struggling with temptation with something that has this grip on you. In Psalms it says, “God I called on you and you healed me.” Maybe you just need to call out to God and say "I've got this thing in my life that’s got a grip on me and I need your help God" or maybe you need to go to a trusted friend or parent or church leader and say I just need you to pray for me.

But for others of you you need to pray the most important prayer in your life. The bible is very clear that whoever calls on the name of Lord will be saved. You see Jesus knew how important it was to pray. In fact, when he hung on the cross, Jesus’ last words were a prayer. And immediately following that prayer Jesus died so that you an I could have life. So right now, if you want to accept Jesus as your personal savior just pray this little prayer in your HEART (the words themselves mean nothing; its believing them in your heart that's important) ...

"Dear Lord, I believe you lived a sinless life, you died and rose from the dead. I know and confess that I am a sinner and am lost without you. I ask you to forgive my sins and come into my heart. I give my life to you and want to live for you the rest of my life. I thank you Lord and praise you. Please guide me and direct me for the rest of my life! In Jesus name I pray, Amen."

Welcome to the family ... and just so you know, God doesn't need GPS technology to know where you are and He certainly doesn't need high tech gadgets to communicate with you. Prayer is our 'always on' connection with our Almighty Father in Heaven.

The Parable of the Good Shepard

I'll let the video speak for itself.



There is nothing our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, can't rescue us from. There's nothing He isn't willing to help us with or forgive us for when our heart cries out to Him. He is our great redeemer and friend who desperately wants to grow in a relationship with YOU starting right now. Invite Jesus to be the Lord of your life today. All praise, glory and honor be to our King.

The Parable of the Skittles

My fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Please don’t be offended from what I’m about to say. I implore you not to judge me but rather keep an open mind. THIS blog, THIS parable-haven ... is a “safe place”. Okay, here I go. I … LOVE … SKITTLES. There, I said it. Oh and you heard me right. I love Skittles, every bite-sized candy piece is bursting forth with a rainbow of fruit flavor: lemon, lime, orange, strawberry, and grape. You see as a kid growing up I used to like Starburst Fruit Chews. Those were good too. But in today’s go-go-go, feed-me-now society, I just don’t have the time to unwrap each individually wrapped piece of Starburst. With Skittles you get the same mouthwatering fruity taste without all that unwrapping. It’s “candy on-demand”. Just talking about them makes me wish I had some right now. You’re all probably wondering where I’m going with this whole Skittles thing. Well hang on ‘cause we’re not done yet.

I want to tell you a story and yes it too involves Skittles. When the Disney-Pixar movie “Cars” came out, Kristy and I decided to take Nathan and Brooke to go see it at the dollar theater. I took the afternoon off from work and met the family there. We purchased our tickets and of course we had a bag of Skittles to share. Now Nathan was going through this time in his life where he wanted “his own” of everything … his own bowl of popcorn, his own bag of pretzels, his own box of race cars. So the Skittles were no different. I should have had the foresight to bring individual baggies with the Skittles already disseminated equally. But there were a million others things on our minds just in trying to get out the door on time. At any rate, the movie was starting and Nathan had the bag of Skittles in his possession. I was thinking to myself, when he tries to open the bag there’s a good chance these Skittles are going to explode everywhere, scattered to the four corners of the movie theater. So I asked him, “Nathan, may I have some of your Skittles?” He thought for about a picosecond and then responded, “No, I don’t think so.” Quite a few things flashed through my mind at that point but the following 4 statements about sum them up:

1. Doesn’t he know that technically those Skittles are already mine because the money we used to pay for them came from my paycheck?
2. Doesn’t he know I could just forcibly take those Skittles away from him? I mean, I’m bigger, I’m certainly stronger and if I wanted to I could reach right over there and disarm him of the Skittles.
3. Doesn’t he know that I’m not asking for something that he doesn’t already have in his possession? I mean, the Skittles are right there. There in his lap. I didn’t ask him for some Junior Mints or Jujy Fruits.
4. Doesn’t he know how much I love him and that I want to give him 10x the number of Skittles he has right now. I just want him to trust me and have faith to share just a bit of what he currently has in his possession.

