The Maker's Dozen

The last several posts have kind of been in serious teaching mode.
It's time for a little lighter reading, so I'll reminisce a bit.

When I went away to college, it was the first time I'd ever lived away from home. I was 17 years old when I arrived on campus, 60 miles from my hometown in Nebraska. My 18th birthday came a couple of weeks after school started. I didn't know too many people, so I was pretty depressed on that day. I really didn't feel like walking around cheerfully announcing, "Hi, my name's Dan. Today's my birthday!" I felt alone and unimportant - and cranky.

To make matters worse, an upperclassman shared my birthday. Everywhere I went all day long, "Happy Birthday Darin" was chalked on the sidewalk and posted on walls.. My mood just kept getting blacker. Thankfully, my friend Randy - whom I'd known for all of two weeks - found out it was my birthday and mobilized a group of students to cheer me up. Somebody got a cake and they had a little party for me. It seems pretty insignificant now, but it was huge to me back then. (Randy and I remain good friends all these years later.)

Like all "itty-bitty freshmen", I had to learn where to go and what to do. I did have a bit of an advantage, because my sister had been attending that college for a couple of years. The year before, I had occasionally gone to a Bible study at a house across the street from the campus, where I met a few of the students. But I still had to experience the learning curve associated with being on my own for the first time. No one else was going to make sure I got enough sleep 
(I didn't), made it to classes on time or did my homework. I was responsible for my own behavior and choices. And I had to learn some lessons the hard way. (For example, I learned to never schedule an English grammar class at 7:30 in the morning...)


One of the classes I took that first semester was choral music. I had enjoyed singing in the chorus throughout junior high and high school and looked forward to singing with a group in college. 
And this was a low risk activity - I didn't have to try out and take a chance of being rejected. If you signed up, you were in. The school had several singing groups one could try out for, but I did NOT intend to do so. I had no confidence in my abilities - I had always been the kid who was just not quite good enough, the one picked last on the team. I was comfortable being one of a hundred voices in the choir, and had no desire to move beyond that comfort zone. 
But God had different plans...


My first day in choir, a girl I'd met at the Bible study across the street made a beeline for me. Louann asked me to come and try out for the singing group she was in. I protested that I didn't think I was good enough, that I hadn't even considered trying out, and any other excuse I could come up with. She would not be dissuaded. She pretty much took me by the arm and dragged me up to the classroom to try out. She saw something in me that I couldn't see, potential I had no idea was there.

Next thing I knew, I was part of the "Maker's Dozen". (Clever name, huh?) I had no idea what I was in for. In retrospect, I believe the main reason God sent me to this particular school was to be involved in this group. I learned so much: group dynamics, how to improvise harmonies, organizational skills, and trusting God for provision. Honestly, the lessons I learned in class were insignificant compared to what I learned as part of the Maker's Dozen.


As the name implies, the group consisted of 12 college students, fairly evenly divided between male & female. We were an officially recognized college organization, student directed and led. The first couple of months were a whirlwind of activity. We spent lots of time selecting songs, developing arrangements and harmonies, learning each others' strengths and weaknesses, and rehearsing. We learned how to share our faith publicly, and how to trust each other. And we bought fabric and sewed matching costumes. Here's what we looked like:

This photo was actually from my second year in the group, so I was 19 years old. I'm in the back row, far left. Be thankful this picture is in black & white - just look at that fabric! Those shirts were vintage '70s garish. At least the vests and dresses were a solid color, kind of a sky blue. In keeping with our very modest budget, we also designed and hand-colored our promotional posters, which is where this picture came from. (Amazing that I still have one of these!) The complete poster looked like this:

Finally, around Thanksgiving, we started performing publicly. We sang in churches, schools and nursing homes, prisons and city missions. We ministered to youth groups and in senior centers. The schedule started out kind of slowly until after winter break. The second semester we traveled nearly every weekend to towns all over the Midwest, with a major trip over spring break. I was in Maker's Dozen two years, and in that time we drove through 35 states. My first year our big trip was to New Jersey and New York. The second year's trip was to Arizona and southern California. Who knows how many miles we logged in college vans?

While the school did provide vehicles, we were expected to raise support for gas and expenses through freewill offerings. We stayed with host families who fed and lodged us, and tried to study as we drove down the road. Most of all, we learned to present Christ publicly, not just with our words but with our actions. We had to really love one another, overlooking quirks and flaws as we cared about each other. Each of us had opportunity to speak publicly at times, and to demonstrate the love of Jesus by the way we behaved when we weren't on stage.


One valuable life lesson was that ministry is truly about God, not us. He's responsible for results - we simply have to be faithful and available to do our part. Here's a story to illustrate what I mean:

We were traveling through Iowa toward the end of the school year. Offerings hadn't been very good, and we were concerned that we'd end up in the red, with no money set aside for the next year's startup costs. So we prayed about it before our last concert of the trip, telling God how much we needed a good response.


