Lasting Legacy

 I posted last week about the death of my brother Craig.  I mentioned that our full lives did not allow us to meet face to face as much as I would have liked.  On Sunday, all six of Craig's grown children spoke at his memorial service.  Each one did an amazing job relaying special memories of him.  Craig was a storyteller.  He was funny.  He was loyal.  He was loving.  He was a faithful follower of Jesus.  Over 500 people were in attendance and many of them posted what Craig had meant to them on social media.  Craig was a giant in the Georgia film community at the highest levels.  He was largely responsible for helping pass legislation that allowed film companies to receive tax credits for producing films in Georgia.  These efforts caused Georgia to be one of the top states for film production following only California and New York.  All of these efforts were in parallel with his primary responsibility of running his own film company.  More interesting than any of that to me, was the number of younger people in the film industry that talked about the time that Craig had spent with them to mentor them as they were getting started in the industry.  The fact that I was unaware of much of this work points to one of the most impressive character traits of Craig.  He rarely talked about his accomplishments in the industry or his work with people trying to get into the business.  His humility in going about his work was amazing.  As I learned all that Craig had accomplished leading his industry and his family, it made me want to be a better person.  I have started small habits this week that I hope will continue forever.  Thank you Craig for the life you lived.  You will live on in so many of us.

Big Brother

Two Mondays ago, I texted my brother, Craig, about meeting for lunch.  His birthday is on October 3rd, and we have a tradition of sharing a meal together twice a year to celebrate each of our birthdays.  This has been going on as long as I can remember, but at least 20 years.  There was nothing special about our lunch conversation.  We talked about the same stuff we always do - family, work and church.  

When we were growing up, I remember him picking on me, and when I got upset, he would say, "I was just kidding."  It made me so mad.  I don't remember any serious confrontations, but I'm sure there were some.  Later on, Craig starred as Winnie the Pooh in the local theatre, and that rubbed off on me.  We were both in several productions, but I don't believe we were ever in the same one.  We had another connection in high school.  I was in the band, and on one rare occasion he came to hear us play.  Sitting on the second row was a cute blonde clarinet player, Carolyn Bishop.  Craig made a beeline for her and never looked back.  Craig attended many more of my concerts after that and ended up marrying Carolyn before she was finished with college.  I married my high school sweetheart shortly thereafter, and that started the next chapter of our lives.  

Craig and Carolyn proceeded to have six children while Craig started and grew his film production company.  He was a tad busy.  I was working 9-5 at IBM, and had two kids, and I couldn't understand why Craig worked so much.  He was always either working or attending his kid's activities.  Flash forward 20 years.  I left the corporate world and started working for myself as a real estate agent, and I suddenly realized why Craig worked so much.  Working for yourself instead of someone else tends to do that to people.  For the most part, our busy schedules limited our visits to holidays, weddings, funerals and our birthday lunches.

As we were walking to our cars after lunch two weeks ago, Craig's last words to me were, "Give me a hug.  I love you."  Craig passed away suddenly last Sunday.  I wish we had more birthdays.

Chest Pieces

After God delivered the 10 commandments to Moses, He gave Moses specific instructions for the ark that would carry them, the tabernacle for the ark and the garden where the ark would be located.  God then directed Moses to provide his brother Aaron with fine clothing that would be fitting for a priest, setting him apart from the other Israelites.  The clothing would include a chest piece with 12 jewels.  Each of those jewels would be engraved with the name of one of the tribes of Israel, symbolizing Aaron's leadership of all of the tribes when he came before the Lord.  The instructions to Moses were over 3500 years ago, but the meaning is as current today as it was then.  We all have people in our lives that we have a special responsibility to lead - a spouse, our kids, our friends, an organization.  We should have all of them covering our heart as we go before the Lord to pray for them.  Likewise, the names on that chestpiece should serve as a shield from the forces of the world that are counter to the plans of God.  