You know the same reality applies to our lives as well. God has given all of us some Skittles. He looks at you and me and says, “I’d like some Skittles. Would you give me some Skittles? I just want a few back.” But many of us defiantly say, “No God, they’re mine. I worked hard for these Skittles.” And God asks again, “Can I please have some Skittles?” And we still respond, “No, they’re mine.” And like my son Nathan, many of us don’t understand these 4 Skittles Principles:

Skittles Principle #1

When we say that God owns everything, we are acknowledging his rights as creator in accordance with the Scriptures. The Bible says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1). Whatever we have has come from the Lord’s hand, and only indirectly by our earning it (1 Chronicles 29:14). Our wealth belongs to us in the same way that the Skittles belonged to my son. The Skittles actually belonged to me, but Nathan was given temporary, accountable charge over it. This is especially the case for Christians, who have been bought at the price of Jesus’ death. Our lives and all our stuff is utterly at the disposal of God who bought us with the blood of His Son. Which brings us to the second Skittles Principle …

Skittles Principle #2

I’m sure we are all pretty familiar with the Old Testament story of Job. In case you’re a little foggy on the details, I’ll give you the Cliffs Notes version. Job had everything going for him. He was a very affluent man in his day. In fact, if Job lived in modern times I’m sure we’d see his 6,000 sq. ft. tent on MTV Cribs and perhaps his camel driver on ‘Pimp My Ride’. But God allowed Satan to take everything from Job: first his property, next his family, then his health. But despite all of this hardship Job still refused to curse God. He makes a powerful realization that everything is God’s. He declared, “the LORD giveth and the LORD taketh away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21). Which leads me to the third principle …

Skittles Principle #3

There have been times in my life where I have been afraid … afraid that if I lost my job I wouldn’t have the money to be able to take care of my family (and as a bread winner, that’s important to me) … afraid that I wouldn’t have the money to enjoy simple pleasures in life like getting a haircut or going to the movies. But I learned that my fear was exposing a lack of faith on my part. After all, if I were to lose my job, I don’t believe that God would expect me to put my family’s well-being in jeopardy by giving at the same level I had previously while employed. But while currently employed and being blessed in that regard, I want to respond positively to God’s request for some Skittles back, “Here you go God. Thank you for blessing me with these Skittles. I know they are all yours anyway.” In 2 Corinthians 9:6 we are instructed to: “Remember this … remember this … Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” This is one of those verses that we hear so many times that we may actually forget what it really means. You know I never lived on a farm, but I can still understand the principles of sowing and reaping a crop. It’s simple economics. I can’t possibly think that I’m going to haul in a bountiful harvest if I only sprinkle a couple seeds over here and maybe a few over there. Paul goes on to write in verse 7, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” It doesn’t stipulate 1% or 10% or 100% … whatever a person has decided in their heart to give and most importantly cheerfully. And our fourth and final principle is …

Skittles Principle #4

I have no doubt in my mind that God wants to prosper us. In fact, in Malachi 3:10 God makes a promise to faithful givers. He says, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test.” You know from time to time, I makes bets with my wife, Kristy. But I only bet on sure things … when I am absolutely positive that I’m right. And God is challenging us to do the same thing here. God is a god of his word and He’s just asking us to trust Him. Give faithfully and He will surely bless us. It’s a sure thing, done deal.

Let’s get back to the story of Job because I kind of left that hanging back at Skittles Principle #2. This is how the story wraps up … After losing just about everything, God made Job prosperous again but not just as rich as before. God blessed Job with twice as much property, a larger more beautiful family, and he lived out his days healthier than before. Just like Job, God wants to increase our prosperity; He’s just asking for a little faith in Him by giving back.

By now I’m sure you’ve realized that I’m talking about the dreaded topic of Stewardship. (*Duck* - ok, who threw that?) But this shouldn’t be a topic that makes anyone uncomfortable. Remember, this is a parable-haven … THIS is a safe place.

So what does God want us to do with the “Skittles” He has given us? The Bible gives a number of answers to this question, including saving (Proverbs 6:6-8), investing (Matthew 25:14-30), providing for family (Proverbs 13:22), staying out of debt (Proverbs 22:7; Romans 13:8) and more. But the Bible gives special attention to one use in particular: giving. To give (especially to the poor) is equivalent to lending to the Lord (Proverbs 19:17). To give (especially to the poor) is equivalent to investing your money in heaven itself (Luke 12:33). Giving is the fitting response to God’s gift of his Son to us (2 Corinthians 8:7-9). Giving (especially to our enemies) is a way of imitating the redeeming love of God (Luke 6:35).

In the end, each of us will give an account to the Lord for how we handled his stuff in the time we had on earth. Another important reason to give In 2 Corinthians 9:11 it is written that “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion …” God allows us to prosper so that we in turn can be generous with our stuff in thanksgiving to Him. In 1 Corinthians 16:2 Paul also instructs the church in Corinth, “On the first day of every week [Sunday], each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.” Now if you ask me that sounds like a plug for the ‘Automatic Monthly Donation Plan’. I’m only kidding. Well half-kidding. I was tired of scrambling to find a pen and my checkbook buried in my briefcase. Anyone who’s ever sat next to my family in services will undoubtedly recall my frantic pleas for a writing implement … “a pen, a pen … my kingdom for a pen.”

Stay the course, finish the race ... AB

(Next Month: The Parable of the New Fence)