The church was a mainline denomination, with mostly older people attending the service. They didn't look very happy to see us in our bright costumes, bringing (gasp) guitars into the sanctuary! Throughout the concert, they sat with arms folded, politely applauding but not too enthusiastic. And we flopped - forgetting words, harmonies not quite right, stammering and stuttering. We were embarrassed, and felt as if we'd really failed God, and at the worst possible time!


After the concert, we visited with people, prepared to apologize for our lackluster performance. And to our surprise, they were so complimentary, telling us how wonderful it had been, how they really sensed the Holy Spirit in our presentation, how much they'd enjoyed the whole concert. We were thinking, "were you even in the same room?" And this wasn't just polite talk - when the offering was counted up, it was the largest single gift we'd received the entire year! It was more than enough to pay the remaining bills, with a good amount to bank for the next year.


God really built our faith that day. We learned it wasn't about our performance - it's about Him! 
Oh, He desires excellence, that we should share our gifts freely and do our very best. But staying connected to Him is the real key. Lessons like this have stayed with me throughout my life. 
I've been involved in some sort of public ministry ever since, just doing what I do and trusting God to bring fruit from my labors. I'm so thankful that God changed my plans all those years ago.

Cross Training: Conclusion

The past couple of weeks I've been examining No Greater Love Ministries' discipleship program called Cross Training. We looked at four essential disciplines for living a Christian life:
Study, Prayer, Fellowship and Witness. As you learn to practice these things in your life, you'll grow in understanding and in commitment to the Lord.

The purpose of No Greater Love (NGL) is to train men in righteousness, to raise them up to be faithful disciples of Christ, capable of leading others to Him. I've been involved with NGL for nearly 25 years, and it has changed my life. Because of the training I've received from NGL, I'm no longer a timid, undisciplined Christian. I have learned how to live my faith boldly, but also with humility. And I've enjoyed lifelong relationships with brothers who love me and also hold me accountable.

It's important to learn to share our faith with others so we can help fulfill the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:19)  No Greater Love uses mission trips to major national events as a tool to draw men closer to Christ. I've been on dozens of these events, including the Kentucky Derby, the Indianapolis 500, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Street Machine Nationals and the VP Fair in St. Louis. Currently NGL makes annual trips to Mardi Gras and to the Indy 500. As we step out and witness for Jesus Christ, men get out of their comfort zones and find they have to trust God to guide, direct and protect them. And as He provides what they need, their faith grows.

On these trips, everyone is assigned to a small group of 6 to 8 men. A typical group has an experienced, proven leader who has been to several NGL events, an assistant leader who is there to help the men learn and grow (and to develop his own leadership skills), and several guys on their first or second trip, who generally didn't know each other before joining the group.

Everything happens in the context of these groups. The guys eat together, pray and share in small group sessions, train in evangelism methods, then go out on the street and minister with each other. Intense sharing with one another builds trust. The leader is provided group questions that can help the men deal with issues and problems in their lives. The idea is to get guys to drop their "good Christian" mask and honestly share their struggles and faults, the areas in which they need help. When this happens, men grow in their faith and find that Jesus is all sufficient to meet every need. Just as the Bible promises, as they confess their sins and failures and pray for each other, God brings healing and victory. (James 5:16)

On the street, we use several different methods to present the gospel. One way we share our faith is through clown ministry. Each group is outfitted in clown suits and makeup. Then they learn a simple clown skit and a couple of easy songs, get some smiley tracts and Jesus Loves You stickers and head out to a parade. We try to arrive an hour or two before the parade starts, when people are sitting around waiting for something to happen. When our groups show up, people are happy to see the clowns. The guys pose for pictures, pass out tracts and stickers, sing and perform the "Chicken and Farmer" clown skit. At the end of this skit, the farmer invites those watching to pray and commit to Christ. Everybody in the group gets to be the farmer at least once. Clowning is a very easy, non-confrontational way to begin sharing your faith.

Another way we reach out is through passing out gospel tracts. There are hundreds of different tracts available. NGL uses two - the Smile, Jesus Loves You one is aimed at children and is primarily used when clowning. The main tract used in street distribution is called The Big Question. This question is, "If you were to die this minute, do you have the assurance that you would go to heaven?". This tract is a very simple way to get people thinking about eternity. The back of the tract includes the Four Spiritual Laws: 1) God loves you. 2) But you have sinned, causing separation from God. 3) Jesus died for you. 4) You must repent and receive Him. Following that is a brief prayer of repentance and commitment.

When passing tracts, it's really important to smile and enjoy what you're doing. We have Good News to share, and want others to receive it. The goal is to get gospel literature into people's hands and pockets, and trust God to use it in their lives. Some guys use the tract to start conversations with people, which leads to the next NGL witnessing method: one on one sharing.