But God had further instructions for Aaron's attire.  He was to wear a medallion of pure gold around his head with the inscription, "Holy to the Lord" so he may take on himself any guilt of the people of Israel.  (Ex 28:38).  This is clear foreshadowing of Jesus who would take on the sins of the entire world by his death on the cross.  It is also a reminder to us that God will go before us in ordering our steps towards Him, and others seeing those steps should be directed back to Him.

 

Sons of Thunder

James and John were two of Jesus' disciples and were also considered two of his closest friends.  Jesus nicknamed them "Sons of Thunder" for their often fiery and zealous personalities.  On one occasion, Jesus was traveling with his disciples through Samaria and looking for a place to stay.  The Samaritans refused due to their prejudice against Jews when they learned the group was headed for Jerusalem.   James and John asked Jesus, "Do you want us to call fire down from Heaven to destroy them?", but Jesus rebuked them and traveled on to another city.

Fast forward to the time when Jesus was warning the disciples of his approaching arrest and crucifixion.  James and John's mother made a request of Jesus.  When Jesus returned to the throne, she wanted one of her sons to be seated on the left and the other to be seated on the right of Jesus.  When the other disciples heard about this, Jesus overheard them grumbling amongst themselves.  He explained to them, "whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave, for even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."  

James was the first disciple to be killed, and John was the last to die from old age.  After John had walked with Jesus as one of the Sons of Thunder, he wrote the Gospel of John and John 1-3.  While he still speaks strongly about deceivers, his words are tempered with the love that he no doubt learned from his walk with Jesus.   John's new nickname became the Apostle of Love.

God, please help me to live more like Jesus.

Keeping Watch

I got a good night's sleep last night.  It wasn't until this morning that I realized how fortunate I was that I would have another day on this earth.  On June 17th, Joshua Mhlakela announced that the end of the world was coming on September 23rd and/or September 24th.  He stated on TikTok that he had met with Jesus, and Jesus told him this.  I had never heard of Joshua, and I don't use TikTok, so while this was news to me, apparently there were millions of people who took notice.  Many took the warning seriously, and many more responded with sarcasm.  

In Paul's first letter to the Thesalonians, he states "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."  I believe Paul.  But in Matthew 24, Jesus himself states about his return, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."  Keep watch.  What do those two words mean to you?  For me, I think of important people that have security teams talking into their wrists, keeping watch over the person they were hired to protect.  I also think of the security cameras that our kids have installed in their nurseries to keep watch over their newborn kids.  But what does Jesus mean?  I think He means to be ready and to be vigilant.  We are to expect his return and prepare ourselves by doing everything we can to do the things He wants us to do and not do the things He doesn't want us to do.  I want to do this today, but I won't spend a minute worrying about what day He is going to return.

Private Enemy #1

Jesus instructs us to love our enemies.  That can be a little overwhelming to me.  First, I need to know who my enemies are, and then I need to know what it means to love them.  I don't feel like I have a lot of the traditional enemies - people who seek to harm me or my family.  But Jesus is talking about something more than that.  How about people who think differently from me?  There are plenty of those, and in general, I just try to avoid them to lessen the pain.  Sometimes avoidance might be the best I can do at any given time, but following Jesus requires more of me.  1 Corinthians 13 tells us, "Love is patient.  Love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable and does not keep a record of wrongs."  Jesus gives us nine ways to love in just those two short verses, and I could fill a full day just trying to address one of them.  I challenge you to take 5 minutes today to think about who your enemies are and find at least one new way to love at least one of them today.

The Other Red Team

Most of you know that all our immediate family members are UGA alums.  Our blood runs red and black - not scarlet and grey like all of those that support Ohio State University.  I have to say that my disdain for OSU on the football field is tempered by a healthy respect for their football accomplishments.  They are currently 2-0 and ranked number one in the country.  And my opinion of their team just jumped several notches after seeing this news story about a revival that the team is leading on their campus.  Over a thousand students gathered to worship Jesus and some were baptized on the spot.  The gathering was supported by several current OSU football players, including linebacker, Sonny Styles.  I will be cheering for them on the field (when they aren't playing UGA) and praying for their continued influence on their campus.  Praise God.