The General Lee

I don’t like confrontation.  This is true whether I am the confronter or the confronted.  Therefore, it is no small wonder that when my boss, Jerry, called me into his Pizza Hut office, puddles of sweat began to form in the pits of my arms.

I had been brought into the boss’ office on several occasions prior. These meetings usually consisted of Jerry asking rhetorical questions and pointing out areas of “growth” that he is expecting to see in me moving forward. 

“Ryan, you need to shave…you know the policy…clean shaven is like heaven.”

“What about the beard I am trying to grow?”

“Give it up.  Three hairs does not constitute a beard.  Go shave.”

“Yes Sir.”

Other confronted growth areas have included, proper floor washing procedures as well as the wearing  inappropriate work attire…Jerry expressed his concern of my using duct tape as a belt.    

“Mr. Wikre, it is not a belt.  The duct tape is actually keeping the backside of my pants closed.  You see I ripped them wide open on my last delivery run, so you could say that the duct tape is really much more appropriate than say, NOT having the duct tape…if you see what I mean.  Which would you rather have…duct tape? or…the effects of what it would mean if there was no duct tape?  Surely, I am making my point and you see my dilemma?”

“Neither, I expect you to have new pants before your next shift.”

“Yes sir.”

As I stepped into his office on this particular occasion, I was mentally processing what the subject of the visit could entail.  I wondered if he had heard about the tail light incident or the stuck in the ditch incident or perhaps it was the dog incident…I barely made it out of that one with the remainder of my pants in tact.

“Ryan, I would like to talk to you about your job performance.”

“Drat!” I thought, “it’s everything!” 

“What about it sir?” I asked.

“Well, I have noticed how you get in and out of your vehicle through the window. Would you like to explain that to me?”

“Would you believe that I was a childhood fan of the Dukes of Hazard? I often fanaticized about the General Lee!”

“Are you sure it the orange car that you fancied?”

“No comment.”

“In either case this does not explain why you are not using your door.”

“Well sir, if I open the door, the only way to get the door to close again is if I lay on the ground from the outside and kick the door up and in with my feet…and well…I don’t have time for that.”

“Ryan, I don’t approve of the car door, however, I want to tell you something.  The way you work is exceptional.  In fact, I don’t have another driver you can get in and out of his car faster than you do through your window.  I don’t usually do this…as I don’t usually give drivers a raise because of the tips that they can earn…but I am going to give you a raise and say thank you for your diligent work.”

“Thank you sir!”

“You are welcome.  Now…go deliver some pizzas…and get your car fixed.”

I did deliver more pizzas…but I did not get the car fixed. Instead, I purchased another piece of junk.

The point of the story isn’t the car, rather the relational experience that I had with Jerry.

Over the years Jerry and I actually became friends even finding time to fish together and hanging out together. 

Early on in the relationship, I would have described it as respectful but fearful.  Later, I came to see it as respectful and peaceful. My respect for Jerry never diminished, in fact, it increased over the years.  However, my fear diminished and was replaced with peace.  I came to trust him as my boss and see that though he was interested in my growth and change, he wanted to see me flourish.

Peace is one of strongest themes we find at Christmas.  Luke 2:10-14 and Isaiah 9:2-7 both emphasize it vigorously.  The truth of Christmas is that God sent his Son to restore peace in the relationship between God and mankind.  This isn’t a ceasefire or superficial feel good kind of peace…rather it is all about an abundant peace found in the regenerated relationship that we can have with God!

May you come to find the true “Peace of God,” found only in Jesus this Christmas.

Advent 2025
The Tornado

As a boy I had a fascination with storms, more specifically tornados.  After having watched the Wizard of Oz I developed an unhealthy fear of the treacherous windstorms. I remember checking out books from the library about tornados, funnel clouds, wall clouds and the like.  I would spend hours reading…the captions and looking at pictures about the immeasurable power of destruction that these violent inverted cones were capable of.  I remember the paradox of always wanting to see a tornado in person and yet never wanting to encounter the dangerous cloud and endure the life changing devastation that would ensue. 

The closest I ever came to seeing a tornado in person was at the end of a hot July summer day between third and fourth grade.  The air was thick and humid and I remember sitting directly in front of a box fan trying desperately to stay cool in the non climate controlled farm house.  The Minnesota Twins were on the TV and I was manipulating my Rubiks Connector Snake, when the television started beeping and text began scrolling across the bottom of the screen.  It started as, “A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for the following counties…Hubbard, Todd, Wadena…etc.”  It didn’t take long until the watch turned into a warning…including a tornado watch and even some tornado warnings in our area.  My stomach churned as I remembered the graphic images of tornados from my research. 

My anxiety peaked when my dad came into the house and said, “Get in the basement!”