The idea of one on one witnessing is to hold a conversation with random people on the street and discuss spiritual things. The goal is to present the gospel effectively and to give the Holy Spirit opportunity to convict them and draw them into His Kingdom. There are a lot of ways to initiate contact. As mentioned, some like to start with the Big Question tract, asking bypassers how they'd answer the question. Others look for some kind of common ground to start a conversation. For example, some guys enjoy ministering to bikers or to veterans or maybe to parents with kids. Another interesting way to initiate one on one encounters is to simply stand holding a sign or a Bible and wait for people to approach you. One sign that's been effective lately simply asks, "Need Prayer?" It's amazing how often people will approach you with prayer needs, which opens up a conversation about God and His ways. Of course, it's important to pray with them as promised.

Big signs and a large cross are featured in another way we present the gospel: Marching. When we march, several of the small groups combine to form a column of 50 or 100 or more men, three abreast. At the front of the march is a cross, carried by men who rotate in and out periodically. Carrying the cross is a moving, emotional experience which gives just a little of the sensation of what Jesus suffered for us. Preference is given to men who have not done this before, followed by veterans. The cross also is a bold statement to onlookers.

Sprinkled throughout the marchers are large signs proclaiming the gospel with phrases such as Jesus Heals Broken Hearts, The Holy Bible -  It's True, and Jesus Saves From Hell. These signs leave no doubt as to who we are or what we stand for.

As we march, we sing. A songleader helps keep everyone together with help from designated singers scattered throughout the march. We favor songs that are simple and direct, such as Amazing Grace, Jesus Loves Me, and He Paid A Debt. Marching through the midst of the partiers is a powerful way to publicly proclaim Jesus, engaging people visually through the cross and signs and aurally with singing.

Another method of witnessing is street Preaching. In this, each man is given the opportunity to share their faith publicly. Many guys find this very intimidating. It certainly gets them beyond their comfort zone. But we often allow fear make this a lot harder than it has to be. Really, it's just a matter of reading a passage of Scripture or sharing one's personal testimony. It doesn't have to be loud, long or polished - faithful and obedient is all that's really necessary.

One more way we take the gospel to the streets is through music. Everyone on the trip isn't required to participate, but those with the ability and inclination often take their instruments out, sometimes with a battery powered sound system. We set up and sing praises to God. Sometimes music will penetrate a hard heart where other methods fail. And guys who like tracting or sharing one on one find that street music will often draw a crowd they can work. At times, we set up a "Street Church" with a full band and have a worship service right in the middle of the party.

There are many creative ways to help fulfill Jesus' instruction to preach the gospel. No Greater Love Ministries helps men overcome fear and intimidation and gain confidence as they learn to share the Good News. The goal is for men to draw closer to Christ, develop godly character, and go home as better husbands, fathers and sons, bosses and employees. And to apply the witnessing tools they gain in their everyday lives.

Jesus said when our light shines for Him, people will see and will glorify God. (Matthew 5:16) No Greater Love has helped me, and countless others, become more like Jesus and be able to confidently share my faith. This brief overview gives just a taste of how that happens. If you want more information, check out their website at nogreaterlove.org.

Cross Training: Witness

The final topic in No Greater Love Ministries' Cross Training is Witness.
Cross Training is basic discipleship, focusing on four areas:

This illustration helps us remember these areas. At the bottom of the cross is Study, the foundation of our relationship with God. Time spent studying the Bible will help us know Him better, learning how to serve Him and what pleases Him. Knowledge of God's Word is absolutely essential to a successful Christian life. I wrote a lot more about this topic here.

The top of the cross is Prayer. This is our communication line with God. James 4:8 says when we draw close to Him, God draws close to us. Prayer isn't a one way monologue - it's a conversation. When we pray, God answers. James 5:16 says "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." Study and Prayer help us form our vertical relationship with God. I wrote in greater detail about prayer here.

The horizontal crossbeam consists of Fellowship and Witness. This represents our relationship with people. Fellowship is the way we relate to other believers. Spending time with other Christians is essential to our spiritual growth. Hebrews 10:25 says "And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another," Through fellowship, we receive encouragement, accountability, insight and comfort. It's a lot more than potluck dinners. Much more about this topic here.

The other half of the horizontal relationship with others is Witness. This is a primary way we are to interact with unbelievers. Of course, every contact with non-Christians will not be a witness opportunity. There are certainly other ways to relate to people. But witnessing is how Christ directed us to live our lives.

The very last thing Jesus said before ascending to heaven was "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere..." (Acts 1:8 NLT) What we call the Great Commission was Jesus' instructions to all who would follow Him: "Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you." (Matthew 28:19-20 NLT)

As a young Christian, I thought witness equaled "evangelism". And I found this to be rather intimidating, because it turns out I'm not an evangelist. Oh, I tried. I learned the Four Spiritual Laws, practiced D. James Kennedy's Evangelism Explosion, and went door-to-door with surveys.
I went to schools and prisons, to nursing homes, assisted living and homeless shelters. I have passed tracts, stood on street corners and preached, taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School, and traveled overseas to minister in churches and on the streets. I have performed with puppets, drama, music and as a clown. I've pastored Children's Church and led youth groups. And for a long time, I felt like a failure, because I just didn't see the kind of response that I expected.

