11.7.2020 - week 79
“be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are…the true test of a man's character is what he does when no one is watching.” - john wooden
it’s the fall of 2004. the country is in the final stages of the faux unity of the post-9/11 time. i am starting college at moody bible institute. in a move that seems likely tied to my well-known preacher father, i am placed in a dorm next door to a guy immediately described as ‘the best young man on campus, your R.A. neal anderson.’ now, if you have any vague knowledge about enneagram 8’s or 18 yr old dudes, i decided at the moment this guy who had been described so glowingly, he simply must be a jerk.
as the first few weeks went by, i resisted his kindness and was doing my own prideful self-impressed thing. then over labor day weekend, i was in a serious car accident. i had 3 non-displaced fractures in my c2 vertebrae, and was sentenced to 4 months in a halo device (yes like the girl in the movie mean girls)
as this all settled out, we soon realized showering in the dorm wouldn’t be possible. so i started taking the train back to the suburbs every other day and staying in my dorm the other nights. i was generally a sweaty, frustrated, tired person during those months. as god was breaking me of my teenage pride, i realized that i really couldn’t afford the $10 to and from the train station each time i commuted. re-enter my RA neal anderson.
he was smart enough to not schedule himself 8am classes during his senior year of college and earned a little extra sleep dealing with the dopes on our floor culby-3. none-the-less any time i needed often without even without asking, he popped out of bed before 7 and picked me up at the train station in downtown chicago. we weren’t really friends then. i had nothing to offer him. he was my resident advisor and i needed help, so he did it. i was one of the people he was assigned to lead, so he took care of me, at personal cost. this is a rare and sacred trait.
we were blessed to lead in church together for many years after college and have kept up over time. he recently completed a PhD in organizational leadership and launched an organization, carto leadership. the reason why i recommend you check out what he is doing isn’t because he knows what to say: its because i have seen him live it.
in a world consumed w. posturing as a leader, rare is the person who simply does it.
KG Korner
(a few wise words from lady kristen macdonald)
On December 31st of 2019, our church held their annual praise party. As each person arrived they were handed a little favor bag and inside was a small stone. We were led in a powerful time of worship followed by an encouragement in the Word from our pastor and at the end of his message he encouraged us to take that stone we had received in our hands and to ask God for a word for the year. Funny enough I came across this stone the other day.
As I held it in my hands eleven months later I pondered to myself, wondering if I had ‘held onto’ my word well this year Similar to you (I’m guessing), I went into the new year hoping for 20/20 vision in view. It certainly felt as though we were off to a swift start but as March reared its head we were all dealt a hand we didn’t see coming. But even amidst a pandemic is it possible for God to still accomplish that word in our lives? I believe the answer is yes! Without a doubt it was differently than we had thought or hoped but successfully nonetheless.
My word for that stone was hope. It came from Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful.”
December of 2019, had been a difficult month for me. Hope was my word because it felt like I had only a few morsels of it left. I wasn’t wavering in my belief in God so much as what he had for me. Maybe you have found yourself there in the past or maybe you find yourself in a similar position this month. Regardless of my feelings I desired to intentionally hold onto hope in 2020. I wanted so badly to see the ‘picture or vision for my life’ clearly, but to be honest it seemed more like my eyes were dilated. But when your eyes are dilated you are in the process of a solution to the blurriness that you can see in the moment. The funny thing is that this year got a lot more cloudy before it got clear, for a while there none of us knew what was to come or what the path would look like. And while many people who don’t have hope of eternity looked around fretting and full of anxiety, I could hold fast to the hope I have known for many years now and not waver because every time I have put my full weight on Him he has stood the test.
So did God accomplish all I had hoped he would this year in me as I prayed on New Year’s Eve? I think our measurable ideals of what we hoped for may have been crushed but what he has done in our hearts and minds to draw us to him is immeasurable. I think our dependence on him has been developed in a fresh way. Even amidst our questioning, He has remained faithful and I believe he has shown you as he has shown me that he will remain faithful. Guys, I have made it through months of virtually schooling my children… if that doesn’t reveal his faithfulness, I don’t know what does!
I thought I’d close by posing the same question to you: How has God allowed you this year to hold fast to the confession of your hope? Has he accomplished what you thought he would in you this year? How has he shown your wandering heart that he loves you this year and that he is faithful?
parent corner
beware the residue
so graham came with me and hung out while i preached this week. i was planning to use him as part of an illustration + it seemed like a chance for some 1-1 time. if you ever spend even 5 minutes around graham, you will learn that he is obsessed with treats. salty or sweet, caramel or chocolate or cinnamon, whatever is on the radar he RUNS for it. since he was going to be on camera and was wearing a white shirt, i asked him to hold off on the junk food til after we taped.
as i was finishing my mic check, i notice him creeping towards the garbage can, possibly throwing something away. i rolled over all chill and asked him what was happening and he said ‘nothing,’
with a giant smile on his face. i decide his craftiness outweighed his vague deception and so we started walking toward the stage. UNTIL, i noticed his bright orange fingers. he had been eating cheetos he found in the back room. TOTALLY BUSTED. that thin layer of cheese was still on his fingers, the residue.
we often think that just because we didn’t get caught, things are fine. but the residue causes just as much pain. after the pleasure was consumed, the biting email was sent, the harsh words were exchanged, the residue are the feelings or outcomes still being felt. the residue is what is left after it’s over. beware the residue, it often gets you into more trouble than the main event itself.
(*stuff i’m learning .. which is not advice. because people who have never parented teenagers shouldn’t be giving parenting advice)
book review
lecrae subtitled this biography ‘how i lost my religion but found my faith.’ the story is about his divorce from the white evangelical system and finding faith on the other side. although not with his fame, i can sympathize with the dynamics created by the intense reactiveness of the right wing theological police. he writes with incredible candor + self-reflection about his own mistakes and hurts along the way. if you have been trying to understand the frustration many black christians feel towards ‘the system’ this book might give you insight. a lot of powerful + healing words in these pages.
super christian guy
stuff for you to click on
1. new message from me — the real jesus, we discuss the most important question a person could ever answer, ‘who do you say jesus christ is?’ watch it here!
2. the mac pack wack world of sports (my 3 fun sons and their obsession w. sports) have a new video out previewing the second half of the NFL season. watch it here!
3. for whatever reason, during this crazy week, this song kept coming to mind. a wonderful tune on the kingdom of god, by my dear friend jon guerra.