With great fear and trepidation, I resisted running upstairs to my room to grab my most prized possession…my He-Man action figure. (Despite what my grandmother called it, he was an action figure…not a doll!). Instead, I settled for the only toy I could reach in time, my Rubiks Connector Snake, figuring that I would never see any of my beloved playthings again. 

Despite my dad’s firm warning, he alone remained upstairs looking at the churning sky while my mother took the four of us kids downstairs.  I think my mother could sense the tension that I was feeling.  At one point she placed her arm around me and pulled me in and said, “Hey, it’s going to be ok.”

I don’t exactly know why…but I believed her. She had no power over nature or the wind or the future of my toys, but I still believed her.  In fact, I remember in that moment that even if my stuff was going to be carried away by the wind to the hands of my nemesis neighbor Glen, it was going to be ok. 

My hope made a shift in that moment.  It went from a questioning of the uncertainty of my possessions to a confidence in a promised but unseen future.  One way or another, it was going to be ok. 

We all want to know that it is going to be ok. We want to be secure.  Too often I think we attempt to find hope in our own security.  I don’t think that is the Biblical hope that Jesus provides. 

The hope of Jesus…Biblical Hope, I think is finding our security in Him, when He tells us that if we will put our trust in Him…it will all be ok. 

I think I believe Him.  Do you?

May you find Hope in Jesus this Christmas as you learn to put your trust in Him.

 

 

 I am 5 years old!

 

I remember coming home after my first year of college only to have my dad “joke” about charging rent. 

“Welcome home son! I’ve been thinking about what a fair rent could be for this summer.”

“Hah Dad! That’s funny, I live here…this is my home, you should just be glad that you get to be with me all summer long! Why would you even consider rent?”

“I don’t remember seeing your name on the deed?”

“Hah! Whatever! Can I use the car this Friday?”

“I am thinking that maybe $150 a month would suffice.”

“Dad! Give it a rest! You’re NOT funny!  Do we have anything to eat?”

“What makes you think that I am joking?”

“I put my laundry down stairs.  Can you let Mom know? I’m going to need it by tomorrow night; I’m planning on getting together with some friends to hang out.”

“If you are not going to pay rent, you WILL be working for your lodging.”

“Ugh! Dad! I am 19 years old now and I should be able to make my own decisions and do what I want!”

“It’s either rent or work.  How about you decide that?”

“FINE! This is SO unfair!”

As a 19 year old, I may or may not have had a disconnect between my ears.  Now 30 years later, I KNOW that I had a disconnect between my ears…and in reality…I still do.  I am just one of the guilty parties that make up a society that is dependently independent. 

As humans we scream for independence until our independence leaves us wanting or in need and then we suddenly shift back towards dependency.  It is like the college student who wants to make their own decision…and still rely on the comforts and safety of home.

Many years ago my wife was substitute teaching for a kindergarten class in Little Falls.  Of course, the day included a trip to the zoo.  I think many kindergarten teachers find themselves conveniently “sick” on the days of the local zoo field trip.  My wife spent the day wrangling and herding the kindergarteners here and there, giving instructions and commands to keep them in line as well as out of the animal pens.  At one point one little girl was refusing to obey. 

“Alice, you need to get down from that fence. That is not a safe place for you to be.”

Alice did not move.

“Alice, you NEED to get down.”

Alice did not move.

“Alice, you NEED to get down NOW!”

Alice responded…”I AM 5 YEARS OLD! I DO NOT NEED ANYONE TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!”

We know that at 5 years old Alice DOES need to be told what to do.  She IS dependent upon the authorities in her life.  Yet, like Alice we too may struggle with submitting to authorities in our lives.  Matthew 28:18-20 reveals who the REAL authority is.  It is Jesus.  Jesus as the ultimate authority is giving us some instruction.  I have given a great deal of thought to what Jesus wants…us to do…I have concluded…I think he wants us to do what he says.

May we come to both hear and do, what Jesus says.

 Still Desperate

We all need help at some point.  I remember in 3^rd grade I needed help learning to properly articulate my “s’s.”

On several occasions, I have found myself needing help on along the highway.  I have been stranded a couple of times when I have tried to stretch my last gallon of gas a little too far. In such cases, help of some form is needed…either a ride, or gas, or even a horse and buggy. Twice I have found myself stuck with a flat tire(s), once my rim was rusted to the vehicle making the spare tire irrelevant, and the other time I found myself stuck with TWO flat tires as I struck some debris left in my lane.  In both cases I had to call my dad for help.  Why dad?...because it was before cell phones and that is the only phone number that I had committed to memory.  In such cases I would usually walk to the nearest gas station and call “collect” (another reason for dad), from a pay phone and then wait for him to once again come to my rescue. 