The real problem was, my definition of witness was way too narrow.
Evangelism is certainly a part of it. But not everyone is an evangelist. God has given every member of the body of Christ gifts to be used in building up His Kingdom. I Corinthians 12:7 says, "A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other." Some of those gifts are wisdom, knowledge, faith, and healing. (verses 8 & 9) Some are apostles, prophets, and evangelists; some are pastors and teachers. (Ephesians 4:11) God uses each of us to help witness for Him, utilizing the unique gifts He has given.

Witness is living every moment of our life for Christ. Witness happens when you represent Jesus in everyday living. When a whole busload of NGL brothers invades a restaurant, we make sure they understand that a generous tip is part of their witness. We can sit around the place talking about Jesus, pass tracts and stickers, sing our blessing and pray for the staff. But if we don't honor their service with a decent tip, all the rest will end up being hollow and meaningless.
As Christians, we should treat others better than anyone else does.

If we live our lives angry, bitter, hateful, unforgiving, demanding, curt and uncharitable, our witness is pretty much destroyed. Who wants to be like that? I've heard too many people say, "If that's what a Christian is, forget it!" Sadly, many claim to be Christian while displaying anything but godly character. Jesus said that true Christians would be evident not just by their actions, but by their character qualities. (Matthew 7:15-20 MSG)

The definition of love found in 1 Corinthians 13 really sums up the way we ought to live:
"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." (verses 4-7 NLT)

I can look at this list and think I'll never measure up. In my own strength and abilities, I never can be like this. But the Holy Spirit, God Himself, lives inside me and gives me the power to reflect the life of Jesus in my actions and attitudes every day. Remember what Jesus said in Acts 1:8?
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses."
What power was Jesus promising? I'm convinced it's the power to actually live this Christian life, to develop and display the character qualities of a true believer. It's not an overnight transformation - really, it's a lifelong process. "The Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image." (2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT)

When we live our lives to please Christ, witness just comes naturally. God has been so good to us - how can we not share the good news? Even though I'm not an evangelist, I regularly participate in outreach opportunities like the ones I listed earlier. Doing so helps fulfill the Great Commission. But more than that, as I am obedient to Christ's instructions, I grow and mature spiritually. I build relationships with other believers. It helps me develop regular prayer and study habits. In short, I become more like Jesus as I obey His call to witness.

My purpose in witnessing isn't to convince people to pray some fire escape prayer and then go their way unchanged. My desire is for them to meet the one true living God and have Him change their life the way He's changed mine. Becoming a disciple is a process which takes time.
My hope is to help people learn of Christ and get connected to Him. It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict of sin, to draw them to Christ, to regenerate them and help them develop godly character qualities. Christians are to "worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it." (1 Peter 3:15 NLT)

If we do this, we'll be a successful witness for Jesus Christ.

I'll write one final post in this series, talking specifically about the ways No Greater Love trains men to share their faith, and how God uses NGL mission trips to change lives. 
I pray you'll come to know Him better and learn to live for Him every day.

Cross Training: Fellowship

Here's another post examining No Greater Love Ministries' Cross Training discipleship series. Today's topic is Fellowship

This illustration helps us understand Cross Training. The vertical part of the cross represents how we relate to God, the horizontal crossbeam how we relate to others. Relationships include many different aspects. Cross Training focuses on these four elements because they are essential for establishing Christian discipleship.

At the bottom of the cross, the foundation of our relationship with God is Study. Familiarity with God's Holy Word is the primary way Christians grow to maturity. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says,
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (NIV) Simply put, if you don't want to be a weak, ineffective Christian, you need to study the Bible. 
I covered this topic more thoroughly here.

On top of the cross, we reach out to God through Prayer. This is our line of communication with God. When we pray, we're in contact with the very Creator of the Universe, expressing praise and adoration, confessing our sins, thanking Him for his lovingkindness and provision, and asking Him to supply our needs. Then we listen for His response, and obey His direction. Prayer and Study together build that vertical relationship between the believer and God. I discussed this in much greater depth here.

The horizontal crossbeam represents our relationship with people. On one side is Fellowship, on the other is Witness. Fellowship is one of the ways we relate to other believers; witness is our outreach to unbelievers. Obviously, there are other ways to relate to people. But these two topics are basic for Christians to understand and practice.

NGL founder Fred Bishop always says Fellowship is "a whole lot of fellows in the same ship". It seems as if churches generally define fellowship as eating together. There is something about breaking bread with your church friends that does help build relationships. It really is a wonderful thing, but it's also pretty easy to keep things superficial.

One purpose God has for fellowship is that believers would learn to love and trust one another. Part of trusting others is allowing our genuine feelings and personality to be expressed. There seems to be a set of unwritten rules for how Christians should behave, and most of us don't measure up. Thank God, our salvation is not based on righteous living - if it was, no one would be saved. 
But we care about what others think, and want to appear to be "good Christians". So we often pretend that everything is good, that we have no problems, that we are "fine" - even when our world may be crumbling around us.

Some people spend their entire life wearing the "good Christian" mask. We're so afraid that people will reject us if our lives don't measure up to some unattainable ideal. We think we're all alone in our trouble and difficulties. This is a lie of the devil, who wants us to avoid transparent relationships. He knows if we drop the mask and share freely about our struggles and failures, tragedies and triumphs, chances are good we'll find victory and be set free from the bondage he's trying to keep us in.

That's the real purpose of Fellowship. It's an opportunity to trust others enough to dispense with pretense and honestly share. Naturally, one cannot share everything with just anyone. Trust is earned over time. Communication is certainly a key - we have to get past the fear and open up to others if we want to be healed. James 5:16 says, "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." (NIV)

Some relationships will necessarily remain superficial.  Even if you are willing to be more open, others may not be. And some people truly can't be trusted. Confidentiality is another key to safe transparency. If I'm not certain intimate details of my life will be held in close confidence, I'm very unlikely to share freely. Fortunately it's not required or even expected that we will be totally open with everyone. What is important is developing a few genuine friends with whom you can be open and honest. This is true Christian fellowship.


I spent a lot of years cultivating a "good Christian" image. I wore the mask proudly and played the game well. But deep down, in the part of me I tried to keep concealed, I was afraid and insecure. 
I especially feared rejection. I thought if people knew who I really was, my failings and my weakness, they would no longer accept me. I was frequently paralyzed by fear of man. 

In decades of following Him, God has patiently worked with me, helping me understand the importance of pleasing Him rather than men. I've finally learned to drop the mask, at least with a few trusted friends. Even with them, there are times I hold back - but I'm working on it. Accountability helps me live a more God-pleasing life. My brothers hold me accountable at our weekly meetings. They know my weaknesses and love me anyway. Sometimes I fail by not doing what I should, not following through.This is definitely an area where accountability helps - the guys check up on me and help me keep on task.


Learning to be vulnerable in a small group of trusted friends has actually helped me be more genuine in all my relationships. I have discovered that everyone has weaknesses, we all fail. I've stopped worrying what people think (well, most of the time.) Honest sharing has generally caused others to open up rather than rejecting me as I had feared. Fellowship is one way God helps us mature, learning to trust Him and our Christian brethren with our lives.

Cross Training: Prayer

Time to continue my series exploring No Greater Love Ministries' Cross Training discipleship method. In this post we'll discuss Prayer.

The above illustration can help you understand Cross Training. The vertical part of the cross represents how we relate to God, the horizontal crossbeam how we relate to others. Of course, these four elements are just a part of the total package. There are lots more ways to relate to God and to men. Cross Training focuses on just these four elements because they are essential parts of Christian discipleship.

We start at the bottom of the cross. The foundation of our relationship with God is Study. To really know God, you must know His Word. And you do want to know Him, lest you be very disappointed come Judgment Day. Jesus strongly indicates that not knowing Him means being left out of the Kingdom. (Matthew 7:21-23) A solid understanding of the Bible is essential to a successful, mature Christian life. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) I discuss this topic in much more detail here.

At the top of the cross is Prayer. This is the way we connect with our heavenly Father. Prayer isn't some mysterious practice, only available to the pious. You don't have to possess some special standing or position. There aren't secret magical phrases to be memorized and repeated. A book of written prayers to be recited isn't required, though some believers do find one helpful.

Prayer is simply communication with God. Some people seem to think God only understands Elizabethan English, filled with thees and thous. Others say He won't hear a sinner's prayer. 
I'm thankful that neither of those things is true. If He doesn't hear sinners, we're all in trouble, 'cause without Him none of us is righteous. The Bible says Christ Jesus came to earth in order to save sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15) And God delights to hear from us, no matter what language we speak. He really doesn't care how you approach prayer - the important thing is that you spend time communicating with God on a regular basis.

Jesus' disciples once asked Him to teach them to pray, and He responded by teaching them what we now call the Lord's Prayer. (Luke 11:1-4) Some faith traditions put a lot of emphasis on repeating this prayer regularly. Other churches rarely even mention it. I believe both of these approaches are kind of missing what the Lord Jesus intended. If we simply ignore Jesus' teaching on prayer, there's a good chance our prayer life will be ineffective. On the other hand, just repeating the same words over and over by rote without even considering what we're saying doesn't necessarily mean God will hear and respond.