I am now a father and finding myself going to the rescue of my own son from time to time.  As far as I know he has not run out of gas or been stranded on the highway with a flat tire.  Although, there was one time when I had to go help him because he hadn’t tightened his lug nuts tight enough and his tire had fallen off.  He called and said, “Dad something is wrong with my car.”

“Oh yeah? What’s going on?”

“Henry said, it looks like my tire was falling off.”

“Henry said???  What did YOU notice?”

“The back of the car was shaking pretty bad.”

I am not sure how he did it, but he made it into the school parking lot. When I arrived,  I found his car with the tire wedged kitty whompus into the fender.  Apparently, it came loose just as he parked.

When Isaac, was a young boy, there was a moment when he somehow slammed his hand into the side door of the minivan.  I was in the house and I heard him desperately screaming for help from inside the van which was inside the garage.  When I arrived to the garage and found him completely stuck and helpless with his hand in the van door I ran to help. 

I unsuccessfully attempted to open the door from the outside of the vehicle.  It wouldn’t budge.  I ran to the other side of the van and tried to open the door from the inside…all the while his hand remained crushed in the door and he is screaming.  Despite my attempts, I could not get the van door to open!  The door was not locked but it would not move.  In a final desperate effort I placed my feet against the opposite side of the van and my hands on the door and pushed straight out.  I was able to flex the door just enough to give him enough space for the hand to slip out of the door jamb.

We are all desperate, but we don’t always realize it until we find ourselves in a completely helpless situation.  When we are out of gas, stuck with a flat tire, hand stuck in a door or perhaps the wheels have come completely off, we desperately need help.

Matthew 20:28-34, shows us a couple of men who are completely desperate.  They are blind and they are begging.  They begin to cry out to Jesus in their desperation.  When the crowds rebuke them, the blind men begin to cry out all the more! Jesus knows our desperation and he wants to meet us in our desperation.  Jesus meets the blind men with his presence.  The greatest gift we can receive in our desperation is the very presence of God.

May we find the Lord meeting us in our own desperation.

 Authority

There were factors of childhood that I loved…and factors that I hated.  I hated, taking out the garbage, cutting the crass, feeding the pigs, cleaning my room and hauling wood.  I loved, eating, playing and telling my siblings what to do.  If I could find some way to convince, (or force)…my siblings to adhere to my biding, I would take full advantage of any such opportunity.  As a child I had little in the way of “constituted authority,” yet, whether it was my congenial personality or my domineering stature, I would regularly work to convince my brothers or sister to submit to my wishes.  If I needed my sister to do something for me, I would approach the opportunity with some form of sweet talk and weak promises of kindness.  “If you clean my room I won’t rip Barbie’s head off her body!”  If it was my younger brother who was the object of my authority, I would usually approach it with threats of wedgies and swirlies.  “I said get out of my room! Why are you smiling! Stop smiling! Wipe that smile off your face or I will use your face to wipe the toilet!” I would approach my older brother with requests of fake constituted authority.  “Ross, Mom says you need to take out the garbage.” Truth…Mom often hadn’t said such things.

When she did however, I would relish the opportunity to flex the authority that had been given to me.  If either of my parents commissioned me to proclaim such news as, “Jasmine, mom wants you to do the dishes! Or Rory, Dad says it’s your turn to feed the pigs, or Ross, Mom says I’m her favorite!,” I would egotistically delight in the task.  The power and authority had been granted to me to decree that my siblings needed to bow to my words…because my words were the words of our parents and they must be obeyed.

It is quite possible, that I not only allowed this power to go to my head, but also that I took my authority too far.  It is possible that my mother never did say that I’m her favorite…but we all know…I was. 

I am humbled to reflect on my past and realize that I may not have exercised authority appropriately.  When given the opportunity, I took to, “Lording it over” those who were under me…especially my siblings.

Jesus teaches things quite differently.  In Matthew 20:17-28, we find the well known passage revealing that if you want to be great in God’s Kingdom, then you must become a servant.  There is a fascinating double instruction in this passage.  First, we must learn to become servants.  Additionally, we also see that we are called to lead.  This passage is just as much about leading as it is following.  However, the way Jesus leads, and instructs us to lead, is vastly different than that of the world.  We are to lead as Jesus led…by sacrificing our own wants and desires for the sake of others.  Leadership is sacrificial.  Authority is given to people for the purpose of causing others to flourish.  We are all called to serve and we are all called to lead.  What would it be like if we could learn to lead in a way that would intentionally bless others?  What if our authority was used to cause others to flourish?

May we come to serve and to lead as Jesus called and taught us to serve and to lead…just as he did. 

Where are you headed?