Jesus warned against that approach to prayer just before He gave us the Lord's Prayer.

"When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this: Our Father in heaven..." (Matthew 6:7-9 NLT) So what's the point of the Lord's Prayer?

I think there are a couple of applications. It's certainly unifying to have an entire congregation pray this prayer together publicly. And in ecumenical gatherings with believers from many different Christian traditions, praying the Lord's Prayer as a group can really help pull everybody together. But I don't believe Jesus intended us to repeat this prayer as our individual approach to God. Instead, I think He gave it to us as an outline for personal prayer. Each clause indicates important things to include when we pray.

Here's a quick summary:  

Our Father in heaven = Approach God based on relationship.  

Hallowed be Thy name = Give Him praise and honor. 

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done... = We are to line up our desires with His. 

Give us this day our daily bread = Bring your requests to the Lord. 

Forgive us...as we forgive (others) = Repent of your sins, and forgive as you've been forgiven.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil = Pray for victory over flesh and the devil.

Thine is the kingdom... = Finish as you began, giving God all the glory.

NGL has a simple way to remember things to include in our prayers. The acronym ACTS is a memory aid, representing Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. These things are all included in the Lord's Prayer, and this is a pretty good order in which to pray.

Adoration: Start out giving by God glory

Confession: Admit and repent of your sins

Thanksgiving: Thank God for the blessings in your life

Supplication: Finally, present your needs and desires to Him

Praying is not just about asking for stuff. God is not the great Santa Claus in the sky, just waiting to provide every want we might have. According to the Bible, Christians are destined to develop the character of Jesus. (Romans 8:29) God's purpose is for us to become faithful disciples of Christ. When we pray and listen, God gives us understanding and direction to help us mature. 

I see prayer as a conversation - and a conversation is not one-sided. God desires to communicate with His children, and sometimes we won't shut up long enough to hear Him. There are several ways God speaks to believers today. That topic is way too long of a teaching for this post so I'll save it for another time.

But we all need to learn to listen when we pray, so here's the number one way God speaks to people today: through His Word. That's why regular Bible reading is so important. It's an invaluable source of wisdom. (James 3:17) Study is the foundation of our relationship with God; Prayer is our line of communication with Him. Practicing these two disciplines regularly helps us develop a genuine relationship with our heavenly Father. And He's promised when we seek Him with all our hearts, we will definitely find Him. (Jeremiah 29:13) And the journey is a lifelong adventure.

Salvaging Bricks

From a very young age I learned how to work. "God helps those who helps themselves" is not a Scriptural proverb, but it was definitely a guiding principle in my family. If we insisted on a real Bible verse we might hear, "If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat." (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

As I have mentioned before, I grew up in a hotel in small town Nebraska. The Mary-Etta Hotel was built around 1905 as a railroad stop. We took over in the early 1960s, and the place had never really been updated. So lots of things needed attention and improvement, and my dad was always at work repairing and restoring and rejuvenating. And we didn't just have the hotel to attend to - the Mary-Etta also included a cafe, a tavern and party rooms.

Our corner apartment was on the top floor. 

The cafe is at the lower left, the tavern was just out of the picture to the left.

Running four separate businesses under one roof meant lots of work to be done, and everyone in the family was expected to pitch in and do their part. When I was young, this meant helping carry stuff from one place to another, or sweeping the steps. Sometimes my job was just staying out of the way. We had no lawn - first time I ever mowed was when I was 15 or 16. But boy, did we have sidewalks! When it snowed, we had almost an entire city block 4 sidewalks wide to clear. And my father was not one who would settle for a one-scoop path. No, we had to shovel the whole thing. (Not without complaint, I might add. Although not when Dad could hear.)

Around 1970, Dad got the idea of opening a steakhouse. He bought an old tavern building a half block south of the hotel, along with the sewing machine repair shop next door. For the next year, our family worked to turn the building into a nice restaurant. I don't remember any contractors being hired, at least not for the demolition and construction. We were doing this on a budget, while we continued running the hotel and related businesses. And Dad wanted to keep this project under wraps, so few people outside of the family were involved. Actually, even WE didn't really know what he had in mind.

One of the first things required was to remove the brick wall running right down the center, separating the building into the bar and repair shop. I thought this process would be pretty cool, blasting the wall to smithereens with a sledgehammer, maybe even some explosives. But no... as mentioned in the last post, my father doesn't believe in wasting anything. Though we did use a sledgehammer, we had to very carefully tap the wall, removing bricks one at a time. And then we hauled the loose bricks outside and piled them on the trailer that had been salvaged from a rowboat. Dad owned a little house one block east of the hotel, used strictly for storage and for a garden plot. That's where the bricks ended up, stacked against the wall.

After a year of remodeling, we finally installed carpet, heating/air conditioning, kitchen fixtures and everything else we needed. The business was ready to be opened. For the next year, our family actually ran five businesses simultaneously. And I got my first paying job, at age 14. I was the dishwasher/busboy for the steakhouse. I do not recall applying for this position. I think it was just assumed that, as a member of the family, I would do my part to help the business succeed. And I got paid! My salary was 75 cents an hour, less than the federal minimum of $1.60 - and I was thrilled to actually earn a paycheck.

That's Mom on the phone at the end of the bar in our steakhouse, circa 1973.

I worked at the steakhouse for over a year, till I picked up a job at a local greenhouse for the princely amount of $1.25 an hour. Still below the minimum wage, but a decent pay raise.
I started that job in late February of 1973 at age 15. I was responsible for watering all the plants, moving them from building to building, pulling weeds, sweeping and mopping and all that sort of thing. I liked the job fine and was shocked when, about the end of May, I was informed my services were no longer required. It wasn't that I had done a bad job - the plants were mature and mostly sold already. There just wasn't enough work to keep me busy. So I was laid off.

My 16th birthday wasn't till the end of August. Most businesses wouldn't hire anyone younger than 16. And my dad had hired replacement dishwashers, so that option wasn't really available. So I was facing a summer with little to no spending money. I did pick up a little contract work, helping a local farmer haul bales from the field to the barn. But that was only good for a couple of week's pay. (Plus great lunches cooked by the farmer's wife!)

My father had a request for me since I had time on my hands. Remember those bricks we had knocked out of that wall? He wanted me to clean all the old mortar off them so they'd be ready for a new project. Now, he wasn't offering to pay me for this task. It was just expected, as a family member, that I'd want to do my part. The problem was, I didn't. I wanted to earn some money, not work hard in the sweltering summer for no pay. So I avoided the job, hoping something better would come along.


I continued procrastinating the whole summer long. Dad didn't hassle me about it - just reminded me every once in a while that the job was still waiting. I had become a serious Christian the year before, but I still needed a lot of character growth. Finally, the Holy Spirit convicted me that I wasn't honoring my father as the Bible instructed. (Colossians 3:20) And I read the proverb about the disgraceful son who won't help when there's work to be done. (Proverbs 10:5) So grudgingly, at the very end of the summer, I made my way down to the 4th street house and started knocking mortar off bricks.


It was my second afternoon of brick cleaning, and I had managed to get grimy, hot and sweaty. One of my friends came running up around 4 p.m. He told me the big supermarket up the street was looking for a few new guys. He'd been hired, and he thought they had room for me, too. It was too late to go home and change, so I walked the block or so to the market and put in an application. I was dirty and smelly and had obviously been outside working. I don't recommend this method of job search, but they hired me on the spot. I turned 16 a week or so later and worked there until after I graduated high school and moved away for college.


Waiting for my birthday to come gave me just enough time to finish cleaning all the bricks. 
If I hadn't obeyed the prompting of my conscience to do what my father wanted, I wouldn't have been in the right place to get that job. I believe God was training me to listen to the wise counsel of His word. That good steady job was a reward for obedience.


Blessings have almost always come in my life when I've been actively pursuing God's will. Rarely if ever have I been blessed by sitting around waiting for something to fall into my lap. I have found God expects us to do what we know to be right and let Him guide and direct our steps. The brick story has served as an object lesson for me ever since. 

God blesses obedience and faithfulness, not idleness and selfishness. I wasn't thrilled about cleaning up those bricks, and can't say my attitude was stellar. But I was there working, because it was what my father wanted and I (finally) was willing to obey. And God blessed me with a good steady job to reinforce that it's always the right choice to obey His word. 

It's been a guiding principle of my life ever since.

The Generalist

I am a generalist.
I'm not sure if that's even a real word, but it pretty well defines me.

A generalist = not a specialist.

You see, everything interests me. Well, there are a few categories I don't much care about, pop culture apparently being one of them. In trivia, I'm reasonably skilled in history, literature, math & science, Bible, word definitions - stuff like that. I reek on topics like movies, TV, pop music, really anything like that later than 1980 or so.

The point is, my wide-ranging interests have always kept me from specializing in much of anything.
I have been told I'm one of those rare cats (a nice way to say 'odd') who is neither left- nor right-brain dominant. I am both artistic and analytic. Don't think I suffer from attention deficit, but I can be easily distracted if something is interesting. And most everything is interesting to me.

My college education illustrates this point pretty well. After spending 5+ years in school, I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in broadcast journalism and a Bachelor of Science in mathematics, with minors in English literature, art and German. What was I going to do with all this varied education?
I really had no idea.

I actually kind of backed into my eventual career - certainly had no inclination to enter TV production in high school. Went to a teachers' college 60 miles from home, even though I didn't want to be a teacher. (Ironic, isn't it?)* The school had a lot of family connections - it was operated by the church denomination our family was connected to, my mother had graduated from there (just a couple of years before I arrived, actually) and my sister Janet was already there as an upperclassman when I got there. Since I really had no idea who I was, where I was going or what I wanted to do with my life, the path of least resistance (easily taken by a guy who hated confrontation)** was to make my parents happy and attend that college.