We are all following someone.  Even the most independent people among us are following someone or at least the patterns of someone in our past or present.  For me, I follow Jesus…at least I genuinely desire to and try to, but I know that fall far short.  There are others that I follow.  In some ways I follow the paths of my predecessors, former bosses and supervisors.  In other ways I follow friends and colleagues.  Additionally, I still find myself following the ways of my parents. 

For example, I follow the ways of Pastor Phil, my predecessor, by keeping Dawn, (the Church Secretary and overall brains of the church), busy with solving all of my technical issues and computer problems.  I follow the ways of Dave, my previous cabinet shop supervisor, by continuing to implement the many lessons learned while working under him many years ago.  I follow the ways of my parents, by learning to do anything that is worth doing by constantly expanding my DIY abilities.  This creates some marital strife when I cannot keep up with the growing needs of tasks that must either be done or hired out.  Since I am unwilling to hire anything out…I will pause now and go and unclog the basement washtub sink….

…

…I’m back and pleased to report that the sink is now flowing.  Apparently, a number of mysterious rubber bands had found their way into the sink drain.  Why?  How? When?  These are questions that still remain and I may never obtain answer to. 

Likewise, I believe that in the same way that we are all following someone…there is another someone or some ones, who are following us.  I gotta be honest.  This second belief stresses me out more than the prior.  In the prior, I get to choose who I follow and what I do.  In the later, I don’t necessarily get to choose as to who will be following me, which makes who I am following all the more vital. 

In Matthew 20:17-28, we find Jesus revealing once again where he is heading and in turn what it means to follow him.  As he lays this out before his followers, it becomes clear that to follow him means sacrifice.  In a culture and a society that doesn’t embrace well the depth of self sacrifice, may we see Jesus’ example…follow him…knowing that others will be following us.  I think that this is the reality that could turn this world upside down!

The Last

 

Very likely, we have all been exposed to it at one time or another. For some of us we relished the opportunity, while for others it was a benign requirement of preadolescence and yet for others it conjures up post traumatic stress reactions that force us into therapy in our later years.  It is...the “picking of teams.”

Whether you are playing a backyard game of basketball, cops and robbers, kickball or smear, (smear was the combined middle school equivalent of football, rugby, and cage free mixed martial arts)  you have found yourself in the mix of having to have teams chosen. 

It could have been in a more organized format, where your physical education teacher, Mr Barry, (or other such real or fictitious name),  assigns two “captains” who will each take turns selecting the remaining members of the class to formulate two competitive teams. 

Most anyone worth their salt would have a pretty good idea as to who would be chosen first…and likewise…who would be chosen last.  These positions could vary somewhat depending upon who was present at the time as well as who was representing as captain, but overall the teams would be painted rather evenly with Mike and Joe going early in the first round.  I often found myself to be somewhere middle half below…but Heather and Julia would nearly always be drafted in the final round.

I would have been selected to a team dozens upon dozens of times for dozens and dozens of all kinds of different games.  Yet, out of all of these games I remember one moment quite clearly. 

It was elementary school Gym class and Mr. Barry had chosen the two captains, Jeremy and Brian.  Jeremy got the first pick and to no surprise he took Joe.  Brian followed with the next pick and confidently called out, “I’ll take Heather.” There was a collective gasp followed by silence.  Everyone in the class was stunned. Quite literally everyone was at a loss for words and couldn’t believe what had just happened. No one in their right mind would have taken Heather…especially after Jeremy had just chosen Joe.   I remember watching the shock on Heather’s face.  She was completely caught off guard.  She looked up and silently walked slowly up to Brian and stood next to him. 

Jeremy kind of grinned and called for “Mike…I’ll take Mike.” Again, no surprise.   Then Brian made his second selection, “I’ll take Julia.”  Again I looked toward the recipient.  She too looked up at Brian with questioning eyes, smiled and walked to stand next to heather.  The rest of the players were selected.  I don’t remember where I was chosen…who knows…maybe last.  I don’t remember anything else about the game.  I don’t remember what the game was nor do I remember which team won.  It didn’t matter…as far as I was concerned the winners had already been chosen. 

I thought of this event this week as I read through Matthew 19:23-22:16.  This passage made me wonder if Brian had recently read this portion of Scripture before he selected both Julia and Heather.  I didn’t know Brian all that well.  I didn’t know what his beliefs are or why he did what he did.  But whatever the reason, the reality that I saw reflected that day in Gym class is evidence in this incredible section of Scripture.  Our world has a way of measuring value.  We often weigh value against money, success, beauty and achievements.  Jesus looks at things much differently.  It is no wonder then, that Jesus is serious when he says “The last will be first and the first will be last.”

May you come to understand that Jesus is choosing you.  He doesn’t choose you because of your accolades, athleticism, special talents or even lack their of.  He chooses you because you matter to him.  He just wants you to say yes…and to stand by him.