Once there, I started taking general education classes, joined a traveling singing group and found a campus job with the Audio/Visual Center. I was hired as an audio engineer, charged with horsing recording equipment around campus to record orchestras and choirs and such. I had zero experience at this, and was kind of thrown into the position with a cursory explanation and no real training. ("There's the equipment, here's what we expect of you.") I was not very good at first, but I learned quickly and studied audio on my own to try and do a better job.

Our "state of the art" equipment was a couple of 4-track open reel machines. I learned to edit, physically cutting and splicing the audio tape. Eventually we got the latest and greatest thing - an Advent cassette recorder with Dolby B noise reduction! Hard to believe now, but in 1976 this was very expensive top of the line technology.

Anyway, I found I was having a lot more fun doing A/V production than with anything I was studying in class. I decided to try and find a way to make a living doing this sort of thing. After some detours
(getting married and having to support myself & my wife, for one - another story for another time)
I transferred to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

I had taken so many math classes that it only took a few more to complete a major. Already had enough art classes for a minor, too. And I took up a second major area of study, broadcast journalism with an emphasis in production. I learned cinematography by shooting and editing 16-millimeter black & white film, studied newswriting, economics and history, and pulled board shifts on the campus radio station, sneaking contemporary Christian music into the playlist.

And I got another campus job, as a photographer/editor with the University Information Office.
I learned much more about production in this job than in class. We had top of the line equipment - 3/4" field equipment and a cuts-only editing system. This stuff is only good for boat anchors now, but then it was far better than anything the J-school had for their students. I was going around campus interviewing professors and putting together electronic news releases, including the University promos*** which aired during the rare televised football game. (With only one or two games a week televised across the whole nation, your favorite team might get on once or twice a season if they were really good.)

My boss, Bob Van Neste, was an old-school journalist highly respected by everyone in the business. He taught me so much about shooting and editing, patiently instructing me in the finer points of telling a story visually. Once again, the job was a much more valuable education than most of my schoolwork. I started helping my fellow students, passing along the knowledge I was receiving. And I was having a blast working!

When I graduated in December 1980, I needed a real job. My wife was 6 months pregnant with our first child and working as a cook in an upscale Mexican restaurant. I took a temporary position with channel 3 in Omaha as a photographer/editor. They were in the midst of a strike and were desperate for experienced shooters. I had a baby on the way and was desperate for money. Worked steadily for a couple of months till the strike was over. There was no chance of being hired permanently - no matter how good I was, they had no place for me. So I got a hearty thank you and a letter of recommendation and was back on the streets again.

I went down to the J-School and checked the jobs bulletin board. There was a position available in production at the local CBS affiliate, the most dominant TV station in Nebraska. I went to apply right away. I was the very last applicant of 60 or so hopefuls. Because I had considerable experience, plus a glowing recommendation from Mr. Van Neste, I got the job and started right away.

God has blessed me with supernatural favor, and I'm thankful. But if I hadn't pursued jobs on campus, desiring to work, I wouldn't have had the necessary experience. Like Joseph in the Bible,
I made the best of whatever situation I found myself in, worked hard and was therefore in position to receive God's favor. I didn't know it at the time, but God was directing my steps.

In the past 30+ years, I've had the opportunity to do just about everything in television production. This includes camera, lighting, editing, directing, writing, graphics, set building and design. Computers have completely revolutionized the business. Much of what I do today is at a keyboard. So my training in art, math, English, and broadcasting have all proven useful at one time or another. I started computer programming back in the '70s on a refrigerator sized mainframe that was less powerful than most people's phones today. Who knew I'd eventually use all this stuff? I sure didn't, but God knew what would happen when the technology didn't even exist yet.

Still haven't really used the German much...

I guess my point is, even in my area of specialty I'm a generalist. And I'm glad to know that about myself. Understanding my motivations helps me to be more effective. God created me this way, and He'll use me if I'm willing and obedient. (Obligatory Scripture Reference**** - Isaiah 1:19)


*The irony is, one of my primary motivational gifts turns out to be that of a teacher. I'm passionate about learning and helping others learn, especially about God and His ways.

**As mentioned in an earlier post, I tend to avoid confrontation. I suppose I should write a blog post about that, but that would mean confronting the issue, and - well, you know...

***Even I find it hard to believe that a student was creating those University promos. Nowadays, those things are high-dollar ad agency productions. Back then, it was me and others like me.

****Seems like every time I post I include Scripture references, like it's a rule or something.
And I was at the end of this rambling narrative and hadn't done so. This is an actual, useful reference - I just felt like poking fun at my own quirkiness.